From nbc news this is a special edition of today with lester holt live from south africa and erica hill live from studio 1 a in rockefeller plaza. As wee mentioned, lester hol in soweto, south africa, where the official events to honor the life of Nelson Mandela are under way today. Good morning, lester. Reporter good morning, erica. Today was the official day of prayer and reflection. All that notwithstanding, it continues to be a day or a week of celebration of the life of Nelson Mandela. People here in the streets in soweto once again celebrating his life. Well tell you about that. Well tell you about the Services Held across south africa today from parks to churches as people gather to remember the father of their country. We will also tell you the specific plans now that we know about president obamas visit along with some other u. S. President s here to south africa later this week as we report from soweto. Lester, looking forward to that. We will get back to you shortly. We want to get to todays top story in the u. S. , another round of both powerful winter storms creating treacherous conditions at this point from california all the way to new england. The weather channels mike seidel is in a very chilly leesburg, virginia, this morning. Good morning. Reporter good morning. As we await the first wintery weather west of washington, dallas is encased in ice. The west coast got slammed by a second storm on saturday. In barts of north dakota and montana, temperatures have stayed below zero since thursday. No break in the wintery blast as a new storm moved into california. Heavy snow in the mountains made the roads unsafe. Its slippery and dangerous. You try to change lanes and youre going sideways. Reporter icy conditions saturday went as far south as los angeles county, putting a total freeze on i5 cutting off the major route between loss ang also its ice from here all the way to oklahoma, r i35 was impassable until the sun came up. Over at the airport theyre trying to get hundreds of stuck passengers in the air following more than 2700 canceled flights over three days. A frustrated traveler posted this to youtube. Well, this is day three, terminal d here in dallas, texas. All Flights Canceled once again. Reporter work crews are trying to restore power to about 100,000 customers still in the cold and the dark. Getting out sleeping bags, moving the couch to the fireplace and huddling around. Reporter it was cold. Only 26 degrees on saturday, more than 30 degrees below average. So cold these palm trees in tyler are wrapped in installation. The Rangers Baseball park is covered in snow. You can play ice hockey on the streets of dallas. Newburgh, indiana, is good for skating, too. Head farther north and it really gets cold. It was 18 below in billings, montana when these hearty souls took the polar bear plunge. Wow, 47 jumped into that frozen lake, all for a good cause, racing money for the special olympics. By the way, the windchill was 35 below zero. Back here, a whole lot warmer, around 30, as we await the seasons first snow, sleet and freezing rain. Erica, i cant get over the guy plays ice hockey on the streets of dallas. That is crazy video. I cant get over jum in the water when the windchill is 30 below. Mike seidel, thanks. Dylan is here now with a closer look at what we can expect coming our way. Well see a little bit of. It starts as snow, changes to ice and eventually rain. You can see in pink in parts of kentucky into areas like western virginia and West Virginia itself the pink creates the problems, the icing that coats the trees and power lines and we end up with Power Outages. We will see the freezing rain take over eventually. It is dropping to 31 in roanoake. We have winter storm warning with ice storm warnings in north carolina. In virginia a possibility we could end up close to a half an inch of ice. You look further north icing in northern new jersey and new england should be around. 1 inch before it changes to rain. I want to turn back to lester in south africa. Reporter thanks. As we mentioned South Africans are observing a national day of prayer and reflection. It is the start of the official event to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela. Reporter you can imagine in churches around the world today mandela might be mentioned. Here people are encouraged to reflect on the message of the champion of freedom. People in enormous numbers felt better gathering together including members of mandelas family. It had the feeling of a sunday revival. Here a few hundred gathered in a tent at mandelas offices full of joy. We dont mourn by crying. We celebrate. We need to secelebrate his life people come and telling us like how much he loves us. Reporter there were Many Services today Winnie Mandela and South African president attended. The last time they met he held mandelas hand in the hospital. I left knowing he wouldnt be long with us. Reporter grief day by day in celebration of the powerful life legacy. The