ABOUT THIS BLOG

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

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



Social security

Posted: Friday, January 09, 2009 4:06 PM by Sam Singal

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

There's a striking sight -- maybe just to me -- when visiting Washington these days. The machinery of security has been so thoroughly "baked in" to life there -- my friends who live there don't see it as much (because its been phased in incrementally) as the occasional visitor from New York. Metropolitan Police cruisers (many of them, at least) now drive around the City with their roof-mounted strobes on and flashing, the way they do in Israel and parts of Europe (apparently that's exactly where the idea came from, after a former D.C. police chief returned from an overseas trip). Federal Protection Service/Homeland Security SUV's are now ubiquitous on the Streets. Street closures (often for no apparent reason) are now in the "part of life" category. The area around the Hay Adams Hotel (the temporary home of the Obama Family) looks like the main gate at Fort Bragg, North Carolina...right in the middle of Washington. All of it, obviously, is part of our post-9-11 world and our new reality. It will be interesting to see if it changes in any way with a new Administration and a new policy outlook. It was interesting as well today to read the comments from Secretary Chertoff about the security situation surrounding the President-elect. Yesterday a friend of mine who's been a Washington journalist for several decades called security "the elephant in the room" where the upcoming Inauguration is concerned. Driving through downtown D.C. yesterday, the elephant was huge.

We're back in our New York studio tonight. I hope you can join us.

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

Good evening, Brian!

Oh I couldn't imagine how crazy it is to be in Washington, D.C. right now. I have an aunt and her family that only recently have lived in Chantilly, Virginia. With whom I've been trying to visit D.C. for the first time, I thought over the summer when The Pope was in it would be crowded, just imagining being there now is unbelievable.

Many people are thinking of how ridiculous and wrong it is that The Blair House isn't available and the fact that the Obama's are staying in the Hay Adams Hotel until it is. I thought as long as the Obama's aren't bothered by it it's alright, but seeing as there are only 10 days until the inauguration, they should be in The Blair House by now.

Looking forward to the broadcast tonight!

I hope you have a great weekend!
-Cary
With all the security you mentioned the question arises:  is it there to keep the fright out or to keep the frighten in?

Is turning on the (flashing strobe) light akin to the night light for a frighten child?
Hi Brian
I noticed all the Media/Journalist/Law Makers are busy checking into Obama's nominees and putting in many hours. This hasn't been done in 8 years as who ever President Bush chose in his Cabinet was just fine.  No one of these people above is working for free EXCEPT OBAMA. Yes Obama isn't being paid for all the work he's doing for the American people. The Law Makers got a big raise for doing nothing but talk and the 109th Congress signing the blank checks for over 6 years. I really don't know many people that would work as hard as Obama is doing and not get paid. You might ask around I could be wrong.

Paul Klugman was so right when he said Hank Paulson would have been fired by Goldman Sachs if he lost their money the way he lost the US taxpayers money. I wondered why Bush picked Paulson a CEO and not Goldman Sachs CFO. A CEO doesn't handle the finances of a company, the CFO does. It's sad the American people were made to believe Paulson was the right choice when all he does is attend meeting and socialize with others to bring in business. At least the World Leaders knew it was a scram even China figured it out early as not to get involved.  Now Obama will have to clean that image up too.

I look forward to the Obama/Biden Inauguration Day as the Change will begin. Many will be fighting tooth and nail to stop progress. We see unemployment at it's highest while some Democrats and Republicans don't see a need to help the American people. With Obama announcing the US doesn't torture and Cheney saying we did/do torture and he signed the order well.  One piece of good news is Obama will talk to the Democratic Elected Hamas President.  We have to learn when the people of a country have a fair election we have to accept who they pick even if we don't like their choice. Many Americans didn't like Bush even with Florida/Ohio corruption.  

see you same time same place
Good Evening Mr.Williams, A fine broadcast this evening! First of all the report by Mr.Cohn about the economy was grim to say the least and one really and truly hopes things will get better. The numbers given at the beginning of the report were terrible and seeing the huge amount of people at the unemployment offices certainly would cause the systems to crash. Nobody was able to see this coming and hopefully there is a way to resolve it.
The report by Mr.Todd about how President-Elect Obama is going to fix this crisis is a huge undertaking. It will cost a tremendous amount of money as stated in the report estimated at $800 billion or higher. Much money needed to resolve a huge economic mess.

