Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
Not much time to post today. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice we're in our Los Angeles bureau tonight–a remote broadcast necessitated by a visit we must pay to Arizona later this week. We apparently just had a 4.6 earthquake here in Southern California, but no one here felt it. Our lead story tonight is a major medical story, about a new Federal guideline which I'm afraid might result in a lot of confusion for millions of Americans. So—welcome back for another week, and we hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight, from Los Angeles.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
The American approach to Islamic terror is changing on many levels. Tonight we'll show you what may soon become the American prison for Guantanamo Bay detainees, on a day there was more sharp reaction over the 9/11 terror trials to be held in New York.
Our chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel is in Afghanistan, and he will have the latest from the battlefield on this evening's broadcast. Meantime, White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie is traveling with the president in Shanghai. She'll tell us about the changing dynamic between the U.S. and China, as well as the decision still hanging over the president about the way forward in Afghanistan.
I recently spent a terrific day over in Queens, New York with singer Tony Bennett and his wife Susan. They toured me through a new school of the arts they founded. It's a New York public high school that demands excellence on not only the stage and in the studio, but in the classroom. We'll have some of my conversation with Tony about the school and his career tonight on NBC Nightly News. I hope can join us.
By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor
We have just gotten hold of a copy of Sarah Palin's new book "Going Rogue," thanks to the dogged and resourceful work of our Nightly News interns and production assistants.
The book is not being released until Tuesday, and copies have been very hard to come by. That of course hasn't stopped endless speculation about what's in it. We'll be speed reading through it here in the newsroom this afternoon, and will have more about it, along with the endless fascination with Palin, on tonight's program.
Also this evening we'll bring you up to speed on the deal President Obama is trying to forge with Russia's President Medvedev over nuclear arms. They're both in Singapore at a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders. As the president focuses on one of the major hold over issues from the Cold War, a decision on what to do about the current war in Afghanistan looms large. NBC's Savannah Guthrie will have more from Singapore this evening.
For a guy who a lot of people love to hate, convicted swindler Bernie Madoff is drawing a lot of interest from memorabilia seekers. Jeff Rossen will report on a government auction of Bernie and Ruth Madoff's belongings, and the stunning amounts of cash it’s generating on everything from his New York Mets jacket to his wife's jewelry.
I hope you can join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
My favorite headline today, hands down, is on the New York Times website: "Water Found on Moon, Scientists Say." For some reason, it made me think of Walter Cronkite. We've become so blasé about space travel—and worlds other than ours (and we spotted sending human missions to other places, aside from the International Space Station) that it’s not even the lead story at this hour.
And yet, for those of us who were alive during the "space race," and those decades when we simply could not learn enough—fast enough—about places like the moon...this is shocking news. I expect a Page One headline more along the lines of the Times' famous "MAN WALKS ON MOON." Alas, it’s a different time. It’s only water. It’s only the moon, after all. It’s only one of several editorial decisions facing us as we prioritize today's news for tonight's broadcast.
I hope you've enjoyed this week's superb "Making A Difference" series of reports -- if you missed any one of them, you can catch up with them here.
We hope you can join us tonight. Please have a good weekend, and I'll see you on Monday.
By Lauren Selsky, Washington DC desk assistant and Shannon Urtnowski, Burbank production assistant
Living on opposite ends of the country, we talk often about the differences of each coast, ranging from weather to pace of life. But, being in the early stages of our careers and concerned with the current state of the nation, something more important has been on our minds lately; an unfortunate trend spanning coast to coast - "unemployment."
It was disheartening to hear the recent statistics showing payrolls fell by 190,000 workers last month and the U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 10.2 percent. These numbers have been creeping up for some time now, and families nationwide are hurting from lost jobs, lost benefits, and lost sense of self. There had to be something different - something better - that could be done.
