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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

President Unveiling Gun Executive Actions; Strong Reaction to Gun Executive Actions from 2016 Hopefuls; Bill Clinton Weighs State of 2016 Race; Kuwait Pulls Ambassador to Iran; Global Markets Grow Cautious. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 05, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:01] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: We can't accept this carnage in our communities.

Now in many ways, the president's plan on guns is narrow and limited. Some parts bypass Capitol Hill, but many would require congressional funding and congressional approval. Even so, the plan is infuriating Republicans. They are vowing to stop it in courts, to stop it in Congress, and in the Oval Office if they win it.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski has more this morning for us from the White House.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine.

Right, you look at this, and you can see the administration trying to make every change they possibly can because these are executive actions and not act of Congress. Immediately, you see those limits that they are up against. I mean, they are presented as proposals or guidance or encouragements. By no means are these new laws.

The biggest deal is background checks. The White House now says if you are in the business of selling guns, whether that is two guns per year or 200,000, whether you're selling then at gun shows or on the dark Web, you need to register and all of your buyers need background checks. So there will be harsh penalties if you don't do that. But the question is out there. How's the federal government going to make you do that and how they're going to track you down if you don't?

The White House also sent a letter now to every state governor, urging them to make sure more information goes into the background check system. Things like people who might be disqualified for mental illness or convictions over domestic violence, to make sure that information goes in. But again, enforcement is a question.

The White House now, too, wants to beef up the background check system itself with a lot more funding, more hiring, much more funding for mental health treatment in this country, but again, those are acts. Congress ultimately would have to approve that funding -- John and Christine.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Michelle Kosinski at the White House where again in just a few hours we will hear from the president. Reaction to this gun proposal swift from both sides. Hillary Clinton,

she applauded the president and promised that is she is elected, she would keep, even expand his ideas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am so proud of what the president announced today. What the president will be doing in the next week is an executive order. The next president on the very first day could wipe it away. No, I won't wipe it away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Former representative Gabrielle Giffords who was critically wounded five years ago in a shooting rampage that led six people, she tweeted, "Thank you, POTUS, Mr. President, for standing up to the gun lobby when Congress won't and ensuring fewer guns fall into the wrong hands."

On the other side, Ted Cruz promised to reverse any executive orders on guns if he is elected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president is expected to roll out sweeping new executive orders trying to take away our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Well, President Obama may have a phone and may have a pen, but if you live by the pen, you die by the pen and my pen has got an eraser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: House Speaker Paul Ryan slammed the executive action. In a statement, he said, "The president is at minimum subverting the legislative branch and potentially overturning its will. His proposals to restrict gun rights were debated by the United States Senate and they were rejected." Ryan said, "No president should be able to reverse legislative failure by executive fiat, not even incrementally."

Let's talk a little bit more about the proposals and the big political news this morning. Want to bring in CNN Politics reporter Eric Bradner live in Washington.

Eric, good morning to you. Eric, President Obama is in the final year of his administration. Iowa, the caucuses, the first votes to replace him less than four weeks away. How much of the spotlight can he seized at this point?

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS DIGITAL REPORTER: Yes, John, President Obama will definitely take some of the attention away from candidates this week. But the problem is there's nothing that really seems to shake up the typical party line divide here. Right? Republicans are totally against everything he is proposing and Democrats are totally for everything he's proposing. And there's no sign of any sort of thaw. So that sort of brings up the limits of a president in his last year

in office. There's no real way to force this to any sort of political resolution when everyone is so entrenched and when he's leaving office so soon. So he will definitely command some attention. All the candidates are already talking about this proposal. And he'll do everything he can to make a big public relations push, including the CNN special later this week.

But yes, I mean, there's definitely a limit here. This is an issue that probably won't be the focus, you know, from now through the first votes in Iowa in early February.

ROMANS: What's that metaphor? The president is going to leave everything on the field this year, or something?

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: He'll leave it all on the field.

