Trial . I have not. Civil . No. Criminal . No. Bench . No. Will he still get the job . Police in toronto investigates after a billionaire and his wife are found dead in their home. Neighbors in disbelief over the deaths as the police call the deaths suspicious. All that plus anita hill heads to hollywood to help the Entertainment Industry take control of Sexual Harassment allegations. People fall ill on board a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean and a Close Encounter of a different kind as an asteroid gets close to earth. Announcer this is today with sheinelle jones, craig melvin and dylan dreyer. Good morning and welcome to today. Thanks for joining us. Glad to have you with us. Im craig melvin. Dylan dreyer standing by. This Close Encounter were going to have. Are we going to its not going to hit the earth, but its going to come the closest its been since 1974 and it wont be this close until 2093. First lets get to the top story. Thats the tax bill getting one step closer to passage. On friday two more republican senators said they would be voting yes on the tax plan. Getting closer to giving the president his biggest legislative win in his first year in office. Nbc White House CorrespondentKelly Odonnell is at the white house this morning with what it means for your bottom line. Reporter President Trump is just a couple of days from what appears to be something that has eluded him during his 11 months in office. That is a major policy idea that turns into law. The president is expecting to see that vote this week because the house has scheduled it for tuesday. It is a tax cut bill package. Democrats have said that it is tilted toward the rich but the president described it in his own way calling the bill monumental. Longing for a holiday win, the. Gamed out chances for his promised tax cuts. I think that we are going to be in a position to pass something as early as next week alcohol be monumental. Reporter with newly announced yes votes from republican senators marco rubio and bob corker. Gop lawmakers unveiled a final draft that includes lowering the Corporate Tax rate to 21 setting lower tax rate brackets for individuals, roughly doubling the standard deduction many families claim and in a blow to obamacare, the tax bill ends the insurance mandate. This expected legislative victory tempered by the president s frustrations over the russia probe. My worst enemies. They walk out. They say there is no collusion, but well continue to look. Theyre spending millions and millions of dollars. There is absolutely no collusion. Reporter President Trump turned his ire toward the fbi after it was disclosed a top agent was removed from the investigation last summer because of antitrump Text Messages sent during the 2016 campaign. Its a shame whats with the fbi, but were going to rebuild the fbi. It will be bigger and better than ever. Reporter that criticism came as the president headed to the fbi academy for a Law EnforcementGraduation Ceremony where the president riffed in campaign style. You see theres the fake news back there. Look, everyone. Fake news. No. Actually, some of them are fine people. Reporter while praising local Law Enforcement, the president decried urban violence. What the hell is going on in chicago . What the hell is happening there . Reporter the president was also asked by reporters if hes think being a pardon for michael flynn, the former National Security adviser who pleaded guilty in charges related to the russia probe. The white house says no such consideration is happening. The president basically said that but added not yet. Sheinelle, craig. Kelly, thank you. Elise jordan is a political analyst. She is also a former senior policy analyst for rand paul. Lets start with the tax bill. Republicans insist this will give the middle class a much needed tax break. They insist it will spur economic growth. Youve got the tractors that say this is a corporate giveaway and it will mean that the approximate the and his wealthy friends will do well come tax time. A recent poll shows that just 25 , 25 approve of how republicans have handled tax reform. How much pressure have the republicans put on themselves for a win and what might this mean come midterm next year . The problem right now is most voters have no idea what is actually in this tax bill and how its going to affect their lives. Going into this process the white house wanted to simplify the tax code. They wanted to have Corporate Tax reform. Right now, though, 6,000 lobbyists were working on this bi bill. It doesnt seem like the swamp draining happened thats actually going to necessarily make this easier for people to actually file your. Lets switch gears and talk about the criticism of the fbi we just heard. Key allies of the president bashing the fbi voices on the right. He goes to quantico, virginia, and praises them. How is this talk playing politically . This is a pattern with President Trump. He attacks institutions when he doesnt think the outcome might not be favorable to him. Go back to the campaign and his attacks on a judge and judiciary. Right now, he is unhappy with bob muellers investigation. He is unhappy with the fbi. He is attacking the messenger. It is a dangerous precedent, because it destroys the public trust and the a political nature of these institutions. President trump insists there is no collusion between his campaign and russia. He also talked about the phone conversation he had with Vladmir Putin in which putin praised him. Does he still have a blind spot when it comes to russia and president putin . It is the most bizarre tendency of President Trump for someone who has a lot of criticism and is known for not holding back his criticism. He never has a bad word to say about Vladmir Putin. Why is that . This came about after yesterday, Vladmir Putin did his famous fourhour press conference. He praised the stock market. So President Trump wanted to reach out to putin to thank him for praising him. So Vladmir Putin has figured out a very successful tool to winning over this president , you praise him and he responds very well to flattery. Always good to have you. Thank you. Now to President Trumps judicial nominee coming under fire after this video of his appearance before the Senate Judiciary committee went viral when he couldnt answer the most basic questions about the law. Nbc justice correspondent, pete williams, has more. Raise your right hand . Reporter it is rare that a nominee for a lifetime appointment as a federal judge has no courtroom experience. That was a problem for Matthew Peterson during his senate conversation. The most attentiongetting questions came from a republican, john kennedy of louisiana. Have you ever tried a jury trial . I have not. Civil . No. Criminal . No. Bench . No. Have you ever argued a motion in federal court . No. Peterson is a former congressional staffer and lawyer in private practice. He served on the federal Election Commission with don mcgahn. He conceded that he has no background in trial work. I understand the challenge that would be ahead of me if i were fortunate enough to become a District Court judge. Reporter he could not answer basic legal questions like a commonly used method to block actions. Overall, the white house is doing well with its court picks. The senate has confirmed 12 trump nominees to the federal appeals court. A record for a president s first year in office. In president obamas first year, he had only three. Two other trump nominees for the court were derailed. Allegations that brett tally made support toive comments abo the kkk helped sink his nomination. Things that showed he didnt use good judgment. The white house called transgender children part of satans plan. For today, pete williams, nbc news, washington. Lets take a look at some of the other stories making headlines. Weather is not going to help the firefighters battling massive wildfires. 