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President Obama Delivers Last State of the Union; Iran to Return Detained U.S. Sailors; Rams Returning to Los Angeles; Turkey Blasted by Suicide Bombing Killing at least 10; Inside El Chapo's Hideout; China's Richest Man Buys Hollywood Studio; Iran to Release 10 American Sailors; Aide Workers Describe Heartbreaking Scene in Madaya, Syria; ISIS Relying on Child Soldiers; Price of Oil Plummets. Aired 1- 2a ET

Aired January 13, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:12] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his final State of the Union address with global events high on everyone's mind.

Just released police mug shots show El Chapo got a new haircut. We're also getting much more from the drug kingpin's controversial interview issue with actor Sean Penn.

And after more than a 20-year wait, professional football is coming back to Los Angeles. See all those NFL teams that's making a homecoming to Southern California. We'll have that.

Hello, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Vause. The second hour of NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.

And we begin in Washington with a forceful and emphatic State of the Union speech from U.S. President Barack Obama. He says he's committed to fighting ISIS and keeping America safe, but he regrets that partisan politics is keeping the country from dealing with the big issues like poverty and climate change.

The speech came as Iran held 10 American sailors on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. secretary of state says he expects the sailors to be released very soon.

CNN's Nic Robertson will have more on this story in just a moment.

And in Turkey, at least 10 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a popular tourist resort -- area, rather, in Istanbul. The prime minister blames ISIS. A live report on that story from Ian Lee is also straight ahead.

And during his State of the Union, the U.S. president tried calming American fears about recent global events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear? Turning inward as a nation? Turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, in what we stand for, and the incredible things that we can do together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, joining me now here in Los Angeles to talk more about the State of the Union, Democratic strategist Dave Jacobson and Republican consultant John Thomas.

But first let's bring in our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. He is in London with more on the U.S. sailors being held by Iran.

And Nic, we're hearing the release is imminent. What more details do you know?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think getting clear details at the moment is a little difficult. There is an expectation and that was sort of amplified, if you will, through the conversations between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Once Secretary Kerry discovered that these American sailors had been taken by the Iranians and that there will be of the expectation of a release this morning.

But in the last few minutes, the news agency in Iran, Tasnim, has been quoting a spokesman of the Revolutionary Guard there and they're saying that at this time, they cannot confirm or deny when these sailors will be released, that they are -- that these sailors are currently being interrogated and they accuse the U.S. warship in the Gulf of 40 minutes of provocative and unprofessional maneuvers.

Not clear if it's connected at exactly the time that these sailors were picked up in their small boats. However, we have heard differing accounts of what may have happened to them, that they were running short of fuel, potentially they had some kind of mechanical issue. The Iranians are saying that they strayed into Iranian waters around these islands. So I think at the moment, it's a little unclear what is happening. The expectation is that the sailors will be released quickly.

We have seen the language surrounding their capture here, if you will, sort of spike at the beginning, slowly taper off diplomatically. But the latest information, and coming from Tasnim News Agency in Iran seems to question that at the moment -- John.

VAUSE: Nic Robertson, thank you for the update live there in London at this early hour.

Now the president did not mention the 10 Americans being held by the Iranians. The only mention of Iran during the State of the Union was in reference to the nuclear deal. The president praised the global coalition and the use of sanctions and diplomacy to get Tehran to the bargaining table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: As we speak, Iran has rolled back its nuclear program, shipped out its uranium stockpile and the world has avoided another war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK. Let's bring in our Democratic strategist and our Republican consultant or our Republican strategist -- Democratic consultant John Thomas and Dave Jacobson.

Thanks for being with us. OK.

John, I want to start with you. You know, this issue on the Iran nuclear deal, I think this is one where it sort of splits pretty much down party lines. If you're a Democrat, you're for it. If you're Republican, you're not, right?

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Well, there were some high- profile Democratic leaders that said it was a bad idea, but I did think it was interesting during that speech where he praised the deal. But you're right. He didn't even talk about national security until nearly halfway into his speech even though that is the number one issue across all partisan divides in America right now.

[01:05:06] VAUSE: And that's the issue going into the election, right? So why wouldn't the president sort of take more time to set that up if nothing else for, you know, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders who could be the Democratic nominee?

DAVID JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right. I think the Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, are definitely going to be looking at what the president does over the next 12 months. If he's able to move the ball forward in the war against ISIS, in terms of destroying ISIS, you know, they've made some gains recently in Iraq, in northern Iraq. You know, if they continue to, you know, use the air power with their coalition forces on the ground and make gains, I think that helps the Democrats, right?

But I think generally speaking you're not hearing a lot about this from Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. They're pivoting away and they're talking about economic issues, they're talking about economic inequality and the sort of bread and butter Democratic issues that you traditionally hear in a campaign.

VAUSE: And John, you've said they're doing that because, well, they're not strong --

(CROSSTALK)

THOMAS: Well, yes, it's a losing issue. Right? I think Obama's legacy on international relations and national security is abysmal at best. But, you know, the fact is, we've never been this concerned as a nation last decade about -- since 9/11, quite frankly, about our security and President Obama said, again, in his speech, he said that ISIS is not an existential threat, that they're just a bunch of guys in a pickup truck with guns, just like he called them the JV team a few weeks ago. VAUSE: I'll get you to pick up on that, David, because really, isn't

that sort of an issue of context, though? The president saying, you know, ISIS is not going to destroy America and that's what he means, right?

