WE HAVE A HOT NEW REPORT OUT IN THE MATT LAUER SEXUAL
MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATION.
IT HAS:
WHO IS BEHIND THIS HARD-HITTING REPORT THAT EXONERATES PRETTY
MUCH EVERYONE AT NBC NEWS OF MISCONDUCT OR
NEGLIGENCE?
THE INTERNAL PROBE:
GREAT JOB.
IT IS SUCH A FASCINATING READ TO SEE THE WAY THAT THEY
SAY THAT ESSENTIALLY NONE OF THE EXECUTIVES HAD ANY LAPSES
IN JUDGMENT REASONING.
THEY INTERVIEWED NEWS LEADERS, NONE OF THE FOUR VICTIMS I CAME
OUT AGAINST MATT LAUER AT THE TIME REPORTED THE INCIDENT TO
THEIR SUPERIORS, BUT DO YOU THINK THIS LETS NBC OFF THE
HOOK?
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
ISN'T THIS OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE?
OF COURSE THEY WERE SCARED TO GO UP AND SAY THIS POWERFUL GUY
WHO MAKE SO MUCH MONEY AND BRING SO MUCH AND IS DOING THIS THING.
I MEAN, LET'S GO LITTLE BIT BEFORE THE MEETING MOVEMENT
AND MAYBE EVEN BEFORE, WHICH IS YOU HAVE TO BE A LITTLE BIT
SCARED THAT YOUR JOB IS AT STAKE IF YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE
THIS AND OF COURSE, THE NBC INVESTIGATION TEAM FOUND
THAT NBC WAS AN ASCENT.
IT'S SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT.
IT'S SO WEIRD.
I UNDERSTAND THAT WHEN YOU READ THESE THINGS, YOU HAVE TO READ
ALL OF THE APOLOGY MOMENTS AND THE DAMAGE CONTROL STATEMENTS
EXTRA HARD TO FIND OUT WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON.
I UNDERSTAND THAT MAYBE IT IS IN THE BEST INSURANCE OF THE
GENERAL COUNSEL OF NBC UNIVERSAL TO LAUNCH SOME KIND OF
INVESTIGATION BUT AT THE SAME TIME DOESN'T SEEM WEIRD
THAT IT IS THEIR PERSONAL INVESTIGATION AND THEY SAY
NO ONE HAD ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS?
WHAT YOU THINK?
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH KIM.
THE FACT THAT VERY VULNERABLE PEOPLE WHO ARE INFERIOR TO MATT
LAUER AND ALL THESE EXECUTIVES, THE IDEA THAT THEY WOULD COME
FORWARD WHEN THERE WASN'T A CULTURE OR CLIMATE THAT
ENCOURAGE WOMEN TO COME FORWARD WITH A WOULD GET SOME SORT OF
RESPONSE THAT WOULD HONOR THE FACT THAT THEY WERE TAKING A
REALLY BIG RISK TALKING ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL ASSAULT, SO AGAIN,
I AM NOT SURPRISED THEY DIDN'T REPORT INTO SURPRISED THEY
EXONERATED THEMSELVES OFF OF A WHOLE CULTURE OF HARASSMENT.
THEY ARE LIKE WE BASICALLY DON'T DO HARASSMENT AT ALL.
IT JUST READS LIKE I HAVE TO COVER MYSELF IN CASE I GET
IN TROUBLE, I AM SCARED FOR MYSELF.
THEY DIDN'T APPEAR TO DO ANYTHING NOVEL AT ALL HERE.
IT SAYS A NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS INTERVIEWED
SAID THAT LAUER COULD BE FLIRTATIOUS, WOULD
FREQUENTLY MAKE JOKES, SOME WITH SEXUAL OVERTONES AND OPENLY
ENGAGE IN SEXUALLY ORIENTED BANTER IN THE WORKPLACE.
THIS IS IN THE REPORT.
AND THEY SAID THAT HE WOULD DESIST IT THERE WAS LACK OF
INTEREST OR FOLLOW-UP AND SO CLEARLY HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING
AND SO WHAT WAS HILARIOUS ABOUT THIS TO ME IS I HAVE TAKEN HUMAN
RESOURCES TRAINING AS A TA AT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA AND YOU GO THROUGH THIS SIMULATED WHOLE COMPUTER
GENERATED TRAINING AND THAT CLEARLY IS SOMETHING WE ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO ENGAGE IN WHICH A SEXUAL JOKES OR SEXUAL
INSINUATIONS AT ALL.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING WHICH WAS INTERESTING IS THAT THEY
SAID THEY WENT THROUGH ABOUT LAUER'S TEXT MESSAGES AND THEN
THEY ADDED THIS LITTLE SENTENCE, WE DO ADMIT THAT HE
COULD'VE ERASED SOME THINGS AFTER-THE-FACT.
