By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Okay so the validation that we are living in strange times came as I boarded the Continental flight from Tampa to Newark this morning, and the flight attendant said our flight was in the command of "Captain Kirk". Imagine my sadness when we were forced to fly...instead of getting beamed...to Jersey. If she'd said Scotty was first officer, I had made a quiet vow to get off the plane before they closed the jetway door.

We all have to get through one more weekend. It all ends Tuesday. We have a great broadcast for you tonight. Have a great weekend.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

We arrived in Sarasota at 3am -- I flopped down in my hotel room and awoke this morning to the most stunning sight outside my window: water, and palm trees and sun. There was no time to do anything more than note it, as we were up and out this morning to catch up with the Obama campaign at an outdoor rally. Right now I'm in a cinder-block office, looking out the window at the aforementioned sun and palm trees, while on MSNBC I'm watching John McCain at a rally in Ohio, where it's so cold I can see his breath. How these candidates avoid being sick constantly is beyond me. I can tell you that the Obama campaign has a maniacal germ-avoidance program, in the form of ubiquitous bottles of hand sanitizer. Candidates for President, and the aides and Secret Service Agents who surround them, touch a lot of hands each day...and they cannot take any chances. Neither McCain nor Obama can afford to go down now. Five days until the finish line. We'll see you from Florida tonight, where it is absolutely beautiful.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

"Medal of Honor," a 90-minute documentary airing Nov. 5 on public television stations around the country, pays tribute to the 3,473 recipients of the nation's highest military award since its creation during the Civil War.

Among those recipients was Army Pfc. James Monroe, a college classmate of mine who was killed in South Vietnam in 1967 when he threw himself on a live grenade.

"Through his valorous actions, performed in a flash of inspired selflessness, Pfc. Monroe saved the lives of two of his comrades and prevented the probable injury of several others," his Medal of Honor citation reads in part.

Rick Olson, Monroe's best friend, was not surprised by Monroe's heroics.

"He was a medic, and I don't think he would have had a second thought about, you know, throwing himself on the grenade," Olson said recently.

Monroe and Olson grew up together in Wheaton, Ill., and went off to college together at Washington & Lee University.

"He was very fun loving and kind of irreverent at times," Olson remembers. "He loved to laugh and have a good time."

Monroe studied political science in college but dropped out before graduating and was drafted into the Army. Olson last saw Monroe when his friend was home on leave in August 1966.

"He was gung ho," Olson said. "He was into the war and especially the camaraderie and the brotherhood of soldiers kind of thing. He was very upbeat, and at that time the war wasn't as unpopular as it became, and he was doing okay with that."

Olson pulled out an old newspaper clipping in which Monroe was quoted as saying of the men he served with, "It gives me great pride to see these young guys take a hard job they don't understand and do it - and do it damn well."

Monroe entered the Army in June 1966, shipped off to Vietnam in November and died on Feb. 16, 1967.

"The time was so short," his mother later said.

Olson was in the Army himself, stationed in Panama, when he received word from his parents that Monroe had been killed.

"Good friend," Olson said. "Old friend. Childhood friend. Just a nice guy to have around."

Monroe's parents received his posthumous Medal of Honor from then Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor at a White House ceremony on Oct. 17, 1968, which, by coincidence, would have been Monroe's 24th birthday.

A junior high school was named in Monroe's honor in his hometown of Wheaton, and a room at the Wheaton hospital also carries his name. A memorial plaque in his name was unveiled at Washington & Lee in 1986.

Monroe is buried in his family's plot at the Wheaton Cemetery, along with his parents and his older brother.

He was 22 when he died. He would be 64 today.

Family photo of James Monroe.

Click here to view tributes to the 431 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following nine casualties from last week:

1. Army Spc. Justin Saint, 22, of Albertville, Ala.

2. Army Pfc. Heath Pickard, 21, of Palestine, Texas.

3. Army Capt. Robert Lindenau, 39, of Camano Island, Wash.

4. Marine Lance Cpl. Stacy Dryden, 22, of North Canton, Ohio.

5. Army Spc. Deon Taylor, 30, of Bronx, N.Y.

6. Marine Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, of Scottsbluff, Neb.

7. Marine Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif.

8. Air Force Staff Sgt. Brian Hause, 29, of Stoystown, Pa.

9. Army Pfc. Cody Eggleston, 21, of Eugene, Ore.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

We are, in effect, on election night footing. I just came back from a walk-through of our election night studio, to get a feel for the place and see how it "reads" on camera. It looks beautiful. Tonight, Tom Brokaw and Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd and others will stay late to do some further checks. Then we fly to Florida to catch up with the Obama campaign tomorrow -- then it's back to New York on Friday for the final stretch. Tuesday night will come down to having the best team, armed with the best facts and a keen sense of history, to cover this election. I hope you can join us for all of it -- starting with tonight's broadcast, of course. Miles to go before we sleep.

by NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News correspondent

Today the McCain campaign seized on a comment made by Joe Biden on tax policy during an interview with a Scranton TV station Monday.
 
Senator Biden was talking about tax cuts and which voters should get them. Biden said, "... It should go like it used to. It should go to middle class people -- people making under $150,000."
 
The McCain campaign chose to make a political argument claiming the Obama campaign has said conflicting things about tax policy. McCain argues Obama has "redefined rich" and that the income level is "creeping" down to include more families. 
 
The Obama campaign provided a written response calling McCain "desperate."
 
The Obama campaign did not address the $150,000 income that Senator Biden cited. The campaign simply chose to ignore that figure in its official response.
Instead the campaign did state that its policy is households earning less than 200,000 dollars would receive an Obama tax cut.
 
Senator Biden's words appeared to be in conflict with his own campaign. That is the kind of inconsistency opponents look for and why McCain chose to highlight those remarks.
 
In my Nightly News report, I wrote that the Obama campaign response to McCain's charge "provided a different number, $200,000 dollars." The Obama campaign contends my use of "different" implied a "new" policy. I did not say or suggest the figure provided was "new."  If viewers interpreted it that way, then I regret any lack of clarity. 
 
My script stated, "the campaign provided a different number than Biden had, saying families earning under $200,000 would get Obama's tax cuts. And not the $250,000 that Obama has claimed in the past."
 
A centerpiece of the Obama tax policy is that an income of $250,000 is the bright line between tax increases and tax cuts.
 
But Senator Obama has not always been precise discussing that policy. He has suggested that workers making less than $250,000 would also receive a tax cut. For example, Senator Obama said, "If you make $250,000 a year or less, we will not raise your taxes. We will cut your taxes."
 
However, the Obama campaign says taxes on incomes between $200,000 and $250,000 would remain the same and not cut.
 
Again, that perceived conflict is what the McCain campaign chose to argue before voters.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Because the people I know who are truly mental about this upcoming election cannot stand the coverage and the wait and the suspense (a friend of mine stocked up on rental DVD movies just to keep her mind off the election and her eyes off the media coverage), here's another attempt to make the time go more quickly: The best playlist I could come up with on short notice, a thematic countdown to the big day:

Seven Days - Bob Dylan
Six Days on the Road - Dave Dudley
Five Days, Five Days - Gene Vincent
Four Days - Counting Crows
Three Days - Jane's Addiction
48 Hours - The Clash
Tomorrow - Avril Lavigne
Today - Smashing Pumpkins

Bonus track:
Let's Do It Again - The Staple Singers

Please remember to stop listening long enough to join us tonight for our broadcast.

By Les Kretman, NBC News White House producer

As a cold angry rain and gusty winds blew across the Washington, D.C. area the past couple of days you could feel it in your bones. Change is coming not only in the meteorological sense --- but in the political sense as well.

The President last night celebrating the 150th birthday of Teddy Roosevelt reflecting on his own eight years in office after a performance by a Roosevelt impersonator in the East Room: "And, of course, it's good to see President Roosevelt. (Laughter.) Often times people ask me, do you ever see any of the ghosts of your predecessors here in the White House? I said, "No, I quit drinking."

