By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

In one of those confluences of work and personal life, I am just back from a trip to drop our son off at college, officially making us "empty nesters" in our house. While I was able to make it to Hyannis Port last Wednesday to cover the death of Senator Kennedy, it meant being away from work Thursday and Friday. I was able to fly to Washington Saturday morning to anchor our coverage of the funeral, before flying back to my son's school to complete the handover and say final goodbyes. 

My theory is this: I highly doubt that I will have deathbed regrets over not having worked a given Thursday and Friday, a major news story notwithstanding. However, I do think I would regret living with the knowledge that I hadn't been there when we took our youngest off to college...to get the college degree his father never got. This episode, while painful and confusing at times, is also evidence that I work for good people who have families of their own. My bosses understood the tug of circumstances and the demands on my time and attention, and they were beyond great about it.

We're in the period now where its back to work, back to school, issues start taking on a new weight and importance -- and so we begin a new week in a new month.  We hope you can join us tonight.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

That big fire burning north of Los Angeles has almost doubled in size since our report on last night's broadcast. Thousands of homes are now under evacuation orders. We'll be going to live to the scene this evening for the very latest.

By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent

It looks perfectly peaceful. There's not a shred of cell phone service, the roads are gravel and the views are to die for. But on the tiny island of Matinicus, 20 miles off the coast of Maine, the waters are anything but calm and folks are in a boil over the region's bread and butter. With lobster prices at a 20-year low, the industry is facing tough times. Fuel and bait expenses are up while the dock price -- what a lobsterman gets for his catch -- is in the neighborhood of $2.50 a pound.  That's almost 50-percent less than just two years ago.  

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

The remarkable life journey of Senator Edward Kennedy has been colorfully and poignantly told these last four days. His family, friends, Senate colleagues, and today, President Obama in his eulogy, have helped complete the portrait of a man who had already left an indelible imprint on American politics and history. This evening the journey ends with Senator Kennedy's interment at Arlington National Cemetery, near his brothers John and Bobby. We plan full coverage of this morning's stirring funeral in Boston, and his burial in Arlington on tonight's newscast.

By Joel Seidman, NBC News producer

It was an old-fashioned sort of rocking chair, the kind you might see on a porch in the South. Perhaps not fitting for a Yankee--but of great comfort to President Kennedy in soothing a back injury from WWII.

There it was sitting in a hideaway in the U.S. Capitol, an ornate room with emerald green walls and post-card views of the Washington Mall and the Lincoln Memorial in the distance.

The hideaway office of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on the third floor of the Capitol is filled with memorabilia, family photos, a roadside sign from "Lough Gur" County Limerick, Ireland, and of particular interest--one of JFK's famous rocking chairs.

A doctor treating the late president prescribed the chair as therapy for his back problems. Rocking in the chair was believed to relieve tension in the lower back by keeping the muscles moving, contracting and relaxing. JFK usually had one of these rockers nearby.

One day back in 2000, when I was NBC's Senate Producer, I brought my daughter Risa, who was 11 at the time, to work with me. By chance, we ended up in Senator Kennedy's hideaway and neither of us will ever forget that moment of her sitting in the rocking chair.

NBC's Senate booth is just steps away, up a narrow staircase to what was once an attic, now filled with the booths of the broadcast organizations covering the business of the Senate.

Jim Manley, Kennedy's longtime Press Secretary, (He is now Communications Director to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) secretly shepherded us down to the hideaway, opened the locked door and pointed out the chair sitting in a corner of the room.

Risa jumped on. "Be careful," warned Manley, fearful his boss might show up unexpectedly. She got off, discovering the brass plaque on the back. It was the chair that JFK had used in the Oval Office. I remember the moment, my daughter beaming that she had sat in a President's chair.

The classic rockers are still made in North Carolina by Troutman Chairs, available on-line for about $350. Troutman bought the original manufacturer, P&P Chair Company. But the chairs are still made the same way: steam-bent hickory and assembled while green according to the original design.

