Promises and Protests: President-Elect Donald Trump told the Washington Post in a telephone interview that he is close to have a healthcare plan that will replace Obamacare. Trump declined to give specifics, but promised “lower numbers, much lower deductibles.”

Trump told the paper, “We’re going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”

In the mathematics of the insurance business, good coverage, low premiums, and low deductibles have always been in conflict with each other. No one has delivered it all in one package.

Democrats don’t believe the Republicans have a good replacement, if they have one at all. Headlined by Senators Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer in Warren, Mich., Democratic leaders across the country appeared at rallies yesterday to save Obamacare from repeal. Warren was Obama Country in both of his elections, but went for Donald Trump by 10 points over Hillary Clinton. Sanders and Schumer went there to tell the mostly white, working class audience what they stand to lose.

In Boston, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told a crowd at Faneuil Hall, “We knew these fights were coming, and now the first one is here.” In San Francisco, Sen. Nancy Pelosi declared, “We’re not going back.”

Exit Interview: In his final interview as president with Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes, Barack Obama noted that Donald Trump successfully tapped into the anger of millions of Americans, but cautioned about Trump’s tone and method of communication. “We are moving into an era where a lot of people get their information through tweets and sound bites and some headline that comes over their phone,” Obama said.  “And I think that there’s a power in that. There’s also a danger, what generates a headline or stirs up a controversy and gets attention isn’t the same as the process required to actually solve the problem.”

Obama said later in the interview, “I think everybody has to acknowledge, don’t underestimate the guy, because he’s going to be 45th president of the United States. The one thing I’ve said to him directly, and I would advise my Republican friends in Congress and supporters around the country, is just make sure that, as we go forward certain norms, certain institutional traditions don’t get eroded, because there’s a reason they’re in place.”

World: A Turkish cargo plane coming from Hong Kong  has crashed in a village in Kyrgyzstan, killing all four crew members and at least 33 people on the ground, according to local officials. It appears that the plane overshot Manas airport on landing. — The political scandal surrounding South Korean President Park Geun-hye is spreading. Reports say the head of the Samsung conglomerate might faces charges that he bribed the president.

Winter: Icy winter weather stretches all the way from New Mexico  northeast to Michigan. Freezing rain has fallen over much of  western Oklahoma, Kansas, northern Missouri, and western Iowa. By tomorrow, freezing rain and snow is expected to move into the Northeastern states.

The Obit Page: Former pro wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, the wrestling legend who spent his last year fighting murder charges in the May 1983 death of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, has died at age 73. With Snuka fatally ill, the charges were dropped Jan.3 because he was unfit to stand trial.

The Fijian-born Snuka’s reputation was sealed when he took a flying leap off the top of a steel cage. His character in professional wrestling was the villain.

Gridiron: Tied at 31 with 3 seconds left on the clock, Green Bay kicked a 50-yard field goal to beat Dallas and advance to the NFC championship against the Atlanta Falcons.

Pittsburgh edged past Kansas City 18-16 to set up the AFC championship against the New England Patriots. The Steelers kicked a record 6 field goals.

Short Fingers: The next president of the United States was up late Saturday night fretting and tweeting about his portrayal on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. “@NBCNews is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!”

-30-