did he say anything to you about russia, his plans for russia, rebooting relations with russia? >> no. i didn't even mention the name of putin to him. but i did talk about precedents. it dawned on me the precedents that donald trump talks about a lot, ronald reagan, who had famous diplomacy with mikhail gorbachev, john f. kennedy, who had the showdown with russia, but also was trying to do the famous nuclear test ban treaty with the soviet union in the early '60s and wanted to go to the moon with russia at one point. but he's somebody looking out of the box for a big breakthrough in the international arena, to change what in donald trump's mind is the gridlock. so i think he can go in any direction. nuclear arms increase or reductions in the coming years. >> doug, trump is coming into office as one of the most unpopular president-elects in recent history. let's look at the poll. his approval rating before taking office, 41%. compare that to obama, george w. bush, slightly higher. clinton and bush in the 60s. he has a short leash with voters, you might say, based on those numbers

and vladimir putin in russia. have said glowing things about the president-elect and damning things about the sitting president. >> well, that's right. and i think for the obama administration, which has spent a lot of time -- a lot of time in the last few years trying to figure out what to do about the middle east, trying to get israel and the palestinians to the table, trying to figure out what to do about syria, and having seen what happened in libya and the intervention there, trying to not repeat those mistakes, i think one of the things that's been -- that's been frankly frustrating for them is to see them coming out frankly looking so badly on all these fronts. but i'll say one last thing about what vladimir putin is doing here. we're now going in to the third presidential administration in which he basically gets to start over. remember, george w. bush said that he looked into his eyes, and saw his soul. and then at the end of that administration, you know, he had invaded georgia and taken territory and th

russia did that. let's bring in cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr to break down this conflicting information. what have you learned, barbara? >> good morning, alisyn. it all goes to the question, really, of russian motivation, russian intent. right now it looks like the cia believes that russia really was trying to steer the election towards donald trump. why do they believe that steer was happening? that's because both democrats and republicans, the cia says, got hacked by the russians, but only democratic data, democratic information, was released. no republican information was released. so they come to the conclusion that's the steer towards donald trump. the fbi not ready to sign up to that intent yet, but by all accounts believing that the russians were trying to at least undermine the u.s. presidential election. one of keet republican -- sean spicer the rnc communications director spoke about all of this over the weekend. >> if the cia is so convinced of this, why won't they go on the rec

> i'm going after russia every way you can go after russia. >> conflicting information from the cia, and the fbi. >> take a look -- >> they're not sure. they're fighting among themselves. >> you can't make this issue partisan. >> it's too important. >> i fully understand the policy but i don't want china dictating to me. >> what he's doing is using the bully pulpit to try to -- on diplomatic issues. >> we need to make sure that the secretary of state, who represents u.s. interests. >> bob corker, many different types of people, but when you ask me about rex. he's a world class player. >> this is "new day." with chris croupo. and alisyn camerota. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to you "new day." first president-elect donald trump rejecting the cia's claim that russia influenced the u.s. election in his favor. he calls that a definite quote ridiculous now a group of key lawmakers planning a bipartisan investigation. >> trump is also angering china but this is a very different set of politics in play. he is refusing to apologize for speaking directly to taiwan's new leader while ques

against russia. he got asked that question. this is how he answered. the best thing to watch for here, the guys who are hearing this in russian have to wait for the translation. there's a little bit of a delay. but as they get the translation and they hear what he's saying, watch for the thumbs up here. watch. >> well, okay, thank you. as to the sanctions questions i'll use the same approach my friend mr. sechin took and that's a question for the government. so if there's a u.s. government official that would like to respond, i'm happy to toss it to them. so let me move to technology. i think one of the most underappreciated aspects of the oil and natural gas business -- >> that's the guy from rosneft. that's putins a best friend. he waits for the translation to come through. oh, the u.s. government. good one, my friend. he's the guy that had sanctions personally levied against him by our government which exxon doesn't care about at all. way to go, buddy. steve coll, the man who wrote the definitive

i will start with russia. did russia push with trump's election and why? >> save the one planet that we got. will president-elect trump cancel it or make the case why he should not. and can cities go their own way? the mayor of los angeles, the biggest city and the biggest state in the union on the power of the nation's mayors to resist and encounter trump on immigration and climate change and much else. finally, a last look at aleppo. >> you bare responsibility for these entravelociocities. the president-elect trump signal that he wants to be tough on china. china is for the most part comfortable with the american led international system. russia is trying to up end it. >> our number one go political foe, russia is our number one foe. we were wrong and romney was right. obama's rational was that russia was a regional power and wanted an economic supply. it is an accurate picture of russia's position which is only gotten worse since 2012. the country's economy has shrunk for two years now. state's spending have risen from 35% to a staggering 70%. the count

