Notes from the field
By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC News correspondent
In just a few hours President Obama arrives in Ghana's capital city for his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as President. Make no mistake about it, his visit is being hailed as a homecoming. We all know that Obama's father was Kenyan, not Ghanaian. But for the people living here, it makes absolutely no difference. He is their native son just the same.
"We are African," said street vendor Dea Mor. "Kenya is part of Africa so we're part of him."
"There's not one African who would say he's a Kenyan," said Dr. Erieka Bennett of the Diaspora African Forum. "They all say he's African."
Ghana is eagerly anticipating Obama's arrival. Signs proclaiming akwaaba - welcome - are everywhere. Vendors are selling everything from African cloth with Obama's face on it, to handpainted portraits.
But along with the excitement is some frustration. Some are disappointed that Obama won't be holding a large public event like Clinton did, and that for the most part, he's being kept behind closed doors. He'll also be here for a very short time: just 21 hours. Many would like him to stay longer. He's most certainly beloved here, and the country wants as much of him as they can get.
By Albert Oetgen, Managing editor, NBC News Washington
L'AQUILA, ITALY -- You first see this city from up high as you wind around a mountain highway and this is what you think: It's a city in a bowl.
It's name means "The Eagle," and there is plenty of room for eagles to soar here. L'Aquila is encircled by enormous ridges that are part of the Appenines, that "spine" of mountains that grade-schoolers learn runs down the middle of the boot of Italy.
It's a lovely place, this bowl, set in a fertile valley and protected by those mountains -- a safe and secure place that played a strategically important role in the medieval struggle for control of central Italy.
L'Aquila is not big and famous like Milan, or Venice, or Florence. It is not even a small but famous place like Assisi. But it is Italy. The real Italy. There is a university here, not a world-famous one, but one where Italian families confidently send their children for a good education. There is a ski resort in the distance, one frequented not by deep-pocketed Americans or Europeans, but by ordinary Italians who live within an hour or two.
We are here because of an earthquake, and we are here because of Italian politics. But we are really here because of history.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi decided this was the place where he would host a meeting of the leaders of the G8 -- the successors to the leading industrial powers that assigned themselves the task of coordinating the world economy about 25 years ago and find themselves struggling for control today, as the rest of the world catches up and begins to pass them by -- so they could see the strength and resilience of the people of L'Aquila, and perhaps agree to lend them a hand.
CONTINUED >>
By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC News correspondent
I’m in Ghana working on some stories related to the President’s upcoming visit. Friday Obama arrives in the capital city of Accra for his first stop in sub-Saharan Africa as President. As producer Anthony Galloway and I have been going around gathering elements for our stories we’ve also had some interesting cultural moments. Nothing serious or important; just a few experiences that don’t happen everyday.
Like this one: After sitting own at a restaurant for lunch, we realized that we were surrounded by crocodiles.
Some folks at the market taught me a new balancing act.
And we’ve noticed that here in Ghana, everyone – even government ministers – has a unique way of shaking hands.
Please tune in to Nightly News Friday and Saturday for my reporting from Ghana.
By Albert Oetgen, Managing Editor NBC News Washington
MOSCOW -- President Obama squeezed in sit-down interviews with network White House correspondents here today, an opportunity that comes up periodically and one the correspondents cherish because it tends to generate news and, even when it doesn't, almost always yields them a prime place in their morning and evening news broadcasts.
Almost always. Today, we weren't so sure.
The ritual begins with a drawing to see which order NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and CNN sit down for the exchanges that last, generally about 10 minutes. Today, NBC won, so Chuck Todd went first.
The president arrived energized after a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Less than 24 hours earlier, Mr. Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev had announced a broad agreement to reduce nuclear arms. He appeared ready, eager even, to talk.
Chuck Todd is a master schmoozer, capable of warming up the most reluctant of interview subjects in a few short moments. As Jim Long and Rodney Batten made last-minute adjustments to their cameras, Chuck launched his customary patter.
"It's quite the news day. These interviews are up against ..."
The president, picking up on Chuck's theme instantly, interrupted, displaying that now-familiar wry Obama wit: "I know," he said. "I got briefed that if you want to get on the air, don't talk about nuclear weapons. Talk about Michael and Sarah."
CONTINUED >>
By Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News Pentagon correspondent
After leading several US warships around the South China Sea for more than two weeks, the North Korean cargo ship Kang Nam arrived back at a North Korean port at Nam Po today. Although the ship was suspected of carrying weapons or missile parts banned for sale under the latest UN resolution, U.S. military and intelligence officials still say they have no idea what is in those shipping containers stacked on the ships deck.
Some Pentagon officials claim the Kang Nam was forced to return to North Korea because the U.N. sanctions "worked" and denied the ship a place to put into port to unload its cargo or to refuel. It was believed the Kang Nam, which has a history of delivering weapons to various countries, was destined for Myanmar (formerly Burma) with a cargo of weapons or missile parts. It's been reported however that Myanmar informed North Korea it would be denied access to its ports. U.S. officials tell NBC News that Singapore also informed North Korea that if the Kang Nam attempted to put into port and refuel, Singapore's security forces would be required to board the ship and inspect the cargo under the current U.N. resolution.
Another theory floating around the Pentagon is that North Korea sent the Kang Nam to sea, only days after the U.N. passed the tougher resolution on North Korean weapons sales, with a totally innocuous cargo of "sand or ball bearings" to test the U.S. response, or worse yet, force a confrontation at sea over what may have been a harmless cargo.
The U.S. Navy has three separate destroyers tailing the Kang Nam as it putt-putted along at 6 knots south through the Strait of Taiwan, round the South China Sea and back again. But U.S. military officials report there was never any intent to attempt to board the Kang Nam on the open seas, but to force the North Koreans to put into port where U.N. sanctions would supposedly require a thorough inspection of the cargo.
Now that the Kang Nam is safely back in port at Nam Po, Pentagon officials acknowledge they may never know for sure what the Kang Nam was carrying. But U.S. spy satellites are still locked on the ship, searching for even the slightest clue.
By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC Nightly News digital correspondent
I have just landed in Ghana's capital city, Accra. On Friday, President Obama will also touch down here, for his first presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa (he was in Egypt last month). If history is any guide, he will be greeted like a rock star, times ten. When Presidents Clinton and Bush 43 visited (in 1998 and 2008, respectively), thousands swarmed the streets to welcome them. Because Obama is the son of a Kenyan, many Africans consider him a native son, and they can't wait to give him a hero's welcome when he arrives as the US' first African-American President. Just the announcement of his upcoming visit was front-page news.
This trip is not only significant for Africans, but for African-Americans as well. While in Ghana, President Obama and the First Lady (and maybe their girls, Sasha and Malia) will be stopping at a former slave castle along the coast. These dungeons are where Africans were brought and kept - sometimes for months at a time - before making the horrifying trans-Atlantic voyage to the Americas. Africa's west coast is lined with these remnants of a tragic past. They all have a so-called "door of no return," the doorway through which Africans passed before being loaded onto ships. An estimated 12-25 million people passed through those doors. Not one of them ever saw their home or their families again. Not one.
Imagine then, the symbolic significance of the descendant of one of those slaves, returning as First Lady of the world's superpower. What a powerful moment it will be.
Producer Anthony Galloway and I will be covering this historic trip as many different ways as possible. Of course there will be tons of video which we'll be filing for Nightly News and the Nightly News Web site. We'll be blogging regularly right here and posting original text pieces at www.TheGrio.com. And what would any multi-media reporting trip be without the media's new best friend, Twitter? You can follow our tweets here or directly at Twitter: @NightlyNews.
By Albert Oetgen, Managing editor, NBC News, Washington
Moscow – It’s a very gray day in this very gray city.
A planeload of reporters arrived here this afternoon in advance of President Obama's first trip to Russia as Chief Executive, full of anticipation and American preconceptions about this vast and complicated land.
As the 767 banked on its final approach to Vnukovo Airport, acres and acres of dull concrete high-rise apartment buildings loomed in the distance, echoes of Soviet-era regimentation and Cold War discipline, reminders that the blinding speed of change in the 21st Century – of any century – can never erase the indelible effects of history and experience.
Inside the terminal, reporters were hustled through customs. Efficient uniformed clerks rarely made eye contact, conjuring the persistent, lingering feelings of mistrust that aging baby boomers learned during the early days of the Cold War when, as impressionable schoolchildren, they were taught the absurd lesson that crouching under classroom desks could somehow protect them from nuclear fallout. CONTINUED >>
By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent
Tonight's "Making a Difference" report doesn't come with bells and whistles. And, in my opinion, that is what makes it so special. It is a straightforward story about two longtime friends who grew up "without" on the streets of Chicago.
"I don't remember a time when I didn't know Charlie," says George Maltezos, a mental health counselor.
Maltezos and Dr. Charles Martinez are both in their seventies, both retired and both working harder than ever. That is, in part, because this inseparable pair never forgot what it was like growing up in households that could not afford healthcare. "Charlie" even tells the story of suffering a football injury as a kid and worrying about how his folks were going to pay for fixing him up. Sixty-odd years later that story still resonates.
