A video of a 16-year-old boy and his classmates erupting in joy when they learn he was accepted to Harvard University is drawing millions of views online.

Ayrton Little posted the clip on Twitter Tuesday with a comment saying, "All the hard work was worth it." It has since been viewed more than 5 million times.

The video shows the Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, resident wearing a Harvard sweater and surrounded by classmates at TM Landry College Preparatory while he checks his admission status online.

In a flash, Little and his friends begin jumping around the room and cheering when they see the news.

Little will not be the only one in his family attending an Ivy League school in the fall. His older brother, Alex Little, learned last week that he has been accepted to Stanford University. Ayrton joined his brother in the same grade after skipping a year.

Little told The Boston Globe he always dreamed of attending the Ivy League school in Cambridge. He's received support from thousands online, including Brooklyn Nets guard and Harvard alumnus Jeremy Lin, and the prestigious school.

Those affected by cuts to the Medicare Savings (MSP) and Husky A Medicaid programs joined together on Thursday to demand the cuts be fully restored.

About 113,000 seniors and people with disabilities are expected to lose MSP coverage unless the legislature acts.

"This program is a lifeline for so many people across the state. It is a lifeline," Ann Pratt with CT Citizen Action Group said.

Organizers presented several revenue-raising options to make up the cost, including asking the state's highest earners to pay more.

"If we are to fix this budget without balancing it on the backs of people who are least able to handle it, we have to explore revenue options and revenue from people who are better able to afford it," Kathy Flaherty with Connecticut Legal Rights Project said.

"I'm pleased to announce that the Senate Democratic Caucus has submitted to the Secretary of the State's Office earlier this afternoon a petition with signatures of 17 members guaranteeing that we will come into special session to deal with the Medicare Savings Program before the end of the year," Senate President Martin Looney at the gathering said on Thursday.

Looney said they're going to have to be creative with how they find a solution and that raising rates on high earners hasn't yielded as much money as projected in years past. He said he believes they can come to a bipartisan solution.

Senate Republican President Len Fasano said that they'd put in their petition before Thursday.

"This is a truly bipartisan agreement to restore funding in full for the Medicare Savings Program that includes no tax increases and that cuts in other areas of government," Fasano wrote, in part, in a statement. 

All four caucuses have submitted signatures for the special session. The special session would need to take place between December 24 and 29. Realistically, it's likely to occur after Christmas.

A Long Island woman has been charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars to send to Islamic State fighters in Syria using Bitcoin.

But her lawyer says she was simply collecting money to help Syrian refugees.

Zoobi Shahnaz, 27, is accused of giving banks phony financial information so she could get credit cards and a loan totaling value at more than $85,000 before trying to send that money to ISIS overseas, according to a statement released Thursday by the U.S. Attorney's office in Central Islip.

Shahnaz, of Brentwood, had also done extensive internet research on moving to Syria to join ISIS, including "tips and reminders" on making the move, and had read articles on the "top female jihadis," prosecutors say. 

Shahnaz was charged in a grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday with bank fraud and money laundering to support a foreign terrorist organization. She appeared in court later that evening where she pleaded not guilty to the charges. Defence lawyer Steve Zissou said his client was not helping ISIS, but was instead collecting money for humanitarian means. 

The Pakistani-born woman worked as a lab technician at a hospital in Manhattan until June, prosecutors said.

In January of 2016, she traveled to Jordan to volunteer with the Syrian American Medical Society, and provided medical aid to Syrian refugees in Amman and in a refugee camp where ISIS exercises significant influence.

Between March and July, Shahnaz engaged in a scheme to defraud multiple financial institutions netting over $85,000, through fraudulently obtaining credit cards and a loan, prosecutors allege. From there, she used the funds to purchase $62,703.71 in Bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies that according to the court filings provided her an additional layer of privacy for her scheme to funnel money to the terror group. 

Shahnaz bought cryptocurrency with the credit cards, converting it to U.S. dollars and then transferring it into a bank account in her name, court filings said. She then allegedly transfer the laundered funds out of the country to support ISIS, prosecutors allege.

