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.
As we woke up this morning... there was more sad news from Iraq. This time simultaneous car bombings in Baghdad. The latest death toll is 51. It happened in a crowded market. We have seen attacks like this before in Baghdad... but each new incident highlights the growing security problem in Iraq. NBC's Tom Aspell is in Baghdad and he'll bring us the latest.
Also... NBC's Kevin Corke looks at the options facing President Bush... as he prepares to receive recommendations from the Iraq Study Group.
We are covering the first major snow storm of the season... that caused big problems in the midwest. NBC's Janet Shamlian will have that story.
There is new information tonight on the investigation into the death of the Russian spy who was poisoned with radioactive polonium. NBC's Ned Colt reports from Moscow.
NBC's Senior Investigative Correspondent has an interesting story tonight on the growth of internet fraud. Some of the scams include those junk e-mails you have may have received from someone overseas offering to give you millions of dollars... if you will send them money... or personal information.
We are taking a closer look at the struggling housing market tonight. As housing prices continue to drop, the question is whether the market has hit bottom. Mark Zandi... a housing expert joins us to talk about it.
And a wonderful story from NBC's Peter Alexander about one of the most grueling races in the world. We'll meet some impressive snow dogs and find out what it takes to run the race.
It's all coming up tonight... and we hope you'll join us.
Discuss (4 comments) 
Email this | 
Link to thisEditor's note: If you missed Peter's report on Saturday's broadcast, click here to watch.
"That just can't be right!" The digital temperature gauge in our rental car was frozen at -18. Eighteen degrees below zero. I had experienced cold before, but nothing like what we were driving through at Alaska's Denali National Park.
Our destination: the Husky Homestead where four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King lives with his family and close to 100 Alaskan huskies -- some of the world's greatest athletes. The dogs are surprisingly thin and small -- nothing like the familiar, fluffy "Huskies" that serve as the mascots for the University of Washington and Connecticut. Jeff calls those huskies the "Victoria Secret" models.
Growing up, I had enough trouble identifying who was who among my family's three golden retrievers: Cubbie, Star and Renner, so I liked Jeff's naming strategy. (You try keeping track of 100 pets.) Each litter has a theme. There are the Top Gun characters (Maverick, Viper and Jester); Cheeses (Cheddar, Colby and Whiz); even network news anchors (Brokaw, Cronkite and Jennings). My favorites were the newest additions: the Muppets (Beaker, Fozzie and Animal).
Discuss (193 comments) Email this | Link to this4 p.m. and we have just arrived at JFK. Flying across the Atlantic made it difficult to attend the afternoon editorial meeting, so we have only the broad strokes of the broadcast to go on, until I get linked by phone to the producers. That we landed at all is something of a miracle, as this storm has caused white caps on the water and flags are stiff in the winds. Weather will be a component in our reporting tonight.
Let's leave it at this: We hope you can join us for our Friday night broadcast, at the end of this very long week.
Discuss (13 comments) Email this | Link to thisNBC's Janet Shamlian makes her vlog debut today from snowy Chicago, where she's reporting on the travel mess sparked by winter weather in the Midwest. Airport delays in the Northeast may impact who anchors the broadcast tonight. If Brian's flight from Jordan arrives on time, he'll wish you a good evening. If not, NBC's Lester Holt is standing by.
Click here to watch Janet's vlog.
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to thisA few departure notes from Jordan: first, our traveling party referenced the recent Muslim cleric incident on that commercial plane in Minneapolis -- when we looked up at the moving video map on our Royal Jordanian Airlines flight -- and saw the constant orienting arrow to Mecca. Sure enough, a man was praying in the back of the aircraft prior to takeoff. Prayer is often part of the flying experience on RJ, and I've now flown this airline so much over the past few years (they do, after all, fly to or close enough to all the best "hot spots" in our business of late), I've found myself regretting that I'm not a part of their frequent flyer program.
