let's leave vladimir putin aside. and i heard you quoted somewhere saying throw a dart at a map. >> it was a lucky throw. >> we were there in 92 when i went back and corresponded and was traveling widely all the time, but was dropping in on places, i wanted a place to follow the evolution of people's views, get to know people. so that it wasn't just a cursory, when issue triple. and and the protest began in moscow and the western media focused entirely on moscow and it was distorting. if you were looking -- if you were reading -- forgive me, the new york times, you would have thought the country was up in arms but out in the provinces, that was not the case. it is true that people were scared, or at least cautious. but also, there is a bit of vladimir putin in every one. vladimir putin gave people the benefit of high oil prices and gas prices, he gave people a sense of economic prosperity the first time but i am jumping ahead. i didn't start thinking, as it went on it became clear that this was missing from what peopl

kaine: vladimir putin. vladimir putin is a dictator. vladimir putin is a dictator. he's not a leader. anybody who thinks otherwise doesn't know russian history added that no vladimir putin. hillary clinton is exactly who this guy is. john mccain said i look in hisse eyes and as a kgb. hillary has that same feeling. how did you within? we do have to deal with russia in a lot of different ways. there are areas where we can cooperate. it was hillary clinton whoon worked with russia on the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty to reduce the nuclear weapon stockpile. it was a plan that worked with w russia to get them engaged in ai community of nations to stop the iranian nuclear weapons program without firing a shot. she's that going around praising vladimir putin as a great guy but she knows how to sit down that the table and negotiate tough deals. this is a very challenging part of the world and we ought to bee a commander commander-in-chief who's prepared and done it rather than somebody who goes aroundo praising vladimir putin has great leader. a >> moderator: i like to ask about n

a great exclusive with vladimir putin, that it is also jobs day. people want to see the indication of what the fed will do. tom: right. 8:30, but on jobs at certainly the putin interview is front and center. there are a lot of different themes here, francine, not only what he said but what he didn't say as well. francine: right. and it was a two-hour interview so we have a lot to get through. let's get now to the bloomberg first word news with emma chandra. emma: for more on that interview, russia wants to compromise in the dispute with japan, that stretches back more than 70 years. at the end of world war ii, the soviet union occupied four small japanese islands. in an exquisite interview, vladimir putin says he wants to develop a long-term relationship. >> [speaking russian] there is a discussion of this topic, and we did that, we met them halfway. withe past couple years, our relationship from the japanese side, we have moved forward. our partners are showing a willingness to return to the discussion . we are talking not about an exchange, we are

manus: russian president vladimir putin sat down with bloomberg editor in chief john the gulf weight -- michelwaithe. they discuss the relationship between japan and russia. we begin by asking whether putin would consider a political deal in exchange for greater economic cooperation. >> we don't trade in territories. a peace the problem of treaty with japan is a key one. like toould very much find a solution to this problem with our japanese friends. we had a treaty signed in 1956 and surprisingly it was ratified by the supreme soviet and by the japanese parliament. and then, the japanese side refused to adhere to it and then the soviet union nullified all of the agreements within the treaty. our jeff --s ago, japanese colleagues asked us to return. we met them partway. so in the past couple of years, not by our initiative but by the japanese side, these contacts were --. but now, and partners are showing a relationship to return to a discussion of this subject. not about some exchange or a sale, we are talking about finding a solution where it neither party would feel defeated. >> ar

that would be a fundamental misreading of vladimir putin by any stretch. putin wants sanctions lifted. he wants cash back in russian pockets. the oil prices have been down. he needs to get those sanctions lifted. even when he was talking about modernizing nuclear weapons, his military is under financial pressure. they may be huge but they are poorly paid. the russian economy has been suffering because of the sanctions imposed after russia's incursion into crimea and eastern ukraine. vladimir putin has an agenda and nobody should misread that. it would be -- it would really be a mistake. does he want better relations with the u.s.? yeah, of course. but you know, he's not -- let me put it to you this way. i don't think i have spoken to a u.s. military commander or secretary of defense or chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in recent months who believes much of anything that vladimir putin has to say. >> jill, let me read you again just part of the line donald trump wrote because i think that, too, is very instructive here. talking about how nice the letter

donald trump praises vladimir putin for putting off any payback for newly imposed u.s. russia for meddling in the presidential election. putin says his response will depend on what happens after trump is sworn in. >>> spy games. the expulsion of russian spies ratchets up tensions between moscow and washington as russian intelligence operatives pack up to lead the u.s. are more spies hiding here in plain sight? >>> on alert. cities around the world beefing up security ahead of new year's eve. in new york, officials say the security operations around times square will be the

