held in cuba for five years. we'll see you in an hour from now. ac 360 begins now. good evening, thanks for joining us. a very big night. a lot to report on tonight. president obama opening the door to cuba, closing the door on a century of cold war history and feeling the heat for it. we begin with the sony attackers to stop the movie about the north korean leader. theaters pull the movie. justice correspondent pamela brown joining us with the latest. what do we know about what u.s. officials have learned? >> reporter: it's really significant, anderson, that the u.s. is poised to attribute the sony hack and we're learning that that will happen. it could happen as early as tomorrow and we're learning the u.s. is expected to point the finger at north korea in this. my sources tell me that in early

december, there was a growing sense of confidence from within the government and within sony that north korea was responsible for this. sources say that the tactics, techniques, the procedures used as well as the motivation was right out of the north korean play book. some of the code was written in korean and part of the hack mimicked the same south korean banks last year. it was a growing sense that north korea was responsible. as this information was continuing, there was these closed door meetings with high level government officials about this issue. they were trying to decide, anderson, what to do. so they had the strong suspicion it's north korea. if we out them and point the finger at them, what are we going to do next? we'll soon find out what the decision is. we do believe according to our sources that the government will call out north korea. we're not quite sure, the last time, similar cases with the chinese military hackers and filed charges against them.

right now, we don't know what we're going to see from the department of justice when they make this announcement, anderson. >> thank you, pamela brown. cuba was the center of a crisis that could have ended the world as we know it. no hyping that. 52 years ago, the u.s. and soviet union came close to all-out nuclear war against cuba and both parties tried to isolate the country. john f. kennedy tried to kill the leader, fidel castro. after a year and a half of secret negotiations and an oval office meeting, president obama announced diplomatic relations with havana. he talked about the call. >> this last conversation was substantive. i was insistent that we would continue to promote democracy and human rights and speak out forcefully on behalf of the freedom of the people of cuba. >> president castro's brother,

fidel castro, is he aware of what happened? does he approve? >> i'm not sure. i don't know what fidel castro's health status is. that's not an issue that was raised during the conversation. >> the u.s. sending back three cuban spies held since 2001 and sending back an american agent after 20 years in prison there and the humanitarian gesture, an american aid contractor, allen gross, sentenced back in 2009 for allegedly plotting to destroy the revolution. new photos of his departure tonight. he singled out the cuban people but not the castro regime for praise. >> in no way are they responsible for the ordeal to which my family and i have been subjected. to me, cubanos are incredibly kind, generous and talented.

it pains me to see them treated so unjustly as two governments mutually belligerent policies. >> some of the policies will not be changes anytime soon and a lot of people fled the castro regime or no people under it want it to change. they think it's a bad idea. they're speaking up and promising president obama will pay a steep political price for making this deal. first, the latest from washington and havana. a full-time operation, patrick upton is there. what do we know about how and why this deal came together? >> reporter: this is not a lifting of the embargo. it is starting to thaw and the diplomatic deal is a result of secret talks going on with the communist nation that started nearly 18 months ago. june of last year. senior administration officials say most of these were in canada and led by deputy national

security advisor ben rhodes and the wheels were in motion, we should point out, when the president and fidel castro shook hands in south africa. one key sticking point remain and that was the imprisonment of alan gross in kuba and earlier this year, pope francis stepped in and urged these leaders to push the talks forward. the vatican welcomed officials to rome just last october. all of this happening, of course, with nobody really knowing about this except for the parties involved and as you said, mr. obama and raul castro hammered this out in the conversation last night. >> to what extent can congress stall this if not stop it altogether? >> reporter: congress is not as divided as it once was. the votes are not there to override the presidential veto, if they force the president's

