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New Day

Major Climate Change Deal Between U.S. & China; Robot Landing on Moving Comet; Protests Escalate in Mexico Over Missing Students

Aired November 12, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: So, let's see what happens going forward.

Joey Jackson, Mel Robbins, thank you very much.

Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris.

The U.S. and China announce a breakthrough agreement to sharply reduce the pollution blamed for climate change. The two presidents discussed other thorny issues as well. And we'll go live to Beijing for those details, next.

And a landing a space probe on a moving comet. It's harder than you might think. The latest on the historic Rosetta mission, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

The U.S. and China are finding common ground in the global fight to combat climate change. President Obama and China's president announcing an agreement that would significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions in both countries. Despite the deal, though, both leaders acknowledge areas of discord do remain, including cybersecurity and those recent protests that went on for weeks in Hong Kong.

Let's bring in CNN's Jim Acosta. Again, he's live for us from Beijing.

Jim, let's start with what the president had to say in his reaction to those protests in Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On the issue of Hong Kong, which did come up in our conversations, I was unequivocal in saying to President Xi that the United States had no involvement in fostering the protests that took place there, that these are issues ultimately for the people of Hong Kong and the people of China to decide. The United States as a matter of foreign policy, but also a matter of our values, are going to consistently speak out on the right of people to express themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CAMEROTA: OK. So, Jim, how did that go over with the Chinese president?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, it didn't go over well. That was one part of the news conference, even though the president and President Xi showed a lot of agreement on the issue of climate change, we've talked about that this morning. On this issue of Hong Kong, they simply just don't agree.

The president saying during that part of the news conference, that while the United States is not behind those protests, they're not backing those protests, orchestrating the protests in Hong Kong, President Obama said they do support in the United States, you know, free and democratic elections in Hong Kong, the rights of people in Hong Kong to choose their own destiny. And President Xi could not have been more on the other side of that issue, calling those protests illegal.

So, that is one sticking point that was not resolved during this visit to China.

CAMEROTA: All right. Jim, let's also talk about cybersecurity. There are occasionally reports that China is engaged in computer hacking. What did the two leaders talk about?

ACOSTA: Right, you know that came up as well, although it was interesting, because during the president's comments, he sort of made a subtle reference to this issue of cybersecurity. He didn't come out and right there publicly accuse the president of China, of supporting hacking.

And keep in mind, Alisyn, this is a subject we cover at the White House quite a bit. President Xi for his part, he says that China is also the victim of hackers, that they have their own concerns when it comes to hacking in this global economy.

But what the United States has said time and again, we've heard this from administration officials for some time, what they want to see from China is a real cease-fire when it comes to hacking. They believe this goes on for quite a bit.

But many of the discussions on the subject have been handled behind closed doors. Basically what administration officials are saying is that China should not be trying to seek a competitive advantage over U.S. businesses through this practice. They believe it's going to continue, it's another one of the sticking points that did not get resolved on the trip to China.

CAMEROTA: Well, it's good to know that they are wading into these sticky issues, even if they haven't been able to resolve them. Jim Acosta, live for us from Beijing, thanks so much.

Let's go over to Michaela for more.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Alisyn, thanks so much.

Here's a look at your headlines at 37 minutes past the hour.

Russia announced a deal with Tehran to build as many as eight nuclear reactors in Iran. They're said to be for the peaceful use of atomic energy. It comes less than two weeks before a deadline for Iran and six world powers, including the U.S. to make a deal on limiting Tehran's nuclear program, in exchange for an easing of sanctions.

Breaking this morning, at least three people are dead following a suicide bombing in Libya. According to reports, the blast happened in Tobruk, home to Libya's parliament. Officials say the attacker detonated a car bomb on a busy road. Dozens of people rushed to hospital. No claim of responsibility just yet.

A teen is being praised for putting his own life on the line after pulling a Philadelphia police officer from a burning squad car. Officer Mark Kinsey's car burst into flames after colliding with a truck. Seventeen-year-old Joe Chambers and another man jumped into action, pulling the officer out of the car.

We should point out the 17-year-old, Chambers, is a volunteer firefighter. Said he just did what anybody else would do. The officer as you can see there in the hospital, but is expected to make a full recovery.

