Unfortunate if that were if politics were the motivating factor here. Holiday havoc. A massive noreaster blanketing new england with snow, as much as two felt expected as cities around the world prepare for new years celebrations. New york city adding thousands of police officers, and the countdown begins to 2017. But we begin today with yet another surprising twist in the diplomatic war between the u. S. And russia. Just an hour ago, Vladimir Putin finally responded to new u. S. Sanctions saying he will not expel any americans. The move even more shocking because of what happened just hours before. Overnight, the Russian Foreign minister publicly proposed expelling 35 americans from russia after america expelled 35 of theirs, and gave them 72 hours to leave the country. Sergey lavrov also proposed seizing two American Buildings in russia in response to america closing two Russian Properties in maryland and new york. The u. S. Sanctions are in response to alleged russian interference in u. S. Elections, but also this, what the u. S. Says is harassment of american dements in russia including this attack by a Russian Police officer. These are a set of actions to impose costs and to make clear not only to the russian government but to other actors that there will be consequences for violating frankly what our International Norms of behavior. Just moments ago, Vladimir Putin put out a statement calling the move a provocation aimed to further undermine russian american relations. Then he went further. He invited all children of u. S. Diplomats to spend new years with him at the kremlin. The diplomatic fallout still developing. The political fallout already at a fever pitch. Donald trumps team fearing politics is at play here. Thats not the way that peaceful transitions of administrations work in our great democracy. We have every angle of this fastmoving story covered from maralago to moscow. Lets start with nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols. The Russian Foreign minister recommends these measures to retaliate for the new u. S. Sanctions and Vladimir Putin comes out and says no, were going to step back. Im 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 rearview 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 leadup, the walkup, 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 years party. One final thought on this. Putin starts 2017 in a much stronger position than he did in 2016. The price of oil, which is largely a big source of revenue for his government, up almost 50 since the beginning of year. Hes starting this conversation with the Trump Administration from a position of strength. Chris. And this just happened, but hans, has there been any reaction from the white house yet to the decision by putin . White house is still sleeping in hawaii. I touched base with folks in the pentagon and the state department. Usually the state Department Takes longer to filter everything through and have the proper diplomatic speech statement. I suspect well get background comments and then an official statement at about 12 53, give or take a couple 20 seconds. Thats a very specific prediction. Thank you so much. Joining me from moscow, moscow correspondent fred weir. Why do you think putin decided not to retaliate . Whats going on here . Well, it is a remarkable departure from diplomatic tradition. I mean, i cant think of a single case where an expulsion like that wasnt met with a mirror image, tit for tat expulsion. I dont think its ever happened before. So putin is clearly making a calculation. That he doesnt want to poison the well, build up the acrimony, which of course, any kind of mirror image response would do. He wants to keep the field clear. Maybe hes handing donald trump a victory, because trump can say, see, im spreading good will even before i take office. Hes clearly calculated this. Its smart, i think. But hes playing out the clock until that threeweek horizon comes and donald trump takes over. And maybe playing a little bit to what we have called here in the United States the bromance between putin and trump by saying essentially to the american people, see, donald trump is right. Im not as bad a guy as barack obama would make me out to be . Well, yeah. Of course. There are no words for the frustration and anger that the russian establishment has toward the Obama Administration. And its sort of reached its peak last night with these expulsions and accusations. So its clear that people here are really going to be happy to see the back of obama. And i guess putin is, you know, hes clearly playing to trump. Theres no doubt about it. Its obvious. But hes playing a good game. And part of it is the statement that he put out, which is unlike any statement i remember reading from Vladimir Putin, but the one that catches everybodys eyes. I invite all children of u. S. Diplomats accredited in russia to the new year and christmas childrens parties in the kremlin. Have you ever seen anything like that . No. It is a traditional thing. Its usually for russian children and so on, but thats lovely. I mean, i hope i get to go there myself. Its a really nice ceremony. But thats clearly putin being a very, very nice, almost evungural santa claus. The magnanimous Vladimir Putin. Thank you so much, and let us know if you end up at that new years party. Appreciate it. I want to go live to Hallie Jackson in west palm beach, florida, who is covering donald trump as he spends the holidays at his maralago estate. What are you hearing from the trump team, if you have heard anything yet, in response to all of this . And again, all of this has just been unfolding in the last minutes. Exactly, this