White House, Dems wrangle on Katrina video

WASHINGTON - The public release of confidential video shot during high-level government briefings about Hurricane Katrina touched off a new partisan skirmish Thursday.

As some Democrats called for a new probe into the federal response to the massive August storm, the White House issued a point-by-point press release defending the Bush administration’s actions during Katrina.

The Associated Press obtained the government video and made it public Wednesday, offering Americans, who have witnessed months of post-disaster fingerpointing and political recriminations, their own inside glimpse into the government’s fateful final Katrina preparations. Video from Aug. 28 showed President Bush appearing confident and his homeland security chief appearing relaxed.

But warnings of the coming destruction — breached or overrun levees, deaths at the New Orleans Superdome and overwhelming needs for post-storm rescues — were delivered in dramatic terms to all involved.

“My gut tells me ... this is a bad one and a big one,” then-federal disaster chief Michael Brown told the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29.

Reid, Pelosi blast administration
The video prompted Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill to reiterate their calls for a new investigation into the federal response to Katrina. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said Thursday the video “points out the need for an independent commission” to review events surrounding the hurricane.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the video “confirms what we have suspected all along, that this administration did anything they can to hide what really happened.” He said the administration “systematically misled the American people.”

The White House promptly issued a detailed press release headlined “Setting The Record Straight,” which began: “The President’s participation in the August 28 videoconference was open to the press, and the full transcript of this videoconference was released to Congress and the public in the fall of 2005.  President Bush participated in briefings, phone calls and conversations throughout this process, and his Administration was focused on making sure that the Federal assets were in place to help the people of New Orleans.  The President has made clear — as recently as this Tuesday — that he was not satisfied with the Federal response. That is why he ordered a comprehensive ‘lessons learned’ report and plans to work aggressively to implement improvements to our disaster response plans by the start of hurricane season.”

Democrats ‘falsely’ attacking Bush
The balance of the press release cited more than a dozen official statements and media reports that it said countered the Democrats' use of the newly released video "to falsely attack the White House’s Hurricane Katrina response."

The Republican-controlled House and Senate have conducted separate investigations of the Katrina response. Democrats in the House, other than those from the affected states, refused to participate in the inquiry, insisting that an independent commission was needed.

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