CUOMO: Not true. Not anybody would do it people get afraid. They see situations like that. And obviously this kid did it. We have the video, but people don't. And it's not because they're bad, it's because they're scared. And there's something extraordinary even --

PEREIRA: I think it happens more often than it doesn't happen.

CAMEROTA: Well, your newscast is evidence of this. You brought us two phenomenal stories just so far this morning.

PEREIRA: Pollyanna, Debbie Downer.

CUOMO: Pollyanna, it's fine to be optimistic, you know? But the reality sinks in. And very often, if you don't have first responders around, you're in trouble.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: All right. How about a little money time?

Chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here with an update on the markets.

Up, up, up? Why doesn't it mean sell?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Why doesn't it mean sell? Well, if you're really close to retirement, you shouldn't have everything in stocks. That's a really important thing. And a lot of stock market strategists are raising their estimates for the end of the year. So, if you sell now, you could miss the rest of the rally, right? Stocks made history yesterday. The Dow and the S&P 500 both climbing one little point, tiny point. That was enough for record high closes, here's the number that matters folks, the S&P 500 up more than 10 percent this year. That's the number that you'll likely see in the stock part of your 401(k).

Breaking overnight, five banks will pay $3.3 billion in fines to U.S., British and Swiss regulators. That includes Citibank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, RBS, UBS, you see them all there. The banks are accused of trying to manipulate foreign exchange rates to benefit their own trades. A black eye for those banks.

And billionaire Michael Bloomberg has this advice to high schoolers -- everybody, become a plumber. The trades are a better option than college for many people he says, so is college worth it? We want to you head to Facebook.com/NewDay, tell us what you think.

I want to tell you this -- college is worth it with an asterisk. If you're not the best student, if you have to take on too much debt, if you don't finish in four years, college might not be worth it for you.

CAMEROTA: It's a topic that so many people are debating around their dinner table because it's gotten so expensive and it burdens students, so you sort of have to know what you want at 18 before you start.

ROMANS: I would be very proud to have a plumber as son.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

CUOMO: People disparage the trades, Mike Rowe talks about it all the time. We're going to talk more later in the show.

You know how to run a business, you're good at a trade, you're going to do very well.

ROMANS: You can't outsource a plumber.

CAMEROTA: Good point. Thanks, Christine.

We're going to debate all that. You can find us on Twitter.

All right. We're going to watch a landing on a comet. Now, Christine Romans, I know it sounds simple to you.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: (INAUDIBLE) are not simple.

CUOMO: She saw the movie "Armageddon".

CAMEROTA: This is not simple. You're right. If it succeeds, it will be the first time a spacecraft has ever landed on a comet. So, we'll talk to a science expert and former astronaut about the Rosetta mission and how tough this is.

CUOMO: And protests in Mexico are only getting worse. There's terrible violence all across the country. And it stems from, there are a lot of problem there is. But the flash-point, no answers for the families of those 43 missing college students who are now feared massacred. We have the latest in a report from Mexico right ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: So, overnight, some really cool stuff happening in space. We should be getting photos in real soon of the action as scientists at the European Space Agency monitor the Philae lander attempting to land on a moving comet. Yes, I said a moving comet.

The mission is 10 years in the making. It could actually help answer whether a comet could have helped spawn life here on Earth.

Here to discuss this momentous occasion and momentous mission -- Hakeem, we've had you on before. It's good to have you on. Hakeem Oluseyi, professor of physics and space science at the Florida Institute of Technology.

Also here in studio, Mike Massimino, former NASA astronaut and senior adviser of space programs at the Intrepid Museum, that happens to be a professor of engineering at Colombia.

This is a nail-biter, Mike, I got to tell you. To me, this is so amazing.

First of all, we have to understand that this is landing something the size of a dishwasher on a moving target. Just how fast is this comet going?

MIKE MASSIMINO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: It's going about 34,000 miles per hour, which is really fast. When we rendezvous with the space station, or on my case, with the Hubble space telescope with the shuttle, we were going 17,000 miles an hour. So, picture on an airplane, going a couple hundred miles an hour. Sometimes, they fly in formation really good pilots.

