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Another Black NFL Coach Is Fired After Just One Season At Helm; Satellite Images Show Crowding At China's Crematoriums; New Survey: Most Teens Exposed To Online Pornography By Age Of 12. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired January 10, 2023 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[07:33:04]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING.
Coming up, catastrophic storms in California have caused severe flooding and have forced thousands of people from their homes. We have a live report from the state ahead.
Plus, many of the pets that Americans bought during the pandemic are going back to shelters. We'll tell you why.
Also, a new report that says children as young as 12 are seeing porn for the first time. What you can do to protect your children. That's ahead.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: OK, so another Black coach in the NFL out. The Houston Texans firing Lovie Smith after just one season. Smith ended his run on a high note by pulling off a last-minute comeback to cap off a 3-13-1 season on Sunday. But the victory cost the team a chance to secure the first overall pick in this year's NFL draft, which goes to the team with the league's worst record.
So, Smith is the second Black head coach fired in Houston in as many years, and the franchise let go David Culley last year.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith says the Texans have not been fair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN A. SMITH, ESPN ANALYST: The Houston organization -- the Houston Texans organization are an atrocity. They are an embarrassment. And as far as I'm concerned, if you're an African American and you aspire to be a head coach in the National Football League, there's 31 teams you should -- you should hope for. You should hope beyond God that the Houston Texans never call you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, joining us now is Bomani Jones, the host of "GAME THEORY WITH BOMANI JONES," which will kick off season two on HBO and HBO Max next Friday, January 20.
I think when Stephen wakes up it's going to be good morning, everybody.
BOMANI JONES, HOST, HBO/HBO MAX "GAME THEORY WITH BOMANI JONES": Oh, he's ready. He's ready.
LEMON: Time to get up.
JONES: He's always ready.
LEMON: Listen -- but seriously, though -- I mean, does he have a point? Because after Lovie Smith took this job last February you said that you had no reason to believe that this would be lasting. Did you see this coming? Why did you say that?
[07:35:00]
JONES: Oh, because the whole organization is a dumpster fire. Like, the thing about it is I'm not exactly sure who should take that job -- where he says no Black person should take that job. I wouldn't recommend a white man take that job either.
Now, when Lovie got it you have to remember word was going around that they were thinking about hiring Josh McCown, who is a former NFL quarterback whose only coaching experience is in high school. And it looked really bad while the league was being sued for discrimination about its hiring practices with coaches.
What then happened is Lovie Smith, who has an impeccable resume, wound up getting the job. But nobody was going to give him that job in the -- anybody else was going to give him a head coaching job.
So what the Texans are is a job where I think the last two times they've hired Black dudes, largely because no self-respected white man would go take that job.
LEMON: Wow.
JONES: Like, they were down to the people who they felt like had to take the job.
David Culley, whose name had never come up in a coaching discussion before, and then Lovie Smith, who probably had his last chance already. So that's how you get here.
LEMON: Why would he take it? His -- this was his last chance do you -- why would Lovie take this job?
JONES: It pays better than not being the head coach. Like, that was the thing like when David Culley got it. Like, why would he take it? Because it pays a lot better than being a receivers coach.
COLLINS: But there are big questions about -- I mean, they went 3-13. I mean, they had a disastrous season. And I think they've had four head coaches -- they have been on four searches for this in four years, right?
JONES: Yes.
COLLINS: So it's a whole nother conversation about the Houston Texans overall and what a disaster they are internally.
But it does raise questions and put a spotlight on the diversity in the NFL, which we just talked about when we launched the show and what that looked like. And also, with Brian Flores.
And so, I wonder what the spotlight -- the takeaways from this are given his firing?
JONES: Well, I think we're going to -- it'll be easier for us to talk about the takeaways after we get through this hiring cycle. There are five jobs that are open and we'll see who winds up getting the jobs and what their backgrounds are, and everything else.
The thing that happens every year when coaching jobs come around is we effectively wind up having the same discussion every single year about it because the problem is the same every single year about it. But rarely do the individual details matter that much.
It's a big, grand, macro-tracking issue that gets us to where we are with the lack of coaches of color in the NFL, which is better I think now than it was maybe three years ago but probably not as good as it was about 15 years ago. It's only going to change as much as the owners of the franchises actually want it to change, and if they recognize this as a macro-level problem.
They did recognize that 20 years ago. I don't think they recognize it as much now, but I think they're recognizing it more than they did five or six years ago.
LEMON: But it's a -- it's a vicious circle, right? It's a -- the Black owners, Black coaches -- it's all connected.
JONES: Well, I think the cycle is very similar to the Voting Rights Act cycle, which is you look up and if you things are good enough to where hey, we don't need to pay that much attention to these safeguards that we have in place to make sure fairness is there. We can just throw that out. People have gotten better. And the next thing you know you look up and everything is what it was before.
