12 years a slave. The slavery drama wins best picture. Cate blanchett picks up best actress. Matthew mcconaughey wins his first. And pays tribute to his dad. I know he is up there right now with a big pot of gumbo and a lemon meringue pie over there and a cold can of miller light and hes dancing right now. And were throwing an oscar afterparty with al and kathie lee live today, monday, march 3rd, 2014. Announcer this is a special edition of today. Todays oscar after party from new york and Beverly Hills with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie from studio 1a from rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on this monday morning. And lets get right to the results of our oscar pool. I made it until 9 15. Thats it. 10 30. 10 30. Winner take all. I made it through ellens monologue. I liked her, i did. Al and kathie lee, i think theyve been up all night and prepared to give us a fireside chat this morning. How was it . Thats right. Such as it is. Its propane. This is basically the sochi flame we brought it back from russia with us. But ive got to tell you, it was a Pretty Amazing night from ellens buying pizza for everybody to Lupita Nyongos gorgeous, heartfelt speech. It was my first time on the red carpet. Thank you, mr. Al, you made it bearable for me. It is a zoo. What else can we tell you . But the actual telecast we were able to watch live. High notes and low notes if you know what i mean. A little photobombing there. All right. Guys, we look forward to cooperated. Yeah, it could have been worse. It could have been really bad. Lets check in with you in a little bit. A lot of people talking about ellens supersized selfie. The most retweeted tweet ever. We have the story behind the picture that has everybody talking. Well have a lot more on the oscars coming up. Big stories we want to get to. Yeah, we want to get to a couple of big stories. The deepening crisis in ukraine. And back here at home, that powerful winter storm. States of emergency have been declared in at least six states. Federal offices and schools in the Nations Capital are closed this morning. And the airlines have already delayed or canceled more than 2,300 flights nationwide. Nbcs dylan dreyer is in philadelphia. Dylan, good morning to you. Good morning, matt. You know, philadelphias only 6 inches away from having the second snowiest winter ever in what has been a recordbreaking year or season for so many cities across the country. So here we are in march in the middle of yet another winter storm. And, actually, the forecast for this storm had gotten better for states further south. But either way, an unwelcome forecast in what has been a very tough winter. The calendar says march, but Mother Nature didnt get the memo. A west coast winter storm in the form of torrential rain and wind over the weekend. Morning rain in l. A. Had the oscars donning a poncho, but dried up in time for the Academy Awards red carpet. Outside of hollywood, people in california still cleaning up the mud and the mess. And thousands in arizona left without power after a westcoast soaker. In denver, heavy snow wreaking havoc on the highways and causing a deadly 100car pileup. Had to be a Chain Reaction of cars hitting and hitting and hitting. Reporter messy weather moving east and carrying into the workweek. First up, the midwest hit with snow and ice. Residents in indiana, counting down the days until spring after a punishing and recordbreaking winter. Im ready for spring. The south also getting hammered. Arkansas hit with a dangerous ice storm. A fatal car accident on slick roads. The midatlantic scene white yet again. This latest winter storm will eventually head out to sea, but not before hitting portions of the northeast. You can see in Atlantic City this is another commuter nightmare. This is where we have just the driving snow thats going to stick with us all through the morning. And then once the snow ends, its another polar plunge, in fact, temperatures will be about 20 to 40 degrees below average today, and get this, tonight in philadelphia, itll be about 5 degrees here, the alltime coldest temperature in march in philadelphia is 5 degrees. That record set back in 1872. So it is going to be another bad morning, but it gets very cold later on this afternoon. Matt . Dylan, thanks. Were all chipping in for new wiper blades for that car, whoever that was. Thank you. And a space heater for you, dylan. And al is keeping an eye on things from los angeles. Al, what can we expect . Well, guys, weve got another bash from winters icy grip. And as you can see right now, weve got snow stretching from new england all the way back to charleston, west virginia. And to the south, you can see that purple, thats an icy mix headed south as that cold air makes its way down. Youre going to see for the day today. Right now washington, d. C. , snow through the afternoon, into the early evening commute, then partly cloudy skies, but look at that temperature drop from 32 to 17 degrees. The morning commute from philly, d. C. , roanoke, norfolk, youve got snow, but by the afternoon, it pushes to the south. But you saw that icy mix. Snowfall amounts, heres what were looking for during the day today. Elkins, west virginia, 6 to 12 inches. Another 9 inches in washington, d. C. Richmond, 4 to 8. 5 to 9 in salisbury. Atlantic city, close to a foot, philly ends up with 6 inches. To the south of this as that colder air makes its way into the warm air, we are going to be looking at an ice mix right now. About. 