And a walk to remember. Nik wallenda, amazes once again. Completing two heartstopping tight rope walks between skyscrapers in chicago. Its unbelievable. Absolutely stunning. What is he going to do now . He will join us live, monday, november 3, 2014. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning. Welcome to today on a monday morning. Im matt lauer along side al roker, Natalie Morales and after 12 weeks, shes left the baby vale in the good hands of her husband mike. And savannah is back from Maternity Leave. I thought you were going to say samantha godfrey. I can remember the name. How did that alarm clock feel . Im goed to 3 a. M. But it sounds like a baby crying. Its great to be back to see everybody and all of our friends here behind the scenes so its fun. But you may have water works. Suns out on the plaza. Women welcoming you back from Maternity Leave. Look at that one. I was up all night working on that. Even got it spelled right. Great to have you back. Well have visits with vale. Look who is back from chicago after a late night. It was a thrilling night and just so glad it all went off amazingly well. Nik wallenda making history once again with the two walks over the city of chicago. It was incredible. A nail biter. It was. Huge crowd turned out. Its good to have you here. More on nik but to our top story. Its the choice by Brittany Maynard t 29yearold who became the face of the controversial death with Dignity Movement to end her own life. Tamron hall has the latest. Good morning to you. Good morning everyone. Brittany maynard made the decision after being diagnosed with brain cancer. She went through with her promise, dying peacefully surrounded by loved ones. Brittany maynard made her final Facebook Post saturday writing, good bye to my dear friends and family that i love. Today is the day i have chosen to pass away in the face of my terminal illness. This terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me but would have taken so much more. The story of the 29yearold diagnosed with terminal brain cancer made headlines when she moved to oregon to take advantage of that states death with dignity act. A video explaining her decision to end her life on november 1 went viral with nearly 10 million views on youtube. I dont have to die the way that its been described to me that my brain tumor would take me. Last week a new video, eluding to a possible delay. If november 2 comes along and im still alive i know well be moving forward as a family like out of love for each other and that the decision will come later. Overnight a statement from an end of Life Organization associated with maynard read in part, she chose to abbreviate the dying process by taking the aid in dying medication she received months ago. She died as she intended, peacefully in the arms of her loved ones. There were heart felt tweets about her passing. Her story compassion and fight will never leave me. She modeled the bravery of facing death with dignity. She, not cancer had the last word. She thanks family and Close Friends she called her ring of support before ending with a final message. Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward. Her official owe bitary released reading she left this world with zero regrets on time spent, places been, or people she loved in her 29 years. Seize the day. Whats important to you, what do you care about, what matters. Pursue that. Forget the rest. Just last month she and her family took a trip to the grand canyon, the last task on her bucket list. Brittany said about her decision t freedom is in the choice. Guys, back over to you. Thanks very much. I think a lot of people are going to weigh in on this today and sharing emotions. Both positive and in some cases negative. Its a controversial decision. Controversial but what a remarkable young woman to share it with everyone took a lot of courage. Move on now. The weather is a big story. That brutal cold being felt by tens of millions across the east this morning. That after a nasty storm brought snow all the way from maine to the deep south. Todays dylan dreyer is in a very chilly bangor, maine. I recognize that winter coat. I didnt think it would be out this early. Reporter me neither. You know, you left it was warm, you come back and it feels like the heart of winter. I know you were not gone that long. But its not just me. Even hardy new englanders say this snowstorm hit way too early and they are right. We have 14 1 2 inches of snow on the ground here in bangor, maine. Thats typically what you see around christmas, not right after halloween. Power crews were out trying to restore power to the more than 100,000 people that lost it. And its not just the show but the cold stretches all the way down south. Judging by this its hard to believe that winter is still more than six weeks away. In bangor, maine this morning they are waking up to more than a foot of snow. Mid fall and already heavy snow and 50mileperhour wind gusts are making highways look downright wintry. Snow dusting pumpkins and covering foliage, days after halloween. Its funny, yesterday you can see i was out cleaning my leaves up out of putting away garden beds. What a difference a day makes. In foxborough, massachusetts white weather could keep Patriots Fans down. This is football weather. More than 50,000 runners bundled up for the new York City Marathon with low temperatures and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour. Making an already brutal 26. 