Times square, tuesday, december 31st, 2013. From nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning. Welcome to today on a tuesday morning. Im erica hill. Savannah, al and natalie have the morning off. Did you see that sign, happy new year . Its tomorrow. But were getting ready. Good to be prepared. Carson daly getting the iron man award. Hes up early with us today. He will be hosting a big new years eve celebration this morning. Hes already there. Carson . Matt, erica, good morning. On the first im the first journalist out here. My show starts in 17 hours. But i wanted to get a jump on things. This is a tradition over 100 years odd. Times square. Its the calm before the storm. Nearly a million will be here behind us. We have a great show on nbc. Ill tell you more about it in a little bit. Youre right, today is the longest day of my year. You do that show so well, as you do this one. Carson, well check in with you in a little while. Good deal. Thank you. A new plan in place this morning to rescue dozens of passengers who have been stranded now for a week on a Research Ship in antarctica. T. Martin, good morning. Reporter hi, erica, good morning. They tried and failed for a week. Ice breakers couldnt cut through the ice 10 feet thick. They called in a chinese helicopter. Singing auld lang syne. The russian ship in an icy grip. Winds up to 50 Miles Per Hour packed the ice throw against the ship, trapping it a week ago. But they still have to wait. The chinese helicopters will reach us when the weather improves. Reporter theres been a blizzard on and off for days. The crew would stay behind to man the ship while all 52 passengers would be helicoptered out. From now they are on permanent stand by. Reporter its really a concept, though of hurry up and wait. Reporter earlier fierce winds and thick ice forced an australian ice breaker to be the third to give up. As for the trapped ship, all it takes to free it is a change in the window direction for the ice to push away. But that could take winds. After spending christmas stuck in the ice, it will be one heck of a new year tonight. Passengers wont truly celebrate until they get out safely. Erica . Martin fletcher, thank you. We want to bring in the expedition spokesperson. Good morning. Good morning. How are you . Doing well, thanks. Youre joining us from australia on the phone. As i understand it, the weather has been so bad where the ship is even you have not been able to communicate with them. Does that concern you at all, the closest Helicopter Rescue . Im not particularly concerned. Theyre expecting bad weather and expecting it to pass this time. I imagine when they get their window, its easy to come out and pick them out. How many trips will be made to get everybody off the ship . Theyre talking about 12 people. I think were looking at four to five. Four to five trips. You have nearly two dozen crew members who will be staying on board the ship. How long will they be there . That depends on the elements. They will be waiting it out. They usually are stocked almost for the full season down there. They will be waiting for it to pass by and perhaps a change in the wind direction. The big problem they have had is winds have been southeasterly. That created this enormous pack of ice. If we get westerly winds, it could move away. They could sale out under their own steam. They are hoping and praying for the westerly winds. The winds could be dangerous for the helicopter. If you cant go by chopper; there a plan c . Not that im aware of. But they do have multiterrain vehicles. Theyre more liking to wait until there is a good window. I suspect that will be through in the next 24 hours. Theyve got enough food for all the passengers on board for two weeks. And dried food after that if they need it for another two weeks. So i dont think it will be an issue. Thanks for your time this morning. Not a problem. Thank you. Matt . The u. S. State department is warning americans to be on alert. The president of the International OlympicCommittee Says hes confident that russia will deliver a safe and secure games. Nbcs jim is in sochi. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, matt. Well, no one has claimed responsibility for those blasts. The islamist militant still seems set to carry out the bombings up to the Winter Olympics to start here in sochi in always more than a month. A Security Camera captures the moment the train station in volgograd explodes. Just one day before mondays bus explosion. 30 killed, 100 wounded and a city of 1 million terrified. Russian president Vladimir Putin who staked his personal reputation on the games here has ordered a crackdown, putting troops on the streets in volgograd and beefing up security around the country. The u. S. Government has responded quickly by offering closer cooperation between the u. S. And russia on security. Our Diplomatic Security personnel has been working with the russians for many months on security. They obviously worked with our teams with high level officials. And we provide services to folks who will be traveling there. We are ready to support anyone we can with the security situation. A third attack in october, also on a volgograd bus, are believed to have been inspired by this man. He has ordered fighters to the winter games. To embarrass and potentially disrupt the olympics that are so close to the russian state. The islamists militants hate putin, which means he turned this one sleepy seaside town of sochi into a fortress. 40,000 patrolling a ring of steel. Despite initial reports that the attacks were carried out by a female suicide bomber, police now believe it was a russian male medical student, a graduate who converted to radical islam. Matt, back to you. Jim, thanks so much. Scott blackman is the ceo of the u. S. Olympic committee. Good morning. Good morning, matt. Normally, youre a month away, and people are talking about the events, athletes to watch. In the last couple of days ive heard more and more people talking about safety and security and terrorism. The twotime defending medalist in snowboard, he may skip Opening Ceremony out of fear of safety. Are you hearing that from other athletes . You know, theres no question that it has heightened everyones awareness. I want to express our condolences to the people of russia for this attack. We take the games seriously. Each game presents a different challenge for us. The events of the last 48 hours have definitely gotten our attention. They have had sworn enemies. The difference this time around is the sworn enemy of russia sits right next door to sochi. Thats where their most violent terrorist group sits along with the leader who is called for disruption of these games. Are you worried about the proximity . Were concerned can. I think this is the first time we have had an incident so close to the games, both in terms of geography and in terms of time. But as i said, the reality is there are different challenges at every games. In this case we got a preview of what could happen. Were hopeful that the russians commitment to security, which is one of the highest levels of commitment we have ever seen from a government and organizing committee, will serve us well. The truth is our interests are probably more aligned with russia on this issue than any other. So we have a fairly high degree of confidence that they are super focused on the issue right now. If, and i stress if, mr. Blackmon, if something terror related does occur in sochi, is there a contingency plan for the u. S. Team and the u. S. Delegation . We have contingency plans at every games. We have plans for injuries and plans for incidence. Yes, we always have contingency plans in place. We obviously hope they never come into being. In terms of finding a balance here, when you say that the russians are committed to safety, do you think that he will be able to find the proper balance between staging an Athletic Competition and creating an armed encampment . A few weeks ago we were talking about it was going to be difficult to get in and out of the park. I suspect people will be more tolerant of that today than they would have been two or three weeks ago. The scott blackmon, the ceo thank you. We wish you good luck. Thank you. Breaking news tied to that fiery train accident that happened yesterday. Good morning. Erica, thats exactly right. A dangerous situation still unfolding around casselton, north dakota. Two dozen people live nearby. They are strongly urging them to evacuate. So far no reports of injuries. Ntsb investigators will be on site today. A heartbreaking legal fight in california where a family has been battle to go keep their daughter on a ventilator. 13yearold jahi mcmath went into cardiac arrest after a tonsillectomy. She was declared brain dead. The ruling gives the parents a week to find a longterm care facility for their daughter. Encouraging signs for formula one racing legend Michael Schumacher. He suffered a critical head injury skiing to the french alps. Doctors say he is improving slightly. Good morning, steph doctors have been working around the clock to save one of the best athletes. They warn it is too early to make any speculations. In a press conference this morning, doctors treating Michael Schumacher say the racing legend is showing small signs of improvement. The ct scan today is better. And the situation, clinical situation is a bit improved compared to yesterday. Shaw macker underwent a second operation since sustaining brain injuries after a ski accident sunday. He was skiing with his 14yearold son on sunday in an ungroomed area of the resort when he fell, striking his head on a like. A team of doctors performed immediate brynn surgery upon his arrival at a nearby hospital. Schumacher was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, which doctors credit for giving him a chance at survival. The 44yearold german is the most decorated driver in formula one history, winning a record seven championships and 91 races in 18 active years. On monday, his family released a statement on his website saying in part, we would like to thank the people from around the world who have expressed their sympathy and sent their best wishes for his recovery. They are giving us great