on our broadcast tonight, olympic threats in sochi in russia. tonight they're looking out for terrorists they call black widows. there's a warning that one may already be there. tonight, richard engel on what's being done to protect the games. fighting back against the latest allegations of bullying. did the christie administration really shake down a local mayor holding hurricane sandy recovery funds hostage? states of emergency. frigid temperatures, another big winter storm. and there are worries in several states about having enough fuel to get through it. and the president and pot. barack obama wades into a national conversation about marijuana. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening. the winter olympic games opening ceremony in sochi, russia is 18 days away. the russians from vladimir putin down, have been telling the world, in effect, we've got this. despite the very real threat of terrorism, they have been assuring the athletes and tourists and media who plan to attend, these will be the safest and most heavily defended games ever. the problem is the threat has become more real in just the past few days. it now includes specific people, some of whom may have tried to infiltrate the games in advance. so we begin here tonight with our chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, in moscow. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. russia has described its security perimeter around sochi as a ring of steel. well, it may not be as impenetrable as they hoped. at the sochi airport today, travelers were closely watched, as russian security forces

searched for as many as four women, suspected suicide bombers who may be planning an attack on the olympics. one of them, who may have already made it into sochi, is 22-year-old ruzana ibragimova. police distributed wanted posters. ruzana is a so-called black widow. she reportedly got that scar on her cheek from a raid by russian forces last year. her husband was killed. all this follows a threat from the grave yesterday. two men in a video claiming they're preparing to carry out last month's suicide attack in volgograd, and warning of attacks on the olympics to come. they, like ruzana, come from dagestan, the heart of russia's islamic insurgency. we recently visited dagestan, a poor muslim republic, where many hate vladimir putin and want independence from russia. some want islamic law. instead, they have gotten a harsh crackdown. at a mosque, men told us,

russian forces burst in during prayers. "i was hit with a police club. policemen beat me, clothe he said. they were asking, why do you go to the mosque? anger is raw on both sides. shamil's brother was killed on this corner by islamic militants. this was your brother? >> yeah. >> reporter: his brother was a policeman. now shamil is joining the force too. he said he wants justice. it's this old russian conflict in the caucasus that could explode during the olympics. >> militants showed us that they have capabilities. they have organizations, they have people, to carry out the suicide bombing attacks. >> reporter: islamic militants hoping to show the world their cause and destroy putin's prized olympic games. u.s. officials have complained they are not getting enough security cooperation from russia. specifically, they worry that sochi doesn't have the

infrastructure in place, the road, the hospitals, to manage a crisis should one occur. brian? >> richard engel starting us off in moscow tonight. richard, thanks. in this country, the attention has now intensified surrounding a political scandal involving the administration of governor chris christie in new jersey. the latest development involves hoboken, new jersey. perhaps best known as the birthplace of frank sinatra. the mayor of hoboken is alleging she was given an ultimatum by the lieutenant governor to support a development project or lose out on hurricane sandy recovery funding. a charge the lieutenant governor today angrily denied. nbc's kelly o'donnell is in trenton for us again tonight. >> reporter: today in union beach, new jersey's lieutenant governor, kim guadagno, joined volunteers at a hurricane sandy rebuilding event. and she hammered at a new political crisis. >> the suggestion that anyone

would hold back sandy relief funds for any reason is wholly and completely false. >> reporter: that allegation comes from hoboken mayor, democrat dawn zimmer, who this weekend went on television and met with the u.s. attorney's office. zimmer claims that last may, the lieutenant governor and another top official, richard constable, seen with the governor just last week, both told her relief funds would be held up unless zimmer backed a major commercial development. >> she said, i know it's not right. i know these things should not be connected, but they are. and if you tell anyone, i'll deny it. >> reporter: today, guadagno acknowledged a conversation, but -- >> i am very surprised by the mayor's allegations. and i deny wholeheartedly those allegations. >> reporter: constable called zimmer's allegations patently false and absurd. the lieutenant governor would

