by Cynthia Joyce, Nightly News Web producer, former resident of (and currently on vacation in) New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS -- I was just eating a beautiful softshell crab dish at Coquette, one of New Orleans' many new Post-Katrina top line restaurants, and the waitress said, sadly, "Enjoy it while you can."

It seems to be the prevailing sentiment around here.

A friend was in tears this morning over what this spill is going to mean. Shrimp is already up 50 cents a pound, and redfish is up $1 lb today.

The oil spill will radically change the economy here-- and so soon after things started to feel healed.

I ate my lunch with near-religious reverence. It would have been delicious anyway.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Because we all need a break, there is something worth a few minutes of your time on the New York Times website. If you're a romantic about flying (despite what flying has become) like I am, then you'll appreciate this -- it's one of the best uses of social media. These are simply photos of the view from window seats. At best, these photos will take you away -- somewhere else -- even for just a few minutes. And how can that be bad?

We hope you have a good weekend -- please join us tonight and again on Monday.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Last night we did a short item on the Cub Scouts -- about how it's now possible to earn an award in the category of video games.  An article we saw motivated the item -- part of the lead sentence of the article was that it "seemingly" contradicted the larger message and mission of the Scouts to "foster physical fitness."

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor 

I have never visited the pyramids in Egypt, but I've seen them from the air. Back when I was White House correspondent, on one of our trips to the Middle East while covering President Clinton, the pilot of Air Force One dipped a wing of the aircraft and we passed low over the pyramids. It was a fly-over, and that's as close as I've ever been. It was a stunning sight from the air...one of those moments when I had to remind myself that a college dropout from the Jersey Shore was flying on the President's airplane, looking at something I never thought I'd see. But having never visited at ground level, I still can't fathom the size or scope of it, or how it feels to be there, to gaze at it and take it all in.

It's in that same vein that I must respectfully quarrel with a portion of Laura Bush's new memoir dealing with something I witnessed: Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. After reading a portion of the book, I feel compelled to speak up for the citizens of my adopted City of New Orleans. Mrs. Bush, a woman I greatly admire, writes about the decision to stage a "fly-over" during the immediate aftermath of the storm -- rather than allowing the President to inspect the situation on the ground, first-hand, and bring desperately-needed attention and authority to a dire situation.

I remember that day, and I remember where I was the moment I looked up and saw Air Force One making its pass over the City. The Mayor announced that day that hundreds if not thousands were dead. Inside the Super Dome, the air had gone bad and the toilets were no longer working. In the book, Mrs. Bush says her husband the President, "did not want his convoy of vehicles to block trucks delivering water or food or medical supplies...". Oh, how I wish that had been the case -- but the point of those days after Katrina was: that City was begging for help, begging for attention. We were the ones who broke it to the Federal Government that the Convention Center had become the central collection point of suffering -- and that people had died there. A full day after the Air Force One fly-over, on the air from Metairie, I asked FEMA Director Michael Brown why Army helicopters couldn't drop pallets of food and water downtown, as I'd witnessed them do so many times in Iraq. Convoys of aid would not been hampered by the President's visit. To the contrary, those who were there will forever believe: a visit by the President just might have accelerated the convoys of aid.

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

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

This morning's Senate hearing was exceptional. As I plan to point out, it was a kind of non-fiction dramatic theatre--the first four witnesses became the face of Goldman Sachs, for better or worse. A superb piece went up on Salon today to that effect. A friend of mine who was watching--in a highly agitated state--suggested all four be sent to spend a two-year hitch with the Third Infantry Division. Interesting thought. This will go on, and it will get worse for Goldman. They are not the only ones to blame. The Senators leading the questioning are not blameless themselves. The mess is big--and while the hearing was going on, we were learning (again) about the time bomb of the deficit. Guess what? It needs action, or the nation is heading for fiscal ruin. And so it goes.

For those of you who thought I mispronounced "Weir" Mississippi last night--I've been there, and was trying to get it right but it might have seemed wrong on the air. Just as Delacroix, Louisiana is "Dela-crow," Weir is "wear." For the record.

We hope you can join us tonight

By NBC's Robert Bazell

The FDA is warning the public that external defibrillators made by the company Cardiac Science Corporation and sold under the label Powerheart may fail to carry out their life-saving heart resuscitation function because of faulty software. The warning involves 280,000 defibrillators worldwide, half of them in the U.S.  Powerheart defibrillators account for about one-quarter of those in use in this country. 
 
