The cbs overnight news will be right back. crows crowing youd do anything to take care of that spot on your lawn. So why not take care of that spot on your skin . If youre a man over 50 youre in the group most likely to develop skin cancer, including melanoma, the cancer that kills 1 person every hour. Check your skin for suspicious or changing spots and ask someone you trust to check areas you cant see. Early detection can put you in a better spot. Go to spotskincancer. Org to find out what to look for. A message from the now we have reaction on capitol hill. Nancy cordes is there. Ive always wondered, what did russia have on donald trump . Reporter the unsubstantiated documents captivated congress today, but they have been floating around for months. I did what any citizen should do. Reporter Arizona Republican john mccain was handed a copy late last year by a source he wont name. Why do you think they came the you . I have no idea. Reporter do you find the information credible . I dont know. Thats why i gave it to the fbi. I dont know if its credible or not, but the information i thought deserved to be delivered to the fbi, the appropriate agency of government. Reporter some republicans, like south carolinas lindsey graham, urged caution. Every american should review these things with skepticism and suspicion. You know, its not up to him to prove what he didnt do. Reporter Senate Intelligence chair richard burr would not say if he had been briefed by the spy agencies about the validity of the claims. Are you troubled by what youve heard so far . Listen, i think we look at a report like this as Opposition Research from an unverified source. Reporter but Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and others in her party said trumps unorthodox stance on russia has led them to suspect some kind of connection long ago. Any of that, whether its financial, whether its personal, whatever it is, whatever it is cannot have an impact on the National Security of the United States of america. Reporter the nations top intelligence officials will be here on capitol hill tomorrow to brief the entire senate on russias attempt to sway the election. But they are sure to be pelted with questions, scott, about what russia may or may not have on the man who is set to be nancy cordes, thanks, nance. Elsewhere at the capitol, russia was the focus of a ninehour Senate Confirmation hearing today for Rex Tillerson, the former ceo of exxonmobil, now the nominee for secretary of state. Heres chip reid. Reporter the toughest grilling of Rex Tillerson today came from a republican, senator marco rubio of florida. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal . I would not use that term. Reporter rubio, a leading critic of russia, graphically described russian bombing in syria. Mr. Putin has directed his military to conduct a devastating campaign thats targeted schools and markets and other civilian infrastructure that has resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. You are still not prepared to say that Vladimir Putin and his military have violated the rules of war and conducted war crimes in aleppo . Those are very, very serious charges to make, and i would want to have much more information before reaching a conclusion. I find it discouraging your inability to cite that, which i think is globally accepted. Reporter rubio has not yet decided whether to support tillerson. If he votes no, that could put the Oil Executives confirmation at risk in the narrowly divided senate. Rubio has previously criticized tillerson, who has known putin for years, for accepting an order of friendship from the russian president , but today tillerson said the two nations will probably never be friends. Our value systems are starkly different. Reporter tillerson also encountered some rough sailing when republican chairman bob corker asked about lobbying against sanctions on russia after it invaded crimea. I never lobbied against the sanctions. To my knowledge exxonmobil never lobbied against the sanctions. Reporter but corker reminded him of this. I think you called me during this time. Reporter and democrat bob menendez said he had hard evidence tillerson was mistaken. I have four different lobbying reports totaling millions of dollars as reqd by the lobbying disclosure act that lists exxonmobils lobbying activities on four specific pieces of legislation authorizing sanctions. Reporter senator menendez also asked tillerson if he and president elect trump have even talked about russia yet. Scott, tillerson said no, to which menendez responded, thats pretty amazing. Chip reid for us tonight. Chip, thank you. Today is the confirmation of senator Jeff Sessions of alabama to become attorney general, there was rare opposition from a fellow senator, democrat cory booker of new jersey. Reporter senator sessions has not demonstrated a commitment to a central requisite of the job, to aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, equal rights and justice for all of our citizens. In fact, at numerous times in his career, hes demonstrated a hostility toward these convictions. He has worked to frustrate attempts to advance these ideals. Yesterday senator sessions said that he would enforce all civil rights laws if confirmed. Mr. Trump made more news today, saying he will make a Supreme Court nomination within two weeks of taking office. He said he plans to both repeal and replace obamacare at the same time, and hell start that wall at the border before he gets mexico to pay for it. He also revealed his plan for another wall between the white house and his financial empire. Heres julianna goldman. As the president , i could run the trump organization, great, great company, and i could run the country. Id do a very good job. Reporter the president elect has decided he will not sell his assets or place them in a blind trust, as government ethics experts had urged. Instead mr. Trump will move his assets into a trust controlled by his two oldest sons, who will also manage the trump they will not pursue new International Deals and will hire an ethics adviser to oversee new deals in the u. S. They will also not consult with mr. Trump. I hope at the end of eight years ill come back and say, oh, you did a good job, otherwise if they do a bad job, ill say, youre fired. Reporter today walter shaub, the head of the government ethics office, called the plan wholly inadequate. The plan does not meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the past four decades have met. Reporter the arrangement means mr. Trump could have dealings with Foreign Countries where he also has a financial stake. Cbs news has counted at least ten countries, including turkey and united arab emirates, where the president elect has business interests. He needs to sell the business, free himself of conflicts of interests. Reporter richard painter was the ethics lawer for former president george w. Bush. He says mr. Trump coulvi receiving payments. A state run chinese bank is a tenant in trump tower in new york, for example. We need a clean sweep of Foreign Government payments from the business empire. There is no evidence that thats going to happen with respect to any of it other than the hotel. Reporter the president elect will donate to the u. S. Treasury any profits made from Foreign Governments using his hotel, and that includes his new one here in d. C. That leases property from the government. Scott nothing today addresses the fact that as president mr. Trump will be both landlord and tenant. Julianna goldman, thanks. Coming up next, well get john dickersons take on the president elect versus the media. And later, dozens are rescued as Severe Weather continues to storm the west. For improved mobility and flexibility, and 20 better comfort from one tiny, mighty pill. Get move free ultra, and enjoy living well. Ito become dangerous. D for an everyday item new tide pods child guard pack. Helps keep your laundry pacs safe and your child safer. Align, press and unzip. Have you any wool . Eep, no sir, no sir, some nincompoop stole all my wool sweaters, smart tv and gaming system. Luckily, the Geico Insurance agency recently helped baa baa with renters insurance. And the hooligan who lives down the lane was caught selling the stolen goods online. Visit geico. Com and see how easy it is to switch and save on renters insurance. It was hard to tell in the president elects News Conference today whether he was more disgusted with his Intelligence Community or with the media. John dickerson is here, our cbs news political director and anchor of face the nation. John, mr. Trump is rewriting the relationship with the press. Reporter he is. All president s try to do this. They try to