news just came out not long ago, that Vladimir Putin is throwing the ball into Donald Trumps court here. There is no hint from the president elects statement that came out late yesterday as to what he might do come january 20th or january 21st when it comes to potentially reversing these sanctions or not. You have seen the statement. Lets pull it up, saying it is time to move on. So in effect, doubling down on what he said two nights ago at maralago not far from where we are. Adding that nevertheless, he will in fact meet with intelligence officials next week to get an update on what he calls the facts of the situation. Remember, senior u. S. Intelligencefficials have told nbc for a couple months now that the president elect and his team have been briefed on the relationship between russia and this attempt to interfere in the u. S. Elections since late summer. This essentially seems to be a way for donald trump to buy himself a little time here. To figure out how exactly hes going to handle this, and to see, and get a sense, i think, of how the political fallout is going to play. Donald trump is somebody, as we have seen again and again throughout the campaign and the transition, likes to test the waters. See how things sort of are being reacted to, see how things play. And then make decisions, so i think that politically, he is a bit boxed in. If he does reverse the sanctions, hes admitting he does not trust his own intelligence officials, the fbi, the cia, once he becomes president , and he may get pushback from Top Republicans in congress who want even tougher sanctions against russia. If he does reverse the sanctions, he could argue hes trying to reset the relationship with russia, that hes trying to negotiate, you could say maybe a better deal with russia so that russia doesnt put countermeasures on the United States as well. Ball in truffmps court and pley on his plate with three weeks to go until inauguration. We heard from paul ryan, from Mitch Mcconnell after the president made the decision about sanctions, praising them, saying we should have done more sooner, but its clear there is a lot of concern on capitol hill, and you know, you have mccain, you have linldzy graham, who are talking about these hearings and so on. Who is the president elect going to use . Is it going to be mike pence going to capitol hill to make nice with all this . Potentially. Listen, that has been, right, mike pences role from almost the second he was announced as the Vice President ial pick. I imagine you will see his team come out there and try to do some leazing, if you will, with members of congress. But this is a bit of a tricky situation for donald trump. You have the potential for the congressional hearings coming into play. His transition team, his top aides have come out and publicly and privately said, hey, this is an attempt to delegitimize the election of donald trump by president obama playing politics three weeks before the inauguration. Why didnt he do that . The question is raised, why didnt he do this prior to the election when they first were getting some of this information . Its possible that is an argument, chris, that donald trump could use if he does decide to reverse the sanctions. Hallie jackson at maralago or near maralago for us. Thank you so much. Also getting new details about some of the suspected Russian Hackers on the sanctions list, and msnbcs cal perry is here with more on that. Fascinat. Fantastic. Theyre wanted by the fbi, not on the fbis most wanted list, which is a dementic sort of difference there. I love this, by the way, the aliases. M4g. This individual is really wanted for hacking into ecommerce companies, doloading their data bases, taking their Consumer Information and selling it, which is why theres a 100,000 reward. Hes wanting in arizona and california. This is mr. Lucky 12345 here. And again, he was part of the financial end, if you were to buy everything thats being said here because were talking about bank fraud. He would have been running the sort of financial end of what the russians had set up as a diplomatic sort of cover for these individuals. 33 years old, and for that bank fraud, a 3 million reward. Not chump change. You have these two upscale compounds, one in maryland, one in new york. What do we know . This is the corsica river compound. This is the one thats more sort of legitimately for recreational purposes. Theres a pool in it, a tennis court there, and we know this was used by the Russian Ambassador throughout the 80s. Were going to talk more about that. Thats nice looking. Really nice. Both of the compounds are really nice. This one is near washington college. And the one we have in glen cove. Long island, this is really interesting. 49 acres. Massive. Really beautiful compound. In the 80s, and this was in the New York Times this morning, in the 1980s in the cold war, we took away their beach permits for parking because there were diplomatic spats going on. Both of these compounds have been known to u. S. Intelligence, have been known to the diptdic community for 30 years. In those neighborhoods, theres always a lot of gossip about whats going on inside. In maryland, really gossipy. Very interesting. Coming up, howling winds and massive snow prepare to pound sections of the northeast. Well take you to the path of the last major storm of 2016. But up next, is donald trump boxed in by these new sanctions on russia . A member of the Foreign Affairs committee will join me next. Nutritional needs. All in one. Purina one. Healthy energy, all in one. 