By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

I am blogging via BlackBerry from New Orleans as I wait to do an interview with Secretary of Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff. He's been making the rounds here, viewing hurricane preparations and meeting with officials.

The city would be eerie right now if it weren't in the midst of a flurry of activity. A growing "breeze" serves as a gentle reminder we are all fighting the clock. Stores along the normally busy Canal Street are all shuttered, and in many cases boarded up. Evacuees, first responders and journalists will have to identify and secure safe haven much sooner than we expected. Gustav is moving faster than earlier projections.

I'm at the bus depot, where people are still boarding buses out of town. Mayor Nagin has made it clear that anyone who chooses to stay behind does so at their own risk. But it's anyone's guess how many people will decide to ride it out. There is no public shelter of last resort. This time the Superdome is locked.

The flurry of last minute preps is a reminder that all responders — government, state, local and federal — are being measured against the experience of Hurricane Katrina 3 years ago. No one wants to fail this test.

That's all for now, I'll see you later, live from New Orleans on NBC Nightly News.

By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent

I had the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 to myself as I drove from Houston to Port Arthur and into the projected path of Hurricane Gustav.  It was the oncoming lanes, those headed west and away from the storm,  that were running bumper-to-bumper for at least 60 miles. Horse trailers and boats were part of the mix on the slow-moving roadway, so were cars and trucks, overloaded with families and concern.

Forget about gas, at least at those stations right along the interstate, unless you're content to idle in lines running about 10 cars per pump.  I wasn't and now fear I'll be in trouble as my gas-guzzling SUV, which could double as my hotel room for the next few nights, churns toward empty.  

Just before Port Arthur, I passed a staging area along the interstate.  There were rows of ambulances and hundreds of buses at the ready. It's a different playbook than the last time I made this drive three years ago just ahead of hurricane Katrina.  But it might not feel like it if you're in those westbound lanes.  The trip from the Texas/Louisiana state line to Houston is usually about two hours.  Right now, it's double that and could grow longer because of mandatory evacuations like the one ordered for here in Port Arthur, a city where blue tarps can still be spotted, three years after Hurricane Rita made landfall.

Janet Shamlian / NBC News

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

It is easy to recall where I was and what I was doing 3 years ago today. Sadly, I may be doing it again in just a few days.

My first stop after riding out Hurricane Katrina at the state command post in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was Gulfport, Mississippi, where it seemed nothing could top the devastation I witnessed. We soon learned the levees had broken in New Orleans, and our attention quickly shifted there, to a horror beyond imagination.

After tonight's broadcast I plan to make my way to New Orleans which is bracing for its first hurricane since Katrina. At this writing, Gustav is on a direct course to southern Louisiana and its powerful northeast quadrant is expected to hit New Orleans late Monday. As you will see on our broadcast tonight, local and federal officials are working from a much different disaster play book than the one they used three years ago. The buses are moving evacuees out now, and there is no talk of "shelters of last resort." The Superdome is not an option this time, and everyone is being ordered to leave. Whether the levees survive another major storm remains to be seen, but we all hope and pray tonight that this time, no one will be left behind. Authorities know they will be under intense scrutiny, and we already have several correspondents in place to cover the evacuation and the aftermath.

The presidential candidates are both feeling the effects of a rapidly changing news cycle.  Barack Obama's Thursday night acceptance speech was quickly overshadowed the next day by John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.  Now, that bit of major news has quickly been eclipsed by the approach of Hurricane Gustav. That said, we will have reports on both presidential tickets as they hit the trail just ahead of the Republican National Convention.

Thanks for checking in. We'll look for you later on NBC Nightly News.

Don Teague, NBC News Correspondent

They're taking security seriously in New Orleans. I flew in this morning, and the first thing I noticed were massive amounts of police officers at the airport. Not just local, many wore federal uniforms — from Air Marshals to Homeland Security. It's an impressive show of force, and not just at the airport. 

On the drive into the city, I saw local police agencies out in force, and once in the downtown area, National Guard soldiers were everywhere. Considering the lack of real security during the height of the Katrina chaos, it seems officials are hoping the situation here will remain under control.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

It's now clear the television audience was sizable last night. It was quite an event we witnessed, and afterward we flew home overnight -- basically a laundry and re-fueling stop -- and then it's off to St. Paul after one broadcast in New York. We'll be in Minnesota until next Thursday night, when we leave for Los Angeles for the Stand Up To Cancer live special. With 67 days to go until we pick a new President, it's going to be like this for a while.

