Matt Lauer`s New Job After Being Ousted.
MATT LAUER, FORMER HOST, NBC NEWS: What a great job we have.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized.</s>LAUER: You were accused of sexual harassment. A long and difficult process to get these actresses to be identified and go on the record with their allegations. But you don`t let your number one guy go unless you have information that you think makes him...</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.</s>LAUER: Anne Hathaway, good morning. Nice to see you.</s>ANNE HATHAWAY, ACTRESS: Good morning, Matt.</s>LAUER: Seeing a lot of you lately.</s>HATHAWAY: Sorry about that.</s>LAUER: Let`s just get it the other way. A wardrobe malfunction the other night. What`s the lesson learned from something like that?</s>MEREDITH VIEIRA, CO-HOST, NBC NEWS: I went into your office once. Do you remember this?</s>LAUER: Yes?</s>VIEIRA: So being -- and you have a huge bag of sex toys and you do remember this?</s>LAUER: Wait a minute. We had a guest on the show who was a -- what was she? A sex therapist. She gave each of us a shopping bag of stuff.</s>VIEIRA: I didn`t get...</s>LAUER: So when you look you realize all the things we get to do. And it has flown.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Matt Lauer, and Matt Lauer.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s your version.</s>LAUER: I guess when I play at home. Bye.</s>BANFIELD: They said it could never happen. A morning show icon dethroned over allegations of sexual misconduct, but it did happen. Actually, it happened twice. In a week. First Charlie Rose, and then Matt Lauer. And today Matt Lauer did the mea culpa of shame owning up to the same kind of sexual misconduct that he had often covered himself on the today show. So, tonight, there are at least three women who have come forward with stories about things Matt Lauer reportedly did to them or around them at the office like giving a colleague a sex toy and telling her what he would want to do with it. Or dropping his pants in front of another and getting angry when she reportedly didn`t engage. Variety reporting both of those stories, while the New York Times reports that a woman claims Matt Lauer sexually assaulted her in his office until she passed out. Not to mention the inappropriate sexual behavior at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Today was Matt Lauer`s second day off the job, and he was spotted in the Hamptons where his wife and children live still wearing his wedding ring. And he formally issued a statement just in time for the Today show this morning.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In fact, we just moments ago received a statement from Matt. And let me read it to you. "There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by my words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I`m writing this I realize the depth of the damage and the disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC. Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul searching and I`m committed to beginning that effort. It is now my full time job. The last two days have forced me to take a very hard look at my own troubling flaws. It`s been humbling. I`m blessed to be surrounded by people I love. I thank them for their patience and grace."</s>BANFIELD: God help me, I`ve not had to do that in my career, apologize to the people I work with. Joining me now, CNN senior media correspondent and host of Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter. Also attorney Benedict Morelli, he represented one of the women who sued Bill O`Reilly for sexual harassment. And defense attorney Randy Zelin is still with me. So, Brian, you have been on the lead for reporting for CNN and HLN on really the seismic, you know, reality that everybody is kind of...</s>STELTER: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: ... trying to digest still today. Still doesn`t feel right.</s>STELTER: Yes. I think a lot of his fans are still devastated by this.</s>BANFIELD: Yes.</s>STELTER: To find out this was happening in his office behind the scenes and it was kept a secret for a long time. I think it`s notable, NBC now says there were three complaints filed this week, one before he was fired, two others after he was fired. On top of those three complaints there been these other suggestions of inappropriate behavior as well. We don`t know if any new complaints filed today, Ashleigh. But the three complaints from earlier in the week are certainly very disturbing.</s>BANFIELD: So there`s something else that`s happening. Amidst all the devastation, the frustration, the understandable anger that I think a lot of people have in this movement, I`m one of them.