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North Korea: We Have Tested H-Bomb; President Obama Announced Plan to Bolster Gun Control; Iraqi Forces Have Driven ISIS Out of Ramadi's City Center; Donald Trump Questions Ted Cruz's Presidential Eligibility; Flood Watch Impacting More than 13 Million People in Parts of S. California. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired January 06, 2016 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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DON LEMON, CNN HOST: From Seoul, South Korea about the activity in North Korea this evening. Thank you very much for joining us this evening. Make sure you stick with our coverage. Now, our live coverage is going to continue with John Vause in Los Angeles. Good night everyone.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Don, thank you. We begin with breaking news out of North Korea. I'm John Vause in Los Angeles. The reclusive country has just announced within the past 90 minutes or so that it has conducted an underground nuclear test of a hydrogen bomb. The test registered a seismic activity with a magnitude 5.1. If this claim is verified, it is a significant advancement for North Korea which has only tested less powerful plutonium weapons. It said it's protecting it's sovereignty. In a statement, the DPRK said in par, "The test means a higher stage of the DPRK's development on nuclear force. By succeeding in the H-bomb test in the most perfect manner to be specially recorded in the history of the DPRK proudly joined the advanced ranks of nuclear weapons states."
Meanwhile, a senior White House official tells CNN, it may take days to confirm the claim by North Korea. Japan also responding on national television a short time ago, Prime Minister Shinz? Abe referred to the test as a threat to Japan's security. Mr. Abe said, North Korea clearly violated the U.N. Security Council resolutions. Adding, the test is a serious challenge to the nuclear non- proliferation efforts.
Paula Hancocks is in Seoul following this breaking news with more so. Paula, just walk us through for the people who're just tuning in, hot did this all unfold and to be honest, this may have come as a surprise to us but certainly, the North Koreans telegraphed that this could've happened.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John, this happened at 10 a.m. local time. So, about four hours or so, now, the North Koreans giving that statement saying that they have successfully tested a Hydrogen nuclear device. Now, we don't know at this point whether or not it was successful. The U.S. senior administration officials saying it could take days before we get the indication whether or not it was successful.
But as far as Pyongyang's concerned, it was. They say that it was sought to defend itself against the United States. The have consistently used the U.S. and what they perceive as a hostile country of the U.S. to justify what they are doing with these missile and these nuclear tests. They say they have a legal right to defend their country. And if the U.S. does not violate North Korean sovereignty, we will not use nuclear weapons.
Now the condemnation is already coming in. We heard, as you said, from Japan's Shinz? Abe saying it's a threat to Japan's security. In the past few minutes, we've heard from the South Korean side as well. There's a national Security Council meeting ongoing at this point. One official saying that they will cooperate with the regional powers to find out what they can do to make North Korea pay a price for this, they say it is a clear violation of the United Nations' Security Council resolution and they will figure out what they can do to try and condemn this.
They say, they'll take all necessary measures including further sanctions if necessary. But of course, we have seen these sanctions in the past and up until this point, it has not stopped North Korea in testing it's nuclear weapons, John.
VAUSE: I guess Paula, the question is, why would the North Korean society detonate this nuclear device underground to test this hydrogen bomb at this particular point in time. We know that they did indicate about a week or so ago, they had this hydrogen capability which is yet to be confirmed but of course, the timing is the question. Why now?
HANCOCKS: Yeah, it was back on December 10th of last year that Kim Jong-UNIDENTIFIED MALE: , the North Korean said that North Korea has the hydrogen bomb capability. At that time it was dismissed by many North Korean observers. They said, it was simply too big a jump in capability. Of course, we don't know whether or not they do have this capability. That will be in the coming days that we'll be able to determine that.
And then according to North Korean state run media, they said, on December 15th, Kim Jong-un signed the order to carry out this test. On January 3rd of this year, so just three days ago, he signed that order and said, this test should go ahead. The timing of course is very interesting. We have relatively or had relatively decent relations between North and South Korea or as decent as they can be considering the two countries are still technically at war.
But they had been talking to each other. They've been sitting down across the table and discussing how to better further relations. We had had those family reunions towards the end of last year as well between North and South Korean families who had been split after the Korean War. And so, relations had been going fairly well and then they choose this time.
We don't know why the North Koreans chose this time. We know that in two days time, it is the leader, Kim Jong-un's birthday. In the past, that hasn't been marked in any way since he took power. [00:05:00]
Whether or not this is to mark his birthday, we simply don't know. But this has been some time in the making, the order for it according to the North Koreans, issued back on December 15th, John.
VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks live again this hour in Seoul, South Korea. Our Chief U.S. security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, joins me now on the line from Washington. So Jim, the U.S. not confirming that this was in fact any kind of underground nuclear test, that would take a number of days they say. But diplomatically, what are the options now for the Americans.
JIM SCIUTTO, CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: We do now have an official reaction from the White House, the National Security Council spokesman Ned Price saying that they are aware of what he refers to as seismic activity on the North Korean peninsula. He says, they're still assessing what exactly it was and while they cannot confirm that it was a nuclear test, they would condemn any violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
As you mentioned earlier John, it could take a number of days to confirm exactly what kind of explosion this was, nuclear, and to verify the North Korean claim that it would be a hydrogen bomb. But to be clear, the White House has cast out just a few weeks ago from the podium, the White House spokesman Josh Earnest cast out on North Korean claims that they had the capability to detonate a hydrogen bomb.
And there are nuclear experts here in the U.S. who say that it's plausible that North Korea could've carried out a nuclear explosion and boosted it someway, short of realizing the capability to have a hydrogen weapon. But the direction of their program is towards development and we've seen that, not only in terms of nuclear detonations but in terms of their missile technology as well and that's something the U.S. takes very seriously.
VAUSE: In terms of actually working out what happened inside North Korea just a couple of hours ago, how will the Untied States do that? How will they know that this was in fact a hydrogen explosion and if it was successful.
SCIUTTO: They take together a number of indicators. The first is the seismic activity and that was the first indication of an explosion as it has been with previous nuclear tests. You analyze the size to get an estimate of the yield. Satellite photography had observed in recent weeks the digging of a tunnel in a mountainous area near one of the nuclear sites which is where they've carried out underground explosions before.
So, there was some awareness in the intelligence community here that they might be making preparations with this. So, you can certainly look at satellite imagery. But also today, you have satellite assets that can detect other things on the ground. They could detect radioactive state signatures. You also have surveillance planes in the area that can pick up indicators from the atmosphere that could tell them what materials were used and they piece all that together and then make a judgment.
VAUSE: Jim Sciutto on the line from Washington. Jim, thank you so much. This is what we know about North Korea's nuclear capability. Experts believe the North has enough plutonium for about four to eight nuclear warheads. It's unknown how many nuclear devices the regime has assembled beyond those it has already tested. North Korea has an arsenal of short and medium ranged missiles and is working on longer ranged ballistic weapons.
The North did state a successful rocket launch in 2012, placing a satellite into orbit but experts are unsure if North Korea has the technology to mount a nuclear warhead unto a missile and to target a missile effectively.
Mike Chinoy is a senior fellow with the U.S.-China institute of the University of Southern California. He's also author of, " Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis". He's with us now from Hong Kong. Mike, we have been down this road before, four other nuclear tests carried our by the North Koreans.
Each time, the international communities, the Japanese, the Americans, the Chinese, the South Koreans all try to work out how to make the North Koreans pay a price. They don't do it again. What are the options this time?
MIKE CHINOY, SENIOR FELLOW, U.S.-CHINA INSTITUTE, USC: I think you're very likely to see the same scenario play out this time around. There will be condemnation. There will be resolutions at the U.N. Security Council. There will be some moves to ramp up sanctions. But in the end, I'd be very surprised if it made any difference.
One reason is that the Chinese, even though they're, I'm certain, to be very, very upset about what has happened, are going to be pretty cautious about sanctions that might really cripple the Kim Jong-un regime or inflict enough pain to really force a change in behavior. From the American point of view, it's also a very, very tough decision because there are already pretty stringent sanctions in place.
If the U.S. really wanted to try to hurt North Korea economically, it would need to target North Korea's economic engagement with China because there are Chinese companies that are heavily involved in North Korea, doing business in North Korea. Chinese banks dealing with North Korea. But that would involve targeting Chinese economic entities and that of course risks angering Beijing.
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It's not impossible that if those steps were taken, it might really hurt the North Korean economy although it's an open question whether it would be enough to prompt a change in behavior. But that raises a whole other can of worms in terms of sign of American relations. So, increased sanctions based on everything we've seen in recent years are unlikely to change North Korea's behavior and that raises the question of, is there also some kind of diplomacy talking to the North to try to at least freeze, if not roll back the nuclear program? There are experts who argue that the U.S. ought to shift it's focus
from demanding that the North agree at the outset of any negotiation that ending it's nuclear program is the final goal and turn this into a discussion about how the U.S. can freeze the North's capability in a negotiation process at this point rather than allowing it to expand further.
