character and intellect, most of the country believes it was a bet that paid off. i'm fareed zakaria. thanks for joining us. . hello everyone. this is cnn newsroom. live from atlanta ahead this hour -- >> the u.s. president barack obama has less than four weeks in office before the transition to donald trump. but one of the country's key allies implies their tie is already up in that relationship. >> the music world eye news in grief after the sudden death of george michael. a pioneer of pop dead at the age of 53. a healing moment marking a painful history. the japanese prime minister shinzo abe pays his condolences at pearl hoosh. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. auto i'm george howell. >> i'm rosemary church.

this is cnn newsroom. good day to you. it is 2:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. first to israel a. spokesperson for the prime minister netanyahu says that there is proof. he says that proof is ironclad that the united states orchestrated a receipt u.n. security council vote on friday condemning israeli settlements in both the west bank and jerusalem. >> the u.s. has denied that but mr. netanyahu is fewurious abou it. now he is 4ri8ing ties with all security council members who voted for the resolution. the u.s. refrained from the vote which allowed the resolution to pass. >> we have been hearing a lot of encouraging statements from the current u.s. administration. and we have been urging them to translate lost statements into

action. the united states did what conforms with what its long standing policy since the days of linden johnson in 1967. ronald reagan, the republican president, used ab tension is seven times during his two terms as president of the united states to allow resolutions and to condemn settlement activities. so the u.s. is doing just what they have done all the time. >> still some don't see it that way. israel's ambassador to the u.s. told cnn the palestinians are the ones balking at taking any part in the peace talks. listen. >> the prime minister of israel did a freeze. he did a freeze for ten months for the settlements. and palestinians did not come to the negotiating table. this has not been about the settlements. what do the palestinians want? what they want 20 do is blame israel for not negotiating, refuse to have discussions with and us and internationalize the conflict. for years they have not been

able to do that because thankfully the president stood up to those measures and the security council. now he gave the ammunition for a political and diplomatic and legal war against israel. he gave them the al anything by not vetoing the resolution. >> israel is down playing concerns about a permanent rift with the u.s. >> also it's looking forward to the incoming trump administration. we get more on that now from cnn's elise labott. >> reporter: israel's prime minister, netanyahu is escalating his attack against the obama administration. clearly still angry over the u.n. vote declaring israeli settlements illegal. >> friends don't take friends to the security council. >> netanyahu summoned the u.s. ambassador and has accused president obama and secretary of state john kerry of orchestrating what he called a shameful ambush at the u.n. telling his cabinet he has ironclad proof. >> translator: from the information that we have, we have no doubt that the obama

administration initiated it, stood hyped it, coordinated on the wording, and demanded that it be passed. >> reporter: the white house denies that calling the claim absurd. >> we did not of the contract it. we did not put it forward. >> reporter: the obama administration maintains the u.n. vote was a last resort after struggling for the past eight years to convince israel to stop construction. >> if these trends continue the two-state solution is going to be impossible. >> reporter: officials are worried with u.n. backing palestinians will push for sanctions, boycotts, and take israeli solders to the international criminal court. >> what this resolution just did it gave the palestinians ammunition in their diplomatic and legal war against israel. and the united states not only didn't stop it. they were hyped it. >> reporter: netanyahu is now putting his hopes in president-elect donald trump and members of congress who are promising to defund the u.n.

unless the vote is i don't remember turned hoping that will give trump leverage. >> i look forward to working with those friends and with a new administration when it takes office next month. >> reporter: it's not just is president-elect who opposes this vote but members of congress from both parties who would urge the obama administration not to go through with it. leading republicans like senator lindsey graham say they will move to defund the u.n. unless the security council overturns the vote. elise labott, cnn, washington. donald trump says there is no way president obama could have beaten him in this year's election if he were eligible to run for a third term. mr. obama claims his message of hope and change could still win despite the democratic party's defeat in november. here's what the president told cnn senior political commentator david axle rod. >> in the wake of the election and trump winning, a lot of

