in the past the kremlin and kremlin officials have said that these allegations are baseless. and that if the intelligence community of the united states wants to prove them, it needs to show much more evidence. something that the cia and the

trump more sympathetic to the kremlin point of view and someone the kremlin believes they can do a dealith. with the recommendation from the foreign minister, it will be a ti tir tit-for-tat response. the russians announced closing down the u.s. embassy which is the russian country house outside of moscow. like summer residence where the u.s. embassy has culture events. that will be closed down as well as part of the counter measures. >> closing down the datcha. we got word of the closing of the angelo-american school in russia. any other measures in response to what the united states has done? >> reporter: on that angelo-american school. that has now been denied. that was something that was briefed on out of washington. the russian foreign ministry and kremlin denied any action taken against the angelo-american school. that is relief to the parents and children of families here in russia that attend that. in terms of what else, i expect there are plans under way in the kremlin and in the foreign ministry to take other measures as well. again, we are in an unusual situation because norm

vintage vladimir putin, an attempt, i think, kremlin.ge vladimir putin, an attempt, i think, to try to take the moral high ground. thank you very much. a nationwide ceasefire that came into effect overnight between the syrian government and rebel factions appears to be holding across most of the country, although some clashes have been reported. the deal was brokered by russia and turkey with the backing of iran in an attempt to end the civil war that began in 2011. the united states was not involved. here's richard galpin. this was the moment when the tide of syria's devastating civil war turned. buses lined up earlier this month to evacuate thousands of rebel fighters, defeated in their key stronghold in aleppo. a huge blow to the opposition movement, leaving the syrian regime in a commanding position. and giving the regime an opportunity to negotiate a ceasefire from a position of strength. translation: this reflects the reality that after aleppo's liberation the situation is now different. there is a real opportunity to reach a polit

and again that's from the kremlin. surely the incoming administration sees this as smoke and mirrors and will not fall for it. >> i i think all of us see this as smoke and mirrors. don, let me take a step back and look at what america's relationship has been with russia and look at what i think donald trump is going to do. i don't think barack obama has projected strength to russia. as you recall, he told, through a messenger, vladimir putin that he would have more flexibility after his 2012 election. we all remember that with mitt romney, he said the 1980s foreign policy rap when he said that russia was our number one geopolitical foe and then russia, crimea, ukraine, now in syria making a difficult situation even worse, barack obama really hasn't done anything tough with russia. so he's walking out the door, we have these sanctions, but russia's been able to walk all over us and the rest of the world as a bad actor and i feel -- >> why would the incoming administration now criticize these sanctions which are not as h

the kremlin leader refused to tell me.g all the talk of hacking as sour grapes from the democratic party. "the losing side always tries to pass the buck", he said. but president obama had decided there was enough evidence to merit retaliation. as well as expelling diplomats, he ordered russian government compounds in new york and maryland to be shut down. us officials believe they were being used for intelligence. washington has announced sanctions against individuals, too. including these russian nationals, wanted by the fbi for cybercrimes. but today, president putin said he would work to restore relations with america under donald trump. what putin and trump expect from each other is a certain kind of decency. a certain kind of frankness. and no hypocrisy and no political correctness. by not expelling diplomats today, the kremlin was sending a new year's gift. to the new man in the white house. a sign that moscow wants a new relationship with washington. could 2017 be the year that russia finally comes in from the cold?

the kremlin has a lwa ys party e—mails. always denied any involvement and president putin said today he look forward to rebuilding links with america when donald trump became president. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rozenberg has the latest. near the kremlin tonight, they were putting on a seasonal show. ahead of the new year celebrations, there was song and dance and some musical theatre. but that was nothing compared to the political theatre being played out inside. first up on stage, the foreign minister who advised president putin to expel 35 us diplomats. america had expelled 35 russians. in other words, tit—for—tat. cold war style. it seemed inevitable. but, no, vladimir putin said, he wasn't going to stoop to the level of irresponsible diplomacy. he wasn't going to expel any americans. he even invited the children of all us diplomats in moscow to a new year's party here in the kremlin. that was a surprise. but it didn't change what america's top intelligence agencies believe to be true, that state—sponsored hackers

