Tag: brian williams
Brian Williams hosting 'The 11th Hour'

WATCH: MSNBC Aired Perfect Movie Clip To Mock McCarthy-Trump Meeting

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

On January 28, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy traveled to Palm Beach, Florida to meet with former President Donald Trump — and MSNBC's Brian Williams mocked the meeting by showing a clip from the 1996 movie "Jerry Maguire

Williams, who hosts The 11th Hour, told guests who included comedian Baratunde Thurston and Never Trump conservative Bill Kristol he was about to air "what I'm told is the first exclusive video out of this meeting today between McCarthy and Trump." Sounding perfectly serious, Williams told his guests, "We'll watch it and react on the other side." And then, he cut to the "Jerry Maguire" clip.

"Obviously, we have rolled the wrong clip," Williams told his guests as they were laughing. "We were sold a bill of goods here. I thought this was going to be of the McCarthy and Trump meeting and someone's gonna be, of course, in big trouble."

Never let it be said that Williams lacks a sense of humor.

Prospects Fading For ‘NBC Nightly News’ Anchor Brian Williams’ Return

Prospects Fading For ‘NBC Nightly News’ Anchor Brian Williams’ Return

By Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

WASHINGTON — Many in the media business believe that the future looks bleak for suspended NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams.

NBC News executives are in the midst of an internal review into Williams’ reporting, and it will be at least five more weeks before a decision is made on whether he returns. Williams was benched in February after falsely stating that he was in a helicopter that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Speculation that Williams is a goner heated up last weekend after several reports based on unnamed sources said NBC’s review found numerous situations in which the anchor publicly embellished statements about his reporting. Some competitors even suggested that NBC was behind the leaks as a pressure tactic to get Williams to resign and let the network reduce or get out of its contractual obligation to pay him more than $50 million over the next five years.

But NBC News Chairman Andy Lack still hasn’t given up on the idea of bringing Williams back. Lack is also in no rush to decide, according to executives close to NBC News who were not authorized to speak publicly.

As NBC News president in the 1990s, Lack groomed Williams to be the successor to Tom Brokaw and remains close friends with him.

“If there is a path back, he is going to want to find it,” one of the executives said.

NBC declined to comment.

The chatter among members of the TV news industry — many of whom were in Washington, D.C., this weekend for the annual White House Correspondents’s Association dinner — was that it was difficult to see that path. “If there was, don’t you think we’d be hearing about it by now?” an NBC News veteran said.

One possible scenario is that Lack vouches for Williams because of their long relationship, puts him back in the anchor chair but strips him of his managing editor title. Lack would then assure the public that he would keep a close watch on Williams. However, no one is betting on that happening.

Lack does have to be mindful of his bosses at NBC parent Comcast Corp., who have little patience for sustained bad news and are not afraid to cut their losses. Comcast demonstrated that last week when the cable giant decided to kill its proposed $54-billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable amid heavy criticism from consumer advocates.

However, there is no truth to reports that suggested NBC wanted to get the Williams issue resolved before upfront ad sales for the 2015-16 season begin next week, people in the industry said.

Advertisers who spend about $450 million a year on the network evening news are going to base their commercial buys on pricing and ratings guarantees no matter who is in the anchor chair, the people said. Many of the products advertised on the broadcasts are found in medicine cabinets, and their media buyers are not particularly sensitive about program content.

Under the terms of his suspension, Williams is muzzled by NBC and cannot respond to the negative stories about further alleged problems with his reporting.

Those issues, according to the leaked accounts, all have to do with exaggerated and inaccurate statements Williams has made about his coverage on talk shows, interviews, or the banquet circuit. An NBC News executive said there was no word of any falsehoods that appeared on his newscast.

Even if the results of the review leave an opening to bring Williams back, Lack also will have to consider the effect on his organization’s morale.

There has been no public statement from anyone at NBC News calling for Williams to return to the anchor chair. His support among rank-and-file employees in the division is said to be thin.

There is also the issue of unseating current anchor Lester Holt, who has become the first solo African-American network evening news anchor because of Williams’ suspension.

Aside from the historic aspect of Holt’s status, his colleagues hold the veteran of the news division in high esteem.

Since Holt took over, NBC Nightly News ratings have slowly eroded at a rate that one evening news competitor said should have the network “moderately” concerned. The broadcast has slipped into second place in total viewers behind ABC World News Tonight With David Muir while remaining about even in the advertiser-favored 25-to-54 age group.

But it has not been the full-out ratings collapse that could have happened when a popular anchor is yanked from a program.

Perhaps another sign that Williams’ prospects for coming back are fading is that he came up twice in Saturday Night Live cast member Cecily Strong’s monologue at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Up until then, NBC’s late-night hosts and comedy programs, all under the supervision of executive producer Lorne Michaels, had steered clear of making light of Williams’ situation. The anchor had been a popular guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, once hosted SNL and is friendly with the host of Late Night With Seth Meyers.

Photo: Steve Rhodes via Flickr

Late Night Roundup: David Letterman For Senate?

Late Night Roundup: David Letterman For Senate?

Senator Al Franken (D-MN) made a rare appearance on national TV, sitting in with his old friend David Letterman. And while they were discussing the ongoing controversies in Letterman home state of Indiana, the former comedian Franken had a suggestion: Dave should go back to Indiana — and seek to join Al by running for the Senate, too.

Seth Meyers took on the endless media speculation and questions to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) about whether she’ll run for president — and her repeated responses that she is simply not doing so.

Conan O’Brien sat with the one and only Ringo Starr, who talked about how he had grown up with the most hardscrabble background among the Beatles.

And James Corden hosted Katie Couric, who talked about the ongoing controversies with her former news colleague Brian Williams, and called for a sense of mercy and consideration in the popular culture.

Late Night Roundup: Jon Stewart’s Victory Lap For Veterans

Late Night Roundup: Jon Stewart’s Victory Lap For Veterans

Jon Stewart declared victory last night on The Daily Show, when the Department of Veterans Affairs changed a regulation for veterans seeking health care outside of the system, the day after Jon had spotlighted this regulation. (Whether this was a coincidence of The Daily Show’s timing, and if the VA might’ve already been planning the rule change, was irrelevant — Jon is going to have a good time.)

Larry Wilmore celebrated “a gift from the Comedy Gods”: The presidential candidacy of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). And so he unveiled his new feature for the 2016 presidential race: “Blacklash 2016 — The Unblackening.”

Conan O’Brien also looked at the lighter side of the Cruz campaign — particularly Cruz’s oddball statement that he became a country music fan after 9/11.

Bill O’Reilly appeared with David Letterman, and defended himself vociferously against accusations that he might have exaggerated his journalistic experiences out in the field — and Bill also said that he thinks NBC News should bring back Brian Williams.