The Daily Nightly

Casting a long shadow

2009-11-06T21:24:00Z

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

The awful Ft. Hood shooting incident has saddened everyone -- and we're feeling it acutely perhaps because we just spent a week with the U.S. military in Afghanistan. I've often said that one of the great blessings of my job (as someone who didn't serve) is the exposure it has given me to our superb all-volunteer force. I have been to Ft. Hood, and cannot imagine the shattering effect this will have on that post and community. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the dead and wounded -- and we hope you can join us tonight as we attempt to further de-construct what happened there.

Tragedy in Texas

2009-11-05T21:13:00Z

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

We are covering an awful breaking story at Ft. Hood in Texas. Not only is it the single largest military installation in the country, this makes for the single largest loss of life in a single day domestically in some time. It’s an awful story, and there's a lot we don't know at this hour. We'll try to compile the very best reporting for tonight's broadcast, and we hope you can join us.

Another amazing response

2009-11-04T21:57:00Z

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I'm simply writing today to say thank you -- and to express my ongoing appreciation at the amazing generosity of our viewers. Last night we did a follow-up on the orphanage in Afghanistan. I was only home from work for a few hours when we learned they had already received 500 e-mails from Nightly News viewers -- many of them offering donations and pledges to sponsor a child. It is immensely gratifying, and I'm beyond words in expressing my thanks and appreciation on behalf of the lovely children we met over there. Thank you.

We hope you can join us tonight.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How to help:

If you would like to sponsor an Afghan child or make a donation online, please visit: www.charityhelp.org/afceco

AFCECO
P.O. Box 5820
Kabul, Afghanistan
info@afceco.org
www.afceco.org

Your attention, please

2009-11-03T21:13:00Z

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I'd like to make a special plea for your attention: tonight we are doing a follow-up Making a Difference report. It's actually a report on the generosity of our viewers. Last Friday from Afghanistan, we first aired the story of an orphanage on Nightly News. It is the home to 67 girls and several boys -- and it is an infectiously happy place. We aired the story, along with information on how our viewers could contribute. In the time it took us to fly home to New York, our viewers had donated more than $50,000 -- and since we've been back, we sent a camera crew back to the orphanage to measure how this segment has assisted them.

So please watch tonight's follow-up along with us -- and most importantly: thank you for your generosity, thank you for not letting me down...and thank you for what you have done for those wonderful children. I'm told that adoption from Afghanistan is virtually impossible... and yes, I wanted to take them all home. I hope you can join us for the entire broadcast this evening.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How to help:

If you would like to sponsor an Afghan child or make a donation online, please visit: www.charityhelp.org/afceco

AFCECO
P.O. Box 5820
Kabul, Afghanistan
info@afceco.org
www.afceco.org

Looking back after heading West

2009-11-02T21:55:00Z

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Our last moments in Kabul left an indelible impression, and I'm afraid not a good one. While we were at the airport, waiting in the parking lot to be "processed," two SUV's full of American contractors arrived: all wearing visible body armor, many with thigh-mounted ankle holsters for their 9mm handguns, and still others with conspicuous automatic weapons held across their chests. They are not alone -- this kind of thing is now ubiquitous there.

There is a dynamic developing in Kabul which is reminiscent of Baghdad: Highly visible American security contractors, operating aggressively in Afghanistan. They are aggressive in traffic, they are threatening-looking in public (which they will admittedly tell you is by design, to protect their charge). Many of these firms are the same ones we all came to know in Iraq -- the security structure in Afghanistan has become a massive industry. It also works hand in glove with the deep corruption in that country: I watched as two gatekeepers at the airport were handed cash to allow admittance to the parking lots, and I watched as two passport workers were handed cash to facilitate a departure. Corruption is pervasive -- and it all can make for a rather toxic backdrop against which we now consider Afghanistan's future, and America's role in that. We were handed a whole new set of circumstances with the de facto dissolution of the election this morning, and we'll have to wait and see how (and if) that affects the security environment there.

One more thing: I transited home through Dubai. I opened a copy of GQ magazine on the plane, only to find many of the pages stuck together. After pulling several pages apart, I found that someone (I later learned it was the Government) had gone through every magazine with a heavy black liquid magic marker and blotted out any sensitive or provocative body parts. To be more blunt: if there was a nipple visible through a t-shirt, if too much of a derriere was visible, it was hidden behind a huge splotch of black ink.

I've now travelled through Dubai many times, and have spent a fair amount of time there. It's a confusing place: they advertise good times, while a conservative government and culture place limits on popular culture and discourse. As a friend who lives there points out constantly, "It is not a free society." As long as you know that going in.

As long as you don't mind knowing your magazine's been read before you opened it
--and portions of it have been turned black.

As always, it's good to be home.

We hope you can join us tonight from New York.

Where's my hour?

2009-11-01T20:42:00Z

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.

Afghanistan decision

2009-10-31T20:32:00Z

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.

Decision time nears

2009-10-30T20:46:00Z

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

While we didn't fly halfway around the world just to interview generals or ambassadors, its nonetheless notable that we've been in the region a week and we will depart for home having not been granted an interview with a single senior U.S. official.