ROMANS: Leave it all on the field. He's not talking like somebody who think that he's a lame duck president who can't get something done. I mean, really pushing on doing something on gun violence, although there are those who would argue that it's sort of narrow, it's narrow what he can do, even though the Republicans say otherwise.

[05:35:08] Let's talk about Bill Clinton. The big dog, as you say, on a leash yesterday. Campaigning on the stump. Campaigning for his wife. Let's listen to a little bit of what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Every presidential election, people run, and believe it or not, it's kind of scary this year, but believe it or not, most everybody actually tries to do what they say they are going to do when they're running. They're telling you what they believe and so you got to take them seriously. But you also have to take seriously whether they have any chance of doing what they say they're going to do or any record of doing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Call me crazy. He's not going to not speak directly about Donald Trump, but he is speaking directly about Donald Trump.

BRADNER: Right. Exactly. So Bill and Hillary Clinton have tried really hard the last few days not to respond to these really personal attacks from Donald Trump. Instead they want to try to keep it focused on policy. The argument he was making there is that all of these controversial policy proposals that Donald Trump is rolling out, you've got to believe that he'll actually try to implement them.

That is the case that the Clintons see as more advantageous than making it a personal fight. They don't see any reason to get into the mud but if they can keep it focused on things like immigration and the talk of banning Muslims, that's a fight they think thye can win. So yes, Bill Clinton was also sort of playing the traditional role of candidate spouse trying to offer a softer image of Hillary Clinton yesterday. He was talking about when they met 45 years ago, he was -- you know, in love with her and everything she touched she made better. So it was a really restrained sort of day from Bill Clinton. He wasn't delivering like an hour long stream winder like we're sort of accustomed to hearing from him.

BERMAN: I want to talk about what I think is one of the emerging, fascinating aspects of this campaign. It's the battle for the establishment lane on the Republican side. We see now Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush. Now all this really fight trying to grab their own space here. And yesterday Chris Christie gave a speech and his campaign staff all pointed to as a major speech where he really tried to define his candidacy. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Showtime is over, everybody. We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. Showmanship is fun, but it's not the kind of leadership that will truly change America.

If we're going to turn our frustration and anger with the D.C. insiders, the politicians of yesterday and the carnival barkers of today into something that actually will change American lives for the better, we must elect someone who has been tested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The big question, Eric, is how do you win this establishment fight and how do you do it without just strengthening Donald Trump or Ted Cruz at the same time?

BRADNER: Right. Absolutely. There's got to be a winnowing process at some point here. Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Jeb Bush, all running for the same sort of lane of establishment supporters. And it looks like New Hampshire is going to be the place where that actually happens.

Christie is really trying to generate some momentum here. And you know that Marco Rubio is kind of the leader out of that pack is a little worried about him because Rubio is targeting Christie in a new ad. So it's going to be tough for any of these candidates to really take on Donald Trump and Ted Cruz who right now have really broken away from the pack. But to do it, to have any chance at all, they're going to have to sort of knock some of the others out of the race at some point.

And Christie has spent all of his hopes on New Hampshire. That's where he's been campaigning nonstop for months. And you've got to figure one of these candidates will probably get hot between now and the first votes being cast there in a little more than a month. The question is who will it be and what they can do.

BERMAN: And how hot. Yes.

ROMANS: Cold in Iowa, but the politics are hot. Thanks, Eric Bradner. Nice to see you. Thanks for getting up so early for us. We love it when you come by.

Special programming note for you. This Thursday at 8:00 p.m., President Obama will join Anderson Cooper for an exclusive live town hall event about "Guns in America." The topic, obviously those executive actions he's announcing today. He will take questions from a live studio audience. The town hall on "Guns in America" with President Obama moderated by Anderson this Thursday night, 8:00 p.m. only on CNN.

All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Global markets turning lower this morning after a brutal start to 2016. Futures here in the U.S. are down. Markets in Europe started higher, but look, they have now turned down. Concerns about China and the Middle East have investors cautious.

