By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

The White House is reacting to a new development in Afghanistan today that could affect how and when it decides whether to commit more American troops to the war. President Hamid Karzai's election rival, Abdullah Abdullah, is now expected to drop out of a runoff election as soon as tomorrow.

Whether he does it gracefully, or in effect boycotts what he has previously labeled a fraudulent election process, is the burning question. Clearly Washington would like to remove any stain of illegitimacy from the election before deepening American involvement in the conflict. Our Richard Engel is in Kabul and will bring us the latest from there. We'll also get the early reaction from the White House.

We're also covering an unsettling discovery at the home of a convicted rapist in Cleveland.

That case of a Northwest Airlines crew who overflew their destination last week has stirred up discussion about fatigue in the cockpit. Ron Allen looks into the problem.

And by the way, for those of you who watched TODAY this morning, I can promise there will be no encore tonight to our little Halloween musical (ok, lip-syncing) performance. It will be suit and tie the whole way this evening. I hope you'll join me for Nightly News, and in the meantime have a safe and enjoyable Halloween night.

By Nightly News staff

It was supposed to be a week devoted to reporting on the military and political situation in Afghanistan, where a runoff presidential election is scheduled for Nov. 7.

Yet even as "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams was still in the air, making his way toward his first visit to the country in more than a year, assignments were being overturned. It would turn out to be a week looking for stories amid extraordinary violence that NBC's Richard Engel reported has reached record levels.

First came the crashes of three helicopters on Monday, which killed 14 Americans, making October the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began eight years ago. Then came the Taliban attack on a U.N. guesthouse Wednesday in Kabul, the capital, which killed eight people — five of them U.N. workers — plus the attackers.

In Kabul, the vibe has changed "literally overnight," Williams observed in an e-mail interview with the Huffington Post.

"Kabul has hardened and tightened — it's much more about security now that the Taliban has 'entered the battle space'" with its attack Wednesday, which has prompted a reassessment of the U.N. role in promoting the election, Engel reported.

After the blast, "there was nothing here to salvage," Chris Turner, a truck driver working as a contractor for the U.S. Defense Department, told Williams, who toured the devastation afterward.

The situation is Afghanistan has "deteriorated extremely in the last six months," Turner said. "I don't know why, but I think we've lost the minds and the hearts of the people. I think they've turned against us. And I think our task here is ... very, very difficult, if at all possible."

For the Americans, winning back those hearts and minds is paramount.

In parts of the country where there are no doctors or clinics, U.S. personnel and American-trained Afghan health workers are treating the sick and the injured — part of a strategy by Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in the country, to build "strong personal relationships between security forces and the local population."

At a camp in the east where U.S. special forces train Afghan commandos, as many as 100 people a day troop into a clinic, where they receive basic health and dental services that hadn't been accessible for years. The clinic has forged a bond between local residents and the military personnel who are so much a part of daily life here, said the local Afghan commander.

"The people have sensed, really realized that they are the center of gravity," the commander told Williams.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Williams reported, insurgent attacks on the camp have stopped now that U.S. money is being spent to help the people.

The clinic, and others like it, are just one part of the American HA initiative. "HA" stands for "humanitarian assistance," and food is another big part.

"We want to work ourselves out of a job," said the commander of a U.S. unit in a small town in the east, where American soldiers supervised Afghan forces who handed out food to local children with 1,000-yard stares and to men and women scarred by years of war.

The key to the operation is the involvement of the Afghan troops — pamphlets that accompany each handout tells recipients that the food is being provided by their own neighbors.

"We really want the people to understand that it's the Afghans, so they can put trust in their Afghan soldiers," the U.S. commander said.

All the while, the war is still
going on.

Eight more U.S. soldiers were
killed this week by improvised bombs that exploded by the roadside. After more
than eight years of war, October 2009 stands as the deadliest month for U.S.
forces so far.

President Barack Obama and his
top military advisers here and in Washington met in a secure conference call
Friday to continue trying to find a workable policy. Even as the Americans on
the ground here are working on humanitarian initiatives, the administration is
considering
a proposal to send tens of thousands more troops to the country.

