Tim Russert Still Steaming

Tim Russert is still steaming about the way Secretary of State Colin Powell's staff shifted the camera away from Powell during Sunday's "Meet the Press."

The incident has made headlines nationwide.

During the interview, Powell was obviously miffed when he was taken off camera after Russert continued questioning him beyond 10 minutes - the amount of time Powell agreed to be interviewed.

"A taxpayer-paid employee interrupted an interview," an angry Russert said after the program. "Not in the United States of America, that's not supposed to go on. This is attempted news management gone berserk. Secretary Powell was really stand-up. He was a general and took charge."

Russert could easily have edited out the embarrassing exchange but didn't. "It's part of the story," Russert explained defiantly.

As the story made its way across the news wires Sunday, Powell saw it necessary to call Russert from his jet and was said to be apologetic.

But State Department officials have been less than apologetic. State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside told the Washington Post she disagreed with Russert's account.

She said that NBC "went considerably beyond the agreed end time. Other networks were waiting for their interviews and had satellite time booked, and we didn't want to keep them waiting."

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