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Escalating Tensions Between Iran, Saudi Arabia Spreading; Obama to Use Executive Actions for Gun Control; Stocks Tumble in Asia- Pacific, China; A Look at Ramadi after ISIS Rule; Hong Kong Book Sellers Critical of China Disappear; Armed Oregon Protesters Release Demands; Tensions Between Iran, Saudi Arabia Spreads to Other Nations. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 05, 2016 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[02:00:44] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thank you for joining our two-hour block. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

CHURCH: Our top story this hour, escalating tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are now spreading to other nations. Bahrain, Sudan and the UAE have severed or cut back ties with Iran, and this after Saudi Arabia announced it cut diplomatic relations with Iran after an attack on its embassy in Tehran over the weekend.

BARNETT: Protesters took to the streets of Tehran again on Monday. Look at the size of those crowds. The new tensions were triggered by the Saudis' recent execution of a Shiite cleric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Iranians and their allies have been pushing and promoting terrorism and recruiting people, inciting, providing weapons and explosives to people. And Nimr al Nimr is one of them. He is as much of a religious figure as Osama bin Laden was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: For the latest on all of this, we now turn to Nic Robertson. He joins us from the Saudi Arabian capital.

Nic, you've got China, Russia, France, calling on both nations to basically calm down and resolve issues diplomatically. It seems neither side wants an all-out war either. But can we say tempers have calmed at all yet?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think the way that it's still playing here in Saudi Arabia, the front page of the main English language daily newspaper here, highlights the main banner headline is that the cut in economic ties with Iran, the cut and halting of flights between Iran and Saudi Arabia. They say that still the pilgrims, many tens of thousands, come every week or so from Iran to Saudi Arabia to go to Mecca, the holy site. Still, we see a heightened level of tension. On the front page there's a photograph of what purports to be destruction, an office destroyed in Tehran. There's also an article on the other nations, Sudan, Bahrain, that have cut diplomatic ties with Iran. The UAE has downgraded its diplomatic ties. These are front and center op the newspaper here. I think when you look at it that way, the message here is, Saudi Arabia is still standing very firm behind the decisions that it's taken, and the situation it's in right now. If you listen to what the Saudi ambassador to the United Nations says, he says that while we can de- escalate things with Iran, but Iran has to stop meddling in Saudi's national affairs. So that, again, the rhetoric there, it talks about de-escalation, but really, the language is still quite confrontational. The ambassador said there could be a de-escalation, but obviously both ambassadors from Saudi Arabia and Iran at the U.N. are really under the heaviest of international pressure, in the spotlight there to sort of de-escalate the situation -- Errol?

BARNETT: Not just to improve relations between these two countries, but the biggest civil war, the biggest conflict in the region will require the participation of them both. What about possible peace talks over Syria's civil war, Iran and Saudi Arabia will need to be part of this, because of who they're backing there. Any indication they will talk with these tensions as high as they are?

ROBERTSON: Sure. Well, the next talks over Syria are due to be held on the 25th of January in Geneva, Switzerland. When they were last held in Vienna a few weeks ago, that was the first time Saudi Arabia and Iran had representatives in the same room for these talks. They both play a significant role in the conflict there. Right now it seems to be unlikely. Look at the way that Saudi Arabia sees the situation right now. We're not talking here just about Syria, but also in Yemen. In Yemen recently, they began peace talks in Switzerland. There was a cease-fire in Yemen, that's collapsed subsequent to this escalation in tensions. Just when those talks began, a senior Saudi special forces commander was killed. The Saudis certainly believed from that perspective, see that as an Iranian hand behind that attack. In Syria, Saudi Arabia's interest in Syria, one of the principal rebel commanders that they back, they felt he was close to taking significant ground on the outskirts of Damascus that would have helped cut Bashar al Assad off more in the capital. He was killed in an air strike a few weeks ago as well. From a Saudi perspective, they were losing on the battlefield in these two conflicts. In their perspective, Iran has a lot to do with that. That's why you see them taking a very strong and firm position right now, and why those talks in Geneva in two or three weeks may be hard to get off the ground -- Errol?

[02:06:03] BARNETT: Very good point.