Whatever it decides, life will
remain difficult for everyday Afghans, especially the children, untold numbers
of whom have been orphaned by the fighting.

At an orphanage run by the
Afghan Child Education and Care Organization, the executive director, Andeisha
Farid, 26, the fears and threats encroaching on Kabul melt away. A huge flower
garden adds a burst of color to the cheerful and warm home for 67 girls and 15 boys, who are preparing to celebrate the Friday holiday with special treats
like pomegranates and bananas.

Farid, a native Afghan who
spent most of her childhood and adolescence in refugee camps in countries
neighboring Afghanistan, recently graduated from the 10,000 Women project in
Afghanistan, which teaches entrepreneurial skills to women from underprivileged
backgrounds, and she has vowed to make life better for these
children.

"We [were] born in war, we
[have] grown up in war and we may die in war, but I really want to do
something," Farid said. "OK, we have gone through [a] very tough situation and
we [are] fed up. But we
shouldn't just give up."

Every child here has an
achingly sad story, but their smiles are testament to Farid's devotion and the
generosity of others. Each child has a sponsor, and the institution itself is
funded by donors around the world — for example, a recent fundraiser in
Brooklyn, N.Y., raised $600 for firewood.

These are lives that are being
saved and launched for the future. The children may not recognize the irony in
the title of today's English-language movie — "Home Alone" — but all of them
came here alone, and they're home now. 

"When I see all the girls, all
the boys, all the small children — when I see their happy faces, I see a future
in them, a bright future, so it gives me hope," she said. "I'm sure I am doing a
difference for the Afghan people."

Click here to see more of Brian Williams' reporting from Afghanistan, including photos from the field, and Web-only video.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

While we didn't fly halfway around the world just to interview generals or ambassadors, its nonetheless notable that we've been in the region a week and we will depart for home having not been granted an interview with a single senior U.S. official.

It's not for lack of asking... and it's not as if there's a shortage of them here in Kabul, either. Tonight I was invited to a dinner at the official residence of U.S. Ambassador Eikenberry, where Generals Patreus and McCrystal were present (among others) but the talk was gently but quickly steered away from the elephant in the room: the pending decision by the president regarding the future direction of the military effort here in Afghanistan.

Some of those in the room tonight will no doubt join today's White House military session by secure teleconference. While there have been leaks, they've been classic trial balloons to guage early reaction to a policy idea that may or may not be what the president ultimately announces. It is abundantly clear the word has gone out that no one is to say anything during this period. Today I spoke (on background) with two Army Generals and assorted Army and Marine Colonels -- they all said they will adjust, carry on and carry out the order when the new plan is announced. I guess I'd be surprised if they'd said anything else.

This will be my last post from Afghanistan on this trip, so please allow me one more note: while I get to have my name on the broadcast and on this blog -- and while the slideshows and on-air coverage show only me in Afghanistan, I'm the least of this effort. Right now, technicians are standing in the cold on the roof of this building preparing for the broadcast. An adjacent room is filled with producers who are enduring another sleepless night. A videotape edit room in New York is churning out the coverage you'll see tonight. So far on this trip, we've had explosions, gunfire, an earthquake -- and among the staff we've had a non life-threatening electric shock, one debilitating migrane, one Cipro-worthy illness (and countless minor ones) and that's actually a shockingly low number of ailments and injuries in a dangerous place. And then there are the local drivers, there are the men who protect us with machine guns, there are the Afghans on our staff without whom we could not do our work.

Just some of the NBC staff in Afghanistan, photographed with soldiers in uniform. Left- John Kooistra, cameraman; Bob Lapp, audio technician; producers Subrata De and Madeleine Haeringer; and Brian Williams (far right).

Long after we are gone, many of our people stay on, continuing to cover this changing story, continuing to cover the tireless work of those stationed here in uniform. None of them ever get the credit they deserve -- and while this isn't enough, it's something. My thanks to our incredible team all around the globe.

I hope you can join us tonight for the broadcast they put together. Have a good weekend, and we'll see you from New York on Monday.

by Subrata De, Nightly News senior producer traveling in Afghanistan with Brian Williams

"Please come inside, please tell them it is not safe for them to be out there."

I'd just walked inside the high walls of the orphanage compound run by AFCECO (Afghan Child Education and Care Organization). Andeisha Farid, the NGO's Executive Director was waiting and worried.

Before most shoots like this, Brian Williams and the crews prepare outside, getting him "wired up" with a mic so that we can record his audio while he walks into a place where he'll be followed by a camera. We didn't want to make a big fuss inside around the kids, so we were preparing just outside the gates.

But Andeisha advised we enter the compound immediately. NGO's -- especially those that have worked to provide education and safe havens for girls and young women -- are often targets in this country. Thankfully, this place hasn't suffered any retaliation, but the threat is still there.

Guards are posted at the door all night and the girls are only allowed outside for school each day.

And yet, once you step inside this place, the fears and threats that have begun to encroach on Kabul melt away. A huge flower garden added a burst of color to this cheerful and warm home for 67 girls and 15 boys. Children spilled out of the doors to greet our group.

It's Friday,  a day off here in Kabul and throughout the Islamic world. We'd arrived for lunch and a few girls were busily preparing the meal. It's there, amidst the cutting of vegetables and peeling of pomegranates, that Brian sat down to talk to the woman he profiles tonight for Making a Difference.

Editor's note: Here's more information on Brian Williams' Making a Difference report.

Video: A home for Afghanistan's war orphans

Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO) is an Afghan non-profit organization based in Kabul, founded by a group of volunteers in 2001. They are working with international partners in the United States, Italy and Australia on projects that benefit Afghan children. The Child Sponsorship Program is one of the successful projects they started in 2004 through a partnership with CharityHelp International (CHI), a U.S.-based organization.

If you would like to make a donation online or sponsor an Afghan child, please visit: https://www.charityhelp.org/afceco

AFCECO
P.O. Box 5820
Kabul, Afghanistan
info@afceco.org

Please note: Many viewers have inquired about the possibility of adopting war orphans from Afghanistan. There is no adoption under Afghan law--but specific questions regarding adoption should be directed to the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. More information can be found here: http://kabul.usembassy.gov/adoption2.html

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

This has been an eventful day: the ride (under heavy guard) from Bagram into downtown Kabul, our tour of the courtyard of the guest compound where so many died yesterday -- and then to top it all off, while we were working in our rented building in Kabul late tonight, an earthquake.  It was a long, slow roller -- like surfing -- though somewhat weaker in intensity than some of the quakes I've experienced in California.  We went through the usual "delay" before realizing just what was happening (considering where we are, every time something shakes, its also possible there's been an explosion), and then watched as fixtures started to swing.  Obediently, I stood in the doorway of my room as Senior Producer Subrata De did the first thing she thought of: she got her Flip camera and we started making a video toward the end of the quake.  Several of our staff members were jolted out of bed by it and we've had one small roller since then. We hopped on an earthquake-monitoring site on the web and discovered that today's quake had been a 6.0 centered near the Hindu Kush -- the scene of the last big one -- and we had felt one of the outer bands.  Just another day in Afghanistan.  We sure hope you can join us tonight.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

I am living inside a containerized shipping box. It's a base housing unit here at Bagram, and it's actually perfect. Small? You betcha. It's tiny, taken up mostly by bunk beds. But it's got all the comforts of (a very tiny) home, and we feel fortunate to have a place to rest our heads and take a shower at an Air Base where they have other things to worry about... aside from where to put the folks visiting from NBC.

During a few hours of down time this afternoon, I quickly fell into a deep, exhaustion-fueled sleep. I was awakened by an explosion. Luckily, I've heard my share (like one every 30 seconds on the third night of the invasion in Bagdhad) and wasn't overly alarmed. I could tell it was some distance away. Only when I got to our workspace tonight was I told it was a "Controlled Det" in military parlance: a detonation conducted by the Army. I apparently slept through the announcement on the P. A. system warning that it was about to happen. Considering the violence in Kabul today, an explosion made perfect sense to me.

It was also a reminder that we are in a war zone.

Then there are the people you meet here in uniform. Like the young lieutenant I met today -- we quickly established the fact that we'd been in Iraq at the same time. Then he re-counted for me his decision to avoid going on patrol with his unit one day, at the height of the fighting, because he had come off a double shift and was too tired. Everyone in his platoon was killed that day.

Then there was the major we met today. Tonight she told me that her 5-year-old son tried to chase her down the jetway when she left for this last deployment, five months ago. She says she video chats with her husband and son once a week. Their system for counting down the days until Mommy comes home? She orders a certain number of custom-printed M&Ms containing messages like "I love you" and "Mommy misses you." Her son is allowed to eat one M&M a day until they're all gone. On the day the M&M bowl is finally empty... well, that's the day when Mommy comes back down that jetway. The major loves her job, and like so many of the people you meet in this God-forsaken valley of rocks and dust and rusting Russian tanks, she says she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. And she means it. She loves her family, and she loves the 82nd Airborne.

You know how they say during the World Series games, "We'd like to welcome all those watching at all U. S. military installations around the world"? It sure is weird to hear them say that while you're sitting on your bunk inside a shipping container at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

I hope you can join us for our broadcasts from here all week.

See Brian Williams' reporting from Afghanistan here. See photos from his trip to Afghanistan here.

editor's note: Brian was busy preparing for the broadcast from Afghanistan and was unable to blog.  However, he did vlog.  Watch it here.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

In just the space of one long day (actually the equivalent of two at home, since we're just pretending to have slept), we've seen such an extraordinary mix of images: the regional Afghan commercial aircraft we flew this morning that still bore some of the interior markings of its apparent previous owner, American Airlines...the various nationalities among the soldiers at the air base in Kabul...the Army Major whom I first met (back when he was a Captain) when I visited David Bloom on the Iraq/Kuwait border just prior to the invasion (in the other war)...and the palpable sadness tonight in the dining hall (at the Army Special Forces camp where we're spending the night) when the assembled soldiers heard the news that 8 more Americans had been killed in action here today.

We've tried to send back (despite some very dicey satellite communications, made more difficult tonight by the first downpour of the coming rainy season) a full package of coverage of our travels so far -- including still photos, web videos and of course what we were able to assemble for the broadcast tonight.

VIDEO: Winning over hearts and minds

For now, we press on...and we hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight. My thanks in advance to Ann Curry for splitting the duty with us. 

By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor

Brian Williams and I both anchor tonight's broadcast--he from Afghanistan, me in New York -- and this as the number of U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan reached 55 for the month of October, the highest in one month since the war began eight years ago. That's because today, bombs killed eight more troops.

And, just as alarming, is another reason why the toll is up: Experts say the Taliban now has bigger bombs and more powerful IEDs--more evidence the war is changing as the enemy becomes more radicalized.

Also tonight, we make sense of the confusion over where people can get H1N1 flu shots, the anger that boiled over in Chicago at banks lobbying against financial reforms, and get this: there is now a Broadway stage production of 101 Dalmatians--with real dogs.

The chuckling around Nightly News is over the fact that the correspondent who will bring us this story is Kevin Tibbles -- so do not be surprised if you see a graphic long desired by some among our ranks: "Tibbles 'n Bits."

Oh help!

See you tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I am en route to Afghanistan tonight. We are going there to report on the military and political situation. Our reporting from the field will begin on tomorrow evening's broadcast. Today's sobering news and staggering loss of life has certainly forced us to re-check our logistical planning, and we are confident that we have the correct plans in place.

Richard Engel and his team will be there for our arrival, and I look forward to getting back there after a year's absence. We'll see you from Afghanistan tomorrow night.

