ann thompson is live for us in sochi on a day where there has been heavy precipitation, we're told. ann, i'm going to offer our viewers a spoiler alert really quickly. close your eyes, cover your ears. don't change the channel though. we'll give you a few seconds. there we go. david wise of reno, nevada, just claimed gold in the men's ski ha half-pipe. . >> i'm actually in krasnaya p y polyana which is the mountain venue. up there it was really miserable. they had very wet snow, and, in fact, in the men's ski halfpipe tonight, david wise, he posted a 92 on his first run, and on his second run he crashed, but that 92 was good enough to hold up for a gold medal. many of his competitors fell because the snow was very wet and there have been complaint all throughout these games of the condition of the halfpipe, and i can tell you it didn't get any better tonight. >> how about on the women's side? the american mikaela shiffrin with a somewhat digs appointing fifth in her debut in the games in the giant slalom. what's next for her? >> well, she runs in her best race. that's the slat okay,

nbc's anne thompson has our report. >> reporter: tonight the u.s. wants to dump the speed skating suits once touted as revolutionary. six long track events, zero olympic medals in the mach 39, the high-tech suit made by under armour with lockheed martin, the maker of fighter jets and rockets. now the americans are asking if they can switch back to their old under armour suits. >> there will be no three-peat. >> reporter: this week after shani davis, the world's best finished a shocking eighth in the 1000 meters, heather richardson and the women altered the new suits for last night's race. >> a patch to cover up the vent that was originally on the suits when the team arrived here at sochi. >> reporter: that vent is supposed to reduce body heat. but it's suspected of creating drag and slowing the racers down. >> heather richards is going to have to keep the tempo up a little bit. >> reporter: at the usa house it was all smiles as russian president vladimir putin paid a surprise visit, sipping wine, talking sports, not politics. while on this valentine

anne thompson high above us as day one is history. ann, thanks. >>> and topping the second straight day now, the pacific northwest is getting slammed by a powerful storm bringing torrential rain and record-setting snow. on the upside, however, is the need for precipitation of course during the history-making drought all the way to the south in california. we get our report tonight from nbc's joe fryer. >> reporter: thirsty for any hint of water, the west coast is finally getting what it needs. but in oregon, the winter weather comes with a price, 600 crashes statewide and a ten-mile interstate backup near salem that stranded hundreds of motorists for hours. >> i have never seen anything like this. >> reporter: in portland, a city that rarely sees snow, five inches is already enough to make this the most snowy february in 21 years, other parts of the state have seen a foot or more. in drought-stricken california, rain is hitting much needed snow falls on the sierra nevada mountains, prompting major traffic jams as skiers flee to higher

our report tonight from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: hurdling down a mountain track at 85 miles an hour, jasmine fenlator says riding a bobsled is a dance between aggression and finesse. >> in less than the blink of an eye you need to adapt and change and get back on the line. >> reporter: jasmine's 28 years is a story about a patient. as a child she dreamed of dancing her way to the olympics. >> at 6 years old, saying i'm going to write to a congressman to tell him he needs to put dance in the olympics. my mom's like, whatever you want, whatever you think you can do, i'll support you. >> reporter: her mom's susan's support would be there all jasmine's life, especially facing indelicate questions from her middle school classmates. >> are you adopted? no, that's my mom. why don't you look like her? she's white, my dad's black and i'm brown. i don't understand why you don't understand. >> reporter: the dancing child became a teenaged track star. her skills set wouldn't get her to the summer games. but her college coach recommended jasmine to the u.s. bobsled team. had you ever bee

anne thompson is up at the nearby alpine center above us in the mountains over sochi. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it was a day of firsts. the first competitions in the mountains. the first olympic snowboard slope style runs, and the first time americans have competed at an olympics in russia. the 22nd winter olympics took off at the extreme park where the equally extreme fans watched the snowboard slope style qualifications for men and women. one of the competitors, 19-year-old karly shorr from milford, michigan, seeing her mom, mo, for the first time since making the olympic team. >> go get it! go get it! >> i love you. >> i love you more. >> reporter: her challenge? the controversial course altered earlier in the week after some athletes complained it was dangerous. a series of rails and jumps to take her mom's breath away. >> when she flies over those jumps, what happens to your heart? >> i'm good now. it took me a while but i'm okay. >> reporter: in the sparks of the enthusiastic crowd, amber kipke, an olympic volunteer is a long way from h

