During her interview last night with former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, CBS’s Katie Couric caught McClellan off guard while talking about her reporting during the early days of the Iraq war, when she was with NBC News.
Couric: Weren’t you the ultimate complicit enabler, though? I asked a tough question before the Iraq War and you personally called an executive at NBC News and you threatened to deny access to us.
McClellan: I did?
AdvertisementCouric: Yes, you did, once the war began.
McClellan: Me personally? I don’t, I don’t remember that.
Couric: But did you strong-arm people into not questioning the administration?
McClellan: My style usually wasn’t that way.
Couric: Well, it was you who made the call.
McClellan: I just, I just don’t remember that. That may be but I certainly don’t remember that incident. In terms of my style of working with reporters, it was usually straightforward when we were dealing with each other; I think I had that reputation with White House reporters. I just don’t recall that specific incident.
Interestingly, this exchange was not included in the story last night on the Evening News, but it is in the transcript on CBSNews.com
> Update from an emailer: “The Katie Couric Scott McClellan exchange where she mentioned her past experience DID air on the West Coast.”