Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory does the Early Nightly honors tonight while Brian returns from St. Louis. Our camera caught up with him after the "Today" show. Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to watch.

"This was my apartment right here. Ain't too much to see (now) except an empty slab. That's the only thing I want to know: What are they going to do with this land? Are they going to rebuild it or just let it go?"Steven Smith

Steven Smith returned to New Orleans this week from Houston to look at what remained of his apartment complex. He's one of several former residents we've been talking to this week as we prepare stories for the upcoming anniversary of Katrina. As we walked the muddy field where it once stood, he talked about his desire to return permanently to his hometown. Smith lost nearly all his belongings in the flooding that followed Katrina. He's eager to come home to his old neighborhood because he says he's had a hard time finding an affordable apartment in other parts of the city.

Roy Page, left, and Toby Springate, right, visit with four dogs they rescued and brought to the Beirut animal shelter. Photo by Julian Prictoe, NBC News.

Such a clichéd title for the tale I'm about to tell. Almost a year ago I found myself in New Orleans, covering Hurricane Katrina. It was the most heart-wrenching and emotionally disturbing assignment I have ever had.

In the terrible aftermath and weeks that followed, no matter how tired or dispirited our team got, they would come home to our make-shift camp, and rejoice in the companionship of three rescued critters: Katrina the kitten, Freeway the overgrown puppy, who was such a ham, and Storm, the pit bull pup that stole our hearts. We had become, over the weeks, a way station for all sorts, human and animal.

This month, I have been in Lebanon, covering the war, and now the tenuous cease-fire. During the fighting, we had an operation in Tyre, that most ancient of cities, in southern Lebanon. Yet again, as is always the case on these stories, we had a camp. NBC set up at the Rest House, a hotel that had seen better days even before the war hit.

We were there, along with the rest of the press corps, at the total mercy of the hotel "manager," possibly the most seedy, dodgy and slimy individual anyone could ever remember encountering. Our make-shift office was the abandoned dive shop at this ramshackle Mediterranean resort. Our satellite dish sat on the terrace, and our correspondent, producer, crew and engineer slept wherever they could, ate whatever we could send them and enjoyed a cold beer whenever they could find one.

Every day they went out into southern Lebanon and witnessed the awful, grim realities of war. And every night they would come back to base to the stray animals that lived in the beach sand and rubble and filth around the hotel.

I have often wondered over the years, why we in the press always seem to be rescuing animals. I have been asked, sometimes accusingly, whether I think animals matter more than people. I think it really boils down to size.

When you cover these tragic events, you can't take it on. You can't solve it. You can't begin to stop it, and most times you can't even make real sense of it. You are far from home, far from the kinder, quieter aspects of your life. And you bear witness to all the madness around you. Then, you find these small rays of light -- just a kitten or a puppy, that looks at you and you can help, so you do.

In the Middle East, the lot of any animal is a bad one. For dogs especially, the odds are really bad. Our four pups and their mom (who's had her ears cut off, just for starters) lived, as near as we can tell, on the beach. We named them Mum, Spot-on-Nose, Scruffy, Blondie and Snooze. It was blisteringly hot on the sand, and the dogs would hunt for whatever shade they could, drinking fetid water and eating scraps.

The day that one hotel employee picked up a large umbrella stand and started hitting the pups while they were fast asleep (and I mean really hitting), the NBC team went ballistic. I will spare you the delicate exchange of words that was had, but suffice to say –- afterwards we became the official guardians of those pups and their mother!

When we closed our operation in Tyre, after the cease-fire had been announced, Roy Page and Toby Springate, a lovely British crew, knew what they had to do. Roy and Toby had become the official mentors of the lads. There was no doubt in their minds, or ours, that the five dogs would meet with a very untimely end the minute we departed the Rest House.

So Roy and Toby swung into action. They loaded up the family -- all the while our producers were scrambling to find a shelter for the hounds -- and headed north. So began their journey up to the only humane society in the entire country. Their first time in a car and not an "accident" between them!

Toby and Roy went to visit their charges in Beirut yesterday. They are settling in very nicely at BETA, the Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals shelter in the hills above the city.

Photo caption: Roy Page plays with Spot-on-Nose, Scruffy, Blondie and Snooze at the Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals shelter. Photo by Julian Prictoe, NBC News.

Twenty-five years ago, when I was a lot younger, I was here in Lebanon, covering the end of the civil war and the Israeli invasion.

