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March 8, 2006
Video Shows Bush Knew of Risks to New Orleans Levees
A frame of government video obtained by The Associated Press shows then-Federal Emergency
Management Agency chief Michael Brown on Aug. 28, taking part in a briefing of President Bush
the day before Hurricane Katrina struck. (AP Photo)
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ing the day b efo re K atrina struck
the G u lf C o ast on Aug. 29.
T he vid eo p rom pted D em o ­
cratic leaders on C apitol H ill to
reiterate th eir calls for a new in ­
v estig atio n in to the federal re ­
spo n se to K atrina. H ouse D em o ­
cratic L ead er N ancy P elosi o f
C a lifo rn ia said (he video "p o in ts
out the need for an in dependent
co m m issio n ” to review ev en ts
su rro u n d in g the hurricane.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry
Reid o f Nevada said the video “con­
firms what we have suspected all
along, that this A dm inistration did
anything they can to hide what
really happened." He said the ad ­
ministration "system atically misled
the A m erican people.”
In the Aug. 29 briefing. Bush
d id n 't ask a single question but
assured soon-to-be-battered state
officials: "W e are fully prepared.”
But Sen. M ary Landrieu, D-La.,
said the video shows that the ad ­
m inistration failed to prepare ad­
equately for the possible breach of
the levees protecting New Orleans.
“T his adm inistration was told
what Louisiana already knew: that
our federally constructed levees
could certainly fail,” she said. "But
these concerns, and others made
by disaster relief experts, fell on
deaf ears.”
T he fo o tag e - along w ith seven
days o f tran scrip ts o f b riefings
o b ta in ed by A P - show in e x c ru ­
ciatin g d etail that w h ile federal
o ffic ia ls an ticip ated the tragedy
that u n fo ld ed in N ew O rlean s and
elsew h ere along the G u lf C oast,
they w ere fatally slow to realize
they had not m u s te re d ‘enough
reso u rce s to deal w ith the u n ­
p reced en ted disaster.
A top hurricane expert voiced
"grave concerns" about the levees
and Brow n, then the Federal Em er­
gency M anagem ent A gency chief,
told the president and H omeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
that he feared there w eren’tenough
disaster team s to help evacuees at
the Superdom e.
Baseball Mourns a Legend
PRE-ORDER YOUR
bs HBE*?
(A P ) — On the eve o f H u rri­
can e K atrin a’s fateful landfall.
P resid en t Bush w as co n fid en t.
H is ho m elan d security c h ie f ap ­
peared relaxed. Louisiana officials
w ere heaping praise on the fed ­
eral governm ent.
And w arnings o f the com ing
destruction - breached or overrun
levees, deaths at the New O rleans
S u p erd o m e and o v erw h elm in g
needs for post-storm rescues - were
delivered in dram atic term s to all
involved.
All o f it was captured on video­
tape.
The Associated Press obtained
the confidential governm ent video
and m ade it public last week, offer­
ing Am ericans their own inside
glim pse into the governm ent’s fate­
ful final Katrina preparations after
m onths o f fingerpointing and po­
litical recriminations.
‘ My gut tells m e ... this is a bad
one and a big o n e,” then-federal
d isaster ch ief M ichael Brow n told
the final g o v ern m en t-w id e brief-
m an Jeff Idelson said. Only
L o u G e h rig , a t 3 7 , w as
younger.
Puckett led the Tw ins to
cham pionships in 1987 and
(AP) — Kirby Puckett didn’ t need
1991 after breaking into the
much tim e to make a big impact.
m ajors in 1984. W ith a career
Those who felt it, near and far, can
batting average o f .318, six
only wish he had stayed around
G old G loves and 10 All-Star
longer.
gam e appearances, Puckett
The bubbly Hall o f Fam er with
w oke up one m orning during
the boyish enthusiasm for base­
spring training in 1996 and
ball, who led the M innesota Tw ins
never played again because
to two W orld Series titles before his
o f blindness in his right eye.
career was cut short by glaucom a,
A makeshift m em orial b e­
died M onday after a stroke. He was
gan to form M onday night
45.
o u tsid e the M etrodom e in
“ He was revered throughout the
M inneapolis, M inn., with a
country and will be rem em bered
handful
o f bouquets, caps and
Kirby Puckett led his team to two
candles
laid on the sidewalk.
championships.
“ 1 grew up in Centerfield yell­
wherever the gam e is played," com ­ ing down on him. It’sju st not right,”
m issioner Bud Selig said. "K irby said fan Daniel Boche, who knelt
was taken from us much too soon - down to pay his respects. "H e was
my idol grow ing up.”
and too quickly.”
“ I t ’ s tough to take," Tw ins gen­
Indeed, Puckett was the second-
youngest person to die having al­ eral m anager Terry Ryan said from
re a d y
been
e n s h rin e d
at the team ’s spring training cam p in
Cooperstown, Hall of Fame spokes­ Fort M yers, Fla.
Kirby Puckett
dead at 45
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Jackson 5 Drummer Killed
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(AP) - Prosecutors said a woman
told police she stabbed a form er
drum m er for the Jackson 5 with a
steak knife when he lunged at her
during a fight.
Y olanda D avis, 44, w as being
held w ithout bond on a ch arg e o f
m u rd er M onday. She is ch arg ed
w ith killing Jo h n n y Jack so n , 54.
o f G ary, Ind. w ho w as found dead
M arch 1 in a G ary hom e. He re ­
p laced the Ja ck so n 5 ’s o rig in al
d ru m m er M ilfo rd H ite aro u n d
1967, b ut re p o rts c o n flic t on
w h eth er he w as related to G a ry ’s
leg en d ary Jack so n fam ily , w hich
in clu d es pop stars M ichael and
Jan et.
He grew up a few blocks from
the Jackson family and had made a
name for him self as a drum m ing
prodigy before he started high
school, said Gordon Keith, who
has sued Jackson family members
over the rights to their early record­
ings with his Steeltow n Records.
“ He was a show drummer,” Keith
recalled. "There were tim es that he
would outshine M ichael at their
sh o w s."
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BlackBerry email devices will continue to operate after a settle­
ment in a patent lawsuit.
BlackBerrys to Stay On
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(A P ) — T h e m a k er o f the
BlackBerry e-mail device has settled,
its long-running patent d ispute
with a small V irginia-based firm,
averting a possible court-ordered
shutdow n o f the BlackBerry sys­
tem.
Research in M otion. Ltd., will
cough up $ 6 12 million in a “full and
final settlem ent o f all claim s," the
com panies said.
The settlem ent ends a period of
anxiety for many o f the more than 3
m illion BlackBerry users in the
United States. U ncertainty over the
outcom e had some custom ers w on­
dering w hether they w ould experi­
ences b rief outages o r even a shut­
down.
“ I ’m r e lie v e d ,” s a id M a tt
Lattman. a m anagem ent consultant
in Boston. “ I’ve had it for about a
year, and at this point. I c a n ’t im ag­
ine life w ithout it."
Black Berry officials had assured
users it had developed new soft­
ware to work around patents. But
because few details were released,
analysts and som e corporations
expressed concerns.