Meet The Press

Martha Rountree,87, co-creator and first moderator of the NBC News program "Meet the Press," died Monday at Sibley Hospital in Washington. She had suffered from Alzheimer's disease. In addition to originating and co-producing "Meet the Press," she was also the only woman moderator in the show's 52-year history.In 1945, she joined Lawrence Spivak in introducing "Meet the Press" as a radio show, and two years later the program aired on television for the first time.She went on the lecture circuit in 1953 when she sold her share of the show to Mr. Spivak after a coin toss.

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers who believe President Clinton should be punished but not impeached are struggling with the wording of a censure resolution that is harsh enough to win votes from presidential critics but not so vicious that Clinton's allies refuse to sign.Yesterday, Rep. Paul McHale of Pennsylvania, the first Democrat to call for Clinton's resignation, defended his sternly worded resolution that says Clinton "has prevented, obstructed and impeded the administration of justice by providing false and misleading testimony under oath."

A listing of commencement exercises held yesterday incorrectly identified Samuel H. Lacy as the speaker at Loyola College. In fact, the longtime Baltimore Afro-American sports editor received an honorary degree. The commencement speaker was Tim Russert, the Washington bureau chief of NBC News and host of "Meet the Press."The Sun regrets the errors.Pub Date: 5/18/97

After Saturday morning's bombing of Centennial Olympic Park, did the city of Atlanta bounce back yesterday and show resilience and defiance at the specter of terrorism, or was it still enveloped in a fog of gloom and despair?On "Sunday Morning," two correspondents were proclaiming that the Olympics, and by extension, Atlanta, always would be scarred by the pipe bombing that killed one person directly, left a Turkish cameraman, who was attempting to cover the blast, dead of a heart attack and injured more than 100 people.

HI GUYS,Well, I had a really interesting weekend. As you may have heard, Clinton came to town for a G-7 meeting, and part of his plan was to address the American public here in Moscow. So someone from our Moscow office called me to say there were seven tickets available. They were for the students, not me. So, whatever, I wasn't too crushed. But then someone from the office called and said the (American) embassy needed a gopher for the course of the visit to run errands for the press and best of all it would pay $5 an hour.

*TC After fighting the NFL pre-game show battle with Fox and ESPN with a hand tied behind its back, NBC joined the club and expanded its "NFL on NBC" to an hour, beginning next season, in an announcement made at the league's meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla., yesterday.In expanding the show from its current 30-minute format, NBC made a number of affiliate-friendly moves that helped sell the move to local stations that might not have been so willing to accommodate the sports division.For instance, NBC has promised to give five minutes of commercial time to local stations in the first half-hour to sell as their own to compensate for the revenue that might be lost by the expansion, which, in some markets, like Baltimore, will cut into lucrative local Sunday news shows.

"David Broder: The Senate is now working on Contract items, and they don't seem to be doing very well. Did the House just overreach, or what is the problem?"Newt Gingrich: No, there's not a -- I don't know that there's a problem. I mean, this is about -- this is the American system. The fact is the Founding Fathers designed the House to run every two years. It is a -- somebody -- there was an analogy once that the House was a hot cup of coffee, and the Senate is the saucer that you pour it in to cool.

* Lawrence Spivak, 93, originator of NBC's "Meet the Press" and pioneer of television's Sunday news show format, died yesterday of congestive heart failure in Washington. He was moderator of "Meet the Press" from its beginning in November 1947 until November 1975. "It's the roar of the presses, working day and night in the north, south, east and west of our nation," he said in introducing his first show.

WASHINGTON -- Republicans are turning up the heat on the Whitewater affair by raising the specter of another Watergate. Top administration officials stressed today that they are cooperating with investigators."

WASHINGTON -- In addition to the 10-point agenda the House Republicans have pledged to carry out in their "Contract with America," they need to do one other thing if they are to be seen as responsible leaders: put a muzzle on Newt Gingrich when he recklessly gets off that subject.Once again, the next House speaker has demonstrated his talent for creating division by irresponsibly demonizing opposition Democrats and treating them not simply as adversaries but as despised enemies.He may be succeeding Bob Michel as the ranking House Republican, but he will never replace the always decent Michel as long as the loose Gingrich tongue continues to wag as it did Sunday on "Meet the Press."

