somebody foolishly is bragging about this. >> all right. we have an awful lot to talk to you about this morning. >> next hour of your "new day" starts right now. ♪ >> it was an unprecedented cyberattack ordered by senior russian leadership on the u.s. election. trump repeatedly praised russia during his campaign. >> two of trump's most high profile and most loyal supporters are no longer in the running for jobs. >> perhaps the most significant development here, something that many people had been waiting for that confession video of dylann roof -- >> i went to that church in charleston. i did it. >> well, good morning to you. happy saturday. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. thanks for waking up with us. we'll get to those stories.

but also the big army/navy game is today. >> and our coy wire is already on the field there in baltimore. >> yeah. good morning. >> hey, coy. >> i'm here in baltimore at the army/navy game. this is a special place. i want to introduce someone really quick. sir, your name and tell us something special about this name. >> my name is bob kessel. i'm superintendent at army. >> today is the day. you heard it. we're going to have more coming up for you later in the show. >> we're going to beat navy. >> good luck to you. >> that's a lot of faith there. going to do it. >> he's calling it. hey, let's begin with this stunning rejection from the president-elect of america's top intelligence agencies. donald trump's transition team after the reports from the cia that russia hacked the election to help win the election for trump sent out this really interesting message, just three sentences. >> uh-huh. basically saying that the team

is -- wait a minute. let me get it here. he said these are the same people that said saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction. the election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest electoral college victories in history. it's now time to move on and make america great again. here is the thing when you look at the timing of it. this is coming as president obama orders a full review to investigate the influence of russia hacking on our elections. and other night, trump's transition team is invoking, as you just heard me say there, one of the most infamous intel flops in the buildup to the iraq war. >> this is now coming and threatening potentially to fuel an early feud between the u.s. intel community and trump's white house. let's begin this morning with kristen holmes on trump's new reaction to these reports of russian interference in the election. she is outside trump tower in new york for us this morning. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. well, you know it should be noted this isn't the first time

that donald trump has dismissed this idea that russians were involved in the hacking. just earlier this week in an interview with "time" magazine saying that he wasn't sure that they were involved. it could have been them. it could have been china. it could have been someone in new jersey. but as you mentioned, you read that statement out loud, that comes from his transition stationary, from the office of the president-elect. and he's essentially attacking, insulting the intelligence community. we have to keep in mind, these are the people that are on the ground, that's sole job is to inform the president of anything that is a threat to national security, anything that needs to be watched. this is unprecedented behavior to go after this community. and as we did see all throughout the election, donald trump praised vladimir putin, the leader of russia, saying he wanted to work with him. it's not the first time that happened. but we have to wait for a reaction from these intelligence communities and from the white house to see what's next. >> all right, kristen holmes,

thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> i want to get reaction now from cnn political commentator and host of cnn smerconish. good to see you this morning, michael. what's your reaction? >> good morning. my reaction is that if you ask police officers what are the most dangerous circumstances that they have to react to, they will often adomestic disburr tans. you arrive on the scene where you have two spouses who are fighting and all of a sudden they unit in opposition to the police. why do i bring that up? because americans used to be that way. we would have our disagreements between republicans and democrats, but we would always unit against a common enemy, like in this case russia. and i just think this is horrific, that all of a sudden partisan politics now has seeped to a level where it jeopardizes national security. i couldn't disagree more with president-elect trump. this is not a case for partisan politics. if the russians were hacking an american election, regardless of who won, we need to investigate that and we need to hold them

accountable. and if he's right, that this is bad intel, then we americans need to know that, too. >> well, the thing is the intel folks who were in charge at that time during this big blunder going into iraq, they're not the same people who are in charge now. >> and to your point, christie, these are his people. i would feel more comfortable if i knew the president-elect was availing himself of the opportunity to take a daily briefing like the president does. all that information is made aware -- is made available to him now and reportedly he's only getting a briefing once a week. so i'm increasingly alarmed by the possibility that he's totally out of the loop. but that was not a typical press release last night. i'm on that list. you're on that list. routinely we get notification of an impending announcement of someone else joining the trump team. and when that thing came in at

