By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

To use a Ratherism to describe today's rather shocking Rather story, as first reported in the New York Times:  CBS corporate counsel may be as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  As one of our senior producers (and like many of us a CBS alum) put it:  "Dan's stickin' it to the Man."  Another senior producer answered, "I thought he WAS the Man..."  Newsroom talk.

We're on the toy hearing in Washington, the Blackwater story out of Iraq, we have an urgent and interesting feature on concussions in high school football (and what we now know about the dangers of what my coach used to call "getting your bell rung") and a great story on diversity in an unusual form.

Please take time to read today's Medal of Honor biography, and please join us for our broadcast tonight.

By Robert Bazell, NBC News Chief Science Correspondent

Tonight we report on the problem of concussions in high school sports.  As football season gets underway there is once again attention to problem of brain injury in young athletes.  New research shows that the younger a person, the more susceptible the growing brain is to the trauma of concussion.  The only treatment is for the young athlete's brain to rest, certainly from sports that can risk further injury and often even from strains of other kinds such as school work.  Some of the best sources of information come from the federal government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  It includes information for parents, coaches and students.

Editor's note: It's our second week of a new feature on this blog. Every weekday, you can check out our First Person "Photo of the Day"  --  breaking news pictures and photography submitted by you.

The best photo received today is from Shaun Spalding of Gainsville, Fla.

Members of the University of Florida student body protested the arrest of Andrew Meyer (who was shot with a Taser by police on campus at the end of a John Kerry speech). Organized by Facebook, the protestors met and marched to the University Police Department headquarters.

Here is Nightly's report on the Taser incident yesterday.

Click here to see more Photo of the Day features.
Click FirstPerson.MSNBC.com to submit an entry.

Tell us what you think, on comments, below.

by George Lewis, NBC correspondent

I'm sending this blog from my BlackBerry inside the Las Vegas court where O.J. Simpson is being arraigned on ten felony counts.  Those charges include kidnapping with  the use of a deadly weapon, something that could carry a sentence of 15 years to life.

Here in the press section, I see many familiar faces from the first two O.J. trials in Los Angeles. Marcia Clark, one of the prosecutors in Simpson's murder trial, is sitting two rows in front of me. She's now a commentator for Court TV.

Also in the courtroom, Simpson's daughter Arnelle and his sister, Shirley.

Simpson's defense team, Miami-based lawyer Yale Galanter and his co-counsel, Gabriel Grasso, based here in Las Vegas, shake hands with District Attorney David Roger and head for a private conference in the chambers of the judge. There's a last minute switch of judges.  Joe Bonaventure, a veteran of many high profile cases, is substituted for Judge Ann Zimmerman.

 A court spokesman, who earlier told us things would start on time, counsels patience.

25 minutes after the scheduled start time for the arraignment, O.J. Simpson is brought into the courtroom, in shackles and standard dark blue prison garb.

Simpson is ordered to post $125,000 bail and surrender his passport so he can't travel outside the United States.

It's all over in a few minutes.

O.J.'s lawyer has said his client will be on a plane to his home in Miami before the end of the day.  He'll return to court October 22.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

Tibor Rubin
Corporal, U.S. Army Company I, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division

Tibor "Ted" Rubin was thirteen in 1943 when the Nazis began to round up the Jews of his native Hungary. Rubin was sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria; the rest of his family, he learned later, was sent to Auschwitz. His father was eventually transferred to Buchenwald and never heard from again. His older sister survived Auschwitz, but his mother and younger sister did not.

Rubin was barely clinging to life when the U.S. Army liberated Mauthausen in May 1945. It was then that he made a solemn promise that if he was ever allowed to immigrate to the United States, he would join the Army and become a "GI Joe" like the men who freed him from the Nazis. Nursed back to health, he became a "displaced person" until 1948, when he finally came to the United States. He found work as a butcher, but he still wanted to be a GI Joe. Rubin learned just enough English to join the Army in February 1950. He was assigned to the 8^th Cavalry Regiment. By early summer, his unit was in Korea.

At Chirye, in one of his unit's first engagements, the company commander decided to redeploy the men under the cover of darkness. Corporal Rubin was ordered by his first sergeant to stay behind to cover the movement. Rubin stocked each empty foxhole with grenades, and when the North Koreans attacked the following morning, he ran from one foxhole to another, firing his rifle and lobbing grenades at the enemy. He single-handedly held the hill throughout the next day, inflicting a large number of casualties on the North Koreans.

Following the breakout from the Pusan Perimeter, the 8^th Regiment advanced into North Korea. During this advance, Rubin helped capture several hundred North Korean soldiers. On October 30, Chinese forces that had just entered the war attacked his unit at Unsan in a massive night assault. Rubin took over a .30-caliber machine gun after three other gunners were hit. He continued to man it for several hours while his unit retreated. With his ammunition exhausted, Rubin was seriously wounded and then captured.