Nic Robertson joining us from the Saudi capital this morning. Six minutes past 10:00 a.m. there. Nic, thanks.

CHURCH: Back in the United States now, President Barack Obama has made no secret of his frustration with Congress for failing to approve gun control measures.

BARNETT: He's essentially bypassing lawmakers, and will announce a series of executive actions on Tuesday.

Michelle Kosinski has more on what to expect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You can see the administration trying to make changes in every way possible. But because these are executive actions, and not acts of Congress, immediately, you see those limits that they're up against. I mean, they're presented as proposals, or guidance or encouragement. By no means are these new laws.

The biggest deal is the back ground checks. They said if you are in the business of selling guns, whether that means two guns a year or 200,000, whether you're selling them at a gun show or on the dark web, you need to register, and all of your buyers need background checks. There will be harsh penalties if you don't do that. But the big question is out there, how is the federal government going to make you register, and how are they going to track you down if you don't.

The White House also sent a letter to every state governor encouraging them to make sure more information goes into the background checks system. Things like if people might be disqualified because of mental illness, or domestic violence convictions. But again, enforcement is a question.

The White House wants to beef up the background check system itself with more staffing, more funding. It wants a lot more funding for mental health treatment in this country. Again, though, those are asks, and Congress would have to approve that funding.

Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Trading just ended for the day in Shanghai. The market was not able to recover from Monday's steep drop. The numbers are settling right now, but the Shanghai Composite finished down. You can see all the arrows are down there in fact. The Shanghai Composite lost more than half of a percent. Hong Kong hasn't closed yet. It's similar losses there, more than half a percent. Australia, more than 1.5 percent loss.

All right. We want to get more now from Matt Rivers. He joins us live from Beijing.

So, Matt, China's stock market tumbled nearly 7 percent Monday, as we all know. While it hasn't been able to recover the losses, it's more stable now at least. Not looking as bad as it did on Monday. How were nerves calmed and what's likely to happen next?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, how those nerves were calmed depends on your opinion as to what frayed them in the first place. One of the major theories of the analysts would have to do with the ban that's set to be lifted here in China at the end of this week. It was after some summertime volatility in 2015 that China actually imposed a ban on major shareholders from selling their stakes in listed companies for six months. Now, that ban is set to be lifted on January 8th. But what analysts have told CNN is that many investors perhaps were spooked by the thought that these major shareholders who have lots and lots of money at their disposal, lots of shares, could engage in some kind of major sell-off that might occur on January 8th, that would be Friday of this week. And so perhaps that is what prompted that sell-off we saw during the day yesterday here in Beijing. And what caused the market to drop as swiftly as it did. That's one of the theories. Now, in response to that, the Chinese government this morning just before markets opened here issued a statement. That would be the regulatory officials in charge of the markets. They were a little bit vague, but they did say they would not allow such a large sell-off from these major shareholders to happen. They didn't say how they would prevent it, but they did say that they are looking at ways to prevent that from happening. So it was shortly after that, even though the markets opened down pretty substantially, they rebounded quite quickly. Were actually up for portions of the day, even though they did close a little bit down. But certainly nothing like the volatility we saw yesterday.

[02:10:19] CHURCH: Certainly nothing like it. Indeed.

Matt Rivers joining us live from Beijing. Thanks to you.

BARNETT: Republicans are ready to challenge President Obama on his plans for gun control. Later this hour, a closer look at the legality of executive orders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What the air strikes and the ground offensive didn't destroy, ISIS rigged to blow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN takes you to the Iraqi city of Ramadi, liberated, but still dangerous after seven months of ISIS control. That story still to come.

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BARNETT: British Prime Minister David Cameron is denouncing a new video believed to be from the terrorist group ISIS. The 10-minute video features a man with a British accent who's heard threatening, insulting the British prime minister.

CHURCH: The video ends with disturbing footage of a little boy threatening to kill nonbelievers. A London man believes the child is his grandson they used for propaganda purposes. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:15:10] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's just a little boy, a small boy. He doesn't know anything. He's a small boy. They are just using him as a shield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Five captives who appear at the beginning of the video are shown being executed by masked jihadis.

