it's absolutely what you need right now. absolutely scottsdale. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com questioning the future of u.s./russia relations. donald trump suggests he could lift the sanctions imposed on moscow. and u.s. troops are being welcomed into poland, part of the biggest deployment to europe in decades. and a 18-year-old woman kidnapped as an infant is on her way back home. we'll tell you how police found her. live from cnn headquarters in atlanta, welcome to our viewers in the united states and&the world. "cnn newsroom" starts right now.

in less than a week, donald trump will be the 45th president of the united states. now we're learning more about his possible plans for russia. in an hour-long interview with the wall street journal the president-elect suggested that he is open to lifting sanctions on moscow. but he also said that he would keep them for a period of time. the u.s. placed additional sanctions on russia for alleged hacking during the u.s. presidential election. a senate committee plans to look into russia's alleged hacking and whether there were contacts between moscow and any of the political campaigns here in the presidential election here in the u.s. more now from phil mattingly. >> there have been a lot of questions across washington. what's the next step in the wake of that explosive intelligence assessment that russia and its services meddled in the u.s.

election? the u.s. select committee on intelligence, one. most powerful committees on capitol hill will be holding a bipartisan investigation into the russian intelligence activities, and it's important, the scope of this investigation, because it's not narrow. it's not just looking into the u.s. intelligence assessment, a declassified version we have seen. it's also delving deep into potential ties between russian intelligence services and the campaigns. specifically, while the committee isn't saying this, it's very clear, the trump campaign, the president-elect's team will be under review for any potential contacts between them and russians or russian middle men. why does this matter? obviously a powerful committee looking into the campaign could produce answers we simply haven't gotten up to this point. lawmakers who have been briefed over the last 48 hours about this report have repeatedly come out and said there are more questions that need to be answered, questions that weren't answered in that declassified

report. that could be what this investigation ends up bringing to the forefront -- and why this this committee has real power. they will holding hearings, interviewing key members of the campaigns of the incoming administration and of the outgoing administration. if those interview requests are not complied with, this committee has subpoena power. again, a bipartisan committee with subpoena power to compel individuals to sit down for interviews. they will also be talking to individuals from the intelligence community, for people wondering what the next step is, where this goes from here, this is an answer, a potentially explosive and power one, depending on how this investigation is held, we'll get answers to that soon, answers that just about everybody is looking for in the wake of the last couple weeks. phil mattingly, cnn, capitol hill. >> and perhaps those answers will factor in to how trump handles russia as president. in that wall street journal article i mentioned earlsier,

trump wants some flexibility, saying if you get along and if russia is really helping us, why would you have sanctions if someone is doing really great things. while many want the tough stance to continue against moscow, he says he is willing to meet with vladimir putin. what strikes me, trump saying i'm going to keep the sanctions in place but am willing to lift the sanctions, despite the talk with what he's doing with russia, he himself does not know yet where he's going with this. >> it seems he's taking a wait and see attitude. he wants to meet with vladimir putin and decide which way to go in. during the election campaign, that's something he already said, of course it would be good, he believes, to be better relations with russia, but he wants to talk to vladimir putin and see if he can make what he

calls a deal with vladimir putin, and if not, he said the relationship would continue to be as bad as it is right now. it was interesting in donald trump's first pressobviously ha things happening in it. but he said, look, i'd like to get along with vladimir putin. if he likes me that would be an asset, but he also said if they don't get along that he would be tougher on the russians than anyone had been before. that seems to be the line donald trump's taking, and especially, the sanctions are what the russians are being looking at. not just the sanctions imposed on them in the wake of the dnc hacking allegations but all of them in regard to the ukraine crisis that have been levied on russia by the u.s. and the european union, that is something the russians want to go away. and dmitry peskov was asked, do you want them to live the

