ashlee: dmitry ships all kind of gear to moscow. what is the play of the game?e: to get a taste of the high life of a tech oligarch, dmitry and i headed for a bite to eat at the tallest restaurant in europe, 354 meters above moscow traffic. tell me a little bit about your family history. his hometown was the answer to area 51. a top research laboratory where his uncle tested ballistic missiles and rockets during the space age. dmitry grew up programming on computers that plugged into soviet televisions. things really took off when he enrolled in moscow state technical university in 1995. ashlee: he might have failed to rewrite the world's most popular operating system, but he did stumble on the copycat business model that became mailroom group. at the height of the 2001 tech crash, he had to find a way to keep the new company alive with no cash. ashlee: it's hard to imagine now, but, in 2004, only 9% of russians had internet access. what was the russian government's assessments of the technology industry? ashlee: than 2012. russia had become the biggest internet

he has tried to copy silicon valley culture here in moscow. two instant messaging networks, a search engine, a price comparison website, and a time of online games. they also control the three largest russian social networking sites. the biggest one is vk, a facebook knockoff. the company took over in 2014 after its founder refused to reveal information about ukrainian activists to the kremlin. he left the company and now lives in self-imposed exile. to be treated as one of the world's biggest investors in robotics. he put $100 million into american firms that produce some submit -- familiar faces. what has been the biggest hits of all your robotic companies? >> i like all my investments. definitely, i like bb-8 a lot. ashlee: he ships all kind of nerd gear to moscow. out and sees if he wants to invest. with the play of the game? >> these are cute robots. that's good for you. as someone who puts all his money into robots. get a taste of the highlights of a tech oligarch, we had for a bite to eat at this restaurant in europe. 354 meters above t

it was coming, some kind of agreement. of course, moscow wa nts a kind of agreement. of course, moscow an early beginning of talks in the capital. and agreement between the assad government. how hard will that be? it never was for all factions to be? it never was for all factions to be involved. russia wants to split the syrian opposition. something that the russian military did it in chechnya a few years ago, split the opposition. the diehards and the extremists. the russian military effort in syria has a very serious handicap, we don‘t have good infa ntry handicap, we don‘t have good infantry there. the shia militias and has allahu —— and hezbollah are hostile. it is like the american awakening in iran, turn part of the suny opposition, that‘s what we are trying to do. -- sunni. more now on the death of the hollywood actress debbie reynolds, just a day after her daughter carrie fisher. the 84—year—old star of singin‘ in the rain was at her son‘s home planning her daughter‘s funeral, when she is believed to have suffered a stroke. six years ago, when debbie reynolds was a guest on the

moscow says it will retaliate. president—elect trump says it's "time to move on," but he will meet intelligence chiefs for a briefing next week. president putin declares a ceasefire deal in syria, brokered by russia and turkey. it came into effect a few hours ago. road to nowhere — why this street in a french town is causing controversy. hello. president obama has imposed sanctions on russian individuals and intelligence agencies, a response to russian cyber attacks during the presidential election and harassment of american officials. 35 russian diplomats have been given 72 hours to leave the country and two compounds are being closed. the government in moscow, which has denied any involvement in hacking, is considering retaliation. laura bicker reports from washington. russia stands accused of trying to help donald trump become president. moscow had been warned but now it is being punished for interfering in us elections. america's top intelligence agencies believe a cyber attack on the e—mails of hillary clinton

but in terms of the broader picture, what is seen from moscow is that moscow has this tool, is using this tool ander other tool it has in this arsenal in order to make russia great again. that russia was an empire, that it is still feeling the collapse of the soviet union very bitterly, very personally and that president putin sees it as his mission to reestablish russian dominance over the area that was the soviet union, including crimea, including ukraine. and that hacking is one tool it has in its arsenal and it's used in the the past quite effectively and quite in a well-documented way in europe and eastern europe and use it now to influence the u.s. election. >> perhaps they're making baseball caps with that phrase on them as we speak. richard engel early on a friday morning in moscow. ken delaney late on a thursday night in washington. gentlemen, thank you so much for starting off our broadcast with us tonight. >>> our next guest is a proud product of the state of montana and stanford university where he has now returned as professor of political science. more importantly for o

christopher: you are a bureau chief in moscow. does that compare with what you are hearing in moscow? >> christopher, to be precise, i'm hearing nothing that would give me any certainty that this agreement whatever come into force. to be honest, we did not get any official reactions from the kremlin yet. the spokesman, dmitry peskov, could not confirm the report. they are discussing ways to resolve the syrian conflict. the fact that moscow obviously has not confirmed the achieved agreement means that this agreement is vague and on precise until now. christopher: back to istanbul to you, dorian, i understand that the rebels in syria say that there has been no agreement on a cease-fire. would that be a major stumbling block to what we are hearing from turkish state media that there is a cease-fire agreement? dorian:: there will be a given cause for concecern over this bt some syrian rebel groups in syria, while awaware of thee agreement, say they woululd b be open to o the idea of a cease-fire. there has been meetings with syrian re

the on that, but as for moscow -- both for moscow and the others. they both have important roles to play. >> here in germany, the authorities are rolling out massive security measures ahead of the country's new year's eve celebrations. that is a nice surprise after the terror attack in berlin which left 12 people dead. it is also the reaction to cologne after last year's new year's eve celebrations. north african immigrants assaulting hundreds. >> berlin is getting ready. concrete barriers block the streets. these are security measures unprecedented in the german capital. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to ring in the new year here. amid increased police presence. here inside the party, you are probably in one of the center spot to germany. he had 13 kilometers, is hundred security guards and stringent security checks at the entrances. dangerous firecrackers are the least of firefighter's worries. 1600 firefighters will be on duty. a slight increase over the number planned. terrorism remains an abstract threat. that is what it was befor

the ceasefire announcement was made in moscow.yria has been torn apart by civil war. a country reduced to ruins. a conflict that has left more than 400,000 people dead. there have been peace initiatives before, which brought no peace. but today, russia announced a breakthrough. in the kremlin, russia's defence minister handed vladimir putin a list of syrian opposition groups which had signed up to a ceasefire with president assad. 60,000 rebels, he said, would stop fighting. this is how president putin summarised the deal. translation: three documents have been signed. the first document between the syrian government and the armed opposition is about a ceasefire on the territory of the syrian arab 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 on ending the syrian conflict. the syrian government was persuaded by russia to sign today's agreement. it's with an assortment of seven syrian rebel groups. turkey's role was crucial

from moscow, steve rosenberg reports. flowers outside the foreign ministry, a makeshift shrine in memory of andrei karlov, the russian ambassador assassinated in turkey. terrorism won't win, it says. to many russians, the war on terror has felt far away. this murder has made people remember. now, it is hitting home. inside, the foreign ministers of russia and turkey paid their respects. ambassador karlov was killed hours before the start of talks here on syria between russia, turkey and iran. "if we work together", said the turkish foreign minister, "we will find out who was behind this wretched, despicable crime." in ankara, the russian ambassador had been making a speech at a photo exhibition. standing behind him, the assassin, a 22—year—old riot squad police officer. he starts shooting and shouting. "god is greatest." "don't forget about aleppo, about syria." "so long as they aren't safe, you won't taste safety either." the assassination of russia's ambassador to turkey has shocked this country, and its president, vlad

how far did moscow go?e are live in russia. >>> in syria, the early hours of the cease-fire with the assad regime and rebel groups after more than five years of bloodshed. is this enough to get the sides talking about a permanent solution? we are live in the middle east. >>> and security being stepped up at the crossroads of the world. less than 48 hours to the big ball drop. how are authorities keeping times square a safe zone? welcome back to "early start." i'm alison kosik. >> i'm joe johns. we are right at 30 minutes past the hour. christine and john are off. breaking news. russia coming out with a new set of retaliatory measures against the u.s. the day after the white house issued sanctions against moscow for the computer hack surrounding the presidential election. we will have more on the specific sanctions from russia in a moment. the white house is backing up sanctions with a new report from the fbi and department of homeland security laying out unclassified technical details explaining how federal

from moscow, steve rosenberg, reports.ay, there were flowers outside the foreign ministry, a makeshift shrine in memory of andrei karlov, the russian ambassador assassinated in turkey. terrorism won't win, it says. to many russians, the war on terror has felt far away. this murder has made people remember. now, it is hitting home. inside, the foreign ministers of russia and turkey paid their respects. ambassador karlov was killed hours before the start of talks here on syria between russia, turkey and iran. "if we work together", said the turkish foreign minister, we will find out who was behind this wretched, despicable crime. " in ankara, the russian ambassador had been making a speech at a photo exhibition. standing behind him, the assassin, a 22—year—old riot squad police officer. he starts shooting and shouting. "god is greatest." "don't forget about aleppo, about syria." "so long as they aren't safe, you won't taste safety either." the assassination of russia's ambassador to turkey has shocked this country, and its p