He was taken to the infamous Death Valley camp for several weeks before being moved to Camp Number 5 at Pyoktong. When the Communists discovered he was from Hungary, they offered to return him to that "People's Republic." Rubin refused. For the next two and a half years, he employed everything he had learned in surviving the olocaust to keep himself and other prisoners at Pyoktong alive. Many nights, he crawled out into the prison compound to steal food from supply houses, returning to distribute it to his fellow captives. Rubin also provided desperately needed medical care and moral support for the sick and wounded of the POW camp. Later, the Army would credit him with saving more than forty lives during his captivity.

After the cease-fire, Rubin was repatriated to the United States and finally received his U.S. citizenship. He knew that on at least four separate occasions he had been recommended for the Medal of Honor; he had also been recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star (twice)—but as he returned to civilian life, he forgot about medals and moved on with raising a family.

In 1996, Congress passed legislation requiring the military to review the records of certain Jewish-American war veterans to determine if any of them should be awarded the Medal of Honor. Rubin's case was one of those reopened; the evidence of his bravery astonished the reviewers. On September 23, 2005, he was awarded the medal in a White House ceremony presided over by President George W. Bush.

Cab fire near 30 Rock

Taken by NBC intern Chelsea Connor

By Brian Williams, Anchor and Managing Editor

A good friend of mine reminded me today that all I ever need to do is read the e-mails our viewers post on this site. They are the best, most loyal group I could ever ask for, and a week without hearing from some of them seems somehow like members of the family are missing from the table.

In other news, both of my personal worlds collided around noon today when we heard sirens and then saw smoke wafting down 6th Avenue outside. First reports were that the adjacent building in the Rockefeller Center complex was on fire. Competing urges -- as journalist and firefighter -- made me run out the door (though luckily carrying the press pass I keep in my briefcase and not the old helmet I keep in my office) and I arrived in time to see a yellow cab completely engulfed in flames outside our 50th Street marquee and the entrance to the Top of the Rock. No one was hurt, thankfully, and no building was on fire. Emergency over.

30 Years Ago Today
The Earth and its moon got their first joint portrait taken on September 18, 1977. Voyager 1 took the first-ever picture to include both the Earth and the Moon as it sped away from home on its mission to explore the outer planets and beyond. The spacecraft, launched 12 days before this picture was taken, is still operational today, thirty years later. It's just a lot further away – further, in fact, than any human artifact in history: almost 10 billion miles and counting.

Back to the news: who was outraged by the video of the taser-victim college student?   We'll talk about that story tonight, and about the Fed, health, traffic and the environment.

Please take time to read about my friend Ron Rosser.

We hope you can join us for tonight's Nightly News.

By Charles Hadlock, NBC News Producer

If you have to navigate the urban jungle of crowded freeways, Houston may be the place to do it while still keeping your sanity. Houston, with a population approaching six million people in the metro area, is notorious for traffic jams. In the early 1980's, the city had the nation's second-worst traffic congestion. But a surge of road building --along with new technology -- helped get the traffic flowing again.   Houston is now ranked seventh in the latest Urban Mobility Report.  Not perfect, but better than it used to be.

There are several things Houston is doing that other congested cities can only dream about.

At any given time, you can log onto http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/layers/ and instantly see traffic conditions in Houston on a colorful map. Hopefully, you'll see lots of green, which means traffic is moving at posted speeds. Click on a freeway segment and you can learn the actual speed traffic is moving. Click on the camera icons and see images from hundreds of cameras mounted along the freeways.

According to the Urban Mobility Report, Houston is seeing a lot more yellows and reds during rush hour.  But at least now you can verify what your commute will be like before you leave home or the office and make decisions about alternate routes or simply stay in place and wait it out. 

If you're already on the road, giant electronic message boards keep drivers posted on traffic conditions and travel times ahead. Newer GPS devices tap into this data and alert drivers on their dashboards. The information is also available on cell phones and PDA's.  Radio and TV stations broadcast traffic reports, of course, but nothing is as fast and accurate as seeing traffic information in real time.
 
 In 1994, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)  began building a network of electronic sensors along busy freeways. Today, the system monitors more than 700 miles of freeway (in each direction).  By taking advantage of the of the area's 1.5 million toll tags (transponders), the system determines travel speeds by calculating the time it takes a vehicle equipped with a toll tag to travel the distance between sensors along the roadway.

The technology won't prevent traffic congestion, of course, but at least now you'll instantly know why you're stuck and how long it will take to drive out of it.