[05:40:03] Last year's Wall Street darlings just hammered in that global selling. Amazon and Netflix, the two best performing stocks in the S&P last year, Monday they suffered huge losses. It's spread to other tech titans including Facebook and Google's parent company Alphabet.

Risk off is how the market pros describe it. Sell stocks. Buy scaredy cat investments like bonds and gold. That definitely happened. Gold topped $1,000 an ounce and is rising again this morning.

BERMAN: 5:40 a.m. Christine Romans with some name calling. Scaredy cat investments like gold. Finger pointing and name calling.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: All right.

ROMANS: I just call it like I see it.

BERMAN: A new Arab nation breaking ties with Iran. We have developing news out of the Middle East this morning in the conflict raging between Saudi Arabia and Iran. How will this end? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Breaking news from the Middle East this morning. Moments ago, Kuwait announced it is recalling its ambassador to Iran. The UAE has done the same. Key Saudi allies Bahrain and Sudan also severed tied with Tehran. And just a few minutes ago the Iranian leader or president responding as well.

Let's bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen who's watching these developments.

Good morning, Fred. A lot going on here.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hassan Rouhani was quoted on Press TV, which is the government run television network there, as saying, quote, "Saudi Arabia cannot cover up its crimes by breaking off diplomatic ties." This of course in reference to the row that's been going on, John, where on Saturday, the Saudis announced that they had executed a prominent Shia cleric. That sparked large protests in Tehran where some of those protesters breached the Saudi embassy grounds and set the embassy there on fire.

That caused that strong reaction by the Saudis not only breaking off diplomatic ties but also commercial ties as well, banning all flights between the two nations and not allowing Saudis to travel to Iran anymore.

As you've noted some other Middle Eastern countries have followed suit as well. The United Arab Emirates, Sudan, as well as Bahrain and now Kuwait as well. So it certainly seems as though this is no sign of letting up whatsoever. And it is, of course, a situation that could have grave implications for the broader Middle East.

BERMAN: Any ability for the United States to step in and try to deescalate or was that just too thorny?

PLEITGEN: Well, the U.S. has already said that it doesn't want to step in and be a referee between these two nations but has called on both sides to go back to the path of diplomacy and to do everything to deescalate the tensions. Certainly the U.S. does have leverage with the Saudis even though the relations between the U.S. and the Saudis have been somewhat tense. And the reason for that is that the U.S. is also starting to gain a new relationship with Iran after the nuclear agreement.

So there certainly is some leverage. But however at this point in time, I think the U.S. believes it's better to try and get these two countries to sort it out. And also there's a lot of other countries in the region as well calling for them to tone things down -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Fred Pleitgen for us in London. Thanks so much, Fred.

ROMANS: I'm sure they're going to have a lot of this on "NEW DAY" as well. Alisyn Camerota joins us now with a look at what they've got in store.

Hey, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Hey, guys, we are going to have a lot of that on "NEW DAY." Also President Obama preparing to unveil his executive actions on gun control in just a few hours. So we'll break down what exactly he's proposing and we will debate whether it goes far enough or if it overreaches. The president's senior adviser Valerie Jarrett joins us. And we will GOP reaction from team Trump.

Also, armed activists still refusing to leave that wildlife refuge in Oregon despite the local sheriff demanding that they go home. Our national security experts give their take on what may happen next. So all that we're going to see you in about 14 minutes.

BERMAN: All right. Fantastic, Alisyn. Thanks so much. Freezing temperatures in the east will give way to a warm up but will

it last? Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROMANS: All right, Pedram. Thank you so much for that.

A scary drop in the stock market on Monday around the world. What in the world happens today? We get an EARLY START on your money with our Wall Street insider next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:51:42] ROMANS: Tonya Couch, the mother of the so-called affluenza teen, she is expected in court today in Los Angeles for a hearing on her extradition back to Texas. She's charged with helping her son flee to Mexico in violation for the probation he received for a drunk driving crash that killed four people.

Ethan Couch remains in Mexico. Fighting deportation. His attorney says it may be a couple of months before Ethan Couch is sent back to the U.S.

