to get along with staten island chuck, they call him. he ended up dropping the rodent who fell on his head. chuck has had troubled history with new york city leaders and bit michaelal bloomberg five years ago. of a star. academy award winning actor philip seymour hoffman is dead tonight of an apparent heroin overdose. we'll look at a brilliant career and troubled life and the epidemic of heroin use sweeping this country. fighting back, as the super bowl is played in his home state tonight, governor chris christie's office takes aim to try to discredit the man accusing him of lying, as the bridge scandal deepens. early warning. children who gain too much weight when they're young have consequences later in life. and making the difference. the firefighter who went far beyond the call of duty meets the man he saved in the most unexpected way.

>> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. substituting tonight, kate snow. good evening. the news came as such a shock today. philip seymour hoffman, the enormously talented oscar-winning actor who made his name in hollywood and in the theater, was found dead in his new york apartment at the age of just 46. hoffman had also been very public about his struggle with heroin. we knew he had overcome an addiction years ago and spent more than 20 years counseling others not to pick up the habit of an ever-more potent drug that's attracting all too many young people. in the end, though, it would appear he couldn't save himself. nbc's kristen dahlgren is outside the apartment tonight. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, kate. well, inside philip seymour hoffman's apartment in new york, the police investigation continues. outside, as you can see, the crowd continues to grow. the media and fans, so many shocked by the oscar winner's death. news of philip seymour hoffman's

death came as a shock to his many fans. >> it's sad. sad to see somebody like that go so early. they had so much more to contribute. >> reporter: police in new york say the 911 call came around 11:15 sunday morning, an apparent drug overdose. hoffman was found in the bathroom of his west side apartment downtown with drug paraphernalia and as many as eight bags of what's believed to be heroin nearby. the 46-year-old actor had waged a public battle with drug addiction, including a reported stint in rehab last year after more than two decades of sobriety. in 2002, he appeared on "today." >> i think everybody's troubled. i think that's part of what it's like living on the planet. >> reporter: best known for his oscar winning turn in the title role in "capote," he was a versatile character actor, famous for disappearing in his roles. >> when the bellhop told me i

had a phone call, it was my stepfather, joe capote, calling to say that my mother had died. >> i don't think there's anything he couldn't do. he did comedic roles, tragic roles and everything in between. >> you cannot make friends with the rock stars. >> reporter: from "almost famous." >> the helsinki job was mine. >> to "charlie wilson's war," "the big lebowski." >> indeed, that is mr. lebowski with the first lady. >> we're not helpless. >> reporter: and "the master," a role for which he was nominated an oscar, golden globe and bathta last year. hoffman was also active in theater, having starred and directed numerous plays, including most recently the broadway revival of "death of a salesman" that won him rave reviews. >> it's exciting. it's really exciting. >> reporter: he recently won young fans of the "hunger games" in "catching fire," a role he was reprising in the final film. in a statement his family said we are devastated by the loss of our beloved phil. this is a tragic and sudden loss and we ask that you respect our

privacy during this time of grieving. please keep phil in your thoughts and prayers. throughout the day, celebrities have been taking to twitter and expressing their condolences. we also just got a statement from tom hanks, who co-starred with hoffman. he said this is a horrible day for those who worked with philip. he was a giant talent. our hearts are open for his family. you know, kate, he had so many projects ahead. not just the "mocking jay" film but a short time ago showtime announced he would be starring in a new tv comedy. but around here, he was mostly known more as a neighborhood dad. he has three kids and he was often seen here with them. kate? >> kristen dahlgren, such tragic news tonight. thank you so much. the death of philip seymour hoffman puts new focus also on this growing heroin crisis in the country as many communities find themselves consumed by that problem. nbc's harry smith has more on that tonight.

