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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Our news comes from all over the place -- and while there is no absolutely mandatory lead story based on immediate urgency today, there is no shortage of news. Sunday news viewing habits being what they are in this country, millions of Americans were unaware of the earthquake in Hawaii until last night or even this morning. It was also difficult, in the first six or so hours after the initial earthquake bulletin, to gauge how big a quake it had been in terms of loss of life or even property damage. As much as it represents 1/50th of the United States, it can be surprisingly difficult to broadcast news live out of Hawaii. Add to that the fact that arriving flights were banned for many hours... and you see the problem with coverage. Today we have a full complement of personnel on the ground.
Nature is also making news in Texas this afternoon. Houston has been under a tornado warning for a time today, with rain falling at the rate of an inch an hour. The rain stretches east along the Interstate to New Orleans, and also into points north. It's a mess, and our Dallas, New Orleans and Atlanta bureaus are on the story.
Also deserving of our attention tonight: this weekend's staggering death toll in Iraq and some of the domestic political comment on the subject. And let's please remember our military families: 52 Americans have lost their lives so far in the month of October. There's news today as well from Capitol Hill concerning both Harry Reid and Curt Weldon. North Korea is also back in the news.
We have an interesting look at gas prices tonight: We sent reporter Kerry Sanders on a road trip on a sparkling weekend in New England. And then there's my favorite story of the day: tomorrow morning at 7:46 a.m. ET (don't ask me how they know the exact time), America's population odometer will crank to 300,000,000. Tonight we will look at LBJ announcing it had just become 200,000,000 back on November 20, 1967, and we'll look at what has happened to "us" since then... and where we are all moving. Mike Taibbi gathered this story on the road, and has put together a great piece for tonight.
ROUNDING THIRD FOR HOME
I grew up in a family of very modest means and never knew a single celebrity. Families like ours rarely got the chance. Perhaps the most notable person across all generations and branches of the family was my Uncle Bill Maish, whose claim to fame, in addition to heroic service on board the USS DuPage in the South Pacific while under kamikaze attack, was that he was a Harvard classmate of John F. Kennedy. It was not until I turned 30 that I met a Harvard graduate other than Uncle Bill.
There was one other notable person. Because my family lived in suburban Philadelphia for several years, we came to know a professional ballplayer on the Phillies. While we later moved away, and my friends in the New York area were never very impressed, I valued his baseball card most of all.
So it was that on Saturday morning, when I opened the New York Times and read that Johnny Callison had died, I felt like an era had ended. [NYTimes.com obit requires registration; ESPN.com obit does not]
Johnny Callison played in the majors for 14 seasons. In my favorite picture of him, he is arm-and-arm with Juan Marichal and Willie Mays in the locker room -- at the event that would become his crowning professional achievement -- the 1964 All-Star Game. At that game, Johnny did something that only Ted Williams and Stan Musial had done before: he won the game with a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth. He was a four-time All-Star who batted left and threw right, with devastating accuracy. He led the league in doubles, and in triples three times. Johnny was a pure baseball player during what was still a pure era for the sport. He made the cover of Sports Illustrated, but never cracked superstardom, never made a million dollars, and when his playing days were over, he tended bar. He was plucked out of high school in Oklahoma in the late 1950s, married a wonderful woman, and promptly became the father of three daughters. The Callison's split-level house on Oakdale Avenue in Glenside, Pa., was a magical place to visit -- especially if, as a starstruck young baseball fan, he invited you to his den, just off the garage -- which featured a custom-made carpet depicting his silhouette at the plate, and his Golden Glove awards on the windowsill.
In the end, his body failed him. The same man who was such a graceful athlete in his prime. declined quickly, and suddenly the blessings that life once supplied him were all gone. He was just 67 when he died last Thursday. He was the coolest man I had ever met, and when I called my 89-year-old father to commiserate over the loss on Saturday, he said exactly what I was thinking: "It was so great to know a celebrity." He's right. It really was.
I hope you can join us tonight.
Photo caption: From left to right -- Willie Mays, Juan Marichal and Johnny Callison -- celebrate in the locker room after Callison won the 1964 All-Star game for the National League. Photo courtesy of ESPN.com's Major League Baseball Wire.
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A fish story
Brian,I just recently discoved that my maternal grandfather was also on the USS DuPage and was wounded in the attack on Jan.10,1945. His name was Merle Curtis Cushman. How terrible it must have been for these young men. They did us proud!!
Rosemary Stoll Lost Nation,IA (Sent Mar 16, 2007 9:49:00 AM)
Mr. Williams,
I truely injoyed your comments about Johnny Callison.
I went to East Bakersfield high school with Johnny. I did not know him personlly, but everyone knew him. He was such a great athlete in all sports he played.
He gave to me something called pride. I am very proud of Johnny Callison.
Joseph Coker (Sent Dec 14, 2006 8:50:52 PM)
I think that Brian Williams is a class act and I really enjoy his newscasts. He is like a nice pair
of comfortable suede loafers, good looking but one
feels at ease with his personality and he fit right
into that Tom Brokaw role,what a smooth transisiton the best I have seen and without the all the Hype.
Phyllis M gogerty,Des Moines,Iowa (Sent Oct 19, 2006 7:21:21 PM)
I don't understand how the Dow reaching the number's that has can be the 5th or 6th story of your newscast. If the Dow was to reach a record low, you would have it as the lead story? Please explain to me why this is?