Now, you're going really You got to catch up to it as if you want to look at did as if we're looking at each other, relative speed is the same.

So, you want to be able to match that position, that speed and be able to land on this thing with -- and it can't just land on it like it would a planet. You've got to grip the surface. It's moving really fast and it doesn't have much gravity. There's very little gravity. When you land on a planet, you come on and gravity helps you land and you can stay there, right?

With this thing, you've got to attach yourself to it. So it's an engineering miracle that's going to happen here hopefully. Just a couple of hours.

PEREIRA: My goodness. Fingers crossed, right?

MASSIMINO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Hakeem, other than this being a cool feat, as we've just heard, why do we need to land on a comet?

HAKEEM OLUSEYI, HOST, "OUTRAGEOUS ACTS OF SCIENCE": Well, it's sort of the last frontier, right? We've landed on our moon. We've landed on other planets. We've landed on the moons of other planets. We've landed on an asteroid. And comets are like relics left over from the formation of the early solar system.

There's a lot we can learn from them. There's a lot we can learn from the comets themselves, we can mine comets perhaps in the future like we're planning to mine asteroids.

We can learn about the composition from the early solar nebula, from which the planets and sun form, and see if there's organic materials there, that could tell us something about the origin of life in our solar system.

CUOMO: That's the cool part, the existential part of all this. Something had to make it all begin with tons of theories. People believe things, you know, some science-based, some not. How key could something like this be?

MASSIMINO: For me?

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: No, I'm looking at you.

MASSIMINO: Thanks, Chris.

I think it would be really key, we got here somehow, our stuff got here somehow, the water, the elements that make up our life what's inside of our body. It got her someway and comets are flying around our solar system. Most of them are very far away. But sometimes they come close like this one is and it's very possible that that's how all of our stuff got here.

The formation of life got here from a comet. And that's what we're going to hopefully get some answers to. And I bet we're going to come up with questions, too. The thing is you look for some answers because you know the questions you want to ask.

But I bet it's going to come up with stuff we're not going to understand. And it's going to be new questions. That's how we get dark matter and dark energy. We didn't even know the answer of those questions, but they discovered that. I bet we're going to find things like this.

PEREIRA: Very exciting. This is such a moment we're getting to live out history perhaps right here, and I push back on you, I think it's really cool that a dishwasher is landing on a moving comet.

Mike, Hakeem, fantastic, we'll keep an eye on it here on CNN. Thanks, guys.

MASSIMINO: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.

CUOMO: Good stuff, good stuff.

All right. Another story we'll be following this morning are the protesters and the police. What's going on in Mexico? Dozens of missing college kids, the family members aren't really any closer to answers. There's word of arrests and all of these different confessions. Why is nothing happening? We have the latest for you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Protesters are not backing down in Mexico over the abduction of 43 missing students. Demonstrators with rocks and fireworks challenging police, firing rubber bullets as questions remain over the fate of the students. A lack of concrete information is sending family members in search of answers on their own.

Let's get some perspective from someone on the ground. We have Ana Maria Salazar, editor in chief of MexicoDailyReview.com, and a former Pentagon and White House official.

Ana Maria, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

The protesters started out mostly teachers, students, but now, we understand they're growing in number. What's happening?

ANA MARIA SALAZAR, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MEXICODAILYREVIEW.COM: Well, they're growing in number, but I think you have to separate between those protesters who are demanding more information, trying to find out what was the real fate of these students. And then there's protesters that have other political objectives.

I think what we're seeing is how other groups with other political interests are starting to use the disappearance of these students, as a way of promoting their own political objectives. And as you can see from many of these scenes, they're very violent. It's shocking, because this is now we're seeing that these protests are kind of simultaneously taking place in different parts of the country.

CUOMO: The question is, is this somewhat of a watershed moment? The combination of these kids, college kids, disappearing in dozens. No swift justice.

Every time they dig for them, they find other bodies. And obviously, there seems to be a pattern of being too slow to correcting this situation by the government. You think it's all combining to create a real movement?