10 inch. While its not going to cause big problems as far as Power Outages, it is going to make roads slick from knoxville, wilmington, all the way to columbia as those temperatures continue to push south and drop down well below freezing in the 40s, all the way down into the teens later tonight. Matt and savannah, a little bit later on, were going to tell you how cold its going to be and how much longer its going to last. Youre not going to like it. Okay. Good news, al, thanks. Thank you, al. And now to the crisis in ukraine where Russian Forces have invaded and complete control of the crimea region. This has left the white house with a very difficult decision of what to do next, how far to push this. Secretary of state john kerry getting set to travel to the region. Lets get to nbcs bill neely. Bill, good morning to you. Reporter yes, russia is tightening its grip here in crimea. Europes borders are being redrawn by force and the pressure is mounting on president obama and the west to do something. Here, Russian Troops have the Ukrainian Army pinned down. Russian troops have fought many wars to take crimea, this time they didnt have to. They marched in and occupied it without firing a shot and without resistance. It took just three days. The russian march across crimea is relentless and seems unstoppable. The big question is, where exactly in ukraine will these men stop . They still surround Ukrainian Army bases. This one is the biggest. Ukrainian troops inside are trapped. They have removed their weapons. Theres no sign theyre preparing to fight the russians. The standoff, though, is a dangerous one. Neither ukraine nor the west has been able to stop this takeover. Its an incredible act of aggression. It is really a stunning, willful choice by president putin to invade another country. The Obama Administration is now consulting with allies on what pressure to put on russias president putin. He may find himself with asset freezes, American Business may pull back. There may be a further tumble of the ruble. Theres a huge price to pay. Youve got now only economic options through the eu. And i would use those. The u. S. Calls whats happened in crimea an incredible act of aggression. But this crisis is far from over. And in the last few minutes, russian fighter jets have flown over the black sea, violating ukraines air space. The russians testing, probing, pushing ukraine and pushing the wests response. Savannah. Bill neely on the ground there, thank you. Lets turn to dave remnick, a moscowbased reporter in the waning years of the soviet union. He is a noted authority on russian relations. Good morning to you. Good morning to you. A battle of wills between putin and obama. Its much more than that, but what do you think is really at stake here . Well, russia wants to assert itself on the world stage. We saw that in pop cultural terms during the olympics, but this is really serious. Now they want to assert their strength in the country where they have legitimate interests, but doing it through invasion. Doing it through invasion. No question about it. So far limited it to crimea, but the great economic bread basket of that country is in eastern ukraine. This could spread to the east and its already dangerous and it could get horrendous. What is the white house supposed to do . On friday we see the president coming out saying to putin, there will be high costs if you invade. The very next day, he invades. What leverage do we have . Economic leverage, diplomatic leverage, but i dont think in any way the United States or europe has any interest in making this military, making it a military clash between the United States and russia. Because we know how horrible and bloody that could get. Lets remember, first of all, theres been no shooting, no extensive bloodshed in crimea yet. So far this is a demonstration war. Russias assertion of strength. We can do this because we can. They feel betrayed by europe, the eu in ukraine, and they want their interests asserted there. Theyre entirely full of it when they say that ukrainians have somehow been beating up, threatening the lives of russianspeaking ridiculous, that has not happened. Hasnt happened in crimea. Hasnt happened in eastern ukraine. Theres a certain irony here. We were all together at the olympics a few weeks ago where putin was trying to demonstrate to the world that russia is a modern state, and seems to have undone it in a matter of three days. They have. Look, the United States also does not have the leverage it wants in historical terms. Invading countries is something the United States knows about from really raw experience. And russia knows that and asserts that day in and day out on Russian Television all the time. Thats a cost, too. You wrote this weekend, these are going to be frightening days we see in the next few and worse. They already are. They already are. Thank you very much. Lets turn back now to los angeles. News of a different kind, the 86th Academy Awards. The range of movies and performances honored on hollywoods biggest night ranging from historical to heartwrenching. 12 years a slave. Fresh faces in an auditorium filled with old favorites took home the nights top prize. Ellen degeneres in her second stint as host spent more time in the audience than up on stage ordering pizza. Wait a minute, were going to run out. And snapping a selfie with a group of alisters she hoped would set a record on twitter. And it did. Best actor honors went to Matthew Mcconaughey who shed his romantic comedy image along with 40 pounds to play an aids patient in dallas buyers club. Look forward to and whoever it is were chasing, to that i say all right, all right, all right. For best actress sixtime nominee and twotime winner Cate Blanchett took the prize for her role as a wealthy socialite suffering a mental breakdown in blue jasmine. In the best supporting actress category, newcomer Lupita Nyongo won for her first major film role in 12 years a slave. Beating out Jennifer Lawrence in her turn for American Hustle. When i