Veterans Day.  The day we have chosen to honor those who have served... and continue to serve our country.  As we thank them for their service today, we should not forget that during the OTHER 364 days of the year... they remain on duty often risking their lives for us.  As the politicians and the voters debate the purpose and direction of the Iraq war, the members of our armed forces continue to put their lives on the line.

The ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery today was the centerpiece of our nation's tribute to veterans.  Still, the President's war policy seems to be at the heart of a new poll, which shows the President's approval ratings at its lowest point since his father was in office.  NBC's Jeannie Ohm has that story.

From Iraq, more violence against Iraqis... and another attack against a symbol of America in Iraq.  NBC's Tom Aspell is in Baghdad.

NBC's Chief Foreign Affair Correspondent Andrea Mitchell has the latest on how President Bush has turned to his father's advisors to help him set a new course in Iraq.

NBC's Mike Taibbi has a look at Veterans Day celebrations and the importance of saying "thanks."

Today at a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. vetoed a measure to condemn Israel's devastating attack on Palestinians this week.  NBC's Martin Fletcher with a look at that story... all but lost this week in election coverage. 

And why Americans aren't buying CD's anymore and what it means for the future of music.

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

Atrocities are escalating, as our NBC News team has returned to Darfur's edge - this time we carry body armor. Landing in Goz Beida, Chad today, it is immediately clear that it is much more dangerous than 8 months ago when we were last in the region. First came reports that thousands of Sudanese government troops had amassed from Darfur to back the Arab militia called Janjaweed. And with the end of Ramadan and the rainy season there was wide-spread fear that a mass killing campaign was being planned.

Then came hard evidence this fear is justified -- the UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, has substantiated at least 10 African villages have been attacked. Most are set on fire. Men are being killed, women are gang raped - the attacks are systematic in most cases by black Arabs against  black Africans. A new crisis is begging to be stopped.

A top Bush Administration official told me days ago the U.S. government is deeply concerned the killing could even rise to what it was in 2003-04 when it's estimated mostly tribal farmers were targeted and killed in Janjaweed attacks. Millions were set fleeing - many are now living as internally displaced people and as refugees in Chad.

Ironically, the thousands who fled here to Chad are being attacked a second time. Adding to the fragility, rebel groups and the military of both countries line the border amid fear that Sudan will try to back a coup of Chad's government.

But it is the simplicity of the story we are hearing from the wounded that tells the real ugliness here. A 27-year-old man bayoneted in both eyes this past Tuesday lies in a hospital bed in pain and panic about how he is going to care for his wife and two young children. They called him "nuba" - racist slang for black as they pulled out both his eyes.

Photo by Antoine Sanfuentes

It is the racism that fuels this violence that really gets to you. Here I thought going back, experienced in reporting about these kinds of crimes, it would be easier this time.  It's not. It breaks your heart. How could it not?

Saturday morning we are going to meet the survivors of these burned villages -- they are amassed, hundreds of them, living under trees with so many stories to tell. As we go to bed tonight we are steeling ourselves to hear  what the world will also be shocked to hear: It's still happening.

Ann Curry will be reporting on the Darfur conflict all week. You can see her reports on the Today Show, Nightly News and online at www.Nightly.MSNBC.com and www.Today.MSNBC.com.

Additional information on how you can help:

Beginning Monday, our broadcast will air a series of reports called "Coming Home," telling the story of the other front in the war, here at home. 

Our first report will tell the story of our recent (return) visit to Ward 57 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.  It's an emotional place, where they put men and women together again after combat.  Ward 57 is where the amputees are treated -- and fitted with new limbs. 

There's a lot more that goes on there, which I hope will be apparent through our reporting. While there is sadness and loss in our reporting throughout the coming week, there is also great hope, recovery, courage, bravery and love. You will meet people who have lost a limb. You will meet people who have lost a son. But you will also meet people who have found new hope and promise in life, and would not trade anything for the satisfaction that comes from serving. That's what coming home should be all about, after all. I hope you can join us all week.

Editor's Note (5:51 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 13): This piece was promoted as airing tonight, Monday, but has been bumped from the rundown. It will, however, air later this week.

I guess Sen. John Warner, R-Va., summed it up when he said, in reaction to the sea change in Washington, that it's an appropriate time to review U.S. military strategy in Iraq, and 'we mustn't forget Afghanistan.' With so much focus, and so many resources spent on Iraq, many Americans, it seems, have forgotten the war in Afghanistan. And they've forgotten – at least according to some counter-insurgency experts – that we've been losing the war there. The Taliban is back, stronger than ever, while U.S. and NATO soldiers are dying at an unprecedented rate.

To assess the situation in the remote, rugged country where the 'War on Terror' began, we're launching a three-part special series. "The Haven" airs Monday - the 5th anniversary of the fall of Kabul, effectively ending the Taliban's 5-year regime.  But, five years after the collapse of al-Qaida's sanctuary, another haven has cropped up, every bit as lawless and threatening. "Jihadistan" as some call it -  an expanse of merciless land the size of Texas - stretches across Southern and Eastern Afghanistan, and over the border into the fearsome tribal belt inside Pakistan. There, in areas like Waziristan, the Taliban has free reign. We see armed fighters control the streets. Al-Qaida-linked fugitives like Mohammad Faquir – a good friend of al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al Zawahiri – boast brazenly to our cameras about future attacks on U.S. and Pakistani forces. Teachers are assassinated, girls' schools are burned. Edicts that ban clean-shaven faces or impose tax collection for holy war are on the rise. It is like old Taliban days.

"You've got not just jihadis," explains one of our Afghanistan experts. "You've got drug dealers, you've got warlords, you've got criminals of every description. But certainly this belt is probably one of the biggest challenges the U.S. has to face in trying to stabilize Afghanistan."

Taking a closer look at that challenge, digital videographer Kyle Eppler and I take our thermals and computers on an embed with the 132nd Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division, high in the mountains of Afghanistan's Kunar province (where some believe Osama bin Laden is hiding).

Part 2 of the series, "The Hunt," reflects on what U.S. soldiers are doing right – and wrong – in the hunt for Taliban and "high value targets." They're trying to extend the authority of the central government back in Kabul, which many Afghans see as corrupt. I get a chance to talk, not only to commanders who are having to shift tactics to adjust to a more lethal enemy, but with intelligence officers who explain the challenges they face in tracking down – and taking out – the Taliban's command and control, increasingly found out of bounds … inside Pakistan.

Our third report is a profile of an inspiring American-Iranian volunteer who is truly "making a difference." Fary Moini, from San Diego, Calif., runs a school for hundreds of boys and girls in Jalalabad, Eastern Afghanistan -- once a headquarters for bin Laden, and even today, still on the edge of "Jihadistan." Fary came up with the idea back in 2002, at the beginning of the war, when she visited  - and was overcome by – poor Afghan children in refugee camps inside Pakistan. She says she had a calling, then and there, to give these kids something that would change their lives: an education.

Many fellow Rotarians, back in San Diego, thought she was nuts. Others were moved to help her find the funding. We catch up with Fary on a recent visit to her dream-come-true. We talk to students who have a new lease on life, as well as to school officials who worry, day and night, about threats from the Taliban to burn down the school – in the Taliban's world, education for females is banned by Allah.

Please join us over the next two weeks, when Kyle and I will be sending our reports via laptop. There'll be a lighter side, too. We're spending Thanksgiving Day with some 10th Mountain soldiers at their forward operating base in Jalalabad. There won't be much turkey, we're told, but it will be a great opportunity to connect with those Americans fighting a "forgotten war."

As I have said in this space before, I sit on only one board: the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.  The Foundation's stated goal is to promote the values of "courage, sacrifice and patriotism" that the nation's highest military honor is meant to signify.  I point this out because the subject will come up on tonight's broadcast.  President Bush today presented the Medal to a Marine who gave his life for the cause in Iraq.  His story and his citation are chilling, and his act of bravery and selflessness was astounding.  Tonight we will bring you today's event, and Rehema Ellis will tell this young Marine's story.

The new world politically...is still sinking in.  Today the President met with more Democrats, just as more of the election trends became clear. We'll talk about both.  We'll talk with David Gergen tonight as well.

We have a number of other stories, from the marketing of Christmas to our popular Friday segment Making a Difference, which tonight has a Veteran's Day theme.

All day long we've been hosting Stan Stovall from our Baltimore station. Stan and I worked together in Philadelphia at WCAU-TV where, for a brief time, the station roster included the two of us, producer Steve Capus (who is today the President of NBC News) and a young host of an afternoon show called "Live on City Line" named Matt Lauer --  I've lost track of his career in the years since. It's been great to see Stan, who is here taping a segment on his "dream" job. Watching an in-house studio channel, I watched him sitting in the Nightly anchor chair earlier.  Stan seemed to like that.  Looked pretty good, too.  I'm pretty sure he has a train ticket back to Baltimore tonight.  I had better confirm that.

