Goes for gold tonight, why winning in south korea would be extra special for her and her family. All that, plus team usa makes history in mens snowboarding and luge. Lindsey vonn opens up with her long awaited return to olympic competition. And our home away from home. A look inside our road to the winter olympics. Whewhoo and the fun were already having here in pyeongchang. Today, monday, february 12th, 2018. Announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today at the Olympic Games with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb. Live from pyeongchang, south korea. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to pyeongchang this is how you make an entrance. We are here we are here usa, usa usa usa usa, we have members of team usa right here, actually. We have gold Medal Winners, we have silver Medal Winners, we have the bobsled team. Thanks, guys you all are awesome, by the way. You guys are awesome. Wait. And they are helping us get started off right. Yay this is awesome. All right. This, by the way this parade that they just had going through it goes through every single night. Its called the sumerang parade. We have the mascot up top that everybody is crazy about here. His name is suharang too. And we want to thank the wonderful paraders who came out for us. And were just having fun. Are you all enjoying yourselves . Yeah. We are going to talk to the athletes in a little while. We have gold Medal Winners, silver, bronze, weve got it all. And this is pyeongchang. This is where dreams are being made right now. Lets set the stage for you. Winter olympics are actually in two places. The mountains of pyeongchang and down here where we are on the coastal city of gangneung right in the thick of the action in olympic park. Hockey, skating, curling, all a few feet from where were standing. Every morning for the next two weeks, this is the place where all the gold medalists and silver medalists and bronze medalists will come. Snowboarder Jamie Anderson is going to come. Chris madzder. The whole figure skating team. Yes we love you all. We want to show you first how they made their way to the medal podiums. Craig melvin is at the hockey center. Hi, craig, good morning. Good morning, savannah. Good to see you. It is going to be an actionpacked two weeks here in pyeongchang. Tonight, of course, all eyes will be on that 17yearold snoe snowboard phenom, chloe kim. Its been a good few days to be an american athlete. Some records have been broken, some history has already been made. It is official. Jamie anderson is golden once again. Reporter Jamie Anderson electrifying the slopes winning gold in the womens snowboard slopestyle. She is now a twotime olympic gold medalist. Becoming the first female snowboarder to win two olympic gold medals. The wind is a huge factor. Reporter battling wind and dangerous conditions in phoenix snow park, anderson beating her competitors who struggled with wipeouts and bailed on jumps. Honestly, it feels unreal. I mean, i dreamed of this. Reporter and on the ice, the americans bringing home the bronze in a Team Figure Skating event. Leading off the final round, adam rippon, dazzling. At 28, the pennsylvania native is the oldest olympic rookie to skate since the 1930s. How does it feel being the old guy on the ice . I love it. I think it kind of proves that age is just a team. My teammates are 17 and 18 years old, im 11 and 10 years older than both of them. And i said, you know what, i can still hang with the kids. And i think that in the last two years ive gotten better and better. Reporter as for the women, mirai nagasu made history. Yes oh wow reporter becoming the First American woman to land a triple axel at the olympics, stunning the crowd, her teammates and herself. The jump is threeandahalf rotations, and is considered one of the most difficult moves on the ice. Rounding out the competition, maiya and alex shibutani, giving a moving performance set to cold plays paradise. And thats enough to guarantee a medal reporter and on the luge track, chris madsder. The 29yearold taking silver in the mens singles luge, the first u. S. Medal ever in that event ending a 54year drought for team usa. Ive had a rough last two years. And it just shows, dont ever give up. Reporter the first gold of these games, a comefrombehind win by teenager red gerard. The 17yearold delivering an upset in the mens snowboard slopestyle. Gerard was sitting in last place heading into the third and final run. Then the colorado native catching air with a clean back side triple cork 1440. Four full rotations, landing him in first place. I cannot believe what just happened. That was enough for me just to land the run. So to get first is crazy. Reporter truly a sight to behold. Going back to those windy conditions, 41 out of 50 runs ended in either a wipeout or they just simply gave up. Heres a quick look at what we can expect here tonight. Again, we mentioned chloe kim, the 17yearold going for the womens gold on the halfpipe. On the mens side, shaun white begins his quest to reclaim the gold in his signature