screen shot of Russert -- Palm Tree -- and transcript!

By way of Drudge and the freepers, who captured it.



And here's the transcript:

TIM RUSSERT: Finally, Mr. Secretary, in February of 2003, you placed your enormous personal credibility before the United Nations and laid out a case against Saddam Hussein, citing.

(Camera moved off of interview subject)

EMILY MILLER, STATE DEPARTMENT PRESS AIDE: You're off.

SECRETARY POWELL: I am not off.

EMILY MILLER, PRESS AIDE: No. They can't use it, they're editing it.

SECRETARY POWELL: He's still asking the questions.

EMILY MILLER, PRESS AIDE: He was not ...

SECRETARY POWELL: Tim, I am sorry I lost you.

MR. RUSSERT: I am right here Mr. Secretary. I would hope they would put you back on camera. I don't know who did that.

EMILY MILLER, PRESS AIDE: He was going to go for another five minutes.

SECRETARY POWELL: We've really scre...

MR. RUSSERT: I think that was one of your staff Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate.

SECRETARY POWELL: Emily, get out of the way. Bring the camera back please. (Camera returns to the interview subject) I think we're back on Tim, go ahead with your last question.

MR. RUSSERT: Thank you very much, sir.

In February of 2003, you put your enormous personal reputation on the line before the United Nations and said that you had solid sources for the case against Saddam Hussein. It now appears that an agent called "Curve Ball" had misled the CIA by suggesting that Saddam had trucks and trains that were delivering biological chemical weapons.

How concerned are you that some of the information you shared with the world is now inaccurate and discredited?

SECRETARY POWELL: I'm very concerned. When I made that presentation in February 2003, it was based on the best information that the Central Intelligence Agency made available to me. We studied it carefully. We looked at the sourcing and the case of the mobile trucks and trains. There was multiple sourcing for that. Unfortunately, that multiple sourcing over time has turned out to be not accurate, and so I'm deeply disappointed.

But I'm also comfortable that at the time that I made the presentation it reflected the collective judgment, the sound judgment, of the intelligence community, but it turned out that the sourcing was inaccurate and wrong and, in some cases, deliberately misleading. And for that I'm disappointed, and I regret it.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Secretary, we thank you very much for joining us again and sharing your views with us today. SECRETARY POWELL: Thanks, Tim.

(END OF PRE-TAPE INTERVIEW)

MR. RUSSERT: AND THAT WAS AN UNEDITED INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE, TAPED EARLIER THIS MORNING FROM JORDAN.

Nice weather they're having in Jordan, isn't it?

...dishonesty, radical behavior, secrecy, distraction, inappropriate power play -- all have become so typical over the last 3.5 years.

That moment on MTP really crystalizes the experience of living in America under George Bush.

years of doing interviews.

Has anyone heard what he has to say about this? He looks pissed off. I wonder if he is going to join the ranks of those who are jumping ship?

Does anyone know what his reaction is? Is he bashing anyone?

he is really toast now, but if they dump Powell I think that the diplomatic corps will outwardly endorse Kerry.

just have to say out loud. i am totally disappointed in the man, but glad he had enough integrity not to go with this play. and he didnt

and it would be nice for him to point that out. It is obvious to Powell wasn't "staying on message" and they attempted to have his message edited out of the interview. I hope Russert grows a pair and tells the American people what this is all about.

blame it all on the CIA. "We didn't lie, we had bad intelligence." That contradicts the reports of Powell calling the intelligence a bunch of shit, then spouting it anyway before the UN.

Now I kinda agree with the move.

that was a very weird moment. Maybe not so much just by itself, but indicates the level of information control in this administration. The SECRETARY OF STATE is subject to being cutoff in mid-interview if the right propaganda message is not being transmitted. America under Bush is a scary place.

it literally made my heart race.

At one point I was concerned that Powell would be dragged off to Gitmo.

:scared:

I mean, Powell came out looking very good hear. He stood his aide down to answer a question "honestly," thus drawing a lot of attention to his answer. His answer was disengenuous and self-serving, though. All he said was he had bad information, and given what he had at the time, the decision was the right one. He blamed it all on the CIA, and thus cleared Bush.

Think about this line: "When I made that presentation in February 2003, it was based on the best information that the Central Intelligence Agency made available to me." Notice how he doesn't claim the CIA was fooled, or for that matter he doesn't claim that no one else gave him contradictory information. He doesn't even say "I didn't know the info was false." He could very well have known it was false, and his answer above would still be true.

Now, think about the CIA. They have just leaked info to Sy Hersch blasting Rumsfield and the Pentagon. Whoever is telling the truth in that debate, one thing is clear-- both sides are blaming the other for Abu Graib. Now Powell is blaming the CIA for Iraq. It's open war on the CIA by the White House.

