Watching the White House daily briefing from our vantage point in Italy was a lesson in other-worldliness, exceeded only by watching the coverage of the story last evening on the news channels of the following nations: Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Russia, France, Italy and Denmark.  Because there are delegations here from all over the world, the major hotels carry extra cable channels during the games from so many different nations. It's actually been very instructive in terms of how the United States is covered, and viewed, around the world. All the newscasts in all of the nations listed above devoted substantial coverage, for example, to Michael Brown's testimony on the Hill last week. And it suddenly hurts -- from an American perspective -- to see the file tape they all use to represent New Orleans... the majority of it from the very height of the suffering, sadness and madness.

Some would argue all three were on display in the briefing room today as our own David Gregory and his colleagues from other news organizations got into it with Scott McClellan. It was even rougher in a no-cameras "gaggle" held earlier in the day, when David and others were apparently struck by the timeline of events and how the news about the vice president was allowed to be released. Reporters struggled all day to point out the incongruity between the way this story was told to the world (a private citizen reported the accidental shooting to a local newspaper) and the normally air-tight controls placed by the administration on the dissemination of information. It's still a bizarre story, with serious implications (not at all unheard of among hunters, and there are veteran bird hunters who can show you where they got "peppered" in a past accident) and some of the facts still missing.

Also in the broadcast tonight, the U.N. report on treatment of prisoners, the report due out on the handling of Katrina by the government, and we'll update this day at the games (with the usual warnings about spoiling the surprise for those who don't want to know). We will also attempt (with limited success, totally by design) to clear up the name of this place: is it Turin or Torino?

We hope you'll join us tonight, from wherever you are, as we broadcast from both Turin and Torino.

Not too much to report this week as your U.S. House continues to be slow getting off the mark this election year. Things aren't going to pick up any time soon: next week is Presidents Day recess.

The big event for the week will be the Wednesday release of the House special Katrina committee's report on What Went Wrong. Somehow a draft of the document was leaked to the Washington Post -- hometown newspaper of the committee's chairman, Rep. Tom Davis (R-No. Va.) -- which printed parts of it yesterday on the front page. From what we have seen of it, the report dispenses enough blame to go around, but so far the focus has been on the role of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, who today is rejecting assertions that his agency was too preoccupied with terror threats to adequately plan for -- and respond to -- a natural catastrophe.

Members of Congress will get a chance to question Chertoff in person on THURSDAY when he testifies before the Committee on Homeland Security. Ostensible topic: his agency's budget.

On WEDNESDAY the "Big 5" congressional leaders -- Reps. Hastert, Pelosi and Boehner; Sens. Frist and Reid -- will head down bright and early to the White House at 7am for another in a sporadic series of weekly breakfasts with the president. Those are closed to the press.

Minority Leader Pelosi will hold her weekly on-camera briefing for reporters on THURSDAY...Pelosi is expected to spend some time this week reacting to the aforementioned Katrina report, though at its inception Pelosi repeatedly and forcefully called the committee a "sham" and worse. Pelosi leaves FRIDAY for a congressional trip to Africa.

As for legislative action on the House floor: TUESDAY, a series of post-office namings and other relatively minor matters; WEDNESDAY, the House will vote to increase the amount that the government can borrow in order to pay the post-Katrina flood insurance bills. There will be a "sense of Congress" resolution that proclaims that no U.S. aid should be provided to the Palestinian Authority so long as the party holding a majority in their parliament espouses the destruction of Israel. And the House will vote on a similar resolution condemning Iran for violating its international non-proliferation obligations.

And finally, a reader of my post last week on the House Republican retreat encouraged me to follow up on the outcome. One doesn't know for sure, seeing as how it was all closed-door, except for about five minutes of presidential remarks, but it doesn't appear that there were any grand strategies laid out. In my experience, these things -- whether they be Democratic or Republican -- are given more weight than they actually merit in terms of specific planning and scheduling. It's more a chance to them to get together away from the public eye and chat, relax, schmooze, network, etc. I was there for a portion of the time, though we in the press were kept about a quarter mile from the building where all the action was.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee holds a Hurricane Katrina hearing today, investigating fraud and problems in connections with various FEMA benefit programs and contracts. The committee's final report should be ready by mid-March.

Tomorrow, The Senate committee tasked with investigating the federal response to Katrina will wrap up its hearings on Tuesday when DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff is expected to come under tough questioning.  In testimony last Friday, former FEMA Director Michael Brown implicated Chertoff and other Bush aides in the government's sluggish response to the disaster.  (And leaked portions of a House committee report on Katrina also point some blame at Chertoff.)

More budget hearings as well on Tuesday: Treasury Secretary John Snow testifies before the Budget Committee and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice comes before the Foreign Relations panel.

More Katrina on Wednesday, as the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will question HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson on rebuilding efforts. The panel will also hear from new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday when he discusses the monetary policy report.

Senators on the Intelligence Committee will meet Thursday to discuss how to proceed on the controversial NSA surveillance program. Committee Democrats and at least three Republicans have expressed -- at a minimum -- concerns about the warrantless wiretaps. A vote on whether to launch an investigation could occur, but Republican Chairman Pat Roberts, Kansas, who finds no fault with the program or its legal underpinnings, may opt for a another approach.

The Senate is also expected to complete work on the much-delayed Patriot Act reauthorization. A small band of Republican senators who had joined most Democrats opposing the current version struck a deal with the White House on fixes last Thursday.

It is axiomatic, with varying degrees of seriousness, that when we travel overseas, a substantial story breaks in the United States. When we were covering the Mandela election in South Africa, President Richard Nixon died. When we were covering the Pope's visit to Havana, Monica-Gate broke in the pages of Newsweek. Today, while the NBC Olympic compound was preoccupied with the departure of Michelle Kwan, an AP News Alert told us of a "shooting accident" involving Vice President Dick Cheney on a hunting trip in Texas. It is safely the most bizarre story we have tonight, second to the new record for snowfall in the City of New York. Most of our traveling party has been on the phone all day with loved ones at home, green with envy that we are missing this substantial blanket of white over the weekend. In my house, it meant instructing my son by phone on exactly where to shovel a path for the dog to negotiate the steps off the back porch. Others are asking their significant snowed-in others to relate the stillness and other-worldliness at home. Kevin Tibbles has forged new ground with a primer on all things Canadian, and enjoyed some quality time with our producer Subrata De, as proud a native of Thunder Bay as there has ever been. We will originate again tonight from a downtown piazza, and will like most at home settle in to watch the Olympics coverage tonight. We hope you can join us.

Tracy, left, and Lanny Barnes strike a tough pose with Kevin. Photo by NBC's Tina Cerbone

If you ask anyone who is a twin or even knows a twin, the question invariably comes up. Are you the good twin or the evil twin? So when I asked twin U.S. Olympic biathlon teammates Tracy and Lanny Barnes during a chat in Bardonecchia, they predictably answered in unison. One said, "I am," while the other agreed, "Yeah, she is!"

Now I'm sure you're wondering which is the so-called evil twin, but before I tell you which one claims the distinction, you should know that you don't have to be evil to compete in the biathlon, but you do need to be tough. Biathlon features a nine mile cross-country ski race and requires unrelenting marksmanship, like shooting at targets the size of playing cards over half a football field away!

Also, you may be wondering how in the world did two high school soccer standouts from Colorado end up in an Olympic sport that is part skiing and part shooting? Lanny, older than her twin by a little over five minutes, told me their father gets the credit. "He'd set up cans in the backyard and little targets," she recalls. "He started out giving us a quarter for every time we hit the bullseye but eventually we hit it a few too many times so he stopped doing that." Though quite a bit lighter in the wallet, Dad continued to encourage his girls to shoot. Now they're aiming to become the first American women to medal in the sport.

Tracy told me you have to have an attitude to be able to run on skis -- uphill -- for miles, while carrying a rifle, only to calm down long enough to zero in on and shoot several targets before skiing away. "I think it's an art," she says. "And if you don't like to fight, it is going to be a problem!" And whether it's for an Olympic medal or for a loose ball on a soccer field, fighting has never been a problem for these twins. And that's especially true for evil twin Tracy, right Lanny?

