We just this afternoon stumbled upon a clear generational dividing line on our staff: the death, announced earlier today, of Tommy Newsom. Many of our younger employees had never heard of "Mr. Excitement," as Johnny Carson famously dubbed him. Tommy was a stone-faced regular in the Tonight Show orchestra for 30 years, rising to prominence as fill-in for Doc Severinsen. He was the perfect foil for Carson -- always dead-on deadpan, sober and serious -- but never self-serious. Tommy Newsom died today at the age of 78. We will take time to remember him as a member of the NBC family tonight.

In the news: George Tenet will be one of our components tonight -- the book rollout not going quite the way he had anticipated -- the first mistake in the book turns out to be on page one. There's been some criticism of the time delay between injustices (as perceived by the author) and claims of injustices by the author. As part of Tom Brokaw's extended interview with him, we have a lot more material on the subject for air tonight. Two reports are out: one on terrorist attacks worldwide, and the other on Ehud Olmert's performance during the Israeli war with Hezbollah.

There were emotional remarks today from two public servants: Tony Snow and Jon Corzine -- both men dealing with decidedly different health issues -- both spoke from the heart and to a wider audience. We will hear from them tonight.

We'll look at commuting hell in Oakland, the D.C. madam story, the health stories in the news, and the new trend toward "carbon offsets."

Feeling terribly out of the loop, I've just discovered the thread on Slate relating to the Sopranos -- which is starting to seriously tick down to doomsday for those of us who live on a Sunday-to-Sunday basis. Last night's episode was fantastic -- and fellow aficionados join me in wondering which one of Tony's famous dual behavioral poles will win in the end.

For now, back to the news... and we hope you can join us for it this evening.

White House press secretaries don't usually get a round of applause in the briefing room, but Tony Snow's return today was different. He's back after learning five weeks ago that his colon cancer returned and that cancer cells are now attached to his liver. Five weeks ago, the outlook was grim from the White House and his friends. Today, after we sat for an interview that will air tonight on Nightly News, he said the day he made his condition public, he initially got it wrong, telling his own press office staff the cancer was inside his liver. As I said, the cancer is attached, which doctors have told him is an important difference. It's rare, I joked with him today, that a press secretary inadvertently makes something sound worse than it is!

Nevertheless, this is a serious time for Tony, his wife and three kids. He begins chemotherapy this Friday and faces an uncertain future. He's forced, he said, to look at life in small chunks of time rather than gazing out at a seemingly endless horizon.

Video: For the first time in five weeks, Tony Snow talks to reporters from a White House podium. This video is from the morning "gaggle" with reporters, which is usually off-camera.

A lot of people focus on the sometimes contentious relationship between the press and the press secretary, but today, it's useful to take a step back. The debates in Washington -- particularly over the war -- are vitally important. But so too is Tony's individual fight for survival, and that requires no skepticism or follow up from reporters.

Tony will now balance the difficult job of leveling with his kids about what he's going through and how it's affecting THEM with his desire to kick off a national conversation about living with cancer. He's got a survivor's story to tell and hopes to God he can keep on telling it.

Someone joked on the morning editorial call that the broadcast will need an hour tonight to fit in all of the day's news. Brian looks ahead to a few of those stories in today's vlog -- including the overpass collapse in San Francisco, the D.C. madam and this New York Times 'Week in Review' story about people buying carbon neutrality.

Click here or on the image to watch.

The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled in favor of a Georgia sheriff's deputy who rammed a car after a high speed chase, causing a spectacular crash that left the 19-year-old driver paralyzed.

Today's decision relied, in an unusual way, on videotape of the chase recorded in the deputy's car. It was so central to the ruling that the court took the unusual step of posting it on its Web site. To the majority of the court, the tape shows the driver putting at risk the safety of others on the road. "We see him racing down narrow two-lane roads, in the dark of night, at speeds shockingly fast," said Justice Antonin Scalia for the majority, which found that no jury could have concluded anything but that he put innocent members of the public at risk.

In the sole dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said the tape showed just the opposite. It shows other drivers pulling over in response to the police sirens and doesn't even show any close calls. Stevens said today's decision approves the use of deadly force by police -- here, by ramming a car at very high speeds -- for a crime of speeding.

Those of us who witnessed -- either first-hand or on television -- the devastation from Hurricane Katrina still remember the images of residents suffering along the Gulf Coast. So we took notice of today's Washington Post, which reports that, in the wake of that disaster, the U.S. government either turned down or lost track of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid from foreign governments -- everything from medical supplies to search-and-rescue teams to cash. Why would the U.S. turn away help when so many of its own were in need? NBC's Martin Savidge, who reported from New Orleans in the aftermath of the storm, will explain and bring us reaction from the Crescent City.

Meanwhile, in Oakland, Calif., a massive fuel-tanker explosion overnight has literally melted away a highway overpass leading to the Bay Bridge, causing big headaches for the estimated 280,000 commuters who used that road everyday. (Officials say it could take months to fix.) The explosion is also raising questions about the integrity of America's highways -- and the delicate missions so many truckers run on a daily basis: transporting hazardous chemicals along our increasingly crowded roads. We'll get an update from NBC's Cheryl Hurd, who's on the scene tonight.
Finally, chances are you've downloaded one of those quirky home-video clips now famous on YouTube -- or know someone who has. It turns out some of those "web celebrities" are now raking in big dollars and media contracts even in their short brushes with fame. We'll close out the broadcast tonight with that report from our own Rehema Ellis.

I'll be anchoring the program tonight. At this writing we expect to lead off with correspondent Richard Engel's report from Iraq on a horrible attack in the Shiite holy city of Karbala that has left at least 60 people dead.  It is part of the steady drumbeat of sectarian violence that is fueling a rising impatience over the war in this country. Tonight, however, Richard gives us the view of some Iraqis who are living this daily nightmare. Do they think it's time for America to pull out?

Also tonight, it is arguably New Orleans' most infamous tourist attraction. The lower Ninth Ward -- the neighborhood where time stood still after Hurricane Katrina. The only signs of life on most days are the slow-moving cars as visitors tour the landscape of collapsed homes, rusting cars, and debris -- a scene that has changed very little since the flood waters receded in 2005. Today, former residents took to the streets in a collective call to the federal government for help, saying it's time to come home. Our Martin Savidge is there to explain their plight and what life has been like for those who used to call the neighborhood home.

Those stories and Kevin Corke's heartwarming piece about an 85-year-old World War II veteran in Maryland who just received a surprise package in the mail, straight from the European battlefield he fought on more than 60 years ago.

I hope you'll join us tonight.

My apologies for not posting in this space since Wednesday.  Yesterday in South Carolina, I had a daily broadcast to worry about in addition to debate prep -- and I simply ran out of time in the day.  Presiding over a live debate with eight candidates for the presidency became my priority. We owed you more in this space (like an explanation or coverage of the atmospherics at the event) and we failed in that, and I'm sorry about that.

In the time it took me to move from the Nightly News location to the debate hall (a distance of about 100 yards and two stairwells) I learned via Blackberry that my friend Jack Valenti had died.  Jack was incredibly kind to me, and I have a stack of personal correspondence from him over the years to prove it.  He was a fascinating creature -- controversial for his years at the Motion Picture Association of America -- who played a singular, unique role in the modern Presidency.  I don't know that he has an equal in terms of the intimate access he had with the Chief Executive -- combined with his impact on how Washington operated during the Johnson years.  LBJ hired him on the spot the day Kennedy was shot -- and for years thereafter, Jack was the first person to see him in the morning and the last person to see him at night.  After so many adult years spent studying the Johnson Presidency, it was such a treat to get to know Jack -- a living expert in the English language, a born operator, a natural raconteur and a man who loved his life.