And through it all, Powell is on Bush's team. Let's not praise him until he does something virtuous for a change.

... bet on the CIA.

And Powell chose his words carefully -- about what was MADE AVAILABLE to him. In other words, he's linking the "best information" with a wink and a nod to "it's only what was made available to me, and there was other stuff they kept under lock and key."

Imagine if he weren't being minded by Emily Miller:

"When I made that presentation in February 2003, it was based on the best information that the Central Intelligence Agency made available to me. Unfortunately, their 'best' information had been filtered and tampered with by a rogue DOD unit controlled by Rumsfeld, Feith, and Wolfowitz, and was nothing but a sack of steaming camel pies given us by Ahmed Chalabi. And it may have been 'best' enough for George Tenet, but now we know that others in the intelligence community had far more accurate information that would in fact have greatly enhanced the chances that I could have resolved the matter diplomatically."

saw Powell's presentation at the UN. Millions of people knew Powell's 'evidence' was a fraudulent attempt to sway people into accepting the invasion of Iraq. Looking back at his presentation shows just how inept and amateurish it was, a political cartoon. The drawings of the so-called chemical trucks, the vial, the Iraqi industrial installation showing absolutely no evidence of illegal operations. Pure garbage. Powell deserves no praise for going along with Bushco's conjured up reasons for invading Iraq. It is hard to understand why this man gets a pass for putting his personal political ambitions before integrity and the truth.

SECRETARY POWELL: We've really scre...

MR. RUSSERT: I think that was one of your staff Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate.

Was Russer berating Miller or Powell?

Yep, big time, as Uncle Dick Cheney would say.
I think Russert was berating whoever touched that camera.

http://algraffix.nstemp.com/powellMTP.wmv <-high bandwidth (6MB Windows Media stream)

http://algraffix.nstemp.com/powellMTP.rm <-dial-up (600KB Real Media stream)

Kudos. :toast:

This Emily MILLER, from DeLAY *and* LAZIO.

Figures. Add to that her background in media------when THOSE go into bureaucracy as "media experts" they are self-important klutzes, have their small-head-media-hats on and screw up BADLY. Is she on suicide watch now?

********QUOTE********

.... Emily Miller, a former press secretary in the leadership office, has been named communications director to the majority whip, one of five changes in his press office.

Miller, who was press secretary to then-Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.), came to Capitol Hill from television news.

She had been an associate producer for ABC News’ “This Week” and “Good Morning America,” and a production assistant in NBC News’ Washington Bureau. A native of Baltimore, Miller is a graduate of Georgetown University. ....

********UNQUOTE******

That's how I felt watching Majority Whip Tom DeLay suddenly morph into a champion of protest marches and civil disobedience. "This was not a threatening band of armed thugs," said DeLay spokesperson Emily Miller, referring to the raucous demonstrators who stormed the Miami-Dade elections department. "They were idealistic, enthusiastic, young Republicans who felt they were being shut out."

she's going to be out of a job by the end of the day. She did more to make Powell look bad than any answer to any question he'd given in the interview. Perception is reality, and she made it look like Powell had something to hide-- and perhaps he does, but she certainly didn't make matters better by using thug tactics to stop an interview.

That tactic might have worked 18 months ago, but it's suicidal to try it now. The press is going to gnaw on that one for the next 2 weeks.

Get out the way.

SECRETARY POWELL: Emily, get out of the way. Bring the camera back please. (Camera returns to the interview subject) I think we're back on Tim, go ahead with your last question.

and compare his work at bringing peace and the classy and cultured decorum he presents himself with to Powell and his history, plus this Miller person who possibly works for/has worked for DeLay makes an impression on me.

State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside said Powell had scheduled five interviews one after another and that NBC went over the agreed upon time limit. She said every effort was made to get NBC to finish up, but that other networks had booked satellite time for interviews with Powell.

The executive producer of "Meet the Press," Betsy Fischer, said the exchange was not edited out because most taped interviews are not altered before airing.

She said Powell aide Emily Miller called right after the taping to "express her displeasure" that the interview ran long. Fischer also said Powell called Russert a few hours later to apologize.

The State Department would not confirm either call or that Miller was the aide addressed by Powell.


more at: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-exec/2004/may/16/05160707...

even funnier when McCain tried to dodge the VP question by requesting that his camera go to a shot of a palm tree.

I love it.

Folks, I think we have another DU-ism. If a circus act screws up, the clowns are ready to take to the ring on a moment's notice. If a Bush official screws up, they go to a shot of palm trees.

Better verbiage might be "go to palm trees" or something like that.