the kremlin is motivated. it made no secret it supported donald trump and had antagonism toward hillary clinton. that is the subject of the al significan ga allegations at the moment. >> you and i have covered rex tillerson for years now. what is the reaction in russia about the talk that there will be a nomination today of rex tillerson to be secretary of state? >> reporter: they love him over here. they already been heaping praise on the texas oil man even before the nomination has been announced. the kremlin spokesperson told us yesterday, told cnn yesterday, he was a pragmatic man and has contacts at the highest level in the russian government. the head of the russian parliamentary affairs committee said that this is a sensation and it proves the seriousness of trump. a great deal of expectation of rex tillerson if he is confirmed t could cause a change with u.s. and moscow. with rex tillerson at the state department and donald trump in the white house, the expectation in moscow that could really start to

the kremlin are angry about that, as well. to set it against the context of the political changes that are about to come upon us. donald trump will be in the white house p the and the expectation that this cold, frozen relationship, the way they've characterized it, can start to thaw and get warmer. >> you're saying that there was a last in translation moment here. the nuanced meaning of the statement coming out of the kremlin was deliberately misinterpreted by washington? >> reporter: the exact statement was we don't talk to each other or do so at a minimum. the exchanges have taken place. and the pentagon said we spoke to them about air safety in syria. that is what the kremlin would say is the minimum amount of contact with the white house. but you know, a larger conversation about strategy. about the big issues facing the international community. about syria, for instance, and what to do in that country. these are conversations that the russians are having with others at the moment. for instance, yesterday, moscow, there w

the kremlin leader refused to tell me.all the talk of hacking as sour grapes from the democratic party. "the losing side always tries to pass the buck", he said. but president obama had decided there was enough evidence to merit retaliation. what putin and trump expect from each other is a certain kind of decency. a certain kind of frankness. and no hypocrisy and no political correctness. by not expelling diplomats today, the kremlin was sending a new year's gift. to the new man in the white house. a sign that moscow wants a new relationship with washington. could 2017 be the year that russia finally comes in from the cold? this is what us president—elect tweeted. lets talk edward lucas, joining us from central london. if america was expecting retaliation, moscow has laura bicker gave more details about donald trump's latest tweet. this is a president—elect heaping praise on the russian leader who just 2a hours ago, the current president had said we should be alarmed by the actions of the russian government. yesterday pres

in fact we'll welcome children into the kremlin." he's done a couple things which is a good military i would say statesman objective. he is playing toward trump and perhaps you haven't heard this, but mr. trump has a bit of an ego so he's playing to that ego. he's concerned about what might happen in the overt means of cyber warfare, what the u.s. might do for him, so he's backing off to see what occurs, how he can defend against it and how he can counterattack. then he's also portraying himself as the more mature player. he's not doing the tit for tat. he's trying to prove himself to be the hero in this action and pour more scorn on president obama for taking this action. so he's playing, truthfully, one of the options, i thought, that he possibly would play when he was caught red-handed as he has been doing for the last ten years in europe in places like estonia, ukraine, and poland. >> john, how do you see it? >> if i can add one thing to that. i agree with both the previous speakers but one thing also i think putin wants to do is

kremlin is evil, all bad boys they are in kremlin and their main task is to make some bad things for>> russian media which is dominated by putin's regime and spews propaganda offered a different explanation. it was an inside job, a leak from clinton's own staff or the dnc itself and there's a sneering, mocking tone in much of the coverage here. >> there you go. that's how you prove it was the russians. >> many russians are skeptical of the state media here but even seasoned independent analysts think this scandal is more american hysteria than actual fact. >> so wild allegations. of course we don't believe them. what happened is an american problem. we in russia did not invent donald trump for you. >> one thing is very clear here, hillary clinton was seen by the kremlin and by much of the public at large as a dire threat to russia because of her hawkish foreign policy and support for anti-putin protests in 2011. >> people believe that he as president probably means a nuclear war with the united states. >> still like most in the u.s. thought clinton would win. another argument for why

