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The Daily Nightly began on May 31, 2005. As Brian wrote in his first post it aims to provide a narrative of the broadcast day and a window into the editorial process at NBC Nightly News. Brian weighs in every weekday and NBC News correspondents and producers post regularly.

Brian Williams became the seventh anchor and managing editor in the history of NBC Nightly News on December 2, 2004. Read his full biography.



A long day's journey

Posted: Monday, April 21, 2008 4:19 PM by Barbara Raab
Filed Under:

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.

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Good Evening Mr.Williams, I am not even in the newsroom and I miss Richard being in New York during his "shore leave". I am so proud of him being promoted to Chief Foreign Correspondent! I was so excited and happy to participate in the Question and Answer on April 15th. And to get two responses from him was simply wonderful! He is just awesome! I will always pray for his safety and care about his well being. I know Mr.Williams you care about him intensely and he is surrounded by the best professionals in the business. He is the best correspondent in that region and I love his work! Look forward to seing him real soon on the broadcast.( Wearing those great blue shirts!) Looking forward to the broadcast Mr.Williams. Peace to you and to all! Stay safe always Richard!

Lots of Love to Laurel,Jackie and Stephanie!
Be well always!
Brian -

I was impressed with the Pope's demeanor at Ground Zero - and with the individual greetings he had for the selected family representatives.  

Didn't watch the Yankee Stadium event.

I've been through a lot of campaigns, but this one is turning into a mud fight sadly.  The underhanded measures taken by the Clinton crew really upset me - an ex-President behaving in this fashion?

Good luck to you and Tim - you guys are the best at this, and you make it look easy when it isn't.  The process has turned into a two year 24/7 cable show. And that's before the conventions.  

Hope you have plenty of PB&J sandwiches ready.

 
Hi All:

Wow! Happy Monday and an awesome day!

I continue to become more an more impressed with you Brian.   Did you mean to say Mrs. W was driving the car and you were riding along?  Wow!  Please tell me you stop for directions too.   Promise?  Just kidding?

Well, this does seem like a happy blog spot!  I find it refreshing that everyone seems so endearing of each other especially in a world full of hate, violence and crime.  

I still didn't get my answer to the autographed photo for my book case so I will just wish Richard all the best and hope to find him on book tour.
Hi Brian,
I would like to read your response to the piece in the NY Times yesterday about the conflicts of interest with the military analysts that appeared on your air and the other networks. I know you have written about your relationship with the late Gen Downing, and am very much interested in your take on the matter
Bummer for your son on yesterday's game, Brian.  I imagine, though, just being on the field after the long winter is exciting by itself!  So were you able to cheer his team to victory?  Sounds like he'll be able to try out for the Red Sox in a few years!  Just kidding..... :)

I'm hoping to visit Chicago next month... what a tragic loss of life.  Needless.  

Kids with AD/HD grow up to be adults with AD/HD.  It's not a disease and it doesn't go away.  What does this new study mean to the adults?  I realize most of the focus is on stimulants and children, but do those risks decrease as the child grows up?  

No reason why melanoma on the head is more deadly than on the rest of the body?  Is this something that hair stylists are trained to look for, as I certainly can't see what's on my head through my thick, dark hair.

Congrats to Danika for winner her race & Joan Benoit-Samuelson for making another record.  This fellow Mainer is proud of you - you go, girls!

Yeah, the Swedes have it. They seem to have an idyllic   lifestyle.  If they can live green, why can't we?  What does Sweden have that America doesn't?  Stuff like this makes no sense to me.  If America is so important and a super power, why are we not leading in so many things?

An early Earth Day to all of you!  I shall celebrate by ... jury's still out on what I will do!  

Hi Lisa, Laurel, and Jackie!
Why am I not hearing one single report on the incarceration of the individual’s who have caused this mortgage mess?  Those who have lied cheated and enabled people to buy homes they could not afford for their own profit.  This must be a crime since it has resulted in the devaluation of my home and thousands of others.
Are these crooks not going to be held accountable for what they have done? Who is going to find them and make them pay for the grief they have caused? I would at the very least feel that there was justice being handed out.