This flight, on a brand new Airbus A320, is mostly Jordanians. There are about half a dozen American security contractors -- instantly recognizable and now ubiquitous in any airport in the region. As is the case on board many airlines based in the Middle East, there is a man standing in the front galley hallway, facing the First Class cabin, wearing a leather jacket with his back to the cockpit door. He stood there during takeoff and will stay there for the rest of the flight. He is armed. An in-flight security guard. Very effective. The only hint that we're on a non-U.S. carrier (aside from the guy in the leather jacket, the guy praying in the rear of the aircraft and the little "moving Mecca" icon) is the smell of cigarette smoke. I asked about it, and was told that both pilots smoke. It's now wafting through the passenger compartment after the cockpit door was opened to serve meals to the pilot and first officer. You'd think they'd open the window a crack, but apparently not.
Discuss (42 comments) Email this | Link to thisAs I write this post, we are about to depart the Dead Sea Marriott (where three networks, NBC News, Fox and CBS, have gathered to interview Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) for our headquarters in Amman. Our conversation with the Secretary went well -- though she has the most disciplined command of "message" of anyone I've encountered in public life. In plain English, the Secretary is not about to break news unless her intent is to break news. She preferred the word "challenge" over "crisis" to describe the current state of things in Iraq, and she scoffed at any mention of the "s" word (snub) to describe yesterday's cancellation of the meeting between the President and the Iraqi Prime Minister.
We will air much of the conversation tonight, along with our review of the news in this region, capped off by the President's meeting and press conference. David Gregory will have that story, while Richard Engel will catch the Iraqi angle, having talked to al-Maliki here today. Andrea Mitchell has a crucial role tonight: reporting on what is known about the so-called Baker Group, and what it will recommend.
Discuss (18 comments) Email this | Link to this
Brian anchors again tonight from Amman, Jordan, where President Bush met with the prime minister of Iraq this morning. Brian talked to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the Dead Sea Marriott after the summit and delivered this vlog moments before the interview.
Click here or on the image to watch.
Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to thisAs Air Force One heads back to the U.S. after President Bush's meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, there was another side of the White House on display today. It involved chicken fried steak with white onion gravy, herb roasted lollipop lamb chops, asparagus in an aioli sauce and much more.
This marks the annual beginning of the holiday season at the White House. So the first lady brought along the chief florist, the greeting card decorators, the invitation designers and the chefs. The purpose: to introduce holiday themes and food, of course, to the members of the salivating press corps who were not on the trip. All this at 10:30 this morning.
Discuss (3 comments) Email this | Link to thisIraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's first task on returning to Baghdad after his summit with President Bush was to convene a press conference and ask Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's political wing in the Iraqi parliament to end their boycott and return to the political process.
Al- Maliki needs them to preserve his fragile coalition of Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and secularists. After a suitable period – days or weeks – al-Sadr's men will probably comply. They cannot continue to run the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and key government departments forever without government funding.
Editor's note: Click here to read the rest of Tom Aspell's post in our sister Web log, Blogging Baghdad.
Discuss (6 comments) Email this | Link to thisThis city has taken on a different feel this week -- more roadblocks at the airport, more sudden traffic stoppages on the streets, more troops and military vehicles on patrol. There are obvious security concerns here because of the number of dignitaries visiting. We changed planes in Paris and were stunned to read news of the Hadley memorandum on our BlackBerries. I've just discussed it with David Gregory (who is across town from me at the President's hotel) and Richard Engel, who is here alongside me on his laptop at a converted dining room table at the hotel we are using in Amman. Richard just gave our small team his latest briefing on Iraq, and it was sobering.
We'll begin with the news from here: not just the leaked administration memo, but the decision to put off the talks between President Bush and the Iraqi Prime Minister until tomorrow morning. As Engel warned us: don't be surprised to see some manifestation of the famous Iraqi pride. We are already seeing that in part, in what aides to al-Maliki are saying about why they canceled tonight's session.
Discuss (28 comments) Email this | Link to this
