d.c. and the atlantic states seeing a layer of ice and up to ten inches. more than 2,000 flights in and out of the u.s. cancelled. right now, tens of thousands of people without power in tennessee, texas, arkansas, missouri, mississippi, and kentucky, after icy weather hit yesterday. freezing rain could cause more widespread outages by the end of the day. jim cantore has the latest for us from washington, d.c. >> reporter: how about this, winter's just cranking it out here. we've seen our temperature go from 37 degrees down to 17 degrees, so we've dropped 20 degrees since midnight. 20 degrees. of course, if you think about what happened to the roads yesterday around 50, now we refreeze them and you have a solid cake sitting on these road surfaces. cars are moving, because it's pretty flat, but once you start getting on a hill or two, in and around washington and baltimore, it gets ugly. i'll tell you, if we can get this stuff up by about 2:00 this

afternoon once this precipitation begins to taper off, we're going to make headway on the roads. tonight again, single digit temperatures. the normal high for the day is 51 degrees in washington. the normal low is 34. we will start tomorrow at 9 and maybe, maybe get to 31 for a high. we won't even touch our normal low temperature tomorrow, so very, very cold there with whatever's melted underneath is going to cause problems. so far looks like we've gotten about three inches, but once again, if you're one of those that wants to get out here and make a snowman, you know, this is not snowman snow. this is too light, a lot of air in this snow and not a lot of water content. it's not good for that. good news, it isn't going to move easy, bad news with the winds kicking up to 35 miles an hour this afternoon, it's going to blow and drift. preparation is key. they shut down the city and i would be shocked in terms of rough roads won't continue right into wednesday. tamron, back to you.

>> jim, thank you, the forecast gets worst for states farther south with temperatures plummeting and causing an icy mix. lets get back to meteorologist bill karins. bill, we saw plenty of snow there, but it really is the temperatures that we'll see across the board that's the problem. >> it snows in march. that's not unheard of, but to have these temperatures in march, even during the daylight hours is so rare and tonight we could have all-time march record lows, areas like d.c. and philadelphia. that's some big stuff. these records go back 150 years in these cities. that's how unprecedented this cold air mass is. this is the wind chills in the blue. notice north carolina, you're next, sleet moving as far south as north carolina, that's ridiculous for march and the wind chill of 30 right now in raleigh. that cold air is heading south. as far as what we're going to deal with snowfall, plows won't have a hard time with this. we already had over 2,000 flights cancelled in this region, so we didn't have a lot of airport problems because there's no flights taking off.

temperatures in texas, they don't like the wind chill of 2 in dallas in march. that is brutal. later on tonight, san antonio and austin, texas, who should be 70 degrees this time of year, will have sleet and freezing rain. in south texas of all places. of course, this all came from the west coast, where they did get hit hard with the rain friday and saturday. additional rainfall in northern california, which is great. not southern california, but even the mountains of northern california can use a lot of it. tamron, we did well. almost in los angeles we had about five inches of rain with that storm. i know we have problems with the mud and you have pictures of that, but we did fill up the reservoirs a little bit and took a dent out of the drought. >> back to the temperatures there, bill, i can't recall when it was that cold in south texas. there are folks who don't even have coats in that region. >> in those areas, the plants have started to say it's spring, they are budding, now they are

worried about the plants down there. freezing rain is rare in the middle of the winter, let alone the first week of march. i get the peek through the window of the weeks ahead, we're talking maybe third or fourth week of march until we break out of this. there's another two weeks of this mess. >> something we're all sharing, because it's pretty much throughout the country. thank you, bill, we'll be talking to you tomorrow. now to the escalating crisis in ukraine, which has turned into a full blown cold war-like showdown between the u.s. and its allies and russia. secretary of state john kerry will head to the ukraine capital of kiev later today in a show of support for the interim government. mentime, in just the past hour, a russian commander delivered a ultimatum to ukraine troops in ukraine's crimea region, surrender by 5:00 a.m. tomorrow or russian forces will storm the