A camera crew from London, Ken Ludlow and John Hall, rescued a small puppy in a city park. The park had been bombed, and the puppy had lived through it. His coat was still smoldering when the crew found him.

We named him Cease-fire, because at the time, they could never keep one. We did a piece on Cease-fire that morning, on the Today Show. He was adopted by a family in Seattle. NBC was there when he landed in Tacoma, Wash. I like to think Cease-fire had the best life, from his hard beginning. I know Toby and Roy want the same life for Mum, Spot-on-Nose, Scruffy, Blondie and Snooze.

"We're not moving as fast as we need to be moving and there's days I feel we didn't do as well as we should have done today. I think with any recovery process, you need to remember, it's not an event, it is a process."Don PowellFederal Coordinator, Gulf Coast Recovery

I spoke with Don Powell a few weeks ago during one of his scheduled tours through New Orleans. He seemed pleased to see large sections of the Ninth Ward cleared of debris and signs of rebuilding in Lakeview. At each stop, he took time to speak with homeowners and construction crews and ask them their opinion of the recovery effort. Powell admitted it might be difficult for people to see progress everywhere, but said there were signs that the recovery was on track.

Photo caption: Don Powell tours parts of New Orleans in late July. Courtesy NBC News.

We'll be joining you from St. Louis tonight, as a business trip brings me here. We'll originate our broadcast tonight from our NBC station, KSDK. As local stations go, it's what we used to call "a blow torch"... a hugely successful, popular, perennially-dominant television station serving the 12th largest city in the United States. I love this city and have spent a lot of time here over the years. The only problem, on this sparkling day here, is finding time to spend with one of my best friends -- the Best Man at my wedding -- who works in finance here. These trips tend to be scheduled to the minute, and this trip is no different. Incidentally, this metropolitan area will serve as the backdrop for a piece tonight by Janet Shamlian on immigration.

Getting to the other news of this day, a professional and personal note first: We were all thrilled to see and hear the video of Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig of Fox News. I have worked on several stories alongside Steve, and have much respect for his work -- and as members of this fraternity we've all been hoping that their captors in Gaza would release them. Absent that, for now, it is good to know that both men have apparently been treated well. While we are not anxious to give their captors any propaganda boost, we are thrilled to be able to air the videotape pictures showing them both speaking.

Housing made big economic news today, and Kevin Corke will report on that story. We'll also ask our friends at CNBC for a reality check. We'll check in on the trial of Saddam Hussein. Bob Bazell will be along with a stem cell development that broke open this afternoon, and some cautions that need to be reported along with the story. We'll close things out tonight with the story that combines big business with big entertainment: Paramount Boots Cruise. 

So please join us for tonight's broadcast. We'll see you from St. Louis.

Its seems everyone today has a blog, from lonely teenagers to hyperbolic sports fans to esteemed anchors of evening news broadcasts.

But one of the newest blogs takes the phenomenon one step further. Mahmood Ahmadinejad, his excellency the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has in the past few weeks set up a blog of his own, in four languages. The blog seeks comments from around the world and has pages in Farsi, Arabic, English and French. It features a photo of the Iranian president, an engineer and scientist by training, writing at a desk and offers typical blog fare: a welcoming statement, a question of the day and a space for comments.

Not surprisingly, the English page has had few viewers. Hani A. asks" "Al Salam Alaikum, I hope you could make the font of the words little bigger so that reading could be easier. Salem, Hani."

The blog question is certainly topical: "Do you think that the U.S. and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another world war?" So far, 71% of the more than 500,000 votes say "no." There is no breakdown by language. 

Ahmadinejad's opening statement is autobiographical and as is the case with many blogs, a bit long, as even he admits: "I will continue this topic later on as it took long in the beginning. From now onwards, I will try to make it shorter and simpler."

Is his American counterpart, George W. Bush, considering a blog? Hardly. David Almacy, White House internet director, says "there are no current plans for the President to blog. As for the future, who knows?"

Still, says Almacy, Americans do have a way to communicate with the commander in chief.

"The president understands the power of the Internet... as evidenced in the whitehouse.gov Web site, where all the president's press conferences, speeches, statements are catalogued," notes Almacy. "We also have 'Ask the White House' on the site where people can ask questions and get a response. That's our vehicle."

Almacy also points out that the Iranian president appears to be conceding a large part of the world to the White House, noting that President Bush's site has Spanish pages, while President Ahmadinejad does not!

