Let It Pour...
Posted: Saturday, October 27, 2007 3:49 PM by Daily Nightly Editor
by Lester Holt, NBC News Anchor
Good afternoon from New York. It's pouring outside our window here at Rockefeller Center and I can't help but wish we could somehow re-direct the rain to the drought-stricken south, or the fire scorched west. We're covering both stories on Nightly News this evening. NBC's Martin Savidge will tell us where the fires stand, and what Sunday's expected change in the winds may bring. I was in California all week covering the fires, and as I was about to return home Thursday I noticed all the ground workers at LAX were wearing white masks. The smoke was thick enough to cut with a knife. Tonight we'll look at what the fires have done to air quality in the region, and what the health affects might be. Meantime on the drought front, NBC's Ron Mott will tell us about a dispute among three southern Governors over water, as the reservoir levels in that part of the country sink dangerously low.
The Homeland Security Department's effort to get states to switch to counterfeit-proof driver's licenses has just gotten a big boost from the state of New York which has become the fourth and largest state to announce it is signing on to the "Real I-D" program. NBC's Justice correspondent Pete Williams will explain what it's all about and why so many states have been reluctant to join the program.
On the health front there is rising concern over the so-called staph super-bug, a drug resistant bacterial infection. NBC's Mika Brzezinski is preparing a report for tonight that will answer some of the questions parents most want answered about this bug.
Sadly today, the NBC News family is saying farewell to one of its own. Recently retired correspondent Jim Cummins died last night from cancer. Jim was a remarkable journalist who spent 30-years with this network. He was also unflappable, and when ever I threw to him from the MSNBC anchor desk in the middle of a breaking story I knew we were in good hands. We will have more on Jim's life and career on our broadcast tonight.
As always, thanks for checking-in. I hope you can join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.
