mike taibbi mike taibbi, nbc news, new york. >>> that's our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being here with us as we begin a new week. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> the opponents and the arguments the same, but the legal wrangling surrounding prop 8 continues to evolve tonight. good evening, everyone. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm tom sinkovitz. today both sides faced off in court once again. this time to appeal a federal judge's decision that declared

tonight, nbc's mike taibbi meets a man who has been "making a difference" for people of all ages whoose letters to santa. >> reporter: kids who write to santa might figure he lives in a place like this, but many of their letters come through here, the main post office branch in manhattan. it's getting close, so the bins are bursting. a separate operation to hand it will crush. this season, some 2 million letters will pass through this room, some addressed to santa claus north pole, some addressed to operation santa, and some just to pete fontana. many now know pete fontana. he trains the seasonal staff and has been running operation santa for 15 years, and is retiring right after the holiday. it's the letters that keep him focused. this one from an 8-year-old with an out of work dad and cold apartment. >> that's why i need socks, a jacket, pants, boots, pajamas. >> reporter: and one he'll never forget, a request from a boy who lost his mother. >> dear santa, i just want you to give mommy and hug and kiss in heaven. >> reporter: every letter is read and the ones about real need and no

>> mike taibbi in central park. thank you, mike. >>> in case you were wheerngtd pope was up to today, take a look, things got a little wild at the vatican when acrobats performed for the papal audience them got a standing ovation from the pontiff, as you see there. apparently, they were a big hit with the nuns. very nice. turn it over to al now. >> i like it. >>> weather for today, natalie, winter storm warnings from fargo, rockies, all the way into the mid-atlantic states. winter storm -- went wither weather advisories stretching there as well. all part of a complex system bringing snow, icy conditions and rain all the way from minnesota to virginia. rain -- snowfall amounts, we are talking anywhere from throw to six inches of snow, up to nine inches in central west virginia. lighter amounts as you move to the south and a little bit to the north. that >> are expecting us know today. -- expecting snow today. >>> on today's daily dose, are you getting enough sleep? according to the centers for disease control, more t

nbc's mike taibbi now on the case of bradley manning. >> reporter: in grammar school bradley manning was the undersized sax player in the band and a straight a student. >> he made people feel a little stupid because he used big words. >> reporter: now he's the alleged source at the heart of the wikileaks firestorm. he delivered classified videos and documents made public by wikileaks. manning was arrested after he contacted a notorious computer hacker. after hearing his story, he turned him in. >> that was the most difficult decision that i've ever made. >> reporter: he said manning sought him out because of his reputation as an accomplished computer hacker. manning complained he was never noticed and regularly ignored and abused and said he became the wikileaks source because serving in iraq he was actively involved in something he was completely against. he contacted army counterintelligence when he became convinced he was in it for attention and it would put lives at risk. >> i regret i had no other choice going forward. i wish that bradley manning had talked to me when i was plan

nbc's mike taibbi has details. mike, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. how flu is at 37, heidi jones' career as a tv meteorologist and much more was on the rides. she s also an avid fitness buff and distance run zaerpd a lot of run hearing in central park. this is also where she claims someone tried to rain her. >> northwestern corner of new yorkstate. >> reporter: heidi jones had made it to the big-time, going all the way from an indiana girlhood to forecasting the weather on abc's huge new york tv station. >> we get into late september. >> reporter: reporting countless stories from the field. >> perfect day for this. it is called beac 10 t is not just for hackers slackers like myself. one of the best tune-up races yesterday. >> reporter: often filling in on abc's nationally broadcast morning show, "good morning, america." >> heidi jones is here. >> good morning, everyone. >> reporter: on her facebook page and run with heidi website she wres about her floishing tv career and prowess as a long distance runner. no where does she tell her fans what police

mike taibbi is here with us. what can you tell us, mike? >> hi, chris. yeah, very disturbing story. jones' career as a tv weather forecast and meteorologist was on the rise. she was also an avid fitness buff and fitness buff. did a lot of running here in central park and that's where she claimed someone tried to rape her. heidi jones went from an indiana girlhood to forecasting weather on abc huge new york tv station. >> we get into late september. >> reporter: reporting countless stories from the field. >> perfect day for this, it is called beach tennis, believe it or not just for hackers and slackers like myself. >> one of the best tune-up races we had yet to date. >> reporter: often filling in on abc's nationally broadcast "good morning america." >> heidi jones is here. >> hi, guys. good morning, everyone. >> reporter: on her facebook page and run with heidi page she writes about her prowls as a long-distance runner. but she didn't tell her fans what she told police. as he grabbed her when she jogged and then tried to rape her and then three weeks ago near her apartment but polic

so there's a question about we did a piece today, mike taibbi did, on powerl men who cry and they usedjohnh. apparetly there is something presidential about it now. it is interesting though to see more men like that. it's funny because when i -- okay. if i go to a movie with a guy and if he's crying or kind of crying? i have to -- i feel bad saying this but i feel kind of weird a little. unless it is udy," unless it is the movie "rudy" or anything like that. >> you see it as a weakness. >> no, i don't. i think a tear coming on -- >> balling is not attractive on anybody. think it's not that you're crying, it is what are you crying about. frank got pretty broken up last week on monday night football talking about his friend whom he had just lost, don meredith. more people have come u to me and said that was the most unbelievable moment because it wasn't about fran gifford hall of fame, monday night football, all of that. it was about a man losing a man that he lov. a friend that he loved. but when it's about you and you're sobbing about you, it's -- >> that's a completely -- that's a very, v

nbc's mike taibbi explains. >> reporter: bradley manning was the undersized sax player in the band, thetraight a student, and his lifelong friend jordan davis who says he often got under classmates words. >> he made feel people people feel a little stupid because he always used big words. >> now he's an alleged source in the middle of the wikileaks firestorm, an army intelligence officer entrusted with downloading and distributing classified documents made public by wikileaks. in his hometown of crescent, oklahoma some are already judging him, like former marine roger campbell. >> i think he should be executed for doing what he did. >> reporter: and if he did it, why? "wired" magazine published -- a former computer hacker says he had a -- i want people to see the truth, manning wrote about war strategy, air strikes that killed civilians in iraq and about all those cables in the state department database. it belongs in the public domain, he said repeatedly, he says i couldn't be a spy, spies don't post things for the world to see. >> he described himself at one point to be a hacktivist.