</s>STELTER: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: I have dealt for 30 years with this garbage. So I`m happy to see sort of the lancing of the boil.</s>STELTER: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: But I hate to see people I like go through this suffering that they go through, both the accusers and those, like Matt Lauer, who I worked with and I liked as well.</s>STELTER: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: I`m on there with Savannah saying he was good to me, he never did anything like that.</s>STELTER: Right, right.</s>BANFIELD: But then there`s the piling on that I feel is happening as well. And I want to play something in particular because everybody with a microscope is looking at every single thing that Matt Lauer has ever done and then ascribing this behavior to it and I`m not sure it`s fair. So I want you to look at this Meredith Vieira clip with me. Savannah and Matt were on the show talking about, you know, all the fun things that morning show hosts do. And Meredith ask him a question about sex toys. Let`s watch and I`m going to ask for your assessment.</s>VIEIRA: I have to say, I went into your office once. Do you remember this?</s>LAUER: Yes.</s>VIEIRA: Snooping. And you had a huge bag of sex toys. And do you remember this?</s>LAUER: Wait a minute. Wait a minute.</s>VIEIRA: Yes, you did. In your -- in your closet, Matt. You did. You had a big...</s>LAUER: OK. Can I explain what happened?</s>VIEIRA: OK.</s>LAUER: Because you were there. We had a guest on the show who was a -- what was she? A sex therapist. And so when she left, I think you did the segment, actually.</s>VIEIRA: I didn`t. I didn`t.</s>LAUER: And when she left she gave each of us a shopping bag of stuff.</s>VIEIRA: I didn`t get a bag of stuff.</s>LAUER: True story, I didn`t know what to do. I put it in my closet, my dressing room. The next day we had Laura Bush on the show. The secret service came with the dogs to sweep our dressing rooms and I watched -- I said, no, I`ll get out. Go ahead. You can stay. We just need to bring the dog in. They open up the thing and I see the guy pick up the bag. I`m like, My god. It`s true.</s>BANFIELD: I mean, hilarious, right?</s>STELTER: It`s a pretty funny anecdote. But you know, a lot of web sites only picked up on the first sentence, that he had a bag of sex toys in his office.</s>BANFIELD: Because that`s the way since the reporting.</s>STELTER: I think there are things being taken out of context. Right. And look, there could be very disturbing things that he was doing. The allegations are chilling, but I think in some ways cherry picking jokes that were said on the air five or ten years ago actually might dilute the real allegations against him.</s>BANFIELD: Thank you for saying that, because I worry about the jump the shark. I worry about all the women who want to come forward and now are going to be looked at as opportunists because you get good coverage for it. Look at this next clip specifically, it`s a short one, it`s one of those in-between takes. So cameras were rolling but they weren`t on the air as Meredith I think was getting ready to go outside.</s>STELTER: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Gathering her stuff off the table near the couch where Matt was seated. And Matt made a comment about the sweater she was wearing and the position that she was in. Have a look at this.</s>LAUER: I`ll meet you outside. Bye.</s>VIEIRA: Bye-bye.</s>LAUER: Pretty sweater. Keep bending over like that. It`s a nice view.</s>BANFIELD: Keeping bending over like that. It`s a nice shot. Now I could see that. I can see you saying that to someone who is your great friend. And I`m not so sure that there`s a power dynamic between Meredith and Matt. Neither one can fire the other. Is that an unfair example or given in the context of what we know now, all`s fair?</s>STELTER: Yes. I think it`s an embarrassing clip. And I`d like to know more about it. I thought the frustration with Lauer`s statement today is that some of the things out there being mischaracterized but he`s not giving any details. I said to his P.R. person say, if he said parts of these allegations are untrue, tell us which ones. And he`s not doing that. Instead he`s saying enough of the claims are true that he`s very sorry and ashamed. So he`s leaving a lot left open to interpretation but I do think a lot of these clips might being taken out of context. Lauer, he had an incredible career. He was beloved by millions of viewers, people chose to start their day with him. We can`t throw that away. But at the same time if we spend too much time focusing on his accomplishments that takes away from the stories of these accusers. It`s a very delicate situation.