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Brian Williams: ‘SNL’ gig ‘entirely different creature’

NEW YORK (AP) — He calls it his night off, but Brian Williams will spend it on the air as host of this week’s Saturday Night Live.

And though he’ll be broadcasting from NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters — the same building where he anchors NBC Nightly News — this assignment is an entirely different creature, he noted Thursday. This is NOT my line of work.

A guy who’s used to being in charge, he observed that, doing SNL, You just hand it all over to these guys and say, ‘You’re the professionals.’ It’s a very interesting feeling.

And, as he spoke, it was just the beginning. His first rehearsal awaited him later in the day, after his Nightly broadcast.

Taking on a role traditionally filled by show-biz celebrities and the occasional pro athlete or politician, the 48-year-old Williams is the first network anchor — active or retired — to host SNL (airing 11:30 p.m. EDT Saturday) since Edwin Newman in 1984.

But he is no stranger to this comedy institution. He made an unannounced (and amusing) appearance on its 2006 season premiere, pretending to vie for the Weekend Update anchor chair vacated by Tina Fey.

For Williams, an SNL fan since its start three decades ago, doing the cameo was fun. Then, a few weeks ago, executive producer Lorne Michaels invited him to come back as host.

He said he gave it careful thought before agreeing.

My family was anxious for me to do it. My bosses were anxious for me to do it, he said. But in the end, it’s ME doing it, and I worried that anyone might be confused between this and my day job. But I just don’t think there’s a chance of that.

He dismissed promoting Nightly News as a rationale for hosting the show.

I get that a movie star goes on to pitch a movie, or a recording artist is pitching a new CD, but I don’t know how many newscasts we’re going to sell, he said.

As Williams spoke, lots of sketches had been written, but he had only a vague idea of what might make the cut.

I’m going to be working very closely with Lorne on what appropriate material for me is in this show, he said.

Asked how he defined appropriate, he paraphrased U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart: I’ll know it when I see it.

According to Seth Meyers, SNL head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor, Williams has made just one demand: That, when this is over, he can return to his day job with his reputation intact.

Writing for him as SNL host is a refreshing opportunity, Meyers said.

Actors do silly things all the time, and we ask them to do a lot of silly things in an hour-and-a-half, whereas someone like Brian is less known for his silliness. But he’s pretty good with his accents. And he used to be a (volunteer) fireman: I’d bet money you’ll see him on the show as a fireman.

It’s also a good bet he’ll be found at the Weekend Update desk for that parody newscast, Meyers added.

Williams said he’s been gathering ideas for his opening monologue.

That’s my earliest chance to show some chops, to come on out and say, ‘I know this is an unusual thing you’re seeing.’

Of course, world events — and Williams’ day job — could unexpectedly intrude with real news.

I reminded Lorne that it was a Saturday night that Princess Diana died, Williams said. As it happened, that week’s SNL was a taped repeat, he recalled, but I ended up doing a special report interrupting it.

Lorne said, ‘We’ll deal with that.’

But barring the unforeseen, Williams expects to mainly deal with butterflies.

There are cue cards, a live audience, it’s a nerve-racking atmosphere, he said. So, sure, I’ll be petrified. But I hope it’s a fun, high-wire-act kind of an evening.
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Devastating floods prompt outbreak fears in Mexico

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VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans fled a flooded region of the Gulf coast Friday, jumping from rooftops into rescue helicopters, scrambling into boats or swimming out through murky brown water.

President Felipe Calderon called the flooding in Tabasco state one of Mexico’s worst recent natural disasters, and pledged to rebuild.

A week of heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, drowning at least 80 percent of the oil-rich state.

Much of the state capital, Villahermosa, looked like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with water reaching to second-story rooftops and desperate people awaiting rescue. Watch residents swim through flooded streets

At least one death was reported and nearly all services, including drinking water and public transportation, were shut down.

The flood affected more than 900,000 people in the state of 2 million — their homes flooded, damaged or cut off by high water.

A 10-inch natural gas pipeline sprang a leak after flooding apparently washed away soil underneath it, but it was unclear if other facilities operated by the state-run Petroleos Mexicanos were damaged or if oil production was affected.

Workers tried to protect Villahermosa’s famous Olmec statues by placing sandbag collars around their enormous stone heads, and built sandbag walls to hold back the Grijalva River in the state capital.

But the water rose quickly, surprising residents used to annual floods and forcing soldiers to evacuate the historic city center. The dikes failed Thursday night, and water swamped the capital’s bus station and open-air market. See dramatic images of the deluge

Rain gave way to sunshine Friday, but tens of thousands of people were still stranded on rooftops or in the upper floors of their homes.

Rescue workers used tractors, helicopters, jet skis and boats to ferry people to safety, while others swam through water infested by poisonous snakes to reach higher ground.

