press, the daily brief. >> i don't have to be told the same thing every day for the next eight years. >> and the putin factor. donald trump's choice for secretary of state criticized for being too friendly with putin? >> it's not like they're pounding down beers at the local bar. they're friendly with each other in business. >> we'll ask kellyanne conway about that and more coming up. good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. as donald trump is writing new history every day, often in 140 characters or less, the president-elect challenging the cia's assessment that not only was russia behind the dnc and the john podesta hacks, but also did it to influence the election

outcome what is the proof? this morning trump tweeted can you imagine if the election were the opposite and we tried to play the cia card? it would be called conspiracy theory. and this morning, trump's apparent top choice for secretary of state is rex tillerson. >> he's much more than a business executive. he's a world class player. he's in charge of, i guess, the largest company in the world. to me a great advantage is he knows many of the players. he knows them well. he does massive deals in russia. he does massive deals for the company. not for himself, for the company. >> kellyanne conway joins me now from the trump tower transition offices. thank you very much. >> hi, andrea. >> good to see you. a lot to drill down on. first of all, rex tillerson. let's talk about the likelihood he could be the choice. what are his qualifications besides the global dealmaking in

the private sector? why is he the best fit for secretary of state? >> let me say from the beginning, until the president-elect makes that announcement, it is not official. an important caveat for us here. as you pointed out, mr. tillerson has been at exxon for 41 years. rose to the ranks of the highest position, dealt with over 50 nations across our globe. exxon, i think, is a $320 billion cap company what does he do in that position? he negotiations. he develops oil. he employs many people. he does have a facility to talk to leaders around the globe. in china, in russia, in yemen, in the developing world, certainly the middle east. he is also somebody who is accustomed to making deals to understanding how to advance u.s. interests, and whoever secretary of state for this president is will need to implement the trump doctrine,

make sure u.s. interest advanced around the globe. donald trump made no secret that it's america first domestically and abroad. the public responded to that and put him in as the next president. >> how concerned would you be or mr. trump be about the criticism from some republicans? marco rubio, lindsey graham, john mccain, that he is too alined with russia, spent too much time with vladimir putin to be secretary of state? they have questions about that. would that dissuade mr. trump if he felt he was the best person for the job? >> the relationship between tillerson and vladimir putin and russia, it depends on what that relationship is. it's a business relationship. as the head of exxonmobil, he goes where the oil is, where the jobs are. he goes where he is producing jobs for people around the globe and of course where he's been able to extract resources to help many people around the globe. that would include russia obviously. it's not as if they're intimate

friends, not as if they're god parents to each other's children. it can be looked upon as an asset, not a liability. you want someone as secretary of state, andrea, which is the fourth highest ranking official in our federal government, you want someone who has experience who has the facility, not new to the job. and rex tillerson is a very trump ian-inspired pick, because it's somebody who, like donald trump what a career outside of politics. and is somebody who is accustomed to making big deals and making -- translating that into big impact. i should say, too just moments ago the president-elect concluded a meeting with carly fiorina, who, of course, was one of his opponents in the republican primary, but who is known as someone who has traveled around the globe, knows a lot about china about intelligence, about asia, and other hot spots around the globe. he's constantly meeting with

people who may or may not serve in his and trump administration at the highest levels. but he's taking counsel from a number of different men and women of diverse backgrounds who have a great deal to offer to the ongoing conversation. i know senators graham and mccain and rubio share with president-elect trump a desire to see the u.s. operating through a position of strength, not a position of weakness in places like russia and elsewhere. >> on that point, there's reporting in the "new york times" and elsewhere that carly fiorina could be a candidate for director of national intelligence. could she fit that mold? >> she could fit that mold. she's qualified for that role that is a possibility. i think most people come into trump tower to meet with the president-elect without an expectation of having cabinet position or senior position in his administration if that's what naturally flows from the conversations, from the background, experience, readiness, then all the better. but of the 85 or 90 people who

have come and will come today, we have a big lineup today, frankly, andrea, then most of them will not end up in the cabinet. but all of them are offering their wise counsel, experience and vision for america. carly fiorina is an american success story. and she was someone who we all remember in those debates and during her own presidential run was so articulate and so fassel with the facts and figures about the world. she is somebody who has experience in having run -- the first woman to run a major tech company of that type, a fortune 500, 100 company of that type. she continues with that experience around the globe. we were very happy to have her here at trump tower today. we are happy that congressman raul labrador of idaho will be here, congressman -- former governor rick perry will be here later in the day, big day. big lineup in addition to mr. trump and mr. pence talking to world leaders. >> when you talk about people

coming in for advice, condi rice and jim baker and bob gates, according to "morning joe" and me in conversations saying they were supportive of rex tillerson for secretary of state. is this what you understand as well? >> i do know that president-elect has spoken with all the people you just noted. and they have offered advice on different types of choices. let's face it, condi rice, former second stair of state, and baker, cabinet member himself, bob gates, of course, these are serious people who held offices at the highest level in our government. they know what is necessary in these jobs. they know what it takes to succeed. most importantly for the secretary of state is someone who will be representing the nation and the president, andrea, across the globe, but also someone who sticks close to foggy bottom to serve the

president as well as appropriate. we are happy that member and women like condi rice, bill gates, jim baker, have waited with their opinion on any number of people. you see in the secretary of state search as it is over the last three, four weeks, it's been a pretty heady, compelling process where any number of people with diverse backgrounds, some of your typical folks usually are in the mix for secretary of state, folks who people had conceived of not being a possibility are in the mix. i know whatever decision the president-elect makes for secretary of state, and he will announce it this week he told me, it will be the right one. he has given so much time and attention to this and has brought in a number of advisers to help with the selection process. it's the fourth highest ranking person in our federal government. it takes nothing less than that. >> well, i'm assuming that you were very outspoken against mitt romn

romney. i will assume that he's no longer in the mix for that very important job. let me move on to the intelligence issues. there's a lot of tumult over the way donald trump expressed to chris wallace his view of the cia's daily briefing. he doesn't need it. it's repetitive. it was said today it's equally important what they tell him, what he asks them. this relationship is important. it's more important for him than just for his vice president, as important a role as mike pence is playing to have that communication. the intelligence communities are battered today. they feel their analysis, these men and women on front lines who have died for their country, they're worried about their relationship with the president-elect. >> they shouldn't be. all he criticized in this case, andrea, was unsourced, third-hand comments about the

fact that russia influenced the election in a way they intended to hurt hillary clinton -- >> excuse me, kellyanne, on "meet the press" on october 16th mike pence reiterated that. there was something prior to the election, not that they were trying to influence the election, but that russia was behind the hack. >> that's what the stories are now. all the stories go to the same conclusion that the kremlin tried to influence the election. vladimir putin did not discourage hillary clinton from going to michigan and wisconsin. they ran a poor campaign, and whether it's jim comey, russian interference, a recount in these states, they need to get over it. it's very insulting -- go ahead. >> let me say, i completely understand someone who la been elected with 306 electoral votes as donald trump has rejecting any implication that he's been

de-leg de-legitimized by this conclusion. that's not what the intelligence community is saying. what the cia is saying n disagreement with the fbi, they have different missions and different levels of proof, what the intelligence community, the cia is saying with a high level of certitude is that their analysis was that russia was trying to influence the election. whether they succeeded or not, whether they're responsible for the outcome, no one is suggesting that. >> i read the "washington post" article that started this i read the "newsweek" article last night, i'm yet to find a sourced person on the record saying there is agreement between the fbi and cia. the reason i raise that is simple -- >> is no agreement between the fbi and cia. >> there is not. >> there's agreement about russia, but not the level -- not about the transmission of what was hacked to wikileaks. >> right. not about it's impact on our electoral process which is ultimately what these hearings are meant to uncover, that senate leader mcconnell just