>> reporter: for the last two weeks, emergency rooms around pittsburgh have been slammed with people overdosing on heroin. 22 people have died there in just the last two weeks. more than three dozen people have died from heroin overdoses in maryland since september. most of the deaths have come from an insidious heroin hybrid, heroin mixed with fentanyl, a drug given to cancer patients for pain relief. >> it's even more dangerous. that's one of the reasons we see so many overdoses. there's an old saying about heroin called chasing the dragon. and it basically means that when people first start, they get this immense intoxication from the heroin. they're always trying to get that again. >> reporter: heroin use in america has nearly doubled since 2007. this year, vermont's governor used his entire state of the union address to rally his state to fight the drug's explosive rise. >> the time has come for us to stop quietly averting our eyes from the growing heroin addiction in our front yards while we fear and fight

treatment facilities in our backyards. >> reporter: in rural towns along the interstate or l stops in chicago, the drug spread is epidemic. >> people come from the suburbs. they'll come to the west side here. and it's easy access. you get it off the l or off the expressway, you buy your heroin and you get right back on. >> reporter: heroin is relatively cheap and highly addictive. rehab worked for melissa dietrich, but many recovering addicts fail to stay clean. >> it's a hard thing for me to think that not everybody is this lucky, but there are -- there are just a few of us that got to the other side. >> reporter: on the street they call it smack, scag or junk, but buyer beware, this stuff can kill you. harry smith, nbc news, new york. the other major story we're following, the extraordinary security effort going on tonight

with the super bowl now underway in new jersey. nbc's ron mott is outside metlife stadium this evening. ron, hi. >> reporter: hey there, kate. nearly 80,000 fortunate fans are jam packed into metlife stadium behind me tonight, cheering on the denver broncos and the seattle seahawks. but just getting them safely inside today was priority number one. on any given football sunday, metlife stadium is business as usual. today, on super bowl sunday, it's a fortress. >> have your tickets out? >> reporter: surrounded overhead by police helicopters and on all sides by armed officers, bomb-sniffing dogs, armored vehicles and long lines to get in. >> we're hoping they would have been better prepared. they knew we were coming. >> reporter: security is a significant undertaking for such a high-profile event. a show of force in numbers. 700 state troopers, 4,000 additional security personnel, 10,000 workers handling other duties. a ratio of one security or

stadium official for every five fans, keeping close watch. security in the form of snipers is also in place. >> i feel super duper safe. >> reporter: dubbed the first mass transit super bowl, getting to the stadium long on buses and trains, short on cars. ride times varying from near minutes to several hours, fans reported. >> it did not really work. >> no. >> reporter: at least 30,000 spectators, the like gibson family, seattle seahawks fans, were expected to arrive this way, finding the experience mostly convenient if not slightly surreal. >> i think it's kind of an unreal situation. in the beginning we all hoped this would happen. >> reporter: fears of frigid weather some held about the first outdoor super bowl venue despite snow blanketing the area near the stadium as seen from space. at mustang harry's in manhattan, those without tickets put on their game faces. >> the only thing that will make

this better is if the broncos win it. >> when they win. >> when they win, that will top it off. >> reporter: those lucky to see it in person did, too, as years of super planning comes to an end tonight. now most of the fans we spoke to going into the stadium tonight said overall they were pretty pleased with operations, even though they had to endure some long bus rides. as you saw, there were some complaints about transit glitches and overcrowding at train stations. kate? >> a good game. ron mott, thanks. among those attending tonight's game, new jersey governor chris christie, whose office spent a good amount this weekend fighting back against ed allegations that he may have known more about the lane closures at the george washington bridge than he has admitted. nbc's kelly o'donnell is at george washington bridge for us tonight. good evening, kelly. >> reporter: good evening, kate. it has been about a month since the bridge story broke. for most of that time, governor christie said very little about the key figures, accused of carrying out the lane closures here. aides are going after a former

christie appointee, who made new allegations against the governor. super bowl sunday was supposed to be a good news day for chris christie. but politics is not a spectator sport. >> if he's lying, it's a really bad situation. if he's not lying, then something very unfair is being done to him. >> reporter: christie's team is back on offense, sending a stinging memo late saturday to supporters that attacks the governor's accuser and former ally, david wildstein, the export authority official who supervised the lane closures at the heart of the bridge traffic scandal. wildstein's attorney provoked the backlash with his letter, claiming evidence exists the governor knows more about the traffic mess. >> i consider chris christie a friend. i think he has been a fantastic governor. right now all we know is one person's word against another. >> who knew what and when? >> reporter: democratic new jersey lawmakers say so far they have not seen any evidence to support wildstein's allegations. >> nothing that says the governor new contemporaneously, which is the allegation he's making now.

