Thats president obama talking to npr. As we mentioned, were learning more tonight about the evidence he may be basing his decisions on. Jim sciutto joins us now once again. What are his options . He has an escalating ladder of options. It really starts with naming and shaming russia in private. And then in public. And we know thats already happened. Obama confronted putin in china. This is last summer. Then in october, a month before the election, you had the director of national intelligence, the department of Homeland Security come out in public and say, this is the belief of the u. S. Intelligence community, with high confidence. And then you have, other more punitive options, one being economic sanctions. Thats the tactic that the Obama Administration clearly likes. They used it against russia for its military action in ukraine. Of course, they used it against iran for a number of years. And you could then escalate above that with real retaliatory cyberaction, everything from similar to what russia did, right, exposing embarrassing information, perhaps the finances of Vladimir Putin or people close to him, or something even nor aggressive, which would be going after Critical Infrastructure in russia or showing russia that you can go after Critical Infrastructure. The problem with that, we know, ive had intelligence officials tell me that there is concern that russia has breached or has access to our Critical Infrastructure. If you take that step against russia, what does russia do in response . Do you get into a vicious cycle . Each of these options, in effect, has risks. And you have new reporting tonight that the hacking activity by russia is continuing . No question. In fact, its continued and the way its been described to us, its been unabated since the election. Attacking a number of political organizations, parties, individuals. There was an unsuccessful attempt to hack the dnc, the Democratic Party, once again. That one, at least, failed. But the view from the Intelligence Community is that they somewhat expected this, and that is because, from russias perspective, whether they just wanted to disrupt the u. S. Election or perhaps help one candidate, donald trump included, whatever their intentions, they would look at it, its a view of the u. S. Ic, as a success. So they would keep doing it. And they didnt just have success here in the u. S. By that argument, theyve had it in western europe, theyve had it in eastern europe. This is a known tactic of russia and the u. S. Expects them to continue down this path. Jim, thanks very much. Jim sciutto. More on how donald trump may see all of this. Jim acosta has that side of the story. He joins us from trump tower. Has donald trump responded to the russian hacking news . He really hasnt, anderson. He was at that rally tonight in hershey, pennsylvania. He didnt mention the russian hacking. He did go after White House Press secretary, josh earnest, during his remarks. He said that josh earnest is somebody who can make good news sound bad. He said that if the u. S. Were somehow to take out isis and josh earnest was delivering that news, that he wouldnt do a very effective job of doing it. So it was a shot from the president elect to the White House Press secretary, for the current president. Now, we should explain that earlier in the day, josh earnest, at the podium in the White House Briefing went after donald trump and said, this is not the time to be going after the Intelligence Community. Obviously, earlier today, donald trump put out that tweet, saying, why didnt the white house release this information back during the election before the election happened, instead of talking about it now, implying that its all sour the grapes on the part of the white house. But, make no mistake, this is a new development, anderson, that is taking place before the president elect and the president. And at one point during those remarks in hershey, pennsylvania, earlier this evening, he implied, trump implied that perhaps earnest was getting his marching orders from somebody else in the white house. Didnt say president obama, but sort of hinted at it. Just to be clear, to the point you made before, the Current Administration did announce its findings one month before the election, right . Reporter thats right back in october, the Intelligence Community put out its findings to the white house. The white house released that information. And it basically said that this hacking was likely authorized or the conclusion was that the hacking the was authorized by seniormost officials in the russian government. Josh earnest was asked about this earlier today, because there was a report that putin knew about all of this, had a hand in all of this. And josh earnest said, well, didnt you guys see this report that we put out . This statement we put out back in october . Josh earnest telling reporters in the White House Briefing room that he didnt think that characterization that seniormost officials must have known about this was, in his words, particularly subtle. So the white house was really leaning into this very stout defense of the Intelligence Communitys assessment that russia was behind this hack. And it is setting up this very new development, anderson, and i think were going to have to keep an eye on it over the next several weeks, as we get ready to see president elect trump sworn into office. We might see more of a tit for tat shot going back and forth across the Current White House and the white house thats coming in january. Jim acosta, appreciate the reporting. Back with the panel, including cnn military analyst, mark hertling, monica langley. You were at trump tower, talking to your sources about donald trump and his reception of the russian hack, and how much attention hes paying to it. Well, someone within the Trump Organization, the trump transition, excuse me, believe that he