Transcripts For CNNW New Day 20161230

From the u. S. Who u. S. Officials say were posing as diplomats. Evan perez is live for us in washington with more. Evan . With only three weeks left in president Obamas Administration hes firing back at russia for their alleged meddling in the u. S. Election. 35 Russian Diplomats now have less than 72 hours to leave the country. U. S. Intelligence Officials Say they were spies posing as diplomats. The expulsion part of a massive crackdown by president obama against russian alleged election cyberattacks. Also includes shutting down two russian compounds located in maryland and new york. What these individuals were doing were basically collecting intelligence. Theyre Intelligence Officers operating here and using these compounds for intelligence collection purposes. Reporter the u. S. Sanctioning nine russian individuals and entities, including the russian spy agency, the fsb, and the Russian Military Intelligence Unit the gru. The u. S. Intelligence Officials Say the gru ordered the attacks on the Democratic National committee and other political groups under orders from the kremlin. In a statement, president obama says the cyberattacks could only have been directed by the highest levels of the russian government. Obama and u. S. Intelligence officials have implied that russian president Vladimir Putin was directly involved in the hacks. In part, to hurt Hillary Clintons campaign. Obama warning, all americans should be alarmed by russias actions. The stiff sanctions drawing bipartisan praise. We cannot allow a foreign power to impact our elections. Were the United States of america and you will not mess around with our election system. Reporter speaker of the house paul ryan calling the sanctions overdue as john mccain and lindsay gram vow to hit russia harder calling for Even Stronger sanctions. Need to name putin as an individual of this inner circle because nothing happens in russia without his knowledge or approval. Reporter meanwhile, the white house looking to take covert retaliation, as well. Saying, these actions are not the sum total of our response. The u. S. Says it is ready for any response from russia. The truth is we enjoy the greatest capabilities of any country on earth. That is offensive and defensive. Help Cybersecurity Companies in the u. S. And abroad identify, detect and disrupt cyberattacks in the future. Poppy . The white house talked about this two months ago. Why are they just doing something now . Well get to that with our panel in a moment. President elect donald trump is downplaying the u. S. Sanctions against russia for months he has denied collusion from the conclusion, i should say, from the u. S. Intelligence community about russias meddling in this election. Trump now says he will meet next week with those intelligence officials to get the answers. Our Jessica Schneider is on top of that part of the story this morning. Donald trump reiterating the skepticism that he has repeatedly discussed about the alleged russian hacks. He did speak outside maralago saying we should get on with our lives. Issued this Statement Last night, it is time for our country to move on to bigger and better things. In the interest of our country and its great people, i will meet with leaders of the Intelligence Community to be updated on the facts of the situation. Top transition adviser Kellyanne Conway saying the sanctions seem largely symbolic and cast doubt on the intelligence and accusing president obama of playing politics with this whole issue. Even those who are sympathetic to president obama on most issues are saying that part of the reason he did this today was to box in president elect trump. That would be very unfortunate, if that were if politics were the motivating factor here. But we cant help but think that is often true. And Kellyanne Conway also refusing to say if donald trump will reverse these sanctions once he takes office in just a few weeks. Poppy and don. Thank you so much, Jessica Schneider with that reporting. Lets discuss with our panel. Former cia counterterrorism official philip mudd and military analyst and former army command general Mark Hertling and Senior Editor of daily beast michael weiss. Compare this to the cold war for us. Give us a reality check on that. Well, you are saying that because im the oldest one on the panel, poppy. I am not. I fought in the cold war and patrolled the borders between west germany and some of the war saw packed. You could see what was going on on the other side. With cyberwarfare, you cant see it. The objectives are to create distrust, seed confusion and cause mayhem. The russians have done that in this case. They have gone beyond cybersquirmishing. The difference between having one individual go into the land between east germany and west germany during the cold water versus sending an entire Tank Division across the border. This is critically important because, as russia tried to do the things they did, it was not just against the political organization, it was against government organizations, think tanks, universities and private servers. They were