NBC interviewed Sen. Kennedy many times in his hideaway. Every time we were allowed in the Senator would point out a favorite photo or framed poem, or even some of his own work hanging on the walls. There were drawings he made of his sailboat, "Mya."

But it wasn't the family fame or furniture that made Senator Kennedy so lively. Once, when I mentioned in a casual conversation with Manley that I was planning to spend Easter 2001 in Ireland with a friend who had lots of relatives there, I was summoned down to the hideaway.

Senator Kennedy was there. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and quizzed me on my upcoming Irish journey. "What county? The last name of those relatives?" He barked to Manley that someone must get the Irish ambassador on the phone. "Invite my friend from NBC to an embassy event in Dublin," he demanded.

Then he asked if anyone had a camera. Out one came and Manley dutifully snapped a few shots of the Senator and me. The Senator said to me that flashing one of those photos in any pub in Dublin would guarantee a free pint.

I never actually attempted the ploy - those photos are now pinned to a bulletin board in my office at NBC'S Washington Bureau. But my friend's relatives were impressed with the pictures. Everyone I visited in Ireland had framed photos of Pope John Paul and JFK. But I had the candid shots of Senator Kennedy and me in his hideaway--that was my lucky charm.

Most everyone in Washington who has covered the Hill has a Teddy Kennedy story to share. One indelible memory, tennis racket in hand, Senator Kennedy ambling out of the Russell Office Building with Splash, his beloved Portuguese Water dog, unleashed and chasing a just launched fluorescent green tennis ball. Most days the Senator found a few moments outside at a grassy park near the Senate office building, perfect for hitting tennis balls and playing sport with his dog.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Good afternoon.  We're back from Boston, and in New York for tonight's broadcast. The skies are stormy here, and we spent some time in a holding pattern before we could land. Much of the East Coast is bracing for a nasty weekend as tropical storm Danny moves northward. We'll have the latest on its strength and where it's headed.

Meanwhile there's a lot of other news breaking today, including a frank admission from a California Sheriff that "we missed an opportunity" to capture the suspected kidnapper of Jaycee Dugard some three years ago.  She's the now 29-year-old who was kidnapped 18 years ago. That Sheriff is not the only one talking about this case. So is the accused kidnapper from his jail cell. Our George Lewis is going to have a lot more for us on this stunning story.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

I've made my way to Boston, and the JFK Presidential Library where people have already begun arriving to pay their respects to Senator Edward Kennedy. He'll lie in repose here until Saturday morning.

It's hard to describe how deeply Kennedy was ingrained in the fabric of this state. The guy who drove me in from the airport told me, "He was like your uncle." The crowds that lined the 72-mile procession route from Hyannis Port to Boston today spoke volumes about how well he was regarded here. Brian is off tonight, and I'll be leading our coverage of Edward Kennedy's farewell.

From California tonight we also have the amazing story of a girl, kidnapped 18 years ago at the age of 11, who walked into a police station on her own today and identified herself to officers. George Lewis will tell us what police have learned about her long ordeal.
 
Thanks for checking in. I hope can join us later for NBC Nightly News.

We have received a lot of questions in our "comment" sections this week about H1N1, or swine flu. While NBC's Chief Science Correspondent Robert Bazell cannot answer all of them -- we've gotten hundreds -- he will continue to answer your questions here. Some of the most frequently asked questions have already been answered here.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

I am writing this from the intersection of Scudder and Marchant here in Hyannis Port, Mass.  The wind is out of the West at 20 knots, and there are white caps on Nantucket Sound.  Ted Kennedy's sail boat is sitting at its mooring offshore.

I first visited this small strip of pavement when I was 8 years old, and returned with a buddy of mine in high school.  I'd grown up on the black and white images -- those famous Life magazine photos -- of the Kennedy family, wealthy and prominent beyond my ability to imagine it, and their casual, elegant lifestyle along the New England coast here on Cape Cod.  I remember noticing little things: they wore the collars on their polo shirts turned up...Bobby stuffed his hands in the pockets of his sport coat, as did Jack.  Their father Joe wore big, round horn-rimmed glasses.  They all had so much hair and such prominent teeth.  I had never seen anything like this family, and I was fascinated by it all, as a kid reading about it from afar.  I am back today for the death of the patriarch of the modern Kennedy family.

