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Date Posted: 06:16:44 01/09/05 Sun
Author: CROSSFIRE
Subject: Armstrong, caufgt in the

CNN CROSSFIRE
JANUARY 7, 2005 

BEGALA: Well, we'll come back to that later. But, as you have heard, the Bush administration has been paying a well-known political commentator to promote its education agenda. Next, we'll ask that commentator, Armstrong Williams, why he took the money as the Government Accountability Office, says the Bush administration violated the anti- propaganda law in pushing its anti-drug law as well.

NOVAK: The Department of education says it followed standard government procedures when it entered an agreement with TV and radio commentator Armstrong Williams. The government paid Williams nearly a quarter of a million dollars to promote its education reform plan.

Joining us now in the CROSSFIRE, Armstrong Williams.
(APPLAUSE)

BEGALA: Mr. Williams, good to see you again. First, thank you for coming.

WILLIAMS: You're welcome.

BEGALA: You're a stand-up guy. As I was saying off the air, you're in the soup today, but you're willing to come into the CROSSFIRE. That makes you a stand-up guy in my book.

Someone who's not a stand-up guy is our current education secretary, soon to be replaced, Rod Paige, who was asked about this today and ran from the podium, rather than answer tough questions about it. So, that puts you higher on my list than Secretary Paige.
But let me start, did you disclose this payment relationship to your listeners and viewers when you talked about the No Child Left Behind law that you were paid to promote?

WILLIAMS: Yes, consistently on our syndicated television show.

