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Philippines Hit By Strong Typhoon; Martin MacNeill Found Guilty; Incognito: I Had Martin's Back; Muslim-American Teen From New Jersey Emerges As Newest Superhero By Marvel Comics; Chris Christie's Advice On Obamacare; Kerry Suggests Questions Linger About Oswald's Influence From Cuba And Russia; Secret Letter From Chinese Inmate Found Inside Halloween Decorations
Aired November 10, 2013 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: His allegations that he bullied teammate, Jonathan Martin, will have his side of the scandal coming up.
We begin in the Philippines where the loss of life from a monster storm has hit a staggering number, 10,000 people are now feared dead from super typhoon Haiyan. The storm ripped through the country two days ago, turning homes into rubble and cutting off the entire communities. The situation is dire. Bodies are littering the streets. And there is little food or water. And medical supplies are also running out.
President Benigno Aquino toured some of the hardest hit areas today including the coastal city of Tacloban. He is facing growing outrage over the government's slow response to that disaster. Aquino is blaming a breakdown at t he local level.
Our CNN crew captured the terrifying the moment when the super typhoon ripped through their hotel in Tacloban. People prayed as the winds howled outside.
CNN producer Tim Schwartz and CNN International anchor Andrew Stephens helped rescue people trapped in hotel rooms. They used mattresses, in fact, to push them to safety in waste high flood water.
And then they went back to covering the storm and its aftermath. We turn now to Andrew for the latest developments from Tacloban.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW STEPHENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): It struck with terrifying and deadly force. The aftermath, Tacloban city's shattered landscape. This was home to thousands. It was not the wind that did it. It was the storm surge repose of the five meter wall of water that engulfed the coastal strip and spread through the city. Even when the CNN crew was sheltering about a kilometer from the shore line, the surge was waist deep (INAUDIBLE).
(on-camera): All around us you hear the sounds of the winds breaking, you hear the sounds of the large objects falling and crashing to the floor and to underfoot, it is now just a deluge. And if you look behind me, I don't know if you can see, the staircase behind me is now basically a water fall.
(voice-over): But that didn't compare with what happened here. The storm surge was the most destructive path of this typhoon. We are about 100 meters from the water here and you can see the damage caused to these houses.
(on-camera): These are all rough built houses completely flattened along the foreshore. Thousands of people live along a stretch of several kilometers. You can see behind me just how bad it must have been.
(voice-over): Authorities have pleaded with people to leave. Many did, but many stayed. These man was searching for his father, his brothers and his uncles somewhere he thinks under this rubble.
We all tried to leave but it was too late. I got separated when the water started rising. I don't know what happened to them, he tells me.
The devastation across the city of 200,000 people is widespread. Winds upwards of 250 kilometers an hour leaving a trail of destruction. This is now a city on edge. No power, food and water running out and medical supplied almost gone. St. Paul hospital, we are told, is the only functioning medical facility in the city. They can't admit anymore patients. There is no room just first aid in the most difficult conditions.
We hardly have anything left to help people with, the doctor tells me. We have to get supplies in immediately.
Just a block away from the hospital the increasingly desperate search for food and water lead to looting.
(on-camera): This is one of the few stores which is left open. And as you can see the crowds have been forming around the stores taking anything they can. Food is the priority at the moment but, air conditioning units, plastic toys, everything is coming out of the stores. Another street away, people are climbing art the land post to get to the second floor of a department store to grab anything they can.
It took a full day before help arrived. And even they know the storm was predicted days in advance, the response so far has not been nearly enough. This was nature at its most frightening. A display of force that has smashed the lives of so many people. And this is just one city. There are countless towns up and down the coast where authorities are still waiting to hear word from.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHENS: Fred, relief supplies are strictly in here. It is getting towards three days now since the storm hit and we aren't seeing more relief coming in. But most of it is still coming in by helicopter. And when you see the extent of the destruction here, you get a sense of the monumental rebuilding task that is facing officials here.
WHITFIELD: It is horrible situation. Thank you so much Andrew.
Well, here in the U.S. some Filipino-Americans are desperately trying to reach their loved ones in the storm zone but they haven't been able to get through.