3040 miles per ho 3040mileperhour winds are destroying the areas. Anita hill who accused Clarence Thomas of Sexual Harassment during his 1991 confirmation hearing will head a powerful new commission to deal with Sexual Harassment in the Entertainment Industry. Peter jackson is accusing Harvey Weinsteins company of attempting to black list actresses, ashley judd and mere ya savino saying they were both difficult to work with. The nfls Carolina Panthers have opened an investigation into Jerry Richardson for allegations of misconduct. A developing story out of rutgers. Members of a sorority were allegedly drugged by members of a fraternity during september. The schools newspaper uncovered documents claiming that members of the fraternity spiked a drink with a mixture of alcohol and xanax. Ten members of the cigna Delta Tau Fraternity got sick. Some passed out. The Sigma Chi Fraternity has been suspended for two years. The white house has released the president and first ladys christmas portrait. In the cross hall of the white house. We are talking snow for some folks. Dylan dreyer is back. tis the season. It looks pretty. It is back through the great lakes where we have had most of our snow. Within the past 24 hours, we have seen about 7, 8 inches of snow. You can see as the cold winds cross over the unfrozen great lakes, more lake snow is likely. As for additional snowfall accumulations, between four and five inches of snow specially in those areas that get stuck in those heavier bands. We have heavier rain down south. As we go through the day, this area will produce heavier downpours. It moves through louisiana on sunday and spreads through the rest of the gulf coast as we continue through the weekend. Rainfall amounts, there is a fire danger through the weekend. We are expecting strong, gusty winds. 51 degrees for San Francisco. North bay 43. East bay 49. We can expect to keep that fire danger in place at least through sunday. Ill have a closer look at your update coming up again at about 7 00 a. M. Thats your late fest forecast latest forecast. Now to a story thats really out of this world. Later today earth will have a very Close Encounter with a three mile wide asteroid. Its been called potentially hazardous and its expected to fly right by us in just a matter of hours. M Mia Rodriguez is at Kennedy Space center. Good morning. Reporter hey, good morning, craig. You know, scientists first spotted this back in 1983 and theyve been keeping a close eye. Today theyre about to get their closest look yet. Its known as 3200 phaethon named after a character in greek mythology who neal set fire to the earth by accident. Considered three miles wide and potentially hazardous. Its still far away and nothing to worry about but something to have in mind. It will be 6. 4 million miles away. Thats like traveling from the earth to the moon 27 times. Its relatively close in astronomical terms. Scientists hoping asteroids like this one could one day act like gas stations in the sky and help fuel deep space eck pl exploration. If we are able to get fuel out of them they could become an asset. Reporter and on friday a Ground Breaking mission from space x. Its falcon nine rocket and capsule headed for the International Space station. The rocket landing perfectly back on earth. The capsule set to dock with the space station on sunday. Meanwhile, the first ever object observed from another solar system to enter ours is moving on. Theres still quite a bit to learn about this interstellar object on a limited time. Reporter not much worry, but plenty of curiosity. Theres so many things we dont know, like the depth of the ocean. Theres so much to discover. Reporter and thats what nasa is hoping to do today. To make a discovery. By the way, that asteroid wont be this close to us again for another 76 years. Fascinating. Thank you. Now to another galaxy far, far away as tens of thousands of people poured to the theater this we could to see the latest star wars movie and its already getting big numbers. Steve patterson is in los angeles with more. Reporter good morning. Its also getting great reviews. Now the predictions are this movie is set to open at over 200 million this weekend. Thats big. No matter what galaxy youre in. In this galaxy and probably others far, far away, you wont find a stronger force than at the box office. Im so psyched. This weekend star wars the last jedi opened to rave reviews. Fans love it. Its mind blowing. Reporter and the numbers are out of this world. In first two days it has earned 106 million. Seriously, a movie hasnt performed like this since, well, the last star wars. Rebellions are built on hope. Reporter in 2015 franchise revival the force awakens soared to 248 million opening weekend. Then in 2016 side chapter rogue one took in 155 million. Now the last jedi is speexpec to break 200 million. Why do these movie dos s do well . People simply love star wars and cant get enough. In 2012 disney franchised from george lucas at 4 billion. With plans to plablast out film for years to come. For disney, this kaaint checkers. Theyre look at this for decades. With fans filling theaters around the world, get used to the new empire. On a sadder note, this is the last time Carrie Fisher reprized her role. She died almost a year ago. Fans happy with her performance as well as the dedication she gets in the movie. Dont want to spoil anything, but she does a great job. Ive heard she was amazing. Thank you, steve. What did you think of the movie . I loved it. Im a huge star wars dork, but it was incredible. I loved it. Did a great job for people who are fans. I can tell youre into star wars. Have you seen it . I am not. Im going to see them. I know youre a big star wars fan. Huge. Every single one. I remember as a kid, i think we had a poster or something. It was exciting. All right. Still to come this morning ive never seen you get so annoyed. But i did see the holiday on the plane. Were going to take a bit of a turn. Mystery surrounding the deaths of a billionaire and his wife. Were they victims of foul play . Plus terrifying moments caught on camera when a woman is bitten by a shk. This is ar astero time now for the download. Rj. President trump got into a war of words with kristen jilly brand. The democrats pulled off a stunning upset in alabama. A shocking upset in alabamas Controversial Senate race. I think that i have been waiting all my life and now i just dont know what the hell to say. For the first time in a quarter century, one of americas reddest states sending a democrat to washington. Doug jones pulling off a stunning upset. Everybody feels great today. For week the headlines dominated by Sexual Misconduct allegations