Out of My Mind

Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina

Mar 2, 3:36 AM (ET)

By MARGARET EBRAHIM and JOHN SOLOMON

(AP) This frame taken from secure government video obtained by The Associated Press shows then-Federal...
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WASHINGTON (AP) - On the eve of Hurricane Katrina's fateful landfall, President Bush was confident. His homeland security chief appeared relaxed. And 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. All of it was captured on videotape.
The Associated Press obtained the confidential government video and made it public Wednesday, offering Americans their own inside glimpse into the government's fateful final Katrina preparations after months of fingerpointing and political recriminations.
"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.
The president didn't ask a single question during the briefing but assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

# posted by The Seditionist @ 3/02/2006 04:34:00 AM