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The big day that wasn't

Just short of history. This would have been the day Vice President Dick Cheney walked into courtroom #16 and sat in the witness chair. But that won't happen. The vice president repeatedly said he was ready to raise his hand, take the oath, and testify on behalf of a loyal former adviser, Scooter Libby, who had been Cheney's chief of staff. But that won't happen. Mr. Cheney would have made history as the first sitting vice president to testify at a criminal trial, at least first in the modern day. But that won't happen. However, you can make the case that Cheney's shadow helped shape the jury that will soon sit in judgment of Libby on perjury and obstruction charges in the CIA leak case.

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'Trading Places': Ann Curry

Everything is gray about him now -- his hair, his skin, but not Dad's eyes... full of mischief and sparkling green like a lily pond at sunset, they invite you to jump right in.

I always do, into our intense debates about politics and war and history and inevitably his lessons about life, part of his constant effort to teach me the value of being of some service to others so that at the end of my days I will know it mattered I was here. He started telling me that since before I can remember.

Now 77, as he approaches the end of his days, he has never seemed more alive. A hospital candy striper, health club Tai-Chi teacher, and senior citizens' club ballroom dancer, he is so happily busy that I must check his schedule before I visit.

You would never guess watching his whirling dervish energy that he has both a defibrillator and a pacemaker in his chest, reminders of his nearly fatal heart attack three months after mom died.

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Stocking up on canned goods

Sometimes New York cab drivers can be the wisest souls. The guy who took pity on me (his "off duty" roof light was on, but he picked me up anyway in blowing snow on 50th Street) last night predicted New York City would NOT be buried in snow, as some were predicting last night. He repeated an adage I've used many times myself: It's the storms they DON'T talk about for days in advance that are the worst. Or best, depending on your point of view. This particular winter storm has largely spared the city when compared to those dire predictions (we have a few inches of something -- I wouldn't call it snow and I wouldn't call it ice -- it's just kind of "there"). Transportation is generally a mess, and it's becoming a classic counter-clockwise Nor'easter. A lot of folks are riding out a bona fide ice storm -- some are riding out a whiteout blizzard, and it's not fun. At the time of this posting, the low is centered right over Block Island, R.I., one of the great gems of New England, where they often take a beating during storms that set up the way this one did.

Also in the news tonight: the President's news conference, which we broadcast live at 11 a.m. EST today -- a number of topics of great interest in the current political debate. David Gregory, who had his own "exchange" with the President this morning, will wrap it all up for us tonight. Chrysler made big news today, and we're lucky to have the services of our "car guy," Phil LeBeau, who covers the industry so well for CNBC and often lends his services to us.

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Early Nightly is up

Brian anchors the broadcast tonight from New York, where earlier today he anchored NBC News coverage of President Bush's 37th White House news conference. That will be one of the stories we'll cover tonight, along with the winter weather impacting much of the Northeast.

Click here or on the image to watch the vlog.

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Insights into the Supreme Court

In unusually blunt language, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy told a Senate committee today that salaries for federal judges are too low, that Congress should not cut the budget of the U.S. Marshal's service, and that the Supreme Court should not be required to allow in TV cameras.

Kennedy's appearance was unusual in several respects. First, justices normally appear only to testify about the budget for the judicial branch, not to comment on other issues. His appearance followed an invitation to the court, sent to the chief justice. Kennedy was the designated testifier.

Second, he gave what is apparently the first public expression about how the court, as a body, views the TV issue. A bill to allow cameras in the Supreme Court has the backing of Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., of the Judiciary Committee.  But in appearing before the committee today, Kennedy said the justices often use oral argument to converse with each other, through the arguing lawyers. "Please don't introduce into the dynamics of our court the insidious temptation of trying to get a sound bite on TV. Please don't introduce that into our inter-collegial dynamics. We don't want that," Kennedy told the committee.

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Bush news conference

Brian will deliver today's vlog after anchoring NBC News coverage of President Bush's news conference, expected to start in about 5 minutes. If you're at the office and want to watch on your computer, here's a link to our live stream.

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'Trading Places': Dr. Nancy Snyderman

I left home for college in 1970, always knowing that I would never move back to Fort Wayne, Ind. I visit often and have kept in touch with most of my high school friends. It is the place where I expected my parents to grow old and die. But one thing I hadn't considered was that my parents would outlive all their friends, and with their four adult children scattered across the country, Fort Wayne grew foreign to them.

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Storm watch

Winter storms used to be routine. Perhaps it's the way we tend to glorify our past, but my memories of childhood include paralyzing blizzards at regular intervals all winter long. All the local New York television stations are in full "STORM WATCH" mode, and otherwise nonchalant New Yorkers are stocking up on  bottled water, canned goods, Civil Defense crackers from the 1950s, power bars, power boats, flashlights, generators, lip balm, shortwave radios, cross-country skis, highway flares, firewood, loved ones, batteries, moisturizer, shovels and rock salt. We're supposed to get the dreaded euphemism "Wintry Mix" throughout much of the area. That usually means there's no way to pinpoint the rain/ice/snow dividing line with any certainty. There are vicious rumors of 3 inches of snow overnight in the city, "more in the suburbs North and West..." and tomorrow will be one of those great days at the office when we get to see co-workers who probably shouldn't wear jeans... wearing jeans.

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Romney's 'Glory Road'

In choosing the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., to launch his run for the White House, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney selected a backdrop that had deep personal and symbolic meaning.

Romney is a native Michigander. It is where he met Ann, his wife of 37 years, and it is where his father George served as a popular governor for six years.

That explains the Michigan part. Now for the Ford Museum.

Romney explained that as a child he and his father would talk about cars and how much that cemented their relationship. Indeed, the Ford Museum is an awe-inspiring house of car worship -- with machines that moved us physically and emotionally.

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Early Nightly is up

Brian anchors the broadcast tonight, but Congressional Correspondent Chip Reid delivers today's vlog. He's watching debate today on the floor of the House of Representatives -- where Democrats and Republicans will each have 5 minutes to sound off on that non-binding resolution opposing President Bush's increase in U.S. combat troops in Iraq.

Click here or on the image to watch.

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