About 7:45 a.m. this morning, as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld hosted a bipartisan group of members of Congress for breakfast, a fire started in a kitchen on the third floor of the Pentagon. Members of the military and civilian employees quickly evacuated the building, leaving behind purses, wallets and other personal possessions. Nearly one hour later, employees were allowed to come in out of the cold, but three corridors were completely shut down... and remain shut down at this hour.

Corridors 1, 9 and 10 suffered smoke damage on the second, third and fourth floors, and now the first floor is flooding from overhead sprinklers. Pentagon officials tell NBC News that the building  has had fires in the past, but this particular incident is unusual because it shut down nearly one-third of the building for an entire day.

The main corridors are packed with displaced people. And even though some offices have told employees to head home for the day -- keys, wallets and coats are still sitting behind in the cordoned-off area. Several thousand people evacuated when the alarms went off, and an estimated 2,000 of them still cannot get back into their offices. The Pentagon houses approximately 23,000 workers on any given day. 

While no one was hurt in the fire, the incident was not without its tragedy for those of us who work here. The main food court was shut down all day long.

The CIA confirms that the voice on the audio tape released today is Osama bin Laden.  You can follow the story thoughout the day here and we'll have two reports tonight on the broadcast, from Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell and Jim Miklaszewski at the Pentagon.

Senior U.S. counterterrorism officials cannot say for certain why al-Qaida chose today and an audio message by Bin Laden to raise its profile, but here is one analysis that is circulating:

Al-Qaida understood it had to do something to counter the Predator attack in Damodola last Thursday.  In the face of reports that significant al-Qaida leaders, perhaps even No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, had been killed, al-Qaida needed to reestablish itself as a viable entity.

Having Zawahiri record an audio or video message might be too risky... if indeed he is still alive.  Zawahiri knows full well that his movements are being tracked. So for the sake of his own personal safety and al-Qaida's operational security, he would want to lay low until he felt more safe and secure. That could take weeks or longer. 

So with the Bin Laden audio tape in hand, it appears to have been recorded in early December, al-Qaida decided it would move ahead now with Bin Laden and wait for a Zawahiri tape. The strategy has the benefit of letting the American public know that Bin Laden is still alive and giving Zawahiri some breathing room until he has to make a tape... assuming, of course, that he is still alive.

Today's audio tape would mark the first time we have heard from Osama bin Laden via audio tape since December 2004, when he called for Iraqis to boycott the elections. Bin Laden has not appeared on camera since Oct. 29, 2004, right before the U.S. presidential election.

In the time between audio tape releases (Dec. 2004-Jan. 2006) Ayman al-Zawahiri has released seven tapes. He is the only man who can "speak" for Bin Laden.

U.S. counterterrorism officials say that their analysis of the tape is that it was recorded "months ago... post-earthquake", meaning sometime since October. The officials would not say why they believe that, but in the past, the U.S. has been able to get longer versions of tapes that air on Arab satellite channels. Don't ask me how. Moreover, some officials find it strange that al-Qaida would release a tape of Bin Laden, rather than Zawahiri, when the world is wondering about the fate of Zawahiri following Thursday's attack in Damodola, Pakistan.

More than half a million Americans will have their lives devastated by stroke this year. It can leave you paralyzed, blind, or dead. Doctors have amazing new methods to stop the damage, but only if you know the warning signs, and what to do immediately. Life saving knowledge, tonight on Nightly News.

Scott McClellan has dug in his heels. The White House refuses to provide specific information about which senior staff members met with tainted lobbyist Jack Abramoff since Bush has been in office. The President has returned $6,000 in campaign contributions. Abramoff was present at a couple of Hanukkah receptions, but aside from that, officials here have nothing to share beyond that Abramoff had "staff level meetings."

Yesterday I was among the reporters who pressed McClellan for more specifics. (Click for link to briefing transcript.) Again today, the press secretary called attempts to learn about Abramoff's ties to the White House a "fishing expedition." What's more, he batted away our questions by asking us if we had "something specific" to bring to his attention. The implication being, if NOT, then he wouldn't answer. He even accused me of insinuating some wrongdoing by asking the question.