We are doing an hour-long special edition of the broadcast tonight, which most of you will see, depending on the city you're in and the NBC Station you watch. Either way, it will be available for viewing here.  We hope you can join us.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

As the father of two college students, this season has the vague feel of preparation for battle -- with schools sending our literature on their procedures in the event of a Swine Flu outbreak. 

From the beginning, it's been a tricky story for us -- excessive airing of the most dire warnings makes it sound like the worst of media wolf-crying, and yet we see what the Government is telling us, and we hear the dire words. 

Tonight our own Robert Bazell, who is at the CDC (a two-day meeting on this subject) will answer some of the questions we've received after soliciting them on the air last night.

One more thing: While it's not for everyone, I wanted to recommend a very funny place: FAILblog. The name will quickly become self-explanatory. Remember that I said it's not for everyone.

We hope you can join us tonight.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

My thanks to my friends Ann Curry and Lester Holt for sitting in for me, allowing me a week-long (and then some) family vacation at the Jersey Shore. I'm back at work, where I found a few new piles of "incoming" in my office, a high attrition rate among staff members (vacation season, of course -- they need the break as badly as I did) and that end-of-summer feeling that takes over New York each year at this time, as the sun gets a bit lower in the sky. 

We're going to have some big news by airtime -- and it will be a challenge getting it reported, organized and told in time.

For those of you who follow music: My vacation obsessions included a haunting and evocative piece of music from the new film "500 Days of Summer." The soundtrack is terrific -- top notch -- and it features a cover of the Smiths' "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want." It's by She and Him, but you should know the vocalist is the actress Zooey Deschanel. I also remain heavily into "I Am Sound" by the Dandy Warhols.

Tonight we'll mention the fact that the "last column" from the World Trade Center is being returned to the site, where the museum will be, in effect, built around it. I've re-posted a piece we did from the hangar at JFK Airport that has become the repository for all of the wreckage of 9-11 -- as sobering a place as any I've visited.

It's great to be back.  I hope you can join us tonight. 

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Can a president of the United States ever find true seclusion? Probably not, but President Barack Obama and his family are giving it a try.

They arrived on Martha's Vineyard this afternoon to start their vacation, with no public events on their calendar. That is not, however, dampening the excitement among locals and other vacationers on the island. Our Ron Allen, who himself is a frequent Martha's Vineyard visitor, will tell us more about the first family's trip on Nightly News tonight.

We're also covering two more cases of airline passengers being trapped on the tarmac for hours on end. Michelle Franzen is looking into the question of what rights passengers have in such circumstances.

Large parts of Greece are on fire tonight. There have been 90 wildfires there since yesterday, with a major one now burning in the northern suburbs of Athens near 2 ancient temples. We'll have the latest on that as well.

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

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

There's been a lot of complaining about what a strange summer this has been on the East Coast. It was unusually cool in June and July, and we've also had a lot of rain.

To add insult to injury, now that it has finally warmed up, a lot of beach goers are finding out this weekend that their favorite beaches are closed for Hurricane Bill. The storm won't make landfall here, but it is close enough to kick up high surf and dangerous rip currents that can pull even strong swimmers out to sea. We'll have the latest on Nightly News tonight.

By Ron Mott, NBC News correspondent

NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA – When a pregnant Krystle Burdis kissed her husband and sent him off to war earlier this year, she knew he wouldn't be around for the birth of their first child.

But there he was Thursday night, coaching her on, in uniform, on a big TV monitor a few feet from her bed though 6,300 miles away in Iraq.

Marine Corporal Craig Burdis said he expected to find out he was a dad by more conventional means when he left for the Middle East – a telephone call, maybe email, perhaps through Facebook.

But someone told him about Freedom Calls and he was hooked.

