September 2009 - Posts
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
While both Obamas prepare to lobby in Copenhagen for the 2016 Olympics in Chicago, the city itself is almost evenly split over hosting the games. Chicago was this week in the news for a stomach-turning act of violence, and today I link to a thoughtful and edgy and provocative essay on our sister (or brother) website theGrio.com—not everyone will agree with its conclusion, but it will make people think.
Tom Friedman also wrote a thought-provoking piece in today's New York Times.
As we cover the twin disasters around the Pacific Rim, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people affected.
We hope you can join us here tonight.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
When I first read it, I realized the column not only spoke to me, but echoed a theme I've hammered on often...to the point of driving family and friends crazy in recent years. Then last night, on the Daily Beast -- I actually read an item by Matt Damon, who made special mention of the David Brooks column in the New York Times -- about how our times have changed. It reminded me that I hadn't done the same, despite having been moved by Brooks. The central point of the Brooks column may be hard to take, and it may say some unpleasant things about what...and who...we've become. It is worth a read. Forward it to a friend.
I hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
Spotted on a church sign on the lawn outside a Baptist church in North Carolina this past weekend: SIGN OUT OF ORDER. COME INSIDE FOR MESSAGE. They get points for creativity.
Those of you looking for new standards of measurement for the economy might be interested in this piece in TIME. It's not quite the CPI, but it's interesting. We'll also take a moment, as we did on last night's broadcast, to remember William Safire. Bill was a panelist on several "Meet The Press" broadcasts that I hosted, as we used to say, "for the vacationing Tim Russert." Like the rest of us, he was an enormous fan of Tim's, and I held him in high regard as a fellow college drop-out. We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent
Route 231 is just off Interstate 40, about a half-hour outside Nashville. And like clockwork, the bus bound for Wilson Central High stops on the busy road every school morning at 7:10. It seems an unlikely spot to be picking up children until you see the campers and tents set up just off the road.
What happens when moms and dad lose their jobs and can't make the mortgage? Tough times call for creative solutions and we found one of them in central Tennessee. That's where families who used to own homes in suburbs near the campground are now living in it. It's a step toward stability, an effort to keep their kids in the same schools as they try to regain financial footing.
You'll find tricycles and strollers on Timberline's pebbled roads, and the campground office is stocked with school supplies -- free to any child in need. For now, it's home...and one with a silver lining at that. These families who've lost so much financially say they've found something money can't buy; a neighborhood of people who care.
CONTINUED >>
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
It's been an unsettling couple of days--from Iran's admission it has a secret nuclear facility under construction and suspicions in the West that it may be for weapons production--to a series of unrelated terror plots here at home.
Tonight we'll be reporting on developments from both fronts, including President Obama's new message to Iran, and new pieces of a plot a terror suspect may have been planning to unleash in New York city.
Plenty of American couples have to turned to in-vitro fertilization in order to have children, but two stories in the news are raising serious questions about how frozen embryos are handled. Tonight we'll tell you about a Louisiana clinic that has apparently mixed up several embryos. It follows on the heels of an Ohio woman who was accidentally implanted with another couples' embryo.
Thanks for checking in. I hope you will join us for NBC Nightly News.
By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor
Editor's note: The following are notes from today's press conference with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.
AC: President Obama said, "The size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peace program." How do you explain the size and configuration of this facility?
Ahmadinejad: "I don't think Mr. Obama is a nuclear expert. We have to leave it to the IAEA."
AC: In terms of the size of the U.S. facility, how about the size of that?
Ahmadinejad: "I haven't hear Mr. Obama say this. I have to take a look and think about it."
On Obama's promise of change:
Ahmadinejad:"Previous administrations did not respect other governments...but I think..if change is made, things will become much better...Good relations are in everyone's best interest."
Asked to respond to Israel's Netanyahu's showing of a map of Auchwitz before the UN General Assembly:
Ahmadinejad: "We principally don't recognize them."
Asked if Iran has any other nuclear facilities that it has not revealed.
Ahmadinejad: (Pause) "We are operating.. within the framework of the IAEA. There are rules and regulations. We follow the law...We did something well beyond what was required....This is a very ordinary facility and is only in its beginning stages. It is not a secret facility."
Ahmadinejad: (Directing his comments to Obama) "What business of it for you to tell us what do do? You are just another member state like any other state."
"This is a mistake (referring to comments from Obama, Sarkozy, Brown). They will be sorry."
Ahmadinejad also said, this is not how you enter negotiations, "this is not nice."
Ahmadinejad says he is "surprised" by President Obama's statements today.
He said under IAEA rules, you must notify the world six months before you intend to begin using the facility. He said he notified IAEA ahead of time, adding "We still have another year left."
"What we did was completely legal," he said. "The IAEA will come and take a look, this is nothing new."
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
As I was departing on USAir (actually operated by Republic) Regional Jet Service to Pittsburgh this morning, I noticed the young woman in the TSA line in front of me. She was wearing flip-flops but had a pair of combat boots in her carry-on tote bag. As she placed her laptop in the plastic bin, I noticed the bumper sticker she had affixed to the lid. It read, "ANARCHY." And I thought: How brilliant...she's a protest commuter! She's able, conceivably, to wake up in New York, fly to Pittsburgh, protest against the G-20, and be home in time for Leno! It’s almost the same thing I'm doing -- except for the protest part -- and it struck me that we're both flying to Pittsburgh to utilize the First Amendment. What a country. And to think regional jet service makes it all possible! If you haven't flown regional jets before, here's a handy way to simulate the experience: As you read this, bring your knees to within about 8 inches of your chest. There. That's exactly what regional jet service feels like!
