good morning. is it justice? >> what do we want? >> justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> protests outside a florida courthouse, after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the murder charge of the man who shot a teen to death after an argument over his loud music. but the defendant will still likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. we're live with the drama from inside the courtroom. adding insult to injury. another monster storm dumps up to a foot of snow and brings high winds to parts of new england, making travel a nightmare and keeping people inside and wondering will this winter ever end? dylan is caught up in it all.

and red, white and blue bayou, a huge day for team usa on the ski slopes, with american bode miller attempting to become the oldest alpine skier ever to win an olympic medal. while the u.s. men's hockey team is back in action, a day after that huge win over russia. >> score! >> thanks to a breakout hero, who has quickly become a household name. >> ochie, ochie, ochie! >> "today" sunday, february 16th, 2014. >> good morning, welcome to "today" in sochi on a sunday morning. i'm lester holt alongside

natalie morales. erica is in new york and dylan is keeping an eye on the horrible weather in massachuset massachusetts. >> hey, ladies. i was at the hockey game last night, it of incredible, i am feeling the team spirit from head to toe. too much? even my fingernails. >> she will be regifting a lot of this. >> even my fingernails have the stars and stripes on them. so there you go. >> it's a good look and you might notice we are wearing jackets today. the balmy warm spell is slowly coming to an end, a little cooler today. >> ten degrees but we're not going to rub it in, dylan, don't worry. we do ahahave a lot to get to t morning. high hopes meryl davis and charlie white will bring home the ice dancing gold as they kick off their competition tonight. we'll meet their biggest supporters their moms who have been the driving support from mind their children's success. >> tonight's ice dancing event will feature another pair who keep it in the family brother and sister duo, alex and maya

sh shibutani, i had the chance to meet them at rockefeller center not too long ago so we'll introduce you to them. >> matt antwan mingling with our crowd. we'll talk to him what it feels like to bring home such a big prize. the wrap wrup of a controversial trial in florida. erica? >> this is capturing headlines across the country this morning. florida man facing the real likelihood of spending life in prison after being convicted on four of five counts in what's come to be known as the loud music murder trial but it's the jury's inability to reach a decision on that fifth and most serious charge that is really fueling the controversy. kerry sanders was there when the verdict was read and joins us from jacksonville this morning. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. none of the jurors of the 12-member jury has commented on why they were deadlocked on that

top charge of first-degree murder. they had the options to come back with a guilty charge of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, of manslaughter or not guilty. after four days of deliberation on that charge of first-degree murder they couldn't reach consensus so the judge declared a mistrial. >> no peace, no justice! >> reporter: with protesters gathered outside the court, the 12-member jury couldn't agree if michael dunn was guilty of murder. >> as to count one i would declare that mistried. >> we sore very happy to have just a little bit of closure. >> reporter: while deliberating the jury repeatedly asked the court questions and closely reviewed 20 minutes of security videos from where the shooting took place a year and a half ago. >> he's shooting, somebody's shooting out the car. >> reporter: dunn said he felt threatened by 17-year-old jordan davis, who he said pointed a gun at him from inside a car, after dunn says he told him to turn

down the loud music. deputies never found a weapon. in all, dunn fired ten shots, nine hit the car. >> to expel one bullet you've got to pull the trigger one time. >> that should give you an idea how much of a panic i was in that i was able to pull it ten times. >> reporter: inside that vehicle three of davis' friends which is why prosecutors also charged dunn with attempted murder. >> we the jury find the defendant guilty of attempted second-degree murder -- >> reporter: the jury agreed dunn was guilty of those charges and of firing a missile into their car. >> do i like their verdict, absolutely not. do i agree with it? absolutely not. >> he's looking at 60 plus years on the attempted murder charges and 15 years on the shooting into a car charge. he's 47 years old, so he will be locked up for the rest of his life. >> reporter: but michael dunn has yet to actually be sentenced, that will happen at least a month from now when the judge has him back in the courtroom for that.