/russia relations. we start with that breaking news tonight. president obama striking back against russia for interfering with the presidential election. this presidential executive order, naming four operatives involved in placing sanctions on two intelligence services. the president also ordering 35 russian intelligence officials out of the united states. they've got 72 hours to leave the country. they're also shuttering two rung compounds here in the united states, this order say that the sanctions are for, ote, tampering with or altering or causing a misappropriation of information with theurpose or effect of interfering or undermine elections or institutions. now, russian president vladimir putin was not personally named, but president obama saying, quote, these data theft and disclosure activities could only have been directed by the high levelses of the russian government. putin and the kremlin had called the claims, quote, laughable nonsense, and tonight a spokesman for putin told the associated press that the kremlin regrets the sancti

diplomats in russia. that was a statement that came last night as these reports first emerged that we were waiting for sanctions from the obama administration on russia over these hacking allegations. the russians say they will hit back if these sanctions are delivered. >> matthew chance, thank you so much. this breaking news on more detail perhaps on what the obama administration has planned. our evan perez is joining us now with more information on this. evan? >> the white house is out, including new information from the treasury department. they've added according to this information five entities and four people. these are all officials, high-level officials in the russian gru which is the military intelligence unit of the russian spy services. this is one of the agencies, one of the spy services that is blamed for penetrating the dnc, the democratic national committee, as well as carrying out hacks of other democratic party organizations in the past year and they were frankly playing a central role i

ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul. plus, early reaction to donald trump's apparent choice for secretary of state, rex tillerson. the chief executive of exxon mobil who has a particularly close relationship with putin. >> a great advantage is he knows many of the players and he knows them well. >> and mike rowe of "dirty jobs" fame will be here. >> i put our lives at risk. >> at what democrats can learn from donald trump on how to win over working class voters. joining me for insight and analyst doris kearns goodwin, kimberly stshgs trasse and rick stengel. welcome to sunday, it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> good sunday morning. when "the washington post" story about russian involvement in our election was posted online friday night, it was nothing less than explosive. the cia included the russians interfered. further, in september, the white house wanted congressional leaders to sign off on a statement supporting efforts to support the integrity of the

another quick point on russia. president obama has been very firm in urging his european allies to continue sanctions on russia. that's a six-month rotating, renewing sanctions every six months. they'll meet in brussel, just did recently. it's triggered another six months. a couple issues to think about when you consider that president-elect trump's new potential, it's not quite final yet, seems lime andrea mitchell nailed it, the new secretary has all of this background, insight and, frankly, a lot of relationships inside russia. >> hans nichols, thank you. >>> one week from monday, all 538 members of the electoral college ganger in state capita s -- capitols to ratify donald trump's win. but taking a fight to federal court this monday, organizer of the hamilton electors movement, thanks for being with us today. >> good to be with you. >> hillary clinton won the popular vote nationwide by well over 2.5 million votes. your lawsuit is meant to free up "bound" delegates. hil how is that in the spirit of alexander ham

look, it is just the fact of doing deals with russia and doing business in russia. you have to know the upper echelons, the power brokers, the leadership in order to get anything done. you know, the ceo of exxon has been very accomplished in doing that. back in 2011, he did a deal with the kremlin, which is estimated to be worth half a trillion dollars. $500 billion, one of the biggest deals ever done. after that, putin, the russian president, personally pinned that medal on his chest. it is called the order of friendship, one of the highest civilian honors russia can give a civilian. so, yes, he really is seen as a friend of russia. he is perhaps the one american who has the closest relationship with the kremlin. >> that is absolutely fascinating. this is also all something that donald trump sees as an asset that could help him in donald trump's view as secretary of state. differing opinions. he'll go through, if he is the nominee, the senate confirmation process. we'll watch. matthew chance in moscow. thank you so much. >>> coming up, beside his ties with russia,

i'm no defending russia. i'm saying this final conclusion about what he's saying about trump and clinton, if they have evidence show it. they have not shown it yet. comey said it is not the case. >> we don't know whether john brennan is the one that leaked the information. congressman schiff you have seen more intelligence. if congressman king and others had seen it, do you think they would be convinced? >> look, i discussed this recently. i think he has done a remarkable job at the agency and don't think he's trying to politicize this. i do think there's a consensus among the top leadership, not only of who is responsible but why. i think when the review is released by the administration within the next two or three weeks, i think the american people will see that. but let's look at what's undisputed. >> why not give some of this -- i totally understand you don't want to have sources and methods out there. but can't you give the public something more substantial? than what we have seen? >> yes. i think the a

