A long day's journey

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

After a classic parenting experience yesterday -- an hour-long drive with my wife to see our son pitch at an away game -- which he did not (he's been starting this year, and was rumored to on the bubble to come in in relief yesterday, alas) -- we are back at work on a surprisingly nice Monday in New York.

The talk of the staff meetings today was the Pope's surprising visit (a huge media tour de force, by most reviews here in New York and elsewhere), and tomorrow's vote in Pennsylvania. The expectations management is something to watch carefully. I'll be doing the noon ET hour on MSNBC tomorrow afternoon, just eight hours before the polls close! Tim and I will do Nightly News from here and will have updates on the NBC Television Network and on MSNBC all evening long.

We're thinking of Richard Engel -- we miss having him in the newsroom during his extended "shore leave" -- and he's now headed back overseas and back to work. I've always found it to be an endearing feature of our blog community -- the large number of our readers who express an almost-maternal concern for his safety and love of his work. Please know our feelings for him are even more intense, and we do our level best to make sure he's safe and surrounded by the best professionals in the business.

We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.