NBC's Matt Lauer says Ryan Lochte changed his Rio robbery story on two key details

On Wednesday night, NBC's Matt Lauer reported that he had spoken to American swimmer Ryan Lochte about being robbed at gunpoint on the way back to the Olympic village this past weekend and according to Lauer, some key details have changed.

In an exchange with Bob Costas, Lauer was asked if Lochte "altered any of the details." Lauer responded by saying that two key points had changed.

"He did," Lauer said. "He stuck to most of the story. He did change one thing. I would say he softened something [else] or stepped it back."

According to Lauer, the first thing Lochte changed was how the cab came to be stopped in the first place.

Lauer explains how Lochte told this part of the story to him:

"They had gone to the bathroom in a gas station. They got back to the taxi, and when they told the taxi driver to go, he didn't move. He said, 'let's go,' again, 'we've got to get out of here.' And again the taxi driver didn't move, and that's when he says two men approached the car with guns and badges, told them to get out, to get on the ground."

Previously, Lochte told Billy Bush of NBC that the cab had been pulled over (see video below):

"I was with a couple of swimmers. We were coming back from a friend's house. We got pulled over in our taxi. These guys came out with a badge, a police badge. No lights. No nothing. Just a police badge. They pulled us over. They pulled out their guns."

The other big difference in the story, according to Lauer, is that Lochte backtracked on the part about the gun being held to his forehead.

Here is how Lochte described the gun situation to Bush after the robbery:

"A guy pulled out his gun. He cocked it, put it to my forehead, and he said 'get down.' And I was like, I put my hands up, and was like 'whatever.'"

Lauer describes how Lochte told him the gun situation unfolded:

"When he talked to me tonight, he said, 'that's when the guy pointed the gun in my direction and cocked it.' And I pointedly said to him, 'you had said before it was placed on your forehead and cocked.' He said, 'No, that's not exactly what happened.' And I think he feels it was more of a traumatic mis-characterization. I think people listening at home might feel that was embellishment at the time, but that's up to people to decide."

When reached for comment, Lochte's attorney Jeff Ostrow told Business Insider that the changes reported by Lauer are not "material changes" and the basis of the story remains unchanged.

"The gun was directed and cocked at this head…not a material change," Ostrow said. "The car was pulled over and assailants pulling car up to his car so they couldn't leave is not a material change either.

Ostrow added that the "fact remains they were robbed at gunpoint."

Here is the video of Lochte telling the story to Bush: