Appear to be taking something of a toll tonight, with 16 days to go now until the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics games in sochi, russia, while the modern olympics are a mosty Television Event and few get to attend the games in person, those who will attend, ranging from athletes to families and media and spectators are watching it closy as each day russia continues to promise a heavily defended fortress around these games. Our chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel has more from sochi. Reporter good evening, brian, we are now inside that fortress, inside the ring of steel around sochi. Today, the u. S. Olympic team confirmed that it had received a threatening email in broken english, warning athletes not to come here. The threat, however, is not considered credible. But it is getting some attention because there are Real Security concerns. Security in sochi is out in full force. Looking for trouble, before it happens. And hidden in the mountains, the russian army has deployed artillery and rockets to shoot down a 9 11style attack. In public, russian officials have expressed nothing but confidence. But they may be more concerned than they let on. Otherwise, why the discussions at highlevel u. S. Russia meetings about lending moscow hightech American Equipment to thwart remotely detonated bombs . But it is too late for that. U. S. Military officials tell nbc news they dont have enough time to install the antibomb technology before the games. So what exactly are the russians trying to protect . The olympic venues are spread out over two main sections. There is the coastal cluster around the black sea, built around a tight circle in the stadiums for the city, ice hockey. Nearby, nearby is the athletes village, the area is connected to a train station and airport. 30 miles away up a winding road is a mountain cluster, where the skiing events are spread out over slopes and valleys. Were now inside the coastal cluster, the park of olympic stadiums and it is not easy to get here. It took us two hours of having our bags checked and xrayed. You cant go anywhere without a badge. Weve seen Police Wearing portable weapon detectors. The area certainly feels tightly controlled. Still, all the talk about security threats has some american athletes and their families concerned. This freely freestyle skiers mother, carrie herman, is still coming. But she almost cancelled twice. I dont get a lot of confidence from the u. S. Government. They seem like they question whether or not the russians have a handle on this or not. Reporter family members of other athletes have said they are cancelling, in part because of security. Brian . Richard engel starting off our coverage from sochi, thank you, and for more on this, were joined in studio by michael lighter who served as director of the National CounterTerrorism Center under president bush and obama. Michael, we always assume and hope guys in your line of work know more than we do. Based on what you know, what is your degree of optimism and pessimism . Well, i am optimistic that the venues themselves, the closer you get to those venues, the official sites within sochi will be safe. Because the russians have done so much and theyre very hard targets. I am pesz ms. Pessimistic beyod the sites, places like volgograd, the mass transit leading to sochi that is vulnerable for the russians. Ill put it this way, forgive the personal terms, if your wife and children were ticketed to go to the olympics, how would you feel about that . I feel pretty good about that as long as they were staying in sochi, but if they were taking the train throughout russia, plak places like that are vulnerable. I think moving towards the olympics, the terrorists who probably launched that attack have every incentive to try to do so again. Are you at all optimistic about the cooperation between the u. S. And russia . Is it improving . I think it is better, especially after the Boston Marathon bombing. The russian and u. S. Officials have gotten closer to the fbi and their security services. That being said it is nothing like the cooperation we had in previous olympics, like london and vancouver. And that is making the u. S. Officials a little bit more nervous. Well talk later on that, michael lighter, thank you. And the russians are keeping a close eye on neighboring ukraine, where antigovernment protests exploded again today with a violent crack down by the government on the former soviet republic. At least two people were killed today. Parts of the capital city of kiev were turned into a war zone. We get our report from nbcs ayman mohyeldin. Reporter today, the streets of kiev became a battlefield. Riot police, shield and batons in hands, moving in to break up an antigovernment protest camp. After days of violent clashes, the fighting turned deadly. The first fatalities since these troubles began months ago. Police were seen beating protesters, firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. In the chaos, an orthodox priest stands between the two sides and prays. But the protesters were prepared. They fought back, throwing fire bombs at police who at times could barely be seen through the smoke. The protests began in december, when ukraines embattled president decided to abandon an economic deal with the european union. Instead, they want stronger ties with russia, who has consistently backed him. In kiev last month, the antigovernment protesters told us they were worry that the police would use violence to break up their peaceful protests. Tonight, their fears are a reality, as occupancy leaders warn crowds not to give up control of the square. Weeks of talks between the two have gone nowhere, and now, the fight for the future of kiev will now play out in the streets. Ayman mohyeldin. Nbc news. They had a meeting but that was about the only achievement today as members of the Syrian Government and the opposition both attended the start of what is billed as a peace conference in switzerland, along with delegates from 30 other nations. The opposition said the departure of president assad is