breaking news this morning on "early today," a hostage situation is under way in sydney, australia, where a gunman is holding shoppers inside a cafe. one of the most lucrative movie franchises of all time has been compromised as part of a massive hacking of sony pictures. and has the cia been thrown under the bus by the recent torture report? it is monday, december 15th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm milissa rehberger. breaking news, terror in sydney. a gunman is holding hostages inside a cafe in australia, he's reportedly making demands through social media. so far five people have escape. the daring getaway played out earlier on tv. >> we're going to show the pictures, this is what happened roughly ten minutes ago from

now. i know we're talking about a situation still unfolding and we hope these people get out safe and well. >> minutes later, two women bolted from the building and ran straight to police. it began around 9:00 a.m. in a busy tourist spot. it is right by the financial and shopping district. inside cat fay is this chilling image, hostages have their hands up and a flag flag is shown with arabic writing on it. it is believed to say there is no god but allah and mohammed is the messenger of allah. officials are not ready to call this a terrorist strike yet. >> we still don't know what the motivation might be. police negotiators have had contact and they continue to have contact. and we will work through this as we do with our negotiators. it might take a bit of time, but we want to resolve this peacefully. >> and a mile away, another scare, the iconic sydney opera house was evacuated. there were reports of a suspicious package found nearby.

cnbc's matthew taylor is in sydney following developments for us. matthew, what is the latest? >> reporter: milissa, it has been 13 hours now since a gunman stormed the lindt cafe in downtown sydney. we know that five hostages have been able to make it out of that cafe as it is now very late at night in australia, authorities say their plan for the rest of the evening and into the next day is to try and get those hostages, the remaining hostages out of the lindt cafe as safely as possible. they have confirmed that no one has been injured, but remaining tight lipped on how many hostages remain in that cafe building. they have refused to say whether or not the five hostages that we have seen emerge from the building were released by the hostage takers or whether or not those people managed to escape on their own. we are continuing to get more information about what is going on inside. reports suggest that there may

be about 15 hostages alive in the cafe have now been switched off. negotiations are under way with the individual that remains in that cafe building. and authorities say that they know who he is, and he is known to police. this all coming at the same time as a number of hostages have reportedly been contacting media outlets in australia, domestic television and radio networks with demands from that hostage taker. he's been demanding an isil flag be delivered to the cafe and also asking for a phone call with the australian prime minister, tony abbott. this coming at the same time as he also revealed that there could potentially be two explosive devices inside the cafe and another two around the sydney central business district region. however, the commissioner of police here in the state of new south wales saying they are not concerned about other locations at this point, and that their

main priority and main focus is on securing the release of those hostages from that cafe site. they also say they're not going to be speculating on the motive behind this incident. that's the latest from sydney. back to you. >> and more breaking news right now, a completely different hostage situation. this one in brussels, belgium, where four armed hostage takers have holed up in an apartment. it is not clear how many hostages there are. at this point, police don't think it is terror related. instead they say they believe it is a personal matter. authorities set up a wide perimeter and cleared everyone away from the scene. we will pass along updates when we have them. breaking overnight, a manhunt is over in alabama. three escaped inmates are now back in jail. 23-year-old da marcus wood ward was caught. he with justin gordon and jameel cobert started yelling for help

at 2:00 a.m. on sunday and one of them began vomiting. a jailer opened the cell door and the men sprayed him in the face with lysol. they then overpowered the guard stealing his keys and cell phone. gordon was captured in a movie theater parking lot in the morning and cobert caught later in the afternoon. the real scope of the massive cyberattack on sony pictures is still unraveling. new this morning, the screenplay to one of the most anticipated movies of next year. and now the hackers are promising a, quote, christmas gift. joe fryer reports. >> reporter: james bond already has a new villain and his next film isn't even out yet. like the scene from the last bond movie sky fall, hackers have attacked. >> can someone tell me how he got into our system? >> reporter: an early version of the screenplay for the next 007 film spectre, still in production, was stolen by hackers. in a statement, ion productions says it is concerned that third parties who have received the stolen screenplay may seek to publish it or its contents.