anne thompson is up at the mountain top ski venue for us tonight. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. you know, today the winter olympics felt like the spring games. forcing officials to cancel the practice runs for the women's downhill and creating a backdrop for one of the biggest upsets at these games so far. at the mountain olympic venues today, the weather was the toughest competitor. the cross country free sprint at times was more like a demolition derby than a race. skiers stumbling on snow turned so mushy by 40 degree temperatures, it was described as mashed potatoes. snow conditions and design complaints plagued the men's snowboard halfpipe. one fan struck gold when after making the finals, shaun white climbed over the barrier to greet 10-year-old ben hughes. make-a-wish sent the cancer survivor to the olympics with his family. can you stay up until the very end? >> yes. >> reporter: and now hughes wants to grow up to be an engineer or a snowboarder. what are you going to tell your friends about this experience when you go

anne thompson, nbc news, park city. >>> and that's our broadcast on a monday night. thank you for being here with us as we start off a new week. i'm brian williams reporting to you tonight from the winter olympic games in sochi. a reminder, it may be coming up on 4:00 a.m. here. your night is just getting started. prime time coverage begins at 8/7:00 central a reminder of the prime time >>> right now at 6:00, it is the winter many people have been waiting for. lots of snow bringing northern california a little closer to what it needs when it comes to water, but the snow is just part of the story. good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre. >> i'm raj mathai. we're trying out from the first major storms of the year that brought inches of rain to the bay area, several inches in many parts but it wasn't an even spread. >> look here, a good soaking on the right and the south bay, the reservoir still empty, deer grazing where there is supposed to be water. >> terry mcsweeney is looking at snow pack and chris sanchez is measuring numbers but we begin with jef

anne thompson, nbc news, sochi. >>> that's our broadcast on a monday night as we start off a new week here. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we, of course, hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> right now at 6:00, the wild ride on wall street and it's not a good thing. it impacts millions of people and investors with 401 k acounts. >> i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. a month worth of losses have lots of people in the bay area wondering what is going on and why the market is so jittery and what happens now? >> scott budman joins us with answers. >> the market has been on a roll for years but after a 5% drop in the month of january, february started with another steep loss. is it time to get out of stocks or time to take a deep breath and think about the long term? stocks in february picked up where they left off in january with a big loss, more than 300 points down on the dow, more than 1 0 poi0 points lost on th nasdaq. but san jose financial planner hilary martin points out a month of steep losses is not a full blown crisis, espe

as we say, this is our dream team, richard engel and pete williams and ann thompson. let's turn to another geopolitical strain on the russian/american controversy. joining me now chris cillizza, managing editor of postpolitics.com and "washington post" columnist, ruth marcus, we're talking about yogurt and chobani and i have to disclose, i eat it all the time. with that, chris cillizza, even chuck schumer has gotten into this. what is the problem with putin blocking our yogurt for our athletes. >> chobani made in new york and chuck schumer involving himself, it is basically at the airport for the u.s. winter olympic team being blocked according to schumer because of sort of unattainable demands being made by the russians to get it over to our people. but you point out, golly, this is the latest -- might be minor, but the latest in a long string of our not so friendly relations with russia in the last years. >> and ruth marcus, let's talk about this. yogurt is yogurt, but when it isn't when you have an international situation. >> international yogurt situation. >> tens

we should all have those kind of problems, andrea. >> anne thompson, thanks so much. and of course, the ice skating has just been tremendous. the fact that in the first team ice skating event ever, team america, team usa, got the bronze. i mean, that's a very big deal, too, correct? >> reporter: absolutely. and how about britain's gold perfope -- britney gold's performance. she was a surprise at nationals and boy has she come through in the olympic competition so far. >> we'll stay in touch with you. thanks so much, anne thompson, thanks for being with us. >> reporter: take care, andrea. >> thanks to richard as well. >>> in other sporting news, big news here, s.e.c. defensor player of the year and missouri player michael sam has announced he is gay. now sam is poised to become pro football's first openly gay player depending on what happens in the draft. >> i'm not afraid of who i am. i'm not afraid to tell the world who i am. i am michael sam. i am a college graduate. i'm african-american, and i'm gay. >> evan cohen is host of "evan & phillips in the morning" on spor

