New york times report that claims the president made derogatory statements about immigrants behind closed doors. Later, a sunday sitdown with the star of the hottest show of 2017. Elizabeth moss broke through a decade ago as peggy olson on mad men. Now shes cleaning up the best actress awards for her leading role in the besttalked about drama the handmaids tale. You try to make an entertaining television show, you know. And sometimes thats all it is. But when you can do something that you also feel passionately about and also hits upon things that feel very personal to you, its that much more gratifying. A sunday sitdown with Elizabeth Moss. Plus, smith a bit later in the show. Lets begin this morning with a major winter storm bearing down on nearly 60 Million People from Washington State all the way across to maine and just in time for christmas. If youre traveling today or tomorrow, be prepared for big delays on the roads and in the skies. Dave price from wnbc here in new york is in for dylan this morning. What can we expect out there . A White Christmas comes at a cost. For everyone who waited to travel, now were going to pay that price, through the cass aids, and liolympic mountain rae and heavy snow rolling through the midwest and toward the northeast and new england right now. Lets put everything in motion and talk about it. This low pressure system is going to be the big problem as we head through the day and into tomorrow. Look what were expecting, as we head into the rest of the afternoon and into Christmas Eve itself. Snow is going to impact travel from the midwest all the way to the northeast while rain is going to move off the coastline. Youre going to want to watch it in chicago, at ohare, detroit, cleveland, rochester, even into jfk, were going to wind up seeing residual delays today, back through cincinnati. Then as we head into Christmas Day itself, heavy snow for new england in some areas of New Hampshire and maine, we could get upwards of a foot. Youre going to want to watch it on the roadways. 95, 90, 87. All these roads will be impacted with slippery conditions and places like erie and buffalo, lakeeffect snow as well. The rest of the country, the midsection will be pretty actually, frigidly cold temperatures and again the southwest looks good. Thats a look at your travel weather. Willie, well send it back to you. Maybe even more of a white winter than some people want to see. A federal judge partially lifted a Trump Administration ban on certain groups of refugees, ordering the government to process those refugees applications. And the Trump Administration pushing back strongly against an inflammatory New York Times report, claiming the president made extremely derogatory statements about immigrants behind closed doors. White house correspondent Kelly Odonnell is near the president s maralago estate in west palm beach. Good morning, kelly. Reporter good morning, willie. The president s opinions on immigration have been controversial and, at times, inflammatory. He is frustrated that his Campaign Promises have, so far, been blocked on immigration. But the white house says certain word as described to the president were not said. At the core is immigration. As a candidate and again this month, the president pushed for major changes to order security and migration law. We dont know who they are, where they come from. His frustration resonates with new reporting from the New York Times. That back in june a meeting turned heated. The New York Times described the president as using provocative and disparaging language, cited by only two of several unnamed sources. Who claimed that the haitians granted entry all have aids and that nigerians would not want to return to huts. Senior staff in the meeting deny these outrageous claims, saying the times chose to print the lies of Anonymous Sources anyway. But the president had a different target in mind. Its a shame what happened with the fbi. Reporter the president seemed excited by a highlevel move inside the bureau, tweeting saturday, wow, fbi lawyer james baker reassigned. And zeroed in on deputy fbi director andrew mccabe. I strongly believe that the russia investigation is adequately resourced. Reporter the president mocked mccabes future plans, racing the clock to retirebenef. Reporter and the Justice Department says james baker was moved out of the general counsels office of the fbi as part of a Senior Leadership change. Also says that mccabe has not announced his plans to refire but associates expect that he will do so come march. Weve seen how the president and some of his allies have been attacking the fbi broadly and individually as a part of their mission, if you will, to under cut the bureau as it works on the russia investigation. Willie . Kelly odonnell getting us started down in florida this morning. Merry christmas to you, kelly. Thanks so much. Kristenwelker is an nbc News White House correspondent also. And she joins me here in new york on set. Great to see you. Great to see you. Merry christmas. Merry christmas. The president retweeting something from fox news going after Deputy Director andrew mccabe. This comes after a long line of criticisms saying the fbi is tainted, he said its in tatters, questioning the leadership. Whats he laying the groundwork for here . Bottom line, we have seen his criticism amp up against the fbi in recent weeks. Its really an attempt, as kelly said, to try to undercut, i think, the special counsel. Weve seen it from the president. Weve seen it from his allies. Nothing gets under his skin more than the russia probe. He feels like it not only calls