I can't help but feel sad here in Pittsburgh, mostly because I love Pittsburgh. This is such a vibrant, proud, compact, loyal, strong and beautiful modern city...and today, it’s absolutely empty. Portions of downtown look like Sarajevo during the war. There are Humvees and troops in camouflage holding automatic weapons at every major intersection. There are police from jurisdictions as far away as New York. There are no people on the streets. You can't hear a bus, a boat, a plane or a car...let alone a horn. Future host cities of political conventions and G-20 summits should understand something: Despite the promises of public attention and economic boom...hosting one of these events means shutting down all or part of your city. That's what's sad about Pittsburgh today. Just as they are preparing to host people from all over the world for the first time, and show off this great place: the people who make this city great have been ushered out of town.
First Amendment update: As I write this, the first puffs of teargas are rising over one Pittsburgh neighborhood, at exactly the same time President Obama arrives, miles away at the airport.
We'll have all of it for you tonight. I hope you can join us from Pittsburgh tonight.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
Walking down 6th Avenue today to an appointment, I watched a long column of NYPD cruisers snake through traffic, followed by a number of SUVs and vans--all black, all flashing with embedded strobes, all full of menacing security personnel--one of the SUVs had a telltale sign: one of the side doors was open a crack to allow for fast exit with weapons, if need be. It was the kind of rolling "package" normally reserved for high-level officials of the Federal Government in Washington and other U.S. cities. Then I saw the fender flag on one of the limousines: Turkey.
The story is typical of the city streets here these days. As I write this, an NYPD helicopter is making low, elliptical passes over Midtown Manhattan--the President of the United States is here, and for that matter, the leaders of EVERYWHERE are here (including, apparently, Turkey) for the U.N. meeting, and the place is in virtual lockdown. The entire East Side of Manhattan can become a frozen zone at any moment. Locals know it but still get caught in it. There are so many officials, all with security details and motorcades...it's choking and dizzying, and I'm afraid it has become a modern-day imperative.
We hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight.
NEW YORK September 22, 2009 - NBC News was a big winner at yesterday's 30th Annual News and Documentary Emmy awards. The network took home five awards, including three for "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams." The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences also recognized NBC News for outstanding live coverage of Decision 2008 Election Night results.
"NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" won three Emmy awards, more than any other evening news broadcast and tying CBS' "60 Minutes" for the most honored broadcast news program. "Nightly" was recognized twice for "Tip of the Spear," a report by Richard Engel, and for "Bailout Talks Collapse."
Engel and his team followed the soldiers of Viper Company in what has been called the most dangerous place in Afghanistan the Korengal Valley. The team witnessed the death of a solider killed by friendly fire and gave viewers a vivid picture of life on the frontlines. "Tip of the Spear" has previously been honored with a Peabody award, Edward R. Murrow award, Sigma Delta Chi award, and Overseas Press Club award citation, making it one of the most celebrated reports of the award season.
"Bailout Talks Collapse," which aired on the September 29, 2008 broadcast, captured the day in which Wall Street and Capitol Hill collided in dramatic fashion, setting the stage for the rest of the election year and a worsening economy.
"Dateline NBC" received an outstanding quick turnaround editing honor for "Tim Russert Obituary."
The following is a list of NBC News Emmys Wins and Credits:
OUTSTANDING LIVE COVERAGE OF A BREAKING NEWS STORY LONG FORM
NBC News Decision 2008 Election Night
Executive Producers: Philip Alongi, Alexandra Wallace Senior Producers: Bob Epstein, Cliff Kappler
Anchor: Brian Williams
Anchor/Correspondents: Tom Brokaw, Ann Curry, Lester Holt, Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd
Producers: Doug Adams, Heather Allan, Laura Allenbaugh, Ana Maria Arumi, John Baiata, Denise Baker, Donna Bass, John Boxley, Patrick Burkey, Martha Caskey, John Cheang, Jack Chesnutt, Amy Chiaro, Chris Colvin, Catherine Corrigan, Bradley A. Davis, Subrata De, Robert Dembo, Clare Duffy, Missy Dunlop, Carol Eggers, Lauren Fairbanks, Betsy Fischer, Patrice Fletcher, Kerri Forrest, Scott Foster, Roxanne Garcia, Maralyn Gelefsky, Hilary Guy, Madeleine Haeringer, Al Henkel, Stephanie Himango, Mark Hudspeth, Michelle Jaconi, Christina Jamison, Leo Juarez, Naomi Karam, Les Kretman, Susan Kroll, Courtney Kube, Laura Kurinsky, Richard Latour, Margaret Lehrman, Sarah Lusk, Megan Marcus, Domenico Montanaro, Geraldine Moriba Meadows, Mark Murray, Neil O'Brien, Amber Payne, Michelle Perry, Terry Pickard, Alexandra Pournaras, Katie Primm, Samira Puskar, Meghan Reeder,Rob Rivas, Tom Rotunno, Antoine Sanfuentes, Olivia Santini, Joel Seidman, Robin Skolnick, Kenneth Strickland, Bethany Thomas, Shawna Thomas, Kelly Venardos, Adam Verdugo, Mike Viquierra, Huma Zaidi, John Zito