the starting point for the talks, while the government said that is not happening, assad is staying. Assad is staying, more talks are scheduled for friday. In this country talking about the storm that blew through leaving a lot of snow tonight. Nbcs ron mott rode it out in long island, new york, good evening. Reporter hey, brian, good evening to you, as you can imagine trains are running a little slower today. Last nights commute, simply a mess, and now a better story. And now it is this bitter cold that has got everybodys attention. Tom canon has rolled out heat and relief for cold long islanders for more than 20 years. Tell me how the work is when the wind chill is five or ten below. You are going to think im crazy, but it doesnt really bother me, the cold. It is the snow that kills you, walking through it. Reporter with roads in much better shape than yesterday, canon was able to get heating oil into more homes, the cable guy out, as well. And both will likely be busier in coming days as the arctic front rips into the area. Now it is about the cold. Across the freeze zone, alltime records fell with the plunging mercury, five cities along the upper ohio valley rewrote history with the coldest january 22 on the books, several hitting double digits below zero. While it is plenty cold, there is plenty of snow. As much as 15plus inches in places, a record 13 inches in philadelphia, creating a dangerous mix with ice on new york city streets. Apples Flagship Store in manhattan sports a bruise. In a 32foot high panel, the result of a snow blowing incident. At Metlife Stadium hosting the super bowl in 11 days workers were digging out. Are you going to need help getting out of that . Reporter even the veteran Weather Channel operator mike seidel were involved. Some took to social media. To air frustrations from tuesdays slushy evening commute where some the trip home took nearly six hours. In new york city what is normally a half hour trip turned into nearly a five hour bus ride for one unlucky child. Now trains around new york city were on weekend schedules this week, and as you can see, one is now past due. More on this big area cold east of the mississippi. Al roker is here in the studio with us for that tonight. Good evening. Well, brian, thank you so much. Again, the polar vortex, the main parts are still up around the north pole, but little areas of clippers coming around this piece that is broken off will keep reinforcing this cold air. Look at what we expect tomorrow morning for overnight lows, international falls, 29 below, thursday morning, nine below in cleveland. 15 in roanoke, going all the way down to atlanta, 24, charleston, 29. And you can see by friday morning we get another big jolt, 13 in atlanta, four below in chicago, five in boston, seven in philadelphia. Four in international falls. Then we moderate for a bit on saturday so temperatures are not quite so bad. But then the next really strong jolt comes in. Atlanta, 21, by tuesday morning, look at atlanta, 19, cleveland, one below, boston, four, chicago, six below. International falls, the big winner or loser depending on how you look at it, brian. 25 below, and that will be our pattern for at least the next ten days. You had to know on a year that the super bowl falls on the same day as groundhogs day, it will be bad. Yes, we still have that to come in the jersey meadow lands, al roker, here with us, thank you as always and president obama called for new attention today on the. Problem of Sexual Assault on our college campuses. He announced the creation of a task force, pointing out sobering facts, one in five College Students sexually assaulted but only 12 of the victims reporting the attacks. Both the president and Vice President joe biden called on men to do more. I want every young man in america to feel some strong peer pressure. In terms of how they are supposed to behave and treat women. That starts before they get to college. Men have to step up to the bar here. Men have to take more responsibility. Men have to intervene. This new task force will have 90 days to recommend actions that colleges can then take to prevent Sexual Assault. Short distance from the white house on capitol hill, a huge turnout today in the bitter cold as thousands of antiabortion protesters took part in the annual march for life, calling for an end to legalize abortion, each year on the anniversary of the roe versus wade decision, the march starts on the mall and ends on the court steps, where the decision came down on this day 41 years ago. And still ahead for us tonight, how safe are some of the smallest and most heavily advertised cars on the road . The new crash tests are out and the results may worry a lot of drivers on the road. And later, a secret last edition, a hidden message that no one noticed until now. Some of the best known and most heavily advertised small cars in this country have performed miserably in a new round of crash tests. They all fall in the class of minisub compacts. We get our report from nbcs tom costello. Reporter the latest crash tests involving the smallest cars in the market did not go so well. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that none of the socalled minicars earned an overall good rating, and only the Chevrolet Spark earned a good score. Many cars are the worst performing group of any tested. Ten of them are in marginal or poor ratings for protection. Reporter at 40 miles an hour, the protection test measures how well a car holds up when the front corner collides with another vehicle or an object like a tree or a pole. Earning marginal scores, the mazda, the ford fiesta, earning poor scores, the mitsubishi, hyundai accent, nissan versa and honda fit. In nearly every car, the vehicle structure collapses, in some cases the dummies heads hitting on impact. I have a 2yearold daughter, and frankly we are very concerned about how protected we really are. Reporter of course, what makes the cars attractive, is theyre inexpensive, theyre easy to park and they get great gas mileage. But Safety Experts warn that could come with a tradeoff. In eight of the