Alexandra Field has been talking to some worried family members in the Filipino community there in New York.
And Alexandra, what are they doing? How are they holding up?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fred.
It is just getting tougher for them by the day. The death toll in the Philippines keeps rising while the wait for word from loves ones keeps going around the world. The images of destruction have so many people fearing the worst. They are hoping friends and family members who they haven't from are just without access to communication.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETH GUILLENA, TRYING TO REACH BROTHER: Right now, it is (INAUDIBLE). It is too disturbing and I know most of the houses that were destroyed in the country. The houses, we are not really rich country. Most of these affected are those who are really who needed most of our help. It is really disturbing and it really hurts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Here in New York city, in the heart of a large Filipino community in (INAUDIBLE), the St. Sebastian Roman Catholic church is home to some five to 800 Filipino families. At mass this morning, their prayers were with all those who were in the path Haiyan, almost all of the parishioners say they still have no idea who survived, who was gone, who has been hurt or what has been lost.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL HARDIMAN, SAINT SEBASTIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: So, it is going to take days, probably weeks before the full impact of this is felt here in the community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: And right now, parishioners say they are solely focused on making contact with the people they have not been able to reach. But the church will raise also be working to raise money for a massive relief effort -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Alexandra Field.
All right. So, where is that storm headed next? We'll get an update on that in a few minutes.
Meantime, eight agencies are mobilizing to help the victims of the typhoon in any way they can. And perhaps, you want to help out. So, to find out where to go, CNN.com/impact has information for you. All right, NFL player Richie Incognito is fighting back against allegations that he bullied a teammate out of the league. Incognito opened up to FOX Sports Jay Blazer about his relationship with Jonathan Martin. He insisted that the two were friends and he never meant to hurt him. Incognito also said he wished that he had known how Martin felt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHIE INCOGNITO, NFL PLAYER: John never showed signs that football is getting to him, the locker room was getting to him. My actions were coming from a place of love. No matter how bad and how vulgar it sounds, that is how we communicate, that is how our friendship was. And those are the facts and that is how I'm accountable for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Some texts between the two men seem to back up Incognito's story. We will have more in Incognito's interview coming up in about 20 minutes.
All right, police in Houston are hunting for someone who fired on a birthday party killing at least two people. Twenty-two more people were injured when the gun fire broke out. About 100 people were at that party. Witnesses say people were running for their when they heard the gunshot. The Harris County sheriff is currently searching for two suspects.
Three days of talks over Iran's nuclear program ended with no deal, but hope that an agreement is possible. Secretary of state John Kerry said significant progress was made in Geneva. They will meet again in ten days. Iran has been under crippling sanctions since 2006. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham says more sanctions may be needed and that he will be pushing for that very thing this week.
All right, people who survived the deadly typhoon in the Philippines are simply lucky to be alive. But now they want to get out. One woman says it is worse than hell. We'll hear from other survivors next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: People who survived a devastating typhoon in the Philippines say they need help right now. Their homes are in shambles and they are desperately in need of food and water.
Paula Hancocks has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carrying all they could from their devastated lives. A steady stream of typhoon Haiyan victims keeps arriving at the Tacloban airport looking for food, water and escape.
Magina Fernandez lost her home and business. She is desperate to leave on the next military plane.
MAGINA FERNANDEZ, TYPHOON VICTIM: Get international help to come here now. Not tomorrow, now. This is really, really like bad, bad worse than hell. Worse than hell.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): As the president of the Philippines Benigno Aquino arrives to assess the damage, Fernandez causes on her anger.
FERNANDEZ: We need to get the word out. The Philippines government can't do this alone.
BENIGNO AQUINO, PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: There is also a breakdown, especially the local government there. They are necessarily first responders. And too many of them were also affected and did not report for work. That also contributed to the slow delivery.
MAYOR ALFRED ROMUALDEZ, TACLOBAN, PHILIPPINES: People here were convinced that it looked like a tsunami.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): The mayor of Tacloban almost lost his life in the storm surge. He admits a death toll as high as 10,000 is possible.
ROMUALDEZ: I have not spoken to anyone who hasn't lost someone a relative or close to them. And now, we are looking for a many as we can and we are still trying to retrieve so people here.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Faces here tell us story of horror.
(on camera): And many of the people here have been walking for hours to through the devastation to get here to get food and water from the military themselves. Many of them just say they were too desperate to wait for help to get to them.
(voice-over): The young, the old and injured all board a military c- 130 leaving death and destruction behind them.
Paula Hancocks, CNN. Tacloban, Philippines:
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The typhoon now moves to Vietnam where it is expected to make landfall today. It is losing, it seems, but it still has a potential to do a whole lot of damage.
Alexandra Steele has more from the weather center.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Fred.
Well, certainly this typhoon not nearly the monster that it was when it raked over the Philippines with the same winds of 190 miles per hour. So, a shadow of that now, maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, gusts to 105, moving north northwest, so onward northerly component. It will make land fall this evening which is Monday morning local time, and when it does so, it actually may even just be a tropical storm at that point with winds potentially only 40 miles per hour. And then it heads towards Tuesday, it just moves north. So, the winds not nearly a factor. But we will still certainly see some damage in wind, gusts and rain.
But Tuesday, look at the rain we could see from (INAUDIBLE) east toward China, potentially, eight to ten inches of rain.
So, damaging winds, coastal storm surge flooding which really maybe the calling car for Vietnam with the problems of this, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Alex Sandra Steele, thanks so much.
All right, a woman fought for years to get the father of her mother put away for the murder of her mother. Now, Martin MacNeill has been found guilty and we asked his daughter what it felt like to hear that verdict.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A daughter cried tears of joy when her father Dr. Martin MacNeill was found guilty of murdering her father.
Alexis Somers led the fight to get justice for her mom and she says she doesn't even know her father anymore.
Jean Casarez sat down with her and got her reaction after the verdict again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, IN SESSION: Michelle MacNeill's daughter Alexis refused to believe that her mother had a natural death. Even when investigators turned away, she went to them and she said I know my father killed my mother. I got the evidence.
One of the basis for the defense was that Alexis was lying. That she was so angry at her father for cheating on her mother that she would say or do anything to get back at him. The jury has now spoken. But I sat down with Alexis to set the record straight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As to count one murder, guilty. Count to obstruction of justice, guilty.
CASAREZ: What was going through you before the verdict was read?
ALEXIS SOMERS, MACNEILL'S DAUGHTER: I was shaking. I was trembling and scared and nervous. We knew the verdict was going to be coming in at any moment and the culmination of so many years fighting for this?
CASAREZ: Your father's reaction when the verdict was read? He was non emotional, just to bare. There seemed to be an acknowledgement at the end. You know him better than all of us. What does that say to you?
SOMERS: I thought I knew him. And now, we have really come to understand who he really is and he's a calculated cold murder. CASAREZ: It is so ironic in the senses that this trial begins and you bring new life into this world. You just had had twins. What will you tell them about their grandma?
SOMERS: I will tell them the stories that my mom loved us, and she loved all of her children.
CASAREZ: What will you tell your children about their grandfather?
SOMERS: I don't know. I don't know if I want to tell them about him. He doesn't deserve to be a person in their lives.
CASAREZ: Do you have regrets at all?
SOMERS: I definitely have regrets. I wish I hadn't left to go back to school. I wish I had been there to protect my mom.
CASAREZ: Did you get to meet the jurors?
SOMERS: We did. It was actually very, amazing experience to be able to hug each of the jurors and thank them.
CASAREZ: If you could ask him one question right now that you could get an answer on, what would that be?
SOMERS: I would ask him, I don't know maybe why? Why would you take her away from us. But I know why. He didn't care. He had a plan. He didn't care about my mom.
CASAREZ: Alexis knows that this is not over yet. Another emotional experience in January. January 7th will be her father's sentencing hearing. According to Utah law, victims can make impact statements before the court. But also Dr. Martin MacNeill will be allowed to speak.
Jean Casarez, CNN. Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Marvel comics unveiling a new super hero. You will meet her and find out how her super powers work next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All here are the stories trending right now online. The devastation is enormous in the Philippines after typhoon Haiyan barrel through. At least 10,000 people are feared dead and many more have lost their homes. People are desperate for food, water and other basic supplies.