prosecutor angela corey says that she will retry dunn on the first-degree murder charge by impaneling another jury. erica? >> kerry sanders live for us, thank you. we'll send it back to sochi to natalie for a look at today's olympic highlights. >> all right, thanks, erica. team usa is rising up in the ranks in the medal count thanks to some big wins this morning and keir simmons has been following all the action for us. >> natalie, good morning. this is getting emotional now, after last night's tension, bode miller started crying after a medal win. he later tweeted i miss my brother. he lost his brother last year. it all seems to be going team usa's way but not without controversy. breaking the slump in the alpine events andrew weibrick took siller and bode bronze. terrific morning after an

incredible night. the tension. >> oshie gliding on in. no! bobrovsky extends the time for his team. >> reporter: the triumptriumph. >> oshie and bobrovsky duel again. score! team usa wins! >> reporter: the elation. >> usa! >> such a satisfying win. >> unbelievable! >> best game ever. >> reporter: but now the russians questioning the outcome, due to this no goal. >> the americans catch an absolute huge break, the net had been dislodged. >> reporter: a senior russian lawmaker tweeted "the puck was in the goal, cheating in front of the whole word, disgusting" saying one referee was american, "this was a stolen victory, the u.s. bam $for michael mcfaul tweeted "come on ing for the if the skeleton what a debut.

>> it's a bronze medal at least to team usa's matt antwan. >> incredible. >> reporter: not so for julia mancuso. >> she's making up time, 0.3 back. >> reporter: ended up eighth in the super-g and hopes dashed for team usa in the speed skating even after changing a suit that seemed to be slowing them down. >> needs to move. >> reporter: still couldn't do it. today dramatic scenes in the women's snowboard cross, two riders taken off on stretchers, helen olavsen with a knee injury and american jackie mer nan dez knocked unconscious but appeared to be okay after a 23-year-old skier broke her back during training, got a visit from president putin after successful surgery. we've been saying all week the conditions are difficult, we're not saying these things are connected but it's tough out there. >> absolutely, keir, thank you. and hooer a's where we stand with the medal count, sorry

about that. the u.s. and russia are tied with 16 medals apiece, four golds, a three-way tie for second between canada, the netherlands and norway. in the moment after the u.s. versus russia hockey game social media erupted with hundreds of thousand us of tweets celebrating america's win and the man who helped make it happen, t.j. oshie. in a sudden death shoot-out it was this shot from the united states t.j. oshie that is today the talk of the hockey world. >> score! team usa wins! >> reporter: his fourth goal in a thrilling climax that sent fans across the country -- >> yeah! >> reporter: -- going wild and bringing back memories of the miracle at lake placid. >> five seconds left in the game. do you believe in miracles, yes! >> unbelievable! >> reporter: the u.s.'s stunning victory over the then soviet union in 1980, an iconic sports

moment immortalized in film. >> 34 years ago was a real special time and this team has a lot of work to be able to capture what that team did, but it's certainly a good start after beating the russians on their home ice. >> fortunate enough to put a couple in the net there. >> reporter: since his clutch performance, the 27-year-old oshie who plays in the nhl for st. louis has become the darling of social media, scoring more than 100,000 twitter fans in just the past 24 hours, including a shout out from president obama himself, even u.s. troops watching in afghanistan posting their pics. oshie spoke with a man who called miracle on ice 34 years ago, nbc's al michaels. >> it was intense. it felt a lot like a rivalry game, having them have their whole crowd behind them and them being loud and you can barely hear your buddy next to you. >> reporter: a thrilling victory that brought back memory answer

made a young hockey player from minnesota one of the biggest heroes of the games so far. i was sitting in my hotel last night watching the russian evening news, of course i don't speak russian but you didn't have to. you could see the coverage, you could see a lot of video of the controversial goal that was taken away from russia and interviews from fans you could tell, we're coming back. >> being there i didn't understand what it was about and i guess apparently the net moved off the mooring. it was confusing. >> international rules there's no goal. if it of nhl it would have been. that's how it came down. only a preliminary match. >> i know let's see where this goes. that will be one big grudge match. >> want to send it back to new york, erica there with more bad weather hitting the northeast. erica? >> thanks, lester. starting to feel like a broken record here. parts of new england waking up to as much as a foot of new snow. the winter that feels like it may never end delivered another pounding storm to millions. dylan dreyer is in the middle of

