Throughout the day, were going to be bringing you the scenes of celebrations just like this one, from all around the world. We certainly are. There is certainly news, though, to get to as well. We want to begin with what were learning this morning, new allegations of russian hacking u. S. Systems, this time the target is of a utility company. Its called burlington, electric. They found a Company Laptop with the same malware that hackers allegedly used to meddle in u. S. Elections. Vermont senator Patrick Leahy say hackers could disrupt vital u. S. Systems. State sponsored russian hacking is said to be a serious threat. And this is now about trying to access utilities to potentially manipulate the grid and shut it down in the middle of winter. Thats what were hearing. All of this as russian president Vladimir Putin congratulated president elect trump in his earlier statement. Earlier, he said that moscow will not scombel american diplomats. That in response to the tweet from trump. Great news on delay v. Putin i always knew he was very smart. Senator john mccain has scheduled a hearing next week on foreign cyberthreats to the united states. When you attack a country, its an act of war, so, we have to make sure that there is a price to pay so that we can perhaps persuade the russians to stop this kind of attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy. What remains to be seen is what donald trump will do about the sanctions once he becomes president january 20th. Cnns sumlin serfaty takes a look. President elect trump has not said what he will do with sanctions on russia, once he takes office, hell reverse them or keep them in place. But the tone of the statement and the tweets coming from the president elect is certainly sending a very distinct message. Reporter president elect donald trump is out with new phrase for poout applauding the russian president for withholding sanctions on the u. S. Trump tweeting great delay on v. Putin. Responding further to russia and the new u. S. Sanctions his advisers are calling out the Obama Administration for what they see at politics at play. Weve been talking about this for a while. I think that, all we heard through the election was russia russia, russia, whether it came to anything donald trump did it seemed. Now since the election, its a fever pitch of accusations and insinuations. Reporter Trump Officials are speculating that the administration sanctions against russia are a distraction to undermine his win. And tie his hands on russia before he becomes president. I will tell you that even those who are sympathetic to president obama on those issues are saying that part of the reason he did that today was to, quote, box in president elect trump. That would be very unfortunate if that were the moat if politics were the motivating factor here. Reporter since the sanctions were announced trump himself has only issued a twoline blunt statement thursday night saying, quote, its time for the count move on to bigger and better things. A posture hes taken publicly in recent days. I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think that computers have implicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly whats going on. Reporter but the president elect has now agreed to sit down with the intelligence community. We just need to get down to a point ourselves where we can talk to all of these intelligence agencies to find out once and for all, what evidence is there, how bad is it. Reporter that closeddoor meeting will likely take place next week where trump will be presented with the evidence the Intel Community says points a finger at russia for the hacks. Maybe at that time, maybe later, hell have a response. But right now, were just not in a position to sit here and respond to all of the details before we have a full blown Intelligence Report on this particular matter. Reporter in the past, trump and his aides have publicly been skeptical of the intelligence communitys conclusions. I dont think anybody knows it was russia that broke into the dnc. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay . Reporter and have attempted to deflect blame away from the russians vowing during the complain to improve the relationship with russia. Wouldnt it be nice if we actually got along with russia and these other countries . Wouldnt that be a positive thing . Reporter once sworn into office in january, trump has the power to reverse the sanctions or keep them in place. That decision still hanging in the balance. And all of this continues to play out over twitter after trump posted that tweet last night. It was only a matter of minutes before the Russian Embassy and the u. S. Retweeted that tweet. Of course, that being praise of the russian president. Martin and christi. Sumlin, thank you very much. To discuss the russian hackings and what this means once trump takes over as president , lets bring in errol louis cnn pretty comphaen commentator. Good morning. Good morning. Donald trump and v. Putin seem to have this admiration for each other. What do you think this means for relations once he becomes president . Well, its been to their mutual advantage, up until now at least, to have that relationship. For putin its kind of obvious, the oil and gas secretaries which is a vast majority of the import revenue that russia gets and key to the economy has suffered quite a bit. He wants better deals with western companies with lifting of the sanctions with the easing with the pressure that the Obama Administration has placed on them. For trump, of course, it was a handy way to sort of beat up on the obama and clinton Foreign Policy over the last eight years. Things will in fact start to change, however because theres a lot more on the table than just cyber security. S there the whole question of what to do about terrorism. And russia has an alliance with iran. You know, i think the Incoming Trump administration is going to quickly find that theyre immeshed in a web of different kind of statements and commitments