advertisement

ON DEADLINE

With apologies: I am on a tight deadline, during a day full of meetings, and now am en route to the studio to do a round of satellite interviews with our NBC stations in Tennessee. I head there after the broadcast tonight to originate Nightly News from Memphis tomorrow as part of our campaign coverage.

I note that our blog has become quite the political debate site today. I intend to stay far from it.  Please note that Sen. Kerry has just issued an apologetic statement. We'll have coverage of this issue tonight, and it will be interesting to measure its shelf-life from this moment forward, in terms of news cycles. I just got off the phone with David Gregory at the White House, who is doing our lead, uber-view of the Kerry story tonight. Tom Brokaw will also be a part of our package of political coverage tonight...a great piece on the "hidden hands" in this election season.

Also tonight: the aviation incidents of late, and health news on two fronts: menopause therapy and some staggering news about red wine ingredients.

We hope you can join us tonight for all of it.

Discuss (41 comments) Email this | Link to this

Early Nightly is up

Sen. John Kerry could very well be the lead story for the second night in a row. In today's vlog, Brian discusses why many Democrats would prefer he not be. He also offers a clue about tonight's closer from correspondent Bob Faw... anyone (who doesn't work for NBC News!), and who cares to guess the topic, just click the "Discuss" link below.

Click here or on the image to watch the Early Nightly.

Discuss (32 comments) Email this | Link to this

THE TUESDAY DISCOURSE

If you landed on this planet today after a few years away, you would think nothing has changed since 2004. President Bush is about to take a shot at Sen. John Kerry in a speech to be delivered in a few minutes. Kerry seemed to be saying today: he's been Swift-boated for the last time. The President is going to say that Kerry needs to apologize to those in uniform. We will cover the moving parts in what got us to this point tonight. The Dems are going with the following: Kerry botched a joke and should now quiet down and let them run their races around the country. The Reps seem to be saying: Kerry made an elitist statement, implying that a life without education means entering the Armed Forces as a default or last resort -- and that means service in Iraq.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (112 comments) Email this | Link to this

Better understanding SIDS

Tonight we report on the discovery of what may be the biological basis for sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. Researchers at Children's Hospital in Boston have found that the brain receptors for serotonin are greatly reduced in children who die of SIDS. You can read an abstract of the research here.

This is nowhere near a cure. But someday it could become a means of identifying the children who are at high risk from dying and intervening to reduce the chances of death.  SIDS, which is as old as humanity, has a long, sad history of parents being blamed -- and at times even charged as murderers -- for the deaths of infants six months and under. 

Researchers say SIDS requires three conditions: a child six months or younger, an environmental factor such as a lack of oxygen from a bad infection or from a child sleeping face down, and a change in the brain. This research is a giant step because it identifies that brain abnormality and shows there is a biological basis for the condition. We'll tell you more on tonight's broadcast.

Discuss (6 comments) Email this | Link to this

Faces from the Gulf: Jerry Gandolfo

"New Orleans is a gumbo of Voodoo and Halloween."
-- Jerry Gandolfo, aka "Mr. Voodoo"

Spiritualists, Voodoo practitioners and the owners of "little shops of horror" are all welcoming New Orleans' second favorite holiday (behind Mardi Gras, of course). Among them is Jerry Gandolfo, who runs the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. We stopped in this week to see what kind of business he's been scaring up. Tourism has been sluggish this fall and Jerry hopes Halloween raises his business from the dead. But don't be mistaken, his museum is more than just a tourist trap. A good number of voodoo believers and practitioners stop in to call upon the spirits to intercede on their behalf. They pick up Voodoo dolls, Gris-Gris bags, pray at the Voodoo altar and of course pay homage to the 19th Century Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.

Jerry hopes you'll fall under New Orleans' spell and help bring tourism back. But if you can't make it, you can still be here in spirit. You may spot Jerry tonight on Nightly as Mike Taibbi reports on the business of Halloween. Or... click here to get a first look at an episode of "Sci-Fi Investigates," which visited New Orleans this summer to report on the city's mysterious Voodoo culture.

Photo: Voodoo dolls on display at the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. Photo by Steve Majors.

Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to this

Early Nightly is up

Brian anchors the broadcast tonight from New York. Decision 2006 will be one major focus, featuring new numbers from the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll and analysis by NBC's Tim Russert.

Also, the very first shout-out for Kevin Federline in an NBC News vlog. But you have to watch all the way to the end. Click here or on the image to do so.

Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to this

Trick... or trick?

It used to be that the scariest night of the year was Christmas Eve, as parents hustled to assemble toys and find batteries before dawn.

But now, it’s Halloween Eve. You can’t just carve a pumpkin with two triangles for eyes and a gaping mouth. Oh, no: Your kids will convince you that they need the Pumpkin Masters carving kit at $9.99 to create a detailed drawing of the ghoul of their dreams. It seems to only take about three hours to follow one of the "easy" designs.

The National Retail Federation estimates we will spend nearly $5 billion in stores this Halloween. That's up more than $1 billion from last year.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (0 comments) Email this | Link to this

Monday's outlook

We are balancing a number of stories for the top of the broadcast. The attack in Pakistan is notable if only for the reaction we received when making our rounds of government officials to confirm or deny. Also, the situation in Iraq remains top of mind, as does the current fixation with the monthly casualty count. Tonight, to try to get beyond the numbers, we've asked Mike Taibbi to tell us some of their stories. There is a lot of health news to report, having to do with the disparate subjects of trans-fats and premature babies. We will dip in to Decision 2006 by reporting on the Pennsylvania Senate race tonight, and we're so happy the California fire has gone to "under control" status. It was a heroic knock-down by the thousands who responded, and I join a previous e-mailer in noticing that finally the DC-10 was brought in to assist. I've yet to hear a good reason as to why, since it has FAA certification, it is not a first-response platform in a big and changeable fire, where lives and property are at stake.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (23 comments) Email this | Link to this

Real to Reel: Iran/Contra

On Nov. 4, 1986, smack in the middle of midterm elections in the United States, NBC News began reporting the story that would ultimately result in the Iran/Contra hearings. The day before, a Lebanese weekly magazine reported that the United States had been secretly selling arms to Iran in hopes of having seven American hostages released. The U.S., including President Ronald Reagan's administration, would not confirm the reports. When U.S. intelligence sources finally did so on Nov. 6, it was a shock to the nation because it went against the administration's policy to never negotiate with terrorists, and it violated a U.S. arms embargo in against Iran.
The controversy compounded on Nov. 25 when U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announced that the proceeds of the arms sales were being diverted to fund Nicaraguan rebels fighting a guerilla war against the seated government.That same day, President Reagan accepted the resignation of Vice Admiral John Poindexter, his national security advisor, and fired Lt. Col. Oliver North. Both men played key roles in the operation, and later, North in particular, became a major focus of the investigation.

Watch the Nightly News coverage from Nov. 4, 1986

Here's NBC News Senior Investigative Producer Robert Windrem shares some of his recollections of the story as it broke:

CONTINUED »

Discuss (5 comments) Email this | Link to this

Early Nightly is up

Brian anchors the broadcast from New York tonight and previews a few of the stories we're working on -- including an airline pilot who just turned the mandatory retirement age and doesn't want to call it a career just yet.

Click the image or here to watch.

Editor's note: Brian also anchors MSNBC-TV Decision 2006 coverage from 1-2 p.m. ET today, so if you're in front of a television at that time, enjoy.

Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to this