on the streets of moscow, people reacted with defiance to the u.s. moves. >> our russia has always existed and will always exist. we don't have to negotiate with anyone. it is the motion negotiate with us. this is not nice on the apart of obama to leave in this way and enend the year like this. in my opininion, he built as his policies in regards to all countries. often says he will wait until donald trump moves into the white house before he decides on furtrther steps. whether trump would reverse the obama administration costs sanctions remains to be seen but putin's magnanimity is countingg on closer ties to the new truck administration. >> let's get to do from the united states on this. we are joined by wayne mary. he is a specialist in u.s. russian relations. it was a conservative think tank in washington. what is your take on and that's moscow today? how are you interpreting the russian reaction? collects and my view, president putin that this entire episode is much more about american domestic politics that it is about domestic relations. as be

laura, thanks very much, and steve rosenberg, in moscow.od actress debbie reynolds, who starred with gene kelly in the musical singin‘ in the rain, has died. she was 84. her death was announced a day after the death of her daughter, the actress carrie fisher. her son said the news had been too much for her to bear, as our correspondent david sillito reports. # i'm singin‘ in the rain, just singin‘ in the rain. singin‘ in the rain, debbie reynolds was just 19. she'd not really danced before this, but this performance made her a star. i was supposed to be an innocent, virginal little girl and certainly i was that. i think it was a tough deal for poor gene to be stuck with me, who had never danced. it would have been far better for him to have a great dancer. but i worked so hard that i think, in the end when i look at that performance of that little girl, i think i did a good job. # all i do is dream of you the whole night through.# 64 years later, her death comes just a day after losing her daughter, carrie fisher. she'd been planning herfun

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. kasia: andrew tabler is a senior fellow at the washington institute, where he focuses on syria. he explains the confusion around who is and is not included in the agreement. andrew: at the moment, the seven groups announced by moscow -- one of them, one of the largest formations in turkey -- there is a disagreement on whether it is included in this or not. they said they have not signed it. this is fairly normal in the syrian negotiation process, as different parties pressure groups on the ground and the government to get to the table. they want to wait to see who will show up. kasia: what happens with president assad? how is he going to be involved in these negotiations? can he be? andrew: i think his government is certainly going to be. this agreement is something process theo the west has been sponsoring but something closer to the iranian four-point plan, starting with the cease-fire, talk -- peace talks to get to a national unity government going. that means president assad stays

moscow is furious.er dmitry medvedev posted this: the russian embassy in the uk had nothing good to say either, about president obama — "you're a lame duck" is the message from moscow. but very soon there will be a pro—moscow president in the white house, and judging by president putin's decision — not to expel any americans — it could be that putin and donald will get along just fine. sir tony brenton is a former uk ambassador to moscow — he gave me his reaction to president putin's comments the thing that will be at the top of his mind now is, "how do i establish a good working relationship with trump?", and this is a part of preparing for that. so a new relationship starting from a very low point. mr putin wants to present himself as, "i want a good relationship, i'm the peacemaker in syria, we all hate isis and need to work together", he's trying to build a good relationship with trump. trump, as you know, has said, "we want a better relationship with russia." let's not kid ourselves, and it's a bit

moscow is furious. today, the prime minister posted this. out by restoring our ties, is ending its term in anti—russia death throes. rip the russian embassy in the embassy in the uk had nothing good to say either. soon there would be a pro—moscow president in the white house. judging by president putin's decision not to expel any americans, it could be that putin and donald will get along just fine. steve, how big a surprise was this decision today by president putin? well, this was vintage vladimir putin, just when you think the kremlin leader is going to follow convention and do what russian and american leaders have been doing since the cold war, in other words, tit—for—tat, you kicked our guys out, we are going to kicked our guys out, we are going to kick your guys out, he doesn't do that. he side—steps that and instead says i am not kicking anybody out. i am not going to lower myself, he said, to the level of irresponsible diplomacy and the key phrase that russia will build its future relations with the united states based on the polici

the us also referenced alleged harassment of diplomats in moscow.aid that the warring parties had declared their readiness to start peace talks but described the agreement is reached as fragile. several of the main rebel factions have backed the deal but some groups are excluded. tributes are being paid to the hollywood actress debbie reynolds who died atjust one day after the death of her daughter carrie fisher. debbie reynolds was 84 and best known for starring with gene kelly in the musical singin' in the rain. those are the headlines. now in a change to the scheduled hardtalk programme, here is a chance to see again the remarkable interview the actress debbie reynolds, who died earlier this

joining me now from moscow is pavel felgengauer, a russian military analyst. significance of the timing of this announcement of this truce, and whether it could really have happened any sooner, given what has been happening in syria? well, it happened when the agreement came together. it's not that it was deliberately postponed till the new year. it is a very complicated agreement between a great number of different groups outside states. it is russia, turkey and iran working together with the syrian assad regime and opposition groups, trying to put together some kind of agreement that would change the basic landscape of the syrian civil war. of course, this agreement came after the end of the battle in aleppo and as that battle ended, it was obvious that all sides needed an operational pause. so tactically speaking, it happened when everyone needed a kind of pause even if they are not going to follow up the ceasefire. they needed to rearrange their troops and map out aleppo. so some kind of agreement was coming. 0f some kind of agreement was coming. of course

we can talk to steve rosenberg in moscow. of tensions. how is the kremlin handling it? cautiously, i think is the answer to that one. it's no secret that russia and turkey have had quite a difficult and sometimes an explosive relationship. think back to just over a year ago when the turkish air force shot down a russian bomber. recently, they have tried to put that behind them and forge a new relationship basically because the two presidents have calculated it is in their interest to do that. that is why since last night, moscow and ankara have been going out of their way to display a united front and make it clear they do not want to followed again. the russians have a lot riding on this show of unity because they truly believe that the new moscow led diplomacy, the troika of russia, iran and turkey, is on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough in syria, which, if they can achieve it, and it is a big if, could elevate the russians to the position of chief power broker and player in the middle east. steve, thank you. the time

with the latest from moscow, here is steve rosenberg. steve: near the kremlin tonight they were putting on a seasonal show. ahead of the new year's celebrations, a song and dance with musical theater. but that was nothing compared to the political theater being played out inside. first up onstage, the foreign minister. he advised president putin to expel 35 u.s. diplomats. america had expelled 35 russians. in other words, tit-for-tat, cold war style. it seemed inevitable. but no, vladimir putin said he would not stoop to the level of irresponsible diplomacy, he wasn't going to expel any americans. he even invited the children of all u.s. 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

how will moscow fight back? we're live in russia. >>> a new cease-fire taking effect in syria after five years of bloodshed. is this enough to get the two sides talking about lasting peace? >>> and they are getting ready to party in times square. security is being stepped up ahead of the big new year's eve celebratio celebrations. we will tell you what new steps are taken. welcome to "early start." i'm alison kosik. >> i'm joe johns. it is friday, december 30th. 4:00 in the morning. christine and john are off. this morning, we are waiting to see what steps the russians plan to take. planning to retaliate today for the sanctions president obama just laid down punishing russia for election hacking. the white house announcing measures against four individuals and five entities and expelling dozens of diplomats drawing condemnation from the russian government and the president-elect. president-elect donald trump downplaying the hack but with a new twist. it is time for our country to move on to bigger and better thi

thomas low reporting from moscow. parliamentary commission has cleared a set of draft constitutional amendments that would greatly expand the powers of the presidency. critics fear the proposed reforms would allow president erdogan to rule unchecked. we spoke with jasper mortimer for more on the amendment process. jasper: the next step is that it will go to a vote in a full assembly of parliament, expected to take place in about four weeks. the government needs to thirds of parliament to pass -- needs thisf parliament to pass change as a constitutional amendment. only 230 votes to submit it to the people in a referendum. the biggest opposition parties party, chp and the adp they will vote against the constitutional change. the smallest opposition party, voteltra-right mhp, will for it. putting all of this together, it is expected the government will not get enough votes to pass it as a constitutional amendment, but it will get enough votes to put it to the people in a referendum. when the referendum takes place, pundi