How can I feel good about my future or be willing to spend my dollar when I don't know if my government who is supposed to protect us isn't doing somehing bring these thief’s to justice.
I can't seem to get any response from Brian about something
that really is disgusting. I know all politicians do it,
but that is no excuse for a Canadian. Brian, please, please,
pronounce WASHINGTON  wash-ing-ton, not wash'n.
The English language is under attack and we don't need newsreaders to mispronounce our nation's capital.
Good Evening Mr.Williams, Another great broadcast this evening. Here we go again with another Tuesday Primary this time in Pennsylvania. Sometimes I wish we could just have all the rest of the States vote on one particular Tuesday and then maybe a nominee would be finally decided. But I know that is not how it works so we press on to the next Primary until we reach the Conventions. Mr.Russert's insight into the primaries is always excellent. I agree with you Mr.Williams when you said on the broadcast it has been a "long slog". It certainly has been long and may we reach the homestretch very soon. Hearing again about the record price for gas is frustrating because there doesn't seem to be relief coming soon. Everytime I see a gas station price for gas it's higher and I really hope with the upcoming summer season that it begins to go down. On another note it is great that a woman won the Indy 500 in Japan and that Joan Benoit set a record in the marathon in her age group. Go Ladies! Finally, the report by Anne Thompson about Sweden "going green" shows how one country in really attempting to make use of other ways of making energy. Thank you for the broadcast Mr.Williams. I will always pray and care about Richard's safety and well being! Please keep him safe always! Looking forward to seeing him soon on the broadcast! His huge fan in Georgia! Peace to you, Richard and to all!

Again, Lots of Love to Laurel, Jackie and Stephanie!
Be well always!!  
I would like imformation about the Brain William's news show this evening on ADHD. I have a grandson who has been diagnosed with ADHD and I missed the show.
Thank You
Hello Mr. Williams,

I love your broadcast!!

However, I must state my concern in tonight's segment on President Bush's trip to New Orleans.  I do agree that some parts of New Orleans (namely, the lower 9th ward) still look as if Katrina just hit.  I was disappointed with the 2 photos that portrayed this.  I travel to New Orleans about once a month (my former home), and the  photos on tonight's segment didn't give anyone an accurate view of what the lower 9th ward is really like.  I was expecting to see long shots of the deserted plots of land and houses as John(?) discussed.  

Let's really show America what this administration has not done in the devastated parts of New Orleans.  
Hi Brian

Good news about President Carter efforts for peace between Isreal/Palestine.

Eli Manning won with the hail Mary. Danica and Joan beat the odds, I'm looking for Hillary to do the same.

John McCain is using his own Executive Privilege by not releasing his Medical Records or his wife's taxes. Now I don't blame him for not wanting to release his health problems.

It's sad to hear the problems in Chicago with the youth. With all the corruption in Chicago I guess they law makers are to busy to take care of the citizens problems. I remember when problems like that happen in the 60's and Dr. King would go there to help resolve the problems and calm the youth down. I guess they don't have that kind of leader in the State or City.

Sweden has the right idea but here in the US everyone is in a hurry and want things done quickly. I watched the man fishing and I remembered we did that in the US long ago. Now the water is dirty and everything's a mess. Crooks in the Government and Law Makers with on back bone.

Brian the news about the Military getting people with a criminal pass has been going on for a long time now. When my daughter was in Afghanistan she said soldiers wanted to be their for the cocaine as it cheap. Now the information is released about 4 years late. You'll get more information in the future that has been going on for many years.

Best to my friends Lisa, Laural and Stephanie
Brian, know you have a long day ahead tomorrow. Just for us bloggers, would you ask Tim Russert what an extremely narrow win, less than 1% would mean. I know he said a win period would help her with fund raising, but if it's that narrow and in effect nothing changes, what does that mean going forward?
Mr. Williams,

I came across your myspace page after my brother saw you on the front page of myspace.com and alerted me to it. Let me preface that by saying that long ago I moved from myspace to facebook, as my generation had dictated.  Not sure how long you've had it, but it looked quite seasoned.  I liked seeing a brief insight into your musical playlist.  I knew you were involved in many things, and myspace just adds to the list. I don't know where you find the time. Anyways, I enjoyed the broadcast. I imagine you may have received a few emails about putting the majority of tonights stories before the one about the multitude of tragic deaths in Chicago. It seems like that would be a more appropriate story to lead with, but I guess in makes little difference if you tell it 10 minutes earlier or not. It was a tragic story to hear, and I was surprised I hadn't heard about it before 5:30 at night.

