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Super Typhoon Strikes Philippines; NFL Bullying Controversy; Guns and Ammo Writer Fired for Advocating Gun Control

Aired November 08, 2013 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And at this point, it's impossible to know how many people have been killed. We can confirm at least three deaths, seven people injured, but a state-run Philippine news agency is now reported about 20 people have drowned.

Here, you can actually see crews of barge workers trying to escape the huge storm surge. We don't know how many workers have actually been rescued. But watch how this monster storm has unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The view from space, monstrous. Its cloud cover alone takes up two-thirds of the East Asian island.

Haiyan first roars into Samar in the central Philippines with winds clocked at 195 miles per hour. Worse yet, it was the dead of night. The waves from just what may be the strongest storm ever left some of these poor oceanside communities under 10 feet of water. Because of its speed, the initial impact was over quickly.

But the morning light shed light on just how destructive this storm was and what people inland still have to fear. This video is from Cebu, which is more than 100 miles away from where the typhoon made landfall, proving it's still packing a punch and leaving misery behind.

CHRIS DUCKER, SURVIVOR: All I could hear is wind. I mean, I have never experienced wind like this in my entire existence. I have lived in this country for 13 years, and I have been through a few earthquakes. I have been through plenty of these storms. We get hit quite regularly with storms, as you probably already know.

But, yes, this was something else. The rain, when I looked out the window, the rain wasn't falling. The rain was being pushed almost at, you know, a 100-degree angle right in front of our house. It's pretty incredible.

MALVEAUX: Tens of thousands of Filipinos spent this day in evacuation centers. And as Haiyan rolls on, authorities are warning people across the country to prepare for flash floods and even landslides.

Haiyan is expected to leave the Philippines in the next few hours, only to head out to South China Sea, toward Vietnam.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Let's bring in "National Geographic" news writer and editor Jane Lee.

Jane, compare this super typhoon to other catastrophes you have covered.

JANE LEE, "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC": Well, Hurricane Katrina was also a Category 5 hurricane. And it also did the same thing. It passed over a warm pool of water in the Gulf of Mexico and gathered strength before hitting New Orleans. And that's likely what happened here with the super typhoon.

PHILLIPS: Now, typhoon season officially ended November 1, right? So this super typhoon is arriving pretty late. What do you make of that?

LEE: Yes, well, you know, the experts I have talked to are also puzzled. They recognize that it is late in the season, but the Philippines and the Western Pacific actually has some of the warmest waters in the world, and so they can spawn typhoons year-round.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jane Lee, appreciate your input.

Now I want to show you new video actually of the storm destruction that we're just getting in. OK, now, both of these videos are from R.J. Lucky One (ph) on Facebook. And you definitely get a sense of the massive devastation.

And, Chad, I know you're paying attention and looking to the new video as it comes in as well. Let's go ahead and compare this megastorm that is hitting the Philippines to recent monster storms in the U.S. The super typhoon, well, it hit land with wind speeds of 195 miles per hour. We heard Jane Lee mention Hurricane Katrina. She covered that as well.

It hit land at 125 miles per hour. That was in 2005. And then just last year, superstorm Sandy hit land at 90-plus miles per hour.

I want to get back to correspondent Paula Hancocks live in Manila.

Paula, right now, how are authorities responding to this disaster? What can you tell us at this hour?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, to be honest, right now, there's very little they can do.

It's still dark. We have a little less than an hour before daybreak here. And that's when they will be able to kick into high gear and try and help those people who need the help. The military is on standby at this point. We know as soon as it is light and if the weather further south actually permits it, then they will be heading up in the helicopters to get an aerial view of exactly what has happened.

The area that has been hit is just so vast that the only way of getting a complete picture of who needs help and what help they need is to get into the air. That's what the military will be doing. Of course, the concern as well is will the landing strips be flooded? You know that hundreds of airports -- sorry, hundreds of flights were actually canceled because of the heavy rains and the heavy winds. So there is a concern that the helicopters simply won't be able to land.

PHILLIPS: Yes, and that impacts from a military perspective who can get in there and how many people can help. Paula, we will keep checking in. Thanks so much.

Well, coming up, the editor of "Guns & Ammo" magazine resigns. You wonder why? Well, apparently, he published a pro-gun control column and readers were livid. But are they right to put the Second Amendment first?

Plus, for the first time, we're hearing Jonathan Martin's side of the story in the bullying controversy engulfing the Miami Dolphins. Hear why the player's sister is now involved.

And Toronto's crack-smoking mayor apparently pretty upset with somebody here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, so here's a question for you. What's more important, free speech or the right to bear arms?

One magazine chief just learned a hard lesson. The editor of "Guns & Ammo" resigning after he published a column advocating gun control in next month's issue, you know, getting in the other side of the debate. Well, that didn't sit well with the readers, so Jim Bequette fired the writer of that column. Then he wrote an apology, which in part described the feedback from readers who questioned the magazine's commitment to the Second Amendment.

Well, Bequette goes on to say that he was untrue to the tradition, so did he even deserve the heat?

Let's talk about it, shall we?

Emily Miller from "The Washington Times" and editor of "Emily Gets Her Gun," and Chris Kofinis, Democratic strategist and former communications director for John Edwards.

OK, so, Emily, I'm going to start with you. First of all, do you think heads deserved to roll on this?

EMILY MILLER, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES": I think there's a lot of pressure from advertisers and from readers.

It was a business decision more than anything else. I mean, Jim Bequette and Metcalf as well, they really heard a lot of anger from their readers and long-term readers. This is a very old magazine. And two advertisers, manufacturers threatened to leave, because, under pressure, and this is what is so important, is that this year, the Second Amendment is under attack like no other.

You go in something like "Guns & Ammo" and you expect to hear absoluteness when it comes to the Second Amendment.

PHILLIPS: OK. Interesting. So, I'm hearing a discussion on Second Amendment and then I'm hearing about the power of social media possibly causing someone to cave here because money and advertising dollars come into play. This is a private magazine, obviously, so they can do anything they want, but, Emily, can gun owners not even hear the other side of the debate?

MILLER: As a journalist, I would like people to hear both sides of the debate.

PHILLIPS: I mean, that's First Amendment.

MILLER: Absolutely. And the First Amendment is just as important as the Second Amendment, absolutely.

I do not favor more restrictions on the Second Amendment. That's what my book "Emily Gets Her Gun" is about. It's about this attack from the White House and Bloomberg. However, I believe the debate is on facts and the gun control debate is quite simple, is that there's no gun control law has ever reduced crime.

If you debate on facts, you're going to win. I do take issue with these people, with the pro-Second Amendment people who don't want to have any debate. At least on the pages of "Guns & Ammo," that's their right, they subscribe to it, they pay for it, but let's have a debate because I promise you guys you're going to win because you have the facts.

PHILLIPS: Interesting.

OK. Well, then I do want to point out, by the way, that not all the readers ripped the magazine. Some of them actually defended some kind of push for control, which I thought was interesting. Others said it would energize gun control efforts. Saying the column is like throwing a bucket of blood in shark-infested waters is actually what somebody said.

Chris, do you see it that way?

CHRIS KOFINIS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: What it does I think kind of reinforce how the various groups look at each other.

What the pro-gun control groups look at is the fact that when you look at, you know, in terms of reasonable, commonsense reforms, now, what this editor was talking about, if I'm not mistaken, was simply training. He wasn't talking about anything, I would say, by normal standard would be considered draconian.

PHILLIPS: Yes. That's a point well-made. That was pointed out. KOFINIS: So even though they had such an objective response -- such a heated response to this, I think when you look at the reality, the overwhelming majority of Americans support background checks. The overwhelming majority of Americans support commonsense, reasonable reforms.

