September 2008 - Posts
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Today it appears Wall Street paused to light a cigar while Rome itself is burning. We're covering the bailout crisis -- which has hardly gone away -- and still tallying up the damage from yesterday. Almost lost in yesterday's news -- the 777-point dive in the Dow, and the "no" vote on the Hill -- was the fact that the nation's 4th largest bank vanished. And almost lost amidst the financial losses: was the death of an American icon.
Paul Newman died on Friday, and we learned about it on Saturday morning. Because of this quirk of the timing of his departure, the coverage of his death trickled out. Of a possible six total network evening newscasts over the weekend, there was only one (due to sports pre-emptions), and because word of his death came during the weekend, Paul (who had some very strident and well-known opinions about television and the news media) was spared the entertainment show-style dissection of his life and the blanket cable coverage that his death would have received during the week.
CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We are insanely busy today, doing hourly live updates on the network and crashing together political and financial coverage for tonight's broadcast.
Because many people have asked, I wanted to say that I, along with many other journalists, certainly hope and expect to be given the opportunity to interview the GOP Vice Presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin. We issued the standing request for an interview the instant Gov. Palin was named to the ticket, and have followed up numerous times on various fronts with the campaign. In anticipation of such an event, please post questions that you would like to see asked, and we will make every attempt to work your question into the mix during an interview.
By Robert Bazell, NBC News Chief science correspondent
Tonight we begin a series on allergies which have been on a sharp increase in the United States and many other parts of the world in recent decades, especially among children. In tomorrow's report we will look at the possible reasons for the rise. Wednesday's segment will focus on food allergies. Today we speak with Dr. Michael Rich of Children's Hospital in Boston and Harvard who began his career as a film maker and brought those skills to his medical care.
Dr. Rich decided to give children with asthma video cameras so they could better tell the stories of their lives. Asthma is a massive public health problem. Since it is an allergic reaction in the airways in the lungs, children (and adults) undergoing asthma suffer enormously. Though deaths from asthma in children and adolescents are relatively rare (about 200 each year), the disease accounts for about 700,000 emergency room visits a year in kids, and 11 million missed days of school every year.
When children with asthma are managed properly, they can lead perfectly normal lives. But what Dr. Rich's video shows is how difficult that can be. When children show from their perspective what the environment they live in is like, it can be truly shocking.
Here are some links to some of the programs we mention. The Kunsberg School at National Jewish Hospital in Denver for children with asthma: http://www.nationaljewish.org/about/kunsberg/index.aspx
Dr. Michael Rich's research program that puts video cameras in the hands of children with many kinds of chronic diseases: www.cmch.tv/via
And the physician specialty group the American Academy of Asthma Allergy & Immunology: http://www.aaaai.org/patients.stm
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
It’s yet another Sunday on which we’ve witnessed major news break regarding the U.S. financial system. Today's headline however, may be the most critical of the bunch. Congressional negotiators say they've agreed to an emergency financial rescue package with the intention of pulling the economy back from the edge of a deep recession.
The House and Senate still have to vote on the bailout, and that won't happen today. What we're bracing for is the immediate impact this deal could have on the world financial markets
The agreement includes a few changes from the original proposal, but the price tag — $700 billion, remains the same. Tom Costello will break down the details of the plan. In addition, we've asked CNBC's Maria Bartiromo to join us. Maria will offer some insight on what supporters and critics are saying about the deal.
We’ll look for you tonight on the NBC Nightly News.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Paul Newman had many passions: acting, car racing, and helping others. Whether you watched his films, or used his food products – which earned millions of dollars for charity – you shared in those passions.
Newman lived life to the fullest, and as his friend Robert Redford wrote today, "this country is better for his being in it." On Nightly News tonight we'll take a long look at the life and career of Paul Newman, as well as the lasting legacy he built.
With regards to our other big story, there is a growing sense of both urgency and optimism coming from members of Congress working this weekend on a financial rescue plan. Even though there are still points of disagreement, all sides acknowledge it needs to get done before the Asian financial markets open tomorrow evening, so we are looking for word of a deal to come at any time between now and then.
Finally, because of sports programming some of you in the eastern part of the country won't see the broadcast tonight, but for the rest of you I hope you'll join us later for NBC Nightly News.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We are on the beautiful... and historic campus of the University of Mississippi for tonight's first Presidential Debate. For our team, its been a 3-day odyssey from Texas to Washington to Mississippi, all the while juggling the mammoth stories we've been following: the titanic struggle going on in Washington, the sense of suspended animation in the credit markets, and the dwindling number of days remaining until Americans make their choice for President. We are preparing our debate preview for tonight's broadcast, then we'll be back on the air for the real thing at 9pm Eastern time tonight. Thanks for being with us tonight -- what's a week without at least one multi-city road trip? Have a great weekend.
By Mike Taibbi, NBC News correspondent
Editor's note - watch a preview of Mike's segment featuring Mike and Nightly News Producer Clare Duffy.
Dan Cook said to me, "99% of the enjoyment is what happens before you catch a fish." I took him at his word, because Cook, a 37-year adventurer who made a pile as an energy trader before quitting to follow his passion for fly fishing around the world, obviously knew what he was talking about.
So I learned to tie the blood knots and Albright knots needed to fashion a leader with an Atom fly at the end, got that casting motion down, and settled in to enjoy a couple of days on Utah's Green River... one of the great fly-fishing trout rivers in America.