sanctions first to then go into negotiations about better ties? and he said absolutely not. there's no prerequisite for any kind of talks. they want to move forward and speak with the inn kcoming administration and see where it goes from there. >> for now, it looks like moscow's willing to take this wait and see attitude toward trump. >> it's interesting. on the one hand, yes, it is a wait and see position, but at the same time, you can also see how thouey are trying to deflec anything that would seem to be a reset between the trump administration and the administration of vladimir putin. they have been confronted by some of the things said by trump's nominees. for instance, james mattis saying that they were the

biggest threabig est threat. those are being talked about. they've been saying, look, this is just hearings. this is being said beforehand. what we want to see is what happens once these people take office. and we're not going to allow anything they say during these confirmation hearings to cloud any of that or sour the mood. also for instance for the first time donald trump said he believes russia was behind the hacking of the dnc. they're going to want to see what happens and are not going to want to make any judgments on the incoming administration until they see the work and direction they're going into. >> there's this argument out there that regardless of the personal relationship of the two leaders, vladimir putin and donald trump, you've got to look

at the strategic interests of both countries. and they're just at odds on many different issues. >> well, the big question is going to be what direction the u.s. goes in as far as the strategic interests are concerned. what's going to happen with the u.s.'s stance in the middle east. are there points where the two countries can work together? and with that you've already seen donald trump at least hint at the fact that as far as syria is concerned, the u.s. might give russia a little more leeway than president obama has. as far as the ukraine crisis is concerned there are pretty big fundamental differences, not just between the two governments but between major state institution, like the u.s. military and the russian military, like the u.s. foreign ministry and the russian foreign ministry. some pretty bad blood over the last few months as they've been trying to reach some sort of agreement over syria. but then again, it appears as

though the russians are saying, look, there's going to be a peace conference on january 23rd, and we would really like the trump administration to be part of it, to have a representative there. so it seems as though they're opening the door as well, to see whether or not things can be aligned and some of the fire can be taken out of that relationship. >> fred pleitgen reporting out of moscow. meanwhile, a member of the committee says mike flynn's call to russia's ambassador to the oust is suspicio u.s. is suspicious. jim sciutto has more on that. >> reporter: confirmation that president-elect trump's national security adviser, general michael flynn was in contact with the russian ambassador to the u.s. the very same day the obama administration announced retaliation for russia's unprecedented cyber attack of the 2016 election.

in late december, the trump transition team says flynn and russian ambassador exchanged a series of text messages and a phone call. on christmas day, december 25rd, flynn texted the ambassador saying, i want to wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year. i look forward to touching base with you and working with you, anweste and i western you tish you the . then the ambassador texted and said i'd like to give you a call, may i? the same day the white house issued sanctions on russia and ordered some 35 diplomats to leave the country immediately. the trump transition team says they did not discuss sanctions on russia, instead it was focussed on planning a meeting between trump and putin.

>> i can imagine why these kinds of interactions may take place. why the incoming national security adviser may have a need to contact the representative of a foreign government based here in washington, d.c. it depends on what they discussed, depends on what they said. >> reporter: he has been scrutinized since he was tapped to be national security adviser. he was seated near putin at a dinner in 2015. trump again denied claims that russia has compromising information on him and continued to accuse the intelligence chiefs of leaking the allegations. he tweeted, it was probably released by intelligence, in quotes, even knowing there is no proof and never will be. a transition official tells cnn that there is not frequent

contact between flynn and the russian ambassador to the u.s., and this key detail, that there was no discussion of those new obama administration sanctions on russia in that december 29th phone call, the same day, of course, that those sanctions were being imposed. jim sciutto, cnn, washington. now on to the fbi and its director, james comey. donald trump has left open the question of whether he'll keep james comey as fbi director, and now comey is facing renewed scrutiny. he held a confidential briefing with house lawmakers on friday on russia's alleged hacking in the presidential election, and that did little to satisfy some democrats. >> it's classified, and we can't tell you anything. all i can tell you is the fbi director has no credibility. that's it. >> the justice department's inspector general meanwhile is investigating the e-mail probe

