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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
More Trouble for Toronto Mayor; George Zimmerman Held In Florida Without Bail; New Video Gives New Perspective On Typhoon Devastation In The Philippines; Tornado Packing Winds Up To 190 MPH Strikes Illinois Town; Flynt Shooter Set To Be Executed; Statin Use Guidelines Challenged
Aired November 18, 2013 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: 911 police, fire and medical.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need police right now.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK, what is your address?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're breaking stuff in my house.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Ma'am, ma'am? What's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is in my house breaking all of my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) stuff because I asked him to leave. He has his freaking gun, breaking all of my stuff right now.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, this is not --
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm doing this again? You just broke my glass table. You just broke my sunglasses, and you put your gun in my freaking face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: More from that 911 call. There is also a 911 call from Zimmerman.
Tonight, deadly tornadoes, as well in the United States. The relief effort in the Philippines. And a new warning about the heart drug, statins, that millions of Americans take.
We begin, though, with Rob Ford, who sat down for a remarkable interview with CNN's Bill Weir. Mayor Ford is already North America's poster child for bad behavior in politics. He acted out again on the floor of Toronto City Council. A short time later, the council took action stripping most of his powers, handing control over to city's deputy mayor.
That is the breaking news. And here's the outburst which happened while his brother, Doug, a city councilor, was in a middle of an argument with other members.
He later apologized for knocking the woman over.
There was that today. There was the "Saturday Night Live" routine over the weekend, the cocaine and vodka at St. Patrick's Day bender allegations last week, the sexual harassment claims and the news conference P bombs, and of course the "I was too drunk to remember smoking crack" moment. Call it the full four.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ROB FORD, TORONTO: I did not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.
Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. But no -- do I? Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years?
R. FORD: Yes, I have.
I'm not perp. Maybe you are, but I'm not, OK?
(CROSSTALK)
R. FORD: None of you guys have ever, ever had a drink and gotten behind the wheel, I know that. Have I drunk? Have I done drugs? Yes, I have.
I'll do a drug test and alcohol test right now.
Olivia Gondek says that I wanted to eat (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I have never said that in my life to her.
There is nothing else to say, guys, I really effed up. And that's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And given all that you might wonder why is he still in office? You might also ask why anyone still supports him, the fact that some still do, though many are embarrassed he represents a great city like Toronto.
CNN's Bill Weir spent time with the mayor and his brother Doug this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wow, from the outside, it seems like you are a man under tremendous burdens this week. Well, how has it been? How has this week been for you? R. FORD: It is all self-inflicted. You know? It's my fault. It's -- I made mistakes and you own up to it. You move on.
WEIR (voice-over): And so in his very next breath, Rob Ford moves on.
R. FORD: I went down to city hall, I cleaned it up. These people just aren't happy, these councilors want me out. The media wants me out. I told the chief of police I want (INAUDIBLE). You know, obviously he wants me out. I'm not going anywhere.
WEIR: The setting for this interview is more than a little surreal. This is the rec room of a suburban Toronto housing project and it is filled with loyal and vocal members of "Ford Nation."
(On camera): These folks love you, but do you realize how you're perceived around the rest of the country? Around the rest of the continent? Have you seen the late-night comics at all?
R. FORD: That's right, they can make fun of me. The people here. You know, they can laugh at me all they want. They don't -- they don't know Rob Ford.
WEIR (voice-over): Things start relatively sedate, but when I ask why he decided to admit his crack use after months of denial, he gets so angry he forgets who's in the room.
R. FORD: I just had enough. I was just sick and tired of all these allegations and all this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Excuse my words. And that's all it is, sorry, I shouldn't swear in front of the kids but after all, I know what I'm doing is right. I'm serving the people. I'm saving taxpayers money. And you know what? I made mistakes. I drank too much. I smoke some cracks sometimes. I -- what can I say? I made a mistake. I'm human.
WEIR (on camera): But can't you see why some would question your judgment?
R. FORD: So what? So lie about it? Just hide?
(CROSSTALK)
WEIR: No, no --
R. FORD: I'll say --
WEIR: You said you didn't do it in the first place. That shows --
R. FORD: No, no, I didn't say that. No, I didn't say that. You're wrong. You're absolutely wrong what they said. They said, do you smoke crack and are you a crack addict? No, I don't smoke crack and I'm not a crack addict, have I? Yes, I have. So that's what -- I didn't lie, I don't -- I don't smoke crack. I haven't smoked crack in over a year. But did I? Come on.
WEIR: But that is semantics, Mayor.
R. FORD: Talk semantics.
WEIR: Come on. Totally semantics.
R. FORD: It's typical media. You guys are the same. You're all cut from the same cloth.
WEIR (voice-over): But if we're hoping for any moment of contrition here, we're out of luck.
