Tim Russert Dead From Apparent Heart Attack

Drudge is reporting that Tim Russert has died. I'm waiting for further information and confirmation and will post it here.

UPDATE:

Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of "Meet the Press," has died after collapsing at NBC's Washington news bureau, a source said. He was 58 years old.

Russert, who rose from the inside world of politics where he was former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo's press secretary and one-time chief of staff to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was able to successfully cross over to political journalism and rise to become one of its leading lights.

In his role as host of the seminal Sunday morning political program "Meet the Press" - which he took over in 1991 - he became renowned for his hard-nosed interviews where he frequently cornered some of Washington's cagiest political figures with tough questions.

Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of the Today program from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II - a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987 Russert led NBC News weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China.

In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people.

More from Drudge:

Russert was vacationing with his family in Italy, he returned last night. Collapsed while recording a track at bureau in DC...

12:40 pm PDT: Tom Brokaw makes the official announcement on NBC. Russert had been in Italy celebrating his son's college graduation from Boston College. His wife and son stayed behind in Italy after Tim returned to prepare for Sunday's Meet the Press. They're being flown home.



Russert had some lefty leanings and could be exasperating to conservatives at times, but seemed like a genuinely good guy who loved his work, politics and the ongoing campaigns, and his family. Television news will miss him.

The MSNBC story is here.

From Rush Limbaugh:

"He was the closest thing there was at any of the networks to an objective journalist.

From Howard Fineman:

"Tim Russert Did Not Pursue False Gods, He Pursued the Real One"

From the White House:

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Laura and I are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Tim Russert. Those of us who knew and worked with Tim, his many friends, and the millions of Americans who loyally followed his career on the air will all miss him.

As the longest-serving host of the longest-running program in the history of television, he was an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades. Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it.

Most important, Tim was a proud son and father, and Laura and I offer our deepest sympathies to his wife Maureen, his son Luke, and the entire Russert family. We will keep them in our prayers.

When this news first broke on Drudge I flipped on the TV to see what the networks were saying and was surprised that nobody was reporting it, including NBC or MSNBC. In fact, Drudge had his post up (and so did I) probably 10 minutes before the official announcement from NBC.

Now I know why there was a delay. John Gibson on Fox News said that they had the news well before it was reported by NBC but the networks all held back until NBC made the official announcement, mainly because the folks at NBC were trying to get ahold of Russert's family in Italy. None of the other TV networks wanted to scoop NBC on this story.