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New Day

President to Make Climate Change Deal with China; U.S. May Evacuate Embassy in Yemen; Missouri Governor Outlines Ferguson Preparations

Aired November 12, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is a major milestone.

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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a breakthrough deal between the U.S. and China that could make the world a better place.

China's president shocks the crowd with rare remarks about human rights in his country. What did he say with President Obama by his side? We're live at the president's next stop, Myanmar.

ALISYN CAMEROTA CNN ANCHOR: New Jersey's governor is vowing to prevent a repeat of this summer's violence in Ferguson when the grand jury announcer whether it will charge the police officer who shot Michael Brown. This as the slain teenagers parents speak before a U.N. committee. We'll tell you what they said.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Man's best friend missing, a Delta passenger says the airline lost his dog as he was set to fly across the country. That dog is now on the loose and has been in California for a week. Does Frank Romano think enough is being done to help locate his beloved bull terrier? He joins us live today.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

Good morning. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, November 12th, now 8:00, there it is, in the east. Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here. Right now, the president is off cutting this really big deal with China, climate deal.

CAMEROTA: Yes, the deal calls for both countries to reduce the greenhouse gas emission blamed for climate change. CNN's Ivan Watson joins us live from the capital of Myanmar where the president is about to land and Ivan will is going to us about this climate deal. Good morning, Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. That's right, President Obama saying this is a great example of what can happen when the leaders of the two world's biggest economies which also happen to be the world's biggest producers of carbon emissions when they work together. Take a listen to what the president had to say.

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OBAMA: This is an ambitious goal but it is an achievable goal. It will double the pace at which we're reducing carbon pollution in in the United States. It puts us on a path to the deep reductions by advanced economies which the scientific community says is to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

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WATSON: So what have they agreed to do exactly? The U.S. has pledged to cut carbon emissions 26 to 28 percent within the last 10 years to below levels of 2005. Meanwhile, China has promised to have its maximum carbon emissions reached by 2030, and then to increase non- fossil fuels, the use of those, by 20 percent by 2030. And if you've ever been to China, if you've ever seen the air pollution, the just smog in Beijing, the likes of which I've never seen anywhere else in the world, many Chinese should be applauding this agreement because it may clean up their air a little bit. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Ivan you make a great point. So many people who are concerned about climate change or question it here in the U.S. say why am I going to buy a hybrid when China is cranking out so much pollution? But let's move on to what you're doing in Myanmar. What is the president expected to do there?

WATSON: Well, he's coming to a meeting of southeast Asian leaders here that will take place tomorrow. He's coming back nearly two years exactly after the day he first visited Myanmar, or as the U.S. refers to it, as Burma. It's one of the foreign policy successes that the Obama administration has had, Burma going from being a military junta, one of the most repressive states in the world, to trying to build towards holding democratic elections next year. But it hasn't been all rosy. The Obama administration warning that some of the reforms have slowed down. There have been some steps backwards, and we've actually been reporting this week on a policy what appears to be ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the west of this country. Obama's visit will include, the president will be traveling to the commercial capital where he'll meet with the chief opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is also a Nobel Prize winner who was living under house arrest for years there but released within the last two years along with many other political prisoners. Back to you.

CAMEROTA: So many human rights issues to talk about on the president's trip. Ivan Watson, thanks so much for explaining it to us.

So how are congressional and global leaders responding to this climate change deal? Let's bring in CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash and Bobby Ghosh is back with us. He's our CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of "Quartz." Dana, I want to start with you. The president calls this an ambitious deal with China. Republicans say it's basically a raw deal.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If anybody out there is wondering really what is going to change with the new Republican Senate, this is exhibit A. And the reason is because the new head of the Senate environment and public works committee, which is the committee that will have jurisdiction over all things environment, is James Inhofe of Oklahoma. He literally wrote a book calling manmade climate change a hoax. We have the first CNN statement from him about this deal and I'll read part of it. He said "In the president's climate change deal the United States will be required to more steeply reduce our carbon emissions while China won't have to reduce anything. It's hollow and not believable for China to claim it will shift 20 percent of its energy to non-fossil fuels by 2030."

