Ifill all that, and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by what if this year, we went around the table and instead of saying what we were thankful for, we say who were thankful for. Lincoln financial helps provide Financial Security for those who are always there for you, because this is what you do for people who love. Lincoln financial youre in charge. Moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill the water keeps rising along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and with it, the toll in death and damage. Several small towns have been overwhelmed across parts of missouri and illinois, and at least 20 people have been killed in the region. With the disaster still building, one local official said today nobody that is living has ever seen anything like this. Its already bad in places like valley park, missouri, outside st. Louis. Dozens of homes and businesses are under water, and the Meramec River isnt due to crest until tomorrow at a record 43 feet. The floodwaters have also closed a stretch of interstate 44, and hundreds of other roads and highways in the region are now submerged. Today, missouri governor jay nixon visited the nearby town of pacific, where the flood tide is also expected to set a record. Winning fights upstream means water moves downstream and so we are putting a significant concentration in those areas. We fully expect to see a continuing rise in those areas in the next six to eight hours and all the way into tonight. Ifill farther south, in high ridge, this Water Treatment plant has been inundated, and is spewing raw sewage into nearby streams and rivers. It could get even worse if levees give way. The army corps of engineers is watching 19 of the earthen barriers along the swollen Mississippi River and its tributaries. Meanwhile, sandbagging operations are in full force in st. Louis, as volunteers race against time, where forecasters predict the Mississippi River will crest there tomorrow evening at nearly record levels. We want to be very cautious and sandbag the low areas in case it would come over. Other areas, as you come up, weve already repaired, are in better shape with the pumping stations and everything else. Ifill the rising mississippi has already spilled over its banks near the citys iconic gateway arch. All our friends and family are losing everything. Ifill across the region in places like uniontown, south of st. Louis, people insist theyll piece their lives back together, once the water recedes. Its a very close, if you say, family around here. So once it gets down, everybody will come out, friends, family, everything. We will help everybody get it cleaned up, and see if we can rebuild and get their lives going back again. Ifill flooding is also a threat on the other side of the mississippi in illinois. Crews in alton worked through the night to shore up sandbag walls, hoping to hold back the deluge. The flooding now rivals the great Flood Disaster of 1993 along the mississippi. In the days other news, after four years of extreme drought, california may be getting at least a little relief. State officials reported today that snowfall has deepened the Sierra Nevada snowpack to 136 of normal levels. Thats three times what it was at this time, a year ago. Come spring, the melting snow could provide nearly a third of the states water supply. Chicago mayor rahm emanuel announced a Major Overhaul of Police Training today, amid a storm of criticism over fatal shootings. He said the city will put tasers in every squad car and focus on getting officers to take a less confrontational approach. Still, he acknowledged at an afternoon briefing, it is going to take much more to improve relations between police and the public. We have a long history in this city, that trust has been frayed to the point that its broken. Part of what were doing here, and i believe well be better off at the end of the process, is building a Police Department that has the trust of the community; that is essential for the safety those residents rely on. Ifill the mayor returned early from a vacation in cuba, after Police Killed two black residents over the weekend one of them accidentally. That added to the protests over a white officer whos now charged with murder for killing a black teenager last year. Theres word of another terror plot foiled this time in turkey. Police in ankara say theyve arrested two Islamic State suspects, accused of planning to attack new years celebrations. They were taken during a raid today, and police also recovered explosive devices and suicide vests. The suspects allegedly planned to target crowded bars and shops on new years eve. Just yesterday, police in brussels, belgium said they broke up a similar plot. Today, the city canceled its new years eve festivities. On the tech front, consumer demands for streaming video have fueled a surge in Internet Connection speeds in the United States. The federal Communications Commission reports they nearly tripled between 2011 and 2014. But, the u. S. Still lags behind a number of other countries. Among the states, new jersey has the fastest average download time; idaho is slowest. And wall street slowed down today. The Broader Market followed Energy Stocks lower after oil prices tumbled again. In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 117 points to close back near 17,600. The nasdaq fell 42 points, and the s p 500 was down 15. Still to come on the newshour bill cosby charged with Sexual Assault; has the n. S. A. Been spying on israel . How Congress Managed to get more done in 2015, and much more. Ifill after dozens of allegations that