IT SOUNDS like the television anchorwoman’s ultimate nightmare. Take lavatory break. Leave personal microphone on. Have cloakroom gossip — including how much you hate your sister-in-law — broadcast live in excruciating detail during a nationally televised speech by President Bush.

CNN was forced to apologise yesterday after such a fate befell Kyra Phillips, whose trenchant views on her brother’s wife, mixed with the sound of zips and running water, drowned out Mr Bush as he spoke live from New Orleans to mark the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Her inadvertent comments gave the name of her show, Live From, a whole new meaning.

As Mr Bush spoke of improved communications between government agencies, CNN’s viewers heard Phillips’s voice interject during a conversation with an unidentified colleague: “... assholes.”

Phillips, responding to news about her cloakroom confidante’s latest relationship, continues on the subject of men, first lavishing praise on her husband, whom she calls a “really, passionate, compassionate, great, great human being”.

Meanwhile, as one can only imagine the screams beginning to emerge from the CNN production suite, and as Mr Bush can barely be heard talking of “what went right and what went wrong”, Phillips’s friend says that her boyfriend is about to come for “an extended visit” — an observation followed by the sound of a running tap.

Unfortunately, as millions of viewers were about to discover, Phillips’s view of her sister-in-law is not so enthusiastic as the one reserved for her husband. She says she has to protect her brother, because his wife is such a “control freak”.

At this point, another female voice from the CNN control room can be heard, telling Phillips to turn off her microphone.

Seconds later, her co-presenter, a flustered-looking Daryn Kagan, says, mistakenly: “All right, we’ve been listening in to President Bush. . .”

Back on air, Phillips — one of the network’s main daytime presenters — says: “And by the way, we apologise for an issue we had with our mikes. We apologise for a little bit of an interruption there during the President.”

How she apologises to her brother and sister-in-law remains to be seen. But her comments should make for an interesting Thanksgiving this year.

By late afternoon Phillips’s entry in Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, had already been updated with a full account of her mishap. But yesterday she was back on air with no mention of the incident.

WHAT THE VIEWERS SAW . . . AND HEARD

Kyra Phillips: “Assholes. Yeah, I’m very lucky in that regard with my husband. My husband is handsome and he is genuinely a loving, you know, no ego (unintelligible) you know what I'm saying. Just a really passionate, compassionate great, great human being. And they exist. They do exist. They're hard to find. Yup. But they are out there."

Unidentified woman: “We'll see. He's going to come, you know, he's set for an extended visit.” (unintelligible)

Phillips: “I mean, that's, that's how you figure it all out, those extended visits.” (laughter)

Woman: “Yeah, but my mom, I think she really likes him.”

Phillips: “Mom's got a good vibe? Good.”

Woman: “Yeah, my brother's the one that.” (unintelligible)

Phillips: “Brother - of course, brothers have to be, you know, protective. Except for mine. I've got to be protective of him."

Woman: (unintelligible)

Phillips: "Yeah. He's married, three kids, but his wife is just a control freak."

Unidentified woman 2: “Kyra."

Phillips: "Yeah, baby?"

Woman 2: “Your mike is on. Turn it off. It's been on the air."

Seconds later, Daryn Kagan stumbled through this awkward transition:

Daryn Kagan:

“All right, we've been listening in to President Bush as he speaks in, uh, New Orleans today. This is the one-year anniversary of Katrina making land shore there. President Bush saying if another natural disaster hits, our country. We must, uh, react better than that. Let's listen in once again to President Bush.”

Times Recommends

• Thousands of Tamils dying in 'welfare camp'
• Jackson 'rebuilt his nose before he died'
• Renewed Iran protests crushed by militia