Embattled NBC News Anchor Brian Williams Taking Leave of Absence Amid Iraq Faux Helicopter Story … Is This the Beginning of the End?

 THE END MAY BE NEAR … NBC NEWS ANCHOR BRIAN WILLIAMS STEPPING ASIDE TEMPORARILY FROM NBC NIGHTLY NEWS …

Lying Brian Williams is said to be stepping aside from his anchor position at NBC’s Nightly News, but is this really just the beginning of the end? Williams’ fabricated and continually embellished Iraq helicopter story has gotten him in a world of trouble. even though he had been told to stop telling the faux news account by people who knew the story was made up and false, he did not. Williams wrote a memo to the NBC News staff, “As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue.  Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us.”

UPON YOUR RETURN? Don’t count on it. It is beginning to sound like all Brian Williams does is make stuff up to a made for TV movie, rather than the truth of what actually happened. Helicopter hard landings in Iraq, taking enemy fire,  looking down the very tube of an RPG and even seeing floating bodies post Katrina, Williams may want to write Hollywood movie scripts, rather than report the news, because it would appear he had an issue reporting facts.

Brian Williams said Saturday that he will step aside as anchor of his nightly NBC News broadcast for “several days” as a result of the controversy generated by his comments about his reporting during the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina.

With his troubles mounting by the day, Williams said he had decided to take himself off his signature newscast, “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” while NBC looks into statements he has made about his work in interviews stretching back more than a decade.

“As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue,” Williams wrote in a memo to the NBC News staff that was made public by the network. “Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us.”

Williams, 55, has been under fire since Wednesday after he apologized to a group of Iraq war veterans for apparently exaggerating the danger he and an NBC News crew faced while covering the start of the war in 2003. Williams had described coming under rocket and gunfire while traveling with U.S. soldiers in a military helicopter that was damaged and forced to land. The soldiers disputed Williams’s account, saying his aircraft had not been fired upon, prompting Williams to recant the story.

From Ace of Spades comes the below VIDEO, Midnight Brian Williams Update: Williams Claimed to Have Looked Down the Very Tube of the RPG That Shot Down the Lead Copter in 2007. Williams may want to remember stories of credibility, not ones that make him sound like he is some brave soul that has escaped death. In the video below he goes on to spew more BS about all these people who died in the Super Dome following Hurricane Katrina. Hmm, I guess we can’t interview those folks to see if Williams is telling the truth, they are dead. Or so he says. Williams says, “We don’t have problems going to dangerous places, a lot of us consider that our jobs.” There lies the lie.

“It gets me to thinking, I’ve been very lucky the way my life has turned out, I’ve been very lucky to have survived a few things that I’ve been involved in, at a perception a few minutes ago, I was remembering something I tend to forget, the war with Hezballah in Israel, a few years back, where there were Katuyshka rockets passing just beneath the helicopter I was riding in. A few years before that, you go back to Iraq, and I looked down the tube of an RPG that had been fired at us and it hit the chopper in front of ours.”

Best article name, from the NY Times, ‘Anchors Aweigh’.

UPDATE I: Good grief, now there are questions whether Brian Williams reported stories following Hurricane Katrina truthfully. On Friday, NBC network officials said an internal review had been launched to vet Williams’s statements.  His comments about his work covering Hurricane Katrina in 2005 are also part of the review. It would appear Brian Williams was full of crap in his reporting on Katrina as well.

NBC News launched an internal investigation Friday into statements made by its lead anchor, Brian Williams, about his reporting from Iraq in 2003, as well as stories he told about his award-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The investigation, confirmed by NBC officials, represents a change in the network’s attitude toward its popular anchor only a day after senior managers appeared to have accepted his apology for misstating the facts surrounding his excursion on a military helicopter while reporting on the start of the Iraq war nearly 12 years ago.

Williams and NBC won a Peabody Award for reporting on Katrina’s impact on New Orleans and its surroundings. Williams had recently ascended to anchor, and he flew to report live on the Category 5 storm a few days before it struck Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005. Williams reported daily from the city’s French Quarter and its convention center and Superdome, where residents sought shelter.

6.0 Magnitude Earth Quake Northern California, 6 Miles South of Napa … Strongest Quake since 1989 (VIDEO) (Update: Gas Leaks, Fires, 87 People Injured)

6.1 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS NORTHERN, CA …

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Northern California early Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

It was the strongest to hit the Bay Area since 1989, when a quake struck during the World Series.

Sunday’s earthquake struck 4 miles northwest of American Canyon, 6 miles southwest of Napa, and 9 miles southeast of Sonoma, according to the USGS.

Updates can be read at City of Napa.org.

UPDATE I: LA TIMES – 6.0 quake jolts Bay Area; outages, injuries reported

Following the 6.0 quake, there are reports of gas leaks, downed power lines, homes on fire and injuries.

A long rolling temblor pegged at 6.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey shook a wide swath of the Bay Area awake early Sunday.

Centered about nine miles south of wine country’s Napa at 3:20 a.m., the quake was felt as far south as Santa Cruz and into Sonoma County. It was the largest earthquake to strike the Bay Area since the Loma Prieta temblor of 1989, the USGS said.

