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New Day

Bahrain, Kuwait, Sudan & UAE Back Saudi Arabia; Armed Activists Refuse to Leave Federal Building; U.S. Stock Futures Down After Global Selloff; Obama Taking Executive Action on Gun Control. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired January 05, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:08] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY.

Critics are already slamming President Obama's executive actions on gun control hours before the plan is even revealed. Later this morning, the president will call for expanded background checks on many firearm sales, as well as beefed up funding to enforce the nation's gun laws and for mental health programs.

Donald Trump was on NEW DAY yesterday telling us, quote, "Pretty soon, you won't be able to get guns."

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran is not easing up. Kuwait is now joining other Saudi allies and taking action recalling its ambassador to Iran as Iran's president speaks out.

CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, live for us now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

What do we know from there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris, escalation of the tensions going -- continuing to go up. The Saudis have cut flights to Tehran now as well. They're cutting economic ties. They say that pilgrims, religious pilgrims can still come to Saudi Arabia to go to Mecca, tens of thousands come from Iran every month to Saudi Arabia.

But now, we're hearing that Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait the latest, Bahrain as well, all of those countries cutting their diplomatic ties with Iran. It is a time, the Saudis believe, for their friends in the region to stand up and support them. Saudis here, I've been talking to officials today. It comes as no surprise they executed this Shia cleric, al Nimr.

The Saudis see him as someone who is fermenting terrorism in this country. He was executed, along with 47 other terrorists over the weekend. So, they're taking a very hard line position here. It's really an indication of the tensions with Iran at the moment.

The Saudis feel they've got Iran on their southern border in Yemen. They have Iran on their northern border with Iraq and Syria beyond that. They feel penned in and penned in by Iranian influence.

The Saudis are saying they can bring down the diplomatic tension but only if the Iranians get out of meddling inside Saudi internal affairs. And speaking with government officials today, this is something they feel really deeply here, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We can imagine, Nic. And we'll be talking to analyst about this throughout our program. Thank your for that.

Well, Volkswagen feeling heat this morning over that emissions scandal. The Justice Department filing a civil suit in Detroit, accusing VW of implanting software in more than half a million cars, enabling them to pass U.S. emissions tests. VW admits placing devices in 11 million vehicles worldwide last year. The automaker could pay $18 billion in fines if the government gets its way.

PEREIRA: Viewers of that Netflix docu-series "Making a Murderer", they want to see the show's real-life protagonist freed. Two petitions calling for Stevie Avery to get a presidential pardon have now racked up nearly 200,000 signatures. One was sent to the White House, the other posted on change.org.

Avery served 18 years for a crime he did not commit. After suing for a wrongful conviction, he was arrested of a different crime and found guilty of murder. Petitioners believe Avery was treated unconstitutionally. It's interesting.

CUOMO: Are you guys watching?

PEREIRA: I haven't but I'm going to.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: It's terrible when the kid dies at the end of it. There's nothing like that.

I love doing that to them, boy, because they take the serial watching way too seriously. But the interesting thing about it is, it's very complex. You keep thinking you'll feel a certain way around it. Oh, I get it, I get it.

PEREIRA: It's not black and white, is it?

CUOMO: No.

PEREIRA: A lot of gray area.

CUOMO: And the kid, they happen --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PEREIRA: See, we can't with you.

CUOMO: More news.

A warning for armed militia members occupying a federal building in Oregon: Your time is up. The local sheriff says, go home.

[06:35:00] The protesters say, no. What happens next?

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CAMEROTA: Time is up. That's the message from an Oregon sheriff to the armed activist occupying a federal wildlife refuge in his state.

Let's go live to CNN's Paul Vercammen. He is in Burns, Oregon, with the latest for us.

What have you learned, Paul?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, here in this remote outpost, the Malheur refuge, we were able to take a brief tour. And about demonstrators showed us they had no weapons, they had peaceful intentions. We haven't seen them brandish any weapons certainly.