By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor

October 26, 2009 -- "NBC Nightly News" anchor and managing editor Brian Williams will report live from Afghanistan starting Tuesday, October 27 through the remainder of the week. For security reasons, NBC News is not announcing any details of the travel schedule within the country in advance, but the trip comes on the eve of President Obama's troop level decision and during the nation's presidential run-off.  It is Williams' second-trip to the region; the prior trip was in June 2008.

Williams will be joined by NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel, and NBC News correspondent Adrienne Mong. Each will provide the broadcast with special reports from the region.
 
In addition to reporting for "NBC Nightly News," reports from Afghanistan will air on "Today," MSNBC, and msnbc.com. Also on msnbc.com, Williams and the producers traveling with him will blog on the Daily Nightly throughout the trip.
 
Williams has made four trips to Iraq during the current war. During his first trip early on in the U.S. invasion effort, Williams was traveling with the U.S. Army south of Najaf when his Chinook helicopter was forced down due to enemy fire. His traveling team was rescued and surrounded protectively by an Army armored mechanized platoon and was able to fly out to safety days later. Williams later became the first NBC News correspondent to reach Baghdad during the invasion and he also covered the Iraqi elections in March 2007.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

The government's decision to declare the H1N1 flu outbreak an "emergency" is meant to break through some of the usual bureaucratic red tape that could hinder the ability of hospitals to respond to a big surge of flu patients.

Unfortunately it does nothing to speed up the flow of flu vaccine, which so far, is available in far fewer doses than was originally promised. While the production back log is expected to be fixed soon, the health care system is racing against a clock it can't see. Meaning experts can't say when the outbreak will peak, and when or whether the virus will mutate. On Nightly News this evening we'll have a lot more on what this emergency declaration means and when the flow of vaccine will increase.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

My thanks to the good folks at NPR's "Wait, Wait...don't tell me" radio program for including me in their taping this week at Carnegie Hall.  The broadcast airs this coming weekend. Anything you hear that doesn't sound like something I'd say...simply isn't me. They have people on the staff who can mimic voices, and you know what these media types can do with editing.  We had a lot of fun.  Growing up as a kid in Jersey, I certainly never thought I'd stand at center stage and look out at the audience at Carnegie Hall.  What an extraordinary experience.  And (as they say in show business) what a great crowd -- this was like the Super Bowl of public radio last night.

We'll update you on goings-on with the broadcast on Monday. In the meantime, have a good evening, and we'll see you Monday night.

By Rich Gardella, NBC News producer

If you watched Lisa Myers' report on executive pay tonight, you might be interested in knowing more of what the Obama Administration's point man on the subject had to say. Kenneth R. Feinberg, officially known as the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation and unofficially known as the Obama Administration's "pay czar," presided over a "pen and pad" media briefing at the Treasury Department this afternoon.

Reporters typically attend these events and scribble and type like mad to record what's said. Today, approximately 100 reporters (by my very rough visual count) filled chairs in the Treasury Department's "Media Room."

The purpose of today's briefing was to announce and describe Feinberg's decisions on compensation packages for the top 25 executives at 7 firms which received "exceptional" TARP assistance.

For official details on the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation's first rulings.

Feinberg sat at a small table at the front of the room and began with extemporaneous remarks.

He described his assignment as "very, very difficult."

He said he was "extremely sensitive" and "extremely sympathetic" to public outrage and concern about how much compensation executives were continuing to pocket despite the substantial federal TARP bailout funds their companies had received. But his determinations were not based in any way on this public outrage, because they could not be: the statute which created his job specifically laid out how he was supposed to go about it. Factoring in public outrage was not part of it.

But the outrage is reflected in the most important part of his mandate:

"These companies owe billions in taxpayer money," Feinberg stated. His job is to "get that money BACK."

Feinberg said his job, as described by law, is to carefully balance several requirements:

* to make sure that compensation packages were designed to get money back to taxpayers from these 7 companies

* to avoid incentivizing excessive risk for the companies

* to make sure compensation was linked to the company's performance - so that executives only do well if company does well

* to make sure key executives get compensated enough to stay on the job, stay at the companies long enough to help turn them around.

