I believe in music city, it would be the equivalent of, in egypt, them allowing one of their Three Pyramids or something to be torn down. I, i believe it would just, its just an impossibility that this building would be torn down. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Love me tender we can like many, but we can love only a precious few, because it is for those precious few that you have to be willing to do so very much. You dont have to do it alone. Lincoln financial helps you provide for and protect your financial future because this is what you do for people you love. Lincoln financial youre in charge. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at rockefellerfoundation. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff theres a split tonight between donald trump and his own republican party. At issue serious allegations that the russians were playing spy games during the president ial campaign. John yang begins our coverage. Yang top Congressional Republicans put themselves at odds with president elect trump today, calling for investigations into possible russian attempts to influence the election. Obviously any foreign breach of cybersecurity measures are disturbing, and i strongly condemn any such efforts. Well let me just speak for myself, the russians are not our friends. I think its just another excuse. I dont believe it. Yang on sunday, mr. Trump dismissed the c. I. A. s conclusion that the russians were trying to help him win as ridiculous. He pointed to apparent disagreements between the spy agency and the f. B. I. And i have Great Respect for them. But if you read the stories, the various stories, theyre disputing. And certain groups dont necessarily agree. Personally, it could be russia. It i dont really think it is. But who knows . I dont know either. They dont know and i dont know. Yang this morning, he tweeted that if the Election Results were the opposite and we tried to play the russia c. I. A. Card, it would be called Conspiracy Theory russia is also an issue with a potential secretary of state in the Trump Administration exxon mobil c. E. O. Rex tillerson. Hes done a lot of business there and has close ties to president vladimir putin. Thats a reason for concern say some senate republicans, including john mccain. Maybe those ties are strictly commercial and got to do with his business in the oil business. Fine. But well give him a fair hearing. But is it a matter of concern . Certainly it should be a matter of concern. Yang meanwhile, the president elects challenge to the longstanding u. S. One china policy brought a stern warning from the Chinese Foreign ministry. translated i want to stress that the taiwan issue involves chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, also if such a foundation is disrupted and undermined, the sound and steady growth of their relations, and bilateral would be impossible. Yang today, mr. Trump officially named choice for secretary of Homeland Security retired marine fourstar general john kelly, a veteran of four decades in the corps. Kelly most recently headed u. S. Southern command, overseeing military operations in central and south america. In that role, he also worked with Homeland Security to stop the smuggling of immigrants. Hes the third general mr. Trump has picked for a major post, but this fourstar general he is also a gold star parent. His son, a marine first lieutenant, was killed in afghanistan in 2010. The president elect also named Goldman Sachs president gary cohn to head the White House National economic council. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff and, two developments in election recounts today. A federal judge refused to order one in pennsylvania, as Green Party Candidate jill stein wanted. And a new tally ended in wisconsin, with little change. Donald trump won both states. Among those voicing concern about russias attempts to influence the president ial election, a Bipartisan Group of senators called for an investigation into the cyberattacks that, they say, should alarm every american. Jack reed, the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services committee is one of those senators, and says he has no reason to doubt the c. I. A. s conclusions. They definitely intervened in the election. They collected information against both democrats and republicans. And they seemed to only have released information with respect to the democratic candidate. The motivation, that is something that were going to continue to probe. But it seems that they were interested in disrupting the Democratic Campaign as much as they could. Woodruff you dont have any question about that conclusion because the fbi, as you know, its reported that they are holding back on ascribing a motive here. Well, there is a difference between a motive and what happened on the ground, if you will. What seems to be clear is that they had been able to enter into the Computer Systems of both the republicans and the democrats. And that they through proxy disseminated information about the democratic candidate. Did not in any significant way do so withni the republicans. Could you question motivations but it seems clear that they had a goal or objective to provide information that would be detrimental to the democratic candidate. Woodruff and what other explanation could there be other than wanting to help donald trump . It, the only other plausible explanation would be just so to sow general confusion but at some point