from moscow steve rosenberg reports. the farewell began at the foreign ministry.ed by a guard of honour, ambassador karlov lay in state. three days after he was assassinated in turkey. vladimir putin came to pay his respects. he has awarded andrei karlov his country's highest honour, posthumously, hero of russia. from the president to the widow, words of comfort. then the coffin was brought here, to the cathedral of christ the saviour. the orthodox priests chanted prayers and blessings. they sang hymns for the soul of the deceased. it's very rare for an ambassador to be killed on duty, said the head of the russian church. andrei karlov will go down in russian history as a hero. this is the man who killed him, an off—duty turkish police officer. god is greatest, he had shouted. don't forget about aleppo, about syria. they were in mourning today in ankara at the russian embassy. but heavy security here meant it took some time to deliver the wreaths. as russia mourns the murder of one of its ambassadors the country's leadership doesn't want this to harm relationships

christopher: reporting from moscow.eports of the prime suspect in last monday's terror attack in berlin was caught on film by surveillance cameras. it seems to indicate that the tunisian national may have passed through on his way to milan where he was shot dead by a policeman on friday. meanwhile, the funeral has taken place of -- for the time woman who died in the attack. reporter: a town in mourning as it bids farewell to one of its own. she was one of the 12 victims in berlin. a painful time for this attire in town -- this italian town, as it was for countless others. >> the entire town is mourning because a fellow citizen passed away after the tragic incident in berlin. i know her votto -- i know her father and her family. they're very good people. they work hard for the children. another daughter has died in these tragic circumstances. >> it was very touching, but there is also a lot of dignity. there was a lot of dignity from the relatives and the parents, and the grandmother. reporter: it has been a week since t

steve rosenberg, in moscow, thank you.r early stage prostate cancer as "truly tra nsformative" and they hope it could be used to treat other cancers. the technique, developed by researchers from university college london, uses a laser to activate a drug made from deep—sea bacteria. trials, involving more than 400 men, found it destroyed tumours without causing severe side effects. 0ur medical correspondent, fergus walsh, has the story. this is the technology which represents a huge leap in prostate cancer treatment. it involves a drug derived from bacteria found in the darkness of the ocean floor. this laser optic fibre is inserted into the prostate, the light activates the drug which kills the cancer. when gerald capeham was diagnosed with early prostate cancer, he was worried it might develop and he'd need surgery or radiotherapy, which can cause incontinence or impotence. instead, he became one of the first successfully treated with the new light therapy and had no long—term side effects. well, i feel incredibly lucky t

me over the summer saying hey, we have reports of carter page going to moscow, meeting with russian officials and giving them the wink and the nod indicating that they should release the documents that they hacked to wikileaks and of course, that happened. so i mean, the release happened.

over to moscow, lucy cavanaugh joins us from there. lucy, interesting to watch this on public display. 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 dom

the foreign ministry in moscow confirmed the ambassador‘s death.to russia's relations with turkey, the countries backing opposite sides in syria's war, with turkey strongly opposed to president assad. 0ur turkey correspondent is in istanbul. reports are coming in even as we speak. i wonder if you can even as we speak. i wonder if you ca n fles h even as we speak. i wonder if you can flesh out any more details on this. events have moved fast. it happened two hours ago and within the last 30 minutes a confirmation that andrey karlov has succumbed to his injuries. we are getting reports that the gunman was a policeman in ankara, having shouted alluha akbar and aleppo and revenge. the government of russia are calling this an act of terrorism. these governments are key players in the syrian crisis. what do you think could be the wider impact of this shooting? in recent weeks turkey has been making much of its political cooperation with russia after relations came closer together. there was wrap —— there was much play of cooperation with moscow and other

moscow is furious.minister dmitry medvedev posted this: "it is sad that the obama administration, which started out by restoring our ties, is ending its term in anti—russia death throes. rip." the russian embassy in the uk had nothing good to say either, about president obama — "you're a lame duck" is the message from moscow. but very soon there will be a pro—moscow president in the white house, and judging by president putin's decision — not to expel any americans — it could be that vladimir and donald will get along just fine. sir tony brenton is a former uk ambassador to moscow — he described what he thought might be the motives behind president putin's stance. he is trying to build a good relationship with trump. trump has said he wants a better relationship with russia. let's not kid ourselves, and british politicians have not got the message. we were in the extraordinary leap danger situation with russia and america, when both sides were talking about shooting them planes over syria. russia was te

