By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

By now we've all read those list of the top ten this, and top ten that of 2009, including the biggest news stories of the year. Rightfully, the economy, the inauguration of Barack Obama, and the health care battle are among the big stories that stand out for the year. Thankfully the story that won't make the top ten is "the Christmas day bombing of Northwest flight 253," only because good luck and alert passengers prevented it from happening. Not the systems we have all assumed would protect us.

Earlier today I hopped a subway train from a station in nearby Times Square and witnessed what appeared to be a security sweep or search of the track area, presumably part of the extensive anti-terror precautions in place for tonight's ball drop . And I thought about how amid political achievements, economic turmoil, the spread of swine flu and other major events that we remember this week, the threat of another successful terror attack forms a grim, sometimes unspoken backdrop that frames the times we live in.

On Nightly News this evening we'll show you how all of this is shaping tonight's New Year celebrations.

By Rich Gardella and Lisa Myers

Hundreds of National Guardsmen potentially exposed to toxic chemical at Iraq water treatment plant in 2003

Throughout 2003, after the combat phase of the Iraq War had ended, the U.S. military and defense contractors raced to try and fix Iraq's infrastructure. 

Working in a war zone obviously presents unexpected challenges and dangers far beyond the usual ones at industrial worksites.  But this is the story of why some Army National Guardsmen are suing defense contractor KBR because of alleged exposures to a toxic chemical at one such industrial worksite in Iraq.

Video: Soldiers sue over alleged toxic exposure
Web only video: Air had a "strange metallic taste", says soldier

When specialist Larry Roberta of the Oregon Army National Guard went to Iraq in 2003, he expected sandstorms, physical hardship, perhaps even combat. What he didn't expect was the orange dust he encountered, all over the place, at the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant, near Basra in southern Iraq.

"You could taste stuff in the air," Roberta recalled. "It had a really strange metallic taste."

Roberta's unit and other Army National Guard units were at the plant during the spring and summer of 2003, in the months after the U.S. invasion that March.  Their mission was to provide security for workers repairing the plant. It supplied water to Iraqi oil fields, and was an important part of the U.S. mission to get Iraq's oil flowing again. The workers were repairing the plant for defense contractor Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR).

Roberta and other Guardsmen and former KBR employees told NBC News that the orange dust was throughout the plant and the grounds, and sometimes would permeate the air during when the desert winds blew.

"It blew up in my face and on my chicken patty, and my mouth and stuff like that," Roberta said. "I didn't really think a whole lot of it other than it tasted really bad and made me throw up and burn."

Capt. Russell Kimberling of the Indiana Army National Guard told us he asked KBR officials what the dust was.

"What we got from them was, 'It's a mild irritant,'" Kimberling said.

But the dust actually was a highly toxic chemical called sodium dichromate, which scientists have found can cause lung cancer in humans. 

It had been used by Iraqi workers prior to the war to prevent corrosion in the pipes at the plant. There were hundreds of bags at the chemical at the plant, some of them clearly labeled. 

The mission's official military name was Task Force RIO ("Restoration of Iraqi Oil").  KBR got the contract.  

Six years later, some of the Guardsmen assigned to provide security for Task Force RIO at the plant are dead, dying or suffering from serious health problems--including rashes, perforated septums and lung disease. One of the foremost experts in sodium dichromate, Dr. Herman Gibb, says the guardsmen's symptoms are consistent with "significant exposure" to the chemical.

KBR argues that the company is not to blame. The company says it told the Army about the dangerous chemical as soon as it was identified at the plant.  That, the company says, was on July 25, 2003. 

But, internal KBR documents contradict that claim, and indicate that the company became aware of the chemical at the site two months earlier.

One internal KBR document notes that "an environmental technician identified the chemical in May."  The document's author was a KBR manager who oversaw health and safety for the Qarmat Ali project. 

Another KBR document  warns not only that the chemical is present at the plant but also that some areas are "potentially contaminated" with it.  The author of that memo, a KBR health and safety employee, suggests testing and cleanup.  That document is dated June 21, 2003.  That's more than one month before KBR alerted the Army, and more than two months before the Guardsmen became aware of the danger.

Several Guardsmen recall that it wasn't until late August that they learned of the hazard, and then only because they saw KBR workers wearing white chemical suits. 

"They were in full protective chemical gear," Russell Kimberling told us. "You know, from head to toe.  I kind of looked at one of my men and just said, 'This can't be good, can it?'"