Directors: Jim Gaines, Ray Herbert, Geoff Hoffman, Brett Holey, John Libretto
Correspondents: Peter Alexander, Ron Allen, Kevin Corke, Tom Costello, Lee Cowan, Rehema Ellis, Richard Engel, Dawna Friesen, Savannah Guthrie, Tamron Hall, Michelle Kosinski, Phil Le Beau, Ron Mott, Kelly O'Donnell, Norah O'Donnell, Jeannie Ohm, Michael Okwu, Darren Rovell, Luke Russert, Kerry Sanders, Mara Schiavocampo, Janet Shamlian, Mike Taibbi, Don Teague, Anne Thompson, Kevin Tibbles, Mike Viqueira, Ian Williams, John Yang Elections Director: Sheldon Gawiser Planning Directors: Adam Benalt, Marc Greenstein
OUTSTANDING COVERAGE OF A BREAKING NEWS STORY IN A REGULARLY SCHEDULED NEWSCAST:
"NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" Bailout Talks Collapse
Anchor and Managing Editor: Brian Williams Executive Producer: Alexandra Wallace Senior Broadcast Producer: Bob Epstein Senior Producers: Doug Adams, Patti Domm, Tracey Lyons, Albert Oetgen,
Producers: Jay Blackman, Gene Choo, Christine Colvin, Patrice Fletcher, Kerri Forrest, A.J. Goodwin, Aarne Heikkila, John Holland, Kenneth Strickland, Mike Viquierra
Correspondents: Maria Bartiromo, Tom Costello, Steve Liesman, Andrea Mitchell, Kevin Tibbles, Chuck Todd
OUTSTANDING CONTINUING COVERAGE OF A NEWS STORY IN A REGULARLY SCHEDULED NEWSCAST:
"NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" Tip of the Spear
Executive Producer: Alexandra Wallace
Senior Broadcast Producer: Bob Epstein
Senior Foreign Producer: Mary Laurence Flynn Anchor and Managing Editor: Brian Williams
Producers: Madeleine Haeringer, Beverly Chase, Bredun Edwards, Joo Lee, Michelle Neubert, Matt Softley,
Director: Brett Holey
Correspondent: Richard Engel
BEST STORY IN A REGULARLY SCHEDULED NEWSCAST:
"NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" Tip of the Spear
Executive Producer: Alexandra Wallace
Senior Broadcast Producer: Bob Epstein
Senior Foreign Producer: Mary Laurence Flynn Anchor and Managing Editor: Brian Williams
Producers: Madeleine Haeringer, Beverly Chase, Bredun Edwards, Joo Lee, Michelle Neubert, Matt Softley,
Director: Brett Holey
Correspondent: Richard Engel
OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN A CRAFT: EDITING QUICK TURNAROUND:
"Dateline NBC" Tim Russert Obituary
Editors: Robert Allen and Robert Brandel
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
If you love television, if you watch a lot of television, last night was simply too much. Sensory overload. I had two DVR's running -- I thought they were going to catch fire. Consider the dilemma in our house: the Giants game on NBC (sorry about the debut of the new stadium, Dallas), the Emmys, “Mad Men,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Entourage.” Add to the mix the fact that I can't (as a veteran of a dozen years in local television news and more at the network level) go to sleep without seeing the 11pm news...and you have a busy night in our household.
I spent much of the weekend in Chicago, in connection with the Medal of Honor Society Convention. We assembled 53 of the 95 living recipients in Chicago, including 100-year-old John Finn, the first recipient of World War II. We had a spectacular black-tie dinner Saturday night, and I was fortunate to host Mayor Daley and his wife Maggie at my table. The City of Chicago has never looked better. Day or night, it is simply breathtaking. The people of Chicago could not have been better hosts, and the Recipients were overwhelmed by kindness.
We hope you can join us for our broadcast tonight.
by Victor Limjoco, Nightly News associate producer
On an unseasonably hot day in Seattle, Michael Lewis rushed to pour concrete at a construction site. A heat wave had come over the region, and as the day progressed, the weather only made his job harder -- helping to construct a new runway for Seattle's airport. He's much like the other construction workers on the site, except there's a small sticker on his yellow hardhat that says "Helmets to Hardhats."
A little more than a year ago, Michael Lewis was in a very different position. A ground soldier in the U.S. Army, Lewis had served two tours in Iraq and survived multiple IED attacks. He received a Purple Heart. He looked forward to transitioning back to civilian life after separating from the military, but there were challenges ahead. "I don't think I realized how hard it was going to be until I left the military," Lewis says. "I went through a lot of difficult phases."
Facing a crippled job market and struggling to find a long-term career, Michael Lewis turned to "Helmets to Hardhats," a federally-funded program that matches veterans with construction apprenticeships. The competitiveness for these training programs varies from region to region, and many wait months, even years, to get on the lists for a variety of construction job -- from carpenters to ironworkers to elevator repairers. "Helmets to Hardhats" accelerates the process for these veterans and matches them with careers that best fit their abilities and interests.
