Cooper Meets Russert

This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, Tim Russert interviewed Time's Matt Cooper.

It was an EXCLUSIVE!!!!!

NBC's been getting a lot of exclusives lately. First, Jamie Gangel was propping up Joe Wilson's lies on Today. Now, Russert has done his part to promote Cooper as some sort of hero in the Rove non-scandal.

I'm not familiar with Cooper, but he appeared nervous. His voice was shaky. He didn't come off like he did during his announcement last week that he had received a dramatic, eleventh hour waiver that would spare him jail time.

I don’t know why he would be nervous. It’s not as if Tim Russert isn’t on the "Rove is a crook" team.

Russert played the clip of Cooper revealing the "stunning set of developments," the waiver that released him from confidentiality.

Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, had given Cooper's lawyer that waiver nearly two years ago! Yeah---Stunning!

Russert quoted Luskin as saying how strange those theatrics were; but Cooper insisted that he believed he needed a personal waiver.

Apparently, Cooper is stupid and his lawyer sucks. It was a blanket waiver that anyone could understand. Cooper was released by Rove long ago, not that day, as initially reported.

Russert didn't bother to challenge Cooper on why he presented an old waiver as a "stunning set of developments."

I wasn't surprised.

Cooper brought up Judith Miller. He said she sits "in jail because she didn’t get a waiver she feels comfortable with."

What does that mean?

Russert acted like he hadn't heard it. He obviously didn't want to get anywhere near the weirdness of the Miller matter.

Russert ended the rather brief segment by asking what Cooper has learned by all of this. He replied that he needs to be "more discreet about emails."

When questioned if he believes this will affect his career, Cooper said, "No."

"Where is the investigation heading?"

"I just don’t know."

THE END

What a hard-hitting exclusive interview! Cooper speaks out for the first time!!!

Cooper said nothing. I'm sorry I didn't sleep in.

Next up: Ken Mehlman and John Podesta.

The anti-Rove push continued, but Mehlman did a good job of presenting the ridiculousness of the Dems and the MSM on this feeding frenzy.

One bizarre moment was when Russert asked if Mehlman would accept indictments if special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald hands one to Rove.

"Will you accept his decision?"

Mehlman said he's not a lawyer. He's just the chair of the RNC.

Russert rephrased the question: If Fitzgerald indicts WH officials, will you pledge today you won’t criticize his decision?

Mehlman said it’s all speculation, but reiterated that he has confidence in Fitzgerald. It took three times, with Mehlman giving the same response, before Russert moved on. He obviously was looking to get a juicy sound bite for later use.

Podesta was his usual abrasive self.

He said, "If [Rove] had an ounce of character, he'd do the right thing and resign."

Every time Podesta spoke, he smeared Rove and called for him to leave the WH.

Russert pressed Mehlman. He showed a clip of David Gregory badgering Scott McClellan.

Mehlman said that facts have shown Rove was not the source of the leak, that the information "exonerates and vindicates, not implicates."

Still, Russert kept trying to chip away at the credibility of the White House, that McClellan said Rove wasn't involved when he was.

Mehlman said Rove wasn’t involved in a LEAK.

Podesta yapped that he was.

He used that familiar line: "The American people know that."

Mehlman pointed out that Wilson misled the public about who sent him to Niger, about what he found, about issue after issue.

Rather than address that, Wilson's complete lack of credibility, Russert insinuated that if this was a Dem scandal, the Republicans would be jumping all over it. He wanted to know what the RNC would be saying in that case.

Mehlman replied, "We wouldn’t be smearing for political gain."

Podesta just kept pushing the line, "Mr. Rove did not tell the truth." He also managed to get the exact death toll in Iraq into his comments about Rove.

When asked if Rove will survive, Mehlman said he would.

Podesta said, "I don’t think he should. He’s hurting the President."

Although it was two against one, I think Mehlman won on substance. Without question. Nonetheless, I'm sure the foaming at the mouth Dems will view it another way. Rove is the Antichrist to them. Facts are irrelevant.

To cap off the program, Woodward and Bernstein showed up to hawk their Deep Throat book.

The irony was remarkable. The past two segments had focused on the "Rove is a crook and a leaker" theory.

Then, in a sharp 180, one of American history's most infamous leakers, Mark Felt, was depicted as a hero.

By the end of the show, Russert was positively giddy.

If it’s Sunday, it’s "Meet the Anti-Bush Administration Press."


Note: At 11:00AM CT, still no transcript available.

Note: At 12:25PM CT, no transcript.

Finally: Transcript