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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I am sending this post via Blackberry while sitting in our editorial meeting, our attention centered on 6 television sets, all cameras trained on the crash of an aircraft into a high-rise on the East Side of New York.
The building is familiar to me, as a good friend of mine is an orthopedic surgeon at the adjacent hospital. The aircraft type is unclear as yet (helicopter or fixed wing). Our Vice President Alex Wallace witnessed it and looked up after hearing a loud noise. She is on WNBC-TV via telephone right now.
We have to now pivot to cover this story not that many blocks away from this building. It will constitute an important portion of tonight's broadcast. We hope you can join us.
Here, too, is the Web site of the apartment building that was impacted on 524 E. 72nd Street.
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Brian checks in a little later than usual today, after anchoring live NBC News coverage of President Bush's news conference this morning. Click here for a recap.
To watch the vlog, click here.
Discuss (3 comments) Email this | Link to thisFor the first time in more than 50 years, federal prosecutors are preparing to charge an American citizen with treason. Barring any last-minute complications, the charges will be filed today against Adam Gadahn, the American who has appeared in at least four al-Qaida videos, the most recent one in September.
Treason is the only crime specified in the Constitution and requires either confession in open court or the testimony of at least two witnesses to get a conviction. Prosecutors believe with millions of witnesses to his videos, they have enough proof, but the decision will be controversial, given that so little is known about the circumstances of the videos.
Born Adam Pearlman in California and raised on a goat farm in Riverside Co., he converted to Islam in his late teens. His parents say he moved to Pakistan in 1998. In 2004, the FBI revealed that it believed he was one of a group of al-Qaida terrorists planning some kind of attack later that year. In October of 2004, calling himself "Azzam the American," he first showed up in an al-Qaida video.
Editor's note: Pete broke this news on MSNBC-TV. Click here to watch the video.
Discuss (46 comments) Email this | Link to thisAs I write this, there are explosions in Baghdad...we've seen some at Camp Falcon, which incidentally, is where our own Richard Engel was embedded just last week. Early reports said an ammo dump might have been hit. Richard will join us live from there tonight.
Both Richard and NBC Correspondent Jane Arraf have written about their harrowing experiences in Baghdad over the last two days on our sister blog "Blogging Baghdad." Please take the time to give them a read.
We'll also cover what we've learned since the North Korean nuclear test -- considered a small blast by "industry standards." The impact reaches far beyond the immediate shock waves from the detonation. Andrea Mitchell and David Gregory will have our reporting on this story.
Chip Reid will follow up on the Foley story (we heard from the Speaker again today). We have other reports on school safety (in the light of so much violence), women's finance and entrepreneurship.
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The Nightly News team is back on the North Korea story today and will offer some insight tonight into just why Americans should care about what that country is up to. Brian also gives a glimpse into some other key stories that could air tonight. Plus, there's a phone call for Brian ... will he answer?
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to thisEverybody has their favorite story about those wacky North Koreans. One popular tale passed among Pyongyang’s small band of intrepid diplomats is about the short-lived Australian Embassy, which was closed a few years ago soon after it opened. It was said that the North didn’t appreciate Australia’s offer to mediate with the South.
In fact, the story goes, that wasn’t the reason at all. The fledgling embassy had thrown an opening party, a toga party. There aren’t many cars on Pyongyang streets, and the sight of the tiny foreign community criss-crossing town wrapped in white sheets was too much for the grim-faced Stalinists. “They weren’t sure what it meant, but were certain of one thing - it was a conspiracy,” one diplomat told me.
Discuss (19 comments) Email this | Link to thisWhat passed for news over the weekend has been pushed aside by the late word last night of the test of a North Korean nuclear device of some sort. While most believe this should matter to other nations (like China and Japan to name two) more than it should matter to the U.S., its the notion of the North as arms dealer that should scare American citizens, and for that matter, people all around the globe. We will have complete coverage of this story tonight. Andrea Mitchell will report the overall story, with assists from Mark Mullen in the region, David Gregory at the White House and more.
We will update you on the Foley Congressional page scandal, and on the Christian evangelical voting bloc, and a piece we promoted over the weekend on how men and women sense pain (answer: differently).
Discuss (16 comments) Email this | Link to thisAs I write this, I'm sitting in a booth overlooking the United Nations General Assembly. Speaker after speaker takes to the podium. A few people in the audience have earphones on but don't look too interested in what the speakers have to say.
Judging from the scene in front of me, you would think it's business as usual. But today, it most certainly is not. A nation - a world - awaits word from the Security Council, meeting just a floor below where I am.
Discuss (9 comments) Email this | Link to thisA bit of light news on an otherwise very heavy day: The ice rink at Rockefeller Center opened over the weekend, marking the 70th anniversary of the rink's grand opening on Christmas Day in 1936. It's a notable event for "the world's most famous ice skating rink," considered one of the city's most popular winter attractions. What is also notable today is that the temperature in New York is pushing 80. And it's sunny. Positively perfect ice skating weather.
So, if you're near Manhattan today, leave the mittens behind, grab your swimsuit and your skates, and come join us at 30 Rock.
Cell phone image by Constance Parten
Discuss (0 comments) Email this | Link to thisIt's a very busy day in Washington, so we're a bit late getting the Early Nightly out today. David Gregory and other Nightly News correspondents in D.C. are all over the North Korea nuclear testing story, as well as the continuing political fallout surrounding the Mark Foley page scandal. Brian is in the anchor's chair tonight, but David is at the White House giving you a rundown of the stories being considered for tonight's broadcast.
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