Costas is definitely one of the top qualifiers in broadcast journalism for a spot such as Meet The Press. And he's not just a sportcaster. He's got an incredible collection of very insightful interviews with hundreds of influential leaders and innovators. Thorough an even and insightful. I almost forgot about Bob...he's great!

Audio from the interview is up: http://entertonement.com/collections/1950/George-W-Bush-Olympics-Interview

George WB's humanitarian concerns about Darfur: Mo' oil, mo' oil, mo' oil!

I think that was just about the best Bush interview I've seen--on both sides. Great questions, not Brian Williams pansy stuff. And did Bush get smarter? His answers were much more fluent than I'm used to.

anyone who is willing to ask the real questions and expose Truth is fine with me.
I don't care what their background is.

I totally disagree. I was humiliated and embarrassed with Costas", wearing a cheap looking rug, interview. When you are a guest in some one's country you don't disrespect them. If you want someone to change their behavior you don't embarrass them; you discuss and encourage them to change in private. I have been to China and spent close to a month traveling there. They do not want to loose face; we are actually the same but don"t admit it. This was the Olympics not a political discussion. There really was no reason to give Bush face time anyway; he couldn"t even hold up our flag properly. Costas had no business trashing the Chinese and making it even harder to have a good relationship with them. I do care about Tibet and other issues in China, but the US has declared itself the world"s police, invaded a sovereign nation (Iraq), illegally imprisons people at Gitmo and god knows where else, tortures prisoners, the list goes on and on¦.."We are the pot calling the kettle black." (old saying, not a racial thing.) We have become the very thing we have fought against in the past.

Q But given China"s growing strength and America"s own problems, realistically how much leverage and influence does the U.S. have here?

THE PRESIDENT: First of all, I don"t see America having problems. I see America as a nation that is a world leader, that has got great values.

I find this funny - a sportscaster has more balls to ask the REAL Questions of our president then Fox, ABC, NBC,CBS,CNN,TWP,KKK/NRA - That is sooo funny - In your faces Journalists and Commentators - move over for Costas

Costas...one of the hardest working guys in the business. Always well prepared for an interview. It was really entertaining/informative to watch Later. That was when he was also doing NFL broadcasts and a radio show everyday for NBC...he still managed to be very well prepared.
I know that sometimes with the commentary he sometimes gets to be a little verbose...but interviews are different....preparation really matters and I don't think there are any journalists out there that prepare as well as he does.

Bob Costas has always been a great interviewer, but he gets diarrhea of the mouth when he does play by play. He has way too much information in his brain and feels the need to share it all with us.

I knew it - I knew it - I knew it!! I should never have watched that video clip. Costas made an attempt at tossing the hard questions at ole empty-haid, but he missed on asking "the really tough" questions, one like, "How can you condemn Russia over the Georgia crisis when YOU have done worse things in Iraq?"
Put that S O B "on the spot", make him fess up on camera. But then, it would only have been censored and Costas would be packing his bags, heading for home.

Loved the shot where the poster of Mao was looking over Bushes left shoulder. They must have staged that, too perfect.

Oh come on! Bush was too prepared, too at ease. We know from past experience that only happens with scripted questions. And Bush's claims to have been tough with foreign leaders sounded more like Walter Mitty than a president.

I give Costas points for trying, but in the end it's a hopeless cause. Why attempt to ask Bush about China's dirty laundry at a time when his attention span is at zero? The man held up the American flag backwards for cripe's sake. Bush is enjoying every minute of his Lame Duck status and the last thing we need is to give him more chances to flaunt his bravado.

Costas is and has always been, one of the top talents in the business. But you notice that for the last eight years or so , he has been relegated to being almost a non existent factor in broadcasting. I don't know if this is self imposed or deemed by the powers that be. But in any case, his absence and the integrity that he once brought to the table, is a great lost to the public discourse and to broadcasting in general. But possibly to his credit, I think that he just didn't want to compromise himself, by continuing to try to fight and slush through the sewage that mainstream broadcasting has become.