making it official, the president-elect gets one step closer to becoming the president of the united states but as the electoral college casts its votes, some within donald trump's own party have questions about russia's involvement in the election before they vote. words of warning. one of the vladimir putin's biggest critics tells cnn the

hack attack is just the start of a greater assault on the west. plus one of the first celebrities to be famous for being famous dies at the age of 99 years old. we'll have more on the life of zsa zsa gabor. cnn "newsroom" starts right now. 3:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast, russian hacking. at least not yet. this is despite the fact that this cia, the fbi and the director of u.s. national intelligence apparently are increasingly convinced that russia hacked democratic e-mails all in effort to help donald trump win the white house. reince priebus should lay out their findings first against moscow publicly.

>> it sure would be nice to hear from everybody. if there is this inclusive opinion among all of these intelligence agencies they should issue a report or stand in front of a camera and make the case. >> two top democrats and two senio senior republicans want a committee investigation. listen. >> leader mcconnell has said let the intelligence committee do this alone. that is not good enough for three reasons. first, there are conflicting jurisdictions. the judiciary committee has jurisdiction over the fbi, the foreign affairs has jurisdiction over foreign policy. the armed services committee has jurisdiction over the hacking of military and the intelligence

committee, of course, has jurisdiction over the cia. with all these conflicting jurisdictions if we don't have one select committee, first, things could be left out. there could be holes that no committee covers. second, we could get contradictory information. the fbi says this, the cia says that and third the existing committees are very, very busy. questions about hacking front and center cnn's matt chance following the story live for us in moscow this hour. good to have you. the top democrat in the u.s. senate calling for a special senate committee investigation. the drum beat here in the united states is certainly picking up but how are these allegations being perceived there in russia? >> reporter: the consistent position of the russian government has been to flatly reject that it has got anything to do with any of this hacking of political institutions in the united states.

the last comment that came from the kremlin came late last week and another denial. they've been denying it since october. the kremlin said it was indecent to this allegation continued to be made by the united states without any evidence and that the u.s. should present that evidence or stop talking about it. that was the flat rebuttal are the kremlin when it comes to these allegations that we had on friday. and so, yes, look, there isn't a great deal or any, in fact, concrete evidence that any of us can point to to say, hey, look, this is fundamental proof that the russians did this and if there is that evidence then it hasn't been made public at this point by the united states. there are calls on really both sides now on the russian side and on the u.s. side for that kind of evidence to be made more public and so we can all see the extent to which russia may have been involved in trying to

disrupt the u.s. polls. >> reince priebus putting out again if you have the information make it public echoing what we're hearing from russia but the question is would intelligence reveal sources and methods that's yet to be seen. if you could just explain to you're viewers the sophistication of russia systems when it comes to hacking, cyber ability? >> reporter: i think it's pretty sophisticated. we don't know for sure what they're capabilities are. we've seen evidence over the past couple of years a sort of multi-layered strategy the russians have when it comes to controlling information and weaponizing information. the most recent example being that presidential election when they are not just alleged to have hacked information from political institutions particularly the democratic party but also taken the unprecedented step of releasing that information through wikileaks to discredit one of the candidates in this case

hillary clinton. and so we've got a situation where the russians have weaponized information and are using it against their perceived opponents in this case united states. there are other elements to it. there's the trolls that are employed and paid by the kremlin allegedly to insert themselves into internet chat rooms and try to steer the narrative to a more pro-russian position. there are new sites back there that have been traced back to russia as well. there's a whole kind of range of techniques the russians are now employing to get their message across and to distort the message around the world. >> cnn's matthew chance live in moscow. thank you for the reporting. russia again insists it did not meddle in the u.s. election but a long time vladimir putin foe

says he may have have ulterior motive and president-elect trump should be wary. >> reporter: few know putin better than his enemy. warns that the kremlin's use of tacka tacking to u.s. election is just the beginning. >> translator: for putin it was very important not so much to demonstrate some direct influence on the american election process because it's not very possible in reality but to show that he's capable of such influence and now with the help of western press that actively brings this to light he will use this card and his relations with his counterparts from democratic countries as a threat to influence election process. >> and in short, when he challenged putin politically