control the message by controlling the press. Donald trump is trying to do it through intimidation, to soften up the stories about him, but hes also seeking to delegitimize the press. That isnt to say hes not complaining about a specific story. Hes saying that there is a battle between himself t press and thats an attempt to basically take the value away from what the press does. Lets have a look at Something Else he said in the News Conference today. Dont be rude. Mr. President elect, can you give us a question. Dont be rude. Dont be rude. No im not going to give you a question. Can you state you are fake news. Go ahead. You know, ive been hearing more and more about fake news. They talk about people that go and say all sorts of things, but i will tell you, some of the Media Outlets that i deal with are fake news, more so than anybody. I could name them, but i wont bother. So does donald trump need the press the way other president s have . You see, hes trying to define all news as fake news. He can also use twitter to get his message out. Usually president s in their attempts to control the press fail because they ultimately need the press to get their message out. He has twitter. He also has a following thats more apt the believe that the press is out to get donald trump. But his Favorability Ratings are about 43 . To get the rest of the country, he needs the validation of the press. To get his message across from something thats not just his own mouth, and thats where usually it breaks down for president s who try and go after the press. To speak to a broader audience. John dickerson, thanks so much. Well see you sunday on face the nation. Still coming up, the largest auto recall in American History expands. New degree ultraclearnt saving black white. Othes. No yellow stains on white clothes. No white marks on black clothes. New degree ultraclear black white. It wont let you down. Honda is recalling another 772,000 vehicles because of defective air bags made by t Japanese Company takata. The recall now involves as many as 69 million air bags in american cars and trucks. The inflators can explode, ejecting metal shrapnel and 11 people have died. The recall list is posted at cbsnews. Com. Today volkswagen pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and will pay the u. S. Government more than 4 billion. Nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles were fraudulently programmed to pass emissions tests that they should have failed. Six vw executives were indicted today. The National Cancer institute has begun a new push to have children vaccinated against hpv. The vaccine can prevent cervical and other cancers, but only about 42 of girls and 28 of boys have been vaccinated. Federal guidelines recommend it for chil a up next, another round of floods and blizzards slams the west. A state usually associated with sunshine and drought is now being hit with waves of blizzards and floods. John blackstone is in california for us, john . Reporter scott, there have been plenty of warnings in california over the last few days, but this flood came without warning. Here in the town of hollister, the fastrising water took residents by surprise. This farming town south of san jose, california, quickly turned into one giant swamp after a nearby creek overflowed. Emergency crews responded to calls overnight from dozens of panicked residents trapped inside their homes. By daybreak ranchers were still leading their animals to dry land. Kevin oneill is the countys Emergency Services manager. The scene here last night was challenging at times. It was dark, a lot of these houses didfe reporter in sonoma county, the Russian River rose once again, reaching nearly 38 feet this afternoon, about six feet above flood level. Firefighters were out in swift boats saving homeowners and stranded drivers from the unrelenting waters. Melba martinelli had to leave her home. Its our home. Its the only one weve got. So were losing our home it looks like right now. Reporter in the sierra nevadas, storms have now dumped more than ten feet of snow, toppling trees, downing power lines, and collapsing a huge chunk of this mountain road. But for some, this extreme weather has provided opportunities for extreme adventure. Even storm clouds can have a silver lining. John blackstone, cbs news, hollister, california. And thats the overnight news for this thursday. For some of you, the news continues. For others, check back with us a little bit later for the morning news and be sure not to miss cbs this morning. From the broadcast cr this is the cbs overnight news. Welcome to the overnight news. Im tony dokoupil. President elect donald trump stepped up to the podium for his first formal News Conference in months. It was billed as a chance for mr. Trump to lay out his plans to separate himself from his Global Business empire, but overshadowing that were reports that russia has obtained compromising personal and Financial Information on mr. Trump. Major garrett has our story. Its all fake news. Its phony stuff. It didnt happen. And it was gotten by opponents of ours. It was a group of opponents that got together, sick people, and they put that crap together. Reporter with that president elect donald trump emphatically denied the unsubstantiated allegations, including one about his sexual does anyone really believe that story . Im also very much a germaphobe, by the way, believe me. Reporter that raw information was included as an appendix to a classified report detailing russian efforts to tamper with the u. S. Election undermine democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and help mr. Trump. Today for the first time the president elect agreed with that assessment, that russia was responsible for several electionrelated cyber attacks. As far as hacking, i think it was russia, but i think we also get hacked by other countries and other people. Reporter but mr. Trump also cited information revealed by the cyber intrusions. Hacking is bad, and it shouldnt be done, but look at the things that were hacked. Look at what was learned from that hacking, that Hillary Clinton got the questions to the debate and didnt report it . Thats a horrible thing. Reporter this morning in response to publication of the unve trump tweeted, intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to leak into the public. Are we living in nazi germany . What were you driving at there . I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out, and thats something that nazi germany would have done and did do. Reporter the president elect also lashed out at a reporter from cnn, the first News Organization to report that the russian hacking assessment included the unverified claims. Your organization is terrible. Youre attacking our News Organization. Can you give us a chance to ask a question, sir. Quiet. Quiet. Mr. President elect shes asking a question. Dont be rude. Reporter mr. Trump declined to say whether he would keep sanctions imposed on russia by president obama. He also said he would work with russian president Vladimir Putin. If putin likes donald trump, i consider that an asset, not a liability, because we have a russia. Reporter u. S. Investigators are frying to verify what, if any aspects of the allegations related to mr. Trumps conduct can be verified. Russia was also a hot topic at the confirmation hearing for Rex Tillerson. Chip reid has that story. Reporter the toughest grilling of Rex Tillerson today came from a republican, senator marco rubio of florida. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal . I would not use that term. Reporter rubio, a leading critic of russia, graphically described russian bombing in syria. Mr. Putin has directed his military to conduct a devastating campaign thats targeted schools and markets and other civilian infrastructure thats resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. You are still not prepared to say that Vladimir Putin and his military have violated the rules of war and conducted war crimes in aleppo . Those are very, very serious charges to make, and i would wao information before reaching a conclusion. I find it discouraging your inability to cite that, which i think is globally accepted. Reporter rubio has not yet decided whether to support tillerson. If he votes no, that could put the Oil Executives confirmation at risk in the narrowly divided senate. Rubio has previously criticized tillerson, who has known putin for years, for accepting an order of friendship from the russian president , but today tillerson said the two nations will probably never be friends. Our value systems are starkly different. Reporter tillerson also encountered some rough sailing when republican chairman bob corker asked about lobbying against sanctions on russia after it invaded crimea. I never lobbied against the sanctions. To my knowledge exxonmobil never lobbied against the sanctions. Reporter but corker reminded him of this. I think you called me during this time. Reporter and democrat bob menendez said he had hard evidence tillerson was mistaken. Lobbying reports totaling millions of dollars as required by the lobbying disclosure act that lists exxonmobils lobbying activities on four specific pieces of legislation authorizing sanctions. Reporter senator menendez also asked tillerson if he and president elect trump have even talked about russia yet. Scott, tillerson said no, to which menendez responded, thats pretty amazing. President obama is back at the white house after delivering his farewell address in his hometown of chicago. Mr. Obama warned about threats to our democracy and urged americans to have faith in our country. Dean reynolds was among the 18,000 in the hall when the president spoke. Reporter in her farewell address, the president urged americans to stay involved in the democratic process, and he emphasized the importance of a smooth and peaceful transition to his successor. I cant do that. Reporter president obama said its every citizens responsibility to be guardians of americas democracy. Democracy can buckle when it gives into fear. Thats why i reject discrimination against muslimamericans who are just as patriotic as we are. Reporter his remarks on income inequality seem to reflect on the themes of the last election. If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. Reporter the president offered a challenge to republicans trying to dismantle the Affordable Care act. If plan that is demonstrably better, i will publicly support it. [ applause ] reporter after two terms in the spotlight, mr. Obama issued a tearful tribute to his daughters and the first lady. Michelle levon robinson, girl of the south side, you made the white house a place that belongs to everybody. Malia and sasha, of all that ive done in my life, im most proud to be your dad. [ applause ] reporter last night, the nations 44th president closed with a promise. My fellow americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. I wont stop. Im asking you to believe, not in my ability to bring about change but in yours. Yes, we can. Yes, thank you. God bless you. The cbs overnight news will be right back. Hey, searching for a great used car . Yeah you got it. Just say show me millions of used cars for sale at the all new carfax. Com. I dont want one thats had a big wreck just say, show me cars with no accidents reported pretty cool i like it thats the power of carfax® find the cars you want, avoid the ones you dont plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing start your used car search at carfax. Com that cough doesnt sound so good. Well i think you sound great. Move over. Easy booger man. Take mucinex dm. Itll take care of your cough. Fine ill text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. One pill lasts 12 hours, so. Looks like im good all night ah david, please, listen. Still not coughing. Not fair you guys waffles are my favorite ah some cough medicines only last 4 hours. But just one mucinex ditch the misery. Lets end this. President elect donald trump has vowed to revamp how the federal government does business. One form of that business that may not change is the u. S. Policy towards hostages. Washington will not pay ransom to gain the release of a u. S. Citizen. It doesnt even allow the family of the hostage to pay. And that can leave the hostage in an impossible spot. Leslie stall has that story for 60 minutes. I am Steven Joel Sotloff. Im sure you know exactly who i am by now and why im appearing before you. Reporter Steven Joel Sotloff was beheaded by isis. His execution on september 2, 2014, was seen around the world on a video. Did you ever watch it . I have viewed i had to see that, because i needed to be sure that that was him. Reporter steven was born and raised in miami, attended clenl in israel, and became a freelance journalist, reporting from war zones where information was scarce. Like yemen, benghazi, libya, and syria, where he went in the summer of 2013. Just before he crossed into aleppo, he called his dad. He contacted me and told me not to worry. But if i dont hear from him within four days, that i should get in touch with one of his colleagues. Woe, thats ominous. Reporter he didnt hear from his son not for four days, but four excruciating months. Then finally they got a ransom letter with demands for the government to free all the muslims in u. S. Custody. Or and then theres a last option. Stevens release. Which is Something Like 137 million. Reporter what was your reaction . Reaction was, how the hell are we going to get this money together . Reporter they thought the u. S. Government would help them, but they were bewildered, and then infuriated when they say they met a stone wall. The u. S. Policy forbidding the paying of ransom. Its some of the hardest work that ive done. Reporter lisa monaco, assistant to president obama for counterterrorism, oversaw the hostage crisis. These are horrible choices. On the one hand, if you dont pay a ransom, you are putting an innocent life at risk. On the other hand, if you do, youre fuelling the very activity thats put them at risk in the first place. Reporter did you feel ever that the policy might be wrong . The policy thats been a decades old policy of not paying ransom i think is the right policy. Question that . We didnt. We believed that was important to maintain. Reporter with the exception of the uk, most European Countries do pay ransom without publicly add mitting it. Steven was held with 22 other hostages, including the three americans james foley, peter cassic, and kayla mueller, who were all killed. Once the european governments paid ransom, isis released their citizen. One of whom smuggled out this letter from steven. He was speaking out he cant stand seeing all the captives leave from all different countries, how could the United States just stand by and not do anything . Reporter as the european hostages came out and spoke of mock executions and water boardings, they decided to try to raise some of the money themselves. But then they and the other u. S. Families attended a m National Security council. All of us were saying why cant we try to save our kids . And they said because its against the law. We do not negotiate with terrorists. Reporter did they say you would be prosecuted . They said, you could be prosecuted and also your donors would be prosecuted. Reporter so if i gave you money, i would be prosecuted . Correct. Reporter did anybody say, are you kidding me . Yes, we did. It was a little bit contentious. We could have verbally fought back. Reporter they were threatened they would be prosecuted. Is that true . Whats true is that some families felt threatened, and that was unacceptable, and that should never have happened. Reporter are you suggesting they may not have been threatened . What im suggesting is im not present when any threats were made, but what matters, leslie, is these families felt through the most horrific time they with encounter. Reporter was that the policy, was that true . Could they have actually been prosecuted . Could someone who contributed to pay ransom also be prosecuted . So whats true is that the Justice Department has never prosecuted a family or friends of a family that has paid a ransom. Reporter but was it the policy . Well, what the policy is, the United States government will not pay ransoms or make concessions to hostage takers. Reporter that policy is based in part on presumption that paying ransom invites more hostage taking. But that is refuted by a new study that examined the case of every known western hostage taken since 9 11. It was coauthored by peter bergen, a counterterrorism expert for the nonpartisan new america foundation. They dont know necessarily youre american when they take you. Someou ransom, the french, germans, the spanish. But they donted admit they do. Americans are huge outliers here. Youre twice as likely to have a negative outcome. Reporter you mean murdered . Murdered, die in captivity or remain in captivitcaptivity. Reporter four americans and two brits died. I keep playing in my own head this horrible situation, where the american hostages watched the other ones be set free. And i wonder if it wouldnt have been better if our government did what the european governments did, which is pay ransom but then deny it in order to save their citizens. Why wouldnt we have done that . We would still be whether its hostage taking or whether its terrorist plots, to kill americans here in the homeland or elsewhere is not activity that the United States government should be in the business of funding. Reporter what do you say to critics of the policy of not paying ransom, that the beheadings of the americans ended up having more value to isis than any money would have been, thats really what put them on the international map, these beheading videos were a gold mine for isis. Do you see it that way . I dont. And i think its giving prosecutal, murderous thugs too much credit. You can see thel fulep rort on our website, cbsnews. Com. The overnight news will be right back. Rise above joint discomfort with move free ultras triple action joint support for improved mobility and flexibility, and 20 better comfort from one tiny, mighty pill. Get move free ultra, and enjoy living well. People in scotland take their whiskey very seriously. And if you want to call your drink scotch, there are a list of rules. But one american in london is breaking those rules and our Jonathan Vigliotti got that story. Reporter here in the uk, thats perfectly acceptable to order a scotch whiskey. Scotch is a billion dollar a year industry here in the uk. Many of the brands are centuries you are mixing up this ancient less key. Whiskey is the life of man reporter its amber tones and smoky notes have desuessed for centuries, and given birth to one of the uks most lucrative industries. In the Rolling Hills of scotland, making scotch whiskey is a work of art. The grains are mashed, fermented, then distilled. And finally aged in wooden casts. The scotch inside is then bottled and sold. Its a 500yearold spirit protected by law. And drinking it can pack a lot of rules. Just watch master distiller richard pattersons tutorial. This is the way you hold it, not this way. Definitely not this way. But if i ever see you nosing it like this, ill kill you. Reporter but in the small london left, whiskey blender john glazer is dropping the pretension and adding a new range of flavors. A lot of people think scotch whiskey is high handed, that there are rules and you have to drink it a certain way. So it is intimidating. We try to break all that down. Reporter his blends are to whiskey what craft beer is to lager. Its more in tune with the taste of the day, we think. Reporter whisper whiskey, its being dubbed. Mellower and lighter for the millennial palate. The production process borrows from tradition. Like friender e blenders of the mixes them. But he goes one step further, maturing the blend again. When youre tasting, when youre assisting, its a technique thats Won International praise. Weve had runins with authorities of the industry because we hike to do things differently. Reporter his innovative casts led to one of his whiskeys being banned. It has to be matured in casts. So were not trying to were trying to encourage it within the guidelines. Reporter innovation is needed. In 2015 for the first time ever, not a single scotch appeared in the whiskey bibles top three lift. A japanese whiskey ranked number one. This year, scotch is on the list, but caramelvanilla blend. These whisper whiskeys are even welcomed in cocktails. If youre just doing things the way you always have, youre going to fall behind. Reporter john glazer hopes his customized blends are part of the occasion. We can blend up whatever you want, but why dont you do it . Lets turn the responsibility over to you. Reporter lets do a cbs this morning scotch whiskey. For charlie, its going to be smoery. For smoera, floral. And for gail, spicy. How smoky do you want it to be . A balance of all three. Thats charlie. Next, well do the spicy one. Emphasis on spicy. So floral for norah. Moment of truth. Cheers to cbs this morning. For years, weve been told to exercise an average of one hour a day. But most people find that impossible. And simply work out if and when they can. That can mean weekends. A growing number of americans are becoming weekend warriors. Is that healthy . Dr. Jon lapook has a look. Open those hips on spends two hours a week at a local gym working up sweat. Theo much. Its not easy. Its difficult, because you know, the only thing after a long day you want to sit down and rest. Reporter so she hired trainer Steven Ferguson to get her off the catch. 50 jump rope . 50 . I feel better with my body. My confidence is better. Reporter shes a socalled weekend warrior, cramming all her exercise into one or two monster workouts. A study in internal medicine compared exercise in one or two sessions compared to regular exercise throughout the week and found they had a lower risk of death than inactive people. Both groups got at least the recommended weekly 2 1 2 hours of mer minutes of vigorous activity. If youre jogging, walking, where you can still have a conversation, thats moderate exercise. Reporter dr. Jordan metzel in new york city. When you do nothing and then put 60 or 90 minutes of a workout together as the only thing, youre at more risk for overuse injuries. Reporter so you shouldnt jump into being a warrior. We prefer something thatses into what they do. Exercise is the most safe and effective drug in the human condition. Reporter this is good news for people who cant find time during the week. But theres still reason to exercise regularly, which helps a number of medical conditions. Dr. Jon lapook, cbs, new york. Thats the overnight news for this thursday. Do not miss cbs this from the Broadcast Center here in new york city, im tony dokoupil. He comes out swinging. I think it was disgraceful. At his first postelection News Conference, donald trump lashes out at u. S. Intelligence. Thats something that nazi germany would have done and did do. Reporters im not going to give you a question. You are fake news. And the candidate he defeated. Do you honestly believe that hillary would be tougher on putin than me . Also tonight, the president elect promises to build a wall between the white house and his financial empire, but critics say it has cracks. Defective air bags, hundreds of thousands are added to the recall list. And flooding of biblical proportion, but not an ark in sight. This is the cbs overnight news. An unprecedented rift opened up today between americas next commanderinchief and u. S. Intelligence agencies. Donald trump likened them to nazis in an Early Morning tweet and later at his first postelection News Conference. Mr. Trump accuses them of leaking potentially damaging, unproven and he says false allegations about him. It all started back during the campaign when a former British Intelligence officer, acting as a private investigator, asked his russian sources for dirt on mr. Trump. He collected 35 pages of it, including tales of financial and sexual misbehavior, but no evidence that any of it was true. U. S. Intelligence then condensed the private eyes notes and gave them to the president , the president elect and the leaders of congress. Major garrett begins our coverage. Its all fake news. Its phony stuff. It didnt happen. And it was gotten by opponents of ours. It was a group of opponents that got together, sick people, and they put that crap together. Reporter with that president elect donald trump emphatically denied the unsubstantiated allegations, including one about his sexual behavior. Does anyone really believe that story . Im also very much a germophobe, by the way, believe me. Reporter that raw information was included as an appendix to a classified report detailing russian efforts to tamper with the u. S. Election undermine democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and help mr. Trump. Today for the first time the president elect agreed with that assessment, that russia was responsible for several electionrelated cyber attacks. As far as hacking, i think it was russia, but i think we also get hacked by other countries and other people. Reporter but mr. Trump also cited information revealed by the cyber intrusions. Hacking is bad, and it shouldnt be done, but look at the things that were hacked. Look at what was learned from that hacking, that Hillary Clinton got the questions to the debate and didnt report it . Thats a horrible thing. Reporter this morning in response to publication of the unverified information, mr. Trump tweeted, intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to leak into the public. Are we living in nazi germany . What were you driving at there . I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out, and thats something that nazi germany would have done and did do. Reporter the president elect also lashed out at a reporter from cnn, the first News Organization to report that the russian hacking assessment included the unverified claims. Your organization is youre attacking our