Saturday 21 June 2008

Brian Williams Takes on Meet the Press

NBC Nightly News' Brian Williams has been tapped to assume Tim Russert's moderator chair on Sunday's Meet the Press; however, NBC has yet to decide on a permanent host to replace the late anchor.

Tim passed away from a heart attack on June 13 at the age of 58.

Brian will welcome Sens. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday. The two were scheduled to appear on Meet the Press last week. Last Sunday's episode, hosted by Tom Brokaw, turned into a special tribute for Tim, who hosted the show for 17 year's, the show's longest-serving anchor. The moderator's chair was left vacant in his honor.

Tim was also NBC's Washington Bureau Chief, another spot the Peacock needs to fill.

Still coming to terms with their devastating loss, NBC is not yet ready to name permanent replacements for either positions. The network plans to rotate in-and-out different hosts for Meet the Press in the coming weeks.

"Tim is truly irreplaceable, and there's no single person who can step in and do all this," NBC News President Capus says. "So we have a considerable list of roles that need to be filled. We're just going to take them one at a time."




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