that. you will see a new desperation. candidates in a frenzy. there are two dozen events today. new lines as well and we have them. >> gij after rising republican challenger ted cruz. we'll talk to trump about all of this, when he's live on "new day" at the top of the next hour. we begin with athena jones, live in new hampshire. tell us what's happened over the weekend, athena. >> good morning, alisyn. all of the drama and excitement of the last several months and the last several days, that was just the beginning. today marks the final frenzied push before voters start actually going to the polls and casting actual votes. as these candidates jockey for position, things are bound to get more heated. just four weeks from the first contest in the 2016 presidential election. >> if we win iowa, i think we're

going to win everything after that. >> reporter: gop candidates scrambling to build momentum ahead of the high stakes iowa caucuses. >> donald trump, i don't believe is going to be the party's nominee. if he is, he's going to get crushed by hillary clinton. >> reporter: as jeb bush grapples with dwindling poll numbers. trump leads the pack, accusing his biggest iowa rival, ted cruz, of copying his immigration plan. >> we will build a wall. the first time i ever heard him say it. i'm the one that came up with it. >> reporter: trump slamming cruz on religion in the battle over evangelical voters. >> you don't equate evangelicals with cuba. >> she's the best qualified person. >> reporter: as president clinton raised to hit the campaign trail, trump taking digs at secretary clinton, dredging up her husband's past. saying i hope bill clinton starts talking about wum's

issues so voters can see what a hypocrite he is and how hillary abused those women. and tweeting the worst thing hillary could do is have her husband campaign for her. just watch. after appearing in this terror propaganda video, trump pointing the finger back at his democratic rival in front of a crowd in this clip. >> hillary clinton created isis with obama. >> reporter: three top aides resigning in one day. >> so now we're in a different ball game and we need the ability to execute. >> reporter: now, given the calendar, this is not the time you want to be having to make big adjustments to your campaign. so we know a lot can happen in less than a month and we'll be here to track every move. alisyn, chris? >> athena, thanks so much for all of that back ground. here this morning is our cnn

political commentator, former reagan white house director and trump supporter, jeffrey lord and errol louis. errol spent time with voters in iowa this weekend. let's start there. what are you hearing from voter? is trump going to win? cruz going to win, what? >> everyone was modest and had no idea what was going to happen. there are still some people out there. we don't catch this here in new york or washington, there are jeb bush supporters out there. folks who really like him. i caught up with mike huckabee doing what he did before. he's made more visits to iowa than any other candidate, democrat or republican. meeting with small groups, this was at a christian high school, doing what he did before. he has gotten more caucusgoers than anybody. >> exactly right. that seems to be what everybody -- that's the excitement you feel out there. boy, this is going to be a surprise. we don't know exactly what it's going to be.

>> jeffrey, one of the things that distinguishes iowa, ground game is important, maybe not as in future primaries because t y they -- how the caucus system works. one of your big knocks on mr. trump is the ground game. he hasn't put together a message for these states. >> i do think it's relevant and i do think they're at it. they have chuck lauder in who produced the santorum win in 2012 who really knows the state very well. he knows how to do this. they're doing very well. the one thing i would caution, chris, no matter who wins iowa, john mccain, for example, came in fifth in 2000 and yet managed to become george w.'s main opponent, beating him in new hampshire. ronald reagan lost, et cetera. whoever wins, there's still more primaries to come. so, you know, the buildup, no matter who ones, you have to be careful with it.

>> hillary came in third also in the democratic one. it doesn't moon your fate is cast. yet it is the first blush where you get the voters driving who we talk about and how. >> no question. >> that's going to be the big question. >> it is the beginning. and i think the appearance today, this morning of donald trump ad shows just how serious he is about this. a lot of people, i was not one, i should add, a lot of people didn't take him seriously. they do now and i think he's showing why. >> donald trump has been talking about bill clinton and he has been bringing up bill clinton's past and saying that hillary clinton better not talk about women's issues or he's going to go katie bar the door against bill clinton. he has said bill clinton is atremendous abuser of women, that's a quote from him that clinton is a hypocrite. within you talk to voters out there, is that something that will resonate with him. >> not on the agenda, at least not yet. what trump is trying to do, he

pushes all of the other republican rivals off the stage. he says it's me versus clinton and that's what this race is about. that gives him a good advantage. there is this bill cosby thing that's hanging out there. if you had asked somebody just a year ago, will all of these accusations against bill cosby go anywhere? they would have said no. >> what does that have to do with bill clinton. >> there are accusations about what bill clinton did. some of them are lurid, some hard to believe, the accusations. if donald trump is going to say i'm going to put my very large mega phone in front of some of those women and hear what they have to say, it could likely change the course of that discussion. >> do you want this to be a battle about the past? do you believe this is a good tact for donald trump to take to

go after bill clinton's sex life? your friends at "the wall street journal" put out a taste of donald's past. is this supposed to be about the past or the future? >> it should always be about the future. but, chris, i would remine you that we've spend this past year, you know, discussing or being presented, including on cnn, i might add with discussions about what is loosely called the culture of rape and the issue of rape itself has become a huge issue out there. so she's the one who brought this, you know, opened the door to this conversation. >> how, jeffrey? >> as errol says, there are people out there making this accusation. >> but jeffrey, you're talking about something different. there's obviously extramarital affairs. >> what's different between bill cosby and bill clinton? >> criminal case now. bill clinton has not been accused by 50 women, dozens and dozens of women. >> abusing drugs to have sex against their will.

that's not the story of bill clinton. >> chris, he's been accused of rape. >> he has. but it was a very long time ago. nothing wound up coming of it. >> it's been a long time ago with bill cosby. >> i've written about this. >> it seems like a distraction, feels like you're running against hillary clinton. does donald trump want his sex life examined with that kind of microscope, does he want each of his marriages talked about? does he want those women to come out and talk about him. >> if there's an allegation of rape. this is about the future. one of the problems rains have had in the past is they tiptoe around all of their opposition and get slam for marco rubio for murdering a steelworker's wife because he didn't provide health care in some company he took over. these guys play hardball. i think what donald trump is saying here, you want to play hardball, i will play hardball. i think a lot of republicans are cheering that on. we can end this kind of thing

and get to the future. >> we do have the new donald trump ad that is just out, this is the first television ad, the first one that he's actually invested in. let's see the message that donald trump is putting out today for voters. >> i'm donald trump and i approve this message. >> the politicians can pretend it's something else. donald trump calls it radical islamic terrorism. that's why he's calling for a temporary shutdown of muslims entering the united states so we can figure out what is going on. he'll quickly cut the head off isis and stop their oil. >> we will make america great again. >> errol, what do you think of the content and the tone? >> well, the phone is startling in some ways. that's intentional. there are no details about cutting off the head or preventing muslims and this sort of thing, not even a nod towards the constitutional issues that

might be involved there. donald trump is barreling straight ahead. this will work, i suppose, with his base and it may get him fight a lot of attention and get him through the primary process. on the other hand, you start thinking about the general election and you say to yourself, there goes the 40% of latino voters that george bush got in one election. he's clearly not interested in that. there goes those who don't like to hear muslims being denigrated. he's throwing that away, too. primary strategy, will it work? it will probably get him a lot of attention. general election strategy, remains to be seen. >> jeffrey, is this a first phase of a strategy or do you think he stays with this? >> this looks very reagan-esque, peace through strength. >> all right. there you have it. jeffrey, errol, thanks so much this morning. great to talk to you. donald trump is in the news. he's at the top of the polls, driving the conversation and he has just made a big mark about

the tone of this conversation might wind up being. we'll talk to donald trump about his new ad, his new attacks on the clintons coming up in a little bit. fall jit over an execution. they call the storming of the embassy in tehran the last straw. is there more at play here in we turn to chief international diplomatic editor, nic robertson. we understand there are breaking details. live in london. nic? >> reporter: good morning, michaela. sure there is a whole lot in play here. we've just heard from bahrain who are also cutting diplomatic ties with iran. that's no surprise. bahrain has become a smaller cousin to saudi arabia recently, particularly since the arab spring. what has happened over the weekend, you have two major powers in the gulf region, iran and saudi arabia escalating

tensions, already fighting a proxy war in yemen and in syria. the united states is hoping they could at least work out a peace deal. the cease-fire has collapsed over the weekend. syria, the same deal. peace talks coming up, the chances of securing peace there now seem unlikely. what has happened, the saudis pulled out their diplomats from tehran over the weekend after their embassy was torch, they blamed the saudis, blame provocation by the iranian leadership, say the iranians are trying to escalate tension. they've given them 48 hours to get out of the country. the iranians for their part say that saudi arabia is escalating this because of domestic tensions inside saudi arabia. and it all came about after saudi arabia executed an outspoken shia cleric who supporters say that he was calling for the peaceful overthrow of the saudi royal family in saudi arabia. the saudis, however, say he was

fermenting terrorism in the country. it shows a tough new line by the relatively new king in saudi arabia, escalates tensions, dangerous times, powerful countries in the gulf. alisyn? >> thank you for that. president obama announcing executive action he will be taking on gun control this week. will all the threats of legal action force him to change his plan in. also, a reminder, republican front-runner donald trump joins us live on "new day" at the top of the 7:00 hour. system around.

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get a free quote at progressive.com. president obama begins his final year in office with new gun control measures. he's expected to announce executive actions by tomorrow. republicans xlaming the president for, quote, assaulting the second amendment. let's bring in michelle kosinski. >> more than a dozen times president obama addressed the american public after mass shootings, slamming congress for not tackling gun control. vowing to act alone on that issue. now it appears this week that is what he's going to do. today he meets with his attorney general. top of the agenda is expanding background checks. possibly to include many people who now are considered private sellers. you might also expand how the atf tracks lost and stolen guns. there could be other provisions, too. the argument against tends to be

when you look at mass shootings, many of the guns were purchased legally with background checks. republicans calling the president's plan things like unconstitutional and insane. >> this top-down driven approach doesn't create freedom, doesn't create safety. doesn't create security. >> craziness. he knows he can't get it through congress. he'll try to do it by executive action as if he's king barack obama. >> i will veto that. i will unsign that so fast. so fast. the american public remains deeply divided on this issue. just over half now oppose stricter gun laws. this week the president is doing a town hall on the issue with anderson cooper, this thursday, 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. chris? >> let's talk about what's on the table and what it will mean to the campaign. let's bring in political commentator van jones and

political anchor for time warner cable news, errol louis. let's put up on the screen a reminder of what president obama says he'll do by executive action. the gun show loophole. you hear about this all the time from gun rights sad very kates and gun control advocates alike, basically it says when you go to one of the shows, people can sell guns there and they don't have to go through the same background checks. and funding to enforce existing laws. van jones, you're a supporter of these types of measures. you cannot argue they'd stop a san bernardino. why is this to important right now? >> i'm so proud and happy, i think a lot of americans really relieved the president is doing something. we always focus on the big mass shootings, they'll certainly druf a b drive a big part of the conversation. but we have funerals in america every single day from gurn violence. we have too much street

