both made me turn around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily ...and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. plus had less major bleeding. both made eliquis the right treatment for me. ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. how beautiful is that? a new hour, a new year.

look at this. most of australia is now ringing in 2017 in high fashion. fireworks there just incredible. this is a live look from sydney, australia, as people take in the sights of great fireworks there. more than 2 million people are expected to attend the celebration at sydney harbor. why wouldn't you? so gorgeous. new york city is preparing for the traditional new year's bash with security to help protect a crowd projected of up to 2 million people. i'm betty nguyen in new york. here's what's happening this morning. right now, new reports of a russian hack targeting a u.s. utility. according to washington post, a malware code associated with a russian hacking campaign was found in a laptop at a vermont electric company. it is unclear what the intention was or when the code was entered into the computer.

the post cited a senior obama administration official among its sources say who say the russians did not actively use the code to disrupt utility operations. nbc's hans nichols is at the white house with more on this. hans, any word from u.s. officials about this latest possible threat? >> there has been no comment from the department of homeland security, which would have jurisdiction on this. the president obviously vacationing in hawaii. just probably sleeping in the middle of the night wondering how they're going to spend their new year's da here's what we know, we have confirmation there was some sort of breach from the utility company. but what we know is that on thursday when the president announced the sanctions, namely against those four individuals, part of that includes something called this joint analysis review, this plan that gave an indication to critical infrastructure that they could and it was almost a guide book on how not to get hacked. so when that came out, here's what the dhs and the fbi said, they said part of an ongog campaign of cyberenaed

operations directed at the u.s. government and the systems. what happened then is a lot of utilities contacted by the government ran through some of these things and were looking for the particular malware. it was the vermont utility that found something. it was isolated, it was on a laptop, it wasn't on their main system. here's what the utility said in a statement, this came out last night, they said, we detected the malware on a single burlington electric laptop not connected to our organization's grid system. we took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding. betty, this morning we -- overnight we heard from the governor of vermont saying all americans, all vermonters should be concerned. state of vermont, federal government as well as utility are working on this potential problem. betty? >> it is alarming to hear and we'll obviously know more within the next coming days. thank you so much, hans. with just three weeks until the handover of power, president obama is setting his focus on preserving his signature health

care law. he'll sit down with lawmakers on capitol hill on wednesday in an effort to stop republicans from gutting the affordable care act as well as making drastic changes to medicare and medicaid. as president obama wraps up his christmas vacation this weekend, he's touting some of his administration's achievements and what lies ahead for him. here's what he said during his last weekly address of the year. >> it has been the privilege of my life to serve as your president. and as i prepare to take on the even more important role of citizen, know that i will be there with you every step of the way to ensure that this country forever strives to live up to the incredible promise of our founding. that all of us are created equal, and all of us deserve every chance to live out our dreams. from the obama family to yours, have a happy and blessed 2017. >> meanwhile, nbc has confirmed that the husband of trump's top adviser kellyanne conway is on the short list to serves

solicitor general. george conway is a partner at a new york city law firm and is known in conservative circles for helping paula jones in her case against president bill clinton. conway did not play a role in the trump campaign. let's bring in gabby morangello and jane tim. thank you for joining us today. gabby, let me start with you. the president-elect has yet to respond to the washington post report on spy ware found on the laptop at the vermont utility company, but with this renewed focus on the safety of the country's electrical grid, how might this change the way trump views these intelligence reports? >> i think donald trump and his campaign, his incoming administration is still waiting to hear the details about this and whether or not this was -- had this actually took place because those are details that are still unknown. but this does solidify the fact that what we have been hearing among u.s. intelligence officials all along is true. that there are russian military and civilian actors who are trying to disrupt our infrastructure systems, who are

trying to disrupt u.s. political institutions and a number of other entities through hacking and malicious cyberactivity. and donald trump is expected to meet next week with intelligence officials to discuss the obama administration's response to russia's cyberactivity and i expect that this latest report by the washington post will, you know, at least going into that meeting with intelligence officials make known to him that russia is perpetrating a number of these hacking and he should be taking this far more seriously than he has in the past. >> let me ask you this, do you expect a change in trump's outlook when he meets with intelligence officials next week? >> i'm not sure. donald trump has been denying russia is behind this despite the fact we have the private sector and the public sector confirming that russia did this. i spoke with one of the investigators who led the dnc investigation into the hack for crowd strike and before that for the pentagon for hacks by russia and china. and he said this does not -- this isn't just something we have a sense of. and donald trump knows this.

