http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a1812.htm#0013
Reporters Turn From Deference to Outrage
September 5, 2005
by Alessandra Stanley
New York Times
On "Meet the Press" yesterday, Tim Russert lacerated Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, demanding to know, among other things, "How the president could be so wrong, be so misinformed?"
Fox News, normally highly deferential to the Bush administration, was gentler but just as skeptical. Chris Wallace, the host of "Fox News Sunday," asked Mr. Chertoff, "Mr. Secretary, how is it possible that you could not have known on late Thursday, for instance, that there were thousands of people in the convention center who didn't have food, who didn't have water, who didn't have security, when that was being reported on national television?"
The Bush administration, normally so deft at staying a step ahead of the television cameras, spent the weekend trying to catch up. President Bush, who plans to make a second trip to the Gulf Coast today - a disaster mulligan - paid a quick visit to the Red Cross headquarters in Washington to thank the volunteers and publicly display his concern.
Mr. Rumsfeld and Ms. Rice visited the region to make the same point, but their news conferences were clouded by an outburst by Aaron F. Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, who wept as he described, on "Meet the Press," the drowning of a friend's mother who was left stranded in the St. Bernard nursing home for four days. "Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised," Mr. Broussard said. "They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody."
Mr. Broussard's meltdown was shown on NBC, MSNBC and also CNN, which has been one of the most aggressive in covering the disaster and assigning blame.
