To terror attacks. We are live in new york city where hundreds of thousands are expected to celebrate and watch the iconic crystal ball drop into 2017. Return of rousey. Tagged her again. The ufc champion back in the cage for the comeback fight. Did herself imposed media blackout help her regain title . Well break down the shocking results. And a look back at the fun we had this year on weekend today from babies to our fun team. Today, saturday, december 31st, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is today live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning. Welcome to today on saturday morning. Im Sheinelle Jones along craig melvin. Can you believe it is the last day of 2016 . I woke up this morning and thought this is the last day. Lets stick the landing. Were not there yet. You have a theme for 2017 . Be clean in 2017. Clean eating and mind set. We will look back at the year that was through the next hour and a half. Lets get to the top story. Tensions with the United States and russia increasing over new hacking scandal as malware associated with Russian Hackers found on a computer in the Vermont Utility. New evidence this may have gone deeper than first expected. We have hans nichols at the white house with more. Reporter craig, good morning to you. The sanctions that president obama announced on thursday, he announced protective measures for key u. S. Institutions to take. As a result of that, Vermont Utility may have realized they were compromised. Russian hackers may have been probing for weakness in a Vermont Utility according to a report in the washington post. Once alerted, Burlington Electric scanned their system for the malicious code. There was an infection, but only on a Single Department laptop. The company saying we took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted officials of this finding. Send a clear messages to russia. Reporter coming days after president obama announced sanctions against officials for alleged cyber interference with the u. S. President ial election. As part of the u. S. Response, the department of Homeland Security and fbi shared information about the malware and its signature with key sectors. All part of the joint analysis report that accused russian groups of quote being part of the Ongoing Campaign of cyber enabled operations directed at the government and citizens. Burlington electric says they notified of a possible malware code associated with grizzly steppe. According to the post which first reported the story, they did not actively use the code to disrupt operations at the england utility. The very existence. Malware raises fears in the United States government that Russian Hackers are trying to penetrate the grid to carry out potential attacks. With Winter Weather enveloping the northeast, residents hardly need a reminder of the power system. And overnight, the governor of vermont issued a statement saying they are in touch. State authorities working with federal authorities. He said all americans and vermonters should be outraged. Hans, thank you. Russian president Vladimir Putin will not retaliate against sanctions from president obama opening the door for better relaxes r relations in the future with donald trump. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is in palm beach, florida with more. Reporter good morning, sheinelle. Happy new year. Donald and Melania Trump will ring in the new year at a fancy party with dinner and celebrities dancing. Part of the new years eve bash at the maralago club. Trump finds himself in the middle of the drama with russia and it is unclear where the president elect stands. As obama and putin faceoff, trump tweeted on friday praising after he decided not to expel american diplomats. Trump wrote, great move on delay by putin. I always knew he was very smart. Trumps flattery toward putin issued a spy novel drama where 35 Russian Diplomats ordered out of the u. S. Part of the punishment for russian hacking. The Obama Administration is expelling because of the things the russian government did. Reporter at consulates in San Francisco and washington, d. C. , russian staffers scrambled to get out quickly. The state defendapartment took control of compounds in maryland and long island, new york that many neighbors were not known russian hideaways for families and secure meetings. There has been a bit of of mystery. Reporter the president elect has not said if he intends to keep or reverse the obama sanctions. Earlier this week, trump and obama continue to speak. I did. He phoned me. Reporter trumps team is buying time to weigh options by saying he needs more information on the russian hacking. Expected in a high level int intelligence briefing tuesday. Now that meeting im told by sources will not be with professional level briefers. Typical kind of intelligence briefing. Instead, im told it is expected intelligence chiefs. Tops of the agencies meeting with the president elect. Separately, as he continues to fill out plans for the administrati administration, sources tell me trump is considering the solicitor general as george conway. The husband of kellyanne conway. Who served as Campaign Manager and will be counselor to President Trump when they take office. Kelly, thank you. As he tends to do, donald trump breaking precedent and being vocal about Foreign Policy before stepping into office. Joining us now to talk about the trump Foreign Policy. Katelyn burns. Happy new year. Happy new year. Lets circle back to the news that there is now russian malware detected on a laptop on a Vermont Utility. So far the trump team viewed the russian hacking scandal through a political lens. Are the stakes higher now that we are