he's been presented with this -- these data briefings and what has happened. and he's convinced, to case the stance this is an obama hunch and he disagrees with it. i think the more we see as gabby said, the more we see the hacks go after people who are not his political adversaries, we may see him take this more seriously. >> donald trump tweeted, praising putin for not retaliating over president obama sanctions, is this a calculated strategy. if it is, what is the goal here? >> i don't know what the strategy is behind this. i think this is just a continuation of what donald trump has said all along about thawing icy relations between moscow and washington. but, you know, putin put donald trump to the test in choosing to delay any retaliatory measures against the obama administration after they impose these new sanctions and chose to expel 35 russian diplomats earlier this week. he has -- they basically said to trump, you know, in the first few days of your administration you have to miake a choice if yu

intend to follow through to restart and renew -- to perform u.s. russian relations or whether you're going to cave to the pressure that we're seeing among republicans on capitol hill who were not only pleased to see the obama administration take such action against russia, but have urged donald trump to take further action against our top adversary. >> let's look at this further. what is conventional wisdom on the u.s. tossing out russian diplomats? is there any clear strategy from the obama white house, even though there is only 20 days left in the administration? >> it is a show of force. they did this during the holidays, did this when there is families of russian diplomats were likely celebrating, ready for the new year. this is a show of force and show of protest of what happened in the american election. wenow tt the government made a point of speaking out about this throughout the election, but the donald trump hillary clinton election took more of the bigger sense than russian influence here. and i think they're trying to sort of make a show of force,

particularly as donald trump shows this very friendly, this twitter praise of putin that the government is saying, you know what, it is not all friendly. >> i want both of you to weigh in on this next question. do you expect the trump administration to hit the ground running on day one or can we predict stumbles from anything that we have seen so far? gabby, let's start with you? >> i certainly do. one of his top advisers said he'll cut inaugural parade short because he wants to get into the white house and begin making decisions and repealing some of these executive actions that the current administration has taken. so i fully expec a president-elect trump to get the ground running on the first day and to begin working with congressional republicans as soon as his -- as soon as his administration takes over. >> jane, you feel the same? >> i think trump has a long agenda for the first few hours. he said countless hours what he said he would do.

it is a lot more different, it is a lot more serious in the oval office making the decisions. i think we're likely to see a little bit of each, big bold changes, appointments we didn't expect and some bombast as usual from donald trump but also some stumbles. this is his first time in the public sector ever. >> we'll be watching very closely as you know. gabby and jane, thank you for joining us. happy new year. >> happy new year. happening now, we have been showing you the spectacular fireworks display in sydney, australia. just look at this. it is beautiful. started at midnight there. and it is still going strong. meanwhile, though, around 2 million people are expected to watch the ball drop in times square tonight. welcoming in the new year all amidheig heightened security. how is law enforcement preparing for this big bash down in times square? >> betty, they have been doing a lot of work because as many as 2 million people are expected to come and ring in the new year here in times square.

a tradition since 1904. and at midnight, all eyes will turn upward to watch that 11,800 pound ball drop, amid very tight security. what a way to say good-bye. the waterford crystal ball a kaleidoscope of color at dress rehearsal. tonight's minute long journey down the flagpole marking the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. making memories for a lifetime. >> we always said on our 40th that we didn't make it before then, we were going on our 50th. so the year we both turned 50, that was the plan. >> police say there is no direct terror threat, security will be plentiful and visible. the new york city police department putting 7,000 officers in the area. building what it hopes is an impenetrable perimeter. with 65 sand trucks and 100 other blocker vehicles, to stop deadly truck attacks that ruined holiday celebrations in nice,

france and berlin. along with bomb detecting canine units and police in tactical gear, there will be plain clothes police officers mingling with the crowd and from rooftops and choppers. >> they need to do something to keep the people safe and have something as joy ow ous as new year's. >> from sydney's iconic harbor to paris and brussels, celebrations in the windy city buffered by concrete barriers. here in new york, revellers will be confined to pens, stretching 17 blocks from times square. sharing the moment with 3,000 of their closest friends in each pen. multiple bag checks are to be expected, no umbrellas, weapons, backpacks or large bags will be allowed. at midnight, partiers will be coated with one ton of confetti, as security officials work to make sure that this is known for fabulous celebration and nothing more.

