leaked that caused a firestorm. clapper issuing a rare statement saying he is profoundly dismayed by the leaks. >> the president-elect blasting journalists in the first press conference. finally conceding >> all this as senate republicans get a step closer to dismantling obamacare. let's begin our coverage we van perez live in washington. what a day yesterday. give us the latest. >> good morning, allison. the director of national intelligence is trying to defuse a feud between the nation's next president and the u.s. intelligence community. he called president elect donald trump last night to assure him that the intelligence agencies were not the source of leaks about an opposition research that contained substantiated

allegations against mr. trump and russians claim to have compromising personal and financial information from trump. clapper issued a statement explaining why the unverified information was included in briefing documents last friday. quote, part of our obligation is to ensure that policy makers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might effect national security. the statement was the first on the record confirmation from a government official that trump's briefing documents did include information on the opposition research. the nation's top intelligence official noted that the intelligence agencies did not produce the 35 page allegations. they haven't verified the claims. the original documents were compiled as opposition research for trump's republican and political opponents. >> thank you very much.

president elect trump's transition team is responding to cnn's reporting. he received a two page summary as part of his briefing papers last week. kellyanne conway clashed with anderson cooper in this fiery exchange about it. >> what's inaccurate about what cnn reported. >> the whole headline. go read the entire story. four by lines and a story that's just not true that the president elect was presented with this information that it was apended in a two page document to the briefing. nbc has said it was not. other people have said it was not. >> nbc had said it was not verbally presented. we never said it was verbally presented. we said we don't know if it was verbally presented. you're saying there was no information in any of the documents of that two page summary. >> so two things in that number one we don't discuss the

classified information that has presented intelligence briefings. >> i know cnn is feeling the heat today. come on and discuss it. what heat do we feel that you've got this raw information, this complete ridiculous fake news. >> after months of casting doubts over the conclusions of the intelligence community president elect donald trump conceded for the first time in a press conference that he believes russia was behind the u.s. election hacks. that was the only headline since november he hasn't had one. to be completely accurate yes he said i think it was russia. he said later in the press conference i think it was russia but he could have been someone else. that reluctance is still there. >> he did say for the first time that russia carried out the sign area tacks in hopes of

interfering with the election but he did save his anger for the u.s. intelligence agencies and the media during the first press conference in six months that took a page out of his campaign play book. >> donald trump saying for the first time he accepts that russia carried out the sign area tacks during a rowdy and contentious press conference. >> i think it was russia but we also get hacked by other countries. >> spending much of the hour long news conference blasting the media and deflecting reports that the nation's top intelligence leaders about possible incriminating information in the hands of the russians. >> it's a disgrace that information will be let out. it's all fake news. it's phony stuff. it didn't happen. >> singling out media outlets and taking aim at u.s. intelligence agencies as he

pointed to the kremlin's denial. >> they put out a statement today that the fake news was, indeed, fake news. >> trump didn't say however whether any of his aids had been in touch with officials during the presidential campaign refusing to answer questions. >> can you say give us a question. you're attack us, can you give us a question. >> i'm not going to give you a question. you are fake news. >> the incoming white house press secretary threatening to throw him out of press conferences. >> trump not mentioning whether he will continue the sanctions imposed on russia by president obama. >> if putin likes donald trump i consider them an asset not a liability. all this as trump had an attorney to layout his plans to distance himself from his

business empire. and a step he says he doesn't have to take. >> as a president, i could run the trump organization. great, great country. i do a very good job but i don't want to do that. >> trump also pledging to stop any overseas ventures and vowing to turn any profits from government officials over at the u.s. treasury. >> i hope i'll come back and say you did a good job. otherwise if they do a bad job i'll say you're fired. >> he said none of his campaign associates had been in touch with russian officials during the election but he would not say if he would keep those punishing sanctions on moscow has many republicans got him to do. they're coming into sharper view again today as confirmation hearings for his cabinet members continue on capitol hill. >> jeff, thank you very much.