That's how he wound up face-to-face with his wife, seeing her every move, hearing her every grunt – and vice-versa-- while she labored for better than 90 minutes trying to push Loghan Robert into the world.

"I can't do it," Krystle cried between exhausting contractions.

"You're doing good, babe," he would pipe in. "Keep pushing."

This exchange between husband and wife – who became mom and dad about 8:30 in the evening – came compliments of a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization, which turns donations into satellite time so men and women in uniform – deployed all over the world – can keep in touch with family.

"To have my husband here, not personally here, but right next to me, supporting me on through it, was amazing," Krystle said.

And when a nurse held the baby boy's face up to the camera for Craig to see, his glowing smile said everything and more that words couldn't express.

Freedom Calls, run out of a modest home office, is essentially a two-person operation impacting a growing number of lives. John Harlow, a former Wall Street executive, is the founder and executive director of Freedom Calls, the tech guru, if you will. Kathryn Hudacek, director of development, is the fundraiser, a most important function – if not the most important – for any charity. Their passion for contributing to the greater good – especially for and behalf of those who risk their lives in service to the country – is the driving force behind Freedom Calls. It also is driving them together in more personal ways. They are engaged to be married.

"I was watching the news one night, and there was a story about a national guardsman who I heard was negotiating with his telephone company because he had run up a $7,000 telephone bill just from calling his family from the frontlines. This seemed to me to be outrageous that our soldiers should be commercially exploited when their families are making a sacrifice for the rest of us."

That was the genesis for Freedom Calls back in 2003, Harlow said. Today, the objective is overcoming economic challenges that are threatening to disconnect military families while the nation remains at war. The service – which utilizes satellites to allow deployed troops to attend weddings, christenings, bar and bat mitzvahs, anniversaries, you name it – is expensive, more than $1,000 a day.
Two of the organization's principal supporters last year – Chrysler and AIG – ran into highly publicized financial storms of their own.

"I'm not going to take this bad economy as an excuse for not finding support for Freedom Calls," Hudacek said. "I know it's out there. I know people can give -- corporations and individuals. And I'm knocking down doors and asking."

Back in North Carolina, everything the young Burdis family asked for came to pass. Loghan Robert arrived with 10 fingers, 10 toes and a healthy set of lungs. A Marine got a chance to be there for the life-changing event, even though he never set foot in the delivery room. And a mom got to say "I love you" to the man in her life, while thanking him for the 7-pound, 11-ounce gift of her life.

What the Burdis family didn't ask for was joy. It just showed up on its own, with a little help from Freedom Calls.

By David Gregory, Moderator, Meet the Press

I heard from someone recently that the economy is about housing and jobs: your house and your job.

With that in mind, two interesting stories tonight. Fed Chief Bernanke announced today that the U.S. economy is poised for growth. That's a stronger case than he's made recently that the recession was merely ending.

We will report on some surprising good news, that home sales jumped last month, fueled by bargain hunters perhaps persuaded that a bottom is in sight. But what about home foreclosures and the administration's mortgage modification program which has yet to make a real impact? Also tonight, what the vote in Afghanistan means for the U.S. mission there. The Economist magazine has a pretty ominous cover story this week. And, what health care reform would mean to illegal immigrants.

I'm in for Brian tonight on Nightly News, and I hope you will join me Sunday on Meet the Press.

By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor

Man, I didn't ask Brian what he was doing on vacation, but I am hoping he's having a restful one, because it's a busy job keeping his chair warm.

The big story today is Scotland's decision to release one of the world's most notorious terrorists. The man convicted of bombing Pan Am 103, which killed 270 people in 1988--most of them Americans--walked out of prison and onto a waiting plane today to return home to Libya. He was released for "compassionate" reasons, the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said.  Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is reportedly suffering from terminal cancer, and allegedly has just three months to live.

President Obama and his administration reacted today, saying, "We thought it was a mistake," and the U.S. then pressured Libya not to give this man a hero's welcome.

Here's the deal. Scotland knew its friend, the U.S., would not be happy. In fact, it was steeling itself for the backlash, which appears to be just getting started.  Many families of the victims are furious.

