can you clarify  NBC news role in the Golden Globes programming lashed together for this coming Sunday?
Is this crossing the line into entertainment press agentry? Use of buzz word NBC News "umbrella" is puzzling.

Brian, I am often envious of all that comes with your occupation like hanging out with Bono, world leaders, etc.  When I saw you in front of that 150" plasma TV, that was the pinnacle of my envy.  I got goosebumps when thinking about watching 'Casino Royale' on such a magnificent screen.  Then I thought of a 150" Brian Williams coming at me and I got a little scared, but such is the nature of this Brave New World we live in.

As for all that's been going on in the political realm, your response to the media's handling of what happened in NH has by far been the best.  I'm optimistic that Obama will win it all, and I'm hoping for a brokered Republican convention.  That'd create drama without a need for writers.

Mr. Williams, as the Democrats at the next debate you're moderating the following question:  Will you decrease funding to a broken military if elected?  NBC is a great news station, Mr. Williams.  Keep it up!

Brian - All I want to know is if George Lewis snuck that 11-inch Sony screen into your suitcase and if airport security stopped you when your Sony music player started dancing.

Yes we're with you here, Mr. Brian :)  It has indeed been an extraordinary week. I just wish I were not still seeing "mitt's last stand" and such all over the Net. Since when do 4 states determine the whole election????  

Here in MN, we are gearing up for what suddenly looks like a very interesting caucus night on Super Tuesday. Until now, it felt like we were going to be an afterthought; not anymore!  (Of course the downside is that I actually have to start paying attention to our Senate race...  and I think my current "vote" is: "none of the above".)

Yes the response to your blog was amazing, and I found it fascinating and heartening how many people are saying the same thing; we want to know the NEWS not SPECULATION. Polls and such are just a waste of bandwith these days now that people have learned to either dodge them or lie. It's really time, IMNSHO, to de-escalate the 'arms race' among the networks. Calling a race first doesn't change the outcome one iota and no one hands out medals for it either.

Good luck with the next debate; and bring your Kevlar vests :)  I suspect you might be dodging at least verbal bullets :D

It should have been Friday at least 24 hours ago.  I think many of us are having "one of those weeks".  Out of curiosity, did you ever get your luggage back?  

All these frequent flier miles you are racking up, should come in handy for taking Mrs Williams on a most deserved vacation (leave the Blackberry at the office).  

Another debate, is it possible to debate too much?  Are we running out of new topics with which the candidates can sling the mud?  Will Comedy Central have the opportunity to host a future debate with Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart as the moderators?  You may laugh, but I bet a lot of people would watch that one, especially the young voters, that ever elusive youth vote.  

Friday is just around the corner, hang in there.

PS  I'm starting to keep a copy of my posts, only about half of them are making it in lately.

Why do you say there have only been two contests for the politicians when there have been three?  

I agree that Obamaa's speech was great.  But when discusssing Obama's "beautiful, soaring concession speech" and his Iowa victory speech and when comparing them to the other candidate's speeches, please point out that Obama alone used a teleprompter.  The MSNBC coverage kept a close head shot of Obama at almost every second of both speeches and only pulled back to expose the teleprompters very briefly and even then it was almost imposssible to see them if you weren't really looking hard for them.  Senator Clinton and yes even Senator McCain can give much better and perhaps even "soaring" speeches when they use a teleprompter and they keep their comments so general as to have been able to have had their speech prepared carefully and in advance.  

I am curious to know if any candidate has ever before used a teleprompter for a primary night concession or victory speech???  Maybe that is a good question for Andy Franklin to investigate and comment about.  If it is in fact unprecedented it should certainly be mentioned.  For that matter is any other canditate of either party currently traveling with a teleprompter?

Also, when making comparisons to the best speakers ever don't forgret Mario Cuomo.  Now there was poetry whatever the subject or occassion.

