>> getting tough on guns. president obama are models an executive order putting him in the gop line of fire. and markets free fall on the first trading day of the year. to cut diplomatic ties in iran. and the fbi seeks a peaceful resolution to a standoff with an oregon militia. this is al jazeera america live from new york city i'm tony harris. president obama is back at the warehouse today. his first order of business is

ending gun violence in america. the president complete with attorney general loretta lynch today. the topic of discussion, allow to get guns off the streets. he says he's tired with congressional inaction and he's using executive powers to tighten up the nation's gun laws. >> a lot of the work has gone on behind the scenes to take a look at what the president ask do using his executive authority has been grounded in the knowledge that the gun lobby and the republicans in congress who regularly do their bidding are going to look for ways to stop it. >> mike viqueria joins us from washington. mike, the president seems, appears ready to take on this fight. >> well he does and josh earnest went on to say that whatever the president proposes they feel they are on solid legal ground. it was a year ago when president

obama what infamously said he was going ouse his pen to block congress on some of the issues that frustrated him and none more so than his own reckoning, than president obama's own accounting of his inability to block safety laws. since then there's been the roseburg, oregon shooting, at the community college, where you saw that visceral reaction from president obama, and to try to revive the effort really within the administration to find a way around congress to use executive orders to put forward some new regulations. josh earnest says three are under no illusions that whatever they do is going to be able to solve all the problems. the white house looking at expanded background checks to private sales. a significant portion of sales are private. the sellers do not have to be registered, therefore the buyers do not have to go through a

background check. you might imagine that the republicans in the form of house speaker paul ryan is reacting very poorly to this. in a written statement, the american people deserve a president who will respect their constitutional rights, all of them. this is a dangerous level of executive overreach and the country will not stand for it. the fight being joined in the legal and congressional arena. but the president moving forward with these executive orders any day tony. >> how soon could we take any gun regulations take effect? >> well as a matter of fact, within the hour now the president's scheduled to meet at 2:10 just in a couple of minutes in washington with the attorney general loretta lynch, the fbi director james comey, and other officials, where he's going to be outlining what he proposing to do with respect to these executive orders. we do know the president has a

town hall on this subject on gun safety scheduled for thursday. the white house would only say that the president's going to be signing these executive orders soon. he wouldn't -- josh earnest the spokesman wouldn't say exactly how soon but it could be either today or within the coming days, tony. >> okay mike viqueria, mike we appreciate it, in san bernardino, employers back at work a month after a deadly shooting. 20 people were kille injured an4 injured. the couple was killed during a chuteout with police. enrique marquez has been indicted because of his part. live pictures, something is developing there. this group they called themselves a militia, took over afederal building saturday after a judge told two ranchers to

surrender and serve longer prison sentences for setting fire to federal land. now, the protesters are led by aman bundy. ambling up to a news conference. his father had a standoff in 2013. guys why don't we take a close listen to what's being said here. >> would like to thank you for being here. and for caring enough to the report on these matters. and i hope that we can be informal to you and give you information that will satisfy your needs for now, to report. i would like to just give some housekeeping items and that is,

many of you have asked us for what is our name. and other than just citizens that care, and feel like it's time that we make a stand, to protect our human rights, we didn't really know what to say. but we felt that we would give ourselves a name at least so we can be reported that way. and we can be more organized in that effort. and that would be citizens for constitutional freedom. our purpose as we have shown is to restore and defend the constitution. that each person in this country can be protected by it, and that prosperity can continue. we love our country. we love the people in it.

we know that we are trulg to be able to know what to do as a nation, and in many times, in many ways, we are dividing. and we hope that we can restore those things and that we can unite as a people in protecting individuals, that we will not forget about how important each person is. and how that person has the right to live here on this earth. and has the right to live in liberty and has the right to own property and to be able to reap the fruits of their labors. as many of you may know, this effort as you know started by understanding that a ranching

family here in harney county has been put under duress by number federamultiple federal agencies. that those agencies have desired for many years to acquire their ranch. and that this the hammond family have refused to sell it because they want to pass on the ranching heritage to that children and to their grandchildren. and because of that refusal to sell their ranch, these federal agencies began an attack on this family. they have -- the hammond family has experienced their private waters being fenced off by federal agencies even after the state of oregon ruled that it was their waters.

