>> they're good. >> brian williams won't be rapping but he joins us next. on our broadcast tonight, surging toll, a deadly day as the truce collapses. the violence explodes again in ukraine and police open fire on demonstrators as this leaves the u.s. and russia in a standoff over what to do. it gets worse. hard to believe another huge storm system is on the move in the u.s., bringing warnings about snow and tornadoes at the same time, and for some, a daerous night ahead. victory and agony on a wild day of competition for team usa as we hit the home stretch now here in sochi. and true grit. he refused to let a devastating crash derail his dreams. now he is blazing a trail for others along the way. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening. it's anyone's guess how this ends up, but tonight just over 600 miles to our north and west in a neighboring nation to russia, while russia is hosting these winter olympic games, there has been terrible bloodshed in the beautiful city of kiev in the politically divided nation of ukraine. police today were given the go-ahead to fire on demonstrators with live ammunition and they did. demonstrators who side more with europe than moscow have been in this pitched fiery battle with cops for days, months actually, but it just turned truly violent since we've been here. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is there to start us off. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. just last night we were talking about a truce. it didn't last long. in fact, we watched it unravel in front of us. and today was the deadliest day

since this protest movement began. around 70 demonstrators and at least three police killed today and hundreds wounded. protesters charged police lines in innocence square this morning. suddenly, the police were in retreat. protesters in small groups advanced. but they were picked off. this man, shot in the leg. police fired on demonstrators, some with high-powered rifles. but then we saw the dedication that is keeping this movement alive. the protesters confused their charge, peering around corners, dodging bullets, diving for cover, recovering their wounded under fire. they paid a price for it. we watched them come back, limping, on stretchers, some unconscious, others dead. the wounded were rushed to a nearby hotel.

in the lobby, a nurse tends to one man. another could not be saved. it's a snake shift field hospital, short staffed with few supplies. a body left by the front desk. back outside, as the shooting subsided, the demonstrators moved to take new ground while they could and build new barricades, and stockpile more weapons, molotov cocktails and rocks. the advance had been costly but it worked. the protesters expanded their terrain. this is the protester's new front line. the riot police have now withdrawn from this area in central kiev, but the demonstrators clearly worry that they could come back. and that's why they're reinforcing their defenses. alex, a 23-year-old financial consultant, helps guard the front line. how do you think this is going to end? where does this go from here? >> maybe a little more victims, i guess, but finally the democracy will win. >> reporter: the war drums here are beating.

there is little mood anymore for truces. >> we want to destroy this criminal government. >> reporter: it was the bloodiest day in this three-month struggle against the government. the toll is written on their faces. but the opposition here is still calling it a victory. there are still thousands of demonstrators in this square tonight, brian, and so far it has only been the police involved in the crackdown. the army has been staying out of it. brian? >> richard engel who we watched cover combat in iraq and afghanistan and now hard to believe the streets of kiev. richard, thank you for your day of reporting. late today, vice president joe biden spoke with ukraine's president by phone. and diplomatically, of course, the subtext here isn't complex. here we are again. the u.s. and russia, the west and what became of what we used to call the eastern bloc. nbc's andrea mitchell monitoring

all of it from our washington newsroom tonight. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. all of this is just incredible. the white house, infuriated, says it's outraged by the government's firing automatic weapons on its own people. but while the vice president in the call urged restraint, ukraine's leader is hearing a very different message from vladimir putin's russia. in kiev, raucous protesters capture a dozen riot police, marching them across the square, while fending off who want to lynch them. and beyond the capital, the firestorm of anti-government protests is spreading. near the polish border, the command post has taken over. but ukraine's president is resisting appeals from the u.s. and its allies, rebuffing a delegation of foreign ministers, from europe, ignoring president obama. ukraine's military even refusing repeated calls from defense secretary hagel. >> there needs to be mediation here, but first and foremost, the government has to pull back, not fire upon its citizens.

