confusing and unserious national response to this disaster is as scary as the spill itself. . . . good friday morning. let the games begin. who is rumored to be lighting the olympic torch. putin, president obama speaks out. thank you, jay. the leader of late night television bids farewell again. but is this really the final good-bye? plus, the biebs could get slabbed with a felony if l.a. sheriff investigators have the evidence to prove it speaker boehner shutting the door on immigration reform in 2014 while senate republicans choose to deny unemployment insurance to almost 2 million

americans hello. everybody. i'm betty nguyen. the games are underway with the world focus on sochi. security does remain a major concern. russia has deployed some 37,000 security officers, about five per olympian. there are also 65 world leaders and thousands of spectators attending the 17-day event. nbc keir simmons joins us live from sochi. we just learned details about tonight's opening ceremony. what's the latest with that? >> reporter: good morning. we are hearing a little bit about what's going to happen. a giant picture of the world is going to be projected, we're told, on the floor of the arena behind me in the opening ceremony and later today and then the athletes will emerge from their respective countries. it promises to be quite a spectacle. 3,000 athletes from around the world will be competing in the games. the biggest winter games in the

history of the winter olympics. the biggest american con ten ge. bode miller first. >> tell us more about these new restrictions from the tsa? >> reporter: that's right. a new update. yesterday, we heard about the terror alert when they said they heard that explosives might be held in toothpaste now. the tsa says it is going to ban liquids being taken on board flights to russia. it is an act of precaution. however, the important thing from everyone's point of view is to try to keep these games safe. >> absolutely. keir simmons, thanks so much joining us live from sochi. noticeably missing from tonight's opening ceremony, will be president obama. the sochi games will be the first in more than a decade with no sitting or former u.s.

president, first lady or vice president in attendance. in an exclusive interview with nbc's bob costas. president obama dismissed the notion that his relationship with vladimir putin is ice cold. he says, in part, quote, my sense is that is part of his s the schtick wanting to look tough guy. we tend to smile once in a while. you can catch the interview tonight in sochi. it all begins at 7:30, 6:30 central right here on nbc. we will be staying on top of that right here on msnbc. one more note on the olympics. by now, you have probably heard of the snarky and satirical twitter handle at sochi problems. that's what it is called. as of this morning, it has gained more followers than the official winter games twitter account. it has garnered more than 186 followers in just three days and

the hashtag sochi problems is being tweeted about 50 times a minute. so after 22 years, jay leno is going out on top. thursday night marked jay leno's final tonight show and in his opening monologue, he reminisced in how much the world has changed since he took over for legendary johnny carson over two decades ago. >> when i started hosting, marijuana was illegal and you could smoke cigarettes anywhere you wanted. 20 years ago, guys had to go to the newsstand for porn. when i started hosting, justin bieber wasn't born. those were the good good old days. >> it was only right that billy crystal, his first-ever guest, came back to give him and his studio a fitting sendoff. >> now, 22 years later, 160,000 jokes, 3 band leaders, and two

dark suits later, here we are. >> crystal wasn't the only one with a few words for jay. a slew of celebrities offered their opinions on what he could do next. >> jay, you have made a whole lot of jokes about me over the years but do not worry. i'm not upset. on a totally unrelated note, i have decided to make you my new ambassador to antarctica. >> jay, i know you are happily married to a wonderful woman who you would never cheat on. if she gives you a one-time pass, i am your girl. my buns are out of the oven and they are hot, hot, hot. >> let him figure out for himself. i've got a job. >> with his final minutes coming to a clothes, he quoted a good friend before having garth brooks play him out.

>> in closing, i want to quote johnny carson, the greatest guy to ever do this job. he said, i bid you ala heartfelt good night. now, now that i've brought the room down, hey, garth, you got anything to liven this party up. >> 22 years on top, veronica. good morning to you. guess what we are talking about this morning? we have a whole lot of olympics going on, of course, starting with women's snowboarding. a new by at the games usa's karly shorr competes for the olympic and my favorite event in the first-ever team skating event, rough day for team usa after jeremy abbott hit the wall at the time of his routine.

it was up to marissa and simon, they were tied for fifth overall with france and germany. ralph kiner, who hit an incredible 369 home runs in his stellar career has died. he was 91 years old. florida state's jameson winston has announced he plans to play for the university for two more years. the freshman actually was predicted by nfl draft experts to have the number one pick. >> college hoops, number two, arizona pulls out a close win against unranked oregon. less than two minutes left, t.j. mcconnell has a three-pointer to regain the lead. arizona survives, 67-65. time for the pebble beach pro am. bronco's quarterback, peyton manning, with a rough shot on the par five.

the shot of the day, golfer, james han, his shot rolls back in the hole. he gets a birdie and then he gets a chest bump. got to get that z very milli vanilliesque. the west is finally getting some seriously needed drought relief. a severe snow system dropped a blanket of snow over oregon. the snow created treacherous driving conditions on interstate 5 resulting in a 20-car pileup. nbc's bill karins is here to talk about all this. it seems like they don't get enough and then, of course, it comes too much. they are celebrating. they are calling this rainfall in terms of monetary value, it could be a $1 billion rain. let's talk about the cold. by the way, yesterday was the

coldest morning of the winter in the lower 48. if you thought it was cold, you were right. let's talk about the new weather buzz word for the weekend. pineapple express. we get a big plume of moisture coming off of hawaii. it sends that you will rain all the way to california. when this situation said something and it can last for a couple of days, we can get some significant rains. we are going to see the potential for the heaviest rains in the west coast over the next week that we have seen, maybe up to 3 inches in over 2 years. how fantastic will that be. we need to build up the snow pack showing 1, 2, 3 feet of snow at the highest elevation. many areas of the east, just like yesterday, very chilly and cold. no big snows for the upcoming weekend for the northeast. just snow showers. the next big snow for the eastern part of the country won't be until wednesday of next week. >> i'm going to focus on the

pineapple express. sounds like a movie. >> probably was. >> it was. republicans block unemployment benefits and immigration legislation but why? plus, stocks have their best day of the year ahead of today's all-important jobs report. details next. the day we rescued riley was a truly amazing day. he was a matted mess in a small cage. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list.

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investors are awaiting the jobs report which could show it snapped back after a disappointing december. even if the senate does eventually reach a deal, it is unlikely house republicans will go along with it. deeper legal trouble for justin bieber. they are looking to bring felony charges against him for last month's egg throwing event. family and friends gathered to mourn the death of philip

seymour hoffman. his co-stars were in attendance. house speak britcheer john hit the breaks and cited widespread doubt about the obama administration to enforce laws. >> robert conrad that created the labradoodle has some regrets. he had no idea that people would start crossbreeding. he doesn't know if he bread a designer dog or a disaster. 50 years ago today, the british invasion began with the beatles arriving in new york. followed by this historic performance on the ed sullivan show. >> ladies and gentlemen, the beatles.

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i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she'thoughtful combinations,she? artfully prepared. fancy feast elegant medleys. inspired dishes like primavera, florentine and tuscany. fancy feast. a medley of love, served daily. time for a full friday helping of scrambled politics montana could get a new senator as early as today. steve bullock is holding a news conference where he could name a replacement for senator max baucus who was just confirmed to

be our new ambassador to china. john walsh is considered the ons-on favorite to get the nod if you are a frequent flyer, you are probably thinking it but leave it to vice president joe biden to say it outloud. he was the at amtrak station to unveil a new locomotive and took a jab at subsidies saying we should modernize american transportation to compete with the world. >> if i blindfolded someone and took them at 2:00 in the morning into the airport in hong kong and said, where do you think you are, they would say this must be america, it is a modern airport. if i took him blindfolded and took him to laguardia, he must think i must be in some third world country. i'm not joking. >> wow. >> well, jay leno got a warm sendoff from senator john mccain. the arizona republican said he made him laugh every night, even though he was the butt of leno's

jokes more than 400 times. the senator also said jimmy fallon has some big shoes to fill. a reporter from bill o'reilly confronted house democratic leader, nancy pelosi, about a promise she made to the fox news host she would do an interview with him in her offer. congresswoman pelosi remembers the conversation a bit differently. >> i didn't make any comment to him. we were having a social conversation. in fact, it was at the white house, the first time i ever saw him, because i never see him on tv. but, then, greta came along and i have known her for a very long time. so i did greta. so we go from one outlet to the next. >> he is a hockey lover and also happens to be the secretary of state. john kerry dropped a ceremonial puck before last night's game between the washington capitals and winnipeg jets. he was joined on the ice by players for both teams who will compete in the olympics.