we don't need a fresh start with russia. russia needs us. it needs a fresh start with us. putin wants us to look away from what he did in ukraine, the massacre in syria, his attacks on our election and they were -- all of this intelligence agencies agree they did it. and so he wants us to wipe that slate clean >> certainly, right. >> and all he's going to give us is a fresh start? no way. >> if you're keeping both eyes on russia, that's not good enough. i agree with you 100%. thank you for being with us tonight. >> happy new year. >> to you as well. >>> and coming up, bill clinton suggested quote angry white men helped elect trump in november but fox news contributor roy murdoch is shooting down those claims. he's here next with doug schoen. >>> and later -- >> we will build a great wall and we'll stop illegal immigration for once and for call. . >> president-elect trump vowing to build a wall, this as the "the new york times" discovered that some department of homeland security employees and contract workers accepted millions of dollars in bribes to allow drugs and illega

russia sees it as a slight. when president obama imposes these sanctions, to me this is the beginning saying we are not going to roll over anymore. we have to be able to say we will stand up to this. that's what the beginning happened yesterday when the executive order was there and we started talking about responding and not just allowing this to happen again. >> in terms of making a public display, they had an impact and something everybody is talking about. in terms of making a dent in any of russia's capabilities and if you are going to go after making them feel it, do you think they have teeth? that's one of the things they are looking at. the fact that the diplomats were thrown out. and so these things were long in the making. if you allow this to go on and they empower him to do this. >> happy new year to you. >> you too. a live look now. check this out. this is times square. at least a million people expected to gather here tomorrow. security obviously is going to be as tight as it could be in times squa

does russia due to chinese relations? russia is complicated. the last few years have been dominated by talk of russia and china working together against the united states. it is a murky game. i am not sure how that will play out. after the election, almost all emerging markets went the -- immediately after election, almost all emerging markets went down, because there was expectation of fiscal stimulus, and fed tightening, that would pool dollars back into the u.s. the exception was russia. markets because the where more accommodating with even the lifting of sanctions. vonnie: if you look at the bloomberg at the primary winners, there is another russian index in the top 10. you are just back a few months ago from some baltic states. what did you make of the reaction to the election on the ground and what it might say about russian relations him up but even for the ukraine and nato? pat: there is concern for ukraine in the baltic stakes, -- tates, especially given some of the comments made about nato. but the events of the last 24 hours of the

the relationship with russia. the relationship no question is in bad shape, there is nowhere to go but up in this relationship, but we have to do it on the basis of some fundamental principles, based on a unified approach between the united statesa nd unified approach between the united statesand its european allies. the foreign ministry in russia had recommended to vladimir putin that he also eject 35 american diplomats in response to the measures taken by the united states. the prime minister of russia dmitry medvedev, accused the outgoing administration of ending in anti—russian death throes. let's get more from our washington correspondent, laura bicker. i'm sure there hasn't been a response yet about this latest tweet from donald trump, how likely are they to say very much? we're waiting to hear if donald trump's team will say any more. it's certainly a huge contrast, 2a hours ago president 0bama was unveiling sanctions against russia, punishing russia, saying all americans should be alarmed by russia's act

you know, i think we need to be extremely weary of russia. i think the foreign policy under president obama, the reset has been a disaster. you have to approach foreign policy first from a position of strength. that starts with economic strength. you achieve peace through strength, not peace through withdraw. i'm incredibly weary of vladimir putin. i think donald trump needs to be weary. i think rex tillerson needs to be weary. my guess is they actually will. they will look at the world in a very -- from a very realistic standpoint and proceed accordingly. >> so for the record, you are among those alarmed that a long time adversary of this country apparently reached into our election process electronically? >> listen, i'm concerned about russian activities around the world. invasion of crimea. georgia. ukraine. i'm highly concerned about the aggressive attitude of vladimir putin if russia. but it's been aggressive because we have shown weakness, lack of resolve, not as economically strong as we should be. donald trump is all about strengtheni

for theeady to work benefit of russia. we generally care about russia. this is what we have rallied around. to people expect that equal opportunity will be provided for everybody and will be able to fulfill themselves. their entrepreneurial undertakings, they expect us to respect their freedom, their rights, and so on. this is a universal principle .nd we have strongly defended and we have been successful but we should also guarantee our same rights inside our country for every individual and the entire society in general. any kind of discrimination when is perceived very strongly about our people. this is what makes our culture so special. we reject any kind of selfishness, and whoever comes from. our people are highly ethical we care and we're ready to listen. we returned to the mixed mode for electing the state duma. this was supported by the nation. the direct democracy, competition and electoral the policy this is we want to pursue and we will continue with that. the state duma has increased its role as a representative body. and the reputation of l

, rather than russia? >> well, that would be a huge mess. you know, one hopes it doesn't come to that. there are a lot of questions here that haven't been answered, even by the president's press conference today. and i think one of those questions that just has to be asked is, you know, should he have acted more forcefully back in september? more publicly back in september? what impact would that have had? and i'm not sure we got the answer to that question today. >> and yamiche, you know, i think a big question that's hanging over the entire proceedings is about the fbi. the fbi suddenly has signed on to the idea that the russians are behind the hack, something the cia assessment said back in october and november. we know that the white house did announcement. they made that announcement, unfortunately, the most definitive announcement came on the same day as the "access hollywood" tape came out on october 7th. but the question is now, per your reporting, is jim comey in any kind of hot water here? this i

the cia and the fbi both believe that russia was behind it. nor does people in russia, but it. nor does people in russia, but it is believed that it was directed at the highest levels of russian government. president obama says he will release a report containing all the information over the next few days, but that is what has led up to this action. president obama warned vladimir putin in october that he would not accept any interference in us democracy and today in the last hour, he has announced his retaliation. he will expel 35 russian officials from washington and san francisco. we understand that those officials, who have been described as diplomats, may also work in the intelligence sphere. the state department has described them as persona non grata. they say they we re as persona non grata. they say they were acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic or consular status. in addition, they are closing two russian compounds, one in new york and one in maryland. these actions are not taken by president obama just because of what he described as malicious cyber

that he will coddle russia, ric reach out to russia and do everything he can to keep the united states from understanding what involvement russia had in our elections. it's shameful. >> to speculate that he will placate to russia when we have eight years. >> he already has. >> ladies, ladies, it's a heated conversation. thank you so much for sharing your time with us. >> thank you, boris. >> thank you, boris. >>> next, deadly 0 terror attacks. dozens are dead. details on what happened next. (vo) it's the holidays at verizon, and the best deals are on the best network. with no surprise overages, you can use your data worry free and even carry over the data you don't use. and right now get four lines and 20 gigs for only $40 per line. you'll even get the samsung galaxy s7, the pixel phone by google, or the motoz droid for only $10 per month. hurry, these offers end soon. get the best deals and the best network, only on verizon. asmy family tree,ing i discovered a woman named marianne gaspard... it was her french name. then she came to louisiana as a slave. i became curious where in afric

he does massive deals in russia. does massive deals -- not for himself, but for the company. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was president-elect trump speaking about exxonmobil ceo, rex tillerson, who nbc news reported over the weekend, is expected to be named as trump's, and the country's's secretary of state, perhaps in a day or two. the choice of tillerson could ignite the first showdown between trump and members of his own republican party up on capitol hill. tillerson's close business ties to russia and trump's own reluctance to criticize putin but instead takes shots at u.s. intelligence officials is concerning, to put it lightly to the republican party. a tillerson pick comes amid the uproar reports that russia intervened to help trump win. because of exxonmobil's working relationship with the russian government, tillerson was given russia's order of friendship decoration. there he is getting the award in 2012. florida senator marco rubio tweeted, being a friend of sl d vladimir is not an attribute i'm hop

bogachev is believed to be in russia. we have no extradition agreement with russia, so it would be tough to get him back in the best of circumstances let alone the circumstances we're now in with our relationship with russia. so this is going to be difficult for either of these two individuals to be brought back to the u.s. to face charges that they've already been charged or indicted with, and obviously now they're implicated in a major hack involvement in the u.s. election. >> i think you're right. good luck getting them back if they are in russia. >>> time now for a quick check of the headlines at the half hour. recapping our top story, the obama administration imposing sanctions on russian officials and that country's intelligence services over its alleged interference in the u.s. election. the u.s. also moving to kick out 35 russian intelligence officers from this country, also shutting down two russian compounds, one in new york, one in maryland. russian president vladimir putin spokesman saying a short time ago mos

officials and senators secretly that when russia hacked the e-mails of russia's campaign chair and the dnc, when they fed that information to the u.s. public via wikileaks, it wasn't some chaos plan to make americans wonder about the integrity of the election system. they weren't trying to make us feel ughy about voting. they weren't trying to make us feel that our democracy was shaky and vulnerable. they were overtly trying to win the american election for donald trump. okay. so that's one. here's the other part. and i said stick a pin in that sourcing stuff there for a reason. it's always important to pay attention to the sourcing, but particularly on stories like this. obviously the reporters a t "the washington post" aren't going to tell us who their sources are and we would never ask them to, but they do describe them. they describe the officials they're talking to and their sources for the story as, various throughout the story, officials briefed on the the matter or u.s. officials or at one point, like i said, stick a pin in it. a senior u.s. official briefed on an intelligence