trying to collect data and cause mayhem. Lets talk about how intricate this network was, according to the Obama Administration. Talked about trying to influence the election and also is says, this is from New York Times. Several states reported the scanning of their voter databases, which american intelligence agencies also attributed to russian hackers. Russia sought to manipulate vote or voter roles on november 8th. It is very alarming that they are scanning voting roles. How intricate was this network, michael . Pretty intricate. Two of the guys who have been sanctioned who are not technically agents have been on the fbis most wanted list for years for cyber warfare. One has been identified as the most dangerous hacker in the world. So, what russia has tended to do. The sanctions against the gru, including the director of the gru and his top deputies. A sign and blame to russias military intelligence service. But the perpetrators of these hacks are contractors, if you like. People found by the russian government to do their dirty work for them. The missing link, which is so important which is why you hear philip mudd, to you, which is why you hear the president say the highest levels of russian government, even if they cant directly tap it to putin. The kremlin. Yeah, i think we ought to be cautious on that one, though. You hear the Intelligence Community say is that they are confirming with a great deal of specificity that russian entities were involved and actually stealing the information. When you get to the question of who was responsible for this, you hear language like this could only have happened. That to me suggests that it is analysis, not a fact. We have to differentiate between what we know and what we think. I think the Intelligence Community would struggle to think that Vladimir Putin knew about this. I believe he did, but that is not a fact. Donald trump has been skeptical of this intelligence all along, upsetting many in the Intelligence Community. He is going to sit down with them, general hertling, next week and get the low down, if you will. Be briefed on this. Do you think that that is his sticking point. What philip just pointed out . I think so. But it could also be that he doesnt completely understand what russias strategy is. They have past from a pet robribing organization into the use of these kind of covert measures. It started back in the mid2000. 2005, 2006 and weve seen repeatedly they have tried to interfere with governments. It started in estonia and it happened in ukraine. Its been in georgia and its been in several other countries within europe. They are now doing to us what they have done in europe. What i watched is the commanding general of u. S. Army europe. It is their technique and they are becoming very successful at it. Is it, michael, you know, we keep saying the alleged hacking, but this Intelligence Report that was ordered by the president is going to be published within the next three weeks. A lot of it will remain classified. But they did say especially evidence collected from implants in russian Computer System and taped conversations and spies expected to be classified. But a detailed report coming in three weeks. The evidence that everyone has been asking for is going to be known soon. Yeah. Although, again, i dont think there is going to be a smoking gun to the satisfaction of skeptics like donald trump and people who try to throw cold water on this thing. We dont quite know if all the evidence and confirmation comes from intercept intelligence. Some of it may come from human intelligence. I said yesterday, what if the cia is running spies in moscow who have confirmed this at the highest levels of the moscow government. They cannot blow their own assets and they cant expose that. That is the danger of coming clean with everything the u. S. Government knows about this. Philip mudd, to you. Some of these counterattacks. I mean, we know about some of what the United States is doing. We also know, pretty clear that there will be covert action, as well. Can you walk us through what that could be . Sure. If youre looking at what we were talking about earlier. Back in the days of the cold war, you would see what we saw in the past 24 hours. Expel their diplomats. They expel our diplomats and then you move on. In this case, the white house is announcing measures for this new age of cyber war fare where youre talking about the capabilities and the activities of the russians. The company can now say i can defend myself. Behind the scenes the white house has repeatedly said, there is more to come. I want to know if they will Start Playing with russian Intelligence Computers and Start Playing with the i. T. Infrastructure in the kremlin. My guess is that there is more behind the scenes that involves the Digital World that is as general hertling. The man we call general hertling who talked about whether we start to see the Intelligence Community take action that we would not have seen in the cold war. Action against the the old man is sitting next to me, by the way. The old man. The old man who looks younger than i