By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

We have all been gripped by the drama of nature today as that massive earthquake spawned a tsunami that has marched from the shores of South America, clear across the Pacific Ocean.

It is hard to imagine an earthquake in Chile could trigger warning sirens in Hawaii. With the grim memories of the horror I witnessed in Port-au-Prince last month, it is also hard to imagine any quake could be more powerful than that one. Today's 8.8 magnitude quake in Chile unleashed roughly 500 times more energy than the one that rocked Haiti.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

After tonight's broadcast and after looting our hotel mini-bars, we're going to try to brave the blizzard and fly east to home and hearth, and to do laundry well into next week.  Before we leave this thoroughly polite country, the polite thing to do is leave behind a thank-you note.
 
Thank you, Canada:
 
For being such good hosts.
 
For your unfailing courtesy.
 
For your (mostly) beautiful weather.
 
For scheduling no more than 60 percent of your float plane departures at the exact moment when I was trying to say something on television.
 
For not seeming to mind the occasional (or constant) good-natured mimicry of your accents.

For your unique TV commercials -- for companies like Tim Hortons -- which made us laugh and cry.
 
For securing this massive event without choking security, and without publicly displaying a single automatic weapon.
 
For having the best garment design and logo-wear of the games -- you've made wearing your name a cool thing to do.
 
For the sportsmanship we saw most of your athletes display.
 
For not honking your horns. I didn't hear one car horn in 15 days -- which also means none of my fellow New Yorkers rented cars while visiting.
 
For making us aware of how many of you have been watching NBC all these years.
 
For having the good taste to have an anchorman named Brian Williams on your CTV network, who turns out to be such a nice guy.
 
For the body scans at the airport which make pat-downs and cavity searches unnecessary.
 
For designing those really cool LED Olympic rings in the harbor, which turned to gold when your athletes won one.
 
For always saying nice things about the United States...when you know we're listening.
 
For sharing Joannie Rochette with us.
 
For reminding some of us we used to be a more civil society.
 
Mostly, for welcoming the world with such ease and making lasting friends with all of us.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

It's been interesting today to watch the live coverage of the health care summit going on at Blair House in Washington—from Canada. That we are here during this story has not been lost on us: tonight you will see a report (since Canadian health care is so often invoked in this debate) on the reality of care here. I've watched most of the proceedings today—I don't see our country's problems getting fixed today. While I believe discussion is always a good thing, if it goes nowhere it's just discussion. Health care is just one problem rolling down the track toward us.

It's snowing back home—and it might have been our warmest day here in Vancouver, as our trip here nears an end.  We hope to see you tonight from Vancouver.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I will apologize on the air tonight for what was an honest mistake...and several of you were kind enough to e-mail us to bring our error to our attention. We called "midshipmen" "cadets" instead. I was going quickly through the item about the Pentagon allowing women to serve as submariners, and I made a mistake. While I don't look forward to seeing my Medal of Honor recipient pals who are Annapolis grads (all of them can lift me over their heads, all of them went on to BUDS training to become SEALS) and while the worst part is that I know better...there you have it: I'm sorry for the error. I'll fall on my sword...harpoon, whatever...tonight on the air.

I hope you got to see the story from Today about meeting my doppelganger. It was great fun and he's such a sweet guy. I'm preparing another great story about the 1960 U.S. Gold Medal Hockey team. Do not miss Kevin Tibbles tonight on the Canadian military, or his piece on hockey in Canada. Everyone continues to do great work from here. We hope you can join us tonight from Vancouver.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

We're here in Vancouver because so much of the world's attention is focused here—and judging from the emails to us overnight, a lot of our viewers have been understandably focused on the takeoffs and landings going on behind us.  For an aviation buff, its a great perch...we get to watch them come and go all day.  They are superb pilots, used to flying in all kinds of weather extremes, and they fly extremely durable, hardy aircraft—many of them fly Otters, easily the most ubiquitous prop plane in this region. The only problem is: they seem to take off right when we're ready to talk.  Last night I was fighting the aircraft noise at the top of the broadcast, at the bottom of the broadcast and in between.  Bob Costas opened last night's prime time coverage with a live report from one of the aircraft (as it came in for a landing) and Lester 
Holt (fellow aviation geek) is going to do a story on the robust flying business here. I think it might make better live television, however, if we change our backdrop a bit—so starting tonight, you'll see me against a different view of downtown Vancouver. It should mean that airplane noise will be less of an issue.  Sadly, our extraordinary run of beautiful weather here has come to an end. The rain is starting to fall as I write this, and it looks like we're in for a damp rest of the games—snowy on the mountains.

Another thing to look for: the two Brian Williamses. As our Canadian viewers know, I'm not the only on-air Brian Williams in North America. The OTHER one is the anchor of CTV's Olympic Coverage—more accurately, he's the Bob Costas of Canada.  He's a great guy (we've been in touch over the years) and a few days ago, with NBC and CTV cameras rolling, we had a great time together and hammed it up as we visited each other's facilities.  We'll show you a brief bit tonight, and I've put together a longer version for Today on Wednesday morning.

We hope you can join us tonight from Vancouver!

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

It strikes me, as I sit next to Al Michaels during the commercial break before our daily news update segment—that he is the man who gave us the number-one call in the history of broadcast sports—right up there with "The Giants win the Pennant!"  Last night at the hockey game, I thought of Al. We knew watching it (I was lucky enough to be there) that it was one of the best, and perhaps the most exciting, that we would ever see. We really did have mixed emotions—while wearing our USA gear and cheering for Team USA, walking out of that arena and into the streets of Vancouver was...interesting.  We listened to the sad analysis on sports radio all the way back to the hotel.

The games continue here—the news from home couldn't be more serious: terrorist plots, health care do-overs, Toyota's troubles. We will have it all for you tonight.  We hope you can join us.

We regret that some of NBC Nightly News' reporting has been omitted from the Web site and netcast in recent days. Due to restrictions surrounding Olympic footage, we're forced to substitute, and sometimes cut content.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Good afternoon from Vancouver. I'm back anchoring the weekend program tonight, and I may be the only one in town not wearing some kind of hockey paraphernalia. The local papers are calling it "Super Sunday" because of several key Olympic hockey match-ups including Canada vs. USA later tonight.

Canada's "own the podium" plan to dominate the medal count in its own homeland Olympics hasn't quite panned out, but the people on this country will not accept anything less than gold in hockey, their national sport.  Tonight's game is so anticipated that authorities have asked liquor stores in central Vancouver to close early for fear of unruly crowds. We're of course covering all the headlines coming out of the games including the rising American medal count and Apolo Anton Ohno's history-making night.

We'll also head to Afghanistan where Tom Aspell is covering the U.S. offensive in Marjah, and we will walk you through all those new credit card rules about to go into effect.

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

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

A word about just how polite and law-abiding Vancouver is: I have not heard a horn since arriving here over a week ago. Not a peep. Not a short burst to alert someone of a car entering a driveway, not a blast of a horn in anger during a traffic jam. They may have had them all removed.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Olympians are not the crowd I usually hang with. And yet here at these games, working for NBC, you run into a staggering number of people—those you never think, as a TV viewer at home, you will ever get to meet or know.

For example: Every day, I seem to run into former U.S. Ski Team member Picabo Street. Today she was walking her son in a stroller and talking with retired women's hockey star (and NBC analyst) A.J. Mleczko.  Last night, after my wife and I attended figure skating, we got into the hotel elevator and I looked over and saw that the man with us was Dick Button. The one and only Dick Button. We got off at the same floor, and he gave us a world-class 10-minute instant analysis of the night's skating. Just now, en route to do my usual daily segment with Al Michaels, I ran into America's newest gold medalist: Evan Lysacek. I had profiled Evan before the games, and it was great to see him and congratulate him in person.  The people you meet around here!

We have all sorts of news covered for you tonight: from Woods to Lysacek, anthrax to Austin and everything in between. We sure hope you can join us from Vancouver.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

It was a terrible tragedy we were alerted to here, during the start of our workday.  In Austin, Texas—one of the great American cities—a building was on fire, a small plane was suspected to have crashed into it.  Then came reports that a house was on fire in a suburban neighborhood—and an essay had been posted on the web.  It makes for sad, sick and fascinating reading.  It contains quotes like, "Desperate times call for desperate measures…I know I'm hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand...It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country...I also know that by not adding my body to the count, nothing will change."

In death, this "domestic terrorist" (as I have already heard him called on television) has given us a lot to think about.  His words, written with the precision of an engineer, will sound familiar to many. He talks about healthcare, greed and bailouts...and his complaints about the IRS. We have our correspondents on the story, and we will have complete coverage for you here tonight.