The U.S. Olympic Snowboarding Team, photo by NBC's Tina Cerbone.

After spending a few hours with the U.S. Olympic Snowboarding team in Bardonecchia, you can't help but feel as if you're watching a real life version of the film "Napoleon Dynamite." You'll never meet a more eclectic, interesting and humorous group of young people. They listen to hip hop, rock and reggae while they board. They sleep late whenever possible and eat everything from tofu to (as Napoleon's grandma calls 'em) dang, quesa-dilluhs!

Gossssshhhh.

Six members of the team are 21-years-old or younger and many of them sport the sort of nicknames you'd expect to hear while watching the WWE-- like Lindsay "Lucky" Jacobellis and Shaun "The Flying Tomato" White, aptly named because of his ability to get "big air" and of course his free-flowing, curly, auburn mane. Even their snowboarding moves have nicknames, like Danny Kass' famed "Kasserole," which is his must-see human, kick flip.

Perhaps the team personality is best represented by 16-year-old Elena Hight, the diminutive daredevil, who at 5'1" is barely tall enough to get on some amusement park rides. Hight, a superpipe phenom who is known for her spinning ability and is still the youngest woman to land a 900 in competition, told me that this team -- like any other family -- has its own cast of characters -- from the crazy uncle to the big sister to a couple of bratty brothers. She wouldn't name names but she says she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Family is so important to me, so it means a lot that my real family is coming to the games, but when they're not around, this is my family and I love them -- quirks and all," she says.

And you don't have to spend a great deal of time around the team to see that they feel that way about her too.

Yesssssssss.

Less than an hour's drive south of all the Olympic action in Torino lies the beautiful wine country of Italy's Piedmont region. WNBC's Otis Livingston and I headed there earlier this week for a tour of the area's countless vineyards and, yes, some wine tasting.

First stop was a tiny town whose name is very familiar to wine connoisseurs: Barolo. Between well-paced sips of a '99 overlooking Northern Italy's scenic countryside, vineyard owner Daniela Veglio explained the key to enjoying this abundant, rich tasting -- and typically more expensive -- red wine. And it can be summed up in one word: patience. Every sip tastes slightly different, Veglio said. "Every time you put some Barolo in your glass and give it some air you feel something new. So from the first glass to the last one you always have something new to taste in your glass, and that's the great thing about Barolo."

A few miles away we found Giulio Moranda, whose family has been making wine since the 17th century under the family name: La Morandina. His specialty is Moscato, a sparkling white dessert wine. He produces 100,000 bottles of it a year, shipped worldwide.

I preferred the Barolo; Otis thought the Moscato was better than dessert itself. Just two stops in fabulous wine country; and we did not even have time to sample other staples of the region, like those from the white Gavi grape, or from either the red Barbera or Dolcetto grapes.

Editor's note: Rich Latour is a supervising producer for Nightly News. He is on loan to NBC Olympics in Torino producing for "Olympic Zone," a 30-minute lead-in show that airs in the half-hour prior to NBC's primetime coverage each night on most NBC stations.

You quickly learn the various terms of art when you're around the good folks on the Olympics broadcasting team at NBC Sports. For example, these are the Olympic Winter Games (and NOT the other way around) and tonight is the Opening Ceremony (not plural). Having said that by way of an excuse, my role as co-host to my friend Bob Costas will limit my post today.

A story we cover as a matter of course will demand our attention at the top of the broadcast tonight... the testimony of former FEMA Director Michael Brown on Capitol Hill. Combined with the fresh reporting of The New York Times this morning, it has dredged up some issues many thought were buried months ago, that is, unless you ask the 2 million displaced Americans, including those still waiting for a simple trailer to live in, having been promised one long ago by their government.

I had a brief conversation today with first lady Laura Bush, and we'll air the appropriate portions tonight. We'll talk about the politics in the capital currently, and the security surrounding this global event we're attending. We'll also give a preview of sorts of the people to watch during the start of the games. We hope you can join us from our indoor digs here in Torino tonight. It's actually Bob's studio, but we're happy part-time residents.