General Electric (and two other companies) market the same product under their own labels in other countries, not the U.S. 
 
Cardiac Science has already sent a software fix to owners of its defibrillators. The FDA says it is not sufficient, and the company says it is continuing to work with the FDA. 

The FDA advises people to use other defibrillators if possible, but to use the Powerheart if a current life-threatening event occurs because most of the time it does work.
 
The 14 models involved are:

Powerheart models 9300A, 9300C, 9300D, 9300E, 9300P, 9390A and 9390E

CardioVive models 92531, 92532 and 92533

Nihon Kohden models 9200G and 9231 and

GE Responder models 2019198 and 2023440

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Tonight on the broadcast we will call your attention to a drama (and a tragedy) unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.  First, there are the families with loved ones who are not coming home from that platform.  Offshore oil drilling is a tough job—long stretches at sea and away from home, and the constant threat of danger.  And now the focus turns to the environment—and a constant danger, as long as we have to extract oil from the bottom of the sea: that un-capped well is belching an estimated 42,000 gallons of crude oil into those ocean waters each day.  While there is a projected plume as the flow takes it north toward land, and while landfall is still days away, this is a race against time in these fertile waters.  I suspect it will focus renewed attention on drilling and energy policy.  We're watching it all.

By Natalie Morales, NBC News anchor

I come from a family of coupon clippers. As the daughter of a military dad and stay at home mom, my family taught me the value of a buck—or in this case, a 55 cent coupon. We never walked into a grocery store without my mom leafing through her coupon book. I still am pretty thrifty—or so I thought before I met Jamie Chase, a mother of two boys from Amesbury, Massachusetts. To see Jamie in action is a real education on saving money. She is able to load up a cart-full of healthy food (not Cheetos or soda, as you might be thinking) and walk out of the store paying next to nothing. Jamie actually teaches a class at a Northern Essex Community College, which I attended, and even though I too have clipped coupons and looked for savings, I learned so much from Jamie that I had to share some of her best tips with you (unfortunately two minutes of TV just isn't enough time to cover it all).

VIDEO: Coupon-palooza: Clippers save big

Jamie has gotten it down to a science. She says it now only takes her about 45 minutes a week to look for deals. And she looks everywhere! From promotional circulars, online to even manufacturers websites like P&G. She's done the work for us though, so here are a few of her favorite sites that she checks weekly: redplum.com, couponsource.com, krazycouponlady.com.

Jamie also keeps her coupons in order in a binder by expiration date. She also doesn't like to clip them because that's how she says you lose them or forget to use them. She'll only clip them on the day she plans to use them.

Prior to heading to the store, Jamie will check the promotional/store flyers and combine them with coupons for the greatest savings. One thing I couldn't help but noticing, unlike most of us, she sticks to her list. She knows exactly what she is buying and will have a coupon for just about everything before she even walks into the store.

At the register, Jamie tops off her savings with CATS— those are the coupons that come out after your receipt at the register. If you're a loyal customer, sometimes you get a $10 off your next grocery bill. That's like hitting the jackpot for Jamie.

Another really important tip, and perhaps the best advice of all: Find a coupon buddy. Jamie and her friends keep each other aware of good deals—they exchange coupons for items others may want and have formed a couponing community.

Jamie also is a loyal customer. When she and her family find a product they like—Cedars Hummus, for example— she emails the company telling them she loves their product, and that usually that leads to more coupons and sometimes even coupons for a freebie or two.

Now you may be thinking, "That's great, just hope I'm not stuck behind her at checkout..." Well, Jamie has tips there too. She usually shops during slow times during the week, and she will warn the store she has lots of coupons. They'll often open a separate register. In fact, couponing has become so popular (usage is up 27 percent from 2008 to 2009) that most stores (grocery or drug store) are very accommodating to coupon users. Retailers encourage coupon use because they get paid a little extra by the manufacturers for the coupon's value.

In the three years since Jamie started couponing, she now is saving the family about $25,000 a year—and that's after tax savings. She didn't do it so much out of necessity, but because she was being smart and thrifty. Now her husband has decided to take a teaching job that he wanted because, with all that Jamie is adding to the family's income, he can.