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Its one president at a time and the sitting president has to deal with whats going on, but has president obama and very deliberately, sort of put the squeeze on donald trump . I think she has some never to say that, to be quite honest with you. When you thing about the president. The president should be praised for not playing politics with this. You know, he decided not to utilize or talk about what was going on while the campaign was going on,nd he based his inrmation for moving forward based upon the intelligence reports. Intelligence reports that i might add that donald trump refuses to go see. In fact, he just poohpoohs it and says ill go next time next week, which is unprecedented. A president elect not getting an intelligence briefing every day so that you know what theyre talking about. He said in the statement its time for our country to move on to bigger and better things. From a man who talked about the Birther Movement for over two, three, four years. Never moving on. And then hes going to say on something critical to the democratic process of the United States of america, not democrats. But democrats and republicans, that were not going to spend the time thats necessary to look into how russia tried to infringe on our democratic process . That is problematic in and of itself. Thats not political. Thats problematic, and its problematic just for democrats, its problematic for democrats and republicans. A number of your colleagues have weighed in on this. House speaker ryan put out a statement after the white house announcement, and he said, while the action by the administration is overdue, it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with russia and served as a prime example of this administrations ineffective Foreign Policy that has left america weaker in the eyes of the world. I guess it does beg the question and its asked by some democrats as well, is this overdue. We know that the president delayed, that hes waw concerned about looking as though he was interfering in the election. Should he have acted sooner . This president moved based upon the intelligence he received from virtually every United States intelligence agency. But he had this intelligence before the election. Could you imagine what donald trump and his spokesperson would be saying had he come out with this during the election . But should he be basing decisions of u. S. Foreign policy on what donald trump has to say . Its not based upon what donald trump has to say. Its based upon the integrity of our democratic process. Thats what he was trying to protect. He wanted to make sure that the integrity of the democratic process, because what the russians were trying to do is make sure that the process was questioned. And he as president of the United States, he knew about this election, but he knows that the issues were talking about are bigger than any one election, and as a result, now that the election is over, and that theres clear evidence from every intelligen agency, those individuals who attempted to persuade and or get involved in our system, that they pay a price for it. And its not surprising because he said it weeks ago. He said hes going to do two things. He will do something overtly and also other things covertly. There is an argument to be made and i have heard it made by a lot of russian experts who say that overtstuff is more important because you do need to send a very public message, and vp rp responds to being embarrassed, belittled, taken on. So is this enough . Because there is an argument to be made, 35 people get kicked out, more will come in. Close down a couple compounds, they cant go swimming. But in the grand scheme of things, given that were talking not just about potentially influencing a u. S. Election, but its also been mentioned, the harassment of u. S. Diplomats on russian soil, is this enough . And there will be things that have to be done covertly. You cannot give up all of your information, how you obtain it, a lot of things that are classified that need to remain classified for the future and what needs to be done. You dont want people to know all of your tactics and whats moving. So yes, theres some things you have to do overtly, some things you have to do covertly, and the president of the United States, the current president , has said he would do both. What is unprecedented is you have a president elect stepping in on the decisions made by the president , the current president. And whether it be 20 days or 22 days, he is the president of the United States. Hes getting his Intelligence Briefings every day. And therefore, hes making his decisions based on that, unlike the president elect. Thanks so much for coming in. Happy new year to you. Coming up, a Million People or 7 Million People under a Winter Weather advisory, as heavy wet howling snow is set to pound new england. Well go lave to a city in the path of the storm next. Plus, its new years eve eve. Well go to times square as the nypd prepares a record Security Force to bring in 2017. My friends think doing this at my age is scary. I say not if you protect yourself. What is scary . Pneumococcal pneumonia. Its a serious disease. My doctor said the risk is greater now that im over 50 yeah. Yaha. Just one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from Pneumococcal Pneumonia an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. Prevnar 13® is approved for adults 18 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause Pneumococcal Pneumonia. 