These are tricks of the trade in this White House. McClellan's predecessor, Ari Fleischer, was the one who coined the tactic of asking us to provide him something specific to respond to before he would answer sensitive questions. I argued to Ari, just as I argue to Scott, that it's not their job to make such demands of us. We ask the questions and they provide the answers. Or not. The burden is not on members of the press corps to provide specifics when we are trying to gather information. That's a diversionary tactic used by the White House and, by the way, it only invites the sort of leaks they say they deplore. I guess McClellan means that only when someone inside the White House leaks word of some staffer's meeting with Abramoff will they disclose it.

Furthermore, the position that the White House doesn't provide information about staff level meetings is accurate but doesn't tell the whole story. My producer Alicia Jennings did some research today. Back when Enron's collapse was a huge financial and political story, we also asked pointed questions about Ken Lay's relationship with the President and other members of his staff. Ari Fleischer provided information about phone calls and meetings between Enron officials and then-Commerce Secretary Don Evans as well as then-Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

I don't know if any of this amounts to anything. But figuring out whether there is any link between a top Republican lobbyist, now disgraced, and the Republican in the White House is fair game.
We'll see if something specific emerges to bring to the White House's attention.

Sixteen days after the explosion at the Sago mine outside of Buckhannon, W.V. and federal investigators have still not been able to gain access to the mine. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says the company is still pumping water out of the mine, and it could be another three to four days before investigators get inside. Once they do enter the mine, they will look for evidence into what caused the explosion that killed 12 miners and nearly killed Randal McCloy.

McCloy has been upgraded to serious condition at West Virginia University Hospital, where doctors say there are signs he is starting to come out of his coma. Today, Dr. Julian Bailes said to his knowledge, no one else has ever survived such a lengthy exposure to carbon monoxide. He may have avoided brain damage, but doctors won't be sure until he awakens more fully.

The question many people have is whether McCloy was able to find fresh air that allowed him to live longer than his co-workers. Family members have suggested the other miners may have given McCloy their oxygen, since he was the youngest of them all with two small children. We may not know the truth unless McCloy himself fully awakens and tells us what the miners went through more than two miles into the Sago mine. 

Also today, the head of MSHA announced he is appointing an MSHA veteran to head an internal investigation into how MSHA performed during and after the disaster. George Fesak will look at how quickly the feds responded to the mine disaster.

The president and CEO of International Coal Group, Ben Hatfield, told NBC News last week that the first calls to MSHA resulted in voicemails and home phones went unanswered. The accident happened at 6:31 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 2, a federal holiday. Rescue teams did not enter the mine until 11 hours later -  though federal, state, and company officials have all said the teams could not rush to enter the mine given the poisonous levels of gasses.

For the second time in as many days, the Supreme Court is out with an opinion (.PDF link) on a hot-button, emotional issue. And for the second time in two days, the Court's opinion does NOT address the ISSUE... rather, it focuses on the narrower case before them. While it makes for fascinating court-watching (especially today's 9-0 vote, the O'Connor factor and more), it does present a challenge in the telling.

If you were watching MSNBC when the decision came down this morning, then you saw how it is done.  After only a cursory reading of the opinion (and veteran viewers remember: this was raised to an art form the night of Bush v. Gore), Pete Williams stepped in front of the camera and offered depth, nuance, background and humanity... all contained in a live report on this parental notification case announced today. We will ask Pete to do essentially the same thing on our broadcast tonight.

Just now at our afternoon editorial meeting, Barbara Raab, our foreign news writer (the only attorney in the room by my count) said that in her view -- as both sides in the abortion debate argue over winners and losers in this case -- there is more in this decision to please the anti-abortion forces than there is to please the abortion rights forces. She also pointed out that both cases over the past two days have more to do with the states, arguably, than the issues of assisted suicide or abortion. Back to point one: the challenge is in the telling, and we'll try to do that well.