BERMAN: Fired South Carolina police officer Michael Slager is free on bail this morning. Slager is charged with murder in a shooting death of Walter Scott last April. Video showed Scott was shot in the back as he ran away following a traffic stop. A judge placed Slager under house arrest as a condition of his bail. His trial is set to begin October 31st.

ROMANS: Three NFL teams are looking to relocate to Los Angeles, but the league says it will support one new stadium shared by two teams in the L.A. market. The St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers, all filed applications Monday to relocate for the 2016 season. NFL owners are expected to decide at a league meeting next week which team or teams will move there if any.

BERMAN: The end of an era for the New York football Giants. Head coach Tom Coughlin announced his resignation. The 69-year-old Coughlin coached the Giants for 12 seasons. He won two Super Bowl titles. He outcoached Bill Belichick in both. There had been speculation Coughlin would be fired after a third straight losing season. In a statement he said it was in the best interest of the organization that he step down.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. World markets struggling to overcome a wave of selling around the world to start the New Year. Slim losses again overnight in Asia. Stocks in Europe tried to bounce but look, they are fading again now. Investors worry that China's many years of powerful economic growth are coming to an end. The so-called hard landing.

I want to bring in Greg Valliere, political economist and chief strategist for Horizon Investments.

Greg, great to have you here. Really ugly way to start the New Year. I wanted to be back watching "Elf" last week. I did not want to be watching the markets yesterday. So how serious is this? This looks to me a lot like the same fears that we had back in August that caused the market rout that eventually were overcome. Is this the same old China fears?

GREG VALLIERE, POLITICAL ECONOMIST AND CHIEF STRATEGIST, HORIZON INVESTMENTS: I think there's a lot of fears, Christine. And happy new year. Good to see you. I think it is not just China. It's the risk that the Fed is going to keep tightening. I think you've got to wonder, do they really keep tightening with these types of anxieties? It's a global commodity drop. And I would argue the U.S. market in particular is going to have to start worrying about the possibility, not likelihood but possibility that Donald Trump could be the next president.

I mean, you've got to say he is the favorite to be the nominee. So for the markets, if it's a choice of Hillary, Trump, maybe Ted Cruz, those are real palatable options.

BERMAN: So I just want you to reiterate that for one moment to make sure I heard you correct, because you talk to the business insiders.

VALLIERE: Yes.

BERMAN: You talk to the types of people who feel like they already know who's going to win the election months ahead of time.

VALLIERE: Right.

BERMAN: And you're telling me that Wall Street investing insiders, they think that there is a real likelihood at this point that Donald Trump could be president.

VALLIERE: That he'll be the nominee. I think the presidency, I think she would be -- Hillary would be favored. But to make a sports analogy, if you get to the finals, well, anything can happen. You know, if Trump can get to the finals, win the nomination, I think the markets will have to worry about his agenda. Trade fight with China. Fighting with Janet Yellen. Tax cuts that would cost trillions. Bashing Wall Street.

[05:55:03] So I think the likelihood that Trump will continue to do well and maybe win the nomination is going to start to become an irritant for the markets.

ROMANS: His business acumen, one of the reasons so many of his supporters love him. They think he could just fix things. You're saying his business acumen would really roil Wall Street and the status quo. What does Hillary Clinton and her team make of perceptions of markets and the U.S. economy that are not as robust as they were a year ago? Is that good, bad or neutral for Hillary Clinton?

VALLIERE: Bad. I think that she would like to run on an agenda that Barack Obama fix the economy, that things are good. Now you see this wild ride we took yesterday in the markets. You see economic growth softening around the world. That doesn't exactly reinforce her argument that they're on the right path.

BERMAN: Who is the most likely Republican in the field, do you think, to derail Donald Trump at this point? Is it Ted Cruz who's seen as poised to win Iowa or is it someone else?

