When you think of the Winter Games you probably picture snow and ice -- not the sun-soaked beaches of Florida. So how did Jennifer Rodriguez -- daughter of a Cuban immigrant from Miami -- trade in roller skates and end up skating in these Olympic Games? We'll have her story and all the day's news tonight.

Here is today's featured piece of writing, by columnist Roy Johnson. For a lot of people, it sums up these games so far, especially when you watch the post-competition interviews, and especially when matched against hype.

IN THE NEWS
On this cold night in Torino, we'll again open (our format is not set in stone following our conference call with the afternoon editorial meeting in New York) with some combination of terrorism and an update from the Philippines. Also, Mike Taibbi will have the amazing story of the late-night drug raid here and how it continues to play out. We'll check in on our New Orleans bureau tonight, preview the case the Roberts Court agreed to hear today, and note the announced departure of Larry Summers at Harvard.  And: a nod to the games -- we'll preview tonight's figure skating.  We hope you'll join us tonight.

Now up and running, the official "Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust" at www.scooterlibby.com. The fund is fueled by donations from friends and supporters of the indicted former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

"There is already more than $2 million in the trust," according to Barbara Comstock, a Republican strategist and a member of the fund's steering committee. "The goal is for about $5-6 million in donations."

The trust was set up to help Libby pay for "growing legal expenses." The Web site states, "good lawyers are very expensive. And Scooter and his family already have made many sacrifices during Scooter's 10 years of dedicated public service. Now they need our help to win this fight."

The site is peppered with testimonials on Scooter's service to the country, like this one by former Amb. Dennis Ross: "He's cared much more about trying to do a job than trying to get visibility for himself. He's approached his job with the sense that his role is basically to support others."

And this from Cheney himself: "Scooter is entitled to the presumption of innocence. He is a great guy. I worked with him for a long time. I have tremendous regard for him." (those were Cheney's words last week during his interview on FOX News.)

Florida shopping-center magnate Mel Sembler chairs the trust. Sembler is Chairman of the Board of The Sembler Company in St. Petersburg, Fla. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Italy from 2001 to 2005. Sembler also served as Finance Chairman for the Republican National Committee from 1997 to 2000. The trust's steering committee is composed of several prominent Republicans, a few Democrats and several friends of Mr. Libby.

Hundreds of people across the country have already made donations, according to Comstock. The gifts are coming in at under $12,000 to avoid tax liability for the donors, she said.

Hi, this is my first blog in The Daily Nightly. I'm based at the United Nations in New York and cover the U.N. for NBC News. I hope to provide weekly updates about what's happening here during this critical year for the world body. Most observers expect significant change at the U.N. in 2006, led by the U.S. push for reform. Here's a look at some issues to watch this week.

The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold open meetings on issues ranging from the fight against international terrorism (Tuesday) to alleged sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers in various missions around the globe on (Thursday) to mismanagement and corruption in U.N. procurement for peacekeeping operations (Wednesday). But the discussions themselves, particularly Wednesday's session, are also not without controversy. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, the current council president who initiated the meeting, has generated criticism from many developing countries who maintain that the Security Council is now encroaching on the 191-member General Assembly's territory. They say that dealing with management and procurement matters are their prerogative. The U.S. and other Council members say they have a right to take up such corruption because the malfeasance is largely in U.N. peacekeeping operations which the Security Council has created and should oversee. Expect sparks to fly.

Human Rights: the latest blueprint for reforming the largely discredited 53-member U.N. Human Rights Commission based in Geneva may surface midweek. (At least that's what the General Assembly President Jan Eliasson of Sweden is hoping for.) Negotiations have been underway for several months and pressure is on to reach agreement before the upcoming session of the current commission opens on March 13. Differences have centered on the size, composition and mandate of a new body. The U.S. and others have criticized the presence of major rights abusers like Sudan, Zimbabwe and Libya on the existing council and their ability to block investigations.

Secretary General Race:  U.S. Ambassador Bolton officially raised the topic in the Security Council last week and this week backroom discussions are expected to begin in earnest. Current Secretary General Kofi Annan's second term ends on Dec. 31, 2006. Many basic questions are being discussed -- ranging from when his successor should be elected (the U.S. would like to see it sooner rather than later), where he or she should come from (Asia feels it's their turn), and what is the proper job description at this point in time. Are management and administrative skills the key criteria now that the U.N. is facing major reform? How important are a candidate's diplomatic and political skills? Could a woman be seriously considered? Lengthy and unpredictable negotations are expected.

