BURBANK, Calif. — President Obama told Jay Leno yesterday that he was stunned when he learned of the bonuses that bailed-out insurance giant AIG was paying its employees.

Obama told "The Tonight Show" host the payments raise moral and ethical problems — and vowed again to try to recoup the cash for taxpayers.

NBC said that Obama was the first sitting president ever to appear on "The Tonight Show." He'd already appeared twice as a candidate.

Obama spoke with little interference or challenge from Leno, who clearly was enthused about snaring the president as a guest and pronounced it "one of the best nights of my life."

Leno veered away from politics and into the personal toward the end of the 35-minute interview, asking, "How cool is it to fly on Air Force One?" and when Obama daughters Sasha and Malia would get their pet dog.

"This is Washington. That was a campaign promise," Obama replied to audience laughter. "No, I'm teasing. The dog will be there shortly."

FIRST LADY POINTS TO INSPIRATIONS

WASHINGTON — While her husband was in California, first lady Michelle Obama promoted the value of a college education and hard work yesterday, telling high school students that the people who doubted her when she was younger only encouraged her to aim higher.

"That never stopped me. That always made me push harder," she said.

Obama's appearance at Anacostia High School was part of a day in which she put an array of talented, accomplished women in front of area high school students as an example of the types of success they, too, can achieve.

The group included singers Alicia Keyes and Sheryl Crow, actresses Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad and Fran Drescher, Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes, WNBA star Lisa Leslie Lockwood, astronaut Mae Jemison and four-star Gen. Ann Dunwoody.

CBS NEWSMAN FIGHTING CANCER

NEW YORK — Don Hewitt, the legendary mastermind of CBS News' "60 Minutes," is battling pancreatic cancer.

"60 Minutes" spokesman Kevin Tedesco says the 86-year-old Hewitt has been diagnosed with a small, contained tumor. Hewitt was already a veteran CBS newsman in 1968 when he created "60 Minutes," pioneering the TV newsmagazine format. He served as executive producer of the program until his retirement in 2004.

DON CORNELIUS GETS PROBATION

LOS ANGELES — Don Cornelius has been sentenced to three years' probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor spousal battery.

Cornelius' attorney entered the plea on the "Soul Train" creator's behalf on Wednesday. Cornelius was charged in November with spousal battery, assault with a deadly weapon and dissuading a witness from making a police report, all misdemeanors. He was ordered not to use threats or force against anyone, including his wife, Victoria, and must attend a domestic violence course.