questioning the future of u.s.-russian relations. which way will they to. donald trump suggesting he could lift the sanctions imposed on moscow, maybe not immediately though. also in a faux hours the u.s. troops are set to formally be welcomed in poland. the biggest deployment of american troops to europe in decades. found after 18 years, a woman kidnapped as an infant is on her way back home. we'll tell you how the police found her. 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 starts right now.

it is 5:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. we're less than a week away now from the transition of power in the u.s. that will make donald trump the nation's 45th president. but now we're also learning much more about his possible plans toward russia. in an hour long interview donald trump suggested to "the wall street journal" that he is open to lifting sanctions on russia but he also said that he would keep those sanction in place for at least appear idea of time. the u.s. placed those additional sanctions on russia just last month for alleged hacking during the u.s. presidential election. intelligence agencies that say that russia ordered the hacks in order to help donald trump win the election. the senate intelligence committee plans to not only look into russia's alleged medaling but to investigate whether there were contacts between moscow and the presidential campaigns.

there have been a lot of questions across washington. what's the next step in the waik of the explosive u.s. intelligence report that russia meddled in the elections. the u.s. select committee will be holding a bipartisan investigation into the russian intelligence activities. 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 delving deep into potential ties between russian intelligent services and the campaign. specifically while the committee isn't saying this, the trump campaign, the president-elect's team will be under review for any potential contacts between them and russians or russian middlemen. why does this matter? obviously a powerful committee looking into the campaign could produce answers that we simply

haven't gotten up to this point. the lawmakers who have been briefed in the course of the 48 hours about the version of this report have come out saying there are more questions that need to be answered, questions that weren't answered in the declassified report. that could be what this nfls gags ends up bringing to if forefro forefront. they'll be looking into the potential campaign activities and holding hearings, interviewing key members of the campaigns of the incoming administration and of the outgoing administration. if those interview requests are not come played with, this committee has subpoena power to compel individuals to sit down for interviews. for people wondering what the next step is, where this goes from here, this is an answer an explosive and powerful one depending on how the investigation is held. we'll get answer to that soon,

answers that everybody is looking for in the wake of the last couple of weeks. phil matting live, cnn capitol hill. >> perhaps some of those answers will help trump determine how he handles russia. trump said he want flexibility. he said, if you get along and russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody is doing some really great things, president-elect donald trump. >> trump also says he's prepared to meet with the russian president himself. vladimir putin. more now live in moscow. fred plankton is following the story. fair to say there's some mixed messages coming out of washington. how is this being perceived there in russia? >> reporter: you know, it's interesting. it seems as though the kremlin at this point in time is trying to do everything to make sure that the relations don't sour

before donald trump takes office. it's been interesting to see the reactions here, to see the russian government saying look, weer going to see what happens when he takes office. we're going to wait and see what happens when he comes into office and certainly anything that's said before that is not something that we can control or something we want to comment about. it was interesting because they heard rex tillerson at his confirmation hearings talking about that but look, that's something e's saying beforehand and not necessarily something he's going to reflect once he takes office. >> russia is taking a wait and see approach here. but the sanctions, not just the ones that were leveed because of the annexatioelection but also annexation of crimea. how crippling have the sanctions

before for the average person. >> reporter: russia was um porting a lot of things from europe before these sanctions went into effect, german cars, milk and cheese products. it's put a strain on a lot of people. a lot of things aren't as available and a lot of things are more expensive. it's hurt russia's exports as well. it's had a financial effect with a lot of bangs being sanctioned, a lot of individuals not being able to get back on the individual financial market. a lot of people want to sanctions to go away. but at the same time, one of the things it hasn't happened is it certainly hasn't hurt the approval ratings of vladimir putin. much still support his policies in syria and ukraine as well. it hasn't hurt him from that perspective. one of the things that the russians want, they want the sanction to go away but at the same time it really hasn't hurt