We hope you can join us.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

What I shared with you last time remains the case: I don't think any of us has had a single less-than-spectacular experience here in Vancouver—and certainly not a negative contact with a Canadian! For all the reporting (including our own) on glitches, things are running remarkably smoothly. While some big-ticket events have been delayed, and while some American medal hopes have been dashed, we are happy for all the individual stories.It is impossible not to get caught up in the happiness when the Canadians win a medal, especially a gold medal.You've seen perhaps that barge over my shoulder at our harbor side camera location? When Canada scores a gold, those rings sparkle and change colors. Ship horns blast in the harbor. You can hear a roar go up through the crowd (all of them linked, in some way electronically to the games and results—either by radio, portable TV or the ubiquitous giant TV flat screens throughout downtown Vancouver), and you can count the seconds until those filling the local bars make their way outside to scream their lungs out. We celebrate Canada's victories because they are such polite, welcoming and decent hosts—and because we know their medal history at the Winter Games. There is so much "CANADA" merchandise being worn here—and when they run out of Canadians to wear it, everyone starts wearing it, including the couple from Lithuania I met two nights ago, and the couple from Germany I met today. Of course, in some sports (hockey, curling, etc) national pride and rivalries would prohibit even the thought—on the part of even the most casual fan—of wearing anything but the home team colors.

As I survey our choice of stories for tonight, one stands above the rest as the most interesting: The TSA announcing plans to swab the hands of airline passengers looking for traces of explosives. As veteran readers remember, I had a positive "hit" for TNT after returning from Afghanistan—I had a gift in a Ziploc bag that had been handed to me by an American commander just off the firing range.  His hands and gloves and uniform were covered in gunpowder—which then got all over the inside of my carry-on—which then triggered the swab test at National Airport in D.C.

Recently, Nightly News investigated the controversy surrounding full-body scanners...hand swabs will be the next topic of discussion. The TSA was last in the news after this apology. It's another thing for airline passengers to get used to.  And most will say the same thing: It's a small price to pay if it makes us safer.

We hope you can join us tonight.

VANCOUVER – Every now and then, you meet an individual or a family that is so special that they stop you in your tracks. As a journalist, you try to step back and not get too close, try not to get sucked right into what makes them so special. Snowboarder Kevin Pearce, his parents, Simon and Pia Pearce, and his brothers are just that kind of family.

One would think that having a father who is a world renowned glass-blower, artist, owner and operator of the Simon Pearce chain of stores and restaurants would be special enough; or having a mother who has written a top selling cookbook or an uncle who is the new Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr.

However, upon meeting Kevin and his family in their hometown of Norwich, Vermont, none of these things are as impressive as the closeness of this family and the relationships between the brothers.

VIDEO: Family, spirit and miracles helping snowboarder Kevin Pearce heal

You may have seen Kevin Tibbles' story on Nightly News on Monday night about Kevin and the terrible snowboarding training accident that nearly took his life on New Year's Eve on a half-pipe in Utah. We've been following Kevin and his family for a little while now and can only hope our story did the family a little justice.

Kevin is a 22-year-old snowboarder, who has beaten the now legendary Shaun White twice in the last few years. He was a favorite to make a very strong U.S. Olympic team and was considered by many to be one of the few who had a chance to take White's place on the snowboarding circuit.

To say that Kevin is a low-key, modest, grounded young man would be quite an understatement. His relationship with his older brother David, who has Down's Syndrome, and is a Special Olympics ski champion, is remarkable to see. Kevin calls David his inspiration.

On News Year's Eve, Kevin suffered severe brain trauma in Park City Utah, after slamming his head on the edge of the half-pipe. He was airlifted to the University of Utah hospital where he was touch and go. His family rushed across the country to be at his side. His brother Adam has slept in his room nearly every night since.

Just over a month later, Kevin has now been transferred to Craig Hospital in Denver, a world renowned rehabilitation hospital. Simon and Pia were kind enough to invite us out for an interview the day after Kevin was brought to Denver nearly two weeks ago.

His transfer is an indication of the progress Kevin has made, but as you can imagine, Kevin has a long way to go. His mother says the doctors are amazed at his progress. "They told me that they really feel that Kevin's recovery is nothing short of a miracle. I really believe that the people who have worked with him are part of that miracle."

He is now beginning to speak again. He is learning to walk with assistance, yet his vision is impaired from the accident. Still, his parents say that that his spirit and his low-key, but determined, attitude hasn't changed a bit.

