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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About the broadcast | Biographies
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If you think a thunderstorm ruined our plans to anchor from an outdoor location last night (the 67th floor of 30 Rock), you would be only partially correct. At 6:15 p.m., the FDNY responded to a report of persons trapped in an elevator here. They promptly froze all the elevators in the building -- so we couldn't have gone to the roof if we'd wanted. We instead chose a small studio close to our newsroom, and after much scrambling and hard work, we got a broadcast on the air. As it happened, a downpour arrived before the half-hour was over. Had we made it outside, that storm would have ultimately driven us back inside.
Tonight our plans are more modest. We plan to do the broadcast indoors, from our usual studio. That should work.
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Link to thisNBC's Jim Miklaszewski is at the Pentagon where he previews some of the stories we're working on for tonight's broadcast.
Click here to watch.
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Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.
CHARLES H. COOLIDGE
Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army Company M, 141st Infantry, 36th Infantry Division
The bloodiest combat Charles Coolidge experienced was in 1943, after he went ashore at Salerno. Coolidge’s unit went up the boot of Italy and crossed the Rapido River to engage the Germans at Montecassino. There were surreal moments as well as violent ones: capturing sheep from the countryside and forcing them at bayonet point to cross enemy minefields. In all, the fighting was brutal and the American losses heavy, far worse than anything Coolidge would encounter later on.
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to thisWe had elaborate plans for tonight's broadcast. The idea was this: since we originate from this spectacular building (30 Rock) each night, why not take to the roof and highlight the City of New York, our headquarters most nights of the week? That was until a line of "popcorn" thunderstorms (so named by meteorologists because they can pop up and explode out of nowhere given the right atmospheric conditions...like today) rolled through the New York area during our afternoon editorial meeting. Our weather, usually west to east, is today northeast to southwest. Flight delays at JFK are now officially posted at four hours, LaGuardia and Newark slightly less. Radar has been of no use because where there are no storms now -- there will be intense storms in 30 minutes. We're going to make a NASA-like "go/no go" decision in the next few minutes...this will be fun.
To go with our coverage package tonight on New York, Rehema Ellis has a great piece on an educational success story [editor's note: you can read a blog from the principal below], and we spent the morning with the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. He takes the subway to work most mornings, and so did we.
Brian and Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the 4 train Tuesday morning.
Photo credit: Office of the Mayor
In other news tonight, there's the fight to save an immigration deal, the so-called "honor killing" in London, the new data on an aging American generation, the first FDA-approved over-the-counter diet drug (there are complications) and what we're calling "watchgate"...did wildly enthusiastic Albanians steal the President's watch, or did he remove it for safekeeping? It was actually a topic at the White House briefing today.
Please take time to read today's Medal of Honor recipient biography. We are watching the skies and talking to the WNBC-TV forecast center here in New York. We'll have a fine broadcast either way...indoors or out! We hope you can join us for the Tuesday edition of Nightly News tonight.
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In part two of our trans-global trip with the secretary of defense [video link], we leave the genteel trappings of the Shangri-La Conference in Singapore.
We're heading to Afghanistan, where Gates reviews an Afghan commando unit, then meets with President Hamid Karzai. After a brief visit to the capital of Kyrgyzstan, we overnight in Paris on the eve of the secretary's speech at a D-Day ceremony in Normandy, France.
Discuss (7 comments) Email this | Link to thisEditor's note: NBC's Rehema Ellis will report tonight on an innovative approach to learning at Harlem Village Academies in New York, a network of inner-city college-prep schools for children from low-income communities. Math test scores released Tuesday show that 7th and 8th graders at Harlem Village Academies rank No. 1 among all charter schools and open enrollment schools in the city. Here, Leadership Village Academy principal Laurie Warner writes about her experience with the program.
I never dreamed I would be a teacher, never mind a principal. After I graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1998 I traveled for a bit through Europe and then did social work in low-socioeconomic-status areas of Central Falls and Pawtucket. It amazed me seeing how different teachers and schools made a wide range of impact on my clients. When I finished my year with this program I decided to apply to Teach For America because I knew I had the dedication, drive and passion to teach students who were slipping two and three years below grade level.
Discuss (5 comments) Email this | Link to thisEvery weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.
MIKE COLALILLO
Private First Class, U.S. Army Company C, 398th Infantry, 100th Infantry Division
Mike Colalillo, one of nine children, was born shortly after his parents emigrated from Italy. He grew up in a tough neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota, and left high school without graduating. Drafted in 1944, he was an eighteen-year-old private when he landed with the 100th Army Infantry Division at Marseille that October. His unit was engaged in constant combat over the next few months as it pushed up through central France and into Germany. Through the heartbreak of losing his comrades killed in the fighting, Colalillo hung on to memories of the rare funny moments as well: stealing chickens from a rundown farm, smoking cigars from a captured cigar factory.
Discuss (7 comments) Email this | Link to thisHi. A lot of chatter on the blogs today about the court ruling on detainees, the Gonzales no-confidence vote in the Senate yesterday, more chaos in the Middle East and fresh political polling that has Fred Thompson up and Congress down.
ThinkProgress has several links analyzing yesterday's federal appeals court ruling that the Bush administration cannot legally detain a U.S. resident it believes is an al Qaeda sleeper agent without charging him.
Discuss (0 comments) Email this | Link to thisNBC's John Larson reported on Sunday's broadcast about children in Uganda, displaced by war and so terrified of being kidnapped or killed they walked miles every night to sleep in the safety of larger towns. Their story has been captured by a group of young filmmakers who are taking some interesting steps toward helping them. Here, John talks about in a video blog what it was like to meet the filmmakers.
Watch the vlog
Watch John's report from Sunday
Find out how you can help
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Brian previews some of the stories we're working on for tonight's broadcast, which will come from the "Top of the Rock."
Click here or on the image to watch.
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