By Anne Thompson, NBC News Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent

After two days camping on Greenland's ice sheet, exploring melt rivers and peering into a giant moulin, I thought nothing else on this island could amaze me. And then we went with photographer Jim Balog to check his time lapse cameras at 4 glaciers.

It was a trip every bit as breathtaking and fascinating as our time on the ice sheet. Much of that has to do with the passion Balog has for his work. This photographer with a masters in geomorphology (land movement) says he was one of the initial doubters about global warming. But as the science moved from climate models to hard evidence he became persuaded. Now his mission is to record what he believes is an important moment in the history of the earth. He is doing that with time lapse cameras placed at glaciers in Alaska, the Alps, Iceland and Greenland. The project is dubbed "Extreme Ice Survey" but as you will see tonight, it looks more like an episode of the reality show "The Amazing Race."

We set out by chopper to visit the cameras. It is a dangerous trip over the ocean and in between mountains. Often our chopper was pushed around by swirling winds. At the insistance of his insurance company and wife, Jim travelled in a yellow neoprene survival suit. No one insisted Mario, Bruce, Curt or I wear such gear. Hmmmmm.

In Greenland, fuel and pilot time are expensive and limited, so you have to move fast to make the most of both. Our first stop was 60 miles north of the island town of Uummannaq, at the Umiamako glacier. The five of us jumped out of the chopper and ran up a mountain then down a mountain to check the cameras. It was exhilirating and frightening all at once. None of us wanted to miss a moment and we all wanted to see what the cameras caught. As we trekked back to the chopper, I couldn't help but think of the final scene in "The Sound of Music" when the Von Trapp family climbs over the Alps to escape the Nazis.

Our next stop was the Rink glacier. Landing a chopper on a mountain is a tricky thing. You need to find a level spot to do it. On our first attempt, we bounced right off the mountain. We tried a couple of more times, but had to give up. This was not an assignment for the faint of heart.

We also visited the Storr and Jakobshavn glacier. Though much of the global warming science involves statistics and climate models, Balog says they are not for him. He loves the land and wants to interact with it. Tonight on Nightly News, you can see what that interaction has produced.

Editor's note: We're starting a new feature on this blog. Every weekday, you can check out our First Person "Photo of the Day"  --  breaking news pictures and photography submitted by you.

Today's photo is from Ricardo Estrada of Las Vegas, Nevada:

"Obama shakes a mans hand and smiles..."

Last night on the broadcast, we featured an interview with the Senator. Click here to see the full interview.

Click here to see more Photo of the Day features.

Click FirstPerson.MSNBC.com to submit an entry.

Tell us what you think, on comments, below.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

Ronald E. Rosser

Corporal, U.S. Army  Heavy Mortar Company, 38^th Infantry Regiment, 2^nd Infantry Division

As the oldest of seventeen children, Ronald Rosser always looked out for his brothers and sisters. He joined the Army right after turning seventeen in 1946 and served for three years. In 1951, he reenlisted because his kid brother was killed early in the Korean conflict and he was bent on revenge. When he was sent to Japan instead of the combat zone, he complained to his commanding officer and was reassigned to a heavy mortar company in the 38th Infantry in Korea.

On January 12, 1952, Corporal Rosser was a forward observer directing U.S. mortar fire while his infantry company assaulted a snow-covered hill held by a Chinese battalion near the town of Ponggilli. Seeing hundreds of enemy troops swarming over the area,
he called in mortar fire, but the Americans continued to take heavy casualties—by the time they reached a point about a hundred yards below the crest of the hill, only 35 of the 170 who had begun the battle were still able-bodied. When the commanding officer, badly wounded, used Rosser's radio to call headquarters for instructions, he was ordered to try once again to take the hill. Seeing that the officer was in no condition to carry out the order, Rosser volunteered to organize the remaining men and lead the charge.

As he made his way up the hill, some of the soldiers who had started with him had already been driven back down; others never followed him at all. Halfway to the Chinese position, he realized that he was alone, but he was determined to make the enemy pay for his brother's death. Armed only with a carbine and a grenade and screaming like a wild man, he plowed on through the snow, oblivious to the heavy fire all around him. Reaching a bunker in which nine Communist soldiers were crouching, he shot one of them in the face, then whirled and killed another one who had a machine gun trained on him. He then jumped into the trench and killed five more of the enemy. When two escaped to another bunker, Rosser followed them and threw his grenade inside; he shot both as they emerged from the explosion.

Rosser moved on to another trench line and killed five more Chinese soldiers. His ammunition finally exhausted, he went back down the hill to resupply himself by stripping rifle magazines and grenades off dead GIs, then climbed the hill again. He threw a grenade into the first trench he came to, killing seven more of the enemy, then moved over open ground, firing at every Chinese soldier in sight. When his ammunition was gone again, he repeated his resupply trip down the hill, then returned a third time to continue his one-man battle. 

