nbc's kevin tibbles has more. >> reporter: across the mid-west and northeast, crews have been scrambling to restore power to those who lost it during last weekend's massive ice storm. >> pretty much a blip through the area and going along. >> reporter: in lancing, michigan the danz inc.ers have been in the hotel room the last three nights. >> still no power. >> they spent christmas tree opening presents. >> all the other things don't matter. we were together and we still had a great christ. >> reporter: in may, 94-year-old grace burley has been in the dark since sunday. a friend came by to spend the night to make sure she is okay. temperatures in her home dropped to the 40s. >> there you go, grace. >> there is nothing you can do, really. you wait it out. you keep your sense of humor, because this too shall pass. >> reporter: they say they are worried about carbon monoxide poisoning. there have been multiple deaths in the u.s. and canada. >> we ask anyone using an emergency generator use it outdoor only and never, ever, ever, in a basement or even in an attached garage. >> it is i equally

kevin tibbles has more. >> reporter: across the midwest and north let's, crews have been scrambling to restore power to those who lost it in last weekend's massive ice storm. >> going along. >> reporter: in lansing, michigan, this family has been without power for five days. spent the last three nights in a hotel room. they spent christmas day shivering in coats at home opening presents. >> all the other things don't mat person we were together and still had a great christmas. >> reporter: in maine, 94-year-old grace has been in the dark since sunday. a friend came by with a generator and spent the night to make sure grace is okay. temperatures in her home had dropped into the 40s. >> there you go, grace. >> there's nothing you can do, really. you just wait it out. but keep a sense of humor about it. because it, too, shall pass. >> reporter: one of the biggest concerns is carbon monoxide poisoning. >> we ask that anyone using an emergency generator use it outdoors only, at least 15 feet away from doors and windows, and never, ever, ever in a basement or attached garage. >> reporter: it

kevin tibbles in east lansing, michigan. thanks so much. >>> an american contractor held kidnapped from his home in pakistan more than two years ago has surfaced in a new video released by his captors. it shows him talking about his confinement and asking the u.s. government to do more to work for his release. our justice correspondent pete williams has our report. >> reporter: in suburban washington, yellow ribbons surround a tree outside the family home of warren weinstein, kidnapped two years ago and presumably held by al qaeda. in a new video from al sahab he asks the u.s. to negotiate his release. he says time is not on his side. >> i am now over 72 years of age. >> reporter: he was kidnapped two years ago from a house in lahore, pakistan, where he was working for an american company helping pakistan improve its economy. he first appeared in a video in may of 2012. then another four months later. each time urging the u.s. to win his freedom by accepting al qaeda's demands. among them, releasing al qaeda prisoners in gua

and as nbc's kevin tibbles reports tonight from charlotte, michigan, power crews are racing to get the lights and heat back on. >> reporter: the sun barely shows itself, but crews are already in the sky. how come you're still smiling? >> happy to be out here getting people's power back on for them. >> reporter: they have come from as far away as wisconsin, ohio, and maryland. putting in 18-hour days away from their own families at christmas. >> we had various wire-downs and our number one priority is customer safety and employee safety. so we have to make sure we keep the public safe. >> reporter: it's freezing cold down here on the ground where i am. so where he's working, it's probably 15 to 20 degrees colder in the wind. here heavy ice buckled power lines. the crew is efficient and fast. residents, very thankful. >> we've got so many christmas cookies that i don't think me or dave would care to have another one. they've all been appreciative. we haven't had one bad thing said to us. >> reporter: some will have to wait awhile longer. >> unfortunately the power company at this time ha

>> reporter: kevin tibbles, nbc news, fort leonard wood, missouri. >> how about that for a good idea? >>> that's our broadcast on a monday night as we start off a new week. 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, we're following a developing story in big sur. more than 100 firefighters are battling a wildfire that has forced people to flee their homes and the smoke could be headed here to the bay area. thanks for joining us. i'm raj mathai. jessica aguirre is off. we'll get to the big sur fire in a moment. >>> first, a new twist in another story we've been following. an east bay family has just told us about their anger and grief. they're asking how their daughter could die after a routine surgery. the 13-year-old girl went into get her tonsils removed and ended up brain dead. nbc bay area's cheryl hurd is in oakland at children's hospital, with what the family just said minutes ago. >> reporter: a hard lesson for this family tonight. in fact, jahi's grandmother and uncle

