JENA, La.– Looking for the mood in Jena is like looking for the truth – it all depends on who you talk to.

The day after 17-year-old Mychal Bell was released on $45,000 bail, things are quiet. But, of course, in a town of just 3,000 it's almost always quiet.

The satellite trucks, with the exception of our own, have shut down their generators, folded their dishes and moved on. Across the street from the LaSalle Parish Courthouse at the McCartney Slay GMC dealership the cars are back on the lot. When we were here last week for the large demonstration, the owner had moved them, fearing the worst.

Now that Bell's out on bail, there is a sense of relief.

Family and supporters are happy to have the young man back after 10 months in jail. But since he still faces trial in juvenile court, it is a cautious kind of celebration.

Bell's attorneys say the teen can't talk. Even his parents have gone silent. At Bell's home a couple of cars sit in the driveway and the yard. But there is no sign of activity. Except in the church parking lot across the street where two unmarked vehicles sit in the shade with plainclothes officers inside.

They are there to safeguard the home after a hate group published the address on the Internet. According to Bell's lead attorney, Lewis Scott, the 17-year-old is confined to staying at his mother's or father's house in Jena, which are two blocks away from each other.

Scott says they want to get the teen back in school since he's missed a lot, but there is no way he can go back until the juvenile trial is over. And there's no way he could go back to school here, not with the memories and the feelings. They're thinking of something private.

On Main Street there is relief Bell's out since his continued time behind bars only seemed to reinforce the belief for outsiders that Jena is a racist haven. Of course they know that, thanks to the media, everyone continues to consider Jena a racist haven whether the youth is in jail or not.

Whenever I introduce myself as being with NBC News, the return greeting is usually the same. "Why don't you tell the truth about Jena?" The old white guy at the thrift shop said it was just the blacks that were labeling the community racist. I had to agree he had me there – not too many whites had come forward claiming their town had a race problem.

As I returned to the courthouse, a young African-American woman was telling my cameraman about how racism was very much still living in town.

District Attorney Reed Walters said if he had it all to do over again, he would do things differently. He would not change how he prosecuted the case; instead, he would change how he communicated the case. He's been true to his word. In the past week he's held two news conferences and written an Op-Ed spot for the New York Times.

Walters denies the protests and the pressure have had any bearing on his actions. No one in town or elsewhere believes him.

This story has grown beyond Jena in many minds. Sometimes the facts seem to just get in the way. Jesse Jackson said all charges should be dropped against Bell and the other members of the "Jena 6." But there was a crime. Classmate Justin Barker was beat up by a group of youths last December at the high school. And it was not just a schoolyard fight. Barker was blindsided with the first punch as he stepped out the door. As he fell he struck his head. He was defenseless as he was repeatedly punched and kicked while he lay unconscious.

Should Jena ignore this crime for the greater good? Ignore it like authorities allegedly ignored white-on-black incidents in the town? Perhaps Bell, who some say wasn't even part of the assault on Barker, should use the line some fostered in the high school after nooses appeared in a tree on campus, that it was "just a prank."

City officials openly lament that if the noose incident had been dealt with much more harshly and right away, Jena wouldn't be the modern synonym for Selma.

In other words – if the town had spoken out and hadn't remained so quiet.

The irony is impossible to miss. Until he's sentenced on November 20, Warren Jeffs, the convicted leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamous sect, will be behind bars at Purgatory Correctional Facility here in Hurricane, Utah.

In fact, in the mid-1850's, pioneers named this part of southwestern Utah "Purgatory Flats." Not far from the spectacular scenery of Zion National Park, this area is known for its red rock and giant bluffs.

Anticipating Jeffs might find sympathetic residents in this part of the country, not far from the isolated towns along the Utah-Arizona border where most of his 7,500 followers live, I was surprised to find so many of those here ecstatic about his conviction.

Just 120 miles outside Las Vegas, this is one of the fastest-growing communities in the West. Years ago, settlers here thought these were the Badlands, today, developers and retirees are more likely to view them as the "Good Lands."

