Leadership. America is going to start growing again. Corporate america gets out the checkbook for the employees. How long will the good times roll. All that, plus new bombshell. Michaela claiming usa gymnastics tried to buy her silence on abuse. The new ad that could scare you out of ever texting and driving again. What made Prince William get on his high horse . Today, thursday, december 21, 2017. From nbc news, this is today live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everybody. Pretty shot there. Welcome to today. Nice to have yo with us on the thursday before christmas. Just when you thought you couldnt love him anymore, he gets on a horse like that. Why do we love it when they do dorky things look that. Natheyre just like us. Breaking new in australia. Driver rammed car into a group of pedestrians, happened in melbourne. This morning, theres a suspect in custody. Police say he did it deliberately. Nbc chief global correspondent bill neely with the very latest. Bill, good morning. Good morning, savannah. This happened at the start of the evening rush hour right in the center of australias second biggest city. Probably the biggest intersection in melbourne. A deliberate act say police, terrifying, but they still cant say it was terrorism. This was no accident, the victims mowed down by a man whose intentions, say police, was to injure or kill. A highspeed collision witnessed by hundreds on crowded streets. A white car plowing into pedestrians. This the scene filmed by a bystander, seemingly moments afterwards. People rushing to help the injured. A man believed to be the driver is being searched and handcuffed by police. At one point, they slap his face while all around him the injured, many of them seriously, are being treated by passers by and first responders. Witnesses say the driver accelerated through a red light, ramming into 50 or 60 people crossing the road. At this stage, we believe it is a deliberate act. However, we do not know the motivation and it is still early stages. Reporter one witness said the driver made no attempt to brake or swerve. And overs saw people flying through the air. A preschool child is among those seriously injured. Police now say the driver has a history of drug use and Mental Health issues. Hes a 32yearold Australian Citizen of afghan decent. Hes a person who is known to the police. He has historical assault matters. Reporter its the second suc such incident in melbourne this year. Just a few streets away in january, a man drove a car into a crowd of people killing six. Police say that was not terrorism, but they built concrete barriers to prevent a high speed ramming. Barriers the driver of this car avoided. Several of his victims clinging to life this morning. So police say they have no evidence or intelligence at this point to indicate any connection to terrorism, but in another quite bizarre twist, when they arrested the second man who they say had been filming the incident on his phone, they found he was carrying a bag of knives. So counterterrorism detectives are still working on this and they are ruling nothing out right now. Hoda, savannah. Theres a lot to be done there, bill, thank you very much. With christmas just four days away, Holiday Travel rush is picking up steam. Millions keeping a close eye on the weather. A lot of storms out there may be threatening to slow you down. Al has what you need to know. Triple a says 107 Million People traveling. 107. 4 million. 97 million by car. 6. 4 million by air. And other 3. 6 by training, buses and cruise ships. Starting to see first storm get itself together right now. In the rockies going to see problems for denver today and. Plains and midwest, snow developing throughout the day. Possible travel problems from denver along i 90 and airport in green bay. Move into tomorrow. Rain and snow disrupting travel. Down into dallas for rain. Get up into upstate new york and new england. Along i 90 looking at snow. Rain from mobile to portland. I 70, i75 a mess. Atlanta airport a big problem. Boston, everybody in the northeast and moving into sunday were watching another storm system get itself together. Rain from the cape to savannah. Snow developing across the ohio valley and this is going to be very interesting to watch. All on christmas day, could be a big storm along the northeast of new england coastline. Lake effect snow, heavy snow possible for new england. So guys, we are going to have to watch this very carefully. Weve got a lot going on right through christmas. And a lot of people travel on christmas day. So this could be very, very interesting. Interesting is one way to put it, al. Well keep in touch with you, thank you. Also this morning, politics, the president and republicans are still savoring the package of the biggest tax overall had decades. Most significant victory since taking control of congress and the white house last year. Millions of americans will soon feel the impact. Some are already. Weve got two reports for you beginning with nbc White House Correspondent kristen welker. Good morning. Reporter hi savannah, good morning to you there. Theres still a sense of celebration here at the white house after republicans passed that landmark tax bill. Giving them a legislative lead. Calling it a Christmas Gift for middle class. Before they can start their christmas break, back to work with the government set to run out of money tomorrow. This morning, fresh off their historic tax reform victory, its crunch time again for republicans. With a possible Government Shutdown looming tomorrow. Overnight, many gop lawmakers insisting theyll find a way to keep the government open. Despite linger battle. Optimistic. Well know more tonight. While republicans try to work out a spending deal, theyre still relishing their biggest legislative achievement yet. Major