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New Day

North Korea Claims It Has Tested a Hydrogen Bomb; Trump: Cruz's Citizenship Could Be a 'Big Problem'; Tearful Obama Outlines Plan to Fight Gun Violence. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired January 06, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: North Korea says it exploded a hydrogen bomb.

[05:58:42] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A major jump in nuclear escalation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An enhanced nuclear capability has been a central theme of Kim Jong-un's rule.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the last 15 years, North Korea is the only country in the world that has continued to push forward with these nuclear tests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you suggesting or questioning his birth right, his citizenship?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just know that it's being questioned all over.

He says we're going to build a wall. But here's the good thing. He's a politician, so he wouldn't know where to start.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With all good respect, our good friends in the media are playing into the Democrats' playbook.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under the president's new executive actions, a warning to nearly all gun sellers to conduct background checks.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am very proud of President Obama's announcement.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If he's serious about gun violence, he will focus on gun violence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news. CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

We begin with breaking news. North Korea announcing it has conducted the first successful test of a hydrogen bomb. That would be the first time that happened. The reclusive nation saying this was an act of self-defense. Are they telling the truth? The 5.1 magnitude seismic event has experts unsure.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: If North Korea's claim is true, it would be a significant step in their nuclear capability, the H-bomb test drawing swift condemnation from the world.

The U.N. Security Council set to hold an emergency meeting in just hours. We have this story covered the way only CNN can.

Let's begin with Paula Hancocks, live in Seoul, South Korea, with all of the breaking details -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, this is almost a carbon copy of what we saw at the last nuclear test back in 2013. We had the seismic activity detected at the same area in the northeastern part of the country. There was then the speculation and then the confirmation from North Korea.

The difference this time, they say it was a hydrogen bomb, although many experts here in South Korea and officials are casting doubt on that claim.

Now, what we know, it was the same area, just very close to the Chinese border and the force of this seismic activity, actually caused tremors on the Chinese side of that border in pictures. You can see the shake just to show how significant it was.

Now, this is not the first time North Korea has done this. This is No. 4 when it comes to nuclear tests. They did one back in 2013. That also was under Kim Jong-un, the current leader, at a time of heightened tensions. There was one in 2009 and also 2006 under his father, Kim Jong-Il. Back in 2003 was when they first said, "We have nuclear power and the capability."

We do understand that North Korea was blaming the U.S. for this. They've used the U.S. as justification for these tests in the past. KCNA, the state-run media, saying, quote, "This test is a measure for self-defense the DPRK has taken to firmly protect the sovereignty of the country and vital right of the nation from the ever-growing nuclear threat and blackmail by the U.S.-led hostile forces and to reliably safeguard the peace on the Korean Peninsula and regional security."

So blaming the U.S. They have done that before. They are likely to do it once again.

They also issued a photo of Kim Jong-un actually signing the order for this test back on January 3. And it was a handwritten note on this order, believed to have been written by him. It says, "For the victorious and glorious year of 2016, when the seventh convention of the Workers Party will be held. Make the world look up to a strong nuclear country and labor party by opening the year with exciting noise of the first hydrogen bomb."

So clearly Pyongyang very pleased with itself. But of course, there are questions. Was it actually an H-bomb?

Back to you, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, those questions remain. All right. Thanks so much for that, Paula.

Meanwhile, that apparent hydrogen bomb test is drawing, as you can anticipate, both strong condemnation and skepticism around the world. Our Will Ripley, who has travelled to North Korea some five times in the last year and a half. He's live in Beijing with that part of the story for us -- Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, the impression I got from speaking to officials in Pyongyang, they are hoping their nuclear program and perhaps this latest nuclear test will be some sort of a bargaining chip to force the international community to sit down with the North Korean regime led by Kim Jong-un and have a discussion about lifting economic sanctions and other restrictions on the country that have been in place for many years.

But the U.S. State Department and spokesman John Kirby blasting the actions, this apparent test that North Korea claims is an H-bomb, saying, quote, "While we cannot confirm these claims at this time, we condemn any violation of United National Security Council resolutions and again call on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and commitments."

The number of countries condemning North Korea continues to grow this morning. Look at the list: the United States, South Korea, Japan, China, France, the U.K., Russia, and also the International Atomic Energy Agency blasting the actions of the North Korean regime.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe just coming out with a statement a short time ago, saying, quote, "North Korea's nuclear threat is a serious threat to our nation's security and absolutely cannot be tolerated. We strongly denounce it." Japan sent planes into the air to test for radioactive activity.

The Chinese government is also testing for radiation along its border. This test conducted close to the Chinese border, 5.1 magnitude earthquake. Schools were evacuated, and just hours from now, the United Nations Security Council will be holding an emergency closed-door session requested by the U.S. and Japan to discuss what action the international community will take next -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Will, we'll check back in with you throughout the program. Thank you for that.

Here with us, Gordon Chang. He's the author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World." He's also a Forbes.com columnist. Gordon, great to have you here.

Do you believe North Korea's claim that they've tested a hydrogen bomb?

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN": No, I don't. The initial report is that the yield of this was about 6 kilotons, about the same that they had in their 2013 detonation. Now they may have put a hydrogen isotope in this weapon to boost its capability. But nonetheless, I don't think so.

But I'm actually more worried. Because probably what they did was they actually improved a warhead, made it smaller, and that means they can put it on their KN-08 missile which can actually hit the West Coast of the United States. So this is more of an immediate threat if it, indeed, was an atomic explosion rather than an H-bomb.

[06:05:12] CAMEROTA: So in other words, you're saying it doesn't really matter whether they have a hydrogen bomb. We're still at risk here?

CHANG: At this point, they don't have a delivery vehicle for a thermonuclear device unless you want to put it on a pickup truck. But apart from that, they do have a vehicle for a smaller weapon. And that's the thing that concerns us at this particular moment.

CAMEROTA: How will the U.S. confirm whether or not this was a hydrogen bomb?

CHANG: We send up sniffer planes to look for radio activity. We did in in 2013, and we were unsuccessful, because then we wanted to find out whether it was a plutonium core or a uranium one. We weren't able to do that, because the North Koreans dug it really deep into the earth.

This one was probably detonated 10 kilometers below the surface of the earth. We may not be able to figure out what the radioactivity is. That's a problem for us.

CAMEROTA: Did this test come as a surprise to the U.S.?

CHANG: I don't think so. Because we know the North Koreans have to test all the time anyway. They've got -- you know, they're selling this stuff to the Iranians. And that's an issue, of course. And the Iranians want to know whether this stuff actually works. The North Koreans need to validate their designs. So they were going to test at some point. The last test was 2013, a long time ago.

CAMEROTA: Kim Jong-un warned that this would be happening three weeks ago. Let me tell you the note that he put out.

"For the victorious and glorious year of 2016 when the seventh convention of the Workers Party will be held, make the world look up to our strong nuclear country and labor party by opening the year with exciting noise of the first hydrogen bomb."

So do we take these -- when he says things like this, the world community takes it seriously?

CHANG: Well, we take it seriously, because even if they don't have an H-bomb today, they'll have one three or four years down the road. You know, they sometimes accelerate the claims, but we also know that they are continually working, not only on this but also on their long-range missiles. So we should take their threats seriously.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's why this National Security Council statement is a little curious. They put this out yesterday: "North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, and until today has done so twice since. But we have consistently made clear that we will not accept it as a nuclear state. We will continue to protect and defend our allies in the region, including the Republic of Korea. And we will respond appropriately to any and all North Korean provocations."

We don't accept it as a nuclear state. I mean, that's like me saying, "I don't accept that you're wearing glasses, but you're wearing glasses."

CHANG: I'm wearing glasses, right. And clearly, the United States hasn't had a policy for a very long time on North Korea. And we need to have one because they sell this stuff around the world.

And you know, we just had a nuclear deal with Iran. But the problem is that we have Iranian technicians in North Korea. They've been on site for the first three tests. They probably were there for this fourth test. And that means the agreement that we have with Iran probably isn't worth very much, because while we're inspecting them near Tehran, their technicians are in North Korea.

CAMEROTA: That is complicated, I mean, particularly given everything that's happening with Saudi Arabia and Syria and all of these sort of shifting alliances and Iran, you know, partnering with North Korea. What is the U.S. to do?

CHANG: Well, I think the first thing we need to do is re-examine the Iran deal. But we've also got to stop North Korea from selling this stuff in the first instance. And we have not taken effective measures to do that because of a number of reasons.

We need to have a North Korea policy. We haven't had one for a long time. And until we do, the North Koreans are going to proliferate this around the world.

CAMEROTA: You know, North Korea is famous for launching these provocative attacks when they want attention of some kind.

CHANG: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Kim Jong-un's birthday is two days from now. No idea if that's connected. What is -- is there a feeling in North Korea that Syria has been getting all the attention or that they've somehow been disrespected on the world stage?

CHANG: I think there's a certain amount of that, and we saw that in Pyongyang's statement.

But the most important thing is that Kim Jong-un wants to solidify his position in the regime. He's shaky. He's killed about 120 senior officials since he took over in 2011. That's a sign of continuing instability inside the ruling group. This is very good politics for him to detonate a device. And that's why I think that they sort of hyped it, because what they're trying to do is say to, first of all, the regime, "Look, Kim Jong-un is strong. He's continuing policies of his father and grandfather."

And they also want to bolster the position of the regime with regard to the North Korean people, because the economy right now is not that good.

CAMEROTA: Gordon Chang, it's always great to have you here and to get your expertise. Thanks so much for walking us through all that.

CHANG: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Chris.

CUOMO: All right. In the category of dangerous, even if false allegations, we have a familiar and frivolous tactic back in presidential politics.

You remember the birther speculation about President Obama that revealed nothing? Well, even Donald Trump won't talk about his efforts there anymore.

But he is bringing up the same question now about Senator Ted Cruz, specifically the fact the Texas-born senator was actually not born in Texas but in Canada. Trump is now saying the fact that Cruz was born in Canada could hurt the party's chances of winning the White House.

[06:10:03] CNN's Athena Jones is live in Washington with more.

Athena, you know, we heard early on when Senator Cruz was running, this question came up. Waves of lawyers came out, making what is clear under the Constitution and all the case law since then, that this is not an issue, but here we are.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Exactly. This seem like settled law, but it hasn't been actually challenged in court. And so those days when Trump was holding his fire against Ted Cruz are clearly long gone. Now that the Texas senator is leading the polls in Iowa, Trump is doing all he can to raise doubts about him. And this is one way he's doing so.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I don't know what it all means. I know that other people are talking about it.

JONES (voice-over): Donald Trump deflecting last night in New Hampshire. The frontrunner saying Republican rival Ted Cruz's natural-born citizenship is a question that only other people are asking. TRUMP: People are worried that, if he weren't born in this

country, which he wasn't -- he was born in Canada -- and he actually had a Canadian passport along with a U.S. passport.

JONES: Trump said, in an earlier interview with the "Washington Post," that Cruz being born in Canada could be very precarious for the GOP, asking Republican voters to think twice, saying, "Do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years? That would be a big problem."

Trump hinting Democrats could take Cruz to court, because the Constitution requires the president to be a natural-born citizen. The junior senator was granted citizenship by birth, since his mother was an American citizen. But what constitutes natural-born for a president has never been tested in court.

CRUZ: I think I'm going to let my response stick with that tweet.

JONES: Cruz responded with this metaphorical tweet, linking to Fonzie from "Happy Days" jumping a shark.

CRUZ: The best way to respond to this kind of attack is to laugh it on and to move on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mockery.

CRUZ: To the issues that matter.

JONES: Meanwhile, Trump's campaign rallies continue to be packed with controversy. A supporter shouting, "President Obama's a Muslim" last night.

TRUMP: What did you say? I didn't hear it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Muslim!

TRUMP: OK. I didn't say it.

JONES: The billionaire pretending to be outraged.

TRUMP: I'm supposed to reprimand the man. Who is the man that said that? I have to reprimand. How dare you? OK. Have I reprimanded? I'm admonishing you for the press.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Pretty sarcastic response there from Trump.

And done more thing about the Cruz question. It's important to remind the audience that Trump has been on both sides of this issue. Four months ago he tweeted, "I hear it was checked out by every attorney and every which way. And I understand Ted is in fine shape."

Now, Trump also took aim last night at the Clintons in his interview with NH-1. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a week you had been talking about Bill Clinton, his past sexual infidelities. And then maybe the media made too much of it. But there was no mention of it last night.

TRUMP: I wanted to give it all a break. I mean, I brought it up, and it was something that I think had to be said, because they were saying lots of things about other people, including myself in terms of sexist.

And I will say there's nobody that has more respect for women than I do. Nobody. And nobody's going to do more for women than I do. And that includes Hillary Clinton.

And I'm going to do something for everybody. I'm going to make our country great, but I'm going to make our country safe. And nobody's going to be able to do that like I will do it. And Hillary Clinton wouldn't know where to start, and she doesn't know where to start. I mean, she actually gave us ISIS, if you think about it, with her very dumb policies.

So, you know, so I brought it up. They certainly haven't said anything. I was mentioned nine times during their debate. And now that I'm mentioning. Perhaps what I did served good purpose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: All right. We'll obviously have more on this coming up. Our thanks to Athena for that reporting.

Meanwhile, strong reaction this morning to President Obama's emotional speech outlining his executive action aimed at limiting gun violence. The president will speak more about his plan tomorrow night in an exclusive town hall event right here live on CNN.

CNN's White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski, though, live with the latest for us this morning -- Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michaela.

Right, this was emotional. I mean, the last time we saw something similar was three years ago when the president spoke after the Sandy Hook massacre in a Connecticut elementary school.

But he walks into this room packed with gun-control advocates, victims, their families. Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords was there. The person who introduced the president was a dad whose 7- year-old son was killed at Sandy Hook. So when President Obama started talking about believing in the Second Amendment but also believing in Americans' rights to assemble and have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without getting shot, that's when his emotion flowed, talking about these victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: These families who never imagined their loved one would

be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun. Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:15:18] KOSINSKI: The White House is seeing the president's words as a call to, as they're putting it, more passion among people who feel the same way, urging them to vote their minds and influence leaders -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Michelle, thanks so much.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow night as President Obama joins Anderson Cooper for that exclusive live town-hall event on guns in America. The president will discuss his executive action on guns and will take live questions from a live studio audience. Once again, a town hall on guns in America with President Obama moderated by Anderson Cooper, tomorrow night, 8 p.m. here on CNN.

CAMEROTA: OK. So the birther debate coming back to the campaign trail as you heard, this time Donald Trump targeting Ted Cruz, not Barack Obama. We'll take a closer look at this when NEW DAY continues. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right. Yes, yes, here we go again. The so-called birther debate happened with President Obama: where was he born, what's the short-form birth certificate thing in Hawaii? All put to rest. Donald Trump won't even address it anymore.

[06:20:06] But now he is bringing up this same issue with Republican rival Senator Ted Cruz, suggesting that he's not saying it, but others are saying that Senator Cruz being born in Canada could be a problem.

Let's discuss. CNN political analyst and editor in chief of "The Daily Beast," John Avlon; and CNN political commentator, former Reagan White House political director and Donald Trump supporter, Geoffrey Lord.

Take that smile off your face, Professor Lord, this morning. You know that the...

GEOFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I can't resist.

CUOMO: Good to see you, Jeffrey, as always. You know it went nowhere with President Obama. Yes, there was a little bit of this intrigue about the birth certificate, different forms early on. But it went nowhere. It should have gone nowhere. It's good that it went nowhere.

Now we're seeing it again with Senator Cruz. Your man, Donald Trump, is saying, "I'm not saying it, but it's out there." Doesn't seem to be fair play going on. Do you think this should be dispensed with at once?

LORD: Well, first of all, there are people out there. Congressman Alan Grayson, a Democrat from Florida, just this past November promised that if Ted Cruz were nominated, he personally would file what he called a, quote, unquote, "beautiful lawsuit," saying that Ted Cruz was not qualified to be president.

So all Trump is saying here is, this is fact. Somebody said somebody is going to do this and somebody has already promised. A member of Congress and a Democrat, he's promised to do it. So it's a fact.

CAMEROTA: OK. Should we be basing policy on Grayson and things that he says, which are known to be provocative?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No. This is the first time -- to hear Geoffrey Lord sort of accept the trolling by Alan Grayson as an article of faith and to not denounce it on its face sort of feeds the fundamental problem here.

And let's not forget: This is Donald Trump returning to his roots, folks. In 2012 when he flirted with running to the presidency, he was basically running on a birther ticket. And that was all he kept stirring up. This was the same role Grayson allegedly wants to play with Ted Cruz that Donald Trump played the first time around.

So let's get real about the insinuation and, of course, the delicious irony here is that while 51 percent of Republicans at one point doubted whether President Obama was born in the United States and was eligible to be president. That's an important reality check.

You know, the scenario they fantasized about, on the face of it, would be what happened with Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada. However, given that his parents were American, given case law going back to George Romney and others, it's irrelevant, folks. So give up the ghost.

LORD: Well, all he's doing here is answering a question and saying that somebody would do this. That is a fact. Ted Cruz is qualified to be president of the United States.

AVLON: Great. So that's -- we're on the record there.

LORD: This is ridiculous.

AVLON: OK. Good.

CUOMO: But why feed this kind of -- you know, why fuel this kind of thing, Geoffrey? That's what it gets into. Even at the event the other night, this guy says, "Obama's a Muslim." Ordinarily that's somebody that you shut down.

He says, "Oh, who did you say?" Donald Trump plays with the guy, saying, "I'm admonishing you for the press."

Why feed that? Why have that be your brand of leadership when you have such a decent shot at getting the nomination?

LORD: Chris, Chris, all he's doing here -- you know, this interview that he gave to the "Washington Post" in which he was asked by "The Washington Post," he said this almost a year ago on a local FOX station. And it was recorded by CNN and the CNN reporter, which I read last night, Jeremy Diamond, said back in March that, while this was not likely, that Trump's legal situation here on this was mistaken, according to him, he did say that this was probably going to happen. So there's nothing new here.

CAMEROTA: Meaning in terms of the challenge.

LORD: This is the media making a big deal out of nothing.

CAMEROTA: It's also giving Ted Cruz an opportunity to have a little fun with this. He tweeted out...

LORD: Right.

CAMEROTA: "My response to Donald Trump, calling into question my natural-born citizenship." And here once again is his response.

CUOMO: Just because we love "Happy Days."

CAMEROTA: Bring on the Fonz. Watch this.

CUOMO: Does the leather get wet?

CAMEROTA: Hold on.

CUOMO: No, we don't have the video. It must cost too much.

AVLON: He's right.

CAMEROTA: It was the jump the shark moment where Fonzie is still in his leather jacket.

AVLON: And I've got to say, the Cruz campaign has done an excellent job of playing social media. Given that their candidate is not exactly the most contemporary cat in the world, they've played social media very well.