After more than an hour of fighting, Rosser organized a withdrawal of his decimated company, ordering those who could walk to take a dead or wounded comrade with them. He calculated that he personally had killed more than twenty Chinese with grenades and another twenty-eight with rifle fire.

Rosser returned to the States in May 1952 and announced to his mother that he had avenged his brother's death. After being awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman on June 27, 1952, he decided to stay in the Army.

In 1968, he lost another brother, this time in Vietnam. When he requested assignment to the combat zone to even his personal score once again, he was refused. "If something happened to you, even by accident, it would be hard to explain," his commanding officer told him. Rosser retired from the Army soon after.

By Kat Keeney, NBC Producer

A unique approach to kidney donations is widening the available pool of donors for more then 72,000 people currently waiting for a kidney.  In traditional donations, patients reach out to a circle of family and friends to find a match.  When no suitable match is available, kidney patients typically wait years on a transplant list -- with thousands dying each year -- before receiving a kidney. 

NBC's Jennifer London reports on a groundbreaking program developed at the University of Toledo called "paired donations." The first one started in Phoenix, Ariz., when an altruistic donor gave his kidney to woman in need.  Her husband was not a match but donated his kidney to a woman in Ohio who was. That patients mother donated her kidney to the next patient and the chain is continuing.

The program allows family and friends to pool together and provide donors for each other.   The catch is when one patient gets a match, they have to be able to be able to provide a kidney donor to continue the chain.   There is an element of trust, but most of the donations are scheduled simultaneously so donors don't back out.

Other hospitals are now beginning to start their own chains.  To find out more or to sign up to become a donor visit: www.paireddonation.org

by Anne Thompson, chief environmental affairs correspondent

Tonight, we will take you to Greenland's vast and forbidding ice sheet. Some 300 miles wide and 1200 miles long, it is the poster child if you will, for global warming. Here you can see the melting first hand. (WATCH ANNE'S VIDEO BLOG FROM GREENLAND)

Spontaneous rivers and streams that occur in the annual summer thaw... but getting bigger and faster every year as the temperature rises.

We went to the ice sheet with Konrad Steffen, a climatologist from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is a rock star in the world of global warming. At our hotel in Ilulissat, he would hold court in the lobby and dining room. The Hotel Hvide Falk (white falcon) is the choice for scientists and Steffen is the magnet. Young researchers literally sat at his knee to hear his insights about what's happening to the ice.

Steffen has been coming to Greenland for 18 years, longer than anyone else. The Danish Meterological Center in Denmark says the summer of 2007 was the second warmest since records started being kept in 1962.

This towering Swiss-born scientist is a charismatic loner... revelling in the solitude of the ice sheet.

Since 1990, his base has been Swiss Camp, a group of three tent buildings on a platform plus a sauna. He chose the spot because the melt and snowfall are the same so the ice never changes. But it did this year. He saw record melt there losing about 4 feet of snow and 3 feet of ice. The melting now threatens the buildings.

On our trip, we did not go to Swiss Camp but rather to a spot some 30 miles northeast of Ilulissat. There were not structures here and certainly no sauna, just ice as far as you could see. Steffen went to measure the moulins which are vertical caves. He believes the moulins send the meltwater down between the ice sheet and the bedrock. There he says it acts like a lubricant and moves the ice sheet... putting more ice into the ocean that will raise sea levels.

To interview Steffen and watch him work, we had to camp on the ice sheet. Now I have a confession to make: I never camped before this story. Producer Mario Garcia, photographer Bruce Bernstein and his son and soundman Curt all had plenty of experience but I was a rookie. As we planned our trip Mario told me he had good news and bad news for me: "The bad news Annie, is there is no Four Seasons. The good news is I bought you a Four Season tent." The tent and the whole experience was incredible. I would go back to the ice sheet in the proverbial New York minute. The only thing I can even imagine it compares to is being on the moon. There are no birds, no fish, no trees. Nothing. It is just you and the ice and it is spectacular. Yes, it gets very cold at night.... down to 14 degrees.... but the entire experience is worth a little shivering.

Not only did I camp, but I also cooked two meals on the ice sheet. That is two more meals than I cooked all summer in my New York apartment. Now Mario and Bruce, being manly men, didn't want to bring a stove. They said all we'd need to eat would be cheese and crackers. Curt and I on the other hand could see the advantages of hot meals, soups and drinks, especially if we got stuck on the ice sheet. That led to a camping contest of the Cheeseheads (apologies to Packer fans) versus the Pastaheads... Mario and Bruce versus Curt and me. The Pastaheads brought a little stove (more like the Bunsen burner I remember in chemistry class), cooked pasta, Ramen noodles and made instant espresso. But we could not have done it without the Cheeseheads help. Mario and Bruce figured out how to make the stove work, I cooked and Curt ate. Actually, we all ate and lived to tell about it. Maybe I'll try cooking at home.

by Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I'm writing this while listening on the Web to my son's first-ever live radio broadcast for his high school radio station. It is thrilling and nerve-wracking and very entertaining. It's a football show -- sports is my son's area of expertise -- co-hosted with his good buddy, and apparently accomplished with a single microphone. It's great.