hand. of course, he would veto it and probably not enough votes to override it. marco rubio said he would block any ambassador to cuba. the president is determined to put one there and wants to starve the administration of any kind of funding to open an embassy but what the administration said today and the white house press secretary said today, anderson, is that there's already a u.s. intrasection in havana. all they have to do is call at this point. >> u.s. remained all this time in havana there. most americans can't just book a trip to cuba. >> reporter: the travel ban is still in place. you need congress to overdo that. americans can't go book a trip to havana. you need a third party authorized by the federal government to arrange trips but the administration expanded the reasons why you can go to cuba. first, journalistic, religious,

and now it's about any reason if they can afford the price. at the same time, we should ask this. will americans be able to buy a cuban cigar in the united states in no, you have to bring cigars out of coup cuba. only $100 worth. there's these kwquirky restrictions in place. americans can travel just about anywhere in the world, but not 100% freely to cuba. they have to go to the travel agents authorized by the federal government. it's a step forward but not a total lifting of the embargo and the travel ban. >> they can use credit cards. thank you very much, jim acosta. you're in havana. what have people been saying today? >> reporter: there have been

celebrations. raul castro took to the air waves an unprecedented speech to the nation talking about the respect he felt to president obama, towards the necessity of a better relationship moving forward. the words his brother, fidel castro, never used, so cubans were taken aback by that and the prisoner swap, the 53 political prisoners that will be released here in cuba at the request of the u.s. and the need to set up an embassy in havana, replacing the u.s. intersection and setting cuban embassy in washington and the need for a closer relationship going forward. during this speech all around us, we heard bells tolling in the section of havana. you really got the sense that we were experiencing something

quite historic, anderson. what happens now, there will be ripple effects for months, if not years after today's events. and in a lot of ways, it will put the cuban government more in the hot seat. for 50 something years, they've blamed every economic this island has experienced on the u.s. embargo. it's still in place but lose some of the teeth and will the cuban economy pick up? will people's lives improve? they certainly expect that it will and now it's up to the cuban government more than ever to deliver that. >> also part of this deal, a loosening of rules on the internet usage in cuba, tightly controlled by this very tough regime. any word, we heard president obama saying he's not clear on the status of fidel castro, his health status, any updates on his whereabouts? >> reporter: no, no reaction from fidel castro. we have not seen any pictures of him since late august. it's just another sign that raul castro is running the show here.

fidel castro is a figurehead but no indications that he was involved and may not even have been aware of the deal. >> patrick from havana, thank you. political reaction is divided, not exclusively among party lines. new jersey senator robert menendez condemned the deal. senator nelson, a florida democrat called it a hallelujah day and hopefully a rebirth of economic ties between florida and cuba. but marco rubio strongly disagrees. >> this entire policy shift announced today is based on an illusion, on a lie. the lie and the illusion that more commerce and access to money and goods will translate to political freedom for the cuban people. all of this is going to do is give the castro regime which controls every aspect of cuban life the opportunity to manipulate these changes.

to perpetuate itself in power. >> this debate has been going on for decades. it's deeply personal. political commentator and gop strategist nevarro and senior western security affairs on the counsel. ana, you're critical of the agreement. to rubio's point, there's relationships with china and vietnam, why not with cuba? >> well, first of all, china and vietnam are not in the state-sponsored terrorism list as cuba has been. instructing secretary kerry to take them off. you know, anderson, part of it, yes, is internal politics. the bottom line is that there are a lot of cuban american victims who live in the united states and they have developed and flexed their political muscle. there are three cuban american senators serving in the u.s. senate. there are also u.s. congress

people in the u.s. congress on both parties and they stick together when it comes to this because it is so important to the first hand victims that they represent. >> dan, what do you say? you serve in the obama white house. what do you say to the charges this is essentially rewarding bad behavior, an oppressive regime? >> a failure in reaching goals isn't a reward to anybody. continuing the policy would have been a reward to those who it benefits. this is the u.s. being more relevant in the future of cuba and the people more relevant in the future of cuba. one thing i agree with marco rubio who deeply disagree is we need to see a free and democratic cuba. president obama said we haven't been successfully getting there with the policy we've been following for the last 55 plus years. let's try something different and let's try something that's been consistent with what marco rubio calls an illusion and a lie is the basis of democrat and

