oakland tattooed across his chest. >> dedicated. >> very proud. very proud. and he's a cal grad too? very cool. >> thanks for joining us. brian williams is next. >> we'll be back at 6:00. goodnight, folks. on our broadcast tonight, record storms. cities buried under nearly three feet of snow hurricane force winds knocking out power. tonight the travel nightmare and the flood emergency as the atlantic comes onshore. but what went wrong with the forecast for the other places the forecast that led to a complete shutdown of the nation's largest city. why some meteorologists are issuing public apologies. tale of the tape in this football scandal that will not go away with just days left until the big game. tonight what was the patriots employee doing alone with those footballs for 90 seconds behind closed doors? tonight the nfl has identified what it's calling a person of interest. and making a difference.

the lunch rush that is taking off in a hundred cities around the world. "nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. good evening. there is good news and bad news in the places where total paralysis was predicted. while the mayor of new york shut down the nation's largest city for what turned out to be a moderate snowfall, the storm continues tonight as basically a cold weather hurricane pummeling the population center to the north, boston throughout new england and now a badly damaged atlantic shoreline. those areas are getting pounded right now tonight. and we begin our coverage with nbc's miguel almaguer in worcester, mass. they broke a record there with 31 inches of snow. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. as you know, this is the second biggest city in all of new england. but tonight, as the snow continues to fall here in

worcester, we know this area is essentially a ghost town. we're on main street in the middle of what should be rush hour. but tonight there are few cars and even fewer people out on the street. this city, like so many others, has been crippled by the snow. a storm for the record books in new england. up to three feet of blinding, whipping snow and wind gusts at nearly 80 miles an hour. >> my roof caved in. the roof collapsed, the side wall. >> reporter: 30 miles outside boston, bone-chilling ice is freezing over much of marshfield, massachusetts. >> this is the worst storm i've seen. this place is like a war zone right now. >> reporter: the seawall has collapsed. the ocean is pouring into town. 800 residents headed to higher ground. this storm is snapping power lines and ripping apart coastal homes. high tide is rolling in. >> this is a tropical storm. this is the kind of wind we have for severe thunderstorms. >> reporter: the national guard deploying high-water rescue

teams. nantucket is being hammered with monster waves. it's too dangerous to leave and it isn't safe to stay. police chief william pittman. >> virtually everything we've had has failed, including as of right now our 911 is not working. it was stated by one individual, we've had to revert back to 1950s technology just to stay in touch. >> reporter: residents like greg hinson completely cut off. >> the wind has been howling pretty much nonstop since last night at about so:00. >> reporter: in boston, where 18 inches shattered the old record, it was downright dangerous. police escorted emergency staff into hospitals. dr. kelly o'laughlin skied to work. >> the emergency department is one of those places where 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it's always going. >> reporter: this couple didn't have any options either. baby brock born this morning during the peak of the storm. >> i looked out the window and i was in labor all night and said, there's the snowstorm.

and i was so thankful to have already been here. >> reporter: across the region the "uss providence" toppled in rhode island. there were spinouts in maine, wipeouts in massachusetts. even veteran drivers can't handle the whiteout. >> the snow was so deep, it sucked in the tires. when i was plowing. it just dragged me into the edge. >> reporter: tonight millions remain hunkered down and snowed in. when the snow stops here, and that's forecasted to happen tomorrow morning, this is what so many cities will have to deal with. the snow berm more than 20 feet tall. there's simply no place to put all of this powder. brian? >> wicked snowfall in worcester. miguel almaguer out in it for us tonight. miguel, thank you. and meantime, 70 miles to the east of there, we just saw some of this, a full-scale flood emergency is developing tonight as the section of that seawall gave way along the coast, sending waves surging through the streets.

meteorologist dylan dreyer has made her way to marshfield, massachusetts. dylan, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. i thought it was bad up in boston, but the winds here along the south shore are still gusting up to 40 to 60 miles per hour making it so much worse. now, the northeast winds have been pushing the waters of the atlantic ocean right over there up and over this seawall. at high tide at 5:00 this evening, we even saw waves crashing over the homes here along the coast. and it is so cold, that instead of these floodwaters coming in and receding, it's starting to freeze in place. now, everything here is covered in ice. as you saw, waves are crashing into and damaging homes along the coast. and we've even seen that 100-foot stretch of the seawall itself destroyed by the rough surf. now we are going to see some improvements here within the next couple of hours as this storm starts to pull away. unfortunately, we're in a very active pattern, and we're going to see a series of storms move through this area over the course of the next several days. brian?

