A once vibrant 26yearold. Everything reason. Nothing should be a regret. This as the president tries to tackle the root of the rising extremist threat. And murphys law. Why wasnt eddie murphy in any skits at snls 40th Anniversary Show . A former cast member tells all including the role murphy turned down and why, today thursday, february 19, 2015. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And morning. Matt has the morning off. I almost had the morning off. You did . I woke up an hour ago. I overslept. In the makeup room, we were like where where is she . Look how well s together. Were talking about record shattering temperature how cold is it . Here is a picture of a niagar falls. Behind that somewhere, falls are still roaring. Boy, you cant see them. They are encased in ice. Its amazing. Beautiful picture. Meantime that siberian express is of course our top story. If you are not waking record shattering temper this morning, chances will by tomorrow. We have this all covered from the deep south to that breath taking scene at Niagara Falls. Thats where dylan dreyer finds herself good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. I wasnt quite cold enough in the united states, so i had to head up to canada. But ironically its colder in parts of kentucky this morning the. We have been in such a prolonged period of below fr temperatures, that the gre niagara frozen over. The falls will never freeze over completely. It makes thats incredible ice formations. Its so hard to show what you cold looks l you can see in baltimore, maryland, a very cold scene of cars completely encased in place as a water encased this car in ice. You can also see cold by the numbers. Records that have stood for more than 50 years stand to fall today in places like asheville, north carolina, nashville, tennessee, and paducah, kentucky wh morning it will be much colder than that. And in boston, this is already the second coldest february on record. On top of the second snowiest on record. The cold air surges in to the eastern half of the united states. Here in Niagara Falls we are on track for one of the coldest februarys on thats what makes it such a beautiful si the dylan dreyer at niagara. And will extreme cold is creating challenges in south. Temperatures up to 45 degr below normal. Shattering alltime reports. Abe guttierez is in nashville where they could be lo record today. Good morning, gabe. Reporter willie, good morning. This is not exactly Niagara Falls, but t ice is already sta on this fountain. Temperatures here are in the Single Digits and this is extremely cold a dangerous. So far this week in tennessee, there have been at least six weather related deaths. This morning much of the south is on ice, shivering through record breaking cold. Been chaotic. Reporter today nashville is forecast to bottom out around 0 degrees after this weeks snow and ice already struck a sour note in the music city. Our city shut down. People up north want to make fun, and i get it. Just that were not used to it. Reporter salt Truck Drivers are working overtime. So are plumbers as pipes burst. Been several years in fact since weve had this kind of weather. So a lot of people have been caught off guard. Reporter the arctic blast stretching across the south from kentucky where firefighters are using blow torches to melt ice off hydrants to north carolina. Simple solution to all this is to just stay inside. Reporter to georgia, even into the sunshine state. 20s in northern florida, 30s in the central section of the state. Reporter Citrus Growers are rushing to protect their crops. Once ice gets inside and the juice starts to ice over, then the actual quality goes down. Reporter back near nashville, nate hanson runs his own tiling business. Are you used to this type of weather in nashville . No. They have been waiting for a snow day, havent you. Reporter schools here are shut down all week. As far as youre concerned, this could keep go while. Yeah. Reporter and youd be okay with that . Yes. Reporter the kids here may not be complaining, but their dad told us his business has been out of work all week. Meanwhile this morning folks in the nashville area are dealing with something that happens more often up north, possible cryo seismic booms also known as ice quakes. Thats when ice in the ground rapidly expands and people here hear a mini explosion. People in the south just not used to this. That sounds like something you get at the dq. Thanks so much. So where is this coming from . Weve been calling it the siberian express. This air originates in siberia. It gets caught up and up and over the pole. Because we have the polar low, a strong western high, it funnels that air right in between and so the siberian air actually makes its way down south into the u. S. So look at these temperatures right now. 13 charlotte, 40 orlando, atlanta 16, cape hatteras, 23. And as you look at these high temperatures, they are anywhere from 20 to 30 degrees below normal. The real cold air comes in tomorrow morning. Miami will be 40 degrees. 22 in savannah. 