Network-news presidents discuss pre-war scrutiny of claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction

At a Dec. 15 panel sponsored by the Knight Fellowships program, CBS News President Andrew Heyward, NBC News President Neal Shapiro and ABC News President David Westin were asked to assess their news division's handling of the Bush administration's claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Each of the executives was at least somewhat critical of those reporting efforts. Westin's response earned him applause:

"Simply stated, we let down the American people on the weapons of mass destruction," he said. "We did not ask tough enough questions; we were not skeptical enough, and I sincerely regret that."