Good Evening Mr.Williams, I will say Mr.Williams you have certainly had an extremely busy week. I agree with you that it should already be Friday. Don't worry I'm following you. The essay you wrote was great and you did a wonderful job covering the New Hampshire Primary. Also I enjoyed the video of you showing us the huge 150" television. I am enjoying the new Nightly News website. Keep up the great reporting! Now on to the broadcast. The report from Mr.Miklaszewski concerning the surge of troops in Iraq shows the situation has improved, yet there are still tough days and weeks as stated in the report. Hearing about the offensive against al-Qaeda and the huge bombs dropped in a short timespan only proves this enemy will not go away easily and the US troops constantly are fighting these terror groups. The Iraqi government has not met any of the benchmarks and the tribes continue to struggle for power. This seems to be a neverending battle and one really hopes someday there will be peace. The report by Mr.Gregory from Jerusalem about President Bush's trip was interesting although one wonders if this peace deal between the Israeli's and the Palestinians will happen before the end of President Bush's term of office. It was very nice the President visited the Church of the Nativity. I certainly hope the two sides keep talking perhaps a peace deal will occur. Time will tell with this region and the people. On another note the loss of Sir Edmund Hillary at the age of 88ys old is sad, but he lived a long life and accomplished great feats in his lifetime from climbing Mt.Everest, travelling to Antarctica and all the humanitarian work. He will be remembered with much admiration. Thank you for the broadcast Mr.Williams. Only a few more days and you will be back in Nevada moderating the Democratic Debates with Mr.Russert. (It's okay with me about the way you pronounce Nevada, but make sure its right while your in the State. I'm sure each one is accepted with people). Keep up the great work and get a little rest Mr.Williams. Peace to all!  

No "Gotcha" questions this time around in the debate!! They are ugly and serve no purpose except to trip up a candidate...usually trying but failing to "catch" Clinton. We'd rather hear thoughtful, thought-provoking questions like those Charlie Gibson posed. The ABC format was great and allowed candidates to give substantiative answers. I'm not interested in hearing you two. I want to hear more from the candidates and judge for myself their responses. I would like, however, follow-up repetition of questions when candidates go off on tangents and don't answer the question you ask. I was really turned off by the last NBC debate, particularly with Tim Russert. A former fan of "Meet the Press," I haven't watched since that debate because I was so upset with Russert. I have to admit I've been watching Charlie Gibson more than before and switch back and forth between NBC and ABC. I don't want to completely turn off NBC after this debate. I've already weaned myself away from MSNBC because Chris Matthews has been so biased against Clinton. I have written him previously about his bias against women in general. It rubs off onto other pundits on MSNBC.

Obama is an elecrifying orator, and his speeches are beautifully written and delivered. However, I'd like to know that he could handle the problems that will undoubtedly occur if and when he is President.  I well remember the beauty of Jack Kennedy's speeches and the effect they had on listeners.  Very similar to Obama's "Yes, we can!"  But I also remember that it was Lyndon Johnson, after Kennedy's assasination, who passed most of the programs that Kennedy had talked of.   I think this time I'd rather see a fighter in that office - someone like Edwards, who knows how to battle for what he believes is right. I was sorry to see the primary results for him.

And by the way, please let the people vote before the media calls the results!

I listened to your show (as I do every night!) and saw the piece on Reverse Mortgages.  I am writing to ask that you have someone on your staff sit down with me---to do an in-depth review of Reverse Mortgages.  There were so many statements made tonight, based on one woman's story, that potentially could cause needy and deserving people NOT to enter into a Reverse Mortgage.  

This woman may or may not have needed to enter a Reverse Mortgage loan---however, the mistake was not in the Reverse Mortgage itself, but rather in the fact that she was sold an annuity by the very company that put her in the Reverse Mortgage!!! The Reverse Mortgage, in and of itself, is an annuity. Any reputable Reverse Mortgage provider knows that. Even the counseling session by FHA may not have helped her with this piece of it. Your story absolutely revealed a weakness in that area. There probably is not anything in the counselling session that says the borrower should not take the proceeds and enter into an annuity.

