Sources: Brian Williams Could Step Down As Early As Next Week

[brooklynite]

Source: FTV Live

Sources tell FTVLive that NBC News President Deborah Turness is strongly considering having Brian Williams step down, maybe as early as next week.

...snip...

Sources say that Turness has not yet decided what to do with Williams but is "leaning in the direction" of having him step down.

Sources tell FTVLive that Turness has short list of replacements for Williams and the names could raise a few eyebrows.

They are - Lester Holt, Jose Diaz Balart, and Peter Alexander.

Read more: http://www.ftvlive.com/todays-news/2015/2/6/sources-brian-williams-could-step-down-as-early-as-next-week

[hrmjustin]

1. I wish Williams all the best!

[Demoiselle]

4. I do too.

Am I getting this right?…He was in the truck behind the truck he said he was in? I'm having trouble understanding how serious this mistake was/is. Feel free to educate me. But don't yell.

[hrmjustin]

5. I am not that up to date on it either.

And I woukd never yell.

[GGJohn]

13. No, he wasn't even in the formation that took the ground fire.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/06/media/stelter-iraq-pilots/

"Simeone and Kelly said only two helicopters were in their group, from Company B of the 159th Aviation. They said Krell was piloting the first helicopter. Simeone and Kelly were pilots on the second Chinook, and Miller was in their crew."

The paper continued: "All three said Williams was riding with them, not with Krell. They all said neither bird took fire at any time that day."

Even Krell is now doubting his memory of that day.

The pilot I interviewed on Thursday about Brian Williams is no longer standing by his story.

That pilot, Rich Krell, told me he was flying the helicopter Williams was on in Iraq -- an account now contradicted by several other soldiers.

On Friday morning, Krell told me that "the information I gave you was true based on my memories, but at this point I am questioning my memories."

And here's why they landed.

http://pagesix.com/2015/02/05/pilot-of-brian-williams-flight-all-that-hit-us-was-dust/

Pilot of Brian Williams’ flight: All that hit us was dust

I was the pilot in command of the flight that carried Brian Williams into Iraq in March 2003.
The mission was to deliver bridges to the Objective Rams region in order to support our ground-force advancement. We were briefed that we would be operating forward of the line of troops and that the objective was unsecure.

We were a flight of two, and I was the rear aircraft. Our flight to Objective Rams was uneventful, with the exception of a desert dust storm that caused deteriorating conditions not suitable for flight.

We determined that we would not make it back to Kuwait as planned. When we arrived at Objective Rams, we found a US armor unit on the objective. There was also a CH-47 from the “Big Windy” unit out of Germany.

The CH-47 was already shut down, and the entire crew was no longer at the aircraft. We dropped off the bridges and landed next to the parked CH-47 and the Bradley Fighting Vehicles due to the weather.

It wasn't because of battle damage, it was because of bad weather and, they landed next to a US armored unit.

[question everything]

26. And now, apparently, there are questions about reporting after Katrina

Reporters have noted another possible inconsistency in Williams' reporting in New Orleans -- references he has made to a suicide inside the Superdome.

In the 2005 documentary "In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina," Williams indicated that he wasn't a witness to the suicide.

"We'd heard the story of a man killing himself, falling from the upper deck," he said.

But in an interview last year at Columbia Journalism School, Williams told his NBC predecessor, Tom Brokaw: "We watched, all of us watched, as one man committed suicide."

http://www.kcci.com/project-economy/brian-williams-reporting-on-katrina-what-we-know/31151766

[Cooley Hurd]

34. So do I...

[madokie]

39. same here

of all the news readers I liked Williams the best

[The Jungle 1]

2. What

Why isn't fox news ever held to these high standards. You can go to any of the political fact check sites and most of the lies will be from fox

[freebrew]

3. He was one of the few...

to openly condemn *'s handling of Katrina.

Now that jeb is in the picture, can't have that Williams guy around no more, eh?

[840high]

11. Jeb didn't do this- Wlliams

lied.

[freebrew]

37. Didn't say Jeb did it...

yet the BFEE has a habit of screwing over news people they don't like. They also have long memorie.

Few news people haven't lied, didn't get them fired.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

6. Let's hope Hillary also steps down as early as next week for lyin bout comin' under enemy fire.

[EEO]

7. Has hell frozen over?

[notadmblnd]

19. I'm pretty sure Hillary is not holding any government position currently.

In fact I'm certain.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

27. She might be looking for a government position soon

So this "might" become an issue.

If we hold politicians to a higher standard than news anchors.