CONTINUED >>
Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Good afternoon. We're back tonight with details of what led to the arrest of three men who federal authorities suspect are linked to an unspecified terror plot. Pete Williams is working the story for us tonight.
If you were near a TV this morning it would have been hard to miss President Obama as he was a one on one interview guest on 5 network programs, including NBC's Meet the Press. I'll chat with our Chief White House correspondent and Political Director Chuck Todd about the presidential TV blitz and whether it might move the needle in the health care debate.
Then there is the strange story of a psychotic killer whose therapy included a field trip to a county fair. Officials thought it was a good idea until that killer promptly disappeared, and now there is a massive manhunt underway. We'll have the rest of the story tonight on NBC Nightly News. I hope you can join us.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
A video posted on the web has captured our attention -- it's a re-make of an old famous study into delayed gratification in children. As you watch, as you suffer and squirm along with these kids, think about your own life -- think about our society, our nation and our world. Ask yourself if you would be as STRONG as some of these cute kids you will see in this video. Its an interesting subject, and I'll leave you with that as I head off to try to enjoy some semblance of a weekend -- I wish you all a good weekend, and I hope you can join us for a great broadcast tonight.
By Anthony Galloway, NBC News producer
The idea is so simple, the first question many people ask is “Why hasn’t this been done before?” Giving Anonymously (www.givinganon.org) is a website that allows people to give money to friends and family in need. But what makes the organization unique – different from other money transfer sites like PayPal – is that the recipient isn’t told who gave them the money. It arrives anonymously with no strings attached. All the recipient is asked to do is leave a voicemail recording, which is then forwarded to the anonymous donor.
The “Thank You” messages were the starting point for our reports, which began airing on NBC Nightly News last month. I’ve had the pleasure of traveling across the country over the past few weeks to meet a few of the families who have received anonymous donations. In January, Jeff Kerr, of Woodridge, Illinois, was laid off from his job as a union electrician after ten years on the job. He’s been looking for work for the past nine months.
But, like many unemployed Americans, he hasn’t been successful. When he was laid off Kerr was earning $30 an hour. The closest he’s come to a job offer since then: $9 an hour. With a wife, two young daughters, and a mortgage payment, the stress of the financial burden was evident in his voicemail message to his anonymous benefactor. Kerr cried in his message and he cried in our interview. It struck me that this former Navy man was so overwhelmed with gratitude for his family’s $750 anonymous donation, he had no words to express it. He ended his message putting it simply, “I just want to say thank you very much for me and my family. We all appreciate it. Again, may God be with you and thank you very much.”
Video: Donors make a difference online
The one thing each of the recipients I talked to had in common was that they would have had a difficult time accepting their donation if they knew who was giving it to them. Accepting money from friends and family could have changed their relationships, they said, creating a feeling of indebtedness despite their donor’s best intentions. And even though they don’t know who gave them the money, knowing that someone cared enough to make such an overwhelming gesture of support is often enough to alter their mental outlook.
Since our story first aired, Giving Anonymously has raised more than $54,000 in donations from people intent on helping those closest to them. On tonight’s broadcast you’ll meet Michelle Millar, a single mother and small business owner in Bellingham, Washington. Millar was facing the prospect of losing her business and her livelihood until someone sent her an anonymous check for $5,000. The donation has allowed her to purchase new inventory, increase sales and, most importantly, it has given her new hope that she will be able to sustain her business and support her family.
Lionel Thompson, one of the website’s founders, had to visit her in person to drop off the check. (Millar hung up on Thompson when he first called to notify her of the donation, believing he was a solicitor peddling a scam in her darkest hour.) News of the anonymous donation was announced on the front page of the Bellingham Herald and soon local residents flocked to her shoe store to support her business.
“I just want them to know what a difference they’ve made,” Millar said. “It’s not just the inventory that I brought in. It’s made a difference in my life and my daughter’s life and it’s completely—it’s turned my life around.”
Thompson and his wife Misha don’t take credit or accept thanks for their work processing the donations. They say the thanks lies with the hundreds of Americans who continue to flock to their website to give generously, selflessly, and anonymously.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
If you watch any NBC programming, you've seen them: The public service announcements on smoking prevention, good health, manners, child-raising and generally good things. They are hosted by recognizable faces from the NBC television family, and they are called (accompanied by a short jingle) "The More You Know." They are among the best things our company does, they are well-produced and perform a true public service. I look forward to doing them every year, and I've just returned from this year's production shoot, where my place in the batting order was after Jimmy Fallon and before Dr. Nancy Snyderman. It is always a true pleasure being asked to be involved in such a worthy campaign, and I want to publicly thank Susan Haspel, who runs the operation, for treating me so well year after year.
Speaking of the more you know: We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
A busy 26 hours of travel have now come to an end. I flew from New York to Atlanta to Washington to New York in 26 hours -- interviewed a former President and did a newscast along the way. Today, with apologies for not posting yesterday (no time, by the time I landed in Washington), I wanted to note two items involving the moving image. First, the moment at the Phillies game -- so good that we're going to tell the story tonight. And second: the passing of Paul Burke. My favorite film of all time is "The Thomas Crown Affair" -- the original -- and Paul Burke plays a great role in it. His interplay with Faye Dunaway, especially when she presents him with a certain gift, is priceless. For a New Orleans native, he affected the perfect Boston accent -- and played the role of conflicted crime fighter to the hilt. He was magnificent in other roles as well, big and small -- and is well-remembered, with clear eyes, in this morning's New York Times.
