By Antonio D. French
Filed Saturday, March 4 at 12:15 PM
The Associated Press released a video this week showing President George W. Bush being briefed on the seriousness of the still-approaching Hurricane Katrina. In the briefing, Bush and officials from the Department of Homeland Security are warned that New Orleans' levees are in danger of breaking. Four days later, Bush told the American public that he didn't think "anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
The day after the Bush video was shown, another video was released. In that video, the voice of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco "hesitantly but mistakenly assured the Bush administration that New Orleans' protective levees were intact," according to the AP.
"We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees," Blanco said shortly after noon on Aug. 29. "We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee. I think we have not breached the levee at this time."
In fact, the National Weather Service received a report of a levee breach and issued a flash-flood warning as early as 9:12 a.m. that day, according to the White House's formal recounting of events the day Katrina struck.
Blanco, a Democrat, is not shown in the video but is heard as a disembodied voice speaking to 11 people sitting around a table. According to the AP, she sounds uncertain about the reliability of her information and cautioned that the situation "could change."
Since the release of these videos, Democrats in Congress have renewed their calls for an independent investigation into the government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
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