brace yourself. a rare bipartisan bill to reform the criminal justice system just took a giant leap towards passage. we'll tell you what's in it. >> a blistering rebuke from the judge in the michael flynn sentencing hearing. but did he misspeak? and did flynn just survive a far worseate than anticipated? >> shutdown. president trump's private charitable foundation is forced to dissolve, but the reason behind it are fascinating. >> the new details surrounding the two chicago police officers killed in the line of duty while chasing a call of shots fired. >> amid the holiday shopping and spending, some good news for anyone hitting the road and gassing up in the process. >> and a league of her own,

remembering a fan favorite and hollywood trail blazing director, the great penny marshall. "early today" starts right now. >> good wednesday morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. the senate passed a sweeping criminal justice reform bill that could put a dent in the u.s. prison population. the first step act aims at lowering the number of people behind bars by making thousands of inmates eligible for immediate sentence reductions and early release programs. president trump praised the senate, tweeting that it's his job to fight for all citizens. even those who have made mistakes. rapper meek mill added, this is major. a lot of oversentenced men and women will come home soon. he's been a powerful voice of criminal justice reform after spending five months in a philadelphia prison. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. good morning, tracie. >> reporter: frances, good morning. rare cooperation here in washington on some pretty big legislation that would affect federal prisoners, and that is an important point. this does not affect state

justice systems. but it does affect what could be tens of thousands of federal prisoners. what it does is not require mandatory minimum sentences for many low-level offenders. and as you noted, a number would be eligible for early release on good behavior. also, it provides reentry help, making it easier for them to get back into society after they have served time. this is the biggest change that we've seen since the '90s, even though some critics say it doesn't go far enough. in fact, that's one of the reasons why it's called the first step bill. it will become the first step law if passed by the house and the president signs it. and, in fact, the house is expected to take this up before they leave for the break, before the end of the week. >> all right. and looking ahead to that, tracie, let's talk about the possibility of the government shutting down. how is that looking so far? >> reporter: we're not seeing

the same level of cooperation we saw with the sentencing bill. however, the white house is signalling the possibility that the president may be able to keep the government running and may be willing to sign off on something that is less than the $5 billion for the wall immediately. but we haven't seen anything concrete yet, and that clock is ticking for friday's deadline. >> sure is. and we're watching closely. tracie, thank you. >> former national security advisor michael flynn who admitted to lying to the fbi, appeared in court tuesday for sentencing. and he got an earful from a judge who went as far as to wonder why flynn wasn't facing treason charges. after a recess, judge emmet sullivan admitted to misspeaking about general flynn's conduct as a foreign agent which ended before he joined the white house in 2017. then in a surprise turn of events, the sentencing was delayed as flynn continues his cooperation with the government. we go now to nbc's pete williams for more. >> reporter: michael flynn arrived at the federal court house in washington with every reason to expect he'd be sentenced only to probation with

no prison time. that's what his lawyer said would be appropriate. and robert mueller's prosecutors agreed, saying he's been cooperating with them extensively, 19 separate meetings in the past year. but in a stunning twist, those hopes ran into a buzz saw named judge emmet sullivan, who said he couldn't hide his disgust for what flynn admitted doing. >> flynn was actually smiling during the earlier portion of the hearing and he got a serious look on his face in a hurry. >> reporter: sullivan said it's a very serious offense for a senior government official to lie to the fbi in the white house, something flynn pleaded guilty to doing. he has also admitted he did work as a paid lobbyist for the government of turkey without disclosing it while he was acting as a foreign policy advisor to the trump campaign. >> the next president of the united states. >> reporter: judge sullivan said, arguably, you sold your country out, and he even asked if mueller's prosecutors ever considered charging flynn with treason. the judge repeatedly suggested if he went ahead with the sentencing, flynn would probably get prison time. after a brief recess, his