"He is the exact sweet self that he's always been," said his mother. "He's just kind of getting back into doing all the stuff that he needs to learn. And he's smiling!"

Kevin, his parents, and his doctors all watched our Nightly News broadcast in the hospital Monday night. It's just another sign that Kevin is moving forward.

According to Pia, his brother David cried with joy back in Vermont watching the segment at the thought of coming out to see Kevin. David was scheduled to arrive in Denver on Tuesday to see his younger brother for the first time since the accident.

"He's going to wrap his arms around Kevin and put yet another big smile on Kevin's face. We can't wait," said his other brother Adam.

Grateful for every day
The first question Kevin asked his doctors when he was able to speak again was when and if he will ever be able to snowboard again.

Neither his doctors nor his parents have an answer.

"I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the future right now. I'm incredibly grateful to have him where he is right now," said Simon, his father. "If he never snowboards again, that's fine with me. I wouldn't put it past him either."

Pia feels the same. "My hope is that Kevin can just reach whatever potential is possible for him. I have total and complete confidence that he will do that. I am so optimistic."

While it's far too easy to gloss over the challenges Kevin faces, it's hard not to think that with a family this special around him, Kevin will continue to make great strides.

As for the rest of the Pearce family, they appear ready for the fight as well.

"I know we won't look back on this as an awful period in our lives. I think we'll look back on it as actually a very powerful period because it has brought our family even closer together," said Simon.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I want my central message from here to be this: the Canadian people have been beyond wonderful.  Each and every encounter we have had with a Canadian has been pleasant -- despite the great stresses they are under in hosting the world.  A friend of mine says Canada appeals to American visitors because it reminds us of the best of ourselves, and our best times.  All those gathered here are cheering on the Canadian team (while not losing sight of the home team) and being alongside the harbor yesterday when they won their first gold of the games was a singular experience: A ship's horn blasted (tuned to the first four notes of "Oh, Canada...") and car horns sounded; bar patrons emptied into the streets and people cheered.  We knew without looking at a television that they had broken the drought.

When our broadcast gets underway tonight, we'll also be reporting on the tough slog for the American fighters in Afghanistan.  This new assault makes sense with what we saw there, on our last trip, a few months back. They had stepped up the tempo of training the Afghan commandos -- and it was clearly toward a goal.  The fighting will get worse before it gets better, and we are thinking about them tonight.  There is also political news -- and a lot more. We'll have it all for you tonight when Nightly News originates from Vancouver.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Earlier in the week I paid a visit to the Whistler sliding center to chat with Taylor Seitz, the man in charge of manicuring the surface ice on the track. He explained the wear and tear that weather and repeated sled runs take on the track. He even pointed out to me a spot where a sled had crashed earlier in the day, and noted that some of the best in the sport had wiped out on this track.

It just so happened only days earlier I had gone down the sliding track in Park City, Utah with members of Steve Holcomb's 4-man bobsled team and so I started this week with a new appreciation of the danger of sliding sports. Pulling 5g's at 85 miles per hour is not for the faint of heart, and there is not a person in the sport who doesn't know how fine an edge they balance on between life and death.

Today, with the death of Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili, all of us have a deeper understanding of the risk. Today, practice resumed on the Whistler course, and despite assurances that the track itself is safe, there are some big changes in place at the facility and to the course itself as competition is about to start.  On Nightly News tonight I'll tell you about those changes, and what the investigation now reveals about what caused Kumaritshvili's sled to slide out of control.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

We're here. It feels like much of the world is here. The first person I saw in the hotel lobby today was Sully. THE Sully. Here with his wife and two terrific daughters.

We have suffered a tragedy here before competition has even started: and it has laid open a huge underlying tragedy about the inherent danger in some of these sports, and at some of these venues.  We will talk about that tonight, as our larger package of coverage gets underway.

What a day for weather in the U.S. Snow reported, in some form, in 49 of 50 States. We have an update on President Clinton and Haiti and a lot more.

We hope you can join us from Vancouver tonight

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

A number of you (including some of my friends in the military) have been emailing us—during this Washington snowstorm and during the last one—asking us to remember (and show) the 24-hour-a-day vigil at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington. We've been trying.  This past weekend, then again yesterday, there weren't enough military escorts to handle our request.  Believe it or not, military funerals still went on, even at the height of the snow.  Since they are of course the priority, we waited until the first availability today, and have captured the pictures to show you tonight.