against roy moore. President trump and democratic senator kirsten in a heated battle. Mocking the new york democrat as someone who would kcome to my office begging for campaign d. New allegations of Sexual Misconduct against prominent men this week. Dustin hoffman. A growing and specific list of allegations. Cory thomas telling a playwright he exposed himself to her in the 1980s. The actor called the allegations false hoods. The food industry. Mario ba telli touched them inappropriately. He said much of the behavior does in fact describe with ways i have acted. That behavior is wrong and there are no excuses. And former today host matt lauer. A former Production Assistant says she had a month long sexual with lauer in 2000. She said even though it was consensual i felt like a victim because of the power dynamic. We reached out who his representatives and they declined to comment. Police they say this video shows detonating explosives attached to his body. Three people suffered minor injuries while he was taken into custody and hospitalized in serious condition. Senator john mccain hospitalized this week suffering complications from his battle with brain cancer. Now battling the same deadly brain cancer that killed former Vice President joe bidens son beau. Biden and mccains daughter sharing a moment on the view on wednesday. Beau talk about your dads courage. Not his illness. Caught on camera an armed robber shot a donut store clerk. The worker survived but the shooter is still on the loose. And a woman on her honey moon was bitten by a shark has her horrified husband videotaped. Luckily it wasnt too serious. Byebye charlie. Our puppy with a purpose said goodbye to us in order to start his new life as a service dog. Just last month charlie finally met the Wounded Warrior he would serve. Charlie has already changed my life just by being in it. Going back to this shark story, can you imagine . They were newlyweds. They were on their honey man. Hes shooting the video while she gets bitten. Thats not the way to start a marriage. Drop the camera. Do you punch the shark in the nose . Just drop the camera. I mean, my goodness. Fortunately, she was okay. Still to come, this is an important one. An exploding battery warning. How you can keep yourself safe when you fly over the holidays. Justin timberlake revealing the secret to his successful marriage. Are you tired of some of your friends on facebook . Coming up, how you can silence them. At least for a little while. First these messages. Good saturday morning. It is 5 56. Heres a live look outside from San Francisco. It looks beautiful, twinkling lights, but we are under a red flag warning for high winds today. Thanks so much for joining us. We are under that microclimate weather alert and you have a lot going on. Yeah. I was actually looking at the wind forecast and it looks like the winds are starting to pick up, especially in the high elevation areas. Those are our main points of concern. At this hour, 46 degrees in the south bay. The peninsula also in the 40s. As the winds pick up we are dealing with fairly dry conditions so for the elevated areas and the highlighted area that you see on this map, we are dealing with that red flag warning. That is kpektexpected to be in through 10 00 a. M. Tomorrow. Sustained winds between 50 to 20 Miles Per Hour. That humidity is going to be low, between 10 and 20 . We can expect a couple of changes overnight into sunday. I will break down all of the details for you coming up of course during the 7 00 a. M. Hour. We will definitely have to stay tuned for that. People who live in the Oakland Hills and other fire zones will be on alert over the next 30 hours. Heres a look at firefighters at station 24 gearing up last night. That flag theyre raising there alerts neighbors that theres fire danger in the Oakland Hills. Crews are prepared for high winds expected to pick up today. They say this is a time when vegetation is dry and just ready to burn. Firefighters request that people in the Oakland Hills keep the narrow reaoads as clear as possible. Emergency vehicles need room to drive into the fire zones. We turn now to the continuing coverage of the sudden death of San Francisco mayor ed lee. There will be a private memorial for mayor lees family. Yesterday there was a public memorial and thousands payed their rmtespects. People viewed him at city hall for 11 hours. A true reflection of mayor lee himself. Tomorrow is mayor lees memorial service. Be sure to stay with us for continuing coverage. We will air the service at 3 00 tomorrow afternoon right here on nbc bay area. We will be Live Streaming it on nbcbayarea. Com and follow us on twitter for understand. Coming up this morning on today in the bay the first state pot license was awarded. Well tell you when theyre looking to open their doors sglfrnlts pl. Plus an all important Weather Report at 7 00. Right now back to the today show. [ cheers ] we are back on this saturday morning, december 16th, 2017. Were going to get outside in a bit. Yeah. Lets begin there half hour with a check of the headlines starting with a landmark deal in washington that will affect every american. Tax triumph. The gops tax plan virtually assured to pass next week after two holdout senators say they will vote for it. A huge win for corporations, men mann Many American workers, and President Trump. I think that we will be in a position to pass something as early as next week which will be monumental. The big losers residents in hightax states and obamacare. A vote expected early next week. Legal lightweight. A video goes viral showing one of the president s nominees to become a federal judge unable to answer the most basic legal questions and admitting to virtually no trial experience during his Senate Confirmation hearing. Have you ever tried a jury trial . I have not. Civil . No. Criminal . No. Bench . No. Seasick b. 220 passengers aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship have come down with a gastrointestinal illness. Doctors have been treating it them on board. The ship will undergo an intensive cleaning process. Still in the spotlight. Hillary clinton on the ellen show reveals a secret about the inauguration. Well, i have to say we did try to get out of it, to be totally honest. The talk show host gifting the former first lady with a festive pantsuit. And Holiday Bonus so sweet officers in jacksonville, florida, playing santa, giving out 100 gift cards to folks in need. Youre the best they are spreading holiday joy today, saturday, december 16th, 2017. Protecting, serving, and giving. One of my favorite parts of the holiday, the random acts of kindness for sure. Also new this morning, police in toronto, canada, are investigating a pair of mysterious deaths after a billionaire and his wife were found dead in their home. Nbcs Morgan Radford is following this. Good morning. Reporter hey there, good morning. Certainly a tough one. Friends and neighbors of Barry Sherman and his wife are in disbelief after learning the two were found dead in their home friday. He was the founder of a generic drug giant called apatex. Police remaining tightlipped about what actually happened. This morning, detectives are trying to solve a mystery at a toronto mansion. Weve discovered two bodies of people inside a home. Reporter canadian billionaire bernard Barry Sherman and his wife honey were found dead in their toronto home on friday. The circumstances of their death appear suspicious. We are treating it that way. Reporter according to the globe and mail, they were selling their multimillion dollar mansion when a Real Estate Agent preparing for an open house discovered the bodies in the large homes basement. Police are still investigating a cause of death. If it is determined to be a homicide, our investigators from homicide will come in. Reporter sherman made his fortune in pharmaceuticals, founding the generic drug giant apatex. At the time of his death, forbes reported his net worth to be 3. 