we have so much to discuss. let's bring in our panel. we have evan perez and david gregory and senior congressional correspondent for the washington examiner and hosting the examiner politics podcast. great to have all of you. i wouldn't blame viewers for being confused about what exactly was reported and what is true. let me recap quickly what cnn reported and what has been confirmed and that is here are the two quick bullet points. there were classified documents that were presented to mr. trump last week as well as president obama to have compromising and financial information about him. cnn confirmed through rock solid forces, many of them that this synopsis was included in the documents that were presented to mr. trump. that was cnn's reporting. i don't know where we are today. it was hard to know what kelly

anne conway and donald trump are denying. >> clapper just confirmed that also. he just explained in a statement they put out why they decided to include these documents. therefore reporting must be accurate that they were and he also talked about his thought that he didn't think that the intelligence agencies leaked and cnn never reported that they got it from the intel agencies. >> one more thing. they don't know that the material in it is factual, nor do we. but they believe the source to be credible and so does cnn. >> one news organization chose to publish unsubstantiated allegations that went beyond the news of the briefing and what the briefing was about -- >> not cnn. a different news organization. >> it enabled the president elect to tar cnn's very good reporting with the fake news n

moniquer and deal with the issue that way instead of having to answer the actual question. here's what we know. what we know is that it's pretty standard for the fbi and u.s. intelligence agencies to try to thwart foreign espionage so if a political leader and president is being targeted by hostile countries and trying to be compromised they're going to be told you're a target. here's what they're trying to do. here's what they think they have about you. i spoke to him yesterday morning on capitol hill and he said sit actually very normal for the fbi to be involved here because there are domestic counter intelligence agency and number two he doesn't think the intelligence community leaked any of this. he thinks it came out of west wing and i think, he serves on the intelligence committee in the senate and i think it's his way of trying to protect the intelligence community from attacks including from donald

trump to keep them separate from a lot of the politics going on about this but the root of the poison fruit and the reason this is an issue in any event is because trump early on in the campaign and up until now has been very friendly toward vladimir putin in russia. we never understood why it was a break from every other republican and i don't think we would be looking at him the same way had at this that's not been the case. for the first time yesterday he finally admits that russia doesn't have our best interests at heart and i think if he thinks putin liking him is an asset i don't think he's right. he needs putin's respect. people likes people amenable to moscow's agenda. >> so what we're seeing david gregory is not just that this story is about the actual story. in fact, this is about how the trump incoming administration will react when it does not like a story, whether it's kellyanne conway, we're seeing what they do and the president elect himself. he attacked the media. he called this fake news. it's not fake news by any

definition. he knows that to be a fact because he was in the briefing. kellyanne conway could not give a straight answer to me or anderson cooper about why they're doing this except to attack the media and it works with his face. >> it does. these are difficult issues to report and you have to report them with caution and with fairness and that's what cnn did. other news organizations didn't do it like buzz feed by linking two unverified claims that were the basis for this briefing and jake tapper said it well. hurts all of us when you do that. that's the problem that the news media has. there's responsible actors and irresponsible actors and they're all in the same sea of information and the white house press core and that's not going to work. they're deflecting on a real issue and it's ironic to me that this team, this incoming white house team is the stickler for what is fake news being lead by

the incoming president that was the man behind whether president obama was the citizen in the united states and had to produce a birth certificate and other administrations played as well and you go out to the media and it's really offensive for people that care about a free press and responsible and a president elect that compares this whole story to nazi germany. maybe we could spend time with the white house going what actually happened when adolph hitler took over in nazi germany before the genocide and the things they did to strip away individuals free doms and then maybe he'll see if that was an uninformed casual remark but this is a sign of how they're going to deal with this kind of information and the press. i stand with jim. white house press core stands

it's ground period in the face of white house intimidation. >> beyond these sources and methods for this information, what's the intel community and the fbi going to do about allegations that they may have compromising information. >> they're going to do their job. this stuff was out there and this stuff was being shared by members of congress and people in the media. we all sort of ran into brick walls and figure it out. they thought it was important for president elect to know that's their jobs. the concern here is they still need to do their job. the fbi is going to keep looking at this. they need to get to the bottom of it. they haven't verified it.

