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War Hero Shares Amazing Story; Rush Limbaugh Wants St. Louis Rams; Wild Animals in Miami
Aired October 12, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ: Unbelievable video. This is why guns and alcohol are such a bad mix. Look at the guy under the pool table. Why this bar shootout was allowed to happen.
The nfl players association is saying keep Rush Limbaugh out of our league.Is he too divisive for a league where almost three-quarters of the players are minority?
Look what they're grabbing out of neighborhoods in Miami.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I thought I was going to be dead. It wasn't fun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
People's pets went wild.
And funerals today for those killed in action in Afghanistan. What it's like over there through the eyes of a Medal of Honor winner, all this during your national conversation for Monday, October 12th, 2009. It's another week and here we go.
Hello, again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news.This is a conversation, this is not a speech. As always, it's your turn to get involved.We're going to begin with the cnn exclusive. We have been putting this together for you for quite some time. This one is not easy. You're either going to be angry as you watch it or you might even be sympathetic. Very few are going to be somewhere in the middle.
We have found out about registered sex offenders who are not allowed to live among regular people. They're sex offenders, so they're not allowed to live in a regular neighborhood. They've taken to live in the woods. In fact, they've actually formed a community among themselves living in the woods. They've lived in tents and they told the officials who eventually kicked them out of there, by the way, that it was the only place that they could exist under Georgia law. This amazing story is told today from the inside-out, though, by our own Brooke Baldwin.
(START VIDEO TAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: For months, a group of registered sex offenders had been living together in the woods in Georgia. The reason? They were homeless. They say forced there as a result of the state's strict sex offender law. Passed in 2006, Georgia's 16,000 sex offenders cannot live or work within 1,000 feet of a child care facility, church, school or area where minors congregate.
(on-camera) So you and essentially eight other men, eight other sex offenders are living in tents in the woods in Cobb County because it's difficult to find a compliant shelter?
MARQUE: Yes, ma'am, because the thing about it is, with shelters, they kind of sort of ...
BROOKE: There are kids.
MARQUE: With family and children there, it's you know, we can't stay there.
BROOKE (voice-over): Last October, Marque agreed to plead guilty to child molestation. He says he didn't touch the child, but agreed to the plea in exchange for five years probation. In Cobb County where he's serving out his probation, finding a shelter that's affordable and in compliance with the law, Marque says is next to impossible.
MARQUE: There's a church or school down every block.
BROOKE: Republican State Legislator David Ralston, a co-sponsor of the original bill a hardliner when it comes to sex offenders.
DAVID RALSTON, REPUBLICAN STATE LEGISLATOR: We didn't design this law with comfort and convenience in mind. We designed it with safety in mind.
BROOKE (on-camera): There are people who will watch this story and they'll hear about you and the fact that you're a registered sex offender and they say, I have no sympathy.
MARQUE: I can understand formulating an opinion if you look at the surface.But in this matter, you have to look beyond the surface and actually see the person for who they are.
BROOKE (voice-over): In more than 20 states, there are residency restriction laws which regulate where sex offenders may live. Forensic Psychologist Kevin Baldwin says there's no proof yet that laws for sex offenders to live together away from everyone else leads to more crime but it does create instability.
DR. KEVIN BALDWIN, THE HIGHLAND INSTITUTE ATLANTA: What you've created is a nomadic these stabilize offenders and I don't think anyone can argue that that's for policy or safety.
BROOKE: Marque is no longer living in the woods two weeks ago to October groups to go. Some found temporary shelter in a neighboring County for now, this 30-year-old says he feels stocked. Marque priority should be getting his life back on track, instead, his focus, finding a bed at night.
MARQUE: The state can tell you where you can't live but they can't tell you where you can. (END VIDEO TAPE)
BROOKE: And his frustration for the last two weeks, Marque has been living in a shelter in a nearby County. Barely scraping together his $60 a week to stay there. He gets that from his mother and grandmother. He, as you can imagine is looking for a job.But with the economy as it is and registered sex offender on his record that, Rick, not very easy.
SANCHEZ: Let's look at the different layers of this. First of all, in Georgia, you're a sex offender, it's not going to be easy for you to find a place to live among regular peeps, right?
BROOKE: Yes, right exactly. A sex offender is a sex offender no matter what we do with that but he says he didn't touch anyone if it's physical ...
SANCHEZ: That's Georgia.
BROOKE: It is all correct. There are other states where it's a tier system. And there's an argument now that Marque there should be -- Georgia should follow suit to you know ...
SANCHEZ: Let me help you here. There's a difference between a 21- year-old who was making out with a 17-year-old or a 16-year-old or 15- year-old, whatever the law now says and a sick 50-year-old man with a 9-year-old girl or boy?
BROOKE: That is to be different but in certain states, I.E. Georgia, that is all under the same umbrella.
SANCHEZ: So there's no difference between a 21-year-old and a 16- year-old ...
BROOKE: There is no difference and each of those individuals, male or female, they have to stay at 1,000 feet away from a playground, even in some cases a school bus stop, you know.
SANCHEZ: So, that's why in Georgia there are so many of them that they have to form their own community in the woods?
