More misery on the wayunpress d. The tightest for new years eve revelers in the wake of two terror attacks in thee stories plus apples apology. The tech giant fesses up to slowing down older iphones and ofrs new solution. Jackpot weekend. Let the run on powerball tickets with50illion starting tonight. And driving while hungover. It feels like the flu mixed with before you celebrate new years, a new warning about the dangers of getting behind the wheel too soon after a night of drinking. This is tough. You have to focus so hard. Today, friday, december 29th, 2017. From nbc news, this is today, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning. Welcome to today. We certainly appreciate you joining us on this friday morning. Savannah and hoda are off today. Its a busy friday morning. A lot to get to, starting with the devastating fire in new york city. The most devastating fire this city has seen in decades. This is a live look above the scene this morning. That fire started around 7 00 last night. The f everything, through every floor of the Apartment Building near the bronx zoo. Families who managed to escape were out in the streets on one of the coldest nights of the year. Anne thompson has the latest. Anne, good morning. Reporter good morning, sheinelle. This morning, we are learning more about the victims. 12 vibctims in all, 4 are children. The ages are 1yearol 1yearold,yearold and 7yearold, those are among the dead. Several people were injured, including six firefighters who were taken to the hospital after trying to stop this deadly blaze in nearzero windchills. Dozen people are dead, including four children, after a massive fire ripped through this bronx, new york, Apartment Building. C firefighters responded, battling the fouralarm blaze that tore through the building of 20 apartments. We have people on the fire escape of the front of the building. Theyre on their way down now. We need a rush on the ambulance. We got a 1045, a child. I think its my building thats on fire. What happened was, it wasnt actually my building. It was build thing across the street. By the time i got downstairs, the fire had escalated from one apartment to two, two almost to three. All i see is a bunch of kids on the fire escape, cold and with no jacket, no pajamas, no nothing. Reporter the fire creating heavy, black smoke, taking firefighters nearly two hours to bring it under control, as they rush to rescue residents. I saw people being carried out of here today, guys. Its overwhelming. Those two little kids throwing out the trash with their mother. An hour or so later, im seeing them being wheeled off. The fire spread into this building. People died on various floors of the apartment. Reporter mayor de blasio calling the blaze a tragedy the city hasnt seen in nearly 25 years. Were here at the scene of an unspeakable tragedy, in the middle of the Holiday Seasons. This will rank as one of the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years. Reporter the victims range in age from 1 to old. This morning, four people are fighting for their lives. They are in Critical Condition. Here at the scene behind me, you can see all of the firefighters. The attention now turns to figuring out what just caused this deadly fire. Sheinelle and craig . Anne, thank you. Now, to t deep freeze that has hundreds of millions of americans firmly in its grasp. If you thought its been cold this week, just wait. We have complete coverage this morning including what you can expect to face on new years eve. We start with nbcs ron mott in chicago. Ron, good morning. Reporter hey, craig, good morning to you. Cold, obviously, is the word of the day. All the way from the Northern Rockies to the northeast and new england. Going into this Holiday Weekend with morning lows in the singledigits or below zero. And now, the countdowns begun for when these temperatures will start warming up again. This morning, its so cold, boiling water immediately turns to snow. This cold is on a different level. Im freezing. The National Weather service in nashville is calling it stupidcold. Reporter on mt. Washington in new hampshire, temperatures plunging to 34 degrees below zero. The windchill, a blistering 89 below, with 110mileperhour gusts. In new york city, famous fountains transforming into ice sculptures. Today, millions of americans are in the grip of a big chill. In chicago, this mailman isse b elements. Rain, sleet, snow, ice, you have to be out here. Whats it like . Its rough. We get service talks from my management to keep us prepared. Reporter if he had his pick i would take the snow over the ice. Just a little bit, though. Reporter in erie, pennsylvania, people are digging out. Ive run out of places to throw the snow. Reporter and cats, too. After 65 inches of snow in just 4 days. In minnesota, a headache on the roads. More than 1,100 crashes and 330 spinouts on thursday alone. But the rapid snowfall is ideal for the slopes, from michigan it was the perfect reporter to wf est virginia. Great time to get out. Reporter sledders and skiers taking advantage of the deep freeze. Here in chicago, we expect the temperatures to warm up to close to 20. That will feel nicer than it has all week. The bad news, we have snow in the forecast. A balmy 20 degrees in the windy city. Dylan in for al this morning. The cold is here. You dont need me to tell you that. I will tell you it will w go in morning. The first day of 2018. We have still some windchill advisories in some areas, especially ac northern new england, across central maine, we have windchills about 10 to 40 degrees below zero. Thats just a taste of whats to continues to pour down. Current temperatures this morning, sioux falls 6 degrees but the windchill is 7 feels li. Louisville feels like 16 degrees this morning. In the northeast, we had record lows. Bridgeport, connecticut, 8 degrees. Islip, 11. La guardia, 12. The windchill isnt that bad in baltimore. , the windchill will become more of an issue. Lets look at what happens when we get to monday morning. Pierre, south below zero, actual air temperature. Chicago, 9 dre atlanta, 23 degr bein a monday to be the bottom of this whole thing. Its going to warm up a bit, not much. But monday will be the cold t. That bitter cold, combined with security, has officials in this country taking extra precautions for new years eve. Stephanie gosk with more at times squarnd celebration. Steph, good morning. Reporter craig, good morning. Theres layer after layer of security here in times square, many of them on response to a specific kind of threat. Theres been multiple attacks in this country, with different tactics used over the last year. And that means one thing even more security here on new years eve. This weekend, as the countdown to 2018 begins, the nypd will be out in force. People will be safe. And they should feel safe, too. The nypd and our partners are wellprepared. Reporter police say the the wo highprofile terror attacks. Truck attack that claimed the lives of eight people, 125 garages near times square will be closed and sealed. And sandfilled trucks will be used to block off et suicide bombing just two weeks ago, police say theyre adding new a tactical officer bulletin, a response to suicide bombers. Youll see an increase of heavy weapons. Bomb squad personnel. 1,000 cameras. Reporter on the street, the increased Police Presence puts many at ease. Itbetter. We came here worrying a little bit about it. Its all right now, i guess. Reporter sunday night, an estimated 2 Million People are expected tat in times square. Police banning backpacks and other large containers. All garbage cans in the area will be removed. And to route out any possible explosive explosives,vaporsniffing canine units will be deployed. Were putting out more dogs and more observation teams. Reporter authorities are keeping an eye on hotels, after a mass shooter killed 58 people from inside aalong the Las Vegas Strip last october. Uniformed officers will be inside times square hotels, along with multiple Response Teams throughout midtown. The nypd, n chances, hoping to keep people safe during the Biggest Party of the year. New york officials emphasize they know of no serious, credible threat so far. The biggest danger on new years eve here in times square will most likely be this frigid cold. San gosk, thanks. Trump is making headlines after he gave a spur ofhetervie york times at his golf club in florida. Nbcs chief white house correspondent, hallie jackson, has more on that. Reporter hi, sheinelle. Good morning to you. During his working vacation down here in south florida, trump has been relatively quiet. That all changed in this oneonone talk with the reporter, where the president hit on everything from the special counsel, to north korea, to one of his biggest priorities come 2018. This morning, that impromptu interview with the new york times, giving a glimpse of how the president sees the socipeci counsels investigation. It makes the country look very bad. The president did not demand Robert Mueller stop his inquiry. Quote, the sooner its worked out, the bert it is for the country. Insisting 16 times there was no collusion between his campaign and moscow, the president tells the times, muellers investigation doesnt bother me because i hope hes going to be fair. I think hes going to be fair. Those comments, in contrast to some republicans, who have spent the holidays casting doubt on thearjustice, by, for example, describing them s disbarjingly as the deep state. Theres those saying republicans are trying to work to discredit the department of justice and thus discredit the russian investigations. Is that not what youre doing . No. I dont want to discredit them. I would like to see the directors of those agencies purge it. Reporter the president reiterating, regretfully it seemed, it was too bad his attorney general, jeff sessions, recused himself from the russia investigation. In perhaps a revealing comparison, praised former attorney general eric holder, because he protected president obama. Totally protected him. Adding, quote, i have Great Respect for that, ill be honest. Over his working vacation, President Trump has mostly hunkered down at his maralago resort or at his golf club. Thats where he spent a halfhour at lunchtime talking with the times reporter, alone with no staff. For the first time, the president acknowledged he has been soft on china on trade, as the white house encourages beijing to pressure north korea to stop its Nuclear Weapons program. President trump explaining thats because the only thing more important to me than trade is war. And on one of the president s Top Priorities come 2018, his trilliondollar infrastructure plan. He tells the times, i think we can get as many democrat votes as we have republican. So, lots of topics for the president in that interview. Another one on twitter, where he talk talked Climate Change and seemed to take a swipe at the paris accord. In the east, it could be the coldest new years eve on record. Perhaps we can use Global Warming that our country, but not other countries, was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against. Bundle up. Experts say you cant link local weather in one area to climbed change overall. And nasa says 2017 is the secondhottest year ever for planet earth. Back to you. Hallie, tell us more about the unexpected guests that i saw that you had yesterday on your msnbc show. What happened . Oh, no. I had no idea. This is a moment, as youre watching, that kind of went viral. You can see over my shoulder, a reallife Jurassic Park episode. We had three trexes fighting behind us. I guess people on twitter noticed. I got blown up. Theres probably a metaphor for 2017 somewhere in there, guys. Youre probably right. Hallie jackson in west palm beach, florida, for us this morning. You be careful. I will, thank you. Thank you, hallie. Also this morning, its official. Democrat doug jones is the new senator from alabama, after his win was certified by the election board. Jones heads to washington as the first democrat to hold the seat in a quartercentury. Meantime, republican roy moore, still has not conceded. He fought Election Results by filing a lastminute legal complaint, claiming vo ining vo. Jon merrill dismissed the objecti objections. He couldnt find evidence of fraud. How would you like to