now the nominee for secretary of state. here's chip reid. >> reporter: the toughest grilling of rex tillerson today came from a republican, senator marco rubio of florida. >> is vladimir putin a war criminal? >> i would not use that term. >> reporter: rubio, a leading critic of russia, graphically described russian bombing in syria. >> mr. putin has directed his military to conduct a devastating campaign that's targeted schools and markets and other civilian infrastructure that has resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. you are still not prepared to say that vladimir putin and his military have violated the rules of war and conducted war crimes in aleppo? >> those are very, very serious charges to make, and i would want to have much more

information before reaching a conclusion. >> i find it discouraging your inability to cite that, which i think is globally accepted. >> reporter: rubio has not yet decided whether to support tillerson. if he votes no, that could put the oil executive's confirmation at risk in the narrowly divided senate. rubio has previously criticized tillerson, who has known putin for years, for accepting an order of friendship from the russian president, but today tillerson said the two nations will probably never be friends. >> our value systems are starkly different. >> reporter: tillerson also encountered some rough sailing when republican chairman bob corker asked about lobbying against sanctions on russia after it invaded crimea. >> i never lobbied against the sanctions. to my knowledge exxonmobil never lobbied against the sanctions. >> reporter: but corker reminded him of this. >> i think you called me during this time. >> reporter: and democrat bob menendez said he had hard evidence tillerson was mistaken. >> i have four different lobbying reports totaling

millions of dollars as required by the lobbying disclosure act that lists exxonmobil's lobbying activities on four specific pieces of legislation authorizing sanctions. >> reporter: senator menendez also asked tillerson if he and president-elect trump have even talked about russia yet. scott, tillerson said no, to which menendez responded, "that's pretty amazing." >> chip reid for us tonight. chip, thank you. today is the confirmation of senator jeff sessions of alabama to become attorney general, there was rare opposition from a fellow senator, democrat cory booker of new jersey. >> reporter: senator sessions has not demonstrated a commitment to a central requisite of the job, to aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, equal rights and justice for all of our citizens. in fact, at numerous times in his career, he's demonstrated a

hostility toward these convictions. he has worked to frustrate attempts to advance these ideals. >> yesterday senator sessions said that he would enforce all civil rights laws if confirmed. mr. trump made more news today, saying he will make a supreme court nomination within two weeks of taking office. he said he plans to both repeal and replace obamacare at the same time, and he'll start that wall at the border before he gets mexico to pay for it. he also revealed his plan for another wall between the white house and his financial empire. here's julianna goldman. >> as the president, i could run the trump organization, great, great company, and i could run the country. i'd do a very good job. >> reporter: the president-elect has decided he will not sell his assets or place them in a blind trust, as government ethics experts had urged. instead mr. trump will move his assets into a trust controlled by his two oldest sons, who will

also manage the trump organization. they will not pursue new international deals and will hire an ethics adviser to oversee new deals in the u.s. they will also not consult with mr. trump. >> i hope at the end of eight years i'll come back and say, oh, you did a good job, otherwise if they do a bad job, i'll say, you're fired. >> reporter: today walter shaub, the head of the government ethics office, called the plan wholly inadequate. >> the plan does not meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the past four decades have met. >> reporter: the arrangement means mr. trump could have dealings with foreign countries where he also has a financial stake. cbs news has counted at least ten countries, including turkey and united arab emirates, where the president-elect has business interests. >> he needs to sell the business, free himself of conflicts of interests. >> reporter: richard painter was the ethics lawer for

former president george w. bush. he says mr. trump could violate a condition that precludes a government official from receiving payments. a state run chinese bank is a tenant in trump tower in new york, for example. >> we need a clean sweep of foreign government payments from the business empire. there is no evidence that that's going to happen with respect to any of it other than the hotel. >> reporter: the president-elect will donate to the u.s. treasury any profits made from foreign governments using his hotel, and that includes his new one here in d.c. that leases property from the government. scott nothing today addresses the fact that as president mr. trump will be both landlord and tenant. >> julianna goldman, thanks. coming up next, we'll get john dickerson's take on the president-elect versus the media. and later, dozens are rescued as severe weather continues to ♪living well rise above joint discomfort with move free ultra's triple action joint support for improved mobility and flexibility, and 20% better comfort from one tiny, mighty pill... get move free ultra, and enjoy living well.

