Is nbc nightly news with brian williams. Good evening. Im Natalie Morales in for brian. Hell be back on monday. There are a lot of fastmoving developments tonight concerning the massive cyber attack on sony pictures. President obama had tough words for sony after making the decision to pull the film the interview, its Big Christmas release, caving to hackers demands. Sonys a corporation. It suffered significant damage. There were threats against its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, i think they made a mistake. The president saying the attack caused a lot of damage. This as we learned today from the fbi it now knows north korea did it, calling it a gamechanger. So what now . How will the u. S. Respond . We have two reports and we begin with nbcs justice correspondent, pete williams, in washington. Pete, good evening. Reporter natalie, president obamas surprisingly forceful comments followed a Public Statement from the fbi concluding that north korea was behind the sony hacking, based on digital fingerprints and a strong resemblance to past north korean attacks. Mr. Obama says by agreeing to pull his comedy, the interview, sony caved to a dictatorship. If somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a sit satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they dont like, or news reports that they dont like. Reporter he says he would have told sony executives not to be intimidated by a criminal attack. Im sympathetic that sony as a private company was worried about liabilities and this and that and the other. I wish theyd spoken to me first. Reporter the fbi says the north korean government is responsible and offers three reasons why. The actual lines of computer code in the Malware Program that started the sony intrusion are similar to north korean malware used in the past. That program communicated with computers associated with known north korean infrastructure, and the attack was similar to one carried out by north korea last year on banks and media in south korea. While theres a strong statement by the fbi of north korean responsibility for this attack, theres still some ambiguity here on whether they did it on their own or merely whether they merely directed it. Reporter tonight Law EnforcementOfficials Say theyre still nailing down the exact mechanics and cannot rule out outside help, though one thing seems certain. Weve got no indication that north korea was acting in conjunction with another country. Reporter now what to do in return. The president says the u. S. Will act but wont say how. They caused a lot of damage. And we will respond. We will respond proportionately. And well respond in a place and time and manner that we choose. Reporter experts on north korea say the u. S. Must be careful not to make things worse. You have to worry about escalating it up. And because theyre not the most stable country in the world, the last thing you want is something that would create a second korean war. Reporter president obama says people should not change their behavior based on a hackers threat any more than boston would cancel its marathon because of the possibility that somebody might try to cause harm. Natalie . Pete williams in washington for us tonight, thank you. In hollywood meantime sony is doing damage control responding to the president , the companys ceo saying it did not give in. Nbcs Hallie Jackson reports. Hello, north korea reporter even after the sony comedy turned serious enough to earn a response from the president , the studios ceo tells cnn in an interview airing tonight, he would make the movie again. We have not caved. We have not given in. We have persevered. And we have not backed down. Reporter but sony will not release the interview next week as originally planned after most National Theater chains refuse to screen it. We had no alternative but to not proceed with the Theatrical Release on the 25th of december. Reporter a decision cyber attackers now call very wise. A source close to sony says in a new message to studio executives, hackers promised to ensure security for your data, unless you make additional trouble. Demanding the movie never be released. So far trailers are still up on the films facebook and twitter pages. But many in hollywood want more. There ought to be some plans made to get this movie out there so that we can say to ourselves as a nation and to anyone else out there who wants to threaten us with bodily harm, we are not going to be silenced. Reporter George Clooney is fighting for the movies release lashing out at the rest of the industry for not backing sony in a petition he circulated. Nobody stood up. Nobody took that stand, clooney says. Adding, this could happen to an electric company, a car company, a newsroom. It could happen to anybody. The debate over selfcensorship and selfexpression stretching beyond hollywood. Its hard to say hollywood needs to be the people standing up for free speech because at the end of the day they are a capitalist business. They are in the business of making movies people want to see and selling tickets to them. Reporter sony says in a statement it hopes anyone who wants to see the movie will have the opportunity to do so. The studio is looking at ways to release the film on