About the debate: let's put it this way -- while I thought all the candidates did well, I was happy not to have to wake up today and moderate another one.  The rules on time (full disclosure: they were the product of our own organizers) were very restrictive -- and in the interest of time, I was forced to suppress my own instincts to challenge candidates on unanswered questions -- close to a dozen times.  Phil Alongi put together a great broadcast team, and Chuck Todd, our Political Director, was a rock star in all this -- despite the fact that he's got a newborn infant at home...something this father of two is ultra-sensitive to.  I felt well-briefed and the questions submitted from all corners of this company (and by friends on the outside) gave us lots to talk about, and some memorable moments along the way.  It was an odd feeling to get home and see it being chewed over on all three cable news networks, and then some. 

About tonight's broadcast: We have a number of stories on the "war on terrorism" including the Tenet book, the Saudi arrests, and the debate.

There's also a heckuva YouTube story brewing in Montana -- proof that when there's a camera present, the whole world is watching -- as never before.

We'll close the broadcast this Friday night with our "Making A Difference" report on those in society who are doing just that.

A busy week.  We're hoping you'll wrap it all up with us on tonight's Nightly News.

Brian is in transit from the debates last night in South Carolina, so Correspondent Ron Allen takes on today's vlog duties.

Click here or on the image to watch.

Brian anchors tonight's broadcast from South Carolina State University, site of the first debate in this very long presidential campaign. Tonight, all eight Democrats will be on stage answering questions from Brian and Americans who sent in suggestions via e-mail.

While Brian preps for the debate, NBC's Andrea Mitchell delivers today's vlog from Orangeburg, S.C., where she'll report tonight on the debate.

Click here or on the image to watch.

We are debuting a new NBC News poll tonight containing some truly striking numbers about where our country is politically.  I think some will find the national opinion on the war truly surprising, along with the trendlines of the current crop of candidates for president in both political parties.  Tim Russert will walk us through the numbers and the analysis -- while we also track tonight's vote in Washington and what it means.  We have a superb piece by Mike Taibbi on the ground-level fight in Iraq. (Editor's note: Mike's piece has been postponed since the time of this writing. It will air at a future date.)  We're currently chasing after more than one story that has developed during the day -- and we left our afternoon editorial meeting with a few items up in the air. At this hour, Wall Street is also making news.

HITTING THE LINKS
Several items of great interest on the web, beginning with my favorite blogger on the Iraq war, Michael Yon.  Frequent viewers know Michael is a Special Forces veteran who is reporting on the war by embedding himself with U.S. units and often writes the story from the warrior's point of view.  I was traveling in Iraq with retired 4-Star General and former U.S. Special Forces Commander Wayne Downing -- who upon realizing that he was talking to Michael Yon (General Downing is a loyal reader of Michael's blog) reacted like meeting a rock star. Michael has made a special package of material available through our blog.

Ouch.  I noted that in its online edition of the David Halberstam obituary, the New York Times mention of David's early employment at the West Point Daily Times Leader in Mississippi is accompanied by a link to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. While the obituary was labeled as a collaborative effort and was written on a very tight deadline, perhaps David would have smiled at the notion of having put in time at West Point prior to playing such a prominent role in the coverage of the war in Vietnam.

Roger Ebert has written a courageous piece on his battle with cancer -- it includes pictures of himself at his current stage of treatment. It is written with his usual zest and candor, in a very up-front style, and it is a truly inspirational story, especially for anyone living with a serious illness.

Finally, a great yarn at latimes.com about the backstory of a viral video from an artist who has seen a bit of a career renaissance as a result of making a cultural and artistic statement. It is right out of the current, ongoing national conversation.

MEA CULPA
Every available minute I have is devoted to prepping for tomorrow evening's debate.  The rules, format and sheer number of candidates will make this an action-packed and informative evening, and it deserves all of my free time and attention.  I will anchor what I can of the broadcast from the venue tomorrow night before I have to peel off to get my head in the game.  I have a great team to rely on, and if all else fails, I've arranged a fast car to the airport afterward.  We really do hope you will watch this first-ever, full-blown debate among the Democratic candidates. It's early yet, it's true, but the calendar doesn't diminish the high stakes.

First things first: we hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast of NBC Nightly News from New York.

The White House is home to history of course, but sometimes those unexpected "firsts" are the stuff to make your head turn and your feet tap.

