jsalcedo
May 28, 2003, 11:51 AM
CNN: Now we give you the other side from the Executive Vice-President of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre.
Wayne, thanks for being with us.
Wayne: Hi, Kyra. Good to be with you.
CNN: Well, if the ban on assault weapons expires, what kind of weapons would be legal?
Wayne: Kyra, let me say this to start: I'm glad you ran the story because apparently the only difference between "The New York Times" and CNN is that when a reporter for "The New York Times" fakes a story, he's fired, and at CNN he's not. Your bureau chief, John Zarrella, deliberately faked the story yesterday and intending to show that the performance characteristics of banned firearms on the list are somehow different from the performance characteristics of firearms not on the banned list. He was -- he was implying that these were machine guns or fully automatic guns. That's not true.
CNN: Mr. LaPierre, I have to stop you there. No one fakes stories at CNN and John Zarrella definitely did not fake a story at CNN. You're very off base. I'm going to let you say your opinion, and let's have a conversation, but don't accuse our reporter of faking any stories, sir.
Wayne: Let me say it again. In front of the whole country, your reporter faked that story yesterday. It deliberately misread...
CNN: All right, we're going...
Wayne: There's no way it could be true and I challenge CNN to defend it.
CNN: Well, we're not going to continue this interview because our reporter did not fake...
Wayne: Because you don't want the truth! The truth you don't want out there!
CNN: OK, that is not true. We did not fake a story.
Wayne: You ought to register your -- you ought to fill out a lobby form and register.
CNN: Why don't we ask another question? What are the uses for an assault weapon? Tell me what the uses are for this.
Wayne: Why can't you accept the truth? There is no difference, Kyra, in the performance characteristics of the guns on the banned list and the guns not on the banned list. They don't shoot any faster, they're not more powerful, they're not machine guns, they don't make any bigger holes, all which your reporter, John Zarrella, implied in that story.
CNN: Let's talk about the ammunition. Folks had problem with the ammunition. We've heard a lot in the last 24 hours from viewers who made the point that it's not the weapons who do the damage, it's the ammo. OK? Can legally be bought, ammunition. Now does this do -- do just as much damage than an illegal weapon?
Wayne: Kyra, they all fire the same ammunition. Why can't you accept the truth? There is no difference in the guns on the banned list and the guns not on the banned list. Your reporter's story was deliberately misleading the viewers. Bill Clinton deliberately misrepresented the House and the facts to the House of Representatives in the Congress and I don't believe this House of Representatives is going to fall and have the wool pulled over their eyes the way what happened did in '94. The truth matters. The public needs to hear the truth and the truth is every police officer on the street knows it. There's not a dime worth of difference between the guns on the banned list and the guns off the banned list in terms of their performance characteristics and I challenge CNN again to defend that story to its viewers because it's not true.
CNN: What do you say...
Wayne: All day yesterday you misled the viewers.
CNN: What do you say to the members of the law enforcement community that we had on the air who say assault weapons don't belong on the streets?
Wayne: Kyra, I got calls all day yesterday from law enforcement officers going crazy over that story you ran saying it's not true. They were dismayed that there was a law enforcement officer on there lending himself to it. The story misrepresented the facts. What we need to do to stop crime -- every time you catch a criminal, 100 percent of the time, prosecute him. Put him in prison. We have all kinds of gun laws. Catch a violent felon with a gun, put him in jail. Catch a violent drug dealer with a gun, put them in jail 100 percent of the time. That's what rank-and-file cops know stops crime. But again, I challenge CNN in the headquarters to take an objective look at that story and defend it because it's simply not true.
CNN: All right. Executive vice president...
Wayne: "The New York Times" reporter was fired, John Zarrella ought to be fired.
CNN: Executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, that's why we are interviewing you today and that's why we're addressing this to show both sides of that story. And we all stick by John Zarrella and how credible of a reporter he is. Thank you for your time, sir.
Wayne, thanks for being with us.
Wayne: Hi, Kyra. Good to be with you.
CNN: Well, if the ban on assault weapons expires, what kind of weapons would be legal?
Wayne: Kyra, let me say this to start: I'm glad you ran the story because apparently the only difference between "The New York Times" and CNN is that when a reporter for "The New York Times" fakes a story, he's fired, and at CNN he's not. Your bureau chief, John Zarrella, deliberately faked the story yesterday and intending to show that the performance characteristics of banned firearms on the list are somehow different from the performance characteristics of firearms not on the banned list. He was -- he was implying that these were machine guns or fully automatic guns. That's not true.
CNN: Mr. LaPierre, I have to stop you there. No one fakes stories at CNN and John Zarrella definitely did not fake a story at CNN. You're very off base. I'm going to let you say your opinion, and let's have a conversation, but don't accuse our reporter of faking any stories, sir.
Wayne: Let me say it again. In front of the whole country, your reporter faked that story yesterday. It deliberately misread...
CNN: All right, we're going...
Wayne: There's no way it could be true and I challenge CNN to defend it.
CNN: Well, we're not going to continue this interview because our reporter did not fake...
Wayne: Because you don't want the truth! The truth you don't want out there!
CNN: OK, that is not true. We did not fake a story.
Wayne: You ought to register your -- you ought to fill out a lobby form and register.
CNN: Why don't we ask another question? What are the uses for an assault weapon? Tell me what the uses are for this.
Wayne: Why can't you accept the truth? There is no difference, Kyra, in the performance characteristics of the guns on the banned list and the guns not on the banned list. They don't shoot any faster, they're not more powerful, they're not machine guns, they don't make any bigger holes, all which your reporter, John Zarrella, implied in that story.
CNN: Let's talk about the ammunition. Folks had problem with the ammunition. We've heard a lot in the last 24 hours from viewers who made the point that it's not the weapons who do the damage, it's the ammo. OK? Can legally be bought, ammunition. Now does this do -- do just as much damage than an illegal weapon?
Wayne: Kyra, they all fire the same ammunition. Why can't you accept the truth? There is no difference in the guns on the banned list and the guns not on the banned list. Your reporter's story was deliberately misleading the viewers. Bill Clinton deliberately misrepresented the House and the facts to the House of Representatives in the Congress and I don't believe this House of Representatives is going to fall and have the wool pulled over their eyes the way what happened did in '94. The truth matters. The public needs to hear the truth and the truth is every police officer on the street knows it. There's not a dime worth of difference between the guns on the banned list and the guns off the banned list in terms of their performance characteristics and I challenge CNN again to defend that story to its viewers because it's not true.
CNN: What do you say...
Wayne: All day yesterday you misled the viewers.
CNN: What do you say to the members of the law enforcement community that we had on the air who say assault weapons don't belong on the streets?
Wayne: Kyra, I got calls all day yesterday from law enforcement officers going crazy over that story you ran saying it's not true. They were dismayed that there was a law enforcement officer on there lending himself to it. The story misrepresented the facts. What we need to do to stop crime -- every time you catch a criminal, 100 percent of the time, prosecute him. Put him in prison. We have all kinds of gun laws. Catch a violent felon with a gun, put him in jail. Catch a violent drug dealer with a gun, put them in jail 100 percent of the time. That's what rank-and-file cops know stops crime. But again, I challenge CNN in the headquarters to take an objective look at that story and defend it because it's simply not true.
CNN: All right. Executive vice president...
Wayne: "The New York Times" reporter was fired, John Zarrella ought to be fired.
CNN: Executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, that's why we are interviewing you today and that's why we're addressing this to show both sides of that story. And we all stick by John Zarrella and how credible of a reporter he is. Thank you for your time, sir.