On another note the report by Pete Williams concerning the security for Inauguration Day is an extremely serious job. With so many people going to Washington for the Inauguration everybody working on security will be at the highest level. A very special and exciting day for this nation. All should be safe!

Regarding the conflict in Gaza the fighting entering into 2 weeks is so sad and hearbreaking for the innocent civilians. The death toll being 800 is staggering. Any peaceful resolution was rejected, but hopefully things will change for the better. One always hopes for peace.

The "In Depth" piece by Mr.Holt showed some cool new technology, but with the current economy many people may not spend alot. I liked some of the new ideas and I'm sure Mr.Holt had a great time looking at all the new products in the computer world.

The "Making A Difference" segment showed how one person can help so many people. Bringing a water purification system into that area of Bolivia will save so many lives. A very nice piece!

Thank You for the broadcast Mr.Williams. Have a great weekend! Peace to You and to All!

Lots of Love to Laurel,Jackie,Stephanie,Claudia,Celine,Anna,Lori and Matt!
Be Well Always!
Stay Safe and Well Richard! Loved seeing all your excellent reporting all week! Wonderful work!
XOXO


Good Evening Mr. Williams,

I am so glad that your news cast includes reports on people who are "Making A Difference" in the world. There are somethings that in our everyday lives we just don't think about or are not aware of. Such big contributions from just everyday people from all walks of life bringing attention to social issues around the world.
Wow what ingenious ways to show show social responsibility!
Hold the phone there Brian,  I know General Odierno, the good general is a friend of mine. He will not in fact be rooting for the Giants but the Eagles, its the nations mascott for goodness sakes.  Good for the soldiers on the ground a well deserved benefit for them, may they all enjoy!
Brian, the more I read you, the more I know that you were not born with a silver spoon in your mouth.  It becomes apparent that in your case, you must have been doubly blessed with a sterling mike in one hand and a solid gold fountain pen in the other.  Your knack for explaining the inexplicable is astounding.
It seems that Nightly News has taken a page from Barry McCaffrey's playbook.  By now, we all know that McCaffrey used his on-air time as an NBC military analyst to advocate policies that benefited companies in which he had a financial interest.  Now NBC is doing the same thing.  On Thursday, Nightly News aired a story about the possible need to extend the Feb. 17 deadline for the changeover from an analog TV signal to a digital TV signal.  The story was very supportive of the extension.  In an article on the front page of today's New York Times business section, Brian Stelter wrote, "The owners of major networks, including NBC Universal and the News Corporation, have indicated that they support a delay [in the changeover].  After all, they could see a drop in audience if many TV sets suddenly go dark."   Shame on Nightly News for using a so-called news report as a way of lobbying congress to make a change that clearly benefits NBC.
Pete Williams continues to be my hero.  Every time Brian introduces one of Pete's stories with a saccharine "Good evening, Pete," Pete ignores Brian's cloying intro and simply launches right into his story.  You go, Pete!
Not only did Nightly News spend two-and-a-half minutes Thursday on the non-story of Michelle Obama as a fashion icon, but they also managed to include a gratuitous fifteen second clip of "The Tonight Show" in the story!  That's like hitting the daily double.  If only they could have figured out a way to slip in a plug for a GE CT scanner, they would have hit the trifecta.
http://fotki.yandex.ru/tags/%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B0/users/alexeelena/view/130457?how=week&page=4
for our sorrows our work changes to bad direction
as all our life has forgotten that all we are people
mostly ordinary in masses
but our directors do not understand their significance in the world
http://fotki.yandex.ru/tags/%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B0/users/artraisa/view/143414?how=week&page=9


SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

RECENT STORIES FROM NIGHTLY NEWS

  • Nightly News section front

CONNECT WITH US

About the broadcast | Biographies

RSS is an easy way to get the news you want as it is updated even if you are not on MSNBC.com. More information about MSNBC.com's RSS feeds.

Subscribe to feed

Podcasting brings you audio and video from each weekday broadcast on your iPod or other portable MP3 player anytime, anywhere. More information about MSNBC.com's podcasts.

Subscribe to podcast

Sign-up for our daily e-mail newsletter. It offers a preview of the stories and special reports featured on each weekday broadcast.


Syndicate This Site

Add The Daily Nightly to your news reader:
live.com xml
myyahoo msn
bloglines newsgator
google