To me it didn't sound disrespectful. He reports about people dying which is a tragedy. And then he tries to express annoyance with someone who wanted him to par

To me it didn't sound disrespectful. He reports about people dying which is a tragedy. And then he tries to express annoyance with someone who wanted him to participate in the meeting at very specific time, apparently not considering that the seriousness of the situation may not allow that. But he tries to soften his annoyance by making a joke. I don't know the real situation though.