they have been restricted from their private property through the refuge here going to their private properties through road closures and fences and gates. even after it was determined that the road was owned by the county of harney. they have, again, have multiple times refused the purchase of it. and because of that, have been prosecuted for actions that ranchers have done for over 100 years in this county. and for -- in this valley. and for protecting their private property. and these things are what this is about. that because we have allowed our federal government to step outside the bounds of the constitution, they have become down upon the people and are prosecuting them now directly. they are coming down into the state and taking over the land and the resources, putting the

people into duress, putting the people into poverty, and putting entire counties and entire states into undue obedience. i have asked that shauna come read you what we call the redress of grievance, and to give you a little grouped we have spent several weeks, two months to be exact, in petitioning the state and local county executives to stand for the hammonds for these uunconstitutional as he. we have done these through petitions, through contacts through e-mails. we know that the sheriff has received thousands of e-mails. we also know that the county representatives and the state

representatives have received thousands of e-mails. and to no avail. that they have been ignored to the point where they have not even responded back at all. i myself, along with many other organizations and influential people, have contacted these representatives and the county sheriff, asking them to get involved. and all we have been asking are from the very beginning is that they put together an evidence hearing board to look at the evidence, the accusations that are set forth and to look at the abuses that the hammonds have been experiencing and they have refused in every case. the notice redress of grievance was our final attempt to get them to act. and this was a legal notice that

was delivered to the county sheriff and the county representatives and state representatives. and i'm going to ask shauna cox if she'll read there. >> who you're with and where you're from please. >> my name is shauna cox. >> we have been listening to aman bundy. he is the leader of the new militia, the citizens for constitutional freedom. that is the name of the newly formed militia that is holeup in princeton, oregon on federal land. they have essentially taken over a federal building. carol mckinley is live for us. carol, good to see you. be patient. i've got a number of questions for you. >> reporter: it's complicated.

>> lets start here with the basic background for this. we've got a new name for the militia group. many of us are familiar with the previous name but the citizens for constitutional freedom. what are they doing in princeton, oregon right now? >> well, they say they want to restore and defend the constitution. and the thing about this is, that's mysterious is we don't know how many people are inside that refuge. it's about 30 miles away. i'm in front of the sheriff's office right now because law enforcement is getting ready to have a press conference any minute. thissing location is a bird sanctuary 30 miles down the road. they did this because they say they want to support this father and son who burned their property, having to report to prison today, the sheriff in burns oregon, 30 miles from

where that person was, that they wanted to take down the city and state government, they have more of an agenda. >> the hammonds, just to repeat this, are the hammonds affiliated with this group at all? you mentioned they are going to turn themselves in. do they have any affiliation to the citizens for constitutional freedom militia? >> no, in fact, the citizens for constitutional freedom as they now call themselves, came here on their own. aman bundy wrote a letter to the hammond family saying, i'm here to support you, the cavalry is going to be there. and the hammonds say you don't rep us, have nothing to do with the father and son, who in a few hours will be turning themselves in for two years in prison.

>> they are preparing to make a statement, the county. has there been any response from the federal government at this point? >> well, another interesting point is that there's really been little law enforcement out at that refuge at all. they're stepping -- they're kind of keeping things on their toes and not going over there and not being intimidating. the fbi is here. they just came in yesterday. they are staying in the same hotel the reporters are in and they're saying that they want to keep things peaceful. meanwhile there are youtube videos coming out from this group, they're in there in the compound in the refuge making these videos and last night they came out with one sitting in their truck where they said that if more patriots don't come and help them with their cause that there will be bloodshed. they have used the word blood for the first time. there are people that are very nervous, around schools are

closed. and is this is a tense situation. >> the federal government represented by the president gets to make a statement and so far to my knowledge there's been no statement from the white house, correct? >> not until today. from what i understand, today, the white house spokesperson came out and said that they're going to let the local government handle this situation. which confuses me because the fbi is here, and they're getting ready to give a press conference and we don't know what they're going to say yet. so you've got local law enforcement here the state parole and the fbi all converging to talk to the press. meanwhile 30 miles down the road, you have this -- wait just a minute here -- citizens for constitutional freedom who are coming out with basically their demands as we speak. as the days go by. and this is third day by the way. >> all right so we'll watch it. we'll watch it and carol thank you for watching it for us, carol mckinley.

>> reporter: you're so welcome. >> not a good start to the new year for stocks. up next what is causing the markets to tumble. plus puerto rico is defaulting on several bonds, a look at how severe the financial crisis is for the island.

