Good morning. A snowy mess. That massive storm that pounded half the country finally on its way out this morning leaving travel headaches and a mass cleanup in its wake. Just as we finish digging out, there could be another wintery blast moving in. Final journey home. Nelson mandela laid to rest following an Emotional Funeral Service where he was honored by stars, royalty and world leaders. Hats off, pope francis sharing a playful moment with little guy who decided to wear his skull cap, reenforcing his title as the peoples pope, today, sunday, december 15, 2013. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with lester holt and erica hill, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today on this sunday morning. Im erica hill. Im lester holt alongside jenna wolfe and dylan dreyer. Lets talk about the big winter storm. It stretched over 1,000 miles, finally making its way across new england and heading out to sea. About 1200 flights were grounded across the country already this weekend. There were also a number of deaths, four reported. The storm dumped a foot of snow, the total could go higher today in maine. While it has been a major hassle, dangerous in so many areas, it is not all bad news. The weather channels paul good low is at shug ga loaf ski resort in maine where all that snow is what skiers have been hoping for. Good morning. Reporter just six days from the official beginning of winter and ten days away from christmas, Mother Nature brought a nice powdery gift to sugarloaf and much of maine. Great for skiing and snowboarding, mott the best, though, for the roads though, although while is fun here across the part of new england, it hasnt been this way across the entire country with this winter storm. Digging out. The monster of a storm brought misery to more than 20 states from missouri up to maine. In much of the northeast cities saw snow change to ice during the night making driving treacherous. One minute its snowing like a blizzard, the next minute its icy rain. Reporter slippery roads were the big concern as new york city officials kept watch on the streets from the command center. We have over 450 salt spreaders salting the roadways. Reporter it wasnt just the roads, thousands of air travellers were stuck waiting for flights. Still an hour and a half delay. Other people have 24 hour delays. Reporter new york liberty saw 366 canceled, logan 144, chicago ohare 120. All according to flight tracker. Com. Many of the worst road accidents happened in the midwest. Only one person was seriously injured in this fourcar crash in indianapolis, but four people were report killed in missouri. New england may get more than a foot of snow by the end of today. In terms of snowfall totals six inches fell just north of new york city, 9 1 2 outside st. Louis and Northern Michigan more than a foot, all making for one of the most treacherous starts to winter in recent memory. A line is already forming here outside the super quad. I talked to one of the locals who lives further up the mountain. He said theres at least a foot and a half of this fresh powder on the mountain. You see why the line is forming early. Will be a great day here on the mountain. Tricky getting up here. People in this part of maine they are welcoming and bringings on the third and perhaps not the last storm of this winter season. Erica . More to come. Paul, thanks so much. Dylan has been tracking this one for us. Is the worst of it over . The worst is over for most areas. Now a ski resort storm across parts of new england which is where they want it. We also have the tail end of the rainy part of the storm system moving into northern florida. Thats going to fade away as we go into this afternoon. You can see where we have this area of low pressure. This th is what will start pulling away as we go into this afternoon. Even though we have heavier snow across mainetion, , its going to last into the afternoon. Well get well over a foot of snow in maine. That goes for some of the ski resorts. Mount peelier could end up with three to six. Now the story will be all the slush that we have on the roads in some of your major cities, its going to get bitter cold as we go into tonight. Temperatures today will get above freezing. Only at 31 in new york city. It is very slippery. Look at all this cold air back through the western great lakes where it feels like its well below zero. Thats whats going to refreeze all the slush later tonight. I think tomorrow the biggest concern is going to be the fact that everything is going to be slippery and a lot of black ice out there. It is still going to be a slow monday morning commute. South africa bid a final farewell to its legendary former leader Nelson Mandela just hours ago. An emotional funeral at his final resting place, his home village of qunu. Our chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel is there. Reporter good morning, lester. Ten days of mourning are now over, Nelson Mandela returned to the Rolling Hills where he grew up. Many South Africans said it felt like they were burying their father, the father of this nation. It was the last leg of a long journey, to the resting place where Nelson Mandela asked to be buried, in the small village where he grew up. Reporter it was a grand state sendoff, but also a private moment for a few,000 invited guests including his extended family, world leaders, royalty, celebrities and old friends here to say goodbye to the man who had come so far. He went to school fair foot and in the end he rose to the highest office of the land. It is within each of us to achieve anything we want in life. Reporter