violence, too much terrorism, too many suicides, too many guns. countries where they have tougher laws, smarter laws, better regulation have fewer funerals. you have a president who here in the last year is saying i can't do everything but i can do something. let me do what i can do. there's a circle of concern for his conscience, there's a circle of what the constitution allows where there's an overlap. he can do executive orders. that's what he's doing. >> the afterthought on this, errol, more money to enforce existing laws. talk to anybody who's in the middle to the right of this decision, good, that should also be first. enforce the laws i don't you have. you're not stopping what's happening in chicago by closing the gun show loophole, you're not stopping what's happening with suicide or san bernardino by doing that. why did this? >> well, it's politics. i hear more money for existing laws and what i hear is i'm going to try and get some of the sheriff's, the police departments around the country to sort of sign on. i'm going to try and get some of

the governors interested. there might be money in the budget for them to do certain things that will nudge them in the right direction. >> san bernardino, i'm going to be there, we're going to be covering it, no question. it's less than 1% of gun crime. chicago has become a metaphor. you can slice numbers different ways, chicago looks more like another big city, not something so special but taken at its worse, why is that happening there? guns that people buy illegally, that's what you need to address. >> when he talks about the gun show loophole, it's not simply the gun show itself. he's talking about requiring federal licenses even for private transfers. so father wants to sell to brother-in-law. >> right. >> you've got to record that. sort of let the government know about it. it might even be taxed. this got the second amendment proponents all up in arms. the reality is, until you start to get your hands around this, you're just flooding with these

guns, which go into this gray market. it's not sort of cut and dry. you buy it legally in north carolina, get on the highway, it's illegal by the end of the highway. >> everybody cries about that. i have gun laws, the states around me don't, all the guns come in from other states. this is a states right issue. van jones, again, what do these actions stop? these crimes come from illegal guns. you are making it hard for you to sell me a gun. we're not the problem, at least not today. >> well, listen, first of all, we would love a more comprehensive solution. there's a weird thing going on with republicans saying we're not going to let you have a comprehensive solution. we don't debate it, discuss it, pass the bill. >> why? why, van? >> they say why because there are so many background checks already. you make it hard for a regular person already. why make it harder? >> let's be clear, the nra has

been captured by the gun manufacturers, the people who prophv profiteer off of people who make money off selling guns. the nra hijacked the republican party. you cannot do the kind of comprehensive response you want. the president is saying let me do what i can. republicans can't have it both ways. they can't say -- >> this is what i don't get. i get the politics on both sides of this, errol. who has proposed a law that says if you use a gun in the commission of a crime, you're going to jail for a minimum of 15 years. i don't care what the crime was. i'm going to fund it. we're going to give the money to the states and that's what's going to happen. this would go to the heart of what creates so many homicides with illegal handguns in this country. has anybody proposed that? have you heard the nra or anybody else push back against that idea? >> it's an interesting proposal. the reality is, we've been cut

off at the knees just in terms of what might and might not work. congress has prevented the federal government from doing research to figure out what kind of strategy, whether it's advanced technologies so only a certain person can fire a gun or different strategies to reduce gu gun violence. >> that's the part that doesn't make sense. we're not enforcing the laws we have now. but they want to put on more laws. that's what frustrates people. >> the part of all of this i'll be looking for is whether the president gets past this road block that congress has put in front of us. >> one thing we know going into it, if you get a gun illegally, you're probably not going to use it for legal things. that we know. this is a big issue, going to our culture, our constitution and our congress. cnn is taking it seriously, thursday, 8:00 p.m., president

obama joins anderson cooper for an exclusive live town hall event on beguns in america. the president will make his case. he will make it to people. it will be tested by cnn's best. he's going to be taking your questions from a live audience. please, get involved. once again, moderated by anderson cooper this thursday at 8:00 only on cnn. very concerning situation happening in oregon. anti-government protesters are taking over a building in a federal wildlife refuge there. how long is this occupation going to last in will authorities wait it out or move in with force? in about 30 minutes time, donald trump is going to drive us live on "new day." we'll ask him to weigh in on that oregon standoff and of course the race for iowa. that's happening at the top of the hour here on "new day." stay with us. understands the life behind it. for those who've served

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seemingly into end in site to that federal wildlife refuge take overin oregon. schools have been shut down for the week in the remote area of eastern oregon that's now thrust into the national spotlight. sara sidner is live in burns, oregon with the latest on this tense, tense situation. sara. >> reporter: we're about 30 miles from burns, way out in the wilderness, really on the refuge. and basically what this is all about is land rights, that this family has had run-ins with the federal government. they feel like the federal government has overstepped its bounds and they've been in a long-standing fight with the government over land. they say that this land really should belong to the ranchers and the farmers, not the federal

government itself. the federal government doesn't have the right to hold on to so much land. let me let you listen to bundy who has spoken several times, especially several times with the camera just right at him, from a friend who's taken some pictures of him. >> we had a county representative come to us and express in great emotion how he and other county representatives are being intimidated by the fbi. >> reporter: now, we haven't heard from those county representatives that he speaks of saying they were intimidated. the fbi says they do know about the situation, they are aware of it. we heard from local law enforcement, there will be a command post set up right now. no police officers anywhere, no sheriff's department, no federal officers anywhere out here. it is just media and some of mr. bundy's supporters. there are supporters coming from across the country. we know there are a couple people here that have come from arizona to support his cause.

here's what one of his supporters has to say about what they're willing to do. >> are you willing to die for this cause? that's pretty -- >> the constitution matters to me. >> that sounds like what you're saying. >> no, i don't think anybody should have to die for this. >> but are you willing to i guess is the question? i mean, you're saying if you don't get what you want -- >> i don't necessarily get to make that decision. i shouldn't have to be willing to die for this. somebody should choose peace and give the people their constitution. >> now, we are way out, really in the middle of the wilderness. there isn't much near here. again, we haven't seen a police presence. we do expect one. we're hearing from them they may be able to stay here, they say, for years. they plan on trying to hold on to this land. michaela? >> i'll take it, thank you very much for the reporting. we'll have a lot more on oregon

this morning. time is of the essence. there's supposed to be a big moment when someone turns themselves in. will it happen? also news out of saudi arabia, severing ties with iran. that's a move that will surely deepen an already dangerous divide between sunnis and shiites in the middle east. the question is what can the u.s. do? is there anything? you'll want to keep it right here on cnn because donald trump will answer the questions of the news today. all the strength and freshness, now easy to lift! half the weight, smells great. find the litter that works best for you. every home, every cat. there's a tidy cats for that.

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new this morning, bahrain joining saudi arabia in severing diplomatic ties with iran. this after protesters attacked the saudi embassy as you can see in tehran on saturday. iran's diplomats given 48 hours to leave the kingdom. the embassy attack coming in retaliation for saudi arabia's

execution of 47 prisoners, including a revered shiite muslim cleric. these new tensions deepening an already dangerous divide by sunni and shiite muslims. joining us now, christiane amanpour. great to see you as always. help us understand what's going on here. why would saudi arabia, knowing this would inflame tensions around the middle east, execute this cleric? >> alisyn, good morning. it is troubling on many, many levels. both the execution and the reaction by iran and then the counterreaction in saudi arabia and bahrain because it involves a whole load of u.s. allies and iran which has now become less of an adversary because of the nuclear deal and a lot of hopes it would come closer into the community of nations. so inside iran, you have a division, a very clear division.

the president, has condemned these out of hand, the storming of the saudi embassy in tehran, called it unjustifiable, sent out a whole load of tweets, even accusing the iranians who have attacked the embassy extremists. there have been 40 arrests, according to the iranian authorities. the supreme leader, he's likening saudi arabia to another arm of isis. he's put out a tweet that shows isis and isis. in other words, the two sides of isis, he says, saudi arabia is one of those. on a deeper level, you've got the whole sunni/shiite divide. what it means about syria and iraq not to mention yemen and the ongoing wars in all of those places. >> christiane, let's look at that graphic that the ayatollah khomeini put out. what does he mean, white isis versus black isis? >> there are those who are

beginning to say that isis has two paul ryans, one is in syria, black isis, real isis in syria and iraq and the other in saudi arabia, they accuse the wahha wahhabis, the hard line sunni islam of one of the inspirations of isis. so that is the explanation of that graphic there. however, the most of the government in iran is reacting against those iranians who have attacked the saudi embassies. as i say, there have been many, many tweets and condemnations by the president, rouhani, plus arrests have been made and he's been very public about that. the bigger picture, of course, iran and saudi arabia have had terrible relations for a very, very long time. periodically since the islamic revolution of 1979 they have broken off relations. it's very well known saudi arabia was very against the nuclear deal, that the united states and other world powers

signed with iran because they were concerned that iran would then be augmented, that iran's power would be greater in the region. and iran is the power center of shiite islam. saudi arabia is the power center of sunni islam. there is competition and adversarial movement between those two big powers. >> christiane, this puts america, the u.s. in a big predicament. it has that agreement with the iran nuclear deal, yet saudi arabia is an ally. where does the u.s. fall now? >> well, this has been a predicament for a long time. certainly throughout the nuclear negotiations but also when you welcome at the very things that the united states is very concerned about in the region, you've got iraq, obviously, which is an ongoing issue, syria is an ongoing issue. they have isis in common and ever since this war broke out and isis starred to rise, the war in syria i'm talking about, nearly five years now, there has

been different powers on different sides of the syrian civil war. the iranians have been supporting assad along with hezbollah and the others. and the saudis have been supporting those anti-assad rebels and some of those are very hard line, very extremists. there's been that going on as well. however, recently, there was a u.s. brokered kind of agreement, the vienna talks, all the interested parties were meant to come along and try to make this all better and try to figure out a political end to the syria civil war. it is very, very complicated. certainly the united states is calling for restraint, calling for some kind of calming of tensions in the region. but also condemned the saudi arabian execution of that cleric. indeed, so did the eu, so did the u.n., so do human rights organizations. they have condemned the execution of that cleric specifically. >> christiane amanpour, thanks so much for helping us

understand this very complicated situation. let's get over to michaela. back here at home, donald trump on the attack, hammering beco bill clinton as he prepares to hit the trail campaigning for hullry. should the president's former past indiscretions be fair game on the campaign trail? in 20 minutes time we'll pose that question, among others to donald trump right here on "new day" at the top of the hour. whe? in purina one true instinct grain free, real chicken is always #1. no corn, wheat or soy. support your active dog's whole body health with purina one. you premium like clockwork. month after month. year after year. then one night, you hydroplane into a ditch.

