Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.
Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said. He and his family had recently returned from Italy, where they celebrated the graduation of Russert’s son, Luke, from Boston College.
No further details were immediately available.
Update: Emotional reflections from NBC Political Director Chuck Todd:
This is what Harold Ickes, a longtime advisory to both Bill and Hillary Clinton, told Mark Halperin of Time’s The Page tonight:
“We don’t know enough about Senator Obama yet. We don’t need an October Surprise. And (the chance of) an October Surprise with Hillary is remote.”
This remark is dismaying on several levels, partly because Ickes is virtually channeling Karl Rove, who implied something similar in a recent interview with GQ — not backed up by any information of course. Just planting this vague idea in Joe Average Voter’s head that there’s something about Barry — pick your vice, political or personal — that all the kool kidz inside the Beltway know about, and it’s going to pop one week before the election, is the only strategy here.