Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

There comes a moment—you can almost call it on the fly, but you know it when you see it—when a new season arrives. This morning I woke up in Washington, D.C., and that moment had arrived. I walked across Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. The air actually smelled like flowers. That almost never happens in Northeastern cities, and I really can't recall it happening in New York other than a few spots in Central Park on a perfect day. This was a perfect day: Sunny, 70, cherry blossoms out, protestors in full bloom in Lafayette Park. Flowers and plants are exploding after 3+ days of rain. The ground is still squishy but the sun is working hard. There is not a single cloud in the sky. The Easter Sunday weekend forecast is flirting with 80 degrees.  And yet: One of our big stories in the broadcast tonight has to do with record flooding in New England.  We hope you can join us tonight for our broadcast, from the familiar confines of our NBC News Washington Bureau. For a while there, I was tempted to move the whole operation outside.

"Brilliams" makes his triumphant return to "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"

Related link: Brian and Jimmy's first slow-jam

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

If you love animals, there's a video I'd like you to watch. It's from the website of the New York Times. It will tell the story for itself, but let me say this: Wait 'til you see the lion.

Also from the "loosely defined" animal kingdom, a favorite of our editor, who knows that I think nothing at all of downing a "line" of six Peeps while walking around the newsroom. I insist Peeps are a food group. They can also be works of art.

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

By Thanh Truong, NBC News Correspondent

There are more than half a million children in the foster care system in the United States. In Georgia alone, there are 9,000 foster children—and certainly not enough parents willing or able to take them in.

But then you meet people like John and Polly Lewis from Decatur, Georgia.

"Age didn't slow us down a bit," says 83-year-old Polly. Her husband John is going on 89. They may be in their golden years, but the couple continues to care for children who are not their own. Over the span of nearly 40 years, John and Polly have been foster parents to more than 80 foster children. 

"There was Rickie, Tony...uh, Scotty," recalls John. "Fatina, Jessica...," Polly adds. They'll be the first to tell you they have trouble remembering all 80 names.  Most likely there are more names, but the records only date back to 1972. 

Families First, a non-profit family service agency in Atlanta, has been helping connect abused, abandoned or neglected children with potential foster parents for decades. Kim Anderson, the organization's CEO, says people like John and Polly are extremely rare.

"My guess is—and this is truly a guess—the average foster parents foster between five and 20 children. But 80? That's unheard of. They are blessing. At a time many would've been thinking retirement, the Lewis' kept on giving," Anderson says.

The Lewis' say they started fostering children after they raised their own two children. Polly says when her kids left the house, it just felt like an awfully empty nest. She missed being a mom. At that time Polly was in her forties, John in his fifties.

"I wanted some children in the house to keep me alive, really," Polly says. "They make you feel younger and bring you happiness and joy."

One of those children was Tony Garrison. He was eight years old when he arrived at the Lewis household, after one of his previous foster parents died.

"It was 1992, and I was just crying and crying," Garrison recalls. Tony says that the crying continued until John Lewis brought him a gift, a squirt gun.

"It's like I went from being scared to being balled up in the corner to, like, Hey Mom, Hey Dad! That water gun for some reason relieved all the negative stress," he says.

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

Garrison stayed with John and Polly until he was 18, then went on to college and now graduate school. It would be a serious understatement to say Polly was proud of her foster son, but Garrison doesn't make any distinction between foster parents and his "real" parents.

"The Lewis' are my only family, they've raised me, taken care of me, rewarded me when I did good, punished me when I did wrong. I can honestly say I'd be on the streets, maybe homeless, maybe even worse had I not been with them," said Garrison.

Families First honored Polly and John with a humanitarian award. On the night of the annual banquet, the Lewis' shared the stage with the couple whose real-life foster story inspired the movie, "The Blindside."  A full house applauded the Lewis' as they accepted the award. But the couple says they already received their reward.

