Tonight's broadcast

Hello from New York. Brian is off this evening so I'll be anchoring the newscast.

All of us in the newsroom have been terribly moved by the pictures from Charleston, S.C., where tens of thousands turned out to honor nine firefighters who lost their lives fighting a furniture store blaze earlier this week. The image of nine flag-draped coffins at the front of a coliseum, with thousands of fellow firefighters from across North America in attendance, was a vivid reminder of the shared sense of duty and danger that cements the bond between those who answer the fire bell in cities large and small. Martin Savage is covering that story for us.

We learned today of what German authorities believe is a credible terror threat against Germans in Afghanistan or even in Germany itself. Our Lisa Meyers will walk us through the mounting bits of intelligence and "chatter" that have European officials very worried tonight.

Pete Williams will preview the CIA's release of what it calls the "family jewels." They are closely-guarded cold war-era secrets that might more aptly be called "dirty secrets."

The space shuttle Atlantis is safely on the ground -- three thousand miles from its intended destination. The weather in Florida wasn't cooperating and so NASA diverted the orbiter to Edwards Air Force Base, California. It was a beautiful touchdown and we'll show it you tonight.

And anyone who has thrown a wedding knows the words "wedding' and "bargain" rarely go together, but some big name discount stores are trying to change that. But would you wear a $90 wedding dress from Target? Before you answer take a look at Michelle Kosinski's report tonight.

Thanks for checking-in this afternoon, we'll look for you tonight on NBC Nightly news.