Regarding the on-going story about Henry Gates, the caller on the 911 tapes said there were two men barging into the residence.  Why is there no further mention of the second man?  Did he leave before the police arrived?  Was he present?

What happened to the caller, did she stay on scene until the police arrived?  What about the neighbor person who witnessed the incident and had the other person call the police - was she present?  Were both women present or did one/both leave prior to the police arrival?

When the police show up in most neighborhoods the neighbors come out to watch - just look at any local newscasts involving police and neighborhoods - they all want to be on TV with their version of what happened.  Where were all the neighbors and their statements?

Too many questions and there doesn't seem to be any followup.

Brian,
Great broadcast tonight. As for your story about texting while driving...I was struck by a car as a pedistrian while the driver was on her cell phone. For almost two years now, I have been trying to get to speak before our state general assembly to try to have a no cell phone while driving law passed. (To no avail!!) Some won't even return my calls. Yes, texting is very distracting to drivers, but so is cell phone use. If you can't use a cell phone while driving - then you would be unable to text. If anyone knew what I have gone through these past 2 years, it might give them pause before they use their cell phone and drive. It is extremely distracting and very dangerous. Furthermore, no one is that important that whether it be a text message or a voicemail it can't be returned once you reach your destination. It makes me crazy!! I will, however, give up.

Good Evening Mr.Williams, Great to see you this evening! Another fine broadcast this evening as always. I really enjoyed the link to the Beloit College list, it was interesting to see how many things these college students will have never dealt with in their lifetime. We have come a long way in technology and media. On another note it must have been scary to see the almost tornadic winds in New York. I hope it is a normal hot summer month in August along your beloved Jersey Shore too!
Now on to the broadcast. First of all the report by Savannah Guthrie concerning the passing of a healthcare bill which seems it is not going to meet the August deadline. At least the committees are meeting and going over everything page by page. And the Senate is working out a deal to control costs of the bill. It is a long and lengthy process and hopefully there wil be a healthcare bill that is affordable. Time will tell.
The report by Mr.Lewis about summer camps closing sue to swime flu is very disturbing. It is terrible to learn how many children at the summer camps became ill and had to be quarantined. The video is very important to getting the message out to children and their parents. Always washing ones hands and keeping things sanititized is great. Hopefully, when school begins there will be no outbreaks of illness.

The piece by Michelle Kosinkski about people driving and texting on their cellphones was frightening. This should never be done while driving and it shows by the number of serious accidents with people hurt or lives lost. It is good 14 States ban texting while driving because one should be paying attention to the road and not taking ones eyes off of it. Any texting can wait.
Scary to see the bending of the Manhattan Bridge everytime the subway would come through the bottom level. Extremely disturbing for commuters on the bridge.

The "Making A Difference" segment by Mr.Almaguer about "Operation Purple" was very touching and moving. All those children at the camp with parents in the military fighting overseas are definitely enjoying the environmentand activities, but also they have worry of the moms and dads. Seeing them swimming and rope climbing was nice and the military day was good too. They painted their faces and climbed into humvees. But they all have a battle with worry and they have eachother as a great bond. It brings tears to hear them speak about their parents. I hope someday all the parents can come home very soon.
Very nice piece!

Thank You for the broadcast Mr.Williams. Peace to You and to All!

Lots of Love to Laurel,Jackie,Stephanie,Claudia,Celine,Anna,Lori,Cary and Matt!
Be Well Always!
Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard!
XOXO
 

Re: Text messaging behind the wheel- Tonight's Broadcast.

Dear Mr. Williams,
 
Those that are addicted to palm pilots, blackberries, or PDAs, will continue to text message behind the wheel because...well...because they can.  

Making texting illegal behind the wheel will help reduce accidents and the loss of life - but only with new laws that are enforced with the fines and penalties normally reserved for drunk drivers.

However, wouldn't improvement also be seen if changes in the technology made it impossible to transmit or receive text while these handheld devices are in motion?

Another possibility would be to install signal blocking devices as standard equipment in newer vehicles where all but emergency communications are prevented from being transmitted.

Would it be worthwhile for insurance companies, technology providers, and our elected officials to join together to tackle this challenge?