Brian anchors the broadcast from St. Louis tonight.  While Brian travels to Missouri, Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory gives you an early look at the stories under consideration.  Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to watch.

We came to work today with no idea as to how we'd start the broadcast tonight. As of this writing, we have a marginally better idea. We know that the topic of air traveler security will loom large tonight, and so will the U.S. military. We know Iran will find its way up to the first segment of the broadcast. David Gregory has a great story tonight, which may be the way we get off the air. The rest is... under consideration.

SOUTH PACIFIC (not the musical, the mea culpa)
If you live in the western half of the country, the following mea culpa will mean nothing to you, because you saw an updated version of our broadcast last night. However, those folks who live in the Eastern and Central time zones -- and those who know their military history and/or geography -- already know what I'm apologizing for: last night I put Iwo Jima in the South Pacific. As part of our obit for Joe Rosenthal, the great combat photographer, I mentioned the "volcanic island in the South Pacific..." It was my writing, and my error, and we all missed it. I suppose, in the heat of an approaching deadline, I used it as a common locater or figure of speech, but once again, those pesky facts got in the way. Iwo Jima is indeed north of the Tropic of Cancer, and that in no way qualifies as the "South Pacific." So I felt compelled earlier today, when an extremely kind, elderly veteran called from Vermont and talked with my assistant (and very gingerly complained about the error while professing his undying loyalty to the broadcast), to write him back and apologize for the error.  Something tells me he's not a big blog reader, and I hope he understands that I know my World War II history -- and while I'm slightly less confident of my command of geography, never again will this broadcast put Iwo Jima in the South Pacific.

There were some great comments to the blog yesterday on the topic of the JonBenet story, most of them from viewers and readers who share my opinion of it. Some of them were downright suitable for framing. It will soon be out of our lives.

We are still moving pieces around, and you'll soon get to see the order they end up in. We hope you can join us tonight.

Dan HitchingsDirector, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Task Force Hope

As NBC News gears up for the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we're interviewing several officials who play key roles in the ongoing recovery. I recently spoke to Dan Hitchings, the director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Task Force Hope, who is heading up efforts to repair New Orleans' damaged levees. We discussed the progress at the three sites where the Army is trying to strengthen flood walls, install flood gates and prepare pumping stations. In the year since the levees breached, the Corps has been dogged by questions about their original design. Hitchings reassures residents that the flood protection plan has been improved, but warns the system is still not strong enough.

Photo caption: Dan Hitchings talks to Steve about the levees. Courtesy of NBC News.

Why do days like today make Brian nervous? Find out by watching the Early Nightly -- just click the link to the right (below the advertisement).

After living in a Mark Knopfler song for the better part of the last week, I returned over the weekend with my family after a vacation overseas. Like most families, we had a craving for liquids and gels, and quickly stocked up upon our return. During a bag and body inspection (the guy didn't even offer to buy me dinner) at London's Heathrow Airport (something about me just seems to scream "random check!"), my bag 'n body inspector confiscated my cashews before being assured by his female cohort that Planters had yet to produce an explosive snack. Generally, the security measures made us feel safer. The mountains of lipstick and moisturizer discarded by travelers left the airport security checkpoints looking like David Bowie's dressing room in the 70s.
                  
The messages I received while I was traveling from those who know me well all said the same thing: be thankful you were away last week. These are all close enough friends to know how I feel about the JonBenet story.

I came home to a heightened state of hype over the coming change in the evening news anchor lineup... including a page one story in the Sunday New York Times. It strikes me that I should probably say here what I've said in several interviews: Katie is a colleague of over a decade, and is a friend, a hard-worker and a terrific broadcaster. I have great affection for CBS, having once worked there. This is a very small industry compared to others, and those of us fortunate to have these jobs... are friends. This new competition is wonderful. It will inevitably make us all better. The attention surrounding it speaks to the strong place these broadcasts occupy in American life -- they have since the dawn of the medium, and I believe they will for the foreseeable future. As regular readers know, this job I have keeps me plenty busy, and I can speak only for our shop when I say that we plan to react to our new competition by doing what we do every day here; we'll put our heads down, write the news, deliver it, and try our best to get it right and be sure that it's fair. It's going to get awfully noisy, and it's going to be distracting, and we have to remember that what's important is the time we get to spend with those who welcome us as guests in their homes for a precious half hour a night.

