it could become a collector's item. all right. the tallest bobblehead ever given out in franchise history. >> we'll be back in half an hour with news for you. see you then. on this sunday night, one for the record books. the east coast braces for a potentially historic blizzard. snow measured in feet, high winds and more than 60 million in the storm's past. while in the west, blown away. winds more than 60 miles per hour wipe out power to tens of thousands and fuel a massive blaze. on demand, netflix and amazon go to war over viewers, lining up big stars and hours of new programming. and the big winner might just be you. and, your ad here. the contest that's giving your average joe a shot at super bowl stardom. from nbc news world

headquarters in new york, this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening. the national weather service tonight is using exceptionally strong terms like potentially historic to describe a massive snowstorm that will cripple, grind cities like philadelphia, boston and new york to a halt beginning tomorrow. in new york city, where up to two and a half feet of snow and wind gusts up to 65 miles per hour are forecast, the mayor warns it could be one of the biggest storms in the city's history. tonight winter storm watches and warnings are posted across a dozen states from ohio valley, maryland and as far north as maine. potentially in all, some 60 million people could be affected. al roker is standing by with the forecast but let's first begin with kristin standing by.

>> this is boston. snow is nothing new. new englanders don't scare easily but they're hearing the words like crippling to describe the potential effects of this storm. across the northeast, it's now a race against time. >> i remember the blizzard of '78 around this area and we were snowed in for days. >> reporter: bracing for what could be an unforgettable blast. up to two feet of snow or more in boston. >> making sure there's gas this the car in case there's an emergency and grabbing an extra shovel. >> reporter: keep in mind this all comes after the area was blanketed with six inches of snow saturday. these are some of the pile that is are left. these piles about to gate whole lot bigger. stores were filled with people stocking up on supplies and food. >> extra batteries and food to eat. >> reporter: officials warning that when the blizzards hits travel could be impossible with visibility less than a quarter mile. >> the main streets are pretty clear, but look at this.

some of these secondary streets are still covered in snow. and they have less than 24 hours now to get this cleared off before they're covered again. around massachusetts, more than 4,000 plows, spreaders and loaders are on stand by with 300,000 tons of salt. in new york city, 2,400 workers will be on 12-hour shifts around the clock to clear the roads. from the mayor, a warning to prepare for the worst. >> the early projections for this storm are that it would be easily as much as two feet of snow, potentially pushing on closer to three feet of snow. >> reporter: the impact of the storm is likely to be felt across the country. many airlines are already waving flight change fees for travelers in anticipation of massive cancelations. back in massachusetts just about an hour from boston plum island residents are hoping they'll avoid a repeat of the 2013 nor'easter when some lost

their homes to the ferocious sea. >> we're a little anxious, but i think we have built up the wall, retaining wall, recently. i think we'll be safe from that. >> reporter: so preparations continue, and tonight, lester, hospitals are on high alert making sure plans and staff are all in place before this storm. >> kristin, thanks. let's drill down now on the timing and where this is all going to hit. al roker is over in studio 1a for us. al? >> lester, good evening. we are talking about already there are over 300 flights canceled for the new york area and the first flakes haven't flown yet. we already see snow from indiana stretching into western pennsylvania. the storm in the mid atlantic states now. it's going to push east and exit the mid atlantic by tomorrow afternoon. light snow beginning in new york city, philly and d.c. maybe one to three inches on your evening commute. then it starts to get cranked up. blizzard-like conditions start firing up around midnight tuesday night.

