Brian Williams: My fabrications came from a 'bad urge inside of me'

Brian Williams isn't backing down from claims that he did not intentionally fabricate several now-discredited stories he told about his reporting.

In an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer, the former NBC "Nightly News" anchor admitted that he told inaccurate statements in order to make himself look better, but did not say that he intentionally misled viewers.

"It had to have been ego that made me think I had to be sharper, funnier, quicker than anybody else," Williams said.

"This came from clearly a bad place, a bad urge inside me. This was clearly ego driven, the desire to better my role in a story I was already in," Williams said.

Williams took a forced hiatus from NBC's "Nightly News" following revelations earlier this year that he lied about an experience that he had while reporting in Iraq.

He's set to return to television on MSNBC later this summer. According to the New York Times, he'll take on breaking news and special reports at a significantly lower salary.

But Williams would not admit that he purposefully lied. During the interview, Williams maintained that it was he "never intended to" lie to viewers.

"It's not what happened. What happened is the fault of a whole host of other sins. What happened is my ego getting the better of me, to put myself in a better light, to appear better than I was," Williams said.

It's not clear if the former anchor is ready to concede to all of the alleged fabrications that have been leveled against him, including claims that Williams exaggerated stories from his award-winning reporting during Hurricane Katrina.

Williams dodged Lauer when the "Today" host pressed him on other stories that he lied about.

Watch the interview below via NBC: