April 2008 - Posts
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I had a 2-hour outing (rare, as I hardly ever leave the building during the day) to attend a luncheon and moderate a panel discussion at the American Society of Magazine Editors gathering at the impressive Hearst headquarters building in Midtown Manhattan -- and since we just broke from our delayed afternoon editorial meeting, and since I'm now screening an incoming interview for air tonight and must start writing for the broadcast -- while it pains me not to join in on the boisterous debate on our blog these days, today time just won't permit it.
Over time, we'll try to get to as much of it as we can. We may change lead stories tonight at the last minute -- we're still debating over what should be at the top of the broadcast, but we'll certainly cover the economy and politics up high -- along with Iraq, infrastructure, and health. I'm trying to concentrate on work despite the fact that its beautiful outside, and I have Chris Rock tickets for later this week. We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington
The B-24J Liberators of the 492nd Bomb Group might as well have been flying over Germany in the summer of 1944 with giant bull's-eyes on their wings. That's because they were the first bombers to be unpainted and silver-colored to cut costs and reduce weight.
"The silver planes were like flying giant mirrors into enemy territory," historian Paul Arnett said. "The reflecting sunlight made it easier for the Luftwaffe to establish and maintain visual contact."
On one day alone, July 7, 1944, 12 bombers and 67 men were lost, including the McMurray Crew, which dropped out of formation after dropping its bombs on an aircraft factory in Bernberg, Germany, and was never seen or heard from again.
Captured records revealed the crippled bomber - swarmed by German fighters - had crashed in an area of eastern Germany that fell under Communist control until 1990.
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By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
So, in this space yesterday, I had a little fun with the New York Times. I hope it's obvious to our frequent readers that the Times’s news pages are normally my first journalistic stop every morning -- for all the arguments over ideology, the paper's depth and breadth are often without parallel. In fact, it is quoted here more than any other publication, for good reason.
A few of you correctly noted I’ve yet to respond to the recent Times front-page article on the military analysts employed by the television networks, including this one.
I read the article with great interest. I've worked with two men since I've had this job -- both retired, heavily-decorated U.S. Army four-star Generals -- Wayne Downing and Barry McCaffrey. As I'm sure is obvious to even a casual viewer, I quickly entered into a close friendship with both men. I wish Wayne were alive today to respond to the article himself.
I made four trips to Iraq with Wayne. We were together, in close quarters, for over two months at the start of the war and survived at least one harrowing adventure. I won't attempt to respond on Wayne’s behalf, and I know Barry McCaffrey has his own response to the article.
All I can say is this: these two guys never gave what I considered to be the party line. They were tough, honest critics of the U.S. military effort in Iraq. If you've had any exposure to retired officers of that rank (and we've not had any five-star Generals in the modern era) then you know: these men are passionate patriots. In my dealings with them, they were also honest brokers. I knew full well whenever either man went on a fact-finding mission or went for high-level briefings. They never came back spun, and never attempted a conversion. They are warriors-turned-analysts, not lobbyists or politicians.
As far as Wayne was concerned, he was an NBC News employee, and while he would never do anything to diminish his decades of extraordinary service (nor would we expect him to), we all marveled at how quickly he took to the notion of being a journalist -- taking a good, hard, critical look at the Pentagon as an entity, the way "analysts" do.
And about General McCaffrey: I was among those who fielded complaint calls -- from the Pentagon, from the White House, from the highest levels of the Administration -- protesting his harsh criticism of the Rumsfeld Pentagon and the war effort. General Downing and I (during some unscheduled "down time" in the Iraqi desert at the height of the invasion) watched the U.S. military supply line in the distance, driving through the darkness, undefended. Because he viewed it as a result of fighting the "war on the cheap," he was infuriated by it, and said so. General McCaffrey's criticisms were too numerous to mention, but here’s a particular favorite from Nightly News on August 3, 2006:
"Well, I think some of the debate over civil war is absolutely nonsense. It's been a civil war for a couple of years. Thousands are being killed and wounded. It is clearly a struggle between the Shia, the Sunni and to some extent the Kurds. Secretary Rumsfeld, in my judgment, is increasingly going to become irrelevant to this debate. The ambassador on the ground, Khalilzad, General George Casey, General John Abizaid and the White House are going to have to sort this out. It's a very bad situation, and it's getting worse."
Another man deserves mention here: Jack Jacobs is a familiar face to MSNBC and NBC News audiences. We have employed Jack as an analyst for years. He is also a personal friend. Most important: he's among 105 living recipients of the Medal of Honor. I serve on the Board of the Medal of Honor Foundation -- our job is to raise awareness and funds for the recipients, as I've done rather unabashedly in this space over the past two years. Jack, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, travels often to embark on tours of the combat zone, and I've always regarded his analysis as rock-solid... and he has never hesitated to take a whack at the Pentagon brass.
I think it's fair, of course, to hold us to account for the military analysts we employ, inasmuch as we can ever fully know the "off-duty" actions of anyone employed on an "of counsel" basis by us. I can only account for the men I know best. The Times article was about the whole lot of them -- including instances involving other networks and other experts, who can answer for themselves. At no time did our analysts, on my watch or to my knowledge, attempt to push a rosy Pentagon agenda before our viewers. I think they are better men than that, and I believe our news division is better than that.
By Tom Costello, NBC News correspondent
About a week ago, my producer and I got a sneaking suspicion that we were about to take a train trip.
Brian Williams had just blogged about his ride next to the engineer on the front end of an Acela express train from Washington to New York. Top speed: 135 miles per hour.
Brian mentioned that he'd probably soon be asking for a story about the state of the nation's rail infrastructure and high speed trains.
Since my producer, Jay Blackman, and I do the bulk of transportation reporting for NBC News, we had a feeling he was talking about us. Sure enough, it took only a few hours before the first e-mail hit.
Yesterday, Jay and I were able to experience what Brian had experienced....and then some!
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By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I read that the New York Times Sunday (and weekday) circulation is down. I must admit that on Sundays it becomes a tough paper to figure out. While this week's paper featured an op-ed piece by Elizabeth Edwards bemoaning the lack of serious, in-depth coverage of the political race, it's tough to figure out exactly what readers the paper is speaking to, or seeking.
Consider this: the Sunday Styles section lead story on April 13th was "Scavengers on the Urban Savannah" (people buy things at flea markets!), and promoted on Page One was "A Sex Chair Becomes A Battlefield." Alrighty then.
This Sunday's lead story was "Through Sickness, Health, Sex Change..." in a section that included the essay, "Was I On A Date Or Baby-Sitting?," and "Let's Say You Want To Date A Hog Farmer" (and who among us hasn't?).
The magazine cover story this week was "The Newlywed Gays!" (happy gay men in Massachusetts who are married outdoor grilling enthusiasts!), and another feature story profiled a man who "lives and paints" in New Mexico (one of those states west of New Jersey) and has an old-fashioned typewriter!
This week's restaurant/bar review featured a place in Brooklyn that features (tragically-hip/quaint alert!) "old-time cocktails and cheeses" (it strikes me: so did my Mom, at home in Jersey) and the so-called "big box" featured wedding was a classic: the groom wore the obligatory sneakers with his tux, the bride was a "spitfire" with a "wide and ready Julia Roberts smile." Per usual, bride and groom are both free-spirited, with strong opinions.
The lead story in the Travel Section? The rise of vacation resorts catering to nudists. It did occur to me that I haven't been getting out a lot on weekends. Is it just me?
On the other hand, one sparkling piece of journalism (which touched on a lot of themes frequent readers of this space will recognize) was by Peggy Noonan in this weekend's Wall Street Journal. Curl up with this one and give it the quality time it deserves. I'll say it again: Peggy is doing the work of her career and must be considered an early favorite for next cycle's Pulitzer for commentary.
A mea culpa and a thank you to the sharp-eyed Newsviners who wrote us (along with others) to tell us we had used file tape of penguins in a piece on the North Pole! There are no penguins on the North Pole. I must admit I was watching from home, and muted the sound to talk to a family member. Something registered, and I'd like to think I'm smart enough to have noticed. It was the visual equivalent of a kangaroo bouncing through Central Park.
Also, to Joan: I did not attend the Correspondent's Dinner this weekend, though sampled some of the festivities on C-Span (I thought the President was very good). I have attended those dinners for 26 years or so, and on occasion I opt for home and hearth. I saw the first 50 laps of Talladega, however, from the comfort of my kitchen. You were nice to ask.
We hope you had a good weekend. We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent
Even though I am writing this from Chicago, I bet there are a lot of you out there who can feel the pain....
There is construction virtually EVERYWHERE. The 'City of Big Shoulders' is being renamed the 'City of Big Boulders' as work crews scramble to clean up fallen chunks of concrete and fill up Buick-eating potholes.
Americans drive an average of 3 trillion miles each year, on a road system that is beginning to show its age. It causes delays, boosts stress levels and makes getting behind the wheel anything but pleasant.
"You know", says Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, "A lot of the roads in our nation today are like some of us...they are about half a century old!".
That's a mid-life crisis we can all do without.
That combination of heavy traffic and heavy wear and tear is being blamed for everything from flat tires to more accidents to increased air pollution.
Of America's 600 thousand bridges, some 70 thousand of them are considered "deficient'. And, while a suspected design flaw is being looked into as the cause of that deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis last August, the bridge had been inspected just a few months prior.
Some might go so far as to say our infrastructure is falling apart'. I'll have that report tonight on Nightly News with Brian Williams, that is if I'm not stuck in traffic.
By Justin Balding, NBC News producer
Editor's note: Ann Curry's report on saving the Congo's gorillas airs tonight on the broadcast.
"My director died immediately," he recalled.
During his 17 years as a park ranger in eastern DR Congo's Virunga National Park, Pierre Kakule had many close calls, but none as close as the time he was riding with his boss. Their car hit a land-mine, and though Kakule survived, his forehead is still decorated with scars caused by the blast. In other instances he was involved in gun battles. And he has lost many friends and relatives.
Some 120 park rangers in the last 10 years have been killed trying to keep the war-torn Virunga National Park safe from poachers and armed groups looking to make money out of killing animals. Antelopes, buffaloes and elephants are all routinely slaughtered, their "bushmeat" sold in nearby towns and villages. But most sickening of all to Kakule is the killing of gorillas.
The gorilla is not just an iconic living ancestor to him, but a part of the human family tree nearing extiction. In the last two decades the worldwide gorilla population has been cut in half -- mainly by by deforestation and disease. In eastern Congo, the gorillas' plight is complicated by a 10-year war which has left hundreds of thousands of people displaced and desperate for money and food.
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By Lester Holt, NBC News Anchor
Good afternoon. We're watching a story develop in Southern California that is the kind of thing we're more used to seeing in summer and early fall. A brush fire is raging out of control just east of Pasadena, roughly 15 miles from Los Angeles. They've already evacuated hundreds of homes, and officials are telling us that this one is days away from containment. It's been very hot in Southern California recently, and folks there are hoping we are not witnessing the start of an early fire season. Our NBC team in Los Angeles, led by correspondent Janet Shamlian, are working the story, and we will hear from Janet on our broadcast tonight.
There are a lot of spinning wheels on the politics front. While Hillary Clinton was campaigning in North Carolina, Barack Obama was rejecting her call for another debate, moderated or not, before the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. In a television interview, Obama also downplayed the role of race in the run for the White House. However, his controversial former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, spoke publicly in Texas today, and his remarks will likely ensure race remains a hot topic with regard to the Democratic contest. NBC’s Ron Allen and Andrea Mitchell will help us put it all in perspective.
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By Lester Holt, NBC News Anchor
Hello from New York. On this evening’s broadcast, we are going to look at the hand-wringing going on among some influential Democrats over just where the protracted contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will leave the party when all is said and done. Hillary Clinton had a new challenge for Obama today, while Obama nursed his tired body from some late night basketball and worked on re-casting his image. Ron Allen and Lee Cowan are covering the candidates for us, and will update us on the battle for Indiana.
We'll also double-team the economy tonight with Mike Taibbi focusing on those stimulus checks many Americans are about to receive and why many Americans will be putting them to other than their intended use. CNBC's Trish Regan will then offer a report on the things many air travelers used to take for granted, like getting a window or aisle seat, that are now raising the cost of flying.
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By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
U.S. Army Lt. John Fernandez (Ret.) didn't wear shorts to his interview with us here at 30 Rock today -- he wore long pants -- so there was no way the folks who passed us in the hallway would ever know that John's lower legs are made of titanium. But those who come out to watch the former West Point lacrosse Captain in this weekend's Army/Navy alumni lacrosse match will see how he gets around...and will no doubt marvel at it. But if you ask him, in the classic swagger of a soft-spoken military combat veteran, he'll tell you, "I was never that quick on my feet anyway..."
John's injuries were caused when an American F-15 dropped a bomb on his position. He was the commander of a missile battery -- they're called MLRS's -- and if they weren't instruments of war they'd be beautiful things to watch. As I told him today, I was stranded with General Downing during that stage of the war, and the MLRS launches we were watching at night could easily have been from John's position.
These days, John is working for the Wounded Warrior Project. He's a native of Long Island -- married, father of two with one on the way. He is a great guy, and in a few days we'll air portions of our interview with him, and we'll put all of it on the website.
By the way: my favorite story of the day? Right here.
We have a great broadcast planned to cap off what I think has been a great week. Have a great weekend, and I hope you can come back to join us on Monday night.
By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent
I spend a lot of time on planes, but the flight I took from Dayton to D.C. last Saturday will be hard to top. The seats were filled with American heroes, seventy World War II veterans traveling to their memorial aboard an Honor Flight. The Greatest Generation is moving a little slower these days, and more than a few initially feared the trip was beyond their reach.
82-year-old Robert Huesing of Hamilton, Ohio was my seatmate. I am now fully briefed in the antics of a navy cook aboard a Landing Ship Tank in 1944. It was great stuff, and I couldn't help wonder about the stories in the seats all around me. 
Most of the veterans aboard didn't know Earl Morse, which suited him just fine. Earl is a retired Air Force Captain whose passion for flying is surpassed only by his love of country. During a stint at the VA, he was struck by veterans who told him they physically or financially couldn't swing a trip to see their newly completed memorial. Earl refused to accept that, and Honor Flight was born.
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By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
If you measure life's occurrences through the prism of our newsroom -- our daily editorial meetings and the broadcasts we air each night -- I'm not sure what it says about our world. A few days ago no one in the national media was giving much thought to rice -- except perhaps those who do the family shopping and had reason to know its price had risen globally 140% over the past year. Ditto the housing market, in that it only got to where it is now over the last few months.
We have some interesting stories tonight -- including a high-interest story on lasik surgery (if you're considering it or if you've had it, you'll want to see this) and a strange occurrence (what is it about strange occurrences this week?) in Alaska, which is my personal favorite story of the day. We also have a revealing interview with John McCain -- and right now I'm watching some supercell storms roll through parts of Texas and the upper Plains.
So we'll put it all together in some manageable fashion for your approval tonight. I continue to read all posts -- and wish I had the time to respond to all.
By Robert Bazell, NBC News chief science correspondent
Tomorrow I’m going to try something new. I will be answering questions online about LASIK vision surgery or any other health and science issue I have covered recently, including plastic bottles, Please send them in and I will answer as many as possible tomorrow from noon to 2pm Eastern.
Meanwhile for people who are interested now in more information about tonight’s story on the complication rate from LASIK, laser vision correction surgery, check out the FDA’s website.
And Matt Kotsovolos, the man we profile who suffered complications with LASIK has started a website to communicate with others who have had difficulties.
By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent
Editor's note: Mark Potter's report airs tonight on the broadcast.
Arriving on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico recently, it was clear we had come to an extraordinarily beautiful place. The beaches are gorgeous, the water is crystal clear, the tourist hotels and restaurants are laid-back and the tropical vegetation and terrain are stunning, especially in the fiery light of sundown.
Looking below the surface here, though, we found a lingering and ugly controversy involving allegations of environmental contamination by the U.S. military and elevated health risks to long-time residents. In the words of a lawsuit filed by more than 7,000 plaintiffs against the U.S. government, "residents of Vieques experience a 30% higher rate of cancer, a 381% higher rate of hypertension, a 99% higher rate of cirrhosis of the liver and a 41% higher rate of diabetes than the rest of Puerto Rico."
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By Ian Williams, NBC News correspondent
Editor's note: Ian Williams's report airs tonight on the broadcast. Watch a preview here.
Phi Phi Islands, Thailand--Andrew Hewett fished a small fragment of coral from a bucket of water and held it between his fingers.
"It's been knocked off, broken by an anchor or somebody standing on it," he said, explaining that while the devastating 2004 tsunami caused a lot of damage to the area's coral reefs, the bigger threat to the reefs comes not from nature, but from man.
He then showed how to drill a small hole in the fragment and attach it to a metal rack (see photo, right). Moments later, a production line was up and running on the deck of the dive boat, students threading hundreds of fragments and pulling them tightly to the racks.
"If I can't pull it off, then a fish certainly can't," said Nichole Niewald, a biology major at the University of Missouri.
The fragments had been collected from the ocean floor, the remains of a badly damaged reef.
"Day by day people are walking on the reef, not paying enough attention, and not treating the coral like the animals they actually are," said Steve Monson, who studies food science at Mizzou.
Eighteen students and staff traveled from Missouri to the Phi Phi islands in Thailand to take part in a pioneering coral rehabilitation project. Their trip was organized by Bob Sites, Professor of Entomology at Mizzou's Division of Plant Sciences, a regular visitor to the Kingdom. It's the second year he's brought students to the coral project. All the students are from Mizzou's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. (Photo, left: NBC cameraman Kyle Eppler videotapes as Andrew Hewett and the students examine coral fragments.)< CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Today's announcement about the change in this nation's combatant commanders was extraordinary, for several reasons.
To review: Gen. David Petraeus (photo: Petraeus with Brian in Iraq in March 2007) goes from Iraq to Central Command (with command over the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then some). Importantly for the General (and his wife and two children), this will bring him home (Tampa, Florida) after over a total of four years overseas.
He'll be replaced by Lt. General Ray Odierno (photo: Odierno with Brian in Iraq in March 2007), a New Jersey native whose son lost an arm while fighting in Iraq. Odierno is just home for two months and had been nominated to become the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army.
That nomination will now go to Lt. General Peter Chiarelli (in photo, left, with Brian in Jan. 2005), the gregarious and well-liked three-star long-rumored to be in line to replace Petraeus.
I was struck by how personal Defense Secretary Gates's remarks were: much talk about the families of these General officers, appropriate recognition of their various moves, overseas service and towering sacrifice. As I watched the news conference this morning, I also felt privileged to have spent time with all three Generals during our various journeys to Iraq.
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By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington
Marine Lt. Col. William Hall of Seattle had two loves in his life: the Marine Corps and his family.
"He was very proud to be a Marine," his cousin told KING. "He ate, lived and breathed the Marine Corps. He was even excited about going to serve in Iraq."
Hall deployed to Iraq in February and sent his family and friends an e-mail in March.