the problem is that the kremlin nothing is what it seems.ncies and intelligence communities are who have nothing to do with the attacks. you might get lots of informal actors, because out sourcing is something russia has used extensively for lowering the cost increase of controversial operations. and that is the case in these situations. the problem is obama's response is that this is all said officially. you have informal actors backed by the state launching an attack on the united states, while the operation seems to be from the very high level. that might havepu putin to say have nothing to do with the attacks but we are under the attack of the united states. that might provoke them to think, look, maybe we need to introduce more legislation and install more control of the internet in the country. >> and it also gives them as you mentioned plausible deniabiabil we weren't behind this. the kremlin essentially told the u.s. show us the evidence or show up. they're not expecting the u.s. to put any evidence forward, right? >> absolutely. and

did the kremlin want trump in the white house? >> not much happens in russia without vladimir putin. >> after unprecedented foreign interference is the heart of our democracy under attack? >> this morning complete coverage. our exclusive with dnc chair donna brazile. how is the party working to recover after those devastating hacks? and the former cia director advising president-elect trump. plus, we're live in moscow with putin's close allieallies. what's the kremlin's next move? full insights, analysis and more from our team around the globe. from abc news, it's "this week." here now coanchor martha raddatz. >>> good morning. this week a nightmare for american democracdemocracy. the white house claiming the worst. that russia not only hacked campaign 2016, but tried to influence the outcome of the election. and that the hacks were directed from the heart of the kremlin, the office of president vladimir putin himself. it is extraordinary to contemplate among the pressing questions this morning, does trump even believe russia was

extremely scurrilous is how the kremlin is describing accusations from the white house that vladimir putin personally meddled in the u.s. presidential race. and authorities in china warner levels,ic pollution putting operations on hold. also coming up in the next 30 minutes, a one-of christmas gift or it the greek government questions a bonus for the debt ridden country's poorest citizens. the greek prime minister is talks today with chancellor angela merkel. we are going to begin in northern syria, where the evacuation of thousands of civilians and fighters from rebel-held areas of aleppo has been suspended. amid reports of explosions and obstructions to the evacuation process. many of those fleeing the area had been heading to camps to stay with friends and relatives in other parts of the country. hundreds are thought to require medical attention. our correspondent joins us now from lebanon. adam, tell us the latest your hearing on the evacuation process. adam: different sources are giving different reasons as to why the evacuation has been suspended. in the first place we know the

in the past the kremlin and kremlin officials have said that these allegations are baseless. and that if the intelligence community of the united states wants to prove them, it needs to show much more evidence. something that the cia and the president said hedoes not want to do in order not to reveal sources and methods. waiting for president obama to leave office. they know they have just a few more weeks until president trump will be inaugurated. and they think they are going to have a much friendlier time a much closer relationship with the trump administration than they have with president obama. right now they are taking it on the chin, not saying much and think they can just wait it >>> so this blast of winter weather causing dozens of flight delays and cancellation at dulles airport and reagan national. and bwi things are back to normal but now the airlines are playing catch up. >> reporter: we are here at united airlines ticket counter. if you take a look there are still a lot of people standing in line here. we talked to several passengers. they told us about delayed

the kremlin is coaxing the parties and workers here with promises of government support.geness and meet one of its rising stars. . criminologist how are you? >> i'm good. it is nice to see you. private company based in moscow that tries to find ever elusive russian hackers, unmask them, and then hand them over to the authorities. ashlee: in your photo, you look like james bond. >> this is a photoshop. fraud: they investigate and theft. the kind of stuff that takes up 99% of cybercrime. ashlee: they walk a tightrope. they are cooperating with russian law enforcement while serving major international clients like citibank and microsoft. you have foreign clients, huge tensions, but as between china, u.s., and russia seem to be escalating when it comes to cyber security -- ashlee: it just seems like that would make it so much harder for you guys to expand your business. ashlee: do you think that with the tensions between the united states and russia right now, rest would be upset if you had an office in silicon valley? ♪ ashlee: you think of hackers as these guys sitting in t