It got even more interesting today with Sen. McCain's pick of Gov. Sarah Palin... nicely setting up the excitement over the gathering in St. Paul.

So please join us from New York tonight, and then we'll see you from another great American City.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

We are at the cathedral of the Denver Broncos -- Invesco Field -- which for tonight only is a Democratic cathedral. 

When we arrived here in Denver days ago, the rumor was a "music legend" was going to perform prior to Obama's speech tonight. That quickly morphed into "Bruce Springsteen is playing." I guess people figured: Springsteen's a legend, and he has endorsed Obama. All true. Except: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band never planned on playing here. They put out denials for days...then the rumor was repeated by Maureen Dowd in a New York Times column. Now we've gone to a new defcon level: they have ASKED US to tell everyone they're not coming here, and never planned to. Tonight this crowd (as was previously scheduled) will hear from Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder (remember that expression "music legend"?) and John Legend and others. Al Gore will speak, and then Senator Obama will give his acceptance speech -- and then we will briefly fly home, empty dirty laundry from our suitcases, replace it with clean stuff and fly to St. Paul for the GOP convention. All the while, we are watching Gustav and horrified at some of the projections for the path of the storm. I hope I don't need to repeat in this space our concern for, our interest in, or our love for New Orleans. They are on our minds as we head into the night.

Thanks for joining us again tonight. Please join us for our prime time special -- we feel confident we can offer the very best live coverage of Obama's speech.

By Rehema Ellis, NBC News correspondent

Just when you thought you knew everything there was to love about Debbie Phelps, the world's Olympic Mom, there's more.

As the principal of a Baltimore middle school she's not just devoted to encouraging 607 students to high academic achievement, she's also created a place of learning that's comfortable and safe.

It all began to unfold three years ago when Baltimore's public schools superintendent gave her the "honor" she says, to open a brand new school called Windsor Mill Middle School and make it her own. Phelps gladly took on the challenge of not just bringing in teachers, staff and academic materials, she became the school's interior designer as well. Together with her staff, Phelps says, she chose everything from the tile on the floor, the color of the walls, even the frabic covering for the library benches and chairs.

"My heart and my handprints are all over this school", Phelps says.

The place has a professional, academic yet, homey feel to it. Why has she been so attentive to every detail? It's simple, Phelps says. " The kids spend six-and-a-half hours in the school house [five days a week] and a lot of them want to spend more time. It's a safe place for them and they love being here".

This is what every American school house should look like. It's not just clean, it's sparkling with huge windows letting in lots of light. And there are posters, paintings and quotes of inspiration all over the place. Walking around the building I kept thinking how any parent, any where, would be proud to have their child studying at Windsor Mill Middle School. And parents say they're also proud that Debbie Phelps is the principal. They're confident some of her gold medal parenting skills will rub off on their kids.

For her part, at the start of a new school year, Phelps says she's just determined to help school kids the way she helped her son, Michael become a gold medal swimmer.

"I just want to instill in (these kids) the values that were instilled in me as a young kid growing up with my mom and dad and siblings. I'm just very, very adamant about helping students to do their very best".

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

We are just back from an interesting (exclusive) conversation with Michelle Obama -- having traveled with her husband, the candidate, it was interesting just now to sit and talk with her.  We are writing up the portion of it we will air tonight -- and thanks to some help from the Secret Service -- while we are still stressed for time, we were able to cut through some of the Denver bottlenecks to get back to our workspace.  We'll see you from here again tonight -- and don't forget about our special prime time coverage (speeches by Biden and President Clinton) tonight at 10 ET, 7 PT.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

The deaths of 10 French soldiers last week in Afghanistan is a reminder that Americans aren't the only ones fighting and dying in that increasingly violent war.

Our allies from 22 other nations have suffered 24 of the 42 casualties so far this month and 364 of the 944 casualties since the war began in 2001.

"Everyone's got a chance to get attacked," MSNBC military analyst Jack Jacobs said, "and everyone's got a chance to attack the bad guys."

Generally speaking, Col. Jacobs said, the allied troops aren't as good militarily as the Americans, but they're nevertheless pulling their weight.

"The other countries do want to help," he said in a recent interview. "I mean, after all, they're at risk as well from the Taliban and al Qaeda."

