Timothy John Russert, Jr. (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American journalist who hosted NBC’s Meet the Press. He was NBC News’ Washington Bureau Chief and hosted a weekly interview program on MSNBC Tim Russert. He was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC’s The Today Show and Hardball. He co-hosted the network’s presidential Election Night coverage and presented the polling results of the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News. Russert died from a sudden heart attack on June 13, 2008.
Death of Tim Russert
Shortly after 13:30 EDT on the afternoon of June 13, 2008, Russert collapsed at the offices of WRC-TV, which houses the Washington, D.C. bureau of NBC News where he was the Bureau Chief, while recording voiceovers for the Sunday edition of Meet the Press. The District of Columbia Fire and Rescue service received a call from NBC at 13:40 and dispatched an EMS unit which arrived at 13:44. The responding paramedics attempted to defibrillate Russert’s heart three times on scene before transporting him to Sibley Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at 14:23.