BARNETT: Iraqi troops have taken the city of Ramadi back from ISIS.

CHURCH: CNN's Nima Elbagir went into the city with counterterrorism forces to show us what remains after the terror group's rule.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Iraqi helicopters keep a watchful eye in the sky above. And all around what remains of Ramadi after six months of ISIS rule.

(on camera): Driving through here, you just really get hit by the desolation, the devastation that was visited on this city. What the air strikes and the ground offensives didn't destroy, ISIS rigged to blow.

(voice-over): Ramadi fell in May last year, and since then, the Iraqi counterterrorism services have battled to reclaim it. Every inch an advance through the unknown.

(EXPLOSION)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody OK?

ELBAGIR (on camera): Yes, we're OK.

The only way we can safely walk is in his footsteps. Even though they've cleared this area, even though they've held it for the last few days, there are still areas within this that are booby-trapped.

(voice-over): Ramadi was home to nearly one million people. Today, as troops continue their push, we're told possibly over 1,000 families remain, facing death amidst the rubble.

As the battle for Ramadi has raged, it's been hard to get a sense of the toll on civilians. But in this video, filmed for CNN, you can see soldiers race across a Sniper Alley to escort back a white flag-waving boy and his family. Those who can't walk are carried. All desperate to escape.

This man describes the horror his family faced.

"ISIS tried to take us away," he says. "Young, old, ill, they wanted to take us all."

In this clip, soldiers gather what remains of the dead. Some, like this woman, appear to have been shot, others, blown to pieces by IEDs.

Much of what was filmed is too graphic to show you, like the remains of a little boy carried to burial.

All over Ramadi, remnants of ISIS' rule still stand.

(on camera): This is what would have been an ISIS suicide car bomb. You can see the keys actually still inside the ignition. They climbed in through the top. There's a hole cut out of the roof. Around here, around the back, this is where they pack the explosives here in the bed of the pickup truck. Cars like these are what have been coming towards the Iraqi forces every single day. This is packed full of explosives ready to blow.

(voice-over): The head of Iran's counterterror force told us the liberation of Ramadi should be celebrated around the world, that this is just the first of the victories to come.

Here in Ramadi, night falls. More rescued families escape. This little girl can't stop crying.

(CRYING)

ELBAGIR: For her, for now, all that matters is she's safe.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Ramadi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The disappearance of several book publishers in Hong Kong now have some European countries' attention. We will explain why. That's still to come. Stay with us.

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[02:22:13] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

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BARNETT: Now, to a baffling case in Hong Kong that is getting even more mysterious. The U.K. and Sweden are monitoring this case of several missing book sellers in Hong Kong after reports that some of them may carry British or Swedish passports.

CHURCH: Now, this comes as China's foreign ministry said it has no information about their disappearance. All those missing were involved in publishing books criticizing China and its leaders.

CNN's Ivan Watson reports.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lawmakers in Hong Kong exercised the freedom denied in the rest of China and demonstrate outside the Chinese central government's liaison office in this former British colony, demanding information about at least four Hong Kong book publishers who have gone missing in just the last two months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we are worried about is not only the personal safety of Hong Kong citizens, but also such acts could be threats to the freedom of expression and freedom of publication that we are supposed to enjoy, and we have been promised by the basic law.

WATSON: This is the entrance to the causeway book shop, closed after one of its owners, a 65-year-old, disappeared last week. The shop specializes in books that criticize the Chinese central government. Lee's wife told local TV said she thinks he was abducted. The Hong Kong police say they're investigating lee's case, as well as the disappearance of three executives of the Mighty Current Publishing house who went missing last November.

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[02:25:15] WATSON: The city's top official denied speculation that police from mainland China may have arrested the book sellers.

(on camera): Who do you think could be behind the possible kidnapping?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only the Hong Kong police officers have the authority to enforce the law.

WATSON (voice-over): He also pledged to defend freedoms of speech and expression enjoyed in Hong Kong.

At the People's Bookstore in Hong Kong, the shop's owner tells me half of the books he sells are banned in mainland China.

(on camera): Where are most of your customers from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can say like 80 percent to 90 percent are from the mainland.

