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U.S. Networks to Air Rice Testimony Live Thursday
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The three major U.S. broadcast networks said on Tuesday they will broadcast live National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 2001 attacks.ABC, NBC and CBS said they would go live at 9 a.m. EDT on Thursday to broadcast the appearance, which comes amid controversy over whether she failed to focus on the threat posed by al Qaeda in the weeks before the Sept. 11 2001 attacks on the world Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Fox News spokesman said they would offer their coverage to affiliates to air at their discretion. A spokeswoman for NBC news said Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert would anchor the network's coverage; CBS said Dan Rather would handle its coverage; and ABC said Peter Jennings and a senior team of correspondents would cover the event. Rice is scheduled to appear before the commission for 2-1/2 hours, and the networks said they would stay with her appearance as events warranted. She is expected to address claims by former U.S. counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke that she and President Bush ignored the threat of al Qaeda before the 9/11 attacks. While it is not uncommon for networks to interrupt regular daytime programing for breaking news, lengthy scheduled preemptions during the day for news events are far less frequent. NBC said the last time it aired daytime gavel-to-gavel coverage of a live address was the one given by Secretary of State Colin Powell at the United Nations in February 2003.
Posted by: Steve White 2004-04-07 |
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