bases. that was the message that was just sent. russian forces are now in complete control of crimea. they took over this weekend without firing a shot and without resistance. the big question is, where will they stop? the u.s. and its allies are weighing options after russian president vladimir putin defiantly ignored president obama's warning not to invade ukraine. >> this is ran act of aggression that is completely trumped up in terms of its pretext. it's really 19th century behavior in the 21st century. the fact is, he's going to lose on the international stage. russia's going to lose, the russian people are going to lose. he's going to lose all of the glow that came out of the olympics. his $60 billion extravaganza. he is not going to have a sochi g8. he may not even remain in the g8 if this continues. >> meantime, ukraine's interim prime minister said today, "we are on the brink of disaster." we'll get the latest from nbc's bill neely, who's in the

now-occupied crimea region of ukraine. >> reporter: tamron, this remains an extraordinary and dangerous crisis, britton's foreign minister says it's the worst crisis in this century. europe's border is being redrawn by force and pressure on president obama and the west to do something. russian troops, meanwhile, have the ukrainian army pinned down. i've just come back from one of the biggest ukrainian military bases in crimea, where there are about 150 russian troops surrounding that base trying to take it. the ukrainian troops are still in there behind the gates. they've put their weapons down. there's no sign of a fight, no sign that they want to fight, but that's standoff continues. russian control here, well, russia is almost in complete control, and it's done it without firing a shot, without tanks. this isn't hungary '56 or czechoslovakia. russia has done it in just three

days, and the latest developments are that russian fighter jets have been flying over the black sea. ukraine says that violates its air space, and russia is probing, testing ukraine, and testing the west's response, as well. and one foot note, russia has just decided to bring crimea and the mainland closer together, literally, it's planning a huge bridge between crimea and the russian mainland. crimea, pulling away from ukraine fast. tamron? >> thank you very much. now let me bring in james jeffrey, who served as deputy national security adviser under george w. bush. at the time, he served as ambassador to iraq under president obama. also joining me, michael crowely. let's start with you. you heard my colleague's report from crimea, and in comparison to secretary of state john

kerry, who's on his way to the region, saying this is 19th century behavior from russia. what are you anticipating or looking to as the next critical move here? is it kerry on the ground there? >> well, unfortunately, i'm not sure how much kerry on the ground will accomplish. i think it's a show of support for ukraine, but what i'm really looking at now is, do we see violence? it's a disturbing report the ukrainian troops have been ordered to surrender and we now have a real threat of force in the air. thus far, we sort of have military presence, but there has not been shooting and that could really take things to another level. so kerry's trip will be interesting, important show of support from washington for ukraine, but i think the big question now is, you know, do we start to see bloodshed that really escalates this situation. >> absolutely, michael, and we know the president has talked about cancelling the trip to the summit, shelving the trade agreement, as well as we heard secretary kerry talk about

perhaps kicking moscow out of the group of eight, but the reality is, we've heard these types of threats or this type of positioning against russia in the past. "the new york times" headline reads, making russia pay. it's not so simple, and, thus, getting a reaction or a compromise from vladimir putin is not as simple as some would have it to be. >> not at all. vladimir putin was well aware of the tools, the limited tools we had at our disposal to punish him when he carried out this operation. president obama came out to the briefing room on friday afternoon and warned putin not to do this. the operation was under way, but putin did not stop. it's continued through the weekend and i think putin understands we can try to impose reputational costs and some economic costs on him, but he cares a lot about the ukraine, about the ethnic russians there, about the economic integration between russia and ukraine, and i think he's calculating whatever punishment we can impose, it won't be that bad,

and as with the international stir over the incursion into georgia in 2008, it may just sort of come and go and we'll move on to other things because we care less about the situation than he does. >> this brings me naturally to ambassador jeffrey. thank you for joining us. at the time you were security adviser for george bush regarding georgia, in fact, you were the first to inform the president that russian troops were moving into georgia. i want to play just a snippet from "meet the press" yesterday, where my colleague, david gregory, asked senator marco rubio about the differences then and now, and if criticism being leveled at the president should be applicable to what we saw with former president bush in 2008. let's play it. >> well, what do you do about that? because that was true under president bush, as well. famously said he thought he could trust vladimir putin, only to find out he couldn't, and putin invaded separatist region of georgia and the u.s. really didn't do much about it. isn't the same predicament here,

