good morning. i'm dara brown. coming up on "early today," protests in new york city and all over the country in response to a grand jury's decision not to indict an nypd officer, daniel pantaleo. the man whose choke hold was banned by the nypd and caused the death of 43-year-old eric garner. one giant leap any minute now. nasa will launch the first test flight of the groundbreaking orion mission. we begin with another grand jury decision not to indict a police officer. and it is resonating across the country. once again, president obama and his administration are looking into federal charges. the department of justice has opened a civil investigation

into eric garner's case. this morning's cover of "the new york daily news," we can't breathe, a chilling reference to eric garner's chilling words on that afternoon in new york. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. >> in new york city, protesters stood near feet away from police officers chanting and raising their hands. elsewhere throughout the city, others shouted. police are not above the law. at one point, protesters started knocking down police barriers just a block away from the annual tree lighting ceremony at rockefeller plaza. there were at least 30 arrests throughout the city. from philadelphia to washington, d.c., and in california, protesters fresh off demonstrations over the ferguson grand jury decision were out in full force. just moments after the grand jury's decision was announced, the police officer seen putting garner in an apparent choke hold released the following statement. officer daniel pantaleo says, quo, i became a police officer to help people and to protect

those who can't protect themselves. it is never my intention to harm anyone and i feel very bad about the death of mr. garner. my family and i include him and his family in our prayers and hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss. garner's wife says she does not accept the condolences. she and garner's mother spoke with reverend al sharpton on his msnbc show "politics nation." >> it just tore me up. i couldn't see how a grand jury could vote and say that there was no probable cause. what was it they were looking at? were they looking at the same video that the rest of the world was looking at? >> sharpton, who also has the national action network, is planning a march in washington a week from this saturday. the families of eric garner and michael brown will be at the march.

>> how many people have to die before people understand this is not an illusion, this is a reality that america has got to come to terms with. >> nbc's tracie potts is live in washington for us. good morning, tracie. what is the next step here with efforts to hold this officer accountable for garner's death? >> reporter: the next step is since they're not going to have a state trial for now, this is for the federal government to get involved, washington's already announced a federal investigation and the d.a. up in new york wants to get some of those grand jury transcripts released so people who are upset about this can see what it was that the grand jury used to make the decision. that phrase, black lives matter, is trending on twitter this morning after a night of protests that snarled traffic in new york and washington. there were protests down south and on the west coast. >> our history, sadly, requires

us to say that black lives matter. >> reporter: video of eric garner in a police choke hold shouting i can't breathe was not enough to indict. the coroner calls it a homicide complicated by health issues. the obama administration reacted quickly, ordering a federal civil rights investigation. >> this is not a new york issue, nor a ferguson issue alone. >> this isn't a black issue and it isn't a white issue. it isn't a latino issue. it is an american issue. >> when anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that's a problem. and it is my job as president to help solve it. >> reporter: in new york, garner's family called for peaceful protests. >> i'm determined to get justice for my husband. >> how could we put our trust in the justice system when they fail us like this? >> reporter: daniel pantaleo, the officer who was not indicted, said in a statement, it is never my intension to harm anyone.

and i feel very bad about the death of mr. garner. and we learned that the person leading the federal investigation will be loretta lynch, the u.s. attorney in new york, but also the president's nominee to take over the justice department, dara. >> tracie potts reporting live from d.c., thanks so much, tracie. new details in the case of a 12-year-old shot and killed by a police officer in cleveland. turns out the officer that shot tamir rice had previously been judged unfit for duty. newly released document describe tim lohmann as distracted and weepy during fire arms training. another officer said he could not follow simple directions. a funeral was held for rice on wednesday. he was carrying a toy pellet gun without identifying orange tip when he was shot. meanwhile, a toy gun buyback is being planned for later this month in cleveland. organizers hope the event will encourage kids to talk with parents about the dangers of guns, both real and fake. and there are more

accusations against comedian bill cosby this morning. >> justice demands accountability. and if mr. cosby is found liable, he should be held accountable. >> civil rights attorney gloria allred is now representing three more women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by cosby in the '70s and '80s. they're too late to sue and a lawyer has urged cosby to wave the statute of limitations to face them in court. in past few weeks, 20 other women accused the comedian of sexual assault. he has not been criminally charge and denied previous allegations throughout this ordeal. his attorney says there has been no comment on the latest claims. a new twist in the immigration showdown. 17 states are suing the u.s. and president obama, leaving the lawsuit texas. it claims the president's use of executive power crossed the line. >> the constitution prescribed immigration policy be fixed by