support. In addition to the efforts at the hospital, an investigation is also being conduct at the site of the accident. Initial reports are the impact was so severe that it shattered schumachers helmet. New guidelines for testing for lung cancer which kills almost 160,000 americans a year. The guidelines call for yearly ct scans for people described as high risk. Those who smoked a pack a day for 30 years or two packs for 15 years and between the ages of 55 and 80. Anyone who has quit smoking within the last 15 years should also be screened. One official says the new testing may save 20,000 lives a year. A Michigan University is out with its annual list of annoying words that, at least many say, should be banned. According to Lake Superior state university, the words that should be banned include selfie, twerk or twerking, hashtag and mr. Mom. Over the years the list of annoying words has grown to 800. They have one thing in common. They are all overused. Im trying to lose the image of miley cyrus twerky. I would be okay with banning that one. Thats matts screen saver. Thats my new years resolution. Im getting ready of that. Another word that should be banned, snowstorm. But dylan says not so fast. I wish i could ban that word. It would be a magical thing. We have cold. We have snow. Its all coming in as we finish 2013 and get started on 2014. First, lets focus on the cold. Extremely cold. 27 below in international falls. But it feels like 61 degrees below zero. Again, i just dont even know what that feels like. It feels like 18 below in minneapolis. Until cold air going to spread eastward, setting the stage for snow by the time we get into thursday and friday in the northeast. But detroit feels like zero with the windchill. 14 in pittsburgh. And in the northeast weve got that cold air in place. Temperatures in the teens and 20s. Northern new england, it is about 6 to 7 degrees below zero. All eyes of course on times square in new york city. By the time we get to midnight tonight, we are looking for temperatures mostly to be in the upper 20s. Its not brutally cold especially with all the people jammed in there. That will help warm it up a little bit. Thats a look across the country. Your local forecast coming up in 30 seconds. Good morning to you. Temperatures are definitely chilly out there to start. Weve got a lot of fog out there as well. The south bay actually has reported delays out of san jose airport. East bay and San Francisco okay. I want to show you palo alto at 43 degrees right now. Lots of fog drifting around so travel cautiously. Were going to climb out of the 30s and 40s into the 60s today. A nice finish to 2013. Then tonight when the sun goes down looking good for all of your new years eve plans. Your latest forecast. All right, dylan, thank you very much. I want to go back to carson in times square. We were talking about times square on new years eve. Erica says she used to cover the ball drop for another broadcast network. I did. It was cold. I feel for you my friend. What are you going to wear . Well, listen, after dylans report, i think were good. Upper 20s, that sounds all right. Sounds good for you. Thanks dylan for the good news. But as the wind starts to whip around the corridor here in times square that upper 20s starts to feel like the teens. Its cold but its the excitement. Theres a Million People here. Its going to be a lot of fun despite the weather. A lot going on. We have a big show. Also noteworthy, pressing the ceremonial ball today is u. S. Supreme court justice. Shes from the bronx. Take our survey on today. Com. Are you going out or staying in . Let us know what your plans are at orange room. If you want to watch us on nbc wed love to help you. Its myself, jane lynch. We have Blake Shelton and mariah carey. Its a big night. I think ill get out of times square and come join you in the warm studio. See you soon. We look forward to that. Its the last official ball drop for new yorks mayor of 12 years michael bloomberg. Congratulations mr. Mayor. Enjoy your time as well. See you in a bit. Coming up, colorado is hours from becoming the first state to allow the sale of Recreational Marijuana. Why one critic says that will be a huge disaster. And true american heros, just dont call them that. Our conversation with four recipients of the medal of honor. But first, this is today on nbc. Coming up on trending, a reporter passes out on Live Television. Wait until you see how quickly she recovered. It was pretty impressive. And the people that impacted pop culture the most in 2013 as we maybe im wrong and nobody ever says goodbye [ ding ] losing your chex mix too easily . Time to deploy the boringpopcorn decoy bucket. Then no one will want to steal the deliciousness. With a variety of tastes and textures only chex mix is a bag of interesting. [ male announcer ] at some point, everyones been at the corner of new years resolution and maybe i need a new new years resolution. At walgreens, we know that starting healthy routines can be tough. 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The forecast for this last day of 2013. Were getting pa