>> reporter: the christie memo cites various news articles to undercut wildstein personally and professionally, claiming wildstein created culture of fear within port authority, describing a past job where wildstein was an anonymous blogger known as wally edge. and going back decades, he was publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior. but that prompted criticism. the memo went too far. >> we've all been through high school. we all remember what those feelings were like. that's not the strongest -- it seems like a distraction when the more serious question at hand is what he knew and what he was going to do about it. >> reporter: the governor and wildstein attended the same high school, but the governor says they were not friends. tonight we have learned that one of the employees in the governor's office who was subpoenaed to produce records by tomorrow's deadline, christina genevieve, has resigned. her lawyers say her last day was

friday, and she had been planning to move on since after the november election. kate? yet another storm is bringing snow and ice to parts of the south and midwest. tonight millions of people are at risk for severe weather. let's get the latest from weather channel meteorologist kim cunningham. kim, hi. >> hey, kate. and it looks like it's not going to stop after today's storm. we're going to see several storms this week. let's get you through tonight. we'll see snow into new york city overnight tonight. at least right now, it will be rain starting out after midnight, changing over to snow. our first storm right now that affected a lot of the south will be moving into the northeast tomorrow. two to four inches of snow is what we can expect from boston back toward charleston, west virginia. then midweek, we watch our next winter storm. this one, the snow path is a little bit farther north to the midwest back into chicago, over 50" of snow already in chicago this year, and tuesday night it's right back to the northeast. very busy week, kate. it looks like maybe punxsutawney phil was correct with his forecast. back to you. >> say it isn't so. thanks so much. overseas, a rising death

toll tonight from that volcano that roared back to life in indonesia. authorities say at least 16 people were killed as the volcano in northern sumatra poured lava, boulders and burning ash on to the villagers below. many more may have lost their lives. the volcano erupted one day after authorities permitted thousands of people who had been evacuated to return home, thinking the threat had decreased. just four days to go now before the start of competition at the winter olympics in sochi, and there is quite a lot of work still to be done. nbc's keir simmons is in sochi, following it all for us. keir, where do things stand tonight? >> reporter: good evening, kate. in four days time this empty park will be filled up by 80,000 people from around the world. by night they've been testing the fireworks, illuminating the olympic venues, promising a spectacular start to the olympics at friday's opening ceremony. but by day, it is clear that there is still plenty of work to

be done. workers have been scaling the olympic cauldrons and still preparing the hotels, even as guests have been arriving. the ioc says that a few hotels are not fully ready, but thousands of visitors are expected here in the week ahead. it cannot have helped that there has been rain day after day over the last week, leaving the ground soggy and mud everywhere. but olympic athletes say up in the mountains the snow is perfect. kate, the question remains, will the games be ready? kate? >> keir simmons in sochi, thank you. and a reminder, coverage of the sochi games begins this thursday right here on nbc. when "nightly news" continues on this sunday, a wake-up call about young children, their diet and weight, and a need to pay attentional even earlier than first thought. later, making a difference, saving a life by embracing the spirit of giving and becoming a perfect match.

we're back with health news and a new warning tonight for the parents of young children to be especially mindful of their weight. it turns out the risk of obesity later in life starts at an even earlier age than experts once believed. we get that story tonight from nbc's rehema ellis. >> reporter: in kindergarten, children learn their abcs. experts say it's also a crucial time to learn a healthy lifestyle. in a new report, emory researchers followed more than 7,700 children starting in kindergarten from 1998 to 2007. they found children who were large at birth and overweight by kindergarten were four times as likely as normal weight children to become obese by the eighth grade or around 14 years old. >> the first five years of life are really, really important. so, as parents, as clinicians, as a society, really focus on those first five years on ensuring healthy nutrition, ensuring healthy lifestyles.

>> reporter: at the lewis household, they're making changes. >> i just want them to learn how to be healthy, because diabetes runs in my family and heart disease run in my family. >> reporter: andrea lewis says now her family tries to eat healthier. plus, she's enrolled her 8-year-old and 5-year-old in the children's healthy lifestyle program at duke university. >> you get to have fun with your friends and ride your bike all the time. >> reporter: doctors say parents have to be patient. >> and in the past you had higher blood pressures. >> reporter: is it hardest when children are 5 or 6 or is it harder when they become 13 and 14? >> as the child gets older it's so much harder to monitor what they are eating and help them make healthy choices. you want to start at the very beginning when they're really young. >> reporter: the message, parents can't assume a heavy child will grow out of it. they need help early and from the whole family. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. when we come back, a

hollywood star and a renewed allegation of sexual abuse.