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the first real votes in the

2016 presidential race will be cast in four weeks in the iowa caucuses. bill clinton is set to make his first solo appearance on the campaign trail at a pair of rallies in new hampshire today. ted cruz who is leading the republican field in recent iowa polling is launching a six-day bus tour across the state. and donald trump unveiled his first television ad this morning. we should mention mr. trump will be live on "new day" at the top of the hour. >> authorities in israel are in an all-out manhunt for the gunman behind a deadly shooting in tel aviv on friday. they say a man opened fire in a popular bar killing two people and wounding several others. frightening scene captured on surveillance. a motive for the shooting unclear at this point. it does come amid three months of deadly street attacks by palestinians against israelis. >> it's looking like a rough start to the new year on wall street. u.s. stock futures down sharply after authorities in china

halted trading this morning. stocks in china plunged 7%. stocks also falling in japan, australia and europe. we're seeing the first images of the final resting place of the doomed cargo ship "el faro." all 33 crew members on board died. federal investigators are considering launching a search of this wreckage, some 15,000 feet down at the bottom of the atlantic in an attempt to locate that all-important black box of the ship to get some answers. action-packed final day of the regular season nfl yesterday. did your favorite team make the playoffs or were they the jets? coy wire has more in this morning's "bleacher report." have at it. handsome jacket. >> thank you, chris. yesterday's games will be who will win and get in, have home

field advantage or who will lose? brock osweiler leading the broncos, looking for them to be the top overall seed in the afc. osweiler threw two interceptions, including this one here. five turnovers over all. in the third quarter, in comes peyton manning and the fans went crazy. they approve of this. peyton looked sharp through nine passes, led the broncos to the go-ahead drive. broncos wince 27-20, earning the top seed in the afc. now we have a bona fide quarterback controversy. the jets facing their old coach, rex ryan. the jets need to win and they're in the playoffs. bills were pumped. that will leave a mark. in this game, ryan fitzpatrick

struggled, especially in the fourth quarter where he would show not one, not two but three interceptions. they spoil the jets playoff hopes. chris cuomo still weeping. the top of the nfl's food chain remains. saturday's wild car games start off. the chiefs at the texans. that will be a good one to watch. also the steelers versus the bengals. that will be a physical, physical matchup. on sunday, the vikings host the seahawks in nfc action and washington hosting green bay. alisyn, please make sure chris doesn't forget my bills crushed his jets playoff hopes. >> based on his expression, i think he's not forgetting. he's weeping openly. >> fight those tears. >> i don't want to say anything. coy is not only better looking but bigger and stronger. >> all true. thanks, coy. >> thanks, guys. donald trump says former president bill clinton's past with women is fair game.

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this is bill clinton's first official appearance in new hampshire on the stump obviously for his wife's presidential bid.

this has created a big dynamic between trump, other people in the gop and the clintons. should bill clinton's personal life disqualify him for being relevant? should he mean the end for hillary clinton? let's discuss with mr. paul begala. senior adviser to a pro hillary clinton super pac was an adviser to bill clinton. we have former director for george w. bush, mr. matt schlapp. what do you see when you see bill clinton taking the stump? do you believe he should be disqualified or at least a negative because of his past? >> well, he's a negative for me, of course, chris. the american people will make that judgment. i'm glad he's going to go out there. i think it reminds people of all these clinton scandals. it's not so much about bill clinton's sex life.

it's the fact that he was impeached, disbarred, he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, both to the supreme court and the special prosecutor. he lied under oath and all of these scandals that we're now revisiting with hillary clinton being investigated by the fbi, reminds the american voter with bill clinton comes some good, no question, but also comes bill and hillary's scandals of the past and present. i think that helps republicans. >> paul, how is that going to go? >> i think he should double down. i love what matt is saying. keep saying it, brother. you guys have only been trying this for 20 some odd years. bill clinton won two national elections with 92 million votes. he won 370 electoral votes, 379 the second time. he's the most beloved political figure in america. but go ahead. by the way, it probably does help with matt, it helps mr. trump. mr. trump is a lot of things. he's not stupid. he's dialled into that republican base.

i believe he's attacking president clinton because he thinks it will help him. not because he needs it. good lord, he invited the man to his wedding. >> you have been reading the same talking points for 20 years. you're good at it. i give you credit. george w. bush was elected largely by saying he'd restore the honor to the oval office. >> he lost the election, he won a lawsuit. >> let me finish. >> in the supreme court -- let him go, paul. matt, finish the point. >> barack obama ran against hillary clinton. >> i read the papers. >> this is the clintons coming out party. we'll see if the american people want this all over again. >> yes, they will. >> you have perfectly illustr e illustrated from chris brought up before. that's an argument of the past. everything you're talking about there is history. >> right. >> now, paul, do you think that donald trump is right that bill clinton's sexual history is fair game in this current election? >> i think mr. trump thinks it

will help him politically. i bet it will, with the republican base. trump is dialed into the republican -- he is the republican base. old, white, angry men with bad hair. that's mr. trump. that's who he's appealing to. the problem is when you attack president clinton, especially when hillary is running and not him, it's unbroken history. hillary's favorable in the gallop poll went up to 66, 71 among women. it will help mr. trump with the republican base but it will help hillary with independent women she needs to win the election. so the truth is, it's sort of a win/win. >> here's the tricky part. alisyn was giving me this view this morning. we often talk about these things before i lose the argument, i'm angry and take it out on you guys. schlapp, you have good hair and you're not old. you look great. >> i wanted someone to say that. >> he's not talking about you. you had a handsome man, everybody says that. begala, when you want to dismiss everything that happened with clinton, there's a body of fact

out there or at least allegation, i know they're very different, that made this more than just him playing around, that it was unwant or maybe even allegations of rape. that changes this for a lot of people. why not for you? >> because $50 million of investigation went into this. they brought in ken starr. i don't know where you were in the '90s. you were probably a kid, cuomo, you're the baby of the family. we had a national two-year -- not two-year, 20-year investigation of president clinton, led by ken starr, $50 million and hundreds of fbi agents and it all came to naught. >> that's not true. >> he settled with the special prosecutor. >> hold on, paul. go ahead, matt. >> hillary is talking about how to revive the economy and restore the middle class. >> hold on, paul. go ahead, matt. [ talking at once ] >> hold on, hold on, hold on. >> hold on, paul. >> you've got to do something about the economy and the truth

is -- >> paul -- >> it gets old. >> paul, are you going to -- paul, are you going to start reading green eggs and ham? are you going to start reading green eggs and ham? >> begala. go. >> bill clinton settled with the special prosecutor, paid a massive fine, agreed to wrong doing and was disbarred from practice of law before he was impeached. the fbi is investigating his wife right now. it's about crimes, women making the most horrible of allegations, not about one woman. it's about half a dozen women and more. it's about the fact that the clintons believe they have a double standard. they can follow the laws they wish to follow and not follow the ones they don't. the american people are going to have this brought up all over again. >> paul, matt. paul wasn't filibustering.

>> two good takes on it. tweet us @alisyn camerota, alisyn with a "y." donald trump just moments away. let's get to it. alisyn? ted cruz is trying to step up his whole game on amnesty and on illegal immigration. you listen to him and marco rubio, they were both weak on it. >> hillary clinton created isis with obama. >> she's caused death. she's caused tremendous death. >> now he's the front running candidate for the republican nomination. someone has to call him out. >> we know we can't stop every act of violence. but what if we tried to stop even one? >> craziness. he knows that he can't get it through congress, as if he's king barack obama. >> i will unsign that so fast. >> the so-called gun show loophole doesn't exist. people who should not own guns should not be able to buy them. this is "new day" with chris

cuomo, alisyn camerota and michaela pereira. good morning, everyone. welcome back to your "new day." up first, a new year and a new sense of urgency for the presidential candidates with the very first real votes in the 2016 race to be cast in iowa, in the caucuses. just 28 days from now. where has the time gone? followed by new hampshire, the first primary state which will be more of a political battleground than ever. >> very real now. the candidates themselves feeling this. donald trump began 2016 pretty much the way he ended it but stronger, more directly now. he has an ad out that we'll play for you. he'll give you his new line of attack in just moments. we do have cnn's comprehensive coverage at play for you. we start off with cnn's athena jones in new hampshire. athe athena, what's going on there? >> reporter: good morning, chris.

>> reporter: the holidays are over. more voters are paying closer attention. if the last few daz and weeks are any indication, it will get even more heated as these candidates jockey for position. just four weeks from the first contest in the 2016 presidential election. >> if we win iowa, i think we're going to win everything after that. >> reporter: gop candidates scrambling to build momentum ahead of the high stakes iowa caucuses. and this morning, the launch of donald trump's first campaign ad, touting his controversial platform. >> that's why he's calling for a temporary shutdown of muslims entering the united states until we can figure out what's going on. he'll quickly cut the head off isis and take their oil. >> donald trump i don't believe is going to be the party's nominee. if he is, he's going to get crushed by hillary clinton. >> reporter: as jeb bush grapples with dwindling poll

numbers. trump leads the pack, accusing his biggest iowa rival, ted cruz, of copying his immigration plan. >> he said, we will build a wall. the first time i ever heard him say it. i'm the one that came up with it. >> reporter: trump slamming cruz on religion in the battle over evangelical voters. >> cuba generally speaking is a catholic country. and you don't equate evangelicals with cuba. >> she's the best qualified person. >> she sure is. >> reporter: as president clinton raised to hit the campaign trail, trump taking digs at secretary clinton, dredging up her husband's past. tweeting saturday, i hope bill clinton starts talking about women's issues so voters can see what a hypocrite he is and how hillary abused those women. and sunday night tweeting the worst thing hillary could do is have her husband campaign for her. just watch. after appearing in this terror propaganda video, trump pointing the finger back at his democratic rival in front of a

crowd in biloxi. >> hillary clinton created isis with obama. >> reporter: shrubing off what krit uks say is his anti-obama rhetoric. this is not the time, of course, given the calendar where you want to be making big adjustments to your campaign or message. we know that a month is a long time in politics. and anything can happen, of course, we'll be watching very, very closely. chris? >> all right, athena, thank you very much. appreciate it. joining us this morning, republican presidential candidate mr. donald j. trump. do you have us on the phone. >> i do. >> happy new year to you, sir. >> thank you. i think we have plenty to talk about based on that introduction. we have the ad out this morning. it is simple. it is direct. some will argue it is divisive. in 2 you say that there must be a temporary ban of muslims because of islamic extremism. you say we must build a wall and

mexico will pay for it. how do you get those things done? >> through competence, mexico is making an absolute fortune with this country. they're taking our money left and right because we have people who are incompetent running our country. look at every country that does business with us, i will tell you, chris, they take our money because we have people that don't know what they're doing or they get someone with another agenda. some of the deals are so bad, so stupid, i'd say maybe they have another agenda between lobbyists and special interests. unlike me, they all get money from big lobbyists and special interests. i'm self-funding my campaign. it's a disgrace what's going on and how our politicians are acting. what they did last week with the budget, it went so fast.

that went like a bullet the way they approved that budget. i have no idea why and how they approved such a horrible budget. obama got every single thing he wanted, including having lots of people come into this country that shouldn't be coming in. >> you mention bullets. the president is going to sign executive orders, he says, we'll find out more details about them. they do seem to be aimed at closing the gun show loophole. and putting more money into existing gun law enforcement. what is wrong with that? >> pretty soon you won't be able to get guns. it's another step in the way of not getting guns. you know, the one thing that is just before we even get to that is the executive order concept. you know, it's supposed to be negotiated. you're supposed to a cajole, g people in a room, you have republicans, democrats, you're supposed to get together and pass a law. he doesn't want to do that because it's too much work. so he doesn't want to work too

hard. he wants to go back and play golf. >> what do you do when the other side doesn't want to negotiate and you find something you want to do that you think is right. >> he's been away for two weeks playing golf. he's not trying hard to get it done. >> all presidents go on vacation. you know that, mr. trump. >> he's using the executive orders. i'll sign it. look at what happened at the border. he did an executive order a couple of years ago. now the courts have actually amazingly, the courts have been on our side, meaning the people's side. and they've -- >> which side are you on? you've said in the past that there should be a quick period where people can figure out whether or not they need a gun. i this i you commented 72 hours we should be able to tell. so you're for background checks, right? >> right now there's been tremendous laws put on the books already. you know, nobody ever talks about the mental health aspect. the people that actually pull the trigger of the guns. they don't talk about that, chris.