BROOKE: You know what, it's not just Georgia. There are other states where this is happening. These sex offenders are being driven underground because of the residency restrictions. So, in Florida, they're under some of the overpasses. They're homeless. They're driven into some apartment complexes.
SANCHEZ: Where can they live? Where can they live? Is it a matter of money?
BROOKE: Money is a big issue because how do you get employed when you have a registered sex offender on your record? That's an issue, it's very difficult to find employment. You have to pay for shelter and 60 box maybe you and I it's nothing for a week.
SANCHEZ: But if they're real sex offenders, serious sex offenders, why are they not in jail anyway?
BROOKE: Some of them are. His case, he pled out, I said in the piece, so he's only on probation for five years. Some of these people are sex offenders for life.
SANCHEZ: Let's take a look at MySpace real quick. The comments are pouring in on this story, I can't imagine. Turn that around if you could Rob, look this is a kind of comment you can get on something, I have no pity for these people, second, registered sex offenders, the more they suffer the better, let's put all on in Island in the middle of the ocean.
What do you make of that and did you ask him about this? I notice that had you asked him a question about people saying they have no sympathy for him. How does a guy like that ...
BROOKE: He answered that saying, God bless those people, I hope they can see beyond the monstrous image that we are seen as. That again, he argues that he didn't do it, that he just, you know it was a lewd act, child molestation. He pled guilty, child molestation and public indecency and he argues that there is a variance, a degree of the different sex offenses and he should not have to follow under this law for five years.
SANCHEZ: I've got to tell you, I wouldn't ...
(CROSSTALK)
I know, I know, you don't plead guilty to anything that serious that you know you're going to carry with you for the rest of your life unless you did something wrong.That's just my general impression. Let's check one more, MySpace, here's a different perspective because not everybody in the audience is much of a hard liner.
Although this people have pretty much scum of the earth for their horrific crime against children, they're still human and deserve some place to live. If this continues don't you think this people will commit more crimes just to go back to jail, just so they have a roof over their head.
That's an interesting point. What's your response to that?
BROOKE: There are unintended consequences of this. So, a lot of these people, forensic psychologists would say, you're pushing these sex offenders underground to live in the woods. Who wants a bunch of sex offenders living together in the woods? It fosters this nomadic activity, this lack of stability and it may create re offense, there's recidivism, we don't yet, there is no proof yet is up.
SANCHEZ: Can you imagine if you know family, children, boys, they love hanging out in the woods and playing soldier and they find there -- yes, I don't even want to think about it. Good stuff, interesting report.
BROOKE: It is.
SANCHEZ: Brooke Baldwin, thank you.
BROOKE: Yes, Sanchez, thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right. If you are a black football player drafted by an owner who you believe -- you believe, key words there -- you believe is a racist or hateful, should you be forced to play for him? Rush Limbaugh wants to own an nfl team and there are already players lining up saying, no, can't do it, won't play for him. Just what the nfl need right now, right? We're on top of this story for you.
Also, in Florida, pets have gone wild, literally. People are releasing their wild animals -- or their pets that are wild into the wild and look what's going on. They thrive.Uh-oh. We'll be right back.
Oh, by the way, if you want to come in and be a part of our show and sit here with myself and Brooke on Fridays, we're going to have something called the twitter tour where you can come here and be a part of our show and get the CNN tour on top of that, it's called "INSIDE THE CONVERSATION", 877-4CNN-TOUR or you can go to cnn.com/tour. All right, there it is. See you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I just showed you that bar shooting or just a little bit of it. We're going to show you the entire thing in just a moment but look at this comment we got on Twitter just during the break there.
"Shooting at a bar? How are people getting into bars with guns? Why isn't security checking for guns?"
You know, it's interesting you would ask that question because when I saw that video this morning, that's the very same question I asked myself. So I've asked the police chief -- pardon me, the assistant police chief of Toledo, who's handling this case to join us here on the air live. And I'm going to ask him that very same question, what are the laws, what should be the laws in the United States if someone's going to go to a place where alcohol is served? Should there be an expectation that there won't be people in there who are armed?
All right, let's start with this question now, would you work for someone that you considered to be a racist? And again, you're entitled to your opinion. Here's why we're asking. Rush Limbaugh wants to own the St. Louis Rams, but some comments that he's made in the past may get in his way of doing so because many African-Americans among others, many African-American football players, in fact, are coming out today and they're saying that they believe that he is racist.
Limbaugh is a big football fan and for a very brief time in 2003, he got a commentator's job on ESPN. He lost that job after he suggested that Philadelphia Eagle's quarterback, Donovan McNabb, was overrated because he's black.
Here's what he said, he said, "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."
By the way, I should let you know that McNabb has turned out to be a legitimate NFL superstar quarterback. Limbaugh's perceived racist diatribes are too many to name but here's a sampling: He once declared that had "Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back; I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark," said Limbaugh.
He recently also said in President Obama's America, white children get beaten up on school buses by blacks. He said that after watching a school bus fight that the rest of the media generally treated as just a fight between two kids. He described it as such.
And here's the problem for Limbaugh, 65 percent of the players in the NFL are African-American. Not surprisingly, Donovan McNabb has come out and said, he's not interested in playing for Rush Limbaugh, neither are some of the other players that I'm about to name. New York Jets line backer, Bart Scott. He says, "He could offer me whatever he wanted. I would not play for him. I would not play for Rush Limbaugh."