WATSON: So what happens? They come to Hong Kong and buy your books and then take them back illegally?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. They try. They try to hide it in the luggage, handbags or whatever. And then they're smuggling them into China.

WATSON: This is the dividing line between Hong Kong and the rest of China, officially, one country with two very different systems. The authorities on that side of the border don't have jurisdiction here in Hong Kong. And that's why the mysterious disappearance of critics of the Chinese central government has triggered such worry on this much freer side of the border.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BARNETT: All right. Still to come this hour, President Obama ready to bypass Congress. Next, we'll hear from an expert on the legality of his plans for gun control.

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[02:30:13] BARNETT: This is CNN NEWSROOM. We want to welcome our viewers joining us from the United States, and of course, welcome back our international viewers. I'm Errol Barnett.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church.

It's that time to update you on the main stories we've been following this hour.

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BARNETT: As we've been reporting, and as you well know by now, U.S. President Barack Obama is taking unilateral action on gun control with executive actions.

CHURCH: Among the expected provisions, a requirement for more gun sellers to be licensed, and to conduct background checks. Now, this is aimed at tightening the so-called gun show loophole.

BARNETT: A beefed-up background check system, to enhance enforcement, and more funding proposed for mental health treatment.

CHURCH: Mr. Obama insists he's not overstepping his powers. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are not only recommendations that are well within my legal authority and the executive branch, but they're also ones that the overwhelming majority of the American people, including gun owners, support and believe in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Constitutional attorney, Paige Pate, joins me to talk about this.

Thank you for coming into the studio. We appreciate it.

We do want to start by looking at the legality and constitutionality of what U.S. President Barack Obama is proposing here. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said this about President Obama. And I want to just read this out directly from his statement on Monday, "His proposals to restrict gun rights were debated by the United States Senate, and they were rejected. No president should be able to reverse legislative failure by executive fiat, not even incrementally." Is he right?

PAIGE PATE, CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY: He's right about the second part. If, in fact, the president decided he's going to change this law, he's going to try to enact an executive order that does something that Congress specifically prohibited, then he can't do it. But that's not what he's doing. My understanding, from what we anticipate that we're going to see in these executive orders, will simply be a tweaking of existing law. We're going to try to better define the definition of who is engaged in the business of selling firearms, and who has to run these background checks. We may add some resources to study the issues of mental illness in possession of firearms. Perhaps even try to prevent people from getting around the laws so that they can possess guns by way of a trust, or some other legal entity to get around an otherwise prohibited person. What the president is doing is not really changing the law, he's not directly contravening anything that Congress did. He's just changing some things around the edges.

CHURCH: With the executive actions on the part of the president of the United States of America, he's planning to go around Congress. And that's what's got them all very upset and vowing to fight him all the way. What sort of obstacles could they perhaps put in his way?

PATE: There's no question they're going to challenge it in court. The court will have to address two questions. One is the restriction constitutional under the Second Amendment. Can President Obama basically say we're going to require more background checks? And I think clearly he can. There's no restriction on trying to better define how you keep guns out of the hands of people who aren't supposed to have them anyway. I think additional background checks definitely constitutional under the Second Amendment. The second part of the court challenge will be can he do this by executive order. That's an area where they may have some success. Courts don't allow a president to do everything he wants. Speaker Ryan talked about that. He can't directly contravene in what Congress enacts. But he can define things, he can tweak things. I think the president will ultimately be successful if challenged in court.

[02:35:30] CHURCH: Further down the track, the elections, if there is a Republican president in place, they vowed, certainly Donald Trump said he vows to do this, and other candidates as well, they would wipe out these executive actions. That's possible, too? And fairly easy, is it?

PATE: Absolutely. It is fairly easy. The president is not bound by the executive orders of his or her predecessor. New president, new executive order, complete change in policy.

CHURCH: All right. So far, we know, we have a fair idea, you mentioned the background checks. There will be more of those. There will be more employees at the FBI, so those background checks can be achieved. Also, to this narrowing the gun show loophole, what about the legality of something like that?