14 below in lexington, kentucky. And we are watching a major storm system getting itself together saturday into saturday night, sunday, an icy mix, snow possibly in boston. And sunday, this will be bad news. A mix of frozen precip from new york city on boston, soaking into the snow pack that is already on roofs, 1 to 3 inches. But we could be looking at this icy wet mix that will be even heavier whatever is on roofs right now will absorb is like a sponge and it will be more dangerous, even heavier. So we have to get that stuff off of folks roofs now. Al, thank you so much. Meantime a new warning over potentially deadly super bug outbreak. Its already been linked to at least two deaths at Ucla Ronald Reagan Medical Center and nearly 200 others may have been exposed. Haley jackson has this story for you. Good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. The patients potentially exposed here are being offered free home testing kits so they can have been infected with th bacteria its incredibly resistant to antibiotics. Which is part of what makes it so dangerous. Its been called a nightmare bacteria by federal officials. A super bug that can kill up to half the people who become infected with it in their bloodstreams. About 170 patients are learning they may have been exposed. The hospital says seven people may have caught the bug and two died. Possibly because they were in cre normally lives in the if it gets in a the bloodstream, it may kill 50 of the people it inspects. Reporter similar outbreaks in seattle, chicago and pittsburgh and at least one cre case has been report in the nearly every state. This is unprecedented what were watching now in terms of patients dying, pati infected. Reporter the infections are linked to a specialized procedure called ercp. When gastroenterologists use it to go down the throat to get a closer look at a patients digestive system. But bacteria can get trapped inside the mechanism at the tip of the endoscope. Sometimes the recommended sterilization isnt enough to decontaminate the scope before its used again. It may be that these instruments have been transmitting somewhat innocuous bacteria and now that those bacteria become resistant, theyre killing patients. Reporter in a Statement Released overnight, the fda says about a half million of life saving procedures are given every year with just a ti reporting problems from dirty scopes. The agency adds any risk may be weighed against the consequences of not seeking treatment. So advice for patients, talk to dock sterilize thesen dough skopic instruments. Ucla says its now going above and beyond what is recommended for decontamination by manufactures and by national standards. Haley jackson, thank you. And now a touchi to kayla mueller. The american hostage who died in the hands of isis. Hundreds gathering in her hometown while in washington the White House Holds a summit on ending violent extremism. Andrea mitchell is there with more. Andrea, good morning. Reporter good morning, willie. As isis continues to threaten the civilized world, kay he la muellers hometown about not forget the 26yearold aid worker gathering in a vegigil of grief and remembrance. A community thrust into the vortex of global terrorism. But with song and prayer keeping the focus on their daughter, student, friend and sister. Heartbreaking tribute from her brother, eric. You were my first friend, my best friend, my only sister. My heart aches for you and what you went through. I have a hole in my soul that will never be replaced. Reporter her College Minister spoke of her faith. Kaylas engagement grew out of seeds of faith, love, compassion and justice. Seeds nurtured in large part by her family and this community. Reporter and friends honored her in a tribute video posted to youtube. So what i have to say to all my loved ones in prescott is that ill always love you. Reporter last night was service of peace and prayer. Light years from the steady march of isis. Now taking hold in libya where the terrorists beheaded 21 egyptian christians. An executioner speaking englib with an american accent as fellow terrorists grabbed more towns in iraq, burning alive as many as 48 prisoners iraq claims. Only five miles from a base with hundreds of u. S. Marines deployed as advisers. The u. S. Strategy being challenged on every front, even as president obama told a counterterrorism summit the terrorists do not represent islam. They are not religious leaders. Theyre terrorists and we are not at war with islam. We are at war with people who have perverted islam. Reporter a sentiment echoed in prescott, lighting candles of hope in memory of a young woman who gave her life in service to others. The people of prescott lit candles for all four of the american hostages who died while held by isis as the nation struggles with how to combat this new form of evil. Kayla mueller such an impressive young woman. Andrea mitchell in washington, thank you. More on those peteings andrea talked about. Thats right. The president will be speaking at the white house morning where delegates from 65 countries will gather. The president defending his refusal to call terrorists muslim extremists saying the u. S. Has one thing going for it that europe doesnt, a long tradition of embracing immigrants, including muslims. But the president warned that terror groups are effective in enticing poor and uneducated muslims with twisted interpretations of islam. No religion is responsible for terrorism. People are responsible for violence and terrorism. The president saying parents, teachers and faith leaders play a deal role in preventing the spread of extremism. President obama named interim secret Service DirectorJoseph Clancy to head the Agency Permanent permanently. Clancy has been the acting director after there were a series of security breaches. The president brushed aside an independent panels conclusion that the job should go to an outsider. Clancy has been with the secret service for nearly 30 years. A surge in gas prices is likely in Southern California after an explosion ripped through part of an oil refinery on wednesday. It happened in torrance about 20 miles south