light the olympic flame. i got to sit down with the man himself over the weekend. you'll hear great insight into the cloak and dagger secrecy that kept the identity of the final torchbearer hidden from everyone but a handful of people. my interview with wayne gretzky in just a few months. once the flame was lit, the united states got right down to business in competition. apolo anton ohno won the first medal of these games on saturday night when he snatched a silver in the 1500 meter after a pair of south koreans collided ahead of him clearing the path for a medal. he was in fourth place at the time, looked like he was going to fall just outside metal contention. ohno won his sixth olympic medal tying speed skater bonnie blair for the most by a winter athlete. hannah kearney pulled an upset saturday night. she's from vermont but her mother is canadian. kearney saying afterwards being half-canadian, she just pretended all those cheers for canada were for her. how about a silver medal for the united states in nordic combined. you see this one? it combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing. that's america's first-ever medal in the event and it goes to a guy with a hell of a good name -- johnny spillane. congratulations, spillane. canadians were getting antsy about the lack of a gold medal during the first days of competition but last need that ended when alexandre bilodeau won a gold medal in freestyle moguls. there was a giant national exhale after bilodeau's win last night. the first gold is front page news across canada this morning. here's today's "globe and mail" hot off the press -- "gold comes home." by the way, american bryon wilson took bronze. despite all this stuff about the spirit of competition, today this is about us beating the crap out of the world. the gold has six, germany with four and france and canada with three each. we'll have an update on lindsey vonn's shin injury. bad weather up in the mountains behind me has actually been great news for her. i'm semi-awake right now because i'm contractually obligated to be, but what's your excuse? shoot me an e-mail. let me know why you're awake or do what johnny spillane does, text the word "awake" followed by your response to 622639. we'll read your responses later in the show. we'll get back to the olympics in a minute. but first, the united states military is apologizing to afghanistan's leadership after a rocket attack on sunday reportedly killed 12 civilians. it comes as nato forces pushed deeper into taliban territory on the third day of their biggest offensive since the war began in 2001. some 15,000 foreign and afghan troops are streaming into the town of marjah where they face hidden mines, bombs and sporadic gun battle. at least two coalition troops have been killed so far in the offensive. well, terrorism and national security dominating the political debate this morning following the latest back-and-forth between vice president joe biden and his predecessor, dick cheney. in separate appearances on sunday, the two sparred over e obama administration's decision to try the 9/11 mastermind in civilian court and to give the alleged christmas day airline attacker miranda rights provided under the united states justice system. >> let me choose my words carefully here. dick cheney's a fine fellow. he's entitled to his own opinions. he's not entitled to rewrite history. he's not entitled to his own facts. the christmas day bomber was treated the exact way that he suggested that the shoe bomber was treated -- absolutely the same way. dick cheney is a fine fellow. but he is not entitled to rewrite history without it being challenged. i don't know where he has been. where was he the last four years of the last administration? >> proper way to deal with it would have been to treat him as an enemy combatant. i think that was the right way to go. the thing i learned from watching that process unfold though was that the administration really wasn't equipped to deal with the aftermath of an attempted attack against the united states in the sense that they didn't know what to do with the guy. >> he's a "fine fella." the father of the late georgian luger who was killed on friday tells nbc news his son was scared about the speed of the track but said he would still race it because he was there to go as fast as he could. this comes amid a "wall street journal" report that says prior to the crash, the international luge federation had discussed the dangers posed to athletes by the sport's increasing speed. this track here in vancouver thought to be among the fastest, if not the fastest, in the world. although members considered limiting speeds to 85 miles per hour on future courses, the changes would not have applied to the track at whistler where the 21-year-old georgian died. although officials blame human error in the crash, they have raised the wall around the course and altered the starting location to slow them down just a little bit. well, police continue their investigation into a neuro scientist accused of opening fire on co-workers friday at the university of alabama in huntsville. there is speculation the suspect, amy bishop, was upset she had been denied tenure. three people were killed in the shooting. another three injured. following the incident, reports surfaced that in 1986, bishop killed her 18-year-old brother with a shotgun when she said it accidentally discharged. "the new york times" is reporting that seven years later, she and her husband were questioned in a bomb plot against a harvard professor. in kansas, officials say whiteout conditions caused by sudden snowstorms triggered a 40-car pile-up on interstate 70. look at these pictures. later that day, there was another 30-car pile-up on nearby interstate 35. hard to believe, no one was killed in either of these accidents. and two former olympic champions are recovering this morning after their van was rear-ended while riding in vice president joe biden's motorcade. figure skater peggy fleming and former bobsled champ zinetta flowers were hospitalized with minor injuries. officials say poor road conditions may have triggered the accident. when we come back here on "way too early," live at the winter games, we'll have an update for you on that nasty shin injury that looked for a while like it might keep the united states' best skier out of the olympics. the strange weather here is helping lindsey vonn's cause. we'll explain why. plus, wayne