stretch back decades, comedian bill cobsy was charged today, for the first time, with Sexual Assault. William brangham has the story. Brangham the legendary entertainer exited a black s. U. V. Outside a courthouse in Montgomery County, pennsylvania. Cosby was accused of drugging and fondling andrea costand back in 2004. Prosecutors did not seek charges at the time, citing lack of evidence. But since then, scores of women have accused cosby of similar misconduct, though he has steadfastly denied all the allegations. At a press conference earlier today, prosecutor kevin steele said todays charges were based on new evidence. On the evening in question, mr. Cosby urged her to take pills that he provided to her, and to drink wine. The effect of which rendered her unable to move or to respond to his advances, and he committed aggravated indecent assault upon her. Brangham for more on the case and the cosby story, we are joined by Maryclaire Dale of the Associated Press. Shes been covering cosbys legal battles in pennsylvania. Maryclaire dale, you were in that tiny courtroom in pennsylvania today. What was it like . What did you see . Yes, i was. It was a very brief hearing. It was an arraignment where the district justice, basically a magistrate, told cosby what the charges were. He did not have an opportunity to enter a plea. In pennsylvania thats typically done later. Cosby seemed to be fairly relaxed given the situation. He was smiling occasionally with his lawyer. He did seem unsteady walking. He had serious vision problems and needed help signing the court and bail papers and such. They had arranged the bill was set at a Million Dollars and he posted that and is free tonight. But it was a brief hearing. Quite a lot of media there, of course. Although the charges were not announced until this morning at 10 00 a. M. Brangham help us understand how we got here. There have been so many allegations against mr. Cosby over the years. This current complainant ms. Costand previously made a complaint back in 2004 against cosby but the prosecutor said there wasnt enough evidence to bring a case. So how did we get to today . Right. She was one of the first if not the first accuser to go to the police and ended up with a decision by the then Montgomery County prosecutor that he did not have enough evidence to move forward to trial. However, she then filed a civil lawsuit that was settled a year later in 2006, and the cosby had to give a deposition in that case. It was quite a lengthy deposition given over four days, in 2005 and 2006, and, of course, it was not known to the public what he said at the time, but after he gave his deposition, the case settled, and this year the Associated Press went to court and tried to unseal some of the sealed documents in the case and were successful in getting some filings that had parts of his deposition, and they included his acknowledgment that, in the 70s, he had obtained quaaludes with the hope of giving them to women that he had hoped to seduce, and that, in addition to a number of other women who had started to come forward, i think that encouraged even more women to come forward, and with that deposition, the prosecutors in Montgomery County today went and took another look at the case and decided, today with the announcement, that they did now have enough to build a criminal case against cosby. Brangham so it was cosbys own words from ten years ago that got him in the trouble today . In part. They were running up against a 12year statute of limitations on the filing of felony Sexual Assault cases. Certainly, they do believe his acknowledgment that he has in the past obtained drugs to use with women, they said that was part of it. Another part is thousand now believe they can prove that the woman was impaired and could not give consent. In the deposition, cosby says that he acknowledges that he had a sexual situation with this woman that night in his home near philadelphia but says it was consensual. But prosecutors now believe that, with this evidence and his statement in the deposition that he gave her three pills, he says they were benadryl. The lawyer for ms. Costand believe they were probably stronger. Prosecutors feel they can prove in court she was too impaired that night by wine and whatever pills he gave her to give any type of consent. Brangham so the prosecutor is arguing she was basically intoxicated at mr. Cosbys hand, it seems, and she couldnt consent to Sexual Activity . Exactly. In fact, in the affidavit, the 20page Police Affidavit filed today in support of the charges, it says she was frozen and semiparalyzed, moving in and out of consciousness, and unable to shout or articulate her, you know, lack of consent, in fact. Brangham is it clear whether or not that deposition from ten years ago can be used in this current case against cosby . Well, certainly thats one of the many defense motions we would expect to come before the trial plays out at the pretrial stage im sure they will try to have that deposition which is again from a civil lawsuit, you know, not ruled inadmissible. Prosecutors will try to use it. Theyre building their case upon his very own words. The other thing that could be of interest in the trial is whether or not the subject allows in or many of the other accusers to come forward and tell their story as sort of similaract evidence, evidence of cosbys m. O. , for instance. There are times when that is permissible under pennsylvania law. It has to be a fairly substantial relationship to the crime that is charged, so it will be up to the judge to determine whether the facts of other accusations or other