betty? >> it is a good time down there in times square. crowded indeed, but a good time nonetheless. thank you so much. tens of thousands of homes and businesses, they are without power this morning in maine following the area's strongest nor'easter storm in nearly two years. the storm brought heavy snow and powerful winds to northern new england. burying some towns under two feet of snow. joining me to talk about this, msnbc meteorologist bonnie schneider. how is it looking out there this morning? >> not surprising that we saw all the power outages in maine when i was tallying up the totals from the big nor'easter. 25 plus mark was all in maine. so the topping out there, naples, 27 inches, mount washington, which interestingly enough had an avalanche rning, 100-mile-per-hour winds there and 17.2 ihes of snow. substantial snow in massachusetts, pennsylvania, and new york. right now, we're getting lake-effect snow coming into toronto and buffalo. little bit towards syracuse and watertown. these will be light accumulations, it is a fast moving clipper system coming through and that's why they're

called a clip, they clip on through quickly. light accumulations, maybe an inch at most, maybe two. we're watching for rain unfortunately, if you're traveling this busy weekend, for new year's, wet weather from houston to new orleans, all the way to mobile, alabama, flash flood watches in place starting tonight, going straight through new year's day, a dangeus situation because we could see 2 to 5 inches of rain accumulate along the coast, so areas that are low lying, that tend to flood, we may have flash flooding. we'll be watching that very closely. how about times square, saw the excitement already early this hour. when the ball drops, the weather looks great. mostly cloudy, a cool breeze at 41. i've seen a lot worse for new year's eve, temperatures are much colder. i think 41 is pretty comfortable. i think most people will be happy with that. elsewhere, for the last day of 2016, nice conditions, notice this pocket of colder air in the west, it is a sign of what is to come. this is going to spread across the country by the time we get first ek of the year. things will get a lot cooler in so many places this coming next

year. >> it is still winter after all. right. can't change that. okay. thank you. still ahead, new questions about closing russian compounds in the u.s. was this just a symbolic move or were they actually a base for spys? we have some answers next. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. 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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you can even download from your x1 dvr and watch it offline. only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen. download the xfinity tv app today. now to the new report in "the washington post" about a code associated with a russian hacking operation that has been detected within the system of a vermont utility. the report cites a senior obama administration official among its sources. burlington electric says it detected a malware code used in the grisly step operation as it is called on a laptop that was not connected to the organization's grid systems. all of this comes after a busy week with a lot of back and

forth between the u.s. and russia over hacking accusations. joining me to sort this out is malcolm nance, executive director of terror asymmetrics project. also the author of "the plot to hack america." thank you for being with me today. >> good morning. good to be here. >> let's focus on the vermont utility. what do we know about this grizzly steppe operation. >> it is the code name given by the u.s. intelligence community for tracking the activities related to the hacking and other russian cyberwarfare operations. so it is not unusual for us to give it a name so that across platforms we know what we're talking about. however, what they did notice is that through this vermont utility, they would have had access to the u.s. electric grid, and russian intelligence before has actually shut down power grids of other nations. georgia -- i'm sorry, ukraine, most notably a year and a half agoes whe ago where they seized power

plants cutting down electric for hundreds of thousands of people. this is disturbing. even though the actual code may not have been in the grid software, it is close enough to where somebody could inadvertently put it inside. >> is this surprising to you? hearing this, i wouldn't think vermont would be high on the list, but listening to you, it makes me think that well, if you're going to go into the system, go somewhere that no one would suspect. >> absolutely. this is something that i've had a very difficult time explaining to the american public over the last few months since i wrote the book, "the plot to hack america." russia and its intelligence services formally known as the kgb never changed. the kgb changed its letters. the operations they carried out under the soviet union to penetrate american intelligence, american infrastructure, all of those operations continued after the fall of t soviet union. and even now under vladimir putin are accelerating. and to do that, if they wanted to use cyberoperations as a

