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And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff he has given his final major speech, and now, president obama has also held his final News Conference. He spent an hour before the White House Press corps today, two days before his presidency ends. John yang was there. Reporter in his 22nd, and final time facing reporters in the White House Briefing room, president obama today defended his decision to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former Army Intelligence analyst convicted of leaking u. S. Military and diplomatic secrets. Chelsea manning has served a tough prison sentence. So, the notion that the average person, who was thinking about disclosing vital classified information, would think that it goes unpunished i dont think would get that impression from the sentence that Chelsea Manning has served. Reporter most of the News Conference was spent looking ahead, to the fate of his own accomplishments, after president elect Trump Takes Office my working assumption is that, having won an election, opposed a number of my where its appropriate for him to go forward with his vision and his values and i dont expect that theres going to be, you know, enormous overlap. Reporter he also shed light on the counsel hes offered mr. Trump this is a job of such magnitude that you cant do it by yourself. You are enormously reliant on a team. Your cabinet, your senior white house staff, all the way to fairly junior folks in their 20s and 30s, but who are executing on significant responsibilities. Thats probably the most useful advice and constructive advice ive been able to give him. Reporter he expressed hope that he could take a pause from politics, but made clear hed speak out when compelled to do so certain moments, where i think our core values are at stake. I put in that category, if i saw systematic discrimination being ratified in some fashion, efforts to round up kids who have grown up here and for all practical purposes are american kids, and send them someplace else. I think that would merit me speaking out. Reporter and he weighed in one last time on an issue that has dogged president s for generations, the Israeli Palestinian conflict if you do not have two states, then, in some form or fashion, you are extending an occupation. Weve believed, consistent with the position take with previous u. S. Administrations for decades now, that it was important for us to send a signal. A wake up call, that this moment may be passing. Reporter mr. Obama also reflected on how america has changed during his presidency, on social issues, like attitudes on l. G. B. T. Q. Rights. I dont think it is something that will be reversible, because American Society has changed, the attitudes of young people have changed. That doesnt mean there are going to be some fights that arent important. Legal issues there are still battles that need to take place. Reporter the president lamented what he sees as undue restrictions on voting rights, which he said was a lingering vestige of slavery and jim crow this whole notion of voting fraud has constantly been disproved. This is fake news, the notion that there are a whole bunch of people who are out there and going out there and are eligible to vote and are not able to vows. We have a bunch of people who are eligible but dont vote. Reporter as mr. Obama, the nations first black president , prepares to leave office, after the first female president ial nominee was defeated, he expressed confidence that more barriers will be broken in the future. If in fact, we continue to keep opportunity open to everybody, then yeah, were going to have a woman president. Were going to have a latino president and well have a jewish president , a hindu president. Who knows what were going to have . I suspect well have a whole bunch of mixedup president s at some point, that nobody knows really what to call them. Once he becomes a former president , mr. Obama says he looks forward to writing, being what he calls quiet he says he doesnt want to hear himself talk so much in the future and also being a consumer of news rather than the subject of news. Judy . Woodruff john, i also thought the president acknowledged the role that economic inequality played in the results of the election. Yang thats exactly right. He spoke about that in the context of a question about inclusion and diversity. He said its important for all americans to feel a part of the growing economy. He said he thought there were a lot of people who voted for mr. Trump because they felt forgotten and disenfranchised and looked down upon. Woodruff john, you had a busy day because i know before the president s News Conference you attended a briefing by the trump transition team, and they were talking about getting ready for the inauguration. Yang thats right. Sean spicer who will be the press secretary here at the white house starting on friday said that mr. Trump has been rehearsing his inaugural address. He said that he wrote it himself with input from policy advisor Stephen Miller from kellyanne conway, from Reince Priebus whos going to be white house chief of staff, from steve bannon whos going to be white house counselor, he said its going to talk about common goals, and mr. Trump himself said the theme is going to be america first. Sean spicer was asked if any part of the speech is going to reach out to americans who didnt vote for mr. Trump. He said mr. Trump doesnt feel he should be judged on his rhetoric or symbolism but wants to be judged on his actions and successes. Woodruff all really interesting. John yang, keep holding down the force for us at the white house and are the trump transition team. Thank you. Well, this was a day for team trump to talk health and environment at two senate hearings. The Health Secretarydesignate, tom price, defended his investments in medical stocks and played down talk of overhauling medicare. And scott pruitt, nominated to run the Environmental Protection agency, said he does not believe Climate Change is a hoax, as the president elect has suggested. We will have full reports, after the news summary. Regarding Climate Change, is news that Global Temperatures hit a record high in 2016, for the Third Straight year. The data is from nasa, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the british. They say the average last year was more than 1. 5 Degrees Higher than in the mid20th century. They say it was caused by manmade Greenhouse Gases and an el nino event. The nominee to be u. N. Ambassador says russia committed war crimes in syria, and cannot be trusted. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley offered a harsher assessment today than mr. Trump has, at her own senate hearing. Russia is trying to show their muscle right now. It is what they do. And i think we always have to be cautious. I dont think that we can trust them. I think that we have to try and see what we can get from them before we give to them. Woodruff haley also blasted a u. N. Resolution that condemned israeli settlements, and she voiced support for moving the u. S. Embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. Meanwhile, the nominee for commerce secretary, wilbur ross, put china on notice today. The billionaire investor told his confirmation hearing that the chinese are the most protectionist country among the major economies. They have both very high Tariff Barriers and very high nontariff trade barriers to commerce. So, they talk much more about free trade than they actually practice. We would like to levelize that Playing Field and bring the realities a bit closer to the rhetoric. Woodruff ross also said the Trump Administration will focus on renegotiating the north Atlantic Free trade agreement, very early on. Seperately, the Senate Armed Services committee easily approved the nomination of james mattis for defense secretary. It goes now to the full senate. In west africa, a suicide attacker drove a car bomb into a camp in northern mali, killing at least 60 people and wounding 115. The attack struck a base in the city of gao, where soldiers and former rebels are trying to enforce a 2015 peace treaty. Later, an Islamist Group linked to alqaeda claimed responsibility. In nigeria the International Red cross now says at least 70 refugees and aid workers died tuesday when the air force accidentally bombed a u. N. Camp. The military says it was trying to target fighters with the militant boko haram group. At least 46 severely wounded people remained at the camp today, near the border with cameroon. U. N. Officials have called for a full investigation. Iraqi Government Troops announced today they have taken full control of eastern mosul. The military said it drove Islamic State militants out of the last neighborhoods after a threemonth operation. Today, people cheered and took pictures with soldiers. And, commanders talked of the coming operation to liberate western mosul. translated in the last few days, our forces movements became quicker and clearing of districts became faster. The reason is that, when they were defeated, they retreated. I think the western side will be easier to liberate from the eastern side. Woodruff despite the militarys announcement, there were reports of continued fighting in mosuls eastern half. Back in this country, the u. S. Supreme court will decide whether barring racially offensive trademarks violates free speech. The justices heard arguments today over a 70yearold law. It is being challenged by an asianamerican band named the slants. The ultimate decision could also affect the nfls washington redskins. The u. S. Secret service has agreed to pay 24 million to settle a longrunning Racial Discrimination lawsuit. More than 100 African American agents are part of a suit filed back in 2000. They say the agency fostered racist culture and routinely promoted whites over qualified blacks. Under the settlement, the secret service does not admit any wrongdoing. On wall street, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 22 points to close at 19,804. The nasdaq rose nearly 17 points, and the s p 500 added four. And, former president george h. W. Bush and his wife, barbara, are both hospitalized in houston this evening. Mr. Bush was admitted saturday with pneumonia, and moved into the intensive care unit today. A Spokesman Says hes stable. Mrs. Bush entered the same hospital today, as a precaution, for fatigue and coughing. Still to come on the newshour several trump cabinet nominees face tough questioning at their confirmation hearings; the exciting yet elusive possibilities of nuclear fusion, and much more. Woodruff lets turn to the confirmation hearings for the president elects cabinet, and one of mr. Trumps most repeated pledges is to repeal and replace obamcare, more formally called the Affordable Care act. Congressman tom price is he faced some tough questions today about his own record, when he appeared before the committee on health, education, labor and pensions. Lisa desjardins has our report. Reporter when tom price doctor, congressman and hopeful Health Secretary today faced the Senate Health committee, the spotlight fell equally on the fate of the Affordable Care act he wants to repeal and on prices own history. Senator patty murray launched a democratic theme you purchased stock in innate immunotherapeutics, a Company Working to develop new drugs, on four separate occasions between january 2015 and august 2016. You made the decision to purchase that stock, not a broker. Yes or no . That was a decision that i made, yes. Reporter price stressed that other Health Stocks he owned were chosen by his broker. The questions arise from his financial disclosures, showing price invested in healthrelated companies in the past two years, as he pushed legislation in congress that benefited those companies. Your purchases occurred while the 21st century cures act, which had several provisions could that could impact Drug Developers like innate immunotherapeutics, was being negotiated. And again, days before you were notified to prepare for a final vote on the bill. Reporter price insisted those bills were consistent with what hes done for years, and that while he did get a private stock offer, he had no special knowledge of the company. I had no access to nonpublic information. Reporter minnesota senator al franken pointed to a recent wall street journal report finding that price traded more than 300,000 of healthrelated companies while simultaneously working on policy affecting those companies. These sound like sweetheart deals, and i think that our job, in this body and in congress and in government, is to avoid the appearance of conflict. And boy, you have not done this. Reporter the exchanges moved from calm to tense. Price pushed back, insisting he would never use his office for financial gain. What i did was comply with the rules of the house in an ethical and legal and transparent way. Reporter republican orrin hatch called the democratic push for an investigation hypocrisy, pointing out no rules in Congress Prevent stock trades. In fact, there are members on this committee who have, as i understand it, who have traded individual Health Stocks while serving on this committee. Now, this appears to be nothing more than a hypocritical attack on your good character. Thank you, sir. Everything that we have done has been above board, transparent, ethical and legal. And as you know, and the members of this committee know, theres an organization thats called the office of government ethics, that looks at all of for every cabinet nominee looks at all of the possessions, all the holdings and the like, and makes a recommendation as to what that cabinet member must do in order to make certain that theres no conflict of interest. The office of government ethics has looked at our holdings and given advice about what would need to be done in terms of divesting from certain stock holdings. Reporter as part of the nomination ethics process, price has pledged to divest from 43 companies, including those the democrats raised, within 90 days of his confirmation. I think some of the things that have occurred with the passage of the a. C. A. Have improved certain areas. The coverage is certainly improved. But the consequences of that, i mean, that many people, as ive mentioned before, have coverage but they dont have care. I think that the more involvement that patients and families and doctors can have in medical decisions, the Higher Quality care well have. Reporter mr. Price, who practiced as an Orthopedic Surgeon for more than two decades, proposed his own detailed plan last year, offering some tax credits and repealing the medicaid expansion. To him, that means Less Government interference, but to senator elizabeth warren, it means cuts to needy populations. What we believe is appropriate is to make certain that the individuals receiving the care actually receive it. I understand why you think youre right to cut it. Im not asking the question. Did you propose to cut more than a trillion dollars out of medicaid over the next 10 years . You have the numbers before you. Reporter mr. Price insisted that a republican replacement plan would ensure widespread access to care. My role in congress was to always make certain that individuals had the opportunity to gain access to the kind of coverage that they that they desired and that they had the financial feasibility to do so. Reporter but access, senator Bernie Sanders said, is not the same as coverage. I have access to buying a 10 million home. I dont have the money to do that. Reporter mr. Price next goes before the Senate Finance committee on tuesday. Woodruff scott pruitt also took his turn in the hot seat today. If confirmed, he would be the new head of the Environmental Protection agency, and the president elect has said he wants him to reverse eight years of president obamas environmental policies. Democrats want