overhaul of the tax code. Always a lot of fun when you win. Its a Campaign Promise kept. Were going to have the biggest tax cuts since ronald reagan. On wednesday the president was practically giddy as he took a victory lap at the white house. Flanked by house republicans. We are making America Great again, you havent heard that, have you. Mr. Trump who clashed with republican leaders. Had nothing be high marks. I want to thank Mitch Mcconnell. I want to thank what a job. What a job. I want to thank paul. Thats House Speaker paul ryan who was among the republican lawmakers keeping praise on the president. Something this profound could not have been done without exquisite president ial leadership. This that has been a year of extraordinary accomplishment for the trump administration. [ applause ] reporter Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell also gave President Trump a louisville sl slugger with his name on it. To celebrate historic tax reform. Jeff flake, not seeking reelection and sharply critical of mr. Trump, one of the few republicans who didnt attend the party. I can only take so many of this stand around and clap things. Rather be here. Reporter whats in the bill . Lower taxes for eight and ten americans including most middle and working class families those taxes expire in eight years. Corporations will see the ar largelarg largest cuts. Cuts that are permanent. Republicans are benefitting the business will triple down. Boost individuals and the economy. At t and Parent Company comcast announcing employee bonuses. Something the legislation doesnt require. The bill passed without democratic support. They say it will hurt the middle class. Polls showing the bill is wildly unpopular. Democrats are pouncing. Officially remits the Republican Party of the party of the wealthy and party of big corporations. Reporter the tax bill also r repeals the obamacare individual mandate. Could lead to higher premiums and 13 million fewer people being insured. Still republicans say Many Americans will see more money in their pockets starting in february. Now the president could sign that bill into law by tomorrow, but that timing could also shift as for funding the government, well the expectation is republicans will strike a shortterm deal. The house expected to vote later today. Savannah, hoda. Kristen, thank you. We want to focus in on Corporate America response and surprise bonuses for hundreds of thousands of workers. Stephanie is here with us. She covers business. Just talking about this yesterday with House Speaker paul ryan. Would corporations really take the money theyre getting and plow it back into the academy and on the first day seems some have done that very thing. Theyre doing something, but theyre literally doing the least they can do. Now, its a positive for anyone at at t or comcast or boeing or wells fargo. Its great to get that 1,000. Its great to semmee minimum wa get pushed up. This is day one. Youre darn right the companies should have done something. They without a doubt have a relationship with the white house. They know protesters in washington and people going wait a second. My taxes are going to go up ask p corporations are going to get billions of dollars less theyre going to pay. What are you going to do for me. This is a great gesture on part of these companies. Thus far, its a secreciture. At t does have a merger pending before the justice department. Thats not being cynical. Theyve got a merger. We know the president has an issue with cnn. The department of justice has gotten in the mix. Comcast has benefitted just last week. You ask me who benefits from net neutrality. Big media companies. So comcast is doing something. Boeing huge contracts with the government. Wells fargo, they certainly like that the cfpv now has Mick Mulvaney in charge. Its a great pr move. Its not longterm yet. All right. Stephanie, thanks so much. The top democrat on the Senate Intelligence committee is warning President Trump against firing special counsel robert mueller. Virginia senator mark warner said wednesday that growing criticism of muellers investigation is concerning and that calls for President Trump to remove mueller are irresponsible and reckless. The aitems to fire mueller or pardon anyone in the investigation would lead to a constitutional crisis. In the yietsz United States america, no one, no one is above the law. Not even the president. President trump said recently that he would not try to push mueller out. Also on this thursday morning, learning more about that terrible bus crash in mexico. Killed 12 people and most of the victims were american tourists on a cruise ship excursion. Today National Correspondent craig melvin here with the latest. This is heart breaking. Trump administratiits a trg confirming eight americans are among the dead. All, but four of the 18 hurt are released from local hospitals and could be heading home soon. This morning, devastated families are searching for answers. Trying to understand how a routine day trip to see mayan ruins could have ended like this, a bus carrying tourists down the mexican highway flipping over tuesday morning, claiming at least a dozen lives and injuring many more. Among the american victims, andy fritz, and his wife jody. An assistant principal from washington state. And five members of one family. 