PATE: That's the ultimate question. Congress has left it very vague as to who has to conduct a background check. Only licensed firearm dealers. What does that mean? Only the people engaged in the business of selling firearms. Well, what does that mean? They were very vague. Someone who does it for their livelihood, who makes a lot of money from it. What the president is going to try to do here, I think, is better define who that covers. And so if he doesn't directly change the law, and he just tweaks it a little bit, I think it is constitutional and I think he can do it by executive order.

CHURCH: International.

Constitutional attorney, Paige Pate, thank you for talking with us.

PATE: Thank you.

CHURCH: Always a pleasure.

PATE: Thank you.

Ahead next hour, both sides of the heated gun control debate. We will hear from a retired U.S. Marshal, and an executive with a gun owner's organization.

And on Thursday, join CNN for a special look at guns in America with U.S. President Barack Obama. Anderson Cooper hosts an exclusive one- hour live town hall event, at 8:00 p.m. in Washington, 1:00 a.m. Friday in London, and 9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, only here on CNN.

BARNETT: Now, to another big story we're following. Armed protesters are occupying a wildlife refuge building in Oregon. They said they're not leaving until the two ranchers who inspired the protests are freed. The ranchers, father and son, Dwight and Steven Hammond, insist the protesters don't speak for them. They turned themselves in to authorities on Monday.

Sara Sidner reviews how the situation got this far?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMMON BUNDY, RANCHER: We came very well prepared. We're in it for the long haul.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, they gave themselves a name, Citizens for Constitutional Freedom. They took us into the national wildlife refuge headquarters that they have taken over on federal lands saying the government has occupied it illegally.

(on camera): What do you plan to do with this?

BUNDY: Restore the lands. Restore the lands to the people.

SIDNER (voice-over): For three days and three nights, they've had no resistance from law enforcement.

DAVID WARD, SHERIFF, HARNEY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: You said you were here to help the citizens of Harney County. That help ended when a peaceful protest became an armed occupation. The Hammonds have turned themselves in. It's time for you to leave our community, go home to your families and end this peacefully.

SIDNER: They say they will be peaceful if the police are. But they're armed just in case.

(on camera): Has anyone said anything to give you an idea there's going to be bloodshed?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We've been hearing all kinds of reports from people still in town that the sheriff is saying we're leaving in either body bags or handcuffs. Of course, it just makes people nervous.

SIDNER: We recognized two of the men right away. That's John Ratheimer (ph), known for recently organizing anti-Islam rallies in Arizona. The group's leader, Ammon Bundy, the son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who made national headlines for his stand against the government on his own ranch over land use rights.

But this time, it's Bundy and the rest of these men supporting a different ranching family, the Hammonds.

Prosecutors say the Hammonds were hunting deer on federal land and set fire to cover their tracks. The Hammonds claim they were just trying to clear invasive brush. Despite serving time and being released, they turned themselves in again today after a federal judge ordered them back to prison for five more years. That was a call to arms for these men and women.

They called themselves patriots, following the Constitution. But their critics have other names for them.

(on camera): There's a lot of social media discussion about what you all are doing out here. They've used words like Ya'll Qaeda and Vanilla ISIS. While they sound like funny names, they're basically calling you terrorists. How do you respond to these kinds of accusations?

[02:40:09] BUNDY: I just encourage that they -- one, I think that is the minority. But I would encourage people to look into what's really happening, and to find out who is truly doing the terrorizing. Who's been taking ranches? This refuge alone, over 100 ranches have been taken, so that they can make this park, this refuge.

SIDNER: Sara Sidner, CNN, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: CNN national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem, joins us now from Boston to talk about this.

Juliette, an armed militia has taken over a federal building with political aims. Why is this not being referred to as terrorism?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think it's a legal matter, it absolutely is terrorism. It's the use of force, or the threatened use of force for political ends, or to make a political statement through undemocratic needs. There's a reason, however, that the government is not throwing around the word terrorism, is simply because they do not want to escalate the situation. I mean, there are heavily armed men who are sitting essentially alone, isolated, and eventually they will get bored, they will run out of food, and your hope is you sort of can wait them out at this stage.

BARNETT: Now, the main issue with these guys is the frustration that Dwight Hammond Jr and Steven Hammond had to serve jail time for burning federal land. The Hammonds have already turned themselves in to finish their sentence. Does that now change the equation for the federal government and police? Because they have yet to even approach this armed group yet.

