good morning. coming up on "early today," america's royal guests got a front row seat to the national protests surrounding the eric garner controversy, featuring his call for help, i can't breathe. breaking news overnight. secretary of defense chuck hagel makes a surprise visit to baghdad in the fight against isis terrorists. plus, america's embassies ash the world shore up security ahead of a senate intelligence report on the extreme nature of enhanced interrogation techniques. it is tuesday, december 9th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm dara brown. breaking news as a nor'easter is powering up. six states are bracing for impact. let's get right to it. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here. >> significant delays already

being reported. a lot of the major airports around philadelphia and new york city. nor'easter has four and it is bringing torrential rains to new york city right now. probably one of the worst morning commutes of the year around new york city. all rain too. not even snow or ice that we're dealing with. but there is snow and freezing rain that has broken out in interior sections of new england. as far as airport delays go, philadelphia, hour and a half, laguardia, hour and 40 in with 2 1/2 hour delays. this will continue right during the day because as the storm intensifies, the winds get stronger, there is more restriction on the flights that are landing in and the ones taking off. later this afternoon towards logan. now, once the second we get done with this nor'easter, all of our attention around the country is immediately going to focus on what they're thinking will be the strongest storms in years to hit central and northern california. we're looking at about three inches of rain with this, strong gusty winds, power outages, snow at the high elevations, so we're going to go from one coast to

the other quickly with two big storms. >> that's an amazing amount of rain coming our way. >> yes, california needs it. but this one will bring flooding. >> thank you, bill. >> breaking news overnight, defense secretary chuck hagel made a surprise visit to baghdad. the trip was kept a secret for security reasons. hagel met with u.s. troops. he will also sit down with iraqi leaders to discuss isis. the visit comes after a stop in kuwait on monday. this is expected to be hagel's last overseas trip as pentagon chief. right now, u.s. cembassies around the world are on alert, beefing up security ahead of the new release of a new report by the cia. it highlights enhanced interrogation technique used in the aftermath of 9/11 to get information and the center of a long-standing tug of war. one side says the release could mean danger, even death for americans abroad. the other believes the evidence could spell the end of violent torture as the means of interrogation. but chief of staff jeremy bash cited the pressure in the shadow

of 9/11 to prevent another attack. >> the trade towers were still in a smoldering ruin at ground zero when this program began. >> nbc's tracie potts is live in washington. good morning to you, tracie. >> reporter: dara, good morning. we're expecting to get that report to actually see it sometime by midafternoon. but the state department, the pentagon, they're already preparing their people abroad, telling when this report comes out to watch their back. u.s. embassies and 2,000 marines in the gulf and mediterranean are on alert this morning as the senate intelligence committee releases a report detailing interrogation techniques used after 9/11. waterboarding, sleep deprivation and more. against suspects like kalid sheikh muhammad. it compares internal cia memos to what the public was told and the congress. >> there is a big gap between the two.

>> reporter: critices say no one from the cia was interviewed, calling this reckless and irresponsible, putting american lives in danger. >> we know we have international leaders who said this will incite violence in their country, please don't do it. >> the attacks on 9/11 were evidence of the peril that a small group could cause from the far side of the globe. >> reporter: no mention of the report by secretary of state john kerry in this speech last night. but he did call committee chair dianne feinstein to discuss timing the state department says reportedly asking for a delay. >> no, not now. i will tomorrow. >> reporter: the report claims three cia officials lied to congress and that 20 of those interrogations produced nothing. but the cia may not take all of heat for this, because according to critics, members of congress knew what was going on and how they were doing those interrogations from the very beginning. dara? >> tracie potts in d.c., a very interesting day, tracie.

the investigation is under way after a small private jet fell out of the sky and crashed into a maryland home. the impact engulfed it in flames. authorities confirmed six people died, all three passengers in the plane, plus a mother and two young sons on the ground. police captain said the mother was found in a bathroom lying on top of her boys in an apparent attempt to shoot them from smoke and flames. her husband and daughter were not home at the time. a witness described the moment of impact. >> the wing went into the front of their house and blew the window out and i guess it hit this house and caught on fire. >> the plane was on its way to a nearby airport seconds before the crash other pilots reported many birds in the air. for the second time in as many weeks, new grand jury evidence in the michael brown case. among the evidence released by the st. louis prosecutor was this chill iing radio from poli. >> there's going to be a problem. >> is there any available