ito become dangerous.d for an everyday item new tide pods child guard pack. helps keep your laundry pacs safe and your child safer. align, press and unzip. have you any wool?eep, no sir, no sir, some nincompoop stole all my wool sweaters, smart tv and gaming system. luckily, the geico insurance agency recently helped baa baa with renters insurance.

everything stolen was replaced. and the hooligan who lives down the lane was caught selling the stolen goods online. visit geico.com and see how easy it is to switch and save on renters insurance. it was hard to tell in the president-elect's news conference today whether he was more disgusted with his intelligence community or with the media. john dickerson is here, our cbs news political director and anchor of "face the nation." john, mr. trump is rewriting the relationship with the press. >> reporter: he is. all presidents try to do this. they try to control the message by controlling the press. donald trump is trying to do it through intimidation, to soften up the stories about him, but he's also seeking to delegitimize the press. that isn't to say -- he's not complaining about a specific story.

he's saying that there is a battle between himself and the press and that's an attempt to basically take the value away from what the press does. >> let's have a look at something else he said in the news conference today. >> don't be rude. >> mr. president-elect, can you give us a question. >> don't be rude. don't be rude. no i'm not going to give you a question. >> can you state -- >> you are fake news. go ahead. you know, i've been hearing more and more about fake news. they talk about people that go and say all sorts of things, but i will tell you, some of the media outlets that i deal with are fake news, more so than anybody. i could name them, but i won't bother. >> so does donald trump need the press the way other presidents have? >> you see, he's trying to define all news as fake news. he can also use twitter to get his message out. usually presidents in their attempts to control the press fail because they ultimately need the press to get their message out. he has twitter. he also has a following that's more apt the believe that the press is out to get donald trump. but his favorability ratings are about 43%.

to get the rest of the country -- to speak to the rest of the country, he needs the validation of the press. to get his message across from something that's not just his own mouth, and that's where usually it breaks down for presidents who try and go after the press. >> to speak to a broader audience. john dickerson, thanks so much. we'll see you sunday on "face the nation." still coming up, the largest auto recall in american history expands.

introducing a deodorant saving millions of clothes. new degree ultraclear black + white. no yellow stains on white clothes. no white marks on black clothes. new degree ultraclear black + white. it won't let you down. honda is recalling another 772,000 vehicles because of

defective air bags made by the japanese company takata. the recall now involves as many as 69 million air bags in american cars and trucks. the inflators can explode, ejecting metal shrapnel and 11 people have died. the recall list is posted at cbsnews.com. today volkswagen pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and will pay the u.s. government more than $4 billion. nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles were fraudulently programmed to pass emissions tests that they should have failed. six vw executives were indicted today. the national cancer institute has begun a new push to have children vaccinated against hpv. the vaccine can prevent cervical and other cancers, but only about 42% of girls and 28% of boys have been vaccinated. federal guidelines recommend it

for children as young as nine. up next, another round of floods and blizzards slams the west. ,,,

a state usually associated with sunshine and drought is now being hit with waves of blizzards and floods. john blackstone is in california for us, john? >> reporter: scott, there have been plenty of warnings in california over the last few days, but this flood came without warning. here in the town of hollister, the fast-rising water took residents by surprise. this farming town south of san jose, california, quickly turned into one giant swamp after a nearby creek overflowed. emergency crews responded to calls overnight from dozens of panicked residents trapped inside their homes. by daybreak ranchers were still leading their animals to dry land. kevin o'neill is the county's emergency services manager. >> the scene here last night was challenging at times. it was dark, a lot of these

houses did suffer some damage. >> reporter: in sonoma county, the russian river rose once again, reaching nearly 38 feet this afternoon, about six feet above flood level. firefighters were out in swift boats saving homeowners and stranded drivers from the unrelenting waters. melba martinelli had to leave her home. >> it's our home. it's the only one we've got. so we're losing our home it looks like right now. >> reporter: in the sierra nevadas, storms have now dumped more than ten feet of snow, toppling trees, downing power lines, and collapsing a huge chunk of this mountain road. but for some, this extreme weather has provided opportunities for extreme adventure. even storm clouds can have a silver lining. john blackstone, cbs news, hollister, california. and that's the "overnight news" for this thursday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us a little bit later for the morning news and be sure not to miss "cbs this morning."