2 billion. Sherman did face family drama. A decadelong legal battle against his cousins just tossed out in september. They claim sherman owed them a chunk of apotex due to the sale of a Family Business decades ago. Overnight, con dolentses poured condolences poured in. All of us at apotex are deeply saddened and shocked. Barry and honey were kind, good people, who will be greatly missed. The philanthropic and economic contributions to toronto put them in a class of their own. From Prime Minister justin trudeau, our condolences to their family and friends and to everyone touched by their vision and spirit. This morning, the shermans are being remembered not only for their contributions in health care but also their generosity. Quoted as saying, we are fortunate in being able to contribute. You cant take it with you, so the best alternative is to put it to good use while you are here. Police are expected to release more information later today after a medical exam. They have said they are not looking for suspects at this time. Morgan, thank you. Lets go to dylan, shes on the plaza with another check of the weather. Cold outside this morning. It is chilly. Its december. So i guess we all kind of expected it at this point. Lets look at whats going on out west. The fire danger is still going to be pretty dangerous because those winds are not coming off the water. Its a land breeze thats going to keep things dry. And we have 17 Million People at risk, extending all the way from sacramento and San Francisco down to san diego. And we are looking at those higher winds and also very low humidity. We have red flag warnings and the fire weather watch up and down most of california. Winds could gust to near 60 Miles Per Hour, causing fires to spread rapidly without too much that red flag warning is going to affect us here in the bay area. Weve had this in place since last night at 10 actually rather 10 00 a. M. Last night and it is going to be in effect through 10 00 a. M. On sunday. Were already starting to see gusts picking up especially for the Higher Elevation areas. Santa rita already seeing gusts of about 44 Miles Per Hour. Alice peak dealing with gusts of 32 Miles Per Hour and Oakland North 47 Miles Per Hour gust. Well have an update again during the 7 00 a. M. Hour. Skpnchts thats your latest forecast. We are determined to make this Holiday Season special for those in need. Thats why we hold our toy drive every year. We are joined by learning resources Senior Product Development manager tom rense to talk about his companys generous donation. Good morning. I like this little guy. This is great, right . Christmas time in new york, we line them up like a Little Christmas tree. Learning resources is so honored to be back here in new york this year as part of the top toy drive with a donation of 175,000 wow. [ cheers ] yes, yes yeah. That should be cheered. Thats amazing. Yeah. Thats 175,000 in educational toys that will inspire a lot of learning in children which is our mission. And why are educational toys, s. T. E. M. Toys, so important to introduce children to . Oh, s. T. E. M. And coding is really the language of today and the language of the future. Its where the jobs are going to be, where the future engineers and doctors are going to come from. More importantly, right now introducing children to s. T. E. M. And coding is so important because what we have found is that building early s. T. E. M. Skills opens up a world of creative thinking, of problemsolving, of innovation. So the future children that are going to land on mars and do all these great things, theyre starting here with little products like this. And as a meteorologist, you can guarantee im getting a bunch of s. T. E. M. Toys for my little 1yearold guy now. Absolutely. Thank you very much for your donation. This is huge. To give to the toy drive, stop by the plaza next week or donate on line at amazon. Com today. Back to you. Very good deal. You go to the toy stores, and they have sections of s. T. E. M. Toys. Tremendous gift, too. Thank you. Thank you. Ahead, eminem drops his first album in nearly five years. Hes teaming up with some of musics biggest stars. Well give you a sneak peek. Also up next, an important safety reminder when it comes to traveling with Electronic Devices this Holiday Season. Thats after these messages. Electronic see ya. Take care. So probably take it at night. And if you have any questions, the instructions are here in spanish as you requested. Gracias. At walgreens, how we care will change over time, but why we care remains the same treating everyone with the care and attention they deserve. Walgreens. Trusted since 1901. Still get a refreshing any size soft drink for just one dollar at mcdonalds . With the days getting shorter and your todo list getting longer, youll enjoy this icecold deliciousness more than ever. Hurry over to mcdonalds. Outer layer of your enamel tooth surface. White, the thing thats really important to dentists is to make sure that that enamel stays strong and resilient for a lifetime the more that we can strengthen and reharden that tooth surface, the whiter their patients teeth are going to be. Dentists are going to really want to recommend pronamel strong and bright. It helps to strengthen and reharden the enamel. It also has stain lifting action. Its going to give their patients the protection that they need and the whiter teeth that they want. I accept i dont bike i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke as far as i used to. Due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. But no matter where i ride, i go for my best. So if theres Something Better than warfarin, ill go for that too. Eliquis. Eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis had both. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Im still going for my best. And for eliquis. Ask your doctor about eliquis. This morning, new regulations and warnings about exploding batteries. Before you get set to travel for the holidays, Important Information about how to stay safe with all of the electronics in our lives. Today National Correspondent jeff rossen has more. Reporter hi, good morning. Already this busy Holiday Season, another incident at a busy airport. A battery fire that, of course, took everyone by surprise. And this, by the way, could happen to any one of us from phones to laptops and ecigarettes. We have all seen the dramatic explosions caught on camera. Batteries bursting into flames, seemingly out of nowhere. Why is it happening, and what can you do to protect yourself . This morning, were about to show you. Chaos and confusion at Orlando International airport. Watch as this backpack starts smoking in the middle of the busy tsa line. The video showing people rushing away. Luckily this tsa agent rushing in and moving the backpack safely away. Somebody had to do it. It was me. Reporter authorities now say a lithium ion battery inside that backpack caught fire. And weve seen it before. Case after case. Batteries violently exploding. Watch this man standing at the counter of this kentucky Convenience Store when his pocket bursts into flames. The spare battery of his ecigarette inside erupting. This man in california riding the bus when the battery inside his ecigarette blows up in his lap. Both men badly burned but survived. The culprit in these cases lithium ion batteries. The same kind that have caused fires in hover boards, samsung smartphones, and laptops. Just how dangerous can the explosions be . To find out weve been granted rare access here at Underwriters Laboratories in chicago, better known as u. L. You probably recognize the logo. Were inside the special battery testing lab. You have to wear safety glasses here. Youre about to see what it looks like up close when batteries explode. First up, the crush test. Can the battery stand the heavy force . You see the flames there. Did you ever realize you had that much energy in your pocket . Reporter then the overcharging test. Were deliberately overcharging this battery, something you can do if you use the wrong charger. Within minutes, you see the heat and pressure building. Our battery puffing up, and then that frightened me, and i knew it was coming. Watch it again in slow motion. A powerful explosion and fireball. So what should consumers do to avoid this from happening . They can just follow the instructions that the manufacturer gives them. Use the proper charger with that battery. Reporter simple tips to prevent this from happening to you. And just this month, american and delta are among the airlines announcing plans to restrict smart luggage. Those are the suitcases that have tracking devices in them or allow you to charge your cell phone. Some even motor propel themselves so you dont have to push or drag them. Heres the problem the battery inside could pose the same risks, so the airlines will evaluate them. If the battery cant be removed, the bag cannot be checked. We have full details on these new restrictions on our website right now, today. Com rossenreports. Hope it helps. Back to you. Good report. A whole new host of challenges, though, with electronics. Whats coming up next . Guys, coming up, if youve got annoying friends on facebook, weve got a way for you to keep your sanity. First, these messages. Sanit how can you make your hair Even Stronger . Use pantene shampoo together with 3 minute miracle daily conditioner. Their prov formula is like a multivitamin. Making your hair 2x stronger see the difference when you add 3 minute miracle daily conditioner. Achoosnap achoo snap achoo achoo snap snap achoo achoo feel a cold coming on . Zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap, and reduce symptom severity by 45 . Shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam. Mmmm. Small mccafe, smoothies, frappes and shakes are still just two dollars every day. So when youre on the couch bingewatching episodes nine through eleven, indulge in a cool creamy treat. Hit pause and head over to mcdonalds now. Im singing in the rain, just singing in the rain what glorious feeling im happy again, virtual realityall virtually useless without a new computer. All i see is darkness. Give intel 8th gen core to power all the latest tech. more people shop online for the holidays than ever before. clapping and the United StatesPostal Service delivers more of those purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. because we know, even the smallest things are sometimes the biggest. Giveshop early to save big kohls Super Saturday and get kohls cash present for them, kohls cash for you give joy with a sweater for her a Star Wars Toy or a diamond bracelet plus take an extra 20 off when you spend 100 or more give joy, get joy at kohls. This this this this is my body of proof. Proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. This is my body of proof that i can take on Psoriatic Arthritis with humira. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the 1 prescribed biologic for Psoriatic Arthritis. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Want more proof . Ask your rheumatologist about humira. Whats your body of proof . One last show together. Whos with me . Hell yeah becca. What are you doing . [ cheering ] [ whimpers ] if you cry, im gonna cry. [ drums beating ] dont make that face. This is my regular face. Freedom Pitch Perfect 3. Rated pg13. Back on a saturday morning with a new facebook feature. This is a good one. If youve ever wanted to take a little break from some of your friends without completely blocking or what is that . Defriending them, now you can. Dylan here to explain. Come on, its defriend. Okay, this new feature is called snooze. It gives you the option to hides a person, page, or group for 30 days without having to go in and unfollow or unfriend them. Think of it as a temporary mute button. Even better, the people you snooze will not be notified, and you can reverse it at any time. So heres why this happened facebook launched this feature the same day they released an interesting study into whether social media is good or bad for our well being. Their Research Found that in general people tend to feel worse when they spend a lot of time passively consuming information. You know, meaning youre reading but not actually interacting with people. On the flip side of that, actively interacting with people, surprise, surprise, is said to bring about a better feeling. So that means commenting on posts, reminiscing about past interactions, all that stuff. That gives you a better feel being how you use technology. So the new snooze feature is in response to all that research. Its aimed at supporting users well being and giving people more control over their news feeds. I guess theyre all trying to make people feel good when they use social media. I wonder with the reallife snooze button, can you keep snoozing the same i think so, and they still wont know. That was my big thing. You dont know that youre shooting them. Will it look like snoozing them. Will it look like youre not responding . If you never respond anyway thats true. I cant wait. There are so many on facebook, i dont know half the people im friends with. Would you snooze me . Not you. Never you. Thank you. Still to come, what makes the holidays so special. How the celebrations we had as children have turned into traditions for our families decades later. First, this is today on nbc. For our children . Isrst, this still ahead the most sweeping changes to the tax code sweeping changes to the tax code are becoming a reality jack and jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. All because of a burst water pipe in their house that ruined the Hardwood Floors in their kitchen. Luckily the Geico Insurance agency had helped them with Homeowners Insurance and the inside of their house was repaired and floors replaced. Jack and jill no longer have to fetch water. They now fetch sugarfree vanilla lattes with almond milk. Call geico and see how affordable Homeowners Insurance can be. But prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient call geico originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. The name to remember. Im in the kitchen. I need my blood sugar to stay in control. I need to shave my a1c im always on call. An insulin that fits my schedule is key. Tresiba® ready announcer tresiba® is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. Dont use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Dont share needles or insulin pens. Dont reuse needles. The most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause dizziness, swtiting, confusion, and headache. Check your blood sugar. Low blood sugar can be serious and may be lifethreatening. Injection site reactions may occur. Tell your prescriber about all medicines you take and all your medical conditions. Taking tzds with insulins like tresiba® may cause serious side effects like heart failure. Your insulin dose shouldnt be changed without asking your prescriber. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing, fast heartbeat, extreme drowsiness, swelling of your face, tongue, orhrhroat, dizziness, or confusion. Ask your Health Care Provider if youre tresiba® ready. Covered by most insurance and medicare plans. Tresiba® ready i was wondering if an electric toothbrusthan a manual. S better and my hygienist says it does but theyre not all the same. Who knew . I had no idea. So she said, look for one thats shaped like a dental tool with a round brush head. Go pro with oralb. Oralbs rounded brush head surrounds each tooth to gently remove more plaque. And unlike sonicare, oralb is the only electric toothbrush brand accepted by the American Dental Association for its effectiveness and safety. My mouth feels so clean. Ill only use an oralb. Oralb. Brush like a pro. Good saturday monrning. Heres a look outside with that flag blowing in the bottom lefthand corner of your screen. Its windy out there and expected to get more windy as the day progresses. We have a look at that microclimate weather alert that were under right now. We started last night because of the elevated fire danger, so we want people to be aware that this could easily become a possibly dangerous situation. The temperatures if you notice, theyre definitely on the warmer side from what weve seen the past couple of weeks. Were waking up to 40s and 50s, upper 50s in San Francisco at 57 right now. That elevated fire danger is very much in place, very high. Were dealing with that through sunday because the number one danger is going to be strong gusty conditions of 40 to 50plus mile per hour. Sustained winds are expected to be 10 to 20 Miles Per Hour and then that humidity of course is going to remain very low, keeping us dry through the remainder of the weekend. Air quality remains unhealthy for the coast. Of course this wind is going to help but we have to remain on high alert. Stay tuned for more information at 7 00 a. M. To people who live in the Oakland Hills and other fire zones, theyll have to be on alert over the next 30 hours. Heres a look at firefighters at station 24 and gearing up last night. That flag alerts neighbors theres high fire danger in the Oakland Hills. Crews are prepared for high winds expected to pick up today. They say this is the time when vegetation is dry and ready to burn. Firefighters request that people in the Oakland Hills keep the narrow roads as clear as possible. Emergency vehicles will need room to drive into the fire zones. We turn now to continuing coverage of the sudden death of San Francisco mayor ed lee. Today there will be a private memorial for mayor lees family. Yesterday there was a public memorial and thousands of people paid their respects. It was a full house as people filled city hall for 11 hours to view the closed casket. There were high profile public figures, there were every day citizens. It was a true reflection of who mayor ed lee was. Tomorrow is mayor lees memorial service. Stay with us for continuing coverage. We will air the service at 3 00 tomorrow afternoon right here on nbc bay area and cozy tv. We will be Live Streaming it. Be sure to follow nbc bay area on twitter for other updates. It is 6 29. Coming up this morning on today in the bay the states first marijuana license is awarded. We will tell you more about it. That plus all your top stories at 7 00. Right now back to the today show. Good morning. American revolution. House and Senate Republicans reach a deal on the big gest revision to the tax codes in decades and it will affect every american. Some big winners and losers with the new bill which would be the first big legislative victory for the president. Were live with what it all means for you. Miss tiysterious deaths. Police in canada investigating after a billionaire and his wife are found dead in their home overnight. Neighbors in shock as police call the deaths suspicious. And tis the season. Were celebrating the longstanding traditions that have shaped our memories every christmas. Saturday, december 16th, 2017. Good morning. Where you from . Who do you want to say hi to . Were from dallas texas. We want to say hey to everybody back at home and hello to all my brother k brothers and sisters in the military. Im 50 and my husband surprised me with a trip to new york city. Hi, mom, were on tv. Hi bob. Happy birthday, shelby, from new york city. Hi, grandma from the today show. You got a family trip. Who are you missing . Mom. Where is she . Shes sleeping. Wake up, mom. [ cheers and applause ] good morning. Welcome back to today on this saturday morning. This is a fun bunch. I love the holiday crowds. A lot of birthdays. They made some great signs. Thank you guys all so much for stopping by. Happy holidays to you. Happy holidays to you as well. Weve got to a lot to get to this morning in our final half an hour. Lets start with todays news. Reporter good morning. Im Kelly Odonnell at the white house where President Trump are trazi tr praising gop lawmakers with a bill to cut taxes. With enough votes to pass lined up, the changes will affect what you owe and what you can deduct on your tax return for individuals and new breaks for corporations. Longing for a holiday win, the president gamed out chances for his promised tax cuts. I think that we are going to be in a position to pass something as early as next week. Reporter with newly announced yes votes from republican senators marco rubio and bob corker. A draft that includes lowering the Corporate Tax rate to 21 . Setting lower tax rate brackets for individuals. Roughly doubling the standard deduction many families claim. And in a blow to obamacare, the tax bill ends the insurance mandate. This expected legislative victory tempered by the president s frustrations over the russia probe. Theyre spending millions and millions of dollars. There is absolutely no collusion. Reporter President Trump turned his ire toward the fbi. After it was disclosed a top agent was removed from the special counsel investigation last summer because of antitrump Text Messages sent during the 2016 campaign. Well, its a shame whats happened with the fbi, but were going to rebuild the fbi. It will be bigger and better than ever. Reporter that criticism came as the president headed to the fbi academy at quanti. You see the fake news back there. Look, everybody. Fake news. No. Actually, some of them are fine people. Reporter on the tax bill democrats argued the biggest benefits go to the wealthy so republicans are trying to persuade voters that the middle class will save. They claim a family of four with an income of 73,000 will save 2,000 a year in taxes. Lets take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines this saturday. The weather is working against those firefighters battling massive wildfires in southern california. 