Though we knew we weren't the first to tackle this challenge, we decided to use the skills we had - researching. One program in particular stuck out - work sharing. Simply put, work sharing is mutually beneficial to both employers and employees - a win/win situation. Employers reduce workers' weekly hours and pay, and the workers collect unemployment from the state in lieu of being laid off.
With guidance from Producer John Cheang and Correspondent Chris Jansing we found the program has been a saving grace for a company in Washington. Chris and John went up to Seattle and saw this first-hand.
For all the good this work share program does, having already saved 150,000 jobs this year alone, only 17 states have adopted the program. There are those who believe even more can and should be done. For example, economist Mark Zandi wrote a Nov. 2nd op-ed in the New York Times proposing Congress provide financing to expand work share programs nationwide. With unemployment continuing to rise, it seems unlikely Zandi is alone in his views.
Joo Lee, NBC News producer
BATON ROUGE, La. – In his trademark black cowboy hat and worn blue jeans, country music star Tim McGraw is right at home under the hot stage lights. But on a recent night outside Pittsburgh, he was turning the spotlight away from himself and raising money for a good cause.
"This goes to the Neighbor's Keeper fund. Mine and my wife's charity that we started a while back," McGraw said to the audience.
McGraw calls his benefit concerts "bread and water" shows. "Typically when we do these shows, it'll cost you $100 for the Neighbor's Keeper to do a request. But if it's really bad, it costs you $200 for us to stop," he said with a laugh.
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| Larry Busacca / Getty Images |
| Singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw at the 2009 MusiCares event in Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2009. |
Asked how much money these concerts can raise, McGraw responded, "Playing badly, we can raise a lot!"
McGraw and his wife, country singer Faith Hill, founded the Neighbor's Keeper Fund in 2004 to strengthen communities in need, particularly by contributing to projects that support children’s initiatives. The non-profit organization contributes to diverse projects. They've raised money for Habitat for Humanity in Nashville and supported a youth baseball league in Rayville, La.
Between 2005-2007 Neighbor’s Keeper Fund raised more than $2.5 million, according to public charity tax records.
For McGraw, the idea was simple, "You know, you got to look out for your neighbor. And Faith and I both came from families like that," said McGraw. "If somebody was in trouble, the neighbors were there to help."
The idea of Neighbor’s Keeper is to be able to target funds directly to a problem, often by donating to charitable groups that are already doing good work in an area. "Without any red tape. Without any overhead. Without any committee. We can just identify something and go straight to it," he explained.
CONTINUED >>
By Tim McGraw, country music artist
The Neighbor’s Keeper Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is a charitable organization that my wife, Faith, and I founded in 2004 to help people in need and encourage the spirit of neighbors helping neighbors. It seeks to strengthen communities throughout the United States by contributing to diverse projects, with primary emphasis on children's initiatives.
Faith and I chose the name "Neighbor’s Keeper" because we felt it really summed up the responsibility each of us has to one another. We were both raised in small Southern towns where people were always willing to lend a helping hand, and we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to do the same through Neighbor’s Keeper.
When I was growing up in Start, Louisiana, one of my greatest heroes was my basketball coach, Larry Butler. Not only was he a terrific coach, he made sure that we learned what it meant to be part of a team off the court, too. When it flooded – which it did every year – Coach Butler would load up his players in the back of his truck and take us to the local cotton gin where there was a huge pile of sand. We would fill sand bags, load them in the truck and bring them to people’s yards and anywhere else they might be needed. It was Coach Butler’s way of teaching us how to give back to our community, a premise that is central to The Neighbor’s Keeper Fund.
When news breaks about a pressing need, Neighbor’s Keeper moves quickly to identify how its resources can have the greatest impact in the shortest amount of time. Then we find the local organization that is best suited to the task – and we give them the funds they need to get the job done.
Every day you can make a difference in the lives of the people around you. I encourage you to seek out ways to strengthen your own community. And if you’d like to join us in our mission at The Neighbor’s Keeper Fund, please check out our website at http://timmcgraw.com/neighbors-keeper.html. Together we can accomplish great things!
