[Vanier:] Welcome back. Donald Trump is at odds with the U.S. intelligence community six weeks before his inauguration. The president-elect's team has mocked a CIA report that Russia tried to steer the election toward a Trump victory. This is what they said. "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest electoral college victories in history. It's now time to move on." A source says that a review of foreign hacking ordered by President Obama will not actually look at whether Russian interference affected the outcome of the election; rather, the source says, it is solely about lessons being learned. More now from CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott.
[Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] President-Elect Donald Trump's comments, questioning the quality of the intel provided by the intelligence community about Russian hacking, could set up an adversarial relationship with a commander in chief, who's going to rely on the intelligence community to make monumental decisions about U.S. national security. If it's an isolated incident, it could be worked out. It seems as if President-Elect Trump is very sensitive to any charges that he didn't win the election fair and square when, in fact, the intelligence community is really only looking at whether Russia did try to interfere in the U.S. election. And about 17 intelligence agencies did conclude that they did with high confidence. If there's a larger question about whether Donald Trump does not have confidence in the intelligence community, in the intel that he's getting in his daily briefing, that could set up a much larger issue. Now the investigation that the Obama administration is engaged in is not about whether Russia affected the outcome of this election. Administration officials tell me it would be impossible to know what swayed a voter. The investigation is really about looking at past practices of all foreign states, not just Russia, but other foreign actors, perhaps in 2008, 2012 and in the 2016 election, to see what kinds of techniques they used in their hacking, in cyber attacks, to use that as a lessons learned for the next administration. But it would also give credence to any measures that the Obama administration could take on its way out the door. Officials tell me that there are a wide range of measures being considered against Russia, such as sanctions, other types of cyber measures that we probably wouldn't know about. But if this incontrovertible proof is made public, it would be
[Labott:] very difficult for President-Elect Trump, once taking office, to question that. And if President Obama does impose measures and Donald Trump overturns them, that could he could face a lot of heat from members of Congress, not just Democrats but Republicans, who are very skeptical about Russia and say they're going to lead investigations. As one senior administration official said, there would be a real price to pay once the president-elect takes office Elise Labott, CNN, Washington.
[Vanier:] And a spokesman for the Republican National Committee also doubts that Russia meddled in the election.
[Sean Spicer, Rnc Communications Director:] I don't think, Donald Trump doesn't think, no one thinks that a foreign entity should be interfering with the U.S. elections, bottom line, full stop, I said it. Now let's get to the next thing. What proof does anyone have that they affected the outcome? Because I've heard zero. OK? So show me what facts have actually shown that anything undermined that election. Donald Trump won with 306 electoral votes, 2,300 counties, 62 million Americans voted for him. So what proof do you have or does anyone have that any of this affected the outcome of this election?
[Vanier:] The Kremlin, for its part, is also brushing off the claims, saying, in part, these are not new conclusions. And, again, it seems like naked blaming, having no evidence to be based on. Also it may look like another attempt to try to influence the president-elect by imposing a certain negative image of our country. More on the Trump transition now. Donald Trump's likely choice for secretary of state is sparking some concern over his ties to Russia. CNN's Ryan Nobles reports on Rex Tillerson, a major name in the oil industry, who may be America's next top diplomat.
[Ryan Nobles, Cnn Correspondent:] It's looking more and more like President-Elect Donald Trump is leaning toward ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state. CNN's John King reporting that Tillerson left a meeting on Saturday at Trump Tower, feeling confident that he would be named to the post; Trump telling Chris Wallace from FOX that Tillerson's global business interests and his ties with countries around the world make him a very strong candidate.
[Unidentified Male:] Let me ask you about Rex Tillerson.
[Donald Trump , President-elect Of The United States:] OK.
[Unidentified Male:] Out of ExxonMobil. Why does a business executive make sense as the chief diplomat?
[Trump:] Well, in his case, he's much more than a business executive. I mean, he's a world-class player. He's in charge of, I guess, the largest company in the world. He's in charge of an oil company that's pretty much double the size of his next nearest competitor. It's been a company that's been unbelievably managed. And to me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players and he knows them well. He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company, not for himself, for the company.
[Nobles:] Now some of those same attributes that Trump views as positives have some concerned, including Republicans like Senator John McCain. McCain told me that he would want answers from Tillerson about his ties to Russia and his view of the world as it relates to the country before he gives him his vote in a confirmation process. Republicans hold only a four-seat majority in the U.S. Senate. So Donald Trump will likely need almost all those votes if he is to get Tillerson confirmed Ryan Nobles, CNN, Baltimore.
[Vanier:] Our favorite meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, joins us now with more on severe weather around parts of the globe. We're going to start with severe winter weather in Japan. And finally, Walter White is back from the dead. "Breaking Bad"'s infamous meth cook was resurrected by Bryan Cranston as "Saturday Night Live" poked fun at who else but Donald Trump and his cabinet picks.
[Beck Bennett, Comedian, "jake Tapper":] We have some breaking news tonight. President-Elect Trump has just made his choice for head of the DEA, the federal drug enforcement agency. And it's a high school science teacher from New Mexico named Walter White, who joins us now.
[Bryan Cranston, Actor, "walter White":] Hello, Jake.
[Kate Mckinnon, Comedian, "kellyanne Conway":] Walter is amazing. He came highly recommended by Steve Bannon. "
[White":] Oh, yes. Steve's the best. We've had some times. "
[Tapper":] Where did Mr. Bannon find you? "
[White":] In the comments section at Breitbart. And I'm really surprised he tracked me down because I've kind of been off the grid for a while. "
[Tapper":] And you're a high school science teacher? "
[White":] Yes.
[Tapper":] Now do you know anything about drug enforcement? "
[White":] Oh, trust me. I know the DEA better than anyone, inside and out.
[Vanier:] All right. You also saw "SNL's" Kate McKinnon here in her impression of one of Trump's top advisers, Kellyanne Conway. She's quickly become a favorite with viewers over the past few weeks. I don't know what Kellyanne Conway thinks of the impression. We know that Trump doesn't like his character.
[Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes, we already do know that very well. I'm sure she nails it though.
[Vanier:] All right. He's Derek Van Dam. I'm Cyril Vanier. You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM. We're back after the break with your headlines.