They say that on July 31 she then tried to fly out of John F. Kennedy International Airport to Pakistan and Istanbul -- a common point of entry for Westerners trying to reach ISIS in Syria. But law enforcement agents stopped her at the gate and arrested her, according to the filings.

Shahnaz was held without bail. 

Connecticut's child care subsidy program only recently reopened under the state's budget agreement but it is in jeopardy again. 

Care 4 Kids could close until 2019 as part of the governor's deficit mitigation plan to fill a gap in the state budget.

State officials warn this is just a proposal that may not go into effect, but if it does, the Office of Early Childhood (OCE) estimates it could potentially impact 9,058 children across 6,038 families, according to Chris McClure with the Office of Policy and Management (OPM).

New Haven mom, Maria Frazier, is one of the thousands of parents that takes advantage of Care 4 Kids.

"It does help a lot with my family, in a sense, because childcare is very expensive. I can tell you, it's thousands of dollars a month you have to spend in childcare," Frazier said. 

The single mother of three is frustrated to learn about Governor Dannel Malloy's proposal to close Care 4 Kids between 2018 and 2019 to new applicants.

Cutting the program will save almost $18 million in the fiscal year 2018 and $49 million in the fiscal year 2019, according to the budget line item in Malloy's deficient mitigation plan. 

Irene Johnson is another single motherlike Frazier who works multiple jobs to support her family.

"I'm up for redetermination in January. If I make too much income, I’ll be kicked out of Care 4 Kids because they change everything as far as income boundaries and application renewals and redetermination," Johnson said

Johnson told NBC Connecticut she's not sure how she will pay for childcare without the subsidy. 

"I try my best to keep my family afloat with Care 4 Kids because if Care 4 Kids is gone how are we going to pay for this childcare?" Johnson said. 

Both women have been sending their children to Babe's Day Care in New Haven for years.

Babe's owner, Queen Freelove, said if there's no funding to Care 4 Kids then parents like Johnson and Frazier have no reason to bring their children to her.

"Parents are going to have to stay home. They already have it hard, they can't afford childcare so if they can't afford to pay me, that means they're not going to bring the children and I'm going to be out of a job," Freelove said.

NBC Connecticut reached out to the governor about the childcare concern. 

"We did open the list and there have been placements made, but there's a limited amount of money to make those placements with," Malloy said. "And when that money- when those positions are filled, that money- there will be no additional money to take people into the program."

Ben Phillips is with the union that represents thousands of child care providers in Connecticut.

"It’s incredibly difficult for parents to find childcare. It's also damaging to the future of this state because having a good educational setting for these children is essential for school readiness," Phillips said.

"The governor and legislature have consistently supported strong investments in early childhood services because they know the critical importance of the early years. Care 4 Kids enables parents to work, provide for their children, and reduces demand on other safety net programs. With that said, the budget situation leaves both the governor and legislature with extremely difficult funding decisions," David Wilkinson, commissioner of the Office of Early Childhood said. "Reduction of care 4 kids funding is one such difficult decision the legislature must contemplate when considering how to mitigate the current deficit."

One person was transported to the hospital after a fire in the Broad Brook section of East Windsor, dispatch said.

Crews responded to a structure fire on Broadbrook Road in East Windsor after a heavy fire was reported on the second floor of a barn that was renovated into a residential dwelling. 

Dispatch said one person was located and brought to Hartford Hospital.

No other details were immediately available. 

Mystic Aquarium and the Department of Social Services are working together to make it possible for all families to enjoy the facility.

From now through December 2018, households part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will get complimentary admission to Mystic Aquarium and can take along four other guests for free. Any additional three guests can get in for $5 a person. All children in the party under the age of five will be admitted free of charge.

To get into the aquarium, SNAP recipients have to show their EBT card and a valid, matching ID.

