A flight to tokyo. The reason . An unauthorized person gets onboard. Reporting live from l. A. X. Those stories, plus the prince and the president. Prince harry interviews barack obama and tees him up with a goodnatured question about fiancee Meghan Markle. Suits . Good answer. Why apple may have missed the mark with the iphone x. And the megamillions jackpot soars to 300 million. And tonights powerball drawing is higher than that. Two hf lottery fever sweeps the nation today, december 27th, 2017. From nbc news, this is today, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning. Welcome to today. Thanks for joining us on this wednesday morning. Savannah and hoda have the morning off. Some perspective year. This time last year in new york city 60 degrees. We will be lucky if we break 30 today. It is freezing outside this morning. We still have a bunch of folks out on the plaza. They dont mind. No. That bonechilling cold is our top story. Its felt from the rockies to the northeast. If you like snow erie pennsylvania, is dealing with historic amounts of it. Well begin in snowy erie. Ron allen is there. Good morning. Reporter good morning, sheinelle. It is incredible. Its relentless. The snow is coming down. We got a few more inches overnight. Its mindboggling the amount of snow. About five feet or so in most places around erie. Authorities are encouraging people to stay off of the roads so the plows can do their work. Misery in erie and across the great lakes region. Overnight, power restored in cleveland, after a fire at a substation left 40,000 people in the dark for hours in the frigid cold. As an arctic blast sweeps the country, from new england. To seattle. The most wonderful time of year is bringing along a big chill. In utah a sheriffs officer now a hereohero after saving an 8yearold boy who had fallen through the ice while chasing his dog. I started to use my hands and my fist to pound the ice. Once i saw his face, i pulled him out of the water and i called out to the paramedics letting them know im coming in ive got him. Reporter meanwhile, in erie pennsylvania recordbreaking snow shocked even the locals. Im used to snow. But not this much at once. This is inspain. Reporter matthew says he has been working all day to clear the snow. Ive been fighting it all day. Reporter 63 inches to fall by tuesday evening. More than 6,000 u. S. Flights delayed tuesday alone, stranding travelers like deirdre walsh. I wont be able to get home until friday night, thursday morning. Reporter her christmas dinner food from the vending machine. I want a salad. Reporter desperation at airports and on the roads. I wouldnt go out in this stuff. Reporter still, some people did, in near whiteout conditions. Others hopped on a sled or tried to dig out their cars. Its a little ridiculous. I keep pecking away at it. Reporter in chicago, temperatures plunged to minus 3 degrees tuesday, a bonechilling surprise despite the windy citys reputation. We were a little shocked by the coldness of chicago. Yeah. Its bad. Reporter so cold, you could see steam rise off Lake Michigan and the chicago river. But wherever you are in the u. S. Its bound to be an icy end to 2017. And its not entirely over here in erie. Forecasters are calling for a few more inches of accumulation. That could put the city at audio record. 100 inches of snow in the month of december, which is about the amount they average for the entire winter season since christmas eve. Guys back to you. Goodness. Ron, thank you. Dylan is in for al this morning. Were like its so cold. And dylan will say, it is december. Is this recordbreaking . Is this historic what were seeing . Not here. But back through nebraska up into michigan its recordbreaking cold. Its really cold to the skin. If you have exposed skin if youre not wearing gloves that wind sucks away your heat. It makes it that much colder. Lets look at where it is coldest this morning. Thats back through the Northern Plains and the upper midwest. 63 Million People are under windchill advisories. And twothirds of the country are below freezing this morning. Its all about the windchill. It feels like 19 below in chicago. Jamestown, north dakota feels like 20 below. Omaha feels likes 6 below. Thats the air temperature, too. Its cold out there. In the northeast, we have temperatures mostly in the teens, feeling like were in the Single Digits. As we go into tomorrow morning, it will feel like 4 below in indianapolis. 10 below in minneapolis. And on friday morning, the cold continues to push eastward. Watertown, will be 18 below friday morning. Boston 10 below. New york city it will feel like 5 degrees. Those cold winds across the great lakes, is why weve seen exceptional amounts of snow in erie. The winds will shift a bit and that will force that snow to shift. It will push farther to the south and west. Were looking for six to ten inches in the lakeeffect bands of snow on top of recordbreaking snow. Erie, pennsylvania, was my first market in tv. Ive never seen anything like that before. On this busy wednesday morning, President Trump is touting the new tax law. With a few days left before it goes into effect, theres a lot of confusion for millions of taxpayers. Nbcs chief white house correspondent, hallie jackson, has the latest. Hallie good morning. Reporter hey, sheinelle, good morning to you. The president himself seems to be feeling very optimistic about his new tax law. Hes been tweeting about that while hes down here in florida. But on this holiday week around the country, youve got a lot of folks making a mad dash to try to figure out what it means for them. This morning, its not holiday returns creating these lines. Were inundated with a lot of people. Reporter