ferguson units who can respond to canfield and copper creek advise? >> we're going to need crowd control here. >> also released, the autopsy report prepared by the justice department's medical examiner. it found brown died from multiple gunshot wounds. the gunshot wound to the right hand reveals the presence of soot which shows that the firearm discharged as close range. the toxicology is positive for marijuana. as nbc news pointsous, the interview of the key witness in the case is missing from this document dump. meanwhile, support for both brown and eric garner continue to grow. in berkeley, california, the largest crowd yet, police went face to face with more than a thousand protesters. they blocked a major highway and staged die-ins. protesters also staged a die-in in the nation's capital. outside of last night's nba game at new york's barclay center. on the basketball court, lebron james was among several players wearing i can't breathe

t-shirts. adding to other athletes making similar demonstrations. and the brits are back. this morning, the royals will start to wrap up their u.s. visit. it has been memorable as british royalty met with american royalty monday. today, prince william and duchess kate visit the 9/11 memorial, tour a new york city youth organization, and attend a dinner at the metropolitan museum of art. nbc's chris pollone has more. >> reporter: the duke and duchess of cambridge start their final day with a solemn tribute, a visit to the 9/11 museum and memorial, a commemoration of all who died that terrible day including 70 britons among the victims. after monday, will and kate enjoyed a date night of sorts, taking in their first nba game while watching a wildlife conservation partnership with the league. not only was the league's king there, lebron james, but during a break in the action, the couple met american music royalty as jay-z and beyonce

crossed the court to say hello. protesters held a die-in during pregame warmups, lebron and other supporters wore t-shirts with garner's last words on them, i can't breathe. police kept the peaceful protest from entering the arena. it capped a busy day which saw william visit the president and vice president in washington. kate remained in new york visiting a harlem child development center. she wrapped presents and made crafts but some of the younger children thought she was a character from a hit disney movie. >> they think you're out of frozen. >> reporter: teens from a center called adore and city kids have been practicing for their visit from the royals. they'll share their stories later today. chris pollone, nbc news, new york. nbc's bill karins is back with more on a big storm headed for the western states. >> one of the elsa or anna from frozen, of course. big storm in the west, this

isn't a bad storm we're dealing with right here. this cold front has come through will stall out a little bit, bringing a big soaking rain to the northwest. lately at least with all of our storms it has been very warm, very reminiscent of what we get with el nino type winters. warm pacific air, snow levels very high with this storm system. they will be with the next one too. the next storm, here we have this one that we're dealing with here. that front shows how to linger and tidie. little punch of energy, strong jet stream that will interact with this and we'll get a new storm forming and that will slam right into northern california and that will bring all the problems wednesday night into thursday. today, showers and storms up in the northwest, but really tomorrow that we're going to see tomorrow night the worst of the weather in northern california and central california.

asteady soaking rain, one to two inches of rain expected to stay in the northwest. that's a look at one -- up to eight inches of rain is possible from the mountain ous areas in northern california. which would be one of the biggest rains we had in a long time. >> that's a nice, good morning. going to be a wet one. thank you very much, bill. just ahead, a rocket stunt you've got to see to believe. and president obama as stephen colbert. yes, this one is priceless. up next.

welcome back. the white house says president obama does not regret ordering a mission to try and rescue hostage luke somers. he died during a raid meant to free him. he was abducted over a year ago. comedy central's colbert report comes to an end next week and president obama stopped by for his third appearance. he came out saying, you've taken plenty of shots at my job, i'm

going to take a shot at yours. take a look. >> nation, as you know i, stephen colbert, have never cared for our president. the guy is so arrogant. i bet he talks about himself in the third person. well, first off, now that republicans control both the house and the senate, they could pass a bill repealing obama care. but the president still has the veto. and if i know that guy, he's willing to use it. a rocket club in michigan has fun with a recent launch. instead of a rocket, they launched a port-a-potty into the air. it flew for about 38 seconds and fell some 2,000 feet before landing. and just an fyi, the port-a-potty was clean and empty at the time. let's get down to business with isis's landon dowdy. good morning, landon.

>> good morning, dara. oil prices continue their free fall today to below $63 a barrel. it is weighing on wall street. the biggest dip in six weeks as energy stocks were slammed. oil picked up last month when opec decided not to cut production. amazon is testing one hour delivery in new york city. the wall street journal says the online retailer is using messengers to deliver items from the new space near the empire space building. they will be paid $15 an hour. hackers who struck sony pictures are blaming at tack on the studio's upcoming film the interview. it stars james franco and seth rogan as journalists hired to kill north korean leader kim jong-un. an e-mail says sony must stop showing the movie of terrorism. it is insane. the video 60 million people have now watched. plus, it is the worst putt ever.

we'll give him that one. seriously, how did he miss it? the story in sports when "early today" comes right back.

this morning on "today," angelina jolie's latest film "unbroken" is already getting oscar buzz. today she will open up about why the project is so important to her. she'll also be joined by some of the film's stars.

now the latest in sports from betty nguyen. good morning, betty. >> good morning, dara. it was a monday night thriller. packers/falcons. big first half from green bay who built a 24-point lead. the falcons fought back in the second. julio jones had a career best 259 yards receiving before leaving the game with a hip injury, but the packers managed to hold on for a 43-37 victory. the heisman trophy finalists are out. oregon quarterback marcus mariota, alabama receiver amari cooper and wisconsin running back, melvin gordon are the finalists. the winner will be selected on saturday. bengals head coach melvin lewis called browns quarterback johnny manziel a quote midget. it happened during a radio interview when he was asked about facing him at the starting position. >> you gotta go defend the offense, you don't defend the player, particularly a midget. >> oh, there you go.