Feinberg itemized some of the key goals which he says guided his work and are a part of his decisions:

* to substantively reduce the amount of money the 7 companies are paying in guaranteed cash salaries

* to instead give executives compensation in the form of a real stake in the companies' future success - "salarized stock" which the executives must hold for at least 4 years, and potential additional stock compensation - only if and when the company fully repays the taxpayer for the TARP (aka bailout) money.

He said two things stuck him about the compensation data the companies submitted to him:

* the compensation amounts were generally too high

* the compensation was not in the right mix - too much cash, not enough stock.

Feinberg predicted some will respond to his decisions by saying, you overpaid.

Others will say, you underpaid.

Still others will say, you paid about right.

He said he was "sensitive" to all of these reactions, and understood each of them. But that by following the law and engaging in a delicate balancing act, the result had to be the decisions he made.

He said he was trying to change corporate practices, but "what I do not accept," Feinberg said, is vindictive or punitive measures, because that sentiment is "nowhere" in the statute or the Treasury regulations. That's not part of the law, he added, and should be against the law.

After his statement, Feinberg took questions from the audience. Here's a sample:

Feinberg explained that his decisions today only affect the period of November and December 2009. The reductions in cash compensation are only for those two months of this year. With a few isolated exceptions, these executives do not have to repay compensation already collected this year.

We're not going to go back," Feinberg said, "and ask people to repay" money that they "already earned."

Feinberg said the process begins anew in January. All 7 companies - and their top 25 executives - will remain under his jurisdiction as Special Master as long as these companies have not fully repaid their TARP money.

Feinberg said the companies were "very very cooperative" throughout the process, although at times negotiations were "intense."

He said he appreciated that with one exception at AIG, the companies "voluntarily" agree to roll "every single" contract for cash compensation from cash to stock rather than insisting that the contracts be honored as written.

Absolutely not, Feinberg said, because that's not part of his job. He asserted that he is not in the business of micromanaging these companies and has no authority to do so. In fact, he said, his mandate is very limited. His sole responsibility was to determine appropriate compensation packages for the 175 top executives at the 7 companies who'd received "exceptional" federal TARP (bailout) money.

Feinberg rejected the shorthand nickname he's acquired in the media through his role as Special Master: Obama's "pay czar."

"I do not approve of the characterization," Feinberg said. "I'm no czar."

Feinberg said he thought not, and was unequivocal: "the White House has played absolutely no role whatsoever" in his decision-making…there's been zero intervention by the White House in this entire process."

He said he did not know, but hoped that his decisions might serve as a model or template for restructuring executive compensation at other firms which were not part of his jurisdiction. He said he "liked to think" that these new standards "will be voluntarily picked up in the marketplace," adding that it would be "a lost opportunity" for the broader marketplace to not "take advantage of what we've learned."

At the end of the day, Feinberg concluded, he thinks the executive compensation decisions announced for the 175 executives at the 7 companies today are efforts the public, the companies themselves and he himself "can find to be pretty good work."

That said, he mentioned that the companies have 30 days to appeal his decisions, and by law he must and will consider any and all appeals.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Sometimes, from our usual perch in Midtown Manhattan, this nation's dual wars can seem awfuly remote and distant and far away. Then it comes roaring back. Yesterday I addressed close to 100 Marine officers here in New York. All of them so impressive, all of them freshly decorated from various battlefields overseas. It is a gathering I attend every year. 

Today we are hosting 6 Marine Colonels, and today I also spoke with an Army Lt. Col. who is in the fight, on the battlefield in Afghanistan.  Some days it comes roaring back, indeed.

We hope you can join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Well...our series on women this week sure has ignited a blast of email...we are wading through it, reading all of them as we always do.  I hope to address some of the criticisms as well. 

Tonight we have two interesting stories to wrap our arms around: financial executive's wages and cancerscreening...the latter applies to us all.  We hope you can join us tonight.

