Brian Williams makes his debut on MSNBC to cover Pope Francis' US visit

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Brian Williams made his debut as a breaking news anchor on MSNBC Tuesday afternoon
His return comes six months after he was suspended by NBC for exaggerating stories about his time in Iraq
For his first story back Williams covered the arrival of Pope Francis in the United States
Williams did not address the controversy or the reason for his time away during his return
Among those joining him were Kate Snow and Chuck Todd in the studio and Maria Shriver and Andrea Mitchell reporting from Washington DC
Sources at 30 Rock told CNN that guests and correspondents on Tuesday's show were told to not say 'Welcome back!' to Brian during the broadcast
Williams went up against Lester Holt, the man who replaced him and was leading the coverage for NBC News, during his second hour on the air

By Chris Spargo For Dailymail.com

Published: 14:09 EST, 22 September 2015 | Updated: 17:57 EST, 22 September 2015

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Brian Williams is back on the air.

The former NBC Nightly News anchor made his debut as a breaking news anchor on MSNBC Tuesday afternoon, reporting on the arrival of Pope Francis in the United States.

His return comes six months after he was suspended by NBC for exaggerating stories about his time in Iraq and in New Orleans while covering Hurricane Katrina.

Williams did not address the controversy or the reason for his time away during his return.

And for the second hour of his segment on Pope Francis' arrival, Williams went up against a news anchor he is very familiar with - Lester Holt, the man who replaced him and was leading the coverage for NBC News.

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He's back: Brian Williams made his debut as a breaking news anchor on MSNBC Tuesday afternoon

Right back at it: Williams went up against Lester Holt (above), the man who replaced him and was leading the coverage for NBC News, during his second hour on the air

Big names: Maria Shriver (above) was one of the correspondents working with Williams during his return, but she left halfway through to join Holt's coverage on NBC

Sources at 30 Rock told CNN that guests and correspondents on Tuesday's show were told to not say 'Welcome back!' to Williams during the broadcast.

Ironically, Williams' first story back dealt with the Pope visiting Catholic University, a story that is remarkably similar to one he told for which he came under fire.

Williams claimed that in 1979 he met Pope John Paul II when he attended an event at Catholic University, but his story changed multiple times of the course of him sharing it with others.

He once said he met Pope John Paul II, and another time he said he was simply in attendance to hear him speak.

Then, after the death of Pope John Paul II, he said in a piece for NBC News; 'I have to begin with a beautiful day in 1979.

'I was a student at Catholic University, and over the course of two hours, chatted up a Secret Service agent who spilled like a cup of coffee and told me that the pope would be coming our way, straight up the steps of a side door at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

'I positioned myself and held out my hand and said, "Welcome to Catholic University, Holy Father." And he embraced my hand with both of his, made the sign of the cross, and said a blessing to me.'

Williams did not make any mention of this story on Tuesday.

Co-worker: Kate Snow (above), who will be anchoring the 3pm to 5pm hour moving forward for MSNBC, joined Williams on Tuesday

Big guns: NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell (above) also joined Williams from Washington DC, but also left to join Hot's coverage at 4pm

Keeping quiet: Williams did not address the controversy that got him suspended or the reason for his time away during his return

Williams was joined by some big names for his return, with Chuck Todd and Kate Snow joining him in the studio and Maria Shriver and Andrea Mitchell reporting from Washington DC.

Snow will be anchoring the 3pm to 5pm hour moving forward for MSNBC, with Williams leading the breaking news coverage.

Snow was also recently named the new host of the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News.

Shriver and Mitchell left the MSNBC coverage at 4pm to join Holt on NBC News, returning to MSNBC for the 5pm hour.

Many are the network are hoping that adding Williams to the team will help their fledgling ratings as they began to focus more on news during their daytime programming.

'His passion fit exactly with one of our biggest needs,' Andrew Lack, chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, said in an interview with the New York Times.

'Brian will be such an important contribution to MSNBC’s page-turn here.'

Lack added of his plans for the network; 'We are building a network that has as its core value delivering breaking news better than anyone else. It is not about the anchor who happens to be delivering the news.'

Todd will also be debuting a new show that will begin airing at 5pm next week.

Williams makes his return to television just a few days after walking his daughter Allison down the aisle at her wedding over the weekend in Wyoming.

The Girls actress married College Humor founder Ricky Van Veen in a ceremony that was attended by her costars Lena Dunham, Jemima Kirke and Zosia Mamet, Katy Perry and John Mayer and officiated by Tom Hanks.

Prior to the big weekend ceremony it was revealed that Williams had spent part of his suspension driving around the country by himself and doing some self-reflection.

He was also very involved in planning his daughter's nuptials.

Now he is back at work, hoping to be part of the team that will turn the network around.

'That is what MSNBC was created to do: Put NBC News into the 24/7, live breaking news business,' said Lack.