steven malone says the move to get rid of the horses just won t work and that he and other drivers plan to fight it in court. the horses are the star. he s the star. that s what people come for. you can t create that with an electric car. you ll never create it. reporter: the two sides are going back and forthwith animal rights groups saying horses don t belong in an urban setting, they breathe exhaust and it s too dangerous for them to dodge traffic. the carrier says the horses lead great lives, the horses get at least five weeks vacation time with some of them getting up to six months off. de blasio hired legal counsel to try to get this done. wow. people visiting from all around the country and world love having their pictures taken on those trips. the political lines are drawn here. i think the mayor has been crystal clear what he wants to do. that s going to be a big hit.
0 your new day starts right now. announcer: this is new day with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. welcome to new day, you re looking at auckland, new zealand, where it is about to be new years day. there it is! happy new year! happy new year, new zealand. the fireworks came out of the top of that famous sky tower. they ve got an l.e.d. clock around so people all around the city could participate in the countdown. we wanted to start out our show with a happy new year from the other side of the world. we thought it would be fun and also gave john berman a chance to wear his special glasses. 55 degrees we re told in auckland. 4.4 million people in new zealand. we don t know how many hobbits but hobbits also. they re celebrating all over the shire. as we all know, gandolf is an expert with the fireworks. he s a bit of an expert from many years back, if you will. we ll take a look at some of the celebrations throughout the morning because we thought this w
director of ny class, an animal rights group that s leading the charge against the horse-drawn carriages because of accidents like these over the last two years. it s not a question of whether or not to stop horse carriages in new york city. it s just a matter of when. instead, ny class is proposing replacing the horse-drawn carriages with these electric antique cars driven by the same hansom cab operators who drive the carriages. the horses are the star. it s not the car, not the carriage, it s not me. he s the star. that s what people come for. you can t create that. with an electric car. you will never create it. kids can t pet fenders. they pet horses. steven malone and his horse have been taking tourists through central park for five years. we want to provide the service that we have been providing since the day the park opened in 1858. he says accusations of mistreatment of the horses are false. all these horses, the only horses in this country that are regulated to
malone and the other carriage drivers don t plan on going away quietly. they are part of the powerful teamsters union. it will likely take a new law from city council to make any changes a reality. things appear to be headed in that direction. the animal rights activists have won the day. the polls suggest that something like 70% to 80% of new yorkers think that horse-drawn carriages in central park are a bad idea. errol lewis is a cnn political contributor. i m not sure whether or not the council is going to find the strength and gumption to take a fresh look at this, look at the facts, notice things like the fact that only three horses have died in service over the last 30 years. so if you planned on proposing to your fiancee in the back of a horse-drawn carriage in central park, you had better get moving, or start talking now about the romantic appeal of an electric antique car. just today, the mayor-elect s team reiterated his commitment to ban the horse carriages to cnn.
0 he works. you got to love it. joe johns is filling in for jake tapper today on the lead. that starts right now. get used to it. spying on you and everyone else in the country is the new normal according to a judge. i m joe johns. this is the lead. the national lead. a few days after a judge ruled the other way, a different federal judge says the nsa s mass collection phone data program is legal because of 9/11. she s a young teen who has been declared brain-dead by doctors and a judge agrees but her family is still hoping and praying for a miracle and wants her moved. will the hospital that already considers it too late help them? the world lead. you thought breaking the ice with your in-laws was tough. the race to reach a ship frozen in place off the coast of antarctica hits a snag when a vessel made to crack the ice gets stuck in the ice. i m joe johns in for jake tapper. we begin with the money lead. if you still rely on the stock market to predict how americans view t