good morning. tonight's the night, the finals of ladies' figure skating, the most popular event of the winter games. two american skaters and canada's joannie rochette are very much in the hunt for a medal, but can anyone stop south korea's kim yu-na from winning the gold? today, thursday, february 25th, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

and welcome to "today" on this boisterous thursday morning, day 14 of the winter games here in vancouver. i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm matt lauer. and we have more inclement weather, as ann curry joins us as well here at grouse mountain, our home away from home. it has started to sleet after a night of snow here, but it's kind of fun. we've got a good crowd. speaking of figure skating, south korea's kim yu-na was pretty much the odds-on favorite to win the gold coming into the competition. she is still in great shape to win the gold tonight. we're going to have more on that. meanwhile, it was a wild night for the usa on wednesday night. >> erin pac and her teammate have won gold and we'll talk to them about their experience. very excite bed that. however, it does not look like u.s. women's skiers will win a medal in the downhill after lindsey vonn's crash in the downhill on wednesday it actually caused problems for julia mancuso, skiing after,

also from the united states. we're going to have more on what appears to be a tense relationship between two of our country's best skiers. but we want to take a quick look at the medal count right now, as we always do at this time of the morning. we find ourselves in the lead -- not ourselves. we're not olympic athletes, but the u.s. out front with 28 medals, germany in second with 24, norway in third with 18. >> all right, as you can see, it is snowing, sleeting here in vancouver, but that's nothing compared to what's going to be happening back home. a major, second major snowstorm, actually, is hitting the northeast today, just 24 hours after another powerful storm dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas. al will have the forecast. and a deadly killer whale attack at florida's seaworld. it happened on wednesday after a show for the crowd. as the park guests were looking on, a huge killer whale attacked a 40-year-old trainer, killing that woman. we're going to actually talk to

a person who witnessed this attack, and this is actually the third time that this particular killer whale has been involved in some way or another with the death of a human being. >> you wonder why it was still part of seaworld. >> well, it wasn't part of the main show. >> oh, i see. >> it was actually part of a separate area. >> horrible story. but we begin with the major snowstorm in the northeast. we'll go inside to al for the forecast. good morning, al. >> good morning, guys. first of all, looking live at morristown, new jersey, the snow already coming down pretty good. in newark, new jersey, it's changing over to snow. this is going to be a big, big storm. as we look at the radar, you can see right along the coast we've got some frozen precipitation, that area of pink. rain along the coast on into new england. but as you get into interior sections, we are looking at snow. the path of the storm, this one really, as it moves up along the northeast coast, it intensifies. as we say in the weather business, it bombs out. it really intensifies and then starts to move inland, bringing in with it colder air and wrap-around precipitation. so, this is going to be a

classic nor'easter. we've got flood watches from eastern long island to southeastern maine, rainfall amounts anywhere from one to three inches of rain along the coast. that causes flood potential. then it changes over to snow. new york city, just new york city, about 9 to 12 inches of snow. scranton, binghamton, up into berlin, vermont, we are looking at anywhere from 18 to 24 inches of snow back as far west as erie, pennsylvania and elkins, west virginia. and add to that wind gusts and sustained winds anywhere from 15 to 25 miles per hour, wind gusts of over 30 miles per hour, and you have the potential for some blizzard-like conditions over the next 36 hours. airports already reporting delays and cancellations, schools are being closed in new jeey and new york. this is going to be another big one. now let's go back to matt and meredith. >> boy. >> so, what's the good news? all right, al, thank you very much. >> oh, boy. as we said, it was a wild day of action at all the olympic venues. ann is here now to wrap it all up. >> thank you so much, matt.

as you all know, it is day 14 of the winter olympics, and yesterday there were some familiar faces on the u.s. team in action. but with mixed results. >> comes out wide. >> reporter: at the olympics, elation and frustration are separated by fractions. >> oh, she's got problems! look out! oh, she crashes! >> reporter: after crashing the bobsled it was americans erin pac and elana meyers who took an unexpected bronze. >> this is going to be a medal. >> we just tried to stay relaxed and have a lot of fun. erin's a great pilot and we had to stay calm and do what we had to do, and we did it. >> reporter: but while the u.s. celebrated at the sliding centre, at women's aerials, the american women faltered and failed to capture a medal. >> here comes another pass, right here on the inside, apolo anton ohno! >> reporter: on the same night, the most decorated american winter olympian of all time made it look easy. >> a veteran race by apolo anton ohno, so patient, so relaxed.

>> i'm having fun, and anything's possible. >> reporter: he advanced to the 500-meter short track finals on friday. >> the american team that was never in the race actually hanging to see if they are going to get a medal out of this. >> reporter: but the women in the 3000-meter relay, it came down to the referees. >> there's the bump. >> reporter: americans took bronze after theouth koreans were disqualified for hitting a member of the chinese team. >> it's going to be quite a challenge today. >> reporter: and it was bad weather to blame in whistler, where the american women's skiers had a rough day on the giant slalom course. >> oh! >> reporter: after lindsey vonn fell, breaking her finger -- >> meanwhile, here comes julia mancuso. >> reporter: julia mancuso began her race. >> because they lowered the interval times between racers -- >> reporter: while vonn still lay against a protective net, mancuso's run was abruptly stopped for safety reasons. >> right, but lindsey vonn -- >> now they've stopped her. >> reporter: after starting again, mancuso finished the day in 18th.

>> it's just absolutely extraordinary bad luck for julia mancuso. >> it was a lot of emotion, a little stress and energy put into that run. >> reporter: she wrote on her facebook page, "imagine running a 400-meter sprint and then missing your time and making you run it again after five minutes. not easy." >> i know she's disappointed. i mean, i feel terrible. i mean, obviously, the course deteriorated a lot and i feel terrible that, you know, i crashed. i mean, i don't want to crash for myself, let alone to hurt my teammate's chances of gettg a medal. >> reporter: still in the medal hunt in men's hockey, team usa beat switzerland. and in a hard-hitting game, canada defeated russia 7-3. tonight, all eyes will be on the grace of women's figure skating. wednesday, they took to the ice to rehearse their long programs. and it is a huge night tonight, because we're going to have the finals for the women's figure

skating as well as the last two jumps of the men's freestyle skiing aerials and also team usa takes on canada in the women's ice hockey gold medal game. that's the wrap-up. now let's go to you, meredith. >> all right, ann, thank you very much. we're going to turn now to politics. president obama is holding a nationally televised summit on health care today, nearly a year to the day that he kicked off his administration's now stalled push for reform. we will talk to white house press secretary robert gibbs in a moment, but first, chuck todd is nbc's chief white house correspondent. chuck, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. and what the white house hopes is their final public push to get health care through congress, the president hopes today's bipartisan summit provides either some sort of breakthrough or enough political cover to simply push it through congress. >> i look forward to a good exchange of ideas. >> reporter: that was the president wednesday. it was nearly a year ago, though, that the president began his push for health care reform with another summit. >> as we work to determine the details of health care reform,

we won't always see eye to eye. >> reporter: and mr. obama is still looking for ideas at today's event. >> i hope everyone comes with a shared desire to solve this challenge, not just score political points. >> reporter: but the republicans have scored points. in massachusetts, republican scott brown won the senate seat held for decades by the democrats' strongest health care reform advocate, the late ted kennedy. that put an end to the democrats' 60-vote majority, and republicans are now pushing for a do-over. >> this isn't a republican position. this is the position of the american people who have said stop this, let's start over and let's see what we can agree to. >> reporter: at a minimum, the white house hopes to re-energize congressional democrats to finish the job. >> get it done! get it done! >> reporter: something they embraced at a pep rally wednesday. >> by the time easter comes, we will fulfill ted kennedy's dream that health care is a right and not a privilege! yes, we can!

>> reporter: aides to the president hint mr. obama is looking for one substantial republican idea to latch on to in a very public way today. one potential option, medical malpractice reform. but ultimately, this is about getting a bill psed in congress, specifically in the house, where some democrats are pessimistic. >> at least to the house members i've talked to, probably about 15 or 20 of them in the last 24 hours, they've said there are other problems wh this bill. >> reporter: congressional republicans are sptical about today, believing it's nothing more than a staged political event by the president. >> i'm always pleased to see him. he's fun to be around, and i'm sure we'll have a great six hours. >> reporter: now, the real action begins friday as the white house considers a whole bunch of legislative maneuvers to get this through. by the way, in a sign of how nervous i think republins are, in front of the president at the summit, house republicans have set up a truth squad outside the proceedings.

meredith? >> chuck todd, thank you very much. robert gibbs is the white house press secretary. mr. gibbs, good morning to you. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm great. thank you. as chuck just pointed out, the president has spent a lot of time and political capital on this one issue of health care reform. today you have the summit. what does he hope to accomplish in six hours that he hasn't been able to do so far? >> well, look, i think washington can always benefit when the two parties sit down together, put aside their talking points and come with the idea of making progress and compromising on an issue that's important to the american people. i think he's anxious to listen to republican ideas and incorporate more of them into our proposal, and iope that republicans will come with an open mind about dealing with the problem of health insurance reform. >> you use the word compromise. this is what representative john klein of minnesota told "the new york times." he said "no republican is going to go back to his home district and say, you know what, i was wrong about the health care

bill." and isn't that the bottom line, that the president and major democrats want a bill to pass and republicans do not? >> well, look, if people go back to their districts, what's happening now is insurance companies are mailing out letters for premium increases next year. we know in california, those on the individual insurance market got letters that say their insurance was going up almost 40%, which is about ten times greater than health care inflation. so, we know what happens if we do nothing. health insurance will skyrocket, it will crush even further small businesses, it will crush the federal budget. we have to do something about it. i don't think anybody wants to go back to their district and talk to that small business owner who had to drop their health insurance or lay off workers because of the crushing cost of health insurance. >> you know, the president right now wants to see 30 million people who are currently uninsured insured. the republican bill would amount to about 3 million people currently uninsured would be getting insurance. is there any wiggle room there for the president? could he compromise on that at all? >> well, look, again, i think the president comes today

willing and open to listen to whatever ideas we have, understanding that many of the reforms, including protecting people against insurance companies that discriminate based on pre-existing conditions is likely only to be done if we give more people access to health care. that's what's important in this. and look, meredith, we all pay a $1,000 tax in our insurance because people that don't have health insurance, when they get sick, when they're in an auto accident, they don't have a doctor, so they have to go to the emergency room. so, we end up paying that health care premium twice. >> all right. white house press secretary robert gibbs. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. and a programming note. coming up on monday, march 8th, the first of an exclusive two-part interview with the ultimate white house insider, karl rove. he has a new book coming out that gives his perspective on life inside the west wing as a key strategic adviser to george w. bush. we're going to hear from him about that book and a lot more.

again, that's an exclusive interview with karl rove march 8th and 9th only on "today." now let's go back to new york for a look at the rest of the morning's top stories from amy robach. amy, good morning. >> meredith, good morning to you. good morning, everyone. tragedy at seaworld in orlando after one of its most experienced whale trainers was killed wednesday. 40-year-old dawn brancheau was said to be rubbing the animal in its tank just before it grabbed her and pulled her into the water, causing her to drown. investigators aren't sure why the 12,000-pound orca whale known as tilly attacked its trainer, but the whale has been involved in two previous deadly attacks. much more on this story, coming up. the head of toyota is vowing to make safety the number one priority of his company. on capitol hill tuesday, akio toyoda testified that he was absolutely confident no electrical failures led to the acceleration problems in toyota vehicles. chrysler is asking more than 355,000 minivan owners to replace faulty crash sensors that control the airbags. the automaker says the sensors

can crack and fail in the 2005 and 2006 town and country and dodge grand caravan vehicles. well, fed chairman ben bernanke told congress wednesday that interest rates will remain low to support continued economic growth. and the house is now set to vote on a jobs bill after the full senate passed the $15 billion measure on wednesday. and just today after being released from a washington, d.c., hospital after suffering a heart attack, former vice president dick cheney is having coffee today with his former boss, president george w. bush. it is the first time the two have seen each other since they left office. and a close call this week for an officer in michigan who was on the side of the road with a driver when another car came barreling towards him. he managed to jump to avoid being pinned, and amazingly, suffered only minor injuries. it is 7:15. let's head back now to matt, meredith, ann and al. >> all right, thanks, amy. >> seems like we've got just nasty weather across the whole

continent. >> that's right. >> snowing and nasty in the northeast. >> but it just stopped here. >> and that's not the only place. we've got a storm system brewing right now, upper level low in the midsection of the country, causing problems there. as we take a look, show you what we're looking at a low pressure area spinning around, bringing more rain and snow into the midwest, from texas all the way up into oklahoma and parts of kansas. snowfall amounts are going to be about one to three inches. we're looking at rainfall texas into oklahoma, about half an inch to a quarter of an inch. as you can see, sunshine throughout the gulf coast, sunny skies up into the plains, a big storm moves back into the pacific northwest causing more problems here in vancouver and the northwest as well. sunshine through the southwest. and by the way, we're having our crowd smoked for that succulent taste. yeah, we're all beingeing good morning, we have

avoided the big brunt of the storm, the storm that can has tracked a little bit farther to the east. a flu flurries northern montgomery county and new fret rick county in maryland, but elsewhere the precipitation has stopped. it's a little bit of dusting in loudoun county. temperatures are in the low to mid 30s around the region. 35 in and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al, thanks very much. as ann mentioned earlier, it was a bumpy start to the women's giant slalom competition yesterday, and in a race it created kind of another bump in the road for two of the top u.s. female skiers, lindsey vonn and julia mancuso. nbc's peter alexander's up at whistler with more on this relationship. peter, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you, again, from what today is a really cd and chilly, rainy whistler. this relationship, these two have been friends since they

were 12, rivals since then. they're both 25. they are both fierce competitors. they both have two medals at these games. but a bad luck moment on the mountain wednesday and then some tough comments recently by julia mancuso have revealed what might best be described as icy conditions in their friendship. there's a new chill in the already frosty relationship between american skiing sensations linds vonn and julia mancuso. the latest twist came during vonn's first run in wednesday's giant slalom, where the twtime olympic medalist was leading before she lost control, breaking her right pinky finger, getting tangled in the safety netting, ending her latest medal bid. the next racer, julia mancuso, the defending gold medalist, was already on the top of the course but was forced to stop midrace because of vonn's crash. mancuso was seen in tears as she had to return to the top to start all over again. >> really a bummer when you come into the race that you've been waiting for your whole career

and something happens like that. >> reporter: the 25-year-old from squaw valley would have to wait for 13 more skiers and faced deteriorating course conditions. mancuso ended up in 18th place heading into her second run, which was postponed due to bad weather. >> now julia mancuso, meanwhile, is still just very upset. >> i feel terrible and i hope she understands. i definitely didn't want that to happen for the both of us. >> reporter: the dueling stars who share the cover of the latest "sports illustrated" have been described as the yin and yang of u.s. skiing. earlier this week, the magazine's website quoted mancuso taking a shot at vonn, claiming the u.s. ski team is being hurt by a popularity contest. "people are having such a hard time reaching their potential because it's such a struggle for attention," she said. "you come to meetings after races, and it's like it's a bad day if lindsey didn't do well." >> you have to remember that these two women have been skiing against each other since they were kids, and the operative word here is against one

another. >> reporter: vonn later told reporters she was bummed out by mancuso's comments and is always proud that an american is doing well. after vonnon gold and mancuso settled for silver in the downhill last week, the two appeared to be friendly on the podium, but now their long-running rivalry is playing out both on and off the slopes. this bad weather really could have an impact on when julia mancuso gets that second run in the giant slalom. it's her last race at these games. lindsey vonn, for her part, it's unclear right now if she will race again because of that injury. the slalom is scheduled for friday. and mancuso herself is really trying to quiet down this controversy. on her facebook overnight, she wrote "everyone else seems to be more concerned about how we get along than even we think about it. we are all out there to ski fast d have fun, so save the drama for your mama!" that's the latest from the mountain. matt? >> all right, good advice. >> wow, save the drama for your mama. >> i'll remember that.

>> you say that to me all the time, don't you? >> i do. >> thank you, peter. history was made last night during the bobsled finals with canada taking gold and silver, bronze going to the u.s., and it marked the first time north america has swept the podium in 87 olympic sliding events, bobsled, luge and skeleton. usa 2's erin pac and elana meyers are with us now. ladies, good morning. >> congratulations. >> that big smile on your face. d you said you were smiling all the way down the track in that last run, that last heat. did you have a good feeling that you had nailed it? >> definitely. you know, our biggest challenge was getting through 50-50, the 13 curve where the german sled crashed, and once we got through there, i knew it was over. >> but you talk about the german sled crashing and you just kind of push that off. how tough is it to be at the top of the track and see the sled in front of you crash? what does it do to your psyche before you jump in your own sled? >> i didn't watch it. >> you didn't see it? >> so -- >> but you heard about it.

>> i heard about it and i just kept telling myself over and over again, you've been through this, you can do it, so just go down. you just need to get through that last run. that's all you need to do. >> meanwhile, you're nursing a hamstring injury. was that bothering you at all? >> it did. it was very sore after the first day, but you know, just -- >> does adrenaline kick in, essentially? >> absolutely. especially with all the fans up top and elana pushing me. >> yeah, once she pushes, you've got to go. >> there was so muc controversy about this track, that unfortunate death of the georgian luger. were you guys concerned about this at all going into your race? >> i don't think we were too concerned about it because we've been on the track before, and actually, erin has a bronze medal on this track in a world cup race. so, we have experience on the track. and every bobsled track is dangerous, and we know that's inherent in our sport. so, we went into it knowing it was going to be a challenge, but it was a challenge we were willing to accept. >> meantime, you guys have not gotten your medals yet. what is it, coming in a couple

of days? >> tomorrow evening at 7:00. we're so excited. >> that will be great. >> smiling with you guys. >> thank you very much. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> erin pac and elana meyers. just ahead, we will handicap tonight's finals of the women's figure skating with kristi yamaguchi and paul wy

as we go to break, we're going to take another look at the medal count here in vancouver. >> and we're going to have much more on the tragedy that took place at seaworld in florida yesterday. a 40-year-old trainer killed by a huge killer whale. we'll talk to a woman who witnessed the attack. but first, your local news and weather.

7:26 is your time now on this thursday, february 25, 2010. good morning, everyone. in the news for today, today is the final day of ntsb hearings reviewing the deadly metro crash. investigators believe -- there are new cars coming to replace the old ones involved in that crash. they will not be delivered until 2013. we'll have

good morning, here's the four-day forecast. sunshine this morning, some clouds building this afternoon, maybe a passing snow shower overnight tonight. but the big story is powerful winds overnight tonight into tomorrow morning may cause scattered power outages. >> we're jammed most of the way into downtown. earlier problems along the way have cleared. in maryland along i-270, a little bit of wind, but no accidents to report, hang on tight as you head toward the capitol beltway. scramble everything you know

about the breakfast. how to make the most important

♪ 7:30 now on a thursday morning. it's the 25th day of february 2010. take a look. it is snowing in new jersey, in lumberton, new jersey, today. all part of a 36-hour storm that is impacting the east coast. and you know what? it's snowing here in the west as well. just gorgeous on grouse mountain. a little foggy, but we've got snow and sleet and good news for the people who are skiing or skating or snowboarding here on this beautiful mountain just outside of vancouver. i'm matt lauer alongside meredith vieira, ann curry and al roker. and still ahead, meredith, we're going to get a cram course for watching tonight's finals in the women's figure skating. >> yeah, and i sure need one

myself. you know, it was easy to be dazzled and moved by the women's performances on tuesday night, especially south korea's kim yu-na and canadian joannie rochette, but what will the judges be watching for tonight when they get back on the ice to decide the medals? kristi yamaguchi and paul wylie are going to tell us exactly what to watch for. also coming up this morning, we have the very delightful jenna bush hager. she's going to introduce us to the snow leopard, which guess what, is ghana's first ever winter olympian. she says his story is pretty amazing. that's coming up. >> he's getting a lot of attention, we should mention. first, we want to begin with wednesday's tragedy at orlando's seaworld. a veteran trainer pulled from a poolside platform and killed by a killer whale as park guests watched on. we're going to talk to one of those guests in a moment, but first, nbc's kerry sanders is at seaworld with the latest. kerry, good morning to you. >> reporter: well, good morning, matt. it's unclear what went wrong here, and animal experts say they may never clearly understand why this killer whale

named tilikum attacked his trainer. tilikum, known as tilly, is the largest killer whale in captivity, more than 12,000 pounds. the orca wednesday killed 40-year-old trainer dawn brancheau. >> i'm very high-energy behaviors with the animal. >> reporter: that's dawn from an interview two years ago with the nbc station in orlando, described as highly experienced, dedicated, at the top of her profession. the head of animal training at all seaworld parks says the whe suddenly yanked dawn into the pool after a noontime show. >> she was rubbing his head, and what we know is that this animal grabbed her and then pulled her into the water, and unfortunately, she drowned. >> reporter: some visitors say the trainer mentioned tilly seemed agitated right before the attack. >> at the end of the show, she said, "oh, i'm sorry, but they're wild animals, so they need to do what they feel right to do." >> reporter: tilly has an aggressive history with humans.

in 1991, the bull orca was blamed for the death of a trainer in british columbia. after the whale attraction there was closed, tilly was sold to seaworld and eventually wound up in orlando. steve huxter was one of tilly's trainers in british columbia. >> so it was my understanding at the time that the orcas were not going to be display or performance animals. >> reporter: eight years lar, another death, a 27-year-old tourist found dead in the tank with tilly. the whale was captured in the wild off the coast of iceland. the u.s. no longer allows the importation of captured orcas. the grandson of famed oceanographer jacques cousteau says this now reopens the debate on whether it's correct to hold whales. >> in some cases, there is educational value, and in some cases, you know, facilities make a lot of money off these animals. >> reporter: seaworld has an extensive security video system here, but they won't comment on whether this attack was captured

on camera or whether any tourists there with home video cameras captured this attack. all of that would be important to investigators as they try to piece together what went wrong so it never happens again. matt? >> all right, kerry sanders in florida for us this morning. kerry, thank you very much. victoria biniak witnessed the attack. victoria, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> i had heard reports that this killer whale actually grabbed dawn by her ponytail and dragged her into the pool. what exactly did you see? >> i did not witness that. i just witnessed his behavior before that and him kind of going out of the water and grabbed a human and was shaking her violently. >> were you -- was it immediately clear that dawn was in trouble in the water, that there's no way that she had any control of the situation?

>> you know, with the way that he was thrashing around, and a shoe actually fell off, no, and the sirens immediately went off and people started running everywhere. >> was there panic in the stands or just people standing and watching on horrified? >> this did not happen in shamu's stadium. this happened in an underwater viewing area, so we were just -- >> no, yeah, i know. >> so, we were just standing around and were immediately ushered away. >> was it cle -- was anybody able to get close to her in terms of other trainers to try to help her? >> when we were ushered away up the ramp, i could see above the underwater viewing area, and there was a male trainer running back and forth with an oar in his hand and then nets, black nets started dropping into his tank.

>> all right, victoria biniak. victoria, thank you very much. i appreciate your time. i want to bring in julie scardina, a killer whale trainer and spokesperson for seaworld. julie, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> you know, this whale, this tilikum, had a violent history, was implicated in at least one death of a human in the past, the death of a trainer here in british columbia, by the way, in 1991, suspected of having something to do with another death in 1999. so, you know, were enough precautions being taken to keep this whale away from trainers, or at least keep the trainers at a safe distance? >> well, obviously, we're reviewing that now. we certainly had a lot of protocols in place, and we actually did not get the water with this whale because of his past history, although both of those incidents, interestingly, are very different. you know, each one has its own specific story. and in this case, dawn's session, according to the other

trainers who were working with her, was going very, very well. it wasn't like there was a level of frustration or anything on the part of the whale, and dawn is one of our most experienced trainers. i mean, she just had a passion for what she did. i mean, she knew tilikum so, so well that we'll never probably know what tilikum was thinking, obviously, but it's just certainly a tragedy and all of our thoughts and prayers are going out to her family. >> obviously, it's going to renew the questions, julie, about the fact that these are wild animals. we don't call them killer whales for nothing. and should they be kept in captivity and should they be, other whales, for example, used for the purpose of entertainment? >> well, you know, matt, prior to people being able to see the amazing capabilities of these animals, and certainly from a trainer's perspective, you know, i used to be a killer whale trainer. our main goal, dawn's passion

was all about sharing these magnificent animals with people. and prior to people being able to witness and experience that, killer whales were shot out in the wild. they were considered competition for fishermen's catch and they weren't understood at all. so, it's kind of very ironic that because of the love and caring that we're now seeing from the public is due much in part to people being able to see these animals in ocnariums like seaworld. >> julie, real, real quickly, what happens to tilikum now? i mean, is it possible to release him back to the wild? i mean, you can't put this animal down for doing what comes naturally. what happens? >> well, we're reviewing our protocols. we're going to make it even more safe, obviously, to work around him. every killer whale's an individual. we look at that certainly separately in every case. like i said, we already weren't getting in the water with that animal, but he will be taken

care of, you know, from that perspective, and we'll make sure that this never happens again. it's the only time that it's ever happened in our history. so, we'll definitely be reviewing our protocols there. >> all right, julie, thank you very much. i appreciate your time. >> sure, matt. let's switch gears now and get a check of the weather from al. >> matt, thank you very much. and as we take a look, again, we've got that big storm in the northeast, but we've also got to worry about t pacific northwest. there's another big storm coming on shore that's going to bring more inclement weather to the pacific northwest, including vancouver. taking a look at the forecast for vancouver, cypress mountain, rain and snow and fog right through tomorrow. same for whistler, periods of dense fog and snow. good morning, while you slept, the storm tracking off the atlantic seaboard tracked a little bit farther east with the

bulk of the precipitation right now is farther to the east and right now it's snowing moderately in washington. elsewhere to the north of washington and frederick county getting a few flurries as well as the panhandle of west virginia. 35 in washington, highs today in the upper 30s, some sunshine this morning, clouds this and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al, thanks very much. up next, a difrent type of winter athlete. we'll meet one of canada's most inspirational sled dogs right after this.

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it takes you farther and brings you closer. and welcome back to vancouver. every animal lover knows the special bond that humans have with dogs right? love dogs. well, we found one dog here who's left a great impression on the people that he meets. >> reporter: if you're a sled dog, this is the event you look forward to every day. want to go to work? more than chow time, more than a brisk scratch behind the ears. the chance to shoulder the harness and line up for a run is an exquisite slice of husky heaven. >> good dogs! >> reporter: long before snowmobiles and atvs, dog teams

criss-crossed manitoba's frozen landscape. dependable in even the toughest nditions, they led their human partners to where they needed to go. i want you to meet isabel. despite her big, warm coat and hunger to run, she's a little bit more than your typical sled dog. >> she went blind when she was 4. the vet said she'd never run as a sled dog ever again. >> reporter: husband and wife gerald and jennifer azure watched as their dog struggled with her new reality. >> we tried to turn her into a pet, but she -- >> didn't work. she stopped eating and drinking. >> reporter: typically, what happens to blind dogs? >> a few people kind of mumbled, you know, you should just take that dog out and shoot it. >> reporter: but jennifer and gerald imagined a different fate for isabel. the doctors could never explain the reason for her blindness. her owners had seen the biggest source of her joy. how did you know that isabel wanted to start working again? >> we decided to take her back

to the dog area when we were doing our chores and she wanted to run. and i said to gerald, we have to n her. that's what she wants! it's hard for gerald to say no to me. >> reporter: harnessed with the other dogs isabel relies on them to lead, but on herself for power. >> she's been running blind for almost five years now. >> reporter: wow. inspired by isabel's story, i thought i'd take on a challenge of my own and give mushing a try. want to go sledding with me? yeah? first order of business meant carefully selecting my team. with introductions completed, gerald sketched out the nuances of expert mushing. >> number one rule, never let go of your sled. >> what if i'm like heading into a tree? >> never let go of your sled. >> reporter: all right. okay. my sled-side tutorial was a little briefer than i would have liked, but my teammates gave me

courage. >> in a loud voice -- >> reporter: mush! >> ready? >> reporter: whatever. go! yeah, baby! after a few moments of stone-cold panic, i turned myself over to the experience. the wind on my face, the hiss of the sled over snow and the confident pull of isabel and the dogs. it's hard to believe she's blind. >> you look at isabel and you think, you know what? never say never. >> gives us a lot of strength, the days when you're feeling a little blue. >> reporter: all right! [ howling ] >> reporter: with darkness closing in, the dogs are left to their dreams. thanks for the ride. appreciate it. where they go and what they do there, it's hard to say, but if i had to take a guess, i'd bet they'd be running, leading someone along to a better place. >> that isabel is a very special dog. still ahead, what you need

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>> announcer: "today's olympic moment" is brought to you by coca-cola. this morning on "today's olympic moment," going out on top. 37-year-old canadian speed skater clara hughes marched into vancouver as her nation's flag bearer, knowing these games would be her last. hughes has an olympic resume to end it. a former cyclist, she's the first canadian ever to win medals at both the summer and winter games.

on wednesday, hughes capped off her career by skating in the grueling 5000-meter race, carried along by the cheers of the canadians in a packed arena. hughes gritted it out to the finish line, winning a bronze, the sixth medal of her career. >> oh,yeah! what a way to end it! >> reporter: tying canada's mark for most decorated olympian ever. she called it one of the best races of her life. >> that crowd was amazing today, and i'm officially retired as a speed skater now. >> reporter: what's next? hughes says she just wants to buy a kayak and go on some new adventures with her husband. what a way to go out, though, wow. >> extraordinary accomplishment. it really is. >> yeah. >> she was so happy. when we come back, jenna bush hager's going to introduce us to an unlikely olympian. >> you're going to meet the snow leopard, the first athlete from ghana to ever compete in the winter games. but first, a look at your local news and weather.