it, joins us from chatham, massachusetts. dylan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. don't let the sunshine out here fool you. it is absolutely freezing out here with windchills well down into the single digits. it was a nasty day yesterday, parts of the western cape ended up with about 15 inches of snow in areas like sandwich. here in chatham we didn't pick up as much snow because we had a lot of ice and it was a wind-swept ice. look at these poles. you can see one side of the pole is totally coated in snow and ice, and that is now just the latest danger in what has been an epic winter. >> it's crazy. we've had so much this year already. and we're getting another blizzard. >> reporter: blizzard conditions pounding the northeast coast overnight with heavy snow driven by winds gusting up to 45 miles per hour. it's the second major snowstorm to hit new england in 48 hours. before it's over a fresh, heavy wet blanket on top of layers of

packed snow from an endless winter. >> i feel like it's siberia. >> reporter: know fall at three inches per hour challenged even the veteran new england road crews. >> under these conditions, it really isn't possible for us to keep the roads clear and safe, given the rate of snowfall. >> reporter: the massachusetts governor asked drivers to stay off the roads for 12 hours starting last night. several thousand customers have lost electricity in massachusetts. the powerless will suffer through subfreezing temperatures as they dig out once more today. and this storm system is long gone now, it's actually moving up into new foundland, wind gusts up to near 100 miles per hour. the biggest concern is salt. some areas will have to pay double to triple what they would normally pay for salt because we're just starting to run out. erica? >> dylan, thanks. we'll check in with you in a few minutes for a closer look at the national forecast. meantime breaking news out of south africa this morning, rescue crews are scrambling to

reach more than 00 miners reported to be trapped underground happening mere johannesburg. duncan has the details to are this us, good morning. >> good morning, erica. this rescue is happening right now at an abandoned gold mine in a suburb near pretoria in south africa. emergency services there say they've been able to make contact with about 30 men who are trapped below ground, reportedly those men weren't meant to be down there. the men say they became trapped by falling boulders and they say that 200 more men are trapped even further below ground. heavy lifting equipment and cranes are there trying to clear away. so far no reports of casualties, but sadly, people being hurt and people dying is nothing new in south africa's abandoned mines, where men go down into the shafts, the incredible risks apparently outweighed by the potential rewards. erica? >> all right, dun tcan golestan

thank you. in central colorado rescuers will scour the mountains looking for two people missing after an avalanche, with a group of skiers in lake county when the avalanche struck saturday evening. so far this winter 12 people across the country have died in avalanches including six just this past week. the storm-soaked uk is now bracing for ice. forecasters issuing a nationwide ice warning as floodwaters continue to rise across much of england and wales. at least three people have been killed in weather-related incidents. if you've ever used the popular crowd funding website kickstarter, it's time for a new passboard. the site was hacked last week. its ceo said no credit card kdaa was stolen but user names, passwords, e-mail and mailing addresses and phone numbers were compromised. let's end on a high note shall we? turns out you've got another shot at powerball. no one won the $330 million jackpot saturday night so the pot now grows to an estimated

$400 million. you have until the drawing on wednesday to get your ticket. let's go back to dylan with a closer look at some of the rest of the weather across the country. dylan, maybe it's time to buy a lotto ticket for you. >> thank you. i would love that. we are looking at some snow and rain, a lot of it in the pacific northwest. it's a very big storm hitting that area where we could end up with several inches of rain and the snow in the mountains could result in some avalanches as it accumulates up to two to four feet in some of the caps kad areas, and we are going to see that whole storm system linger in that area for quite some time before it spreads east and we are looking at the chance of more snow in the midwest, and maybe some snow around here by the time we get into tuesday. we're now seeing clearing skies around the bay area. still a few light showers south of san jose down 101 approaching hollister and salinas to the south.

in the sierra, still flying around interstate 80 and 50. that too will wind dout midday today. highs with more sunshine with numbers in the 60s around san jose, low 60s around san francisco and mid-60s around the friday travalley. dry weather for most of the new week. >> and that is your latest forecast. lester? >> all right, dylan, thanks very much. up next on "today," olympic athletes and their day jobs. you won't believe what some of them do to pay the bills. that's come up after this. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ♪ abe! get in! punch it!

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♪ welcome back to sochi. if you ever wondered what the olympic athletes do when her' not competing we have the answer. >> it's hard to ma'am them doing anything but their sport but believe it or not many of them have regular day jobs to pay the bills. we'll let them tell you what they do when they're not on the slopes or the ice. ♪ >> when i'm not competing at the olympics, my day job is a junior high science teacher. i'm teaching sixth, seventh and eighth grade science now. i always liked helping people so i thought education would be a great field to go into.