all over the country closing up mental health hospitals for budget reasons. people don't talk about that. they talk about the guns. if people in paris had guns you wouldn't have had 130 people and many more to follow get killed. if people in california had a couple of guns in that room, you wouldn't have had 16 people killed, people laying in the hospital. >> we don't know that. you would like to believe if people had guns they'd be able to defend themselves. >> at least we'd have a shot. they have no shot. >> we understand. >> the people of paris and in california had zero shot. >> we understand. >> five soldiers that were killed in a gun-free zone, outstanding soldiers, one of them was the most highly decorated soldiers. they were in a gun-free zone on a military base and this wacko came in and he had a gun. >> i was at ft. hood. we all understand the pain that goes into one of these situations and the frustration. it gets complex, right? nobody talks about the mentally

ill. we do a lot on this show. >> you think we should have a gun-free zone on a military base, chris is this. >> that's not my call. they did it for a reason. >> what's the reason. >> they have operational security issues they have main tennan an maintenance of firearms. that's something of a side issue. >> when i see gun-free zone, that's a flag for the wackos to come in and start shooting people. that's what i see. >> we have plenty of guns in the country. we have more guns than we do people. it's not like we're running at a shortage. when you talk about mental health, there's no question the mentally ill don't get the health care parody they deserve in this country. when we talk about these shootings, the shootings that we cover the most are represented the least in terms of statistics they're less than 1% of overall gun crime. i'm not saying they don't matter. we cover them as much or more than anybody else. that's not the real problem.

you get into the problem of where guys get these guy guns and how. you said in the past, there should be a period where you evaluate whether someone has a record and if they get a gun. shouldn't that apply to all gun sales. >> we have rules and regulations on the books right now. >> not for the gun shows. >> frankly, if you want to get to it. i do see step by step by step and all of a sudden you have no second amendment. i do see that happening. you'll have steps, baby steps, some of them aren't so baby. in all fairness, i don't know what obama is proposing. >> we have it out. look, he's got to give us the details. he's saying close the gun show loophole. and obviously you know what that is. just for the audience, when you go to one of the shows, there's a lot of private-to-private sellers as opposed to someone who is a dealer. they get to transfer arms in a way you wouldn't be able to otherwise. he's saying make it uniform,

same background check that applies when you go to the gun shop should apply when they go to the gun show. >> i want see what he says, why he couldn't get this approved by congress. why can't he go in and get this approved? you do have to ask that question, chris. why can't you, if something is seemingly cut and dry as you like to say it is, why can't the system work the way it was supposed to be, you know, the way it was supposed to be working, the way it was designed. why isn't he getting republicans and democrats together and doing something? he keeps signing executive orders because he doesn't meet with people. he doesn't like people, i guess. i'm sure maybe they could come up with some kind of a plan. don't you think he should do this with congress? i don't think he works very hard at it. okay? i don't think he -- i don't hear massive meetings taking place where they're all coming in and discussing guns and discussing what to do. i don't hear that. all i hear is he's going to sign

an executive order and the reason is, he can't get it approved. >> there's no question that congress -- >> chris, if he's even try, i don't know that he even tried. i don't know that he even -- >> i think there have been significant efforts made. >> he's signing executive orders. >> i think there have been significant efforts made. i think you can do a google search. there's a lot of politic and opposition around this issue. >> based on the deal he made with iran, you look at what iran is doing, certainly he can't make a deal very well. that's the worst deal i think i've ever seen made. >> you've said that many times. >> regardless of what is proposed, this is proposed through an executive order. >> right. >> it shouldn't be. >> one of the things that goes into this is the politics of opposition. it's become an ugly game. that takes to us our next issue. >> it's always been an ugly game. >> it's especially ugly right now. >> they get things done. >> there is criticism on that

basis, why doesn't more get done in d.c. the election, there are plenty of problems, we outline them all time. you say you're going to make america great again. as far as making america great, getting back into bill clinton and his sex life, that seems to be a big point of emphasis. why are you doing that? >> i was mentioned during the course of the debate nine times. none of the other republican candidates mentioned at all. the last person that hillary clinton want to run against, i know this for a fact. as you know, i know many people on the clinton side and all sides. >> they were at your wedding. >> as a businessman, i got along with everybody. nobody did it better than me. it was my obligation to my company, my family, myself to get along with clinton and every person that i needed to get along with. i got along great with everybody. i know many of the people in the clinton campaign. the last person they want to run against is donald trump, believe me. >> what does that have to do

with you bringing bill clinton's sex life up? >> they during the course of the debate and many other times she used the word sexist. i'm sexist. she was using very sort of derogatory terms. i said how can she do that when she's got one of the great women abusers of all time sitting in her house, waiting for her to come home for dinner. >> why do you call him one of the great women abusers of all time? in the past you said the imimpeachment process didn't make sense. you said monica lewinsky didn't make sense. >> as a businessman it was important for me to get along with the clintons. >> it sounds to people -- >> whether she was a senator, secretary of state. >> it sounds like your morality shifts based on motivation. >> no, no. as one of the magazines said, trump is a world -- i'm supposed to be a politician now. i guess i'm not now. it's a bad name, being a politician is a bad name to me,

frankly. i guess that's what i am. when i was a businessman, they said i was a world-class businessman. i got along with clinton and everybody. i got along with harry reid. i got along with everybody. >> leadership is about consistency. you said it in your back "the art of the deal," the most recent book, too, you talk about consistency. years ago you said monica lewinsky, they shouldn't have chased after it like this. bill clinton's sex life shouldn't be an issue. now it's a main issue. >> i tried to help them because they were -- it was important for me as secretary of state, as senator, to have all these people on my set. i needed votes for things. i got many things done. i needed votes. i would have these people on my side. i wasn't going to get involved in the monica lewinsky thing. i wouldn't get involved in it now. >> you're bringing it up. >> i don't care about monica lewinsky other than i think hillary was an enabler and a lot

of things happened that were seedy. he was impeached for heaven's sake. he was impeached. >> that was a political process. the senate wound up not going along with it. he wound up being one of the most popular presidents in history. >> i think his law degree was even taken away, he wasn't able to practice law. obviously it was a big thing. i would always stick up, as a businessman, stick up for various people whether they were friends or not. in many cases i needed them, their votes to get things done. >> what you're saying is that back then when you needed them you were okay with what bill clinton was doing. now that you want to take votes from his wife, you're not okay. >> no. you have to understand, they called me sexist. all of a sudden -- >> because of what you said about women. not because of -- >> she comes out and starts going -- the reason that happen, chris, it was simple. the reason that happened is because i'm doing very well in the polls. in some polls i'm beating her

and i think i'm going to beat her easily if i get the nomination. i'll beat her easily. >> the reason is happened is because of what you said during the first debate about women and how you went at it with megyn kelly. >> she asked me a totally inappropriate first question. if a male asked me that same question, i would have hit him just as hard. what megyn kelly did, she asked me a totally nonsense question and i fought her. >> i'm just saying that's where it came from. hillary clinton didn't bring it out of nowhere. you got a lot of criticism for that. >> i said nothing wrong to megyn kelly. i fought her properly. if it was a male, i would have fought him the same way. >> i'm you wewell aware of your fighting techniques, mr. trump. it makes for a challenging interview. i appreciate your time. >> thanks so much. >> a lot to talk about as always. >> you didn't hit me. >> i kicked you.

we'll break down what you just heard with donald trump. does it hold up? cnn's john king joins us live with his thoughts, coming up. ♪ bleeding gums? you may think it's a result of brushing too hard. it's not. it's a sign of early gum disease... listerine(r) can help reverse... early gum disease in just two weeks. listerine(r). power to your mouth™!

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welcome back, everyone. moments ago chris spoke with republican front-runner donald trump. he gave us a lot to dissect. let's do that now as cnn chief national correspondent john king. good morning, john. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you as well. >> what did you hear in the interview? >> i heard a politician. he said he doesn't like the name. he knows how to speak to the voters that he knows he needs. in the next 60 days are important. the republican party will decide whether mr. trump will stay their front-runner. the democrats will decide their race as well. let's start with the gun issue. yub one, the executive action is the wrong way to do it. a president is supposed to work with congress. that motivates the republican base who thinks this president uses his pen and wants to do everything by executive fiat. the republican base doesn't like

that. number two, step by step -- in his view, a step-by-step case to obliterate guns in the country. republicans and gun rights advocates thinks that's what the president wants to do, eventually take away your guns. then essentially says the president is lazy, he just wants to golf. that plays to the republican base. donald trump knows who his voters are and in every answer he targets them. >> let's talk about the next yir. and that is that chris brought up with him that donald trump has been going after bill clinton. in fact, just with chris's interview, he says bill clinton was one of the great women abusers of all times. now, the point is, that donald trump has supported publicly the clintons in the past. he's invited them to his wedding. said that the monica lewinsky affair was silly, that republicans should never have gone after bill clinton. he said he can relate to bill clinton in terms of extramarital issues. and now he has a different tune. he's going after bill clinton.

so this -- when chris -- >> it's better than that. he says he doesn't have a different tune. he says this isn't about how he feels about morality. it was about what he needed at the time. he need he needed the clintons at the time. had a duty to his family and business. it seems opportunistic. >> we have that moment. let's play that in case people missed it. >> as a businessman, i got along with everybody. it was always important to defend people when i was -- it was important for me to get along with the clintons whether she was a senator or secretary of state. >> it sounds like your morality shifts based on motivation to people. >> no, no. as one of the magazines rain thely said trump was a world -- i guess i'm not now because i'm supposed to be a politician. >> okay. will voters understand that shifting morality? >> it's an interesting question, not just on the issue of bill

clinton but on the issue donald trump once said we should have a single payer health system. republicans give him a pass on his democratic past if you will, so far. that has frustrated all the other candidates. chris christie got in trouble because he hugged president obama after superstorm sandy when the president came up and helped the people of new york and new jersey. some rains are still mad at chris christie for that. yet donald trump is someone who said hillary clinton is a great negotiator. he did say the imimpeachment was silly, why didn't they impeach george w. bush for going into iraq. republicans give him a pass because they're so dissatisfied with their other choices. they're made at not just hillary clinton and bill clinton, they're mad at their party.