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7:56 is your time now. we got the snow, but winds are on the way. tom will have your forecast after the news. in the nudes this morning, same sex couples inany states will have the same rights as others. same-sex couples will still not be allowed to marry in maryland. you can now enter a drawing for the white house easter egg roll. you could find out if you won a ticket on thursday march 4. the actual easter egg roll will be monday april 5. we'll have your

we have sunshine off the our

east, though getting some light snow on the eastern shore. there are a few flurries still up in frederick county, maryland and carol county. temperatures are generally above freezing across the metro area. but a few locations in the area in the shenandoah valley. very strong winds, mid to late afternoon and overnight tonight, you could have gusts to 50 miles an hour that may cause some scattered power outages and maybe pacific snow showers tonight as well as on friday only leaving a brief dusting. the winds should diminish by friday afternoon and evening. a chance of flurries both days, highs low 40s. >> tom, take a live look along i-270. no accidents just volume all the way down to the split particularly if you're headed across toward key bridge into georgetown. >> coming up tomorrow morning at 5:55.

scramble everything you know about breakfast, how to make the mo important meal of the day live up to your nutrition 8:00 now on this thursday morning, february 25th, 2010. we have a fun and energetic crowd here at grouse mountain, site of the vancouver games. i'm meredith vieira along with natalie morales, ann curry, al roker, matt lauer and ellen degeneres, who actually just joined us here on the slopes. >> so nice to have her here. >> in on the fun. >> listen, ellen, i know what i'll be watching tonight, the final of the ladies' figure skating competition. in fact, these three ladies will be there, americans rachael flatt and mirai nagasu are in the medal hunt and canada's joannie rochette willkate again to honor her mother who

died tragically so sunday. kristi yamaguchi and paul wylie will tell us what to expect tonight and tomorrow joannie rochette will be here to talk about her skating experience. also ahead, one of these great stories coming out of the olympic games. we're going to introduce you to a skier from ghana, a country not exactly known for snow, who is about to become his country's very first winter olympian. jenna bush hager is going to introduce us to a guy they are calling the snow leopard. and another programming note. coming up next week on "today," we've got a great series. if you're a fan of '70s television, just wait. we have "great tv families reunited," gangs from "the partidge family" "the brady bunch." >> and we'll talk to the bradfords from "eight is enough" and the fixtures from the washington stoop, the folks from "227." that is "great tv families reunited" all next week here on "today." but before we get to next week, let's continue with today and

talk about olympic action. natalie's got a recap. that's right. good morning once again. two more medals for team usa, for the women's bobsled and short track speed skating, but a tough da on the slopes for americans lindsey vonn and julia mancuso. >> oh, lindsey vonn! >> reporter: downhill drama in the giant slalom. >> into the fencing down there. >> reporter: as american skier lindsey vonn lay on the course, her teammate, julia mancuso, began her run, the shortened interval between skiers due in part to the bad weather. >> whoa, now they've stopped her. >> reporter: but during mancuso's run, a yellow flag, forcing her to stop and return to the top to start over, as lindsey vonn made her way off the slope. >> i don't want to crash myself, let alone, you know, to hurt my teammate's chances of getting a medal. so, i feel terrible and i hope she understands. >> reporter: still, following her 18th-place standing after completing her first run, the frustration on julia mancuso's face was evident. >> it was not really an advantage to be starting later,

but i made the most of it. >> reporter: bad weather postponed the second run. >> here comes another pass, right here on the inside. >> reporter: better news for american speed skater apolo o o ohno. he finished the men's 500-meter heat in first place heading into friday's gold medal final. >> i'm having fun and anything's possible. >> south korea disqualified! >> reporter: also on the short track, a dramatic end to the women's 3000-meter relay final with four-time defending champions south korea disqualified for interference, the u.s. women won the bronze, their first medal win in 16 years on the same day the u.s. women's bobsled team also won bronze. today, the ladies' figure skating free skate gets under way. kim yu-na, mao asada and joannie rochette are battling for the gold with americans rachael flatt and mirai nagasu hoping to land on the podium as well. also today, the u.s. women's

hockey team takes on canada for the gold, and it is the men's freestyle skiing aerials final with ryan st. onge's family here and jarreeret "speedy" peterson competing. >> and your boyfriend is competing as well. >> i didn't forget him. >> i knew you wouldn't. now let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories from amy robach back in new york. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. white house press secreta robert gibbs says he hopes republicans will have an open mind throughout today's televised summit on health care reform. the president is hosting some three dozen key members of congress, hoping for a bipartisan breakthrough to pass stalled legislation that would extend health coverage to millions of uninsured americans. well, as much as two feet of snow could blanket much of the northeast over the next 48 hours, a region already hard hit by a major storm. near albany, new york, homes and cars are buried under heavy, wet snow that fell over the past two days. more than 20 inches of snow fell in parts of new york,

massachusetts and vermont. meantime, hundreds of schools are closed this morning and hundreds of flights have been canceled. investigators are returning to seaworld in orlando, florida, today, where a veteran animal trainer was killed when a 6-ton whale pulled her into the water, causing her to drown. this is the third time the same whale has been involved in a human death. well, the senate passed a one-year extension of some key provisions of the patriot act. democrats dropped a bid to add new privacy protections to that law. and doctors from the united nations mission say they have seen a significant increase in malaria cases among earthquake survivors in haiti. to prevent the spread of disease, haiti's government began a campaign wednesday to start relocating people from tent camps ahead of next month's rainy season. and new images of former cuban leader fidel castro meeting with brazil's president in havana weesday. the photos aired on cuban television. they say the 83-year-old castro

appeared exceptionally well. it is five minutes past the hour. let's head back now to al. hey, thanks a lot, amy. and we've got some friends here from new mexico. >> yeah, new mexico! >> having a good time. and the family from flyin' ryan. are you guys cousins? what's the deal? >> yeah, we're cousins. >> where are you from? >> vermont. >> colorado. >> all over. we like the hats. very nice. all right, let's check your weather, see what's going on. again, we're tking about this big storm that amy mentioned in the northeast. you can see rain along the coast, snow is now starting to work its way into new york on into parts of new jersey, where it's been snowing, an icy mix moving into new england. here's the path of the storm. as it works its way up the coast, it intensifies and we see it bottoms out, starts to move inland and bringing with it wrap-around snow, strong winds, gusts of over 30 miles per hour. starts with a lot of rain, causing the possibility of flooding, especially areas where we've already gotten a lot of snow. then the cold air filters in and changes over to snow throughout

the entire region. we are talking snowfall amounts anywhere 12 to 18 inches of snow. some areas like binghamton, new york, may see one to two feet ff good morning, the storm system is off the atlantic seaboard now and it's a little farther to the east than yesterday, so as a result, we didn't get much snow and rain. there's still some lingering light snow in frederick and carol counties and in the panhandles of west virginia. temperatur are at or a little above freezing. it's 35 in washington now. highs today in the upper 30s and partly sunny. very strong winds developing overnight tonight and into and that's your latest weather. >> we have a report that security has been breached at the tram here at grouse mountain. >> no. >> uh-oh. >> and jimmy fallon is on his way up the mountain. we're going to check in with

jimmy and also kristi yamaguchi and paul wylie, weighing tonight's competition for the ladies in figure skating. but first, these messages. i do remember sitting down with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promise mommy you'll never ever pick up a cigarette." and brian looked at me at eight years old and said, "promise me you'll quit." i had to quit. ♪ my doctor gave me a prescription for chantix, a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it's proven to reduce the urge to smoke. seeing how chantix worked, i wasn't so afraid to try quitting again. [ male announcer ] talk to your doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you. some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions

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medalist paul wylie of universal sports are here to help us understand all the edges and axels. good morning to you both. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> tuesday was the short program and tonight is the long program or -- what is the other term -- the free skate. >> free skate. >> what is the difference between the two, kristi? >> short program is 2 minutes 40 seconds, eight required elements that you need to complete. if you don't, mandatory deductions. the free program is pretty much what you think. you pull everything out of your arsenal, you know, all the jumps you can do. you know, you need to do at least three spins, a nice, balanced program, but then it's 4 minutes long. >> let's start with the jumps, because there are four main components, as you mentioned, and jumps is the first one. japan's mao asada did the triple axel, considered the most difficult jump, but she finished behind kim yu-na who did not do one. we have their performances side by side. explain to me why kim finished first if she didn't attempt that. >> well, kim yu-na's triple-triple combination is actually worth more than the

triple axel. it's worth ten points, and she completed it really well and got two points in the grades of execution added to that. so, she had 12 points for that. just beautiful height. and the triple axel is worth 9.5. so, it's like a little bit less than the triple-triple. she did it excellently, but it's not worth as much, and i'm sure there's going to be a conversation about that, since she's the only one -- >> who can do it, right. >> -- in the competition who can do it. >> she's planning, i understand, to do two tonight or this she may do two tonight. >> that's right, which would be incredible to think about, just after so many years. they were doing triple axels, tonya harding in 1992, but they haven't done them in a long time. >> you brought your skates along because the entrance of the jumps is as important as the landing itself. what do the edges mean? >> well, the skates have two edges. this is the right skate, so you have the outside edge and then the inside edge. >> right. >> and the takeoff of the jump is what differentiates each

individual jump. the axel is the only forward takeoff jump, and you go off the forward outside edge. so, literally, you can see the lean on the skate to the outside edge. some of the other jumps have toes, toe picks, and you see the foot jabbing into the ice and using the leg as a pole vault to get into the ice, into the air into the rotations. each jump rotates exactly the same and lands backward on the outside edge. so, you have to remember, it's takeoff you're looking at to see what jump they're doing. >> you have lost me completely. so, you could do it on the wrong edge, potentially? >> yes. >> well, one jump in particular is the lutz jump, and they've gotten a lot stickier on the technique of it, and you want to see the backward, outside edge for the takeoff. if they go off the inside edge, then the judges can take quality points off the toe loop. >> and quickly, i want to switch over to the spins and the

spirals. what will the judges be looking ? >> they'll be looking at the positions, the speed of the spin, the centering of the spin. in the spiral sequence, they'll be looking for extension and for holding the edge long and making the transitions so that they're the most difficult, and the step sequence is obviously looking at the steps and making sure they're doing a variety and complex variety of arm positions and movements. in this spin, you s mirai nagasu. she got actually the top scores in her spins in the short program. there she's going at an inside edge, which is a difficult variation. so, looking for the level four, which is the quad of the spins. >> all right. we're ing to leave it at that. kristi yamaguchi, paul wylie, i'll see you there tonight. >> all right. >> at least a learned a little something. you can catch live coverage of the ladies' free skate tonight starting at 8:00/7:00 central time on nbc. and up next, one of the most heart-warming athletes, the first ever from ghana.

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[ moans ] [ speaking native language ] ♪ [ speaking native language ] [ male announcer ] doctors have been saying it forever. let's take a look. [ male announcer ] but they've never actually been able to do it like this. let's take a look. [ male announcer ] v-scan from ge healthcare. a pocket sized imaging device that will help change the way doctors see patients. that's better health for more people. ♪ you know, there are a lot of athletes who come here to the olympic games in the winter and they really don't expect to win a medal. they're here simply for the olympic experience, and that can certainly be said about an athlete from ghana who's the first ever athlete from his country to compete in the olympic winter games. jenna bush hager is here with his story. jenna, good morning. >> thank you. good morning, matt. that's right. his name is the snow leopard,

even though he's from a country with absolutely no snow. he competes this weekend, and what's even more extraordinary is that he only learned to ski six years ago. the snow leopard. fast, agile, beautiful and endangered. no, not this snow leopard. ♪ this snow leopard, ghana's kwame nkrumah-acheampong, nicknamed the snow leopard because he says athletes from africa are as hard to find on the slopes as the endangered species he's named after. a journalist dubbed you the snow leopard. >> they compare me to the endangered snow leopard. you cannot find only a few africans ever in the winter olympics. >> reporter: kwame is the only athlete from west africa to competing in the olympics, and to think, he only learned to ski six years ago on artificial

snow. though his chance of medaling is low, he is still a fierce competitor. >> when i get on the course here in whistler, you'll find that i may not have the skill of the top guys, but i have a fighting spirit. >> reporter: so, do you think in some ways, too, that that resilience and the spirit of africa helped you in some ways? >> yeah. i think begghanans and africanse a tough people. we come from a tough continent. it throws a lot of things your way. and it's molded me into who i am. and i might not look very tough, but i am hard not to crack. >> reporter: surrounded by snow ghosts on vancouver island's mt. washington, kwame spent ten days training there. the community has rallied to support him, even funding his training. for kwame, the olympics are as much about competing as they are about doing good. he is using his celebrity to

help fund charities for underprivileged children in ghana. so, as you marched in solitude in the opening ceremonies the other day, what were you thinking? >> i was just thinking that, you know, i've actually made it to the olympics, and we're actually here. so, it's absolutely fantastic. it's hard to explain. >> reporter: and what do you think they're applauding for? >> that it's taken me about six-plus years to get this far, and i'm not one of your very young skiers. so, i think maybe lots of people see themselves in me. maybe there's a chance for them to also one day go to the olympics. ♪ >> reporter: so, this is the hill. >> yep. >> reporter: you've been stopped on this walk by all these people that recognize you, and is that a strange sort of feeling? >> yeah, it's strange when it's never happened to you before. >> reporter: but they're proud of the fact that you're --

>> thank you. >> >> reporter: so, that type of thing is always happening? >> exactly. it will be like all those eyes are watching. >> reporter: what's your main goal? >> somebody else has to be last. i just want to cross the finish line twice and be able to wave and say, yes, i passed the olympic time. >> reporter: but what i really wanted to know is, does this snow leopard roar? do you do a roar right before you go? >> i do it. >> reporter: you do? pleaseive us your roar. >> no, i can't. >> reporter: please give us your roar! >> i don't have any poles in my hand. >> reporter: but who cares? it's a week away! please give us your roar! so cute. he is so great. he was so much fun to be with. and i think what's really important is he's changing the face, literally, of the olympics. and we have some people from ghana here. >> here we go, right over here. that's great.