News Organization. Can you give us a chance to ask a question, sir. Quiet. Quiet. Mr. President elect shes asking a question. Dont be rude. Reporter mr. Trump declined to say whether he would keep sanctions imposed on russia by president obama. He also said he would work with russian president Vladimir Putin. If putin likes donald trump, i consider that an asset, not a liability, because we have a horrible relationship with russia. Reporter relevant u. S. Intelligence agencies had no comment on this dispute with mr. Trump or its implications. Scott, u. S. Investigators are trying to verify what if any aspects of the allegations related to mr. Trumps conduct can be verified. Major garrett at trump tower, thanks. Now, with insight into the rift between mr. Trump and his intelligence chief, we turn to leon panetta of the panetta institute. Hes a former secretary of defense who was director of the cia when Osama Bin Laden was killed. Mr. Secretary, whats at stake the Intelligence Community . I think whats at stake is the security of the United States of america. The first duty of a president is to protect our country, and he cannot protect our country without the ability to get good intelligence on what our adversaries are up to. That demands a relationship of trust, and unfortunately, i think, i see a relationship in which that trust doesnt exist right now. Whats the harm in airing this out in public . I think what happens is it damages the credibility of not only the intelligence thats being provided, but more importantly it undermines the morale of those who are involved in our intelligence services. These are people who are committed to getting the best intelligence possible for the president of the United States. That involves risks. They have to put their lives on the li theyre going to hesitate to do that if they feel the president of the United States does not trust the work that theyre doing. Leon panetta of the panetta institute, former director of the cia and former secretary of defense, thank you. Thank you, scott. Now Elizabeth Palmer is in moscow tonight, and well turn to her. Liz, whats the view from there . Reporter well, scott, no surprise the russians have flatly denied they have any material they could use to blackmail donald trump. In fact, the kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov today called it pulp fiction and said it was simply being used to damage relations between the u. S. And russia. Now, that being said, there is a long history in this country of the Security Services collecting information to embarrass or even ruin public figures. Theres even a special word for it. Its called kompramot, and in one particularly scandalous case back in 1999, a sex tape leaked to bring down russias attorney general and the head of the Security Services at that time here, one Vladimir Putin. Liz, whats the feeling in Eastern Europe if russia grows more aggressive under a Trump Administration . Reporter very anxious and not just in ukraine where russia has been waging war for almost two years now. I have just come from estonia. Its one of the u. S. s nato allies, and the government there is very worried that if a Trump Administration goes, as they would see it, soft on russia, it would embolden Vladimir Putin to invade their country, and theyre also afraid that the u. S. May not even come to their defense in that instance, even though they are part of nato and a fully paid up member of nato, to boot. Liz palmer in moscow, liz, thank you. The cbs overnight news will be right back. Now we have reaction on capitol hill. Nancy cordes is there. Ive always wondered, what did russia have on donald trump . Reporter the unsubstantiated documents captivated congress today, but they have been floating around for months. I did what any citizen should do. Reporter Arizona Republican john mccain was handed a copy late last year by a source he wont name. Why do you think they came to you . I have no idea. Reporter do you find the information credible . I dont know. Thats why i gave it to the fbi. I dont know if its credible or not, but the information i thought deserved to be delivered to the fbi, the appropriate agency of government. Reporter some republicans, like south carolinas lindsey graham, urged caution. Every american should review these things with skepticism and suspicion. You know, its not up to him to prove what he didnt do. Reporter Senate Intelligence chair richard burr would not say if he had been briefed by the spy agencies about the validity of the claims. Are you troubled by what youve heard so far . Listen, i think we look at a report like this as Opposition Research from an unverified source. Reporter but Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and others in her party said trumps unorthodox stance on russia has led them to suspect some kind of connection long ago. Any of that, whether its financial, whether its personal, whatever it is, whatever it is cannot have an impact on the National Security of the United States of america. Reporter the nations top intelligence officials will be here on capitol hill tomorrow to brief the entire senate on russias attempt to sway the election. But they are sure to be pelted with questions, scott, about what russia may or may not have on the man who is set to be sworn in nancy cordes, thanks, nance. Elsewhere at the capitol, russia was the focus of a ninehour Senate Confirmation hearing today for Rex Tillerson, the former ceo of exxonmobil, now the nominee for secretary of state. Heres chip reid. Reporter the toughest grilling of Rex Tillerson today came from a republican, senator marco rubio of florida. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal . I would not use that term. Reporter rubio, a leading critic of russia, graphically described russian bombing in syria. Mr. Putin has directed his military to conduct a devastating campaign thats targeted schools and markets and other civilian infrastructure that has resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. You are still not prepared to say that Vladimir Putin and his military have violated the rules of war and conducted war crimes in aleppo . Those are very, very serious charges to make, and i would want to have much more information before reaching a i find it discouraging your inability to cite that, which i think is globally accepted. Reporter rubio has not yet decided whether to support tillerson. If he votes no, that could put the Oil Executives confirmation at risk in the narrowly divided senate. Rubio has previously criticized tillerson, who has known putin for years, for accepting an order of friendship from the russian president , but today tillerson said the two nations will probably never be friends. Our value systems are starkly different. Reporter tillerson also encountered some rough sailing when republican chairman bob corker asked about lobbying against sanctions on russia after it invaded crimea. I never lobbied against the sanctions. To my knowledge exxonmobil never lobbied against the sanctions. Reporter but corker reminded him of this. I think you called me during this time. Reporter and democrat bob menendez said he had hard evidence tillerson was mistaken. I have four different lobbying reports totaling millions of dollars as required by the lobbying disclosure act that lists exxonmobils lobbying activities on four specific pieces of legislation authorizing sanctions. Reporter senator menendez also asked tillerson if he and president elect trump have even talked about russia yet. Scott, tillerson said no, to which menendez responded, thats pretty amazing. Chip reid for us tonight. Chip, thank you. Today is the confirmation of senator Jeff Sessions of alabama to become attorney general, there was rare opposition from a fellow senator, democrat cory booker of new jersey. Reporter senator sessions has not demonstrated a commitment to a central requisite of the job, to aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, equal rights and justice for all of our citizens. In fact, at numerous times in his career, hes demonstrated a hostility toward these convictions. He has worked to frustrate attempts to advance these ideals. Yesterday senatr sessions said that he would enforce all civil rights laws if confirmed. Mr. Trump made more news today, saying he will make a Supreme Court nomination within two weeks of taking office. He said he plans to both repeal and replace obamacare at the same time, and hell start that wall at the border before he gets mexico to pay for it. He also revealed his plan for another wall between the white house and his financial empire. Heres julianna goldman. As the president , i could run the trump organization, great, great