lost badly. yet he remains an acute student of his enemy's character and what it may mean for his pattern bromance for trump. >> translator: putin perceives trump as plane weak and controllable. trump perceives putin as clear and sincere. they are two quite emotional people they might be a very serious conflict. that's what i definitely wouldn't like to happen. >> at the heart of moscow and russian's relationship. his time has oil giant chief led him to work very closely with the kremlin, maybe too closely with its top players. >> that's not a problem. his close relationship to one of the most powerful men in the kreml kremlin. >> your face says yes. >> translator: i'd say i don't

know for whom this is a problem. the fact that he knows them too well could be a problem for america and it could be a problem for putin and the issue here depends on values. i know from my own experience that business and politics, especially international politics, are absolutely two different things. when you actually go into international politics everything changes completely. there's no rules. common rules at least. and there's no enforcement mechanism that could enforce those rules so here one has to be guided by values. >> once communist youth activityist of his homeland small businessman, turned oil giant, persecuted and prosecuted and then in russia's they're most famous political prisoner where he learned oddly in jail that there is goodness at the

heart even society's most desperate. >> translator: the prisons administration wanted to make my punishment harsher. but none of them agreed, no one. and when i asked them why, they said that that's because i haven't done anything bad unto them it say they weren't able to set me up. they might've made a mistake, behaved wrongly, had a difficult life but still had something in their soul you can rely on. >> we have a programming though also for our international viewer all this week. cnn will have special coverage of vladimir putin's russia from allegedly meddling in the u.s. election to annexing crimea in his role. be sure to join cnn on reports with russia.

one relationship trump has had appears to be growing friendlier. donald trump and the u.s. president barack obama had not only met but have spoken a number of times. cnn has more on the talks of the president-elect and the president. >> for months it was all bare nukl nukled brawling. >> barack obama has been the worst president ever. >> i think he's unfit to serve as president. >> but look at them now. ever since their election and their first meeting afterward the sitting president and the next one have seem decidingly warm. >> i really like him. we have a good chemistry together. we talk. he loves the country. he wants to do right by the country. and for the country. >> i think ultimately he's pragmatic in that way and that can serve him well as long as he's got good people around him and he has a clear sense of

direction. >> how much are they speaking? it's not precisely clear. >> they've been talking regularly on a number of issues. they talked just yesterday. >> neither the president-elect's team nor the white house will confirm what subjects have been brought up. >> in the same way that i protected the ability of president obama to consult confidentially with other senior officials including some other presidents i'm not going to read out or confirm every reported meeting or phone call or conversation. >> certainly both men have vested interests in healthcare reform, immigration law, national security and the economy and the president-elect has vowed to dramatically change direction on many of those fronts. >> do i have concerns, absolutely. of course i have concerns. he and i differ on a whole bunch of issues. >> they disagree on many things that's not going to change. >> but both hint in a broader sense they have found common ground in recognizing just how divided the country is and how hard uniting it may be.

>> and i will always make myself available to him just as presidents made available to me. >> that may not sound like much but considering the veracity of the campaign the tone between mr. obama and mr. trump seems remarkable again for people who are looking for a truce in the washington wars, perhaps that's not a bad start. tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> thank you. donald trump won the presidency spending far less than hillary clinton spent and figures released by his campaign show that he paid his own companies more than $12 million during the election. cnn's drew griffin goes through the numbers. >> reporter: donald trump's airplane company got $8.7 million dollars, his hotels and golf courses got 1.4 million, more than 12,000 went to trump restaurants and -- all that money came from donald trump's own campaign. cnn analysis of reports filed

with the federal elections commission shows during his 18 month presidential campaign, donald trump paid nearly $12.5 million to donald trump's own businesses. who else got the money? well, trump corporation. trump tower and payroll, $2.2 million. >> i don't think we've ever seen one like this, another campaign like this where somebody's run so much of their campaign through their own businesses and in a way that's really hard to tell what the money was spent on. >> like many other things about the trump campaign, calls the expenditures unique. who else can shuttle their own 757? and even run up a $32,000 tab to his son erik's flying company. saenl pay himself back through his own campaign. legal? yes. ethical? sort of. >> if he did it legally it's not wrong.