event. Plus, medals are being handed out in the womens luge, as well. And its a busy day in short track speed skating, as well, including the womens 500 meter final. And here is the first of many looks at the medal count. Right now, norway in the early lead followed by the netherlands, canada, germany, and team usa. Savannah, hoda, back to you. All right, craig. Thanks so much. Craig was just talking about the hardware and the medals. Were so happy. We got one of the medalists right here, 17yearold red gerard. Red, you were in dead last going into that final run, as craig was saying. You went from last to first. And you became usas first gold in pyeongchang. How does that feel, honey . It feels pretty crazy, honestly. I dont really think i have had the time for it to kick in. Ive been on some crazy 24hour media stuff. Its been such a blast, its crazy. Ive been all over doing interviews with so many people. Its been awesome. Its incredible. Because the first two runs, which werent your best. And then the last run, you just totally nailed. Yes. Could you feel it in your bones . Like, were you getting ready and going, this is it. Im going to do it. For sure. I always just say when i come to conference, i just want to land a run. And after that, its not up to me. Its up to the judges. So i just you know, i came all the way out to korea and i would love to land a run. Can we see the hardware . You can indeed. Youve got it right there in your pocket. What do you think . Savannah touching it with my bare hands. Were you born in 2000 . I was. But youve been snowboarding since you were 2. Just a little one. They built a what, a rail, in your backyard, right . Yeah, weve always had backyard setups going on. Just so much fun after school, and you know, inviting friends over, having barbecues and all that. Did your parents absolutely freak when you got the gold . Oh, yeah. You dont even know. It was crazy. There are 18 gerards here. They have been partying all day long already. They were already beyond psyched. But, yeah, they were they were so excited, it was crazy. My dad is a big time olympic fan. So to see that i won the olympics, he was i dont the emotions were crazy for him. You won gold. You were the First American gold this year. And i love what you said in a News Conference before. You were looking to have a mellow experience here at the olympics. I think its been a little more than mellow. I dont think i knew what i was getting into, really. So yeah. Well, red, we love you. You guys, weve got red gerard here. We love you, honey. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you. Also, on a busy monday morning, weve got another big headline from here. North koreas involvement in these games. Nbcs Senior National correspondent, kate snow, has that part of the story. Reporter from the Opening Ceremony, when a north korean and south korean carried the olympic torch together to a north korean pop orchestra holding concerts. And those mysterious chanting cheerleaders. North korea is grabbing the worlds attention at these games by design. Kim ojung, the younger sister of kim jongun, captivated south korea for days, sitting just feet away from Vice President pence at the Opening Ceremony. Noti noticeably smirking as the u. S. Team was announced. Kim yo jung writing, i hope the future of prosperity of unification is havened. The american coach of the joint womens Korean Hockey Team was skeptical of north koreas agenda when new players when added to her roster just weeks before the game. I felt at that time it was being used for political reasons. But now that girls are together, im happy were together. Reporter but even south koreans encouraged by the cooperation worry the world isnt seeing the whole truth. What is the part of north korea were not seeing here . Were seeing oppression. Reporter there have been sporadic protests here. For the u. S. , its complicated, fearing the north is trying to drive a wedge between the u. S. And longtime ally, south korea. Vice president pence went to great pains to avoid the north korean delegation at the olympics, later tweeting in part, the world cannot turn a blind eye to the oppression and threats of the kim regime. As poised as kims sister has appeared, the world knows very little about her. We do know her big brother, kim jongun, is accused of having their half brother fatally poisoned. The 22 north korean athletes competing here are keeping a low profile. Skiers, skaters, a figure skating pair and hockey players. The north korean athletes are surrounded by security and minders. When a north korean soldier bolted at the border back in november, he was shot. Lee, who fled north korea in 1997, says the athletes dont dare try to defect. She or he will be in public execution after they return to north korea. And he or she, the whole family will be sent to the political prison camp. And that was kate snow reporting this morning. We have a lot more to get to this morning, including news from back home. There is new fallout and controversy over the resignations of two key white house staffers amid spousal abuse