Darfur, Sudan: The U.S. is pushing to replace the 7,000-strong African Union force in Darfur with a larger, more mobile and better equipped U.N. peacekeeping mission, having called conditions there "genocide." And the Security Council has authorized Annan to  develop military contingency plans for such a force. (U.S military planners are helping.) But, any such operation needs the support of the African Union (which has not yet approved such a move) and Sudan, which has so far expressed opposition. It's also not yet clear who would supply the needed forces, equipment and air power. 

She is called the "Queen of Silver," after a series of second-place finishes. But does Sasha Cohen have what it takes to win an Olympic gold medal? After years of being in the shadow of Michelle Kwan, can this American favorite become the new face of U.S. women's figure skating?

Here now, as reported on MSNBC.com, the quote of the day from U.S. skier Bode Miller, who finished sixth today and has failed to earn a medal in four outings.

"One of the good things about my career is I have such extensive knowledge, so I always go as hard as I can. Some guys can go 70-80 percent and get results, but I wouldn't do that. If things went well, I could be sitting on four medals, maybe all of them gold."

NOW THE NEWS...

Tonight we'll begin with some combination of the following: the new terrorist tapes that are making the rounds and a look at what they contain, the fight over a contract to protect some of America's major shipping ports, the ongoing tragedy in the Philippines, and what could be a coming oil shock due to events in Nigeria.

Also tonight, our look at one of the enduring brand names from Torino, which will allow us to repeat a minor but enduring moment in cinematic history. We'll have the latest from the Olympic Winter Games, and we'll say farewell to one of the great figures of sports broadcasting, Curt Gowdy.

In Turin, or Torino, it turns out: the Italians don't recognize Presidents day. Nor does the news calendar... so we're hoping you will join us for our broadcast this Monday night.

For the first time since the games began, we woke up to a dusting of snow here in Torino. It has since become a blanket, and the expression you hear among fellow Americans in the commissary at the NBC compound is that where dealing with snow is concerned, Turin is the "Washington, D.C. of Italy." If you've spent any time in the Nation's Capital, then you know it only takes a dusting to paralyze streets. To our amazement, for a brief time today, here at the foot of the Italian Alps (I'm pretty sure snow was INVENTED here), the people of this city were having a tough time getting around. The flakes were briefly the size of hubcaps and the snow has left a nice layer of white on everything. While there are numerous French influences visible here, on a day like this, Turin takes on a decidedly Eastern European feeling. It's also something of a mind-bender that while Whitney Houston sings in the Medals Plaza a few blocks from here (the music is piped through the entire downtown), we are inside our headquarters just off the piazza watching the Daytona 500 while working on Nightly News... selfishly hoping for a rain-free, accident-free second half of the race, so that the first East Coast feed of Nightly News airs on time.

On the broadcast tonight, the continuing struggle and sadness in the Philippines...our own Mark Potter got a helicopter ride to the affected area today and has a first-hand report. Also the Sunday news from Washington -- regarding Secretary Chertoff and Vice President Cheney. The news continues to be generated here at these games -- we'll have a rundown of the victories, disappointments and cancellations (due to snow, of all things). Tonight Mike Taibbi will profile the Pride of Harvard on the U.S. women's hockey team. It can certainly be said that where hockey is concerned, the Swedes seem to have our number. Kevin Tibbles continues to take the Canadian hockey result very hard. We are counseling and consoling him. The question for many of us in the media is: will we learn any lessons about advance hype after some of the performances by members of the U.S. team at these games? Its one of the many stories as we pass the mid-point of competition.

We hope you'll join us tonight.

I admit to making my two children watch the gold medal performance of Lindsey Jacobellis, right up to and including the moment where it became a silver medal performance.  There's a lesson in that, not withstanding the editorial in The New York Times today which sets new benchmarks in our era of the celebration of self.

Additionally, my friend and colleague David Gregory finds himself in the news following... shall we say... a boisterous week in the White House briefing room. David has written an interesting post for us, he is the subject of a Q & A with Editor and Publisher, and additionally finds himself an involuntary lead player in a kind of "Brokeback Briefing Room" by Rachel Sklar. It will be interesting to hear from some of those who have been decrying the lack of a Donaldson-esque leading player in the press corps in recent years... as to how they enjoyed the robust discussion on display over the Cheney hunting incident.