>> another kwame! >> there you go. go, snow leopard. thank you, jenna. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> let's go over to meredith on the tram. >> look where i am. i'm on the sky ride that crosses grouse mountain every day. look who's with me, jimmy fallon from "late night with jimmy fallon." >> i'm so psyched. this is great, it's my first olympics. >> you just arrived? >> i arrived yesterday and went from the freezing cold right into a hockey match, canada versus russia. that was unbelievable. >> because the crowd went nuts! >> yeah, the crowd went nuts. this is a phenomenal olympics. i'm so excited. my favorite moment i've got to say was probably the opening ceremony. >> it was beautiful, the opening ceremony. >> until the end. >> what do you mean? >> well, the three columns came up and the fourth didn't and wayne gretzky's standing there going, what do i do? and i'm like, how do we top that? >> he was cool about it. >> but i'm like, i know how to top it, put wayne gretzky i the back of a pickup truck when it's raining and he's holding the olympic flame and wayne gretzky's going, what's going on? how did i get this? bob costa's trying to get

something going. >> you used to watch this? >> i used to watch, i think it was the 1980 -- >> miracle on ice. >> i jt knew posters were cool as a kid, so i hung it on my wall, like i knew what that was. >> are you good at sports? >> no. but you can edit all that out. but yeah, i love being here. >> we have arrived. >> we're here! >> this is grouse mountain, yes. >> we've made it, you guys! it's so good. we should have shown, andy dick was driving us the whole way up. the celebrity driver. >> this is where we come every day, around 3:00 we arrive here. >> oh, my gosh, this is gorgeous. >> yeah, it's a gorgeous mountain. >> ablutely. >> hey, what's up, you guys? >> it's snowing rail bit. those folks are taking the tram down. now we head down to the fire pit, as we like to call it. >> oh, my gosh, this is phenomenal. hey, what's up? how are you? >> how long are you going to stay? >> i'm going to stay until saturday. i'm just going to do another hockey thing and see my man, bob

cost costas, hang out with him. >> your man? >> my man, bob costas. yeah, we dated for a couple years. then we're going to go > our time is 8:26, beautiful sunshine here in the nation's capital. in the news4 today, today is the time day of the ntsb hearings reviewing last year's deadly metro crash. so far the hearings have focused on inadequacies in the metro sensing operating system. metro says there are new cars coming to the replace the older ones involved in that crash, but they won't be delivered until 2013. we'll take a break now and come back and look at our weather and traffic.

good morning, while you were sleeping the storm tracked a little farther east so as a result we have dried out this evening, we'll have blustery winds that may cause some power outages. jerry, how's the traffic ". >> a live look on the belt way north, a little better than novrmal. one more stop, 395, pretty loaded up headed across the 14th street bridge, but right now all lanes are open. >> coming up at 5:55, we'll scramble everything you know about breakfast, how to taylor

the most important meal of the day to fit your health and lifestyle needs, that's tomorrow on news4 today at 5:55 a.m.

that's what i was saying, it's snowing here at grouse mountain. it is a perfect day to build a snowman. meredith always says perfect day for a shot of schnapps. >> wow! >> why do you go there? >> it's okay. either one works, depending what you're interested in. back at grouse mountain on a snowy thursday morning, 25th day of february. >> i'll schnapp you. >> he threw you under the

snowmobile! >> it's february 25th, 2010. i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira, al roker, ann curry, and jimmy fallon! >> thank you so much. >> if you were going to compete in the winter olympics, what would be the perfect sport for you? >> i think men's figure skating, short form. >> short form. >> really short. really short form, yeah. >> well, you like johnny weir, right? >> yeah, johnny weir is great. i like the costumes they have, those guys yeah. they make lady gaga look like lillith from "cheers." it's fantastic. i do like them a lot. >> very nice. >> i'm having so much fun since i've been here. it's crazy. but yeah, the tram ride was pretty good. delicious schnapps. >> doesn't get any better than that. schnapps bar in there. >> you have a big anniversary. >> milestone tomorrow. >> we're going to be one year old. >> bravo! >> march 1st is our one-year anniversary. the show's been on a year. it's been going great, me and the roots. we have a great guest, robert

pattinson from the "twilight" movie and hall and oats. >> hall and oats! >> they're going to do "i can't go for that," i think. >> are you gng to dance? >> i'll dance to them. my short form. this is my short form. i should have gotten the bronze. instead someone gave me aluminum. >> are you looking forward to having jay back as your lead-in coming up? >> yeah, it's great. i love that dude. he's a great guy. unfortunately, things didn't work out with conan, but he's a great guy and following him will be fun. it will be interesting, but it will be great. >> well, congratulations on your first year. >> we love you, you know that. >> you guys are the best. i love all you guys. >> yay! >> you get the gold medal. >> it's so cute, you two -- it's like "blaze of glory." >> it's not like that at all, matt. it's really not. >> let's do our lift. >> it's going to be great. here we go. we'll wait for a commercial. we go over the fire. it's pretty phenomenal. >> good to have you here. let's get a check of the

weather, mr. roker. all righty, let's show you what's going on. again, we've got that big storm to talk about. let's look at your weekend, see what happens. we still have leftover snow for tomorrow, a snowstorm through the northeast. more rain moves into the pacific northwest, plenty of sunshine, frigid conditions through the plains. then sunday, sunday, we're looking at more wet weather through the southwest, sunshine along the west coas coast, good morning, on radar at this hour, we do have some light snow on the eastern shore there,'s moderate and heavy snow in new jersey and eastern pennsylvania right now. but closer to washington, we have sunshine, but farther to our west a few clouds producing snow showers in the panhandle of west virginia, the central shenandoah valley. temperatures are in the 30s all around the region. latest wind gusts now 20 miles an hour. they

and that's your latest weather. >> all right. >> i'm so disappointed, you guys. >> why? >> well, how many pairs of gloves do i have to give you before you start wearing them? >> we have them. we're saving them. we don't want to ruin them. we don't want them to smell like smoke. >> we're saving them. >> this guy welcomed us to these games 16 or 17 days ago and he's with us again, the premier of british columbia, gordon campbe campbell. premier campbell, good to see you. >> great to be here, matt. >> there was trouble at the beginning of the games. first of all, so much talk about weather and lack of snow, then the tragic death of the georgian luger. now here we are about ten days later. how do you feel about how things are going now? >> i think they've gone incredibly well. i think the georgian team itself really reflected the olympic spirit by saying to themselves, our dedication to our athlete is to stay in these games, to strive for the best that we can be, and i thought, frankly, the responserom the crowd at the opening was incredibly warm and generous, and the president of georgia who i talked to, actually felt the same way. so, i feel like he handled the tragedy as well as he could

handle the tragedy. and we've seen some phenomenal athletic events, incredible events downtown. i saw you guys going to the zip line, and i know that's going to go down in history. >> yeah. have you done that? >> i have done that. >> you have, all right. you also said to me at beginning of the olympics, you said, mark my words, canada's going to win a gold medal on its home soil this time around. you've done it seven times over. how does it feel? >> it feels great. and i think the whole country has been lifted up by our team. i'm sure the americans are proud of your athletes. we are incredibly proud of our athletes, the ones who medaled and those who haven't. couldn't be better. >> having come to canada many years in a row, i've noticed that canadians are very quiet patriots. they don't sort of wear it on their shirts. they don't walk around with flags. but something has happened in these games where, last night for example, i was watching the russian/canadian hockey game. there were children standing up singing "o, canada" -- >> i know. >> what's happened to canada? >> well, i think we wanted these to be canada's games from the

start. from the first time i talked to al in torino, we talked about these being canada's games. i think the torch brought the whole country together. the team comes from every province and, of course, t mittens have brought everyone together. >> except, apparently, us. we've got to get with the program. >> and spectacular weather. >> you should know, al, it's typical vancouver weathe it has been phenomenal. >> yeah. >> you couldn't have done better. and actually, i wanted to come here today just to say this, how much we appreciate you guys being here, how good you've been to us the whole way through this, not just this event, but as i say, turin, 2006, right through the piece. the "today" show could not have been ever, vancouver, british combia, i want to say thanks. >> we appreciate it we're having a great experience here. thank you so much. >> thanks for your hospitality. >> premier gordon campbell. good luck with the remainder. >> thank you. >> we are going to be back with much m

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welcome back to vancouver, where so far, u.s. athletes have won 28 medals, 7 of those gold. and with the spotlight of the world upon them, right now a lot of athletes will be looking to cash in on that fame. peter carlisle is a sports agent with octagon firm, which represents athletes like apolo ohno and michael phelps. peter, good morning. good to see you. >> good morning, matt. >> what's the economy doing now to support these athletes? >> the economy's definitely affected these athletes, so it's tougher to get support within their sport, but out-of-industry, mainstream sponsors i think are finding an easier time with social media and some of the new technological capabilities they have. >> when you talk about olympic athletes and sponsorships and endorsement deals, is only gold good enough or does any medal count? >> well, any medal, you know, can increase an athlete's marketability, but when you look

at mainstream sponsorship opportunities, gold seems to be what carries the day. >> let's talk about some specific athletes. i don't want to put you on the spot, but give me a sense of ha you think their marketability is. meryl davis and charlie white won the silver medal in ice dancing. when they get back to the states, is their phone going to ring? >> they're going to have to stay out there, and i think the best way to do that is to keep skating, go on tour and stay in the media and then perhaps opportunities will fall on them. >> apolo anton ohno is now the most decorated winter athlete in u.s. history. he's already marketability. what do these games do to that? >> oh, increased it. here he made history and arguably is now the ambassador of the winter olympic games. >> lindsey vonn, who struggled to overcome a painful injury at the start of these games, now with apparently a broken finger. is advil going to be ringing her and saying you're a perfect athlete for us? >> could be. she's had a lot of success with sponsors and i suspect they'll continue to be interested. >> it's been reported she made something like $3 million in

endorsements. do you think that's going to go up now? >> well, i think if she keeps skiing, then i suspect the activation will continue. >> i'm curious your reaction to this next one, bode miller, because although bode miller is a gifted skier, i mean, extraordinarily gifted, he dances to the beat of a different drummer and is not always politically correct. how does that impact his marketability? >> well, in the past, it has impacted it in a negative way, but probably the most talented skier in the world, and he came here, i think, with a different attitude. he showed a different face. he seems to be enjoying his time here and respectful of the olympic movement, and i think he's done a world of good for his craft. >> and we have to know whether bode's even interested in something like that because some products he probably wouldn't endorse. >> that's where it starts. >> what about shaun white? he explodes on camera and he's done extremely well in the years since torino. bigger and better things for him in the future? >> yeah. i mean, shaun white is a huge brand. and given that his sport is

televised in off-olympic years, it's much easier for him to sustain these deals than the traditional olympian. >> and a lot of people to watch and we will be watching, as you will. peter carlisle, thanks very much. i appreciate it. >> thanks, matt. up next, something to warm us all up, a look ahead to the spring

this morning on "today's olympic style," spring fashion. we may be at winter games and the snowstorm is hitting the east coast, but it is time to stt thinking about your warm weather wardrobe. howa how rubenstein is with "in style" magazine. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> it doesn't seem like we should be talking about spring, but it's right around the corner. >> no, but i promise everybody, it's coming, and what's coming

for spring, too, is i think something people will welcome. retailers want people back in the stores, so they've got to have something new and fresh. it doesn't mean you toss out everything you own, but these are new options. >> the first extend bold, happy prints. don't be afraid to mix and match. and that is bold. >> there you go. prints have been coming in. we've gone for the past couple years, but beyond sailor stripes and school girl plaid. these are simply vera from vera wang. the whole outfit's for about $60. >> don't know why that works, but it does. >> it's a water color print. i think that's the whole idea. there's an adventure there that's so much fun. three, four years ago, you would never think of putting this together, but somehow, it works just right. >> it might be the model as well. >> no, no, the whole thing is just a lot of fun. >> you look beautiful. thank you. from bold and bright, we're talking about pastels as well. >> pastels have been strong, but what i think they've done this spring is we're calling it like trying softer. the whole idea is to mute the thing. the same thing with the fabric,

to match the fabrics so that things feel as good as they look. the top and the jacket are joie, the pants are h&m, they're wide, drapier. it doesn't mean you get rid of your skinny leg or bootleg pants or whatever you like, but the idea is it moves, feels little bit more comfortable. those pants are $50. a great necklace for $40. >> very feminine, the whole look. works beautifully. >> and it's very soft and makes people happy, just like the makeup is soft. it just looks sweet. >> let's move on from there. a great weekend look, especially on grouse mountain. kind of a trekker look. >> we call it trekker, but obviously nobody's going on the inca trail dressed like this. but it's $165, paired with a top from joie and pants from h&m. and this necklace is great. >> and the pants are a retro '80s look, right? >> there is a sort of '80s mood going on but these are just fun,

incredibly comfortable and it's a great option for people who are tired of the skinny leg jeans. >> you said in the beginning, don't throw out what's in your closet because it will still work for you, i.e., our next model. is that a combination? >> nothing is more classic or permanent than a trench coat. for spring, what a lot of designers have done is made the trench coat a little bit lighter, little bit softer, and what we're saying is why don't you just wrap it up and wear it as a dress or a top? this is from ann taylor, and it's a great little skirt from bcbg with the banana republic ribbon necklace. data is you can take this same jacket and you cld wear it over a t-shirt, a pair of jeans. >> and it'd still work for you. >> still works. over a dress. so, make your clothes work as hard as you do. >> okay. finally, sequins are here. that is sequins, all right. here to stay for night. >> what we do is we love silver for night, but to take it off that red carpet moment and put it back into the real world. take it in an easy shape. what's easier than a t-shirt

dress from alice and olivia. and it also allows you to wear strong accessories like the great blue shoes. those $20 earrings from guess and either a really strong lip, or in this case, i love the fact that she has glasses. those are her glasses. this is not an accessory, and i think they're just so cool. >> see, a lot of women now are getting comfortable wearing glasses again. >> i think glasses are sexy. >> we want to bring all the models out again. are all these clothes in the stor stores? >> they're in the stores now. top shop, alice and olivia, h&m. they're everywhere and they're affordable and it will make a great and happy spring. >> hal, thank you very much. welcome to spring, ignore the snow. >> we'll try. just ahead, jer

>> announcer: "today's athlete to watch" is brought to you by p&g, proud sponsor of moms. and this morning in "today's athlete to watch," we're talking about jeret "speedy" peterson, the 28-year-old from boise, idaho is a freestyle skier who goes for gold in the aerials tonight. and natalie has his story. >> that's right. speedy peterson all too familiar with the highs and lows not only of his sport, but of life. his tricks are death-defying, and he gave me insight into his love of freestyle skiing. ♪

>> reporter: aerialists like jeret "speedy" peterson spend much of their time flipping and twisting through the air. >> i'm just not good right side up. i have to be upside down. so, you know, and i like being upside down in the air. it's something that i've always been naturally comfortable with. >> reporter: what is that feeling when you get that height? you're 55 feet up there, what are you thinking about? >> it's amazing, and everybody laughs when i say this, it's extremely peaceful. like, i'm up there, i can hear people yelling, i can hear my coach talking to me, i can hear little kids going, "oh, wow!" >> reporter: do you have any fear? >> everybody has fear. it's much the same as when you look over the railing of a five-story building. would you jump off of it? probably not. apparently, i would. >> reporter: you know, you've had a couple of injuries. can you tell me the extent of your injuries over the years? >> oh, my. i don't think we have enough time. i've broke my arm, i've cracked my face from right here down to the middle of my teeth.

