at's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. >> the u.s. president gets set to sell his executive action on guns for american public. hello, welcome to our viewers from the united states and all around the world. thanks for being with us. i'm john vause. another hour of "news room l.a." starts right now.

>> we'll get to those stories in just a moment. but we begin with more troubling news in the global financial markets. the trading day in china ends almost as quickly as it begins after a rapid selloff triggered automatic circuit breakers. it's been a rough day so far across the asia pacific region. stocks are down right now across the board. let's take a look at the numbers. hong kong down more than 2.5%. and the seoul kospi down by 2% as well. abo about four hours ago, walk us

through how we got to this point. >> most of the investors and the analysts that we have spoken to are pointing to an overnight loss of value. the selloff dropped to its lore value since 2011. that really seeped to have spook investors. we've spoken to some observers about those circuit breakers that you mentioned. when the stock market, when the csi 300 index drops to 5%, trading is automatically halted for 15 minutes. that's supposed to give investors a chance to calm down. but what observers are saying is that what that's actually doing is giving investors a chance to line up their orders to sell. so as soon as the market

reopens, all of those orders sell stocks to go through. >> many will be curious for the turmoil on the korean peninsula is having any impact on this market volatility. the north korean situation still playing a role here. you can look at the diplomatic tensions between saudi arabia and iran. you could look at oil prices being the lowest in 12 years. you look at the world bank cutting global forecasts for the third year in a row. you're seeing the results of a

slowing chinese economy over the past six month regulators here have really been trying to get on top of this volatility. they've injected tens of billions of dollars of liquidity to try to calm things down. just today they announced new regulations in terms of being able to limit major shareholders from being able to sell off companies. >> matt rivers live in beijing. reaffirms its defense commitments. high-level phone calls in the past few hours.

between leaders of seoul, tokyo and washington. do we know much about the specifics of their conversation. >> not really specifics, john. we had to reach out from these phone calls. we understand that all three, or the two, obama and the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe and obama, they agreed it was a clear violation of u.n. security council resolutions. really a very standard readout and something we would have expected. obviously the u.n. is what we were looking to now. what kind of sanctions, additional sanctions could work when you see that north korea is

managing to move forward with this nuclear program, despite being one of the most heavily sanctioned countries on earth. so it was an interesting fact that they did talk. but if there was more interest within that phone call, it wasn't given to the press. >> and you mentioned, already north korea is facing -- already sanctioned more than any other country in the world. the u.s. congress is looking at even more sanctions. how will north korea react if the u.s. congress approves that measure? >> it will react angrily as it has many times in the past. there could be another provocation, possibly another missile test or rocket launch. we're hearing with some analysts because they can say they're reacting to hostility from the international community. they are reacting to the hostile united states.

this is an important year. in may we will have the seventh party congress. this doesn't happen very often. it's a very big deal in north korea. and the new leader would certainly like to arrive there. it's what he calls a successful hydrogen bomb under his belt. the rest of the world would see as a provocation. john? >> and finally, paula, one thing we always find interesting is reaction by south koreans to these north korean nuclear tests. what are you picking up from just people in the street. >> nothing has changed. everyone is going about their business. it's not surprising. south koreans have been dealing with north korea for the past 70

years. they are still technically at war with their northern neighbors. there was never a peace treaty signed. you won't see much reaction. the reaction is coming from the political arena. >> paula hancocks with what sounds like a pretty bad cold there. hope it gets better. >> north korea's claim it tested a hydrogen bomb brought swift condemnation around the world. >> this act is a profoundly

destabilizing for security. >> knot korea's nuclear test is a serious threat to our nation's security and absolutely cannot be tolerated. >> reporter: even china, north korea's neighbor and closest ally kbikly denounced the test, after down playing the nuclear threat for years, growing concern in beijing over the program under north korea's erratic and unpredictable leader. u.s. officials hope north kor korea's largest benefactor will finally put the squeeze on kim jong un and wants the u.n. security council to impose tough new sanctions. >> we want to see a strong new response to this latest provocation. and unanimity in the international community about raising the stakes further on the regime. but decades of sanctions have failed to curb three generations of north korean leaders.

president obama came to office promising not to overreact to north korea's nuclear antics, continuing sanctions until pyongyang agreed to negotiate an end to its program. instead, the u.s. focused on a nuclear deal with iran, a more willing partner. in april, iran agreed to robust curbs on its program. three of the nuclear tests have been launched since obama took office. critics label obama's so-called strategic patience a recipe for diplomatic failure. >> some no diplomatic policy options need to be put on the table.