wind gusts of over 50 miles per hour. we are looking at snowfall rates of two to four inches per hour with coastal flooding likely. it pushes up by tuesday noon up into boston two to three feet of snow possible. near zero visibility. coastal flooding will be a problem. late tuesday night, early wednesday, down east maine you're going to be dealing with hurricane force winds, five foot snow drifts. the storm moving away by wednesday. we're looking at right now generally anywhere from two to three feet of snow from coastal new jersey on into long island, parts of new england and down east maine. but the big problem is going to be all the blowing and drifting snow. all sorts of transportation will be wrought to a stand still, lester. this is going to be a record setting system. of course, we're going to have complete details starting at 5:00 a.m. on "wake up with al" on the weather channel and "today" show. >> all platforms, on air, cable,

and online. the blizzard of '15. in southern california, high winds caused havoc this weekend. santa ana winds are typical this time of year, but yesterday's fierce gusts were far from ordinary leaving tens of thousands without power. jacob rascon has the report. >> reporter: this wasn't how dan stube stubebaker wanted to spend his first day of retirement. >> this is just a disaster. >> reporter: powerful wind gusts >> reporter: powerful wind gusts uprooted dan's a 80-foot pine tree sending it crashing through the roof into his kitchen. >> this was the kitchen, neat, clean, little kitchen. it's ankle deep in insulation and trash. >> reporter: fierce winds are typical this time of year, but gusts of more than 60 miles per hour are not. the wind blamed for fanning a mulch fire pushing it

dangerously close to homes. elsewhere, driving became nearly impossible. the man behind the wheel of this truck walked away unhurt. in north hollywood, a sign toppled in the wind just missing a truck, demolishing several cars. back at dan's house, one of more than 55,000 that lost power. >> could have been a lot worse. it was only a couple of feet away from where it came down. >> reporter: now dan hopes the home where he grew up can be fixed before the santa ana winds come back. jacob rascon, nbc news, los angeles. after nearly a week of talking about the air pressure of footballs, fans will have the chance to start talking about the game itself if they'd like. tonight the nfl pro bowl kicks off a week ahead of super bowl sunday. nbc's ron mott is outside the stadium in glendale, arizona. good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you. this is a dress rehearsal for next week's big game. we have tens of thousands of football fans here. security is in place and it's super tight. for a lot of people it's time

to simply play football. the defending super bowl champions seattle seahawks kicked off the day with a big hometown rally after a relatively quiet week of preparations unlike upcoming opponents. they landed hours later in the arizona desert and were asked for their take on the deflategate controversy that has preoccupied the patriots. >> all the distractions about the football have nothing to do with us. >> hey guys. welcome to the pro bowl. >> reporter: fans with tickets to tonight's pro bowl, all-star game, soaked up the sun and festivities. time to see some of the league's best players and ready for a break from the odd week largely about underinflated footballs. >> does it really matter? we're really not concerned about that. >> more people tend to watch. it's kind of like a soap opera. you want to know what happened. >> reporter: security is significantly increased from normal games here where 150 to

200 officers are routinely deployed. police are highly visible, some undercover and presence is overhead. eyes and ears almost everywhere looking for trouble, a trial run for the big one next sunday. as for the game itself, nfl has made a few changes to make it less of a football pantomime and more of contest that plarls actually try to begin. goal posts are narrowed to make field goals more challenging. kickoffs are gone. ball placed at the 20 yard line, two-minute warnings in all four quarters to pick up the pace of the play. meantime, patriots a wait their send off tomorrow. coach bill belichick making it clear he's made the last comments about the deflated situation. >> this is the end of the subject for me for a long time. okay? we have a huge game a huge challenge for our football team and that's where that focus is going to go. >> player's in tonight's game have something to focus on. winners $55,000 and losers $28,000.

of course for the guys playing next sunday, the stakes are much higher, lester. >> ron, thanks. at least 30 people are dead and more than 10 injured following a deadly attack by pro-russian rebels in eastern ukraine. dramatic dash cam video has emerged of a motorists narrowly avoiding the rocket fire. the attack marks serious escalation of conflict that comes one day after separatists rejected a peace deal. in egypt, today 18 people were killed and dozens were hurt in protests. the protests were staged to mark the fourth anniversary of the arab spring uprising which toppled the leader from power. security was tightened ahead of the anniversary in the symbolic heart of the revolt which was sealed off by police. president obama began a three-day visit in india today, that's being seen as a turning point in relations between the countries. it's a trip making headlines, and not just because of deals being reached. nbc's senior white house