And Alisyn, it's not just Senator Inhofe who will have a very important role in the new Senate. It's the new Republican leader, new majority leader Mitch McConnell who also issued a statement saying that this is case in point of why the president's policies, he said, were on the ballot. He is from a coal-producing state and campaigned, I was there with him, very, very hard on rolling back the EPA regulations that are very similar to what would have to happen if this treaty would go into place. So that's the kind of reaction you're getting from the Republicans in the Senate.

Look, a treaty has to have a super majority to pass the Senate, two- thirds majority, 67 votes. Do not hold your breath and wait for this to happen in the Senate. But Republicans who I talked to this morning say they think the president can again do some of this on his own with his regulatory powers in the executive branch.

CAMEROTA: Dana, stand by, because we want to bring in Bobby Ghosh for more perspective on this deal. So as you just heard, Republicans say it's a raw deal because China is making baby steps while the U.S. is making grander steps. How do you see it?

BOBBY GHOSH: The good news is China is going to keep to those targets regardless of what the U.S. does because for months now we've been hearing China independently of this deal has been aiming toward some of those targets. They've been wanting to cap their emissions they've been wanting a better mix of different kinds of power generation, not simply depending heavily on coal. So this is in their interests. They've decided it's in their interests to increase the amount of power generation from non-fossil fuels, and that's good for the rest of the world. Whether the U.S. is going to --

CAMEROTA: They don't have to do anything, Bobby, until 20 30.

BOBBY GHOSH, MANAGING EDITOR, "QUARTZ": That's just according to this treaty. There are plenty of people, analysts who look at China's power situation and have been predicting actually that they will reach that peak sooner, maybe even 2020 or 2025. So independent of American politics, this is a direction China is going. So this deal from China's point of view is simply confirming what they've already planned.

The bigger leap in faith has been and taken here by President Obama. And as we've seen, even before the ink is dry on this deal, he's already getting pushback. So there is room for skepticism that the U.S. will keep up its side of the bargain. The Chinese side I think is already baked in.

CAMEROTA: So Dana, what happens when the president returns from his Asia trip? How quickly does all of this start to boil?

BASH: Well, you know, there's no way he's going to try to push this through the Democratic Senate. I don't think there's time, meaning in this lame duck session which is about six weeks before the new Republican majority is sworn in, in January.

But I think it's important to keep in mind in this context that already the new Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, campaigned on a promise to use his power through the appropriations process, through the basic powers of Congress to roll back the EPA regulations that the president has already put in place. So never mind what the president wants to do in the future. They're already talking about rolling back what he's done in the past. So that gives you a sense of the climate you'll see politically with regard to this issue.

BASH: So Bobby, you were saying that it's not just a political challenge but actually doing it, achieving this goal. Why? What is it so difficult?

GHOSH: The political atmosphere creates the difficulties. The Chinese are building a lot of new infrastructure, so they can, as they go into that process, they can plan ahead, before they put power generation plants on the ground, they can plan for what kind of power they're going to generate. In the U.S., a lot of the generating capacity is already there, so it requires changing. That's very expensive to do, that is technically not easy to do, and then you have to deal with the local communities everywhere.

This is a democracy. Nobody is going to push back at President Xi. President Xi says this is what we're going to do, it's going to get done and. Nobody dares. There is no political opposition and there are no lobbies for the coal industry that will try to persuade him to change his mind. Any American leader is going to have to go through the gauntlet of political difficulties, technical difficulties, heavy lobbying by vested interests in those industries.