against russia. we have full coverage of this. nbc's ron allen at the white house, hans nichols at the pentagon. ron, let me start with you. i know this hasn't been announced yet, but lay out the nuts and bolts of what you think you'll see this afternoon. >> reporter: we think we'll hear sanctions. the question is, who will they be directed at? what exactly will they be? russia is already facing a number of sanctions because of its invasion of ukraine, crimea. the administration, president obama, has said that this hack and leak operation was directed, orchestrated by the most senior members of the russian government. he has all but named vladimir putin himself as being behind this, saying that not much happens in russia without vladimir putin being involved. the question is, will they try to sanction the russian president, his inner circle? will they even rereal exactly what they're doing? also, there's a big question about what proof they will provide without revealing how they discovered this information. revealing -- or compro

sanctions against russia. here's the tweet. he said great move on delay by putin i always knew he was very smart. >> national outrage after that vermont utility company found the russian hacking malware on one of its computers is continuing to have ripple effects. although, it was not connected to the company's electrical grid system, it still exposes the nation's vulnerability to foreign threat. what were the russians intending to do here? cnn's polo sandviloval has more details. >> they're confident the russian hack did happen. the utility company here, burlington electric reporting the malware was located on one of their laptop computers. it was discovered after they received a warning from the obama administration and the department of homeland security warning them this could happen. the warning was about cyber threats. specifically. what the government refers to as a step was found on the laptop computer. that happens to be the same malicious software that was allegedly used by russian hackers to influence the election th

could his fate be tied to russia and putin? >> he said he doesn't believe those intelligence findings on russian hacking but at what cost? >>> the 45th and future president has put off the announcement about his plans for the family business. "the 11th hour" begins now. >>> and good monday evening from our new york headquarters. tomorrow will put us just 38 days from inauguration day for the new 45th president who tonight said on twitter he will announce his pick for secretary of state tomorrow morning. nbc news then confirmed mitt romney got the call tonight, the call from donald trump telling him he would not be getting the job. he said, quote, it was an honor to be considered as secretary of state of our great country. and breaking just moments ago, two sources now telling nbc news that exxon mobil ceo will get the job of secretary of state. rex tillerson has ties around the world, especially russia, where tillerson once ran companies. he knows many people well, he knows putin well. the press has come in roaring with the new

we talk about russia, russia's role in this was so important that it was russia that approached turkey, which is another country in the region that has interest in syria and together russia and turkey were able to establish a cease-fire and set up some kind of framework for a peace moving forward and we know there will be peace talks in a month or so, russia, turkey, iran and syria will be at the table and the kremlin offering specifically president-elect donald trump a seat at the table if donald trump wants it. completely bypassing president obama and that gives you an indication of obama's legacy in syria which, unfortunately, hasn't been all that positive. >> mohammad lila, thank you so much in istanbul. >>> next, two russian compounds on u.s. soil have been effectively shut down in the wake of the obama administration's sanctions against russia. are these buildings essentially spy headquarters in the u.s.? plus, 35 russians being expelled. we will discuss next. ah...still sick, huh? i'll take it from here. i'm good. i just took new mucinex clear and cool. ah! what's this sudden co

sanctions on russia. can we logically conclude that if he is secretary of state, all of that changes? >> no, we cannot. because undoing those sanctions would be big. it would be huge. those sanctions are not just economic. they were designed because of russia's actions in annexing crimia and incursions, military incursions into ukraine to change russia's behavior which went way beyond economics. they're the only tool, really, that the united states and the europeans at this point felt that they could use. but, you know, i think this whole debate is a theme that we have to watch very carefully because all the relationship with russia is not just a big deal in economic deal. it goes a lot further. it goes into let's say values and geopolitical relations and these are all very important. so, you can't just go in there and try to do like a rug deal at a market. >> jill dougherty, clarissa ward, thank you very much. tweet us at new day or post your comment on facebook.com/newday. we're following a lot of news

diplomats in russia. that's what it seems of the 35 expulsions declaring of the 35 diplomats here in the state from russia. and the back end of it, there is a little bit of a defense and there is a clear csigma phi epsil epsilon -- and helping u.s. cyber security firm protecting america institutions and individuals. it gives you a reminder of ronald reagan and a bear being in the woods. grizzlies' steps what i say they are calling it. >> i won't attempt to pronounce some of these men. what do we know about these four men? >> they are all associated with the g ru. we ha gru. all four of them are involved. o he's the one that we had the fbi poster from. he was involved allegedly in some cyber mouth phases, he was indicted in nebraska and that's where they brought tg case forward and allegations is up to 100 million loss property. he's been in the fbi's list for some time. the reward for him is $3 million. >> to be clear that picture, that's one of the gentlemen named. we did not have pictures of the other t

but russia had success here. whether or not they wanted trump to win, certainly causes ripples in the american election process and had success in other countries in western and eastern europe. it's view of u.s. intelligence officials this is going to continue. why wouldn't it? because from russia's perspective, it works. >> thanks jim. bring in the panl. van jones. monica langley. kailee mcenny and dpsh strt with a monica. new reporting on the view of the hacking story. you were at trump tower today. what are you hearing? >> my understanding is that some within the transition team advising him believe he is concerned about it. but late today i spoke to someone else said spending zero time worried about the russian hacking and all his time on choosing best cabinet possible and bringing back good paying american jobs. so they're saying look, whatever will happen with the russian hacking has happened. and that he's not focused on that. what he's focused on is getting the cabinet and jobs. and what he's ticked off a