Our story wasn't about the river or about fishing, though; it was really about Cook, and his decision to share the peaceful pleasures of his chosen passion with wounded Iraq and Afghanistan war vets still battling pain and depression. A few at a time, maybe a hundred over the next year as Cook's "Rivers of Recovery" program expands. And, the four veterans on the same weekend with us were clearly thrilled to be there, all expenses paid. They all caught a lot of fish... two guys in one boat caught 30 on the second day, and I raised a half dozen fish on dry flies and actually got two lovely rainbows to the boat, while producer Clare Duffy caught and released one of her own. Cook's been able to convince outfitters, guides and resort owners to donate services for the wounded warriors who participate and, perhaps best of all, the program isn't irretrievably locked to Cook himself or to the Green River. The model is transportable, on any river where the fish are known to bite; Cook expects the program will take hold elsewhere. And for soldiers suffering PTSD or TBI (traumatic brain injury), the experts who've monitored the program say that at least anecdotally the act of hooking into a three day experience in the zen world of fly fishing makes a measurable difference in the chances for recovery.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
After waking up in Texas, now I'm in Washington -- where there is a "crisis atmosphere", as they say -- a genuine one -- and where the focus now shifts to the White House from the Hill. I'll be speaking with both John McCain and Barack Obama before the day is out, and we'll have that for you on Nightly News tonight. This is a rare moment in Washington. Tomorrow we fly to Mississippi as the focus shifts yet again. Off to prepare for the broadcast. We hope you can join us.
By Les Kretman, NBC News White House producer
It's a cluster of umbrellas ( not beach), technical equipment and video cameras lined up along side the west side of the White House grounds. This is where the television networks and cable outlets from all over the world broadcast their White House reports. And during this time of economic crisis - Pebble Beach has been packed --- kind of like Coney Island on a hot summer day.
The presence of so much media now is a barometer of how important the meetings are today with the President, members of Congress and the two Presidential candidates Senators Barack Obama and John McCain.
Last night during the President's speech the story was much the same - besides NBC's live camera here - CNBC did all of its coverage from Pebble Beach....so did MSNBC....and everybody else.
This is a big change from the summer when the President was out of town and all the White House gear here was shrouded in heavy green protective covering. And, all attention was directed toward the political conventions and the daily movements of the candidates
The green is now gone ---- the beach is very much active. Time to swim.
By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington
Marine 1st Lt. Nicholas Madrazo was one of three Americans whose Sept. 9 deaths in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan left three grieving mothers back home in this country.
Madrazo, 25, of Bothell, Wash., was buried Wednesday afternoon with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. His mother and other family members dabbed at their eyes as a chaplain conducted a graveside service and a Marine band played "Eternal Father, Strong to Save."
"I'm sure he's in heaven and I can be there someday with him," his mother told KING-TV earlier.
Madrazo graduated from Seattle Pacific University and thought about becoming a firefighter after he left the service.
A similar Arlington service was held a week earlier for Marine Capt. Jesse Melton III, 29, of Randallstown, Md., who also died in the Sept. 9 bomb blast. His mother, dressed all in white, saluted a Marine officer who presented her with a folded American flag from her son's casket. CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
There's a great scene in "Crimson Tide" when Gene Hackman, the veteran Captain, calls a weapons drill during a fire in the galley on board a nuclear submarine. As his X.O., his number-two man, Denzel Washington questions his judgment -- and is told in no uncertain terms that an on-board emergency is EXACTLY the time to call a drill, to assess the capabilities of the team.
Well, our day so far feels a bit like that scene. We're in Houston tonight, to fulfill a pledge to the folks of this area to cover the damage and recovery since Hurricane Ike. There is news happening all around us -- a lot of it in Washington -- and so tonight, you will see what this great team is capable of. We have it all covered and will see you from Texas this evening, prior to coming back on the NBC Television Network at 9p Eastern Time for the President's speech from the White House.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Picture all the heads of State and ambassadors visiting New York for the United Nations General Assembly, then picture them all with motorcades. The really important among them get their own blocked-off hotel entrances, even blocked-off streets. Then picture trying to get around Manhattan! Its not for the meek. We spent time in the building today with the President of Georgia, who swept in with his own motorcade and Secret Service detail. As for my car: it has a bag packed and in the trunk. While I don't know exactly when I'm traveling to Texas -- we'll show up on the air from there tomorrow night.. and we'll finish the week in Oxford, Mississippi for the first of the Presidential Debates. A kind of advance parlor game has already started: predicting how long the candidates themselves will allow the topic of "foreign affairs" to dominate -- before injecting their policy view of the current state of the domestic economy.
That's where things stand at this hour at 30 Rock -- we hope you can join us tonight.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Watching the last Yankee Game from Yankee Stadium on ESPN with my son last night -- felt vaguely like the financial news these days. Nobody asked for what's happening right now in the financial markets. Taxpayers weren't asking for the burden they've just taken on. Likewise, as they were panning the sad faces at the end of last night's game, marking the end of the House that Ruth Built, I was thinking: these fans didn't ask for this. No Yankee fan that I know was begging...or even hoping...for a new stadium. Bathrooms from this century? That would be nice. An industry-standard jumbo video screen? Great. A few more of the amenities baseball fans have come to love at some of the newer parks? Sure. But the new stadium isn't about the fans (fewer seats at higher prices) as much as its about the team...player salaries...the owners. But as one sportswriter put it, "we are the only nation that tears down our own cathedrals." Aint it the truth.
We are busy preparing tonight's broadcast -- having enjoyed a weekend off, while we prepare for our trip to Texas Tuesday night. We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
It's hard to believe that a week ago tonight we were reporting on tense negotiations to find a buyer for troubled investment house Lehman Brothers. As we now know, Lehman turned out to be one portion of a house of financial cards that came tumbling down last week. Tonight we'll report on where lawmakers stand as they try to finalize a proposed $700 billion bailout plan.
The financial crisis continues to drive the talking points of the presidential campaign. Lee Cowan will wrap things up from the campaign trail.
My colleague Ann Curry will be with us tonight from Islamabad with more on Saturday's Marriott Hotel bombing. In addition, we'll get a progress report on recovery efforts in the hurricane zone, as millions continue to seek normalcy after Ike's devastating visit a week ago.