JACOBSON: Right. Well, I sort of think if this issue is exacerbated throughout this campaign, if the problem gets worse, if we have another San Bernardino or another Paris, right, then you're going to see a pivot from folks like Hillary Clinton who traditionally are on foreign policy issues much more hawkish than the president, right?

THOMAS: But how much worse does it have to get? I mean, we've got Paris, Benghazi, San Bernardino, what other shoe has to drop? I mean, this studio is just a few miles away from San Bernardino.

VAUSE: Is this an issue where the president is out of touch? Because, you know, it does lead in the polls, and they do believe that the president's strategy isn't working so good.

JACOBSON: Right. I mean, I think the president thinks the strategy is working.

VAUSE: Yes.

JACOBSON: And you've seen some recent gains in northern Iraq. So I think if he continues the strategy and if he continues to sort of make those gains on ISIS and where they lose geographic ground, I think he's going to continue the status quo. If it doesn't change, I think he has to pivot his strategy.

THOMAS: I think Dave is right. The president -- I watched the speech tonight, you know what, he's being honest to himself. He thinks it's working. It's not. He thinks it is. He's just out of touch, I think that's the problem.

VAUSE: Do you think -- I thought he went in there thinking he had to go and convince the American public that it is working because clearly most people think that it isn't. He believes it is. Do you think he was convincing? Obviously you don't.

(LAUGHTER)

JACOBSON: Right. Well, I think also he's talking not just to Democrats. Right? Democrats are going to vote for a Democrat.

VAUSE: Sure.

JACOBSON: I think he's talking to largely, at least for his legacy, the independents that are going to determine the general election, right. The Ohio voters, the Florida voters. And so the question is, like, is his message resonating with those voters? It's unclear at this point.

VAUSE: OK, guys. Let's get an update now on what exactly is ISIS' latest attack. What's believed to be ISIS' latest attack. It happened in Turkey's Istanbul. Ian Lee is live there at this hour. So, Ian, what more do we know about this attack which the prime

minister there says was carried out by an ISIS militant?

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, at least 10 people were killed in this attack and right now really if their investigators are looking at how this attack could take place, this person, who was in their late 20s, had recently come over from Syria into Turkey. They were able to identify them -- identify them quickly, although they haven't released the name or really much more details about them.

But they're going to be looking to see how he was able to get these explosives, how he was able to get from the boarders to Istanbul, what kind of network there is here that was able to help them and if you may remember, just in last December, Turkish authorities were able to disrupt what they say was another bombing plot in Ankara in the capital that was going to target New Year's celebration.

This is a large country with a fairly long border with Syria, is a porous border. Even though the Turkish government has been trying to crack down and tried to seal off that border we still have people coming across. So these are all things that they're going to be looking into. But this message, this attack, really, is twofold. One, they're attacking foreigners. So this is a message to people around the world from ISIS saying that any country that is attacking or helping the war against ISIS, they can be targeted.

Also this message is for Turks who have been targeting ISIS and the Americans have a base here, they've been attacking ISIS from here. This is definitely going to hurt the Turkish tourism industry, as well. So at this hour, though, Turkish authorities trying to really figure out how this attack could happen. So it doesn't happen again.

[01:10:04] VAUSE: Ian, thank you. Ian Lee live there with the very latest on what is believed to have been an ISIS suicide bomber killing at least 10 people there in Istanbul.

Despite that recent attack happened about 24 hours ago, Mr. Obama did say during the State of the Union that there was a danger in overstating the dangers posed by the terror group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks, twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages, they pose an enormous danger to civilians. They have to be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence. That --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That is the story ISIL wants to tell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: John, isn't this, though, sort of almost like a Franklin Roosevelt moment? The only thing to fear is fear itself. THOMAS: Right.

VAUSE: You know, the president is trying to put this in context. And to a large extent, I mean, he is accurate. You know, the threat is in the Middle East. There's obviously a homegrown threat, as well. But for the most part it's 30,000 guys who control some territory which they seem to be losing control of at least some of them right now.

THOMAS: Right. But I think he's not addressing -- voters' perception is the reality. Voters are afraid of ISIS, they're afraid of terrorist attacks. And they want action now and President Obama is saying it's not a real threat and, you know, we're going to get them eventually and that's just not what the American public wants to hear.

Look, if he's going to hold claim to that, we will win in 2016.

VAUSE: Do you think, what, the American people, they want to hear Donald Trump, they want to hear, you know, we're going to bomb the bleep out of them or Ted Cruz, let's carpet-bomb them? They're looking for simple solutions and this is a president who doesn't do simple solutions well, this is a guy who likes nuance and let me explain, and he likes to go into great detail.

JACOBSON: Sure. I don't think they like, quote, "carpet bombing" like what you're getting from Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. Right? And that's precisely what, you know, Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, who delivered the Republican response right afterwards, you know, she sort of struck a more cool headed tone. Right? She wasn't -- you know, she was saying, look, we need to be more levelheaded on these issues, essentially. She wasn't, you know, giving red meat to Republicans on these sort of extreme talking points that you're getting from Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

And I think she's doing that because she's talking to Republican establishment who say, we need to sort of cool down on this rhetoric if we want to really win the general election.

VAUSE: You mentioned Nikki Haley. That's the governor of South Carolina. And we have some of her response. And this, for me anyway, I thought this was an extraordinary response.

THOMAS: Impressive.

VAUSE: To a State of the Union for a number of reasons why, but let's listen to some of what the governor had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)