meantime, find us online at nbc bay area president come or on facebook or twitter. >> see you then. on our broadcast tonight, paralyzed. misery across the south, a disaster in atlanta as the city just came to a halt. kids trapped in schools, highways just stopped as the huge area has been brought to its knees by a winter storm, and in some places, it didn't take much. caught on camera, soing you don't see every day, a member of congress threatening a reporter with bodily harm. tonight, what set him off, and what does he have to say in his own defense. and risky business. in the past few years, what will not allow us to disconnect from work and is not good for overall health. and bond of brothers, tonight, bob costas with a story about families, specifically, an olympic champion and his hero.

nightly news begins now. good evening, a winter storm has made a mess of the south, and has become a genuine natural disaster, with children separated from their parents, people sleeping in stores and highways jammed with cars. the worst of it was in atlanta. and a writer for "usa today" has gone ahead and put the question out there. is atlanta simply meant to quit functioning every time it gets a few inches of snow? 10,000 kids were trapped at their schools overnight, 16-hour commutes were not uncommon. tonight, there is public disagreement between public officials and meteorologists based on what they know and when they knew it about this storm. and tonight, the south is getting paralyzed and that

includes its largest city, atlanta. nbc's gabe gutierrez starts us off from there. good evening, gabe. >> reporter: good evening, brian. across this road, there are stretches of cars abandoned. the past 24 hours here have been chaos, and many are asking why state and local officials didn't see this coming. they watched the sunset and they watched the sunrise. a major american city, paralyzed. >> it took us 13 hours to drive over here and we ended up sleeping over there at the shell station in our car. >> when it is going to be wet and cold, get the salt trucks on the road. it is not that hard. >> i was absolutely traumatized because my car kept fishtailing and i couldn't get traction. >> reporter: today, atlanta still working to get out of its toughest winter storm in years. cars abandoned on roads, drivers stranded on ice, children left to spend the night in their schools because the roads were too dangerous for buses and panicked parents. 90 students and some 20 staffers

spent the night at e rivers elementary school. mark wilson walked six miles in the snow to be with his 5-year-old daughter, elizabeth. >> just to make sure she was comfortable. >> reporter: by 11:30 this morning, 60 children were still stuck. the principal still hadn't slept. >> the safety and my kids and drivers, that is what is important to me. i couldn't let them out of the building. >> reporter: the snow began around noon yesterday and people hit the road. within an hour, traffic came to a standstill everywhere. >> backed up traffic everywhere. >> reporter: driving to atlanta, paula mayberger had to sleep overnight in her van with a co-worker. >> we were very, very, you know, shocked with the condition, the common feeling of helplessness and you know, what are we going to do? >> reporter: and trying to get to her children, this lady felt like a prisoner in her car. >> i've had one bottle of water and no food and i have about half a tank of gas left. >> reporter: luckier drivers

found food and shelter, taking cover at the nearest grocery story. and at home depot, exhausted travelers sought shelter in the aisles. and little grace elizabeth was born to nick and amy anderson on the way to the hospital. across the state, more than 1200 accidents, 700 in atlanta alone, officials say they began to treat roads yesterday morning, but critics argue the mayor and governor were caught off guard. >> the eyes of the nation are on the state. so i'm not going to get into the blame game. >> what i was referring to was the national weather service had continually had their modelling showing that the city of atlanta would not be the primary area where the storm would hit. >> reporter: throughout the day, social media became a place to ask for help. a husband stranded, he needs his medicine. a friend stuck since 11 a.m. in

the morning yesterday, with three kids and great dane, looking for a cousin eight months pregnant. and a place to vent. but among the frustration came relief. good samaritans taking to the streets. and the national guard rescuing drivers and passing out pre-packaged military meals. >> we have food and probably about 20 more mres left. if anybody needs help, getting from one place to the other in a short distance we can make it happen. >> reporter: there is also relief at e rivers elementary school. >> it is tough, but as long as the kids are safe, i'm fine. >> reporter: where clarice bell was able to make it home with her three daughters. city officials say there are lessons to learn about how they responded to this ice storm, but that the overall response was better than after the last ice storm in 2011. that one brought this town to a standstill for four days, brian. >> unbelievable scene throughout the atlanta area.