different platforms, natalie, but right now its not clear what that platform may be. Well stay tuned. Hallie jackson in los angeles for us. Thank you. In addition to the attack on sony, president obama addressed some other major issues during his News Conference today. This is likely the last time you will see the president answering reporters questions this year. Our Chris Jansing is at the white house for us tonight. Chris, good evening. Reporter good evening, natalie. This was president obamas last chance this year to make the case that in spite of crises from ukraine to isis to ebola and a sweeping victory for republicans in the midterm elections, america is making progress. And whats getting a lot of attention on social media . For the First Time Ever the questions all came from women. Hello, everybody. Reporter at his final press conference for the year it was a feisty president obama strongly defending his record. More jobs. More people insured. A growing economy. Shrinking deficits. Reporter the president rejected critics who say he shouldnt open relations with cuba, even while acknowledging the castro regime represses its people. What i know deep in my bones is that if youve done the same thing for 50 years and nothings changed, we should try Something Different if you want a different outcome. Reporter obama says change will take time. And theres no facetoface diplomacy on the schedule. Were not at a stage here where me visiting cuba or president castro coming to the United States is in the cards. Reporter the dramatic is just the latest in a series of pointedly aggressive decisions, pushing the limits on executive authority on immigration, climate change, and internet regulations, defying newly empowered republicans. And today he made it clear thats not going to change. Ive never been persuaded by this argument that if it werent for the executive actions they would have been more productive. Theres no evidence of that. Reporter his continuing actions raise serious questions about how hell work with the new Congress Since republicans have promised to fight key pieces of his agenda, including immigration and obamacare. But the president intends to redefine what it means to be a lame duck. Weve set the stage for this american moment. And im going to spend every minute of my last two years making sure that we seize it. Reporter the president s new years priorities include action on tax reform and infrastructure. Also action to improve relations between police and minority communities. First though hell rest up. The first family is headed to hawaii for the holidays tonight. Natalie . All right. Chris jansing at the white house for us. Thank you, chris. Late word tonight from the state department in washington a Worldwide Travel alert for americans. And it comes after that deadly hostage standoff in australia. Lets go now to our chief Foreign Affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. Andrea, at a time when millions are about to travel for christmas, what are americans supposed to make of this warning . Reporter well, natalie, intelligence officials tell me tonight theres no specific threat. But tonight the state department is alerting holiday travelers to be careful. The concern is that that lone wolf attack in sydney or terror groups like isis could inspire copycats to target, not only u. S. Government facilities, but americans in Public Places like hot elds, shopping centers, schools, places of worship. The caution is, if youre heading overseas during these busy holidays, be vigilant, be careful. Natalie . Andrea mitchell, thanks. We are keeping a close eye as well tonight on the weather as tens of millions of you hit the road or head to the airports. If youre traveling for christmas or expecting Company Coming to you, it could be a rough go for a lot of families with several big storms hitting right at the worst time. Meteorologist janice huff is monitoring it all for us from the weather center. Janice, what can we expect in the busy days ahead . A lot of crazy weather depending on your location. Tonight its not so bad. A lot of people of course getting a head start on the busy countdown to the travel before christmas. There is rain along the gulf coast, but its pretty quiet elsewhere. But another storm, yet another one, will be moving into the Pacific Northwest this weekend. Thats this weekend. So youre going to find delays from vancouver, seattle down to portland with rain and heavy snow moving into portions of montana. Sunday morning it is quiet east of the mississippi. But that changes too. Coming up on monday there will be snow developing over the northern plains, quite a bit of it north of minneapolis and rain along the southeast coastline that will move up into the northeast. Washington, d. C. , philadelphia, new york, boston will see very heavy rain on christmas eve. Definitely travel delays there. A few thunderstorms around miami. Chicago will see a bit of rain and freezing rain and snow in minneapolis. But its dry and sunny from dallas to denver to los angeles with sunshine. But look, another storm, more rain coming into the Pacific Northwest on christmas eve. That will stretch all the way down to San Francisco. Very busy, natalie, back to you. Certainly is. Janice huff, thanks so much. To health news now and concerns over the flu. The centers for Disease Control said today there is already a widespread outbreak in more than half of the country. And 11 children have already died from the flu. Nbcs Stephanie Gosk has more. Reporter doctors always tell us, get the vaccine. Wash your hands. And if youre sick, dont cough have on anyone. Dont cough on anyone. And please, please stay home. But even if everyone followed the advice, the flu would still spread. And now the cdc says this could be another severe flu season. Already 13 states and puerto rico are showing high infection rates. Part of the problem is a new flu strain, resistant to the vaccine. 