If you can get back to this woman, I believe she most certainly will win a lawsuit against this predatory lender.  As a matter of fact, if she cannot afford an attorney, my husband is the lead pro bono partner of his law firm.  It would be his great pleasure to assign someone to review her case.

Reverse Mortgages can be a Godsend when properly applied. I can absolutely show you how seniors can live their best life---AND---leave more to their heirs with the proper application of a Reverse Mortgage.

I hope you will have someone contact me at your earliest convenience.  I would just like to set this record straight for the people have no other recourse.  Just so you know, I spend my days with financial planners, elder care attorneys---people who have an understanding of this financial tool, and how to properly utilize it.  It is rapidly becoming a tool, not only for the poor---but for the wealthy, as well!

I live in McLean, Virginia, and I can sit down with as many people as necessary, either in New York or in the DC studios, to go over the safeguards of this program and the true potential of it.

I welcome your repsonse,

I'm sure the new website is a fabulous thing.  However, I prod along the web with dial up, so it is not a fabulous thing for me!  I tried to check out the page and it took 10 minutes for it to load.  What I was able to see looked good, though!  

Hi Brian .

Even after reading your essays day after day I recognize a brilliant piece of writing - something very special - when I see it.

I sent it out to my ever growing email address list of family and friends all over the world one of whom is on a cargo ship headed toward you-know-where. Nowadays though, through some wonderful computer programs we can track him, and of course, he has email.

This noon I found myself watching CSPAN with NBC Political Director Chuck Todd leading a discussion group in DC. With the expanded MSNBC political coverage we should all be very well informed by the time November rolls around.

I know you follow sports and wonder if you think that the upcoming Congressional hearings will be covered by the mainstream press/TV as well as the sports media and CSPAN. Although I've heard all the excuses about pro athletes, I think it is important for our young athletes to learn that steroid use has consequences, both physical and legal.

How about a few measures of 'Something's Happening Here' on the broadcast to close out the week tomorrow :)

Actually, we in Nevada, only pronounce our state's name so that it rhymes with "at" as opposed to a doctor's command to "say aaahhh."  Last night, for the first time, I noticed that you used both versions!

 Okay guys,lets look at this thing objectively.  Both canidates are skiled without a doubt, but please base your decision on reason rather than "Political Spin".
 Here's a taste of what I'm talking about.  A few years ago Senators Clinton, and Obama had a crucial decision to make.  In the final analysis this particular decision would affect us all in a very profound way.
 Both canidates looked at the exact same evidence in the exact same enviroment, under the exact same conditions, but their decisions were as different as Day, and Night.
 Senator Clinton chose to take this country to War in Iraq.  With all of the experience Senator Clinton has it's only a lot of experience making "Bad Decisions."
 Senator Obama on the other hand decided not to take this country to War in Iraq, and as history would prove, he was correct in his decision.  He demanded facts rather than let public opiniion sway his decision.
 Would you rather have someone with lots of experience making "Bad Decisions", or someone with less experience making their decisions based on sound judgment and fact?  I would think the decision is quite clear.
 For what it's worth My Son is Baghdad right now.  Needless to say I have a lot to loose by making the wrong choice.

Now that I am passed 60, I want someone in office with a age on them, one who has experience and who knows who to go to for help.  I thought President Clinton did a great job in office and I think Hillary has the knowledge and experience to lead this country to greatness.  Almost everyone was for the war, I personally was against it as I felt George Bush was only going to Iraq to avenge his father.  We have had men ruling this country since 1776, I think it is time we let the women rule.  Other countries have female leaders and they are doing ok, so why not us.  Women tend to not rush into wars because we do not want our sons and daughters to be in harms way.  We tend to be thoughtful and try and use deplolmacy instead of rushing into battle.  I think Obama is too young to run this country.

Kucinich asks for recount in N.H. Democratic primary:

http://www.wdtn.com/Global/story.asp?S=7608868

***

Kucinich thinks there was an error in the counting of the NH primary votes on the democratic side (specifically relating to the Clinton/Obama match-up) and he's asking for a recount!