As former FEMA Director Michael Brown testifies today before the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee (Live Video link), here are some highlights from White House spokesman Scott McClellan, from his regular off-camera briefing to reporters this morning.

Taking aim at The New York Times
Without prompting, McClellan raised the NYT and ranted about its front page levee story. He called it "sad and irresponsible that the NYT is rewriting history to fit an inaccurate storyline and conveniently ignoring key facts." 

"We knew full well the flooding that was going on and that's why our efforts were focused on rescuing people and the Coast Guard was doing a tremendous job during that time."

"There were conflicting reports coming in in the initial aftermath of the storm in regards to levee system; some were saying it was overtop; some were saying it was breached and, again, we knew of the flooding that going on and that's why were focused on saving lives. The cause of the flooding was secondary to that top priority and that's the way it should be."

Reflecting media reports
McClellan also cited our own Brian Williams' reporting from inside the Superdome, saying that the president's comments reflected media reports, particularly his use of the phrase, "dodged the bullet." Brian reported about New Orleans' residents inside the Superdome on Aug. 29: "Most of them can sense the storm has died down, but they don't know that New Orleans dodged the big bullet."

McClellan also repeated events, comments and briefings to the press made in August 2005, saying the White House issued emergency declarations before the storm and that the president repeatedly expressed his concern. "The president was not happy with the overall response," said McClellan. "There were failures at all levels of government."

"The president told the Governor (Blanco of Louisiana) ahead of the storm, because the mandatory evacuation had not been taking place, 'get those people out of there. Get them out of the path of the storm.'"

On the Senate hearings
"We reiterated the president's view on confidential communications among his senior advisers."

McClellan said the government provided 600,000 pages of documents to the investigating committees, including 15,000 pages of White House documents. More than 120 officials have testified.

He said he hasn't had a chance to watch Michael Brown's testimony today, but will "take a look at it and we'll be glad to respond as needed." McClellan declined to answer when asked if Brown is a credible witness.

SOMEWHERE IN TORINO - Intrepid reporters do the darndest things when plunked down into unfamiliar environs, and so this little story is bound to be either equaled or trumped a hundred times over by the time the Torino Games come to an end.

In spite of the fact we at NBC have been blessed with a commendable transportation system that ferries producers, camera crews and typists like myself to the various far-flung venues, hotels and work spaces in this Olympic city; some of us, like myself, crave the independence of a set of wheels. So after two weeks of groveling and a little chocolate, NBC News' Director of Finance Helen Siegelin caved yesterday and handed me the keys to an Alfa Romeo.

(Don't get too excited, it's quite utilitarian).

Problem is, the thing is NOT equipped with any satellite tracking device to help guide me, and I am too dumb to get a map. I've come in on the bus enough times to know the route like the back of my hand, so it was with unabashed confidence I put it in first and rolled out of the workspace around 8:30 last night.

I was lost by the time I reached the first traffic light. And believe me, after dark, those little piazza's all start to look pretty similar. Two hours of circling later; and a guy who claims to feel as comfortable in Beirut as he does in Buffalo was beginning to lose it. Especially, when he stumbled onto the FIAT car plant, which is actually farther away from the hotel than the workspace he'd just left.

The thing is...there was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I was gonna call Helen and tell her I was lost.

Ego in hand, I decided to ask a local cop. Mistake. They are great guys and gals I am sure. But, by the time he'd pulled the map out and we labored over which way was up I was seriously considering sleeping in the Alfa.

That was until a little angel appeared in the form of an older local Olympic volunteer dressed in his smart red Torino Olympics jacket.

"You want to go to hotel, Mr.?" he asked.

Turns out the gentleman had overheard the name of my digs on the outskirts of town, and low and behold it was close to where he parked his car each day to take the tram into town. (He was from a small village I gathered, and saved parking money by commuting this way to do his volunteer work.)

He navigated. I shifted gears... and 45 minutes later he shook my hand and headed off into the night.

I headed into my hotel muttering, "War is hell" under my breath.

Over the next two weeks, whatever you hear about this "Gritty Northern Italian Industrial Town," (trademark registered by me), remember it's populated with some pretty decent folks.