Although KBR did remediation work in mid-August, it wasn't until several weeks after that, on September 8, 2003, that KBR shut down the Qarmat Ali plant and did a more extensive cleanup - "out of abundance of caution," it explained in a statement to NBC News. The plant remained closed until mid-October.

In all, during 2003, more than 700 soldiers passed through the Qarmat Ali plant, mostly Guard units from Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina and West Virginia.  Some of these Guardsmen say they began experiencing physical symptoms - headaches, bloody noses, sinus and respiratory problems - soon after arriving at the plant in the summer of 2003.

Larry Roberta's medical records confirm he reported breathing problems and chest pains during a visit to a medic that July.  The military evacuated Russ Kimberling from the site that summer so a severe sinus infection in his nasal cavity could heal.

Since then, other soldiers who served at Qarmat Ali have experienced serious illnesses.  Some have died.  First Sgt. David Moore of the Indiana Army National Guard died of lung disease in 2008 at age 42. The commander of Kimberling's Indiana Army National Guard Unity, Lt. Col. James Gentry, died of a rare lung cancer of the day before Thanksgiving.  He had claimed to be a lifelong non-smoker. 

Roberta, a former police officer who climbed Mt. Sinai before he went to Iraq, now struggles to catch his breath when he walks. He has serious stomach and liver issues, migraines and acute respiratory problems, including reactive airway disorder.

"You almost feel like you're drowning," Roberta said, after gasping for breath during a coughing fit captured on video by an NBC cameraman.  "You want to breathe, but you just can't."

Roberta, Kimberling, Gentry and Moore's family are part of a lawsuit by Army Guardsmen against KBR, charging that the company knowingly endangered lives by not informing them of the dangers.  The Guardsmen's law firm, Doyle Raizner of Houston, Texas, has been gathering testimony and documents in the case.

KBR strongly denies wrongdoing. The company acknowledges that sodium dichromate was present at the plant, and had contaminated parts of it.  But KBR claims it "acted appropriately and on a timely basis" as information about the chemical at the plant became known. In statements to NBC News, KBR also claims that it was the Army's reponsibility to ensure the site was free of environmental hazards. 

What's more, KBR insists that there is no evidence proving that soldiers suffered illnesses or injuries because of exposure to sodium dichromate at the Qarmat Ali plant. 

Former KBR employees previously filed their own complaint against the company, making similar allegations.  An arbitrator denied the employees' claims for damages, arguing that the company was not liable under the provisions of the Defense Base Act, a federal workers compensation law applying to persons working on U.S. military bases outside the U.S. Without discussion, the arbitrator states that "claimants did not present sufficient proof of an injury compensable under Texas law," where KBR is based.

We consulted Dr. Herman Gibb, one of the foremost experts on sodium dichromate exposure. Gibb, an epidemiologist, spent 29 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, much of that time at the National Center for Environmental Assessment. He is the lead author of a 2000 study of the relationship between lung cancer and sodium dichromate exposure. (That study collected data on the exposures of 2,101 workers at a Baltimore factory who were exposed to sodium dichromate between 1950 and 1974.)

In an NBC News interview, we asked Dr. Gibb about KBR's statement.

Lisa Myers:  KBR says there is simply no evidence that soldiers were harmed by exposure to this chemical.  Do you agree with that statement?

Dr. Herman Gibb:  I don't see how you can say there's no evidence.  I mean... they experienced symptoms that are consistent with sodium dichromate exposure.  The exposure must have been fairly significant to be associated with these symptoms.

In claiming no proof of harm to soldiers, KBR specifically points to red blood cell blood tests conducted by the Army's Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine (CHPPM).  KBR told us the Army's CHPPM had concluded that "no soldier encountered a significant inhalation exposure while guarding the facility."

But NBC's review of the Army's report  showed that what the Center actually reported was that the blood tests "appear to show that there was not a significant inhalation exposure," and that the Army's medical team "at the time felt that long-term health effects were very unlikely from the exposure as understood."

And Dr. Gibb told NBC that the red blood cell tests were too insensitive, and conducted too long after exposure, to be conclusive.

"The test wouldn't have been very reliable... taken so long after exposure ended," he said.  "It would be like giving a breathalyzer test to somebody three days after they'd been driving erratically."

KBR also claims that most air and soil sample tests indicate that "there was no danger from airborne contamination of the plant."  Dr. Gibb noted that KBR had admitted that the Army's and KBR's air and soil and blood tests occurred after KBR had remediated the site.

Since our interview, Dr. Gibb has been hired by lawyers representing the Guardsmen to review material for their case.