Thanks in advance for your time and talents.  Here's hoping that Nature delivers NYC some great summer weather.  You're long overdue.

Best regards,

 PJR

Too bad that there will not be a health care plan voted on by the August recess, but for NBC this represents your BIG CHANCE. For the next several weeks (during the slow news month of August) you can run a series of in-depth segments on health care. Not the politics of who's up and who's down, but a real analysis of the issues, the pros and cons, and the tradeoffs. The slow progress of congress has provided you with a great opportunity to really analyze this important issue. We would all greatly appreciate it.

HI Brian

So glad you're back. You were missed on Friday. I hope you and your family had a great long weekend. Sorry your weather has been so bad lately. Here in California we had another hot weekend.

Thanks so much for the terrifc blog and link today.  It was so much fun reading the list and I did find my self saying, I remember that.  Black & white TV, floppy discs, daisy wheel printers, real hand written letters, etc.  This was such fun to read and remember.

Your broadcast was great as ususal.  Astonishing report on obesity in this Country and what it is costing us, and not only in lives but in money.  This is an issue that causes great concern.  34% of adults and 17% of kids are struggling with obesity and the serious illnesses that it can cause is staggering.  We all need to do something to turn our life styles around like William did.  And yes, it will take a whole family to join in and show their children the right way to looes the weight.  The mindset of take out, fast food, video games, and no exercise that our children, and some adults, think they need in order to survive needs to be changed.  President Clinton was right, unless something is done we will be the ones paying for this.  

It is scary that the Swine Flu is still running rampid in this Country.  Summers being lost to kids because camps have to close due to the outbreaks.  We all need to do everything possible to fight this before we get hit with a new strain in the Fall.

I could not believe what I heard this morning that there was a Senator that wanted to put a measure on the floor that the President needs to be made to apologize for his remarks.  This is the President of the United States, how crazy is this. I think Congress has better things to discuss than this. I agree with with those speaking tonight on your report.  It's over and done with and we need to move one.  

Palin is up to something, I'm not sure just what, but something.  She may be making her start at running for President again, which would be horrible.  It's hard to believe that she has such strong support, and admiration from people, as Buchannan said, since she dumped on her state. Her attack on Hollywood and the news media was way off base and I am sure did not gain any supports for her. How do you just quit being Govenor in the middle of your term?? I think Alaska is better off now that she is gone.  It will be very interesting to see what she does next.  

I agree totally that texting while driving is dreadful.  With all the things to watch for while driving, texting only causes more risk to your life and that of others.  It amazes me when I hear some of our friends say they just can be without their cell and testing.  What did we ever do in those "OLD DAYS" when we did not have cell phones or texsting was not in existence?  Somehow we made it through each day.

Your "Making A Differemce" was so touching.  How wonderful to see that someone has thought of the many, many kids who have parents in the War and what it has done to them.  The Purple Camps are amazing for what they offer these kids.  They not only get to have a blast at camp but they ware with kids that are going through the same pains and stress that they are.  Hearing that young boy say that he worries if his dad is alive just broke my heart.  A boy his age having this kind of stress and fears is just so unfair.  Giving these kids a chance to be able to talk it out with someone who is going through the same thing they are and helping them cope, while having fun just being kids is such a wonderful gift.  You did it again, a great happy story to end your broadcast.

Glad you're back.  I hope the rest of your evening is great.  Will be looking forward ot your blog and broadcast tomorrow.

Hi, Brian. Good (late) evening to you.

I hope you, and all of my fellow readers and viewers had a great weekend. It's great to have you back. As much as I look forward to seeing you those Friday nights, I'm always glad to see you getting a break every once in a while.

I enjoyed reading the peice from wired.com. My brother subscribes to that magazine, and I only recently started reading it. They're really funny, and always seem to have some interesting things to read. I thought it was pretty sad to see all of the things that my generation's future kids will probably know nothing about. I plan to teach them all about certain things from the past. Having history mean so much to me, I'll definitely be their first history teacher. And since I use vinyl at my age, I'll probably still be using it years from now. There's something special about it, especially on a nice rainy evening. We're expected to get a whole lot of rain all week, and as I always say, that means it's time to drop in the Bob Dylan records and turn it up!

