Brian Williams took the first step toward his eventual return to NBC on Friday morning.
The former "NBC Nightly News" anchor opened up about his suspension for the first time to Matt Lauer in an interview on "Today."
"It has been torture," Williams said of the entire ordeal. "Looking back, it has been absolutely necessary. I have discovered a lot of things. I have been listening to and watching what amounts to the black box recordings from my career. I've gone back through everything - basically 20 years of public utterances."
Williams was suspended after embellishing the details of a 2003 trip to Iraq. Lester Holt, formerly the weekend anchor of "Nightly," is replacing Williams full-time. Starting in August, Williams' new gig will be covering breaking news on MSNBC. The one-time managing editor of the news program told Lauer that he "owns up" to all the criticism that has been thrown at him.
"I was reading these newspaper stories, not liking the person I was reading about, wanting - I would have given anything to get to the end of the story and have it be about someone else, but it was about me," he said. "These statements I made, I own this; I own up to this and I have to go through and see and try to figure out how it happened."
Prior to being interviewed by Lauer, Williams apologized to NBC News staffers at the network's New York and Washington D.C. bureaus this week, according to CNN Money:
"Williams quickly embarked on what was dubbed an 'apology tour,' meeting with NBC staffers in both New York and Washington D.C., where he was 'deeply apologetic,'" CNN Money reported.
NBC News and MSNBC Chairman Andrew Lack said on Thursday that Williams' "excellent" past work earned him another shot at covering the news for the network, CNN Money reported.
"Brian now has the chance to earn back everyone's trust," Lack said in a statement Thursday. "His excellent work over twenty-two years at NBC News has earned him that opportunity."
Williams knows he is fortunate to still be with NBC despite what he did.
"I am a grateful person,'' Williams said. "I am fully aware of the second chance I have been given. I don't intend to squander it."
