By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

I've found that with a little barbeque sauce, crow actually tastes...like chicken. I reference of course my trash talk in my Friday posting, predicting -- ASSUMING -- a Giants victory over the Redskins last night. My son and I were there for the humiliating loss. We braved the 17-degree wind-chill, we braved snow and wind in the face, we even braved the sausage sandwiches at the stadium. When we turned around in our seats and realized the season ticket holders sitting behind us in section 212 didn't bother to come back to their seats for the second half, we knew we had a problem. Our beloved Boys in Blue really stunk up the place. Later, in line for the bus back to the Port Authority in New York (the ONLY way to travel to the Meadowlands without spending a significant portion of your life in the Meadowlands parking lot) my son guessed that it was the coldest he'd ever been. I placed it third -- after Bosnia and Iraq. He's just 16; give him time. We had a great night, and we were even polite to the Washington fans who walked past the bus line of hundreds of Giants fans singing the Redskins fight song, "Hail to the..." I can't finish it.

Much excitement surrounding tonight's broadcast. We've been looking for a new announcer ever since our beloved, veteran "voice of Nightly News" Howard Reig left us for retirement two years ago. Many of you will be reading this after 6:30 eastern time (our first live feed of the broadcast) when the "identity" of our new announcer will already be known. Let me just say this about this man: I called him, I appealed to his sense of history and tradition and his love of the medium -- and he said yes without hesitation. I was a fan before this. Now I am devoted to the guy.

What a great political story we have developing in Iowa. As one of our political pros put it, "there's a five-way tie for second, and 'none of the above' is the front-runner." You've got this weekend's endorsements, you've got today's endorsement of McCain, you've got Edwards on the cover of Newsweek, you've got Romney on Meet the Press (and Ron Paul next weekend), you've got a former president in a de facto, same-team competition for air time with his wife, the candidate... and in short: you've got quite a race. The Hillary-and-surrogates helicopter tour of all 99 Iowa counties reminds me of the most artful use ever of a helicopter in American politics: LBJ's campaign for U.S. Senate in Texas in 1948.

                                   

The chopper was dubbed "The Flying Windmill" and looked vaguely like a salt shaker with propellers. Johnson was smart enough to know that it would bring the townspeople out. Many had never seen such an aircraft before -- and they'd certainly never encountered a man like Lyndon Johnson before. As a gimmick, he more than once threw his hat out the window of the hovering helicopter (after buzzing the town at low altitude, using the racket and spectacle of the unwieldy whirlybird to call attention to his visit) and a petrified volunteer staffer would then be dispatched to retrieve it on the ground. Note: don't try this at home. Or in Iowa.

                                   

It was great reading all of your emails over the weekend. We hope you enjoy the new "voice of Nightly News" at the top of tonight's broadcast and hereafter. Thanks for tuning in tonight -- and always.

By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC Nightly News Digital correspondent

Editor's note: Mara is on assignment in India, preparing several stories for Nightly News. Watch for her reports soon on the Digital Dispatch.

 

I've had the privilege of shooting photos and video of people all over the world. I'm always interested in how individuals respond to a camera. In some cities I'm greeted with friendly curiosity. In others, disdain. Sometimes, annoyance.

 

But in India, I've seen a reaction I've never found anywhere else. The moment I point a camera at someone, they stop whatever they are doing and stare into the camera, proudly, dutifully. Below are some photos of those who have turned their eyes on me, as I have turned mine on them.

 

By Martin Savidge, NBC News correspondent

 

Batman had his Bat-mobile. The Green Hornet had the Black Beauty. And Michael Knight had KITT.

On Monday, December 17, "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" will debut a new, very special announcer who will introduce the program and Williams nightly.

Who will it be?

Here's a hint.  The announcer has had a rich, extensive, award-winning theatrical career for nearly forty years. 

Make sure to listen carefully at the beginning of Nightly News and send us your best guess as to who it is.

We will reveal the announcer's identity at end of Monday's broadcast.

Good luck!

by Lester Holt

 It was potluck Sunday here in the Nightly newsroom this afternoon as we shared favorite dishes (I made an apple-berry cobbler) and said good-bye to some of our colleagues who are moving on.  A big thanks to Tom Bowman, a senior producer on the show, and one of the first people I got to know when I joined MSNBC back in 2000.  I'd miss him regardless, but now that I've discovered he cooks up a mean mac and cheese, I'm suggesting we compete more aggressively to keep him.

It's a rainy and windy day here in New York.  The overnight snow has been washed away, but it's been piling up in other parts of the northeast today as that dreaded midwest storm finally blew into the region.  There have been winter storm warnings up today from Michigan to Maine, and automobile and air travel in this part of the country has been snarled.  We'll have complete coverage of the weather on the newscast tonight, and Bill Karins from NBC Weather Plus will joins us with the back to work forecast.
   
The race for President is taking some interesting twists and turns today with some potentially important newspaper endorsements being read by voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.  NBC's Kevin Corke will report on that tonight, and why John Edwards and John McCain may now be emerging as candidates to watch more closely.
   
Erin Burnett from CNBC stops by to chat tonight about the economy.  John Larson tells us why our evening television viewing habits are about to change, and we'll introduce you to the world's richest self-made woman and tell you how she got that way.
   
Thanks for clicking onto the blog.  Join us if you can tonight for NBC Nightly News.
  

by Lester Holt

We're officially in that "crunch time" period before Christmas when shoppers become more mission focused as the calendar ticks down.  For a second straight weekend shoppers in many parts of the country are going about their tasks with an ear cocked to the weather forecast. All week we've been hearing of a stronger punch of winter-like weather on way following that damaging ice storm.  Snow is falling today from Kansas into Indiana, and our colleagues at NBC Weather plus tell us it's all likely to re-develop into a Nor'easter on Sunday, bringing snow, rain and wind to the Northeast.  The questions tonight: how bad will it turn out to be, and where is the snow/rain cutoff line? Bill Karins will join me on Nightly News tonight to tell us all what we're in for.
   
Have you heard about the latest holiday blockbuster?  It's not a movie.  It's the 2008 presidential race, where in something rarely seen in the process there is true nail biting drama.  Political experts tell us as of today any number of the candidates stand a chance at clinching their party's nomination.  It all hinges on how some very tight races break, and some very complicated but plausible scenarios.  NBC's Savannah Guthrie will have a lot more on that.
   
Kerry Sanders offers a different view of the immigration fight that has caused a lot of illegal immigrants to leave the United States.  The fascinating new wrinkle is where more and more of them are choosing to go, and it is not home.
  
If you have read Khaled Hosseini's terrific novel "The Kite Runner," you know that his tale of two boys growing up in Afghanistan is a gripping and emotional read.  Now the film version of the story is having the same affect and threatens to spark controversy, especially in Afghanistan.  Our Jim Maceda reports from there, and finds kids are flying and chasing kites again, but that old wounds are not easily healed.
 
Thanks for reading the blog today.  I hope you can join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.

By Jim Maceda, NBC News correspondent

What a joy it was to shoot in Afghanistan again...and not be shot at... even once. Finally, 6 years since the war began, my Afghan camera-and-soundman, Iqbal Sapand, and I were here to do a NON-military story. What a perk! A story, not about suicide bombings or coalition losses, but a Hollywood movie, starring Afghans, about Afghans. The 'Kite Runner' - based on Khaled Hosseini's blockbuster novel - debuts today in the US. We wanted to ask ordinary Afghans, as well as some Afghan officials, how they looked upon a potentially award-winning film that throws a POSITIVE light on their war-torn country.

We met with a wide swath of people in Kabul, a city that was still too unsafe for 'The Kite Runner' to be shot here (all scenes were filmed in China). In fact, we never went into the streets without a discreetly armed body guard watching our backs. We spoke with an Internet chat room host, worshippers after Friday prayers, workmen in the Hazara district (the traditionally suppressed ethnic tribe of Mongol origin), a master kitemaker, a human rights director, a sociologist, and lots of kite enthusiasts - young and old - who honed their skills on Nadir Khan Hill, overlooking the capital, on a Friday afternoon.

Frankly, I was taken aback at how negative Afghan reaction was to 'The Kite Runner'. The film's plot - and young characters - are so compelling; the message that love and loyalty will win out over fear and brutality so uplifting. Why was the Afghan government considering an official ban on such an 'Afghanistan-friendly' film? Indeed, why had producers at Paramount Vantage postponed the US release, and move the Afghan boy actors out of the country ( to Dubai) 'for their own safety'?

Here was evidence of a gigantic gap between Hollywood's best intentions, and the reality of Islamic, conservative Afghanistan. And it all crystallized around one taboo scene - the rape of a Hazara kite runner (after he runs down a prized kite, fallen to the ground) by a pathological bully who happens to be Pashtun, from the dominant tribe.

Despite Paramount's efforts to tone down the scene - making it impressionistic to the point where the father of the boy actor who plays the raped Hazara, on the set, didn't even realize the scene had been shot - almost all the Afghans we spoke to said the film - as edited - should not be seen here. Even the Afghan human rights commissioner - repeat 'human rights' - said the boy actors should NEVER come back . The sociologist told us that the rape scene - hitting at the core of tribal notions of dishonor - could trigger riots, and lead to the collapse of President Hamid Karzai's government. Everyone said the film would increase tensions between ethnic groups.

All but one, that is.....Nor Agha - the kitemaker: he defended the film. Turns out Nor Afgha was hired by Paramount to train the 2 boy actors in the skills of kite making, flying and running. His business has taken off like a kite since word of the Hollywood film hit Kabul. ''There are a lot of backward people in Afghanistan, he said, ''and they SHOULD see this film.'' Representatives at Paramount were saying all the right things - once Afghans saw the film and how respectful it was, all of the controversy would quickly subside.

But some of the country's most articulate professionals were telling us just the opposite. One Afghan anaylst even suggested that author Khaled Hosseini might be in danger himself if the film were released here. It sounded frighteningly like the old fatwah on Salman Rushdie. Or Mohammed's cartoons, or a teddy-bear named like the Prophet. Once again the West (read Hollywood) seems to have grossly under-estimated the power of the insult in a tribal society. The chasm between cultures...seemingly getting wider.

As is so often the case, we shot the Kite Runner story we came to do, but another, more troubling 'back story' emerged that won't make Nightly News. It's one that seemed worth telling.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

We have several favorites in the broadcast tonight: including a story -- the favorite of many of us in the newsroom -- that came to us from our Miami station, having to do with something that happened at a Starbucks yesterday. We also have great reporting tonight on the baseball scandal, New Orleans' latest issue, and the environment.  And of course: Making a Difference.

My son and I have tickets to the New York Giants victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday night.  So I'm going to ask our meteorologist Bill Karins to accelerate the timing of the snowstorm scheduled to arrive this weekend.  I'm pretty sure he can do that for me.  He knows people.

I exchanged emails today with a young commander in Iraq -- as I sat in my office looking at the plaza and the Christmas tree here at 30 Rock, he was looking out over a complex of military base housing units (some of them converted tractor-trailers) and humvees and latrines.  He was between patrols.  It was a healthy reminder (the same reason why I keep a medallion from the U.S. Army First Cavalry in my pocket every day -- since the day it was given to me in Ramadi) that we must think of these volunteers while we go on about our parallel lives.  Especially this time of year.

Moon Shadow

Sharp-eyed readers will remember that last Friday, Andy Franklin and I put together a news quiz that included the question, "When did man first walk on the moon?" The answer of course is July 20, 1969 -- the day Neil Armstrong took a giant leap for mankind. But here's a tougher question. Who was the LAST man to walk on the moon? And when did he take that final step?

Time's up. The answer is Gene Cernan, the Commander of Apollo 17, who became the last man to walk on the moon when he climbed back aboard the lunar module Challenger on December 14, 1972 -- 35 years ago today. Apollo 17 was the last of six Apollo missions to land on the moon, and Cernan was -- and remains -- one of just 12 men ever to set foot there.

Stepping off the lunar surface that day, Cernan said, "As we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. As I take these last steps from the surface for some time to come, I'd just like to record that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."  