cases are close enough to be used by prosecutors to show an alleged pattern of behavior. Certainly thats something the defense will try to throw out. Brangham Maryclaire Dale of the Associated Press, thank you very much. Thank you. Ifill the rift between the u. S. And israel over the iran deal was no secret, but we now learn the dispute was fed by high stakes political espionage, carried out by both countries, and ensnaring members of congress. The details were laid out on the front page of todays wall street journal. Reporter adam entous has been piecing together the story for months, and he joins me now. Adam, what is more surprising to you after all the reporting youve done that there was spying going on or that we or who we were spying on . I think for me it was the unintended consequence where the president of the United States decides that he doesnt know what Bibi Netanyahu was planning on doing so he has spice prioritize learning what his intentions were. What happened when Bibi Netanyahu came to congress and launched what was probably the large tion campaign by a Foreign Government in congress and the n. S. A. Is listening very closely to what the israelis are doing and, suddenly, theyre talking every day to members of congress, and this is a dilemma what is the proper use of that information . And the white house thought about it. They knew that this was tantalizing. They also knew, if they asked for it, they would get in a lot of trouble, so they decided not to decide. They decided to tell the n. S. A. , you decide, you figure it out, well take what you send us and were not going to ask for more. Ifill which is more troubling in the end, the fact that the president said at some point were not going to spy on our friends with a couple of exceptions, didnt say who the exceptions were or the fact that israel was so intricately involved in u. S. Foreign policy making . Right. When the president said in 2014 that he would stop spying on our closest friends and allies, the heads of state, he also had a carveout which he did mention in his speech that if information that could be gleaned from those leaders was of Significant National security purpose or was important for national security, so he gave himself wiggle room but didnt define what that process would be, who would be the leaders that would be protected and who would not be protected. What we discovered when we looked at this closely was they created a list called the protected list, and the chancellor of germany merkel was put on that list, sort of seen as a nobrainer. She was very vocal in her criticism. Also hollande of france was put on the list. When they went to another n. A. T. O. Leader, erdogan of turkey, they realized, wait a minute, we dont really understand his policy in syria, so they decided they would not put him on the last which basically meant the n. S. A. Could target him. With Bibi Netanyahu, there was no debate, they werent going to stop collecting against him. Ifill how involved first of all, is israel also spying on the u. S. And how much of a problem was it as the u. S. Was collecting this in fact that they swept up u. S. Lawmakers in some of their eavesdropping . I mean, the Israeli Government say publicly that they do not commit espionage against the United States, thats their policy, thats what they say their policy is. If you talk to u. S. Counterintelligence officials, they will tell you that israel is probably the number one ally that spies on the United States. So you have a he said, she said here, and youre not really sure. With regard to collection that happened incidentally to capture communications or the contents of communications about lawmakers, it definitely was something within the white house that they knew they face add very awkward situation. Wasnt that exactly what some lawmakers had been worried about and criticizing the administration on . To a certain degree. Keep in mind, there are things we dont know yet. There are different types of communications collected by the n. S. A. Where the Prime Minister of israel speaks to a senator on the phone, is the n. S. A. Listening to that . Or if the ambassador to israel meets with 2 20 lawmakers during this debate and writes a report he sends back to his foreign fon ministery detailing the conversation he is had on capitol hill, which conversations were they collecting, which were they passing to the white house and what were the rules . We know what Administration Officials told us which was no matter what the term is minimized, that means they didnt identify the name of the lawmaker, so just appear in the report that the n. S. A. Sent that it was a to stay on this side of the law. The rule is to not identify. If the white house wants to know, they can ask. But if they ask and the n. S. A. Provides it they have to noacht the intelligence committees. Ifill was there any blowback from israel or turkey . I havent seen much from turkey. From israel, they said they were appalled that this would be happening, that the president would be spying on his close ally netanyahu, and they basically said that they would consider a complaint some sort of complaint they would file to try to get the u. S. To stop the surveillance. Ifill an interesting peek behind the curtain, adam. You have been doing it all year. Thank you. My pleasure. Ifill stay with us. Coming up on the newshour should scientists be allowed to edit human genes . Tracing the path our ancestors walked, two million years ago; and why we should get back to the basics when it comes to food. But first, congress ended the year on an unusually productive note, despite