as we have reported and it's important that they get to the bottom of it and that the president be aware of what's out there. >> stick around. and the president will do that and we have breaking news that senate republicans are taking their first step toward repealing balm care but not before a fierce battle on the floor. democrats making a passionate plea to save president obama's signature health care law. live from capitol hill with more and still no idea what the replacement is in sight. >> the wheels are now in motion in all of this. the senate overnight taking a very small but very important procedural step that will become the vehicle for the dismantling

of obamacare. the session here only wrapped up a few hours ago protesting the move by republicans. >> the motion is not agreed to. the point of order is sustained and the amendment falls. >> 30 million americans will lose their health care with many thousands dying as a result. >> many children have affordable comprehensive health insurance. >> imagine becoming pregnant and having your insurer drop your coverage because your no longer economic. >> this is likely to be taken up by the house on friday which will pave the way for this to continue moving forward but republicans do not have one plan for replacement. they're considering a few

options. this week he would like to see the repeal and the replace of this happen simultaneously. >> thank you very much for that. well, the nation's top government ethics official blasting mr. trump's plan for resolving his business conflicts. what they want mr. trump to do. that's next on new day. afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine.

the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me. so i use excedrin.ments from my life. it starts to relieve migraine pain in just 30 minutes. and it works on my symptoms, too. now moments lost to migraines are moments gained with excedrin. [heartbeat]

th...oh, baked-on alfredo?e. ...gotta rinse that. nope. no way. nada. really? dish issues? throw it all in. cascade platinum powers through... your toughest stuck-on food. nice. cascade. abdominayou may have ibs. ask your doctor if non-prescription ibgard is right for you. ibgard calms the angry gut. available at cvs, walgreens and riteaid.

don and eric are going to be running the company. they're going to be running it in a very professional manner. they're not going to discuss it with me. >> wholly inadequate. that's what the governments top ethics official calls his plan to walk away from the business. trump keeps insisting he has no duty to do anything. let's discuss this with our panel. alex, let's go to you first, let's start with what the president elect laid out very clearly yesterday. he kept saying i have no duty. i have no responsibility to do anything.

i could run my business and be president and i would do a very very good job. the law does not put any responsibility on the president but is that the end of the analysis? >> no, it's not and based on the announcement we're likely to get at some point probably in the not too distant future some kind of determination from a court about whose analysis is correct there are restrictions about the amount of revenue and gifts the president can receive and there's the legal and ethical operations of the president. the kinds of activities commercial and otherwise that could have straegs by congress or federal prosecutors and the general consensus among folks. look at this closely than any reporter, lawyers, legal

scholars, people that served for both parties say trump is not protecting himself and putting up the kind of wall he should for his own self-interest. >> he can't put it into a blind trust. that doesn't work. passing it to his sons, they're part of the family. it's probably not reasonable to think they'll never discuss any of this with mr. trump. what is the answer? >> well i think the answer is to completely divest himself from all of his holdings and i think think it's complicate and without the expertise i think he has taken steps to make sure that there are no new foreign deals for the company whatsoever to try to avoid any phone irn

sureness through the children toin influence the father as president and it's a positive step. an ethical view toward any new deals that are going on so even for the outcider he has taken positive steps but it's clear that it doesn't go as far as he could in terms of liquidating everything he has. he doesn't have the financial interest. he still carries a lot of financial interest even if he's not running the company. >> but it's impossible for him to get rid of it. he was trying to brag. he said i got offered a $2 billion deal by these guys in dubai. people will be looking to do something with his company but he can't cure to people's satisfaction and he says people knew i was a business man when they hired me so what's the right thing to do?

