he ♪ good evening. i'm erica gonzalez. thank you for joining us again tonight. it

colleague and mentor jim vance is gone. he died after a short battle with cancer. we're going to spend most of this broadcast remembering him tonight. we begin with his friend and coanchor of nearly three decades, here is doreen ginzler. >> we did a story in our 6:00 broadcast. you never know what is amusing or terrifying. >> here is the jim vanls you knew for 48 years, that smooth voice and calm presence that made us feel like in matter how bad the news was we would be okay. over the years vance was who he was. you probably know a lot about him already. he wasn't shy about sharing. you know he rode motorcycles. i liked cars and fishing and sports and mixing it up with whomever was reporting on sports. >> what are you saying? >> vance always had a way with kids. before becoming a journalist, he was a teacher in his hometown of philadelphia. he started reporting here in 1969, but

bosses knew they had an anchor in the making. he made a name for himself covering stories all over the world, vietnam, el salvador, south africa, but he didn't have to go far for some of his lest work, reporting on the people right here in his adopted hometown of washington. think about every event, every big story that's happened here over the last 48 years. vance covered it all. the race riots on u street and in columbia heights, the plane that crashed into the 14th street bridge, watergate, the attempted assassination of president reagan, 9/11. he covered inaugurations for 12 presidents, and all seven of washington's mayors. in 1977 vance was the guy the muslims asked to speak to the night they seized three buildings in town, and he was the first journalist marion berry called after he was arrested in 1990. vance interviewed every

president. some at the white house, others on a fishing boat, and he gave his view with a dose of reality that could be refreshing, even if you didn't agree with him. vance had some dark times here too and some struggles of his own that are well-known, but he came out of those a better person and always used the lessons he had to learn the hard way to try to make life better for students trying to navigate their own path. >> it was just a few months ago that vance told us he had cancer, and as we tried to hold our emotions in check vance reminded us about the incredible life he's lived. >> the blessings never stop flowing. >> the last time vance was in public was when they put him on a mural at ben's chili bowl a few weeks ago. he has received so many honors and awards over the years, but you could tell this one was special. >> what an honor. >> and all of you meant so much to him,

he never grew tired of reminding himself where he came from. >> hello. i'm jim vance. >> and how lucky he was to be invited into your homes for so many decades. ♪ >> that was doreen ginsler. pat collins has known vance for nearly four decades. pat praised him for his incredible story telling and talked to people paying tribute at the ben's chili bowl mural. >> i know him very well. >> reporter: when he heard about what happened he came to the alley, he came to the wall. he came to see that picture. he came to talk about jim vance. meet now william sauder, 52 years old, native of washington. >> i like his swag. you know, i liked the way he talked. you know, swag is something that, you know, i pick up, i pick up from my elders.

really admire. >> right here. >> reporter: today that picture was the place to be. you see, it was just a few weeks ago that ben's chili bowl unveiled the new mural. it is on the iconic wall alongside the famous d.c. restaurant, and there high on top our own jim vance. and even though he was sick and battling for his life, he made a point to be there to talk about the honor. it was a sad and proud moment. most of us will never forget. >> i don't have a pair of pants in my closet that will fit me anymore. but that's all right. because the blessings never stop flowing. i came here on june 10th of 1969, and one of the first places that i came to to spend my money in d.c. was ben's

you cannot imagine my joy and my pride when i got the word a month or so ago that all y'all had voted poor little me to sit on ben's chili bowl's wall. >> what a great guy. no matter what people think of him, great guy. he is the modern day frank sinatra. he did it his way. >> reporter: that's ron minor. he too stopped by the wall. he too wanted to see the picture. ron is a retired nbc cameraman. vance called him chop. they were running buddies. vance loved motorcycles. he was as comfortable on a harley as he was sitting on a news set. >> honest to god, the words -- i mean when i found out this morning, i just couldn't talk. >> reporter: in the alley, at that

vance was a customer at her coffee shop. >> he was one of my regular customers on sundays. the first time he came in when i was working there, i was so shocked. i mean happy shocked, and the rest of my employees were like, oh, yeah, he comes in all the time, this is normal. i was like, but this is jim vance. >> d.c. leaders, local personalities and former rivals say vance had an authenticity and passion that endeared him to so many, and they reflected on those qualities that made him a rock star here on this news set and in our community. >> he just had that marvelous quality of being a good neighbor, and think that's what helped him -- helped him not only through difficult times in his own life, but helped washington through difficult times in the city's life. >> those commentaries are the things in some ways i remember, i remember the most because