(CROSSTALK)

KOFINIS: And, by the way, and just for the record, the notion that somehow gun control has no impact on gun violence, you know, there's a reason why, for example, we have more gun murders in this country than Canada does or any other European country. It's because we have more guns that are unregulated.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: We're not talking about Canada. We're not talking about Canada. As much as you sound like Piers Morgan, we're not going to talk about England. We're going to talk about the United States, and gun crime and gun murders have gone down 50 percent in the last 20 years as gun ownership has gone up to its highest rates. Secondly, the government CDC study has proven not one single gun control law has ever reduced crime. So, those are just the facts.

(CROSSTALK)

KOFINIS: No one -- by the way, no one is talking about taking away guns. All that people are talking about is reasonable reform.

PHILLIPS: And let's get back to what was being written about in the editorial, OK, because the right to bear arms is not resolute. It's regulated. OK? We know that.

As the writer points out as I see here that the Second Amendment says so itself, a well-regulated militia. I thought that that was an interesting way to put it. The writer argues that he was making a point covered by the Constitution.

MILLER: Well, the Heller decision, the Supreme Court decision in 2008 clearly explained that the well-regulated militia part of the Second Amendment is separate from the individual right to keep and bear arms.

And what Metcalf was writing about was the training requirement for a carry permit in Illinois. It was a pretty narrow column. Illinois is the state that was forced to allow carry rights. They set up this system where it's very hard, it takes a lot of training, it takes a lot of time. Other states make it a lot of simple, take a short class.

That's the issue, how much requirement it takes to get carry permits. That's pretty specific to that. It's not about what types of gun you're going to carry or any kind of like assault weapons ban or things like that.

PHILLIPS: You what is interesting. I listen to the details both of you lay out. I read the column. Chris, really, what this all comes down to is the power of social media. And it got what it wanted.

KOFINIS: It's just -- it's the age we live in now. It's a 24/7 interconnected world where if you -- you know, if you stir up the pot, you're going to get a lot of stings.

PHILLIPS: You can start revolutions and you can bring down editors.

KOFINIS: Absolutely. It's just the reality of the day and age that we live in.

But, listen, in this case, I would say it's isolated because you're talking about a magazine where the audience was obviously very pro- gun. In terms of the wider debate, the overwhelming country believes that, I don't know, it's not I think unreasonable that if someone wants to carry a gun in a concealed fashion, that they should maybe be trained. I know that's kind of crazy to some people, but it's a pretty reasonable response for most.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: No matter what side you're on, I bet you a lot of people are going to be buying that magazine. I can tell you that.

MILLER: That's right.

KOFINIS: Well, one of us will be.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Oh, Chris. Chris is going to be sneaking a peek, I can promise you that. He won't let anybody see him.

KOFINIS: Yes, of course.

PHILLIPS: Emily, Chris, thanks a lot, you guys. Appreciate it.

MILLER: Thanks, guys.

KOFINIS: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Coming up, new details in that NFL bullying controversy. Alleged victim Jonathan Martin releasing explicit texts that he says he received, what he says he was forced to endure, next.

And CNN's Rachel Nichols sat down with Tiger Woods. We have got some of that exclusive interview for you right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the alleged victim in the NFL bullying controversy details through his attorney how he was treated by his teammates for the last year-and-a-half.

Jonathan Martin abruptly left the Miami Dolphins amid alleged bullying by his teammates, mainly Richie Incognito.

Martin's attorney released a statement on his behalf saying this is not about Martin's toughness. Rather -- quote -- "Jonathan endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing. He endured a malicious physical attack on him by a teammate and daily vulgar comments."

I want to bring in CNN sports anchor Rachel Nichols. She's the host of CNN's "UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS."

Rachel, Martin's lawyer said both he and his family were threatened. Is this going to turn into something much bigger than we realize? Exposing a dark culture in the locker rooms within the NFL?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly exposing something dark in the Miami Dolphins locker room. It's important to remember that just like with anything else, every situation is individual.