vladimir putin doesn't have that. >> that's right. and donald trump says he doesn't like the system. >> pence told me he will release his tax returns by the end of the week. that means today. he also revealed something that shows another example of how he is quite different from the man at the top of the ticket. trump is approaching debate prep in a more traditional way. he has mock debates and somebody acting as a stand-in for tim kaine. very different from donald trump who is having more discussions with his staff and is not doing those mock debates. >> dana, thank you so much for that. >>> libertarian candidate gary johnson and overwhelming long shot may have seen his chances much winning the white house go slim to none. he appeared on msnbc and was asked about the civil war in aleppo. then later in the morning on abc's "the view." >> what would you do if elected about aleppo. >> about? and what is aleppo? >> you're kidding? >> no. >> aleppo is in syria. it's the epicenter of the refugee crisis. >> okay. got it. got it. >> no excus

trump appearing on russian state tv, refusing to criticize the former kgb officer, vladimir putin. >> democratic national convention was a public service. do you agree? >> don't have any opinion on it. i don't know anything about it. >> you know, trump has to be smart enough to keep his feet on the ground and be able to weigh this guy, he can't get enamored by the fact that putin is nice to him. and plays to his ego. >> and america remembers. sunday, marking the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. today, a nation pauses. ♪ ♪ ♪ god bless america, my home sweet home ♪ [ applause ] >> and coming up here, we'll hear from the woman who was by president bush's side all day on 9/11. >>> and good

you can dismiss vladimir putin as sort of a tin pot thug. let's be clear, the man is smart, if not brilliant. let's go back over the past few years. annexing crimea, hugely popular in russia. putin's approval ratings in russia hovering at or above 80%. unthinkable for an american president to have ratings like that. when the americans pull back from syria, who moves in? the russians. now they've succeeded just over the past week, there's a cease-fire on thursday night, and potential peace talks brokered by who? the russians, the turks, the iranians, the americans not there. now finally he looks like the good guy this week in refusing to cooperate in tit for tat. i think what's going on is he's setting the stage as president-elect trump is trying to reach out to say, if you want to talk, you want to make america great again, i want to make russia great again. let's sit down and talk. i think this is a brilliant move. >> and, listen, there have been some in, you know, in the political world and also in the intelligence world who would say that

and sort of patting himself on the back, forgetting happy holidays card from vladimir putin. ink putin is a little bit conflicted on what to do about donald trump. because on the one hand i think he certainly doesn't want to see hillary clinton become president. and he certainly wants sanctions, u.s. sanctions against russia lifted. on the other hoond, i don't think his policies are is a steinable without having the u.s. as the scary monster that russia is constantly at war with, because his popularity depends on being able to mobilize the population against an imaginary enemy. he's really facing a conflict and i think that trump's tweets about nuclear arms are actually very handy in being able to maintain the tension that putin really needs. >> okay. bobby, mash acha, thank you ver much. >>> susan and betsy stick around. >>> up next, attacks on son eric. to trump's resort in florida right after this with all the details. >>> president-elect donald trump hit the golf course down the road from his 234florida resort. playing alongside him, none other than tiger woods. at trump's

he's a world-class player. >> tillerson having deep dies, especially to russia and vladimir putin, andng the recorder of friendship in 2012, a high honor bestowed to him personally from putin. >> to me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players. and he knows them well. he does massive deals in russia. >> reporter: but that's seen as an asset to president-elect is a problem for some on capitol hill. >> i have obviously concerns of reports of his relationship with vladimir putin, who is a thug and a murderer. >> reporter: marco rubio tweeting, quote, being a friend of vladimir putin is not an attribute i'm hoping for from a secretary of state. meantime, tillerson's views on climate change in opposition to the president he's about to serve. >> withe will cancel this deal our companies can compete. >> reporter: tillerson supported the paris climate change agreement reached earlier this year and has declared climate change a problem, at odds with trump. >> where are you on the environment? >> i'm still open minded. nobody really knows. >> reporter: while exxon spent years denying th

difference, the fact that a judge in a london inquiry pointed the figure to the kremlin, and vladimir putin himself? >> i think he will worsten relations between ukraine and cusha, i don't think many will be impressed by the report, because some of the findings are laughable. you know, to accuse putin of paedophilia and say that vladimir putin decided to kill alexander litvinenko because he thought he was a paedophile is not serious. hundreds of thousands in russia and abroad accuse vladimir putin of all sorts of crime. but these people are not taken seriously, but it's strange there is an exception made for alexander litvinenko. and for the judge. >> i hear what you are saying when you suggest that there was outlandish claims in the findings, but my question to you now is given that this does mark a low point in terms of relations between the two countries, do either have the appetite to take it further given the fact that they are rather engaged together and collaborating on the issue of syria. >> not on russia's side, for sure. the statements from the kremlin and military is mild. they s