if he did it legally and it was in the ordinary course of business, then, you know, you have to say that he's allowed to do that. if he was doing it to make a profit off of it and he charged more than he was supposed to have charged, than there is a problem. >> and that's hard to tell. congressional laws on campaign financing are not regularly enforced. so who's going to find out, for instance, if that $94 tab at trump cafe was extreme profiting or just an average cup of coffee or a $607 tab at the trump grill, one expensive b.l.t. or 30 sandwiches. we will never know. don't blame trump. congress sets the rules and when it comes to campaign spending, those rules require little, if any, details. drew griffin, cnn, atlanta. >> still ahead here on "newsroom," china hits back after some hostile tweets by donald trump. what the u.s. president-elect did to anger beijing this time. it's next.

just look at these imagines from mexico. a volcano erupted twice saturday and the imagines you see here simply stunning. it spewed massive amounts of lava, smoke and ash into the sky. one of the most active volcanos in mexico. the first eruption happens during the day and this is how it looked from high above. wow. we all know about western europes migrant crisis but there's another happening as well in the americas, thousands of migrants are trekking across central america hoping to reach the united states but they also face the threat of human traffickers. cnn reports. >> reporter: the bust willing border town, the main crossing between koes ta ricka and

panama, long and important trade and tourist route. in recent months however the town has seen an unprecedented influx of migrants. trekking north from south america. thousands of them, many originally from africa and the ca ribbion, bound for the united states. posing of logistical and humanitarian nightmare for the government of costa ricka. communications minister is spearheading the effort to process them. >> at this moment costa rica is overwhelmed with immigration situation. no one were prepared or was thinking in the possibility that receive ten thousand people from haiti or from africa.

>> reporter: winter of the irnt national organization for migration is in charge of border management for north, south and central america. he worried that migrants will lose patience with the bottle necks and look for another way across the border, putting them at risk for human trafficking. >> they can't get through the front door so they go through the window and by doing that they end up unknown to the state and so the country doesn't know the person and the person does not have access to the services of the country and that's a core vulnerability that can be capitalized on by traffickers. >> costa rican officials are trying to process the migrants as quickly as possible. admitting 1 to 200 a day but there's a waiting list several weeks long. once the migrants finally have

those papers in their hands they're brought here to this warehouse that used to hold fertilizer now it can hold up to 250 people. they get free meals a roof over their head and a mattress to sleep on. the shelter is just a few kilometers north of the city. many hearsay they were on the road for months before getting stuck on the costa rican border. they've heard the situation on krs ric a's northern border isn't any better. that's because in this case rag ga has closed its borders to undocumented migrants forcing thousands into deplorable conditions in tent villages. >> the costa rican government are working hard to accommodate

those people. they've got r5 thousand people and expecting the number will rise. >> to stem the growing human trafficking concern the government has been cracking down on traffickers. at the same time, iom officials are trying to prevent human trafficking from happening in the first place. they are meeting with migrants offering counseling and advice as new arrivals continue to pure in like these brothers who just arrived, optimistic and unaware of the back log they're about to face. >> they want to go to the united states, if they perceive as they are they do run the risk of becoming vulnerable. they could be victims of labor exemployeeitation. >> none of the migrants i spoke with had even heard the term human trafficking. they're so accustomed to be

exploited that they don't recognize it as modern day slavery. and with tens of thousands of migrants on the move throughout central and south america, he fears this crisis is not likely to end any time soon. cnn, costa rica. >> on tuesday shas ta introduces you to migrant who lands in costa ricka bound for the united states. >> a lot of roads. i pass include panama before arriving here. >> she arrived four days ago hoping to quickly receive a passe the document he and her husband need to legally enter costa rica. only to discovery they'll have to wait six weeks just for an

appointment with the officials. >> again the story of the yolanda bound for the united states. you can see this story tuesday it's all part of the freedom proje project series. still ahead here on "newsroom" a close friend of south korea's president finally has her first day in court. what this means for the country's corruption scandals still ahead? plus donald trump calls china's seizure of a u.s. drone unprecedented. how china raekted to the u.s. president-elect? you're watching cnn "newsroom."

a welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. you're watching cnn "newsroom." i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. the next white house chief-of-staff expressing doubts about u.s. intelligence findings that russia meddled in the u.s. election all in effort to help donald trump win the white house. reince priebus saying that he wants intelligence leaders to make their case publicly to the american people. a small plane belonging to the russian defense ministry has crashed landed in siberia. all passengers have survived. 16 people were severely injured. ten people in jordan have been killed in what officials called a cowardly terrorist attack. gunmen opened fire at police officers and moved into a castle that's popular with tourist. security forces there killed force gunmen.

since the early hours of monday at least 65 buses have left eastern aleppo carrying about 3,500 people. that's in addition to the hundreds that were taken to the aleppo countryside on sunday. activist also say 15 buses have left two other areas that were included in the evacuation. the wait to be evacuated from eastern aleppo has been especially difficult for the wounded as sigh montana israel from just a while ago a make shift hospital wasn't given enough ambulances to evacuate patients and we do want to warn you some of these imagines you'll see this inn this report are disturbing. >> they say they needed 50 ambulances for 120 patients. today they were promised only two under the renewed evacuation plan. yet in every corridor, in every corner, on every inch of floor lie the injured, the sick and the dying in this make shift

hospital basement. >> he's been waiting a week and the bleeding won't stop. >> as the hours ticked by, still no news. no ambulances. no buses. >> the december operation, the urgency increases. this man wants his friend to be treated as a priority. now they've been told only two ambulances will be coming. two cars are only enough for four cases, nothing more than that. the rest of the injured people are still in the only field hospital left inside the city. the rest of the injured all over the streets and no one is listening to our calls. and then there are the babies. his cries are barely heard. >> she's two months old, just

arrived here in the hospital. they were at the check point for three hours and the weather was very cold. they couldn't cross and they came back. she has -- and there's no pediatrician and no basic medicines. >> they're released from aleppo has been hanging on one crucial condition. the freedom of hundreds of others in the besieged pro-assad villages. a convoy of buses was laid on. but then, a suni extremist and set fire to it before it could reach those villages. we won't let you evacuate the sheer, you pigs said one attacker. they'll only come out when they are dead. back in the rebel enclarify of eastern aleppo tonight, all hope

has been crushed and the sick and the injured have returned to their pea carius existence. >> now we are clinging to the hospital, preparing all the rooms to start working again and we are -- we're still here now. we don't know if we will leave and no hope at all to leave. >> but that is not the picture syrian state tv is broadcasting tonight. it showed half a dozen buses with, it said, militants and their families waiting at the check point to cross into the west of the city and to freedom. yet not one person can be seen on the coaches or on the roadside. the injured and the vulnerable are supposed to be their priority in an evacuation from a war zone where civilians and fighters live alongside each other. tonight by any account they were

not. we also want to warn update you now, a story that we've been following about a little girl in syria. we learned that 7-year-old and her family have been evacuated from eastern aleppo to a rural area outside the city. thousands of people have been following her tweets about living under consonant and terrifying bombings and she willings. a syrian relieve coordinator tweeted this, she is safe with her family thanks to-to-god after she was evacuated by her city. she survived, sieged, bombings. now to china a nation seizure has sparked the war of words with the incoming president, president-elect donald trump. the device was snatched by china in international waters last week. he responded with a seesh yiz of angry tweets. he will return the drone but it

is taking trump to task for his reaction. >> the seizure of this u.s. navy underwater drone really played out along the entirety of the week end. we found out about it on friday and it was on saturday that the ministry of defense here in beijing confirmed what had happened and said it would be returning that drone to the united states and then it was president-elect donald trump's turn to weigh in. he tweeted twice about this issue with the second tweet appearing to be more aggressive saying that the united states should just let china keep the drone and not worry about getting it back. and then on sunday, it was the state run media here in china. it was their turn to weigh in on all of this and it was a state run tabloid newspaper called the" global times" which is phone for it's very provocative views on issues like this. let me read you some of the editorial that was written about