New York defensive end, Mathias Kiwanuka, says, "I don't want anything to do with a team that has any part -- that he has any part of."
Eugene "Mercury" Morris has played for many years in the NFL. He played for eight years. He was a fabulous running back, I should add. He is as passionate in his discourse as he is articulate. And he's here to tell us what he thinks about this.
This story has just kind of crept up. I mean when it was the conversation that he wanted to get a team, I think a lot of people said, "Okay, you know, another guy who wants to own a team." But now that all these NFL players are coming out and saying this, the story is really taking a different sense of relevance. What's your take, Mark?
EUGENE "MERCURY" MORRIS, FORMER PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER: You know what, Rick, first of all, how you doing, man?
SANCHEZ: Good. I'm going to be in Miami tomorrow. I'm going down. I'm going to be at Florida International University. We're unveiling the new "LATINO IN AMERICA" documentary that we're preparing. We're having that in Broward. But I'll be at FIU doing my show tomorrow at 3:00.
MORRIS: Wow. Well, two things, when I first came down here, I think that Miami was 15 percent Hispanic. And now, I think it's around 70 or 80. And at last, it's reflecting where we are. I went to an affair last night for the Latino owners of the Dolphins. And that just goes to show you the kind of progress that's occurred.
Now, on the other side of that pancake, you have what we're talking about now, which is the Rush Limbaugh debacle. I disagree with Reverend Sharpton, respectfully because I think the guy should be given an opportunity. You say you want to go out there and you want to own a football team? Okay, go out there and see what that actually means to own a football team. I don't see him as much as a racist as -- he makes racial remarks, but I see him more as a bigot. And a bigot is someone who regardless of the facts and evidence in front of them, they still go their own way. And I think that that's...
SANCHEZ: So you think he should be -- you think he obviously -- well, nothing would stop him from being an NFL owner, except perhaps the person who's selling him the team, right, or the commissioner of football could say, "No, we're not going to allow you to own a team," right?
MORRIS: Well, I don't think that the commissioner would be that dumb to put in place a circumstance where he's going to deny something because of race. In war, it says, "We tend to become like that which we oppose." The last thing you want to see is now players coming out and saying that, "I'm not going to play for this guy because he's a white guy and he's a racist."
SANCHEZ: But shouldn't a person, Merc, have a choice? And you and I have choices as regular citizens. I didn't have to work at CNN. When CNN came and offered me a job, I chose it because I think this is one of the best media networks in the world, if not in the United States. And I feel good about it. But if I thought that CNN was a prohibitive racist place that discriminates against Hispanics, I could have chosen to not work for them.
NFL players are drafted from the college ranks. Congress has essentially said in the antitrust rulings that if you're drafted by Team X, you have to play for Team X. You can't shop around and go play for another team. Unlike you and me, they have to play there. So is it different in the NFL?
MORRIS: Well, I don't know if that is an actual, because Peyton Manning -- not Peyton Manning, but Eli Manning, he was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and he said, "Hey, I don't want to play for the Chargers." So they ultimately traded him to the Giants. So it's not set in stone.
But I think that the mantra of individuals trying to at least -- trying to put themselves in a position where they're going to make a declaration that they're not going to play for the guy because of his racist views. I would be more apt to say, if you want to own a team, go out there and see what it's really like to be in the trenches with these guys now. When I played, it was the league pretty much looked like society. It was 75 percent white and 25 percent black. If you look at the pictures from every team back then in the early '70s when I played, you see that same kind of relationship.
But over the years...
SANCHEZ: Well, let me tell you how Rush describes the NFL. This is interesting. You gave me an opening here. Quote -- Rush Limbaugh -- he says, "The NFL is all too often looking like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons."
Can players, can the NFL, could you -- would you play -- would you feel comfortable playing for a man who describes you or your ilk that way?
MORRIS: Well, you know what, Rick, the answer to that is that when you look at what he said and how he said it, it actually makes some relevant sense. He's just saying it in a smart way. Let me say it to you in an educated way. In 1965, I graduated from high school. The top three problems in the country were running in the hallway, talking in class and being late.
Now 1985, the top three problems were teen violence, teen pregnancy, teen drug use. 2005, it's still the same. So a whole generation of young people have grown up under the stigma of the Crips and the Bloods. And some of these people are playing in the NFL now. So you can't actually take away from that gene pool that they had to choose from because it's what society has to offer them.
And running in the hallway, talking in class and being late did not produce teen violence, teen pregnancy and teen drug use. So the people that they draft now pretty much fit that kind of concept of where they're coming from. Now how they act when they get there, it's another thing. But you can see the change in the people that have been drafted because that's the choice they have in society. That includes doctors, lawyers and anything else.
SANCHEZ: The Merc doing his best Bill Cosby impersonation. Interesting, in defense of Rush Limbaugh. This will get picked up, I guarantee it.
MORRIS: Hey, I want him on there because I want him to see what it's like. You know, you can drive a NASCAR and say, "I'd like to get out there." But you put your butt in that seat and get out there with everybody else, then you get to see what it's really like and what you're talking about you what to do.