they clarily seem to suggest a preference in terms of who they were going to attack or provide detrimental information about. And that was the democratic candidate. Woodruff what does this represent to you, senator reed, as somebody who has looked at intelligence for as long as you have . Well, it demonstrates the practice that the russians have of sur rep ti shusly using fiber and other techniques to involve themselves in elections, to distort elections. It happened overseas. And now unfortunately it has happened dramically in the United States. And so we have to be aware that that is why senator mccain and i are working to set up a subcommittee to look at this issue. But longerterm to look at the cybercapabilities of russia in many different directions. But the first issue is trying to get all the facts that we can out about their participation in this election cycle because we have to be able to show the American Public that in two years or at any time in the future our elections are not determined by suxd rreptitiou s activity of foreigns, it is determined by the voter. Woodruff im sure you know president elect trump doesnt believe the russians did the hacking. He said it could have been a man sitting on a bed somewhere. How do you what do you say to his reaction to all this . Well, it seems quite obvious that this was done by the russians. Our Intelligence Services have indicated it. Theyve done so very carefully. To disregard the obvious is not a good trait in a leader in any situation. Woodruff to disregard the obvious. Yes. Woodruff well, do you want to elaborate on that . Well, it seems the facts are overwhelming that there was involvement of the russians in the election. The involvement not only in terms of penetrating democratic operatives and organizations, but also the Intelligence Community concluded the Republican National committee. So they were involved. And that seems to be not an issue of contention. And to simply deny that is to deny what is to me appears increasingly to be obviousxd a fact. Woodruff senator, what would be different between the investigation that you and some republican senators are calling for and the investigation the that president obama has called for inside the administration to be done by the inauguration . Well, the president is able to use the intelligence agencies and other agencies to vet the information, to protect sources and methods, to come up with all that to be released to the public. Our investigation i hope will build off of that. I hope to document the that is available so we have a common base of facts and knowledge and from there we can ask other questions that i think are relevant going forward. What could we do to prevent this in the future. I think also it raises again the issue that has been so contentious an over the last several months about the president elect being much more open and candid in his financial dealings so that there is absolutely no he question of any type of biased toward any institution or individual or country. Woodruff well, two other he questions. One what is what should the u. S. Do if this is proven that the russians did this hacking and if they did it for the reason that it appears that they did . Well, first i think fore warned is forearmed. Whether the American People will be aware of the ak particulars, the techniques and the motivations, if we can determine them con cluesively of the russians, that will be useful. And second there is the ability to take action against them. Right now we have sanctions in place because of their assault on crimea because of their destablizing activities in crimea. If this raises that level we could consider Something Like that. I think also in terms of international criticism, this is something they have done in the past in other countries. If this is their method of operation, we have to be able to, i think, enlist the aid and the support of other countries, our european allies and across the globe. That will be something that will sebd a strong message that this will not be tolerated by the United States nor by other countries. Woodruff final question, senator reed, that is what is your reaction to president elect saying in an interview yesterday that he isnt taking all the Intelligence Briefings that he has been offered because quote im like a smart person. I dont have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. I think that is not a sensible way to approach the issues that the president has to deal with. Things change almost instantaneously. Situation as rise, context is important. Its also critically important that you are so involved in the intelligence cycle as the president that you are able to be able to jij adequately when someone presents a view point to you. Periodic sort of quick study, if you will, is not going to work. It takes that constant exposure. And i think its not a good leadership, particularly for a president to simply say i know it all, i will just take a refresher course once in a while. Woodruff senator jack reed, the ranking democrat on the Arms Services committee. Thank you for talking with us. Thank, judy. Woodruff well debate russias actions with a former director of the c. I. A. And an ambassador in the Obama Administration after the news summary. And in the days other news, Syrian Rebels all but collapsed in aleppo, and the army appeared on the verge of recapturing the city. By days end, the military said it now controls 99 of eastern aleppo, once a rebel