R. FORD: I'm not a thief. I'm not -- I'm the most honest guy ever --
WEIR: How do we find ourselves in the middle of a Rob Ford rant in the middle of the projects?
Interesting story, it actually started right here on AC 360 Friday night.
(On camera): Explain to us why anyone in their right mind would vote for your brother --
(Voice-over): After some give and take with the mayor's council brother, Doug, we're about say goodbye when he floated an offer.
DOUG FORD, MAYOR ROB FORD'S BROTHER: And we look forward to having you by Toronto one day.
WEIR (on camera): I'll take you up on that.
(Voice-over): And 18 hours later I found myself unloading toys from Doug Ford's SUV, outside the Queen's Plate Housing Projects in the heart of their war. Now coming from America, it is a little disconcerting to see wealthy, fiscal conservatives treated like heroes in a project filled with people living on government assistance, after all, they rose to power by vowing to end the gravy train.
The word conservative has a different definition up here.
D. FORD: Everyone keeps saying Rob is a conservative. He is a huge, massive social liberal. He loves Obama.
WEIR: Now a week before I visited the "Ford Nation" neighborhood where this photograph was taken. Here I met a community organizer, who tries to use his humble computer lab to keep these kids out of trouble. He described his disgust for Mayor Ford.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never see bad help or good help, I never see it at all.
WEIR: But out here at Queen's Plate with Doug at my side, different story. People line up to voice their devotion to the brothers, and there are real moments of emotion. But as we wait for the mayor, Doug's unscripted style of public relation takes a turn when a long- time resident named Ken wanders over to complain about a threatened eviction and a run-in with the cops, and as the councilor politely tries to nudge him to the door, he says this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know a lot of friends that bought hash from you actually.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. OK. Well, that's good. That's good. That's good.
WEIR: Awkward, because he has been fighting those allegations since May when the "Toronto Globe and Mail" dug into the Ford family's checkered past, and reported that Doug spent much of the '80s as mid- level hashish dealer.
(On camera): That's not the first time I've heard the allegations of your youth, you slung a little hash.
D. FORD: No, I wasn't slinging any hash. I said it very clearly 30 years ago, 31 years ago. I smoked marijuana and I didn't deal marijuana. If you want to go -- calling, you know, going to your buddy, and says there is a joint for 10 bucks, if that's what you want to call it?
WEIR (voice-over): Much of Doug's damage control strategy has been to paint their critics and foes as hypocrites. Even on the floor of council.
D. FORD: Have you ever smoked marijuana?
WEIR (on camera): I'm curious about it. When I saw you make that comparison.
D. FORD: Yes.
WEIR: Marijuana. I wonder, are you a libertarian? Do you think street drugs should be legal?
D. FORD: Medical marijuana should be. I definitely think if someone's dying --
WEIR: Not recreational?
D. FORD: No. I don't think so.
WEIR: Why not?
D. FORD: I don't know. I just don't think any reason. I don't think -- all is good. We'll put it this way. If you're going to compare alcohol to someone smoking a joint, if someone is going to drink and get hammered, or some guy smokes a joint, and you're going out with them, you're -- in my opinion, I'm going out with the guy who's nice and calm.
WEIR: Same argument can be made comparing marijuana and crack.
D. FORD: Yes. That's nasty stuff. Absolutely nasty.
WEIR: So asking your fellow councilors how many of you smoked marijuana? Kind of a leap in there to smoking crack.
D. FORD: No. But I asked them cocaine, too. WEIR: Yes.
D. FORD: They were silent, they were silent. And I thought OK, you asshole, you were sitting there criticizing Rob, meanwhile, I've had three phone calls that you almost got fired because you were wired on cocaine back in the '80s.
WEIR (voice-over): Back inside, Rose, who sums up a sentiment of many here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is very smart. He's a very smart man, and a man who's in charge of what they said, don't talk like that. I think maybe he drank. But crack, I don't know.
WEIR (on camera): Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People can set him up, too. You know that.
WEIR: Oh, you think he might have been set up?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WEIR: Well, he admitted to smoking crack.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, maybe he just got fed up with everything.
WEIR: Yes. But what kind of message does that send to the kids who live around here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You make just a little mistake, you can get forgiveness.
WEIR (voice-over): An hour passes, we're afraid he may not show but then comes an excited commotion. Here's here, there are hugs and photographs and the most controversial politician on the continent is back among the people who love him. But his smile will disappear when the questions come. And things will get tense.
(CROSSTALK)
R. FORD: Talk semantics. To you -- it's typical media.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Bill Weir joins me now. And I -- kind of stunned that he told you that basically, he never denied smoking crack, the reporters just didn't ask him the right questions and the right wording.