feeling here is absolutely jubilant. More people than we have seen so far. Down in cape town surfers gathered in a big circle on their boards and joined hands in tribute. One described it in one word, goose bumps. Lester. Reporter thanks very much. Nbc news special correspondent lived here in south africa. It is an amazing moment to be here. You interviewed Nelson Mandela when he was released from prison and talked to him about how people viewed him as a mythical character. It makes me wonder how he would view all of this. Let me say how nostalgic this is. I was just across the street when he first got out of prison. I think he would be pleased. He is a very modest man but i think he enjoys the fact that people appreciated him and what he was trying to do. I think he would be thrilled by this. Look at all of the young people born after he was released from risen, after he left office. Called born frees. Reporter i wonder if they got the message and appreciate how much of a different south africa this is. You see white people walking unafraid with their babies and everything. You see interracial couples. A lot of them dont have jobs. That is the biggest challenge in this country, joblessness. There is a widening gap between black and white. As we celebrate Nelson Mandelas life are we too acocusative . There is a widening gap of the poor and not poor. Some of the black people in this country have really achieved upper and middle class status. It hasnt trickled down to the vast majority. I think the real concern here today, not this moment, of course, but the concern is how this country will accommodate the vast majority of unemployed, under educated and many uneducated in that 18 to 35 age group. Reporter thanks s great te you. David gregory making a rare sunday appearance in new york hosting meet the press this morning from new york. We have been hearing further plans from president obama, former president clinton and carter. What will the role be at the events . To be there to pay tribute and give it the sense of moment that it deserves. And i think for all of them at different levels, president bush who i covered did not have the closest relationship with mandela but respected him. President obama in a unique way encouraged to go see him when he is still a senator. Mandela encouraged to meet with up and coming star in politics. For our president to be so moved by mandela, to really have his own place in a civil rights struggle against apartheid. When it comes to president obamas presence on the International Stage this potential for comprehensive agreement with iran yesterday. It could be worse. When it comes to the International Stage how is his capital . I dont think it is exceedingly high. I think a lot of American Allies think america has lost its nerve in some regard particularly when it comes to confronting iran. I think there is difficulty with our credibility because our Economic Standing has impact as well. It doesnt diminish americas power and influence in the world. How much focus for president obama in terms of international . It isnt just iran . It is looking so difficult. As you look towards next year disengaging from afghanistan becomes the story. Iran becomes the big test. No one knows whether iran will do what president obama wants it to do which is basically dismantle any pretense. Nice to have you here. Well see you a little bit laterer. A little bit later. We vel a preview of meet the press later. Meantime jenna is here with the mornings top stories. Nice to see you. Nice to see you, too. 85yearold war veteran Merrill Newman is back in california after being detachbd for more than a month in north korea. North korean Officials Say he was being held on charges of hostile acts against the regime stemming from his service in the korean war. He was finally reunited with his family in San Francisco on saturday after the North Koreans deported him. Its been a great homecoming, and im tired but ready to be with my family. A spokane medical examiner is set to perform an autopsy monday to determine what caused the death of a teenager on a Delta Air Lines flight on saturday. The flight from seattle to atlanta was forced to make an Emergency Landing in spokane shortly after takeoff. Investigators says it appeared the 16yearold died of natural causes. The teen was the son of a soldier based in washington. He and his family were flying to atlanta for the holidays. Thousands are expected to turn out today for a tribute to fast and furious star paul walker. A memorial rally and car cruise is scheduled this afternoon in valencia, california in honor of the late actor. Walker was killed in a fiery car crash on saturday. Olympic Gold Medalist lindsay vonn returning to the sloping for a third day in a row. The schedule has her peaking just before the sochi olympics. She placed 11 during saturdays downhill race. It was an improvement from friday. Remember we told you yesterday about 23yearold general far grat from boston, doesnt