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In search of...

We have a ton of important and compelling stories -- now it's down to ordering them. No sooner had I returned to my office after the editorial meeting, concerned about time allotments and a crowded broadcast rundown -- when I looked up at my television and saw white smoke coming from the top of Mount St. Helen's in Washington state. Can there please be no more news involving mountains in the Pacific Northwest? 

That brings us to one story we'll be covering tonight: the climbers. I've detected in my TV watching a real up-tick over the past 24 hours in the number of voices questioning such elaborate rescue efforts and the expenditure -- given the fact that three experienced men made a conscious decision to climb a dangerous mountain. It's a very dicey area where life and death is concerned. Tonight we'll touch on the cost, while largely leaving the debate over it to others.

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Precious photos

I'm sitting here in Hood River, Ore., a radio scanner picking up occasional conversations, as we wait for news that Brian Hall and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke have been found.

I figured we might get a better idea of who these men were in photos today. They're snapshots of the final days of their lives. The camera, found on Kelly James' body, had a roll of film that has now been developed. Investigators say the photos show the men starting out on their climb, smiling, seemingly upbeat. They also show the gear they had.

From those pictures, the sheriff says he thinks the climbers were supplied for the days they planned to be on the mountain (about six days). It's unlikely that the gear and food they had would sustain them this long (the search began 10 days ago, four days into their climb.)

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Early Nightly is up

Brian anchors the broadcast tonight, but is resting his voice in New York. So NBC's Tom Costello delivers today's vlog from the Washington bureau.

Among the stories we're watching for you: The search on Mount Hood, a jump in wholesale inflation, and a possible rift between the White House and the Joint Chiefs of staff about troop levels in Iraq.

Click here or on the image to watch.

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DELIVERING THE NEWS

Having started the day with no voice, I have spent much it in my office avoiding conversation and trying to coax a croak into enough of a noise to get me through a half hour of television. I felt awful when correspondent Janet Shamlian brought her very cute little daughter by my office for a visit earlier today: at that point in the day, I was making sounds audible only to whales -- and I'm afraid she left here wondering who the scary man was. I will make an azithromycin-and-tea-fueled attempt to get through the broadcast this evening, having come down with the same upper-respiratory thing that millions seem to be battling.

How we'll begin the broadcast is still a bit up in the air. We just exited the 2:30 editorial meeting, and the problem is not a shortage of stories. The sad discovery on Mount Hood is among the stories we'll cover. The search effort continues, and conditions today aren't quite what they were yesterday. Many family members spoke to the assembled media today, amid the backdrop of sadness and trepidation with each passing day. Just this past hour, the family of Kelly James has confirmed that it was indeed his body. The Vietnam-era Chinook helicopters we've been watching are still the workhorses of the Army and Army Reserve -- they all have a ton of miles and flying hours on them -- and while they've been retrofitted over the years (with new avionics, regular engine changes, etc.), those airframes are the originals. I flew on several in Iraq with Gen. Wayne Downing, U.S. Army, ret., who was able to point out the patched-up bullet holes in one Chinook's skin dating back to the Vietnam war. One Iraq-based Army Chinook I flew in still had a vintage canvas bag for shell casings from the door-mounted machine gun, bearing a stenciled date from the 1960s. In this case (and as is common in aviation), maintenance and upkeep often matter more than the age of the airframe -- as evidenced by the hard work those helicopters are doing, along with their Black Hawk brethren, in some nasty weather atop Mount Hood over these past few days... and in hostile, unforgiving places elsewhere on the planet.

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Early Nightly is up

Our anchor is somewhat hoarse today, but he's on the job and previews today's top stories -- from the Mount Hood search to Robert Gates' first day on the job at the Pentagon.

Click here or on the image to watch the vlog.

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Sunday's Stories

We are continuing to watch this story from Mount Hood in Oregon... where authorities are searching for 3 climbers who have been missing for more than a week.  It's a major operation and rescue teams could soon be approaching the top of the mountain.   NBC's Peter Alexander is following this story again tonight.

Also... from Iraq... new violence today following Saturday's reconciliation conference.  Insurgents pulled off a mass kidnapping today of workers at the Red Crescent office in Baghdad.  NBC's Jim Maceda reports.

In Washington, the ongoing debate over Iraq... and what President Bush's next step should be.  Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said today... that the U.S. Army is at the breaking point in Iraq ... and Americans are now less safe than when the war started.  NBC's Kevin Corke reports from the White House.

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