| BY MIKE UNGER Emerging from his closet-sized office at a quarter til noon, the reporter walks down a narrow hallway and takes his seat in the front row of the cramped briefing room. David Gregory’s one of the lucky ones; as White House correspondent for NBC News, he has a prime seat reserved among the 48 in the small auditorium. Many of the print journalists, bloggers, cameramen, and photographers here for this January 25 briefing stand. For more than a month now Washington has been awash in controversy surrounding the revelation that in 2002 President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on American citizens and foreign nationals inside the United States. About 20 minutes into Scott McClellan’s daily sparring session with the press, Gregory ’92, wearing a blue dress shirt and metallic tie without a jacket, begins to probe the White House press secretary on this subject. All morning McClellan has been insisting that the program is perfectly legal and that referring to it as “domestic spying” is misleading. Gregory’s initial question prompts a curt response from McClellan, who then turns the tables on the journalist. The fireworks have begun. “Let me ask you this,” McClellan says to Gregory. “Is an international communication overseas by an al Qaeda member coming into the United States, that is monitored overseas, is that a domestic communication?” Suffice it to say, Gregory is not pleased. “Well, first of all, I ask the questions, I don’t answer them,” he shoots back, his voice clearly audible above the rising murmur in the room. “Number two . . .” “I’m sure you don’t want to answer that question,” McClellan interjects. “No, because I’m not in the business of setting the rules on this. I’m a reporter, I’m not responsible for authorizing these things. You speak for the president, so that’s why I ask the questions.” “Okay, you don’t want to answer that,” McClellan says, preparing to solicit another question and end this confrontation. “Got it. It’s international communications. And I gave you a very clear example of international phone calls. We’re talking about international communications. So I think I answered that question.” Ten minutes later, the crescendoing sound of a helicopter landing outside signals the end of the briefing, and the media members disperse to their various cubbyholes and desktops in the aged West Wing press facility to begin feeding the public’s right to know. Just another day at the office. Gregory heads back to his desk, ready to work the phones and begin tapping sources for information on the story he’s assembling for tonight’s NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams: will Washington pay to transform New Orleans from ruin to rebirth? “This president has really diminished the role of press secretary,” he says. “He’s still the public face of this administration, but he’s not really forthcoming. He tries to push us around and it’s our job to push back. But I have a good relationship with the president, he’s told me that he thinks I’m fair. And I have a good relationship with Scott. They know I don’t have an agenda.” Indeed, despite Gregory’s aggressive style and occasionally contentious attitude toward McClellan, the press secretary still clearly respects his work. “He can be combative at times, but I think he works hard to get to the bottom of the story and report it in a fair manner,” McClellan says. “David is a really good reporter.” Ever since he was a boy growing up in Los Angeles, that’s all David Gregory ever wanted to be. continued next page >> top |