but tax returns. With the new republican tax law leaving some folks scrambling should i pay next years property taxes now . The new law limits property Tax Deduction for just 10,000 in 2018. But homeowners in hightax cities and states who prepay that bill could save money. Others night not. It depends on your situation. That means accountants are taking more than their fair shares of phone calls. Tax season started a month early. Reporter ask a professional what the changes mean for you. President trump is hoping they mean good things for the stock market. As he tweeted, a great year for companies and jobs as he talks taxes on his working holiday in south florida. Back in washington, his Treasury Department is working on Something Else putting pressure on north korea. Slapping new sanctions on the rogue regime going after two senior officials, described by the u. S. As leaders of pyongyangs Ballistic Missile program. It comes as north korea unleashes another round of tough talk, calling the United Nations sanctions against it an act of war. As a new south korean report says the north will push for diplomatic discussions with the u. S. In the new year. While the president s been quiet on twitter about kim jongun this holiday break, hes been anything but silent when it comes to the fbi, attacking the agencys deputy director. Now, the association that helps families in need says its seen 2,000 people donate 140,000 in recent weeks. A spokesman tells nbc, thats a significant uptick this month. A month when the agency has come under fire from are the president and lawmakers. You think thats appropriate for the president . Im concerned that the d. O. J. And fbi, if you want to call it deep state or what are off the rails. Reporter the acting cia director is disturbed by that talk. Its disgraceful. Its equally disgraceful that no republicans are saying stop it. Reporter from a policy perspective, theres plenty on the president s plate when he gets back to washington in the new year. Probably starting with infrastructure infrastructure. Expect this to be a big push. A top adviser to the white house, says the president will huddle with Top Republicans in d. C. In that first week in january to see what they want to tackle first. Hallie thank you. Now, to the bizarre ordeal for passengers on a flight from los angeles to tokyo. Four hours into the journey, the jet suddenly turned around and headed back to l. A. X. Gadi schwartz has that story for us. Gadi good morning. Reporter good morning, craig. Fortunately, there was no security threat. No safety threat involved. But it looked like the rogue mystery passenger made it from the checkin through the gate on to the wrong plane and almost across the ocean. This morning, frustrated fliers are looking for answers as to why a Nippon Airways flight made a uturn returning to l. A. X. After four hours because of an unauthorized person onboard. The bizarre situation causing confusion among passengers. Chrissy teigen here reporting live. Reporter including model Chrissy Teigen. As news of the diversion, tegan onboard the plane, headed on vacation with her husband, singer john legend live tweeted to her 9. 2 million followers about the incident as it unfolded. A flying first for me. Four hours into an 11hour flight. And were turning around because we have a passenger that isnt supposed to be on this plane. The passenger had managed to board the plane with a United Airlines ticket. They say the person had a united picket. Were on ana. And tegan added, the boarding pass scanner makes noses that go nowhere. Ana made no mention of a ticket from United Airlines, but explaining the incident this way during the flight the cabin crew became aware that one of the passengers boarded the incorrect flight and notified the pilot. The pilot in command decided to return to the originateingeing operate, where the passenger disembarked. Why did we all get punished for this one persons mistake . Why not land in tokyo and send the other person back. L. A. X. To l. A. X. Complete. Flight time 8 hours and 20 minutes. From a new flight Chrissy Teigen tweeted, please dont be the same menu. Ana had to determine how the passenger boarded the flight. But tegan is on the case. We should put her on the payroll here. Gadi thank you. Now, to a disturbing story out of ohio. Four teenagers charged with murder after a man was struck with a sandbag they allegedly threw from a highway overpass. Ron mott has that this morning. Reporter good morning. Police say they saw four boys leaving the overpass. And authority says this was no accident. Oh my god. Reporter in the dark of night, highway horror. Im on 75 south. I was driving my car and i went underneath the road. I dont know what happened. My friend i dont know what happened. Hes not moving. Reporter a driver frantic about the passenger after the windshield cracked. Something just hit my car. He is not moving. Reporter a sandbag flying in without warning from this i75 overpass in toledo ohio last week killing 22yearold father marquise byrd of suburban detroit. There were different objects thrown. Im not positive. I believe there was some rocks also that were thrown and the sandbag. Reporter this morning, four teens, 13yearolds old and 14 years old, are charged with byrds death. He died three days later. He had a smile on his face. He had a gentle spirit. And to be taken in a violent, horrific way, its contrary to how he lived. Reporter that same interstate further north in michigan was the site of another attack. A group of five teens allegedly caused the death of a 32yearold man in october, by throwing rocks from an overpass in flint. Theyve been charged with seconddegree murder and could face life in prison