[hexola]

32. I agree this could create a problem for HC

Despite her attempts to get ahead of it.

[NJCher]

8. I hope not

He's my favorite news anchor. He has a larger than life personality and if you've ever watched him on Letterman or the other night time talk shows, he can scarcely hold himself back from taking over the entire show. I think he was cut out to be an anchorman.

I would bet these stories have their basis in some insecurity, which is a shame because he projects the image of confidence. Somehow, there was the need there to impress others with his wild exploits, be they rescuing puppies from fires to going through a sandstorm under fire.

If he does step aside, my next choice would be Lester Holt, but I hope Brian maybe takes a six month leave of absence, gets a little analysis with a good shrink, and returns. Talent like his doesn't come along every day.


Cher

p.s. If you want to tell NBC News your thoughts, here's the contact:

[e-mail]

[Duval]

20. Thanks for the contact! I

will contact them as soon as I can organize my response that doesn't include the cuss words racing through my brain. Thanks, NJCher. I do not believe this was a purposeful "lie". He has been a present voice in other dangerous situations. I cannot understand how and why "others" seem to be gleefully down on Mr. Williams. We have welcomed him into our home at 6:30 for years. If NBC doesn't hire him back, and soon, we'll be looking for another way to watch news. Free Speech TV comes to mind.

[notadmblnd]

9. he'll get a job over at Fox

they've got no problem working with liars

[old guy]

25. You are correct.

The very few times I saw him, he struck me as being just another hair sprayed news reader. There are millions of people available to spray their hair and read a script. He would be a perfect fit at Fox.

[840high]

10. Don't let the telepromter hit

u in the ass. Go away.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

12. He was in harm's way and got shot at

He just got carried away embellishing a war story about directly taking enemy fire. I wonder how many TV journalists sitting in their studios and gleefully judging him have been shot at in the course of their work as journalists risking their lives in war zones.

[GGJohn]

15. He did not get shot at.

The crew of the bird he was on have totally refuted his story.
Neither bird took any hostile ground fire that day.

[Duval]

21. Exactly! nt

[GGJohn]

22. Except neither bird in his formation were shot at that day.

And they landed because of bad weather, not battle damage, and, they landed among a US armored unit, so they were relatively safe for the night.

[tabasco]

28. Wrong

His bogus claim that he was in a helicopter under fire detracts from actual veterans who were under fire.

[SoapBox]

14. Mission Accomplished!

And all the Bush War Criminals...that lied, tortured, killed, maimed, took over a country and wasted untold trillions...

All walk and live, rich and free.

[turbinetree]

16. NEWS

News is not a popularity format, it is getting the facts truthfully and without bias and with transparency.
There are very important reasons why Murrow, Cronkite, Brinkley, Rather, Huntley and some others were watched and being watched today, it was not for ratings.
The ratings will come when you speak the truth and if you make a honest mistake and correct the information it is understandable, but to present a lie for years is something else entirely.
As soon as the society comes back to understand this fact, people like Williams know better and then there is FIX NOISE---they don't and they don't care---except for hate and fear as a agenda

[840high]

38. ...^ that

[brooklynite]

17. Perhaps we should follow the BBC example...

...and have "newsreaders" whose job is to deliver the news report, not go out in the field to "investigate".

[srican69]

35. What ?? you mean no personality driven news SHOWS?

People really want their NEWS daddies ....who will comfort them and tell them everything is/will be allright.

[KG]

18. worry-not

williams-apologists , he's sure land on his feet at fox where they appreciate a man of such story-telling skills

[Nobel_Twaddle_III]

31. Ouch, discredited to the level of Bill O’Reilly. That has to hurt

[bluestateguy]

23. "Step down"

Elites get to "step down".

An wage employee at a store is fired, but a news anchor or a politician "steps down"

[GGJohn]

24. With a very generous golden parachute. eom.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

29. White Hawk Down

[UTUSN]

30. *****NOT****** BALART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 NOoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

Last edited Tue Feb 10, 2015, 11:52 PM - Edit history (4)

[Vic Tree]

33. HuffPost: Who Could Replace Brian Williams At 'NBC Nightly News'?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/07/brian-williams-replacement-nbc-nightly-news_n_6636324.html

I'm assuming the last two were put in as a joke. Hey, THEY'D BETTER BE!

[former9thward]

36. Williams now says gangs terrorized him at his hotel in Katrina.

Other guests and the police say it is bogus.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/09/questioning-the-ritz-carlton-gangs-that-brian-williams-said-terrorized-him-during-katrina/?tid=hp_mm

[marble falls]

41. Brian has been around for a long time.

:large