mentioned that senators -- i believe senators burr and mccain and schumer weighed in on. they'll be having hearings. that's fine. the executive branch would not interfere with that at auchll. remember, they're looking at what influence russia did have or tried to have on the elections. that's different than talking about the intelligence community or how they should feel about the new president. it's not fair. with all due respect, though, mr. trump tweeted unless you witnessed the hack, you can't be certain. he also raised questions whether it's russia, somebody in new jersey. the fact is that there is a widespread consensus that russia was behind this hack, that russia is the biggest perpetrator of cyberattacks on our institutions. more so than china, more so than iran, more so than korea. >> let's see the report. so far what we have is leaked information, unfortunate in and of itself. leaked information from a house intelligence committee briefing

last week or so which spurred an fbi counterterroism expert to say this is not -- we shouldn't be talking about this. it's "fuzzy and ambiguous at best." i can't make the nexus between the activities of the russians and our electoral outcome. i assure you, as donald trump's campaign manager that is what this is about for many people on the left who can't seem to get over the fact this guy was elected president. someone else's fault. jim comey's fault, the recount's fault. how dare that man win. >> in fact, president obama is being criticized by democrats for not having raised these alarm bells more before the election. >> i think that's unfair to president obama. >> let me get you to the basic question of whether donald trump believes he has -- whether there's value in his relationship with the cia and his daily briefing from it it.

>> yes. >> if he wants to change it, task them to be more specific, more proactive, he's the commander in chief. they work for him. does he think that he's getting off to a bad start? does he want to shake up the agency? >> no. he has great respect for the intelligence community. he was asked that question point blank this weekend, he said i do. he does. and i think some people are trying to politicize the presidential daily briefing as well. and sort of accuse him of doing something or not doing something that he's not. those are top secret briefings. i don't have clearance for them. you don't have these people talking about him at a school who don't want him to be president, don't have clearance for them. we don't know what's happening specifically and completely within the briefings. number two, we here at the president-elect's team, we do not want any kind of government interference, foreign interference in our electoral process. we also don't want the electoral process and politics to be interfering in our intelligence.

that's what's happening with these stories of unsourced, unnamed folks, people are pushing back and saying hold on. you can't -- read the "newsweek" article, "newsweek," no friend of president-elect trump's. you can't get to the logical conclusion that the affect of what russia did or didn't do impaci impacted these election results. that's what many people are saying and they want reared red viewers to conclude to. when the president-elect said those who want to diminish his astonishing, historic victory, historic because you never had somebody out of politic and out of the military becoming president of the united states and commander in chief. i really would hope people stop criticizing president obama and take a queue from him. he and his team are trying

earnestly help us in the trump transition, bring about that peaceful transition in our democracy. they've been great. others on the outside haven't been so great because they wish the election results were different. now they're using intelligence reports that were inconclusive, unsourced, unnamed, to try to politicalize intelligence. we don't want politics to interfere in our intelligence either. >> kellyanne conway, thank you very much. >> thank you. and for the other point of view, california congressman adam schiff, the top democrat on the house intelligence committee joining me now. i would like you to respond to the point that they're unsourced conclusions. there's clearly a difference between the fbi, which demands a much more legalistic burden of proof, and the analysis that comes from the cia and the other intelligence agencies. which concluded back in october

that russia was involved, and now more recently seems to be pointing a finger to the motivation for russia. >> honestly, andrea, i think kellyanne conway kellyanne points apoint s aconway's points are beside the point. the overwhelming feeling is that the russian hacking agencies tried to hack into things. the the whole dodge about well, they're trying to relitigate the election is simply not the point. the point is we have an incoming president who is willing to cavalierly reject the consensus of the intelligence community, and to complain about unsourced reports in the newspaper when the president-elect doesn't want to take the time to get the actual sources by sitting down regularly with the intelligence

community, that's also a dodge. now, in terms of the motivations of what the russians were involved in, why were they hacking us, was it merely an attempt to sew discord or more than that would have to be blind by the fact this all of the -- all of the disclosures, all of the dumping of information was uniformly designed to hurt secretary of clinton and help donald trump. would have to imagine that's a complete coincidence. the fact that donald trump was such a pro-putin, pro-russian candidate, willing to do away with sanctions, belittling nato, admiring of putin, claiming that the rugs were only bombing isis in syria when they were bombing civilians, would have to believe that was all accidental, unintended, and that just trains credulity. i believe we ought to have a joint investigation, house and senate intelligence committees

to look into this. we ought to work to deter the russians, sanction the russians, i also think we need to inoculate the public against further russian meddling. >> the intelligence agencies are rea preparing for star chamber hearings. they're preparing to be subpoenaed. they will be spending so much time defending this analysis that they could be missing other things. do you have concern about us spending so much time on this issue going forward? >> no. i think this is an incredibly important issue. and we're not going to see the last of it. the russians have not paid a price for this kind of hacking. they were phenomenally successful. and again, andrea, part of the reason why they were so successful in this active measures campaign, you had the specter of one of the presidential candidates effectively giving the russians cover by denying russians were doing this, oddly enough

inviting them to publicly ask his poe his opponent's e-mails, at the same time denying they were involved. this will continue. unless we more publicly acknowledge and demonstrate what the russians did, unless we sanction them, and take further steps to deter them, only hope, some clandestined, we will see more russian meddling, because it paid off here. you can't put too much emphases on the need to deter the russians. there are other intelligence things, iran, isis, but we can do this at the same time. we have to do all of this at same time. >> is donald trump making a mistake in speaking to contem contemptuously of the cia and the presidential daily briefing? >> absolutely. if he were as smart as he claims, he would understand how much he knows about the intelligence community and how

much he depends on them. we will have, in the early days maybe of the and trump administration, but certainly within the first four years a national security crisis. he will have to come before the public and tell us what the intelligence community told him. if there's responsibility for an attack ss s ascribed, to isis, will have to come to the united states and say what was told to him. but then intelligence could say this is the same president who said the intelligence couldn't be believed on anything. by making this categorically false statements about illegal immigrants voting, about the russians not being involved in hacking, he is undermining his own credible. so when that crisis comes, a

great many americans won't believe their president. that would be a very dangerous thing. could it be that he's relying more on mike flynn than on the cia? >> i think honestly what this is, i don't think it's reliance at this point on mike flynn. i think this is a president with thin enough skin where not everything for him is against him. can't abide the idea that the russians may have helped his campaign, so he has to castigate the cia and say they don't get anything right. and unfortunately i think we'll see a lot more of this. these are not qualities you want in a commander in chief. i've been hoping, i believe as much of the country was hoping that this was a man who would grow into the job. the signs are not encouraging. he is not growing into the job and there's not many weeks left before he assumes the most important office in the land and that's gravely concerning.

>> thank you, congressman. coming up, turkey and egypt reeling after weekend terror attacks in both places. the latest right here on "andrea mitchell reports." world ugly and messy. they are the natural born enemy of the way things are. yes, ideas are scary, and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful. the search for relief often leads here.s, introducing drug-free aleve direct therapy. a high intensity tens device that uses technology once only in doctors' offices. for deep penetrating relief at the source. new aleve direct therapy.

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military community by the end of 2017. i'm very proud of him. male vo: comcast. turning to a deadly weekend of terror attacks around the world. in egypt, a bomb ripping through the main coptic christian church killed 25 people, mostly women and children. a suicide bomber blew himself up in the church attacks. mourners lined up today to pay their respects to the victims. in turkey, president erdogan attending funeral services there in istanbul for the 38 people killed friday in two explosions

near a soccer stadium just after the game ended. a two significant acts two different causes. a dangerous part of the world right now. >> cairo, this happened in the part of cairo, one of the holiest sites for the christians there. this is one of the most symbolic attacks to take place, but also undermines one of the most priorities of the president there to bring and restore security in the country, but undermines the fabric of sectarian tensions between the muslim population and the christian population in that country and undermines the security at many holy sites. already questions and a lot of criticism in egypt on how this individual with this bomb was able to get into one of the most

heavily secured parts in downtown cairo, not far away from the ministry of defense and a lot of other strategic buildings in cairo. >> let's talk about turkey, different situation. is this presumably the pkk,anti. >> the government in ankara is blaming the pkk, an organization that the turkish government and the u.s. considers a terrorist organization. the turkish government is blaming the pkk out of northern iraq. there are some reports that turkish fighter jets have been bombing some positions in northern iraq that they believe to be strongholds of the pkk. the pkk and other kurdish groups have been in a war or insurgency for many years in turkey. there are claims that the pkk claimed responsibility for this attack. the turkish government is blaming kurdish fighters for it.