>> reporter: the u.s. has imposed sanctions on ukraine, and today europe upped the and they, freezing. president yanukovych is listening to moscow and putin. putin's prime minister urged ukraine to be tougher, saying so people don't wipe their feet on the authorities like a door mat. the message to yanukovych, don't compromise. >> and it is very clear that the russian leadership feels it's their right to do what they want and not our right to be involved at all. >> reporter: tonight, european foreign ministers still in kiev are trying desperately to mediate with both sides, hoping to avoid more bloodshed. brian? >> andrea mitchell in our washington newsroom, thanks. with the tension overseas about our lead story last night, new scrutiny on shoes for airline passengers coming into the u.s. from overseas. tonight, our justice correspondent pete williams is telling us that this new threat involves a bomb maker associated with al qaeda in yemen.

he has been behind previous creative but failed attacks. this new scrutiny is because they fear he has come up with a more sophisticated design and thus the new screening now of international incoming passengers. as we said on the top of the broadcast where the weather in the u.s. is concerned it gets worse. hard to believe, like a tornado warning as far south as memphis earlier tonight, part of a huge 30-state wide storm system that also brought a foot of snow to eden prairie up in minnesota. and it must be bad because weather channel meteorologist jim cantore is out in it in nashville. good evening. >> yeah, brian, it will get wild in the next couple of hours. let's talk about this. a giant storm, just when we get a break from the arctic chill, this one stretches all the way canada down to the gulf coast. let's cover this, we already had severe thunderstorms that produced tornadoes tonight over springfield, illinois, where

there is snow on the ground, amazingly enough. that whole storm system severe threat continues tonight and heads all the way to the east coast for friday. now the snowy part. minneapolis could see 5 to 8 inches of snow. that may be the biggest storm system of the season. the problem is the mounting snowpack across this entire area. and once this all melts we'll have big problems with flooding. just in case you were wondering if it's ever going to cool down again, it is. 78 today for a record-tying high in nashville, tennessee. by next wednesday, brian, we will be lucky if we make to it 28. the deep freeze coming back to the east in a week. >> jim cantore in nashville for us tonight, thank you, jim. here in sochi, women took center stage today. a live audience watching on nbc saw what happened to the u.s. women's hockey team. and fair warning for all of those households who are planning to watch figure skating tonight in prime time who do not want to know what happens.

time to mute. give us about two minutes. that's some introduction for nbc's chris jansing, who is here to cover all the rest of the games for us. chris, good evening. >> good evening, brian. let's talk about that hockey game. it would be hard to overstate the passion that team usa put into this game. half that team competed and lost in vancouver and spent the past several years getting ready for the rematch. it was a game that exceeded the hype. one of sport's great and most bitter rivalries was all out there on the ice. fast, physical, team usa skating against canada with the revenge for the loss in vancouver on their minds. with five minutes to go, up 2-0, it looked like they would get it. but canada mounted a stunning combat, scoring with the less than 3:30 to go. a heart stopping u.s. shot through an open net just missed, and 30 seconds later, canada scores. the game went into sudden death overtime. >> the gold medal to canada!

>> reporter: canada's momentum ended in a devastating 3-2 loss for the americans. looks of disbelief and disappointment as they were awarded silver. >> they were so close, so close. >> reporter: simultaneously on the figure skating ice, another intense finish. defending champion yuna kim of south korea, who was first in the short program, upset by adelina sotnikova, the first russian to ever win gold. and gracie gold just missed a medal after a slip on the triple flip. and you kept smiling. >> you know, it really was not just a fake smile or trained smile. i was really having fun. >> reporter: but it's the first time no americans have medaled in men's or women's skating since 1936. americans have dominated the new x games sports in sochi, and maddie bowman won gold in the

first ever women's halfpipe. and the women ended their day on the podium. two american teams on the podium tonight, how awesome. >> it's so incredible. we wouldn't want it any other way. >> reporter: for the first time taking two medals, silver and bronze in bobsled, thrilled, though a few still itching for gold. >> i can't end on those runs. i will try to talk everyone to coming back with me. >> reporter: are you coming back? >> we'll see what happens. >> i wouldn't mess with her. >> you see them here, you will see me here. >> yeah? >> yeah. >> reporter: and our nominee for photo finish of these games, check it out. right before the ski cross quarterfinal finish, a big crash. three racers go down and slide over the line. it was the russian in the yellow bib that was ruled the runner-up. and so brian, just incredible finishes happen to be your thing, today was your day at these olympics. >> unbelievable. chris jansing, thanks for all of it. still ahead for us tonight,

what's in the water. weeks after a chemical spill, officials say it's safe, but lot of people won't go near it. families are afraid, some say it is even making them sick.