Gene Cernan's fellow Apollo 17 moonwalker was lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt, who snapped this photo of Cernan in the module shortly after they stepped back inside. Note the lunar landscape out the window, and the moon dust on Cernan's suit (and the proud smile on his face). Soon after this photo was taken, the Challenger lifted off, and Cernan and Schmitt rejoined fellow astronaut Ron Evans aboard the command module in lunar orbit. (Evans died in 1990; Cernan and Schmitt are still with us, both now in their early 70's). Left behind on the surface of the moon, along with the lander: a Lunar Rover, an array of experiments and equipment, an American flag, and a television camera. The camera was still working, and it captured dramatic video of that final Apollo liftoff, 35 years ago today. 

Apollo 17 will always be remembered as the last mission to the moon -- at least until mankind manages to travel there again. But there is another priceless legacy left by that mission.

On December 7, 1972, the day they set out for the moon, the crew of Apollo 17 looked back toward Earth and took what has become one of the best-known, most reproduced and most awe-inspiring photographs ever taken. Here it is. Truly, there's no place like home. 

We hope you can join us tonight.

 

By Brett Holey, NBC Nightly News director

Tonight we say goodbye to a familiar voice, an era for NBC and a small piece of broadcasting history.

Tonight's broadcast will be the last time you'll hear announcer Howard Reig say the familiar words introducing the broadcast following John Williams' spectacular fanfare. Monday you'll hear a new voice that will be familiar but in a whole new way.

Howard is diminutive in stature but a giant in heart and voice. His career in the television business has spanned the entire history of "the business." When his voice was first heard on NBC Radio, FDR was president, the U.S. population was less than half of what it is today, there were fewer than 7,000 televisions in America and only a handful of commercial stations.

Howard began his career as a high school English teacher, but when he took a summer acting job in 1943 at WGY in Schenectady, he knew that broadcasting was his field. In the 1940s, Howard narrated live Big Band shows on the radio, striking up a friendships with Duke Ellington and others. He has worked as a disc jockey, talk show host, narrator, pitchman and as a news anchor. He appeared on camera and provided the voice for some of the classic commercials of the 1960s and early 1970s.

He's been the opening announcer for "NBC Nightly News" since the days of Chancellor and Brinkley. By my tally, he has introduced nearly 7,000 Nightly broadcasts.

On the occasion of Howard's official retirement from the company, Tom Brokaw said, "When I hear his voice introducing me in the middle of some big go-to-hell news story, I always feel I have to step up to the plate with a little more flair. Now I know how DiMaggio felt when he was introduced by Mel Allen."

Personally, Howard is generous almost to a fault. He has been known to lavish friends and family with gifts and tokens, never expecting anything in return. A favorite story he told me: years ago he loaned a "bohemian" friend his motorcycle to ride for a weekend. After an extended period of time he finally asked for it back, and recalls not being too upset when he discovered it had been converted into a planter, a sort of object-d'art on his friend's Greenwich Village terrace.

Howard's son Ken has built a terrific website as a tribute to him. There are more great pictures, a video, and a lot more information about Howard.

Howard will always be part of the Nightly News family. We're very excited about our new "voice of Nightly," but I will miss the old one just the same.

By Mara Schiavocampo, NBC Nightly News digital correspondent

 

Editor's note: Mara is on assignment in India right now, preparing several stories for Nightly News. Watch for her reports soon on the Digital Dispatch.

 

I've spent most of my adult life in two cities: New York and L.A. And I work in television. So I'm used to seeing celebrities. For the most part I ignore them. I figure I'd hate to be constantly bothered by strangers, so why force myself on someone else? But this was one I couldn't ignore.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

If you were walking down West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan last night and heard loud music, that was us. The staff of Nightly News had a terrific time at our annual party. We celebrated the hard work done by this team to make us the #1 newscast in America, and we toasted all of you as well. We were treated to some great music (a band headed up by our senior East Coast promotions executive Frank Radice) and the voice of an angel, Nightly News's own Amber Payne, whose singing voice is positively transporting. It was loud, fun and went late.

To today: one of the few times when only a single voice could be heard throughout our newsroom: during George Mitchell's press conference today. What a dark day for baseball. What a tough time for parents who have young players at home -- as I do -- yearning for positive role models in the game.

The only other audible sounds in the newsroom: the sleet that is presently tapping against our windows, and the sound of the wind howling. Winter is visiting New York City today, just as it threatens to hit the East Coast again on Sunday with a powerful storm. It'll all be part of our reporting tonight.

We will close tonight's broadcast with a quirky feature on one of my favorite new products of the last few years: light-emitting diodes, or LED's. They are tiny (some not so tiny) light bulbs that burn cool, burn bright, and burn almost forever. They have revolutionized Christmas tree lighting, law enforcement (those REALLY bright flashing roof racks that you never want to see in your rear-view mirror) and even airplane reading lights, auto headlights and stoplights. I am lit by them during the broadcast. While they come in any color, they are decidedly green in terms of the environment.

Finally, if I may put in a plug. As you may know, I'm on the board of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Foundation. We are bestowing an honor similar to the Medal on ordinary folks who do extraordinary things. Those who put service above self. Those who act above and beyond the call of duty. We'll collect nominees, research them and celebrate those honored during a prime-time special in March in Washington. If you know an extraordinary person to nominate, you have until December 16th to do so. Please go to aboveandbeyond365.com to read all about it.

Andy Franklin has given us a great politically-themed gift below. We sure appreciate you joining us tonight. As always.

Jimmy Who?

The Iowa caucuses are three weeks from today, in case you hadn't noticed. Only those living under a rock could have escaped the tidal wave of attention that's been focused on that first-in-the-nation presidential contest. There have been new polls to dissect on an almost daily basis, and for better or worse, the candidates' standing in those polls has shaped the ever-shifting expectations about their chances -- well before a single vote has been cast. Candidate debates have been so plentiful (there was another one today) they've almost become like episodes in an ongoing reality show. Thankfully, no one has yet been asked to eat any bugs.

The run-up to the 2008 Iowa caucuses has been a staple of news coverage for weeks now -- and that means news coverage in all its modern-day glory: network television, cable television, local television, newspapers, magazines, internet video, blog posts by the truckload and websites across the political spectrum. And wait -- I'm just getting an update on my cell phone. On top of all this, the good people who actually live in Iowa have been inundated with political advertising, direct mail, constant solicitations of support by the various campaigns, and often, by the candidates themselves, in person. Whom do we have to thank for all of this?

Jimmy Carter, that's who. 32 years ago, Carter "won" the Iowa Democratic caucuses by coming in second (with 29% of the vote, behind "uncommitted" with 38%, and ahead of rival Birch Bayh, who had 11%). Before Iowa, Carter was virtually unknown as a national figure. He had served one term as governor of Georgia, and had appeared on the cover of Time magazine back in 1971 as a rising star of the new South. Like Carter himself, the Iowa caucuses had virtually no national profile. The focus had always been on New Hampshire, home of the first primary. But Carter and Iowa put each other on the map, and after his showing there, the man from Plains became the man to beat.

Jimmy Carter took advantage of Iowa's low profile in 1976, spending hundreds of days campaigning there throughout the previous year, without the "benefit" of national press coverage. He flew in under the radar, tirelessly building support one voter at a time, month after month, while going virtually unnoticed by the national media. Late in the game, a few reporters did begin to pick up on what was happening. The New York Times ran a piece by Drummond Ayres the day after Christmas (about three weeks before the caucuses, then held on January 19) headlined, "1976 Surprise: Carter Is Running Well." A couple of weeks later, the headline in a Washington Post piece by Jules Witcover read, "Iowa Prospects Propel Carter Bid."

Once the 1976 Iowa results were in, it was clear that Carter had not only gotten more votes than his rivals. He had also beaten expectations, and that was crucial. Before Iowa, most political "experts" did not give Jimmy Carter a chance at winning the Democratic nomination, much less getting elected president. After Carter exceeded those low expectations in Iowa, his press coverage immediately reflected the new perception: "Carter Is Regarded As Getting Big Gain From Iowa Results" (NY Times); "Iowa Victory Gives Carter Momentum" (Wash. Post).

Carter's better-than-expected showing in Iowa -- a small, mostly rural and relatively unrepresentative state -- propelled him like a slingshot to victory in New Hampshire a month later, and he went on to win most of the primaries that followed. Carter then won the nomination -- and the election -- and ever since, candidates have tried to replicate his success.

We are now living with the results -- an almost obsessive emphasis on the importance of Iowa. Of course, it can never be the same as it was in 1976. These days the Iowa caucuses are the very definition of high-profile; it's no longer possible to sneak in unnoticed. But one thing hasn't changed in 32 years. Everyone is still playing the expectations game. If you need proof of that, just wait until three weeks from tomorrow.

By Stephanie Himango, NBC News producer

Editor's note: Mark Potter's report on LED lights airs tonight on the broadcast. Watch a preview here.

Lite Brite is a game I hadn't thought about in years--until I started thinking about LED lights. Any child of the 1970s who was captivated by Lite Brite probably has the same recollection I did when looking at LEDs in their infinite applications: tail lights, traffic lights, cross walks, holiday lights, billboards and more. The circular stippled appearance of vibrant LED lighting is definitely reminiscent of the light and paper-punch game.

But the similarities are purely visual, and end there.

Use of LED lighting can reduce energy consumption by more than 90 percent, when compared to regular incandescent lighting. And, given that lighting alone accounts for 21.5% of all electricity used in the United States each year, the potential benefits from LEDs for cost and environmental savings are remarkable.

The Department of Energy forecasts that at today's electric rates, we could save $10 billion annually if every American were to purchase LED lights instead of incandescents for regular at-home lighting.

LEDs are not new, but according to Assistant Secretary of Energy Andy Karsner, they have seen enormous breakthroughs in laboratories this year. Karsner says the Department of Energy expects to see LEDs penetrate the marketplace beyond holiday lights and traffic lights. In fact, this year he says LEDs will be marked up with the Energy Star brand, and you'll see them appearing on store shelves to replace incandescents and compact fluorescents.

The technology with a small name may well shine a bright light on the future.

 

By John Rutherford, NBC News Producer, Washington

Army Sgt. Alfred Paredez Jr. was due home from Iraq in October, but his deployment with the 1st Cavalry Division was extended for three months, and he was killed one month into his extension by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

"He faced fear for 13 months in Iraq," an Army colleague said at Paredez's Nov. 29 funeral in Las Vegas, according to the Review-Journal newspaper.

Paredez, 32, was one of a growing number of soldiers killed after their combat tours were extended from 12 months to 15 months to accommodate President Bush's troop surge.

"We did that with a full understanding that it was temporary," Army Chief of Staff George Casey said in a recent speech. "We can't sustain that. We have to come off of that, and we're working that very hard."

But Defense Secretary Robert Gates told NBC's Jim Miklaszewski that it will probably be next fall or late next year before the Army can return to 12-month tours.

"That is our hope," Gates said. "I would love to do it just as fast as we can."

There are presently 166,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 30,000 more than before the surge began in January. The troop level is expected to decline to 135,000 by July, and Gates has hopes of dropping it to 100,000 by next December.

"The question is, at what pace can we draw down and have the Iraqis come in behind us and preserve the gains that are made?" Gates said in the NBC interview.

Four soldiers died last week in Iraq, none of them during extended tours:

1. Army Sgt. Kyle Dayton, 22, of El Dorado Hills, Calif., got married soon after returning from Afghanistan in 2006. "When I was pregnant, Kyle went out at 11 p.m. and used his last two dollars to get me the Dairy Queen hot dogs I just couldn't live without," his wife, Nicole, told the Sacramento Bee. Their son, Sean, was born three months ago. Dayton, with the 82nd Airborne Division, never got to see him. Dayton was killed Dec. 3 by a booby-trapped body in Ashwah, Iraq.

The following three members of the 101st Airborne Division died of wounds suffered Dec. 4 from a roadside bomb in Bayji, Iraq:

2. Army Sgt. Eric Hernandez, 26, of Waldwick, N.J., wanted to become a police officer, but there were no openings, so he re-enlisted and deployed on a second tour in Iraq. After he left, he received two job offers that would have kept him at home. "They came too late, way too late," his mother told the Star-Ledger newspaper. Said a neighbor, "It's hard. These guys are coming home, they can't find their way, they aren't getting any help, and they're going back over there."

3. Army Pvt. Dewayne White, 27, of Country Club Hills, Ill., and his younger brother enlisted together in 2004 and served near each other on their first tour in Iraq. Dewayne's brother was hours away from shipping out on a second tour when he received word of Dewayne's death. He was put on a flight home and notified he would not return to a combat assignment. "We'll not send another son over there to die," their stepfather told the Chicago Sun-Times.

4. Army Capt. Adam Snyder, 26, of Fort Pierce, Fla., graduated in the top 10 percent of his class at West Point. An Army Ranger, on his second tour in Iraq, he hoped for a Hollywood acting career after the Army. "He was one great human being," his pastor told tcpalm.com. Snyder died Dec. 5 in Balad of severe burns suffered in the bomb blast. "When they told me he died, honestly, I was almost relieved he didn't have to suffer," his mother told the Palm Beach Post.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He posts a weekly tribute to service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan

By Anne Thompson, NBC News correspondent

I can't believe the McCaughey septuplets are ten. It seems it was just yesterday that I was standing in front of Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines doing live shot after live shot for MSNBC and making my very first appearance on Nightly News.

The birth of the septuplets was my first big story for NBC. I was sent down to Des Moines from our Chicago bureau for what was supposed to be three days. I stayed for 29. I think I knew every staff member at the Embassy Suites by name and every resident of the McCaughey's hometown, Carlisle... population just over 2000 at the time.

The story was a great introduction to the NBC family. I did a live shot for Keith Olbermann's show, during his first tour of MSNBC duty, holding seven stuffed cows with t-shirts that said "I love Iowa." I still have one.

I can remember being on MS dayside talking about the various issues involving multiple births between live shots from Andrea Mitchell and Jim Miklaszewski about Iraq violating the "no fly zone." And I remember my first live shot on Nightly News. It was the day the septuplets were born. What a thrill! I was so excited to be part of a newscast I had admired for so long. Here's a little secret: before we go on live, often the anchor reads the introduction to the first story to practice. That's what happened that night and I in my best professional voice recited my live lead-in and then waited for my video tape to come up. Nothing happened and a look of horror must of come over my face because the control room quickly said in my ear "That was just practice." When the real time came, Tom Brokaw read my intro, I did my part and all went off without a hitch.

It was a wonderful feeling. Later that night, I was back on MS to talk to some guy named Williams. :)

It stuns me to think of how much has happened in those ten years. I love seeing pictures of the kids. Kenny, the oldest, I swear I could pick him out on a crowded street. He looks so much like his father. And I don't know how Bobbi McCaughey does what she does. She is a wonder. I am so glad my friend and colleague Ann Curry keeps up with them and I hope you'll watch her report tonight. Happy 10th birthday to Kenny, Alexis, Natalie, Kelsey, Nathan, Brandon and Joel.

By, Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

I've lived in Kansas, and I've lived in New York (and several places in between). And of those two places: New Yorkers tend not to be weather-obsessed. They are used to taking what is thrown at them during an average day (and it's not like those city-dwellers have crops to worry about, unlike many of the Kansans I got to know). That said, there is a growing realization today that if things "set up" just right (in the parlance of the weather folks) we may be looking at the first major winter storm of the season. We'll have a full report on our weather again tonight.

Also tonight: From the big screen -- to being objects of a major concern: the Emperor Penguins, suddenly in trouble because of their melting habitat. Anne Thompson will have that story. Andrea Mitchell will have a look at the Hillary Clinton campaign, and we'll have much more.

Tonight the Nightly News staff will have a little holiday get-together here in New York. We will celebrate our successes and toast some good friends. We will do so knowing none of it would be possible without all of you joining us every night. You have our deepest appreciation, always.

We hope you can join us tonight, and Andy Franklin has submitted the great item below.

The Deciders

It's been said that history is an argument without end. If that's true, then the decision made by the United States Supreme Court seven years ago today is about as historic as it gets. The case in question took the name of the hotly contested election that preceded it: Bush vs. Gore. The court's 5-4 decision to end the recount in Florida after the 2000 election virtually assured that George W. Bush would become president. And it triggered an argument, or at least a deep divide in public opinion, that persists to this day. Gore supporters say, in effect, "Our guy won. We wuz robbed." And Bush supporters respond, "Our guy won. Get over it."

The New York Times heralded the news the next morning, "BUSH PREVAILS," in a typeface and style previously reserved for such epic headlines as "MEN WALK ON MOON," "NIXON RESIGNS," and "THE SHUTTLE EXPLODES." (And nine month later, "U.S. ATTACKED").

The election five weeks earlier had been inconclusive; Gore had gotten more popular votes than Bush nationwide (about 543,000 more, or .5%) but the electoral vote count was up for grabs because Florida was too close to call. That led to a free-for-all unlike anything in American history -- a political, judicial and media slugfest that ended only when the Supreme Court decided by the narrowest possible margin that it was over. (In the majority: Justices Kennedy, O'Connor, Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas. In the minority: Justices Breyer, Souter, Ginsburg and Stevens). When the dust settled, Gore had 267 electoral votes, and Bush had 271 -- one more than he needed to win.

The Supreme Court's historic and controversial decision has been argued about ever since, and that debate will likely continue for as long as there are Democrats and Republicans (and Constitutional scholars). But there can be no argument about one thing: we live in a world created at least in part by that decision. The Court robbed Gore of the presidency, or ratified Bush's rightful election, depending on one's point of view, but it also ended the uncertainty that followed the election, and its decision produced a result, and a president, that has been with us now for seven years -- and counting. Something to think about as the nation now begins to get serious about the task of choosing his replacement.

By Janet Shamlian, NBC News correspondent

You could almost ice skate across Missouri right now. In many areas, the stop signs and red lights -- those that are working -- yield no power on a day like this, as cars careen through intersections, unable to obey on still slick roads.

In St. Joseph, where more than half the city is without power, the crackle of ice-laden tree branches falling is topped only by the buzz of chain saws clearing them from driveways and sidewalks.

It's impossible to deny the asthetics of all this. For all the hardship the storm delivered, it's like a postcard here; the city glistening in glass.

I'm driving through Krug Park, where a winding road cuts through a forest of Oak and Hickory trees coated in ice. It's beautiful and pristine.. but only to eyes that haven't seen the other side -- a long night in a cold house.

By Clare Duffy, NBC News producer

Editor's note: Robert Bazell's report airs on tonight's broadcast. Watch a preview here.

