"I think what he did was wrong" but "I also want to have compassion for him, and I don't want to judge him for his mistake," former NBC Meet the Press anchor David Gregory told Yahoo! News Global Anchor Katie Couric earlier today in a live interview primarily focused on plugging Gregory's new book, How's Your Faith?: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey.
Gregory declined the opportunity to say whether he thought it was right of NBC/MSNBC to bring Williams back into the fold at the network:
I'm just not going to, I'm not going to go there, just 'cause I'm not looking to make news on what he should do or NBC's decision. It's just, not my place, so I'm going to pass.
For her part, Couric lamented the "vicious and brutal" attacks made by Williams detractors that were "not commensurate with the crime, or his actions." "That made me feel for him so much, as well," the former NBC Today host added, particularly the "joy and exuberance in his failings.... It's almost like a, like a mob, it seems like an angry mob at times."
Couric and Gregory also briefly discussed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's polling woes.
"Why, other than the e-mail controversy... why is it faltering, you think?" Couric asked.
"I think she's a known commodity" and "it's hard to be new and fresh and about the future when you've been in public life for so long," Gregory offered. Sure, people who've spent time with her privately can attest to her "warmth and personal characteristics," Gregory offered but, "it's difficult to convey that" what with all the "political scrutiny she faces and the media scrutiny she faces."
"Do you think they're being too careful?" Couric responded. "Do you think she's being too managed and too sort of titrated in terms of her public appearances?"
[Titrated?! What a perfect laboratory term for a candidate who is so famously formulaic in her campaigning.]
Gregory answered that while Hillary is not a "natural" retail politician like Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, or Joe Biden, that being herself on the campaign trail can and will work for her:
...When you close your eyes, can you imagine this person in the White House? And I think that's a great advantage for her. I think a lot of people close their eyes -- whether they like her or dislike her -- and say, "Yeah, I can see her as president."
I can't tell you how many military figures or CEOs I've spoken to -- who are Republican -- who would say, "Yeah, we would have no problem with Hillary Clinton as president."
You know, so I think that says something about the kind of the wider perspective rather than the gyrations [in the polls] right now.
To watch the full interview, click here or press play on the embed below:
