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.
Good day from New York, where we are carefully following today's frightening incident at the Glasgow International Airport in Scotland. We all know what immediately comes to mind when we hear a car has plowed into an airport terminal bursting into flames, especially a day after those two car bombs were diffused in London. The witness accounts all suggest it was a deliberate act, but at this writing, whether it is an act of international terror related to the London car bombs remains to be seen.
A year ago I was in the UK covering a terror threat to US-bound airliners from London. That incident is the reason these days we are forced to carry our shampoo and contact solution in ziplock bags to get through airport screening checkpoints. Before that, it was a shoe-bombing attempt aboard a London to Miami flight that resulted in us having to remove our shoes before we enter the concourse. Within hours of today's incident in Scotland, American airports were again ramping-up security, and I can't help wonder if the days of getting dropped-off at the terminal door are now numbered. Is that what we will remember this day for?
Discuss (9 comments) 
Email this | 
Link to thisWe received first word from our London bureau that something was up -- and we now know much more about what was discovered and who they are looking for. I'm writing this about 4 minutes after getting off the air with a network special report -- an update on this scary situation in London. A car loaded with gasoline, compressed gas and roofing nails, a crowded nightclub and a cellphone detonator. What an awful combination. British citizens are being told to dial 999, their equivalent of 911, if they see anything suspicious. We are quite busy assembling our package of coverage for tonight and so this will be a short final post for the week.
Discuss (13 comments) Email this | Link to this
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.
FREDERICK E. FERGUSON
Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Army Company C, 227th Aviation Battalion,
1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)
Frederick Ferguson got a part-time job driving a gas truck to pay for flying lessons while serving out his enlistment in the Navy, earning his pilot’s license before his discharge in 1962. Over the next two years, he hung out at airports and got his commercial license. Then he took his first helicopter ride and knew instantly that he wanted to be a helicopter pilot. He joined the Army’s Warrant Officer program and graduated from the nine-month program in May 1967 certified in rotary-winged aircraft. Two weeks later, he was in Vietnam, a copilot with the 227th Aviation Battalion of the 1st Cavalry (Airmobile). By August he was in command of his own helicopter, a UH-1D slick.
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to thisI'm standing in front of an Apple store in Hollywood, California writing this on the virtual keyboard of an iPhone as about 100 of the faithful wait for them to go on sale tonight.
The glass keyboard takes some getting used to as I'm a two-thumb BlackBerry user. But, I remember that the first time I used the BlackBerry, I hated it, but got the hang of it eventually. (As I was typing "hang", I mistyped "hanh" and the iPhone suggested "hang". A tap of the virtual space bar quickly fixed it.)
The iPhone doesn't run on the fastest data networks available and when I typed www.msnbc.com, it took 30 seconds for the home page to fully load, pictures and all.
Like the iPod, the iPhone has an unswappable battery. When it wears out, the thing has to go back to Apple for battery replacement. That may be okay on your music player, but hey, this is your phone, too!
Still, it's a cool gadget and I suspect Steve Jobs of Apple may have a hit on his hands.
EDITOR'S NOTE: George Lewis filed this blog entry via e-mail. Watch his Web-extra video on the anticipation, the hype, and the reviews around the iPhone.
Discuss (5 comments) Email this | Link to thisEditor's note: Washington Producer John Rutherford writes a weekly blog on the soldiers and Marines buried at Arlington National Cemetery. There were no public burials this past week, so he is writing instead on a Purple Heart ceremony today at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Small-town America is bleeding for the rest of the country.
A disproportionate number of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be from towns most Americans have never heard of, towns like Gladys, Va., Clinton, Utah, and Spring Lake, N.C.
At a ceremony today at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 19 soldiers, most of them from similar small towns, were awarded Purple Hearts. We asked some of them why they joined the Army.
"My dad did three tours in Vietnam, my brother was infantry," Sgt. Blayne Sheets, 21, of Berea, Ohio (pop. 18,970), said. "I just thought I'd do my part, too."
For Spc. Evan McQuistun, 24, of Trenton, Fla. (pop. 1,617), the reason was more practical.
"For a job," he said. "There's not a lot of places to work in Trenton."
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to this
The morning of June 27 was sticky even by South Florida standards, but that didn't dissuade hundreds of supporters and sponsors from coming out to cheer the return of a young pilot who has written a new page for the history books. Drummers, singers and dancers performed in advance of the ceremonial arrival, when a small Columbia 400 buzzed the crowd at Opa Locka Airport near Miami. 23-year-old Barrington Irving completed an around-the-world solo flight -- and unofficially became the youngest and first black pilot ever to do so.
Barrington Irving waves to fans after completing an around the world solo flight, making him unofficially the youngest and first black pilot to do so.
Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to thisThis was a history-making day in the U.S. Supreme Court chamber, and that was evident from the tone of Pete Williams' voice when he walked us through his version of events for tonight. Justice Breyer provided the emotional high point of the court session during his 27-minute oral dissent -- more of a direct rebuke of the majority opinion and its authors. We'll look at the decision, the dissent and the impact of the court's action today.
Discuss (10 comments) Email this | Link to thisHi. The demise of immigration reform, the rising tensions between Congress and the White House, the nervous jitters on Wall Street, and the long-held dream of a middle-aged geek (a Led Zeppelin reunion?) are the topics today.
Immigration reform is now clearly, most sincerely D-E-A-D. BullDogPundit takes a victory lap. Ed Morrissey muses on what to do next. Patrick O'Conner says the GOP is official breaking up with Bush over this. And Josh Marshall notes the President's tone in conceding defeat.
The White House is refusing to cooperate with Congressional subpoenas Andrew Ward has some analysis. and Glenn Greenwald writes about how much we don't know about the administration's eavesdropping program.
Discuss (1 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.
WALTER D. EHLERS
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
Walter Ehlers’s older brother, Roland, had bullied and protected him throughout their childhood in Kansas. By D-Day, the two had already fought their way through North Africa and Sicily in the same unit. While training for the Normandy landing, Walter was made a squad leader and transferred to a different company. The brothers wished each other luck and promised to “meet up on the beach.”
The first wave was pinned down on the beach. Ehlers’s squad, along with about two hundred other soldiers, were on an LCI (landing craft, infantry) scheduled to be in the second wave. Orders were quickly changed. Ehlers and his squad were transferred to a Higgins boat and sent to the beach three hours ahead of the second wave. They were not prepared for the chaos that they found on the beach.
Discuss (4 comments) Email this | Link to this
Brian's back! He's been gone from the vlog for a few days now, but today he gets in front of the camera and previews some of the stories we're working on for tonight's broadcast.
Click here or on the image to watch.
Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to thisIf you've watched any cable news today, you may agree that it paints a pretty grim picture of our national discourse and the political conversation in this country. I just read Joe Klein's comments as posted on his blog back today, and so it goes. What a contrast to the scene in Parliament today where Tony Blair received a rare ovation as he departed (while there's no shortage of vitriol in the U.K.). In the middle of yet another cable segment on the Ann Coulter-Elizabeth Edwards encounter yesterday, a bit of local news shocked us to attention: a power outage here in Manhattan, extending into some of the City's power lines. Knowing how these things sometimes cascade through the system, I found myself looking down 6th Avenue while on the phone, half expecting traffic lights to go dark while I watched.
Discuss (17 comments) Email this | Link to this Brian will anchor tonight's broadcast, but NBC's Anne Thompson takes over today's vlog duties.
Click here or on the image to watch.
Discuss (1 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.
RUSSELL E. DUNHAM
Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army Company I, 30th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division
In mid-1940, Russell Dunham, unable to find a job, joined the Army. After the war started, he saw action in North Africa, Sicily, and Anzio as part of the 3rd Infantry Division. In August 1944, his unit landed at Toulon in the south of France and fought its way toward Alsace-Lorraine. Five months later, Sergeant Dunham’s company was facing a significant German force at the small town of Kaysersberg, France.
On the morning of Jan. 8, 1945, the men were issued white mattress covers to camouflage them in
the deep snow and ordered on patrol. Heavily armed with carbine magazines and a dozen grenades hooked into his belt, Dunham scrambled through the snow up a hill where three German machine guns were dug in.
Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to thisAs I write this, there is a troupe singing opera on 6th Avenue, a few stories beneath my office. They have microphones and amplifiers, and sadly I'm not a big fan. So, I just increased the volume of my iPod here in the office. Problem solved.
To the news: a primary story on our broadcast tonight happened last evening when the man once known as "Richard Nixon's Favorite Mayor" -- Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar -- gave a speech (after much deliberation) breaking with the president over the war in Iraq. While not quite an "if I've lost Cronkite ..." moment, it was a moment given Lugar's reputation. We'll talk about the speech and the fallout and the policy tonight.
Discuss (10 comments) Email this | Link to thisHi. Lots of buzz today over Republican senior statesman Richard Lugar's decision to bolt from the GOP fold on Iraq. Plus, VP Cheney in the spotlight, Obama's first commercials, and the best five seconds of video you've ever seen.