we're bringing in nbc's anne thompson to do that. with a good day to you, or evening your time. after some disappointing results in the downhill, bode miller had so much pressure, so much riding on him in the super g. so, give it up, how did he do? >> he really ran an incredible race. as he said, he skied very raw in the super-g today. one spectator described him at the end of the race looking like a wild man. but it was good enough for a third place finish, a bronze medal. when that was announced, bode miller got tears in his eyes and got incredibly emotional because you'll remember that last year, he lost his younger brother who was a snowboarder, who hoped to be at these olympics with bode, and he died of a seizure in mammoth lakes, california. and miller said today that it all sort of just came together for him. he skied very raw. and when he got down there, his emotions just overwhelmed him and he thought of the brother that he lost, alex. >> yeah. well, that was a very poignant moment, no doubt, but he's the number one record-ho

nbc's anne thompson has been counting those gold for us. she's live in sochi. e a spoiler alert to those folks listening. although it may not be much of a spoiler. the women's teams locked at zero after the first period. tomorrow, it will be the men's teams for usa and canada playing for gold there. president, as you heard, was talking about the games last night, now, according to his twitter, as you and i have been watching he's bet some beer on the outcome. there it is. >> reporter: that he has. >> what do we expect as we're watching the women's hockey match at the moment? >> reporter: well, right now, you said, it's tied 0-0, after the first period. the usa had a couple of power play chances but absolutely failed to capital united states on them. and as you said, this is a grudge match, richard. the last time the usa won gold in minimum's hockey was in 1998. in this olympics, the usa women's team lost to canada last week, 3-2. they are really looking. he want to come back. they want to get that gold medal because in 2010 in vancouver, the women's final game i

anne thompson is here in the mountain venue high above us in sochi, good evening, anne. >> reporter: good evening, brian, it has been a big and successful day for team usa here in the mountains and on the ice ring in sochi. but here is a spoiler alert because i am about to talk about results that have been widely reported. in an impressive demonstration of speed and skill, usa hockey easily beat the czech republic. but there will be no re-match of 1980s miracle on ice. russian's gold ambition, once player pegged it at $50 billion, the price of these games, crushed by finland, eliminating the home team by 3-1. dstsyuk captained the russian squad. >> we did everything, we can't score today. >> reporter: this proved too much for the sochi mascots and the fans to bear. >> it is not a good day for hockey today. >> reporter: in the giant slalom, ted ligety capped a dominating performance. how sweet is this? >> this is really awesome. i've worked so hard. >> reporter: ligety had had a lackluster olympics until today. >> it is really good to be out there competing for your country, and on th

anne thompson continues to follow it from sochi. anne, big win. what did this one mean to team usa?rter: i'll tell you what, i was there, craig, and it was absolutely electric. ted ligety put down an amazing first run in the giant slalom yesterday, and then he was more cautious on his second run, but it didn't matter because he had built up such a huge lead. and the giant slalom is ted ligety's signature event. it is the event where he really carves the snow like an artist. and he did so yesterday. and ted ligety is a really kind of calm, laidback guy. as i say, he's always working at about 98.6. you know, he never gets real overly excited or really overly down. and yesterday when he came off the hill and i got a chance to speak to him, he's, like, that's awesome ap pnld it does mean a lot to team usa because quite frankly i think the americans' results in alpine skiing have been pretty disappointing so far. andrew weibrecht got a silver and bode miller got a bronze earlier this -- in this olympiad, and julian mancuso got a bronze, but this is the first gold and it's a big boost of

anne thompson joining me next from the mountains of sochi. stay with us. re late.had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ when i'm training, i always listen to music. for the gym, it's hip-hop. for cross-country, classical. and for jumps, i need something...special. so i use my citi thankyou visa card for music downloads and earn two times the points... plus a little extra inspiration. [ ♪ music plays ] the citi thankyou preferred visa card. earn two times the points on entertainment and dining out with no annual fee. citi, with you every step of the way. >>> there you see it, the olympic torch has finally arrived in