Calderon met with state officials and flew over the affected areas. See states and river where flooding has hit hardest

The extent of the flooding was clear from the sky — Tabasco state seemed like an inland sea with only rooftops and treetops protruding from the water.

This is not just the worst natural catastrophe in the state’s history but, I would venture to say, one of the worst in the recent history of the country, Calderon said Friday during an emergency meeting with state officials in Villahermosa.

The president ordered the armed forces and federal police to maintain order and prevent looting, and asked residents to remain calm. He canceled a trip to Panama, Colombia and Peru.

Once we have passed the critical stage … we are going to reconstruct Tabasco, whatever it takes, Calderon said.

Mexicans rallied around the disaster, with people across the country contributing money and supplies.

Television stations dedicated entire newscasts to the flooding and morning shows switched from yoga and home improvement to calls for aid. Friday was the Day of the Dead holiday, but banks opened to accept donations for flood victims.

Food and clean drinking water were extremely scarce in Tabasco state, and federal Deputy Health Secretary Mauricio Hernandez warned that there could be outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

With so many people packed together there is a chance that infectious diseases could spread, he said.

Officials tested for 600 suspected cases of cholera, but none was positive, he said. The waterborne sickness, which can be fatal, has not been reported in Mexico for at least six years.

The government also sent 20,000 Hepatitis A vaccinations and were giving booster shots to children to prevent outbreaks, Hernandez said.

Medical care was difficult, however, because at least 50 of the state’s hospitals and medical centers were flooded.

Hotels, parking garages and other dry structures were converted into temporary shelters for those forced from their homes.

Guadalupe de la Cruz, a receptionist at the Hotel Calinda Viva Villahermosa, said the hotel’s meeting rooms were being used as shelters for employees’ families. She said the 240-room hotel was completely booked, mostly by people who had fled their homes.

Many people were headed to nearby cities unaffected by the floods. Highways that weren’t covered with water were packed with residents fleeing in cars and on foot. The exodus appeared to be orderly with no reports of violence.

Villahermosa resident Mauricio Hernandez, 27, who is not related to the federal official, paid a taxi to go to Cardenas, 30 miles away. From there, he planned to hop a bus to the port city of Coatzacoalcos.

We are leaving because we cannot live like this, he said. We don’t have any water, and the shelters are full. Where are we going to go?

State officials sent 50 buses to a museum in the capital where hundreds of people gathered.

We wanted to stay in the city but it is no longer possible, said Jorge Rodriguez, 43. We have lost everything.
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Obama making less than a quarter of Senate votes

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama has missed the most votes of any Democratic presidential hopeful in the Senate over the last two months, including a vote on an Iran resolution he has blasted Sen. Hillary Clinton for supporting.

The Illinois Democrat has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September.

The other Democrats in the Senate running for president have missed a high percentage of votes as well.

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware has missed 68 percent of the votes during the same period, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut 65 percent and Clinton of New York 63 percent.

Obama’s campaign points out that Biden missed the most votes if the whole year is considered, followed by Dodd, then Obama.

Obama’s campaign argues that looking at the last two months is arbitrary.

Obama missed a vote on a resolution that declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite part of the Iranian military, a terrorist organization. He has criticized Clinton for voting for it, saying it would give President Bush a blank check to invade Iran.

This kind of resolution does not send the right signal to the region, Obama said during a presidential debate earlier this week. It doesn’t send the right signal to our allies or our enemies. Watch the report on Obama’s voting in the Senate

Obama was campaigning in New Hampshire when the vote was taken. His campaign blamed his absence on the short notice given when the vote was scheduled. But two senior Democratic Senate aides said senators were advised the night before that the vote would occur the next day.

A spokesman for Obama, however, was adamant Obama did not have enough time to return to Washington for the vote.

Obama has also missed votes on a Democratic priority, the expansion of the federally funded State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) as well as a vote on a resolution that condemned MoveOn.org for running an ad in the New York Times attacking the top general in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus.

Most of the votes Obama missed were for amendments to spending bills, when his vote would not have decided the outcome.

Obama’s campaign says he was in the Senate for critical votes, and canceled a campaign appearance to be in the Senate for a critical SCHIP vote.

The most important votes that this Congress did were in the first six months — ethics reform, minimum wage, Iraq, 9/11 bill, energy, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. The last two months have been appropriations bills, and we were here for the Iraq votes.

Stu Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report said the voters may not punish Obama for missing votes.

I think most Americans understand that if you’re running for president, you’re going to have to be in Iowa, New Hampshire, and you’re not going to make all the votes and they give candidates slack, Rothenberg said.

With the mounting fight with the White House over key bills, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is putting all the contenders on notice.

I am going to leave here and go call our presidentials and let them know that they better look at their schedules, because these are not votes you can miss, Reid said on the Senate floor Friday.
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U.S.: Myanmar expels U.N. diplomat

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(CNN) — The United Nations said Friday it was disappointed that Myanmar’s government had expelled a top U.N. diplomat, and the Bush administration condemned the action by the ruling military junta in the secretive Asian country.