Read the rest of Peter Alexander's blog about Warren Jeff's conviction in the Daily Nightly blog.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-- Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of the start of desegregation of public schools in the South. Ordered into Arkansas by President Eisenhower, the 101st Airborne escorted the Little Rock Nine into Central High School in the first federal enforcement action of the historic Brown v. Board of education ruling.

The nine students of the class of 1957 bravely endured a mob to enter a high school that today is recognized as one of the best schools in the nation. Nine current seniors at Central High join NBC News to reflect on the legacy of that historic day in 1957.  

VIDEO: Nine current students at Central High School reflect on the legacy of the Little Rock Nine

 

The Pentagon on Friday paid tribute to those members of the U.S. military who are classified as Missing in Action (MIA) and Prisoners of War (POW).

About 200 people watched as Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Marine Gen. Peter Pace escorted Patricia Scharf, widow of Col. Charles Scharf, onto the Parade Field outside the Pentagon. 

Scharf's husband was an Air Force pilot who went missing-in-action during the Vietnam War and whose remains were recently identified by taking DNA from love letters he sent her more than 40 years ago.

Gates spoke first, paying tribute to the four U.S. Army soldiers who are currently missing in Iraq. "They will never be forgotten or left behind," he said, adding that they are "the latest edition to the ranks of those we honor today."  He only spoke for about five minutes, thanking the families and then introducing Pace, the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Pace also spoke briefly, saying of the prisoners of war that "few have been called to sacrifice the way our POWs have been." 

Then Scharf walked to the podium and described how her husband's remains were only recently identified by taking DNA off of the love letters he sent her.  

Among those in the crowd were Keith and Carolyn Maupin, parents of missing soldier Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin. 

Also attending from the Pentagon were Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Conway.

JENA, La.–  Jena is in gridlock. As thousands of protesters gather in the small Louisiana town in support of six black teens initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate, the crowds are growing.

The number of buses leaving Alexandria, 40 miles away, was said to look like a hurricane evacuation. Cell phone service is over loaded and schools and businesses are closed. Local officials have declared a state of emergency and beefed up security schools.

Protest leaders stress that this will be peaceful protest. Meanwhile the Rev. Al Sharpton proclaimed to a crowd in front of the courthouse, "This is the start of the civil rights movement for the 21st century!"

SLIDESHOW: Scenes from Jena, La.

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Riders on the buses have abandoned them due to stalled traffic. Instead they are moving on foot, some are holding banners and signs, while cameras are recording it all.

One older African-American woman told a younger man, "You will be able to tell others you were here this day."

Meanwhile, sidewalk vendors haven't missed a beat and are doing a brisk trade – hawking "Justice for the Jena 6" tee-shirts for $10 a pop.

As Judge Nancy Oesterle of Las Vegas looked out at the multitude of TV camera crews and the squadron of satellite trucks ringing the courthouse, she said, "I guess this is what they call a media frenzy! I've never seen anything like this before."

Welcome to what some wags are calling the "Cirque du O.J.", the hottest ticket in Vegas right now.

VIDEO: O.J. Simpson in jail

Oesterle has been appointed by the court system to brief the media on the upcoming court proceedings involving O.J. Simpson as news organizations prepare for yet another trial involving the notorious ex-jock, charged this time with a hotel-room heist at gunpoint.

Simpson told police he was just trying to recover some sports memorabilia that belonged to him, but police contend he and a group of buddies barged into the room with weapons drawn, something officers say amounts to armed robbery, burglary and a slew of other felonies.

I'm a veteran of the first two O.J. trials: the criminal case where Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman, and the civil trial where the Goldman family and the estate of Nicole Brown Simpson won millions of dollars in damages from O.J. (Although they've collected only a modest sum so far.)

The circus atmosphere is familiar to me as I spot many of the same colleagues from O.J. I and II in the press scrum outside the courthouse, and as I listen to the rumor mill about the case, running once again at warp speed.