And yes, I told Helen this morning. She thinks I'm nuts.

For the first time since arriving (admittedly, very early) for these games, it's beginning to feel a lot like the Olympics. In the plaza across from Torino City Hall, some local folks are starting to party and celebrate -- and it feels as if a million people are about to descend on this place. The presence of the torch literally lit up the downtown area, and now it feels like the run-up to a global event at the foot of the Italian Alps.

As we put the broadcast together tonight, here's how it looks: We'll take a good look at the story surrounding the President's comments about a foiled plot in Los Angeles (and the mayor's comments, saying in effect: a lot of this is news to HIM). We'll cover the ongoing troubles caused by the editorial cartoons, and the deal to renew the Patriot Act... a development that took place during our afternoon editorial meeting. We'll look at the newest wrinkle in e-mail... paying for the privilege to prevent spam... and we have a fascinating piece tonight on efforts to save the nearby glaciers. The global warming evidence that is just being published is reverberating loudly throughout the Italian Alps.

We will join you tonight from one of the many piazzas here in Torino, on what is shaping up to be another cold night (predicted temperature during tomorrow night's Opening Ceremony is 22 degrees), and as always, we hope you'll join us.

Editor's note: This post was updated at 2:50 p.m. ET on Feb. 9, in response to the comment by Catherine from Edmonds, Wash. See the final two paragraphs.

House Republicans this morning have loaded onto buses and are now en route to their annual retreat, where they will ponder no less a question than "Who are we and why are we here?"

The 232 members of the House GOP Conference are embarking on "a period of renewal," said brand new Majority Leader John Boehner, Ohio. He says he is looking forward to "coming together with a common vision of who we are and why we're here" over the three-day retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Boehner stood in front of the idling buses and spoke just before departure.

The gathering is for members and their families and is being held this year at the Hyatt resort in Cambridge, Md., on the shores of the Choptank River. The meetings are described as "unstructured," but there are scheduled speakers. Today they will hear from RNC boss Ken Mehlman, and tomorrow the president arrives for brief remarks and Q & A. The White House congressional liaison team will also be there. Saturday, the issue of lobby reform is on the table.

This year, as in years past, the members pay for their own food, lodging and transportation. Up until a few weeks ago, the planning and logistics for the confab was to be taken care of by something called "The Congressional Insitute," a 501-c4 non-profit organization. But the Institute has a board comprised of several former Hill GOP staffers who are currently prominent lobbyists, so it was decided at the last minute that perhaps the Conference had best forgo their services this year. Their role has been reduced, though I don't know to what extent.

Senate Republicans were to "retreat" a few weeks ago, also under the auspices of the Institute, but canceled the trip altogether and met across the street at the Library of Congress instead.

E-mail may be in for a big change. Are two of the world's biggest providers about to charge for sending e-mail? On tonight's broadcast, find out who would have to pay, and how much would it cost.

The study about dietary fat in women which we covered for Nightly News Tuesday night (video link; full story) and followed up again Wednesday night (link) has a fascinating political history. The Women's Health Imitative, conceived during the 1980s, was designed to reverse the biases that had led many medical studies to concentrate mostly on men – and often on white men. The $2 billion effort recruited more than 48,000 women aged 55 to 79. The biggest achievement of the study was that it cast doubt on the safety of hormone replacement, a finding that brought a sea change to women's health.

But it was the dietary component of the study that caused the controversy. Up until the mid 1980s some small preliminary studies had suggested that excess dietary fat might increase the risk for breast and colon cancer. But as the study was being designed several researchers, most notably Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, said the evidence for the connection was receding. Willett predicted today's negative results about cancer. He also said that the study, by looking only at total fat in the diet, would not show any effect on heart disease risk because by then it was well known that saturated fats, such as the type in meats, increased heart risk, but vegetable oils were actually beneficial. As a result of those objections, the National Institutes of Health originally turned down the study. But the scientists who wanted the research done turned to friendly members of Congress.,  An effort led by then Senator Brock Adams of Washington forced the NIH to undertake the study.,  The result, all these years later, is a finding about fat in the diet that sheds little light and could actually lead some to the mistaken conclusion that diet does not affect health. There is lots of evidence that diet is a key aspect of a healthy lifestyle. But it took a lot of time and money to prove that getting rid of all fat in the diet is not the answer.

And that is why we turned to Dr. Willett for Wednesday's story to help answer some of the questions that people might have in light of these latest revelations about the connection between nutrition and health.

Getting a late start today... too late for my taste on the writing for the broadcast... due to Olympic-related events here in Torino. The news back home will dominate tonight, from the President's remarks today on the fracas over the political cartoons to the relationship between a group of evangelicals and the issue of global warming. 

We will have an interesting look tonight at a dynamic that was lost on no one who saw the funeral of Coretta Scott King yesterday... the various speakers and what they said with the President of the United States in attendance. The comments were pointed and the reaction is what we will examine, with the help of Andrea Mitchell, tonight. Also, we will look at the recovery in New Orleans, and of immediate interest to all of us here, security for the upcoming Olympic Games.

Life here is governed by credentials, roadblocks, a fleet of gray-coated volunteers and police from four separate jurisdictions. The weather remains a wet cold, near freezing. Excitement, crowds and traffic are building. We hope you can join us tonight from Torino.

At the 2:30 p.m. ET editorial meeting we had a lively discussion of what the context should be for our coverage of the Muslim rioting over publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

The bottom line for me was that this can't be dealt with as a story about cartoons or even about Islamic prohibitions about the depiction of Muhammad. It has to be about the simmering pot that went to boil, as Shibley Telhami, the University of Maryland scholar, said this morning on Washington radio. He noted that this is the Islamic version of the Rodney King verdict. In that case, it wasn't just about the verdict against four Los Angeles policemen. It was about African-Americans' belief, whether based on reality or perception, that they had been the victims of decades of racism and thuggery by the LAPD.

On a larger scale, there seems to be in our culture an ability to deny that, in spite of all our good intentions, we are returning to the clash of civilizations that defined most of world history. And that to ignore how a significant portion of the world feels denies us the opportunity to understand what is going on. One of the things I tried to point out was the Islamic belief that they feel they are being targeted, personally, as well as politically.

Muslims feel that they are victimized by the West, and even putting aside the conspiracy theories that rattle around the Middle East, a cursory survey of what has been happening to them in the past 25 years would give anyone some cause for concern. Over the past quarter century, the number of Muslims killed by "infidels" of all kinds approaches 3 million.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice directly called out the governments of Iran and Syria today for fueling anger in the Middle East over the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

"I don't have any doubt that Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes. And the world ought to call them on it," she told reporters at a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Rice stopped short of criticizing the cartoons (though her spokesman has called them "offensive" in recent days), instead saying the U.S. believes in freedom of the press and "with press freedom comes a certain responsibility."

In contrast to Iran and Syria, Rice praised the governments of Afghanistan and Lebanon and Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq for condemning the violent protests and said, "this is a time when everyone should urge calm and should urge that there is an atmosphere of respect and understanding."

Don't expect any fireworks from Senators John McCain and Barak Obama this afternoon when the two men share a table to testify before a Senate committee on lobbying reform. Two days after McCain launched a strongly worded and blatantly sarcastic letter (.PDF link) accusing Obama of pulling out of bipartisan reform discussions, the senators finally talked and have agreed to put the matter behind them. "We had a nice discussion," McCain said.  "We're moving on."

After talking with both senators, it appears that under the highly charged partisan atmosphere of the senate, McCain inferred something Obama never explicitly said, while Obama wasn't as precise as he could have been in his criticism.

Last week, Obama sent McCain a letter (.PDF link) following up on a bipartisan lobbying reform meeting the men attended -- a working group of sorts. In his letter to McCain, Obama expressed his reluctance "in creating a task force to further study and discuss" the matter before it went to a committee for consideration, fearing it would delay any legislative action. Obama said he and his caucus "believe the more effective and timely course" is to allow the process to go directly to the committees to "ensure that these issues are discussed in a public forum."