and she came back and said, i know how to handle vladimir putin. i've been around elementary school children. and putin took great umbrage against this, among other statements that happened. vladimir putin absolutely, absolutely, is the only person in russia who could allow an intelligence operation of this magnitude to influence the u.s. elections. it had to be done at his direction. he is a former kgb officer. he was the director of the kgb when it transitioned to the fsb, the new name for the kgb. and he views the fsb and kgb officers as the new nobility of russia. they are the pinnacle of russian society. he uses them on a daily basis. we use cyber warfare from time to time, but they use it like they butter their bread. obviously with him feeling he could influence the u.s. election, feeling that donald trump was sympathetic to him, granted now we're starting to see the evidence roll in that i extrapolated in my book. i mean, it was very clear that he would have to form a massive, maybe two, three hundred people, together to do this type of oper

but i've been watching vladimir putin since the beginning and vladimir putin eats people. he's them alive. he's them before breakfast. he humiliated two u.s. presidents in a row, george w. bush and barack obama who thought they could deal with him. be very very careful. don't rush into a comprehensive new deal with russia, a fresh start. we don't need a fresh start with russia. russia needs us. it needs a fresh start with us. putin wants us to look away from what he did in ukraine, the massacre in syria, his attacks on our election and they were -- all of this intelligence agencies agree they did it. and so he wants us to wipe that slate clean >> certainly, right. >> and all he's going to give us is a fresh start? no way. >> if you're keeping both eyes on russia, that's not good enough. i agree with you 100%. thank you for being with us tonight. >> happy new year. >> to you as well. >>> and coming up, bill clinton suggested quote angry white men helped elect trump in november but fox news contributor roy murdoch is shooting down those claims. he's here next with doug schoe

with vladimir putin at 12:00 p.m.me. this is bloomberg. ♪ mark: jaguar unveiling its first suv earlier this year. hannah elliott took it for a spin through new york city. >> jaguar unveiled its first ever suv. since then, things have been looking up for the formerly stubby british brand. this ev accounted for half of u.s. sales in july. i found a lot to discover when i took the suv for a spin around new york city. i drove the our sport, which starts at $54,000, but will run you close to $64,000 with upgrades. r-sport. top speed is 155 miles per hour. the steering, standard all-wheel drive an automatic transmission. the exterior of the car is exciting. green costs and next trip you hundred dollars s -- an extra few hundred dollars. svelte jungle feline. inside is the massive panoramic sunroof. it spans the entire ceiling of the car. at a lot of natural light -- adds a lot of natural light. i congratulate jack for giving us well-made leather see to come intuitive controls and even ambient mood lighting. g forcongratulat

vladimir putin said the intervention in syria largely achieved the objectives. russia's military entered in september, setting up an air base near latakia. russian war planes staged hundreds of bombing missions near isil. putin said the news in a phone call. russia has been the strongest ally of syrian president bashar al-assad, in the country's 5-year civil war. in the last half hour, bashar al-assad denied there was differences twine himself and his russian counterpart. the development comes as talks take place to end the 5-year conflict. the special envoy stefan de mistura says all parties are facing a moment of truth. >> translation: i believe the goal set out by the military and armed force, that's why i order the minister of defence, as of tomorrow to start the pull out of the main part of our military grouping from the syrian arab republic >>> reaction from the russian announcement coming in. it's been said that russia's withdrawal can influence the conflict. >> whatever russia decides, this will affect the side and the other side will affect the regime.

people care about vladimir putin.ot in a good way, but it's all about vladimir putin in russia, it's ridiculous, but it is so. >> in the united states, when the name trump is in the headlines, people pay attention, is that the case in europe as well? >> well, europeans paid attention to the trump phenomenon, and now maybe they feel a little relieved that the phenomenon might be over already. they were very worried about trump. i think, really, the first characteristic europeans expect it competence in foreign policy. and trump doesn't fit the distribution. they were worried. he might become the next president. foreign policy. he may be the one to beat hillary clinton. >> trump, in israel is powerful. he endorsed him before the last election. they did have a sort of clash. making the statements about not allowing muslims into america, saying that he went to israel, and was told that he will not be welcome. so knowing trump, i don't think that somebody will pay for that in the long run. >> quick predictions from each on