warfare tool against america, they would need to go anywhere through any electronic access to try to prepare to shut down sections of the united states. shutting down a power grid kills people. but whether the russians were preparing for that, as part of their general warfare strategy, and political warfare, or if they actually intended to carry out essentially a cyberterrorist attack against the united states, the u.s. intelligence community has to assume that they're going to go through small utilities, actually one that was in washington state that the chinese penetrated, which could have controlled dams. these are things that we have to prepare for, and the people should understand they're going on all the time. >> and that moves to our next point. i want to talk about the russian compounds ordered to close. here is part of a report from nbc's gabe gutierrez. take a listen. >> possible that this is more of just sort of sending a message, almost an annoyance to the russians saying, look, you had

these nice facilities and you are no longer going to have access to them. >> the properties were on u.s. officials' radar for decades but even the reagan administration at the height of the cold war let them stay. >> if we went and arrested every single person we suspected to be a spy and kicked them out of country, they would do the same to us. >> malcolm what was going on in those compounds? do you have any idea? >> he's right. these compounds have been in place for decades. i recall early on in my career knowing about the one on the eastern shore area. these are all dens of spies. there is no such thing as a -- >> you know for a fact? >> yeah, there is no such thing as a nonnefarious russian compound. they were started under the soviet union, they have branches that, you know, they are actually recreation facilities that are signals intelligence collection services. especially the one up in long island, which was opposite the submarine base. but also around new york city, long range communications,

microwave communications, these places have technical intelligence teams all the time. we don't have deep level intelligence collection like the way the russians certainly have had for decades in the united states. but we kept our eye on them. >> what did the u.s. government have to gain by keeping these compounds open, by allowing them to operate? >> well, that's the best part is that u.s. intelligence monitors their intelligence collection. so we would know or have a pretty good idea just how sophisticated they were, and also what kind of targets that they would be going after. so if they suddenly shifted their collection from, you know, regular submarine operations out of connecticut to wall street, that is an indicator of how -- of what their strategic -- >> is it counterproductive to shut them down if this is a way ofhe u.s. spying on russia per se? >> now, to a certain extent, they may -- the president may have made a cost benefit analysis where you determine,

just easier to get rid of these people this and would push the collection back to russia to where they would have to use strategic electronic collection systems, rather than having a nest of spies right here in washington, d.c. and new york state. >> this is so fascinating. does the u.s. have something similar in russia, per se? >> if i knew i wouldn't tell you. >> good answer. >> don't want to discuss it at all, but, you know, i don't believe that, you know, the united states is far more robust capability to do things without actually having to be present. and, you know, russia is very deeply reliant also on human intelligence officers. people who are going out and running spy rings and making contacts with americans as spies. so those places are necessary. everybody has some capacity, you know, even our allies, to do that, but for russia, this stuff is steeped in the beginning of the soviet union and it is never ended. >> all right. malcolm nance, just filling us with so much information,

dealing with russia spies and malware and a this stuff that comes with. thank you so much for joining us today. >> happy new year. >> you too, happy new year. speaking of measures of security coming up, what some of europe's greatest cities are doing to keep their new year's celebrations safe. imy moderate to severeng crohn's disease. i didn't think there was anything else to talk about. but then i realized there was. so, i finally broke the silence with my door t what i was experiencing.

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donald trump's tweeting a new year's message. some of you are going to get a kick out of this one. he tweeted moments ago, happy new year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. love! end of his tweet. the president-elect will ring in the new year tonight at his mar-a-lago estate. kelly o'donnell will join us from florida and the trump campaign in just a minute. welcome back, everybody. thank you for joining us today. lexus december to remember sales event get up to $2500 customer cash on

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i'm pbetty nguyen. at the half ho, here's what we're monitoring for you today. the stage is set at new york's times square for the world's most famous new year's eve party. up to 2 million people are expected there to ring in the new year in about 15 1/2 hours to be exact. security will be tighter than ever as you can imagine with a force of some 7,000 police officers and armed counterterrorism units to keep everyone safe. happening now, the washington post is reporting another russian hack targeting the u.s. within the system of a electric vermont utility. the report comes days after the obama administration leveled new sanctions against russia over its alleged cybermeddling in u.s. elections. lucy cavanaugh is in moscow this morning. any reaction from russia on this and the spat between the u.s. and russia? >> no reaction from russia. it is the new year here today. it is a very big celebration for moscow. so it is difficult to get any

