CNN's Brian Stelter on Tuesday suggested that it was unlikely Brian Williams could survive as Nightly News anchor, given the ongoing challenges to his honesty. The media analyst explained just how hard it would be for the anchor to get past the scandal related to lying about being struck by an RPG: "Can you imagine a situation where Brian Williams is across from a president or politician and challenges them on misleading statements? Is he going to have any credibility to do that?"
Stelter reported that Williams on Tuesday met with the head of NBC Universal. The results of that meeting are not yet known. However, the CNN journalist ominously predicted, "Frankly, this looks pretty bad for Brian Williams. It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where this is going to end well for him."
Stelter stated that sources tell him the time line is "sooner rather than later." He highlighted Williams's current replacement and gossiped:
BRIAN STELTER: Meanwhile, as you know, Lester Holt has started to fill in for Brian Williams. He did just fine last night. The ratings seemed steady. So, it wasn't as if viewers rejected him in the anchor chair. Whether we like it or not, NBC is paying attention to that data right now.
Stelter previously reported that NBC is "fearful" and unsure how to deal with the "humiliated" Williams.
A new video has surfaced from 2003 in which the NBC anchor compared his fictional RPG attack to "Black Hawk Down meets Saving Private Ryan."
A transcript of the February 10 segment is below:
2:38
BROOKE BALDWIN: Now to the investigation NBC is definitely not touting with pride here, the one focused on its own Nightly News anchor, Brian Williams, who admitted he misled the public on some of the details he gave on his Iraq war coverage back in 2003. NBC leaders just last night got a progress report on that internal investigation under way. So, let's go to our senior media correspondent, host of CNN's Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter. Before we ask you about that progress report. There are new developments today about a meeting at an apartment of one of the execs.
BRIAN STELTER: There are. I can report that Brian Williams sat down with the head of all of NBC Universal, Steve Burke. He's the CEO and he runs all the cable channels, all the broadcast stations that NBC owns. They met at Burke's apartment this morning We don't know what the outcome of what it was. We do know they left together and appeared to be in good spirits. But who the heck knows what that specifically means. This is significant because on Sunday, Burke had sort of an emergency meeting with his NBC News executive leadership at his apartment as well. So, now we know, basically, this has reached the top of NBC with Brian Williams and the CEO. Now, we wait to see what happens. Frankly, this looks pretty bad for Brian Williams. It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where this is going to end well for him. But anything is possible and very few people know what's actually going on.BALDWIN: So, what's the progress report of this internal NBC investigation?
STELTER: So, last night Williams was not in the room for this, but the guy in charge of NBC's internal investigation presented what he's learned so far to the NBC executives. They called this a progress report, and he's not done yet. The time line, I'm told, is "sooner rather than later." Everybody, I think, wants to get this cleaned up, because it's been almost a week now. Every day that goes on, this is just a worse crisis for NBC News. I've never quite seen anything like this where the anchor has stepped aside for the time being and he says he'll be back, but people aren't sure if he'll be back. Meanwhile, as you know, Lester Holt has started to fill in for Brian Williams. He did just fine last night. The ratings seemed steady. So, it wasn't as if viewers rejected him in the anchor chair. Whether we like it or not, NBC is paying attention to that data right now.
BALDWIN: So who ultimately – I mean, listen, no matter where you work, you have a lot of bosses you report up to.
STELTER: Everybody's got a boss, right, Brooke?
BALDWIN: So who ultimately decides Brian Williams' fate?
STELTER: Steve Burke is the CEO of all NBC Universal. He reports to the CEO of Comcast, Brian Roberts. You know, Comcast, one of the biggest media companies on the planet, happens to own NBC and operates NBC News. Brian Roberts is the kind of guy who likes NBC News, appreciates having it. He just doesn't want it to be a distraction. He just doesn't want it to be an embarrassment. And right now this is an embarrassment for Comcast. So, he's involved as is Steve Burke, the CEO of NBC Universal. You know, right now Comcast is busy. They're trying to get a merge approved with Time Warner Cable. They don't want this distraction. That's one of many reasons they're trying to resolve this sooner rather than later.
BALDWIN: Sooner rather than later, whatever that really, I guess, means.
STELTER: A lot of people want Brian Williams to be able to have a second chance. So, we saw David Brooks say in the New York Times this morning, "Good people come out better, strong, when they have second chances." But can you imagine a situation where Brian Williams is across from a president or politician and challenges them on misleading statements? Is he going to have any credibility to do that? That's what NBC is weighing, those two sides.