warns that the kremlin's use of tacka tacking to u.s. election is just the beginning. >> translator: for putin it was very important not so much to demonstrate some direct influence on the american election process because it's not very possible in reality but to show that he's capable of such influence and now with the help of western press that actively brings this to light he will use this card and his relations with his counterparts from democratic countries as a threat to influence election process. >> and in short, when he challenged putin politically lost badly. yet he remains an acute student of his enemy's character and what it may mean for his pattern bromance for trump. >> translator: putin perceives trump as plane weak and controllable. trump perceives putin as clear and sincere. they are two quite emotional people they might be a very serious conflict. that's what i definitely wouldn't like to happen. >> at the heart of moscow and russian's relationship. his time has oil giant chief led him to work very closely with the krem

larry: -- retaliation overnight from the kremlin. jummy: the redskins, eyeing the playoffs. how do you need to dress if you're headed out? you to say good morning to here at 6:00. jummy olabanji. larry: and i'm larry smith. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] larry: raising the roof, as autria calls it. veronica: because your elbows only go up this high? at have -- i had no idea they could go past there. [laughter] larry: jummy: sorry. [laughter] see, the only guy up. every day, just for you, just for you every day. chronic a: that's as long as you don't have any [indiscernible] larry: i retired those. veronica: jeans and everything today. i been saying it's going to feel a lot like winter and look, it's going to look a lot like winter today, to. the blue on the doppler has a little bit in the way of right overming hagerstown, woodstock, winchester. it is starting to dry out. this pocket right here stand the best chance to the morning hours of seeing some of us flurries. that

it is up to the kremlin and he is in no hurry. that may be an indication that putin is waiting for trump to take the white house before he responds. this may be for a u.s. president who is more sympathetic to the kremlin point of view or deterring the russians from reacting so strongly. joe. >> so potential for no response at all? >> reporter: there is that potential, of course. the kremlin was pretty clear that there will be some response. the russian foreign ministry may give us details on the responses over the course of the day. it is early morning here local time. it is a highly unusual position that the kremlin finds itself in. does it go in strong or respond in kind and expel 25 u.s. diplomats here or hold back knowing trump will be in office in three weeks and hoping to improve the relationship with the administration. >> thank you for that, matthew chance. >>> could trump reverse the sanctions imposed by russia yesterday? here is what homeland security adviser said on "the lead with jake tapper." >> the reversal of sancti

right now what we need to know is why does this man's policy track with the kremlin? why does this man's policy seem dismiss sie dismissive of 70 years of american defense policies and strategies? why does this man seem to have poor knowledge of intelligence operations which have occurred with the acquiescence or the direction of the kremlin? this requires investigation, and believe me, i certainly hope we get to the bottom of it. >> thank you, senator chris kuntz, greg miller and alfred mann. >>> what do they want from him? this is "hardball," the place for politics. diabetes can be a daily struggle, even if you're trying your best. along with diet and exercise, once-daily toujeo® may help you control your blood sugar. get into a daily groove. ♪ let's groove tonight. ♪ share the spice of life. ♪ baby, from the makers of lantus®, ♪ slice it right. toujeo® provides blood sugar-lowering activity for 24 hours and beyond, ♪ we're gonna groove tonight. proven blood sugar control all day and all night, and significant a1c reduction. toujeo® is used to control high blood sug

clarissa, what more are you hearing from the kremlin? >>. >> what we're hearing from the kremlin, wolf, is essentially prove it or stop making these accusations. kremlin spokesman dimitry peskov said these accusations were becoming indecent and this is very much the line we have heard from the kremlin repeatedly since the allegations first surfaced back in october. they have routinely dismissed them as ludicrous nonsense and said there is no physical tangible evidence to prove any connection between the kremlin and russian involvement in the hacking. people who are watching state tv, an arm of propaganda for the kremlin, they're very much buying into the state narrative here, essentially, that russia had nothing to do with this. they say that basically this is an attempt to distract americans from all the deep problems that exist in if u.s. and that it's an attempt to poison the well as donald trump gets ready to assume the presidency. at the same time, what's interesting, on the one hand people say this is ridiculous, this is u.s. accus

