0 >> i've only seen it worse once than this in my life. i've been driving for 37 years. >> you try to change lanes and you're going sideways. >> well, hundreds of storm-related accidents have been reported since friday. some people are making the best of the situation. look at this woman. she's from indiana. fun aside, though, this storm remains very serious. so where is it going to be at its worst? let's go to the weather channel's dr. greg postel. >> thanks, alex. we're dealing with a wide variety of winter weather across the northeast today. it's going to be transitioning from snow to sleet to freezing rain and then over to rain. let's have a look at the forecast and show you how it all times out. beginning at about 2:00 this afternoon, you can see a burst of snow moving northeast from maryland into new jersey. by 7:00 tonight, should be snowing in new york. perhaps philly will be on the border between snow and freezing rain and sleet. that would be the pink shade. d.c. likely by then will be over to sleet and freezing rain and maybe even all rain later on tonight. as we move this forward through the early morning hours, say about 6:00 in the morning, there's good news here. we're going to see some warmer air work its way back into the picture, and that means that the i-95 corridor likely from d.c., trenton, philly, new york, all the way up through southern new england should be rain, wet, not icy or snow covered. so that's good news. if you can just delay a little bit your travel plans in the morning, i think it will be a lot safer. as we move forward through the morning hours, you can see this winter storm continues to move off toward the northeast and bring heavy amounts of snow into the adirondacks and the mountains of western maine. boston, by 2:00 in the afternoon tomorrow, should be rain. here are the impacts as we roll through them. this is essentially what it looks like. it transitions all the way from snow to rain as we move through the afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow. this is how it's all going to end up, i think, by tomorrow. there's the rain for us. the wintry mix and the snow confined to northern new england. back to you. >> okay, dr. greg postel. thanks so much for that. well, the snow is piling up in the nation's capital at this hour. let's go to nbc's kristen welker. how bad is it going to get there, and could this affect the president's plans today? >> well, alex, we're expected to get about 1 to 2 inches. the snow just starting to stick here at the white house. it certainly does look beautiful. president obama actually has a pretty packed day for a sunday. that's because the kennedy center honors are tonight. but alex, the show must go on. at this point, no plans to interrupt that because of the weather. the president and first lady are going to hold a reception here at the white house a little bit later on this evening for some of those award recipients, including billy joel, carlos santana as well as shirley mcclain. big names expected here despite the snow. of course, the broader message is if you don't have to go out in this weather, don't go out. because it is starting to come that. >> i certainly hope as part of it that the negotiators will take to heart what the president had to say. there are working families across america that are struggling. there are unemployed families who need a helping hand. we've got to protect and preserve the safety net in america and give these working families a fighting chance. >> so alex, of course there you have republican rob portman, democrat dick durbin. and you heard senator durbin talking about unemployment insurance. that is still the main sticking point. democrats, the president want unemployment insurance extended for 1.3 million americans. that's expected to expire at the end of the year. they say if that's not continued, it would be bad for those workers and also bad for the economy. republicans say look at these latest job figures. they're an indication that we don't need more stimulus spending. but the key there, alex, is that democrats are not demanding that be a part of a budget deal. so that likely won't derail these budget talks. it's possible that we won't have a crisis situation here in do have to test is the y at we can resolve this issue diplomatically. >> and the president made those comments while participating in a think tank panel on saturday. now to the incredible outpouring of emotion and worship in south africa today. millions of people, regardless of their race, color, or religion, unified in prayer, song, and remembrance in honor of nelson mandela. today's national day of prayer and reflection marks the beginning of a week-long program of mourning in his memory. let's go right now to nbc's michelle koh zin ski, who's in the middle of it all. michelle, a good evening your time. what are we seeing? >> reporter: hi, alex. right here this was a fence lined with some flowers outside the mandela property. now it has become several large hills full of flowers lined with people. you can imagine in churches around the world today mandela was mentioned. here today people were basically encouraged to do their own thing, to reflect on the melgszage of this champion of freedom. but in enormous numbers, people felt much better gathering together, includingmembers of mandela's family. it had the feeling of a sunday revival. here a few hundred gathered in a tent at mandela's offices, anything but quietly reflective, full of joy. >> we don't mourn quiet. we need to celebrate. we need to celebrate his life. >> reporter: the gospel choir that performed so many times for mandela in life, felt his loss. >> he will come and be telling us to feel at ease, how much he loves us. >> reporter: there were many services today that winnie mandela and the south african president attended. one of mandela's closest friends and advisers. last time they met, they held hands in the hospital. >> i left from him knowing he won't be long with us. >> reporter: the national grief made lighter day by day in celebration of that powerful legacy. the scene out here today has been absolutely jubilant. more people than we've seen so far. even though it's dark, it's been raining, they just keep coming. these gatherings have been happening all over the place. down in cape town this morning, in fact, some of those hard-core surfers down there made a big circle in the water, sitting on their board, and joined hands in tribute. one of them described it in one word, goosebumps. alex? >> oh, i love that story. that is great. may i ask you, michelle, about -- there's the memorial service and the funeral. the memorial service is tuesday. that is the one where you're going to have world leaders and potentially the largest gathering of world leaders in modern history, correct? so all the preparations for that, they've got to be huge. >> reporter: yeah, enormous. and they're not letting us into too many details of what it's going to be about. but you know it has to be on the scale befitting this outpouring that extends well beyond johannesburg. it's going to be in a stadium that seats some 94,000 people. that was the scene of the world cup back in 2010. that was the last time mandela made a public appearance. he got this enormous ovation really. it was just this thundering hello and good-bye, since many people didn't really know at the time that would be the last time they would see him out. so this is going to be something enormous. then on the 15th will be the state funeral in his remote hometown. it's really unclear how many world leaders will attend that as well. we know the white house hasn't given out all the details yet, but it's possible that president and mrs. obama will be there too. alex? >> okay, michelle kosinski. thank you. the program that one member of congress called this morning the jetsons come to life. so what is that, that resembles a cartoon? and the cast of "anchorman 2" join up with one direction. they sing one of the most maligned, perhaps unfairly songs of the '70s on "saturday night live." 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