I want to thank you for creating a fabulous new website that actually works for Mac users. It's been a while since I've been able to view your Early Nightly segment -- it just quit working for months despite being fine on my MacBook when it first started. Mac users are used to websites being formatted for PCs, so what a nice surprise that this is all working so well for us, too.

I do feel for Stephanie who wrote to say that it's not loading on her dial-up. Unfortunately, web designers are forced to decide whether to code things very simply for slower connections or to put out the best visual product possible.

It's a beautiful product, indeed.

Hopefully, DSL will be available to all soon. I live in a rural area outside a major city, and the DSL service actually wound up being cheaper for me once it finally arrived a year ago. Truthfully, I'm already eager for something faster. DSL feels slow now. Good luck, Stephanie.

Thanks so much, Brian and Nightly News, for this easy-to-use, very informative, well-organized news hub. I'm moving your bookmark ahead of CNN now, and I'll be checking in often.

Assuming tomorrow is a slow enough news day to fit it in I second the motion for you to reprise at least part of "Something is Happening Here" on the broadcast tomorrow night. Any piece that can generate 816 comments ( a blog record that I am sure will stand for the ages) is worth repeating to an even larger audience.
It keeps occurring to me that the next line of that song is ""What it is ain't exactly clear" Sort of the way I feel about the whole race at this point.
I'm often asked my opinions of the race around the water cooler, because I'm active in the local party here. Monday I had  assured everyone of the end of Sen. Clinton's campaign, on that basis that it was the kiss of death for a women candidate to  be emotional. Tuesday I walked in to work and announced my resignation as a pundit. That piece made me feel a lot better I can tell you!

re: pronunciation
NevAda Nevada potAda potada
mis-spellings always bother me nore.

Dear Brian: I have been an avid follower of the NBC Podcast on Itunes for most of the years I have been working overseas, and I must tell you that it is heaven sent. The new website is a wonderful addition and thankfully NBC is allowing Americans serving overseas to view the videos without blocking the content. I do agree With Stephanie from Maine that the website should be far less bandwidth heavy. I am lucky because from my current location in the world I have high speed cable, but I have lived several years in the Pacific islands where bandwidth for the internet for most users was less than 14.4K and for the wealthy you might be lucky to download the NBC Nightly News Podcast in 8 hours. As you can see, this could be a problem in areas of the world where bandwidth is limited.

Just discovered Brian's blog and emailed around "Something's Happening Here" to several friends, I was so struck.  His blog underscores for me what an absolute rock star he is:  sensible, thoughtful, brilliant, and an inspriration in this time of shrill dialogue and demagoguery.

Brian, can you please look into the story that ran last night on Reverse Mortgage for Seniors.  This is one woman's story that should not have happened. This is absolutely not typical of these loans today.  A lender "gamed" the system and tried to get paid two different ways on the same loan.  The mistake was not in the Reverse Mortgage, but rather in taking the proceeds and then selling her an annuity.  When properly applied---a Reverse Mortgage is a phenomenal annuity, with the unused portion growing at a guaranteed annual rate per year! It is an amzaing program.  Please get this revised and the real story out to seniors who desperately need this tax free income!

Hi,

Just wondering what Brian's opinion is on NBC News being assigned the Golden Globes' news conference. It seems more like an event that NBC's entertainment division should be handling, although I realize is a considerable amount of money saved by sticking it under the news department's umbrella.

Thanks

I think women finally “got it” that HRC has from the beginning of this contest been the victim of bigotry and unfairness; that she was about to be railroaded out of the race; that they had the power to stop it; and that they weren’t so sure they wanted the possibility of the first female president to evaporate overnight.

I also think people like Chris Matthews and Glenn Beck had a lot to do with it, just for being so vitriolic, obsessive, nasty and partisan in their attacks on HRC.