WEIR: Yes, it is interesting, because he misheard my question. I asked -- I said this indicates a lack of judgment, you know the fact that you did it in the first place. But he went to that talking point which he's been hammering for a while, which is, I never denied I didn't do it, you just didn't ask me the right question. And whether it was past tense or present tense or what --
COOPER: Just ridiculous. WEIR: It's completely ridiculous. And I think a lot of specialists would say that's a symptom of denial. A pure sign of denial. But, you know, we had a little technical difficulty there with the piece. We wanted to show you the number of times people had asked him specifically, have you done drugs, have you done illegal drugs while in office, and he never went anywhere near that question.
COOPER: Well, just fascinating stuff. There's more of the interview ahead.
The breaking news, of course, Toronto City Council, making Mayor Ford essentially a figurehead. And part two of Bill's interview is ahead. How the mayor plans to mobilize the so-called "Ford Nation," his supporters, to regain power and the power some would say of denial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
R. FORD: I'm not an addict. Why go see an addict when I'm not an addict? I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not a drug addict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Let us know what you think. He's denying that he's a drug addict. Follow me on Twitter @Andersoncooper. Tweet using hash tag ac360.
Later, other breaking news story, George Zimmerman back in jail after an alleged armed confrontation with his girlfriend. And now both 911 calls, his and hers. Listen to each so you can decide for yourself who to believe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Hey, welcome back. Breaking news tonight. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford stripped of the bulk of his powers. The city council, obviously, fed up. Mayor Ford calling the vote a coup d'etat, vowing outright war in response. He's nothing if not combative. Here's part two of Bill Weir's interview with Rob and his brother Doug Ford.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WEIR (voice-over): In downtown Toronto, Mayor Rob Ford is the target of almost daily protests. On the council floor of city hall, he is a political pariah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years?
R. FORD: Yes, I have.
WEIR: And on "Saturday Night Live," he is an opening sketch punch line. But in the Queen's Plate Housing Project in the heart of the suburban "Ford Nation," he is the greatest public servant they have ever known.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't step down.
R. FORD: I'm not stepping down. Don't worry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we are praying for you every day. You got to stay.
R. FORD: What I always say is more poor people than there are rich people, and I stick up for the poor people. And that's the bottom line, so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
WEIR: His brother invited us here to witness this love, a counterweight to the gauntlet of political foes downtown. Doing all they can to strip away his power to lead.
I'm interested what happened this week about the vote. It was 41-2 to strip you of your emergency powers. From the outside, that seems like you guys are political outcasts?
R. FORD: OK, sure, because I am not -- you know how you want to make friends at city hall? Just keep spending their money, spend taxpayers' money, let them go on their free trips, let them have their free food, let them do whatever you want. Do what you want with your money, not with taxpayers' money and then turn around and cry poor, and say, oh, we don't have any money. BS, we don't have any, we have more than enough money.
WEIR: Do you have any political allies left? Did you ever have any?
D. FORD: No, we never had any in the beginning. We're the power of the people. I'll tell you one thing, I'll work day in and day out to knock these councillors off, we're going to target their areas, and we'll work day in and day out to knock them off.
WEIR: Really?
D. FORD: Oh, yes, I'm going to bring Ford Nation live just right across the city.
WEIR: So you have other candidates that you're going to foster in these wards to try to repeat what you guys have done?
D. FORD: Absolutely, 100 percent.
WEIR: Really?
D. FORD: Yes. We're going to hit them hard, everything we got. We make Chicago politics look like a tea party. It is vicious.
R. FORD: Bill, you show me one other major city I've saved (ph) a billion dollars, that has turned around like I have. Our roads are getting done now, it's clean, it's safe. The crime is down, things are happening. We have more cranes in the sky, we have more jobs, we've created over 50,000 jobs in one year last year.
WEIR: But take all of that, given all of that, couldn't you be even more effective if you were a little healthier in your lifestyle?
R. FORD: Look, I'm trying to lose some weight, I'm working out. I'm not perfect.
WEIR: But why not see some addiction specialists? Just to make sure.
R. FORD: I'm not an addict. Why go see an addict when I'm not an addict? I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not a drug addict.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much do you want him to do?
R. FORD: No, why do see an addiction specialist when I'm not an addict? You guys can spin it. You can tell me whatever you want. These people know that I'm not. I show up every day to work. Yes, you know what, sure, I have gone to, you know, gone to a party and I got a couple of drinks in me, yes, some good times. Like I'm only human. Have you ever got drunk before, Bill?
WEIR: Of course.
R. FORD: Sure.
WEIR: But I'm not running the biggest city in Canada.
R. FORD: It doesn't matter -- this is this thing, I don't look at myself as the mayor, I look at myself as just a normal, regular person.