By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent

In the year or so that the economy has been in the tank we have been spending quite a bit of time in Elkhart County, Indiana. It's the kind of place that boasts small towns with leafy streets and even a few old-fashioned soda shops. There's quite a bit of history here too. Did you know Alka Seltzer was invented here? Or that, at one time, Elkhart's claim to fame was the manufacture of brass band instruments? Lately, Elkhart has been the creator or maker of Recreational Vehicles for America and beyond. The recession dealt a body blow to that industry, one it is still trying to recover from.

At the height of the downturn this battered corner of the nation had an unemployment rate pushing 19 percent. Today is still more than 16 percent, and nearly 12 thousand households rely on food stamps. Our first visit to the region was to cover a charitable organization handing out food packages.

Tonight we report on, hopefully, a better trend. Our colleague Nick McGurk at South Bend affiliate WNDU told us some of the RV companies were tooling up again. One in particular, Keystone, plans to re-hire some 500 employees in coming months as orders are on the rise. There is still a long way to go in a place decimated by recession; still as one Keystone employee told me, "I see a light at the end of the tunnel; but it's a candle and it's windy."

VIDEO: Seeing signs of a turnaround in Elkhart

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

First, my thanks to Jon Bon Jovi. As a New Jerseyan, I regard Jon and Bruce as our own twin towers of music in the State, and I was able to spend the morning with Jon (for a Making A Difference segment to air later this fall) focusing on his vast charity work. Like a lot of successful people, he has chosen to do great things with his money, and uses his name to shake astounding sums loose from others. Bottom line: like the work Bruce has done with food banks across this country (and other causes between the two of them), Jon has made life better for a whole lot of Americans.

On a sad note, the nation has lost another Medal of Honor recipient. He was a friend, a great patriot...and his death leaves 94 living recipients. Please take a moment and read the story of Len Keller. May he rest in peace.

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

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

My thanks to Ann Curry and David Gregory for filling in for me last week and allowing me to take some vacation time.  From here on in, it's the "busy season" for our broadcast and the news business in general.  While I miss my job and my co-workers when I'm away, I candidly did not miss being on duty for the balloon story.  I'm afraid it combines a lot of the most unpleasant aspects of our society in one tidy little package. 

On a more serious note: The days ahead will bring some important moving pieces on health care and Afghanistan -- we will watch both closely.  I get the chance this week to address some military officers here in New York, an annual event I always look forward to, as invariably I see men and women I've met on trips to Iraq or Afghanistan.  It's always good to see them enjoying all there is to enjoy here in New York.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Many of us would have been just as happy to see that little Colorado balloon adventure turn out to be an innocent misunderstanding so that we could all move on to other things. We learned today, however, that apparently isn't the case.

Colorado authorities said today that they were duped – and so were all of uswatching that balloon careening through the sky while silently praying for a little boy we were told was in it. Sheriff's investigators say they plan to file charges against the parents that could lead to jail time. Toying with a country's emotions is not a crime, but intentionally leading rescuers on a wild goose chase is. Tonight on the broadcast, we will tell you why authorities now think the whole thing was a hoax and what was behind it.

By David Gregory, NBC News anchor

After being transfixed yesterday with the story about kid who actually was never in the wayward Colorado balloon, we are going to turn our attention tonight to some disturbing new facts about the H1N1 flu. Our Science Correspondent Bob Bazell is tracking the developments including an upward trend in the number of childhood deaths because of the flu and a delay in the availability of the vaccine. I know parents who have questions about getting their children vaccinated, but I have spoken to doctors in recent days who say they don't see any downsides to doing it.

We have some other important news including the sticker shock going on among employees who are currently seeing the cost of their employer-provided health benefits going up. All of this as health care reform is debated.

As we prepare for Nightly News, I am tracking the Dodgers who must win today to keep up with the Phills.

I hope you will join us when I fill in for Brian Williams on Nightly News tonight.

By David Gregory, NBC News

In the newsroom all afternoon we have been following the same story many of you have: this bizarre and perhaps tragic case of a Colorado 6-year-old boy floating away inside a makeshift balloon he crawled into in his backyard. At this hour we don't know what has happened to him, but as a dad I can tell you I have been sickened by it imagining how quickly a child can run off and get into a dangerous situation.

