Bumped: Another Katrina Myth: Aaron Broussard's "Emotional" Appearance on MTP (Updated: MSNBC/NBC Correction(?))

(Originally posted 9/14/05)

NOTE: The update featuring MSNBC and NBC News' "Correction" is toward the bottom of the page (UPDATE IV).

In yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times [9/12/05], Richard Roeper called Jefferson Parish, LA president Aaron Broussard's tearful outburst, shown September 4th on Meet the Press, "One of the defining media moments of all the hurricane [Katrina] coverage":

 

"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in a St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' And he said, 'Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.' And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.""

Like a lot of people, I didn't think Broussard's story passed the "smell test". We were right: He was lying.

MSNBC's Dateline web site, September 5th:

On Sunday, America met 56-year-old Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard in an extraordinary display of raw emotion on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when he talked about a colleague whose mother was trapped in a nursing home awaiting rescue.

The man he was talking about is Thomas Rodrigue, who told “Dateline” that his 92-year-old mother was one of 32 elderly people found dead at the St. Rita’s nursing home.

September 7th, New York Times reported on the deaths at St. Rita's:

St. Bernard Parish officials say that 32 of the home's roughly 60 residents died on Aug. 29, more than a week ago.

August 29th was a Monday. Was Broussard confused about the day on which Rodrigue's mother died?

Susan Candiottoti, reporting on the September 8th broadcast of Newsnight With Aaron Brown:

CANDIOTTI: Sunday night [ed: August 28th], as Katrina struck, Rodrigue was 30 miles away directing emergency personnel for Jefferson Parish. He called the nursing home in St. Bernard Parish again, pleading with officials to get the residents out. He was told they were going to try.

RODRIGUE: I called the St. Bernard officials again and, you know, told them that, you know, they've got to get, you know, these people out. And they said they notified them, and that they weren't -- they refused to leave. And I said, "Well, you need to send the sheriff's office down there and make them leave." And he said, "I'm doing everything I can."

So, Thomas Rodrigue says he was calling the St. Rita's nursing home, and St. Bernard Parish officials on Sunday, August 28th, asking them to send the local sheriff to evacuate the nursing home. Katrina hit St. Bernard Parish on Monday, August 29th, killing his mother.

Broussard claims Rodrigue was talking to his mother for four days after she died, promising her some nebulous "cavalry" was on the way. His story doesn't jibe with the reporting of CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, or even Thomas Rodrigue's own account.

Why would he lie about such a thing?

Aaron Broussard's crocodile tears came at the tail-end of a tirade against FEMA, in response to a question from Tim Russert asking whether the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana could have been "more forceful, much more effective and much more organized in evacuating the area." Just before his "breakdown," Broussard said:

"Sir, they were told like me, every single day, "The cavalry's coming," on a federal level, "The cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming.""

Who is the "they" he's referring to? It's worth noting that, according to the State of Loisiana's Emergency Preparedned Plan (PDF warning)local officials are responsible for evacuating residents of the various parishes before and during the early stages of the aftermath of a hurricane.

Was Broussard (a Democrat) trying to score political points (and possibly deflect blame away from local government officials) by blaming federal agencies for failing to respond in a timely manner when people's lives were in danger?

If that was his intention, it worked (at least at first). Russert didn't challenge him, even when he made wild accusations of FEMA "cutting [his parish's] emergency [communication] lines" and ordering the Coast Guard not to give them badly needed fuel.

Since any blame for this should be placed on Lousiana state and/or local government officials, any OUTRAGE or RIGHTEOUS indignation should be directed toward them. But don't hold your breath waiting for Tim Russert to issue a correction.

To their credit, even Lies.com issued a correction after initially reporting on reporting on Broussard's accusations has been suspicious of (and asking questions about) Broussard's claims from the very beginning, and recently offered the following:

So, assuming the MSNBC story is accurate, Broussard’s story was at least significantly embellished... Broussard, for all the apparent sincerity in his emotional on-air breakdown, was willing to lie in order to make his story work better as political theater, which in turn makes it harder for me to credit the rest of the slow-FEMA-response anecdotes he described.