And a word about Monday: We begin our series called "Coming Home" with my report from Ward 57 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

We hope you can join us for tonight's broadcast. Have a good weekend.

Tomorrow is officially Veteran's Day, but our Daily Nightly Editor Rob Merrill is celebrating today's observed holiday with his wife (who is in the military) by taking the day off.

Tonight's broadcast also recognizes the holiday and our veterans by focusing on the most recent Medal of Honor winner, as Brian tells you in today's vlog. He also explains why we at 30 Rock will be hunkering down until the first of the year.

Watch the vlog

When I was growing up back in the 1960s, it seemed like all of my friends' dads had participated to some degree in the big one -- World War II.  I pretty much took it for granted.  I knew my dad had served. I had seen the black-and-white photos he kept in his room and the big cardboard box in the closet that contained some medals, maps, photos, a Japanese yen with the names of cities handwritten on it, and books to help spot enemy planes based on their silhouettes.  But we never really talked much about what he had done.   

Well, it's taken me 30 years to start asking, and maybe it's taken him that long to feel comfortable about it, but the stories are starting to emerge.  Stories of being scared, airsick, feeling the heat and smelling burning cities as the planes roared in at only 5,000 feet.

His old box of memorabilia is gone, but its contents are not.  Most of them are packed away in a dresser drawer in the bedroom I use when I visit my parents in Seattle.  I always make a point of looking in that drawer when I am there. It's a time capsule. When I open that drawer, gone is the 81-year-old who dotes on my Mom and putters around in his garden. In his place is the skinny 19-year-old from Iowa City who enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943 and wound up on a tiny speck in the Pacific named Saipan, an officer and navigator aboard a B-29 Super Fortress bomber. 

His first mission was on Feb. 25, 1945 and his plane, named "Pocahontas" with its alluring, scantily clad namesake painted on the nose, took off around 7:00 in the morning.  It was just one of 100 bombers heading off to attack Tokyo. His job as navigator was to get his plane to the city and back, a 14-hour flight over the ocean.  The weather on the way to Japan was awful with heavy clouds masking sea below and sky above which forced the planes to split up to avoid collisions.  The radar stopped working and my dad had to navigate using his charts and wits. As they approached the city it was hidden beneath the clouds.  Knowing they needed enough fuel for the long return trip, the pilot made the decision to drop their load of incendiary bombs, target or no target, and head home hoping to avoid enemy fighters.

For the next several hours, the huge bomber with its crew of 11 lumbered home alone, their fate resting in the skills of their rookie navigator, the kid from Iowa. My dad kept peering out the tiny navigator's window looking for a glimpse of the moon or stars so he could plot their course back to Saipan.  A mistake would have doomed the plane that night. The chances of survival after ditching in the open sea were slim; the chances of rescue were none.  After seven hours my dad figured they were close to home and sure enough, as the bomber descended there it was -- Saipan dead ahead. "It was right on course and my calculations were only a minute off" my dad told me.  I was "very lucky" he said with the kind of understatement that guys of his generation posess.

It is lucky for me too that my dad made it though that night and plenty of others during that long ago war.  He is starting expand on his wartime diaries and write things down so they don't get lost and I'm looking forward to reading them.  I guess there is really not much more to say except, thanks Dad.

I knew Ed Bradley as a very tough competitor and as a compassionate human being. He arrived in Vietnam for CBS about a year after I joined the staff of NBC News in Saigon. If you were up against Ed on a story, you were on your toes because you knew he was always looking for ways to hammer the opposition.  When Saigon was about to fall to the communist North Vietnamese in April 1975, both Ed Bradley and I had volunteered to go back to cover the end of the Vietnam war for our respective networks.

On April 29, as the word came that Americans were being evacuated from Saigon, Ed tried to tie up all the outgoing long-distance phone circuits from the besieged capital so that the other networks would have problems filing live reports by telephone. One of my NBC News colleagues almost got in a fist fight with Bradley, who protested his innocence.

Bradley was also capable of acts of great kindness. There were plenty of stories about how he came to the aid of people wounded in battle. The most famous example of Bradley's compassion occurred in 1978 when he and his camera crew were photographing the "boat people" escaping from Vietnam. Many of the boats, overloaded with men, women and small children, were foundering in the South China sea. At one point, Bradley waded out into waist-deep water and hauled the boat to safety on shore.