Today the President visited the Republican National Committee headquarters to thank workers there. He's made similar visits the past couple of weeks to the State Department, the Pentagon and the National Security Agency.

The schedule now extremely skinny. A head of state here...an ambassador there. Outside the White House grounds, Pennsylvania Avenue is beginning to resemble a small construction site. Chain link fences are surrounding areas where bleachers and a Presidential reviewing stand will go for the inauguration.

And the second meeting today today of the Transitional Coordinating Committee being headed by two former chiefs of staff Bush's Andy Card, Clinton's Mac McClarty along with Jenna Dorn, of the National Academy of Public Administration; Norm Ornstein at the American Enterprise Institute and Max Stier, with the Partnership for Public Service. Their job aimed at making the change in the Oval Office as smooth as possible.

All what is happening is a given the last few months of a president's term...the leaves will soon leave the trees bare. Winter is around the corner.....changes.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Today I want to devote my post to a video circulating on the web -- don't stop me if you've seen this, but I want to hear what you think about it as a barometer of where we are as a society, and an indicator of the stakes going into this exciting election 8 days from now. It's powerful. Is it all true? Are the facts all correct? I'd like to hear from you -- what do you think? Take a look, let it sink in. And don't forget to join us tonight!

By Carl Sears, NBC News producer

The verdict came swiftly, unexpectedly like an ice shelf cracking in the remote Arctic Circle.  The jury foreman's voice: "guilty" came crashing down on Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, 7 times for 7 counts.  The longest-serving Republican Senator has been unanimously convicted in his 6-week federal corruption trial. Stevens now found guilty of lying about $250,000 of gifts and renovations on his Alaska home that he was required to report on Senate financial disclosure forms from 2000-2006.

The conviction appears to put Stevens 40-year Senate tenure in grave jeopardy in next week's election. Motions for sentencing will be heard on February 25th.  It all started with a little rustic cabin in the Alaska woods where Stevens said he liked to chop wood and think. But in the new millennium, the cabin was transformed into a handsome ski lodge with wrap around decks, extra bedrooms, Jacuzzi, snow-melt system, steel stairs, and garage. It was the home many Americans dream for where the Stevens could accommodate family and friends in style. Sadly, the end of the road for Stevens could be 'the Big House.' He is facing a maximum of 35 years in prison though whether he is sentenced to jail time remains to be seen.

Upon hearing the conviction, Stevens seemed grim but passive. One of his attorneys put her hand on his shoulder. When he stood to leave, Stevens flipped his hearing-assist headset across the defense table as if he was thinking 'enough of this.' Stevens and his attorneys threaded a media gauntlet outside the courthouse as they climbed into a white van without commenting.

Stevens at age 84 is an Alaska icon, but his conviction in the twilight of his career will likely cast a shadow over his legacy in the land of the midnight sun. The defense had argued that the Stevens paid every bill they got, and had done nothing wrong. The prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Stevens 'knowingly and willfully' accepted free gifts and remodeling work that he concealed from the Senate on disclosure forms. The trial had more twists than a wine opener corkscrew, but no doubt left a bitter taste for Stevens, and it's hard to cheer an 84-year-old powerful man's fall from grace.

By Anthony Galloway, NBC News producer

Anyone who has experienced the Las Vegas desert heat, even in mid-October, knows it takes a special kind of person to spend an entire day outside in it. But Xavier Rivas and Aurora Espinosa are undeterred. Rivas, a business development consultant, volunteers daily with Sen. John McCain's campaign, talking to locals and business owners about why McCain should be president. Espinosa, a maid on leave from Harrah's hotel and casino, has spent the last two months walking door-to-door educating fellow Culinary Union members about why Sen. Barack Obama is the right pick.

Both Rivas and Espinosa are especially well suited for this task. They are Latino and bilingual and live in Nevada, where ten percent of registered voters are Latino, too. It's a number significant enough to tip the scales of the election in this close toss-up state.