lawyers took the hint and formally asked the judge to postpone the sentencing. >> i think it's possible the judge actually gave flynn a little bit of a break today. if he had imposed sentence today, he may have given flynn some prison time. >> reporter: in a tweet, president trump had wished flynn good luck. the white house said whatever crimes flynn committed he did them on his own. >> maybe he did do those things, but that doesn't have anything to do with the president directly. >> reporter: flynn's best hope now for avoiding prison time is continue to cooperate with prosecutors before he comes back for another hearing. the judge set a new hearing for march 13th. and for now, michael flynn remains out on bail. but here's the question. can he assist prosecutors enough in the next three months to convince judge sullivan that he does not deserve prison time? phillip? >> we'll see about that. pete, thanks. >> president trump's charitable foundation is to be shutdown under pressure from new york's top prosecutor. the embattled charity is facing a lawsuit alleging that mr. trump use it had to promote

his business and his campaign. well, the new york attorney general says their investigation found a, quote, shocking pattern of illegality involving the trump foundation. nbc's hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: donald trump's charity acted more like a checkbook for his campaign, according to the new york attorney general, who announced an agreement with the president's attorney to dissolve the controversial trump foundation. barbara underwood blasting what she called a shocking pattern of illegality. the foundation, she argues, used to help the president politically. the lawsuit points to 2016 a poornss li -- appearances like this one. >> we just collected $26 million. >> reporter: candidate trump giving out donation s to vet ransz right before the caucuses. a "washington post" investigation revealed other donations had benefited the trumps. its biggest one ever, help restore a fountain outside a trump hotel in 1989. the smallest? $7 to the boy scouts, exactly the enrollment fee the year

donald trump, jr., was 11. $12,000 that was a portrait that became a punching bag for opponents. >> he took money people gave to the charity and bought a 6 foot tall painting of himself. >> reporter: the attorney for the trump organization defended the foundation and the $19 million he says it's distributed to more than 700 charities. the statement, accusing the new york attorney general, a democrat, of an attempt to politicize the agreement and pointing out the foundation has been trying to dissolve ever since donald trump won the 2016 election, something new york state prevented as it pursued its investigation. so what happens to the remaining money in the foundation? it will be distributed only to charities the state deems reputable. phillip. >> all right, halle, thank you. meanwhile on tuesday, president trump banned bump stocks, the device that allows semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns. it's lat it est step that began in response to the worst mass

shooting in modern u.s. history. of course we're talking about the las vegas massacre that happened in october of 2017. the justice department says bump stocks will now fall within the definition of machine gun under federal law. the ban means owners must destroy or surrender their bump stocks by late march. this ban is now expected to face legal challenges as rampant criticism persists. >> president trump sat down with parents of marjory stoneman douglas high school students along with education secretary betsy devos, to discuss ways to prevent school shootings. >> according to the department of homeland security, the average duration of an active shooter, incident in the school, is under 5 minutes, all this carnage take place in a short period of time. that's why it's critical tomorrow armed personnel available. >> it came to arming teachers with guns, the panel decided states and schools should decide. the commission explored a range ever issues including mental health treatment, and rolling

back obama policies designed to protect minority students from discrimination. >> a honduran mother and her children photographed fleeing from tear gas last month are now in the united states. maria castro and her five children were among several asylum seekers who showed up at the otai mesa entry port in san diego. the trump administration has sought to tighten policy and force asylum seekers to wait in mexico while their plans are being processed. castro was caught in the photo as protesters clashed with authorities at several u.s. entry ports. >> we told you yesterday about a father pleading for his wife to come to the united states. ali hassan held an emotional press conference asking for the monthener of his dying 2-year-old son be allowed to go to california. a yemeni national was blocked by the trump administration's travel ban. after the family's story spread across the news in social media, the state department granted a waiver and they plan to be reunited this evening.