which is you may know what putin wants to do, but what are you prepared to do in the use of american power to stop it? >> first of all, i think previous administrations deserve criticism, as well, with regards to clearly viewing what putin's role is. >> ambassador, you got the same menu of actions that are being discussed now, were offered up by then-president bush in 2008, and they proved to be marginally effective. >> that's true. but first of all, president -- it's very, very difficult in the midst of an ongoing crisis to second guess what the administration is doing. they've, obviously, very much focused on this, but there is a difference with 2008. this is the biggest geostrategic crisis since 9/11. this is not a small country which provoked the russians by beginning the shooting back in 2008. ukraine is an extraordinary significance economically, demographically, and in terms of

where it's located, and the actions of putin, i'm not one off as we thought they were in 2008, but part of a patent that began with georgia. we've seen in syria, seen in some of the other actions, and now we're seeing in the ukraine. we don't know where he's going to stop. in 2008, we did take certain steps i would recommend now. there were military moves. we had to be careful, didn't want to encourage the georgians further to think we'd come to their rescue, but we did move military forces into the black sea. the other thing is, president bush and vice president cheney talked repeatedly with the georgian president. so far it's been commendably secretary kerry who's been carrying the weight, but the president needs to get on the phone with the ukrainians, too, or putin won't think we really care. >> obviously, from what we're hearing from the president and the conversation in 90 minutes, how is it possible that putin would not believe that the u.s. cares in this situation and that our secretary of state is headed to the region now and the conversations at least the punishment or costs of actions

by russia is already being discussed heavily. >> that's a good question. putin knows that we're upset. he knows we're worried, knows that we'll do, what i would call, pin prick sanctions and other things people we ask identify won't be able to have accounts in the united states, but none of that is going to impress him. what would impress him is long-term american actions to change the equation of how we deal with the world for the last 20 years, which has been based upon the assumption that if we try hard enough, russia can be an important positive actor in the u.n. and around the world and is not trying to overthrow the international order. by this point, i think they are. and there are certain things we and the europeans can do long term in the military and economics, particularly weaning europe from russian gas that would send a really powerful signal, and that's what putin needs to see. >> you heard michael crowely mention at this point, as well

as in the reports, no shots fired, no violence as of yet, but there are no guarantees. you now have escalated language of surrender or action will be taken and that coming down in the last few hours, directed at troops in crimea on those bases. >> exactly. and this is a classic putin and it's classic picktorial behavior. push forward until they meet steel. they have met efforts by not only the ukraine government, but his goal is to ensure that not just crimea, but the entire ukraine remains in his spear of influence, if not, next to the russia of tomorrow. that is what's in play here. >> all right. thank you, gentlemen, for your time. ambassador, great pleasure having you on, michael, thank you for joining us. up next, dramatic testimony

on day one of oscar pistorius murder trial. one neighbor said she heard, quote, blood-curdling screams that may have come from reeva steenkamp when she was killed. we'll get the very latest from nbc's mary carillo. >> i think we need to stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the pot heads might be able to put together. >> california governor jerry brown, quite the talk of the town, especially in his state. he's indicating he's weary of bringing recreational marijuana to the golden state, even though medicinal pot is legal there. it is our "news nation" gut check. >> when i look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid. >> and new reaction to that emotional speech for best reporting actress, lupita nyong'o when we are live in l.a.

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it is being called a trial of the century, with disturbing testimony today, day one in the trial of track star oscar pistorius, accused of murdering his girlfriend. a neighbor testified she heard blood-curdling screams coming from pistorius's home, followed by gunshots. michelle berger said, "something terrible was happening in that house." shortly before pistorius stood up in a court to plead not guilty to killing reeva steenkamp last year. >> do you understand the charge? >> i do, my lady. >> how do you plead?

>> not guilty. >> reeva steenkamp's mother came to court to look pistorius in the eyes. mary, it's been many months now since this news broke, and i think while the trial is in its first day, people are still trying to balance this perception or this guy we thought we knew in london to some of the testimony we're likely to hear. >> tamron, that's exactly right. the oscar i met a couple of years ago before he did so well in the london games, that oscar parties would have been at parties last night, it's hard to believe it's the same guy. >> it is. i want to read a quote from the prosecutor today regarding some of the evidence and what they allege happened in that home the night reeva steenkamp was killed. let's play it. >> the only inference from the circumstantial evidence would be that the accused shot and killed