By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor
After covering last night's massive suicide bombing at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, I am haunted by what we saw and heard.
On the scene, as the hotel was engulfed in flames with hundreds of people still inside, the wail of the ambulances and fire trucks was too distant, given the intensity of the disaster. As the fire roared red and out of control, with some flames a gas-fed blue, we could see people struggling to climb to safety.
Later officials would estimate the temperatures inside the hotel reached 650 degrees farhenheit.
We stumbled up large pieces of rubble, and reaching to top, we found ourselves peering over the edge of the blast crater. It has been dug 30 feet deep, and more than 50 feet wide by what investigators estimated was one ton of explosives.
CONTINUED >>
By Amy Robach, NBC News Anchor
When I walked into work this morning, it was not your typical Saturday. Breaking news was on every television screen, and for the first time in days, the economy was not the only big story.
A terrorist attack at the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan dominated the day's coverage, and with the growing number of fatalities, it may turn out to be the biggest hotel attack in Pakistan’s history.
Our Ann Curry was in the country to interview Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari — his first interview with an American news organization. She left the scene at the Marriott to sit down with President Zardari, and tonight, she will bring us a first hand account of the tragedy she witnessed, as well as the Zardari’s response to this attack.
Back at home, it's been a hectic news day. From details of the White House's bid for a $700 billion bailout package, to a deadly plane crash that killed 4 and left 2 well known musicians in critical condition, we have it all covered for you. I hope you’ll join us for the Saturday edition of Nightly News.
NBC's Brian Williams has a big fan in a little red monster. Watch the clip from the Bonnie Hunt show.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
What a week this has been. MSNBC's Mike Viquera just said on live television, "gloom and doom has consumed Congress." Senator Chris Dodd said last night's briefing by the nation's financial leaders was the most sobering briefing -- of any kind -- he's ever attended. The visitors to the Hill last night (from Treasury and the Fed, chiefly) described "the imminent collapse of the nation's financial system." You only need to hear that kind of thing once in your life. It gets your attention. We got such a good email question from a viewer in Kansas today -- we're going to ask it on the air of one of our experts.
And as I keep saying: while we're covering this story, others go on. In a world absent this financial meltdown, we'd likely be bringing a week's worth of coverage from Texas to an end tonight. We'd love to find a way to go cover it and bring whatever attention we can to their plight -- but now we're running up against another busy period in the race for President -- a new week that ends with perhaps the most important debate in the series of four. Last night I spent some time by satellite on the air at our Houston NBC Station, KPRC-TV -- talking to the anchor team and those viewers at home with power. There was little else I could do aside from telling them...assuring them...we are following their plight, covering the story, and they remain in our hearts and prayers. Please keep them in yours.
I hope wherever you are you're able to enjoy something of a good weekend. I hope you can join us for our Friday night broadcast.
By, Les Kretman, NBC News White House producer
Just another day at the White House ---- first the Kuwaiti Prime Minister for a quick meet and greet in the Oval Office ---- this happening as the President tries to see as many foreign leaders as possible as his second term quickly winds down.
Then the statement in the Rose Garden by the President as the government announces it's creating a plan to rescue the nation's troubled banks. Accompanying him - Treasury's Hank Paulson, the Fed"s Ben Bernanke and the Securities Exchange Commissioner Christopher Cox.
And, then what better way to wrap up a turbulent week than an appearance in the East Room by the President with basketball's world champion NBA Boston Celtics.
So was this a week for the White House with a victory in double overtime? Or is this just the beginning of the playoffs....
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
With permission, today I want my post to be the words of someone else. Yesterday I got an email from Skip Valet, Vice President and News Director of our terrific NBC Television Station in Houston, KPRC-TV. They have been going, around the clock, since well before Ike made landfall. They are still going. And Houston and Galveston are hurting badly. He wrote me to make exactly that point. His words are so strong that I asked for his permission to share some of them with you. As I told Skip and as I said on the air last night, the situation in Texas would be our lead story -- for days -- were it not for this financial meltdown. Here now the view from Texas:
Hello Brian,
I have spoken with affiliate relations, but I wanted to reach out to you directly.
I want to appeal to you to consider bringing Nightly News to Houston/Galveston for a couple of days.
Here’s my pitch, Houston Mayor Bill White is the man who opened our city to 150 thousand of New Orleans evacuees. Many of those people now call Houston home. I’m a native Floridian, and I’ve been covering hurricanes now for 26 years. In my opinion this will be the longest, slowest recovery I’ve witnessed. The issue is the sheer number of people affected.
Brian, as you know Ike was a major hurricane. It may have been a cat 2 as far as wind intensity, but it was a cat 4 for storm surge. Galveston will take years to recover. Some neighborhoods there did surprisingly well, others are devastated. The historic "Strand" had more than 7 feet of water flowing down the streets and into the shops and restaurants. It is a mess. Houston (4th largest city in the U.S.) is in a bad way with 1.4 million homes still without power nearly 5 days after landfall. Things are orderly here, but its been tough with little power, gas, food or water available. All this in the city that produces most of this country’s petroleum products. It is imperative that Houston recovers as quickly as possible.
Texans are tough, and no one’s complaining. But I’m hearing from friends around the U.S. that surprisingly little information about Ike is being broadcast or printed. Our web-site is averaging 5 million page views a day as people watch all of the wall to wall coverage being live streamed.
I think Houstonians and Galvestonians would like some national attention paid to this crisis.
Please call me if I can help you in any way.
Sincerely,
Skip Valet
VP/News Director
KPRC Local 2
Our thanks to Skip Valet. The people of Southern Texas are in our hearts and prayers. We hope you can join us tonight.
Editor's note: Watch KPRC-TV's coverage
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
On an interior page of this morning's Wall Street Journal (which I am reading with a new zeal these days) is an indicator that times are changing faster than type can be set: on a page facing the giant jump article on AIG are two ads, above the fold: one for private planes (albeit prop, not jet) and another for a ticket broker -- the tickets for concerts and athletic events that the monied types buy through brokers for large amounts of cash. Will both ads be there, similarly positioned, a month from now?