is concerned about it. There are others who were close to him that i spoke with said he has zero interest in it. And this person says that the white house is still trying to point to the fact that the russians are helping trump. And thats hurting their argument. If they just said, the russians were melding in the election, it wouldnt hurt so bad. He believes its delegitimateizing correct. Exactly. And this Senior Adviser said to me, look, he has zero interest in this. All his time is picking the personnel for the new administration. And focused ton getting goodpaying american jobs. And he said, were not focused on it at all. So, general hertling, you now have president obama saying tonight, to npr, you know, were going to respond at a time and place of our choosing. You know, jim talked about kind of a ladder of possible responses, but what are capabilities just in general . I mean, i know Irans Nuclear program was slowing down through, i think it was a cybervirus that was put out by somebody. Im not sure if it was the u. S. Or some other state players . I mean, how vulnerable is the u. S. Electrical grid . What could actually be done to russia or to the United States . How bad can it get . Lets break it down into a couple areas, anderson. First of all, russia is executing a cybercampaign. That means theyre associating various battles to do a strategic objective. They are doing that. We are not right now. There are two various elements of the cybercommunity. Theres Computer Network defense and Computer Network attack. Cnd, cna. It is either defending our own assets or going after someone elses. There are a variety of things that we can do, and as jim said earlier, it can do a stairstep approach. And we will, at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized. Some of it may not be. But mr. Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because i spoke to him directly about it. Its interesting, van. The president is talking as if he has another term. Hes got a little bit more than a month left in office. So he cant really say for sure whether there would be a response under a president trump. There is a dictatorship on the european continent. And it is hostile. And it has Nuclear Weapons. And it is trying to encroach upon the european democracies. And america for generations thought that was a bad enough thing that we created something called nato to try to hold back this hungry dictatorship. And what has happened is, they know they cant beat us straight up, so theyre now using dirty tricks, cybertricks to undermine our country and our commitment to our allies. Thats the big story here. And what is shocking is we now have an american president that doesnt seem to he didnt get the memo that were supposed to be protecting our democratic allies against a dictatorship. And i havent heard him say that and its frightening to me and our european allies. It is interesting, though, to hear it from democrats, though, because with president obama, i know as a republican, one of the frustrating things, he never seemed to grasp that russia is our enemy, as you were saying. He came into office, right to be friendly with them. He underestimated them every step of the way, under the tutelage of secretary of state Hillary Clinton, we had u. S. Uranium going to russia. And we seemed to underestimate him at every step. But where was the outrage at president obama . There was a time when the bigger threat was from iran and the concern that iran was going to get Nuclear Weapons. So Hillary Clinton in her brilliance was able to pull together both the chinese, not our friends every day, and the russians, not our friends any day, in an alliance to deal with iran. You have to pick. You have to have sequences. But at no point do i believe that we said, well, geez, were going to now say that you can attack our country, you can hack our infrastructure, you can mess with our elections, and thats okay, too. And thats a concern i think we have here. Yeah, i think its a fair criticism that the president hasnt been tough enough on putin, i do. You do have to remember, putin has always been in charge, but when medvedev was his puppet, there was some progress with the u. S. There was. We got those sanctions that crippled iran and forced them to the bargaining table. We got a very good Nuclear Weapons reduction treat. The start treaty, so we got a few things done. But the question is, do you answer perceived timidity by backup with rushing into putins arms by trump . Hes not simply hesitant to use American Power against putin, he seems to embrace putin. And i think thats a terrible threat. Mike morrell, who ran the cia, said that this is an existential threat to our democracy. This is a political 9 11. Hes not a political hack. Hes a career National Security intelligence officer. Thats what he is saying. And so i think it will start with the president for the next 34 days, but then president elect trump, who has put together, by the way, the most proputin cabinet outside of moscow. Its really frightening. I think the tit for tat that van talked about between trump and josh earnest i think pales in comparison to the developments weve had with the president s interview. I think the fact that hes looking at taking action, some will be explicit and publicized, some will not, i think that says a lot. It follows up with your previous guest who said, walk softly and carry a big stick. Maybe you dont say anything and still carry a big stick. It makes you think that theres something that may be in the works to retaliate. Its good were being cautious and silent about it. But just because it may be noncontact, does not mean its nonconflict. I think this may be bubbling up in the next 30 days. Well see. One thing about donald trump, remember during the campaign, he gave good hugs to ted cruz or carson, but when it time to get them off the stage and to win, he