scratch. al jazeera, san juan, puerto rico. you can always talk to everyone here via our website, aljazeera.com. click on the icon messages via facebook or twitter or what's app, as well. the headlines acknowledge channel for you are just a couple of seconds away. taking action without congress, president obama unseries latest efforts to try to end gun violence. it's time for you to leave our community, go home to your families and end this peacefully. >> there are new calls for armed protestors to leave an oregon wildlife center as the occupation is now in its third day. saudi arabia allies closing ranks against iran. the leadership saying the saudis are trying to deflect blame.

this is al jazeera america live in new york city, i'm del walters. in just a few hours, the president will layout plans to ruse gun violence, saying he wants to expand background checks and close loopholes. the president's prior efforts to tighten gun regulations failed and this is one of his final efforts to cackle what he is calling the most frustrating issue of his presidency. al jazeera's libby casey is live in washington. the proposals are already drawing opposition from the right. what are they saying? >> absolutely, dell, it's no surprise, because the president and republicans have fought over the issue of gun control for years now. with this, the final chapter of the obama administration beginning, the president is putting the issue front and center. congressional republicans here in washington who wanted to set the tone and give their own

agenda a lot of attention this january are finding themselves on defense. >> it didn't take long for a partisan battle to ignite over president obama's latest plan to battle gun violence, using executive action to increase background checks and tighten rules. >> president obama's executive actions limiting gun rights will restrict our law abiding citizens, not the criminals for the terrorists who target them. >> several republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have already come out against the move, saying it won't actually reduce shooting deaths and that is an overreach. >> that's not democratic, it's not constitutional, and i'm confident the courts will reject his attempts to do that, and if they don't reject them, i'm sure that ultimately, the next president will make sure that he object borrow gates those acts. >> hillary clinton and bernie sanders are embracing the plan.

attorney general loretta lynch says the justice department is behind mr. obamas actions after meeting with her and other top law enforcement officials at the white house, the president again promised to bypass congress on a hot button issue. >> we've been very careful, recognizing that although we have a strong tradition of gun ownership in this country, that even those who possess firearms for hunting, for self protection and for other legitimate reasons want to make sure that the wrong people don't have them for the wrong reasons. >> among the new rules, requiring dealers who sell firearms on line and at gun shows to get federal licenses and they'll have to conduct background checks on their customers, personal collectors or hobbyists can sell guns without conducting background checks. those private sales account for 40% have all transactions. >> it is the only systemic way

in this country to make sure people buying guns can legally do so. >> there are concerns the impact of this executive order will be minimal. the executive definition of who must register as a dealer is vague and the can be revoked by the next president. >> we are not under the illusion that that is going to prevent every incident of gun violence but if it's possible we can prevent one or two incidents, then we're going to eagerly implement those executive actions. >> other elements of the president's goals include trying to expand the background check produces, make it less bureaucratic with the goal of getting it up to 24 hours a day seven days a week. right now there can be delays. the white house would like to see mental health information, background check information shared quickly across state lines. if someone is barring from buying a gun in one state because of mental health issues, they captain go across state lines and get one someplace else. congress still has a say,

though, del, because the white house wants to see half a billion dollars go to mental health issues and expand agents like a.t.f. agents. congress has a say over whether or not to fund those types of projects. >> how likely is this to make gun control an even bigger issue in 2016? >> well, it's already happening on the campaign trail. you see republicans across the board condemning the president said plans, pointing out that if they win the white house in 2016 they can roll these back right away. we see hillary clinton and bernie sanders supporting the president. the reality is this issue plays to the base with both republicans and democratic so it's a win for both sides to be talking about this. the bigger issue may come in the general election and how americans weigh in on this bigger picture of gun control issues. the white house is trying to emphasize these aren't major changes to existing law, it's trying to change the way they're he be forced and work on. like mental health which

repute say they also have concerned about. libby casey in washington, d.c., thank you very much. a reminder, we will bring you the president's announcement live, we will carry it live at 1140 eastern time today. there are calls for the armed group of protestors to leave the wildlife refuge in oregon, a local sheriff and judge say they should leaf because the two ranchers who inspired the occupation turned themselves in. supporters say they won't leave until the federal land is back under what they call local control. allen schauffler is on the ground and has this report. >> a spokesman told us specifically not to expect a lot of guns and any questions about hall of fame how many protest ears here were love the unanswered during our 45 minute tour of the national wildlife refuge property that this group walked into and took over.