not take questions, citing pending investigations. >> why would she make these allegations, lieutenant governor? >> reporter: reached today, zimmer says she is genuinely disappointed in guadagno's response, but stands by her word. zimmer says hoboken only received $342,000 directly from the state. today in a conference call, a christie recovery official said the administration helped deliver $70 million in mostly federal aid to hoboken's residents and businesses. >> i'm scratching my head a little bit about, you know, any community that's getting the short end of the stick. >> reporter: zimmer had requested an additional $95 million to prevent future storm damage, not sandy relief. the administration says that it's about one-third of what's available for the whole state. governor christie has given a new interview to yahoo! news, talking about his trouble, saying i'm going to learn from this. i can't tell you yet what it is i'm going to learn. but i intend to learn from this. this is all politically awkward, brian. tomorrow the governor and lieutenant governor take the

oath of office to begin their second term. brian? >> kelly o'donnell at the state capitol in trenton tonight, kelly, thanks. tonight officials in omaha say there have been at least two fatalities in a massive explosion at an animal feed processing plant. at least 17 people were injured. some in critical condition tonight. and after hours of searching for survivors, first responders have now moved into what they call a recovery effort. the cause of the blast has not yet been determined. just hours from now, another big winter storm is going to hit across a big part of the country, bringing bone-chilling temperatures from the upper midwest right on up through new england, and because this follows that bitter cold from the so-called polar vortex a while back earlier this month, some states are worried about propane supplies for heating homes. that story tonight from nbc's john yang. >> reporter: for jeff dahl in stacy, minnesota, north of minneapolis, it's already been a rough winter.

he has closed off rooms in his house to cut his gas use. >> we have a propane fireplace that we have just turned off. >> reporter: but it's still expensive. >> last year, we were paying about $8 a day to heat the house. and this year we're up about $15 a day. >> reporter: with the polar vortex plunging so much of the nation into the deep freeze so early this year, there's a shortage of propane gas in the midwest and northeast. in rural areas, beyond the reach of utilities, it's used to heat about seven million homes and businesses. >> that early demand has made it very difficult for us to catch up. >> reporter: across the midwest, propane prices have spiked, up as much as 46% over last winter, according to government data. demand isn't going to ease any time soon as another blast of arctic air heads south. >> the polar vortex returns, at least a part of it will spread from the northern plains and canada all the way across the great lakes, with more sub freezing temperatures, subzero

windchills for the next couple of days. >> reporter: 15 states from oklahoma to maine have emergency declarations in place, easing limits on how many hours propane truck drivers can be on the road. the transportation department has declared a home heating fuel emergency, relaxing regulations in 24 midwest and northeast states. industry officials say they're talking to regulators about further steps. but it could take a while. and in the meantime, homeowners like jeff dahl are hit with a double whammy. >> we have been watching our numbers to make sure we're able to keep heating the house to a comfortable level through the remainder of the winter. >> reporter: with a lot more winter to come. john yang, nbc news, south holland, illinois. the federal government said something today about iran that we don't hear very often. they said that iran has taken, quote, concrete actions that represent an important step forward. this came after iran moved to scale back its nuclear program, and the u.s. and europe started to lift some sanctions as part

of that interim agreement. we get the story tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: the seal of approval came from u.n. weapons inspectors today. disconnecting the centrifuges that have been producing iran's high-grade 20% enriched uranium. fuel that can easily be upgraded to power a nuclear weapon. >> everything going as planned. the 20% enrichment has been stopped. >> reporter: iran has complied by limiting its uranium enrichment to lower levels, granting full access to u.n. inspectors, diluting current uranium stockpiles. halting construction on a separate plutonium plant. within hours, europe and washington lifted some of the sanctions that have cripple iran's economy, permitting some oil exports, imports of auto and airplane parts, and trade in gold and other precious metals. >> the suspension of these sanctions will enter into force today. >> reporter: as expected, israel's prime minister,