KBR provided NBC News an executive summary of a report it claims counters Dr. Gibb's testimony, prepared as part of KBR's response to the previous claim by former KBR employees.

The trial for the Guardsmen's case against KBR likely won't begin until sometime next year.

Meanwhile, Roberta struggles just to get through each day. 

"If KBR did know about this, before we were there," said Roberta, "it should have been rectified."

"They said it was a mild irritant," Kimberling recalled.  "That's what I told my soldiers.  And suck it up and drive on with the mission.  Don't whine about it.  You know, 'We're here, let's do our job and let's go home.' That's what we did."

What upsets some of the Guardsmen most of all is that after serving their country faithfully, they believe the Army and KBR let them down by not fully acknowledging or investigating their exposure to the toxic chemical or their serious health problems.  Some suffered for years and only recently have a possible explanation why.

In the last few months, the U.S. government finally has begun to acknowledge their predicament.

The Defense Department's Inspector General has launched an investigation. That was the result of a formal request from seven Democratic senators, including Sen. Byron Dorgan, chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, which has been investigating this matter for more than a year.  (The DPC held two hearings on the topic, one in 2008 and one this year.)

In September and October, following a hearing by the Senate's Veterans Affairs Committee, the Secretary of the Army, Pete Geren, and the Secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, Gen. Eric Shinseki, sent letters to Sen. Dorgan describing new efforts to contact and examine the 700+ soldiers who potentially were exposed to sodium dichromate at the Qarmat Ali plant. 

All these efforts now should help exposed soldiers like Larry Roberta receive medical care, and perhaps eventually yield more substantive answers about how many were exposed to the toxic chemical, how many have health problems because of it, and why this happened at all.

Editor's note: We thank our readers who noticed several typographical errors in this article. The errors were not part of the original text of the article. We are investigating the circumstances of how changes to the text occurred, creating these errors.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

First, the shot heard round the left-leaning, Beltway-to-Broadway skewing world of op-ed columns this morning: MoDo's takedown of Obama in the New York Times this morning.

Second, a piece that should get more attention than it did...on a public education campaign that has worked so well its become a part of our lexicon: the "Designated Driver" concept, which will be employed countless times across this country over the next 48 hours, and which will save countless lives.

The big mistake? Here's a hint. I placed a call today to one of the nicest men in the world -- who had the good fortune to be born with a great family name: Paul Harvey, Jr. I was calling to apologize for an error of omission we made last night -- we left his dad, the great Paul Harvey, off the list of prominent Americans we lost in 2009. Paul was an icon of the airwaves. When I lived in Missouri, I used to say that life came to a halt when he took to the air. I apologized to the family today...and now I apologize to Paul Harvey fans, and any of you who were expecting to see his face in our lovely compilation of the giants we lost this year.

Finally, though she will hate this, a farewell: for most of the past decade, Melissa Ludlum has been my assistant. Long ago I unofficially added "long suffering" to her title. We first met in the early days of msnbc and she made the trip with me across the river to 30 Rock...never looking back. I saw her resume before I met her, and when I saw that she had been the longtime assistant to Richard Salant, former president of CBS News, I pretty much decided I would hire her, sight unseen. Dick was among my heroes and mentors, and Melissa has been a savior. 

She has run my unmanageable life for many years. She has been forced into the role of ambassador, telephone operator, chief of staff, defense secretary, appointments secretary and entertainer. We've kept each other laughing and we've survived a lot together. I owe her a great debt. She knows that. In January, several of us will gather at a small dinner in Manhattan. Police will no doubt respond. It will get ugly. We will consume a lot. Secrets will be revealed, jokes will be told, and glasses will be raised -- many times -- to a woman who today is the toast of our newsroom. Thanks for everything, Melissa.

by Ron Allen, NBC News correspondent

We recently met a journalist who reminded us, in a very profound way what our profession is really all about.

His name is Mustafa Haji Abdinur. He lives in Somalia. He is just 27 years old. He has lived just about all of his life surrounded by chaos, death and misery. That's what Somalia is, one of the worst "failed states" in the world. A country that has been at war with itself, with no functioning stable government, since the early 1990s. Six journalists have died there this year. But Abdinur stays.

During the early 1990s, I spent many, many months in Somalia covering the United Nations intervention supported by the United States, the hunt for the country's notorious warlords, and later the infamous "Black Hawk down" incident that killed numerous U.S. troops. It remains one of the most dysfunctional places I've ever known. The enduring image is of young teenage men, boys actually, dressed in tattered clothes, flip-flops on their feet, and armed with semi-automatic rifles. Or manning the big machine guns called "technicals" mounted on the back of pick-up trucks that were a constant presence on the streets.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

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

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

We hope you can join us tonight.

