Suspended brother curt on the sidelines for todays daytona 500. And countdown to the oscars. Hollywoods biggest night is just a matter of hours away. The 87th Academy Awards from the glitz and glamour to the behindthescenes drama and controversie weve got you covered live from the red carpet today, sunday, february 22nd, 2015. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with lester holt and erica hill. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today on this sunday morning. Im erica hill. Glad to have you with us im craig melvin alongside ja shell jones sheinelle jones, dylan dreyer is here. Do you remember when you were little you loved the snow . I cant even remember the last time i looked forward to snow. Dylan is in a unique position obviously. It is my kids were on february break all week. They literally said to me we dont want to go outside. I said we could go sledding we could do this it snowed yesterday over it. Completely over it. The problem is it is not finished yet. Its not. Our top stories, you guessed it this morning the weather. One of the biggest concerns this weekend though has really been the ice. Its brought down trees, knocked out power to tens of thousands. Its also made for really Hazardous Conditions on the roadways across this country. Nbcs Kerry Sanders is literally, literally on lake erie this morning. Kerry, always good to see you, my friend. There he is. Wow. What is that . Reporter good morning. Im on an air boat. Believe it or not, im on a frozen lake erie. It is 9 degrees out here this morning and since long before sunrise, folks have been on air boats like this and on snowmobiles making their way about nine miles out there so they can begin some fishing for some walleye. Yes, there are folks who think that weather like this is a pleasure, but for millions more this is a pain. For the intrepid this weather is perfect for ice fishing. But this morning, another nasty mix of snow sleet and ice are threats across a huge section of the country. From utah into colorado through the midatlantic into new england. In tennessees cumberland plateau, the governor has now declared a state of emergency. Heavy ice here not only breaking tree limbs but also taking down power lines. It sounded like gunshots and it was popping noises and then all of a sudden youd hear it just hit the ground the big whoosh. Reporter in nashville, there is a flood watch this morning. Creeks and rivers are awash in melting snow. Its very unusual. Our crews are very used to working flood events but usually not mixed with ice and snow. Reporter in summerville, massachusetts, drones are now aloft inspecting roofs that could collapse on to the weight of stillfalling snow. Aleve yates the problem having to send physically up on roofs so it is safer. We get good birdseye view real time. Reporter 15 miles away in bedford, massachusetts, a shovel brigade cleared a bike path. Tired of snow . Not everyone. This weather has indeed been dangerous. At least 37 people have died as a result of this bad weather. Its why emergency officials are warning people even those coming out on the water like this to move slowly and move with caution because Mother Nature can get nasty, even when youre out there having some fun. Guys . Back to you. Kerry sanders for us on lake erie. Get warm stay safe my friend. I just said i was sick of the snow but im a little jealous now. That was pretty awesome. You just va itsay it dylan. Tomorrow morning right now, theyre booking your plane ticket kerry looks forward to you joining him. Give us a sense. I know we sound like a broken record. But this is serious weather. It is going to be serious now in dallas. An area thats not really all that used to the ice. Well theyve got ice thats moving in. We are going to see perhaps as much as a quarter of an inch to halfinch of ice in areas like dallas. Denver has been dealing with is no he. They already have a foot of is no he on the ground with another flee to three to six inches. Though we should hit 40 today in new york city yes, 40 that cold air will move right back in as we go into tomorrow. Out in denver we are looking for as much as two feet of snow in the ski resorts. Theyve been lacking so far this season. Denver again, another three to six inches possible. As for the ice, this is what makes a mess of the roads. It downs trees and power lines. Between dallas and gainesville, we could end up with as much as a quarterinch to halfinch of ice. By the time we get flu tomorrowinto tomorrow morning, this cold air will start moving east. In International Falls it feels like 28 below right now. Monday morning, temperatures will feel like 14 below in detroit, and that it into spread eastward into the morning on monday. Boston will bottom out at about ten degrees. It will feel like it is eight bellow. It is not as cold as it was friday and saturday but it is still exceptionally cold for everybody at the busstop. Meanwhile this morning, families of three missing british teenagers are pleading with them to come home. There are fears the three girls may even be in syria already to join the terror group isis. Scotland yard is hard at work. Reporter good morning. Their parents were understanley upset growing mo are so by the hour especially considering one british newspaper, the telegraph, cites turkish intelligence that the girls were able to meet up with isis smauglesmaug le smugglers when they landed and have already crossed the border flu syria. Five days gone and their loved ones are still pleading for the girls to come back. Tell them to come home. Like everyones missing them. Everyones worried. It is a couple weeks before the exam and we just hope that nothing serious is going to happen to them. Reporter two 15 yearolds and one 16yearold