2 miles even more difficult. Even for the professionals. Very strong run. I feel like i fought the whole way. Its tough conditions. Even the south couldnt escape early snow. Cold temperatures from georgia to the carolinas. Skiers reveling in the second earliest opening on record at north carolinas Sugar Mountain ski resort. Great. They are great. Just getting them warmed up for the rest of the season. So cold records were set in florida, yes, florida where cold air brought new lows to miami, Daytona Beach and orlando. So of course november wasnt off to a great start this weekend but the good news is we should already start to turn the corner, by this afternoon temperatures at least should rebound across the south and into the midatlantic. Thats right. Get back to normal. Thank you so much. Warm up. Now were also watching a major system coming out from the south. This is going to be a big impact for a wide swath for election day. From del rio, texas, dallas, on into houston and into oklahoma. Were talking some areas picking up 3 to 5 inches of rain and thats going to be spreading to the north. Weve got another major system coming onshore into the Pacific Northwest. And that area is going to be looking over 48 hours from 3 to 6 inches of rain. That moisture down south, thats going to be making its way here into the northeast, and we may be looking at another storm system coming up this weekend. Yeah. Happy dance. All right, al. Thank you. In the meantime, were learning more this morning about what may have led to the tragic crash of a Virgin Galactic space plane during a test flight. In a moment well talk to the companys founder sir Richard Branson. First, nbcs jacob ras cone has the latest on the investigation. Good morning to you. Reporter matt, good morning. The ntsb wants to be clear these new facts dont yet tell us the official cause of the crash, that will take months and longer. But we now know video and flight data in and outside the cockpit appear to show mistakes by both man and machine. The unexpected announcement came overnight. A break in the investigation into Virgin Galactics failed test flight that killed one pilot and injured another. The ntsbs acting chairman saying the tails or feathers of the space plane which are only supposed to deploy as the aircraft kree enters the atmosphere, deployed before the plane got into space. The ntsb saying video from inside the cockpit shows the copilot Michael Alsbury who died in the crash unlocked the feathers seconds after the planes rocket ignited which is too soon. But the feathers dont deploy simply because they are unlocked. That requires a second lever. Video and flight data confirm nobody pulled that lever. The feathers deployed on their own. Seconds later the aircraft came apart. We are a long way from finding cause, we still have months and months of investigation to do, a lot that we dont know. It broke apart at 45,000 feet and this is the biggest piece of what is left. What would have carried six space tourists and two pilots into suborbit. More than 700 people have already bought tickets for a future space flight including justin bieber, katy perry and leonardo dicaprio. The travel community is mourning the loss of alsbury. He was a friend and colleague colleague. To all of us. Never gets replaced. Reporter and the recovering pilot is recovering after surgery, he is well enough to talk to doctors but not yet to investigators. We expect that he may prove to be an integral part of understanding, matt, what actually happened on board that flight. All right, jacob, thank you very much. Sir Richard Branson the founder of Virgin Galactic. Good morning to you. Good morning. I know its early and the ntsb is saying its going to take a long time to have concrete answers bse preliminary ideas that the copilot on this flight may have started the process of the tails or those feathers at the wrong time, have you seen that video, can you confirm that . I havent seen the video myself. The ntsb or leading the investigation, and we dont buy exactly what they tell us. But if the deployment did take place early, obviously they are indicating that may well that may well be the cause. But we need them to examine that further and let us know. I know youre taking a waitandsee approach, sir richard, but people are already wondering whether this accident and the death of this copilot is a crippling blow. There have been delays, setbacks in the past with this program. Can Virgin Galactic survive the image seen around the world of that space vehicle coming apart at 45,000 feet . I think that if we can find what the ntsb pointing to, if that ends up to be the case, that is something which is easy to fix. And we can make absolutely certain that it cannot be done again in the future. So i think you know, we have a wonderful spacecraft, spaceship, wonderful engineers trying to make history and they are not going to 0 they are going to move forward and create a Spaceship Company that will be hopefully one day the marvel of the world. Yes, its been a horrible setback, particularly obviously for michaels family. And for mike himself. But we owe to the him to continue and that we will do. Even as you say we owe to the him, im thinking back to the early days of the nasa programs going into space and it seemed at that time though they had tragic loss of life as well, that was about the advancement of science, it was about that giant leap for mankind and rightly or wrongly, people dont see your program in the same light. They think its more of an expensive thrill ride. So is it worth the risks . Absolutely its worth the risks. Our program is about many different things. First of all, its about giving the millions of people who would like to go to space the chance to go to space. Secondly, its about putting up massive arrays of satellites to enable the 3 billion people who dont have mobile phone or Internet Access or wifi access to get them. Third, its about with pointtopoint travel in the future in an environmentally friendly way in a fraction of the time it takes today. I can carry on. So, its a grand program which has had a horrible seat back, but i dont think anybody watching this would want us to abandon it at this stage. Sir Richard Branson, i appreciate your time. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thanks, matt. Natalie, troubling news out of iraq. Its called the worst blood shed in iraq in more than four months. Americas allies against isis rounded up and massacred a sunni tribal leader from the city, said his men were overrun by isis. Witnesses claim the islamic militants shot 200 men at close range and dozens of women and children. Television reporting that air strikes in response to the killing. World trade center is open for business. 13 years after the 9 11 terror attacks publishing giant conde nast will start moving in today. The 104story skyscraper is americas tallest building, its executive director says the new york city skyline is whole again. Republicans and democrats are deadlocked going into tomorrows midterm elections, thats according to the latest nbc wall street journal poll. 46 of likely voters prefer a republican controlled congress. 45 for the democrats. Tomorrows vote will determine winners in all 435 house districts, control of the senate and 36 governor seats. Preliminary test results show a patient at Duke UniversityMedical Center who returned from liberia does not have ebola. The patient is not in the clear yet. He will remain at duke in a contained and secure unit. Additional testing will occur 72 hours after his fever developed to confirm this result. And tensions boiling over at the racetrack on sunday as a brawl erupted on pit row. The cars bumped on the track but Kevin Harvick and several crewmen also getting involved. A free for all. Lots of pushing and shoving. Plenty of punches too. Both gordon and keselowski suffered cuts to their faces. Sad to see that there. Keep it on the track, guys. In the cars. We have ice hockey. A little bit. Thank you. Al, its cold but its going to be 70 in washington tomorrow. Really quick rebound which is good news. Lets show what you weve got going on. You can see beautiful weather up and down the eastern seaboard, a lot of that snow in new england will be gone by late this afternoon, heavy rain moving into the Pacific Northwest, plenty of sunshine through the plains, gorgeous day in los angeles. Sunny skies and 75. Well get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Let us be lovers, well marry our fortunes together ive got some real estate here in my bag it took me four days to hitchhike from saginaw ive come to look for america 7 18 good monday morning to you. Im meteorologist christina loren. Abundant sunshine today and it is hilly out there. Look how much sunshine were getting courtesy of the time change. Later today youll end up in the mid 0s. Right here in santa rosa, 70s in the peninsula. A warming trend coming your way. Home you have a fantastic monday. Thats your latest weather. Do you guys have nails . I passed by to wave at natalie and willie. I saw that tightrope. I couldnt believe it. What it did to sunday night twitter traffic was incredible. Nik wallenda successfully walked that high wire between two famous chicago skyscrapers. This was stunning tv. He did it blindfolded, as mentioned. Willie and natalie were right there, following the action. Social media, guys, 42,000 tweets, mentioning Nik Wallendas name still at the top of the google trend and Facebook Page. Some of the tweets that stood out to us. Andrea said, boyfriend just sneezed and i yelled dont make him fall. There were a lot of really cute vines as well. This one set up the process. If you missed it last night i know you didnt. This speeds it up. Boom, boom, boom. Another one that caught our eye. Look at this. Blink. So nik had a little assistance from ian on this. Tabatha wrote he made it look easy. I hope they left the wire up. I want to try it tomorrow. How did it feel, natalie . Im still recovering. It wasnt as gut wrenching as the grand canyon walk. I was astonished hes sitting there, talking to you and willie. Took a selfie. It was incredible. He was trying to talk to us. I was like, nik, focus. Its a little thin wire, less than an inch thick in front of you. How cold was it up there . Freezing but im sure much colder for him. Exactly. Well check back in in a moment with nik. Were going to ask him what he might do for an encore. He will join us live in a few. Big holiday deals are already being rolled out. Should you jump at them now or will they get bigger the closer we get to christmas . Well talk about that. First this is today on nbc. Coming up, a man who jumped on a whale carcass in the middle of a shark feeding frenzy. What . And Jennifer Lopez after your local news. Its a marshmallow world in the winter when the snow comes to cover the ground its a time for play, its a whipped cream day i wait for it all year round and the sun is red like a pumpkin head its shining so your nose wont freeze the world is your snowball see how it grows thats how it goes whenever it snows the world is your snowball just for a song get out and roll it along in winter its a marshmallow world Denver International is one of the busiest airports in the country. We operate just like a city and that takes a lot of energy. 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Kinda were new to the Pacific Northwest. The rain, the mudbabam its there. The outside comes in. do