By far the number one most talked-about story in the Northeast is the weather. Homes that just got power restored after a freak winter wind-and-snow storm Saturday night lost power again today in an equally-freakish windy weather event featuring balmy temperatures. A ferry boat carrying commuters from Belford, N.J. to Manhattan was almost scuttled this morning, when it rounded the tip of Sandy Hook, N.J. (a natural protection from the open water) and faced some huge waves right on the nose of the bow.

One passenger compared it to the "Perfect Storm," while another told a local radio station that there were not enough life boats on board. A truck was blown from the top level to the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. Another truck was blown sideways across the Tappan Zee Bridge. It was a violent morning, and now more NYC-area commuters are heading home to dark homes tonight (57,000 homes without power just in New Jersey), including some of us who have really had our fill of life in the 1700's this week.

Also in the broadcast tonight: a chance for your humble author to tell an old favorite story about the derivation of the word "lobbyist." Lobbying (more accurately, enforcing its excesses) is the new cause of the moment on Capitol Hill. Both parties are falling all over themselves to clean it up and reform, while there is no polling evidence that we know about to show that this issue is bubbling up enough to do substantive damage... yet.  But its early yet, and even among big lobby recipients, there's more than enough sanctimony to go around.

We also plan to make full use of a rare visit to the States of one of our favorites, and one of our bravest journalists (and that's saying a lot). Richard Engel is on a brief home leave from Baghdad. He is of course deeply concerned over the disappearance of a colleague in what has become a very tight community of journalists covering Iraq.

We have additional stories tonight on the National Guard, on the re-building challenge after Katrina, and on the so-called "Boomerang Generation:" send them out into the world, and they surprise you by coming back to stay. It turns out they get benefits for that!

We hope you can join us for our Wednesday night effort.

First comes the scandal, then the reform. That will be our Nightly News story today from Capitol Hill.  Democrats will denounce the so-called "Culture of Corruption" in the Republican Congress as they announce their package of lobbying reforms this afternoon, and Republicans are frightened enough of the political consequences that they beat the Democrats to the punch, announcing a package of lobbying reforms yesterday.

Two of the issues we'll be addressing in the coming days and weeks: Is the Abramoff scandal, which mostly involves Republicans but also touches a number of Democrats, a strong enough horse for Democrats to ride to victory in November? And second, the hypocrisy factor.  Both parties are self-righteously declaring how shocked, shocked they are about how corrupt the current system is -- but most of them are waist-deep in the system they now condemn.

They're called boomerang kids for good reason. You send them out into the world and they come flying back to stay at home as adults, sometimes for years. Now they're getting special treatment in some parts of the country. We'll take a look at new laws that force parents' employers to pay extra as long the kids live at home.

U.S. intelligence officials are feeling some sense of vindication today after a Pakistani tribal leader acknowledged that last week's hellfire missile attack on the village of Damadola near the Afghanistan border killed four, maybe five foreign militants. For nearly five days villagers had claimed that only innocent civilians, including some women and children, had been killed when three CIA Predator drones struck three separate targets.   

At the same time, those officials now say it appears highly doubtful that the airstrike killed the ultimate target in the attack, Osama Bin Laden's top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. They expect by the end of the week, al-Qaida will release at least an audio if not videotape of Zawahiri thumbing his nose at the U.S. and condemning the U.S. for killing innocents.

And despite earlier reports that the FBI would compare Zawahiri's DNA to human tissue samples recovered from the attack site, U.S. officials now tell NBC News they have no tissue samples to test. According to one U.S. official, "We'd have to go into a clearly hostile area and start digging up graves. That's just not going to happen."

So if Zawahiri wasn't killed, who was? U.S. counterterrorism officials claim those killed were high-level members of al-Qaida, some Egyptians, with especially close ties to the Egyptian-born Zawahiri. The officials expect the Pakistani government to publicly identify those al-Qaida members within the next several days.

This attempt to kill Zawahiri is the latest in a recent string of attacks against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban targets in the remote and rugged reaches of western Pakistan by both the CIA and the Pakistani military. While this increasingly aggressive campaign has scored some modest victories within the past couple of months, Zawahiri's apparent escape and the deaths of civilians will most certainly provide added ammunition for America's enemies in the region.