jim vance. >> he was a godfather to me. you know, he was padrino. he was like -- he was like the godfather to everybody to me. everybody had respect for jim. >> he never lost the common touch. i mean he was a celebrity in this town. i remember going to a red skins game with him and everybody was saying, hey, hey, there's jim vance, there's jim vance. >> he was mr. washington d.c. there's no other way of putting it. >> a little later in our broadcast, doreen ginsler, bob ryan sit down to talk about their friend. some great stories coming up you won't want to miss. you know, throughout the day you saw the impact vance had on so many with one look at messages and tributes on social media. d.c. mayor calls jim a voice and leader of the city, a legend who will be greatly missed. the d.c. council twitter account put out this one. washington has one less monument today. and prince georges kktcu

baker calls advance a washingtonian for the ages. savannah guthrie sent the nbc washington team her love as well. i love this one from the national also. look at this picture and the message. we mourn the loss of jim vance, a d.c. icon who will be greatly missed. we want to thank you you, so many of you who have sent us your condolences today or told us how much vance means to you in your lives. he truly felt that love from the people who watched him every night. earlier this evening "nbc nightly news" also paused to remember vance. we're going to show you that segment now and then we will be right back. >> and a beloved member of the nbc family has died, jim vance, who served as an anchor of our nbc station in washington d.c. for more than four decades. vance won 17 emmy awards, was inducted into the national association of black journalists hall of fame in 2007. the president of wrc called him not only the s

washington area. jim vance announced his diagnosis of cancer earlier this year. he was 75 years old. ♪

and now your storm team 4 forecast. >> good evening. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist. down here under a severe thunderstorms warning. it will push south and east crossing 9d 5 there. lots of

rain, with wind gusts upwards of 65 miles an hour. it will expire shortly. i went further north. we have activity south of the district towards alexandria. that will continue to pull into southern prince georges county, out towards morningside. upper marlboro, i know you got some heavy rain. about to get another round before it is said and done. towards southern portions of calvert county, picking up lightning and moderate to heavy showers with this as well and gusting winds farther south towards calvert county, we are also seeing a thunderstorms as well. a lot of activity today. i know we're waiting for the relief as we head throughout the evening things should begin to calm down. bigger picture shows a lot of the active weather ready to cross the bay right now. you look back toward the blue ridge and we have a line of showers, not going to hold together too well but we could hear rumbles throughout the rest of the night as well as lighter showers. after 1:00 in the morning should start to quiet things down.

quiet by 4:00 a.m. all of the moisture, i'm sure we will see patchy fog starting sunday morning off early though. 9:00 a.m. though we are quiet, we are dry. a good amount of cloud coverage through sunday but it doesn't mean we will not see the heat. temperature also rise quickly to the 90s. we have another round of wet weather heading towards us and could see storms in the afternoon that could be strong and severe. hang tight. we got to make it through sunday, another weather alert day. temperatures in the mid 90s. monday, very hot and a chance for isolated afternoon storms, but the good news is cold front moving through monday evening will bring us relief we need for tuesday to make it into the upper 80s when less humidity. that's a look at your forecast, erika, over to you. >> samar theodore, over to you. when we come back we will continue to look back at the life of jim vance. some of the laughs and some of the sorrow he shared with all of us along the way.

♪ i learned and continued to learn over the decades so much from jim vance. we often left the bureau at the same time. at night he would be doing the 11:00 news, i would be working on a "today show" piece for the next morning. we would walk to our cars in the parking lot, and he just had

i know that for people throughout our communities, he never lost that touch. >> vance remembered by our nbc news colleague andrea mitchell . one thing that endeared him to so many was his openness during the good times and the bad. he shared his struggles with depression in a very candid interview with doreen gentzler in hopes of changing the sigma surrounding mental health. >> if i can be a glimmer of light for one person just by virtue of, you know, acknowledging that i'm all screwed up but i'm cool with it now, then, you know, i'll be very happy with that. i'll be eternally grateful for that, and i mean that sincerely. because, you know, that's no way to live. >> and you're not wearing the bag of masks

that bag is. i'm glad it is lost. i have no idea where that thing is. most of all, i know joy. i have whole bunches of days now where i know joy. and i'm cool with that. you know, i don't need a whole lot more, because from that, you know, all doors are open. there are no closed doors. because i'm not afraid of what might be behind any of those doors, because i go into them fortified with a sense of joy and love. i know joy, i know love. >> vance knew joy, he knew love, and he also knew laughter. doreen came to work today actually with a blooper reel that some viewers sent her and vance some years ago, and they compiled it on their tivo. here are a few laughs courtesy of the burneys from walkersville, maryland.