But on the other side, the towns people are starting to get frustrated. Schools have been closed because of this incident and yesterday, the sheriff sounded off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF DAVID WARD, HARNEY COUNTY, OREGON: You said you were here to help the citizens of Harney County. That help ended when a peaceful protest became an armed occupation. The Hammonds have turned themselves in. It's time for you to leave our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: The sheriff was alluding to the Hammonds. That's the father and son ranchers who began serving out the rest of an arson sentence. Now, the leader of the group here, that is Ammon Bundy, he tweeted overnight that the protest will end when the Hammonds are freed and the federal government gives up control of the Malheur national forest.

And in town, as we said, there are frustrations, one man calling the standoff -- that's not really a standoff because there are no law enforcement officers here -- he said this is just plain weird -- Chris.

CUOMO: Paul, good way to put it. Thank you very much. Stay warm.

Joining us now is CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem.

Juliette, let's pick up with what Paul was just saying here. It is weird.

[06:40:00] There is no armed standoff because the cops are nowhere to be found. You worked at homeland security. Why such a lax response to armed people overtaking federal property?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the long- term strategy is to avoid death or violence or any sort of violent standoff between law enforcement and these men who have barricaded themselves.

So, what you're going to see over the course of time is the slow ratcheting up to raise the temperature against them but to make sure that nothing is done that would trigger a reaction by them.

So, I know it seems very weird, but this is actually the right strategy. Time is on law enforcement's side. These guys are isolated. They're going to run out of food. They're tweeting to get some snacks.

I mean, these guys did not have a long-term plan and law enforcement has a lot of time.

CUOMO: All right. Now, I know that they're in a remote area. I know they're not threatening the general populace, they're not destroying buildings or looting or anything like that. But you know where I'm headed with this.

There is criticism if this was a bunch of brown skinned people with guns that had taken over a piece of property, there would have been a very response from authorities. Is that fair?

KAYYEM: I think it's a fair criticism at least in terms of perception. I want to be clear here, even though I'm recommending patience, time, don't bring this to a conflict, I do view these men as domestic terrorists.

They satisfy almost -- they satisfy the legal definition. They are using a force or the threat of force. They are depriving others of the benefit of a federal right that is visiting the site, they are closing down school districts.

I think they are, you know, a threat and yet, because they are isolated, because this is a rural area and because there appears to be no imminent threat or bodily harm to civilians or children, compare this to Waco or other cases, this patience is essentially what we need right now.

CUOMO: What happens next?

KAYYEM: I think you're just going to see a continuing talk by law enforcement, sort of ratcheting up. I think a divide and conquer strategy is very smart -- in other words, there are presumably a couple dozen men in there, start to offer plea arrangements to some of them that won't face felony convictions, get them out of there, try to lower the size of the men in there.

But, look, these standoffs can last weeks sometimes. But all we need to do is realize that they have isolated themselves, as long as they do not pose a threat, wait it out. You do not want to term them into martyrs by going in too strong.

CUOMO: Now, what about the flip side, by not going in quickly, which is obviously been the M.O. here, which you explained to us, you encourage others to do this when they're upset about something in armed fashion.

KAYYEM: That is a short-term challenge for the federal government. It needs to win this battle because what these men are doing is absolutely outrageous. I do not understand people, you know, trying to defend what they're doing or saying, oh, they're in an isolated area, they're not a harm to anyone.

This is serious. They have taken over a federal building. Slice and dice it any way you want. But if it ends in violence or they become martyrs, you are much more likely to trigger future sort of radical domestic terrorists.

We saw this with Waco. Remember, the Tim McVeigh and his gang became radicalized after the siege ended so badly in Waco and started planning their attacks against the Oklahoma bombing in Oklahoma City.

CUOMO: Right, not as extreme but just as relevant. We dealt with the Bundy situation before. They weren't exactly hospitable to the authorities when they came there. There were guns pointed at law enforcement.

Juliette Kayyem, thank you very much. We'll still with you as we see the next moves, you can explain the strategy to us. Appreciate it and happy New Year.