celebrated american filmmaker woody allen is once again in the headlines over allegations he sexually abused a child over two decades ago, a claim for which he was never charged and which he has vehemently denied. the child is the the adopted daughter of allen's former partner, mia farrow. dylan has renewed the

allegation providing details for the first time in her own words, writing an open letter in a blog post in "the new york times." here's nbc's mike taibbi. >> reporter: dylan farrow's letter is graphic. she says when she was 7, woody allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic, told me to lay on my stomach. then he sexually assaulted me. she said other inappropriate touching happened so routinely, i thought it was normal. allen's attorney responded it's tragic after 20 years a story engineered by a vengeful lover resurfaces, even though it was investigated and vetted by authorities. the one to blame for dylan's distress is not dylan or woody allen. allen's publicist added after an investigation experts concluded there was no credible evidence of molestation, that dylan had an inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality and had likely been coax bid home

run mother mia farrow. no charges were filed. dylan and her adopted mother, mia farrow, first reprised the abuse allegations last fall. then came last month's golden globes when allen was celebrated with a lifetime achievement award. >> a genius who takes chances. never compromises his position. >> reporter: mia tweeted, is he a pedophile, linking to the vanity fair piece. son, rowan farrow posted his own tweet. missed the woody allen tribute. did they put the part where a woman confirmed he molested her at age 7, before or after annie hall. >> the only recourse legally that woody allen would have would be to file a defamation case against dylan farrow. that would be a public relations disaster. >> reporter: allen has said from the beginning the charges were wholly invented, telling date line in 1994 -- >> i don't feel scarred. i feel only that a monumental tragic injustice has been done to my daughter. >> reporter: but now questions again about those old charges.

>> you don't have any comment about dylan's letter? >> reporter: in that letter, dylan challenged some of the stars of allen's films, including diane keaton, cate blanchett, louie ck. none commented today, crimes in misdemeanors, blue jasmine, up for three oscars again is subject to hotly debated and distinctively different views of the artist and his art. mike taibbi, nbc news, los angeles. when we come back, our making a difference report. the remarkable story of a second chance at life.

finally tonight, they are in the business of saving lives. that is, after all, what firefighters do. here in new york, the idea took on a whole new dimension for one firefighter, who went far beyond the call of duty. nbc's katy tur has our making a difference report. >> you could say john chippa has waited 66 years for this moment. the moment he's first meeting the man who saved his life. >> i'm feeling great. >> four years ago, he was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called mds. without a bone marrow transplant, the husband and

father of two only had months to live. >> i really thought i was going to die at one point. i said to myself, it's been a fairly good life. i've had a lovely time with my family, and if god wants me, here i come. >> enter chris howard of engine 255 in flatbush, brooklyn. a total stranger. the 31-year-old new york city firefighter was a match. >> i never thought it was going to happen. >> eight years ago howard graduated from fire academy and signed up for the national bone marrow registry. in fact, because of the department's encouragement, about 10% of all donors in new york are from the fdny. it's no secret these guys signed up for this job to save lives. the difference is you would expect them to be running into a burning building, not laying in a hospital bed. >> grab your mask, your hood, your gloves. >> reporter: howard has fought countless fires, but chippa was his first life saved. and the fact that he was a dad

meant so much more. howard's dad, george, was a port authority police officer. on 9/11 he ran into the second tower but never made it out. you may remember him. >> i will carry this. it is a police shield of a man named george howard, who died at the world trade center trying to save others. >> reporter: chippa got howard's marrow in may 2012. after years of debilitating chemo. by the time he went home to recover, he was only 118 pounds. today he is back on his feet, back to life and finally getting a chance to say thanks. >> your father would be super proud of you. >> reporter: he may have come to new york with two kids -- >> like another son to me now. >> reporter: but he's leaving with three. katy tur, nbc news, brooklyn, new york. and that is "nbc nightly news" for this sunday. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm kate snow, reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, have a good night.

good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm diane dwyer. we begin with the olympics. we are just four days from the start of the games. security remains our highest priority. our very own is in sochi including this reaction from the athletes to the crackdown. >> reporter: all the athletes, volunteers in the media, they have to be jescreened and background checked and once they get in they get this and even people with tickets are registered with a