Whopping 18 million over the weekend, becoming a massive hit online. With stars live tweeting it all today monday, december 29th, 2014. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in Rockefeller Plaza. Good morning. Welcome to today on a monday morning im Savannah Guthrie along side willie geist and al is out in los angeles. Matt and natalie have the morning off. Everyone have a good christmas . We did. And happy birthday and merry christmas. Thank you. How was baby vales christmas . Were going to tell her she had a great christmas. She has no idea. Reindeer pajamas furnished by grandma. Even the bouncy seat. All coordinated. Able to chew on the gifts. Mostly the wrapping paper. A lot to get to. The desperate search for an air asia jetliner. Officials saying it and the 162 people on board are likely, quote, at the bottom of the sea. Nbcs katy tur is following this from singapore. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Day two and still no official word on the fate of that plane. There was an unconfirmed report earlier today that debris was spotted but it was quite a distance from the last known location of the flight, and if we learned anything from mh370 is take these initial reports with a grain of salt. The head of the indonesia search and rescue team is preparing people for the worst. Our evaluation of the coordinates suggest that its under water. So our presumption now is that the aircraft is under the sea. Still, that is only an educated guess. Teams in the air and at sea are scouring the area around the island near flight 8501s last known location. The the island is halfway between surabaya and singapore. They are assisting in the effort and australia set one of its or ionsa. Another day of waiting as relatives hope for a miracle. As the hours pass without answers, similarities are drawn between this flight and mh370 which abruptly went off radar. There are a lot of differences. Unlike mh370 which flew undetected for hours air Traffic Control immediately noticed when this went missing after pilots requested to fly at 38,000 feet to avoid bad weather. Investigators have been combing a an area in the indian ocean in some of deepest waters in the world. 8501 is likely in the java sea which is relatively shallow and heavily trafficked. As for air asias pilot he was experienced with more than 20,000 hours in the cockpit and the plane had flown forthan 6,000. Support the next of kin of passenger and also our crew to go through these very, very difficult times. Reporter as you can see the weather is only getting worse out here. The wind is picking up, it was pretty cloudy today. It will rain for the next few days, not ideal conditions for searching and it could hamper or potentially suspend the search for the next few days. Well see what happens as the weather shows us what shes going to give us. Katy tur, thank you. Aviation analyst and former ntsb investigator, greg, good morning to you. With Officials Saying likely this plane is at the bottom of the sea how difficult a search do you expect this to be . It depends because if the were expecting to see lots of floating debris unlike with mh370, it could be difficult because were going to have pinpoint where that airplane and the bulk of the wreckage went in the water f. There is floating debris of course its moved now over this last 2430 hours so. They are going to have to backtrack or pinpoint to try and identify where the main impact may be. Still early but the indications are four minutes after the plane or before the plane vanished the pilot requested to climb higher, presumably to get around weather in the area. And was denied because of traffic conditions. Yes. What do you make of that . Typically pilots try to go around the weather. There are times you can go above the weather but knowing the weather type in that area all of these pilots are familiar that these thunderstorms flop up to 50,000 feet. Likely he thought he probably may climb to get a smoother ride. They may have been in turbulence as they got closer. He may have thought he could deviate and climb. What do you make of air Traffic Control saying no, you cant climb higher . You got to remember that air Traffic Control their primary duties are traffic separation, so if they have crossing traffic at a higher altitude at 35, 38, 40,000 feet they have to have a certain separation so they possibly said you cant go right now, you got an airplane coming over the top of you. Take your deviation, well climb you later. Talking about monsoon weather, lightning strikes. Are you surprised that the plane was permitted to fly this plan at all . Thats going to be a primary question for investigators because typically even before the pilots leave the ground they are in with dispatch doing a weather analysis and give at any deteriorating weather conditions because those thunderstorms had been building for some time. And they blossomed even larger as the airplane approached. So theres going to be a question as to what kind of information the crew had to make a decision to conduct the flight, and why the airline released the airplane for that flight. You hear about lightning, these planes are designed to withstand this weather and some lightning. Absolutely. Airplanes can take lightning strikes but if you have multiple strikes or have an issue with what we call bonding where you have to make sure all of the electronicing are bonded you could fail some or all of the electronic equipment. This is an electric airplane with backup computers and uses a fly by wire system. Could compromise the integrity of the system. So many questions. Thank you g. To have you here. Over to willie. Thank you. Weve got breaking news now on that ferry disaster. Officials saying evacuation of more than 400 passengers from the burning ship has been completed. Keir simmons is monitoring this for us. Good morning. Reporter good morning. All of the passengers surviving passengers have been rescued. The exact numbers are confused