</s>BANFIELD: yes. I don`t -- I don`t want anything to think for a minute that I`m an apologist for this kind of behavior or for Matt Lauer for Charlie Rose or anybody else that does this crazy brutal business of hitting on your employees.</s>STELTER: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: It`s a power structure, period.</s>STELTER: Right.</s>BANFIELD: Step up your game. Someone at MSNBC, Stephanie Ruhle said, step up your god damn game.</s>STELTER: That`s the great way to put it.</s>BANFIELD: Step up your game if you`re the boss. Period.</s>STELTER: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: I don`t care if he thinks he`s the prettiest thing on earth or he`s the hottest guy on the planet, you can`t.</s>STELTER: Right.</s>BANFIELD: Period. So I want to bring in, if I can, another kind of dynamic that`s going on here. Benedict Morelli. You represented Andrea Mackris.</s>BENEDICT MORELLI, FORMER PLAINTIFF FOR BILL O`REILLY: I did.</s>BANFIELD: She was one of the first accusers of Bill O`Reilly.</s>MORELLI: She was the first.</s>BANFIELD: More than 10, somewhere around at least a decade.</s>MORELLI: Ten or eleven years ago, yes.</s>BANFIELD: It`s a long time ago. And people might not remember but people might remember the branding of this story as having involved a loofah.</s>MORELLI: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: And what Bill O`Reilly on tape wanted to do with the loofah regarding Andrea Mackris. Mackris, did she ever work again?</s>MORELLI: She never worked again.</s>BANFIELD: She never work again. Repeat that. How much did she after being fired or being let go from?</s>MORELLI: Well, there were -- it`s now been reported that four women -- she was the first, and three others got 13 million altogether. I could only tell you that she got the most of that 13 million. It was very interesting because at one point, she was so upset. She said, I want to take him down. And I said, well, Andrea, you didn`t retain me for that. I don`t do causes, I do cases.</s>BANFIELD: OK. So, I want to ask -- specifically want to get to this --</s>MORELLI: And -- and because you may never work again, you need the money.</s>BANFIELD: Honestly, Benedict, I think a lot of people are watching saying these women are just looking for payouts. And I think they forget, you need a payout when you`re not working. When was the last time Gretchen Carlson was on the air paid?</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That`s a very good point. She was paid $20 million by Fox, but one of the reasons is because was she was making a lot of money before she lost her job.</s>BANFIELD: How many years?</s>STELTER: And it`s unclear if she`ll be back on</s>TV. BANFIELD: Is it two? Is it three? Two or three years since she`s not been on the air?</s>STELTER: It`s been well over a year. And you know, there is --</s>MORELLI: Over a year.</s>STELTER: -- there is speculation about whether she has been trying to get a job on TV or not. Whether networks are willing to hire her or not. I certainly hope networks are willing to hire her. But these are open questions when we see people lose their jobs.</s>BANFIELD: I say that two or three, because she was marginalized off the morning show where the big money --</s>STELTER: That`s a very good point, yes, that`s correct.</s>MORELLI: I would like to say one point that you have to differentiate her from my client, because my client`s an unknown person, one of the producers, not an online personality.</s>STELTER: And she was even more vulnerable.</s>MORELLI: So much more vulnerable.</s>BANFIELD: I`m with you.</s>MORELLI: And needed the job. And I said to her, you need to collect this money. And we also have to understand that many of the women who are now coming forward against many of these other men, the statute of limitations is gone.</s>BANFIELD: Right. I just want to --</s>MORELLI: So they can`t get a payday.</s>BANFIELD: -- do this quick math, so that when someone hears oh, $20 million, you know, for Gretchen Carlson, boo hoo, you know what Gretchen Carlson could have made in one year? $25 million! Because that`s what Matt Lauer was making. And Gretchen Carlson as a morning show host could have risen to the very top. She could have been the next CBS morning news anchor or the next NBC News anchor.