NBC's Tim Russert has died of an apparent heart attack. The network says its Washington bureau chief and host of ``Meet the Press'' collapsed and died at work today.

Russert was 58.

He became host of ``Meet the Press'' in 1991 and turned it into the most widely-watched program of its type in the nation. He became known for an unrelenting style of questioning.

In announcing the death on NBC, longtime colleague Tom Brokaw said Russert's death came during a political campaign that ``he loved.''

He called Russert a ``beloved colleague'' and ``one of the premier journalists of our time.''

NBC plans to honor Russert's memory with specials tonight on NBC Nightly News at 5:30 p.m. following Live at Five and on Dateline tonight.

President Bush released the following statement:

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

"Laura and I are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Tim Russert. Those of us who knew and worked with Tim, his many friends, and the millions of Americans who loyally followed his career on the air will all miss him.

As the longest-serving host of the longest-running program in the history of television, he was an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades. Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it.

Most important, Tim was a proud son and father, and Laura and I offer our deepest sympathies to his wife Maureen, his son Luke, and the entire Russert family. We will keep them in our prayers."

His colleagues and the politicians he covered are remembering Tim Russert as a tough and thorough broadcast journalist.

Colleague Brian Williams described Russert as ``aggressively unfancy.'' And Andrea Mitchell says, ``Our hearts are broken.''

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania says Russert will be ``sorely missed.'' He says Russert's background as a Senate staffer and as a TV journalist gave him ``special insights'' on government and politics.

NBC UNIVERSAL AND GENERAL ELECTRIC STATEMENTS ON THE PASSING OF
TIM RUSSERT

JEFF ZUCKER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NBC UNIVERSAL:
We are heartbroken at the sudden passing of Tim Russert. We have lost a beloved member of our NBC Universal family and the news world has lost one of its finest. The enormity of this loss cannot be overstated. More than a journalist, Tim was a remarkable family man. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Maureen, their son, Luke, and Tim's entire extended family.

STEVE CAPUS, PRESIDENT, NBC NEWS:
This is a loss for the entire nation. Everyone at NBC News is in shock
and absolutely devastated. He was our respected colleague, mentor, and dear friend. Words can not express our heartbreak. Our thoughts and prayers are with Maureen, Luke, Big Russ and all of Tim's family.

JEFF IMMELT, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, GENERAL ELECTRIC:
Everyone at GE and at NBC Universal is devastated by the loss of our
colleague and friend Tim Russert. Tim was a giant in journalism and a
face and a voice that America trusted. He earned that trust through hard
work, love of his profession and, above all, through his enduring
honesty and integrity. And most importantly, Tim was a wonderful human being who valued family and friends over all. We will miss him greatly. My sincerest sympathies go out to Tim's family and to the many people whose lives he touched.

FROM TOM BROKAW

Tim was a man of many passions - his family most of all, his faith, his
country, political journalism, baseball and the Buffalo Bills.

As a working class Irish-American with a Jesuit education his range was
wide and deep - from the sensibilities of blue-collar voters to the
politics of the Vatican, from the power plays on Capitol Hill to the
power plays on network television.

Almost all of our conversations - and they went on every day - ended
with some version of, "Can you believe how lucky we are to be doing
this?"

FROM BRIAN WILLIAMS

Tim Russert is gone. He was a giant in our company, in our lives, and in
the combined fields of journalism and politics. He was my friend for
many years, and my on-air partner during the most exciting political
year in generations. The members of Tim's NBC News family are thinking
only of the members of Tim's own family in the wake of this staggering,
overpowering and sudden loss.

Following is a transcript of the initial NBC News and MSNBC coverage of
Russert's passing:

TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: I'm Tom Brokaw, NBC News. And it's my sad duty to report this afternoon that my friend and colleague, Tim Russert, the moderator of "MEET THE PRESS" and NBC's Washington Bureau Chief, collapsed and died early this afternoon while at work in the NBC news bureau in Washington. Tim had just returned from a family trip to Italy with his wife, Maureen Orth, the writer, and his son, Luke. They were celebrating Luke's graduation from Boston College just this spring. Tim, of course, has been the host of "MEET THE PRESS" longer than any other person in that long-running television broadcast. He has been a very familiar face on this network and throughout the world of political journalism as one of the premier political analysts and journalists of his time.

Tim, 58-years-old, grew up in Buffalo and he wrote a No. 1 best selling
"New York Times" book called, "Big Russ and Me," about his childhood and especially about his relationship with his father, big Russ. That was
followed by another No. 1 "New York Times" best seller called, "The
Wisdom of our Fathers." That book was inspired by the many letters that he received from other children talking about their relationship with
their fathers.

This was one of the most important years in Tim's life for so many
reasons. He loved this political campaign. He worked to the point of
exhaustion so many weeks, not just on "MEET THE PRESS," but on MSNBC, and with our colleague, Brian Williams, of course, during the debates and on "Special Coverage" on NBC Nightly News.

Tim was a true child of Buffalo and the blue collar roots in which he
was raised. For all of his success, he was always in touch with the
ethos of that community. Just last week, he was back in Buffalo moving
his father from his home to another facility. His father now in his
late 80s. Big Russ, it goes without saying, our heart goes out to him
and all members of Tim's family.