11yearold daniel and his mother anna and his grandmother all died. 15yearold david and his father were hurt, but managed to survive. When the bus got flipped over, i saw people escaping from the bus and screaming because you know, its blood everywhere. Fellow cruise passengers expressing shock and sadness. Maria martinez was going to be on the bus, but decided at the last minute not to go. Thankfully, we didnt go. The bus was traveling from the cruise port towards the mayan ruins when it flipped over. Witnesses say the road was dry and didnt appear other vehicles were involved. It wasnt because of a tire explode or Something Like that. It seems like the bus just lose control. Mexican nvpgss t investigato trying to figure out what caused the crash. The bus was being driven at moderate speed. The driver is not being held by police, but according to state prosecutor could be charged at a later date. The bus was carrying passengers from two Royal Caribbean cruise ships. The company said it is doing all it can to care for guests, calling the accident heart breaking. The driver has not talked about the accident yet. The bus Company Posted a statement on Facebook Page expressing profound sadnesstrago cooperate with the investigators and support. So close to home. So many people have taken those and gone on one of those trips. Thank you, craig. Meantime the family of a bride to be shot to death by a Minneapolis Police officer earlier this year is speaking out. This after prosecutor blamed investigators for failing to produce evidence to file charges. Nbc has more on all of this. Ron, good morning. Has more on. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. This case has captivated the twin cities and much of the nation. Was this officer justified in using deadly forced against an unarmed woman . In australia, her dad is speaking out and demanding some answers. In the five months since 40yearold Justine Damon was killed by a Minnesota Police officer, her family in australia has kept a low profile, speaking at a Memorial Service this summer but saying little else. This morning, theyre calling for justice in the wake of recent comments by the county prosecutor, critical of the investigation conducted by the States Bureau of criminal apprehension, the bca. What are we to think . We are apprehensive that perhaps the bca have not fulfilled its promise. Reporter the familys outcry coming days after attorney mike freeman, whose office will determine whether the officer will be criminally charged, was caught on cell phone video at a holiday reception, blaming officers for a lack of resolution in the case. I need evidence, and i dont have it yet. Let me just say, it is not my fault. So if it isnt my fault, who didnt do their job . Its called investigators. They dont work for me. They havent done their job. Reporter a frustrated freeman also said officer knorr still refused to answer his questions, using an expletive to describe a second officers account of what happened that night. [ bleep ]. Reporter monday, the prosecutor apologizing for the outburst in a youtube video. I was wrong to discuss the agencys work on the Justine Damon case in a public setting. Reporter the controversial shooting happened july 15th near damons home, when the officer sitting in the passenger seat of a Police Vehicle fired across his vehicle and struck damon when she appeared outside of the vehicle door. She called 911, reporting what she thought was a sexual adult in the alley behind her house. Her family in australia has raised the volume on their grief. They looked me in the eye and said they were committed to getting to the truth of the event. We were grateful for their promise, so we could better understand why and how such a tragic event could occur. Reporter in his apology video, the county prosecutor there said he would update the public next week on the status of this case. Nbc news obtained a statement from the bca. In part, bca is committed to conducting a fair, impartial investigation. Back to you. Thank you so much. Back to al. Everybody is hanging on your forecast because of the holidays. Thats right. Lets show you what we have going on right now around the country. Again, were looking at some more winds picking up. Im sorry. In southern california. Critical fire danger there. Above average temperatures in the mid mississippi and ohio river valley. Sunshine along the eastern seaboard. The big storm system getting itself together in the rockies. Well get to your local forecast deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la la. Oh when you walk by every night talking sweet and looking fine. Tis the season to be jolly. Fa la la la la. Oohh. Im so into you. What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight. Its just a sweet, sweet fantasy bab. Its time for the holidays. Holla back holla hey. Hurry in to old navy for up to 75 off the entire store. Get last minute gifts for just 3, 4, and 5 bucks at old navy. Good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. As we take a live look outside in San Francisco a cool start and its still breezy with mostly clear skies. Its going to start to calm down as far as our winds today and temperatures warm up into the upper 50s. Even a knew low 60s for the inland areas, but its going to be very cold tonight as our lows by tomorrow morning drop down below freezing, thats why we do have some freeze warnings that will be in effect for the inland areas starting out late tonight. Thats your latest weather. Al, we need you. Hang in there. Okay. Coming up, an explosive accusation from gold medal winner mckayla maroney. Did usa gymnastics pay her to keep quiet about abuse allegations against the teams former doctor . And the powerful, new ad to stop you from reaching for your phone when youre behind the wheel. First, this is today on nbc. Still ahead, help for anyone flying with Holiday Gifts. What you should not bring if you want to avoid hassles when you go through security. Plus, what had Prince William galloping like a horse. And prince harry and Meghan Markles just released en its almost christmas dad. Its raining men the weather girls hi. Hi. Nanana a little soul a little tune to play to make the good times roll here we go nanananananana nanananananana here we go crazy square eyyyyy crazy square uh oh from ou