Was it something I said? After a broadcast on Friday that featured the heroics of the Emergency Room doctors in Bagdhad, and the effort to catalog all those affected by the 9/11 attacks, this email arrived. Always a warm feeling to be called out on your love of country.

Senator Barack Obama came to our building today for an exclusive interview. We'll be posting all of it on the Web, and running some of our conversation on the broadcast tonight. He gave a speech on economics today, while Senator Clinton spoke on her health care plan.

Tonight: the Fed, Blackwater, Greenspan and Greenland. Anne Thompson's reporting on the "meltdown" underway in Greenland (after which our crew got stuck there for a time) is a great piece of television, maybe the best work my friend Anne has ever done, and that's saying a lot. We can't wait to bring it to you, along with a piece at the end of the broadcast we're calling "Pay It Forward."

Fourteen Years Ago This Week
"When I launched our Nation on this journey to reform the health care system, I knew we needed a talented navigator, someone with a rigorous mind, a steady compass, a caring heart. Luckily for me and for our Nation, I didn't have to look very far."

-- President Bill Clinton, acknowledging First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress on September 22, 1993, laying out his sweeping plan for health care reform. Eight months earlier -- just five days after his inauguration -- Clinton had announced his Task Force on National Health Care Reform, headed by Hillary Clinton. It was the most powerful official assignment ever given to a First Lady. The Clinton Administration's efforts to get a health care bill through Congress continued through much of 1994, but ultimately collapsed amid competing political and economic interests. Today, unveiling her new health care reform plan, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said, "Perhaps more than anybody else, I know just how hard this fight will be."

Please read the story of my friend Gordon Roberts.

We hope you can join us tonight for the Monday edition of Nightly News.

Editor's note: It's our second week of a new feature on this blog. Every weekday, you can check out our First Person "Photo of the Day"  --  breaking news pictures and photography submitted by you.

The best photo received today is from Scott Pigeon, of Suttersville, Pa. He attended the anti-war protest in D.C. last Saturday:

"While back stage, I was standing around meeting other IVAW [Iraq Veterans Against the War] members, when I saw a reporter talking to a lady. It then hit me, I was standing next to Cindy Sheehan for 10 minutes and didn't even know it. I didn't know if I should thank her for her diligence, tell her I'm sorry for her loss, or ask for her autograph."

Here is Nightly's report on the protest from last Saturday's broadcast: 'War activists duel in D.C.'

Click here to see more Photo of the Day features.
Click FirstPerson.MSNBC.com to submit an entry.

Tell us what you think, on comments, below.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

Gordon R. Roberts
Specialist fourth Class, U.S. Army  Company B, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division

His two older brothers were already in the Navy when Gordon Roberts enlisted in the Army three days after graduating from high school in 1968. He became part of the 101st Airborne, the same unit his father had served in during World War II.

Specialist Fourth Class Roberts arrived in Vietnam in May 1969, and a few days later found himself in the middle of the battle for Hamburger Hill, a week-and-a-half-long battle with North Vietnamese Army troops in the A Shau Valley. For the next several weeks, his battalion attempted to block the enemy's main resupply route from Laos.

At midday on July 11, Roberts heard the sound of heavy fighting about three and a half miles away, where another U.S. infantry company, badly outnumbered, had lost its battalion commander and was surrounded by the NVA. Roberts's company boarded helicopters and went to relieve them. 

 After landing, Roberts's platoon was maneuvering along a ridgeline to attack the heavily fortified enemy position that had the American company pinned down. Suddenly, the platoon was hit by fire coming from camouflaged North Vietnamese bunkers on a hill overlooking them. Roberts dived for cover with the rest of the men, but then, seeing that the platoon was likely to take serious casualties, he got to his feet and charged the closest enemy position, firing as he ran. He killed the two North Vietnamese manning the gun, then continued on to a second bunker. When a machine-gun round knocked his weapon from his hands, he grabbed another rifle from the ground, took out the second bunker, and destroyed a third with grenades. 

 As he charged a fourth enemy position, Roberts was now in a no-man's-land, cut off from the rest of his platoon. With shells snapping past him, he fought his way to the company his unit had been trying to relieve when attacked. There he worked to move wounded GIs from exposed positions to an evacuation area, later returning to his own unit.

