By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone )

NOTABLES

• SPOTLIGHT ON THE CIA: Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan will take questions today in what appears to be the first-ever live press conference from the CIA to be broadcast on television, ABC's LUIS MARTINEZ notes. Brennan is going to mount a very public push back to the Senate Intelligence Committee report. He is expected to deliver opening remarks and then take questions.

• WHITE HOUSE MUM ON WHETHER INTERROGATION METHODS SAVED LIVES: President Obama has condemned what he calls "torture" of detainees by CIA interrogators at black sites overseas in the dark days after 9/11. But the White House is not taking a position on whether any of the information gleaned from those sessions - putting questions on the propriety of the tactics aside - actually helped to save lives. ABC's DEVIN DWYER reports the administration also refuses to say whether Obama shares the view of Brennan, who said on Tuesday that intelligence gained from enhanced interrogation techniques did in fact help to "thwart attack plans, capture terrorists, and save lives." "The most important question is: Should we have done it? And the answer to that question is no," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told ABC's JONATHAN KARL. Earnest refused to answer whether those interrogations ultimately saved lives as current and former CIA officials allege. http://abcn.ws/137RKEr

• CHENEY - CIA TORTURE REPORT IS 'FULL OF CRAP': Former Vice President Dick Cheney said the Senate report is "full of crap." In his first televised interview since the report's release, Cheney said on Fox News: "I think it is a terrible report, deeply flawed." Cheney added that he had not read the entire 6,000-page classified document, or the 500-page declassified and redacted executive summary. But he unequivocally said its findings were flawed and an affront to members of the CIA, ABC's DEVIN DWYER reports. http://abcn.ws/1wzFFEE

THE ROUNDTABLE

ABC'S JEFF ZELENY: It's a fitting close to the 113th Congress: Another fight over government spending, another government showdown looming. A two-year legislative session marked by fiscal crisis, threats of default and unrelenting partisan acrimony draws to a close with an 11th-hour tussle over how to keep the government running beyond midnight. Liberals are crying foul over provisions to dismantle some Wall Street regulations and to weaken campaign finance reform, while dozens of House conservatives are planning to oppose the measure because it doesn't touch President Obama's immigration order. The $1.1 trillion spending plan, which is packed with a long list of goodies that lobbyists have been pushing all year, is all but certain to pass at some point. Yet compromise is ugly and bipartisan support is teetering as lawmakers realize what's actually in the sprawling 1,603-page bill.

ABC's RICK KLEIN: Perhaps it's been so long since a major compromise emerged from Capitol Hill that it's easy to forget how ugly they can look upon close scrutiny. Perhaps it's even a good thing for the country's middle that the Warren wing and the tea party are equally exorcised about a massive piece of legislation being voted on against a hard deadline. But the idea that a bill to keep the government open - as must-pass a bill as there is - would include the variety of unrelated items that this "cromnibus" boasts of is a testament to a deeply flawed process. This isn't the time or place to rewrite campaign-finance laws, loosen bank regulations, water down school nutrition guidelines, or stop the District of Columbia from legalizing pot, just weeks after it voted to do so by more than 2-1. A month after congressional elections, before the newly elected members even take office, probably isn't the right time to do much of anything of substance. It's a questionable tone to set for the new year - and sets policies that figure to last well beyond that, of course.

ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: Another New Jersey Quinnipiac poll is out this morning and this one shows Garden State voters do not want their governor to run for the White House. New Jersey voters say 53 to 40 percent that Chris Christie would not make a good president. 50 to 44 percent of voters don't even want to see him run and, if he does, Christie should resign from office voters say 62 to 32 percent. This survey also asks quite a unique question. Are American voters ready for a "Jersey Guy" president like Christie? State voters say no 49 to 43 percent. Hillary Clinton has more support in the state, beating Christie in a hypothetical match up 50 to 39 percent. "Even Jersey guys, actually Jersey girls, don't think the nation will go for a Jersey guy like Gov. Christopher Christie," Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said. "Besides that, we'd sooner vote for the girl from New York, Hillary Clinton. She beats all the probable Republican candidates, including the governor. He does better than the other Republicans but he still loses his home state." http://bit.ly/1yUheAM

THE BUZZ

with ABC's KIRSTEN APPLETON

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM'S DEATH KNELL HIDDEN IN SPENDING BILL. Campaign finance reform has long been on life support, but now it can be declared nearly dead. ABC's JEFF ZELENY reports a proposal tucked deep inside the massive spending bill to keep the government running is a boon for political parties. It's squirreled away on page 1,599 of the 1,603 page bill released late Tuesday night. Under current regulations, a donor can give $32,400 to the Democratic or Republican National Committee. Soon, they will be able to give a total of $324,000 - 10 times the current limit. In a two-year election cycle, a married couple could contribute $1.3 million to the various party committees. This financing will help parties raise money for their political conventions. The change guts most of what is left of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform, a 2002 law that put tight caps on political contributions. There is a good chance President Obama will sign the bill given it is tied to the spending bill, but it's a major change in the blurred lines of money and politics. http://abcn.ws/166p5AO

