Massive hack at Sony Pictures entertainment and this morning the hackers are hinting at even more leaks. Captioning funded by cbs this is the cbs morning news for monday, december 15th, 2014. Good morning. Im Lauren Lyster in for annemarie green. This morning a hostage standoff is playing out in sydney, astralia. Police believe a lone gunman is holding an unknown number of hostages in a cafe. His motivation remains unclear, but he has displayed a flag with arabic writing. The cafe where the hostages are being held is in central sydney. The u. S. Consulate and the opera house which are both nearby have been evacuated. Don champion has been following the developments from here in new york. Don, good morning. Good morning, lauren. Its a very fluid situation at the heart of sydney at this hour. At last check five hostages were able to get out of the cafe, and police warn theyre being patient with the gunman. Police officers in australia have been waiting patiently outside a lindt cafe with guns drawn. Outside several hostages emerging from the building safely. Authorities are working to make sure others get out alive too. Its really important that i stress that our number one aim is to resolve this incident peacefully. Witnesses say the whole thing started when the gunman walked into the cafe and showed his weapon. Eight hours into the siege hostages called local media outlet relaying the gunmans demands. He has asked that the isil flag be brought immediately to the lindt cafe. The second is that he speak directly with Prime Minister tony abbott. Reporter they went into lockdown and buildings were evacuated. At one point some of the hostages were seen holding up a black flag with white writing on it, touching on fears of terrorism. Were not tagging it at this stage. The flag resembles one flown by militants with the islamic state. Australia has been backing the u. S. In its efforts against the group in iraq and syria. Prime minister tony abbott is urging citizens to remain calm and not to jump to conclusions as the authorities work to determine a true motive. Now, on top of holding the hostages, Media Outlets in sydney report that the gunman also claims he has two bombs inside the cafe and two others plafrl planted elsewhere in the city. Given the growing indications that terrorism is involved, Police Departments here in america including nypd are monitoring the situation closely, lauren. Don champion right here in new york. Thank you, don. Adam dolnik is a professor specializing in terrorism at the university in australia. He joins us by phone in indonesia. Professor dou profess profess professor dolnik, good morning. Good morning to you. Now, you are a trained Hostage Negotiator and weve seen some of these hostages running out of the cafe. Police are not saying whether theyve been released or if they escaped. Can you explain why . Well, the police in australia are being quite cautious and for good reason in term os what information they provide and theyre not going to provide information that may harm the hostages. Now, in terms of what we can conclude with the release of the five people or escape of the five people is that the Tactical Teams seem to be quite surprised those people came out and that probably this was more a release in the last moment that the gunman decided to engage in or an escape because negotiators, if they coach for hostages to be released, they will go through a surrender plan for the hostages with the gunman sometime during the plans to make sure there are no hostages when the hostage opens the door and so forth. Sol it would have taken a longer period of time. And the Tactical Team would be less surprised to see those people running their way. And lets talk about the backdrop here. I want to be clear. The authorities have been careful not to call this terrorism yet but the threat of terrorism in australia has been front and center since september. Why is that . Well, there have been a number of arrests that weve seen in australia, actually the largest ever commandeers and raids occurred in september. We have also seen theres a fairly large number of people who have gone to iraq and syria to fight with isis. Right now theres about 70 fighter, potentially hundreds of more people serving in other roles, and there was a plan uncovered to behead someone and actually drape them in an isis flag near the Market Square which is near the location where this hostage situation is taking place. From what were seeing so far in the standoff, it appears to be more of a psychopathology driven by a single individual. I appreciate you giving us that insight. Professor adam dolnik, thank you. And well have the latest on the sydney hostage situation coming up on cbs this morning. Meanwhile the Senate Report on the cia interrogation tactics is drawing Harsh Criticism from several former Bush Administration officials. In a broadcast yesterday, former Vice President dick cheney said the performance is flawed and said some of the torture produced results. It worked. It worked now for 13 years. We avoided another mass casualty against the united states. We did capture bin laden and an awful lot of seniors who were responsible for the attack on 9 11. Id do it again in a minute. Cheney said, kuwait, its what armed airline box cutters did to americans in london. A new plan is said to take place in the knewier. Heavy traffic is expected on the healthcare. Gov website. Its the deadline to change the plan they have. Most of the federal government is funded through the fall of next year. The Senate Passed a 1. 