Tonight Mike Taibbi will tackle a topic mentioned here yesterday -- the performance of the American athletes thus far, and the performance of these games in the relentless competition for America's viewing attention. At the top of the broadcast tonight will be the awful situation in the Philippines, followed by some major developments in the Middle East and Europe. The weather back home is making news once again, and we'll preview Mardi Gras (which will be our next remote location after this one) in New Orleans. When our work day is done, in the middle of the night Torino time, tonight's the night for the Nightly News staff to gather (in an undisclosed location not far from the banks of the Po River running through this city) so that News President Steve Capus, Executive Producer John Reiss and I can thank them for their hard and relentless work.

Tomorrow night, you can watch along with us in great anticipation as we hope that the Daytona 500 finishes in time to allow us to get on the air. Such an outcome would be a win/win situation: an on-time finish would mean minimal race delays due to yellow flags (i.e., a safe race, no injuries) and would mean all U.S. time zones would be treated to our Sunday best.

Time to thank our blog readers and regular viewers for their relentless dedication and loyalty as well. We hope you'll join us from Italy again tonight.

It's been a rough and tumble week in the White House press room over the Cheney hunting story. Many viewers have written me with praise and plenty of criticism about my questioning of press secretary Scott McClellan. The debate about this story has focused equal parts on my colleagues and me as it has on the unfortunate facts of this hunting accident involving the Vice President.

Let me say at the outset that I was wrong to lose my temper at Scott McClellan. I've worked well with Scott since we first met during the 2000 campaign. Monday, he suggested my aggressive questioning about the disclosure of the hunting accident was a stunt for the cameras. He said this during a morning OFF CAMERA briefing, which undercut his point. Furthermore, I considered it a cheap shot. I said, "Don't be a jerk to me personally, just answer the question." I regret saying that because it's never appropriate to speak that way and because it created a distraction from the issues at hand.

Putting that aside, I do not apologize for asking tough questions about this story. I'm in the business of getting information -- as much of it as possible. The public and I don't always get as much as I think we deserve, but I keep trying. I also try to demand straight answers. Covering politicians, I have to work harder to get them. I have not made any judgments about the facts of this story as it pertains to what happened on the Armstrong ranch. I have stuck to reporting the facts. I do, however feel it's appropriate to push hard for full and immediate disclosure from our country's highest leaders about their conduct -- public and private. My view is, as elected officials with unparalleled influence over the lives of the American people, the President and Vice President owe the public information about their activities. I see myself as a proxy for the public that has raised questions about what happened and why the Vice President did not immediately disclose it. Furthermore, when a sitting Vice President shoots a man, it's a helluva story -- worthy of public notice and discussion. Therefore, I think it's appropriate to question the White House about why the Vice President chose to disregard the President's normal procedures for public disclosure. Mr. Cheney, in my view, acted as if he had something to hide. He also chose to allow a witness to this accident and the White House press secretary to spend three days portraying this as the fault of the shooting victim, Harry Whittington. Wednesday, Mr. Cheney changed course and took the blame. That invites press scrutiny.

This episode was also emblematic of how the Vice President chooses to communicate with the press and by extension the public. It also revealed tension within the White House between the staffs of the President and Vice President.

Yet the debate playing out in the blogosphere, cable airwaves and on talk radio pits the Vice President against an allegedly left-wing, overly cynical, prissy White House press corps in a tizzy because it wasn't the first to know and angry because it hates the President and Vice President anyway. This is nonsense. If you believe an accidental shooting by Vice President Al Gore would not be met with the same press scrutiny, I think you are not being honest with yourself. Have you Googled transcripts from the Clinton administration at the height of the Lewinsky scandal? The pursuit of information at the White House is often tense. We push hard for it. Maybe you think we pushed too hard in this case. Maybe you think there was no grave harm in waiting to learn the facts of this incident for a few days. I can accept that. The way we do our business is not always pretty and we should be accountable for that. I happen to believe, however, on balance, our dogged pursuit of lots of information, all the time, is a good thing. I view the White House press corps as a proxy for the public. It provides fodder for important debates in this country. But then again, I do have a bias: I'm in the information-gathering business.

One final thought. In recent days, some people have suggested to me that the press corps has failed to recognize that this is a sad story. Two friends, one who happened to be the Vice President, were involved in a terrible accident. It could have happened to anyone. Our tough questions and our reporting failed to give that adequate attention. It's a fair point. I do think the Vice President himself helped to give voice to how painful this accident was. That's why I think it was appropriate he decided to discuss it publicly.