Some fellow journalists criticized Bradley for getting personally involved in the story. But as a journalist, Ed Bradley was also a human being who could not stand by while fellow humans drowned.

Today, as I was sharing memories of Ed with others, one thing emerged: He was a giant in this business and a helluva class act.

The graphic that will overlay our lead story tonight reads: A NEW DAY. Those Americans exhausted by a late election night the evening before woke up this morning to learn of a Democratic sweep. It's official: House and Senate. George Allen of Virginia and Conrad Burns of Montana have conceded, and so begins a new political era in this country. We will cover it all tonight.

Now to the other half of the title of this post. The sad word arrived in our newsroom around mid-morning, and it was hard to believe. Ed Bradley has died. I have just completed writing a remembrance of him for the end of tonight's broadcast. What an elegant man. What a great journalist.  I have been inundated with notes and phone calls from colleagues in the industry. Ron Allen e-mailed me to be sure I mentioned how many people Ed mentored over the years... especially African American journalists, for whom Ed always seemed to be available to lend an ear and offer help. George Lewis reminisced about meeting Ed while covering the Vietnam War. Producer Kelly Venardos (always identified as Ed's "un-official Goddaughter") reminded me what a "happy soul" Ed always was, and so those very words will be added to my own on the air tonight. Howard Stringer agreed to be interviewed today, but was fearful he would break down in the middle of taping. It was that kind of a day. He was that kind of a guy. An icon is gone.

We hope you will join us for our Thursday night broadcast.

Editor's note: Don reported this story on Wednesday's hour-long edition of Nightly News. If you missed it, you can watch his report here. I asked him to give us an additional sampling of what the troops he talked to said about Secretary Rumsfeld.

If you ask America's fighting men and women, they'll tell you that changes at the top often take a long time to trickle down to them. On a day-to-day basis, an Army private is much more concerned with decisions made by their platoon leader or company commander, than the secretary of defense. That said, most of the troops we spoke with, at bases across the U.S., had more than just a passing interest in Donald Rumsfeld's retirement. 

They all expressed surprise... particularly since President Bush had publicly endorsed Rumsfeld less than a week before the election. Many also say they respected Rumsfeld, knew that he had made some difficult decisions, and was doing an excellent job. Most were also optimistic, hoping that Robert Gates would be as committed to victory as they are, and might offer some new ideas to bring that about.

Here's a sampling of what we heard from the soldiers and Marines we met at Fort Hood, Fort Drum and Camp Pendleton.

"Whoever disagree with him and who wasn't completely in accordance with his views is probably going to feel relieved," said Sgt. Efren Vega. "Bottom line, we are soldiers and we do our job."

"With the Democratic party taking over in the House, there's going to be some changes economically and definitely throughout the military," said Lance Cpl. Jadd Joseph. "I'm about to go back over to Iraq, so hopefully Bush was talking about a new perspective on what's going to be going on. I hope it's for the better."

"We're always trained to adapt," said Pvt. Tim Hartman. "We'll just have to change, adapt and follow our new secretary of defense in whatever he tells us to do."

"I really have no negative feelings towards him," said Sgt. Chris Kelleher. "He's the defense secretary, he's not the president. He has our loyalty either way, no matter what he does."

After a very late Election Night and a trip to Washington to interview Rep. Nancy Pelosi [transcript], Brian is back in his familiar anchor chair in New York tonight.

As he tells you in today's vlog [click here or on the image to watch], the election results and fallout are still the top story, and the broadcast will also pay tribute to CBS correspondent Ed Bradley, who passed away today. You can read our obituary here.

Two days and counting since Election Day... If you were the carpool parent or driving to work today, you probably noticed as many election signs today as there were two days ago.

Virtually every town has an ordinance requiring all political signs have to be removed within 10 days of an election. (And yes, that means even if you don't have a winner yet in your district.)

So, America, get out there and grab a sign. Put it in the trashcan, save it for your memorabilia collection. Take down one if you voted for a candidate. If it makes you feel better, take one down that touted the other guy. Burn 'em. Mulch 'em. Get rid of them. This election's over. It's time to think about 2008.

2008?! Bob Faw will tell you tonight that for some candidates... it's never, ever too early to get started.