1 trillion spending bill saturday night by a vote of 5640. The house passed the measure thursday. Liberal democrats were upset about the repeal of banking regulations. Conservative republicans wanted to oppose the president S Immigration move. More rain is headed for california. The National Weather service says a pacific storm early today will bring up to 2 inches of rain to the San Francisco bay area in the region around sacramento. There may also be snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Meanwhile residents are cleaning up after the major storm that hit california last week. The biggest job was in camarillo about 50 miles northwest of los angeles where a mudslide made 13 homes uninhabitable on friday. The hillside was burned by wildfire last year. I think im going to leave now. In kansas a tornado touched down in harper county. The National Weather service says that warm and moist conditions met with a strong upperlevel system, which produced the twister and rain. There were no reports of damage. Tornado warnings were also issued in two other counties. Coming up on the morning news, a Marriage Proposal gone wrong. A plan for a grand gesture with a crane comes crashing down. This is the cbs morning news. Crashing down. This is the cbs morning news. We fa la la la la. Ies today come on everybody say. Fa la la la. Its about getting to the finish line. In life, its how you get there that matters most. Like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. My doctor said that it could travel to my lungs and become an even bigger problem. So he talked to me about xarelto®. Xarelto® is the first oral prescription blood thinner proven to treat and help prevent dvt and pe that doesnt require regular blood monitoring or changes to your diet. For a prior dvt i took warfarin, which required routine blood testing and dietary restrictions. Not this time. While i was taking xarelto®, i still had to stop racing, but i didnt have to deal with that blood monitoring routine. Dont stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, unless your doctor tells you to. While taking xarelto®, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious bleeding, and in rare cases, may be fatal. Get help right away if you develop unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Xarelto® is proven to reduce the risk of dvt and pe, with no regular blood monitoring and no known dietary restrictions. Treatment with xarelto® was the right move for me. Ask your doctor about xarelto® today. And these Little Angels build in strength. And that little angel says, weeeeeeeee 60 more sheets than charmin. Everything you want and the value you love. Angel soft. In San FranciscoMichael Browns father attended a Prayer Service in response to his sons death in missouri and there were other services around the country as Church Leaders spoke in support of the black lives matter movement. The congregation peacefully protested the deaths of Michael Brown and eric garner in new york. On the cbs moneywatch Oil Prices Sink again and a very busy day for federal express. Jill wagner is at the New York Stock Exchange with that and more. Good morning, jill. Good morning, lauren. At one point u. S. Crude futures fell more than 2. 5 to 56. 25 a barrel before rebounding. The price of oil has fallen 47 since june. Opec says it wont change production levels. The price of gas is following oil, down 37 cents since november 15th. The National Average for gas is now 2. 53 a gallon. Slumping oil prices sent stocks in a nosedive. Last week wall street suffered its biggest loss in more than two years. The dow lost 664 points. The s p finished the week down nearly 72 points. The nasdaq lost 127 points last week. The giant pet retailer petsmart is being bought by the British Private Equity Firm b. C. Partners for about 8. 25 billion. It is the largest private equity deal in the u. S. This year. Theyll pay 83 a share for petsmart. Petsmart has about 53,000 employees in over 1,300 stores. And fedex says today may be its biggest day ever. Fedex expects to move a record 22. 