gretzky agreed, for some reason, to sit down with me for an interview. he talks about carrying that olympic torch on its final leg and about the lengths he went to to keep his role in the opening z ceremony a secret from his own family. a great conversation with "the great one" when we come back live to vancouver. host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: is ed "too tall" jones too tall? host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: does a ten-pound bag of flour make a really big biscuit? [ wind howling ] [ male announcer ] when you have sensitive skin... ♪ ...a lot of things can really irritate your face... shaving shouldn't be one of them. gillette fusion power has five blades with an anti-friction coating that shave with incredible comfort, so your skin looks and feels great, until the next game. fusion. proven performance even on sensitive skin. ♪ welcome back to "way too early." you're looking at live pictures of the olympic flame. want to get you some more updates on the latest at the olympics. lindsey vonn, the skier who just last week said she might miss the olympics all together with a terrible shin injury, well, she's lucked out. the weather has been so bad up there at whistler mountain about 2 1/2 hours from here, she's actually got ton rest because they canceled practice sessions. her first race won't be until wednesday now. she went through a rigorous training session yesterday. it was the toughest test yet for that bruised right shin. her husband and coach says the two-time overall world champion no longer worries about whether or not she'll be able to compete. that's good news. the first women's alpine race will be pushed back later this week. the women are slanot slated to e until wednesday's downhill. the united states women's hockey team got off to a great start facing off against china. all america in this game, china not really with a chance. they went up with this goal 8-0. went on to win 12. 1, did t 12-1, the united states. the great one, wayne gretzky, rode in a pick-up truck all the way to this location with the torch. this is the second olympic flame. he went down, he touched it and it lit up and a nation rejoiced. for whatever reason wayne gretzky over the weekend decided to sit down with me to talk about that big night. >> next, and last, who else could it possibly be? "the great one." >> put the opening ceremony in the context of your career. the nhl titles, the mvp, hall of fame. where does it sit? >> it's way up there. because you know, playing in the city of edmondton and winning championships is such an honor, but the thing is that it's one city and there's one group of fans and that's your team. and to be part of team canada and to be in this country, just to be part of the opening ceremonies is something really special. when we walked in the green room for the first rehearsal and saw the four of us standing in there that were going to be part of this, we with all so excited for each other. it is one of the great moments of your lifetime. >> put it in some perspective what it is like to be the last one though. we reserve that for the biggest icons in our country. we had muhammad ali do it in atlan atlanta. what's it like to be "the one" that's chosen? >> it was pretty overwhelming the first night they told me because i really wasn't told until late thursday night, or early friday morning exactly what was going to happen. so when i was told, i was a little taken aback. the other side of it was i was just so happy to be with those other four people, being with rick and steve, of course, and nancy green and katrina. we were all just thrilled to be part of that. but when they told me you're going to run out of the stadium, jump in a truck and run down to light the cauldron that's going to be outside. i was like, wow, this is pretty overwhelming, pretty overpowering. >> can you speak at all to the secrecy? you said last night you'd known since october. how did you keep that secret? >> it was relatively easy because i got the call. i was actually having lunch in california when i got the call from john furlong, one of the organizers of the games here in vancouver. one thing he said to me was, there's going to be four of you. i said, great, that's great. i said i don't want to know who the other three are. he said if it leaks out and you tell anybody, we're going to pull you and you'll be replaced. so that was incentive enough. so right until the very, very end, the only person that really knew was my wife. other than that, i didn't tell my kids. i didn't tell my dad, my brothers. nobody knew. i had friends calling me. you know what? it was such a privilege to be just part of it. and by the end, it wasn't a matter of keeping a secret. it was more like, they're really going to enjoy this when they see us five come out. >> let's talk hockey a little bit. can you handicap the tournament for us? who are you watching? who are the favorites? who's canada most worried about? >> i think it wouldn't be a stretch to say that canada, russia are probably rated one, two. you can take them in any particular order. obviously when you have two of the best players in the game in the game matching up, it makes for a great game. the best thing that can happen with this tournament and the olympic games is for the united states to have a great tournament. for those players who come in here, they're a younger team, they won't be under as much pressure as the canadian or the russian team. the best thing that could happen for this event would be a canada/u.s. championship game. that would be great for the game of hockey. >> even without that game though, can you just speak, wayne, to what this means to this country? having these games here, the build-up and the excitement? >> yeah. i think one of the things that people around the world maybe don't understand is how the flow and the energy of ice hockey carries the weight of everything else. so by that, i mean the success of the hockey team makes everyone happy, and that trickles down to helping downhill skiing, helping curling, helping speed skating, helping figure skating. so everybody sort of rides that coat tail of that ice hockey team, saying, man, if you have a good tournament, everybody's going to benefit from this and everybody's going to be happy. >> i asked wayne gretzky about that nervous moment during the opening ceremony where the fourth hydraulic flame didn't go up, they had earpieces in and were told to smile. my thanks top wayne gretzky. when we come back, much more on the olympics. plus at the top of the hour, the blow by blow from sunday morning's vice presidential debate, biden and cheney. they weren't in the same room but they managed to mix it up anyway. is the obama administration dead-wrong in its handling of suspected terrorists? dick cheney thinks so. plus, we'll huddle around the water cooler to break down sarah palin's day at the daytona 500. she called nascar's biggest race a good, patriotic event, as opposed to the bad commi event taking place here at vancouver. after the break, jason priestly known best for his role as brandon on beverly hills 90210. for your dedicated service as a waiter at the peach pit, for dating your on-screen sister brenda in real life, you, jason priestly, are a great canadian. 