FNC’s Serrie On BP Disaster: ‘No One Could Have Predicted How Significant The Spill Would Be’

Fox News correspondent Jonathan Serrie has been down in the Gulf Coast eight times, and 40 days, over the last 100, covering the BP oil disaster.

We talked to Serrie today about the federal vs. local government reaction, Katrina comparisons and more.

You can hear the full BlogTalkRadio interview below, which took place this afternoon. It is the third in our new series, “Live From The Gulf“, in which we talk to reporters and anchors who have covered the oil disaster over these past 100 days. Tomorrow we’ll talk to CNN’s Rob Marciano. (Listen to last month’s “Live From The Spill” podcast series.)

Here are a couple key exchanges from Serrie, with the full interview after:

(7:15) Mediaite: Do you see this as a growing story – local vs. national, or federal, government?

Serrie: I see it as an ongoing story. It seems a constant theme everywhere we’ve gone. Certainly here in Louisiana, Bobby Jindal has been complaining a lot about the federal response and there’s certainly two sides to that story. Many local residents say that he is echoing their exact sentiment. That this oil spill has knocked them down that the federal government is kicking them, by not helping them out enough. But by the other side, folks are saying Bobby Jindal has perhaps presidential aspirations and there he is talking against the Democratic administration, and it may be more political than practical.

(10:57) Mediaite: When you started the coverage back in late May, did you have any anticipation this would be a sotry you and the rest of the media would be covering this long.

Serrie: We didn’t know. Initially we knew it was a big well, and a signifcant explosion. We didn’t realize it would be the worst disaster in the history of the Gulf of Mexico. I don’t think anyone could have predicted how significant this spill was going to be.

Here’s Serrie on the ways BP positively, and negatively, deal with the media (Below, the full podcast):

Check out the full interview here, including what Serrie and his crew do in New Orleans when the workday is over:

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