here you have somebody whose name is the company and really is the company and voters knew that when they elected him and donald trump realizes it's built into the price of admission with him so i can understand from his point of view not understanding what the up roar is. i think the problem is here down the line people are going to approach his family with business deals and even the innocent business deals they do we'll never know if they're designed to curry favor with the administration and for the time being donald trump being president is going to make his family money hand over fist. they're going to rush into his new hotel in d.c. just so they can tell republicans all over town meet me at the trump hotel. you know i'm staying at the trump hotel. that's how politics work. how dealing with ethics issues works if you're not donald trump

a republican from oklahoma wanted to keep delivering babies and senate ethic rules told him you can no longer practice medicine and all he wanted to do on weekends when he was back home in oklahoma was get in touch with his con stitch euns and do real work that was not going to influence, as far as we can tell all the different types of legislation that he was involved in so you can't even do your day job. if you would just have a real job you would be in touch with us so it's so much different to trump. people are going to point the finger and say you're making money off of us and we don't like it. >> it's important to point out that i think trump is right about this. the american people understood he say business man.

>> he announced that he will donate all profits from foreign government patronage of his hotels and similar businesses to the u.s. treasury and people are like oh we get to pay down the debt or the deficit with his profi profits. people love that idea. >> and he's not saying he's going to donate all the revenue. he's saying he is going to donate all the profit. if they decide to expand facile sys overseas and pay for it with the total revenue coming in from where ever that money doesn't go to the treasury and won't technically count as a new investment. >> details, alex, details. >> all of them only as compelling as his willingness to be transparent which brings us back to the taxes and disclosure issue once again. >> the timing could not be

better. tonight, speaker of the house, paul ryan, takes part in a cnn town hall hosted by jake tapper. what is the future of obamacare? and does he own the incoming president's tactics and positions? join us tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern where you get to speak truth to power. >> top republicans asked a lot of questions about russia as you can imagine and some did not like his answers. could his nomination be in jeopardy? that's up next. n actually start to threaten the enamel and start to cause what we call acid erosion. if there's a thinning of the enamel, the teeth actually start to appear more yellow. with pronamel, it is making your teeth harder and stronger and more resistant to wear. start using pronamel right away and have that be your toothpaste for the rest of your life. these are the last set of teeth that you're getting, you don't get another set, you have to protect them.

because it knew an ordinary wastissue was near.ar. the fiery tissue left her nose sore and red. so dad slayed the problem with puffs plus lotion, instead. puffs have pillowy softness for dakota's tender nose. with lotion to comfort and soothe when she blows. don't get burned by ordinary tissues. a nose in need deserves puffs, indeed. now get puffs plus lotion in the squeezable softpack.

i provide for my family. i will use my education to help my community. i will inspire our next generation of leaders.

i am a college student, but i am only 1%. only 1% of college students are american indian. donate now, and help our numbers grow. ♪

good morning to you allison. this certainly turned into a very contentious hearing with at least one key republican emerging from that committee hearing. concerns and reservations and put simply he doesn't know if he'll vote for him yet. russia at his confirmation hearing for secretary of state. >> the former exxon mobil ceo facing scrutiny over his ties to russia and potential conflicts of interest. >> is vladimir putin a war criminal? >> i would not use that term. >> refusing to call the russian president a war criminal when

pressed by former republican presidential candidate senator marco rubio. >> 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 aleppo. >> those are very, very serious charges to make and i would want to have much more information. >> the attack on aleppo is public demain. >> grilling his world view of russia in this heated exchange. >> are you aware people wind up dead all over the world poisoned shot in the back of the head. >> people that speak up for freedom in regimes that are oppressive are often a threat and these things happen to them. tiller is on's nomination is still up in the air. >> are you prepared to be the one republican to vote no.

