McClellan bemoans Bush's Katrina trip

NEW ORLEANS, May 29 (UPI) -- Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan blamed political guru Karl Rove for aggravating the public's reaction to the Hurricane Katrina response.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Thursday that McClellan's controversial book on the Bush administration contends Rove rejected McClellan's advice that the president not to fly over the devastated city.

McClellan wrote that the photo of Bush staring out the helicopter window went on to become symbolic of what he called a "botched" federal response to Katrina.

"One of the worst disasters in our nation's history became one of the biggest disasters in Bush's presidency," McClellan wrote. "Katrina and the botched federal response to it would largely come to define Bush's second term."

McClellan also delved into the now-infamous appearance of the president and beleaguered FEMA Director Mike Brown. He said the president later told him he had to say something encouraging about Brown since the two were standing together in front of a phalanx of television cameras.

"Even Brown looked embarrassed and no wonder; most Americans had already concluded that the FEMA director was in over his head," said McClellan.