Gov. Dannel Malloy called the new partnership a way to provide a fun, safe learning environment to families who might have otherwise been priced out of a visit during the announcement on Thursday. 

"A tremendous opportunity for these children to connect what they’re learning in the classroom to real-life experience," Malloy said.

More kids can learn why it’s important to care about the environment and protect the waterways, Malloy added.

State police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that happened on Chapman Street in New Britain on Thursday night.

New Britain police said around 6:43 p.m. they were attempting to stop a vehicle that is suspected to have been involved in a number of carjackings over the last two weeks.

While police tried to stop the vehicle and arrest the three occupants inside, they said, more than one New Britain officer discharged their guns.

One person died from his injuries, while the other two people are expected to recover, New Britain police said. 

There was at least one firearm seized. 

The investigation is being conducted by Connecticut State Police. 

An 84-year-old woman was hospitalized after a fire in Waterbury on Thursday night. 

The fire chief said the fire was reported at 7:40 p.m. at a three-family dwelling on Waterville Street.

The fire started on the third floor and the apartment occupants were not home at the time.

The second-floor occupant, an 84-year-old woman, was transported to a local hospital and is being held overnight. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation.  

Firefighters stepped up to help a family who lost all their Christmas presents after a fire ripped through their New London condo on Thursday afternoon.

Snow plowers who heard the alarm going off started banging on the door to make sure no one was inside and luckily, no one was. 

Sunday Martins Oderinde said he was heartbroken when he pulled up to his home.

"It’s really sad. It’s devastating. I have all my life there and the kids there," Oderinde said.

Fire Chief Henry Kydd said the kitchen in the College Park condo on Hawthorne Drive will need to be gutted and the upstairs had smoke damage.

"They had fire and smoke blowing out," Kydd said.

Inside the entryway, soot dripped down the wall but a Christmas tree was still standing. The presents underneath the tree, however, didn’t make it.

"Everything is gone. Everything. In the living room, in the garage- everything is gone. So, I don’t know," Oderinde said.

Oderinde and his wife have a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old.

What the family didn't know was that people who helped put out the fire weren’t going to let the kids go without a Christmas this year. 

New London police and fire unions hold a toy drive every year, but also have some resources to buy extra presents in a situation like this.

"There’s no good emergency. There’s only tragedies and we’re just trying to make things better and get them through these bad times," Lt. Rocco Basilica, president of the New London Firefighters Union, said.

Firefighter Joe Nott, who heads up the toy drive with his wife Officer Deana Nott, said they have already bought presents and will deliver them to the family Thursday evening.

Firefighters are still investigating what caused the fire. 

NBC Connecticut meteorologists said there has been a sudden change in the forecast for Friday afternoon into the evening. 

Drivers should expect a messy commute leaving work with snow beginning at 3 p.m. and going until around 10 p.m.

The snow is expected to be light and fluffy, however, residents should expect issues on the roadways and drive with caution. 

The state's shoreline will have the best chance for accumulating snow, up to 3 inches.

Computer models show a storm forming offshore moving dramatically farther north and west than previously expected.

Temperatures are expected to be in the upper 20s and lower 30s.

Ambulance use is dipping as Uber and other ride-hailing services continue to permeate an ever-growing swath of the United States, a study found.

The trend was examined in 766 cities in 43 states where Uber began service from 2013 to 2015, in a study co-authored by David Slusky, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Kansas, and Dr. Leon Moskatel, an internist at San Diego’s Scripps Mercy Hospital.

Despite using research methodologies to arrive at the “most conservative” numbers, Slusky and Moskatel found the entry of UberX into the market resulted in "at least" a 7 percent decline of ambulance volume.

“My guess is it will go up a little bit and stabilize at 10 to 15 percent as Uber continues to expand as an alternative for people,’’ Moskatel told the Mercury News.

A cost-benefit analysis may play into people’s decision to search for an Uber driver — often a cheaper option — instead of dialing 911, according to the researchers.