>> it's unclear what it would take to bring them to the table. for starter, north has demanded to be officially recognized as a nuclear state. >> if the north koreans tested a hydrogen bomb or if it was made from plutonium matters a lot in terms of pyongyang's nuclear capability. but perhaps it's not as important in terms of diplomacy and what happens next. we're talking with the director of korean studies.

>> china says everyone stay calm. we don't really have a whole loft of leverage than that. we'll done it before and we'll probably do it again. >> the north koreans plan on a very familiar fashion. the one big difference in what happened 24 hours ago is that beijing wasn't given a heads up. there was nop notification coming from pyongyang. that says a lot to me about kim jong un. his father at the very least tried to keep the chinese on its side. >> china can clearly be more annoyed with kim jong un ever since he took power. they have basically frozen out north korea and north korea is returning the favor. clearly now kim jong un is not trying to keep china onboard either. >> so given that, is it possible then in the bigger picture as we move further down the road.

the japanese and the south koreans are moving closer to the united states and also possibly pushing the chinese even further away. >> essentially, again, we don't have a whole lot to do to punish north korea. >> why would it be the north koreans know that. so why kwould they say or appear to say yet again that they have done something with they may not have done. >> yeah. i think this test is mostly for domestic politics in north korea. kim jong un is facing a workers policy meeting that hasn't met

in 1980. >> no one in north korea is going to notice, right? >> and they're not too interested in figuring out whether it happened or not. and one reason countries like to test is they learn stuff by it. the big takeaway is north korea continues to improve its nuclear weapons capability. >> thanks for coming in. good to speak with you. >> well, the u.s. gun control debate is heating up once again. next i'm joined by the founder of a gun rights organization which called president barack obama's actions a vendetta against the second amendment. also heavy rains are triggering mud slides in vulnerable parts of california. how long is it expected to last? that's also ahead. all: milk! milk! milk! milk! milk!

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the nra says it sees no reason to participate in a public relations spectacle orchestrated by the white house. the cnn spokesperson said it was actually the network which proposed the idea and that an equal amount of supporters and opponents of gun regulation will be in attendance. >> when it comes to active shooter situations, some gun rights advocates say more armed people could, in fact, save lives. this is what the republican presidential candidate donald trump had to say. >> these people that got killed gave them a wedding party. anyway, they went in, they shot. if a couple of people in that room had guns, or if a couple of people in paris had guns, you wouldn't have had 130 people or

14 people in california laying dead with more to follow because you had so many people so badly wounded. >> miguel marquez took part in the simulation of an active shooter situation to test the good guy with the gun theory. >> that's an ar-15 like the gun used in san bernardino, the theatre massacre and sandy hook elementary too name a few. that's a .9 millimeter, a popular handgun used in san bernardino and many other shootings. the advanced law enforcement rapid response training at texas state university trains law enforcement agencies nationwide in handling active shooter incidents. alert runs the larnlest training program in the country. it is the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies nationwide in preparing for mass casualty and specialized emergencies. >> that's body armor.

that's the standard body armor. >> they run a scenario, the guns firing rounds made of soap. i was the good guy, legally carrying a weapon when a shooting breaks out. i hear shooting down a long dimly lit hallway. i take a peek then shoot my own producer, hitting him once in the chest. as i move down the hallway, another student pops out. i don't shoot him and am able to stop the gunman. >> we hear the shots, so we know the problem is down here. if we're coming to start the active shooter, we have to get to the active shooter. >> from 200 to 2013, there were 160 active shooter incidents both in rural and urban areas in the first seven years of the study. there were about six incidents each year.

