some other little sweetheart side measures. now senator elizabeth warren is leading a revolt to vote it down when the deadline is tonight. california bracing for its most powerful storm in years. it's expected to be so strong that schools in the san francisco area, already canceling classes for the first time since 9/11. this is "way too early." hey, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is thursday, december the 11th. welcome to "way too early," the show that warns you there are only two weeks left. that's it, 14 days until christmas. who's done their christmas shopping? >> i've done half. >> joey's done some. zero, franklin's done zero, rob's done zero, mike all done? all by amazon? nobody, nothing. hey, all right. stockings full of coal. >> i need a new walker by the

way. >> bill karins, secret santa just given away. great to have you with us this morning. a lot to get to. we want to start off the top of the show with the weather and that super soak over the west coast. that is our top story this morning. according to the national weather service, it's going to be the strongest storm to hit california since '09. flood watches, high-wind warnings and blizzard warnings in effect for parts of the west coast. msnbc meteorologist bill karins, a nor'easter on the east coast, this storm system out west. >> the one out west is dangerous in the fact that we could have falling trees, a lot of power outages to deal with. the one in the northeast is more an inconvenience dealing with slippery roads this morning. mother nature is now putting on her show. again, this is typical of maybe what you'd expect in a california winter. you get these big storms like this. but it's been so dry for so long we haven't had many of these storms. that's why you're hearing the biggest storm in six years! it's not because this storm is

so crazy big but we haven't had many storms. so it's good that we're having them. when we get storms like this in the mountainous terrain in california, we're going to get debris flows, we're going to get mudslides, we're going to get flooding on the rivers, they're going to deal with high winds. especially at the higher elevations. and that's why we're going to deal with the power outages. that's a good reason why a lot of the kids don't have school today. they don't want people out there when the repair crews have to make repairs. the rainfall amounts could be very impressive. from ft. bragg to redding should be the highest totals, 4 to 8 inches of rain. san francisco, oakland, sacramento could pick up 2 to 3 inches. later on tonight, the cold front sweeps down through southern california. even santa barbara to los angeles will get a little taste of it with 1 to 2 inches of rain. you know what that does to even the traffic and commuting all the way down through southern california. so the winds, they haven't really moved in yet. so far gusts 40 miles per hour. we haven't seen any damaging winds yet. those are going to start to pick up during the daylight hours

today, especially around san francisco, right around the lunch hour, then as we go through southern california a little later on this evening. wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour in the mountains. that's why we're going to have the issues out there. so it's a very impressive storm. as we've said, it's the biggest one in six years. but you kind of have the caveat there haven't been many storms the last six years. >> as a guy that lived in l.a. for three years, drivers get a little panicky. >> 2 inches of rain is a lot of rain for l.a. >> it is and people are not used to that. especially going up to the north there. a lot to watch. bill, thank you. time running out for lawmakers to avoid another government shutdown. a top democrat is urging her party to revolt against the must-pass legislation. the house is expected to vote on a $1 trillion spending plan with hours to go before today's deadline. it will provide funding for federal agencies through september. the omni bus includes a 1% raise for federal workers and military service members. the irs budget will be cut by

more than $345 million. there's a significant increase in how much wealthy donors can give to national parties. some of the financial reforms under the dodd frank bill will be reversed. that led democratic senator elizabeth warren to spearhead a push for the house democrats to vote against this bill. >> the house of representatives is about to show us the worst of government for the rich and powerful. we put this rule in place because people of all political persuasions were disgusted at the idea of future bailouts. and now, no debate, no discussion. republicans in the house of representatives are threatening to shut down the government if they don't get a chance to repeal it. that raises a simple question. why? the reason, unfortunately, is simple. it's about money. and it's about power. >> well, some republicans not happy that the proposal does not