NOTED: DC CAN'T LEGALIZE POT AND OTHER SECRETS OF THE 'CROMNIBUS.' Congressional appropriators reached a deal on a $1.1 trillion spending measure to fund most of the government through September of 2015. But ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ says there's some surprise items tucked deep inside the bill. Several of these items will slide through and become law with no debate or hearings because lawmakers have less than 48 hours to approve the spending measure or face a government shutdown. From exempting some schools from adhering to school lunch standards advocated by first lady Michelle Obama to effectively stopping D.C. from legalizing marijuana, here's a look at some of the secret gems hidden in the so-called cromnibus. http://abcn.ws/1BaYhcs

CIA BLAMED FOR $40 MILLION COST OF TORTURE REPORT. It's not only the contents of the Senate's CIA report that are causing controversy. It's also the cost. ABC's JEFF ZELENY reports the five-year review, which examined more than 6 million CIA documents, came with a price tag of $40 million. That eye-popping figure, costly even by Washington standards, has been seized upon by Republican critics of the report. But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Select Intelligence Committee, says the vast majority of the cost is attributed to the CIA, which insisted on renting a separate building for the review and hiring outside contractors to review every document, often multiple times. Intelligence officials told ABC the agency had no choice but to work in a separate facility - away from CIA headquarters at Langley - to "ensure the secure exchange" of materials. http://abcn.ws/1vFpRt6

U.S. 'IN CONVERSATIONS' ABOUT RELEASING AMERICAN FROM CUBAN PRISON, OBAMA SAYS. President Obama for the first time publicly acknowledged the U.S. is negotiating with Cuba for the release of American contractor Alan Gross through a "variety of channels." In an interview with Fusion's Jorge Ramos, Obama said, "We've been in conversations about how we can get Alan Gross home for quite some time." Gross is being held on espionage charges in Havana for the past five years, and sources who have visited with Gross recently told ABC News his health has vastly deteriorated. According to ABC's JIM AVILA and SERENA MARSHALL, the Obama administration is taking seriously Gross's promises to begin a possible death inducing hunger strike by the end of this year, and is looking for a solution with the Cuban government. http://abcn.ws/1qvIowi

SUPPORT FOR ELIZABETH WARREN OVER HILLARY CLINTON REVEALS PROGRESSIVE FAMILY FEUD. Sen. Elizabeth Warren may be saying no to 2016, but that is not stopping her supporters and it's revealing a possible family feud in progressive politics. Members of the liberal group MoveOn have voted to draft the Massachusetts senator with 81.3 percent of those who voted casting the ballot in support of a draft effort. MoveOn - joined by Democracy or America - said it will launch their "Run Warren Run" draft effort, which includes spending $1 million in the first phase of the launch and setting up offices in Iowa and New Hampshire as well as assembling a "national volunteer army" on behalf of Warren. But according to ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE , Democracy for America's support shows a schism within the group. They released a statement after MoveOn's vote reiterating they would help their fellow liberals in the draft Warren effort, but Howard Dean - who started the group - wrote an op-ed stressing his support for Hillary Clinton. http://abcn.ws/166Cbhl

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

OBAMA: 'I'M THE BIG ELF. I'M LIKE WILL FERRELL.' Toting two giant bags of toys, President Obama had a simple holiday message as he arrived to sort gifts at the Marines Corps' Toys for Tots event today: "Ho, ho, ho." "That's a pretty serious 'Ho ho ho,'" the first lady remarked, before introducing the special "helper" she brought along this year. ABC's MARY BRUCE reports that after thanking the Marine Corps for organizing Toys for Tots, the president took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and got to work sorting toys for little girls and boys. The president was confident he was up to the task. "I'm the big elf. I'm like Will Ferrell," he said. http://abcn.ws/1yAvDyh

WHO'S TWEETING?

@TheFix: Two years later, Newtown has meant almost nothing to the gun debate. http://wapo.st/1vH7uUM

@BuzzFeedAndrew: Top White House Aide Leaving Ahead Of Possible Clinton Campaign http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/top-white-house-aide-leaving-ahead-of-possible-clinton-campa?s=mobile …

@KarlRove: Why Does Hillary Want To Be President, Anyway? http://ow.ly/FJb5I

@zbyronwolf: Read this > Op-Ed from GTMO - recommended for release 5 yrs ago, still locked up - Samir Naji http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/11/opinion/guantanamo-inmate-naji/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 …

@ItsDavidFord: Fusion "is turning out to be television news' most interesting newcomer in more than two decades" via @capitalnewyork http://bit.ly/1seGr8O