reaction from moscow, next. >>> welcome back. i'm stephanie gosk here at msnbc world headquarters in new york. here's what we're monitoring. happening now, another russian hack targeting the u.s. this time within the system of an electric vermont utility. the hack first reported by the "washington post" comes just days after the obama administration leveled new sanctions against russia over its alleged cyber meddling in u.s. elections. let's turn to nbc's lucy cavanaugh who joins us from moscow. is the russian government commenting on this report? >> reporter: hey, stephanie. happy new year. great to be on with you. no comment at this point from the russian government or anyone here to this report. in fact, it hasn't even really made the headlines. a few local wire agencies reported it. said the "washington post" alleged this hack and said the "washington post" did not criteria any sort of evidence. we should be careful, of course, with this kind of story. because it does seem that there was one computer that was infected with th

matthew, how is this news mitting moscow? >> well, it's all happening so quickly that we haven't had a chance to get any reaction yet, i tried to speak to the kremlin, i've asked them for their reactions, same with the foreign ministry as yell but they've not got back to us yet. i'm certain they will react. they said as much just last night, the russian foreign ministry spokesman telling me that if u.s. diplomats are targeted in the way they have been and the state department is saying it's expelling 35 russian diplomats from washington and san francisco from my early reading of this statement then that's going to be answered in a reciprocal way. the russian foreign ministry saying that this will ricochet immediately on u.s. diplomats operating in moscow and in the rest of russia as well and so i expect we're going to see. this hadn't been announced yet but i expect to see a tit for tat reciprocal action in the hours ahead. >> one of my producers telling me in my ear, matthew, that diplomat there is have 72 hours in which to

so what are we expecting to moscow's response? matthew chance is there in moscow tonight and joins us with the latest. matthew, what is the kremlin saying they are planning to do and have they taken any steps yet? >> reporter: in terms of what they are planning to do the kremlin have been pretty tight-lipped. obviously reciprocal actions that you just mentioned are the only things that count in a situation like this. so they are giving the sense that there are going to be u.s. dploomts potentially facing expulsion as well. they haven't officially announced anything. i've heard from the foreign ministry any kind of first announcements will come through tomorrow morning local time. it is the middle of the night at the moment so they are not saying anything. the final decision will be made with vladimir putin and that's been made clear as well and he's not in any rush according to the kremlin to make that decision. whether he's going to hold back in the donald trump takes the white house or act sooner remains to be soon in terms of t

documents in moscow. we learned this afternoon that the obama administration identified 35 russians with diplomat status in the u.s. whom they believe to be intelligence officers or spies, declaring them persona nongrata, giving them and their families 72 hours to get out. the u.s. is also shutting down two russian compounds in maryland and new york and imposing sanctions on those inside russia believed to be behind the cyber attacks. they're naming names of individuals and agencies, including two people already warranted by the fbi for cyber crimes. jim sciutto joins me now. jim, this is just the response we know about. >> reporter: exactly. this line from the president's statement. these actions are not the sum total of our response to russia's aggressive actions. we will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing. not too subtle code there for cyber activity that may have happened already or may still be happening. keep in mind, the administration says that these cyber at

for more on russia's reaction now, let's go live to moscow. cnn senior international correspondent matthew chance is there. so, matthew, what do we know about these 35 operatives and the six russians back in russia? >> well, not a great deal. i mean, the 35 individuals, the russian citizens who have been expelled from the united states, they're diplomat bus we understand that are mainly working in the consulate so that needs to be clarified by u.s. authorities. vladimir putin's spokesperson is dimitry peskov and he gave us the first indication of what the kremlin is going to do in retaliation for these pretty harsh sanctions that came from the state department and treasury against individuals and institutions. they didn't come out with specific measures but said these are groundless allegations, hacking allegations and the allegations that were made by the state department that u.s. diplomats in moscow have been mistreated and unfairly targeted. they were groundless allegations, the sanctions and the expulsions are illegal under international

embassy in moscow, was arrested. russians claim they caught him with wigs, dark glasses and cash trying to recruit a russian agent. fogel was expelled. it was never clear if he was set up by the russians. earlier this year, a u.s. diplomat was tackled and beaten by a uniformed russian police officer as he tried to enter the american embassy in moscow. >> the action was unprovoked and it endangered the safety of our employee. >> reporter: in that latest incident, the u.s. wound up expelling two russian diplomats. jim? >> thank you. a governor takes his own legislature to court to get some power back. the judge's ruling is next. an. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. and if you have more than one liberty mutual policy, you qualify for a multi-policy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™.