All of which compelled me to ask on Twitter today, "Was it just compassion that made Scotland release the terrorist convicted in the bombing of Pan Am 103?"

The responses are mostly angry, even cynical:

"I have lost all respect for the Scotts. The man is a murderer,"

"I went to high school with three Syracuse students who died on that plane. Where was the compassion for them?"

"No.  It was oil and politics as usual."

The Christian Science Monitor today does confirm an oil relationship between Libya and Britain: "UK-based oil company BP has been expanding its business and relations with Qaddafi's regime in recent years."

Still, watching videotape of Scottish Justice Secretary MacAskill, the man who made the decision, you get the sense he's a decent guy.

Here's how he put it:

"Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs we seek to live by ... no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated."

For better or worse, that is not an idea in sync with these times we live in.

Watch tonight, and judge for yourself what happened here, and what compassion is and is not.

by  Tom Costello, NBC News correspondent

On NBC Nightly News Tuesday, we tried to provide answers on how much the Health Care Reform proposal in the House would mean to American taxpayers. In short, how much will taxes go up?
 
As it stands, a House proposal would tax family incomes over $350,000 at one percent, with a maximum of $1,500 in additional tax. Family incomes over $500,000 would be taxed at 1.5 percent, up to $9,000.  And family incomes over $1 million would be taxed at 5.4 percent, or $9,000+. 
 
The tax rate climbs if certain savings are not realized.
 
The math is easy enough, but a simple mistake cascaded into a series of errors on our broadcast.
 
We applied the tax hike numbers to the entire income, rather than income over a certain threshold.
 
No political bias, just a simple, silly mistake. My mistake!
 
We'll set the record straight on NBC Nightly News tonight, as Lester Holt sits in.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

We lost another member of the first generation of television newsmen today. Don Hewitt, like Walter Cronkite, was one of the guys who in those earlier days of television, quickly figured out its potential as a platform for journalism. He was behind the first televised presidential debate, and worked on a number of shows, including the Evening News. 

It was "60 Minutes," however, with which Hewitt will forever be associated. He created it in 1968, and served as its executive producer until just a few years ago.  Under his guidance it became one of the most successful programs in television history.  It also raised the bar in broadcast journalism.

We join with our colleagues at CBS today in mourning Don Hewitt's death, and honoring his life, legacy and enormous contributions to our industry.
   
On our broadcast tonight we're covering new guidelines in the American workplace for dealing with swine flu. Also, a day of carnage in Iraq leaves 95 dead, and hundreds injured, while American troops await orders from the sidelines. Plus, auto dealers have taken in plenty of clunkers in trade for new fuel efficient cars, but many are now asking "where's my cash?"  

Brian is off tonight. I hope to see you later for NBC Nightly News.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

On the program tonight,we're releasing the results of an NBC News poll on how Americans view health care reform, including the effectiveness of those town hall meetings.  We'll also have new numbers on president Obama's job performance.

Speaking of health care and numbers, one of the most frequently asked questions about health care reform is, how will it be paid for? We're looking tonight at the various tax options on the table to overhaul the system.

By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor

Hope the overworked Brian Williams is getting in some good R and R, as yours truly helps keep an eye on the news of this day. 

Breaking now: Federal prosecutors say a man tried to steal 130 million credit card numbers, in a conspiracy to pull off the largest case of identity theft in U.S. history, allegedly targeting 711 and grocery store customers.  He's under arrest.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

While a lot of us were watching a pair of brand new tropical storms marching in our direction across the open Atlantic, a third storm has suddenly popped up off of Florida's Gulf Coast. The rain and wind from tropical storm Claudette are already being felt along the panhandle. The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore, who was with me this morning here in New York helping out on the TODAY show, has quickly made his way to St. George Island, Florida. Jim will join us on Nightly News tonight for the latest on Claudette, as well as Ana, and Bill. Keep in mind that less than two days ago the two month old hurricane season had not seen a single named storm.

