CNN media reporter Brian Stelter is reporting “Brian Williams is stepping aside from his "NBC Nightly News" amid mounting questions about the accuracy of a story he told about an Iraq War mission in 2003."
"I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days," he said in a memo to colleagues. "Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us," Williams added.
Lester Holt, anchor of NBC's "Dateline," will fill in for Williams. The atmosphere is still tense inside NBC News, as Stelter tweeted as the news broke:
NBCer describing climate at work this weekend: "No one is talking. No one is emailing. No one is texting. It's spooky and scary."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 7, 2015
On Friday, NBC News president Deborah Turness issued a memo declaring they would run an internal investigation into Williams and his story-telling.
Yesterday, Brian and I spoke to the Nightly News team. And this morning at the Editorial Exchange, we both addressed the wider group. Brian apologized once again, and specifically expressed how sorry he is for the impact this has had on all of you and on this proud organization.
As you would expect, we have a team dedicated to gathering the facts to help us make sense of all that has transpired. We're working on what the best next steps are — and when we have something to communicate we will of course share it with you.
