>> presidential actions are expected to come as early as this week. >> more on everything else we've been covering on our website at www.aljazeera.com. >> getting tough on guns. president obama in the line of fire. anand allies of saudi arabia cutting diplomatic ties with iran. and markets in the first trading day of the new year.

>> this is al jazeera live in new york city. i'm del walters. president obama back at the white house today. he says his first order of business will be trying to end gun violence in america. >> we know we can't stop every act of violence, but what if we try to stop even one? what if congress did something, anything to protect our kids from gun violence? >> the president meets with attorney general loretta lynch later today with hopes of getting guns off the streets. he said he's tired of congressional inaction, and that he's ready to use his executive powers to close loopholes in the nation's gun laws. mike viqueira is in washington for us right now. the president is throwing down the gauntlet. >> well, that is exactly the case. del, remember it was this time a year ago when president obama said he was going to use his pen and his phone to go around a congress that has time and time again provided obstacles on his cherished goals and programs. the most frustrating issue and

the president has said this, is his inability to pass gun safety or gun control measures through the congress. he said that in the wake of the shooting in charleston, and after the shooting in oregon just a couple of months ago at the community college. he offered an angry and even visceral lacerating reaction. he vowed to use the executive order that he has promised before, now he's turning his attention to gun safety laws. we do anticipate that after the president meets the attorney general loretta lynch and the fbi director james comey in a couple of hours in the west wing, we'll hear from the president. the associated press reporting that the president is expanding background checks to private sales. del, many sales, perhaps a significant minority of sells there are no background checks because they're considered private sells done at gun shows or over the internet.

many gun safety advocates have been pressing for a tightening of that, forcing more people who sell guns to register as official sellers, making them put their customers through background checks. you already played a sound bite of what the president had to say on this in his weekly internet and radio address. he spoke from hawai'i. here's a little bit more from last saturday. >> i get too many letters from parents and teachers and kids to sit around and do nothing. i get letters from responsible gun owners who grieve with us every time these tragedies happen, who share my believe that the second amendment guarantees to bear arms and share my belief we can protect that right while keeping an irresponsible dangerous few from inflicting harm on a massive scale. >> this is going to be a focus of the president over the course of the next couple of days. he has the state of union on january 12th. and before that this week he has a town hall where the focus is expected to be on guns.

>> and mike, republicans staunchly oppose to any gun legislation. they've been that way for decades. what is their response? >> well, it's somewhat predictable. he said that candidates are out on the trail and denouncing what the president wants to do. donald trump in an interview yesterday doing so as a spokesman for ted cruz calling the president's proposals complete lunacy. the promise to go around congress, paul ryan has a written statement saying: >> however it's unclear what republicans and opponents will be able to do after the president signs the regulation putting this executive action into effect, del. >> mike viqueira for news washington. thank you very much. in da--in san bernardino,

california, employees are going back to work after that shooting a month ago where two open fired during a holiday party. that building has been closed since december when the attack occurred. their neighbor, enrique marquez has been charged on terrorist charges with regard to that attack. allies with saudi arabia will cut relations or limit them with tehran. they have until tomorrow to leave the country after shia protesters stormed the embassy. they were angry over the execution of shia cleric nimr al-nimr. he was accused of terrorism. how concerning is the stand off

between iran and saudi arabia. >> they're heavyweights of the middle east. there is deep concern, and that is why i can tell thought the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon has been on the phones. i understand that he's spoken with iran's phone minister and saudi arabia's foreign minister. and a short time ago that the announcement of a break in iran's saudi relations was in his words deeply worrying. >> and james, is this more of a tit-for-tat between two major power players in the middle east, or is this something that could boil over into something much bigger in the coming days? >> we've already seen violence in iraq. there is real trouble ahead potentially, real tension in the region. and two places particularly to look, two places that were supposed to be in the new year, places of some new hope. that's the wars where so many people are suffering in yemen and in syria. there had been a truce with regard to yemen, that truce had

been broken quite a few times. now that truce is no longer in place. already that's over in the saudi-led military coalition resuming it's military operations. syria, there had been hope there that all sides could be brought together by all the regional and international players with iran and saudi arabia seats around the table to get talks going. but now i can tell you that the special envoy of the u.n. is in the region, he'll be in riyadh in the next few hours and in a few day's time he will be in tehran. he'll now desperately try to get these peace talks back on track. >> james bays, the united nations, james, as always, thank you very much. there is a new internet video that appears to show isil executing five men that they say are british spies. isil accusing the men of gathering intelligence against the group inside syria. in footage the men admitted that they filmed in raaqa.