By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC Nightly News digital correspondent

"At the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, 1999, Cinderella's electrically powered, computer-generated horse and carriage may turn into a pumpkin."
 
Thus began one of my first articles written for the student newspaper as a UCLA undergrad. The topic: Y2K, the computer meltdown expected to wreak havoc on the world in the year 2000. It was arguably the first news story of the decade, and also the first of my budding reporting career. Y2K turned out to be a dud, as the millennium rolled around without much of a hitch. But the story signaled the beginning of a remarkably interesting and turbulent decade for journalists, one marked by a string of historic news events, and technological changes that would transform the industry forever. As a journalist, I came of age amidst it all.
 
On the morning of September 11th, 2001, I was supposed to have a phone interview for an entry-level production position with "60 Minutes." I was finishing up graduate school and trying to line up a job. Needless to say, that conversation never happened. Instead, when the phone rang that morning, it was my mom. She woke me with words that were surely spoken all across the country: "Turn on the TV."
 
Unlike virtually every other news event I've lived through, I had no desire to cover September 11th. I only wanted to sit in front of the TV and mourn. For two days, I did just that. I watched "NBC Nightly News" on the day of the attacks, transfixed by the most powerful images I'd ever seen. I distinctly remember Tom Brokaw saying the word "despair" as they showed a person jumping to their death. I started crying. Like the doctor who becomes a patient, or an actor sitting in the audience, I learned what it's like to be on the other side, as a viewer during a time of confusion and trauma. I wanted information—lots of it—and perspective, and compassion. I strive to incorporate all of those things into my work today.
 
Anyone who thought we'd get a breather after 9/11 was surely disappointed. The last 10 years have been packed with material for the history books: The invasion of Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Katrina. I didn't cover any of those stories. But unlike with 9/11, it was not because I didn't want to. During those years I essentially had desk jobs, producing and later anchoring. I couldn't stand the fact that I was sitting in a building while history was happening. I was dying to get out into the world and do some real reporting. Eventually, I broke free.
 
After a few years of feeling like I was sitting on the sidelines of journalism, I decided it was time to play. I quit my job, bought some shooting and editing equipment (all small enough to fit into a backpack), and a plane ticket. I headed to the Middle East to work as a freelance reporter, but also unknowingly began a journey towards what's been called the future of journalism.
 
Completely by accident, I became a multi-media journalist and part of the massive shifts taking place in the industry. Mostly I'd sell complete video pieces, but sometimes I'd offer a blog post, sometimes a photo slideshow, other times a text piece. Instead of focusing on one medium, like print, TV, or the web, I worked in all of them.
 
Some people decry these types of changes in the industry, arguing they result in lower quality and lost jobs. But I have always seen the silver lining. If not for the tiny technology and vastness of web real estate, I wouldn't have been able to offer important stories from all over the world, from Congo to Indonesia to Lebanon. The question for news outlets today is not "Do we send one person or do we send a crew?" but "Do we send a one person or do we scrap the story altogether because we can't afford a crew?" To me at least, the answer is obvious.
 
After a few years as a freelancer, in 2007 I started working for NBC News as their first-ever Digital Correspondent. I have happily been part-guinea pig, part-prototype, helping the network figure out how best to serve our viewers in this brave new media world. I'm only a tiny piece of the puzzle, both here at NBC and beyond.
 
Ten years ago I had no idea that Y2K would be the least of our worries in this decade. Naturally, we never know what the future will bring. But I did have some expectations, one being that over time, journalism would change me. What I never would have guessed was how much journalism itself would change.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

A friend of mine was on a Jet Blue flight last night, coming home from vacation. He chooses Jet Blue, as a lot of us do, only because we can watch live satellite TV while flying to our destination.  But on last night's flight, the system was disabled.  On other flights, no luggage is allowed beneath the seat in front of you.  On still others, no one is allowed to have any reading material for the last hour of the flight.  Blankets and pillows?  If you can find one, just don't keep it in your lap.  All of this is in response to an incompetent would-be terrorist who lit portions of his private parts on fire while on final approach to Detroit on Christmas day.  If this lone wolf (lone mook? Is there such a term?) is the new face of terrorism, then we have to meet the challenge the same way we won the Second World War or went to the moon.  Banning blankets on laps or the Sky Mall catalog isn't going to combat terrorism.  Brainpower might help prevent it.  Airport security didn't pick this guy up—but real intelligence—applied human and electronic smarts might have stopped him.  Why are new sets of aviation regulations always in response to the LAST attempt?  Wouldn't it be better to outsmart the next one?