had no qualms about hitting back. So im not sure everybody can say, oh, hes hugging putin. He may if it comes to it, he may decide to cut him off at the knees. What would cause that, though . Cyberterrorism gets to america . Gee, that just happened. I dont know yeah, with i dont know that, paul. But ive seen him make these decisions like, enough already, ive had it. More with our panel. I want to thank general hertling for stick around late with us. Everyone else going to stick around even later. Well take up the question of president elect trumps grown kids. More news from monica about their role in the transition and what happens after inauguration day. How else do you think he gets around so fast . Take the reins this holiday and get the mercedesbenz youve always wanted during the winter event. Now lease the 2017 gle350 for 579 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Ill have that goat cheese garden salad. That gentleman got the last one. Sir, you give me that salad and i will pay for your movie and one snack box. Can i keep the walnuts . Sold. But i get to pick your movie. Can i pick the genre . Yes, but it has to be a comedy. A little cash back on the side. With the blue cash everyday card from american express, you get cash back on purchases with no annual fee. Throw. Its more than cash back. Its backed by the service and security of american express. As important as it is to know who committed an act of cyberwarfare against the United States and how the incoming president views it, there are other outstanding questions, involving the role of Donald Trumps children will or will not play in the transition and the administration. Back with the panel, including monica langley, who has some new reporting out of trump tower. Monicas with the wall street journal, also working here now with cnn. So, a really interesting thing youve learned today about how that youve grown men, donald jr. , and eric trump, what role theyre going to have. And the role they have now. Well, we know donald trump said in a tweet that his two sons will run the business. Which is the billiondollar something empire of real estate assets. So the problem has been, they continue to influence cabinet choices. Specifically, don jr. And the new interior secretary, whos a fellow hunter, like don jr. And they were all three kids, grown kids, were in the meeting with the tech executives yesterday. Not just in the meeting, but sitting at the table. Not in a back row watching yeah, yeah. But we know that these three Adult Children are some of his closest advisers. They have a really strong relationship. So, what i found out is, they understand the moment their father takes office, they can no longer be in any governmental meetings. Cold turkey. What i dont understand, what is the magic line about once their father is in office . Because decisions are being made that are going to, you know, impact what happens afterwards. Well, they were so integral to the campaign, as you know, they were his main surrogates. Because he had nobody in the establishment or in the republican party, really backing him. They were the ones who were on the campaign trail. Telling people how great their father was. They were his character witness. So they are so involved in this. And they are involved in the transition. But they do understand that theres got to be a clean line. Maybe it is a magic funny date, but that is the date. Youve also learned that donald trump is not going to be theres not going to be a blind trust. Donald trump is not going to be i dont know, there may be some kind of trust, but the fact is but a true blind trust, where the assets are these assets will be known. The assets will remain donald trump remains the ownership he remains the owner, but maybe not he will no longer manage those assets. He will still be the owner of those assets and he know what those assets are. The hotels, the apartment buildings, the commercial real estate. Whats going to happen, though, is they will not divest him. A lot of people said, liquidate the assets, thats the only way you can do it. And what theyve decided right now, it could still change, hence the kids will do a press conference today. What theyve decided is, if they sell them, it will be a fire sale. How can we put these properties on the market. We would lose money. Now they could bring lots of money. Foreign entities and southern wealth funds would want to buy and curry favor with the trump administration. So as one senior person involved in the Trump Organization told me, we cant win at this point if we try to liquidate. There would also be big tax deductions, i think, for him, if he did sell. Because if youre selling in order to be in government, which is what hank paulison did. But also new reporting on ivanka trump . Right, well, yesterday there were some people who thought that it might be because ivanka trump does want to be involved in washington with her father, as will Jared Kushner, who became one of his closest advisers and will likely take a formal role. Ivanka wants to have an informal role in the white house. So there was some talk yesterday that she may take the first ladys office in the east wing. As that became more official, perhaps, or more discussed, she didnt like that at all. First of all, she doesnt perceive herself and is not at all, a socialtype person. She wants to advise on substantiative issues, like paid family leave. She wants to be in the west wing, where the action is, not the east wing. Thats the first thing. She wants to be there, but what she and her husband Jared Kushner are working at right now are full and complete separation. Their lawyers business separation of their businesses. Jared kushner runs a multibilliondollar real estate business himself. Family business. Family business. And she has not only a top role in the Trump Organization, the real estate empire, but