republican since the end of world war ii. the greater commerce, greater economic interaction is part of the path to opening societies that clearly don't want to be open. i'm under no illusions cuban authorities don't want to open up but playing the same game for 55 years isn't a way to achieve that. >> what do you say to that, 55 years has attempted to change the direction of the regime and failed to do that. >> if toppling the castro regime is the objective, that wasn't achieved but they've been on the ropes. a lot of the survival depends on venezuelan oil money is drying up and economy is in shambles. we've held it in place for 50 plus years. the cuban regime, two castro brothers since january 1st, 1959. over half a century. we are a lot closer to the end than we are to the beginning and

so now when we are so close to the end of the castros, the end of that regime, whuchbt seen fidel castro react because if he's alive, he's too weak or too senile to know this just happened and react. now that we are so close to the end of those two dictators who have oppressed these people for over half a century, now we're going to change and do it unilaterally without them lifting the oppression? >> ana, what sign do you see though, obviously fidel son his last legs but raul castro is in charge. it doesn't seem the transfer there was any weakening of the state, the central power. what makes you think even if raul castro was to go, the policies wouldn't continue? >> you know, i think, anderson, that the cuba regime, the castro regime is very fidel-centric. very castro-centric.

when it disappears, i think it will weaken the government tremendously because so many people, it's the cult of fidel. the same way it was the cult of chavez and we have seen meduro is nowhere near as capable of keeping that government under control in venezuela and let's face it. raul castro is pretty elderly himself. they're both in their 80s. >> dan, how hard is it for president obama to move forward this? i mean, you have marco rubio saying he'll block funding for cuban embassy and hold up an ambassador role. >> i think it's important to disassociate those two things. the u.s. intersection is the largest diplomatic gathering in the country. it's housed in the building that was the u.s. embassy before we broke off diplomatic relations, so the notion you're going to shut that operation down when, really, what you're doing is changing the sign on the door is

one that doesn't square up with reality that much. marco rubio can make a ambassador confirmed but the united states has incredibly ranked career foreign services officer, when we normalize, he'll become sergeant of the affairs. when you don't have a confirmtive ambassador to run the operation, and it's important to those who visit the island on a regular basis. 300,000 visiting cuba since the president changed his policy in 2009. they should be afforded the same diplomat diplomatic. >> thank you, i appreciate it. you can watch 360 at 8:00 p.m. eastern and whenever you like. set your dvr and you're good to go. up next, former president jimmy carter with his take on what happened today and later, we

look closer at what jim acosta touched on. the behind the scenes role fidel castro played on communist cuba. ♪soft holiday music ]♪ can you help me up? [ snow intensifies ] [ sleighbells ring in the distance ] aleve. all day pain relief with just 2 pills. get back to being you.

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kuba and the united states have a whole lot of history between them. >> reporter: january, 1959. the world meets fidel castro

when the young revolutionary leads an armed revolt against filencis batista. he met u.s. vice president richard nixon. but relations that started with this handshake quickly soured when in 1960, all u.s. businesses in cuba were nationalized without compensati compensation. in response, the u.s. blocked off relations and a trade embargo. went downhill from there. >> i, john fitzgerald kennedy, solemnly swear. >> reporter: john f. kennedy. attempted to overthrow castro in the bay of pigs invasion. president kennedy moved forward with attempts to destabilize the cuban government with attempts to assassination castro with a poison pen. in october 1962, the missile crisis. fearing an invasion from the

u.s., allowed soviet missiles on the soil causing panic. u2 spy plane spotted built by the soviet union. the showdown of the united nations, u.s. demanded their removal. >> it will be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile, launch from cuba or against any nation in the western hemisphere as an attack. >> reporter: the soviet union blinked and the missiles were removed. almost two decades later in 1980, the cuban government allowed people to leave the country without a permit. nearly 125,000 cubans fled the island and arrived by boat 90 miles away in florida. at first, the u.s. welcomed the refugees but the sheer numbers overwhelmed facilities and stopped giving them acsyluasylu. boiled again around a 6-year-old boy named elian gonzalez rescued off the coast of florida with his family fleeing cuba.