into hillary clinton's e-mail. the probe ultimately found clinton did not act illegally. >> cnn contributor and new york post columnist selena zito joins us via skype. there's such an avalanche of news this week, some of it involving donald trump and the transition, some of it involving russian of hack, it can be hard to identify what actually matters and what will be forgotten in the next few weeks. what have you learned over the last few days that to you really matters? >> well, it's interesting that you say that, right? because i think what's happening to voters, voters that both supported trump and supported clinton is that they have completely turned off. this avalanche of information,

some of it they don't know what to believe. they don't know if it's true, if it's propaganda, if it's, the campaign is still going on. i went out and talked to a lot of voters this week, traveled throughout pennsylvania and ohio. and the one thing that they have repeatedly said was they just want this campaign to be over. and they want the governing to begin. and they want, you know, they want sort of all this mess and all this noise and all this sensationalism and all this outrage to stop being part of their daily lives. they think both parties are continuing the campaign in their own way. and people are really fed up with it. >> all right, well, for instance, let's take the latest case in point. does it bother you that lieutenant general michael flynn, the national security adviser for donald trump called the russian ambassador just around the time when the u.s. president barack obama was imposing sanctions on russia. is that something for you that

matters and is something of concern? >> well, i mean of course it matters, but we have to also understand what the context was or what it was about. you know, flynn is known for two things within the military generals and men and women that have still in the military that i've talked to. he's very respected for his knowledge and understanding of isis and syria and of all things middle east. he's incredibly brilliant about it. but he's also known for being incredibly p sdtubborn and doin things his own way. it's hard to form a strong opinion until all the facts are given. >> thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. poland will hold a welcome ceremony for thousands of american troops in the coming

hours. but russia is voicing its disapproval and loudly so. plus a camera woman is sentenced for tripping a migrant. my arthritis pain used to make my favorite things to do... painful. but now with oder-free blue-emu maximum arthritis cream, i can enjoy life's big moments and life's little ones. blue-emu maximum arthritis cream. beat the pain and enjoy life.

welcome back. in west africa, we're getting word that ivory coast's government has reached an agreement with mutinying soldiers.

that's according to the defense ministry, although cnn hasn't been able to confirm troops have accepted the deal. some soldiers say they were promised about $8,000 plus a house for helping bring the current president to power after disputed elections in 2010. poland is set to welcome the biggest deployment of u.s. troops in decades, but not everyone is welcoming that gesture. our jonathan mann has the details. >> reporter: welcome to poland. u.s. soldiers side by side with polish troops at a ceremony. no challenge is too large to overcome, no distance is too far to cross when the need arises. >> reporter: these are just the first of approximately 4,000 u.s. forces to arrive. troops and tanks that began streaming into poland this week in one of the largest deployments of american military

forces in europe since the cold war. they will also be deployed on a rotational basis to estonia, bulgaria, hungary, all nato states near or bordering russia. >> our unit is here to enhance ties with our nato allies and partners. >> reporter: russians have branded it an aggressive western buildup and a security threat. >> one can say that this is not just a dead-locked path, but a path that provoked confrontation between our countries. >> reporter: u.s. officials say the troop rotation has been in the works since last summer, aimed at reassuring u.s. allies in the region after russia's 2014 annexation of ukraine. >> this is defensive in nature, intended entirely to shore up our defenses along the eastern flank. it is motivated at least in part

by some of the destabilizing and evenes ca la tory actions that the russian military has undertaken over the last year or so. >> reporter: now a military movement to calm allies has ratcheted up tensions among old cold war foes. jonathan mann, cnn. a hundred fwar yan camera woman who was filmed tripping up refugees has been sentenced to three years probation. she made international headlines when this footage surfaced in 2015. it show the her tripping up a syrian man carrying his child. a public outrage grew at the time, and her tv station fired her. she heard her sentence in court on thursday. this happened as hungary announced new laws to crackdown