30 to 40 Miles Per Hour winds are expected to drive the thomas fire dangerously close to hundreds of homes today. More than 900 homes have already been destroyed in the 12 days that the massive blaze has burned in ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Anita hill who raised issues of Sexual Harassment during the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas will head a new commission to deal with Sexual Assault in the entertainment entry. Peter jackson is accusing Harvey Weinsteins company of black lists actresses. Ashl both actresses accused weinstein and he denied the allegations. In the sports world the nfl Carolina Panthers are investigating their owner for allegations of workplace misconduct. A park is closed to swimmers after multiple animal attacks. Posted officials of the closure after a man was bitten on the leg by a sea lion. Another was hospitalized after being bitten on the arm the day before. In a galaxy far, far away star wars is making its opening weekends. Thousands are lining up for the show. Its expected to take in more than 200 million this weekend alone. A bitter sweet moment for fans of the 40yearold franchise. Carrie fisher appears for the last time. She died of cardiac arrest a year ago. You said that you heard her performance was i heard it was absolutely fantastic. We talked to steve patterson. His eyes just opened. This might be good enough to you get you there. I think i might go. Maybe ill start from the beginning. How long would it take you. It would take you, like, two days. Dylan dreyer is on the plaza. Your husband saw the movie last night too, right . He went last night. He woke me up when he got home to say it was awesome. I need to go see it now. Lets take a look at this little girl on the plaza. How are you . Youre turning 9 years old. Not so little. Is it true you rode a bus here . Yeah. Prosecute why . From where . Ohio. How long is that . Eight hours. Lets take a look at whats going on across the country. Well see some warmer temperatures than average. Highs running about 15 to 20 degrees about average. 60 degrees in kansas city. Des moines about 53 degrees. On sunday that warmth is going to start to spread eastward. Chicago should get up to 42. Fargo 35 which is actually 14 degrees about average. Then as we go through the rest of the week we are looking at temperatures to mainly be in the 40s and 50s. It is finally going to warm up because it is awfully chilly out here right n we are also off to a slightly warmer start from what weve seen. We do have a couple of 30s but for the most part we remain in the 40s right now. In oakland 49 degrees. San jose 46. San francisco 57 degrees. We remain under a microclimate alert. The reason for that is that there is an elevated fire danger. A red flag warning is in place through tomorrow at 10 00 a. M. We have the number one danger in the hills, above 1,000 feet, sustained winds with gusts up to 50 Miles Per Hour. Ive got to ask, whos freezing out here . Unanimous. Were always freezing. They said it with a smile, though. Whos freezing . Me. Come on back. Still to come, heres a question. Have you ever cheated on your spouse by watching your favorite netflix show without them . Why some people just cant wait to watch the show together. Also Justin Timberlake revealing his secret to a successful and long lasting marriage. Thats right after these messages. My experience with usaa has been excellent. They always refer to me as master sergeant. They really appreciate the military family, and it really shows. Weve got auto insurance, Homeowners Insurance. Had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police. Usaa was there handson very quick very prompt. I feel like were being handled as people that actually have a genuine need. Were the webber family and we are usaa members for life. Usaa, get your insurance quote today. Thats the best reaction. Cited about my childrens books, whats great about paint 3d, its exciting to see a shark come to life and come off the page. When the work creates a feeling in a kid, feels great. Its addictive, you want to keep doing it. When a achoo alls. Answer it. With zicam colmedy. It shortens colds, so you get better, faster. Colds are gonna call. Answer them with zicam zicam. Get your better back. Now in delicious fruit drops. Im singing in the rain, just singing in the rain what glorious feeling im happy again, even if you dont buy one at carmax,from us. Uy your car because maybe youre already buying a car somewhere else. Or maybe you want to shop around. Or, maybe you dont want to drive a car at all anymore. Like, maybe you want to ride a camel into the dessert and take a deep hard look within. Just figure some stuff out for awhile. Thats cool. Whatever your plans for buying a car, carmax is the place to sell your car. Okay, lets do this, tina, tchicktchick. Here we go, tchicktchick. I believe in ya tina. Cmon now. Ah, we can just hang out here. Mmmm. Small mccafe, smoothies, frappes and shakes are still just two dollars every day. So when youre on the couch bingewatching episodes nine through eleven, indulge in a cool creamy treat. Hit pause and head over to mcdonalds now. Woman i had really hit a brick wall with victoria. I took her in and had her tested for learning disabilities and they said shes fine, shes just not interested. mouse click when we started abcmouse i thought of it more as a toy, then i started playing around with it myself, im like, wait a minute, this has got a lot more to it than i thought it did. I could see her being able to recognize letters, to writing her name on the chalkboard. And now shes reading. I feel from the bottom of my heart like abcmouse has blessed our family. We are back on a saturday morning and it is time to trend. Shall we . You didnt do your trend dance. Thats right. There you go. Do you and your spouse have a list of must watch shows you that only turn on when youre together . Did you are cheat . Tell the truth, just a little and watch an episode without them. Theyve listed a list of must watch shows. The shows that were so juicy you had to jump ahead. Take a look at the top five. Mind bending since eight. Orange is the new black. Second place 13 reasons why the number one show people watch ahead of their partners theerz tse are the ones they cheat. Narcos the. Only one i cheated on was ozark. I go to bed at 8 00 at night and brian stays up past midnight and he gets to watch all the shows i dont get to watch. It was this time last year, the crown my husband came in and i was already in. The show that my wife would leave me if i watched this is us. I found this out in the commercial break. You watch sometimes with the closed captioning on. Sometimes . Thats all i do. Not just