Brian, you are the one reason I'll continue to watch NBC Nightly News in spite of the fact that Comcast is in the picture and Olbermann was fired from MSNBC. I look forward to hearing more about those children that were discovered in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. How bizarre.

Your facetiousness is always amusing. Wonder how many people won't catch it.

NBC's loss! 4 less viewers. Keith,... May GOD be with you.
AND..who GOD bless..NO man can curse!!

Hi Brian

Sad to hear about Keith but like Conan there is life much better at the end of the tunnel and he will learn that soon.

Now if you remember Watergate and the Keating Scandal get ready for those laws to be repeal and Corporations/Banks will be free to commit corruption without prosecution. Check this out:

On Wednesday, House Republicans plan to rush to the floor a bill that would eliminate the federal government's presidential financing system—in the process, violating recent pledges by the GOP's leadership of increased transparency and debate in Congress. Not one hearing has been held on the legislation, nor has a single committee debated its merits. If it passes, it will roll back more than 30 years of law born out of the Watergate scandal, eviscerating one of the few remaining protections stopping corporations from heavily influencing, if not outright buying, American elections, reform experts say.

That's a bill Republicans and Rep. Cantor will try to pass as this is why Justice Scalia is doing his training classes to Law Makers to fill in where the 5 Supreme Court Justices violated the Constitution. No better teacher then Justice Scalia who has been trying for so many years to repeal all of the Constitution. The door was open when the first violation took place and the US Supreme Court when the Justices picked the President and took it out of the hands of the American people and it's been down hill from there.

Brian you do a great job keeping our troops in the media so people don't forget we're still at War. It was so sad to hear the Banks violated the Federal Law of Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Since 2002 the banks have been silently illegally foreclosing on soldiers homes leaving their families homeless. The shocker was many of these families were up to date on their payments. Several media stations over the years questioned by we had so many homeless soldiers and families well now we know the answer. Doesn't seem to interest the Law Makers who work for the Banks interest. Americans aren't interested well until Veteran's Day when they bring the US Flag out for display. Chase did say oops sorry and will give the families 500 dollars for the crimes and lost.

All day everyone is talking about the political decision by the appeals court in Chicago about Rahm Emanuels residence status. It is remarkable their are so many people who don't know the qualifications of residency in their State. The Press is like TMZ and clearly just needing to sell a story with no facts. Rahm pays property tax, income tax, votes, has a driver licence and bank accounts as well as listed on the Federal Census records of being a resident of Illinois. He rented his house while giving the President a time he would resign like others. People seem to forget many American Families work overseas but keep their residency and even have their ballots mailed to them. Students who go to college in another State still are residence of their home States. Are people really that stupid or what. The Illinois Supreme Court will overturn the Appeals courts decision based on purely political reasons for their decision. Two Republican citizens filed the Appeal because well they didn't want him elected. Now that might have worked in 2001 to 2009 when the US Courts were mostly corrupt and run by political power but that time is gone.

see you same time same place

The passing of Jack LaLanne reminds me when I was a kid watching his show and doing the exercises right along with him, my mother ordered that blue stretch thingy that he sold that was supposed to be used for leg lifts, but of course since I was kid then I used it as a jump rope. As you mentioned, he was thought to be the man that would never die, referencing his lifelong commitment to health and exercise, however, I have an aunt on my mom’s side of the family who is the only surviving sibling. Sometimes my mother would ask her what she had for dinner, and she would say either nothing, or ice cream, or some other junk food or sweet food and she’s a few years away from being 100 herself, so, go figure… !

Good Evening Mr.Williams, A fine broadcast this evening as always. Interesting article you posted from the New York Times.

First of all the report by Janet Shamlian about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords progress. Having suffered somewhat of a setback with some fluid collection in the brain it seems not uncommon in these type of brain injuries. It does postpone her leaving the Intensive Care Unit, but she did make progress over the weekend and is responding very well. It will be good to hear when she can leave the ICU and move to the rehabilitation center, but it does take time.