With thanks to my wife for finding this next item, I wanted to pass along a sparkling, evocative piece of writing from NPR. It certainly spoke to me -- as I hope it speaks to all of you -- it's an essay that reads so much like the extended family I grew up in, and it so perfectly speaks to the philosophy of so many of the folks I've encountered and come to know in Texas and Louisiana.
I just spoke to a former managing director of one of the big Wall Street investment banks currently said to be "in play" -- who said he views this financial meltdown as "Wall Street finally sinking to the depths of our very sick national economy." Whether his assessment is correct or not can and will be debated -- for all of us huddled around CNBC's coverage here today, it's been another dicey day for this nation's financial underpinnings. By the way: congratulations on being the new owner of an insurance company!
We hope you can join us tonight.
By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington
Arlington National Cemetery buried its 500th casualty of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan last Friday, one of five soldiers and a sailor laid to rest at the cemetery on a late summer morning.
At 10 a.m., a bagpiper played "Amazing Grace" for over 300 mourners at services for Navy SEAL Joshua Harris, 36, who drowned Aug. 30 in Afghanistan while crossing a river during combat operations.
"He was a brave warrior, SEAL role model, mature and reliable teammate, and an absolute great American," his commanding officer said in a statement.
Harris, the son of a doctor, grew up on a dairy farm outside of Lexington, N.C. He majored in studio art at Davidson College and studied for a master's degree in architecture at UNC Charlotte. He lived for a time in New York City and had his drawings and sculptures displayed at Lincoln Center. Harris joined the SEALs just before turning 29, the cutoff age for eligibility.
About an hour and a half after Harris' graveside service, an Army band struck up "God of our Fathers" and four Black Hawk helicopters flew over group burial services for five soldiers killed May 30, 2007, when their Ch-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down over the Upper Sangin Valley of Afghanistan.
CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
While the news hasn't changed much (still two major stories, a still-grim economic outlook, and the still-grim situation in Texas) we now prepare for another night's broadcast, and apologies for last night's post: it was a mix-up due to being in transit to CNBC Headquarters. I thought last night's broadcast went well, in that it did exactly what I set out to do: we were able to tap into the expertise of our friends at CNBC who cover the economy and markets for a living. The markets settled down a little bit today, but the story remains, as CNBC put it this past hour, "The battle to save AIG" -- the insurance giant with tentacles throughout the U.S. economy. In fact, that's the subject of two pieces of note this morning on the New York Times op-ed page -- the other was David Brooks on Palin. My other favorite story of the day has to do with a false alarm -- the news this morning (we heard about it on our morning conference call) that a great find from Civil War history might have been discovered. Can't win 'em all. We're back at it from our home studio tonight -- which reminds me: our director, Brett Holey, did some research...it shows our travel schedule this summer (so THAT'S what happened to this Summer!) has been so grueling that we haven't done a full week's worth of broadcasts in our studio here in New York since June 23rd. Further, with four debates on the schedule, it will likely be a full 5 months until our next 5-day week of broadcast from "home base". As Hyman Roth once said: this is the life we have chosen.
We hope you can join us tonight.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Editor's note: This entry, posted this morning, is about last night's broadcast.
Nightly News will look a bit different this evening, but not much. I made the decision to locate our broadcast from the Global Headquarters of CNBC -- since our business network is best at covering this, I thought we'd go to where the experts are, instead of having them come to us. They are the finest experts on our lead story tonight: what's being called the closest thing we've seen to a financial and banking meltdown since the Great Depression. There are apparently more components to come -- AIG is in play. These are big names, these are real people and this is real money. And as I write this, the Dow is on a run to the south in a hurry.
Our attention is torn between two giant stories -- both involving suffering and destruction, but of an entirely different kind. We have a slew of correspondents and camera crews in Texas -- and naturally we felt a strong tug toward that story as well. The damage in Galveston is unbelievable, and the desolation in downtown Houston is striking. A whole lot of people are suffering as a result, and our hearts are with them.
So in a few moments we'll depart our 30 Rock headquarters for CNBC headquarters and continue working on tonight's broadcast.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
As Hurricane Ike dissolves into a nasty tropical depression, its impact only seems to grow. The drama of yesterday’s hurricane force winds and pounding surge has given way to rescuers racing against the clock. Our correspondents are out and about in Galveston beaming back incredible pictures of damage. Most ominous of all is the city's west end, where flood waters have prevented rescuers from reaching those who may be trapped. Already, 2,000 people have been rescued, and many of them are the same people who last week thought it wasn't necessary to evacuate. Officials say Galveston is simply not habitable at this moment.
Neighboring Houston is virtually out of business as much of the city remains without electricity. Then, there is the impact now being felt outside of Texas. Texas’ refineries remain closed, affecting the nation's gasoline supply. Then, there are the flooding rains that the remnants of Ike are pouring on the Midwest. This is a story with a lot of moving parts, and we have many people in region covering it. We plan extensive coverage on the program tonight.
We are also hearing from more survivors of the horrific train crash that killed 25 people outside of Los Angeles. We'll have that, as well as the latest on how the accident happened, and how it could have been prevented.
I hope you'll join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
These will be tough weeks and even months ahead for many in the Houston-Galveston area. Hurricanes don't just pass through. Their impact tends to produce pain, anxiety and sometimes anguish long after the winds settle and the waters recede. Ike's storm surge wasn't nearly as high as predicted, and the storm never reached category-3 status, but no one dodged a bullet. Damage and flooding is extensive.The outcome of this story will be written in who rescuers find in the rubble of tattered or flooded houses, in the length of time it takes to restore power to millions, to relocate the suddenly homeless and to rebuild. All of those things will be part of our coverage tonight.