do. So, gramps, i shouldnt say that. Gentlemen, i want to ask you russia is responding and even the embassy tweeting out a picture with the lame duck on it. A russian spokesperson said this. The people who have been living for eight years in the white house are not in an administration. They are a group of Foreign Policy losers, angry and dull. Today obama officially admitted it. But as a Russian Proverb goes, obama cannot be broken with a whip. I mean, it sounds similar to some of the tweets that we get over here. But thats pretty strong language. Thats from a government spokesperson. Government spokesperson against ive been monitoring the russian tweets, as well. Fraught rt, sputnik and other russian organizations. Its been fascinating. They are playing right alongside with mr. Trumps playbook. Insulting, childish at times. Using the kinds of things that you would expect from a 12yearold. The lame duck is a perfect example. Are you serious . Are we really doing this kind of diplomacy over twitter. And they are playing toward not only mr. Trump, but also the american people. He has a friend, mr. Trump has a friend in the kremlin. And i think one of the things that i would find very interesting because i was flabbergasted when he said he would wait until next week to take intel on this. What does he take from the Intelligence Community when he gets together . What does he garner in terms of information . Will he see the things that many people expect him to see in the kind of intelligence the u. S. Has. This is why its important for him to take those int Intelligence Briefings. Daily. Daily. Michael. By the way the spokesperson you just quoted was previously quoted saying the reason donald trump won the election had nuthing to do with the russian hacking but he contributed and then did a jewish accent in russian. This is not exactly the pinnacle of russian diplomacy and elegance here. Guys, thank you very much. Youre all youngen my e een in. Russia fighting back as we just discussed following these u. S. Sanctions. Will Congress Respond by escalating the moves . Well get reaction from democratic congressman gregory meeks, next. Some now are questioning the timing of the Obama Administration sanctions against rush frau cyberattacks. They say they were meant to influence the election. For more than two months now the white house has publicly talked about the Intelligence Community conclusion that it was russia. The russian government is directing the effort. Or at least providing the information responsible for the leaks. And thats a source of some concern because the Intelligence Community has concluded with high confidence that theyre doing so to try to destabilize our democracy. Thats something that, obviously, the president takes quite seriously. The question is, the obama russia sanctions. Is it too little too late . I want to ask gregory meeks. First of all, good morning. Thank you for joining us. Especially here during the holiday season. That was two and a half months ago. Is it too little, too late . Why not do Something Back then . I think the president did not want to publicize this issue. He gave warnings to mr. Putin, clearly, when they met. He talked. But he knew that if he brought up this scenario, the other side would say, oh, hes politicizing this. Trying to deny it just as president elect is doing right now. What he did is rate on his intelligence information and everything hes doing now is not based upon politics but based on the intelligence he received. Youre saying hes dammed if you do. Do you think it was right considering the outcome of the election and now whats going on . Yeah, because i think what the president did and i think he did everything he could on the campaign stomp talking and giving the information, he did the right thing. So that and hopefully we will come back. Democrats and republicans. Not politicizing this to say were not going to allow russia to get away with what it had been doing to some of our key allies over in the baltic areas, also. But i have to press you because even republicans. Even Lindsey Graham theyre wanting more. The retaliatory measures announced by the Obama Administration today are long overdue but a small price for russia to pray for its brazen attack on the american democracy. We intend to impose stronger sanctions on russia. They wanted the president to go even further in an election where a republican won, considering these allegations of hacking. Consider what this president said. Hes going to do some things overtly, which you see today. And hes going to do some things covertly. Which you dont see. And i think that there are other things that he has said that this is not limited to what youve just seen. Some of the things you cant see. Its difficult to bring out to the public. Hes going to release some of the intelligence information. But you cant release all of it because then you give up what you do know and how you found out about it. So, hes in a little catch there. But he is, he means what he says and hes going to do what he says. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway saying this was all meant to box in the incoming president. Listen. Even those who are sympathetic to president obama on most issues are saying that part of the reason he did this today was to box in president elect trump. That would be very unfortunate if that were, if politics were the motivating factor here. But we cant help but think that is often true. Even the New York Times characterized this is is an attempt to box him in. Do you think this is meant to box in. Politics at play here because it would be unprecedented and unusual for him to overturn the incoming president to overturn these sanks. Not at all. What i saw is unusual is only one president at a time. Barack obama is still the president of the United States. What is unprecedented is a president elect to get involved in decisions that a sitting president is making. That is unprecedented. Yeah. So, listen, this is what the incoming president is saying about this, despite the intelligence and despite even republicans in congress, lawmakers saying that they believe that russians did hack the election. The incoming president saying it is time for our country to move on to bigger and better things. Nevertheless, in the interest of our country i will meet with leaders next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation. So, hes saying, lets move on here. But im going to meet with the intelligence. What does that say to you . Thats amazing. He will meet with them even next week. Hes making statements without checking with his own intelligence and siding with someone, apparently, who has been shown to be not trustworthy in mr. Putin. So, it tells me he is not going to intelligence briefing because also unprecedented. Get Intelligence Briefings every day and not next week and not some time in the future. Every day he should have been getting intelligence. More information and more knowledge or his stance on this might be different if he were getting daily Intelligence Briefings . I would hope so, but im not sure. If you look at his past, despite what the facts say, hes decided to go his own way. The example of it would be the birther incident where clearly all the evidence and everything that he had gone through showed that president obama was born in america. But for two years. But he didnt say to move on. For two to three years he continued what he had to know was false information. He continued to perpetuate that. Go ahead. I hope that as president of the United States that he understands he cant continue that method and i hope that democrats and republicans will call him on it when he just seems to want to dismiss intelligence and ways to move forward. You answered the question i wanted to ask you. Would this be a bipartisan issue and you sanswered that. Thank you. We appreciate you. Poppy . Well talk more about that through the show. Meantime millions of people expected to pack times square on new years eve. A live report on security preparations here and across the country, next. Security will be stepped up for new years celebration in new yorks times square and other cities around the world amid terror fears. Brynn gingras is live with much more. It nervel holds the revellers back. 2 Million People expected tomorrow night. 2 Million People and you said it, it is going to be heavily secured. So much so, poppy, that even just two days ago more than 500 officers were sworn in and this is their first job. Detail here at times square. Thats on top of thousands of other officers. The nypd starts preparing for all of this when the ball dropped earlier this year and just layers and layers of security that really just evolves as terror threats happen around the world. Ten, nine, eight reporter new york city is on high alert in anticipation of one of the biggest new years eve celebrations in the world. Three, two, one reporter securing it takes an army. 7,000 nypd officers is just one part of the enhanced measures being taken to protect the city. This is where everybody has to be on their toes. I know complacency can set in at times but certainly not at an event like this. Reporter in the wake of the isisinspired attacks in nice. 100 blockers will be stationed around the city, most being used as a protective barrier around times square to ward off a truckstyle attack. We live in a changing world now. It cant just be about what happens in new york. Reporter the nypd is in constant communication with foreign departments gaining intelligence and sharing Police Strategy with cities abroad. In london, there is added security at the changing of the guards. Heavily armed police were unavoidable in berlin as they stood posts behind concrete barriers at a christmas concert. Czech holiday markets were heavily patrolled and 10,000 officers on the peresian streets working around the clock. Translator were giving of ourselves and our time and at a cost to ourselves and our families. Reporter nearly 2 Million People expected in times square. The extra Police Presence a noticeable addition to keep new york city safe. If youre coming down to times square, rest assured it will be a safe venue. Wus within the last few weeks