Their candidates' campaigns know this and are focusing special attention on Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico because of their high Latino populations and close positions in the polls.

Despite the importance of the immigration issue in past elections, this year many Latinos have said the economy is priority number one.

Espinosa walks daily in North Las Vegas where bank-owned homes are common and residents laid off from jobs at Vegas casinos have resorted to selling their cars to make ends meet. Espinosa is supporting her daughter, who has had a hard time finding a job after graduating from a medical trade school, and worries about her son who is fighting in Iraq.

Rivas travels monthly between Nevada and Mexico. He was a supporter of Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat. But after Richardson ended his campaign, Rivas moved over to McCain. He thinks his candidate will be better for immigration, trade and small business, and he proclaims this in hour-long Spanish radio broadcasts.

To say Latinos have become excited this election season would be an understatement. Some of them are new citizens. Many others are newly registered voters. There's a sense of pride in this community, knowing their vote is important and believing participation is part of the American Dream. This was fully evident as correspondent Chris Jansing and I stood outside an early voting location and watched as a middle-aged Latino father walked out with his arm around his young son. By the smile on his face and the cadence of his voice, I'd guess it was his first time voting. In a private moment, seeming to reference Obama's historic candidacy as an African-American, he told his son, "If we keep voting like this in every election, someday we will have a president, too."

By Alexandra Wallace, Executive Producer, NBC Nightly News

We're proud of all the NBC affiliates around the country that have been honored this year with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow by the Radio Telvision News Directors Association for exemplary journalism. We hope you'll watch their great work.  Congratulations to all the winners who work so hard to bring quality broadcast journalism to their viewers.

WBAL-TV, Baltimore, MD
News feature: John Sherman exposes an illegal wetland clear-cutting operation in Maryland, which leads the state to take action.  Watch

WBAL-TV, Baltimore, MD
News documentary: Africa's Maryland examines the historical and cultural ties between Maryland, USA and an area known as Maryland County in the Republic of Liberia.  Shot during a two-week visit to West Africa, this half-hour documentary uses historical photos, archival  documents and location interviews to tell the little-known story of freed slaves from Maryland, USA who settled the area in the mid-19th century.  Watch

WCNC-TV, Charlotte, NC
What happens when a successful businessman sees the light? Seriously. What happens when one day he wakes up and everything changes in the way he sees life? Miracles happen. That's what.  Watch

WTHR-TV, Indianapolis, IN
Feature hard news: Iraq veteran copes with loss of limbs; returns home only when he can walk off the plane.  Watch

KNBC-TV, Los Angeles, CA
Investigative reporting: How safe is the food in your favorite restaurant? Joel Grover and his team went undercover for four months, and they've exposed some dangerous problems with some of the food that's ending up in popular restaurants all across Southern California.  Watch

KARE-TV, Minneapolis, MN
Spot news coverage: Honored for coverage of the I-35 bridge collapse.  Watch

KGW-TV, Portland, OR
Continuing Coverage: Huge rainstorms in late 2007 along the Oregon/Washington coast.  Watch

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Can we call it the final stretch yet? That was the question some of us were pondering as we prepared for tonight's newscast. There are just nine days left before Election Day, and today, we are officially entering the final week of campaigning. If not the final stretch, we're certainly nearing the end of this long trek. We are hearing some familiar refrains from the candidates as their appeals take on the tone of closing arguments. That said, there has been some intriguing movement in the battleground states map that could force some last minute adjustments on the campaign trail. We'll go into detail on the broadcast this evening.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

If like me, you don't live in a "battleground state," you may feel like a second-class citizen these days. I say that tongue firmly in cheek, but there's no question that at this point in the campaign, the race for the White House is being fought on a fairly narrow swath of real estate. There are a handful of states which the campaigns believe hold the mathematical keys to attaining the necessary 270 electoral votes. If your state is still solid blue or solid red on political maps, don't expect to see much of either candidate. 