violence and border hunters. migrants also facing the threat of bitter cold sweeping the continent. more than 1,000 men are sleeping in the cold in belgrade. at least five migrants have died in the first weeks of the new year. unicef says they need to do a lot more to protect migrants, especially the most vulnerable. >> right now the weather has improved, but it will only take one more snowstorm or another cold snap, and we're going to see some, some children, you know, in a very dire situation, children are particularly prone to respiratory illnesses at a time like this. we do not want to see this happen. it's about saving lives, not about red tape and keeping to bureaucratic arrangements at the moment. >> and u.n. officials are repeating their call for safe ways for migrants to reach countries that will present them.

now about the cold. there is cold in different parts of the region. in the intermongolian region, there has been an icy fog. visibility has been reduced to less than 50 meters. and temperatures dropped below minus 40. let's get more on that and the other places where there is very, very cold weather. we are joined now by the cnn international weather center. now there's a subtle difference. i'm out of my depth here. there's a subtle difference between the icy cold that we saw there in china and the freezing cold that we're seeing here in parts of the u.s. >> so the ice fog that took place in china has to be much colder temperatures than the freezing fog than we're going to see across parts of the united states. freezing fog occurs when it's

below freezing, but once it gets to minus 10 celsius and colder it becomes ice fog. in terms of the dangers or the hazards, they're both about the same. it's really the subtle temperature difference that gets the name change. and we will be talking about the potential threat for freezing fog across some regions of the united states. we are looking mainly at texas all the way to washington, d.c. we've already seen some of the ice come down. this is a look at what we have in forecast for here. now south of the front we will be looking at the potential for very heavy rain. north of that is where we will have the threat for freezing rain. because of this, we have a huge swath of warnings, from texas all the way to washington, d.c. 39 million people under some sign of ice storm warning, freezing rain advisory or winter storm watch. the forecast accumulations are very impressive.

widespread, about a quarter of an inch. then oklahoma city and interstate 40, we could be looking at 1.5 centimeters of ice accumulation. this is important, because when you have those type of amounts, you're talking not only widespread power outages but widespread travel issues as well. and that's certainly something we can expect to see. speaking of ice. on the other side of the atlantic, we have ice floes that have been taking effect on the danube river. this is out of budapest. unfortunately, this has caused a lot of problems for the shipping routes. they've had to close several ports because of ice floes damming up along the ports and that's incredibly unsafe for the ships there. the system that brought snow to the uk is going to move further to the east. and as it traverses that way it's going to dump snow.

widespread we're talking 10 centimeters, but once you get into the higher elevations we could be talking 20, even 30 centimeters of snow total. then once that begins to make its way through we're talking about the potential for our next big cold wave moving in. take a look at warsaw. the average high, 1 degrees. we will be much colder than that as we head into next week. and you and i talked about this during commercial break about the true definition of a cold snap. because technically, it has to be a short term thing, but the temperature has to be below normal. so let's say warsaw had been, you know, say five to seven, maybe even 10 degrees last week. and then they get cold, they drop five or ten degrees, that doesn't count. this counts, because the temperatures will be well below what the a is thverage is this f year. >> and by definition, people are probably not prepared for it. >> and the power grids, because they rely on what is normal for their operations. >> thank you very much.

now it could be the beginning of the end of obamacare, with donald trump set to enter the white house. how republicans are trying to fulfill a pledge against the affordable care act when we come back.