We're also watching a disaster unfold near Los Angeles, where searchers have uncovered more bodies from the wreckage of yesterday's commuter train versus freight train collision. At this writing the death toll is 24, but authorities have warned the number could rise. Tonight, on a special west Coast edition of our program, we'll have the latest on the search for victims, and also examine what apparently caused the accident.
By Ann Curry, NBC News Anchor
Ann Curry here, in for Brian tonight, worrying whether enough people have evacuated from the Texas coast.
Listen to the details coming into our newsroom:
-the storm is expected to be 400 miles wide when it strikes the coast
-13 million people are in the affected area
-while Galveston evacuated, Houston, the nation's 4th largest city, did not. And because Houston has areas on the water's edge not protected by a sea wall, the surge is a worry there
-the surge could be about 20 feet. That's higher than the seawall in Galveston
Bottom line, lives are in danger, and so if you are the direct path of this hurricane, remember experts advise the safest place is indoors, in your bathtub, protected by a mattess.
Even if you are not in the hurricane zone, Ike is going to affected your life. In what a producer here called an "Ike spike," gas prices are soaring today, because the storm is moving toward the mass of refineries on the Texas coast.
Janet Shamlian has tape of dramatic oast guard rescues alreading in progress, Kerry Sanders, our resident storm expert, has more details on the impact on oil refineries, and we will also have an expert forcaster live, with up to the minute info on the hurricane's movements.
Landfall, once predicted for tomorrow morning, is now expected as early as tonight.
We will be here very late, staying on top of this story, our fingers crossed that not all that is predicted comes true.
See you on tv.
By Kerri Forrest, NBC News producer
For me, the To Write Love On Her Arms story began as a little blurb in an indie music magazine. It was in a 2x4 box at the bottom of a page - if you weren't reading cover-to-cover you would have missed it.
I'm glad that I didn't.
Over the months from discovery to air, I have had a chance to meet some incredible people who have managed to take their own experiences and turn that into a community of help that reaches kids everywhere.
To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is an online community on the social networking site MySpace. Its goal is to provide a safe place for teens and young adults to share their problems and to find help dealing with depression, alcohol and substance abuse. The community grew as word spread about the story of a young woman’s struggle to overcome addiction and the friends who reached out to help her.
21-year-old Renee Yohe is beautiful, lively, and funny. She's instantly engaging and you wouldn't know that this bubbly young woman cracking jokes and playing with the stray cat that walked up while we were interviewing had been through hell. CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Take a look at the radar/satellite graphic of Ike and look at the size of this storm. There was street flooding in Alabama today, and rain in Louisiana -- due to a storm that is nowhere near them. We are fearful for the good folks in Houston and Galveston, and allow me to recommend the book I recommended to everyone in our afternoon editorial meeting: ISAAC'S STORM by Erik Larson, is about the Hurricane of September 8th, 1900 -- the deadliest hurricane in history. The Isaac of the title is Isaac Cline, an employee of the U.S. Weather Bureau. It's one of the finest works of non-fiction written in the past few years...a short book that stays with the reader for a long, long time.
No New Yorker likes this day. 9-11 was and will always be a sad and ominous day in this city, and for all those touched by it. As I write this I'm watching McCain's arrival at Ground Zero. Mayor Bloomberg got a half-hug, Obama did not. The two men are now walking down the construction ramp into the pit. As frequent readers know, I regard it as a great shame -- one of the great failures of the past several years that the site is still basically a carved-out hole in the ground with a train station in it...seven full years after they knocked down those buildings. These pictures -- for all of us in this newsroom who have tried mightily not to see any of the old images today -- are hard to watch.
We'll now go back to preparing the broadcast, and we hope you can join us tonight.
By Les Kretman, NBC News producer
Broken clouds were low over the White House today in marked contrast to the bright blue sky of 9/11--and then the silence.
First, the Marine Band played "America the Beautiful," and then the President and the First Lady along with the Vice President and Mrs. Cheney slowly walked out of the Diplomatic Room, the White House South Portico behind them.Then three chimes marked the moment of silence at exactly 8:46 a.m. Finally, the U.S. Navy Band, "Sea Chanters," sang "God Bless America."
No one talked. No one smiled. Minds were elsewhere. With the First Family were current and former Cabinet members, as well as White House staff aides, secretaries, kitchen workers, many of whom were here on 9/11.
In many ways what happened on 9/11 defined this Bush presidency through its two terms for better and for worse. Many goals the administration set to achieve in 2001 became sublimated as security of this country became the paramount focus of the government. Now there are new rules for plane travel, for immigration, for mailing packages...so many parts of our daily lives have been affected. And then, of course, there's the war in Iraq and our increasing involvement in Afghanistan. We have a Department of Homeland Security now, and various agencies in all levels of state, local and federal government have ramped up the monitoring of our lives.
White House spokesperson Dana Perino summed it up yesterday at her daily briefing: "Tomorrow is obviously a very sober anniversary for Americans...the President thinks about 9/11 every single day. When he wakes up and before he goes to bed, this is what he's concerned about. He's always been concerned about another attack on our country. Thankfully, we haven't had one. But there are terrorists out there, extremists out there who are plotting and planning to attack Americans."
With that in mind, today's White House moment of silence gave the President an opportunity to think about the events of that day in 2001, and the impact they have had on where we are today in 2008.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
This morning in the Today Show studio I conducted the first-ever side-by-side interview with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Considering I have all but committed to memory every line of dialogue either actor has spoken on screen -- it was quite an honor to sit with these two icons. They are, first and foremost, New Yorkers. Among guys, especially the guys I know, they are guy icons. And while they can be a challenging interview, (separately...or, as I found, together) they are awfully nice guys. Being in the room with them was a capital experience. It's clear they have a genuine friendship -- and between them, they are responsible for a huge number of the great film moments of our time. It was great to sit down with these guys. The interview will air tomorrow morning on Today.