It is hard to believe another Friday is upon us. Perhaps it's that we keep mostly American hours in Europe, living a mole-like existence and seeing daylight so briefly each day, when compared to how much of our work "day" is spent in the dark of night. The first live feed of our broadcast is at 12:30 a.m. here in Italy. It can make for a late night. Today, a new wave of weather came in, dumping snow on the ski venues and leaving the city bathed in sunlight. The "inversion" blanket of fog lifted and the Alps were visible for the first time in days.

A cloud of sorts has also lifted from the White House. The bizarre story of the accidental shooting at the hands of the Vice President now moves lower in the news lineup, despite a development today that put a face and voice behind the name of the victim. Harry Whittington spoke to reporters today upon his discharge from the hospital. While many who watched his statement thought they noticed a kind of heavy cosmetic covering on his facial and neck wounds (luckily, I'm not an expert on such matters), I think the assessment of Janet Shamlian immediately after the statement on MSNBC got it about right: he came across as a grateful and courtly Southern gentleman. I was interested to read in The New York Times this week that as the father of a mentally retarded daughter, he's been an advocate for the rights of the mentally retarded in Texas. He certainly was a pioneer in that state's now-healthy Republican Party.

Tonight the mudslide in the Philippines will have a prominent position in our broadcast. So will the words of Secretary Rumsfeld. One of my favorite stories of these games is airing tonight: a superb piece of work by our foreign news team of M.L. Flynn, Jack Chesnutt and correspondent Jim Maceda, on the 10th Mountain Division. Famously known as the soldiers on skis in World War II, their story is so much like that of the Greatest Generation as a whole. They came over here, saved the world and built a world of their own upon returning whole. It has occurred to me more than once on this trip that we are not far from the twin hilltops where Senators Bob Dole and Dan Inouye were both wounded in fighting with the Germans. If memory serves, both men were wounded just yards apart and days apart in the Po River Valley.

Also tonight, our continued reporting on these Olympic Games... as I note we at NBC are now the ones being reported on, on the front pages of both USA Today and The New York Times this morning. It's all part of something I often speak to groups about: our loss of the collective viewing experience in America, due to the burgeoning choices available to us, competing for our time and attention.  Communications outlets like the one you're reading simply weren't available back when airing the Olympics effectively meant beaming the same signal into most of the households in America watching television. Few events bring us together as a collective body of viewers any more, and aside from my obvious affiliation with my employer, as I've said many times, I'm not sure it's an overall positive.  But I do know it's a sign of the times. While this trend has eaten into our world as well, I think it's still notable that the three network evening newscasts share a sizable and impressive audience. While we easily make up the most popular source of news in the nation, it's a rapidly changing landscape. On that note, we hope you will join us for our slice of that landscape, tonight and this weekend, for NBC Nightly News from Torino.

Wyoming, where Vice President Dick Cheney spoke today, has such a tiny  population -- just over 500,000, ranking 50th -- that it's more like a small town, where people seem to know everyone else.

As Cheney spoke today, the speaker of the state house of representatives, Randall Luthi, stood behind him. But they were no strangers. When Cheney was a Wyoming congressman, Luthi was an intern on his Washington, D.C. staff.

When Luthi was first elected to the state legislature, in 1995, recounts showed him in a dead-even tie with his opponent. State law declared that such ties were to be broken by "casting lots." Since no one was quite certain what that meant, the tie was broken by having the two candidates draw straws from the cowboy hat of the governor -- live, on the "Today" show.

The legislature has become much more professional from the body it was when Cheney got his first taste of politics as an intern there. Its wild and woolly days lasted until the mid-1960s, when it acquired a full-time professional staff of lawyers to guide the citizen lawmakers. The days are long gone when legislators would stop the clocks in the house and senate chambers, so that last-minute bills could be passed before a session's time expired. During some of those all-nighters, lawmakers would stand around open punch bowls that were well fortified with strong drink. On at least one occasion, spirited legislators would pick up a stuffed buffalo that stood in the lobby of the state capitol, carry it outside, and take turns trying to "ride" it.

Cheney's speech today brought back memories for me. I spent hundreds of hours in the house chamber where he spoke, at a press table set aside for reporters. Overhead was a picture of my grandfather, Louis A. Williams, who served in the state house in the 1930s. Sitting in that area today was Governor David Freudenthal. I first encountered him on the state high school debate circuit. And Cheney paid tribute today to former U.S. Senator Cliff Hansen of Wyoming, who gave me my first job in Washington 30 years ago.

