Its about to enter the third week. We are live along the front lines. Firefighters work to get the growing blaze under control. The Trump Transition Team going after Robert Mueller this morning accusing his office of unlawfully obtaining transition emails reportedly in the tens of thousands. Plus, the new tax bill. What does it mean for you . Well get into all of that with chuck todd. With the release of star wars the last jedi, a sunday sitdown with adam driver. Will fans be happy with what happens . God, i hope. I hope. I hope they will. I hope. I think it will be. Tightlipped adam driver. Plus, harry smith a bit later in the show. Lets begin this morning with the stunning tragic scene in southern california. A massive wild fire burning towards the ocean fueled by high winds with hundreds of homes threatened this morning. Nbcs Steve Patterson is on the front lines in Santa Barbara. Steve, good morning. Reporter good morning, willie. Firefighters are exhausted. Theyve been battling this thing for nearly two weeks. Again, they continue to fight the flames yet despite that, this fire is massive. It is 40 contained but its only getting bigger. This weekend the firefight flares up. The thomas fire raging relentlessly since december 4th is the Third Largest in california history. Its killed two and burned down more than 1,000 homes and businesses. We have 15 minutes to evacuate. The billow of smoke was tremendous. Reporter strong winds pushing flames towards the coast. Oprah tweeting, still praying for our little town. On saturday morning new evacuations were underway in Santa Barbara. This is what firefighters are dealing with. They stay actively engaged. Just this active fire. It could be dangerous. We are under mandatory evacuations. I know a lot of people think it is white noise but the threat is real. Meanwhile, in Santa Barbara, a ghost town. An erie quiet. Instead, residents shield themselves from a dozen days of choking smoke. Reporter so believe it or not the thomas fire is now larger than the size of new york city. 267,000 acres and, again, it is growing. Fire officials now say its on track to be the largest wild fire in modern california history. Two weeks in, still growing. Steve patterson. Back in washington they talk about special counsel Robert Mueller. Nbc White House CorrespondentKelly Odonnell is at the white house. Good morning. Good morning, willie. The flu korch throw versy may be used to undermine the russia probe. Now many are in the hands of prosecutors. This morning special counsel Robert Mueller under fire from the Trump Transition Team. An attorney for the transition confirmed to nbc news that he sent a letter to congress complaining about, quote, unauthorized private and privileged transition emails. In the letter, which has been published by politico, the Trump Transition Team is accusing mueller of unlawfully obtaining tens of thousands of pages of emails claiming it raises potential violations of attorneyclient privilege and the Fourth Amendment which protects against unlawful search and seizure. Muellers team, normally reluctant to comment, did release a statement overnight saying theyve done nothing wrong. When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, weve secured the account owners account or appropriate criminal process. All of this playing out as the president cheer leads about tax cuts. We are back. Were really going to start to rock. Reporter President Trump boasting about the economy on his watch and insisting the gop tax cut plan will stoke more growth. He dismissed critics who said the package favors the wealthy over the middle class. They have the standard sound bites before they know what its all about. Reporter the house vote to pass the 1. 5 trillion tax cut is set for tuesday. This is going to be one of the great gifts to the middle income people of this country. Reporter but for many americans, that could be a gift they wont unwrap for a long time. Some tax saving provisions will not be felt until 2018 returns are filed, time that may carry a price in midterm elections. So theres a lot of risk for republicans down the road. Reporter so the house votes tuesday. The senate will follow shortly thereafter. Thats not scheduled yet. Unlike the Health Care Law where we saw lastminute drama, thats not expected when it comes to tax cuts and the Trump Administration hopes to wrap this all up by the end of the week before the president heads to florida for the christmas holiday. Willie . Kelly, thanks as always. Chuck todd is nbcs political reporter and moderator of meet the press. Good morning. Nice to see you, my friend. Good morning. Looks like the vote comes tuesday. Corker on board, rubio on board, Susan Collins on board. Some of the republicans sitting on the fence and holding out on the bill are now on board. Is there any chance this bill does not become law before christmas . I think the only thing that im curious to wait and see is what happens when the congressional budget score keepers finish with this. Willie, i was impressed with the political response that the republicans in this Conference Committee did with this tax bill. Essentially they took every criticism, every unpopular deduction that they got rid of, they seemed to restore, whether it was on tuitions, health care, or even on state and local taxes. They didnt restore all of it but they restored some of it. What i cant figure out is where they paid for it. They still have to stay within this 1. 5 trillion deficit expansion limit that theyve built in. So the only thing that would derail this is if the math doesnt work as far as the congressional score keepers are concerned. We find that out on tuesday or wednesday. Theyre pushing right up against it right now. 1. 