we know members of the nypd have been inspecting parking garages and visiting truck rental centers and keeping their eyes and ears open for anything suspicious, poppy. Right now the nypd said there is no credible threat against the ball drop ceremony. I know you will be there enjoying it, taking in the festivities and lights and sounds. It is a great time and i always feel so safe because of the amazing nypd officers around us giving up their holiday to protect us. Brynn, thank you. Lets discuss all of this with matthew hoarse and lets start with times square. I do feel very safe there because everywhere i turn is an officer and dogs and plain clothed officers and the security that we dont see, right . Happy holidays, poppy, first. You, too. As you would imagine 7,000 officers have been placed on duty to protect and police over 2 Million People in times square, but then also consider the other 8 Million People who are in and around new york city. When you talk about security, its not just about its not at all just about times square. It is about a lot of other cities across the country. And smaller towns. I mean, you talk a lot about the lone wolf attack that weve seen far too many of. These attacks have happened in smaller cities. San bernardino, orlando, the ohio College Campus attack just in the last year. Right. Lets face it, new years eve happens once a year. Not just in new york, but all around the world. And that evening and what it represents presents a vulnerability to every city in the United States. What do officials on these College Campuses do prevent against Something Else like that . What do they do in a San Bernardino . You have to plan, plan and replan. As we get prepared state, local and federal law enforcements come up with plans and thats what you see happening here. Theyre working locally with the feds and what have you heard. One very troubling things weve seen increased this year is the use of vehicles or mass casualty terror attacks. To drive into the group of people on the ohio College Campus. Anything can be a tool of terror. Absolutely. Every time something happens it causes us to retool our efforts and rethink our security strategies. How do you do that in, say, a times square. They can put some barriers up in the streets there and maybe thats a little easier to do in times square because you have a contained place. Well, as you know, that is the greatest challenge we have is to separate security from peoples civil liberties. New york city does a great job of that. Youll see an increased emphasis with 7,000 officers on site tomorrow evening. I walked on to the subway in new york last week and there was a backpack sitting on one of the seats and i completely. My heart just started pounding and i said, whose is this . Very loud. I had this visceral reaction to it and that person sitting across said, thats mine, thats mine. Thats what all of us need to do if we see anything. Every person needs to become another set of eyes. When you see an unattended bag or package, look what happened in chelsea just a couple months ago. Those devices were placed in different bags in new york. We all have to Pay Attention to our surroundings. If you see something, say something. It sounds like, okay, thats a cute saying. See something, say something. Likely nothing can protect the public more than the public being aware. More sets of eyes and more boots on the ground. Being aware and making sure we Pay Attention to everything. Our job to protect each other. How do you believe that those protecting us have changed their tactics in the wake of the mass terror attacks around the country . What has changed that were not necessarily seeing. These guys all these officers that were not necessarily seeing in uniform, plain clothed. What are they doing and patrolling for in. Behind the scenes every time something happens we develop best practices based on the last incident. The chelsea attack. Don and i were live on the air and these homemade bombs in these bags. How does that change how they will protect us tomorrow night . We look at more things with more eyes and we train our officers to be prepared and aware and cognizant and we train the public to give us that extra layer of protection and we hope for the best. We plan for the worst and hope for the best. Thank you. People will be out not just in times square, but all over the world this coming new years eve. Hundreds of new state laws take effect on new years eve or on new year and as we ring in the new year our legal maven we will call him, Jeffrey Toobin tells us what you need to know for 2017. If youre told you have cancer, explore your Treatment Options with specialists who treat only cancer. Every stage. Every day. At Cancer Treatment centers of america. Learn more at cancercenter. Com experts may not always be clear. But at t. Rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. So wherever your Retirement Journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. Call us or your advisor t. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. At the stroke of midnight tomorrow, we will usher in a new year, which also means a lot of new laws are going to take effect across the country. A lot of them might impact you. Here to discuss senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Nice to have you. Good morning. So, lets talk about the pot laws first. These are changing. Marijuana laws in a number of states. But at the same time Jeff Sessions is coming in, if confirmed as attorney general, who hates these changes. Really sort of an amazing and unprecedented situation. Of course, as most people know, Washington State and colorado have had legal pot for several years and i think its generally perceived to be more or less a success. Now, two very big states, massachusetts and california have legalized pot. But marijuana is still illegal under federal law. Now, eric holder, president obamas attorney general, negotiated a deal with colorado and washington that said basically, if you keep it away from organized crime, if you keep it away from children, we will not interfere with legalization. But theres going to be a new sheriff in town. And the question is, what will Jeff Sessions, if hes confirmed as attorney general, do about legal pot in what is now a quarter of the United States population. He can roll that back . Not that he can roll it back but say, look, well send fbi agents in and go to your stores. You know, if you go to colorado, its not like its a secret that pot is legal. They have stores that sell it. And its a very big business. Thats the other part of it. You would think it is legal in a lot of other places. Its not in actual stores in any other places. Also the big issue with the federal government, the banking of it and the financing of it. What you do with the money that comes in through these businesses because the federal government does have a say in that. It ripples through the whole system. What do you do with banks who offer accounts to marijuana you know, in some states and also an increasing number of states you have medical marijuana and you have dispensaries which, you know, which give out. Which sell marijuana. But in these states where its legal, what do you do . Are the banks allowed to take deposits from these companies . Could really clamp down on that. Indeed. Income inequality has been an issue on the campaign trail for the last year and a half. 41 states and municipalities will increase the minimum wages. What does this mean for donald trump . Can he try to roll this back . I dont think there is much chance that the federal government is going to roll those back. I suppose it would be legally possible, but even donald trump has said, i mean, he said varying things on this issue that he favors an increase on the minimum wage. I dont think there will be any sort of roll back, but i do think that the congress will not be raising the national. Tammy wage. That much is clear. Like you said, that federally hasnt changed since 2009. 7 . 25 an hour. Trump has said a few different things. He is supportive of a 10 minimum wage. Somewhere where we may see him make a lot of noise and legally is on guns. He has said protect Second Amendment rights, et cetera. Now, california has these new restrictions coming on assault rifles. Right. You know, this guns is the classic issue between a red state and blue state divide. You know, the blue states are more determined than ever to try to reign in gun violence. The red states are more determined than ever to relax gun restrictions. And, you know, the red folks are in charge now in washington. And there will certainly be no more gun restrictions passed by, passed by congress or assigned. I know youre an expert on all things. Lets talk about things. There are some weird laws. Theres a law coming in soon be legal to catch catfish using a spear gun or a bow and arrow in illino illinois. The interesting thing about that law is that poppy was behind it. Poppys interest in pitch fork fishing hey, i have to get dinner on the table. Youre a tough lady. My husband does like fish. I cant stand it. You know, i dont know anything about that. I dont know why, hey in tennessee, a new law raises alcohol by volume, this allows restaurants to serve that really strong beer. Because only good things can come from really strong beer. And serve more varieties. The state of jack daniels. They are, they are used to strong liquor. In other news Jeffrey Toobin, happy new year, my friend. Happy new year. Best seller still. I will put it down. Guys, thank you. Coming up on new day, the topped pedmedia stories of 2016. Stay with us. Your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on your car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. East baton rouge sheriff was almost killed in the line of duty earlier this year but making impressive strides and handwriting a birthday message to his mother this week. Ed lavandera has his story of going beyond the call of duty. Head forward for yes and to the right for no. Show me no. Good. Keep going. Real big. Reporter five months after east baton rouge sheriff deputy was shot three times by a lone gunman, this is where he is now. Follow the mirror. Reporter but