I am hoping to carve out enough time late tonight to read the opinions in today's Oregon assisted-suicide case from the Supreme Court. It is an interesting case, and the vote is noteworthy as well. The fact that the Chief Justice is on the dissenting end of a 6-3 case -- in his first-released case as Chief -- is the newest court history footnote.

Tonight we'll look at the case's relevance and impact beyond the Oregon borders. We'll also look at the status of legal challenges to the NSA, and some of the more interesting pronouncements over the past few days... all of which happen to have come from public figures aligned with the Democratic party.

There is chilling new video that aired on Al Jazeera today of the American journalist being held hostage... we'll have that tonight. We have a report on the medical benefits of aspirin and we will close the broadcast with what many of us have regarded as a thing of beauty for just shy of four decades: the 1968 Corvette. Tonight, one owner's story of love and loss... and love again.

The health update on former President Gerald Ford (from Eisenhower Medical Center in California) was positive today. We continue to send good thoughts and prayers his way. We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast.

How do you prove you've been eavesdropped upon if the National Security Agency's surveillance program is so secret? That's the legal challenge for plaintiffs in the first lawsuits filed today against the NSA for its top secret program of domestic spying without court warrants. My producers and I have been interviewing some of the challengers today, as well as talking to government officials about their contention that the program is a necessary part of the war on terror. How do you balance security versus privacy? Or is that even the right question?

The Vice President said on January 4: "The activities conducted under this authorization have helped to detect and prevent possible terrorist attacks against the American people. As such, this program is critical to the national security of the United States." 

But today The New York Times reports exclusively that some FBI officials involved in the program - including FBI Director Robert Mueller - also had questions about its legality, and efficacy. The Times' sources are anonymous, but they question the administration's claim that eavesdropping on some of the specific people targeted by this program helped prevent an attack, such as the blowing up of the Brooklyn Bridge. According to the Times account, counterterror officials had other information independent of the surveillance program that led them to prevent those attacks. 

Whatever the legality - and the courts will be the final referee - clearly the administration feels it is on solid political ground. So far, polls show that most Americans questioned prefer to give up privacy for safety. Except it's a good bet most of them think the person being eavesdropped upon is "the other guy," not themselves.

We'll have more on this tonight on Nightly News.

At the same time, at the State Department, my colleague Elizabeth Leist is tracking new efforts by Condi Rice and Homeland Security Chief Chertoff to make it easier for foreign students who deserve to legitimately study in the U.S. to get visas, despite the post-9/11 restrictions. We're also following a number of other, ongoing foreign stories to see which might gel - including negotiations to get Iran to back off its nuclear research program (not working so far!) and the latest from Pakistan, in the wake of that controversial missile attack on suspected al-Qaida targets that killed civilian victims.

Well, the first thing that must be said on this topic is, "Go **** yourself."

That's not directed at you Lisa, of course. That was Vice President Cheney's suggestion to Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., when they happened to come upon each other on the floor of the World's Greatest Deliberative Body, the U.S. Senate. Another example of elevated polemics: A Democratic member of the House, Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., recently referred to a Republican opponent during floor debate as a "Howdy Doody-looking nimrod."

Yes, your U.S. Congress, and especially the House, is marked by a vitriolic and visceral hatred between the two major parties, which often animates the dialogue around here. But that has been the case for most of the past decade and is in part a reflection of the narrow differences in the parties' respective numbers: legislative success depends upon party discipline, and to achieve it the other guy has to be, to some extent, demonized.

But the House is intentionally designed to be a forum for the passions of the day. Members channel the frustrations and emotions of the masses, and, as if their very beings were possessed of the popular anger, vent on the House floor or in the committee room. So naturally, things may from time to time get out of hand. I've often thought that the place doesn't get enough credit for being a sort of national steam valve, functioning as a kind of societal catharsis, though lately that role has been co-opted by prime-time cable news (former House members hosting cable shows: coincidence?). And, consistent with Lisa's thesis, the House often reflects current cultural standards and trends. To choose a silly but illustrative example, not too long ago I was standing in Statuary Hall and was "dapped" by a white Republican member of Congress from Connecticut who happened by (thereby providing irrefutable evidence that this particular fad has jumped the shark).