>> bob? you're not going to do an update, are you, bob? the weather couldn't be that bad. matter of fact, it is going to be dark tonight. we'll tell you that. >> the guy's bookie took his dentures as collateral until he got his money. now, we're not exactly sure where the dentures were when the bookie took them. that could have been uncomfortable. anyway, the gumbler -- the gumbler. >> that was pretty good. >> micro soft and an anti-sperm -- anti-spamware company joined to help people avoid similar scams. >> always be careful of that sperm on the -- >> that group knew how to have fun. coming up, a special treat from doreen, bob ryan and arch campbell, some of their favorite memories of vance when we come back. ♪

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the most awarded luxury suv of the century. this july visit your local volvo dealer to receive sommar savings of up to $4,500. after our 6:00 broadcast tonight we were lucky enough to have some old friends pay us a visit. bob ryan and arch campbell sat down with doreen gentzler to share some of their favorite memories of vance throughout the years. >> you know, we were talking a bit and laughing, and that's vance. >> yes. >> i was looking at all of the pictures and all of the stuff, and he was never dower or down. what a life. what a life! >> you know, when i came here in 1974, vance had an edge and it really shocked me because most people in

ed. >> yes, that's right. >> and he had an edge. he would put down stories on the air, he would go to the air and say, well, that was a lousy story. >> the wonderful thing was you could tell when he was reading a story that he was not really true about. >> right. you need to remember he had the burden of being a first. >> yes. >> and when he came on the air and started anchoring, he was a symbol to this town. >> sure. >> and i am remembering in the early '70s there was a riot at lorten, and the prisoners demanded that vance come down there and listen to their demand, and he did. now, can you imagine somebody doing that today? >> no, i can't. he was the coolest guy in washington, wasn't he? >> yeah. remember his office upstairs? he never turned the overhead on. it was always lamps. >> yeah. >> and he had jazz playing, and he and george michael would go in there and start smoking, and the smo

over the place. >> how about rum night? you guys want to share about rum night? because this was -- that was before my time. >> i'm taking the fifth on that. >> no, no, no. >> literally -- >> well, there was a fifth involved as i recall. >> occasionally vance would moon me when i was doing -- >> that's a great story. wait. >> i've lost track. >> don't -- don't skim past that. that's a pretty significant story. >> he tried to -- and i would be at the green screen doing the weather live, and i would see vance walking back of the camera and i knew what was coming next. and he was -- >> everybody did. >> -- pulling down his pants and he would moon me. >> true story. true story. i saw this, i saw it happen. >> well, he did it before you were with us also, doreen. >> yes, i know. i didn't see the same angle that bob got to see, but, true stors.

moon tonight. >> and one time i said, there is a dark moon tonight. >> a totally unique person. >> yes. >> and a unique anchor. they would tell him to shave off his mustache and he would grow a beard. they would tell him to cut his hair and he would grow an afro. they would tell him not to anger anybody, and he would do a commentary that would just ring the phones off the hook. >> right. >> i19 me, so he went to vance, he said, i want some cool music. vance picked "my mood" by mfsb. to this day that music still plays on the end of the 6:00 news. >> it sure does. we played it tonight. >> every time you play that song, that is the spirit of jim vance. as long as that music is playing on channel 4, jim vance is still with us. >> we had so much fun, and he enriched our lives. >> yes, he sure did. he sure did. >> he

in arch's words, we leave you tonight with the spirit of jim vance. good night, everybody. ♪ ♪

[ cheers and applause ] >> and that is another example of how faulkner influenced latin american literature. [ cellphone beeps ] seth, i thought i told you to turn off your phone. >> i'm sorry, mrs. lehman. i think someone re-tweeted me. >> seth, you're just some random

who would re-tweet you? >> kellyanne, i just re-tweeted the best tweet. i mean, wow. what a great, smart tweet. >> mr. trump, we're in a security briefing. >> i know, but this could not wait. it was from a young man named seth. he's 16. he's in high school. and i really did re-tweet him, seriously. this is real. >> he really did do this. >> well, sir, you're the president-elect, so i guess you can do whatever you want. but we'd really like to fill you in on syria. >> god, seth seems so cool. his twitter bio says he wants to make america great again. >> that is cool, sir. >> it also says he loves the anaheim ducks. >> okay, see, there is a reason, actually, that donald tweets so much. he does it to distract the media from his business conflicts and all the very scary people in his cabinet.