</s>BANFIELD: If she hadn`t gone through the marginalization and then out the door, sweetheart. So $20 million is a drop in the bucket. I wanted to ask you this, Randy, because this is sort of going --</s>BANFIELD: And guess who else is looking for more than that. Matt Lauer is reportedly looking for a $30 million contract payout. The reporting is that his contract was either up in 2018 or shortly thereafter. Therefore, he wants the balance. I`m sure his agents would want the balance. They get a good chunk of that. Explain how this works, Randy Zelin. If you`re out the door for cause, can you get that money?</s>RANDY ZELIN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good luck.</s>BANFIELD: Really?</s>ZELIN: And there is something that I`ve been waiting to say for 27 years having been a criminal defense attorney, what judges love to say to my clients at sentencing. Are you sorry or are you sorry that you got caught?</s>BANFIELD: I mean, that`s really what it`s going to come down to for the morals on it, but for the contract payout, I don`t think it`s going to matter.</s>ZELIN: I don`t know what rhymes with termination with cause, but I know that what probably doesn`t rhyme but it doesn`t matter is, you ain`t going to get your money --</s>BANFIELD: Yes.</s>ZELIN: -- if you are terminated with cause.</s>BANFIELD: And especially if you cop to it. Last question, and i think this is what a lot of people who like the "Today" show, liked Matt Lauer, are upset about the whole basket of deplorable behavior that went on, what`s next? Who gets the job? What happens in the landscape of morning TV? Who is going to go broke? Who is going to lose their jobs over this? If advertising goes down, do 50 producers get cut next quarter? What`s next? What happens?</s>STELTER: Whenever someone falls, someone rises. And this is one of the situations where either some younger man at NBC or maybe a woman is going to take that job. You know, there`s been some talk about maybe there should be an all-female lineup at CBS or NBC, given this moment in American history and society. It`s unclear how NBC is going replace Lauer. It is going to be very difficult. And you`re right. If the show does lose audience share, if rivals benefit because of this scandal, then there`s going to be an advertising revenue impact and there are going to be troubles behind the scenes. It would be a shame to see other people suffer as a result of Lauer`s alleged behavior. But, you know, we saw that with Charlie Rose last week. A number of producers at Charlie Rose`s show who are going to lose their jobs at the end of December. They`re going to be without pay after Christmas because of Charlie Rose`s show being canceled.</s>BANFIELD: It`s not just the guy.</s>STELTER: That`s right.</s>MORELLI: It seems to me that Matt Lauer -- because I`ve been on both shows. I`ve been on with Matt Lauer a few times. I was on the Charlie Rose two months ago. Matt Lauer was more of a focus on that show. You know what I`m saying? I`m not saying that Charlie Rose --</s>BANFIELD: Oh, I know what you`re saying, 25 million reasons why he was the main focus.</s>MORELLI: Not that Charlie Rose wasn`t an icon, because I was shocked when I heard that.</s>BANFIELD: But he didn`t have 20 years in the chair.</s>MORELLI: But it was different. Five years with them. And he was 20 plus years. He`s a different focus. I`m asking the same question. Is it going to be another woman or is it going to be a guy? I mean, I`m thinking about who I think it is going to be.</s>BANFIELD: You know what I want to know? I`ll be honest. I don`t think anybody is really asking this question. I know I got to get to break. But can you answer this quickly?</s>STELTER: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Is Matt Lauer ever going to work on TV again?</s>STELTER: I know America loves a comeback story, but I would be shocked to see him back in a big job.</s>ZELIN: He should disappear for a while.</s>BANFIELD: Yes, so some rehab for all of this? There`s a rehab for everything. I got to go. I`m so sorry. I wish we could do the entire hour on this. Brian, as always, great reporting today. Keep it up. Benedict Morelli, good to have you on. Thank you, Randy.</s>ZELIN: You`re welcome.</s>BANFIELD: You can`t go anywhere.</s>ZELIN: I won`t.</s>BANFIELD: I`ve got breaking news tonight in a desperate search that`s on for a missing Texas teenager who is believed to have been lured away by a much older man that she met on Snapchat. And if you think that she has an incredible resemblance to Elizabeth Smart, you`re not wrong. It was sort of a jaw-dropping moment when this crossed our wires. Guess what? Both 15, both missing from their bedrooms. We have quite a development in this, next.