we've invested a lot in the infrastructure in moscow and the moscow area. in transport, for example. and we do the same with other places like st. petersburg. just recently, we launched a new road there that will be very helpful for the entire northwestern part of russia. and there are other examples in other parts of russia. you asked about public debt. this is a very serious issue. the debt of a certain province should not exceed 50% of its internal revenue. and the situation is quite positive. it means the government has a very proper balanced financial policy. a budgetary policy. there are only five provinces in russia that have violated this rule. require of course special support special , attention. but on the whole, i have to say that this is a serious issue. the debt of russia is over 2 trillion rubles. even though the government takes necessary steps to address this problem, this year for example, we have allocated 380 billion toles, providing loans refinance this debt, drawing the , the from commercial banks finance ministry loans, which have low

moscow has called the killing a terrorist attack.ge on social media just a few days ago. and here, prepare for a week of industrial action in the run—up to christmas.

our moscow correspondent steve rozenberg has the latest.ear 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 backed, by the highest levels of the russian government, had interfered in the us presidential election. with a cyber attack on the democratic party. was president putin behind it? washington suspects he w

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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 change. >> interesting. all right. thank you for that, matthew chance, in moscow. >>> the donald trump thank you tour hitting the road again. president-elect makes a stop in wisconsin later today and he will be joined by the vice president-elect mike pence and the speaker of the house paul ryan. the next stop on the thank you tour is hershey, pennsylvania. it is set for thursday. >>> donald trump has a message for ceos. look out. the tweet yesterday about lockheed martin's f-35 program and another last week at boeing, trump is firing a warning to business leaders. many businesses are feeling optimism right now. the stock market is up 6% difference the election. record highs. jobless rate down 6%. the survey last week shows outlook in sales for hiring in the retail sector is the best in years. what can business leaders do? ceos should not take donald trum

we have cnn's matthew chance with the latest reports from moscow.ng out terrorism. that seems to be changing now. >> reporter: not really. the russian transport minister has been on the russian state television saying we're still looking at technical failure or pilot error as the main version of events to account for the sudden loss of the russian aircraft over the black sea. just a few minutes after it took off. perhaps he softened a bit on the idea that not all investigations into the possibility of terrorism have been closed. in the russian state media, a lot of speculation and articles when an aircraft drops off radar, it is not wise to rule out terrorism quickly before the investigation is completed. that investigation is nowhere near completed. very much in recovery phase of the operation trying to retrieve the bodies. 92 people on board the aircraft. including 64 performers part of the russian army military choir en route to syria to give performance to the troops based in syria. also trying to retrieve aircraft parts to piece together what e

we will go to moscow for the latest. molly: we start with a major seoul, thehakeup in south korean president impeach this friday after weeks of antigovernment protests against her rule. scandalence peddling caused park geun-hye's suspending of her powers. go to jason strother, who joins us from the south korean capital. i understand there is official reaction coming in about the impeachment. we heard from president park herself. jason: right. she expressed regret over causing all this chaos, as she said. it was not an admission of guilt, by any y means. she has been accused of pressure in some of south korea's largest companies to give tens of millions of dollars to a close friend who embezzled much of those funds. but she says she is stepping down and peacefully handing that will peacefully wait for the constitutional court to make its ruling on whether or not the impeachment was valid. said, where dong things go here for south korea. -- n co jason: the prime minister has speech ofacceptance his new powers. he will be a

this after months of dismissing the intelligence that points to moscow. those details ahead. >>> plus, a disturbing discovery in the mysterious crash of an egyptair jet back in may. we are now getting word traces of explosives have been found on the victims. stay here. this is cnn. thope to see you again soon.. whoa, whoa, i got this. just gotta get the check. almost there. i can't reach it. if you have alligator arms, you avoid picking up the check. what? it's what you do. i got this. thanks, dennis! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. growwwlph. it's what you do. oh that is good crispy duck. and my brother ray and i started searching for answers. (vo) when it's time to navigate in-home care, follow that bright star. because brightstar care earns the same accreditation as the best hospitals. and brightstar care means an rn will customize a plan that evolves with mom's changing needs. (woman) because dad made us promise we'd keep mom at home. (vo) call 844-4-brightstar for your free home care planning guide.