>> reporter: oh, my sh. >> i have a couple vertebrae in my back that are smashed. i've broke my hand. tons of bruises and tons of sprained ankles and knee problems. >> reporter: what's the most dangerous part of what you do? everything is dangerous, but -- >> nobody ever gets hurt in the air, you know? it's definitely the landing. >> reporter: before aerialists hit the snow, they train on the trampoline. okay, show off! add skis and they can put on an amazing show. >> as you can see, we're throwing an olympic-size party on the plaza today. >> reporter: aspiring aerialists often learn at water ramp parks like this one in park city, utah, where the u.s. freestyle ski team trains during the summer. this is where speedy works on perfecting his signature move, the hurricane. >> the hurricane is three flips, five twists. it all happens in 3.2 seconds. the reason it's called the hurricane is because the first time that i had ever done it on snow, all my coaches ran down

and were congratulating me and cheering, and my coach was like, hey, how'd it feel? and i was, it felt like i was stuck in the middle of a hurricane. i didn't see anything. >> reporter: in torino, speedy was the only american to make the final. with one jump to go, he was within striking distance of gold. he decided to do the hurricane. >> a little bit of separation on the landing, he gets a deduction r that. >> reporter: he ended up in seventh place. >> yeah. it was kind of a bittersweet moment for me. it was humbling, you know. i was a little cocky 24-year-old, thought that i was on top of the world. and i was jumping amazingly. i can't take that from myself. i was doing the best that i've jumped ever, and beforehand, i had felt that i had already won, and you know, life proved to me that that's not the path that i was supposed to go down. >> reporter: you have no regrets about trying the hurricane? i mean, you could have done something a lot easier and walked away with the gold. >> my philosophy on the olympics is that you have to try your

hardest. you have to give it your best. for me, that was something that i had to walk away knowing that i left everything on the table. so, if i stepped down my degree of difficulty and still won or even worse, ended up second, i wouldn't be happy with myself. >> reporter: silver wouldn't have been good enough for you then? >> no. and with my luck, i'd probably end up fourth by like 0.1. ♪ just watch my wildest dreams come true ♪ >> reporter: speedy says he's matured a lot since the torino games, but one thing hasn't changed, his desire for olympic gold. >> physically, mentally, emotionally, i'm as strong as i've ever been in my life, and for that reason, i feel confident in saying that i have an amazing chance of bringing home the gold medal, and i'm going to do everything in my power to do that. ♪ it just feels so good >> as you can see, a lot of confidence from jeret "speedy" peterson. big question, though, of course, is whether or not he's going to go for the hurricane. a lot of that dependent on

conditions. again, it's three flips, five twists. so, i've got his mom, linda, and grandmother myriam. so, your forecast? >> oh, definite hurricane. >> cloudy with a sure sign of a hurricane. >> absolutely. >> so, that will be a gold medal for him. so, we hope so. great to have the whole family here. >> yay! >> all right. just ahead -- i'm sorry, go ahead. my fault. >> no, no. just ahead, a look at tonight's ladies' figure skating finale.

our time right now is 8:55, we have 35 degrees out there on a sunny day here in the nation's capitol. in the enthuse for today, you can now enter the white house drawing for the easter egg roll. you have until sunday to enter and you can find out whether you've won a ticket on thursday march 4. the actual easter egg roll will be on monday april 5. we're going to take a break now and come

good morning, radar showing a heavy snow shower in hardy county, west virginia. that's drifting off into shenandoah county. we have some sunshine and the storm has pulled farther to the east now and the winds are beginning to pick up. we have had the peak up into 25 to 30 miles an hour. we could have gusts to near 50 miles an hour late afternoon and overnight tonight and into tomorrow. and that may cause scattered power outages. in addition a passing snow

shower is possible and then things settle down on the weekend. jerry, how's the traffic? >> m, taking a live look, 66 eastbound. still loaded up for the last couple of miles. no accidents, broken down cars or road work at this hour. on in maryland along i-270, beginning to see the backup begin to dissipate just a little bit. but it is quite windy out there right now so hang on tight if you're getting out. >> coming up tomorrow morning on news4 at 5:00. how to taylor the most important meal of the day to fit

back now with more of "today" on this thursday morning, february 25th, 2010. sun slowly rising over downtown vancouver as we say hello to everyone who made their way to the top of grouse mountain to start their morning with us. i'm meredith along with matt, ann, al and natalie. and just ahead, all the olympic action from what was a very eventful day 13 of competition, including a surprise medal for team usa in short track speed skating after the south korean team, which came in first, was disqualified. we're going to tell you what happened there. also ahead, there is a very big event tonight here in vancouver, hockey, women's hockey, canada versus the u.s.

for the gold medal. a lot of people are going to be watching that, and we're gng to show you the story of a true hockey mom. it's jenny potter, a four-time olympian and mother of two on the u.s. team. she's going to tell us how she's managed the balancing act. and it is happy hour somewhere, and -- yeah! >> don't say anything. >> did i say anything? >> no, you didn't. >> i did not. >> no. >> anyway, it's happy hour somewhere. we're going to sample two very unusual drinks, and popular drinks, right here in vancouver. >> yum. but first, ann has a wrap-up of the latest olympic activity. >> i do. as we all know, it's day 14 of these olympic games, and on wednesday, there were some very familiar faces competing for team usa with mixed results. >> comes out wide. >> reporter: at the olympics, elation and frustration are separated by fractions. >> oh, she's got problems! look out! oh! she crashes! >> reporter: after crashing the bobsled, it was americans erin

pac and elana meyers who took an unexpected bronze. >> this is going to be a medal. >> we just tried to stay relaxed and have a lot of fun. erin's a great pilot and we had to stay calm and do what we had to do, and we did it. >> reporter: but while the u.s. celebrated at the sliding centre, at women's aerials, the american women faltered and failed to capture a medal. >> here comes another pass, right here on the inside, apolo anton ohno. >> reporter: on the same night, the most decorated american winter olympian of all time made it look easy. >> a veteran race by apolo anton ohno, so patient, so relaxed. >> i'm having fun and anything's possible. >> repter: he advanced to the 500-meter short track finals on friday. >> the american team that was never in the race actually hanging to see if they are going to get a medal out of this. >> reporter: but the women in the 3000-meter relay it came down to the referees. >> there's the bump. >> reporter: americans took bronze after the south koreans were disqualified for hitting a member of the chinese te. >> it's going to be quite a

challenge today. >> reporter: and bad weather was to blame in whistler, where the american women skiers had a rough day on the giant slalom course. >> oh! >> reporter: after lindsey vonn fell, breaking her finger -- >> meanwhile, here comes julia mancuso. >> reporter: julia mancuso began her race. >> because they lowered the interval times between racers -- >> reporter: while vonn still lay against a protective net, mancuso's run was abruptly stopped for safety reasons. >> but lindsey vonn -- >> whoa, now they've stopped her. >> reporter: after starting again, mancuso finished the day in 18th. >> it's just absolutely exaordinary bad luck for julia mancuso. >> it was a lot of emotion, a little stress and energy put into that run. >> reporter: she wrote on her facebook page, "imagine running a 400-meter sprint and then missing your time and making you run it again after five minutes. not easy." >> i know she's disappointed. i mean, i feel terrible. i mean, it's -- obviousl the course deteriorated a lot and i

feel terrible, but you know, i crashed and, i mean, i don't want to crash myself, let alone to hurt my teammate's chances of getting a medal. >> reporter: still in the medal hunt in men's hockey, team usa beat switzerland. and in a hard-hitting game, canada defeated russia 7-3. tonight, all eyes will be on the grace of women's figure skating. wednesday, they took to the ice to rehearse their long programs. that's right, it's a huge night tonight with the women's figure skating finals to decide the medals. and also, the last two jumps of the men's freestyle skiing aerials and also team usa takes on canada in the women's ice hockey gold medal game. all right, now back to you guys. that's your wrap-up. >> just a little interest in that one. >> yeah. >> a big rivalry. >> either way, though, that's exciting. >> we have one more day here at grouse mountain. >> yes. >> but it's going to be very busy and hectic tomorrow, so we wanted to take a second here, and we hope you don't mind this,

to really say thank you to some of the people who have helped us put our show on over the last two weeks. it starts with everybody in the control room. you know, we basically turned a ski chalet into a control room and lugged all of this equipment from new york and all of our producers, senior producers and directors and technical people occupy that space and do such a great job every single morning. >> our technical staff. this is an amazing accomplishment, getting the show on the air every day, from audio to video to the running of lights. >> and when you think about it, they had to bring all this stuff up in that tram up this mountain. >> such a great job keeping us on top of what we have to do. >> we're really spread out here, too, because they had a lot of running to do. >> wardrobe, hair and makeup, making sure we look as good -- >> oh, great, there's me. it takes an hour, folks. >> and a village. i originally look likeliester holt before the day. >> and there's the design. >> creates the set. >> a bunch of great people. >> they're working out here in the elements, we should mention, rain and snow.

>> and they get here at 10:30 at night. they go to bed basically when they leave here in the morning. they are working extra hard to make us look good. >> look at the conditions they're working . >> we love them, we thank them. ey pull it off every time. >> there's mark, a lot of people on the scene, but also a lot of people back -- >> we took our cast photo. >> -- in new york. >> the only one we resent is the one who makes the fire every day. >> he does a good job,oo. >> yeah, he does a good job, but you know -- >> you just mentioned, not only the whole staff here, but we have an entire staff back in new york supplementing us, supporting us, getting the job done there, and they have done a wonderful job. >> led by steve fode, who does t-shirt night and hawaiian night -- >> so they feel part of the olympics. >> thank you to everybody. it's been a great two weeks. >> there's steve right now. >> actually, steve drinks heavily every night. >> and you're going to be heading out. >> i'm heading out right now. i'm going to get home a little early and you guys have a great show tomorrow. >> well, maybe not so early.

>> snowstorm on the east coast. >> some great restaurants in toronto! >> but anyway, it's been great. >> i would kiss you good-bye, but that would be disgusting, so -- >> all right, all right. it's okay. it's okay. >> three times, four times -- >> it's okay. it's okay. >> you only hurt the ones you love. this is nice. bye, baby. bye. >> love you. >> take care. >> safe trels, baby. >> see you. have a good one. >> we'll throw it over to amy robach, who's standing by in new york with the rest of the news. >> amy's done a great job! >> thank you. thank you very much. safe travels, matt. it's snowing here. all right, today, animal experts and investigators are trying to figure out what went wrong after an experienced trainer at seaworld in orlando was tragically killed by a 6-ton whale in front of horrified bystanders. nbc's kerry sanders is in orlando with the latest on this story. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, amy. it's unclear what went wrong, and the animal experts say they may never really know why this killer whale named tilikum attacked his trainer.

tilikum, known as tilly, is the largest killer whale in captivity, more than 12,000 pounds. the orca wednesday killed 40-year-old trainer dawn brancheau. >> i'm very high-energy behaviors with the animals. >> reporter: that's dawn from an interview two years ago with the nbc station in orlando, described as highly experienced, dedicated, at the top of her profession. the head of animal training at all seaworld parks says the whale suddenly yanked dawn into the pool after a noontime show. >> she was rubbing his head, and what we know is that this animal grabbed her and then pulled her into the water, and unfortunately, she drowned. >> reporter: some visitors say the trainer mentioned tilly seemed agitated right before the attack. >> the end of the show, she said, oh, i'm sorry, but you know, they are wild animals, so they need to do what they feel like to do. >> reporter: tilly has an aggressive history with humans. in 1991, the bull orca was blamed for the death of a

20-year-old trainer in british columbia, after the whale attraction there was closed, tilly was sold to seaworld and eventually wound up in orlando. steve huxter was one of tilly's trainers in british columbia. >> so, it was my understanding at the time that the orcas were not going to be display or performance animals. >> reporter: eight years later, another death. a 27-year-old tourist found dead in the tank with tilly. the whale was captured in the wilds off the coast of iceland. the u.s. no longer allows the importation of captured orcas. the grandson of famed oceanographer jacques cousteau says this now reopens the debate on whether it's correct to hold whales. >> in some cases, there is educational value, and in some cases, you know, facilities make a lot of money off these animals. >> reporter: seaworld has extensive video security systems, but it's unclear from the officials of whether they captured on those cameras this attack or whether a tourist got

it on their home video. that would be important to investigators who will try to determine whether this was something that could have been prevented or whether it was just the erratic behavior of a wild animal in captivity. amy? >> all right, kerry sanders in orlando, thank you. president obama wants to push stalled health care reform closer to the finish line with today's nationally televised summit meeting. he's hoping to make his case during a six-hour give-and-take session with three dozen key democrats and republicans. and matt might want to listen to this one. ca your airline if you're flying today. hundreds of flights have been canceled as the northeast gets hit with as much as two feet of snow. it is another blow for residents from pennsylvania thrgh new england who are just beginning to dig out from as much as two feet of snow that already fell ov the past two days. it is ten minutes past the hour. back now to the aforementioned matt, meredith, ann and al. >> you've been busy, al. geez. >> i got a heck of a souvenir.

>> wow. >> she's so cute! >> beautiful souvenir. >> gorgeous. >> she's 5 months old. mommy and daddy back over there let me borrow her for a little bit. >> congratulations. >> a sleepy little girl. >> she's doing what we all wished we were doing right now. >> exactly. >> i know. >> aww, she's just like our director joe michaels. >> sleeping like a baby in the control room. >> she cries and she smells a little funny, too. let's take a look, show you what's going on. she is beautiful. right now we've got a big storm in the northeast. take a look. this is a videotape just in this morning from newark liberty international airport. snow's coming down pretty strong and it's going to continue throughout the morning. in fact, as you take a look on the radar, you'll se we've got this system now winding up, bringing snow along the coast, rain up into new england. as the low pressure system works up the coast, it's going to intensify, move inland, colder air will wrap in around it, bringing in more snow and the snowfall is going to be quite a bit. we're talki first a lot of rain out of this thing, anywhere from one to two inches of rain with flood watches from eastern long island into maine with 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts

later on tonight. then the cold air comes in, turns into snow. we're talking some areas picking up one to two feet of snow near binghamton, anywhere from 6 to good morning, as that low does wrap inland, it may give us a little more snow late tonight into tomorrow. but now we're generally clear around the region, with no more snow except into virginia and the shenandoah valley area, they may get a quick inch of snow. but elsewhere we have sunshine with temperatures mid and upper 30s. >> announcer: "today's olympic moment" is brought to you by coca-cola. al, thank you very much. this morning on "today's olympic moment," going out on top.

37-year-old canadian speed skater clara hughes marched into vancouver as her nation's flag bearer, knowing these games would be her last. hughes has an olympic resume to end it. a former cyclist, she's the first canadian ever to win medals at both the summer and winter games. on wednesday, hughes capped off her career by skating in the grueling 5000-meter race, carried along by the cheers of the canadians in a packed arena. hughes gritted it out to the finish line, winning a bronze, the sixth medal of her career. >> oh, yeah! what a way to end it! >> reporter: tying canada's mark for most decorated olympian ever. she called it one of the best races of her life. >> that crowd was amazing today, and i'm officially retired as a speed skater now! >> reporter: what's next? hughes says she just wants to buy a kayak and go on some new adventures with her husband.

up next, the spirits of vancouver. we will sample the city's most popular drinks, right after this. ... all over my body... ...it just doesn't go away. it's so baffling. (announcer) does this sound like the pain you've been experiencing? this is fibromyalgia. chronic, widespread pain and tenderness that affects millions. sometimes i need a hug... ...but i know it's gonna hurt... (announcer) there is hope. understanding your pain... ...is the first step to treating it. talk to your doctor and visit fibrocenter.com for answers and support. ♪ a little encouragement changes everything.

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so you can be good to the last drop. ( sneezing ) i didn't take zicam cold remedy... but i did. zicam reduces the duration of a cold. ( sneezing ) no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... can you do it by 3:00 ? yes, i can. how about 2:00 ? hmm... ( sneezing ) ( moaning ) get over your cold faster. now try new throat-soothing liqui-loz and great-tasting zavors. welcome back to vancouver, home to two popular and unusual drinks, ice wine and caesars. we are trying them both with the help of tim ellison, a certified faculty member at vancouver's institute of culinary arts. tim, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> when it comes to drinking here, we start immediately.