One of the great privileges of working on this broadcast is the opportunity to dig into stories that matter - especially stories that have personal significance as well. Today's piece by Robert Bazell on multiple myeloma is, for me, one of those stories.

A year ago today, my uncle, the actor Peter Boyle, lost his battle with this disease at age 71. It took Gen. Wayne Downing, a much beloved figure here at Nightly News, as well. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells, and it lays waste to a person's immune system. It was a terrible way to go, and unimaginably hard for my aunt and cousins to witness. But they were helped tremendously by some very kind and gifted people, in particular my uncle's physician, Dr. Brian Durie, who is featured in tonight's story. Dr. Durie and his wife, Susie Novis, head the International Myeloma Foundation, which is doing groundbreaking research. Some of the results were presented at the American Society of Hematology conference just this week - in particular, some intriguing findings about the impact of exposure to certain toxins in the environment on a person's tendency to develop this disease. Unlike most other cancers, rates of diagnosis are increasing for myeloma and it's vital to figure out why.

Only a few months after my uncle's death, my aunt, Loraine Alterman Boyle - one of the bravest people I know - turned her attention to raising money to help fund that research. And she's not the only one - in tonight's story, we will introduce you to Elijah and Kimberly Alexander. Two years ago, at age 35, Elijah - a retired linebacker for the Oakland Raiders - was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Not so long ago, this disease was confined to older folks. That's not the case anymore. Multiple myeloma took more than 40 pounds off this tower of strength, leaving him barely able to walk across the room. But with the help of his family, and some new therapies, Eli's in remission and he and Kimberly are raising money as well. This disease, while rare, seems to mobilize those who get an unwanted trip to, as Susie Novis calls it, "Myeloma World." Eli and Kim are giving back in a big way, and like my aunt, are doing everything they can to see that others might not have to go through what they've experienced.

There are a great many resources online for multiple myeloma, including:

The International Myeloma Foundation

Elijah Alexander's Tackle Myeloma Foundation

Kim Alexander's blog about her family's experience with myeloma

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

I did one of my favorite things today: I met with a group of West Point Cadets, visiting NBC News with their professor, Army Col. Jack Jacobs (Ret.), Medal of Honor recipient and part of our staff of MSNBC on-air analysts. What a spectacular group of young men and women -- each more impressive than the next. When most of them graduate (and receive their commissions) a few months from now, they'll be shipped off to war. They already know their basic assignments (i.e.: infantry, artillery, intelligence) but not their specific post assignments yet. They asked great questions, we took a lot of pictures, and I was sure to tell them what examples I think they are of the very best of the United States. A piece of my heart will go off with each of them as they embark on their travels. I'm proud to get to know them, and I salute their service.

A paragraph in our morning weather briefing caught my eye this morning -- it warned of a potentially large blizzard for the East Coast by this weekend. The weather is dire across a huge slice of the country -- we'll devote a lot of coverage to it tonight.

We hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight. Sorry about the delay in posting many of your emails. Below is an interesting bit of reporting and imagery courtesy Andy Franklin.

Here Comes the Sun

The days are getting shorter. The nights are getting longer. And the longest night of the year -- the Winter Solstice -- is still almost two weeks away. People get starved for sunlight this time of year, and it's no wonder that so many of us string lights just about everywhere during the holiday season -- not just on Christmas trees, but on houses and suburban front yards, many of which are now transformed into brilliant, can-you-top-this holiday displays. It's not sunlight, but it's not bad -- at least until the real thing comes along. So while we wait for those long, glorious days of summer to make their annual comeback, we thought we'd share some spectacular new pictures of the one place in the solar system that never has an energy crisis: the Sun.

 

               

 

                          
                                      Photos courtesy Science Magazine

These images are among the first from the Japanese spacecraft Hinode (the name means "sunrise"), which was launched last year. They appear in the current issue of Science magazine. (You can read more and see a short video at this New York Times website). They're amazing to look at -- the false-color blue image includes an appearance in silhouette by the planet Mercury. We're told that these pictures add to our knowledge of the Sun's complex workings. Maybe so, but we like them because they make us feel warm. And unlike the real thing, you can look directly at them, and they require no sunblock. Enjoy.

By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent

Editor's note: Part Two of Mark Potter's Medicare fraud report airs tonight on the broadcast. Watch a preview here.

In reporting on Medicare Fraud, my colleagues and I spent a lot of time wondering how so many of the blatant and outrageous schemes we ran across could have actually worked.

For example, why would Medicare pay for two artificial arms and two artificial legs each for patients whose arms and legs are perfectly fine? A cross-check of the patients' medical records would have shown that none of them ever had amputations performed, and certainly not quadruple amputations.

How do tiny offices that look like closets and that are devoid of any medical equipment and make no pretense of legitimacy get away with billing Medicare for millions of dollars and end up getting paid a good portion of that amount, for services never rendered, for patients never served? And why were so many questionable applicants ever approved to bill Medicare in the first place? Surely many of them would never pass a basic background check, and certainly not a follow-up inspection.

And how do the numbers below add up?

Kirk Ogrosky, a Justice Department prosecutor who ran a Medicare fraud strike force in Miami, said investigators discovered that in Miami-Dade County alone, 1,100 patients appeared on Medicare payment records as having each received a million dollars or more in medical equipment in just one year. Each person! That's an awful lot of equipment, and in the eyes of the investigators, an absolute impossibility.

While those patients surely never got that much equipment, if any at all, Ogrosky said, what is certain is that at least $1.1 billion dollars was paid by Medicare to cover those bills. Now how did that happen? And who is walking around with all that money that's supposed to pay for health care for America's seniors and the disabled?

Our time spent reporting on Medicare Fraud has left us shaking our heads, and feeling quite discouraged. Who is minding the store that criminals have now made their home? Where is the outcry, and where is Congress in all of this?

In Part Two of our series on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight we will look at how Medicare began with much fanfare and promise 42 years ago, and will then explore why it became such a ripe target for criminals. It's a sad, but extremely important, story for all of us. Ultimately, we are the ones paying those thieves.

We've said it before, and it bears repeating: law enforcement officials estimate that each year $60-Billion is stolen from Medicare, hurting patients, honest doctors, legitimate medical suppliers and every American taxpayer. That estimate is their best guess. No one really knows for sure, and some suggest the fraud cost is much higher. It explains why a frustrated veteran investigator insisted to me the other day that Medicare fraud is an "epidemic," and that "the system is broken."