So I do get a little skeptical when people start wringing their hands and pining for the Good Ol' Days. Yes, people were more polite back then and they wore fedoras and there was a heightened sense of decorum, and blah blah blah. But listen, members of Congress have been giving each other the "up yours" on the floor during debate; yanking each other's ties in anger; caning each other; actually shooting each other in a duel; and otherwise putting each other down all throughout the history of the Republic. There is and always has been the potential for bad behavior in political debate. That's why so many niceties were built into the vernacular of Congress - "The Gentlelady" this; "The distinguished senior Senator" that; "Will the gentleman yield?"; etc. - to grease the wheels of dialogue. Language is a powerful tool.

And before we get to romanticizing about the how civilized everything was back in the day, let's look at some of the ambassadors from that era who are still with us. Senator Robert Byrd, D-W.V., once held the position of Exalted Cyclops in the KKK before he changed his views on race and later got elected to Congress. The legendary Sam Rayburn once explained to then-Rep. Dan Inouye, D-Hawaii - who lost a limb as a result of heroic actions in World War II combat - that he would soon be famous in the halls of Congress, due to his unique position as "a one-armed Jap." And since we're journalists talking about show business, in "His Girl Friday" (1940) Roz Russell played a female reporter whose career was a frowned-upon aberration from a more acceptable, anonymous life as a domestic spouse. We may rail against the tyranny of political correctness in modern American life, but very few of us want to go back to a time when those standards of behavior and expression were acceptable.

Before virtually anyone who might read this was born, H.L. Mencken observed that nobody ever went broke by underestimating the taste of the American people. I guess the point I'm making is that from the time of Mencken to the time of Paulie Walnuts - and before and beyond - there have always been baser elements in society that find their voice both in pop culture and, as a reflection of that, here in Congress. To say that there is a recent diminution of decorum in political speech is, I think, not necessarily the case.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures in recent weeks has been to catch up on old episodes of a classic television series. It's the cable show, currently on hiatus, about a New Jersey-based businessman and father struggling to balance work and family issues, including periodic downsizing on both fronts.  While I love the opening sequence, with its evocative shots of the New Jersey Turnpike, that beleaguered road of my beloved home state, I'm also fascinated by its exuberant, sometimes funny, often offputting use of obscenities. As you'll see below, I am no fan of cussing, but on that show, those words sound right at home. 

My choice of "The Sopranos" for leisure viewing might surprise my colleagues. That's because of this part of my job: I look at a script, or watch a news report before it airs, and encounter some salty language. Producers look to me, expectantly, for a verdict. Does it have a place in the broadcast? Often, the answer is no. And I am not persuaded by the argument that the language under consideration is more familiar than ever to viewers of entertainment programs, even those on broadcast television. For many reasons – including that news should be family programming – we keep the use of mature language to a minimum. 

But there are times when coarser language will make the cut. Here's a recent example: Chip Reid's report last month (video link) on a pitched congressional debate about tax cuts featured a Congressman who said priorities on the other side of the aisle were "screwed up." The language still gives me pause, but it illustrated what we described as a "furious" debate. The quotation stayed.
   
Is there deterioration in Congressional decorum? Mike Viqueira, a Capitol Hill producer for NBC News, takes up the issue here. Could it be due to cruder language elsewhere in our culture? If it is, let me remind those in the public sphere that just like my surreptitious "Sopranos" viewing – when the kids are out of earshot – there's a time and a place for almost everything.

Enter the political time machine and return to the tone and fire of an old contested campaign. This morning in an off camera briefing with reporters, the White House Press Secretary appeared more than ready to open up on the President's one time rival, former Vice President Al Gore. Gore returned to the political stage in Washington, D.C. Monday to forcefully criticize the NSA spying program. In an address at Constitution Hall that lasted more than an hour, Gore said, "The president of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently."