(CROSSTALK)
D. FORD: It is not going to be about us anymore.
R. FORD: It is enough, guys, so I'm passionate (ph), sorry, sorry.
WEIR: Just one more question, Mayor. One more question, and this is the one that really gets it for me. I know a lot of people who would party their brains out, but they're parents. And they dial it back because of their kids.
R. FORD: Yes, I don't do that. Absolutely I dial it back.
WEIR: But here is the thing, here is my question, I mean, I'm sure you're insulting your children from what is going on now?
R. FORD: Absolutely, I'm the best father around.
WEIR: But there's going to come a day when they Google their dad.
R. FORD: Absolutely, and I'm going to explain what they're hearing. I'm straightforward with my kids. I take my kids out, and I bring them to my daughter's dance lesson, I'm teaching my son how to skate. I'm away supportive. And my wife's had some issues. Well, you just dismiss them, you just walk away? I don't walk away from anyone, Bill, in life. I'm sitting here and support people that are down and out. All these rich, elitist people, I'm sick of them, I'm sick of them. No, they're perfect, they don't do nothing. Get out of here they don't do nothing. They're the biggest crooks around.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just don't take it personal, Bill.
WEIR: There are so many questions to ask about the investigation into the murder of the man in this photo, why he dropped the p bomb on live television, and brought his wife to the apology. But on this night, Rob Ford is done explaining. And as one more example of his emotional pendulum, he stops to laugh and chat football with Cassius (ph), our producer.
R. FORD: 49'ers, you're really -- your heart is back in California, eh?
I have never been there, but all these guys want (ph) me (ph) to go down to California so--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) these guys will be able to hook you up.
R. FORD: No, Charlie Sheen, all these guys want me to go down there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Bill Weir joins me again. Charlie Sheen wants him to go down there.
Does he have no self-control? I mean, yelling expletives in front of kids -- what is it like to be with?
WEIR: That's it. Like I said, he sort of has the impulse control of I think a young boy, and we saw the emotional swing from anger to jocularity. He is real, you know, that is the one thing you can say for this guy. We complain about politicians who are media managed, who have their personalities surgically extracted, complain about this, he is the diametric opposite of that, and that's why a lot of the reason these people love him.
COOPER: He does not think he is an alcoholic, even though he says he's had multiple drunken stupors, and that smoking crack was probably just during one of his drunken stupors.
WEIR: Right, right. And it is very much the idea that yes, I work 60 hour weeks. If I want to get hammered on a Friday night, that shouldn't affect how I am judged doing my job. A lot of supporters feel that way, as well. And even though his sister has battled addiction and publicly acknowledged that, as well. His other brother, actually was convicted for drug-related offenses, as well. Doug is a teetotaler. He claims he had a few beers, you know, and he likes to be in control, although he let go of that, although in the first piece you saw the accusation that he used to sling hash, deal hashish back when he was a young boy. But yes, he thinks he is fine, and he's really resistant, and he says I am seeing medical professionals, but you get a sense that that's just what he is saying what people -- he thinks people want to hear. COOPER: Interesting. Bill Weir, fascinating interview, thanks very much. For more on this story, you can go to CNN.com. Up next, I have more breaking news. George Zimmerman, sitting in a Florida jailcell tonight, charged with pointing a shotgun at his girlfriend. The story is still developing. We'll have all the late details, including 911 calls.
Also, the devastation afflicted on the Philippines be the super typhoon. We got some new video captured by drone cameras, really gives you a sense of the scope of the devastation. Really of the like you haven't seen before.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: More breaking news tonight, George Zimmerman in trouble with the law it seems yet again. The sheriff's office in Seminole County, Florida, charged Zimmerman with aggravated assault which is a felony, for allegedly pointing a shotgun at his girlfriend. This is his new mug shot. He was arrested at her home and taken into custody. He's also charged with battery and criminal mischief.