>> fantastic. >> we will start with the caesar. i had never heard of it, neither had ann. >> until we got here. they look like a bloody mary, but they have what else? >> indeed. the secret is clamato juice. they were invented in 1969 as a cocktail to go with an italian-style restaurant. so, he drew his motivation from linguini, the tomato and clam dish, and the idea is that the flavors echo. >> fantastic. is this a virgin one or -- >> no, no, we have vodka going on. this is iceberg vodka from n newfoundland and the edge is celery salt. we have pepper, worcester, tabasco, we have asparagus, green beans, you can have prons. of course, the traditional celery skewer and lemon. >> in a glass. >> it's like a salad, right? >> let's move on from that to ice wine.

>> because this is interesting. >> this started in germany, right? >> indeed, indeed. they say it started in the 17th century, and the sry there was a german viner went to market and came back and found out that his crop had frozen on the vine. so he pressed the grapes and made wine anyway, and it really didn't start being exported until the '60s. czech republic makes it, new zealand makes it and canada. >> perfect in the climate here, right? >> well, we get nine vintages per decade where the conditions are right, where it's so cold that the grapes will freeze like little marbles on the vine. >> the difference is you don't -- >> ts -- >> this is very sweet. >> it's a dessert wine. >> indeed, indeed. so, it's sweet. there's almost a pound of sugar per quart in this. so very sweet. >> wow. >> so, we have like lemon roulad, the red grapes like pinot noir, the merlot, and even

surprisingly, blue bay cheese. >> the thing about this one is the flavor is so intense. because unlike regular wines, during processing you're not heating it. with processing, by squeezing the water out and then you've got the flavor left. >> the grapes are harvested at 17 degrees fahrenheit. so, they're like frozen little marbles, and when they squeeze them, the water actually forms as ice crcrystals. they remove that, so it removes the water and concentrates the juice. so you have a wonderful flavor of apricot -- >> it is delicious. >> honey and sweet -- >> i'm proposing a toast to the ice wine and to canada. >> yes, and to canada. >> thank you very much for having me. >> yay, thank you. up next, a member of team usa giving brand new meaning to hockey mom, right after this. sprinkle it. sweet! [ male announcer ] grilled. filled. chilled. swe! [ female announcer ] just about anywhere you use sugar you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. more ways than you ever imagined. [ male announcer ] flakes. shakes. cakes. sweet!

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>> announcer: "today's olympic moms" is brought to you by p&g, proud sponsor of moms. this morning on "today's olympic moms," a veteran member of team usa giving new meaning to the term hockey moms. here's our nbc west coast contributor maria menounos. >> reporter: the day starts early at jenny and rob potter's house in anoka, minnesota. >> do you want eggs, too? >> reporter: like any household with two kids full of energy, jenny and rob have their hands full. >> do you want to go skating today? >> reporter: you might say they're a typical minnesota family with one big difference. at age 31, jenny potter is playing in her fourth olympic games, the oldest member of team usa. she's already made history here in vancouver with two hat tricks in her first two games.

>> either you're getting better or getting worse and you can't stay the same. as much as you want to stay the same, things are changing around you. >> reporter: in many ways, jenny is just like any other mom, struggling to balance work and family. it just so happens jenny's job is training for the olympics. jenny met rob the summer before the nagano olympics in 1998. uncharacteristically, she made the first move. >> i actually asked him out. >> she sent us tickets to this banquet, and so, we showed up, and all the players were looking at me funny, and i sat nexto her. >> reporter: rob coaches high school girls hockey and shoulders parenting responsibilities when jenny has to travel. daughter madison is 9nd already a champion swimmer. when it comes to hockey, rob and jenny don't want to push her. >> we bring her down to the park where it's just fun, and that's where i lrned to love hockey. >> reporter: 3-year-old cullen seems to love it already. jenny and the rest of the team share a tight bond forged by

months of living and playing together. the younger members of the team do have different priorities. >> they call me up, like hey, do you want to go to a movie? and i'll be like, no, i can't do that. you know, i have to take mahdi to swimming or pick her up at school, so. >> reporter: but jenny's teammates love to have the kids around. with the training base located close to their home, cullen can even help mom out in the gym. sharing the olympic journey as a family has helped jenny impart some valuable lessons. >> you know, we're not making lots of money, and we're doing it for the love of the sport, and i think that's where you can see it on the ice, the passion and the heart. >> reporter: a love kindled on a pond just like this one, playing for fun until it's time to go home. >> whoa! >> reporter: for "today," maria menounos, nbc news, minneapolis. >> and we wish jenny and the rest of team usa goo luck as they play canada for the gold tonight. you know who else we're wishing a lot of luck right now.

>> mr. lauer. >> mr. lauer. >> he's on his way home >> that's right, but you know, he's on the gondola. >> there he is. he's being protected by jim bell, our executive producer. >> racing home, interestingly enough. >> you're not getting home! ♪ [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze, my eyes water. but with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. it works on my worst ymptoms so i'm ready by the time we get to the first hole. and that's good because the competition's steep today.

new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air.™ 9:26 is your time now, a live look at the nation's capital. some winds are on the way. good morning, everyone, it is thursday february 25, 2010. in the news this morning, it's theinal day of ntsb hearings reviewing last year's deadly metro crash. so far the hearings have focused largely on failures in metro's automated operatingsystem. investigators believe it's the sensors that caused one train to slam into another. there are new trains coming to replace the ones involved in that crash. same-sex couples will now have new rights in maryland.

effective immediately the state will recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. however same-sex couples will still not be allow

winds gusting to around 25 miles an hour, with a partly cloudy sky today, we'll have highs reaching the upper 30s. wind may be gusting to 50 miles an hour. we may also have a few passing snow showers into tonight and friday. >> things are settling down rather nicely, 395 in duke street to the 14th street bridge, pretty much cleared out. and one more stop to the american legion bridge. left side of the inner loop, outside of the outer loop moving at posted speeds. >> we'll scramble everything you

know about breakfast. how the taylor to the most important meal of the day to fit your health and lifestyle. that's on news4 today at 5:55.

♪ one of these women will be crowned olympic champion tonight as the figure skating competition wraps up here in vancouver. can they top the drama and emotion of tuesday night? you can watch it live tonight on nbc. we're walking around the fire pit now because the smoke is following us. >> following you! >> wherever we go. >> the smoke monster from "lost." >> oh, my gosh. >> listen, the three ladies here, al, we're all going to be at the figure skating finals tonight, all right? >> i'll wear a dress and come with you. >> come on, al! >> canadian skater joannie

rochette, whose mother died of a heart attack on sunday, two days before the competition, will be here tomorrow to talk about her emotional olympic experience. >> and she's performing again tonight. >> yes, and her short performance was brilliant and she skated for her mom. >> two days after her mother died of a heart attack. >> right. >> so it was really dramatic. also coming up, we're going to meet a chief -- we're still on the move because for some reason the smoke is following us. >> it's the wind. it's in that direction. >> we have to get out of the way. we also have a cool story coming up, because we've got a hida chief who caverns totem poles. have you seen those beautiful poles? >> yes. >> they're worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. well, this man is remarkable. his great-great grandfather is charles edin shaw, who is a fantastic artist. we'll be finding out the story behind the poles, coming up. >> wow. and we're going to head into the kitchen as well. giada and meredith got to check out one of the most famous restaurants here in vancouver. >> it was great. >> i hear it's amazing. can't wait to try it. >> first, al, a check of the weather.

big news today. >> we'll take a look, morristown, new jersey, live. and the snow is coming down and continues to. it's just going to get worse. this is just the beginning, folks. we've got a big storm system getting itself together. as we look at your forecast, looking ahead to the weekend, for tomorrow, more snow continues, or i should say saturday, we've got more snow continuing, just kind of wrapping it up in the northeast. rain in the pacific northwest. then sunday, sunday, we've got frigidigid good morning, the moisture field from this storm is now far to our east and northeast, but there's still a few passing snow showers in hardy county, west virginia. elsewhere we have some sunshine, temperatures are in the 30s, now 37 in washington. these are the latest wind gusts, peak gusts have been around 25 miles an hour. they're only going to increase into the afternoon and evening and into tomorrow

>> and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al, thank you. >> thank you very much. up next, the time and talent it takes to carve those remarkable totem poles. but first, these messages. [ male announcer ] if we knew more about our food, would we eat better? [ rewinding ] at hellmann's, we search for the best sources to make our mayonnaise. we use eggs, vinegar and oil rich in omega 3. ♪ for the quality that could only be helann's. hellmann's.

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>> announcer: "today's northern exposure" is brought to you by bank of america. bank of opportunity. this morning o "today's northern exposure," the first nations. the native people of this area are basically a partner in these vancouver winter olympic games, and that is significant, because their collective voice was nearly silenced just a generation ago. >> in the beginning, we lived in supernatural times. >> reporter: the physical and spiritual worlds are not always separate. >> we come from the trees, we come from the ocean. we're water. we're a water people. >> reporter: sometimes they ebb and flow like the ocean's tide, linking people, animals and land in a natural trinity, native symbols that have been featured

prominently here in the vancouver winter games. what does it mean to you when you watched the opening ceremony those totems rising? >> very happy that it's happening for us here because we do have something to say, we do come from somewhere. >> reporter: jim har comes from the eagle clan of the heida nation, one of almost 200 indigenous groups living in the canadian northwest. for more than three decades, he's worked as a totem pole carver. like a heart surgeon with a scalpel, he carefully etches away. >> little tricks that our ancestors developed in the art form. >> reporter: carrying on a 200-year-old tradition that had nearly disappeared by the 1950s, due to a canadian government ban on the potlatch, a traditional ceremony featuring the totem

pole. >> relics of a proud past, when lofty totem poles proclaimed the glory of the tribe. >> reporter: jim grew up in a small town on the northeastern tip of haida golai island. the work of his great-great grandfather, charles edin shaw, can be seen around the world. >> one of the things, he wished he could use his hands first. >> reporter: jim started carving in his 20s when a group of local artists began resurrecting traditional art. so, what is the meaning behind thestotems? >> well, it's ancestral, right? you're bringing your ancestors forward, where you come from. it's who we are. it's who you are. >> reporter: carved from a single cedar tree, each totem pole can take two years to complete. they are read from the bottom up and tell stories about important people, events and myths. i can't believe you carved this. this thing is huge and there's so much, you know, in here.

there's like these little grooves in here. >> it's a record of that time that you had it made, created and raised. it's the way we think. >> reporter: today, s passing the craft down to his son, carl. >> this corner. >> reporter: teaching the next generation of haida. >> this is one we made. we made that one there. >> reporter: and the world the importance of remembering. >> what i tell people is i'm whittling my way to heaven. >> and the olympics areeally about inclusion and leaving one's mark on history, and those are two very important believfs for the haida people, and we thank the haida nation for allowing us to do that story. coming up next, meredith gets a cooking lesson from one of canada's most popular restauranteu restauranteurs. that's after this. leaking where? it's kaput. kaput?

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[ woman announcing ] purina one for indoor cats... unlocks the brilliance of nature... with a natural fiber blend that helps minimize irballs... and maintain a healthy weight. [ laurie ] he's a character. he brings so much laughter into this household. and he's the best-lookin' cat there is. [ announcer ] it's amazing what one can do. is morning on "today's olympic kitchen," more delicacies from vancouver. we have had fun tasting the variety of diverse ethnic food here, and when "today" contributor giada de laurentiis came to visit, the two of us ventured out to a local gem. it may not be on any tourist map of vancouver, but ask locals about the city's top cuisine, and you're bound to hear viji's. this is vancouver's most famous indian restaurant. it doesn't take reservations and

it doesn't need to. >> there's a nice table right there by the wall. >> thanks for coming. there's a table right there in the middle. >> reporter: and surprisingly, no one seems to mind. for more than 15 years, vikram viji, originally from bombay, india, has run this cozy establishment in the south granville section of vancouver. vik, as he is universally known, is the dynamic personality in the front room, but the real heart of the restaurant is here in the kitchen. which is run by a staff of seven, and by chance, all of them women. giada and i thought, what better place to try our hand at being a restaurant chef than here, before the crowds arrive? >> hi. >> thank you for coming. >> oh, not at all. >> reporter: vik and his wife, neru, who runs the kitchen, greet us. >> i guess i should do that then. >> reporter: we're dressed for the part and given our stations. >> hello. >> hello.

>> reporter: and when you think about it, who is more qualified to stand with the best of the best than mwa? giada fits right in. >> i chop the onions asinely as possible. that's beautiful. >> oh, you're beautiful, it's beautiful. mine's not bad. as she tches us how to prepare the vegetable curry dish on the menu. >> you can also decide here which vegetables you like more and which you like less. >> i don't like peppers that much. >> i don't really like egg plant. >> yeah. let me cube up the -- >> you cube away. >> i'm just going to cube -- >> need tomato. >> meredith does not want to share with me at all. >> i share, i share! >> reporter: it's our own olympic event, as we learn to chop, season, stir and saute. >> this is how you hold the wooden spoon when you're cooking. >> like this. >> yeah, come on. show us what you've got. oh, now it's looking beautiful! >> yum. >> colors! >> i can smell something. mine's darker. mine is a man's curry. yours is like a sissy girl

curry. >> reporter: but it soon becomes apparent that even with the best of coaching, i'm out of my league. >> yes? >> ooh, geez, i almost cut myself. ooh, whoa. the flames shot out. >> despite my lack of prowess, miru and her staff make me feel like a member of the team. >> very good. >> she's just saying you don't judge the book by its cover. >> that's not what she said. what'd she say? >> that's a nicer version of what she said. >> oh, okay. >> reporter: in true olympic spirit, it's the comradery that takes the gold. >> you can feed meredith yours and meredith can feed you hers. >> i'd love to. oh, you're going to love it. >> it's good. it's really spicy. i'm giving two as for effort. cheers. >> cheers. >> cheers! >> and vikram is with us this morning. good morning to you. >> namaste. >> namaste. how did we do? >> well, you did a good job over

there. i was a little surprised that the cutting techniques weren't quite there, but that's part of it. >> well, i know your restaurant does not take reservations. we mentioned that. but you do serve food at the bar, and this is an example of the hors d'oeuvres you have. walk us through this. >> you know, this is like a street food of india, a cracker made with salad. the reason of the no reservation policy was i wanted everybody to be equal, and i always said to people, if you have nothing to talk to each other about for an hour while you're iting, what the hell are you going to talk to each other while you sit down and eat? so the idea is you come to the back, hang out, have a glass of wine and chill out. >> nobody's more special than anyone else. i like that. and it's all about the spices, right? >> the most favorite thing about the indian food is the spices. freshly roasted, so, tihe spice. and it's when you add it, how long you saute it. that's the beauty of cooking. >> tell me about your lamb popsicles, because everybody

talks about those. >> it's basically a rack of lamb, an ideal fusion style of cooking where it's marinated with mustard and sweet red wine, grilled and the sauce and potatoes are made beforehand and the cream sauce on top of it. >> roker, get over here. you want one? >> wow. you can feel the love. >> put the lamb right on there, baby, for my pal al? >> put the lamb right there. the idea of the popsicle was that you can just kind of pick up the bones and eat it. one of the beautiful things about indian food is that y should be using your hands to enjoy the food. >> we're good at that. vikram, thank you very much. lamb popsicles. the restaurant is called viji's. i'll be there this afternoon to help you cook. back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc.

he's nominated for an oscar

for his role in "the messenger," an gene shalit says this is a movie that knows how to deliver. >> good morning and welcome to the "critic's corner," as the olympics ski, skate and speed to the finish line, the "critic's corner" skis into butternut in massachusetts with a film that deserves a medal. virtual virtually, all of the academy awards go to individuals, and yet, most movies are memorable not because of a single actor, but because of performances by their whole, whole-hearted cast and that's why the oscars should add an ensemble category for movies like "the messenger." an army captain, woody haralson, and a staff sergeant, ben foster, are assigned to knock on doors and recite mumble, mumble, been killed in iraq. one thus struck is made an instant widow. the excellent samantha morten. >> we need to be clear.

i need so say killed or died. what we don't say is the deceased or the body. we call each casualty by name. we honor them. >> reporter: haralson has been nominated for an academy award, and deservedly, yet all performances are honor-worthy as a group. >> this mission is not simply important. it is sacred. >> it's not set in iraq. it's set in america, in service to those who have served and the severed hearts of those who survive. the superb "the hurt locker" is hell in iraq. "the messenger" in america knocks on doors that open to a different hell. >> no! >> for elliptical friendship, for hesitant love and for dramatic force, "the messenger" delivers. and that's the "critic's corner" for "today." >> high praise. >> really, absolutely. >> it is snowing like crazy right now at newark, new jersey. the storm is getting itself together. >> wow. >> there was almost no snow 20

minutes ago and now it's really coming down. >> very heavy. >> good luck, matt. >> that's right. meanwhile, coming up tonight, live in primetime, the conclusion of women's figure skating. it all starts at 8:00/7:00 central time here on nbc. >> going to be a big night. >> and tomorrow's our last day on grouse mountain, so we are hosting a big party. lots of athletes, lots of fun. come out, if you can. >> all right. first now, hoda and kathie lee. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> while in kindergarten, her teachers staged the opening ceremony. from that moment on, he dreamed of being an olympian. >> it's going to be a medal! >> we made it, you guys!

