. picking news in america this morning -- extreme weather, and the relentless rain and wind pounding the west coast. houses crashing into the ocean. people evacuated overnight. a parking lot so flooded, kayakers making the best of a bad situation. tracking the storm. and stranded at the wrong airport after a 15-hour journey. what grounded the american airlines flight. new accuser. we have the exclusive interview. and the fascinating find just uncovered, buried by paul revere. good morning to you. we begin with that powerful storm battering the west coast

right now. >> overnight, more than a quarter million power outages reported. the huge, swirling system covering much of california. >> what's being called the worst storm in years hammering the coast all the way to washington. this morning, heavy winds and surf taking a toll. gusts reaching over 60 miles an hour across the puget sound overnight. a third house plunging into the pacific at washaway beach in washington. appliances now bobbing in the surf. >> it's gone. came faster than we thought. yeah, for sure. >> in southern california, people in glendora preparing and packing up with the city urging evacuations as the storm approaches. highways and neighborhoods flood the across the bay area, soaking homes and stranding drivers. one scrambling to safety, stranded in nearly four feet of

water. wind bringing down trees. >> that tree has been there for a few hundred years. >> and this one hitting a student in santa cruise. and kayakers paddling through a parking lot. a safeway parking lot. >> millions of people trying to seek shelter. first responders looking out for some other helpless residents. fire fighters came to the rescue of these little guys got a puppy, kitten. cats and dogs. had to save them from the flood waters as well. and check out the surf here. surf's up. this is in the sierra nevada. taking advantage of 7 foot waves on lake tahoe. the lake, usually calm, 6,000 feet above sea level. ju justin podic has the latest.

>> huge travel delays along the heavily traveled interstate 5 corrid corridor. san francisco to los angeles, flash flooding, and l.a.x., likely huge backups. heavy snows throughout the sierra nevada. and ebs banding through the desert southwest. and the northeast, still chilly. lighter winds and snows. back to you. >> justin, thank you so much. the other major story this morning, the members of the house putting differences aside and agreeing on a deal to keep the government running. >> work continues on capitol hill. susan saulny has the details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. how crucial was this action? the government would have run out of funds just hours ago. >> the motion is adopted. without objection, the motion reconsiders laid upon the table. >> reporter: and the government narrowly avoided another government shutdown.

>> thank you and merry christmas. >> reporter: hours before a midnight deadline, the house passed a $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government. it will keep them operating through next summer. but it was in doubt until the very last minutes. >> there's not one of you in this room that doesn't understand this is exactly the way i don't want to do business. >> reporter: there was something in the 1600-page bill for both republicans and democrats to dislike. >> if the president were writing this bill himself, it would look a lot different. >> reporter: lawmakers crammed in pet projects, chopping away at the national school lunch standards. and blocking washington, d.c.'s approval of using recreational marijuana, making major changes to campaign finance laws, and weakening some wall street regulations imposed after the economy's near-collapse in 2008. >> we all need to stand and

fight. >> reporter: in the end, democrats rallied enough to pass the bill, fearing a worse deal next year when republicans are in full control of congress. this is not over yet. it's off to be debated in the senate which could vote as early as this evening. >> thanks so much. the head of the cia is taking unprecedented steps to defend his agency from charges of torture. john brennan had a live televised news conference, the first ever by a cia chief. he said they were justified in the days after the 9/11 attacks. but he doesn't know if top agency officials were aware of them. >> i cannot say with certainty whether or not individuals acted with complete honesty. when i look at what went on at the time there are clearly the questions about why certain techniques were used. >> brennan admits the cia was

not prepared for handling detention and interrogation after 9/11. he tells abc news that some of the intelligence officers may have gone too far. >> passengers are finally at their destination after more than a day of travel. as the united flight was about to land in sydney, it was diverted. but the pilots had hit their flight time limit, so the passengers had to wait nine hours for a new crew. even worse, at first weren't allowed off the plane. another flight was in bris bane, and they have canceled two flights today. two workers died in a fire. the fire was confined to the engine room. all passengers were evacuated, but two other crew members were taken to the hospital. they are refunding passenger's money. and three dead after a

dallas skyscraper. they had been working on the heating and ventilation system of the 50-story building known as the thanksgiving tower. all 2800 office workers were evacuated safely. no word on the cause of the fire. and looking at a leak, and found a time capsule buried by our founding fathers. it was placed by then-governor sam adams and paul revere and filled with old coins and newspapers. now they will x-ray it and open it next week. >> can't wait. still ahead, where to find free doughnut on this friday morning. >> i'm listen. zblchlkts and the highway drama caught on camera. ending on a bridge. plus an unusual sight in the surf. how this truck ended up in the water.

