"This was a young man that I would wish my daughters would want to bring home for me to meet," Peter Woerpel, his high school principal, said in an interview.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We reached Tehran against long odds -- and once we got here and rushed to the presidential palace compound -- it was clear from the opening moments that President Ahmadinejad had a specific message to impart, albeit wrapped in his usual rhetoric and talking points.
While we were flying here, our producers on the ground were busy -- setting up equipment (until this morning's Today Show, there had never been a live network television broadcast from the grounds of the compound) and assuring the Iranians that we would indeed make it here for the interview -- even though that looked highly doubtful for a while.
We departed New York Saturday evening on Lufthansa, planning to connect through Frankfurt to Tehran without breaking a sweat. When the flight to Tehran was cancelled, that's when we started to sweat.
Our entire team jumped into action. Attempts were made to charter a jet -- but the required paperwork (both pilots would need rare and current Iranian entry visas, and we'd have to get permission to fly through Turkish airspace, among other nightmares) and the threat of making a grave mistake forced us to choose the only other viable option: an exhausting, seemingly insane patchwork of commercial flights...an entire day's worth...to get us here.
CONTINUED >>
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
We're juggling a number of major stories today, including that church shooting in Knoxville, Tennessee where a gunman burst into a children's program and opened fire. At least one person is dead, and several others have been badly hurt. All of the victims are adults. NBC's Michelle Kosinksi will be there for us tonight to report the latest.
At this moment, we're also getting news bulletins out of Istanbul, Turkey, where bomb attacks have killed or injured more than two dozen people in a shopping district. We'll have the latest on this story as well.
A fast moving wildfire near California's Yosemite National Park has now claimed over 16,000 acres and 2,000 homes are at risk. Chris Jansing is working on that.
In politics, Barack Obama is back on US soil, but the flash point between the himself and John McCain continues to be over Iraq, on whether the surge was in fact a good idea. John McCain pressed the attack today, as the subject turned to Obama's patriotism. NBC's Kevin Corke is on top of that for us.
We'll also check in with our NBC producer on the ground in Tehran, about Brian William's exclusive interview tomorrow with President Ahmadinejad, and the timing of Iran's disclosure that it has more centrifuges for uranium enrichment than it has previously reported.
I'll see you later on NBC Nightly News.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Today, Congress passed a mortgage relief bill that will help hundreds of thousands of homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes. The bill -- which the President plans to sign -- will offer those who are struggling to pay their mortgages the chance to refinance to more affordable government backed loans. But NBC's Kevin Corke says there are some other important provision of this bill that affect all of us, and he'll have more on Nightly News.
If, like me, you're one of those people who sometimes makes bad food choices, you'll be interested to know about California's new law banning the use of trans fats in restaurants. New York City, and a number of other cities have imposed their own bans. Chris Jansing will tell us what is behind the growing push to get trans fats out of the foods we eat.
We will also report why many beaches on the East Coast are proving especially dangerous to swimmers this summer. Plus. we'll have the questions western tourists are least likely to be asked by Chinese citizens during the upcoming Olympic games.
Thanks for clicking on the Daily Nightly. I'll see you later on Nightly News.
By Robert Windrem, NBC Senior Investigative Producer and Garrett Haake, Researcher
Editor's note: On Monday, July 28, Nightly News will broadcast live from Tehran, Iran, where Brian Williams will conduct an exclusive interview with President Ahmadinejad.
In the past six weeks, the U.S. has sent a number of unmistakable signals to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of its willingness to negotiate a broad range of issues, all within the context of resolving the main issue of Iran's nuclear weapons capability. Iran has responded to some of these signals. But on Saturday, Ahmadinejad pushed the back-and-forth a step further when he announced that Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in the number of uranium-enriching machines in its nuclear program. Given that some in the U.S. government believe the Iranians are trying to gain an advantage on the Bush administration -- looking for one last success, one important legacy -- it’s a step the U.S. might well see as one step too far, and one likely to engender a political debate both here and abroad.
Below is a timeline of recent exchanges:
May 13: The Iranian Foreign Minister Manucher Mottaki wrote the foreign ministers of the so-called P5+1 (US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) that Iran believes there is need for “a new and a more advanced plan for interaction,” a “comprehensive agreement” that includes a variety of issues encompassing “economic, technological, commercial—especially energy—cooperation, that provide other excellent possibilities and avenues for constructive cooperation.”
CONTINUED >>
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Good afternoon. Brian is traveling today and I'll be sitting in for him tonight. Okay, next time you hear the flight attendant say "in the event of a loss of cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will drop down...", perhaps you'll think of the story we have tonight on a mid-air scare aboard a Qantas Airlines 747. You might also pay closer attention.
Part of the skin of the jumbo jet broke off in flight exposing a pretty good size hole in the side of the plane, and causing the plane to lose pressure. A passenger whipped out a cell phone and captured video of the scene on board, including other passengers wearing their masks. We'll show you some of 
that and talk a little about the possible cause.
We'll also have some analysis of those stunning home foreclosure numbers that came out today.
Also, we have a wake-up call for empty-nesters, whose ranks I will soon join. It appears a lot of American parents are still paying bills for their adult children.
Thanks for checking the blog. We'll look for you later on Nightly News.
By Marisa Buchanan, NBC News producer
There is a picture on my refrigerator at home – it’s small, with a regular looking guy lying on a bunk bed reading a book. It’s nondescript, but I love this picture not just because it's a picture of one of my two grandfathers whose memory I cherish.
My paternal grandfather ended up an Air Force Colonel later in life but in Korea was a reconnaissance squadron maintenance officer after flying p38's in WW2. This picture joins others I have of him from the Korean War framed on my desk at NBC. They always felt cool to have -- retro -- but destined to always feel removed from any real life I could imagine. They are in black and white. Thus it struck me slack-jawed last month when I saw long-time NBC foreign correspondent John Rich's color collection of Korean war photographs at his Maine home.
CONTINUED >>
By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent
Early one morning when she couldn't sleep, Nancy Miller went to her computer and began to write. She had a lot on her mind and figured NBC News would be a good place to share her thoughts, although she wasn't convinced anyone would actually read her e-mail.
In a note to Brian Williams she started off by saying, "This is a first for me. I have never written to a news organization before." She added later, "I don't know how this works and you will probably never see this, but I feel good having written it."
Well, to her absolute surprise, Nancy's e-mail WAS read and has actually become the basis for our report tonight on NBC Nightly News. It's about older Americans dipping into savings and deferring their retirement years in order to help out their adult children who are suffering the effects of today's troubled economy.
About a year-and-a-half ago, because of the housing market downturn, the once-successful construction company operated by her son, daughter and son-in-law collapsed, leaving them in the throes of serious debt, mortgage problems and temporary unemployment.
CONTINUED >>
By Mara Schiavocampo, Nightly News Digital Correspondent
All this week, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm in Chicago for the Unity Convention. Every four years a coalition of four organizations (the national associations of Black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian American journalists) hold a joint convention. This year organizers expect about 10,000 people.
A few days before the convention, began it was announced that Senator Barack Obama will be speaking here on Sunday. Sunday just happens to be the last day of the convention, when most people return home. So a lot of folks who may have wanted to hear the Senator speak will miss it. Others are scrambling to change their travel plans at the last minute. (Senator McCain was invited but declined, citing travel obligations.)
When it comes to Senator Obama, one issue we as Black journalists face is that of a perceived bias in favor of his candidacy. Many African Americans -- journalists and non-journalists, conservatives and liberals alike -- admit that Obama's success inspires great pride.
So I asked a question of some my colleagues here at the convention: Can Black journalists cover Obama in an unbiased way? Here's what some of them said:
Marcus Mabry, Assistant Business Editor, New York Times and author of "Twice As Good: Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power":
"Is a Republican journalist unable to cover George W. Bush? Part of being a journalist is being able to put your personal feelings aside to do your job. According to polls, a plurality of White Americans support John McCain. Does that mean no White reporters should cover John McCain?"
CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
In this line of work, we seldom get to watch an event the way most people watch an event. But we do get some unusual views -- like when we had to talk our way into the motorcade through Berlin today when it became apparent that there was no other way for us to get to the Barack Obama speech venue. Like when we got there and took our place backstage, and then looked out and saw the crowd as Obama saw them -- people virtually as far as the eye could see.
As a German journalist said here this morning: from the looks of things, Obama could be elected President of Germany by upwards of 70 percent -- perhaps even President of Europe. The question becomes: what does this scene we witnessed here today GET Barack Obama?
I asked him that very question as he walked away from the surging ropeline here tonight -- his answer, as he indicated earlier today in our sit-down interview, has to do with a message he wanted to impart to Europe and the wider world. It's a very basic question concerning what we witnessed here today: what does it mean?
To recite the basic facts, here's what we know: upwards of a quarter of a million people (crowd estimates will vary and are hard to come by) turned out in Berlin today to hear a sitting American Senator -- the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for President and the first African American in that role. In the crowd, we saw people from all over Europe and all over the world, crowding forward to touch the candidate, flowing into this city to see him -- along a grand boulevard where Hitler's army once marched -- to witness this speech.
That's what we know. That's what we saw. The Presidential campaign lies ahead back home -- there's a long way to go -- and nothing that took place here will help the Senator during the combat of a tough domestic campaign. Americans, not Berliners, will decide the outcome. Today Berliners came out in extraordinary numbers to see a famous American in their midst.
CONTINUED >>
By Andy Franklin, Senior producer
A lot of the discussion around Barack Obama's speech in Berlin today has mentioned historic visits to that city by two American presidents: John F. Kennedy, declaring himself a citizen of Berlin at the height of the Cold War on June 26, 1963, and Ronald Reagan, calling for an end to that war and the destruction of its most potent symbol -- the Berlin Wall -- on June 12, 1987. But there's another presidential visit worth remembering: Harry S. Truman's trip to Berlin in July 1945.
President Truman came to Berlin to participate in the Potsdam Conference -- the "Big Three" summit between the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union, just weeks after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Truman, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin met on the outskirts of a city shattered by war to map out the postwar world, and to issue a final ultimatum to Imperial Japan. The decisions they made at Potsdam helped define the world we live in to this day.
It was a hopeful moment. The United States was emerging from the wreckage of World War II as a newborn superpower, and it fell to Truman to describe the role his country hoped to take in the world in the years to come -- to tell the world, in effect, what kind of country the United States of America intended to be. He did so 63 years ago this week, in characteristically plain-spoken remarks at the U.S. headquarters in Berlin. The occasion was the raising of the American flag -- the same flag, it turns out, that had been flying over the U.S. Capitol the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Here is what Truman said that day:
"This is an historic occasion. We have conclusively proven that a free people can successfully look after the affairs of the world. We are here today to raise the flag of victory over the capital of our greatest adversary. In doing that, we must remember that in raising that flag we are raising it in the name of the people of the United States, who are looking forward to a better world, a peaceful world, a world in which all the people will have an opportunity to enjoy the good things of life, and not just a few at the top. Let us not forget that we are fighting for peace, and for the welfare of mankind. We are not fighting for conquest. We want peace and prosperity for the world as a whole. We want to see the time come when we can do the things in peace that we have been able to do in war. If we can put this tremendous machine of ours, which has made this victory possible, to work for peace we can look forward to the greatest age in the history of mankind. That is what we propose to do."
-- President Harry S. Truman, July 20, 1945
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
"Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg."
That's what the massive sign read as I started north toward Berlin this morning on the Autobahn. Looking at the countryside en route here, its impossible not to think of the military struggles on this soil, and the American lives lost here in both World Wars.
It's also impossible not to notice the advances and the technology across Europe -- the scene changes so quickly and from trip to trip. The most striking sight today was the massive windmills, churning in groups of six on various hillsides along the way. They are larger than anything I've seen in the U.S. The highway was spotless and without a pothole or a rough patch over the entire length of the drive...so was it the case driving in Spain a few days ago.
As my wife and I were on vacation here in Europe, it was an easy proposition to peel off and come to Berlin to cover this leg of Senator Obama's overseas trip. We'll do the broadcast from the Reichstag here in Berlin for the next two nights -- tomorrow night's broadcast will feature our interview with the Senator after his outdoor speech tomorrow.
Senior Producer Subrata De just snapped a photo of me as I write this post, looking out at the Brandenburg Gate -- as I pointed out in my video blog earlier today, its the first time I've been here since November 9th of 1989 -- when I chipped off my own piece of the wall as it literally tumbled down before our eyes. What a different city this is.
It's great to be back -- my thanks to the fabulous Ann Curry for filling in -- we'll look for you tonight from Berlin.
By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington
Those nine soldiers killed last week in the attack on their remote Afghan outpost were all young - the oldest was 27- and they all had big plans for their futures.
Cpl. Pruitt Rainey, 22, a star high school wrestler back home in Haw River, N.C., wanted to become a physical education teacher and a wrestling coach.
"Kids loved him," his church pastor told the Burlington (N.C.) Times-News. "He would have been very good at it."
Cpl. Jason Hovater, 24, grew up in a deeply religious family in Clinton, Tenn.
"While he was in the Army, he realized his true calling was to be a worship leader," his sister told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Cpl. Jason Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Wash., wasn't sure if he wanted to re-up, attend art school, or try something else.
"He talked of wanting to be an international correspondent and take pictures of places, all over the world," his mother told the Seattle Times.
Others were content staying right where they were in the Army.
Cpl. Jonathan Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Ga., was a perfect fit.
"He liked spit-and-polish type things," his dad told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He would fuss at us if our shoes weren't cleaned just right."
CONTINUED >>
By Mara Schiavocampo, Nightly News digital correspondent
Good news on the media front: some newsrooms are becoming more racially diverse.
According to a new survey released Tuesday by the Radio-TV News Directors Association and Hofstra University, journalists of color made up 23.6% of local TV news staffs in 2007, compared to 21.5% in 2006. I think we can all agree that the more diverse the voices in journalism, the better.
Speaking of media diversity, when the results of the survey were released yesterday I was headed to the airport for the 2008 Unity Convention, held this year in lovely Chicago.
What's Unity, you ask? Every four years, four minority journalist groups (National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association and Native American Journalists Association) come together for one massive joint convention.
This year, organizers are expecting about 10,000 people. The stated mission is to "advocate fair and accurate news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenge the industry to staff its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation's diversity."
CONTINUED >>
By Ann Curry, NBC News Anchor
Exactly how does a man accused of masterminding the massacre of 8,000 people in Bosnia stay hidden for 13 years?
The first details are just now coming out, about former Serb President Radovan Karadzic's run from justice.
So far, the facts, including that he was in hiding as an alternative medicine doctor, are as eyebrow-raising as the photos we will show tonight of a man who now looks more like Rip Van Winkle than a former government leader.
The most stunning fact so far may be that he was found all these years later right in Serbia's capital city of Belgrade.
Who helped him elude capture?
That he is now ordered to face a U.N. tribunal on charges of genocide sends a message to all who consider unleashing this kind of brutal violence: you cannot hide forever.
I am reminded that Hitler was once quoted as saying, as a way to justify his war crimes, that the world didn't care what happened to the Armenians in an earlier massacre.
Nuremberg, and the more recent prosecutions in Rwanda, and of Charles Taylor and Slobodan Milosevic, are evidence the world wants to leave its children a future different from its past.
Oh, how long will it take...?
By Ann Curry, NBC News Anchor
I'm starting to wonder if even President Bush's trips to the war region have ever gotten as much play in the media as Barack Obama's.
All weekend, we heard about it as a top story, and now, with the Senator's arrival in Iraq this morning, the story is playing high today. And with interviews with all three network anchors this week, the coverage has long legs, a rarity in news these days.
Public curiosity about this candidate's readiness as Commander-in-Chief, as well as the news he's making along the way, is driving a lot of this attention.
There are memorable images we will show you tonight of Obama and General David Petreaus, one showing both men smiling broadly in a helicopter today, and frankly, it looks campaign-perfect.
This raises a question. After this week is over, will the media feel it had addressed the public's interest in the Obama campaign, with the public's need for balanced reporting of the political process, now four months before the general election?
I hope the public feels so.
On Nightly News tonight, we will have full reports on both Obama and McCain, as the war over the wars intensifies.
Andrea Mitchell will report from Baghdad and Kelly O'Donnell will be in Maine, where McCain appeared with former President Bush today.
We are trying to be not only accurate and informative, but also balanced, so you have the best chance of judging for yourself what these men who could be President are saying.
By Jane Derenowski, NBC News producer
I had the wonderful opportunity recently to accompany NBC's Chief Science Correspondent Robert Bazell and photographer Krzysztof Galica to Iceland to produce a series of reports about genetics airing this week on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and CNBC. The stories were edited by Maggie Kassner and researched by Judy Silverman. Below are a few of my unrelated observations.
Friday had just turned into Saturday when I arrived at Iceland's Keflavik International Airport. The clock ticked 2 a.m. as I drove toward Reykjavik past the moonscape of volcanic rock.
It was all so strange.
The sun had barely dipped below the horizon. The watercolor sky was pink, blue, and yellow. It was daylight, the type of magic light photographers call The Golden Hour.
And it got me thinking about love.
Here in the United States, the color of love is most often associated with night: there's moonlight, candlelight, the golden glow from a warm fire. There are stolen kisses in dark corners and under streetlights. Even Frank Sinatra wrote about how he and his summer love would "hide from the lights, on the village green" when he was 17.
But summer in Iceland means it NEVER gets dark. What effect, I wondered, does all that light have on romance?
CONTINUED >>
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
I've been known to wake up and start my day forgetting it's my own birthday. Yet somehow this morning, I woke up at my usual 4:30 a.m., checked the calendar, and knew exactly why this date was important, and why I'll never forget it. What happened on July 20th, 1969 hardly earned a mention in most publications I read today. This, despite the fact that our world hasn't been the same since.
The funny thing is, next year at this time, you will be reading all about it. So why is that so? Because it will be the 40th anniversary, not the 39th. I often ponder our fascination with anniversaries that end in zeros and fives, but accept the fact that in life we need predictable mileposts. I was 10 years old on this day in 1969, and remember sitting glued to the television thinking that there is nothing this country can't accomplish when it sets its collective mind and will to it. That memory serves me well as I report the many challenges our country faces today, because I still believe it.
Many of you by now have probably figured out what event I'm referring to. And at least on this newscast, you won't have to wait until next year to be reminded of the day the world paused and stood in awe.
I hope you'll join me tonight for NBC Nightly News.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Sometimes in the hurry to dash off a quick e-mail, many of us have suffered the embarrassment of sending it to the wrong person, or the wrong email "distribution list." I once accidentally sent my vacation request to someone at GE Aviation, and got a nice note back suggesting maybe I meant it for someone else. Yes, perhaps my boss here at NBC.
We figured that's what happened today when we and other news organizations got an e-mail from the White House with the subject line "Iraq PM backs Obama troop exit plan - magazine." Not something we would expect the White House would go out of its way to trumpet to reporters. The attached article was about a German magazine's interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in which he is quoted as saying Barack Obama's 16-month troop withdrawal plan is "the right time frame for withdrawal."
As it turns out, the e-mail containing the article was sent out by a White House press staffer who apparently meant it to go to other White House staff members, not reporters. That staffer admits it was an accident, and says he's gotten lots of calls ever since. My guess is he'll get a fair amount of ribbing too. CONTINUED >>
By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor
Which presumptive nominee for President would best handle the wars America is fighting?
This question will inspire even more intense debate after Barack Obama's trip to the war zones in the coming days.
Tonight, Andrea Mitchell, already in Baghdad tonight, reports on the timing and risks and reasons for his trip, and she will include rare interviews from the very men who will debrief Obama: General David Patreaus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.
(Forgive me for this digression, but honestly, whenever I write Andrea Mitchell's name, I actually pause because my brain wants to write Andrea the Great, as in truth, she is.)
As you might expect, John McCain has some things to say about Obama's trip and some of those things are perhaps surprising, as we will hear from Kelly O'Donnell, on the set with us tonight.
There is also real war news today. President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have come to a hard-fought agreement on a "time horizon," but not a "timeline," for reducing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. We will have details on what this means.
Also tonight, stories with stunning pictures, including an especially cool one showing us a rare glimpse of the dark side of the moon. Bet it tickles your brain this Friday evening.
By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent
Islamorada, Florida -- Offshore charter fishing has long been an important and colorful part of Florida's economy and its history. The lure of a day-trip to the Gulf Stream draws sportsmen and tourists from around the world and is an integral part of the local lore involving novelists Ernest Hemingway, Zane Grey and other intrepid fishermen.
As you'll see in our report tonight on NBC Nightly News, however, the charter industry in Florida and around the country is suffering economic strains, particularly because of high fuel prices. As a result, the industry is in danger at some level of pricing itself out of business.
Just five years ago, a charter trip to deep water to chase billfish, mahi mahi, snapper and other tough species cost about $900 a day. Now, in the Florida Keys, it costs an average of $1,400, mainly due to rising diesel prices.
In the Carolinas and other places where the charter captains have to make longer runs to find the fishing grounds, the trips are even more expensive.
Here's the math: A year ago a gallon of diesel cost about $3.00 a gallon. Now it's more than $5.00. On an average day, the boats burn 100 to 150 gallons on their round-trips to deep water. That's anywhere from $500 to $750 a day in fuel costs alone. Then there's the bait, ice, crew fees, and boat maintenance. Not much left at the end of the day.
CONTINUED >>
By Ann Curry, NBC News Anchor
Ann Curry in for Brian Williams again tonight as the NBC Nightly News team assesses the significance of today's drop in oil prices.
As I write this, it is down to 130 dollars a barrel, below the mark market analysts wanted to see. But what does this mean to gas prices and how soon? If there is an answer, we will have it tonight.
Anne Thompson interviewed Al Gore today about the energy mess we are in, and we will hear his ideas tonight.
The FDA has lifted its salmonella warning on tomatoes, there is some promising news on Alzheimers, and we'll have one family's story about how we can all help our children grieve the loss of a loved one.
If I am allowed, as a regular visitor to this broadcast, I would also like to say that the fight to get it right gets passionate around here, especially when it comes to telling you what you need in this economy.
People here want very much for you to know how to protect yourself, as we all ride this wave.
By Aram Roston, NBC News Producer
The idea of last night’s Nightly News story where NBC’s Chief Justice Correspondent Pete Williams accompanied a Virginia sheriff as he served eviction notices was to capture the grim moment when people are forced out of the homes they think of as their own. The homes were foreclosed, the mortgages were unpaid and it is the moment when a family's American dream is taken away. The statistics of foreclosure are staggering, and each human story is a tragedy.
The people with the unhappy assignment of enforcing the court order are often deputy sheriffs. In Virginia, I rode first with Deputy Sheriff William Cenac, of the Fairfax County Sheriff's civil enforcement division, on a foreclosure eviction. "These are working people...these are working people," he said as he drove to the house.
He says his arrival is usually greeted with shock. In a sense, he says, "At this point in your life, everything that you know to be is over, your house, your yard, whatever. It's the property of the bank and you need to leave. I don't think it’s any different than your house burning down. Everything's gone. All your things are placed on the public right of way. It's helplessness: Where are you gonna go? Where are you gonna take your family? And you are still going to work every day."
CONTINUED >>
by Carmen Wong Ulrich, CNBC, personal finance expert
Pictures and news are coming out of California that I never thought I’d see again: lines of people making a run on a bank—a formerly big bank—in a panic about their money. The police were called in as balances and interest disappeared and answers didn’t come fast enough.
Granted, we have a ways to go when it comes to the repercussions of the mortgage lending mess, but we, as depositors, have control over one thing: where we put our money. If you have an account with FDIC insurance, you should never be in a line at the bank to pull your money. Here’s a walk-through of how you can make sure your money is safe:
1) Confirm that your deposits and banking institution has FDIC insurance. If you’re not sure, head to FDIC.gov and check.
2) Know that FDIC insurance is aggregate—meaning, it’s not $100,000 of insurance on each your checking and savings accounts but your holdings as a whole. To find out which of your accounts is insured, and which is not, use the FDIC’s EDIE tool.
3) Know the guidelines: Insured up to $100,000 = savings, checking, CDs, trusts. Insured up to $250,000 = Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) which include 401(k)s, 403(b)s and Roths. NOT insured = investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance and annuities.
Click here to read more from Carmen Wong Ulrich's blog.
By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington
Dr. Beverly Shaver's husband disappeared over half a century ago, and she still doesn't know what happened to him or whether he's dead or alive.
Navy pilot James Deane's VQ1 reconnaissance plane was shot down on a top-secret mission off the coast of China in 1956, three months after the college sweethearts were married at the age of 24.
"It was obviously devastating when it happened, so soon after my marriage," Dr. Shaver, now 75 and living in Arizona, said in an interview. "I was still writing thank-you notes for wedding gifts that were arriving after our wedding."
Deane is one of 127 Americans listed as missing from the Cold War. Their planes crashed or were shot down while on spy flights over China, the Soviet Union or North Korea in the 1950s and 60s.