>> from vancouver, british columbia, canada, i want to say thank you very much. >> i'm heading out now. i'm going to go home and get a little early. >> i would kiss you good-bye, but that would be disgusting, so.

9:56 is your time now, a bright, sunny day outside, but the winds will be picking up, tom will have your forecast after the news. it's february 25, 2010. in the news this morning, it is the final day of the ntsb hearings reviewing last year's deadly metro crash. they are focused largely on failures in metro's automatic operating systems. metro says there are new cars coming to replace the older ones involved in that crash but they will not be delivered until 2013. let's get an update on the forecast. >> as we take a look at radar, we are still getting a persistent snow shower in sh shenandoah county, the shenandoah valley. the precipitation has ended from this morning's storm. the moisture field for this is way off to the east and northeast. temperatures are in the 30s. wind gusts are around 25 to

almost 30 miles per hour. we'll see that even higher later on today with a chance of scattered power outages. how's the traffic, jerry? >> time to take a live look along 395 northbound. a little bit sluggish. no incidents reported. all lanes are open. >> tomorrow morning, we'll scramble everything you know about breakfast, we'll taylor the most important meal of the day to fit into your lifestyle.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, everybody. it's thirst day, february 25th. and we have the drinks to prove it. >> yes, we certainly do. >> yes, we do. >> happy thursday. outside, real quick -- >> nasty. >> big storm coming to new yor >> nor'easter. >> it's a nor'easter, winds are going to start to kick up. >> hardy folks. >> some people are saying we might get a foot of snow. >> i know. >> i hope we don't. >> i have to get to my

daughter's play tonight in "pirates of penzants." >> you're going to make it. >> bloody mary's made with cl clamato juice instead of your basic tomato juice. >> clam and tomato. >> yes. thought you would be interested in that. matinee day on wines day. at samuel j. friedman theater. >> alicia silverstone is in it. >> perfect cast. i love seeing such a contrary play. you know, it just really captured our -- >> i loved it. >> so good. >> to be honest, sometimes when i am watching plays i check my watch. >> and you tend to snooze a little b. >> in one, i did not check it once.

when intermission came up, i thought oh, my gosh, it's intermission? >> and you couldn't wait for it to start again. harvey is here. >> we love when harvey is with us. >> there's a little bit of rivalry. >> it's not gnnatalie, ann and meredith. >> no, it isn't. lindsey vonn and julia mancuso. >> julia mancuso. >> here's the deal. i don't know if you saw what happened yesterday. >> you love this. >> i do. lindsey vonn was skiing down the hill. >> that's whathey do. >> she had an unfortunate accident. >> she broke her pinkie. >> she's okay, but broke her pinkie. julie mancuso was told to go down the hill right after this. they didn't make the communication that she was still wiped out on the side. so, they actually yellow flagged julia and asked her to stop in the middle of her run. >> and her run was extraordinary. >> she was flying. >> really good run. >> they asked her to go back up to the top and do it again. she placed 18th when she did it

again. so, she was very upset that she placed 18th. she said she was frustrated, et cetera, and she was actually crying at the end. >> can you imagine how exhausted they are at this point? >> yeah. >> the crying is not so much what people seem to be concerned about. >> first of all -- >> what she said to a reporter for "sports illustrated" is the thing people are talking about. >> yeah. >> right? >> where is the quote? >> she says people are having a hard time reaching their potential because it's such a struggleor attention. you come to meetings after races and it's like it's a bad day if lindsey didn't do well. >> i think she thinks that all the focus is on lindsey and not on her. >> it has been. people have been calling it vonn-couver. >> lindsey said she felt bad about it and wanted to support her teammates and have them do well. >> this is more recent much on facebook julia writes everyone else seems to be more concerned about how we get along than we even think about it.

we are all out there to ski and have fun so save the drama for your mama. that's what she said. >> i like that. i love rhymes. save the drama for your mama. >> if you're telling this stuff to "sports illustrated." >> you know it's going to be reported. >> it's going to be reported! >> she actually started the drama and continues the drama with the tiara. >> the crown. why is she wearing the crown? she said she likes to feel like a princess. you know -- we're going to get to that. >> that's next week we're going to be answering that question. is it okay to wear a tiara? i'm sure you're all waiting with bated breath for our answers on that. >> after the show i went to get my hairblown out. sometimes i do that. while i was sit tlg on my blackberry, the story broke about this killer whale that attacked a trainer. i literally was sitting in the chair and a bunch of people came over, what is that, what is that? at seaworld, you probably know the story, a 40-year-old trainer was there, not during the actual

show where all the kids are sitting in the stands. it was a neighboring pool, but the killer wail sort of grabbed her, it seems, and threw her under water, tossed her around, i guess, like a toy almost. and she passed away. she died. >> it's unbelievably tragic. i think she was a 16-year veteran and adored what she did for a living. someone was quoted, and said she would not want the killer wahal, who is actually a dolphin, from the dolphin family. >> that's true. >> never would want the animal to be destroyed. i don't know. that's a hard one, isn't it? ongoing discussion and controversy about is it right to bring wild animals into a domesticated situation and exploit -- >> like a circus. >> circus-type situation. >> they used to kill them because they competed with the

industry. and we brought them to you and now you care about them. >> they are beautiful show. >> they are beautiful. >> they're spectacular and they seem to be having a good time, those animals. who knows what they're thinking or what happens to -- the training to be able to get them to do these kinds of things. i don't know. do you have a feeling on that one? i have mixed emotions. >> i feel so sad when you hear something about that. these animals are called killer whales because -- >> for a reason. >> these animals, that's what they do. you know, they -- >> it will be interesting to see what seaworld decides to do, to keep the animal just to be looked at or -- >> it sounded like they were hinting at keeping it. >> i don't think they'll destroy t i wonder if they'll still use it in show. >> there's a history, apparently, with this particular whale and two other deaths before the one yesterday. >> yeah. let's change gears, because that's depressing. >> yes. we would rather look at this video of this girl, this stranded passenger come iing tow york from pittsburgh. >> yeah. >> her name is ashley klinger and is an entertainer by trade,

coming to try out here in new york for a role, dancing role in "the wizard of o." she t stranded all night long. she entertained herself. >> this video is getting so many hits. she was stuck in the airport all night long. >> oh, wow. >> on the moving sidewalk, doing what people do on the moving sidewalk, all right? she just -- i love -- you know what? a lot of flights are canceled today because of the bad weather. you might take a note from ashl ashley. >> apparently she was the only one there. >> look at her. you know what? >> darn flexible. >> she set up her camera. what was she doing? >> he you ever been stranded overnight? >> yes. who hasn't? >> yes, of course. >> but what do you do? >> i think she's going to get a job out of this. >> i hope she does. >> just for her moxie alone. >> i like ashley. >> one of the ashleys we like. >> you're trouble. >> the other withins know who they are. >> okay. >> all right. this is the question this week. is it okay to wear your shower cap outside?

>> let's show the pictures. you've got them right there. kathy griffin, perez hilton and snoop dogg. >> 90% of the people quizzed said no. listen to what hoda says. it is all about protecting the lid. everything for you is that. >> yes, it is. >> if it's sprinkling outside and you have weather-sensitive hair, then absolutely cap t otherwise, lose it. >> see, because if you have hair that is tough to manage, i would rather look like an idiot with the cap on than see what your hair looks like after. >> first of all, you get a mark on your face. >> no, you move it up here. i know how to work the cap. no, you don't let it go right here. you move it up. here is what kathie lee says. flat out, no. and these photos are three reasons why. >> exactly. >> but look, it's raining. look at kathy griffin's picture. it's raining. >> use an umbrella. >> you don't have one. it happens to be in your bag. >> but you have a shower cap?

>> i always have a shower cap from the gym. i have one. no. if i don't have an umbrella, trust me, i would put that cap on. in two seconds i would put it on. >> you come here after the gym. >> i'm just saying -- >> and get your hair done. >> right, but in a jam i would definitely put -- >> what about you, adam? >> other girl with his weather-sensitive hair understand what i'm talking about. >> we all have weather-sensitive hair. >> no, not like me. you don't get it. when we're out in the rain you're like, i'm fine. when i'm out in the rain, i'm freak iing out. please, somebody. i put a bag on my head, anything. >> so you're the reason we're not at the olympics. adam, do you think it's an attractive look? >> no, personally. not for me. but whatever floats your boat. thirst day, neither of you have touched your -- what are they clamato juice? >> bloody mary. >> i had a tad before we started. it's good. >> if you say. olympics are coming to a close, not going out quietly with this

vonn/mancuso rivalry. kristen says they're teammates but in the olympics it is every man for themselves. >> there's a difference between being teammates and friends. do they consider themselves friends? >> you don't have to say something bad about the other person. >> i'm with you, hoda woman. every time i'm tempted to about you, i just zip it. >> since when? since when? >> cindy says they are human. they are female and in competition for medals. what do you expect? >> oh, excuse me. >> female? who said that? >> a woman said that? >> cindy played the part. >> cindy, cindy, cindy. >> probably -- >> what? >> lindsey lost control as she heads downhill. >> good news for apolo ohno. sara haines will have it all. oh, she's inside. >> otherwise she would need this shower cap. >> after this. d chicken recipe? okay, savory rice and lamb stew. d chicken recipe? [ barks ] you're right. tonight is a beef stew kind of night. you've made another fine choice. look at those beefy chunks all packed with protein,

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haines, live from vancouver. >> so glad she's toasty and warm. >> yeah. >> as the olympics wind down, the events seem to get more exciting. sara has all the action. >> reporter: i played the weather card as well. it was inside or a shower cap outside. >> good girl. >> a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. >> how is lindsey vonn's finger? she broke it going down the hill. >> reporter: yeah, she did. you spoke about the rivalry. the weather conditions is the real story. the reason they were so close skiing, they were trying to rush the intervals. it was actually to the benefit of the competitors that they had her go down first and no one plans on falling. so, it's upsetting, but it's really out of everyone's hands. >> and because the conditions were deteriorating, they said, last night. >> reporter: which is why when she sent back to the top, she had to go down 31st. >> she was having a very good

run as well. >> right. >> that's the other reason she was disappointed. >> reporter: yes. >> is the drama -- we're talking about it because it's all on the wires but is the drama somethi that's big there in vancouver? are people talking about it? >> reporter: it's not really. i mean, it's news of the day type thing. like yesterday i was definitely glued to my iphone, clicking around, trying to figure it out. it's not something that dominates right now. the weather is getting crappy and people are more concerned about when they're going to ski and perform than they are about this. >> watch your language, please. >> yeah, that was terrible. that was awful. we're kidding. we're kidding. sara, forget that. it's hockey time, all right? the u.s. and canada are going at it for the gold and that's exciting, in the women's. >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: in the women's and the men are one step closer to hopefully facing off again. u.s.a. has to beat finland first. interesting point there is that finland knocked them out in torino and went on to win

silver. this will be a big game. >> is that the hot ticket then? i guess that is. >> payback time, baby! >> reporter: hockey is always the hot ticket. >> how about apolo ohno? every time he skates and he's done and he does one of those interviews he just exudes happiness. >> joy. >> like he's having so much fun. >> seems to have the right attitude. >> reporter: a happy dude. he is a returning gold medalist. it's no surprise, we're all hoping when he skates on friday he comes home with another medal. he deserves it. >> something interesting with the women's short track. we watched the video. there was a little pushing and shoving between china and -- who was the other team? >> sounds like you and me in the make-up room in the morning. >> stop. >> reporter: they ended, the u.s. women end ed a 16-year drought by getting that bronze. south korea was dq' d which allowed us to get that bronze. >> they were disqualified. >> reporter: yeah, because they were dq'd.

>> that's part of the relay? you can push them? >> reporter: yes. >> that's what i was doing to you. >> i can't even talk to her. the women's skate is tonight. >> second part of the competition. >> reporter: yes. and we all saw such an awesome performance the other night. kim yu-na, clear leader. i'm excited to see mao asada, trying to make olympic history by landing two triple axles. >> wow! >> one after the other, you mean, or within the program? >> reporter: i don't know if it's just in the program. >> why are you quizzing her like this? >> i'm fascinated by that. >> who would know if it's one after the next or in the program. >> that's why i ask the question. people want to know. find out. >> sara, don't worry about it. >> reporter: i'm on it. >> sara, don't worry about it. >> thank you. >> we'll catch up with her in a little bit. the dog whisperer's

treadmill trick to get your dog ready for spring. spring is actually on its way. um, i said "cover up or your hands will be in for a long dry spell. [ male announcer ] when the forecast calls for winter hands, reach for dawn hand renewal with olay beauty it goes beyond dishwashing to help your hands seal in moisture while you do the dishes. [ sponge ] so smooth. so soft. who could have predicted that? [ male announcer ] dawn does more... [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. to stay in your taco? ¿qué si ponemos los frijoles refritos? [ male announcer ] old el paso refried beans. the tasty way to keep toppings in your taco. feed your fiesta.