I don't think he's going to really understand that he's walking into a bee's nest here with these young brothers who think racism is when you don't get to go into the NBA when you're 18, you've got to wait until you're 20. That's not racism. Racism comes from where I grew up in the 1960s, like Limbaugh did. But it's a different set of circumstances out there. And I would love to see him jump in the middle of it.
The Washington Redskins was a segregated team until 1962.
SANCHEZ: Eugene "Mercury" Morris, the pride of South Florida and the pride once of West Texas State University.
MORRIS: All right, thanks, man.
SANCHEZ: With a little eagle feathers on the shoes and such.
MORRIS: The wings.
SANCHEZ: Right, right, right. All right, Merc, thanks a lot. We'll catch up with you.
MORRIS: You got it, Rick. All right.
SANCHEZ: A flag, a coffin, dignity and sadness, the Marines ambushed in Afghanistan last week, returning home for good. Also, an assistant coach of the Oakland Raiders says the head coach wanted to kill him when he broke his jaw. This isn't a sports story. It's a police story and look at the crowd. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And welcome back, I'm Rick Sanchez. Are you keeping up with the weirdness surrounding the Oakland Raiders these days? The Raiders are strange to start with, right? I mean, look, have you ever seen their fans? Do you want to see their fans? Let me show you just a few of them. I'm going to read you some of the nicknames that they've given their favorite players, Molester, Assassin, Dr. Death and one of my personal favorites, Model Thug. Get the picture?
If you look at these guys, it looks like the Raiders may have found their perfect leader now because it's becoming increasingly clear to many that this man, this head coach, Tom Cable, went all but medieval on one of his assistants. And now, he may face charges and possible arrest.
This happened back in August. The coach broke his assistant's jaw during a practice.
This weekend, the assistant told his story to Yahoo! Sports. Randy Hanson is his name. He says that he thought his life was in danger when the head coach came after him, when Cable stormed into an office where he was and then proceed to deliver what he says was an unprovoked beating that left him with a broken jaw and two cracked teeth in his mouth.
Well, according to Hanson, the assistant coach, the Raiders head coach was screaming, "I'm going to F-ing kill you. I'm going to kill you." He furthermore states he would have been killed if two other assistants had not come in and intervened and stopped him.
Head coach Tom Cable has hired a lawyer. Speculation is -- speculation is that he's trying to work a deal with prosecutors. But if he happens to be arrested -- I mean, handcuffed and taken away, then the league would likely have to come in and suspend him.
I mean, this whole thing is just ugly and so are the Raiders of late. They lost yesterday, 44 to seven.
(VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Boy, I'll say, this is as amazing as any video we've ever shown. It's unbelievable of a shootout in a bar as it happens and it brings up a good point. Guns and alcohol, bad mix? You think?
Also, what's the back story on that incredible shooting and what's really going down? We're going to be drilling down with the assistant chief there in Toledo, Ohio, of all places, for something like this to happen.
Does that sound judgmental? I'll ask him. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And welcome back.
I'm looking for some of the comments on some of the things that you're talking about. We're going to get to those in just a moment. I want to catch you up on this story now.
You watch -- you watch mobster movies for this, right? I do. I love mobster movies. I mean, mobster movies. I watch westerns, love westerns as well. Many of you do as well. But you never really think that something like that would be captured on tape -- think again.
I'm about to show you one of the most incredible shootouts at a bar that I've ever seen. This took place in Toledo, Ohio, Middle America, of all places.
First, you're going to see a fight break out and then you're going to see some people clearing out. And then you're going to see other people taking out their guns and start firing. Then other people fire back at them. It culminates with a gunfight outside the bar where this thing continues.
All of this is captured on surveillance video. I want you to watch it for about 52 seconds. I'm going to shut up. Here it is.
(VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: My word, have you ever seen anything like that before? They found 17 shell casings on the floor. Incredibly, there are no reports of anyone being wounded. Of course, somebody may have taken off and not reported it.
Don Kenney is the deputy police chief from Toledo, Ohio, and he's good enough to join us now.
I got to tell you, when I think of scenes like that, I don't think of Middle America, I don't think of Toledo, Ohio.
Chief, thanks for being with us, sir. But what the hell is going on in your city?
DEP. CHIEF DON KENNEY, TOLEDO, OHIO POLICE: Well, nothing's going on in Toledo that's not going on elsewhere. You know, unfortunately, in today's society, we see shootings in the workplace, in schools and even in churches. So bar shooting isn't all that uncommon. The only thing uncommon is that this was actually captured on some pretty good surveillance video.
SANCHEZ: Yes, you know, maybe you're right. Maybe it takes the picture to have people actually guffaw over something like this.
Chief, let me ask you a question about the fact that there were people with guns at a bar, which troubles a lot of folks. I know there are laws around the country. We recently heard of that football player, I think it was Plaxico Burress in New York, who got some time for having a gun, right? KENNEY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Do you have a law on the books there that disallow people for doing something like this, just having a gun in a bar?
KENNEY: Even with a CCW permit, you're not allowed to have a gun in a bar. I doubt very seriously if any of those people actually had a permit. So, no, you're not allowed to have a gun in a bar even if you have a permit. But as you know, laws don't apply to criminals, or so they think.