With so little time left, today finds both candidates campaigning in Western states that they believe will seal the deal. Lee Cowan will check in from the Obama campaign in Nevada, and Kelly O'Donnell will catch us up with John McCain's day in New Mexico. Kelly will also shed some light on Sarah Palin's new flash of independence on the trail.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Just back from Ohio and we're compiling the next segment of our interview to air tonight. We all just came from an election briefing: polls, trends and caveats with 12 days to go. As I've pointed out on the air over the past two days, after a 55-day wait to interview the GOP Vice Presidential nominee, we were then told that the bulk of the interview with Sarah Palin had to be conducted while she was at Senator McCain's side. When it was time to interview Palin herself, time was called after something like 8-10 minutes. We'll air part two tonight -- part three, and a summation, tomorrow evening. We hope you can join us for the broadcast tonight.

By Robert Bazell, NBC News Chief science correspondent

One of the biggest pieces of proof of the "mind-body" connection is the existence of the "placebo effect." Inevitably, in clinical trials, some people get the placebo, or dummy treatment and perceive they have gotten some benefit. The big question is whether the drug or other treatment brings more benefit than the placebo. Brain scans have even shown that people who are told they are getting a treatment will feel less pain –even if they are not actually getting treatment.
 
Tonight we report on a study that looked at how doctors use this well-known power of persuasion when they have run out of other options. A survey of U.S. physicians by a group of bioethicists at the National Institutes of Health found that 50 percent of doctors used a placebo regularly. About 61 percent thought it was ethical to do so and only 5 percent tell their patients what they are doing.
 
We usually think of a placebo as a sugar pill or a pill with some other inert ingredient. In clinical trials, it often is. But in the case of this survey, doctors would give a vitamin, an over-the-counter painkiller, or even an antibiotic knowing full well that it was of no use for the particular condition at hand.

What they hope is that the patient's mind will perceive some release. A big question, according to the researchers, is whether we have gotten to the place in American medicine where a patient would be content to leave a doctor's office without a pill or other treatment if the doctor simply offered an assurance they would get better.

The Food and Drug Administration has posted an article about the placebo effect. In 2001, some researchers analyzed a long series of studies that used placeboes and concluded the effect was not powerful enough to be used as a treatment. Apparently, many U.S. doctors feel otherwise.

Click here to read more from the Associated Press. Click here to watch Thursday's package as it aired on Nightly News.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

A memorial service was held last Friday at Arlington National Cemetery for a soldier who died in Iraq after his discharge from the Army was blocked and his enlistment was extended.

Sgt. Timothy M. Smith, 25, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., was one of more than 12,000 soldiers currently subjected to stop-loss orders, which force them to remain in the Army involuntarily.

"He should have been out," his father told the Tahoe Daily Tribune. "He had done his duty."

Smith had joined the Army in 2004 and had served a nine-month tour in Afghanistan in 2006.

"He was pretty gung-ho going to Afghanistan," his brother told the Daily Tribune.

But Smith's attitude changed after he returned home. He married Shayna Richards on July 4, 2007, and began the formal process of adopting her infant son Riley.

"He had a family to come back to, a wife and a son to come home to," his brother said.

Smith decided to leave the Army, but he was prevented from doing so by stop-loss. He was shipped instead to Iraq in November 2007 to clear roadside bombs and was killed by one of them on April 7, 2008.

"As much as you think that you prepare yourself, you can never, ever prepare yourself for something like this," Shayna told the Daily Tribune.

Smith's memorial service contained no casket or urn because his ashes had been scattered earlier by his family. His tombstone, inscribed "In Memory of Timothy M Smith Sgt US Army," was placed on a sloping hill of Arlington National Cemetery's Memorial Section K, not in Section 60, where most of the casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

"I am very proud to be Timmy's mom," his mother said afterward. "He is a Hero, and always has been, and I miss him so much, but know I will see him again one day."

Family photo of Sgt. Timothy M. Smith, wife, Shayna, and son, Riley.