sort of comment or official reaction from officials on this kind of day. it is something we should be cautious with, it is being portrayed by the vermont governor as a russian hack of the power grid there. but it does appear that it is an isolated laptop that had this malware on it. i want to read for our viewers a statement from the burlington electric department, the way they described it was we detected, i'm quoting here, we detected a malware in a single burlington electric department laptop, not connected to our organization's grid. so it is something that authorities are still investigating, no official reaction from russia. lots of reaction, however, about the general spat. it has been interesting to watch how the russians are playing it, almost like they're existing in some sort of vacuum, flatly denying the -- the allegations of the russian hacks of the u.s. electrical system, no mention of that. instead they're focusing on the obama administration sanctions,

the expulsions, name calling, pointing fingers, trying to portray the obama administration as, quote, sore losers for the election. that's how it is being played out in the media here. i want to get -- share with our viewers a new comment we heard from the russian foreign ministry spokeswoman. in an interview with one of the media organizations here, she effectively blamed the obama administration for trying to on purpose, she says, worsen u.s. russian ties. she says honestly speaking, it seems like now the democratic team is just trying to take vengeance on trump for his victory, making, quote, absurd decisions a month before he takes office. so that gives you a sense of the tone that we have heard from the russians. obviously president putin came out, deciding not to retaliate against the u.s., trying to portray himself here domestically as someone taking the high road while at the same time closing up a bit to the trump administration, throwing the ball into his court, clearly

waiting for what he expects to be a more friendly u.s. white house, friendlier russia policy, but that could back fire as some analysts say. take a listen to what analyst i spoke to had to say about this. >> donald trump doesn't owe putin anything. and now he's going to be donald trump, the donal trump we know, in charge of the united states and the u.s. military which pun himself acknowledged. way bigger. and those two guys now are the two heads of the two largest arsenals. unpredictable russian president who has made his gain by acting in places where you don't expect him to forcefully when you don't expect him to. and the businessman who has done that to make his career. >> so putin is playing a dangerous game, both of the unpredictable leaders and could lead to unpredictable consequences. betty? >> that's one way of looking at it. all right. thank you, lucy, we appreciate your report. donald trump facing a new wave

of criticism today after he tweeted praise of russian president vladimir putin. nbc's kelly o'donnell is in west palm beach, florida, with more on this. kelly what is the latest reaction from the president-elect today? >> well, there is a new tweet where he is wishing everyone a happy neyear, but also acknowledges his so-called enemies and saying they don't know what to do wh his victory. that's the latest word from inside trump wor from the president-elect himself, using his twitter account as he so often does. now, of course, this is new year's eve, and the trumps will, like they have many times before, attend the annual bash at the mar-a-lago club. so there will be partying tonight. what is unclear is in the new year, what kind of relationship will donald trump have with vladimir putin. right now, we just aren't sure where he stands. >> as barack obama and vladimir putin face off in a high stakes chess match, donald trump tweeted his way in between them

friday, praising the russian president after he held back and decided not to expel american diplomats as expected by other top russian officials. trump wrote, great move on delay by v putin. i always knew he was very smart. trump's flattery toward putin followed a spy novel type drama, where 35 russian diplomats were ordered out of the u.s. by president obama. part of the punishment for russian hacking. >> the obama administration is expelling the diplomats because of things that the russian government did. >> reporter: at consulates in san francisco, and washington, d.c., russian staffers scrambled to get out quickly. the state department also took control of sprawling compounds in maryland and long island, new york, that many neighbors had not known were russian hideaways for diplomatic families, recreation and secure meetings. >> there is always a bit of mystery surrounding the property. >> reporter: the president-elect has not said if he intends to keep or reverse the obama

sanctions against russia. earlier this week, trump said he and president obama continue to speak about the transition. >> i did. i did. he phoned me. we had a very nice conversation. >> reporter: trump's team is buying time, to weigh options, by saying the president-elect needs more information on russia's hacking, expected in a high level intelligence briefing tuesday. so we don't yet know if we should expect any policy statements related to russia before donald trump takes office in just a couple of weeks. we do know that the meeting that is expected this coming wk when he returns to new york will be a briefing directly related to the events surrounding the russian hacking allegations. a chance for him to get a deep dive into the evidence that the u.s. government possesses. this, i'm told, by top sources will include chiefs of the intelligence community, and not the sort of professional staffer level who would normally do

briefings like the presidential daily briefing. after that, perhaps we'll hear more from donald trump on his views on vladimir putin and russia. betty? >> looking forward to that. thank you, kelly o'donnell, reporting on the president-elect from west palm beach, florida. thank you. for more on the renewed tension between russia and the u.s., let's bring in p.j. crowl crowley. he's the author of the upcoming book "red ne:american foreign policy in a time of fractured politics and failing states." thank you for being with us. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you. i want to get your take on a vermont electric company confirming it found a russian malware code on one of its computers. what do you think about that? >> this is something we have be focused on for quite a co of decades, actually, that in the aftermath of dramatic american military successes over the years, russia

has come to rely more significantly on what we call asymmetric, you know, warfare. and so i think these are probes, whether they're government or other actors, you know, to try to test critical infrastructure and its weaknesses and h that as an option should there ever be an act of conflict between the united states and russia in the future >> it is a high stakes game. want to talk about rolling stone last night, matt taibbi argued if the american security agencies had smoking gun evidence that the russians had an organized campaign to derail the u.s. presidential election, then expelling a few dozen diplomats after the election seems like an oddly weak and ill timed response. would you agree with that assessment? >> i think the obama administration is doing what it can in its limited time left. it is sending a strong message to russia that this is unacceptable. i have to believe that there are some covert activities going on

that will demonstrate to mr. putin that there are cost to him and his inner circle if this continues. but i think the backdrop is that we have seen over the past two administrations, you know, high aspirations when george w. bush first met with vladimir putin, and then dissolutionment over time, the bush term ended with the russian incursion into georgia, obama -- president obama attempted a reset relations with russia, and then you had the crisis in ukraine and the russian intervention in syria. and so you see this relationship once again in a downward spiral. i think, you know, donald trump is rig to try to see what kind of a transactional relationship he might be able to establish with vladimir putin, but he should be under no illusion this is going to be a warm relationship, you know, based on mutual interest, the reality is that the common interest between

the united states and russia, there are a few, nonproliferation being very significant among them, but the areas of common interest are actually shrinking and that he should brace himself for a very, very difficult relationship over the next four or eight years. >> looking at what the obama administration has done and the timing of it, does the government's handling of this suggest to you that it doesn't have clear proof of russia's role? >> i don't think there is a doubt about russia's role. the question here is what do you do about it? there is nothing new about this. russia has been trying to actively undermine western democracy, they're doing it in the united states, they're doing it in europe for some time. these are -- this is not a new cold war, but this is right out of the cold war playbook and we have to brace ourselves for a very difficult competition between russia and the united states over the -- over the coming years. vladimir putin has defined himself in terms of antagonism

against the united states, this domination of the international system. and so he's going to be a reality in the world stage, something you have to manage, i think the ice age has to figure out not only how to manage the world with peutin in the short-term, but what you can do to shape an environment that perhaps influences the choice that russia will make in the future. the question as we look, you know, a decade ahead is will whatever comes after putin, will it be more of the same, will i be better? we have to -- >> a lot of questions out there. thank you for trying to fill in some of the holes with these many questio that are on the table. we do appreciate your time. >> okay, betty, thank you. on high alert. a look at the array of security for european new year's eve celebrations and next hour, lost faith. what did the obama administration allegedly do to alienate a block of voters who rejected the democratic party in november?

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celebrations already under way earlier this hour. sydney, australia, rang in 2017 as you see right there with true style, all the fireworks. london and other major international cities have boosted their security presence at new year's events following attacks in berlin and nice, this year. matt bradley is in london today. how is europe preparing for the celebrations tonight? >> thanks, betty. vigilance has become the watch word this new year's as europe gets ready for some of the season's biggest parties. they're girding for terror attacks. this is a continent on edge. islamic state, a rash of attacks over the past two years. paris, brussels, nice, and berlin have put many here on edge. and just on wednesday, the islamic state affiliated -- the

video showed images of santa claus and reindeer, while calling on muslims to target large gatherings, clubs, markets, theaters, cinemas, malls, and even hospitals. given the recent use of trucks to ram crowds of people, street barriers, road closures and trash trucks filled with sand will become fixtures around outdoor celebrations here. in berlin, where an islamic state jihadi killed 12 people last week, some 1700 police officers armed with submachine guns will deploy to the annual new year's eve party at brandenburg gate. in cologne, where hundreds of revellers were sexually assaulted last year -- not last year's, they're expanding their ranks five fold. paris, the scene of the 2015 bataclan attacks that killed more than 100 people, authorities canceled the eiffel tower fireworks display for the

