state department spokesman spokesperson other new art stated expanding the foreign agents law to include media outlets opens the door to onerous requirements that could further stifle freedom of speech and editorial independence in russia in their mind the use of foreign registrations act by the us government will have no adverse affects on freedom of speech as if americans have some magical ability to withstand threats to free speech i mean unless they're on facebook of course the really sad part of this kind of rhetoric is that it just works to excuse trump's behavior by claiming that it's all russia's fault and the russian phobia we are currently mired in and the damage is caused our entire world is noticed even by putin's most vocal critics david satter a journalist who was banned by putin from entering russia told newsweek and november that the level of socially acceptable anti russians you know phobia in american as especially democratic party politics quote is all just politics and how popular a sea is the mother's milk of politics and jokes i was i'm really tired of seeing the co

the u.s. state department isn't buying it. they say the night wolves are putin's shadow army. the u.s. government has named you in the sanctions, saying that you help the night wolves carry out criminal activities in ukraine. his response? "i have to laugh." dan harris, abc news, russia. >> dan harris from russia tonight. and we should mention a special edition of "nightline" with much more of dan's reporting tonight after jimmy kimmel. >>> in the meantime, there is still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this wednesday. the police officer dragged, body cameras, and you'll see it, showing the moment a suspect takes off. hitting speeds of 60 miles per hour before letting that police officer go. >>> also tonight, it's happened again. the teens now facing felony charges tonight after allegedly dropping a sandbag, now, from an overpass. a passenger struck and is critically injured tonight. >>> and the countdown is on. last minute deals uncovered tonight. how you can save $500 on a popular watch. headphone prices slashed tonight. we'll tell you where. the list, right after th

the u.s. state department isn't buying it. they say the night wolves are putin's shadow army. the u.s. government has named you in the sanctions, saying that you helped the night wolves carry out criminal activities in ukraine. [ speaking in russian ] his response? i have to laugh. dan harris, abc news, russia. >> all right. >> so glad that dan got that assignment. i would have been scared. interesting facts that came out of that. putin is the longest-serving russian leader since josef stalin. quite fascinating enjoying an 85% approval rating, and i'm sure that is 100% accurate. >> and i'm sure that the kgb or secret service know the 15% who say they do not support putin. >> yes, yes, yes. >> they're well aware. the mix is next. s old jar. it's never much, just what's left after i break a dollar. and i never thought i could get quality life insurance with my spare change. neither did i. until i saw a commercial for the colonial penn program. imagine people our age getting life insurance at such an affordable rate. it's true. if you're 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptanc

a state department spokesman said the u.s. can already cooperate with north korea through diplomatic challenges. >>> meanwhile, there were new concerns about anthrax on the korean peninsula. this after south korean officials discovered that a soldier was immune to anthrax andy bodies wey s w antibodies were found in his blood. >>> and police are taking new steps to protect times square on new year's eve. terror attacks new york tins halloween, parking garages will get new scrutiny. >>> and authorities in toledo, ohio, have now charged four teenagers with murder. after the teens threw a sand bag hitting a man in a car below on interstate 75. that man died friday. the four suspects are between the age of 13 and 14 years of age. >>> time now to take a look at your weather forecast on this wednesday morning. >>> good morning. dangerous lake-effect snow, lake erie and ontario, we've actually had 60 inches off of lake erie alone and more on the way. haur cold for the north central part of the country dropping the windchill for 40 be

saying a comment made by the state department where the u.s. said it was concerned that some of the candidates tried to run in the upcoming election are being barred from doing so. they say that's meddling in the election. that was absolutely normal statement, not a change in tone in any way from what the state department has been saying in any case. so it's quite interesting to hear what they're saying about that. at the same time, you have those statements by secretary of state tillerson in that "new york times" op ed where he's saying one of the areas where perhaps there could be cooperation could be in syria, and secretary of state tillerson also saying he believes that the ent of a process of negotiation, he believes we could see the end of the regime in syria. le we managed to get in h touch with the kremlin and the spokesman for vladimir putin tells us he doesn't believe there is any cooperation between the u.s. and russia at this point in time. he doesn't -- he thinks it would be a good idea if there was but there simply is nothing. to

. >> he provided reports of developments inside putin's russia to his colleagues to the state department. >> people working russia all the time valued reports. they thought they were well sourced. they thought they were remarkably timely. >> the state department wasn't the only u.s. agency to rely on christopher steele. >> i understood he had a relationship with the fbi relating to the fifa soccer scandal and had been a significant source for them. >> in 2016 the americans calling christopher steele weren't fbi agents. it was from a small research firm called fusion gps founded by former wall street journal reporters. this is how one of fusion's founders glen simpson described his company's mission when he spoke at a 2009 meeting. >> we have an interest to bring something out about corruption and fraud will come to us. they don't necessarily have to have pure motives. frequently there is people who are in business and sick of competitors who cheat and want to see things exposed, that's a model for out our new project. >> fusion had first been hired by the washington free beacon. that web

the state department issued a statement from one of the spokesmen saying they're concerned about the russian crackdown on journalists, on political opponents, and then they called for a free and fair election. and you heard right away the spokesman of foreign minister lavrov, maria zakornova, who's very fluid on twitter herself and -- >> very outspoken in general. >> very outspoken. saying this is really rich. she put a statement on her facebook post that said, you know, after accusing us of what you call interference in our election, now the spokesman of the state department is talking about us and interfering in our election, calling it election meddling, election interference, and saying it's really rich that you are defending russian journalists when you're calling our journalists foreign agents, when you're saying they're trying to counter the russian propaganda. so it's a little bit of a tit for tat. naturally, these russian outlets that the u.s. has criticized in the past, rt and sputnik, these are russian state agencies that the intelligence community, as you say, has noted t

the state department pushing back, saying weapons have been sent before. quote, under the previous two administrations, the u.s. government has approved export licenses to ukraine. the russians did not like this decision. >> dana: i imagine not. tell me about president trump's defense chief taking an unannounced visit today. where did he go and what does it mean? >> he traveled to gitmo today. the first sreus it from a defense secretary in nearly 16 years. the pentagon said mattis made the trip days before christmas to thank troops for their service. he does not plan on visiting a prison where 41 detainees remain including a master mind. president trump vowed to leave the prison open. the last prisoner arrived there in 2008 nearly ten years ago. president obama tried for years to close the prison, but was stopped many times by congress. dana. >> dana: lucas, thank you very much. there's another north korean soldier making a run for south korea. this is a live report on this second defection in as many months. plus, the balance of power in the virginia stat

president vladimir putin praised president trump in moscow for the u.s. stockmarket gains and rejected the premise for the justice department's probe into russian meddling as quote spy hysteria. hours later, president trump and putin spoke by telephone. the state-run news agency disclosed details before the american press learned about the call t. kremlin statement said quote -- faye later followed up with a story of trump thanking putin. >> that came on the heels of the washington post report detailing how the president's refusal to accept the intelligence that russia meddled is interfering with the communication of national security materials. quote, current and former officials said that his daily intelligence update, phone as the president's daily brief or pdb is often structured to avoid unsettling him. zplmplts so, joe, there is a lot to unpack there. number one the very mention of russia apparently infuriates president trump so they avoid it in the daily brief, something you presumed you'd want to be in there. president trump speaking yesterday wit