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The Saturday Before...

With millions of Americans traveling this weekend... the focus has been on one area that has felt the brunt of Mother Nature. Denver.  There are still thousands of people stranded there... and according to officials it's unlikely they'll make it home until after Christmas.  Lori Hirose has the latest on their struggle to get home and the travel picture across the country.

Word today from the United Nations of sanctions against Iran for pursuing its nuclear program.  But what will those sanctions really mean for Iran?  NBC's Kevin Corke has reaction from the White House... and he'll report on the next step for President Bush as he considers changing course in Iraq.

NBC's Jim Maceda is embedded with American troops in Iraq who are working with the Iraqi police on security.

NBC's Martin Fletcher reports on how American soldiers' are spending this Christmas away from home.

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The last chapter

This is our last weekday pre-Christmas break broadcast. We have a ton of news for this time of year, and there are folks we ought to be thinking of tonight. A lot of them. Tonight we will take time to pay tribute to the thousands who have volunteered to defend the country, and who tonight are on post in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Korean DMZ. We will report on the thousands of people who spent the night at the airport in Denver. Some of them are just now coming to grips with the notion of spending Christmas in a Denver hotel room... instead of with loved ones as they had intended. And a sidebar PR question for the FAA: After 4,700 people spent the night in the airport terminal after a crippling blizzard, why was the first aircraft allowed to take off (an event covered live on both local news and  national cable news) a FedEx cargo wide body jet? I realize FedEx carries valuable goods and meaningful packages, especially this time of year, but aren't passengers -- human passengers -- the priority? Was it a too-linear reading of takeoff order or was there a good reason for it? Since the picture of the "first departure from DIA" was shown all over the world today, just asking...

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Secret Santa makes a difference

What would you do if somebody walked up to you, handed you a $100 bill, and then walked away? Feel pretty lucky, I imagine. Until earlier this week, I probably would have agreed with you. But it turns out the guy who handed you the money is really the lucky one.

On Monday Kevin Tibbles and I were fortunate enough to meet a Kansas City businessman by the name of Larry Stewart. Stewart has made millions in telecommunications over the years, but there was time when he wasn't so fortunate. He's the subject of our "Making a Difference" story tonight.

Once homeless and hungry himself, $20 from a diner owner changed the course of his whole life. He vowed if he was ever in a position to do the same for others he would. Eight years later, Stewart was having a tough time once again. He lost his job just weeks before Christmas. Even though he only had $600 in his bank account, he took out $200 in $10s and $20s and started handing them out to people. Kansas City's Secret Santa was born... and Larry Stewart's luck started to turn around. By January he had his job back. Three years later Stewart was a millionaire and Secret Santa switched to $100 bills. Since then he's handed out more than $1.3 million. Handing out $100s to strangers was Stewart's Christmas gift to himself every year.

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Going where the news is

DENVER-- Sometimes it is a logistical challenge to cover the news. Just getting here was an adventure.
I left Mount Hood where I was covering the tragic mountain climbing incident, when my bosses asked: "Do you think you can get to Denver?"

I made it on a plane as far as Salt Lake City. That's where the real adventure began. Paul Thiriot, an NBC cameraman, and I drove and drove and drove and drove. Finally, in blinding snow, past Rabbit Ear Pass, we could go no more. The roads were thick with snow, the visibility less than 3 feet, and there was another surprise.

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Getting there

Picture your favorite people -- your partner, your parents, a kindly grandmother, a cute 3-year-old nephew, a brother or sister. And now picture them camping out for a second day on the floor of Denver's airport. Or napping in the departure lounge at O'Hare. All they want to do is get where they're going for Christmas. That's what's happening right now as weather makes a mess of the pre-Christmas travel plans across this country, and across the pond, where Heathrow is socked in, thanks to that strange "freezing fog" they get this time of year. We'll cover the prognosis and ramifications tonight. We'll also have the latest on the trouble Congressman Goode is in for something he said... and printed... and sent out. Lisa Myers has a special report on Iraq tonight, and we have a special segment on the definition of victory in Iraq -- a question we pose to some prominent thinkers. We'll look at the economy during this run-up to Christmas, and how's this for a tease: Bob Bazell has a look at a "big-boned" individual we'll be introduced to tonight.

