you see mayor ed lee near the limo. now heading to san francisco. then tomorrow on to the stanford campus. >> thanks for joining us. see you back here at 6:00. roadcast tonight, frostbite. on the heels of record snowfall, the coldest temperatures of the season are on the way from the midwest to the east into the deep south. and now a blizzard watch is on for the hardest hit. back from the brink. a deal to end the killing in ukraine, but serious questions remain over whether vladimir putin will actually honor his end of it. caught on camera. police open fire on a along a busy street for allegedly throwing rocks. now the outrage. and fight of his life. tony dorsett living with traumatic brain injury which he says came from hits he took on the field. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight lester holt.

good evening. the misery of this winter to remember is extending its reach into places that we usually go to escape the cold. wind chill advisories or warnings are posted right now in 17 states as a blast of arctic air promises to send temperatures into the single digits from the midwest on into the northeast. and well below normal temperatures for the deep south in florida. this ahead of a weekend snowstorm bearing down in the northeast. boston already buried under more than six feet of snow is under a blizzard watch again tonight. where will they put it all? let's turn to nbc's ron mott in boston. hi, ron. >> reporter: hey, lester. good evening to you. light snow falling tonight, as you mentioned. bitter cold air on the way tonight only going to make the bigger job of digging out that much tougher. there's a car underneath here. the bigger job plenty of those around boston tonight, reinforcements are finally here. snow-fighting backup has arrived in boston tonight. heavy equipment from neighboring

states after mayor marty walsh sent out the all-call for help. one of those responding new york city mayor bill de blasio. >> i said i'll call you if we need to take you up on the offer. then we got the second storm and the third storm. then i talked to him and said we need a little help here. >> reporter: already governor charlie baker deployed the national guard to help hard-hit communities. >> this is definitely the most snow i've ever seen in this area since i was a kid in 1978. >> reporter: overnight temperatures are expected to plunge from the upper midwest to the deep south. and for those like real estate agent george wood still digging out in boston -- how long has it been since you drove your car last? >> i'm going to say about three weeks. >> reporter: forecast of a blizzard this weekend is only adding to the misery and frustration. >> i was on the subway the other day. it's amazing how frustrating and angry everybody was with each other. >> mentally i'm a little tired. i haven't slept much. >> reporter: further, transit woes continue here. elsewhere, a dangerous pileup closed interstate 80 near the pennsylvania/new york border. and in maine cutters were

breaking up the ice in tasko bay. >> this is serious stuff. >> reporter: in new york city warnings for subzero wind chills. >> please check on your neighbors. next few nights will be bitterly, bitterly cold. >> reporter: we're expecting temperatures to fall into the single digits tonight. and as you can imagine, if you dug out your car for hours on end, you want to maintain that space when you get home. they're calling dibs here so far in boston tonight. and seems people are honoring that, lester. >> ron mott in boston. thanks. al roker is here with us in the studio. al, what are we looking at here? >> we are talking 35 million people under some sort of wind chill warning or wind chill advisory. as you can see, it is going to be a rough night temperature wise. buffalo dropping down to 4 below, feeling like 19, 6 in new york, 13 in boston, roanoke, it will feel like 1. and we've got blizzard watches already up from maine all the way to eastern massachusetts and western storm watches, winter storm watches as you get on into new england. coastal storm develops saturday

evening storm tapping that moisture bringing in heavy snow. by sunday morning we are going to be looking at a full-blown blizzard if this continues on its path, 60-mile-per-hour winds, dangerous wind chills. and look at these snowfall amounts, lester. on top of what they've already gotten in maine, we're talking one to two feet of snow. boston a foot and a half. could be upwards of 6 to 9 inches in new york. and if that's not bad enough, on monday another storm system develops in the south with ice, snow and heavy rain. so we're not out of the woods yet by any means. >> see you in the morning, al. thanks very much. in north carolina today a sea of grief as a crowd of over 5,000 turned out for a prayer service for three muslim college students shot to death in what police describe as a dispute over parking at a condo complex. their neighbor has been charged with murder. the crowd today was so large the service had to be moved to a nearby athletic field. the father of two of the victims continued his call today for authorities to investigate their deaths as a potential hate crime.

