It is already tonight a storm that stretches from the southern tip of florida up to nova scotia, and at its core, which is a moving target right now, its dumping a ton of misery on several states. The timing of this storm could not be worse because of what it does on the ground and in the air to the business of getting around. 700 flight delays already, and this storm is just getting started. The satellite picture of the nation from space shows the expanse of it. Tomorrow is the busiest travel day of the year. 43 million americans on the move. And while the storm is churning in the eastern part of the country, its effects, of course, will be felt all over. Its where we begin our coverage again tonight. Nbcs tom costello is out in it in pittsburgh tonight. Good evening. Reporter hi, brian. In fact, in this area we used to have or did have snow earlier today. Now weve got just the bonechilling extreme rain and cold out here. You mentioned the delays. A hundred Flight Cancellations nationwide. We flew in today from atlanta, and we can tell you that it was a little bit of a rough go, and across the country everybody is struggling today. At the worlds Busiest Airport in atlanta, a cold driving rain made for a miserable day on the ramp for robert cotton. You have to dress in layers. You never know how long youre going to be outside. Reporter inside, a rush of activity and just a handful of delays and cancellations. Were going to fly today atlanta to pittsburgh through the weather. Well see how it goes. As the rain picked up, my flight was among those delayed. I do apologize for this delay, and i hope to get you out of here and get you on to your holiday as quickly as possible. Reporter waiting at the gate with me, stacy danko, trying to get home to youngstown. The flight coming here was delayed from texas. Our crew is coming from memphis, which is delayed. Reporter but the wait didnt last long. Total delay in atlanta about 90 minutes. Now headed for pittsburgh. Trading the rain in atlanta for a winter landscape on approach into pittsburgh. The airport blanketed by about an inch of snow. Never been this bad. We travel from school every year like this. Never this bad. Reporter further north in michigan, a sheet of icy led to a multivehicle accident near flint closing i75 for several hours. Near whitehall, a dashboard cam caught this truck jackknifing and barely missing an alreadystopped car. Near roanoke drivers were met with ice a quarter inch thick. While on long island in new york, trooper frank bendario has seen this before. A holiday rush and treacherous roads. Its just going to be twice as congested, i would assume. And then factor in the weather and the flooding, its probably going to create a lot of traffic and very slow going. Reporter and still 36 hours till thanksgiving morning. Yeah, the folks in new york and pennsylvania bracing for a lot of snow and a lot of rain. Interestingly, i heard from quite a few parents concerned about their kids driving back from college. Yet another thing to be concerned about. Brian . Absolutely. Tom costello starting us off from pittsburgh, thanks. I want to take a look at live pictures from i90 up in buffalo where they dont scare easily in winter. So the traffic is moving along, but we talk about the northern reaches of this storm. Theyre expecting 8 to 12 inches of snow before its all over. Tonight meteorologist janice huff has been kind enough to join us to look at where this is going and whats in store. Janice, i understand the winds on the back end are going to make for kind of a second wave of flight problems. Reporter exactly. And thats going to come behind this system. The winds ahead of this system may gust up to 60 miles an hour in the northeast along the coastline. Wind, rain, snow and now even the potential for tornadoes from myrtle beach down to jacksonville and from tallahassee to tampa, florida, tonight, causing delays up and down the eastern seaboard. So our computer forecast model will track it through tonight. Its mainly rain from new york city down to washington, d. C. On the back edge is that snow band you spoke about that will produce anywhere from 8 to 12 inches maybe up to 18 inches of snow across portions of lake ontario. Here it is 6 00 a. M. Wednesday and were still seeing big delays from new york city up to new england and more heavy rain moving through the region. It starts to taper off around 6 00 in the evening on wednesday, but the damage likely to be done by then because the storms duration and how large it is too. Potential for rainfall, 2 to 4 inches. There are flood advisories in effect as well. 6 to 12 inches of snow maybe even more than that, up to 18 inches over the leeside of the lakes in upstate new york that extends back into portions of ohio as well as pennsylvania. And in terms of wind gusts, right around 8 00 thursday morning were talking about gusts between 35 and 45 miles an hour from boston down to new york city. And of course the big thanksgiving day parade is going to happen here in new york city on thursday. And theres a threshold