>> how's it going so far? >> it's an emotional roller coaster. it's up and down, yeah, but it's going great. there's no bloodshed. this is not a violent or hostile situation. >> there are 15 or so buildings here, dozens of idle government trucks, swamp boats for the marshes and heavy equipment. we took video through a window of people prepping food. we didn't visit every building but were allowed to roam on our own and saw no signs of damage or vandalism. >> we want to be polite, we want to be neighborly. we want to be citizens. we want to be respectful of one another. >> he is an arizona rancher who has emerged at one of the group's main spokesperson. >> where do you see this ending? >> i believe it shall spread from here. this grievance that they're dealing with here is widespread throughout the west. this is not going away. >> we saw nobody carrying a

weapon, but again, didn't see every room. we asked dwayne aimer if people here were armed. >> there's pro bowl a weapon in every pickup truck within 100 miles of here. you know, everybody says they're armed, but each rancher i know has a weapon, you know, so, you know, i had a cougar on my porch last week. there you go. >> ammon bundy, the leader of the group calling itself citizens for constitutional freedom held a morning press conference to outline grievances in an area where ranching and conservation have collided since the reef final was formed. he was asked what will it take to end this protest peacefully? >> i wouldn't say words would do

it. i would say action would and that would be for the federal government to remove its unconstitutional presence here in the county. >> i want to talk directly to the people at the wildlife refuge. 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, go home to your families and end this peacefully. >> so far lots of talking but no serious action as the protest that starts saturday continues. al jazeera, near burns, oregon. this morning, iran's president blasting saudi arabia, the latest escalation of tensions between those two that ises. they have been at odds over the execution of a shia cleric. bahrain, the u.a.e. and sudan downgraded their diplomatic presence in tehran after the saudi embassy in iran's capital was attacked over the weekend. saudi arabia saying the tensions will not affect its role in peace talks for other conflicts

in that region. >> from our side, it should have no effect, because we will continue to work very hard towards supporting the peace efforts in syria, in yemen, wherever there might be a need for that. how is that going to affect the behavior of iran we do not know. you would need to ask the iranians on that. switzerland's foreign minister saying it has summoned its top saudi diplomatic there, as well, calling on saudi arabia to do everything possible to reduce those tensions. earlier on your world this morning, our guest believed saudi arabia could fracture its ties with tehran. >> since rouhani has come to how are, he has offered and olive branch to riyadh.

i think here the initiative comes from riyadh basically increasing tensions. i think the saudi's have their own agenda here. mostly, it's their interest to basically destroy the assad regime in syria and also of course to bolster up their policy in yemen. in both areas, they need in fact to escalate the crisis with iran. >> the white house press secretary has said that the u.s. warned saudi arabia of the potential consequences of executing nimr, which goes to your argument that they knew the outcome would be. what did it say about saudi arabia's regard for the u.s. today? >> i think what they want to do is force united states basically to follow their saudi policy especially in syria and yemen, and they get frustrated when the u.s. doesn't do what saudi arabia wants.

>> the gulf cooperation council will hold an emergency meeting on saturday to discuss the crisis. on wall street whereby investors are bracing for another rocky day spurred ration shep markets. stocks in china, japan and hong kong fell again amid concerns over china's economy, the chinese government taking steps to prevent further slide. stumping for his wife in new hampshire, former president bill clinton hitting the campaign trail. can he help woo undecided democrats? the deep freeze and homeless, one governor's order to take them off the streets and into shelters is sparking debate.