islamic leaders also express concern about growing anti-islamic sentiment in the u.s. they called on president obama to address it. investigators say their initial findings do not indicate a hate crime in this case. the murders have garnered international attention that inspired a huge candlelight vigil in chapel hill last night. and the hashtag muslim lives matter is trending on social media. jurors in the trial of the man accused of killing "american sniper" chris kyle got a striking look today at the aftermath of the crime. a dash cam video shows police in hot pursuit of kyle's truck driven by his suspected killer. the chase lasts ten minutes before a patrol car slams into the truck which swerves along the dark texas road before coming to a stop. the suspect, eddie ray routh, then emerges, according to police. routh told them he had taken a couple of souls and has more to take. he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. nobody is getting in and nobody is getting out at sea ports up and down the west

coast. this is day one of what's expected to be a four-day lockout of these ports over a contract dispute. experts say this could cost the economy billions every day and tens of thousands of jobs. nbc's miguel almaguer is at the port of los angeles for us tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening. this is what a crippling economic shutdown looks like. on a normal day that dock behind me would be bustling with activity. but take a look at this perspective from the air. for the most part the parking lot behind me is completely empty. no one is hauling goods in or out of this facility. those containers you see stacked high, they are unpacked. meantime offshore dozens of ships are sitting waiting simply to dock. from seattle to san diego, 29 of the nation's busiest ports are on a fast track to nowhere. merchandise isn't moving. >> right now we have about 1,200

containers that are in limbo. >> reporter: jake jabs runs american furniture warehouse in denver. >> this is all imported goods. a lot coming out of india, out of china. >> reporter: overseas inventory should fill his 14 showrooms. instead it's floating in the pacific. >> it's hurting business. >> reporter: at this citrus plant in california, the crop is flourishing but sales are not. fruit that should be selling overseas is instead spoiling. if growers can't sell oranges, they can't pay employees. >> first one up is 2130. >> reporter: jobs and pay are at the center of what could be a catastrophic shutdown at the port. for nine months shipping companies and unions representing port workers have failed to reach a contract agreement. >> it's difficult for my family life right now. >> reporter: dock workers like lisa munos have been locked out of shifts while shippers accuse union workers of manufacturing a painful slowdown. jobs and businesses are on the

line, and some say the bottleneck here could mean gridlock for much of the economy. for consumers, a port shutdown could mean higher prices on everything from the food we buy to the electronics and clothing we purchase. experts say if this shutdown continues, we could pay more than $2 billion a day. that's how bad it will affect the economy. at facilities like this one up and down the west coast, a shutdown would affect some 38 million jobs. lester. >> all right, miguel. thank you. after weeks of growing violence there is some hope tonight that an even bigger crisis may be averted in ukraine where separatists backed by russia have been at war with government forces for almost a year. marathon peace talks have produced a fragile cease-fire, but many fear it won't last. our report now from nbc's bill neely. >> reporter: it's a war that killed 5,500 people, the worst in europe in two decades. plunging relations between the west and russia to a new low.

today, a glimmer of hope that ukraine's war might be stopped. its president visibly weary after 16 hours of talks with the man he met coldly and blames for the crisis, russia's president putin. they agreed a cease-fire and withdrawal of heavy weapons. at the end it was mr. putin who was smiling. it's not the best night of my life he said but we have agreed on the main issues. the u.s. and others say this is just a first step. >> what matters most of all is actually actions on the ground rather than just words on a piece of paper. >> reporter: russian-backed rebels are accused of launching one final land grab before the cease-fire. >> that's why it is of vital importance for us to make pressure to keep the promises about the cease-fire. >> reporter: there's been a cease-fire before, a deal last year that broke down almost immediately. this deal is a new start.