in only a tiny number of instances did someone with a gun stop the shooter. >> there are about 3% of the events where it was somebody with a firearm who stopped the shooter. >> in 2014, a derby, pennsylvania, doctor shot and killed a gunman who had killed one person. and in 2008, a man with a concealed weapon stopped a gunman in nevada after the gunman had killed two people and injured two others. >> i'm not anti-gun at all. i have a concealed handgun license myself. >> but in an active shooter situation, you would not want just anyone pulling out a gun and trying to safe the day. >> a good guy with a gun could kill innocent people, they could be shot by police or other civilians mistaking them for the

attacker. o or -- >> what we have is a malfunct n malfunction. >> three times the .9 millimeter jammed while i was firing it. and that was just practice. >> you literally have to strip the magazine out, work it like this and reinsert the magazine and then you can shoot again. a rookie mistake like a jammed weapon, just a few seconds to clear it could mean a good guy with a gun becomes another victim. miguel marquez, cnn, san marcos, texas. >> contrary to the claims of

what some opponents have suggested, this isn't the first stip in some slippery slope to mass confiscation. this is not a plot to take away everybody's guns. >> so do you believe the president? is he telling the truth? >> when he was a state senator in illinois, he authored, sponsored a bill in state legislature to band handguns from the people in the state of illinois. as a u.s. senator, he supported banning sport utility rifles when he was a senator. so what he's proposing today isn't exactly a ban, but if he could do it, he would. he knows he has the executive authority legally to do so. >> as president, he actually expanded gun rights allowing weapons on to amtrak, the national rail system, allowing weapons into national parks.

this is a president who has not really moved in any way to constrict the rights of gun owners. >> in those instances it wasn't his idea. he didn't have a choice. those pieces of legislation were tacked to other bills that he had to pass. he had other things that he wanted. and so he was forced basically to allow that to happen. >> to recap the suspicion that mr. obama would like to take away the second amendment rights stems from his time as a senator and as a state senator. >> the justice department would not sue those cities so they could overturn those laws to overturn constitutional rights of americans here. and we had to do that. we had to file suits in order to be able to overturn those laws because his justice department wouldn't defend the rights of

gun owners. >> let's move on to his proposals to expand background checks. why should it matter when or how you buy the gun. isn't the gun the important part here? not how you bought it, not the retailer? is. >> it's about back ground checks. the truth of the matter is all he used basically to say why he's doing all this, the mass shooting and the terror attack we had, associated press fact checker today did a story that none of his proposals he's proposing would have stopped any of those from happening whatsoever. he's not intellectually honest about this. he's trying to make it harder and more difficult for lawful citizens to be able to exercise and purchase firearms. but the truth of the matter, we have more background checks in america than we ever have before because we're selling more guns than we did before because people don't trust him.

he's lost the trust of the americans. >> more guns are being sold but they're being bought by the same number of people. more guns, fewer gun owners. >> that's not a true. we actually have more gun owner, particularly single women in this country are becoming the bigst single buyer of guns in the united states. but when he crites in connecticut that crime went down, that's true. but it didn't go down as much as it did in the rest of the united states. he argues we have a gun violence epidemic. but the truth of the matter is over the last decade, gun violence has gone down more than

it has in the state of connecticut or places that have strict gun control laws. >> well, in another state. other places they relaxed and got rid of the background checks, murder rate went up by something like 17%. >> in that particular state, it did. but he's picking apples and oranges when he's doing that. he's not looking at things all the way across the board. the biggest problem we have right now is this president, his justice department has prosecuted fewer gun crimes than any president in modern american history. despite the fact that we have all these laws in place, if you go to a gun store and try to buy a gun and you lie on the floor and commit a felony, this administration doesn't prosecute you. people are still out on the streets trying to obtain fire m firearms other ways and committing other crimes. if we want to solve the problem, go to punish the people who abuse the system. >> i think most people would agree with you on that point. punish the people who abuse the system, absolutely. why would this congress hold up

the issue of background checks. 92% of americans, 87% republicans in that poll favor background checks for all gun buyers. so why not just move ahead with this one simple act with such overwhelming support? >> because unfortunately, the piece of legislation wasn't just about background checks. if it was back ground check, it would be another thing. we don't want knob a government database. that's what the problem is. if you do this right, if you open up the system and allow any citizen to go to the national checks system and call in and find out if the person is qualified to own a firearm or not without paying a fee to exercise your rights, it would probably pass. but that's not what they want. they want to have a database of all gun owners. as long as it's gun control rather than background check, congress is not going to pass it. >> i think the database is not on the agenda, even though,

again, an overwhelming number of americans and majority number of republican voters support the national database. i appreciate your time and your view points. thank you for being with us, sir. >> my pleasure. >> and anderson cooper will host an exclusive one-hour town hall event. you can see guns in america, 8:00 p.m. in washington, friday 9:00 a.m. hong kong time for our international viewers 1:00 a.m. london right here on cnn. still to come, donald trump pressing the question. his suggestion on what his republican rival ted cruz should actually do next. does the smell of a freshly fill you with optimism? do you love your wireless keyboard more than certain family members? is your success due to a filing system only you understand? does printing from your tablet to your wireless printer give you a jolt of confidence? if so, you may be gearcentric. someone who knows that the right office gear helps you do great things.