Now let's listen to more of his girlfriend's call to 911.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: 911 police, fire and medical.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need police right now.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK, what is your address?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're breaking stuff in my house.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Ma'am, ma'am? What's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is in my house breaking all of my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) stuff because I asked him to leave. He has his freaking gun, breaking all of my stuff right now.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, this is not --
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm doing this again? You just broke my glass table. You just broke my sunglasses, and you put your gun in my freaking face. And told me to get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out? Because this is not your house. No, get out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. What is your name? OK. Where is his weapon at?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just put it down. UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK, and this is --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house. Please get out of my house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Calm down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you're going to -- are you serious right now?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: I'm sorry --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) kidding me? He just pushed me out of my house and locked me out.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK, you're outside now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he locked me out of my house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, it turns out Zimmerman also called 911. He told the operator he wanted everyone to know the truth. Here's part of that call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Were there any weapons involved?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have a weapon, she has weapons in her house.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: She has weapons in the house. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's her house. She's got a 9 mm. I mean, I have my firearms. She was throwing my stuff out and one of the bags was one of my firearms. I never pulled a firearm, I never displayed it. When I was packing it, I'm sure she thought -- I mean, we keep it next to the bed.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK. Is her weapon put up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea. It is hers.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: What about your weapon?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is in a bag, locked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And tonight, Zimmerman is being held without bail. He's set to go before a judge tomorrow afternoon. He's obviously had several run-ins with law enforcement since the summer when he was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin. He's been stopped twice for speeding, was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute as well with his estranged wife. We're joined by legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, who's a former federal prosecutor, and Danny Cevallos, criminal defense attorney.
So, Sunny, what do you make of this? I mean, on the one hand, you think if you were George Zimmerman you would be extra careful about this sort of thing, but -- I don't know. What do you make?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That is right. I mean, you know, it's interesting because, you know, I've been involved in the criminal justice system for so long my entire career has been as a criminal attorney. And you do find this recidivism rate even with defendants that are found not guilty that exhibit this type of criminal behavior. And I do believe it's criminal behavior when you see this kind of anger, especially compounded with someone who knows the law. Compounded with someone who knows the system.
And that's what I hear on this call. He uses the catch phrase, "I displayed my firearm." It's locked in a bag. You know, when you hear that and you see that it just strikes me again as someone who knows how to game the system.
COOPER: Well, there seems to be a discrepancy because he's saying in the 911 call that she has a handgun and that he has a gun with him. She says in the call not only there are handguns but there's also an AR-15 and a shotgun.
HOSTIN: And that he's -- and that he's shoving it in her face. And I've got to tell you again, you know, it sounds to me like she was fearful. And it also sounds to me like George Zimmerman is someone who is familiar with how to game the system. What concerns me, though, is even though he's been charged with domestic violence, in order for those types of charges to stick, in order to prove those cases, you need the victim's cooperation.
And so I think we heard someone who is clearly fearful but the question is, will she follow through?
COOPER: Danny, also, I mean, doesn't it boil down to he said, she said? I mean, it's too different. Clearly, one person is lying because George Zimmerman says that she broke the table with something. That he -- she's pregnant. That he -- she said get out. He agreed to go. And that set her off. That's clearly not her perception of what happened.
DANNY CEVALLOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, and frankly this is not even unusual for a dialogue when it comes to domestic cases. You listen to both of those 911 calls, this is like thousands of these cases that go on every day. If you listen to each individual story it doesn't even sound like they're describing the same night, which is why a lot of people in criminal justice when it comes to domestic issues, they say you know what? Those two can have each other.
The bottom line is we may never find out what actually happened between these two because their stories are completely opposite of each other. But I will add this, that, number one, prosecutions go forward all the time without the complainant. In fact, frequently prosecutors proceed in a domestic case because of that exact reason. Usually the wife doesn't want to go forward with the case but the prosecution has to be able to go forward even if she doesn't comply.
(CROSSTALK)
HOSTIN: And I think that's true, Danny.
CEVALLOS: And I bet there's a good chance --
HOSTIN: I think that's true because I've tried these --
CEVALLOS: She will get back together with him.
HOSTIN: I've tried these cases without the victim and I think you're right about that. But in a case like this as you mentioned where you have a he said, she said, two people both calling 911 and giving polar opposite explanations. You really need the victim, the alleged victim to be on board. If there are injuries, then yes, that makes the case stronger, but you need her on board in a case like this.
COOPER: Obviously, though, if a shotgun and an AR-15 is found that would seem to -- you know, back up her story, whereas he didn't mention anything about a shotgun and an AR-15.
CEVALLOS: Not at all. Everyone knows they both apparently possessed lawfully weapons in the home. So the fact that George Zimmerman's story if it is to be believed, it was in a bag. Obviously the police didn't believe that. And her story was he waved it in front of her, they're completely different stories. It's not unusual for domestic case for that to happen, but I have to ask everybody out there, what will we say when and if this girlfriend gets back together with George Zimmerman, then what will we say? How credible will she be then?
COOPER: Danny Cevallos, appreciate you being on. Sunny Hostin as well. We'll see what happens.
Coming up, an incredible new view of devastation, it is really hard to see it, even having been there on the ground. The drone video showing the sheer chaos that Typhoon Haiyan left behind in the Philippines. We are going to get the latest from Carl Penhall who is on the ground in Tacloban next.
