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Brian Williams does not face investigation, stepped aside voluntarily, source says

Brian Williams decided on his own to step aside from his NBC newscast for several days and was under no pressure to do so by network executives, a person familiar with the situation says.
The move on Saturday, developed in consultation with the NBC brass, was not a thinly disguised suspension. In fact, no one, including NBC News President Deborah Turness, suggested that Williams take time off, this person says.
What’s more, according to the source, NBC is not conducting an internal investigation of its anchor, as has been widely reported. The network is engaging in journalistic fact-gathering so it can respond to questions about the crisis created by Williams’ false story about having been in a helicopter in Iraq that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. That means there will be no report with a finding on his conduct, this person says.
Williams knows that he needs to address the situation beyond the botched apology this week that made matters worse. And he has a prime forum coming up: An appearance scheduled for Thursday on CBS’s “Late Show” with David Letterman.
Williams is strongly considering keeping the appearance and using it as an opportunity to clear the air and address the lingering questions, the source says, but no final decision has been made.
Ironically, the anchor will be sitting in the same chair where he told Letterman the false Iraq story in 2013—a clip that has been widely replayed to show that he has repeatedly claimed to have been in the downed Chinook.
No one, including Williams, is minimizing the gravity of the situation. He is said to be embarrassed and very remorseful about the crisis that he created by misrepresenting what happened in Iraq in 2003.
NBC executives have not publicly defended Williams, fueling media speculation that his job may be in jeopardy. But the person familiar with the situation says Williams wanted no such public show of support, fearing it would appear to be the kiss of death.
That’s because NBC management had expressed support for David Gregory before dumping him as moderator of “Meet the Press,” and for Ann Curry before pushing her off the “Today” show.
Williams understands how badly he has damaged the news division. He told colleagues this week that while the Iraq debacle was solely his mistake, he hurt all of them because he is the high-profile face of NBC News.
He also is acutely aware that by saying during his apology that he was in a “following aircraft” behind the chopper that was hit—which was debunked by Stars & Stripes—he prolonged the controversy and made matters worse.
On the central question of why he claimed to have been in the helicopter that was struck by an RPG, Williams is said to believe that he simply succumbed to the sin of exaggeration. Armchair pundits have been analyzing whether he somehow convinced himself that he was a hero by taking enemy fire.
For now, at least, Williams’ job at NBC, where he has been the top-rated network anchor for a decade, appears secure. But that could change if journalists poke more holes in other stories reported by Williams.
For instance, a report in the New Orleans Advocate questioned whether Williams actually saw a dead body floating by his hotel when he was covering Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as he has repeatedly said.
The New Orleans Times Picayune reports Saturday that since the anchor was staying at the Ritz-Carlton in the French Quarter, “it is possible Williams saw floodwater outside the hotel, as water pouring in from failed levees reached that [area]. The Associated Press reported that a news photographer and a law enforcement official said they saw bodies in the area.”
By handing his anchor duties to Lester Holt for a week or so—there is no exact timetable—Williams hopes to minimize the distraction that his credibility problems have created. But whether he can achieve his goal of regaining the audience’s trust depends on how he handles the mounting questions in the days ahead.

Obama administration issues 5.5M work permits to non-citizens; critics call it 'shadow' immigration system

The Obama administration has since 2009 issued roughly 5.5 million work permits to non-citizens beyond what Congress has authorized, according to recently-released documents that critics of U.S. policy say reveals a "shadow" or "parallel" immigration system stifling wages and taking jobs from Americans.
The information was obtained by the conservative-leaning Center for Immigration Studies through a Freedom of Information Act request and has prompted Alabama GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions to call for an investigation.
"This request has unearthed the operation of a shadow immigration system previously unknown to the American public," said Sessions, one of Capitol Hill's most outspoken critics of President Obama's immigration policy. "A full investigation is warranted."
Congress authorized an estimated 5 million green cards and 3.5 million guest worker permits during the 2009-2014 period, in addition to the 5.5 million issued by administration action, a Senate staffer said Wednesday.
Jessica Vaughn, the study author and the center's director of policy studies, argues the administration has discovered the power to issue work permits outside the limits set by Congress and that it has become "the vehicle" for Obama’s executive actions -- in which he has offered deferred deportation to millions of people now in the country illegally.
The biggest group of recipients has been people entering the U.S. without being inspected. More than 957,200 of them received permanent or "pre-permanent" work permits, according to the center.
Others received those types of permits were 23,215 parolees, nearly 1,000 stowaways and 49 people suspected of document fraud.
In addition, 531,692 students and 470,028 students received temporary work permits over that period. And those in both groups were neither originally admitted to the U.S. for employment nor qualified for admission, the group found.
"Some of those people are on track to get a green card," Vaughn said recently on Fox News Business' "Lou Dobbs Tonight." "But the vast majority of them entered illegal or on a tourist visa or the visa waiver program. … It's not like there’s a labor shortage here."
Session has largely framed his argument against Obama's immigration policy as hurtful to U.S. workers, many of whom have not seen wages increase in the growing, post-recession economy.
"The slack labor market has depressed median family income by $5,000" since 2009, he said.
Vaughn also broke down the numbers to show the three biggest groups ineligible for work permits but receiving them are illegal immigrants (928,000), people of "unknown" immigration status (1.7 million), and those on a temporary visa (1.8 million).
"There's no reason to issue (work permits) to people here illegally or whose status is unknown," Vaughn also said.
She said 1.7 million have either not been recorded or their statuses have not being disclosed by the Citizenship and Immigration Services, which  should be a concern because work permits are “gateway documents” to drivers' licenses and other benefits.
The agency did return a call requesting comment.
"And if the government agency issuing them does not know or will not disclose how the bearer arrived in the country how can others rely on the authenticity of an individual's identity? It is equally disconcerting if the government does know and chooses not to disclose it," Vaughn said.