in russia, there's no politics, vladimir putin. >> so what do you think now about vladimir putin, as the election has developed. who would he prefer to have in the white house. >> not clinton. still not clinton. people, russian experts. basically they see clinton as obama. and as you probably know, people in russia, that is sad, true. people don't like obama. probability because russians are mostly racist. that is true still. and kremlin loves obama. let me quote, i prepared it for you sales. quote piece from the most prominent pro-kremlin propaganda newspaper. it's about trump. so this is what it said - no candidate can stay silent about vladimir putin, and the important party here is that they talk not about russian policy, but vladimir putin personality. vladimir putin's brand is a significant factor of this complaint. and now we can see that this cart is played by the most promising candidate. it's not only vladimir putin working on trump's advantage. sharing his rate with the candidate. trump works on russia's vaj, exposing -- advantage, exposing propaganda. so as you can see, e

he has a bargaining chip when talking about vladimir putin. can walk up these sanctions, what can you do to help me look good if i make the change and make my relationship with you of your strong but not partial? and this is a foreign-policy last-minute change in the obama administration position to figure out what to do with is going forward. >> this is the largest expulsion of foreign officials since march 2001 when president george w. bush ordered 50 russian diplomats to leave in retaliation for russia planting a suspected spy at the fbi. before that ronald reagan, 55 billion diplomats. not necessarily new. >> we haven't seen a lot of the stuff in the last decade or so. these are older examples. they are out there and always quid pro quos, retaliation is swift, russia retaliated with its own reprisals for those actions this is a different situation where vladimir putin is taking a new tactic say wait a second, i am not going to retaliate. the cards are set for us to take action response. vladimir putin is thinking i will see how i can play

that means vladimir putin. since then, confidence has increased and we have been learning of the case. the cyber weapons that were used in the attack. the most sophisticated which would require vladimir putin to okay the use of the tools. that in addition to other intelligence and human sources leading to that conclusion today that vladimir putin ordered this attack on the u.s. democratic system. the word they are using is it continued unabated since the election on party institutions and party organizations, including but not limited to the democrats. we understand another attempted phishing attack. where you click on a link and allows malware to get on the computer. it was a failed attack on the decli clinton campaign since the first attack. they interrupted with the u.s. system whether or not they wanted donald trump to win. it was successful here and western democracies in europe and eastern europe. >> jim, thank you. the white house taking a more aggressive stance against donald trump on the russian electi

american president—elect donald trump praises vladimir putin's actions, calling them very smart.ussia asks the un security council to consider a new resolution to endorse the ceasefire in syria that came into force last night. a post—mortem examination into the cause of george michael's death has proved "inconclusive" — further tests will now be carried out. drivers are told to take care in fog and freezing conditions, as a coach overturns on the mao in oxfordshire injuring seventeen people. and in half an hour i'll be looking back at a diverse year in film from hollywood super heroes to home—grown hits and fabulous foreign—language films. that review 2016, the year in film, with me, mark kermode. good evening and welcome to bbc news. us president—elect donald trump has described president vladimir putin as very smart after he announced russia would not yet be expelling any american diplomats following president 0bama's decision to send home 35 russians in a row about cyber espionage and hacking. mr 0bama had accused the russians of interfering in the us presidential election by

the vladimir putin thing alone is something that doesn't help trump. the frame of the day is going to be this is a tight race and choose doing everything she can to fight him off. that tiedn't think is a raise in the sense trump has a path to 270 but in arrow path. it grows only through those estates. he's got not many other ways to go. he's got not a lot of other options. when you look at the other -- arizona, texas come all of these other places that she is on offense and he's on defense. last night, she did seem defensive, annoyed when she was questioned by matt lauer about her e-mail practices. one of the big problems with that event, i think she should have wanted it to be an hour so she could talk more about substance because once you talks about substance, i think she has the upper hand. mark: critics said trump had a lack of substance, lack of specifics, he was hit for saying america's generals have been reduce to rubble. yet again, he was criticized correctly for mischaracterizing his own past statements regarding whether he was for or against

vladimir putin, we had signals out of moscow before putin spoke up saying russia will retaliate and saying not at all. trump saying good move by putin. the russian embassy retweeted donald trump's tweet complimenting vladimir putin. what is going on behind the scenes? >> hey, steve. >> there is a lot of twitter diplomacy when they broke yesterday. they trolled the obama administration on twitter, posting the photo of a duck. there has been an interesting back and forth where first the comments that we saw were critical of the obama administration. very divicive and the foreign ministry spokes woman went on to accuse the obama administration, calling them a bunch of foreign policy losers. they said it's sad that the obama administration would try to restore the cooperation going out on this kind of note, russian agony. the boss came out and president putin came out with a statement surprising everyone. switching gears and trying to domestically the way it has been played in the media. he is portrayed as taking the high road and not the back and forth. he stuck the knife in the obama adminis

