Shaun white comes up short in the quest for threepeat. He is with us live today, wednesday, february 12th, 2014. Announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today at the olympic winter games. With matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie. Live from olympic park in sochi, russia. And good morning. Welcome to today and to sochi, russia. Im matt lauer. Im Savannah Guthrie. It is crazy. You have the black sea. It is a beautiful shot. It could be a beach day today. Then if you look in the other direction, you have the snowcapped mountains of sochi and beyond. I imagine the snow is getting soft as the temperatures are beginning to rise. It has been an issue for the athletes. Matt, im glad you can add sportscaster to your resume. Thank you. A tip of the hat to shaun white who came down from the mountains. Probably not his favorite morning of the year. He is down here greeting people on the plaza. Thanks to that, shaun. We appreciate it. We will have all the latest on the olympic action in the moment. Our latest story is the weather. The weather back home. A huge contrast to what we have here. We will start with al. It is pretty bad. It is historic in devastation. We look live right now at i85, braselton, georgia. An hour north of atlanta. Six people so far have died on roads in texas and mississippi. Thousands of flights have canceled. 100 Million People affected by this. It is going to get worse. It is just getting started. As we go to the map. From texas all the way to new england, we have winter storm watches and warnings. From atlanta to charleston, ice storm warnings. Up the coast, Winter Weather warnings and advisories. Here is what is happening. This is why it is such a long track event and why look at the intensity. Heavy thunderstorms down through the gulf. To the north of that, the cold air is filtering in. You see the pink and white. Northeast winds funneling around the High Pressure system. You have the mountains of the appalachian. As the air gets trapped from atlanta to the northeast, we will see a mix of precipitation. The rain will freeze. We get sleet. We get freezing rain. Look at the ice accumulations. We are talking about from atlanta into parts of South Carolina,. 50 inch to 1 inch to almost 2 inches of ice east of atlanta. Augusta, south of columbia,. 25 of an inch. We are telling people stay off the roads. The system continues up the coast. Becomes a classic noreaster. That blue line, that is the freezing line, where you see the difference between snow, rain and ice. Low pressure deepens off the coast. Heavy wet snow inland. Coastal winds of over 50 Miles Per Hour. Look at the accumulation range. Atlanta, 1 to 3 inches on top of what they already got. As you make your way up the coast, up to 2 feet of snow in the mountains in the appalachians. As you head up into new york and new jersey and parts of new england, anywhere from 6 to 9 inches. 3 to 6 inches as well. Atlanta was crippled by winter storm leon two weeks ago. What lessons have they learned . How are they faring . My colleague, sam champion with the Weather Channel is in atlanta. What are you seeing, sam . Lessons learned, al. Everything in shape as far as the city goes. This storm is a bad one. You can whip out the word catastrophic for this one. By the time it passes atlanta, we believe it will have been with a solid layer of ice and sleet and snow. The let me show you the sleet that is here that has been falling into the area this morning. You see the particles stacking up. The good thing about sleet instead of freezing rain, freezing rain is a solid shed. Sleet, you can break it up and move it around. Let me show you 75. There is a police car moving up in very light traffic. Very light traffic. Different situation than the 28th of january where the entire road was blocked with cars and trucks stuck. Let me show you the road surfaces. A strange move as we move around our set up here. Bear with me. There is a bit of slush from yesterday which has melted. Let me move the cone and show you what you are dealing with on the roads. All of this stacking up. Yeah. When treated, it is slushier. You have a good strong layer on there that makes it very difficult to move around. Lets show you some other things that are happening in the area this morning. Lets talk salt trucks and spreaders. Atlanta has about 125 of them. They have been out, they say, yesterday, today and throughout the day. We are looking at about Power Outages. Easily 77,000, that is just what we heard about an hour ago in the southeast. That doubled within that hour. We will be worse through the day. We are talking about a stacking inch or more of ice on tree limbs and power lines with a strong gusty wind behind it to break the limbs and take them down on the tree lines. That means we will have more Power Outages. A quick deal on cancellations with airports. Almost 3,000 Flights Canceled so far. Al. I tell you, sam, people will be dealing with this in the southeast for weeks to come. We want to head 250 miles northeast of atlanta. Parts of North Carolina picking up more than a foot of snow. That is where nbcs Peter Alexander is in charlotte. Peter, good morning to you. Reporter al, good day. The first snow was a preview that fell yesterday. The real act is today. In the last 15 minutes, it is starting to fall here in and around charlotte with 6 inches in the city. Up to 12 inches in other parts of the state expected. Just yesterday, the city official said i never want to have an atlanta in charlotte. Hoping not to repeat the experience they had a couple of weeks ago. State officials this morning told me they prepped the roads across the state since sunday. Hundreds of accidents across the region. So far, here specifically, they have been okay. North carolina and South Carolina, governors declaring states of emergency and schools out for 141,000 kids in charlotte. Al. All right. Peter alexander in charlotte. Thank you. As it makes its way up the coast, the 540 