company, and i could ru the country. Id do a very good job. Reporter the president elect has decided he will not sell his assets or place them in a blind trust, as government ethics experts had urged. Instead mr. Trump will move his assets into a trust controlled by his two oldest sons, who will alsoan organization. They will not pursue new International Deals and will hire an ethics adviser to oversee new deals in the u. S. They will also not consult with mr. Trump. I hope at the end of eight years ill come back and say, oh, you did a good job, otherwise if they do a bad job, ill say, youre fired. Reporter today walter shaub, the head of the government ethics office, called the plan wholly inadequate. The plan does not meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the past four decades have met. Reporter the arrangement means mr. Trump could have dealings with Foreign Countries where he also has a financial stake. Cbs news has counted at least ten countries, including turkey and united arab emirates, where the president elect has business interests. He needs to sell the business, free himself of conflicts of interests. Reporter richard painter was the ethics lawer for former president george w. Bush. He says mr. Trump could violate Government Official from receiving payments from a Foreign Government. A state run chinese bank is a tenant in trump tower in new york, for example. We need a clean sweep of Foreign Government payments from the business empire. There is no evidence that thats going to happen with respect to any of it other than the hotels. Reporter the president elect will donate to the u. S. Treasury any profits made from Foreign Governments using his hotels, and that includes his new one here in d. C. That leases property from the government. Scott nothing today addresses the fact that as president mr. Trump will be both landlord and tenant. Julianna goldman, thanks. Coming up next, well get john dickersons take on the president elect versus the media. And later, dozens are rescued as Severe Weather continues to storm the west. Whats the status . Theres a meteor hurtling towards earth. How long until impact . Less than a minute. What do you want to do, sir . Listen carefully. Or more on Car Insurance. I like the sound of that. Geico. Because saving fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance is always a great answer. It was hard to tell in the president elects News Conference today whether he was more disgusted with his Intelligence Community or with the media. John dickerson is here, our cbs news political director and anchor of face the nation. John, mr. Trump is rewriting the relationship with the press. Reporter he is. All president s try to do this. They try to control the message by controlling the press. Donald trump is trying to do it through intimidation, to soften up the stories about him, but hes also seeking to delegitimize the press. That isnt to say hes not complaining about a specific hes saying that there is a battle between himself and the press and thats an attempt to basically take the value away from what the press does. Lets have a look at Something Else he said in the News Conference today. Dont be rude. Mr. President elect, can you give us a question. Dont be rude. Dont be rude. No im not going to give you a question. Can you state you are fake news. Go ahead. You know, ive been hearing more and more about fake news. They talk about people that go and say all sorts of things, but i will tell you, some of the Media Outlets that i deal with are fake news, more so than anybody. I could name them, but i wont bother. So does donald trump need the press the way other president s have . You see, hes trying to define all news as fake news. He can also use twitter to get his message out. Usually president s in their attempts to control the press fail because they ultimately need the press to get their message out. He has twitter. He also has a following thats more apt to believe that the press is out to get donald trump. But his Favorability Ratings are about 43 . To get the rest of the country to speak to the rest of the country, he needs the validation of the press, to get his message across from something thats not just his own mouth, and thats where usually it breaks down for president s who try and go after the press. To speak to a broader audience. John dickerson, thanks so much. Well see you sunday on face the nation. Still coming up, the largest auto recall in American History expands. With move free ultras triple action joint support for improved mobility and flexibility, and 20 better comfort from one tiny, mighty pill. Get move free ultra, and enjoy living well. Its so delicious. I cant believe it has 40 fewer calories than butter. I cant believe its made with real, simple ingredients. I cant believe were on a whale. I cant believe my role isnt bigger. Oh, its real. Real ingredients. Unbelievable taste. Go ahead, enjoy. achoo you can pick up did cold flu viruseste. From things in your home for up to 48 hours . Its like having a sick Family Member that you didnt even know was there. And we all know what happens when one Family Member gets sick. But lysol spray and lysol wipes kill 99. 9 of germs including 8 common cold flu viruses to help protect your home this cold and flu season. Check sundays paper to save up to 4 on lysol and buy any 5 lysol products for 100 bonus box tops. Mythey have to be great on themy tinside and outside. To strengthen both, she said to go pro. Go pro with crest prohealth advanced. It strengthens. Teeth inside, and is better at strengthening the outside. Than colgate total. Best checkup ever. Honda is recalling another 772,000 vehicles because of defective air bags made by the the recall now involves as many as 69 million air bags in american cars and trucks. The inflators can explode, ejecting metal shrapnel and 11 people have died. The recall list is posted at cbsnews. Com. Today volkswagen pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and will pay the u. S. Government more than 4 billion. Nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles were fraudulently programmed to pass emissions tests that they should have failed. Six vw executives were indicted today. The National Cancer institute has begun a new push to have children vaccinated against hpv. The vaccine can prevent cervical and other cancers, but only about 42 of girls and 28 of boys have been vaccinated. Federal guidelines recommend it for childrs up next, another round of floods and blizzards slams the west. A state usually associated with sunshine and drought is now being hit with waves of blizzards and floods. John blackstone is in california for us, john . Reporter scott, there have been plenty of warnings in california over the last few days, but this flood came without warning. Here in the town of hollister, the fastrising water took residents by surprise. This farming town south of san jose, california, quickly turned into one giant swamp after a nearby creek overflowed. Emergency crews responded to calls overnight from dozens of panicked residents trapped inside their homes. By daybreak ranchers were still leading their animals to dry land. Kevin oneill is the countys Emergency Services manager. The scene here last night was challenging at times it was dark, a lot of these houses did suffer some damage. Reporter in sonoma county, the Russian River rose once again, reaching nearly 38 feet this afternoon, about six feet above flood level. Firefighters were out in swift boats saving homeowners and stranded drivers from the unrelenting waters. Melba martinelli had to leave her home. Its our home. Its the only one weve got. So were losing our home it looks like right now. Reporter in the sierra nevadas, storms have now dumped more than ten feet of snow, toppling trees, downing power lines, and collapsing a huge chunk of this mountain road. But for some, this extreme weather has provided opportunities for extreme adventure. Even storm clouds can have a silver lining. John blackstone, cbs news, hollister, california. And thats the overnight news for this thursday. For some of you, the news continues. For others, check back with us a little bit later for the morning news and be sure not to miss cbs this morning. From the Broadcast Center in new york city, im scott pelley. This is the cbs overnight news. Welcome to the overnight news. Im tony dokoupil. President elect donald trump stepped up to the podium for his first formal News Conference in months. It was billed as a chance for mr. Trump to lay out his plans to separate himself from his Global Business empire, but overshadowing that were reports that russia has obtained compromising personal and Financial