that was nbc's kevin tibbles reporting. >>> today is yet another spare the air day. it's the fifth in a row. the 20th so far this winter season. that's compared to just ten winter spare the air days all of last year. most of the bay area has unhealthy air quality above the state and federal standards for particulate matter. it's often worse in san jose because polluted air gets trapped in the valley bowl. doctors suggest you stay indoors and carpool when you can. it seems like a lot of people are on holiday this week, so we haven't seen that much traffic out there. >> nothing last forever, including this bad air. let's go to the good news gal. christina loren. >> happy to be her. happy to be she. today temperatures are mroog good out there right now. we're in the 50s and 60s. that is the only wrench in our perfect california forecast. temperatures are going to be comfortable again today. mid 60s. perfect for your outdoor plans. not too hot. not too cold out there. santa cruz is climbing to a comfortable 63 degrees right now. if are you going to be headed to the beach

kevin tibbles, nbc news, cleveland >>> that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and then right back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> good evening, everyone. thank you for joining us. diane dwyer is off tonight. we begin what may begin the end to a long, long running dispute. thousands of people that uses b.a.r.t. to get around are breathing a sigh of relief. they have ended a dispute on a contract provision overpaid medical leave. we have the details and reaction from riders. monte? >> reporter: terry, good evening. it appears this long fight, which has gone on for months, can finally be at an end and that is music to the ears of b.a.r.t. riders. a tentative deal was reached in october but then there was a dispute of a provision that b.a.r.t. never wanted to put in the contract, and that gave employees six weeks of paid leave. now that provision is gone, but b.a.r.t. will extend its bough ravement leave policy to allow paid time off in the death of a family member. the deal gi

>> reporter: kevin tibbles, nbc news, fort leonard wood, missouri. >> how about that for a good idea?our broadcast on a monday night as we start off a new week. thanks for being with us. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

kevin tibbles tells us about one man doing a long haul to get some piece of mail to their destinations they are beautiful, wind-swept flat lands, and as a sun peaks out over the plains, jim ed bowl rises, does 50 sit-ups. >> love you. >> reporter: and kisses wife susan, a teach, good-bye. he heads out into the elements, as vital as the rain in this rural corner of america. >> good morning. >> good morning. how are you? >> all right. no mail? >> no mail. >> reporter: as you figured out by now, jim ed is the postman. >> do you hate junk mail for than i do? >> yeah. >> reporter: it's also worth mentioning jim ed has the longest route in nation. 187 miles a day, 198 stops a lot of miles on the for ranger. you see? 295,000. >> 295,000 miles. still going strong. >> reporter: jim ed is still going strong, too. he spends nine hours a day sitting in the middle, left arm to steer, right to deliver. don't try this at home. for this occasion, he lets a beginner in the truck. >> neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor green horn. >> nbc. >> reporter: mail's delivered. jim ed sees deer, coyotes, rattles

that's where we find kevin tibbles. good morning. >> it's been a week of shivering for many as work crews go around the clock trying to turn the lights back on. but some are beginning to lose patience. the sun barely shows itself. but crews are already in the sky. >> how come you're still smile something. >> just happy to be out here getting people's powerback on for them. >> they come as far away from wisconsin, ohio, and maryland, putting in 18-hour days away from their own families at christmas. >> we had various wires down. our number one priority is customer safety and employee safety. so we have to make sure we keep the public safe. >> it's freezing cold down here on the ground where i am. but where he's working is probably 15 to 20 degrees colder in the wind. >> here, heavy ice buckled power lines. the crew is efficient and fast. residents very thankful. >> we've got so many christmas cookies i don't think me or dave would care to have another one. we haven't had one bad thing said to us. >> some like chad will h