“Even as it provides a critical service in the emergency medical services (EMS) framework, modern ambulance transportation has grown ever costlier,” the researchers wrote. “Emergency medical transport in an ambulance can easily exceed over a thousand dollars, usually with great surprise to the patient — and with insurance often only partially covering the expense or outright refusing to pay for transport deemed not medically necessary.”

It’s also likely that patients assess their conditions and, determining how sick they feel, either call an ambulance or an Uber, according to the Mercury News.

However, Paul Kivela, an ER doctor at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, California and medical director of a Solano County ambulance company, said that move is a risky one.

“A paramedic has the training and the ability to deliver life-saving care en route,” Kivela told the newspaper. “What I really have a hard time believing is an Uber driver is going to attend to you.”

Uber did not participate in this study, and a company spokesman echoed Kivela’s point.

“We’re grateful our service has helped people get to where they’re going when they need it the most,” Uber spokesman Andrew Hasbun told the Mercury News. “However, it’s important to note that Uber is not a substitute for law enforcement or medical professionals. In the event of any medical emergency, we always encourage people to call 911.”

Riveting cellphone video catches frantic straphangers shouting down an approaching Q train so they could save a man passed out with his body strewn across a snowy train trestle in Brooklyn Thursday morning.

Video captured by Liliana Vicente as she was waiting for a train at the Avenue H station in Flatbush shows an unconscious man slumped over in the track bed.

"Sir?" Vicente asks.

The man doesn't move. The woman then runs down the tracks, asking others to "please, help to stop" the train.

Other straphangers start yelling "Stop!" with palpable panic in their voices at the train approaching the station. 

Vicente, meanwhile, presses the button on one of the station's emergency call boxes and goes back to trying to rouse the man. 

"Sir? Sir, please wake up," she says, becoming increasingly distressed. "Sir! Please wake up! Sir, wake up!"

Other straphangers, meanwhile, continue shouting "Stop!" at the train barreling in their direction.

Eventually, the train, still out of the frame, comes to a stop. Vicente says "at least she stopped."

Then, she sprints down the platform toward a service ladder. Without ever dropping her phone, she climbs down into the track bed and runs toward the man. By the time she reaches him, other straphangers have also pitched in trying to pull him to safety.

A man in a North Carolina Tar Heels sweatshirt can be seen grabbing the man by the waist and hoisting him back onto the platform. Vicente and at least one other commuter help him and then walk back toward the ladder.

"My God," she says. "Thank God the train has stopped."

A few minutes later, firefighters arrive on scene and the man has come to. It's not clear from the footage whether he has been injured in the fall or how he got there.

The man was taken to Kings County Hospital in serious condition.

Within a few seconds, the Q train that Vicente and others had tried so desperately to stop arrives at the platform — and in true New York fashion, the straphangers all get on and head their destination. 

"Thank God, he's better," Vicente says as they take their seats.

Other straphangers can be heard telling her, "You ran so fast!" The straphangers all then talk with one another about what had just happened before the car returned to its normal morning commute din. 

"He was very lucky," she tells other riders. "He was very lucky. It was a good thing it didn't happen worse."

Online retailers are bringing some much-needed relief for late shoppers: free shipping.

Friday is the 10th annual Free Shipping Day. More than 960 retailers, including Macy's, Nordstrom, Amazon, Kade Spade and ASOS, are offering the service with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. Many of the participating retailers are also offering additional deals and sales.

The complete list of all participating retailers can be viewed here.

Deals and guidelines vary from company to company, and free shipping is only guaranteed for items that are currently in stock and may exclude certain purchases.

FedEx and UPS are gearing up for last-minute cyber purchases and have advice for frantic consumers on their websites. FedEx encourages preparation and planning to ensure a stress-free delivery and even has a hotline for consumers to keep tabs on their packages. FedEx and UPS also have holiday calendars that explain the last days to order so the gifts arrive by Dec. 24. 

State police are investigating a fatal shooting in Sprague. 

State troopers responded to a home on Bay Street in Sprague at 11:55 p.m. Thursday to investigate a disturbance and found a male outside who had been shot. 