"That's the only reward I was looking for—helping somebody as I go through this life. Then my living won't be in vein," Polly says.

"Sometime I think about it—if the children weren't here, what would I have? What would I do? Well, I don't know," said John.

Nearly 40 years after they took in their first foster child, the Lewis' are still at it. They're now caring for two teen-aged girls. Back in the day, their foster children used to call the two "Pop" and "Big Mama." Now it's "Grandpa" and "Grandma."

"I feel great," Polly says. "I'm hoping I'll be doing this for another ten years."

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

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

If you've seen this, forgive me—but this might be a good reminder to send it along to someone else.  It's a YouTube video—it doesn't take more than a minute or two—and even if you don't agree with all or part of the message, surely we can award points for cleverness. The back story appears to be this: AARP held a contest two years ago called "U@50."  They asked for video submissions from people aged 18-30. The theme was supposed to be how the filmmakers saw their lives at the age of 50. While first place went to a student at Emerson College in Boston, the following video came in second.  It is called "Lost Generation," and while its roots have been traced back to a political ad in Argentina, it has now been viewed by over 12 million people on the web.  So: Enjoy.

by Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

By now we're used to our presidents popping up unannounced  in war zones. Still it's an amazing achievement -- whisking the leader of the free world to a far flung location in absolute secrecy. 

In addition to paying his respects to the troops, Mr. Obama was there to deliver an important message to his Afghan counterpart about curbing corruption. The president is understandably worried about anything that might undermine military gains on the ground, especially at a time when the U.S. is committing more troops to the battle.

By coincidence, NBC's John Yang himself just arrived in Afghanistan yesterday, and he will be reporting on the president's brief visit on our program tonight. I hope you can join us.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

After last weekend's health care drama and House vote in Washington, the political theater shifts to the West, and the home turf of Senate majority leader Harry Reid. We're covering the tea party rally going on in Searchlight, Nevada today where thousands of conservative activists have come to rally against the senator and hear from Sarah Palin.

There's also a major political shift underway in Iraq, and our Richard Engel will join me to explain why it could have a major impact on U.S. policy in the region.

We will also tell you about a phenomenon of the social networking era called "flash mobs," and why they have suddenly become a cause for concern in some areas.

Plus, we have new pictures of that erupting volcano in Iceland.

I hope you will join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

After reading this item, you're going to be tempted never to "recycle" a cell phone or Blackberry again.  You're going to want to toss it into a fireplace, skip it across a big lake or place it on the tracks in front of an oncoming train.  A man in Provo, Utah purchased a "reconditioned" Blackberry only to find out that it contained—still intact—the electronic "life" of its former user, sports executive and Utah native Dave Checketts.  Inside the phone is half of the NBA and at least one prominent name here at NBC.  Note to people with fancy celebrity friends: It's probably best to assign code names to people who wouldn't want their phone numbers to fall into the wrong hands.  Especially if you're planning on leaving your phone in a cab or a Radio Shack.

Let that be a lesson to all of us.

And please take a moment to read about the life of television visionary Chet Simmons.

We hope you can join us tonight. Please have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I've complained in this space before that I have not given my music site the time or attention it deserves lately, and it's not for lack of interesting new music or artists. Yesterday I conducted a rare interview with Julian Casablancas, lead singer of the Strokes, who is touring to promote his solo effort, "Phrazes for the Young." I happen to love "Out of the Blue" from that album—which he talks about in our conversation (after swearing he'd never talk about it). He was kind enough to have me and producer Subrata De join him as his guests at the Fillmore here in New York last night. He packed the house and just killed the crowd. It was a fantastic show, and he was thankful and modest until the very end. I've never met an artist so appreciative of the fan support--it almost seems to surprise him, this far along in his career. We will post the interview shortly–he talks about his life, his work and The Strokes. It made for a great day...and a great night. I think I needed a loud, dark room and a diversion from the health care debate, which is every bit as loud.