the father said in a statement, this will allow us to mourn with dignity. >> some great news there in very troubled time for them. let's turn it over to nbc meteorologist bill karins. he's following this storm that's last fogg lasting for days here. good morning. >> when we get to thursday and friday that's when we get to significant i am paktsz for the travel. 1 to 3 inches of rain everywhere east of the appalachians thursday and friday. the biggest impacts for airport, miami, tampa late in the day. charlotte, raleigh, a lot of hubs in the southeast. on friday, especially friday morning, philadelphia and new york city could get heavy rain, even thunderstorms. up toward bostonlate in the day through areas of the panhandle of florida.

of course, it's still pretty warm out there, but we'll take a look at the chances of a white christmas coming up. >> so there is a chance. >> a few. very few. >> okay. thanks, bill. we'll check back in with you later. you know how there are those emotional support animals around? popeyes has launched a comfort companion you can take on your flight without any restrictions. the emotional support chicken is a three-piece chicken tender combo meal served in a carry-on box in the shape of a chicken. for everyone else, the to go container is only available a limited time passing through terminal c in the philadelphia international support. the rest of us will have to struggle with the reality of not having that comfort. >> we saw that dog eyeing it down. we'll be right back. ... to be with family, or just to sleep in. strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection. in a key study neulasta reduced the risk of

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house director has died at the age of 75. her family says the cause was complications from diabetes. >> in los angeles, fans laid a wreath of flowers at marshall's star at the hollywood walk of fame. nbc's miguel almaguer looks back at her extraordinary life. >> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. ♪ we're gonna do it, give us any chance we'll take it ♪ ♪ >> reporter: penny marshall was known for years as laverne in the shut come of laverne and shirley that ran from 1976 to 1983. >> there it is, laverne. >> i think, um, it was a blue collar show. i mean, we were working class girls. we needed to make the rent, you know. it was like people now even, you know, they need to make money. >> reporter: born in the bronx

in 1942, penny marshall could identify with that. >> i had a good time as a kid. doing laverne and shirley, everything i could remember from my childhood, we put into that. >> reporter: her mother was a dance instructor, and in the '50s, penny performed on tv with the marshall ettes on programs such as the jackie glee son show. >> this is my sister ve are, na. >> reporter: family connections helped. penny with her real sister roni and brother writer director gary marshall got many of penny's acting jobs. also early in her career, she made a shampoo commercial with another aspiring actress, farrah fawcett. >> you know what i think? >> you think you look adorable. >> reporter: in the 1980s, she turned her attention to directing with hits such as "big" in 1988. ♪ >> let me see what happens, rosie. >> reporter: in a league of their own in 1992. >> there's no crying. there's no crying in baseball.

>> reporter: those two films grossed over $100 million apiece, a first for a female director. >> these old stereo types still exist, women don't know how to create a movie for a mass audience, they don't know how to do comedy for men. penny was able to show none of that really mattered. >> reporter: married and divorced twice, she is survived by her daughter tracy and remembered fondly in hollywood as an extremely funny and talent the woman. miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> penny marshall was 75 years old. >> wow, such a loss. and making us look up the meaning of flameel, flmazel. >> i was wondering what they said. >> still ahead, the rich est celebrities on the planet. we have that list. and the new white house reveal trump christmas card. i couldn't catch my breath. it was the last song of the night. it felt like my heart was skipping beats.

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even saturday night. how about that? what a treat for christmas. >> all right. melania trump took to twitter to debut the official 2018 christmas portrait. the first lady wished followers a merry christmas from the president and herself and shared a photo take not in the cross hall of the white house before heading to the congressional ball last saturday. noticeably absent from the photo are those red cone trees that received a whole lot of mixed reaction online. melania defended her design choices saying we are in the 21st century and everybody has different tastes. >> yeah, wonder why they didn't put it back there? stand behind it or in front of it i guess this this situation. i love to see him there standing, pointing, smiling. oh, man. all right, forbes has released its 2018 list of america's wealthiest celebrities. all right. here we go. "star wars" creator george lucas has topped the list with a net worth of $5.4 billion. he is followed by director steven spielberg at 3.7 billion, then oprah got in there with a 2.8.