>> that's going to be a function of drilling down. one of the reasons in this interview, i could have asked him about oregon, asked him about his presence in this propaganda video for isis but i didn't because i think it's time to drill down a little bit now because of what john is saying and everybody has been saying, he's identified very well, donald trump what pushes the buttons of republican-based voters. now it will be, well, why are you pushing those buttons and what do those buttons mean to you and what will come from these discussions that you're throwing out there as headlines. i think this bill clinton one matters more than john is teeing up because you felt one way about single payer, now you feel another way. people change over time. morality does not change. you are who you is. you are what you do. this is a core belief. the idea that something wasn't wrong because the guy's a friend of yours but now is wrong because you want to beat his

wife in the election, i think that's a little bit of a tougher sell than even trump is teeing up. >> the question is do the other candidates take him on on that? going after the clintons does not hurt you in a republican primary. going after bill clinton's morality does not hurt you -- we're 28 days away from the people of iowa voting where evangelicals tend to make up the biggest slice of the electorate. >> you defended him once. that's the point. >> right. but will the other republican candidates take him on? because when they have in the past, mr. trump, i'm not saying this as a criticism, he's effective. he's essentially the human chain saw in this race. if you take him on, he takes you out. >> yes. does this whole topic still matter to voters? that will be tested in iowa. this is what donald trump himself said in his book in 2000 about bill clinton's past. i think it's telling. if the clinton affair proves anything, it is that the american people don't care about the private lives and personal of the political leaders so long

as they are doing their job. he's making a different gambit today. >> he is making a different gambit today, trying to show republican voters that he is tough, he will scrap. if he gets a chance to run against hillary clinton, he will fight. a lot of republicans think that we're going to nominate another john mccain, nominate another mitt romney. this is what the conservative activists think. they are going to lose because they won't be tough, they compromise too much. they won't take a bat, essentially into the fight. do the republicans want another establishment candidate? do they want a ted cruz, a conservative who will not blink or compromise. or do they want a donald trump who's not really an ideological candidate. it's not like you can give a long list of things where donald trump for 20 or 30 years been on the side of the republican base. he's the fighter. he says i'm the leader and i'm the tough guy. i'll make things better. that's the choice that the republicans face. this is going to be a fascinating stretch between iowa in 28 days and 57 days from now.

don't discount this march 1st s.e.c. primary. when we go south, when red america votes. red america will have a much bigger choice in the republican nominee. you see the trump ad talking about banning muslims, building the wall. he knows what he's talking about. >> things are getting interesting wiinterest ing wi interesting, john king. >> they certainly are. >> we'll do this with any candidate who accepts our invitation to come on "new day." what do you think matters? use #newdaycnn if you go on twitter. go on took as well. facebook.com/newday. also, one special programming note to tell you about thursday night at 8:00 p.m., president obama will join anderson cooper for an exclusive live town hall event on guns in america. the president will discuss the executive action on guns that he's expected to announce this

week and he'll also take questions from a live studio america with president obama in moderated by anderson cooper this thursday night, 8:00 p.m., only on cnn. there's new tension in the middle east. saudi arabia severing diplomatic ties with iran and now more countries are following suit. does all of this undermine the chances for peace in the region and how will it impact the u.s.? we'll take a look at all of that, next. ♪ those who define sophistication stand out. those who dare to redefine it stand apart. the all-new lexus rx and rx hybrid. never has luxury been this expressive. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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now i can download my dvr recordings and take them anywhere. ready or not, here i come! (whispers) now hide-and-seek time can also be catch-up-on-my-shows time. here i come! can't find you anywhere! don't settle for u-verse. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. we have breaking news for you. the united arab emirates downgrading diplomatic ties with iran this morning. the move follows bahrain and saudi arabia who have severed ties with iran after an attack on the saudi embassy in tehran. all iranian diplomats ordered to vacate the saudi kingdom within 48 hours. all of this stems from the execution of 47 prisoners by

saudi arabia, among them within a prominent shiite cleric. joining us now is former undersecretary, former ambassador to greece, nicholas burns. thanks so much for being here with us to understand what's going on. just in the past 15 minutes, bahrain as you heard, the uae downgrading its diplomacy after bahrain and iran have severed its ties with saudi arabia. what does all of this mean for the middle east and the u.s.? >> well, it's a dangerous development. as you know, this sunni-shia divide has played out in a bloody and divisive way. iran is the great shia power, saudi arabia leads in many ways the sunni world and so if they grow further apart, if they're not talking, if they're fighting through proxies in places like syria and yemen and they are, it means over the next several months we should expect to see more violence, more dead, more

refugees coming to america. i think it's a very negative development. >> so ambassador, why did saudi arabia knowing that it would further -- further sort of escalate things in the middle east between shiites and sunnis, why did they execute this cleric? >> well, the saudis in executing shaikh nimr, they were trying to send a major statement against terrorism. they miscalculated. you see open criticism about the united states about the wisdom of pouring gasoline on the fire in a middle east where sectarian divisions were fight pro-found. you've seen criticism from the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon and from prince zaid

hussein, the jordanian head of the u.n. commission of human rights to see a leading arab official criticize him is fight unusual. the saudis need to understand they have to pull back from this, they and the iranians have to try to reduce tonights as much as is possible now. >> saudi arabia says they were trying to fight terrorism. here's what we know about this shiite claieric. he was 56 years old, renowned. he called for the downfall of the saudi royal family. but that's different than terrorism. was he connected to terrorist activities? >> well, i'm not in a position to say that he was or was not. but i think most of the press coverage over the weekend coming from the middle east would say he was a virulent opponent of the saudi regime but the saudis went too far, both in executing shaikh nimr. and to set that tone and make that statement so early in the

year was obviously a miscalculation by the saudi government. but the iranians, of course, are never blameless in these affairs. the iranians have been running guns to the houthi rebels. they're doing their part to try to spread division and to spread further inflame the wars in both yemen and syria. the united states, obviously you can see what the united states is trying to do to talk both sides down from the ledge and to encourage both sides to reduce the rhetoric, violent rhetoric over the last couple of days. i think secretary kerry has been right to say that the united nations and others have to get behind a serious diplomatic peace process in syria, otherwise, alisyn, the 12 million homeless in syria, that number will grow in 2016. it's the greatest human rights catastrophe in the world today. what happened with the saudis and iranians very much plays into that tragic scenario.

>> does this destroy what secretary of state had been trying? he had been pressing both iran and saudi arabia to come to the table and to engage in diplomacy to try to figure out what was going on in syria. they had reluctantly agreed to do that. now what? >> it makes it much more difficult. secretary kerry is not going to give up on the peace negotiations because it's really the only hope over the long term to try to stop the war in syria. it may take months or a year for it to come to fruition. he's right to try. it's just become more difficult. the two key countries that had to make compromises at that negotiating table were saudi arabia and iran. >> ambassador nicholas burns, thanks so much for all of your expertise. great to have you on "new day." >> thank you. as we can tell, alisyn, the 2016 presidential race is really starting to heat up with the iowa caucuses only four weeks out. so what will this final stretch in iowa and new hampshire look like? we'll take a look and break it down, coming up next.

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welcome back to your "new day." we're just four weeks away from the iowa caucuses. this is the first opportunity to are this election to be about you. at least those in that state. that's going to be caucusing. we have new hampshire and south

carolina and away we go. one of the candidates hoping to milwaukee a big show in iowa is, of course, donald trump. he spoke with "new day" earlier this hour. joining us to discuss it is political columnist for "the des moines register," katherine o'bradovic. we wanted to get to more of why he believes what he believes, gun control, this stuff about what to do with clinton in the upcoming back and forth. what did you make? >> i thought it was interesting that he drew a line between speaking out against morality for your business partners or your political opponents. that kind of situational morality that he outlined is not something that will win the hearts of evangelicals in iowa. donald trump by taking this

particular line of attack is reminding those religious folk in iowa that he hasn't always been a choirboy himself. >> he's saying he supported the clintons in the past, he liked bill clinton. he spoke out about the gop going after bill clinton for his indiscretions. he thought it was wrong, he thought it would never pay off with voters. today he's trying a different tact. what the feeling on the ground in iowa as your state and this month heats up? are you gearing up? is the situation ripe for another big surprise in iowa? >> there is sort of a feeling like anything can happen. and certainly there are a lot of candidates who are hoping that that is true. you've got a top tier of four candidates in double digits, trump being one. ted cruz is his closest competition. cruz led polls leading into the holidays.

in a trump versus cruz contest for february 1st is definitely something we're watching for. ben carson has been on the slide. he was still in double digits. can somebody knock him out of the top three? and then marco rubio as possibly a mainstream choice, but can somebody come up from behind like jeb bush or maybe even chris christie who bess been lagging behind in the polls and take that place in the winner's circle for mainstream republicans? it does feel like anything can happen. four years ago, rick santorum came out of nowhere and won the caucuses. >> that's true. he did. he did. as we said earlier, hillary being third was somewhat of a surprise for people there. she had barack obama and edwards in front of her. let me ask you something, though, how surprised will you be if it's not cruz or trump? >> if it's not cruz or trump, i think that would be a surprise. >> right? i think so. >> both of them have run she smart -- both of them have run very smart campaigns. both of them have, you know,

captured excitement for voters, cruz has helped -- has started to consolidate evangelicals, that person voting bloc that i mentioned. a lot can happen in the final weeks. we have two debates. we'll probably see some negative campaigning, possibly revelations, negative revelations about some of the candidates. how the candidates react to that is often crucial. and also organization. can their organizes deliver on that support that they've been trying to build in iowa? you know, i think that both ted cruz and donald trump have pretty good organizations but they're both untested. we'll have to see how those organizations perform. >> kathy, let's talk about that ground game. we're getting information from your site, the des moines register site, that this week in terms of the events, the candidates' events, ted cruz has 28 events in iowa. he is all in. mike huckabee has 25 events in iowa. he's a believer in iowa.

we see donald trump might not have any, ben carson might not have any, jeb bush. is that right? >> yes. it's not just what the candidates are doing. it's what their organizations are doing when the candidates aren't here. you know, i think it's important for candidates to be on the ground. i'm surprised if donald trump doesn't add iowa events to his schedule. ben carson, if he's writing off iowa, i think that's a mistake. he still has support here and can be a top contender. but when the candidates are here, you also have to have organization behind him or her who is getting those people signed up and committed to caucus and signed up as precinct chairs and signed up to help recruit other pell. that can go on even when the candidate is not here. >> donald trump is saying, look, don't call me sexist because

bill clinton is one of the worst abusers of women ever. you could see thats is a moral position to be taking. bad. talk about who's good and what's right and wrong, what's good and what's evil. you're saying the way that donald trump is doing it may not appeal to the evangelical base in iowa. why? >> well, because i think what he told you was that he didn't speak out strongly against bill clinton when he needed him as a political ally. now he is, because he's fair game as a political opponent. that sort of situational morality is not something that goes with the grain of evangelical christians. in other words, if you think what he's doing is wrong, you should speak out against him even if he's a political ally and somebody that you need. and not just, you know, turn a blind eye or be silent because it's somebody that you want to use. that kind of thing happens all the time in washington.

people feel like principles get compromised for political gain and that is something that evangelical christians hate about washington and want to change. >> kathie obradovich, we'll call upon you for the rest of the month. thank you. camille cosby has been ordered to testify in a civil case against her husband. the judge setting no limit to the scope of questioning. what, if anything, does she know and how will it impact other proceedings? what makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts. so simple. get the recipes at walnuts.org.