people have suggested that somehow it really was a fantasy. i am confident in this vision because i'm confident that if i -- if i had run again and articulated it, i think i could have mobilized a majority of the american people to rally behind it. >> joining now from washington is cnnm political analyst josh rogen. he is also a columnist from the washington post. josh, good to have you with us. president obama said monday he would have beaten donald trump had he run for a third term, run again for the presidency. trump says no way. who do you think is right here? is president obama reading the electorate correctly? or is he misreading what happened in this election? >> i think what president obama is referring to is the fact that hillary clinton lost a lot of districts, especially in the

traditionally blue rust belt that president obama had carried twice. it is a subtle dig at hillary clinton for not doing more to keep what he thinks of as the obama coalition together. seeing as it was the obama coalition there is reason to think that obama could have held it together. but in that fashional race who knows what might have happened. the bottom line is that president obama doesn't want hillary clinton's loss to be a reflex on his legacy. that's what he is trying to do with that sly kind of comment. >> josh, look, this back and forth between the president of the united states and the president-elect, who responded -- we'll talk about that in a moment. but first of all, is this really necessary? does this matter at this point? >> well, i mean for different reasons it matters for trump and obama in different i was. for donald trump, every time you say anything about him that he doesn't like he is going to respond. he has no discipline. he has no filter. he just can't resist. for president obama, the legacy is the only thing that matters to him at this point. he wants to have as much of a

say as possible in what history says about hip. most of that is out of his control but he is doingt his best to frame it while he has the chance. >> let's talk about the president-elect's response. he said the following, quote, the world was glommy before i won. there was no hope. now the market is up nearly 10% and christmas spending is over a trillion dollars. thoughts there. >> yeah, president obama is a very popular president right now. his approval ratings are over 50%. i guess the fact that donald trump won the election gives credence to his claim that most americans thought it was headed in the wrong direction. but the fact he lost the popular vote shows it wasn't a clear mandate or a clear message one way or the other. and the fact that christmas sending is up has nothing to do with the trump win. it's like the rooster taking credit for the sun rise. >> let's talk about the obama

administration and israel. john kerry is expected to lay out the administration's vision for the middle east peace process. kerry has been to israel and the palestinian territories more unanimous a dozen times in his tenure. most tellingly that came in the first year. those efforts appear to have lost steam. this is how the israeli prime minister now describes the latest turn of events as the u.s. declined to veto a u.n. security council criticism of israeli settlements in the west bank. listen. >> over decades, american administrations and israeli governments have disagreed with settlements. but we agreed that the security council was not the place to resolve this issue. we knew that going there with a make negotiations harder and drive peace further away. >> netanyahu even said that friends don't take friends to the security council. how would you interpret what's going on here? >> it's just a collapse of what was already a very bad, shaky, and unfriendly sort of personal

relationship between freb and prime minister netanyahu. i think the obama administration had a list of things they might do in these final days to try to set the stage for progress in the middle east peace process. the first thing they did, which was to not veto the resolution condemning settlements has already become a major crisis in u.s./israel relations not to mention the relationship between the u.s. and the united nations. so john kerry's parameters of the middle east peace process is going to fall on deaf ears in israel. they have decided they don't want to work with obama anymore. they are mounting a boycott of all the countries that voted for this resolution. >> only a month. what difference would it really make? look, the dichotomy that we now see in theist u.s. relationship with israel is that there mr. netanyahu is openly looking

forward to dealing with the president-elect. but much of mr. trump's support comes from the all the right which is viewed widely as anti-semetic. >> oh, yes. but it's kind of an odd situation. but he has support from the pro-israel community and also some factions of the at right, which has some anti-cosmetic members. that is going to be run by jared kushner, and his future ambassador, david friedman. these are supporters of israel that are to the right of each netanyahu. so i don't think the alt right parts of his administration are going to win the day. we are looking at an administration of trump that is close to the netanyahu. that speaks to a dlarl bilateral relationship but not a two state

solution. >> many are saying let's wait until january 20th and keep an open mind. josh rogen thank you for your invital. >> any time. >> donald trump says he will give up his charitible foundation to avoid any possible conflict of interest as president. but critics say there is more to it like claims that the foundation is less charitable than most and may have each broke ten law. >> trump is defending his efforts. here's the tweet that he put out monday just pointing out the word received is misspelled in the tweet but it says i gave millions of dollars to the donald j. trump foundation raised or received millions more. all of which is given to charity, and media won't report. cnn's dana bash has more. >> reporter: the president-elect's team is frantically trying to figure out what to do about his vast business interests, even trump-owned properties like mara lago, where he is staying for the holidays. but they are off to a tough start. >> it is a little bit of a

dance. >> reporter: a christmas eve transition announcement about shuttering the trump charitable foundation hit a roadblock. the new york attorney general who is investigating the upon dags's alleged violations said the foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete. a washington post investigation reported the upon dags spent $258,000 to settle legal problems unrelated to the charity and trump separately used charity money to buy a six-foot tall portrait of himself. annettics attorney says dissolving the foundation could take time you. >> need to make sure it is completely independent of your for-profit business enterprises. you cannot have self dealing in foundations. i don't know whether the rules were violated here or not. >> reporter: regardless, ceasing operations on the trump

foundation is hardly a heavy lift. trump hasn't donated since 2008, and he has no paid staff. the real question is how trump will separate himself from the for-profit trump organization a worldwide empire, including trump golf, international realty, trump winery, and trump hotels. the law does not require a president to divest himself from business interests, but potential conflicts abounds. people could try to influence the president by staying at his hotels, for example, and the most difficult hurdle could be the emodel you meant clause of the u.s. constitution which specifically prevents elected first from accepting any press enor money from leaders. >> there are a whole lot of problems that i think president trump could deal with by selling off his business interests or giving them over to a trustee or a blind trust so the trustee can figure out how to dispose of

these properties and he can focus on being president. >> reporter: a press conference was scheduled for two weeks ago, but that was rescheduled for january to give them more time. it is continuing to reevaluate various transactions they are involved in to take measures to comply with all conflict laws. ethics experts say the only realine clad way to separate the trump administration from the trump business is putting it in a blind trust. but president-elect is resisting and instead, sources say, he is leaning towards finding a way to let his two eldest sons run the trump organization dana bash. thank you. still ahead, the death of george michael. >> fans are sharing their memories of the british pop star a day after his sudden and shocking death. we are back in a moment with that.

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♪ gotta have faith ♪ because i gotta have faith ♪ i gottav faith ♪ wake me up before you go-go ♪ i don't want to miss it when you hit that high ♪ ♪ wake me up before you go

ahead ♪ i'm never gonna dance again. ♪ ♪ guilty feet have got no rhythm. for those of you who remember the '80s, doesn't that take you back to the '80s? those are a few of the chart-topping hits. so many. hard to choose a favorite throughout george michael's remarkable career, spanning nearly four decades. fans are laying out flowers new in tribute to the british singer outside of his home in england. george michael died died christmas day. he was 53 years old. reportedly from heart failure. michael shot to fame in the 1980s with the pop duo what time and later had an even more successful solo career. here's more. >> he was always a happy, positive, loving person. and that just shone through all the time. i just think that everyone's going to miss in a so much.

>> how will you remember him? >> i will remember him as a -- as a great person, a loving human being w so much talent and so giving. and we need to take something from that. >> with me now to talk about this is entertainment journalist holland reed. thank you so much for being with us. unfortunate circumstances of course. but the world was shocked and stunned, weren't they, by the news of the death of george michael. it just seemed extraordinary at the age of 53. talk to us about how people across the globe are remembering him and his legacy. >> yeah, i think just -- like you said, shocked and stunned were the only two words i think a lot of us could come up with. 53. such a young age. we've lost so many stars over the last years in the bracket of

40s to 60s which as you get older seems young, premature. and george michael being the possible icon, being able to enjoy him with what time when he was introduced to the pop culture scene and to go on and have an amazing career as a solo artist, an amazing writing, advocate. an amazing personality. madonna called him the diva himself. he was an incredible artist who stood his ground. he tried to live as his authentic true self. we enjoyed him. so many classics. "freedom"," faith", i want your sex -- i'm sorry. i had to say it. so many great sochlkts i want allowed to sing that in 1987 but those songs stuck with me. and the world is reacting and definitely just remembering such an amazing artist. . it's unbelievable at the age of

53, the young age of 53, yet another legend has been lost. >> he was seen as a generous man, too. but 1998 was a bad year for him. he was forced to come out and declare his sexuality as a gay man. that was because of the arrest. he was arrested for soliciting sex from a male undercover officer. >> yeah. >> in a california bathroom. >> yes. >> and then he had more run-ins with the law. he had a bar car accident. >> yes. >> he was never able to overcome those problems. other celebrities have. why was he not able to ride that all out? >> gosh, if i had that answer. it's so unfortunate. this is a man who donated all the proceeds for the song" last christmas" to band-aid. he raised so much money for charity often of his talent. and to be dragged through the media over controversy, the sting operation which made

him -- forced him to come out. coming out suspect for everyone. and for him, being such a public figure, and giving so much, like i've said before, to the community and to the world, and then have to address something that's so personal in a way that just -- you know, he even said himself he wasn't ashamed. he was not ashamed of his s.e.c.uality, he was ashamed it came out in such a stupid, ridiculous way. again, the drug abuse, the addiction, the issues that he had just in his personal life. i hope that we can look at that and go, that was just a small part of his existence, his time here, that he did so much good. he did so much for charities, for human rights, for you know, the aids community, for the lgbt commune, for the terminal lee ill. he raised money for the nurses that took care of cancer patients to come to his concerts for free. he always gave back.

yes, he was troubled as a human being, we all are, and he definitely had his issues as a celebrity, and he had many issues even with being a celebrity. it was very hard for him to deal with that. and with that, i think coupled with his closeted life, people turn to things that aren't necessarily kosher. >> yes. >> and they have those struggles. but he will, in my heart, and in many of our hearts be remembered as a phenomenal artist and a humanitarian. >> yeah. and it's interesting because the police described his death as unexplained but not suspicious. and they put it down to heart failure. but we've seen that photo, circulating, haven't we? he was bloated. he was not looking well. what is being said about that? >> lots of speculation. unfortunately nothing has been confirmed. i will be the first to say nothing has been confirmed. sources, unnamed sources -- sources have said that has possibly be an issue with heroin for the last year to two years.

his partner has come out and is said to be the one to have found him. again unconfirmed account on twitter. we are looking into that. all those things line up with drug addition. cardiac arrest very much aligned with drug addiction, especially heroin. the bloated photos, heroin -- we see this going back to whitney houston, there are so many artists that we see the late photos at the end of their life and then we get the evidence that come in as to what actually happened. we can hope that it wasn't that unchuply we have a storyline of a history of abuse to go along with it. again, unconfirmed. waiting to hear. but in the days and weeks ahead i'm sure we'll get more information about that as autopsies are performed. >> holland reed, thanks for coming in.

a sad story, another loss of a famous singer in 2016. been quite a year. >> 2016, oye. >> thank you again. >> thank you, appreciate it. still ahead on cnn newsroom, an historic visit by japan's prime minister. in the coming hours, shinzo abe will go to pearl harbor to meet with the president of the united states, barack obama. what prompted his decision to see the site of the surprise attack by japan. next. plus, political attacks, e-mail hacks and trump's victory. this year was shocking and bizarre. next our top ten u.s. political stories of 2016. that's like driving with this guy. all you do is press this, and in plain english, "coolant", you'll know what's wrong. if you do need a mechanic, just press this. "thank you for calling hum." and if you really need help, help can find you, automatically, 24/7. because you put this, in here. hum by verizon. the technology designed to make your car

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tadirectv now. stream all your entertainment! anywhere! anytime! can we lose the 'all'. there's no cbs and we don't have a ton of sports. anywhere, any... let's lose the 'anywhere, anytime' too. you can't download on-the-go, there's no dvr, yada yada yada. stream some stuff! somewhere! sometimes! you totally nailed that buddy. simple. don't let directv now limit your entertainment. only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen. welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. you are watching cnn newsroom. it is good to have you with ussism auto amendment george howell. >> i'm rosemary church. time to check the headlines for.

israeli prime minister netanyahu is suspending ties with the embassies of 12 u.n. security council members. the council approved a resolution condemning israeli settlements last week. israel is also furious with the u.s. who it accuses of initiating the measure. the u.s. denies that. >> new information just in to cnn. the flight date recorder from the russian plane that crashed on saturday, that data recorder has been found. the military plane went down in the black sea just minutes after taking off from sochi. all 92 people on board the plane are presumed killed. japanese japanese prime minister skin zoe abe and president obama will visit pearl harbor 75 years after the attack. the japanese prime minister says his visit to pearl harbor is

intended to he send the messages that the ravages of war should never be repeated. a man spoke with cnn about how the pearl harbor experience changed his life and what he has learned from it. >> reporter: this 95-year-old, robert lee says he is glad to see the japanese prime minister making this trip. >> i think it is tea greatest thing in the world. i think we've already gone through quite a bit of healing. >> reporter: he remembers well the dave japan's surprise attack 75 years ago when more than 2400 people lost their lives. >> it's very vivid in my memory. very much so. >> reporter: still a young man, just two years out of high school rotc, he looked on from his bedroom. later dashing to his front lawn as japanese bombers flew low over his home headed for battleship row. >> i grabbed my .22 caliber target rifle and shot all 16 .22

caliber lead shots. >> at the planes? >> at the planes. >> reporter: thinking that it would work? >> of course nochltd it could scarcely kill a mouse. >> reporter: he watched as the uss arizona just a mile away exploded. >> it was that orange -- red-orange color b. three seconds. and then it exploded. the fire went up hundreds of feet from this -- from the whole ship, and the crackling of the fire was overwhelming. >> as those who could fought back, lee helped to wash the oil off sailors who jumped to safety, their ships under attack. later helping transport the injured to treatment facilities. by midnight i had joined the military serving domestically throughout the war. it was a long emotional day that left lee angry. but he isn't angry anymore.

>> hate is the greatest destroyer of anyone. the idea that you can harbor hate will destroy you. >> reporter: it's that understanding the president celebrated at hiroshima. >> since that fateful day, we have made choices that give us hope. the united states and japan forged not only an alliance, but a friendship that has won far more for our people than we could ever claim through war. >> reporter: a message prime minister abe is certain to echo as he pays tribute at this watery grave, now a sacred sight. athena jones, cnn, honolulu, hawaii. >> is it an historic visit coming up. still ahead, they have waited years for fritsch. now 21 school girls are reunited with their families.

their celebration is just ahead.

welcome back, everyone. 21 chibok school girls are celebrating the holidays with their families after more than two years in boko haram captivity. >> nearly 300 girls were kidnapped by the terror group in 2014. cnn's isha sesay has been on the forefront of this. she has the exclusive story of their journey back to chibok. >> reporter: after almost two and a half years in boko haram captivity, at leaast, it's timeo go home. having covered the chibok girls' abduction from the very beginning i'm going to make the

long journey with them. they are going home. how are you feeling? somebody tell me, what is the feeling in your heart right now? >> happy. >> reporter: you are happy? for all the talk of excitement, some of these girls are also nervous. don't be nervous. don't be afraid. okay? behold your faith. you hold on to your faith, okay? okay? the same faith that kept you all those months. with the girls on the move, there are more smiles as they shaath chat and giggle freely among themselves. once we land, the girls are welcomed by some of the chibok community leaders as well as the governor of the state. the road to chibok, too dangerous to travel after dark, the girls spend the night ott a local hotel. outside, a large security cordon is put in place.

inside, with their journey delayed, they gather in one room to do what they were unable to do while in boko haram captivity. ♪ >> reporter: i learned from rebecca mall a.m. and gloria dahl ar, they were singing local christian hymns. while in captivity, their christianity was not tolerated by the boko haram terrorists. what have you been doing? >> we are grateful. we are grateful. they have done good for us. that's where we learn how to speaking english. >> reporter: you guys look so different since i saw you in october. how are you feeling now from that time to now?

>> we are feeling beautiful because since we came, we -- >> reporter: you can tell me. you can tell me. because you are beautiful. the next morning, a military convoy escorts the girls to chibok a place that holds the promise of long awaited family reunions and memories of a fateful night. so the convoy has stopped in a town which is about an hour away from chibok. the movement through these parts of a well armed convoy is drawing attention from passers by. as we enter chibok locals wave excited excitedly, welcoming their girls home. the moment of reunion eventually arrives. the room almost vibrating with

the sounds of unbridled joy. but for some waiting parents, heart break. these women have come looking for their daughters, who are still being held by boko haram. they had thought their children were among the group who were coming home for christmas. there has been such an outpouring of grief amid the joy. the piercing screams of mothers realizing indeed they are not to be reunited with their daughters on this day, which has turned what should have been an overwhelmingly happy moment into a bitter sweet one. for rebecca and her father, the nightmare is over, and her father is overcome with feelings of gratitude. given all they have endured, mental and physical abuse at the hands of their captors, the years of painful separation from

their loved ones, this reunion here in chibok moves these fractured families and their community a step closer to wholeness. isha sesay, cnn, chibok, nigeria. >> incredible reporting. she followed that story right through. well, 2016 was full of political surprises. one of the biggest surprises here in the u.s. was of course the victory of donald trump. next the top ten u.s. political stories of 2016.

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china's. >> it affects us a lot. we have to go through a path now. >> reporter: the company was supposed to return the road back to its original state by the end of august, but the tracks are still here, alodge wing with a that goes nowhere. >> i think it is worthless. it only runs 300 meters. you can't actually go anywhere. >> reporter: a city official said he is aware of the traffic problems and knows nothing about future plans or when the city will get its road back. chinese state media report the test run may have been nothing more than, quote, a publicity stunt. to pay for it all, tbe raised $15 million earlier this year through peer-to-peer lending. that's where investors promise steady payments. peer-to-peer lending is regulated and risky. >> in this case it is a good example of the risk involved but it seems investors didn't do the

homework on the underlying project. >> reporter: cnn called bte multiple times over several days. all calls went unanswered. when we visited the office, we found this, a dark room with a toy version of the elevated bus circling around a model of beijing. nothing but a show piece, much like the company can's test bus. >> now cnn did find one small office with the lights on at tbe and our beijing producer managed to talk to an employee who refused give his name oraa pier on camera. he said his job is to finish, quote, leftover work. he said he doesn't know anything about tbe's future plans. sherise pham, hong kong. >> wow. >> that's worries. 2016, what a year it has been. political expectations were shattered across europe and here in the united states. >> indeed, this political year was shocking at times, seemed a little bizarre i think it is

fair to say. our chief can washington correspondent jake tapper has the 2002 ten u.s. political stories of the year 2016. ♪ this year everything we thought we knew about politics was turned on its head, political attacks, e-mail hacks and several cracks in the glass ceiling made for an unparalleled race between the first female major party nominee and a billionaire outsider. president-elect trump will take office soon, but first let's look back at top ten political stories of 2016. number ten, conservative supreme court justice antonin scalia died suddenly in february. >> everything is on the line. >> in an unprecedented move, republicans vowed to block any high court appointments until after the presidential election. >> simply to turn your back before the president even names a nominee is not an option the

constitution leaves open. >> judge merrick garland was nominated in march but never even had a hearing. number nine. >> you want to give me a big send-off? go vote! >> in their final presidential year the obamas hit the presidential trail. >> when they go low, we go high. >> with more catch phrases. >> come on, man. >> and less restraint. >> donald trump is uniquely unqualified to be president. >> but a different tone after the democratic defeat. >> because if you succeed, then the country succeeds. number eight. >> i beat everybody, i beat them. >> donald trump won the republican nomination but struggled to win over the party. republicans leaders distanced themselves also. >> will you support him? >> i'm just not ready to do that. >> but will the party now unify around president trump. >> we're going to hit the ground running. number seven, trump's unvarnished campaign attracted extremist support. >> i don't know anything about what you're even talking about

with white supremacy. >> he was slow to denounce white supremacists. >> david duke endorsed me? all right, i disavow, okay. >> and his controversial rhetoric continued. >> this judge is mexican heritage, i'm building a wall. >> if you're saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism? >> no, i don't think so at all. number six, the conventions. >> the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for president. >> hillary clinton made history in philadelphia, and a gold star family made trump an offer. >> have you even read the united states constitution? i will gladly lend you my copy. >> in cleveland melania trump's speech was familiar. >> you work hard for what you want in life. >> that you work hard for what you want in life.

>> and senator ted cruz refused to endorse the nominee. >> vote your conscience. number five, trump's past went public. there was a former mist universe feud. >> he called her ms. piggy. >> responded with a link to her past. >> you sent out a series of tweet. >> then a crude video of trump. >> grab them by the blooup. >> he brushed it aside. >> this was locker room talk. >> but nearly a dozen assault accusers said it went further than words. >> his hand started going towards my knee and up my skirt. >> trump denied the allegation also and said he would sue. number four, senator bernie sanders built a huge movement. >> we are actually listening to the american people, not the 1%. >> but was the system rigged against outsiders? >> secretary clinton received about 450 super delegates before anybody else was in the race.

>> bernie or bust protesters crowded the convention. >> you're being ridiculous. >> and refused to vote for clinton. number three, democrats were hacked. >> they're under attack. >> stolen e-mails from the dnc revealed bias against sanders, forcing the party chair to resign. >> no question in my mind the dnc was in opposition to our campaign. >> u.s. intelligence points to russian cyberattacks. >> our goal continues to be to send a clear message to russia or others not to do this to us because we can do stuff to you. number two. >> there is evidence they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. >> the fbi recommended no charges for clinton's use of a private e-mail server. still, the issue was gold for republicans. >> she is guilty as hell. >> she tried to quell concerns. >> my e-mails are so boring. >> but the fbi announced they discovered new ones just before

election day. >> it is imperative that the bureau explain this issue. >> the trove contained nothing new but the damage was done. number one. >> hilary clinton has called donald trump to concede the race. >> donald trump won the white house. >> the campaign unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime. >> i love this country. >> as protesters took to the streets, secretary clinton bowed out. >> we have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. >> now a cabinet of billionaires, outsiders and military men will join trump for an era of who knows what. those were our top ten political stories of this year. the question is who and what will top the list next year. jake tapper, cnn, washington. what a year, huh? and it is not over yet. >> a few more days though. >> that's right. anything is possible.

thanks for watching "cnn newsroom" live from cnn world headquarters here in atlanta. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm george howell. hour number two of "cnn newsroom" starts after the break. this is cnn, the world's news leader. >> and he needs to take responsibility for his actions and his words. ♪ ♪ if you've got the time welcome to the high life. ♪ we've got the beer ♪ miller beer

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intensifying anger as israel's criticism of the white house, well, becomes a little more personal. >> home for the holidays, some of the freed chibok school girls reunite with their families for the first time in years. >> and a healing moment marking a painful history. japan's prime minister offers his condolences at pearl harbor. hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states, and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm george howell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. ♪ 3:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. the relationship between israel and the current u.s. president, well, you could