>> more countries are cutting or down grading diplomatic ties with iran today, saudi arabia was the first, then bahrain, tehran, saudi officials gave, shia protestors stormed the saudi embassy. they were angry over the cleric

nimr al-nimr's execution. >> evacuated came similar action by some of the kingdom's allies, among them neighboring bahrain. after two days of demonstrations by protestors from its shia muslim majority. the gulf state that's closely allied to saudi arabia accused iran of blatant and dangerous interference in arab countries and support for terrorism. the actions, a war of words is escalating. >> we are determined not to let iran undermine our security, we are determined not to allow iran

to create or establish terrorist cells in our countries or the countries of our allies. a. >> unfortunately, in recent years i.t. has taken measures and followed policies in connection with that. >> after the execution of nimr al nimr, he and 46 others were charged with plotting and carrying out terrorist attacks. targeting civilians and security forces. saudi arabia is adamant he got a fair trial. it's not the first time diplomatic relations have been cult but there are fears it could cause more violence. >> the sunni dominated saudi arabia and shia dominated iran is at the lowest point. in the last 24 hours actions that have hamed pours gasoline

on the raging fire. >> eastern saudi arabia where people are mourning nimr al-nimr's death, 1 man has been killed and a child injured. al-nimr's brother says his brother will be buried in an undisclosed location. >> worst opening day of the stock market in 84 years. stocks are down in reaction to a dramatic drob in the chinese stock market. so far the dow has tumbled as much as 450 points, it is now down 350 points, a bit of a rebound right? >> china, stocks plunged 8% automatically triggers a halt in trading. investors reacted, to a weakening currency, concerns

spread to markets around the globe. patricia sabga is here to help. i get it intuitively but i want you to explain it to us, why it was happening in china. >> we have all known that china's ecoconomy is slowing don but the question is how severe is the slow down and does beijing have a ham on the situation? >> right. >> for the last year china has done a lot to jump start the economy and none of it seems to be helping. one private measure has slowed down for the 10th consecutive month. as china's manufacturing slows down that signals it doesn't have as much of an april tide for raw materials. so as the it schools fewer raw materials like metals, that means the price of those materials go down. that then hits exporting countries and keeps price of

commodities down around the world, a deflationary factor. the u.s. raised interest rates last month, that means the dollar is stronger against other currencies, so china is trying to depreciate its currency. >> i get all that. anything that's happening between saudi arabia and iran that is impacting these markets today? >> it is a negative ton market but oddly, initially the oil market rallied on this news. signs of tensions between two big powers in the middle east and of course saudi arabia the opec swing producer, any indication there is a disruption in the flow of oil is bound to drive prices higher. and reality sets in. >> what is the reality? >> the reality is that the world is awash in cheap oil. >> we've got an oil glut right now. >> we do and demand from china is slowing down.

and that is lowering commodity and energy price across the board. so this is case where concerns over china, concerns over the sputtering engine of china. >> yeah yeah yeah yeah. >> has eclippingsed what's going on in the middle east. >> and do you see any signs on the horizon that the oil market tightens up at all? >> there are analysts who have predictions that it could but there is a forecast this oil glut could continue until the end of this year. >> really. >> yes. >> patty, good to see you as always. patricia sabga with us. the justice department announcing it is suing volkswagen. the civil complaint filed by the epa alleges the german auto maker illegally inserted

switches to boost performance, leading the vehicles to produce 40 times the amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed by law. puerto rico is once again expected to default on its debt. the island owes creditors more than $70 billion. more than 70 million is due today, the island says it simply doesn't have the money. the situation won't change any time soon. al jazeera's robert ray has more. >> the beautiful island of puerto rico is starting 2016 in debt. just the way they began 2015. they are expected to default today on a $1 billion payment of which most of that money they will pay but there is interest that they say is not guaranteed and they're not going to release those funds. so indeed the second default, the first was in august of 2015. dr. alejandro garcia padilla says the island has done everything they can to stop the

bleeding. they've delayed tax refunds, slashed health care, cut public transportation services, they've let go of 30,000 public workers and closed over 100 schools and in july they increased the sales tax by 50% and in th another ine is expected this spring. the governor says the only issue, the only way forward is if congress acts. if speaker of the house paul ryan meets with lawmakers and gives them them a path to economic reconstruction. otherwise the island is in adoption day for the rest of this year -- adoption day the rest of thdoomsday the restof t. this is a territory much like a state. a state cannot file for chapter 9. the only way forward, the only way to make things better according to officials here is if congress decides give them a path to economic reconstruction. robert ray, al jazeera, san juan, puerto rico.

>> as we leave a live shot of princeton wrorg the militi, ores head of a militia that is seizing a government building in oregon. >> assisting the people harney county in claiming their rights, using their rights, as free people. total news experience anytime, anywhere. more on every screen. digital, mobile, social. visit aljazeera.com. follow @ajam on twitter. and like aljazeera america on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america.

as

>> as israelis' decades old occupation of palestinian territory grinds on, commerce and economics are becoming new battle lines. an embargo is the latest weapon of resistance for gaza and the west bank, but how does an internationally supported boycott movement deal with local vested interests?