We hope you can join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Here's the kind of guy I was with last night: one of our Medal of Honor recipients, a WWII vet, was feeling a little ill prior to dinner. EMS was called, transported him for treatment...and he was back in time for the salad course.  As they say, it will take a lot more to keep these guys down. We had a fantastic evening (we honored, among others, a volunteer I first met at Walter Reed) and it was good to see all my buddies. Per usual, I had some fun with MOH recipients like Mike Thornton, Jack Jacobs, Barney Barnum and Bruce Crandall, who was portrayed by Greg Kinnear in "We Were Soldiers."  In his helicopter flying days, Bruce was known as "Snake 6" in the battle of the Ia Drang valley.

I've been looking through the posts you've been sending in: I note the debate over our coverage is similar to the overall debate over health care.  We are paying great attention (as we always do) to fairness, balance and tone...and to the national debate.  It seems to have taken a personal and dangerous turn, where security is concerned—that will be a part of our reporting tonight.  And to the viewer who wrote asking why we haven't covered the Bangor Airport greeters: we certainly have. They are magnificent volunteers and I have seen them in action.

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

By John Yang, NBC News correspondent

When soldiers are sent to war, the military provides all sorts of help for those left behind--mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and children. But what about the four-legged family members?

That was the dilemma Staff Sargent Steve Meduna faced in January 2009 as he prepared to go to Iraq for the first deployment in his 15 years in the Minnesota National Guard: What to do about his 100-pound, two-year-old dog, Dozer--as in "bulldozer." Meduna was newly divorced and his father lived in a town home community that doesn't allow dogs, his brother had a small yard without a fence and his friends who had watched Dozer in the past were all guardsmen going to Iraq, too.

Then he heard about Guardian Angels for Soldiers' Pet, or GASP, a five-year-old network of volunteers who take in dogs and cats--and even horses and, in some cases, snakes and lizards--left behind when their owners deploy with the military.

"The pet is not considered or recognized as a family member," says Linda Spurlin-Dominik, a co-founder and the president of GASP. She started the group after hearing of the problems faced by one soldier from Ohio. A little research turned up reports of dogs and cats dropped off at shelters just before deployments or picked up by animal control--abandoned--right after troops leave an area.

"It's a warm feeling," she says of her work. "You've made a difference in someone's life and made their life just a little bit better when they get to see their pet again."

Meduna learned of GASP just before he deployed and happily left Dozer in the care of Mike and Jessie Siers of Big Lake, Minn. "It was a real weight off my back," he says.

The Siers kept Meduna up to date on Dozer with videos and photos posted on Facebook. At Christmas, they sent Meduna a photo of Dozer in a Santa hat--signed with Dozer's inked paw.

They loved having Dozer with them for 13 months, but knew it had to end. They hated to see him go, but, as Jessie said, "We're so happy that Steve made it back safely."

Before going to the Siers' to pick up Dozer, Meduna worried that his dog wouldn't remember him after being away for so long. He needn't have worried. As soon as Dozer caught a glimpse of his master, he bounded to Meduna's side and jumped--and licked--for joy.

After getting reacquainted, Dozer retired to a corner of the Siers' yard with a nylon chew bone that Meduna had brought for him as Meduna and Siers talked. At one point, Meduna turned toward his car to get something out of it. Yards away, Dozer saw him turn, dropped his bone and shot across the yard to Meduna's side.

He wasn't about to let his master get away again.

For more on Guardian Angel for Soldiers' Pets, visit their Web site
http://www.guardianangelsforsoldierspet.org/

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Begging your forgiveness today, I won't be able to post today because I have to attend a board meeting of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation...meeting at a hotel not far from 30 Rock. Tonight we have a big gala and fund-raiser, and many of our living recipients have traveled to New York for the event. Tomorrow in Washington, they will mark Medal of Honor day at Arlington and elsewhere. So forgive me, but my time and attention is needed by some of the men I admire most in life.