after releasing more stolen files this weekend, the hackers say they're just getting started. >> promising a lot more to come in what they call the merry christmas bash that will have the most devastating consequences to sony. >> reporter: sony declined to comment on the latest revelations. >> by all indications, it is going to get a lot worse before it gets a lot better. >> reporter: in a tech website recode which partners with nbc news, says media were pointed to yet another batch of data posted on a file sharing website. >> by disclosing so much precise information about the studio and how it operates, it rips the veil off an industry that for years has worked through smoke and mirrors. >> reporter: in an often secretive industry, some say the ramifications could be felt for years. sony is planning a town hall meeting for employees. meanwhile, the hackers who call themselves guardians of peace, don't appear ready to take a holiday break. joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. former vice president dick cheney is calling the cia

torture report a, quote, crock, and is defending the agency. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington this morning. tracie, the former vp seems very confident this program actually protected americans, right? >> reporter: no doubt about it from his standpoint, milissa. he says there is no gray area here, this was authorized, it was legal, and, yes, it protected americans at a time after 9/11 when the country was vulnerable. >> i would do it again in a minute. >> reporter: former vice president dick cheney with the strongest defense so far of the cia's enhanced interrogation techniques. >> what they did to 3,000 americans on 9/11, that was brutal, bloody murder. it absolutely can't be compared with what we did. >> reporter: cheney claims that the justice department approved that what the u.s. learned did prevent attacks and help track down osama bin laden and that contrary to the senate report, president bush knew what was happening. >> he authorized it, he approved it. the statement by the senate democrats, partisan purposes, that the president didn't know

what was going on is just -- just a flat out lie. >> reporter: a former cia official explained why they needed more from al qaeda suspects like abu zubaydah. >> he had stopped talking and we knew that there were threats against us including a second wave of attacks and we needed to do something different. >> reporter: democrats behind the reporter now questioning the current cia director, john brennan. >> you're comfortable with him running the cia? >> not at this point. john brennan on thursday really opened the door to the possibility of torture being used again. >> it probably would be a good idea in the future to have leaders of the cia come from outside of the cia. >> reporter: on that unprecedented news conference job brennan said there were some agents that may have gone too far but refused to call it torture. it is another rainy week ahead for an already drenched

california. meteorologist bill karins has more on that. good morning. >> just what the doctor ordered, right? >> they needed it for so long. >> the rain is coming down this morning in the bay area. another one to two inches possible, especially at any elevation. just an active weather pattern this week. then it looks like christmas week will quiet down. so not going to continue forever here. one more week of this, and the steady rains now in california, even showers trying to work their way up through the pacific northwest here. as far as the heaviest rains go, again, the bay, southward, if you go throughout the morning, the san francisco area, you can see now it is down sweeping into the san jose, and streams right up interstate i-80 by sacramento too. a good soaking rain, some soil is a little loose and stuff. minor concern. and the winds will be 30 to 40 at most in the mountains. not like there is no impact from the storm system. most of them are just going to be new -- stuff you have to deal with as far as driving and maybe some airport delays. and that's probably about the worst of it. by this evening, breaks up a little bit more, showery type

weather, san luis obispo southward. then around 2:00, this will be coming in tuesday night into the bay and then sweep into the south. snow levels lower with this next one. two storms in two up the snow pack too so ski resorts won't be complaining before the holidays. two storms in two days and then another one towards the end of the week. >> we'll be watching that. thank you very much. bill cosby is breaking his silence and ripping the media. plus, the changing detroit skyline. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. across the country, a show of unity at sunday's services. african-american churches are supporting the families of eric

garner and michael brown. bishop td jakes told his dallas congregation this. >> at the end of the day, we do not want our children to be exempt from the or to be above the law. what we are saying is that we don't want them tried on the sidewalk. cosby is breaking his silence. at an interview with a washington informer, he said i only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism. he also said his wife camille is standing by him. more than 20 women accused cosby of sexual assault. cosby denied all the accusations

and has never been charged with a crime. in detroit, a 42-year-old building is brought down in just seconds. the vacant building is owned by a community college. but to make this implosion even more interesting, the school auctioned off the rights to push the button on ebay. the winning bid was $8,000. in cleveland, an odds defying baby, hazel grace, born at 10:11 a.m. on saturday, which was 12/13/14. so her birthday and time was 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. miss world 2014 is south africa. >> the 22-year-old beat 120 other contestants. her reign will last a year. during that time, she will help charity causes supported by the pageant. let's get down to business with cnbc's landon dowdy. good morning. >> good morning to you, milissa.

stock futures pointing higher after last week was the worst so far this year. the dow down more than 300 points on friday. attention will remain on falling oil prices and the fed meeting. the senate passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that cleared the house last week, meaning a government shutdown is unlikely but next heads to president obama's desk. the world's wealthy have a new collectible, passports. investors are shelling out top dollar for express citizenship around the globe. milissa, back to you. >> thank you, landon. the wedding proposal that forced a building to be evacuated. why michael jordan is a little jealous of kobe bryant today. you're watching "early today."

