some analysts believe part of the south korean strategy in revealing this decapitation unit is to make kim jong-un more paranoid of those around him and endpanl in more purges of his inner circle. >> brian todd, good report. thanks very much. that's it for me. thanks for watching. "erin burnett out front" starts right now. breaking news, trump firing back, blaming russia, the media, the democrats in his first press conference in six months. plus, war on whites. that's what one lawmaker calls the fight against jeff sessions tonight. can that battle get any uglier? and where was sasha obama last night? that question and some interesting answers taking the wehby storm. let's go "out front." >> i'm erin burnett. donald trump admitting for the first time that russia hacked the u.s. election, the admission coming just after weeks of trump

dismissing u.s. intel reports, painting the attack on vladimir putin personally. almost in the same breath, trump refused to accept that russia's motive was to try to help him win the presidency. ? his first press conference in 168 days, trump said putin will respect america more with him in the white house. >> russia will have much greater respect for our country when i'm leading it than when other people have led it. you will see that. russia will respect our country more. do you honestly believe that hillary would be tougher on putin than me? does anybody in this room really believe that? give me a break. >> that press conference was 77 minutes long. it was contentious. there were fireworks, especially when trump vehemently attacked reporting first broadcast on cnn that u.s. intelligence officials presented him with documents alleging russian on ra tifs claimed to have compromising personal information about

trump. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is part of our team breaking that story. a major reversal for the president-elect on the issue of did russia hack the u.s. election. >> reporter: nuanced to some degree. he says he thinks it was russia. he downplayed it saying a lot of other countries try to hack the u.s. but it is the first time he has not publicly dismissed and disputed the high confidence assessment of the u.s. intelligence community. >> as far as hacking, i think it was russia. >> reporter: tonight for the first time president-elect donald trump accepting the u.s. intelligence community's assessment that russia is to blame for the unprecedented attack on the 2016 election process. and then immediately watering down that admission in the very same sentence. >> but i think we also get hacked by other countries and

other people. >> reporter: still, the remarks are the most defin tich he's made after months of openly doubting the intelligence community's assessment, which includes that russian president vladimir putin ordered the operation. >> he shouldn't have done it. i don't believe he'll be doing it more now. >> reporter: the president-elect's reversal comes after the nation's intelligence chiefs briefed trump on their classified findings last week. cnn first reported that at the same briefing president-elect trump was presented with documents alleging that russian operatives claimed to have compromising perm and financial information about it. >> it's phony stuff. >> reporter: today trump angrily denied the contents of those claims accusing the intelligence chiefs of leaking the allegations. >> i think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. >> reporter: he went on to say that he's simply too cautious when traveling for the russians to have anything damning on him.

>> i am extremely careful. i'm surrounded by bodyguards. i'm surrounded by people. and i always tell them anywhere, but i always tell them if i'm leaving this country, be very careful because in your hotel rooms and no matter where you go you're probably going to have cameras. i'm not referring just to russia, but i would certainly put them in that category. >> reporter: the allegations reigniting questions about donald trump's ties to russia, which he has often touted in the past. >> i was in moscow a couple of months ago. i own the miss universe pageant. and they treated me so great. putin even sent me a present. >> reporter: in 2013 trump brought his miss universe pageant to moscow. today trump maintains he has no connections to russia and cnn has not been able to find any current business operations there. >> i have no deals in russia. i have no deals that could happen in russia because we've stayed away.

and i have no loans with russia. >> reporter: as if russia's hacking was intended to help him get elected, he suggested in hid view that would be a mplus. >> if putin likes donald trump, guess what, folks, that's called an asset, not a liability. now, i don't know that i'm going to get along with vladimir putin. i hope i do. but there's a good chance i won't. and if i don't, do you honestly believe that hillary would be tougher on putin than me? does anybody in this room really believe that? give me a break. >> reporter: donald trump of course has repeatedly talked about pursuing a friendlier relationship with russia, but we noted today that rex tillerson, nominee for secretary of state, asked about that possibility during his confirmation hearings today, said a number of times that the u.s. is not friends with russia, not likely to be, that we have in his words a different value system. he did say that he might look for a way to turn down the temperature in his words and that might be something that the

president very well does end up pursuing. the question is how does he pursue that with the many issues of disagreement between the two countries right now. >> i'm going to go to jim acosta because he was at the press conference. i want to talk about an extremely contentious back and forth you had with the president-elect over cnn's reporting. today the bottom line of what he seemed to be trying to say in light of all the allegations improper things that the russians may know about him, he's trying to say now he may not get along with vladimir putin. >> reporter: that's right, erin. you heard him saying if vladimir putin likes him that's an asset, not a liability. he still has this idea that perhaps the u.s. and russia could join forces to take the fight to isis. but you did hear him say at one point maybe i won't get along very well with vladimir putin and that's a little bit of a departure from what we heard on the campaign trail. he was effusive in his praise of vladimir putin throughout that

campaign. and so i do think that is a measurable difference but perhaps the weight of the presidency is starting to bring him to the reality that vladimir putin may not actually be on his side. >> now that brings me to your heated exchange. you went to ask him a question after he had attacked cnn, because cnn, jim sciutto, that team reported trump was presented with documents that had allegations that russians, operatives had information, compromising information about donald trump. we reported that he was briefed on that. as we all know, others have reported what those allegations are. we have not. we have not substantiated them. he attacked you and here's how it went. >> since you are attacking our news organization -- >> not you. not you. >> gives us a chance. >> you are a terrible organization. >> since you are attacking us, can you give us a chance to ask a question, sir. >> go ahad had. quiet, quiet. >> mr. president-elect, can you say categorically -- >> she's skag question.

don't be rude. >> can you give us a question? >> don't be rude. i'm not going to give you a question. you are fake news. >> can you state categorically -- mr. president-elect, that's not appropriate. >> and good for you, jim, standing up for yourself, for organization. has the transition team said anything to you about this exchange that we just heard? >> reporter: sean spicer, the incoming press secretary, came up to me after that news conference was over and said that i crossed a line and he thought my behavior during that news conference was inappropriate. i thought that, you know, donald trump had attacked our news organization several types and i thought, you know, it was only right for us to have a chance to ask him a question, ask a follow-up question. i merely wanted to ask, you know, did he have any associates who were in contact with the russians during the course of that campaign. he did not want to answer that question. he did answer that question as he was getting on an elevator when a colleague of ours at abc

tried to ask the question. but one thing i think is very notable and worth pointing out is that during that news conference, sean spicer said to me that if i were to continue to persist and try to ask a question that i would be thrown out of that news conference. now, erin, keep in mind, i've covered four presidential campaigns, covered president obama at the white house. i have never had a press secretary threaten to throw me out of a news conference. that is a first. it is not a good sign of things to come and perhaps when the heat dies down we'll both, you know, come to an agreement as to how this should go forward in the future. but obviously, you know, we're just trying to ask the hard questions and do our job. that's why we're here. >> thank you very much, jim. i want to go to democratic senator al franken, member of the judiciary committee in the senate. you heard that exchange between jim acosta and donald trump. you heard him say he's covered multimillion white houses, multiple campaigns, never been threatened with being thrown out of a press conference before. when you hear that exchange,

what do you hear? >> i was in the hearings for senator sessions for attorney general so i didn't see the total context, but it sounded pretty bad. and, you know, this is really kind of about transparency. donald trump -- we don't know -- the charges are that he has some indiscretion or some financial ties to russia somehow. those as you said have not been sup b substantiated and you guys haven't said that, but these have been presented to him. this is why he should release his taxes. the fipgs part, for example. here's someone who's had a number of businesses that have gone bankrupt to the tune of leaving creditors holding the

bag for a billion dollars. sometimes you wonder where else are you going to get credit and are those going to be foreign entities. he has been surprisingly friend friendly to putin and russia, praising russia and syria when they have committed with the assad regime atrocities. he denied that russia went into crimea, he threatened nato. you wonder why he is sort of carrying so much of russia's water. >> you think they may have something on him and he's aware. is that what you're implying? not trying to put words if your mouth. >> what i'm saying is that we need much, much more transparen transparency, and part of that is him releasing his income taxes to see where his money comes from, what his business

relationships are, and that's something he can easily do. >> absolutely. and the thing, though, is he's saying that these allegations -- again, i want to make it clear to people, cnn reported he was briefed on allegations. we did not report on what allegations are. we know that another organization put some of those allegations, put the report out in public. the former acting cia director mike morrell, though, senator, today did say on cnn it would be unprecedented, it is unprecedented, for the intelligence community to present to anyone unverified information. let me play for you how mike morrell put it. >> i was a bit surprised that our intelligence community would take a private document and summarize it for the president and president-elect if they didn't know anything about the credibility of the information in it. that will would be unprecedented.

>> senator, donald trump responded today saying, "i think it was disgraceful that the intelligence community's allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. i think it's a disgrace." should the intel chief, senator, have presented these allegations without knowing if they are true? >> i don't know how this works. they may have been afraid it would leak so they were telling him to give him a warning in case it was leaked. you might say the same thing about what fbi director comey did just 11 days before the election on something that amounted to absolutely nothing but i think had an effect on this election. the point is that donald trump, if he says something isn't true, that doesn't mean it isn't true. he said thousands of muslims cheered, saw this on tv, thousands of muslims cheered in

new jersey as the 9/11 towers went down. he says things that aren't true all the time. so you can't take his word for anything. >> do you know who to believe at this point? whose responsibility is next? should senate set up a committee to investigate this 35-page report? should the intelligence community be tasked with verifying and saying if anything in there is true now that the whole world has been able to see it? >> yes. i think we should have a committee looking at this. i think we should have a special committee looking at this. we had one for benghazi. the hacking of our elections and then it wasn't just hacking us, it was releasing the information to wikileaks. by the way, donald trump praised wikileaks and praised julian assange. i mean, this is pretty outrageous and this does need an investigation, of course.

>> and i must ask you because as you point out you didn't hear the perez conference live because you were doing your job, you're on the judiciary committee, you've been questioning senator sessions, two days of hearings. is he going to be confirmed as the next attorney general, senator franken? >> i can't say one way or the other. i have a lot of skepticism about his ability to be the kind of attorney general who protects all americans. i pressed him about his own mischaracterization of his record. he said he personally handled four civil rights cases. turns out he didn't. i worry about him with the voting rights act. we went over what happened in north carolina where the fourth circuit said that north carolina had targeted specifically african-americans to suppress their vote and that had stood for a couple of years so we had

elections where those voters were denied the right to vote. and he didn't seem to think there was enough of a problem there to restore the voting rights act where -- where the federal government has preclearance over those states like north carolina that have a history of suppressing the votes of minorities. so i don't think that he necessarily is the right choice to protect the rights of americans. >> thank you very much, senator franken. appreciate your time. >> thank you, erin. next, trump lays out his plan for separating his business from his presidency. and an unprecedented and emotional attack on a fellow senator. manu raju spoke with him. that's next. and president obama on his eight years in office turning to his daughters. >> malia and sasha, you have become two amazing young women. >> malia was there. you see her. but where was sasha?

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tonight president-elect donald trump says he'll donate every dollar of profit from foreign government payments to his hotels to u.s. taxpayers. now, this as he says he will

have nothing to do with his business as president. >> my two sons, who are right here, don and eric, are going to be running the company. they are going to be running it in a very professional manner. they're not going to discuss it with me. >> that announcement as a sere of moves to avoid cob flikts of interest. he promised the trump organization won't make any new foreign deals and pending deals have been canceled. larry noble and rick santorum join us. larry, let me start with you. he's saying, look, there's a deal done, i'll read about it in the newspaper, i'll see it on television, i won't know about it or be involved in it but he'll get a profit and loss statement. do these moves go far enough? >> not at all. he is still financially involved this this company. his finances will depend on how the companies do when he leaves

the presidency he will be a lot wealthier if the companies do better. he will be less wealthy if the companies don't do well. this is a classic financial conflict of interest. he's saying he's putting businesses in a trust. it's not a blind trust. it's being run by his children. it just means he won't be involved in the operation. but he'll still benefit from them and what they do. they know what he wants and how it works. also as equally as important, people dealing with his companies know that the president will benefit if they do a good deal with the company. if they benefit with the company, the president benefits and that's a dangerous situation. >> senator santorum, do you agree? the director of the office of government ethics said today these moves in his words were wholly inadequate. your view? >> for what? you ask the question, erin. you said does this go far enough? far enough for what? >> to show he would not in any way benefit from his office or be able to use it to his

financial advantage. >> why is that the standard? >> well, i mean, i would expect nothing less, right? >> it's not the standard. the president of the united states is not bound by any conflict of interest standard. when you say does it go far enough, far enough for what? far enough for the law? the law doesn't apply to the president. so the answer is far enough for what the public perception is. of course the gentleman who's on with me right now, for him, no, it's not. for me, yes, it is, because there is no standard. just because other presidents may have decided i'm going to comply with that even though it's not the law to do so doesn't make it the standard. what donald trump did when he ran for president is spent tens of millions of his own money. he's probably going to be as a result of not doing further financial deals going to be giving um tens of millions of more dollars. and people are wondering he's going to profit if this company continues to operate. no one would suspect -- he's getting to this -- to the presidency so he can make more money. he's actually lost a lot of

money running for president of the united states. i just think this is a whole false narrative. the president of the united states is not bound by the law to have any -- do anything to avoid conflict of interest. that what he is bound by, and this is what i would say, he is bound by public perception. and of course those who don't like donald trump will never be satisfied with anything he does short of selling everything. but that is an unreasonable thing for the public to ask because donald trump isn't rex tillerson. rex tillerson can sell his public stock in a company he was in. >> do you think, larry, the standard would be he would have to sell absolutely everything? that would be unfair, right? have to sell everything, these are illiquid assets. are you saying it would have to go that far, larry? >> yes. i think he should sell everything. the president of the united states is the most powerful office in world.

the senator asks what standards? there is a definition of conflict of interest. there is a common understanding of what is a conflict of interest. i don't think donald trump would accept one of his executives having the same type of deal with other companies while working with him. he is right the core conflict of interest law doesn't apply to the president, but as the senator also said, previous presidents have applied it to themselves and have worked as if it applied to them to avoid the appearance and reality. and the reyay ti of the conflict of interest is he will do things because it will benefit his company. just as dangerously, other people, foreign countries, foreign companies, domestic companies will do things to favor him hoping to get some benefit from it. that is dangerous. he can make the best decision in the world based on the most accurate information and because it will be seen he's ben it thing from it, people will not trust him. >> that is an issue. also the question, if you are going to be the leader of the free world, the most powerful person on the planet, why not

hold yourself to the highest standard? why would you want the answer to be well, other people did but i don't have to because the law is this? is that what you want to hear from your president? >> i think what donald trump has done is put forth a reasonable plan to separate himself from the business, to disconnect himself from any knowledge or management of the business, and as the attorney pointed out, there are problems with trying to sell his assets. they have the trump name. they might get more money paid for those assets because it's the president of the united states. there's no easy way to unwind this. what president trump -- president-elect trump has done is put forth a reasonable proposal that is not going to satisfy people like we're hearing who want everything sold no matter whether he loses money or not. that's not fair. and when you say donald trump asked for the presidency, that's right, but he knew the conflict of interest laws wouldn't apply. to now say you have to change

the rules otherwise it doesn't look good, he's put a reasonable plan together and we should give him time to see how it works out. >> we'll hit pause. thank you. rick santorum, larry. next, one congressman says the attacks on jeff sessions are part of an ongoing war on whites. that's next. and trump and his cabinet picks not seeing eye to eye at all. >> we will also immediately stop the job killing trans-pacific prim. >> i do not oppose tpp. ugh. heartburn.

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jo republicans and democrats accusing each other of playing the race card with jeff sessions. democrats hammered his civil rights record today. mo brooks responded with this -- >> it's really about political power and racial division and what i refer to on occasion as the war on white. they are trying to motivate the african-american vote to vote block for democrats by using every republican is a racist tool that they can envision. >> the democratic senator cory booker took on his fellow senator sessions at today's confirmation hearing. >> with the urgent need for healing and for love, i pray my colleagues will join me in opposing this nomination. >>. >> reporter: booker could shut down sessions' nominations. manu raju is on capitol hill.

you spoke to booker. what did he say? this was an emotional moment for him, an unprecedented moment to testify against sessions. >> the first time a sitting senator has testified against another sitting senator for a cabinet post. he said he didn't take the decision lightly, he considers himself a personal friend with jeff sessions but says he's for out of the mainstream, even fourth the right than the most conservative elements of the republican conference. i talked to him about what some critics believe that cory booker is doing this for his own 2020 ambitions. he addressed all that just moments ago. >> he's clearly told us if he is attorney general he will not be executing what is a key function of the attorney general's office, which is to protect the vulnerable, to protect women, to protect minorities, protect voting rights, to protect the poor.

it's something in good conscience i could not remain silent on. it's more important for me to stand up for principles and ideals on my country than it is to stand up for senate norms. >> some of the members of the congressional black caucus have questioned whether or not he would fairly administer the law across races. do you hear that concern? are you worried that he may not be fair with african-americans? >> so i don't want to get into an accusation of what i hear, which i think is nonsensical to call him a racist. i want to say what he's told us he will do. >> are you open to 2020? >> i am open to doing everything i can right now as the trump administration is coming in. please understand, jeff sessions as attorney general is counter to so many of the ideals and values i believe in. the focus is doing on everything you can to stop donald trump and a lot of his intentions, somebody who ran a campaign demeaning and degrading so many americans who now is advocating for policies that will end up doing the same. >> reporter: so, erin, not

ruling out 2020 run when i asked him are you open to that idea but saying this is not something -- he's not doing this because of his own political ambitions. one interesting point, i asked him about the nomination of rex tillerson for secretary of state, booker sits on the senate foreign relations committee, he didn't rule out voting for rex tillerson. he said he's open it to, listening to his testimony, will make a decision later. potentially one democrat still considering voting for tillerson even as others are considering voting against him. >> it could be a crucial vote considering marco rubio could vote against. i want to go to the former reagan white house political director, jeffrey lourd. senator booker saying he doesn't think that jeff sessions will work in the interests of the vulnerable. but not going so far as to call him a racist. i guess he wanted to be somewhat political when it came to that final bottom line point. is there a disconnect there? >> no, listen, civil rights

organizations have said that sessions is not someone who is going to uphold the values of those organizations and protect vulnerable communities. in the history of this country there have been only been ten african-american senators. three are serving currently and the current president is one of them. when you look at voting rights, gerrymandering, that hurts the ability of african-americans and women and -- >> something in the past. >> you have to keep fighting for it and that was cory booker's point today. >> this is what modern liberalism has become and i think this is the tragedy of it. they infect everything with this kind of political belief. i served in the reagan white

house. they went after supreme court nominees. they went after lower court nominees. jeff sessions was a reagan nominee and they went after him. this is what they do. this is part of the standard playbook. to borrow from hillary clinton, the basket of deplorables, this is the nomination -- >> who is they and are you saying that they are deplorable for standing up -- >> no, when you talk -- >> for the people of color. why is it folks feel so threatened when people who are searching for or pushing for representation actually do that? >> it's not about feeling threatened. it's about equality of treatment and getting to doctor king's dream of a place where we're being judged on the content of our character, not color of our skin. i am suggesting -- i am suggesting to you that this is the progressive formula and it has been for well over 200 years. >> what's the formula of what? >> you play the race card -- >> i don't have a race -- go ahead. >> i want to read the formula of

what mo brooks said. he is saying what he's calling the war on whites. they're trying to use a racist tool they can envision even if they have to lie about it. that's the formula he sees. >> an idiotic and irresponsible statement because there are good people, republicans and democrats, black and white, trying to solve these kind of problems and from have good, strong, open dialogue. when both turn around and say you're playing the race card -- >> what's your gut reaction? >> it's idiotic. there is no war on whites. that goes to what i was saying, if people are being threatened, and he clearly feels threatened there are folks of color, people previously disenfranchised, having a platform now, somehow it's an opportunity to say we don't want this kind of change,

it's happening too quickly. >> mo brooks says this is a what are on whites, the sessions nomination. does that go too far? >> the phrase war on whites is terrible, atrocious. i would never use it. but the rest of what he's saying is in essence what i've been saying, that they divide by race for a reason. they divide by race to get a progressive agenda. >> so you have rand paul, who said today that he actually disagrees with jeff sessions, particularly on this issue of incarceration, which is disproportionately impacted people of color. is he playing the race card? no. this is about good, solid public policy. there is no war on whiltds they are enacted. >> the they as i say is american liberalism today. and in the past, i mean, the culture -- >> rand paul is an american liberal? >> i think rand paul, you know, is having an intelligent conversation on this issue. and that's the kind of thing

that has to be had. to say we'll block the president's choice for attorney general, i disagreed with -- >> you can raise important questions about what these nominees are saying or have done in the past and that's what booker is doing. that's what john louis was doing. >> the president should have his choice for his cabinet. whomever that may be. >> and senators are have the right to block it. >> we'll see how it goes. senator franken sounded earlier like he was leaning against voting for jeff sessions. up next, rex tillerson under fire today from both sides of the aisle. is he going to get the job? and jeanne moos on first daughter sasha's conspicuous absence at her father's final speech. >> everybody has a theory. >> out on a date? >> no. >> got the flu? >> no. >> taking care of the dogs? >> no.

marco rubio refuses to say he'll vote for rex tillerson after a day of testimony. >> it's a very important decision. i have to make sure that i'm 100% behind whatever decision that i make. i'm prepared to do what's right.

>> senator rubio's refusal to back tillerson comes on a day tillerson and other cabinet picks are publicly going against some of trump's core campaign promises. jeff zeleny is out front. >> reporter: the campaign trail promises -- >> i said it's fine and if we want to go stronger i'd go stronger too. going to build a wall! we're going to build a big beautiful wall! >> reporter: aren't being backed up on capitol hill not just by democrats by his own cabinet nominees. a second day of confirmation hearings shows trump's team is at odds with the boss on some of the most hot-button issues. on trade, the president railed against the trans-pacific partnership. >> we'll stop the job killing trans-pacific partnership, a disaster. another disaster rouse potential deal. >> reporter: today secretary of state nominee rex tillerson took a different view. >> i do not oppose tpp, i share

some of his views regarding whether the agreement that was negotiated serves all of america's interests best. >> reporter: the disagreements run deeper on torture, which attorney general nominee jeff sessions told the judiciary committee. >> congress has taken an action now that makes it absolutely improcedure ei improper or illegal to use waterboarding or any other form of torture. >> reporter: trump's rhetoric before the election and since. that old pledge to ban muslims -- >> a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: he started walking away from during the campaign met resistance from sessions and others. >> i have no belief and do not support the idea that muslims as a religious group should be denied admission to the united states. >> reporter: at trump tower today the president-elect still pledged to build that wall on

the board we are mexico. >> it's not a fence. it's a wall. >> reporter: his pick for homeland security, jon kelly, gently disagreed. >> a physical barrier will not do the job. it has to be a layered defense. >> reporter: and trump's approach to vladimir putin. >> if putin likes donald trump, i consider that an asset not a liability. >> reporter: challenged by the senate foreign relations committee where his choice for secretary of state struck a harder line than trump. >> russia must know we will be accountable to our commitments and those of our allies and that russia must be held to account for its actions. >> reporter: the rhetoric of campaigning is coming headlong to the reality of governing. rex tillerson saw that more than any other nominee perhaps, erin, when he was asked about climate change and nuclear weapons, asked throughout the day in aggressive questioning if he agrees with donald trump. he said in many cases he does not. the real question will be when donald trump comes here in just ten days, how that reality affects his policies.

>> that is the crucial question. jeff zeleny, thank you. to james lankford, the only senator on both the intelligence and homeland security committees. obviously a lot of say you have here say. so many questions i could ask you about these stark differences between donald trump and his nominees. but i want to ask you this one. do you think that trump's nominees will actually stand up to him on the wall, the tpp, torture, nuclear weapons, the list goes on? >> i would assume they would. i assume these are all conversations they've already had with the president-elect in the interviews to say we have some differences. i think it shows trump is bringing in good leaders that have thoughts op these issues. he doesn't mind disagreement. that's a positive. a lot of these issues were debated throughout the campaign and as the campaign went on some of those shifted on and you see that from some of the cabinet officials he's selected. >> you have said you've had concerns about the secretary of state nominee rex tillerson due

to his close links to russia as the ceo of exxon. and marco rubio shares those concerns. he's on the foreign relations committee. tillerson needs his vote. their exchanges today were very contentious. i want to play one of them for you. >> is vladimir putin a war criminal? >> i would not use that term. >> based on all this information, what's publicly in the record about what's happened in aleppo and the russian military, you are still not prepared to say that vladimir putin and his military have violated the rules of war and have conducted war crimes in alep aleppo? >> those are very, very serious charges to make and i would want to have much more information before reaching a conclusion. i understand there is a body of record in the public domain. i'm sure there's a body of record in the classified domain. and i think in order to deal with a serious question like this -- >> mr. tillerson, the town of aleppo is in the public domain and -- >> i would want to be fully informed before advising the

president. >> are you satisfied with tillerson's response? >> heed a a lot of questions all day long and he came back over and over again saying russia needs to be held to account. yes, at the end of the day he said the things we needed to hear from him, this is not a business transaction. this is a transaction of a sense of values from the united states that we are projecting our values globally and standing up for things like religious liberty, freedom of the press, speech, to be able to gather. those are unique values we have as americans and places they don't share those values we should push back on those things. russia has been one of the leading violators of a lot of those values. >> he circled back and you seem satisfied with those responses. senator rubio pushed him on one other thing and i wanted to play this. >> are you aware that people who oppose vladimir putin wind up dead all over the world, poisoned, shot in the back of the head? >> people who speak up for freedom in regimes that are

oppressive are often a threat and these things happen to them. in terms of assigning specific responsibilities, i would have to have more information. >> i know you said you ended up being satisfied with his responses on russia. does he have your vote? >> i'm still going through all the file information. i've not made a final decision. i would say i'm leaning towards a yes based on what i'm hearing. i'm still trying to -- there are other human rights issues i want to walk through and see what they're doing specifically. some were touched on today. some were not. i want to get final answers. >> leaning yes. today trump said he'll start building a wall immediately, mexico will reimburse taxpayers later. the president of mexico says no, never. are you sure u.s. taxpayers won't get stuck with that bill? >> i don't know president-elect trump's proposal. i don't know what he's proposing. he is coming forward to make the

request. this is a bill almost 20 years old now that the united states already voted and the united states congress voted and the president signed to say we need to have a physical barrier on our border. but it was never fully funded and in many areas where there was multilayering as general kelly mentioned yesterday, some of those areas where technology was put in place, a billion dollars place and the technology didn't work at the end. a lot of issues with the acquisition from dhs, which has been a major problem for over a decade, and finishing something congress started in the early 2000s on security. this is not a vote to start something new. it's a vote to finish what should have been done a long time ago. >> senator, good to talk with you. next moez moesz, after president obama's farewell address to the nation, people wanted to know where is sasha? jeanne moos, after

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sasha was not there last night for the emotional farewell speech to the nation. where was she? jeanne moos investigated. >> reporter: we watched her grow from a kid to a teenager, from petting a turkey to barely putting up with the turkey pardon. but when president obama delivered his swan song -- >> malia and sasha, under the

strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing young women. >> reporter: only one of the two was there. >> you are kind and you are thoughtful and you are full of passion. >> reporter: while malia shed a tear, sasha had disappeared. inspiring the #whereissasha? a tweet featuring binoculars asked, for real, where is she? and there was this answer, hopefully blocking the driveway to the white house so the next occupant can't move in. the family of four inexplicably reduced to three. she was out on a date? >> no. >> reporter: has the flu? >> no. >> reporter: taking care of the dogs? >> no. >> reporter: tweeted someone, anyone else wondering if sasha obama is the designated survivor? as the president spoke, google searches for sasha spiked over searches for malia. remember back in 2008 when sasha asked her dad up on the screen -- >> daddy, what city are you in?

>> reporter: that's what we wonldered about you, sasha. >> she hates chicago? >> no. >> reporter: she wouldn't go? >> no. >> reporter: she had to study? [ bell ] the white house says sasha couldn't come to chicago because she had an exam the next morning at her private school in washington. a once in a lifetime farewell speech by dad versus a science exam? >> i think it's important that they're showing that the education is the most valuable thing. >> reporter: but whether or not sasha aces the exam -- >> of all that i have done in my life, i am most proud to be your dad. ♪ isn't she lovely jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> we'll be right back. ss cards, brochures, banners... pens? pens, magnets, luggage tags, bumper stickers. how about foam fingers? like these? now, get 15% off making your company stand out. staples. make more happen. hi, i'm frank.

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thanks for joining us. you can watch "out front" anytime anywhere on cnn go. anderson is up next. good evening. thanks for joining us. breaking news in the wake of president-elect trump's first formal press conference in nearly six months. the focus was expected to be on how he plans untangle business ties but today's questions returned into more after cnn's reporting about him being presented with classified documents alleging russian operatives claim to have personal and information about him. that was sourced to multiple u.s. officials. cnn's reporting did not include a 35-page opposition research report containing unverified and salacious allegations that those documents apparently drew from. we have not reported the details of those