and nbc's anne thompson joins us now with more on the day. >> reporter: good evening, lester. a new olympic star for team usa and a skating controversy marked this second friday of the olympics. but here is a spoiler alert. because i'm about to talk about some results that have been widely reported today. the u.s. and canada, peaceful neighbors except on the ice. tonight the u.s. men would fare no better than the u.s. women the night before, losing 1-0. team usa will now play for bronze. >> you know, we still have an opportunity to win something tomorrow, so that is the focus now. >> reporter: controversy still swirls over the lady's figure skating results. south korea is defending champion yuna kim gave a beautiful, artistic performance. but the judges gave the medal to adelina sotnikova, whose athleticism and passion electrified the home crowd. some are crying foul. nbc's olympic figure skating analyst scott hamilton says the judges got it right. >> adelina sotnikova was the best athlete on the ice last night. she may not have been the most beautiful artistically, but she wa

anne thompson, nbc's correspondent, up on the mountain is talking to both davis and shaun white righte information about how they think some of these changes may or may not have helped. i think it is worth noting that there were problems in vancouver with the course, and they were able to make it if not the best course, some of these snowboarders have ever seen, at least to the point where they felt like it was okay. >> yeah. >> reporter: we'll see what happens. the weather certainly not cooperating. i just started to feel a little rain here. when i was up on the mountain, it's really warm. that's obviously part of the problem that's making the slow really slushy. >> really quickly, it seems as if we watch some of these events, it looks like there are a lot of empty seats. >> reporter: well, it depends on the event. luge, of all things, yesterday was 100% sold out. figure skating, more than 90%. in fact, they say most of the events are in the 90s. look, there are some lesser events people don't go to. they've actually had some volunteers kind of filling in the seats not just for the t

anne thompson is up in the mountains at rosa khutor with more. , good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. you know, one of the biggest surprises of these olympic games is the fact that no u.s. long track speed skater has made it to the medal podium, despite the fact that some of the best skaters in the world are on that squad. so, team usa is changing what the athletes wear. it's got to be the suits. u.s. speed skating apparently thinks so, announcing it's ditching the suits once touted as revolutionary, made by under armour with the help of lockheed martin, maker of fighter jets and rockets. after six long track events, the u.s., a team that had dominated, so far has come out empty-handed with zero olympic medals. >> there will be no three-peat. >> reporter: shaan yni davis, t world's best, finished a shocking eighth. >> richards will have to keep the tempo up a little bit. >> reporter: heather richardson and the american women altered the new suits for thursday's race. >> a patch to cover up the vent that was originally on the suits when

i'm anne thompson at the olympic mountain venues., thank you for that. >>> we are go to return to sochi in a bit for a look at the americans to watch in the pursuit of olympic gold. we are going meet a u.s. olympic ice dancing duo, brother and sister. they are darling. >>> today turkish authorities are speaking to the 45-year-old ukrainian man who tried to hijack plane to associate write. the alleged hijacker's plan was thwarted by the quick thinking of the crew that turned off the in-plight mapping system and landed in istanbul just as planned. with us now is duncan golastanwi with more on what we are learning of this story. who is this man, duncan? do we know anything about him and why he did this? >> details are still remarkably sketchy as he is being questioned by police. this we think we know. the ukrainian man allegedly claimed he had a bomb onboard and tried to get the flight diverted to sochi. the crew tricks him into believing that was happening. instead the plane landed in istanbul, turkey. the governor of istanbul tells tu

ann thompson joining us me now from the mountains of ros rosa khotur.better way than with these climatic contests? >> reporter: they have been fabulous. as you said, the women's gold medal match last night was heartbreaking for team usa. team usa led 2-0 in the third period. and canada came back and scored two quick goals at the end of the game and then they actually took their goalee off the ice, there was an empty net shot that usa had and it hit the post of the net, went into overtime and team usa lost. the men hope to have better luck tonight but as you said the score is 1-0 with about 13 minutes left in the third period. and 1-0 in canada's favor. >> in canada's favor. i hope we don't have to see another one of these victory dances but this is rob forge, mayor of tarrant jumping up and down reacting to the win. there's the video of rob ford who is doing his own victory dance in his own way. so let's talk about women's skating, the figure skating because the long programs last night also heartbreaking. the americans didn't medal. and they finished i