stronghold. Nonstop bombing overnight reduced more buildings to rubble, and heavy shelling continued throughout the day. The rebels were left with a tiny enclave. In turkey, police roundups were in full swing today across turkey after twin bombings killed 44 people in istanbul on saturday. Officials detained 235 people, and police said they were linked to the outlawed kurdish separatist party. Meanwhile, scores of protesters marched in istanbul to denounce the bombings, and president Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the soccer stadium where the attack took place. The United Nations has a new secretary general. The former Prime Minister of portugal, antonio guterres, was sworn in today. Guterres has also served as u. N. High commissioner of refugees, and he vowed today to streamline operations, to meet humanitarian needs. It benefits no one if it takes nine months to deploy a staff member to the field. The United Nations needs to be nimble, efficient and effective. It must focus more on delivery and less on process, more on people and less on bureaucracy. Woodruff guterres will officially take office on january 1. He succeeds ban kimoon, who served 10 years as secretary general. Authorities in britain and greece announced today theyve broken up a network that moved hundreds of migrants into europe. The gang supplied lost or stolen passports and travel documents. Meanwhile, rescuers pulled nearly 1,200 people from the mediterranean yesterday. More than 4,700 have died trying to make the crossing this year. Back in this country, an arctic front pushed into the northeast and new england after blowing across the great lakes and upper midwest. The storm made morning commutes treacherous from pennsylvania on up to maine, where two people were killed. Meanwhile, parts of michigan got more than 10 inches of snow, forcing hundreds of schools to close. This is a bad snow. Its real wet. It came down soft, but over the night it got warm, so now its a heavy snow. Its hard to clear off. Not too bad with this, but with a snowblower and stuff its pretty tough. Woodruff later this week, the system is expected to send temperatures 15 to 30 degrees below normal in the midwest and east. Former congressman chaka fattah was sentenced to 10 years in prison today in a racketeering scheme. The pennsylvania democrat had been convicted of taking an illegal 1 Million Dollar loan in a failed bid for mayor of philadelphia. He also used Charity Funds to pay down his sons college loans. Fattah served 20 years in congress before being ousted. And, wall street mostly retreated, while the Dow Jones Industrial average managed another new record. The dow gained 39 points to close at 19,796. But the nasdaq fell nearly 32 points, and the s p 500 slipped two. Still to come on the newshour more on trumps strained relationship with the Intelligence Community. Health and Human Services secretary Sylvia Burwell discusses the future of obamacare. Preserving the Music Studios that gave us Willie Nelson and dolly parton, plus much more. Woodruff we dig deeper now into the debate over russian hacking and the c. I. A. s conclusion the goal was to sway the u. S. Election in trumps favor. Hari sreenivasan has that. Sreenivasan and were joined by two men with extensive experience with intelligence and diplomacy. James woolsey was c. I. A. Director during the clinton administration. Hes now with booz allen, one of the largest defense and intelligence contractors. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to president elect trump on issues of National Security and intelligence. And Michael Mcfaul was u. S. Ambassador to russia during the Obama Administration. Hes now a professor of Political Science at stanford university. Mike mcfaul, your reaction to the news that russia may have played an active role in helping president elect trump . Well, for some of us its not news. Some of us have been talking and writing about this for many months now. Especially after the hacking of the dnc computers and the data dump from wikileaks. I think the two pieces of news that are new is that the Intelligence Community is now claiming that they have evidence to show that the russians gave it to wikileaks. That was uncertain, now we know that and the second piece is about the republican, the hacking into the republican side. They now have evidence to show that. What it all means to me, to be clear, my bottomline is we need an independent, Bipartisan Commission to investigate this. Its not enough for the Obama Administration to do their review and frankly its not enough to have hearings on it, that the u. S. Congress this is way too big to be handled in those places. We need to he no the facts. And here i agree with president elect trump in the piece you played with him. He said several times, we dont know. Well, as an academic i want to know the facts and i think the only way youre going to get it is if you set up that commission. Sreenivasan James Woolsey, do you agree, is that the right course . I dont think there is anything wrong with a commission going into an important issue. I think what needs to be focused on here from the beginning is that weve got a couple of Different Things going on. And conflating them causes a lot of confusion. One is what the soviets and now the russians call disinformation, otherwise known as lying. And they prop gate disinformation throughout the world on all sorts of subjects. But they particularly focus on organizations a