Besides, if I need a distraction, all I need to do is think about driving my daughter to college in the fall.   

AIR TO GROUND
Much of today's news actually has to do with those flight restrictions I was having a little fun with above. We now know more about the results of the British investigation -- and there's a lot more evidence that they've yet to inspect. Pete Williams will look at it for us tonight. President Bush called one of his hastily-arranged news conferences this morning (a kind of christening for the new and temporary briefing room across the street from the White House, as he noted), where he proved to be in a spirited mood. We'll hear from Kelly O'Donnell and talk to Tim Russert about today's political news.

Richard Engel will report on the ongoing mess that is the situation in Lebanon. Also tonight, we will take time to remember a man who snapped one of the iconic photographs of the last 100 years of American history. If you know the name Joe Rosenthal, then you know the history behind the famous image of one of the worst battles of the Pacific Campaign during World War II. "Raising the flag at Iwo Jima" is something we can all conjure in our minds, unassisted. Without Joe Rosenthal, we might know that there was once a pitched battle for possession of a volcanic island in the South Pacific... we would not know all that we know about it today. We will remember Joe Rosenthal tonight.

Also this evening: we are expecting a medical update on the condition and prognosis of former President Gerald Ford. We hope you will join us for all of the day's news... it's good to be back.

"I am less trusting. If a person says they're going to do something, I don't really accept it. I have people double-check it and kind of dog it until I'm satisfied that it's actually done. I think I'm a little rougher around the edges, a little less tolerant of lots of things that happen around me."
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, D-La.

Starting today, I plan to offer a new "Faces from the Gulf" daily until the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29. Last Friday, I spoke to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco at the governor's mansion in Baton Rouge. You'll probably see portions of the interview this week or next on various NBC News broadcasts and MSNBC-TV. We talked a great deal about the upcoming anniversary. One of the questions I asked was how the last year changed her personally and politically.

Photo caption: Gov. Blanco talks to Steve Friday in Baton Rouge. Courtesy NBC News.

Brian is back in the anchor chair tonight and our camera caught up with him after the morning editorial meeting. Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to watch.

The war in Iraq is making news tonight after Shiite Muslims were ambushed as they set off on a religious pilgrimage.  Up to 20 Iraqis were killed... and 300 wounded.  It once again raises questions about whether Iraq is now in the middle of a civil war.  NBC's Mike Boettcher has the story from Baghdad and Rosiland Jordan looks at the political problems posed by the Iraq war.

We'll get the latest from the Middle East tonight and find out why the Prime Minister of Israel is facing some political problems of his own.  NBC's Ron Allen reports.

After Iran test fired 10 missiles today, there are new questions about the nuclear threat it may pose to the region. NBC's Lisa Daniels is working the story.

And the new suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case is flying back to the United States tonight.  Did he play some role in the murder... or is he just looking for publicity?  NBC's Mike Taibbi is in Boulder, Colorado.

It's a busy night and we hope you'll join us for Nightly News.

The waiting.  Oftentimes, it's the hardest thing a journalist endures.  After 72 hours in Boulder covering the resurrected JonBenet mystery, the waiting has been the most fatiguing aspect of this story.  Never mind that we -- and by we I mean news crews from Tokyo to New York City -- have been camped out in front of the Boulder Criminal Justice Center like an invading army armed with hulking satellite trucks and cameras mounted on tripods like machine guns. It's the waiting. Waiting for word -- word of Karr getting on a plane from Thailand. Word about any long lost friends who may have received e-mails or gotten taped conversations from Karr. Waiting for interviews to come through.  In the meantime, we do our best to piece together what little facts we have and try to extrapolate conclusions as best we can from experts who I call the "JonBenet-ists"-- anyone associated with the last trial/investigation. And then the logistics -- making sure our four crews are on the correct shoots.  Do we have a good satellite connection? Where are we going to get food? Pizza -- well, do they deliver and take credit cards?  Bathroom -- either smile your way into the Justice Center or use one of the port-a-potties which don't stink too badly yet.  And the weather -- seems to alternate between steaming hot and rainy cold.  And all the while we wait. Maybe I can get some sleep tonight.

The strange story of John Mark Karr, a suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, gets stranger by the day.  Tomorrow, he will be flown from Thailand to the U.S.  But tonight there are more questions than answers about the man who reportedly confessed to killing the little girl.  NBC's Mike Taibbi is following the story for us tonight.