Tim loved his family, his faith, his country, politics. He loved the
Buffalo Bills, the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals.
He of course had season tickets to that team when they moved to
Washington. We will have additional details throughout the evening here
on NBC News and MSNBC, of course.

Brian Williams will have continuing coverage.

But to repeat, our beloved colleague, one of the premier journalists of
our time, Tim Russert, died this afternoon after collapsing at work at
the NBC News bureau in Washington, D.C. And I think I can invoke
personal privilege to say that this news division will not be the same
without his strong, clear voice. He will be missed as he was loved,
greatly.

I'm Tom Brokaw, NBC News in New York.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: As we welcome our family of viewers on MSNBC, first off, to explain where we are. We are at Bogram (ph) Airfield in Afghanistan. And of course, the NBC News family going through the very painful knowledge, the painful first word of the loss of our friend and colleague, Tim Russert.

Tim was 58-years-old. We first learned word this afternoon that
something was wrong. Tim collapsed in the Washington bureau, where he was bureau chief, also senior vice president of NBC News and as needs no mention, a long-time moderator of "MEET THE PRESS," the hugely successful and longest running Sunday morning public affairs show in American television.

Tim, as Tom Brokaw first mentioned, was a lot of things. First, and
foremost, of course, a beloved son of Buffalo, New York. Went back
frequently. It is the home of his surviving father, big Russ, "Big Russ
and Me" the title of Tim's first of two best-selling books.

Again, at the age of 58, an unfathomable loss.

Tim knew Washington as well as anyone alive, having worked for Daniel
Patrick Moynahan and Andrew Cuomo, among others. He was an attorney, a member of the bar in New York and a member of the bar in Washington, D.C.

Apologies are required. We are in Afghanistan in preparation for
tonight's broadcast of NBC Nightly News from Bogram (ph) Airfield. And
when there is a launch of one jet here, it is usually immediately
followed by the launch of a second.

We, of course, have been here for much of this week reporting the U.S.
military effort here in Afghanistan. We are going to require a lot of
help from family members for this coverage as we go on into the evening.

All of us are suffering this same great loss. For a lot of us, it's the
first time we have spoken.

And with that, as we have another launch here -- to my colleague, Andrea Mitchell on the NBC News Washington bureau, a very sad place this afternoon -- Andrea.

ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC NEWS: Well, the shock waves cannot be fully
expressed.

Tim was our friend, our leader, our cheerleader, our teacher, my mentor.
Tim came to this bureau in 1988, 20 years ago, as the bureau chief.
Even before that, he, of course, was a vice president of NBC News and
was in charge of the today program and a great contributor to shaping
political coverage. He was a guide to all things political.

I have always felt that Tim's involvement in "MEET THE PRESS" and, I'll
never forget, his first time as an on-camera person, not just an
executive on "MEET THE PRESS," But put on camera and asking questions and then becoming the host of "MEET THE PRESS" 17 years ago. I have always felt that it was his background as someone who had gone through Jesuit schools, who had had the training from the sisters whom he so fondly talked of, who had taught him to ask questions, to ask the questions that average people would want to know, and also ask the questions that would stump the political figures, because it wasn't a gotcha moment. It was that Tim had a fabulous memory and would always ask what people needed to know about their political leaders.

Tim's leadership in this bureau, Brian, you know it better than anyone,
having taught us -- here is Tim on "MEET THE PRESS" just very recently.

Tim was the person who was really the historian of all things political
here. He also, as a partner on debate questions, was the host and
moderator of many debates, singly and together with you, Brian Williams.

He had huge impact on so many political campaigns. The political
campaign of Hillary Clinton in 2000, running for office, it was the
Buffalo debate hosted, by hometown boy Tim Russert, that put Rick Lazio (ph) on the spot and memorably had Hillary Clinton proving herself in that debate and then going on to victory as the senator from New York.

Brian, there are so many things that we can say about Tim Russert today.

But the other thing that we need to say is Tim Russert as a teacher and
as a friend.

Tim has been a friend, a father figure to many, an older brother to
some, who has carried this bureau through 9/11, through the attacks on
the Pentagon, through all of the tragedies and the triumphs of these
years here in Washington. It is Tim who has taught all of us how to be
journalists and better journalists.

And as someone who has participated with him on the "Today" program as a friend and fellow political analyst in the early years when we were
partners with Al Hunt (ph), his closest and dearest friend, Al Hunt of
Bloomberg news, and the extended family. When I think of all of us here
as journalists, and as people, we are all so much the better for being
friends and students of Tim Russert. The preeminent journalist of our
time in any measure who knew how to make the adjustment as we went into cable and on the Internet and expanded all of our horizons in an instantaneous way.

Brian, you in Bogram know better than anyone what we have learned from Tim Russert.

WILLIAMS: Well, Andrea, you put it so well and raised such an important point. No. 1, his reach through the industry, his reach through
politics and journalism. And sadly for all the wrong reasons, over the
next few days, we are about to find out just how far and deep that reach was. But also, his approach, which was so carefully honed and trained through years of education. His Jesuit education absolutely jermaine to any discussion about Tim, Irish Catholic upbringing in, as he often put it, a lunch box neighborhood, a father who held down two jobs for a large portion of his adult life, worked for the city. It helped to form who Tim Russert was.

And then his legal training, because his mind was so neatly divided like
a legal pad. His arguments and his questioning were just like a
courtroom lawyer.