Back home in New York. Police are looking for gunman in the allegedly shot two people at a skating rink last night. Two people are injured. But their injuries are not life-threatening.
Tom Cruise are suing a tabloid group for calling him a bad parent and he wants $50 million in damages. Cruise has filed the lawsuit against the Bauer publishing group for what he says are misleading headlines after his divorce from Katy Holmes.
And going viral today online, a video that you need to see before you and your spouse head out to a sports bar today to watch your favorite NFL game.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
WHITFIELD: And that is funny, that is a husband allegedly using a stun gun on his wife after she lost a be bet over Monday night game between the (INAUDIBLE). Yes, this is for real. Well, she got revenge calling a cops and then sending him to jail.
WISN Terry Sader has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERRY SADER, REPORTER, WISN: This is a small town in Wisconsin tavern where bar tender Chris Neu is a Bear Packers romance between a husband and wife got flagged after Monday night football.
CHRIS NEU, BARTENDER: They had a bet between the two of them. The loser was supposed to get tasted by the winner.
SAIDER: And the bear John Grant won so his wife lost. The criminal complaints says at some point the couple stepped outside bar here to smoke cigarettes. They ended up in the alley. And the wife told police that is when the husband used the taser to shock her twice on her backside and one side on her thigh.
NEU: She, you know, kind of laughed it off. She agreed to the whole thing. They videotaped it and everything else.
SADER: But then she said the wife got tased one more time and got mad. The couple left the bar and she called police.
NEU: I had no inkling whatsoever that they would end up in an altercation at the end of the night.
CHIEF CHRISTOPHER MACNEIL, MAYVILLE, WISCONSIN POLICE: It is one of those things where you just can't make the stuff up.
SADER: Christopher McNeil is Mayville's police chief.
MACNEIL: The taser that he had was a skin contact type of taser which actually if you use it enough times during the searched body, it can actually leave burn marks. The husband went to jail on the charge of possessing an electric weapon.
NEU: Now, the Bearer's fan is behind bars.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow, I can't believe that happened. WISN's Terry Sader bringing that to us. Thanks so much. We will talks about that again later on with our legal eagles of the female version this afternoon. All right NFL player Richie Incognito's name has been dragged through the mud for a week now. Today, he defended himself and deny bullying his teammate, Jonathan Martin. It is just one side of the story, however. And he says, this isn't just about him. It is about the locker room, the whole culture of it.
CNN's Nick Valencia is here with more on this. So, Nick, what more do we know about what Incognito says if it changes the story in any way.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does change the story. He said a lot. I think it changes the sort of dynamic of what we've been hearing the last week. We do want to emphasize that this is only one side of the story, but Richie Incognito tried to take accountability for his actions while at the same time putting his relationship with Jonathan Martin into perspective.
He says he understands looking at the text messages and listening to the voicemail by itself, he understands why people could be confused, but he says that is how Jonathan Martin and his teammates communicated. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHIE INCOGNITO, MIAMI DOLPHINS: This isn't an issue about bullying. This is an issue of mine and John's relationship where I may -- I've taken stuff too far and I didn't know it was hurting him. As the leader and his best friend on the team it has me miffed how I missed this and I never saw it coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: And we'll have more next hour, but I think the biggest revelation out of this, Fred, is that fact that Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito, four days after Martin left the team, they were exchanging text messages. We'll have that later next hour and tell you exactly what happened.
WHITFIELD: Good. Can't wait to hear what's revealed about what was in that kind of conversation. Thank you so much, Nick. Appreciate that.
VALENCIA: You bet.
WHITFIELD: All right, comic book fans, brace your selves, Marvel Comics created a new superhero and this is the first, a Muslim- American teen girl from New Jersey. Jason Carroll introduces us to this groundbreaking new character.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the first Miss Marvel appeared in comic books more than 30 years ago. During that time, she was blond. She was (inaudible). She wore tight outfits, but the new Miss Marvel, nothing like that at all. She is much younger. She's a teenager. She is from Jersey City and she is a Muslim-American.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL (voice-over): In the world of female superheroes, there are the great Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, Black Widow and soon to leap onto the pages of comics could be another Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Miss Marvel.