So, after building successful careers in healthcare, neither one wanted to hang it in retirement. Instead, they've opened a tiny community clinic in a working class neighborhood. They treat patients in need, cajole specialists into donating services and badger the drug companies for low-cost prescriptions. And it doesn’t cost the folks who come to see them a dime. Thanks to George and Charlie, some four hundred people, who otherwise would likely go without any medical attention, are looked after. Getting a clean bill of health, without the bill.
For more information on the Old Irving Park Community Clinic, go to http://www.oipcc.org/
Kelly Venardos, Producer, NBC Nightly News
Every so often you come upon a story that stays with you. After working at NBC News for more than 16 years, I have a few of these gems tucked away in my memory. They sustain me through the news stories that aren't necessarily pleasant or positive. Frequently, these stories involve children. This is one of them.
Ten-year-old Katie Stagliano is different than most kids her age. You know this almost immediately, because she's thinking about and devoting a lot of her time and energies to issues that most young people don't give a second thought to. Katie is worried about hungry children across America, and how she can help them.
Katie lives in Summerville, SC, and after entering a charity t-shirt design contest (http://www.amazing-kids.org/lmdtcontest08.html), her design was chosen as the winner. Katie was inspired to create the "No Hungry Children" campaign by one little cabbage seedling that she planted in her backyard -- a little plant that grew to a whopping 40 pounds! Katie knew that it could feed a lot of people, and with the help of her parents, donated the giant cabbage to a local food bank. That one cabbage helped to feed over 250 people. And it got Katie thinking... if just one cabbage could feed that many people, think of what a whole garden of vegetables could do.
Click here to watch the Nightly News report on Katie's "cabbage patch"
Taking that "seedling" of an idea a step further, she organized her classmates and started a garden on her school's property. With teachers, students and even a Master Gardener volunteering to help, Katie has launched a garden that will soon yield enough food to feed hundreds of people. From peppers and tomatoes, to herbs and corn, there will be plenty of nutritious food for the food bank come harvest time.
After our story aired, Katie received lots of calls from people and organizations that want her to spread her good ideas in their part of the country. She's headed to Florida next month to be a part of a "Hope for the Future" black-tie banquet that will honor her work.
Just last week I received a package at my desk. It was a huge poster-sized card from Katie, thanking NBC News for coming down to South Carolina and telling her story. With her abundant creativity, the card reflects an inspired young lady who's trying to do her part to make the world a better place. I've shared the card with my colleagues, and hopefully it will soon find a place here in our newsroom, for all to see.
I'll be watching and following Katie as her garden (and her dreams) continue to grow. And I definitely want to be around when her dream comes true. I know it will. And to think... it all started with one little cabbage seedling.
By Mara Schiavocampo, Nightly News Digital Correspondent
It’s the start of the work week for most of us. But thousands of Chrysler employees are home, forced to take a temporary break while the automaker goes through bankruptcy proceedings. On Nightly News, I’ll take a look at what that reality is like for two Chrysler workers. You can read part of their stories below:
Kenneth Mefford, 47
Inspector, Warren Truck Assembly
"My boss just came by and said, 'Clean up your areas and go home.' He just said that some of the bondholders had held out and they’re declaring bankruptcy and that’s it. All the rest of Chrysler’s shut down.
'See you in five or six weeks. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.'
I’m a Gulf War vet. I was in Saudi. When somebody just walks up and says put down your stuff, have a nice day and go home, and the next thing you know your company is bankrupt, nobody can prepare you for that. The last feeling I can compare it to is when I got off a C-130 and they handed me a rifle and said ‘Welcome to a combat zone.’
My grandfather worked at River Rouge at Ford, retired after 40 years. My dad did 30-plus and retired from Mound Road Engine, which is now a parking lot. So this is pretty much all I know. I’m 47, I have six years in the Army, 15 years in a factory and a high school diploma. A house note and a car note. What am I supposed to do?"
Aric Holloway, 51
Inspector, Warren Truck Assembly
"They actually told everybody ‘You’re going home’, and ‘We’ll see you in four to six weeks’. They even said, ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’ I was shocked the way we got it. Because normally we get an FYI from the union or from the company. We didn’t get [any information].
You had to go on the Internet or talk to your own friends. They didn’t tell us nothing.
It’s affecting my life and my family a great deal. Because I had a son that was in college, he had to come home. I’m worried about the bankruptcy. I’m very worried about it. I don’t know how they can do, what they can do to make it better."