Editor's note: Kelly also answered a variation of this question in our weekly "White House Beat" Webcast.

With this week's unusual events, many who cover the White House have been asked that question. This space seemed like a good place to try and offer some perspective.

Some e-mailers have written that since the public was eventually informed about the hunting accident and because this did not involve official government business... what's the big deal? I can certainly understand why some feel that way. The easy part of this is we can all imagine how awful everyone personally involved in the accident must feel. There is abundant reason to be sympathetic to the trauma involved.   

The more complex part is the debate over disclosure issues. Some have viewed this week's White House press briefings and concluded that the media are worried about themselves and jealous about who got the story first. I welcome the scrutiny and understand the criticism, but respectfully disagree.   Here's why.  First, the White House has officially stated that "legitimate questions" were raised so they recognize the issue. This boils to down to a circumstance where standard procedures were not followed. Whenever that occurs in any kind of workplace -- not just the White House -- the reasons why become important. 

There is a long standing and well organized process by which this White House and previous administrations release information to the American people. The media are a conduit. Every day, at any hour of the day, a specific group of journalists is on duty to receive any news release, no matter how urgent or mundane. That group is compromised of representatives from different types of news organizations, newspapers, magazines, television networks and so forth. They form a "pool" and we rotate that duty. Most often those reporters are physically at the White House or near the President when he travels.  The pool, by design, is immediately reachable. The White House and the media have an agreement to use this system. It's standard practice. 

The Vice President, as he described it himself, does not regret bypassing that system. Mr. Cheney explained that accuracy was more important than speed. He stated that his friend and host Katharine Armstrong wanted to reach a local newspaper reporter she knew personally. Armstrong was unable to reach that reporter and was later referred to another to explain what happened. The story went out on that local paper's Web site. Even after it appeared there, the press pool was not notified. When the news did get around, reporters who called the Vice President's press office were encouraged to view the story from the south Texas newspaper. That is not a typical procedure. 

Everyone understands that the first concern was Harry Whittington, his condition and notifying his family. No reporter has suggested those were not real priorities. The questions and concerns have been about what happened later, and by extension, about what will happen the next time a matter of news value occurs involving the Vice President. That is the core of the debate.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared today that the war on terror is not only being fought on the battlefield, "but in the newsrooms -- in places like New York, London, Cairo and elsewhere." At a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Rumsfeld outlined a strategy for the U.S. to become more aggressive in conducting "information warfare" in the modern era of satellite TV and the Internet.

Rumsfeld defended the practice of paying to place stories in Iraqi newspapers. He called it a "non-traditional means" to counter disinformation by the enemy, and said that critical press stories about the operation had a "chilling effect" and brought all initiatives to a stop. Rumsfeld said "while the enemy is increasingly skillful at manipulating the media, the U.S. advantage is "truth is on our side -- and ultimately truth wins out."

Rumsfeld criticized the U.S. media which he says "seems to demand perfection from the government, but does not apply the same standard to the enemy, or even sometimes to themselves." He cited as an example the erroneous claim by Newsweek of desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay.

Rumsfeld stressed that the government be more aggressive in "strategic communications" (which some, even in the military, say is synonymous with propaganda), and to do that the government should consider the possibility of new organizations and programs similar to Radio Free Europe and the United States Information Agency, which he called "valuable instruments" during the Cold War.

They're home to the Olympic Games now, but the Italian Alps have a tragic past and a lasting connection to the United States. The U.S. Army once sent its very best skiers to liberate these mountains during World War II. Tonight, find out why, generations later, the men are still hailed as heroes.

On the second floor of a converted brownstone just off a Torino piazza, while the thumping bass of a rock concert booms in through a shuttered window behind me, I'm just now seeing the Nancy Pelosi quote in Hotline about her "addiction" to the Olympics coverage, which apparently prevented her from seeing the interview last night with Dick Cheney. Luckily, thanks to our crack technical staff, and multiple screens, we were able to watch both. Tonight there is still news to report on the Cheney front, topped off by the President's comments late this afternoon. The White House all but said today: "The story's over. Let's move on to something else." Sometimes that strategy has actually worked for them in the past where some of the MSM are concerned. We will all see if it works this time. A lot of people, from all that I've been able to see and read, are thoroughly sick of this story and regard it as the overblown reporting of a frustrated press corps. Others are still watching and reading in a state of amazement, and cannot get enough. Surely a third group will emerge, urging us to look into coincidences and strange parallels between the hunting accident, Ford's Theater, the grassy knoll and Neil Armstrong's choice of words. Until the President's comments, today's news cycle seemed centered somewhat on the media itself... and contained a good bit of partisan venom on both sides. We'll get through this.

