You Know It's Bad When Rick Sanchez Calls you Out

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How bad is it for NBC's Brian Williams?

Fired CNN Anchor Rick Sanchez is calling him out for his stories from Katrina.

Sanchez writes on Fox News Latino,  It certainly appears that NBC anchorman Brian Williams is spinning a yarn when he claims to have seen a body “float by face down” in the French Quarter. The story is roundly refuted by almost everyone familiar with the area’s geography.

Sanchez goes on to say that retired New Orleans Police Captain Harry Mendoza’s reaction to William’s comment. Asked to respond by the New Orleans Advocate, Mendoza said he led a team that used front-end loaders to clear Canal Street of palm trees and wires after the storm.

“There weren’t any bodies out there. The only water they had in the Quarter at all was probably at Iberville and Burgundy,” a low area around the backside of the hotel, “but nothing you couldn’t drive through. Nothing anybody would have drowned in, unless you physically tried to drown.”

Also in question now is William’s story about being stricken with dysentery after drinking floodwater. Again, from my own experience spending days and days along with many of my CNN colleagues splashing in chest-deep floodwaters often for hours on end, I don’t recall anyone including myself coming down with an actual case of dysentery. However, I do remember thinking at the time that the exaggerated warnings and false reports about it by network brass in New York who had most likely never covered a storm were not only laughable, but also likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy that some young reporter would cling to.

Enter Brian Williams: “I accidentally ingested some of the floodwater. I became very sick with dysentery,” he told Tom Brokaw after returning from New Orleans.  

Yet when asked about William’s claim, the doctor who oversaw health concerns in that part of New Orleans says there wasn’t even a single case of dysentery reported.

Sanchez thinks that BriLie owes and apology to Katrina victims and as Sanchez tweeted, he knows a thing or two about saying "sorry":

Dog Gone Weather

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It seems more and more dogs are joining TV newscasts.

Watch Griffey The Weather Dog make his presence known on KOLR in Springfield:

Post by KOLR10 & Ozarks Local News.

Ummmmm.... Not Quite Right

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Brian Williams isn't the only one to get the story wrong.

In a story posted on HLN’s website, they posted a story about the Brian Williams saga and wrote, “In an unexpected move, [Brian Williams] also deleted the tweets from his Twitter account.” 

One problem, Williams has been on Twitter since 2010 and has never sent a single tweet. So, there was no tweets to delete.

HLN changed the story on their site (which no mention of their mistake), but they also sent out this tweet that was also wrong:

NBC CEO Holds Weekend BriWi Meeting at His House

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The management at NBC did not have much of a weekend.

Politico writes that NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke held a meeting with NBC News executives at his house yesterday to discuss the next steps in the Brian Williams crisis.

It appears that NBC and Williams are still holding out hope that the Anchor can survive at the Peacock and that they are considering the timing and venue for his next apology, which we presume will be more truthful this time.

As FTVLive reported earlier Today, Williams spent a good part of the weekend at 30 Rock. 

If NBC is hoping this storm will pass, it might take awhile.

Also, if Williams survives and continues to Anchor Nightly News, what happens when he is out in the field and something dramatic happens?

While he will relay the story on air, many watching will be questioning if the story is true.

That is something Williams and NBC will have to live with forever, IF they decided to keep him in the anchor chair. 

Brian Williams Cancels Chance to Lie to David Letterman Again

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Late Friday afternoon, FTVLive reported FIRST and EXCLUSIVELY that NBC was considering having Brian Williams step down from his perch at Nightly News. We reported that NBC was considering 3 people, including Lest Holt to replace Williams when he stepped down. 

Saturday, NBC sent out a press release saying that Williams was stepping down for "several day" and that Lester Holt would be filling in.

Williams sent a memo out saying that, "it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions."

Williams was scheduled to appear on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman on Thursday.

Of course, when Williams was on Letterman in 2013, he continued his lie about being shot down by an RPG in Iraq.

Sources tell FTVLive that NBC advised Williams to cancel his appearance on the late night talker and Williams did just that (despite what Howard Kurtz says).

Letterman's people pushed hard to try and get Williams to stay on the schedule, knowing that it was going to be a big ratings booster during the Feb book. 

Sources: NBC Has Found Inaccuracies in Williams' Stories about Katrina

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Sources tell FTVLive that NBC has found inaccuracies in Williams' stories about Katrina. Although Williams has already admitted to lying for a dozen years about the Iraq incident, so we're not sure why NBC is looking for other lies?

Sources tell FTVLive that some "higher up" in Comcast officials have also chimed in and said they wish to see Williams gone.

Word is that Williams spent much of the weekend at 30 Rock meeting withNBC President Deborah Turness and Comcast staff.

Still no word on what Williams' future at the network is, but there much is clear, it is not a done deal either way.

There are many inside the walls of 30 Rock that feel that Williams cannot recover from this and needs to go.

Turness is still trying to figure out if she can bounce the number one rated network news Anchor.

Let's put it this way, if NBC was in 3rd place in the ratings, Bri Wi would have already been handed his pink slip and kicked to the curb. 