in terms of the winds. And it will be very, very close. Macys will let everyone know whether those large balloons will fly, but definitely by thanksgiving day the weather is a lot calmer across the country. We cant wait for that. Hopefully everybody will be where they need to be by then. Janice huff in the Weather Center will keep an eye on all of it. Janis, thanks. In other news, obama care is back at the Supreme Court. This time the question is about religion and whether this new Health Care Law can require companies to offer contraceptives. Our justice correspondent Pete Williams joins us from our Washington Bureau tonight with this latest challenge to the law. Pete, good evening. Reporter brian, good evening. The Supreme Court has already ruled that corporations have free speech rights. Now it has agreed to take up a big question it has never answered before. Do private companies also have freedom of religion . The oklahoma family that owns the hobby lobby with more than 550 arts and Crafts Stores nationwide employing 13,000 people says the company is founded on religious principles. We believe wholeheartedly that it is by gods grace and provision that hobby lobby has been successful. Therefore, we seek to honor him in all that we do. Reporter but the company says providing Insurance Coverage for contraceptive measures like the morningafter pill is the equivalent of paying for abortion, violating its religious freedom. A similar claim comes from a pennsylvania woodworking Company Owned by a mennonite family. But does a company even have freedom of religion . The lower courts are divided. Everybody agrees that some organizations and companies have to have some religious freedoms. Take a church, take a religious hospital. The question we dont know is how far does that go . Does it go to a craft store that happens to have religious owners . Reporter religious institutions including churches and other nonprofits have won exemptions from the requirement to provide contraceptive coverage, but forprofit Companies Face stiff fines if they fail to comply. Freedom of religion is more than what you have in your head, and when you go to a church service. Its where you work, your family and your whole life. Thats exactly what the framers of the constitution had in mind to start out. Reporter defending the law, the Obama Administration says nearly half of all pregnancies in the u. S. Are unintended costing health care 5 billion a year. And womens groups say access to contraceptives is not just about birth control. All contraceptives can reduce the risk of Ovarian Cancer by up to 50 . Given that we have very few weapons against Ovarian Cancer, this is one thats very important for women. Reporter the court will probably hear this case in late march with a decision some time before the end of june. Brian . Pete williams in our d. C. Newsroom tonight. Pete, thanks. Overseas in afghanistan, the deal for what happens after u. S. Combat troops leave next year is suddenly on very shaky ground tonight. Afghanistans President Hamid karzai upping the ante now, making new demands in a meeting with National Security adviser susan rice, saying he needs more concessions to let american troops stay in his country even on a noncombat basis. Deal or no deal, the Americans Still on the ground are in a tough spot preparing to come home with so much work still ahead. Our chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel has our report tonight from Forward Operating base gamberi in eastern afghanistan. Richard, good evening. Reporter good evening, brian. This deal does seem to be in jeopardy. And for american troops on outposts like this one and others like it, its personal. They and their families are trying to determine whether American Forces will still have to deploy to this country in the future or whether the war in afghanistan will truly be over next year. Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division lock and load and roll out, heading down to what may be the most chaotic border in the world. The crossing to pakistan. Only about half the people in trucks are screened at all. This is supposed to be one of the main routes out of afghanistan for tons and tons of american supplies, but sometimes the pakistanis close this Border Crossing to u. S. Equipment. Its closed right now. Other times its just too dangerous. There was a Suicide Attack here a few days ago. Captain kevin bolt is responsible for monitoring the crossing and worries what might happen if theres no u. S. Presence and the afghan troops hes training arent ready to handle it. We definitely want to make sure we get the most out of the time and blood and sweat spent in afghanistan. Reporter Major GeneralJames Mcconville from the 101st airborne is the commander of about 10,000 troops in eastern afghanistan. He took us on a chopper ride to show progress. We flew over bases mcconville has shut down. The general from boston ran 58 last spring. Its down to 13 now. The rest transferred to the afghan army and police. We landed at one run by an afghan general. He told