and welcome back to our viewers here in the u.s. and around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom." donald trump suggests he's keeping an open mind about u.s. sanctions on russia. in a wall street journal article he says he's open to lifting sanctions but will keep them in place for some time before deciding. poland is set to formally

welcome the biggest deployment of u.s. troops since the cold war. however, the kremlin is calling it a threat to russia. and ivory coast's government has reportedly reached an agreement with mutinying soldiers. cnn hasn't been able to confirm the deal. some soldiers say they were promised about $8,000 plus a house for helping bring the current president to power after disputed elections in 2010. back to u.s. politics. as u.s. president barack obama moves through his final week, the republicans seek to dismantle obamacare. here's cnn's reporter with more. >> reporter: the house taking the first step to repeal obamacare. >> this is collapsing while we

speak. >> reporter: congress approving a budget that will now give republicans the authority to repeal much of the affordable care act on a party-line vote. the move is intended to fulfill one of the main campaign promises of president-elect donald trump. who wants to replace the law at the same time as repealing it. >> it will be essentially simultaneously. it will be various segments, you understand, but will most likely be on the same day or the same week, but probably the same day. could be the same hour. so we're going to do repeal and replace. >> reporter: but trump's comments undercut the plans of gop leaders who want to take their time developing a new health care law. house speaker paul ryan even said last month that a replacement would not be ready by the next football season. at cnn's town hall, a shift. ryan now promises to move quickly. >> so we now want to advance

repealing this law with its replacement at the same time along the lines i just described. there is a plan in the first 100 days. >> reporter: but they are already running into problems. the party is divided over how to replace the law, and some influential voices are asking party leaders to hit the brakes. >> yeah, i thit repeal plan needs to be fully developed and better articulated prior to moving forward. i have some reser vases about moving as quickly as we are. >> do you have concerns at all about the timetable then? >> i think it's going to be a very -- i think it's going to be a very long process. >> you don't think it's going to happen right away? >> no. >> reporter: some are demanding quick action, on plans to allow individuals to buy insurance offer state lines and to receive tax breaks for getting coverage. >> why don't we do replace and repeal? we could do those things, we could be putting those things on

the floor this week. >> reporter: democrats are warning that the gop will pay a political price for scrapping the law that helped insure an additional 20 million people. >> why are they doing this bill, overturning the affordable care act and defunding planned parenthood. that's their, that's their manhood thing, you know. >> donald trump has promised big changes once he's in the white house, and that may include the united states' decades old one-china policy. the president-elect told wall street journal that that's up for negotiation. more now from steven jang in beijing. >> if business tycoon donald trump thinks everything in the world is gaucnegotiable, he may reminded that in the eyes of the

chinese government, one thing is not negotiable, that is the one-china policy. officials here have reminded him and his team teime and again tht the one-china principle is the cornerstone of the bilateral relationship between beijing and washington. that every president since jimmy carter has committed to it and stuck to it and they would hope trump would do the same. but trump does have a point that they sell billions of dollars in arms to taiwan to protect it from an attack. but this is one thing that is allowed. to maintain relative peace and stability in the decades past. so at least on this very sensitive issue, what's being said matters as much as what's

being done. now other issues, chinese officials have been quite restrained and measured in their response to mr. trump's remarks, including issues like trade, the south china sea and the cyber security. what they have been saying here is this relationship has so much going for to, if more cooperation, less confrontation is the attitude both sides adapt. they also like to point out to the phone conversation trump had with chinese president xi jinping after the election, that both have said mutual respect is important in dealing with each other. one other thing they like to bring up is that mr. trump is not president yet. so what he has been saying so far is not official u.s. policy. and the chinese government pays more attention to official policies instead of a leader's style and personalities. but privately, many officials have edgxpressed to me that the

are unsure how to deal with this new u.s. president who likes to conduct foreign policy online. my advice, follow him on twitter, and have an answer for reporters like us. steven jiang. it was suggested that access to the south china sea be blocked. >> reporter: they've staked a claim to thousands of acres of what were sandbars and reefs. they've used sophisticated equipment like these ships, pumping sand through these thin tubes to create islands, constructed ports, deployed weapons that's correct even built barracks. china's military buildup of these islands in the south china sea has angered the obama administration. the u.s. has sent ships and planes very near the islands, sometimes drawing warnings.