McCain interpreted Obama's resistance of a "task force" to mean the working group he'd just joined with Obama. But Obama says he was talking about another task force, not McCain's working group. "The only intention of the letter was to say that [Majority Leader] Bill Frist's original proposal for a task force would be too slow," Obama said yesterday. "John misunderstood the intention of the letter. I never had any interest in not having conversations with [McCain's] working group. That's why I went to the first one."

McCain then assumed that Obama was pulling out of the bipartisan talks altogether, even though Obama didn't explicitly say it in his letter. "That's the way I read it," McCain said.  He also said that if Obama was talking about a Frist proposal, "then the letter should have been addressed to Senator Frist."

This episode is the first public political skirmish for the freshman Senator from Illinois who says he's absolutely committed to working in a bipartisan fashion on reforming Washington. "John McCain's been an American hero and he's served here in Washington for 20 years. So if he wants to get cranky once in a while, that's his prerogative," Obama said.

Is it possible there was a place on earth where no one had been before -- a place with forms of life new to us? It appears that way. We'll show you what explorers found when they entered what some are calling a "Garden of Eden."

We are here early for the games mostly due to preparations for the Opening Ceremony on Friday night. NBC Sports asked me to join my friend Bob Costas in their booth that night, and I agreed. The size and scope of the project demands our attention days in advance (that's just the on-air team... NBC Sports has an impressive city of hard workers who've been here for ages) and thus tonight we'll originate the broadcast from Torino for the first time. We're finding that it actually gives us an interesting perspective on the ongoing European-centered story stemming from the political cartoons.

We will begin the broadcast tonight with this extraordinary day in Atlanta. Few Americans, in life or in death, could command the attention, respect and admiration of four U.S. Presidents. One of them was Coretta Scott King. Hopefully the collection of eulogies that we have selected will tell the story beyond any words we could offer here.

We have an important introduction to this city tonight: we've asked Mike Taibbi to take us on a video tour of this place that will soon be the focal point of so much of the world's attention. And we'll close the broadcast tonight with a consumer product that we once joked about... a product that you can now purchase and that is being marketed very aggressively.

As we get used to our new surroundings here and await the start of things (and the arrival of throngs currently en route) we hope you'll join us tonight from Torino.

Editor's note: Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski recently returned from an embedded reporting trip to Iraq.

The NBC crew and I were already on our way to the Air Force battlefield hospital at the Balad Air Base when in the distance we saw the Blackhawk medevac helicopter coming in for a landing. What we didn't know was that it carried ABC anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt. Both had been seriously wounded by an IED -- improvised explosive device -- military jargon for one of those increasingly sophisticated and deadly roadside bombs. Vogt's reportedly recovering nicely. A week later, Woodruff remains in a medically-induced coma at the National Naval Medical Center outside Washington, his long-term prognosis still uncertain. What is clear is they both owe their lives to the men and women at Balad. 

The Air Force hospital is a sprawling complex of medical tents. In Iraq, unfortunately, it gets plenty of business. All day and night, the most seriously wounded soldiers and Marines arrive at Balad -- 1,100 per month -- many suffering critical head injuries from those IEDs. What happens here is nothing short of remarkable. Some of the most complicated, and in many cases risky medical procedures, are performed as a matter of routine, often under mortar fire, in the middle of a war zone.

Of the 30 military physicians on staff, two are neurosurgeons. In fact, brain surgery is conducted almost daily. It's the only battlefield hospital ever to be equipped with not one, but two CT-scanners, to quickly locate elusive chunks of potentially deadly shrapnel lodged inside the brain and body, saving precious seconds between the time the injured first arrive and they're whisked into surgery.  But it's the medical staff, both Air Force and Army, who account for the 96 percent survival rate at Balad.

Col. Jill Sterling, a Medical Squad Commander from the Air Force Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, told us that she felt honored to be treating the U.S. servicemen and women, badly broken by the war, and that her current tour at Balad has been the epitome of her medical career. "We're really making a difference," she said. "We're saving lives." Soon, the sound of approaching Blackhawk helicopters carrying more wounded Americans rose up outside the tents. When I turned to Col. Sterling she was already gone. There were more lives to be saved.

