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Reason to Hope?

As we begin putting together our broadcast tonight, word from NBC's Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell... traveling with the Secretary of State in Israel... that there may be a plan to try to end the violence in the middle east.  It is just the beginning... but Andrea will report some of the new details that are emerging.  We'll have that story.

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INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS: GARRETT HAAKE

When I first got accepted into the internship program at NBC Nightly News, the truth is, I was thinking about giving up on journalism. I questioned whether the life of a television journalist was really what I wanted. For me, this internship was an opportunity to jump in at the highest level and see if that life was really something to aspire to. Two weeks after final exams ended I quit my job, said goodbye to my family, friends and girlfriend in Texas, and left for a 12-week adventure in New York City.

An old friend told me that when I got to New York I would "catch the bug" and rediscover my passion for the news. She was right. Learning from, and working side-by-side with, the men and women who are the absolute best at what they do has refocused me. I want to be a reporter. I want to tell stories that bring the world to my community.

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THE CLASS OF 2006

 
The summer's hottest group: Brian and the Interns

Before we get to the news, a word about some folks we're saying goodbye to around these parts starting today. We've been fortunate enough this summer to have a stellar group of summer interns. I cannot remember a group that has had a greater impact, nor do I recall a group that enjoyed each other's company quite so well. Knowing that at least one Web site that covers our industry is trolling for tales of skulduggery -- soliciting the stories of summer interns in the media -- I asked our interns to write an essay, up to 500 words, summing up their experience with us. Starting a little later today, in a column we will call INTERN(AL) AFFAIRS, you'll hear from this great class of college students. They have been an enormous help, and we have profited greatly by having them here. And to the parents of our 2006 interns: You raised your children well. Thanks for loaning them to us.

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Watching Bush/Blair live in Israel

Our NBC News team is on Israel's northern border as I write this, and President Bush's joint news conference with British Prime Minister Blair is being aired live on television. The volume is all the way up because every few minutes we can hear the firing of Israeli 155 millimeter artillery into Lebanon a few hundred yards away.

The leaders of two of the world's most powerful nations are voicing their unified position to work for a sustainable peace in the region, before calling for an immediate cease-fire. Their comments seem a touch defensive, given a worldwide outcry over the disproportionate number of civilian deaths in Lebanon.

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Rice heads back to Mideast

Sometimes even secretaries of state get bigfooted. For two days, it has been obvious to all of us traveling with Condoleezza Rice this week that she would end up in Jerusalem this weekend and also deal with the leaders of Lebanon -- but Rice found artful (diplomatic?) ways to dance around committing herself. Today, it became clear why: she didn't want to preempt the boss, and that meant giving President Bush something to announce at his just-concluded White House news conference with Tony Blair. 

Rice's two top Middle East advisors, David Welch and Elliot Abrams, have been in Israel since yesterday in non-stop meetings to lay the groundwork for further talks. They called her tonight (it's now after Midnight here in Malaysia) to give her a progress report. (What is she doing in Malaysia? She'd previously committed to an annual Asian summit -- requiring 30 hours of flying and a detour from Middle East diplomacy.)

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Israeli soldier on his first time in combat

It is the first stop for dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians wounded by Hezbollah attacks. But even Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, the largest hospital in northern Israel, cannot escape the daily threat of rockets. Built between two popular Hezbollah targets (an Israeli naval base and the port of Haifa), Rambam has narrowly missed becoming a victim of the violence as well. Three Katyusha rockets landed on its coastal campus in a single day this week. No one was seriously hurt.

As we approached the hospital to visit with wounded soldiers, I warned my colleagues, photographer Brad Houston and soundman Michael Huntting, that we needed to keep our wits about us, listening closely for rocket warning sirens. It didn't take long. Just as soon as we parked, the blaring began. Doctors, nurses and staff members rushed through the front doors seeking shelter. Left behind, a dozen stretchers parked in front of the hospital in anticipation of the next round of victims.

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Early Nightly is up

Click the link to the right (below the ad) to watch. As Brian mentioned earlier in the week, he's had a busy morning schedule, so Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory does the Early Nightly honors from Washington. Brian will offer his usual insight later, after the afternoon editorial meeting.

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SAY IT AIN'T SO

That was the almost universal reaction when the reports of "trouble" first arose this morning with the winner of the Tour de France. I think we all fell for the life story of Mr. Landis -- his Mennonite upbringing, his chronic hip pain, his ability and motivation and humility. All of that may still be true. As test results go, this might be a false positive. As news reports go, it's already been a negative. Even if he is cleared, he now has the Armstrong-esque cloud of suspicion around him, and there's little we can now do about that, as the story is, as they say, "out there." It's a relatively new dynamic -- an often-tragic outcome of our media age.

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Did you know?

In all of the coverage of the Mideast conflict and the city of Tyre over the past few weeks, you may have noticed the odd-shaped peninsula that shows up in the satellite photos that we use. Jutting sharply into the Mediterranean Sea, the spit of land is one of the most notable features of the coastline. What's interesting to note is that it was man-made. In 333 B.C., Alexander the Great marched his army of Macedonians south and laid siege to the city of Tyre. The once crown jewel of the Phoenician Empire had faded a bit over the years, but it was still a major pawn in the conflict between the Persians and Greeks.

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Early Nightly is up

Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to watch Brian preview tonight's early stories.

After you watch, if you just can't wait to see the Head On advertisement, check it out on YouTube.

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