vladimir putin, for all his bluster, he loves stirring things up.m his point of view, maybe having a hillary he has sullied of it is a good way to go ahead. -- a bit is a good way to go ahead. john: this comes on the question of the leaks. you asked him about the allegations that russia was involved in hacking the democratic party e-mail. president putin: is that really important? the important thing is to content that was given to the public. i want to tell you again, i don't know anything. the state of russia has never done this. john: hillary clinton clearly paying attention to your interview because she yesterday responded to what he said. >> when vladimir putin was asked about it, he could barely muster the energy to deny it. many of you saw that. in fact, he went on to say with a good face that the intelligent consensus is it was hacked by russian intelligence. we are facing a very serious concern. we have never had a foreign adversarial power be already involved in our electoral process. john: i thought it was extraordinary how he responded t

because he has brought enormous amounts of resources -- >> private bank accounts held by vladimir putinso maybe. but i'm joking but i'm not joking. >> but you understand the point i was trying to make, right? which is that who had leverage in that deal? exxon had leverage over putin. putin wanted exxon's investment in their country. why? because it helps him to bring investment to his country. >> margaret, even john mccain, lindsey graham and marco rubio said they're not on board. are they going to stand in his way. >> none said they're going to lay down in front of the nomination, but they all say they have serious questions that need answers which i think any person would agree with. >> part of the topsy-turvy nature of the cycle is if a democratic president-elect was accused of having russia influence the election on its behalf and nominated a secretary of state who got civilian award from vladimir putin, people would be screaming bloody murder for good reason. >> you know what? >> this is my question to her. >> it is like what do you say to that. this is our argument at the table at

a very nice letter from vladimir putin. his thoughts are so correct. i hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alter knit path. quote/unquote. to me, not having to travel an alternate path was new language from donald trump in regards to vladimir putin. it was an implicit all that albeit thanking him for the gracious letter and that if things don't go well, there's an "or else"? >> yes, an to that. in some ways that makes sense. dealing with an adversary, in russia's case, a frenemy. sometimes you have a carrot but thieve stick in the background. a comment to nuclear weapons. no subtlety on those. my first reaction, this is from the guy who stopped taking intelligence briefings. no president in u.s. history, democratic or republican, has invited a nuclear arms race, whether with russia, china, whoever it might be. no one has ever done. when you do that, it up sets your allies, undermines the nonproliferation regime and if implemented would actually increase the risk of nuclear war. >> donald trump has take

for russia's hacking of the election. >> not much happens in russia without vladimir putin. this happened at the highest levels of the russian government. >> the president also saying he privately warned putin to stop the hacking or there would be serious consequences. there's a whole lot to get to in this hour. i want to begin with jim acosta who is in orlando with the president-elect, michelle kosinski and david gergen, an adviser to four presidents. also with us political commentator ryan lizza, washington correspondent for the "new yorker." jim, i'll start with you. while everyone is talking about russian hacking, donald trump is talking to supporters in florida tonight. did he mention russia? >> he did not, don, perhaps it's a return to the holiday spirit, the spirit of the season. there was this back-and-forth that was going on over the last 24 hours between donald trump and josh earnest and then kellyanne conway jumped into the fray earlier today but at that press conference you heard president obama decline to really go after donald trump, he just merely suggested tha

, to embrace vladimir putin? >> it's bizarre. he's one of the most hated men around the world. i think so far he hasn't paid much of a price for it but the big enchilada is coming up. >> what do you think, dana, about vladimir putin, the dictator? >> i think the most fascinating part of this putin/trump worldwide romance is trump says very explicitly why he says nice things about vladimir putin and that's because putin says very nice things about him. period, end of story. he said it to matt lauer against last night. if vladimir putin started saying nasty things about donald trump, it's a very different approach. if you're hillary clinton and her came pain, the question is really, is that how you're going to approach geo political diplomacy if you're in the white house? >> yeah, yeah. >> the interesting thing is there are populous parties that have grown up all across western europe. there are ten countries where there are major populous parties. most of them are right wing and all of them are having this romance