on the broader issue of going after russia, punishing russia, deterring russia, we ought to do everything we can as democrats to work with republicans and put together the strongest sanctions bill possible and send it to the president. he may or may not sign it. none the hesstheles nonetheless, the steps this president took are an important first step but not ultimately to deter the russians. >> you've been pushing for these kinds of steps for quite some time. did president obama wait too long? >> i think they. it would have been more powerful had it come earlier, in combination with allies, tough 20 put together in the last couple weeks of your office, but a these are significant steps none the less. i don't think it's superficial and i hope what the administration is doing covertly is more significant than what its doing overtly, and covert action, a bunch of alternatives involving exposing corruption in the kremlin, putin's only stashes of money around the world, these things are not easy to undo and would have a lasting impact. >> what evidence, though, do you have? do you believe tha

trump was involved with russia. i'm simply concerned russia was involved with our election when they shouldn't be. i'm not prepared to make accusations against another u.s. citizen without further evidence. the director of national intelligence can provide us whatever declassified facts he has and we can look at them and go from there. >> do you believe that russia tilted the election towards trump? >> well, i guess that's really the question, isn't it? we don't know. that's why i'm looking for a fact-based intelligence agency. when the report came out i was disappointed that mr. trump's first reaction was to defend russia instead of the cia and fact-based intelligence gathering like i would think any american president would. >> what would you say, mr. trump says this whole thing with russia has become politicized. it's just a push to delegitimize his election. what do you say to that? >> that's not my point. i'm interested in facts and whether or not a foreign government intruded on our elections, undermined our e

we've been criticized for not being harder on russia. we think something as significant as russia hacking into political organizations in the midst of our elections should invite a bipartisan response. that's what we'll continue to advocate. >> ben rhodes, thank you very much. thank you for being with us today. appreciate it. >> thanks, andrea. >>> coming up -- family business. how will donald trump separate his adult children and their involvement in the transition from their role in his businesses? that and a lot more with president obama's ethics czar next. ♪ see ya next year. this season, start a new tradition. experience the power of infiniti now, with leases starting at $319 a month. infiniti. empower the drive. >>> it's not like there's anything nefarious going on or sneaky or transparent. we've been very clear about the role of his family. >> sean spicer defending the inclusion of trump's three adult children at the meeting with silicon valley. joining us is norm eisen, former ethics czar. do you have a mrob with them being a p

we need to develop chess throughout russia. i really expect in your region, i really hope people will pay attention to chess. they will support the chessplayer you just mentioned and everybody who loves chess. as for sergei, he really played well but magnus carlsen is the top layer of our time. our chess player was good as well. he performed very well. he's a real fighter. i really believe that he will win sooner or later. >> what is your question about? first row please. >> thank you. to crimea and back. so, one of my colleagues here asked about this bridge, but there is no official name. some people call it the crimean bridge, the russian bridge. so, the question is which do you prefer? which would you suggest? and, again, back to stalingrad. the bridge is going to be completed very soon. what is the next big project here? president putin: well, as for the name, it is up to the people. perhaps you could do it in an opinion poll or referendum. the most important thing is to build it. naming is secondary. if you call it the cas

it proves that russia has got the upper hand. russia is winning and the west is losing on the middle east. this is the turning point. the west, there are a lot of cries saying we should do this, but you can't do anything. any intervention could drag us to a third world war. here, putin is determined to come back to the middle east strongly. it's not only syria, he will move to most of the region. now he's got, iran and iraq. syria, god know what will happen next. what will happen next in syria, it will be the battle of idlib. now, they have managed to gather those islamists, or the al-qaeda and isis members in idlib. now the next step that the russians and assad will say is they are terrorists and we want to get rid of them. if you want to intervene, you are supporting terrorists. because they separated the so—called moderate opposition or armed fighters from the radical one, the islamist one so that islamists, most of them, go to idlib. this is the next battle. the choice for the west in aleppo, you have to choose. either assa

between turkey and russia. so, yes, there are comments saying maybe the relations may be worsening after this incident, but they are stronger comments about this issue saying that turkey and russia will be co—operating more on syria with that incident. there is an important meeting tomorrow which i think is still going ahead. exactly. the russian, iranian and turkish foreign ministers are going to meet together in moscow, russia's capital. while this incident was happening, the turkish foreign minister was on a plane and going to russia for that meeting. these foreign ministers will be talking about the syrian issue tomorrow. that meeting will go ahead on tuesday and is expected to focus on syria. diplomats agreed a deal last week to evacuate parts of eastern aleppo where thousands of civilians and rebel fighters have been trapped. thousands remain. here's our middle east editorjeremy bowen. throughout the war, turkey has been on the other side, backing the rebels. the protests were organised, but it could be