Today was one of those days. The president and Mrs. Bush hosted the first-ever Malaria Awareness Day. While there was serious conversation about fighting a deadly disease, the event in the sun-filled Rose Garden was capped with jubilant entertainment.

The Kankouran West African Dance Troupe performed while the president sat in the front row. At first, the president's head bobbed to the rhythmic beat, his foot tapped and his hands clapped, but just a little off beat.

But more was to come. The group invited the president forward and there was no turning back. Click here or on the image to watch.

Whether he really wanted to or not, President Bush began to move, arms in the air, hips side-to-side. The president was dancing! Mrs. Bush was dancing, too, but almost unnoticed because it was hard to look away from the presidential groove. Perhaps feeling or at least looking self conscious, the president shifted to a drum solo for a big finish that appeared to please his guests and the photographers.

It's a crisp afernoon in Prescott Park in Portsmouth, N.H. There's a small crowd waiting for Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., to make his "official" announcement that he's running for president. I thought the crowd would be bigger -- it's a few hundred I would guess. The folks running the show are filling time until the senator arrives. The chants of "McCain! McCain!" are echoing out as far as you can see. I have to believe the staff hopes for more energy when their candidate arrives.

A lot of people in the crowd are comparing the McCain of 2008 to the one of 2000, who burst on the scene as the maverick outsider and won the primary here in decisive fashion. New Hampshire likes candidates with attitude and independence. Some are wondering if McCain still fits that billing. It's important to say he leads in many of the polls here. He has a big, experienced staff. His supporters dismiss the national story, saying he needs a fresh start. The Straight Talk Express just pulled up -- they've cranked up the music -- U2's 'Beautiful Day.' That means it's showtime. Gotta go!

There's a lot of focus around the office today on preparations for tomorrow night's presidential candidate debates. He also previews some of the stories we're working on for tonight's broadcast. Click here or on the image to watch.

Send us your question for the debate

What a strange feeling to have landed on an American flight from O'Hare to LaGuardia a few minutes ago -- and to now be sitting in my office in 30 Rock watching Oprah -- the reason I went to Chicago today with our News Division President, Steve Capus, to explain our decision process on the release of materials on the Virginia Tech massacre.  Oprah is as she is often described: smart, gracious and brilliant at what she does for a living.

The only tough part of our journey here from Chicago was the last six blocks -- President Bush's visit to New York has the East Side of Manhattan bottled up this afternoon.

The news we are surveying for tonight includes a very rough day in Iraq and, as a result, at Ft. Bragg.  Last night's news about David Halberstam (I got first word, without the required second confirmation, early in last night's broadcast during a commercial break) was absolutely stunning. What a sad end to such a noted American life, and a towering career in journalism.

At this point I'm off to the newsroom.  Two more events after work tonight, another flight tomorrow night, the Democratic debate in South Carolina Thursday -- and then hopefully some time to lay low. We are closely watching the prison situation in Indiana.  We will have it all for you tonight on Nightly News -- we hope you can join us.

I believe we have a vlog first for you today. Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski does the honors from his perch at the Pentagon. Brian anchors the broadcast tonight from New York and will weigh in later with his regular afternoon dispatch.

Click here or on the image to watch the vlog.

I am just back from taping Letterman for tonight.  I met Sanjaya, who is also a guest on tonight's show...so I consider my life now complete.

There was seemingly nothing that could mar the idyllic setting yesterday as I watched my son's high school baseball game on a sparkling Spring day under a cloudless sky.  On the field, it was one of the most remarkable baseball games I've ever seen: the final score was 28 to 23 --  51 runs scored on 59 hits in nine innings -- more scoring than some major league teams see for weeks at a time -- hardly a pitchers' duel. My son was one of the starters, and yet, there it was in center field, looming over the action and the spectators and the setting: the massive gleaming flagpole with the giant American flag at half staff -- the same flag countless Americans saw at countless public gatherings this weekend.  It was ordered so by the President as a public reminder of the great loss suffered by families we will probably never get to know.  It made all of us who saw it feel sad and fortunate and blessed, all at the same time.

