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Looking down on Kim Jong Il

In a country of abject poverty, where millions have died of malnutrition and starvation and where large concentration camps can be found, North Korea's "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il lives well. Outside Pyongyang, a facility known as "Residence No. 55" is the official residence of North Korea's president. While Kim has other residences, this, say U.S. and Japanese officials, is the main one.

Satellite photo provided to NBC News by GeoEye.

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Early Nightly is up

Brian anchors the broadcast tonight, but Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory is on Early Nightly duty.

Among the stories he previews in today's vlog is one he's working on about President Bush. Usually the "campaigner-in-chief" this time of year, why are some Republicans running away from the White House?

Click here to watch.

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Tracking North Korea's nukes

North Korea is a notoriously closed society, so how is it we know when they've tested a nuclear weapon? The Internet, of course. The U.S. Geological Service's Earthquake Information Center keeps an automated, up-to-the-minute, list of seismic events of more than 2.5 magnitude on its Web site. The page does not automatically refresh, so hit F5 on your keyboard to get the latest list if you leave the site up for an extended period of time. The data from the quake, including its magnitude, time, and very specific location are recorded automatically. 

The first North Korean test on Oct. 8, although small by nuclear weapons standards (about 1/12th of the Hiroshima bomb) still registered as a 4.2 magnitude seismic event. It showed up within minutes. Similarly, when the Japanese broadcast network NHK reported last week that North Korea may have detonated a second nuclear weapon, we were able to go to the site, and seeing no evidence of seismic activity, question the report.

Of equal importance is the location data. It is very specific. Using either Google Earth or satellite photos provided to our graphics department, we can determine the precise location very quickly.

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CRISIS, CON'T.

North Korea continues to get our attention -- along with that of much of the world. Andrea Mitchell is on point again for us tonight. We're very excited to be kicking off a new series tonight, called "What Works" -- which is exactly what it sounds like (see below for a further explanation), based on the fact that a lot of what we report on a daily basis has to do with things that are decidedly broken. Bob Bazell will be along to talk about two different health issues in the news, and we'll look at the ripe topic of celebrity adoptions. We'll also talk politics tonight... and we'll meet the 300,000,000th American.

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Our new series 'What Works'

On almost a daily basis around here, and likely in most newsrooms around the country, much of what we talk about is bad news. Nuclear threats from "hermit nations," corrupt politicians, online predators, violence that leaves you shaking your head. Often the stories our correspondents bring you are the result of something that's broken; a treaty violated or a trust betrayed or a system collapsed by corruption or neglect.

Grim stuff.

But tonight we bring you the first in a series of stories we call "What Works"... an idea that came out of one of our many editorial meetings. "What Works" will spotlight ideas or innovations that are actually -- imagine! -- solving problems. The classic model is "midnight basketball," which is believed to have started as a pilot program in Chicago (around 1990) to give at-risk kids an alternative to the streets at night. It grew into a national phenomenon. Some of the solutions we highlight may not have that kind of reach, but they're a sort of snapshot of ideas that are working to solve various problems in communities around the country. We hope to bring you a whole album full of these snapshots before we're done.

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Real Life is Stranger Than Fiction

A Washington state lawyer today pleaded guilty to helping a client buy a business that would be used to launder money piling up from the client's sale of illegal drugs. Stephen Plowman of Medina, Wash., admitted that he failed to file the required reports for financial transactions over $10,000. He said he received more than 10 times that amount from the client to buy the business in Seattle last year.  The client has since been convicted on drug charges.

The business for laundering money? A laundromat.

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Back in the Big Easy

A quick thank you to those of who have been looking (but not finding) my posts the last few weeks. I've just returned from a brief assignment in Atlanta. And I thought I'd share with you some of the stories from New Orleans that you might have missed.

DIVISION AMONG DEMOCRATS
Understandably, most of the attention on the upcoming midterm elections has been on closely contested races where the winners may ultimately determine which party controls the House of Representatives. Here in Louisiana, that's not the case. The majority of the candidates in the 2nd congressional district are Democrats. However, there is a belief that a "balance of power" may turn on this race's outcome. Incumbent William Jefferson has been the focus of an FBI probe into an alleged bribery scheme. His supporters worry that if a first-term Democrat replaces Jefferson, they won't wield the same influence needed to push through important legislation for Louisiana's recovery. His critics worry that Jefferson's problems have already made him less powerful and influential in Congress. And so, on Saturday, the Louisiana Democratic Party made an unprecedented move by backing State Representative Karen Carter in the race instead of incumbent Jefferson. (This despite the fact that Jefferson has raised almost twice as much in this race as Carter.) But the state endorsement was probably less surprising than one a few days earlier when New Orleans most prominent Democrat, Mayor Ray Nagin, announced he will campaign for Jefferson. Why? Perhaps it comes back to the balance of power and who wields it. New Orleans CityBusiness has a fascinating commentary examining whether we could all be writing next spring about Congressman Nagin instead of Mayor Nagin.

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A fish story

Brian is out of pocket, as is regular pinch hitter David Gregory, so NBC Chief Science & Health Correspondent Robert Bazell makes his "Early Nightly" debut today. Brian will be in the anchor chair tonight and will weigh in later this afternoon here in the blog.

For now, click here to watch the vlog and find out why you should probably eat more fish.

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Manic Monday

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.

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Road trip!

We joined the leaf peepers on the twisting country roads of New England weekend. This is a redux of a trip to gauge the nation's mood when it comes to gas prices. When we traveled this spring, the average price of a gallon was close to $3. [Ed's note: Click to watch video of Kerry's road trip through the Southeast in April 2006.] On our trip this time, we found it for $2.07/gallon in Salem, Mass. Before we set out, we rigged a convertible with four cameras. Another camera was set up in a chase vehicle. Thankfully, for most of the weekend, we had warm temperatures, so we were able to enjoy the fall foliage with the top down. With producer Joo Lee as navigator, we had a few maps, but no real plan other than to talk to people along the way. We stopped at overlooks, antique stores, pumpkin patches and corn mazes.

Camerman Jim Craven (in driver's seat) and sound engineer Pete Rodriguez rig up Kerry's car for the New England road trip. Photo by Kerry Sanders.

Even the gas stations were quaint. In Arlington, Mass., we met gas station attendant Ed Seaton. His station was the backdrop for a Norman Rockwell painting called "The War Hero." Seaton says when prices were high, customers blamed him. But he says he had nothing to do with the high prices then or the low prices now. Our trip took us through four states.

We're now arriving where we plan to go live this evening. Stay tuned to find out where we wound up.

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