>> when i'm not training for the olympics my day job is a physician assistant. i see patients of all ages and take care of their primary care needs. >> patrick meek is one of the hardest workers out there. >> when i'm back home in park city, utah, my day job is a valet and kons yermg at the waldorf astria. as a valet you're trying to get them there and concierge you make reservations. some people recognized me because of the olympics and speed skate so long that's been kind of cool. >> a smile there from schultz. >> when i'm not training for the olympics my day job is a physical therapist assistant. i get to work with post surgical and sports med patients. it's a fun job and it kind of transfers over to what i do on the ice. >> when i'm not bobsledding i'm

in the 1156 engineering company out of kingston, new york. >> i belong to the new york headquarters in latham. >> i'm part of the kentucky national guard. >> it's a way for me to have something outside of athletics and way for me to compete for my country and serve my country at the same time. >> the wcap program is a special unit for soldier athletes, the mission in that unit is to go to the olympic games and represent your country and ultimately bring home a medal. >> i love that. we learned a lot about some of the athletes and how they get along when they're not doing what they do here. anyway, still to come the most important job of all, being a mom. >> that's right we'll talk to some of the moms of two of the olympic ♪

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just stop on by and leave all the legwork to us. switch to walgreens today where you could save with copays as low as zero dollars on select medicare part d plans. at the corner of happy and healthy. coming up, mark antoine still celebrating his victory with a bronze medal win after an incredible run on the skeleton. >> did i tell you about my night out tasting vodka? we'll see it. i don't remember a lot of it. ♪ [ cellphones beeping ] ♪ [ cellphone rings ] hello? [ male announcer ] over 12,000 financial advisors. good, good. good. over $700 billion dollars in assets under care. let me just put this away. [ male announcer ] how did edward jones get so big? could you teach our kids that trick?

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6:26 on your saturday morning. we have seen some wet weather conditions develop over the course of the last 24 hours. i am sam brock. the question is will that trend continue. let's check in with meteorologist rob mayeda who has a look at your forecast. >> this morning we're starting to see clear skies around the p bay area. our rain totals just enough to wet the ground in spots overnight. you did see just under 0.1 of an inch of rain from the north bay to the south bay and most of the action has moved off to the east. speaking of the east, if you head to the sierra, still some snow showers at times, at least for the next couple of hours before the moisture heads off into southern nevada. temperatures today around the south bay should be in the low 60s in san jose, upper 50s to

low 60s in san francisco. mid-60s in the friday valley and the seven-day forecast shows temperatures climbing approaching next weekend. a developing store you now out of the east bay where police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery of a burn victim at redwood regional park in the oakland hills. park police found the person in the parking lot on skyline boulevard. that is the skyline gate entrance to the park. the area where the victim is discovered is above montaclairm. park police are working with oakland pd on the investigation. the celebration of the lunar new year continues in san francisco's chinatown today with a street fair. last night an estimated 1 million people gathered in san francisco for the annual chinese new cheer parade. that is considered to be the largest celebration of the chinese new year outside of asia. this is the year of the horse,

naturally, which is the seventh animal in the chinese zodiac. the parade was rain-free until the end when secelebrators saw little drizzling. about 500,000 people are expected to attend this two-day fair. hundreds of people rallied in oakland this weekend calling for an increase in that city's minimum wage. the group calls itself lift up oakland and it organized the events. now, they want to see the minimum wage increased to $12.25 an hour in oakland as you see from that gentleman's sign right there. currently it sits at $8 an hour. they also would like employers required to provide sick days to all workers. members of the group are trying to get enough signatures to put the initiative on the november ballot. workers we spoke with say the raise would help them become independent. that group needs some 35,000 signatures to actually get the initiative on the ballot. opponents say that higher wages will mean fewer jobs and higher prices. coming up at 7:00 on "today

in the bay" we'll take you to sochi where our very own janelle wang is perfecting her own specialty. the selfy photo bomb. that plus all your top stories coming up at 7:00. right now we send you back to the "today" show. we'll see you in 30 minutes.