gabe gutierrez starting us off tonight. gabe, thanks. and another city that took a big hit from the storm, birmingham, alabama, with thousands of people caught off guard there, and life has been all but paralyzed. we're joined by our station in alabama, john, in homewood, alabama. i understand while thousands of people are in the same boat, is it true you had had a 4-year-old overnight at a pre-school, and both you and your wife were cut off and couldn't get to your child? >> reporter: brian, you do your research, you're exactly right. my 4-year-old daughter, julie, was stranded in the suburbs, my wife and i couldn't get to her, it broke my wife's heart. but fortunately, she was able to drive very carefully today, retrieve my daughter and they're all home safe. let me tell you though, the storm, the snowstorm paralyzed like you mentioned, birmingham, like no winter storm has in decades. you're looking at just a taste of the gridlock that the birmingham drivers had experienced over the last 30 hours. icy bridges, this is i-65 south, runs right through the heart of

birmingham. icy bridges have closed the traffic down to one lane, which is causing a long trail of tractor-trailers to just creep along, also forcing other drivers to either abandon their vehicles along the side of the road or endure the subzero temperatures along the side of the road overnight. now just like atlanta, it also left students stranded statewide. the department of education said 11,000 students had to spend the night last night in their school. at last check, thousands are still in their schools and there is a chance they may have to spend a second night in school. >> john papky at our station in birmingham, we're glad your family and countless others are back together tonight after this storm. thank you for being with us tonight. for more on this storm, we're joined in the studio by al roker. al, i'm thinking we worry about terrorism. this is 2.6 inches of snow, and

the largest, busiest airport in the world. biggest city in the south. who is telling the truth here? the public officials who say the weather models were different, or the meteorologists who say it was there all along? >> brian, i'm showing you the timeline and you and folks at home can decide. this is the winter storm warning on monday afternoon issued just south of atlanta. but early in the morning at 4:53, the atlanta metro area added a winter storm watch by the national weather service. now, move ahead and now we're into atlanta's metro area, upgraded to a winter weather advisory monday evening. tuesday night, overnight tuesday, 3:38 a.m., winter weather advisory, upgraded to warning, a full eight hours before the snow started. and as you watch on the radar, you will see it move in and engulf atlanta. 2.6 inches. there was plenty of time to make those adjustments for any kind of snow removal. so you decide. but the good news is, temperatures are going to start to moderate, so there will be a

natural melting of all that ice. the polar vortex moves to the north. jet stream becomes zonal, warmer winds coming in from the pacific. so that's good news. overnight tonight, look for a low of 26 degrees. tomorrow's high, the good news here up to 42 degrees, part of the general warming trend by friday. atlanta will see a high of 55 degrees, and temperatures warming up throughout the region on into new england, and into parts of the upper midwest. but brian, i think there was plenty of time for this to be taken care of. >> and the other truth is a lot of southern cities just can't keep the trucks and equipment on the payroll for snow removal all year long. al roker in the studio, thanks. the day after the the day after the state of the union address, president obama went on the road today and quickly made good on part of what he promised last night. at a u.s. steel plant near pittsburgh he signed a presidential memo to create the

m.y.r.a. retirement program he mentioned in a speech last night. he said he would sign an executive order in coming weeks raising the minimum wage to over $10 for contract workers, starting salary at costco, by the way, $11.50 an hour. and shortly after the president's address last night, members of congress quickly made their way to television cameras to respond to what they've just heard. but one of those interviews with a member of congress from new york ended with the congressman threatening the television reporter. we get the story tonight from our capitol hill correspondent, kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: on a night when hundreds of members of congress run through a circuit of media interviews, one exchange on new york 1 took a stunning turn. >> all right, so congressman michael grimm does not want to talk about some of the allegations concerning his campaign finances. we wanted to get him on camera on that, but he, as you saw, refused to talk about it, back