The lesson learned is this: Couponing has never been easier, so why not save money where you can? Even the iPhone has an app for coupons where you can pull up the ones you want at the register and they'll scan the barcode...no more paper coupon! Incredible.

I decided to put Jamie's methods into practice, and though I still wound up spending quite a bit, I managed to save $67 on my last grocery bill. Not bad for a beginner—and that's savings you can take straight to the bank.

Video: New coupon demographic opts for discounts on demand

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Up until this weekend the talk among weather forecasters was what a quiet spring this has been. Now they're talking about how many tornadoes broke out in the South in just one day yesterday. Dr. Greg Forbes, severe weather expert for our sister network, The Weather Channel, says based on the preliminary reports still coming in, he currently estimates there were about 30 tornadoes yesterday. The most staggering number however is 10. That's the confirmed number of people killed in Mississippi. There were also dozens of people hurt. Our team on the ground there today has heard some incredibly poignant stories of loss and survival, and we will have full coverage from there on Nightly News tonight.

There is also news from the destroyed oil rig off the coast of Louisiana.  After first hoping they had dodged a major environmental disaster, officials are facing a steady leak of oil into the ocean. Our environmental affairs correspondent Ann Thompson is in the region tonight to tell us what happens now.

By now you may have heard about the homeless man here in New York who lay dying in a street from stab wounds as bystanders walked and passed around him. His death is especially tragic because the man was stabbed while coming to the aid of a woman who was being attacked. What about those who ignored him when he was in need? Jeff Rossen has spoken to human behavior experts about something called "the bystander effect," which may explain something that seems to defy explanation to most of us.

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

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

We knew at the start of the day that the conditions were ripe for tornados in parts of the South. By midday, our fears were realized when a very large tornado took aim at the town of Yazoo City, Mississippi, killing at least two people, leveling buildings and severely damaging a chemical plant. NBC's Charles Hadlock reached the town a short time ago and called into the newsroom saying, "everything looks like a lumber yard right now. I can't see beyond the ridge, but all the trees have been shaved away." Charles will come to us live from the city tonight. Meantime there is still a risk of more violent weather in the region throughout the evening. We'll have full coverage on Nightly News.

We will also look at the macabre option given to a death row inmate in Utah: How does he choose to die? By lethal injection or firing squad? Jeff Rossen will explain why he's been given the choice.

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

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

A story in the news today has awakened my inner space geek.  I'll let you read about it for yourself, but suffice to say: the Air Force is a branch of the military. NASA does space. It's fair to ask why the Air Force has launched a spacecraft—and what its role is. Are we sure it's not "militarized"?  Is this a branch of the service looking to re-assert its early space-age role in shooting off rockets? This aircraft/spacecraft is a direct descendant of the famous X-1, famously flown by Chuck Yeager, and the X-15, famously flown by John Glenn, among many others. Let's find out what we find out.

In the meantime, keep your feet on the ground, have a good weekend, and we hope you can join us tonight.

Aarne Heikkila, NBC Producer

When Stephanie Diaz first arrived at the Orange County Children's Therapeutic Arts Center in 2001, she was an introverted seven-year-old who demonstrated severe and destructive autistic tendencies. Unable to communicate or connect with the world around her, Stephanie's mother, Elida, hoped that the center would help ease her daughter's autistic symptoms.
 
Today, thanks to the Therapeutic Arts Center's music therapy courses as well as her one on one lessons with music instructor and professional opera singer Renee Rulon Cortez, Stephanie is now able to sing beautifully in four languages, English, Spanish, Latin and Italian. 
  
Over time, Stephanie transitioned from a girl who was completely closed off to the outside world to a young woman who now sees the world through a new lens.
 
"Stephanie responded to the music therapy program right away as many autistic children do," said Ana Jimenez, executive director of the Orange County Children's Therapeutic Arts Center. "Music has allowed her to express herself in a productive way rather than in a destructive way."
 
What the Therapeutic Arts Center has done for Stephanie, it's done for a countless number of other autistic and special needs children, too. Every weekday, close to a hundred kids of all ages can be found practicing piano, playing the violin, even banging the drums under the watchful eye of a dedicated instructor or volunteer.
 
But like many non-profits across the country, the recession has hit the center hard. It has lost close to $200,000 in donations this year alone, as well as a sizeable amount from the local school district. That means the center has had to do away with close to 200 scholarships--the same kind of funding that enabled Stephanie's family to enroll her into the center's music therapy program.
 
