NBC to air Jones interview despite efforts to 'distract'

NEW YORK (AP) — NBC News vowed today to go ahead with Megyn Kelly's report on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Sunday, despite his "efforts to distract and ultimately prevent" its airing.

The network said it remains "committed to giving viewers context and insight into a controversial and polarizing figure, how he relates to the president of the United States and influences others, and to getting this serious story right."

The story, scheduled to air Sunday evening, has NBC being buffeted from both sides. Jones has said he believed it will be a "fraud," and said he would release an unedited version of the interview that he recorded. So far, he's only released snippets of a supposed conversation with Kelly, which could not be independently verified.

Lawyers who represent 12 people who lost loved ones in the 2012 school massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School urged NBC News officials not to air the interview. The families say they've been hurt by Jones' claim that the shooting was a hoax.

The report is likely to have devastating human consequences, the families wrote to NBC.