(Sent Oct 18, 2006 7:41:20 PM)
Hi Brian. NBC Nightly News continues to be the favorite in our household. I do wish you would do more coverage on the upcoming elections, but not in regards to the Republicans or Democrats! What are some independant options? I grew up in a Democrat household, then turned Republican in my early 20's. Today, I don't consider myself either! I am totally dissatisfied with both parties. I do wish for a viable independant choice, but most independants today come across as "crack-pots" or totally committed to a single path (ie; Green Party). Our two party system has gone bust in my opinion! It doesn't matter which, Republican or Democrat, they all tell us how bad the other guy is and what they will do it elected, and then once elected, they start ripping us off or sitting on their fat duffs doing nothing for the 4 or 6 year term. It's definitely time for change!
Keep up the good reporting!
Best Regards,
Tom W.
Tom Whitfield, Dayton, Ohio (Sent Oct 17, 2006 11:17:53 AM)
Thanks for Martin Savidge's good news report on the return of New Orleans' "Marching 100." It's always good to see such signs of returning normality and I admire and am inspired by the spirit shown by these young people whose lives must otherwise be quite difficult. The band may be down to only 64 this year--but I hope by next year the "Marching 100" are really up to 100.
Olivia Elizabeth Burdon, Peoria, Ill. (Sent Oct 17, 2006 7:38:30 AM)
Brian you really do listen to your blogger/viewers. You talked about Mr. Reid's problems. I wonder if those same bloggers want to know about Cheney's profits from KBR. Now Cheney is the smart one he had meetings behind closed doors with all the companies that got Government contracts and no bids were allowed. Now Cheney is profiting from those companies. Notice no out cry for you to report that. I guess if the GOP does something it's ok but let someone else break a nail and it's time for a federal investigation. Libby's case is an example of a criminal who waiting for a Presidential pardon.
Jackie Rawlings Riverside California (Sent Oct 16, 2006 10:10:57 PM)
Just read Brian Lowry's column in Variety via a link from TVNewser. He observes that your broadcast is one of the few trying to hold the line on fluff. Keep up the good work.
Also, appreciated the piece on gas prices. I was tooling around northern New England myself a couple of weeks ago, but not in a Mustang convertible. Cool car. Despite these falling prices, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that we still need to get moving on developing alternative fuels. I also think that many people could drive smaller vehicles. I see more SUVs in supermarket parking lots in Connecticut than the mountains of New Hampshire.
J. Ainsworth, Guilford, CT (Sent Oct 16, 2006 7:36:14 PM)
Hi Brian. I guess I should consider myself lucky even though it's been raining here all day long. What a mess. In regards to the 300 millionth person, I don't really believe that they know it will occur at 7:46. How could they possibly know that? I guess they're just using some sort of statistical formula.
Also, you were very funny last night on Comedy Central. So, hmm, you were on that AND you were just on SNL. Are you laying a foundation for a career in comedy in case this whole news thing doesn't work out? I think you're safe, but watch your back. I hear Katie's crafty.
S.A., St. Louis, MO (Sent Oct 16, 2006 5:55:22 PM)
300 Million is NOT the problem! As an environmentalist, I run into the argument about overpopulation all the time. To me, citing overpopulation is often a way people use to push the blame off onto something that really isn’t going to change. It sort of frees them from taking responsibility for how desperate things are by essentially saying “It’s not me.”
Our problem isn't the number of people but our total and utter disregard for efficiency or functional products and designs of any kind in this country. Here we are with sprawling 15- and 20-acre parking lots where the builder simply paves over the farm land they want for parking. How stupid is that? Sure, less people would make things easier, but so would some "SOLID planning" and "WISE choices." Which would you rather see? Much like in many cities, shopping centers should be four or five floors high with underground parking and rooftop recreational facilities. Is that so much to ask?
We need to have hope. PLEASE PEOPLE, have hope in our abilities to pull this off and make life better for all. With such astounding technology and engineering knowhow, we can literally improve the standard of living for EVERYONE while dramatically lowering our impact on the environment. Ever see Sky City 1000?
There are also MANY ways to modify the design of our homes so that they will allow us to live comfortably with our older children or even our elderly parents if we can't afford a nursing home. All bedrooms an equal size, each with a wardrobe room, wider halls, multi-line phones, wheelchair elevator and so on. By living more together like this in a four-bedroom homes (which virtually offers the privacy as two separate homes), we can literally lower land use by 60%!
Similarly, by combining our resources with several other professional families so that we can work together right from our own homes, we can reduce our vehicle needs and fuel consumption by about 60%. Living "communally" in four- to six-level housing units, we can lower land use by up to 85% without batting an eye! Rooftop greenhouses can allow us to grow our own vegetables 10 X more effectively than seasonally dependant farm land, too!
No. 300 million... WELCOME ABOARD!
Chris Eldridge, Harrisburg PA (Sent Oct 16, 2006 5:22:04 PM)
Nature is really something isn't it. Many Americans see this as nothing new but I notice strange things that are happening with the weather around the world. From New York, Texas and Hawaii but some as these conditions as natural. I'm glad the other countries are doing their part at trying to repair the damage to earth hopefully Americans will come to realize we have to accept the truth. Global warming is happening and only the people of the world together can stop it and start changes it back.
Jackie Rawlings Riverside California (Sent Oct 16, 2006 5:20:33 PM)
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