An interesting note from the campaign trail: As I returned from Memphis yesterday, where I had covered the Corker/Ford race for NBC News, I had a layover in Charlotte, N.C. Democrat Jon Tester had just won the Montana Senate seat, and travelers in the airport were closely watching the television monitors in the terminal. Moments after boarding our flight to Washington, with the cabin door closed, I received an urgent news alert from NBC News. Donald Rumsfeld was resigning.

I mentioned the news to the flight attendant who was nearby. He immediately picked up the intercom and made the announcement to the rest of the passengers. Surprisingly, a good portion of then plane broke out into applause.

An interesting, if somewhat unscientific opinion poll... from the South.

Everyone even tangentially connected with the news media is walking around, somehow functioning and covering a monumental story... on no sleep. It is impossible to come down, to unwind after a long and eventful night like last night. Here at our NBC News facility on Capitol Hill, I just ran into former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, who I have known since my first day at college here in Washington. He is operating on very little rest, in an unsavory role, and we talked briefly about the results last night.

Brian meets with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in her Capitol Hill office. Photo by Jocelyn Augustino.

Earlier today I ventured over to the Capitol building to talk to Congresswoman (and presumptive Speaker) Pelosi, and there was a palpable new "bubble" around her -- security, excitement (on the part of her aides and family members) and media attention. The story continues to play out, and we still don't have an ending where the Senate is concerned. I just talked to Tim Russert one last time before air -- we are doing an hour-long edition of Nightly News tonight which is an additional challenge for our staff running only on adrenaline. Heroic deeds are being done in video edit suites in several cities, by producers and correspondents who have covered every incremental development in this story without letup. The Virginia factor reminds me of a car teetering on the edge of a cliff -- there's a world of issues at stake depending on which way the Allen race tilts. That's all that can be said at this hour. As was the case 24 hours ago: the rest of this story line will write itself. We're just here to watch.

We hope you will join us from Washington tonight.

As mentioned, Brian anchors tonight from Washington, D.C., where there is now a second major story to report.

Click here or on the image for a preview from Brian in today's vlog.

A source inside the Joint Chiefs of Staff tells our NBC News military analyst Bill Arkin that there was a fight between Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush's political team prior to the election. Cheney said Rumsfeld should stay. Political types, led by White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, wanted him gone.

The decision was made to delay the decision until after the election. Then, based on how the GOP did, it would be the president's decision. After the Republicans lost the House and may lose the Senate, President Bush agreed that Rumsfeld should go. According to Arkin's source, Cheney fought a second battle on the replacement. He thought they needed someone strong, someone ideological.  He lost again.

Newly nominated Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been out of the mix since 1999. He has been president of Texas A&M University since then. He has served on corporate boards, but has had limited contact with Washington, until he became a member of the Baker Hamilton Commission exploring U.S. options in Iraq. He is not a neo-con, which is viewed as a good thing by White House types. He was a Soviet analyst and the only CIA analyst who ever rose to the directorship, which he held from 1991-1993.

The NBC News Hot file is filling up with biographical information about the man who will be the next Secretary of Defense. You can read our developing story about Donald Rumsfeld's resignation here. Obviously, Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski will have the very latest tonight on the broadcast.

Here's Gates' biography from Who's-Who 2006:

Born Sept. 25, 1943 in Wichita, Kans.
Occupation: President of Texas A&M Univ. in College Station, Texas
Family: Married; 2 children. Education: BA, College of William and Mary, 1965; MA, Indiana Univ., 1966; PhD, Georgetown Univ., 1974. Avocations/Research/Interests: Civil/Military Service: USAF, 1966-68.

Recipient of President's Citizens medal, National Intelligence Distinguished Service medal, Distinguish Intelligence medal (2), Intelligence medal of merit, Arthur S. Flemming award presented annually to ten most outstanding young men and women in the Federal Services

Positions Held: President, Texas A&M Univ., College Station, Texas, 2002; interim dean, School of Government & Public Services, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 1999-2001; assistant to president, deputy national security affairs, The White House, Washington, 1989-91; director, CIA, Washington, 1991-1993; deputy director, CIA, Washington, 1986-89; acting director, CIA, Washington, 1986-87; chairman, National Intelligence Council, CIA, Washington, 1983-86; deputy director for intelligence, CIA, Washington, 1982-86; various positions, including officer national intelligence, CIA, Washington, 1979-82; staff National Security Council, The White House, Washington, 1974-79; joined, various positions, including intelligence analyst, assistant national intelligence officer, CIA, Washington, 1966-74. Career-Related: Board of directors, Fidelity Funds, NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc., Parker Drilling Co., Inc.