correspondent chris jansing is traveling with the president in new delhi. chris, good evening. >> good evening, lester. the big surprise is the dramatic turnaround in the relationship between the world's two largest democracies. not so long ago that relationship was strained, to say the least. now deals are made between president obama and prime minister modi. inside a glowing presidential palace tonight, a formal state dinner for 250 already heavy with warmth. a hug at airport and elaborate welcome. wreath laying and tree planting at the grave of gandhi. hours of talks between president obama and prime minister modi. they announced progress on climate change in a country with 13 of the 20 most polluted cities and made a breakthrough understanding on a nuclear power deal. also overshadowing the substance, though is talk of the close friendship that they say has aided the progress. >> it's clear from this visit

that we have a new and perhaps unpress departmented opportunity. >> our relationship stands at a new level today. >> reporter: it's a remarkable turnaround since just a year ago since modi couldn't get a visa to come to the u.s. the two bonded in his visit to d.c. after his election. modi surprised the white house with an unprecedented invitation to the india's biggest annual celebration, the parade. there's been a three day lock down for security purposes. these are some just some of the 50,000 security perm that will be across delhi on parade day. the president is expected to ride to the parade stand in the armored limo known as the beast. >> what he's saying is he wants this relationship to go to the next level. >> reporter: obama considered the invitation so important he juggled the state of the union to be here. whether the symbolism of the trip translated into more substance will be the real measure of success. still to come, both world

leaders will meet with ceos of american companies about a billion and quarter people live here so the potential for growth in the business sector is great. lester? >> chris, thank you. once again, today indonesian rescuers failed to raise the fuselage of the jetliner. officials were able to bring the wreckage to the surface before a rope snapped sending it back to the ocean floor. it's a tough setback for investigators because, of course each piece from a plane crash is vital in helping understand what brought it down. our joe friar recently spent sometime in a california lab where experts pour over the pieces of past accidents to help future investigations. >> lining the floors of an old sears warehouse, rows of twisted wreckage from airplane crashes, this is the accident investigation laboratory at the university of southern california. >> this is not your usual classroom, is it? >> it's not but it provides a practical experience for accident investigators to learn by doing.

>> not just for usc students, investigators from around the world come here. each aircraft tells the story of a different failure. this plane crashed into the pacific ocean after a midair collision. >> being able to touch the wreckage and to look at it from the inside is very, very useful. something that can't be done in the classroom. >> this plane crashed while attempting to land and this plane went through a thunderstorm. certainly investigators will investigate what roles weather played in the crash of airasia 8501. >> this is the aluminum skin pulled off by the power of the air. >> while this light aircraft at lab is much smaller than a commercial airliner -- >> it's crumpled like a piece of paper almost. >> yes. >> -- it offers a glimpse at the power and energy of a storm. look at the right wing. >> air when it is compressed can become very, very hard and result in this concave deformation. >> but thomas anthony, the

program's director, warns investigators that come here, they should not apply one accident to another. he says crashes are caused by a chain of events, not just one thing. >> the lessons that we teach here are to observe and document and collect. >> investigations take discipline, he says. planes are complex like a jigsaw puzzle with so many pieces that need to be examined. joe friar, nbc news, los angeles. when nbc "nightly news" continues on this sunday, netflix and amazon go head to head over viewers and now they're pulling out all the stops. forget the super bowl ads. the biggest of the night probably only cost a couple hundred bucks to make.

for millions of americans, binge watching is part of everyday life with hours streaming tv and movies online. now two of the biggest names behind that craze, netflix and amazon, are going to war. that could mean good things for you, the viewer. here's nbc's halle jackson. >> what do you want to do tonight? >> george shaw loves netflix so much he made a music video about it. ♪ >> the self-described addict, never more than an arm's length from his streaming shows. >> i can get it through xbox, computer, even cell phone. i'll be brushing my teeth and have my phone on the counter playing videos.

