Best New Drama: Meet the Press

Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans


Chalk another one up for the New Media. Once again, the bloggers have exposed an inaccuracy in a story that the mainstream media failed to reveal.

As it turns out, Aaron Broussard’s emotional collapse on Meet the Press a couple of weeks ago belonged on NBC’s prime time entertainment schedule, not on one of its news programs.

WASHINGTON -- The Jefferson Parish president's emotional retelling of a mother's desperate calls from a New Orleans nursing home included details that conflict with the timeline of the tragedy.

The story, of a colleague's mother begging her son for rescue as flood waters rose after Hurricane Katrina, came to prominence on Sunday, Sept. 4, when Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans, was interviewed by Tim Russert on NBC's Meet the Press.

New details and interviews with the son whose mother died in the flood show that the tragedy unfolded from Saturday through Monday, Aug. 29 — not Monday through Friday, Sept. 2 as recounted by Broussard. The owners of the nursing home were indicted Tuesday for the deaths of more than 30 residents, which officials say occurred on Aug. 29.

In the course of the interview, in which Broussard was expressing frustration with the slow-footed response by the federal government to the hurricane, he related the personal story of a man whose mother had died in the flooding caused by Katrina. Broussard, who did not identify the man by name at the time, broke down in tears as he related the story. As the Meet the Press transcript shows, Russert paused the interview to allow Broussard to compose himself.

BROUSSARD: ... The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.

RUSSERT: Mr. President...

BROUSSARD: Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody.

RUSSERT: Just take a pause, Mr. President. While you gather yourself in your very emotional times, I understand, let me go to Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi.

Since the broadcast of the interview, which elevated Broussard to national prominence, a number of bloggers have questioned the validity of Broussard’s story.

Subsequent reporting identified the man whom Broussard was referring to in the Meet the Press interview as Thomas Rodrigue, the Jefferson Parish emergency services director. Contacted on Friday by MSNBC.com, Rodrigue acknowledged that his 92-year-old mother and more than 30 other people died in the St. Rita nursing home. They had not been evacuated and the flood waters overtook the residence.

The chronology of the phone calls described by Broussard came under particular scrutiny by bloggers.

Rodrigue said he didn’t see or hear Broussard’s comments on Meet the Press. When told of the sequence of phone calls that Broussard described on Meet the Press, Rodrigue said “No, no, that’s not true.”

“I can’t tell you what he said that day, why he was confused, I’m assuming he was under a tremendous amount of pressure,” Rodrigue told MSNBC.

…Broussard could not be reached for comment Friday, but Jackie Bauer, a spokeswoman for Broussard who was present during the Meet the Press interview, said "it was a misunderstanding."

…When asked how Broussard could have gotten the details of his mother’s story so wrong, Rodrigue said, Broussard “was emotional, absolutely and he was from the time that he found out that, you know, that my mother had died and I was here doing what I’m required to do for the citizens for Jefferson Parish.”

Rodrigue said he hasn’t spoken with Broussard since the Meet the Press broadcast. “He’s been busy, I’ve been busy,” Rodrigue said. “I haven’t really had a chance to sit down and talk to him.”

Oops. It was all a misunderstanding.

Broussard’s dramatic breakdown was based on fiction.

Russert swallowed Broussard’s performance hook, line, and sinker.

I wonder how many viewers were moved by his story, and subsequently outraged at the federal government.

As revealed by the New Media, Broussard’s hysterics and Russert’s excitement over that riveting Meet the Press moment were proven to be misguided.

It’s not NBC’s fault for originally airing Broussard’s “confusion.” However, I do fault Russert and the network for failing to check out the timeline of Broussard’s story. Obviously, they didn’t doubt the man because they were too busy hyping the failure of the Bush administration. Broussard’s pack of lies fit their agenda so they went with it.

Think about it. The guy actually made up dialogue.

"Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?"

"Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday."

One thing we learned is that the president of Jefferson Parish has a very, VERY active imagination.

Broussard is quite the thespian.

MSNBC and NBC News must take responsibility for their shoddy reporting. I think Russert should provide his viewers with an explanation, telling them that Broussard’s story was a complete fabrication.

If NBC is interested in maintaining any degree of journalistic integrity, Russert and the network must come clean about Broussard’s inaccurate account. An acknowledgment of the “misunderstanding” on the MSNBC website is not enough.

MSNBC knew the truth about Broussard's manufactured account last Friday; yet no mention was made of the September 4 program's inaccuracies on last Sunday's Meet the Press. A simple clarification was in order. Russert chose not to address it.

I think it's pretty sleazy to brush the matter under the rug.

There is a bright side to all of this for NBC. They could submit Broussard’s performance to be considered for an Emmy. The network’s entertainment division does seem to be struggling. A talent like Broussard deserves some recognition.

It would provide a much-needed boost to NBC, the number four network.