the deceased with direct intent to kill. >> that is key here. >> that's what the prosecution has to prove, intent, and, you know, here's oscar saying, i was in love with this woman, i killed her, but i would never have murdered her. >> we will hear key parts of the evidence. there were reports some of it was tainted, there was a whole different investigation how the investigators mishandled key portions of the materials taken from the home, but a senior writer from south africa put it this way, prosecutors have to prove intent regardless of what it reeva steenkamp behind the door, if it was an intruder and shot through the door, he was intending to shoot, and that is the key here. did he know it was her behind that door and was his intent to kill her? >> my biggest issue is that whole locked door thing. if it was reeva, why would she have locked the door? they were supposed to be having a quiet gentle valentine's night.

if it was a robber, why would he lock himself, and do you kill a guy because he's in your bathroom? >> having interviewed oscar, followed his story so significantly, what details at this point gave you pause or concern? he, obviously, is innocent and we're learning the real evidence, the prosecution says it had and not all this folklore about ipads on the ground and angry exes. we'll learn the truth if he had his prosthetic leg or not. >> when i met oscar a couple of years ago, i thought he was one of the greatest athletes i'd ever met, you know, and now what's happening is, what the prosecution has to prove is this is a character issue, this guy was dangerous, he was careless with firearms, he was fully capable of committing this act premeditated, that it wasn't a culpable homicide, that's the best oscar could hope for, a

crime based on negligence, and he could almost get a suspended sentence, but there are 100 witnesses it sounds like. >> 100 witnesses and one out of the box, terrifying testimony from that witness, but to your point about the character portion of this, oscar's attorney said there was no evidence of an argument between reeva and oscar, but he says this is part of a character assassination and they call this the trial of the century. you know we instantly think of o.j. simpson. >> i went right there. >> who wouldn't? but the issue of this being about character, at least right now, and it certainly will shift to the evidence as we learn more. >> what i've learned in the last several days is that the judge, the woman who's in charge of this, has a reputation for going very hard on crimes against women, so that's one more thing. this is supposed to last for three weeks, it sounds like it's going to last longer than that. i have a terrible feeling it's going to be a sad circus of a thing. >> it will be.

you have allegations the crime scene was contaminated, the detective involved in this case has a sorted and dicey past himself. >> exactly. >> it all folds into a disturbing case, but the bottom line is, a mother is sitting in the courtroom grieving for her daughter and she believes that perhaps the person in front of her had intent to murder her child. >> she said she wanted to look him in the eyes. stunning stuff. >> mary, thank you very much. sad to speak with you under these circumstances, but you know i always enjoy talking to you. >> you, too. >> thank you, mary. up next, the fda has greatly expanded access to one of the most controversial drugs available, the morning after pill can now be found in a cheaper version over the counter, of course, controversy follows the decision like this. we'll take a look at the risks and the debate. and we're watching this on march 3rd, president obama will meet with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu at the white house. the aipac conference continues

with an appearance by secretary of state john kerry before he heads to ukraine. and in day nine of his ten-day contract, yes, we're counting it by the day because it's history, jason collins hits the court for his first home game since signing with the brooklyn nets. when jake and i first set out on our own, we ate anything. but in time you realize the better you eat, the better you feel.

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well, did you know the ancient pyramids were actually a mistake? uh-oh. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. welcome back. we have changes today to controversial rules over the morning after pill and over who will be allowed to buy a cheap over the counter version of the contracepti contraceptive. the fda decided women of any age can have access to brand new generic versions of the pill. vocal opposition spoke object about dropping restrictions of

the pill to young girls without a prescription. with me now is art cathlin. thank you so much for joining us, doctor. first up, let's be clear here, there are many conservatives who call this an abortion pill and labeled it. that is not what this pill is. >> it isn't what it is, and here's why, this prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the woman, so you don't have an abortion technically is stopping the growth of an embryo, you don't get that, you just get the fertilized egg falling out of the body. a few would say, well, doesn't life begin at conception, but the medical definition, it's not an abortion. >> medical and science say this is the case. the age restriction issue, penny nantz, the ceo of concerned women for america said back in june after the obama administration stopped fighting to keep age restrictions, "i