attempt to defund president obama's executive action on immigration. i want to bring you to the latest on the fallout from the senate intelligence committee's scathing report on cia interrogation methods following the 9/11 attacks. outgoing democratic senator mark udall delivering a passionate speech on the senate floor for nearly 50 minutes. most likely one of his last. calling for cia director john brennan to resign. he also criticized the white house for not holding anyone accountable and revealed details of a classified cia report from 2009. >> cia personnel tortured detainees to confirm they didn't have intelligence. not because they thought they did. director brennan and the cia today are continuing to willfully provide inaccurate information and misrepresent the efficacy of torture. the cia has lied to its overseers in the public, destroyed and tried to hold back evidence, spied on the senate, made false charges against our

staff, and lied about torture and the results of torture. and no one has been held to account. the president needs to purge his administration of high-level officials who are instrumental to the development and running of this program. he needs to force a cultural change at the cia. >> the white house is standing by brennan calling the cia chief a "decorated professional and a patriot." brennan will make his first public comments about the senate report in an appearance at agency headquarters today. former vice president dick cheney, who says he has not yet read the report, is speaking out strongly rejecting its findings. >> i think it's a terrible piece of work, basically. it seems to me it's deeply flawed, they didn't both tore interview key people involved in the program. and i think that it's sort of a classy example which you see too often in washington where a group of politicians get together and sort of throw the professionals under the bus.

>> cheney denied former president george w. bush was kept in the dark about the program and he referenced the case of the alleged master mind of the 9/11 attacks while defending the enhanced interrogation techniques. >> he is in our possession, we know he's the architect, and what are we supposed to, do kiss him on both cheeks and say please, please, tell us what you know? of course not. we did exactly what needed to be done in order to catch those who were guilty on 9/11 and to prevent a further attack and we were successful on body parts. >> this report says it was not successful. >> the report's full of crap, excuse me. i said hooey yesterday and let me use the real word. >> so it's not even january and yet the jocking for 2016 is under way. rick perry is trying to do the hardest thing in politics," to make a second impression. after a somewhat embarrassing turn in i 212 the texas governor has not shied away from expressing interest in another run at the white house. msnbc's casey hunt spoke to governor perry about what that run could look like.

>> if you do run in 2016, do you think you would have any margin for error? >> i think everybody has some margin for error. i've probably got less than other folks but that's okay. >> can you convince your supporters that you have what it takes to run? >> i think you're looking seeing that. when you look at the people pouring in to sit down with us, to talk with us, the policy individuals that have said, we want to help you become even better prepared as we go forward, is already the answer to that. a new poll of florida voters shows that perry still has a long way to go if he wants to make that run at success. perry doesn't make the list of candidates in a recent poll which had former florida governor jeb bush pulling in 34% of support. mitt romney and senator marco rubio came in second and third. on the democratic side more of the same. hillary clinton is the favorite to win her party's nomination. things get more interesting when we take a look at the

head-to-head matchups. jeb bush is the only republican to pull ahead of chin ton in this poll. even if it is within the poll's margin of error. clinton would easily beat the rest of the gop field, according to them. the city of detroit has officially emerged from bankruptcy and this ends the end of the largest municipal chapter 9 case in the nation's history and elective officials have gained control of their own budget for the first time since 5013. mayor dugan warns while the federal process may be over there's a long road ahead. >> we still have enormous challenges delivering services in the city every day. but at least now we are no longer a city that's in bankruptcy. so we're going to start fresh tomorrow and we're going to do the best we can to deliver the kind of services the people in this city deserve. >> good news for a great american town. we're going to talk to former emergency manager of detroit kevyn orr coming up.

we're watching where the falling oil prices continue to try to level off and how that affects the rest of the markets. the dow dropped 268 points on wednesday. this being one of the worst one-day losses in two months. cnbc joins from us london. can the markets shake off this oil funk? close to the 18,000 mark potentially to close out the year, this seems like the work got a lot harder. >> yeah, this is interesting. we had news overnight from the saudi oil minister that really they're going to let this run a little further. so it seems unlikely that we will see the oil price declines stop. the markets are having to adjust to this and we're seeing the oil stocks sell off and that's the reason we're getting this pull-back in the broader indices. because the oil stocks are such an important part of those indices. but you have to take the positive with the negative here. the gas price is getting cheaper

at the pumps which is a good news story when it comes to discretionary spend because gas is a tax on the consumer. that's starting to show up now in good retail share prices. you're getting technology higher, health care higher. other sectors are actually doing okay here. i think as the markets adjust to these lower energy prices, we'll probably start to see traders think, actually, this is not such a bad news story for the rest of the economy. i don't think your 18,000 is out of reaching distance yet for the end of the year. hold your gups on that one. we'll wait and watch. but it is still possible santa has not been canceled for this end of year rally. i want to move you on, another fascinating story. we had a federal appeals court, a 28-page decision, i hope you'll be reading through it in detail. effectively it's about a couple of hedge fund traders who have been told that perhaps they should not have faced insider

trading charges. what's interesting about this, we've seen the government go after insider traders. 85 people pulled up on this latest probe to bring wall street to book here. this latest decision from the federal appeals court suggests it may get harder in future for the government to impose a broad measure of what constitutes insider trading here. so a couple of gentlemen look like they're going to get off. but there is a bigger issue here for how insider trading is understood on wall street. back to you. >> raising the benchmark of proof here. thank you, sir. one of bill cosby's accusers is suing the comic for def nation. tamara green who says cosby assaulted her in the early '70s filed a federal lawsuit alleging cosby's public denials of the attack have unfairly represented her as a liar. she's being represented by the attorney phone for representing

paula jones against then president bill clinton. bill cosby has never been charged of a crime and has denied'ses in the the past. still ahead on "way too early," money talks and the pitcher walks. how much catch it took for the lefty jon lester to ditch his red sox for the cubs. can you guess which one of these acts just broke the record for the most cash earned by one musician in a year? here's a hint for you this person hasn't released a new album in over a decade. so that gives you a good indication of who it is. former chairman of the nasdaq exchange, a pillar of the charity fund-raising community here in new york, and in florida an investment guru to some of new york and south florida's wealthiest people.

tonight, as much as $50 billion is gone, vanished. there are allegations that this long-running business was, in fact, a giant ponzi scheme. nineteen years ago, we thought, "wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad?" so we gave people the power of the review. and now angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. you can easily buy and schedule services from top-rated providers. conveniently stay up to date on progress. and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects

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because boiling an egg... isn't as simple as just boiling an egg. life takes energy. energy lives here. welcome back. it's time for sports. we begin with a mega deal in mlb. lefty free agent pitcher jon lester signed with the chicago cubs for a reported -- cha-ching -- six year, $155 million deal. whoa. this contract includes a $30 million signing bonus and a no-trade clause. the benefits of being left-handed, bill karins. >> baseball's not struggling. >> no. lester's decision to go to chicago instead of returning to boston apparently comes down to the money. the red sox initially offered a deal worth $70 million over four years, bumped up to $135 million over six years. lester's deal with the cubs gives him the second-highest

average annual value for a pitcher behind the dodgers' clayton kershaw. however it is the highest for a free agent pitch over a multi-year contract. you can expect to see max scherzer added to the list before the start of next season. also a free agent. >> it's more than $1 million a win, turns out. >> scherzer is rumored to be seeking a deal worth $200 million. are you all right? >> i'm okay. i anticipated this. >> he's all-knowing. >> all right. being left-handed is a good thing. >> yes. look at you. >> look at me, i know. that's what i got when i signed on to "way too early," $30 million. not. after months of negative headlines for the nfl, owners have approved a new proposal conduct policy -- personal conduct policy. among changes taking immediate effect, the revised policy dictates any player charged with a violent crime will be sidelined and placed ed oon pa leave. the league will investigate new

independent investigations. commissioner goodell who maintains ultimate authority on ruling and appeals announced this new policy yesterday. >> these high standards will be upheld through a rigorous process, one that is clear, formal, consistent, and transparent. it includes a new process for league investigations. the addition of an advisory group of experts. and a new disciplinary officer. being part of the nfl is a privilege. it is not a right. the measures adopted today uphold that principle. >> interesting. switch gears to the nba. wizards and magic tied at 89 with less than 1 second to play. >> -- will make that entry pass tough. >> lob inside. caught, score, dagger! wizards win it at the buzzer! >> at the buzzer, look at that washington's bradley beal