>> even though canada claims to not know why sergeant tibbles has detained him, he soon let's slip toate that he does know. >> how do you know it's from compton? because, that's the only thing it could be for. you guys can't save him forever, all right? >> save him from what? >> what do you mean save him from what? don't play dumb. you know what he's doing around here. he's just a snitch, you know [ bleep ]. try to do something, help him get out of some trouble, you know, and he's saying like i did something wrong to him. i didn't never do nothing wrong to him. he had his mom take copies of the money order receipts that he sent me. right? he sent me a money order receipt because i got him out of some trouble. >> i will have to go up front. i will have to write a conduct report for threatening and then take it to the captain's office. the lieutenant will write him up some paperwork, which means he will be on confinement. >> coming up -- >> i'm here to tell you guys i did not do what they're accusing me of doing. >> steven weaver argues his case to get out of ad-seg. >> i didn't put a h

sorry, tibbles. >> $600 million. >> are you kidding me? >> no. no, i'm not. that was so stupid, i'm going to do it again. $600 million. >> are you kidding me? >> in california, the owner of the store that sells the winning ticket gets 1 million bucks. but in georgia, they get nothing. they used to get $25,000. but they don't get that anymore. unfortunately, mr. savage was aware of that fact and this happened. >> you know by selling the winning ticket, there's also prize money for you. >> i know. it's a long time over $100. but $25,000. >> it is about $1 million that you get. >> $1 million? oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. i never had that much in my hand. >> and you still don't, unfortunately. >> oh, that's painful. >> oh. poor thing. both of them. >>> that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good morning america." have a great weekend, everyone. >> after another marathon session, more results from congress this morning. all about the landmark defense bill that will reshape the controversial aspect of military life. three contractors a

kevin tibbles, nbc news, cleveland. >> just remember, don't stick your tongue on any frozen telephoneoles. >>> much more ahead on "today in the bay." coming up -- ♪ >> that's the sound of thanks. meet the bay area teacher who received the surprise of a lifetime from his students. it's a bay area proud story that you won't want to miss. >>> you are watching "today in the bay." >> it is the holiday season, and it's only fitting that this morning's bay area proud is about a gift. it's a gift that anyone who has dedicated his or her life to teaching would love to receive. garvin thomas shows us a very special and very emotional story. >> reporter: how much measures of music does it take to take the measure of a man's life? ♪ >> reporter: those rehearsing for a special concert inside antioch high school's bead auditorium are soon to find out. the life in question not one of theirs, but the one thing they all have in common -- learning music and life from ron "moe" molina. >> i have always said that if i could be anyone, that i want to be just like him. >> reporter: for 27 years music has b

back to you, brian. >> nbc's kevin tibbles in lansing, michigan. >>> politics now. governor chris christie running neck and neck in a new poll on the 2016 presidential race. new twist in the battle for the heart and soul of the gop. those are today's topics for our agenda panel. political analyster thegrio.com, and president and ceo of voto latina. a new poll has christie with a two-point lead over clinton. i mean, it's almost silly, yeah, it's early. >> it's a lot early. >> it's a lot early, but general thoughts, and is this totally predictable in what you would think? >> no, i'm not surprised they're polling close. national polls, particularly this early, in the -- not even the cycle, because we're not through midterms, but it really doesn't tell us much of how he would do, first, in a gop primary, because that's the question, can he get out of the prim primary? can he battle her in battleground states? national polling oversamples areas where republicans are stronger, and in the south, where i think that he's going to have a bit of trouble because he's too far to

kevin tibbles is in chicago with the latest on this search.what do police know so far about these videos and how they have been able to try to link them through the activity seen in them to whoever this unknown love interest is? >> reporter: well, that's who the police are trying to now locate. they have taken this case. the fbi is calling it a missing persons case, but obviously the circumstances here, thomas, are quite bizarre, to say the least. a young woman, who is obviously respected in the community, who is a resident doctor in the community, shows up at a hotel trying to book a room without any i.d., paying in cash. she fails to do so. then ends up getting on the hotel bus to go back to the hospital where she works to pick up her car to then drive to indiana where the car is then found on the side of the road. that along with these videos where she seems to be speaking to someone that we don't know who that person is, and her family in florida, of course, says that they were unaware of any love interest. obviously a lot of red lights go