CAMEROTA: Bobby Ghosh, Dana Bash, thanks so much for explaining what they're calling a historic deal. Thanks so much for being here. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, there's a new surge in violence to report. Al Qaeda offshoots in Yemen are active in the U.S. is on high alert. There officials may evacuate the embassy, and they say it will not turn into another Benghazi. Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon with more. Barbara, odd way to characterize readiness, what do we know?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Look, if there is going to be an evacuation at the embassy, as we all know, that has to come at the request of the ambassador. The State Department runs the embassy. If they need military help, what is happening is behind the scenes the Pentagon has updated its evacuation plans to be ready if the call comes because violence is throwing those streets in Yemen not fully under the control of the government. There has been fighting around the airport. That means if diplomats have to go, they may not be able to drive to the airport and get out. That is why you see an amphibious warship off the coast with marines and helicopters ready to go if they get that call.

Now, Yemen very different than any other place, because of Al Qaeda there, the Al Qaeda group in Yemen has promised to, vowed, if you will, to attack the United States. They are very capable. They are a big worry. If the U.S. presence has to leave Yemen, no diplomats, no CIA operatives, no U.S. military personnel, the U.S. could lose a very valuable intelligence window into those Al Qaeda operations. It's one reason the diplomats want to stay. The Pentagon getting nervous, saying you might need to think about going before we can't get you out. Chris?

CUOMO: Disappointing especially when under the new regime there in Yemen there had been more efforts to take on Al Qaeda, now this turn.

All right, so let's go to the warfront right now. Some hope for good news in terms of taking a town back from ISIS in Iraq, what do we know?

STARR: In Iraq, the Iraqi media and the Iraqi military reporting now in the last several hours that the Iraqi forces have retaken the town of Baiji in northern Iraq. Why is this so important? ISIS had taken control in this region some months ago. Baiji is the site of Iraq's largest oil refinery. Iraqi forces have struggled to maintain control there. Now they have apparently moved back into the town and the fighting is under way. They believe they are retaking control of Baiji, a very important stronghold for those Iraqi forces and ISIS. They hope to take it away from is. Chris?

CUOMO: The question will be what damming was done to the facilities there, how quickly can they get it online? Barbara Starr, thank you very much for the reporting. Appreciate it as always. Mic?

PEREIRA: All right, let's give you a look at headlines. We start with an update on Ukraine. NATO claims over the last two days Russian combat troops were spotted entering eastern Ukraine armed with weapons. The ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia was already in trouble. Fighting intensified Tuesday between Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists.

Very well could be an historic day in space. Check out these pictures in from space, the lander has deployed its landing gear and will try to land on a comet. Some are describing it as the shape of a rubber duck. It is moving at that comet at a mere 34,000 miles an hour. The probe separated from the Rosetta orbiter after 10 years affixed to its side. The landing it's hoped comes around 10:30 a.m. this morning. Stick with CNN on that.

Breaking just minutes ago, CNN now projecting Republican Dan Sullivan on the left defeating incumbent Democrat Mark Begich in the race for Alaska's Senate. It's the eighth seat to flip to the Republicans in the election. The GOP will now have at least 53 seats in the Senate next year. There is one final race to be decided, in Louisiana Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy, they face off in a December 6th runoff.

We've got to share this bittersweet moment for you. A couple in Texas, Justin Nelson and Christie Warner, tied the knot in the neonatal intensive care unit at Cook's Children's hospital in Fort Worth with their premature newborn son serving as the ring bearer. Baby J.J. was born 25 weeks in early back September, his twin died in utero. J.J. was dressed in the tiniest tux tuxedo onesie for the ceremony. He was on his best behavior, we're told, through most of it. Something blue for the bride, the NICU's visitor's wristband on mom's wrist. Isn't that sweet?

CAMEROTA: It is sweet. You see tremendous strides in modern medicine in NICUs around the country. They can keep a 25-week-old baby alive there. It's remarkable what they've been able to do.

CUOMO: Even younger. That kid looks good, too.

CAMEROTA: He did.

