"We didn't know"

FEMA Director, Mike Brown, tells Paula Zahn that "the federal government was not aware of the people at the convention center until today" ("today" being FRIDAY).

Really??!!? They didn't know?! All a person had to do was turn on the news for three seconds to learn that thousands of people were at the New Orleans Convention Center without food or water. I wonder if he realized the unbelievable absurdity of his own words.