Anchor Brian Williams is saying he's 'too much a part of the news.'
Brian Williams is stepping away from the anchor desk on Nightly News following his mistake in recounting events in Iraq.
In a personal note to his staff, Williams writes, "In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions."
Williams' credibility was put into question with many viewers calling for NBC to take him off the air after he apologized on Wednesday for falsely claiming that he was under fire during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
NEWS: Brian Williams Apologizes for False Report
"I made a mistake in recalling the events 12 years ago," Williams said on Wednesday's Nightly News broadcast. "I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft hit by RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] fire. I was actually instead in a following aircraft."
Williams also apologized on Facebook saying, "I don't know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another."
NEWS: What's Next for Brian Williams?
In spite of all the apologizing, he will be taking the next several days off as the Managing Editor of Nightly News. Lester Holt will sit in for him during the leave of absence.
But as of now, he says that he is coming back to the broadcast in his note to staffers. "Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us," he promises.