So why the continuing fascination with Simpson? Maybe it's because his previous trials had all the elements of great pulp fiction: fame, fortune, sex, race and a bloody double murder. Oesterle says that Simpson was ordered held without bail initially because he was considered a flight risk. (Remember that famous Bronco chase?)

Now, is it O.J. starring in a half-baked remake of "Ocean's 13?" Whatever it is, we're back at it once again as the State of Nevada girds itself for arguably the most sensational robbery trial in recent history.

It may not be "the trial of the century," as the Simpson murder case in Los Angeles was billed, but it's got everybody talking in Vegas. Pretty soon, the locals will probably be quoting odds on a "guilty" or "not guilty" verdict as the case unfolds.

The 1850's era Greek Revival structure was once home to the prolific novelist Anne Rice. She set her 1990 novel "The Witching Hour" there – populating the house with the Mayfair family, a clan of male and female witches.

Rice packed up and moved from New Orleans to the West Coast several years ago, but her former haunts are still must-see stops for tourists on several of the popular "haunted city" tours. Many of her dozens of novels, including the best selling Vampire Chronicles series are set in The Crescent City.

Her former mansion comes complete with five bedrooms, six full and two half baths, an elevator, guest house, staff house and fish pond. Check out the realtor's link here.

MINDEN, NV. –  In rugged terrain 90 miles southeast of Reno, a group of searchers listened to a radio for faint signs of life on Tuesday night. Was it a distress signal from aviator Steve Fossett? 

Over the last two days rescuers occasionally heard a radio transmission of a recorded human voice, a "ghost ELT," Emergency Location Transmitter, is how they described it. They sent up a helicopter to try to trace the radio, but the signals were sporadic and only last a few seconds.

SLIDESHOW: Fossett's feats

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"We do not believe it's accurate," said Joe Sanford, the Lyon County Under-Sheriff, "but we are trying to track down all leads."

Sanford says the radio voice says, "niner-niner-four-one-one," on a radio frequency reserved for emergency signals from aircraft. The numbers bear no apparent relation to Fossett, or to the plane he was flying eight days ago, which only deepens the mystery.

If the number was a reference to the tail number of an airplane, it traces to a plane based in Illinois, which authorities say is safe at its home base, "in the hangar."

Searchers confess they are "at a loss" for an explanation. They have traced two other ELT signals in the area to planes which are accounted for at nearby airports.

With the search dragging into its second week, some survival experts have begun to doubt that the adventurer could have survived in the harsh desert conditions for so long. 

A ground crew still spent yet another night in tents and sleeping bags on Tuesday evening – hoping to intercept the radio voice and find it's origin in the rough Nevada back country. By Wednesday morning, they called off the ground search for the "ghost signal." The crew said that they had "exhausted all possiblities" there.

But the air search continued on Wednesday, with about 20 aircraft taking off around 10 a.m. local time hoping to find the adventurer in the rough Nevada back country.

WASHINGTON – About 15 relatives of 9/11 victims donned hard hats and safety vests Friday morning to tour the construction site of the new Pentagon Memorial Park, located about 165 feet west of the point of impact of American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the building during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The 2-acre park, due to be completed by Sept. 11, 2008, will consist of trees and memorial benches dedicated to each of the 184 victims killed in the attack. Each bench will sit over a pool of water.

"This is really hallowed ground," said Jim Laychak. "This is where we lost our loved ones." Laychak lost his brother Dave on 9/11.

"This is a special day for all the family members because it marks another step in the journey towards creating this great memorial," he said.

Laychak called the memorial a "labor of love."

"It's a labor of love for the families," he said. "It's a labor of love for the people who are working on this project."

Rosemary Dillard, who lost her husband Eddie that day, said she thinks about 9/11 all the time.

"And I wonder, does everybody else think about it?" she asked. "And I wonder, will everybody else remember that day?"

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England does. He was at the Pentagon on 9/11.

"It is very fitting and proper that we remember all those who were killed here that day with this memorial," he said.

Construction of the $22 million project, funded by private donations, began in June 2006 and is on schedule for completion a year from now.