Col. Jacobs expects the U.S. will soon begin pulling troops out of Iraq and into Afghanistan, but he doesn't anticipate a similar buildup of allied forces.

"I'd be terribly surprised if there'll be a substantial increase from any of the allied countries," he said. "Our allies' armies are very small and are not rich with counterinsurgency capability. The preponderance of forces will come from the United States."

I asked a soldier receiving a Purple Heart for wounds suffered in Iraq if he believes it's a good time to begin transferring U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

"I would think so," Army Sgt. Russell Broughton II, 27, of Monrovia, Ind., said last Friday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He was wounded June 8 by an explosion at his forward operating base in Al Jour, Iraq.

"Afghanistan is where the real fight's at," Sgt. Broughton said. "I think the Iraqis are ready to take care of themselves and try to make their own sovereign nation without our aid anymore."

If more troops are sent to Afghanistan, Sgt. Broughton won't be one of them. Married with two children, he plans to leave the Army as soon as his enlistment is up. He's already served three tours in Iraq, and this is the second time he's been wounded.

Click here to view tributes to the 348 U.S. service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following seven casualties from last week:

1. Army Pfc. Jonathan Luscher, 20, of Scranton, Pa.

2. Marine Lance Cpl. Travis Stottlemyer, 20, of Hatfield, Pa.

3. Marine Sgt. Nickolas Lee Hopper, 27, of Montrose, Ill.

4. Army Sgt. 1st Class George Stanciel, 40, of Greenwood, Miss.

5. Army Sgt. 1st Class David Todd Jr., 36, of Marrero, La.

6. Army Staff Sgt. David Paquet, 26, of Rising Sun, Md.

7. Army Staff Sgt. Brian Studer, 28, of Roseau, Minn.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/.

Editor's note: Brian Williams will not be blogging today, due to time constraints with the Democratic National Convention. Please check back for a new post soon.

By Mike Taibbi, NBC News correspondent

If you're on the protesters/security beat in Denver, as producer Mario Garcia and I have been, the question now is: "What's next?"

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

NAMING RIGHTS...OR WRONGS?

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

For so many months, like the people of Beijing, I was focused on August 8, 2008. One of the things about my job that I look forward to the most is covering the Olympics. These were the fourth Olympic Games I have reported for NBC, and they have been everything I expected, and then some. 

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

...It must be Denver.  Just because we haven't been on enough airplanes lately, last night, Andrea Mitchell and I flew overnight to Denver. Andrea had been the first to report, on last night's broadcast, that barring an emergency or last-minute change: it would be Biden. By the time we were wheels-down in Denver, we had confirmation.

We both hit the ground and went right to work. I went to our local NBC Station, KUSA, and she went to the convention venue (the venerable "Pepsi Center") where we reported for Weekend TODAY. 

 We are in position in front of the Convention Site for Nightly News. From here on in—for the next week—it's all about powering through. Thanks for tuning in, Lester Holt will join us by remote for the Beijing anchor leg, and we'll all be back on the air in the same places tomorrow night.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

It was bound to happen -- the stars have aligned, I've run out of sleep (and waking hours) and have been overrun with work and phone calls related to Denver, St. Paul and Los Angeles at the end of it all -- for our "Stand Up To Cancer" special.

With it all coming to a head and no way out except to dig in, I'll have to beg off any more extensive a post than this.

Back to work -- and we hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast. Thanks for watching throughout our travels...we will see you from Denver.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

China was fascinating, and the Games were fantastic -- but nothing beats coming home to the United States.

I said this a few days ago and I'll say it again, because it happened again: while we're tough on the airline industry these days, our experience on United Airlines en route to China and en route home was enough to restore one's faith in the commercial airline business. The usual caveats apply: United was the official carrier of NBC folks for these games, and yes, there was a clear effort to take good care of us. But last night on our last leg home from Chicago (where we cleared customs from Beijing), I've never seen flight attendants work harder to treat all passengers with the same respect and level of service. The same could be said for both of our China flights.

And when we got to O'Hare, we met the incredible ground supervisor Joe Sterkowicz, who made sure all the bags got to where they were supposed to go, and gave us his personal guarantee. He's a great Chicago character. He loves his great city, United Airlines, and the Chicago Bears. He also seems to love what he does, and his customers, because the greeting we received from him, and the level of personal service, were the stuff of a United Airlines commercial. I say: Joe Sterkowicz for CEO.

