Palace. What they might be worried about. Major dose of puppy love a look back at the best ads of the year today, december 31st 2014. Announcer from nbc news this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a wednesday morning. Im Savannah Guthrie. And im willie geist along with Sheinelle Jones and dylan dreyer. The gates to times square open at 11 00 am. Some people will be standing out there in the cold for 13 hours waiting for the ball to drop. I think i see matt lauer there waving. He never misses it. Yes, 2014 almost done. Stick a fork in it. Its going to be cold out there. Really cold. December is pretty mild. Now were talking about brutally cold temperatures. Well talk about that in a moment. Top story this morning, investigators believe they may have located the wreckage of airasia flight 8501. There are more questions than answers about the flights final moments. Katy tur has the late theft morning from indonesia. Katy good morning to you. Reporter good morning, savannah. Another tough day for families. Day four of the search and they pulled out even more debris and even more bodies. Many relatives say theyre not going to give up hope that somebody might be found alive. This morning, report that is sonar may have located the plane at the bottom of the sea. This man says at last we have new that is the plane has been found. I hope the next process of evacuation can be done fast. As the first bodies arrived from the crash site of flight 8501 a woman and teenage boy. Seven bodies in total have now been recovered, one in her Flight Attendant uniform all amid the debris of the java sea. Now the ship u. S. S. Sampson is on site. Preparing for the arduous process of identification collecting dna and other information from relatives to help pick out the dead. Makeshift morgue made of shipping container sincere empty. Relatives pray and sing. We believe that life and death are in gods hands, she says. We must always prepare everything because we never know when we will die. Now, as for the sonar images ceo just said a minute ago they do not have confirmation that they found a plane. They do not have any sonar images. Theyre officially still looking for it. As for the charter flight theyre going to give the families to fly them around the islands so they can pray for their loved ones they canceled that willie saying its just going to be too hard. Katy tur in surabaya indonesia, thank you very much. Rude welcome to the new year in the form of brutally cold temperatures. Dylan is tracking the new years eve forecast. Whats it looking like . Its cold everywhere. No place in the clear from this cold air surging in from the north except for florida. Dragging in that cold air. Windchill warnings and advisories in some areas this morning, it feels like it is 20 to 40 degrees below zero. Idaho falls, with that windchill, feels like its 27 below. Casper wyoming. Grand junction feels like temperature of 3 below. You spread east. Its not as cold. But still below average this time of year. 4 in chicago right now with a windchill of 14 below. High temperature today will be running 10 to 25 degrees below average. Dallas topping out at 45 degree this is afternoon. Out in the southwest, were talking about a big snowstorm. Of all places las vegas is under a Winter Weather advisory right now. You can see over there in yell o thats where we find miguel almaguer. How is it feeling out there . Good morning, dylan. It is certainly bitter in vegas. With the windchill it feels a lot colder than that. This brutal cold is gripping so much of the nation. And our friends at the Weather Channel tell us 80 of the country is in freezing temperatures and here in vegas tonight, were told theres about 60 odds it could snow close to midnight. There will be about 350,000 people out on the streets here tonight, ringing in new years eve. They may be doing it in a rare winter storm. Getting to las vegas is a problem. Take a look at the pictures we found on the snow in the roadways trying to lead to vegas. Hundreds of people were rescued from their vehicles overnight. First responders dozens of cars out of the snow. It took people to emergency shelters. The roadways already a mess before new years eve. Other parts of the state, lets take you to northern california. Powerful winds, trees, power lines. They even knocked down trees into some cars taking the life of one person. A deadly storm in northern california. That storm is working its way here and in parts of the northeast, as you mentioned, other serious heavy snow storms and, of course out in the very northeast, you guys are dealing with bitter cold. In and out las vegas theyre betting on snow. Its a rare sight but could happen today. Go figure snow in las vegas. It doesnt sound like much but an inch of snow kind of shuts things down out there. I believe that. Dylan, thank you very much. Heartbreaking story out west. Community in idaho, a 29yearold mother was accidentally shot and killed by her 2yearold son during a postholiday shopping trip to walmart. John yang has this story. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, savannah. This morning, relatives of that woman, Veronica Rutledge are describing her as a responsible gun owner who took a lot of precautions to prevent exactly what happened. Police called to an idaho walmart tuesday morning, saying it was a tragic accident that ended a Young Mothers life. It just appear that is the small child accessed the females concealed weapon. Reporter unreleased Surveillance Video shows 29yearold Veronica Rutledge with her three young nieces and 2yearold son. The child looked like to be sitting in the shopping cart with the purse. The female victim was shopping. Reporter rutledge had a concealed weapons permit and family members say the Research Scientist with a degree in Chemical Engineering was a responsible gun owner who, they say, had the gun tucked away in a bag specially designed to safely carry a weapon. She just received the bag for christmas. All the precautionary measures were taken to secure that weapon. Reporter in a statement to nbc news walmart called the shooting a very sad incident and said theyre working with the cootenai Sheriffs Department to determine what happened. Relatives who didnt want to speak on camera called rutledge a wonderful mother and shining star taken from them much too soon. Afterround the holidays right after christmas, before the new year tragic tranlggic accident. Compounding that tragedy, the three nieces with rutledge on that shopping trip and who witnessed the incident are all under the age of 11. Savannah . That is an awful story. John yang, thank you so much. Sheinelle jones now has some breaking news out of canada for us. Another sad one. Tragic story out of canada. Nine people including two children are dead after a murder suicide in edmonton. One victim was found in a home monday night while the others were found early tuesday in a second edmonton residence. The killings appear to be a case of domestic violence. Authorities describe the man as depressed and overly emotional. Following the revelation that majority whip Steve Scalise gave a speech 12 years ago to a White Supremacy group. Andrea mitchell is in washington with reaction. Good morning, sheinelle. Michael grimm quit pleading guilty to felony tax evasion, more trouble for the gop and apology from the top leader Steve Scalise, from a speech more than a dozen years ago. At home during the holiday break, acknowledging he did speak ate meeting organized by White Supremacists in 2002 while a state official. A mistake, he wrote in a statement adding i emphatically oppose the divisive racial views these groups hold. How could he not know . The group was organized by former ku klux klan leader david duke. How do you not know who david duke is . He had famously argued with tim russert by then. Your people . My heritage. White people . The european heritage that built this country. Reporter dukes organization held conferences, like this one from 2005. We are the white race. We have the ingenuity and the creativity to overcome anything they can put up against us. Reporter civil Rights Groups called dukes organization a hate group. The most infamous white supremacist, especially known in louisiana. Reporter the question now, does the controversy set back John Boehners efforts to broaden the appeal of the gop . It can be particularly damaging to the party and to the partys efforts, to show that it is truly more inclusive and truly reaching out. Speaker boehner issued a statement, vouching for scalises integrity, while acknowledging he should not have attended that meeting. A week before the new congress is actually sworn in. Sheinelle . Thank you, andrea. Former president george h. W. Bush is home resting comfortably after spending a week in the hospital. The 90yearold former president was admitted to the hospital last tuesday after experiencing shortness of breath. Family Spokesman Says president bush is grateful to the doctors and nurses for their superb care. In chicago, several brand new cars were destroyed after being buried in an avalanche of salt. It happened at a morton salt warehouse. The building was overloaded causing the salt to spill out. It wast covered several cars at an auto dealership next door. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Texas a m has permanently dismissed student assistant Michael Richardson from the program after an embarrassing moment monday as he struck two West Virginia players during the liberty bowl. Revelers are ring in the new year in auckland new zealand. At midnight residents and tourists were treated to a huge fireworks display, launched from the citys sky. Ill celebrate from another part of the world. There you go. And their new years is so much warmer than ours. I hope my glittery outfit has fleece with it. I dont know what well do dylan. Nothing like fleece glitter. To ring in the new year. Cold air all across the country except Southern California which will be below average. Snow in the rockies, up to one to two feet possible in some of the higher happy new years eve. Im first alert meteorologist brittney shipp. As we head into the rest of tonight, at midnight our temperatures will drop down to 26 degrees, our windchill at 20 degrees. And for today, our daytime highs stay just right above freezing 33 degrees. Plenty of sunshine but cold as we head into your new years day. Temperatures at 39 degrees. Slightly warmer into the weekend, but we track a chance of showers saturday lingering into sunday. And thats your latest forecast. Busy morning for you, dylan. Thanks a lot. Big questions are being raised about whether or not north korea was actually behind the sony picture cyber attack. Some analysts say it could have been an inside job. A Cyber Security company says it met with the fbi for a couple of hours this week presenting an alternative theory to the sony hack that the hackers had inside help. The fbi is standing by its conclusion that north korea was behind the attack. With the interview now playing in theaters and on demand much of the country has moved on. In the tech world theres still a raging debate over whos responsible for the Sony Pictures hack. Cyber Security Firm has been independent ly independently investigating the hack focusing