Now to Nightly News tonight: we'll have a look at what passes for Presidential politics, the weather, health, the environment and more. We sure appreciate you tuning in...as I said the other night -- without you, it would be no fun to come to work every day. If De Niro and Pacino were here every day, that would be another matter.
We'll look for you tonight.
By Rehema Ellis, NBC News correspondent
Every campaign for change needs a general and in Napa Valley, California Ralph Knight is a man on on a mission. He's the director of transportation for the Napa Valley Unified School District. For more than a decade he's been researching, studying and knocking on doors soliciting funds to purchase buses that could help reduce his district's dependence on fossil fuel.
The first alternative energy school bus he got was an electric bus back in 1997.
About the same time in the late 1990's, Knight says, he got a natural gas bus. Today he's got 34 of them, 3 electric buses, one hybrid and hopes of adding 9 more hybrids to his fleet of 70 buses.
Imagine, he got started investing in alternative energy at a time when very few people were focusing on energy conservation. Remember, the 90's were the years of big gas guzzling vehicles, not electric power.
"It was a technology that was intriguing and interesting out there to have some of the only electric buses on the road." Knight says.
Last week Knight told me, " I'm paying $2.75 a gallon for natural gas compared to $5.40 a gallon for diesel. That's probably kept this place ( his school bus yard) in operation because of what we're saving now".
No doubt. And he's not finished. The guy has a dogged determination and genuine interest in finding other ways of powering his vehicles. Probably in his next life he'll hire himself out to teach other school districts how to do what he's done for Napa Valley. Are you listening, Ralph?
He's proof that even though the road to alternative energy sources isn't smooth or easy you can still get there if you've got the energy to go after it.
By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington
Louis Boxrucker last saw his brother Lawrence when the 23-year-old twins joined the Navy back in 1940.
A year later, Lawrence died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was on board the USS Oklahoma when it was sunk by Japanese torpedoes on Dec. 7, 1941. The Navy immediately sent Louis to Honolulu from his post in Bermuda.
"They wanted as many people as possible to help over there," Louis's daughter, Karen Boxrucker, said in an interview. "It took him two weeks to make his way to Pearl Harbor, and it was just still devastation. Everything was still burning, oil slicks all over, and everything was like, he said, blown to hell."
Louis also had to deal with problems of mistaken identity.
"While he was over there, people thought he was actually Uncle Lawrence, because they looked so much alike, and he had kind of a hard time dealing with that," Karen said. "They had the nickname 'Boxy' when they were in the service, and people would come up to him and say, 'You know, Boxy, we thought you had passed, you had died in the Oklahoma,' and he had to explain to them that it was his twin brother, so it was hard, hard for him back then."
Only 36 of the 429 sailors and Marines who went down with the Oklahoma were identified because they didn't wear dog tags in peacetime. The remaining 393 were buried as Unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
"It's just been lately that they started bringing them back up and trying to identify them," Karen said. CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Chuck Todd is making his way from Washington to New York so he can personally debut our new poll numbers on the set with us tonight. They are the latest and most official measurement of where this race stands. We'll check in on both campaigns, we'll fact-check some of the Palin claims, and importantly tonight we'll cover the suffering of tens of thousands of folks in Louisiana who are without power -- and have been told it will be a long time before the power comes back on. I felt awful, candidly, leaving Louisiana after Gustav (after we saw that New Orleans was going to avoid heavy water, the decision was made to move on with the GOP Convention and our coverage) and this is one way to keep the story in front of our viewers. We are thinking of the folks across that region -- especially those in Terrebonne Parish, where they got a substantial swatting from Gustav.
In other news, random thoughts in no particular order: Reading that Lance Armstrong is mulling getting into the '09 Tour de France takes a lot of pressure off of a lot of us. I spent much of the morning on the web selecting a new company cellphone. Mine is now several years old. It has a hand crank, is powered by steam, and all of my calls are routed through a nice woman operator (I believe it's Thelma Lou) who connects me. There were no fewer than 150 options on the company web site, and I selected a model that allows me to turn the lights on and off in my home. And the homes of all my friends. So this ought to be fun.
On the broadcast last night I mistakenly put Wilmington, North Carolina on the "Outer Banks". I knew better -- I've been to Wilmington more than once and got engaged on the Outer Banks. Mistakes happen, but apologies to the folks in Wilmington -- we're up here in New York hoping you have the quietest Atlantic storm season on record.
I hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight.
By Rehema Ellis, NBC News correspodent
The No Child Left Behind Act has stirred up criticism from politicians, educators and parents. It's not wonder. In an effort fix everything that is failing American students the law is over 1000 pages long. It reaches into American classrooms overshadowing how teachers teach and what students learn. Many complain the law suggests there's one general way to fix schools no matter that many of the nation's 97,000 public schools have extremely different problems.
Still, despite what critics say are it's shortcomings of the law, few advocate tossing it out. Even the presidential candidates have said they don't want to nix No Child Left Behind, they want to make it better. And while there's talk about appropriating more money to the law, many experts say, the concern over No Child Left Behind is not just about money.
So how could the law be better? A lot of experts say the law could be greatly improved if it were more realistic about whether EVERY public school student across the country can be proficient in reading and math by 2014.
What does that mean? Well, it means that every student has to meet federal target test scores in six years. Critics say that's just setting American kids up to fail again. No country in the world, not even our staunchest competitors, can claim 100 percent proficiency for all of its students in key subjects. America, no matter how well intended, can't go from decades of failing students to record educational achievement in a matter of a few short years.