his election into question, but he also feels like its looming over his entire agenda so were starting to see him punch back with more force. Willie, thats a function of the fact that the special counsel investigation has gotten closer to his inner circle. Michael flynn, for example, is a great example of that. And i have been told definitively by his attorneys, he has no plans to fire special counsel robert mueller. I think this is his attempt to try to discredit him. I think were going to continue to see this into the new year if this probe does, in fact, get closer to the oval office. And he no plans to fire james comey, but he got to that point. Thats right. Lets talk about the big news in washington. The president on friday did get to sign the tax bill. Yes, he did. That he so desperately wanted to get through before the end of the year. The case that will be made to the white house is we got tax reform, we put gorsuch on the supreme court, we rolled back regulation. Within that tacks tax bill, we took care of the obama care individual mandate. The dow is up. Unemployment is down. Do they think they have a pretty good case to make after year one . They do. The president is ending this year on a high note. We saw him take a huge victory lap at the white house this past week after tax reform was passed. He was flanked by Republican Leaders from the house, from the senate. They were praising him. Willie, this comes after they were openly feuding after their failure to repeal and replace obamacare. So politically, they feel emboldened. The question, moving forward, is this going to be a longterm or shortterm victory . Democrats are calling this a tax cut for the wealthy. They point out that tax cuts for corporations are permanent and tax cuts for individuals are not, they will expire after eight years. The polls say the tax cut is unpopular. Now the hard work of selling it to the American People begins. The president said he he doesnt think hell have to sell it because in february people will see more money in their pockets. Well have to see how that shakes out. President trump turns the corner into 2018 feeling pretty good about himself right now. Whats the next big agenda on his item right now . Whats the next thing he wants to get done . Its so interesting because the white house has been talking about all of these different agenda items, everything from infrastructure reform, welfare reform, d. R. E. A. M. Ers, immigration. They want to see the wall go up, willie. On friday before the president left for maralago, he tweeted about infrastructure reform and talked about it in the oval office. I think thats a real sign thats where hes going to start the year. The democrats do want to get infrastructure reform done. They have huge differences over how to pay for it. I think the question is, are the democrats going to want to hand him a political victory heading into the midterms . I think its unlikely. A lot of people think if he started with infrastructure reform right now before health care, he would be on very different footing than starting with health care. He will do infrastructure, likely welfare and immigration. See if he can parlay the momentum into the beginning of the year and into next year. Kristen, thank you so much. Thank you. Kristen will stick around for the highs and lows of the week. Indeed. Be sure to tune in with chuck todd on meet the press. Some other headlines this morning, the department of Homeland Security is calling friday nights shooting spree in harrisburg, pennsylvania, a terror attack. Officials say 51yearold ahmed amin al lofti fired on several officers throughout the city before they fatally shot him. He was in the United States from egypt on a familybased immigration visa. The los angeles bomb squad was called in after some people sent a suspicious bomb package to the home of steve mnuchin. Officials say the nextdoor neighbor found the package and called 911. The package was wrapped in christmas paper and said it came from the American People. Sources now tell nbc news the package contained horse manure. Its unclear if secretary mnuchin was home at the time. And some big changes at the Miss America Organization after a week of scandal there. Ceo sam haskell resigned along with two other Top Organization officials saturday. Emails allegedly written by haskell, mocking and degrading contestants, were unveiled this week. A former contestant, the subject of one of those emails, is speaking out. Your new miss america is Miss North Dakota reporter in what is far from a crowning moment, the top leadership of the Miss America Organization stepping down just one day after dozens of former miss americas called for their ouster. Ceo sam haskell, president josh randall and chairman lynn widener all resigning, after Sweeping Change seems to show malignment of past winners. In leaked emails obtained by huffington post, haskell and the shows lead writer seemed to deride contestants over their weight, sex lives. Former miss america whose weight is criticized in the leaked emails. We really need everyone else who was involved and complicit to go as well. Kate shindle and Gretchen Carlson say they need to have a thorough cleaning of the board. Randall has apologized in a lapse in judgment saying he feels terrible. In a statement before his resignation haskell called the story unkind and untrue. Saturday the interim chairman of the board thanked haskell and widener for many years of tireless work and significant financial support. One of the main recipients of fundraising from the Miss America Organization, the childrens miracle