The secretary-general is disappointed by the message from the government of Myanmar that it would not want the resident coordinator, Mr. Charles Petrie, to continue to serve, said a statement issued on behalf of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe called the expulsion of Petrie, the U.N.’s human rights representative, outrageous and noted it came the day before Ibrahim Gambari, the special U.N. envoy to Myanmar, is scheduled to return to the country.

It is an insult to the United Nations and the international community, Johndroe said.

The U.S. charge d’affaires in Myanmar , Shari Villarosa, told CNN earlier Friday that Petrie was told he was no longer welcome in the country.

They say that they are interested in cooperating with the U.N., Villarosa said, so this seems very unusual to say the least.

It was unclear whether Petrie was given a deadline to leave the country.

In the statement, a spokesman for Ban said he has full confidence in the United Nations country team. Ban has instructed Ibrahim Gambari to convey his views directly to the authorities in Myanmar upon his arrival, the statement said.

It will be the second visit to Myanmar in recent weeks for Gambari, who has a five-day visa.

The United Nations does not know who Gambari will be meeting with, but it is hoped that the envoy will facilitate talks between ruling generals and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, an opposition leader and human rights activist who has been under house arrest on and off for nearly 20 years.

In his October meeting, Gambari met with the military junta leadership as well as with Suu Kyi.

What everybody has been seeking is the initiation of a genuine dialogue that leads toward broad national reconciliation, Villarosa said.

More than 70 Buddhist monks marched in the central Myanmar town of Pakokku on Wednesday, dissident sources in Mae Sot told CNN. The march is the first reported since a government crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in September, in which as many as 110 people are believed to have been killed, including 40 Buddhist monks.

The protests were sparked by a huge fuel price increase imposed by the military government, and quickly escalated.

Myanmar’s military junta admitted in mid-October that is detained more than 2,900 people during the crackdown, and many of them are still believed to be in custody.

Video smuggled out of the secretive country has shown unarmed protesters being beaten by government security forces, and one man — a Japanese journalist — shot and killed at close range.

Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis has sparked international outrage, concern and attention.

We support Gambari’s mission to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy in Burma, said Johndroe, using the traditional English-language name for Myanmar. The junta needs to allow the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) into the country, release political prisoners and stop detaining its citizens who are peacefully protesting the repressive regime.

Johndroe said reports that the junta has again restricted the nation’s Internet access are very troubling. They are trying to hide their atrocities from the world.
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Obama making less than a quarter of Senate votes

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama has missed the most votes of any Democratic presidential hopeful in the Senate over the last two months, including a vote on an Iran resolution he has blasted Sen. Hillary Clinton for supporting.

The Illinois Democrat has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September.

The other Democrats in the Senate running for president have missed a high percentage of votes as well.

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware has missed 68 percent of the votes during the same period, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut 65 percent and Clinton of New York 63 percent.

Obama’s campaign points out that Biden missed the most votes if the whole year is considered, followed by Dodd, then Obama.

Obama’s campaign argues that looking at the last two months is arbitrary.

Obama missed a vote on a resolution that declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite part of the Iranian military, a terrorist organization. He has criticized Clinton for voting for it, saying it would give President Bush a blank check to invade Iran.

This kind of resolution does not send the right signal to the region, Obama said during a presidential debate earlier this week. It doesn’t send the right signal to our allies or our enemies.

Obama was campaigning in New Hampshire when the vote was taken. His campaign blamed his absence on the short notice given when the vote was scheduled. But two senior Democratic Senate aides said senators were advised the night before that the vote would occur the next day.

A spokesman for Obama, however, was adamant Obama did not have enough time to return to Washington for the vote.

Obama has also missed votes on a Democratic priority, the expansion of the federally funded State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) as well as a vote on a resolution that condemned MoveOn.org for running an ad in the New York Times attacking the top general in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus.

Most of the votes Obama missed were for amendments to spending bills, when his vote would not have decided the outcome.

Obama’s campaign says he was in the Senate for critical votes, and canceled a campaign appearance to be in the Senate for a critical SCHIP vote.

The most important votes that this Congress did were in the first six months — ethics reform, minimum wage, Iraq, 9/11 bill, energy, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. The last two months have been appropriations bills, and we were here for the Iraq votes.

Stu Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report said the voters may not punish Obama for missing votes.

I think most Americans understand that if you’re running for president, you’re going to have to be in Iowa, New Hampshire, and you’re not going to make all the votes and they give candidates slack, Rothenberg said.

With the mounting fight with the White House over key bills, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is putting all the contenders on notice.

I am going to leave here and go call our presidentials and let them know that they better look at their schedules, because these are not votes you can miss, Reid said on the Senate floor Friday.
found here.