The good news -- now almost seven years after No Child Left Behind was passed-- there seems to be a growing sentiment to adjust some of the law's most stringent mandates. From what I can tell, it's not an admission or an attempt to go back to the old ways and leave some children -- particularly minorities, inner city kids and the disabled -- out of the accountability equation. Instead, people concerned about educating children seem to be saying let's look more carefully at what is right and what's wrong under No Child Left Behind. Let's examine teaching methods, test standards and scores, and provide greater support systems for schools and teachers, many experts say, and move forward from there. The reason to do this is clear: Out of 22 industrialized nations, the U.S. ranks 19, just above Mexico in graduating students from high school. 40 years ago America was number one. There are a lot of different interests groups all with different notions about what it will take to be Number One again. No doubt all of them will want to be heard when a new administration takes over the White House. Hopefully, they'll also be eager to listen.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I'm re-familiarizing myself with my office and surroundings (and e-mails and invitations and outstanding issues) after an absence of about five weeks -- and as we all know by now, more than 40-thousand miles of travel. To those of you who watched our "Stand Up 2 Cancer" special from L.A. Friday night: thank you. It was a wonderful, emotional evening. I've never had reason to be so thoroughly impressed with so many celebrities before -- nor do I hang with those types often -- but what an incredible bunch. On behalf of everyone who had anything to do with it, thanks. We're back at it, covering politics and weather and finance and more. We hope you can join us tonight from...New York!
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
It hasn't escaped the notice of those of us on the weekend crew that lately, major financial stories have broken on Sundays. It was a Sunday in March when the Federal Reserve announced it was extending a multibillion-dollar credit line to aid a takeover of Bear Stearns. On another Sunday last July, the Treasury Department announced it was taking emergency steps to boost confidence in the two mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Today, it has happened again, with the government announcing it is taking over Freddie and Fannie.
Of course the Sunday timing of these events is no coincidence. CNBC's Steve Liesman, who will join us on the Nightly News tonight, explains that it's all about making things happen on a down day for Wall Street, before Asian markets open. The government's move has a far reaching impact on anyone who owns, or is trying to buy or sell a home. It also puts American taxpayers on the hook for potentially billions of dollars, as the U.S. assumes substantial exposure to the rocky home mortgage landscape. We'll walk you through all of it on tonight's program.
We will also have the very latest projections on Hurricane Ike, concerning its threat to the Florida Keys and what it might do once it reaches the Gulf of Mexico later this week. It is a dangerous moving target, and our colleagues at NBC Weather Plus are helping us keep an eye on it.
I hope you'll be able to join us tonight for NBC Nightly news.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Greetings from New York. I haven't had a chance to say that in a while. After 26 days of working the Olympic coverage in Beijing, and a quick dash down to New Orleans last Saturday night to cover hurricane Gustav, I'm practically re-learning my way around 30 Rock. Tonight will be only my second Nightly newscast from our New York studio since late July. It's great to be back, and to get back into a routine. That said, the way hurricanes and tropical depressions have been lining up in the Atlantic, I won't get too comfortable. There's a bag with rain gear, flashlights, and energy bars sitting by the front door at home. Tropical storm Hanna is dumping lots of rain on the East Coast today. Hurricane Ike, meantime has wound back up to a category 4 on a track aimed for Cuba and the Florida Keys.
Because of College Football coverage, some of you won't be able to see us in your area tonight. We will, however, be covering the storms, as well as a dramatic move to keep mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in business. I hope to see you later.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Imagine leaving the cocoon of St. Paul, Minnesota and hours later arriving in the lobby of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. We walked in around 2am, with yours truly still wearing the suit and credentials I'd been wearing on the GOP convention floor hours earlier. The permanent collection of hipsters who line the lobby looked up from their Blackberries long enough to watch us pass by, assuming perhaps that I was part of the security detail for a visiting celebrity. We exited a few hours later (after what was euphemistically called "a night's sleep") into the blinding Los Angeles sun, and walked along Hollywood Boulevard, the stars of the famous underfoot, until we entered the Kodak Theatre. All three network evening newscasts will originate from here tonight -- and more importantly, so will the live 3-network effort called "Stand Up To Cancer." We're enormously proud of the effort -- and it will be exciting as the actual celebrities arrive to fill the seats that now contain cardboard likenesses of them -- Halle Berry, Jennifer Anniston, Forest Whitaker, Charles Barkley, and on and on. Here are details. Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric and I have had fun rehearsing this afternoon -- finding the tape marks on the stage where we have to stand, going over our remarks, lamenting our collective lack of sleep...but thankfully united in what is a much larger cause than any individual in this theater.
Of note in the news today: the reviews of last night, the viewing audience from last night, the view across the Atlantic, today's economic numbers and more.
We fly back to New York late tonight, hoping, all of us, for something approximating a weekend. I hope for the same for all of you during this busy season. We hope you can join us tonight -- for NBC Nightly News, and for Stand Up To Cancer.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
When young volunteers in the U.S. Navy Seal training program, known by the acronym BUDS, decide that due to fatigue or injury or family crisis they must leave the program, they must "ring out" by ringing a bell in the courtyard. Tonight, John McCain does the opposite -- as I struggle here to employ a Navy theme -- by ringing in, (didn't another Navy man once say "reporting for duty"?) and making his speech to the party faithful and the American faithful. When we all leave here, there will be 61 days remaining until Americans get to decide on the next President. The story here -- as it is across much of the country -- is Governor Palin's speech from last night.
We're all gathered inside the arena, while outside there are protesters trying to make their way into downtown St. Paul. From here tonight, we fly to Los Angeles (after our prime time coverage of the McCain speech) where Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson and I will host tomorrow evening's live special, Stand Up To Cancer. Miles to go before we sleep. Miles to go before we sleep. Speeches to cover before we fly -- and we hope you can join us for BOTH of our broadcasts tonight.
By Robert Bazell, NBC News Chief science correspondent
Reference guide: Is your plastic bottle safe?
On this afternoon’s Nightly News conference call – which today linked people at the Republican National Convention (among other places) with headquarters in New York, -- Alex Wallace, the executive producer of the broadcast asked me a simple question.