>> reporter: he's not the only one. 58 million subscribe to netflix, 4 million of them joining in just the last month as the company prepares to release 320 hours of new programming. now amazon is upping the ante. fresh off golden globe wins for its original series "transparent" the company which will now let viewers pick the original pilots they want to see more of is getting into the movie business. >> it seems like the landscape has changed more over the last couple years than the last couple decades. >> yeah even in the last couple of weeks. we've got netflix on one side. we've got amazon on the other side. we're watching to see who becomes the dominant player. >> reporter: the high stakes are drawing high profile stars. tina fey on in march and kevin

spacey in winning praise for his series "house of cards." >> what's attracting people to watch the shows? >> the gasps. when you watch frank underwood in "house of cards" shove someone into a train, you gasp. >> gasps are universe to all platforms, right? >> you can get away with more not on network. >> reporter: that original content can be more daring and cheaper for customers who cut the cord and want more control over what they watch and when. >> when there's so many good things to watch, how do you choose? >> for george shaw, that's a good problem to have. halle jackson, nbc news, los angeles. when we come back here tonight, a change at the vatican today and what prompted it might surprise you.

a pioneer of the tv talk show has died. joe franklin claimed to have interviewed more than 300,000 guests during a career that spanned more than 4 decades. his show launched the biggest names in hollywood sitting down from everyone from marilyn monroe to madonna. joe franklin was 88 years old. there's a new sign of peace

at the vatican. instead of doves, balloons were released by pope francis today. the practice of releasing doves became a bit of a public relations nightmare last year after a sea gull and then a crow swooped in and attacked the pair of peace doves soon after they were released. angelina jolie visited kurdish refugee camp in iraq. jolie arrived in a security convoy. she toured the area and met with families living at the camp. during the visit, she called on world leaders to do more for those displaced by conflict in iraq and syria. coming up here tonight, the other super bowl contest about to make one lucky person a big success.

a week from tonight, one of the most watched events in the world will take place, the super bowl. it's, of course, become a viewing obsession that some would argue is as much about the super bowl commercials as the game itself. at least one of those ads will be remarkable because of who have made it. here's nbc's janet shamlian. >> reporter: bet you can't remember who won the game the past few years, but who can forget the commercials?

for eight years, doritos has had some of the top rated ads. >> use the cleaner. >> reporter: all created by amateurs. this year the contest has exploded. 4,900 entries from 29 countries, now down to 10 finalists. online voters deciding who gets $1 million. a yearlong job at universal studios, part of nbc universal. >> really? >> when that phone rang from doritos letting me know i was a top ten finalist, i almost lost it. >> reporter: ryan owns a gym in tampa. his commercial is about a spelling bee the finalists are trying to lose to get the second place prize -- a lifetime supply of doritos. he says he entered on a lark and

shot it in eight hours for $500. >> as soon as i saw it, i knew i had something. >> reporter: whomever wins the cash the big winner is the brand. >> why is it that commercials that involve the public have become the commercials? >> it's about authenticity and it's also about talent. you have very talented people out there with a lot of young people knowing how to put together video and audio. >> william's first words. >> reporter: a high stakes game far from the field. advertisers once again hoping to score with viewers. janet shamlian, nbc news, houston. >> and a reminder, coverage of the super bowl xlix begins noon eastern time next sunday here on nbc. that's going to do it for nbc "nightly news" for this sunday. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting. from all of us here at nbc news, good night.

right now at 6:00 customers in the south bay warned about possibly being exposed to the measles. a costco making the announcement today. what's more alarming the exposure may not have been limited to just costco. good evening everyone. >> now to that developing story in the south bay. hundreds of shoppers at the costco store in gilroy may have been exposed to the measles. infected adult shopped there and the same person may have visited several other public places as well. marianne favro is joining us now in gilroy with the latest. >> reporter: peggy