on at least one exemployee who had the technical background and system knowledge to carry out the attack. They named the former employee lena sarks lena saying she spent ten years at sony. Somebody had to know what would embarrass hollywood or sony a nation state, whether its north korea or any nation state, would not know Something Like that. The fbi is still pointing to north korea, saying there is no credible information to indicate that any other individual is responsible. The state department is standing by that conclusion. Its possible that some assets outside the dprk might have been involved but that doesnt change the conclusion about the dprks responsibility. Reporter the Security Company crowd strike said it looked at the same information as the government and also believes north korea conducted the attack. It is very typical in an attack like this for an adversary to assume the identity credentials of an active employee inside the organization. Reporter north korea has denied any involvement in this ongoing mystery, some experts suggest there could be more than one villain. The internal employee opens the back door. They have a personal vendetta. The external north korea hackers are looking for something to infiltrate and may come upon something they have set up. Reporter fbi officials met with norse, listened to their presentation and thanked them for the information. Experts say the fbi has likely gathered a lot more evidence than private companies have. Sony declined to comment on norses findings. Willie . Joe fryer, thank you, joe. No party is bigger or more well known than the countdown in times square. Preparing for what could be a new challenge, protesters. Lets go to Stephanie Gosk in times square getting a good spot this morning. Hi stephanie. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, savannah. One of the many Amazing Things about new years eve in this city is what happens here in times square t goes from fairly normal activity right now to this Massive Party with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. Music, confetti and, of course that famous ball drop. Sometimes square on new years eve is that once in a lifetime check it off the bucket list something to tell the grandkids kind of event. Were going to be here in winter coats, gloves scarves, freezing our tails off to watch that big, beautiful ball drop. Being here for new years is the best ever. Reporter making sure it goes off smoothly requires thousands of Law Enforcement, facing challenges and possible threats. Counterterrorism units, bomb squads and rooftop controls. Crowds are blocked in with barricades. Communication and information hub with live camera feeds streaming constantly. Surveillance cameras. Theres going to be the stuff thats permanently there and theres going to be stuff thats set up even starting a couple of days before. Reporter this year police have to be ready for another possible disturbance, protesters calling for police reform. A new year cannot come and go with business as usual. Reporter the nypd says they are welcome. They have an absolute right to protest still. As long as they do it peacefully and laws arent broken well police the event. Reporter Police Officers triggered tension between cops and mayor bill de blasio. Some turned their backs to the mayor when he spoke at officer rafael ramos funeral earlier this week. Actions speak louder than words and time will tell. Reporter on new years eve, harmony amongst the ranks or not, theres a job to do. Thousands from all over the world will be counting on them. You guys have already been talking about it this morning, the vicious cold. Anyone out here partying or on the job is probably going to have to dress a little more warmly than i am or be a little tougher. Youre pretty tough, though stephanie. Oh, i dont know. Theres a big correspondent in gosk. She does her thing. I do mine. We all have our thing. If somebody told you to go back through all the pictures you did this year and pick your best ones it would take you, what, nine, ten months . Yeah. Exactly. Imagine how white house photographer pete souza feels. He has to go through everything this year to come up with the best of the best in annual photographs. This provides a glimpse behind the scenes capturing moments away from the spotlight. Several accuracy and strobe lights to create a 3d portrait. Dont squint mr. President. This is taken at the annual easter egg roll. Those were the two most famous sets of ears in washington. I think he even got a copy for his daughter. Thoughts Golden Gate Bridge and a couple of guys hanging out. And Staff Members daughter captured so beautifully. All i can say is i really hope that she is indeed wearing a diaper. You can find a link to all of these pictures on today. Com in our photo album. Definitely check it out. Jenna wolfe, thanks. She has experience on ta diaper question. Jenna wolfe. Conversation new documentary about charles, diana and camilla was postponed at the last minute. The latest from london. And very best ads of the year. Cue the puppies. And derek jeters final coming up well introduce you to the parents who just welcomed four baby girls to the family. Thats right, quadruplets. Do they have enough diapers . [ female announcer ] a 3d white smile has the power to captivate. [ all cheering ] thats why shakira uses. Crest 3d white with whitelock technology, removing up to ninety percent of surface stains and locking out future stains. So your smile always steals the show. And to get even faster whitening use this collection for a whiter smile in just 2 days. 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