. >> nbc's kevin tibbles reporting there. >>> 1.3 million people stand to lose their long-term enemployment benefits tomorrow. congress failed to extend the benefits as part of the fiscal frame work. democrats, aa few republicans, will push to reinstate them. but the outcome is not certain. danielle, a great human impact here. can it be resolved? >> hi, veronica. gnat's what everyone's going to be looking for early in the new year. on average, these benefits are about $30 to 0 a week for people not able to find work for more than six months. they rely on this for heat, food, other necessities. economists warn if these benefits end, it will not hurt the unemployed alone. it will likely impact the entire economic recovery. some law mikers are hoping to push a bill through congress that would restore the benefits retro actively and restore the benefits for three months. many republicans say they're voting against it unless the spending is compensated by finding savings elsewhere. it's not looking good in terms of this bill right now. especially in you look at what happened with the budget deba

sorry, tibbles. >> $600 million. >> are you kidding me? >> no. no, i'm not.oing to do it again. $600 million. >> are you kidding me? >> in california, the owner of the store that sells the winning ticket gets 1 million bucks. but in georgia, they get nothing. they used to get $25,000. but they don't get that anymore. unfortunately, mr. savage was aware of that fact and this happened. >> you know by selling the winning ticket, there's also prize money for you. >> i know. it's a long time over $100.

for "today," kevin tibbles, nbc news, charlotte, michigan. >> another arctic blast could be along the way to hit the new year and dylan is here with more that. >> unfortunately, it's coming in time for the new year. hopefully, the power can get on before then. by tomorrow, it will be 4 below in minneapolis and that is the cold air that is going to move right back through michigan by monday, it's 20 degrees in detroit and tuesday 23 in syracuse and caribou, maine, 9 below by we get to the new year and that will flood areas without power. unfortunately, we are going to see more snow before that cold air gets here. you can see by sunday evening, there's a big storm that is going to make its way into the northeast from the southeast. now it is going to be mostly rain through southern new england but in the areas hardest hit is where we are going to see the snow overspread parts of bangor maine, up into caribou and 3 to 6 inches of snow and maybe icing across southern maine so that is not going to help the crews out there trying to get the power back on. as soon as we get into early next w

nbc's kevin tibbles traveled to cleveland to visit the house where it was actually filmed. >> reporterand, but they are lined up down the street to visit this sweet, old house anyway. >> i have been bugging him to go for weeks. >> reporter: after all turks is a christmas tradition and i double dog dare you to get through the holidays without seeing it at least once on tv. [ screaming ] >> wait! my tongue is frozen. >> reporter: "a christmas story" was filmed here and released 30 years ago. how many times have you seen the fill? >> probably 50 maybe. >> reporter: the film set in the fictional town of homan where tongues freeze to poles -- [ crying ] >> reporter: snowsuit russ giant marshmallows. >> i can't feel my arms. >> reporter: and bullies lurk in alleyways. >> fragile. >> reporter: where a lamp shaped like a leg is is a major award. >> you won that. that's major award. were and where every man hero, ralphy parker is constantly being warned -- >> all he shoot your eye out, kid. >> captures the essence of what christmas is, you know? the family chaos, the food, the presents. you kno

>> well, all those gifts you bought on cyber monday are being packed up and shipped out and kevin tibblesom camp has been delivering christmas gifts and everything else for ups in this detroit suburb. as the company's longest serving driver he has driven upward of 1 million miles, delivered almost 5 million packages and has become more than a familiar face to his customers. >> miss johnson. my favorite people. always in a very pleasant mood. >> thank you. >> reporter: there is one area, though, where he comes up a big fat zero. tom has never had an accident. but now he is facing the biggest challenge of his career, me. >> come on in. >> i'm your christmas help, tom. >> i was expecting a much younger man. >> reporter: his doubts were well founded. >> this isn't working out. >> reporter: i suited up to help out with the run up to christmas which can mean up to 32 million packages a day for big brown and tom camp who took me on his route where he is the safest driving on a precautious road. >> what do you think when you see people texting and talking those things. >> they'll pull up to a red

nbc's kevin tibbles is covering this for us in east lansing this morning. what's the situation there? >> well, hey, savannah. it's warmed up to 30 degrees here in beautiful east lancing this morning. but for more than 100,000 people like those that live in this house behind me here that had a tree covered in ice come down through it, it's mighty cold comfort. with temperatures in the 30s, cold air and the threat of snow, many families without power are leaving home and seeking warmth in shelters like this one. >> it is a little frustrating but it's definitely a lot better than being at home. >> reporter: for those that chose to stay home, safety is a real concern as people try to keep warm at any cost. >> carbon monoxide is something we're always so afraid of with these events. >> reporter: nanette miller says to only use emergency generators outside, away from doors and windows. after six days without power and heat, the temperature inside danziger home is a frigid 44 degrees. on christmas morning, they lit a fire to keep warm. >> we just all were in our c