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We need to make sure that we have a beautiful place for our children to live. Together, were building a better california. Welcome back. Time now for your morning primer, everything you need to know to start your day. We begin with president obamas striking back at russia with a series of economic and diplomatic sanctions. Russian president Vladimir Putin condemned those measures this morning but rejected his own Foreign Ministers proposal to take similar retaliatory response. A ceasefire continues to hold in syria despite several reports of clashes between government and rebel forces minutes after it went into effect last night. The United States is not involved in brokering or keeping the ceasefire. A texas mother is dead, her two daughters injured after they fell 20 feet from a chair lift at a colorado ski resort. An investigation is under way into what caused the three to fall. Plans in process for Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher to have a joint mother daughter funeral. And its game set love match for serena williams. The tennis superstar announcing she is engaged to reddit cofounder alex ohanian. Millions of people in the northeast are dealing with a winter storm thats dumped up to a foot of snow or more in some parts as we head into the Holiday Weekend. A classic northeaster has slammed into six states. Were talking new york, pennsylvania, vermont and maine, bringing with it a mix of ice and dangerous winds. Morgan joins us live from concord, New Hampshire. A Winter Wonderland there, but it seems to have let up at least for now. Reporter thats right, take a look at this. This is how much snow we had in concord, already seeing 9, 10 inches here. Thats as millions of people are waking up under this Winter Weather advisory. Really trying to recoup in parts of new england after the northeaster slammed this region. Parts of New Hampshire saw up to 17 inches. Parts of maine saw up to 25 inches. Still more than 100,000 people there waking up with no power. One of the interesting things i heard from a lot of people in this region. Look, this is actually the wintry mix were needing this year. Some parts of the state here in New Hampshire in the ski resource especially, they took a pretty big hit last winter. They saw only up to 4 inches of snow. This year in december alone, they got up to 17 inches and overnight with that foot and a half, this is really kind of helping the people, especially in the tourism industry, going into new years and the Holiday Weekend when lots of people are coming here and hoping to hit the slopes. Morgan radford, thank you so much for being out in the conditions for us. Meantime, police in new york and cities around the country as well as the world are on high alert, tightening security ahead of new years eve celebrations after terror attacks in berlin this month and nice this summer, Law Enforcement agencies are stepping up efforts to keep everyone safe here in new york and beyond. Stephanie gosk is live in times square where at least a Million People are expected to usher in 2017. Stephanie, in light of those attacks, what are we seeing thats different from the nypd and other officials this year . Reporter hi, chris. Well, they will have more officers on the ground here than they have ever had before. 7,000 here in times square. You can see a little bit of whats being done already, if you look around, you see some of the barricades, but one thing youre seeing on the streets behind me that you will not see on new years eve is traffic. They will block off the roads, as they always do, the big difference this year, theyre going to have 65 of those massive sand trucks blocking off the cross streets, and as you mentioned, berlin, nice, those vehicle attacks, that is on the mind of Law Enforcement, not just here in new york city, but alsoround the country and the world. You have similar measures being taken in boston and in chicago, in pasadena where they will have the rose parade and the rose bowl. Law enforcement concerned about those vehicle attacks, also overseas, an increase in security in places like berlin, cologne, also in london. There are no specific threats. Law enforcement here in this city say actually, the chatter, the socalled terrorism chatter, is low in recent days. But obviously, theyre on high alert here and everywhere else. Theres also a little controversy because in a press conference to talk about these security measures, bill de blas blasio, the mayor of new york, said, and im not giving an exact quote, but basically, he doesnt understand why a Million People would want to stand out in the cold to watch a ball drop. Reporter bill needs to come out here. Mayor de blasio needs to come out here and chat with some of these people. I think maybe if you live in new york city for too long, you become inured to the magic of times square, and in peoples minds who dont live here, this is the place to be. And we are hours and hours before the ball drops, but you already feel that energy in times square. And you know, bless him. Come out and suffer in the cold. I take my hat off to them. Im sure theyll have a great time. I think bill de blasio has to be there anyway. So stephanie, thank you so much. We appreciate it. I havent found a single person, i have been asking people as they come and sat on set, if eyre going to go somewhere for new yeas eve. Theyre like, im staying home. Coming up, what is putins plan . We know on new years hes invited the American Children to the kremlin, but he did shock everyone by not retaliating against u. S. Sanctions. A former ambassador to russia will join me next. Oh, thats lovely. So graceful. The corkscrew spin, flawless. His signature move, the flying dutchman. Poetry in motion. And there it is, the baby bird. Breathtaking. A sumo wrestler figure skating . Surprising. Whats not surprising . How much money heather saved by switching to geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Anknows how it feelsiabetes to see your numbers go up, despite your best efforts. But what if you could turn things around . What if you could. Love your numbers . Discover oncedaily invokana®. Its the 1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitor that works to lower a1c. 