"Please don't think that I am trying to paint the picture of this country as a rose garden, because it isn't," he wrote. "It's still a very dangerous place, and people are dying here every day. I am doing fine, I am safe, and will wrote again soon."
Hall died the next day of wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in Fallujah. He was 38 years old.
"I can't tell you how fine this young man was - the finest husband, father, son, Marine, individual - warm, gracious, just our very best," a friend told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
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Editor's note: Anne Thompson's full report from Costa Rica airs tonight on the broadcast.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
While somewhat hard to believe, and while tonight's results might be moot in the scope of the fight for the Democratic nomination, the Pennsylvania primary is here.
We had a great hour of coverage on MSNBC at noon -- per usual, Subrata De produced it for me with backup from Megan Marcus -- and we got to work with the very talented team at MSNBC. I'm continually in awe of the volume of coverage they put on the air every day.
We are awaiting the "first wave" exit poll results -- the first indication we will get of any emerging trend. Sometimes they are noteworthy, sometimes they end up being wrong.
Tonight we'll do continuous updates of Nightly News for all time zones, and then we'll drop by and visit the MSNBC studios as part of their coverage. Either way, barring a major defeat for Clinton tonight (it was Tim Russert who said on Nightly News last night: if she loses Pennsylvania, her campaign is "over") it's on to Indiana and North Carolina and beyond. There are 10 contests left.
We'll have it all for you tonight, along with stories featuring some amazing stats: did you know fully 28 percent of all the grain produced in the U.S. this year will go to ethanol production? Did you know the U.S. has fallen to 42nd in the world in terms of life expectancy? Those two stats fall in two separate stories in what we think is a very interesting Tuesday night broadcast. Don't forget UFO's in Arizona! And Florida! It will only have an impact if you're there to watch it! Thanks from all of us.
Espionage charges revealed Tuesday against a former US Army civilian engineer shed new light on one of the most notorious spy cases in modern US history, one which remains a sore point between the United States and Israel.
Federal prosecutors charged a New Jersey man, Ben-Ami Kadish, with providing dozens of classified documents to the Israeli government while he worked at the US Army's Picatinny Arsenal from 1979 through 1985. Investigators say he provided closely guarded secrets involving nuclear weapons design, details of the US F-15 fighter jet, and information about the US Patriot missile defense system. The materials were sought by a secretive Israeli nuclear spy organization called the LAKAM, since disbanded.
"Kadish believed that providing classified documents would help Israel," court documents say. Kadish is a US citizen, born in Connecticut, prosecutors say. According to local newspaper accounts in New Jersey, Kadish served in both the US and British militaries during World War II, then joined the Haganah, an underground military organization, during Israel's struggle for freedom.
Investigators say Kadish provided the materials to his handler, who worked for the Israeli government at its consulate in New York City. That same handler, prosecutors say, directed another spy -- Jonathan Pollard, convicted in 1986 of providing a trove of US defense secrets to Israel during the 1980's. Pollard, who worked as a US Navy intelligence analyst, is the only American ever sentenced to life in prison for spying for a US ally. Israel has repeatedly sought his release from prison, but several US presidents have refused to do so, acting on the recommendations of their CIA Directors.
Court documents say Kadish received a wish list from his handler and would bring classified documents home with him at night so they could be photographed. The contact for both Kadish and Pollard, Yosef Yagur, fled the US shortly after Pollard was arrested.
But court documents say Yagur continued to maintain contact with Kadish, by phone and e-mail, and that Kadish visited Yagur in Israel in 2004. Law enforcement officials say Kadish has been under investigation for the past three years, and phone calls between the two men have been carefully monitored.
After FBI agents interviewed Kadish at his home last month, investigators say, the two men talked by phone again. Court documents quote Yagur advising Kadish not to admit anything: "Let them say whatever they want. You didn't ... do anything. What happened 25 years ago? You don't remember anything."
The man who prosecuted Pollard, Washington, DC lawyer Joseph di Genova, told NBC News on Tuesday that the new information about Yagur's conduct shows was "brazen, further proof that the Israelis were running several spies in the US, as we thought at the time."
Investigators say Kadish was never paid for his spying. Instead, Yagur gave him small gifts and occasionally bought him and his family dinner at a Bronx restaurant.
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By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
After a classic parenting experience yesterday -- an hour-long drive with my wife to see our son pitch at an away game -- which he did not (he's been starting this year, and was rumored to on the bubble to come in in relief yesterday, alas) -- we are back at work on a surprisingly nice Monday in New York.
The talk of the staff meetings today was the Pope's surprising visit (a huge media tour de force, by most reviews here in New York and elsewhere), and tomorrow's vote in Pennsylvania. The expectations management is something to watch carefully. I'll be doing the noon ET hour on MSNBC tomorrow afternoon, just eight hours before the polls close! Tim and I will do Nightly News from here and will have updates on the NBC Television Network and on MSNBC all evening long.