Everyone we met at the airport mentioned Chicago's Olympic bid, and how badly they want the Games. I'm pulling for them -- what a spectacular event that would be. We were in Chicago just long enough to watch a little local news on our station WMAQ, so I could see all my anchor buddies on the air. Sadly, we also saw the first video of the Spanair crash as well.

Sadly as well, on the broadcast tonight we will remember Ed "Too Tall" Freeman, a Medal of Honor recipient from the battle of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam, whose death leaves us with just 101 recipients still living. Ed was a classic character -- a chopper pilot in Vietnam who knew no fear -- and so many men are alive today because of him. Pilots will appreciate these numbers: Ed had over 18,000 hours in choppers (1,000 of those just in Vietnam) and over 8,000 in fixed wing. Veterans will understand these numbers: two years in the Navy, 23 years in the Army, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, one Bronze Star, one Purple Heart, and the Medal of Honor. Ed was 80 years old.

By Robert Bazell, NBC News Chief science correspondent

I remember vividly when I had the measles.  It was the sickest I had ever been in my childhood. I shivered constantly from the fever and just a small amount of light brought intense pain to my eyes.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is an update from a previous post, "Trading with the enemy"

By Robert Windrem, Investigative Producer/Special Projects

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday granted the NBA a license that will permit its teams to negotiate with Hamed Ehadadi, the center on the Iranian Olympic Team. Yahoo! Sports reported that the league has sent out an email to all NBA teams clearing the way for the Olympics leading rebounder—a 7'2" giant—to negotiate with any of them.

However, the league warned teams that they will have to seek league approval for any deal with Ehadadi or another Iranian player attracting NBA attention, guard Mohammadsamad Nik Khahbahrami. The league general counsel explained that transactions involving Iranian nationals need to be constructed in such a way that they don't violate the US sanctions laws.

In an interview with the Tehran Times Tuesday, Ehadadi said, "I will undoubtedly join Memphis Grizzlies by the end of next week. I met Memphis' officials yesterday to discuss joining the team… I received many offers from European teams but just playing in the NBA is my dream. Hopefully, I can join Memphis as soon as possible without any problem."

By Ann Curry, NBC News Anchor

Yours truly is sitting in as Brian heads home from Beijing tonight and the Nightly News team is preparing a report on today's breaking news, a major Spanish airline plane crash in Madrid.

With some 150 people killed, the cause is under intense scrutiny. There are survivors; what might they tell us? Tom Costello will have perspective.

Also tonight, Tom Brokaw on an increasing concern for America: the gap between science education in the U.S. and China; Chuck Todd will unveil some telling findings in the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll numbers on the presidential race; and Kevin Tibbles reports on why the U.S. women's volleyball team is being loudly cheered by China. Here's a hint: you may want to remember the name Lang Ping.

Rushing now at 4 a.m. here to help prepare the broadcast. See you then.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

Growing up in New Jersey, Joe Valencio always held out hope that his father, missing in action in the Korean War, was still alive somewhere in Asia.

"Especially when you're a kid, there's all kinds of conjecture," Joe, now 60, said in an interview. "The Russians came forward and said there were POWs from the Korean War in Russia. He could also have been in China or maybe living somewhere in Korea, for all I knew. Those were the thoughts of a 12 year old."

By the time Joe was in his 20s, he had pretty much given up hope.

"I felt he was not coming back, and I hoped he wasn't in some camp somewhere or something like that," Joe said.

Joe's uncertainty over his father's fate ended in March when the Army notified him that the remains of Army Master Sgt. Cirildo Valencio had been recovered in North Korea and identified by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.

"Scientists used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of the
remains," the Pentagon said in a news release.

Joe felt a sense of closure but also a deep sense of appreciation to the Army for finding and identifying his father's remains 58 years after his battalion was overrun by Chinese Communist troops at the outset of the Korean War.

"I can't say enough about those people, the ones who go out there in the field and the guy who presented my father's case to me, and especially the forensic guys, the guys in Hawaii," Joe said. "I can't even express my appreciation properly for the work they do."

No other country puts more resources and effort into recovering and identifying its missing service members than the United States does, according to U.S. Air Force Capt. Mary Olsen of the Pentagon's POW/Missing Personnel office.

"Much of other countries' initiatives for looking for their missing stemmed from the example this country set," she said.

