Wayne Lapierre rips into CNN

[gun-fucious]

Aired May 16, 2003 - 17:00 ET

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

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0305/16/wbr.00.html
....
PHILLIPS: Viewers are speaking out on a segment we aired yesterday concerning the federal ban on assault weapons. The 1994 ban could expire in September 2004 if Congress doesn't extend it.

Now here's a sampling of your viewer e-mail.

From David in Calhoun, Georgia: "It's not the weapon which has the knockdown power, it's the ammo."

From Andrei in Washington, D.C.: "You made no mention that many Americans legally own fully automatic weapons with a special permit."

And from Jim in San Francisco: "Your sources implied that assault weapons are more powerful than currently legal guns, but it appeared that the only functional distinction was in the size of the clip."

We want to thank our viewers for their feedback and for viewers who didn't watch yesterday, we asked the Broward County, Florida's sheriff's office for a demonstration of the assault weapon. The deputy fired an illegal weapon at cinder blocks and bulletproof vests and you can see the impact here. And then the deputy fired a legal weapon, but the deputy did not fire at the cinder blocks so you could not see similar damage the ammunition would have caused.

Also yesterday on the program former L.A. police chief, Bernard Parks, who's in favor of keeping assault weapons illegal, gave his opinion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNARD PARKS, FORMER L.A. POLICE CHIEF: There's only one reason for it and you cannot hunt with it. It's only one reason and that is that it kills people. It's a military weapon. It should be kept in a military arsenal and out of the domestic society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: 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 LAPIERRE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NRA: Hi, Kyra. Good to be with you.

PHILLIPS: Well, if the ban on assault weapons expires, what kind of weapons would be legal?

LAPIERRE: 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.

PHILLIPS: 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.

LAPIERRE: Let me say it again. In front of the whole country, your reporter faked that story yesterday. It deliberately misread...

PHILLIPS: All right, we're going...

LAPIERRE: There's no way it could be true and I challenge CNN to defend it.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're not going to continue this interview because our reporter did not fake...

LAPIERRE: Because you don't want the truth. The truth you don't want out there.

PHILLIPS: OK, that is not true. We did not a fake a story.

LAPIERRE: You ought to register your -- you ought to fill out a lobby form and register.

PHILLIPS: Why don't we ask another question? What are the uses for an assault weapon? Tell me what the uses are for this.

LAPIERRE: 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.

PHILLIPS: 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?

LAPIERRE: 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.

PHILLIPS: What do you say...

LAPIERRE: All day yesterday you misled the viewers.

PHILLIPS: 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?

LAPIERRE: 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.

PHILLIPS: All right. Executive vice president...

LAPIERRE: "The New York Times" reporter was fired, John Zarrella ought to be fired.

PHILLIPS: 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.

Well, here's your turn to weigh in on this story. Our "Web Question of the Day" is: "Should Congress extend the assault weapons ban?" We'll have the results later in this broadcast. Vote on cnn.com/wolf.

 

[stevelyn]

I hope this is not an anomaly and that the NRA has changed it's stance from defensive to offensive. Nobody ever won by staying in the trenches waiting for and repelling attack after attack.

 

[Thumper]

Whether or not you like the NRA, it looks like Wayne's trying to make a stand.

Bravo.

 

[SIGarmed]

Bravo! This is just great. He called them on it. This just makes my day.

 

[Azrael256]

WOW! He needs to appear on TV more often... like every day!

 

[P95Carry]

Gotta say .... I really didn't think he had that much in him ...... certainly seemed on this he had the ba**s to call em out. Impressive.

 

[SkunkApe]

I've waited a very long time to hear something like that out of the NRA. Bravo.

 

[AJ Dual]

Great job, IMO we really have the NYT to thank...

I don't want to discount the credit that's due to the NRA, Mr. LaPierre, and pro-gunners that mailed and called, but I think that CNN is much more motivated by the New York Times scandal, and is desperate to avoid any appearance of bias, inaccuracy, or outright misrepresentation.

(Nahh. Not CNN? No way! )

But kudo's for striking while the iron was hot, and our enemies weak.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Sadly enough, I can't help but question his motives. However, I get a fuzzy feeling deep down inside just thinking about the look that must have been on that poor lady's face when she was stammering "We do NOT fake stories at CNN!"

 

[vmi93]

We do not fake stories...

"no one fakes stories at CNN..."

They just suppress stories that make murderous dictators look bad.

 

[TearsOfRage]

They did print a retraction... sort of.

Without actually admitting they were wrong, of course.

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0305/19/wbr.00.html

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. The White House recently restated President Bush's support for renewing a ban on certain semiautomatic weapons. The ban has been in place since '94, but is set to expire next year, unless Congress renews it.

Recent signals that the GOP leadership might not bring the renewal up for consideration and will let the ban expire have rekindled the fires of that debate. On this program on Thursday of last week, we aired a live demonstration CNN set up with law enforcement officials of a banned semiautomatic rifle and its legal counterpart. We reviewed that demonstration, and one on another CNN program, and decided that a more detailed report could better explain this complex issue.