what no one knows is whether president putin is finished in ukraine and if this deal will stick. bill neely, nbc news, london. the senate has confirmed president obama's nominee to replace chuck hagel at the pentagon. the vote was 93-5 and ashton carter will be the president's fourth secretary of defense. he previously served as the number two official at the pentagon from 2011 to 2013. tonight, we are mourning the death of a legendary journalist. bob simon of cbs news "60 minutes" was killed last night in a terrible car accident here in manhattan. he was a passenger in a private car service when his driver apparently crashed into another car and then hit barriers in the middle of the road. authorities say he wasn't wearing a seat belt. he's being remembered tonight as one of the finest journalists of his generation. we get more now from nbc's kate snow. >> i'm bob simon. >> reporter: he was considered by his peers to be one of the best writers in the business. >> the monks come here, as they always have, for the beauty, the

tranquility and the isolation. but most of all, for this. ♪ >> reporter: in 47 years at cbs news, bob simon's curiosity took him around the world. >> they are the sea gypsies of the andaman sea. >> reporter: this piece in the congo won simon an emmy, one of 27 over his career. he built his reputation in conflict zones covering vietnam with striking candor. >> there's nothing left to say about this war. there's just nothing left to say. >> reporter: he spent decades in the middle east. at the start of the first gulf war, he was held hostage and tortured for 40 days before his release. >> this is a story that could have ended another way, but it's had a happy ending. >> reporter: when he was reunited with his wife and daughter, the pictures said it all. that daughter, tanya, is now a producer at "60 minutes." she worked with him on his final story scheduled to air this sunday. kate snow, nbc news, new york.

we are also remembering a colleague of our own tonight. correspondent ned colt covered the world for nbc news for more than a decade starting in the mid-90s. facing danger with courage, dedication and humor even when he was kidnapped for three days during the iraq war. generous and big-hearted, ned went on from nbc to do humanitarian work helping refugees of the wars in iraq and syria. ned colt died of a stroke this week in boston. he was 58. our thoughts are with his family. now to nfl hall of famer tony dorsett. he's been in the news this week for his comments about football and the brain condition he now suffers from. in 2013 the former dallas cowboy was diagnosed with signs of cte, which is caused by head trauma and causes memory loss. he recently told a dallas radio program he started his career not knowing that the end was going to be like this. today, dorsett and his wife

janet spoke with me in their first tv interview about living with cte. it sounds like an awful diagnosis, cte, words like brain trauma. what does that mean in terms of your day-to-day life? >> well, it varies. i mean, there's good days and there's bad days, lester. i mean, there's some days i can be going somewhere, a place i've been going to for maybe over 20 years or so and i forget how to get there. or my mood swings. >> and, janet, it sounds like it's a team effort to conquer this. >> it is a team effort. when you hear it it sounds a lot worse than what it actually is. it just takes a lot of preplanning. so he was lucky in picking an organized wife. >> i know you don't want to be the poster image of cte, but to the extent that there's so much awareness now about head trauma about sports about taking care of our kids and young athletes. to that extent, what message do you want to send? >> i thought it would be something good for me to come

out with this and let people understand the fact that it's there and it's real. but you know but when you see your kids especially when there's young kids out there playing pop warner junior high school football they get concussions. you've got to take it seriously. >> we think across the board in the sports world whatever the sport may be, if there's any type of a head injury involved, you need to be proactive about taking care of your children. >> how much do you rely on your family especially now as you go through this struggle? >> we rely really heavily on our faith. we pray a lot about this. tony is still the same tony that we've known all these decades. he just has a few memory issues and with that comes frustration sometimes. but he is still the same person. he's still fun. he's still hamming it up and showing his lover for everybody just like he always has. >> given what we've learned about head trauma the last several years, was there a fear that this day might come? >> i don't think that many people knew until here in recent

years what the head trauma, the concussions were causing, the damage it was doing to not just football players but to all athletes. now that we know what it is, now we can combat it. that's the key thing to it, lester. be proactive and get out there and do everything that i can possibly do to either slow it down, to reverse it or stop it. >> dorsett and several other former players have opted out of a recent settlement between the nfl and other players about cte, choosing to let his case stand on its merits. still ahead tonight, outrage over a deadly police shooting caught on camera. a foot chase through traffic ends with cops opening fire.

a police-involved shooting in washington state is sparking angry protests after officers appeared to fire on a man who tried to run from them. the aclu calls the incident very disturbing. and nbc news has learned the coroner will consider a closer inquiry into the man's death. our report tonight from nbc's hallie jackson. >> reporter: the first few second of this video show pasco police officers firing their guns then running after a man. you see him raise his hands above his head and then turns back. that's when police open fire again shooting and killing antonio zambrano montes. police say moments earlier he had been throwing rocks at cars and officers at this busy intersection hitting two policemen. >> they just told him to drop the rocks. he didn't want to listen.