look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every child no matter where youre from, your dreams are valid. Jared leto after a sixyear absence, won for his role as the transgendered aids patient in dallas buyers club. On stage, he thanked his mother. She was a High School Dropout and a single mom. But somehow she managed to make a better life for herself and her children. And a historic first as Alphonso Cuaron became the first mexicanborn director to win a top prize for gravity. Which earned a total of seven oscars. He thanked the films stars. Sandra bullock, sandy, you are the soul, heart of the film. Youre the most amazing collaborator and one of the best people i ever met. While Steve Mcqueen who lost his bid for best director eventually made it on to the stage along with executive producer brad pitt to accept the best picture prize for 12 years a slave. Everyone deserves not just to survive, but live. This is the most important legacy of northup. Clearly, the subject matter of some of these films prompted amazing speeches. People hit all the right notes, i thought they were poignant, emotional and moving, the ones i saw. Yeah. And i think they rose to what the movies were trying to say, as well. Exactly right. Al and kathie lee were on the red carpet last night. Were going to hear from them in a little bit. And johnny weir and Tara Lipinski, as well. You have headlines. I do. And the Oscar Pistorius murder trial underway in south africa. The former olympic runner pleaded not guilty this morning to a charge of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Her mother and other relatives. Prosecutors say pistorius last year. Pistorius says he thought she was an intruder. We will have much more on the trial coming up later in the program. Well, south koreas confirmed this morning that north korea has launched two more shortrange missiles. Its second launch in less than a week. North korea fired the missiles about 300 miles into the sea off the countrys eastern coast. North korea launched similar missiles last week in an apparent protest against ongoing u. S. south korea military exercises. Almost 400 people arrested outside the white house sunday after they strapped themselves to a fence to protest the proposed Keystone Xl Oil pipeline. The demonstrators were mostly College Students who participated in a peaceful march. They want president obama to reject the pipeline because they say itll worsen global warming. Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu is in washington today for a highstakes meeting with president obama. Its in effort to keep middle east peace negotiations alive as aprils target date for a preliminary agreement inches closer. The two leaders are also expected to discuss the latest developments in iran. And later this week, netanyahu will travel to california to meet with tech leaders in silicon valley. Investigators are still trying to figure out what started a fire this weekend that destroyed an Historic Hotel in alabama. Flames engulfed the mentone springs hotel, burning it and an antique store to the ground. The hotel was built in 1884, it was on the National Register of historic places. Fortunately, no one was hurt there, though. And it was a putt for the ages, came at the most crucial time during the dramafilled final round of the hsbcs womens championships in singapore. All Paula Creamer had to do was putt that 75foot putt and the championship was hers. And of course, we wouldnt show you if it wouldnt go in there. Right in there for the eagle and win, snapping her 79event winless streak. Thats a way to win it. She chased it in all the way. Kissing the grass. Either one is understandable. Shes a nice young lady. I had a chance to meet her at the u. S. Womens open. Congratulations to her. Amazing. Lets head out to l. A. Mr. Rokers got the Weather Forecast there. Hey, al. Hey, guys. Ive got to tell you. Cold air to talk about. Big arctic chill coming. Huge dome of High Pressure building in. And as it does, a look at the temperatures, they are going to be awfully chilly by this afternoon. Kansas city, 2, feels like 16 below, knoxville, 36, 31 degrees, feels like a windchill of 2 in cincinnati and raleigh, its going to be 51 degrees. Actually, they get warmer for a little bit, then the temperatures take a big plunge. Were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. 7 19. Although it is clear, rain is on the way. Right now were in the 50s, headed towards the 60s and the showers will be heading in quickly. At 1 00 p. M. , you see showers all the way to san jose. That will continue to be the case for the evening commute. Could be a rough of drive home tonight. Well continue this activity through the first part of your tuesday. Have a great day. And thats your latest weather. Guys . All right, al, thank you so much. Meantime, carson, what did we do when we didnt have twitter and facebook during the oscars . Did you like it . A little bit long. 3 1 2 hours. Its a long time. It could be longer. More categories. Order pizza, order chinese food, stretch it out. Through the morning. I know kathie lee and al are in l. A. , but in the orange room, the selfie ellen took. She sits down and maybe just going to get a selfie with meryl streep, it breaks twitter, breaks the record. Theres the moment there. And its fantastic. Jared leto barely makes it in. And if only brads arm was longer. Brad cooper saved the day because ellen had it in vertical mode. That was retweeted 2. 4 million times, shattered the record, broke twitter as i mentioned. And heres the former retweet champion. Barack obama, four more years. Crushed that. And heres another interesting view from behind the famous photo. In blue there, that is Liza Minnelli. Didnt quite make the cut. What else . One of my favorite photos, brad pitt having