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Early Nightly is up

(Editor's note: Sorry for the delay in posting... technical trouble prevented us from getting the video on the Web until now.)

Despite the frog-in-the-throat he can't quite kick, Brian is back on vlog duty today, teeing up a few of the stories you'll see on tonight's broadcast.

Click here or on the image to watch.

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Peace on earth?

Christmas is in the air here at the White House. There is no gaggle today, there is no briefing. All is calm, all is bright. President Bush has an empty public schedule, which would give the outward appearance that there is hardly a soul stirring. But nothing could be further from the truth.

With decisions soon to be made by the President on what direction to take the war in Iraq and whether to expand the Army and Marine Corps, there is very much happening here. But it's all very private as the President attempts to map out a strategy for victory that will play out well with his generals, the Congress and the American public. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will soon be back from Iraq to give the President his candid assessment on what needs to be done to get the job done.

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THE BIG EASY'S BLUNT BUMPERS

I spend quite a bit of time driving the streets of New Orleans and its surrounding parishes. It gives me a chance to look for signs and symbols of everyone's state of mind. While I typically note the looks on their faces, how many Saints jerseys I see, and even whether they're keeping their lawns up (whether in front of their gutted home or FEMA trailer), lately I've been paying closer attention to the bumper stickers on their cars. People may intend to use them as reflections of their individuality, but in fact those stickers tell you more about their common beliefs. A lot of them are predictably sports-related: "GO LSU TIGERS," "GO HORNETS," "GEAUX SAINTS."

But others are different. Let's start with "FAITH." What started out as a message years ago to fans to have faith in the once-beleagured Saints, now seems to have a new life as a message about people's belief in their now-beleagured city. There are other stickers that existed before the storm but have been embraced anew. When I first arrived here, I began to notice these: "NEW ORLEANS, PROUD TO CALL IT HOME." I'm told by folks that the slogan was created a few years back by some group looking to boost New Orleans' self-image. But a lot of those stickers seem to lack the nicks, dents and tears that a few years of driving and a major hurricane would inflict on them. Residents are buying them again, eager to renew their commitment to the city, in writing.

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Meeting the press

Our day began with President Bush's appearance in a rare venue for a news conference: the Indian Treaty Room of the Old (Eisenhower) Executive Office Building. As a former White House intern who used to regularly conduct tours, I remember only some of the details of that room: its elaborate inlaid floor, and the desk drawer, which bears the signatures of American vice presidents going back many administrations. If memory serves, it was formerly the official office of the vice president, before the modern era when they moved to the West Wing. The end-of-year news conference was an interesting session, regardless of the setting. While the President put off some questions due to his upcoming strategy speech on Iraq, he answered plenty of them, and we have a lot of material to go over tonight. Kelly O'Donnell will have our report from the White House. Jim Miklaszewski will have a follow-up on the story about enlarging the military, and Tim Russert will look at the politics of all that is going on.

The weather is in the news tonight, as we need not tell you if you live in Denver. We will soon look at the videotape from our NBC station there, KUSA. This storm has already caused big problems with the Denver airport (the huge United hub) where any disruption is felt across the national grid. They are expecting 3 1/2 feet of snow just outside Boulder from this storm. It's a huge low pressure system, and so it's moving counter-clockwise over the Rockies -- and it looks strange to see weather moving from East to West across any part of the country.

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Early Nightly is up

Brian is resting his voice again today, but will anchor the broadcast tonight. That allows NBC's Dawn Fratangelo to make her vlog debut.

She previews tonight's top story -- President Bush's year-end news conference -- and her report in our "American Boomer" series, about baby boomers caring for their aging parents. She recommends these two Web sites for people who want additional information: eldercare.gov and caremanager.org.

Click here or on the image to watch the vlog.

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