good morning, everybody. right now on "early today," the highest profile cosby accuser to date, supermodel beverly johnson tells her story. cia director grilled over torture report. >> in many respects, the program was unchartered territory for the cia and we were not prepared. the agency failed to establish quickly the operational guidelines needed to govern the entire efforts. we fell short when it came to holding some officers accountable for their mistakes. mother nature taking a toll with heavy snow in the northeast and the pineapple express in the west. it is friday, december 12th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning, everybody. thank you for joining us on this friday. i'm betty nguyen. another woman has come forward to accuse bill cosby of drugging her. this time it is history-making supermodel beverly johnson. nbc's kate snow reports. >> reporter: beverly johnson was a groundbreaking figure, a supermodel in the 1970s, now joining more than two dozen women who publicly accused bill cosby. >> she was a supermodel, the first black woman to appear on the cover of vogue. she does not have anything to gain by coming out and making an accusation and, in fact, she probably has a lot to lose. >> reporter: johnson said she thought she was auditioning for a part on the cosby show when she went to his brownstone in the mid-'80s. she claims cosby insisted she drink a cappuccino. i knew by the second sip of the drink cosby had given me that i had had been drugged and drugged good. johnson said she thought cosby expected her to bend to his will, but she fought back. he yanked her down the stairs, she says, and shoved her into a cab. an attorney for cosby had no

comment on the latest allegations. johnson said when she heard other women come forward, she still struggled with whether to tell her story. a voice in my head kept whispering, black men have enough enemies out there already, they certainly don't need someone like you, an african-american with a familiar face and famous name fanning the flames. she said she thought of trayvon martin, michael brown and eric garner. >> we're living in an era where those young men were seen as thugs. she wanted to combat the kind of skepticism about black males identity on the one hand while holding the horrible secret in another. >> reporter: johnson writes, i reached the conclusion that the current attack on african-american men has absolutely nothing to do at all with bill cosby. he brought this on himself. her story comes one day after a defamation lawsuit against cosby. his attorney responded to that suit saying we are very confident we will prevail in this proceeding. but the court of public opinion is already judging him. kate snow, nbc news, new york. and shortly after the vanity

fair article was published, johnson thanked her fans on twitter and said, let's make this a platform for other people who have been abused to step forward and be heard. cosby has denied previous accusations and has never been charged with a crime. we have more reaction to the scathing torture report in a very rare move the cia director goes front and center to face the media and defend the agency for 45 minutes. here is nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: the cia is fighting back, going public in an unprecedented live press conference from the agency's secretive headquarters in langly, virginia. cia director john brennan invoking 9/11. >> this agency did a lot of things right during this difficult time to keep this country strong and secure. >> reporter: while acknowledging some of the tactics since abandoned were abhorrent, he challenged the report's conclusion that harsh interrogations did not help find osama bin laden. >> do you think the bin laden case can be attributed in some

part to enhanced interrogation techniques or torture? >> the detainees who were subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques provided information that was useful and was used in the ultimate operation to go against bin laden. >> reporter: brennan says it is impossible to know whether the cia could have gotten key intelligence without the harsh techniques. >> it is an unknowable fact. >> reporter: senator dianne feinstein, live tweeted in part, study shows it is knowable. cia had info before torture, #readthereport. while president obama calls what happened torture -- >> and as i've said before, it constituted torture in my mind. >> reporter: -- his cia director would only call the brutality eits, shorthand for enhanced interrogation techniques. water boarding, near drowning, slamming people against the wall. >> we are not contemplating at all getting back into the

detention program, using any of the eits. >> reporter: morale is a problem here after the report. the cia director acknowledged concern and dismay among the workforce, but says they remain focused on their mission. obama is standing solidly by his cia director, one of his closest advisers. >> the president wakes up every morning pleased to know that john brennan and the men and women of cia are hard at work. >> and that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. the sony hackers are at it again, silencing stars on the big screen. it was an interview free premiere for the interview in hollywood. seth rogan and james franco were there, but tv and print reporters were not invited. at sony pictures, more damage control, specifically the racially tinged leaked e-mail as reported by buzzfeed. it was between co-chairman amy pascual and producer scott rudin. in it, speculation about president obama's taste in movies. both now apologizing.

a powerful storm called the pineapple express hit california with heavy rain and hurricane force winds. it is one of the strongest storms to hit california in years. in the san francisco area, alone, hundreds of thousands of people lost power. many were still without power late thursday. the flooding was so bad in santa rosa, that this resident took to kayaking down the road. that's one way to do it. south of that, in santa cruz, two kids were hurt when an 80 foot tree fell on to a playground. none of the injuries was serious. 140-mile-per-hour winds caused big waves at lake tahoe in nevada. look at this, high winds damage homes but it did not stop the surfers. some of the waves were six to seven feet high. i'm not used to seeing surfers in lake tahoe, are you? >> never. that's pretty remarkable. the winds that are needed to be able to do that are incredible. that's what we had with this storm. this storm lived up to what we feared. the power outages from the downed trees.