CUOMO: Is it fair for the haters coming out talking about turn about it fair play, "How do you like it now, Ted Cruz?" How far in front of the birther thing about Obama was Senator Ted Cruz? I remember him not shutting it down, but that wasn't his baby, was it?

AVLON: Not that I recall, in terms of something he really incubated. But again, part of the problem of candidates not denouncing this stuff on the face of it, as we saw John McCain did in 2008 but too many candidates incubate it and they encourage it. Why? Because it's too much of a percentage of what they perceive as the conservative populist base.

[06:25:05] And so there are going to be folks, you know, wingnuts on the left like Alan Grayson, who try to pick it up, for reasons of irony, for reasons -- but that's even more reason to denounce it to be consistent. Because this kind of bile that infects our politics, you have to denounce it on both sides.

CAMEROTA: Geoffrey, the larger issue is that Donald Trump does go after people when he feels threatened by them or that they're encroaching on his lead. And that's what is happening with Ted Cruz. Certainly in Iowa, Ted Cruz is winning right now. So what does Donald Trump think is going to happen in Iowa?

LORD: You know, I think he thinks he's going to do well in Iowa. I mean, look, this is nothing new in terms of presidential candidates going after one another in primary situations.

Back in 2008, you had Bill Clinton saying that the Obama campaign was playing the race card on it. I mean, candidates in primaries do this. This is what they do. It's like watching grass grow. Of course it's going to happen.

CUOMO: All right. Geoffrey Lord, I'm happy you said that. My -- Mama Cuomo helped me out the other night. The man over your shoulder, Ronald Reagan, I sat next to him when I was a young boy at a dinner.

LORD: Me, too.

CUOMO: Well, you sat next to him. And he signed a nice thing for me then. And he told my mother something that she reminded me about. She saw the picture of you. She was like is that Ronald Reagan's son? That's who she thought you were.

I said, "No, not exactly. More Donald Trump's son."

And that he had said, "Politics should always be about class." And that was one of the things that he had said he liked about my father. The man over your shoulder would not have brought up something like this about Senator Ted Cruz. He would not have let somebody call the president of the United States a Muslim and just laugh it off. He wouldn't have done that.

LORD: You know, Chris, what we're seeing here is, with all due respect as Ted Cruz himself said in a clip you showed this morning, the media making a big deal of this. This isn't Donald Trump making a big deal of it.

CUOMO: He brought it up.

LORD: It is the media making a big deal of it.

CUOMO: He brought it up, Jeffrey. We wouldn't have brought it up. We're bringing it up to condemn it, not bringing it up to feed it.

LORD: This was in response to a question from "The Washington Post."

AVLON: Let's stop screwing around here, Geffrey. Look, trying to blame the media for this, saying he's just answering questions.

LORD: Ted Cruz said it's the media.

AVLON: Blaming the media is the single most convenient, base- approved technique in this campaign that's intentionally trolling. Let's be real about that. Because what Donald Trump did was...

CAMEROTA: Hold on, Geoffrey.

AVLON: ... say, "He's a really nice guy. It would be an awful shame if anything happened to his candidacy or his presidency." I mean, that's exactly what he said. So have enough respect for his candidate. He knew exactly what he was doing.

CAMEROTA: All right, guys. We have to leave it there. Geoffrey, John, thank you for the spirited debate, as always. We appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

CUOMO: The man over your shoulder is shaking his head, Geoffrey Lord. Shaking his head.

CAMEROTA: In the picture.

CUOMO: All right. So will Trump's birther questions or responses to questions, depending on how you choose to see this, will they really matter to Senator Ted Cruz? Tweet us, NEW DAY or post your comment on Facebook.com/NewDay -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right. The divide keeps widening between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis now hitting the Iranians where it hurts the most" in the wallet. Is a regional war about to break out? Can the U.S. do anything to stop it? We'll discuss that, ahead.

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