us his forces are still dependent on mcconville for a whole lot. We need further air support. We need further training. We need intelligence reports. Reporter when does that final parenthesis go on the war . It opened 2001. It closes when . I dont know. I dont really know when the actual end is. What i know is were on a positive path. A positive trend right now for the afghans having really a true opportunity for a future. Reporter but no u. S. afghan deal means mcconville and the general and the tens of thousands of men they command are in limbo. Afghanistans future and the legacy of americas longest war are now open questions. Analysts here say karzai is probably negotiating, but he also risks losing the most powerful backer this country has ever had. Brian . Richard engel live from afghanistan for us tonight. Richard, thank you. Still ahead for us this evening, secret agents. A plot right out of homeland, a name from the beatles and a real life thriller exposed. And later, hold the phone. Who is that on the other end of the butterball hot line . Its the kind of thing we never know about while its happening because were not allowed to, but tonight we are learning more about a secret area at Guantanamo Bay called penny lane where after 9 11 the cia took a sizable risk. We get more on the story from our chief Foreign Affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. Reporter hidden only a few hundred yards from the guantanamo prisons Administrative Offices a top secret compound of cottages now abandoned, but ten years ago, following 9 11, code named penny lane. An ironic allusion to the beatles song just as gitmo was code named strawberry fields. In fact, what went on at penny lane was more like homeland than a magical mystery tour. Its not a trial. Its a quick execution youre facing here. Youll be tortured first. Ill tell you everything you want to know, chapter and verse, but i cant go back. You will do both. No, i wont. Yes, you will. No, i wont reporter just as in the tv series, the cia tried to turn hard core guantanamo detainees into Double Agents and infiltrate them back into al qaeda. It would be irresponsible for the cia or other intelligence organizations not to use these detainees to help protect the United States against future attacks. And that might well include using these operatives as future agents to disrupt other attacks. Reporter the prisoners were enticed with penny lanes special accommodations. Real beds and mattress, private kitchens and showers, even pornography for those who asked, and they were paid millions of dollars from a secret account code named pledge. But there was always a threat that once back home, they would turn back again into terrorists and attack the u. S. I think it was a very ill conceived program for them to think that because these are some very hard core individuals and many of whom have been released by both administrations have gotten back in to fight us and our allies, unfortunately. Reporter former Officials Say the cia even considered sending some pakistani former guantanamo prisoners back to the u. S. On student visas to help track down a u. S. Terror cell. That idea was apparently dropped and theres no evidence that any of this ever worked. By 2006 the entire project was abandoned. Penny lane remains. Eight overgrown cottages a testament to the desperate mindset after 9 11. Andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. Were back in just a moment with something we said here on the air last night that got a response from earth orbit. Z z cbs news announced today its imposing a leave of absence on 60 minutes correspondent lara logan and her producer Max Mcclellan after their reporting on benghazi was revealed to be wrong and based on a witness who lied. An internal cbs news report says that was knowable before the piece aired. And msnbc and alec baldwin have had what theyre calling a mutual parting of the ways. Up late with alec baldwin on msnbc has gone to bed early. It lasted only five episodes and is no more. Baldwin received a raft of bad publicity after a tirade and some subsequent runins with paparazzi. Pope francis is getting a lot of attention tonight for the Mission Statement he issued for the Catholic Church hed like to see in the future. It was a kind of summary of a lot of things hes been saying lately. He writes that the church must reform itself and pay more attention to the poor. He also wrote the church must, quote, abandon the complacent attitude that says we have always done it this way. Notably, he does go on to make clear the Church Doctrine on issues like abortion will not change. Elsewhere on the popes schedule this week was a meeting with Vladimir Putin who we should note showed up to meet the pope 50 minutes late. Back in this country, environmental officials are conducting a Damage Assessment after a towboat carrying 100,000 gallons of fuel sank in the Mississippi River after striking something in the water along the way. Its now leaking fuel into the water. A stretch of river in eastern iowa is closed to barge traffic