We hope you can join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

One of the great television news writers of our time passed from the scene recently, and sadly, very little attention was given to his death. Then again, it was typical of John Mosedale not to attract any attention.

It's hard to remember when I first saw John Mosedale. I didn't know his name at first—but as a boy, watching the CBS Evening News and carefully studying the background and the people in the room, (for all I knew, they were black-and-white in person, as they appeared on our TV) he was one of the writers I saw. Always in a bow tie and white shirt, always working away at something. In adulthood, when I worked at CBS on 57th Street here in New York, I remember seeing him in the hallway.  It was akin to spotting the drummer from your favorite rock band—the guy behind the front man, the guy who helped make the music great.

John Mosedale was known around CBS News Headquarters for something I'd never seen someone do, and haven't since: he was always reading a book. He never walked down the hallway or to the cafeteria without an open book. He lifted his eyes from the page only long enough to see where he was walking. Later in life, I got to know his daughter—and actually had the thrill of meeting John. He was one of the people who shaped the way we saw and remember history. The history of our industry will record that John Mosedale spent a part of every day trying to make himself better and smarter—so he could do the same for us.

Additionally, we learned over the weekend that Liz Carpenter is gone. Having listened to hundreds of hours of the recorded phone conversations of President Johnson—I can attest to the fact that she was one of a handful of people who stood up to that giant man from Texas. She knew how. She was from the same place, and spoke the same way. I got to meet Liz at the Johnson Library in Austin, and she was such great company. Lyndon Johnson once said, "Liz would charge Hell with a bucket of water." She called herself, "a foot-washing, Psalm-singing, total immersion Democrat." Liz Carpenter was an event—a life force big enough to live on in all who knew her, and many who didn't.

My thanks to Ann Curry for allowing me two days off last week.  I'm back, and we hope you can join us tonight.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

We're ordering dinner to be brought into the newsroom tonight, as we settle in for what could be a long evening in the buildup to the House vote on the health care bill. My guess is there will be more than one pizza delivered to Capitol Hill tonight as well. At this writing, it looks like they'll get started around 6:00 p.m. ET, but few expect the vote on the Senate health care bill and reconciliation act to occur before 8 p.m. ET. It will actually be a 3 vote process to move it out of the House and to the president's desk. 

The Democrats say they have the votes they need, and they have special reason to be confident now that the president has agreed to issue an executive order making it clear federal dollars won't pay for abortions under this legislation. That was the potential show-stopper leading up to tonight's vote.

How unfortunate it has been to hear stories of racial and homophobic epithets hurled at members of Congress by some opposed to the bill. The grassroots movement against this legislation is real, and poll after poll tells us a lot of Americans are against it and they have been making their views known in largely peaceful demonstrations outside the Capitol. It's a shame a handful of people have now distracted from this important and spirited debate with ugly acts of incivility.

We'll have more on that, and full coverage of this evening's drama on Capitol Hill on NBC Nightly News.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

As political theater goes it doesn't get any better than the drama building on Capitol Hill this weekend.  Democratic leaders have been working non-stop to gather enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass the Senate's health care reform bill, as Republicans waged their own battle to defeat it.  Late this afternoon Democratic leaders announced they have the votes in hand and can go forward with a straight up and down vote sometime on Sunday. Still, the president made a quick trip to the Hill to try and cement those votes. On his way over, the president got a glimpse of some of the Tea Party protesters who came out in big numbers to lobby right-leaning Democrats to vote no.  We'll have full coverage on Nightly News, including a look at the provisions of the bill itself and why even if it is passed tomorrow, change would come slowly.

Also on the broadcast tonight, we'll report why police in one southern California community now find themselves the targets of domestic terrorism. We'll also go back to Iraq with NBC's Richard Engel as he marks the 7th anniversary of the American invasion with a look at how the war has changed Baghdad.