and many are suffering hypothermia. They had to stay on the top deck overnight while the fire below was so hot they said their shoes melted on the lower decks if they tried to get down and escape. A terrifying rescue operation. A ferry on fire, hundreds of passengers on the top deck. They are air lifted one by one while jets of water are visible pouring from a ship to control the flames beneath those still stranded. Hours into the rescue many were still on board. Some were winched to safety in groups, here a mother and two children and apparently very young child in her arms wrapped in blue. She smiles, were okay. The ferry was headed from greece to italy, most of the 478 on board were greek. Its thought the fire broke out on the car deck before spreading. Here a burst of flames. Five people confirmed dead, while the cold caused hypothermia for many. Wur 13 are safe. Some left on a container ship. It reached the ferry to help before rough seas, high winds and the intense fire made rescue by sea impossible. There was no alarm, nothing this man says. Everything was blocked. It was freezing cold. No help. The ferry had passed a Technical Inspection according to its owners but one passenger called his wife from on board and told her they have been left to burn. We are hearing the two more bodies have been recovered, taking the number, the official number of dead now at seven, willie. Italians have already launched an investigation but of course they will need to recover the ferry for that. And i spoke earlier to al, he tells me there are still rough seas, rain, even sleet with temperatures in the 30s, so it will be a difficult recovery, willie. Terrifying scene. Keir simmons, thanks so much. Speaking of weather at Home Millions are hit with some of the coldest air of the year, up to 45 degrees below normal in the midwest. Al is also tracking nasty storms at the start of this week. Hes in los angeles this morning with all of that. Good morning. Good morning. Good to see you, savannah. Merry christmas, happy new year. Not so much a great end to the year with all of this cold air. Big area of High Pressure dominating and it is going to push south. I mean it is going to get as far south as parts of texas. We have wind chill warning and advisories from the Pacific Northwest all the way into northern texas, and as far east as minnesota. Heres what were looking at. Temperatures that are today right now feels like 3 in idaho falls, 8 in denver, feels like 9 below in minneapolis. Those are current temperatures. High temperatures for the day its not going to feel much better. Denver will be 6. Thats 38 degrees below normal. Lexington, kentucky, 36 degrees. 5 degrees below normal. And then tomorrow that area expands out and to the east and as you can look at this, new york city, a high of 33, 7 degrees colder than normal. Kansas city 26. Dallas will see a high of only 42, thats 13 degrees below normal. And theres a big storm coming out of the west, could you believe were talking about 3 inches of snow or more in las vegas on new years eve. Bet on it. Guys, more coming up in a little bit. Cozy up inside that casino. Then dont leave. Well check back in with you. Shanelle jones is in fortunately with an update on the health of former president george h. W. Bush. He could be going home soon after spending another night in the hospital. Jacob rascon is in houston with the latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Doctors seem more optimistic on the former president s condition, talking about dates for discharge. He got here tuesday by ambulance as a precaution after he had trouble breathing. He is the oldest living former president and as we know suffers from a form of parkinsons disease and had Health Scares before. Two years ago he was hear. Were told this time around his condition is less serious, now going on seven days in the hospital. And as were told he could be going home very soon. Thank you. President obama putting republicans on notice this morning saying he expects to use his veto pen more often. The president hasnt vetoed many bills since taking office in 2009, only twice. But with republicans set to control both chambers of congress, republicans will have fewer obstacles sending president obama legislation he doesnt like. In texas fire Officials Say not all the residents of a Senior LivingApartment Building have been accounted for. After a deadly threealarm fire near san antonio. Five people were killed, ten injured after the fire broke out sunday morning. Residents are not required to check in or south its unclear how many were home at the time. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Dramatic cell phone video shows a 3yearold child jumping from the second floor during a Christmas DayApartment Fire in alabama. Jump come down right here. Your mama said do it. Come on. 3 years old. Another resident was able to catch the child. Six people were hurt in the fire, four of them children. Four apartments were destroyed. Investigators say the fire was started by food left unattended on a burning stove. A surfer is recovering after surviving a great white shark attack off the coast of Central Florida or Central California i should say. This morning were hearing from a fellow surfer who watched it happen. Here is miguel almaguer. Reporter what many might consider their Worst Nightmare in the water. Coming facetoface with a great white shark. A reality for surfer Kevin Swanson sunday morning. Both of the eyewitnesss that we spoke to said it was 8 to 10foot great white. Reporter the attack took place off of the beach in Central California. Andrew was out in the water next to swanson when it all unfolded. When it come up, hit him from below and the whole body just twisted and took him under the water. He pops up. Reporter swanson made it back to the beach and air lifted to the hospital with a bite on his hip. Doctors say the injury is not life threatening. Miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. And