We're thinking of Richard Engel -- we miss having him in the newsroom during his extended "shore leave" -- and he's now headed back overseas and back to work. I've always found it to be an endearing feature of our blog community -- the large number of our readers who express an almost-maternal concern for his safety and love of his work. Please know our feelings for him are even more intense, and we do our level best to make sure he's safe and surrounded by the best professionals in the business.
We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
By Lester Holt, NBC News Anchor
Some in the Democratic party are beginning to grumble about what happens when political candidates have too much time on their hands.
The six-week gap between primaries has reduced much of the presidential debate to questions of who has been more negative. We saw some of that when the respective campaign strategists for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton squared off on "Meet the Press" this morning. Finally, the voters get back in the drivers seat of this race on Tuesday for the Pennsylvania primary. Our Lee Cowan and Ron Allen are with the candidates as they make their final push, and we will have their reports on tonight's newscast, including the potentially uncomfortable moment for Obama at an unannounced campaign stop earlier today. As I sit in the newsroom, a wall of TV monitors, all tuned to different channels and networks are showing the same picture: the papal mass at Yankees Stadium in New York. Three years ago yesterday I was in Rome to cover the papal election, and vividly recall the emotional scene as Benedict XVI made his very first appearance as pope before the crowds that swelled into St. Peter's Square. This trip to America is in many ways very similar, in that American Catholics are seeing him, and greeting him for the first time. NBC's Rehema Ellis will tell us about the pope's final day in the United States, and how during this trip he may have exceeded expectations and shattered some perceptions. In an NBC investigation, Lisa Myers takes a closer look at some industrial plants recognized by the EPA for their outstanding environmental records. It turns out, however, that some of those companies have amassed significant violations of environmental standards. She'll tell us how that happened.
A quick thanks to my colleague Natalie Morales for covering for me last night while I tried to get the upper hand on a nasty cold I've been fighting. I am happy to report I'm feeling much better, even though I suspect some of my colleagues here are giving me wide berth in the hallways. :) See you later for NBC Nightly News.
by Natalie Morales, NBC News Anchor
Lester Holt is a little under the weather today, so I will be filling in. We are starting this evening with Pope Benedict XVI celebrating an historic mass at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral today – the first papal mass at the Cathedral. Speaking to mostly 3,000 clergy, he again returned to the clergy sex abuse scandal calling for purification and healing. And this afternoon, thousands of seminarians are holding a youth rally to greet the pope.
We turn next to politics, on this final and critical weekend before the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday. The Democratic candidates are in full force campaign mode, firing away at each other. Obama is casting Clinton as a game player using "slash and burn" tactics. Clinton is telling voters to look beyond "whoop-dee-do" speechmaking, and calling for voters to look for substance in who can best handle the nation's problems.
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By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I read on one of our industry websites this morning that our ABC News colleague Cynthia McFadden fell down the steps yesterday at Penn Station in New York -- she is thankfully on the mend, and apparently not seriously injured. While knowing next to nothing about her accident, it reminded me of something I did not say in yesterday's post about my Amtrak experience: it has to do with a current obsession of mine, (more like a constant rant that my friends and family are probably sick of hearing) having to do with our infrastructure.
Some days, in this city especially, it can seem as if we just reached a decision a few years ago to give up, to stop building, stop improving. It's as if we decided that we, the nation that saved the free world in the 1940's, entered the Cold War in the 1950's, made it to the moon in the 1960's... and so on... had built enough, improved enough to declare we were finished.
Upon arriving in New York on the Acela train yesterday, we exited on to the dank, dark train platform, and passed by no fewer than four idle, frozen escalators for the long trek to the main level to the station. It was like a scene from "The Land That Time Forgot." It is a daily reality for millions of daily commuters. I watched as senior citizens, laden with luggage, hoisted it up the long flight of stairs, some of them pausing to rest and catch their breath on the landing or with each individual step. CONTINUED >>
By Robert Bazell, NBC News chief science correspondent
We have more today on plastic bottles. My blog Thursday on this subject, which you can see below behind a couple of Brian’s entries, generated an unusually large number of responses. I’ll try to answer to some of your questions. That blog has a lot of the basics of this issue and links to sites where you can find more information. Please refer to it, I won’t repeat all that.
Today’s news is that the Canadian government is banning baby bottles that might give off the chemical Bisphenol A (known as BPA). The Canadian Health Minister said he was acting out of an abundance of caution for babies and emphasized he did not think there was any danger to adults from the wide variety of plastic containers that give off tiny amounts of BPA. You can read about the Canadian decision here.
Also Wal-Mart has announced it is removing baby bottles with BPA from its shelves in both the US and Canada. Nalgene, a major manufacturer of water bottles said it would stop using plastic containing BPA.