allegations. Nbcs national correspondent, peter alexander, is at the white house with the latest. Hey, peter. Reporter hey, hoda, good morning to you. Nearly a week has passed since the allegations against one of the president s most trusted aides and the white house and chief of staff, john kelly, still havent gotten their stories straight. The president , like hes repeatedly done before, is sympathizing, not with the women who have come forward, but with the men who were accused. This morning, the white house hunkering down, trying to contain the damage from former top aide, rob porters accusation after accusations of spousal abuse. Senior white house officials backing up their boss. He is sympathetic towards women and men who are victims of Domestic Violence. Reporter thats not what the president is saying, appearing to side with porter over his accusers. He says hes innocent. And i think you have to remember that. Reporter the white house offering this explanation. I think the president is shaped by a lot of false accusations against him in the past. Reporter the president over the weekend fueling the firestorm after the departure of a second staffer, a speech writer, also facing Domestic Abuse allegations. President trump tweeting, peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by mere allegations. Some are true and some are false. Porters second exwife responding in time, magazine. The words mere allegation and falsie accused meant to imply that im a liar. That abuse is something to be questioned and doubted. Both porter and speech writer David Sorensen deny the allegations. With chief of staff john kelly facing fierce criticism for how he handled the porter problem and conflicting stories coming from the white house for days, officials here are standing by the fourstar marine general. John kelly has not offered his resignation. John kelly is doing an outstanding job. I think the talk about the chiefs departure is much ado about nothing. Reporter today the president will unveil his vision for his longpromised infrastructure plan, hosting state and local leaders here at the white house. But this trillion and a half dollar proposal is likely a nonstarter, even with the president s own party that simply doesnt have much of an appetite these days for another massive spending bill. Hoda, thats the latest from here at the white house. Now back to you. All right, peter, thank you so much. This morning, investigators are combing a snowy field outside moscow for clues in sundays crash of a russian airliner. Authorities say all 65 passengers and 6 crew members were killed. The plane was flying from moscow to southern russia. The plane started to lose altitude and speed, then vanished from radar. Security video captured the moment of impact. The pilots did not report any problems before that crash. The Trump Administration released a statement saying the u. S. Is deeply saddened by that tragedy. It is 7 15 now. Were in pyeongchang, were all together. Yes. Weve got to talk about this weather. Thats right. Al, you had that thing out you carried that weather monitor. It shows its about minus 10 wind chill out here right now. Cold. But the winds have been a big, big problem, causing some major problems as far as some of the ski slope situations. So heres why we have seen these winds. Theres been a strong pacific storm. Weve also had High Pressure over china. The difference between the two, the pressure grade, has really caused strong, cold, northwesterly winds up to 50 Miles Per Hour from the past weekend into today. The good news is, the winds will subside tomorrow. They should drop down to 25 to 35 Miles Per Hour. But then we look for them to pick up again wednesday into thursday as another storm system increases, bringing the winds in 40 to 50 Miles Per Hour. So its going to play havoc with the scheduling as far as the ski events are going to be concerned. Closer to home, heavy rain along the southeastern atlantic coast. Heavy snow in the rockies. Fire threat in the southwest. Plenty of sunshine, but freecol. Were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Meteorologist kari h. As we take a live look outside in San Francisco, a clear start to the morning and also Cool Temperatures and its still breezy. Weve dropped down to freezing in napa this morning. We are at 32 degrees, but in san jose its 50. 38 degrees in livermore, a wide range in temperatures already, but as we go through the day looking at some upper 50s to near 60 degrees, San Francisco 59 degrees there, 60 in oakland and 62 degrees today in san jose. And that is your latest weather. Guys . All right, al. Thank you, al. Just ahead from pyeongchang, twice is nice. Snowboarder Jamie Anderson strikes for the second winter olympics. Were going to celebrate with her and a few hundred of her friends. I like her moves. And shes waited eight long years for this moment. Lindsey vonn talks about her long road back to the winter olympics. And how she is feeling ahead of her opening races. But first, this is today on nbc. 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