The report by Mr.Bazell concerning the type of wound and the fluid collection showed that if the fluid leaked it could cause infections. But with the drain placed inside she will be staying in the ICU unit which will make her better when she does move forward to the rehabilitation center. A truly remarkable woman. Thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.

On another note the report by Andrea Mitchell about the airport attack in Moscow showed how frightening an explosion caused by a suicide bomber. Hearing the accounts by pasengers revealed the magnitude with the explosion turning the airport intoa a battlefield. It is awful the loss of life and one hopes the investigation will reveal who is responsible. An awful incident. So very tragic.

Hearing the temperatures of the Northeast region made one definitely shiver! Much,much too cold and one hopes the temperatures warm up soon. Keep extra, extra warm everyone!

Thank You for the broadcast Mr.Williams. Peace to You and to All!

Be Well Everyone!

Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard!

Take Extra Good Care Richard and Crew!

Lisa

Great broadcast this evening as usual and kudos to you and the staff for shining the light on the bullying going on by Susan G. Komen for the Cure. I watched the additional footage on the site and will say that I can hardly believe the Komen representative kept a straight face while justifying their actions as avoiding donor confusion. It is a sad day when well meaning people who are trying to change the world get sidetracked by the bigger kid on the block. Komen will never admit fault here which is sad.

Good evening, Brian!

Thank you for the broadcast tonight. It was awful waking up and turning on the breaking news of the explosion in Moscow airport, and also to hear of Representative Giffords current condition. My thoughts and prayers to Moscow, and to Congresswoman Giffords on her recovery.

On a light note here, I haven't been the regular poster I used to be lately, and I knew the day would come eventually when I lost the time. Though, I still read your blog daily, and of course never miss a broadcast. I hope I can still be considered one of your most loyal readers and posters, even if I haven't lived up to the title lately. My apologies. I really do miss it around here. Thanks for sharing these interesting articles. After finally visiting New York last month, I have a much better perspective of it, and still miss it like crazy. It's amazing how much time you'd have to spend in New York to see every side and take in every angle. I still have a soft spot for Brooklyn, and would love to go back to the Half King on my next visit... On our next journey, coming up in March, I will have to also pay a visit to the NBC News Los Angeles bureau! My boyfriend, brother, friend and I just picked a random state/city most of us haven't been to yet, and it just happened to be somewhere a bit warmer than New York is right now! I've never dreamed of going to California like I have New York, so I will be doing some researching for a month and a half on everything...

P.S. I may have been away a while, but I've still noticed you haven't been talking about music too lately. I may be wrong, but just a warm and friendly reminder that you have a great (or as you said once, "weird taste...it’s all over the place") in music many of us love! No pressure though, I know a lot of more serious things have been going on lately. Just trying to keep the motivation going for you in this department. It's just one of the things I'm here for. (Motivation, that is.)

Thanks for starting off our week as always. Have a good night and take care!

-(Bad attendence) Cary

hola, brian, i usually use my st. jude hospital address labels and occasionally use the susan komen address labels. well, after watching the program video tonight, i am trashing the susan komen address labels. what they are doing to the new kids on the block is ridiculous. my son called tonight and complained about the 40 degree mornings in phoenix, arizona. i had just watched the videos of what the weather is doing to the midwest and northeast. wow, i hope everybody finds a way to stay warm, those are dangerous temps! best, anna martina

Great show Brian

Sorry to hear the weather is still bad back east but I'll be there in the summer when it gets warm again.

Brian the hits just keep on coming with so much an hour couldn't cover it all.

Justice Thomas has been cheating on his taxes for 20 years and thinks there's no problem because he's a Justice. Now Westly Snipes and others are in jail but it seems the law only applys to some Americans not all. Who would have guessed a Justice could be allowed to cheat on their taxes and get away with it.

Bush White House broke campaign laws in 2006---- Now that's another crime that will get a pass. No wonder Obama moved his campaign as he would be charged, convicted and removed from office for a memo.

Everyday another surprise and shocker

On Sunday's story about Gabrielle Giffords's ongoing recovery, a Nightly News graphic identified Professor Geoffrey Manley as the "Chif of Neurosurgery" at San Francisco General Hospital. So how many years of medical school are required to become a "Chif of Neurosurgery"? Since NBC/Universal owns Bravo, maybe they're planning to spin off "America's Next Top Chef" and create "America's Next Top Chif".