>> please go away quickly. >> reporter: now a government-run chinese newspaper is warning of a possible war with the u.s. over the man made islands. it's spurred by this comment by rex tillerson at his confirmation hearings. >> we're going to have to send china a clear signal, that the island building stops and your access is not going to be allowed. >> reporter: the chinese newspaper says unless washington plans to wage a large-scale wash in the south china sea, trying to block china's access is foolish. and tillerson ought to bone up on nuclear power strategies if he wants to force a big nuclear power from its territories. how could the u.s. deny access to those islands? >> you would want to start with a naval blockade. that's what people would think. cuban missile crisis in the modern era, but this is a lot of space you cover. i assume you're talking about blocking access to the seven

islands in the spratlys. they have hangar space for a full regiment of fighter aircraft at each one of these, that's awful lot of capability. and finally, this is not without cost. these are not defenseless features. you're looking at advanced air defense, this is an anti-aircraft gun. >> reporter: analysts are worried about escalation. >> the biggest fear is accidental conflict. the south china sea, even under the best possible set of circumstances, is going to get more crowded and more contentious. there are going to be more commercial ships in the area, and there are going to be more military assets. >> reporter: a key question in all of this, did rex tillerson speak directly for president-elect trump when he said the u.s. should deny china access to those islands. i spoke to a trump transition official who walked back slightly from tillerson's

comments. the official said it doesn't necessarily mean a naval blockade, that there are other options, including economic ones. when i prised what those might be, the official said there are no details yet, but all of this still has to be worked out. brian todd, cnn, washington. 18 years after this baby disappeared from a hospital, the woman that she thought ywas her mother is charged with kidnapping. when it comes to healthcare,

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investigators here in the u.s. have finally solved a kidnapping case that went unsolved for nearly 20 years. they've identified a 18-year-old who was an infant who was

abducted shortly after she was born. the person she thought was her mother all these years has been arrested. >> i just always thought it would happen one day, but i didn't have no idea it was going to be this day. >> reporter: velma akin's prayers are finally answered. the kidnapping captured attention in 1998. she was just days old when a woman dressed as a nurse walked out with her. the exhaustive search turned up some clues, but no baby kamiyah. 18 years, and nearly 2500 tips later, the jacksonville sheriff's office received the tips they needed. investigators were led to the tiny town of walterboro, south carolina. >> further investigation

revealed fraudulent documents had been used to establish that young woman's identity. >> reporter: dna analysis confirms that the 18-year-old woman is baby kamiyah. >> in the interest of reducing any trauma to this woman, i am not revealing her name. >> reporter: gloria williams, the woman believed to have raised baby kamiyah was arrested and charged with kidnapping. a neighbor of the 51-year-old woman says williams and the daughter she raised seemed to have a normal mother/daughter relationship. today, the daughter faces a new reality, being away from the only mother she ever knew. cnn, atlanta. and still, when we come back, the obama girls grew up in the white house with the whole world watching, and now they're getting advice about moving on from another pair of presidential daughters. sometimew when you hit a home run. that's how i feel about blue-emu pain relief spray. odorless and fast-acting. it soothes all my muscle aches and pains.

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now we know, we know there's a lot to keep up with in the u.s. presidential transition, and with that comes another serious challenge, separating fact from fiction. our tom foreman has a reality

check. >> reporter: the president-elect was asked about his dealings with russia. >> i have no deals in russia. we could make deals in russia very easily, if we wanted to. i just don't want to, because i think that could be a conflict. >> reporter: that's a bold claim after him making business trips to russia, holding the ms. universe pageant in moscow. here's a problem, though, without his most recent tax returns, we have no way of verifying whether he said something that was true or something false. maybe we'll get those tax returns this year. beyond that, he was asked about the idea of russians trying to hack into u.s. computer systems. and he had sharp words. >> if you look at the retail industry, the banking industry, various industries, out of 17 industries, they put this in the category of an industry, the united states is last in terms of protecting, let's say hacking