But in the political climate in the United states, with an election, with President Obama under criticism for being weak for many of his critics, and with the North Korea so difficult to deal with, that's very unlikely as well. So, at the end of the day, I think the North is going to get away with it, they're going to remain in the driver's seat and everybody else is going to be reacting.
VAUSE: Mike, you be a better expert at this than I am, but I recall many years ago, about three or four years about three or four years ago, the North Koreans making a claim that they had hydrogen nuclear technology and they had this highly enriched uranium plan. I don't know if you recall that but do you believe the North Koreans when they say that they had developed this hydrogen bomb? Do you think that they are capable of carrying out a hydrogen explosion or have they, as some experts indicated, maybe just simply super sized the plutonium weapons they have?
CHINOY: The honest answer is, we don't really know. But if you go back over the years, many times, there have been miscalculations of misjudgments by outsiders about whether the North was really capable of doing this. One reason frankly, is that the North's image in the rest of the world often lands itself to satire, to people belittling the North's idiosyncrasies.
The fact is, they have a plutonium capability. There was a lot of skepticism but in the end, it turned out, they did have a uranium capability and it's clear, they're working towards a hydrogen capability. We can't, sitting here today, confirm that they have it but there's not reason not to factor into one's calculations that that's the goal.
And of course, each time there is a nuclear test, North Korean nuclear scientists amass all sorts of data, additional knowledge that will allow them to address problems of weaknesses in their program to improve it and above all, the great fear is that if the North continues to test and is able to miniaturize a bomb and then put it on a missile and particularly with the North's development of these mobile long ranged missiles, the KN-08 which could conceivably reach the continental United States, that becomes very, very worrying.
VAUSE: Mike, thank you. Mike Chinoy with us from Hong Kong, our chief Asia correspondent here at CNN for many years who has some very valuable insights. Thank you, Mike.
Let's get more now, we go to Philip Yun in (ph) Haiti (ph), executive director of the Ploughshares Fund, that's a foundation that aims to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons, he joins us now from San Francisco. So, Philip, what does North Korea hope to gain by carrying out this nuclear test? PHILIP YUN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PLOUGHSHARES FUND: Well for -- I
think, what they wanted, I think in certain ways, they just want to show that they have this capability. They feel like this is going to give them more bargaining position, greater leverage for whatever discussions they assume will happen at some point once this diplomacy and the sanctions all go through.
They now, as Mike said earlier, nothing's probably going to change and then we therefore have -- they have the ability -- that eventually, some kinds of talks and negotiations are going to have to occur and they're going to -- with this test and their continuing work that they're doing going to have the capability of having greater leverage.
VAUSE: OK. So, one of the issues for the international community now is, how does North Korea be punished, if you like, for carrying out this nuclear test in violation of U.N. sanctions What's left here in terms of sanctions? This is one of the most heavily sanctioned counties already in the world.
YUN: Yeah. There's very little at this point. You know, I think the big thing right now is China. If China really wants to clamp down in certain ways, they can. I think they're -- as we said earlier, there are very few options that we have at this point in time. So, this is -- we have a situation where North Korea, because we're trying to push on the front door and somehow they're able to maintain life support from China that in essence, they're continuing to develop nuclear weapons and their missiles.
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And there's nothing that we can do at this point.
VAUSE: Philip Yun, thank you. Philip Yun with the Ploughshares Fund there, in San Francisco and we have this, just in to CNN. Diplomats have told us, the U.N. Security Council will hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss North Korea's claims of a nuclear test. The U.S. and Japan requested the special session. A short break here on CNN, when we come back, U.S. President Barrack Obama making an emotional plea to gun control. Just ahead, we'll see what brought the Commander in Chief to tears.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. There's breaking news this hour, North Korea says it has conducted a successful nuclear test. It's the country's fourth underground test since 2006 but the first, using more powerful hydrogen instead of plutonium. Japan's Prime Minister has condemned the test as a threat to international security and the U.S. and State Department says, it's working to verifying North Korea's claim. The U.N. Security Council plans to meet Wednesday morning to discuss this matter.
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The years of anger and resolve came to a head on Tuesday as President Barack Obama announced his plan to bolster gun control. Surrounded by families of gun violence victims, the president teared up and slammed the lack of progress so far even after the last shootings had seemed to become so prevalent in the United States.
In his announcement, the president spelled out the executive actions he's planning on taking.