>> i'm prepared to do what is right. i'm not analyzing it from a partisan standpoint. >> the man behind to be the nation's top diplomat even acknowledging he has talked russia policy with the president elect. >> does the president elect agree with you? >> the president elect and i have not had the opportunity to discuss this specific issue or the specific area. >> tillerson broke with donald trump on his trade issues. also trump's campaign called for a ban on muslims from coming into the u.s. and another marathon day of hearings. we have ben carson, mike pompeo. >> tensions rising between donald trump and the u.s. intel community. will trump ever trust the agencies charged with keeping americans safe? will they trust him?

does it matter? we dig deeper. what makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts. so simple. get the recipes at walnuts.org.

with sleep number, there's an adjustment for that. tilt your tormentor and put those snores to sleep. does your bed do that? come into a sleep number store and save $600 on our best selling mattress. it's a no brainer.

former cia officer and former chief policy director for the house republican congress. evan of course ran for president. >> and was an intern in my office. >> really? >> yes. >> all we have to look is how your trajectory has gone up. >> phil was my first boss at the agency and he is a wonderful

man. >> you talked about this before but the idea of whether the intel community likes the incoming president. is it relevant in terms of how they do their job. >> i don't think it's relevant in the least. the american people elect somebody. he has the will of the people behind him as he goes into inauguration. if you're a cia officer you're trained that we weren't directly elected by the american people. we answer especially to the two branches that were. that is the intel oversight committees on the congress and the president of the united states. whether or not you like him doesn't matter. he comes in and represens the will have the people. you do what he says if it's moral, ethical in response to u.s. law. >> we sat down with the acting director of the cia at one time and he talked about how extraordinary he finds these disclosures from the intel communities. let me play that moment for you.

>> i was surprised that our intelligence community would take a private document and summarize it for the president and the president elect. if they didn't know anything about the credibility of the information. >> that will be unprecedented. >> why did they do that? >> the last segment shed a little bit of light on this. he said the intelligence community includes information in these briefings that help provide the fullest picture possible in matters that may effect national security so the intelligence community at least made some judgment about this information that lead them to believe it would potentially impact national security so they shared it. i believe they must have therefore done some assessment of the credibility of the

information. it's not cia information. it's not a cia or intelligence community product but it is something that they must have looked at and vetted at least on some basic level. they come across and obtains so much information on a daily basis. most of it is on the cutting room floor and factored in to some degree but not presented to the president and president elect in some way. it's truly unique. you have a couple of scenarios, one is what the cnn report suggests which is the source of the documents and that intelligence, they found credible. that british officer and then that motivated a little bit of their interests. or they put it in there as a reflection in there that's unflattering and embarrassing. any chance they would have done that. >> you're 0 for 2.

i think the explanation is simpler. we're going into a environment where the biggest thing has been not just russian hacking, it's about russian engagement in altering potentially a u.s. election. that's a debate. in the middle of that you're getting information that i believe is not only unverified but i think this is a false document. i don't buy it. information being circulated among sen tors on the hill related to russian efforts to acquire information to effect u.s. politicians. you have a choice. are you going to tell the president or not? i think this is a questionable voice. i think the information is false. that said the alternative is to say the president is going to find this out some place else and he might turn to us and say why would you tell me. >> do you think that the information in the document is too ridiculous to be real. >> it's just hard to say without having a full picture without

sourcing. >> it's trying to undermine our democracy and democracy against europe. if this sounds to be something bizarre or strange or dangerous it is and that's something that we all need to not lose sight of and the fact that our president elect wants to align with an adversary to our democracy and free and fair elections in this country. that's the most important thing. now we can look and search for the why but the what is still the main issue and that's where we get to ask ourselves is this what we juan and i don't think it is. >> florida senator marco rubio and mr. trump's secretary of state nominee clashing over russia as well as human rights. could rubio's indecision on