boarded a turkish air flight to istanbul on tuesday. Their families feared the three planned to cross the border to join isis in syria. Walking through security at Londons Gatwick airport, many were struck by how normal the girls seemed in tight jeans, leopardprint accessories and trendy thickrimmed glasses. Experts say isis is trying to lure young people worldwide using its powers of persuasion through slick online videos and twitter propaganda. There is a real risk that isis is deliberately targeting and recruiting teenage girls because what theyre trying to do they say maybe you dont like living in your home country, maybe in the United States and europe and elsewhere. Why dont you come and work with us and well give you exactly the pure life that supposedly we can provide. Reporter the girls families have declined interviews but released statements begging their daughters to reconsider. One reading, we understand that you have strong feelings and want to help those you believe are suffering in syria. You can help from home. You dont have to put yourself in danger. Please dont cross the border. Please come home to u. S. Our mum needs you home and is really worried. We are not mad at you. We love you. Reporter experts say preventing this sort of thing is really a bottomup effort from the parents all the way throughout the community. But if they are really concerned, they should just lock up their passports. Guys back to you. Katie thank you. Turning to a reported threat major u. S. Attraction. Sheinelle is following that story. Security is being tightened at the mall of America Today after a video threat by a extremist that specifically mentioned the tourist attraction. Intelligence officials are working with mall owners and operators in response to the threats. In texas, several hundred prisoners apparently seized control of a part of a federal prison. The riots first erupted friday night in re mondayville, texas with inmates reportedly starting fires and breaking into the yard. On saturday officials said inmates were compliant but negotiations ongoing. As many as 2,800 inmates will now have to be moved because the prison is uninhabitable due to the damage they caused. Authorities in new york say a retired suburban Police Officer killed his two teenage daughters before killing himself. The bodies were discovered inside their home friday. The officers wife and another daughter were apparently not home at the time. Black ice is being blamed for a car crash involving the kardashians in montana saturday. Police say Khloe Kardashian was behind the wheel of an suv when she slid off a slippery road and into a ditch. Tmz is reporting sisters kim and kylie were also in the car, as well as kims baby north. The car had to be pulled from a ditch but no one was injured. Finally be you cant find cuter cowboys than this. The tucson rodeo was saturday. Sometimes little kids as young as 4 ride sheep. Some hang on for just seconds before they wipe out like that. Fortunately, theyre wearing helmets. Forget the helmets, is that safe . A lot of the parents in the rodeo say theyve grown up with this. But trying to hold on to that woolly situation, then like trying to get you off, id just let go. Just let go and let god on that one. The first thing i looked for when you said helmet i said thank goodness theyre wearing a helmet. With the front situation. I keep saying situation. But yeah theyre protected. Back to the weather. Much of the country dealing with frigid temperatures. Not so the case out west though. California will actually see some rain this morning. In l. A. Why does it have to happen on oscar sunday . We just have lighter showers, nothing that heavy. We also have snow back through denver and well also see ice start to move in t hi. Im first alert meteorologist Brittney Shipp. Our first alert weather day continues into the rest of this morning, and thats because we are tracking dangerous ice thats affecting our overpasses our bridges, our sidewalks, our side streets. The roads are still messy and very slick, so you want to be careful, especially over the next couple of hours, until we warm above freezing. Todays high into the 40s, which will be a nice warmup, but the bitter cold settles in for us as we head back to work on monday continuing into the rest of your workweek. And thats your latest forecast. In political news former new york city mayor Rudy Giuliani comments that president obama doesnt love america continue to dominate headlines this weekend. While many polliticians are distancing themselves not everyone is. Chuck todd moderator of meet the press joins us this morning. Giulianis comments seem to be dominating the conversation in washington. Does this story and do these comments have legs moving forward . Whats the Lasting Impact especially in the Republican Party . Well you know it is interesting. I think you have the Republican Party is sort of split about this in this respect there are some that are just like why you know why is giulia ingiuliani doing this . Why is he forcing the party to get into a semantics debate and somehow the issue of race popping in. Then another part of the Republican Party is so angry at the media, views this as a mediacreated firestorm and in some ways it actually fires them up a little bit to say, you know what . This is just the media out to get republicans, looking for any way to get republicans and play agate claing aagateing a got cla with them. Some guys say what does it sound like to the base of the party who say fight the media on this dont take the medias bait. I think thats why youve southeastern the mixed reaction youve seen among republicans. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is there. Hes never one to really lay low as we know. But yet hes been keeping a fairly low public profile this weekend. This as we hear so much more about jeb bush garnering support. It would seem an odd time for him to lay low. I think it is because giuliani and theyre personally close. It is interesting, the leadership of the potential christie president ial campaign is very similar to the former leadership of the giuliani campaign. I think that explains it more than anything else. He doesnt want to get involved publicly in either direction so he doesnt offend giuliani or come across antagonistically toward the president. This morning, jeh johnson is chucks guest. In hollywood tonight, the 87th Academy Awards get under way. At the end of the night it is all about the winners but leading up to the oscars theres been a lot of talk about the snubs. Nbcs Kristen Dahlgren now with a look at what might be one of the most controversial Academy Award shows in years. Reporter what is usually hollywoods golden night has, for some a certain tarnish this year. Controversy surrounding many of the nominated films and actors. The nominees are reporter it started when nominations came out. Here is a look at the 20 nominated actors and actresses. A lack of diversity sparking a trending twitter oscarsowhite. I dont believe members of the academy are racist or there was any agenda at work here but it was one of those things where it was a glaring omission and people called them on it. Reporter the issue hitting especially hard in a year that selma a film about the civil rights struggle is among best picture nominees. Unacceptable that they use their power to keep us voiceless. Reporter but its director and actors were shut out. Leading some to an outcry. For others though selma is more by accusations it altered history. Falsely portraying president johnson at odds with Martin Luther king jr. But it is not the only film taking such heat the immigration game, the theory of everything, and foxcatcher are all being called out for telling skewed views of historical events. Perhaps the most controversial story of call american sniper. The film and its director clint east wodwood was accused of whitewashing the story. It is warts and all and people are using it to support the position they want. Reporter eastern the entrance to the Academy Awards will be debated this year. Outside the dolby theater, this lifesize oscar statuette shown snorting cocaine, a pop artist attempt to draw attention to hollywoods drug culture. Plenty of drama before the stars stroll down the red carpet. For today, Kristen Dahlgren nbc news new york. We should note that that statue that was mentioned has since been removed. Up next here on today drama at daytona. A scary crash knocks yet another star out of todays big race. 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On nascars biggest days the headlines are actually off the track. Kurt busch is out for alleged Domestic Assault and now his brother, kyle is also out after an accident last night thats raising serious safety concerns. This morning nascar says it made a mistake and the track is promising immediate changes. Its the crown jewel of stock car races. But the suspension of kurt busch is a dark cloud looming over nascars biggest day. The decision handed down after a Family Court Judge ruled busch, more likely than not, choked a former girlfriend. I think what pushed nascar over the edge was the amount of detail that the commissioner in delaware released in his protective order. Reporter busch denies the allegations, is appealing the court order, and hasnt been charged with a crime. But its his third suspension from racing and follows charges that another sport, the nfl, turned a blind eye to domestic violence. Buschs younger brother, kyle is now also out of the 500 after crashing into a concrete wall saturday night. Driver Jimmy Johnson on twitter say saying man, i hope kyle busch is all right. Its beyond me why we dont have soft walls everywhere. Toe in i stew stewart is racing at daytona for the First Time Since an accident that killed a fellow driver last august. But the most watched driver of the day is certain to be jeff gordon. At pole position it will be his 23rd time in the 500 and his last. I wanted to be able to go out on top or as close to the top as possible. Reporter as he kicks off his farewell season. Gordon is the undisputed face of nascar with popularity thats transcended racing even hosting saturday night live. Every time i get in a car, there is a chance i could crash and burn in front of millions of people. So i guess i am prepared for this show. Reporter gordon has made three previous trips down daytonas victory lane. Ive been racing for a very long time. People maybe dont realize i started very young. So for me i feel like im 65. Reporter hes a long way from 65. As for the race today, the track says its going to replace all of the concrete walls with kind of tire pads. But longterm, theyre going to replace concrete walls with what is called a soft wall and that what exists at many other tracks. Erica, back to you. Janet schamlian this morning, thanks. Still to come on today can you guess which oscar nominee worked as a doorman at one point, which one was a cab driver before hitting it big . Weve got a fun little quiz for you. Plus information you can use t nexium 24hr. Its the purple pill. The 1 prescribed acid blocking brand. Available without a prescription for frequent heartburn. Get complete protection. Nexium level protectiontm. Stars nominated for oscars before some of the celebrities hit it big had some very unglamorous jobs. You ready to have some fun . This is a little today trivia. Are you ready . Ready. Can i hear a yes or something . Yes a little enthusiasm . First question which best actor nominee worked as a n