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BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: We know we can't stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence. So, let me outline what we're going to be doing. Anybody in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks of be subject to criminal prosecutions.
We're going to hire more folks to process applications faster, we're going to do more to help those suffering from mental illness get the help that they need. We're going to boost gun safety technology. If we can set it up so you can unlock your phone unless you got the right fingerprint, why can't we do the same thing for our guns?
Second amendment rights are important. There are other rights that we care about as well. Our unalienable right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, those rights were stripped from college kids Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. And from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun. Every time I think about those kids it gets me mad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For President Obama, the most emotional moment came while talking about the 20 first grade children who were shot dead in Newtown Connecticut in 2012. Especially notable for a leader who's been described at times as being out of touch, cool, and distant.
Monte Frank is a lawyer who represents some of the families of the Sandy Hook massacre. He's also a former board member of the Newtown Action Alliance and he joins us now from Newtown. Mr. Frank, thank you for being with us, what was your reaction to the president's speech and in particular, when he was talking about Sandy Hook?
MONTE FRANK, TEAM 26 FOUNDER: I think there wasn't a dry eye in Sandy Hook when the president was speaking about the 20 beautiful children and six educators including one of my daughter's swimming teachers who were murdered at the school down the road from me. You know, I'm amazed that this president has continued to care so much and continues to drive the effort to reduce gun violence not only in places that's (ph) violated but in all the other communities that have joined the club that nobody wants to be a part of and in places like Chicago and New York and -- where gun violence is a daily routine.
It continues to press. It continues to energize supporters and, you know, this is a movement that is gaining momentum. It's just a matter of time before congress begins to act and gets in line with the will of the American people.
VAUSE: What about the parents whose kids were killed at Sandy Hook? How do they view these executive actions by the president? Were they looking for more action here, something a lot tougher?
FRANK: Well I think, everybody's looking for tougher actions. You know, unfortunately there's only so much that the president constitutionally can do. And so, you know, all of us, the parents of those who lost loved ones, the members of the community around them. And I think, community, you know, the people around the country all want tougher action but that action's only going to come when congress decides that enough is enough and gets in line with what an overwhelming majority of Americans want.
VAUSE: I mean, some of the critics today have said that what happened in the White House is more of a feel good rally rather than doing something which will actually really make a difference. What are your thoughts on that?
FRANK: Well, I wouldn't call it a feel good rally. I think every little step makes a difference. You know, the big step would be when congress acts. But, you know, for example, clarifying, you know, who has to conduct a background check. That's important. You know, asking for more funds for mental health, that's important.
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Putting more FBI agents in charge of conducting the background check, that's significant and important.
Trying to incentivise (ph) the industry to put into place more gun technology, that's important. So, you know, all of these measures have an effect. It's not the end of the road. I mean again, in order to have real meaningful change, that has to come from congress and at the state level.
VAUSE: OK. Monty Frank, we'll leave it there. Thank you for speaking with us today. We appreciate it.
FRANK: Thank you John.
VAUSE: Republican presidential candidates lashed out on Mr. Obama's actions. They're going to repeal them the moment a Republican is elected to the White House.
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TED CRUZ, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can tell you right now, those executive orders are not worth the paper they're printed on because when you live by the pen, you die by the pen. And my pen has got an eraser.
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Gun violence is committed by criminals and criminals don't care what the law is. They violate it, that's why they're criminals. So, he's obsessed with undermining the second amendment. He's obsesses with burdening law abiding citizens. So, we're going to follow the law no matter what it is. If he's serious about gun violence, he would be focused on violence, on what it is that's happening in our culture that's leading people to commit violence, not laws that will do nothing to prevent gun violence.
VAUSE: And the response from America's most prominent gun rights organization, the National Rifle Association is blunt. "The American people do not need more emotional, condescending lectures that are completely devoid of facts. President Obama's proposals would not have prevented any of the horrific events he mentioned. The timing of this announcement demonstrates not only political exploitation but a fundamental lack of seriousness."
Please join CNN for a special look at guns in America with the U.S. president. Anderson Cooper hosts an exclusive hour long town hall event. See it on Thursday night 8:00 in Washington. That's 1:00 a.m. Friday in London and 9:00, Friday morning in Hong Kong. You will see it only here on CNN. For the mean time, a short break. We're continuing to more on the breaking news out of North Korea about a nuclear test.
Also ahead, Iran's president lashing out at Saudi Arabia for cutting ties with Tehran. We'll tell you which county is the latest to take sides with Saudi Arabia. That's just ahead. Well, the Iraqi forces have scored a victory over ISIS in Ramadi but still face a challenge from militant fighters, that story also after the break.