SALAZAR: You're right, there's a question mark as to whether this is the tipping point in Mexican history or Mexican politics. The other problem is there is doubts as to whether this is going to be a final resolution for these poor parents, because as you know, the way the bodies were destroyed -- I mean, they literally burned them, to make it almost impossible to establish the DNA so that they can link them to the family members. Now, you also, are right, as they were looking for them, they found 38

other bodies. And also, there's trying to identify who those other 38 other bodies are. There is an effort by the Mexican government at the federal level to try to get to the bottom of this. But these are extremely dangerous, violent criminal organizations that functions in an area of Mexico where there is no rule of law, where the governments, local governments are linked to these organizations, and where you really don't have local police. So, it is a huge challenge.

CUOMO: Right. But you want bodies for the families. You don't necessarily need them for the prosecution, especially if you have confessions. That's why we're going to keep an eye on this story for closure for these families. These kids were not members of the cartel, not a member of the drug wars, but they've become casualties it seems.

SALAZAR: No.

CUOMO: Ana Maria, thank you very much for the latest. We'll check in with you.

SALAZAR: Take care. Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. This someone of the stories we're following, but a lot of news this morning, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: This is a major milestone in the U.S./China relationship.

ACOSTA: In a deal forged by the world's two largest economies and its biggest polluters.

OBAMA: This is an ambitious goal, but it is an achievable goal.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: To defeat ISIS and allow Iran to be a threshold for nuclear power would be to win the battle and lose the war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A climax of an epic journey across the solar system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Landing has never been tried on such a small body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to a fly past Mars and the Earth three times, which has a little bit of magic to it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Very cool stuff to tell but this morning. Good morning again. Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Alisyn Camerota, along with Chris Cuomo.

President Obama calls it a major milestone in the relationship between U.S. and China. After meeting for five hours, which was longer than expected, the two countries jointly announced new targets to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions.

CUOMO: The agreement is a win for the president to be sure on the world stage. But it could be a big liability back here at home. That's because Republicans are lining up to criticize the deal. One saying this is part of the president's, quote, "war on coal".

Let's get to CNN's Jim Acosta traveling with the president -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Chris, President Obama wrapped up his visit to China with a surprise splash on two fronts. First, cutting a climate change deal with Chinese President Xi before both leaders took questions from the press, that is something that hardly ever happens in this closed-off country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): In a deal forged by the world's two largest economies, and its biggest polluters to combat climate change, President Obama and Chinese President Xi unveiled an aggressive plan to cut greenhouse gases.

OBAMA: This is an ambitious goal, but it is an achievable goal.

ACOSTA: Under the agreement, the U.S. would cut nearly one-third of its carbon emission levels set in 2005 by the year 2025. China would have until 2030 to level off its emissions.

The climate accord may be the boldest sign yet of the president's determination to bolster U.S. ties with China, at a time when he's putting heads with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

OBAMA: The United States welcomes the continuing rise of a China that is peaceful, prosperous and stable.

ACOSTA: Then, Mr. Obama and xi went on to take questions. One from an American journalist, a rare occurrence on Chinese soil.

In a moment of high drama, the Chinese president initially appeared to ignore the question from "New York Times" reporter Mark Landler on press access in China, leaving Mr. Obama looking astonished.

But then, Xi conceded his country's human rights record was not perfect. "China has made enormous progress in its human rights and that is a fact," Xi said. "On the question of China's human rights, we should never consider our work to be mission accomplished."

Xi eventually answered handler's question, blaming "The New York Times" for its own access problems in China. The party that has created the problem, Xi said, should be the one to resolve it.

White House officials breathed a sigh of relief. After working for weeks to convince skeptical Chinese officials to hold a news conference, it was a diplomatic victory.

Before leaving Beijing, Mr. Obama toasted Xi for China's efforts to help fight Ebola in West Africa. Xi offered some praise of his own, saying the U.S./China relationship had reached a new starting point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Republicans are already attacking the president's climate change plan. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called it unrealistic and a plan that he would be leaving to his successor.

Now the president heads to Burma where he'll be checking on democratic reform efforts there and then on to Australia for a G-20 summit, where he may have one more run-in with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin -- Chris.