start the new year as a multimillionaire . Starting tonight, you have a shot of winning not one, but two massive lottery jackpots worth nearly 750 million combined. Tammy leitner is in miami with that. Good morning. Reporter good morning, craig. Somebody would be starting the new year a whole lot richer. Thats because of something thats only happened once before. Both the jackpots are up over 300 million. Now, if youre feeling lucky, heres what you need to know. Well start with the mega millions. Earlier, they changed the format to increase the lottery winnings on that one. That drawing is tonight. And that jackpot is up to 306 million. The odds of hitting all six numbers are 1 in 303 million. On to the powerball. That drawing is tomorrow night. Thats up to 384 million. You have a little better odds of winning this one. Thats 1 in 292 million. Now, if youre feeling lucky and youre going to play both, you should know that your odds of winning both jackpots are 1 in 88 quadrillion. Yes, were talking with 15 zeros there. You have a better shot of getting hit by an asteroid. But experts say you can increase your odds of winning by joining a lottery pool. If 100 people play 10 each, that increases your odds by 100 times. We know that americans, if nothing else, are an optimistic group. This last year, americans spent more in lottery tickets than buying books, buying video games, going to the movies and going to sporting events. Ive got my tickets. If youre feeling lucky, go out and get some. Back to you guys. Tammy leitner. Should we be proud of that . The crew started collecting. Already. Lets do it. I never go in. You know i one, i think i might. Its because you never have cash on you. You cant go in. You paid me back yesterday. You have cash now. Give us a look at the forecast before you stop working after you hit the powerball. Not with those odds. Lets take a look at whats going on across the rest of the run. A little clipper system through the chicago area. We could see an inch or two. Erie, pennsylvania, will get some more snow. Its icy near charleston, south carolina, with freezing drizzle. Its above average in the southwest. Thats a look at the weather happy friday to you. Im meteorologist steve sosna with another cold forecast for your friday. Expect lower to middle 20s. Neighborhood by neighborhood, feeling like 10 to 15 degrees. An improvement over yesterday, but still numbing. As we look ahead to saturday, light snow will fall across the area. A coating to two inches. Suaces. Heading into sunday, thats the arctic blast. Temperatures in the teens to lower 20s. The feelslike temperatures in the negative numbers. Have a great day. And thats yourour latest forecast. Dylan, thank you. Coming up, apples new plan to make customers admitting to intentionally slowing down the old iphones. An eyeopener ahead of your new years celebrations. What happens when we try out a suit that simulates driving with a hangover. Its a simulated hangover. Minions dont care. Minions dont care. Thi,000 deaths in america last year. We need to stand up and say enough. The only way this problem is going to be solved is if we raise our voices. Choose help over helplessness, hope over hopelessness. Make sure that the lives weve lost will not have been lost in vain. Addiction is a disease. When you ask for help, help is there for you. Still to come, beyonce and jayzs family feud . Well explain. And frugal finds to whats worth the splurge. The best wines and champagne to ring in 2018. Ring in 2018. First, your local news and ok, so with the awardwinning geico mobile app, ring in 2018. First, your local news and our customers have 24 7 access, digital id cards, they can even pay their bill beep bill has joined the call. Hey bill, were just phone hi guys, bill here. Do we have julia on the line too . k, well well just phone hey sorry. I had you muted. Well yea lets just phone so what i was thinking ok well well phone yeah lets just go ahead phone oh alright the awardwinning geico app. Download it today. Ha. With formulas infused with handpressed moroccan argan and camellia oils, garnier whole blends illuminating haircare indulges hair with moisture. For luminous shine. Garnier whole blends argan camellia oils. Find every blend at walmart. Give extra. Get extra. Find one of six color changing characters spoons inside specially marked boxes of big g cereals. It appears more training is in order. See star wars the last jedi now playing. Her hairs a hot mess. Her eyes are like. Oh, im late for work. I have to go. Your dunkin doesnt make you, you, but it helps. Dunkin donuts coffee. Pick some up where you buy groceries. Heare you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec® its starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. Nothing smells greater than the great outdoors. Especially when youre in accounts receivable. Only one detergent can give you a sniff like this. The irresistable scent of new gain botanicals laundry detergent. Good friday morning. Im katy zachry. Just a few minutes before 7 30. We remain in a first alert for dangerous cold. Lets get right to first alert meteorologist steve sosna with yourweather forecast. And good morning. Thats right. The first alert continues here through 8 00 this morning. The reason why, the feelslike temperatures are slowly improving. After 8 00 a. M. , it will still be cold, but not dangerously cold. Highs today in the middle 20s. Feelslike temperatures between 10 and 15 degrees. Thank you. And you can keep track of the dangerous cold by downloading the nbc10 app. It has forecasted for your neighborhood and weather alerts sent right to your phone or mobile device. Lets check the roads with first alert traffic reporter Jessica Boyington. Were watching 95. Here. As at broad street, on the we have an accident. Its really minor. Here, its far away. You see it to the shoulder. The northbound side still getting by. The southbound side looks good, too. Watching new jersey, southbound, near exit 3 approaching the black horse pike. We have an accident there. If youre nervous about delay, you can take 295. Back to you. Thanks. The bitter cold was no help to firefighters who rescued three