it has been six weeks now since authorities in charleston, west virginia warned people not to bring the water after that big chemical spill into a nearby river. while the warning was lifted ten days later, a lot of people didn't believe it because the water still smelled and they did not think it was safe. and now, the governor is calling for much more rigorous testing, we get our report tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: the line for free bottled water at this charleston distribution center starts as a trickle each morning and then picks up midday. stephanie gregory came with her 14 month-old. >> i'm not going to drink smelly water. i'm not going to cook with smelly water. i'm not going to bathe myself or my kids in smelly water. >> reporter: six weeks since the 10-gallon chemical spill left

sent hundreds of people to hospitals and left 300,000 without tap water, the state insists the water has been safe for weeks. but many people aren't convinced. on monday, an elementary school closed early after teachers complained of headaches and smelling the licorice odor associated with the chemical mchm. after filling up his water jugs, lou tyree took us to his home. at the moment i don't smell anything. >> reporter: lou and belinda tyree say they smell it in their shower and faucet every day, but not all day. do either one of you trust the water right now? >> no. >> not for drinking. for bathing, not drinking or cooking. >> reporter: one of the country's biggest independent labs has tested 800 water samples tested from homes and businesses. so far the chemical levels are either undetected or far below the cdc's warning level. is the odor alone a sign that there are unacceptable levels of this toxic chemical?

>> it could be one sign, but not necessarily the only sign. you won't know unless you get it tested. >> reporter: still, the mayor of charleston is concerned. >> try to get people to come to this city and to stay here, and we're going to run into trouble because of this. >> reporter: the center for disease control insists the water is safe for everyone to drink. but to reassure residents and to limit any potential economic damage, the city is sing out-of-state lab to test the water yet again. tom costello, nbc news, charleston. and we're back in just a moment with the big decision that researchers have reversed themselves on for the first time in memory.

walter ehlers has died. he was a recipient of the medal of honor, and until today the last surviving recipient from the omaha beach invasion. walt grew up in kansas. he was so young when he signed

up to go fight, he needed his mother's permission. he saw a lot of action in world war ii, but he stood out in the fighting in the countryside of france in the days after d-day. despite being wound lead separate times, he took out several german gun crews single-handedly, and at one point drew all the incoming fire upon himself to allow his men to withdraw with the wounded. a month later he learned he had passed by the body of his older brother, roland, who never made it off the omaha beach. walt ehlers died with a german bullet still in his right leg. he was 92, and among the best men any of us could ever know. his death leaves 75 living recipients now of the medal of honor. safety researchers in the u.s. predicted a decade ago that because of our aging population boom, that traffic accidents would increase. now in a rare event they have admitted they have been proven wrong. they say in fact today's drivers age 70 and older are less likely to be involved in a crash than previous generations.

the feds attribute it to healthier seniors and safer vehicles. also on the roads, the scourge of potholes in all the cities where winter has been especially cruel this year. in places like cincinnati to pittsburgh, they're organizing pothole-filling blitzes after the problem got so bad. in new york city they have now filled more than 113,000 potholes in the last two months alone, and i'm here to tell you there is 113,000 more on the northbound west side highway alone. the folks who struggle these days to figure out what businesses are worth in the web era are going to have further struggles with this one. facebook is buying the text messaging app called whatsapp for $16 billion. and if you think that is a higher valuation than companies like american airlines, campbell's soup and ralph lauren, think about the fact