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By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Today's train ride from Washington back to New York was far from ordinary. I spent much of the journey in the "head end," as they refer to the cockpit in the train business. I was in the single passenger seat, alongside the locomotive engineer, a very friendly 39-year-old Amtrak veteran from Long Island. In front of me was a wraparound dashboard of guages. Central among them is the speedometer, which for a lot of our trip registered 130 mph. It's a great way to travel, along the same track bed first established in the early 1800's, alongside track that FDR travelled, back and forth between Washington and his beloved boyhood home in Hyde Park.
I had to wear safety goggles (the occasional thrown rock has in the past breached both layers of thick safety glass), but otherwise it felt like a bouncy, vaguely floating ride in a Captain's chair. Amtrak officials know that I'm planning to commission a story for Nightly News on the status of high-speed passenger rail in this country -- especially along the vital Northeast Corridor. It's difficult to ride on France's exquisite TGV high-speed rail (averaging more than 200 mph) and not wonder why the nation of the Iron Horse isn't able to offer travel at the same level of speed, stability and comfort... if not better. It's quite a juxtaposition -- rumbling at a crawl in a sleek, Canadian-made train through the old, leaky, stone-lined Baltimore tunnel, "1870" carved in the archway above. But it was a great experience today and did a lot for my understanding of the issues along the rails from Washington to New York.
So it's back to New York with senior members of our team -- back to our editorial meeting and an actual template of the broadcast heading into tonight. Always the producer, our Executive Producer Alex Wallace has already scratched out a rough outline of the major stories and their placement in the broadcast while on the train... and as I write this, we're about to pull into Penn Station.
We'll see what the staff has cooked up for us at 30 Rock, and we hope you'll tune in for the final product tonight.
By Robert Bazell, NBC News chief science correspondent
For the past few days we have been covering an issue that is generating a lot of concern. Certain types of plastic containers can leech a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA). The chemical can mimic the female hormone estrogen. Given to animals at high doses it can cause all sorts of health problems ranging from infertility and obesity to several types of cancer.
There is no question that Americans are exposed to the chemical. A study by the CDC estimated that 92.6 percent of Americans age 6 and above had measurable BPA in their bodies.
The chemical industry has maintained for years that the high dose animal experiments do not show any human effects and the FDA, which would regulate the chemicals, has said there is no danger. Many scientists have continued to look for possible danger in both animal and human studies.
On Tuesday, the National Toxicology Program, a division of the National Institutes of Health issued an alarm The agency said there was a possibility BPA could be causing brain problems in fetuses and children and prostate and breast problems in adults.
The actual quote from the draft report concluded “there is some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures. The NTP also has some concern for bisphenol A exposure in these populations based on effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females.”
The designation of “some” concern is equivalent to 3 on a danger scale of 1 to 5. You can see the report itself here. A few members of Congress have issued calls for the FDA to ban the plastics. So far the FDA has not responded.
If you want to avoid bottles with BPA look on the bottom for very tiny numbers enclosed in arrows that look like this. The number 7 indicates BPA. The numbers 3 and 6 indicates the presence of similar chemicals that some scientists and environmentalists believe could be cause for concern.
By Al Henkel, NBC News producer
Putting aside all the legal issues, what's going on inside Courtroom "A" of the Tom Green County Courthouse is a huge clash of cultures.
FLDS church members who marched to the courthouse steps this morning are talking solely about their children.
"We hope they 'll give them back to us," a male church member, who declined to give his name, told us.
The FLDS church members, rarely seen outside their ranch near Eldorado, Texas, are immediately recognized. Their clothes, their manner, their soft spoken demeanor are out of another century. The answers given to questions by church women are so quiet as to be hard to understand.
"We would just love to get our children back," says one.
"Our children need us," says another.
Lawyers, many of whom have only a passing knowledge of their clients, are trying to ensure modern due process, to a culture mired in the 1800's.
Legal Aid attorney Roger Jacobsen says his goal is simple, just "trying to see that the women get due process so they get all the rights that they are entitled to."
A man comes out of the courthouse after the first few minutes of the hearing, displaying a photograph of his five children.
"These children are all happy, they're smiling. But they're not happy out there," he says, referring to the San Angelo Coliseum. "Happy sweet children," he mutters as he walks away.
His children, and more than 400 others are caught right now in a clash of cultures, their futures yet to be decided.
By Christina Brown, NBC News correspondent
Editor's note: Christina Brown's report airs tonight on the broadcast.
The Two Trials of Emily LeVan is not only a story of determination and courage, but infinite love -- the kind of love that makes the impossible seem possible and sparks the kind of motivation that makes doubters think twice about their own limitations.
Emily LeVan hoped in 2004 she might be able to compete in the Olympics, but she and her husband, Brad, welcomed their baby girl Maddie into the world. Plans to compete for a slot on the Olympic marathon team were pushed to the back burner and the focus turned to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Things were going as planned. Emily returned to marathon training and started racking up first place finishes in long distance races. In the spring of 2006, she secured a chance to compete in next week’s Olympic marathon trials in Boston. But plans, as we all know, change when life steps in and gets in the way. Last November, doctors diagnosed Maddie with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, or A.L.L.
