March 2009 - Posts
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
What a strange sight just now to be in our NBC News London Bureau watching live coverage of the (still relatively new) American President set foot on British soil for the first time. He arrived at Stansted Airport and immediately boarded a white-topped Blackhawk helicopter (the choppers in the White House fleet are called Nighthawks) for the short flight to London proper.
And if you think the "naming rights" craze is limited to only the United States, consider that the G20 meeting will be held at London's "ExCeL Exhibition Centre" and the President's chopper will use something called the "Red Bull Landing Zone" to come and go. The British press have devoted insane amounts of coverage to the Obama's visit -- and Michelle Obama especially. This will be interesting to watch, especially if any of the predictions of massive protests and disruptions by anarchists come to pass. About the auto crisis back home in the U.S., there was much talk about this particular take, which was published while we were in the air. We'll do our first of several broadcasts from here tonight -- we hope you will join us for our broadcast from London this evening.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We are back at it here in New York, before travelling to the G-20 Summit -- we will see you from London tomorrow night. I stumbled across this about the GM situation, and my favorite story of the day, from Philadelphia. We continue to be amazed by the response to our request for good news, and we have reports in the pipeline to air all week, in addition to your emails. Travel preparations await. We'll see you from New York tonight, and then it's across the pond.
by Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
It's a busy Sunday in the newsroom. We're gathering information on a shooting rampage at a North Carolina nursing home that has left at least eight people dead.
There have been some close calls with breached levees along the Red River in North Dakota, reminding residents and officials there that despite a drop in the water level, they're are not out of the woods yet. With the river still above flood stage, all eyes are on those hastily erected barriers and whether they can hold.
We're also learning details of another round of bailout payments the White House wants to make to the auto industry. The announcement comes tomorrow, but CNBC's Phil LeBeau will be with me tonight to talk about what the administration will demand from Detroit in exchange for the money.
I hope you'll be able to join us for the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News.
by Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
I just finished anchoring coverage of the space shuttle Discovery's successful landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. No matter how many times I cover andings and launches, I still find myself in awe, and even a little anxious. We keep hearing that the space shuttle concept is outdated technology, yet the idea of a "space plane," still seems cutting edge. There are fewer than ten shuttle missions planned before the fleet is retired for good. Despite the early promises that the shuttle would someday make space flight routine, the ungainly spacecraft will end its run as it began – as a technological marvel.
Now it's back to work for tonight's Nightly News broadcast. Our big story this evening is a possible victory in the fight against the rising waters of North Dakota's Red River. At this writing it appears the river has reached its highest point, and that the sandbag levees are holding. This story is obviously still developing, and we'll have live updates from the scene on the program tonight.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Before we run off for the weekend, please watch (if you haven't already) Chuck Todd's package of reporting this morning on Today. Its important stuff, and its a story we'll be re-visiting this weekend. There's also this story, which started to get some traction on the web this past week.
And so with that, we invite you to watch our broadcast tonight. We have a great Making a Difference report -- big Olympics news -- and a loss in our own family here at NBC News. We hope you can join us, and we hope you have a good weekend. Don't forget to watch Lester this weekend. We'll see you again on Monday night.
By Amber Payne, NBC Nightly News Producer
Every Monday for the past month, Joyce Deliyiannis, a master stylist at D'Spa by Dellaria in Burlington, MA, has come in on her day off to offer free haircuts to clients who are cutting back on expenses due to layoffs. Some need a touch-up for an upcoming interview. Others just relish an opportunity to get out of the house for a little while.
"It may seem like a small thing, but when it's needed, it's big," says Joyce, who has set no expiration date on the recession special and offers the free service to her clients' family members as well.
As Joyce's client Ilene Sapienza put it,"It's more than a haircut -- it's therapy. When you lean back in her chair, she makes you feel important. Her vibrance and energy leave every customer feeling uplifted."
Click here to watch the NBC Nightly News Making a Difference report about Joyce Deliyiannis (above, left).
After their haircut, each client writes in Joyce's journal. Some share words of wisdom and encouragement. Others leave their contact information in hopes that the next person in the chair will read about their situation and be able to help.
Joyce's generous sprit has caught on and has motivated others in the community to give what they can. Some clients are paying it forward by donating their own free services ranging from real estate consultations to baby-sitting to computer training. And in a matter of just one afternoon, friends and clients brought by $170 to contribute to the Burlington Community Food Pantry in Joyce's name.
Roberta Damelin, director of the pantry, was overwhelmed with gratitude. Damelin does her part to stretch every dollar that comes in, spending hours bargain shopping and clipping coupons, but with 50 new families to feed in the last six months, she's seen the need for donations grow in these tough times. "We don't turn people away," she says, "but we're overwhelmed."
For more information on the pantry, or to volunteer your time: http://peoplehelpingpeopleinc.org
DSpa by Dellaria Salon
http://www.dspabydellaria.com
Burlington Community Food Pantry
http://peoplehelpingpeopleinc.org
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
The talented folks at the Onion have put together a reminder of a time long ago -- a simpler time -- and it is must-viewing.
We are focusing more and more attention on the Red River -- it is crunch time for the folks who live along its banks -- and we received an email today from a viewer asking us to request prayers on the air -- it was further proof that the situation there is getting dire.
We'll have an update again tonight -- and all the rest of the day's news -- including an uplifting and terrific "Making A Difference" report sent to us by a Nightly News viewer in Massachusetts. We hope you can join us.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Please take a moment to read about my friend John Finn. John was the first Medal of Honor Recipient of WWII...in fact, when he performed his heroic action, it wasn't yet clear we were IN a World War. He stood at a gun and fired at incoming Japanese planes in Hawaii for two hours despite suffering over 20 wounds.
John turns 100 this July -- and with the help of a cane and some fellow Recipients, he rose from his wheelchair and stood at the President's side today at Arlington for the laying of a wreath.
AP photo
Later today, he will visit the White House for the first time. You see, John never got his Medal directly from the President, as many Recipients do. FDR never got to Hawaii, and John never got to Washington during the war -- so Admiral Chester Nimitz gave John the Medal on behalf of a grateful nation. Today President Obama will try to correct some of that history by hosting John in the Oval Office. Those of us lucky enough to know John are thrilled for him beyond our ability to express it. What a man, and what a day in his life.
We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Today's U.S. Census Bureau estimate tells us there are 306,073,676 people in our country. Of that number, there are 98 living recipients of the Medal of Honor. Of that number, 38 recipients are here in New York for tonight's gala annual dinner at the New York Stock Exchange.