Parents of US hostage held by ISIS nixed rescue mission, report says

The parents of an American aid worker held hostage by the Islamic State terror group reportedly did not want the U.S. to launch a mission to rescue her, but rather have her release negotiated.
Foreign Policy reported that as a result of the request, military plans to locate 26-year-old Kayla Mueller were shot down before President Obama had a chance to decide on a possible strategy to locate her.
The parents of Mueller reportedly told U.S. officials that such an operation would be "too risky."
ISIS said Friday that Mueller, of Prescott, Arizona, died in a Jordanian airstrike, but the government of Jordan dismissed the statement as “criminal propaganda” and the U.S. said it had not received any evidence to corroborate the report.
If the death is confirmed, she would be the fourth American to die while being held by Islamic State militants. Three other Americans -- journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid worker Peter Kassig -- were beheaded by the group.
The parents of Mueller released a statement late Friday addressing the terrorist group’s claim of their daughter’s death. They said the alleged death of their daughter concerned them, but they were still hopeful she was alive.
"You told us that you treated Kayla as your guest, as your guest her safety and well-being remains your responsibility," the statement from Mueller's parents says.
Mueller is an aid worker who has previously volunteered with aid groups in India, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Her identity had not been disclosed until now out of fears for her safety. Her family said she was taken hostage by the Islamic State group on Aug. 4, 2013, while leaving a hospital in Syria.
"The common thread of Kayla's life has been her quiet leadership and strong desire to serve others," Mueller's family said in the short statement released Friday.
Jordan has been launching airstrikes against the extremist group in response to a video released this week that shows captive Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh being burned to death in a cage.
Al-Kaseasbeh, whose F-16 came down in December while conducting airstrikes as part of a campaign against the militants by a U.S.-led coalition, was believed to have been killed in early January.
Friday's statement from the group said Mueller was killed in the militants' stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria during Muslim prayers -- which usually take place around midday -- in airstrikes that targeted "the same location for more than an hour."
It published photos purportedly of the bombed site, showing a severely damaged three-story building, but offered no proof or images of Mueller.
The statement said no Islamic State militants were killed in the airstrikes, raising further questions about the veracity of the claim.
Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said it was investigating.
"But as a first reaction, we think it's illogical and we are highly skeptical about it. How could they identify a Jordanian warplane ... in the sky? What was the American lady doing in a weapons warehouse?" al-Momani said.
"It's part of their criminal propaganda. They have lied that our pilot is alive and tried to negotiate, claiming he is alive while they had killed him weeks before," he added.
American officials said they also were looking into the report.
“We are obviously deeply concerned by these reports," said National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan. "We have not at this time seen any evidence that corroborates ISIL’s claim."

Biden says Ukrainians 'have a right to defend themselves,' mum on US sending weapons

Vice President Joe Biden, in Germany this weekend to help reach a diplomatic solution to Russian aggression in Ukraine, said Ukrainians “have a right to defend themselves" but did not address the possibility of the United States sending weapons to them.
Biden is in Munich with Secretary of State John Kerry to back the German-French diplomatic effort, which he says is "very much worth the attempt."
Biden said he and other U.S. leaders think they should “attempt an honorable peace" but that they also believe the Ukrainian people "have a right to defend themselves."
He suggested that the impact of economic sanctions imposed on Russia for its actions will get worse if leaders refuses to accept a peaceful resolution and continue to escalate the conflict, the White House said Saturday.
Russian military forces started taking control of parts of eastern Ukraine in late-February 2014, after protesters and other Ukrainian residents helped oust Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych. And within weeks, Russian began its ultimately successful effort to annex the eastern Ukraine region of Crimea.
In response to recent calls in Washington and Kiev for the U.S. to give the outgunned Ukrainians such lethal weapons as anti-tank and anti-mortar systems to fight Russian-backed separatists, Moscow said earlier this week that such a move would be a threat to its national security.
While in Munich, Biden also met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the diplomatic efforts and to pledge U.S. support for the Ukraine economy as it pursues reforms, according to the White House.
Still, Biden remains skeptical about whether Russian officials will comply with a diplomatic solution, saying they will be judged by their actions on the ground, "not by the paper they sign."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande traveled to Kiev on Thursday and Moscow on Friday.
They are trying to secure a peaceful resolution to the conflict based on the Sept. 24, 2014, Minsk agreements.
Poroshenko is pushing for a quick cease-fire and insists that the conflict must be resolved, not frozen.
"There is no temporary solution,” he said at the Munich Security Conference, amid the flurry of international diplomacy to calm the Ukraine conflict.
Poroshenko also renewed Kiev's call to be provided with defensive weapons, something that's opposed by European countries.