While Oprah was tearfully admitting her mistake in defending James Frey's A MILLION LITTLE PIECES, viewers watching the morning broadcast of her show were interrupted in mid-aesthesis by ABC breaking in to air President Bush's "hastily called" (NYT) news conference. Oprah Calls Defense of Author 'a Mistake' By EDWARD WYATT Published: January 26, 2006 The New York Times In an extraordinary reversal of her strident defense of the author whose book she catapulted to the top of the best-seller list, Oprah Winfrey said today she believed that the author James Frey "betrayed millions of readers" by making up elements of his life in his best-selling memoir, "A Million Little Pieces." [Transcript of the show.] She added that she believed "I made a mistake" when she said that the truth of the book mattered less than its story of redemption. In a live broadcast of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" from her studios in Chicago in which she interviewed Mr. Frey, Ms. Winfrey apologized to her audience for her call to "Larry King Live" earlier this month defending the author. Today, Ms. Winfrey, alternately fighting back tears and displaying vivid anger, berated Mr. Frey for duping her and her audience. "I gave the impression that the truth does not matter," Ms. Winfrey said. "I made a mistake." To all of the viewers who called and wrote to her telling her she was wrong to allow Mr. Frey to maintain that his book reflected the "essential truth" of his life even though substantial details were falsified, Ms. Winfrey said, "You are absolutely right." "I feel duped," she said. "I don't know what is true and I don't know what isn't," she said, before addressing Mr. Frey with the question, "Why did you lie?" ... I do hope viewers watched -- and listened -- to the news conference. I hope the network carried the Q&A. But these aren't things one can trust. I'm wishing Oprah had been among the press corps and had asked Bush the question she asked Frey. But that thing didn't -- and eikos wouldn't ever -- happen. The news conference begs for wide attention; it's a text worth study. Let's study it. The transcript is here. Comments listing and linking to news accounts of the press conference that you read or heard or saw are most welcome. For this I've relied on the White House, NPR, AP, and NYT. A few highlights from President Bush: Do listen to NPR to hear him. from AP: Bush said, ''I've had my picture taken with a lot of people. Having my picture taken with someone doesn't mean that I'm a friend with him or know him very well. '' ''I've had my picture taken with you,'' Bush said to the reporter who asked the question. Pressed further on his relationship with Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his lobbying practices and has pledged to cooperate with investigators, Bush said, ''I frankly don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy. I don't know him.'' He said that federal investigators should pursue all leads and ''look into all aspects of his influence on Capitol Hill,'' and that if the path also leads to the White House, he was sure they would ''come knock on the door.'' He was asked if he meets with lobbyists. ''I try not to,'' Bush replied. The President, overheard on C-Span: "I do want to give you some thoughts about what I'm thinking about." I think the distilled "central claim" of his prepared remarks was: "We need to lead ... so that we can compete ... so that we can defeat The Dark Ideologies ... so that we can seize opportunities ... so that we can continue to lead." from The New York Times: As for the National Security Agency's surveillance program, which many Democrats have said was of dubious constitutionality and legality at best, Mr. Bush said it had been vetted by lawyers and was essential. "And so as I stand here right now," he said, "I can tell the American people the program's legal, it's designed to protect civil liberties, and it's necessary." (NYT) Q Mr. President, is Mideast peacemaking dead with Hamas' big election victory? And do you rule out dealing with the Palestinians if Hamas is the majority party? THE PRESIDENT: Peace is never dead, because people want peace. I believe -- and that's why I articulated a two-state solution early in my administration, so that -- as a vision for people to work toward, a solution that recognized that democracy yields peace. And the best hope for peace in the Middle East is two democracies living side-by-side. So the Palestinians had an election yesterday, and the results of which remind me about the power of democracy. You see, when you give people the vote, you give people a chance to express themselves at the polls -- and if they're unhappy with the status quo, they'll let you know. That's the great thing about democracy, it provides a look into society. And yesterday the turnout was significant, as I understand it. And there was a peaceful process as people went to the polls, and that's positive. But what was also positive is, is that it's a wake-up call to the leadership. Obviously, people were not happy with the status quo. The people are demanding honest government. The people want services. They want to be able to raise their children in an environment in which they can get a decent education and they can find health care. And so the elections should open the eyes of the old guard there in the Palestinian territories. I like the competition of ideas. I like people who have to go out and say, vote for me, and here's what I'm going to do. There's something healthy about a system that does that. And so the elections yesterday were very interesting. On the other hand, I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform. And I know you can't be a partner in peace if you have a -- if your party has got an armed wing. The elections just took place. We will watch very carefully about the formation of the government. But I will continue to remind people about what I just said, that if your platform is the destruction of Israel, it means you're not a partner in peace. And we're interested in peace.... Steve. Q If I can follow up, sir. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Q Are you cautioning Prime Minister Abbas not to resign? And -- THE PRESIDENT: We'd like him to stay in power. I mean, we'd like to stay in office. He is in power, we'd like him to stay in office. Sorry to interrupt. I knew this was a two-part question, so I tried to head it off.... (White House transcript)

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