♪ when you get your shine on we're rocking on this sunday morning, february 16th, 2014. it is a somewhat cooler day here in sochi, overcast skies, even a little drizzle. we constitutional have we still have a great crowd of team usa supporters out here with us. we appreciate them stopping by between events. i'm lester holt along with natalie morales in sochi. erica hill is back in new york and dylan keeping an eye on the awful weather that continues to grip a lot of the northeast and new england, specifically. we've got a lot to get to this morning. but first, erica has got some of the news headlines. >> lester, thanks. a mistrial was declared on the murder charge in the so-called loud music trial in florida. defendant michael dunn was found guilty on four other counts. new england residents as lester mentioned digging out today from yet another winter

storm. that snow came down so fast that at one point people were told to simply stay off the roads. and team usa picking up two medals this morning in the men's super g, andrew weibrecht got the silver, bode miller tying for bronze. still to come in this half hour, there is no sibling rivalry for two of the newest athletes for part of team usa in 2014. they're a team on and off the ice and have been their entire lives. i'll introduce to us the shib sibs. coming up, and i know you have a lot more from sochi as well. >> we do. i love the shib sibs. we talked to this earlier this week. such great personalities. we'll catch up with one of team usa's newest bronze medalists, matt antoine. he brought home a big win saturday on the skeleton winning the bronze. >> i'll take you on a tour of the local spirits. >> okay. >> that's team spirits. i sampled the local spirit. vodkas here in sochi, tried six of them.

i remember the first two and after that, it all gets a little foggy. actually i'm not a big vodka drinker. i was surprised, there is quite a range of tastes and quality. >> i love how you were patting your head. that goes to tell you, it had to be pretty powerful stuff. >> it was kind of a burn that went down to my toes over a series of hours. anyway, we've got that coming up. what else have we got coming up? we begin with a big night ahead for the dynamic figure skating duo of meryl davis and charlie white who have a lot of support along the way from two very special people, meryl and charlie say they wouldn't be where they are today if it wasn't for their moms who have been behind them every step of the way. >> reporter: affectionately known as the moms, cheryl davis and jackie white are as much a team as their kids, gold medal favorites, meryl davis and charlie white. >> we're with each other 24/7 and sometimes it's eight to ten days out of every month. >> we complement each other. >> she can read up close and i can see far away.

so when i'm nervous i take the scores down. she'll help me out. >> i can read them off the board and she can write them. >> it's one of the many routines they've developed over the 17 years their kids have skated together. what about superstitions, do you wear the same jewelry? >> same earrings on for years. >> another thing if it's working i don't want to change it. >> reporter: beyond the superstitions and routines cheryl and jackie say it's their children's dedication to the sport and to each other that truly sets them apart. >> we really are always impressed with how they're able to get along so well day in and day out. >> they have a very special bond. >> do they fight? >> no. >> reporter: no? >> never fight. >> reporter: have you two learned something just from watching your kids? >> i think they've made us better people. we've watched their positivity, their dedication and focus and when you sea when you see them so young being able to do that, it i spinspireu

to have a better attitude about life. >> reporter: but competing at this level has taken over much of their own lives, too. >> it's so meanful. they haven't missed a single competition in our lifetime. >> reporter: the ice dancing duo who won silver in vancouver are still at the top of their game in sochi, helping team usa win bronze in the new team category. >> it's impossible for us to think of anything we may have accomplished without the help of our moms. they're just amazing. >> reporter: and if the moms have their way, their next short dance performance will be as good as gold. >> it would just thrill me to see that look on his face when he holds up that gold medal, it would just thrill me. because i know the happiness that they will feel and that's what it's really all about. >> our kids are lucky enough to at this point in their career to be where they are is -- it's pretty special. >> aww.

and they are the ones to beat for sure. meryl and charlie compete today in the short dance followed by the free dance on monday, and of course their moms you can always count on their support, they'll be in the stands in their usual positions watching and cheering them on and you can see meryl and charlie compete in prime time tonight on nbc starting at 7:00/6:00 central. >> right now we want to get a final check of the weather, dylan is in chatham, massachusetts. dylan? >> hey, good morning, guys. you know as we are stuck in the eye icebox in new england, let's talk about a warmup. we are going to see one move in this week as the jet stream finally moves north, that's always a good thing when you want to talk about a warmup. we are going to see this dip in the jet stream finally start to recede further to the north, allowing some of that warmer air, some of the record-breaking temperatures you're seeing in the southwest move eastward. we're obviously not going to break any records, but any warm-up will feel pretty good and we should get into that by the time we get into especially the end of the week. one thing i want to point out, look at the snow cover across the country, and as it melts, flooding is going to be a huge