SANCHEZ: Well said, sir. Tell us about what you've learned about this fight now. I'm curious. I mean, I know there's very little information on it. Is there anyone in custody? Why were they firing? What started this thing?
KENNEY: There is no one in custody at this point in time. We do have some street names that we're working hard to identify these people with and we'll come up with these people's names and we'll get them arrested.
What started the fight itself, what the detectives told me was that one of the people there with the gang of four or five others was trying to sell small baggies of marijuana to several people inside of a bar. The security personnel asked him to leave and they were trying to convince him to do so when he shoved or put an elbow into one of the security personnel. At that point in time, the security pushed him back into the bar.
If you look close, you'll see the one thinner male pull a gun out from his waistband right as soon as...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Let's put that up if you can, guys, to see what the chief is talking about.
That's going to be coming out of this scene. We're looking at the fight right now. And now -- you see that lady leaving right there. Now we see somebody there is going to be pulling out a gun, is that what you say?
KENNEY: Correct. I'm at a disadvantage. I don't have a video.
SANCHEZ: All right. OK. Yes, yes. We've got somebody walking now and he goes under the pool table or whatever that is, and he's the one we see firing the most. Do we know who that guy is?
KENNEY: Not yet. We'll figure out who he is, obviously. We've got several crime stoppers already. And we've got it out to the members of our department, including the personnel in gangs and vice narcotics unit to look at these people.
SANCHEZ: Well, I'll tell you, Chief -- you've got your work cut out for you. What a scene. I don't ever remember seeing anything quite like this before. Certainly, as you said, it's heightened by the fact that it's on videotape. But I'm certainly glad that you were kind enough to come in and take us through it. We'll stay in touch with you, OK?
KENNEY: OK. You're welcome.
SANCHEZ: And when there are -- when there are arrests, we'll follow up with another story. Thank you, sir.
KENNEY: OK. All right. Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: All right. Take a look at these animals. They could have been people's pets but now they're causing big problems for residents of south Florida. That is next.
Also, a tiny boy in Alaska comes back from sea with a whale. I'm serious. There's a picture of him standing in front of a giant whale. You've got to see this. It's in "Fotos" -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I told you a little while ago that I grew up in south Florida. And growing up in south Florida, I know that it's the perfect environment for just about any kind of wild animal that you let out.
So, if you have a snake and you let it go, it's going to live just fine. Alligator, same thing. Any kind of reptile, amphibians, birds. They all just go out in the wild and create their own -- well, their own lifestyle.
That's why this story is so interesting because this is really going on in Miami right now. A lot of animals that weren't naturally from Miami are now thriving there and they're becoming a problem.
Here's CNN's John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Florida, the usual suspects are increasingly unusual -- not even human.
LT. LISA WOOD, VENOM RESPONSE TEAM: We managed to pull it out of the weed as and they get into custody.
ZARRELLA: This python found in a Miami nursery, 13 feet long. In Tampa, a family of attackers all wore masks.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm at my neighbor's house. I was just attacked by some raccoons. They're very deadly.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: The raccoons made their getaway after injuring an elderly women. KRISTI TURNER, NEIGHBOR: We used to let the children just play in the backyard and I just don't feel safe anymore.
ZARRELLA: Seven-year-old Madison Wells would agree. She has 23 stitches in her foot courtesy of an iguana.
MADISON WELLS, BITTEN BY IGUANA: I thought I was going to be dead. It wasn't fun.
ZARRELLA: Near Pensacola, an emu like this one clawed a woman who got too close.
So, what's going on? Why are animals on the attack?
RON MAGILL, MIAMI METROZOO: First of all, if you run into anything in the wild, leave it alone.
ZARRELLA: The problem, says Miami Metrozoo's Ron Magill, is animals and humans are colliding more because of a continuing loss of wildlife habitat. On top of that, the climate is perfect for exotic species that shouldn't be here at all, like this python.
(on camera): Oh, yes. That is a load.
MAGILL: Oh, yes, it's a load. It's a load, it's a big snake.
ZARRELLA: Wow.
MAGILL: This place has become the Ellis Island of exotic species because so many animals come through here. First of all, exotic species, this is a big port where they enter. But then so many people keep them as pets, and they either escape or they're released, and then they start to thrive.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Like the Bufo toad that excretes a poison that can kill a dog and this fearless Knight Anole.
And iguanas -- they're everywhere, sunning in a tree, hanging out in the grass near a canal and they don't scare easy.
(on camera): But I can probably pop over here because I don't want him to come after me. But look, we can come right up to him right there, and that close before he actually takes out.
(voice-over): With no way to eradicate flourishing nuisance species, wildlife experts say confrontations are only going to increase. And then a decade or two, Florida might be a zoo on the loose.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Let me show you just a few of them. I'm going to read you some of the nicknames that they've given their favorite players. Molester, Assassin, Dr. Death and one of my personal favorites, Model Thug. Get the picture?
If you look at these guy, it looks like the Raiders may have found their perfect leader now because it's becoming increasingly clear to many that this man, this head coach, Tom Cable, went all but medieval on one of his assistants. And now, he may face charges and possible arrest.
This happened back in August. The coach broke his assistant's jaw during a practice.
This weekend, the assistant told his story to Yahoo! Sports. Randy Hanson is his name. He says that he thought his life was in danger when the head coach came after him, when Cable stormed into an office where he was and then proceed to deliver what he says was an unprovoked beating that left him with a broken jaw and two cracked teeth in his mouth.
Well, according to Hanson, the assistant coach, the Raiders head coach was screaming, "I'm going to F-ing kill you. I'm going to kill you." He furthermore states he would have been killed if two other assistants had not come in and intervened and stopped him.
Head coach Tom Cable has hired a lawyer. Speculation is -- speculation is that he's trying to work a deal with prosecutors. But if he happens to be arrested -- I mean, handcuffed and taken away, then the league would likely have to come in and suspend him.
I mean, this whole thing is just ugly and so are the Raiders of late. They lost yesterday, 44 to seven.
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SANCHEZ: Boy, I'll say, this is as amazing as any video we've ever shown. It's unbelievable of a shootout in a bar as it happens and it brings up a good point. Guns and alcohol, bad mix? You think?
Also, what's the back story on that incredible shooting and what's really going down? We're going to be drilling down with the assistant chief there in Toledo, Ohio, of all places, for something like this to happen.
Does that sound judgmental? I'll ask him. We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: And welcome back. I'm looking for some of the comments on some of the things that you're talking about. We're going to get to those in just a moment. I want to catch you up on this story now.
You watch -- you watch mobster movies for this, right? I do. I love mobster movies. I mean, mobster movies. I watch westerns, love westerns as well. Many of you do as well. But you never really think that something like that would be captured on tape -- think again.
I'm about to show you one of the most incredible shootouts at a bar that I've ever seen. This took place in Toledo, Ohio, Middle America, of all places.
First, you're going to see a fight break out and then you're going to see some people clearing out. And then you're going to see other people taking out their guns and start firing. Then other people fire back at them. It culminates with a gunfight outside the bar where this thing continues.
All of this is captured on surveillance video. I want you to watch it for about 52 seconds. I'm going to shut up. Here it is.
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SANCHEZ: My word, have you ever seen anything like that before? They found 17 shell casings on the floor. Incredibly, there are no reports of anyone being wounded. Of course, somebody may have taken off and not reported it.
Don Kenney is the deputy police chief from Toledo, Ohio, and he's good enough to join us now.
I got to tell you, when I think of scenes like that, I don't think of Middle America, I don't think of Toledo, Ohio.
Chief, thanks for being with us, sir. But what the hell is going on in your city?
DEP. CHIEF DON KENNEY, TOLEDO, OHIO POLICE: Well, nothing's going on in Toledo that's not going on elsewhere. You know, unfortunately, in today's society, we see shootings in the workplace, in schools and even in churches. So bar shooting isn't all that uncommon. The only thing uncommon is that this was actually captured on some pretty good surveillance video.
SANCHEZ: Yes, you know, maybe you're right. Maybe it takes the picture to have people actually guffaw over something like this.
Chief, let me ask you a question about the fact that there were people with guns at a bar, which troubles a lot of folks. I know there are laws around the country. We recently heard of that football player, I think it was Plaxico Burress in New York, who got some time for having a gun, right?
KENNEY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Do you have a law on the books there that disallow people for doing something like this, just having a gun in a bar?
KENNEY: Even with a CCW permit, you're not allowed to have a gun in a bar. I doubt very seriously if any of those people actually had a permit. So, no, you're not allowed to have a gun in a bar even if you have a permit. But as you know, laws don't apply to criminals, or so they think.
SANCHEZ: Well said, sir. Tell us about what you've learned about this fight now. I'm curious. I mean, I know there's very little information on it. Is there anyone in custody? Why were they firing? What started this thing?
KENNEY: There is no one in custody at this point in time. We do have some street names that we're working hard to identify these people with and we'll come up with these people's names and we'll get them arrested.
What started the fight itself, what the detectives told me was that one of the people there with the gang of four or five others was trying to sell small baggies of marijuana to several people inside of a bar. The security personnel asked him to leave and they were trying to convince him to do so when he shoved or put an elbow into one of the security personnel. At that point in time, the security pushed him back into the bar.
If you look close, you'll see the one thinner male pull a gun out from his waistband right as soon as...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Let's put that up if you can, guys, to see what the chief is talking about.
That's going to be coming out of this scene. We're looking at the fight right now. And now -- you see that lady leaving right there. Now we see somebody there is going to be pulling out a gun, is that what you say?
KENNEY: Correct. I'm at a disadvantage. I don't have a video.
SANCHEZ: All right. OK. Yes, yes. We've got somebody walking now and he goes under the pool table or whatever that is, and he's the one we see firing the most. Do we know who that guy is?
KENNEY: Not yet. We'll figure out who he is, obviously. We've got several crime stoppers already. And we've got it out to the members of our department, including the personnel in gangs and vice narcotics unit to look at these people.
SANCHEZ: Well, I'll tell you, Chief -- you've got your work cut out for you. What a scene. I don't ever remember seeing anything quite like this before. Certainly, as you said, it's heightened by the fact that it's on videotape. But I'm certainly glad that you were kind enough to come in and take us through it. We'll stay in touch with you, OK?