Roberts was back home, stationed at Fort Meade early in 1971, when he was informed that he was to receive the Medal of Honor. With his family looking on, he was presented with the medal by President Richard Nixon on March 2, 1971.

Three weeks later, Roberts was discharged from the Army. He graduated from college and pursued a career in social work for eighteen years; during that time he joined the National Guard and became an officer. He decided to go back on active duty in 1991 and served a tour of duty in Iraq in 2005 as the commander of a logistics battalion.

by Lester Holt

Good day from New York, where we are busy preparing tonight's edition of NBC Nightly News. The big story of the day is a plane crash in Phuket, Thailand. At this writing, 88 people are confirmed dead, and 42 others have been injured.  The American built MD-88 skidded off a runway and broke in two pieces while landing in driving wind and rain. There are plenty of eyewitness accounts and lots of speculation over the cause, but experience tells us the first assumptions in aircraft accidents are usually wrong. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team to assist in the investigation. Our Michelle Kosinksi is working the story and will have the latest.

Also, we will be reporting on today's arrest of O.J. Simpson by Las Vegas police in connection with a hotel room break-in.

Our broadcast tonight will precede NBC coverage of the New England Patriots game against the San Diego Chargers. It will be the first game for the Pats since their coach, Bill Belichick, was fined a half-million-dollars by the NFL, over what amounts to a spying incident. A Patriots video assistant was caught shooting the play calling signals of an opposing coach in last week's game. We've asked NBC Sports commentator Chris Collinsworth to come on with us tonight to explain why the league lowered the boom on a practice not unheard of in the NFL.

As always thanks for checking in. I hope you can join us tonight.

by Lester Holt

Good afternoon from New York. Among the stories we will be reporting tonight, is an advance look at Alan Greenspan's soon to be published memoir in which the former Federal Reserve Chairman offers a harsh view of some of the economic policies of his fellow Republicans, and in particular, takes both Presidents Bush to task. As NBC's John Yang will report, some of Greenspan's highest praise in the book is actually directed at former President Clinton.

The war debate raging in the halls of Congress this week became somewhat of a "people's" debate today. NBC's Patty Culhane will tell us what happened when an anti-war march on Capitol Hill came up against a rally of people supporting U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Our in-depth segment tonight takes me to the depths of the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa for a close-up encounter with Great White sharks. We've got some pretty amazing pictures of what happened when I joined one of those popular shark cage diving excursions and faced the jaws of a Great White from mere inches away. It was both terrifying and exciting, and something I'm glad I experienced. (Especially since I came back with all my limbs still attached). I was left wondering, however, if dangling people in front of these huge predators is such a good idea. Are we conditioning the sharks to attack humans? I examine that question, and will tell you why some experts say we may actually be doing the sharks a favor.

Thanks for checking-in. I hope you can join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.

We featured this organization in tonight's "Making a Difference." To go to their Website, click here or http://www.911livingmemorial.org/

by Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

We are fortunate to have what I believe are the smartest and most engaged viewers (and emailers) in our business, and upon seeing the reaction to yesterday's post-lunch post, I thought I should explain a few things.  The ground rules on meetings between the press the president have followed the same general parameters going back to the time of FDR.  Presidents customarily are not to be quoted directly in such private gatherings unless that is specifically allowed.  Background sessions between presidents and the journalists who cover them are designed for journalists to get a handle on the president's thinking and beliefs.  Lunches like the one we attended yesterday have actually become more and more common in this administration.  I find them enormously helpful. We're all grown-ups and have been doing this many years -- meaning we know spin when we see and hear it. But often the private person can differ from the public persona, and so these sessions can provide insight.  It helps us to get to know the president in office, and it helps most presidents to find out about the character (or occasionally the complete lack of it) of those in the press. 

Selfishly, as my hobby is presidential history, it's wonderful to have been exposed to the last few occupants of that office -- just to observe how they work and deal with people in those surroundings. It makes me feel very fortunate.  My role yesterday was as guest, questioner and note-taker.  The notes I transcribed in this space were a careful recitation of what we talked about.  I've since read that other participants in the lunch found it as helpful as I did.  I find "off-the-record" comments made by the president to be much trickier.  By nature, presidents make news (or have the capacity to) just about every time they open their mouths.  Being present for extended off-the-record presidential remarks can leave journalists conflicted -- knowing more than they can report.  I recall at least one instance, while covering President Clinton, when we members of the traveling press pool turned down a visit by the president to the press cabin in the rear of the aircraft during a long flight home from Europe.  We were told he had a lot on his mind and wanted to come back and "visit" for a while.  We protested, respectfully, that we would have to insist on retaining the right to report any real news that he uttered.  President Clinton liked to talk, and still does, and he genuinely tried to find something to like about all of those who covered his administration.  But in this instance -- and there were others -- we had to say no. The standoff ended with the President remaining in his quarters in the front of the plane, playing a game of hearts with his senior staff.  We'll never know what we might have learned on that night flight home, but the dangers of too much coziness are clear.  I think I speak for all in attendance when I say: nothing uttered at yesterday's lunch left any of the participants conflicted over having attended.