from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm scott pelley. this is the "cbs overnight news." >> welcome to the "overnight news." i'm tony dokoupil. president-elect donald trump stepped up to the podium for his first formal news conference in months. it was billed as a chance for mr. trump to lay out his plans to separate himself from his global business empire, but overshadowing that were reports that russia has obtained compromising personal and financial information on mr. trump. major garrett has our story. >> it's all fake news. it's phony stuff. it didn't happen. and it was gotten by opponents of ours. it was a group of opponents that got together, sick people, and they put that crap together. >> reporter: with that president-elect donald trump emphatically denied the unsubstantiated allegations,

including one about his sexual behavior. >> does anyone really believe that story? i'm also very much a germaphobe, by the way, believe me. >> reporter: that raw information was included as an appendix to a classified report detailing russian efforts to tamper with the u.s. election undermine democratic nominee hillary clinton and help mr. trump. today for the first time the president-elect agreed with that assessment, that russia was responsible for several election-related cyber attacks. >> as far as hacking, i think it was russia, but i think we also get hacked by other countries and other people. >> reporter: but mr. trump also cited information revealed by the cyber intrusions. >> hacking is bad, and it shouldn't be done, but look at the things that were hacked. look at what was learned from that hacking, that hillary clinton got the questions to the debate and didn't report it? that's a horrible thing. >> reporter: this morning in response to publication of the

unverified information, mr. trump tweeted, "intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to leak into the public. are we living in nazi germany?" what were you driving at there? >> i think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out, and that's something that nazi germany would have done and did do. >> reporter: the president-elect also lashed out at a reporter from cnn, the first news organization to report that the russian hacking assessment included the unverified claims. >> your organization is terrible. >> you're attacking our news organization. can you give us a chance to ask a question, sir. >> quiet. quiet. >> mr. president-elect -- >> she's asking a question. don't be rude. >> reporter: mr. trump declined to say whether he would keep sanctions imposed on russia by president obama. he also said he would work with russian president vladimir putin. >> if putin likes donald trump, i consider that an asset, not a

liability, because we have a horrible relationship with russia. >> reporter: u.s. investigators are frying to verify what, if any aspects of the allegations related to mr. trump's conduct can be verified. russia was also a hot topic at the confirmation hearing for rex tillerson. chip reid has that story. >> reporter: the toughest grilling of rex tillerson today came from a republican, senator marco rubio of florida. >> is vladimir putin a war criminal? >> i would not use that term. >> reporter: rubio, a leading critic of russia, graphically described russian bombing in syria. >> mr. putin has directed his military to conduct a devastating campaign that's targeted schools and markets and other civilian infrastructure that's resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. you are still not prepared to say that vladimir putin and his military have violated the rules of war and conducted war crimes in aleppo? >> those are very, very serious charges to make, and i would

want to have much more information before reaching a conclusion. >> i find it discouraging your inability to cite that, which i think is globally accepted. >> reporter: rubio has not yet decided whether to support tillerson. if he votes no, that could put the oil executive's confirmation at risk in the narrowly divided senate. rubio has previously criticized tillerson, who has known putin for years, for accepting an order of friendship from the russian president, but today tillerson said the two nations will probably never be friends. >> our value systems are starkly different. >> reporter: tillerson also encountered some rough sailing when republican chairman bob corker asked about lobbying against sanctions on russia after it invaded crimea. >> i never lobbied against the sanctions. to my knowledge exxonmobil never lobbied against the sanctions. >> reporter: but corker reminded him of this. >> i think you called me during this time. >> reporter: and democrat bob menendez said he had hard evidence tillerson was mistaken.