It's not for lack of asking... and it's not as if there's a shortage of them here in Kabul, either. Tonight I was invited to a dinner at the official residence of U.S. Ambassador Eikenberry, where Generals Patreus and McCrystal were present (among others) but the talk was gently but quickly steered away from the elephant in the room: the pending decision by the president regarding the future direction of the military effort here in Afghanistan.

Some of those in the room tonight will no doubt join today's White House military session by secure teleconference. While there have been leaks, they've been classic trial balloons to guage early reaction to a policy idea that may or may not be what the president ultimately announces. It is abundantly clear the word has gone out that no one is to say anything during this period. Today I spoke (on background) with two Army Generals and assorted Army and Marine Colonels -- they all said they will adjust, carry on and carry out the order when the new plan is announced. I guess I'd be surprised if they'd said anything else.

This will be my last post from Afghanistan on this trip, so please allow me one more note: while I get to have my name on the broadcast and on this blog -- and while the slideshows and on-air coverage show only me in Afghanistan, I'm the least of this effort. Right now, technicians are standing in the cold on the roof of this building preparing for the broadcast. An adjacent room is filled with producers who are enduring another sleepless night. A videotape edit room in New York is churning out the coverage you'll see tonight. So far on this trip, we've had explosions, gunfire, an earthquake -- and among the staff we've had a non life-threatening electric shock, one debilitating migrane, one Cipro-worthy illness (and countless minor ones) and that's actually a shockingly low number of ailments and injuries in a dangerous place. And then there are the local drivers, there are the men who protect us with machine guns, there are the Afghans on our staff without whom we could not do our work.

Just some of the NBC staff in Afghanistan, photographed with soldiers in uniform. Left- John Kooistra, cameraman; Bob Lapp, audio technician; producers Subrata De and Madeleine Haeringer; and Brian Williams (far right).

Long after we are gone, many of our people stay on, continuing to cover this changing story, continuing to cover the tireless work of those stationed here in uniform. None of them ever get the credit they deserve -- and while this isn't enough, it's something. My thanks to our incredible team all around the globe.

I hope you can join us tonight for the broadcast they put together. Have a good weekend, and we'll see you from New York on Monday.

A haven for children in Kabul

2009-10-30T18:13:00Z

by Subrata De, Nightly News senior producer traveling in Afghanistan with Brian Williams

"Please come inside, please tell them it is not safe for them to be out there."

I'd just walked inside the high walls of the orphanage compound run by AFCECO (Afghan Child Education and Care Organization). Andeisha Farid, the NGO's Executive Director was waiting and worried.

Before most shoots like this, Brian Williams and the crews prepare outside, getting him "wired up" with a mic so that we can record his audio while he walks into a place where he'll be followed by a camera. We didn't want to make a big fuss inside around the kids, so we were preparing just outside the gates.

But Andeisha advised we enter the compound immediately. NGO's -- especially those that have worked to provide education and safe havens for girls and young women -- are often targets in this country. Thankfully, this place hasn't suffered any retaliation, but the threat is still there.

Guards are posted at the door all night and the girls are only allowed outside for school each day.

And yet, once you step inside this place, the fears and threats that have begun to encroach on Kabul melt away. A huge flower garden added a burst of color to this cheerful and warm home for 67 girls and 15 boys. Children spilled out of the doors to greet our group.

It's Friday, a day off here in Kabul and throughout the Islamic world. We'd arrived for lunch and a few girls were busily preparing the meal. It's there, amidst the cutting of vegetables and peeling of pomegranates, that Brian sat down to talk to the woman he profiles tonight for Making a Difference.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Andeisha Farid is a refugee herself. Displaced by the civil war, her family fled to Iran. She's striking with a solid determination and a steel will that she's clearly passing on to the girls here at the orphanage.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

All of us were and all of you I'm sure will be deeply moved by this small patch of goodwill and hope in the middle of a city that has experienced so much hardship. It's a real testament to the resilience of the people and to how much hope they have for their children, their future.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How to help:

If you would like to sponsor an Afghan child, please visit: www.charityhelp.org/afceco
Or if you would like to make a donation online: https://www.charityhelp.org/afceco

AFCECO
P.O. Box 5820
Kabul, Afghanistan
info@afceco.org
www.afceco.org

Click here to watch the report.

Afghanistan orphanage making a difference

2009-10-30T16:34:00Z

Editor's note: Here's more information on Brian Williams' Making a Difference report.

Video: A home for Afghanistan's war orphans

Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO) is an Afghan non-profit organization based in Kabul, founded by a group of volunteers in 2001. They are working with international partners in the United States, Italy and Australia on projects that benefit Afghan children. The Child Sponsorship Program is one of the successful projects they started in 2004 through a partnership with CharityHelp International (CHI), a U.S.-based organization.

If you would like to make a donation online or sponsor an Afghan child, please visit: https://www.charityhelp.org/afceco

AFCECO
P.O. Box 5820
Kabul, Afghanistan
info@afceco.org

Please note: Many viewers have inquired about the possibility of adopting war orphans from Afghanistan. There is no adoption under Afghan law--but specific questions regarding adoption should be directed to the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. More information can be found here: http://kabul.usembassy.gov/adoption2.html