Lester Holt
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
All day I've been thinking about what happened to that extra hour we supposedly got this morning. I actually used mine, plus an additional 90 minutes staying up to watch some of the rain-delayed World Series game last night. So in reality I'm an hour and a half in the hole.
Every year I manage to rationalize the time change to the point of getting less sleep, not more. Isn't it too bad they can't just surprise us with the return to standard time? Maybe magically set our clocks back an hour as we sleep on some random fall night so we really do get to benefit from that extra sack time?
On the broadcast tonight we're covering the fallout in Washington from the aborted runoff election in Afghanistan that leaves Hamid Karzai as president for the next five years. The White House had been holding off a decision on whether to commit more troops there until after the Afghan election was decided. So what happens now? We'll get reports from Kabul and the White House on tonight's Nightly News.
There's new information about the bodies found in the home of a Cleveland sex offender, and how they died. We'll have the latest on that.
We'll also hear from the skipper of that American cargo ship who was held by Somali pirates earlier this year. I spoke to Captain Richard Phillips earlier today about the British couple who were captured at sea more than a week ago, and what they may be facing.
I hope you'll join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
The White House is reacting to a new development in Afghanistan today that could affect how and when it decides whether to commit more American troops to the war. President Hamid Karzai's election rival, Abdullah Abdullah, is now expected to drop out of a runoff election as soon as tomorrow.
Whether he does it gracefully, or in effect boycotts what he has previously labeled a fraudulent election process, is the burning question. Clearly Washington would like to remove any stain of illegitimacy from the election before deepening American involvement in the conflict. Our Richard Engel is in Kabul and will bring us the latest from there. We'll also get the early reaction from the White House.
We're also covering an unsettling discovery at the home of a convicted rapist in Cleveland.
That case of a Northwest Airlines crew who overflew their destination last week has stirred up discussion about fatigue in the cockpit. Ron Allen looks into the problem.
And by the way, for those of you who watched TODAY this morning, I can promise there will be no encore tonight to our little Halloween musical (ok, lip-syncing) performance. It will be suit and tie the whole way this evening. I hope you'll join me for Nightly News, and in the meantime have a safe and enjoyable Halloween night.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
The government's decision to declare the H1N1 flu outbreak an "emergency" is meant to break through some of the usual bureaucratic red tape that could hinder the ability of hospitals to respond to a big surge of flu patients.
Unfortunately it does nothing to speed up the flow of flu vaccine, which so far, is available in far fewer doses than was originally promised. While the production back log is expected to be fixed soon, the health care system is racing against a clock it can't see. Meaning experts can't say when the outbreak will peak, and when or whether the virus will mutate. On Nightly News this evening we'll have a lot more on what this emergency declaration means and when the flow of vaccine will increase.
I'm getting on a red eye flight after the broadcast tonight, and I'll be thinking a lot about what's going on the other side of that locked cockpit door. The flying public deserves answers quickly about why that Northwest Airlines flight overshot its destination and was out of radio contact for over an hour last week. Tonight we'll let you hear what one of the pilots from that flight has to say about what didn't happen, and what's being done to get to the bottom of it.
I hope you'll join me for those stories and all of the day's important stories on NBC Nightly News.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
Many of us would have been just as happy to see that little Colorado balloon adventure turn out to be an innocent misunderstanding so that we could all move on to other things. We learned today, however, that apparently isn't the case.
Colorado authorities said today that they were duped – and so were all of uswatching that balloon careening through the sky while silently praying for a little boy we were told was in it. Sheriff's investigators say they plan to file charges against the parents that could lead to jail time. Toying with a country's emotions is not a crime, but intentionally leading rescuers on a wild goose chase is. Tonight on the broadcast, we will tell you why authorities now think the whole thing was a hoax and what was behind it.
We'll look for you later on NBC Nightly News.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
From the open window of my Rockefeller Plaza office I am enjoying the crisp and coolish afternoon air, the sounds of drums and music from the Spanish Columbus/Hispanic Day parade making its way down Fifth Avenue, and just below me, tourists are skating on the newly re-opened ice rink. It's a feast for the senses, and a reminder of why I love fall in New York City.
In the meantime, we're busy preparing tonight's broadcast, which will include coverage of today's massive gay rights rally in Washington, where some of the spotlight is on president Obama and his so far unfulfilled pledge to end the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
We will also tell you why Wall Street is now getting into the business of investing in death - or to be more specific, life insurance policies.
Plus, what a newly re-discovered mummy in Miami is telling scientists about life 2,700 years ago.
Thanks for checking in. Please join us later for NBC Nightly News.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
The deaths of 8 Americans in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan is raising the stakes both on the battlefield, and in Washington, over the question – what now?
With American casualties mounting, and the administration weighing whether to deploy tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan, we'll have firsthand accounts of the situation on the ground. Our Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski will join me live from Kabul this evening after touring the region where the attack occurred. In addition, our veteran war correspondent Richard Engel is just back from Afghanistan, and will be with me in studio to offer his perspective on what American troops and their commanders are facing.
We're also covering the imminent release (slightly ahead of schedule) of the H1N1 flu vaccine. We'll tell you who is slated to get the first doses.
We will look at what's on the Supreme Court's calendar as they prepare to begin their fall term, as well as examine the extreme lengths an Illinois man is accused of going to in order to stalk and secretly videotape ESPN reporter Erin Andrews.
I hope you can join me later for NBC Nightly News.
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 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 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 Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
That big fire burning north of Los Angeles has almost doubled in size since our report on last night's broadcast. Thousands of homes are now under evacuation orders. We'll be going to live to the scene this evening for the very latest.
We also have an amazing survivor's story to report involving 3 fishermen who were missing for over a week in the Gulf of Mexico – so long that active search efforts had virtually been suspended. Our Peter Alexander has just spoken to one of the men who explained what happened to them and how they were rescued.
Suspicions are growing today over what other crimes Philip Garrido, the accused kidnapper of Jaycee Dugard, may be linked to. Those suspicions have now caused police to rope off part of a yard next to Garrido's as a crime scene. George Lewis brings us the new developments from Antioch, California.
Plus, we'll tell you about why hard times in the lobster catching business have tempers boiling on a tiny island off the coast of Maine.
Thanks for checking in. I hope you'll catch us later for NBC Nightly News.