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

By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor

One of my favorite things about filling in for Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News, is actually what happens behind-the- scenes.

When, in the afternoon meetings the broadcast's very smart talents go over the rundown of stories, there is yes passion and intensity, but also an easy banter and even warm laughter.

This is a quietly confident team, that includes a surprising number of young people, and what's more, they are remarkably NICE to each other.

(For example when producer Amber Payne won a talent competition recently, people here didn't just congratulate her..together, they watched her entire singing performance and clapped for her not once but THREE times.)

All of which is to say that it is a real pleasure to keep Brian's chair warm again tonight. He is back on monday by the way.

As for what we are working on tonight, get ready for, among other stories:

-More new details on the health care bill, which is still gaining support, including when coverage for pre-existing conditions would kick in,

-Today's images from Haiti's Port-au-Prince, where the rainy season is raising new health concerns,

-New questions about the Pope, and how he handled an alleged child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church in Germany,

-And a story we ran out of time for last night, about a 77 year-old nun who has a lot of poignant reasons to celebrate today's win by Xavier in the NCAA tournament today.

On a final note, I was invited to meet with a group of journalism students from Emerson College this afternoon. And their questions, about how to become good reporters, and how to do stories that make a difference, made me feel we may not have to worry so much about the future of journalism.

See you tonight.

By Ann Curry, NBC News anchor

In for Brian Williams tonight, and the Nightly team is scrambling.

That's because in just a matter of days we should know where the long, roaring battle over health care will finally lead us.
 
Today President Obama postponed his schedueled trip to Indonesia and Australia because it looks like the House vote will be this coming Sunday, and he wants to be in Washington to see what happens.

Speaker Pelosi reacted, saying about the President, "This is historical. I'm sure he wants to be here for the history."

Actually, after all these months of political wrangling in Washington, it's still unclear as to whether the bill will pass, how we'll pay for it, and what exactly would change.  But we're beginning to get a good idea.  oday the House posted the entire bill on line. Here's the link if you have a lot of time on your hands.

http://docs.house.gov/rules/hr4872/111_hr4872_amndsub.pdf 

Otherwise you can see what our crack reporters Kelly O'Donnell and Savannah Guthrie have gleaned, in their reports tonight. 

Nancy Snyderman reports from Haiti, Bob Bazell has a story about how text messages are being used to fight childhood obesity, and Mike Taibbi reports on 77-year-old Sister Rose Ann Fleming, who is behind Xavier's winning NCAA basketball team.

But our executive producer Bob Epstein is also thinking a lot about today's news that Fess Parker has died at 85.  Remember, Parker was the actor who played the brave Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone in the 60s and 70s. Bob, like a lot of boys, was inspired to wear a coon skin hat then, because they too wanted to be kings of the wild frontier. Fess Parker, we will be sure to tip our caps for that tonight. 

Brian Williams, anchor
and managing editor

If you grew up when I did, and if you grew up within 100 miles of New York City, you knew the voice of Ron Lundy. Along with guys like Harry Harrison and Dan Ingram and Cousin Brucie, he presided over the airwaves on WABC-AM 770, and later on WCBS-FM 101.1.

Ron Lundy was a Marine who went into radio -- he was hired from a St. Louis radio station to come here to New York. His claim to fame among movie-goers came in "Midnight Cowboy," but his distinctive, "Hello, Love!" greeting was well known to those of us who wouldn't think of going to the Jersey Shore without an AM transistor radio.

Ron Lundy was one of those voices that became part of your life -- and we learned today he's gone. Our condolences to his family and friends -- and to members of his extended radio family.

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

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

According to the Wall Street Journal (quoting a report by the Government of Haiti in conjunction with the U.N. and other international organizations), Haiti needs $11.5 billion to get back on its feet over the next three years.

The death toll: 220,000. The damage, in a dollar amount, exceeded its GDP last year by 20%. 50 hospitals are un-usable. 105,000 homes were destroyed, another 208,000 damaged, along with 1,300 schools. I've never seen anything like it. 