It's the same thing we saw with affirmative action in education --
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
JONES: -- is like that's the point that you get to.
So when the Rooney Rule first came in, they should really call it the Johnnie Cochran rule because they were afraid that Johnnie Cochran was going to take them to court. And ain't nothing scare white people at that time more than the idea that Johnnie Cochran is going to take you to court. He was a magician, right? But they put the rule in, and then once they did put that rule in, you
saw a lot of Black coaches get hired. You saw some changes happen. Then after a while, gradually, people stopped thinking that this is an issue. It slows down. It slows down.
And then you look up and it's two. And then people look up and say hey, man, it's only two. And it's like oh, I guess we've got to do something about that. But the individual owners don't necessarily want to have to be the one to do this. They want to hire the guy that they wanted to.
I say all that to say unless somebody's going to take them to court, I don't feel like they'll be truly dedicated to fixing the problem. But I do think that right now, when you look at the ranks, it does look better than it did just a couple of years ago when it was only two coaches of color.
HARLOW: And now it's only six minority coaches --
JONES: Yes.
HARLOW: -- and one -- and one of them is an interim --
JONES: Yes.
HARLOW: -- coach of the Panthers.
What would you do? What would do, instead, if the Rooney Rule is now working?
JONES: But the Rooney Rule -- it's not the Rooney Rule that's not working.
HARLOW: Well, you talked about the owners --
JONES: It's the people.
HARLOW: -- and you talked about the owners, too, right?
JONES: Yes.
HARLOW: And the -- I mean, remember the Jerry Jones Washington Post piece and Don and -- we had the reporters on --
JONES: Yes.
HARLOW: -- and we were talking a lot.
LEMON: Oh, yes.
HARLOW: And he -- and he told The Washington Post -- admitted there is more that I could do to really lead change on this in the league.
JONES: Yes.
Well, I think some steps have actually happened that the NFL doesn't quite get enough credit for.
One, there are a lot more Black coordinators in the NFL now than they were before, and that's typically the tracking position that gets you to head coach. Now, I don't have the numbers in front of me but they're disproportionately defensive coordinators, which does now necessarily track to being a head coach in the same way. But I do think we've seen some improvements in the assistant rank.
Like, I don't just want to say the league has done absolutely nothing. Like, I think there are people that recognize.
But the thing that's going to have to improve and the thing that's going to have to be -- I don't know if fixed is the right word -- the people in charge have to think that this matters.
Now, my thought is they're really bad at hiring coaches. I would turn over every stone if I could. Whatever they've been doing before had not been working.
Get desperate enough to call the Black and brown dudes. Like, at this point, you've got to realize hey, maybe I'm not that good at finding good white coaches. Maybe I need to try my hand over here with the Black dudes. I might be a little bit better at that.
[07:40:03]
I would give that a run, right? If I'm not good at doing it one way, let's just -- we'll try anything. That would be my play.
Instead, you get the Houston Texans who decide well, we're going to hire Black coaches when nobody else will take our job.
LEMON: Yes. Well, you know the first part you said ain't going to happen. People like to hire people who they know.
JONES: You know, people do. But also, sometimes, people like to be the one that had that super-duper bright idea --
HARLOW: Super-duper.
JONES: -- and they're the one to figure it out.
LEMON: Thank you.
HARLOW: You always make us wiser. And you had this whole studio cracking up at your Johnnie Cochran --
LEMON: Because he's a magician.
COLLINS: Not a lot of Texans fans in here.
HARLOW: Apparently.
Bomani, thank you, friend.
JONES: Thank you. HARLOW: "GAME THEORY WITH BOMANI JONES" will kick off a second season on HBO and HBO Max in just a few weeks on January 20.
A new report -- a very disturbing report finds that most teenagers, by a wide margin, have seen online pornography before they are 12 years old. What you as parents need to know.
[07:45:17]
HARLOW: Satellite images taken over six Chinese cities have captured the crowding at moratoriums -- at crematoriums, I should say, and funeral homes all across China. This comes as Beijing continues its battle with an unprecedented wave of COVID infections following its dismantling of pandemic restrictions.
Selina Wang has more.
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SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Selina Wang in Beijing.
Satellite images show crowds at China's crematoriums and funeral homes as COVID cases explode across the country. The images, taken by Maxar in late December and early January and reviewed by CNN, show lines of cars waiting outside of funeral homes in six Chinese cities. The images appear to show that a funeral home on the outskirts of Beijing has even constructed a brand-new parking area.
Now, this confirms what I've seen at crematoriums in Beijing and it is consistent with Chinese social media footage that shows overflowing funeral homes.
When I visited crematoriums last month, I saw a long line of cars waiting to get in and yellow body bags piling up in metal crates, and workers loading more in. I spoke to families who told me they were waiting for days to cremate their loved ones.