attorneys near tampa are trying to collect a big reward from bank of america. they sued the bank after sufficienting years worth of robocalls about overdue mortgage payments. they received 700 calls all times of day even though they tried to get the loan modified. >> if i did that, i would be behind bars. >> reporter: bank of america missed the suit, and they are ordering them to pay a million dollars. that's $1500 per call. they are studying the verdict. iphone 6, paumt walmart may

be the place. they are selling the iphone 6 plus for $229. that's less than the original price and requires a two year contract. these deals are only available in the stores. milestone for taco bell, it's now sold more than 1 billion doorry tos locos thacos in the u.s. they are hinting at what's next. a soft shell taco made of free tos and corn chips. and kris pecream marking december 12th, the day of the dozen. you can get a free dozen glazed doughnuts with the purchase of another dozen. it's only good today, 12-12. get it? >> was that just a high calorie

block? >> a high calorie block. >> the tacos and the doughnuts. the accusers chorus growing louder. the super model claiming that bill cosby drugged her. and the lottery mixup that ended up with this 22-year-old winning a million dollars. i guess i never really gave much thought to the acidity in any foods. never thought about the coffee i was drinking having acids. it never dawned on me that it could hurt your teeth. my dentist has told me your enamel is wearing away, and that sounded really scary to me, and i was like well can you fix it, can you paint it back on, and he explained that it was not something that grows back, it's kind of a one-time shot and you have to care for it. he told me to use pronamel. it's gonna help protect the enamel in your teeth. it allows me to continue to drink my coffee and to eat healthier, and it was a real easy switch to make. [ male announcer ] with nearly 7 million investors... oh hey, neill, how are you? [ male announcer ] ...you'd expect us to have a highly skilled call center.

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cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® helps keep my skin clearer. ask your doctor about stelara®. a rare weather event has transformed the grand canyon, totally filling it up with a sea of fog. it's a thick blanket of clouds forced down by warm air. it's a total cloud inversion. ginger zee taught me that. only happens once every few years. in a few days it will all clear up. >> take that to the bank. morning road conditions, rain-soaked across southern california, spreading to the desert southwest, wet roads from

texas into oklahoma. icy spots in northern new england. and a couple weather-related airport delays in san francisco and los angeles. turn back to bill cosby, facing another allegation this morning. this latest accuser, an iconic super model. >> beverly johnson in an exclusive interview tells linsey davis why she decided to come forward. >> reporter: a fashion icon adds her voice to the chorus of women accusing bill cosby of drugging them. >> the drug was very powerful. i was woozy, my speech was slurred. i knew that i was in danger. >> reporter: much like cosby, beverly johnson has been viewed as a transformative figure. and comes forward with damning allegations. back in 1986, she says she was invited to rehearse at his home when he insisted on making his

special coffee. : the second sip i knew i had been drugged. and i had been drugged really good. at which time he placed his hands on my waist. he was getting angry. he was pissed. and he, you know, grabbed me by my arm and dragged me down the brownstone stairs. he threw me in the taxi. >> reporter: since last month, more than a dozen women have come forward claiming this were drugged, sexual assaulted, or raped by cosby. in most cases decades ago. cosby's lawyers dismissed the claims, saying they are coming out of the woodwork with unsubstantiated claims. >> the hacking scandal rocking sony pictures is raising questions about racism. there is a racially-charged exchange between scott rudin and

another mocking president obama and his likely taste in films. it's not over. those claiming to be the hackers say they will be releasing much more potentially damning information. and a dramatic police standoff on a freeway overpass. heavily-armed s.w.a.t. teams stormed a car driven by daniel perez. and they led his four young boys to safety. they found his wife's body in the trunk of another family car on wednesday. and free on bond after illegally living in a an expensive home. justin and jenna, squatters in a mansion near jacksonville. it was foreclosed in 2011. and when it was sold to another couple, they tried to show they owned the place with fake documents. they arrested the couple. and a dramatic rescue off