>> bill clinton heading to iowa later this week as he takes a bigger role in his wife's presidential campaign stumping for hillary clinton in new hampshire monday. he made the case for why he believes voters should choose her. lisa stark is live in nashua, new hampshire. how did the former president do in getting the message out? >> well, it is a little cold here actually, del. he was not his usual fiery self, he was a little flat, but he did continue to put out his mental,

which is that hillary clinton, he says is the best person for the job. he said look, she has a lot of experience, her poses are right, he called her a change maker. he said she is the one who can bring back broad prosperity, raise the middle class. here's the bottom line according to bill clinton. >> in my adult lifetime, there has never been anyone better prepared for the job that awaits the next president than hillary. [ applause ] >> never. and she's pretty much still the same girl i fell in love with in law school. >> the girl he fell in love with in law school. that's the other thing bill clinton is able to do. he's able to humanize his wife on the campaign trail. he talked about her work on behalf of children over her lifetime, her career, so that's just as important as getting out the policy points, del, because hillary clinton is sometimes

criticized as being too cold and controlled, so bill clinton able to look look, she says the girl i fell in love with and is this wonderful person and put a human face on her. >> the former president under attack by donald trump, did he respond? >> he responded by not responding. as you know, trump has called bill clinton one of the great abusers of women. clinton was asked if that is fair game. he basic live said look, the republicans have to pick who they're going to pick, i'm here really just to talk to the democrats with hillary. during the speech there were veiled criticisms of trump. he talked the fact that we need an inclusive society, an america that remains true to its values. trump has talked a temporary ban on muslim immigrants. bill clinton pushed back but did not name any candidate by name. >> analysts saying that some of bill clinton's appearances back in 2008 might have hurt hillary clinton at that does it appear

that he is changing his tone this time around? >> well, he was very controlled. as i mentioned, he was subdued, stayed on message. he did not mention any other candidate by name, so it was a very different bill clinton. one thing we should say is during that campaign in 2008, she was in a pitch battle with barack obama for the democratic nomination. there was a lot at stake early on. right now, hillary is not in that case, appears to be lead in all the knoll polls so they don't have to go on the attack right now and bill clinton certainly did not do that. >> lisa, thank you very much. >> p.j. crowley worked in the clinton white house and about hillary clinton. he explained why he believes bill clinton is going to be an asset. >> he's an asset, a significant political figure and has a gift for being able to help people understand issues in ways that they can appreciate and relates

to their particular lives. he's very very popular in new hampshire. i think having someone like bill clinton on the campaign trail talking about the issues in a very tempered way, a very intelligent way, working through, you know, here are the challenges, you know, here are some of the solution and here's why he believes his wife is the strongest candidate, that will undoubtedly help her in my view as she goes through this, you know, the early stages of the primary season. >> crowley believes the clinton's learned a lot in 2008 and that will be evident on the campaign trial. donald trump taking political heat for his ad showing people rushing the mexican border with the u.s. buff it's actually video of migrants in morocco. >> that was just video footage,

just a display of what our country's going to look like. we're a third world country, a dumping ground. you can just take it any way you want, but it's merely a display of what a dumping ground is going to look like and that's what our country is becoming very rapidly. >> he called for a wider fight against isil and keeping muslims out of the u.s. he still plans to show that in iowa and new hampshire ahead of primaries and caucuses. an immigration crackdown took place over the weekend. at least 121 undocumented immigrants were taken into custody in three states. the raised are the first in a large scale operation that targets families who have crossed the southern border illegally over the last year. homeland security say all those held are cleared for deportation by federal judges. cleanup is underway in missouri after record floods hit the mississippi river. in the eastern part of the state, it is 13 feet above flood

level. that happened monday. it overflowed much quicker than residents of cape girardeau expected. much of the county has been left blanketed in mud and debris as the waters recede. this beautiful landscape in wisconsin was seen by a drone. winds from the great lakes are bringingle coldest weather yet to parts of the state. temperatures are freezing up and down the coast. police in new york are under orders to get the homeless people off the streets whether they want to go or not but homeless advocates are challenging that. john henry smith has more. >> it was a cold blue night in new york city. that means temperatures below freezing, driving more people into shelters like this one for a warm place to sleep and a hot meal. >> as the temperatures drop, we're seeing more and more people here for our meal and

