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China's economic muscle

What's amazing about traveling halfway around the world in the year 2007 is that remarkably nothing has to change your focus unless you let it. Less than 48 hours ago I was sitting behind a desk in New York much like I am sitting behind a desk in Beijing now. That's the trouble with the modern world: You can narrow it down to fit your life anywhere at anytime. If I wanted I could drink my Starbucks, get some BBQ at Tim's and watch Pretty Woman on DVD just three miles from -- not Times Square, but Tiananmen.

There are wide gulfs though when you let a place soak in. The newspapers here are filled with talk of trade - namely the Strategic Economic Dialogue between the U.S. and China that just ended in Washington, D.C. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson is on the front page above the fold hugging his Chinese counterpart Vice Premier Wu Yi. China has a trade surplus of more than $200 billion with the U.S. They export vast quantities of goods and import not nearly as much as the U.S. would like. They now have money to burn and the U.S. hopes it's used productively. Some have argued the U.S. should have that money to burn... they are the global superpower, right? But instead the U.S. is trying to dictate the terms of a situation that is largely beyond its control. It brings to mind Julia Roberts' meltdown in Pretty Woman when she tearfully insists to Richard Gere, "I say who; I say when; I-- I say who--"

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accountable to god

With Ann's remarkable interview with President al-Bashir still reverberating around diplomatic and relief aid circles, there is one part that hit home more than anything else.

I was reading the interview transcript and watching the tape late Monday night going over new excerpts we could put in the Today Show spot on Tuesday. On a personal note, it was nothing short of amazing to see Ann and her team there up close next to a man we had spent so much time psychoanalyzing and studying from afar. How could he let this happen in his country? Was he complicit?

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Conveying the tragedy in Darfur

Refugees from Darfur gather around an NBC News camera at a camp in eastern Chad.
Photo by NBC's Antoine Sanfuentes.

The story in Darfur and now Chad is hard to understand. Cutting these pieces with my editor Bev Chase, we struggle with a way to visually explain the enemy so that it registers with viewers. In this area of Africa, the people are all black. The bad guys, the good guys, the women, the children. It's what your ORIGINAL ethnicity is that matters, and even that is complicated. There are black Arab Africans and black ethnic Africans. They look mostly the same and there are good and not so good people on both sides. But one side is being sanctioned by the Sudanese government to not just fight a war, but to wipe out a civilian population. This fight is about land, and power. Genocide usually is. Burning, raping, looting and targeting certain types of people are the weapons in this war. As Ann Curry and her team in the region have told us: Our challenge is to convey that what's happening there is no less real than if you came home one day and found your house burned to the ground and half your family missing or ill.

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Remembering Mr. Apple

If there's one truth I've learned in journalism it's that you often get your best sound bites where you least expect it. So when a group of people sat down in Ann Arbor near the University of Michigan on Oct. 18, 2000, to watch a presidential debate and then comment for one R.W. Apple, I was there to observe and learn as a student, but technically I was just there to pour the coffee. I didn't know at the time that the man moderating the discussion after one of the debates between Al Gore and now President Bush had done more in journalism than I could ever imagine or aspire to. I didn't know he had a tireless appetite for news, specifically politics, and later, food and wine. I couldn't know that only one election cycle later I would study him almost exclusively among the giants of political reporters to prepare for my turn as a "boy on the bus" for NBC News during the 2004 presidential primaries.

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The minimum wage debate

What did the tooth fairy give you? That's what Celeste Molina asked her daughter when she woke her up for breakfast earlier this week. Our cameras were there for the cash bonus her daughter received: $5. That's a lot more than I got when my teeth came out, but you know, with inflation, it's probably about right.

The trouble is it's almost as much as what Celeste makes an hour working overnights at a local gas station in Columbus, Ohio. Minimum wage in Ohio and 28 other states is $5.15 an hour and has been since 1996. Tonight, correspondent Lisa Daniels talks to both sides about the issue and how it affects people trying to raise a family and sustain a business.

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Trying to make a difference in Darfur

I like blogging out in the field. Being 'out there' I can give a sense of what it's like as the producer traveling for a story, seeking out people to talk to who represent a view point, and of course finding THE news.

But let me tell you about another side of this business -- it's a piece of the process, but it too can inspire and illuminate when you least expect. I am in a small dark screening room that has no windows starting to transcribe an interview I just produced with Ann Curry. No, 'fraid it's not Angelina... it's celebrated author and holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. They are discussing the conflict in Darfur, Sudan and its importance to the world. This is for a "Making a Difference" piece that is in the works to air this weekend.

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On the Texas-Mexico border

If someone tells you there is an easy solution to undocumented immigrants in this country, be suspicious. Everyone has a right to their opinion, but no matter what reform, if any, that comes down the pike from Washington, people will be upset. This issue has all the ingredients for a good fight, and not just in the U.S. capital.

I say this because for the past three days I have been talking to people along the border of Texas and Mexico in preparation for Lester Holt's piece tonight on immigration. This is our first story in this week's series we're calling "Whose America?" We came down here with lots of questions and got a slew of  different opinions. Not answers, opinions. Everyone here has first hand knowledge of the problem of porous borders and undocumented workers. Everyone here also knows there is no easy answer because it's so much more than just a statistic of nearly 12 million people. It's about human beings, livelihood and, for some, no less than the ideals this country was founded on.

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Our instant focus group

Last night, while pundits in Washington busied themselves with choosing the headlines from the president's State of the Union address, correspondent Rehema Ellis and I were in Pennsylvania. We met with a small group of people with diverse backgrounds to hear what they thought about the president's priorities, tone and overall presentation.

We turned down the volume directly following the speech (sorry, Brian), and Rehema got right to their reactions without any filter from the folks on TV. The reactions -- which were both strong and articulate -- showed us just how wide a spectrum there is of opinions in this country and how the president is the bearer,  for better or worse, of it all -- from key domestic concerns to the war on terror.

Watch Rehema's story tonight to see who you agree or disagree with from our instant focus group.

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'Mudding out' in Miss.

When Team Martin rolled into Lakeshore, Miss. on Thursday, we were not sure of what we would report on. It took about two minutes to figure that out, thanks to a woman named Sandy Molenhouse. She introduced us to local resident James Bobbit who you met in Martin's piece Thursday on Nightly News.

Molenhouse works for a faith-based aid organization called International Aid. They provide medical equipment all over the globe, but aren't used to working in their own backyard. However, they said they couldn't just sit around and wait for the call. International Aid had trucks down in Hancock Co., Miss. the day after the storm and has been working nonstop ever since. They have provided $18 million in donations to this area in the form of dry goods, medical supplies and hygiene kits.

Photo by Marisa Buchanan

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Lost somewhere in New Orleans

We have come to the end of the road and not just for this trip. We are staring at a road closed sign across a little canal. We are at the farthest point in Orleans Parish, or at least we would be if we could figure out how to get across the bridge. Technically, we are within the city limits, but the French Quarter is 30 miles away. You could argue too much has been made of New Orleans but East New Orleans is virtually unknown, which is why we have come. In this mixture out here of bayous and subdivisions, many bridges are broken or unsafe and alternate routes are clogged with traffic and trucks.

By the way, we got separated from the crew and our crack research staff is telling us the are no roads on Mapquest to lead us where we want to go. So... all in all, a great start to the day...

P.S. We really do have great researchers. A big thanks to Aswini Anburajan and Brittany Harris for their wonderful assistance this week.

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