that whatsapp has 450 million customers worldwide, a lot of them overseas. while users only pay a dollar a year and the company sells no advertising, at least this way facebook doesn't let it get away, and now it gets a whack at some new customers. turns out instagram was a bargain at just a billion dollars. and a quick note about one of our own. last night there was a gathering in washington to mark the retirement of shelley fielman. after 50 years with nbc as a cameraman. shelly was standing on the sidewalk the day ronald reagan exited the washington hilton. shelly's steady pictures with his camera on his shoulder became part of our national evidence of the assassination attempt. he was also there when lee harvey oswald was shot in dallas. he covered vietnam, the gulf war, civil rights, and he took care of all of us on the other side of the camera. shelley, well done and thanks.

up next tonight, after another break, the american athlete who can teach us a thing or two about making a comeback.

finally tonight, as the olympics start to wind down here

in sochi, as was the case in the last olympics in london, will begin the next games, the paralympics, winter games, 77 americans on team usa, among them, the california snowboarder who is all about the impossible. we get his story tonight from nbc's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: take a look. the grit and perseverance of evan strong. but this 27-year-old walking the tight rope to sochi is missing something many might think is vital. do you ever forget you don't have a leg? >> all the time. i definitely forget i use a prosthetic. and sometimes i trip myself. i'll look down and whoa! where did that thing come from? >> reporter: as a kid, the skateboard was his passion, a competitor and champion. then just before his 18th birthday while riding a motorcycle, evan was hit by a car. >> having my leg amputated, the accident flipped my world upside down. >> reporter: even on the

operating table, he fought to compete. >> he said no, i need my knee and if we can work this out together and you let me keep my knee, i'm determined, i absolutely give you my word as a man that i will use this knee. >> it was his strength that kind of pulled us through that entire ordeal. >> reporter: not the other way around? >> no. i mean, you would think it's the parents' job to support the children. we were kind of like basket cases. >> reporter: within a year, this determined kid was back at it, setting small goals. >> the first time getting on my board and getting to fly? freedom. >> i knew at that point that everything was going to be okay. >> reporter: using this jerry rigged gate in his backyard, the passion for another board was born, the snowboard. in the para-snowboard cross, strong has been a champion and an x game gold medallist. >> put your leg up!

>> reporter: his injury also brought out something else, the desire to teach other amputees about their possibilities. >> i'm going to be here for you. >> reporter: adaptive action sports, a nonprofit founded by daniel gayle and evan's teammate amy purdy shows people with permanent disability there's is a place for them in the world of action sports. >> when they can see and know that you can do these things and you get to watch somebody do that, it's definitely a lot harder for a life changing accident or a life changing situation to get the best of you. >> reporter: evan wants to give that lesson to others. >> i feel like a little kid again. >> you don't know how strong you are until you're forced to be strong. >> reporter: for evan strong, nothing is going to slow him down. kevin tibbles, nbc news, nevada city, california. >> and on that note that is our broadcast on a thursday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams reporting from the olympic winter games. a reminder, prime time coverage begins tonight at 8:00, 7:00

central. we, of course, hope you will join us back here tomorrow night once again. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. you're not only ruined the life of mr. stow, the obvious victim in this matter, but his children, his spouse, his family. >> southern california judge makes his feelings known before sentencing the two men who brutally beat bryan stow. while many are saying the two got off easy. good evening, and thanks for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai.

the two men pleaded guilty in that brutal parking lot attack of stow, stow himself not well enough to leave his parents' home. nbc bay area is in san jose this evening. and the judge had some harsh words for these attackers. >> reporter: yeah, very harsh words. adding that on his many years on the bench he almost never makes comments, but that this is the kind of case that deserves to be aex sepgs. their faces registered no emotion, even as the judge called the attackering complete cowards for sucker punching and beating stow even after he lost consciousness. >> you didn't even engage in a fair fight. you had to overtake him in that way. >> reporter: while both remained expressionless, marvin looks at the judge. sanchez, sentenced to eight years looked just about everywhere else, and