9:34 p.m. last night, it set off alarm bells at least to me. >> i know that this is part of what you're going to talk about on your show in the next hour, but what else have you got today? >> so something else of interest is the fact that fewer and fewer americans are achieving the american dream, if the american dream is to be defined as, are you doing better financially than your parents did. we'll talk about that finding with great guests and portrayed against the backdrop of the electoral map from the recent election. should be a good program. >> all righty. always is. michael smerconish, thank you so much. good to see you. >> thank you. >> be sure to catch smerconish next hour right here on cnn, of course. developing news in syria now, fierce clashes and ground fighting taking place right now as the syrian regime battles rebel forces in aleppo, but defense secretary ash carter says the u.s. will soon be sending help to the region. >> i can tell you today that the united states will deploy approximately 200 additional

u.s. forces in syria, including special operations forces, trainers, advisers and explosive ordnance disposal teams. these uniquely skilled operators will join the 300 u.s. special operations forces already in syria. to continue organizing, training, equipping and otherwise enabling capable, motivated, local forces to take the fight to isil. meanwhile, secretary of state john kerry is joining political leaders from around the world in pairs today talking about the bloody civil war in syria. the secretary says that the syrian regime and russia need to provide guarantees to opposition fighters in aleppo they won't be marching into a massacre if there is a cease fire. the president-elect tweeted this morning -- that rudy giuliani is no longer in the running for secretary of state, so who is now being added to this list for consideration? we'll talk about him after the break.

by simply enjoying it. boost® simply complete. it's intelligent nutrition made with only 9 ingredients, plus 25 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. and look where life can take you! boost®. be up for it.™ whmade plastics that tmake them lighter?rs

the lubricants that improved fuel economy. even technology to make engines more efficient. what company does all this? exxonmobil, that's who. we're working on all these things to make cars better and use less fuel. helping you save money and reduce emissions. and you thought we just made the gas. energy lives here. wait...what am i doing? you're searching!! oh, that's right! here i come!!! ohhh. i bet someone is hiding in that house... ouch!!! ohhh. oh, i bet someone is hiding in that...ahhh!!! oh, dory, are you okay? oh, let's cover that, it'll get better quicker. wait, what were we doing? hide and seek. oh, that's right. ready or not, here i come! guys, i'm still hiding! for all of life's mishaps, band-aid brand's got you covered. and bring home disney pixar's finding dory, today!

♪ the search for secretary of state still on. rudy giuliani soutd. we know that. donald trump tweeted this morning that rudy giuliani is one of the finest people i know and former great mayor of nyc, just took himself out of consideration for state. >> now, according to new york times, donald trump may be seriously considering common mobile ceo rex tillerson. >> let's bring in digital reporter and errol lewis. good morning to both of you. again, tillerson appears to be -- let's start with russia, on pretty good terms with russia and vladimir putin, receiving the ordnance of friendship -- order of friendship decoration

from the russian government. let's hear his description of his relationship with the russian president -- >> my relationship with vladimir putin, which dates back almost 15 years now -- i've known him since 1999 and i have a very close relationship with him, i don't agree with everything he's doing. i don't agree with everything a lot of leaders are doing, but he understands that i'm a businessman. and i've invested a lot of money. our company has invested a lot of money in russia very successfully. >> so this continues, errol, a theme, a common denominator amongst many of donald trump's picks, pretty friendly with russia, pretty friendly with vladimir putin. does this single element potentially elevate him on this list? >> well, it certainly couldn't hurt, victor. the other pattern that we see emerging is that if you are a senior military leader,

preferably a general or you are a corporate titan, a ceo preferably, you seem to have a leg up with the trump transition. in fact f you look at somebody like a rudy giuliani, who is a career prosecutor and a politician and frankly a chris christie, sort of the same deal, they didn't seem to get nearly as far as some of these other people with a slightly different profile. >> eric, what's the reporting on why rudy giuliani is now off the list? just a couple weeks ago he was not so subtly hinting that he wanted the job and that he thought he was at the top of the list potentially? >> that's right, rudy giuliani has been sort of let down slowly at this point. donald trump has tweeted that he took himself out of the running, which is not entirely true, but there are a lot of potentially problematic elements to a giuliani nomination for this role. he has some serious financial, potential conflicts of interests and deals that would be heavily scrutinized in confirmation

hearings. as errol said, these corporate titans are really being elevated in trump world right now. he is looking at someone in an energy ceo who has been dealing with counsel trips that are sort of problematic spots for the united states for a period of decades. so, he's really looking to these people who might not have experience in government the way someone like giuliani does but who do have periods of time in their lives working with foreign leaders in terms of the bottom line dollars and cents. that's something trump seems to recognize. >> let me jump in here and we can listen to tillerson himself just a couple months ago from the same event at the university of texas talk about his role as a businessman and at that point and still today not a member of the u.s. government. let's listen in and we'll talk about it on the other side. >> host governments, resource owners and whether it's russia or yemen or, you know, wherever,