this subject. it read if part, quote the of a by stander in trump's second tweet is particularly worrisome that he might treat the relationship between super powers as a game. the chinese rhetoric has been measured but this restraint will not last when he officially becomes president if he still treats china the way he tweeted today. that really matters because state run newspaper are in that. nothing gets published here without the signoff of communist party cen sores. while you might not hear a spokesman getting up and making a provocative statement like that, the fact is that this is a state run newspaper expressing state views. now a big question here that's remaining in beijing is how will this incident effect u.s./chinese relations going forward? if you look at what has happened over the last couple weeks it's just the latest negative incident between both sides and it all ser raunds the incoming

trump administration, donald trump taking a call in early december from the president of taiwan then questioning the one china policy and tweeting about this latest incident and it's drawn the anteriorer of the chinese government. we're still not sure if this tough tail on china but it is safe to say here at least on the chinese state of things not really happy so far with the take and the track of the incoming trump administration. matt rivers, cnn, beijing. >> thank you. a close friend of south korea park geun-hye has appeared at her first court hearing. choi soon sill was indicted last month over a string of corruption allegations. she's accused of using her relationship to meddle in state affairs. demanding that she leave office continue. cnn is following this story live

for us. good to have you this hour. what more can you tell us about this first court hearing? >> reporter: well, what was extraordinary, george, was that choi actually turned up herself. we haven't seen her since october since she finally returned to the country to face those charges and has been detained since so she turned up in court today. head held high in a prison gear. she was wearing overalls from prison. she wasn't handcuffed, that's not the norm here in korea. she was led in by a female guard off the bus into a courtroom and as she sat down she bowed her head down and remained very quiet with an empty stare throughout the court hearing. she didn't speak to her lawyer when things were being discussed. she only spoke once to say she was trouble for the caused in society and she would face the trial with sincerity.

that's the only thing we've heard from her. there are a string of charges against her. 11, in fact, including abuse of power, attempted fraud, attempted coercion and that is why, george, this is so important because this is all linked to president park geun-hye now she has accused of using her close friendship with the south korea president to accumulate millions of dollars for her own foundation and that connection to president park is what's causing so much political turmoil here. >> thank you for your reporting. still ahead on cnn "newsroom," amnesty international says military campaign against a muslim minority group may amount to crimes against humanity. damning accusations still ahead.

welcome back to cnn "newsroom" i'm george howell. amnesty international says they

may be committing crimes against humanity. security forces have been targeting the country's muslim minority in a vicious campaign. amnesty says the military has destroyed more than 1,200 homes you see from these satellite imagines that they're using. sometimes destroying entire villages, soldiers are accused of raping women and randomly killing civilians. joining us to discuss this in london, the amnesty researcher. it's good to have you just to talk more about the situation. first let's discuss what's happening on the ground. thousands of the buildings there have been burned, these homes destroyed. so many have been displaced. human rights watch that the military is behind it pointing to satellite imagery as evidence but government officials are saying that militants groups are behind these arsons so there's finger pointing here. >> reporter: yeah, there is but

i think what's quite clear from our finding that the military is responsible for this campaign of violence. not only do the satellite images and the interviews we've done with them point to this. i think we can also see that they've embarked on a campaign of all violations as well. so we have had women and girls being raped, random killings, indiscriminate attacks, we've also had mass arrest of men and boys. many of whom we just don't know where they are. >> and pointing out here amnesty warning that this -- these actions by the government, the military, against rohingya may constitute crimes against humanity. >> reporter: the violations we're documenting are very serious. they seem to target the rohingya as a community because they are rohingya for their religion. this is a form of collective pun mishment and the violations we are making are very grave and

may amount to crimes against humanity. >> is the government feeling international pressure to do something to change course in its treatment of the rohingya minority? >> reporter: well today the government has met all of these allegations with blanket denials. they're refusing to acknowledge they're taking place. what we want to see them do is stop these denials and acknowledge these abuses are taken place and they need to submit to a credible investigation. we want to see them independent journalist into this area for over two months this area has been sealed off. >> leaders have been criticized for not doing enough, not saying enough about the treatment of rohingya. so is anything set to come out of this? is there any optimism about this meeting? >> reporter: what we really hope that various concrete action that comes out of this.