I won't be as kind. At best, I think Aaron Broussard is the political equivalent of a price gouger; taking advantage of a tragedy in order to gain political capital. He may very well be purposely trying to blame someone's death on an innocent party (or parties). Either way, it's despicable.

See also: Heh.

Other Katrina Myth posts: "Homeland Security" Wouldn't Let Red Cross Deliver Food and Water to Katrina Victims

UPDATE: Right Thoughts smelled a rat here (no offense to rats) as well, and has been tracking this story.

UPDATE II: I sent a link to this post to Richard Roper, with a short note saying:

It looks like (Aaron Broussard's) story doesn't match the facts as reported by CNN, MSNBC, Dateline, the New York Times, or even the son of the woman who was killed.

Last night (9/14/05) I received the following response:

thanks john, i appreciate the info.

Roeper is now on the record as knowing the facts surrounding the story Broussard recounted to Tim Russert on Meet the Press. I hope he informs his readers.

UPDATE III: I made a mistake on the date of the Sunday noted in the Newsnight With Aaron Brown interview with Thomas Rodrigue. It was the 28th, not the 27th. I neglected to link the transcript as well, that's been fixed. Neither of these mistakes would have changed the subtance of the post.

UPDATE IV: Check out this morning's MSNBC/NBC News article:

"An emotional moment and a misunderstanding"

New details and interviews with the son whose mother died in the flood show that the tragedy unfolded from Saturday through Monday, Aug. 29 — not Monday through Friday, Sept. 2 as recounted by Broussard...

Since the broadcast of the interview, which elevated Broussard to national prominence, a number of bloggers have questioned the validity of Broussard’s story...

The chronology of the phone calls described by Broussard came under particular scrutiny by bloggers.

Rodrigue said he didn’t see or hear Broussard’s comments on Meet the Press. When told of the sequence of phone calls that Broussard described on Meet the Press, Rodrigue said “No, no, that’s not true.”

(H/T: The Anchoress)

The article goes on to quote a spokewoman for Broussard, who says it was "A misunderstanding."

Rodrigue himself says he believe Broussard "Must have been confused."

I think it's worth noting that anyone who's watched the interview can plainly see that Broussard is reading from prepared notes throughout. If this was a misunderstanding, it was one that was carefully prepared.

UPDATE V: Satire from The Therapist: Broussard To Retract Drowning Timeline On Wednesday,Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday

Comments

[Bullshark]

I showed up at the Acaidian Ambulance Center in Terrytown, right behind the mall where the JP command center was on 31 Aug with 50 private boats. Aaron didn't want boats, he wanted the government. He turned us away.

[Brian]

In addition to being one of the more memorable "fake-cry" performances since Tonya Harding at the 1994 Winter Olympics, Mr. Broussard's style had that unconvincing, liberal creepiness of an Al Gore convention speech drama - syrupy thick with a cadence that even a dyslexic Jesse Jackson supporter could handle ("monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday"). Mr Russert's patented 2.3 second "the donkey ate my homework" delayed response was the perfect topper.

[Tom]

Poor Russert, the useful idiot was just lapping up every word the bumbling Broussard fool was "tearfully" spouting against the Bush Administration. What's new? Don't expect Russert to admit that he has been duped, again.

[rodander]

And given that Broussard is the president of the parish, it would seem that he is part of the problem that he was crying about.

[John from WuzzaDem]

Exactly. This happened before the storm hit, and according to the state's Emergency Preparedness Plan (linked in the post), parish presidents are responsible for evacuating citizens. There was no federal "cavalry" involved at that time.

[sensible mom]

By the way, Roeper is a film critic. Of course he thought it was a defining moment, he evaluates play-acting as a profession -- he knows good acting when he sees it.

[Greg]

Great catch John. I hate to admit, I was taken in by his performance and didn't heed the red flags.