Mick?

PEREIRA: So, Chris, as you probably notice, the world financial markets are in a tumble. The stock market dove into the New Year. What's behind all of this? What does it mean for you and your money? We'll take a look.

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[06:47:59] PEREIRA: Right now, U.S. stocks are pointing down after a volatile day on Wall Street. On Monday, the Dow briefly went below the 17,000 level for the first time since October, eventually falling some 276 points. Concerns about China's economy sparking global jitters.

Here to answer all of our questions, our chief business correspondent Christine Romans who you've said when China sneezes, America gets a cold.

Why does China pose such a huge threat to U.S. stocks?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is the second largest economy in the world. It's not necessarily it's a threat. It's just a fact of life that these two economies, the United States and China are closely tied.

China's growth has been slowing and how quickly and dangerously it's slowing is something the markets have been trying to get a hold of. We had a really big sell-off in August, remember? And the market recovered. Now it feels like those bad old days of August are back.

PEREIRA: So, what does it mean for our 401(k)s. What do we do at home?

ROMANS: I always tell people when you have a move in the market, it's not the time to be adjusting your 401(k).

PEREIRA: Hang tight.

ROMANS: In general, find your login and call and look to see how much you have in there.

PEREIRA: Right.

ROMANS: Rebalance it for your age. If you're close to retirement, you should not be 100 percent in stocks. If you're young, you should be almost all in stocks.

Diversify your investment so that you have the right mix. Wherever your 401(k), whatever company it's through, it will have a lot of resources. Just don't close your eyes, take a couple of times every year, once every quarter at best to take a look at what you have.

PEREIRA: OK, for today, should we open our eyes?

ROMANS: Open your eyes. I don't see a rebound right now.

PEREIRA: Long term?

ROMANS: Long term, stocks generally rise. Right now we have a couple things to get through. One of those is the Fed raising interest rates, one of those is China -- slowing growth in China, and just real concerns about growth in general around the rest of the world. You'll hear probably strong auto sales, maybe a strong jobs report. The U.S. OK, the rest of the world people still concerned about.

PEREIRA: Thank you for that because I was panicking a little bit. When you get here, you make me feel so much better.

ROMANS: Don't panic.

PEREIRA: I appreciate it. Christine Romans --

ROMANS: If you sell stocks after a big sell-off, you usually use.

PEREIRA: Good point. All right. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: President Obama set to spell out details of his executive action on guns.

[06:50:01] The move generating lot of debate. So, we'll hear from both sides, next.

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CAMEROTA: This morning, President Obama will lay out a series of exclusive actions aimed at curbing gun violence in the U.S. But with Americans divided on the issue of gun control, the plan already being met with split opinions.

Joining us now to debate it is the president of the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, Dan Gross, and the executive director of Gun Owners of America, Larry Pratt.

Gentlemen, thanks to both of you for being here.

Dan, let me start with you. How big of a deal is what President Obama is doing today because we've heard from other analysts who say he's really just clarifying existing policy.

DAN GROSS, PRESIDENT, BRADY CAMPAIGN TO END GUN VIOLNECE: Yes, isn't it interesting that all he's doing is clarifying existing policy yet it is a huge deal. It's historic. It's the biggest thing that's happened on a national level on this issue since the Brady law was passed in 1994.

It passed in '93, implemented in 1994 because it expands those life-saving background checks to people who are doing business in this country every day as gun retailers but just aren't subject to the same requirements where they need to do background checks.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, Larry, it is expanding the so-called restrictions on the gun show loophole and Internet sales. There are polls that suggest that 89 percent of Americans believe, support closing those loopholes. So, what's your issue with this?

LARRY PRATT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA: Well, there's hardly any of the guns that end up in crime that are traced back to gun shows. That's the federal government's own data.

So, we're addressing something that doesn't really go after the problem.

[06:55:03] If the government and if the folks that are clamoring for change in this area really wanted to make a change, rather than going after a loophole that's not really there, they might take a look at where most of the tragedies have occurred with public shootings and mass murders. They've been in gun-free zones. All but two of these horrible episodes have occurred in these gun-free zones since 1950.