sanctions and vladimir putin comes out and says no, we're going to step back. i'm the good guy here. what do you make of what we have seen over the last hour or so? >> the benevolent putin full of charity. look, administration officials were clearly expecting a tit for tat. that was true as of yesterday afternoon. so now we have putin deciding not to escalate. donald trump clearly wants to put this in his rear-view mirror. about the only group can think of that wants to continue with hostilities, that might be too strong, but to continue to make an issue out of this is congressional republicans. you have to look at the setup that vladimir putin had on this, the lead-up, the walk-up, the stage craft was remarkable. you had the foreign minister, mr. lavrov, suggesting expelling 35 u.s. diplomats/spies, talk of closing the school, and yet as putin comes in at the last second, big surprise, he gets to play the nice guy, and as you mentioned. even invites everyone to a holiday christmas/new year's party. one final thought on this. putin starts 2017 in a much stronger

donald trump praising vladimir putin. tweeting "great move on delay by v. putin, i always knew he was very smart." this after the russian president shocked many today saying he's going to do many in response to president obama's decision to expel 35 russian spies and sanctions over meddling in the election. and throughout the day -- this russian plane is said to be on its way to the u.s. to pick up the diplomats the president has now accused of spying. moments ago republican senator john mccain making it clear russia will pay a price for its cyberattacks. >> when you attack a country it is an act of war. >> this amid escalating tensions between the two nations but for now putin says he will not retaliate. he's even inviting the kids of u.s. diplomats to a party at in kremlin. sunland, this tweet by the president elect already being picked up by the russians. >> it was only a matter of minute, kate really before the russian embassy and the u.s. retweeted that tweet of donald trump. of course that praise of vladimir putin where he said, "great move on delay by

vladimir putin had a vendetta against hillary clinton. before donald trump was the nominee. the cia made an assessment that electing donald trump was part of the operation. it certainly was secondary if you look at the binary operation. this began as a vendetta against hillary clinton and morphed into something else to discredit the united states with allies around the world to say look how ugly their democracy is when you lift up the rock. those were the starting points. >> thank you for that. i invoke the name of richard engel who i'm told happens to be listening to the conversation from his listening post halfway around the world in moscow. what would you add to what you have already heard? >> it's difficult to know what the motivations are specifically for vladimir putin. i think cynthia said they are multi faceted and i believe they are. it goes back to a sense of vendetta against hillary clinton in particular for her stance in 201 2011 and 2012. there were street protests against elections some thought weren't free and fair in this

including from human sources has led the intelligence community to conclude that russian president vladimir putin personally approved of the hacking, this according to intelligence, congressional and other administration sources. >> there is only one decision-maker. and that is putin. to me, just on the basis of that very circumstantial evidence it's clear that something of this magnitude had to go to the very top. >> republican senator lindsey graham tells cnn he now plans to introduce crippling new economic sanctions aimed at putin himself. >> we're going to hit you and hit you hard. i am going to introduce sanctions that will be bipartisan that names putin as an individual, his inner circle, for not only hacking into our political systems but trying to destabilize democracy throughout the world. >> yet trump supporter and former congressman jack kingston was in moscow this week where he told businesses that trump could reconsider existing sanctions imposed on russia for its invasion of ukraine. >> sanctions, not something that the administration is going to lead with at all. the sanctions have

over a third of republican voter s approve of vladimir putin, the former head of the kgb. ronald reagan would roll over in his grave. and how did that happen? >> reporter: the president wouldn't say definitively whether he thinks putin himself authorized the hack, but said he believes there's no doubt that it points back to the top of the russian government. >> this is pretty hierarchal operation, last i checked there's not a lot of debate and democratic deliberation particularly when it comes to policies directed at the united states. we have said and i will confirm that this happened at the highest levels of the russian government, and i will let you make that determination as to whether there are high level russian officials who go off rogue and decide to tamper with the u.s. election process without vladimir putin knowing about it. >> reporter: regardless president-elect trump's dismissal of the intelligence for blaming the russians, the president said he's urged his successor to work in a nonpartisan way. >> one way i do believe that the president-elect can approach th

vladimir putin said he knew it was coming. he knew trump would win. he's accusing hillary clinton of being a poor loser. and breaking news. the suspect in germany's christmas market attack killed in italy. this hour his dramatic shootout with police. and critical questions today. let's begin with donald trump. can a tweet spark a nuclear arms race. the united states must greatly strengthen and expand nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes. commercial break. ing joe" >> the president-elect told you what? >> let it be an arms race. we will outmatch them at every pass. >> russian president vladimir putin took a question at his annual press conference in moscow this morning. from the kremlin, translation saying when someone speeds up or accelerates the arms race, it's not us. >> kristen welker is covering the president-elect in palm beach. kristen, this all started with vladimir putin telling his general they were going to fortify the russian nuclear arsenal and then just moments after the conversation between