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VAUSE: An update now on our breaking news. North Korea has claimed it has tested a hydrogen bomb. The country says, the test took place at 10 a.m. local time Wednesday, saying it was perfect. These are photos of Kim Jong-un signing the order for the test. U.S. officials say, it may take days for verification. Meantime, South Korea says, it will cooperate with regional partners to make North Korea pay a price for its test of a hydrogen bomb.
Paul Hancocks is in Seoul South Korea with more on this and Paula, just looking at those images being released by the North Koreans of leader Kim Jong-un authorizing this test. That's an unusual step in and of itself in what is a fairly routine process if you like for the North Koreans when it comes to testing nuclear devices.
HANCOCKS: Yeah, we can see John that Kim Jong-un is certainly more media savvy than his father, the late Kim Jong-il was. The fact that they've got these photos out and published them so quickly as part of their propaganda, shows that he is a lot more savvy when it comes to this kind of thing. Now, we know that this order was issued by Kim Jong-un on the 15th of December. That's according to the statement media KCNA.
That was just a few days after Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader had claimed that North Korea possesses the hydrogen bomb. A claim which at time was diffused by many North Korean observers. They questioned whether or not this jumping capability was realistic or not. Of course, they'll be revisiting that nod (ph) but we still don't know if it was in fact a hydrogen bomb as North Korea claims.
And then on January 3rd, KCNA says that Kim Jong-un signed that order. Those are the photos that we are seeing, that that would've been just three days earlier. And as you say, 10 a.m. local time, this Wednesday morning here in Korea is when the test carried was carried out.
The North Koreans say that it was tested perfectly. They say that they have the right to defend their country in an announcement after that test. They say that they were defending themselves against the United States. This is a justification they have used time and time again. Saying that the U.S. is hostile towards them and they feel the need to defend themselves, John.
VAUSE: Paula thank you for the update. Paula Hancocks keeping a close on the breaking news out of North Korea. Joining me now from Denver, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill. He was also the former head of the U.S. delegation for the sixth party nuclear talks with North Korea. Ambassador Hill, thank you for being with us. There are no good options when it comes to dealing with the North Koreans or there any bad options. So in your opinion right now to this nuclear test, what's the least bad option?
CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR NORTH KOREA: You got it. I mean, this is really bad news. And I'm not sure, saying we're going to respond with strategic patients is really going to get us very far. So, I think what we're going to have to do is, there'll be a discussion in the U.N. There'll be an effort to tighten sanctions, there'll be, I think, further effort with regional countries including China.
And I hope there'll be some understanding that we have to somehow retard this program in the way that we did with the Iranian program. And so, I think we're going to have to really think very hard about what to do because we can't just leave this one alone.
VAUSE: It sounds me when you see retard this program, it's similar to what was done with the Iranian nuclear program. Essentially, you'll have to talk to the North Koreans.
HILL: Well, I wasn't talking so much about negotiation. I think we've been there, done that. I think it was very important that we did that because, you know, for a long time, the South Koreans didn't feel we're serious. I think the real issue is we need to find ways to make sure that program doesn't move forward as quickly as it's been moving.
And there are number of ways to do that, tactical issues, it's very sort of, edge of your skis, tough measures. But, I don't think we can just let this thing continue to grow because if they had really exploded a hydrogen weapon, that is a very serious matter and they're clearly getting close to putting it on a missile.
[00:35:00] VAUSE: Do you think the North Koreans actually have that technology availability to make the jump to develop a hydrogen bomb?
HILL: Many experts as you point it out, didn't think that they did. And yet, you know, there are lot of talented people there unfortunately. And, I would not be surprised if they developed that technology a lot faster than some of our experts think they can do.
VAUSE: During your time dealing with the North Korean's, Kim Jong-il was the leader and now, Kim Jong-un his son is the North Korean leader. Do you see any difference between father and son here?
HILL: Well, I mean, I don't think either of them wins any kind of good guy price. I think they're both pretty awful people. That's sad. I think this Kim Jong-un is a much more reckless and in some respects, dangerous leader because of his I think, unwillingness to sort of calculate on the feelings of others.
It is extraordinary to me, for example with the Chinese who have really staked the law on getting the North Koreans not to do a test but he's simply ignoring them. And I think the Chinese are going to have to stand up in their own defense there and not allow that to happen. So, I think, we're dealing with a much more aggressive, nasty North Korean leader than even his father who I think would've fit those adjectives as well.