Author: From the Shadows: The Ulimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, 1996

Brian broadcasts from Washington, D.C., tonight, where he will also talk to the next Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

I'm expecting his vlog in the next hour or two and his regular dispatch this afternoon.

In the meantime, you can watch President Bush's news conference at 1 p.m. ET here. First Read remains active with updates in the Montana and Virginia Senate races, as well as reaction around the country. And in case you haven't found them yet, here are the full national results.

It's Game Day for those of us who cover politics -- and that's not just a reference to our use of the NBC Sports set for tonight's broadcast, though that choice was apt. So much about sports and politics is similar that frankly, it's surprising it took so long for someone to come up with a "Fantasy Congress" league. There's the endless score keeping, the emotionally intense build-up, and of course, the thrill of victory and agony of defeat. And even though there's always a next year in sports, and a next cycle in politics, that's no consolation for passionate fans and voters who see immense stakes in the outcome at hand.

Also as with sports, election coverage isn't complete without its particular stats, rules, and language. Which brings us to the exit polls.

The exit polls are the results of questionnaires that will be completed by as many as 40,000 voters as they leave their voting places today. In certain states where many people vote absentee, interviews are also conducted by phone. The exit polls tell us who voted, including the demographic breakdown of voters by age, gender, ethnicity, education and political identity. The exit polls also tell us how voters voted and why.
 
Even with the exit polls in hand, NBC News will not project the outcome of any race, or characterize any race, prior to the scheduled time of the last poll-closing in a state (see this chart of poll-closing times in First Read today). Until that time, we will not disclose any exit polling data which might show who could win or lose a race. This includes the reporting of voting trends or any other information which would allow our viewers to calculate who is ahead or behind. We'll also remind viewers in states where the polls are still open that there is still time for them to vote. 

After polls close, you'll start hearing us talk about two types of "winners." "Projected winners" are candidates whom we've projected will win their races, but are in races where the vote count isn't yet complete. We base those calls on a range of information, including but not limited to, the exit poll.  "Apparent winners" are candidates who have won their races after all the votes have been counted, but where the margin is small enough that the result might change. Note that we don't use the term "official winner." The job of certifying winners falls to the states -- not to the press.

NBC News Vice President David McCormick also contributed to this post.

There is little to say here, as we are all waiting on the news of the day. Americans will make history tonight. Each election is one for the books, and we're waiting to find out exactly how they chose to do it.

It has been a day of non-stop meetings and plans here, and all that is about to stop. It is overcast here in New York, which will turn to rain while we are on the air tonight. It's a good night to be indoors.

Our coverage begins with your first local airing of NBC Nightly News tonight, and will continue all night long. While "plans" call for us to unhook our earpieces and microphones at some time after 2 a.m. local time, I'm doubtful, prepared for anything and ready for the long haul. All I have to do is clear a pile of books off the couch in my office, and I'm ready for the restorative power that two hours sleep can offer.

Election nights are great nights in America. There is, once the shouting is over, a great majesty to what we are about to do here. I started my day by voting, and I will end it by analyzing the collective will of my fellow citizens. Tonight we've assembled the best team in the industry. We hope you will join us.

Brian previews the day, night and morning ahead for NBC News as they cover Decision 2006 wall-to-wall.

Click here or on the image to watch the vlog, and see why Brian's lapel has a new look.

And just a reminder... First Read is THE place for dispatches from the field today. We can barely keep up with the submissions, as NBC News personnel across the country track key races and allegations of voting irregularities.

Brian said it best in yesterday's post: This "is one of those nights all of us in television news live for." The first polls don't close until 6 p.m. ET, so in the meantime, check in with First Read frequently (it will be the far more active blog today; NBCers will file dispatches throughout the day), and bookmark Politics.MSNBC.com for all the latest developments. Brian will deliver his vlog and daily dispatch here in The Daily Nightly at the usual time.

Nightly News will be live in all time zones tonight, starting with the 6:30 p.m. Eastern feed and moving West across the country.

Brian anchors NBC News Decision 2006 prime-time coverage beginning at 10 p.m. ET, joined by Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert. I've asked NBC News Political Director Elizabeth Wilner to weigh in later today with a viewer's guide.