6 million packages today. One reason . Web sales will increase this year totally 61 billion. Fedex has hired 50,000 seasonal employees to handle the heavy volume. Lauren . Jill wagner at the New York Stock Exchange. Jill, thank you. A crane accident in the netherlands as a wedding proposal went wrong. The giants crane tipped over and crashed onto the roof of a house saturday. A man was trying to ask his girlfriend to marry him in spectacular fashion by having the big crane drop him into the backyard of her house. After the accident he pops the question and she said yes. Straight ahead, sonys spy problem. The screenplay for the upcoming James Bond Film is stolen by hackers. Well show you whats at stake. Except for frown lines. Those im throwing back. [ female announcer ] olay total effects. Nourishing vitamins, and seven beautiful benefits in one. For youngerlooking skin. So while your life may be everchanging. Your Beautiful Skin will stay beautiful. Total effects from olay. Your best beautiful. Total effects from olay. [music continues]u [announcer] this is my business. I started it. I believe in it. I know and grow it. I live it and breathe it. I put my heart and soul. Blood,sweat and tears into it. I run on quickbooks. Thats how i own it. Means making your making cookies special. Cial, and country crocks fresh buttery taste and smooth, creamy texture means your cookies will turn out just the way you like em. Extra soft. And extra special. Welcome to crock country. I was out for a bike ride. I didnt think id have a heart attack. But i did. Im mike, and im very much alive. Now my doctor recommends a bayer aspirin regimen to help prevent another heart attack. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Heres a look at heres a look at todays forecast in some cities around the country. An inmate is still on the loose this morning after escaping from an alabama jail early saturday morning. Officials say that 23yearold Demarcus Woodard overpowered guard, took his keys, and ran away on foot. He had been charged with murder. Two other inmates Gemayel Culbert and Justin Gordon also escaped, but they have been recaptured. Sony pictures is warning the media against using corporate data revealed by hackers who hit the studios computer systems. Those hackers are also hinting about a christmas surprise. And the script for the new james bond movie was also stolen. Wendy gillette reports. Reporter the title of the latest James Bond Film spectre was announced just this month at a red carpet event in london. We spent two years getting this together and theres been so much hard work and effort. Sony Officials Say an early version of the spectre screenplay is one of thousands of documents the hackers stole in the latest cyber attack against an american company. This is not a company against any particular problem. Its a global problem. Reporter this is the latest problem after hackers invaded its computers november 24th and then leaked sensitive embarrassing information including executives disparaging emails about actors and others, including president obama. Sony is in big trouble. Its an Edward Snowden problem and whats worse is they dont know whats going to happen next. Reporter the Production Company is worried anyone who has the screenplay may try to use it. Is script is protected by copyright laws and says it will take all necessary steps to keep it under wraps. The james bond franchise is one of sonys most lucrative. The most recent move skyfall raked in the most ever, 1. 1 billion worldwide. Sony says production continues on spectre and other films despite the leak. The movie is set for release in november 6, 2015. Wendy gillette, cbs news. When we return, a record is surpassed and a sour start in cleveland. We have the technology. And we have the team. We made over 15 billion successful deliveries last year. 15 billion football has a season. Baseball has a season. This is our season. Mm. You know whats gone . Kevin . The aspartame in yoplait light they took it out. Oh yeah, it is gone. Whats wrong with kevin . Vo yoplait light with 90 calories. Smooth, creamy, and now aspartamefree. Only abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. It penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. Dont tough it out, knock it out, fast. Abreva. What Michael Brown, senior, said, during a special chur service in San Francisco. Here we go again. A fresh round of rain is mo through the bay area. Justn time to mess up the morning commute. That rain will eventually h southern california. Where dozens of homes were damage mudslides. But the we weather is still a welcome sight. Join us for kpix 5 news this morning. Beginning at 4 3 ,,, heres a look at todays forecast in some cities around the country. In sports, first place in the nfc east on the line sunday night, the eagles and cowboys meeting in philadelphia. Dallas takes a 210 lead, but its gone by the third quarter. The eagles jump in front by three points, but their lead doesnt last long. Cowboys receiver dez bryant catches his third touchdown pass of the game to put dallas ahead for good. The cowboys win, 3827. They get four Division Crowns in a row for the broncos. Denver loses quarterback Peyton Manning for a spell as hee deals with a leg injury and flulike symptoms, but manning returns to fire a touchdown pass to put the game out of reach. Denver tops san diego, 2210. And the long awaited debut of Johnny Football leaves cleveland fans wanting a lot more. Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel throws two interception and completes ten passes in his first start for the browns. The bengals feast on the young quarterback in a 300 win. Los Angeles Lakers star kobe bryant reaches a career milestone. Against minnesota last night bryant passes Michael Jordan to become third on the nbas alltime scoring list. It took bryant 200 more games to reach the mark than jordan. Hes still more than 6,000 times behind alltime leading scorer kareem abduljabbar. And the first family gets into the holiday spirit. President obama, first Lady Michelle obama, and first daughters malia and sasha greeted some children dressed at elves at the 33rd annual christmas in washington concert. The event featured performances by hunter hayes, aloe blacc, and christina perry. Its for the Childrens National health system. This is the cbs morning news. Patented Sonic Technology with up to 27 more brush movements. Get healthier gums in two weeks. Innovation and you Philips Sonicare save when you give Philips Sonicare this holiday season. Heres another look at in mornings top story. An armed man is holding an unknown number of hostages in sydney, australia, in a chocolate store there. Hes talking with police, and at least five hostages have left the cafe. Its unknown if they escaped or if they were released. The gunman, as i said, is talking to police. His motivation remains unknown, but he has displayed a black flag with arabic writing. Two years ago sunday 20yearold adam lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in newtown, connecticut. 20 children and six adults were killed. Today some families are expected to announce their part in a classaction lawsuit against the maker of the Assault Rifle lanza used. Don dahler reports. Reporter the families who had young lives taken from them have had 24 months to mourn, 24 months to try to understand why, and 24 months to take legal action. That period ended sunday. So sandy hook victims families have reportedly filing a lawsuit against bushmaster, the company that made the semiautomatic rifle lanza carried. None of the families or attorneys are commenting, but senator Richard Blumenthal is. Two years have passed and congress has been complicit by failing to act, and i share the frustration that may in part underlie the reason for this legal redress. Reporter bushmasters Sister Company remington is the subject of another class action lawsuit. They claim the model 700 rifle can fire inadvertently even if the trigger isnt pulled, but the newtown families arent accusing bushmaster of making a faulty weapon. New York AttorneyRobert Fellows says the bar is high. If you can prove that in some way the gun would end up in the hands of a proscribed purchaser, someone who shouldnt have the gun, you might be able to show light, but its going to be very difficult. Reporter the families are enlisting some big named legal talent, including Michael Koskoff who represented Michael Jacksons family regarding his last tour and karen hinton, a former aide to president clinton. Newtown has no plans for any ceremony marking the second anniversary of the shooting. In a related story pew research. Released a new survey. 52 of americans feel its more important to protect gun ownership rights. 46 said the priorities should be controlled access to firearms. Don dahler, cbs news, new york. Coming up after your local news on cbs this morning, an update from sydney, australia, on the hostage situation. Plus, the red tape thats holding back crucial bridge repair projects across the country. And Oprah Winfrey joins us in the studio to tell us about her new movie selma. Thats the cbs morning news for this monday. Thank you for watching. Im Lauren Lyster. Have a great day. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com a live look outside where e off to a wet start just days this is kpix 5 news. Good morning everyone, more rain in the bay, i got a live look at the toll plaza. Those are not christmas lights, folks, those are rain drops. Getting off to another wet start and a powerful storm working through the area. Good morning. Hi, i am frank, selica. It is 4 30 on a monday, good to have you on board. We are experiencing we have heavy rain in and throughout the bay area. It is not going anywhere quickly. This is it. You see the yellow and the orange on your tv screen. Take a look right there, the north bay, plenty of oranges on your the screen. There you have the valley as well. Look at the shade of reds. A look at your traffic, elizabeth has that details. It is coming down some of the hardest and traffic alerts is in effect. The early commute