13yearold john gentry got his flu shot but still got sick. Knowing he is asthmatic, dad didnt waste time getting him to texas childrens hospital. We believe that had he not gotten the vaccine that he could have been much worse off. Reporter dr. Carol baker is an executive director at the hospital. Lets say the vaccine this year, when were done with the epidemic, is only 40 protective. 40 versus zero, im going to take my 40 every day. Heres the latest reporter one key to prevention is good tracking data. Some researchers have turned to social media. Statisticians at Johns Hopkins analyze 10 million tweets a day searching for the word flu and then filtering messages like i have the flu to messages that say i dont want the flu. Its not enough to know what happened last week and two weeks ago, we want to know whats going on right now. Reporter theres an app for that. Sickweather relies on social media to track all kinds of illnesses including the flu. So follow the doctors advice but also try something new. If you get sick, update your status or post a tweet. Small way to take part in tracking a massive flu season. Stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. If you shopped at staples from mid to late summer, you might want to recheck your bank statements. Back in october the Office Supply giant announced that it was investigating a possible data breach. Well, today staples confirmed it. Credit card information may have been compromised for nearly 1. 2 million customers. The company has posted a list of all 115 affected store locations. Still ahead tonight, baseball diplomacy. A potential gamechanger from the u. S. Breakthrough with cuba. Also, our friday night making a difference report. Learning about the gift of giving at school. Well, the merits of normalizing relations with cuba continue to be hotly debated here in the u. S. There is one thing that americans and cubans have always had in common, a love of baseball. Some of the games best players have come from cuba. But its been very difficult for them to come here to play. Now it could be a whole new ball game. Nbcs mark potter is in havana for us and has our report. Reporter its the last game of the regular season in the Cuban National baseball league. The havana industrials versus the tigers. At bat, one of the best players in cuba hitting a home run today. In the off season he played in japan, but dreams of playing for the new york yankees. Why would you like to go there . Por que . For me the best feeling in the world. Reporter but under economic sanctions imposed by the u. S. After the cuban revolution, the only way a cuban player can join a u. S. Team is to defect and leave his country behind. Cuban historian ismael sene knows many players lured away by millions of dollars versus what they make here. Fortydollars what . Fortydollars a month is what they make here. Yeah. Reporter but now, with the u. S. And cuba promising to normalize relations, players hope it will someday allow cubans to join american teams. If that happens cubans could insist their stars play at home for a few years before going to the u. S. I think this would be the one thing that would work in cubas favor, it would stem the defections absolutely. Reporter historically baseball has been a passion shared by fans here in cuba and in the United States. And in the political world there have even been times of baseball diplomacy. Former cuban leader fidel castro is a huge baseball fan. In 2002 he took former u. S. President jimmy carter to a game here. Fifteen years ago the Baltimore Orioles played an exhibition game in havana before a huge crowd. Currently there are at least 20 cuban players in the u. S. Major leagues. Fans hope more of cubas best can some day join the u. S. Rosters with the blessing of both countries. Mark potter, nbc news, havana. Were back in a moment with a refund announced tonight for millions of cell phone customers. Every day is a new opportunity to help make life better right here in San Francisco. Whether its helping local businesses like the fruitguys grow and prosper, supporting nonprofits like juma ventures as they fulfill their mission or helping neighborhoods like the tenderloin become vibrant communities. If theres a way to help the people of San Francisco thrive and succeed, well find it. Thats the power of local connections. Thats bank of america. Swimmer michael phelps, the most decorated olympian in history, pleaded guilty to his second dui offense in a baltimore courtroom today. Phelps was sentenced to a year in prison, yet he wont