Field Notes

Rising fuel costs - even for a hybrid-SUV

2008-05-05T20:27:00Z

By Kevin Corke, NBC News White House Correspondent INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – We're on the road in Indiana, talking to motorists about the rising cost of gas – which according to the latest Lundberg survey is up 15 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. At Joe's Junction, a busy gas stop in Indianapolis regular gas goes for $3.71 a gallon and diesel tops $4.04 a gallon – about 9 cents higher than the national average. It cost us about $48 to fill up the Mean Green Machine – our satellite transmission...(read more)

‘Super Bowl ring minted for a true giant’

2008-05-01T18:26:00Z

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

WASHINGTON - The Super Bowl football heroes brought their own special hero with them to the White House for their meeting with President Bush.

Army Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, who lost both legs in Iraq and later gave the New York Giants a pep talk that helped propel them to the Super Bowl, stood among the Giants players on his prosthetic legs and listened yesterday as President Bush singled him out for praise.

"I'm proud to be on the stage with this man," said the president. "He has got the Purple Heart and three Bronze Stars, and now he's got a Super Bowl ring minted for a true giant."

President Bush shakes hands with Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, the New York Giants inspirational co-captain, on the White House South Lawn on April 30 as quarterback Eli Manning looks on.

After his remarks, the president stopped and bantered for a moment with Gadson.

"He really just thanked me," Gadson told me today. "It was a genuine thanks, and he told me I was a good man and he was proud of me."

From one battleground to another
Gadson's journey from the battleground in Iraq to the South Lawn of the White House began on May 7 of last year when a roadside bomb tore apart his legs on a street in Baghdad. I first met him on September 12 while he was recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"I've been here a little over four months," he told me at the time, "and I've been on my feet for a little bit, and I'm making steady progress, so that's all I can ask for."

Ten days later, Gadson was asked by Mike Sullivan, a former football teammate at West Point and an assistant coach for the Giants, to speak to the 0-2 team before its game against the Washington Redskins.

"I just talked to them about life," said the former Army defensive end and linebacker. "I talked to them about their obligation as professionals to do their best."

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The White House BlackBerries incident

2008-04-24T22:41:00Z

By Jeannie Ohm, Alicia Jennings and John Yang, NBC News

The Mexican government has apologized for an embarrassing incident this week involving a member of President Felipe Calderón's communications office and several White House BlackBerries.

The leaders of Mexico and Canada were in New Orleans earlier this week with President Bush for the North American Leaders' Summit. After a high-level meeting between the Mexican and U.S. delegations, White House staffers noticed their BlackBerries were missing. Per protocol, they had left the devices on a table outside the meeting room.

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Iraqi army: 'They're learning'

2008-04-24T13:51:00Z

By John Rutherford, NBC News Producer

WASHINGTON – "The Iraqi army, most of them are doing a good job, most of them are doing what they need to do," an American soldier said Wednesday after receiving a Purple Heart at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Pfc. Stephen Riddle, 24, of Dover, Del., was one of two Purple Heart recipients expressing optimism about the progress of the Iraqi army, despite recent reports of Iraqi soldiers laying down their arms and refusing to fight.

Getty Images

Spc. Gage Skrdla (left) gets help straightening his Combat Infantryman Badge as Pfc. Stephen Riddle (right) looks on after a ceremony in which the two soldiers received Purple Hearts.

"We take a lot of them out with us on patrol, so they're well on their way to becoming soldiers, and we train them every chance we get," said Riddle, who was shot in the arm by a sniper on Feb. 14 in Taji, Iraq.

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What’s up with the prairie dresses?

2008-04-23T12:15:00Z

By Don Teague, NBC News Correspondent

Three weeks into covering the polygamous ranch raid story, I keep hearing from colleagues throughout NBC News who want to know more about how members of the sect live.

Much of what is interesting about their lives simply won’t fit into a two-minute television news story because the legal battle, charges and counter charges crowd out what many might consider intriguing information.

VIDEO: Members of the polygamous sect speak out in an extended video with NBC's Don Teague

I spent several hours earlier this week speaking with parents at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch in Texas. It was my third long day on the ranch.