Brian anchors live from Torino, the site of the Winter Olympic Games. The glare of the world's spotlight is about to shine on this this low-profile Italian city -- an Alpine industrial center that's known better days. Will the Games bring the upswing they're hoping for?

Because of limited space in the Alexandria, Va. federal courthouse only a half dozen reporters were allowed into Judge Leonie Brinkema's courtroom today for the start of jury selection in the sentencing phase of Zacarias Moussaoui's trial. When seated, the jury will determine whether Moussaoui, the only person convicted in the U.S. on charges stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks, is executed or spends the rest of his life in prison.

I was among the "pool" selected to hear the third of four sessions where prospective jurors were to be selected. The courtroom was filled with more than 130 prospective jurors. Most of them white, from their 20s through their 50s or 60s -- one woman wore a headscarf, presumably she was Muslim. All in all, nearly 500 possible jurors came to the courtroom in the four, roughly 30-minute sessions. That pool will be narrowed on February 15 to 85 and then on March 6 to 18. Only 12 jurors will decide the fate of Zacarias Moussaoui. The others will be alternates.

One minute into the proceedings today, Moussaoui, hands folded across his waist -- wearing a green prison jumpsuit with the white word "Prisoner" across his back -- was led into the courtroom by three plain-clothes marshals.

(On the elevator up to the 10th floor courtroom I asked one of the prosecutors in the case why Moussaoui was wearing a prison uniform and not street clothes, as defendants are entitled to wear when they appear before a jury. The prosecutor told me, "he had a choice and he made it." He didn't respond when asked what choices Moussaoui had.)

It was when he reached the defense table, halfway across the well of the court -- where his court appointed lawyers were sitting, that he burst out in a clear voice declaring that he is a member of al-Qaida. He disavowed his lawyers and pledged to testify on his own behalf in the trial. Still standing, he said to the crowd, "This trial is a circus." Then he declared, "I want to be heard." Of his lawyers, he said, "These people do not represent me." Then he recited the names of his court-appointed counsel. "This defense is a fraud... I will tell the truth that I know," he said, speaking with a thick French/Moroccan accent. "These lawyers are not my lawyers... I don't want to be represented by these lawyers," Moussaoui rambled.

"This is not the time," Judge Brinkema responded.

Over the judge's admonishment, Moussaoui went on, "For four years I have waited. I will tell them the truth I know." After about one minute of rambling, Judge Brinkema ordered marshals to take him from the courtroom. Moussaoui turned toward the judge, put his hand on his head and continued speaking -- though it was not possible to hear most of what he said. His parting words were clear as he was escorted out of the courtroom: "I will take the stand."

Judge Brinkema emphasized to the group of jurors "the gravity of the decision you will face about whether someone lives or dies." She described a death sentence as "an awesome responsibility not to be taken lightly." The judge also asked jurors to indicate on their 50 page questionnaires if today's outburst would affect their deliberations.

Brian is en route to Torino, Italy this evening... and will be anchoring the broadcast from there tomorrow night. So while he travels, I'll substitute in the chair tonight.

We will begin in Washington where there were fireworks on Capitol Hill with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales making the case for the Bush administration's domestic spying program. Gonzales denied that the President broke any laws with the warrantless wiretaps... and called the program "necessary" and an "early warning system" against terrorist attacks. But there were tough questions from both Democrats and Republicans... with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., suggesting a special federal court review the program's legality. Chip Reid will have the highlights for us tonight.

Other major news out of Washington... jury selection began today for Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person in the U.S. ever charged in connection with the 9/11 hijackings... and Moussaoui's behavior seemed to mimic Saddam Hussein. He was led out of the courtroom several times for disruptions, interrupting the court to state "I'm al-Qaida" and calling the courtroom a circus. The judge has set a timetable of about a month to seat a jury, with prosecutors acknowledging how hard it will be to find impartial people who can put emotions aside. Pete Williams will have all the details.

Also... Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell with new developments on the administration's effort to stop Iran's nuclear program, White House Correspondent Kelly O'Donnell with details on the Bush budget for 2007. Hope to see you tonight.