>> awful night ahead for the people of marshfield, mass. dillon dryer, thank you for that. further north still, they're still feeling the fury of this storm. blinding conditions in portland, maine. nbc's john yang is there where he filed this report moments ago when he could still almost see the camera. >> reporter: brian, this is what portland, maine, has looked like since before sunrise. the snow coming down at the rate of about two to four inches an hour, wind gusts up to 40 miles an hour, building up big snow drifts. this one is about 18 inches deep. but if i go into an area where the wind is coming from i can get to a spot where there is hardly any snow at all. here it's only about two inches deep. now, for drivers, that means they can be going along on an otherwise clear street and turn a corner and suddenly come across a deep snowdrift. brian?

>> john yang in portland, maine, tonight for us. john, thanks. as this storm is fixing to spool out to sea, and that will be welcome, the damage to transportation was done early. and it's been lasting. a lot of plans were ruined flights canceled and days spent home from work and school. watching the air for us tonight, nbc's tom costello at new york's laguardia. hey, tom, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. a deserted laguardia. many airlines are right now flying planes into the new york airports even though the concourses are closed. empty to all pedestrians. so what does that mean? the planes are coming in empty. the hope is in 12 hours a lot of this red here that says canceled will be turning to green. in the big apple today, the big dig out started early at the three major airports. not a minute too soon for hundreds of passengers stranded at jfk overnight. after first sitting for five hours on a virgin atlantic flight that never left for london. >> i'm unable to leave the

terminal because all the roads are closed. we're unable to go through security. we're unable to go anywhere. we have to sleep on the floor at jfk overnight. >> reporter: at laguardia, roughly 50 people spent the night and most of the day waiting. >> it is a bit frustrating. because i feel like i'm trapped you know. i can't get back there and i can't go back to houston. >> reporter: nationwide, 7,500 flights canceled yesterday and today. flight radar 24 showing the air space thinning out yesterday and last night before a slow recovery today. airlines like delta moved their planes out of the storm's path. on the ground, new york reopened its roads and subways this morning, while amtrak service suspended in much of new england. >> i had three trains canceled this morning and a bus cancel yesterday morning. >> reporter: back at laguardia, the first departure in more than 24 hours this afternoon. destination, appropriately, florida. sounds good right about now. it's not just getting the planes

into position, they also have to get all the people who work here into position, the people who man the terminals, man the airlines, also the airports. so now the question is, can they all get back and have a full workforce by the morning? they're banking on it. brian? >> tom costello at lga, laguardia airport in new york. tom, thanks. and now what everybody got wrong. predictions of doom and destruction and the worst blizzard in the history of new york led officials of making the costly decision for shutting down the subway for the first time in its 110-year history. today the national weather service tried to explain why so many people looked out their windows this morning to find the forecast had been wrong. our report on that tonight from nbc's kate snow. >> reporter: in new york city and new jersey it wasn't the storm people were expecting. >> supposed to be the worst in 20 years. and it wasn't. >> reporter: in new jersey, a meteorologist with the national weather service apologized to decisionmakers and the public writing, you made a lot of tough decisions expecting us to get it right, and we didn't. once again, i'm sorry.

>> the storm in general was less destructive than predicted. >> reporter: the director of the national weather service this afternoon acknowledged that 10 million to 15 million people were inconvenienced because of his agency's forecast. >> what we learned from this storm is we all need to improve how we communicate forecasts uncertainty. >> reporter: it is an uncertain science. the weather service uses at least a half a dozen different computer models. one said new york could see up to 22 inches. another, the european model, said up to 15. a new u.s. model was on target with the actual total, 8 inches. but many forecasters were reluctant to trust that model that had just been upgraded this month. >> we've always heard so much about the superiority of the european model as opposed to the american model. in this case, the american model actually handled it a little bit better. >> reporter: many areas got what they expected. 60 miles east of new york city, the snow is still falling on long island. that's a four-lane highway

behind us. 16 1/2 inches and counting. we spent the night with emergency responders who were thankful for the dire forecast. there's not a lot of people out here. >> no. for the traffic and the weather, they are actually heeding the warnings and staying off the roads. >> reporter: chris rafferty saw no reason at all for meteorologists to say they're sorry. >> there's no reason to apologize. that's their job. it's always better to be safe than sorry. the kids love it anyway. >> reporter: kate snow, nbc news, suffolk, new york. in other news tonight, new information about the military investigation into army sergeant bowe bergdahl, the american service member who was held captive by enemy forces in afghanistan for five years before being released in a prisoner swap. tonight, senior defense officials with direct knowledge of the army's investigation are telling nbc news bergdahl who walked away from his post will likely soon be charged with desertion. army and pentagon officials stressed today, however, that no

final decisions have been made. days after the death of saudi arabia's king abdullah, president obama arrived in that country to pay his respects and meet with the new king. along for the trip, the delegation of prominent americans, including three current and former secretaries of state. while saudi arabia is a key ally in that region a clear cultural divide still exists as it always has as evidenced when some members of the all-male saudi delegation chose not to shake the hand of the american first lady. a solemn day in poland, where some 300 survivors returned to auschwitz, the nazi death camp, to mark 70 years to the day since the camp was liberated toward the end of world war ii. those survivor who suffered so much and witnessed so much came together today in unbelievable fashion and urged the world against letting history repeat itself. our report tonight from nbc's bill neely. >> reporter: at the end of the auschwitz railway line on the

ground where the ashes of a million jews are buried survivors marked the camp's liberation, but it's clear they are not free of memories. >> how can i ever forget the smell of burning flesh? we survivors do not want our past to be our children's future. >> reporter: their numbers are dwindling, but their message was strong. remembering, they warned, is not enough. this infamous gate, this entire death camp is preserved as a warning from history. but leaders and survivors here say jews in europe today face a clear and present danger. >> after seven decades and three generations, is this new storm of anti-semitism sweeping through europe. >> reporter: past echoes and this month's paris attack on jews strikes fear in those who lost almost everything. did you lose many friends here?

>> my whole family. >> reporter: here, too, fighting anti-semitism and the ghosts of his past, the grandson of the nazi commandant who ran auschwitz. >> it makes me angry on one hand and sad on the other to hear what they have suffered and to know that my grandfather is the creator of all that. >> reporter: pope francis said today auschwitz cries out with pain and pleads for a future of respect. amid the pain here, fears for the future are very real. bill neely, nbc news, auschwitz. we'll take a break here. and when we come back as we continue our coverage tonight, the fresh evidence just today in the scandal that will not go away with a major national event approaching just days away.

with days to go until the big game near phoenix, the scandal over footballs and professional football will not go away. in fact, it's taken on new life with word of video evidence being examined by the league in a so-called person of interest identified who took the footballs in question behind closed doors. nbc's ron mott has our report. >> reporter: nbc sports is reporting the deflate-gate investigation is now centered on a 90-second bathroom break taken by a locker room attendant before the afc championship game. the attendant nfl sources say is seen on surveillance video carrying game balls from both teams after they were certified by the officials.

this is the first piece of evidence beyond the fact that the footballs were underinflated. this is the first thing that can be pointed to as an opportunity by someone with the patriots organization to have the footballs behind a closed door for any period of time and potentially do something with them. that's why it's caught the nfl's attention. >> reporter: today was super bowl media day, a super sized frenzy of reporters and cameras and microphones with questions flying. of all the questions posed, deflate-gate remained a hot topic though responses were little. >> all about us getting ready to play sunday. that's where our attention is. not really worried about the rest of that. >> reporter: upon arriving in arizona monday, patriots owner robert kraft demanded an apology from the nfl if its investigation can't prove the team did anything wrong. >> i would expect and hope that the league would apologize to our entire team, and in particular, coach belichick and tom brady, for what they've had

to endure this past week. >> reporter: ted wells, the nfl's investigator, said he expects this probe to last at least several more weeks before it's resolved, brian. >> ron mott in glendale, arizona, for us tonight. we're back in a moment with reports of an all-female cast of one of the most anticipated remakes in many years.