I fly a lot, as does my family, and I love my country.  So you might say I have a vested interest in this one.

Anyway: We're back at work to start off a new week, and we hope you can join us.

by Carl Quintanilla, NBC News

The holiday season may be at the top of many minds, but it's also the second day in which someone has attempted to disrupt the traditions of the season – in this case, air travel. There's word tonight that a passenger on a Delta Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit tried to set off firecrackers – some reports say "explosives" – as the plane neared landing. The passenger was immediately subdued but caused some injuries. Details are still coming in.

By Natalie Morales, NBC News anchor

OK, because it's Christmas Eve and I'm in the chair today... a little bit of creativity is deserved on our Daily Nightly Blog (bear with me because the rhymes and poetry are not exactly Shakespearean ;)

 
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house...
President Obama, no doubt, very happy at the White House...
(note: not much that rhymes with mouse that works)
as the Senate pushed through his vote on Health Care...
so that 30 million uninsured soon will be spared.
 
A historic measure, should it pass...
Though Senate Republicans say not so fast.
"It's too expensive!" they cry, "and not comprehensive enough...
it's not over till it's over...," and all that good stuff.
Stay tuned to the political drama on Capitol Hill
'Til the new year we'll have to wait, for that historic bill.
 
Onto the other big news of the day...
a deadly blizzard now making its way...
parts of the Midwest are covered in snow...
a nightmare for stranded Christmas travelers with no place to go...
Rudolph, oh Rudolph, where are you now?
please help Santa tonight, along with a million snow plows...
 
And father and son together again...
a bitter custody battle finally over...for the Goldman's
As Sean and David now fly home to the U.S...
a Christmas story like no other -- even Santa would be impressed.
 
Ok, that's the end of the poem,  I promise...
though if you have any ideas to improve on this mess...
I'm open to suggestion... and sorry for the bad rhyming, I confess.
But please watch tonight and lend your support
for those of us working to give you our most detailed report.
 
Happy Holidays!

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

My friend Bob Howard died this morning, and I'd like to ask you to watch the segment we're airing on Bob tonight, just so you can know his story. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, who was nominated for the Medal three separate times, for three separate acts of valor. He was widely believed to be the most heavily-decorated veteran alive, until his death this morning in Waco, Texas at the age of 70.

It was an honor and a blessing to know him, and I'm comforted to know that we spoke by telephone just before he lost the ability to converse. The fact that another recipient of the Medal was in tears just now on the phone tells you something about how Bob was regarded by his peers. There are now 91 living recipients...and today their ranks have suffered a huge loss. So has our country.

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

Related story: Read the July 2007 Daily Nightly post honoring Robert Howard's bravery.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

We were just having a newsroom discussion about the health care bill -- at least about what we think will be the final version of the health care bill.  Help me out with this question: Is anyone HAPPY with what has happened so far?  Does anyone feel that the platform or provision they wanted is going to emerge the way they were hoping? Is it better than nothing, or would nothing be better than this, even if we don't exactly know what "this" is yet?  Drop us a line with your opinion.

And thanks to all those who reacted positively to the Will Ferrell cameo.  I believe he's the best and most gifted physical comic of a generation or more, but I am twisted and have my own issues.

We hope you can join us tonight.

By Maria Menounos, NBC News contributing correspondent

When 9-year-old Zach Wilson and his mom, Erica, went to the local shelter earlier this year to adopt a second pet, he discovered, what seemed to be, an inordinate number of animals. Zach astutely inquired as to why the shelter was so overcrowded. He was told that more and more people are turning in their pets today because they can no longer afford to care for them. The nation's devastating economy has been just as horrific to Zach's home state of Florida. The state had almost 53,000 new home foreclosures just last month - the second highest rate of foreclosure in the country. The reality deeply affected Zach.

For some, losing a pet would not only serve as a greater sense of failure and shortcoming but also mean losing a best friend. In other cases, it would mean losing the last thing in the world. Zach considers his own dog, Brandi, to be a fellow member of the family. His mom Erica considers Brandi a second daughter. As a pet owner myself, I fully concur and convey their sentiments, as do, no doubt, millions of other pet guardians. However, to be so sensitive at the ripe age of nine is remarkable. To act upon those sentiments, at any age, is downright extraordinary. Act is just what Zach did.