Capt. Olsen said her office often advises other countries on how it's done. Among those countries are South Korea, Japan, Israel, Kuwait and Vietnam.

"I think the citizens from other countries see that the American families and public hold the U.S. accountable to find this nation's missing, so they are turning to their governments for the same reason," she said.

In Vietnam alone, the remains of an estimated 300,000 Vietnamese soldiers have not yet been found, compared to 1,759 Americans still missing from the war there.

(Family photo of Army Master Sgt. Cirildo Valencio)

Click here to view tributes to the 341 U.S. service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following 13 casualties from last week:

1. Marine Cpl. Stewart Trejo, 25, of Whitefish, Mont.

2. Army Sgt. Kenneth Gibson, 25, of Christiansburg, Va.

3. Army Pvt. John Mattox, 23, of Daingerfield, Texas.

4. Marine Sgt. Michael Ferschke Jr., 22, of Maryville, Tenn.

5. Army Cpl. James Hale, 23, of Columbus, Ohio.

6. Marine Lance Cpl. Tony Mihalo, 23, of Naperville, Ill.

7. Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez-Castaneda, 19, of Mesa, Ariz.

8. Marine Pfc. Daniel McGuire, 19, of Mashpee, Mass.

9. Marine Lance Cpl. Jacob Toves, 27, of Grover Beach, Calif.

10. Army Pvt. Janelle King, 23, of Merced, Calif.

11. Army 1st Lt. Donald Carwile, 29, of Oxford, Miss.

12. Army Pfc. Paul Conlon Jr., 21, of Somerville, Mass.

13. Army Staff Sgt. Kristopher Rodgers, 29, of Sturgis, Mich.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/.

By Bob Costas, NBC Sports

A few days ago in Beijing, Brian Williams and I had separate interviews with Michael Phelps.  Just prior to those interviews, I had been told that the previous Friday night in Jacksonville, Bruce Springsteen had informed his audience that Phelps had won his seventh gold medal and that he then dedicated "Born in the USA" to Michael.

I had every reason to believe this information was accurate, and its source was reliable.  In fact, I had intended to use it in my own interview with Phelps, but when time didn't allow for it, I passed the story on to Brian, who did use it.  As you may have seen, Phelps lit up at the story, which rang true for the additional reason that it's the sort of thing Bruce might very well have done.  Except that in this case, he didn't.  I had been misinformed.  Still, the blame rests with me.  So, I just wanted to set the record straight – and apologize to my friend Brian Williams, one of the best newsmen and biggest Springsteen fans I know. 

(Now if The Boss could just cover our butts by giving Mr. Phelps a shout-out on Thursday night in Nashville, or Saturday night in my hometown of St. Louis – a show I'd definitely be at were I not in Beijing – I think I'd feel a lot better.)

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

It's a little tough to concentrate on our immediate environment here in Beijing, when our attention has been shifted ahead to Denver, and the Democratic National Convention -- which is right before the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Years like this come along every so often, and at this network, the imperfect storm of the Olympic Games and the political calendar conspire to keep us on the road almost constantly during the month of August. It just might have been the subject of an email to my wife last night.

As our trip here winds down, we have what I hope will be an interesting segment tonight: a trip down one of the thousands of Hutongs here in Beijing: the narrow, tiny alleys that are like veins of commerce and life, just off the major arteries of this fascinating City. It comes about three-quarters of the way through our broadcast and it's something to look for.

And before any more time passes (since I gave a shout out to our Neighbors To The North in this space yesterday), allow me to say that we have not had one negative encounter with a single individual here in China.

Walking through a Beijing neighborhood yesterday, stopping on a sidewalk to watch a group of men crouched down playing majong, stopping in a convenience store to buy my Executive Producer a vacuum-packed pickled chicken foot (she'll love displaying it on her desk!), helping a family visiting the Olympics from Xian take a group picture in front of the bird's nest stadium two days ago: all of our interactions have been pleasant, and we've found the Chinese to be so warm and welcoming on a one-to-one basis. It needs to be said.

Richard Engel's reporting on our broadcast last night (what a solid piece of work, undertaken at some risk to Richard, his producer and crew who don't scare easily) showed just some of the outstanding issues here, in this society that is a strange mix of authoritarian rule with a generous dollop of capitalism, and features highrise buildings that are shaped like dragons and trousers alongside grinding poverty.

