And race against the clock. A lastditch effort to save hundreds of beached whales. Volunteers braving sharks and stingrays to form a human sea wall to stop the tragedy from escalating. What is behind the mystery . And smart alec. Yes, this is real life. Alec baldwin promising a huge show as he gets ready to lampoon President Trump again. Fans line up since thursday to see him. Baldwin gets set to host snl for a report 17th time. Today saturday, february 11th, 2017. Announcer from nbc news, this is today live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning. Welcome to today. Im Sheinelle Jones. Im craig melvin. On the walk in this morning, you could see folks lined up for alec baldwin. Some people have been there, apparently, since thursday. It is freezing here in new york city to add to that. Should be a show worth seeing. We have a lot to get to. Lets start with the top story. President trump waking up this weekend at maralago estate hosting another foreign dignitary and hipting at a new executive order on monday regarding the travel ban. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is live in florida. Reporter good morning, sheinelle. Today, the president is taking a page out of the Business Executives playbook where you use a round of golf to seal a deal. Today it is an Important International relationship for the u. S. With the president hosting the Prime Minister of japan shinzo abe at one of his florida golf resorts. It will be a day of social and political interaction. Trump style diplomacy. Another first. World leader, japans Prime Minister and mrs. Abe hosted by the president and first lady melania trump. A white house dinner but held on the maralago. The trip included on air force one. T talk about it. It takes time. We will win that battle. We have a lot of other options, including filing a new order on monday. Reporter however, senior advisors say all options, including appealing to the Supreme Court remain open. The president also told reporters he was unaware of controversy around his National Security advisor mikchael flynn. Flynn has denied that he spoke to russias ambassador before mr. Trump took office about sanctions imposed by president obama. Now intelligence sources based on monitored calls of Russian Diplomats say flynn discussed sanctions. Now an Administration Official says flynn is not certain if he discussed sanctions. A serious credibility problem after the Vice President had vouched for flynn. They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against russia. Reporter officials said pence based the defense of flynn entirely on what flynn told him. And the president will be continuing the focus on International Relationships in the week ahead with visits to the white house of canadas Prime Minister and later in the week, the israeli Prime Minister. Today, the first couple and their guests from japan have a full day of activities. We will also see mrs. Melania trump in her activities with a garden tour and lunch for mrs. Abe. Thank you, kelly. Now to an nbc news exclusive. Could Edward Snowden who leaked some of our nations secrets come back to the United States from russia . The latest from Senior Correspondent cynthia mcfadden. Reporter the nbc news has learned that Edward Snowden may be considered a gift to President Trump. This according to a senior official who analyzed a series of sensitive intelligence reports detailing russian conversations and deliberations. A second source in the Intelligence Community confirms and notes it has been received. Russia has been currying favor with the new president. During the campaign, mr. Donald trump made it clear what he wab wawan wanted to see happen. I think he is a traitor. Reporter snowden has been charged under the espionage act and faces at least 30 years in prison. The snowden gift is part of the Russian Campaign to disrupt the american system as they did during the election. One of the things that putin or the russians may see is they can appear to be offering a gift as a part of warming of relations. At the end of the day, it creates complication for the administration. Reporter complications that might arise during a snowden trial lyiike reopening the deba. Good for the russians. Last year, mike pompeo, now cia director said, prison was not enough for snowden. I think the proper outcome would be he would be given the death sentence. Reporter we asked the aclu team snowden has received no such signals and has no new reason for concern. In december, mr. Snowden himself said he wasnt worried. Theres going to be some kind of deal where trump says, hey, look, you know, give this guy to me, as some kind of present. Am i worried about it . Not really. I know i did the right thing. I think this is one of those rare cases where the stakes are so high, the diplomatic complications so deep that anything can happen. I think at the end of the day, moscow holds the cards here. Reporter for today, cynthia mcfadden, nbc news. Edward snowden took to twitter overnight writing, quote, finally, irrefutable evidence that i never cooperated with russian intel. No country trades away spies as the rest would fear theyre next. Meanwhile, the Justice Department tells nbc news, they would welcome his return, but the kremlin says the talk is nonsense and the white house so far has given no comment. Meantime, the president s crackdown on Illegal Immigrants is spreading fear among many communities nationwide this morning, after a series of raids led by immigration Customs Enforcement officials overnight. Nbcs Gatti Schwartz on the growing feel these immigrants are feeling who call this country home. Reporter this morning, across the country, word of immigration and customs