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 taxes. Lets switch gears and talk about the criticism of the fbi. Obviously key allies of the president bashing the fbi, voices on the right. Then he goes out to virginia and praises them. So if we pull back a little bit, how is this talk playing politically . Is it dangerous for him to walk this line with the fbi . This is a pattern with President Trump. He attacks institutions when he doesnt think the outcome might not be favorable to him. You go back to the campaign and his attacks on a judge, on the judici judiciary that was trying a case. Right now hes unhappy with bob muellers investigation. Hes unhappy with the fbi so hes attacking the messenger. Its a dangerous precedent because it destroys the public trust and apolitical nature of the institutions. You hear President Trump insist theres no collusion, there was no collusion between his campaign and russia. He also talked about this nice phone conversation he had with russian president Vladimir Putin in which putin praised him. Does the president still have this blind spot when it comes to russia and president putin . It is really 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 Vladimir Putin. Why is that do you think . This came about after yesterday. Vladimir putin did his famous four Hour Press Conference and he praised the stock market and so President Trump wanted to reach out to putin to thank him for praising him so Vladimir 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 who is coming under fire after this video went viral when he couldnt answer even the most basic questions about the law. Nbc justice correspondent Pete Williams has more. Reporter its 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 Confirmation hearing this week. The most attention getting questions came from a wp frrepun from louisiana. Have you ever tried a jury trial . I have not. Civil . No. Criminal . No. Bench . No. Reporter peterson is a former congressional staffer and lawyer in private practice. He served on the federal Election Commission with the Current White House counsel. 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 but he could not understand some basic court questions. Do you know what a motion in li limine is . I would not be able to give you a definition right here at the table. Reporter the senate has confirmed 12 to the federal appeals court. President obamas first year he had only three. But two other trump nominees for the courts were derailed this week. Allegations that brett tally made supportive comments about the kkk helped sink his nomination. I dont know whether you put them on blog or on social media, but things that just showed that he didnt use good judgment. Reporter and the white house gave up on jeff mateer who called transgender children satans plan. The weather is not going to help those firefighters battling massive wildfires in southern california. 30 to 40 mile 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 since that massive blaze has been burning in ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Anita hill who accused Clarence Thomas of Sexual Harassment during his 1991 confirmation hearing will head a new commission to deal with Sexual Harassment in the entertainment. Meantime Peter Jackson is accusing Harvey Weinsteins company of black listing actresses. Both actresses accused weinstein of Sexual Harassment. In the sports world the Carolina Panthers have opened an investigation into their own for allegations of workplace misconduct. A developing story out of rutgers. Charges members of a sorority were drugged during a mixer in september. Claiming members of the fraternity spiked their drink with a mixture of alcohol and xanax. Ten members of the sig ma delta got sick. Some passed out. The fraternity has been suspended for two years. The white house has released the approximate the and first ladys First Official christmas portrait. Melania trump tweeted out this of them smiling between snow covered trees in the white house. Were talking snow. It does look pretty with all the christmas lights. Within the past 24 hours weve seen up to 7 to 8 inches of snow. As those winds crossover, more lake effect is likely. As for additional snowfall k accumulations, 4 to 5 inches in those heavier bands. As we go through the day this area will produce heavier downpours downpours. It moves through louisiana on sunday. Rainfall amounts about 2 to 3 inches. Again, especiallyf i y and thats your 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 shar this is k. 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 morning. Im dray clark. Time now 7 26 on this saturday morning. And we are off