Am I the only one who heard President Bush call the rescue pilots after Katrina "helicopter drivers"?
No wonder he holds so few press conferences.
The man consistantly shows his ignorance.

Mr. Williams, I was so impressed with your hard-hitting coverage of the failures of the Katrina response that I thought you might actually challenge the President on his failing policies. Instead it was a 30 minute George Bush promotional puff piece. the Republican National Committee could not have done a better job. Softball questions, no followups...I am really disappointed in you. The White House used your position and role to "re-position" the President...and you fell for it. What a disappointment.

With all due respect, I also thought that the piece, while it contained some substance, was mostly puff. Mr. Williams just seemed so obviously thrilled to be with the President, which isn't really what I'd expect from a seasoned journalist.

I actually listened to most of the interview on XMradio. Althought this was no Barbara Walters interview, at least we have been able to hear Bush's response to relevant questions. I view the nterview asthe opportunity to hear Bush's public view on some topical questions. I did not see that Brian Williams' role was to "interrogate" or investigate. No, I am not a conservative, I am actually ashamed that Bush is our president, but that does not mitigate my interest in hearing his words. We need more of that. Bush is well able to bury himself, he does not need help.

What an opportunity for Mr. Brian Williams! But for the sake of completeness of reporting, can Mr. Brian Williams/ NBC News let the viewers (and readers of the Blogs) know if there were out-of-bound topics for Mr. Brian Williams (like missing WMD!)

Mr. Williams should be ashamed of this interview. He showed himself to be the Prince of Puff, and clearly a pawn of the administration. Find some professional integrity.

brian williams! I have read the above letters don't belive it we thought it was well done. we noticed that most of the complainers didn't have any guestions that they wanted asked just that you should ask the righ ones and somehow get the answers they wanted to hear

boy oh boy.....did I miss the memo that announced that the nightly news was purchased to act as a PR machine for the "president"? If I weren't so disgusted I would have turned the channel but I had to see what was coming next....the SAD part is there was nothing offered up "NEW"....it was more of the same - do you really expect the "president" to tell American people that he does not read the newspapers or watch the news?????????? Geez.....where have all the good news people gone???? Virtually a whole 30 minutes devoted to a man that lies through his teeth while American service men are hauled back to the States in the god damned cargo area of a plane......something is terribly wrong here.

My wish on all of this is that all these comments should be directed to President Bush himself.Considering all that has been said here it is obvious that it would take much more time than what is provided to direct all these questions in a single day's short (timed) series of talks (interviews?) with G W Bush himself. Too bad, because the questions asked here are just the ones that Biush should hear.They reflect the great concern we the commen American citizen have on what IS happening witht governing of this country? It I shudder to realize we are being so missmanaged by a group of (YES) peopole that have to suck up to this president who apparently does not know how to manage the business of this great country other than safely inside his box of high income associates.Bush will never respond to these tough questiones even if they were asked.That's the pity of it all.

Mr. Williams and NBC News:

Rather than this being a moment of redemption for NBC news for failing to question the now proven phoney facts spoon fed to the media by the Bush administration, this interview is so far proving to be the true unmasking of Williams and NBC News as mere puppets in a play put on by the Bush White House.

My confidence in network news had been waning, and for lack of a better place to turn NBC has been my choice of news for the last few years. Now, after seeing Williams bungle a one-on-one opportunity to ask the questions the rest of the media has been afraid to ask, and that Americans want to hear, I am quite certain to be looking for a new source of news.

If the access was granted with the understanding that Williams was to throw only softballs and fail to follow up on obvious misdirection, then the nightly newscast should start by saying so. If it wasn't, shame on NBC and on Williams for failing to the job America should demand from its news media.

If Bush is a reverse chichen little, then NBC and Williams have proven to be the see-no-evil, hear-no-evil monkeys that just repeat as fact all that reverse chicken little says. This is not the Press that was to stand as the fourth pillar of our democracy, nor the shadow government that was to safeguard it.

I ask Williams and NBC to please recommit themselves to these ideals and responsibilities as newsmen, otherwise, just call themselves "fair and balanced" and forget about any higher moral responsibilty as members of the American media.

Brian,

Hope you find it in your gut to ask the President real questions. It is so obvious that his people around him protect him from anything he may have a difficult time with responding to - which about sums up anything that is not rehearshed ahead of time. Why don't you ask the President how he feels the American people will look back at his Presidency and rate him among past Presidents. I believe that Bush will go down as the worst President in history. Clinton got a ***** with an intern - but at least he was able to balance the budget, improve foreign relations abroad, and relate to the American people. Bush lives in his little box oblivious to what is going on around him. I am ashamed to have a bafoon for a President.

Brian, ask real questions that the American people want answered on Iraq, economy, high oil prices, healthcare mess, his non-existent Social Security proposal, etc. Just about everything that effects this country he has failed miserably at. If the Democrats cannot clean up after his mess, than we are in dire straights.

Lets face it; the 'Nightly News' is not there to inform the public but to sell advertising time. They will produce just enough information and half truths to make the viewer too afraid to turn the station. This crap is more of the same...