we'll see about 50 people here for our shelter tonight. we expect that to cells during the winter to over 200 people per night. >> private shelters will fill up quickly, but despite the cold. some of the homeless prefer to stay outside. >> i'd rather be in the streets and cold than go to the shelter system. >> that's why new york governor andrew cuomo issued an executive order requiring local officials to bring the homeless inside when the temperature drops below freezing, by force if necessary. >> this is a blanket uniform statewide rule. you must, they all could, this is "you must." >> i don't think that they should force us into shelters because the system is crazy, disgusting, filthy. it's just totally out of order. >> the order is based in part on state law that allows the homeless to be taken into custody if they are a threat to themselves or to others, but homeless advocates like bobby watts say the law doesn't allow

for a wide round up because of the weather. >> there are some people who freeze to death and we want to prevent that at all costs except we don't want to step over the line of violating their civil liberties. someone may think they can take care of themselves out on the street and miscalculate. there are people that the police will never find, despite this executive order. >> 59,000 people live in shelters in new york city alone. another 3,000 to 4,000 live on the streets. new york's mayor announced a comprehensive plan to deal with the homeless, but progress has been slow. >> there is someone like me on every corner, every crevice, every turn. if you go right around here, someone built a house that they're living right there. up next, taking its investment in a whole new direction, the new g.m. partnership that could change the way we get around. new trouble for one of the world's large effort automakers. the justice action that could cost volkswagen billions.

executives from volkswagen are expected to unveil a concept car in las vegas today even as the company prepares to defend itself in a lawsuit. the justice department said the company installed software to make diaz sells pass emissions test. volkswagen facing billions of dollars in fines and executives and the company facing criminal charges. this morning, the right sharing company lift is getting

a boost as it tries to take down its competition. it is a half billion dollars investment from general motors. the goal is to develop a fleet of self driving cars. >> made for daily use. >> lift is betting that one day, on demand cars like these won't come with a driver, teaming up with general motors to develop a network of self-driving vehicles available on demand. >> making car ownership unnecessary. >> it's a viewpoint lift c.e.o. shared before. he believes most people will someday use self driving cars when taking ride sharing services. >> i don't think the majority of people will buy a self-driving car. when it's fully autonomous, i think the majority of people will hit a button in an app, request a self-driving car to come up and take them where they want to go. >> under the deal, g.m. will invest $500 million in lift. the companies are rolling out a rental service for drivers and president dan ammon will join

lift's board. there's no time line for developing those self-driving cars. the company will be elbowing for room in a space where google has made headway. >> it's going to be incredibly empowering and powerful for people. >> working to decelop its own autonomous vehicle. google will develop self-driving vehicles with carnegie melon university. these cars may not be on the road for sometime. >> you've got big factors that still have to be handled and considered. the biggest ones would be the legal and liability issues, as well as the inclement weather issues that are still challenging programmers when they realize the sensors and cameras can be covered by muck, snow, mud, ice. requiring a driver still be in the seat even if the kar maneuvers itself, rules that are expected to be challenged at hearings this month.

e mark zuckerberg making headlines for advice to girls, responding to a post from a grandmother talking about her granddaughter gating in other words. he said it would be better for those girls to be the nerd. zuckerberg and his wife who is a doctor have a little girl. two women trying to keep their marijuana business running. they say the marijuana that they grow and cultivate is t.h.c. a a proposed ban by the city council may threaten their work. the sisters go before the city council next week to ask the city to let them continue their mission. thanks for watching. we'll carry the president's announcement on gun control live at around 11:40 a.m. eastern time. the news continues live from doha next.

this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome. you are watching the news hour live from doha. today syrian refugees suffer through a brutal winter, while the political opposition searches for common ground ahead of talks with the government. at least 34 refugees drowned off the coast of greece. the chinese government intervenes to prop