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Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for over 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC`s Meet the Press. He was NBC News` Washington Bureau Chief and also hosted the eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview program Tim Russert. He was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC`s The Today Show and Hardball. Russert covered several presidential elections, and he presented the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Time Magazine declared Russert one of the "100 most influential people in the world" in 2008.

Shortly after 1:30 in 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 bureau chief) while recording voiceovers for the Sunday edition of Meet the Press. According to Brian Williams during his speech at the Kennedy Center on June 18, Tim`s last words were "What`s happening?" spoken as a greeting to NBC Washington Bureau Editing Supervisor Candace Harrington. A coworker trained in CPR immediately attempted resuscitation. The District of Columbia Fire and Rescue service received a call from NBC at 1:40 and dispatched an EMS unit which arrived at 1:44. Paramedics on scene attempted to defibrillate Russert`s heart three times, but he did not respond. Russert was then transported to Sibley Memorial Hospital, arriving at 2:23. Russert never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later at 4:15 p.m. EDT (GMT-4).[28]

In accordance with American journalistic tradition, the public announcement of Russert`s death was withheld by networks and wire services until Russert`s family had been notified. Retired NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw delivered live on NBC, CNBC and MSNBC the news of his passing.[29] After a family vacation in Italy to celebrate his son`s graduation from Boston College, his wife and son remained in Italy while Russert returned to prepare for his Sunday television show.[30]

Russert`s longtime friend and physician, Dr. Michael Newman, said that his asymptomatic coronary artery disease had been controlled with medication and exercise and that he had performed well on a stress test in late April. An autopsy performed on the day of his death determined that his history of coronary artery disease led to sudden cardiac death with the immediate cause being an occlusive coronary thrombus in the left anterior descending artery resulting from a ruptured cholesterol plaque.

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