netanyahu said today iran's entire program should be shut down. and now comes the hard part, a final agreement requiring iran to disclose all its nuclear secrets. >> it's going to have to answer basic questions about did iran work on nuclear weapons in the past, and do some of those efforts continue. >> reporter: today's breakthrough came 33 years to the day after american diplomats were freed. now iran's new president rouhani offers hope of a new beginning, unless rouhani is blocked by iran's hardliners. >> a major open question is whether president rouhani can actually implement any deal inside iran. >> reporter: or unless the deal is blocked by its many critics in congress. while iran is cooperating on the nuclear issue, it is still arming syria's president assad. so after intense pressure from the u.s., tonight the u.n. has withdrawn its invitation to iran to take part in peace talks this week on syria. the first talk since the war started more than two years ago. brian? >> andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom tonight. andrea, thanks. we heard today from an

american missionary who has been jailed in north korea for over a year. kenneth bae appeared a news conference, appealed to the u.s. government to negotiate for his release. he said he had apologized for anti-government actions against north korea. it was not immediately possible to confirm whether he was speaking freely or speaking from a pre-prepared script. in ukraine, violent new anti-government protests today on the streets of kiev where about 1,000 people confronted police after a much bigger demonstration just yesterday. these protests have been going on for weeks now, after a tilt away from the west and toward russia on trade and new laws to limit public protests. still ahead for us tonight, the national debate over legalizing recreational pot smoking. tonight the president has weighed in. and later, back on track. a woman who fell just short of glory at the summer games, she's getting another shot at the winter olympics.

last night, as soon as we knew the two teams that were headed to the super bowl, the headline all over social media was, it would be the first super bowl among teams from states that had voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana. in this case, washington state and colorado. it has been slowly trending that way in some places. and because it's been in the news, the "new yorker" magazine asked president obama about it during an interview, and his answer on it is making news. our report tonight from our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. >> reporter: legalization of marijuana in colorado and washington is sparking a national debate. >> people like me who is a regular everyday mom probably will give it a try. >> reporter: and now even the president has weighed in, telling the "new yorker" magazine, "i don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol." but the president is not exactly condoning its use, either. even though he's tried it. here's how he views it. "as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes i smoked as a young person, up through a big chunk of my adult life."

but as a father, the president has his limits. "and i've told my daughters, i think it's a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy." but mr. obama's live and let live attitude is in stark contrast to past white house positions on the drug. >> what you talking about, mrs. reagan? >> reporter: in the '80s, nancy reagan appeared in a popular sitcom to boost her "just say no" campaign. >> i'm concerned about drug abuse, especially among the young. >> reporter: later that decade, marijuana use torpedoed. one of ronald reagan's supreme court picks, douglas ginsburg. by the early '90s, as baby boomers admitted to smoking a joint didn't necessarily snuff out one's political future. >> i experimented with marijuana a time or two and didn't like it. and didn't inhale. >> reporter: it's been a long journey. in 1969, 84% of americans were against legalization of marijuana. today 58% are in favor. and the president may have just helped that number grow. >> and the president says

marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol, that's going to affect a lot of people, could change history. >> reporter: but general barry mccaffrey, who ran the clinton white house office of national drug control policy says legalization is a bad idea. >> early onset exposure to marijuana, to ecstasy, to beer consumption, is a pathway to a lifetime of addiction. >> reporter: the question now, how will the president's comments impact the debate? chuck todd, nbc news, washington. we're back in a moment with the staggering news out today about the growing gap between the haves and the have nots.

on this king holiday 2014, president obama volunteered for service. in this case, a d.c. kitchen that distributes meals to the homeless. organizers urge americans to make this as they call it a day on and not a day off every year, in keeping with dr. king's question decades ago, which he said was life's most urgent and

persistent question, what are you doing for others. today washington, d.c. led the nation in service events to honor dr. king and the holiday. john mcginty has died. he was a recipient of the medal of honor for his combat actions in vietnam. during a three-day firefight in july of '66, mcginty, a second lieutenant, 3rd battalion, 4th marines was a one-man war movie. while badly wounded himself, he ran through automatic weapons and mortar fire in order to care for 20 marines, cheering them on. directing their fire. with complete disregard for his safety, he called in artillery to within 50 yards of his own position. and at one point turned around and killed five of the enemy at point-blank range with a sidearm. he was awarded the medal by president lyndon johnson. john mcginty was 73 years old. his death now leaves 76 living recipients of the medal. some new figures came out today as we mentioned on global wealth and income disparity.