possibility with ice jams in a lot of the rivers and potholes are going to be absolutely treacherous on the roadways. so just keep that in mind. the warm-up's a good thing, but that snow cover is all going to melt and we are going to see the effects of that as we go through the week. that's a look at the weather across the our skies are clearing, showers moving off to the east and still enough mioisture to give you winter-like driving conditions along highway 50 but you can see the showers shutting down as skies continue to clear out and dry out both in the bay area and up toward the sierra. we should see highs around the south bay in the low 60s around san jose, upper 50s, close to 60 in san francisco with sunshine and low to mid-60s around the tri-valley. numbers climbing into the upper 60s we think as we approach next weekend. >> and that is your latest forecast. natalie and lester, i am so sorry it's a little bit cooler out there today. >> oh, i'm sure you are. really feeling the sympathy

there. thanks, dylan. team usa added another medal to its count saturday thanks to this man, matt antoine who picked up the bronze medal in the skeleton. >> he and his teammate john daley were neck and neck for third until daley slipped off the track on the final run clearing the way for matt to slide down the course and land the bronze. matt, congratulations. >> thank you. >> i know it's tough you see john daley slip off the tracks. how does that impact your mindset? >> we have to keep a clear mind when we head out there. i actually did not see what had happened to him. when i walked out to the line i heard the groans. i knew what happened without having to see it and it's really unfortunate. we've trained together the last ten years, pushed each other to be where we are and it was fitting we were fighting it out till the end. it's upsetting it ended that way for him. >> during your race was there a point that you thought, i've got this? this is mine? >> nothing is every secure in our sport. it can go from great to horrible

in an instant. going into the final run, though, i knew i was in a great position. i had a great run going. the last couple of curves i thought i had it but you never know until you see the clock. when i saw the clock and saw i was in first, i was ecstatic. >> your story is a lesson for any kid who's told you can't do it. you were told you didn't have what it takes to be in skeleton. you almost made the team in vancouver and things fell apart and here you are walking out of sochi with a bronze medal. talk about how that feels. >> it's amazing. yeah, my first tryout in skeleton did not go so well. i was sent home. i didn't believe it. i came back a year later, it went much better. i got on to the development team and it's been a progress or process getting up to this point. definitely a huge disappointment in vancouver, but it's what made me so much better over the last four years, pushed me to improve, find my faults and how i can fix them and everything really came together for me this season and it's been a phenomenal season and capped off yesterday. >> it's very clear where you

come from, seeing you during your race, all the cheeseheads, but also seeing some cheeseheads from wisconsin, a lot of football love in wisconsin. >> oh, yeah. >> but what's it like having this great family here supporting you and all your friends? >> it's amazing. i couldn't be here without the support i've had with everyone. this is as much theirs as it is mine. they pushed me over the years and kept me going and it meant so much to cross the line and see them all down at the bottom and the emotion that they had and just to be able to share that with them is unbelievable. >> matt antoine congratulations and thanks so much for being here and bringing the crowd. >> thank you for having me. coming up next, erica meets the shib sibs, the brother and sister duo hoping to take the ice dancing world by storm, we'll have that after these messages. sister du hoping to take the ice dancing world by storm, we'll have that after these messages. what can your fidelity green line do for you? just take a closer look. it works how you want to work -- on your own...

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pair of skaters representing team usa in the ice dancing competition. brother/sister duo who may be two of the sweetest people i've ever had the chance to interview to say that they are excited and enthusiastic about their first olympics would be a gross understatement. but it turns out they didn't always share the exact same quest for gold. >> reporter: every olympian starts their journey with a dream. for ice dancer maya shibutani it began at age 4. >> i fell in love with it right away, so i wanted to go to the olympics pretty much from the beginning. >> reporter: her brother, alex, however, had different plans. >> i wanted to play in the nba, that was my little kid dream. >> reporter: despite his hoop dreams, maya managed to get alex out on the ice. >> i saw how much fun maya was having. it only made sense for me to give it a try. >> reporter: 22-year-old alex and maya, age 19, have been skating together for ten years now. they're affectionately known as the shib sibs. so let me tell you, there's something cool about saying i was skating with two