Will HOPE sculpture become as iconic as Indiana's LOVE? The pop artist best known for his LOVE word sculpture has created a similar public art installation that spells HOPE - in celebration of President-elect Barack Obama's message of hope. Artist Robert Indiana's HOPE was unveiled yesterday at Jim Kempner Fine Art, a Manhattan gallery. The 6-foot stainless-steel sculpture was shown privately during the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. No decision has been made on where it will be permanently displayed.

Gregory named successor to Russert on 'Press' David Gregory's new job as moderator of Meet the Press was made official yesterday with an announcement on the long-running NBC interview program that he will take over starting next week. The 38-year-old chief White House correspondent was introduced by Tom Brokaw, who stepped in as temporary host in June after the death of Tim Russert, the program's moderator since 1991. "I've thought a lot about what it means to succeed somebody like Tim Russert," Gregory told viewers.

Washington - Upon hearing of Tim Russert's death, Gianmarc Manzione had no idea what shocked him more - the passing of the seemingly vital journalist or that the news reduced him to tears. The Tampa, Fla., English professor abruptly ended a road trip with his girlfriend to attend Russert's wake yesterday in Washington. He stood in line with hundreds of viewers similarly, inexplicably moved - people who had never met the host of NBC's Meet the Press but who had watched him, respected him and shared an hour of their lives with him every Sunday morning.

WASHINGTON -- Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert testified yesterday that he never gave former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby information about the wife of a Bush administration war critic, contradicting the premise of Libby's defense of perjury charges. Russert became the third journalist in the federal court trial to offer testimony that counters statements that Libby told investigators and a grand jury probing the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. The conversations - and alleged lies that Libby offered about them - form the crux of his perjury and obstruction indictment.

WASHINGTON -- It was classic Tim Russert: On yesterday's Meet the Press, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele was talking about the United States Supreme Court and Clarence Thomas, one of its most conservative justices. Steele has called Thomas a hero but yesterday said he disagrees with him on a number of issues. Like what? "I strongly support affirmative action," Steele said. Russert saw an opening. "You haven't always supported it," he said. "No, I've always supported affirmative action," Steele replied.

WASHINGTON -- In a decided and unequivocal shift, Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday that he will seriously consider a run for the White House in 2008, affirming the stunningly rapid trajectory of a political career that saw him in the Illinois legislature just two years ago. On NBC's Meet the Press, the same program where he categorically ruled out a run in January, Obama, an Illinois Democrat, went further than ever before in discussing his Oval Office...

High court rules against state An Annapolis youth accused of killing a businessman near the State House will not face state charges after the Supreme Court threw out the prosecutors' appeal. The court passed on an opportunity to clarify one of the so-called Miranda warnings that govern police interrogations. Mayor picks city health chief Dr. Joshua Sharfstein was named Baltimore's health commissioner. Mayor Martin O'Malley picked Sharfstein, a pediatrician, to replace Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, who resigned to run for Congress.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - So last week I spent six days seated in the cockpit of the engine that is driving sports journalism. I filled in for Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser on the hit TV show Pardon The Interruption. It wasn't the first time I'd done the show, but it was my longest engagement and first in about three years. The show hasn't changed much, but its impact on my profession has certainly increased. I learned a lot and came to some realizations that might be enlightening. ESPN, the network that created and carries PTI, is obviously the worldwide leader in sports, and PTI has quickly developed into the new face of sports journalism.

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury has subpoenaed at least two journalists, Tim Russert of NBC's Meet the Press and Michael Cooper of Time magazine, to testify about whether the Bush White House leaked the identity of an undercover CIA officer to the news media. Lawyers for both NBC and Time said they would fight the subpoenas. NBC said a subpoena could have a "chilling effect" on its ability to report the news. In a statement, Neal Shapiro, the network's president, said, "Sources will simply stop speaking with the press if they fear those conversations will become public."

WASHINGTON - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, here for a meeting with fellow governors, told a national television audience yesterday that the Constitution should be amended so he and other foreign-born Americans would be eligible for the presidency. The appearance, on NBC's Meet the Press, kicked off a whirlwind day during which California's governor was the star - and sometimes the entertainment - at events from a lunch at National Governors Association meetings to a dinner at the White House.