and they are so shocking, it takes a while for them to sink in. a study commissioned by oxfam says the world's richest 85 individuals have the same wealth as 3.5 billion people around the world. once again, 85 people on this planet have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion people on this planet. the top 1% of families own 46% of our total global wealth. their share equals $110 trillion. these numbers have come out on the eve of the world economic forum in davos, switzerland, which, while attended by the rich and powerful, is this year going to be focused in large part on this growing and dangerous income disparity. well, if you're a football fan, where to begin. two epic games this weekend narrowed four teams to two. the broncos will meet the seahawks in the super bowl in the new jersey meadowlands. it might have been the last postseason meeting of peyton

manning and tom brady. and of the two, manning was perfect. he sent the patriots back home to boston. and about the 49ers-seahawks game. while the seattle crowd came to play, it was richard sherman who deflected the pass that led to the pick that won the game. but then he stole the attention after the game. he flashed that choke signal to the losing sideline and followed that with a loud rant on live television, calling himself the best in the game. it will not win him any awards for modesty or sportsmanship. when we come back on a monday night, the comeback for a remarkable woman, an olympian, who is doing now what few have ever done before.

she has competed in two summer olympic games, but has never taken home a medal. this weekend, lolo jones learned she'll be heading to the winter olympics in sochi, putting her speed in track and field to use on the u.s. bobsled team. she was one of six women, including one other track and field athlete, named to the team this weekend. and as nbc's anne thompson reports tonight, it's been a long journey. >> reporter: america loves a comeback. but will it love lolo jones again? >> it's always been about

getting to the olympics first. second, getting on the podium. and that's not going to stop for me until i have that moment. >> reporter: now 31 years old, jones will try again in sochi, as a brakeman on the u.s. women's bobsled team. after falling short in the summer games 100 meter hurdle. >> sometimes your failure is your biggest motivation. >> reporter: gold within her grasp in beijing, jones clipped hurdle and finished seventh. two years ago in london, she came in fourth. disappointment compounded by a scathing article in the "new york times," criticizing the photogenic athlete for profiting from what it calls a sad and cynical marketing campaign, capitalizing on her cover girl looks. it brought jones to tears on the "today" show. >> the fact that they tore me apart was just heartbreaking. >> reporter: she's always had to fight. one of five children, jones grew up poor in des moines, iowa. living in the salvation army's basement washroom when her mom lost the house.

>> one time we were just driving around, they thought we were just taking a ride to the park. because i didn't want to tell them we didn't have anywhere to go. >> lolo jones, making her debut in the sport of bobsledding. >> reporter: to be strong enough to push, jones gained 25 pounds. she happily shares the spotlight with the six-woman team who call themselves the wolf pack. here with driver jazmine fenlator and fellow track star lauryn williams, a gold and silver olympic medalist, they say there is no fear of jones' fame. >> for me, it's lolo jones is why we won a medal. i'm going to use that as a catalyst to promote my sport and the possibility that dreams can happen. >> reporter: lolo jones working to make sure the third time is the charm. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. by the way, lolo jones and the entire women's bobsled team will appear tomorrow morning here on "today." that is our broadcast for nbc "nbc nightly news" on this monday night as we begin a new week. thank you for being here with us.

i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. good monday inch and thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> i'm raj mathai. a mother lost both her sons, both gunned down within weeks of each other. cheryl hurd has the story from oakland. >> and hopefully the community and people will come forward because heow can a mother experience the losses of the loss of both her kids. >> reporter: she says no words

can describe her grief tonight. she's mourning the death of her 19-year-old son less than a week after burying her youngest son. he was only 13 years old. >> somebody is selling these kids and somebody feels it's okay to murder somebody and not have remorse. >> reporter: broussard was ambushed near 100th avenue and long fellow yesterday. he and his best friend were shot and killed. harris' mother is in shock. >> i love my son, and unfortunately, people out here are heartless, they don't have no type of morals, they don't have no type of values. they don't care about a human being. >> reporter: she is begging for someone to come forward with information about the killings. she says she has another request. >> what i do ask is for no retaliation at all. i want to see this in the court. i want