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[ male announcer ] when you compare, there's no comparison. at&t. a better 3g experience. buy any smartphone after mail-in rebate and get any messaging phone free after mail-in rebate. welcome back to vancouver. beautiful live picture of the olympic flame burning on day four of the olympics, this 17-day competition. it was a big weekend with united states speed skating with apolo anton ohno and j.c. celski taking hoemt sime the silver an bronze. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that the united states has won its most gold medals in speed skating with a total of 27. that's followed by figure skating with 13, and alpine skiing with 10. let's gather around the olympic flame here and get into some of your water cooler stories. the all-new "we are the world" video came out over the weekend with every conceivable musician participating and some of them, frankly, inconceivable. it debuted during the opening ceremony here on nbc friday night. look at that crowd. everyone who has ever had a recording contract apparently participated in this event. they even super imposed michael and janet jackson into the piece. let's listen to a little of "we are the world." this is definitely the 2010 edition. ♪ we are the world we are the children ♪ ♪ we are the ones who make a brighter day so let's start giving ♪ there's a choice we're making we're saving our own lives ♪ ♪ it's true we'll make a better day just you and me ♪ >> other sporting events going on, believe it or not, outside the city of vancouver -- yesterday nascar's biggest race of the year, the daytona 500. guess who was there? former alaska governor sarah palin stopping by. race though not without its bumps in the road. potholes had to be fixed twice during the race, which i don't see all that often in a nascar race. sarah palin said, by the way, she was not there to make any kind of a political statement. she says she was having fun not thinking about the politics of this. she did say, "it's an all-american event, good, patriotic, wonderful event that's bringing a whole lot of people together. i think it's good for the country." she said it is events like this that bring americans together. well, i don't know why we're showing you this, but we are. how did octomom celebrate valentine's day? i knew you were going to ask me that, so here it is. on his friday show, jimmy kimmel invited nadia suleiman, known better as the octomom, to participate in a special version "the dating game." let's watch. >> bachelor number three, say a toddler comes up to you and kicks you in the shin, what would you do? >> i'd be happy because i like kids. kids are fun. >> suppose i suddenly put on a lot of weight. how would you handle it? >> i think you'd be okay. >> bachelor number three, greg, come on out here and meet the octomom! >> congratulations, greg. you know what dudes love? crazy chicks with eight kids. that's going to be a nice relationship for the two of them. now, if you like munk brawls. we know you do. these are munks fighting in kosovo. this is inside a monastery looking more like a boxing ring. it was a power struggle, an argument within the church. rival supporters of the two sides of the diocese of the serbian monastery just going to town on each other. you just hate to see that kind of fighting among munks. but for some reason about every three or four months we see it. still ahead here on "way too early," live from vancouver, while you're awake. the spirit of the games is oozing from your texts and e-mails. we'll read them next. "morning joe" back in new york city is now just moments away. be good to your heart? so is campbell's healthy request soup. low in fat and cholesterol, heart healthy levels of sodium, and taste you'll love. guy: mmmm! chef: we're kind of excited about it. announcer: campbell's healthy request. oh, just come snuggle with momma! missing something? now at sears optical, get 2 pairs of glasses for $99.99. with bifocals just $25 more per pair. sears optical. don't miss a thing. . welcome back to "way too early." live from vancouver. top stories on msnbc.com, led by peggy fleming and vinetta flowers injured in a motorcade of joe biden. they were treated at a hospital and released. it is 5:30 on the east coast, it's 2:30 where i'm standing. our producer pete breen has some e-mails. >> leonard writes, "i was at work when the hockey game originally aired great game from the u.s. women." >> the game was on just before us here. they clobbered china. but not as baddy as the c dly a women. they won yesterday 18-0. >> dave writes, "i haven't gone to bed yet. enjoying the winter olympics with some fine scotch." >> i haven't been to bed yet either. i'm enjoying the winter olympics with some bourbon. at least we're both in the whiskey family. >> christopher -- i'm awake because i'm drinking trying not to think about past memories. unfortunately i don't have a valentine this year. but fortunately, a hell of a lot of other people don't either." >> that's depressing. he's drinking alone watching "way too early" thinking about next year's valentine. hang in there and keep drinking. my thanks to wayne gretzky for his team. you'll hear more of my conversation with him on "morning joe" which starts right now. he's factually, substantively wrong on the major criticisms he is asserting. why he's insisting on that, he either is misinformed or he is misinforming. but the facts are that his assertions are not accurate. look, it's one thing to be outspoken. it's another thing to be outspoken in a way that misrepresents the facts, and i guess, again,