diplomats in moscow to a new year's party here in the kremlin. that was a surprise, but it didn't change what america's top is intelligence agencies believe to be true, that state-sponsored hackers backed by the highest levels of the russian government had interfered in the u.s. presidential election, with a cyber-attack on the democratic party. was president putin behind it? last week i got a chance to ask him myself. mr. president, your country has been accused of state-sponsored hacking with the aim of influencing the result of the u.s. presidential election. president obama revealed that he told you personally to cut it out. so what did you tell him in response? the kremlin leader refused to tell me, dismissing all talk of hacking as sour grapes from the democratic party. today, president putin said he would work to restore relations with america under donald trump, and this evening, mr. trump responded by praising him for not engaging in tit-for-tat expulsions, saying in a tweet, "great move on delay by v. putin. i always knew he was very sm

hillary clinton's campaign chairman has lane blame, certainly on the kremlin, on the fbi as well. and maybe not so much on the white house. >> reporter: yeah. you know the fbi has come up again and again also from the administration. from theous, they tried to be extremely careful, from the white house, how they're wording things. only referring to things that donald trump has said, and kind of letting people read between the lines what they're implying there, and on the hack itself, you know, they keep emphasizing where the impact clearly was. that it was clearly hitting democrats during the campaign. so when we asked the white house the question, are you saying that russia then rigged this election? they say, well, you know, that's a question for analysts, but some analysts do say that the fbi's announcement of additional looks into hillary clinton's e-mails may have had something to do with it. now we hear john podesta, hillary clinton's campaign chairman, lay it out there very starkly in this op-ed saying in part, comparing the fbi's massive response to the overblown e-mail sc

the kremlin leader refused to tell me.e talk of hacking as sour grapes from the democratic party. "the losing side always tries to pass the buck", he said. but president obama had decided there was enough evidence to merit retaliation. as well as expelling diplomats, he ordered russian government compounds in new york and maryland to be shut down. us officials believe they were being used for intelligence. washington has announced sanctions against individuals, too. including these russian nationals, wanted by the fbi for cybercrimes. but today, president putin said he would work to restore relations with america under donald trump. what putin and trump expect from each other is a certain kind of decency. a certain kind of frankness. and no hypocrisy and no political correctness. by not expelling diplomats today, the kremlin was sending a new year's gift. to the new man in the white house. a sign that moscow wants a new relationship with washington. could 2017 be the year that russia finally comes in from the cold? and thi

what's the view of tillerson from the kremlin? >> reporter: oh, yeah, they don't know what the congress is worried about. i mean, as far as the russian parliament is concerned, he's the exact man for the job. he is not just a friend of russia but he's been actually awarded a medal as you mentioned by putin to show that he's a really big friend of putin. it's one of the highest civilian honors that you can have. he's done hundreds of billions worth of dollars of trade deals with russian counterparts to look for oil and gas in this massive country. he's met vladimir putin, the russian president, on countless occasions and has gone on record as being opposed sanctions against russia saying they are ineffective as an instrument of policy. he's someone that the russians have great expectations for, someone they think they can do a deal with. when you step back and look at what russians think about this election, they don't see donald trump as the winner or the republican party. they see the kremlin as the winner. they've got donald tru

not only saying that we know this is about the kremlin, but we know that the russian

tom, tonight a kremlin spokesman is accusing president obama of trying to spoil u.s./russian relations as well as undermine the foreign policy plans with the incoming administration. tom. >> gloria, thank you. >>> we turn now to that other big story we're following, the unimaginable heartbreak that has the world reeling tonight, the stunning loss of hollywood's leading lady, debbie reynolds, just one day after the passing of her beloved daughter carrie fisher. the tributes growing at this hour. mourners shaken by the eerie chain of events. this powerful picture saying it all, young carrie transfixed by her mother in the spotlight. and we're learning tonight the family may be planning a public memorial. here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: for the vivacious star of "singin' in the rain," the pain was just too much. debbie reynolds, a hollywood icon, who seemed to radiate sunshine. ♪ good morning, good morning to you ♪ >> reporter: -- passed away late wednesday, barely 24 hours after the death of her daughter carrie fisher. reynolds was 84. reynolds' son and fisher's