mandelas journey and his achievements are founding legend of modern south africa and everyone here knows the tale. He was a very important prisoner, a very important philosopher, a very important pragmatist, a very important president , a very important pappa. Reporter current president jacob zuma who many have criticized for failing to live up to mandelas moral standard, vowed to carry on the legacy. It is the end of 95 glorious years. The long walk to freedom has ended in the physical sense. Our own journey continues. Reporter and then at noon by tradition, when the sun was highest and the shadows shortest, he was let go. As South Africans said, Nelson Mandela was finally free. Today marks the end of an extraordinary life, the boy who became an activist, then a prisoner who went on to help free a nation. Lester . Richard engel in south africa, thanks, richard. There are new details this morning about the 18yearold who opened fire at his Colorado High School on friday critically wounding one student. Police now say the gunman likely intended to hurt many more. Ron mott is outside Arapahoe High School in centennial, colorado, with the latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Police, in fact, say karl pierson showed up here ready to hurt a lot of people on friday and the terrifying scene that unfolded didnt take much time at all, just 80 seconds from start to finish. A community gripped in shock and sadness gathered to pray for 17yearold senior claire davis, the lone shooting victim from fridays violence at Arapahoe High School shot in the head at pointblank range, randomly Police Suspect by karl pierson. Officials say he stormed into the school shortly after 12 30, making no effort to hide the pump Action Shotgun he legally bought the week before, looking for the schools debate coach. Students say pearson who voiced Strong Political views had recently been kicked off the team. His intent was evil. Reporter the sheriff who refused to mention pearson by name said the student was also named with a machete, multiple rounds of ammo and three molotov cocktails. He is someone who victimized an innocent young lady by an act of evil. In my opinion he deserves no notoriety and no celebrity. Reporter police say pier son fired five shots. Some of the chaos and drama that unfolded were captured on a cell phone from inside a classroom as well as in police dispatches. I have a student down in the athletic hall. Reporter students say theyre accustomed to Training Drills and thought for a brief moment this was just another one. It hits home because it didnt feel real until you see everybody and this really did happen. Reporter we checked in on claire davis, still listed in Critical Condition this morning. Ron mott, thank you. Time to turn to washington where a bipartisan budget deal is hanging by a thread in the senate after sailing through the house. Could we be facing another shutdown . David gregory is moderator of meet the press. Good morning. Good morning. It tease senate where this thing is hanging bay thread right now. Whats the holdup there . Theres obviously concern about it among conservatives who dont like what this does, allowing spending to go back up, reversing some of the sequester as the president wanted to do. Ive talked to lead shirp on both sides. They do feel like its going to get through in the end, there may be some drama, certainly some opposition thats voiced publicly. Theres a fair amount of optimism this thing will get passed. It was interesting on the house side. John boehner really took the tea party and tea partytype groups to task over their being against this bill. Is that a total change of tone for him . I think it was a lot of frustration, talking to some of his aides. First of all, hes very fond of paul ryan send is a supporter of him as a conservative architect of republican budget policy, but just plain frustration that groups on the right, a minority in his own conservative caucus and outside activist groups are trying to take the entire party hostage with their more pure views about the budget. It led to a Government Shutdown before, the political damage was steep because of that. Republican leaders like boehner, like paul ryan have said enough is enough. The party cant endure those kinds of selfinflicted wounds. You mentioned paul ryan. That gives me a jumping off point to my next question. Among republicans, he was way up, 73 favorability rating, paul ryan, on the democratic side it was Hillary Clinton with 89 of democrats favoring her. Any surprises here . I think whats striking about paul ryan is he has carved out middle ground. He is saying to republicans or primary voters or caucus voters in iowa, look, government has got to function. As republicans, we have to be part of the solution and not just standing still saying were not going to do anything. I think that kind of reception has to be encouraging to him. Hes distinguishing himself from other figures on the right. Marco rubio, the florida senator, called this deal unconservative and unamerican. It shows you some of the real strains there on the right. Then quickly back to this poll, Hillary Clinton favored among democrats. She has strong negatives among republicans. How much of a problem is that potentially for her . It is potentially down the line as you look at electability. She has to look at the left who is going to nominate her, shes got to get that party together, particularly at a time when there are a lot of liberals disappointeded with this president. David gregory, well check with you in a bit on meet the press. Want to check in now with jenna for a look at the