our other fear was mud and debris flows. up to this point, haven't heard of many. that has changed. let me tell you where we are now. so far, we got two to three to four inches, five inches of rain in many different areas throughout the region. the rain shifted, out of the san francisco area, it is bound through santa barbara. oxnard pretty hard. l.a. is getting very heavy rain. it is this area right up in here, just to ventura county, 40 miles outside of l.a., we had very heavy rain overnight. there was a fire that took place in this region about a year ago. and there has been a mud and debris flow. this picture sent out from the national weather service there in los angeles. you can see all of the bolders and mud, debris, about halfway up this house. and there are reports they're trying to get to some of the people trapped in those houses and those areas. hopefully they evacuated in time. there were voluntary evacuations for obvious reasons. we wish those people the best.

we're still watching that line of storms moving through. yes, so, again, looks like we did have a pretty destructive mudslide move into a development. we'll find out more pictures when the sun comes up. >> all right. thank you for that. this morning, all eyes on capitol hill, the trillion dollar budget now moves to the senate. nbc's tracie potts has more from washington. >> reporter: half of congress left washington overnight after a nasty budget fight. >> this is exactly the way i don't want to do business. >> on this vote, the ayes are 219. the nays are 206. >> reporter: the house is done, until next year. lawmakers left with no spending plan for the country. it is up to the senate now. they could vote as early as today. >> this is a bill we should vote for! this bill needs to pass! >> reporter: but the $1.1 trillion budget almost didn't get this far. most republicans like it.

>> first of all, it continues to prioritize the right type of budgeting and reduce spending. >> reporter: but some democrats are angry because the plan allows wealthy campaign donors to give ten times more. >> seriously? >> reporter: and it brings back wall street bailouts. >> what in the world are my republican colleagues thinking. >> if you think the american public is going to stand for a bailout of the biggest banks in america one more time, you're wrong. >> reporter: the white house chief of staff came to capitol hill himself to get democrats on one page. it didn't work. >> i'm a no vote. >> here we are in the house, being blackmailed. >> reporter: in the end -- >> the house stands adjourned. >> reporter: -- they barely moved forward a budget plan that no one here seems quite satisfied with. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. headlines that caught our attention this morning. obama library semifinalists submit final proposals. the proposals come from the university of hawaii and three

others all with ties to president obama. next up, happy holidays from the bidens. the vice president and his family rafting. and inside the card it says, listen up, america, hold on tight, we have had a bumpy ride, but i've got this. another holiday card idea. a gun range in georgia features a santa who is packing heat. gun lovers of all ages had the option of choosing the kind of firearm santa poses with. and in time, all dogs do go to heaven. according to pope francis, the pope had just comforted a young boy who lost his dog when he said, quote, parabadise is openo all of god's creatures. you're watching "early today."

in the news this morning, it is a bold move that could open the door for legal pot sales in every single state. the justice department is now allowing native american tribes to grow and sell pot on reservations, even in states where it is illegal to do so. all 326 federally recognized

reservations who want to get in on the action will still have to meet ail government regulations. all eyes on capitol hill tomorrow as protesters continue over the michael hill -- not michael hill, michaeric garner e families of brown, garner and others killed by police will lead the demonstrations. on thursday, this powerful scene. look at this. a group of predominantly black congressional staffer and lawmakers staged a walkout over the grand jury decisions. a federal judge ordered police in st. louis and surrounding areas to give protesters a, quote, reasonable amount of time before using tear gas. time for us to get down to business with landon dowdy. good morning. >> good morning. millennials might save christmas according to bank rate.com. young people aged 18 to 29 are twice as likely as their older counterparts to spend more this holiday season than last year.

and get them while they're hot, krispy kreme customers can get a dozen doughnuts for free today only on 12/12. go to the day of the doughnut.com, shprescript print coupon or show it to them on their mobile device. the state produces 95% of avocados. betty, back to you. >> that business report made me hungry. just ahead, the grand canyon vanishes. you have to see this. a soccer shocker. a player hit by lightning during a match. sports is next.