Not very comforting.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

I don't know how you're all going to make it here to New York between now and the first week of January, but you must come. Not to see the tree here at 30 Rock, not to shop in our stores (though it would be great if you did both while you were here) but to see something else: what I saw this morning, 100 yards or so from our offices here. I'll link to it here so you can read about it for yourself -- but it must be seen to be believed. It's a life-altering sight.

Thanks to all of you who wrote and shared your stories and quiz answers. This past Pearl Harbor Day was my first without my old friend John Popp. We profiled John (a Pearl Harbor survivor) back when I was working at MSNBC. John and I became instant buddies, and were pen pals for a decade, until his death last year. What a sweet man. His friends called him the "Chief" -- and so did I -- and John is one of the reasons why we should never forget what happened that day.

As we put together the broadcast tonight, I've asked Andy Franklin to help me pay tribute to a legend here.

Good Night, Chet

We spend most of our time around here thinking about what's new and what's next. That's the way it is with a news program. But we also think about where we've been, and on whose shoulders we stand every day here at 30 Rock. Nightly News has roots that go back almost 60 years -- to the earliest days of broadcasting itself. And in all that time, no one played a bigger role in the growth and success of NBC News than Chet Huntley.

 Chet Huntley, May 1957

Chet was a westerner -- born in Cardwell, Montana, and as comfortable on a horse as he was on the air. His insatiable curiosity about the world -- and his resonant, authoritative voice -- naturally led him to broadcasting as a young man. He started as a radio announcer out on the coast -- first in Seattle, then Spokane and Portland. CBS Radio hired him in 1939; ABC Radio came calling in 1951. He did occasional voice-over work in movies, and even had a brief on-camera role in "The Pride of St. Louis."

Chet came to NBC News in 1955; the company saw him as its answer to Ed Murrow on CBS. But Chet Huntley became something quite different: one-half of the most successful team in television news history. Paired with David Brinkley in 1956 -- first at the political conventions, then on the network's evening news program -- Chet Huntley became one of the best known and most respected people on television. Ever. The Huntley-Brinkley Report was on the air from October 29, 1956 to July 31, 1970 -- fourteen of the most eventful, unforgettable years this country has ever seen. And for most of that time, Chet and David absolutely dominated the competitive world of network news.

We're thinking of Chet Huntley today for a reason: it's his birthday. Chet was born on December 10, 1911, 96 years ago today. He hasn't been with us for a long time; he died in 1974, just a few years after his retirement. But we keep him in our thoughts here. And not long ago we had the pleasure of a visit from some of his family: Chet's daughter Sharon, her husband Bob, and her two grandsons, Daniel and Sam. Chet Huntley's great-grandsons, that is -- paying a visit to the very studios he helped put on the map a half-century ago

   L to R: Daniel Arensmeier, Bob Kahn, Sam Arensmeier, Brian, Sharon Huntley Kahn.
 
Happy birthday, Chet -- and our best wishes to all the Huntleys, today and every day.

By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent

If you've been around long enough, you find yourself bragging that "nothing shocks me any more." I say that a lot, and often it's true. But then I started looking into Medicare fraud, and was I shocked! Floored, actually. Medicare fraud is an outrageous pilferage of your and my money--an estimated $60 billion dollar-a-year theft. Until I looked closer, I had no idea just how widespread it is, and how brazenly an army of criminals has turned America's social safety net for 43 million seniors and the disabled into its personal bank account.

In reporting this week's two-part series on Medicare fraud for Nightly News (watch a preview here), I rode with a private investigator, and later went with some FBI agents as they checked on storefront operations that purport to be legitimate medical supply companies. In most cases, they are actually just "fronts" or shell-companies designed only to bilk Medicare. They have nothing to do with actual health care.

In one building alone, I saw nearly 30 offices with signs saying they were either medical supply companies or medical billing companies. Most of the doors, however, were locked, with no indications anywhere of legitimate business. I saw the same thing in other buildings, and in shopping centers--row after row of supposed medical companies that, according to federal authorities, are billing Medicare for millions of dollars each, for services never rendered, for patients never served. The main function of these offices is to fool Medicare inspectors, who rarely visit.

In the next two evenings on our air you'll see some shocking things: a multi-million dollar wheelchair (at least that's how it was billed) and patients being paid cash to cooperate in a fraud scheme.

You'll also meet some interesting people, including Miami's retired Chief Federal Judge Edward Davis, who learned that criminals had stolen his patient ID number and billed Medicare for something that he described as "outrageous"--that same word again. We'll show you what it was. And you'll also hear from a one-time Medicare thief who stole millions and now says it was way too easy.

A while back, Michael Leavitt, the U.S. Secretary for Housing and Human Services, was taken on the same fraud tour in the Miami area that I took. And his reaction was exactly the same. When he got home that night, he told his wife, "In a decade and a half of public service this was the most disheartening, disgusting day I have ever spent. We have to fix this!"

There are a lot of ideas on how to do that, and we'll share some of those thoughts, too. Perhaps 82-year-old Muriel Sherman, whose Medicare patient number was stolen and abused for years, has the best rallying cry: "For these people to do this and not be apprehended is an absolute insult to me, and everyone else." Fix it, indeed.

Editor's Note: Mark Potter's report airs tonight on the broadcast.

by Lester Holt

Good afternoon from the Nightly Newsroom in New York.  This has turned out to be a big political Sunday, and we will be all over it tonight.  A brand new MSNBC/Mason-Dixon poll is out that shows Senator Barack Obama narrowing the gap with frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton in the early voting states (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada).  In each case the difference between the two is now within the margin of error.  It's interesting to note the poll was conducted before Oprah Winfrey hit the campaign trail in support of Obama.  She's at an Obama rally in South Carolina today mixing her usual down home style with a little more southern twang in her voice than we're used to hearing, appealing to primary voters there.
 
Our new poll also shows Republican Mike Huckabee's surge is no longer just an Iowa story.  He has leapt ahead of Mitt Romney in South Carolina.  We'll have full coverage of all of this tonight, plus Tim Russert has some interesting insight into the issues and dynamics that are driving all these new numbers. Suffice to say, this is a very different race then the one we were watching 6 months ago.