Knowing how devastating it would be if his family were forced to surrender Brandi due to economic hardships, Zach started a pet food pantry out of his garage. Every week people who needed assistance feeding their pets could, and would, come to get supplies. In just a few short months, the program grew. Today, they operate from a donated space at a local strip mall. Zach, of course, picked all the colors for the walls, taking great care to insure that the environment emoted happiness.

Because of Zach, many people in suburban Orlando are able to brave the harshness of this economy aided by the warm and unconditional love of their companion animals. But Zach's plans don't end there.

Having a sister with autism and cerebral palsy, Zach's also sensitive to the needs of the disabled. Subsequently, he wants to build an animal sanctuary for disabled and elderly pets – a cause to which I can also relate. I had a quadriplegic poodle, Noelle, whom I adopted for 25 dollars 7 Christmases ago. Her life and our memories with her continue to bless my family.

And though I would love to write on about Noelle, the many blessings companion animals convey upon us and even the promotion of pet adoptions this holiday season, I am far more compelled to extol the actions of a 9-year-old boy. Zach Wilson is not just helping animals. In reality, he's helping the people of his community. These people, many of whom are on their last legs having experienced heartache over umpteen other losses and setbacks, are able to keep their pets at a time when they need them most. More than anything, though, Zach's greatest gift is the example he has set. He saw people hurting. The hurt affected him and he chose to do something about it. In the end, a 9-year-old boy with limited resources was able to tackle a large problem and succeed in helping others.

Often, we are overwhelmed when presented with problems affecting fellow human beings. Most of us DO feel bad but in enacting solutions or in providing relief, many of us feel that we don't even know where to begin. But if a 9-year-old boy could figure it out, maybe we can, too.

If you would like to donate to Zach's pantry you can go to their Web site:

Central Florida Animal Pantry
http://www.animalpantry.org/

Photo captions: (top photo) Zach Wilson and his mother, Erica, play with their dog Brandi at home.

(bottom photo) (l-r) Erica Wilson, Zach Wilson, producer Victor Limjoco, and correspondent Maria Menounos in the Central Florida Animal Pantry.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I've never been able to explain or justify my fascination with the New York Times wedding section on Sundays.  It's part of my weekend routine.  I love to see how it has changed over the years, and how it hasn't.  I love figuring out family trees ("Is he a Vanderbilt?") and finding the occasional blue-blooded family with names like Winthrop (known to his friends as "Win") and Bunny (known to her friends as "Bunny.")  Then there's the so-called "Big Box" wedding, the one event they feature each week, with a biographical sketch of bride and groom.  In my experience, as a reader prone to reducing them all to parody, all of the grooms are kind, reserved widowers and all of the brides are free spirits, who are "more at home in hiking boots than high heels..."

So there I was, snowed in this past Sunday morning when I saw the most brilliant addition to the page, ever.  We've reproduced it below so you can see it for yourselves. 

                   

All that needs to be said is this: Bravo, Will.

We hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

A lot of holiday travel plans have been ruined by the big storm. We're hearing stories of people whose flights were canceled yesterday, who now can't get a seat on another flight until next weekend! The video we're seeing of stranded passengers who will have to wait days to get out really brings home just how dramatically the airlines have shrunk over the last 18 months, in both the number of flights offered and the size of the planes they're flying on many routes.

Intellectually we all understand a storm of this magnitude is going to ground flights and inconvenience passengers, yet one has to wonder if the current airline business model hasn't -- at least in this instance -- created its own perfect storm? Once again tonight our correspondents, along with our colleagues from our sister network, The Weather Channel, will be reporting the latest on the massive storm and its aftermath.

I hope you'll join us for the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Lots of holiday reunions and vacations are in flux tonight as the airlines deal with this massive snowstorm hitting the East Coast. Thousands of flights have been canceled, impacting travelers across the country. With the airlines already operating fewer flights than they used to, and passenger loads traditionally high this time of year, it could take days for some people to be re-accommodated on other flights.

I've covered aviation for many years, and I'm often asked why airlines cancel so many flights before the storm even arrives? Here are some of the reasons: Airlines have to consider not only where their airplanes are, but where their pilots and flight attendants are too, and where they may potentially become stranded.

Once weather delays start in a particular region of the country, flights destined for those places end up stuck at their departure gates, blocking incoming airplanes from parking and disembarking their passengers. Taxiways quickly become crowded, and every minute a plane waits on the ground with passengers, the clock is ticking against the maximum number of hours flight crews can legally work.