45 trillion as it stands right now. Chuck, i know youre going to reveal some nbc news wall street journal polling on meet the press. We wont get into the numbers. Well get a preview of how energized democrats are feeling where doug jones defeated a republican in roy moore in a very red state of alabama. Africanamericans came out to vote, women, suburban women came out to vote. What does this all mean for 2018 . Look, the democratic youre right. Im glad you previewed that part of the poll. The democratic enthusiasm for the midterm elections is ill give you this one, its 10 points higher than the republican enthusiasm when it comes to thinking about voting already. Willie, that actually has played out throughout 2017. If alabama had been the only election in 2017, id be one saying, hey, lets not over read, but this has been think about every special election we had this year in the house. The schedule of elections in new jersey, virginia, elsewhere, they all had the same pattern. Democrats over performing, showing up in bigger numbers than they had before and republicans sort of less than enthusiastic basically only the regular voters showing up and while democrats came up short in some of those high profile specials, their numbers kept creeping up. Now weve seen its almost as if the way it was building, youve seen it, it hit virginia, it hit new jersey, it hit alabama. I think thats the picture thats being painted going into 2018. We heard, chuck, in kellys report that the Trump Transition Team is claiming the mueller team obtained emails illegally. We heard attorney general rob ros rosenstein being questioned. The president in his white house talking about the fbi being tainted. What are they laying the groundwork for here, chuck . Theyre clearly laying the groundwork to delegitimize the entire investigation and theyre looking at almost every process route they can find. I want to emphasize that. This he have yet to try to discredit the investigation with a disputed claim or a disputed fact or exculpatory evidence or a counter narrative. Instead, their only way theyve been able to push back against him is by innuendo and eluding that maybe the investigation could be tainted but theyve not disputed any facts and theyve not disputed any conclusions and theyve not disputed so i think, look, its clear what theyre laying the groundwork for. Politically theyve done a good job of that and they have their own media organ that trumps it a lot, but i would just emphasize, theyre missing a factbased push back here. Ultimately in the long term that could be a problem. Working hard to undermine ab institution of america. Chuck todd, thank you so much. Well look for more this morning on meet the press. Ohio Governor John Kasich and joe manchin. Some other headlines this morning, a developing story in pakistan where at least eight people are dead and dozens more injured after an attack inside a methodist church. Officials say two suicide bombers got inside during a prayer service. One was killed by police, the other managed to detonate his explosive vest. Isis has now claimed responsibility for that attack. The first day of the ski season at a pennsylvania resort got off to a rocky resort after a ski lift malfunctioned hours after the resort opened. Several people hurt, none seriously, thank goodness, when five chairs came loose and slammed into each other. Took firefighters an hour and a half to get everyone down. Here is a sight you dont see every day. Brittains newly engaged prince harry interviewing former president barack obama. Do i have to speak faster . No, no. Im a slow speaker. No. Do i need the british accent . If you start using long pauses between the answers youre probably going to get oh, okay. I dont want to see that face. There they are setting up. The full interview will air later this month on bbc radio. The prince and the president taped that in september and talked about president obamas life after the white house. Dylan is here with a look at the weather. Good morning. Still pretty chilly in the northeast. We have to talk about the fires out west. We are finally going to see some improvements as for the wind tomorrow. Today we do still have the chance of some very gusty winds. This is the thomas fire. Its only 40 contained. 250,000 acres already burned. We still have that critical risk in the Santa Barbara area today. 16 Million People at risk. While we will still see wind gusts up to 15 Miles Per Hour today, watch what happens when we go into sunday and monday. We could use some rain. The wind will be calmer so it doesnt cause the fires to spread as rapidly. On the flip side we have heavy rain moving through the gulf coast through mississippi and alama. Good morning. Im first alert meteorologist krystal klei. Our sunday will be fairly out there. 41 degrees for the High Temperature in center city. Mostly cloudy conditions through the afternoon. The in blue is the feels like temp which is similar to the actual high. Well be at 38 for the actual high in pottstown and 39 in allentown. As we go into new jersey, 43 in berlin and 46 stone harbor. Delaware, youre looking at low 40s, smyrna and wilmington for highs today. Latest forecast. Dylan, thank you very much. Straight ahead, the highs and the lows of the week. Former Vice President john biden comforted megan on live television. And the amazing moment when a little boy charged onto the matt to save his big sister during a wrestling match. Plus, as we buy our Holiday Gifts online, more and more malls are emptying out and helping. What happens to those malls . Creative uses. Malls are not going to die. Theyll be different. As we head to break, our photo of the week. Rabbi at the western wall lighting a menorah as the jews around the world celebrate hanukkah this week. Preseeeeeents crowd cheering presents for them, kohls cash for you announcer kohls. Give joy. Get joy. With formulas infused with handpressed moroccan argan and camellia oils, garnier whole blends illuminating haircare indulges hair with moisture. For luminous shine. Garnier whole blends argan camellia oils. Find every blend at walmart. 