Five Things to Know for Your New Day – Friday, December 12

Congress averts government shutdown, barely. Massive storm whacks California, Oregon and Washington. And CIA chief defends harsh interrogations.

It's Friday, and here are the 5 things to know for your New Day

SHUTDOWN AVERTED
A few more days: Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown that was to take effect at midnight. The House approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill, and the Senate will get a two-day extension of current funding levels to give itself time to approve the House bill.

FEDS SEIZE T-REX
Paleontologist predicament: Imagine spending your entire career searching for something buried somewhere within the Earth - and then the federal government seizes your discovery when you find it. That's the predicament paleontologist Peter Larson found himself in after he and his team unearthed a nearly complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in 1990, preserved for some 67 million years in what is now the state of South Dakota.

FIERCE STORM
West Coast hit:  A massive storm whacked California and Oregon, killing at least one man and knocking out power in urban areas. Phillip Crosby died when a tree fell on his tent in south Oregon.

TORTURE REPORT
CIA defends harsh interrogations: In a rare news conference, CIA chief John Brennan defended harsh interrogation techniques as providing "useful" information to authorities, including in the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. But he said it is "unknowable" what information could specifically be attributed to those techniques.

JESSICA CHAMBERS
Cops looking through phone records: Days after Jessica Chambers was set ablaze, police are searching her data and text records after obtaining warrants that compelled Google and her cell phone provider to give authorities access.  Questions abound about how the 19-year-old and her car ended up severely burned in this wooded area. Chambers died Sunday. Her family said she suffered burns over 98% of her body.

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.
Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at NewDayCNN.com and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY!