Have the same authority the last guy did. How the judge ruled. Welcome to the lead. Im jim acosta in for jake tapper today. Bewe begin with the world lead, the u. S. Senate taking action against russia for Election Year hacking. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, john mccain, will hold a hearing on Cyber Threats thursday and russian hacking is likely to dominate. The news comes as the clock ticks for Russian Diplomats, suspected spies and their families to get out of the u. S. Today russian president Vladimir Putin announced his response to u. S. Sanctions and it was less tough guy where he is allege bear and more jolly old st. Vlad. Putin announcing hes taking the highroad for now and will not expel american diplomats in response to u. S. Sanctions against russia for hacks targeting the dnc during the 2016 race. He also invited diplomats and their children in russia to christmas and new years shows in the kremlin. President elect trump a short time ago, youve probably seen this, reacted with this tweet great move on delay by v. Putin. I always knew he was very smart. Jim sciutto joins us now. That tweet aside, russia vowed to answer any hostile steps from the u. S. But it hasnt been very hostile so far, right . No, it hasnt. Let obesity honest with you, hell get a much friendlier u. S. Administration in three weeks time. He knows that and with that tweet donald trump has been telegraphing that broadly and widely. Perhaps a smart strategic move the wait. Vladimir putin has always been very conscious of political theater and with these moves inviting American Children to a new years celebration, holding off for now, very conscious of that theater as well. Reporter tonight russians vacating compounds shut down by the u. S. Russian president Vladimir Putin, however, dismissing washingtons payback. Instead wishing president obama and his family a happy new year saying in a statement, we will not stoop to the level of irresponsible diplomacy. It is a pity that the president Obama Administration finishes its work this way but, nevertheless, i congratulate him and his family a happy new year. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov recommended putin expel 35 american diplomats from russia after the u. S. Ordered 35 alleged russian spies to leave the u. S. By this weekend. Translator we cannot let such escapades happen without a response. The Russian Foreign ministry, together with our colleagues from other departments, have made a proposal to declare 31 staff from the embassy of moscow and four diplomats from the general consulate of st. Petersburg as persona non grata. Reporter president putin likely waiting for a far friendlier administration under donald trump, did not take that advice, saying in his statement we will not create problems for american diplomats. We will not send anyone away. With a stroke of drama, putin even issued this invitation to American Children in response to the new u. S. Sanctions i invite all children of the u. S. Diplomats to the new year and christmas childrens show at the kremlin, signed yours sincerely, Vladimir Putin. The u. S. Shut down two russian governmentowned come pounds, one in new york where Law Enforcement was seen outside, and another in maryland, a 45acre property purchase bd i the soviet government in 1972. Today vehicles were seen leaving the Maryland Estate and returning to the Russian Embassy in washington. The white house says the russians working at the compounds were spying on the u. S. Russia, however, refutes that the estates were being used for espionage. I think its quite scandalous that they chose to go after our kids, you know . They know full well those two facility which is they mentioned in their notes, they are vacation facilities for our kids, and this is christmastime. Four of the russians sanctioned by the u. S. Are part of the Russian MilitaryIntelligence Unit known as the gru. One is the usg. Its assigning blame to russias military and intelligence service, but the actual perpetrators of the hacks are contractors, if you like, people who have been found by the russian government to do their dirty work for them. To be clear, hacking the election is not the only disagreement that the u. S. Has with russia. The invasion of ukraine, the annexation of crimea, bombing of civilians in syria theres a whole host of things, jim. You and i report about it all the time. Buzzing u. S. Aircraft in ships, putting nuclearcapable submarines off the coast of the u. S. You speak to folks in the defense and intelligence space, they call russia a threat. Donald trump doesnt see Vladimir Putin as a threat. At least hes not saying as much at this point. Jim sciutto, thank you very much. For 24 hours after president obamas announcement on russia, president elect trumps twitter account was silent but he just weighed in, complimenting Vladimir Putin for his response. Sunlen serfaty is in palm beach, florida. Perhaps the most surprising thing about trumps reaction is it didnt happen any sooner but it was very much in the same theme that he is praising Vladimir Putin in all of this. Reporter thats absolutely right, jim. The tone here shouldnt be a surprise if you look at what donald trump himself and members of his Transition Team have done in recent days. But it is certainly notable that the president elect is not only saying lets basically move on from all of this but is now openly praising the russian president only 24 hours after president obama slapped those sanctions on russia. Tonight president elect donald trump is out with new praise for Vladimir Putin, applauding the russian president for withholding retaliatory sapgss on the u. S. Trump tweeting, great move on delay by v. Putin. I always knew he was very smart. But as the president elect determines his next move responding further to russia and the new u. S. Sanctions, his advisers are calling out the Obama Administration for what they see as politics at play. Weve been talking about this for a while. I think that, you know, all we heard all through the election was russia, russia, russia. Whenever it came to anything donald trump said or did, it seemed. And now, you know, since the election its this fever pitch of accusations and insinuations. Reporter trump transition officials are speculating the administration sanctions against russia are a distraction to undermine his win and tie his hands on russia before he becomes president. Ly te li will tell you even t sympathetic to president obama on most issues are saying that part of the reason he did this today was to, quote, box in president elect trump. That would be very unfortunate if that were the if politics were the motivating factor here. Reporter since the sanctions were announced, trump himself as only issued a blunt twoline statement thursday night saying in part, its time for our country to move on to bigger and better thingsthings, at a postus taken publicly in recent days. I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think the computers have complicated lives very greatly. You know, the whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly whats going on. Reporter but the president elect hatz now agreed to sit down with the intelligence community. We just need to get to a point ourselves where we can talk to all of these intelligence agencies and find out once and for all what evidence is there, how bad is it. Reporter that closeddoor meeting likely to take place in new york 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 or maybe later hell have a response, but right now were just not in a position to sit here and respond to all of these 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. 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 campaign 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 hanging in the balance tonight. And it was only a matter of minutes after donald trump posted that tweet this afternoon with that praise of Vladimir Putin that the official twitter account of the Russian Embassy they retweeted that tweet. Interesting times indeed. Sunlen serfaty, thank you. Joining me for reaction, senator amy klobucar, democrat from minnesota, in xwrooukraine righ touring russian border states with john mccapable and Lindsey Graham. Thanks for joining us. Let me get to this donald trump tweet that weve seen in the last hour or so. We says great move on delay by Vladimir Putin. I always knew he was very smart. We just noted a few moments ago that the Russian Embassy in the u. S. Retweeted that tweet. What is your reaction to that . Well, jim, im in ukraine where weve just met with the president. 10,000 people have died here since russia illegally an nexed crimea. They are defending their country. They are true patriots. So it is hard for me to think about even praising Vladimir Putin. At the same time, im glad that the president elect is going to be meeting with our intelligence agencies when the fbi and the cia, when 17 american intelligence Agencies Join together and emphatically say that russia attempted to influence our election, that is a major problem. And when you near the baltic countries and you hear that theyve been doing this for decades in places like estonia and lithuania, they have seen this movie before, hacking, shutting down internet access, this is a method and a technique and our country does have to stand up to it. And if we dont stand up to it, its going to keep happening in other democracies across the world. Senator, donald trump and his team seem to be very cool to the intelligence communitys assessment, actually their conclusion, we should call it, that the russians were intervening in the last election. What do you make of that . Do you think theyre just not dealing with reality . Well, Homeland Security and fbi jointly released a 13page report and senator mccain has announced you have the former republican candidate for president that will thoroughly believes that this has happened and is announcing hearings that so that our other colleagues can learn the details and the more we can declassify and get out there publicly, i think its important not only for our own democracy, because we have to remember this isnt about one political candidate or one party. Its not even about one election or one country. They have done this in other elections, and i think getting the information out there for the world is going to be very important. And, senator, the incoming president s counselor, Kellyanne Conway, said that she