the middle east, make sure they understand that i'm not the u.s. government. i am an american company and i will be bound by the laws of the united states and other countries and i'm going to follow those laws, but i'm not here to represent the united states government's interest. i'm not here to defend it nor am i here to criticize it. that's not what i do. i'm a businessman. >> errol, there will obviously be some maybe conflicts that have to be sorted out. the trump team obviously sees this business background not just at state potentially but other departments and agencies as a plus, as a benefit. >> oh, absolutely. for state in particular exxon mobil had something like 268 billion dollars in revenue last year. this is not a small company by any means. they're in some ways bigger than many local governments, right? if he had been the governor of

rhode island or something like that, he would not have had the kind of experience that rex tillerson brings to the table as far as dealing with multiple governments, dealing across all kinds of different lines. so, it's not sort of a crazy choice to imagine that somebody like this could pick up sort of a new client, a new orientation and work as hard for the united states as he has worked for exxon mobil. that seems to be the logic of the trump transition. >> eric, beyond specifically russia and what appears to be a shared philosophy on vladimir putin, there seems to be some daylight between donald trump and rex tillerson as it relates to climate change, as the present ceo of exxon mobil admitting and saying explicitly there has been a change in the climate over a period of time, that cannot be refuted. the question he says is the human involvement and influence on it, but we know from donald trump and his tweets he says

that climate change is a hoax that the chinese came up with. >> that's right. you know, democrats had some hope after trump -- the interview with the new york times after the election where he acknowledged that human activity plays some role in global warming and when he met with al gore, there was sort of a little bit of hope that he might be moving past his campaign position that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by a chinese for business purposes, but now he's picked scott pruitt, the attorney general of oklahoma who is known specifically for being a climate change denier and for his lawsuits against the epa to head the epa. and so, it's clear the direction the trump administration is going. tillerson has been the head of a company that sort of in part for p.r. reasons has done a lot of research on climate change. it's not clear whether that's sort of a company p.r. position

or something that he personally believes. and so that's an area to watch in terms of policy development early on. >> eric, errol, thank you both. >> thank you. so have you looked out your window or even gone outside because the arctic blast is here for the season. there are winter storm watches, there are warnings in effect for more than 30 million people this morning. we're going to tell you what's ahead. also -- chicago. one of my favorite cities, how about you? it may be known as the windy city or the second city, but for a talented local artist, it's more like the city with a muse. he gives us a tour in this week's "around the world." ♪ >> my name is matthew. i'm a dancer with the jeffrey ballet as well as a painter. i want to show you some of my favorite spots in chicago. i want to take you to tweet, it's where i usually come before a show to get a hearty, healthy

breakfast. >> when i came in, i noticed they were offering a gluten free option and a regular option. what brought that about? >> demand. people really are very conscious of how they eat these days. they want it gluten free and we said we can do it. >> we're here at the art institute of chicago and the sculpture court. i love to come here and see the human form depicted. it really inspires me to create art both on stage and on canvas. chicago offers some great venues for live music. so tonight i want to take you to one of my favorite, the green mill. nicole, this place obviously has a great history and i understand we're sitting in the actually capone booth. >> yes. the rumor is that if you were here when he came in, you could drink for free but no one was allowed to leave. that's how he stayed alive being paranoid and controlling. >> so now you've seen what i love about chicago. come visit me.

see you soon. >> announcer: "around the world" is brought to you by -- the marriott portfolio of hotels, now with 30 brands in over 110 countries. they're everywhere. and as a marriot rewards member, i can embrace them all. the new marriott portfolio of hotels now has 30 brands in over 110 countries. so no matter where you go, you are here. join or link accounts at members.marriott.com.