PEREIRA: Anybody looks good in a tuxedo.

CUOMO: True, he did have a tux. If they do the traditional vows for better or worse they're being tested right now. Nothing puts a strain on you like a baby who is not well. So our best to them, congratulations.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile the governor of Missouri says he will face steps to prevent any violence after the grand jury announces a decision in the Michael Brown shooting. We will talk to a vocal critic of the governor and his plans.

CUOMO: And one of the richest men in the world says you got to be a plumber, and the bigger news is, he may be right. Is college worth it? We're going to debate it, straight ahead. Are you pro or con?

CAMEROTA: Both.

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CAMEROTA: New developments out of Ferguson, Missouri, to tell you about. CNN has confirmed that the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Michael Brown will appear before the grand jury. This comes following a new warning from Missouri's governor that violence will not be tolerated after the grand jury's decision and anyone who crosses the line he says will face the consequences.

We will speak to a local official in Ferguson in just a moment.

But, first, to Sara Sidner -- she is live in Missouri with more.

What is the feeling there this week, Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what? I think with every day that goes by, people's nerves are even more on edge. A lot of folks are calling me on a daily basis saying is it today? We hear it's today. We hear it's this weekend. And so, I think just people's nerves are frayed here in this town. Some people are preparing diligently, some people are deciding to go out of town. But there are plenty of folks who are going to stay here. They don't think it's going to be that bad. But there is a certain level of fear that has existed all this time waiting for the grand jury to come back.

Governor Nixon tried to assuage those fears in his speech last night.

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SIDNER (voice-over): As the grand jury announcement on whether to indict officer Darren Wilson grows ever nearer, the Missouri governor sends a message out to everyone: law enforcement is ready.

GOV. JAY NIXON (D), MISSOURI: Anybody that comes here needs to know they're going to be safe, while at the same time, exercising those rights of speech. If folks cross that safety line on property or on person, we will use the full power of the law to keep peace.

SIDNER: The governor says he will send in the National Guard if required.

The St. Louis County Police Department is already gearing up, purchasing more than $100,000 in riot gear.

Some protesters blame police for escalating tensions after the killing of Michael Brown. And they, too, are planning their reaction.

DEBRA KENNEDY, RESIDENT & PROTESTOR: There's probably going to be a little anger, a little tension. There's going to be a few bad apples that do some looting.

But my position is you can always replace a window. You can replace things. But you can't replace human life. So as long as no lives get lost and if any lives are lost, it's probably going to be at the hands of the police officers.

SIDNER: But police say they have been targets of violence and have been diligently meeting with the community over the past 90 days to make safety for all a priority.

CHIEF JON BELMAR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE: We have had instances where officers have been injured. We have had instances where they've been hit in the head with rocks, in the face, and different things like that. So -- so we're going to do what we can to protect them. But at the same time we try to always portray a posture of appropriateness to the situation that we're faced with.

SIDNER: While the community plans, Michael Brown's parents took their message to the world, speaking to the U.N. committee on torture.

MICHAEL BROWN SR., MICHAEL BROWN'S FATHER: What we're trying to do is get help from whoever we can.

LESLEY MCSPADDEN, MICHAEL BROWN'S MOTHER: It's overwhelming. It makes you emotional. And to talk about it makes you relive that day. And I hate reliving that day. I hate that day.

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SIDNER: Michael Brown's family has said time and again that they want the protests to be peaceful, but when asked if the indictment does not come down for Officer Darren Wilson, they said they would march in the streets as well alongside protesters -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right. Sara Sidner, thanks so much for previewing everything that may be happening there this week. We appreciate that.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. The question of leadership looms large.

Let's bring in Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal. Her district excludes Ferguson, Missouri. She's been a fairly constant presence in the area.

I saw you out there, Senator. It's good to have you.

STATE SEN. MARIA CHAPPELLE-NADAL (D), MISSOURI: Thank you.