Fully expecting questions, President Bush's spokesman was ready with punchy quotes this morning when asked for a reaction. Scott McClellan said: "I think his hypocrisy knows no bounds." McClellan supported his comment by asserting that the Clinton-Gore Administration had itself authorized warrant-less searches, citing the example of CIA spy Aldrich Ames and the search of his home without a warrant. McClellan had research and pointed reporters to the congressional testimony of a former Clinton Gore official, Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick.

"The Department of Justice believes, and the case law supports, that the president has inherent authority to conduct warrant-less physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes," Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 14, 1994.

McClellan had one more swing in him on the subject adding, "If Al Gore is going to be the voice of the democrats on national security matters, we welcome it."  No word on the President's take on Gore's charges. McClellan says he has not discussed it with Mr. Bush.

Tonight, we take on a health question once and for all. Should you take aspirin to reduce your chance of a heart attack? Studies have shown it can cut down on the risk of heart disease and stroke. But who benefits the most?  Are the effects different for men and women? We'll give you the facts.

Tonight by way of remembering Dr. King, we will air a portion of the speech he gave the night before he died. While that day at the Reflecting Pool in Washington will live forever in American history and always should, fewer Americans have seen the speech he delivered on the eve of his assassination... chilling, inspirational, instructive and tragic.

We'll likely begin tonight with a further deconstruction of what happened in a Pakistani village as last week gave way to the weekend, and what U.S. forces thought they knew about who was a guest inside. Our folks have been reporting this story in Washington and in the region for days, and we have some good, solid reporting tonight. 

Congressman (no longer "Mr. Chairman") Rob Ney's troubles will make our broadcast tonight, and of course we will pause to remember Dr. King.  We have as well a great contribution tonight from correspondent Ron Allen on the National Guard, and Bob Bazell will tell us how staying active can keep us sharp.

THE DAY AFTER

While all suffering is, perhaps, relative...and while the following is NOT Katrina, Banda Aceh or the Pakistani quake: as you read this in what I hope is a warm, comfortable place, please remember the thousands here in the New York area who are spending a second straight night in municipal shelters or in the home of a friend because of a freak, violent weather event that blew through this area Saturday night. Winds exceeded 60 miles an hour as a violent front moved through and rain turned to horizontal snow. In a chain reaction, from New Jersey North and East to Long Island and North still to Connecticut... the power started to fail in a giant chain reaction.

We got hit along with thousands of others (we were fortunate enough not to need to spend the night in the Red Cross shelter where we live), and like a captain on his ship I chose to send my family to a hotel and ride out a 26-hour power outage...in order to be there in case pipes exploded and to care for our dog. Temperatures reached 40 in the house. I used my camping headlamp for the first time since Katrina... and as weekends go, this will not go down as one of the best. I hasten to add: we are among the fortunate for SO many reasons: both for the blessings we started out with and still have today, and the fact that power still has not been restored to thousands as I write this. The reason for this was NOT to share my family's weekend with our readers: but to say thanks to the power company workers, who had to erect three new power poles near our home, and who worked in the relentless winds and the 8-degree temperatures last night. They left their own families, in some cases without power themselves, in order to restore it for others. They normally only get asked when the lights and heat are coming back on. They normally are only thought of when we need them. And like the firefighters who I heard responding in the middle of the frigid night last night, they don't get thanked for what they do very often.

And so on this holiday evening, I hope this finds you all safe from the elements, and we hope you can join us for our Monday broadcast.

For many Americans, the West African nation of Liberia brings to mind images of civil war, poverty and the infamous warlord, former President Charles Taylor. But today Liberia began a new, more hopeful chapter in its troubled history with the inauguration of Africa's first-ever female President: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

Leading the U.S. delegation to the inauguration was First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, who also attended the inauguration, said having both the First Lady and Secretary Rice in attendance showed the importance of "women's leadership, the promise that young girls have to emerge to a leadership role, and also the promise that the Liberian people have to democratically elect their new leadership, to transition from 14 years of civil war to the opportunity and promise of peace and prosperity."