Information on mr. Trump. Major garrett has our story. Its all fake news. Its phony stuff. It didnt happen. And it was gotten by opponents of ours. It was a group of opponents that got together, sick people, and they put that crap together. Reporter with that president elect donald trump emphatically denied the unsubstantiated allegations, including one about his sexual behavior. Does anyone really believe that story . Im also very much a germaphobe, by the way, believe me. Reporter that raw information was included as an appendix to a classified report detailing russian efforts to tamper with the u. S. Election undermine democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and help mr. Trump. Today for the first time the president elect agreed with that assessment, that russia was responsible for several electionrelated cyber attacks. As far as hacking, i think it was russia, but i think we also get hacked by other countries and other people. Reporter but mr. Trump also cited information revealed by the cyber intrusions. Hacking is bad, and it shouldnt be done, but look at the things that were hacked. Look at what was learned from that hacking, that Hillary Clinton got the questions to the debate and didnt report it . Thats a horrible thing. Reporter this morning in response to publication of the unverified infti trump tweeted, intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to leak into the public. Are we living in nazi germany . What were you driving at there . I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out, and thats something that nazi germany would have done and did do. Reporter the president elect also lashed out at a reporter from cnn, the first News Organization to report that the russian hacking assessment included the unverified claims. Your organization is terrible. Youre attacking our News Organization. Can you give us a chance to ask a question, sir. Quiet. Quiet. Mr. President elect shes asking a question. Dont be rude. Reporter mr. Trump declined to say whether he would keep sanctions imposed on russia by president obama. He also said he would work with russian president vladimir if putin likes donald trump, i consider that an asset, not a liability, because we have a horrible relationship with russia. Reporter u. S. Investigators are trying to verify what, if any aspects of the allegations related to mr. Trumps conduct can be verified. Russia was also a hot topic at the confirmation hearing for Rex Tillerson. President elect trumps nominee for secretary of state. Chip reid has that story. Reporter the toughest grilling of Rex Tillerson today came from a republican, senator marco rubio of florida. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal . I would not use that term. Reporter rubio, a leading critic of russia, graphically described russian bombing in syria. Mr. Putin has directed his military to conduct a devastating campaign thats targeted schools and markets and other civilian infrastructure thats resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. You are still not prepared to say that Vladimir Putin and his military have violated the rules of war and conducted war crimes in aleppo . Those are very, very serious charges to make, and i would information before reaching a conclusion. I find it discouraging your inability to cite that, which i think is globally accepted. Reporter rubio has not yet decided whether to support tillerson. If he votes no, that could put the Oil Executives confirmation at risk in the narrowly divided senate. Rubio has previously criticized tillerson, who has known putin for years, for accepting an order of friendship from the russian president , but today tillerson said the two nations will probably never be friends. Our value systems are starkly different. Reporter tillerson also encountered some rough sailing when republican chairman bob corker asked about lobbying against sanctions on russia after it invaded crimea. I never lobbied against the sanctions. To my knowledge exxonmobil never lobbied against the sanctions. Reporter but corker reminded him of this. I think you called me during this time. Reporter and democrat bob menendez said he had hard evidence tillerson was mistaken. I have four different millions of dollars as required by the lobbying disclosure act that lists exxonmobils lobbying activities on four specific pieces of legislation authorizing sanctions. Reporter senator menendez also asked tillerson if he and president elect trump have even talked about russia yet. Scott, tillerson said no, to which menendez responded, thats pretty amazing. President obama is back at the white house after delivering his farewell address in his hometown of chicago. Mr. Obama warned about threats to our democracy and urged americans to have faith in our country. Dean reynolds was among the 18,000 in the hall when the president spoke. Reporter in his farewell address, the president urged americans to stay involved in the democratic process, and he emphasized the importance of a smooth and peaceful transition to his successor. In his farewell message [ crowd chanting four more years ] i cant do that. Reporter president obama said its every citizens responsibility to be guardians of americas democracy. Democracy can buckle when it gives into fear. Thats why i reject discrimination against muslimamericans who are just as patriotic as we are. Reporter his remarks on income inequality seem to reflect on the themes of the last election. If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. Reporter the president offered a challenge to republicans trying to dismantle the Affordable Care act. If anyone can put together a bean that is demonstrably [ applause ] reporter after two terms in the spotlight, mr. Obama issued a tearful tribute to his daughters and the first lady. Michelle levon robinson, girl of the south side, you made the white house a place that belongs to everybody. Malia and sasha, of all that ive done in my life, im most proud to be your dad. [ applause ] reporter last night, the nations 44th president closed with a promise. My fellow americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. I wont stop. Im asking you to believe, not in my ability to bring about change but in yours. Yes, we can. Yes, we did. Yes, we can. God bless you. The cbs overnight news will be right back. Rise above joint discomfort with move free ultras triple action joint support for improved mobility and flexibility, and 20 better comfort from one tiny, mighty pill. Get move free ultra, and enjoy living well. President elect donald trump has vowed to revamp how the federal government does business. One form of that business that may not change is the u. S. Policy towards hostages. Washington will not pay ransom to gain the release of a u. S. Citizen. It doesnt even allow the family of the hostage to pay. And that can leave the hostage in an impossible spot. Leslie stall has that story for 60 minutes. I am Steven Joel Sotloff. Im sure you know exactly who i am by now and why im appearing before you. Reporter Steven Joel Sotloff was beeaded by isis. His execution on september 2, 2014, was seen around the world on a video. Did you ever watch it . I have viewed stevens body with his head on his chest. I had to see that, because i needed to be sure that that was him. Reporter steven was born and raised in miami, attended college in israel, and became a freelance journalist, reporting from war zones where information was scarce. Like yemen, benghazi, libya, and syria, where he went in the summer of 2013. Just before he crossed into aleppo, he called his dad. He contacted me and told me not to worry. But if i dont hear from him within four days, that i should get in touch with one of his colleagues. Woe, thats ominous. Reporter he didnt hear from his son not for four days, but four excruciating months. Then finally they got a ransom letter with demands for the government to free all the muslims in u. S. Custody. Or and then theres a last option. 100 Million Euros will secure stevens release. 