tillerson spell trouble for his nomination? that's ahead on new day. wait, what? people love sweet taste. that's true, but sweet ain't enough anymore. it's that splenda naturals gal, isn't it? yeah. i knew it! look, not only is she sweet, she's got natural stevia, no bitter aftertaste, and of course, zero calories. ohh, not the calories again. sugar, you're full of calories. i know! ugh! so all the partners agree? even iced tea? especially iced tea. goodbye, sugar. hello, new splenda naturals. goodbye, sugar. it's my decision ito make beauty last. roc® retinol, started visibly reducing my fine lines and wrinkles in one week. and the longer i use it, the better it works. retinol correxion® from roc. methods, not miracles.™

ltry align probiotic.n your digestive system? for a non-stop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. get 24/7 digestive support, with align. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand.

now in kids chewables. >> san diego chargers announced today they're moving to los angeles. more on this morning's bleacher report. big news or big snooz? what do you say? >> big news. a lot of chargers fans are not happy about it. they would have added two and in less than a year. san diego hasn't been able to pay for a new stadium with taxpayer money so yesterday the chargers chairman informed the

nfl of the team decision. the franchise started in l.a. before moving to san diego a year later. chargers fans check this out. not happy. within hours of the initial report last night someone threw eggs at the front door of the team's headquaters. not sure how many san diego fans are going to follow the team up to l.a. >> the dallas cowboys have a big playoff match up with the green bay packers in just three days and the cowboys are making it easier to jump on those fans than the cowboys band wagon. they posted an application on twitter and i filled out one for you. funny questions on there. have you ever talked trash about the dallas cowboys? no, allison would never do that. do you mind working on thanksgiving. >> what? >> you're going to be hopefully an official band wagon fan of the cowboys but maybe not because i want you to cheer for my atlanta falcons to beat them

in the conference championship. >> i'll do whatever you tell me to do. i could follow your advice always. >> so tell chris his jets are awful. >> your jets are awful. >> thank you. >> tell him his head looks like a big toe. >> no, i only follow his instructions. thank you very much. well, the contentious confirmation hearings will hit full throttle today with mr. trump's pick for defense, cia director and housing secretary on the hot seat so our political panel takes that up next. heads up - we're going back to '77. disco. bellbottoms. and ford f-series starts its epic run as the best-selling trucks in america. fast-forward to 2017. f-series is still king. for 40... straight... years. how? rock-solid durability.

up-to-the-nanosecond technology. and jaw-dropping capability. no wonder the competition hasn't had been number one since... these. ford f-series. america's best-selling trucks for 40 straight years.

let's welcome back our panel. so a lot to talk about. let's talk about the moment that has been ruled false to mr. tillerson testified to about whether or not he or exxon mobil ever lobbied congress or the white house about sanctions against rush yachlt let me play

for you what he said or tiller is on said when asked. >> i never lobbied against sanctions. >> company you directed did. >> to my knowledge, exxon never dire directly lobbied against sanctions. >> that has been ruled false. according to congressional records the oil company repeatedly talked to lawmakers and the white house. >> so this is something that companies like exxon routinely do. their job is to make money and especially through the energy business there are parts of the world that are very challenging in terms of the u.s. national security and foreign policy. it's not always good business for companies to have to deal with u.s. foreign policy more value based. rex tillerson ultimately will be fine. if he continues to take the some what tougher line on russia. >> did he lie under oath there? >> this is what i was going to

say allison in finishing is he needs to be careful about getting facts like this correct because these are the seemingly minor things that can trip up for a nominee for a key cabinet position. it's never the big problems. the things we anticipate. it's always the smaller things that come up and almost by accident without anticipation can cause you a problem. >> he's been well briefed in as much as giving as little as possible. did they lobby against sanctions? no. did they lobby against a bill that would have locked in sanctions for a period beyond president obama's turn? yes. >> outside of washington that's not a distinction. >> that's probably his wiggle room on it is we never went to the sanctions specifically. >> and in that clip we just heard they're doing a lot of work there, right? the trouble for rex tillerson is