raids sending panic through families of millions of undocuments immigrants. Theres a heightened level of fear, because of everything thats happening. Reporter i. C. E. Saying raids in l. A. , atlanta, and texas were routine, targeting criminals. But activists saying, some who were swept up dont pose a threat. And were destroying families. Reporter i. C. E. Raids are nothing new. The Obama Administration deporting more undocumented immigrants than any presidency in history. The new secretary of Homeland Security defended enforcement efforts during a visit to the border near san diego. We have no alternative but to enforce the law. If the laws in the books relative to immigration need to be changed, please, please, please change them. Reporter but President Trump tease tough talk on immigration and a new executive order expanding the discretion of who could be targeted for deportation has families on edge. Immigration advocates say the word criminal inside mothers like Guadalupe Garcia de rayos, convicted of using a fake Social Security number eight years ago so she could work. She had previously been allowed to stay with her two americanborn children as long as she checked in with i. C. E. , but during a checkup this week, she was deported to mexico. Its really heartbreaking, because i was hoping that i would go home with my mom. Reporter 8yearold kelly was born in the United States, but her parents are undocumented. She was so terrified when immigration officials knocked on their door, her mother said she was hospitalized. I was scared. Reporter and at the mention of her father, currently in i. C. E. Detention, she cant stop crying. Her mother among those living in fear that their families may soon be torn apart. Gatti schwartz, nbc news, nogales, arizona. They say the show must go on, in the world of entertainment. And that it did, in an emotional performance overnight with the flying wallendas, returning to the highwire after a scary tightrope accident that almost turned deadly this week. Nbcs Gabe Gutierrez is live outside the circus in sarasota, florida. Gabe, good morning. Reporter craig, good morning. He said it was his worst nightmare, but 48 hours after what nik wallenda called the roughest day of his life, he and his team were back here at circus sarasota, this time in front of a soldout crowd. They did not disappoint. The fabulous wallenda reporter this morning, nik wallenda and his team of deathdefying acrobats are once again flying high. It was breathtaking. I dont know how they do it. Reporter their highwire bicycle act, nailbiting displays of balance, dazzling a soldout crowd at circus sarasota, Opening Night just two days after the unthinkable. These are my family members and to have to witness that happen, its upsetting, its heartbreaking. Reporter on wednesday, wallenda says he and his team were rehearsing an 8person pyramid hoping to break a Guinness World record when someone lost their ground. Still triaging. Reporter wallenda says his aunt is out of surgery. We will perform in 2017. Reporter the wallendas have never shied away from the spotlight. From the grand canyon and the loss of the two uncles in 1962 and his great grandfather who fell to his death almost 40 years ago. You get in a car accident, you dont stop driving. We do what we love. We will continue. Reporter for a show man used to the Worlds Largest stages. Nik wallenda. Reporter the rebound performance may be the toughest week yet. This is what we are made of. Its where we are supposed to be. Reporter three of the injured remain in the hospital. They are expected to recover. Two of the injured were here at circus sarasota after a dress rehearsal. The show is scheduled to run next month. It is in their blood. Our thoughts and prayers to those. Now to brave volunteers battling the elements to save whales who beached themselves in new zealand. Matt bradley is following the story for us from london. Matt, good morning. Reporter good morning, sheinelle. You know, it is rare to see this happen on a monstrous scale. New zealands area attracts this tragedy and scientists are not clear why this happens. They say sometimes the whales just lose their way. Today, a tragedy in new zealand. Hundreds of pilot whales stranding themselves on the beach. At first, more than 400 washed ashore. Hundreds of volunteers jumping in action braving the tides and sharks and stringrays. I was here this morning. A small group of us. We went out and saw one of the biggest strandings i have seen. Reporter so far, they he managed to set 100 free. The whales are still coming. Drawn by the calls of their already stranded friends. Rescuers str s scramble to stop. This morning, a new pod of 240 whales. If they cant be rescued, they may have to be put down. 20 have already been euthanized. I have never experienced death like this before. Its for such a majestic animal. It is strange. Reporter it is a natural event. On an unusual scale. This is the Third LargestMass Stranding we recorded in history. A very large one. A massive under taking. Reporter a fight for life for the whales. For human helpers, a trial. For some, all that is left to comfort the dying. They are hoping some of the whales can still be saved. When dawn breaks in just a few hours over in new zealand, hundreds of volunteers arriving again. They will have to work fast. Not just to get the whales off the beach, but prevent hundreds more from swimming ashore. Thank you, matt bradley. It is heartbreaking, but you are encouraged by the people trying to help. Indra peterson is here filling in for dylan while dylan is enjoying maternity leave. We have wild weather. We have great video. Look at what is going on in california. Leav leave see levees are breaking here. We have flood waters sweeping way cars. People rescued there in the west. We are look at the perhapmaps. 