believes that the Obama Administrations actions against russia in response to the hacking is really an attempt to box in the incoming administration. What do you think about that, whats your response to that . Do you feel that that is true . You know, jim, i dont see it that way at all. In fact, what president obama did was amend his original order from back in 2015 that was actually done in response to hacking sony. He amended it to make clear that if any foreign entity comes in and tries to influence an american election, it wouldnt even have to be russia, the president has a right to respond. So i think any president would welcome that tool in their toolbox. In addition to that, we put these sanctions in place, and if we just rolled over and did nothing when our own intelligence agencies have concluded decisively that this was going on, we are just welcoming more of this and empowering other regimes including russia to do more. Senator amy klobucar traveling in ukraine, probably getting some very interesting perspectives over there. Thank you, senator. Sol what is putins end game and is trump being played by the kremlin . We asked the former head of the cia who is advising the president elect next. In footba this is the goal post. The end zone. The goal of every team. We know you have goals. Like getting exposure for your idea or business. With godaddy Website Builder, you can easily create an awesome mobilefriendly, get you more exposure website. We call that. A Website Builder touchdown. Get your free trial of Website Builder now. 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. Afoot and lighthearted i take to the open road. Healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. The east and the west are mine. The north and the south are mine. All seems beautiful to me. Back with more of our top story. Wanted cybercriminals for hack attacks on the dnc. Joining me is former cia director and Current National security adviser to the president elect. He is an adviser with the lower case a not the National Security adviser, ambassador james wools woolsey. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. I guess first of all, what is your take on what the Obama Administration did . You have republicans and democrats saying that this was long overdue. President obama has sort of been the playing the role of investigator, prosecutor, judge, and jury in this. And i think its one reason why there is some skepticism that the russians were doing as much as some say. Its clear they were doing some important attacks on our system. But what was it . What occurred . President obama says it did not interfere with voting as far as counting dead people thats happened from time to time. Election numbers werent changed from as far as what he has said and ive heard from other places that did not occur. They may have tried and failed. But theres i think a situation developing in which putin has played his cards very shrewdly. He is now in the position of inviting American Children to parties, new years parties at the kremlin instead of expelling diplomats and their families hes inviting them over to a party. Right. And i think you think this is a chess move by putin. Yes, and the key is we dont want to be playing checkers while theyre playing chess. Does the president elect understand that . My question is, you know, when you saw that tweet earlier on this amp from donald trump saying very smart move from Vladimir Putin by holding off, great move on delay, it seems to me that Vladimir Putin made this conscious decision not to retaliate butz come january 20th it will be a whole lot easier for donald trump to reverse these actions by the Obama Administration. How much of that is true do you think . I think thats right on. I think theres a real problem in president obama. Hes the actor here. President elect trump is watching and commenting from the sidelines for another three weeks. Oefb realizes hell be president and a very important figure, but decisions that have been made by president obama havent been very shrewd. These sanctions, for example, are not particularly strong. They could have been if someone was willing to go as far as not let the russians use dollars in International Exchanges but nobodys taken a step like that. So you ended up closing a couple of summer houses, having three dozen kgb and gru officers under official cover so theyre declared persona non grata, they cant be arrested or anything, they get shipped out to moscow and another 35 afive are moscow to take their places. What about this tweet from the president elect earlier this afternoon . There are a lot of americans scratching their heads and looking at this praise that donald trump continues to offer the russian president even though he has been meddling in our election, and i direct this question not to you personally but i think in general people are asking the question, what in the hell happened to America First . Right. Why is donald trump effusive with praise for Vladimir Putin, swhob whosed a vied him whats going on . I wouldnt call it effusive pip think its been positive, but i think its well within Teddy Roosevelts dictum of speak softly and carry a big stick. Hes been speaking softly. But thats part of diplo