line is so important depending on where it sets up. That is the heavy snow to the west of that line. You will keep us informed. Thank you. We appreciate it. Lets get to olympic action in sochi. Some of the biggest names on team usa are competing today. Speed skater shani davis, Julia Mancuso on the slopes. Natalie has that covered. Good morning. After mondays bronze medal win, Julia Mancuso was hoping to add another medal in the downhill. It did not turn out the way she wanted. Her olympic run is not over yet. Julia mancuso entered the womens downhill looking to tie bode miller as the most decorated american skier in olympic history. She came up short placing eighth in the event that saw a tie for gold. Mancuso has a shot at medal when she skis in the giant slalom on tuesday. It follows another disappointment for team usa when the face of olympic snowboarding shaun white failed in the quest for the record third gold medal in the halfpipe. On the course criticized by competitors, white had a great qualifying run, but made costly mistakes. He finished fourth. Doesnt have enough speed to try. It. As the gold went to switzerlands iouri podladtchikov. Known as ipod. White opted out of the slopestyle and leaves sochi without a medal. Im an olympian. Im here with the u. S. Team. It is like rocky. He did not win. It was the fight to get here. As much as it hurts right now, im going to see my family and you know move on. Down into the bottom. Logan. A better result in slopestyle skiing where american devin logan twirl her way into the medal. Beat out for the gold by an incredible performance from canadas dara howell. She has done it. And erin hamlin won bronze. The first medal in singles luge for american men or women. And a barrier broken in the air as womens ski jumping soars in the olympics. Women of the u. S. Bobsled team witnesses history in the stands. Cross country skiing falls. He tried to finish on a broken ski when the canadian coach jumped in with the replacement. The crowd roared as he completed the race. And if at first you dont succeed, the women of japans hockey team have been trying to score an olympic goal for 16 years and finally success. Take a bow. Well, speaking of hockey, a big rivalry game. The u. S. Playing canada. You recall canada beat us for gold in vancouver on home turf. This time is grudge match. And the mens hockey team coming up in the show later as well. We will talk to shaun white in a moment about his performance in the halfpipe coming up in a couple of seconds. Lets get everybody caught up on the medal count. Norway with 12. Canada in second with nine. Eight for the netherlands and team usa has seven medals overall in fourth. Natalie, bring us up to date on the headlines. Everybody is talking about the state dinner at the white house last night. French president Francois Hollande did not have a date for the dinner. He was seated between president obama and first lady. He was welcomed on the red carpet. Celebrities were there like Bradley Cooper and julia louisdreyfus. Treated to a menu of caviar and ribeye beef and a typical american dinner. President obama welcomed guests hearty bon appetit. America is one step closer to pay its bills next month. Tuesday, the house of representatives passed an extension to al law the government to borrow more money through 2015. The senate is expected to vote today. We have an important recall to tell you about. Graco is recalling nearly 4 million car safety seats due to an issue with the seatbelt harness buckles. The problem could increase the risk of injury when the harness buckle fails unlatch delaying a quick exit in the car. The recall covers 11 of 18 models between 2009 and 2013. You can find out more information on our web site at today. Com. Home at last. A fisherman from el salvador said he spent more than a year adrift in the pacific was home on tuesday. Jose alvarenga was in tears and he could barely speak after his plane touched down in san salvador. He was discovered late last month after blown out to sea after a fishing trip. His family is glad he is alive and back home. And now to a story that hits close to home. Tom brokaw revealed he is battling cancer. Brokaw was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Doctors are optimistic about his treatment. Tom released a statement saying with exceptional support of family and medical team and friends, im optimistic about treatments and look forward to my life and work and my adventures still to come. I remain the luckiest guy i know. He is in good hands. We are sending our love to tom and his family. Good spirits. Hardest working guy. Our best to him. Mr. Roker. Lets get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. S. Seconds. 7 14 on a wednesday morning. Good morning, im meteorologist christina loren. Temperatures are chilly to start. 46 degrees, for example, in San Francisco. This is a beautiful look from san bruno, one mile of visibility. Above the clouds, blue sky. Its not going to last forever. Showers on the way as of tonight to parts of the bay area, north bay and north of the Golden Gate Bridge. 59. Limited sunshine in San Francisco. East bay 68. 