network, is now considering cutting ties. The beauty pageant under an ugly cloud. I absolutely think that miss america will and can recover from this scandal. Those empowered, educated women just came together and created change. Reporter kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. David is back with a look at the rest of the forecast. Sloppy stuff all the way from the west coast to the northeast and midwest impacted now. You can see the snow beginning to work its way through the ohio valley. Thats what were going to be dealing with. Look at the Winter Weather alerts stretching up to northern new england. It will be a rough day with heavy snow, slick travel and reduced visibility. How much snow are we going to get . In some cases were going to be dealing with upwards of a foot of snow but 6 to 12 not out of the question at all. All the way through interior sections of the northeast into northern maine. We are waking up to 30s, but mostly 40s across the bay area. 38 in santa rosa. Napa, 40 degrees. Hayward and san jose, 46 degrees. We are expecting a mild afternoon. A spare the air alert is in place through tonight, no wood burning allowed. Theres a chance for rain and chance of snow in lake tahoe by christmas morning. You wanted a White Christmas. Some folks got it big time. We got it, dave. Well see you again in a couple of minutes. Thanks so much. Straight ahead, the highs and lows of the week, including the 5yearold boy, who saw something and said something this holiday season, alerting police to a dastardly christmas plot by the grinch. Wait till you hear the 911 call. And the danceoff of the ages between a student and his teacher. And later on this Christmas Eve, they may not have the fame and fortune of their fellow number one artists but an Incredible Group of sing nuns is back on the charts. As we h to break, Photo Christmas tree shining brightly in front of the capitol dome in washington, our photo of the week. Theres no one id rather. Hit the road with. No one id rather have dinner and a movie with. No one id rather lean on. Being in love is an amazing thing. Being in love with your best friend. Is everything. Ever us one diamond for your best friend. One for your true love. For the one woman in your life whos both. Ever us. Available at kay, jared and zales. 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. At 60 million mealsso closto pets in need. That definitely feels good this holiday season, buy any bag of dog or cat food at petsmart and well give a meal to a pet in need. Petsmart for the love of pets. The toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. If you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. Help stop the journey of gum disease. Try parodontax toothpaste. Weland you look amazinglyes youcomfortable. When your vneck looks more like a uneck. Thats when you know, its halfwashed. Add downy to keep your collars from stretching. Unlike detergent alone, downy conditions to smooth and. Strengthen fibers. So, next time dont halfwash it. Downy and its done. When heartburn hits fight back fast with tums chewy bites. Fast relief in every bite. Crunchy outside. Chewy inside. Tum tum tum tum tums chewy bites. Gstores are now open 24 hours. Take an extra 20 off when you spend 100 or more and get kohls cash for you short on time . Buy online and pick up free in store give joy, get joy right now at kohls. 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. Kristen welker graciously has agreed to stick around for the highs and the lows of the week. Thank you for doing that. Looking forward to it. In the spirit of christmas, were doing all highs. Lets do it. The vigilant 5yearold in byron, mississippi, who alerted police to the plot that would have disrupted christmas. He grew concerned that the grinch would try to steal his christmas so he did the only responsible thing, he called 911. This is the byron Police Department. We have a 911 hang up from this number. I just want to tell you something. Watch for the grinch because the grinch is going to steal christmas, okay . My dads got to talk to you. This is 911 . 911. Its definitely been the most interesting thing that happened to me. An officer responded to the call in person. What are you going to do if he comes to steal your christmas . Come into my house and take him to jail. We can take him to jail if he tries to steal your christmas. The responding officer convinced him he would be safe. They set up an elaborate arrest of the grinch. He got to take the grinch from the back of a cruiser and lock him up for a minute. Once he believed the grinch had been rehabilitated the green grump was released on his own recognizance. In addition to being the best high ever, he now wants to be a police officer. Exactly. He was inspired by that rogue 911 call. I love that the Police Department rallied around him. Yeah. They did a good job. The student teacher danceoff at the Leadership Charter School in the bronx, new york. This is 13yearold amir wilson and his teacher billy cohen in an auditorium full of students. Lets go. [ cheers and applause ] go ahead, teach. Amir said he was shocked by his teachers skills and wrote on instagram, battled my Dance Teacher at my School Talent show. He killed it. It was lit. What do you think, ty . Thats incredible. I think the surprise of the teacher maybe gives him the win. Thats a fair point. Im going with amir. He was very proud of his proto gee. Everyone cheering him on. I love the cheers. Our next high goes to the moment this week at Texas Tech University when walk on Football PlayerJustice Parker learned he had been put on scholarshi