>> i have four different lobbying reports totaling millions of dollars as required by the lobbying disclosure act that lists exxonmobil's lobbying activities on four specific pieces of legislation authorizing sanctions. >> reporter: senator menendez also asked tillerson if he and president-elect trump have even talked about russia yet. scott, tillerson said no, to which menendez responded, "that's pretty amazing." president obama is back at the white house after delivering his farewell address in his hometown of chicago. mr. obama warned about threats to our democracy and urged americans to have faith in our country. dean reynolds was among the 18,000 in the hall when the president spoke. >> reporter: in her farewell address, the president urged americans to stay involved in the democratic process, and he emphasized the importance of a smooth and peaceful transition to his successor.

in his farewell message -- >> i can't do that. >> reporter: president obama said it's every citizen's responsibility to be guardians of america's democracy. >> democracy can buckle when it gives into fear. that's why i reject discrimination against muslim-americans who are just as patriotic as we are. >> reporter: his remarks on income inequality seem to reflect on the themes of the last election. >> if every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hard-working white middle class and undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. >> reporter: the president offered a challenge to republicans trying to dismantle the affordable care act.

>> if anyone can put together a plan that is demonstrably better, i will publicly support it. [ applause ] >> reporter: after two terms in the spotlight, mr. obama issued a tearful tribute to his daughters and the first lady. >> michelle levon robinson, girl of the south side, you made the white house a place that belongs to everybody. malia and sasha, of all that i've done in my life, i'm most proud to be your dad. [ applause ] >> reporter: last night, the nation's 44th president closed with a promise. >> my fellow americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. i won't stop. i'm asking you to believe, not in my ability to bring about change but in yours. yes, we can.

yes, we did. yes, we can. yes, we did. yes, we can. hey, searching for a great used yeah! you got it. just say show me millions of used cars for sale at the all new carfax.com. i don't want one that's had a big wreck just say, show me cars with no accidents reported pretty cool i like it that's the power of carfax® find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing start your used car search at carfax.com that cough doesn't sound so good. well i think you sound great. move over. easy booger man. take mucinex dm. it'll take care of your cough. fine! i'll text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. one pill lasts 12 hours, so... looks like i'm good all night! ah! david, please, listen. still not coughing. not fair you guys! waffles are my favorite! ah! some cough medicines only last 4 hours.

but just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. start the relief. ditch the misery. let's end this.

president-elect donald trump has vowed to revamp how the federal government does business. one form of that business that may not change is the u.s. policy towards hostages. washington will not pay ransom to gain the release of a u.s. citizen. it doesn't even allow the family of the hostage to pay. and that can leave the hostage in an impossible spot. leslie stall has that story for "60 minutes." >> i am steven joel sotloff. i'm sure you know exactly who i am by now and why i'm appearing before you. >> reporter: steven joel sotloff was beheaded by isis. his execution on september 2, 2014, was seen around the world on a video. did you ever watch it? >> i have viewed steven's body

with his head on his chest. >> i had to see that, because i needed to be sure that that was him. >> reporter: steven was born and raised in miami, attended clenl in israel, and became a freelance journalist, reporting from war zones where information was scarce. like yemen, benghazi, libya, and syria, where he went in the summer of 2013. just before he crossed into aleppo, he called his dad. >> he contacted me and told me not to worry. but if i don't hear from him within four days, that i should get in touch with one of his colleagues. >> woe, that's ominous. >> reporter: he didn't hear from his son not for four days, but four excruciating months. then finally they got a ransom letter with demands for the government to free all the muslims in u.s. custody. or -- >> and then there's a last

option. 100 million euros will secure steven's release. >> which is something like -- >> $137 million. >> reporter: what was your reaction? >> reaction was, how the hell are we going to get this money together? >> reporter: they thought the u.s. government would help them, but they were bewildered, and then infuriated when they say they met a stone wall. the u.s. policy forbidding the paying of ransom. >> it's some of the hardest work that i've done. >> reporter: lisa monaco, assistant to president obama for counterterrorism, oversaw the hostage crisis. >> these are horrible choices. on the one hand, if you don't pay a ransom, you are putting an innocent life at risk. on the other hand, if you do, you're fuelling the very activity that's put them at risk in the first place. >> reporter: did you feel ever that the policy might be wrong? >> the policy that's been a decades old policy of not paying ransom i think is the right