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Well, i think, chris, hes playing the trump card, if i could put it that way. Im sorry to use that analogy. But he clearly would, i think, like to see whether in fact with President Trump in office after the 21st of january, theres something that can be done in u. S. russian relations. I think in both sides, there is a serious interest in this, despite the fact that coming out of the sanctions that president obama has put on, theres a significant amount of russian support, particularly im sorry, significant amount of republican support, particularly in the congress. It was interesting reading his statement, how he said its regrettable that the Obama Administration had decided to do this, but nevertheless, wrote Vladimir Putin, i offer my new year greetings to president obama and his family. I wish all of you happiness and prosperity. How happy is he that barack obama is going to be out of office in 21, 22 days . One wonders whether that is a sincere farewell or merely a way of putting, if i could put it this way, president obama in some place where he would like to see him go. Let me ask you about the sanctions themselves. Any effect, really, longterm effect, do you think this is a proportional response. Will it have impact . I think its an important response that will in a clear way signal to president putin that the u. S. Is capable and is prepared to take action. I think that its interesting that president putin has turned down the opportunity to escalate this, particularly, i guess, in light of the coming inauguration. As i mentioned a moment ago and where things are going. The really interesting question is 35 russians will certainly be discumoted in a serious way, having to leave in 72 hours and the russians will clearly miss having access to their sites in long island and in maryland for recreational and other purposes. I dont think this is serious setback to u. S. russian relations, which are already, if one could call it, pretty seriously in the tank as it exists now. The interesting question here is the one that i think we both need to address, is whats going to happen in the future . Can this move the issue ahead . Continued deterioration of u. S. russian relations can lead to accidents and miscalculations which could be serious. We have enormous nuclear power, conventional power. Its not the time in my view to be moving to conflict. Its a time to move away. Is this an opportunity that mr. Putin and mr. Trump have some potential affinity for doing that, and can we do that in a way that promotes the interests of both country snz we shouldnt pand er. We need to be tough with the russians where it is time and the place to be tough. And thats what president obama has done. But at the same time, as you get tough, you need to det doors open so that you can move questions ahead. We can move on ukraine. We can move on other questions where i think that president putin needs to move away from an adventure he engaged in that at the moment has produced nothing but steal maalemate and he has serious economic problem on his hands, and over a long period of time, the u. S. Could be very instrumental in europe, too, and the u. S. And europe are aligned against doing that while these particular questions remain on the table. So the agenda for President Trump when he gets in office on the 21st of january is can we address these issues and can we do this in a serious way . And setting the stage for that, two maxims in diplomacy should prevail. One is do no harm, and the other is shut up unless you can Say Something useful. Maybe thats what were seeing a little bit of now. I want to ask you finally, we only have a short amount of time, but this has brought back for a lot of americans and even younger americans who maybe watch a tv show called the americans kwaetsz whi americans which is about sort of russian spy craft, where are we now . And i mean, you already hear things as youre listening to people react to this, are we really surprised . What about these two compounds, what was really going on there . Then you have kelly aanne conwa saying theres really no Russian Military intelligence operating in the United States. How much of what goes on, what is this spy stuff, really does still exist and how close is it to the cold war . Clearly, it does still exist. It would be naive in the extreme to believe that major countries and world powers do not have the capacity to try to use ways of the intelligence approach to understand whats going on in other countries. In many cays, thats useful, understanding whats going on in other countries is important. But understanding the right information is important. I have visited the long Island Retreat and of the soviet ambassador back in 1990 and no91 for dinner. It looked to me like a pretty nice old u. S. Mansion, but i wasnt obviously invited in to parts they may not have wanted me to see. But it was a pleasant evening meal with the other permanent members of the Security Council at the invitation of the Russian Ambassador, who was at that point working very closely with us to deal with iraqs invasion of kuwait. So i didnt suspect that there was much there, but one takes advantage of obviously all the opportunities that are available to