We all gathered last night at a more casual dinner, and I've just returned from a meeting of our Medal of Honor Society Foundation Board at a Midtown hotel here in New York. Because President Obama called a news conference for tonight, and because of our live coverage and the need to do a special live feed for the West Coast at 9:30pm ET, I won't be able to attend tonight's gathering, and won't be able to perform my usual emcee duties. This is to publicly thank Lester Holt, who will so ably substitute for me tonight. He gets to be in the company of genuine heroes -- and they get to enjoy the company of my friend Lester, who is no stranger to that group, having served in this role before. In the meantime, we will compile tonight's broadcast and get ready for the news conference. We hope you can join us tonight.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
My thanks to David Gregory and Natalie Morales for allowing me to steal three days away with my family. I came back today to find a great item of interest to fellow court-watchers, and another item on aging and the things we use each day. I'm still getting back into the daily routine -- so off to the newsroom I go. You'll love tonight's Making A Difference report...after tonight, we will be able to boast that we are the only network evening newscast with a Medal of Honor Recipient as correspondent. We hope you can join us tonight.
By Mark Potter, NBC News Correspondent
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- For more than a year, the headlines from this historic city just south of El Paso, Texas, were horrifying. Drug-related violence, including torture and beheadings, had consumed the area, forcing many citizens, police and local officials to live in fear for their lives.
Last year alone, 1,607 people were killed in Juarez as rival Mexican drug cartels fought among themselves and against the authorities for control of the lucrative smuggling routes from Mexico to the United States. Last month, the average murder rate had climbed to as high as 10 a day. But a tipping point was reached recently when the brazen traffickers forced the Juarez police chief to resign. They did it by following through on a threat to kill a city officer every 48 hours until the chief stepped down. The assassins also posted signs in town saying the mayor was next.
That last threat is where the traffickers seem to have made a critical error. Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz (pictured below) wasn't backing down and wouldn't go away. Instead, he fought back.With his city spinning out of control, Mayor Ferriz called for help and got a quick response from the federal government in Mexico City. President Felipe Calderon ordered 5,000 military troops to head immediately for Juarez, reinforcing 2,000 more soldiers already in the area. Some 2,000 federal police officers were also sent in. Their first mission was to take over the local police departments, where corruption ran rampant and more than half of the 1,700-officer force had already been fired and replaced.
Photo by Carlos Rigau
Click here to watch Juarez Mayor Reyes Ferriz and University of Texas El Paso Professor Howard Campbell discuss the drug war being fought on the streets of Juarez, Mexico and the drastic measures being taken to stop it.
Today, the city is under virtual military occupation, but is also a much safer and quieter place. A retired military commander has taken over the police forces and his troops are everywhere, patrolling the streets day and night.
During a visit to Juarez last week, photographer Carlos Rigau and I met with the mayor at his heavily guarded office at city hall. We, along with his bodyguards, also watched as Mayor Reyes talked with residents at a city bus stop downtown. The feedback Reyes got from those commuters was that they felt more at ease now, freer to go about their business without fear, especially at night.
The numbers tell an interesting story. As noted earlier, the average murder rate has skyrocketed to 10 a day. But, according to the mayor, as soon as it was announced the troops were on their way, the killing rate plummeted to one a day, and after the soldiers arrived two weeks ago, there has hardly been any killing at all.
While there is much to celebrate about the violence being ended, there are also many concerns and questions to answer. First and foremost is the fact it took military force to bring order in a neighboring democracy. The situation in Juarez was so out of control and the corruption so widespread that civilian authorities and the criminal justice system had been rendered powerless.
Photo by Mark Potter
There are also worries that soldiers often don't make the best policemen, because their training is for a more brutal mission. Human rights activists are on alert.
Mayor Reyes promises the troops will be in Juarez for no more than a year, serving there only until the local police department can be retrained and doubled in size. He argues that it was absolutely necessary to regain control of the city and to reduce the violence--a mission that only the federal government and the military could have performed.
Today there is a calm in Juarez and a sense of relief. There are also grave concerns about how long it will remain quiet and about what happens when the troops finally pack up their weapons and leave town.
Watch Mark Potter's related Nightly News report, "Mexican government takes hold of Juarez."
By Colonel Jack Jacobs, NBC News military analyst
We have heard many unhappy stories about our wounded warriors, selfless Americans whose sacrifices have not always been matched by the medical care they deserve.
We already know about the young, disabled troops who must cope not only with their debilitating wounds but also with a frustrating bureaucracy. But on Monday evening's "Making a Difference," I will take us inside an extraordinary facility where our disabled troops don't have to deal with maddening paperwork--they spend all their time getting better.
The VA hospital in Augusta, Georgia, is unique: it is the only one in the country that has its own military unit, composed of wounded troops from Eisenhower Medical Center, the military hospital at nearby Fort Gordon. Rather than having to find their own way through the rehabilitation maze, these troops receive continuous care because of the seamless cooperation between the two hospitals.
Among others, you'll see Army Master Sergeant Morrissey, shot eight times with an AK-47 rifle, whose arms and legs were saved from amputation with the latest surgical techniques. But his rehabilitation was also the result of the intense rehab he received and the care of expert VA staff.
The bad news? There aren't more of these facilities around the country to treat the thousands who need it.
by Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Any cop will tell you there is no such thing as a "routine traffic stop." Whenever they approach a stopped car, they are approaching a stranger who may simply be their way home from work – but they may also be on their way home from committing an armed robbery. This weekend there was a stark reminder of what police officers put on the line everyday as they uphold their duty to protect us.
Three police officers are dead, and another was left brain dead following two shooting incidents in Oakland. It is a dark day not only in Oakland, but for men and women in law enforcement across the country, and many of us today mourn with them. NBC's George Lewis is working the story and will have the latest on tonight's program.
We'll also look ahead to the Obama administration's expected announcement this week on how it plans to unsaddle the nation's banks of all those bad loans. CNBC's Steve Liesman will join me tonight to explain how it will work, and how the government plans to protect taxpayers from more unpleasant surprises like those AIG executive bonuses.
Finally, I had the chance to speak with a remarkable young woman this morning on TODAY. She suffers from a rare disorder that is slowly robbing her of both her sight and hearing. Peter Alexander will have her story and explain what the disorder is, and how doctors are racing to develop a treatment. For Peter, this all hits extremely close to home – that woman is his sister. I hope you are as inspired by their story as I am.