no, no, no, no. straight line. hustle back. >> this morning on "today," a single mom with five kids, two jobs and a gig as football coach gets a surprise from her hero. hear her story coming up on "today." right now, sports action. thursday night football, cardinals dream season unravels. arizona loses their second starting quarterback drew stanton, going down on a sack in the third quarter. he was carted off with a right knee injury. chandler kicked four field goals, enough to put the cards over the rams 12-6. oregon's marcus mariota was the big winner at last night's college football awards show. the heisman finalist took home the national quarterback award,

the award for nation's most outstanding player and player of the year. mariota is the first player from oregon to win each of the three awards. it is a miracle this peruvian soccer player survived getting struck by lightning during a match. did you see that smoke? so the match came to a halt when joel contreras was struck on a pitch. he said the lightning bolt grazed his face, went through his chest and stomach and exploded on his right ankle. right ankle. doctors feared the worst for the 21-year-old defender. luckily he's in stable condition. ugly christmas sweaters are back, but now you can sport some of your favorite players on those sweaters created by the cleveland based company fresh brewed teas. they're the only ones selling official nfl licensed ugly christmas sweatshirts and you

can get one for about 50 bucks. in a promo to raise awareness for toys for tots, shaq showed off his holiday easy bake oven skills, sort of. >> you want to take four pieces of white bread, right here, one, two -- oh, didn't miss it like a free throw. christmas time, i'll add a little bit of christmas music. ♪ ♪ i'm leaving today >> should be done. she fell to the bottom. >> that's why we don't call him chef shaq. this fish has a mission to keep americans safe. we'll tell you all about that. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. continuing to track that line of very heavy storms through downtown los angeles this morninging. it is now headed through much of the downtown area, now heading out towards the east side of town, up toward riverside here shortly. very heavy rain embedded be with that area of rain. as far as the winds, we have high wind warnings. those are starting to come down a little bit. winds not as strong as they were with the storm. for today, showers and stuff, all the way back up the coast. not until saturday we start to clear things out. >> all right. it is going to be clearing out soon. thank you. >> eventually, yes. now for entertainment news at the box office, exodus god

and kings is expected to take the top spot earning $26 million. chris rock's top five is expected to pull in close to $7 million. so the largest elvis exhibit europe has ever seen opens in london today. with over 300 displays it chronicles the singer's life. before europeans brag about this, don't forget, america still has grace land. >> they can borrow them for a little bit. the asian-american political group 18 million rising wants the assault charges to remain on his record. the group claims the attack was racially motivated. see what wahlberg has to say this morning on the "today" show. rock band queen is at it again. they have released new album, they did that yesterday, it features previously unheard material. they also announced that they are going to go on tour with adam lambert. >> good job. and congratulations in order for actress keira knightley, star of the upcoming film "the invitation game." he had is expecting her first

child with her husband james riten. and twitter is still calculating this year's list, but the social media site has announced the most mentioned christmas movies from 2013. macaulay culkin's home alone takes the number one spot. love actually is followed by -- follows that, and bing crosby's white christmas, polar express after that, and then at the number five spot, here's what's the big surprise, it is diehard. i would have never thought, bill, that diehard is a christmas movie. >> it was. it was based on a christmas office work party. that's the excuse for watching it. >> it qualifies. >> what is your favorite? >> it's a wonderful life. yours? >> a christmas story. someone told me it is pay-per-view this year. >> really? >> yeah. >> may want to pull out the vhs tape. i'm betty nguyen. this is "early today." we hope it is just your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in the associated press, u.s. co-opted cuba's hip-hop scene to spark change. according to the ap, a u.s. agency tried for two years to infiltrate the cuban hip-hop scene. it was in an attempt to unseat the country's communist government. the idea was to use music as a way to create a group of young people looking for change. the operation was unsuccessful. time magazine, a rare weather phenomenon is causing a sea of clouds to fill the grand canyon. you have to look at this. instead of the usual stunning views of the grand canyon, visitors on thursday saw this, which i think is pretty stunning in and of itself. it is a rare weather pattern called total cloud inversion. that is absolutely beautiful. some other stories we're

following for you today, an amber alert, the search ended with a dramatic police standoff on a overpass in san diego. deputies say daniel perez got out of his vehicle, he appeared to have considered tossing one of his sons off the bridge. he was then shot with a beanbag. police were able to get all four boys to safety. but their mother was found dead in a trunk of a car, not far from the family home on wednesday. in massachusetts, crews removed a time capsule from the state house building. historians believe it was originally there by such figure -- put there by such figures as paul revere and samuel adams in 1795. the time capsule will be x-rayed and opened next week. i cannot wait to see what's in that. and navy engineers developed a robot fish. the five foot, 100 pound robot is part of a project called silent nemo. looks real. the fish could one day be used to monitor enemy ships and patrol harbors. this sunday marks two years

since the mass shooting at sandy hook elementary school in new town, connecticut. the shooting led to increased attention to mental health issues. according to new reports, that attention has slowed. this year, seven states reduced funding from mental health services. and this 103-year-old says the secret to feeling young is making others happy. on december 9th, 1911, before the "titanic" took its maiden voyage, pearl was born. 103 later, the world changed around her, but she volunteers at the salvation army. and this year pearl is only asking for one thing, and you saw it right there, a chance to sit on santa's lap. but you can't know without asking santa for something, right? >> she's in her 80s. >> she looks really -- 103. the proof of that, the key, being nice. stay here for more news,

weather and sports.

>> hey, good morning to you, sam and laura. everybody at