to you. >> reporter: reporter michael scotto's eyes widened as the republican congressman threatened, with language right out of a movie script. >> [ inaudible ] >> reporter: in his expletive-filled rant, congressman grimm said he would throw the reporter off the two-story balcony. grimm is a former marine and fbi agent elected in 2010. his first response after the incident was a late-night statement saying he was extremely annoyed by the reporter's question, but no apology. when i confronted him this morning off the house floor and onto an elevator, grimm apologized. >> you regret what took place? >> oh, of course. you know -- i'm a human being. >> what -- >> thank you. >> why did you -- >> i'm a human being, and sometimes your emotions get the better of you. and the bottom line is though it

shouldn't happen, you should not lose your cool and that is why i apologized. >> reporter: grimm has been under federal investigation for campaign finance allegations. this month, the fbi arrested a friend of the congressman who funneled money to his campaign. grimm's attorney says the congressman denies any wrong doing and looks forward to an early and favorable resolution. >> will you give a more full statement about where that stands? >> i think i have done that for the last two years, and when they're done with their investigation that is what it will be. >> reporter: the reporter, michael scotto, says he accepts the congressman's apology. i checked with leaders in both parties who say right now there is no plan to discipline grimm under the house rules of conduct. speaker john boehner says it was appropriate. >> kelly o'donnell, thank you. and still ahead for us this evening, new concern for americans unable to disconnect after work is over. what doctors say it is really

doing to your body. and later, two brothers show bob costas what the olympic spirit we talk about is really all about.

if you're old enough, you remember a day when after work, you go home from work and maybe once every six months, you would get an after-hours call from work. but for the most part, you didn't think about work until it was time to go back to work the next day. well, not anymore. now, work is in your hand, on the screen, staring you in the

face and work expects an answer at night at 11 p.m., when, of course, you're expected to be plugged in and available. if you think this kind of thing can't be good for your health, you would be right. our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: they call it the great american speedoff. so many of us today seem to be in overdrive. anne baldwin owns a crisis communications pr firm, every day, it seems, is a crisis. >> and we'll probably work until 9:00. >> this is not the candy business, everything is not always sweet, it is not always 9 to 5, sunday through sunday. 24 hours a day. >> reporter: years ago, americans worked eight hours a day and then called it quits, home for dinner and weekends with the family. but in today's 24/7 world, many can't escape the office. they are expected to answer calls and e-mails in the dead of night, on weekends, even while vacationing. technology reporter bob sullivan writes about america's changing work habits. >> it took about 200 years for

unions to get us a 40-hour work week, and smartphones five years to take them away. >> reporter: also gone, family meals, kids' sports events and simple downtime. working so many hours means that americans work five additional weeks each year than they did in 1979. 30% of americans now work on weekends. and we are sleeping less. according to the cdc, a third of adults get six hours or less of sleep each night. those long hours and lack of sleep can land you in the er. a study shows that people who work 11 hours or more consistently are 60% at risk more of having a heart attack. dr. allen taylor is the chief of cardiology at the medstar heart institute. >> it adds up to implications for heart disease. >> how was your day? >> reporter: stress experts say it has never been more important to set limits, deciding when to turn off the e-mail and cell

phone to carve out personal and family time. >> hello. hello. >> reporter: for some, the more work, the better. >> the harder i work, the more fun i seem to have. >> reporter: but for many, finding the balance between work and life is also a matter of health. tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> that was exhausting. let's take another break, we'll be right back with a warning about a beautiful part of nature quickly disappearing.