defense. >> he's actually talking about this report which cited 18 different industries, but he's right, the u.s. was last. that claim is true. back in 2014, when russia invaded ukraine, the u.s. responded with sanctions against russia, and exxonmobil, with billions of dollars at stake had its ceo say at a shareholder meeting we do not support sanctions generally, because we don't find them to be effective. but listen to what rex tillerson said at his confirmation hearing for secretary of state. >> first, i have never lobbied against sanctions personally. i continue to believe -- >> but the company you directed did. >> to my knowledge, exxon never lobbied against sanctions to my knowledge. >> here's thing. exxon did. they tweeted out a clarification saying we wanted to talk about

the impact of sanctions, we weren't lobbying against them. that's the only thing that makes this statement not flat-out false. a lot about the republicans right now, because they're completely dominating the news cycle. we'll no doubt have plenty on the democrats in weeks to come. and the final names are being add to a list of performers for a big concert for the inauguration on january 20th. the headliners, toby keith, three doors down, god bless the usa singer lee greenwood and jennifer holiday. also the front men of country, not exactly the most well-known artists. malia and sasha obama are members of a club, daughters who lived in the white house. they are getting advice from two other sisters who know what they're going through. >> eight years ago on a cold november day, we greeted you on

the steps at the white house. >> barbara bush on the today show, sharing the new letter she and her sister jenna bush have written to the obama girls. a lot has changed in the it's years since the bush twins first met sasha and malia. back then, the obama girls were just 7 and 10. >> you had no choice but to move into. when you slid down the bannister of the solarium as we had done as 8-year-olds and 20 year olds chasing our youth, your joy and laughter were contagious. >> in eight years you have done so much, seen so much. you've stood at the gates of the robbin island cell where mandela was imprisoned for decades. >> the bush twins had penned a letter in 2009, titled "playing house in the white house." then 27, jenna and barbara bush offered this advice. surround yourself with loyal

friends. they'll protect and calm you. and join in on some of the fun and appreciate the history. and this. cherish your animals, because sometimes you'll need the quiet comfort that only animals can provide. their most important piece of advice years ago? our dad, like yours, is a man of great integrity and love. remember who your dad really is. >> it's really an exclusive club among presidential children. and they do keep in touch. there's an empathy there because they've all been through it. and no one knows what that's like to be in that kind of public spotlight when you're so young. >> in their new letter, jenna and barbara bush told sasha and malia how they watched them grow into impressive young women with grace and ease. they remarked how they were glad the obama girls had each other as the bush twins did. their letter encouraged the obama girls to hold onto the memory and emboldened them to chart their own path. >> explore your passions.

learn who you are. make mistakes. you're allowed to. continue to surround yourself with loyal friends who know you, adore you and will protect you. >> take all you have seen, the people you have met, the lessons you have learned and let those guide you in making positive change. >> in closing, a sense of solidarity. >> you have lived through the unbelievable pressure of the white house. you have listened to harsh criticism of your parents by people who have never even met them. >> you stood by as your precious parents were reduced to headlines. your parents who put you first and not only showed you but gave you the world. >> as always, they will be rooting for you as you begin this next chapter, and so will we. >> randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> so, because we've flooded you with politics this hour, yeah, we get that too. so we're going to throw something else out there. this is a ruby c dragon, the first known video of the

creature alive. it was captured by researchers from the scripps oceanographic institute. the ruby is the third type of known sea dragon after the common and the leafy species. they're related to seahorses. and there you go. that wraps up this hour of "cnn newsroom." my colleague, george howell will be back after the break with another hour of news from around the world, so you are in good hands. thank you for watching cnn.

donald trump weighs in on sanctions against russia. what the u.s. president-elect is saying about how he might respond to alleged election meddling. taking the knife to one of barack obama's key achievements, looking to dismantle the affordable care act. and frigid temperatures strike the united states and europe. how long the deadly cold weather is expected to last. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. "cnn newsroom"