this situation has gone on for many too long. what we do need to see and what we believe is amnesty international, they've failed in both her political and moral obligation. it's also important to realize that the violations we talk about are being committed by the military and we do have serious questions about to the extend the government can reign them in. we need to see humanitarian aide and assistance getting to these people who are in need and we need to see this investigated and the perpetrators punished. >> what of bangladesh's role if myanmar can't or won't find a workable situation here? >> the this is despite bangladesh tightening security and a long-standing policy of sealing the border. these people are in a desperate

situation there as well. many of them are in hiding because they fear deportation and arrest. they are not allowed access to humanitarian aid. the bangladesh also has a huge responsibility to face with these people as well and we need to see them live up to their responsibility to protect these people and they have to open the borders, allow them to cross and they need to allow them to also get the aid they need. many of these people don't have food or shelter. they don't have healthcare. bangladesh must step up to protect these people. >> laura thank you so much. and we'll stay in touch with you. thanks for the insight. a long and famous life comes to an end. a look back at zaza gar bor's personal life and overshad owed career.

why are you checking your credit score? you don't want to ride the 13l forever, do you? [woman laughing] credit karma, huh? yeah, it's free. credit karma. give yourself some credit.

. at the box offices around the world the "star wars" movie empire strikes again, rogue 1 the latest spin-off made the jump into hyperspace this weekend with a $290 million

worldwide box office debut. that made it to the top movie in the world this week. the film's plot takes place right before the events of the original "star wars" film 1977's "star wars," a new hope. >> after years of health problems, the zsa zsa gabor has died. they came to the united states at the outbreak of world war ii. while her acting career took a backseat. michelle turner reports. >> reporter: she became one of the most recognizable figures in hollywood with her trademark gowns, elaborate jewelry and hundred garion accent famous for being famous. what zsa zsa gabor's acting career was perhaps undistinguished, the former beauty queen's outspoken ways grabbed headlines. >> i always tell the truth

that's why everybody hates me. people don't like to hear the truth. >> her and her sisters immigrated zsa zsa didn't immediately have show business aspirations. that made her a great tunt a later generation of celebrity sisters, paris and nikki hilt zsa zsa married actor george sanders. that union became her catalyst to fame. next day i got life cover, and all the covers, mg approached me. i said yes -- >> zsa zsa went on to make more than 50 films including 1952 mulan rouge. she also appeared in the orson wells classic touch of evil but it was her off screen appearances that grabbed the

most attention. in 199 ga bor when she was convicted of slapping a beverly hills policeman. she was sentenced to three days behind bars. gabor par layed the attention into tv and movie appearances including a cameo in the naked gun 2 1/2. in fact, it was once joked that gabor played herself more often than any other role. the acting roles dwindled in her later years. a car accident in 2002 left her partially paralyzed and she was subsequently in and out of the hospital for a series of health scares. but it was her marriage to prince frederick her ninth husband that provided plenty of bizarre tabloid fodder. he wants claimed to be the father of anna nicole's smith daughter after the actresses death.

in 2011 he announced an unusual plan to make gabor who was 94 years old at the time a mother again using an egg donor and a surrogate mother, a plan gabor's daughter called weird. it was one of many public disputes she had. the two would eventually reach a truce over gabor's care in july of 2012. as her personal matter still made headlines well into her nineties, zsa zsa gabor will perhaps be remembered as a professional celebrity who seemed happiest living life on the front page. zsa zsa gabor, dead at the age of 99 years old. we thank you for being with us that the hour of cnn "newsroom." i'm george howell at the center in atlanta. early start in next. for other viewers around the world stay with us. you're watching cnn.

t . .

the electoral college votes hours from now. no surprises expected, but plenty of reasons to pay attention. u.s. intelligence says russian hackers aimed at the election. and war-torn aleppo in syria. good morning. we welcome to "early start." i'm miguel marquez. >> i'm christine romans. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. members of the electoral college cast votes for