We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
Editor's Note: No blog post today -- Brian Williams was traveling, he will be back tomorrow.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
Did you watch the Video Music Awards last night? The old cliché question did occur to me -- what would someone assume about our world if they landed at Radio City last night from another world? From Kanye's outburst to the blood-stained Lady GaGa... what a night.
I wanted to link to a fascinating story in Texas -- it involves the Kennedy family -- and with my interest in the Presidency and American politics, I found it very interesting reading.
Also, three cheers for Vera Lynn. How great is that? (Video here)
We have a terrific broadcast planned for tonight, and we hope you can join us.
by Jim Miklaszewski, chief Pentagon correspondent
This gun camera video from a U.S. Army Apache helicopter in Afghanistan shows just how one of those deadly those roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices (IEDs) backfired on the enemy. As two suspected insurgents apparently attempt to dig up an IED planted in the roadway, you can hear the Apache crew on their radio describing the scene to their ground commanders. As the helicopter crew prepares to attack, they're forced to hold their fire as a boy approches the suspected enemy. The boy leaves, but the crew is forced to hold fire again when a man approaches to fetch water from a nearby stream. Suddenly, without warning, there's a huge blast. It appears the two insurgents blew themselves up with an IED intended for American forces.
By Natalie Morales, NBC News anchor
I hope you’re having a good weekend. I'm filling in for Lester tonight, and it's another very busy weekend. We'll begin in Washington with the president's full-court press to push his health care reform bill forward. Members of his administration were out in force on the Sunday talk shows to try and hammer away at their opponents. After a weekend where thousands marched on Washington, we'll check in on a town hall meeting in South Carolina led by Senator Lindsay Graham, and see if the commander in chief’s message is being heard at all or if he's losing more ground.
Meanwhile, tomorrow the president will turn his attention to the economic recovery with a speech on Wall St. marking the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. What has happened in this past year, and is the recovery on solid ground? We'll ask CNBC's Maria Bartiromo who examines those very questions tonight at 10 pm. ET on her program, "One Year Later: Reflections from the Street.”
Then the investigation into the missing Yale student continues now into a fifth day. Annie Le was supposed to be getting married today, but instead, authorities are searching a landfill for any clue as to what happened to her. We have new information tonight on bloody clothes found in the lab where she was last seen.
And it was the meltdown heard 'round the world. What was it that drove Serena Williams to lose her cool and throw a tantrum? We'll review the tape of her tirade against a line judge and take a look back at other infamous blowouts on the court.
By Amy Robach, NBC News anchor
It was one year ago today I was bracing for the 3rd most destructive hurricane to hit the United States, Hurricane Ike. Our NBC News crew hunkered down on Galveston Island, behind a thankfully sturdy seawall. We watched as massive winds and flooding destroyed most of the island community, and impacted Texans across the state. Tonight, we look at the progress made over this past year, and the work that still lies ahead for those who chose to stay and rebuild – but many did not.
Also tonight, it's been a busy and raucous day in Washington D.C. as tens of thousands of protesters made their way to the National Mall, voicing their opposition to what they say is out-of-control spending by President Obama and Congress. This evening, we'll have two live reports from the Capitol.
And finally, we're following developments in the case of the missing Yale student, she's supposed to be married tomorrow, and we are monitoring changes in the story as we go to air. Please join us tonight for the very latest in this mysterious case.
By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent
The day was eerily similar to last September 12th. Foreboding skies, swollen clouds and deceivingly light rain. I was back in Galveston a year after Hurricane Ike, but there was no killer storm bearing down on the island this trip.
A year ago we were holed up in what everyone described as Galveston's safest spot, the sparkling San Luis hotel. The mayor had checked in as had every police officer and firefighter in the city. They were priority guests, assigned rooms on the lowest of the 16 floors to enable a quick departure once the elevators became useless. I was on 15.
There's no sleeping when you're in the path of a hurricane, even if it is the middle of the night. And there was nothing calming about the San Luis' subtle but alarming sway. "It's built to do this," a man assured a group gathered in the hallway. "I promise, you won't be one of my customers," he said with a smile, explaining he owned a Galveston funeral home. Back in my room, I could hear the sliding glass door, which faced the Gulf's open waters, bashed by the wind and writhing in its track. Water seeped in from the balcony and soaked the room's carpet. With cell towers long gone, there was no way to text my family or call NBC. The power had been out for hours, and it was dark and damp.