[cm]

After I heard Broussard's story on Sunday, I figured it was wrong or a lie because of one important detail. How was the em guy supposed to be calling his mom everyday when all communications were down in New Orleans?!?!

[Brainster]

Good job; this also invalidates a hefty chunk of Slow-Mo Dowd's column today.

[Lynxx Pherrett]

"I'm expecting that some people who are die-hards will die hard."

- Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, quoted on 2theadvocate, a joint local TV station and newspaper site in Baton Rouge, Aug 29.

Maybe reporters edited out his follow-on of, 'then we'll blame the feds.'

[JimK]

I was on this story 3 days ago and have been updating all along. I sent links around over the last three days and no one cared. All of a sudden it's a story.

*sigh*

[TheRightWingM]

This clarifies everything! Well I was skeptical about Broussard's Croc Tears on Meet The Press on Sept 4. But I didn’t see any tears when Broussard said this on Aug. 29th which so happened to be a day Thomas Rodrigue mother died in the hurricane.> “I’m expecting that some people who are die-hards will die hard,” Jefferson Parish council President Aaron Broussard told the Associated Press.

[Lisa]

Whoever inserted the [editorial comment] about the date in the transcript of September 8th's Newsnight with Aaron Brown quoted the wrong date. Sunday night was August 28th. Any pleas for evacuation would have been going on during the afternoon and night of August 28th. Long before dawn on the 29th, it would have been too late to evacuate. In all the stories I have read about St. Rita's, the nursing home flooded during Hurricane Katrina and not after the levee breach and flooding days later. Local residents tried to save some of the patients during the storm. If Mr. Rodrigue's mother did die in St. Rita's, she died Monday, August 29th.

[John from WuzzaDem]

Lisa,

You're right about the date, that was a typo and has been fixed.

If you read the post, it clearly states that Ms. Rodrigue was killed on the 29th when the storm hit. That's the point - she died a day before Broussard claims this series of phone calls took place.

As for the evacuation, they didn't need to wait for Mr. Rodrigue to call, they knew they were in the path of a cat 4 or 5 hurricane, and other nursing homes in the area evacuated in plenty of time - one of them was interviewed by Joe Scarborough just tonight.

If you do some Googling, you'll see that St. Rita's was in a low-lying area that was especially succeptible to floods. But the owners turned down offers of help and decided not to evacuate, which is why they're sitting in jail facing multiple counts of negligent homicide.

[Just another opinion]

July 12, 2005

Reported by The Associated Press

Criticized by the governor and neighboring parish leaders for calling an early evacuation as Hurricane Dennis approached the Gulf coast, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard is threatening to pull his support of a state evacuation plan.

In a letter to Governor Kathleen Blanco, Broussard criticized the governor for saying in a television interview that the state can't have one parish going out on its own. On Friday morning, Dennis was forecast to hit around the Florida-Alabama state line Sunday evening but New Orleans was still in the margin of forecast error.

Broussard held a late morning news conference saying he had asked the state to implement contraflow at midday and that the state had refused. He called for a voluntary evacuation of all of Jefferson Parish beginning at noon.

In his letter to Blanco, Broussard said that following the state plan would have meant a late-night evacuation for many of his residents. Broussard said he let leaders of other parishes know of his plan in advance and none of them objected at the time.

Blanco, during a news conference today, said she hadn't yet had a chance to review Broussard's letter, but she said it is important to have coordinated evacuation efforts when hurricanes threaten Louisiana.



There you have if folks...the truth

[John from WuzzaDem]

Just another opinion,

I've seen this before. Can you explain how it is in any way relevant to this post?

[SarahW]

It is clear that all residents of the home who died from drowning died in rapid flooding of the home on the 29th, in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

As of Yesterday, Eva Rodgriquez' remains had not been located; also, as of Tuesday, none of the persons who died had been officially identified, according to the coroner, Bertucci

Many of those evacuated have also not been identified.