>> well, lewis later apologized to manziel and browns fans saying, quote, it was just a remark, i really didn't mean anything by it. for the record, manziel is just under six feet tall. it was an emotional monday for wizard star john wall. before the game, he learned a 6-year-old cancer patient he befriended had died. during a post game interview wall broke down talking about young maya and her family. >> this game is for her. all my jersey, my shorts, i'm going to give it to her family. it's a tough day for me. i was really crushed today. >> it was tough. i'm talking to you before the game and you're never like this. she really touched your heart, didn't she? on a positive note, thunder start kevin durant did a good deed by giving a kid a pair of signed shoes before sunday night's game.

it just so happened last week the 13-year-old had his shoes stolen right off his feet while walking home from school. here is a passionate golfer. check out how this toddler reacts to missing a putt. most of us feel the same way inside, but we don't let it out that way, though many of us would love to. dara, back to you. >> i love the tantrum, thank you, betty. up next, it is not football or basketball. so why will millions of men be glued to their tv tonight. food alert, why thousands of chickens are being quarantined. this is "early today."

now for entertainment news, "star wars" creator george lucas is not among the 60 million people who have seen the new "star wars" trailer. he likes seeing movies in theaters as a whole. >> it ruins it. >> exactly. >> it is a bird, it is a plane, no, it is superman's grandfather. on the sci-fi channel, a new program is being developed and it is based on superman's family before he came to earth. and ken weatherwax has died. he had a heart attack at the age of 59. the only members of the original addams family tv show that are still alive are john asken and lisa lohring. and they were engaged four years ago, but now kate hudson

and matthew bellamy are not going to walk down the aisle. bellamy's rep claims the two have been separated for some time now. the two have a 3-year-old son together. and tonight, in primetime, little nostalgia and then serious sex appeal. i know where you're going to be. the 50th anniversary of the 1964 classic rudolph the red nosed reindeer. then you get the kiddies to bed and do that before the angels of victoria's secret from london come out for the fashion show. i think those numbers will be higher than football or basketball. for victoria's secret. >> i think rudolph beats them all. >> i'll watch rudolph. >> so will i. maybe after the fashion show. >> i'm dara brown. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc.

clemson fraternity suspended after christmas party backlash. most of the officers resigned after the off campus party where students dressed as gang members. an official said clemson is better than this. in the washington post, korean air executive goes nuts over service, delays plane. the woman seen here, the daughter of the company chairman, reportedly had a problem with the way she was served a package of macadamia nuts in first class. and it led to a 20 minute delay that involved a flight attendant being dismissed from the flight. the airline says the executive has stepped down from her position. and to some other stories we're following today, officials

in los angeles are investigating yesterday's massive apartment fire as a criminal act. while the fire department captain says the classification is typical for fires of this magnitude, he says it is very rare for an entire building to be engulfed at once. the flames could be seen for miles, immense heat melted freeway signs. in new york city, a jail guard is charged in the february death of a homeless ex-marine. the guard faces multiple counts including lying about checking in on the inmate during her rounds. the 56-year-old former vet died after temperatures in his cell reached 101 degrees. he had been placed in a unit for inmates with mental illness a week after being arrested on trespassing charges. officials in canada are trying to contain an outbreak of bird flu. some 80,000 birds have already been destroyed. the u.s. is among several countries to ban canadian poultry products. and some sad news to report this morning. ernest brace, the longest serving p.o.w. pilot has died.

he endured eight years in cages and prison camp and was at that prison camp where he met future senator john mccain. they communicated by tapping on walls in morse code. brace was 83. >> probably never, ever thought he was going to live as long as he did. >> i'm sure he didn't. >> what a great life he led well after his capture. >> amazing. 83. now time for a look ahead. president obama travels to nashville to visit an immigrant community center. he's expected to discuss his recent executive action that will provide temporary legal status and work permits to more than 5 million immigrants who are in this country illegally. happy birthday to donny osmond, 57. oscar winning actress dame judi dench turns 80. and legendary actor kirk douglas is 98 years young. 98 years young. that's a great one. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today." we hope you have a great day today.