“How can one federal agency be telling us a chemical is safe when another is saying it might be dangerous?”
We are doing a report tonight on the latest results on the possible danger of a chemical that is very common in our environment. Most of the research up to now has been in mice and rats. This latest study was done in monkeys and indicated possible brain damage at low amounts.
The chemical is BPA or bisphenol A. It is found in millions of plastic bottles and other containers. It is back in the news and will be for a while. BPA has been known for decades to mimic the female hormone estrogen. It has also been known that tiny amounts of it can leak into the liquids the containers hold. As a result almost all Americans have tiny amounts of BPA in their bodies. Some animal studies, including the one we cover tonight, indicate it could be a hazard But is it really dangerous to human health? There is no definite answer yet.
But this week the National Toxicology Program, an interagency group set up to advise the government on questions about possibly dangerous chemicals in our environment issued a final report on BPA.
That agency concluded there "some concern for effects on the brain, behavior and the prostate gland in fetuses, infants and children at current exposure levels"
But that agency has no regulatory power. Only Food and Drug Administration can decide whether to ban BPA in some products.
A few weeks ago the FDA staff issued a preliminary report that containers with the chemical "are safe and that exposure levels to BPA from food contact materials, including for infants and children, are below those that may cause health effects." That comes from a staff report in preparation for an a public hearing on the matter September 16.
So responding to Alex Wallace’s excellent question. Different federal agencies have different people who can look at the same scientific data and reach different conclusions. After its public hearing, the FDA Commissioner could choose to ignore the report from his staff and recommend banning BPA in baby bottles as Health Canada has done or he can chose to do nothing
The problem is the experiment that will finally demonstrate whether there is an effect on human health does not begin until early next year. It will involve thousands of children monitored carefully. But there may be no result for years.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I love New York, and spend most of my work hours there -- but I've never confused it with America, where I currently am. Today in St. Paul -- is one of the most sparkling, beautiful days (speaking meteorologically and without any political bias either way, of course) of the calendar year. Yesterday upon arrival here it was gray, stormy and windy. My mother's longtime adage, "when you see the underside of the leaves, its about to storm," quickly came true, as a big front blew through, and last night's low temperature plunged to 48 degrees. Today it's breezy, sunny and 68 -- and during the exactly 17 minutes I spent outdoors, in a line to go through the Secret Service checkpoint, it was the perfect day. We're back inside the convention center, monitoring the politics of this gathering, preparing to preview tonight's convention agenda, and deciding our coverage for tonight's broadcast.
I've had the good fortune of spending quite a bit of time in St. Paul over the past few years -- and it is a great American city -- it was great to drive by the Fitzgerald Theatre last night (home of Prarie Home Companion) and Mickey's Diner (open 24 hours, filled with convention delegates 24 hours) and when the doorman at the hotel last night asked about my college-age daughter BY NAME -- and how big my son was getting -- I almost fell over dead. You've perhaps heard the expression, "Minnesota Nice." With the usual exceptions, it is true. This is a great place to visit and a great place to live.
One side benefit to being here: you get to see the commercials on both sides of the Al Franken/Norm Coleman Senate race - some are funny, some are rough. It's still...interesting...to see a guy we grew up with watching on SNL running for one of 100 seats in the U.S. Senate. It will be one of the races to watch on election night.
We hope you can join us from here tonight: both for Nightly News and our special hour on the network in prime time.
By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington
Some of the families of the troops who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and buried in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery are hopping mad at cemetery officials for taking and throwing away flowers, photos, medals and other mementos left at the graves of their loved ones.
Regina Barnhurst of Severna Park, Md., lost her 20-year-old son, Marine Lance Cpl. Eric Herzberg, two years ago in Iraq.
"These guys are 19 and 20 years old," she said in an interview. "They're our babies, you know, and we have to do the birthdays, we have to do the anniversaries, we have to do the special things.
"That's our way of honoring them and - sorry, I get really emotional about this - but it's our way of trying to come to terms with the fact that we don't have our sons anymore, and I think it's very wrong of them to just take things and throw them away."
Paula Davis of Gaithersburg, Md., whose only child, Army Pvt. 1st Class Justin Davis, 19, was killed in Afghanistan in 2006, said leaving mementos is part of the grieving process.
"I think it's disrespectful to just toss things like that," she said, "especially when you know they're very meaningful to the individual that left them there."
CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I am writing this from a car, having started the day in New Orleans and having just arrived by plane in St. Paul. This is hardly the way I "like" my day: I normally break from our afternoon editorial meeting, write my post and begin writing the newscast and reading the correspondents' scripts. In this instance we're crash-landing for a meeting with Cindy McCain and arriving late for work. At some point I hope I can go down onto the floor and enjoy the convention!
Thanks for bearing with us and our wild travels. We hope you can join us tonight, and again for our prime time special.
By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent
Whether it was fate, coincidence or otherwise I happened to be in Halifax, Nova Scotia these last few days, and decided to take the hour's drive along the Atlantic coast to visit the little fishing village of Peggy's Cove. It is a lovely, quiet place that is pretty much visited by every Canadian family at some point to take photos and eat ice cream and watch the waves crash on the rocks. That's how I've always looked at it, and that's how I always will look at it.
But, for the rest of the world Peggy's Cove will likely conjure of memories of something else; as it was ten years ago this week my phone rang in the middle of the night (I was living and working for NBC in London at the time) with the news of an awful plane crash "somewhere off the coast of Nova Scotia"..."details still sketchy"... "just get on the next flight."
An onboard fire caused Swissair flight 111 to plummet into the sea not far from Peggy’s Cove on September 2nd, 1998 killing all 229 people on board.
For me, in the beginning at least, it was another plane crash...something inexplicable, something incomprehensible, perhaps even sadder...something routine.
CONTINUED >>