of downtown los angeles. Miles south of downtown los angeles. Residents within a mile or two reported feeling a sharp jolt that they initially thought was an earthquake. Four contractors suffered minor injuries. Officials say air quality is being monitored as precaution. The surgery is on for missing dogs after the doggy dare care van that they were in was alledgedly stolen at gunpoint in chicago. Apparently the driver was taking the dogs home when two armed men approached and told him to get out of the van. He complied, the men then drove away. 7 dogs were inside. The owner of the business says because the van was not marked with the companys logo, he thinks the carjackers just wanted the vehicle and war not tar were not targeting the dgs. We all scream for ice cream, but how about if its being served to you by a Big Television star . Jimmy fallon showed up at a ben and jerrys scoop shop to give out free samples of his tonight show ice cream. But customers didnt realize it was jimmy himself controlling that mechanical arm making it tricky to get a bite. Eventually, he did reveal himself after making people earn their free samples. The hard way. Tonight dough. I want to try that. The lengths people go to to get a bite of ice cream. We tried it yesterday. Its pretty good. Well get you some. Ice cream cures everything. Speaking of ice. Thank you for bringing that up. No pun intended. Anyway, lets show what you weve got a around the rest of the countrytoday. Wet weather in the Pacific Northwest. Sunshine in los angeles and 71. Cool chilly windy conditions along the southeastern atlantic coast. Gulf coast looking on the cool side with plenty of sunshine. 7 16. Good morning im meteorologist christina loren. Great skies across the board to start but then a lot of sunshine and temperatures near records just about everywhere. Return to the 70s for today. Right now were in the 50s. By lunch time well be in the low 60s and round out the day at 70 degrees in the north bay. 64 in San Francisco and 70 degrees today in the south bay. Sunny and unseasonably warm for today, warmer into the weekend. More on that in just moepts. And thats your latest weather. Guys . Al thank you so much. Now to one of the most talkedabout from snls 40th. What was the deal with eddie murphy . And now we kind of know. You have to wonder why his appearance was short. Last night i heard you talking about this. Former cast member Norm Macdonald shared a behindthescenes look including the role that he says he tried to convince murphy to take. And welcome back to celebrity jeopardy reporter it was the sketch that many said stole the show and it almost had a much different ending. Burt reynolds, what are you doing here . Reporter snl alum Norm Macdonald revealing over the course of 110 tweets that eddie murphy was asked to participate in the sketch playing bill cosby. Macdonald tweeting how it was supposed to go down. Eddie murphy doing a perfect cosby impression. The audience does not let him finish. The sketch ends. The show, for all intents, ends. [ applause ] his appearance marking the first time the legendary alum was to set studio on the 8h stage in more than 30 years. Macdonald describes how murphy entered the studio to an awestruck crowd of alisters. Rock says there he is like ali in zaire. Eddie, bomaye. Thats when macdonald quickly realized its my job to talk him into doing jeopardy . We talk in his dressing room for a good hour. When its over, im convinced hell do it. He doesnt. He knew the laughs would bring down the house. Eddie murphy knows what will work on snl better than anyone. As for the reason why murphy declined i thought you guys were going to right there you guys were reporter opting for what many considered to be an awkward appearance later in the show macdonald explains. Eddie decides the laughs are not worth it. He will not kick a man when he is down. Eddie murphy, i realize, is not like the rest of us. Eddie does not need the laughs. He adds eddie murphy is the coolest, a rockstar even in a room with actual rockstars. Guys its such an interesting read considering almost you know over 23 Million People watched that special. Norm gives great insight not only to the eddie murphy moment but really the writing process, that week its great if you want to go back find it right here. I mean this would just be kind of a cool stream of conscience. Look how he wrote this. Sometimes one sentence at a time. Its fascinating. We reached out to snl and eddie murphy, and neither had comment. Its an oral history of the show. Following norm last night. It was interesting. On the red carpet all the stars said what was so cool about it was the week leading up to the show. The rehearsals and everything that went on. It was like this great, great reunion. They said that was almost better than the show itself. And the show was pretty good. Thank you so much. Coming up vanilla ice released from custody and speaking out overnight about his arrest for alleged burglary. And on rossen reports, technology that could prevent dangerous bird strikes on your next flight. So why is it only being used at three airports across the country . Weve got that story coming up. But first, this is today on nbc. Untry . That story coming up. First, this is why do we do it . Why do we spend every waking moment, thinking about people . Why are we so committed to keeping you connected . Why combine performance with a conscience . Why innovate for a future without accidents . Why do any of it . Why do all of it . Because if it matters to you its everything to us. 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