you could think of this as the kremlin laying a clever trap.k out of the dilemma we find ourselves is argued by a number of congressional democrats. some republicans, by the way, who are willing to open a door that may lead to questioning the legitimacy of an election in which the president will be sworn in in a month's time. that's a big win for the russians if they then get an administration whose legitimacy has been tarnished, is weaker and has less political capital. limit the investigation. don't take the threat seriously. don't deal wit and don't come up with a deterrent so this doesn't happen in the future. there is a narrow window in the middle where it is bipartisan, where both sides agree to deal with this in a productive way. sitting in washington i don't know how it looks from new york. we are not seeing signs that will happen. >> thank you. i appreciate it. let me come back. an emotional day in court as a jury finds dylann roof guilty in the massacre at a church in charleston. will roof get the death penalty? america's favorite pot

near the kremlin tonight, they were putting on a seasonal show, ahead of the new year celebrations.re was song and dance, and some musical theatre. but that was nothing compared to the political theatre being played out inside. first up on stage — the foreign minister. he advised president putin to expel 35 us diplomats. america had expelled 35 russians. in other words, tit for tat, cold war—style. it seemed inevitable. but no. vladimir putin said he wasn't going to stoop to the level of irresponsible diplomacy. he wasn't going to expel any americans. he even invited the children of all us diplomats in moscow to a new year's party, here in the kremlin. that was a surprise, but it didn't change what america's top intelligence agencies believe to be true — that state—sponsored hackers, backed by the highest levels of the russian government, had interfered in the us presidential election, with a cyberattack on the democratic party. was president putin behind it? last week, i got a chance to ask him myself. mr president, your country has been accused of state—sponsored hacking, with the

so, with the kremlin respond? well, every pass. so, with the kremlin respond ?ting a question to the president is not easy when there are 1000 of you and just one of him. but he took my question. are you not concerned that there is a danger of a new arms race if america is talking about boosting its nuclear arsenal? translation: the basis for arsenal? translation: the basis for a new arms race was there already after the us pulled out of the antiballistic missile treaty and started to create a missile shield. either we create our own shield, or, as we are doing, develop weapons to penetrate there is. this was not our choice. vladimir putin made it clear today that if there is to be a new arms race it will not be russia's halts, and delivered a defiant message, russia is stronger than any potential aggressor. —— fault. that goes for cyberspace as well. in recent months, russia has been accused of launching cyber attacks against america, either by using hacking to defeat hillary clinton, or otherwise. your country has been accused of state—sponsored hacking with t

the kremlin denied any involvement in the hacking.rab republic. the second document is a set of measures for monitoring the ceasefire and the third document is a statement about readiness to start peace talks. the head of the royal college of gps has warned that patients could be waiting more than a month to see a doctor this winter.

the kremlin will have to decide the russian president, according to the kremlin, spoke to him this morning is in no hurry to make a final decision. conscious of the fact that in less than three weeks donald trump much more sympathetic is going to take the reigns of office in the white house and the hope is still in russia that this poor relationship with the obama administration can be transformed into something much more positive under president trump. >> matthew chance, thank you very much. >>> this announcement from russia follows tough sanctions announced by the obama administration against russian agencies and expulsion of dozens of spies that u.s. officials say were posing as diplomats. let's get to evan perez live in washington with the very latest. good morning, evan. >> good morning, don. with only three weeks left in president obama's administration he is firing back at russia for their alleged meddling in the u.s. election. 35 russian diplomats now have less than 72 hours to leave the country. u.s. intelligence officials say they were spies posing as diplomats. the expulsion par