Here's the AP's take on Lugar bolting on Iraq. But Liberal Oasis says Lugar's position should not define the opposite pole of the Iraq debate.
The Washington Post is in the midst of its jaw-dropping opus on Vice President Cheney. All of it is "Must-Read" as they say. And Unbossed sums up many a blogger's reaction with the question: what took 'em so long? Also, ThinkProgress updates us on Cheney's ongoing battle with Congress over his prerogatives.
Discuss (1 comments) Email this | Link to this Brian will anchor tonight's broadcast, but Chip Reid takes today's vlog duties from Washington, D.C.
Click here or on the image to watch.
Discuss (0 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.
ROGER H.C. DONLON
CAPTAIN, U.S. ARMY Detachment A-726, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces
Roger Donlon always felt that the military was his destiny in life. His father had served in World War I; all four of his brothers served in the Army or Air Force. He had wanted to go to the newly established Air Force Academy and learn to fly, but an eye examination detected the beginning of a cataract. Instead, Donlon graduated from the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School and qualified for West Point in 1955. After two years he resigned to join the Army. He graduated from Officer Candidate School and was eventually assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group in 1963.
Discuss (4 comments) Email this | Link to thisIt's hard not to feel sympathy for a sobbing young woman, explaining she only came to this country to work -- for a better life. She believes in her heart, despite what the law says, she has not committed a crime.
On the other hand, it's also difficult not to empathize with an elderly retiree, standing on a street corner with a picket sign, trying to rally support for laws that will remove thousands of day laborers waiting for work on the corners of a suburb that could be anywhere in America.
"We are not bad people," says Teresa Biarra in New Haven, Conn. "We are people dedicated to working." Biarra is here illegally. She's free on bail after federal immigration officers arrested her and 30 others recently.
"The whole thing is the law," says Sue Grant in Farmingville, New York. "I want our politicians to enforce the law, that's all I'm asking." Grant and a few others are picketing at a busy intersection, with signs demanding deportation for anyone here illegally.
The stories of these two women illustrate the nation's sharp divide on illegal immigration. Should we crack down or show compassion? Can we get rid of them, or are they here to stay?
Discuss (196 comments) Email this | Link to thisThe longest day of the year is now in our rear-view mirror, and we enter that nether-season where seemingly one-eighth of the American population is on some form of summer vacation at any given time. But we trudge on. The news never stops, nor do we. My thanks to Lester Holt for filling in for me on Friday. The following are our options for the start of this new week:
The Tahoe fire is still dangerously out of control, as is the drought across some areas of the country. The Supreme Court came out with two fascinating 5-4 rulings today, which are always best explained by our own Pete Williams -- as they will be tonight.
Discuss (14 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.
DREW D. DIX
Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army U.S. Senior Adviser Group, IV Corps, Military Assistance Command
Drew Dix volunteered for the Army in 1962. He wanted to be in Special Forces, but at eighteen he was too young, so he spent the next three years with the 82nd Airborne and participated in the peacekeeping operation in the Dominican Republic in 1965.
By 1968, Dix had become a Special Forces adviser and was in Vietnam working on a CIA project in the provincial capital of Chau Phu near the Cambodian border. His mission was to coordinate intelligence gathering with a company-size unit made up mainly of indigenous Vietnamese, Cambodians, and hinese Nungs, primarily by capturing Vietcong soldiers for interrogation.
Discuss (2 comments) Email this | Link to thisGood afternoon from New York.
On Nightly News tonight we will of course follow the story that broke shortly before we came on the air last night. An Ohio medical examiner has now confirmed the body recovered from a forest Saturday afternoon was that of Jessie Davis, the 9-month pregnant woman who was the subject of a week-long search. In addition to the arrest of her boyfriend, Bobby Cutts, Jr., our Janet Shamlian will report police are also looking into the possibility a second person was involved in either her murder or a cover-up.
NBC's John Yang will preview what some on Capitol Hill believe will be the make or break week for the immigration reform bill which comes back up for debate. On a related note, Don Teague is offering a piece tonight on what could be called a private sector immigration reform plan. It's an effort to get private companies to publicly pledge not to illegally hire undocumented workers.
Last night we showed you exclusive pictures from Jim Maceda's aerial tour of Iraq's hot spots with the top U.S. General in Iraq. Tonight: the same war, but a different view. Kerry Sanders will let us see Iraq from the foot soldier's point of view. Many of them are shooting their own video of daily life on the front lines and posting it on internet pages. Much of it is stuff you don't normally see on TV newscasts.
Discuss (5 comments) Email this | Link to this
