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.
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We try to be very careful in choosing the street, neighborhood or building that serves as the backdrop for our coverage, especially on a night like this one, considering the size of the live viewing audience and the level of interest. We are sensitive to charges that media portrayals of New Orleans are all alike, and we are always actively looking for "mixed progress" neighborhoods where there is work underway, and where people have decided to put down stakes and stay. We are in such a neighborhood tonight -- but the view changes (as it does all over this region) seemingly every few feet. The odor on the street is staggering (they are STILL finding bodies at the one-year mark) and the drive into this neighborhood is depressing. A police officer remarked, "this neighborhood's gone." But not everyone. Tonight we'll try to highlight the good (recovery) with the bad (retreat) while surrounded by the ubiquitous destruction that the waters caused.
The most powerful recurring image in some parts of town is the MP's patrolling the streets in Humvees. The National Guard has fitted their desert-camouflage Hummers with revolving blue lights (to highlight their policing function and increase their visibility at night), but the sight of a vehicle that we associate with warfare presents an aggressive picture. Yesterday we drove past a Hummer that had pulled over a civilian in a traffic stop. Yet another sat idling in a drugstore parking lot. The men we've seen are in fatigues, most with "MP" armbands... and attitudes vary. In some neighborhoods, they ARE the police, and while it is certainly not the Anbar Province, it is not without its dangers and risks. It is hot and difficult work for these citizen soldiers, all of whom left lives and families at home.
Tonight we will take stock of this region one year after Katrina -- we'll actually kick off two nights from here, following the same theme. We'll hear from some of the NBC News on-air team that viewers came to associate with the horrors here -- we'll look at what went wrong, we'll talk about the issue of race and where the national discussion stands. We will also cover the other major stories before us: the Tropical Storm that is likely to return to hurricane status before long, and the crash of the commuter jet in Lexington, Ky. We will try to get at the question of what this experienced air crew was doing on the shorter of the two runways. The short answer obviously is: it can happen. It evidently came close to happening 12 years ago, at the same airport and with a similar aircraft. The stories of the individual souls lost... are heartbreaking.
For now, we hope to see you from New Orleans tonight. And please join me for our hour-long NBC News special, at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 Central tonight. It's our look back at the first five days of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. We'll look for you then.
Read more from Brian Williams 2006, NBC's Gulf Coast recovery files
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Live from New Orleans East
Brian:
Prof Dyson is trying to sell books. Ask Dyson where is the national Black communities response to the disaster. none that has been reported. From his Ivy League perch, he can talk but he is not here -I do not think he has ever been here -- he has only seen the news reports. Why not mention the failure of the Corp to provide the levee protection we, as taxpayers paid for, that caused the calmity across class lines. The Corp has never really been called out -- never held fully accountable. You never mentioned St. Bernard Parish -- 50,000 white , obliterated, middle class residents. What about the middle class areas of Lakeview or Gentilly or Pontchartrain Park. It is the middle class, white , black, asian, that bore the brunt. Jobs, homes,families lost. 30%+ reduciton in enrollment at the Univeristy of New Orleans, which provides the educational hand-up to the working class of this City. This is not just about poor. That is the wrong impression. It was a multi-cultural and economic American tragedy.
Paul (Sent Aug 28, 2006 9:20:41 PM)
Brian,
Excellent piece on Katrina and New Orleans tonight. Like 9/11 we should never forget what happened there.
Dennis Smith, Middletown N.J. (Sent Aug 28, 2006 9:10:31 PM)
I am extremely sick of hearing about the racism of the government during Katrina. We can not help that New Orleans is 99% black. Look at the Gulf Coast, they were in the same situation and they are not blaming racism. The racism issue is just a reason for the people of New Orleans to blame the government. The people in both New Orleans and the Gulf Coast new that the hurricane was coming and had the option of getting out. It was there choice to stay. I am not saying that they deserved what happened by no means, but they should not blame the government for not doing exactly what they wanted. I truely believe that the government did all that they could. Race had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Tracey, Hattiesburg, MS (Sent Aug 28, 2006 9:02:07 PM)
Brian, I was terribly distressed when I saw your interview with Prof Dyson, Monday night. Yes the people of New Orleans were dealt a bad hand, but they were not just black. When someone depends on the goverment to provide for them, during a crisis like katrina they expect everything to stop and be alright. Why. Could it be decades of reliance on the goverment to provide for them. Were the people of 9-11 suffered because they went to work. They were black, white, yellow, red, etc. Katrina represents a failure on a massive scale on all levels of goverment. The people were let down by the local goverment who did not evactuate the people, by the state because a demacratic govenor let politics dictate her decisions and choosing not to heed the warnings about the storm, and by the US goverment for not taking stronger actions at the time or since. I have wondered why it is taking so long to start the real rebuilding of New Orleans. As you know in 1972 we here in the southern tier suffered a major flood, and while our damage was great, no not aS New Orleans, we all pulled togather and rebuilt Elmira and Corning and smaller towns. It did not matter if you were black or white or yellow or red, we all had this pride that Prof Dyson talked about and a faith in GOD as well. We may never forget but we rebuilt with the help of the federal, state, and local goverments and with help from private companies. I had relatives that lost everything but were glad to still be alive. They didn't stop and ask where was the goverment to help them, we their family and neighbors were there, and when the goverment came in they were welcome. Brian, we do not force people to live in anyone place, as far as I remember that has not happened since the internment of Japenese-americans in WW2. People live in San Francisco despite the knowledge that one day there will be a devastating earthquake in that area. I feel that the race card gets played way to easily here and sometimes I think that those who holler the most and the loudest are the sameones who have made it impossible to rebuild New Orleans. Please don't fall victum to this and those that seek to divide our country because of their political leanings.
john snyder, Bath, NY (Sent Aug 28, 2006 7:12:57 PM)
This Katrina coverage is just too much. I love NBC Nightly News and will continue watching, but how about covering something else for a change? You've been covering this story non-stop for a year now. Enough is enough.
(Sent Aug 28, 2006 7:06:40 PM)
This constant reporting on Katrina and New Orleans. All the networks give us the same stories. How disfunctional, in so many ways.
Why doesn't anyone request and inspect the $100 billion allocated. Who got these no contest, no accountability contracts!!!
How did they spend the money, what's been accomplished!!!
Again, not only Katrina but the Iraq war, the allocated money is never accounted for, and the news agencies are equally to blame.
dan, chicago, il (Sent Aug 28, 2006 6:40:27 PM)
Still finding bodies after one year? What happened to Bush's promises of assistance? Were they just lies like all the other lies?
Will Affleck-Asch, Seattle, Wash. (Sent Aug 28, 2006 6:36:06 PM)
Hi Brian. Thank you for continuing to cover this very important story. I know you get emails from people wanting you to move on. Don't listen to them. If no one sheds a light on New Orlean's continued problems the city will be lost. I'll be sure to watch tonight.
S.A., St. Louis, MO (Sent Aug 28, 2006 6:07:46 PM)
I sure hope NBC is planning 48 hours of non-stop commentary on this latest twist in the JonBenet case - KARR HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!
(Seems like I heard someone say that, a few days ago. Oh yeah - me.)
Lee in CA (Sent Aug 28, 2006 6:06:11 PM)
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