Here are some of the things members of the sect told me about life on the YFZ Ranch – which stands for Yearn For Zion – in Eldorado, Texas:

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NBC's 'Mean Green' satellite truck

2008-04-22T22:00:00Z

NBC launched its "Mean Green" satellite transmission vehicle on Earth Day, allowing the network to broadcast live television in an eco-friendly way. NBC New' Kevin Corke gives a video tour of the satellite truck and explains how it works from Pennsylvania.

VIDEO: Check out NBC's 'Mean Green' satellite truck

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Papal Mass: 'A wonderful experience'

2008-04-17T19:14:00Z

By John Rutherford, NBC News Producer

WASHINGTON -- I'm up at 4:30 this morning to make sure I get to Nationals Park before the Secret Service closes the security magnetometers at 8:15 a.m. for the papal Mass.

The Green Line Metro train is packed with happy, smiling faces – a rare sight at 6 o'clock in the morning. One of those smiles belongs to 14-year-old Emma Rebura of Kensington, Md., who's on her way to the Mass with her mother.

"It's just such a blessing to be able to see our pope from Rome, to celebrate the Mass with him," Emma tells me. "It's a memory I'll keep forever."

Arriving at the stadium, I breeze through the security mags and am inside by 6:15 a.m., with two hours to spare. I decide to check out one of the souvenir stands. Pope t-shirts go for $20, "Beautiful Matted Art" for $10 and rosary rings for $5. I buy my sister-in-law a pope coffee mug for $10.

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Mothers tell their side of polygamy story

2008-04-15T15:24:00Z

By Don Teague, NBC News Correspondent

SAN ANGELO, Texas – For nearly two weeks, journalists covering the removal of children from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound, known as the YFZ Ranch, have had access to just one side of the story.

During the initial raid, the men who live on the ranch weren’t allowed to leave, and the women who had been removed with their children were sequestered away in shelters.

That gave state officials the advantage of presenting their allegations of physical and sexual abuse of children on the ranch to the public with little chance for rebuttal except through church lawyers.

Well, the situation changed dramatically last night, when Texas Child Protective Services and police officers separated dozens of mothers from their children, keeping custody of the children and sending the women back to the ranch. (Some may have chosen to go to a battered women’s shelter, according to a CPS official.)

Immediately after the women went home, I received a call on my cell phone from a spokesman for the family.

"They’re all back at the ranch," he told me. "They want to talk."

"When?" I asked.

"As soon as you can get here," he said.

So I dropped everything, and rushed to the ranch, along with more than a dozen other reporters who had received a similar call.

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Catching a glimpse as Mighty Miss diverts path

2008-04-14T15:42:00Z

By Tom Junod, NBC News Producer

NEW ORLEANS, La. – New Orleans may be a city vulnerable to flooding, as Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing levee failures proved, but the Mississippi River isn't likely to be the cause. That's because there's an elaborate series of features and structures that protect the city.

One of the most important is the Bonnet Carré Spillway, about 28 miles upriver from New Orleans. When the river starts running high and fast, as it is now, the Army Corps of Engineers can open up the spillway gates before things get too dicey downstream.

A portion of the river’s flow is diverted down a six-mile channel and into Lake Pontchartrain, where it eventually flows out into the Gulf of Mexico. The spillway can siphon off up to 1,870,000 gallons of water per second. It’s like a big valve releasing built-up pressure.

Tom Junod / NBC News

The Bonnet Carré Spillway, about 28 miles upriver from New Orleans, is opened to prevent flooding.

The spillway hasn't been used often. This is just the ninth time since 1937 that it’s been opened, and the first time in 11 years.

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Texas town hit by polygamy, then tornado

2008-04-10T14:48:00Z

By Don Teague, NBC News Correspondent

SAN ANGELO, Texas – It’s understandable that the people of San Angelo and Eldorado, Texas, would be a bit shell-shocked today. They’ve been rocked by revelations of alleged child sex and polygamy next door, invaded by hundreds of journalists for nearly a week, and now pummeled by Mother Nature.

As a reporter, I’ve seen my share of human tragedy and natural disasters. They take an emotional toll, even for someone who knows exactly what to expect.

And, deep down, I expected a tornado to hit here last night.

What convinced me was a conversation with a lifelong San Angelo resident who approached me after seeing a report about the investigation at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound.

VIDEO: Polygamist compound search ends

"You know that’s terrible business," he said, "but San Angelo is still the safest place in America."

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