All of this suggests China's COVID death toll is far higher than the government's tally of only 37 COVID-19 deaths since December 7 -- a strikingly low number. The World Health Organization and the U.S. have accused China of underrepresenting the severity of its current outbreak.
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COLLINS: Selina Wang --
HARLOW: Thank you. Sorry.
COLLINS: OK, moving on. It is not exactly a conversation that any parent really wants to have with their kids, but experts say that if you haven't talked to your child about pornography, you probably need to maybe sooner than you think. A new study found that most kids are seeing adult material online by the age of 12, but many of them are actually 10 or even younger. CNN's Athena Jones is here to talk about the topic parents don't
really want to have, but it is an important discussion for parents to have with their kids.
And so, what is this new study showing about the ages of just how soon kids are seeing this kind of stuff?
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's pretty remarkable. It starts early. I think the biggest takeaway is how common this is. You know, a lot of parents think well, sure, some teenagers are accessing porn online and watching porn online, but not my teenager. These numbers share a very different story, suggesting it's a lot more common than a lot of parents think.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONES (voice-over): Pornography -- nowadays it's easier for kids to access than ever.
MICHELLE WORSTER, MOTHER OF TEENAGER: They do see little bits of things popping up on kids' computers at school, even in elementary school.
JONES (voice-over): So easy, it is now a regular part of many teens' everyday lives.
JAMES STEYER, CEO, COMMON SENSE: The numbers are mind-boggling. They're just mind-boggling.
JONES (voice-over): That's according to a groundbreaking new report by Common Sense, a nonprofit media company focused on kids and families that found the majority of teens aged 13 to 17 have seen pornography online, either intentionally or accidentally.
STEYER: I was pretty shocked to know that 73 percent of all teenagers in the United States are exposed to pornography. Online pornography is everywhere and kids are accessing it early.
JONES (voice-over): The report on teens and pornography, based on a national survey of more than 1,300 teens, finding the average age kids first saw online pornography was 12 years old, with some 15 percent seeing it by age 10 or younger.
About eight in 10 teens who watched porn said they did so to learn how to have sex, with many saying they felt online porn provided helpful information about sex. But more than half said they had seen porn that included depictions of rape, choking, or someone in pain, making porn a growing concern for parents.
WORSTER: The obvious link would be they're using this to determine their sexual identity. To determine what's acceptable and how you -- how you become a sexual human being. And if that becomes what they think is OK, then this is what -- this is what they're learning from watching it.
JONES (voice-over): Michelle Worster says she monitors her teen's internet searches and his text messages.
Another issue is just how much porn teens are watching. Of the 44 percent who said they intentionally watch porn, 71 percent reported viewing it in the last week. And nearly six in 10 said they watch porn once a week or more.
And it's not just happening at home or in kids' spare time. Thirty percent of teens who consumed porn reported being exposed to it during the school day, whether at school or while attending school remotely -- sometimes even on a school-issued device.
Jack West, a high school science teacher in the Bay Area, says schools have a role to play here.
JACK WEST, HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER: It's a multifaceted problem that requires a multifaceted approach. So there's the parents, there's the teachers, there's the community. And yes, in schools, I think we should be addressing this, and health education or sex education seems like a good place for that to happen.
[07:50:12]
JONES (voice-over): Beyond concerns about violent or aggressive portrayals of sex, only a third of teens reported seeing porn that includes someone asking for consent before engaging in sexual activity.
STEYER: We all have to be part of a solution here.
JONES (voice-over): James Steyer, Common Sense CEO, hopes the report sparks a national conversation.
STEYER: Parents have to be more involved and more knowledgeable. Schools have to recognize that this is actually happening in schools and that it's part of sex education and behavioral education for young people. And quite frankly, the industry has got to be held accountable for the fact that they are the gateway platforms for all of this pornography to young people.
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JONES: And one more interesting point in this report. The vast majority of teens say they're watching porn, at least in part, to learn how to have sex. Here's the problem. Teens who watch porn a lot see a lot more violence.
And of those teens who watched porn three or more days in the past week, 80 percent said they've seen depicting raping, choking, or someone in pain. And those teens are much more likely than other teens to believe that most people like to be hit during sex and that it's OK -- that it's safe to put one's hands around another's throat during sex.
So --
HARLOW: And that -- JONES: -- this is a problem.
HARLOW: That's their first exposure to it. I'm so glad -- I know it's uncomfortable, right, but I'm so glad you did this because parents need to know what their kids are seeing.
JONES: Yes. Parents need to wake up and --
HARLOW: Wake up.
JONES: -- have these conversations.
COLLINS: Yes.
Athena Jones, thank you for that.
LEMON: Life-threatening storms pummeling California with flooding, heavy rains, and ferocious winds. We have a live report on the ground straight ahead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were looking out the window and we saw the bridge go. And when that bridge went, there's no way out.