Also on Sunday, while introducing a story about a successful voice box transplant, Lester Holt referred to a larynx as a "larnyx".

On Monday, Brian Williams introduced Andrea Mitchell as NBC's "Chief Foreign Correspondent". That's Richard Engel's title. Andrea Mitchell is NBC's Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent. Brian seems to make this mistake about once a month. When is he going to learn who's who at NBC News? Well, it could have been worse. At least he didn't introduce her as NBC's "Chif Foreign Correspondent".

The Susan G. Komen Foundation was always one of my big charitable donations after losing my best friend to breast cancer 15 years ago. No more. This donor will not be confused any longer. How disgustingly selfish. They should be ashamed of themselves, but obviously they aren't.

After watching last Thursday's Nightly News, I was convinced that it was the worst single evening news broadcast that I had ever seen. Eleven minutes and fifteen seconds--more than half the broadcast--was devoted to Brian Williams's ridiculous round table discussion with George H. W. Bush and members of his administration (at the Bush Library in College Station, Texas). The discussion did not contain a single question, answer or comment that had not already come up a thousand times in the past twenty years. Here's an idea: Instead of covering stale news from two decades ago, why doesn't Nightly News cover some current news stories? You know, important stuff. How many real news stories were ignored so that Brian could ask rote questions to a former president, who in turn gave rote answers? And I have to admit that I'm more than a little disappointed for another reason. I would have expected Brian's roundtable discussion to include some of the people he spent the most time reporting on over the past few years: Bruce Springsteen, Susan Boyle, Jackie Evancho, Chelsea Clinton, Kate Middleton, Chesley Sullenberger, George Clooney, Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Bono, Michael Douglas, the Chilean miners and all those NFL players who are "Making A Difference" by helping to promote NBC's Sunday Night Football. Why weren't they at the table?

Thursday's broadcast featured woefully little in the way of actual news. There was the obligatory Gabrielle Giffords story, although there was nothing new to report. We got a two-minute story about a woman who tracked down her birth parents after being kidnapped shortly after she was born. Interesting, but not really news. Then Brian spent thirty seconds narrating a story about a huge organized crime bust in the northeast. This seems to be the one story on the broadcast that was actually newsworthy, but it got only half a minute. After that, it was time for Brian's shameful 30-second plug for Walmart's healthy new food policy followed by yet another story about a "Winter Blast". I wish that I had had the foresight to copyright the term "Winter Blast". Nightly News uses the term so often that I'd be rich from the usage fees they'd have to pay me. After a minute spent talking about the inaugurations of Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and Obama, Brian ended the broadcast with more of his roundtable discussion. Naturally, before signing off, Brian further plugged his discussion with President Bush by telling us we could see more of it on Today, Dateline, MSNBC and MSNBC.com. And that was Nightly News for Thursday, Jan. 20.