So, when big storms approach, airline staffers inside high-tech operations centers -- usually working with their own meteorologists -- begin to execute a plan designed to make sure they have their airplanes and crew members available in the optimum places to get things back up to speed as soon as possible after the weather passes. Yes, modern jetliners can land in almost zero visibility. However, the runways and taxiways have to be reasonably clear of snow, requiring airports to suspend operations at some points to allow the plows to do their jobs.

Finally, another big source of delays in snowy weather is the need to de-ice airplanes before takeoff. This is a delay you should be happy about! Even a thin coating of ice on a wing can rob a plane of critical lift during takeoff and cause an accident. Planes must be sprayed with special de-icing fluid before takeoff, and if they are not airborne within a specific amount of time, the process has to be repeated. Again, don't grumble over this one. Taken together, these factors -- and many others -- if not managed properly, can be a recipe for airport grid lock. The philosophy of airlines is that it is far better to begin strategically canceling flights in the face of approaching storms rather than risk a massive meltdown, and a longer post-storm recovery.

I hope all of you safely make it to your holiday destinations. We'll have a lot of today's massive storm on tonight's NBC Nightly News.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I talked to Charlie Gibson this afternoon, and there's a letter waiting for him at his home with some personal thoughts and good wishes.  He is leaving the anchor chair tonight, leaving ABC after more than three decades with the same company.  He's a friend and a good guy and has been a world-class competitor every night.  These three network evening newscasts are at their best when we're all good, every night.  And Charlie has helped to keep us that way.  I wish him happy trails, and only the best.

Back to the home team: As a monster storm churns up the Eastern seaboard, scuttling whatever plans we had for Saturday shopping, we hope you can join us tonight. Lester is here this weekend, and I'm back for most of next week's broadcasts.  Promise me you'll have a good weekend, and please join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

There were no arrests. We managed to pull off our annual Nightly News holiday get-together without involving the NYPD, FDNY or Emergency Services.  That I know of, anyway. I should quickly add: several staff members appear to be in some physical pain today.  We took over control (for the night, and not by force) of a Midtown Manhattan tavern, where I plugged my iPod into the house sound system; speeches were made, food and drink was consumed.  I wish you could all be there—just to meet the people who put this broadcast together. They are my friends, they are a great bunch, and it felt great to have a nice night out—and to thank them for being the best and for working so hard.  I've said it before: On many days, I'm the least of the effort, and yet by dint of how our industry is constructed, I receive the most attention. I owe them my thanks every day.

One detail: While we continue our two-week run of Making A Difference segments tonight, we mentioned the WRONG ONE at the end of last night's broadcast (when we talk about what's "Coming up tomorrow night...") but I'm positive you'll enjoy tonight's segment, about kids and troops and the holidays.

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

CHICAGO
-- It's not easy to imagine a better messenger of compassion than a pup
named Rudolph. Especially when the recipients of the message are
elementary-age children. They're young enough to respond to floppy ears
and a soft coat, and old enough to understand the life lessons they are
receiving.

Rudolph is not an ordinary dog, and
Marcia Fishman knew this when she decided to take him in. She already
had one dachshund, named Gunther, and wanted another one. That's when
an online search led Marcia to a small fawn-colored dachshund she would
call Rudolph. Not only was his coloring a result of over-breeding, so
too were his inability to see or hear. Marcia's favorite hobby is
training dogs, but this would present a unique challenge -- how to care
for a dog that is blind and deaf? She decided to find out.

VIDEO: A can-do canine named Rudolph

Read the full FieldNotes blog post here.

For more information about Rudolph, please visit http://www.rudolphsnoseknows.com.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Do not miss The Onion's compilation of the top stories of the last 4.5 billion years. As comedy sites go, the faves remain: Awkward Family Photos and  FailBlog. Best web videos enjoying wide circulation right now: Honest Fat Kid (if you'll forgive the title -- I didn't name it), The Year in Autotune (brilliant), and for the kids, Hamster Jazz Band. Today the AP wrote about the top web videos of the year, all by now familiar to most web veterans.

This is a big night here--our annual holiday blowout is tonight. There will no doubt be arrests.

We hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Nothing I could write could be any more interesting than the stuff out there today: from a great blog on what happened 70 years ago tonight in Atlanta, to the death of a man who changed how we shop in America, to a questionable call on the census, to feeling old.  So there you have it.

We hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight. 

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

"Aren't you a pilot?"