VAUSE: Ambassador, you touched on the role that China could play in all of this. Every time something happens with the North Koreans, be it a nuclear test or a missile launch or some other, you know, atrocity. It always comes back to Beijing and what Beijing is willing to do. What's your assessment right now?
HILL: Well, I -- it always comes back to Beijing because that's what makes sense. I mean, they obviously have more leverage than anyone else. They probably know more that's going on. But they, I think, like the rest of us, frustrated on what exactly they can do about it. And so, they often make virtue of their frustration and tell us all to be more patient and try to get us to do more negotiations.
So, I think, we will have it go back to the Chinese. And I think, we do need to kind of emphasize to China that they need to step up on this.
VAUSE: Ambassador Hill, it's good to see you again. Thank you sir.
HILL: Pleasure.
VAUSE: Our senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth joins us now on the line from New York with more details on this special session which is being called for the U.N. Security Council. What more do you know Richard?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: The Security Council will meet on Wednesday morning in New York at the U.N. estimated around 11:00 New York time, closed door session. Yes, it all sounds quite familiar John. A Security Council hustled meeting with ambassadors rushing in after illegal new -- North Korea action. That will happen and is Chris Hill just said, China will be put to the test perhaps behind closed doors.
Just last month, the Security Council only for the second time had a full discussion on North Korea. The vagaries of the U.N. and that it wasn't really allowed to have this topic formally addressed. China defending North Korea at that time saying, the U.N. should not be interfering in the human rights situation in a U.N. member country. There was a big vote of the general assembly. Many countries voting against North Korea for what a U.N. special inquiry of commission on human rights in North Korea said was pattern of abductions, torture, rapes, abuses. It's not all just about nuclear weapons though that is the biggest threat.
The U.N. seems to have come alive in it's condemnation of North Korea. But will that public focus do anything to change their behavior -- the behavior of the leaders? Not really sure about that, John.
VAUSE: Richard Roth there on the line. You have busy day coming up on Wednesday, our senior U.N. correspondent Richard, thank you. As if the tensions being caused by the North Koreans are not enough. There are problems in the Middle East as well. Iran's president is lashing out at Saudi Arabia over the execution of a Shiite cleric.
Hassan Rouhani says, the Saudi government cannot hide it's "great crime" by severing thighs with Tehran. The execution has sparked protest across the Middle East and similar diplomatic action by neighboring nations. On Tuesday, Kuwait recalled it's ambassador to Tehran. Bahrain, Sudan and the UEA have also severed or cut back relations with the Iranians.
A U.S. soldier was killed during a joint U.S.-Afghan special operations mission in Afghanistan. A Pentagon official says the soldier came under fire as part of train and assist mission in Marjah which is the Helmand province. Two of the U.S. service members and four Afghans were wounded. U.S. officials say, an effort is under way to try and rescue those forces still on the ground.
Iraqi forces backed by western air power have driven ISIS out of Ramadi's city center. But a tougher fight could lie ahead in Iraq's second biggest city, Mosul. Jim Sciutto has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Desperate families escape the Iraqi city of Ramadi. Shaken after months under ISIS control.
[00:40:01]
Iraqi security forces carry the dead. Evidence both of ISIS's brutal rule and the intense battle to dislodge the terror group. The fighting continues to echo throughout the city with ISIS still occupying small pockets.
Still today, U.S. officials deemed the retaking of Ramadi a success. Calling it the most difficult task for Iraqi forces since they were retrained and reorganized by U.S. forces following the retreat as ISIS raced into Iraq from Syria.
BRETT MCGURK, US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL ANTI-ISIS COALITION: Even when the Iraqi's are taking casualties and have taken over 1,000 casualties in this counter attack. They have continued to advance, they have continued to fight, and have continue to liberate their territory.
SCIUTTO: Success in Ramadi may embolden Iraqi forces to accelerate the operation to retake Mosul, Iraq's second largest city captured by ISIS in June of 2014. U.S. officials say preparation have already begun as U.S. backed Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga , capture crucial territory around Mosul, a city of some 2 million people.
MCGURK: Mosul's kind of already started. They got to think of a rolling kind of, campaign to isolate and squeeze, learn more about the information about what's happening there because Mosul's are very complicated. There's Shiite, Sunni, Arab, Kurd, kind of everybody is there together and we want to make sure everything is synchronized and working together and that has now really started.