the us must make sure russia pays the price. russia asks the un security council to consider a new resolution to endorse the ceasefire in syria that came into force last night. a post—mortem examination into the cause of george michael's death has proved "inconclusive" — further tests will now be carried out. drivers are told to take care in fog and freezing conditions, as a coach overturns on the mao in oxfordshire injuring seventeen people. good evening and welcome to bbc news. us president—elect donald trump has described president vladimir putin as "very smart" after russia said it would not yet be expelling any american diplomats in a row over cyber espionage. the obama administration has ordered 35 russian diplomats to leave, accusing moscow of interfering in the us presidential election by hacking into democratic party emails. the kremlin has denied any involvement and mr putin said he looked forward to rebuilding links with america when donald trump takes office next month. our moscow correspondent steve rozenberg

ambassador to russia, michael mcfall. on the air tonight with our own joy reed, he laid out what he thinks the obama white house should do now and why this matters to donald trump. >> one, declassify as much information as possible. that is in the president's power. the more facts we know before january 20th, the better. and two, he should endorse the idea that some members of congress have put out now for a bipartisan, independent commission, a 911-like commission to investigate this. by the way, i think president-elect trump himself has an interest in getting to the bottom of this, because if we don't, moving forward, every time he does some policy with respect to russia, critics are going to be saying that's because they stole the election for him. >> now, also tonight, the former independent presidential candidate, former cia operations officer evan mcmullen, issued a call to action, saying members of congress have to respond. >> this is what russia does to undermine democracies in europe. now they're doing it in the

rebuilding russia. why would he want to destabilize the very people he needs technology, investment and nuclear security from? it makes no sense. >> sir, critics make the case that he is trying to weaken, perhaps, nato, to try to impose his will in, you know, the baltic area, in ukraine, in syria. you don't feel like that's part of his agenda, to try to perhaps enforce his will in these places and weaken anyone that might challenge him? >> all right. ukraine is a separate issue. if we leave that aside for a moment, why would russia, putin, want to take over the baltic countries, those little countries, estonia, latvia and lithuania? putin can barely pay pensions in russia. is he going to pay the pensions in those countries? this is preposterous. what putin does not want, and no russian president would want this, are nato military bases on russia's borders. keep in mind, please, because it's never reported here, that nato, having built up in the baltics, the countries you mentioned, can hit st. petersbu

from russia. that's in response to the new round of u.s. sanctions against russia announced late yesterday by the obama administration from moscow's alleged interference in the u.s. presidential election. >> we've been clear all along. there will be consequences. we will respond at a time and place of our choosing and that's what you're seeing done today. >> donald trump also weighing in this morning saying he will be meeting with intelligence officials about the matter next week. we've got the best team of reporters in the biusiness following all the angles with the late breaking details. we start with pentagon correspondent hans nichols. first, mr. putin

sanctions against russia, which were levied against russia after it annexed crimea in 2014. so, that is significant. he has been outspoken and saying those sanctions were wrong and, of course, the question now is, would he try in some sense to repeal them? now, today we heard from the kremlin who had something to say about tillerson, which in and of itself is highly unusual. normally the kremlin would not comment on somebody, especially before this person had been officially announced. what the kremlin said was this, they praised tillerson and said he's very professional and then said, quote, as to whether or not he's friendly to russia, there's a huge difference between being a secretary of state and being a ceo of a big corporation. all sympathies must take a backseat. at the same time, the fact the kremlin wrote this statement and came out and voiced its opinion about tillerson is, i think, indicative of the fact that they are cautiously optimistic and, indeed, enthusiastic about the possibility of tillerson as secretary of state, primarily because they want to see those

this is very indicative of russia what they've done across the balkans, all through the area and russia. this has been an issue for them and consistent with what they typically do. they try to destabilize every other country by making those countries believe their election is not real. >> the president-elect has been briefed by security experts, he gets these daily briefings. you saw in the "time" magazine interview, he doesn't necessarily think russia has interfered. >> there's two different sets of information and different rumors out there. russia is reaching in, i have no question about trying to find the ways they're interfering. also, there's rumor that russia was hacking into our election systems. absolutely no evidence for that. there's this whole line that continues to go out, saying russia hacked into our elections and affected the voting. there is no evidence for that, but that line keeps being repeated. whether that's what trump is talking about, i don't know. >> you do believe the russians were responsible for the hacking of the democratic national convention, for the g-mai

