A CNN spokeswoman later called Novak's behavior "inexcusable and unacceptable" and added: "We've asked Mr. Novak to take some time off."
Media Matters has the video ; CNN has the transcript .
George Rush and Joanna Molloy write in the New York Daily News: "Novak told us later: 'He said I was trying to please the editorial writers of The Wall Street Journal. I thought that was an unacceptable questioning of my integrity. I overreacted.
" 'I've gotten into a lot of shouting matches with James when I'm unable to outshout him. I just got a little frustrated.'
"CNN host Ed Henry said on the air that he'd hoped to ask Novak about the grand jury inquiry into his column revealing the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, but Novak denied that's why he bailed out.
" 'I knew what he was going to ask,' he told us, 'and I knew the answer I was going to give.' "
The FishbowlDC blog reports that "after stalking off the set, Novak confronted anchor Ed Henry and D.C. bureau chief David Bohrman off-air, furious that Henry's post-walk-off statement that he intended to ask about the Plame investigation might lead viewers to believe Novak was upset over that."
The Washington Post reports: "Reached by the Post's John Maynard shortly after the incident, Novak said Carville 'was questioning my motives. . . . I would hope he was just trying to be funny and I took it the wrong way. I shouldn't have done what I did, but I did and I apologize.'
Jacques Steinberg reports in the New York Times: "Asked last night in a telephone interview why he thought Mr. Novak had acted as he did, Mr. Carville said, 'Bob's probably got a lot going on in his life.' "
The bloggers are captivated.
Slate blogger Mickey Kaus speculates about the big reddish-brown book sitting in front of moderator Henry. It was "Who's Who in America, of course! . . .
"Perhaps Henry, who says he told Novak he was going to ask about the Plame case, wanted to clear up . . . whether Novak really found out Plame's maiden name from the book."
Bush in Texas
Jim VandeHei writes in The Washington Post: "President Bush said Thursday that the United States will not be bullied by this week's killings of 25 service members in Iraq or what he called the 'dark, dim, backwards' views propagated by al Qaeda's number two commander, Ayman Zawahiri, and other terrorists.
"Speaking shortly after Zawahiri broadcast a new taped warning that the United States and its allies would suffer thousands of deaths if it did not pull out of Iraq, Bush struck a defiant tone, saying the United States will stay on the offensive to 'complete the job in Iraq.' "
Bush took two questions after remarks with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who was visiting him on his Texas ranch.
Here is the text of those remarks. Said Bush: "The comments by the number two man of al Qaeda make it clear that Iraq is a part of this war on terror, and we're at war. In other words, he's saying, leave."
Edwin Chen writes in the Los Angeles Times about the Uribe visit: "President Bush urged Congress to continue supporting Colombia's efforts to combat narco-terrorism Thursday even as he warned visiting Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that the United States expected Uribe's government to honor its stated commitment to human rights."
Upcoming Press Conference
The White House is promising a news conference -- the first one since May -- at the ranch on Tuesday. Bush will start with some remarks about the economy and then take questions from the pool.
'Sources Close to the White House' -- Unmasked!
Remember how false rumors led many reporters to believe that Bush had settled on Edith Brown Clement as his Supreme Court nominee?
Ryan Lizza writes in the New Republic how that "episode underscores how much reporters now rely on GOP operatives outside the White House to tell them what's going on inside of it. These sources and their ilk fed the frenzied, daylong speculation that Bush would pick Clement, and they now shape the coverage of every major White House story. Whether they are called 'sources close to the White House' or 'Bush advisers' or 'GOP strategists familiar with White House thinking,' their role in Washington is the same. They act as an essential lubricant in the daily clash between the White House and its press corps."
So who are these people?
Writes Lizza: "As a service to readers, and in an effort to demystify the anonymous source phenomenon, I asked 15 of the finest Bush White House reporters to help assemble a guide to the secret society of sources close to the White House. Despite the swelling ranks of scttwh, interviews revealed that there is indeed a core membership that might be called the Usual Suspects: a cadre of lobbyists, congressmen, ex-officials, and other hangers-on who seem to be programmed into every cell phone on the White House beat."
Among them: Ed Gillespie, Ken Mehlman, Charles Black, Ken Duberstein, Vin Weber, Matthew Dowd, Mark McKinnon, Mary Matalin and Stuart Stevens.
You'll have to read Lizza to learn more about them.
He concludes: "At least one reporter recently granted a White House official the cover of a SCTTWH. Reporters say that this practice of officials inside the White House trying to disguise themselves as outsiders is becoming more common. Which means there's a whole new category of sources close to the White House: liars."
The Saudi Visit
Dominic Evans reports for Reuters: "Vice President Dick Cheney and former President Bush offered condolences on Friday to Saudi Arabia's new ruler King Abdullah over the death of King Fahd, a close U.S. ally during his 23-year rule."
Bush Honors Killer
Kim Curtis writes for the Associated Press: "Convicted murderer Stanley ' Tookie ' Williams has received an award for his good deeds on death row, complete with a letter from President Bush praising the notorious gang founder for demonstrating 'the outstanding character of America.'
"Williams, co-founder of the notorious Crips street gang, has been an anti-gang activist during his many years on death row at San Quentin State Prison, where he was sent after being convicted in 1981 for killing four people. He's authored 10 books, mostly warning young people to stay away from gangs. . . .
"It was doubtful that the president, who oversaw 152 executions during his six years as Texas governor, knew that Williams had received a congratulatory letter bearing his signature."
