individual of this inner circle because nothing happens in russia without his knowledge or approval. >> reporter: meanwhile, the white house looking to take covert retaliation, as well. saying, "these actions are not the sum total of our response. the u.s. says it is ready for any response from russia." >> we can anticipate a response of some kind. but the truth is that we enjoy the greatest capabilities of any country on earth. that's offensive and defensive. >> and obama has also declass y declassified intelligence to help cybersecurity companies in the u.s. and abroad identify, detect and disrupt russian cyberattacks in the future. poppy. >> evan perez, great reporting. do stay with us, we want to get to all this analysis in a moment. first, president-elect donald trump dismissing the u.s. sanctions against rush frau months. the president-elect has denied that the u.s. intelligence communities conclusions with russia meddling in the election