nbc's michelle kosinski reports. >> reporter: peaceful was the overwhelming feeling here, in the same place where elizabeth edwards herself came for comfort after losing her teenage son wade in a car accident years ago. now her husband, former senator john edwards comforted their children, emma claire, jack and cate, who is an attorney like her parents. she spoke for the family. >> when she could barely speak anymore, my dad and i sat at her bedside and held each of her hands. and she just kept looking at each of us back and forth saying, "i'm okay, i'm okay." she was way more worried about us than we were about her. >> reporter: the death of a child, cancer, her husband's infidelity. >> a pro at staying true. and looking on the bright side. >> reporter: in attendance, senator john kerry who chose john edwards as his running mate in the 2004 presidential election. long-time friend glen bergenfield who knew elizabeth and john back in law school remembered her humor and fierce competitive streak that at times drew criticism and that she fully acknowledged. >> elizabeth said, i don't wan

nbc's michelle kosinski is live in raleigh with more on that. good morning, richard. elizabeth edwards' funeral will be held here in the same church where she grieved the loss of a teenage son in a car accident years ago. more than 1,000 people are expected to attend, including senator john kerry. the service will be public, followed by a private burial. elizabeth's 28-year-old daughter cate, an attorney like her mother, will deliver one of three eulogies. elizabeth's husband john, from whom she was separated for the last year, is not expected to speak. friends say that he's in a lot of pain right now and despite everything that happened, loved elizabeth very much. richard? >> all right, nbc's michelle kosinski, thank you for that. >>> president obama saying the tax cut deal he negotiated with republicans is a good deal for all americans. on friday, so did former president bill clinton. yes. right here. in a surprise appearance at the white house briefing room. clinton said, if he were president, he'd push the very same tax deal. in it, are bush-

here's nbc's michelle kosinski. >> take my hammer.t of philadelphia, on land once neglected -- >> it is like a universe game. >> reporter: now filled with bits that were also abandoned. >> watch your head. >> reporter: piles of glass from around the world, discarded figures, things that isiah finds a million little homes for. so what about tile and mosaic inspires you? >> feeling that tiles have been through the fire. and now will be around forever unless they disappear into landfills. >> reporter: and that's where the world of r.j. bond collides. at lowe's in new jersey, once he laid eyes on isiah's work which has grown into the landmark magic garden and isiah's murals around the city featuring unsung heroes like this plumber. >> i said wow, someone could take all this discarded material and turn it into something that looked amazing. >> reporter: he was inspired. realized how many pieces of potential are thrown away every day from his store and others. >> we have, you know, broken mosaic mats, porcelain, to natural slate tiles. >> r

>> all right, michelle kosinski. nice hat. get inside. >> you can watch the matchup starting at 7:00 p.m., here at 8:00 p.m. central time here on nbc. >>> the south was not spared from this storm. more than seven inches of snow fell in raleigh, north carolina. the weather channel adam berg is there for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. i'll tell you what. it is cold right now for raleigh. temperatures around 22. the wind is not so bad but even a little wind makes it rough out here. windchill about 15 degrees now. the storm is through north carolina. a lot of the roads are still a little tricky. a lot of black ice. the skyline is beautiful but traveling is still tricky. look at the backlogs being created everywhere else. here's some interesting stats. this snow is not so impressive necessarily. it's impressive how early it came. storm totals around 11 inches but the half inch on christmas day, in raleigh, that was the first time we've seen a measurable snow in raleigh. that's not the only city. m

nbc's michelle kosinski is at the theater with the latest on the troubled musical. >> good morning, ann. >> reporter: keep in mind this show has just been in previews here in times square. the official opening is still six weeks away. but on top of those four accidents involving cast members, now here comes another snag. the lead actress is reportedly leaving. it is the most expensive show in broadway history. and some critics call it a $65 million debacle. >> this show has been an epic disaster. >> reporter: now the lead actress is bowing out of the troubled production. >> natalie mendoza who plays the lead villain was hit on the head by a cable at the first preview, she had a concussion and now she's leaving the show permanently. >> we have seen the 30-year-old actress flee on screen. she played the lead character on "dissent," a horror move sli. mendoza's spider-man accident was in late november. she's not the only one to get hurt. >> four cast members have been injured, one with broken ribs, one with a concussion, one with broken wrists and the other with a broken foot. >> the serio

nbc's michelle kosinski har her story. >> reporter: anyone who know it is water knows there are timesble and other times you're completely at its mercy. well amanda thorn set out on her dream trip with her father, sailing down to the tropics. it was their first voyage together and their last together. for amanda thorn, it was going to be the trip of a lifetime, the first open ocean voyage from massachusetts in november down to the virgin islands. and the first time in her life she would have this kind of time with her father. >> just to have a vacation and spend time with dad. >> reporter: willie thorn, a master carpenter and sailor lived in boston. and this excursion was to be one to remember. but for all the wrong reasons. they set out in their sturdy 45-footer, but right off hit nasty weather. it wouldn't stop. 30-foot seas and pure fear. >> it was like the perfect storm, they don't predict it, it comes up at the last minute. >> reporter: and like the movie "the perfect storm" it was a nor'easter. for the most experienced of sailors, for four days battered. >> it was like a bus hit

michelle kosinski is there. >> reporter: sunday night's weather was absolutely brutal.ll brutal right now. tough to deal with then, tough to deal with today. but philadelphia, people had one more thing on their plates t postponement of that'sle eagles-vikings game. some people thought that was just too much. it's going to be held tonight, we just heard, we thought we were going to have some video there for you and some sound. but we had just a raging debate going on. you have the philadelphia news calling the people who decided to postpone the game, the whimps that stole christmas from football fans, pointing out that many historic games have been played in blizzards and you even had the governor of pennsylvania ed rendell going head to head with a local radio talk show host saying there are no cancellations in football, games have been played in 60 below windchills. he kind of extrapolated this to the issue of whether, in his words, we're becoming a nation of wusseys. the debate went on and on here in philadelphia. it was 1932 the last-time an nfl game was postponed. b

but first, here's nbc's michelle kosins kosinski. >> reporter: just over six months ago, tanya craftroom. >> i did not and have not sexually abused any child. >> reporter: the rest of the her life in the balance, her words against those of little children. >> i'm here because i have been falsely accused. >> reporter: there were hundreds who supported the popular and exhuberent kirnder garten teacher. her own daughter was taken away from tanya for two years because of all this. >> i said are you 100% sure that this happened? and i'll never forget the look on her face or in her eyes. she stopped everything she did and looked me dead in the eye and said i know it did, daddy. >> reporter: accusations that some had axes to grind and were coached by adults. it was such a confusing, indefinite mess, but for tanya, the reality, the questions hanging in the air, was she the innocent victim or a predator who should spend the rest of heifer life behind bars? the jury delivered vindation. >> count number one, not guilty. count number 22, not guilty. >> not guilty on anything! we knew it! >> repo