sincerely feel for the future health and wellness of women and children as doctors, parents, and farmists are limited from this very serious conversation about sexual activity, pregnancy, fertility, and overall health." let's talk about this, what, if any, concerns are there? >> this is not huge. this is the same as the birth control pill, just coming as an intense dose. it only works if you take it within 48 hours. i think the safety profile is very good. it's hard to argue you shouldn't make it widely available on safety grounds. very safe drug. >> the generic version of the drug to prevent most pregnancy, apparently, you have to weigh less than 165 pounds. >> that's simply because you need a bigger dose if you're heavier than that, that's all. >> not related to any health issues. and this generic version sounds as if it would be a generic version of any other medicine. >> that's absolutely right, chemically the same. the interesting thing here is,

no financial obstacle. young girl comes in, gets the drug pretty cheaply, i know critics don't like that, they think still shouldn't you be more sexually responsible, but let's face it, some of these young women are not having sex voluntarily, they may be coerced, may have had somebody assault them. >> this is around $10, the generic version of this. and back to the age requirements there on the pill itself, it says not recommended, but they will not i.d. teenagers, young women, because you're not a kid, you're 17, when you're going in. >> they are not supposed to use it for someone under 17, but they are not obligated to i.d. these women. we're not going to get many of those cases, there are not many young women using it at 12, 13, and 15, on the other hand, the young women that do, do deserve access. >> lastly, why is this seen as a compromise on this issue? >> well, it's a compromise because there was a debate that

it was going to be by prescription only, now it's coming over the counter. it's got some restrictions, don't use it under 17 and so on. still, i think the policy solution is my personal views, the right one. you do have, if you will, less need for abortion, it's safer for women and in those cases they are coerced or forced, this is a better option. >> thank you so much for talking with us on this one. right now in florida, senator marco rubio is rebooting his image, but how's he doing that? we're going to take a look at his new strategy to bring conservatives back into his fold. first read is next. >> that's not my job, it's not my fad, it's my career. that feels wonderful. >> awesome reaction coming in. that's behind the scenes peek at matthew mcconaughey after he won his big award from the selfie that crashed twitter, to the new

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fancy feast elegant medleys. inspired dishes like primavera, florentine and tuscany. fancy feast. a medley of love, served daily. welcome back on this monday morning. senator marco rubio has been one of the most vocal voices hitting out at president obama's handling of the events in ukraine, demanding the administration acknowledged that its so-called reset with russia is dead, but as politico points out today, senator rubio is orchestrating a reboot of his own right now. in his case, a reset with gop conservative base, part of an attempt to put the bitter immigration fight behind him as he positions himself for what allies say is an increasingly likely presidential bid in 2016. rubio has been raising hundreds

of thousands of dollars for the republican party and has a series of speeches planned, including one this afternoon at google's headquarters in washington. joining me live now is nbc's kasie hunt. the immigration reform was supposed to be proof that marco rubio cold get legislation moved perhaps in a bipartisan way and instead what he ended up getting is a lot of tough rhetoric from the right. >> and he was trying to counteract that rhetoric throughout the push as they moved that bill through the senate. he spent a lot of time on conservative talk radio and at the end of the day, it didn't work, and they sort of came after him. there was this great backlash, and he backed away pretty quickly. even as the bill was still moving, he was making appearances with or talking to conservatives in the house and he essentially seat the all that ground to them. so it ran into roadblocks pretty quickly and ever since then, rubio's been in a position where he's had to try and rebuild with

the very people that sent him to washington in the first place. >> and the rebuilding part may be more difficult than he thinks. steve davis who's been on the show often and was a staunch critic of mitt romney and said flat out he was a conservative, rubio's name never comes up here, referring to iowa, as it relates to presidential politics, except to express disappointment how he wasted such tremendous potential in the largest democrat party voter drive in history. if steve represents some of the toughest conservatives out there, how can marco rubio win them over when mitt romney was never able to win over some of the staunchest on the right? >> there were some lessons in the campaign how the party needs to handle immigration. rick perry ran into that. that's going to be rubio's biggest problem if he does decide to mount a presidential bid in 2016, the conservative

