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.
I'll be sitting-in for John Seigenthaler tonight.
We have been keeping close tabs on this afternoon's highway overpass collapse in suburban Montreal, Canada. The pictures we've been watching coming in over the satellite have been quite dramatic, as officials were racing to remove concrete slabs in search of victims. We are planning a full report for tonight's broadcast…
Meantime, the sudden resignation of Florida Congressman Mark Foley over inappropriate emails sent to a young former Congressional page, is raising lots of questions about the House page program. NBC's Mike Taibbi will report tonight on when officials within the page program became aware of the correspondence, and what actions they took.
Discuss (7 comments) 
Email this | 
Link to thisSALINAS, Calif. - I've been talking with a lot of farmers, scientists and health officials over the past week about E. coli and spinach. But after learning much more than I could ever have imagined about the bacteria (for instance, they occur mostly in ruminant, or cud-chewing, animals), what's stunning is how little the experts know about how it gets into our food supply.
There have been 20 outbreaks of this deadly E. coli strain involving leafy green produce over the last 11 years. Yet in each of those incidents, officials have NEVER been able to determine where the E. coli contamination began. Did it come from irrigation water, or manure, or runoff from nearby livestock, or from workers who didn't wash their hands? These are difficult questions to answer.
Discuss (11 comments) Email this | Link to thisIn tonight's "Making a Difference" segment we profile an amazing woman, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, a native of Tasmania, Australia, who is now a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Today she shared with two others the Lasker Award, America’s premier recognition for biomedical science. Dr. Blackburn’s research focuses on an enzyme called telomerase that helps determine how long cells live and whether or not they become cancerous. It is basic, but it has enormous potential to lead to new cancer drugs as well as diseases associated with aging and stress. You can read a lot more about her, the other winners and the science behind the discoveries on the Lasker Foundation’s Web site.
I would especially recommend the introduction by Dr. Joseph Goldstein, the chairman of the jury and one of the most witty and erudite scientists I know.
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to thisI guess we can agree the embargo on the Woodward book is no more. The best-laid plans of media empires have again fallen, days before a grand, intricately-planned debut. We awoke to a New York Times page 1 story [NYTimes.com login required for link] announcing a staffer had purchased the book before its official release "at retail price," which is SUCH a New York way of saying "we bought the book." A friend of mine in Washington reminded me today: only New Yorkers specify whether they paid "retail" for something.
At any rate and on to larger matters: there is a wealth of material in the book, we'll let Mr. Woodward stand by his work and his sourcing. Our own Andrea Mitchell is among the journalists who signed a confidentiality agreement (standard in these types of things) meaning she could possess and read the book, but could not discuss its contents with anyone. On conference calls that we had internally yesterday, Andrea excused herself from any discussion of the book's contents. We had to report what we could without her, and while yesterday's reporting was based largely on what had already been placed in the public record... and what Jim Miklaszewski and others could add... today's New York Times story (sharing the meat of the book with the world) left such agreements practically, if not legally, moot. Tonight we'll report the book's major points and the White House defense. We'll talk about all of it with Tim Russert. It also turns out Jack Abramoff was more familiar with the White House staff directory than was previously thought. We'll hit that, too.
Discuss (17 comments) Email this | Link to this
Too dark, too light, too quiet, too slight -- Brian addresses viewer concerns about Early Nightly quality and reviews some of the top stories of the day.
Discuss (4 comments) Email this | Link to this
If you missed Brian's full interview with Elizabeth Edwards on "Today" this morning, you can watch it by clicking here.
And a reminder that Mrs. Edwards will answer your e-mails this afternoon. Please click here to send us your questions. We'll post an audio transcript of the chat later this afternoon.
Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to thisWe have been in one endless meeting since 2:30 this afternoon -- a discussion of how we should handle several of the stories that will air up high in our broadcast tonight. In no particular order, we will cover the Colorado story, and various news out of Washington at the top of the broadcast. We're still working out a number of the pieces. We're also keeping an eye on the Western fires.
Tonight we will air the first installment of my interview in North Carolina yesterday with Elizabeth Edwards. We will air a longer segment tomorrow morning on "Today" (right now scheduled in the 8 a.m hour). She has written a very personal, very brave and emotional book which I note has risen to No. 2 on Amazon. I hope you can watch both segments.
In addition, our "Fleecing of America" series continues tonight...and we have an interesting look at the science of speech and what we're learning about childhood development.
So it's into the studio for a taping, then to the newsroom. We'll have everything in order by the time you come to us. That's a promise. I hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.
Photo caption: Elizabeth Edwards talks to Brian Wednesday in the Edwards' family home in North Carolina. Photo by Subrata De, NBC News.
Editor's note: Elizabeth Edwards will answer your questions Friday on MSNBC.com. Click here to submit yours via e-mail. We'll post a link to the audio chat in this blog tomorrow afternoon.
Discuss (7 comments) Email this | Link to this
Brian mentioned in yesterday's post that he was in North Carolina for a morning interview. In today's vlog, he tells you why. Click here to watch.
A little later, I'll post a photo of the interview he mentions.
Discuss (3 comments) Email this | Link to thisSo many stories swirling around in the mix, and yet not a lock for the lead among them. This day will go down to the wire. We have reporting from the White House (on several fronts) on health (trans fats and the news made here in New York on that topic today) and much more. This is something of a rushed posting today as I'm just in from North Carolina, where I spent the first part of the day taping a segment that will air tomorrow night.
Discuss (15 comments) Email this | Link to this Brian anchors the broadcast tonight, but while he's on assignment, Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory handles 'Early Nightly' today.
Click here to watch the vlog from the NBC News Washington bureau.
Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to this