To help or learn more about the Orange County Children's Therapeutic Arts Center please click here: http://www.occtac.org/

To watch Stephanie sing click here: (link to story or web xtra)

Brian Williams, anchor
and managing editor

My confession? I had not been to Ellis Island until today.  My plea? Go...with your loved ones, and as soon as you can—especially if you believe your family roots can be traced through that building.  I was asked to host today, as awards were given to several prominent Americans who can trace their own citizenship back to that grand hall.  I saw people moved to tears today, in just the time I was there—they had made the connection between past and present.  Arrival and survival.  It is a remarkable place.

One follow-up from last night: We (and other news organizations) aired the rare film of James Dean and Ronald Reagan in terms of something "recently unearthed"—but in fact UCLA Professor Angela Aleiss called us to point out that it was used in the 2005 documentary called "James Dean: Forever Young."  I was the writer of the item, and I regret any mischaracterization.

We hope you can join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

So we have this white board in our conference room. Our conference room, by the way, has all the ambiance of the Bellevue Hospital ER Waiting Room, but that's a subject for another time. The white board is a place for story ideas—not the big stuff to which we have correspondents assigned (volcanoes, presidents, and the like) but the smaller, more optional items—that many nights are my favorite elements of the broadcast, and certainly the most fun to write and deliver.

Because I'm unsure how many of our "white board" stories will make it on air tonight, I nonetheless want to share them with you. They are:

Queen Elizabeth's baby pictures

Ronald Reagan and James Dean on screen together

Lightning in the volcano

And the new 100 dollar bill

So there you have it.  More from the white board in the weeks ahead.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

Just to think about: Do you hop on a plane only because the airline says they are determined to fly?ŠWith this much financial pressure mounting on major carriers, do we know enough about volcanic ash to fly through it?Š A National Weather Service forecaster said today on a conference call that he would fly "with caution."Š What does THAT mean?

And secondly: If you work for Apple, the most secretive of all tech companies, do you really leave your prototype iPhone in a bar? Even if you break up with your girlfiend, perhaps, and discover German beer?Š It's the tech/sleuth story of the day.Š Is Apple's publicity department that good?Š If they set out to generate interest in the new iPhone - including the notion that we could all walk around like the Jetsons iChatting with ease over live television from our palms - they have succeeded, judging from the conversation in our newsroom and on the web today.

We hope you can join us tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I keep saying it, but its true: its as if Mother Nature sent us a friendly reminder that while we may fancy ourselves masters of the skies -- masters of the universe, for that matter -- she is still very much in charge.  We live and die, move around or stay put -- at her whim and order. While we are hoping initial reports are true that the ash plume is clearing and flights will resume, its had a palpable effect on this city. I met people on Sunday who are stranded here, and I just today heard of an executive who booked passage to Portsmouth last week because she had a business meeting to attend in London.  We're back to living in the 1920's.  Just the way Mother Nature apparently wants it.

My thanks to the loyal viewers (and emailers) who came out to see me at a public appearance in New York last night, and my thanks to the good folks at the Matrix awards for celebrating achievement today, and helping along 19 spectacular college students with scholarships and mentoring.

Speaking of good works: Those of you who saw our Friday night Making A Difference segment saw the urgent call we put out to help a dying hospital in Haiti.  Your generosity has made us proud to know you once again.  Tonight we will have the updated figure on the dollar amount received since that story aired, and it is staggering.  Thank you.

We hope you can join us tonight.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

There are an awful lot of people sitting in airports and hotels, far from home today because they've been told it's not safe to fly home.  For all the well known frustrations of air travel these days, a verifiable threat to safety -- in this case a volcanic ash capable of snuffing out a jet engine -- will usually quiet even the most disgruntled passenger. Now, for the first time since the closure of European airspace we are starting to see some push back.  Not from passengers, but from the airlines themselves.

Some European carriers have been re-positioning empty jets and running test flights, and discovering there has been no damage to their jets.  The CEO of British Airways even went along on one such test flight apparently to make a point.  Many airline officials are openly wondering whether aviation authorities over-reacted to the threat posed by the drifting ash plume, and prematurely closed airports.