Thanks for checking in. I'll see you later on NBC Nightly News.
Editor's note: Peter's report will air Sunday on NBC Nightly News.
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Rebecca and Peter Alexander |
By Peter Alexander, NBC correspondent
This is the most important story I've ever told. It's also the toughest. My sister, Rebecca, is smart, kind and hysterically funny -- truly, the most remarkable and impressive woman I've ever met. She works as a practicing psychotherapist and to make ends meet she teaches 15 spin classes a week. She does all of it despite a disability that's robbing her of her vision and her hearing all at once.
Stop for a second -- think about that! Doctors have told my sister she will likely go completely blind and deaf within the next 10 years. As my sister describes it, "It's like I am slowly being taken from the world around me -- like the end of an old Warner Brothers cartoon on TV where the picture becomes an increasingly smaller hole until it finally fades to black."
Rebecca, 30, has a rare genetic disorder called Usher syndrome, type III. It is among the cruelest of disorders -- progressively stealing normal life away from roughly 16,000 people nationwide. And, currently, there is no treatment or cure. Rebecca lives courageously each day with the hope that a cure will be found before it's too late. My family and many others are determined to help through our involvement with the following organizations.
CONTINUED >>
by Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Good afternoon – we have a wide-ranging newscast on tap tonight. We’ll be covering everything from new questions regarding the size of those AIG bonuses, to why suppliers of medical marijuana may have reason to breathe easier tonight, as well as the painful decision more Americans are making to part with a beloved pet in the face of their personal economic crisis.
We also have a pair of stories about the extremes people go to in search of a good time (or at least a great story to tell). In one, you'll meet members of the first tour group to visit Iraq (excluding Kurdistan) since the 2003 invasion. These are folks who go out of their way to visit places on the State Department's travel warning list. The other dangerous excursion we're profiling is a lot closer to home. It's about why more and more people are signing up for tours where you swim with sharks without protection. Jeff Rossen went along and came back with some amazing pictures which we'll show you tonight.
By Natalie Morales, NBC News anchor
Good evening, I'm Natalie Morales in for Brian, who continues to enjoy some time off.
On the broadcast tonight, fresh off his west coast trip, the President is calling for a new beginning and reaching out with diplomacy to Iran-- a nation once labeled by the Bush adminstration as part of the "Axis of Evil." In another historic move, the President broadcast his message to the Iranian people in a videotape subtitled in Farsi, urging both nations to come together, after decades of strained relations. Andrea Mitchell will report on the significance of this change in foreign policy and how the President's message is being received in Iran and the rest of the world.
Chuck Todd will also take a look ahead at what will be another pivotal week for the President as he continues to sell the country on his $787 billion economic stimulus plan with another prime time address on Tuesday in prime time (8 Eastern). After another week of outrage over the bonuses paid out to AIG executives, the president today said his program "will not be an excuse for waste and abuse." Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke also is speaking out today against perverse incentives and compensation packages given to executives at several ailing companies that received bailout money.
On that front we continue to dig deep into the current financial crisis and how we got here. Tom Costello reports on what has become ground zero for AIG's meltdown... which originated out of it's London office. There, selling unregulated insurance products exploded into millions of dollars for the company and several of its employees. We also have an exclusive look at what went wrong in the multi-trillion-dollar mortgage business and what some describe as the match that lit the fuse. A 15-year industry veteran and former senior executive is speaking out for the first time. Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen reports.
Another busy day here. Hope you'll join us for the broadcast tonight.
By David Gregory, NBC News anchor
Listening to the President speak this afternoon in California, he promised Americans that "brighter days are ahead." The President has had a lot to say about the economic crisis which poses political challenges to his presidency on numerous fronts. He has an appearance on Leno tonight and a press conference Tuesday. All that underscores the personal obligation he feels to carry the economic message for the administration. He may be his best advocate, but the sales pitch has become much more difficult in light of the outrage over AIG this week. That's where our White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie picks up the story tonight. We also have the latest on the AIG bonuses and efforts to disclose the identities of those receiving the big checks. From the outrage, to the pain and anxiety about this recession. It's captured in a web video from high school students who met the president about their fears and their question: is anyone listening. You will want to see our report from George Lewis. We hope to see you for Nightly News tonight.
By David Gregory, NBC News anchor
"The buck stops with me." That was not a quote from AIG CEO Edward Liddy, but from President Obama. The president, after admonishing congress weeks ago "not to govern in anger" has, himself, let his emotions show saying today he isn't interested in quelling the anger about AIG bonuses. There are multiple angles to this story and we are following them all tonight as I sit in for Brian: CEO Liddy's testimony on Capitol Hill, the question of who in the government knew about the bonuses and when and lastly what this means politically for the president. Mr. Obama has left the furor in the capital for California where he will stage a town hall meeting. He leaves behind a series questions about the effectiveness of his secretary of Treasury and what all of this does to his efforts to save the banking system which still needs a great deal of money. Has AIG used up what remained of the president's political capital? Steve Liesman also brings up to date on a dramatic step the Fed took today to help the housing market. And finally, would you go see a classic Broadway story...in spanish? We hope to see you later for Nightly News.
by NBC's Ann Curry
Major news about Darfur:
Andrea Mitchell is reporting: "NBC News has learned President Obama will announce tomorrow (Wednesday) that he is appointing a special representative for Sudan," to deal with Darfur.
He is Retired Air Force Major General Scott Gration. A senior administration official says that Gration is a close personal friend, who first met then-Senator Obama in 2006 and traveled with him to Chad on a tour of refugee camps. Gration is the son of missionaries who grew up in the Congo and whose family was evacuated several times during successive crises there. He campaigned actively for Obama - even after having been on the Pentagon's Jt Staff during the Bush administration. Gration was in the Pentagon on 9/11 - and later served on the planning staff for the Iraq war. Most recently, he was CEO of the NGO "Millenium Villages."
Okay that's one impressive resume. So is Gration the man for the job?
Appointing an envoy to Sudan is what Darfur activists, most notably George Clooney, have been calling on President Obama to do. And the president's decision to do so comes just as some were just beginning to publicly question how the campaign rhetoric about Darfur measures up to the administration's muted response to the spiraling crisis.
Recently, in reaction to his indictment for Crimes against Humanity in Darfur, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir kicked 13 international aid agencies out of Sudan. He also threatened to force all foreign humanitarian groups out within a year.