SCIUTTO: Though sectarian tensions further inflamed around the region as several Sunni Gulf States led by Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Shiite Iran. Tensions stoked when Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite cleric. Leading Iranian protesters to storm and burn the Saudi embassy in the Tehran.
MCGURK: We encouraging deescalation because anytime you'll have regional polarization, regional escalation, it obviously could cause difficulties that opens up scenes for extremists on all sides and take advantage of the situation.
SCIUTTO: U.S. and Kurdish forces are advancing closer to Mosul but U.S. officials say there is nothing imminent about an operation to retake the city. Mosul is much bigger. There are many more ISIS fighters there and they are more intrenched. It will be a much more difficult operation than retaking Ramadi. Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: A short break here on CNN but we're continuing to following developments from North Korea after a nuclear test there. But we'll also have an update on U.S. politics, Ted Cruz surging in the polls. And now the Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is calling his rival's candidacy into question, those details ahead. And also, the actor Samuel L. Jackson, he has a new role in Trump's twitter war. We'll tell you what that is in a moment.
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL, METEOROLOGIST: Ski watch time. Pedram Javaheri with you and look at this, around the western end of Europe. Not only cold temperatures coming in but also some moisture to help us bring in some snow across parts of this region and you take a look generally to the west here, not going to be cold enough to support initial snow showers.
But take you out towards the Alps, absolutely cold enough and here's what we expect next 36 hours, well over 20 centimeters could come down from Zermatt to Andermatt. Davos also picks up around 20 centimeters. This is on top of what has already occurred in this region since yesterday, about 10 centimeters in Zermatt has come down.
So trails, 80 percent open across the border in Switzerland. That is wonderful. Just a few weeks ago in Davos, they were closer to 30 and 40 percent up. And so, we've doubled the amount of trails that are open across this region. And notice, the moisture is there, the cold air is there and the ski conditions should be wonderful in that part of the world.
Well, and in France too. Much the same, Les Arcs and the Chamonix there looking at their conditions that are about 80 percent open with powder to go around. We have picked up additional accumulations in recent days, pushing well over 500 centimeters of depth in parts of the French Alps. And again, here's what you're forecast looks like, Tignes a minus one, work your way to the South temperatures again supporting the snow.
To stick around in Italy as well, about 80 percent of the trail is open. No additional snow fall in this region yet but you can certainly work with that. About 100 centimeters to 127 centimeters across parts of Italy. And we'll leave you with the conditions in this region.
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[00:45:00]
VAUSE: We're following breaking news out of North Korea where the regime says it has carried out a successful test of a hydrogen nuclear bomb. A senior U.S. official says, it could take days to determine if the underground test was in fact successful. North Korea has tested plutonium nuclear devices three times in the past. A hydrogen bomb would be considered a significant advancement in it's military capability. That is an image of leader Kim Jong-un signing the order for the underground test.
Well, Donald Trump is now questioning whether a republican rival is eligible for the U.S. presidency. In a newspaper interview, the frontrunner says Ted Cruz's Canadian birth by his "precarious", the precarious issue for the Republican Party.
Cruz was automatically granted U.S. citizenship because his mother was an American citizen. Most legal experts believe Cruz meets the constitutional requirement for a president to be a natural born citizen. Meantime, Mr. Trump is taking aim at Samuel L. Jackson on twitter. In an interview, the actor said he played golf with Trump a number of times. And when asked who was the better golfer? Jackson said he was for sure because he doesn't cheat.
In response, Trump tweeted this out, "I don't know you @SamuelLJackson, to the best of my knowledge, haven't played golf with him and think he does too many TV commercials, boring. Not a fan".
All right, joining me now is Craig Tomashoff. He is the author of the, "Candidates Running for President when Nobody Knows Who You Are". No one knows who your name is.
CRAIG TOMASHOFF, PRODUCER AND WRITER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a tricky title to that book.
TOMASHOFF: I just wanted to make it as long as possible to take up as much time.
VAUSE: Is Donald Trump going full birth (ph) or here again this time against Ted Cruz? He seems to be grasping at straws. I want to show you this. Last year he told ABC news regarding Cruz, his citizenship. "I hear it was checked out by every attorney and every which way and I understand Ted is in fine shape." But now he said, Senator Cruz actually has a Canadian passport.
TOMASHOFF: So, we always seem to forget that Donald Trump is a TV creation in the first place. This makes a great plot, this keeps you tuning in for next week. You do a little recall from season one. And now you're going to come back for season two.
VAUSE: But season two means that season one doesn't make much sense.
TOMASHOFF: Did you ever watch 24 or any of those shows?