Elsewhere in the broadcast tonight: the status of bird flu here in Europe, Abu Ghraib and the U.N. panel's findings, Mike Boettcher from Iraq and Jim Miklaszewski from the Pentagon. We'll have a slate of news from the Olympics. Also, we'll show you the result of our walking tour of the downtown streets of Torino/Turin today... and how this place has been transformed. We hope you will join us.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Calif., is trying to force an ethics investigation into a clerical error buried in the text of the just-passed budget cutting bill, charging that the incident is emblematic of the Republican "culture of corruption and incompetence" in Washington.

On February 1, the House passed a measure left over from last year that would trim $39 billion from spending in social programs like Medicare and Medicaid. In December, the legislation had passed the Senate, but only with a tie-breaking vote from Dick Cheney. It cleared the House by a mere two votes over unified Democratic opposition.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the president's desk. A staffer, said to be a Senate clerk, committed what is being characterized as a "typo" that altered the bill. The affected language dealt with the purchase of oxygen devices by Medicare recipients. The subsequent version was sent to the White House for the president's signature.

As most of you who have seen "School House Rock" might recall, the House and Senate have to pass identical versions of a measure in order for it to become law. But since the House did not technically vote on the version that was sent to the White House, many Democrats and outside experts assert that the measure is not valid and needs to be reconsidered by Congress. Lawsuits have been filed.

Republicans, of course, don't want to go through that fight again, since they had so much trouble in getting it done over the course of last year. Some Democrats have agreed with Republicans that the best way to handle it is for Congress to simply declare the measure valid as signed.

Not so Rep. Pelosi. She forced a floor vote this morning on a privileged resolution that would require an ethics investigation. She calls the bill symptomatic of the "ethical cloud" hanging over Congress and that "even my grandchildren know how a bill becomes law." It must be noted that if Pelosi wanted an ethics investigation, she could simply sign out a complaint herself and bring it to the committee, as is the right of any member. Pelosi and her allies allege that Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., knew of the mistake before the president signed the measure, yet allowed it to go forward. A spokesman for Hastert denies the charge.

But Pelosi forced the vote this morning in order to put Republicans on the spot, as well as to bring attention to her campaign to highlight what she regards as Republican "abuse of power." The move was blocked by Republicans, and failed.

It appears there's some movement on the part of the White House to reach a compromise with the Senate Intelligence Committee on resolving the NSA domestic eavesdropping controversy and keep the panel from launching an investigation.

Moments ago in a gaggle with reporters, the Republican chairman of the committee, Sen. Pat Roberts, Kansas, said, "I think the White House has now agreed... that it's a work in progress for not only a legislative fix, but additional oversight responsibility. So I think it's a good news thing."

Previously, the administration had put up stiff resistance to a legislative remedy.

The committee is scheduled to meet this afternoon to vote on whether to investigate the NSA surveillance program. About a week ago, Democrats appeared to have enough votes -- with the help of two Republicans -- to authorize an inquiry. But in the past few days Democrats admit the winds have somewhat shifted against them.

Roberts says he'll report his progress to the committee this afternoon; and he seems poised to use this new "meaningful dialogue" to either postpone the vote or eliminate the call for an investigation altogether. "I'm optimistic that if we get enough time, and now that the administration has agreed that it's a work in progress, that we don't do anything else to jeopardize that."

Tonight, you'll meet an American athlete who has already accomplished one major Olympic first and now is gunning for another. He's a genuine trailblazer on the U.S. Olympic team.

For the fourth straight day, our lead story tonight has to do with a shot fired from the Vice President's gun. Today the Vice President invited Fox News into his ceremonial office in the Old Executive Office Building and made his case to them. While some in the White House press corps and elsewhere insist there's been more than a subtle whiff of "blame the victim" in this case, the Vice President today took full responsibility for the shot and the consequences. He called it the "worst day of his life," and defended the fact that a private citizen was put in charge of informing the world. In fact, he indicated he'd do it the very same way if forced to do it again. This story, and the coverage of it, has become as politicized as everything else in Washington these days. Tonight, we'll cover all the moving parts.