There is new concern about terrorism in Europe today.  Authorities say they arrested one of two men who were allegedly involved in a bomb plot.  NBC's Charles Sabine reports.

Also, Israeli commandos raided what has been described as a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon.  The Lebanese government is calling it a violation of the U.N. cease-fire.  NBC's Ron Allen will have the latest.

Did you know there is a major teacher shortage in the U.S.?  Tonight we'll look at what some communities are doing to try to convince teachers to work in their school districts.

And turning 60. Former President Clinton is just one of the baby boomers celebrating his 60th.  How are boomers changing the way society looks at 60-year-olds?  We'll have all those stories coming up tonight.  We hope you'll join us.

Tonight the top of the broadcast will focus on two stories. One domestic and one foreign -- the announcement today of big cuts in production by Ford Motor Co.; and Hezbollah handing out bags of cash to war victims in Southern Lebanon. They are stories that on the surface seem unrelated, yet are inextricably linked (see Tom Friedman's column today in The New York Times for the best explanation).

First to Detroit. Ford says it is cutting production by 21 percent or 168,000 vehicles. That puts production at its lowest level in more than 20 years. Ford has been struggling, with year-to-date sales down nearly 10 percent over last year. The Ford brass say they are not happy about the cuts but have no choice. The main reason? You probably guessed it -- high gas prices. Ford is taking a real hit on gas guzzling trucks and SUVs. Chief Financial Correspondent Anne Thompson will have all the details for us tonight.

On the flip side... high oil prices have meant plenty of extra spending money in oil-producing countries (think Iran), which may explain how Hezbollah got wads of cash to hand out to people who are trying to rebuild their homes in Southern Lebanon. As Richard Engel will tell us tonight, the Lebanese government is not providing much help and the international community isn't coming through either. Hezbollah is looking like a savior of sorts to a lot of desperate people right now... and hardly like the big "loser" in this conflict. U.S. and Israeli officials are voicing concerns, and privately many fear the group has strengthened its hand.

There are also new developments in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. A better portrait of the suspect is emerging, but there were also new questions raised today about whether he could have committed the crime.  We'll wrap up all the latest details. Plus a special report tonight from Dateline's Stone Phillips. He has a rare interview with the COO of McDonald's. He talks about the high profile lawsuit against the fast food chain in which the plaintiffs have blamed McDonald's for their obesity. This is a preview of Stone's report airing on Dateline NBC tonight. See you in a bit.

Legal scholars, both liberal and conservative, say they are disappointed with yesterday's ruling by the federal judge who held the NSA warrantless wiretapping program unconstitutional. Though they disagree on whether her conclusion was the right one, they generally agree that her legal reasoning left a great deal to be desired -- especially in a case of such national importance -- and probably won't be given much weight by the federal appeals courts that take up the controversy.

The ruling, though it offers a thorough review of how previous courts have handled similar issues in the past, is unusually thin on legal analysis in deciding this case.

Prof. Jack Balkin of Yale, who strongly supports the result, nonetheless calls the opinion, "a bit confused." Regarding the finding by Judge Anna Diggs Taylor that the program violates the free speech rights of journalists, lawyers, and others, he says, "The problem is that the program was secret. It was the disclosure of the program that created the chilling effect. And even if we put that problem to one side, it is not clear whether a program that is otherwise legal violates the First Amendment simply because people are chilled by its existence."

The Washington Post, in an editorial today, says the opinion "is neither careful nor scholarly, and it is hard hitting only in the sense that a bludgeon is hard-hitting."

On the conservative side, Bryan Cunningham, who contributed to a legal brief supporting the NSA program, writes in today's National Review Online: "I wouldn't accept this utterly unsupported, constitutionally and logically bankrupt collection of musings from a first-year law student, much less a new lawyer at my firm."

For now, Judge Taylor's order to shut down the program is on hold until a hearing on September 7. The government will ask the judge to continue the stay while the case is appealed.

Photographer David Burnett recently returned to New Orleans' Ninth Ward months after his first visit for National Geographic. Photo by Steve Majors.

"So many things change... but in the photograph, it will live forever. That image is frozen in time."
David Burnett
Photographer

I met David Burnett while researching a story for Nightly News on Burnett's haunting photos of the post-Katrina landscape along the Gulf Coast. I found the motivation behind each picture just as important as the photo itself. Burnett told me he had mixed emotions about seeing part of the ward finally cleared of debris. He hopes his photographs will serve as a reminder to everyone of the scope of the devastation.

Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory does the Early Nightly honors today from Washington. The economy is shaping up to be tonight's top story. Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to find out why. Campbell Brown anchors the Friday edition of Nightly News from New York.

If you have been checking the Internet, listening to the radio or watching cable news, then you already know that prosecutors are treating this arrest in connection with the JonBenet Ramsey case with caution... urging the public, as AP reports, not to "jump to conclusions." As we reported earlier, a school teacher is in custody in Thailand and says that he accidentally killed the girl. But now some are suggesting that parts of the story just don't add up. The suspect spoke to reporters in what seemed to be a highly unusual perp walk/press conference. We recognize there is enormous interest in the story and we are covering it from all angles tonight.

But there is other news to report beyond developments in the Ramsey case. And important news at that. Richard Engel is in Southern Lebanon where the Lebanese army arrived to take positions today even though its mandate is still unclear. The Lebanese army apparently will not be disarming Hezbollah and there is still confusion about what countries will participate in the U.N. peacekeeping force.

Also, George Lewis spent time in Fairbanks, Alaska with the 172nd Stryker Brigade. Its welcome home from Iraq party was interrupted with new orders to redeploy. Some of its members had been home for three weeks... and others had not even left Iraq yet. 

Pete Williams raises concerns about cargo safety, asking whether that is the real weak link in homeland security. And Ron Mott looks at what some companies are doing to help employees cope with high gas prices. See you tonight. 

Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory does the honors today from NBC's Washington, D.C., newsroom. Campbell Brown will anchor the broadcast from New York. Click the link to the right (below the advertisement) to watch.

So we're neatly moved into our new digs at the White House Conference Center across the street from the White House. The booths and furniture are squeaky clean -- give it a week or so though - the space is a millimeter or so larger than our previous home, but there are some problems.

The briefing room where Press Secretary Tony Snow does his daily session with reporters is slightly bigger, but acoustically it's noisier. So today -- twice during his Q&A -- Snow abruptly stopped in mid-sentence, gazed to the back of the room toward the area where camera crews are positioned, and above the banter asked, "Guys, can you hold it down?"

Nothing was said about points off for lack of class participation.

President Bush waves after starting the engine on a Harley while touring Harley Davidson Vehicle Operations in York, Pa. The man applauding, right, is Harley Davidson President and CEO Jim Ziemer. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS.

Maybe it's the speed, the leather or the vroom factor, but there's a certain attraction between recent presidents and Harley Davidson motorcycles. Both Reagan and Clinton visited this factory in York, Pa., and today it was President George W. Bush's turn.

The congressman representing this district, Todd Platts, R-York Co., explained to a local newspaper that the White House wanted to do this event. "They raised it with us about two weeks ago, that they were looking to do an economic event in York... and were looking at Harley-Davidson," Platts said. 

Platts described Harley Davidson as "a company that's shown tremendous success in the world marketplace." Twenty years ago, the company nearly closed down, he said. "It went from the brink of closure to now leading the pack -- an American company that's doing great all over the world."

One wonders if the company were making flanges or bobby pins whether the presidential allure would be quite as great.

A few changes to tell you about since the Early Nightly this morning. Pete Williams has shifted gears given the breaking news a bit ago about United Flight 923 from the U.K. Still a lot we don't know, but here is what we do: Fighter jets were scrambled and diverted the London-Washington, D.C. flight to Boston. The pilot had declared an emergency based on the behavior of a passenger. The concern involved a 59-year-old American woman who was returning home from an overseas visit. There were some earlier media reports suggesting she was carrying a screwdriver or an al-Qaida-related. But now several federal officials are telling us NOT to put much stock in those reports. She did apparently have matches, Pete reports, which are not banned. She may also have been carrying hand cream (a violation of the new rules). But bottom line... so far it appears to be a panic attack of some sort rather than a real threat... but again, given recent events, the reaction may well have been appropriate. Other passengers on the flight are being interviewed now by the FBI in Boston. They are hoping to make it to D.C. by tonight. Quite a detour for them and they will arrive at their final destinations many hours later than expected. It demonstrates how much anxiety there is to go around right now. Normally this is a story we may not give a lot of attention to, but given the current environment and how federal officials reacted to it, it is a story that now warrants our attention. We will aim to have more clarity for you tonight. See you in a bit.