Here's to the U.S. Army Third Infantry Old Guard.  While I know you consider your task the highest honor in the military, thanks nonetheless for the service you perform each day. While the rest of us cover the weather, and complain about it, you perform your solemn duty in those same conditions—without complaint and with great honor.  Thank you.

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

By Brett Holey, NBC Nightly News director

I learned today that Norman W. Cook passed away last Friday at the age of 89. I never had the pleasure of meeting the man, and yet I owe him a great deal.

Mr. Cook was the Director of The Huntley-Brinkley Report and then NBC Nightly News from the mid '60s until the early '80s. Julian Finkelstein took over the job from him. I succeeded Julian in 1997.

He has been described to me as a gentleman, very competent, low-key and a "class act." In a business full of ambition and some big egos, many would hope for greater superlatives; yet given the stresses of the business and his position in it, these terms are very high praise indeed.

Mr. Cook's low-key style and respect for his colleagues was an approach that has not always been found among live television directors. Julian continued that air of calm and respect during his tenure, just as I have always attempted to since taking over for him.

I have long considered myself one of the luckiest, most blessed people around for a number of reasons. High among them, I have been fortunate to make my living in a great job in a very interesting profession. Mr. Cook's passing reminds me that since I was in kindergarten the job has only been held by two other men. Both gentleman, both fine professionals.

Rest in peace, Mr. Cook, and thank you.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

We've got a slew of employees staying in hotels tonight--Midtown Manhattan is slowly shutting down. The snow is steady and swirling, and still our thoughts are with friends and family in Washington, where this new storm is on the verge of cruelty. Conditions there have turned truly dangerous, especially for the elderly and those dependent on outside help.

We'll have special coverage of this storm tonight, based on the sheer number of Americans affected by it, and the ripple effects from here across the country (including, as you'll see, the Olympics--where there was another big story today, before the games even begin).

We hope you can join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

My thanks to the wonderful Garland Robinette of WWL (the Big 870) in New Orleans for sitting down with us yesterday to answer a few questions. It is impossible to express what Garland means to that City--impossible to express the role he and others took on at the height of the disaster that was Katrina. I spent hours, many of them huddled in a car, listening to Garland and the volunteer on-air staff trying to inform and calm the audience. As we discussed yesterday, radio was a lifeline during those days.  Garland means more to that city than any other radio host I can think of...in any other major American city.

Tonight, snow once again approaches. Trouble may be coming in Iran. The misery continues in Haiti. The celebration continues in New Orleans. We have it all covered, and we hope you can join us tonight.
 

 By NBC Washington Bureau Managing Editor Albert Oetgen

Several reporters and producers in the Washington Bureau of NBC News were assigned last week to take a broad look at the implications of the unprecedented level of federal deficit spending and exploding national debt. Their series, Future Shock, begins with Lisa Myers' piece tonight. 

The faces of Everett McKinley Dirksen and Lawrence Peter Berra were shaped for preservation on the likes of Mount Rushmore, their voices tuned for broadcast on old-time radio. Jowly, gravelly. They are American icons.

Each of these wise public men, these plain-spoken armchair philosophers, contributed significant phrases to the American language, memorable phrases that have been been mimicked and repurposed over and over and over again. In and through that repetition, the words and thoughts of Ev Dirksen and Yogi Berra have helped us understand fundamental truths about ourselves and our collective culture.

Yogi, who played on 10 World Series winners, said: "It ain't over 'til it's over."

Senator Dirksen, the influential minority leader of the Senate when Lyndon Johnson was wielding unprecedented power in the White House, said: "A million here, a million there, and pretty soon you're talking big money."

Or so people say.

Yogi himself once said "I really didn't say everything I said." And he has made hay out of the popular reaction to his fractured syntax.

Researchers at the Dirksen Center www.dirksencenter.org say they've never been able to establish that the senator said what he was supposed to have said. In fact, they've found evidence Dirksen once said: "Oh, I never said that. A newspaper fella misquoted me and I thought it sounded so good I never bothered to deny it."

But wisdom has grown from myth since the moment we humans began organizing ourselves. And regardless of what Dirksen really said, in the same fashion that Yogi Berra, perhaps the most skilled bad-ball hitter in the history of baseball, never gave up, Senator Dirksen never gave up on talking about the threat of federal deficit spending and debt.