>> probably not what the kremlin expected. the kremlin depicted her as almost evil. after stolen parliamentary elections in russia, president putin claimed then secretary of state hillary clinton sent a signal to those demonstrators. that was really not true, and, in fact, what happened after that was, putin tightened up internally and in terms of repression, and became more aggressive in his foreign policy. she is a very steady, thoughtful, experienced international player. she would not have been an ideologue against putin. >> what does he stand to gain now under a trump presidency? >> president-elect trump has said friendly things towards putin. the kremlin now seems to be almost giddy relations are going to change without the kremlin making concessions. that's not really the case. the main problem in the relations between russia and the west is the russian military campaign in eastern ukraine where people are still dying. a minsk group led by french and germans to negotiate a solution to that. so far russia is not implementing a solution and until russia pulls ou

and with the new laws cooked up by the kremlin and rubberstamped in moscow, more and more, it's a sovereign internet. like anything sovereign, it needs walls to protect it. and virtual walls are going up today. to find out exactly how the russian web works, there's only one thing to do -- i had to upload myself. now that i'm inside, i will meet a tech oligarch, travel to into a, and dive surprising and very remote startup scene and chase the ever elusive russian hacker. >> you could create the technology which helps to predict the crime. >> silicon valley may be home to some of the biggest tech giants in the world, but it's being challenged like never before. some crazy tech geniuses have popped up all over the planet making things that will blow mind mind. my name is ashlee vance. i'm an author and journalist, and i'm on a quest to find the most innovation -- the most innovative tech and meet the beautiful geniuses behind them. the moscow over the past decade, 'dedication to the proletariat have given way to the modern russia. popular capitalist towers that poked through the clouds. the he

kremlin line, also the spreading of fake news. russia has a english language tv news channel called russia today which he also uses to spread i think in many instances its own propaganda. so russia has developed this kind of full spectrum display of information warfare techniques that it has applied very dramatically it seems according to the u.s. intelligence first in the presidential elections. that disturbing to russia watchers. >> matthew, do you see similarities between the way putin foout and donald trump use the media? >> i think there are some similarities. there are some differences as well. notably the fact that donald trump is much more communicative in the media. he may not give interviews to us that much. he uses twitter. vladimir putin has a twitter account but he doesn't use it by any means in any way the same way. and of course vladimir putins that a sort of state apparatus of media that basically is geared almost entirely towards putting across his view to the word and most importantly to him of course to the coun

near the kremlin tonight, they were putting on a seasonal show, ahead of the new year celebrations. there was song and dance, and some musical theatre. but that was nothing compared to the political theatre being played out inside. first up on stage — the foreign minister. he advised president putin to expel 35 us diplomats. america had expelled 35 russians. in other words, tit for, tat, cold wa r—style. in other words, tit for, tat, cold war—style. it seemed inevitable. but no. vladimir putin said he wasn't going to stoop to the level of irresponsible diplomacy. he wasn't going to expel any americans. he even invited the children of all us diplomats in moscow to a new year's party, here in the kremlin. that was a surprise, but it didn't change what america's top intelligence agencies believe to be true — that state—sponsored hackers, backed by the highest levels of the russian government, had interfered in the us presidential election w a cyberattack on the democratic party. was president putin behind it? last week, i got a chance to ask him myself. mr president, ourwhy country has

tom. >> mary bruce for us tonight, mary, thank you. >>> tonight the kremlin is using these new sanctions to build a wall between president obama and president-elect trump. and moments ago trump weighing in and making a promise. he's been more than skeptical that russia was involved in any cyberhacks or the election at all. abc's gloria rivera has more on that. >> reporter: tonight donald trump suggesting that crackdown on russia is misguided saying in a statement, it's time for our country to move on to bigger and better thing, nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people i will meet with leaders of the intli that statement echoing what he said wednesday. >> i think we ought to get on with our lives, the whole, you know, age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what's going on. >> reporter: the president-elect has repeatedly refused to accept the conclusion reached by 17 intelligence agencies in october that the creme learn interfered in the election. >> has no idea whether it's russia, china or anybody else. >> i am not -- >> it could be somebody sitti