There are reports that a portion of the balloon-- like a box-- fell off. There are also questions about whether the boy ever crawled into the balloon in the first place.

On top of that, we are learning more about the boy's family which has appeared on a reality show and shows unusual interest in science and experimentation.

We are following all of this and will have complete coverage on it tonight.

Also tonight, troubling news for older Americans getting Social Security. You won't be getting a raise in payments this year. What's the political fallout?

Plus, the latest on H1N1: Are intensive care units ready for the onslaught? Bob Bazell reports.

I hope you will join us tonight as I report NBC Nightly News while Brian Williams is away.

by Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent

We spent some time this week trying to find a picture of Christie Basham.

Most of my colleagues asked, "Who was Christie Basham?" Then, they asked, "Why do you want her picture?"

The answer is simple, and complicated. Basham was a pioneer in our business: quiet, strong, talented, and professional. And did I mention that she was a woman? The hunt for her picture was a another story.

One stalwart colleague found a small glimpse of Christie in a group picture taken for the 44th Anniversary of Meet the Press, a group shot among a series mounted along an upstairs corridor. At the time, Christie was senior producer of the Sunday broadcast. Tim Russert hadn't yet taken over as host from former anchorman Garrick Utley. In the picture, Christie stares out with an even, no-nonsense gaze. We stole it from the wall to digitize it. No one noticed it was gone.

I also recalled another, larger picture of Christie, unposed, and characteristically intent, leaning over the assignment editor in our old newsroom. For years, it hung on the wall of Christie's office, once she became deputy bureau chief and had an office. We tracked it down in storage, packaged in bubble wrap, at the home of one of Christie's recently retired successors.

Christie was a pioneer, one of the first women executives in broadcast news. For that matter, for much of her 41 year career, she was the only woman executive around these corridors. Still, she never became Bureau Chief.

As Christie's good friend Haynes Johnson recalled nine years ago, she had started out at the old Washington Star, in 1953, as a "dictationist," earning $37.50 a week. She was told that she shouldn't expect to get paid much because women would get married and have children and leave the paper. She did leave the paper - in 1957, to join NBC as reporter and researcher for the great David Brinkley. Except for a few years at CBS and PBS, Christie spent 36 years here, rising through the ranks and helping invent television news. Once again, when NBC hired her, some functionary in personnel told Christie not to expect much, and certainly not to expect to become an on-air reporter. That was just fine with Christie, thank you very much. Her primary interests were decidedly unglamorous: writing and reporting. In fact, women didn't think about being in front of the cameras back in 1957. It was a time when women covering speeches by newsmakers at the National Press Club had to sit in the balcony, unable to ask questions. The Gridiron and other clubs were restricted to men. Women felt isolated, and bonded with each other. We needed leaders. Christie was our guide.

By being such a quiet, solid professional, she became a comfort and an inspiration to a lot of other women trying to break into the profession in our Washington bureau, women like Cassie Mackin, Linda Ellerbee, Judy Woodruff, Carole Simpson, Katie Couric, Lisa Myers, and Jamie Gangel.

Once she retired, Christie spent a lot of time in her beloved Maine. She had all of the virtues of a plainspoken New Englander. Blunt, to the point, sensible, smart and kind. Christie died of brain cancer in July, 2000. I don't know if there is a connection, but I don't recall seeing her without a cigarette. In newsrooms back then, most everyone smoked.

Now there are women in the front office -- like Senior NBC News Vice President Alexandra Wallace, previously the first Executive Producer of an evening news broadcast. It's hard to remember the days when our bosses were all men and we had to sit in the balcony to cover assignments. But every once in a while, it's worth remembering the missing portraits from our walls.

Editor's note: Women now make up virtually half the U.S. work force. "A Woman's Nation," a special report that examines how U.S. culture has responded to this change, begins this week on the networks of NBC. Click here to learn more and to watch videos of Mitchell talking about challenges in her early career. Click here to see a timeline of milestones for women at NBC News.