coming up on sunday on "meet the press." cbo report has sparked a contentious debate. chuck schumer and rob portman will battle it out with david gregory. kevin joins me for our first look at politics on this friday. happy friday. >> happy friday, kevin. thanks for having me. >> absolutely. it was just down to two votes. the senate failed by two votes to extend long-term unemployment benefits. that is just devastating for the 1.7 million americans affected. is this more ammunition for democrats to say once again, republicans are ignoring people who are out of work? >> 60% of americans wanted the unemployment benefits extended. this comes down to this fight between republicans and democrats about whether or not they would have amendments filed on this legislation. republicans say that they would like to see some more benefits

extended for retirees in the military community and that they have really been drawing a firm line on that. on the flip side, democrats say, hey, wait a minute, this isn't the fight to be having. this is for its own separate program. they have not been able to get anything done. as you mentioned, 1.7 million americans, this is devastating for them. speaking of washington gridlock, john boehner says it appears the house won't take up immigration legislation before this fall's elections. it seems like a lot is getting blocked. what are the republicans getting accomplished? >> earlier this week, we thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel. talks were revealed. republicans put forth some more of their beliefs on immigration, a platform, if you will. now, all of that out the window. speaker boehner throwing cold

water on potential reform for 2014. republicans said it wouldn't be in their best interest to focus on something divisive within their own party and going into a mid-term year to criticize obama care. >> then, of course, there is the debt ceiling that looms. the fourth standoff in three years, kevin. are we going to see a deja vu with this latest deadline sm. >> here we go again. betty, the other week we were talking about this bipartisanship that we were seeing. it is all gone. i think that the wrangling over the debt ceiling could continue. i would be very surprised if it was as contentious as last time with the government shutdown. i don't think it will go that far. jobs report coming out today. 6.7 unemployment rate. a lot of folks think that is way too high. we'll see what happens to debt ceiling. >> kevin, thank you so much. >> you have a great weekend bill and veronica return for

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in the run up to these games, vladimir putin has gotten a lot of criticism for anti-gay laws and bulldozing poor neighborhoods to build olympic facilities and harshest of all for his yogurt blockade. >> there is an attempt at some yogurt diplomacy. russia is holding up 5,000 single serve containers of cho ban any yogurt. >> our athletes yogurt is being embargoed, but it is only because the russians want to protect traditional family values. it is no secret that yogurt is

the gayest dairy product. first of all, it is greek style. it longs to be in the mouth of john stamos. and, hear me out, need i mention, fruit on the bottom. and, as of last check, that yogurt still holed up in new jersey. we'll see how this plays out. i have veronica and bill here with "first buzz." bill, i have to start with you. it is the opening ceremony tonight. you have what, some first-hand view of one of the opening games. >> you say, i could do that. if you ever had the perspective of what it would be like to actually do it, we all know we can't. this is with the slope style. this is alexi sobelov, a russian snowboarder. the jump in the air time alone, the mountains and background of sochi, so picturesque and so beautiful. >> my stomach just drops a

little bit. >> these go-pro cameras, i want to see what the luge or the bobsled looks like. >> the world cup is going to be in brazil. well, we have learned they are going to be offering extra wide seats in brazil for those who are. >> extra wide seats. >> extra wide seats. they are for people who are clinically obese. you have to have a body mass index of 30 or greater and you have to have a note from your doctor. if that is the case, these seats are half price. >> interesting. that's not more. you would definitely have to have that doctor's note. >> you have a sweet piece of video today. >> i do. this is for you, betty. my first buzz is dedicated to betty who is getting married soon. this is a mother/son wedding dance. kathy bunker owns a dance studio. you think it is a traditional dance. lo and behold, they bust out the moves to the jackson 5 and then

they have got some m.c. hammer in there. i think this is the sweetest thing. >> i think that's fantastic. i don't know if either of our parents would be able to do that. i think she is a dance instructor. so she has an advantage. way too early starts right now. i don't like good-byes. nbc does. i don't. i don't care for them. well, tonight is our last show for real. i don't need to get fired three times. i get the hint, i get the hint. >> what is the second jay leno sendoff from "the tonight show." it really seems to be the final one. the stars came out to shine. how did the iconic comic really say good-bye. on a different front, sochi gets ready to say hello to the world. all the coverage about the proper security. are the russians really ready to impress with the olympic opening ceremonies. a top u.s. diplomate is busted dropping an f-bomb on the

european union. how did her conversation get leaked in the first place? this is "way too early." hi, everybody. good morning. it is february the 7th, a friday, payday friday, casual friday. i'm thomas roberts. welcome to way too early. this is the show where joe biden's latest comments will not be the most offensive thing you hear in the next few minutes. get ready for that one. time has run out to answer whether russia is ready to secure sochi with the game's biggest single event, which is the opening ceremonies. they are tonight. the tsa is banning most aerosols, gels, liquids and powders of any size on u.s. air carriers en route to russia. this comes based on a warning. russian leaders have tried to alay the fears, saying the threat is no worse than that of new york, washington or boston. the games are already the