KAYYEM: Yes, I mean, it may change the calculation, and it may change the calculation for Bundy, the leader of the group in Oregon, and his team. They seem to be separate. In other words, that the Hammonds and Bundys are not actually in collusion, and actually are quite separate for what their goals are. Whether it's public safety, or federal law enforcement, right now the main goal is to protect human life, and to make sure that the situation does not escalate. And the federal government has all the time in the world. I mean, these guys are very isolated. They're not going to be able to survive that much longer.

BARNETT: Now, for people who are watching this, after a year where we've seen unarmed black men being shot by police, we've seen Islamophobia because of a few jihadists affecting all Muslims, some folks wonder why such a tame approach for this group? Many referring to this group as Ya'll Qaeda or Vanilla ISIS. Are they treated differently because they're white? Meaning not as harsh as the Black Lives Matter activists, for example?

KAYYEM: You know, it's a hard comparison. I will say no one -- professionals in law enforcement would condone any of the situations that we've seen in particular with an armed African-American youth and their interactions with law enforcement. I think because this area that we're seeing is so isolated, there's no civilians around, there's no urban pedestrian movement, there's no one really at risk, that it actually allows law enforcement to sort of be able to stand back. But I understand the perception problem here, which is it's a bunch of white guys who are actually armed who are sort of given a by, and unarmed African-American children essentially in many urban areas are being killed. It's nothing to either explain or forgive. It's just what it is right now.

BARNETT: Folks can look at your article on CNN.com, "Face It: Oregon Building Takeover, Is it Terrorism."

Juliette Kayyem, our Boston -- our national security analyst, thanks so much, joining us from Boston today.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

BARNETT: Iranians launched more protests against Saudi Arabia. We'll have more on how the escalation between the two nations could impact the rest of the world. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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[02:48:01] CHURCH: Several Arab nations are siding with Saudi Arabia after the Saudis cut diplomatic relations with Iran. Iranians launched new protests in Tehran on Monday angry of Saudi Arabia's execution of a Shiite cleric.

BARNETT: Bahrain, Sudan, and the UAE have severed or cut back ties with Iran. Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of escalating tensions. Neither side is showing any signs of backing away.

CHURCH: For more insight on the tensions and the impact they could have, we want to turn to Ibrahim Fraihat, a senior fellow at the Brookings DOHA Center. He joins us now via Skype from Qatari.

Thank you, sir, for being with us.

So, as we've mentioned there, we are seeing tensions escalate between Saudi Arabia and Iran. And now, of course, as we just reported, Bahrain, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates have aligned as well with the Saudis by cutting or curtailing ties with Iran. Where do you think this is all going, and just how bad could tensions get, do you think?

IBRAHIM FRAIHAT, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS DOHA CENTER: Thank you very much. I think we are still in a collision now between Saudi Arabia and Iran. And in addition to Bahrain, Sudan and the UAE, we are expecting actually to see more joining this new polarization that's taking place between Saudi Arabia and Iran. There is still that escalation that is continuing. If this is not contained by serious intervention from the international community, we could be talking about a quality escalation.

CHURCH: I want to come back to that point, but I do want to ask you this. Why would Saudi Arabia have gone ahead with the execution of Iran's Shiite cleric, knowing all too well that that would provoke trouble with Iran, and given the United States had warned them not to go ahead with it?

[02:50:07] FRAIHAT: Well, I think actually that is the point, to try to take that conflict to a second level by Saudi Arabia. That is the frustration that Saudi Arabia has been having in terms of the conflict with Iran, whether it's in Yemen, in Syria, and Lebanon, or in Iraq. Particularly, the way I see it, Yemen plays an important role in this, where the tension, or the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, at least another level when Saudi Arabia became involved directly in this war in Yemen. And it changed from a proxy war to more of a direct war by Saudi Arabia. Frustrated by Yemen, Saudi Arabia I think decided to take it to another level, and target Iran directly, and counter Iran, expansionism the way they see it.

CHURCH: All right. So the big question here, how does this end? How do they de-escalate this? You mentioned the international community. You would put the onus on them to intervene as a third party here, would you?