develop information on what the other side is doing. So i cant dismiss it. Lets just wait and see what comes out here at the moment, i dont believe everything is out. But if everything is out, then maybe there should be more to come, and we havent seen it yet, and questions have arisen as to whether in fact this is really a serious case of major espionage at the two socalled recreational sites or not. I dont have an answer to that at this stage. But it is fascinating and consequential stuff. Ambassador, its always good to see you, sir. Thank you so much. Happy new year. Happy new year. Up next, the russian reaction to sanctions has been muddled, but congress has been pretty clear. Offering support. Did president obama do president elect trump a favor by issuing these sanctions just weeks before leaving office . American express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. Find out how American Express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open. Com. I have never seen a president try to create more problems for a future president. After 18 months of this hacking, he does something about it. Why didnt he do something about it 18 months ago . Former new york city mayor Rudy Giuliani weighing in this morning after the Obama Administration announced a new round of sanctions against russia for allegedly interfering in the u. S. President ial election. Also new this morning, russian president Vladimir Putin now saying his country will not expel any american diplomats from russia in response to those sanctions. But he did add, russia has the right to retaliate. Joining me now, msnbc contributor and former dnc chairman and vermont governor howard dean and republican strategist danny vargas. Good to see both of you. So, we also heard today from Kellyanne Conway who said basically that president obama is trying to box in the incoming president. Howard dean, does she have a point . I dont think so. Look, she is, im sure, a very nice person. She knows nothing about Foreign Affairs and certainly nothing about the russians. For her to say that theres no Russian Military intelligence assets in the United States, i mean, its not worth taking anything she says seriously about this subject. Msnbcs friend, your friend and ours, ed rendell, the former governor of pennsylvania, has a kind of a different take on what all this means. He actually says that he did the president did donald trump a favor. Take a listen. If he had passed this on to donald trump, all the information, and said you make the decision, then trumps first decision visavis russia would have had to have been to impose sanctions. He would have gotten off on the wrong foot with putin. Here, he can let these sanctions stand, say they were done by president obama, but president putin, lets look ahead and build a new relationship. Danny, president elect trump does avoid pressure from republican members of congress to do this. President obama did it for him. Did he do him a favor . You know, good morning, chris, by the way, and happy new year. I tend to agree with governor rendell. He has an opportunity. We know donald trump is transactional, hes about deals. He has an opportunity coming in now where theres already a stick on the table in terms of obamas sanctions. Theres a bigger stick potentially on the table with the additional sanctions that hawks in Congress Want to impose, and he has the carrot to have sanctions relief. He has the potential to go in and say, listen, lets strike a deal where you can get concessions from russia, whether its in syria or iran or ukraine or energy issues, and hes got a very sophisticated player in Rex Tillerson who can go in and begin to negotiate some of the deals so he can come out as a winn winner. He has the Good Cop Bad Cop scenario hes able to play off of in a very transactional way. He issued a statement, president elect trump, last night, and it said this. Its time for our country to move on bigger and better things. Nevertheless, in the inthrust of our country and its great people, i will meet with leaders of the Intelligence Community next week in order to be upgraded on the facts. Howard, satisfied with that response . Step in the right direction. Look, our intelligence apparatus is pretty darn good. They really are. And if theyre saying the russians hacked into the election and all this stuff, im sure its true. Now, the other shoe has yet to drop. President obama has promised a report before he leaves office, which is going to pretty much give chapter and verse except for the stuff that has to be kept aside for our own protection about just exactly what they did. I think a lot of us are going to wait and see. The other problem that Donald Trumps got is that john mccain and lindsey graham, who are probably the most powerful republicans in the senate on Foreign Policy issues, have a very different point of view than he does about the russians. Hes going to have to deal with that as well. I actually think ed rendell does have a good point with his analysis of the fact that i think obama probably did do trump a favor here. Even though i doubt trump sees it that way. Danny, hes right. Political reality on the hill is hes going to have to deal with mccain, with graham, who could not be on a different page than he is. On the other hand, you do wonder if this is top of mind of the american people. We know how much this president elect has really been on the pulse of what voters were hes really clearly focused on domestic issues. Hes talked about creating jobs. His senior advisors have said thats going to be his focus. Is there really any problem for him to sort of stay the course where hes been with Vladimir