BEGALA: There's been reporting that you haven't done so. Can you tell me how you disclosed it?
WILLIAMS: Well, we're associated with many different media outlets.
We were subcontracting with Ketchum Communications. And they subcontract...
BEGALA: Which is a P.R. agency, for people who don't know.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Right.
And they subcontracted with us to promote No Child Left Behind as part of an advertising campaign, where we gave them two one-minute commercials within our syndicated television show. And we made it clear to our audience oftentimes that, even though that we're being paid by Ketchum as an advertising to promote this, we promoted this long before there ever was a Ketchum contract.
So, we consistently did that with "The Right Side." But in terms of with other...
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: That's your TV show.
WILLIAMS: The television show.
BEGALA: Called "The Right Side." WILLIAMS: But with "America's Black Forum," I never discussed it with Byron Lewis, because we never asked America's Black Forum to do anything with No Child Left Behind.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: Which is an association of African-American journalists?
WILLIAMS: Right. They never knew about my contract because I never asked them to do anything, nor did I make recommendations.
BEGALA: So you didn't promote it with African-American journalists?
WILLIAMS: No, nor did I ask their producers to do anything centered around No Child Left Behind, nor did I ask CNN or MSNBC.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: But if you were on -- I can't recall, frankly, if you'd been on CROSSFIRE talking about it. But say you were on CNN talking about that issue, did you tell viewers, hey, you should know, I'm a consultant to help promote this for the president?
WILLIAMS: Well, no. And I'll tell you why.
It's different with CNN and MSNBC, because I'm invited to commentate on issues they want me to discuss. I was on CNN this morning with Bill Hemmer. And I may have been on 75 times over the last year. And they could only recall last October 18 that we ever discussed No Child Left Behind. That's a decision they made. I did not even think it was necessary to disclose it, because I don't decide the topics.
NOVAK: Armstrong, let me give -- just in the interests of full disclosure, I want to tell the audience that I'm a friend, personal friend, of yours. I greatly admire you. I think you're one of the foremost voices for conservatism in America. So I just want to start off on that point.
Now, having said that, if you had it all to do over again, this whole situation, what would you do differently, or would you do anything differently?
WILLIAMS: Well, I wouldn't have the experience I've had today if I didn't have this experience.
When I made that decision over a year ago, it was something that I believed in, No Child Left Behind. They asked us to advertise. It's something that we wanted to do. They said it would only be six months. When the six months was up, Ketchum came back to us and said, to their amazement, that the No Child Left Behind Web site had over three or four million hits and they wanted to renew the contract.
We were flattered because we delivered what we were asked to do. But, on hindsight, I am a media pundit. My problem, unlike other journalists, is that I own my product. I own the Graham Williams Group. I own the syndication. And, as the CEO, I made a decision that we would run these advertisements on our show. I used bad judgment.
(CROSSTALK)
NOVAK: What was the bad judgment you used?
WILLIAMS: Because...
(CROSSTALK)
NOVAK: I mean, what should you have done differently?
WILLIAMS: Well, as a media pundit, people have to trust what I say. They have to believe in what I say. And they must believe that I'm saying it not because I'm being paid.
And there's this perception that I was paid to advocate No Child Left Behind.
NOVAK: So you wouldn't have taken the money?
WILLIAMS: No, I would not have done it. I just would not have taken advertisements. It's the first time we've done business with the government, but I just would not do it again.
NOVAK: Now, I just want to add, one other thing is that you are not a member of the congressional daily press gallery, periodical press gallery or radio/TV press gallery. So, you are not officially a journalist and you are not bound by some of the requirements on journalists.
WILLIAMS: You know, that's a good point.
Actually, today I was speaking to Anne Applebaum from "The Washington Post," and she was telling me about the rules and guidelines. And I had to say to her, I never knew about the rules and guidelines. They never considered us as serious press and media. I'm a pundit. We syndicate this program.
But you know something? Let me tell you something. This has been a great lesson for me. I apologize to my audience. I regret the fact that people are impugning my character on an issue that is legitimate. I should be criticized and I crossed some ethical lines. I've learned from this. It will never happen again. But this is a great lesson to me that we are serious journalists. Even though I'm a commentator, I'm not a journalist, I should be held to the same standards, because it impugns the institution that we're so closely associated with.
And I apologize.
BEGALA: God bless you for that.
(APPLAUSE) (CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: Let me shift to where my real beef is, though. And that is with the administration.
The Bush administration has now on two occasions been cited by the Government Accountability Office for violating something called the Publicity and Propaganda Act, spending our taxpayers' money on propaganda, that is, putting out information, but not telling you that it's from the government. Now there's calls for this relationship to be investigated in the same way.
Don't you think that the administration has a problem when, on two prior occasions, they've been cited for violating the Publicity and Propaganda Act?
WILLIAMS: You know, I am -- can easily sit here and criticize the administration. And I'm sure you have your reasons for criticism.
But you know what? The issue today is about my integrity and my character. I came on this show not to get into -- I'm a strong supporter of the Bush administration. The fact that I used bad judgment, it's not about Bush. It's not about anybody. It's about Armstrong Williams today. And that's why I'm here today as someone who wants to be responsible and set the right example.
Yes, there may be issues. But those are not the issues I'm dealing with today. I've got my own problems today and that's what I'm trying to deal with.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
NOVAK: Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Democrat of New York, she is the ranking minority member of the House Rules Committee. She has just put out a statement saying that she sent a letter to the CEOs of the Sinclair Broadcasting Group and TV One, both of which syndicate you -- or use your syndicated services, and asking to -- if they should, because of this incident, end their contracts with you. What do you say to that?
WILLIAMS: Well, you know what? I think the marketplace should decide that. Sinclair and TV One must look at this situation. They know me. I do have contractual relationships with them. That's the decision they must make. That is not my decision.
But I want to make it clear that if I ever thought that I would do anything to impugn the integrity of those institutions or my own, it never would have happened. I used bad judgment. And on hindsight, I shouldn't have used that judgment. I'll learn from this. And I'm sure I'm going to pay some price. I'm willing to pay that price. I made the mistake. I used bad judgment.
And whatever happens to me as a result of this, I accept the consequences of it.
BEGALA: Well, good for you. I have to say, I'm very impressed at what a stand-up guy you're being, Armstrong.
Do you think that -- what do you think your friends on the right would do if a similar thing had happened with Bill Clinton? Jonah Goldberg was on the program that precedes us, "INSIDE POLITICS." He suggested that steam would be coming out of his ears if a liberal had done this under Bill Clinton.
(APPLAUSE)
BEGALA: Do you suspect that is true?
WILLIAMS: Well, you know, I hear the applause, but it's different. It is different if you are a CEO. People forget sometimes that I am an entrepreneur. I run a business. I have to deal with the marketplace.
BEGALA: You have got a P.R. and advertising agency, as well as being a pundit.
WILLIAMS: And in syndication, syndicated. I'm a syndicator. And we do seek advertisements.
And sometimes, in making the decisions, we don't make the best decisions. And so it's unique for me, because you work for someone. You work for CNN. So, they made the decisions on advertising. Unfortunately, for me, I have to make those decisions. But it forces me to go back to the drawing board and reexamine the way we do business as a firm. And we must do it differently.
BEGALA: That will have to be it.
Armstrong Williams, a stand-up guy, as I said, in taking responsibility for his actions.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: I can't ask for anything more from the left.
(APPLAUSE)
BEGALA: But thank you for coming on the program.

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