A little more than two hours after the quake, a shallow magnitude 3.6 tremor was reported by the USGS. The aftershock occurred at 5:47 a.m. at a depth of 5.0 miles.

Residents reported power outages in Napa, and fire departments in several counties, along with the California Highway Patrol, were on the lookout for damage to bridges.

Reports were beginning to stream in of gas leaks, downed power lines and at least one fire.

Napa County Fire Department confirms they are swamped with calls, including reports of injuries. It is unclear how  severe the injuries are because units are still responding.

UPDATE II: Roads Closed, Thousands Without Power After 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near Napa.

Tens of thousands have lost power after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck American Canyon at 3:20 PT Sunday morning.

The quake, the USGS says, was 6 miles south-southwest of Napa, and 8 miles north-northwest of Vallejo, California. It had a depth of 6.7 miles, they report.

A 2.5 magnitude aftershock was also reported in the same area at 5:01 AM.

Calls regarding broken gas and water mains as well as property damage reports are rolling in at agencies near the quake’s epicenter. However, law enforcement and emergency agencies across the Bay Area are asking residents not to call 911 unless they have an emergency.

The California Highway Patrol is reporting the westbound off-ramp of state Highway 37 and westbound Interstate Highway 80 to state Highway 37 are closed due to possible damage. The CHP is on the scene inspecting the roadways.

PG&E also says that tens of thousands of customers are currently without power across the Bay Area, particularly in Napa and Sonoma counties.

UPDATE III: VIDEO of damage caused by earthquake.

Pic: KTLA Screen Grab – Click HERE to Watch KLTA VIDEO

UPDATE IV: 6.0 earthquake jolts Bay Area; damage and at least 87 injuries reported

A long, rolling temblor pegged at 6.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey shook a wide swath of the Bay Area awake early Sunday, causing damage to buildings and sending at least 87 people to a hospital.

At least three people were seriously hurt, including a child who was flown to Santa Rosa Community Hospital. A spokeswoman at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa said most of its injured patients had cuts, bumps and bruises. Many are being treated and released, but some have been admitted.

The quake caused about 50 gas main breaks and 30 water main leaks. The leaks prompted officials by 7 a.m. to open two evacuation centers at Napa High School and Grace Church of Napa Valley. A number of historic buildings have been damaged, including the Sam Kee Laundry, Goodman Library and the Napa County Courthouse, according to the city.

Twin Tornado Touch down in Northeast Nebraska and Devastaes Town of Pilger & Stanton (Update: Two Killed Including 5 Year Old Child)

WOW … HEAVEN HELP THEM.

Massive tornadoes hit Pilger, Nebraska.

The National Weather Service said the two twisters touched down within roughly a mile of each other. Emergency crews and residents spent the evening sifting through demolished homes and businesses in the community of about 350, roughly 100 miles northwest of Omaha. At least 19 people were injured.

“More than half of the town is gone – absolutely gone,” Stanton County Commissioner Jerry Weatherholt said. “The co-op is gone, the grain bins are gone, and it looks like almost every house in town has some damage. It’s a complete mess.”

PICS of the devastation from The Weather Channel

UPDATE I: At least two people died and 16 were critically injured.

Rescuers found several critically injured people near Pilger’s Main Street, including a 5-year-old who died after being taken to the hospital. Another fatality was confirmed in Cuming County about four miles east of Pilger, he added in a statement. Further details were not immediately available.

Faith Regional Health Services said it had 16 people in critical condition. Three of the injured were taken to Providence Hospital in Wayne. Two were treated and released for lacerations while the third remained under observation in stable condition, according to hospital spokeswoman Sandy Bartling.

“This is a significant storm, and one that I have never seen the likes of, ever. Really,” said Greg Postel, a severe weather specialist for The Weather Channel.

UPDATE II:  Severe Weather Forecast: Tornadoes, High Winds, Hail to Continue Pounding the Plains, Midwest.

3 Missing After Massive Mudslide in Mesa County, Western Colorado (Update: Search Called off for Clancy Nichols, Danny Nichols & Wes Hawkins)

Rescue teams in western Colorado are searching for three people missing after a four-mile long mudslide in Mesa County, about 11 miles from Collbran, Colorado. . The mudslide was estimated to be about 4 miles long, 2 miles wide and about 250 feet deep in some areas. The area is extremely remote and it is reported that there is no cell phone service. The individuals names have not been released.

Colorado authorities are searching for three people missing after a massive mudslide in Mesa County, the local sheriff’s office said late Sunday.

“This slide is unbelievably big,” said Lt. Phil Stratton with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office. It’s estimated to be about 4 miles long, 2 miles wide and about 250 feet deep.

The mudslide followed a day of rain and is located about 11 miles southeast of the town of Collbran, a community of about 700 people in western Colorado.

VIDEO – CNN

UPDATE I: Search halted for 3 missing after Colorado slide.

The search for three ranchers who disappeared after a huge mudslide in a remote part of western Colorado was called off Tuesday as authorities turned their attention toward monitoring for another potential slide.

Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey said the slide remained too unstable to continue looking for the men.

“We don’t want to create any more tragedy than we already have,” he said.

The three men were checking on problems with an irrigation ditch caused by an initial slide Sunday when a large chunk of a ridge broke off, sending soggy earth spilling like wet cement for 3 miles. The slide is about three-quarters of a mile across and several hundred feet deep at the center.

The men were Clancy Nichols, 51, who also worked as a county road and bridge employee; his son Danny Nichols, 24; and Wes Hawkins, 46, who worked for the local water district.

Volatile Storms Throughout the Midwest, Plains, Mississippi Valley and Deep South … Two Killed by Tornado in Quapaw, Oklahoma (Update: 10 Dead in Arkansas)(Update: Death Toll Rises to 18)

TERRIBLE WEATHER HITS THE HEARTLAND … BE CAREFUL, TAKE SHELTER, BE SAFE.

A tornado killed two people in the small northeastern Oklahoma town of Quapaw on Sunday.  The deadly tornado struck Quapaw, which is near Oklahoma’s borders with Kansas and Missouri, at around 5:30 p.m. Six people were treated at the emergency room at Integris Baptist Regional Health Center in nearby Miami after the storm. There are reports that several homes have been hit in that community.

A tornado also has caused “significant” damage in Baxter Springs, Kan., according to Gary Allen, a former Baxter Springs council member who also worked for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department. He said the tornado came into the city from the southwest and cut diagonally through the community. “There is significant damage to a lot of houses,” he said.

Sunday was the third anniversary of a 226-tornado day, which struck parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia and killed 316 people.

More video from CNN of tornadoes that touched down near Baxter Springs.

UPDATE I: Tornado on the ground in Linn County, Kansas.

Officials in the southeast Kansas town of Baxter Springs report several people injured by a tornado that also caused extensive property damage.

About 75 miles north, Linn County emergency manager Douglas Barlet said some barns and outbuildings were destroyed but no one was injured when at least one tornado struck late Sunday afternoon near the Missouri border.

UPDATE II: The risk of tornadoes continues on Monday and Tuesday, although the likelihood of strong twisters gradually lessens, according to forecasters. On Tuesday, however, the tornado risk moves as far east as the Carolinas and the western part of the Florida Panhandle, according to Weather.com.

UPDATE III: Twisters kill at least 10 in Arkansas.

Fierce storms spawned deadly tornadoes across the south and central U.S. on Sunday, leaving at least 10 dead in Arkansas and leaving a long trail of debris.

Sheriff Andy Shock of Faulkner County, Ark., said at least six people in the county were killed, KTHV-TV in Little Rock reported. “It’s just devastating,” Shock said, adding that he expects the number to rise.

Brandon Morris with the state Department of Emergency Management said one person is confirmed dead in White County, Ark., the television station reported. The twister carved a 30-mile trail of damage, and tens of thousands in central Arkansas were without power.

Video from CNN affiliate KARK showed a decimated building in Mayflower, AR surrounded by scattered debris and emergency vehicles.

Tornadoes tore through several states Sunday evening as severe weather slammed into parts of the central United States.

Authorities confirmed at least nine fatalities: eight in Arkansas and one in Oklahoma.

Damage is “widespread” after a tornado hit Mayflower, Arkansas, and there are numerous reports of injuries, said Matt DeCample, a spokesman for the state’s governor.

VIDEO of tornado in Mayflower/Vilonia, AR from car view

Tornado destruction in Mayflower, AR

Drone aerial view of damage and destruction in Mayflower, AR

UPDATE IV: Monday and Tuesday Forecast from The Weather Channel.

Monday

Threat area: Severe thunderstorm and tornado outbreak continues in the regions illustrated in red within the inset map (right). This includes parts of the Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley and the South.    Hazards: Damaging winds, large hail and multiple tornadoes possible. Some tornadoes could be strong (EF2 or higher rating). Excessive rainfall could trigger flash flooding.Maximum TOR:CON: 7 in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.Cities: Memphis, Tenn. | Nashville, Tenn. | Jackson, Miss. | Birmingham, Ala. | Louisville, Ky.

Tuesday

Threat area: Severe thunderstorm and tornado outbreak possible in the regions illustrated in red within the inset map (right). This includes locations from the South to the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes.
Hazards:  Damaging wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes possible. In addition, heavy rainfall could trigger flash flooding.
Maximum TOR:CON: 5 in parts of the Southeast
Cities: Atlanta | Nashville | Birmingham, Ala. | Louisville, Ky

UPDATE V: Death Toll at least 18 as Tornadoes pummel Plains, Midwest, and South.

At least 18 people were killed Sunday by three separate tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system that moved through the central and southern United States.

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management confirmed early Monday that at least sixteen people had died after a tornado tore through central Arkansas, while an Oklahoma county sheriff’s dispatcher reported that one person had died in the town of Quapaw, near the state’s borders with Kansas and Missouri. Fox News has also confirmed that one person died when a tornado hit Keokuk County, Iowa.