Video: 'Katrina really hit close to home'
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
I guess because of my recent immersion in the military and the attention on veterans over these last few days, today I'd like you to read someone else's work.
While in Kabul, I had dinner with David Ignatius of the Washington Post, and this piece was brought to my attention too late yesterday to post it here, but he gets it. He has spent a lot of time around the military, and this piece he wrote spoke to the details I've always noticed when around them. So...please read and enjoy. It's important.
We hope you can join us tonight.
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor
A few minutes after 1pm, I put on my coat and walked to the corner of 5th Avenue and 50th Street. From my office, I could see bits and pieces of the Veteran's Day Parade passing up 5th Avenue, and I wanted to see it up close. I was gratified to find people standing 8 deep along Fifth Avenue.
Seniors, parents with children, a smattering of normally-scurrying office workers out for a mid-day errand...all stopping behind the barricades to watch a bit of the parade pass by. What thrilled me was to see and hear spontaneous applause break out. With each passing float, each collection of veterans, I watched as people started to clap...with enthusiasm...up and down the Avenue. The bagpipes, as always (God Bless the FDNY Emerald Society -- you guys sounded great today) put us over the top. It put a lump in my throat. I was fortunate enough to host a big dinner for Veterans here in New York last night, so it’s been a great 24 hours on that front.
As I walked back to 30 Rock, I witnessed an incredible moment: As I watched, the tree platform was being lowered into place, directly over the logo on the sidewalk that shows off-season tourists where the legendary tree stands each holiday season. What a great moment to witness -- in all, quite a day here in Midtown Manhattan, considering it was a 20-minute outing from start to finish.
I sure hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast. I'm off to greet a visiting group of female military veterans. And I couldn't be happier.
By Anne Thompson, NBC News chief environmental affairs correspondent
If something goes wrong with your body... you break a bone, get the flu, or something more serious, sympathy and help abounds. But what if something goes wrong with your brain?
Mental illness affects one in six Americans and yet it is still an illness people are reluctant to talk about, let alone admit that they have.
Tonight, we will show you how actress Glenn Close is working to change the perception of mental illness and erase the stigma that all too often attaches. She is operating on two levels. The first and most public is the one we are most familiar with, Close is the force behind a new public service announcement with the slogan "Bring Change To Mind." She convinced Oscar winning director Ron Howard of "A Beautiful Mind" (the story of Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Nash and his struggle with mental illness) to direct the 30 second spot. It is shot in New York's Grand Central Terminal and set to John Mayer's song "Say." It is beautiful, moving and packs a punch as you meet people with mental illness and their families, including Jessie Close and her sister Glenn.
Video: My sister is 'my hero'
That's the second level. This is a cause that is personal for Glenn. The daughters of a physician, Glenn says there was no vocabulary in her family for mental illness, even though she says Jessie showed signs of obsessive behavior as a child. The youngest, Jessie lived for years swinging from mania and depression until she was finally diagnosed as bipolar at age 47. Now age 56, Jessie is living with mental illness. "I take care of my illness," Jessie says. "My illness doesn't take care of me." Jessie is a writer with three children. She's just finished her first book, co-authored with her son Calen who also has a mental illness.
What they both hope to achieve with this PSA is to remove the stigma that accompanies mental illness. It is not a character flaw. It is an illness and they want people to understand that those afflicted can live very productive lives if they get the right treatment and medications. They hope that one day society realizes people with mental illness can recover and live the same way that people do with cancer, diabetes and addictions.
Glenn volunteers at Fountain House here in New York. Fountain House is a place where those with mental illness can find support and resources to get housing and jobs. Glenn says she did not want to be a celebrity in a ball gown showing up at a charity event. Instead she wanted to "dig deep," to understand and to figure out what she could do to help. After a couple of years of volunteering, she came up with the PSA and it was shot this summer.
Glenn says Jessie is her hero. Jessie says Glenn is a great woman. Watch tonight and you will see why.
Full interview: I wanted to 'dig deep'