the political class if you will in this country. there was a conference call earlier this week with the spokesman for the kremlin where he was asked, look, do the americans need to get rid of the sanctions bf you have talks and improving relations. he said absolutely not. they're willing to talk under any circumstances. but one of the believes here is that if the americans soften up their stance on the sanctions, that possibly european countries would follow suit as well. >> that is the question. we will see after january 20th. fred plankton live in moscow. thank you. in the meantime, a member of the senate foreign relations committee is focusing in on trump's pick for national security adviser saying that mike flynn's call to russia's ambassador to the u.s. is quote suspicious. that phone call happened the same day president obama announced the russian sanctions. jim sciutto has more on this

story. >> 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 administrationry nounsed retaliation for russia's unprecedented cyberattack of the 2016 election. in late december the trump transition team said that flynn and the russian ambassador exchanged a series of text messages and a phone call. on christmas day flynn texted the russian ambassador, quote i want to wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year. i look forward to working with you. i wish you all of the best. the ambassador texted back, wishing him a merry christmas. then the russian ambassador texted him saying, i would like to give you a call. may i? that phone call happened on december 29, the same day that

u.s. leveled sanctions. trump's transition team said they did not discuss sanctions on russia. their focus was on arranging a call between vladimir putin and president-elect trump after the inauguration. the white house says its reaction depends. >> i would imagine why these kinds of interactions may take place, why the incoming national security adviser may have the need to contact the representative of a foreign government that's based here in washington, d.c. depends on what they disqudsed. depends on what he said in terms of whether or not we would have objections about those conversations. >> flynn's tie to russia have been scrutinized since the moment trump tapped him. flip was seated next to president putin in a russia media gala in 2015 and had a paid speaking team with russia today, the kremlin's tv network. 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 and there was no discussion of the new obama administration sanctions on russia in that december 29th phone call, the same day that the sanctions were being imposed. jim sciutto, cnn washington trump has left open the question of whether he'll keep james comey on as the fbi director. and now comey is facing renewed scrutiny, this time by members of congress. he held a confidential briefing with house lawmakers on friday on russia's alleged hacking in the presidential election. it did very little to satisfy some of those democrats.

listen. >> it's classified and we can't tell you anything. all i can tell you is that the fbi director has no credibility. >> the justice department's inspector general in the meantime is investigating comey's handling of the clinton e-mail probe. democrats are still furious over husband decision to send a letter just before the november election alerting congress that he was renewing that investigation. the probe ultimately found clinton did not act illegally. let's bring in cnn politics reporter eugene scott live from washington. a lot of topics to talk about. as it seems every day it's almost episodic. let's talk about donald trump and his response to the democrats over their frustrations with the fbi. donald trump tweeted this, what are hillary clinton's people complaining about with respect to the fbi? based on the information they had, she never should have been allowed to run. guilty as hell he says, they

were very nice to her. she lost because she campaigned in the wrong states. eugene, it does seem that the president-elect is still focusing on the campaign. >> he certainly is but he's not focusing on two very important points. one, it's not just the democrats who are expressing frustration with the fbi and how they handled the 2016 election related to investigations into hillary clinton's e-mails as well as hacking from the russian government. it's republicans as well. and what the president-elect rarely mentions is that u.s. intelligence agencies discovered that it wasn't just hillary clinton and the democratic national committee that were hacked. the republican national committee was hacked as well. wikileaks just decided not to release those e-mails. so until he completely understands what his critics are frustrated with, it's doubtful that he'll be able to address these issues in a sufficient

way. >> let's talk now about trump's cabinet picks, many of them during the hearings, they've indicated that their views on russia, on trade, many topic, they see things differently than the person they will soon follow as commander in chief. the president-elect had this to say though about the division among the ranks. let's listen. >> we want them to be themselves. i told them, be yourselves and say what you want the say. don't worry about me. and i'm going to do the right thing, whatever it is. i may be right and they may be right. but i said be yourselves. i could have said do this, say that. i don't want that. i want them all to be themselves. >> donald trump saying they may be right or he may be right. he's open to that difference of opinion, the debate he could have among these people that will be in his close circle. >> many of trump's critics embrace diversity even in

ideology. but many would like to hear clear vision especially those affects the american people the most. yesterday or earlier this week we saw secretary of state nominee rex tillerson confess that he and donald trump have not had very detailed conversations regarding global affairs. given what's happening right now in russia and syria and other parts of the world related to hacking and terrorism and other global issues such as trade, one would think this is a conversation that the president-elect would have prioritized more by now. >> another topic that is delicate for donald trump, the question about whether he won that election fair and square or whether the alleged russian meddling, whether that helped him win the election. it's a question that goes to the heart of the issue of legitimacy. listen to what congressman john lewis had to say about the