policy. >> reporter: do you didn't question that? >> we didn't. we believed that was important to maintain. >> reporter: with the exception of the uk, most european countries do pay ransom without publicly add mitting it. steven was held with 22 other hostages, including the three americans james foley, peter cassic, and kayla mueller, who were all killed. once the european governments paid ransom, isis released their citizen. one of whom smuggled out this letter from steven. >> he was speaking out he can't stand seeing all the captives leave from all different countries, how could the united states just stand by and not do anything? >> reporter: as the european hostages came out and spoke of mock executions and water boardings, they decided to try to raise some of the money themselves. but then they and the other u.s.

families attended a meeting in washington with officials on the national security council. >> all of us were saying why can't we try to save our kids? and they said because it's against the law. we do not negotiate with terrorists. >> reporter: did they say you would be prosecuted? >> they said, you could be prosecuted and also your donors would be prosecuted. >> reporter: so if i gave you money, i would be prosecuted? >> correct. >> reporter: did anybody say, are you kidding me? >> yes, we did. >> it was a little bit contentious. >> we could have verbally fought back. >> reporter: they were threatened they would be prosecuted. is that true? >> what's true is that some families felt threatened, and that was unacceptable, and that should never have happened. >> reporter: are you suggesting they may not have been threatened? >> what i'm suggesting is i'm not present when any threats were made, but what matters, leslie, is these families felt

through the most horrific time they with encounter. >> reporter: was that the policy, was that true? could they have actually been prosecuted? could someone who contributed to pay ransom also be prosecuted? >> so what's true is that the justice department has never prosecuted a family or friends of a family that has paid a ransom. >> reporter: but was it the policy? >> well, what the policy is, the united states government will not pay ransoms or make concessions to hostage takers. >> reporter: that policy is based in part on presumption that paying ransom invites more hostage taking. but that is refuted by a new study that examined the case of every known western hostage taken since 9/11. it was co-authored by peter bergen, a counterterrorism expert for the nonpartisan new america foundation. >> they don't know necessarily you're american when they take

you. some countries are known to pay ransom, the french, germans, the spanish. but they don'ted admit they do. americans are huge outliers here. you're twice as likely to have a negative outcome. >> reporter: you mean murdered? >> murdered, die in captivity or remain in captivitcaptivity. >> reporter: four americans and two brits died. i keep playing in my own head this horrible situation, where the american hostages watched the other ones be set free. and i wonder if it wouldn't have been better if our government did what the european governments did, which is pay ransom but then deny it in order to save their citizens. why wouldn't we have done that?

>> we would still be fueling their terror activity. whether it's hostage taking or whether it's terrorist plots, to kill americans here in the homeland or elsewhere is not activity that the united states government should be in the business of funding. >> reporter: what do you say to critics of the policy of not paying ransom, that the beheadings of the americans ended up having more value to isis than any money would have been, that's really what put them on the international map, these beheading videos were a gold mine for isis. do you see it that way? >> i don't. and i think it's giving prosecutal, murderous thugs too much credit. >> you can see the full report on our website, cbsnews.com. the "overnight news" will be right back.

♪living well rise above joint discomfort with move free ultra's triple action joint support for improved mobility and flexibility, and 20% better comfort from one tiny, mighty pill... get move free ultra, and enjoy living well. people in scotland take their whiskey very seriously. and if you want to call your drink scotch, there are a list of rules. but one american in london is breaking those rules and our jonathan vigliotti got that story. >> reporter: here in the uk, that's perfectly acceptable to order a scotch whiskey. scotch is a billion dollar a year industry here in the uk. many of the brands are centuries

old. but now newcomers -- thank you -- are mixing up this ancient less key. ♪ whiskey is the life of man >> reporter: it's amber tones and smoky notes have desuessed for centuries, and given birth to one of the uk's most lucrative industries. in the rolling hills of scotland, making scotch whiskey is a work of art. the grains are mashed, fermented, then distilled. and finally aged in wooden casts. the scotch inside is then bottled and sold. it's a 500-year-old spirit protected by law. and drinking it can pack a lot of rules. just watch master distiller richard patterson's tutorial. >> this is the way you hold it, not this way. definitely not this way.

