AP political writer Ron Fournier talks about video

Months after Katrina tore through a chunk of the Gulf Coast, a confidential government video obtained by The Associated Press is calling into question a lot of what top officials have said about what they expected before the hurricane hit.

The video, of a briefing on the storm for the Bush Administration, shows federal disaster officials warning President Bush and his homeland security chief that Katrina could breach levees, endanger lives and overwhelm resources.

The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings (Aug. 25-31) obtained by the AP — also show that local, state and federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded but were slow to realize they didn't have the resources to deal with the disaster.

The Associated Press interviewed its political writer Ron Fournier to talk about the video.

AP: Can you tell me where the tape came from?

Fournier: I can't go into detail. I got it from a source in government who was involved in the pre-and-post Katrina effort.

AP: When did you get it? Was it something that just dropped on your desk?

Fournier: I got it [Wednesday] morning. I knew it was something that we really wanted and I had been working on it since the day before [Wednesday] to get it.

AP: Why wasn't it released before?

Fournier: I don't know. You would have to ask the Department of Homeland Security, and the officials with both states, all of whom had the tapes. I don't think Congress had the tapes. It just had the transcripts. That's the other thing we got [Wednesday].

Fournier: What jumped out to me was the fact that none of what happened surprised state, local and federal officials. They were pretty much predicting what would happen and making all the necessary arrangements to help people recover. ... You could tell they really ran a very good meeting. The question afterwards obviously is what else are they capable of running, because on all levels from the city to the state to the federal government, we now know there were failures to respond.

AP: What about the inconsistencies between the video and transcripts and what the government said in the aftermath of Katrina?

Fournier: If you recall, shortly after the hurricane struck, President Bush said, "No one had any idea the levees might be breached." Well, it turns out that in the briefings before the hurricane struck, that indeed his deputy chief of staff, Joe Hagin, who was with the president in Crawford, had asked about the possibility levees could be breached. And Mike Brown, then the head of FEMA, said during one of the briefings that he had just talked to the president who asked about the possibility that levees could breach. So it raises the question: What was the president talking about when he said no one had any idea levees could be breached? Even Mike Brown told us [Wednesday] the president was wrong to say that.

AP: How does the government come out in all of this?

Fournier: Terrible. It makes every level of government look terrible. Most Americans who watched the events unfold don't think the response was swift enough. Even though nobody could be perfect in a historic hurricane like this was, most Americans think government at all levels let them down.

AP: What happens now?

Fournier: I don't know. That's for elected officials to predict and to decide. But obviously there is a hunger out there, if you look at the polls, for something to be done, for people to be accountable, to change government, make it more efficient, make it accountable.