Fill-in presenter Leslie Stahl hangs on for dear life

We went to the Peabody luncheon today at the Waldorf-Astoria hoping to see Brian Williams, who was scheduled to present the awards. (Full list here.) Unfortunately, the Nightly News anchor was a late scratch from the line-up, as he'd just returned from Afghanistan and, given Tim Russert's untimely death, understandably wanted to spend time with his NBC News team. So instead of Williams, we got Lesley Stahl, who called the late Meet the Press host "the new Walter Cronkite" before her hosting duties took her away from the press room.

While we were waiting for the ceremony to start, we overheard Access Hollywood's Tony Potts discuss why he doesn't dye his graying hair with New York Post television editor Adam Buckman. Rachel Sklar and our own Diane Clehane were there, along with a host of cub reporters from TV shows of the Entertainment Tonight variety.

But B. Will was not, so we left early, even before Heidi Klum showed up in the press room.

After the jump, photos and Williams' full statement.

Bob Woodruff endures the camera flashes.

The press wasn't allowed in this room.

Tony Potts and his gray hair.

"I hope you call can understand the degree to which our NBC News family is hurting right now. This morning represents my first opportunity to see my friends and co-workers and speak with our staff, as I just returned from Afghanistan a few hours ago. Of course, what makes this so sad has a lot to do with what the Peabodys represent: we have lost a great practitioner of our craft. We've lost a great friend, a great man, and some of us have lost a partner. My congratulations to this year's recipients, my thanks to Lesley for being there — and may God bless Tim Russert."