You can't spin this out to the other 31 locker rooms. But what is happening and that is shining a light on is there have been incidents like this before. This is spurring other players and former players to come out with their story. We had a former Saint Louis Rams player just yesterday say that he went through a hazing ritual where players took bags full of coins and knocked the rookies in the face. Obviously, that's something that is not condoned by NFL rules.

On the other side, you are having people telling their hazing stories -- and I'm going to use that in quotes -- because it involved going to get breakfast for the older players and having to participate in a rookie talent show that they then recall as one of their fondest memories. You can see that it's a wide sliding scale, and that the issue is, does the league body or do individual teams have to step in and say to players, clearly, you're not able to police yourselves because the sliding scale on the bad end is something that shouldn't be happening?

If you can't figure out where the line is, do the team officials, do the NFL officials have to step in and say, here's the line, you can get sandwiches, but you can't hit a guy in the face with a bag of coins?

PHILLIPS: Interesting. It's like, are these guys going to have to start going through politically correct classes? That's something that's not going to work really well with the tough players. It will be interesting to watch the fallout as we do look at other teams and other locker rooms. That's a great point.

You also sat down with Tiger Woods. He's fallen short in some pretty big tournaments lately. You got this reaction to that. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLS: So you have had these great wins all over the world. And yet, when there are those big moments on the weekends of the biggest tournaments, you haven't been able to pull through. What is that juxtaposition like for you?

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Well, it was frustrating because I had a chance this year in two of the major championships right there, so I have been there with chances to win on the weekend. I just haven't done it yet.

NICHOLS: So, as that stretch gets longer and longer without a major, what's that like when it builds? What's that pressure like as it builds and builds?

NICHOLS: For me, I look at it, the fact that it takes a career. You know, for Jack, it took him until he was 46. It takes a long time to win a lot of major championships.

And you're going to have your years where you play really well. You may clip two or three out of there. And then you're going to have years where you just don't win anything. But you're there. You just don't happen to win. And you know, quite frankly, over the last -- well, since '08, I have been there with a chance to win about half of them. Just haven't seemed to have won one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rachel, did he talk psychology? We know how much the mind plays a huge part of how well you play golf. And this is a guy who has gone through a lot of personal issues.

NICHOLS: Absolutely. Yes, I asked him about that.

And he said that getting the reps in once he was able to get healthy is the framework on which he hung that psychological advancement, that once he was able to get over his injuries and just hit ball after ball after ball, he started to feel more comfortable with himself. He didn't have to have all those question marks running around his head. We all know when you're trying to do your work, if you have a bunch of other things going on in your life, that it can start to scatter you and the routine is something that can draw you back.

He said getting that routine was something that actually helped him as also his personal life of course rebuilt. I did ask him about his girlfriend, Lindsey Vonn, Olympic skiing champion, and his kids. One of his main roles now is to be a dad. That's more important to him than golf, which is something he never could have imagined 10, 15 years ago. So, it was really an interesting, candid conversation.

PHILLIPS: Rachel Nichols, thanks. Be sure to catch Rachel's full interview with Tiger Woods tonight on her new show, "UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS."

Well, Camden, New Jersey, is considered one of the most violent cities in the country; 42 percent of its population lives below the poverty line. And Camden has one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the state, but one CNN Hero is on a mission to turn all that around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TAWANDA JONES, CNN HERO: It's very hard for children growing up in Camden today. It's dangerous. You can hear gunshots almost every other night. These kids want more. They don't want to be dodging bullets for the rest of their life.

My name is Tawanda Jones and my mission is to empower the youth of Camden, New Jersey, through the structure of drill team. What I try to do in order for them to go to the right path is simple. You instill discipline. Drill team is really just the facade to bring these children in because it's something they love to do. Then once I have them, I introduce them to the college life.

In Camden, the high school graduation rate is 49 percent. But in my program, it is 100 percent graduate. We have never had a dropout. We need to take back our city and, most importantly, take back our youth. Let them know that we really care about them.

I don't think people really understand how important it is to have these children succeed. When you do this, you get great rewards. It's better than money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)