see the inside of a prison cell. His sentence was suspended, but he will serve 18 months of supervised probation. After his arrest on september 30th, phelps entered a Treatment Program for six weeks. He is barred from competing until march of next year. Tonight, the feds say tmobile will pay about 90 million in refunds to customers who were billed for Text Message Services on their cell phones that they didnt order. The unauthorized charges are known as cramming. At t settled similar charges in october. After nine years and more than 1,400 episodes, Stephen Colbert said goodbye to his Comedy Central show last night and did it with a little help from his friends including our friend tom brokaw, willie nelson, bryan cranston, james franco and even big bird among many, many others. Colbert is taking over the late show on cbs next year after David Letterman leaves in may. When we come back, so many kids who show up without so much as a pencil to go to school, and good hearted people trying to change that. It is so difficult for children to learn when they dont have the basic tools for success, but for millions of them whose families havent been able to afford the School Supplies they desperately need this year got a little bit easier. And its all thanks to the kindness of strangers and an Organization Called kids in need. Our making a difference report tonight from nbcs kate snow. Okay. Chapter 18, ready . Here we go. Reporter like so many Great Teachers lea jones gives so much. My first year here i think was the hardest. I walked into a classroom with nothing, no curriculum books, no chapter books, no supplies. And that year i spent several thousand dollars getting the classroom ready. Reporter for a lot of her fourth graders at life prep in st. Paul, minnesota, basic School Supplies just arent an expense they can afford. No one wants to be without School Supplies. Reporter this year nine of the 20 kids in ms. Leas class came with next to nothing. I didnt have markers in the beginning of the school year. And we were doing this little project, and i didnt have none. You dont have markers, you feel left out when people do have markers. Reporter youre the only one that doesnt have markers . So the girls went to ms. Lea. And what happened . She said, its okay, i have stuff in my mary poppins closet. Reporter yes, her mary poppins closet. How often do you hit up this closet . Every day for one thing or another. Reporter its filled with School Supplies she got through the Organization Kids in need. You get everything you needed . Yes, i did. Reporter not just School Supplies. No, its coats and scarves in there as well. It ruins your confidence when you walk into a classroom and you dont have what you need. You want to do those things and you cant. You just dont have the things you need to do it. Reporter the tools. Uhhuh. Reporter kids in need also distributes backpacks and last year gave kids video cameras so they could tell their own story. I want to talk to you a little bit about my day. Reporter all year along across the country teachers can restock at a kids in need center. This year the group has given 100 million worth of School Supplies. See you again. Were giving them the basic tools, but i think were giving them increased hope and dignity as well. Its about someone caring about you because they know that they need stuff so that they can succeed in school. Reporter in this season of giving, small gifts inspiring kids in need. Thank you reporter kate snow, nbc news, st. Paul, minnesota. Great story and a great organization. Thats our broadcast for this friday night. Thank you for being with us. Im Natalie Morales in for brian. Hell be back here on monday. For all of us at nbc news, have a good weekend. Goodnight. Micro climate weather alert. Weve lost probably five feet of roadway. Right now at 6 00, it just keeps sliding. Concern growing tonight as two bay area neighborhoods are in danger of being cut off. God evening and thanks for joining us. Im jessica aguirre. Im raj mathai. On the left is san jose. Certain buildings may be in danger because of recent rains. On the right side, 101 on the peninsula in palo alto. Thousands of people heading out of town for the holidays. We have multiple reports this evening. Lets begin with our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri tracking where that storm is. It is active. It definitely is on the doppler radar. We should also say that weve seen less than an inch of rainfall for most of the bay area. This is not considered a major storm. Its the fact that we have had so many storms the past three weeks, from ga5 to 15 inches of rainfall, the ground is so saturated. Even light rain is just kicking up so much water on the interior roadways in the bay area. A lot of this is moving east and the south. Weve seen the worst of it move out at this point. But once again, a few spotty showers near pal toe alto, cupertino, sunnyvale. Back towards the eastern portion of san jose, the east foothills, we have a heavier pocket of rainfall right near alum rock. That will continue the next 30 minutes right up towards milpit milpitas. Weve had heavier zones of rain for the trivalley. This is continuing to move off toward the east. More rainfall consistent for