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that can irritate your dog. we've got the dog whisperer. >> cesar is here. >> hi, cesar. >> caeseas cesar millan, take i >> we want to talk about the dog you love, daddy. tell us about this little guy here. >> this pitbull -- my boy, daddy, passed away last friday. >> i'm sorry. >> last friday, ah. he was a champ for all the pits, you know, in measurinamerica an world. definitely made a difference for a lot of people. >> these are adoptable dogs, by the way. you, too, could have this much fun at home. >> my dog is off the leash. >> ooh. >> here, here, here. let me give you that. give that to him. >> i got it. >> you got it? okay, good.

okay. so, let's talk about what -- the dog's over there. he's over there. all right. it is springtime. >> it's springtime is coming. i'm very excited i'm doing something really new, which is a nepet friendly approach of cleaning. a lot of dogs get afraid of certain tools when you clean the house. since you're coming into springtime, it will be a great tool to use. see this pool, many times when gs get itching in their body, give them a cold shower and that calms them down. >> just a cool shower? >> something generic that everybody has at home. >> some dogs love the bath and others don't like it at all. >> it's a good time to practice calm assertive energy so your dog learns to relax. it's a good outcome after that. >> allergy season affects dogs as well. >> prevention, so give them omega 3, omega 6, it enriches the skin, gives them nice oil in the skin and helps. many dogs can't do exercise

outside because excess amount of pollen. >> how do you know if your dog has allergies? what will they be doing? >> the eyes. >> drain? >> discharge, redness in the eyes, the nose, they start sniffing a lot, scratching a lot, chewing a lot, licking a lot. >> my dog goes -- >> please don't do that anymore. >> i'm very concerned about louie. is that an allergy? >> it could be. always consult your vet, always, always, always. >> the thing is -- can you hold this guy right here -- or this girl right here? >> we're going to take this guy on the treadmill, good. >> this is for dogs who can't really go outside. i'm sorry. start. treadmill is a perfect combination that you can do for exercise. >> is that how you should stand over your dog? >> this is one way. it's not a general way. it's just for him to be comfortable so he doesn't go on this side or that side. >> i see. >> they enjoy that, cesar?

>> eventually, they do. the challenge is buffing things out. it also prevents for a dog to become more, you know, with the allergies outside. >> this dog likes me. >> he's sweet. >> these are the plant that is can be very toxic for your dog. >> the bulbs or the flower. >> what comes out of it. if they chew on it, they can have diarrhea, all these things, side effects. >> we only have 30 seconds, cesar, honey, sorry. >> no, that's okay. these are some of the products you can use and here is for traveling time, springtime, can you travel with your dog. >> for swiffer, is that right? >> yes. >> it's all on our website. the dogs are up for adoption, everybody. 80 calories? 80 calories! light & fit is so creamy and irresistibly delicious, it's hard to believe it has 80 calories versus 100 in the other leading brand. do you always eat like that? i love light & fit.

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coming up today at midday. >> this is newark airport this morning. dealing with heavy snow. we don't have to worry about the snow around here, but high winds will be an issue. we'll have the latest on the forecast. good morning, everyone and welcome, i'm barbara harris. also coming up on news4 midday, it's hard to get tickets. we'll tell you what you need to do to g

we're back on this thursday to play "who knew?" we have a feeling you can guess this week's trivia topic. we're talking about the olympics. kathie lee is across the street at the nbc.com digital cafe, ready to hand out 100 bucks to those who answer the questions correctly. to those who don't, they get her cd. bruce beck is a good friend of ours. he is here to help us out and share some interesting facts about the winter games. you think the people will be sharp? >> i think they will know what's going on. they've been watching the

vancouver games and are energetic about the games. >> it's a rowdy crowd here today. they're all trying to escape the big storm outside. and many, many canadians here. these folks, beautiful young girls are from nova scotia, right? >> yes. >> which of the following is not the name of a figure skating trick, the flying camel, the death spiral, the vertigo plunge or the lutz jump? >> i think the death spiral. >> oh, no, that's real. it's your lucky day. look at that kathie lee cd. >> the right answer, bruce, is -- there is actually a death spiral, but the vertigo plunge. >> are we talking about dizziness here? no. the death spiral is absolutely fascinating. >> what is the death spiral? >> when a woman's head is close to the otherwise. it's in pairs figure skating. this is a required element. it's one of the most exciting parts of the whole routine. sometimes you'll see a woman parallel to the ice with her head dangling. that's fairly dangerous when you talk about the death spiral.

>> no kidding. let's go back across to kath. >> frank and i do the death spiral every month. what year did the winter limp you cans officially start? 300 bc, 1600, 1865, when frank originally covered it, and 1924? which one, baby? >> 1924. >> and you would be right. ye there you go. and here y go. it won't go far in new york, but have fun. >> 1924 the first? >> 258 athletes competed now there's 2,000 athletes. the competitors actually paraded in uniform and would carry their equipment over their shoulders. >> you're kidding. where was the first one, do you know? >> 1924? i'm not sure. you got me. >> i didn't know. i was just wondering. let's go back across to kath. >> there's a broadway show called "memphis" have you seen it? go see it. it's fantastic. u.s. snowboarder shaun white

landed which never-before-seen trick during his victory run in the men's snowboard halfpipe, the 1020 backflip twist, the trim 1260 big mac, or the double mctwist 360? who knows? no, not it could be. >> it's the double mctwist. >> yeah. why didn't you say so? >> so it's the double mctwist 360? >> shaun white, back-to-back gold medals, gets tremendous air up there, big air. amplitude is amazing. he won it on his first run, went back and performed his second run where he did the double mctwist 360 and had a higher score the second time. >> it's a 360 and 360 and whatever is leftover, 180.

>> don't try it at home. >> lovely family from bedford, nehampshire. where will the next winter olympics be held? sweden, russia, united states or switzerland? it's an hour show. we would appreciate it if -- >> sweden. >> lovely country, but wrong! but you're going to love my sentimental album. >> she's giving away a lot of those. the correct answer is russia. >> we're going back to russia, first me since 1980. we'll be in sochi, a resort town by the black sea. maria sharapova, three-time grand slam champion was 5 years old, learned the game there. so chi will be interesting. we will have a triathlon, winter tri triathlon. it will be interesting. >> you are from bermuda?

there's a story there. true or false, men's canadian hockey team has won the most medals for their event during the history of the winter games. true or false? >> true. >> you know what she said? frue. >> no, no. the answer is false. >> you had to take a guess there. >> it'not the canadians? >> it's the u.s., believe it or not. u.s. has 21 overall medals and canada has seven. they might meet again in the gold medal game. if it goes right on sunday at 3:15. it would be unreal. >> look at the camera before you go and mouth "i love you j.j." >> i love you j.j. >> it's our own little secret. but thank you so much. up next, where do you measure up on the savings scale, right afr this. ♪ mmm... hot fudge sundae.

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we're back with with "today's" money with one very good reason to start saving your money. >> it's americ saves week. started out with margaritas and now it's saves. chances are whatever you have it's just not enough. headed by a 43-year-old, average american family has a retirement savings of just under $19,000. jean chatzky is here to help. you're trying, jean. >> we're doing our best.

>> is anybody listeninging? >> people are listening more than they were a few years ago. we were spending more money than we earned. >> like our government. >> yes. >> i find it interesting. now we have less but we're saving more. why is that? >> because we're terrified. we have seen these numbers but we've seen jobs dry up. we've seen the stock market meander and figure we better save money because nobody else is going to. >> you said it was a negative 3% savings rate before. what percentage of our salaries should we be saving? >> if you can save 10% you're doing inkred icredibly well. i know that sounds like a lot. but money going into a 401(k) and it's being matched, count all those matching dollars. if you hit your 40s and you haven't started, you really have to save 15, which sounds like a ton. and it is, but you have to do it. when we get to retirement, social security is only going to provide about 40% of what you're earning. you have to make up the slack. >> what do you say to people, though, who are barely making it? >> who can't even make their mortgages? >> it's hard to save.

i know you heard this a million times. what should you do? >> you do whatever you can. if you can't hit the 10% or 5%, you save 3%. you do what you can. >> would you suggest people put money in the stock market at this point with the volatility that we have? >> it depends on who you are. for most people, the stock market is an absolute necessity because it's the only way you're going to keep up with taxes and inflation over the long term. you put money in a money market account and, yes, it's safe except that it doesn't earn enough to keep up with taxes and inflation. >> and it's long term and penalties if you take it out sooner. >> not money market. that's a cd. >> cd, right. >> we've heard about different str strategies but jean come with his new, unique things for our show. this isn't for everybody. this is for the 10:00 hour. >> and you know who you are. >> number one, pretend you're shopping. what does that even me? >> your brain likes shopping, right? we see people -- we see their brains using mris when they see something they want to buy like gorgeous shoes and their brains light up like christmas trees, right? retirement and other savings goals are boring.

they don't do that to our brains. you can't save for retirement. you have to save for house on the beach or a trip for the bahamas or whatever it is you happen to be saving for. name it, cut out a picture, put it on your fridge and make it tangible. >> your next tip is approach it like an athlete in training. >> so, you ran a race recently. you didn't go out and say, i'm going to run 13 miles. you said i'm going to start with two and i'll build to three and four. >> no, that's what natalie did. >> i didn't do it. i didn't train. >> you have the two confused. >> that's what we have to do. you can't say i'm going to save $10,000 tomorrow. >> yes, i get it. i'm going to save $25 this week. >> small goal. >> small goals. >> here is another one. pick the rig friends. what does that mean exactly? >> that means if you are trying not to shop and you have a friend who is a shop-aholic, don't hang out with her so much. >> that is a bad influence. >> if you have a friend who is

thrifty and will be happy to go for a walk in the park, excellent. >> or one that is lo everybody to go out to eat -- >> no, pot luck at my house. >> yes. >> you look really great. >> thank you. i went on a little vacation. >> you look fantastic. >> thank you, thank you. harvey firestein is up next, leaving broadway to take the world tour. >> he's huge! >> the entire world. >> very big. >> i'm dancing. i'm dancing. [ male announcer ] now you can have the white smile you want with the rembrandt 2 hour whitening kit. proven to visibly whiten teeth in just 2 hours! rembrandt is a name that i trust. my teeth are whiter. can you see? i am so confident when my smile is white. there's nothing that can stop me. move aside, here i come! [ male announcer ] save up to $8 off rembrandt products at 1rembrandt.com.

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best known for his cross-dressing role as edna turnblad, actor and playwright harvey fierstein is back on broadway with lots of tradition. >> tradition! >> american tour "fiddler on the roof" starring as the humble milkman. hi, harvey.

>> i've never done a tour before. i've never been away from home this long. it's fun to come back. >> what was your first reaction when they asked you? you are not known for wanting to go out on the road. you are a new york boy. >> and a homebody. i loved it so much and said if i dot do it, will i ever get a chance to play tevia again? then i thought of the rest of the cast. what happened was tople was doing his farewell tour, he got hurt and couldn't continue and i said i could put like 100 people out of work if i don't do this. i'll do it. i'll do it. i love doing it. the cast is wonderful. >> is it daunting taking on this role? so many people before you have played this role. >> right. the nice part is that you don't worry about that. you have the script in front of you. >> you do the work. >> you do your own thing. >> say this is the work i have to do. my tevia is different than the rest of the tevias, as the writers will tell you. i focus on the heavy stuff but

also the humor. >> it's a tragic story, but a beautiful love story in so many ways. >> and that score. >> the score is unbelievable. >> i melt every night listening to it. >> sunrise, sunset. >> matchmaker, matchmaker, if i were a rich man. the audience can sing it along with you. >> you could probably teach us to do a little bit of the -- couldn't you? my arms are going to flap. i don't want to do that. i'll do it down here. >> i have to sing down here. ♪ if i were a wealthy man >> playing his understudy. >> 2,000 performances as tevia when i can't be there this week and one more week i can't be there. theodore teval plays tevia. >> do you like this?

do you want to get rid of that beard? >> i like it. you don't have to shave in the morning. it's nice. >> feels good? >> it's nice. >> writing twother new shows coming to broadway. >> very bus. >> i you're on the road and there's a lot of empty time on the road. >> there's no empty time. i shop! i shop! are you kidding? >> what do you shop for? >> if i were a rich man. >> i go antiquing. my next city is austin and i have the list of antiques there, then ft. worth, i don't have that list, then atlanta, georgia, i already have that list. >> how long are you on the road? >> till june 23rd. we finish in cleveland june 23rd and i started in december. it's like seven month. >> the great thing about being harvey, most -- >> what is that? >> most performance worry about their voice. he doesn't have to. we're always worried we're going to get hoarse. he is hoarse. >> if you sang with me every day, you would know i actually do have to. >> the difference? >> it was ethel merman who said when you do a musical you are signing into the nunnery.

you can't go out late. i can't go to restaurants that are noisy. i don't drink anymore anyway, but you can't really drink because alcohol is not good for your voice. >> that's my problem. >> you just spend -- making sure all your energy is there for eight performances a week. >> wlove you, harvey. >> good luck. >> first date on this show. >> and i love watching the two of you. you're on at a decent hour. decent hour of the "today" show. 10:00 to 11:00, it's like cabaret hour. an interesting olympic sport gets

there is no snow but still an olympic sport. >> takes place on ice, but there's no skating. >> sounds like fun.

it is curling, the most misunderstood sports by americans. >> so sara signed up for a lesson by the u.s. olympic team. good for you, sara. >> it's been called shuffleboard on ice, wrack up points by getting your stone closest to the center of what's called the house. it's obviously easier said than done. i hopped on the ice for a rundown of the basics from team u.s.a. coach phil drobnik. >> that was 42 pounds? >> half your weight probably. >> half my weight. oh, i love you. you need a stone, a broom and a shoe that helps you glide over the ice. in my case, a warm coat is also mandatory. how cold is it in here? >> 34 degrees and, you know, probably feels today like it's about 25. >> four positions on the ice at any given time. the first is the person who delivers the throw. >> you're going to bring your hips up, your foot back and then drive with this leg and catch with this leg. so it's like --

>> okay. maybe i'll not meant to throw. call me cinderella, because i think sweepingay be my calling. >> basically the whole point of sweeping is to make the rock go farther or straighter. people think it will speed it up but it can't. >> melts little drops of water on the ice and helps the rock curl toward the center, or the button. >> perfect. >> i'm eausted. >> perfect. >> you have to put the full weight of your body into the broom. my final lesson is learning how to skip or quarterback my team on the ice. >> this one -- >> yep. >> to the nine. >> sometimes you don't even talk. say someone is like here and they tap back here. >> is that cool to do? i want to be a cool skip. i just go -- go. >> perfect. >> yeah. >> hurry hard! hurry! keep it clean. keep it clean. keep it clean. keep it clean. ooh, we did it!

so i probably will never make the olympic curling team, but thanks to chris and phil, i have a new-found understanding and respect for their sport. >> where are my sweepers? >> that was genius. >> curling is to her what ice skating is to somebody i know. >> us. >> to us. tomorrow, more live from vancouver before sunday's closing ceremony. medal-worthy ambush makeovers. we'll take you behind the scenes this show. it's not pretty. >> stay warm, everybody. it's not pretty. >> stay warm, everybody. ve an awesome day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com