Click here to view tributes to the 422 service members killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the following nine casualties from last week:

1. Army Sgt. Michael Clark, 24, of Sacramento, Calif.

2. Army Sgt. Geoffrey Johnson, 28, of Lubbock, Texas.

3. Army Pfc. Scott Dimond, 39, of Franklin, N.H.

4. Army Pfc. Christopher McCraw, 23, of Columbia, Miss.

5. Army Spc. Cory Bertrand, 18, of Center, Texas.

6. Army Spc. Stephen Fortunato, 25, of Danvers, Mass.

7. Army Sgt. Preston Medley, 23, of Baker, Fla.

8. Army Sgt. John Penich, 25, of Beach Park, Ill.

9. Army Sgt. Federico Borjas, 33, of San Diego, Calif.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.fieldnotes.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com. The first tribute gallery can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/ and the second at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27336564.

 
EDITOR'S NOTE: Brian Williams is busy preparing for tonight's broadcast. His exclusive interview with Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin airs tonight on NBC Nightly News. Tune in to your local NBC station or nightly.msnbc.com.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Frequent readers know how I feel about those serving in uniform overseas, and those here at home who support them. A number of you wrote us some wonderful, emotional e-mails about Richard Engel's reporting from Afghanistan last night -- part two of his dispatch airs tonight.

Richard and his producer and camera crew risked their lives to show how the soldiers at that outpost risk their lives every day. (Click on the below photo to watch Monday night's report.) In tonight's dispatch, the fighting gets dicier, and tragedy strikes. Richard is now "safely" in Baghdad after leaving Afghanistan and beaming the videotape back to us.

We are preparing questions for tomorrow's interview with Sarah Palin and John McCain. Tonight after the broadcast, Chuck Todd and I will fly to Ohio. If any of you wish to submit questions as posts to this blog, feel free -- I'm still anxious to hear what people want to hear from Governor Palin, especially. We will see you from Ohio tomorrow night -- and we hope you can join us tonight.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post has been updated.

By Carl Sears, NBC News Washington producer

Either you believe the government that Sen. Ted Stevens is "dirty" - as in corrupt - or you believe the defense attorney Brendan Sullivan's dim view of the government's case: "If you look at life through a dirty glass, and the dirty glass doesn't get washed for 5-10 years, then the whole world looks dirty."  Either way, there is a lot of mud being slung in the closing arguments of Sen. Stevens trial.

Prosecutor Joseph Bottini argued that "the price is always right when it's free." Sen. Stevens is charged with knowingly and willfully receiving thousands of dollars in gifts and renovations on his Alaska home that he failed to report on Senate disclosure forms from 1999-2006. Much of the work was performed by Stevens' friend Bill Allen, a key government witness whose oil service company employees worked hundreds of hours on the Stevens "chalet" remodeling.

Prosecutor Bottini methodically took the jury through a series of e-mails and played snatches of secretly recorded conversations in an effort to clearly show that Stevens knew that he was receiving free work and gifts on his Alaska home. Bottini frequently punctuated his arguments with harsh words such as: "this is nonsense," "this is absurd," "his story is ridiculous." "Where is this mystery bill?" and "This is a classic cover-up."

Chief defense counsel Brendan Sullivan blasted the government's case: "I could win the football game on Monday morning - the government is being a Monday morning quarterback six, seven, eight years out."  The government has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, Sullivan said. "You've got an innocent man on your hands. You've got to understand what the evidence means - it doesn't mean what you heard."

In reviewing key e-mails and invoices, Sullivan has shown the Stevenses paid $162,000 to other contractors for renovation work on their Alaska home: "the evidence is overwhelming that what they paid is fair ... They paid their debt and they didn't think they were getting anything for free."

Sullivan attacked the credibility of key government witness Bill Allen, whose Veco workers performed much of the renovation, saying "Ted Stevens had a friend that he thought was one of the more reputable people in Alaska - he didn't know he was the bum he turned out to be - (Allen) pled guilty to bribing people, campaign violations, none of which involve Ted Stevens."