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[07:56:09]
HARLOW: Welcome back.
In Money This Morning, an estimated 23 million American families welcomed a pet into their home during the COVID pandemic. But now, many are questioning -- well, how expensive it is. The Washington Post calls this a moment of reckoning. Pandemic pet owners realizing just how much it costs to take care of them as work and social lives return to normal.
Joining us now is CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon, and CNN Business reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn. Good morning, guys.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, REPORTER, CNN BUSINESS: I saw this coming, by the way.
SOLOMON: Yes.
LEMON: I'll tell my story. Go ahead, though. I'll tell my story.
HARLOW: I want to hear your story now.
LEMON: We fostered a dog during the pandemic. The shelter called and said we're having trouble fostering dogs. That was at the beginning of the pandemic. So we fostered a dog and ended up adopting the dog.
But then, you couldn't get a dog because so many people wanted them.
SOLOMON: Right.
LEMON: And the shelter said we're concerned that what's going to happen is when people realize how expensive it is and you've got to take care of -- dogs are work -- that they would be bringing these dogs back --
SOLOMON: Right.
LEMON: -- or these dogs would be abandoned. And --
SOLOMON: Right, especially dogs because dogs are --
HARLOW: So Don got three.
LEMON: Well, I had two -- I have three. But, I mean, yes, we had two already --
SOLOMON: They are very cute.
LEMON: -- and then we fostered one.
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: And then ended up adopting --
SOLOMON: Yes.
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: -- a senior dog.
SOLOMON: I mean, I think that's unfortunate, right? Because what we know is that pets, especially dogs, are the second-most expensive pet to have.
LEMON: Yes.
SOLOMON: Some estimates put it at about $1,500 initially to get a dog, according to Geico, and then another $1,500 per year. And anyone who has a dog, myself included, knows that those costs can quickly add up between the vet bills, both routine and emergency, the food bills -- the food that you have to spend for them. The toys that you have to spend.
So it is unfortunate that we're starting to see some people feeling like it's too much for them.
MEYERSOHN: Right, it is. It's a sign of financial distress when folks are bringing their pets back to the shelters. Seven point three percent more animals entered shelters last year than left them, and this was the largest gap in four years. It's a major expense for families and they're feeling it because of rising inflation and they have to make trade-offs.
COLLINS: Yes, but now it's on these shelters to really bear the cost of this.
SOLOMON: Yes -- I mean, exactly. I mean, on the one hand, you should argue if you cannot take care of a pet the best thing to do is return it, right? I mean, if you don't want to not be able to take care of it appropriately or adequately. But yes, I mean, the same sort of shelters that couldn't -- sort of, couldn't get rid of them initially, they're having people bring them back now.
HARLOW: No. I know.
LEMON: Oh, that breaks my heart. I don't want to talk about this anymore.
COLLINS: Send them to Don Lemon's house.
LEMON: I know.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I go online --
COLLINS: Five more. You've got three.
LEMON: Do not give Tim any ideas.
COLLINS: Tim's watching.
HARLOW: Sienna is dying for a second dog, so maybe.
LEMON: Really? I have one. I've got two and they're naughty.
But if you go on and you look at the shelters now, you see more pictures of dogs --
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: -- coming in and -- oh.
HARLOW: We got ours from a shelter during COVID. It's been the biggest joy.
LEMON: Yes.
SOLOMON: They're the best. They're the best.
HARLOW: Sure, the biggest joy.
LEMON: So, what you talking about, Willis? Abercrombie & Fitch is back? What?
MEYERSOHN: So this is a little more fun than dogs.
LEMON: Yes. MEYERSOHN: So, Abercrombie & Fitch is back. They reported really strong results yesterday. The stock jumped nine percent.
And this is not the Abercrombie that we think of. There are no more shirtless male models. You go into the store you're not going to come out smelling like the great --
HARLOW: Smelling like cologne.
MEYERSOHN: -- the fragrance -- the fierce fragrance.
COLLINS: That could knock everybody out.
MEYERSOHN: Exactly. Nobody wants that.
They've rebranded. More inclusive marketing. Models of all sizes.
HARLOW: I see a shirtless -- is that the old bag?
MEYERSOHN: Yes, that's the old one.
SOLOMON: That might be an old one.
MEYERSOHN: They're not -- that's the old guys.
LEMON: Yes, but this rebranding, it worked.
SOLOMON: It did. It appears to be, at least according to these most recent results, right, where the company is increasing its guidance, essentially telling investors we actually expect to be doing better than we initially thought.
And it's interesting because a lot of companies would like to rebrand, right? I mean -- and some aren't able to do it successfully.
I talked to the CEO of Rolls Royce yesterday about their successful rebrand. They've gone from a much older clientele to a much younger clientele with an average age of 42. And part of it is just figuring out what people want.
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