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Deadly Day

Iraq reached a terrible new milestone today... one of the deadliest single bomb attacks since the beginning of the war.  A suicide bomber driving a truck with more than a ton of explosives detonated his cargo in the middle of a crowded Baghdad market.  One wire service reports at least 135 Iraqis killed.... 300 injured.  The pictures of the victims flooding into a hospital were horrible.  As we have said before, this is another example of the conflict that has grown into a bloody civil war.  It is another example of the chaos that reigns in Baghdad... another sad example of the carnage.  NBC's Jane Arraf will have the latest from Baghdad tonight.

Also... NBC's John Yang will give us the view from the White House as President Bush makes the case for sending more troops to Iraq.

We are also following the situation in Florida after tornadoes killed at least 20 people early Friday morning.  NBC's Kerry Sanders reports... and NBC's Lester Holt has the story of one woman who moved away from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina... and ended up in central Florida... once again the victim of mother nature.

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A DEVASTATING TORNADO

What happened in Florida while most of America slept was a tragedy. A meteorological monster rolled through Central Florida overnight, and in the perverse way of these giant storms, chose to touch down in some spots while skipping over others. It made the difference between living and dying, and between standing structures and spots where the Earth was swept clean.

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Dogging it at the White House

So we're in the middle of our morning briefing known as a "gaggle" when there's an abrupt interruption. "We have to evacuate," is the word. A dog has tested positive on a vehicle not far from our temporary quarters just off the White House grounds. So we quickly exit and huddle in the cold in front of the New Executive Office Building. Ever since the "real deal," when we were moved on 9/11, there's more seriousness given to these events. There was the usual banter and camaraderie outside, but still in the pit of your stomach you never know. This time maybe it was some residue left in a or a dog having a bad day, but for 40 minutes, we didn't know for sure -- until the "all clear."

That's how it is these days.

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Gitmo chief resigns

A strange three-week controversy over the remarks of the Pentagon's top official responsible for overseeing the detainees at Guantanamo Bay has ended with his resignation, the Pentagon revealed today.  The saga began when he provoked an outcry in the legal community by publicly questioning the decisions of U.S. law firms to defend some of the detainees.

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Early Nightly is up

Brian anchors the broadcast this Friday night from New York.

Click here or on the image for his daily preview of the stories we're working on at this hour.

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Cold cattle in Colorado

Editor's note: Kevin introduces you to rancher Bill Brooks on tonight's broadcast. He filed this blog post to supplement his on-air report, which will be available as text and video at Nightly.MSNBC.com at 7:30 p.m. ET.

On the Colorado plains the wind bites so cold it reaches right through your winter gear and rips your lungs out. They say they haven't seen a winter like this out here forever, and with back-to-back blizzards much of the state continues to dig its way out. Four feet of snow has fallen in some places, along with several inches of ice. The January winds managed to create drifts 10-12 feet high.

Buried under the weight of winter is much of Colorado's beef industry, and dead, frozen cattle dot what otherwise is a barren, white landscape. Newly minted Colorado Governor Bill Ritter even told us he's heard from ranchers that some herds sought shelter in canyons that were 50 feet deep, only to be completely buried in the snow and suffocate. It's estimated more than 10,000 head have already perished, and the price of beef is expected to rise as a result.

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SOMETHING SPECIAL IN THE AIR

There's an old adage in the news business: if you televise a story on Restless Legs Syndrome, everyone with Restless Legs Syndrome will e-mail you the next day. Just kidding about the whole "adage" thing, but there really ought to be one after today. We commissioned last night's story, as we explained on the air, when the commercials started running advertising a medication to treat it. Back then we were flooded with questions about what "it" was -- now we know 1) what it is, 2) what to take for it, 3) who has it (including loved ones who we didn't know had it) and 4) we don't have to do that story again for a while. The entire episode proved a thesis of the piece: having a medication on the market, with an advertising campaign, gave the condition a "name" for many of those who either thought it was just them, or never complained about it, or both. Since then we've all learned about all kinds of people with the condition.

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What next in the Boston 'hoax' case?

As authorities in Boston look into whether they can file criminal charges against the company behind the cartoon ad campaign -- or sue it for damages -- the initial criminal case against the two men charged with planting the Boston signs will not be easy for the state to pursue in court.

Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens were charged today with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and a more serious charge -- planting a hoax device. Prosecutors will have a hard time making that one stick.

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A day in the life of the press corps

Covering the President of the United States is a high-profile, coveted job at every news organization. But as NBC News cameraman Jim Long shows you in this vlog, it's not exactly gourmet meals aboard Air Force One.

Click here or on the image to watch Jim's vlog, shot on Jan. 25 during President Bush's trip to Kansas City.

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Military medicine at 37,000 feet

We flew in to Germany this morning on the C-17 that regularly shuttles the U.S. wounded from the battlefields of Iraq to the Army's regional medical center here in Landstuhl. Injured soldiers rest in gurneys stacked two or three high while teams of doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists offer care at 37,000 feet as good as most hospital intensive care units. It is quite a sight. The cargo bay of the huge jet is configured so that the medical teams can care for someone on a ventilator, give continuous oxygen, monitor vital signs and intervene when necessary. Last night as the plane hit choppy air, some of the wounded who were conscious groaned loudly in pain. The nurse gave them additional sedating drugs. A man with intestinal damage was continuing to bleed internally, so he got a blood transfusion in the sky.

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