cars we tested, the air bags did deploy, but were too short to fully protect the head. Reporter many say their cars exceed or meet government standards, honda says the 2015 fit has been redesigned to fit the scores on the next test. As the Insurance Industry suggests new car shoppers consider buying bigger, heavier models. Tom costello, nbc news, washington. And a heads up on a potentially disturbing video, recorded by infrared cameras in aspen, colorado, on january 5th at the airport. Records the crash that killed the co pilot and injured two others. The pilott had aborted a previous attempt to land reporting winds at 33 knots. The twin engine challenger was coming from mexico. Well be right back with new places across the country where we all go to have fun that will get a visible increase in security. At the height of the snowstorm in washington, d. C. Yesterday and in 18 degree weather with blowing snow today, it is so important to remember the vigil goes on at the tomb of the unknowns at Arlington National cemetery. Just as it does every day around the clock, no matter the weather, going all the way back to 1937. A Damage Assessment for new jersey governor chris christie, the latest Rutgers University eagleton poll shows his favorability dropped 19 points, erasing the good will he built up, based on his handling of hurricane sandy. While most new jersey residents are skeptical that he knew nothing on the closure of the bridge in advance, most have a positive view of his performance in office thus far. Two reminders this week, the thus far. Changing times are bringing changes to our sporting events, by the 2015 sporting season, Major League Baseball will require all fans to go through a metal detector, just like going to the airport. Bag checks are already common a at most stadiums. And you may have heard this week the nfl is considering doing away with the pointafter on touchdowns, because to mix the metaphors, it has become a slam dunk for most places. And easily the strangest image of the day. Officials in south africa are asking two sculptors of the 30foot tall sculpture of Nelson Mandela to remove the bunny rabbit from mandelas right ear. They intended it to be a signature of their work since they were not allowed to carve their words anywhere on the massive statue. The massive figure was unveiled in september, and the hidden bunny was not noticed at first, the government wanted it removed without harming the statue. And when we come back, meet the american women who are about to take a big leap into the abyss at the Winter Olympics. Finally tonight, we all know by tonight that american skier lindsey vonn is out of the competition, but another athlete named lindsey van is a name well hear a lot about. We learned today that lindsey van is among those who will be representing team usa in womens ski jumping, it is a brandnew Olympic Event for women. It comes after the american fought a longhard battle just to compete. We get our report tonight from nbcs anne thompson. Reporter meet the first women on the ski jumping team, jessica jerome, reigning World Champion, sarah hendrickson, and lindsey van, the first World Champion and hendricksons mentor. I started jumping at the age of seven, just to be standing next to her in the Opening Ceremony is going to be the best feeling in the world. Reporter they are athletes and daredevils, soaring farther than the length of a football field, before coming to the pull of gravity. Women started to jump more than a century ago in skirts, but the International Olympic committee refused to let them in the game saying there were not enough female competitors. And as recently as 2005, the International Ski official questioned impact on womens bodies. It is like jumping down from two meters, on the ground a thousand times a year would seem not to be appropriate for ladies from the point of view. Reporter fed up, van and jerome joined other jumpers and sued for the right to compete in the 2010 vancouver games. They fell short, a painful memory van tries to swat away. Nothing, i got nothing. Are you done with it . Yeah, im done. All i remember from that is hating the fact that i was in court. We should have been home training. And we were not. That itself just sort of annoyed me. Reporter the ioc relented in 2011, but the fight united the women. And when hendrickson won the World Championship last year, van, jerome, and abbey hughes and Alyssa Johnson celebrated it as a victory for all. When they write the history of womens ski jumping, what do you hope is written about this period . You know i hope that they write that we did as much as we could for the sport. And we left it off better than we found it. Reporter charting a flight path for women to follow. Anne thompson, nbc news, park city, utah. That is our broadcast on a wednesday night. Thank you for joining us. Im brian williams, we of course hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. Good night. We are in shock, disbelief, were number. Were grieving, and please give us some time. Right now at 6 00, the police chief chokes up as he and officers try to understand what went wrong during investigation that ended when an officer shot and killed one of their own. Thanks for joining us. Im janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. Im raj mathai. New details about the tragic mistake. An officer killed by his longtime colleague. Were learning more about Sergeant Tom Smith and getting a clear picture of michael mays, the officer that shot him. We behind with Jodi Hernandez and the internal investigation, jodi . Reporter raj, it is very complex investigation. Tonight, we know what led officers to that dublin apartment, but we still do not know what happened inside that prompted a bart officer to pull the trigger. We are in shock, disbelief, were numb. Were grieving, and please give us some time. Reporter a visibly shaken chief ken ton rainy this morning identified the bart detective accidently shot and killed by a fellow officer as 42yearold tom smith, the head of the departments detective unit. Both professionally and personally, he wil