Some family searching for their relatives actually have no idea whether their loved ones who resided at the home perished or have been evacuated. The flooding occurred so quickly it was pparently impossible to acertain the identity of all the evacuees.

I suppose, it is even possible that Rodrigue is still alive but not in a condition to share her identity.

This USA today piece on the flooding at St. Rita's tells the story of one firefighter and his sister trying to find their father, and talking about how worried they were about their relatives being moved to safety.

I went to visit my dad Saturday night,' she said. 'He had trouble speaking. He kept looking at me, he kept saying, 'Hurricane is coming, are you coming to get me?' He asked several times.

Rodrigue is a former firefighter, he had sent a firefighter to try to retrieve his mother at some point.

I can't imagine there hasn't been a lot of personal stories being shared among local officials and first responders.

Perhaps Broussard confabulated his story from snippets he had heard.

[John from WuzzaDem]

That USA Today piece was chilling, but it did show that some of the residents were evacuated. It would be wonderful if Rodrigue's mother was found alive somewhere.

I hadn't heard of Rodrigue sending a firefighter for him mother, do you have a link for that?

Re Broussard "filling in the gaps" - throughout the interview, he was obviously reading from notes, and he was determined to get the nursing home story in before Russert cut him off. I can't believe he didn't prepare that story as well.

[rightnumberone]

It's even worse.

Let's assume it's true. That means that the director of Emergency Management in this parish received a telephone call from his own mother on five different days, she pleading for him to come and rescue her.

He never did.

On Friday, she drowned.

Should he be arrested for negligent homicide for failing to go get her?

[SarahW]

I first saw that in the The Lafayette Daily Advertiser.

Rodriguez said one fireman went to a local nursing home, St. Rita's, to rescue his mother only to find she had died. She was one of about 30 residents who had died in the facility waiting for help that never came

Great writing there - the pronouns are ambiguous. But I can't imagine him telling the reporter about some other guy's mom and not mentioning his own, and I think it's clear now he was referring to his own mother.

I read also firefighters were assisting the at the scene on the 29th trying to help evacuate the locals...
But when the firefighter Rodrigue arrived at St. Rita's I can not say.

I also think I ran across another reference to this...and it was more specific about Rodrigue asking someone to check on his mom...but haven't saved the link and can't reemember now where I saw it. I'll look for it.

Broussard definately had that "are you comin' to get me" story with him on his interview "to-do" list.

If Rodrigue believes his mother dead, he may have heard from those on the scene who knew that she didn't make it...so even though her remains have not been found, somebody specifically remembers her NOT getting rescued. Still, if they can't rememeber or identify everyone who got out, it could be that she IS alive.

That would be really happy icing on the cake.

Last I saw, Wikipedia was still saying that "some' were "speculating" that Broussard had...misspoken, "though it is possible" she survived the flooding for days and drowned after waiting for help (trapped in the nursing home? I think not!).

Again, everyone who drowned at St. Rita's, drowned on the 29th.

[SarahW]

"when the firefighter Rodrigue arrived at St. Rita's"

should of course be

"When the firefighter Rodrigue refers to arrived at St. Rita's"

[ScienceRocks]

Help me out here...why does this even matter? Are we really trying to discount the horror that any of these people went through? Why does this matter?
Personally, I think that anyone who tries to make this a state versus feds issue, or a right versus left issue in any way is just plain sick. All levels, both sides screwed the pooch. If we really want things to be fixed then we'll stop any paltry partisan pandering to any one group and hold them all accountable. Now that's fair.

[John from WuzzaDem]

ScienceRocks,

Do a Technorati search on "aaron broussard" tell me how many "Bush's incompetence killed this woman!!" posts you find.

I posted the facts (as reported by the press and the son of the woman who died) to counter the ubiquitous misrepresentation of facts surrounding this incident.

If you really believe that anyone who tries to make this a state versus feds issue, or a right versus left issue in any way is just plain sick, then I would think you'd be glad to see someone pointing out that Aaron Broussard was doing just that, and I assume that once you've run that Technorati search, you'll spend a few hours leaving this same comment at all of the sites using Broussard's words to blame the feds - and ultimately the president - for this woman's death.