anyway, nbc's anne thompson, thank you so much for that. that's a wrap for things for me.ext, men's h norway versus finland. >>> it's time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. when charlie created a golf accessory company, stitch golf, he wanted to source his supplies locally. he found them by going door to door throughout the state, finding the perfect partners and helping the local small business economy. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to

and joining me now for the latest and greatest from russia, nbc's ann thompson and olympic security analyst andrew weiss with more on that break being news, an attempted hijacking on a plane enroute to ukraine where the hijacker threatened that he or she had a bomb and demandeded to go to sochi. ann, i don't know if you've been briefed in sochi, security very tight there and you've been through that airport so you know about the security at that airport. >> reporter: yes, security is very tight here, andrea, but that hijacking threat certainly hasn't impacted us here up at the mountain venue. i can tell you yesterday when we were going up to the slopestyle competition, our van was stopped by security. we had to take everything out halfway up the mountain. they put all of our equipment through an x-ray machine. they made us go through an x-ray machine. and they searched the van and so you have those checkpoints all along the way. they are very conscious that something -- that people could target these games. but they are doing everything they can to keep both the athletes and the spectators

anne thompson is with us just making her way to that sliding centre. morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. the accident happened just before the finish line at the bobsled run here at the sliding centre. three workers were on the track and they could hear a sled coming down. it's called a forerunner sled, if you think of a pace car at the indianapolis 500, that's essentially its purpose. it's to test the track conditions and it's also used for timing. well, they could hear that sled coming down and you can see people waving the workers off the track. two of the workers were able to jump the barrier. the third worker could not. he was hit by the sled and then you see him fly several feet in the air. what's really amazing is how fast emergency medical personnel got to him. within 45 seconds of that accident they had a stretcher on the track. they took him away in an ambulance. he has been taken to a local hospital where we do know he is alive, but his condition is not known. as for the driver of the forerunner sled, we don't know his condition

we have anne thompson? >> do we have ann thompson? i h. >> i thought i i think i heard her voice.he mountains. >> she is up in the mountains. >> >> that's cool.yway. >> the willie, excitement must be e building t really building there now that athletes a the athletes are getting there, the torches arrive there..torch it is making its way. you must be feeling you must be feeling a little biy more of that olympic spirit throughout.mpmp>> you know how . you >> you guys know how it is. you get here on monday and it f feels a little slow.w. feels sl everybody is getting their feetm under them and figuring out o g. where to go. the athletes come as the athletes come on the set. feel the we have to talk to a lot of them.citement. competition is 24 hours you feel the energy and excitement.eady to go. >> it competition is 24 hours away.if we are ready to go..>> it does. can't wait to get >> it looks really beautiful.anr can't wait to get there. p day, what's your phrase of the day, willie?wigood. phrase of the da >> phrase of the day, you ready for this one. this one? >> uh-huh. >> this is

a little more now on the warm weathe3 c3 poco mÁs del clima calido aquÍ anne thompson, good morning totor. >> good morning. designers of the halfpipe design it so they can catch a lot of air but designers are catching a lot of grief saying it is not up to olympic quality. >> overnight organizers reworked the halfpipe after the design and some boarders blasted it as garbage and lame. >> i take it back. >> including american shaun white geography his third gold medal later today. >> how's the halfpipe? >> it's not best. i don't want to bag on it but it's very disappointing. >> the riders say the bottom part of the pipe is bumpy and that creates trouble as they transition from high flying tricks on the 22 foot wall. >> it's just because it's so sloppy in there. the snow quality is sloppy. once they can firm it up, it will be better. >> unlike complaints last week over the slopestyle course some riders labeled as dangerous, the concern at the halfpipe is quality. >> you want it to be a 10 for competition. i would say it's like a solid 5 1/2, 6 right now. >> riders say the current condition