If you could see what the survivors of Darfur's war are now enduring even with humanitarian aid, it would stop you cold. There are more than a million of them still in Darfur, forced by rape and murder and the burning of their villages into sad, desperate camps, where they survive on 800 calories a day, without proper homes in more than 110 degree heat. And they are dying by the thousands under these conditions according to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor.
NBC News | Ann Curry
Photograph for Darfurian refugees taken inside a camp building.
Is it really possible a new horror could be unleashed on these suffering souls?
As U.S. Envoy to Sudan, Major General Scott Gration can become a lifeline for people who have waited six years for one.
Many outsiders who have struggled to understand how to stop Darfur's tragedy are distracted by all the moving parts. They focus on the chaos that comes when any war lasts this long, on the many rebel groups it has spawned, and on whether global warming is to blame.
But they often fail to see it clearly and compassionately through the eyes of its civilian victims, members of three black African tribes. If they could, outsiders would see a people feeling threatened with extinction. And they would hear that the way to stop this tragedy is to make protecting civilians priority one.
General, they, more than anyone, are wishing you success.
Click here to see more videos and photos of Ann Curry's reporting from Chad.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Wait til you see tonight's closing segment by veteran correspondent Roger O'Neil. It's about all the Making A Difference stories that we aired last week. Here's how this has come full circle: You sent us the story ideas, we covered them, and then many of you made contact and donated money to the people and organizations we profiled -- so now, everyone is doing better and able to help more people...because of people like you. How could my job be any more pleasing?
Newspapers from Australia to Zimbabwe to London have done stories on our idea (one London paper used the story to ask their own readers for similar "good news" stories during the economic downturn in the U.K.) and it's been startlingly successful. And another measure of its success is watching as similar segments show up on other broadcasts--nothing wrong with that--as long as those who are hurting get help. We hope you can join us tonight.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Two great things from the smart folks at the Onion: One on a tree, the other should be seen by all fans of You Tube.
To more serious matters: we received the following viewer email from Kathryn M. in Yuba City, CA:
"There is a teacher at my son's school who buys groceries for her homeless and hungry students. She doesn't make much money and I'm sure she spends more on her students than she does her own family. She says she just can't sleep at night knowing that her students are hungry and she knows they can't focus if they're hungry. Thank goodness for people like her."
Kathryn's email (which we will feature on the air tonight) reminded me of the story of young Lyndon Johnson, whose first paid job was as a teacher in Cotulla, Texas, north of the Mexican border. He was horrified to learn that many of his young students were arriving at school in the morning not having eaten breakfast. Folklore has it that Johnson brought food to the classroom, and quickly noted how much their energy improved. He later said that experience was the motivation behind a Federal program to supply breakfast in schools.
There is history in everything if you look hard enough.
My thanks to Ann Curry for allowing me to spend some time with my family on Friday. I hope you had a good weekend. We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent
There are a lot of small towns in America that depend on one or two main employers. Some might called 'em 'One Horse Towns'.
I, on the other hand, like to refer to them as this country's backbone. Tiny Humboldt, Kansas is one such place; a couple of thousand hard working residents who send their kids to school, pay their taxes and depend on B and W Trailer Hitches for their livelihood.
The company makes truck beds and trailer hitches; and in today's challenging economy B and W is struggling to make ends meet. After all, when folks stop buying RV's or trailers they aren't going to be needing trailer hitches. A simple scenario right? Depressed sales naturally lead to layoffs, which would lead to fewer people shopping in town, which would lead to local shops and restaurants closing, which would lead to another small town in the American Heartland going broke.
Joe Works, who owns B and W and whose claim to fame is a patented hitch with a hideable 'turnover ball', could see hard times on the horizon for his beloved home town. He also remembered tripping over one of the rusted out metal grates in the center of Humboldt. Repairing the grates with scrap metal from the factory was a no brainer, so he dispatched a few workers. Soon the idea grew. Why not dispatch employees to spruce up Humboldt in other ways, repair the local baseball diamonds or paint the churches?
Instead of laying his skilled and loyal employees off, Works continues to pay them to do the work of good neighbors. In tough times, Joe says he's taking an additional 10 percent financial hit as a result…but he is quick to add… "I did go through a lot of lean years. I know what it's like; and I think my employees appreciate the fact that they know that I know what it's like."
By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent
A friend summed it up when she said 'bartering is the new black.' Trading, swapping, however you describe it -- the exchange of goods and services has been around for ages, but it's seeing a tremendous resurgence during this recession. Log on to your local Craigslist and you'll find hundreds of people hoping to trade the skills they used to get a weekly paycheck for; a Houston pool cleaner offering to swap his services for dental work or a Chicago maid who says she'll clean the home of a plumber who can help her with water leaks.
Tonight, in our Nightly News series of reports on "Seeking Solutions", we'll look at the ways people are bartering during these tough times, and we'll talk to an expert who has advice for those new to the game. If you've got a skill or something you'd like to trade, here are some websites to help launch your effort.
www.craigslist.com
www.u-exchange.com
www.swaptree.com
www.favorpals.com
www.swapstyle.com
by Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Lately, weekends have become a time to decompress and recover from the litany of bad financial news; not this weekend. A stock market rally, positive retail sales numbers, an uptick in consumer confidence, and news that some big banks are back in the black, was plenty of reason to put just a little spring in our step. No one is calling it a "bottom" or a "recovery," but it beats the alternative.
Seizing the moment, President Obama today continued to bang the drums of optimism over the economy. He assured the world the U.S. remains a safe investment. The Chinese, who hold the biggest chunk of our debt, have recently expressed worries over their massive investments in American bonds. On our newscast tonight, NBC's John Yang will have more on the president's message. Also, CNBC’s Mary Thompson will put this week's good news into some perspective, and tell us what we should be focusing on for the week ahead.
President Obama met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva today, and while pressing issues regarding the economy and the environment were on the agenda, they also spoke about the fate of an 8-year-old boy who is the subject of an international custody dispute. NBC's Jeff Rossen is working that story for tonight's broadcast.
I hope you won't miss Kerry Sander's story this evening about an entire incoming class of medical students won't have to pay any tuition. Plus we'll tell you about the exploding controversy over one Girl Scout's plan to sell lots of Girl Scout cookies.
Thanks again for clicking on the Daily Nightly. I hope you'll watch the Saturday edition of NBC Nightly News.