Sullivan said "they ask you to brand (Stevens) a criminal, despite the evidence is undisputable that he is an honest, truthful man." 

In the government's final rebuttal, prosecutor Brenda Morris said Stevens blames anybody else, "just so it doesn't stick to him." Morris asked the jury to find Stevens guilty because "he gambled and he lost."  Jury deliberations will begin on Wednesday.

More NBC investigative reporting can be found at www.deepbackground.msnbc.com.

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Robert Nett has died at the age of 86. I will link to his story, so you can see why his nation thought he was a worthy recipient of the highest possible honor for military action, the Medal of Honor. Notably, Bob's death leaves just 99 living Medal recipients -- the lowest number since the Civil War. For comparison, in the early 1970's, there were over 400 alive. The other numbers are staggering: Bob Nett was wounded three times and nearly died. He stayed in the fight despite blood loss, and killed seven enemy soldiers in a single combat engagement. He served in three wars, and was a 33-year veteran of the U.S. Army. I just stand back and admire an American life like his, and Americans like him. My thoughts and prayers are with Bob's family -- and with the remaining living recipients, on whose board I happily serve. Their proud ranks have once again been diminished by the passing of a fellow patriot and warrior.

I hope you can join us for our Monday broadcast, with 15 days to go until the election of a new President.

Nightly News reported on Thursday, October 16, 2008 that an Alaska investigation into Governor Sarah Palin's firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan found that the governor had abused her powers in the process, but not broken any laws. The report, in fact, found that the governor's abuse of her powers was a violation of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, but that the firing itself was not a violation of Alaska law.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

The first thing I do most mornings is grab my laptop and read a dozen or so Internet news Web sites to get a sense of the day's stories. However this morning, the first thing I did was search for a video clip of last night's "Saturday Night Live" opening sketch with Sarah Palin.

By Lester Holt, NBC News anchor

Greetings from Chicago. I made my way to the Windy City after the TODAY show this morning, and will anchor this evening's installment of the Nightly News from here. After working as a local news anchor here for 14 years, it's always a thrill to be back.

 I've returned this weekend to serve as a presenter at the 50^th Annual Chicago-Midwest Emmy Awards. When we were planning the trip several weeks ago, both of the city's baseball teams were on fire. I had visions of leading tonight's newscast with the excitement over the impending World Series between the Cubs and the White Sox.  Well, we all know how that worked out – can you say next year?

By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor

Any time you can use the word "soulful" to describe someone -- or the art they produce -- it commands our attention.  Levi Stubbs was soulful. He commanded our attention.  His voice appears on the soundtrack album of our times.  His music moves people, and makes them move.  We'll pay tribute to the magnificent Mr. Stubbs on the broadcast tonight.  We'll also take stock of the economy and the election, with 18 days to go.  I had a pretty decent seat -- behind both Obama and McCain and next to Kissinger -- at last night's Al Smith dinner here in New York -- where appropriately, there was more than one tribute to our friend Tim, and so many people felt the need to mention him to me -- to touch that shared nerve, and note the loss at the event he loved so much.

I hope you can join us tonight, I also hope you have a good weekend. 

By Michelle Kosinski, NBC News correspondent

There's so much going on in this country right now, that stories like this tend to easily get lost in the stress and strain of the bigger picture.

But that's also what makes these things such a pure pleasure to find, and put together sometimes...a small escape, some good news, one person... whose story might otherwise escape notice in a week like we've had.

A reminder that a single person still makes a difference. Often, a quiet difference-- never asking for any recognition. But that difference-- that inspiration-- has a tendency to spread. And these are the good people who collectively make our country great.

Chimaobi Amutah's mother didn't come from this country, she survived civil war in Nigeria and emigrated to New Jersey, where she supported and raised her four children by herself.

