President Bush to Appear on 'Meet the Press'

Neither the White House nor NBC would confirm it Thursday morning, but MSNBC's Chris Matthews announced last night that President Bush will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" this Sunday.

"President Bush, by the way – big news now – will be Tim Russert's guest this Sunday on 'Meet the Press,'" Matthews told his "Hardball" audience.

"This is a big deal," NBC Washington correspondent Norah O'Donnell told Matthews. "President Bush will sit down for the full hour with Tim Russert in the Oval Office for his first interview, his first Sunday morning interview."

David Gregory, the network's White House correspondent, predicted that Russert would grill Bush on allegations that he had gone "AWOL" from the National Guard in 1972.

But Gregory noted that Bush's key accuser on the matter, Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, who told the Boston Globe in 2000 that Bush never showed up for Guard drills with his Alabama unit, had recanted as recently as this week.

"We spoke to him yesterday," Gregory told radio host Don Imus, "and he said, 'I don't know if [Bush] showed up, I don't know if he didn't. I don't remember how often I was even at the base.'"

Asked Thursday morning to confirm Bush's appearance with Russert, the White House press office told NewsMax.com, "That is information that has yet to be released."

"Meet the Press" spokeswoman Barbara Levin could not be reached to confirm the presidential visit.

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