congress, not by presidential -- >> under the plan, 5 million people living illegally in the u.s. would be shielded. an execution is on hold. scott was supposed to die on wednesday at 6:00 p.m., but a court stopped it. he fatally shot his in-laws during his trial. he represented himself. he tried to subpoena jesus, the pope and jfk. in recent weeks, lawyers argued that he is mentally ill and should not be executed. last night, thousands descended on rockefeller plaza for the lighting of the world's most famous christmas tree. it was a dazzling display as the 45,000 l.e.d. lights on the rockefeller center tree flicked on illuminating the 85 foot spruce from pennsylvania. performing on the ice rink below, well, there was mariah carey, lady gaga, tony bennett, and many other stars. the tree will remain open to the

public until it is taken down on january 7th. after six straight days of rain, some parts of northern california are under water. in san francisco, all the rain is causing potholes and sinkholes to open up. at least one sinkhole was the size of a swimming pool. now for a look at the weather, here is meteorologist dominica davis. >> nasty weather out to the west and it continues. because we're still talking about the rain. so the parade of storms will last right into the weekend, unfortunately. doesn't look like we'll see in northern california real letup in this rain until late on friday. still have a ways it go. phoenix also getting in on it too. southern california, you will get a break today with rain coming back tomorrow, but it is really yuma, phoenix, tucson that will see the had heavy rain all through today. it does continue and the flooding will be a big major concern. you see the thursday forecast showing pretty much everybody looking at the rain or the snow

up to our north. except for southern california. they get a break. temperatures are mild, in the 50s, relatively speaking mild, but it is going to stay a very wet one. that's your national weather. now here's a closer lookday. boise coming in at 49 with rain. that's a look at your forecast. dara? >> thanks so much, dominica. still ahead, a twist in the case of 100 missing brains. plus, how the smash and grab robbers found themselves in a hairy situation. you're watching "early today."

other top stories, breaking overnight, an al qaeda group in yemen is threatening to kill

british born u.s. citizen luke somers in a newly released propaganda video. according to a company that monitors terrorist groups, the militants threaten to execute somers in three days if demands to the u.s. government are not met. in denver, a ferguson protest ended badly. four cops were hit by a car. one was critically hurt. the driver's medical condition may have caused the accident. the new york times, north korea has room for only one jong-un. imagine everyone in the u.s. with a first name barack being required to change their names. well, that's what is happening in north korea. anyone sharing a name with their leader now needs to choose a new one. in houston, an insane smash and grab. check out what was taken. human hair extensions, handfuls of them. they can cost a couple hundred bucks. from the l.a. times, case of 100 missing brains in texas takes an odd twist. it went missing from a university, but students didn't take them. neither did zombies.

blame bad book keeping. turns out the brains were destroyed in the '80s. now, it is time to get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. >> good morning, dara. ford is expanding a recall of vehicles with takata air bags at the request of safety regulators. ford will recall older models of the ranger pickup and gt sports car in states with high humidity conditions. takata says it doesn't know what is causing the air bags to explode in crashes. fast food workers on strike in new york and several other cities. they're calling for a minimum wage of $15 an hour. they'll be joined by baggage handlers and cleaning crews from new york's jfk and laguardia airports. more americans are falling behind on car payments and ex-peer yohn says the balance of loans 60 days overdue are 27%. it comes after a significant increase in lending to people with bad credit and limited means. back to you. >> thanks, landon.

sports is just ahead. and we are awaiting the blastoff of nasa's orion spacecraft on the first test flight around the earth. stay with us. disabled.

this morning on "today," what happened to shane montgomery? classmates hold a vigil for the pennsylvania student who's been missing for weeks. hear from his parents live on "today."

time for the latest in sports. the 76ers season long losing streak, it is now over. they were 0-17 and one loss away from tying the nba record for worst start. guard michael carter williams put up 20 points in their 85-77 victory over the timberwolves. it was a buzzer beater finish in milwaukee. mavericks monty ellis goes one on one and sinks a fadeaway jumper as the buzzer sounds to beat the bucks 107-105. a college hoop match-up of basketball heavweights. fourth ranked duke topped second ranked wisconsin. the blue devils shot 65% to beat wisconsin 80-70. and iowa upset 12th ranked north carolina 60-55 handing the tar heels their first home loss of the season. a utah student hit a lucky half-court shot. during a time-out at the wichita state versus utah game. he pockets 600 bucks. it's about that time of year when crazy fantasy football bets

are paid off. check this out. this man had to re-create the popular music video, "chandelier." leotard, dance moves and all all that's fun to watch. just ahead, why your flu shot might not work. you're watching "early today."