other top stories were following. Good morning everyone. A year after his suicide, the body of former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Joe Vonn Belcher has been exhumed. Theyre hoping to learn if a brynn injury led to the tragic murdersuicide. The murdersuicide of Javon Belcher and his long time girlfriend shocked kansas city and the nfl. Okay. They were arguing and he shot her. Yes, they was arguing. Belcher shot perkins nine times in the home they shared and then drove to the chiefs practice facility where he shot himself in the head leaving their infant daughter orphaned. The motive remains a mystery. In whats believed to be the first exhume asian of an nfl player, new clues could emerge by examining his brain, something that wasnt done when he died. Belcher did not have a documented history of concussions, but is it possible he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy or cte, a brain disease thats been discovered in other former nfl players . The answer will be important for science and football. Cte has been linked with dementia, depression, aggressive behavior, drug addiction and even suicidal behavior. Reporter the question now is whether belchers body has been in the ground too long, too late to provide any answers. Charles hadlock, nbc news. Family and friends bid a tearful farewell to Actor Paul Walker on saturday at a private burial and memorial service. He died in a horrific car crash two weeks ago. His remains were cremated. His fast and furious ksh costar tyrese said, quote, in a room full of your loved ones, i wish today was your wedding instead. In a world of college sports, the honor is the heisman trophy, this year the winner was Florida States jamesis winston. There was controversy leading up to his win. A prosecutor in florida decided not to press charges citing a lak of evident. How about this for china . They secured a place in history, becoming the third placountry t land on the moon. They will go all over the moons surface. Theyll take the scenic route, looking for any Natural Resources they can find. Finally, when is it okay to goof around with the pope . By goof around i mean poke at him and take his religious hat off his head and laugh at his face . When youre a child or when youre dreaming. Check out this cute video as the pope is holding a little boy who decides it would be take it off. You look better with it off. Taking the popes skull cap off of him, obviously all in good fun. The pope smiled, let him hold on to it for just a second and then fearing hed try to sell it on ebay, put it back on his head, and then he took it off again. I put that in the adorable category. Hes actually so sweet with little kids. Remember the little kid that was holding on to him at the pulpit . Hes wonderful with kids, part of whats so charming about him and why the world has embraced him. Jenna, thanks. Dylan is back with a look at the rest of your National Forecast on this sunday morning. Good morning, draws. I like how you draw michigan, put on a mitten and trace it. I was from michigan. Live in jacksonville, florida, now. Much, much warmer. Much warmer. Somehow it got warmer around here, too. The snow is almost all gone on the plaza. The cold is sitting in the a very good sunday morning to you. Temperatures are now in the middle and upper 30s in and around the metro area. Near the freezing mark for Northern Maryland and the panhandle of west virginia. The forecast for today, plenty of clouds outside first thing this morning. There will be some clearing out by later on today. Turning a little bit breezy, as well. Winds coming out of the northwest at 15 Miles Per Hour, today highs high upper 30s where you see snow that is your latest forecast. Lester . Dylan, thank you. Up next, spreading good cheer. Secret santa is making the holidays very happy for shoppers nationwide. A story that will sales are at an alltime low but kissing is at an alltime high i want answers oh. Right. Kay. 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[ male announcer ] even wellplanned holidays can wind up at the corner of stockings are stuffed and quick duck luckily, walgreens is always nearby, so its easy to get in and out for extra stocking stuffers. Or anything else you might suddenly need. Stop by walgreens anytime for hersheys kisses chocolates, gift cards, and more. Plus most stores are open til midnight. Here at the corner of happy and healthy. Going to tell you about a secret Santa Exchange youre going to like. Good samaritans spreading hoda cheer by helping shoppers in a serious way. Dylan is in the orange room with more. These kindhearted people are opening their wallets and hearts in stores nationwide. Their good deeds are coming in the nick of time. Noelle walker has the story. Reporter angels do exist. At this Miami Walmart one secret santa handed the store two checks totaling 1500 asking to pay off customer balances. Im so grateful and blessed. Someone cares about me. Reporter an act thats taken place at other stores around the country. Then theres this. Part generous giftgiving, part marketing stunt. When Canadian Airline west jet asked passengers what they wanted before they boarded the flight. What would mommy and daddy like for christmas. Big tv. Reporter to then have the gifts delivered at baggage claim on the other end bringing some to tears in l. A. s Fashion District they are randomly paying for parking and purchases at stores. Well be picking up your tab today. Thats so sweet. Reporter this notion of spreading joy is part of a growing worldwide effort known as raccing or random acts of Christmas Kindness theres even a faceb