he kept on screaming, shoot me, shoot me. >> reporter: officials say montes who was tasered, refused to surrender. but that explanation did not satisfy his family. >> it could have been avoided. >> reporter: montes was arrested last year after trying to reach for an officer's weapon. and the pasco chief described his behavior tuesday as threatening. >> they'll be dealt with accordingly. if they're not wrong, that will also come out. >> reporter: this small eastern washington town has become familiar with this kind of investigation after three other deadly police-involved shootings in the last six months. this one now prompting angry protests with crowds holding signs, some with their hands up and with more demonstrations planned for the weekend, police are asking the public for peace. as the victim's family demands justice. hallie jackson, nbc news, los angeles. we're back in a moment with a sight in the sky that has people locking themselves in their homes.

an explosion at a chemical

plant in northern spain created a wild sight in the skies there today. a giant orange cloud filled with chemicals that caused people to lock themselves in their homes and seal their windows. authorities near barcelona say one of the chemicals involved is toxic. and though the confinement order is for most have since been lifted. the cloud can be seen for up to 40 miles. life is about to change forever for the holders of three lucky lotto tickets with the winning numbers in last night's $564 million powerball jackpot. one ticket was sold in texas, one in north carolina, the other in puerto rico. each is worth about $188 million a piece before uncle sam takes his cut. the winning numbers, 11, 13, 25, 39, 54. and the powerball 19. when we come back, as "snl" turns 40, the show's mastermind on how he picks the funniest of the funny. "nbc nightly news" is brought to you by pacific life. for insurance, annuities and mutual funds, choose pacific life.

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in 1975 this network was looking for something new to replace johnny carson reruns on saturday nights.

what it came up with was a 90-minute mixer of edgy sketch comedy and musical performances that would come to be known as "saturday night live." lorne michaels the mastermind who gave the world "snl" sat down with matt lauer as his creation reaches the big four-oh. >> do you remember the original pitch meeting for this show? >> there was no pitch. >> there was no pitch? do you remember going to say let me tell you what i'm thinking about? >> yes, but everybody used the word "bold" and experimental and new. no one knew what it was going to be because i'd never done live and they hadn't done live here since the early '60s. >> why'd they trust you? >> i think -- i don't know why they trusted me. >> live from new york, it's saturday night! >> was that first group of people that you put together the reason that we're sitting here 40 years later? >> oh, no question. the show stands on their shoulders. them and the designers, the musicians.

every aspect of the taste of the show came from really, you know, seriously creative people. >> one of the other things that people say about you all the time you have a brilliant eye for talent. >> yeah. >> has it always been thus? >> the criteria i used when hiring people is if it was 2:00 in the morning and i was walking down the hall and i saw them, would i want to duck in to another office? so i think you have to have people that you can drive cross country with. just people who you find interesting and bright and look at things in a different way than you do. >> what should we look for on your program? >> anxiety. >> it would have been impossible for 30-year-old lorne michaels to know what this show would become. >> for sure. >> but if you could go back and tell that 30-year-old something he didn't know at the time about this, what would it be? >> well, i would have said to not keep your apartment in l.a. because that would just be a waste of money. >> much more of matt's interview with lorne michaels tomorrow morning on "today."

that will do it for us on this thursday night. i'm lester holt. and for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. i think it's shameful and truly an embarrassment to the people of california. >> it's clear for the vip reception honoring a controversial figure. good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm -- >> mark. >> we're outside the merchant ss.

raj. some people are very intimate with michael peevey's investigation and the state of them in the state o california. we heard from a lot of them but not a lot of people showing up to protest michael peevy, the former head is going to be honored by his friends at tonight's $250 a plate dinner but what the invitation says is a lifetime of service to the people of california. >> and here's the -- let me show you. this is a copy of the invitation for tonight's convenient. >> state senator jerry hill is not among the invited. he calls the dinner shameful and an embarrassment to the citizens of california. >> i think more importantly we should ask the families of those eight individuals who were killed, the e