good morning, welcome back to "early today." i'm meteorologist dominica

davis. we're talking rain for the west coast. since sunday, san francisco picked up 4 1/2 inches of rain and we're still looking at those showers. light showers will be around san francisco today. the heavier rain will be concentrated to the north and we will see some winter weather in parts of washington and oregon, even into western montana. phoenix getting slammed by the rain as well. this is going to continue into friday. phoenix will get a break, but the rain will pick up in san francisco where we could see an additional inch of rain. that's the latest weather. back to you. >> thanks so much, dominica. in 25 or 50 or 100 years when the book on how humans got to mars is written, that's what is happening now. it might be chapter one. you're looking at a live picture of the orion rock net cape canaveral, florida, where it will go roaring into the atmosphere. the launch has been delayed twice this morning. but it could take place anytime between now and 9:44 eastern, 6:44 pacific time. the latest delay caused by heavy

wind gusts. the orion will travel 3600 miles into space, orbit the earth twice and come hurling back down at 20,000 miles an hour into 4,000 degree temperatures. it is all expected to last about 4 1/2 hours, while today's $370 million test launch is a giant leap, its long-term plan is much more significant. deep space. yes. this could be the kind of vessel that could one day take humans to mars. all of this is nasa's bid to get back into manned space travel. it has been three years since the final shuttle mission and since then the u.s. paid russia $71 million per ride to carry american astronauts into orbit. now, we take some breaking news here in the entertainment industry. the new james bond film will be called specter. andrew scott will join the film, famous for his role as moriarty in sherlock and christophe woltz

from "django unchained." congratulations are in order for jimmy fallon and his wife nancy. the couple welcomed their second daughter frances cole into the world wednesday morning weighing five pounds, one ounce. the "tonight show" alerted their fans through this tweet stating, due to unexpected but delightful circumstances there will not be new episodes tonight or thursday evening. an update on the hackers who hit sony studios earlier this week. after releasing five new movies the hackers have now released the salaries of james franco and seth rogin, the stars of the upcoming film, "the interview." the duo got paid 6.5 and 8.4 million respectively. "frozen" fans won't have to wait until the sequel to see the gang back on the big screen. there's a new short that will be premiere before the new live action film "cinderella." we love that "frozen" stuff. ed sheeran was the officially the most streamed artist in 2014. his songs were listened to over 860 million times collectively. but it was pharrell williams who took the most streamed song

individually of the year with his hit "happy." and after meryl streep's oven malfunctioned on thanksgiving, she had to borrow her neighbor's kitchen to finish the dinner. so who is her neighbor? gwyneth paltrow. so while paltrow wasn't there, the doorman of their building let the star in to finish that important meal. that's interesting. you're assuming meryl streep is cooking turkey and gwyneth paltrow doesn't eat turkey, she doesn't eat a bird. i wonder how she feels about the bird being in the oven. >> the smells would still be there. i'm still stuck on that seth rogan salary. >> i know. $8.4 million. >> he could buy everybody a new oven. >> true. i'm dara brown this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news from philly.com this morning, penn state asks jerry sandusky to remove his season tickets for 2015. penn state's administrative offices may want to update their automated mailing list. jerry sandusky is currently serving 30 to 60 years in state prison for 45 counts of child sex abuse has been invited to renew his season tickets for the 2015 season. in orange county register, santa at mission viejo mall rebuffs autistic girl over service dog. the 7-year-old was turned away because st. nick was apparently afraid of her pit bull. her family says it left her heart broken. santa was fired and the family was invited back for a special santa experience. some of the other stories

we're following. bad news if you have your flu shot this year. the cdc says the current flu vaccine may not be a good match for most common flu strain this season. so far the number of flu cases this year has been low. 2014 is on track to becoming the hottest year ever recorded. that's according to a new announcement of the united nations world meteorological organization. the experts cite a combination of record-breaking sea temperatures and high greenhouse gas emissions. houston texans wide receiver andre johnson traded his pads and gloves for smiles and hugs at a houston toy store. he treated 11 kids to an 80 second shopping spree to grab all they could for themselves and their siblings. i love this. when it was all said and done the bill came to more than $16,000. johnson said he's known tough times and he wanted to make a difference. >> i've been in the situation

where i, you know, really haven't gotten much for christmas. to have them go through the store and get what they wanted, you know, not to worry about that, they can get what they wanted. that is amazing. you know those children will never forget that experience. >> it is a small price to pay for the memory for those kids. >> it is. good thing the sports world is coming out and doing something really good. they need mentors and heroes to look up to. good stuff. and a merry christmas for them. i would be grabbing it too. now a time for a look ahead. the first family will take part in the 92nd annual national christmas tree lighting ceremony. tom hanks and rita wilson shall hosting the event. it will fee tear performances from neyo, patti labelle and several others. happy birthday to tyra banks. she's 41.

beyonce's hubby, jay z is 45. oscar winning actor jeff bridges is 65 years old.