(on camera): Every superhero has a particular power, super power, what are her powers?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Miss Marvel is a poly morph.
CARROLL (voice-over): So she can change her shape at will. The new Miss Marvel character is a 16-year-old Muslim-American from Jersey City, New Jersey. She is the brain child of Marvel Comics editor, Sana Amanat, who is also a Muslim-American from New Jersey.
(on camera): When you talk about her past, does it mirror your own personal past?
SANA AMANAT, MARVEL EDITOR: To an extent. I would say that the idea for Miss Marvel and her background was loosely based on some of my experienced and what I have had.
CARROLL (voice-over): Among its vision coming through Marvel pages with the help of writer, Willow Wilson, a convert to Islam.
G. WILLOW WILSON, WRITER: Even though I didn't grow up in the faith, I certainly tried to bring in as much of that feeling of authenticity as possible.
CARROLL: Super powers in the real world authenticity and story are the key to survival so says Matthew Reinhart, author of pop-up books for D.C. superheroes and Transformers.
MATTHEW REINHART, AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: I'm half Lebanese and so growing up, you know, sort of a little bit different than everybody else. It's nice to see a different family and a character dealing with her belief system and yet having these amazing powers of being a superhero.
CARROLL: Here in Jersey City community leaders boast of a vibrant Muslim population. The 19-year-old Amina Goush cannot wait for Kamala Khan to hit comic bookstands.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I would love to read it.
CARROLL: But Miss Marvel's costume not going over well with Sana Khaliffa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She should be covered and not have her butt showing.
AMANAT: Some people like the fact that she is not covered or that her outfit is a little bit fitted, more conservative families are like that. But the point is that we are trying to show a version of the Muslim-American world and people might not necessarily see.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, Fred, like her or not the new Miss Marvel, Kamala Khan, is due to hit comic book stores on February 6th -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Right around the corner, very exciting. Thanks so much, Jason.
Fresh off a landslide victory, Governor Chris Christie tells us why he thinks big changes need to be made within the Republican Party that is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Fresh off his landslide re-election win as New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, maybe already looking ahead to the 2016 presidential race, is on the cover of "Time" magazine, and today he is making the rounds on the Sunday talk shows. CNN's political editor, Paul Steinhauser, has details.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hi, Fred. What do you do for an encore after winning a landslide victory? Well, if you are Chris Christie, you take your show on the road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER (voice-over): Later this in the newly elected New Jersey governor will begin this work as chairman of the Republican Governor's Association. With three dozen governors' races next year, expect Christie to crisscross the campaign trail, and guess what? Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Nevada, the states that kick off the presidential primary and caucus calendar, all hold elections for governor next year.
So taking those trips is not a bad thing for someone like Christie who is seriously thinking about running for the White House. While his victory speech Tuesday was directed to a New Jersey audience, he definitely had a national message.
GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I know that if we can do this in Trenton, New Jersey, maybe the folks at Washington, D.C. should tune in their TV's right now.
STEINHAUSER: Christie won big in blue state New Jersey, carrying the female and Latino vote and even grabbing a third of Democrats. Those kinds of numbers should boost the case that he is the most electable Republican in a national election. While the governor touts his --
CHRISTIE: Solid conservative record.
STEINHAUSER: A potential 2016 GOP rivals disagrees.
SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Well, we do need moderates like Chris Christie in the party.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEINHAUSER: With Christie's visibility sky rocketing, expect more criticism from Republicans and Democrats -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Paul Steinhauser. So Chris Christie told ABC News this morning, he is staying focused on the job as the governor for right now. But he also said that he didn't know if he would stay for his full term. CNN'S "THE LEAD", Jake Tapper, also sat down with Governor Christie and Christie told Jake, the Republican Party needs to make some fundamental changes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIE: I think that the parties got focused on winning again. You know, sometimes I feel like our party cares about winning the argument than they care about winning the election and if you don't win elections, you can't govern, and if you can't govern, you can't change the direction of a state like we've done in New Jersey.