An ambulance transported the victim to Backus Hospital and he was later pronounced dead, according to state police. 

Detectives from Eastern District Major Crime responded to the scene and have taken over the investigation. 

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will investigate to determine exact cause and manner of death. 

Police said the shooting remains under investigation, but there is no threat to the public. 

Anyone with information should call detectives at 860-896-3230 or text TIP711 with any information to 274637.

A former "Today" show production assistant says she had a brief, consensual relationship with Matt Lauer nearly two decades ago, explaining she felt too intimidated by his stature to turn down his advances after reaching out to NBC's star anchor for career advice. 

Her account of a secret workplace affair when she was 24 years old and Lauer in his 40s is the latest accusation of sexual misconduct against Lauer, who was terminated from NBC News in November after a colleague's complaint of inappropriate sexual behavior. Other women have come forward with other alleged incidents of sexual misconduct. 

Addie Zinone said that Lauer flirted with her by instant message, asked her to lunch when she asked for career advice then invited her to his dressing room for a quick encounter, the first of several, including one at the 2000 Democratic National Convention — a relationship that began a few weeks before she was scheduled to leave the show.

She said in an account in Variety, which was corroborated with a friend she told at the time and records she kept of the instant messages, that, "even though my situation with Matt was consensual, I ultimately felt like a victim because of the power dynamic." She said she left her subsequent job as a local news anchor in part because she "didn't want to start my career being known one of Matt Lauer’s girls."

"I was in shock," Zinone told NBC News. "One day I'm just a normal, hardworking PA ... and now I'm walking in a cloud of confusion."

Zinone confirmed to NBC News the account she provided to Variety. NBC News also confirmed that she worked at "Today" during the time in question.

A representative for Lauer had no comment on Zinone's account. Lauer has previously said he is "embarrassed and ashamed" and sorry for what he did to hurt people, though he also said some of what he's been accused of is "untrue or mischaracterized."

The Variety report includes print-outs of messages sent between Lauer and Zinone, who arrived at "Today" as an intern in 1999 and said she was close with the other anchors, Katie Couric, Al Roker and Ann Curry. She said she got the following message from Lauer out of the blue, after she accepted a position as an anchor for her hometown station.

"hey … i hope you won't drag me to personnel for saying this. but you look fantastic. i don't know what you have done, or what is going on in your life … but it's agreeing with you. just thought i would mention it," Lauer purportedly wrote. 

He complimented her appearance in another message, then invited her to his room after their lunch, she said.

Zinone later left her job to become a journalist in the Army Reserve, then joined "Access Hollywood." She said that on a day when she was featured on the "Today" show for Veteran's Day years later, Lauer didn't come to work.

Her account of meeting with Lauer in his dressing room is consistent with what others told Variety, which previously reported that Lauer made use of a button under his desk that locked the door to give him privacy for such liaisons.

NBC News management declined to comment on Zinone's account to Variety. A representative has previously said that "current NBC News management was never made aware of any complaints about Matt Lauer's conduct" before hearing from the woman whose account on Nov. 27 resulted in Lauer's termination later that week. 

An attorney for that woman, whose identity NBC News has not reported, told Stephanie Gosk that the network has not done enough to protect the confidentiality of his client. He wrote in a Washington Post op-ed Friday that he's received many questions about her identity, but that she wants to maintain her privacy.

NBC News responded with this statement: "The network has protected the victim's anonymity all along and will continue to do so."

Wrangler, the Yellow Labrador who joined the "Today" show in 2016 to help educate the public on service dogs, is making a career change.  

The original "puppy with a purpose" has graduated from the Connecticut State Police canine training program and is now joining a K-9 unit focused on detecting explosives. 

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Wrangler has been assigned to the Mass Transit Unit with Trooper First Class Kevin Reed. The "Today" show reports that Wrangler will be patrolling trains and stations between New Haven, Connecticut, and New York City. 