looking at the u. S. Electrical grid . I think so. Especially for a couple reasons. One, it brings a certain amount of accessibility to the story. This is something that will affect every day americans going about their formal routine. It also keeps the story in the news. This is not a oneoff event. Not just related to the elections. I think for donald trump it could raise the stakes and put pressure on those in capitol hill. Lets talk about trumps tweet about last night. He always knew putin was smart and not expelling u. S. Diplomats from russia. Put that tweet into context. He is clearly going in opposition against the Obama Administration. Frankly many in his own party. Exactly. A fascinating dynamic to watch democrats and republicans on capitol hill at odds with the incoming president. What is significant about this tweet is it is not really a ventura we away from the campai trail. What is surprising about it is it is at odds with the current u. S. Policy. I would note that recent president s have tried to reset relations with putin and really to no effect. Remember george bush did. President obama had the famous reset with russia. The difference though is donald trump does not quite, critics say, acknowledge the possible liabilities to this. Of course, after that reset that obama set up with annexation of crimea and hacking and so forth. Lets talk about the idea of being a long standing tradition in the country that the president elect by and large remains underground until january 20th. Inauguration day. Donald trump deciding not to do that. The tweets. A few nights ago telling reporters to move on with the russian hacking scandal. On a larger scale how does this complicate Foreign Policy moving forward . It is really significant because traditionally president select take the backstage approach. Donald trump has not done that. He has been vocal as a president elect, particularly on twitter. Particularly when it comes to Foreign Policy. He has been vocal about the u. N. Resolution for example. Earlier in the month, the taiwan call and again here with russia at odds with his own party. What is significant about it, though, is he has not acknowledged the russian hacking existed at all. He has been having difficulty separating the reality and implications of this from the political lens of this. Im glad you brought that up. We have in all 17 u. S. Intelligence agencies that agree russia was behind this. Do you think once he takes office he will shift his views . Especially once he gets the information . He will have a security briefing next week and he says he will reevaluate at that moment. That does give him an opportunity to say, look, they made a compelling case. I changed my mind. However, they have been briefed on this several times presumably similar information if not old information. The Obama Administration said they have been studying this since the summer which leaves the trump allies and Transition Team to say the Obama Administration is boxing them in. They had opportunities to go after this, but didnt and are doing it now. They see this as an aggressive approach to them from the balls administration side. Caitlyn burns, thank you. On to the big story of the day, preparations for new years eve celebrations are under way and for cities across the country, security is the top of mind. Anne thompson is live with the latest. Anne, good morning. Reporter good morning, sheinelle. New York Police Say as many as 2 Million People will ring in the new year in times square. All eyes looking up at the 11,000 pound ball to watch it drop amid tight security. What a way to say goodbye. The Waterford Crystal ball with color at dress rehearsal. The journey down the flag pole marking the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017. Making memories for a lifetime. We always said on our 40th, if we didnt make it before then, we are going on our 50th. The year we turned 50, that was the plan. Reporter police say there is no direct Terror Threat. Security is plentiful and visible. The new York City Police department with 7,000 officers in the area. Building what it hopes is a perimeter. With 65 sand trucks and 100 other blocker vehicles to stop deadly truck attacks that ruined holiday celebrations in nice, france and berlin. Canine units police in Tactical Gear there will be plain clothesed Police Officers minkling with the crowd and eyes watching from rooftops and chappers. I think they need to do something to keep the people safe and still have something as joyous as new years. Reporter efforts repeated around the United States and around the world, from sydneys iconic harbor to terrace guard paris and brussels. Celebrations in the windy city buffered by concrete barriers. Here in new york revelers will be confined to pens, stretching 17 blocks from times square, sharing the moment with 3,000 of their closest friends in each pen. Multiple bag checks are to be expected. No umbrellas, weapon, backpacks or large bags will be allowed. Partiers here will be coated with one ton of confetti at midnight as they work to make sure this is known for a fabulous celebration and nothing else. Happy new year to you. Thank you. Look at national headlines. Tens of thousands in new england are waking up in the dark and the cold this new years eve. Digging out from the most powerful nor easter in two years. The power and speed of the falling snow surprised forecasters. Maine, hardest hit with two feet of snow in some places. Nearly 100,000 people were without power at the height of the storm there and it could be days before electricity is restored. A dramatic rescue overnight at an amuse m park. 21 people, many of them children, were trapped 125 feet in the air last night in orange county, california. Firefighters were called in to rescue them from the stuck sky cabin ride. It took more than eight hours to lower them all one by one safely to the ground. Entire city block in new york devastated this morning by a monster five alarm blaze. Flames spread from building to building wiping out 14 businesses in queens overnight. In all it took 175 firefighters to douse the fire. Every time they thought they had the situation under control stubborn flames shot back up. Investigators and crews are still on the scene this morning. Three firefighters have been hurt. One of them seriously. No civilians have been hurt. Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel could be headed back to the prison. The Connecticut Supreme Court friday reinstated his murder convicis murder conviction. Skakel found guilty in 2002 of murdering martha moxley. It took place in 1975. He was sentenced 20 years to life. Three years ago, a judge ruled his attorney made mistakes and skakel didnt get a fair trial. Skakel is the nephew of ethel ken. Ronda rousey returned to the cage friday night. It didnt last long. The whole fight ending in less than a minute. Nbcs Gadi Schwartz with details. Ronda rousey reporter it was supposed to be her cage fighting comeback. Ronda. Reporter it only lasted a savage 48 seconds. She walking ronda down. Reporter leaving some payperview wapeople waiting t see if they got their moneys worth. Ronda could not put up a fight against brazils amanda nunes. Official stepping in less than a minute. She lit ronda up like a christmas tree. Reporter elevating female cage fighting to popularity. For years, rousey was undefeated while destroying opponents and dabbled in hollywood. A pop culture icon with confidence and sharp tongue. Thats parties bore me to death. Reporter but last year in one of the biggest upsets in the ufcs history, rousey kicked unconscious by holly holm. Breaking down on ellen as she broke down on her loss. What am i . Reporter the belt was passed from fighter to fighter. Choked out by amanda nunes and challenged by rousey. Leading up to the fight, rousey refusing to talk to the press in a full media blackout. It is intense. Your identity is an at stake when you are involved in a fight like this. Reporter rousey was paid at least 3 million, win, lose or draw. That is 62,000 for every second of the fight. Nunes coming away with 200,000 for victory and her title belt that she plans to defend saying rouseys time in the cage is over. Forget about ronda rousey. Reporter Gadi Schwartz, nbc news, los angeles. You had the chance to get to know her and talk to her . Shes good people. It will be interesting to see if she decides to comeback for another fight or does decide to retire. She has done a fair amount of acting and other stuff outside the cage. Still looks strong to me with that arm around your neck. Im glad she didnt make me tapout. I would like to see her at least give it one more go. With dylan on maternity leave, andra peterson is here. Did you see the snow yesterday . Im glad it did not stick. We have the northeast looking better. Maybe the big storm down to the southeast. Look at all this moisture that were talking about. So much so were going to consider some flooding concerns. Closer to baton rouge and new orleans, we see heavy rain there. The set up is simple. We have a warm front pulling in moisture here off the gulf. As we go to new years eve and new orleans, keep in mind, it will be wet. As we go in through tomorrow. New years day, this system will stick around. The good news is we are talking about alabama and georgia. Exceptional Drought Conditions there. That is the one place that wants the rain if it is new years eve. The one concern here the threat for severe weather. Keep that in mind for new nears day. Austin and houston on the border there with the threat for that severe weather. As we head to new years day and monday. Tell your friends. Flooding concerns are high there as much as 5 skbooubs good morning. Right now in San Francisco, 46 degrees. Were seeing partly cloudy skies also in san jose at a nice 45 degrees but we are tracking the chance of seeing a few Early Morning scattered showers that could carry over into the afternoon but have no fear, we should be clearing by mid afternoon into the evening hours just in time for new years eve. I like to tell everyone about your midnight forecast as if im going out. This is the most dressed up. You are celebrating right now. Go big or go home. Sparkles on a saturday morning. Still to come, our a round up of the escalating tensions with israel and russia. Well break it down. With the world reeling from the deaths of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. Todd fisher remembers his mother and sister. This is today on nbc. Oooh. Wowww. There it is. Its the red tag sales event and people are excited to bring in the new year with a new chevrolet. Im a huge chevy fan. How would you feel about starting 2017 in a new chevy . It sounds wonderful. Honestly, i would take any one. Oh heck yeah i want to get one tomorrow. Fantastic turn it on, lets go. During the red tag sales event get two deals in one. Find your tag for an average total value over ninetysix hundred dollars on Chevy Silverado all stars. Hurry, the red tag sales event ends january 3rd. Less than a week after the sudden losses of george michael, Carrie Fisher and debbie reynolre reynolds fans are reeling. Steve patterson set out to feel like this was the year we lost so many of our idols. Purple rain purple rain reporter 2016, the year we lost so many famous figures, including a bevy of beloved icons. Ground control to major