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in two days time, camille cosby is expected to testify in a defamation case brought against her husband by seven women who claim he sexually assaulted them. efforts to overturn her subpoena were denied by a judge on new year's eve. this blow for bill cosby's camp came days after the comedian was arraigned in a federal court on felony sexual assault charges in a separate case. joining us to wade through it is moe ivory, and midwin charles, here with me. happy new year to you. >> you, too. >> a lot of things going on. we should probably start with the strategy. what are the accusers hoping to

gain from hearing her deposition? >> you have to remember that bill cosby filed a countersuit against these women. he says, you know what, this defamation action has impacted my business endeavors. i've had television shows cancelled. i've had a show that i was going to do with netflix that got pulled. so camille cosby was his business manager. she's going to have vital information with respect to whether or not that is true. that's one of the things that, i think, these women are hoping to get from her deposition testimony. >> the big question that everybody here in studio is asking, wait, wait, wait, isn't there some sort of spousal privilege? isn't there a rule preventing a spouse from testifying against a husband? >> sure. of course, we've all heard of the, you don't have to testify against your husband, and there's a -- courts don't want spouses to be put in the position where they have to testify against each other. it's a privilege, not a constitutional right. it can be, in certain instances,

not allowable. that is the case here for many reasons. first of all, the biggest one, she acts as his business manager. i think that's the biggest place where they went wrong. if she was purely acting as his wife, she would have had a better chance of winning the privilege argument. she also has a lot of information about what came. this is a defamation lawsuit. his representatives have been saying, these women are lying. she said, that's not the bill i know. i don't think the things are true. she has information about what people in his camp, around him, for many years have been saying about accusations that date back for many, many years. she is crucial. i have to say, i don't think she is willing. i don't think she is going to be cooperative. i don't think that this is going to go well for gaining some hot button information that they want to get from her. i don't think it's going to happen. >> here's the question then, if you are cosby reps, how do you

count count counte counter-vene that? they'll come at her as camille the wife and camille the business partner. >> she's not a party to the case. you saw the motions going back and forth with respect to the deposition. bill cosby's attorney, monique pressley, will object whenever things are out of the box. i do all the time when i take depositions. it's important to draw the distinction between spousal privilege and the spousal disqualifications. marital relations are pray viva and you cannot talk about them during a trial. it's only oral communications. if she sent him an e-mail, text

message, wrote to him as a wife, it doesn't fall within the spousal disqualification rule. >> that's complicated. >> or if she saw something. an action by bill cosby that was not a communication between the two of them, she could have to answer the question. did you ever see him do this? did you ever see him do that? >> if you're representing camille cosby, how would you advise her to go into this? >> i do this carefully. i do this with each client. only answer the question that you are asked. never -- >> we have a tendency to overanswer. >> we all do as human beings. it's normal. when you have a communication with someone, you want to expound and want to appear as though you are innocent. you have so much to offer. do not do that. >> it's interesting. they've been married 52 years. >> 52 years. >> since she was 19 years old. there's going to be so much interest in all of this. first of all, do you think it'll be made public, the results of the deposition? mo? >> it could be. that's yet -- listen, monique

pressley and the cosby legal team are going to fight tooth and nail to keep things as private as possible. there will be a huge fight over whether it becomes public. i want to comment on what midwin said. you're also asking her to recollect information from decades. big questions will come up about, what happened 30 years ago, 40 years ago? she can very well say, i cannot remember. i cannot remember. i do not recall. >> here's something that's important. we wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for a previous deposition to begin with. how much in this deposition is going to play in future proceedings? we know the criminal case, cosby's next court date is january 14th. this deposition is set to happen this wednesday. >> it is. >> how valuable is this going to be? >> it'll be valuable from the attorney's perspectives. now, they're going to understand in terms of what is the best strategy going forward?

i don't know whether this deposition transcript will be made public in time for the next hearing date. it'll be up to the judge. i'm sure, obviously, these women will want it to be public. i'm sure bill cosby's camp will want it to not be public. they'll file the necessary motions. i thought it was skillful on bill cosby's team, to at least ask the judge, listen, if you're going to grant this motion and say she has to be deposed, can you make it narrow in scope? the judge denied it in its entirety. >> right. >> she'll have a answer everything. >> it'll be interesting to see what happens on wednesday. we'll be talking to both of you, i'm sure. >> thank you. we are following a lot of news. let's get to it. donald trump, i don't believe, is going to be the party's nominee. if he is, he's going to get crushed by hillary clinton. >> she's got one of the great woman abusers of all time at her

house. >> people who should not own guns should not be able to buy them. saudi arabia is severing ties with iran. >> this after protesters attacked the saudi embassy in tehran on saturday. >> sparked by saudi arabia's execution of a shia cleric. armed anti-government protests at a federal wildlife refuge in oregon. >> in order for us to prosper as a people, we have to have access to the land and resources. this is "new day" with chris cuomo, alison camerota and michaela pereira. >> this is it. real votes begin being cast in the presidential election in weeks. first up, the iowa caucuses. 28 days away. then you have the first regular primary in new hampshire eight

days after that. there will be this momentum and votes coming in. the hopefuls for both parties hitting the trail, more than two dozen campaign events today alone. >> donald trump starting out 2016 on the attack. you'll hear more from chris' conversation with trump erwhich was earlier on "new day." first, let's go to athena jones. what's the latest on the trail, athena? >> good morning. today kicks off a new phase in the campaign. the holidays are over and voters are paying attention. we've seen the candidates ramp up activity. in some cases, it's already gotten more heated and more personal on the campaign trail. >> reporter: just four weeks from the first contest in the 2016 presidential election. >> if we win iowa, i think we'll win everything after that. >> reporter: gop candidates scrambling to build momentum ahead of the high-stakes iowa

caucuses. this morning, the launch of donald trump's first campaign ad, touting his controversial platform. >> that's why he's calling for a temporary shutdown of muslims entering the united states, until we can figure out what's going on. he'll quickly cut the head off ice and is take their oil. >> donald trump, i don't believe, is going to be the party's nominee. if he is, he'll be crushed by hillary clinton. >> reporter: as jeb bush grappling with dwindling poll numbers, trump leads the pack, accusing ted cruz of copying his immigration plan. >> he said, we'll build a wall. first time i heard him saying it. i'm the one who came up with him. >> reporter: trump slamming cruz over religion. >> cuba is a catholic country, and you don't equate evangelicals with cuba. >> she's the best qualified person. >> she is. >> reporter: as president clinton readies to hit the campaign trail, trump taking digs at secretary clinton.

drudging up her husband's past. tweeting saturday, i hope bill clinton starts talking about women's issues so that voters can see what a hypocrite he is, and how hillary abused those women. sunday night, tweeting, the worst thing hillary can do is have her husband campaign for her. just watch. after appearing in this terror propaganda video, trump pointing the finger back at his democratic rival in front of a crowd. >> hillary clinton created isis with obama. >> reporter: shrugging off what critics say is his anti-muslim rhetoric. >> we're likely to hear more of the same from trump at his rally tonight. meanwhile, marco rubio, hoping to become the anti-trump alternative for gop voters, he's set to speak here any minute. he'll make the case he'll be strongest on national security. a lot of action in new hampshire and iowa in the weeks to come. we'll be following it all.

>> athena, thank you very much. let's get to the one-on-one with donald trump. we wanted to drill down deeper on a couple things, as opposed to throwing out tons of topics. what about the executive orders coming up on gun laws? what should be done? what about what's relevant and not relevant about bill clinton? here's what he had to say. >> i want to see what he says. i want to see why he couldn't get this approved by congress. why can't he go in and get this approved? you do have to ask that question because why can't you, if something is seemingly cut and dry, as you'd like to say it is, why can't the system work the way it was supposed to be? the way it was supposed to be working or the way it was designed. i manean, why is it you get the democrats and republicans together and decide on something? he doesn't meet with people. he doesn't like people, i'm guess. maybe they could come up with a

plan, but don't you think you should do this with congress and the -- i don't think he works very hard at it. >> you say you'll make america great again. is part of that getting back into the weeds with bill clinton and his sex life? that seems to be a big point of emphasis for you. why are you doing that? >> only because i was mentioned during the course of the debate nine times. none of the other candidates, republican candidates, were mentioned at all. the last person that hillary clinton wants to run against, and i know this for a fact because, as you know, i know many people on the clinton side, people on all sides. >> they were at your wedding. >> i got along with everybody. i was a businessman. i got along with everybody, and it was my obligation to my company and my family and myself, to get along with clinton and get along with every person that i needed to get along with. >> it sounds like your morality shifts based on your motivation to people. >> no, no. as one of the magazines recently said, trump was -- i guess i'm

not now because i'm supposed to be a politician but it's a bad name, being a politician, bad name to me, frankly, but i guess that's what i am. when i was a businessman, they said i was a world-class businessman. i got along with clinton and everybody. i got along with harry reed. >> right. leadership is about consistency. >> when i said -- >> in your most recent book, you talk about the consistency needed in leadership. one minute you said -- years ago, you said monica lewinsky, they shouldn't have chased after it. bill clinton's sex life shouldn't be an issue. now, it is? >> i tried to help him. it was important for me as secretary of state, as a senator, to have all these people. i needed votes for things. i got many things done. i needed votes. i would have these people on my side. i wasn't going to get involved in the monica lewinsky thing, and i wouldn't get involved in

it now. i don't care about monica lewinsky, other than i think hillary was an enable lr and things happened that was seedy. he was impeached over this. >> it was a political process. the senate wound up not going along with it and he was one of the most popular presidents. >> there was a massive fine. i think his law degree was taken away. obviously, it was a big thing. but i would always stick up, as a businessman, i would always stick up for various people, whether they were friends or not. in many cases, i needed them and their votes to get things done. >> so what you're saying is that back then when you needed them, you were okay with what bill clinton was doing. now that you want votes from his wife, you're not okay with what he was doing? >> you have to understand, they called me sexist. >> they called you that because of what you said about women. >> she comes out and starts going -- the reason it happened,

chris, is because i'm doing very well in the polls. in some polls, i'm beating her. i think i'm going to beat her easily if i get the nomination. >> i understand. you have to remember, the reason it happened is because of what you said during the first debate about women and how you went at it with megyn kelly, and what you said about carly fiorina. >> she asked me an appropriate first question and i fought her. if a male asked me that question, i would have hit just as hard. >> a lot to dissect. joining us, cnn political commentator, jeffrey lorde, and jeb bush supporter, anna navarro. anna, what did you hear this morning from donald trump that jumped out at you? >> that last section about bill clint clinton, and having been a defender of bill clinton, saying, let's not get into the issues then, and doing what he's doing now, i actually thought

was rather amusing and refreshingly transparent. he basically said, look, that was then. when i was a businessman, i behaved like a businessman. i sucked up to the people because i needed their support and their vote. now that i'm running, now that i'm a politician, i'm behaving like a politician. i thought it was, frankly, blunt, honest and refreshing. it almost made me chuckle. a first from donald trump. >> he did more, jeffrey, than suck up to politicians. he supported bill clinton. he said the gop going after him was silly, and it was ridiculous, and they shouldn't have gone after his sex life. in fact, just this past june, the day after donald trump announced he was getting into this race, he was on a different morning show, and he talked about how bill clinton is one of his favorite past presidents. >> of the four, who is the best? >> well -- >> bush, 41, clinton, bush 43 or

obama? >> i would have to say clinton. >> why? >> there was a little spirit. he could -- frankly, had he not met monica or paula, had he not met various somewhat beautiful women, he would have had a better deal going. >> jeffrey, that does not sound like how he is now framing bill clinton as an abuser of women. >> one of two things here. art, a reagan adviser and one of the godfathers of reaganomics said he voted for president clinton twice because he thought he was keeping reaganomics ongoing, which a lot supported clinton because of his economic policy. the rest of it, it's the other side that began this meme of the war on women.