Because education was not easily accessible in her homeland, that is what she relentlessly instilled in her children. That the one sure way to raise yourself above the gang violence and drugs surrounding them, was to grasp an education with both hands, and not let go. Not always so easy for Chimaobi (pronounced Chi-MO-bee) and his siblings, when other young teens were making quick cash selling cocaine on the streets.

At one point, he says, he held drugs for a friend of his, who then tried to persuade Chimaobi to sell it. He thought about it, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

Chimaobi knew he was smart and could get good grades if he wanted to, and he kept at it, even as one by one, EVERY single one of his group of friends ended up in jail for one thing or another. Not one graduated from high school. Only him. And all three of his siblings.

So how did he rise above all that, make it not only through high school, but to Harvard?

He credits his mother's persistence, admitting with a laugh to harboring a longstanding outright fear of her, but also a single incident at his high school: Ivy League night. Not a well-attended event by any means at that time, by students OR colleges, at Trenton High. But Chimaobi's teachers convinced him to go, and that was it.

He had no idea it would be even remotely possible to get THAT kind of an education. No way of knowing he could afford it, or that those schools would ever be interested in a kid like him.

But that one night, and those teachers, changed his life. Again, someone offered encouragement. Told him that yes, it WAS possible.

He still vividly remembers the day he came home from school, walking past the usual dealers on the gritty corners, to see three large envelopes waiting at his front door. Acceptances. Yale. Princeton. Harvard. His mom still can't help but get a little loud when she remembers her pride that day. She too, until then did not fully believe that such dreams could come true for her son.

Chimaobi knew this was a key to everything-- a top education, and very likely a great-paying job one day. He thought maybe becoming an entertainment lawyer would set him up pretty well.

What makes his story more remarkable is that what he ultimately chose to do as soon as he graduated: he headed straight for one of the most economically-challenged places in the country. From Cambridge, Massachusetts-- to rural Belzoni, Mississippi. Where there is no bookstore in his entire county, and where funding for education is hard to come by. The state has ranked at the bottom of per-student spending in the United States.

Chimaobi decided to be a teacher, in a place where students most need them. And role-models. And dreams.

A devout practitioner of the "tough love" he learned so well growing up, he does not try to act like a kid or talk like a kid to win their friendship. He earns their respect by showing them that despite coming from a place just as poor, he has educated himself to exude nothing but dignity and a quiet, steady thoughtfulness about the world around him. His background didn't make him tough or bitter or braggadocious about it; it made him stronger and more understanding.

He talks, with a frequent enormous laugh, about how his students try to figure him out. "Like, one of my students said-- 'Mr. Amutah, you smart...but, you ghetto!'" He erupts in more laughter. "And I was like, I didn't know how to interpret it at first, but I said, yeah, I'm from a certain environment that's categorized as a ghetto. But I mean, there are millions of intelligent people in neighborhoods like this!"

His students are silent and attentive in his class. Afraid, too, that he might fail them-- as he did not hesitate to do to many of his high school kids last year. Some are now getting better scores on tests than they imagined possible. And THAT makes Chimaobi light up with pride.

"The difference between me and a lot of my friends I grew up with, was motivation-- who was at home, checking homework, pushing you to do better.. and threatening you when you needed to be threatened!" He laughs again, thinking of his equally-passionate mother. "That stuff-- it makes a difference! So, I'm trying to be that for some of them. Just somebody to support them and encourage them consistently. Somebody to set high expectations for them."
Then, "I love teaching."

The 23-year-old has decided the classroom is where he wants to stay. He's earning his Master's through the University of Mississippi Teachers' Corps. His siblings are all scholars as well, and his mother Abigail just earned a college degree of her own. She couldn't be more proud, seeing her son reach out to get kids excited about learning. Was this the American dream she'd imagined for him? Not exactly at first, but now, her heart understands.

"Material possessions are nice on some level, but they don't make you," Chimaobi says. "And they don't create happiness. I feel fulfillment. And genuine happiness, seeing them grow and develop."

One guy, who stuck with his big dream, to help other young people dream big. Is this news you need to know? No. But will it feel good to hear... I think so.