delicate issue for the president-elect to "meet the press". >> i don't see the president-elect as a legitimate president. >> you do not consider him a legitimate president. why is that? >> i think the russian's participated in helping this man get elected and they have destroyed the candidacy of hillary clinton. >> eugene the question here moving forward, how does this look, what signs can we see, signals can we get from this with democrats and their relationship with the republicans and the president-elect? >> john lewis is the third democratic lawmaker in the last month who has said he will be boycotting the inauguration, and not just protests of donald trump's policies, but the role of russia in the 2016 election. i think for many of them, what they would like to see is donald trump address what happened in a

way that suggests that he's deeply frustrated with russia and he will do all that he can to prevent the government from getting involved in future elections and not just the u.s., the allies as well. whether donald trump will actually do that, it's not really clear especially since he's not been aggressive in pushing back on this as they would like. >> eugene scott live in washington. thank you. >> thank you. still ahead here on newsroom, president obama's parting vote og confidence to nato. how russia is responding to new american troops on the ground in poland. just ahead. and 18 years after this baby sis disappeared from the hospital, the woman she thought was her mother charged with kidnapping. it's a remarkable story. we'll have it here as cnn newsroom continues. and what does it do if you make a mistake? or the irs sends you a letter?

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turkish authorities arrested two chinese nationals in connection to the new year's eve terror attack on an istanbul nightclub. they're both accused of being members of arm led terror organizations. that makes 35 people in total that are in custody now. the attack left dozens of people dead. the suspected gunman has yet to be caught. the biggest deployment of american troops to europe since the cold war is set to happen in

poland in three hours from now. atika shubert is following this story. it's good to have you with us. first of all, this is a move that's been made under the current president, barack obama. it's described as defensive in nature to support nato though russia sees this very differently. >> reporter: yes. i mean the timing of this is very interesting. this was agreed to last year. eastern european allies like poland said they needed to see more of a military presence as a bulwark against russian aggression. many of the eastern european allies here watched in horror as russia conducted it not so cold war in ukraine, the annexation of crimea. that's why we're seeing the buildup of troops now. it's interesting that it's happening before president-elect donald trump is inaugurated. this may be a way for example for to commit the united states to this policy in nato.

what we're looking at is four battalions of 1,000 soldiers each being moved in as well as more than 2,000 pieces of military hardware, tanks and armored car vehicles. it's part of the third armored brigade infantry team normally based out of ft. carson, colorado. they'll be based here in poland for the next nine months. then they'll be rotated out to other eastern european countries such as lithuania, bulgaria just to name a few. rush has said said that russia sees this as a threat, especially since they consider this a military buildup near their borders. >> this concern about whether these troops will stay or whether they will be asked to return, is that a big issue though with the incoming president-elect? >> reporter: well, it is an issue. he's clearly said that he wants

to improve relations with russia. and the military buildup we see here is something that russia is not happy with. it is a thorn in the side of the relationship. so the question is how will this begin. what about the troops here? poland has made it very clear that it's welcoming the troops. the welcoming ceremony we'll see in a few hours with the polish minister. and the foreign minister made the case that yes, we understand the need for better relations of russia but it must not come at the cost of poland. >> atika shubert live in poland. thank you for the reporting. now to china's inner mongolia region. temperatures there are plunged below freezing and the frigid conditions have created a great deal of icy fog. visibility has been reduced greatly there.