Putin . I think domestic issues are key, but i think people are also concerned with terrorism and isis. Those things and the president has to walk and chew gum at the same time. I would caution the Trump Administration, the russian reset, that move doesnt end well. Theyve got to walk in as realistic as much as you possibly can. You cant turn a shark into a goldfish. Vladimir putin is focused on his own personal interests and the best thing we can do is when they coincide and focus on those areas and i think that comes down to those places. Fighting terrorism and isis and potentially energy issues. So if hesble to walk in and be as realistic as he can be, and diplomatic professionals within the administration, then thats the best thing we can hope for. Maybe this is a new and improved Vladimir Pugh ttin. He did invite diplomats to the kremlin for new years. Im with danny. You cant turn a shark into a goldfish. Ill steal that from you. Thats a good one and i think thats exactly right. This president of russia is not to be trusted. And he has done, occupies 20 of georgia which was sovereign country as people occupy about 10 of ukraine which is a sovereign country. Hes sent people into parts of the eu, the baltics. Are you worried hes going to naively trust Vladimir Putin . My concern is hes focused elsewhere and doesnt understand the connection between ukraine georgia, and the eu and what happens with the United States. It is connected and im afraid hes in his focus on domestic issues, make some kind of a deal with putin. Howard dean, danny vargas, my new years advice is to patent that phrase. Shark into a goldfish. Quickly happy new year to you both. Americas first chief Technology Officer here to take us inside the hack. How will russian operatives grizzly step able to access so much information . But up next violence in the skies. A plane from minnesota forced to return home after an unruly couple refused to cooperate all because they had to use the bathroom. Lemonheads schoolhouse rock zero really can be a hero. Get zero down, zero deposit, zero due at signing, and zero first months payment on select volkswagen models. Right now at the volkswagen sign then drive event. 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A los angeles couple charged with Disorderly Conduct after Authorities Say they disrupted a delta flight from minneapolis to l. A. As Gabe Gutierrez tells us, its part of a troubling trend of air rage in our skies. Reporter it was a midair meltdown. A man lunging at another passenger and cursing. Ive never seen anything like that in my million miles of flying and it was horrible. Reporter Patrick Whalen said a woman tried to use the restroom during takeoff when the Flight Attendant told her to down, she started shouting. Told people to listen to the Flight Attendants. Reporter from minneapolis to los angeles, less than an hour into the flight, the pilots turned around. 2565. We do have the authorities called. Confirmed. Reporter air rage taking off from baltimore to charlotte. Worldwide, more than 10,000 cases of air rage reported by airlines last year. A 16 jump from the year before. I dont think alcohol is the cause. The real cause is the lack of personal space on aircraft. Reporter as for this latest outburst, the couple is now charged with Disorderly Conduct. They were so unruly and so out of control. Reporter after some turbulence, the flight finally arrived in l. A. Two and a half hours late. Gabe gutierrez, nbc news. You know, it seaems like wee had a lot of those stories in 2016. Before you go, some pictures you might want to see. Less than an hour ago, pete souza posted his year end photograph. Welcoming kids to the white house for halloween trick or treating. That is super man also known as walker ernest, josh earnest, and note the hair. He totally has the super man hair. The next one from september 1st, lady hugging george w. Bush before the Opening Ceremony of the Smithsonian Museum of africanamerican history. Commander in chief celebrated his birthday in august and joe biden surprised him with cupcakes. Sasha and malia were invited to the state dinner in honor of canada in march, so there they are, the first family walking down and looking fab. You can see all of those pictures online. Theres a lot more. Thats going to wrap up this hour. Im chris jansing. Coming up right now, more news with craig melvin. Great pictures, chris. Thank you. We are following that breaking news this friday morning on msnbc. Russian response. In a surprise move, Vladimir Putin ruling out retaliation against president obama sweeps nations for now. Meanwhile, president elect donald trump said its, quote, time to move on but then agreed to be updated on facts next week. All of this as new york and cities across the globe take extraordinary steps to beef up security just one day ahead of new years eve 2016. Lets get right to the breaking news though. Russias president Vladimir Putin a short time ago saying russia will not be expelling any american diplomats from russia. Thats in response to the new round of u. S. Sanctions against russia announced late yesterday by the Obama Administration from moscows alleged interference in the u. S. President ial election. Weve been clear all along. There will be consequences. We will respond at a time and place of our choosing and thats what youre seeing done today. Donald trump also weighing in this morning saying he will be meeting with intelligence officials about the matter next week. Weve got the best team of reporters in the biusiness following all the angles with the late breaking details. We start with pentagon correspondent hans nichols. First, mr. Putin