when you consider how far hes come, youll understand why this image is astounding. Great job, nick. Reporter the sounds of a vicious ambush pierced through the heart of baton rouge on a quiet sunday morning in july. A gunman killed three officers. But as the story faded from the headlines, one of the officers who rushed to the scene was left fighting for his life. Nicks a fighter. You know, we believe in him. He believes in himself and nicks not ready to go. Reporter he was in a coma for four months, emerging in midnovember. He survived more than a dozen surgeries after he was shot once in the head and twice in the abdomen. His heart stopped four times in e. R. And they brought him back four times. Tulliers father james says Doctors First told him his son wouldnt survive the day. Then it was two days. Nine five. Now, tullier is awake. Fighting. Hes defied every odd. Tullier cant speak yet but hes moved from baton rouge to tier memorial herman hospital in houston, the same rehabilitation facility where u. S. Representative gabby give order was treated. Tullier undergoes four hours of physical, speech and Occupational Therapy every day. Doctors say he will never completely recover. But his family says the progress so far is amazing. Hes the fighter. Hes the strong one. And hes pushing. Hes pushing. Thats what hes done in life. But his son struggles with the questions that have no answers. Whats going to happen . In the future . Like, am i still going to have a father thats going to be able to, you know, have conversations with me . Are we going to be able to hang out anymore . You know. There you go, keep going. Nick tullier is literally learning to write his name again, but for his family and friends, these are the initials of a superhero. Rock star. Look at you. Whoo ed lavandera, cnn, dallas. Yeah. Their hometown. I remember that morning vividly when these officers were shot. That is incredible, his reh rehabilitati rehabilitation. Ed lavandera, thanks for bringing us that story. Now we want to bring you the top ten of 2016 series. The media, you know, has been quite a target of president elect donald trump, and others, during an unprecedented election season. Our Brian Stelter has this years top media stories. Downfalls, feuds and failures. A president ial election that challenged the media like never before. Culminating in an unprecedented outcome. Here are the top ten media stories of 2016. Number ten, an emotional homecoming. Washington post reporter Jason Rezaian freed in january after 545 days in an iranian prison. To my colleagues at the post, you guys are all awesome. His imprisonment a stark reminder of the dangers journalists face every day around the globe. Number nine, the Kelly Ripa Michael strahan feud. Blindsided by news her live cohost was leaving for gma, ripa skipped work for four days. Our long, National Nightmare is over. She returned after a personal apology from disney, abc execs and strahan left the show weeks earlier than planned. Number eight, Corporate Media maneuvering. Longtime viacom ceo squeezed out by the daughter of 93yearold sumner the ailing patriarch shareholder. The two were estranged for awhile but sherry is again heir to the corporate throne. And the biggest media merger of the decade, at t seeking to buy time warner, the parent of cnn, in an 85 billion marriage of content and distribution. Donald trump slammed the deal, while on the campaign trail. Whether he tries to block it now remains to be seen. Number seven the leaks from wikileaks exposing past Clinton Campaign emails to the bombshellac ses hollywood tape, secret spoofs rocked political journalism this year. Someone even mailed trumps 1995 tax return to the New York Times. But what never leaked . Raw footage from the apprentice. Number six, goodbye gawker. A jury ruling that the site innovated hulk hogans privacy when it published parts of the sex tape featuring the former wrestler. A multimillion dollar judgment forced gawker into bankruptcy and the flagship site was later shut down a warning to journalists everywhere. In a surprise twist, Silicon Valley billionaire peter thiel revealed he had been secretly bang rolling the lawsuit. His revenge for what he believed was gawker oufting him in 2007. Number five, fake news stories. Posted on the web polluting facebook time lines and twitter streams. Some now wondering if it helped tilt the election for trump although Facebook Says no. We dont think it swayed the election but we take that responsibility really seriously. Facebook and google did announce steps to halt the flow of ad dollars to the creators of these totally fake sites. But this new age of Information Warfare is just beginning. Altright media out of the shadows. When trump named steve bannon out of Breitbart News as his campaign ceo critics say it brought fringe conspiracy ideas in the mainstream of politics. Trump, bannon and breitbart were real champions of trump. Bannon once called breitbart a platform for the altright a movement linked to white nationalism, racism and misogyny. Now bannon will be the president s chief strategist. So altright will have