in 2000, armed federal agents seized gonzalez from his family in miami returning him to cuba to be with his father. he arrived back home a national hero. tensions began to thaw with the election of president barack obama in 2008. the new president lifted travel restrictions for family members to cuba and the nelson mandela memorial, leader of cuba leader shook hands. by phone, jimmy carter tried to ties with havana. what do you say to the critics who say this is basically rewarding a repressive dictatorship and giving up leverage the united states might have had with cuba? >> well, the agreement is not supposed to help the cuban dictators and it doesn't. it helps the cuban people and the american people in the long-term. when i was a president, as you

just mentioned, we started the diplomatic relations process and we established major intersections in both havana an we had diplomats serves in the intersection of havana. i think that will continue no matter what happens. the normal diplomatic relations will continue and i hope congress goes ahead to remove the embargo and the sanctions because that doesn't hurt the castro brothers. it hurts the people of cuba who had to suffer because of our own imposed economic sanctions. i think this is a good move for both cubans and americans and a major step forward for more freedom and more democracy and respect for human rights in cuba as well. >> critics of this say, as you know, if it alleviates the economic pressure against the regime though, that, effect, helps the cuban people and does

help the dictatorship because it allows, i mean, if it improves their economy, that does benefit the regime, no? >> well, in a country where we impose sanctions, it's almost impossible to imagine that the dictators themselves or immediate staff or their top friends will be suffering economically. they've got all they want. i've been to the home of raul castro and also fidel castro in the last few years and they're not suffering at all. but 11 million people of cuba suffer. we have a lot of farmers in georgia who have been going down to cuba under tight restrictions to sell corn and chickens and other things to the cuban people. this will help american farmers. it will help the average cuban and also lead towards better respect for human rights, in my opinion, as we have a flood of american citizens and letting cuban people what democracy really means. >> senator marco rubio today made the point that this is

basically sending a message to any dictatorship that they can illegally arrest, inappropriately arrest an american, hold them prisoner and ultimately get some sort of concessions from the u.s. government. >> i watched it on television. what he said was absolutely rekick lour ridiculous. there's no logic to criticize what president obama did. this is a wise and courageous thing for president obama to do and in my opinion, long overdue. in my time in the white house, we would have had diplomatic relationships there and maintained since 1979 in havana and in washington. >> do you see, i mean, it's interesting. obviously, you know fidel and raul castro. raul, how does he compare? is he hard lined as fidel castro, do you see any efforts

or willingness of this regime by raul castro to really effect change towards democracy? >> people in cuba still really respect and revere almost fidel castro but there's no doubt under raul's presidency, there have been a lot of openness and reforms implemented in cuba, particularly, economic in nature. a lot of things are permitted in cuba now that were not permitted as long as fidel was in office. so i think with raul, this is what he told me personally and all the visitors is he's looking for an opportunity to open up cuba step by step. i think that's what we have to expect. >> as you said, most of the changes under raul castro have been economic. i think they can sell cars to each other, they can sell even property to each other, though not necessarily i think to foreigners, not 100% on that, but in terms of loosening the binds under which the cuban people live, internet use has

obviously been restricted though under this apparently it's lifted somewhat. do you believe that they will be willing to move towards a greater openness? >> well, i wouldn't expect anything right away. raul already announced he's going to step down in a few years. i don't know exactly how long, but there's no doubt the cuban people will be much more inclined towards openness in government as they have this greatly increased contact with visiting americans and others around the world. as a matter of fact, american citizens right this moment, deprived of the right, a human right to travel where we want to go. we're the only ones who can't go to cuba. anywhere else in the world, you can go to cuba. this has been a restraint on americans as well as it has been on the cubans. >> former president jimmy carter, thank you very much for your time. i appreciate you being with us. >> thank you.