FRAIHAT: Thank you. Well, I think first we need to see the region itself, there is serious potential for intervention from regional organizations like the Arab League, the OIC, all other major players, like Turkey, Russia. The U.S. has a major role in this because the U.S. has leverage on both sides actually. Not only Saudi Arabia as an ally, but also after signing the nuclear deal with Iran, I think Iran is seeking to be accepted internationally. I think also they could influence Iran. Escalation is not in the interest of anyone, not Saudi Arabia, not Iran, not the entire region, definitely not the international community because as you know, Saudi Arabia has the largest oil producer in the world. And any tension would affect world markets very seriously.

The most dangerous thing about this is that escalation can be contained here. But I'm not sure if we continue to let this go, whether containment will be possible in the future. But it is definitely possible today if there is an action taken seriously.

CHURCH: The world very nervous about this, watching it very closely.

Many thanks to you, Ibrahim Fraihat, for your perspective certainly on this issue. Appreciate it.

FRAIHAT: Thank you for having me.

BARNETT: We have this information just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. A man who reportedly stabbed a soldier in the West Bank is dead. This happened at the Zion junction near the settlements in the West Bank. Israeli military spokeswoman said forces shot and killed the man after he attacked the soldier. The soldier was lightly wounded and is currently receiving medical treatment.

CHURCH: Wintery weather has turned deadly across parts of Europe as temperatures plummet well below zero.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with the latest on this.

We've been dealing with extreme weather conditions for a long time now. Talk to us about what has caused this.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, the variability is incredible, guys. This is the same place we had record temperatures, record heat for the month of December, just a few weeks ago. Look at the current readings across Europe, into Asia. 18 degrees below zero. Warsaw sitting at 16 below. We mentioned here about 21 lives lost this past weekend across parts of Poland because of the brutally cold temperatures. Factor in the winds, it becomes dangerous across this region with minus 23 at this hour across Warsaw. Moscow minus 25. Back to the West, where you have the moderating impact of the Atlantic Ocean, temperatures still flirting with about zero across parts of London when you factor in the wind-chill. December 18th, through December 28th, temps in this general region were 6 to 10 degrees above what is considered normal. In the past couple of days, 2016 now, temperatures across this region, the exact opposite occurring. 10 degrees below normal. We talked about fatalities taking place across this region. This is the forecast high temperature across Moscow, 13 to 14 degrees below zero. Celsius, which would equate to 6 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit. The average high this time of year, minus 6 Celsius. Again, shows you how severe the conditions are across this region. And when you have such temperatures, minus 30, it only takes about ten minutes for frostbite to kick in. Minus 50 wind-chill, only five minutes of skin exposure can cause incredible damage to your skin. The human body does a marvelous job of keeping itself warm. 98.6 Fahrenheit, your normal core operating temperature. Just a couple of degrees shy of that. Quickly, this happens with these temperatures. 97 to 95 degrees, you begin to shiver, goose bumps set in, you lose your fine motor skills. Dexterity, your hands being able to zip your jacket up, all of that starts to be very, very difficult. You bring your core temperature down beyond that, the symptoms become severe hypothermia. Less than 90 degrees Fahrenheit for your core temperature, shivering stops, muscle rigidity takes place, meaning lactic acid builds up in your body, and often people take a fetal position to warm up. Slurred speech becomes a pattern and becomes a life-threatening scenario, which is something some people are dealing with across Europe now -- guys?

[02:55:52] BARNETT: Thanks, Pedram. See you next hour.

Finally this hour, this next video you have to see to believe. This is Sheila the Sheep. Rosemary telling me Sheila's a nickname for women in Australia.

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BARNETT: Sheila was lost in the Australian wilderness for six years.

CHURCH: A man recently found her on the side of the road. She couldn't move because of all that wool. She hadn't been sheared in six years.

BARNETT: But check out Sheila now. That's a lot. But the record is 41 kilograms from fleece. That sheep's name, Chris.

(LAUGHTER)

CHURCH: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

BARNETT: Stay with us. We'll have all the top stories from around the world, plus, a debate on gun control, next.

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