The U.S. has spent more than $840 million dollars in the last year to help Liberia emerge from their civil war that ended in 2003, partly with the help of peacekeeping U.S. Marines.

Today was an historic day for Africa and a proud day for women. It's a shame reporters can't read the minds of those we cover because its a safe bet that Secretary of State Rice was thinking about all the calls in the U.S. for her to run for president, most recently from the First Lady. Rice continued to insist today that she's not interested, telling reporters traveling with her, "I know what I'm good at, I know what I want to do, and that's not it," but she still has yet to rule it out. And her fans won't either, with supportive Web sites and even some television ads surfacing.

Could Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, from a tiny African nation, be an inspiration for Rice to pursue the most powerful job in the world? Possibly. But unfortunately, as the rules of Washington go, it may be a long time before we know.

Is there a link between physical fitness and sound minds? Could it be that exercise is the key to keeping Alzheimer's and dementia away? A new study is out and already people are asking questions. How much exercise is enough?

There are a several important stories on our radar this Sunday.  But what stands out tonight is the latest news from Pakistan on the U.S. attempt to kill Aymin al-Zawarhi, Al Qaeda's second in command.   There have been demonstrations today in Pakistan condemning the airstrike.   We'll have more information about what went wrong with the attempt to track down Zawarhi and why it's causing a diplomatic flap.  NBC's Jim Maceda reports tonight from Islamabad.

Tomorrow representatives from the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany will meet in London to discuss Iran's nuclear program.  That follows another strange announcement from Iran's government that it will hold a conference on the Holocaust to assess its scale and consequences.  This comes after Iran's president announced recently that he believes the holocaust is a myth and that Israel should be wiped off the map.  NBC's Rosiland Jordan will have that story.
      

We'll update the condition of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who remains in a coma following a massive stroke.

We are also covering the memorial held today in West Virginia for the victims of the coal mine disaster. 

Out in Utah, the Stardust capsule landed carrying the first comet dust ever brought back to earth.

And from our New Orleans bureau, the impact that Hurricane Katrina has had on the movie business in that state.  We're covering a lot of ground this Sunday.  We hope to see you tonight.

This has been another busy Saturday.As we prepare for tonight's broadcast there are a couple of breaking stories.

First, the Centers for Disease Control is holding a news conference this afternoon concerning the flu and certain medications that are used for treatment.  NBC's Chief Science Correspondent Robert Bazell will bring us the latest information.

Also, word tonight from California that actress Shelley Winters has died.  The two-time Oscar winner appeared in more than 130 movies.  NBC's Mike Taibbi looks back at her life.

We'll have more tonight on the U.S. attempt to track down and kill Aymin al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda's second-in-command.  The U.S. reportedly launched an airstrike on a house in a village in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border.  So far, there has been no confirmation from the Pentagon regarding the attack or the target... believed to be Zawahri.  Still, this appears to be part of the continuing effort to track down Al Qaeda leaders. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski is working that story.

Also, we are covering the growing concern over Iran's nuclear program.  The U.S. and other European countries are worried that Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons... something Iranian officials deny.  Now, the dispute is headed for the United Nations.  NBC's Rosiland Jordan reports from Washington with that story tonight.

We are following a story out of Alaska on the eruption of Mt. Augustine.  The volcano that has been sending smoke and ash into the sky since Wednesday.  Alaska Airlines canceled some flights because of the ash.  It's the first time this volcano has erupted in 20 years. 

And if one of your New Year's resolutions is to buy a new car, it might be a good time to consider one of those gas-electric hybrids.  That's because a new tax break has just taken effect.  NBC's George Lewis will have the story.

It's all coming up tonight.  We'll see you then.