states particular likely iowa and south carolina. if he's going to find a path, it may end up being somewhere else and go home to florida, his home state, but rubio's biggest hurdle for the presidential race is more broad. the excitement behind him when he first came to washington and was first elected has sort of dissipated. they are more excited about ted cruz and rand paul, so he has to figure out a way to get that back up. >> kasie hunt, great pleasure having you on. >> thanks, you, too. the emotional pursuit for justice for george steny jr. he was just 14 years old in 1944 when he was executed for the murder of two white girls. steny, a black teenager, is the youngest person put to death in this country in the past century, but his family says he was framed and was not given due process, and even if they can't bring him back, they want to clear his name, and all eyes now are on a judge's decision, will steny's conviction be overturned

and granted a new trial, despite the fact he was executed? lawyers tell nbc news a result is likely to come today. joining me live now is bristow martin, thank you so much for joining us this morning, bristow. nbc news is learning a decision could come today. what are you hearing? >> i haven't heard that, tamron. the filing deadline for arguments in this case came last week and frankly, i was thinking we could have a decision then, just coming down within days of that deadline passing, as the judge reviews those briefings she's received from all the sides. now it's really on her time table. she could issue a ruling today, it could come down in a month. we don't know at this point. >> and that is incredible. you have the family and those who are advocates for george steny and who have devoted many hours and great part of their lives as far as his relatives to

clear his name. in fact, the attorney on behalf of the naacp said this, "put simply, the present case presents an egregious miscarriage of justice caused by the confluence of time, geography, that would not be permitted today. the family members of the two girls that were killed believe steny was responsible in this case, but this is an amazing amount of time and the details, if nothing else, have opened our eyes and shed light on this case, and the lack of due process. you can certainly have an opinion on guilt or innocence, but the due process and the way that this young man was coerced into confessing, where ice cream was used to bait him, is certainly and should be disturbing to anyone. >> certainly, certainly, and this is a very unusual case looking back at it now from 70 years since, you know, today a

minor like this, it just couldn't be tried in the same way. he couldn't have received the death penalty. he certainly wouldn't have received it so quickly. it was about, i think, 80 days between when the murder occurred and when he was arrested that same day through the trial, which only lasted about two hours, there was no defense presented, and then just a couple months after that, no appeal ever filed, and then he went to the electric chair, the youngest american put to death in the 20th century. >> and the details of even the execution, as i've read, he was so small that he had to sit on bibles so that he could reach the -- be executed in the chair because of his slight size here, but the people who have been pushing for this and behind the effort to clear his name, what are they saying ultimately that they would like here from the

judge? is it to say he was innocent, is it to say that due process, what is the ultimate goal here? >> well, the attorneys for the family, the surviving relatives, have put a couple different options before the judge here. one is a motion to grant a retrial based on the testimony that was heard in a hearing here in the courthouse last month from his surviving brother and his two sisters, which was basically an alibi statement saying he was with them, with the family, overnight when these young girls were disappeared and ultimately found murdered. that was never presented at the trial. really no supporting testimony for george stinney was presented at the trial and they are trying to get that verdict set aside and order a new trial. they are also filing a writ of notus that the judge could set

aside the case entirely and rule the initial proceedings were just too improper to stand. >> we'll continue to follow the developments and as you point out, a decision could be made today or a month away. thank you so much, bristow. up next, new reaction to a ban an gay boy scout leaders. why the controversial policy will now cost the scouts donations from one corporation and its volunteers. and we're going to take you live to l.a. for a look at what happened after the awards show. who better than alicia quarles to give us the scoop on the " n "vanity fair" party. new couples, who did she spy? you know, i don't think i was meant to sweep. it's a little frustrating. look. [ zach ] i can't help out as much as i used to. do you need help? [ doorbell rings ] let's open it up. it's a swiffer sweeper. it's a swiffer dusters. it can extend so i don't have to get on the step stool. i don't know how it stays on there. it's like a dirt magnet -- just like my kids. [ afi ] this is a danger zone. that is crazy.

ah-ha-ha! [ zach ] yeah. no, this definitely beats hanging out on a step ladder. what's up, baby?