Did Brian Williams Fib on Another Rocket Attack?

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Did BriLie fib on another rocket attack, while he was riding in a military chopper?

Fox News writes that "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams could face new questions this week over differing versions of a story he repeatedly told about coming under Hezbollah rocket fire while riding in an Israeli Defense Forces helicopter in 2006, according to a published report.

The Washington Post reported late Sunday that Williams has given differing accounts of how close the rockets came to the helicopter he was riding in over northern Israel. 

In a blog post written for NBCNews.com and dated July 18, 2006, Williams said that he was flying "at 1,500 feet" in a Blackhawk helicopter with a high-ranking Israeli general while rockets were being launched by the terror group into northern Israel from southern Lebanon. In the blog, Williams says the helicopter pilot tells him the rockets "landed about 30 seconds ago." At that point, Williams says, he witnesses a rocket launch, about six miles away. 

"A rising trail of smoke, then a second rocket launch, an orange flash and more smoke — as a rocket heads off toward Israel," Williams says.

However, a month later, Williams made an appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show", and told host Jon Stewart about "a view of rockets I have never seen, passing underneath us, 1,500 feet beneath us." There is no such description of the rockets passing underneath the helicopter in Williams' original blog post.

The anchor continued, "And we’ve got the gunner doors [open] on this thing, and I’m saying to the general, some four-star: ‘It wouldn’t take much for them to adjust the aim and try to do a ring toss right through our open doors, would it?’ ”

Williams repeated the later version story to a student interviewer at Fairfield University in Connecticut in November 2007. 

In that interview, Williams says the rockets passed "just beneath the helicopter I was riding in."

There is no doubt that when Brian Williams goes up in a military chopper, news happens....at least in his mind. 

Lester Holt Takes the Nightly News Wheel at NBC

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Lester Holt has been the jack of all trades at NBC News.

Seemingly he has appeared on every NBC News program at one time or another. But, tonight he takes on his biggest role yet.

Tonight, Holt steps into Brian Williams seat on NBC Nightly News with the goal of trying to keep the "NBC Nightly News" competitive and credible until the Brian Williams firestorm and jokes subside.

The NY Daily News says that Holt's primary task is to reassure viewers that NBC News, the organization, has separated itself from the inconceivably foolish "conflation" blunder that led Williams to say Friday he's taking himself off the air for a while.

Sources tell FTVLive that Holt has big fans inside 30 Rock. "Great guy and exemplary work horse," says one NBC insider to FTVLive. 

There is no word on how long Holt will be filling in for BriLie. NBC says that Williams is taking, "several days off."

Sources tell FTVLive that if NBC decides to cut ties with Brian Williams, then NBC is looking to 3 people as a possible replacement. They are Holt, Jose Diaz Balart, and Peter Alexander.

If it comes to the point where Lying Brian is kicked to the curb, look for the NBC newsroom to lobby hard for Lester Holt to get the gig. 

Was it One or Two Puppies Brian?

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Back in 2011, NBC embattled Anchor Brian Williams penned a piece for USA Weekend talking about his days as a volunteer Fireman back in his hometown.

He tells the heartwarming story of saving a puppy in a house fire. Williams writes:

My firehouse was a modest engine company — three engines, three garage doors and about 30 of the best men I’ve ever known. We fought all the usual fires that break out in the suburbs: brush fires, car fires, dumpsters, dryers, light fixtures — and worst of all, the occasional house, already in flames when we arrived. I remember one such house fire — the structure was fully involved with flames and smoke. I was wearing a breathing apparatus, conducting a search on my hands and knees, when I felt something warm, squishy and furry on the floor of a closet. I instinctively tucked it in my coat. When I got outside, I saw two small eyes staring up at me, and I returned the 3-week-old (and very scared) puppy to its grateful owners.

But in a 2005 interview with Esquire magazine, Williams says it was two puppies that he saved:

I would never, ever mention my name in the same sentence with a member of the FDNY. They were our personal gods--the best at what they do. Those guys who went into the World Trade Center, they knew. Like Captain Terry Hatton said to one of his friends: "Brother, something tells me I won't see you again." And then he went in. All I ever did as a volunteer fireman was once save two puppies. But I have an understanding--a link to those guys. Going to sleep with my boots, pants, jacket, and helmet next to the bed for so many years is still, to this day, the best training for the life I lead.

So Brian? Was it one puppy to two? And did they or did they not have an RPG strapped to them when you rescued them?

Just asking.... 

H/T Hot Air

Residents Think BriLie's Story was a Tall Tale

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Before Brian Williams "stared down the tube of an RPG," he was, “looking up at a thug’s snub-nosed .38"

At least that's what he says.

In an interview with Esquire magazine in 2005 and New Jersey Monthly in 2008, BriLie claimed he was held up while selling Christmas Trees in Red Bank as a kid..

Williams said a thief drew on him in the 1970s — leaving him “looking up at a thug’s snub-nosed .38 while selling Christmas trees out of the back of a truck.”