By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor
Ann Curry in for Brian tonight when finally, what some see as a glimmer of hope from the stock markets, seems to be resonating.
Again today, US stocks did not plunge, ending up 54 points, after European and Asian stocks also mostly rose again, buoyed by positive US economic data.
What a difference a year can make in how we define good economic news.
Today the President's Chief Economic Advisor said fear is the enemy, reminding us of a President who led us through another troubled time. It is the latest in the administration's repeated assurances that it's engaged on the economy.
After all the ups and downs of this crazy ride, we seem to be like a ferris wheel about to roll again, hoping that the next part is fun, but sort of knowing that we will need courage.
On this Friday before the weekend we all hope will let us breathe a little deeper, we will hear the latest from the President, consider Bernie Madoff's new plea for bail, wonder if the 100 billion in stimulus money for America's schools might inspire our children to fix what we have not, find out how Barbara Bush is doing, and glimpse at a basketball game that lasted so long, neither side really cared who won.
Taken together these stories tell us something about what we stand for and against, and our wish from here.
By Jack Chesnutt, Producer, NBC News
(Denver, CO) In many ways, nothing has changed at the SAME Café in mid-town Denver. A week ago, we brought in the NBC News camera and recorded a typical Friday lunch rush- about 80 customers ate a dozen pizzas, several gallons of soup and a bushel of salad. We were there because a viewer had e-mailed Brian Williams that the couple who run the café, Brad and Libby Birky serve great food, but accept in return only what the customer can afford. 
Some pay nothing, while others, who still have jobs and paychecks pay something, sometime double or even triple what the meal would cost anywhere else in town. This Friday was just as busy as the last.
But, a week after we visited the SAME Café, some things have changed. As we left that day, I cautioned Libby that they would likely receive calls and e-mails about their café and the kindness they were sharing with others. I'll be the first to confess to under-estimating the response to come after our story aired. Within 24 hours, the café's web-site- www.soallmayeat.org was hit with over 4000 e-mails. The messages came from Maine, Alaska, California, and all points in between. They were overwhelmingly warm and supportive. An example: "It's good to know people still care and WILL make the effort to help one another." Libby says it's that kind of comment, "that makes this job worth doing!" She is trying to reply to every one.
The electronic mail almost overwhelmed the capacity of the web-site. Contributions poured in. The SAME Café is a non-profit operation, so they were already set up to accept contributions on-line. So far, the figure is about $13,000. The money is coming in small amounts, primarily from people who will never taste the pizza at the SAME cafe. Brad says they are "flooded" with offers from people from the Denver area to help prepare, cook, and clean up the café. More volunteers than could fit in the café. Brad isn’t turning anyone away, "We'll just schedule them in a few weeks down the road, when the rush is over."
After more than two years running the café, Brad knows "the rush" will slow down. The extra contributions received this week are huge, but they are temporary. They will help keep the café running when the e-mail traffic and on-line giving are not in the TV news spotlight.
Many of the regulars were back at the café today- Patrick and Janice, the homeless couple who come in three or four times a week. They couldn't afford a contribution, but Patrick helped clear dirty dishes. Aaron Bogart, the out-of-work drywall installer was there too. He urged me to keep spreading the word about the good works of Brad and Libby. No problem, Aaron! Between taking orders and stirring today's soup (Black Bean), Brad introduced me to some new customers, John Fylpaa with his wife, daughter and grand-kids. 
John is Dean of Physical Education at Long Beach City College in Southern California. He had seen the story of the café on Nightly News and took time during his visit to Denver to drop by, have lunch with the family, make a donation, and bring in a case of paper towels, bottles of dish soap, and dozens of cups and glasses. He said the Birkys are "doing important work." He's right.
Next week, next month, and most likely, next year the Birkys' goal for the SAME Café will not change: serving good food to hungry people.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
In case you missed today's writing, Margaret Carlson nails one and the New York Times' take on the newspaper business along with a guess as to the next to fall. There's also this for sky-watchers and for terrorist-watchers.
Enough reading -- time to express my continued thanks for the outpouring of good news stories. We asked, and you delivered. I see from the email traffic this week that many of you -- most of you -- are thoroughly enjoying the stories we've chosen to tell and the meaning behind these random...and regular acts of kindness.
We have another great one for you tonight...from Gloucester, Mass. We hope you can join us for our Thursday broadcast.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
So last night we told (and showed) the story of Abe Lincoln's watch -- we gave a detailed description of how, upon opening it for the first time yesterday, an inscription was found from 1861. Except for this: during our first feed, we showed a close-up that clearly displayed the year "1864". We at first wondered if it was an old-fashioned numeral "1" (old script sometimes features something resembling half of a "T"-like top to the numeral "1") but upon further checking, we found that it was a kind of pocket watch graffiti. The watch had been inscribed a second time (presumably when it was in for repairs again three years later) in 1864. Thanks to our sharp-eyed viewers (are there any other kind?) for focusing our attention on it.
We continue to focus attention on goodness in a bad economy. Tonight's installment of our Making A Difference series won't disappoint you.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
So they opened Abe Lincoln's pocket watch. It was the first pocket watch he ever owned, and folklore had it that the watch contained an inscription of some sort. You can read the full story here.
I'm quite sure historians were holding their breath. After all, think of what the inscription might have read:
"Who's my big boy? You know how to rock a log cabin!" -Yolanda
I've always found it fascinating to think of the "might have been's" in U.S. history.
We hope you can join us tonight.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Tonight we continue our series of reports this week on those who are doing good during bad economic times. I'm happy to report that the response to the series has created an enormous problem for us: we are overwhelmed with story ideas! We could dispatch 100 camera crews a day and never do all the good stories that our viewers have sent to us. So we're trying to cover the very best of them. We feel we can safely assure you that these reports won't stop after this week. For starters, next week, we'll go back and check up on the people we're profiling starting last night. Tonight's story is just wonderful...I shouldn't say more than that. The lesson of this series? We live in a great country. Americans are great people. Hard times bring that out.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Christopher Buckley, son of the legendary William F. Buckley and an extraordinarily gifted (and funny) writer, has aimed his formidable talent and wit at our current run of bad news of late. I couldn't help but admire his timing, considering that starting tonight, we're beginning a series of reports that our viewers suggested...based on the theory that the good being done by and between people (in most cases, total strangers) is an essential part of the story of this economic downturn. My father has often told me that on his street, in Framingham, Massachusetts at the height of the Great Depression, most of the families on his street (including his) had other families living with them. At least one man on the street took his own life rather than admit to his family that he had lost his job. These times demand creative solutions and the kindness of strangers. Our aim this week is to document both. Enjoy this from Chris Buckley and we hope you can join us for our Monday night broadcast.
By Jack Chesnutt, Producer, NBC News
It's a classic lunch-hour café scene.
A jam of mid-town Denver customers ordering soup, pizza and fruit. Café owner Brad Birky and his wife Libby are taking orders, serving up plates, and chatting with the regulars.
Our NBC News cameraman, Ray Farmer is squeezing through the crowd at the front counter - trying to get shots of the action - the food prep, order-taking, and smiles - all without getting soup or salad dressing on his lens. We're here to capture the scene, NOT because it's like many other Denver airy cafes with high-ceilings, wooden ceiling fans, and warm colors.
There are a handful of cafes which serve very good food, cooked each day with fresh ingredients (fresh-picked broccoli for the soup! The pizza dough made from scratch just an hour ago).
We are here because we heard from one of our viewers that the SAME Café is unique, it is the only café which has no prices on the menu. Customers pay what they can afford for the food.
The SAME Café's name? SAME? It stands for So All May Eat. And, they do. They eat well.
 |
| Ray Farmer/NBC News |
A table full of public-relations workers marvels at the pizza and makes a donation well beyond the price of a typical mid-town lunch. Nearby, out-of-a-job construction worker, Aaron Bogart is having some soup and fruit salad and finish up with a fresh-baked cookie. Bogart's donation will be a few hours work wiping down tables and cleaning up.
In the kitchen area, Dave Severino is rolling out pizza dough. He's usually a nurse, but he says because of a bureaucratic snag in child support payments, his nursing certificate is suspended. He has no paychecks coming in. With his nursing career is on hold, but in the café he's hard at work. His day's pay will be food, and a few things just as important: respect, the friendship of others in the café, and a sense that he is a part of this community.
It's at this point, I'd quote Brad and Libby Birky about why they started a café with such an unusual business model, but you should watch their story tonight on Nightly News, or see the story here on the Nightly News website. And, then you can check out the Birky's website: www.soallmayeat.org. From there it's up to you. You just might make a decision, based on what you can afford, and what is in your heart.
by Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Good afternoon from New York.
While the economic crisis is changing a great deal, not all of the changes are necessarily bad. On tonight’s program we’ll look at the growing trend of multi-generational families living under one roof. At one time in this country it was quite common to have the entire family – grandparents, parents and children – living together. Janet Shamlian will show us why such arrangements are making a rapid comeback.
George Lewis will tell us why even in these challenging times, many Americans are finding travel isn’t out of the question. With lots of empty seats and fare sales – including a $22 ticket on at least one route – travel is again becoming affordable, even for those on a tight budget.
With the president back from his weekend at Camp David, we'll look at his difficult week ahead as pressure mounts for solutions to the economy's many woes. Also, Peter Alexander will preview accused swindler Bernie Madoff's day in court this week where he is expected to admit to running an alleged $50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme. The big question there is, what does he get in return?
Thanks for checking in. I hope you will tune in later for NBC Nightly News.
by Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Less than a week ago, we in the Northeast were trudging through snow and single-digit wind chills. Today it's short-sleeve weather, and instead of grimaces, people walking around Manhattan today actually have smiles on their faces (myself included). A late winter warm-up is always welcome, but given all the bad news lately, this one offers an especially welcome diversion. We'll talk about the unusual weather on the broadcast tonight.
And with regard to that bad news – in this case Friday's unemployment numbers – President Obama has offered some candid comments about the economy on tape to our partners at the New York Times. NBC's John Yang will have that in his report this evening.
For most of us, the hurricane that devastated Galveston Island in Texas six months ago is far in the rear view mirror. But for those still there, it's almost as if it just happened. Our Charles Hadlock recently spent time in Galveston and has brought back some telling images of the island's troubled recovery.
By the way, don't forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you hit the sack tonight. So why do we put ourselves through this every year just for an extra hour of light? Peter Alexander will answer that question this evening for NBC Nightly News.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Today I read all -- and I mean all -- of the emails we have received over the past few days. The good, the bad and the ugly. And a word about the ugly: the mean ones are as mean and awful and personal as they get. The majority, I am happy to report, are constructive. People are depressed over the economy. That's obvious. We all are. Many viewers wish we could somehow "tilt" the coverage in a more upbeat direction. I'm afraid we can't do that where the daily drumbeat of economic and political news is concerned. What we can do is cover another aspect of this story: the kindness people are exhibiting toward others in this bad time. The random...or regular acts of kindness that are a part of daily life in this downturn. The problem is: they don't often get the attention that the bad news gets. Next week, we're going to try to fix that, by highlighting the good news each night.
We're off to prepare tonight's broadcast and then off for the weekend. Have a good weekend...I hope you can join us tonight...and we look forward to seeing you on Monday.
By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC Nightly News digital correspondent
When Debbie Butner's husband was recently laid off from his job of 14 years, she became the sole breadwinner of the family. That's happening in more and more families across the country, as men have been hit hard by this recession.
About 78 percent of job cuts since December 2007 have gone to men, who tend to work in heavily affected industries like construction and manufacturing. Women are more likely to work in more stable industries like education and healthcare.
Because of this imbalance, women now make up more than 49 percent of the workforce. If the trend continues, they could surpass men in the workforce for the
first time in U.S. history. Given the grim circumstances, it's hardly a milestone to celebrate.
Psychologically, many men have a very hard time being out of work. Men often believe that they are responsible for financially supporting the family. Being
out of work can effect their self-esteem and lead to feelings of depression.
Several other issues also surface when a woman suddenly becomes the sole breadwinner of the family. For one thing, women are still not paid equally for equal
work, earning about 80 cents to the dollar when compared to their male counterparts.
Women may also face additional challenges in balancing home and work. One study found that working women spend more time on childcare and household duties than unemployed men. Many women are certainly feeling the strain of working two shifts--one at work and one at home.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
To the people of Bozeman, Montana...a great town...we are hoping for the very best after news of today's huge explosion there. I was able to spot some familiar buildings as the first video arrived here in the building this afternoon. We're also hoping for the best for Mrs. Bush -- we all watched her husband, the former President, talk about the phone calls he's received from fellow Presidents. And we now learn Robin Williams will undergo the very same surgery after his hospitalization in Florida overnight. While this means I won't be seeing him on the current tour as I had hoped, we wish him a speedy recovery.