We have a great broadcast planned for tonight, including what many consider the story of the day, subtitled, "Say it ain't so, Bill!"  If you're read into the story, you may enjoy reading what happened to New England Patriot's owner Bob Kraft while he was in a house of worship today.  Today a close friend of mine who is a devout Patriots fan offered Bill Belichick the following advice: "Buy some clothing other than a torn sweatshirt. Put on a shirt. And for goodness' sake, try a tie. Shower, shave, comb your hair. You're on national television now, 24 hours a day.  And as to WHY you're on national television non-stop? Stop the stonewalling -- it's insulting. If you really want us all to move on and pay attention to the next Patriots game, as you keep saying, cop to what you did.  Your answers sound like Watergate. Speaking of which, tell us: What did you know, and when did you know it, coach?"  Just passing that along.

War and Remembrance
Six years ago today, the country observed a national day of prayer and remembrance, three days after the attacks of 9/11. As it does this year, that September 14th fell on a Friday -- the end of a terrible and unforgettable week. On that day in 2001, President Bush spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, and proposed a sweeping response to the attacks: "Just three days removed from these events, Americans do not yet have the distance of history. But our responsibility to history is already clear: To answer these attacks and rid the world of evil. War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This Nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing."

106 Years Ago Today
The United States faced a shock it has experienced just four times in its history: the death by assassination of a sitting president. On September 14, 1901, President William McKinley died after being shot eight days earlier by a deranged anarchist. McKinley's death elevated Vice President Theodore Roosevelt to the White House, making him at age 42 the youngest person ever to become president. 

Also please take time to read about a great American named Ron Ray.

We hope you will join us tonight.  Have a good weekend and please come back and see us for Monday night's broadcast.

Editor's note: We're starting a new feature on this blog. Every weekday, you can check out our First Person "Photo of the Day"  --  breaking news pictures and photography submitted by you.

Today's photo is from Jennifer Aaron-Faridi, taken before Hurricane Humberto hit Texas:

"The calm before the storm... Houston, Tx 7/12/07  7:30 p.m.... Tropical Storm Humberto should be coming soon. The sky looks just like it did the night before Hurricane Rita rolled in."

(Humberto grew faster than any storm on record from tropical depression to full-scale hurricane.)

Click here to see more Photo of the Day features.

Click here to see more photos people sent in of Humberto's havoc.

Click FirstPerson.MSNBC.com to submit an entry.

Tell us what you think, on comments, below.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

Ronald E. Ray
First Lieutenant,

by John Rutherford, NBC producer

Three soldiers who fought and died together in Iraq were buried together this week at Arlington National Cemetery. Staff Sgt. Harrison Brown, Pfc. David Neil Simmons, and Sgt. Todd Singleton were killed Easter Sunday by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Their remains were interred in a single casket in section 60, gravesite 8058 of the cemetery. Members of each of their families attended the brief graveside service.

Harrison Brown, 31, picked up the nickname "Duck" growing up in Prichard, Ala. "They said he waddled like a duck when he ran," his sister, Mary Dozier, told the Tuscaloosa News. He was also known as a "gentle giant" for his quiet, easy-going ways. "Duck probably didn't get more than four whippings his entire life," his sister told the News. But his laid-back style masked an outstanding wide receiver who earned a football scholarship to Tuskegee University. He dropped out after a year and joined the Army to provide for his wife and children. "He said he had to do it to take care of his children," his sister told the News. "I was upset about that. I wanted that degree." Brown spent 13 years in the Army and raised three daughters, ages 9, 12, and 14. He was on his third tour in Iraq when he was killed on April 8 by the roadside bomb. "He was a fine person all around," his high school coach told the Associated Press. "If you want a son, you want one like him."

David Neil Simmons, 20, loved doing impressions and idolized actor Jim Carrey. He was always "Little Neil" as a child in Kokomo, Ind., even after a late growth spurt to 5-foot-11. "We laughed about it because one time Mom put him in the same shirt two years in a row for his school picture and didn't even realize it," his brother told the Associated Press. Simmons graduated from high school in 2005 and joined the Army. He had been in Iraq only a week when he was killed. Both Simmons and Brown were with the 3rd Infantry Division. Simmons' family was notified of his death on Easter evening as they were preparing a care package for him. "We were going to barrage him with snacks and stuff," his uncle told WTHR-TV. But the care package was never sent. Simmons' father saw two officers standing at his door. "I thought, 'This can't be right, it's something else,'" his father told the television station. "It really hurt. My heart goes out to all the families who have to go through this."