I am asked that question about once a week.  The truth is, I'm not a pilot. When the question is asked, my joking answer is "No, but I play one on television."  It's probably more accurate to describe me as an "aviation enthusiast" (translated by the wife it reads "aviation geek"). As a reporter, I jump at any chance to get in the cockpit, and have ridden in everything from F-16's and  B-1 bombers, to an Otter float plane and even a glider.
 
I have always loved airplanes.  As a kid growing up on Air Force bases, my earliest memories are of watching F-104 Starfighters streaking overhead, and hanging out in the hanger with my Dad, an Air Force Sergeant, as he worked on planes.  He was also a private pilot, and I often flew with him in Cessnas, and from time to time he'd let me take the controls.

In 1970, when he was stationed in Alaska, my oldest brother piled me and my other brother into his '64 Chevy and drove us near the end of the runway at Anchorage airport to see the arrival of the first Boeing 747.  We were all grins. Those were the days when a simple chain link fence was all the separated the public from the airfield, and I remember we could make out the pilot's faces as it taxied by us.  I remember thinking something that big could never fly.  (I flew on a 747 last month going overseas and I still marvel at it.)
 

Fast-forward 40 years, and the same grin was on my face when I visited the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington this past summer and came face to face with the brand new Boeing 787 for the first time. 

Like the 747, it breaks new ground.  It won't be the biggest plane flying, but the technology in it—from super-quiet, super-efficient new engines, to the light-weight composite wings and fuselage—are expected to make the plane a game-changer for airlines.  Boeing says it will use 20 percent less fuel than current planes on extreme long distance flights. That's why 840 of the new 787s have been sold before it's even left the ground.

In full disclosure, General Electric, our parent company, makes one of the available engine types on the 787. Introducing all that new technology, and a complicated global production process, have delayed the first flight of the 787 by two years.  The "first flight" has been postponed five times. Sometime today, however, weather permitting, the 787 will finally take to the air to begin a rigorous nine-month testing regimen.  A lot of my fellow aviation geeks will be parked outside the Everett airfield wearing their own big grins when the plane finally takes flight.  I'll be watching here in New York.

I did a preview of the 787 this morning on TODAY, and after its first flight, I'll have a full report on NBC Nightly News with some rare behind-the-scenes access to the 787 factory.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Without question, the best thing I've come across today is by Associated Press reporter Beth Harpaz, and I suggest you take a moment to remind yourselves what has changed about getting around in the past 10 years. It's remarkable to look back on the changes—some sudden and some incremental.

I hope you had a good weekend--we're back for another week, and we hope you can join us tonight.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

The Tiger Woods story has taken another big turn. We've just gotten word that Accenture has become the first company to formally cut its sponsorship deal with Woods, and they didn't mince any words in doing it.  A company statement says Woods is " no longer the right representative." An Accenture spokeswoman told us by telephone this is "an immediate termination."  We'll have a lot more on this development and the growing risk that other companies may follow suit.

We also plan to update a high altitude drama out west where a search is underway for two missing climbers on Oregon's Mt. Hood. The body of a third climber has already been recovered. It was three years ago this month that three other climbers died while trying to scale the mountain in a snow storm.

It's hard to believe someone can get in position to take a swing at the leader of a major Western power, but that's exactly what happened to Italian premier Berlusconi at a rally in Milan today. We've got pictures of the stunned and bloodied prime minister, and we will have the latest on the attack when we come on the air tonight.

Also from Italy, Amanda Knox, the American student convicted of murder, is speaking out about the verdict and about her anguished first night in prison after her conviction. We'll tell you what she's saying.

I hope you will join us later for the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Tiger Woods has been the gift that keeps on giving to advertisers throughout his professional career. Now those companies who have steadily cashed in on his name are trying to weigh the risks and rewards of sticking with him. The Woods scandal is quickly becoming a major business story, with his decision to step away from professional golf for an indefinite period of time threatening the bottom line for those who have invested in the Tiger Woods brand. We'll be reporting that story on tonight's Nightly News.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

For those of you who won't be able to make it to New York to pay us a visit this holiday season, let me set the scene.

Outside my office window, the wind is howling, and the silver and gold flags around the rink are billowing. Branches and lights on the beautiful 30 Rock tree are swaying and swinging. I can hear the Salvation Army bell on the sidewalk below, and I can hear the Christmas music being played on the rink. Darkness is falling in the city, and the lights are becoming vivid. Shoppers and tourists are walking three abreast on 49th street, and people (bundled against the severe cold) are filling up the Channel Gardens, where the beautiful holiday angels are lit up. The snowflakes are lit in tiny white lights on the front of Saks. It is the holiday season in New York.