Wrangler set out to raise awareness about the role of service animals and the training that goes into preparing them when he first joined the "Today" show in 2015. He worked as a guide dog for a year after graduating from training in March 2016. 

In July, Wrangler, along with seven other Labradors donated by Guiding Eyes for the Blind, joined the Connecticut State Police program, according to "Today."

"At Guiding Eyes, we always look to place dogs in the career that's right for them," Thomas Panek, President and CEO of Guiding Eyes told "Today."

Panek said detection work fits Wrangler's personality because he "always loved to sniff and follow his nose."   

An Illinois family is issuing a warning to other pet owners after their dog was attacked by a coyote in their backyard.

Surveillance video captured the moment a stray coyote charged at Boozer, the Dinges family's cairn terrier, just steps from their back door in Northfield.

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"My wife and I were actually on the phone and literally within seconds a coyote that had been in our backyard, but we hadn't seen, pounced on Boozer," Barnaby Dinges said in a phone interview.

Video shows the coyote clamping down on the dog's head and dragging it around the backyard. 

Dinges said his wife rushed outside and scared the coyote away.

The encounter lasted just seconds, but it was long enough for Boozer to suffer substantial injuries.

"He's got a major gash on his head that had to be stapled closed," Barnaby said, listing numerous other gruesome injuries.

Boozer has been a beloved member of Dinges family for 14 years — and they never thought this would happen.

"You look at that video and he is flat-footed in his backyard and minding his business and a very aggressive coyote came out of nowhere," Barnaby said.

After the attack, village officials warned residents in a Facebook post of the uptick in coyote sightings in the winter months and provided safety tips. 

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The Illinois Department of Natural Resources estimates there are more than 30,000 coyotes in the state.

"These coyotes are hungry, aggressive and they're looking for older animals that they can prey upon," Barnaby warned.

Dinges noted these coyotes are "hungry, aggressive' and looking for older animals to prey on. He is warning other families to be careful.

"These coyotes are getting more and more comfortable," Dinges added. "[They're] beautiful to look at, but can do tremendous damage in about five seconds."

The University of Illinois Extension recommends not leaving small pets unattended outdoors and installing tall fences in areas particularly prone to coyotes.

A coalition of Puerto Rican and Latino groups have told members of Congress that any tax increases on U.S. corporations operating on the island would devastate an already battered economy, NBC News reported.

The group #Power4PuertoRico went to the offices of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as well as the offices of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., as congressional negotiators hammered out a tax bill they hope to sign into law next week.

At issue are several tax proposals; the House proposal included a 20 percent excise tax on companies manufacturing under "foreign" jurisdictions. Puerto Rico was included in that definition, even though its citizens are American citizens. As a territory, Puerto Rico is taxed differently than states.

"If this becomes law," said Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) in a recent statement, "you can expect to see more than 200,000 manufacturing jobs disappear from the Island. And the government of Puerto Rico could lose one-third of its revenue." 

A personal care attendant is accused of stealing electric guitars worth $1,800 from a client in Southington. 

The victim went to police on Sept. 28 and reported that several items and case has been stolen from his home over the last month. 

He said he hired 54-year-old Barbara Jean Nolan, of Southington, as a personal care attendant and she was behaving suspiciously during the times of the alleged thefts. 

Police said Nolan is accused of stealing two electric guitars from the victim and selling them at a local music shop. 

They also said it appears that once she realized that police were investigating, Nolan went back to the music shop, bought the guitars and returned them to the victim. 

Police took Nolan into custody on Dec. 2. She was charged with larceny in the fourth degree and was released on a $5,000 non-surety bond. 

She is due back in court on Jan. 19, according to the online court docket. 

Crews responded to after a minor chemical spill at a New Haven lab that tests tissue. 

Fire officials said there was a minor spill in a lab at 55 Park St. Friday morning.

No one was injured, but one male employee and one female employee were exposed to the chemical. 

Crews from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection responded. 

The spill was confined to the lab and the sixth floor was evacuated.