MINDEN, Nev. -- Like the other two dozen pilots flying low and slow over the rough landscape of southern Nevada, John Morgan knows Steve Fossett. So, volunteering in this search is as natural as breathing.

"Oh, we're like a kind of brotherhood," said Morgan as he hugged a rugged canyon along the Walker River on Wednesday. "If he went down in this area, we could fly over it ten times and it would be tough to see."

VIDEO: Search continues for Fossett

Morgan is part of one of the biggest air searches in memory looking for traces of the small single-engine plane piloted by Fossett. The man who holds a fistful of aviation records took off from a near-by ranch Monday morning, and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

"I'd come out and help look for anyone in trouble, don't get me wrong. But helping another pilot is just something we do," said Morgan, who has known Fossett for more than 10 years. "He used to have a glider like mine, and we'd swap parts."

Hoping for the best
But as he slowed his Husky two-seater and squinted across a ravine in the steep Sierra Nevadas, the size of the task hits home. The search area is over 600 square miles and the wreckage of a small plane could be in an area the size of a basketball court. According to Maj. Cynthia Ryan of the Nevada Civil Air Patrol, it could take a week, even in ideal weather, to conduct a through search.

SLIDESHOW: Fossett's feats

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Five hundred miles away another pilot is following the news just as closely. Balloon pilot Merlin Sagon took Fossett on his first hot air balloon ride a dozen years ago. "Oh he loved it!" remembers Sagon. It was an experience that led Fossett to take balloon instruction from Sagon.

Now, as the hours continued mount since Fossett was last seen, Morgan re-fueled and headed back out to the search area. Sagon and the flying community can only hope for the best, "God, I hope he's okay."

Abilene – 117, El Paso – 568

So says the highway sign, an hour outside of Dallas. Those are miles by the way. I've got a long way to go.

I'm headed to Midland, then onto Alpine, Texas, on assignment for Nightly News. I've found it's just about the same time involved to drive or fly to this part of west Texas, and truth be told, I don't really mind the drive.

It affords a great opportunity to think. Nighttime on the road in west Texas is good for that.

The big hunt
I stopped for a cup of coffee in Big Spring, and when I came out of the truck stop, a trio of muddy pickup trucks had blocked my car.

Dove season just opened up in Texas, and this group of hunters had gathered to divide up their birds and head home.

They apologized for blocking in my car, and started to move them out of the way. No problem, I said, I'm not in that much of a hurry.

We started talking, I found out they were from Sweetwater, Texas. They showed me the birds they had shot. The 12-year-old (his first hunting season, he proudly proclaimed), showed me his new shotgun. It was a birthday present from his grandpa, who told me the kid was a dead shot out to about 50 yards and he had no trouble keeping up with the rest of the group – not bad for a kid his size, he added with a smile.

The group was related somehow – cousins, sons, in-laws, fathers, grandfathers. They said that the only reason the women in the family weren't around was because grandma's knees were bothering her, Aunt Linda was pregnant this year, and mom had left earlier in the day to go to work.

The 12-year-old also couldn't resist telling me, as only a 12-year-old could, that grandpa shot a rattlesnake. Sure enough, a rattlesnake carcass, peppered with #7 shot from a 12-gauge, was in the back of one of the trucks. The hide was to be sold to a boot maker, (it was a pretty big snake) and the 12-year-old was going to keep the head and the rattles. That is, according to grandpa, if mom said it was ok. They loaded up, and headed back east on I-20 toward home.

The long road
The roads out here deceive you. Some of them are straight as a surveyor's tape for 30 miles.

I've driven on some stretches of I-20 at 70 mph and not seen another car for an hour. But early in the morning, or at dusk, deer and antelope wander all over the place, and it's easy to come over a small hill and plow right into a herd of them. Road kill attracts huge turkey vultures, with wingspans of seven feet or more. Hit one of those going 70 miles and hour and it will pop your airbag, and make a mess no one wants to clean up.

I pulled into Midland, a little less than five hours after I left my house, and I saw another sign on the highway.

Odessa 25

El Paso 313

That's miles, of course.

West Texas is a very big place.