temperatures dropped dramatically on thursday and friday. let's get the latest on the deadly ice storm here in the united states. allison chinchar is here. >> to freezing fog in the united states. we have 20 million people under a dense fog advisory. the concern for the folks in missouri and illinois where we're getting ready for an impactful ice storm approaching. right now we have 40 million people under a ice storm warning, freezing rain advisory or winter weather advisory across the united states. this is a slow moving system so it's going to take its time. and that allows it to dump significant ice in some areas. down to the south with its overrunning the cold air, very warm and moist air. as the participation falls, it's likely going to fall as rain and then freeze on contact in this section right here stretching from texas all the way over to

washington, d.c. is where we have the potential to have some of that ice accumulation. the good news is at least wide spread we're looking a the the smaller totals. only around a quarter of an inch or less. however we do have a swath out to the west stretching from interstate 70 to i-40, especially over oklahoma where we could be looking at potential, up to three quarters of an inch of ice. this is huge because it not only causes travel problems but also wide spread power outages as well. on the other side of the atlantic we're tealing with ice but a different kind. this is ice floats that have started to block portions of the dan yub river. this located in budapest, hungary. we've had snow on the other side of this as well. this is in the northern portion of germany where a tractor trailer slid off the road. we've had intense amounts of snow in the uk, canceling 80

flights. now that system is traversing off to east and it's going to dump significant amounts of snow mainly to the higher elevations. the more wide spread accumulations should be around the 10 centimeter ring. but we could be looking at 20 or 30 centimeters in the higher elevations. and then once that system makes its way through we're going to be making way for our next big cold blast of air that's going to come through. unfortunately it for some of these areas we could be looking at the cold to stick around for at least five to seven days. take a look at warsaw, average temperature at this time of the year, 1 degree celsius. we could be talking for a lot of these areas, germany to poland and albania, we could be looking at potential to drop about 5 to 10 degrees celsius below the average high temperature.

>> wow. and when you consider there are so many people, mie dwrants, peop -- migrants, people out in the cold, this is a dangerous situation. >> it is. >> thank you so much. a story now that we're following in flint, michigan. thousands of homes there will be getting new fre faucets replaces fixtures that produsd tainted water. the state program allows residents to swap out brass faucets linked to lead poisoning. flint has suffered for years from the problem. the crisis prompted a criminal investigation and also lead to charges against several officials there. this is cnn newsroom. still ahead, with donald trump to enter the white house on january 20th, republicans now taking aim at obamacare. looking at way to dismantle a signature part of the outgoing president's legacy. we are live from atlanta this hour broadcasting across the united states and around the world.

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. you're watching cnn newsroom. it is good to have you with us. i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you. donald trump suggests he could possibly lift u.s. sanctions of russia but he's planning to keep them in place at least for now. this according to his new interview with "the wall street journal." the u.s. put those most recent sanctions in place last month to punish russia. poland is set to formally welcome the biggest deployment

of american troops since the cold war. this is seen as an affirmation of the nato. ivory coast government has reached an agreement with soldiers who staged a mutiny. this is according to the defense ministry though cnn has not been able to confirm that deal. some soldiers say they were promised 8,000 dollars and a house for helping to bring the current president into power after disputed elections in 2010. as the u.s. president barack obama moves through his final days in office, republicans in the house and senate seek to dismantle a landmark of his administration. they voted to begin gutting the affordable care act, obamacare. >> the current resolution is agreed to. >> the house taking the first step to repeal obamacare. >> this law is collapsing while he speak. >> congress approving the budget the will now give the

republicans the authority to repeal much of the affordable care act on a partyline vote. >> we feel it is going great. >> 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. >> 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. cnn's town hall, a shift. ryan now promises to move quickly >> we want to advance repealing this law with its replacement at the same time along with lines of what i just described.

something that is definitely a plan within the first 1007 d da >> but they're already running into problems. the party is divided. >> i think the repeal plan needs to be fully developed and better articulated prior to moving forward. i have some reservations about moving as quickly as we are. >> do you have concerns at all about the timetable in sfl i thi. >> i think it's going to be a very long process. >> don't think it's going to happen right away? >> no. >> conservatives are allowing quick reaction on plans for individual to buy plans across state lines. >> why don't we do replace and repeal. we could be putting those things on the floor this week. >> democrats are warning that the gop will pay a political price for scrapping the law

that's helped insure an additional 20 million people. >> what are they doing in this bill? overturning the affordable care act, undermining the health security and financial stability of america's working families and defunding planned parenthood. that's their manhood thing. >> cnn capitol hill. a lot of big changes as donald trump takes office after january 20th. one change could include the u.s.'s decades old one china policy. under that policy washington has formal diplomatic ties with beijing but not with taiwan. but the president-elect told "the wall street journal" that that is up for negotiation. we get more now from cnn's stephen jung. >> he may be soon reminded that in the eyes of the beijing

