Live from studio 1a in Rockefeller Plaza. And good morning. Welcome to a split edition of today. Im matt lauer where the Opening Ceremony will be held tonight. A look back over 1,000 years of russian history. In honor of that on a friday morning, were starting 400 years ago with Meredith Vieira sitting next to me. All i can say is the stench of vodka. And were off and running. Yes. Do we miss that. Exactly. We are on air, guys. We knew the Opening Ceremony would have drama and tension. The gang is all here. What we want to know is russia ready to welcome the the world. They better be. 40,000 people getting in the stadium is going to be a little awkward. They are still doing little funny things. You see them planting palm trees. The wrappers are still on them. Still painting going on. But the opening ceremonies seems ready. Yeah. A few little kinks. But it is so ambitious. If they pull it off its going to be fantastic. Well tell you more in just a little bit. More on that in a little wh