Congress needs to get busy and get rid of those.

CAMEROTA: OK, Dan, you want to tackle that? Gun-free zones don't appear to be working.

GROSS: No, that's not what we're here to talk about. I mean, the reality is that gun-free zones has nothing to do with the problem we have in our country with gun violence.

The problem is too many guns wind up in the hands of people who intend on doing harm. People who we all agree shouldn't have guns, convicted felons, domestic abusers, the dangerously mentally ill. And there are things, effective things we can do to keep guns out of those hands.

The most effective thing is Brady background checks. Brady background checks have blocked 2.4 million sales to those prohibitive purchasers, domestic abusers, dangerously mentally ill.

The problem is, every single day in our country, there are thousands of gun sales that aren't subject to Brady background checks. So, anybody who is against, people who are in the business of selling guns, not doing Brady background checks has an interest other than the best interest of the safety of the American people.

And, of course, they want to talk about everything other than background checks because background checks work. And, you know, these people who aren't representing the safety of the American people, I mean, it's interesting that Mr. Pratt represents an organization called Gun Owners of America -- more than 80 percent of gun owners support expanding Brady background checks to all gun owners.

CAMEROTA: OK.

GROSS: So, you know, we're not talking about when we're talking about gun free zone, the best interest of the American public. We are talking about the best interest of the American public when we're talking about expanding these life-saving effective Brady background checks.

CAMEROTA: Let's stick with background checks right now, since that is what the president is tackling. What about that impressive figure, that 2.2 million prohibited buyers have been blocked from being able to buy firearms because of background checks? Who could disagree with that?

PRATT: Well, in the last year of record, we had some million plus background checks done and for that trouble, there were 14 prosecutions. This is not a crime-fighting tool. Criminals don't get their guns through lawful means.

And so, the idea that somehow this device is keeping guns out of criminals' hands is to whistle past the graveyard. We need to get rid of the places where these tragedies occur.

And you can't just dispense with the subject, we're not talking about that now. Well, if we're not, we better be talking about what really is the problem. Otherwise, we're specializing in nothing.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Dan, do I want you to address that. This is the argument that we always hear. Criminals don't at bide by any of these laws. It doesn't matter if you clarify existing laws or make new laws, criminals don't abide by them.

GROSS: Listen, you're never going to keep every gun out of the hand of every criminal, you're not going to prevent every tragedy. But you can prevent a heck of a lot of them by keeping the guns out of the hands of people that we all agree shouldn't have them. And that's what backgrounds do effectively. Don't look at prosecutions.

Look at the fact that 2.4 million sales have been blocked. You have to dig really deep to try and come up with some misleading statistic to try and show that background checks don't work because they do. Every day, hundreds of sales, whether they're prosecuted or not, hundreds of sales are blocked. Those are guns that do not wind up in the hands of people we all agree shouldn't have them.

So, again, anybody who argues against background checks really does not have the interest of the American public at heart, does not have our safety at heart, does not have our will at heart. Ninety- three percent of the American public supports expanding Brady background checks. More than 80 percent of gun owners, more than 70 percent of NRA members.

This is not a debate among the American public. We know what's right here.

CAMEROTA: OK.

GROSS: Mr. Pratt really is not representing the interest of the American public with his arguments.

CAMEROTA: Gentlemen, we have to leave it there. We thank you both for the debate. It will be interesting to see what the president says today.

Also, we have a special programming reminder for you. President Obama will join Anderson Cooper for an exclusive live town hall event on guns in America. It will air this Thursday night, 8:00 p.m., only here on CNN.

All right. We'll following a lot of news this morning. So, let's right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Executive actions to combat gun violence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do know that this will involve at least some expansion of background checks.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Entirely consistent with the Second Amendment.

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

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will unsign that so fast.

We don't need four more years of Obama, and that's what you're getting with Hillary. And I believe it might be even worse.