but today the kremlin has snubbed the 0bama administration.id it hoped america would join the new round of peace talks when donald trump takes over. but will the ceasefire hold? today the free syrian army, a loose alliance of rebel factions, was cautious. translation: during the talks the russian government guaranteed to us that they will keep the syrian regime forces and their allies under control. during these talks we have not met anyone from the syrian regime. meanwhile the violence in syria continues. this amateur video purports to show the aftermath of an air strike today in the suburbs of damascus. schoolchildren running, screaming, through the smoke and the chaos. when it begins, can the ceasefire end this war? you can understand why many syrians have low expectations. 0ur correspndent steve rosenberg is in moscow and laura bicker is in washington. steve, a point you made at the end of your report which is really to do with how hopeful people in russia are that this deal could stick, what are that this deal could stick, what are your t

contacted the kremlin. the method of communication, you've heard of this before, the so-called red phone, which i've learned is neither red nor a phone, it's an e-mail line directly linking washington and moscow. the message, any interference would be considered, quote, a grave matter. the wording is important. senior investigative correspondent cynthia mcfadden is joining me here in the studio. cynthia, you have information on the back and forth between president obama and vladimir putin. and the wording was very careful. when president obama gave his press conference, he said, i told vladimir putin to cut it out. but, in fact, the choice of words was relevant. >> it's two different meanings, let's not confuse them. what the president was talking about in his press conference was when he pulled vladimir putin aside in the g-20 summit on september 4th. what we're talking about is a transmission, let's call it, between the white house and the kremlin on october 31st, halloween, i which very specific language

i love the way he invites american diplomatic kids to the kremlin. what kid doesn't dream of a new year's party at the kremlin? what american kid doesn't? trump i think has sort of played into it. by congratulating putin. it's a smart move on the part of the russians. you put no pressure on trump. you give him the option to drop the sanctions. this is a complete distraction. the sanctions are meaningless. the only ones that matter -- even those sanctions are not that severe, are the ones that were imposed on russia because of ukraine. the two leading candidates for the french presidency next year are both opposed to those sanctions. those sanctions are on their last legs. if you worry about sanctions and russian aggression, that's where the focus ought to be. these are going to be temporary sanctions on russia for a few weeks, maybe trump will keep them. as soon as there's an agreement on anything, some trivial nuclear deal or something, the dropping of the sanctions will be a part of that. this will be a distant memory. >> tom, what kind of situatio

the kremlin in the past few minutes just made a call to us. it's gathered journalists around it and said this is what our response will be. they're not going to identify what concrete measures exactly but they talked about the 35 diplomats expelled from the united states and saying there is no alternative but the principle of reciprocity. they're going to expel u.s. diplomats from russia as well. but they also said the final decision is up to vladimir putin, the russian president, and he is in no rush, they said, to make that decision now. what he is waiting for, we don't know, normally you would see a response very quickly to an action like this from the united states by the kremlin. we are in a difficult and unusual situation. donald trump takes office in, what, three weeks. maybe the kremlin wants to bide its time. >> the russian embassy in the uk sent out a nasty tweet with a picture of a lame duck and suggesting that they and the american people are glad to see the last of this hapless administration. >> reporter: yeah. i saw that. yes. i

that was the briefing we got from the kremlin. very thin in terms of concrete measures but a few hints at what we can expect in the days ahead from the kremlin in terms of a response to this. >> and then there are photographs. we just teased, you know, there are photographs of at least one person. the fbi is releasing that among those who are wanted by the fbi alexsey belan. when you say they are it is against international law to go after these individuals, what to the issue of whether hacking is breaking any law and what kind of response is coming from vladimir putin's office on the actual notion of infiltrating cyber tacking, especially as it pertains to u.s. elections? >> in terms of the legality of the united states putting pictures out there, the u.s. will have taken on its own advice. i'm merely passing on what the kremlin say their position. but it's an interesting development. they put these names out there, they put these photographs out there as well and i think it's interesting because it's the one thing that can't be

kremlin offcials say they will retaliate.said, in the interests of the us he will meet intelligence chiefs next week, to be updated on the facts of this situation. a partial ceasefire in syria has come into effect in the past few hours. president putin, who helped broker it, says the warring parties have declared their readiness to start peace talks. but he described the agreements as "fragile". extremists from the so—called islamic state and the group formerly known as the nusra front are not covered by the truce. now on bbc news, it's time for business live review 2016. this is business live, from bbc news.