We also have a story on tonight that will leave all of us wondering if the credit cards in our wallet are still working. Sometimes even keeping a zero balance and paying your bill on time isn't enough to prevent jittery credit card companies from pulling the plug on you without notice.

Also tonight, foreign correspondent Jim Maceda has seen it all while covering the front lines in the war in Afghanistan, but his recent adventure with Marines in Helmand province may take the cake. He'll take us behind the scenes to show us why he's calling this mission "the embed from hell."

Thanks for clicking on. Join us later for NBC Nightly News.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Usually by this time of year my hurricane bag is packed and ready to go with flashlights, fresh batteries, snacks, bug spray, and rain gear in anticipation of being sent to cover an approaching storm. This year, however, I'm a little behind the power curve because until today there has not been a single named Atlantic storm this entire hurricane season. Our colleagues at The Weather Channel say tropical storm Ana, which is about 920 miles east of the Leeward Islands, is churning in the general direction of Florida, but may never reach hurricane status and in fact could weaken. It's sustained winds are only 40 miles per hour. Still it's a reminder the season which technically began in June is finally underway, and all of us who live in or travel to hurricane country need to get ready. NBC's Kerry Sanders will be on the program tonight to look at why the season has been unusually quiet.

Also tonight we'll show you some of my recent trip to Bethel, New York, for a look at Woodstock -- 40 years later.

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

By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor

In for Brian again tonight, we are watching President Obama take on another town hall meeting on health care, this time in a conservative part of Montana, and this time we're told, the audience will be chosen on a first come first serve basis.

The idea is that the president is rolling up his sleeves and taking on the angry backlash we've seen in recent weeks, which threatens to errode support for health care reform. But for reasons unclear, the town hall reaction today looks nothing like what Senators Specter and McCaskill have experienced. So far, no one is yelling, or tearing up signs. This crowd is so polite, frankly this town hall looks like a campaign stop, with audience applause frequently interrupting the President's remarks.

Indeed, when the president just said, "this is not about politics, this is about the American people," he got a long, standing ovation.

Looking closer at the audience you may see one reason why this townhall is different. The people listening in Montana appear much younger than the people we've seen in the earlier, angrier townhalls. And younger, they are less likely to be dependent on the current health care system.

This makes you wonder if we have vastly underestimated the strain the economic downturn has had on elderly Americans. Their retirement funds have shrunk in the stock market, their homes in some cases have faced forclosure, their employment opportunities are not good and now their health care may change? You get the feeling this is not the last townhall we are going to see on the subject.

There is much more we are watching tonight, including new economic news, Michael Vick's public apology, Eunice Shriver's final farewell and questions about what air controllers were doing in the minutes before last saturday's midair collision over the Hudson River.

Also there is a news about sleep that is making me crazy. Scientists say there is a genetic reason why some people need only 6 hours a night. Why didn't more of us get it?

See you soon.

 by  Miguel Almaguer, NBC News correspondent

After producer Aarne Heikkila and I landed at the Tulsa Airport we drove more than 50 miles through small towns on dilapidated roads to get to Dewar, Oklahoma -- a tiny town in Okmulgee County with a population of less than a thousand.

Our journey to Dewar wasn't easy but for many kids, getting out can be even harder. Nobody knows this better than Lucas Taylor. A member of the Muskogee Indian tribe, Taylor was a star baseball player in high school who used his athletic skills to better his life.

When he returned to work for the "Creek Nation", it bothered him that he was one of the few members in his tribe to have pursued higher education. With a group of close friends, he decided to create "4 Love of The Game."

The idea was simple: hook kids with sports … expose them to cities and sights far away from most reservations … and get them into college. His program is entering it's 5th year and it's changing lives.

Aleena Harley is one person who's benefited from Lucas Taylor's vision. She was a star softball player in high school and now attends Bacone College on a full scholarship thanks to the exposure she got through "4 Love of The Game."

For more information on the organization, you can check out their website:
<http://www.4loveofthegame.org/>

By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor

Yours truly in for Brian Williams, getting to watch the brainiacs of Nightly News debate what to include in tonight's broadcast.