everything coming up roses in Southern California today with just three days to go until the tournament of roses parade, volunteers will be busy putting the finishing touches on more than 40 flowercovered floats. Paradegoer may need a sweatshirt. The forecast calls for a high of just 54 degrees. More than 20 degrees below last years high. All right. I have to say als out there covering the rose bowl, right . Thats right. Were doing im doing the rose parade. This will be my 18th year. Im doing it with hoda kotb. In fact, the morning, it starts at 8 00 a. M. Out here. Its going to be about 38 degrees, so well need more than a sweatshirt. A look around the country. Beautiful in the northeast, plenty of sunshine. But in the Midatlantic States into the southeast more rain. Chilly conditions as you make your way into texas. Snow, this is part of that storm system were talking about, were looking at more coming up in the next 15 minutes, bringing snow across the plains, a nice day though cool in Southern California. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. We were a great team then we grew up. And things werent as easy. After twelve years, seven diets and six sizes i finally realized my relationship with my butt had nothing to do with my butt and everythying to do with my brain. Well then, good morning to you. 7 16 showing you a live look at the Golden Gate Bridge. We started out completely clear here and at this part closed in with fog. Temperatures in the 40s this morning. Were going to end up in the upper 50s. Lots of sunshine coming your way all week long. And thats your latest weather. Here is a question. If you put your tongue on the frozen today logo, does it stick . I dont know. Try it, al. Lick the screen. Do you double dog dare me . Yes. Triple dog dare you. Go for it, al. Hell do it. See you in a little bit. Dylan is covering the orange room for carson this morning. What are we looking at . You traveled for the holidays. Yep. Did you bring along any wrapped presents in your luggage . No. Did not. The tsa says you cannot. If you do, theres a good chance theyll open them. Put together a nice little compilation of the presents that the tsa not so subtly unwrapped. Jordan says well at least the tsa made an attempt to rewrap the present they opened. The jar made it. Thats good. Katie, who basically says she thinks the tsa might have tried to open up her present here but shes not so sure. I appreciate theyre trying to rewrap the whole thing. This one maybe not so much. He brought us a present and tsa was nice enough to wrap it up for us. I like how the string was piled right back on the present. They always stick on their security tape. We reached out to the tsa. We recommend that travelers travel with unwrapped gifts and wrap them at their destination. At times unwrapping a wrapped gift is required by policy. They give some advice saying Holiday Travel tip, use gift bags instead of wrapped gifts to the checkpoint. Sometimes its hard to travel with a big roll of wrapping paper. I understand why people take the chance and wrap it. Not so nice when you get the present and its covered in tsa wrapping paper. Thank you for those tips four days after christmas. Remember next year. Exactly. Always looking ahead, dylan. Coming up, has hollywood found a new way to produce a hit . Historymaking success of the interviews online release after all that controversy and the stars live tweeting during the film. Has it been worth it . Colorados governor on the highs and lows of the legalization of marijuana one year later. First this is today on nbc. S of the legalization of marijuana one year later. First this is today on nbc. Coming up, madonnas weird rant on social media in the wake of her new song being leaked online. Most daring let me get this straight. [ female voice ] yes . Lactaid® is 100 real milk . Right. Real milk. But it wont cause me discomfort. Exactly, no discomfort because its milk without the lactose. And it tastes . Its real milk come on, would i lie about this . [ female announcer ] lactaid®. 100 real milk. No discomfort. And for more 100 real dairy treats youll 100 enjoy look for lactaid® ice cream and lactaid® cottage cheese. Colourists know roots take colour one way, and previously coloured hair another. New Vidal Sassoon salonist. First, brush roots then, blend through lengths. Our most advanced system outside the salon. Its more than colour. Its a work of art. Ok. Well start looking for an suv. Fire by firenze sir . Start your Search Online with over 35,000 carmax quality certified used cars. Carmax. Start here. This is an allen family production. And heres why we love chex. One, choices like chocolate, vanilla and honey nut. Two, no artificial colors or flavors. Three. Its gluten free. Chex. Full of what you love. Free of what you dont. Behold, the subway steak egg white and cheese start your day with the most beautiful breakfast this side of daybreak. The toasty flatbread foundation will smooth out mornings ups and downs. The juicy, sizzly steak is stacked high enough to see well over any morning fog left in that noggin of yours plus its loaded with proteinpacked egg whites, melty cheese and whatever else you love, like jalapenos or spinach. The subway steak egg white cheese is as great as the sunrise itself. Subway. Eat fresh. Youre watching today in the bay. Good morning. It is 7 26. Happening now, police in San Francisco are looking for two men who broke into a home and robbed two people at gun point. It happened at about 3 00 this morning near San Francisco state. Police say the suspects were armed with gun when is they burst into the house and took property from the victims. They didnt elaborate on what was taken. Then the suspects ran off. Police have been searching for them all morning. No one was hurt. Police have blocked off a threeblock radius to look for clues. The window washer who fell 11 stories from the top of a San Francisco building has raised more than 72,000 in just 17 da