>> in oregon, the judge told to ranchers to surrender and serve sentences for setting fire to rural land. thethe protesters are led by bundy, the rancher from nevada. >> it's to the point where it is putting them literally in poverty. if we do not do something, if we do not make a hard stand that we will be in a position where we won't be able to as a people. >> carol mckinley joins us from burns, oregon. federal workers not at work

because that have stand off. how long do they expect it to last? >> you know, there is no way of knowing, del. the only thing that is different in this their day of the seen ought the wildlife refugee is that the fbi is now involved. in fact, this is the sheriff's office you see behind me, and in 30 minutes there is going to be a law enforcement press conference to let us all know what they plan to do about these 20 so-called militia holed up in the buildings out there. it's about 30 miles away, and they are doing press conferences because you've got the law enforcement presser happening here in 30 minutes and at the same time the occupiers are holding theirs, and the reporters are saying why aren't you coming to ours? you have two reporters. can you see us at the same time that you see the sheriff's? >> the two ranchers at the center of the controversy say that they're going to turn themselves in. what are they saying about the support they're receiving from the occupiers?

>> well, the occupiers came here without really having any kind of an agreement with this father and son. the father and son are turning themselves in in about four hours in california. they will be in prison. meanwhile, these occupiers came here on their own saying they were supposing the father and son, but many community members say that's not what they're really doing. what they're really doing is pushing their agenda to give government-owned land back to private ownership. >> and carol, as you've been pointing out throughout the morning, burns, oregon, not exactly that big. do the people who live there, do they like what is going on? do they support the anti-government protesters who have moved in? >> well, we talked to quite a few people. there are 5700 people who live here. there is no school today. we've been talking to teenagers, and moms whose kids are out of school for this. some people are afraid. some are indifferent. and some are even siding with the occupiers because many of the people here do like ranchers

, and many are ranchers, and side with them on that. >> carol mckinley in burns, oregon, thank you very much. hold on to your 401k. today is being dubbed as the worst trading day i in 84 years. a dramatic drop in the chinese stock market overnight. the dow has tumbled 450 points with the nasdaq and s&p down more than 2% since the opening bell this morning. in china the stocks plunged percent that automatically triggered the automatic halts in trading. and investors reacting to the counseled currency. why is china's market effecting

the global market. >> this is a global economy. the big question with china, del, is how much is the economy going to slow? there is no doubt that it is slowing. there is no doubt that people in china put out their estimate that it is going to be below 7%. what we got this morning is a private reading on manufacturing activity, that showed that manufacturing had contracted for the tenth straight month. the reason why this is so disturb something that beijing has been throwing everything that they can at this problem and doing what they can to jump start domestic command and reverting to devaluing the yuen. the currency. the value of your currency your exports become cheap for buy abroad. but so far the efforts are not working. how slow is the economy going to grow this year in china? big question because a lot of information--it's okay. we've got good readings on

manufacturing but not great readings on domestic demand. it's difficult for outsiders to get a sense of what is going on in china. the other big question is what kind of grip does beijing have on the problem? that's when you have to read the tea leaves, if you will. the crackdown on the corruption. things that are popular with the people, people who are suffering as the economy slows. >> saudi arabia, iran, big oil producers, what effect are they having on the markets? >> you see oil price gas up. you have saudi arabia and iran, the two big powerhouses. really, the 800-pound gorilla of opec. anything that can disrupt the oil production, then you'll see the price of oil go up. then reality sets in. after the knee jerk reaction, we see oil prices under pressure again. that's because you cannot escape the fact that there is a glut of

oil on the global market right now. this wave--this weighs on commodity prices. how does this feedback that the united states? the slow down in china, the dollar is very strong right now. the weakness in china against a strong dollar what we see are u.s. goods and services more expensive to buy abroad. that's more expensive relative to china, then you see sales in the s&p 500, you see half the sales in s&p 500, they come from overseas sales. >> and the market automatically reacts to something that is going to happen, not something that is happening. has the market factored in all these woes that we're seeing in china? or are they factoring something that is coming out of china that is worse? >> what markets hate the most more than anything is uncertainty. and right now the picture out of china is uncertain. until there is nor clarity, and

how much more it will hit commodity prices, and inflationary pressures, they need into the united states through those commodity channels. and as china's appetite for raw materials goes down. that puts pressure on commodity and harms other economies especially in emerging markets that export commodities. >> thank you very much. puerto rico defaulting on several bonds. we look at how severe the financial crisis is on that island. and the mighty mississippiover flowing, killing dozens and causing massive damage. we'll look at the latest there.