movies. I just said i watched seinfeld with close captioning. You know thats not normal behavior. I cant process things when i dont read them. I need to see something to be able to process. Otherwise its in one ear, out the other. Every week, stranger and stranger. I do think thats normal. My husband is the same way. Which is why i dont watch with him. Sometimes its annoying. Lets get to pop start. The me too movement is making its way to the red carpet. Theres a paper on the prompter. I cant read it. If we could just move that. People magazine reports some a list actresses are planning to ditch their gowns in favor of an all black look. The effort is said to be a symbol of protest against Sexual Harassment in hollywood. Dozens of actresses have spoken out about the issue since the New York Times published its bombshell report back in october detailing allegations against famed producer harvey weinstein. The actresses have not net been confirmed. Well what happens. Up next eminems long awaited album is finally here. The ninth album dropped on friday. It features collaborations with beyonce, ed sheeran, alicia keys. And expressing regret that daughter haley had to witness their fights. Justin timberlake is sharing his secret to a happy marriage. Surprisingly its pretty old school. He was asked how he keeps his marriage to jessica biel so strong. He says his rule is even when you get married, you have to keep dating. Each other. The difference comes when you have kids to actually schedule the date. When you say youre going out at 6 30, you need to go out at 6 30. They just celebrated their fifth anniversary. Thats good advice. I agree with that. Connect, redekindle. And have a conversation without. { whining } is that what they do when they get older . My little guy just pops in between us. We share our fondest memories. Firs get 30 off 30 awesome Lego Construction sets. Now through saturday. Toysrus. Today we play. Delicious recipes made holidwith nutella the holidays never tasted this good. Discover holiday recipes at nutella. Com. We are back on a saturday morning. With christmas just nine days away, a lot of folks are putting finishing touches on their holiday plans. Every family has traditions and we wanted to take some time to share some of the things that make the holidays special to us. Holidays in the dryer household were traditional. Wed wake up my dad and then hed have the whole getting ready thing to do. He forced us to stay on the stairs until he came down. My brothers and i would creep down a step, creep down a step. Even when wed come back from college, when my brothers were married, we would all pile on to the stairs and sit and wait. Christmas morning never changed no matter how old we got. I did believe in santa. Usually the letters i would write to san ta, were appeal letters, because i knew that santa probably had heard that perhaps i had not been the best that year. So i would use the letters as an opportunity to make my case. Every year my grandmother would give my sister and i 50 apiece. Sometimes 100. We would go to woolworth. It was like a five and dime store. We would write out all the people we would get gifts and we would have to budget. Then she would set out the wrapping paper and the scissors and wed wrap all the gifts. That was all part of it. I was just as excited to watch everybody open the gifts that i purchased as i was to receive the gifts. We always had a Real Christmas tree growing up. Wed go to a farm down the street from us. My dad would have his axe. Hed chop down the tree. Wed bring it back home. I remember one year we had a real tree. I remember as a kid going why does the house smell. Then i was allergic to everything under the sun and i was itching. We didnt have a real tree after that. I remember a couple years where we had to plead with our mother to take the tree down. It was like valentines day. It was one of those things where it was warm outside and people would drive by. Mom kept the tree up for a very long time. I really wanted a Cabbage Patch doll when they were really hard to get. I still have the Cabbage Patch. In fact, when i got married, my grandmother told me that i had to put it away. My grandmother was, like, its time to put lilly away. There was a box under the tree in the shape of a pound puppy. I knew it was a pound puppy under the tree and i couldnt contain myself. The week before christmas i, like, poked a hole. Just to see if its actually a pound puppy. And it was a pound puppy. And i was so excited. But i remember even at that age thinking oh my god, im so excited. Oh no, how am i going to cover the hole . The year i got a chalkboard was probably the best christmas ever. That meant i could go in my room and i could play school by myself for hours. I would lock myself in my room and just write on the chalkboard. It was the best. Merry christmas, dylan dreyer. We got something for you. I have a chalkboard. And chalk. And you continue to surprise me with your dorkdom. Why am i the only one with a gift . All of us wanted normal toys. And you wanted a chalkboard. Do we have chalk . Yes, we have chalk right here. I used to play school. There you go. Who were your students . They were all imaginary students. Remember this, this chalk its fine. Youd go like this and youd write the letters. So thats what you did for hours. Oh, it was so fun. This also explains why you watch closed captioning on all of your movies. So im a nerd. It all makes sense now. To all the nerds out there, merry christmas. This could be you. Merry christmas. I remember pound puppies. Cabbage patch dolls, they had that smell like baby powder. Moms were pushing. You would see news stories where people were trying to get those dolls. That was fun showing down memory lane. That will do it for us on this saturday morning. Tomorrow with the star wars now in theaters, willie sits down with kylo ren himself adam driver. What he says about playing the copd makes it hard to breathe. So to breathe better, i go with anoro. 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At walgreens, how we care will change over time, but why we care remains the same treating everyone with the care and attention they deserve. Walgreens. Trusted since 1901. Bay. We are under a microclimate weather alert. Good morning. Coming up next on today in the bay, we are under a microclimate weather alert. Which areas are at the highest risk for fire danger this weekend. Plus, the business in the south bay is now licensed to sell marijuana. When theyre looking to open their doors. And a familys stolen car goes on quite a ride before being found by police. You could save energy by weaving your own shoes. Out of flax. Or simply adjust your thermostat. Do your thing, with Energy Upgrade california. Good saturday morning to you. Were taking a live look outside at the bay bridge from San Francisco. You can see the sun rising. It looks beautiful, but we have potentially dangerous day ahead with a microclimate weather alert in place. Thanks so much for joining us. We have the latest on that microclimate weather alert. We are under a red flag warning because of all the wind. We need to be an alert, especially when youre dealing with such dry conditions. A fire can quickly spread. Weve seen it unfortunately unfold here right at home and