a bad back and sore knees. >> the swing votes on this nomination in all likelihood are republican senators that are intimately familiar with those sanction bills and really passionate about them as a first principle of american policy versus russia. we heard it over and over and over yesterday. there's a number of senators not on the foreign relations committee or others that deal with national security where this is the alpha and omega of their priority set right now. john mccain, lindsey graham and obviously marco rubio, they're not going to take that kind of answer as the final word. >> go ahead david. >> there's a bigger issue here. the hawks in the republican party who want to crack down on russia don't like how trump has positioned himself visa vi russia and they don't like what they know about rex tillerson here. he's not chummy with putin in the sense that he's going to give him a pass by any means but both tillerson and trump are

clinging to the idea that it's a very macho thing. we're going to get tougher with russia because putin respects strength and he's going to respect us and even if a guy like tillerson has great history with russia and really does understand russia they think that obama was so weak that putin will respect a tougher line but one of the things that was revealed yesterday is that tillerson and trump haven't talked about russian policies. they don't know what they're going to do other than be tougher than obama and they think that's enough and presumably that putin hasn't thought this through. and he is always gaming this out. >> he was so careful to not give away things that would hurt him. why would he acknowledge on the stand in effect -- yeah, we haven't discussed this area at all. >> that was his way of saying i don't want to speak for what

donald trump believes on russia. tillerson's whole problem in terms of confirmation is that if he is viewed as having donald trump's views on russia and putin he'll have a problem with confirmation. gregory makes a really good point in that trump and some of his team have talked about getting tougher with vladimir putin than president obama has been and yet everything we have seen from donald trump since day one of the campaign has suggested that he believes just like his three predecessors, obama, george w. bush and bill clinton that maybe he can charm vladimir putin and maybe we can reset our relations with russia yet again. it has never worked so that's why i believe it was so important for tillerson to acknowledge that russia is an adversary and not a friend because we haven't seen yet out of this new administration an actual change in policy other than trump insisting that i'm a tough guy and he's going to respect me.

>> and yet he was not willing to go so far, alex, as to say he thought vladimir putin was responsible for war crimes and the bloodshed we're seeing in syria. >> that would have been a difficult question for any nominee to answer. referring to russia is a war criminal is a pretty drastic action but you do see this pattern over and over and it reflects something deeper and this real unwillingness to take on widely documented human rights a buss. not just by russia but by governments in places like the philippines and saudi arabia and elsewhere and it didn't seem like there was a lot of interest and that's very upsetting to not just democrats but a whole lot of republicans. >> to be fair i don't think john kerry ever said that putin is a war criminal. >> for our u.s. viewers, new day continues right now. >> all i can ask for is honest

reporters. >> you're attacking us. >> can you give us a question. >> don't be rude. >> you are fake news. >> james clapper trying to reassure the intelligence elect that the intelligence community did not leak -- >> i could run my business and run government at the same time but i wouldn't do that. >> everyone is going to know when they're doing business with eric or don jr. they're doing business with the president. >> russia today poses a danger but it's not unpredictable. >> i'm proud of the cabinet. >> jeff sessions is out of line. this is clearly something they could not remain silent on. >> 30 million will lose their health care with many thousands dying as a result. >> this is new day with chris cuomo. >> good morning. welcome to your new day. up first, america's top intelligence chief reaching out to donald trump. james clapper telling the president elect that the intelligence community did not leak it and spark a fire storm

of controversy for mr. trump yesterday. mr. clapper saying he shares mr. trump's dismay over the leaks. >> president elect decided to deal with the story by doing what he did best. blasted the media finally conceding that russia was behind at the election hacks. all of this as senate republicans move forward with plans to dismantle obamacare despite not having a plan in place to replace it. we have it all covered. let's begin we van perez live in washington. >> good morning, director of national intelligence james clapper is trying to diffuse a feud between the nation's next president and the u.s. intelligence community. he called president elect donald trump last night to assure him that the intelligence agencies were not the force of leaks about a dossier with