CONTINUED >>
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I'll be brief today, because I hate to be negative. This is an awful day every year. It always seems like 9/11 is either crisp and beautiful (depressing, because that's the way that day was) or grim, gray, windy and wet like today (which is simply depressing). While we tend to "feel" the day most of all here in New York, and while I tend to focus non-stop on the loss of innocent life, especially 343 New York City firefighters—all those brave first responders who were only trying to help—we are left with very little to show for it. While thousands have fought and died in two wars launched in the name of 9/11, we have built a train station in the hole in the ground in Lower Manhattan. Yes, construction is progressing—buildings are rising around it—but it’s been eight long years. It’s fair to measure us, as a people, by how we recovered from that terrorist attack. The Pentagon was patched up, and yet we're still awaiting proper memorials in Pennsylvania and New York. We have remained safe, thank God. We just have to remember who we are, and what we're capable of. Those who died deserve nothing less.
We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Please take a moment to read this article from the Washington Post:
Deja vu? A report in the New York Times said: "Tomorrow night, getting right into the thick of the battle," the president would "carry his message to the people in a nationwide television and radio speech" fighting for enactment of his health reform bill, which opponents tagged as "socialized medicine," and "an entering wedge for the takeover of private medicine by the federal government."
The president was John F. Kennedy, the program was Medicare, the Times story was on May 20, 1962. Despite the speech, the effort failed until passage in 1964.
It just goes to show you...
We hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
I have just come from the memorial service for Walter Cronkite, and I must admit it has left me tumbling a bit, looking for something to hold onto. It was a palpable end to an era, the period at the end of the sentence. Two American presidents, captains of industry, bright lights of stage and screen and genuine American heroes turned out to remember the man who was a personal hero to many of us. Something very special and definitive happened today inside Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. All of us in attendance must make sure we take away more than just a program. There is a lesson in the way he lived his life, and in how he did his job. We won't ever see a man like Walter again. We won't ever see another anchorman like him. The best we can do is to try to live up to his example.
We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
Editor's Note: No blog post today -- Brian Williams will be back tomorrow.
By Andy Franklin, NBC News
On September 9 in New York, friends and colleagues of Walter Cronkite will gather to remember the late newsman at a special memorial service at Lincoln Center. It’s also a big day for Beatles fans: the group’s entire, newly remastered catalog is being released, along with a groundbreaking new Beatles video game. Cronkite and the Beatles have crossed paths before, most recently in July, when Cronkite’s passing prompted a little rewriting of Beatles history. Let’s see if we can set the record straight.
CBS News went to some lengths in its tributes to Mr. Cronkite to claim that the Beatles made their American television “debut” not on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, but on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite two months earlier – a claim made on the air by Katie Couric, Anthony Mason, and, in a taped interview, by Cronkite himself. CBS also implied that Ed Sullivan first learned of the Beatles by seeing them on Cronkite’s broadcast.
Both stories are untrue.
Cronkite: “The Beatles were on American television for the first time NOT, as history seems to have it recorded, on the Ed Sullivan Show, but on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. If there’s some credit in history for that, I want it.”
Sorry, but here are the facts:
The Beatles made their U.S. television debut on November 18, 1963, on NBC’s Huntley-Brinkley Report, that era’s leading network evening newscast.
In the fall of 1963, Beatlemania was at full gale in England, and stories about the group had begun to appear in the United States. “Thousands of Britons ‘Riot’ – Liverpool Sound Stirs Up Frenzy,” said the Washington Post on October 29. Time and Newsweek each ran stories in mid-November. The American television networks also took notice, and on Saturday, November 16, news crews from NBC, CBS and ABC filmed the Beatles in concert in Bournemouth, England. Two days later, NBC was first on the air with a story: a nearly four-minute piece by Edwin Newman that closed that night’s Huntley-Brinkley Report. The November 18 airdate is documented in NBC’s program analysis card files.
Apparently ABC never aired its footage of the Beatles during this period.
CBS says it aired a piece on the CBS Morning News on Friday November 22. It was reported by then-London bureau chief Alexander Kendrick, with a brief Beatles interview by correspondent Josh Darsa; both men are now deceased.
CBS claims the piece would then have re-aired that same night on the Evening News – six days after the concert was filmed, four days after the story ran on NBC, and even after the network’s own morning show had aired the story – but for the fact that John F. Kennedy was assassinated that afternoon.
So when did the CBS Evening News air its story on the Beatles? In its prime-time tribute to Cronkite on July 19, Katie Couric said, “Later in December [1963], Walter decided to run the piece, because he thought this was the time when Americans needed to be uplifted.” This is odd, because the piece is not really uplifting; Kendrick’s reporting is patronizing and dismissive, concluding that the Beatles “make non-music and wear non-haircuts.” Nor was Cronkite a fan. “I did not care for the appearance of the Beatles very much,” he acknowledged in 2003. “I was offended by their long hair. Their music did not appeal to me either.”
Nevertheless, CBS says the Evening News aired its Beatles story on Tuesday December 10. Perhaps they were prompted by a December 1 piece in the New York Times Magazine: “Britons Succumb to ‘Beatlemania.’” Or maybe they’d spotted the photo that appeared in Life magazine that week: “Princess Margaret Meets the Red-Hot Beatles.” Regardless, CBS was playing catch-up on the story after being scooped by NBC.
CBS also says that Cronkite got a call from Ed Sullivan immediately after their story aired. Recalling the conversation decades later, Cronkite implied that Sullivan had never heard of the Beatles until he saw them on the Evening News. “Walter, Walter! Tell me about those kids!” Cronkite quotes Sullivan as saying. “Those kids you just had on the air, the, the, what do you call them, the Buggles or the Beatles or something.”