The challenge to our news organization and others is to not let this story fade after the Olympic banners have been taken down. We must continue to cover China and cover it aggressively...beginning on the Monday after the Games...when the traffic will once again fill the streets, and the factories come back on line...and this nation goes back to being what it was...before it welcomed the outside world.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

So I'm sitting in the NBC Sports studio on the night when Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal, and Bob Costas, who had just completed his own interview, tells me in front of a studio full of people that the one element he didn't have time to mention was the fact that Bruce Springsteen, at a concert in Jacksonville, had announced to the crowd that Phelps had just won his seventh gold medal. Bob went on to say that Bruce had dedicated "Born in the U.S.A." to Phelps.

Forced to ignore the journalist's creed, "If your Mother tells you she loves you, check it out," and one minute away from starting the interview, lights on, mics on, cameras rolling, I mentioned the Springsteen story to Phelps in a question that has already aired.

Then the posts started coming in to our blog. A quick check of Backstreets, the leading website of our community of E Street fans, indicates that those who wrote us are right: no such thing apparently happened. It's especially embarassing given my status as an E Street fan in good standing (I've attended an embarassing number of concerts on the current tour, foreign and domestic, including at the Meadowlands just before leaving on this trip), and I'm working on finding out how this happened.

Because it was so entirely plausible, (Bruce has been doing quite a number of dedications during this tour, and it sounded so much like something he would do), and because there was no time to research it to confirm it or knock it down, it made it on the air. And because I often rely on Backstreets for set lists and news and concert reviews (and they've never steered me wrong before), I'm left to apologize for our good-natured, well-intentioned flub. I feel badly for Michael and his Mom, who were pretty psyched to hear the news from the Springsteen tour!

On the pleasant surprise front: I stopped by Canada House here at the Games yesterday. Thankfully I was with two of our resident Canadians, Kevin Tibbles and Subrata De, so I was a "sponsored" guest -- and we had a great time. It's a fabulous facility (many nations have a "house" at the Olympics to sell merchandise and provide a haven for visitors from back home -- we visited USA House earlier this week) designed to give visiting Canadians a place to go and watch the coverage and cheer on their team, while enjoying a meal and a drink. Our hosts were some of the nicest, kindest people we've met on this trip. My thanks to them for their hospitality, and my family members will no doubt be thrilled with their forthcoming Canada t-shirts!

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Watching and being around Michael Phelps last night reminded me of covering and interviewing presidents in one fundamental way: the aura of fame, importance and popularity – the palpable feeling of building anticipation — the people positioning themselves along the "route" he's expected to take, the blur of his arrival accompanied by flashes and shouts and the surge of the crowd, and then the total vacuum when he departs a given space...and it's all over. Yesterday, there was indeed an aura around him, and an excitement – a feeling in the atmospheric bubble wherever he traveled – that was the unmistakable marker of the biggest global celebrity of the times. His entourage was actually rather small, comprised of coach, manager/PR guy, and his family. His height (6-foot-4 inches) helps call attention to his every move. His head — at times eerily backlit by the camera lights — lit his profile wherever he travelled.

His draw is undeniable.  We learned today that nearly 40 million people were watching NBC at 11pm last night.  In an on-air chat with the anchor of WNBC in New York last night, I predicted that the evening might be "the first stay-at-home-and-watch-TV Saturday night in the modern era," and I might have been right.  NBC's broadcast average (over the whole evening) of 31.1 million viewers represented the best Saturday night viewership since the "Golden Girls" spinoff program "Empty Nest" debuted before 31.4 million viewers on Feb. 24, 1990. Michael Phelps was 4 years-old.

All he wanted after yesterday's race was McDonalds.  Before our interview, a producer asked him for his order.  He initially wanted a cheeseburger, Big Mac and fries. Then I stepped in (having done the research) and told him that the double cheeseburgers here were good, better than in the States. I told him there was no mustard on them, and that the minced onion was kept to a minimum. I could see in his eyes that he realized he was in the company of a fellow aficionado.  He changed his order  – so  excited at the thought of McDonalds for the first time since arriving here in Beijing —  and the interview began.

Portions of our interview will air tonight, with more tomorrow night. We will post the entire thing on our Web site.  Pay special attention to the conversation about his iPod, and how happy and relaxed he is.  Right now, Michael Phelps has the world on a string and history hanging around his neck.

We hope to see you tonight from Beijing.