Experts acknowledge tracking an ash cloud is not a perfect science.  Which of course leads to the question how will we know when it is safe to fly? Does a successful flight today guarantee a successful flight tomorrow along the same route? And, how does the airline industry balance an abundance of caution against the reality of staggering financial losses and a public clamoring to get back into the air?

On our broadcast tonight, in addition to our reporting from the base of the volcano in Iceland, and airports in Europe, I'll be speaking with a former NTSB chairman about how authorities will navigate these difficult questions.

I hope you can join me later for NBC Nightly News.

By Leter Holt, NBC News anchor

We are going to have brand new pictures tonight from above the erupting volcano in Iceland.  Our Chris Jansing went up in a chopper along with some scientists this afternoon to try and get a sense of how much longer the eruption will last.  The early indications are not positive, and that spells bad news for air travelers waiting out that dangerous ash cloud.  Of growing concern are those travelers, who short on cash, have no choice but to camp out in airports.  Thankfully some wonderful stories of people offering up shelter are starting to emerge, and we'll share some of them with you tonight. Meantime, the implications of a prolonged aviation shut down are profound, and could soon be eating away at an already fragile global economy. We will be exploring that angle as well tonight.

Also, as the Obama administration turns to private industry to ferry Americans into space our Lisa Myers looks at whether those companies are up to the task.

I hope you can join us this evening for NBC Nightly News.

Editor's Note: No blog post today -- Brian will return next week.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I still love calling this (to use Lady Bird Johnson's expression) "The Jet Age."  Even though it's somewhat embarrassing that our aircraft still fly at the same forward speed they were flying the year I was born, I'm still amazed by it all. It becomes so routine—a flight to Beijing, to Amman, to Los Angeles, to London.  Except for that last one. Just as we start thinking we're masters of the skies—thinking our 777s are so big and powerful they can fly through anything (and if Sully is around, they can land most anywhere), something like a volcano comes along. It has crippled air travel across the pond, and to and from a number of countries. What an incredible eruption from the planet earth, and what a global impact it has already had. We'll cover it tonight, along with the rest of our world.

We hope you can join us.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

In a one-hour period this afternoon, I was given two things that I was told demanded my attention. The first was a piece of journalism by our own Richard Engel—he has returned to the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, where he chronicled the life and sacrifices of the U.S. military fighting over a piece of real estate in the mountains. The United States has now decided to end that mission and dismantle the fire base after years of fighting. It is an incredible story, which we intend to share with our viewers. Richard won every journalism award in the book for his work there—and he has gotten to know many of the loved ones of those who served there, and this brings us full circle.

Then I was sent a "must see" video clip of the iPad's use as a cat toy.

There's really no way to process the two together, or reconcile the differences, but there you have it.

Just another day at 30 Rock.

We sure hope you will join us for our broadcast tonight.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

With apologies, I have to keep this short today. Because I'll be anchoring the President's news conference this afternoon (scheduled for 4:30 pm, and we're already being advised it will slide due to the Summit schedule), all my usual afternoon work has been compacted so that I might head to the studio and strap in early. I would add this: If you care about space travel and its effect on the American psyche, you'll want to see our broadcast tonight. Ditto if you think it's a colossal waste of money. It's all a part of the debate. We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

They thought at first he had dropped his cigarette holder. It all happened very quickly. As he was sitting in his chair, being painted by a portrait artist, Franklin Delano Roosevelt complained, "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head."  A moment later, he slumped forward in his wheelchair. He was quickly taken to a small bed in a small bedroom off the main living room. His pulse never returned. All life had left the man who had led us through a titanic struggle to save the world. The cerebral hemorrhage "came without pain," according to the New York Times the next day. That day's Los Angeles Times reported he was simply "worn out" at the age of 63.

It should also be noted: The front pages on April 13th, 1945 carried very upbeat news about the war in Europe—saying the end of hostilities would "probably come in the next few days." American adults always remembered where they were when they heard the news. It was an entirely different time ("No ordinary time," as Mrs. Roosevelt so famously summed up the war years) and he was an entirely different President, the only one ever elected for more than two terms.

To change the mood, our friends at The Onion chose today to announce an ominous new trend in air travel. And Gawker is on the board with its review of the new series on New Orleans.  Those of us with ties to the City watched last night—and will watch again—with great interest. Nobody I know liked the D.J. character!

We hope you can join us tonight, as we begin a new week!