REVERSE CHICHEN LITTLE is as good a description of Bush's actions as I've seen. I would just like to add, is it proper for the NBC anchorman to neglect asking the tough questions, and questioning the incomplete and misleading off-the-shelf answers, on this opportunity when the very existence of America as the beacon of truth and justice in the world are so in danger by this president's actions?

How do you know you are not being used and spun by this President?

I wish someone would follow up on President Bush's constantly shifting rational for invading Iraq. For example are we are going to go to war with China since they don't have a free Democracy, a free press or open elections? We fought to "free" Kuwait but do women have the right to vote there?

From what I've seen on TV so far, the questions posed by Brian have been puff piece-type questions all while there are serious life-and-death issues as well as issues that go to the very core of America's standing in the world. There is a widely held perception of GW Bush as a Reverse Chicken Little ... "everything's allright.. everything's going wel... success, sucess, sucess..." while it is very apparent to all objective observers that it is not so. Will Brian take this opportunity to see how the President's mind reconciles his professations with the reality of Iraq? Will Brian join the pack of reporters who reports as news -- without question -- anything that comes off the President's mouth? Sadly, I think I know the answer.. but we can only hope...

I second that Natalie. I could ask better questions than the msm reporters. Maybe it's because I'm not afraid of losing my job like they are.

I hope we get to see more than Brian Williams asking him if he feels like he's in a bubble. Isn't it obvious that someone who is in a bubble wouldn't know it? That'll be a waste of several minutes of air time while allowing Bush to do his aw shucks act.

Americans want him to be asked about the real reason for this war. How can he say he didn't manipulate data when we know that all his so called facts were not true, wmd, yellow-cake, saddam-al quada link, immenent threat and on and on?

How does he live with himself knowing all the American soldiers who have been killed and maimed. What about all the Iraqi's that have been killed and maimed. What about all the children?

Does he feel he and his cohorts should contribute their vast fortunes to the US treasury to help pay for the war they wanted? I do. I still think his brother Neil should pay back the billion dollars he lost in the S&L debacle of the 80's and the taxpayers had to bail him out. I think we also had to bail out Jeb. Who's there to bail out the poor and middle class when they go bancrupt? Is he willing to pay off their bills like we did his brother's. We don't have bin Laden's to bail us out like he did when his businesses failed.

And what about New Orleans?

Mr. Williams: Please prove us wrong and do a good interview. Hold his feet to the fire.

He managed to sell me on his committment to Iraq being more than just a "save" for him. It is good news that Sunnis know that the ballgame is in getting a position in their Legislature, not just shooting from the hip in their streets at us. But he still lied to us, the people he has appointed have lied repeatedly to us, and still would if they weren't afraid of Chris Matthews and now Tim Russert running their old tapes.

You make it sound like only Bush interviews are a 'yawn'. When has ANY interview with a president been anything more than a 'yawn'?

I would love to hear Bush answer why he thinks Mike "Brownie" Brown did such a good job? If you ever get a chance, please ask him this, especially now in the light of the e-mails that have surfaced where Brown showed almost no sense of urgency to Katrina.

It must be interesting to see what the President does during his day. I am looking forward to your report tonight. I am excited about these blogs during your day - I keep checking back for new ones. I enjoy reading the comments to your blogs too. Especially the ones who bash Bush. You can tell the true intellegence of a person when they think that they are smarter than everyone else. Even if you did an interview with all the questions that people wanted to hear the Bush bashers wouldn't watch it anyway because their too busy protesting the funerals of our fallen soliders. The bottom line is the President deserves everyone's respect - people don't have to love him, but we all need to respect him.

we will be watching, please make it longer.

Brian,

What was the one question or follow-up you wish you had time to ask the President today?

It is fun to read about how people talk about wanting to be the one to ask the President really tough questions. I would imagine saying this on-line is a bit different from asking in person -- on Air Force One or in the Oval Office or anywhere.

Although you may not wish to talk about it on this blog, I think readers like myself would be interested to know if you ever got nervous or felt somewhat intimidated while speaking with the President. You did seem a little more jovial than usual in that first clip.

Regardless, to quote Barney in the great new show "How I Met Your Mother," I think this blog is going to make you "legendary" in your field. There is a certain connecting going on with your audience that I do not think you may ever completely realize.

If you can work it into the conversation can you ask the president this question:
"Given the transition from a huge budfget surplus to a huge budget deficit; a deficit that continues to increase with no end in sight; a foreign policy doctrine that allows the U.S. to invade countries we don't like based on weak, circumstantial "evidence" that may or may not be true; a new judicial policy that allows the U.S to hold suspected "enemies of the State" for indefinite (i.e., unlimited) periods of time in State (i.e., Federal) prisions; a clear indication that the U.S. reserves the right to use torture against suspected "enemies of the State"; the loss of respect for the United States by every country the world communiuty; etc., etc., can you, Mr. President, name any other administration in our history that had done more permanent damage to the standing, reputation, and interests of United States of America.

Seems to me that an NBC anchorman should ALWAYS strive to be unbiased. Too often, Mr. Williams, you seem to get all soft and gooey when pitching questions to the Prez. You always appear to be pro-Bush. Please, whatever your own personal beliefs, please try to hide them when interviewing this president and/or his staff.