(vo) it's the holidays at verizon, and the best deals are on the best network. (both) yes! (vo) 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. and, just for the holidays, get the samsung galaxy s7 edge for only $15 per month. no trade-in required. i love you in that, no, i love you in that. no, i love you in that! (vo) hurry, these offers end soon. i.

okay. so if you check your calendar, we're still a few days out from the official start of winter, but you go outside, it feels like we're already there, yeah. >> oh, by far. i mean, look at the

temperatures. 27 degrees here in atlanta this morning. woo, i was feeling it. i thought i was back in ohio. in fact, this is how it is across the country as you can see there. so let's get to allison chinchar because a lot of people wondering am i going to get my white christmas. allison? >> it depends on whether or not this can stay on the ground for at least a couple more weeks and in some places that may be the case because we'll go through multiple rounds of cold weather keeping that snow on the ground. but the snow has to get here first and it's going to start in the western half of the country. pacific northwest into the plains. that's where the main portion will take place this morning and into the afternoon. then it shifts over to the midwest this afternoon and into this evening. and then the great lakes region into the northeast will be tonight and into tomorrow. we're not just talking small amounts of snow. some of these areas are going to pick up pretty significant amounts, in fact, much of the midwest could see 8 to 10 inches of snow, even some pockets of 12 inches. and then farther east, say

especially around eerie pennsylvania and some areas just south of buffalo, because you're going to have that lake effect enhancement, we could be talking in excess of 20 inches of snow. again, an incredible amount of snow. one thing to consider tomorrow, the bangles versus the browns game, we're forecasting 3 to 5 inches of snow. this could go down as the snowiest game in their history because the previous record was about 3.7 inches. so again fans in ohio, they know how to bundle up for the games and they're certainly going to need to do it tomorrow. >> that always makes it a fun game to watch. >> yeah. yeah -- to watch. >> slipping and sliding and moving around. allison chinchar, thank you so much. >> from inside watching on television it's fun. but if you're sitting out there, not as much fun. >> you're not fun, come on. >> all right. hey, let's move to a serious topic here, this disturbing confession of an accused mass murderer. dylann roof admitting to the fbi that he purposefully murdered

blackture f goers. the bizarre confession tape we're going to show it to you and why he says somebody had to do it.

try theraflu expressmax,nd flu hold you back now in new caplets. it's the only cold & flu caplet that has a maximum strength formula with a unique warming sensation you instantly feel. theraflu.

for a powerful comeback. new expressmax caplets. some of the words used to characterize the disturbing confession of accused gunman dylann roof. >> yes. this alleged mass murderer wasted no time, flat out admitting to murderer nine parishioners. you see the surveillance video

here from june of 2015. he walks into bible study with a gun on his waist and here slowly leaving with the gun on hand. the jury heard his confession for the first time in court and specifically why he chose charleston and that church. >> what was the reason you chose charleston? why that particular area there? >> it's a historic city, you know. at one time i think it had the highest ratio of black people to white people in the whole country when we had slavery, you know. and the other reason is that a&e church was historic. i guess that's pretty much the reason. >> pal lo sandoval has been covering this trial at the courthouse. polo, it's eerie to hear him explain this and from his

perspective he thinks what he's saying is logical, it makes sense. >> reporter: and to a certain extent, to too, victor, to make it worse, there is a slight giggle or chuckle when he says i did it. i can tell you being in the court, it was very difficult for many of the individuals that were present to watch this interrogation video. it is by all accounts and as you're about to see and hear confession of a cold and calculated killer. >> i went to that church in charleston and i did it. >> did what? did you shoot them? >> yes. >> the confession video is overexposed but dylann roof's motive is crystal clear. >> so your deal -- so is it like -- >> to agitate race relations. >> reporter: roof said he

researched black on white crime on the internet during the george zimmerman trial. it was then he started down a path of hate crimes. >> would you consider yourself a white supremacist? >> i do consider myself a white supremacist, sure. white people are superior. that's what it should be. >> church surveillance video released this week shows roof entering the house of worship in june of last year. he was inside 45 minutes then roof peaks his head out a glock 45 caliber pistol. he slowly walks out of the door of the church. >> i was in absolute awe that there was nobody out there after i had shot that many bullets. when i walked out that door, i peeked out the door because i thought there was going to be somebody there ready to shoot me. >> reporter: roof was prepared to kill himself but didn't when he saw no flashing lights. roof laughs occasionally and when agents tell him he murdered nine people, he appears shocked. >> there wasn't even nine people there. are you guys lying to me?

>> no, we're not. >> reporter: dylann roof also wrote a 2,000 word statement. in it roof said he thought black people were stupid and, quote, inferior to whites and violent. he goes on to say, we have no skin heads, no real kkk, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. well, someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world and i guess that has to be me. charged with 33 federal counts including hate crimes, roof's defense team has conceded that he committed the slayings and instead focussed on trying to spare him the death penalty. that last part of the piece there meant to answer that question that we've heard here in the community, if there is a taped confession, why is this trial even happening? well the defense clearly hoping to save their client's life. they offered a plea deal. the government declining that. so at this point it's not a matter if there's a conviction but when there's a conviction

and the question is what kind of sentence will a jury eventually hand down. guys? >> all right, polo sandoval, we appreciate it so much. thank you. we want to talk with laura coates, former federal prosecutor, laura, thanks for being with us here. this video that we're seeing now, as we've said, it's disturbing and it's hard to even comprehend what is in his mind. what was your initial reaction when you listened to it, when you saw his demeanor? >> oh, i think i had the same visceral reaction that everyone had of this very eerie, monotone man who thought that he was justifying a horrific, disgusting tragedy by trying to agitate race relations. and i think one of the things that was so shocking to people was the idea that the trayvon martin case with the trial with george zimmerman was such a polarizing aspect of our country and one i thought that would quell ch racial tensions.

in his mind, it served as an impetus behind this act. it was heart breaking to hear that there was this particular person who had no remorse, no express of remorse and a very, very quick confession in this case. >> because of that, what does that tell you about his mental cape abouts? we know that he is capable enough to stand trial, but he's representing himself. there are a lot of questions and it seems like the defense, as i understand it, is not going to call a lot of witnesses initially. they are banking on his mental health getting him off of death row. do you think that's possible? >> no. and the irony of that is that he has opted to have his defense attorneys help him with the guilty phase of the trial and for himself to be able to cover for the penalty phase, which is very shocking because the guilty phase, one you expect him to make a defense here. they already conceded that he, in fact, is guilty of these crimes. and the irony here is that a man who massacred nine people in

this church wants his own life spared to be able to serving a life sentence without parol. but the thing is, the mental health is no longer really an issue. we look at this case and say obviously this man is insane to have committed this type of crime, but legally speaking he is competent to stand trial and even had evaluations to suggest that is actually the case. but remember, death penalty cases, especially at the federal level, are, in fact, very rare to bring and even when you actually do get a conviction and try to implement and follow through on the death penalty itself, it's very, very hard because it takes very many years, the boston marathon bomber is still on federal death row as are at least 50 or more other inmates on death row on the federal level. it's hard to carry those penalties out. this will be a long, drawn out process and it will be heart breaking to see it go through appeals. >> i want to talk about the makeup of the jury, 10 women, 2

men, 3 are black, so this is primarily a white female jury may have some moms in the mix there who may look at this kid and think, gosh, where did things go wrong. do you think he should die and what do you think they'll be able to reconcile themselves? >> i think that they are absolutely entitled to pursue the death penalty in this case for this particular individual. death penalty cases are reserved for truly heinous crimes and truly heinous individuals who act on particularly by gotted motivations and other motivations. this is that prime example of somebody who, in fact, followed through with a heinous crime. having said that juries still do not like to enforce the death penalty. they twice as often institute a life without parole possibility when they do the death penalty. and that's the reasons you just said. you have people who are heartfelt and have a different issue with the death penalty and

obviously the community themselves -- remember when he was first arraigned, the survivors and the families of the victims came forward and said i forgive you and have not been very, very vocal about wanting the death penalty to be enacted in this particular case. that will have a very big impact. >> no doubt. this community is so compassiona compassionate. laura coates, thank you for your expertise. appreciate it. rudy giuliani out of the running for secretary of state and an exxon mobil ceo is in. up next, we get a comedian's take on donald trump's cabinet selections process. wearing depend underwear has allowed me to fully engage in my life and i'm meeting people. unlike the bargain brand, depend fit-flex underwear is more flexible to move with you. reconnect with the life you've been missing. get a free sample at depend.com. reconnect with the life you've been missing. wthe rest of the world... fades away. so i got you something... that stands out as beautifully...

as you do. le vian at jared. jared works directly with le vian designers to bring you more exclusive pieces... than any other jewelry store in the world. like the le vian ombre bracelet... featuring le vian chocolate diamonds. the one gift as unique as she is. at the only store to find it. that's why he went to jared.

seconds can mean the difference between life and death. for partners in health, time is life. we have 18,000 people around the world. the microsoft cloud helps our entire staff stay connected and work together in real time to help those that need it. the ability to collaborate changes how we work. what we do together changes how we live.

p. this morning, we are saluting an american hero, major troy gilbert, air force fighter pilot who died ten years ago protecting american troops in iraq. >> over the years the u.s. military could only recover some of his remains. well, now the rest of his remains were finally found and returned to the people who love him so much, cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr reports this family is finally learning how to reconcile all of this. >> have a good day. >> reporter: ginger gilbert, mother of five, has been an air force widow for a decade. now ten long years after her husband major troy gilbert died in combat in iraq, his body has come home. >> i've been waiting for that homecoming for ten years. and i got it. >> reporter: a heart breaking ten years during which troy's body was used in propaganda videos. then a call to ginger last august. >> and he said troy's been

found. and i was -- i was blown away. >> reporter: this summer an iraqi tribal leader approached u.s. forces in iraq. his tribe had the flight gear and body of troy and they wanted to give it back. his f-16 crashed on november 27th, 2006. at the time, u.s. special operations forces on the ground were in imminent danger. >> he was single handedly taking out the enemy and saving our guys. >> reporter: general david goldfing, currently head of the air force headed the investigation into gilbert's death ten years ago. >> he was so intensely focussed on taking that target out, saving american lives, that he didn't give himself enough room for the recovery. >> reporter: ginger received this photo. it's an image taken from a drone watching the battle just 30

seconds before he crashed. >> you can see him in this right here. >> reporter: the investigation found gilbert was flying low, using his guns to make sure he didn't inadvertently bomb the u.s. personnel on the ground. >> he took out the first truck and on the second pass flying, you know, maybe 500, 060 miles per hour, 250 feet above the ground crashed. >> reporter: among gilbert's personal items returned, knee pads with dirt from iraq still on them. a barely recognizable digital camera with a pristine memory card. on it, this final photo, taken long before anyone heard of selfies. >> i do believe that he knew he was risking his life and i believe he wasn't thinking about his own life at that point. i believe he was solely focussed on saving their's. >> i love you, guys. >> reporter: this video recorded just before he died. >> can't wait to get home. i know it will be just a couple

more weeks before i'm there, so i will stay safe and i will stay healthy and i want you guys to do the same. >> reporter: there have been two funerals already, one in 2006, one in 2013 when very small portions of remains were returned. now a chance finally to lay him to rest properly. some of the special operators troy saved are expected to attend a final funeral, so will his five children, including twin girls who were just 6 months old when he died. >> what greater gift could we be given this christmas than to have their dad home. that's all we needed. yeah. >> reporter: barbara starr, cnn, washington. >> such a strong family. we thank you for the sacrifice and for the service of the service of your husband and your family. we'll be right back. atter how the markets change... at t. rowe price... our disciplined approach remains. global markets may be uncertain...

but you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. call us or your advisor... t. rowe price. invest with confidence. and my brother ray and i started searching for answers. (vo) when it's time to navigate in-home care, follow that bright star. because brightstar care earns the same accreditation as the best hospitals. and brightstar care means an rn will customize a plan that evolves with mom's changing needs. (woman) because dad made us promise we'd keep mom at home. (vo) call 844-4-brightstar for your free home care planning guide.

what's the best way to get v8 or a fancy juice store?s? ready, go! hi, juice universe? one large rutabaga, with eggplant... done! that's not fair. glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day.

♪ listen, it's one of the oldest, most storied rivalries in college football, army versus navy meeting on the gridiron for the 117th time this afternoon. >> and coy wire is in baltimore, excited, already there ahead of the big game, hopefully it's warming up just a bit there for you, coy. what do we have in store for us? >> reporter: it's warming up and it's starting to get a little more lively here, victor,

christirks e, hello to you. it's highlighting men who committed their lives to serving our nation and who dream of playing the game they love in front of the nation. third string quarterback from navy who is going to be making his first career start ever in this game, game of his life, will be trying to help keep his navy midshipmen alive in a 14-game win streak. here he is on what he had to say about how he's feeling? >> i played in the nfl, played in a lot of rivalries but none like this one. i can only imagine how you're feeling right now. how nervous are you? >> i'm pretty nervous. there's a lot of pressure on me, but at the end of the day, you know, it's just a football game when you get out there. the biggest thing coach told us all is this week of preparation, you know, how we prepare for this game and once we get on the field saturday we should have a clear mind. we know the game plan and just play, play the game we've always played. >> reporter: what's going through your mind when you run out on to that field? >> i mean, it's going to be -- it's a dream come true.

