Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Because of the holiday, a lot of the good stuff in current media is getting lost in...people enjoying their lives.  So it's in that spirit that I wanted to call your attention to the following...it appeared on the Washington Post op-ed page yesterday, and it's the work of our Washington Bureau Chief Mark Whitaker.  It's an assessment of the first year of the Obama Presidency.  If it seems especially well-written, there's a reason for that: Mark is the former editor of Newsweek. He writes pretty well.

The story of the would-be Christmas bomber in Detroit continues to loom large, as does the related story of airline security.  I think it has to be considered a work in progress. I just spoke to a friend who is facing a long, transcontinental flight with two children under five.  He is petrified that they won't be able to watch in-flight entertainment—and worried about having to take books away from his children during the last hour of flight. There must be a better way, and they must find it.

We hope you can join us tonight.