This is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a friday morning. Im Savannah Guthrie. Im willie geist in for matt along side Natalie Morales and dylan dreyer. Our lead story this morning, despite everything you saw there, Savannah Guthrie turns 29 years old. Happy birthday savannah, again. Thank you so much. Turned 29, oh, 13 years ago i think. 29 and holding. Natalie just mentioned im the oldest person sitting at this table. By six months. Youre right on my trail. Meanwhile, willie has the gift that keeps on giving. Willie has the stomach flu this morning. I do. A lot of leaning in all directions this morning. We have the bucket and the purel right here. I would watch the full show this morning. Theres no telling whats going to happen. Lets get to todays top story. The effort to rescue dozens of people stranded on a ship to antarctica. They have been there since tuesday and the first ice breaking vessel could be there today. Martin fletcher is following that story from london. Good morning. Reporter good morning, theyre stuck in 6 to 9 feet of ice which is gripping the ship tight. The team leader told me that help is just on the horizon, at last. The best Christmas Present. The Research Ship could be free soon as long as the wind doesnt pick up and this is the windiest place on earth. Its so far away you cant see it on camera but the dot across the packed ice is the snow dragon, the chinese ice breaker. Theres a lot of relief and happy faces. Its been a rough couple of days for the 52 scientists and volunteers and 20 crew. You can see were in a blizzard at the moment. The vessel hasnt moved in the last two days. Reporter they have been taking measurements probing 400 meters to the seabed. All went well until fast floeing ice trapped them. Christmas eve the captain sent a distress signal. Three ice breakers sent out to help. A french one couldnt get through and an australian one is two days away. He couldnt help thinking of the famous explorer whose ship was crushed 100 years ago leading to the great escape. The long trek by crew across the antarctic. Its lonely out there but theres company and this morning the chinese rescue ship isnt nar and that far away. Whats that . The ice breaker. Brilliant. Reporter they tweeted the chinese ship was finally at heavy going. So its a race to free the ship before the weather gets bad again. At least theres enough food on board for two weeks. Good sight with the penguins waddling about. Martin fletcher, thank you very much. Thank you. They are in good spirits. By the way, a new blanket at snow in maine is hampering efforts to restore power from last weekends massive ice storm. Its an uphill fight for crews in michigan as well. Nbcs Kevin Tibbles is covering this for us in east lansing this morning. Whats the situation there . Well, hey, savannah. Its 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, its 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 its 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 were 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 coats opening Christmas Gifts and trying to make it the same we do every year. Reporter but this year was different. The family shuttled between home and a hotel they checked into a few days ago for warmth. Its been a nontraditional christmas for sure. Reporter with the holiday come and gone the family drives back and forth hoping theyll pull up to a home with power. Its a little frustrating when you come back, no, not us. Reporter power crews from michigan to maine working around the clock in hopes of getting people back into their homes. But some may have to wait until saturday for the lights to come back on. The power crews are working around the clock trying to get the heat back on for customers. If the heat does come back on by the weekend, we are finding out there is another cold snap on the way. Rough days there. Thank you very much. Meanwhile, natalie is following a deadly attack overnight in lebanon. Thats right. A powerful bombing in beruit. It targeted a key figure in the assad administration. Were following developments in cairo. Good morning. Reporter good morning, the explosion happened after 9 30 a. M. Local time. Several members of a Political Party that opposes president assad in neighboring syria. This explosion killed the former finance minister. Mow mohammed chatra. He was also lebanons ambassador to the United States in the late 90s. Very well respected individual and a former member of the imf. That has a lot of officials and citizens concerned that the violence in syria is going to spill over into neighboring lebanon at a level that country has not seen for years, natalie. Thank you ayman. An attack this morning in afghanistan killed three nato service members. They were attacked while traveling in a convoy in kabul. The taliban is claiming responsibility. Millions of americans are bracing for tomorrow when their federal Unemployment Benefits are set to run out. The president has been pushing to get these benefits extended. We have Peter Alexander with the latest. Reporter yeah. If a deal comes together the president says he will sign it. About 1. 3 million american recipients face a delay in their checks at best. This is part of a federal aid program for the longterm unemployed that was set up during the great recession. The benefits average about 300 a week. Supporters of an extension of this say it would hurt the economy to get rid of it. Opponents say it would force people back to work. Theres a bipartisan deal in the works in the senate that would be for a three month extension that would help buy time to find places to cover the cost, what republicans want, 25 billion a year. 1. 