Also a deadly tornado is ripping through the Midwest in the United States. Gary Tuchman is in Washington, in Illinois, with a family whose home was destroyed. Look at those images amazing, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, three U.S. military ships are heading for the Philippines carrying 900 Marines to help with relief efforts, as well as, desperately need supplies in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. The latest numbers about 4,000 people dead, more than 18,000 injured, more than 1,600 still missing. Of course, it is not the numbers that best tell the story, the impact the super typhoon has had on the Philippines.
We have some new images that kind of closer to showing the kind of the scoop of the damage that we are talking about. This video from people who survived against all odds, an incredible image from drone cameras showing the sheer devastation. Karl Penhaul reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The howl of a typhoon that was off the charts. Whipping up amounts of water that washed lives off the map. This footage was taken by an aid worker in the town of Hernani, almost as close as you could come to dying, yet still survive.
It has been 10 days since the super typhoon ripped through the Philippines, and as the death toll continues steadily to mount, new video shows how areas were dragged away. But it is only if you take a video camera into the air that you can begin to get a handle on the true dimension of this disaster.
Haiyan lashed to shore and Tacloban's mayor and his photographer were in its eye. They took refuge in its rafters, just feet below, killer waves. A short distance away, the wind sliced through city hall. A government official videoed these scenes. Days on, debris that was once a city stubbornly refuses to give up the bodies of all of those who perished, or to give back the livelihoods smashed by the tempest.
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COOPER: A bird's eye view of the devastation. Karl Penhaul joins me now live from Tacloban. What is the latest there on the ground in terms of the aid effort? Are you actually starting to see aid in large quantities getting to those who need it most?
PENHAUL: Well, Anderson, this is a multi-tracker for right now. On the one hand, you still have work going on to recover bodies. We have been talking to an American team that are handling cadaver dogs. They have been working down there by the shoreline, and they still say there is just far too much debris, to get to the bodies to a lot of the bodies that are still underneath before they start to work.
They simply don't have the heavy lifting equipment that they need. Then, on the other hand, if you listen to the government they say that aid is arriving to survivors on a conveyer belt. Well, we haven't seen that yet. But those bottle necks that you described last week here in Tacloban, and the kind of thing we saw after Hurricane Katrina and after the earthquake in Haiti, they're working through those bottlenecks now that is the good news.
And relief aid is starting to arrive here. There is a lot of aid at the airport and now there are trucks to bring it those few miles into the city and so people are getting drinking water and tin goods, as well. That is the good news. In other positive news, we're seeing the markets coming back to life, people slaughtering and roasting pigs for sale. And also the signs that fresh fruit is coming in from the countryside as well -- Anderson. COOPER: All right, Karl Penhaul, appreciate the update. Thank you.
Here at home, another cruel example of Mother Nature's wrath, the National Weather Service confirms a tornado that ripped through the community of Washington, Illinois, was an EF-4 packed winds of 170 to 190 miles an hour. CNN I-Reporter shot a video of the twister as it touched down Sunday.
He was reciting the Lord's Prayer and then Hail Mary while recording the storm. The mayor of Washington said there are many as 500 homes in the town were destroyed or at least damaged. At least six people were killed in Illinois as the tornado touched down, one person was killed in Michigan, the tornadoes struck in Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin, but Washington, Illinois was hit especially hard. That is where Gary Tuchman is reporting from tonight.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the tornado that came through Washington, Illinois, a frightening and increasingly fearful image in this video age. But what is unique about this video --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God!
TUCHMAN: -- is that the man shooting it kept shooting it as it started to destroy his house. It could have been the last thing Kris Lancaster ever did. But he survived.
KRIS LANCASTER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I got hit by some debris or something and it cut my eye in three places.
TUCHMAN: His wife and children survived, too, but this is what happened to their house, gone, even they can barely recognize it.
LANCASTER: This is my bedroom right here. I was sleeping on that side of the bed and when the sirens went off and the wife yelled at me, I jumped up, put running clothes on and went through the house, I checked on the kids here. I went through this way, it was my kitchen.
TUCHMAN: Incredibly, the plates in the kitchen cover remain completely intact, the rest of the kitchen, destroyed. The home was Mandy Lancaster's dream house.
(on camera): After you came out of the basement and saw what the tornado did to your house, were you shocked you survived?
MANDY LANCASTER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Yes, I don't know how anybody made it through this.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Mandy did not want her husband to shoot the video, but he was transfixed.
LANCASTER: That water tower over there, just to the left of it is when I saw it come across, come across.
TUCHMAN: It was not until after the tornado hit that Kris joined his family in the basement. The day after, they looked for keep sakes.
LANCASTER: The video of my wedding.
TUCHMAN: And they try to figure out what happens next.
MANDY LANCASTER: I don't know where to go, what to do. All I can do is just stand here and look at it.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Like so many families here, Kris, Mandy, their children, have lost almost everything. But right now this family prefers to focus on what they still have each other.