You can also watch MSNBC-TV's continuing coverage of Election Day by clicking here.

Much of our broadcast (and much of our day) will be taken up by... tomorrow. We're watching polls, talking to people, and meeting with the experts. In my case, that meant Elizabeth Wilner, our resident knower of all things political -- she came to my office for a last-minute free-association briefing, after I spent portions of the weekend sequestered with my elections briefing book. As I just told an interviewer with the New York Observer, it makes the repair manual for a nuclear reactor look like TV Guide. As I've said before: if you don't know the basics, you shouldn't be in the business -- and tomorrow is one of those nights all of us in television news live for. There are few places more exciting than a newsroom -- any newsroom -- on Election Night. As I said to another interviewer today: While I happen to believe I will be seated with the two guys you'd invite to your house to watch election returns (Brokaw and Russert), the truth is Election Night is something the television networks, all three television networks, are awfully good at. I can't wait to get going. Air traffic control gets interesting on Election Night: the various feeds of Nightly News all must be freshened as the time zones stretch from East to West... and then comes the prime time hour (10 p.m. Eastern) that also must be done again, live and fresh for a new audience at a later time. Sleep is overrated.  There are only so many Election Nights in life, after all.

Tonight we'll preview the big races and the state of politics with 24 hours to go. We will look at the guilty verdict and death penalty for Saddam. Mike Taibbi will chronicle a "cultural" milestone this past weekend, and we'll have an item on my personal favorite story of the day: it involves the aircraft carrier Intrepid on New York's Hudson River. Tom and Tim will join me briefly on our election set to preview tomorrow night. In the newsroom, we're a happy family again, if only for a few days... our friend and co-worker Chris Colvin is here. She's an ace writer, and I've known her for close to 15 years, but since she's based in Chicago, we don't get to see her often enough. Also, for anyone interested: Newsweek commissioned a piece on growing up in the television era. It appears in the edition of the magazine out today.

We will prepare for tonight's broadcast, and then prepare for tomorrow. We hope you can join us for the Monday edition of NBC Nightly News.

A senior U.S. intelligence official tells NBC News that the U.S. believes Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque's comments about Fidel Castro constitute "expectations adjustment" on Castro's health.

Perez Roque had been optimistic about Castro being present for his postponed 80th birthday celebration on December 2, but in an interview today with The Associated Press, he stepped back from any guarantees, saying the important thing is that Castro's recovery is "advanced."  U.S. and other officials have been anticipating the Dec. 2 event, believing it would be an indicator of just how healthy the Cuban president is, following his emergency abdominal surgery in late July.

Castro turned 80 on August 13, but was incapacitated and the celebration was postponed. It was to be a grand national event, including a military parade. 

Last week, in his first televised appearance in five weeks, Castro appeared feeble and immobile, dressed in a track suit, having difficulty speaking and admitting to having difficulty walking.  In addition, officials noted the presence of a bandage on his neck, believed to be covering a scar from intravenous drug delivery.   Also visible was a bulge on the left side of his waist which some have speculated is a colostomy bag. 

U.S. officials believed the main reason the video was released was to show that Castro had not, as rumored, undergone chemotherapy. Now officials believe some in the Cuban government think they may have miscalculated since Castro looked worse than he had in previous appearances.

"The Cubans have always been very good at managing expectations," said the official, who has followed Cuban affairs for decades.  "This was so out of character.  So, now what we are seeing is an expectations adjustment."

This week's Real to Reel takes a look at how production of the Nightly News broadcast has changed over the years, and how much of it has remained the same.

Here, Nightly News Director Brett Holey offers his take on production of the Nov. 9, 1977 broadcast anchored by John Chancellor and David Brinkley, and offers some behind-the-scenes tidbits and trivia:

Twenty-nine years later, so much has changed, and yet so much is the same.

OK, the look and the sound is a time warp.

The music is such a mid-70s sound you can almost smell the polyester. It was composed by Henry Mancini and its rhythm and orchestration  (a little techno, a little smooth jazz, very movie of the week) were imitated in local news themes for years. Yet it was a relatively brief 8 years after this newscast that John Williams composed "The Mission," the theme that we use to this day.

Watch the broadcast montage

(If you find old news theme music interesting you may want to check out http://www.geocities.com/netnewsmusic/nbc.html )

The scenic design is extremely simple and understated by today's standards (with the possible exception of the new Today set).