but if i ever see you nosing it, nosing it like this, i'll kill you. >> reporter: but in the small london left, whiskey blender john glazer is dropping the pretension and adding a new range of flavors. >> a lot of people think scotch whiskey is high handed, that there are rules and you have to drink it a certain way. so it is intimidating. we try to break all that down. >> reporter: his blends are to whiskey what craft beer is to lager. >> it's more in tune with the taste of the day, we think. >> reporter: whisper whiskey, it's being dubbed. mellower and lighter for the millennial palate. the production process borrows from tradition. like friender e blenders of the mixes them. but he goes one step further,

maturing the blend again. when you're tasting, when you're assisting, it's a technique that's won international praise. >> we've had run-ins with authorities of the industry because we hike to do things differently. >> reporter: his innovative casts led to one of his whiskeys being banned. >> it has to be matured in casts. so we're not trying to -- we're trying to encourage it within the guidelines. >> reporter: innovation is needed. in 2015 for the first time ever, not a single scotch appeared in the whiskey bible's top three lift. a japanese whiskey ranked number one. this year, scotch is on the

list, but with a lighter, caramel-vanilla blend. these whisper whiskeys are even welcomed in cocktails. >> if you're just doing things the way you always have, you're going to fall behind. >> reporter: john glazer hopes his customized blends are part of the occasion. >> we can blend up whatever you want, but why don't you do it? let's turn the responsibility over to you. >> reporter: let's do a "cbs this morning" scotch whiskey. for charlie, it's going to be smoery. for smoera, floral. and for gail, spicy. >> how smoky do you want it to be? >> a balance of all three. that's charlie. >> next, we'll do the spicy one. >> emphasis on spicy. >> so floral for norah.

moment of truth. >> cheers to,, over 1,000,000 californians have gotten something that's been out of reach for far too long: health insurance. how? they enrolled through covered california. it's the health insurance marketplace where you'll find a

range of plans from leading health insurance companies that offer you the best combination of quality, rates, and benefits. and, through covered california, you may get financial help to pay for coverage. to get covered, you've got to get going. open enrollment ends january 31st. visit covereca.com today.

for years, we've been told to exercise an average of one hour a day. but most people find that impossible. and simply work out if and when they can. that can mean weekends. a growing number of americans are becoming weekend warriors. is that healthy? dr. jon lapook has a look. >> open those hips on the squat.

>> reporter: georgia kopani spends two hours a week at a local gym working up sweat. but the rest of the time, not so much. >> it's not easy. it's difficult, because you know, the only thing after a long day you want to sit down and rest. >> reporter: so she hired trainer steven ferguson to get her off the catch. >> 50 jump rope? >> 50? i feel better with my body. my confidence is better. >> reporter: she's a so-called weekend warrior, cramming all her exercise into one or two monster workouts. a study in internal medicine compared exercise in one or two sessions compared to regular exercise throughout the week and found they had a lower risk of death than inactive people. both groups got at least the recommended weekly 2 1/2 hours

of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity. >> if you're jogging, walking, where you can still have a conversation, that's moderate exercise. >> reporter: dr. jordan metzel in new york city. >> when you do nothing and then put 60 or 90 minutes of a workout together as the only thing, you're at more risk for overuse injuries. >> reporter: so you shouldn't jump into being a warrior. >> we prefer something that'ses into what they do. exercise is the most safe and effective drug in the human condition. >> reporter: this is good news for people who can't find time during the week. but there's still reason to exercise regularly, which helps a number of medical conditions. dr. jon lapook, cbs, new york. >> that's the "overnight news" for this thursday.

do not miss "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center here in new york city, i'm tony dokoupil. captioning funded by cbs [ speaking foreign language ] it's thursday, january 12th, 2017. this is the "cbs morning news." with eight days until the inauguration, the trump transition heats up. >> it's all fake news. it's phony stuff. it didn't happen. the president-elect railed against reports that they kept secrets but finally admitted they meddled in the election. democrats and republicans took on two of president-elect's top