♪ one of my favorites coming up on "today." he's been making folks dance since the '70s and shows no signs of slowing down. barry manilow stops by to chat about his latest album, his new tour and, of course, his legendary career. now let's get down to the latest in sports. we begin with sunday night football here on nbc, division rivalry, cowboys and eagles. the visiting team strikes first and then two more times to go up 21-0. the eagles fight back to take the lead 24-21 late in the third. the cowboys pull this one out 38-27. the new england patriots clinch the sixth straight afc title as tom brady threw for two touchdown passes in an easy win over the dolphins, 41-13.

the afc west goes to denver. peyton manning battling the flu. surpassed the 4,000 yard mark for the 14th time in his career. and the broncos 22-10 win over san diego. and the colts take the afc south title with a 17-10 win over houston. it was johnny manziel's nfl debut visiting cincinnati dominating on both sides of the ball. the most recognizable face in hockey has the mumps. the penguins sidney crosby is the latest in a growing list of nhl players dealing with the outbreak of the virus. the golden state warriors win, stephan curry leads all scores with the overtime win over the pelicans, 128-122. and the lakers' kobe bryant surpassed michael jordan for third place on the nba's all time scoring list. bryant had 26 points as l.a. downed minnesota 194.

and at a father/son challenge in orlando, mark and shawn o'meara didn't win, but his son did manage to have the most memorable day. shawn shot on the fourth hole, 175, par 3, so perfect, hole in one that made his dad right there very, very proud. angelina jolie's bizarre youtube video, which she's confessing to the world, but is it true? this is "early today."

now for entertainment news at the box office. exodus gods and kings took the top spot earning $24.5 million. chris rock's top five took only $7 million. on "saturday night live," we got to see what would happen if the characters of the hobbit worked at the office. >> i didn't -- >> oh, hilarious. very funny. >> and look at this handsome 3-year-old, the official christmas photos of prince george released this week. >> rosy cheeks. is that natural? >> this is showcasing the newest heir to the british throne, of

course. look at him. on saturday, taylor swift turned a whopping 25. can you believe that? >> she's been around forever. >> the stars came out to celebrate. the guest list included beyonce, justin timberlake, selena gomez, and many, many more. angelina jolie will be not be at l.a. premiere of her own movie. why? she announced on friday she's been diagnosed with the chicken pox. >> great reason. and congratulations to the new bride, amal clooney who according to barbara walters is the most fascinating person of 2014. i'm milissa rehberger with bill karins. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc.

leading the news in the l.a. times, northern white rhino one of six in the world dies at san diego safari park. the rare rhino died on sunday, apparently just from old age. attempts to breed him with a female white rhino at the zoo were not successful. poaching has pushed the species to the brink of extinction. and from the business insider, this plane will be able to fly anywhere in the world in four hours. british firm reaction engine says its new engine technology will allow the plane to fly at mock five, five times the speed of sound. i know. crazy, right? it will also be able to fly in space. test flights are planned for -- >> i'll believe it when i see it. i don't know. other stories we're following, a hostage situation

in sydney, australia. a gunman is holding multiple hostages and has hung a black flag with islamic writing on it. so far, five hostages have made harrowing escapes from the cafe. the situation is still ongoing. police believe they know the identity of the gunman. local police believe this is that man, he was caught on camera walking by a glass door. talk about a proposal gone wrong, a couple was being low lowered into a garden for an elaborate proposal. the crane gave way and crashed into the roof below. when a second crane came in to clean up the mess, it drops the first one, causing even more damage. >> bad metaphor to go along with it. >> at least she said yes. and christmas celebrations were in full effect this weekend here at rockefeller center. hundreds of tuba players gathered to play in honor of the tuba teacher william j. bell born on christmas day in 1902. that's a lot of metal. in washington, d.c., the first family attended the 33rd

annual christmas in washington concert which benefits the children's national health system where they got to spend some time with former patients of that center. >> i'm going to offend every tuba player in the world today and just say -- >> that's very pretty. >> i think christmas, i don't think tubas. now a look ahead. security lapses by the secret service, expected to be released this week. lawmakers asked for an independent review after the white house breach, when a man hopped a fence and made it all the way into the first family's residence. this incident and others lead to resignation of the head of the secret service. happy birthday to oc actor adam brodie, now 35 years old. how did that happen? miami vice actor don johnson, one of my favorites, 65. and comedian legend tim conway is 81. i'm milissa rehberger.

thank you for watching "early today."