To the bloggers who post more frequent than myself, I hope I didn't intimidate anyone into prematurely divulging their age. I think its more of a generational thing for me to put it there, and likewise, I hope I never anger or upset anyone with my  remarks or posts on here, including you Mr. Williams. Once again, sorry for the extended post tonight.
just watched friday broadcast(tivo)...if i miss the hard news i always watch the making a difference segments...i was very moved by the LA based nbc editor who was helping cambodian children...is there an email address or bank where one could send a contribution to help??...
I had to crack a smile when you wrote "almost-maternal concern" when it comes to thinking of Richard Engel.  Well it's true though.  Iraq is realistically a very dangerous place, and we all wish him safe all the time.

So tomorrow's the primary!  I can't wait to see how the votes are going to turn out!

Love and peace from Japan!
They said that gas would rise to $4.00 this summer and it appears that the predictions were correct with it being only 50 cents away and it isn't even Memorial Day yet.  I was just wondering if I will now get handed a cigarette at the end of my fill up!
Hello, Brian,

I was happy to see the brief clip last evening about the city of New Orleans and its struggle to rebuild.  I was there last week for a conference and you have to see the devastation of the lower Ninth Ward to actually believe it. The scope of what Katrina wrought on New Orleans is hard to grasp, much like the disbelief and pain we felt after 9/11. It’s tough to get your brain around the magnitude of the suffering of the poor in the city.  I thought of you many times and remember you standing in those very streets in the days after Katrina devastated the community.  I can't imagine what it looked like then because it still looks like someone threw a nuclear bomb in the neighborhoods.  

Of course, our brush-clearing President won't go near the ghost town of the Ninth Ward as he engages in his meeting in Mardi Gras Town.  A public high school principal told us that 97% of her students live below the poverty level and many are in effect, homeless, sent back to the city by their parents who were displaced and continue living in other states.  

Many of the speakers at this conference were natives of the city and spoke of the continuing need for volunteers and for funds.  We spent an afternoon hauling bricks and boards with a community group from St. Bernard Parish who are rebuilding a playground for children which had been destroyed.   The charitable organizations, like my own religious community, the Daughters of Charity who have been in New Orleans for 150 years, continue to stand with those who are poor as they struggle to rebuild their lives and their homes.  

In the words of Aaron Neville’s song, “Louisiana 1927”, “Isn’t it a shame what the river has done to the poor farmer’s (people’s) land?”
TV showed a white man in a tee shirt, had a tatoo & looked like a Penn. blue collar worker might.  He said he was going to vote for Obama & in answer to why he said, "He is the best orator I've ever heard."

Obama is OK but J. Wright is far better at oration, or for that matter, so is Oprah.  There is one different between the female candidate & male candidate & Obama has a more booming voice.  Now was this aimed at Penn. white males that object to voting for a female?  Or, did this just happen to be a random man on the street interview, as I took it to be?

     Hillary, anybody but;

     Obam, no matter what!

Respectfully,
Billy Bob, Florida, where votes don't count unlike Chi-town where even the deads' count
Hello Brian
On your Katrina and New Orleans story I wish you would compare that storm recovery with other big storms like Andrew and Hugo and see if the recovery is typical or is this a case where the government money and insurance money were taken by the land owners who left leaving the area to look like a wasteland.
Hurricane Charlie is still under reconstruction in Punta Gorda Fl. and that storm was a small storm compared to Katrina.
Brian -

Just saw your noon coverage on MSNBC - you looked as though you were having enough fun to stay the whole afternoon.  Seems like old times on MSNBC where the whole hour was yours every night.

Bubble for you?  Not quite, not yet.  Don't let it happen.

LOOK!
Up in the sky!
Its a BIRD!
NO its a PLANE!
No its that flying Father de Carla from Paranagua.
His parrish is a little low in funds so they sent their representive to meet the Pope in N.Y. from Brazil in air ballons.
Not the most efficient way to fly but avoid the lines at the airports.
@ Matt:

Please trust me when I say it takes a lot to insult me.  I am pretty fearless.  Just when you think you have heard it all and seen it all something new pops up!    When you are 40 something.......yes, (smiling, joyfully) I am.  You learn that you have to laugh and have fun and roll alot off your back.  It's called experience, wisdom and knowledge.

I am just excited that you are here and that you are taking an active role in politics and world news.  Your posts remind me something of myself in college.  Keep them coming and congratulations for getting a few questions on NewsVine a few weeks back.

As far as your my comment about being your Mom.   Do the math and well, mathematically I could be your Mom but I would never want to take her place.   I bet you have a super one!


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