Page Six says that Williams told the tough-to-believe story at least four times, claiming he was trying to help a local church when the thief snatched his money on West Front Street and Riverside Avenue.

“That wasn’t a bad job, until a guy came up and stuck a .38-caliber pistol in my face and made me hand over all the money. Merry Christmas, right? Of course, I suddenly appreciated the other jobs I thought I hated,” he told New Jersey Monthly.

But longtime Red Bank residents think it’s a tall tale.

“I would highly doubt he’s telling the truth,” said Danny Murphy, who in the ’70s ran Danny’s restaurant , which was a few blocks from the alleged crime scene. “I find it hard to believe anyone was held up in this area in the ’70s. It was very safe.”

Les Carbone, 85, felt much the same way.

“Don’t listen to Brian Williams,” he said. “He’s going to tell you a lot of things. I doubt he was robbed at gunpoint. I was born in Red Bank, there were no crimes like that. Tell Brian Williams to stop lying.”

It was so safe, kids walked around alone at night back then, other residents said.

“It was never dangerous here,” said Yolanda DeMaria, 93. “It was a very peaceful town, a lovely town. It was a small town with a dress shop and a five-and-dime. No one locked their cars.”

High Court Rules that Ex-Philly Anchor's Lawsuit Can Move Forward

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Wow! Talk about a blast from the past. 

Pennsylvania's Superior Court has breathed new life into the all-but-dead civil suit brought by former KYW (Philly) Anchor Alycia Lane against the station and onetime coanchor Larry Mendte.

The decision, filed late last week, clears the way for Lane's case against Mendte and the CBS O&O to proceed to a trial, and revives a long-running saga with details that have fueled gossip pages and produced reams of legal filings for years.

"We're back," Lane's attorney Paul R. Rosen sing-songed in an interview Friday, giving his best Poltergeist impression. "Finally, Alycia Lane is entitled to her trial against CBS."

Lane alleges CBS was negligent for failing to stop Mendte when he hacked into her work and personal e-mail addresses, and spread messages and photos to gossip columnists. 

In its opinion Thursday, the court found that Common Pleas Court Judge Allan L. Tereshko erred when he threw out Lane's case in 2012, finding that she had intentionally destroyed a laptop containing e-mails and photos critical to the station's defense.

The appellate court ruled that lawyers for CBS3 and Mendte had not proved that the documents they said were missing ever existed.

Even if they did, Superior Court found, the laptop they were stored on was not crucial to the case. Since the supposedly missing e-mails were allegedly sent on cloud-based services, Lane's destroyed laptop was not necessary to access them.

Mendte pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges stemming from the e-mail intrusion and was sentenced to six months' house arrest and probation.

H/T Philadelphia Inquirer 

Oh No They Didn't?!

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A painting by artist Paul Gauguin set a record when it sold of $300 million dollars to an art collector.

The painting, "called "Nafea Faa Ipoipo" becomes the world's most expensive painting ever sold. 

The art work portrays two Tahitian models, but a couple of tweets say that an Anchor on KMAX's  Good Day Sacramento mistook the two black Tahitian ladies for something completely different. 

Are you kidding me? Please tell me that did NOT really happen? 

Out the Door in Cincinnati

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WXIX Fox 19 in Cincinnati is losing their GM at the end of the month. 

Bill Lanesey has been at the station over 6 years, but has now been told his time is up.

Here is the internal email he sent the staff telling them he's out the door at month's end:

From: "Lanesey, Bill" 
Date: February 6, 2015 at 4:05:16 PM EST
To: All WXIX
Subject: Announcement
 

Earlier this week, I requested a meeting in Montgomery with Jeff and Paul to discuss the future of WXIX.  During the meetings, it was decided that it's time for new leadership at the station. As such, my last day at WXIX will be Friday, February 27.  I've enjoyed my six plus years at the station and of the many accomplishments we have achieved as a team, I am most proud of the way we have used the power of FOX19 to impact our community with programs like Think Pink, St. Jude and the Backpack Challenge.  I look forward to thanking each of you over the next three weeks for all you've done for the station during my tenure.  Julie and I look forward to planning the next chapter in our life.

Bill Lanesey
General Manager

Bumped Up in Chicago

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Chicago's WLS announced a pair of news reporter moves.

Diane Pathieu has been hired as a full-time reporter, promoting her up from part-time per diem reporter.

Pathieu has spent a longtime on the freelance gig before getting bumped up.

She started at WLS in December 2011 as a general assignment reporter on a part-time and freelance basis. Over the last three years, her roles and assignments grew, leading up to Friday's promotion to a full-time employee of ABC. 

Jennifer Graves, WLS News Director, said of Pathieu : "Diane has a natural warmth and energy that is apparent both on the screen and behind the scenes. She’s also versatile and can handle any assignment."

Additionally, Jade Hernandez has been brought on as the station's newest part-time per diem reporter.

Don't worry Jade, do good work and it 3 years or so, you can be bumped up to full time.

H/T ChicagolandRadioandMedia