"I think most people believe that the 'Cold' War did not involve shooting, or combat, or death, but it did, and these men are missing because of it," said Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/Missing Personnel Office.
In Deane's case, he is officially listed as missing but declared dead. Dr. Shaver, who remarried, is convinced otherwise.
CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Okay, so I need to get out more. Yesterday I said the All Star parade was going down Sixth Avenue. It wasn't. Not only did I not leave the building yesterday, I didn't even look out the window. Just sloppy reporting. No excuse for it.
Today I did (go to the window, that is...still no time for fresh air). I walked to the Sixth Avenue end of the third floor, and there, rolling down a red carpet stretched down the street, were the All Stars, two to a Chevy pickup truck, having attracted a sizeable lunchtime crowd behind police barricades. The NYPD officers I saw were great about letting kids walk right up to the players for autographs, and the players appeared to be just as great about it. I clearly need a break.
I'll keep today's post short -- and hate to leave you with a bit of a bummer, but I will quote from an email I received last night from a pal who is a prominent player in the newspaper business. He's a veteran who got into the trade for the very best reasons, and is now watching the changes in the industry in horror, along with the rest of us, while loving what he gets to do for a living, every day.
Of journalism, he writes, "The work is addictive. We do have a social mission. Dirty cops don't get kicked off the force, crooked pols don't get indicted, guys don't get yanked off death row, Chinese toys with lead paint don't get recalled unless we're around."
Roll that around for a while. I'll leave you with that thought, and ask that you join us for tonight's broadcast.
By Robert Bazell, NBC News chief science correspondent
I've gotten a lot of email today about our report last night on Tim Russert's sudden death from a heart attack, and the reaction by so many other people who are having their own hearts checked.
Many of the emails imply Tim did not do enough to reduce his risk. Very few people do everything they possibly can do to reduce their heart disease risk. With Tim's family's permission, I have learned a lot of his medical history.
Yes, Tim needed to lose weight and he was trying to do so. He was dealt a poor genetic hand when it came to blood lipid levels but he tried hard to eat a good diet. He exercised every day and he took medications to try to get his lipids and blood pressure to acceptable levels. He got very good medical care.
Many people are heavier than Tim was, have worse blood lipid profiles, and never get heart attacks.
The treatment of heart disease is one of the great triumphs of medicine in recent decades. From 1950 to 2007, the rate of heart disease deaths, adjusted for the aging population, dropped 64 percent. But clearly, as Tim's death shows, the problem is not solved. He never had any symptoms, and all too often the first symptom for many people is a heart attack, and about one-third of the time it is fatal.
We need better methods to detect the most dangerous plaque in the arteries. But for now, all we can do is try our best to shift the odds. Tim tried and failed, but we hope part of his legacy will be that others will try even harder.By Ann Curry
Word of genocide charges against the President of Sudan is now reaching the displaced persons camps in Sudan's Darfur region.
And we are told people are cheering.
What must is be like for those long suffering, who've seen their homes attacked, their women raped and their loved ones killed, to now learn today, after 5 years of hunger and homelessness, an arrest warrant may be issued against the man they feel is to blame?
President Omar al-Bashir had 10 counts filed against him by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court this morning..3 of genocide, 5 of crimes against humanity and 2 of murder, on behalf of an estimated 2.5 million victims.
The court documents accuse President Bashir:
- of masterminding systematic attacks in Darfur, causing "murder, extermination, forceable transfer of the population, torture and rape."
- of being responsible, according to the filing, for killing and otherwise harming black African tribes of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa, "to bring about their physical destruction in part."
- of waging a coverup, in part by supressing media coverage, and in statements to NBC News in an interview released last year. President Bashir said evidence villages were burned in Darfur were, "fabrications," and said, "It is not in the Sudanese culture or the people of Darfur to rape. It doesn't exist. We don't have it." (See link.)
Bashir is also accused of slowing down humanitarian assistance to the victims.
CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
What's the definition of satire? Does artistic freedom have any limits? I'm talking about the new cover of the New Yorker magazine, which turned out to be quite incendiary. See if you agree with the points made by editor David Remnick. Whatever depictions you've seen of the cover, it's important to remember that most New Yorker readers (and all of those who see it on newsstands) "experience" the magazine by seeing only half of the artwork