Virginia Tech and the tragedy there dominated the Sunday political shows -- and it's all very much still with us.  I watched the coverage from campus over the weekend and continue to be amazed at the strength of that campus community -- the students, parents and all those who were connected to, and are recovering from, that sick event. Tonight, we'll continue to look at the issues and questions it raises.

I was also thinking back today to the Summit I witnessed at Hyde Park between Presidents Yeltsin and Clinton, and yet another meeting of the two men I covered in Moscow.  Word this morning that Yeltsin had died had a lot of us thinking back on those turbulent years -- especially those journalists who had spent any time in Yeltsin's company.  He was a complex man, a walking jumble of different qualities, not all of them good -- quite the contrary, in fact.  Tonight we'll look back on his life and how it reflected an era all its own in U.S.-Russia relations.  President Clinton has agreed to an interview with Nightly News on the subject of Boris Yeltsin.

We also have two reports on the Iraq war effort: the commanding General, David Petraeus, is visiting the White House and briefing the President, while on the ground in Baghdad tonight our story has to do with the building of walls.  We have some interesting feature material tonight: an update on New Orleans (one aspect of society there in particular) and how our children are social networking -- at an age that was once considered "innocent."

We are, in our spare time, gearing up for Thursday's debate (7 p.m. Eastern on MSNBC) among Democratic Presidential candidates in South Carolina.  Nightly News will originate from there (as much of the broadcast as I can do before peeling off to prepare to start the other broadcast and welcome both the audience and the candidates).

In the meantime, we hope you can join us for tonight's Monday edition of NBC Nightly News.

Today I was assigned to act as Pete Williams' proxy in an interview with Dennis Henigan for tonight's Nightly News. The interview focuses on the impact of current gun control laws on the sale of two firearms to Seung-Hui Cho, who had previously been treated for depression and had at least on one occasion been deemed a danger to himself in a court of law.

Dennis Henigan, from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, explained that given the information released thus far, Cho would be considered an ineligible buyer under current federal gun control laws intended to keep guns out of the hands of mentally unstable individuals.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has appointed an eight-member independent investigatory panel to look into the events surrounding last week's incident. Among the panelists is former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who appeared Sunday on "Meet the Press" [transcript]. After taping the show, Ridge answered a few questions about how the investigation might affect the way that mental health records are kept.

"After 9/11 there was a lot of concerns that there was a wall between law enforcement and intelligence," Ridge said. "Here there seems to be a wall that was built legitimately by well-intentioned people in the health care community to take care of people with mental illness and [control the transfer of] information, not necessarily to the public, but to public officials."

Although Cho may have been an ineligible buyer under federal law due to his mental health history, the "wall" between the mental health community and the law enforcement community described by Ridge prevented the gunman's history from raising any red flags. This wall, according to Henigan, may be stronger than most people think. Henigan said that the vast majority of states currently choose not to report any of their mental health records to the federal database used to perform background checks on potential gun buyers. Additionally, Henigan said that he wouldn't be surprised if many states chose not to keep centralized mental health records at all.

Despite reporting more of its mental health records to the federal government than any other state in the country, Virginia's mental health database still failed to alert the local authorities of Seung-Hui Cho's depressive history. Better communication between the mental health community and the local authorities responsible for performing Cho's background check could never have predicted Cho's homicidal plans. But now that the worst has happened, Henigan said that he hopes this tragedy will cause other states to examine their own records and the way those records are conveyed to firearm retailers.

"Right now the whole world is watching Virginia," Henigan said.

Brian anchors the broadcast tonight from New York. Virginia Tech and Boris Yeltsin are the day's big stories, but in today's vlog Brian also previews a story you won't want to miss about social networking for the six-year-old set.

Click here or on the image to watch.

"Turn OFF the computer, we're late for soccer," I called upstairs for the third time yesterday.   It's been like that in our house lately.  When the computer is on, my children lose their hearing.  What a reversal from times when parents used to fight to get their kids to stop playing baseball and come in for dinner or homework. Now, it can be a struggle to get them outside to play.