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you're watching cnn news room live in langs. i'm john vause. the headlines in this hour. chi china's financial markets have suspended training for the second day this week, after big losses earlier in the day. analysts say concerns over china's economy and currency are behind the slide. china's central bank has responded by bumping nearly $11 billion into the national system. the u.s. said it's standing firm with its regional allies. initial analysis doesn't support north korea's claims. the national rifle association says it will not send representatives to cnn's town hall with u.s. president barack obama. an nra spokesman called the event a publicity spectacle by the white house. a cnn spokesperson says the townhall was the network's idea,

not the white house. >> and do trump says ted cruz should go to court and get a rule on whether he's a natural born u.s. citizen. it's the front-runner's latest shot at senator cruz as cruz's poll numbers rise. ahead of the country's first caucus. we have details on trump'sing position on this issue. >> donald trump taking aim on ted cruz's citizenship. >> if eif he had a canadian passport along with a u.s. passport. the problem is that if the democrats bring a lawsuit, the lawsuit could take years to resolve. >> questioning whether his canadian roots disqualify him for the presidency. >> i hope that's not going to be a problem for him. but i've been hearing a lot about it, so it's certainly a concern, i guess, for the party. but i hope that's not the case. i'm not involved in that, but a

lot of people are bringing it up. >> owe cruz responded with this clip on twitter, showing fon si on happy days actually jumping the shark. a scene that gave rise to the pop culture expression for when something has turned absurd to grab attention. >> from my end, i'm not interested in getting into the circuit side show of politics. these are serious times with serious challenges. >> cruz, whose father was cuban and mother was born in the united states moved from canada to texas at age 4. he had dual citizenship in the u.s. and canada but renounced his canadian citizenship in 2014 and posted the letter online. >> as a legal matter, the question is quite straightforward and settled law that a child of a u.s. citizen born abroad is a natural-born citizen. >> most legal scholars agree. today, trump is claiming it's

others who are raising the issue, but it's the billionaire businessman who has a history of birtherism. and he predicted the citizenship question would be an insurmountable barrier for the texas senator. >> he can't be president. if you're not born in this country you can't be president. >> but saying this a few months ago. >> i hear it was checked out by every attorney and every witch way and i understand ted is in fine shape. >> dedeclaring it a nonissue. the bromance on the campaign trail, as iowa caucuses come to an end and cruz is on the rise. >> the white house is fighting maybe a little humor in a republican being questioned about his birthplace. press secretary john earnest weighed in at wednesday's daily briefing. >> it would be quite ironic if

if republican primary voters were to choose senator cruz as their nominee, somebody who actually wasn't born in the united states and only 18 months ago renounced his canadian citizenship. >> birthers insist he was born in kenya and therefore eligible to be president. president obama showed his long form birth certificate showing he was born in hawaii. storms battered california with heavy rain. and here in los angeles, drivers are creeping through sodden roads. california is in the midst of a major drought and obviously could use the rain. but there are concerns that repeated storms might actually flood the region. rain, rain, maybe a little too much? >> yeah, especially after coming off an historic drought, this is

certainly a dramatic change of events when it comes to the amount of hateful, the intensity of the hateful. and certainly an el nino pattern in its full nature. the flooding and the mud slide increases over this region. and you take a look here. when you look at the steering currents in the atmosphere, the jet stream, this is a hallmark pattern when it comes to the currents and being driven right towards portions for southern california into northern mexico. that's when you get the heaviest hateful. we had over 9,000 individual fires across the state of california in 2015. about a million acres of land were also consumed. if you're talk about bush or brush or trees, when this is consumed, you ear not only creating tremendous heat, it's mf oa silt or sand surface layer there.

all of this 1 absorbed in the surface. the extreme heat creates essentially what we call a hydrophobic soil, which is kind of like a lid. it has nowhere to go once it gets a couple of centimeters underneath the surface. now you're displacing rocks and ash and sand and landslides become a major, major concern across california. with hateful continuing to come down, that's something we're watching carefully. and severe weather in the last 24 hours or so, several tornadoes, one of which around san diego county, first of tornadoes there since 2006. >> middle of winter, too. wow. >> still to come, charlie hebdo marks a painful anniversary, one year after a deadly terror attack. do you know the secret to a happy home in these modern times?