against russia over its atte m pts to measures against russia over its attempts to influence the 2016 election by hacking the democratic national convention. the american president said the activities could only have been directed by the highest levels of the russian government. but moscow denies the allegations, saying the sanctions are both unlawful and that they will harm the restoration of ties between the us and russia. the obama called the us and russia. the obama called the tough measures and appropriate response to efforts to harm us interests. 35 russian diplomats will be expelled, or suspected of being intelligence operatives. with their families, they will have 72 hours to leave america. two russian compounds, the white house believes we re compounds, the white house believes were used for intelligence gathering in maryland and new york, will be closed. sanctions are also being levied against russia's two leading intelligence services, the gr eu and fsb. four top russian officers will be targeted for allegedly ordering the attacks. mr obama has said washington will also pro

and rex tillerson of his ties to russia and the possible interference by moscow. >> it could be russia -- i don't really think it is but who knows. >> the russians are not our friends. >> this is insane and in the same article. report was inconclusive. it is not as if their intimate friends, i think this is getting blown away out of proportions. >> when he gets his friendship from a buchter, it is an issue that needs to be examined. >> lets dive into this, kristen welker outside of trump tower and katy tur. lets start with this clear divide that we had between republicans on interference on this. why the president-elect trump is so against this u.s. intelligence. >> for one, this intelligence would under mind his credibility and his win and his fitness to be the president. that's why they are going so hard after this. they don't want anything questioning his legitimacy. they are trying to say politics and the media who have sour grapes and they don't like that donald trump won. they are going to make this a political thing to try to stop him from getting inaugurated. they are leaving o

massive deals in russia. nick: the billionaire turned to the selection process into a high-stakes version of "celebrity apprentice." names like rudy giuliani and mitt romney were paraded before the cameras. in the end, he opted for a fellow dealmaker, even though tillerson would be the first secretary of state without government or military experience. there is no shortage of global problems. battling the group calling itself islamic state, the wider tensions in china and perhaps taiwan, the nuclear deal with iran, which donald trump wants to renegotiate. and then there is resetting relations with the longtime adversary. >> i have a close relationship with him. i don't agree with everything he is doing. nick: some senior republicans are asking if the relationship is too cozy, especially after he opposed sanctions on moscow. another choice, rick perry as energy secretary. the one time presidential candidate will take charge of a department he is out to abolish, and once famously forgot. mr. perry: the third ag

russia is in there. russia is not going away. how do we move russia to bring down assad? >> you're not gonna. you're not gonna. it's not gonna happen. the thing that can happen is we can hope that we can bring the arabs to the table. they're concerned about iranian influence, and we can hope to negotiate over time an election process and hopefully a transition away from assad after years and years and years, but at this point, as i mentioned, chris, i mean, russia controls what is going to happen in that area. >> i agree. >> they took control about nine months ago. so that's -- the next president -- >> let's take a look at the next president. >> the next president is not -- he's not sullied by the lack of decisions that have been made, and now he's in a place where he can really focus, unfortunately, on the isis component only and not really, other than negotiations, what's happening in the west. >> he's advocated a stronger role from vladimir putin in isis and syria. >> if putin wants to go after isis, i am all for it 100%, and i can't understand why anybody would be aga

. >> personally, it could be russia. i don't really think it is, but who knows. i don't know either. they don't know and i don't know. >> cnn is covering all of the angles, working our sources in washington. in moscow, ryan is outside trump tower. as you heard us say earlier, one former cia director called these russian hacks on the u.s. system the political equivalent of 9/11. >> reporter: it's a comparison to not take lightly. despite concerns from the intelligence community and now a powerful group of republican senators, the president-elect remains uncon vinced that this alleged russian hack is a serious problem. tonight donald trump is ramping up a showdown over the alleged role russia may have played in the race for president. every major u.s. intelligence agency concluding that russia did in fact interfere with the election. >> i think it's ridiculous. i think it's just another excuse. i don't believe it. >> reporter: on sunday trump flatly told fox news that he does not believe the reports that the cia believes r

because russia doesn't exist as a person. have you ever met mr. russia or ms. russia? they're different leaders that have been in russia, and in the beginning of the obama administration, there was a different leader there. and during the heyday of the reset, when there was a closer relation, the united states and russia got a lot of big deals done, to paragraph the president-elect trump. that's when we got the start treaty done, sanctions done, when we got russia into the wto, when we opened up a new supply route to afghanistan through russia which decreased our dependency on pakistan so we could go after osama bin laden. in other words, we were doing very cooperative things, and by the way, at that time, two thirds of the american people and two thirds othrussian people thought we had a close, cooperative relationship. then something changed. two or three things changed. first of all, putin came back. he had a different view of the united states. but most importantly, and why the relationship deteriorating the way it did and i witnessed it as ambassador, was that rev