3 Million People effected now and 1. 9 million more over the next six months. Peter alexander in hawaii, thank you. Meantime after the government shutdown, two new budget bills are finally law this morning. On thursday the president signed a bipartisan budget bill that eases spending cuts and a defense bill that eases up on sexual assaults in the military. Theyll no longer be able to overturn jury convictions for sexual assault. A driver was trapped in his car after he drove off a 300 foot cliff in palos estates. Firefighters battled to get the driver out. They were able to free him and get him air lifted to harbor ucla medical center. He is in critical condition. Investigators are trying to find out why a small plane crashed in fresno, california in front of a yard. The pilot and 9yearold boy on the plane were killed. No one on the ground was hurt. A man is an custody in phoenix after a Security Breach at sky harbor airport. The man climbed a fence and seen on a camera running on the tarmac after a plane had landed there. He was taken into custody after hitting the plane with his hand. Police say the suspect may had been under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Youre up to date. Back to you guys. Not a smart thing to do. And slapping the plane, i dont think will hurt it. Dylan, whats shaking in the Weather Department this morning . Well, its been quiet for most of the week but we do have a bigger storm system through texas. Its a rainstorm and its going to stay a rainstorm for much of the areas up and down the east coast despite its cold out there right now. You can see heavy rain in the Corpus Christi area and thats going to move into houston. But looking at the future cast here of this moving east ward. You can see by saturday afternoon, heavier rain starts to fill in across the southeast. It makes its way through the midatlantic by sunday morning and sunday evening into sunday night mostly rain across southern new england but snow through central and Northern New England including maine where they dont need anymore snow. As for rainfall totals well see a good amount of rain fill in across the carolinas through the weekend. Perhaps as much as 3 inches of rain. But through parts of new england, in boston its rain but to the north and west of the city were looking for several inches of accumulating snow. Thats a look at the weather across the country. Your local forecast is coming up in 30 seconds. Its not the fumbling around with rotating categories card. Its not the getting blindsided by limits card. Its the nogameplaying, noearninglimithaving, deepbombthrowing, givemetheballandilltake ittothehouse, cash back card. This is the quicksilver cash card from capital one. Unlimited 1. 5 cash back on every purchase, everywhere, every single day. So let me ask you. Whats in your wallet . 7 11. Happy friday morning to you. Im meteorologist Christina Loren. Temperatures are chilly out there to start. We have a nice unseasonably warm day. 39 degrees now in san jose. Look at this spectacular sunrise coming in. Just gorgeous out there. A lot of haze making that beautiful sun rise visible. What i can tell you is its a spare the air day. Better air quality getting into the weekend. And thats your latest forecast. Thanks a lot. The wait is slowly coming to an end for thousands of people that failed to get their christmas packages in time. U. P. S. Expects to finally clear its backlog of late deliveries today. Nbcs Gabe Gutierrez is in atlanta with the latest. Good morning. Reporter willie, good morning. U. P. S. Says they will issue refunds to some customers but not all. This as its drivers prepare for another long day on the road. For many u. P. S. Customers christmas has finally arrived. We got the package. It was almost 9 00 last night when the mayo family got the delivery they had been waiting for. A Christmas Gift for their 15yearold son. I bought the item on december 16th. So i felt sure that i would receive it in time. Reporter across the country, more small victories. There you go. Have a good holiday. Reporter better late than never. Some deciding to pick up their late presents at shipping centers. After christmas miracle. Reporter u. P. S. Apologized repeatedly but the Company Wont Say how many packages are still delayed. Only assuring customers that its making every effort to get packages to their destination as quickly as possible. Fed ex is now downplaying its delays calling them isolated incidents. They should have recognized this year online was going to get a growth and surge in the last two weeks of the holiday. Reporter angry customers are still bashing u. P. S. On social media. One writing i will never use u. P. S. Again, never. Others identifying themselves as employees are defending the company. I know that all of us worked our tails off. Drivers working 14 to 16 hour days. Im upset. I guess in a way it tells me i need to maybe start shopping a little earlier. Reporter now one u. S. Senator is demanding that u. P. S. Is refunding customers. They are refunding customers, only for air and international service, but not ground. The company said for several years it has not guaranteed ground shipments in the busy weeks before christmas. Gabe, thank you very much. We move on