It was right after the New Year that I started hearing my children talk about Web sites I'd never heard of: Webkinz and Club Penguin. Now, all five of them -- ages four to eleven -- make a beeline for the computer.  Over the weekend, my daughter had an online play date with her best friend who lives just across the street.  Her sisters played checkers against each other from opposite ends of the house.  Their brother was buying a virtual big screen TV to decorate his Webkinz bedroom, and a frustrated 4-year-old was begging for a turn at the keyboard.

This is the new world of online social networking, one aimed squarely at the playground crowd. While many of the sites attracting elementary school children get high marks for safety, they are engaging to a point experts call "sticky" -- with games and friends just a point and click away, it's hard to log off.  For this mom, the computer screen feels a lot like another one in our home, so the Internet is now treated like television -- access is regulated and restricted.

Make no mistake, interactive Web sites are part of our children's future and they can be good teachers, but educators say a virtual airplane will never stir creativity like a die-cast model on a runway fashioned from a plank of hardwood floor.

We'll take a closer look at these social networking sites, as well as their risks and rewards, tonight on Nightly News.

Tonight on Nightly News we're following-up a story that was breaking as we came on the air last night: the fatal crash of a Blue Angel's jet in South Carolina.   By the time we go on tonight we expect to be able to report the name of the pilot who was killed. We're also hearing from additional eyewitnesses as investigators try and figure out what happened.

Like many reporters I've had a chance to fly with the Blue Angels as well as their Air Force counterparts the Thunderbirds, and even the Canadian Snowbirds.  To a person I have always found members of these elite teams to be meticulous professionals, and proud ambassadors of their respective military branches.  But there is no denying a fighter pilot bravado that makes them often downplay the inherit danger of what they do. What happened in Beaufort Saturday reminds us all.  The fraternity of military precision acrobatic team members is a small one.  They will take Saturday's accident hard.  They will mourn the loss of a teammate, but will also learn all they can from this and get back into the air.  I wish them well.

In addition to coverage of the Blue Angel's crash, we're in Blacksburg, Virginia tonight where emails, EBay purchases and a van are telling investigators a lot more about the shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre.

And on this Earth Day we're asking the question: is "green" a passing trend, or are Americans in this for the long haul?

I hope you'll join me this evening for NBC Nightly News.

This week's massacre at Virginia Tech has been referred to over and over again as "senseless killings."  As if we can ever make sense of such wanton violence.  While we are left numb by the staggering death toll on an American college campus, Iraqi citizens try to comprehend a week in which 500 civilians were killed.  Some were murdered in the name of religion. Some in the name of politics. Some in the name of ethnic identity.  And very little of it makes sense.

In Afghanistan, we are watching a steady increase in the number of suicide bombings.  The new wrinkle there is that more and more of the killers are children.  Try and make sense of that.

Tonight on the broadcast we will have reports from Virginia where more of Monday's shooting victims were eulogized today, and where we now know a discrepancy between federal and state gun laws may have helped put the weapons in Seung-Hui Cho's hands.  We also have reports on those disturbing trends confronting civilians and troops alike in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also tonight, does the US have a double standard when it comes to dealing with terrorists?  Cuba thinks so after the release of a suspected plane bomber from an American immigration detention facility.  Mark Potter is working that story for us tonight.

And Lisa Daniels has a report on today's homemakers, who are more likely to build or re-model a kitchen then cook in one.  More and more women taking the lead in the world of do-it-yourself home projects.

I hope you can join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.

As I write this, all of the cable news channels are showing separate but similar helicopter pictures of Building 44 at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, where a man is inside with a gun. 

All three cable news networks are using separate Houston affiliates for the aerial pictures -- you can almost imagine the helicopter ballet that's taking place overhead.  Building 44 looks a lot like all of the other buildings at the JSC -- a vaguely dated-looking flat-roof structure with a satellite dish on the roof.  Already in tonight's broadcast, we're reporting 15 incidents of either real or false alarms today involving lockdowns, barricades and various reports of weapons. 

