And just goes kablewy. What has this guy all worked up . Something that will bring back great memories for all of aus, friday, january 23, 2015. Afrnlts 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 friday morning. That little boy reminding me of a young willie geist in some ways. Same reaction still to what hes talking about. Hell explain. Well tell you what he is talking about. Meanwhile, everybody is talking about deflategate. We heard from brady and belichick yesterday. Trying to take the air out of the scandal. Think of the puns i could have made. They are on line. You dont have to look far. Lets get to that. Its our top story, the deflategate scandal. New questions are raised after both new england coach Bill Belichick and tom brady spoke out denying knowing anything about underinflated footballs. Peter alexander is outside in foxborough with the latest. Good morning to you. Reporter matt, good morning to you. Neither the wicked genius coach or the Quarterback Tom Brady has been able to silence the skepticings. Yesterday in the News Conference brady surprised a lot of people saying as of late thursday, four days after the scandal broke he still had not been contacted by nfl investigators. With the pressure on the patriots mounting, threetime super bowl champion brady forced to play defense. Just days after laughing off the controversy. Would you care to weigh in on that . I think i heard it all at this point. Reporter brady was hit hard with tough questions. Can you answer is tom brady a cheater . I dont believe so. I mean i feel like ive always played within the rules. Reporter those answers didnt quiet critics including several former players. I did not believe what tom had to say. I dont believe there is an equipment manager that would deflate a ball without the starting quarterbacks approval. This is unbelievable. For you not to know what you touch every play. We have cooperated fully, quickly, and completely with every request they made. Reporter bradys denial hours after coach belichick said he was smocked to learn his team was playing with underinflated footballs. I have no explanation for what happened. I dont have an explanation for what happened. I dont have an explanation for what happened. I dont have an explanation for what happened. Inside the locker room bradys teammates have rugged it off. Do you have faith that the golden boy Quarterback Tom Brady had nothing to do with this . With the nfl review still ongoing the patriots say they are cooperating, still unanswered, how it happened, and who is to blame. Its not the most difficult job that the officials have to do prior to the game. The referee will look at that football and hell do the hand feel and make sure that it looks good. But its not a very difficult or time consuming project. Reporter after a half hour the patriots star tried to put deflategate in perspective. This isnt isis, this isnt you know, no ones dying. Reporter so its unclear whether the nfl will wrap up its investigation and frankly, unclear whether or not any one will be punished as a result of deflategate. The fay tree yots leave new england, head to arizona on monday. Thank you. Mike is a columnist and writer for the New York Daily News and author. Good morning to you. Good morning, savannah. I want to talk about the nfl and its failure to pick up the phone and call tom brady. Lets look at what brady and bell acheek said. As far as you are concerned did they do anything to help themselves . Is what they are saying about this plausible, credible in your mind . I actually found belichick more plausible even though it was a kaz of plaudsible deniability. I talked to a famous coach last night who said that he had never asked a question in his career about air pressure in the balls even though the coach told me how they used to work these balls over once they got them. The brady thing was sketchier because he told you that hes presented these footballs, i cant believe that were actually treating a bag of balls like a National Obsession but he gets these footballs 2 1 2 hours before the game, they are exactly right. He doesnt want anybody to touch them, then once the game starts he cant tell the two pounds has come out of these footballs. But does that mean he orchestrated this thing . I cant say that. Do you think this is a case where as we now know about tom brady he likes to have his footballs a little deflated where he lets the ball boys push it to the line, and then perhaps some other factor, like weather came into play and now you suddenly are below that threshold . You know, i was thinking that this may be a little like bridgegate. Could we say that Chris Christie ordered those lanes closed on the George Washington bridge, no, we cant. But could somebody on the staff have thought well, this is something tom might like me to do because we know how he likes these footballs to feel. Yeah. But again, we dont know what the nfl has learned. And just because they havent talked to brady yet he may be the last guy they talk to, and when they do talk to him, he might be the same guy that we saw yesterday which was one of the great quarterbacks of all time, looking like he was running to be class president. Let me pick up on that. I think that was, if there was sen stunner out of the News Conference that no one from the league had even so much as made a cursory phone call to brady himself. I get it, maybe they want to do an investigation, they are going to get all of their ducks in a row. Not even picking up the phone saying hey, whats your side of the story, what do you know about this . I dont know how this thing is laying out. They may be talking to everybody else that they can talk to with the patriots, before they get to brady. And then we may find out what happened. And heres the thing, savannah. Even in a world where we pretty much find out everything we want to flow about everybody, and were having an unspoken thought its against the law, we may