CUOMO: The need will be even greater now, no matter what happens and let me get your take on a few developments we have. We know the Brown family is in Switzerland at the conference. They said something to CNN, that they haven't been addressed by the prosecutor's office, they don't have a victim's advocate, there's no liaison.

That's very unusual. Did you know that? And how do you explain it?

CHAPPELLE-NADAL: Well, we have been hearing that for several weeks now, in fact, probably a couple of months, and I think it is a concern for the community that the family has not had any kind of communication with the prosecuting attorney's office at all. And I mean, it's really reflective of what's happened since day one.

We should have had counselors and psychologists on the ground to help this hurting community, and we haven't.

So, the resources that should have been in the community have not been there, the lack of communication starts from the top, from the governor on down.

CUOMO: Well, we're reaching out to the prosecutor's office because you know, by implication, the prosecutor in situations like this is kind of the counsel not just for the state bringing action but for the victim's family.

You hear prosecutors talking about how they consulted with the family what they want and what they'll pursue, so that is certainly unusual. That's one kind of leadership. Now we get to the political form of leadership with the governor. As you know, I've called him out before wondering where your leaders are in terms of being in Ferguson when they're needed. But what is wrong with what he's saying about how we will keep the

peace, we will have the National Guard if we need them, we will be ready?

CHAPPELLE-NADAL: Well, I do want to give the governor just a little bit of credit. He finally acknowledged that the First Amendment right is necessary and should be acknowledged. That's a huge achievement for him in his speech. What he is lacking is why people are protesting.

Obviously, we know that the agitators are not welcome in St. Louis or in Ferguson, but for the people who I have been with, those who have been protesting, he needs to understand why we are protesting, and for him to really focus on all of the armory and weaponry that is here in St. Louis and at the airport and all the pictures that we have seen of vehicles and Apache helicopters as well as drones -- I mean, that's what he's focusing on but he's not focusing why are thousands of people in St. Louis angry.

CUOMO: Right.

CHAPPELLE-NADAL: He has not addressed that and it's one of the failures in his administration at this point.

CUOMO: And you're in the same party, isn't' that right?

CHAPPELLE-NADAL: We are.

CUOMO: It's unusual. But what I'm saying is this, is it an either/or proposition or is it a both? You have to have sensitivity to the community. You have to be present. You have to work on the problems or they won't go away but you must also prepare for what we saw the last time, because the cops there, as you know, were not ready right away. And that creates instability, that creates danger.

You need both in place, don't you?

CHAPPELLE-NADAL: You know, you're absolutely right. And I have to tell you that law enforcement has also come a long way from the very beginning. In fact, the Department of Justice has offered some training classes for a couple of days, that's very good.

And it's also indicative that there were some problems that occurred, including me being tear gassed for three hours on the third day of this entire movement. But I have to tell you that when the world discovered that our human rights were taken away, that's when people started addressing the issue. Some later than others, but what we have to focus on is a balance between our exercising our First Amendment rights and also what is most important and if the governor does not realize --

CUOMO: We lost the senator's shot there, obviously. Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal. She was making the point the governor has to understand why people are angry in Missouri and not just what to do about it once the anger boils over.

We will be back in contact with her to be sure. That's the story there from right now.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK. Chris, thanks so much.

Meanwhile, Mexico is looking like a war zone and protesters and police are clashing. A government building has been torched. Demonstrators are demanding answers today about what happened to those dozens of missing students.

And, are you thinking about going to college? Well, save a lot of cash or you could just find a job after school and make a lot of money. That's the advice from one of America's millionaires. Is he right? We'll debate that.

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CAMEROTA: Outrage in Mexico this morning as protesters demand answers about the abduction of 43 students. Demonstrators are not backing down. They're hurling rocks and fireworks at police who are responding with rubber bullets.

CNN's Rosa Flores has more for us from Mexico.

Good morning, Rosa. Tell us, are the protests growing there this morning?