Also tonight, the testimony of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Capitol Hill (and what a sad sight in our report last night...the trailers in Hope, Ark., of all places, left to rot with no one able to live in them) today, and we'll hear about this health study on calcium that will get a lot of ink in tomorrow's papers.

We'll take a look at a young man who will leave these Olympic Games as a mogul skier and try out for the NFL next week: Jeremy Bloom of the U.S. team. We'll also look at the rebuilt U.S. women's ski team, and review their performance here thus far. By the way, despite our caution each night to warn viewers to look away from the screen as we air the results of competition (and a good number of you have thanked us for our handling of it in such a way), we regret the fact that a commercial for the Today Show on Tuesday night inadvertently gave away the results of a women's snowboarding competition that day. A good number of you have e-mailed us to express your displeasure, and while that particular mistake was beyond our control at Nightly News, we regret the error. Onward. We hope you can join us tonight once again from our temporary home in Italy.

They had high hopes, now suddenly much is in doubt. It took four years to rebuild the team after the letdown in Salt Lake City, and they looked strong coming to Torino. But did Lindsey Kildow's downhill crash crush their hopes? Tonight, a look at the challenge facing the U.S. women's ski team.

A bizarre story takes a bizarre turn... a piece of birdshot enters the heart of a 78-year-old man in a hospital room in Texas, who feels no symptoms, and the outrage explodes anew in the press corps, over who knew what and when.  We'll have it all covered tonight... from politics to medicine.

Also tonight: FEMA deadline day for those displaced without other housing options, and we'll have news from the Middle East as well.

The Olympics are making news as they always seem to, and in part its because of dashed hopes on the American team.  We'll air portions of our interview (before we left New York) with Bode Miller.

We hope you can join us as we broadcast again tonight from our temporary headquarters here in Italy.

Farewell to a member of the Greatest Generation

It was my first year out of college, working in Tom Brokaw's office at Nightly News, when I was lucky enough to meet Tom Broderick, a World War II veteran blinded by a German sniper in 1944.

Mr. Broderick came to New York from Chicago to be honored at the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Awards Gala.  He was also a guest on the Today Show and Nightly News, meeting with a younger veteran of the war in Iraq who was also blind as a result of injuries while serving in Iraq.

I can still remember my anxiety during his visit to New York, as I wanted everything to be perfect.  In the days before his arrival, I spent a great deal of time planning the visit, working with producers and travel agents, leaving no detail up to chance.   In fact, I still have a folder full of papers and information that I needed during Mr. Broderick's stay, stored safely in my file cabinet.

The morning of his Today Show appearance, I arrived at the studio bright and early, eager to meet this man that I spoke on the phone with so much, and read about in The Greatest Generation.  I was still quite anxious, on edge for most of the time he was in New York, feeling a certain degree of responsibility that he was well taken care of.

I remember meeting him like it was yesterday.  Any anxiety or stress I had been feeling, immediately melted away as he held my hand and I introduced myself.  We only spoke for a few minutes, it was a busy morning after all, and he was being shuttled from place to place.  But it was the beginning of a friendship.  Mr. Broderick has been my email buddy since, and we've kept in good touch.  I always looked forward to our correspondence.

We covered many subjects.  He talked about his beloved White Sox and enjoying vacations in Wisconsin on the lake.  Occasionally he would put me to work, asking me to look into a court case he had read about.  He wanted the latest developments.

The subject lines vary from "Happy July 4th" and "Merry Christmas" to "Football" and "Go White Sox"

Mr. Broderick passed away this weekend, and I lost a good friend.  This country lost another member of the greatest generation.

Mr. Broderick meant many things to many people.  He was a father, a husband, a grandfather; a World War II veteran; A mentor to other blind veterans; A businessman and a philanthropist.

To me, he was simply an inspiration.  Someone to look up to, a person who made the best out of every situation, who enjoyed life to the fullest.  I'll miss seeing his name in my inbox.

In light of Tuesday's revelation that lawyer Harry Whittington has suffered a heart attack as a consequence of being shot by Vice President Dick Cheney during a hunting tgrip, questions have arisen regarding the legal consequences Mr. Cheney might confront as a result of the incident.

Here's an assessment of the potential legal exposure the vice-president could face -- from a Texas prosecutor, a former federal prosecutor, and western states defense lawyers who have handled hunting accident cases, based on the facts as we now know them.