olympians today. do you like being called olympians? >> it hasn't really sunk in yet. >> it's so cool. >> reporter: news they were sochi bound came via text. >> it's very modern. >> very modern. we're always on our phones anyway so it just seems right that we would find out that we were going to sochi that way. >> reporter: their interaction with fans and fellow skaters is also thoroughly modern. active on twitter, facebook, instagram and youtube where they launched a shib sibs channel in 2012. ♪ it's always a good time >> we're inspired by comedy, and before we go to a competition to skate, the best thing for us to do is to watch something funny. nothing really gets the nerves or the jitters out of the way than watching something that kind of eases the mood. ♪ whoa, whoa, whoa >> reporter: their strong brother/sister bond is a big advantage at the rink. >> before we even skated together we were dancing around in the living room. we just have a really close relationship. at the same time when you're

siblings, we're normal siblings, we fight occasionally, sometimes more than occasionally but we're both so driven that as people and as athletes that it's so easy for us to overcome those moments. >> reporter: when you're doing something with the teams, too, it can be a very emotional sport, these routines can be incredibly involved. >> um-hum. >> reporter: is it ever awkward you're doing this with your sister or your brother? >> i think that it's definitely being a brother and sister team means we take a different approach but in a lot of ways being forced to have that creativity has made our programs even more special and stronger. >> reporter: the shib sibs are also remarkably grounded and determined to enjoy every movement of their hard-won journey. have you let yourselves think about the possibility of coming home with a medal? >> i think it's a dream. >> yeah. >> every aspiring olympian has. it's what pushes you on those difficult challenging days, those rainy practice days where things aren't going quite as well.

i mean, you know, the aim is to be at our best at the olympic games and if we can put out performances we're really proud of, that will be the biggest takeaway for us and something we'll remember for a long time. >> two of the nicest people you will ever meet. we are rooting for them. the shib sibs will be on the ice later today. just ahead this morning lester is tasting some of rush why's finest vodkas. he doesn't remember all of it but he's still going to share some of that that he can recall with us. but first these messages. that h. honestly? this deal was way too good to believe. instead of paying too much for an ipad, i got the surface 2. first of all, it comes with office and outlook. then, with free skype calls to phones in over 60 countries, i can talk to my cousins any time. and then, i got 200 gigs of cloud storage -- free -- so i can get my photos and stuff almost anywhere. others charge for that. surface is such a great deal. i feel like i should tell somebody. hey! ♪ honestly ♪ i want to see you be brave ♪

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♪ because i'm happy ♪ clap along if you know what happiness is to you ♪ we're back on a sunday morning here in sochi with russia's favorite drink and that of course would be vodka and lester, yesterday you said eating is always your favorite thing to do, but i think this assignment probably tops it. >> well, not sure. i haven't had vodka probably since i was in my 20s. >> sure. >> but it is very russian and i wanted to try, so i tried six different vodkas from the really expensive premium stuff to the cheaper cuts. take a look. >> reporter: vodka, it's the national spirit of russia, named after the russian word for water, voda. but the people here certainly

don't guzzle it down like water. >> people think that we drink vodka for the lunch, for the dinner, for the breakfast. actually, it's not because it's a strong drink. >> reporter: a really, really strong drink. as i'm about to find out over the next hour. at this restaurant in the village of rosa khutor, elena is about to introduce me to a range of russian vodkas starting with the pricey stuff. >> this is beluga, imported all over the world so it was actually made for russian czars. >> reporter: a good vodka is supposed to have soft herbal spicy bread notes. what's a traditional russian toast? [ speaking in russian ] >> reporter: that's what i was going to say. it's very smooth. vodka is usually consumed with food. elena had a series of appetizer pairings prepared including pickled vegetables,

cabbage, even bacon. i'll try this again? >> you can. but we have five more, five more bottles. >> reporter: you're telling me to pace myself. next came russian standard, one of the oldest dating back to pre-revolution russia. a little more kick. a little burn. vodkas are usually made from grain or potatoes, but this one, white birch, is made from birch juice. this almost goes down it feels like honey, something thick. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: the cocktail culture is creeping into russian society, so flavored vodkas and vodka juice mixes are not uncommon but that, says elena is not how a real russian man enjoys his vodka, which brings us to siberian husky vodka. [ speaking in russian ] >> reporter: which means? >> for a man. >> reporter: for a man. yes, it's very manly. vodka is not for the weak of

heart or weak of palate. >> economy russian vodka. >> reporter: is that another word for cheap russian vodka? >> it's not cheap. it's economic class. >> reporter: and thankfully for me, a one-way trip. >> try to drink in russian way like whole shot is the last one. [ speaking in russian ] >> reporter: here we go. [ laughter ] >> look at that face. oh, my gosh. >> oh, my goodness. >> tough assignment. >> are you a vodka drinker? >> i am not. i've tried it since i've been here because i feel like you have to. >> i thought all of it was like that. there are ranges. the favorite was this white birch and made from the sap of a birch and that gives it that smooth flavor. >> i've had that one. that one's good. >> would you like to try it again? >> okay. >> here's the deal. you'll notice most of those i sipped which is not the way they

drink it. what you saw in the end, they pound it down. >> you're going to pound it? >> i'm asking you. >> apparently it was the manly thing to do was to pound it but i don't think it's the feminine thing to do. >> i'm going to make a toast for friendship, and it's -- [ speaking russian ] go ahead, pound it down. >> go, lester, go. >> very nice. you can do it nat, you got this one. >> erica, you do one. >> i have a shot glass but it's bad luck to toast with an empty glass. >> i didn't think you would do it. >> she did it. don't day her, lester. >> come on! >> i'm going to bring some back for you, erica. >> somebody locked up the drinks for hoda and kathie lee so i couldn't get any vodka. >> oh. we'll bring this back for you, erica. >> my glass is ready. >> we'll be back after this. that torch, you could light the place on fire right after this. ♪

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good sunday morning here in new york. earlier this week mitt romney criticized the high price of the sochi games, an estimated 50 billion in an op-ed. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning. >> he'll be with you later this morning. there's talk about the op-ed, and also he's been making himself much more available lately and inviting questions as to whether or not this new push for more public access could in fact be the precursor to something else, could he think about another run in 2016? what's really behind the push? >> there are people making that suggestion and he is downplaying it. it is certainly something i'll ask him about this morning and the olympic movement is an interesting topic, certainly for him and he's been critical as

you mentioned about these cost overruns in russia, paying $50 billion for the games. how do you sustain that kind of investment for a country or for a city and it's top of mind for a lot of citizens in the united states who are vying for future games. is it worth it and what do you do after the games leave? it's one of the questions we'll pose this morning. >> we'll look forward to that. and i know he's not your only guest. what else is coming up this morning? >> we'll talk about the urgency around climate change. you heard the president in his extreme weather moment pushing hard for action about climate change. will it change the politics at all? we'll have the debate coming up. >> we looked forward to. we'll be checking in in just a bit. thanks again. >> thanks. meantime, lester and natalie are in sochi where it's getting chilly. the sun is going down, head someplace warm, grab the vodka, don't forget natalie's hand warmers. we don't want you to get sick. >> thank you, erica. we'll check back with you in new york later throughout the week. tune in tomorrow on "today" for our own anchor olympics, when

team "today" takes on nbc's team nbc sports. >> we have, of course, a lot of former olympians working with us. we decided to play a few games out here. >> things got ugly. >> challenges. things got a little competitive, we had a little fun and we won't tell you who won. >> no, i think actually we're going to see all of this tomorrow how it unfolds but there was definitely an advantage, i would say, on the sports side. >> we can tell you there was no vodka drinking, maybe after. >> we kept it clean. >> maybe after. >> tomorrow on "today." what's that? >> the bedazzling on the uniform. that's going to take you far. >> we looked like we were about to do some motorcycle act. >> team uniform, i guess. >> yeah, i don't know who came up with that one. >> we were inspired. anyway, we'll have that for you tomorrow on "today." meanwhile we leave you with some of the highlights from sochi and some of the olympics here today. ♪

good morning. i'm sam brock. coming up next on "today in the bay" a speed skating letdown in sochi. americans looking for gold end up with nothing. team usa tried to revamp its strategy. we'll take a look. plus she's declared herself ready to go. san jose's pleolina edmonds arrives in sochi. we'll hear directly from the figure skater. we'll let you know how long this much-needed sprinkling will last. this is "today in the day." 7:00 on your saturday morning. we start with this live image from san francisco, a very inviting image. good saturday morning, thanks for joining us. i'm sam brock