So, you know, I think we need to get ourselves refocused on that and secondly, I think sometimes we forget that candidates matter. It is not just about a checklist of issues. It is about how a person presents themselves as a candidate, how they articulate their view on things and how they react to situations. People make judgements based on all of those things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Jake also asked Christie if he had any advice for President Obama on how to deal with the problems with the affordable care act.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIE: Here's what my suggestion would be to him. Don't be so cute. When you make a mistake admit it. Listen, if it was a mistake in 2009, if he was mistaken in 2009, 2010, on his understanding on how the law would operate then just admit it to people. I said it, I was wrong I'm sorry and we are going to try to fix this and make it better. I think people would give any leader in that circumstance a lot of credit for just, you know, owning up to it.
Instead of now trying don't lawyer it. People don't like lawyers. I'm a lawyer. They don't like him. You know, don't lawyer it. When I saw that this morning, I saw that this morning for the first time and I thought, he is lawyering it. That is Barack Obama the lawyer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: You can catch "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper every afternoon right here on CNN at 4:00 Eastern Time. It has been 50 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and you have probably heard a lot of conspiracy theories, right? Well, now, a high profile political player is sharing his thoughts on the killing. Hear him next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: On November 22nd, the country will mark 50 years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy. There have always been conspiracy theories surrounding JFK's death. Well, now, a doubter reveals himself, none other than U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. He spoke with NBC's Tom Brokaw.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM BROKAW, NBC: Where do you come down on the conspiracy theories?
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: To this day, I have serious doubts that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
BROKAW: Really?
KERRY: I certainly have doubts that he was motivated by himself. I'm not sure if anybody else was involved. I don't go down that road with respect to the Grassy Knowle theory and all of that. But I have serious questions about whether they got to the bottom of Lee Harvey Oswald's time and influence from Cuba and Russia.
BROKAW: What about the CIA?
KERRY: No, I don't believe that.
BROKAW: But you think the Russians and the Cubans may have had something to do with it?
KERRY: I think he was inspired somewhere by something and I don't know what or any. I can't pit anything down. I never spent a lot of time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Kerry says he met President Kennedy once in 1962 while working as a volunteer for Ted Kennedy's senatorial campaign. On Thursday, CNN puts you on the ground 50 years ago as the shooting of President Kennedy happened. You will also see how the controversy surrounding the Warren Report unfolded. Watch the "Assassination of JFK" Thursday night, 9:00 Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.
All right, Anthony Bourdain travels to the motor city in tonight's season finale of "PARTS UNKNOWN." He says Detroit is one of the magnificent cities in America, but it's facing enormous challenges. I had a chance to talk to Anthony about his visit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, CNN'S "PARTS UNKNOWN": Detroit's a place I've loved for years. Every time I've passed through, whether on book tour, speaking tour, I've always been -- I've just always felt very connected to the people there. It's a city that's been just really egregiously and profoundly screwed over for years, and yet they have an extraordinary strength, and more importantly perhaps, a sense of humor that I just always felt very connected with.
It's an amazing-looking place. This great American city where all these great American things came from, and yet we've allowed it to basically molder back into the forest, 70,000 abandoned buildings. Policemen who have to use their own cell phones to, you know, call for help, who have to take buses to crime scenes. Forests, essentially, you know, whole neighborhoods overgrown with waist-high -- waist-high grass.
It looks at times like Chernobyl or Ancient Rome and yet it is also this extraordinary, great, important American place that we should b be -- my way of thinking -- preserving, protecting, and celebrating. So I think it's an extraordinary examination of a great American tragedy, but also the strength of the human spirit.
WHITFIELD: And you found hope there, as you spoke with people, and you had meals with folks there?
BOURDAIN: I'd love to give you a happy, fuzzy, warm --
WHITFIELD: That's what I'm looking for.
BOURDAIN: -- that things will get better. I think one of the central questions of the show that I kept asking myself and others was, who will be living, and whatever Detroit looks like in 20 years. And it probably will be a much reconstructed, much better place to live. But it'll also be a much smaller place to live.