VALLIERE: Yes. Well, if you look at, as they say, the best available athlete, the best talent, it's Marco Rubio, obviously. I think he would give Hillary Clinton a very, very tough race. But I don't know where his opening is. I don't think he's going to win New Hampshire or Iowa. Maybe he'll do well in South Carolina. But Rubio needs an opening. If he gets one, he could be a real force. But for now, I think you have to say Trump is the favorite to win the nomination.

ROMANS: You think Ted Cruz could get Iowa?

VALLIERE: Yes, I do. I think Cruz will win Iowa. You know, we'll see on March 1st. The so-called SEC primaries. You know, whether Cruz continues to do well there. I think there's more vetting to go with Cruz, including his birth in Calgary which could become an issue. So the jury is still out on Cruz but he'll be a big player, a big player in the next few weeks.

ROMANS: Final thought, Greg, on the market today. I mean, I'm not seeing a bounce back. Sometimes you see a big selloff like that and you get bounce back and you say.

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: OK, that was just some moment of hysteria.

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: You think this could be a slog?

VALLIERE: This could be a rough stretch. And you know what I think it's going to take? It's going to take a signal from Janet Yellen that they're going to go real slow. That the likelihood of a March rate hike may start to subside.

ROMANS: All right. Car sales are good. We could get a good jobs report. I mean, some of the internals of the American market are still very, very good, but nervous.

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: The world is still nervous. All right. Greg Valliere, so nice to see you. Thanks for getting up early for us. Another early bird.

VALLIERE: You bet.

ROMANS: All those people. Thanks, Greg.

VALLIERE: You bet.

ROMANS: A few other business headlines, Volkswagen this morning faces some $18 billion in potential fines. The EPA and the Justice Department are suing the German automaker. Civil lawsuits seek fines of up to $37,500 per diesel car that violates a U.S. environmental rule. There are $3,750 for each piece of equipment put there to cheat emission tests. There about 500,000 diesel cars on the road from Volkswagen and its luxury brand Audi that violate those environment guidelines. That's according to the suit. It means the fines could quickly top $18 billion if VW has to pay them all.

BERMAN: Cheating is expensive, it turns out.

ROMANS: It sure it. It's also expensive to live in Manhattan. It has never been more expensive to buy a house in Manhattan. By house, I mean apartment.

BERMAN: Exactly. A one-bedroom.

ROMANS: Yes. The median sale rise here at a record high of $1.15 million. That was in the fourth quarter. That's the latest from real estate appraisal firm Millers Samuel. The new price tag broke the record hit in 2008. All remember 2008? Right before Lehman Brothers collapsed.

So why are prices spiking now? In (INAUDIBLE), credit is tight, and guess what, the competition is stiff. A lot of rich people who can afford to buy a house.

BERMAN: Get a low, low price, you know. $1.15 million.

ROMANS: $1.15 million.

BERMAN: You can have one bathroom and a six-floor walk-up.

ROMANS: And irritating super.

BERMAN: All right. President Obama just hours from now, he will lay out his executive action on gun control. What is in the plan and can it hold up? "NEW DAY" starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: In just hours here, President Obama will officially announce his executive action on guns.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a crime to go after our rights to keep and bear arms.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Lawless in his use of executive orders.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On my first day behind that desk, those orders are gone.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will potentially save lives in this country.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Showtime is over, everybody. We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't need four more years of Obama. And that's what you're getting with Hillary.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to let him live in his alternative reality and I'm not going to respond.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: But I thought elections are supposed to be a job interview.

BERMAN: Standoff in Oregon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A peaceful protest became an armed occupation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We came very well prepared.

AMMON BUNDY, LEADER OF PROTESTERS: We're going to stay here until we have secured the land and the resources.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time for you to leave our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, January 5th, 6:00 in the East.

President Obama in just a matter of hours he's going to reveal his executive actions to combat gun violence. What's he going to do? Well, he's going to call for expanded mandatory background checks from private firearm sales. Critics are already calling the measure an assault on the Second Amendment.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The president also wants to beef up funding for the FBI and ATF to enforce the existing gun laws. But he'll need Congress for that.