>> new moms forced to choose. >> the united states does lag behind other countries on this. >> now a revolution in workers' rights... >> my story is so many peoples' story. >> that could decide the

election. >> it can be different. >> puerto rico is once again expected to default on its debt. the island owes it's creditoror $70 billion. the governor said it does not have the money and the ways will not change soon. >> the beautiful island of puerto rico starting 2016 in debt. just the way they began in 2015. they're expected to default today on a $1 billion payment of which most of that money they will pay, but there is interest that will beganned and they will not release those funds. the governor has said that the island has done everything they can to try and stop the bleeding here. let's just tip down a few of the things that they have done.

they deplayed tax refunds. they slashed healthcare. they tut public transportation services. they let go of 30,000 public workers and closed over 100 schools and in july they increased the sales tax by 50% and another increase is expected by this spring. the governor said that the only issue, the only way forward is if congress acts, speaker of the house paul ryan meets with lawmakers and gives them a path of economic reconstruction. otherwise this island is in doomsday for the rest of the year. they're hoping in the next few months they can get a plan going. as we know puerto rico cannot file for a chapter nine bankruptcy because it is a territory, which is much like a state. a state also cannot file for chapter nine. the only way forward is if congress decides to give them a path to economic restructure. robert ray, al jazeera,

san juan, puerto rico. >> g.m. will invest $500 million in the company lift. that's part of the partnership that will open where drivers can rent g.m. cars that will expand lyft's business. and the investment was part of a fundraising the company is now valued at $5.5 billion and that is close to 10% of g.m.'s market share. thousands of residents along the mississippi are being told to evacuate the rising waters there now heading south to tennessee in arkansas but not before leaving 25 people dead and destroying dozens of homes. >> just the tops of these houses are peeking out from the floodwaters of illinois. dozens of homes are destroyed by the mississippi river. >> it's the worst that we've seen. >> the fear of surging water levels making its way down the mississippi. the river is expected to crest

the border early this week and then head farther south into mississippi. >> we're planning for that 48 food mark in case we were to have a levy break. >> on >> the reynolds' family is checking in on their mother. >> this is where she lives. she wants to stay, so we'll do everything we can. >> authorities say firefighters. >> the officials saying they're doing everything they can to prepare for the storm system. >> the storm of 1 years ag

storm of 18 years ago left us with millions of dollars of damage, and we will get out in front of this. >> in indian a powerful earthquake struck. it truck just before dawn in northeast india. it was felt as far away as bangladesh, nepal and myanmar. nine people are dead and hundreds have been injured. >> the earthquake struck about 30 kilometers west of the capital, and it happened in the middle of the night. people say they were jolted right out of their beds. people ran out of their homes screaming, crying. one person we spoke to said that a heavy bell at a temple nearby started ringing because of the sheer amount of shaking that was going on. there has not been a lot of reports of damage. however, the real parts of the

state have poor connectivity to begin with. so getting information from those areas is only now trickling in. the capital itself which has a quarter million people as residents has reported one building collapse. the local rescue teams are check thong now and rescue teams of the region are still on their way to the center--on their way to the area. >> up next, same message, new media. >> i'm donald trump and i approve this message. >> donald trump releasing his first television commercial four weeks before the iowa caucuses. and "star wars" the force awak awakens.prepares to meet another milestone.

>> that is donald trump first tv ad for his presidential run. he doubles down on some of his controversial ideas like that temporary ban on muslims coming into the u.s. and building that wall along the u.s.-mexican border. trumps campaign said that the ads will begin running in iowa and new hampshire. i asked davelete levinthal if the commercials are a game

changer. >> ted cruz is really up in iowa. there are several candidates in new hampshire that are really nipping at the edges of donald trump and a few of them include chris christie and new hampshire's a state if you look at its history you sometimes will have candidate come out of nowhere, i'm thinking john mccain in 2008, and they really set themselves on a major path going forward. and it could happen again in new hampshire. bought line, donald trump is looking at these last few weeks before the game begins in earnest and is putting serious money behind the effort. >> trump spending money on that ad is a sign of further commitment to his message. bill clinton is on the campaign trail stumping for his wife hillary clinton in new hampshire, and talking about why he believes his wife is the best candidate for president. >> i do not believe in my lifetime anyone who has run for

this job at a moment of great importance who is qualified by knowledge, experience, and temperament to do what needs to be done now to deal with these human issues. thank you very much and god bless. >> you the clinton campaign saying they hope that the former's president's popularity will help but his presence has opened the door to new attacks. at a rally hillary clinton was heckled by a state representative. the tsnb showing video of this wreck angle that is on the ocean floor 15,000 feet below the ocean surface. the he will faro sinking in november. it was on its way to puerto rico. none of the 33 crew members on

board survived. "star wars" the force awakens. the filmmaking $147 million in the u.s. alone over the last three weeks. >> nothing will stand in our way. >> the force awakens bringing in $88 million. "avatar" taking in $760 million in its reign. world wire "avatar" grossing $728 billion. "titanic" not far behind. then it's the avengers, furious seven. star worse the force awakens.at $5.5 billion. rounding out the top ten. all of them netting over $1 billion. thanks for joining us. i'm del walters. in new york the news continues live in london next. a reminder you can check out our

website at www.aljazeera.com. >> this is al jazeera. >> hello i'm barbara serra. this is the newshour live from london. thank you for joining us. coming up in the next 60 minutes. saudi arabia withdraws its diplomats from iran and cancels all flights as its allies cut or cool their relations with tehran. u.s. and european markets fall after chinese stocks collapse on the year's first day of trading. europe's passport-free zone under threat. are introducing border