>> thank you very much. coming up, the deal breakers. is donald trump going to follow through on his campaign promise to roll back the iran nuclear agreement? you're watching andrea mitchell reports on msnbc. once i heard i was going to be a park ranger, i got really excited. gabe's obviously really sick. and there's a lot that he isn't able to do, and make-a-wish stepped in. we had to climb up the mountain to get the injured hiker. he fell from, like, a rock. he's been the one that has been rescued so many times. he said to me, "today, i got to be the hero." (avo) the subaru share the love event has helped grant the wishes

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wouldn't it be great if everyone said what they meant? the citi double cash card does. earn 1% cash back when you buy, and 1% as you pay. double means double. in the kind of business deal that donald trump might usually favor, boeing has finalized a contract to sell 8 0 airliners o iran. the $16.6 billion deal comes as israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu says he will ask donald trump to live up to his campaign promise and tear up the iran deal. >> okay. you get rid of the deal. then what? >> i think what options we have are much more than you think. many more. >> like what? >> well, i think quite a few, actually. if you put sanctions back on,

the other signatories of the deal won't. >> there are various ways of doing that. >> you have something in your mind. >> i have about five things in my mind. >> give me one. >> i'll talk to the president before i talk to "60 minutes." >> but he did talk to "60 minutes." joining me now, editor and chief of "the atlantic" jeffrey goldberg. you know netanyahu better than anybody, the middle east and the world. so -- >> quite a compliment, thank you. >> what is likely going on here? is donald trump now going to be persuaded by president obama not to tear up the iran deal? >> there's a competition who would have thought that we would be at a place where donald trump, the president-elect, is being lobbied by president obama and bibi netanyahu. we learned that barack obama seems to have to some degree the here of the president-elect. certainly netanyahu has his ear. maybe the last guy in the room will make the decision. you can't tear up the iran deal.

we both covered this. >> right. >> it's a multilateral agreement. there's seven countries involved. we can pull out of it, to what end, i don't know. i'm not sure what netanyahu is talking about. he's -- he knows that ripping this agreement up might move the middle east closer to war. i don't know if that's what he's seeking in 2017 as a u.s.-led war on iran. it could be. it could be something that plausibly happen. >> let's talk about john bolton as potentially deputy secretary of state. his positions including potentially bombing iran, you know, reinforcing the iraq war decisions, they are contradictory to donald trump's own positions about war and -- >> to borrow from churchill, there's no theme in this pudding. we don't understand this thing he's building thfsh, this team people who believe completely different things about the way the world is organized. john molten is the most muscular

intervention side, donald trump has talked about how -- he talks in almost a neoisolationist way on occasions. i can't explain what's going on. it's not as if there is a governing -- how i do put this, there's not a governing intelligence over this process right now that says we want people in these lanes for these reasons. it's just happenstance. >> rex tillerson as possible secretary of state. >> he's president of his own country, called exxon. a big country. >> the biggest energy -- publicly owned energy company, second only to aramco. which is a state function. >> he knows a lot about the world. >> through one prism. >> it is the prism of an energy executive. >> he knows about russia through the prism of energy. he knows about the arab world through the prism of energy which is fine. he has a lot of global experience, but does he and were

what america's needs are and foreign policy objectives are beyond energy production, energy acquisition? so that's going to be very, very interesting. on the russia front it's most controversial. i think he got the order of friendship award from vladimir putin, who is, as i understand it, still an american adversary. maybe after january 20th he becomes our most crucial ally. i don't know. seems like we're moving in that strange direction. >> all the praise for putin and russia is making china more nervous and then this comment by trump to chris wallace on sunday about china. >> i fully understand the one china policy. but i don't know why we have to be bound by one china policy unless we make a deal with china having deal with other things, including trade. i don't want china dictating to me. this was a call put into me, i didn't make the call it was a