speak a leak of arabic, but entered the arabs got talent and was one of three finalists. She didnt win. She placed third. She considers the experience a success. Im sure youre wondering who won, wait for it. It was a syrian dance troop. Which one . Sima. No, no. It wasnt the other one. What do you call someone who makes the seemingly impossible possible . Not our hair and makeup team with me every morning. What . The auburn football team. You remember last weekend auburn, impressing every fan and nonfan out there in a stunning iron bowl win over alabama. The team won saturday against missouri in the sec championship. A record 304 yards on 46 carries. Final score 5942. Next up for the very lucky auburn, playing the lottery, finding world peace and organizing all the pictures on my phone. If they can come up with those two wins, Everything Else should be pretty easy. Can we have them pick some tickets for us. Now to dylan for a look at the national forecast. Shes back. She stepped it up. I appreciate that. Were looking at really bitter cold temperatures across the northern plains. It is 11 below right now in billings. Five in denver. Even dallas is only at 27 degrees. Were certainly not seeing any melting of that ice. Bismarck about two and Salt Lake City topping out at 22. Its not going to warm up from where it is right now. Were keeping an eye on the ice good morning. At 6 16 waking up to a frigid start. Black ice likely from the 101 to san rafael. Were at 16 in petaluma, 26 in san rafael. 30 in sunnyvale right now. Overall, it will be a cold day. Temperatures in the 20s and 30s. Later on this afternoon, expect some sunshine but it will remain cold. Keep those jackets handy. Were only talking about temperatures today in the mid to upper 40s across the bay. Thats your latest forecast. Erica . Dylan, thanks. Up next, extreme conditions at the bottom of the world forced the cancellation of prince the bottom of the world forced the cancellation of prince harrys race, but his as your life changes, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust along the way, refocus as careers change and kids head off to college, and revisit your investments as retirement gets closer. Wherever you are today, fidelitys guidance can help you finetune your personal economy. Start today with a free oneonone review of your retirement plan. When you see disneys rapunzel at walmart, you snag it. Mom, you own this season. Get the hottest gifts, all backed by our christmas ad match guarantee. Rated e10 . Walmart. Theyre made of 88 active ingredients. 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Instead of competing, the teams will cooperate, all fighting together to complete what has been a more difficult trek than expected. Three teams, almost 200 miles across some of the worlds harshest terrain. Famous faces like prince harry and actor Alexander Skarsgaard leading teams of Wounded Warriors to the south pole in the bitter cold. Its minus 30. Apparently its plus 30 where you are. Reporter after five days of harsh wind and brutal conditions, organizers decided the race had gotten too dangerous. Over the last couple days i felt a little uncomfortable with some of the stress being placed on the team members as a result of very harsh terrain conditions that were encountering. Reporter that doesnt mean the trek is over. Far from it. In fact, there are still almost 70 miles to go. So teams will now Work Together to make sure 12 servicemen and women who once faced lifechanging injuries will stand on the south pole by next weekend. The former competitors now united in a common goal which, in the end isnt much different than how harry described the race before he started. If im given the opportunity, it means i can help these guys out, creating more awareness for them or whatever, then so what to minus 50 and 19mileanhour winds. It is serious conditions out there. They had a day of rest yesterday and theyll be driven to the same spot all starting that 70mile trek. It is great theyre continuing, though, for such a good cause. Thanks. Up next, we want you to see what happened last night on snl. It was fantastic when the hottest boy band on the planet crossed path with probably the hottest [kevin] paul and i have been friends. [paul] well. Forever. [kevin] hes the one person who loves pizza more than i do. [paul] were obsessed. [kevin] we decided to make our obsession our livelihood. [kevin] business was really good. [kevin] then our sauce supplier told me you got to get quickbooks. 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[ female announcer ] swap one snack a week for a yoplait. And everybody wins. Yoplait. It is so good. Good morning to you looking live at San Francisco from our camera in emeryville, and, boy, it is still very cold, dangerously cold in some spots. Thanks for joining us. Im kris sanchez along with anthony slaughter who has a look at the weekend forecast and, boy, that map is blue. We are talking about dangerously cold conditio