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decision to reestablish diplomatic ties with cuba. the secret talks that led up to it and the role behind the scenes pope francis played a role revealed today. >> those who supported our efforts, thank you. and his hoeliness pope francis whose moral example shows the importance of pursuing the world as it should be rather than settling the world as it is. >> he calls him, quote, the real deal.

here to talk is father thomas reese, senior analyst. pope francis wrote letters to president obama and raul castro, there was a diplomatic meeting in october. do you know how this played out behind the scenes? >> well, it all began last january when john kerry visited the vatican and personally asked the vatican for its help in getting alan gross free. and then president obama, when he came to the vatican in march followed up followed up on that. and eventually the pope wrote a letter to both presidents, president of cuba and president of the united states encouraging them to resolve this issue. >> and hearing not only president obama but also raul castro today thanking pope francis in their speeches, it underscores the significance of

this and the influence of this pope. >> this pope wants to be a bridge builder. that's what the name pontiff means. he wants to build bridges between the u.s. and cuba, between israelis and palestinians. he wants to work for peace. which is, of course, an obligation of every christian to work for justice and peace in the world. that's what we're called by the gospel to do and the pope has a very unique position and opportunity to do this and this pope is going to do this. >> it's interesting when you look at the history of involvement with popes in cuba. pope benedict in 2012. do you think the fact that pope francis is the first latin american pope played a role in all of this? >> certainly, he was familiar with the issues coming from latin america. and i am sure his concern for what's happening in the western hemisphere is a priority for him. he was more than happy to work on this.

pope john paul ii called for cuba to be open to the world and the world to be open to cuba. and that was a very clear signal to both cuba and the united states to work on this. and, you know, the pope is really responding to the concerns of the bishops in cuba who would like to see diplomatic relations restored and especially to see the embargo ended. >> father thomas, thank you very much for being on. >> you're welcome. coming up on breaking news tonight, u.s. investigators telling cnn that north korea is responsible for the hacking attack on sony. this is after the company cancelled the release of the movie that started it all, new details next. it works how you . with a fidelity investment professional... or managing your investments on your own. helping you find new ways to plan for retirement. and save on taxes where you can. so you can invest in the life that you want today. tap into the full power of your fidelity greenline.

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news. sources say federal authorities are preparing to announce north korea is behind the sony hacking attacks and those threats against u.s. movie theaters. now, today, sony pictures pulled the upcoming movie the interview saying it has no plans for its release in the future. the comedy about the plot to kill kim jong-un was set for release on christmas day and the largest theater chain earlier decided not to show the movie because of the threats. president obama tonight said for now, the recommendation is to go to the movies. back with us is pamela brown. we learned the u.s. might make a formal announcement basically

accusing north korea tomorrow? >> reporter: it could come early as tomorrow we hear from sources but talking to folks in the government tonight, the sense i get is that they're trying to figure out how to make this announcement. it's very difficult to make attribution but sources say they're very confident that north korea was behind the sony hack. they say in the techniques used, the tools, the procedures, the motivation here. all clues pointing towards north korea. early december, i was told that's when u.s. investigators really felt it was north korea. but again, it's not necessarily what you know, it's what you can prove. right now, i think u.s. officials under this mounting pressure to make an announcement are trying to figure out how they can lay out the case, a credible case, to prove this is why we think it's north korea. that's what they're working on right now. this has been an extraordinary case. the fact they've done this just in a few weeks sun heard of.

look at the chinese hacking case, that took years. this is just a few weeks. >> is it clear if north korea did this alone or outsourced the job? >> reporter: well, there's a lot of speculation that they outsourced it to perhaps another group, a criminal gang or whether or not this was emanating from what's called bureau 121. a group in north korea where the country poured resources into it and they're believed to be behind the side or attack against south korean banks last year. at this point, we don't have clarity on exactly who the u.s. government has pinpointed to be behind this. whether this is coming from hackers within north korea under the direction of the north korean government or whether this was outsourced to another group in perhaps another country, anderson. >> remarkable developments today. pamela brown, thank you very much. cyber security expert jim lewis for technologies program. thank you for being with us.

i want to ask about the breaking news cnn learned, prepared to name as a sony hacker. a, does it surprise you and how savvy are they? >> it's not a big surprise. the north koreans are the one who stood most to benefit and they've been investing in these kind of cyber capabilities for about 20 years. it's been a concern for their leadership. they've had a few thousand people who can do it and four or five big attacks against south korea. they've done something against the u.s. it's always been the case that this is what they wanted to do. >> these hackers threatening a 9/11 type attack if the movie was actually released in theaters, are they actually capable of anything like that? how serious do you believe that threat of violence really is? >> north korea loves bombastic threats and if you look at their propaganda videos online, it will show you them nuking

washington and sinking aircraft carriers. they love threats. they hardly ever carry them out. in this case, they do not have the capability to carry out a cyber 9/11. they've improved remarkably. four years ago, they could not do what they could today but no country is at a point of a cyber 9/11. >> what does a cyber 9/11 entail? shutting down or attacking the energy facilities? >> that's why i don't like the term because what you're talking about is blackouts or interfering with pipelines, maybe interfering with financial systems. we've seen that people can't use their atms and it's a disconnect. turning out the lights, that would make people unhappy. but it's hard to do much more than that. koreans have gotten better in the last few years but not the point they could do real damage. >> and how capable are other countries or other actors of doing that kind of thing, turning out the lights or atm

machines at this point? >> we have four countries that are principal opponents in cyberspace. russia, iran, crhina and north korea. they won't do it until they have cause to. the chinese are also good but unlikely to attack us outside of the military conflict. iran has been the most worrisome until the korean incident because they have probed infrastructure, they have looked at energy companies. they thought about turning off the lights and of course, they were responsible for this ramco attack last year. north korea has come up fast in the rankings but not top of the league. >> would north korea have to outsource a job like this in some way? >> probably not because to outsource, you'd have to go to the russians or maybe iranians and those keeps tight control over their hacker groups.

only if they decided they were willing to risk a fight with the u.s. would they let someone support north korea, so probably not. >> it's interesting a country like north korea which limits the internet and restricts it so much would have armies of hackers even if it's a few hundred people capable of such a sophisticated attack. >> i used to kid we didn't have to worry about north korea because it's hard to be a hacker power when you don't have electricity, but they've poured resources into this field. they probably have a few thousand potential hackers. it's interesting. i.t. has been a growth goal for the north koreans. they even allow a few private north korean companies to subcontract for european firms. this is a place they've done a lot of work. >> that's fascinating. jim louis, thank you very much for your work. >> thank you. ahead, a look at the crime scene of a pakistan school where 132 children were massacred

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the terror attack in pakistan. difficult pictures to look at today. for the first time, we see inside the school in peshawar at the scene. left heart ache and a scene of carnage we warn you is hard to watch. nic robertson reports. >> reporter: tumbled chairs. concrete chewed apart by bullets, few children in the classrooms could dodge. evidence of the craven attack is everywhere. floors still soaked in the blood of the innocents. this town is drenched in grief. funeral after funeral. most between 12 and 16 years old, many buried in the uniforms. smaller they are, the heavier to carry one official said. education in this impoverish town of 3 million is everything. no one saw this coming.

survivors wonder how they made it through. >> translator: in the locker room, they believed we were dead but two students caught their attention so they shot them in the head to make sure they were dead. >> translator: six entered the hall. some died on the spot and others were injured. >> reporter: vigils are lighting up across the country. sympathy is strong and so is condemnation of the taliban. it is rarely this universal and rarely this visceral. these men, some of them seemingly young as their victims are attackers according to taliban saying they planned and coordinated every murderous step the gunman took classroom to classroom. brutality becoming clear.

inside the school, a burnt office. a 28-year-old woman, an office assistant, not just shot but set alight here too. too horrific for words. >> nic, this is just such a sickening attack. what's the latest? >> reporter: well, the army is saying that it's continuing the defense against the taliban. the death penalty has been reinstated by the prime minister today against terrorists. in peshawar today, the city, as we saw there, still in absolute shock. the schools have been closed. but the recriminations are growing. today, you had the army chief of staff going to afghanistan to say, hey, we've got to work together better on the taliban against the taliban and at the same time, the prime minister saying this was planned from bases inside afghanistan. taliban themselves saying, not so. that everything was done, planned, and prepared here inside pakistan. so this is what's happening at the moment. >> nic robertson, thank you very

much. well, ending on a lighter note, we've got the ridiculist coming up. we'll be right back. pro 3. mac: hey what's that, is it a kickstand? surface: touchscreen too, it's pretty slick, man. mac: it comes apart i see. surface: it's got a usb. mac: i think i like your surface pro 3. surface: no seriously where can i get one. which means it's timeson for the volkswagen sign-then-drive event. for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta... and the 2015 motor trend car of the year all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season... just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models.

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twaz the weak before ridiculist and not stirring except for two little boys determined to get a hold of santa. >> try to call santa.

>> what did you actually dial? >> 9-1-1. >> went to moms wondering, who should appear but a police officer because the kids just called 9-1-1. >> is this a life-threatening emergency? and i said no, the kids trying to call santa. >> the kids did not get santa on the phone but a tour of the police station and a lesson about when to call the police. here's a good way to remember this time of year. if it's stalking related, yes. christmas stocking related, no. >> never have i heard of a 9-1-1 call in an attempt to reach santa claus. the unfortunate thing is the north pole is out of our jurisdiction. >> meanwhile, in pennsylvania, it was a tree emergency got a town called redding in an up roar. pulled up the scraggly yuletide specimen. maybe not deck the halls with bows of fudly this year. >> it's nasty, it's pathetic and shouldn't have it. >> this is incredible. i'm glad they're paying a homage

to charlie brown. >> if it was a squirrel looking for a place in the winter, it wouldn't go into the tree. >> it does look pitiful. very sad. >> i'm concerned you couldn't get a better tree. >> ugly looking. >> david wouldn't hang on the tree. >> there was a fair amount of criticism around the kroim tree and was going to take it down but went full charlie brown and decorated it with one ornament. >> three, two, one. >> i like the tree. i like the charlie brown christmas tree. but didn't it like, droop? i've only seen one other tree this year better than that one. look at this, for 27 years now, sherry in california has bolted her christmas tree to the ceiling. as you can see, she's the only one we know whose presents are over the tree. it takes about six hours to do this and sends the picture to cnn because, quote, anderson

cooper is so hot. that doesn't really make any sense. let's cool things off a little bit, shall we? women dress up as an abominable snow monster and watch her poodle. of course. why wouldn't she do that? the sight brings joy to children and adults alike. oh, yeah. i'm sure that's the reaction of every child. joy, not freak out screaming. that would have been my reaction as a child. wow. it's like some nightmare christmas. also, apparently, some words of christmas wisdom are brought out. >> love all, care about all, beyond holidays. >> okay. that is the most frightening thing i have seen all year. can we play that again? because that's like, i mean,

that's like from the horror movie. >> love all, care about all, beyond holidays. >> okay, i will! i will love all beyond holidays, monster christmas monster! just go away with your poodle. i feel bad for the poodle. sweet little dogment well, with that, i say merry ridiculist to all and to all a good night. a reminder to vote for favorite ridiculist at ac360.com and we'll count down on air. another edition of 360 for the latest on cuba and cnn live for a special report with erin burnett coming up. snoo snoovp. we learn the fbi and justice department