The weather has been very strange for New York all summer hasn't it? I'm very shocked to hear that you spotted funnel clouds, especially more than one. I hope that's all you'll see close to a tornado. As for temperature, it was very humid here in Roanoke today...which always irritates the allergies.


Thank you for starting this week with us. Great broadcast as usual. The Making A Difference report was wonderful. It's so great to see children with families in service bonding with eachother, and helping one another through something I could not even imagine. It was so true when said that the children are also serving, along with their mother, father, brother or sister. They also need a place in our prayers.

While out at Barnes and Noble today, I picked up Walter Cronkite's memoir published in 1996, "A Reporter's Life", and Tim Russert's "Big Russ & Me". Two of the greatest men to ever be in the business of journalism. I simply can't wait to read both of them. If there is anything I need to learn about life, and life in journalism, the two of them are who I must turn to.

Have a great night, take care, and see you tomorrow!
-Cary

It's not easy to see normal things everywhere especially in nature. This makes difficalt for people to stay calm. Let's try to do 'back to the basic' in ourselves and then expect normal nature.

I just read that while reporting from Honduras, Kerry Sanders and Dwaine Scott were both, apparently accidentally, tear-gassed. According to Dwaine, "A Honduran soldier accidentally dropped a Tear-Gas canister on the ground near us."

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/27/2011024.aspx

Poor guys...

Where did the Nightly News producers find the nerve to waste two-and-a-half minutes of valuable news time last Saturday on a ridiculous story about people dancing at a wedding?  This made the skateboarding bulldogs story from last January look like Peabody material.  And as a matter of fact, as long as we're on the subject, where do the producers get the nerve to waste up to half of every broadcast on superfluous, sometimes silly, non-news items?  Is there so little actual news going on in this country and around the world that they can devote so much time each night to stories with no news value?  Don't the producers feel some sort of obligation to report real news?  Doesn't it bother them that although they have a mere 22 minutes a night to inform us, they still find time to tell us about people in London who like to slow things down or about the pain of wearing high-heeled shoes?  It's absolutely shameful.

I laughed so hard I almost choked on my wad of Bazooka gum when I heard Brian Williams offer this teaser at the top of Monday's broadcast: "Sarah Palin's parting shot and when we might hear from her again."  Is he kidding me?  Apparently, we'll be hearing from Palin quite a bit on Nightly News.  We've already seen Palin stories for four straight days, even when there's nothing new to report.  Why?  The answer is obvious.  More than anything else, the Nightly News producers are concerned with attracting viewers so they can achieve the highest ratings and charge the highest ad rates.  Therefore, the producers make a point of airing stories based not on their news value, but based on their ability to attract viewers.  By using focus groups, google searches, Q score testing and other evaluation tools, the NBC News research department is constantly determining which subjects and stories the viewers want to see.  Obviously, the researchers have informed the producers that Sarah Palin tests very high in viewer interest.  So naturally, the producers make a point of showing plenty of Sarah Palin stories.  That's why it was so funny to hear Brian suggest that Nightly News airs Palin stories only when there is some newsworthy reason for doing so.  Of course, nothing happens in a vacuum.  It's true that Nightly News features Palin frequently because she's popular, but it's also true that part of the reason she's popular is because Nightly News features her so frequently.  So which comes first--the chicken or the egg?

Remember "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"?  At one point, when the viewer interest was high, it was airing four nights a week in prime time.  But as soon as interest waned, the show was cancelled.  That's how Nightly News determines which stories to air.  Whatever is popular becomes the news (and whatever is news becomes popular).  Of course, that method may be acceptable for programming a game show, but it is certainly not appropriate for prioritizing a news broadcast.  

The same is true of the Henry Louis Gates/Cambridge Police Department racial profiling case.  The story will remain prominent on Nightly News as long as the researchers determine that there is high viewer interest.  On Saturday, Nightly News ran two stories (totalling more than five minutes) on the Prof. Gates/Sgt. Crowley situation.  And Nightly News continued to run stories on the subject on Sunday and Monday.  Sunday's story about the Cambridge Police Department ended with the camera following a police car as it rode down the street.  But there was one problem.  The police car was from the Somerville Police Department, not the Cambridge Police Department.  Somerville is a separate and distinct city from Cambridge and had absolutely no connection with the incident involving Prof. Gates.  So why did Nightly News show a Somerville Police car?  I guess as far as the producers are concerned, all police cars look alike.  Clearly, the Nightly News producers are guilty of automotive profiling.