3 inches once you get into portions of maine. Easy to see where the jet stream is. Across the country, very easy to see the huge line of winds making the way across which means more storms will develop. We will look for the midfdle of the country. This is insane. Temperatures 25 degrees above normal. Recordbreaking temperatures into the southeast. Blizzard conditions will start to develop again in to the northeast. Another noreaster is developing out here. It will not be looking for snow in philadelphia or d. C. Or new york city. Boston, rain showers through sunday. We will watch sunday night as we go through monday morning. Something we call bomagenisis. Very strong winds gusting as high as 60 to 70 miles per hour. Blizzard conditions would be there. Boston, if this system shifts a bit of, it could good morning. The bay area finally waking up to dry conditions. We are going to see partly cloudy skies. As of now, waking up in san francisco, 49 degrees, and we will be warming up into those 50s, but heres a look at what you can expect making your way out the door. San jose, 47 degrees. Palo alto, 46. Half moon bay 47, napa, 43 degrees. Santa rosa, 42 degrees warming up to the upper 50s, lower 60s. So bomagenesis. I want to teach you. Spell it. Indra, thank you. A big fight in Madison Square garden. The famous arena. It has nothing to do with boxing. It is a dust up with the forme Knicks Charles Oakley and fans are angry. Fans outraged. Venting at knicks owner james dolan with the faceoff over the nuggets. Not over the game, but over the knicks legend. Anger brewing for days after Charles Oakley in wednesdays game ended up in a scuffle with security. Knocked to the ground. Cuffed and hauled away by police while dolan looked on. Oakley told espn he is a security target every time he walks into the building. Get there. Sit down. Try to have a good time. Next thing, i was asked to leave the building. I asked why. Said you have to leave because someone ordered you to leave. Dolan says surveillance tapes and witnesses tell a different story. He has a problem with anger. Physically and verbally abusive. It is unclear from the released tapes what actually started the altercation. And just hours before the knicks took the floor friday night, dolan took the feud a step further. Banning oakley from msg ev indefinitely. He was a competitor for the knicks in the 80s and 90s earning the respect of peers and fans. Oakley charged with three counts of criminal assault. You dont treat a legend like that. Some of the stars, lebron james and chris paul and dwyane wade showing support for oakley. Ten years . Gave everything he had. And oakley tweeting back thanking fans and family and friends. Saying i love new york city. The msg security chief was fired during the fiasco. Fans dont have much to cheer. The team in the middle of the fourth losing season in a row. It hasnt won a championship since 1973. So so, in short, the dumpster fire, raging on. I was in the cab this week and the driver was going off about it. I was working on my phone. I said what are you talking about. He knows im on the news. Can you report that . Were upset. We did our part. There you go. Still to come, our look back on the week that was. The wild winter weather. Craig gets lectured about whatnot to wear in the middle of a snow storm. Where are you . Bermuda . Ill explain. Up next, taking on trump. Alec baldwin setting to host saturday night liv Grocery Outlet is the home of wow savings. Wow means you save 50 or more. There are three stages of wow denial. Is this price right . Acceptance. And boooyah. Wait for it. Boooyah has three os. Grocery outlet bargain market right now, get ball park jerky in assorted flavors for just 2. 99. We are back on a saturday morning. I have to say, i cannot wait until tonights saturday night live. Check out this line. This is the line thats been growing all night. Fans waiting in the standby line hoping to get tickets. Alec baldwin hosting for a record 17th time. You just know he has another President Trump impression up his sleeve. We have Morgan Radford following it. Sheinelle, the lines are long. I saw them this morning. The reality is if President Trump is imitated on this show for decades, he even hosted it. It wasnt until he became president that his relationship took a sour turn. Complains the skits were unflattering. Now fans are clapping back on social media and they , too, hae funny friends in high places. Hes back and its huge. Its a big deal. Alec baldwin hosting snl for a 17th time. Live from new york, its saturday night. Tonight, no doubt, set to reprize his role as donald j. Trump. Google, what is isis . The president who tweeted last month that the baldwin impersonation just cant get any worse. Called the show totally one sided and biassed. A jarring about face from the time when mr. Trump was a guest host himself. Nobody is bigger than me. Nobodys better than me. Im a ratings machine. Now more than a decade later from the seat in the oval office. The tycoon is not the only one safe from satire. The press have gotten off to a rocky start. Melissa mccarthy gave a scathing performance as sean spicer. When i said rocky start, in the sense of rocky the movie. A top trump donor said mr. Trump was wrankled by the spoof. He doesnt like his male strategist played by women. Social media has been on fire. Speculating which women could play trumps advisors. Even House Minority leader nancy pelosi is weighing in. Retweeting a photo of pictures. Betty white. Kristen wiig and then rachel dratch. The comedy is sthnot stopping anytime soo