Key takeways from Barack Obama's final press conference

On commuting Chelsea Manning's sentence

Twenty-nine-year-old American military analyst, born Bradley Manning, will now be freed on May 17 instead of her scheduled 2045 release after Obama commuted her sentence. She will have served seven years of jail time of her 35-year sentence after her release.

Here's how Obama defended the decision:

"Well, first of all, let's be clear. 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 don't think would get that impression from the sentence that Chelsea Manning has served.

"It has been my view that given she went to trial, that due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime, that the sentence that she received was very disproportional, disproportionate relative to what other leakers had received, and that she had served a significant amount of time, that it made it sense to commute and not pardon her sentence."

He also said that justice was served in this case and the message has been sent that people, when wanting to expose wrongful actions of government authorities, should use established channels available including  whistleblower protections.

Wikileaks connection to the Russian hacking

Barack Obama said that the intelligence did not confirm whether or not Wikileaks had a role in Russian hacking of the DNC emails which as per the spy agencies affected the outcome of the US Presidential elections.

First of all, I haven't commented on WikiLeaks generally. The conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was witting or not in being the conduit through which we heard about the DNC emails that were leaked.

Trump's proposal to end sanctions on Russia

Trump, who takes office on Friday after winning the November 8 election, said in an interview with the Times of London published on Monday that he would propose offering to end sanctions on Moscow in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal.

Obama urged President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to keep separate the issue of economic sanctions on Russia from the pursuit of talks to reduce nuclear stockpiles.

"I think it would probably best serve, not only American interests, but also the interests of preserving international norms if we made sure that we don't confuse why these sanctions have been imposed with a whole set of other issues.... It is important for the United States to stand up for the basic principal that big countries don't go around and invade and bully smaller countries."

WATCH: Obama's final press conference here 

On Obamacare, Dreamers Act

Obama said that Trump and his own views on most policies did not overlap.

"My working assumption is that having won an election, opposed to a number of my initiatives and certain aspects of my vision for where the country needs to go, it is appropriate for him to go forward with his vision and his values. And I don't expect that there's going to be, you know, enormous overlap."

On several Democrats not attending Trump's inauguration

Obama said that he and Michelle Obama would be attending the inauguration and would not comment about his party members decision to not attend the event.

"With respect to the inauguration, I'm not going to comment on those issues. All I know is I'm going to be there. So is Michelle.  And I'm heartened by the fact that it won't be as cold as my first inauguration. Because that was cold."

On Trump wanting to move US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

President Barack Obama suggested on Wednesday that moving the US embassy to Jerusalem could have "explosive" results and said he was worried that the prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were waning.  

"I am -- I continue to be significantly worried about the Israeli-Palestinian issue. And I'm worried about it both because I think the status quo is unsustainable, that it is dangerous for Israel, that it is bad for Palestinians, it is bad for the region and it is bad for America's national security. ...  When sudden unilateral moves are made that speak to some of the core issues and sensitivities of either side, that can be explosive." 

He said his administration had warned the incoming Trump administration that big shifts in policy had consequences.

On protecting LGBT rights 

Obama said that his administration played a role in this by bringing laws to ensure rights and safety to the community, but added that activism was the main hero to bring the change.

"I could not be prouder of the transformation that's taken place in our society just in the last decade. And, I've said before, I think we made some useful contributions to it, but the primary heroes in this stage of our -- our growth as a democracy and a society are all the individual activists and sons and daughters and couples who courageously said, this is who I am and I'm proud of it.

"And, that opened people's minds and opened their hearts. And, eventually, laws caught up." 

On Malia and Sasha's reaction to election result

Here's what the outgoing president said about his daughters' reaction to Trump's victory in the polls and their interest in politics.

"I think it was really interesting to see how Malia and Sasha reacted. They were disappointed. I think neither of them intend to pursue a future of politics and in that, too, I think their mother's influence shows.

... what makes me proudest about them, is that they also don't get cynical about it. They -- they have not assumed because their side didn't win or because some of the values that they care about don't seem as if they were vindicated that automatically America has somehow rejected them or rejected their values. I don't think they feel that way."

With inputs from PTI/ Reuters