A heads-up for tonight's broadcast: something you'll want to see -- we re-visit the Olympic venues we came to know during the Beijing Games -- and what has happened to them since.
Now we begin work on tonight's broadcast -- we hope you can join us.
by Victor Limjoco, Nightly News associate producer
Strongsville, OH – Just 63 degrees. That's the temperature Linae Marek now keeps her thermostat set to. When she had a job, she would sometimes have it up to 68. But Linae lost her job in January, and joined millions of other unemployed Americans. Correspondent Jeff Rossen and I were there in Linae’s house, trying to capture the story of one unemployed worker.
And that morning, in a chilly 63-degree house, we noticed Linae using our camera light to keep her hands warm. As we huddled near that warm glow of the large Rifa light, that scene underscored Linae’s emotion: "It’s hard … it’s a whole restructuring of everything."
Linae was laid off as a courier for DHL, a job she had for 19 years. But recently, she knew that things were looking bleak in her suburban Cleveland town. "I would deliver to stores and see nobody in there," she says. "Christmas -- compared to last Christmas and the Christmas before, the business was nothing, absolutely nothing."
While she says she's grateful for all of her years with the company, her layoff has made her rethink every purchase, every day-to-day decision. There are so many decisions that we make throughout the day: What do I have for dinner? Can I get my car fixed? For Linae, she’s had to cut back on ALL spending. We tracked the ripple effect to the people that interact with Linae in this small suburban town: her dentist, hairstylist, mechanic, and the people who work at her favorite restaurant. All of them feel the effects.
CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We are always looking for good news, especially in this economy. Specifically, here's our request: nominate people who are doing good things where you live or work.. perhaps a random or regular act of kindness in a cruel economy. Please leave us a suggestion below.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
The Wall Street Journal actually takes on the incalculable today in a fascinating piece. Also today: I promised a Vietnam Veteran that I would deliver a greeting to the 118th Military Police Air National Guard Unit in Nashville, Tennessee. Welcome home. And a brilliant stroke of corporate public relations combined with public service: your local FedEx/Kinko's will offer free resume printing to all customers on March 10th...up to 25 copies, which should get you started.
We'll probably start again tonight with the economy. I'm carefully reading our viewer emails these days, and we are mindful that what we have to report each night is often mighty depressing. We try to deliver an accurate reflection of the current economic situation with great care and balance the good against the bad, on a nightly basis. A lot will be written about these times...and we're aware that we play a small role in the first draft, every day. We hope you can join us tonight...and we promise to leave you on an "up" note: a story about people who need wonderful companions...and get them from a great place. Please try to be with us.
By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS -- The widespread nature of the United States economic crisis can be seen clearly here at the Mercado San Jose Grocery and Bakery, particularly on Friday nights when paychecks are handed out in Little Rock's Hispanic community.
At a little cubicle by the front door, young men line up at the money transfer window to send cash home to their families in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and other countries where poverty is rampant.
These days, though, the lines are shorter than normal and the amounts of money wired home are much lower than they were last year. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 73 percent of Hispanics in the U.S. are reporting a drop in the money they can afford to send home now.
"Many foreign-born Hispanics seem to be hit harder by this economic downturn than native-born Hispanics or the general U.S. population," said Mark Lopez, the associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center.
"They're the ones that have borne the large part of the job loss in this downturn and they're the ones that seem to be most at risk for losing their homes to foreclosure," he said.
Store manager Saul Gutierrez agrees that the number of foreign transactions from workers to their families is way down. "I would say about 50-55 percent," he said. "There's weeks where it's even more than 60 percent, real slow, extremely slow."
Mexican immigrant Moises Montegron, who struggles to find work in construction, said he used to send money home four times a month, but now it's down to just twice a month.
Roberto Ramirez, also from Mexico, has an ever worse situation. When construction jobs were more plentiful, he said, he would send money to his family as often as five times monthly. Now, with jobs scarce, he can barely afford a once a month payment.
For the foreign-born workers who are separated from their families, the inability to earn a sufficient wage to help their loved ones is both an economic and an emotional issue.
"Suddenly people are not capable to fulfill that promise," said Maura Lozano-Yancy, the publisher of Hola Arkansas, a regional bilingual newspaper. "It's pretty hard to know that you cannot send money to somebody that (needs)it."
Recent news reports that fewer Hispanics may be migrating to the United States and some are even returning to their home countries, because of the U.S. economic crisis, are drawing attention here in Little Rock, where signs of these trends are, indeed, being seen.
Ignacio Alvarez, the owner of La Hacienda, a Mexican restaurant, said he knows of two local families returning to Mexico recently.
Workers who lose their jobs in the U.S. often face pressure to return home, Alvarez said. "When the family is in Mexico or Guatemala, they say, well, what are you doing there, just come back and we can do something here."
Amid the passionate argument over the estimated 8.5 million Hispanics in the United States illegally taking jobs away from American citizens there's another angle to consider:
Foreign-born Hispanics in the U.S. working legally are also hurting, along their extended families south of the border.
Friday nights at the money transfer window tell that story.
By Robert Bazell, NBC News chief science correspondent
Before she died almost more than eight years ago my mother got her care as a Medicare supplement from Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. Much of her treatment was fantastic and compassionate. At other times it was awful. I start this way because when it comes to health care, most people want to tell personal anecdotes. Most of us view health care through the prism of our own and our loved one’s experiences.
I’m sure we will hear from many of you who had experiences with Kaiser that were either good or bad. But the reason we are doing the story about Kaiser tonight is not to promote Kaiser itself. But rather to point out this model is very likely part of our medical future. In Kaiser 14,000 doctors, working for salary in a giant partnership, along 160,00 employees in 32 hospitals and 421 clinics deliver care to some 8.6 million people (the vast majority in California). You can see more details here: (http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/aboutkp/fastfacts.html) There are other similar programs such as Puget Sound Health Partners. (http://www.ourpshp.com/)
What makes these programs inviting for health reformers is that it is far easier to control costs in a system where doctors work for a salary and have no financial incentives to order extra tests or make more appointments. They also have great electronic medical records that makes systemic care among primary doctors, specialists, labs and pharmacies much easier. In addition it is easier to persuade the doctors to practice medicine based on the best scientific evidence, not their intuition. It may not be the only answer, but it is an answer.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Okay here we go:
What are they driving in Iraq these days? (Actually I knew this one because a friend in the military told me)
The Apple ban in the Gates household
And a moment I witnessed on the incoming video pool feed and noted at the time -- superbly synopsized by Nia-Malika Henderson in Politico. My only fear is that it will spawn a lot of Margaret Mead-esque reporting about some newly-discovered code.