137 million. Reporter what was your reaction . Reaction was, how the hell are we going to get this money together . Reporter they thought the u. S. Government would help them, but they were bewildered, and then infuriated when they say they met a stone wall. The u. S. Policy forbidding the paying of ransom. Its some of the hardest work that ive done. Reporter lisa monaco, assistant to president obama for counterterrorism, oversaw the hostage crisis. These are horrible choices. On the one hand, if you dont pay a ransom, you are putting an innocent life at risk. On the other hand, if you do, youre fuelling the very activity thats put them at risk in the first place. Reporter did you feel ever that the policy might be wrong . The policy thats been a decades old policy of not paying ransom i think is the right policy. Reporter so you didnt question that . We didnt. We believed that was important to maintain. Reporter with the exception of the uk, most European Countries do pay ransom without publicly admitting it. Steven was held with 22 other hostages, including the three americans james foley, peter cassic, and kayla mueller, who were all killed. Once the european governments paid ransom, isis released their citizens. One of whom smuggled out this letter from steven. He was speaking how he cant stand seeing all the captives leave from all different countries, how could the United States just stand by and not do anything . Reporter as the european hostages came out and spoke of mock executions and water boardings, they decided to try to raise some of the money themselves. But then they and the other u. S. Families attended a meeting in washington with officials on the National Security counci all of us were saying why cant we try to save our kids . And they said because its against the law. We do not negotiate with terrorists. Reporter did they say you would be prosecuted . They said, you could be prosecuted and also your donors could be prosecuted. Reporter so if i gave you money, i would be prosecuted . Correct. Reporter did anybody say, are you kidding me . Yes, we did. It was a little bit contentious. We could have verbally fought back. Reporter they were threatened they could be prosecuted. Is that true . Whats true is that some families felt threatened, and that was unacceptable, and that should never have happened. Reporter are you suggesting they may not have been threatened . No. What im suggesting is im not present when any threats were made, but what matters, leslie, is these families felt that way as they were going through the most horrific time they with reporter was that the policy, was that true . Could they have actually been prosecuted . Could someone who contributed to pay ransom also be prosecuted . So whats true is that the Justice Department has never prosecuted a family or friends of a family that has paid a ransom. Reporter but was it the policy . Well, what the policy is, the United States government will not pay ransoms or make concessions to hostage takers. Reporter that policy is based in part on a presumption that paying ransom invites more hostage taking. But that is refuted by a new study that examined the case of every known western hostage taken since 9 11. It was coauthored by peter bergen, a counterterrorism expert for the nonpartisan ne america foundation. They dont know necessarily youre american when they take you. So a target of opportunity. Someansom, the french, germans,e spanish. Even though they dont admit it. They dont admit that they do. Americans are huge outliers here. Youre twice as likely to have a negative outcome compared to every other western hostage. Reporter you mean murdered . Murdered, die in captivity or remain in captivity. Reporter 14 of the european hostages held with steven made it home. Four americans and two brits died. I keep playing in my own head this horrible situation, where the american hostages watched the other ones be set free. And i wonder if it wouldnt have been better if our government did what the european governments did, which is pay ransom but then deny it in order to save their citizens. Why couldnt we have done that . We would still be fueling their terror acty. Whether its hostage taking or whether its terrorist plots, to kill americans here in the homeland or elsewhere is not activity that the United States government should be in the business of funding. Reporter what do you say to critics of the policy of not paying ransom, that the beheadings of the americans ended up having more value to isis than any money would have been, thats really what put them on the international map, these beheading videos were a gold mine for isis. Do you see it that way . I dont. And i think its giving brutal, murderous thugs too much credit. You can see the full report on our website, cbsnews. Com. The ovehtrnigs newl wilbe right back. I will never wash my hair again. I will never never wash my hair again new pantene doesnt just wash your hair, it fuels it. With the first prov nutrient blend, making every. Strand stronger dont just wash your hair fuel it fuel your hair. Because strong is beautiful. A girl with golden locks broke into a house owned by three bears. She ate some porridge, broke the baby bears chair, and stole some jewelry, a flatscreen tv, and a laptop. Luckily the Geico Insurance agency had helped the bears with homeowners insurance. They were able to replace all their items. Including a new chair from crate and barrel. It is to switch and save on homeowners insurance. People in scotland take their whiskey very seriously. And if you want to call your drink scotch, there are a list of rules. But one american in london is breaking those rules and our Jonathan Vigliotti got that story. Reporter here in the uk, thats perfectly acceptable to order a scotch whiskey. Scotch is a billion dollar a year industry here in the uk. Many of the brands are centuries old. But now newcomers thank you are mixing up this ancient recipe. Whiskey is the life of man whiskey from an old tin can reporter its amber tones and smoky notes have seduced for centuries, and given birth to one of the uks most lucrative industries. In the Rolling Hills of scotland, making scotch whiskey is a work of art. The grains are mashed, fermented, then distilled. And finally aged in wooden casts. The bold tasting scotch inside is then bottled and sold. Its a 500yearold spirit protected by law. And drinking it can pack a lot of rules. Just watch master distiller richard pattersons tutorial. This is the way you hold it, not this way. Definitely not this way. But if i ever see you nosing it, nosing it like this, ill kill you. Reporter but in the small london left, whiskey blender john glazer is dropping the pretension and adding a new range of flavors. A lot of people think scotch whiskey is high handed, that there are rules and you have to drink it a certain way. It is a little scary. Its frightening. Theres so many different scotch whiskeys. So it is intimidating. We try to break all that down. Reporter his blends are to whiskey what craft beer is to lager. Were making whiskeys that have a big richness, sweetness, softness thats more in tune with the taste of the day, we think. Reporter whisper whiskey, its being dubbed. Mellower and lighter for the millennial palate. The production process borrows from tradition. He buys single malts from scottish distilleries. Like blenders of the past, he mixes them. But he goes one step further, maturing the blend again. In especially crafted castsha when youre tasting, when youre assessing, its a technique thats Won International praise. And scottish scorn. Weve had runins with authorities of the industry because we like to do things differently as a business. Reporter his innovative casts led to one of his whiskeys being banned by the scotch whiskey association, the industrys old guard. Rosemary gallagher laid down the law. It has to be from scotland. It has to be matured in casts. Were trying to encourage it within those guidelines. Reporter innovation is needed. In 2015 for the first time ever, not a single scotch appeared in the whiskey bibles top three list. A japanese whiskey ranked number one. This year, scotch is on the list, but with a lighter, caramelvanilla blend. These whisper whiskeys are even welcomed in cocktails, once openly frowned upon by scotch purists. If youre just doing things the way you always have, youre going to fall behind. Reporter john glazer hopes his customized blends are part of the equation. We can blend up whatever you want, but why dont you do it . Lets turn the responsibility over to you. Reporter lets do a cbs this morning scotch whiskey. Im thinking for charlie, its going to be smokey. For norah, floral. And for gail, spicy. How smoky do you want it to be . I want it to be a balance of all three. Thats the smoky one. Thats charlie. Next, well do the spicy one. Emphasis on spicy. So floral for norah. There you go. All right. Moment of truth. Cheers. [ speaking Foreign Language ] its thursday, january 12th, 2017. This is the cbs morning news. With eight days until the inauguration, the trump transition heats up. Its all fake news. Its phony stuff. It didnt happen. The president elect wailed against reports but finally admitted they meddled in the election. They took on two of the president elects top picks. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal. I would not use that term