catches the inbound pass scoring the tiebreaker at the horn. the wizards win this 91-89. pretty good. in atlanta, the hawks notch their eighth straight victory hosting the lowly sixers last night. that's atlanta's longest winning streak in 17 years. the final score in this one 95-79. in oakland warriors win their 14th in a row behind clay thompson and steph curry. they improve to 13-2 after beating the rockets 105-93 last night. steve kerr becomes the first rookie coach in nba history to win 19 of his first 21 games. that's impressive. >> they're an amazing story. if they were on the east coast, those games are way too late for us. >> way too late. you're way too late. we need early bird games. let's talk about the weather. folks on the west coast -- >> starting with temperatures. it's colder this morning in the northeast in new england than it was the last couple of mornings. the roads aren't just wet, now there's a little coating of ice on them. the untreated roads, especially bridges. we're at 32 in new york city.

in the city itself. the suburbs are below freezing. the same for much of connecticut. this pesky f y nor'easter is st sitting there. there's a lot of snow showers putting down just a little coating of sugar out there in the hudson valley and also connecticut and northern portions of new jersey. so this will slowly end during the day today, thomas. but it's slippery. it's going to be a little treacherous for some people. >> okay, bill, thank you. much appreciated. on "morning joe," senator dick durbin is here to respond to the report on the agency's use of enhanced interrogation. but first the big takeaways for the s.a.g. award nominations and the the big hollywood movie premiere set for tonight that the media is not invited to attend. that's really odd for a picture that you want fans to come out and see. why don't they want people there? we'll explain.

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we're going to bring you up -- >> you're doing good. >> oh. i almost -- almost, that was good. now to other headlines this morning. there's going to be no press whatsoever at the red carpet premiere of "the interview." the comedy about north korea that is believed to have provoked the sony pictures data

breach. sony said wednesday no broadcast media will be invited to cover the film's premiere in los angeles, no print reporters will be granted interviews. this is all because new details are emerging from documents released as a result of the breach. more e-mails from top-level sony execs are reportedly revealing embarrassing details about specific movie deals and salaries. and in one exchange between sony co-chair amy pascal and hollywood producer scott rudin, rudin refers to angelina jolie as "minimally talented spoiled brat." awards season in full swing with announcers for the s.a.g. awards. "birdman," "modern family" in front with four nominations. "birdman" michael keaton for best actor, edward norton and emma stone for supporting royals. best category including "boyhood," "the grand budapest hotel," "the imitation great many and the theory of everything. the big bang theory, brooklyn

99, modern family, orange is the new black, and veep. on drama, boardwalk empire, downton abby, homeland, and house of cards. kate beck sthe s.a.g. awards ar good indication for how the rest of the award season goes for kicking things off so we'll see. "forbes" has revealed its list of the highest-paid musicians of 2014 and dr. dre took home $620 million this year before taxes which not only makes him the world's top-earning musician of 2014 but also marks the biggest single-year salary of any musician ever. beyonce second place by more than 500 million bucks. not bad work if you can get it, right, folks? that's going to do it for "way too early." stick with us, "morning joe" is moments away. i make a lot of purchases for my business.

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♪ the house is about to vote on a budget deal, a deal negotiated behind closed doors that slips in a provision that would let derivatives traders on wall street gamble with taxpayer money and get bailed out by the government when their risky bets threaten to blow up our financial system. these are the same banks that nearly broke the economy in 2008 and destroyed millions of jobs. >> it appears someone has an issue with the republican spending bill. good morning, everyone. it is thursday, december 11th. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set, we have mike barnicle and thomas roberts, senior editor of the news website courts, gideon litchfield. and in washington, washington anchor for "bbc world news america," katty kay. catty, good morning. good to have you. let's get to that, actually.