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>> one year ago, two gunmen

stormed the paris offices of the satirical magazine dhar lee hebdo. 12 people were killed in the rampage. five more died in related attacks in the following days. cnn's senior international correspondent joins me now live from paris. jim, this will be a difficult and painful anniversary for so many people there. >> well, it is, john. in fact, some of the dmem rations began a few days ago and they're going to continue until sunday. it's quite a week of commemorations and remembrances going on. and the sing about it is is this attack on charlie hebdo one year ago today, in fact, marked a beagain of a year in which the headlines were dominated by terrorism and terrorist events. it was for france a terrifying end to innocence. if the shot and shouts and bloo bloody scenes had lodge been

predicted, no one, not the police nor government officials nor the public could have anticipated the awful reality of home grown terrorists striking at the heart of the french capital. it was an attack, not just on the cartoonists, editors and others who were killed, it was an attack on the fundamental right to the freedom of expression, which the edgy car lee hebdo always exercised to the fullest. a year later, commemorative plaques have gone up, freedom of expression lives on. the newspaper, well, the newspaper lives on as well, also be it from a much more secure and secret location. in fact, financially, charlie hebdo has never been stronger. before the attacks its struggles to survive printing 35,000 a week. but since, there's been a six-fold increase in circulation and an influx of millions of euros in do nation.

the editor sees no need to print comics the prophet mohamed. but sees no reason to do so. >> our vision is is a little more pessimistic than it was one year ago. >> is it more difficult to be funny now? >> we always find the urge to laugh because we have the urge to live. >> the newspaper is submission of a reflection of the nation, which has been struggling to main itself over a year that has seen a fair share of tragedy since the charlie hebdo attack. as many here pointed out, the kind of indis-christmas nit attacks that killed and injured hundreds on november 13 were entirely different. >> the events were an enormous

symbolic shock beyond the actual physical violence of events. perhaps some of the causes from the attack. >> reporter: a year later, the word ring just as true. not only for the newspaper, but for perhaps even for france itself. >> the central police station here in paris, and talk to the people that have been involved in the stepped up security since the charlie hebdo attacks. the big memorial will be on sunday where there will be 1,000 people who are family of victims and some of the people who were

you'red in the attacks. they're going to plant a 30-foot tall oak tree. >> thank you, jim. we'll be right back. we live in a pick and choose world.

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>> all kinds of gadgets and software, the event runs through until saturday. some of the companies at this year's show are trying to simplify your commute. the driverless car out for a screen and didn't pang it up at all. >> the point of this technology is what it can do with you in the driver seat now that the car is driving for you. >> just drive off normally. when we're confident, you can resume the system. kwluz using the resume button. >> okay, i could feel it take over the steering wheel right away. my feet are off the pedals. hands up. i see the person just appeared on the dash board. so what's happening. >> we reduced the speed from 30

kilometres per hour to 20 because we're warned by the pedestrian. >> do you really think that people are going to be wearing smart bands so the cars around them will go around. is that far fetched? >> also could be a smart phone. more or less everybody is carrying a smart phone. >> so we're coming up to a stoplight that's red. how does it know it's red? >> the traffic light is communicating through wifi with the car. >> now it's going yellow, about to go green now taking off again. do you think these types of traffic lights are the way of the future? >> more higher level of automation will be necessary. so smart cars need other smart devices around them. >> in the future, you will need smart infrastructure. >> i can talk to the car. >> yes, in the future, what will happen if the driver is not necessarily needed, he can be

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tested the h bomb, but is it true, and what does it mean? our exclusive with the head of the iaea, and the american nuclear scientist with the best view of north korea. plus a year after the "charlie hebdo" attacked, ushered in isis gone global, our exclusive with a cartoonist. >> this past year has been difficult. we had to rebuild the newspaper. we had to rebuild ourselves. confront our