this is something they brought up. in that context. hillary clinton herself, if you remember the so-called mattress girl from columbia university, who carried a mattress around as a sign he'd be she's been raped. hillary clinton supported her. >> hillary clinton is in support of getting rid of campus violence. >> we're in a culture where rape is considered to be a very big deal. president obama went on -- if you remember, we had todd aiken -- >> it is a very big deal, jeffrey. rape is a very big deal. >> well, exactly. i'm in total agreement, ana. my point is, when todd aiken was talking about legitimate rape, the whole world came down on him. i did. president obama went on jay

leno's show and said, rape is a crime. now, suddenly, broderick is not getting the same treatment as the cosbys. why not? >> why did donald trump support bill clinton and laugh it off in june? that was six months ago. >> let me tell you this, donald trump has changed his mind on so many things. whether it's single payer, whether it's guns, whether it's, you know, his view of obama, his view of clinton, his view of hillary. you name it, he's changed his view and it hasn't had an effect with him. he's been able to get away with it. why is he doing this? first, because bewe're talking about it. donald trump is a master at staying in the headlines, at maintaining himself in the press, getting free media. second of all, it hits a nerve with some people in the republican base. they like to see a candidate who is going to bring it to hillary. who is not afraid of not being politically correct. and, you know, third of all,

because whenever you hit donald trump, he will hit you back. do i like it? not a little bit. i'm not interested in reading or hearing about donald trump's divorces or donald trump's personal life. i'm not interested in hillary clinton being called an enabler for her husband's faux pass and her husband's problems and issues with women. i think a lot of women are going to find that troubling. donald trump is not thinking long term. he's thinking, how do i win the primary now? it strikes a nerve, some people in the republican base, like what he's saying. >> it does show a willingness to fight back, and i think that underlies it. not just on this issue but a lot of issues. >> strength is often exhibited in different ways. sometimes, restraint is strength. sometimes, tact is strength. what you do winds up being examined. you can change a tax policy. you can change about guns. people's feelings change about things as they get older, at least we hope they would. but not morality issues.

it's different, jeffrey. that would be my strategic concern here for team trump that you're on. he's not saying, i feel differently about potential rape allegations now than i used to. that's not going to wash, certainly not in iowa. and with a big part of the country. don't you have to own what's right and wrong in your heart, and not jump to what's convenient? >> are you suggesting to me that donald trump has ever said rape is a good thing? >> he laughed it off. whenever you talk about bill clinton's past, he laughed it off in june, and now he's saying -- >> no was the answer to your question. i'm not saying he's joking about rape. >> chris, chris -- >> he's showing something that makes you wonder if you can depend on him. >> chris -- >> let me -- >> chris, this cuts both ways. everyone running for office feels the same way. just a few years ago, bill and

hillary were at donald trump's wedding. now, they call him disgusting. now hillary clinton goes after him. they're running against each other. things change when you're running against each other when you're in an election. >> exactly. >> part of what he's trying to do do, donald trump, is draw out bill clinclinton. i think it'll take restraint for bill clinton, who gets defensive of his wife, to maintain his restraint and not enter the ring with donald trump. i believe he's not going to do it this time. there was something he had trouble with in 2008. i think bill has learned his lesson. i think this is a long-term problem for republicans, focusing on this issue. i want to focus on how hillary was the secretary of state. herrma management skills, legislative history. i don't want to deal with her husband from 20 years ago. >> it'll be interesting to see how bill clinton responds. ana and jeffrey, thanks to talk

to both of you. >> thanks, guys. as we were talking about there, hillary clinton is going to use her not secret weapon, her husband, on the campaign trail. former president bill clinton about to make his first solo stop for her out there. let's bring in brianna keilar, joining us from new hampshire. what will it look like, especially with this conversation going on, with pundits on tv? >> that's really the big question. is he going to address this? we don't expect he's going to, but bill clinton will be headlining two events here in new hampshire today. the first is here at the community college. the second will be later in the day. this comes one day after hillary clinton was campaigning here in the granite state, where she had one of the more contentious moments she's had out on the campaign trail. gop state lawmaker heckeling her about bill clinton's past

inproprieties. >> right there, this man right there, here we go, right there. you are very rude, and i'm not ever going to call on you. thank you. [ applause ] >> these issues that donald trump is making about bill clinton's past aside, he's very popular. his standing, his approval rating, stands nationally at about 60%. he's trying to bring some of his popularity here to new hampshire for his wife. this is also a state that, i think you can say, has a place in his heart. it's what gave him a key second place finish back in 1992. really salvaging his chances for the presidency and ultimately, of course, he was successful. hillary clinton, having a really tough time in new hampshire. it's been the toughest race against bernie sanders. she and bernie sanders have been going back and forth in the polls since this summer. very close. bill clin toyne ton is trying t

we want to get to breaking news. the united arab emirates downgrading diplomatic ties with iran. it follows bahrain and saudi arabia dealt with violence. it was in the wake of a shiite cleric's execution. nic robertson has the latest from london. >> there is a lot in play here. we've heard from bahrain. they also are cutting diplomatic ties with iran. it's no surprise because bahrain has become a smaller cousin to saudi arabia recently, particularly since the arab spring. what's happened over the weekend, you have the two major powers in the gulf region. iran and saudi arabia, escalating tensions, already fighting a proxy war in yemen and syria. the united states was hoping they could at least work out a peace deal that was on the table

and was being worked on in yemen. that's fallen by the wayside. the cease fire collapsed over the weekend. syria, the same peace. the chances of securing peace there seem unlikely. what has happened? the saudis pulled out all the diplomats from tehran over the weekend after their embassy was torched. they blamed provocation by the iranian leadership, saying they're trying to escalate tension in the region. they've given iranian diplomats in saudi arabia 48 hours to get out of the country. the iranians say saudi arabia is escalating this because of tensions inside saudi arabia. it came about after saudi arabia executed a cleric who supporters say was calling for the peaceful overthrow of the saudi royal family. the saudis say he was fermenting terrorism in the country. this was the reason he was executed. it shows a tough new line by the relatively new king in saudi arabia. escalating tensions, powerful

countries in the gulf. >> thank you very much. also, a massive man hunt is underway in israel. authorities searching for a gunman who killed two people and wounded eight others at a bar in tel aviv on friday. the suspect's uncle tells c thrks thrks tnn his family recognized him from surveillance footage and called police. earthquake rocks news, weather, and sports ea-- northet asia. the 6.8 magnitude quake damaged buildings across the region. it could be felt in bangladesh and myanmar. hold off on the retirement plans. no one won last night's $334 million powerball jackpot. the next drawing wednesday night could be worth $400 million. your odds of winning the prize are about 1 in 300 million.

let's ignore that for the moment. the largest powerball jackpot ever is $590 million, won by an 84-year-old florida woman in 2013, who was allowed by another customer to cut the line. >> that's going to be a tough pill to swallow. >> great. >> can you imagine? >> aren't we doing a pool? >> let's get that organized. >> nothing from anybody. we're the only ones. >> would that make you less likely to let someone cut in front of you to buy a powerball tick suns ticket? >> i'd still let somebody. >> it was fate for her to win. i don't know what she did with the money. >> do you buy what camerota is saying? or would you get a kick in the pants than a quick seat to the register? president obama is about to take executive action to push for tighter gun control. what do we know about what he wants to do, and will it make a difference? answers ahead. ♪

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president obama's anticip e anticipated executive order on gun violence is getting mixed reactions. he has been unable to get legislation through congress. what now? let's bring in cnn political commentator, mark lamont hill, and host of the ben ferguson show, ben ferguson. thank you for being here. happy new year. >> happy new year. >> let me tell you what cnn learned about what the president will be announcing this week. he aims to close the, quote, gun show loophole, which allows some dealers to sell without a license or conducting background checks, and includes new funding

for government agencies to enforce existing laws. ben, what's so radical about these two things? >> it's not -- i don't have a problem, for example, with more funding to go after people that are breaking the law with guns. i think the problem is the way he's selling this. he's implying that, somehow, this is going to stop mass shootings. we know not one of the mass shootings would have been stopped with this executive action, if he would have done this on his first day in office seven years ago. this is a push for gun control in the name of, we're going to stop mass shootingsme. that is not the reality here. we're also not dealing with the real issue, which is mental health. that's the part which is the most frustrating. there is an appetite from conservatives to deal with mental health and guns and, yet, he's not even looking at that. he's simply trying to build on his legacy of, i'm the guy that's going to be tough on guns. this is not a national security issue. this is not a issue that's going to keep us safer. i should be able to inherit a gun from a family member without

having to go through paperwork with the government or trade with an uncle or cousin. that's the majority of people that trade guns. it's usually within a family. this is not an issue. >> ben, you're in the minority on that one because, let me pull up a poll. the latest poll from last month, would you support or oppose a law requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows or online. 89% of the country supports closing the gun show loophole. that's what he's basing this on. >> exactly. >> ben, you respond. >> it all depends on how you ask the question. most people are in favor of background checks but we already have background checks. if you polled the same people and said, do you think you should be able to inherit a gun from your grandfather without going through the government to check and fill out the paperwork, they'd also say that. >> this was talking about gun shows. people supported it.

mark, i'll get to you now. >> a couple -- >> hold on. okay, go ahead. >> you can want background checks and still want to inherit a gun from your grandfather. the issue is whether or not your grandfather is giving a gun to someone who might have domestic violence background, criminal or mental health background. the first thing, the president has been adamant about wanting mental health checks. when he made the first announcement about this, he said mental health should be on the table. that has not been an issue. with regard to the gun show loophole, this doesn't close the loopho loophole. you can only close it through thorough congressional action. you can make the loophole smaller by expanding the idea of what constitutes a gun dealer. more people will have to register as dpun degun dealers e people will need background checks. the president has never suggest thad this will stop mass shootings. yes, i admit after a mass shooting, we tend to use it as

a -- >> mark -- >> let me finish. >> -- he's talking about mass shootings. >> you're disagreeing with the wrong thing. after mass shootings we use it as an opportunity to talk about gun control. i'm saying, i agree with you that this would not stop a mass shooting. we agree on that so we don't argue on that. >> but -- >> it is not about taking away people's guns. it's stopping someone with a history of domestic violence from killing their partner. >> this is the false narrative that bothers me. we have laws that deal with the issues you describe. for example, as a family member, you are not allowed to give a gun to someone that is a convicted fellconvict ed questifelon. it's the problem we had with the mass shootings. we had people that had mental health warnings but we do not have a law to deal with them.

to act as if this legislation, or this executive action, in going around congress, is somehow going to keep us safe, it's just a flat out lie. we already have -- >> ben -- >> -- laws on the books to deal with people who are convicted felons and not getting a gun. >> you're saying we already have a law that stops it. laws don't stop people from breaking laws. it's like saying, killing is illegal. >> why are we adding another one? you're making my point for me. columbine, there was more than 100 laws. >> hold on, ben. you asked a question. mark, answer it. >> i'll answer your question, ben. we're not adding more laws, it's more provisions so people don't get access to the gun. laws punish people for breaking the law. let me finish. if i add a background check, people don't get access to the guns as easily. i'm for laws that punish people. but let's engage this, step in ahead of time and stop them from getting the gun.