government, one issue is n nonnegotiable. the china one policy. they've reminded him time and again that the one china principle is the corner stone of the bilateral relationship between beijing and washington. they like the say that every u.s. president since jimmy carter has committed to this policy and stuck to it and they certainly hope the trump white house would do the same instead of derailing four decades of development and achievements. but mr. trump does have a point about the u.s. does sell business billions of dollars of arms to help itself defend against an attack. but it's this ambiguity in the one china policy that's allowed beijing, washington 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 on other issues, chinese officials having great restrained and measured in mr. trump's remarks, including issues about trade, and cybersecurity. they have been saying that this relationship has so much going for it, more cooperation, less confrontation is the attitude that both sides adopt. they like to point 0 to the phone conversation that president-elect trump had with china's president, saying 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 policies instead of a leader's style and personality. but many officials have expressed to me that they're

unsure on how to deal with this new u.s. president who likes to conduct foreign policy online. some have asked me for suggestions. my response, follow him on twitter, read his tweets and have an answer ready for reporters like us. cnn beijing. >> thank you. china has issued a warning to the u.s. after its nominee for secretary of state suggested blocking access to the south china sea. our brian todd has this report for us. >> reporter: they've staked a claim to thousands of acres. used sophisticated equipment pumping sand through the thin tubes to create islands and then built airfield, deployed weapons there, even built bare barracks. the u.s. has sent ships and planes near the islands, sometimes drawing chinese

warnings. >> this is the chinese area. please go away quickly. >> reporter: now a government run chinese newspaper is warning over a possible war with the u.s. over the man made islands, spurred by this comment by rex tirl sllerso tillerson. >> we're going to have to send china a message that access to the islands is not going to be allowed. >> the chinese paper says quote, until they plan to have a large scale war in the south china sea, then blocking their action would be foolish. and tillerson better bone up on nuclear power strategiestrategi. pentagon officials are calling on china to reduce tensions. how could the u.s. deny china access to those islands? >> you would want to start with a this. this is a lot of space to cover. i would assume you're talking about blocking access to the

seven islands that china occupies here. you'd also have to deal with their air capabilities. this is not just a naval blockade. they have four air strips built on the largest of the islands. hangar spice for a full regiment. that's a lot of capability. and this is not without cost. these are not defensiveless features. this is an anti-aircraft gun. >> analysts are worried about escalation. >> the biggest fear is accidental conflict. the south china sea, even under the best circumstances is going to get more crowded and more contentious. there are going to be more commercial ships in the area and more military assets. >> a key question in all of this, did rex tillerson speak 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 softly, saying denying access doesn't necessarily have to mean a naval blockade, there with other options including economic ones. when i pressed on what those are, the official said there are no details yet. all of this still has to be worked out. >> thank you. and now to the search for a child abducted nearly two decades ago. that search that has finally come to an end. kamiyah mobley went missing from a florida hospital shortly after he was born. now police say she has been identified as an 18-year-old woman in south carolina. the woman she thought was her mother has been arrest' charged with kidnapping. long lost loved ones are overjoyed now that kamiyah has been found. >> i just thank god because i prayed for this day. a lot of times you pray and pray and thinking things ain't going to happen. but god done made it happen. so i prayed for this day.

i'm just so happy and i'll be glad when she get here so we can celebrate. it's nothing that i can do for her at a young age but i can take it and move on from today. >> what are you going to do when you see her? >> well, i'm going to hug her, hug her to death. kiss. just keep hugging her. it's a long time we ain't never seen her before. >> just good to see that the family reunited. police say that mobley was located after a series of tips to the national center for missing and exploited children. a quick break and then ahead, a show of strength for nervous allies. u.s. troops tell the baltic states, we've got your back. stay with us.