Yes, after watching that broadcast, I thought it was the worst evening newscast I had ever seen. Until I saw Friday's Nightly News. Brian reported from Tucson, telling us that, "We've returned here tonight to check back in on this community...." Well, actually, he had been in Texas the day before, so it wasn't exactly a schlep to fly to Tucson. He was sort of in the neighborhood. And instead of eleven minutes of a presidential roundtable, we got thirteen minutes on Gabrielle Giffords. First, we learned all about her move from Tucson to Houston. Look at all those people lined up on the streets waving flags and giving her the thumbs up sign! Nightly News followed her motorcade so closely, I thought I was watching the Zapruder film. After four minutes of that, it was time for Brian's interview with Suzi Hileman, who had brought Christina-Taylor Green to the Safeway on Jan. 8 to meet Giffords. It's obvious that Brian's interview was designed to elicit emotion, rather than to provide information. Because emotion generates higher ratings than facts. And Brian got exactly what he wanted--Hileman broke down and cried. That's the money shot--just ask Barbara Walters. Of course, Brian could have edited Hileman's crying out of the interview, but was there really a chance of that happening? Tears are always good for a few extra ratings points. Brian's exploitative, overlong interview with Hileman was followed, of course, by a promo for more of the interview on Sunday's Dateline. Hileman was all over the news this weekend, and Bob Woodruff's interview with her on ABC was much more dignified and thoughtful than Brian's interview. I guess Woodruff is more concerned with news than with ratings. After the break, we saw a 1:40 story about President Obama appointing GE chairman Jeff Immelt to head up his new economic advisory board. How much time would Nightly News have given this story if it didn't involve Immelt, the soon-to-be-former boss of NBC's parent company? After that, we saw a story about Sasha Obama speaking Chinese to President Hu. Funny thing--I recall that on Jan. 5, 2009, Brian solemnly vowed not to do any stories on the Obama children unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Promises, promises. Next, Brian told us of the death of another Medal of Honor winner. It's amazing to me that Brian is allowed to serve on the board of directors for the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation while he regularly reports on Medal of Honor winners (and other military matters) on his broadcast. That is a glaring conflict of interest. But Brian doesn't care. No one at NBC seems to care. Yet another story on the weather was followed by a 2:15 story about Sunday's Bears-Packers game. You'd think that since NBC isn't televising any more NFL games this season, Nightly News wouldn't be interested in doing any more stories about the NFL. I mean, why do a story if it has no promotional value for the network? But NBC is thinking long term. Their next NFL game is only eight months away, and let's not forget that NBC is airing the 2012 Super Bowl. It's never too early to start promoting next season's Sunday night NFL games on NBC. The broadcast's final segment began with a minute of footage of Brian shmoozing with Rep. Giffords's staff. Brian then introduced the "Making A Difference" segment: "And again we came back here to Tucson to see how this great place was doing after that terrible day two weeks ago tomorrow"--yes, we know, he already said that at the beginning of the broadcast--"and what we found is the most extraordinary and ordinary acts of kindness popping up everywhere you look--everywhere people could use one and so many people have stepped up and really are making a difference." Does Brian know that Nightly News is a news broadcast? Someone really should tell him. The "Making A Difference" segment featured a man who plays the violin in honor of Gabrielle Giffords, a woman who acts as caretaker for the memorials that people have left and a cashier in the Safeway who gets hugs from customers. They should have attached a "breaking news" banner to that story. Lee Cowan's closing line was, "Turns out that soundtrack of grief is also a soundtrack of hope. There are lots of angels in this field of sorrow." Is he kidding us? This isn't news, it's a soap opera crossed with a Lifetime movie. Brian spent the final 45 seconds of the broadcast reading promos telling us that we can see more of his interview with Suzi Hileman on Dateline (where we can also see more of his roundtable discussion with President Bush), and also on MSNBC and on MSNBC.com. That 45 seconds could have been used for a real news story, but Brian thought it was more important to read his promos. Of course, the entire broadcast did not contain a single bit of actual news, so why should the final 45 seconds be any different? This was an appallingly grotesque display. An entire Nightly News broadcast without a shred of actual news. What a waste of time. Just imagine all the news they could have covered in those 22 minutes. Brian and his producers should be ashamed of themselves. But they're not. This is what they wanted to put on the air. Emotion gets higher ratings than facts. They prove that every night. And that's the story of the single worst evening news broadcast that I have ever seen.

Is it ethical for a TOP journalist to ask VP Cheney not to belittle THE President by saying "Obama will be a one term president."
Isn't Mr. Barack Obama- Dick Cheney's President too?! Civility!
Said again in a recent interview. Heartbroken!!!

Brian: What's going on in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn? Babies in strollers? I have never heard of such a thing. Are there people in Williamsburg? If so, what are the population stats? I thought Williamsburg was an historical town in Virginia. Where has the New York Times been lately? I can't believe all these revelations are being reported by such a distinguished newspaper. "Holy Moly!"

Tonight's State of the Union Address should be most interesting. Democrats sitting next to Republicans? What kind of new game is this? I'll be tuned in awaiting this venture. I'll catch you on tonight's broadcast from Washington.