67 here in san jose. And thats your latest weather. Matt. Al, thanks very much. The mens halfpipe was last night. Americans did not come up with a medal. Shaun white with a fourth place finish. He did to the repeat. Shaun is here with us. Nice to have you here. Im good. I wish i could say i was better. Im all right. You said it hurt last night. You did not have to deal with a lot of disappointment in your career. You have been so successful. How are you dealing with it . It is tough. I dealt with this when i was younger coming up in the ranks of the sport. It feels like old times, i guess. You know, i learned a lot from it. It was a tough night. For everyone. Im appreciative of actually being an olympian and being here and competing and doing the whole part. Im disappointed in my performance. The first run with a scrape and then more than a scrape. The New York Times it shows what happened there. I have never seen it. That board is not supposed to bend like that. You hit the top of the halfpipe. What happened . It is doing the bendy. Sport is making good boards. That was just my best attempt to salvage that run. I hope ca came up a little bit short on the run. That was a tough run. There were issues during practice in the previous days before the event. You know, they pulled together last minute for the event. I was definitely feeling the pressure. Were you feeling more pressure than normal . I think so. I pulled out of slopestyle which is something i wanted to compete in. I still stick by my decision to do that. I needed extra practice for the halfpipe. I had amazing qualifying run. I dont know. Just didnt do it. You mentioned the amazing qualifying run. You had the highest score in the competition. It was in the qualifying run. If it was in the finals, you would have been a Gold Medalist. Sorry to say that. One of the times where it was running through my head. Im happy. I move on from here. I dont think it makes or breaks my career this one night. It is a disappointment. When i caught up with you in the mountains last week and you had a trick in your back pocket. If you were desperate, you were going to pull it out. As it turned out, that trick did not come out. I did not make it to that trick which was more disappointing. If i lay down a run and im beaten, im okay with it. I put my best effort out and thats okay. This is so disappointing for me because i did not get that opportunity. Its all right. You tweeted before the finals to your fans and thanked them for your support. Am i reading too much in that if i read that as a goodbye to competition . Definitely not. I mean i got lost there for a minute. I feel like it was more of a thank you. Two disciplines at the olympics. Qualifying to get here. The russia calling and everything. It has been a journey to make it this far. I wanted to thank everybody that supported me and wish me luck. I needed it. Im doing my math. You will be 31 years old when the games in south korea rolls around. Is there a chance you can come back and go out on top . I think so. I think so. [ applause ] i need everybody now more than ever. Thank you, guys. Shaun, it tells us something that you are down here this morning and sitting here doing this interview. There are other places you would rather be. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you. Lets go over to savannah. Matt, thank you. To a woman who made history in sochi. Erin hamlin gave the women the first u. S. Luge medal at any olympics ever. Good morning and congratulations. Thank you. Luge has been an olympic sport for 50 years. No american man or woman has ever gotten a medal in luge singlines until you. Yes. It felt great. Im happy i was able to do it, obviously. It is crazy coming into the games thinking i will make history. It never crossed my mind. I wanted to have four solid runs and enjoy myself and soak it all in with my third games. I have been before. I think that helps. It is a lot of fun. It is one thing to win a medal and another thing to make history and break that barrier. What does it do for the sport of luge . I hope moving into the future that it opens up doors for the future generations and brings more attention to luge. We are not exactly a mainstream sport. It will be interesting to see how that changes in the u. S. And help the kids coming up. Take me through the final run. Was there a moment where you could think i could do this . I could contend for a medal. Going into the fourth run after the first three and having solid results, i thought if i make it down clean, i can do this. Im going for that fourth around. A couple of spots on the track were a bit tricky. I knew i had to get through those clean. I knew halfway down. When i got through there, i thought, holy cow. I knew once i got to the finish line i had a good run. It was going to be good. You have your whole family. You are from a little town of 1,900 people in new york. I know they are happy for you going to the olympics. What will they do when you come home with the silver medal . Oh, my gosh. I cant imagine. It will be amazing and chaos. I cant wait to get back and share it with everybody. Erin, congratulations. We will see you on the podium as you get the medal. Thank you. We will have more on the historic ice storm crippling the u. S. And cancelling flights coast to coast. And the americans top pair turns in the best at sochi, but do they have the best to get gold . We will ask evan lysacek and Kristi Yamaguchi. First, this is today on nbc. Any dance moves . No. Legs up legs up . Legs up legs up legs up verizon has free tablets and free phones. Get here anyway you can. Good job free tablets. Free phones. On the best network. Only at verizon. Get tablets like the verizon ellipsis 7 free. And when you trade in your old smartphone, you can get the Samsung Galaxy s4 free. Or the droid maxx by motorola free. Plus get a data plan with unlimited talk and text for as low as 45. This week only. Getting free tablets and phones on the best network. Thats powerful. Verizon. Still to come on trending why beer is one of sochis hottest commodities. Matt and als wildest adventure ever. The highlights, i guess. Oh after your local news. [ sneezes, coughs ] ive got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. Its time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that wont relieve all your symptoms. New alka seltzer plusd relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. Oh what a relief it is. So i deserve a Small Business credit card with amazing rewards. With the spark cash card from capital one, i get 2 cash back on every purchase, every day. I break my back around here. Finally someones recognizing me with unlimited rewards meetings start at 11, cindy. [ male announcer ] get the spark Business Card from capital one. 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