a story of big interest to our viewers in southern california tonight where the problem of homeless veterans has exploded in the southland and where l.a. county has the highest population of homeless vets in the country despite being home to the largest v.a. facility in the country. we've learned the v.a. secretary bob mcdonald will join advocates there tomorrow including former an ta monica mayor bobby shriver ending a long running battle with the building of a huge homeless. some determined thieves rammed an suv into the wells

fargo history museum stole something historic that really belongs to everybody. they took the gold nuggets on display daying back to the gold rush. thankfully, that prominent period stage coach in the window was unharmed. with all the weather out east it's good to remember there's a january heat wave underway in the midsection. in places like oak observe city where the old record stood since 1911 until it was broken yesterday by the high temperature of 77 degree today they outdid themselves and hit 78. and to entertain all of us the hot rumor out of hollywood is the cast of "ghostbusters" remake has been chosen and it's all female and heavy on snl rans. melissa mccarthy and kristen wiig and leslie jones and kate mckinnon. although the hollywood reporter says negotiations are still not finalized with the big four. when we come back a terrific "making a difference" story out of los angeles tonight. what started as a dream among friends in the kitchen now making a difference on six

continents.

finally here tonight, a story about the contagion of a good idea. this started when a handful of young people wanted to feed those in need in their city. what they ended up doing is

inspiring a movement all around the world with their message that charity doesn't have to be a chore. our "making a difference" report tonight from nbc's hallie jackson in los angeles. >> reporter: you would expect to see a deejay and dancing at this hollywood hot spot but not at 9:00 on a sunday morning when this crowd is partying with a purpose. >> to help, to have fun. honestly, this is the funnest sunday i've had in a long time. >> reporter: they're making 1,300 sandwiches and tucking 1,300 notes into brown bag lunches for the homeless. >> you don't have to be famous to make a sandwich. bobby flay and wolfgang puck to make a sandwich. >> reporter: they wanted a way to give back a few christmases ago. so they made a few lunches, gave them to a few people and posted a few pictures online. their funny nickname for it, #hashtaglunchbag stuck. then spread.

>> if we take the idea of charity work and embed it in our life, we tweet anyway, we instagram anyway. how we choose to give back is we learn there's no right or wrong way to do it. >> reporter: what started at their l.a. apartment has grown to five other continents. more than 100 cities, including just this weekend events in philadelphia and in phoenix, new york, san jose and d.c. were you surprised by how much this spread? >> 100%. >> yeah. >> reporter: 100%? >> had no idea it would happen like this. >> reporter: now it's not just a couple of loaves of bread, but shopping carts full of them. and after they make lunch, they make the drive to skid row. >> a lot of people don't have nothing, but to have a person come out here and give you a smile and give it it to you, that's a whole lot. >> just as our mom packed lunches for us as a child, that's the same way we're packing a lunch for a complete stranger. the humanity in what we do, the meal is almost just a vessel. >> reporter: a connection created from a social movement.

hallie jackson, nbc news, los angeles. that's our broadcast on a tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. >> right now at 6:00 apple and yahoo making waves on wall street. late news today which will impact the markets tomorrow. good evening. thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. we begin with the wall street whiplash. your heart, mental stability and money all taken for a ride today aztec stocks led a big sell-off on wall street and then soared. so what is going on? and can we expect more

instability? we bring in our business and tech reporter who joins us live from the newsroom with more. scott? >> reporter: good evening, jessica. tech stocks have always been more volatile than your typical investment. they do business all over the world. they can inspire a fanatical following. and if you invest in them you need a thick skin. today was a perfect example. [ closing bell ] bay area tech stocks got their bell rung today. microsoft lost close to 10% of its share value after reporting so-so earnings. facebook down after a brief outage last night. all in all, the dow dropped 291 points. the nasdaq fell 90 with local tech stocks leading the way down. >> so because we're such a global economy, tech stocks that are global are impacted by everything that is happening around the world. >> reporter: but just as fast as it fell tech bounced, led by apple, ripping higher after a record quarter that saw nearly