Hi Brian,

Welcome back and I hope had a nice few days off. I was able to catch you broadcast last night, and as always, it was great.

You know, I wish Sarah Palin would just do her thing behind the scenes. She wants and needs the media no matter what she says. And some in the media give her a hard time because she doesn't make any sense unless somone writes a speech for her. It's as if she's pulling stuff out of a hat. It's scary to think that people want her to run for president. I know she can make money for herself and the republicans,and God don't you know they need some kind of leadership...anyway.

Now that we've heard the 911 tapes from the Gates case, things aren't as black and white. The caller wasn't being a racist. But Prof. Gates shouldn't have been arrested. It's a complex situation like all racial matters. People are complex anyway and  sometimes racial situations have a way of dividing us even further. Everyone, no matter the ethnic group, age,lifestyle has some type of "partiality", meaning that we all could do better, in my humble opinion.

The "making a Diffenece" segment was terrific as always. The Operation Purple Camp is exactly what the children of military familes need. I wish there was something like that for my nephews. My brother has been been in Bosnia, and now in Iraq twice. He was a soldier befoer my nephews were born. That's all they know.

Brian, I hope you've had a great start to a new week and I'll see you tonight. Your black pinstriped suit was beautiful.

Vicki

P.S. I hope Jackie's O.K.

Brian

A new book out about Barack Hussein Obama called "Culture of Corruption."

And it's the truth.

Everybody thought change was just getting away from Bush but it was and is the complete changing of the way we live, the re-interpretation of the Constitution and the Bill if Rights and the reformation of health care ... as long as it's done Obama's way.

Obama is out to control our lives and people have already taken to the streets about redistribution of our wealth, out of control spending and over-taxation and too many Americans just sit back and literally watch Obama's hijacking of America.

Barack told us plain and simple what he was up to and we all will pay a hefty price ... our freedom.

Hi, Brian;

With regard to this gates/Crawley mess may i comment as a former peace officer that regardless of who started the dialogue and who said what to whom the police officer should have been the bigger man and walked away.As a citizen the professor is entitled to act in any way he chooses so long as it isn't illegal. If every cop arreste every person who cussed, insulted, or just ticked the cop off can you imagine the jail population? It comes with the territory and if that sergeant doesn't realize this or simply cannot control his anger then he should not be teaching classes in racial profiling or any other. In fact he should attend a class where correct responses can be revised.
I have noticed as I suspect have many others that our good President is not reaching the media like he used to, at least not in press conferences. Yet when he is holding a town hall meeting the old Obame from the campaign trail resurfaces with all the energy and charisma of the candidate we knew and loved. The way he explained how the stimuls package was being distributed today was masterly. In fact he should take out another hour of prime time and deliver that speech to the nation. Perhaps his next press conference should be held in a town hall somewhere because he seems far more comfortable in that envoirement and being so close to the American people he so clearly loves.

regards

Stu

It is extremely SAD that we live in a society in which the chiefest among racists (e.g., Beck and Limbaugh) have dared to label President Obama a racist. Indeed, the President's remarks about the Cambridge incident may have been inappropriate, but given more careful examination, his was what can best be described as a "kneejerk" reaction in response to an incident involving somone he deeply respects and admires. How many others in our world have not had a similar experience, whether they voiced their thoughts or not. Even sadder, it appears that in 2009, too many Americans continue to gloss over the fact that the most poisonous snake in our world (racism) continues to take its toll on our society. When we look back, we can clearly see that the snake took a nap (late 50s to mid 80s) but remained largely unaffected and confinues to rear its ugly head again and again in the 21st century. There remains actual attitude of supremacy among many Anglo-Americans over blacks, hispanics, and other minority groups. Even though there may occasional polls that tend to paint a different picture, the problem of inadequate polling (not a large enough sample) fails to paint an accurate/real-tiime picture. A more careful look at workplaces (large and small) as well as various neighborhoods will surely yield different results.

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