>> ben -- >> again, not one of these shootings would have been stopped by this law. >> yes, but you're talking about it shall. >> nothing the president is going to do. >> you're talking about mass shootings. mark is saying some shootings will be, if you make sure there are universal background checks, some shootings would be stopped by that. you wouldn't give everyone a gun who ends up getting their hands on it. maybe you can prevent a handful of shootings. maybe you can prevent dozens, hundreds. >> show me the data that correlates with that. this idea that people that are going to go out and kill people or break laws are somehow going to gun shows and getting these guns there. the facts do not back that up. they're buying them on the black market illegally anyway. many of these people already convicted felons and lost their right to own a gun. that's my point about what the president is doing. this is a feel good moment for him and his legacy that's not actually going to make us safer. if you want to deal with the issue, the president should say, i'm going to take executive action on mental health issues and work with congress, instead of going after congress. also, he can check a box with

his legacy to say, i did something. >> we're going to leave it there because we could talk about this for hours. >> oh. >> ben and mark, thank you. mark, you'll be happy, there is a special programming note. this thursday at 8:00 p.m., president obama will join anderson cooper for an exclusive live town hall event about guns in america. where all of these issues and questions are sure to come up, among other things. we will discuss the executive action on guns he's expected to announce this week. he'll also satake questions froa live studio audience on this. moderated by anderson cooper this thursday at 8:00 p.m. only on cnn. elsewhere in the world, tensions between saudi arabia and iran reached a tipping point. the saudis deciding to cut ties with more countries following suit. what does that mean for the two biggest persian gulf players, and how will the rift impact the u.s.? answers ahead. , wanna trade the all day relief

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breaking news this morning. more countries cutting ties with iran after protesters attacked the saudi embassy in tehran. the united ar rab erab e rarab downgrading their ties. the embassy attack in retaliation for saudi arabias execution of 47 prisoners, including a revered shiite muslim cleric critical of the saudi government. here to discuss it is cnn chief international correspondent, christiane amanpour. happy new year, my love.

great to have you. i think context and understanding of what went on here is really important. we've watched how these protests have erupted pretty much around secretatarian lines. iran and other shia nations in the region, like yemen, lebanon, iraq, they condemned the killing of what they called a peaceful dissident. give us context as to who the cleric was and why he was significa significant. >> well, here's the context of who the cleric was, he is an anti-monarchy activist. he is a shiite. he has been an activist for the right of the shiites in saudi arabia who, as you know, are a minority and have been clamped down upon by the majority sunni kingdom after saudi arabia. these people, along with the other arab spring protesters during 2011, did rise up, did want to have more rights, did

want to jump on the arab spring band wagon, and they were pushed out. this man was one of their leaders. however, he has always claimed he never advocated violence. to whit, the united states, europe, un, all condemned his execution. it happened very cleverly from the saudi perspective, along with actual convicted terrorists. they lumped them all in together and did this. from the iranian perspective, storming an embassy is totally wrong, totally against international law, and that's why people are angry about that. >> how could it be seen as anything other than a provocation by the part of saudi arabia, given what is going on in the region? >> precisely. what's going on in the region has revolved around these two axise axis. iran representing the shiite and saudi arabia representing the sunnis in the islamic world. we know the sunnis are the

overwhelming majority. 85% of the world's muslims are sunnis. the rest to mostly shiites. shiism is iran, afghanistan and iraq. that's where the majority of the world's shiites are. the rest of the islamic world are sunni. you've had these historic tensions between saudi arabia and iran. you've had severing of ties before. particularly, saudi arabia is angry about iran right now because it doesn't like the nuclear deal iran struck with the united states and the rest of the world powers. it doesn't want to think that iran is gaining its international credibility, gaining its international heavyweight and coming back into the community of nations. especially on the oil producing front. saudi arabia worries iran will continue to push its interests, supporting shiite majorities in its country, bahrain and elsewhere. these historic tensions, and not to mention the fact that both sides, iran and saudi arabia,

are on different sides of the syria civil war, the yemen civil war and what's going on in iraq, as well. >> then you throw in america. how does it stand for america? america, obviously an ally of saudi arabia, criticized of favorable response to saudi arabia actions burks al saction. how does it shake out for the u.s.? >> the u.s. is a little between a rock and a hard place. it's condemned the execution but also condemned the tensions, the storming of the embassy in tehran, and is trying to get all sides to calm tensions. we're not clear how and who and what forces will be those who mediate, if it's possible. the russian state media said russia will try to mediate between iran and saudi arabia. but the u.s., here's a fact right now, the united states has gathered saudi arabia, iran and all the interested parties in the syria conflict. we've had the vienna talks.

they were meant to all come together, all exert influence on all those who they could, and try to stop this war and move it towards a political resolution. well, it hasn't really worked out. the fighting has continued. there's only a limited amount the united states can do, but you know, this is a very bad situation for the middle east in general, to have these two power centers pitted against each other. >> right. we're so appreciative to you for the context. we'll talk about this more, i'm sure, in the coming days and weeks. thank you so much. good to see you. protesters reportedly packing plenty of fire power and vowing to stand their ground at a federal wildlife refuge in oregon. cnn spoke with the group's leader. what's their next move? what makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever?

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the five things to know for your new day. number one, four weeks until the

iowa caucuses. donald trump, ted cruz, the rest of the candidates beginning the final push before the first votes are past in the 2016 presidential race. president obama meeting with attorney general lynch this afternoon, putting the finishing touches on his new gun control executive orders. the president plans to unveil the measures as early as tomorrow. united arab emirates downgrading ties in the wake of a prominent shiite cleric's execution. no end in sight to the occupation of a federal building in oregon. protesters angry over the treatment of two ranchers who report to prison on arson charges. camille cosby scheduled to testify wednesday in a lawsuit brought by seven women who claim they were sexually assaulted by her husband bill cosby. the wife of the comedian tried to avoid being deposed

unsuccessfully. for more, visit new day cnn.com. to weather now, the potential for deadly flooding is threatening millions from illinois all the way to louisiana. meanwhile, temperatures drop in the northeast. we're getting some of the winter weather every loves so much. our meteorologist is looking at all the forecast. look at that map. my word. >> yeah, better late than never. we are finally seeing winter return to the northeast. in fact, temperatures with this latest push of cold air, finally getting below freezing in the new york city area. 29 degrees right now. also getting a couple of flurries around the city, as well. it's not going to last too long. about two days, then milder air will start pushing in. temperatures will get back above normal. we will see temperatures back around 43 degrees by wednesday. look at d.c., you enjoy a couple cooler days, and the temperature is back at 44 degrees by the middle of the week. we are still looking at flooding across the midwest. we aren't going to see records

shattered, or we shouldn't, but we'll see some flooding along the mississippi river. we are going to see for the next couple of weeks, it'll make its way to the mississippi area, south louisiana. over the next couple of weeks, we are going to still be watching it very, very closely. >> we know you will be, jennifer. thanks for that update. armed protesters in oregon seizing a wildlife federal refuge. next on new day, we'll hear from the leader of the group. what's their plan?

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there's an impasse in rural oregon, where armed protesters are still in control of a building on a federal wildlife refuge. the group, upset over the federal government's treatment of local ranchers. authorities have yet to confront them, but schools in the area are shut down for the week. with the latest on the occupation, we'll go live to oregon. we understand you've spoken with the leader of the group. what did you learn? >> that's right. we basically asked, how long are they going to be here? what are they demanding from the government? they said they're demanding land rights. they feel the federal government has overstepped its bounds. how long are they going to be here? they said weeks, months, years,

whatever it takes. how will they defend themselves if the federal government comes and decides to try and raid the area they've taken over? here's what they had to say. >> is everybody armed that's with you? >> i don't know that everybody is. i know i have been carrying arms. i don't feel like i'm in immediate threat. but i do feel that if we as a people, and i'm talking about across america, if we are not armed, then those that are trying to take our rights will take advantage of that. >> are you willing to die for what you believe in here? >> i don't know that i've ever acknowledged that, but i want you to understand that. i have six children. from the ages 13 to 11 months old. i have a beautiful wife. i have -- i love where i live. i have a business with close to 25 employees. i don't want to die.

>> now, initially, they came to this area. they are not from oregon. they're from out of state. they came to the area because of a family called the hammonds. father and son who were ranchers who were sent to prison for arson, on arson charges. they say what happened to them was unfair and they came here in their name. the attorney for the hammonds said, indeed, they do not speak for the hammonds. the hammonds are turning thepsi themselves in. they're going back to prison. out here, we're about 30 miles from town, and these folks, bundy says, i don't understand why they closed down the schools. we're not violent or hurting anybody. but they certainly have arms. someone posted in a tower behind me, a couple guys posted at the beginning of the property so you can't easily go down to the headquarters. they say look, nobody is here, we're not hurting anyone, but we're going to stand our group. >> that's the problem.

if they stand their ground and it's not their ground, what happens when they're asked to vacate it? that's why the schools are closed. let's bring in another journalist covering this story. visited the compound yesterday. he is political reporter ian. thanks for joining us. you went inside the compound. let me get your take on the mood and motivation. we did this thedy s popped up i. what would you say the mood and motivation is inside that compound? >> i think the mood and motivations are very similar to what they were last time. really, sort of sparked by a different incident. they feel like the federal government has overstepped its boundaries here. you know, this is kind of the

culmination of a lot of tension, i think, between this specific group of people and, you know, what they see is abuses with the federal government. i think it's important to note, to the best of my knowledge, no locals are actually inside the km pou compound. >> meaning what? >> no locals from this area are inside the compound. as best i know, these are all people from out of state. they are from nevada, like the bundys. i talked to a man yesterday from arizona who gave me a tour of the compound, who is friends with the bundys. his ranch was -- is just next door to the bundys. inside the arizona line, or so he told me. it seems to be a group of people who are not really from around here, who are mostly carrying this out. >> all right. helpful and complicates it a bit. sarah, you and i spent time covering lots of different types of unrest recently.

the word "thugs" was applied when you had black protesters and the protests got violent. we dealt with what makes a person a terrorist, using arms to send a frightening motivation to a government or people. these people are called ranchers thus far. how do you think they qualify? >> well, here's the thing, so i asked them that question. i said, you're being called all sorts of different names online. the way african-americans see it, when they protest, if they're arm and had certacertai took over a building, the police officers would be crawling here. they've been called vanilla isis all over the internet. i said, what do you think of people basically saying you're terrori terrorists? they said, we're patriots, trying to get the federal government to follow the constitution. that's how they see themselves.

how others see them is different. the way they're treated, when you look at the difference between, for example, a protest with mostly african-americans, is quite different. i also do want to say though, where they are is different, as well. we are out 30 miles from anywhere. there's nothing around us but wilderness. their point is, we're not interfering with anybody except for the federal government. we are going to stand our ground. how that is going to be responded to, we will wait and see. we do understand they're going to set up a command center, the sheriff's department, the feds know about what's going on, but that i have been here now for two days now, going on three, and have been holding this land here. normally, they're off on the weekends. it is monday and we're going to have to wait and see how the federal government and the fbi responds to this, chris. >> ian, you have reported they're saying they'll be there for the long haul. they have been letting in reporters, at least you guys getting access to them. let's see if it continues. always good to have communications with people,

especially in a situation like this. stay safe. i know there's not a big security presence there. we expect that to change. we believe the authorities are coming in. thank you very much. both of you, be safe. there is news on that front. will there be a surrender this morning? if not, what happens? a lot happening in the news cycle. we're going to pick up with the newsroom right after this break. see you then. this is where i met your grandpa. right under this tree. ♪ (man) some things are worth holding onto. they're hugging the tree. (man) that's why we got a subaru. or was it that tree? (man) the twenty-sixteen subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

good morning, everyone. i'm deborah in for carol costel costello. thank you for joining us. investors on edge this morning. u.s. markets bracing for a rough start to the new year. 30 years out from the opening bell, and futures are way down. cnn's chief business correspondent christine romans is with me w.