AGAIN, I DON'T THINK THIS IS A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION
CLEARLY BECAUSE IT COMES FROM THE INSIDE AND ALSO, WHAT
WOULD THEY DO IF THEY DID FIND SOMETHING?
WHAT WOULD'VE BEEN THE COLLECTIVE RESPONSE?
THERE'S ALL THESE WEIRD DETAILS.
THEY SAID THE WAY IT HAD BEEN SET UP IS THAT THE OFFICES
OF THE HR REPRESENTATIVES ARE IN THE BULLPEN ESSENTIALLY.
THEY ARE GLASSWALLED OFFICES, SO IF YOU GO IN AND TALK TO
HR, FIRST OF ALL, IT WAS HR WITHIN NBC NEWS.
EVERYONE SEES YOU GO IN AND SIT DOWN AND THEN YOU KNOW THAT
THAT IS THE CASE AND YOU KNOW THAT THERE HAS TO BE,
ANYBODY WHO KNOWS IN THE OFFICE KNOWS THERE IS GOSSIP.
YOU KNOW THAT IS GETTING OUT IMMEDIATELY AND THERE IS
THIS FEAR THAT IF YOU SAY ANYTHING THEY ARE GOING TO
LOOK AT YOU AND THEN THEY ARE GOING TO LOOK AT MATT LAUER
WHO YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN IN MEETINGS WITH WHERE HE SAYS
THAT IS A NICE SHIRT, SEXY.
AND YOU HAVE TO IGNORE HIM.
THAT IS THE KIND OF ADVICE THAT CESAR MILAN GIVES ABOUT BAD
BEHAVIORS FROM DOGS.
WHAT?
THAT IS A YOU TREAT CHILDREN.
HE IS NOT A DOG, HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OWN ACTIONS.
IT IS LIKE SAYING, NONE OF THESE WOMEN VISITED THIS IMPOSSIBLE
SET UP THING WE SET UP TO THEM, POSSIBLY GETTING FIRED OR
OSTRACIZED BY THE OFFICE AND THE PHRASE, THERE IS NO
EVIDENCE THAT ANYONE NEW.
THAT IS A FUNNY PHRASE, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, I AM SURE PEOPLE
TALK TO RUN THE OFFICE OR MAYBE SOMEONE MENTIONED, MAYBE ANOTHER
EXECUTIVE MENTION SOMETHING THAT THEY HEARD TO ANOTHER EXECUTIVE.
I HIGHLY DOUBT THAT THIS IS COMPLETELY A NEW CONCEPT TO
THEM ALTOGETHER.
THEY SAID THERE WILL BE SOME CHANGES, SO THOSE ARE
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS OUT OF THIS THAT I CAN TELL YOU.
THEY SAID THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE A NEW TEAM OF EMPLOYEE
COUNSELORS WHO OPERATE SEPARATELY FROM THE NBC NEWS
BULLPEN THAT ARE WORKING WITH THE NBC UNIVERSAL FAMILY WHO
EXTENSIVELY WOULD BENEFIT FROM KNOWING THIS KIND OF STUFF I HAD
A TIME, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE HAVE ALL DONE A VERY GOOD JOB OF
RAISING AWARENESS THROUGH THE ME TO MOVEMENT, THAT THIS STUFF
DOES NOT FLY, PEOPLE AS BIG AS MATT LAUER, WHEN THEY DO THINGS
LIKE THIS CAN FALL AND THEY ARE TRYING TO DO IT IN THE FUTURE SO
NBC UNIVERSAL'S LEGAL TEAM WILL PROVIDE BETTER
CONVENTIONALITY ACCORDING TO THIS REPORT.
THEY SAY MORE TRAINING SESSIONS WILL HAPPEN.
TO THOSE TRAINING SESSIONS WORK?
I REMEMBER THEM CLEARLY, I REMEMBER THE CONTENT AROUND
IT AND I REMEMBER THE VERY STRANGE ANIMATION THAT THEY
HAD AS PART OF IT.
WHAT WAS A?
CARTOON SEXUAL-HARASSMENT IS STILL
YEAH.
SIMULATIONS OF, WOULD YOU TAG THIS AS A SEXUAL HARASSMENT
VIOLATION.
IS THIS AN INCIDENT OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT, IS THIS OKAY?
FOR ME IT WAS KIND OF OBVIOUS STUFF, BEING A WOMAN, WHAT FLIES
AND DOESN'T FLY BUT THEY DID MAKE THINGS VERY EXPLICIT IN
TERMS OF THE LINE BETWEEN YOU AND OTHER STAFF MEMBERS AND
STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY.
I DO NOT KNOW HOW THIS LIFE.
MATT LAUER STILL IS NOT WORKING AT NBC RIGHT NOW,
SO THERE IS THAT ALSO.
NO DEVELOPMENTS IN THAT AREA AND I THINK THAT
IS A GOOD THING.