And I think the question of who's living there in 20 years, will it be the people who fought so hard to stay, who deserve to live there, deserve to enjoy the good times, will it -- will they be living there, or will it b be -- will it be somebody else?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: You can see the full hour of Anthony's visit to Detroit tonight at 9:00 Eastern Time and then after Anthony's visit to Detroit, he will host a live, one hour postseason show called "Last Bite" from Vegas, 10:00 Eastern Time tonight right here on CNN.
All right, a Chinese inmate smuggled secret letters with a chilling message into Halloween decorations. A woman in the U.S. finds one of the letters. The disturbing details of what it says next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A Chinese labor camp inmate wanted the world to hear about the verbal and physical abuse that he has endured so smuggled several letters into Halloween decorations. A woman in Oregon found one of those letters that he sent from China. Our David McKenzie connects the dots.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Damascus, Oregon, just outside Portland. Halloween decorations mostly put away now. But at this house, Halloween brings powerful memories. Opening a pack of totally ghooled tombstones last year, a letter fell out. In broken English and Chinese, the letter began with a cry for help. "Sir, if you occasionally buy this product, please kindly resend this letter to the World Human Rights Organization." The letter writer said he was an inmate making the decorations in a Masanjia prison camp in China. At first she thought it was a hoax, but then Julie Keith found the prison on the web.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew about labor camps in China, but it was really -- it slammed me in the face.
MCKENZIE: A letter secretly tucked away in a $29 Halloween toy made it 6,000 mile to Oregon. From one of the most feared labor camps in China, Masanjia, it's a sprawling and secretive complex of prisons and factories. The ruling Communist Party has long used re-education camps like this to jail petty criminals, political dissidents and religious offenders.
For months, we searched for the prisoner who wrote the letter. We found him in Beijing. He had been out of jail for a year. We hid his identity because he is afraid of being sent back. We will call him Jang.
(on camera): In the camp itself, what was it like for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For people who have never been to Masanjia, it is impossible to really imagine. The first thing they do is to take your human dignity away and humiliate you.
MCKENZIE: Jang says he was arrested before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 for following the outlawed spiritual movement. He was sent to Masanjia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They follow a process where they enslave you. They were innocent, but detained and we all suffered through inhumane torture.
MCKENZIE: Political and religious prisoners got the worst of it, he says. When he was given the chance to work, it was a relief.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I believe we could protect ourselves and avoid verbal assaults as long as we were doing the work and did it well.
MCKENZIE (on camera): Behind this fence and over this wall there is a warehouse where Jang says he worked up to 12 hours a day making these Halloween products. He saw that the writing was in English so he believed that he could get a message out to the west, but it would be delicate and highly dangerous work.
(voice-over): He stole pages from exercise books and made friends with a criminal from his province who got him a pen from a guard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I hid it in a hollow space, a secret place as I couldn't keep it with me. I only got the time to write late at night when everyone had fallen asleep. I wrote with the pen lying on my side. It took me three day to finish one letter. MCKENZIE: Jang says he slipped 20 letters into the Halloween packaging. Not expecting any to get out but somehow one did. From the prison production line in China, the decorations ended up at K- Mart where Julie Keith bought them on sale.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did think of his safety and what risks he took to do this.
MCKENZIE: When she put the letter on Facebook, it became global news spreading back to Beijing now released. Jang told us he wanted to survive Masanjia to tell the truth. Now we saw guard towers and some buildings seemed empty. It appears to be closing, but officials would not respond to our queries.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the reason known to all, I cannot openly express my gratitude to --
MCKENZIE: Jang was able to thank Julie Keith in a new letter, but dared not talk to her on the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: China is a big labor camp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has monitored everywhere in this country. I'm grateful to her and I wish her the best. She has a sense of justice.
MCKENZIE: David McKenzie, CNN, Beijing.
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WHITFIELD: We asked K-Mart's parent company for reaction. The company told CNN that we found, I'm quoting now, "We found no evidence that production was subcontracted to a labor camp during our investigation," end quote. We tried the local and provincial authorities in China multiple times and they refused to comment on the story and those allegations. No one really knows how many labor camp products have made it to the U.S. if any.
One expert group told Congress in 2008 that there could be hundreds of camps producing goods for exports. We have a lot more straight ahead here in the news room and it all starts right now.