May I humbly suggest that if readers of this space digest but one item in the newspaper today, it should be Eugene Robinson's powerful and angry and sad "Requiem for the Crescent City" in today's Washington Post. As David Gregory reported so well for us last night (along with Elisabeth Bumiller in today's New York Times) nerve endings are still very much exposed in New Orleans... so the relatively (seemingly) minor aspects of a trip by the President to the City -- like the route his motorcade takes -- like offhand comments on how much "wonderful fun" there is to be had -- only make the President a target of criticism and give rise to stories charging that he is engaging in some sort of "recovery fantasy," while most people just want the lights to work and the mold to go away. Please read Eugene Robinson. Once in a while we get an offensive e-mail or two that accuses us of paying too much attention to the displacement of two million Americans and the physical destruction of an entire region. I tend to think this story speaks for itself, as it will on our broadcast again tonight. Martin Savidge will report on this "day after" the President's visit to New Orleans.

Also on this Friday night: the wildfires in Oklahoma, David Gregory on the President's comments on Iran and other topics today (and the visit to the White House of the newly-minted Chancellor of Germany), Pete Williams on the increasing likelihood that we will soon address the leading character of this past week Mr. Justice Alito, George Lewis on Medicare and Mike Taibbi with an inspiring story about a great comeback to end the broadcast.

From Chicago, NBC's Chris Colvin scolded us today for making so much of the Spring-like weather in our broadcast last night. She says the sleet was coming down sideways in Chicago earlier today. Sorry, Chrissy.

I've said in this space before that one of the great perks of working in this building (in addition to knowing the Stanley Cup is in our lobby as I write this, to mark the start of NBC Sports' hockey coverage) is catching an occasional glimpse of Saturday Night Live rehearsal on the in-house channels. Scarlett Johansen is the guest host, Death Cab for Cutie is the musical guest (which thrills my teenage son to no end) and from what I've seen its going to be a good night to stay in and watch.

Back to our core business: we hope you can join us for our Friday broadcast, and further hope you have a good weekend.

If you missed the joint press conference in the East Room today between the President and Germany's newly elected Chancellor Angela Merkel, you missed something you don't often see: President Bush courting Old Europe.

Before facing reporters, the two leaders spent 45 minutes alone in the Oval Office. The President said glowingly, "She's smart. She's plenty capable. She's got kind of a spirit to her that is appealing." Perhaps more endearing than anything else, Mr. Bush appreciated Merkel's close, protracted election victory over former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

"We share something in common," the President said. "We both didn't exactly landslide our way into office."

The Bush administration hasn't considered Germany, under Schroeder, much of a friend. Opposed to the war in Iraq, an official in Schroeder's government once compared Bush to Hitler. I've been present at their joint appearances, which have always been awkward and cold.

But with Merkel elected in November, the White House didn't waste much time to make a second impression. And today the two seemed to hit it off. In fact, she appeared to be a pretty tough cookie - something, no doubt, Bush liked. Their meeting focused on Iran - where they agreed to stand firm against its attempt to build a nuclear weapon. Merkel said rather pointedly, "We will certainly not be intimidated by a country such as Iran."

In an area of disagreement, Merkel outlined to the President her objections to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The President countered that the treatment of prisoners there is misunderstood. 

Merkel even seemed to fire a shot across the diplomatic bow when she said of the importance of U.S.-German consultations, "We can't resort to some kind of ivory tower and think for ourselves; we have to do it in exchange with others."

Bush ended on a hopeful note, "I'm looking forward to consultations, visits, contacts, phone calls, all the things you do. And now, I'm going to take her to lunch."

The confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito have now ended, with the final witnesses having finished their testimony. Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., says he intends to have the committee meet next Tuesday, January 17, to begin preparing for a committee vote, with floor debate following on January 24.  However, Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said some Democrats may seek to delay the committee vote until the 24th, exercising normal Judiciary Committee rules that allow any committee member to push the vote back a week. Specter and Leahy said they'd try to work together over the weekend to come up with a schedule.

Surprising no one, Specter also announced that he will vote to confirm Alito. "He went about as far as he could go on Roe v Wade. There's not a dime's worth of difference between what Alito and Roberts said about it," Specter said.

Leahy gave no indication of how he'll vote.