welcome back. u.s. troops are on a mission to reassure some nervous allies. the baltic states are worried about what russia might do next and uncertainly about how president-elect trump will deal with nato isn't helping. ivan watson has this report for us. >> reporter: war games in the snowy fields of eastern europe as u.s. soldiers train. 25 years ago this was part of the soviet union. today it's part of the european union and also a u.s. military ally in nato. these are live fire exercises. that's why i've got to wear all of this extra protective armor. military commanders say they're trying to show that they're a force of deterrence and their number one potential threat,

lauthe bigger neighbor to the east. >> it is a response to russian activity in 2014 when the strategic situation change. >> reporter: he's talking about russia's annexation of the crimea peninsula after they drove ukrainian troops out of this corner of ukraine in 2014. russia's land grab frightens people in former soviet republics where there are still bitter memories after a half century of soviet occupation >> our main aim is to protect our state hood. if russia is so peaceful and regard us as neighbors, why put more forces. >> but there are two sides to this tengs. we traveled from lat via to kalin grad, a rush hand enclave

in europe that's cut off from main russia. in soviet times, this was a heavy militarized place, closed off in the outside world. it was recently thrust back into the spotlight after russia deployed nuclear capable missiles here. russia's top diplomat defended the move arguing it's the u.s. that's threatening russia. >> it's our territory but the plans of the united states, not only to -- well they quadruple they think the money allocated to support military deployment in eastern europe, then they move infrastructure next to our borders. >> reporter: kalin grad is still the headquarters of the fleet and moscow has been flexing its own muscles. in 2013 governments punished

russia with economic sanctions. they're contributed to a broader economic crisis in russia that's got everyone we talked to worry about the future. of course i feel bad when they always blame russia for everything that's gone wrong in the world. this confrontation he tells me is not good for anyone. rival militaries maneuvering along opposite sides of increasingly tense borders in a land that still bares scars from the last time they fought here. the country side is dotted with dozens of old churches like this one, abandoned and in ruins after the soviet army invaded and conquered this land. reminders of what happened the last time tensions spun out of control in this part of europe. ivan watson, cnn russia. >> thank you. still ahead here, the obama

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ah, the time honored tradition watch theof yelling out your own plays and opinions. want some? i'm on a cleanse. it's four days of vegetables and raw food-- 54 is the mic! sure, no one on the team can hear her but does that stop her? check out of it! not one bit. and much like coach hindsight over here, courtyard is all about the game.

eight men in the box! is that a good thing? not if we run the ball it's not!

time to talk about malia and sasha obama. they're members of a very exclusive club. presidential daughters who grew up in the white house and as they get ready to move out, they're getting some advice from two other sisters who know exactly what they're going through. randi kaye has this report. >> 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 writ on the the obama girls. a lot has changed since they first met. back then the obama girls were 7 and 10. >> you had no choice but to move into. when you slid down the banister of the so layer yum just as we had done as 8-year-olds and again as 20-year-olds chasing our youth, your joy and laughter were contagious.

>> in eight years you've seen so much. you stood at the gates where south africa's nelson mandela was imprisoned for decades. >> the bush twins penned a letter to sasha and malia back in 2009 titled "playing house in the white house." then 2007 jenna and barbara bush offered this advice, surround yourself with loyal friends 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 been through it and no one knows what that's like to be

in that public spotlight when you're so young. >> in their new letter jenna and barbara told sasha and malia how they watched them grow into impressive young women with grace and ease. they remarked they were glad the girls had each other just like the bush twins did. the letter encouraged them to hold on to the memories but also 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 fiercely protect you >> take all that you have seen, the people you have met and the lessons you learned, and help 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've listened to harsh criticism of your parents by people who have not ever met them. >> you stood by as your precious parents were reduced to

headlines. your parents put you first. >> as always they will be rooting for you as you begin this next chapter. >> and so will we. >> randi kaye, cnn new york. > again the transition of power set to happen on january 20th. we thank you for being with us for this hour of cnn newsroom. i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. for our viewers in the united states "new day" is next. for other viewers around the world "the best of quest" starts in a moment. thank you for watching cnn, the world's news leader.

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well, welcome to saturday. so good to have your company as always. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. welcome to your "new day." the fbi director has no correct. >> fbi director james comey facing new scrutiny on both sides of the aisle. >> jim comey is an honorable person who i think made a bad decision. >> when the fbi director can't answer those questions it does shake our confidence. >> putin called me a genius. >> now claims he has compromising information on him.