never know exactly how this happened because everybody may do what brady and belichick did and say i have no idea how the air came out of these footballs, so apparently the only thing i conclude is these balls deflated themselves. Okay, one last question though. I think what people are wondering about the nfl is are they trying to slow walk the investigation to get them past the super bowl . They needed this story like a hole in the head after the year they had with ray rice and Adrian Peterson and all of the heat that goodell has taken. Do they want this to spill over into super bowl week, probably not. I keep thinking this may be wrapped up by the weekend. But you know, im an optimist. Mike lumica, we always think of you as an optimist. Always good to get your perspective. Thanks. In other news the fate of two japanese men held hostage by isis is uncertain this morning. The terror group threatened to kill them within 72 hours, if a 200 million ransom was not paid. That deadline passed overnight. Richard engel is nbcs chief foreign correspondent. Good morning to you. Normally in the past we have heard from isis. Unfortunately, seeing video of what they have carried out. Is it unusual that were hearing nothing this morning . Reporter it is not that unusual, in fact. Isis has always made good on its threats in the past, but its timing has not always been specific. In fact, with the american journalist Steven Sotloff there were deadlines not met. Ultimately he was killed. What weve seen with these two japanese hostages is that the kidnappers made an outrageous demand, asked for 200 million and said they want to be paid within 72 hours. Thats impossible almost under any circumstances, especially when japan made it clear it has no intention of honoring this demand. Were learning a little bit more about the two hostages themselves. One of the two japanese was a selfstyled security consultant, he decided to go to syria, to find a job, to change his life. He had had a divorce in japan, he had a suicide attempt. Hes been described as something of a lost soul. The other hostage was a friend of his, a journalist, and experienced journalist, who decided to go into syria to do reporting but also to find and rescue his friend. Now the two men have their fates intertwined. Ironic twist. Richard engel on this story. Thank you very much. Here at home wide area of the east is bracing for a treacherous combination of snow, ice and rain and al, we could be seeing substantial travel problems over the weekend. Thats right. Into the beginning of next week because theres not one but two storms. Heres what the storm left as you got out of new mexico and on into texas. Were talking about upwards of a foot or more of snow causing treacherous travel. Heres where we stand now. The system itself is going to be making its way through the south. Weve got heavy rain. We may be seeing severe thunderstorms as we go to the map, show you whats happening. Atlanta, they have heavy rain, probably airport delays this morning. Rain right through the early afternoon hours. This system now pushes up out of the gulf and comes out into the midatlantic. So, by 6 00 tonight were starting to see precipitation make its way into washington. This blue line is the freezing line. Thats the rain snow line. It intensifies friday night. Rain, sleet and snow along i95 corridor. Saturday snow in new york so were going to watch this as it pulls away, wind gusts are going to increase, off the new england coast. Could be up to 50 Miles Per Hour wind gusts. Heavy rain to the south. Look for 3 to 6 inches of snow, new york city 3 to 5. Bangor, maine snowfall amounts 6 to 9 inches and then another system clipper comes out and by monday morning we could be looking at more snow from boston down to washington, d. C. We dont need it. Thank you. Willie in fortunately this morning. Willie has the latest on the death of King Abdullah. I do. Funeral services being held for saudi arabias King Abdullah. The 90yearold died thursday after battling pneumonia. U. S. Leaders remembering him for his efforts to modernize the country and as an ally in the fight against terrorism. At home in saudi arabia his legacy much more complicated. Aimen, good morning. Good morning. Yes, saudi arabia is the Worlds Largest producer of oil and the birthplace of islam. To say its an important country in the region and to us at home would be an understatement. Thats why the death of the saudi monarch is sure to have implicationings not only on the kingdom but for us back in the u. S. Who takes over next is just as important. This morning saudi arabia is grieving, mourners paying final respects to King Abdullah and the house of the royal family. The anoujsment was made on state tv. King abdullah, the saudi monarch and one of americas closest arab allies died after a recent illness. President obama described him as a leader who was always candid and had the courage of his convictions. At home, he pushed through Economic Reforms and tried to modernize education. Opening the kingdoms first coed university. A close u. S. Ally King Abdullah was instrumental in supporting americas invasion of iraq during the first gulf war. Former president george h. W. Bush calling it quote a moment of unparalleled cooperation between our two great nations. In the early aftermath of 9 11 saudi arabia doubled down on its relationship with the u. S. , becoming a key ally in the u. S. War on terror, and has been a lasting relationship through the obama administration. But some critics said american praise went too far for an absolute monarch who ruled undemocratic kingdom with a poor human rights record. President obama criticized taking this bow when he came facetoface. The relationship has been challenged. King abdullah increasingly concerned about the u. S. Nuclear negotiations with iran, saudi arabias regional enemy. He was also frustrated the u. S. Didnt do more to stop the blood shed in syrias civil war. The new