advertisement

Faces from the Gulf: Don Powell

"We're not moving as fast as we need to be moving and there's days I feel we didn't do as well as we should have done today. I think with any recovery process, you need to remember, it's not an event, it is a process."
Don Powell
Federal Coordinator, Gulf Coast Recovery

I spoke with Don Powell a few weeks ago during one of his scheduled tours through New Orleans. He seemed pleased to see large sections of the Ninth Ward cleared of debris and signs of rebuilding in Lakeview. At each stop, he took time to speak with homeowners and construction crews and ask them their opinion of the recovery effort. Powell admitted it might be difficult for people to see progress everywhere, but said there were signs that the recovery was on track.

Photo caption: Don Powell tours parts of New Orleans in late July. Courtesy NBC News.

Discuss (4 comments) Email this | Link to this

MEET ME IN...

We'll be joining you from St. Louis tonight, as a business trip brings me here. We'll originate our broadcast tonight from our NBC station, KSDK. As local stations go, it's what we used to call "a blow torch"... a hugely successful, popular, perennially-dominant television station serving the 12th largest city in the United States. I love this city and have spent a lot of time here over the years. The only problem, on this sparkling day here, is finding time to spend with one of my best friends -- the Best Man at my wedding -- who works in finance here. These trips tend to be scheduled to the minute, and this trip is no different. Incidentally, this metropolitan area will serve as the backdrop for a piece tonight by Janet Shamlian on immigration.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (18 comments) Email this | Link to this

Tehran in the blogosphere

Its seems everyone today has a blog, from lonely teenagers to hyperbolic sports fans to esteemed anchors of evening news broadcasts.

But one of the newest blogs takes the phenomenon one step further. Mahmood Ahmadinejad, his excellency the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has in the past few weeks set up a blog of his own, in four languages. The blog seeks comments from around the world and has pages in Farsi, Arabic, English and French. It features a photo of the Iranian president, an engineer and scientist by training, writing at a desk and offers typical blog fare: a welcoming statement, a question of the day and a space for comments.

Not surprisingly, the English page has had few viewers. Hani A. asks" "Al Salam Alaikum, I hope you could make the font of the words little bigger so that reading could be easier. Salem, Hani."

CONTINUED »

Discuss (4 comments) Email this | Link to this

Early Nightly Is Up

Brian anchors the broadcast from St. Louis tonight.  While Brian travels to Missouri, Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory gives you an early look at the stories under consideration.  Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to watch.

Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to this

UNCHARTED WATERS

We came to work today with no idea as to how we'd start the broadcast tonight. As of this writing, we have a marginally better idea. We know that the topic of air traveler security will loom large tonight, and so will the U.S. military. We know Iran will find its way up to the first segment of the broadcast. David Gregory has a great story tonight, which may be the way we get off the air. The rest is... under consideration.

SOUTH PACIFIC (not the musical, the mea culpa)
If you live in the western half of the country, the following mea culpa will mean nothing to you, because you saw an updated version of our broadcast last night. However, those folks who live in the Eastern and Central time zones -- and those who know their military history and/or geography -- already know what I'm apologizing for: last night I put Iwo Jima in the South Pacific. As part of our obit for Joe Rosenthal, the great combat photographer, I mentioned the "volcanic island in the South Pacific..." It was my writing, and my error, and we all missed it. I suppose, in the heat of an approaching deadline, I used it as a common locater or figure of speech, but once again, those pesky facts got in the way. Iwo Jima is indeed north of the Tropic of Cancer, and that in no way qualifies as the "South Pacific." So I felt compelled earlier today, when an extremely kind, elderly veteran called from Vermont and talked with my assistant (and very gingerly complained about the error while professing his undying loyalty to the broadcast), to write him back and apologize for the error.  Something tells me he's not a big blog reader, and I hope he understands that I know my World War II history -- and while I'm slightly less confident of my command of geography, never again will this broadcast put Iwo Jima in the South Pacific.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (14 comments) Email this | Link to this

Faces from the Gulf: Dan Hitchings

"While we're making it much better and stronger than it was before, it's still not ultimate protection for the city of New Orleans."
Dan Hitchings
Director, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Task Force Hope

As NBC News gears up for the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we're interviewing several officials who play key roles in the ongoing recovery. I recently spoke to Dan Hitchings, the director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Task Force Hope, who is heading up efforts to repair New Orleans' damaged levees. We discussed the progress at the three sites where the Army is trying to strengthen flood walls, install flood gates and prepare pumping stations. In the year since the levees breached, the Corps has been dogged by questions about their original design. Hitchings reassures residents that the flood protection plan has been improved, but warns the system is still not strong enough.

Photo caption: Dan Hitchings talks to Steve about the levees. Courtesy of NBC News.

Discuss (3 comments) Email this | Link to this

Early Nightly is up

Why do days like today make Brian nervous? Find out by watching the Early Nightly -- just click the link to the right (below the advertisement).

Discuss (10 comments) Email this | Link to this

Back home

After living in a Mark Knopfler song for the better part of the last week, I returned over the weekend with my family after a vacation overseas. Like most families, we had a craving for liquids and gels, and quickly stocked up upon our return. During a bag and body inspection (the guy didn't even offer to buy me dinner) at London's Heathrow Airport (something about me just seems to scream "random check!"), my bag 'n body inspector confiscated my cashews before being assured by his female cohort that Planters had yet to produce an explosive snack. Generally, the security measures made us feel safer. The mountains of lipstick and moisturizer discarded by travelers left the airport security checkpoints looking like David Bowie's dressing room in the 70s.
                  
The messages I received while I was traveling from those who know me well all said the same thing: be thankful you were away last week. These are all close enough friends to know how I feel about the JonBenet story.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (20 comments) Email this | Link to this

Faces from the Gulf: Gov. Blanco

"I am less trusting. If a person says they're going to do something, I don't really accept it. I have people double-check it and kind of dog it until I'm satisfied that it's actually done. I think I'm a little rougher around the edges, a little less tolerant of lots of things that happen around me."
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, D-La.

Starting today, I plan to offer a new "Faces from the Gulf" daily until the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29. Last Friday, I spoke to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco at the governor's mansion in Baton Rouge. You'll probably see portions of the interview this week or next on various NBC News broadcasts and MSNBC-TV. We talked a great deal about the upcoming anniversary. One of the questions I asked was how the last year changed her personally and politically.

Photo caption: Gov. Blanco talks to Steve Friday in Baton Rouge. Courtesy NBC News.

Discuss (12 comments) Email this | Link to this

Early Nightly is up

Brian is back in the anchor chair tonight and our camera caught up with him after the morning editorial meeting. Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to watch.

Discuss (3 comments) Email this | Link to this