short call, congratulations, sir, on the victory. very nice call, short. why should some other nation be able to say i can't take a call. i think it would have been disrespectdisr disrespectf disrespectful, to be honest with you, not taking it. >> beijing tried to gloss over this in the first 24 hours, then several tweets from donald trump, then a stinging rebuke to what he said yesterday about the one china policy which has been u.s. policy for 40 years. >> inish ytiated by republicans endorsed by republicans. this is the most consequential birat l bilateral relationship in the world, the u.s. and beijing. if he rips this up, it will have extraordinary downstream consequences. we know what happens when the dalai lama, considered an enemy of beijing, is invited to the white house for tea, beijing

goes crazy over this. to revisit something that hasn't been visited in four decades, which capital, taipei or beijing represents china, is extraordinarily destabilizing. i get where he is coming from, i will not be dictated to. president obama reacts to these things by trying to down play them, smooth things over, that's that personality. trump seems to get poked and he ramps it up from there. >> finally, very large thing that's happening -- >> good thing there's nothing going on. >> the cia and other intelligence agencies are in complete disbelief that they are being so dismissed and, you know, by the president-elect. >> right. >> who is their prime customer and will be their commander in chief. who will have to rely on them when he's actually president to make actual decisions about

actual crises. >> if he does. >> if you don't -- listen, they do produce flawed intelligence on occasion, but it's the best efforts of people in the government to figure out what's going on in the world. presidents have to take that on board before they make decisions. it usually helps so we're in a completely new thing where the mrektd is goi president-elect is going in as an adversary of the intelligence community, putting his thumb on the scale for putin saying that in this fight between the cia and the russians, i'm going to believe the russian denial rather than the cia -- the intelligence community finding. i don't -- i've been around a little while. i don't remember that happening. maybe you do. but i don't remember anything like this. >> certainly not. unprecedented. >> unprecedented. >> arthere are a lot of stars o on that wall at langley, they feel they sacrificed their lives

in many cases to produce the intelligence that they present to the commander in chief. >> they risk their lives and lose their lives to produce intelligence for the president of the united states. absolutely true. >> jeffrey goldberg, thank you. >> thank you. coming up, revolving door. busy monday at transition headquarters. we'll have a lot more coming up as former rivals rick perry and carly fiorina come in and out. this is "andrea mitchell reports." there is no typical day. there is nothing typical about making movies.

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it's not as if they're intimate friends, it's not as if they're god parents to each others children. this is getting blown way out of proportion. this can be looked on as an asset, not a liability. you want somebody as secretary of state, who, as you know, is the fourth highest ranking individual in the united states,

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donald trump's first choice for secretary of state, rex tillerson, is raising some concerns with some republican senators about his ties to russia. senator marco rubio tweeted being a friend of vladimir is not an an attribute i'm hoping for in secretary of state. how likely do you think it will be that trump will go forward with tillerson? >> we saw him dig in over the weekend, you heard him during that fox news interview defending rex tillerson, essentially laying out the case for him, why he thinks he would be an effective second staretar state, the challenge and the

debate within trump world is you have resistance from some republicans. marco rubio, which you just laid out, also senator john mccain and others who said they're concerned about his potential ties to russia, to vladimir putin. so, will he actually have trouble getting nominated? clearly what you see is the trump team trying to build the case for him. i think he's still leaning in that direction. i was told he is very much the leading contender for this position. there's no doubt you have serious reservations. republicans do have a majority in the senate. so, most of his nominees will likely get through the nominating process. would anticipate there will be fierce fighting over a few of those picks. and rex tillerson could be one of them. >> and then you have energy secretary and today he's seeing both joe manchin from west virginia as well as wrerick per texas, former rival, possibly for the department of energy. there was a controversial

