By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 17, 1998; Page E1

The morning began on television with President Clinton on the verge of impeachment. By noon, that drama was eclipsed by an unscheduled rerun of "Showdown With Saddam," and by 5 p.m. the first explosions were shaking Baghdad – all of which left journalists scrambling on two fast-moving fronts.

"This is either heaven or hell, depending on the way you want to look at it," said Brit Hume, Washington managing editor of Fox News.

While anchors, producers and reporters were gearing up for a House vote on impeachment that had been expected today, the prospect of imminent U.S. military strikes against Iraq blew a hole in the media's best-laid plans. Cable networks hopscotched from Baghdad to the United Nations to the latest Republican congressman to declare for impeachment.

As CNN's Candy Crowley told viewers: "This is another example of what's been called the split-screen presidency." Not since the O.J. Simpson verdict shared space with Clinton's State of the Union address has television been pulled so strongly in two directions.

"It just doesn't get any better than this," said MSNBC vice president Erik Sorenson.

Newspapers also remained off-balance as they geared up for this morning's editions. "It's a little like being whacked in turn on each side of the head," said Doyle McManus, Washington bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times. "The problem isn't on the reporting end. The problem is really in terms of planning a list of stories that make some sense out of this confusion. And figure out whether we're dealing with two crises, 1½ crises or one jumbo, all-inclusive crisis."

CNN, which made its reputation during the Persian Gulf War, focused on Iraq. The network carried live reports from Jane Irraf and Christiane Amanpour, who CNN says left from London Tuesday after indications of trouble in Iraq. MSNBC also kept cutting to its Baghdad reporter, Donatella Lorch. Fox News Channel, which had no one in Iraq, initially leaned more toward the impeachment story.

"We're totally deployed," said Frank Sesno, CNN's Washington bureau chief. "We may have to go round the clock. We're planning specials, but we can't be absolutely sure what the subject is going to be. You want to handle each story with the gravity and gravitas it deserves, but one is casting a pretty long shadow over the other. We've told the staff you may be living through the most newsworthy day of your careers."

But Fox's Hume argued that "the bigger story is impeachment, any way you slice it, because it's so historic, momentous and rare. Bombing raids on Iraq for failing to comply with U.N. weapons inspections is a very big story, but it's nowhere near as unprecedented."

The stories briefly merged when all three cable outfits went live to a briefing by White House spokesman Joe Lockhart. CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked about critics who say "that the timing is just too cute given the pending impeachment proceeding in the House." ABC's Sam Donaldson asked whether the White House was "running out the clock" and hoping the impeachment vote would be delayed until after this Congress expires. Lockhart said Clinton's decisions were based solely on national security.

The contrasts were often surreal, especially as anchors intoned that American bombs could begin dropping at any time. MSNBC briefly dropped Iraq for an interview with actress Mary Steenburgen, a friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying the first lady has been "demonized" by her husband's political enemies. CNN cut to a Michigan classroom where the students voted 30 to 18 to impeach the president.

About 3 p.m., as the Iraq story heated up, Fox inexplicably went to interviews with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon about why they hated the title of their new film "Stepmom." Earlier, while CNN was covering a briefing by State Department spokesman Jamie Rubin – who happens to be Amanpour's husband – Fox aired a segment on grilling red peppers.

At first, said MSNBC's Sorenson, "we were trying to imagine: Do you have one box on the screen with a congressman arguing for impeachment, while in another box you see rubble in Baghdad?" But "as we moved into the afternoon, the stories have merged. They literally collide with each other. We go to talk about impeachment [with lawmakers] and they're talking about Iraq."

Shortly after CNN flashed the headline "House Leaders Tentatively Plan Impeachment Debate Delay," Fox reporter Carl Cameron said there had been no such decision. Republicans, he said, were "frustrated" that "perhaps the White House put this information out erroneously."

Tim Russert, NBC's Washington bureau chief, went to the Hill for an exclusive interview with House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde. But while the interview was for a planned MSNBC special on impeachment last night, Russert said that "the first three questions were on Iraq." MSNBC quickly aired Hyde's comments about the possibility of delaying the vote. But Russert's exclusive didn't last long; Fox's Cameron was quizzing Hyde about the "Wag the Dog" scenario – that is, whether Clinton was attacking Iraq to delay impeachment. Hyde said he was "loath" to think that might be the case.

The Big Three networks joined the coverage just before 5, when explosions seemed to rock Baghdad, although they turned out to be antiaircraft fire. "There is indeed a full-scale U.S. military strike en route as we speak," NBC's David Bloom said from outside the White House. Minutes later, Lockhart confirmed the attack.

But even as the atmosphere grew tense – from military experts with maps to hushed descriptions from correspondents in Iraq – political considerations lingered on the airwaves. NBC showed live "nightscope" pictures of Baghdad as Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) complained: "The Republican leadership has been intent on impeaching the president for some months."

At 6, all cameras were on Clinton as he explained the attack from the Oval Office, briefly mentioning that the mission could not be distracted by the impeachment debate. Moments later, CBS's Bob Schieffer said the GOP leadership was meeting and "there are many Republicans who do not want to postpone this debate." On CNN, commentator Robert Novak quoted Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott as saying of the attack: "It's the right thing to do at the wrong time." ABC's Peter Jennings closed one segment by asking Cokie Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Bill Kristol if the bombing would have an effect on impeachment. All said they doubted it.

Just before 8, incoming House Speaker Bob Livingston told reporters the impeachment debate – the story that had consumed the capital less than 12 hours earlier – would be put off, at least for today. An hour later, Vice President Gore and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright were defending the attack to Larry King.