KENNEY: OK. You're welcome.
SANCHEZ: And when there are -- when there are arrests, we'll follow up with another story. Thank you, sir.
KENNEY: OK. All right. Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: All right. Take a look at these animals. They could have been people's pets but now they're causing big problems for residents of south Florida. That is next.
Also, a tiny boy in Alaska comes back from sea with a whale. I'm serious. There's a picture of him standing in front of a giant whale. You've got to see this. It's in "Fotos" -- next.
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SANCHEZ: I told you a little while ago that I grew up in south Florida. And growing up in south Florida, I know that it's the perfect environment for just about any kind of wild animal that you let out.
So, if you have a snake and you let it go, it's going to live just fine. Alligator, same thing. Any kind of reptile, amphibians, birds. They all just go out in the wild and create their own -- well, their own lifestyle.
That's why this story is so interesting because this is really going on in Miami right now. A lot of animals that weren't naturally from Miami are now thriving there and they're becoming a problem.
Here's CNN's John Zarrella.
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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Florida, the usual suspects are increasingly unusual -- not even human.
LT. LISA WOOD, VENOM RESPONSE TEAM: We managed to pull it out of the weed as and they get into custody.
ZARRELLA: This python found in a Miami nursery, 13 feet long. In Tampa, a family of attackers all wore masks.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm at my neighbor's house. I was just attacked by some raccoons. They're very deadly.
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ZARRELLA: The raccoons made their getaway after injuring an elderly women.
KRISTI TURNER, NEIGHBOR: We used to let the children just play in the backyard and I just don't feel safe anymore.
ZARRELLA: Seven-year-old Madison Wells would agree. She has 23 stitches in her foot courtesy of an iguana.
MADISON WELLS, BITTEN BY IGUANA: I thought I was going to be dead. It wasn't fun.
ZARRELLA: Near Pensacola, an emu like this one clawed a woman who got too close.
So, what's going on? Why are animals on the attack?
RON MAGILL, MIAMI METROZOO: First of all, if you run into anything in the wild, leave it alone.
ZARRELLA: The problem, says Miami Metrozoo's Ron Magill, is animals and humans are colliding more because of a continuing loss of wildlife habitat. On top of that, the climate is perfect for exotic species that shouldn't be here at all, like this python.
(on camera): Oh, yes. That is a load.
MAGILL: Oh, yes, it's a load. It's a load, it's a big snake.
ZARRELLA: Wow.
MAGILL: This place has become the Ellis Island of exotic species because so many animals come through here. First of all, exotic species, this is a big port where they enter. But then so many people keep them as pets, and they either escape or they're released, and then they start to thrive.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Like the Bufo toad that excretes a poison that can kill a dog and this fearless Knight Anole.
And iguanas -- they're everywhere, sunning in a tree, hanging out in the grass near a canal and they don't scare easy.
(on camera): But I can probably pop over here because I don't want him to come after me. But look, we can come right up to him right there, and that close before he actually takes out.
(voice-over): With no way to eradicate flourishing nuisance species, wildlife experts say confrontations are only going to increase. And then a decade or two, Florida might be a zoo on the loose.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
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RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: This is a man who if there ever has been a definition of a hero, then he fits it. He has won the most prestigious awards that any soldier can be given. We're going to tell you what he's a recipient of. And we're also going to tell you what his take is now on the United States' position in Afghanistan when we come back.
Also, take a look at this. FBI surveillance video showing their parking lot being swallowed up by a tsunami in American Samoa. Amazing video on "Fotos" -- next.
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SANCHEZ: Heading into one of your favorite segments now. When I was just 9 years old, my dad wouldn't let me wear blue jeans or shoes without hard soles. Just kind of an immigrant thing, something about not wanting people to think you're poor even when you were.
Can you imagine what he said if I'd told him I wanted to go whale hunting? There's a strange transition for "Fotos."
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SANCHEZ: That 9-year-old right there, he lives in Alaska. That giant bleeding carcass behind him, he used to live off of Alaska, too. That's a 32-foot whale that was reportedly harpooned by the little boy.
How did he do it? With a 30-pound harpoon gun, we're told. The boy himself, by the way, just weighs 75 pounds. But his harpoon gun had an explosive charge on the end -- explosive charge on the end. So let's be honest, not real "David and Goliath" story here, OK?
San Diego now. It's everyone's nightmare, who drives along mountains anywhere in the world, the fear that your vehicle will do what this one did. It plunged off of a cliff, happened just a couple of hours ago. One victim was thrown as it rolled down; the other was still inside for the entire horrifying ride. Both are in the hospital; their condition, unknown. We'll check.
Also, this is the parking lot for the FBI office in American Samoa. And this is the ocean swallowing the parking lot when the tsunami hit American Samoa last month. Look at that. You can actually see people walking in the lot just seconds before the waves rushed in. It engulfed the cars. It smashed them into the building. At least 30 people were killed by the tsunami in American Samoa.
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SANCHEZ: A fallen soldier who died in a recent ambush in Afghanistan -- just one of many being remembered as they returned home for the final time.