In fact, Ed Sullivan was not only well aware of the Beatles at that point; he already had them under contract. Sullivan had first learned of the Beatles almost six weeks earlier, on October 31, while passing through London’s Heathrow Airport just as the Beatles were returning from a tour of Sweden. More than 1,500 screaming fans were there to welcome the band home, and the commotion caught Sullivan’s attention. Ten days later he met with Beatles manager Brian Epstein in New York, and signed the group to appear on his program an unprecedented three successive Sundays the following February.
Ed Sullivan may indeed have seen the Beatles on the CBS Evening News – or on the Huntley-Brinkley Report – in late 1963, but not before he’d booked the band himself. He may even have caught them on Jack Paar’s NBC show that January 3. Still, those were all taped segments. The Beatles first live appearance on American television was, unforgettably, on the Ed Sullivan show.
The aim here is not to diminish Walter Cronkite. But neither does his reputation require any exaggeration or embellishment. Cronkite was a stickler for the facts, and the “facts” presented by CBS regarding Cronkite’s connection to the Beatles are just plain wrong. Perhaps Cronkite himself mis-remembered things so many years later.
But the network he served so well for so long could have done a better job on his behalf. That’s just the way it is.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Happy Labor Day. Brian is off today and I'll be with you this evening.
This has not been a quiet holiday weekend on the political front as President Barack Obama is well aware. After taking it on the chin on everything from health care to a planned speech to school kids, he seemed to be drawing battle lines with renewed vigor at a speech today. Chuck Todd will preview what is shaping up to be a big week to watch in Washington.
We're watching that around-the-clock effort to re-open the Bay Bridge in San Francisco in time for the morning rush after an inspection revealed a nasty surprise.
There's a great sports story playing out over at the US Open in Queens, New York. A lot of people are suddenly asking, who is that 17-year-old girl from Georgia methodically taking down her better known opponents? We'll have her story and a lot more when we see you tonight for NBC Nightly News.
By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent
It used to be the epitome of the American dream. Jobs were plentiful in this heartland town, and hard working miners took pride in knowing the lead ore they extracted became bullets for both World Wars. Times were good in Picher, Oklahoma, and the population soared.
Just a bike ride from the Kansas border, you can still find Picher on a map, but today it's little more than that. The schools closed in July, the post office shut down last month and city hall went dark last week. Only a dozen or so people are still living on the small patch of land that's been called the most toxic town in America.
You can guess the rest. The same industry that delivered prosperity to Picher's front door later crept in the back and robbed it of its riches. The soil is poisoned, the water runs orange and the air has been ruled unsafe. Government buyouts started a few years ago, and most families left as soon as they could. But roots run deep in Picher, and a handful of holdouts haven't had the heart or the will to up and leave.
CONTINUED >>
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
I hope you're having a good holiday weekend. We're back on the air tonight with the story of mounting political headaches for President Obama as he returns from vacation.
Overnight, one of his special advisors on the environment submitted his resignation after his incendiary statements about Republicans and association with a fringe 9/11 conspiracy movement became public. An attack from the right over the president's planned speech to the nation's school kids is also kicking up dust, just as he tries to refocus the nation on his vision for health care reform.
We'll also be reporting on a suspected swine flu outbreak that has already sidelined as many 2,000 students at a major West Coast university, and on efforts to control that major wildfire outside Los Angeles.
Plus, there are some big changes in the Internet search engine business to tell you about.
I hope you'll join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Our Northeast Bureau informs me: Two men were taken into custody today in Philadelphia for the shooting of a cop. Their names? Brian Williams and Christopher Reeves. As a producer friend in Philadelphia (where I once lived and worked) put it: You can't make this stuff up.
I just talked to a friend at the Jersey Shore (is it okay to admit I wish I was there, right now?) who asked, "Is there any news today at all?" I assured him there was--and that we would cover it tonight.
I hope you can tune in and join us this Friday night--and then we all get to try to enjoy some semblance of a Labor Day holiday weekend. Have a safe one, and thank you for watching this week.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
Thanks to the American Airlines redeye, we are back from Southern California -- and whenever I think we are worse for wear, I remember those we left behind. While standing on a hillside last night in Lakeview Terrace, California, I pointed to the firefighters coming off the day shift and washing off their gear and said to a colleague, "Those are the best people in the world."
I realized today I probably should have said that on the air, for all to hear -- because they really are. Among the 4,000 firefighters on the job at the wildfires as you read this, there are no easy jobs. It’s hot everywhere. There are fires everywhere. Everyone is wearing heavy gear, working a long shift, and away from their home base. Yesterday I flew by helicopter over remote hillsides, far from any real population base, and often I'd look down and see two LA County firefighters -- assigned to stand guard at an outpost. There they were, on duty, with just each other in the intense heat. No shelter, no backup, just them. It was quite a sight. We salute all those on the job tonight, and we hope you can join us for the broadcast this evening.