if convicted. Theyve pleaded not guilty. In both cases, most of the accused, too young to drive. But old enough to create deadly danger on the road. This most recent tragedy in toledo usually there is a high fence across the overpass. It had been removed for a construction project. Officials believe thats where they believe the four young men picked up that sandbag. Ron, thank you. Three major u. S. Cities are suing the department of defense saying the military failed to properly used the National Background check system for guns. New york city san francisco, and philadelphia filed that lawsuit on tuesday. The cities argue the d. O. D. Failed to report significantcigsignificant numbers of convictions of National Background checks for gun sales. That failure allowed disgraced former air force member devon kelly to shoot people in a texas church last month. The department is working with military leaders to refine their policies. Now, to rare worries about apple that are rattling wall street. Despite a jump in holiday sales this year it appears that the tech giants iphone x may have missed the mark. This morning on the heels of the Holiday Shopping season apple may have fallen from the Christmas Tree. The tech giant suffering a postchristmas slump. The stock ending down on tuesday, after a lukewarm response to what should be the companys crown jewel, the iphone x. When announcing the flagship device it is the biggest leap forward since the original iphone. Reporter tim cook heaped praise on the product. But new overseas reports, says the company is lowering its First Quarter sales forecast. Apple has declined nbc news request for comment. But the cause of the waning interest the 999 price tag, the sticker shock for diehard iphone users. Im just comparing. Reporter some are seeking out older models like the 7 and 8, saying the Tech Advances dont justify spending a grand. Sometimes the price tag has outrun what were getting. Reporter the problem may go deeper than just the high price, with some pointing to apple fatigue. Some unimpressed with the screen size the loss of headphone jax and facial recognition technology. Just because apple is lowering projections doesnt mean that iphone x sales arent strong. Other sales were slowed during christmas. And apple is on pace to become the first trillion dollar company. As they admitted to slowing down iphones as they age, now facing a lawsuit, they said they were trying to improve Customer Experiences and protect the phones. Hoping to prevent shutdowns from cold conditions and the bat rays s ry over time. They slowed down phones for new models like the iphone x. Overall sales of appliances over the Holiday Season showed the strongest growth in ten years. Good news and bad news for anyone holding a megamillions lottery ticket. No one won the big prize last night. That means the jackpot is skyrocketing even higher. 306 million up for grabs for friday nights drawing. The story doesnt end there. It gets better. The Powerball Jackpot, even higher. Tonights drawing, worth 337 million. Together thats 643 million in combined prize money. By the way, dont forget to check your tickets. Just because you did not win the jackpot doesnt mean you didnt win a smaller prize. 500,000 would do. I won 2 bucks in massachusetts. Now, i have to go up to massachusetts. Its hardly worth it. That drive to massachusetts, by the way, with this weather. Actually the forecast for the northeast is cold but its dry. We arent going to see any snow except back toward the great lakes with the lakeeffect snow will continue for another day. It is frigid in the Northern Plains. Temperatures breaking records from nebraska to michigan. And its wet down south. We have heavy rain likely at carmax, well buy your car even if you dont buy one from us. Because maybe youre already buying a car somewhere e lse. Or maybe you want to shop arou nd. Or, maybe you dont want to drive a car at all anymore. Like, maybe you want to ride a camel into the des sert and take a deep hard look with in. Just figure some stuff out for awhi le. Thats c ool. Whatever your plans for buying a c ar carmax is the place to sell your c ar. Okay, lets do this, tina, tchicktch ick. Here we go tchicktch ick. I believe in ya ti na. Cmon now. Ah, we can just hang out h ere. A good wednesday to you. Im meteorologist steve sosna here with the updated forecast. Cold weather continues today, tomorrow, and through the finish of the week in philadelphia. Your chance of snow coming up on saturday. Through the suburbs, temperatures in the lower to middle 20s tomorrow and friday. Snow chance on saturday. Well see if it accumulates. Friday you may see a snow storm in the lehigh valley. Better chance on saturday. Right down to the jersey and delaware beaches sunshine on thursday and friday, chance of snow on saturday. Make it a great day, everybody. And thats your latest forecast. Dylan, thank you. Coming up prince harry goes oneonone with former president obama. What had them joking about the next royal wedding. And do you have working smoke detectors in your home . Are you sure . The dangerous discoveries jeff rossen made when he went doortodoor surprising families. First, this is today on nbc. Michael im thankful that im alive and have a second chance. James im thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. Darlene im thankful to be able to help people in crisis. Vanessa im thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. Christie new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. But if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction i want you to know we are here for you. This Holiday Season, choose help. 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