michael jordan still making that money. 1.7. and 21-year-old entrepreneur kylie jenner, her and rapper jay z were tied for 5th with $900 million. a mere $900 million. rounding out, the 10, p. diddy combs, and jenner. kylie is the most impressive of all. >> i'm sure she'll keep making those lists and making the bucks like they're doing. >> for decades to come. >> living the life, they are. still ahead, the santa slayer gritty gets dirty. taking out several saint nicks right on the ice. you're watching "early today." g what is important. like baseball? like you! diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, johan came to st. jude children's research hospital. our discoveries have helped to increase the overall childhood cancer survival from 20% to 80%.

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a dramatic rescue caught on body cam. check it out. >> right here. pull him out. can you pull him out? >> due deputy detectives running to a flipped car that had been involved in a rollover crash. while bystanders watched, they pulled a man from the front seat. you see the flames raging around him. they pulled him out and extinguished the fire on his body with some watter from a nearby puddle. he was air lifted to a hospital in critical condition. none of the deputies were hurt. >> we are learning more about the chicago police officers killed monday night. officers conrad gary, were

struck by a train while pursuing a call of shots fired. it is possible noise from a northbound train drowned out the sound of the southbound train barrelling toward them from behind. >> because the train overhangs the tracks, repeat, this person is no safer here than the person in the middle of the tracks. >> the partners both young fathers with a collective four years on the force were honored with a massive procession tuesday morning. >> the clock is ticking for anyone with some christmas shopping left to do. today is the deadline to order those gifts through amazon for the big day. so, if you use a standard shipping, that is, prime members have until saturday to use that free two-day shipping. the u.s. postal service, fedex and ups also have the two-day and overnight serve stices available. >> this holiday season, the national average is 2.37 a gallon. that's 5 cents cheaper than a week ago and 26 cents less than a month ago. 28 states have at least one station with fuel for less than

$2 from a buck 65 in texas to $1.99 in georgia. it's a far cry from the highest ever national average, $4.11 a gallon ten years ago. gas prices have dropped amid a plunge and the price of oil, $76 a barrel all the way to $48. >> quite a difference there. santa's mail is piling up this time of year, especially at a st. louis post office where his helpers are sorting through thousands of letters. some of the messages are extremely touching. >> our dog karma died november 17 of this year. my dog casey is sad. she hasn't been acting like herself. so i want to get her something, so hopefully to cheer her up. if you can do this, thank you. and if you can't, that's okay. merry christmas. thank you again, santa. >> santa's post office elves are compiling a list to get the things he needs. some not so cheer on the

ice. the mascot got physical with santas knocking them down in the red wings game. he was in full santa gaush. must have been good luck. the fliers went on to win the ♪ this little home of mine, ♪ i'm gonna let it shine. ♪ it's energy saving time, ♪ i'm gonna reduce mine. ♪ californians all align ♪ to let our great state shine. ♪ let it shine, ♪ the power's ours to let it shine! ♪ illumination, the creators of despicable me... we're gonna steal christmas. max, you will guide my sleigh tonight. [ barking ] bring their unique vision to a beloved tale. i wanted to invite you to a christmas dinner. me?

uh, i wore a tie. merry christmas max. [ squeaking ] um, that's gonna get old. wednesday morning, already december 19th. taking a peek outside this morning, christmas in the park. not christmas just yet but festive out there. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm, go g i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. mike will have a look at the commute, should be light. >> we'll see. >> first, we'll talk about the weather. >> i think the fog may impact a lot of people headed out the door, this is in the tri valley looking at dublin 580. everything looks to be flowing well but you can see that visibility is low in spots and especially bad in napa, around that area, where visibility is cut down to half of a mile and it's going to be patchy onou