LANCASTER: All I can say is I have three angels, I have my father, my grandparents, my family is my guardian angels. They say you have to stay here and look after your family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Gary Tuchman joins us right now from Washington. There are a lot of fear the death toll from these tornadoes would be very high particularly Washington where there is such extreme damage. Were there basements where people could get into basements?
TUCHMAN: Well, that is something we dealt with a lot in this spring, Anderson, in Oklahoma. The death toll was higher than we feared because so many people in Oklahoma didn't have basements. Remember the school where so many children died and didn't have basements? But there are so many basements here in Washington, that is where people were.
And we should point out meteorologists did a great job. They knew, they warned everybody yesterday that it could be a deadly day for tornadoes. People took the warning seriously, and went in their basements. That is why the survival rate was much higher than we might have expected.
COOPER: People heeded the warning. Gary, appreciate the reporting.
Up next, a death row inmate set to be executed on Wednesday gets unlikely support from one of his victims. "Hustler" publisher Larry Flint survived being shot by the man whose name is Joseph Paul Franklin in the '70. Now Flint wants to stop the man's execution. What Franklin has to say now about his crimes in the death row interview ahead?
Also tonight, new guidelines for who should be taking drugs to lower their cholesterol, statin drugs and a potential flaw in those new guidelines. Dr. Sanjay Gupta helps us try to clear up the confusion.
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COOPER: Crime and Punishment tonight, on Wednesday, a convicted murderer is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Missouri. Now you may not be familiar with his name, Joseph Paul Franklin, you may not know the names of the 20-something people he killed, in the name of hate, of White Supremacy. You may have heard the name of one of the victims, Hustler's magazine founder, Larry Flint, who is actually now fighting to stop his execution. CNN's Kyung Lah spoke with Franklin on death row.
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JOSEPH PAUL FRANKLIN, DEATH ROW INMATE: I threw the magazine down on the coffee table, I said I'm going to kill that guy.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The single unwavering drive in Joseph Paul Franklin, murder. His target, Larry Flint, infamous pornographer, founder and publisher of "Hustler" magazine, which in 1977 featured this controversial photo spread.
FRANKLIN: I saw this photo of an inter racial couple having sex. It just made me sick.
LAH: Franklin, his hair wild, his gaze unwavering, unblinkingly recalled from death row his murderous spree driven by a hate for Jews, blacks, any whites associated with them. He was a sniper, carrying his rifle and scope in guitar cases. In St. Louis, he gunned down Gerald Gordon. In Madison, Wisconsin, a young interracial couple.
In Salt Lake City, Franklin killed two young black men who were jogging with white female friends. In Cincinnati, Ohio, children were not spared, 13 and 14-year-old cousins. Even civil rights leader, Vernon Jordan, shot with Franklin's sniper rifle, but survived. Larry Flint was a target for the white supremacist.
(on camera): So you hunted him down?
FRANKLIN: Yes, I hunted him down.
LAH: You remember the shots ringing out?
LARRY FLYNT, PUBLISHER, "HUSTLER" MAGAZINE: Yes, well, just sort of like a hot poker hitting me in my stomach.
LAH (voice-over): Flint will never forget March 6, 1978, as he walked to a courthouse where he was facing obscenity charges. The shots like most of Franklin's targets came from a distance. Flynt would barely survive the two bullets that struck him. He would never walk again.
By the time the police finally arrested Franklin in September, 1980, at least 22 people were dead. Days away from his execution, Franklin spoke to me from death row about his three-year killing spree.
FRANKLIN: Three years, the time Jesus was on his mission from the time he was 30 to 33.
LAH (on camera): And what was your mission?
FRANKLIN: Well, to try to get a race war started.
LAH (voice-over): Franklin showed me a tattoo, dated with time. You can still make out that it is a Grim Reaper.
(on camera): Do you think you're a hero to those hate groups?
FRANKLIN: Well, that is what they tell me, you know. I would rather people like me than not like me. I would rather be loved than hated.
LAH: Even though they're the Nazi parties, and other hate groups.
FRANKLIN: Yes, and they are not the only ones who love me though.
LAH: Do you feel any hate looking at me?
FRANKLIN: Looking at you?
LAH: I'm not white.
FRANKLIN: Yes, but I have no feeling whatsoever, hatred toward you, especially not a female. You know what I mean.
LAH: You shot plenty of women?
FRANKLIN: Yes, I know, I know, that is true. You have got a point.
LAH (voice-over): Franklin says he is no longer a racist, that he was wrong and sorry for his crimes. He now wants mercy, fighting his upcoming execution any way he can. There is almost no one in his corner, except?