I cannot imagine the heartache these young parents must have felt and the uncertainty they faced after seeing their once vibrant, bright-eyed, beautiful little girl fight for every breath. It reminds me of something I once heard many years ago: it’s during the worst of times, that we find the best in ourselves and others.
The love Emily and Brad have for one another and their daughter can teach us a lot about what we are capable of doing in life. Emily didn’t think twice about giving up her Olympic dream and cutting back her hours working as an ER nurse, to care for Maddie. This was not only what she thought she needed to do, but also wanted to do. Doing so, though, in the eyes of her husband and daughter meant giving up on something they too also longed for, to see Emily at her best.
When I asked Brad whether it had been worth it -- taking on this monumental feat and supporting Emily’s Olympic journey at a time when the couple also faced the real possibility of losing their child -- his answer was simple, yet so profound: yes, he said, and then added that being in a relationship means figuring out what you can to do to make the other person’s life easier, fulfilling, happy. His love gives Emily strength when she’s tired, broken and hurt, but their love provides little Maddie the courage to fight against a disease that knocks grown men and women off their feet.
The family’s love for one another and their community inspired them to launch a fundraiser so other families dealing with childhood cancer can get help.
Maddie’s doctor told me her prognosis looks good. She has what’s considered low risk A.L.L., with an 85 to 90 percent survival rate. Mother and daughter are focused on the finish line, but can teach us all a little something about perserverance along the way.
By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent
The other evening, after our story on the internet computer game 'Freerice.com" aired on Nightly News, someone near and dear to me said, "You know, that is the first time in a long time I have seen a story about the internet that is actually positive!".
It now appears many of Nightly's viewers either agreed, or were curious enough to find out for themselves. The 'freerice' website has virtually exploded with people logging on to play the game, learn a few new words and, most importantly, donate rice to the world's needy.
Now, before I get too far down the track... here's what freerice.com is.
It's a little computer game invented by Bloomington, Indiana programmer John Breen. Breen was thinking of ways to help his son expand his vocabulary and study for his SAT's. But, as a quiet spoken fellow with a social conscience, Breen didn't let it end at that. So, voila 'freerice' was born.
You log on to the site...the game offers you a word, and then four definitions.
If you pick the correct definition 20 grains of rice are donated to the UN's World Food Program. In the six months the game has been up and running, enough rice to feed one million people for a day has been donated. The game costs nothing to play, and all the rice is paid for by the websites advertisers. For me, I found the whole concept so simple, it was brilliant.
Now, that is enough of a feat in itself to be worthy of a Nightly News spot!
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By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We're back in Washington today -- I've taken Amtrak so much lately, I chatted up all three employees on our train car this morning, having last seen them last just a few days ago.
All three are from Boston (where the New York-Washington Acela originates) so I was careful not to mention baseball. I didn't want to get thrown out on the platform in Wilmington without my bags.
While I borrowed Savannah Guthrie's office during my last visit (and left her a detailed critique of the, shall we say, absence of any feng shui -- or even furnishings), I'm now typing this from Pete Williams's office. Pete is as kind, smart, able and popular as anybody I know in this news division. As our Justice Correspondent, he knows his stuff -- and while I may fancy myself a Supreme Court "buff," I learned long ago not to tangle with Pete on any debate on matters of the court. You'll lose. He knows his stuff backwards and forwards. His office is great: a direct reflection of the man. The decor is equal parts Andy Rooney and Earl Warren. I said on the conference call just now that I feel like I'm "in chambers" -- as the office is lined with leather-bound volumes of the U.S. Code... along with artwork from Pete's beloved home state of Wyoming. Right now he's doing what he does best: he's hard at work covering the Supreme Court.
Tonight many of us are to gather at the annual Radio & Television Correspondents' Assocation 64th Annual Dinner -- then it's back to New York tomorrow. We've laid out a good broadcast (most of our senior staff migrated here for the day) and we'll see you from our Washington Bureau tonight.
By Michelle Kosinski, NBC News correspondent
It would be almost impossible to walk onto the Virginia Tech campus, past the fresh flower beds and perfect grey stone buildings, up to that semi-circle of 32 stones, to see those names-- and not have some of that emotion from one year ago come rushing back. It takes your breath away for a moment.
There have been changes to security and mental health policy on campuses around the country; there have been tributes made and donations sent; apologies rendered and goodbyes wrenched from this community; but for so many here, the emotion remains strong, and just beneath the surface.
Some survivors told us about having sudden, unexpected reactions to loud noises. And fear of unlocked doors.
But there is another reaction too, that isn't only evident because we tend to look for something "uplifting" after an act so unspeakably cold and violent: the desire of so many survivors to DO something positive to make the world a less violent, or just less unfeeling, place.