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. Ayep, and my teeth are yellow. . Time for whitestrips. Crest glamorous White Whitestrips are the only adaaccepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. And they whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste. Crest. Healthy, beautiful smiles for life. As our ocean spray cranberries, which is why were declaring it the unofficial official fruit of the holidays. The figs gonna be so bummed. [ chuckles ] for holiday tips and recipes, go to oceanspray. Com. Your privacy makes you mytmmed. Number 1 place to go number 2. I love you, but sometimes you stink. Febreze air effects doesnt just mask, it cleans away odors. Because the things you love the most can stink. And try febreze small spaces to clean away odors for up to 30 days. Breathe happy with febreze. 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. Dylan and i ready to whip through the highs and the lows of the week on a very special day. Its calvins first birthday today. It is. This time last year, much different morning. Our first high goes to the beautiful moment on Live National television. Senator john mccain was admitted this week to Walter Reed Medical Center for treatment of the aggressive brain cancer he was diagnosed with. Megan is a host of the view where biden was a guest this week. I think about beau almost every day, and it was told, sorry, that this doesnt get easier. Look, one of the things that gave beau courage, my word, was john, your dad, you may remember when you were a little kid, your dad took care of my beau. Beau talked about your dads courage, not about illness but about his courage. There is hope and if anybody can make it, your dad her dad is one of my best friends. [ applause ] that was joe biden at his very best. He switched chairs, went and sat and held her hand. For megan to share that on tv, beautiful moment. Real conversation. It was. Well done, guys. Our first logos to the feelings when you see some guy trying to rough up your sister. Big wrestling match the other day in columbia city, indian yeah between ruby lewis and ryan pendergast. Rubys 2yearold brother raced in to save his sister. He jacks up ryan. Get off my sister as dad comes out to scoop up the boy, the shell shocked ryan gets up off the matt and wonders what in the name of ruby lewis happened. Little jack has a future. Im defending my sister wherever it happens. As the sister of two older brothers, that never changes. Nice job, little guy. Our next guy goes to a feeling dylan never had to worry about. Elation of getting into harvard. A 16yearold who skipped a grade because hes so smart gathered with his classmates around a computer to see whether or not he had been accepted. [ cheers and applause ] looks like he might have gotten in. I think so. Hes already wearing harvard gear. His classmate alex got word from stand fard. How about that Little Family . Now lets give some credit to mom. Maureen little is a single mom to get those young men to those celebrations. Harvard and stanford. Im excited. Incredible. You and i didnt have that problem. Cool. Im into rutgers. Our final logos to the battle over the baby jesus in the nativity scene at First Baptist church at white pine, tennessee. Actually, its kind of amazing. Watch this. All right. So we start there. A lovely childrens rendition of away in the manger. 2yearold keegan seeing the baby has to dance with it. Mary doesnt like it one bit. She wants her child back. As the angelic singing continues, mary and the sheep have a tug of war over the baby jesus. With the church breaking into laughter, mary regains custody for a moment and places the baby back in the manger. Mary throwing the sheep into a modify the headlock just as the song ended mercyfully. Someone stepped in to break up mary and the sheep. Thats how the story actually goes, right . A little bit of a battle. How about a Holiday Bonus high. This one is for calvin. Awkward photos of scared children sitting on santas lap. Long standing christmas tradition. This doesnt look that bad, right . Take a closer look. As if 1yearolds samuels face doesnt say it all, its actually his hands that tell the story. Samuels mom posted this on twitter writing, we taught our baby sign language. This is the sign for help help youre welcome, she wrote. The photo actually was taken 12 years ago but became a viral sensation this week when mom posted it online. Thats hilarious. Teach calvin how to get out of those situations with santa. Coming up next, the sunday sitdown with one of the biggest stars in the world right now. The biggest Movie Star Wars the last jedi on the road from the United States marine corps to playing the villain. Harry smith takes a walk. And Facebook Live chat with me and dylan in just two minutes. You might take something for your heart. Or joints. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. Good morning. Im dray clark. 8 26 on this sunday morning. Right to nbc 10 first alert meteorologist krystal klei with a look at your forecast. Good morning, krystal. Good morning, dray. Temperatures are still on the cold side but they arer than yesterday morning at this time. Were at 33 degrees in philadelphia. 25 in pottstown. Wilmington 28. Millville youre at 27 degrees. A lot us are right near or below freezing this morning. We do have increasing clouds. Radar satellite, we will be mostly c