king will have to deal with two major threats to the kingdom, to the south al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a force that wants to top tl monarch and they arent the only ones, to the east in iraq is the group isis which wants to overthrow the kingdom. Thanks a lot. The president of yemen has resigned under pressure from rebels, this complicated american efforts to combat al qaeda in that country. And raise fears that the arab worlds poorest country may fracture into mini states. The Prime Minister there has stepped down. The massive fire at a complex in new jersey has been determined to be accidental. Maintenance workers making repairs accidentally sparked the blaze with a blow torch. Wednesdays fire consumed the complex that sits across the hudson river from new york city, forzing residents to evacuate. Took more than 15 hours for crews to contain the blaze. A duck shot by a hurnlter in Washington State has tested positive for h5n1 bird flu, a relative of the virus that killed 400 people. Its the first ever seen in the u. S. It does not appear to have infected any people or even domestic poultry but does show that wild migratory birds can carry dangerous virus here. And if you think youve seen parents get intense at a kids sporting event wait until you see this. It happened in york, pennsylvania during a girls hockey game. Watch the dad on the left coming up to the glass, gets up after a penalty is called, smashes his hand through the glass. It shatters and falls onto the ice. If you listen closely you can hear someone in the crowd yell way to go, paul. Splashing the glass. The man has been banned from that arena. Apparently they said his wedding ring hit the glass just so, broke his ring, broke the glass. Ridiculous. Weve been there. I have been to Little League games where parents get out of control. Its insane. Thank you. Mr. Roker. What do you have . Way to go, al. Tell you what weve got. Go to the map. A lot of wet weather in the Midatlantic States, gulf coast as well. Sunshine through the central plains, light snow up through the central great lakes, a real wintry mix moving into the pacific northwest. Look for sunshine and 73 in los angeles. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. 7 17. Good morning to you. Im meteorologist Christina Loren. In san jose 36 degrees, meanwhile in the north bay its chilly out there, 40 degrees for us here in the south bay. Weather headlines tell the story. Chilly to start, really mild to finish running about 10 to 15 degrees above average. Now big waves are going to develop over the weekend. We have a High Surf Advisory up and down the coastline and well see some warm temperatures squl into the mid to upper 70s saturday and sunday. And thats your latest weather. Thanks very much. News this morning on the Measles Outbreak tied to disney theme parks in california. Health officials are rushing to stop the spread. Hallie jackson is in anaheim. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, matt. And this morning disney is monitoring about 100 colleagues of the workers who have been infected with measles here and offering free vaccinations to all park employees. California Public Health officials stress if youve been immunized this park and places like it are safe. If not or if your child is under a year and too young for the shot, you may want to think twice. For these disneyland visitors the trips all about mickey, not measles. We made sure she had her vaccine. It has some staying away. We were going to take our son who is only 8 months old so he hasnt been vaccinated. We dont want to put our son in jeopardy. We decided to wait until things calm down, i guess. Reporter disney is now offering free measles shots and immunity tests to all its park employees. After five workers came down with the disease in california, part of the outbreak now linked to arizona, along with colorado, oregon, utah, washington, and mexico. California Public Health officials emphasize its not just disney, airports, malls and other parks or Tourist Attractions can be risky for people who are not vaccinated. The contagious virus can survive up to two hours why doctors recommend getting immunized. The vaccine is safe. And its clear you can protect your family and yourself from getting the measles by getting vaccinated. Reporter experts say thats the best way to keep the happiest place on earth healthy. Even adults who have been vaccinated have some concerns about catching measles. Thats because many of us born between 1957 and 1989 only received one measles shot, not two. Thats still very effective, experts say check with your doctor if you are concerned. You could get a booster. Guys. Incredibly contagious. Thank you very much. Turn to carson. The internet had things to say about deflategate yesterday. First of all the internet is 12 years old. Belichick, brady, give their press conferences. So are we. Right. Its the internet, you, all of you cared about were balls. Tom bradys, and footballs, how he handles them. Were a class morning show. Were not going there. Oh, no. So the policy went to today. Com. Ive only seen it 10 times this morning. Go into the orange room. Bill achicago throws tom might have more to say how he likes his footballs. Tom doesnt say a lot. To some of your comments. I heard both press conferences, i somewhat believe belichick but i didnt believe brady. Julia writes it hasnt been proven they are the ones. Brady and belichick both denied it. Here is the question. Do you think Bill Belichick knew. Well have results pretty quick on this. I know you and willie were talking about this. Somewhere there is a ball boy who may be interesting to talk to. I agree. You get the idea that maybe tom or somebody went to them said hey, but that remains to be seen. I dont know. Well see what happens. Can i get a slow clap for carson. Keeping it classy. Well done. Thank you. Thank you very much. Coming up on rossen reports distracted Police O