the florida coastline. a city worker drove his truck into the gulf after suffering some kind of medical episode. he blacked out. two strangers saved him. witnesses were amazed no one was hurt. an incredible scene from a soccer match in peru. the player involved survived and is recovering. again, that soccer playing recovering. after that happened, he felt dead and couldn't feel his legs. and now he says he feels born again. it's kind of hard to see. look that the again. unbelievable. now sports, a couple games indoors in the u.s. >> we get the highlights from espn. hey, people watching the news program. i know everyone is buzzing from

the incarnate word upset of nebraska. let's get to the people paid for the services. >> the rams and the cardinals. kenny, thank you for that introduction. second quarter, tied at three. drew stanton who suffered a knee injury, will have an mri on friday. additional information. it's 12-6, third and three. >> where's the pride? >> this is it, kenny. fourth and three right here. powers. knocks it down. the cardinals win 12-6. >> terrible score. lebron james out with a sore left knee as the cavs are going to play the thunder, formerly the seattle super sonics. the guy from starbucks sold it to the people in oklahoma and they stole the team. that's pretty much how it went down. kyrie irving, a good player. appeared to injure his knee.

he got better. thunder up four, durant's call, thunder wins. thunder is singular. >> i don't know how that works? >> i'm positive. william sapphire ruled ton. all right. >> i'm still stuck in the soccer shot of the guy struck by lightning. >> it was frightening video. but he's okay after being struck by lightning. make that clear. "the pulse" coming up next. the power couple in hollywood left off the golden globes nominee list. and a confused toddler and his twin sisters. oh, it's going viral.

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golden globes red carpet could brangelina-free. >> they failed to make the cut. no nominations for furry or unbroken. and jennifer aniston got a role for her role in "cake." >> why thau that in? >> this have to mention that. >> if they attend as presenters, we will see them. >> and a missouri man is a millionaire by mistake. tyler was selling lottery tickets at a desk, and ran off one for the monopoly millionaires drawing. that's not what the customer wanted. >> rather than go through paper work to correct the mistake, he decided to pay the dollar himself and he won. he plans to use the money for nursing classes and plans to buy a hot rod. >> good cause. trying to explain the

difference between a baby doll and an actual baby is tough enough. imagine if a toddler saw identical twins. figure that out? >> this is landon getting his look at twin sisters. it's mind blowing. no matter how many times he swings his head, can't clear the double vision. >> the adults are just laughing out loud at the kid. that's great video. >> pretty good. it's 12-12-14, it's national ugly christmas sweater day. >> we dug up pictures from awkward family photos.com. this is a christmas bear theme. >> girls in red, boys in black. not sure about the design or the colors. >> those aren't -- well, they are kind of bad. another couple here, got the dog involved. the pooch in the picture, red sweeter on, everybody. >> for some of you, your local

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what investigators say play a role in this crash. a man wanted for sex attacks on local college students has been nabbed by police. we've development a run of cold, gray, analysty weather, but accuweather says today we'll see positive changes. weather, traffic and "action news" are up next. and finally from us, the late night comics pulling no punches with this week's royal visit. >> here now are your "friday funnies." >> prince william and his lovely

bride lady key key wiggles worth. they plan to stay out of the spotlight, so he's going to a jets game. >> they're in new york for the first time, and already they've accidently hailed dozens of cabs. very sorry. no, very sorry. it was an accident. >> tonight we'll be taking a loog at the pros and cons of william and kate visiting new york city. pro, seeing the naked cowboy in times square, con, it's prince harry. he likes to have a good time. >> meeting with president obama. the meeting took place at the white house because prince william wanted to see where obama spent his days, but the golf course was covered in snow. >> the royal couple went to the nets game in brooklyn. as soon as they showed up, lebron james went nuts. he took over. to make it clear who the real

king is. they're like, i have no idea what just happened. but cheerio. all right. >> can you believe that? the royal couple -- the royal couple went to a basketball game with kate middleton and prince william. >> they went to a nets game where they met jay z. yeah. jay z. and this is what happened. jay z ignored etiquette rules and put his hand on prince william's arm. yes. long story short, we are now at war with britain. now jay z has 99 problems and a prince is one. >> okay. >> oh, that was pretty good. >> too many rules. >> you have your rules. you don't like me to cross this part of the anchor desk. >> break it every day. >> stay with us for

>> good morning we're following a developing story on this friday december 12. >> police are investigating what led up to a fiery crash overnight night that left a driver dead. >> a man alleged to have attacked a college student may be linked to more assaults. >> storm tracker 6 live is clear, we may see the sun today. >> reporter: say what? >> good morning, it's 4:30, matt is off, nydia han is joining us, david murphy it would be nice to see some