and obligations. And it wont be quite as easy as it has been up now to prettily sort of pat putin 0 the back, do a little bit of his bidding and say things are going to be better. Well, things are going to be a little more complicated than that. I think hell find that out on january 20th. Were already getting a hint. Putins plans to not react. Is that really a smart move as trump tweeted . Well, look, smart for putin, i would imagine makes him look diplomatic and statementlike. It further creates in this triangle this motion that its trump and putin versus obama and obama the lame duck who is going to leave office in a couple weeks is the odd man out. Here again, you know, once you sort of lay all of the pieces on the table, and again, that iran nike deal, the Russian Alliance with iran in syria, you start to put some of these other pieces on the table. And it starts to look a little more complicated than simply refuting charges about the espionage. And the meddling in our election that the security agencies say took place. I think the president is also going to find that when congress sits down, when john mccain and others Start Holding hearings and start sort of pressing these issues, its not going to be something where he can sort of say, oh, its time to move on. Lets get on with our lives. Deep in mind, martin, it wasnt just the president ial race but up to 12 congressional races were also sort of targets of russian meddling. And the dong is never going to overlook that. Thats nothing bigger and better to a member of congress to making sure that his or her election is handled in a free and fair way outside of interference. Let me ask you this, say that congress does bring up this issue and actively goes after even tougher sanctions for russia, many people who voted for trump, didnt vote for a battle with russia. What they voted for was the new administration to focus internally, to focus on things like jobs. Keeping jobs or improving the economy. So isnt there a chance that congress could now get off on the wrong foot not just with a new administration but electorate . Its interesting there may be blowback, youre right, martin. United states does very little trade with russia. I mean,s there not very much that would happen if relations were further strained. So, i dont think anybody is going to feel it on main street in america if we happen to have bad relations with russia. I think its really been more of a political issue that president elect has really sort of fought for for months now. Saying that it was kind of a way for him to critique hillary clinton, his main opponent, as somebody who was not really good at maintaining International Relations which as former secretary of state it was sort of a potent weapon to wield against her. And then ive got to say it because it keeps coming up and we dont want to overlook it, because we never saw his taxes, because we dont know the extent of the Trump Organizations Financial Relationships with russian businesses and indeed with the russian government, we really cant say what else might be lurking out there. You know, there are screen caps of it, the Trump Organization said it was planning a major push into russia, this is during the campaign. That it had a lot of different business interests. We dont know what those interests are. We dont know who he might owe money to. What kind of deals they might be planning. So, thats also lurking in the back ground. Theres a lot lurking, and its only a couple of days until the new administration take over and then it becomes front and center. Thanks, errol, very much. Good to talk to you. Also breaking overnight, a massive manhunt in pennsylvania after a state trooper was shot and killed in the line of duty. Authorities are searching for this man. I want to show you his face, jason lobeson is considered armed and dangerous. Trooper weaver was responding when the officer was shot. The governor says i have confidence that the person will be brought to justice. Two people shot and killed after rappers concert in connecticut. Two other people were injured. This happened in a parking lot outside of the toyota oak dale theater in wallingford, connecticut. A member. Kennedy family could be headed back to prison. The Supreme Court reinstated the murder conviction of Michael Skakel. What did one judge see and another did not . New years celebrations already starting around the world. This is a short time ago. A few minutes ago, in fact. Auckland, new zealand. Where the Fireworks Show just ended. I wish you a happy new year, everybody. Thanks for spending it with us. Were back in a moment. The world is full of surprising moments. Theyre everywhere. And as a marriot rewards member, i can embrace them all. The new marriott portfolio of hotels now has 30 brands in over 110 countries. So no matter where you go, you are here. Join or link accounts at members. Marriott. Com. Uh, you asked to see me, coffee . Yeah, listen, sugar, were, uh. Lettin you go. Wait, what . People love sweet taste. Thats true, but sweet aint enough anymore. Its that splenda naturals gal, isnt it . Yeah. I knew it look, not only is she sweet, shes got natural stevia, no bitter aftertaste, and of course, zero calories. Ohh, not the calories again. Sugar, youre full of calories. I know ugh so all the partners agree . Even iced tea . Especially iced tea. Goodbye, sugar. Hello, new splenda naturals. Goodbye, sugar. Getting older shouldnt mean giving up all the things she loves to do. It should just mean, well, finding new ways to do them. Right at homes professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to provide help with personal care, housekeeping, and of course, meal preparation. Oh, that smells so good. Aw, and it tastes good, too. We can provide the right care, right at home. Well, a kennedy could be heading back to prison for murder after a connecticutup overturned an earlier ruling in a pleading. In 20012, Michael Skakel was convicted of killing his 15yearold murder in in 1975. Skakel is the nephew