Unless someone can convince me that Chris Matthews is not a bigot, full of vitrol, nasty and partisan in his attacks on Hillary Clinton, I aam going to suggest to all of my friends and their friends and we will sweep this across the country NOT TO WATCH MSNBC ELECTION COVERAGE IF HE IS A MODERATOR.  Enough is enough- if I were Hillary Clinton I would avoid anything to do with NBC. Women have a voice and NBC and MSNBC should not be allowed to have someone of Matthew's ilk on board.  You should know better and Shame Shame on all of you. Bring back Brokaw.

Hi Brian,
The new websight is great!  We really enjoy it. Our family is watching with great interest the evolving election process.  Maybe for the first time our children are trying to learn more about the candidates.  At this point we all support Senator Clinton.  We'll see how that evolves.  In an earlier letter a gentleman spoke of decisions that were made by Senator Clinton & Senator Obama in regard to their votes on the Iraq war.  He thought Sen. Clinton's vote for the war was wrong and Sen. Obama's vote against it was correct.  He stated he had a son in Iraq and because of that decision to go to he hss a lot to lose.  He is not alone in his potential loss.  Our son-in-law is also in Iraq.  This is his first deployment to Iraq, but his third since 911.  We all think about him and pray for his safe return.  We recently received an email from him and he told of how he spent Christmas Eve.  He had walked around the camp pretty much by himself. (he was part of an advance party and his people had not ye arrived)  He said in the quiet night he watched other troops celebrate Christmas in small groups, he saw a Chaplain dressed as Santa Claus wishing a Merry Christmas to those who were leaving the mess hall, and he noticed the lines of young men and women who were waiting to use the phones to call home.  He said in that quiet Iraq night he had a chance to reflect on how blessed he was to have been born in the United States.  He said that now that he is in Iraq he realizes more than ever that our mission is the right mission.  Our family, our daughter, our grandson, and our three granddaughters have a lot to lose also, but our son-in-law believes in the mission. While I may not agree with the war I think we need to rely on the instincts and the abilities of those whose boots are on the ground. Time and history will record whose vote was correct, as for now we are there and when we leave it needs to be for all of the right reasons so that we don't find ourselves back there again.

 

Hi Brian,
On a side note from the election, I would like to thank you for adding wit and humor to your newscasts recently. The past few weeks I have been delighted to hear you crack a joke from time to time. You always have a way of delivering the news, no matter what the circumstances, in a way that makes the viewer feel at ease and excited about what is to come. The comedy tidbits have been a nice additive. I am not sure if your SNL experience rubbed off on your or if it is the stress of travel and the election that has given you an extra "hop in your step". You are a joy to watch and getting more entertaining all the time!

Fun comment from/regarding your Conan O'Brien visit this evening...
There is a Nevada Community in Texas-
Ne-VAY-da Community, the Braves...just like Mu-zoor-uh...
Sorry to waste everyones' time on this...

Dear Mr. Brian Williams  (dont forget Iraqi war whil talking election).
Plese I do not want this note to be posted on the blog.  This is a request from me to you Mr. Brian Williams
I am one of your viewers for years now.  It breaks my heart every time I hear the news about our men and women getting killed in Iraq and about the innocent’s Iraqi people getting killed.  And I know for fact the solution is really easy but it is just no body want to see peace over there.
I am not creasy, but I am a peace lover, so would you pleas pass this note to Mr. Bush.  I e-mailed him several times but you know how berocracy works, no body read the e-mail and no body pass it to the president, and I know you could pass this idea to him personally, you people have connections!  My opinion is: if he is really serious about establishing peace and democracy in Iraq, and the Middle East, let him appoint me as the prim minister of Iraq for 3 months and he will see what I will do; or at least let me accompany him and /or Ms. Rice when they visit the Middle East and Iraq.




Najla Jallow
1175 N. Citron St. #A
Anaheim GA. 92801
phone (714)778-5572

I have some interesting questions to ask the candidates; the questions are all original and very creative.  These questions where never asked before. . . . I need your help,tell Newsvine to open my account and I will write an article with the questions in my article or give them to you directly - Raymonty.

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