stephanie gosk, nbc news, sochi. >>> when "nightly news" continues on this sunday, some scary momentsoday at daytona, forcing everyone to take cover. >>> in florida today, shortly after the daytona 500 got under way, and then this announcement. >> at 38 laps, the race has been red flagged temporarily. >> that's because a tornado warning, and it would force the race to stop and 250,000 people in the grandstands were told to take cover. it prompted at least one race team to crouch down inside a trailer. this photo was put out on twitter by a radio station. the warning was lifted a short time later. >>> in the american west, they can only hope for more rain as a long and severe drought takes a growing toll, especially in california. it's having a devastating effect on cattle and crops. that means higher prices at the grocery store for all of us. we get more on this tonight from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: in central california, this is the sound of extreme drought. cattle ranchers selling off their herds. without rain, there is no grass for grazing. >> what i'm hearing from fello

stephanie gosk, nbc news, sochi. >> that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday.'m lester holt reporting for the olympic games in sochi. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow night. and a reminder, primetime olympic coverage begins at 8:00, 7:00 central. from all of us here at nbc news, good night. >>> crews are repairing the lines after a ten-car train derailed and nearly fell off an elevated track. we'll also show you when service will be back to normal. >>> protests in venezuela getting more violent and deadly by the day. what angry students here in the bay area want the white house to do about it. >>> prlus, a huge security problem for apple. what you need to do coming up. >>> good evening. i'm diane dwyer. >> i'm on terry mcsweeney. b.a.r.t. said the end is near for the mess in the east bay where a train derailed last night.

nbc's stephanie gosk is in sochi for us, joins us live with more on this story. say about the attack today? >> craig, they called this press conference. they wanted to detail the kind of harassment they've gotten since they arrived here on sunday. i think what you saw there in that video, that altercation took even them by surprise. it even took russian officials by surprise. the governor of this region saying he's going to look into why they were treated that way and what he called an unsettled way. those pictures are of a militia group. they're not police. they're not military. they're not armed with guns but they obviously had whips and some kind of spray, possibly pepper spray. they used it. today at the press conference, the one male member of the group who clearly got the brunt of it, it seems, had a bandage on his forehead. he seemed to have been hit pretty hard. i asked the group why they came down here if they knew they would receive this kind of treatment. >> right. >> they said they wanted to shine a light on the restrictions of free speech in this cou

. >> now to tonight's main event, the ladies figure skating finale, stephanie gosk has more on this eventllowing last night's intense opening act. the woman they call "queen" remains on her thrown a little longer after last night's near flawless performance. >> she may be one of the greatest competitors i've ever witnessed. >> no stranger to success, 23-year-old south korean yuna kim has her sights on becoming the third woman ever to win the gold back to back. >> triple lutz, triple toe loop! >> reporter: her reign began in vancouver. she's since become an international superstar and one of the highest paid female athletes, reportedly earning $14 million a year. still every queen has her weakness. showing top form last night, an injury earlier this season left her sidelined for six weeks. in this game of thrones there are plenty who seek to steal the crown. a team of americans at the palace gates. there's gracie gold in fourth place. with ashley wagner -- >> triple loop, beautifully landed. >> reporter: -- and polina edmunds close behind. >> she played the whole program to the judges' sid

stephanie gosk is here with that story. good to see you again. >> good to see you too.'s giant slalom was less than ideal. rain, sleet, wind. but 19-year-old thomas walsh wasn't going to miss it. born and raised in vail, colorado, skiing is in his blood. >> there is nothing more that makes me happy than a blue sky day, a lot of powder and the wind in my face. >> reporter: you're a mountain kid? >> i'm definitely a mountain kid. >> reporter: the mountain is where he met mikaela shiffrin, where they both imagined one day they would ski in the olympics. but in high school, walsh's life took an unpredictable, term turn. >> i was diagnosed with ewing's sarcoma on may 28th, 2009, it is a rare bone cancer and i had it in my pelvis and my lungs. and it changed everything. >> reporter: walsh went through years of debilitating treatments, fighting the life threatening disease. and mikaela shiffrin supported her childhood friend through it all, even joining walsh for one of high school's rites of passage. >> we made a pact that she would come to prom with me because her school did

stephanie gosk got a unique look inside. great to see you. >> good to see you, too.alls and take a look inside. >> russia's fortress as recognizable as it is formidable. the red walls of the kremlin has stood on this hill in the center of moscow for more than five centuries. >> really wasn't that long ago it was unheard of to find an american just strolling around here. today, it's a little bit more common. but for someone like myself who grew up in the final throes of the cold war, this is still pretty cool. >> reporter: the kremlin remains the russian seat of government where president putin lives and works, but it's much more. museums, palaces and cathedrals. the glittering domes are a rare bright spot in a city that can often feel dark and gritty. this is where the czars were kor nat. >> it's so important and so special it was for katherine the great, the russian empress. >> her most impressive collection is still kept here, including the great imperial crown, diamonds lined with pearls and topped one of the most precious stones in the world. from every angle of

. >> and stephanie gosk has an inside look. good to see you. >> good morning, guys. kremlin, soviet leaders, but beyond the cold war symbols, this city's 10 million people is a bustling metropolis. transforming minute to minute. >> tomorrow it'll be another restaurant. today there's a church here, tomorrow it might be a theater. >> he moved to moscow from the u.s. nine years ago, studied acting and never left. it wasn't long ago that this photo gallery was a candy factory churning out chocolate for the company red october. on the streets of moscow, there's a distinct sense of purpose. everything needs to get done fast. the traffic is nuts here. >> it's crazy. it's crazy and you can't turn left on a lot of these streets which is why we're going to go underground here. >> reporter: underground, there is a whole other universe. this is where most come to get around. subway is one of moscow's hidden gems. moscow is basically built on a bog, this marshy land. when it came time to build this subway, they had to dig deep, very, very deep. stalin promised the metro would be