At this writing we are following breaking news out of Colorado.  On the same day a shooter killed two people at a missionary training center in the Denver suburb of Arvada, we have just learned of another shooting about an hour and a half away at a church in Colorado Springs with at least three victims. We'll expect to have a lot more on this by the time we hit air tonight.

There is a big weather story developing this afternoon.  Ice storms hit the center of the country overnight, but Bill Karins from NBC Weather Plus says we haven't seen anything yet. He'll be on with me in the studio tonight to talk about a much more severe "second punch" on the way by mid week which could affect your shopping, and travel plans.

Speaking of traveling, two more close calls between jetliners this weekend underscore government warnings about the potential for collisions at the nation's airports. Mike Taibbi is working the story and will speak to a veteran air traffic controller about why the risk seems to increasing.

For weeks now many investors have been pinning their hopes on another interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.  The fed is meeting this week, and Maria Bartiromo from CNBC will be with me tonight to talk about what they might decide, and how it could affect the economy.

Thanks for clicking-on the blog. I hope you can join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.

by Lester Holt

Good afternoon from New York.  We'll be watching "Oprah" on the TV's here in the newsroom shortly.  Not her talk show, but her political performance in Iowa where she will stump for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at a big rally in Des Moines.  It's Oprah's first time on the campaign trail, and its got both political and marketing gurus wondering if her remarkable ability to turn books and commercial products into overnight successes will extend to politicians.  Our Lee Cowan is covering it all and will have a full report on Nightly News.

There is an important follow-up to report tonight to our reporting on the destruction of CIA videos that showed the interrogation of 2 terror suspects. Late today both the Justice Department and CIA announced a "joint inquiry" into what happened to the tapes.  Our Savannah Guthrie at the White House tells us they are stopping short of calling this an "investigation" and we'll hear more from her on this tonight.

We'll also hear Defense secretary Robert Gate's warning about Iran and its potential to re-start its nuclear program.  He was at a regional security conference in Bahrain, and despite a new U.S. intelligence finding that Iran abandoned it's nuclear program back in 2003, strongly urged Gulf Arab States to force Iran to stop its enrichment of uranium.  Gates, however got an earful himself from Gulf ministers over what they believe is the U.S.'s double standard with regard to Iran and Israel and nuclear weapons.

From the "things aren't always as they seem" department, we'll get a report out of London on a major development in that case of a British man who recently emerged very much alive after being declared dead from a canoe accident five years ago.  His wife is spilling the beans, and charges are being filed.  A wad of chewing gum may not hold this guy's story together.

Thanks for checking-in.  I hope you'll catch us tonight.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

On December 7th, 1941, my father was a newly-minted Captain in the U.S. Army, in his office in Conway, Arkansas.  My mother was at home with a brand-new baby -- living in the sparse housing on base.  Money was tight, and because they couldn't afford a proper crib, they did what a lot of struggling couples did: my oldest brother came home from the hospital as a four-day old infant and slept in a dresser drawer, outfitted with blankets to mimic a crib.

On that day -- 66 years ago today -- the ticker printed out in the office outside where my father was sitting. Something to the effect of: PEARL HARBOR UNDER ATTACK -- THIS IS NOT A DRILL.  My father called home, and my mother burst into tears at what the news meant.  My father called his sister, who did the same thing, knowing her husband, a lieutenant Commander in the Navy, would surely ship out soon.  He did, and was badly wounded when his ship, the USS DuPage, was hit by a kamikaze aircraft.

President Roosevelt spoke the next day, and we knew we were in the war. He called December 7th "a date which will live in infamy," and it remains one of those dates we remember.  Like July 4th.  Like September 11th.  Just as an exercise -- bear with me here -- I've listed some other events below.  See how well you do at remembering the actual dates for each one.  And send me your own family story regarding December 7, 1941.

We're still putting the broadcast into running order tonight.  We hope you can join us for it.  I also hope you have a good weekend, and can join us again on Monday night.

QUIZ (push continued for answers):

1. When did War II end?
2. The Vietnam War?
3. When did World War I begin -- and end?
4. The Civil War?
5. When was Abraham Lincoln assassinated?
6. James Garfield?
7. William McKinley?
8. Martin Luther King?
9. Robert F. Kennedy?
10. When did man first walk on the Moon?
11. What date was "Black Monday"?
12. When was the Oklahoma City bombing?
13. When did Richard Nixon resign?
14. When did the Berlin Wall fall?

Answers:

1. World War Two ended in Europe on May 8, 1945 -- VE Day. The war in the Pacific ended with Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945 -- VJ Day.
2. The Vietnam War ended with the fall of Saigon to the communists on April 30, 1975.
3. World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. It ended with Germany signing an armistice agreement on November 11, 1918 -- Armistice Day, now known as Veterans Day.
4. The Civil War began with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. It ended with Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.
5. Lincoln was assassinated just five days after the Civil War ended, on April 14, 1865.
6. Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881. He died that September 19.
7. McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901 and died eight days later.
8. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968
9. Robert Kennedy was shot in the early hours of June 5, 1968, after winning the June 4 California presidential primary. He died about 25 hours later.
10. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
11. A trick question. There have been two Black Mondays, when the stock market crashed: first on October 28, 1929, and again on October 19, 1987.
12. The Oklahoma City bombing took place on April 19, 1995.
13. Richard Nixon announced his intention to resign in a nationally televised speech on August 8, 1974. The resignation took effect at noon the following day.
14. The wall separating East and West Berlin effectively came down on November 9, 1989, after standing for 28 years.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Watching the all-day coverage of the aftermath in Omaha is a sad exercise.  I can't shake the fact that our local anchors there kept saying, "Omaha has been changed forever."  They may be right.  It is also true that the goodness of the people there will go a long way toward healing the awful wounds they've suffered.  We pray for the families who have lost a loved one -- and so awfully close to the holidays.  Where did the life of this young man go wrong, exactly?

Religion is also in the news today: specifically, the speech by Mitt Romney at the Bush Presidential Library in Texas.  Tim Russert will be with us to talk about it.

We'll talk about housing and the economy, and we'll deliver a warning (sadly) to those who are moved to deliver greetings to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed -- its about an email hoax.

We hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight -- we appreciate it as always.