If Mr. Whittington were to die as a result of the shooting, these legal authorities believe Cheney would probably not be prosecuted.  But if the local district attorney decided to pursue charges, the most likely would be either manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide.  Texas no longer has an involuntary manslaughter statute.

Manslaughter, the more serious of the two, requires proof of recklessness -- consciously disregarding a known risk which is likely to cause harm.  These legal experts say the facts of this accident don't meet that test.  Many said it would require evidence of something as serious as a hunter knowing another hunter was in the potential line of fire and shooting anyway.  (Recklessness would be something like Saddam Hussein shooting weapons into the air, one lawyer said.  Another said it would take an action like a scene in a movie when the bad guy shoots at another guy to make him "dance.")

The less serious charge would be criminally negligent homicide.  While in some states that's a misdemeanor, it's the lowest-range felony in Texas, punishable by up to two years' confinement. The required element is proof of gross negligence -- a total failure to be mindful of potential consequences. 

However, all these experts agreed that Cheney could almost certainly face civil liability, if the Whittingtons decided to sue.  The standard here is much lower -- simple negligence.  The question would then be, what would a careful hunter do in a similar situation.  He could potentially be sued whether or not Mr. Whittington dies.

Lawyers in western states who have handled fatal hunting accidents said authorities often decline to bring criminal charges.  One even defended a man who mistakenly shot and killed his own son.  But these experts also say this is very much the call of the local prosecutor, who, if the authorities were to decide to proceed, would take the case to a local grand jury.

Another tense day in the Alexandria, Virginia federal courthouse where the war of words continued for confessed 9/11 conspirator, Zacarias Moussaoui.

The reason for today's hearing, according to U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema -  one day before direct jury questioning is set to begin - was to determine, "how Mr. Moussaoui plans to behave ... whether you plan to remain quiet ... or whether you plan to make speeches."

Well, Moussaoui did not oblige to the judge's requests to remain mum.

This is hardly the first time Moussaoui has attempted to grand stand in the courtroom.

Just last week he was tossed out four times for outbursts. Those remarks included disavowing his court-appointed lawyers, proclaiming loyalty to al-Qaida, deriding the trial as a "circus", and promising to testify "truthfully" about his role.

Moussaoui did not disappoint today.  He took the podium to address the court and once again proclaimed himself to be Al Qaeda.

The judge said, "Mr. Moussaoui you are fighting--"

Moussaoui, cutting off the judge, "Four years, four year, you deny me even one minute to express to everybody why these people are organizing my sending to the gas chamber or lethal injection, okay? And each time you have said, 'Mr. Moussaoui, you have been civilized. Mr. Moussaoui, keep quite or the marshal will kick you out.' You think that I'm going  -- today is my death."

And he attempted to make fun of his three court appointed lawyers, calling them, a "federal lawyer," a "KKK" (Ku Klux Klan) and a "geisha." One of his attorneys, Allen Yamamoto happens to be a Japanese-American.

The judge warning him, "Now, Mr. Moussaoui, excuse, I am not going to permit you to use a public federal courtroom to malign you attorneys."

But Moussaoui, wearing his green jailhouse jumpsuit with large white lettered, "Prisoner" across his back, did not stop with his insults.

He said, "I'm not French .... I stand here as a Muslim only. I do not stand here with a nation of homosexual crusaders."

"Today is my day," he plunged on. "If I can't make sure that those people are not going to represent me I know that I am dead."

Moussaoui declared, "I'm al Qaeda, I'm a sworn enemy of you. You, you, you, you, you, (pointing at the judge and the defense and prosecution teams) for me you are enemy. And you own commander in chief says he want to launch a revenge against terrorists."

Judge Brinkema had had enough of it. She said to him, "Mr. Moussaoui, you are the biggest enemy of yourself."

Which he responded, "No, absolutely not.

After several minutes she ordered Moussaoui out of the courtroom which he replied, "I'm going to leave."
 
Brinkema ordered that Moussaoui will have to watch jury selection from a cell at the courthouse. He will have a video link to the courtroom and will have to be transported to the courthouse everyday from his jail cell.

As he was being led out of the courtroom Moussaoui said, "I'm leaving. I'm taking my papers. That's all I do. God curse you and America....take care of my death...God curse you."

Wednesday 85 prospective jurors will be chosen from a pool of 500 that were given questionnaires to fill out last week.

Teams in Torino are getting an edge from futuristic technology. When athletes go faster or fly higher, their ride to glory may have started in the lab. We'll take a look at the high-tech tools team USA hopes will lead to gold medals.