Norah Moved By Plight Of . . . Obama Staffers

When it comes to heart-wrenching images, forget about those oil-plunged pelicans. What appears to really move Norah O'Donnell is the plight of . . . Pres. Obama's White House staffers.

Check out the very end of the video clip from today's Morning Joe and see if it doesn't seem that O'Donnell gets a bit emotional as she describes Obama aides waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares of gushing oil.

NORAH O'DONNELL: I think what's noteworthy and interesting is that the White House is trying to make the point that they're failing to communicate how they're doing on these issues. That the reason the the president's poll numbers slipped and even as we saw earlier about people think that the president's handled this worse than Katrina; the government has handled this worse than Katrina. That it's a failure to communicate these issues. I think that's part of it in this sort of dispersed media.

But, I mean, I've spoken with White House staffers who tell me that they wake up in the middle of the nightmares of gushing, of the gushing oil. I mean, it's consuming to be in the White House. And all of this different problems, and this oil thing which seems to eclipse everything. It eclipses everything. [Pauses. Shuts eyes. Swallows back emotion.]