second year in a row. nearly 100,000 officers will be on duty this evening. and in madrid, brussels, and milan, police forces are rolling out street barriers and heavily armed officers to prevent attacks. now, here in london, a city that is so far avoided large scale terror attacks over the past decade, authorities are really -- they're waiting for the other foot to drop. british transport police will double last year's armed presence in central london to nearly 4,000 patrolmen. many more deployed outside the capital. along with all of that added security, i'll be on duty as well tonight here in london. if anything happens, we'll keep you up to date, betty? >> glad to know it, matt. thank you so much. amid the obstacles to peace in the middle east what would happen if donald trump moves the u.s. embassies to jerusalem as he said he would. a foreign palestinian negotiator joins us next. as soon as i left the hospital after a dvt blood clot, i sure had a lot to think about. what about the people i care about? ...including this little girl.

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now to the latest reactions

to secretary kerry's speech on the israel palestinian conflict. a statement from british prime minister theresa may said, quote, we do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally. that remark following secretary kerry's description of israel prime minister netanyahu's coalition in this way. >> the current coalition is the most right wing in israeli history with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements. >> joining me is zaha hassan. she was a senior legal adviser to the palestinian negotiating team during palestine's bid for u.n. membership from 2010 to 2012. thank you for being with us. let me get your reaction to the british prime minister's response to secretary kerry's speech from a legal standpoint. what is your take on this? >> i mean, it is not necessarily a legal issue for a -- for the united states to comment on

what -- the makeup of another government of a foreign government. i think what we saw from secretary kerry was real frustration that the obama administration has been feeling about the israeli government for the last eight years. and his criticism, you know, came, you know, at the very tail end of this -- of his fr years, trying to broker peace with -- between israel and the palestinians and being met at every corner with announcements of new settlements in the west bank and so that frustration, particularly with him over the last four years, came out in his statement. and i think that the -- the british prime minister's response had more to do perhaps with the fact that the british

were behind the draft u.n. resolution and its -- and its process through the security council and so maybe her comments reflected more, tried to deflect maybe on the british government's responsibility for the u.n. resolution. >> i want to get another reaction, though, to secretary kerry's speech from new york congressman eliot engel. listen to this. >> i think the mistake that the administration has made and secretary kerry made is disproportionately blaming israel for this. the palestinians have engaged in terror, the palestinians have not been willing to sit down and without any preconditions. >> all right, and finding a way toward peace you have to understand both sides. can you understand that frustration? >> on the part of eliot engel? >> and others who agree with

him. >> yes, i can, but not necessarily on -- with respect to having the secretary focus his attention on settlements. there has been an inordinate amount of attention focused on palestinian incitement, palestinian violence, without looking at what the source of the conflict is. and the source of the conflict is the ongoing occupation that is now entering its 50th year. so this isn't a -- this isn't an issue of secretary kerry talking without a history behind him and behind the u.s. government's attempt to find a resolution to the israel/palestine conflict. he was speaking to 50 years of israeli settlement construction inside of the palestinian territories. and what that is going to mean for the future of israel. i cannot think of a high ranking u.s. official that more

eloquently put the -- put the issue in front of the american people the way secretary kerry did. he made it clear that israel is headed towards an apartheid regime. you cannot construct settlement colonies inside of another country and not expect there to be violence, not expect there to be a reaction. >> i've got to break in for a second. i have to get your reaction to this. you have raised concerns about president-elect trump's nominee for u.s ambsador to israel, david friedman. why is that? >> the ambassador is the president of a charity, a u.s. charity that supports settlements inside of the west bank and the settlement in particular that he was the president of the charity for is bat eel. and bat eel is on the doorstep of ramallah. it is actually, you know, within view of the palestinian prime minister's residence in

ramallah. so that is clearly a settlement that would hinder completely the idea of a two-state solution. so to have the ambassador to israel, david friedman, as trump's nominee would be really problematic in trying to move forward to a two-state solution. >> we appreciate your take on this. appreciate your time today. thank you. happy new year. it is one of donald trump's most important promises to millions of americans. guess who is leading the cha. to make sure trump keeps his word? what bernie sanders is doing about that. ♪

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