a more powerful platform right inside the white house. A charge bannon denies. Number three the stunning downfall of fox ceo roger ailes. Breaking news. Back with some breaking news, a media bombshell. In july, former fox host Gretchen Carlson filed a Sexual Harassment lawsuit against ailes. Two weeks later he was out. Although ailes strongly denied the allegations, multiple women inside fox, including megyn kelly, came forward with similar stories. It was a shocking end to the controversial gop kingmaker and mastermind of the countrys highest rated cable news channel. Number two one of the biggest media miscues in decades. Donald trump winning the presidency something most of the press never believed would actually happen. We didnt do our job as well as we could have and should have. A complete failure at every step of the process. I think polling has to get better about describing the uncertainties. Trumps win was a wakeup call but the polling, data and the reminder that National News outlets need to do a better job covering race, class, inequality, or else risk losing even more public confidence. Number one, running against the press. The most antimedia campaign in modern history. It started in 2015. But trump doubled down in 2016. Im running against the crooked media. Have to put up with some of the most dishonest people in the world. The media. His very personal feud with megyn kelly simmered down by midyear but trump still called out other journalists by name. Katy, youre not reporting it. Theres something happening, katy. This sleazy the guy right over here from abc. Shes a sleaze in my book. He fired off angry tweets at news outlets, treating them like enemies and got his crowds chanting. Trump declared war on the press. And the campaign was just the first battle. It sets up a colossal challenge for the media in 2017. Covering president trump. Hmm. Yeah. President elect said hes wanted to change or interested in changing libel laws. Its a totally new world when it comes to covering the commander in chief. And that is singling out certain reporters, singular reporters, in, you know, in and some people were concerned about their safety as well because people were very loud and also you know sometimes very angry at those rallies. So they were concerned for their general safety and welfare but were going to see what happens. With the first amendment. But i think the Fourth Estate is important to keep checks and balances on our government and its up to us to look at anyone who is in power including the president elect people running for president with a critical eye and thats what we did. And we will continue in 2017. All right. Breaking news out of russia. Lets get right to it. This is is cnn breaking news. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your new day im don lemon along with poppy harlow. Were going to begin with this breaking news. Russian state media reporting that Vladimir Putin says he will not expel, not expel dozens of american diplomats after his foreign minister earlier this morning recommended doing so in response to tough sanctions by the u. S. For allegedly meddling in the election. Is putin sending mixed messages . And is he waiting for president elect donald trump to deal with the diplomatic showdown . Trumps takes office in exactly three weeks from today. We have every angle of the story covered. Lets begin in moscow with Senior International correspondent matthew chance. This is a complete reversal from what, you know, foreign minister said and represented just a few hours ago. Why . Yeah. The kremlin said that they were going to hit back against the United States but they didnt. In fact, it was the complete opposite. We saw that recommendation from the Russian Foreign minister a few hours ago saying that we should reciprocate. The russians should reciprocate. There should be 35 diplomats expelled from the u. S. Diplomatic missions in moscow and st. Petersburg, as well. But that decision always rested and the kremlin made this clear, that decision always rested with Vladimir Putin. The russian president. And he just gone out on state media and said hes made the decision not to expel those u. S. Diplomats. He said that the restoration of ties between the United States and russia will be dependent on Donald Trumps policies. So Vladimir Putin mindful of the fact that in less than three weeks from now, donald trump will be the new president of the United States, and its him that he believes he can do a deal with. Its him he believes that the relationship between russia and the United States, which has been so badly strained over the past several years, over various issues from syria to ukraine to major expansion, that relationship can be rebuilt. And theres a step towards that, i suppose, as a gesture towards donald trump. Vladimir putin is saying hes not going to act on his Foreign Ministers advice. Hes not going to respond in a tit for tat fashion towards the to the u. S. Expulsion of Russian Diplomats. Hes just going to sit tight and see what donald trump does and hopefully build a relationship with that new administration