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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With a little more than a week left before the election... this is a big campaign weekend for Republicans and Democrats. President Bush hit the trail today. Despite his sagging poll numbers, the President promoted GOP candidates... and defended the war in Iraq. NBC's Rosiland Jordan will have the latest.
Also, NBC's Jane Arraf gives us a look at Iraq after Ramadan. Despite more violence today, some Iraqis say they expect things to calm down.
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Link to thisTonight the fires in California have our attention. And if it's true, as investigators suspect, that this fire was arson, someone has blood on their hands. The fire exploded in size and intensity today, and we have two correspondents now on the ground covering the story. We'll also check in on the dirt being thrown prior to the election, and Tom Brokaw will report from California on the turnaround mounted by the Governor. We will also have our regular Friday evening "Making a Difference" report.
LETTERS TO THE BLOG
To the fan of Eisenhower who wrote in: while I can't address the political point you made, the General is always top of mind whenever I visit Walter Reed, as I did yesterday: I think of the time Ike spent there, and I think of his dramatic death scene -- and it makes the planned demolition of the facility a sad event to contemplate.
Discuss (18 comments) Email this | Link to thisAccording to a military official in the Pentagon, the official number of U.S. military killed in Iraq for October now stands at 99 -- that is 94 hostile and 5 non-hostile deaths.
The casualty count for the month of October 2006 has now surpassed every month since Jan. 2005, when 107 members of the U.S. military were killed. For perspective, in Oct. 2005 the number of casualties jumped to 96, from 49 in Sept. 2005.
The following statistics are from the Department of Defense:
Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. casualty status
Total Deaths: 2,808
Total Hostile Deaths: 2,254
Total Non-hostile deaths: 554
Total wounded: 21,266
(statistics current as of 13:00 ET, Oct. 27)
Discuss (3 comments) Email this | Link to thisEditor's note: Richard's story on Thursday's broadcast, about the stress U.S. troops face in the field and back at home, drew a considerable amount of response. One item in particular stirred up debate, so he wrote more about it in Blogging Baghdad. Here's an excerpt, with a link to the full post below.
How war has changed. Saigon: Comfort women, an embarrassing shot from the medic, booze, pot, secrets from wives at home. Soldiers here say, "not this time."
Now they're worried the tables have turned, and that the soldiers' wives are on the make while they live like monks on bases.
"The extent of our social lives is a trip to the porta-john with an FHM magazine," a soldier told me. The troops here worry about "The Jody."
"Jody?"
I'd never heard of it. I know al-Qaida in Iraq, the Mahdi army, and other nefarious death squads that want to kill American troops. But Jody? I drew a blank.
A soldier filled me in: "Jody is the guy back home with you wife or your girlfriend," he said, suddenly deadly serious. "He's the guy hiding behind a corner, behind the curtain, hiding in the closet."
Read the rest in Blogging Baghdad.
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Brian returns to the vlog today, after a couple days on assignment in Ohio and Washington, D.C.
Find out why he's been out of electronic touch for 24 hours. Click the image to watch.
Discuss (0 comments) Email this | Link to thisU.S. Naval forces are on a "heightened state of alert" in the Persian Gulf today after the United Kingdom issued a maritime warning that al-Qaida may be preparing to attack oil interests, including refineries and offshore oil platforms.
According to U.S. Navy officials, the alert has been ordered "as a precaution" based on general public threats made by al-Qaida and additional intelligence about possible terrorist attacks on oil facilities. The officials say however the alert is NOT based on any specific intelligence that pinpoints a possible time or place for an attack.
The British maritime warning, which cautions commercial shipping and oil operators to be vigilant, does mention the ground-based Rastannurah oil facility in Saudi Arabia.
Oil markets appear to have shrugged off the maritime warning. The price of crude is down slightly this morning.
VIDEO: Watch Jim's report on MSNBC-TV.
Discuss (6 comments) Email this | Link to thisEDITOR'S NOTE: We said shortly after 3 p.m. ET this piece would likely not air this evening, but as is often the case in this business, that's changed again. So, as of 4:20, be looking for this piece on tonight's broadcast.
I can still hear the crack. My head hit the sidewalk so hard that my brothers and sisters still talk about it. I was rollerskating on concrete, lost my balance, and fell backward. I don't remember anything else but the sound. I was konked out. My mother did all the things you were supposed to do in 1962. She called the pediatrician, who came to the house and looked at me and told to stay on the sofa so my mom could keep an eye on me. As long as I didn't throw up or drift into a deep sleep, the doctor thought I would be OK. That's the way we did things before X-rays, CT scans, and other tests.
Discuss (0 comments) Email this | Link to thisIf you saw today's Pentagon briefing, then you know it was a feisty one, with a notable exchange between our own Jim Miklaszewski and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld [video link]. We'll talk about that tonight and cover the substance of the briefing as well. We'll also air a special piece on the troops tonight from Richard Engel, who has spent some intense time with them of late while embedded with U.S. forces.
In other news: the President signed the "border fence" bill today -- we'll talk about what that means, or doesn't. We'll look at the fire tragedy in California, as we mourn the loss of those three firefighters in their vehicle. We will look at the odd and almost accidental discovery of a melanoma breakthrough, and we'll change gears and look at a development in monitoring your teenager's driving habits. And allow me to add, from one parent to others: my wife and I have found that praying helps.
Discuss (14 comments) Email this | Link to thisTonight we report on an amazing movement of research -- not from animals to humans but the other way around.
Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City had been working on a vaccine to lessen the chances of melanoma recurring after surgical removal. Down the street at the Animal Medical Center, veterinarians heard of the studies and asked if they could try it in dogs. It turns out dogs naturally get melanoma and it can be fatal to them just as it can be for humans. In many of the dogs the vaccine actually cured the cancer, and the vaccine is about to be licensed. But for now, all this work remains experimental.
We'll tell you all about it on tonight's broadcast.
In the meantime, you can find more information on the dog studies at the Animal Medical Center Web site. You can make an appointment at the Animal Medical Center by calling (212) 838-7053. For information on the human trials led by Dr. Jed Wolchok at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, call 1-800-525-2225 or visit their Web site.
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to thisBrian anchors the broadcast tonight, but while he's on assignment this afternoon, Chief Science & Health Correspondent Robert Bazell is on vlog duty.
He tells you about the story he's reporting tonight, which could give people with skin cancer another reason to proclaim dogs are man's best friend.
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