to a terrifying scene at a beach in argentina. Yeah, this is a terrifying story. One minute swimmers were cooling off in a river in argentina and y were being viciously attacked by a school of piranhas. A school of fish injured more than 70 sun bathers seeking relief from the sweltering heat in a small town in argentina. Among the beach goers were seven children who lost parts of their fingers and toes. A local lifeguard director says people were swimming in the river near rosario argentina when some were complaining about bite marks on their hands and feet. According to witnesses, many swimmers ran while some parents courageously charged into the water to rescue their children. The likely culprit was a school of a large type of piranha with sharp teeth. Poundforpound their bite can be more powerful than a great white shark and stronger than alligators. While piranhas normal in south america, an attack of this magnitude is rare. The unusually warm 100 degree temperatures may have been to blame for attracting the dangerous fish. The heat was so oppressive that despite the scare, swimmers returned to the beach soon after the attacks. Amazing that people got right back into the river after the attacks were over. Oh my gosh, that is terrifying. Feeding frenzy. Thats crazy. Its happened again, a computer hiccup lowers Airline Tickets so much that some customers thought there must be a catch. Nbcs Kerry Sanders is standing by at the Delta Airlines terminal in ft. Lauderdale, florida. Good morning. Reporter good morning. It was just a glitch or maybe somebody in the Delta Airlines i. T. Department wanted to keep the Holiday Weekend going and give a few more of santas presents but passengers were able to book tickets at unheard of prices. Delta airlines called their holiday message the cheer card. Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts. Reporter but the real cheer were from those that hit on the unplanned price drop at Delta Airlines. Customers surfed between 9 30 a. M. Eastern and noon found santa still delivering presents. I got new york to puerto rico for 77 round trip. Thats amazing. Reporter usual price for that trip, 308. Jason herbert snagged a round trip new york to vegas for 81. Usually its 741. I was in complete shock. I was like, oh my god. Wow. For me to get it for 81. Merry christmas for me. Reporter it took minutes for folks to boast on twitter and the rush was on. Keeley wood posted christmas miracle alert. Just bought a round trip 60 for 46. Me too, raleigh to philly for 35. I spoke with a rep on the phone and she said if you purchase them theyll honor the prices. Amy saw tickets from indianapolis to honolulu for only 70. First class, 88. Thats a 3,396 ticket. She writes i feel like i won the lottery, committed grand larceny. Just three months ago, another a similar glitch hit United Airlines website. United honored every ticket and delta says it will now too. Jamie who works at travelzoo calls her trip to puerto rico a baby moon. Last big trip before giving birth. It made for a lovely postChristmas Gift for us. Reporter delta will not say how many tickets it sold. Call me suspicious but at first i thought it might be a Marketing Campaign but delta assures me this was a costly unplanned mistake. It would be an expensive selfMarketing Campaign. It would be. Have you ever loved a computer glitch so much. We were playing how much for first class to honolulu . 88. 88. Thats amazing. Lets check in with tamron in the orange room this morning. Good morning to you. Good morning. So this is my last orange room hit of 2013. Oh, please, ill be back. Listen, though, i figured i would show you something i believe you will never ever see again in your life on this particular planet. Here we go. It is a tweet from snoop dogg. Yes, that snoop dogg and it says boss life, me and john kerry at the white house. Snoop dogg sent out a video instagram. Take a look. Now, theyre chatting it up. I cant understand what snoop was saying but look we all understand that. The pound sign between secretary of state john kerry and snoop dogg, well, snoop lion. I have to get that right, willie. And heres the best part. John kerry then retweets snoop dogg between us we sold 30 million, jk. Thats his official signal. So snoop dogg and john kerry. Yeah. Yeah. I guess thats dr. Dre. Is that snoop . I dont recognize. Okay. Cool. Just a couple oh, no. Dont do that. Came this close. This close. But i dont think its illegal. No but only when natalie does it. Single me out. All right. Coming up. How much would you pay to go to the super bowl . Why tickets for the big game here in the new york area already fetching near record prices. Are your holiday gift cards burning a hole in your pocket . Where to find the bargains including hdtvs for 50 off. But first this is today on nbc. Including hdtvs for 50 off. But first this is today on nbc. Coming up, one familys incredible find, a bald eagle struggling in the woods. What they did to help save the american icon. And ask yourself this question, if you could have any celebrity in the world as your next door neighbor, who would it be . Who wouldnt you want. For shizzle, natalie. Oh. First your local news and weather. Mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971. Afghanistan in 2009. On the u. S. S. Saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once its earned, usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. 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