Here's a story he once spun to complain about a proposal in 1965 to lift the debt ceiling to $328 billion, as documented by the Dirksen Center:

"One time in the House of Representatives [a colleague] told me about a proposition that a teacher put to a boy. He said, 'Johnny, a cat fell in a well 100 feet deep. Suppose that cat climbed up 1 foot and then fell back 2 feet. How long would it take the cat to get out of the well?"

"Johnny worked assiduously with his slate and slate pencil for quite a while, and then when the teacher came down and said, 'How are you getting along?' Johnny said, 'Teacher, if you give me another slate and a couple of slate pencils, I am pretty sure that in the next 30 minutes I can land that cat in hell.' "

Last week, Congress raised the debt ceiling by $1.9 TRILLION, to $14.3 trillion. Maybe that's not hell, but it's making a whole lot of people begin to sweat profusely.

The latest prominent politician to paraphrase Dirksen was President Obama. He told CBS News on Sunday: "The package that we've put together, the Congressional Budget Office says, will cut the deficit by a trillion dollars. Even in Washington, that's real money."

Debt or deficit, there's general agreement that all this red ink is bad for us, and a lot of people think that the long run is finally here. How bad? Some pessimists say the Great American Republic is in demonstrable decline and, just as the 19th Century belonged to the British, and the 20th to the Americans, the 21st will belong to the Chinese.

But then, there's Yogi.

As American as hot dogs, apple pie and, well, baseball, the Yankee catcher is a reliable guide through all of this. The unfettered political environment, the freedom to oppose and thrive, the free-wheeling political crucible in which Everett Dirksen could flourish and influence things from a minority position, is our strength. The planned and managed economy of China might be working now, but the downside is significant.

Here's what Yogi would say about the decline of America:

It ain't over 'til it's over.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Today I get to talk to one of my favorite Americans.  Garland Robinette, the voice of the Big 870, WWL Radio in New Orleans.  Garland is one of the voices—one of the people—who helped New Orleanians get through Katrina, and all that has followed. He was one of the people I was thinking about last night when the Saints pulled it off. I just have to hear his reaction to this victory. It is impossible to express my emotions for that team or for that City...except to say: I wish I was there, I'm thinking of them, and what a game that was. As a cultural "milestone," it was one thing (the "long suffering men" theme of numerous commercials became comical after a while), and as a football game, it was thrilling. It took a decided turn at the top of the second half. It was all Saints after that.

Here's to the New Orleans Saints and the people of the great City of New Orleans. I'll see you soon. Enjoy this. You earned it. The hard way.

We hope you can join us tonight.

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

Did you miss this on NBC Friday?

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

We're live from Vancouver again tonight. Here, and in our New York newsroom, we are monitoring that massive explosion at a Middletown, Connecticut power plant that was under construction. Early reports are that as many as 50 workers were inside. There are fatalities and injuries. We've had reports of people feeling it 10 miles away.  Ron Allen is there and will bring us up to date on the broadcast tonight.

We're also following the recovery and dig out from yesterday's East Coast blizzard, and it looks like more is on the way later this week.

By the way, that wasn't a "green screen" image behind me on last night's program. Our anchor location with the Vancouver harbor and mountain backdrop is really that gorgeous, though we've got low clouds and drizzle here this afternoon.  Hopefully it's dropping serious snow in the higher elevations where they could really use it for some of the Olympic events. Tonight we're counting down to Friday's opening ceremony with a look at the top 5 athletes to watch in the 2010 games.

We'll look for you tonight on NBC Nightly News.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Greetings today from Vancouver, Canada where the city and NBC are gearing up for Friday's opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

For the time being however, the U.S. mid-Atlantic States seem to be reaping all the winter medals -- at least for snow totals. One my colleagues sitting next to me here in Vancouver, who is normally based in Washington, has been on the phone with his family back home who are without power, and along with a lot of other folks, expect to be in the dark and cold for some time.

Our White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie, who co-hosted TODAY with me from New York this morning, just e-mailed to let me know she is still on the train trying to get back to D.C., but says they are "still powering through." This storm has brought the region to a virtual halt, affecting airports, highways and the power grid. We plan full coverage on tonight's Nightly News.

This will be our first Nightly News from our broadcast position along Vancouver's picturesque harbor. In contrast to the East Coast, it is unseasonably warm here, which is not necessarily a good thing for some of the Olympic events. Ron Mott will tell us a lot more about that and what they are trying to do about it.

I hope you will join us, live from Canada for NBC Nightly News.