As for finding out who screwed up where and holding them accountable, I'm all for it.

[Gary]

So has the lying coward who abandoned the elderly of his parish Broussard given his side of his lies and deceipt yet? Has he tried to somehow back up his outright lies? Where are the reporters sticking mikes in his face asking for his follow-up? Where are the headlines accusing him of murdering all those elderly people. Arrrggghhh!!!!! This makes me so angry I'd like to challenge Broussard to Bricks At 3 Paces!!! His was the first governmental failure to strike the Gulf coast. He needs to go down and go down hard!

[Gary (again)]

I've gone to MSNBC's "send an email to Meet the Press" page and demanded that give an on-air retraction of Mr. Broussard's lies. I don't expect that they will, but here's the url if any of you want to send them a similar email: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/

Of course, you can do like I also did and send an email to MSNBC.com: letters@msnbc.com

Then, you could do like I further did - went to Senator Bill Frist's website and demanded that they launch a congressional investigation into MTP broadcasting Broussard's lies. Okay, I know that won't happen, but it's about time that the Republicans stop bending over and taking this abuse.

Yes, I've done all that since my last post. I'm very productive when I'm angry.

[SarahW]

Here's who screwed up, and should be held accountable - Mable and Salvador Mangano.

They failed to implement their evacuation plan for unknown reasons, perhaps to save money, despite ample opportunity to evacuate. They were simply in denial about the real risk they were facing and decided to ride out the storm, and the people in their charge paid the price.

Perhaps local authorities bear some responsibility for not forcing evacuation of the nursing home. The Federal governement had no part and no responsibility for these deaths.

Eva Rodrigue did not wait four days for any cavalry, or for FEMA to get off it's ass and send someone to rescue her. She did not survive four days waiting for help tht would never come, only to perish by drowning the night before any attempt to rescue her was made.

The flooding ocurred in the immediate aftermath of the storm....it occurred rapidly. That evacuation/rescue attempt did not end until every living soul had been evacuated from the home. No one was left behind to die - those left behind were were dead already.

[Republicanvet]

Russert (and any other media hack) should have asked how this guy could have been calling his mother day after day AFTER the hurricane hit...if the power and phone lines were knocked out.

Is it possible a phone line was working for a day or two after it hit? Possibly. Until Friday? Impossible.

[Fade]

These republican blogs.. Wow. really shows you where THEIR priorities are. They are dissecting the facts behind Broussards interview/the mom dying. Unlike some Public officials (Bush, Cheney, etc) This guy had been in the middle of this shitstorm, was totally physically and mentally exhausted. The Woman died. End of fucking story. Why? Not why did Broussard not tell the fucking story in minute detail, but WHY did she have to die? God these people are so twisted...

[BushisworsethanHitlerSatan&KennyG]

"These republican blogs.. Wow. really shows you where THEIR priorities are. They are dissecting the facts behind Broussards interview/the mom dying."

Yeah, outrageous huh. I mean, looking at the FACTS behind Broussard's false alegations. The nerve!

[Gary]

Oh no you don't! Don't you dare sit on your liberal backside and tell us not to "dissect" Broussard's lies. Not after every one of you left wing morons has done nothing but try to pull detail after detail out of every little article about Katrina trying to weave a web of blame around Bush. No way. The fact remains that Broussard knew the hurricane was coming and he knew those people were in its path. They died because he did nothing. And then the worthless, lying coward tried to cover it up by bawling like some baby blaming his spilt milk on the older brother. Broussard is a gutless wonder who failed his people and then tried to shift his guilt to the feds. At least Bush has had the balls to admit that the federal government didn't respond ask quickly as it should've. Not one local official has acknowledged their failures, neither have state officials. (You want me to enumerate Ray Nagin's failures?) The fact that they are all democrats tells you which party is facing the reality of the situation and which party is populated by lying cowards trying to shift their blame to someone else.