(on camera): If you could stop it would you stop it?
FLYNT: Yes, I would say put him in prison for the rest of his life.
LAH (voice-over): Why? Principle, he is against the death penalty. Amazingly, Flynt has filed a lawsuit trying to stop his own shooter's death, but don't mistake all of this for mercy.
(on camera): Is that how you see this? That you're forgiving him at all?
FLYNT: I'm not showing him anything, if it was not Joseph Paul Franklin and some other person that shot me my feelings would be the same.
LAH (voice-over): And what does Franklin think about the man who he tried to kill but has never met and is now fighting for his life?
FRANKLIN: My old pal, Larry.
LAH (on camera): I'm pretty sure he wouldn't refer to you as "your old pal."
FRANKLIN: I like Larry.
LAH (voice-over): But it appears even Flynt's efforts won't stop what awaits Franklin.
FRANKLIN: Most people out there are heading for a burning hell and they don't know it. LAH (on camera): Do you think something lies for you on the other side after November 20th?
FRANKLIN: Yes, it is not a burning hell. I'm serving the Lord.
LAH: I think we're about out of time.
FRANKLIN: Well, let's not say that. You just --
LAH: Time is important to you now, isn't it?
FRANKLIN: Yes, yes, it has been for a long time. And maybe we'll meet again sometime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Kyung Kah joins me now. This is really fascinating that you were there. Did he seem sorry about the killings because he didn't seem to be during the interview?
LAH: Yes, it was really apparent, he would say the words, but certainly he didn't show it. Now, he has had 30 years to think about it. But certainly that apparent sadness was not visible on his face.
COOPER: And I know you have news out of the governor's office regarding the execution. What have you heard?
LAH: What we have heard out of the governor's office this evening, in fact, is request for clemency out of the governor's office has officially been denied. The court, he has filed with the district security, but as of this airing right now nothing is stopping November 20th. He is scheduled to be executed at 12:01.
COOPER: Kyung, appreciate the update. Thank you very much.
Up next, confusion over new statin guidelines that could affect millions of people, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us next.
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COOPER: Tonight, a leading cardiologist has called for new guidelines for prescribing statins to be delayed. They were released just last week you may remember along with an online calculator to help doctors assess their patient's risk of heart attack or stroke.
Two Harvard medical school professors found major flaws in that calculator. They told "The New York Times," the tool greatly overstates risk and could lead to millions being over treated. The experts behind the guidelines and the calculator defended their work in a news conference today.
I will be joined by our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta right now. So what do you make that they're saying about the calculator?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have been saying it for a while now. This calculator has been in the works for a few years now. Basically, what happened in the last several days they greatly expanded a group of people who should be recommended the statin drugs. So if you have diabetes, Type 1 or 2, you would be recommended a statin drug, if you have heart disease of any kind, you would be recommended a statin.
If your bad cholesterol is above 190, you would be recommended the statin, 10 years of having heart disease, at 7 percent. That is the one drawing the confusion. What people are focused on. If you put the numbers in on a risk calculator, for a 60-year-old man who has basically normal numbers, cholesterol below 200, for example, he would meet the criteria, he would be recommended the statin drug, even though he has relative normal numbers.
I'm 44 now, pretty good numbers, my risk is low, around 1 percent. But if I do everything right over the next 20 years, my cholesterol stays fine, my blood pressure stays fine, I don't smoke or become diabetic, then my risk goes up to 8 percent, and I would be recommended a statin, why should those people get statins if their numbers look pretty good.
COOPER: As you know, I have been on statins, because my dad passed away at 50. I'm hoping to live to an older age, people tweeted the side effects, muscle pain. I never experienced that or the like. What could be the side effects?
GUPTA: Sometimes I think they're casually dismissed. The muscle pain can be so profound people don't exercise or move around as much, which is exactly the thing you want them to do to help to lower their cholesterol levels and heart disease, people can have memory loss problems, which means it may not come over suddenly. But over time you realize your memory is not as good as it was. The data -- that seems to agree with that.
COOPER: I actually have a terrible memory and that may actually be the statins.
GUPTA: I don't want to diagnose you over the satellite here, but it could be the cause, keep in mind, 36 million people take these drugs now. You're over one of them it. It could go to over 70 million people, and one of the things and people believe we're waving the white flag on exercise and diet.
COOPER: Bottom line you have to talk to your doctor.
GUPTA: This could start the conversation with your doctor. I don't think you should take them carte blanche.
COOPER: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank. That does it for us now. We'll see you again one hour from now, "AC 360 LATER," a panel discussion show. Hope you join us at 10. Check out our live webcast before, just go to ac360.com. Thanks for watching. "PIERS MORGAN LIVE" starts now.