a sad funeral gathering today near rochester, new york, for a 9-year-old boy named tyler doohan who was credited with saving the lives of six of his family members when their mobile

home went up in flames. he went back in one last time trying to rescue two others, including his grandfather, and lost his life. roundly described as a sweet boy who loved firefighters, today, he was made an honorary firefighter by members of the local department. the head of the world wildlife fund says that the monarch butterfly is at risk of disappearing. scientists are alarmed because they witnessed a plunge in the annual migration. two food sources are disappearing, along with what logging has done to their forest habitat. another item from our natural world, the problem in clovis, new mexico, is tumbleweeds, several feet of them in some places. they're using front-end loaders to collect them all and take them to a landfall on the edge of town. if you have ever been frustrated after shelling out a

ton of money to your favorite artist's farewell tour, only to watch them throw another good-bye tour a couple of years later, motley crue is leaving the stage after 33 years. they say to prove it is for good, they have signed a legal, binding document, a cessation of touring agreement. they will break up for good next year, that is it, as they themselves put it, all bad things must come to an end. and the first annual jim cantore vision award goes to jim cantore. he was reporting live last night from the college of charleston. he could tell a young weather enthusiast was approaching and he delivers a quick ninja-style knee to the groin, dispatching the young man, who scurried away. and when we come back, an inspiring story of brotherly love and olympic gold.

finally here tonight, one brother competes and another is cheering him on. that could be said of a lot of olympic athletes, but for alex bilodeau, who won a gold medal in canada years past in skis four years ago and hopes for a repeat at the winter games in

sochi, it is all about the remarkable bond we first learned about in the last winter games. bob costas has our story tonight. >> reporter: there is nothing state-of-the-art about this ski ramp at the watering hole in montreal, 50 miles north. but it is a summer destination for athletes who train. alex bilodeau is the kind of star who is always available to retrieve a lost ski or gives tips. it is an approach that comes naturally to him because of where he comes from and who inspired him to get here. >> my brother, it is every day life, he brings me to reality. >> reporter: frederick is alex's older brother by six years. he has cerebral palsy. as a child, frederick played

alongside his siblings, including his sister, beatrice, even going skiing with them. movement has become more difficult over time, but he still competes whenever he can. >> oh, oh, a nice way back. >> the night before my race, my brother was in the wheelchair and kind of asks my mom and said mom, do you think i would be there today if i was not handicapped? if he was not, he would be probably three-time world champion. like three-time olympic champion. he has that amount of dedication. >> reporter: four years ago, frederick was there as little brother attempted to do something no canadian ever had. win gold at a home olympics. >> his older brother suffers from cerebral palsy. he says i'm doing it for him. alexander bilodeau has won gold. >> right after that, the prime minister of quebec and my brother next to him. and the prime minister went to give me a hand, and i'm like one second, and i took my brother.

>> reporter: in a way, alex's performance made stars of both biledeaux brothers in canada, with frederick emerging as a model for people with disabilities in canada, and what they can achieve. he sells his paintings to benefit the cp organization. >> a lot of people recognize me in the street, but more when we're together. i'm always the second star. when he is there, everybody goes towards frederick and says how frederick inspired them. the story inspired them way more than the performance or the medal. >> our thanks to bob costas for that story tonight. he will have more on the bilodeau family when the competition kicks off at the winter games, which, by the way, begins one week from tomorrow. that, by the way, is our broadcast for tonight.

thank you for joining us. i'm brian williams. of course, we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. \ s right now at 6:00 we're waiting on the rain, but the question tonight, how much moisture will it bring? thanks for joining us, i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. bay area getting ready for what is turning out to be a rare occurrence for us, rain. nbc bay area's cheryl hurd shows how they are preparing for potential problems but we begin with jeff ranieri with the latest on this an it is paticip

system. >> early indications, there is not going to be too much left but we have an extra catalyst into this equation, that's the tap of moisture from the pacific. that could help to boost totals up just a little bit to keep the rainfall in the forecast. developing rain throughout parts of the north bay, not a lot of green showing up, mainly low level moisture producing drizzle but again, a steady clip of rain from 10:00 p.m. tonight through 3:00 a.m. into the north bay. so again, for the north bay, rain beginning by 11:00 tonight, lasting through about 5:00 a.m. tomorrow and then we'll start to undergo clearing but we won't be done with the rainfall just yet. how long the rain sticks around and details and the winter storm warning and very welcome snowfall for the sierra