i've always wanted to run out on that field with navy on my chest, america's game. i'm really looking forward it to. it will be something i remember for the rest of my life. ♪ >> president-elect donald trump is looking forward to it. he'll be here today. in keeping tradition with presidents honored in the past, he will spend one half of the navy's side of the field, the other half on army so as not to choose a favorite. the leaders who are playing, exemplify, teamwork, integrity, respect. you'll see some of the tradition that has taken place since 1890. the game ball delivery that will be delivered from 4,000 feet in the sky. you have the fly over that one player says he's been watching this game since he's been coming to watch with his father. it's a must see event every year

on one saturday afternoon. army and navy with the deepest level of respect will stair each other down and fight for victory that will earn them bragging rights for a life time. guys, it's army/navy game, america's game is today at 3:00 p.m. >> coy, you had somebody on earlier who was convinced army is going to win. army is going to win this one. what makes him so confident? see anything different this year than we have in the last 15? >> reporter: well, you would think that, you know, it's not going to go well. they lost 14-straight times army has, but as we just mentioned, we heard from zach abey, he even said he's nervous. he is starting at quarterback for navy for the first time ever because of an injury last week's game in the biggest game of his life. this is the army/navy game all eyes on this young man. but he seems calm. he seems poised. so navy does have that fighting chance. we'll see. it's going to be all the good that is what college football can be. we're going to watch it today in

the army/navy game, guys. >> i love that you're there in my beloved hometown of baltimore there at the stadium where the ravens play. i see that purple behind you. got excited. i'm looking forward to this game myself. i really typically don't watch football -- >> you watch this one. >> i will watch this one. i will watch this one. coy wire, thanks so much for bringing it to us. bringing us the energy this morning. >> have fun. >> you're welcome, guys. thank you. >> he's got a good ticket there, already on the field. >> good spot. >> nice. so, real life grinch -- >> uh-huh. >> spotted in this neighborhood in st. louis after someone stabbed frosty the snow man. stabbed a snow man. >> yeah, but you know that those security cameras will get you every time and they did it this time. a masked assailant did get away but the owner put this video on youtube, put it on blast. cnn's jeanne moos shows us what happened here. >> reporter: it's kind of chilling to hear that -- ♪ frosty the snowman

>> reporter: has been stabbed? >> it's just mean spirited. i mean, it's silly vandalism. >> reporter: st. louis resident jeff digs discovered the diabolical attack on his inflatable snowman when he came home from work. >> that's when i saw the big hole that had been gashed in his side. >> reporter: he immediately checked his surveillance camera video at 11:22 p.m. a masked passenger jurped out of a pickup and makes a beeline for frosty viciously stabbing him and then trying to cut the rope and finally escaping in the get away vehicle. what could be sadder than watching frosty slowly, slowly, ever so slowly deflate? the good news -- >> i am alive! >> reporter: but he did require extensive surgery. >> put nine stitches in him and he's doing well. >> reporter: to pay frosty's medical bills, digs jokingly set up a gofund me page, modest proceeds will actually go to charity. and he used how the grinch stole

christmas to attack the attackers by posting the surveillance video with a sound track. ♪ you're a mane oean one, mr. grinch ♪ ♪ you really are a heel >> reporter: digs didn't bother to call police, figuring they are more important things to investigate, so the frosty slasher remains at large. and you can't blame frosty for being novice. >> uh-oh. >> reporter: after experiencing this. ♪ you're a monster, mr. grinch >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> here is what i want to happen, i want these jack wagons to start talking now. >> jack wagons. >> because you know they're out there. they're probably bragging act it. >> uh-huh. >> somebody is going to turn them in. >> you know, i have to listen so some jimmy durante today listening to that "frosty the snowman." that's it for us. we'll see you back here at 10:00 a.m. >> "smerconish" is with you now.

in a way that goes beyond words. it could be a piece jewelry designers created just for jared. or a piece we custom made... ...just for you. because we're more than a store that sells beautiful jewelry. we are jewelers. the one, unique gift... ...that tells her exactly how you feel. that's why he went to jared. only abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. it penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells.. don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. abreva.

>> announcer: this is cnn. ♪ ♪ i'm michael smerconish coming to you from philadelphia. we welcome your viewers in the united states and all around the world. the russians are apparently doing to our politicians what they've long been doing to our athletes, but even with the c.i.a. now saying that russia did meddle in the campaign, the trump team is dismissing the news as partisan politics and saying that -- like the iraq war, it's based on bad intelligence. sean spicer will be here to