Get to change the definition. Also ahead dr. Ben carson reacts to the Southern Poverty Law Center calling him an extremist. Caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone. The from california. The factor begins right now. Hi, im bill oreilly. Reporting tonight from los angeles. Thanks for watching us. Why the Brian Williams story is important for america. That is the subject of this evenings talking points memo. As educated viewers, you guys know that the Founding Fathers gave the press special privileges they did that so reporters could keep an eye on powerful politicians and others who might cause harm to the folks. Founders were wise to do that i just wish the press was half as responsible as the men who forged the nation. Poll last year by gallup says only 40 of americans now tress the mass media. Down from 54 in 2003. The reason Many Americans hold the press in contempt is two fold, first ideology, its perfectly fine for commentators like me to give my opinion about events. Thats what im paid to do. The factor is clearly an opinion program. Just like the editorial page of a newspaper. But when hard news people deceive their viewers and readers to advance a political agenda, thats when the nation gets hurt and to Brian Williams the anchorman for the nbc nightly news. Every day about 9 Million People watch them report the events of the day. Mr. Williams was successful, beating out abc and cbs news. Exaggerate stories. Nbc had to suspend him for six months. It wasnt just the iraq helicopter deal. Mr. Williams apparently misreported other situations as well. For example, nbc won a peabody award for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina in new orleans. Mr. Williams was a big part of that. Subsequently he said he was attacked by gangs, gangs in the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Talking points was suspicious of the story and so was the the washington post. Yesterday, i talked with post reporter Terrence Mccoy who has been investigating. Im reflecting what the Hotel Manager said in her assessment of Brian Williams when she said that he misremembered that gangs were inside the hotel. How can he misremember you are a reporter, mr. Mccoy, im not trying to give you a hard time here. I appreciate you coming on. How you can misremember there are gangs in a hotel . You cant. Its impossible. If there are gangs, there are gangs. If there arent, there arent. According to your article the manager ever the Ritz Carlton Hotel clearly said there were no gangs in my hotel. Where did i get it wrong . What happened with the hotel. Mr. Mccoy, did the manager of the hotel tell you or not tell you that there were gangs in her hotel . No, the manager of the hotel said there were no gangs in the hotel. Okay. And thats the same information we have. Brian williams said he was rescued from gangs by new Orleans Police officer named matthew pink cuss but he was not rescued from gangs. So combining that with the iraq deal wimsz had to go. But nbc news has other problems as well. One of their foreign correspondents said this about the american sniper chris kyle. Some people describe racist tendencies as iraqis and muslims as he was going on killing sprees in iraq on assignment. So i think there are issues. Wait a minute, killing sprees . Cries kyle was going on killing sprees . When he was involved in his on assignments. Right. In terms of what he was doing. Right. A lot of the description that has come out from his book and some of the terminology that he has used. Right. People have described as racist. Now a group of military people demanding that mr. He apologize as he should. He is a hard News Reporter and killing spree and racist while he was in the iraq war theater. Look, every News Organization makes mistakes. But those mistakes are eroding the confidence of americans in the press. With few constraints on the net, its extremely important that the National Media stop the corruption. And begin telling the truth without an agenda. I get the New York Times every morning. That paper has tremendous resources. But over the years its become a left wing enterprise. Thats crept into its hard news coverage. I mean, the paper cant even put out on honest best seller list for books without injecting ideology. The stuff has got to stop. Now on a personal note some have me for not condemning Brian Williams. Here is what i said on jimmy kimmel monday night. Anybody looking at the destruction of this man real happy his career is going down the drain. That disturbs me. He embellished a story. Now, again, if its just one time, he will get by. But if its a pattern of this, its going to be hard for him to come back and be the main anchor on nbc. So now we know there is a pattern, its my belief that mr. Williams, after the new orleans deal, will not return as the main anchor of nbc. They will find another place for him. I liked Laura Ingrahams take yesterday. I know Brian Williams a little bit. I used to work at msnbc. He is one of the first people who was frankly, you know, very nice and professional to me there. So he has always been very kind to me personally, but i will say, this it doesnt matter whether i watch whether i want him to be fired, excuse me, it matters like the folks in paducah kentucky think. Now, that is right on. Its all about what you guys think. If you cant trust the news anchor or commentator, you are north going to watch that person nbc news made more than 200 million in 213 on the nightly news with mr. Williams. That was 30 million more than abc. 50 million more than cbs. So obviously nbc didnt want williams off the air but they had to take him off. If they didnt it would insult you the news viewer. Reporting comes with a big responsibility Founding Fathers made that point very clearly. In return, you, the press must be honest. President john adams got so fed up with the press he tried to shut it down. But the balance of power stopped mr. Adams from doing that here on the factor, we are in our 19th season and we have made some mistakes in the past, but very few. We put together an honest broadcast every day. Take great pains to present you with information that can be verified. All americans who love their country should think about what has happened to Brian Williams, should think about other News Agencies that are distorting the facts. We should all open that per verbal Network Window and yell out were mad as hell and were not going to take it anymore. Thats the memo. Next on the rundown reaction. Then later Dennis Miller has some thoughts on Brian Williams. Also talk with dr. Ben carson, have an update on benberg doll. The factor is coming back from california. Powders may take days to work. For gentle overnight relief, try dulcolax laxative tablets. Ducolax provides gentle overnight relief, unlike miralax that can take up to 3 days. Dulcolax, for relief you can count on. 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Request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. Call us or your advisor. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Continuing with lead story, Brian Williams out as head of nbc. How americans are processing that joining us from new haven, connecticut the dean of the school of communications at Quinnipiac University lee cam lot who used to the head writer for diane sawyer on nbc news. And from baltimore david, a tv critic for the Baltimore Sun. Am i making a mistakes here mr. Zerick. What i liked is you stressed the set up within government that the press gets special privileges but with it comes responsibility. And we have really fallen down in terms of those responsibilities. I think thats the larger issue with the Brian Williams story is credibility and what the press owes to the public. I thought Brian Williams should have been stripped of his managing editor title how you can have somebody leading the newsroom and the newsroom for the most watched newscast on American Television as you said with 9 Million Viewers a night, most watched nightly newscast and the guy is a selfacknowledged liar. He lied about these events. So for all the high sounding talk from the president of nbc and the chairman of Nbc Universal yesterday about credibility and trust with their audience, the guy who is running this newscast still as managing editor is a liar. That is a major problem and its not just that he lied, bill, its what he lied abouted in the iraq case in 2003. Look at all the soldiers, all the military families that suffer every day, diminished lives because of the scars and the wounds that people suffered honorably on the battlefield. What they get out of that is something that is a little intangible but its called honor, serving honorably. I think Brian Williams tried to aappropriate some of that to himself with this lie. And that, to me, how could you ask how could you expect Service Families watch him without contempt. Thats goes back to what you said public having contempt tore the press. The iraq thing, the implication there is far beyond the press it does go into honor as you pointed out. How do you see this mr. Cam lot. I want to pick up something what david said about the managing editor title which is something i have a problem with. Whenever you vest that much power in one person, both the anchor acting as managing editor, i think thats problematic. And it makes it harder for people who work around you to challenge them on some of their reporting. Especially for people who are at several layers down. And, you know, im a big believer in editorial process. I think that more eyes on a story the better it is. The fact of the matter is this is a human enterprise and mistakes can be made. I dont think that Brian Williams will come back on any form on the nbc nightly news. Might give him a news magazine. Might do an entertainment program. Might do meet the press. Dont be surprised if you see him on meet the press. That show is in trouble ratings wise. I dont think you are going to have to deal with that anymore. Now the larger question david, is that press organizations in their hard news reporting have become somewhat ideological. And that really keys me off. I dont care what the New York Times says or the Baltimore Sun says on their editorial page or op ed cloms, your column, anybody labeled a columnist. Dont give me on hard news reporting and we have documented it here time and time again, dont be slanting that stuff. Thats why people are mad at Brian Williams because they perceived him to be a left winger david. Well, you know bill what you are talking about is really goes to what was just said about having too much control in one person and not having editorial process. They what you are talking about is who selects the stories . How do they get covered . How much air time do they get and all of that is a kind of i think some viewers an invisible kind of ideology. Its not overt. But you and i and all of us know in the business know how real it is. Heres the deal. When fox news comes on the air and the factor comes on the air and says something about a story because we cover the same stories and it doesnt jive up with what you see on the other networks, you are not giving us the full story. Trayvon martin they edited it so that the guy was said a racist thing. All right. And they edited it phoney he didnt say a racist thing. And all of us over here are going what is that . See, this is the bigger picture. You have got to clean that out mr. Cam lot or am i wrong. No you are right. Its the thing we try to teach the students in the journalism program. I hate to keep coming back to it, but mistakes can be made. They are not mistakes though. It comes from the top. And you see the roster of Network Executives and you see their political leanings david, you know them all. You interview Brian Williams. Bill, look, one of the things that outraged me and people thought i wrote about it too much but i will give you an example and i think it goes to what you are saying. They gave Brian Williams a prime time news magazine, rock center, which is a big deal. What was one of the things he did . They brought in Chelsea Clinton at 600,000 a year as a special correspondent and he showcased her. She had not a lick of journalistic training. In fact, on the 2008 campaign trail she wouldnt with her mother she wouldnt even talk to the press. And now all of a sudden Brian Williams and nbc news is going it anoint her as a special correspondent and, you know, when i wrote about that, i had emails from spouses of foreign correspondents for nbc and for abc who told me my husband, my wife doesnt make a third of what she is making and they actually do stand in line of fire, bill. Unlike Brian Williams on this trip. Thats the show biz component combined with the political. Because the they hired the bush girls. All of that is a different discussion. The only good thing out of this Brian Williams thing is that now this issue is front and center. We need to clean up hard news reporting. Gentlemen, thanks very much. Directly ahead update on the bo bergdahl. President obama trying to figure out the isis threat. Then dr. Ben carson reacting to being called extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Those reports after thesed wi messages. E. Seriously . 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Tackle it ask your doctor now if new jublia is right for you. Music. The getaway vehicle for all the confidence you need. Td ameritrade. You got this. Impact segment tonight. President Obama Asking Congress to give him formal authority to use military against the isis killers and in time a fox news poll says just 19 believe the Obama Administration has an effective strategy to fight ice sis. Also update on the boberg dal investigation, joining us from atlanta florida colonel david hunt from washington lt. Colonel tony shaffer has been our point coverage for bo bergdahl. Whats the latest on the bergdahl investigation colonel schaffer . Latest word is we are looking at a mid march decision and within mid march an announcement of that decision. And, bill, this is a complicated issue in that you have the white house and i saw David Axelrods comments the other night. David is completely miss informed they knew exactly about bo bergdahls status before they entered the deal with the taliban with that said the pentagon, the white house, and the bergdahl defense team are all trying to push their way through this trying to gain advantage. What you are seeing here is each side all sides trying to basically one up the other for purposes of trying to win the argument. Im sure you noticed that i told David Axelrod that that they had to know he was a desserter when he this made the deal we corrected the records there. Yes. It looks to me like they are trying to figure out how to sell this to the American Public so it doesnt damage president obama. Thats what it is all about is it not . Thats what the white house is doing. And i can tell you from