Pilot and CNN Backtrack on Brian Williams Story

Media Critic Brian Stelter was all over CNN's air yesterday talking about how he talked to the pilot that flew Brian Williams in 2003. Stelter claimed that the pilot said that the chopper did come under small arms fire (although not and RPG) and was following the chopper that was hit.

A number of other military strongly disagreed with the pilot's recollection of the events and said it was wrong. Steleter continued to report the story the pilot told him. 

It was a story that at least gave Brian Williams some wiggle room in his fabricated story.

But, now Stelter says the pilot has backtracked from his story and so now is CNN.

"That pilot, Rich Krell, told me he was flying the helicopter Williams was on in Iraq -- an account now contradicted by several other soldiers," Stelter wrote on CNN's website.

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

Stelter then writes, "This week, I've been urging Brian Williams to be fully transparent about what happened on his embed in Iraq and about why his story evolved over the years."

Why Brian Williams would care or take advice from Stelter is beyond us, but Stelter must think he's Williams PR team or his Dad.

Stelter ends his story with, "What initially looked like an account that supported some of Brian Williams' war story -- that he came "under fire" that day -- no longer appears to be true."

And Brian Stelter's big scoop that he talked about all day yesterday just got shot down. No word if it was an RPG that did the damage.