I can hear the pitch meeting: "Their sets will be identical, but opposite. Warm 'Earth tones' for Chancellor in New York. Cool blues for Brinkley in DC. They'll both stand next to a big projection screen, but on opposite sides."

This set made use of a production technique that was popular around this time, the "gobo" -- creating a fake ceiling for your news set by hanging a small plastic ceiling just above and in front of the lens on your opening shot. The result was an optical illusion of a hi-tech room while masking out the studio lighting grid.

I bet producing graphics for those big screens was a bear. I don't know if the visuals were 35mm slides or one of the other techniques like "Vizmo" that were popular at the time. Any of them would have required a lot more physical labor and chemical processes than are used in today's PhotoShop- and AfterEffects-dominated graphics operations.

Broadcast graphics departments of the 60s, 70s and early 80s were virtual toxic-waste repositories filled with photo chemicals, volatile adhesives and all manner of dyes, papers and films. There were large rooms filled with file cabinets full of "art cards" and Associated Press photos to be used in photographic and electronic compositing of graphics.

Computerized graphics and animation were in their infancy. Electronic character generators were around, but generally did one or two typestyles, in one color. Their production features were quite limited. The first electronic "still store" devices were becoming available but the look of this broadcast would suggest that it was a combination of early electronic graphics and optical sources like 16mm film and 35mm slides.

The animated titles at the top of the broadcast look rudimentary today, but were very likely a big investment and big achievement at the time. Star Wars had been released earlier that year and the "echo trails" on this type were just one of the big influences of that film. (Remember the slanted-back type rolls and star field backgrounds that appeared on everything for the next 5 years?)

Yes, this broadcast is a time warp yet there are basic, underlying principals that are the same.

The director of Nightly News at the time was a gentleman by the name of Norman Cook. Julian Finkelstein took over directing duties in 1983. I replaced Julian in 1997.

The times and technology we have worked through are very different yet our goals have been similar -- to create a broadcast that is visually fresh and interesting. To help the anchor and editorial staff illustrate the news in a way that helps the audience understand while always remaining editorially responsible and in good taste.

The big screens next to Brinkley and Chancellor were pretty basic, yet helped the viewer grasp the topic quickly.  A picture of a dollar and a line of text told viewers this was a story about Fed Chairman Arthur Burns. A stock photo of croissant and coffee for the closer let you know it had something to do with pastry. This is essentially what we've been doing with moving video and large projection screens since 1996.

The format is vastly different and the pace of today's Nightly is considerably more up-tempo. There are days we do more graphics in the first 2 minutes of the broadcast than this broadcast had in half an hour.  Yet the things that leave the strongest impression on me are the good writing, story choice and the personality of the anchors.

I had the pleasure of working a bit with David Brinkley toward the end of his career and there was something about the way he would crack himself up while telling a story that was sure to make me laugh as well. It was just a small part of what made him a giant in our industry, but I think it was among his most endearing qualities. (It was also a hazard to a director. Try cutting a fast-paced Brinkley "roundtable" while giggling.)

Chancellor takes a dignified swipe at the French in his intro to the closer and leaves you wishing you'd seen that croissant piece. (Qu'est-ce que c'est la margarine?)

While outstanding reporting and responsible journalism will always be our main business, it's lighter moments like these that many viewers remember most and help make a connection with an anchor. It's as true today as it was then.

Today's "viewers" have the added advantage of avenues like the Daily Nightly and Early Nightly to get that glimpse of Brian and our correspondents outside the broadcast, and e-mail makes it even more of a two-way conversation.

I bet David Brinkley would have had one helluva a blog, but I just can't imagine buying the Henry Mancini theme as a ringtone.

Final thoughts:

This Brinkley/Chancellor broadcast was probably the second-highest rated at the time. Walter Cronkite was a solid No. 1 from his blue-gray, round Formica desk in front of a simple, wire frame mercator projection of the earth.
On ABC the strained duo of Harry Reasoner and Barbara Walters was a year into their 18-month, ratings-challenged run.   

In November 1977 I was a senior in high school, living in southern Michigan. I was interested in broadcast journalism so I convinced the anchor of WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio, to allow me and two friends to watch the eleven o'clock news from the station. I remember thinking that the anchor was a blow-hard but my friends and I, watching from the control room, were fascinated by the fast-talking young man who was telling everyone what to do. We found out later he was the director. Both my friends said right then that they wanted to be a director of a newscast. I didn't.

Watch the broadcast montage