The Daily Nightly began on May 31, 2005. As Brian wrote in his first post it aims to provide a narrative of the broadcast day and a window into the editorial process at NBC Nightly News. Brian weighs in every weekday and NBC News correspondents and producers post regularly.
Brian Williams became the seventh anchor and managing editor in the history of NBC Nightly News on December 2, 2004. Read his full biography.
 |
|
 |
|
 |
advertisement
About the broadcast | Biographies
RSS is an easy way to get the news you want as it is updated even if you are not on MSNBC.com. More information about MSNBC.com's RSS feeds.
Podcasting brings you audio and video from each weekday broadcast on your iPod or other portable MP3 player anytime, anywhere. More information about MSNBC.com's podcasts.
Sign-up for our daily e-mail newsletter. It offers a preview of the stories and special reports featured on each weekday broadcast.
Tonight the top of the broadcast will focus on two stories. One domestic and one foreign -- the announcement today of big cuts in production by Ford Motor Co.; and Hezbollah handing out bags of cash to war victims in Southern Lebanon. They are stories that on the surface seem unrelated, yet are inextricably linked (see Tom Friedman's column today in The New York Times for the best explanation).
First to Detroit. Ford says it is cutting production by 21 percent or 168,000 vehicles. That puts production at its lowest level in more than 20 years. Ford has been struggling, with year-to-date sales down nearly 10 percent over last year. The Ford brass say they are not happy about the cuts but have no choice. The main reason? You probably guessed it -- high gas prices. Ford is taking a real hit on gas guzzling trucks and SUVs. Chief Financial Correspondent Anne Thompson will have all the details for us tonight.
On the flip side... high oil prices have meant plenty of extra spending money in oil-producing countries (think Iran), which may explain how Hezbollah got wads of cash to hand out to people who are trying to rebuild their homes in Southern Lebanon. As Richard Engel will tell us tonight, the Lebanese government is not providing much help and the international community isn't coming through either. Hezbollah is looking like a savior of sorts to a lot of desperate people right now... and hardly like the big "loser" in this conflict. U.S. and Israeli officials are voicing concerns, and privately many fear the group has strengthened its hand.
There are also new developments in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. A better portrait of the suspect is emerging, but there were also new questions raised today about whether he could have committed the crime. We'll wrap up all the latest details. Plus a special report tonight from Dateline's Stone Phillips. He has a rare interview with the COO of McDonald's. He talks about the high profile lawsuit against the fast food chain in which the plaintiffs have blamed McDonald's for their obesity. This is a preview of Stone's report airing on Dateline NBC tonight. See you in a bit.
Read more from Campbell Brown
EMAIL THIS
TRACKBACKS
Trackbacks are links to weblogs that reference this post. Like comments, trackbacks do not appear until approved by us. The trackback URL for this post is: http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b0aa69e200d834ad68f053ef
A Twisted Tale
FYI there's a pretty good chance the money Hezbollah is handing out counterfeit 100 dollar bills. I don't see the "red thread" on any of these bills. http://www.snappedshot.com/uploads/IsraelLebanon2006/r2860637882.jpg
P Krugman, Ridgewood NJ (Sent Aug 20, 2006 12:31:18 PM)
The 30-day war just made Hezbollah stronger. Hez survived and now claim they held their ground against a stronger force.
Who's rebuilding the damage infrastructure in Lebanon? Hez. Who's providing food and shelter? Hez. Who has a daily presence of support on the ground? Hez.
Who supplied the bombs that destroyed the homes? The US. Who said it wasn't the right time for a cease-fire? The US. Who took a one-sided view of the conflict? The US.
Hezbollah use to be a physical force that has now evolved into an idea. Hezbollah is building hospitals. Hez is building schools. Hez is building homes. Hez makes life easier for those living among the rubble.
Hezbollah is more than an army. Hez is a presence that appears when the people needs help. Hezbollah can't be stopped with military force.
Reducing reliance on Mid-East oil and the money flowing into Arab countries slows. No money means Hez don't have the money to hand out or rebuild homes. Western countries comes in and rebuilds replacing Hez.
We are always grateful to those who help us in our time of need and against those who don't help. Right now Hez is giving out all the aid not the western countries.
No public support means Hez is out. Just ask Joe Lieberman.
Dewey Quong, Reno, NV (Sent Aug 18, 2006 7:02:19 PM)
Why shouldn't Hezbollah look like the hero? They're just doing what they did before the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. They have set up school systems, hospitals, set up outreach programs for the poor and even become a legitimate political party (in addition to having a military wing, of course). And so - in typical moron-Bush fashion - we have just created another generation of people so embittered by our policies that they are willing to blow themselves up if it means getting revenge. Brilliant foreign policy. Just brilliant!
(Sent Aug 18, 2006 5:56:17 PM)
Dear Campbell, Good to see you blogging here with Brian Williams. I admire both of your reporting skills and on-air presence very much. Obviously, President Bush waited a long time for Israel to try and "win" the war with Hezzbollah (which they didn't). There was no "win" for Bush as a result. At the same time, the Administration waited as long as they could for the British to announce the alleged terrorist plot, and the British authorities stopped the plot while Bush and Company watched and tried to take partial credit. And now more bad news on the economy with the Ford cutbacks. Bush is losing on all fronts despite his claims to the contrary. When will the voters outside of America's big cities realize this? Only when gays try to get married again, I guess.
Richard Johnson (Sent Aug 18, 2006 5:49:39 PM)
It's just sad!! Hezbollah is looking like the hero and the rest of the world is just looking on like "Aww, that's to bad!! Back to counting our money!" It's sad, just plan sad! No one with power or money, who would be better at standing up, ever wants to stand up anymore! As long as they are safe and they money is secure, they're OK!!!
(Sent Aug 18, 2006 5:04:46 PM)
But it's a booming economy. Just ask Bush or any one of our nation's 10,000 uber rich.
Me? I'm still making about half what I was in 2001, but I don't care as long as Paris Hilton doesn't have to pay any inheritance tax - she does so much for America, already.
Stupid person, USA (Sent Aug 18, 2006 4:20:44 PM)
SEND A COMMENT
PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to this post, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.