On the news front: we have a simply amazing NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll to debut on the broadcast tonight. It's one of many important stories we are covering tonight, and we hope you'll join us.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Our sampling of the must-read, best writing we've found today: includes an obituary and an examination of the operating style of the new President and some tough-love questions for an entire American generation.
And a word here about a broadcasting legend who passed away this weekend. During the part of my life that I spent in Kansas and Missouri, I found that only two things could bring life to a halt: a tornado siren...and the voice of Paul Harvey over the radio. Listening to his mid-day newscast was a part of daily life across vast stretches of this country. He reported the news -- his first love -- and found a way to make us feel good. He was an institution, and for good reason. I just hope he didn't take an entire era with him when he left us.
I hope you can join us for our broadcast tonight, kicking off a special week.
By Maria Alcon, Nightly News producer
North Charleston, SC -- I moved to New York City when I was eleven years old knowing very little English. "Table," "I am," "chair" and "How do you do?" were pretty much the extent of my vocabulary. I spent the first few months of middle school feeling like I was deaf and mute, desperate to know what was being said around me.
So when I began to do research for the "We the People" series, I knew I wanted to focus on education. For our opening story, I visited Midland Park Elementary School in North Charleston, South Carolina, where the Latino population has shot from 5 percent to 48 percent of the total population in just ten years--a stark contrast to 1986, when I was one of only three hispanic kids in my class (thankfully, I found refuge with a student from Argentina who helped me understand the homework assignments and the gist of what was being discussed). There was no special program for me back then, I just had to work extra hard. I often spent afternoons by myself in the library reading children's books, because that was the only reading material I could understand. Within six months, I was getting As in all of my English classes. For me, it was a matter of survival.
So when I saw the kids at Midland Park, I knew that at some point, they had felt the same way--lost and confused...wanting to belong and understand the language. I was happy to see that at Midland Park Elementary, kids don't have to strive alone anymore. There are teachers who speak Spanish, a translator in school to help their parents, too, and a culture where kids are not penalized for speaking another language.
I've always said Latinos are not a monolithic culture, but the one thing that binds us all is the fact that we all came here to work hard and get a better education...just like the immigrants before us. We are just looking for opportunity; the rest is up to us.
Click here to watch Maria's report, "Helping Latinos make the grade"
By Robert Bazell, NBC News chief science correspondent
There is an entire world of night workers. Police, fire fighters, hospital workers, hotel clerks people who clean many of the buildings where we work work, repair the tracks on the New York City subway and other transit operations, and maintain roads and bridges. It becomes an almost endless list. According to the U.S. Department of Labor 8.6 million Americans perform shift work.
Scientists have long known that night shift workers are at higher risk for heart disease, diabetes and other health problems. The study we cover today (you can read a summary here http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0808180106) from researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and published in the Proceeds of the National Academy of Sciences was one of the first to look at the reasons for these dangers. In the sleep lab they put volunteers into “circadian misalignment”, a fancy term for how our body gets messed up by not sleeping when most other people do. They found serious metabolic and hormonal changes that set in within a few days.
There is no simple solution for dealing with the danger. All of us who have worked the night shift know that you have difficulty maintaining a constant schedule because you want to see family and friends on your days off. And we know that our internal body clock is set by light. So when a person leaves a night shift and commutes home they almost always get hit by a blast of light that tells the body it is time to get up, not go to sleep.
By Lee Cowan, NBC News correspondent
Waukesha, WI -- As is often the case in television - there simply isn't room for everything, but what we left out of our report on Hispanic population growth tonight, is in part due to what Margaret Ramirez was reluctant to tell us.
At 76 years old - she is as independent as she is fiercely proud. When she describes her family's trek from the sweltering plains of Texas to the frigid climes of Wisconsin, she glosses over the tough parts. She'd rather not talk about her struggle to find jobs. She'd rather not talk about having to live in a crowded shack (actually a chicken coop her son told us.) She doesn't like to talk about having to forgo school for a time while she and her parents were working in the fields. And she certainly doesn't want to talk about the racism and discrimination that were her constant companions along the way.
In fact, she doesn't like to talk about obstacles at all. What she will say, and say proudly, is that she, like other Latinos at the time, never asked for anything. Not once. And they kept their culture in tact.
That sums up the Ramirez family. Good fortune has followed them to be sure. And they are the first to recognize theirs has a happy ending, while so many other Hispanic families continue to struggle, in Wisconsin and elsewhere. But they are proof that hard work, sacrifice, and family traditions, can be the armor against the obstacles.
It's not that Margaret came to Wisconsin with nothing. She came brimming with optimism, which after 76 years grew into appreciation. And that, more than anything, is what she has passed down from one generation to the next.
Watch Lee Cowan's report on Nightly News Monday.
Click here to learn more about the series.
By Natalie Morales, NBC News correspondent
Hello all. I'm Natalie Morales in for Lester Holt this evening. We've got a lot going on today beginning with the snowstorm. A Nor'easter is now walloping much of the East Coast. Places like Alabama and Tennessee haven't seen the likes of this kind of snow storm in about a decade. While it's paralyzing some highways, causing plenty of travel nightmares and wreaking havoc, it’s a well-timed weekend storm that could extend into an extra snow day for kids who don’t often get to play in the white stuff.
A search is now underway in St. Petersburg, Florida, for four missing boaters including two NFL players. Victor "Marquis" Cooper, a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders, and Corey Smith, defensive end for the Detroit Lions did not return from their fishing trip last night and the Coast Guard has launched an intense search along Clearwater Pass.
Perhaps my favorite story of the night: It’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” meets “American Idol,” meets the Pittsburgh Pirates? Huh? Peter Alexander reports tonight on two young men from India who have never played baseball in their lives, but now, are learning to throw curve balls at Spring Training with the Pittsburgh Pirates. How did they get there? In an American Idol-like contest, well, Indian Idol, but instead of singing, they were throwing. Their nearly 90 mph fastballs were good enough to give them a shot at the Major Leagues playing with the Pirates. It's a great story, much like “Slumdog,” on a field of dreams.
I hope you'll join us this evening.