vladimir putin. last i checked there is not a lot of debate this happened at the highest levels of the russian government. >> continue to say it is not like any intelligence officials would go rogue. detailing how he faces down russian president vladimir putin over the hacking of the presidential election. president obama saying he told president putin cut it out. >> i thought the most effective way to ensure that didn't happen was to talk to him directly and tell him to cut it out and there were going to be some serious consequences if he did. and in fact we did not see further tampering of the election process. >> michelle kosinski begins coverage live from the white house on this breaking story. the president of the united states blaming vladimir putin for the russian hack. there was no question about that. >> that's right and what we've been hearing from his administration. of course it has the added weight coming directly from president obama. this entire hour and a half long press conference wa

investigative journalist that has appeared very deeply in the world that surrounds russian president vladimir putin. now, marcus, british investigators said that putin probably ordered the killing. wyoming probably? -- why only probably? >> they do not have the order that he killed this person but they found evidence that they were able to connect the name of his former head of the secret service and that is quite strong. everybody said is putin behind the door are not? now we have a finger-pointing at him. sarah: what could be the possible motivation behind his killing? it seems pretty obvious that it would point back to russia. >> you can't say that that is how russia works. they are not always thinking about the outcomes. it polonium is not a weapon you can buy and putin hates traders. there was an important point from him. a lot of houses exploded in russia. and there were rumors that the fsb was behind it and he said that the fsb did it. sarah: he was a naturalized british citizen. it was in a provocation towards london? -- was it a provocation towards london? >> he was not able to live in pea

this week vladimir putin showed off his dog to journalists. a loud but obedient. on some are asking, has putin put a poodle in the white house? is. >> i think it's ridiculous, just another excuse. i either. around moscow and across this vast country russians are watching with amazement and some in the kremlin with delight over the freakout over moscow's role in the u.s. presidential election. implicating vladimir putin in the hack of the e-mails. >> not much happened without vladimir putin. >> president obama said it's clear russia hacked. >> the only explanation of the results which was organized from him and lady clinton. >> deputy chairman of the russian senate's foreign affairs committee and close to the kremlin. >> you reject it? >> absolutely. it's american fairytales and fiction. very convenient explanation because in such kind of perceptions russia is a threat. kremlin is evil, all bad boys they are in main task is to make some bad things for america. >> russian media which is dominated by putin's regime and spews propaganda offered a different explanation.

be at large. >>> plus, how do republicans feel about donald trump and his continuing to praise vladimir putinn's manu raju tried to find out. chased him down. >> what do you think about trump praising putin last night? >> i don't have any comments to make. when you ache and haven't you're not you. tylenol® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep. we give you a better night. you're a better you all day. tylenol®. ♪ using 60,000 points from my chase ink card i bought all the framework... wire... and plants needed to give my shop... a face... no one will forget. see what the power of points can do for your business. learn more at chase.com/ink see what the power of points can do for your business. it's the big steak and crab bash... you get half a pound of sweet, snow crab legs... ...paired with our new tender center-cut sirloin... hurry in... the outback steak & crab bash starts at just $14.99... bloomin' great! starts at just $14.99... soon, she'll be binge-studying.. get back to great. this week 50% off all backpacks. office depot officemax. gear up for school. gear up

reporter: ayman, as you said, it's this embassy that they retweeted donald trump's praise for vladimir putin. but a senior u.s. official tells nbc news that, look, there's another theory on this. and that is that russia's failure to retaliate could, indeed, be an acknowledgement by putin that they did, indeed, cross the line by their cyberinterference in the u.s. elections. now, one thing that is clear is that both the putin side and the trump side are working to make this relationship work. they're very clear on that. they want to give themselves plenty of room. mr. putin holding his fire, not criticize welcome not retaliating. giving trump the opportunity to move on. one question here is how will this play out o capitol hill? because it's very clear that congressnal republicans as well as congressional democrats want to pursue these investigations and want to continue these investigations. and remember, president-elect trump made that tweet before he met with intelligence officials. now, he was supposed to have another meeting with intelligence officials for more specific conversations on