of ethel and robert kennedy. He was leased in 2013 and the judge ordered a new trial saying that skakels lawyer hadnt represented him well. Thats been overturned by a judge who disagree. Skakel has always maintained his innocence. His current Lawyer Center a statement that reads, quote, we havent had time to fully digest the opinion at this juncture but of course its a setback. Were going to be dealing with other legal procedures that are available to avail michael of any and all of his constitutional rights. And while there was plenty of forensic evidence left behind after the gruesome murder, none of it links skakel with the crime. Heres part of what the jury saw. Reporter one of the first pieces of evidence that please find at the scene of the murder is part of a stainless steel golf club shaft about a foot longer. Another blood stained part of the club is also found. Also with the head of the 6 iron. All covered in blood. Versus also find several patches of blood in the area. The medical examiner dems moxley sustained five to ten blows to the held and at least four stab wounds from the broken golf shaft. Hit her so hard that the golf club broke. Then he took the shaft and stabbed her with it six or seven times. Reporter if Michael Skakel murdered Martha Moxley where is the brutal evidence linking him to the crime . There isnt any, no finger print, no footprints, no blood at the scene. This is skakels defense attorney the day he was arraigned in march 2000. Scientific evidence or anything that links Michael Skakel to the crime. Reporter the affidavit reveals prosecutors relied mainly on the word of witnesses, because a challenge of a 20year gap between murder and trial. One witness says skakel brought up the murder telling her he was drunk at the time and might have committed the murder during a blackout. Another witness reports he broke down in tears crying i dont know if i did or didnt. I dont know. Finally, a third witness claims skakel admitted murdering skakel with a golf club when she, quote, did not submit to the advances. The same witness skakel told him because he was related to Ethel Kennedy he could get away with murder. Trutv reports other evidence at the scene includes a white hair belonging to a male. The single hair belonging to the africanamerican male found on the blanket used to wrap the body is dismissed to belonging to one of the first officers at the crime scene. And theres this, a composite sketch of someone witnesses saw in the neighborhood. Skakel believes it could have convinced the jury he didnt do it. If only the jury had seen it. His defense attorney never showed it during the trial. The unused sketch is one of the key reasons skakel argued his defense lawyer was incompetents and that he deserves a new trial. At hearing to push for his clients freedom, skakels new lawyer presented the composite Kenneth Littleton who worked as a tutor at the skakel home. He had also been questioned at the time of the murder. Littletons lawyer has told reporters hes innocent. Robert f. Kennedy jr. Is skakels cousin. Michael was 11 miles away with five eyewitnesses at the time that the murder was committed. He has an air tight alibi. Reporter randi kaye, cnn, new york. Okay, after more than a year, ronda rousey returns to the octagon. And it was not good. It was not good for her, christi or her fans. Rouseys comeback didnt even last one minute. The question now, will we ever see rousey fight in the octagon again . No matter how the markets change. At t. Rowe price. Our disciplined approach remains. Global markets may be uncertain. But you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. Call us or your advisor. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. So, Ronda Rouseys ufc comeback it didnt last a minute. Even a blink. Did not last a blink. Andy scholes, obviously has more than a minute. Yeah, right. It had been more than a year since she lost to holly holmes. That was last november. Were wondering which rousey is going to show up, is it the one that nominated the ufc for so long or the one that got beaten easily by holly holm. We found out that rousey did not speak to the media at all, instead, spent all of her Time Training for the comeback. She got pummeled by amanda nunes right from the start. Rousey guaranteed 3 million for this fight. Compared to 200,000 for nunes. She made 63,000 bucks a second to get punched in the face. Not bad. Rousey did not speak with the media again after the fight. Ufc president dana white said he doesnt know if shell ever fight in the octagon again. The College Football playoffs are finally here. The top four teams are going to square off later today. In the peach bowl, we have alabama. Theyre the favorite taking on washington. The undefeated crimson tide have won four of the last titles. Two touchdown favorite over washington. Nick saban says hes not looking past the pac12 champ. Well, i think that this is, by far, the best allaround team that weve played all year long. They scored 44 1 2 point s a gae on offense. Theyve got a really good quarterback. Theyve got skilled players on offense and receiver and running back positions. Theyve got lots of speed. They make a lot of explosive plays. The other playoff game, number two clemson taking on thirdranked ohio state in the fiesta bowl. This one is one of the most anticipated bowl games. Clemson with offense and taking on ohio states ferocious defense. Both sides hungry for a shot to play for the national title. At first, its a bowl game, you say you want to have fun. But at the same time, its a business trip because you want to get yourself to the national championships. You know, whenever it gets to that crunch time, the details come in handy. Thats why you come to ohio state to win championships and to play for championships. So, its just another great honor to be a part of the playoffs. And this is going to be fun with my teammates. Most people think were going to see alabama taking on ohio state in that championship game. I dont know. I think w