VAUSE: Right.
TOMASHOFF: It doesn't have to. It's in the world of Donald Trump's senses, really comes in about sixth or seventh place.
VAUSE: OK well now, the response from Cruz. It was pretty -- I mean, it was interesting. He sort of not really willing to go mano a mano with Trump.
TOMASHOFF: No, I mean these two guys remind me of like one of those buddy cop movies where there's like a little bit of tension but you know they're going to work together in the end. So, they kind of manufacture little fights. Its not real. Like, they're all playing to the Camera and Trump just that -- Ted Cruz is like the Omarosa of his apprentice. Just somebody you can kind of fight with but in the end, you'll love the number it gets you.
VAUSE: OK. OK. And speaking of, you know, taking on people on twitter and twitter wars. Trump proving, he never lets anything go. You think a guy running for the republican nomination for the presidency of the United States would have a little bit more in his hands than to take on Samuel L. Jackson in an argument over who is a cheater at golf.
TOMASHOFF: First, did we always think that the fate of the nation comes down to golf, right? Because everything takes place on the golf course.
VAUSE: I hate golf just, by the blind (ph). .
TOMASHOFF: OK it's the law. At age 50, you have to start playing.
VAUSE: Appreciate that.
TOMASHOFF: It's -- again, Trump is performing. He's not performing for me or for you. He's performing for every single camera. This guy -- his whole career is to take place in front of a camera.
VAUSE: Very quickly, should Donald Trump give up twitter for New Year's resolution?
TOMASHOFF: Twitter is his strongest point, of course not. That's like telling Madonna to stop, you know, reinventing her self. You never going to happen.
VAUSE: OK Craig, thanks for coming in.
TOMASHOFF: Thank you.
VAUSE: Little levity on a very serious day. Thank you.
TOMASHOFF: Thank you.
VAUSE: OK short break here. Up next, El Nino weather hitting the U.S. West Coast.
[00:50:02]
The flood watch is in effect for parts of California. We'll have a look at which areas are most vulnerable.
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VAUSE: An update now, the breaking news out of North Korea. Pyongyang says it has conducted a successful underground nuclear test of a hydrogen bomb. If true, that would be considered a significant advancement over its three previous tests of plutonium nuclear devices.
The move is being roundly condemned including by Japan, South Korea and the United States. North Korea says it will not use it's nuclear weapons as long as the U.S. respects it's sovereignty.
Well, there's some weather news now. Flood watch impacting more than 13 million people is in effect for Parks of Southern California. Storm stood up by El Nino are to blame.
The biggest flood threat is in places where wildfires caused major damage last year. Those charred and barren areas are especially vulnerable to flooding as well as mudslides. Let's get more details now from meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri. Hey, P.J.
JAVAHERI: Hey. Yeah, you know, this is a very, very interesting story John because the National Weather Service in Los Angeles calling this next storm system a major weather event for Wednesday afternoon as it really dives in towards this region.
[00:55:00]
As John said, over 13 million people now underneath the flood watches, a pretty expansive are as well.
December through February, this is precisely what you expect with the weather pattern of course for an El Nino set up and is exactly what's going to be really playing out over the next couple of days. And from San Diego up towards San Francisco, that's where the area of interest is when it comes to the flood watches.
And look at the rainfall totals, could get us much as two to four inches over the next five days across parts of the coastal areas. Some favorable southwest facing mountains, six inches of rainfall could come down. Certainly, a flash flood potential in spots but also a landslide and mudslide potential because of the burn scars across this region.
But I want to show you what's happening when it comes to just the amount of rainfall that has come down in recent days across this region. Incredible volume of water. Talking about some of the wettest weather we've seen in years for a single day period across this region of California. In San Diego, almost 2 inches. Work your way towards the Los Angeles region, we're talking about roughly getting one and a half plus inches of rain fall.
And in fact, if you take a look at how poor the last couple of years were. San Diego, in particular John. On Monday, about 14 and 107 inch of rainfall. Tuesday was a record number, more than one and a half inches. Wednesday to Thursday could bring in nearly two inches of rainfall. This amount of water took six months to accumulate in San Diego last year. It's happened in the first five days or so of the year and you noticed, you'd compare that to the last couple of years. This was an impressive start to this year, John.
VAUSE: An impressive start and much more is needed. Pedram, thank you.
JAVAHERI: Thank you.
VAUSE: And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM Live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. Back with another hour of about breaking news coverage from North Korea of that underground nuclear test in just a moment. You're watching CNN.
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