vladimir putin is not taking sides in the u.s.ntial election, but he doesn't care for the tactics of either hillary clinton or donald trump. the russian president spoke with bloomberg's editor in chief in an exclusive interview. we -- with the shock tactics of not only one, but the other -- they are very smart people. >> tune into bloomberg for more of our exclusive interview with russian president vladimir putin and do not miss our special report on monday at 12:00 p.m. eastern nbc natalie news anchor leslie hope will moderate the first presidential debate at hofstra university in new york. fox news sunday anchor chris wallace takes over for the third and final debate. cbs news reporter elaine couto moderates the best presidential debate. in venezuela, opposition leaders called it the biggest mobilization of protesters in the country's history. hundreds of thousands of venezuelans demonstrated in the streets of caracas, domenico recall vote against president nicolas maduro. global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2600 jo

he said not much happens in russia without vladimir putin. and abc news confirming the fbi now agrees with the cia, putin directed it. and it began with putin's concern over hillary clinton becoming president. and now, we learn what happened during this moment right here. what president obama says he told vladimir putin well before the election about the hacking. martha raddatz and her questions for the president. >> reporter: tonight, president obama revealing he confronted vladimir putin about the russian hacking face to face in september, warning him not to tamper with the vote on election day. >> i felelt that the most effective way to ensure that that didn't happen was to talk to him directly and tell him to cut it out, and there were going to be some serious consequences if he didn't. >> reporter: the cia and now the fbi both believe putin himself ordered the hacking of the democratic national committee and of clinton campaign chairman john podesta. i asked the president if he agrees. just to be clear, do you believe vladimir putin himse

you have a former kgb/fsb intelligence officer in vladimir putin. is it -- is it credible that anything of this nature could have happened without him knowing? >> i'll say this, it is very credible at this point in time. without him knowing, i doubt it. >> making it really very clear. now, in moscow, we've got richard engel. richard, from all of your reporting, fascinating over the last few days, they're celebrating donald trump's election in moscow. >> oh, they are absolutely celebrating this. if you remember just before the elections, this country was putting itself on war footing. people in russia were being told they needed to brace for a potential conflict. many in this country, the official estimates by the kremlin, i'm told, were predicting hillary clinton was going to win and this country was preparing for a serious confrontation. that may have been hyperbole but that was the mood in this country. now there's an atmosphere of celebration. people here think they could have a new start with trump, that it's going to be an era of business, that

still not blaming vladimir putin. now he's taking on the white house press secretary over the russia hack. >> this foolish guy josh earnest. i don't know if he's talking to president obama. you know, having the right press secretary is so important. because he's so bad. but the president is positive. but he's not positive. maybe he's getting ordered from somebody else. >> casualties of war. stand-offs in aleppo today as thousands try to escape the bombed out city. some wounds may take a lifetime to heal. >> as they fled aleppo's ruins, one final trauma. children shot at. it was meant to be a cease-fire, yet still gunmen targeted them as they left the rebel-held east. their terror was clear. their mothers close. >> good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. president obama will hold his last news conference of the year in a few hours. he would likely be pressed to explain how he plans to retaliate against russia for trying to destabilize the election through cyber war. bhar the president's options. even mor

because he has brought enormous amount of resources. >> private bank accounts held by vladimir putin. maybe, but -- i'm joking but not joking. >> you understand the point i was trying to make which is that who had leverage in that deal? exxon had leverage over putin. putin wanted their investment because why? that helps his electoral prospects. >> margaret, even john mccain, lindsey graham, marco rubio, said they're not on board. >> they say there are serious questions he has to answer. any discerning person could agree with that. >> but part of the topsy you are the say are nation of this cycle is that if a democratic president-elect was accused of influencing russia then nominated the secretary of state vladimir putin people would be screaming bloody murder for good reas reason. >> well, you know what -- >> this is my question to her. >> this is our dinner table at night. that is -- that is true. what you have to do though is, the president-elect has a certain amount of grace period going into this nomination and the left will have to focus their fire on one of them if they want a s

i'm not a fan of vladimir putin. but you know, the ukrainian crisis was sparked by the european union saying they wanted to extend their borders to take in the ukrainians which putin took as being a direct threat. now, my view on putin and the russians is, don't poke the russian bear with a stick. if you do you're bound to get a response. >> so, more isolationist britain is what you want to see? >> no. a global britain. please. look, we are the world's fifth largest economy, and yet because we're part of this outdated customs union, being business cartel, we are prohibited and forbidden from making our own trade deals and own relationships globally. >> let me ask you this -- >> that's for a country that speaks english, a country that is mercantile by history, is mats we are leaving a failed political union and rejoining a bigger, better, modern 21st 21st century world. >> what does this mean for news the u.s.? one commentator made the point today he thought it was good, we had historically had a great relationship wit