questionnaire that their energy transition team sent out to everyone in the energy department at the high levels asking for the names of anyone who helped negotiate the paris climate change accord. it was basically asking for top senior people to be identified. it was viewed as a potential hit list of people to get rid of. it was quite controversial. >> incredibly controversial. a 74-point questionnaire, in addition to the questions you just mentioned it also asked had energy staffers attended climate change meetings or briefings. so this really dug deep to try to get to the heart of this issue. the concern is that there will be some blow back against those energy officials who participated in these meetings. he is meeting with rick perry today, the former texas governor, as well as joe manchin. i'm told rick perry is also one of the top contenders, he's

considering him big league, i'm told by one top official. andrea? >> thank you very much. kristen welker at the white house. coming up, cyberwarfare, tracing the intelligence that led american spy agencies to ru interfere with the u.s. election. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc, the place for politics. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

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welcome back. joining me now former nato supreme allied commander. chief international security and diplomacy analyst. admiral, thank you very much. i want to talk about the cia and its conclusion. the conclusion of analysts that russia wasn't only behind the hacking but was motivated to try to interfere with the election. how could they have reached this kind of conclusion? let's talk about the evidence. donald trump has tweeted very memo rably unless you catch hackers in the act it is hard to determine who was doing the hacking. why wasn't this brought up before the election? how could they know? >> they will do forensic

examinations of the various techniques and procedures. they will look at the websites from which it emanated. they will look at repetitive use of particular handles in the cyber world. of course the cia has access to other inside sources and means that are very highly classified. when they put that together and make a judgment and call it high confidence, that frankly carries weight in the intelligence community. >> given that do you think the president-elect should give it more weight himself? he's dismissing it out of hand saying it could be somebody in new jersey. we don't know if it is china or someone else. when they say "high confidence" my experience is that's as good as it gets in cia analysis. >> that's absolutely correct. high confidence is not just hyperbole. you and i talking about high confidence that dinner will be great tonight.

this is a term of definition in the intelligence community. it is the highest readiness. they can never be absolutely certain as we have learned in other cases. >> the fbi disagrees. they have a different standard of proof. they look for what could be prosecuted. frankly there is a famous rivalry and my understanding is the cia didn't disclose the sensitive sources for what happened between the hacking and the connection to wikileaks, that some of them were so sensitive they didn't want to share it with colleagues. >> exactly right. this is one of the challenges of an intellige community with 16 different entities operating in it. the position of director of national intelligence was created after 9/11 to try to bring that together in a more coordinated way. in this one, given that it is an

international and overseas kind of question, i would put a lot of weight on cia on this one. >> thank you very much. thanks for being with us. more ahead here on kwo"andrea mitchell reports". we'll be right back. sy. they are the natural born enemy of the way things are. yes, ideas are scary, and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful. as after a dvt blood clot,ital i sure had a lot to think about. what about the people i care about? ...including this little girl. and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me? so i asked my doctor. and he recommended eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots

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>> that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow, nancy pelosi joins me live. follow us on facebook, and twitter. katy tur is here. >> nice to see you after that fun wedding this weekend. pictures to come. >> what happens in florida stays in florida. >> good afternoon. i'm katy tur in washington, d.c. filling in for hallie jackson. developing stories this hour as donald trump meets with more possible cabinet picks including rick perry and carly fiorina. a major divide developing on russian hacking. republican and democratic

senate leaders inching closer to agreement that congress must investigate allegations of russian hacking of the 2016 election. also law enforcement officers testify in day four of the dylann roof trial. we have the list of black churches they found in the car of the man prosecutors say killed nine in the 2015 charleston church shooting. a big winter storm is on the way for large swaths of the northern united states. meantime across the country, nearly 3,000 delays and 600 airline cancellations today. we'll have a live report from chicago o'hare. one of the hardest hit airports. let's start with trump and the russian hacking story. kristen welker is at the white house. rahema ellis in midtown manhattan. peter alexander is here on set with me. peter, i want to play a little bit of what mitch mcconnell said. he was defending the intelligence agencies. take a listen. we'll talk after the sound bite. >> the russians aren't our friends. obviously any foreign breach of our cyber security measures is