 Todd Singleton, 24, of Muskegon, Mich., enlisted in the Army in 2001 and was on his second tour in Iraq. "He said he wasn't going to make the military his career, but he kept re-enlisting," his wife, Stephanie, told the Muskegon Chronicle. They first met in 9th grade at Reeths-Puffer High School in Muskegon. Their daughter, Emma, was born two weeks before Singleton left for Iraq last October. "At least he got to see her," Stephanie told the Chronicle. "At least he got to hold her." Singleton was with the 1st Cavalry Division in Sadr City, one of the toughest areas of Baghdad. His unit was fighting alongside Brown and Simmons' unit when the three soldiers were killed by the bomb blast. Singleton was scheduled home on leave a few weeks later. "We were going to get a family picture taken," Stephanie told the Chronicle. She has only one snapshot of the three of them together, taken just before he left for Iraq. "My heart just stops when I think about him."

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He posts a weekly blog on burials of service members at Arlington National Cemetery.

by Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

A number of television journalists gathered for lunch with the president at the White House today -- a practice becoming more and more common when this president has a major speech to deliver. The following is a review of my notes, and is offered here under the ground rules established by the assembled White House senior aides. Vice President Cheney attended but did not speak.

As we now know, the speech tonight will amount to a full embrace of General Petraeus' recommendations. President Bush strongly insisted there was no White House guidance given to the General before he made his findings known. The president will announce the first of the troop withdrawals starting immediately (just over 2,000 Marines) though as a practical matter such things take time.

He will say the Iraqis are asking the United States to enter into discussions about its long-term presence in Iraq, and the president is known to favor a presence modeled -- at far fewer numbers of troops -- on that of U.S. forces in South Korea. He believes an American presence in Iraq is part of an overall Middle East policy and is aware of the view that many Americans have turned isolationist.

The president indicated, rather forcefully, that he is against a draft and doesn't feel pressure to draw down military forces based on the end of tours of duty coming due. He further indicated that if more troops were needed in Iraq (or anywhere else, for that matter), the Guard and Reserve numbers could be increased. The president is known to be following enlistment figures closely -- more important to him is RE-enlistment, based on his contention that it is a barometer of discontent in the military ranks.

The president was angered by the MoveOn.org advertisement questioning General Petraeus. He believes the ad was uncalled for and he used harsh language to describe his reaction. His emotion was fueled by his respect for the hard work, intellect and sacrifice of General Petraeus, and he indicated that while visiting Iraq recently, he warned Petraeus about the coming media glare and the importance being attached to his report in the United States.

He described the General in very glowing terms as a charismatic figure, but the president indicated the General's name shouldn't be attached to the plan because he, as commander-in-chief, takes responsibility for it. As he insisted today, any blame for failure goes to the president.

Notably, when asked about Robert Draper's new book, "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush" -- a portion of which deals with the disbanding of the Iraqi Army -- the president (who indicated he has not read the book) insisted there was no Iraqi Army left to re-constitute back at that time, saying most of Saddam's former fighters had been driven to the north where they fled and dispersed. I pointed out that this seemed like a new response; for four and a half years, the disbanding of the Army has been seen as one of the chief failings of the Iraq war. The president seemed un-bothered by that perception.

On Iran, the president indicated that future military action remains an option, and enumerated the incentives in existence to try to force a change in Iran's behavior. He further ran through the aspects of Iran's public behavior that the administration finds threatening and counterproductive.

On the management of the war, the president, as he has in the past, cited the travails of some of his predecessors in office. Today he talked about President Lincoln's struggles. He also indicated that he was very aware of how President Johnson (and Defense Secretary McNamara) conducted the war in Vietnam, including the minutiae of target selections in the same Oval Office President Bush now uses each day. He indicated more than once his distaste for public opinion polls. He admitted to being out-smarted by the enemy at several stages of the Iraq war, and spoke glowingly about the sacrifices of the military and of military families.

On the topic of Osama bin Laden, while the president indicated he was un-bothered by the latest video releases, he expects bin Laden to be found and killed by American hands.

Today's session with the president lasted close to one hour and 45 minutes. He made an informal opening statement which was followed by free-form questioning by the journalists in attendance.

I'm right now trying to insert the appropriate reporting of the above information into tonight's broadcast. Tim Russert, who was at the lunch, will join me tonight to assist in that effort.

Please read the biography of my friend Nick Oresko today, and I certainly hope you can join us for NBC Nightly News tonight. We'll be back on the air with the president's speech and the Democratic response tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time.