By Peter Alexander, NBC News correspondent
Central Detroit is the type of neighborhood too often in the headlines for the wrong reasons -- crime, drugs and poverty. The type of neighborhood too often abandoned by its own residents. Today, dozens of boarded up homes line its streets. All of those facts make what Lisa Johanon is doing that much more remarkable. Johanon is the executive director of the nonprofit Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corporation, dedicated to helping invest in and rebuild this mostly low-income, African-American community. Johanon, who is white, has lived here for the last 22 years. As she explains it, she and her family made "an intentional choice to be here in a community of need."
The need in Central Detroit is staggering. So are many of the statistics that help define the immense challenges facing this urban "food desert." According to the Chicago-based Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, 92% of Detroit's food stamp recipients buy their food at a liquor store, gas station or pharmacy. Gallagher reports access to fresh food in this community -- where many residents rely on public assistance and public transportation -- is extremely limited.
Johanon is trying to change that with Peaches & Greens, the business she started last November to encourage healthy eating in her community. The fresh food market they've opened was once a dry cleaners that doubled as a drug dealers' haven. Two employees take turns driving the Peaches & Greens truck through the neighborhood, selling everything from plums to peanuts. And, importantly, Peaches & Greens accepts food stamps. "This is not rocket science," Johanon explains. "It's an easy model that other people can pick up and make a reality in their neighborhood. We want to see this replicated throughout the city of Detroit."
Now, that appears to be happening. Michigan's Governor Jennifer Granholm visited the Peaches & Greens store recently, announcing a new initiative, "Michigan Neighborhood Food Movers." The program is designed to help individual entrepreneurs set up produce trucks to sell fresh food in other inner-city Detroit neighborhoods. Lisa Johanon has good reason to be proud as she witnesses the fruits of her labor.
By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC News correspondent
Carlos is a Mexican immigrant who has been living in New York's Suffolk County for about nine years. In that time, he says he has repeatedly been the victim of anti-Latino discrimination and harassment. Carlos says he's been spit at, insulted, and once, severely beaten. "They broke one of my knees, one of my shoulders and they hurt my back. They took my teeth out. I was in the hospital for two weeks."
Carlos is just one of hundreds of Latinos interviewed for the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) new report on anti-Latino hate crimes in Suffolk County. The report found that the abuse is extremely widespread. Investigator Sarah Reynolds estimated that "99 percent" of the people she spoke with had faced some kind of discrimination.
The abuse ranges from the minor to the tragic. Last November Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero was stabbed to death as he walked home in what prosecutors call a hate crime.
Though the report focuses on just one county, the SPLC says Suffolk is a microcosm of America. According to FBI statistics, anti-Latino hate crimes increased 40 percent between 2003 and 2007. Why? For one thing, demographics are in fact changing, leading some to feel angry about immigration policies, which can lead to anti-Latino violence. There are currently about 12 million illegal immigrants living in the US, and 1.1 million immigrants are legally admitted to the country each year. For some, the changing face of America is cause for anger, and tragically in some cases, violence.
by Maria Menounos, NBC News Contributing Correspondent
On the broadcast tonight, I reported on what life is like in the fire zone.
I spent the day with some firefighters, who are seeing expressions of gratitude such as this from people across California. They say this makes all the hard work worth it.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We have just landed after a helicopter trip to the top of Mt. Wilson–the focal point of so much of the firefighting effort here in LA County. We happened to chose a moment when the fire had been suppressed enough to allow us to fly—and land—at the summit, where the antennas and observatories stand in a row (with trees growing right alongside them) and where the pink stripes of fire retardant are visible on the hillsides– pre-emptive air strikes to try to keep the fire from creeping up the hill. Mt. Wilson is a massive place, of great value to the folks in this area for scientific, geographic, recreational, environmental and sentimental reasons.
Once there, it’s easy to see why. The former home of the astronomer Hubble is today home to firefighters enduring hot, dry, harsh conditions...and during the flight back to Van Nuys airport, we saw that someone had written "THANKS" in white paint on the roof of their home in the fire zone. The pilots noted it. It meant a lot.
I woke up in the fire zone...to news from broadcast row back in New York...that my competition would be changing in a few months–really it means one friend is vacating a job, and another friend is taking over. Charlie Gibson is a tough guy to go up against every night. Diane Sawyer will be every bit as formidable–and I congratulate two great people, two great journalists and broadcasters. Along with Katie, they make it tough for us every day, just as it should be in an intense, competitive environment.
We hope you can join us from Southern California tonight.
NBC’s Brian Williams tours the makeshift command post for the firefighting effort in Southern California, where federal, state and local resources have formed a united front.
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We are in a small RV on the side of a mountain road, alongside a reservoir and adjacent to a command post that has the feel of life in the military. Firefighters are walking around in flip-flops, carrying their shaving kits and pillows from home. They are here because they have come off the fire line to take a break, get some sleep, eat a meal and clean up -- before they go out again. The non-stop daisy chain of helicopters continues, drafting water from here to dump it a few miles away on a 100-foot high column of flame. The air is noticeably more humid -- and that helps. They'll take anything they can get. I've shot some video today at a few locations to try to tell this story.
Flying here last night, our captain on American Airlines pointed out the flames off the right side of the
aircraft, and they were stunning from the air...they appeared to be just above the skyline of Los Angeles. You could smell smoke inside the jet, and the ashes in the air quickly become visible on eyeglasses, computer screens and the hoods of cars. We will have all of it tonight, when we see you from Lakeview Terrace, California.