while they try to figure out how bad this leak is and how to contain it. Because we had reason to believe they would be watching us, last night on this broadcast we asked the crew of the International Space station to do us a big favor and to try to take a picture of a house in australia as they fly overhead at 17,000 miles an hour, give or take. And it looks like theyre going to try to oblige. Today the nasa Flight Engineer on board the space station replied to us on twitter, quote, that is a tough picture to take, but we will give it a try. The house in question is the Guinness Record holder for the most Christmas Lights at just over half a million. So we naturally figured it would be visible from space. And we couldnt help but notice, using one of the many International Space station web trackers that our loftiest viewers have flown over australia tonight since weve been on the air. So our hopes are high. Well, she was born the daughter of hippies 43 years ago this coming thursday. So please join us in wishing happy thanksgiving, a happy birthday, and a happy thanksgiving. Her name is happy thanksgiving because hippies just used to think that way and because otherwise she would have been named tracy or something more conventional. When we come back here tonight, a thanksgiving first. Real men talking turkey. Finally here tonight, it was 150 years ago today that president lincoln signed a proclamation marking a national day of thanksgiving. And ever since then, turkeys have been scared and, in the days since the invention of the phone, people have been calling the butterball hot line. This year there is something new you might notice on the other end of the line. And we get that story tonight from nbcs kevin tibbles. Reporter folks, if your turkeys still in the freezer, youre in big trouble, but dont panic. Talk turkey. Butterball turkey hot line. How can i help you . Reporter for years theres been a helpful voice on the other end of the line to deal with turkeytastrophies. Carol millers been doing it since the early days. Since 1984. If you do that math, its like 29 years. I was a sweet babe, though. Reporter this year butterball has decided its high time someone else answered the phone too. Butterball turkey talk line. This is r. J. How can i help you . Reporter yes, a man. Men dont just do the carving any more. Butterball says 42 of them play a role in cooking turkeys, too. Whats a typical male caller say aside from help . First of all, you got to tal. Whats a typical male caller say aside from help . First of all, you got to talk them down. You got to talk them off the ledge of turkey crisis. Theres really no crisis that we cant handle here. Used to be just women and an occasional guy would call. Now we have about 25 of our callers are male. Reporter but before ladling up the advice, you have to show your stuffing at butterball university. Teacher, how many different ways are there to cook a turkey . Many, many, many, many different ways. Reporter my favorite, of course, is grandmas way, in the oven, golden brown, a work of art. Here everyone has their Cooking Skills tested too. I thought the guy was just there to cut the meat. Well, theres nothing wrong with being the carver, but many men are actively involved with the food preparation, the actual roasting of the turkey, the side dishes. Were in changing times, kevin. Reporter although when it comes to turkey, some things never change. Isnt that looking great . Reporter thats delicious. Get your hands off of there. Reporter now thats a thanksgiving tradition. Apparently tasting isnt for a couple more days. Kevin tibbles, nbc news, naperville, illinois. And that is our broadcast for this tuesday of thanksgiving week. Thank you for being here with us. Im brian williams. We hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. Good night. Good evening and thank you for joining us. Im jessica. And im raj mathai. And three accidents in san jose in the last 48 hours. Two have died. This is one of the deadliest years on record for pedestrians in the bay areas biggest city. The most recent happened last night on monterey road. The other two on sunday. Now police are trying to determine if anything anyone could have done to prevent these accidents. Chris is joining us from san jose. Reporter hi there, raj. Police say the investigators will look at things like lighting and other conditions, speed, whether drugs and alcohol were a factor. But as far as the accident that left a 14yearold girl here in the hospital, if speed was a factor they would not be surprise. Theres twothirds of a mile between stoplights and in between are two schools and a youth center but just two crosswalks. He says hes lucky his cars were unoccupied the two times they were totalled by people coming by. Ive seen a lot of close calls. On sunday night something did happen. A 14yearold High School Freshman was struck by a mini van across from the school. Police say the girl was talking on her cell phone as she crossed the dark roadway. This year 24 pedestrians have been killed by cars, the most i