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much disney has donated to the boy scouts. the boy scouts organization says it's disappointed with this decision. hollywood is a buzzing still after last night's academy awards extravaganza. the cast and crew of "twelve years a slave" celebrated on stage, but the real party got going after the broadcast and went late into the night with some of the biggest stars in show business, so what was going on behind the scenes? joining me now for the post oscar party scoop is nbc correspondent on e! alicia quarles, good to see you. >> good to see you, too, how are you doing? >> fantastic, i managed to stay up and watch the entire show and make it to the "today" show, but give us the scoop. >> the vanity fair party is where i was stationed most of the day, the pre party and after party. some of the highlights were jane fonda talking to me, she didn't talk to a lot of people, and she said she watched the oscars with elton john and lady gaga.

i said what went on at that table? she said she was disappointed in the people that didn't win and -- >> oh. >> exactly. later on in the night you see gaga make this grand entrance with donatella versace. newly engaged to the founder of ricky van bean, so comedy humor, and record numbers on e! online, so we think this was a very popular academy awards. we haven't gotten the final stats, but our numbers were very high online. >> you look at social media, and that name, #lupita was everywhere, from people wondering what she was going to wear, to the moment her name was called. she captivated, not only the audience there, but throughout the country. >> she captivated the audience there, throughout the country. i interviewed her earlier in the week at the essence party, a luncheon where she had a beautiful speech.

she's just full of grace. of course, she was part of that selfie that crashed twitter, broke records, 1.3 million people seen within an hour and her brother was in the selfie with ellen degeneres, so was in degeneres. >> i said this morning, i love the fact her brother managed to get in front of the shot. what you don't see is the rear, which is liza min ellie. i want to play her acceptance speech for best supporting actress. >> it doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's. when i look down at this golden statue, may it remind me in and every little child, no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid. >> you covered the award shows for a long time. we heard or seen such a reaction in a while to such a beautiful speech? >> no, i haven't. i was sitting on the red carpet at vanity fair watching this

with a bunch of reporters. we've been doing this for a long time. people had tears in their eyes. i knew she would give a good speech, earlier in the week she gave a speech about her skin tone and always struggled with the color of her skin and now she's proud of it and accepts it. it was such a beautiful speech and how she's inspiring others. these a jail graduate. i knew that lupita would bring it if she won. >> jared leto talking about his mother being a single mom raising him and teaching him to dream. and another person who talked about his father, matthew mcconaughey and braying it home in a way that only a texan can do in a big night like that. let's play a little bit of what he said. >> look forward to and -- to any of us, whatever those things are, whatever it is we look up to and to whoever it is we're chasing.

amen, all right, all right, all right. >> excellent. paula patton, we've been talking about her a lot. she was on the scene, without the ring? >> without the ring. i saw her last night and yelled, paula, how are you doing? i'm doing good. doing well. did not have the ring on. she walked the carpet but all smiles and looked beautiful. last night was celebration, you had jared leto photo bombing with his oscar, an hann hathawa and jennifer lawrence. >> can't believe she was falling again with the water and carpet being wet, she managed to keep her dress dry after she fell down. it was crazy. >> it was crazy, tamron. some people are saying, at this point is she doing it for real. i trip every day i think -- >> some people -- savannah guthrie has the clumsy disease as well. it was a great pleasure seeing you.

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on this monday morning go to news nation to cast a vote on gut check. we'll see you tomorrow 11:00 eastern. up next "andrea mitchell reports." t it's our job to find. the answers. the solutions. the innovations. all waiting to help us build something better. something more amazing. a safer, cleaner, brighter future. at boeing, that's what building something better is all about.

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he was a matted messiley in a small cage. ng day. at boeing, that's what building something better is all about. 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. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com right now, what is putin's end game? today russian troops continue their march after gaining operational control over crimea, a direct threat to ukraine's sovereignty and despite warnings from president obama and leaders of europe. in russia today, putin made

a show of his military might with no military options himself, can the u.s. hurt russia enough economically to get putin to back down? we'll have a live report from nbc's bill neely in crimea and mike mcfall, as secretary of state john kerry heads to kiev tonight. >> the fact is he's going to lose on the international stage. russia is going to lose and russian people are going to lose, he's going to lose all of the glow that came out of the olympics, his $60 billion extravaganza. not going to have a sochi g8 and may not remain in the g-8 if this continues. >> snow more. 17 days until spring as another winter storm slams the east coast after icing over the midwest and south. we'll have the latest as we dig ourselves out right here in d.c. >> the problems will linger on the roads but should we taper off in the