And then later, a veteran soldier who received the highest military award for bravery. He's going to join me. His name is Jack Jacobs, and he's just returned from Afghanistan. And I'm going to ask him what the U.S. needs to do to win there.
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SANCHEZ: Oh, by the way, I just want to bring you up to date on a story we followed you a little while ago about Tom Cable, the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. Quite a scene out there, as you know, being followed in the local market in California, as well as on networks like ESPN, because of the reports of the two coaches getting into a fight. Well, we did want to add to the story, and we probably should not have omitted the fact that Cable is essentially saying that he's going to let the legal system play out, and he is denying the charges that he was the one who instigated the fight that ended up with the assistant coach having the broken jaw. So, in fairness to the head coach there, we'll wait and see until the process plays out, and, in fact, if charges are filed against him, and if this -- and if he has his day in court. So, there you have it, just to be fair.
I want to show you a ritual now that is probably about as old as our nation. This is a flag-draped coffin bearing the body of a fallen soldier. This soldier, Army Specialist Stephan Mace. He died this month in Afghanistan, in that ambush that left a total of eight Americans dead.
And I want to show you another part of the ritual. It's a small town that gathers to pay its respects to the boy who knew these same quiet streets. This is Purcellville, Virginia. It's one of the thousands of hamlets that sends its young people to the military to go to war. It's supposed to be a loan, but sometimes it's for keeps. Far too often these wars we fight -- well, they have other results.
He received the nation's highest military award for bravery in Vietnam, and now, he has thoughts about the wars we fight here and now. Jack Jacobs, amazing story. He's got a book out, and I want you to meet him. He'll be with me in just a little bit.
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SANCHEZ: You sometimes wonder whether we in the media overuse the word "hero." I know we do, because I hear it all the times for things that aren't really heroic. The man you're about to meet is really a hero.
If you go by the word -- by the definition of a hero, someone who sacrifices their own life to save the lives of others, not through convenience but through really sacrificing their own lives, then this guy is a hero. He's also a good friend of mine. His name is Colonel Jack Jacobs.
He earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam, and, folks, that's for heroes. He was cited for saving the living of 14 comrades during a withering enemy ambush, and he also holds two Silver Stars and three Bronze Stars. He is now the author of a very timely book called, "If Not Now, When: Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need."
Colonel Jack Jacobs is good enough to join us now.
Colonel, how are you, sir?
COL. JACK JACOBS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): I'm great, Rick. How are you?
SANCHEZ: I'm good. It was nice to see you recently in New York City.
Before we start with turning your story into the contemporary problems we have today -- your story alone, I've got to ask you, I know you went in there and you saved your guys, but as I read your book, you did it again and again. What got into your head that said, "I'm going back in to get the rest of the guys," that made you receive this award?
JACOBS: Well, I think the same thing that goes through the minds of anybody who is in a combat situation. We all fight to defend the republic, and we all fight to accomplish the mission, but most of all, we fight for each other -- and everybody would tell you the same thing. You've got to keep going to do what you need to do to protect your fellows because if you can't do it, then nobody else is going to be able to do it.
I think a perception that you're the only one who can accomplish the mission, I think that keeps everybody going.
SANCHEZ: And on that day, you were. Didn't you tell me once in this conversation you and I were having a cup of coffee and you told me that really -- the reason they gave you this is because they felt sorry for you because you just about broken every bone in your body when you finally came out.
JACOBS: Well, that's very nearly true. You know, somebody once asked Bob Kerrey, who was himself a Medal of Honor recipient, a SEAL who lost his leg in Vietnam, "What does it take to receive the Medal of Honor?" And he said, "Well, you've got to do something. People have to see it. They have to be able to write and they can't hate you."
And if you think about all the people who perform valiantly in combat and nobody saw it or somebody saw it and they themselves were killed, or it got written up and the paperwork was lost, and so, anybody who's ever been cited for any kind of bravery in combat will tell you the same thing. He wears the award not for himself but for all those who can't.
SANCHEZ: Before we run out of time, Jack, do your lessons apply to what's going on right now in Afghanistan where we've just showed video moments ago of a soldier coming back for the very last time?
JACOBS: Well, I think so. I think all the things that we learn when we're young soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines on the battlefield and on the seas, also obtain if you're a very high-ranking official or an elected official, don't do anything unless -- commit resources until you've decided what you're trying to do. Always save something in reserve. It always is easier to take an objective than it is to hold on to it -- all of us who fought on the battlefield know that that's true.
SANCHEZ: Vietnam was questioned as a war that went too long. Is Afghanistan going too long, and is it time to pull the plug?
JACOBS: Well, don't forget that we wasted, what, five years or more? And we've been there eight years. We wasted at least five years allocating resources to Iraq when -- if we were going to fight in Afghanistan, we should have been there. But I've got to tell you, I don't think the decision has yet been made what the objective is, and you can't commit resources until you've decided what it is you're trying to accomplish.
If we're going to stay there, it's going -- we're going to be there a long time in any case.
SANCHEZ: Jack Jacobs, American hero. Great book, you should read it. I did.
Thanks, Jack. Good to see you, my friend.
JACOBS: Thanks, Rick, for having me. Thanks for having me on the program.
SANCHEZ: Here's Wolf Blitzer standing by now with "THE SITUATION ROOM."