Sadly, this sort of thing happens following any major crime incident -- and the confluence of sad anniversaries this week doesn't help.  Fox News just switched from what appeared to be a gas main fire in Baltimore to video of police cars in Ohio, covered by a graphic banner saying schools were "on edge" after threats there.  The banner now says "School Lockdowns: America's Parents on Edge."  CNBC is airing a banner saying "Dow Record Close."  To each his or her own.

The sadness on the Virginia Tech campus is starting to set in -- in a way that it hadn't yet during the two days we spent there this week.  The first wave of funerals came today -- as did a moment of silence that was observed in many places across the country.  We'll have two reports on the overall story.  I think this newsroom, which was last in the news when anthrax was sent here following 9-11, will be happy to see this week come to an end.

We've commissioned an unusual story tonight out of the best of intentions: the news we didn't have time to cover this past week.  It includes everything from the speed of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's SUV (91 miles per hour) to the sum total of the damage from last weekend's storm up through the coast of Maine, to Darfur, Don Imus (remember him? He's STILL hanging out there until Monday on the cover of the current Newsweek, which given the week's events and TIME's new cover seems now like an issue from a different light year).  It may even include mention of the "John Edwards $400 haircut" as it could well become known in the annals of American political ephemera -- taking its place alongside a supermarket scanner, Harry Truman's "beefsteak" hate mail, Carter's killer rabbit, Clinton's LAX haircut, and too many more to mention.   My favorite politician/haircut quote of all time came from Walter Mondale -- it had to do with the kind of haircuts that go over best in his beloved home state of Minnesota -- and what's best about it is that it's unprintable here.

We'll have our Friday night segment on Americans who are making a difference in society -- which will tonight bring us back around to Blacksburg, Va. -- and one of the heroes of that tragedy.  And Walter Isaacson and I will talk about his new book on Einstein.  Walter is the head of the Aspen Institute, a former editor of TIME magazine, and the author of one of my favorite books, "The Wise Men."

That will bring a close to another week.  An eventful one.  It's off to the newsroom now to start writing.  Next week for us will include a night in South Carolina -- where we'll be moderating the first Democratic Presidential Debate -- among the 1,158 declared candidates -- but its early yet.  We hope you can join us for tonight's NBC Nightly News. Have a good weekend, and we'll hope to see you Monday night.

It is always moving to hear a city come to a standstill. 

The state of Virginia observed a moment of silence at noon today.  Seeing it on television never quite captures the emotion of the moment. 

The NBC News work area is in the Holiday Inn that's just across the street from the Virginia Tech campus.  Just before noon, I stepped outside the hotel and found the entire hotel staff gathered in the front parking lot. They proudly wore T-shirts with Virginia Tech colors.  For them, this wasn't an "event." This was perhaps the first time they've all looked each other in the eyes and reflected on the horrific event that has changed their community.

At exactly noon, they all bowed their heads.  Some said a silent prayer, others stared at nothing in particular, lost in the briefest moment of reflection.  In the distance, church bells sounded and a nation's heart quivered... not sure whether to break a little more or to finally begin to heal.

Then it was over. Time for the staff of the Holiday Inn to go back to work.  Time to once again be overwhelmed by everything but thoughts of the tragedy.  Maybe that's a good thing.

Mourners gather in Blacksburg, Va., wearing their "Hokie" colors.Photo by Don Teague

At dinner Thursday night, Frieda Morris, bureau chief for the NBC News team covering this awful tragedy, was comparing the arc of this story to the coverage of the Columbine High School Massacre, eight years ago Friday.

"Four days into Columbine," Frieda said, "most of us hadn't had a substantial catnap, let alone a full night's sleep; it was nonstop."  All of us at the table at what was essentially a team dinner knew what Frieda was talking about; during the day -- the fourth day of so similar a story of immeasurable grief following an act of madness -- there was a sense both in the press corps and across this vast university campus that the main storylines of the Virginia Tech massacre had been identified, explored and broadcast or written.

Read the complete posting on our special blog from Blacksburg, Va.