We have a correspondent and producer and camera crew there right now... working on five simultaneous stories. We will work to keep it front and center.

We hope you can join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Tonight after finishing our work on the broadcast, many of us will go home to the suburbs -- to homes and towns without power -- what were once beautiful towns look more like suburban wastelands.  I've covered a lot of storms in a lot of places: Category 5 tornados, Category 5 hurricanes -- but nothing was quite like what happened this weekend from New Jersey north to New England. While I get the mechanics of it (the stationary High, the encroaching low, the pressure gradient that resulted), I could not believe it was happening. Our power has been out since midday Saturday.  Wires are down and constantly arcing and so many roads are closed in so many towns.  Now, rising flood waters are a huge danger, as they soon will be in the Midwest. I guess it's helpful now and again to be reminded who is in charge, but when I heard those winds on Saturday make that characteristic jet engine sound, I knew this was no ordinary storm.

Despite all of that, we will be here for you at the appointed hour tonight, and we appreciate you joining us as always.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Those of us who recently returned from the Winter Olympics joke that we feel as though we actually escaped winter.

We watched those paralyzing East Coast snow storms from the comfort of an unseasonably balmy Vancouver. Well, it may not be cold enough to snow today, but winter saved at least one more punch for the eastern U.S. in the form of heavy rain and near hurricane strength winds. If it was a bit colder experts say we'd be looking at close to 3 feet of snow in some spots! There are a lot of places under flood watches today. We'll have full coverage on the broadcast tonight, and also tell you why the this may pack an unusually high number of tornados.

There's also important news about your tax refund and why it may take so long to arrive.

I hope you will join me tonight for NBC Nightly News.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

First off, today marks the two-month anniversary of the Haiti quake. I'm sensing a continuing undercurrent of frustration with the pace of improvements and relief there. I'm anxious to go back at some point soon.

Also, there's a new way of looking at what happened in Chile: Reports of the earth shaking far from there and an electronic/seismic look at the chain reaction the big quake touched off, thanks to a superb interactive on our msnbc.com website.

Please have a good weekend. We hope to see you on tonight's broadcast, and again on Monday.

For those who missed it, here's Brian's short, but memorable appearance on "30 Rock." Lookout Telemundo, we hear you're next on Brian's list.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

When I last saw Andeisha Farid, I was saying goodbye to her and 30 or so children at an orphanage in Kabul.  I saw her again last night backstage (see photo below)...before it was time to honor her as part of the great Vital Voices gathering in Washington last night. Andeisha is 26, and has now been appropriately recognized for what she is doing for Afghanistan, one child at a time. After Andeisha spoke, it was time for Secretary of State Clinton to speak—and she quoted Andeisha in her remarks.  It was a wonderful evening.

                 
                   Video: Afghan orphanage director honored

Tonight we'll remember a former member of our NBC Family, Merlin Olsen.  He was a member of the LA Rams' Fearsome Foursome—all of whom had great names: Merlin was joined by Deacon Jones, Rosie Grier and Lamar Lundy.  Merlin was an unusual talent—a superb football player with a masters in economics who could act.  He will be missed.

We're back in New York, hope you can join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Another week, another Amtrak ride to Washington. I'm here tonight because of a gathering at the Kennedy Center to honor Andeisha Farid, the woman we introduced you to during our last trip to Afghanistan. I've linked to the story here. When I left her orphanage, I promised her (as I promised the children), that I knew some "very generous people" back home in the United States. I was talking about Nightly News viewers. They didn't let me down.  Just because of what they saw on television, our viewers donated enough money to help enable Andisha to open up three more orphanages and serve even more children—most of whom have lost one or both parents to warfare. I want everyone who reacted in that way to feel good—I'm here as your representative to thank Andeisha for her good works and loving heart.

We hope you can join us from Washington tonight.