Here is CNN's John Zarrella.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a semiautomatic firearm. It instantly self-loads and fires one bullet for each trigger pull. The 1994 Crime Control Act says it is unlawful for a person to manufacture, transfer or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon. The law defines a semiautomatic assault weapon by name and description, listing 19 specific firearms by name that are illegal.

The law also bans certain rifles, pistols and shotguns by description, as well as large capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. The law is very specific. For a semiautomatic rifle to be banned, it must be able to use a detachable magazine and have at least two of the following features: A flash suppressor, a bayonet mount, a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, or a grenade launcher.

Gary Reno (ph), a retired 30-year police officer and assistant chief in Oakland Park, Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's examine the banned weapon.

ZARRELLA: ... explained the difference between a banned AR-15 and its legal clone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flash suppressor, bayonet log, high capacity magazine, over 10 rounds, pistol grip and a telescoping rear stock.

ZARRELLA (on camera): And the legal weapon doesn't have those features, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doesn't have any of those features. Does not have a flash suppressor, does not have a bayonet log, has a legal 10- round magazine. Does have the pistol grip, but it has no other features so it makes it a legal firearm, and has a solid rear stock.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Pro-ban advocates say each of these features would make the weapons more deadly, but anti-ban supporters say those features are only cosmetic and don't contribute to and increase in crime. With only one of the listed features, the gun is legal. And without those features, experts say the guns are identical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's exactly the same gun.

ZARRELLA (on camera): And the same firepower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Same firepower, same bullet, you have to squeeze the trigger once to make a bullet go down the barrel.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): In fact, if you fire the same caliber and type bullets from the two guns, you get the same impact.

Here is a .223 caliber bullet fired from a banned AR-15 rifle. Now, the legal version of that rifle.

The smaller hole made by the second gun has nothing to do with the gun or ammunition. The shooter just hit the second target more times in the same place.

Both sides cited Justice Department study about the impact of the law as proof of their argument. Those who oppose the ban say the study shows the ban has had no impact on the reduction of crime and that the answer is to enforce the laws already on the books.

WAYNE LAPIERRE, EXEC. VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: What stops crime is every time a violent felon touches a gun, a violent drug dealer, a violent criminal, use the existing federal law, prosecute him 100 percent, confront the criminal directly, and take him off the street and put him in jail.

ZARRELLA: Supporters of the ban instead say the study shows a decline in the amount of crime committed with these weapons.

REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY (D), NEW YORK: I'm sure the American people do not want to go back to the day of allowing AK-47s back on the streets, or even the newer models that are the Buschmeister (ph) that were used in the D.C. sniping killings last year.

ZARRELLA: Gun control advocates are working with some members of Congress on not only extending the assault weapon ban in 2004, but introducing new legislation to vastly expand the number of weapons banned. Gun advocates and their supporters in Congress argue this and any future bans are an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

 

[Mark Tyson]

That slapping sound is my jaw hitting the floor.

Outstanding! This is the kind of thing we need more of. I'm definitely writing another contribution to the NRA tommorrow.

 

[Pilgrim]

CNN reporters don't fake stories? What about Peter Arnett and that BS story CNN had to later retract?

Leaving a second network under a cloud may mark the end of his TV career. Arnett was the on-air reporter of the 1998 CNN report that accused American forces of using sarin nerve gas on a Laotian village in 1970 to kill U.S. defectors. Two CNN employees were sacked and Arnett was reprimanded over the report, which the station later retracted. Arnett left the network when his contract was not renewed.

CNN reporters fake stories all the time.

 

[Standing Wolf]

LaPierre did a fine job of standing up to the liars of the Clinton News Network. I hope this is an indicator the N.R.A. will stand up and fight for all it's worth instead of compromising.

 

[Nightfall]

Outstanding.

 

[campergeek]

While I laud Wayne Lapierre's uncompromising stance in forcing CNN to face the truth, I was most disgusted by this quote:

BERNARD PARKS, FORMER L.A. POLICE CHIEF: There's only one reason for it and you cannot hunt with it. It's only one reason and that is that it kills people.

It may be a difficult and touchy subject to broach, but our representatives, public officials and the general public need to be repeatedly reminded that, according to the constitution, this is exactly the reason these arms should be legal. Every time somebody mentions the "hunting" argument, somebody should be there representing the RKBA, challenging the one making the statement to find the word "hunting" anywhere in the 2nd amendment. I can't believe that the hunting justification continues to be prevalant among the gun control crowd - moreso I can't believe that the general public continues to swallow it! :banghead:

 

[WonderNine]

I don't think alot people buy the hunting arguement for the most part. At least alot less people do now, than a few years ago.

 

[Feanaro]

I liked how he attacked CNN. But he could have then shut up and moved on to something else. It makes us look one-tracked.

 

[twoblink]

We don't fake stories.. We just pay others to fake stories ; that way, if we get caught, we can say we didn't know, and were victims of misinformation..

CNN is about as interested in the truth as Rosie is to weight loss..

Bravo! I'm shocked he had the brass to call them out..

 

[Al Norris]

The link on the opening post goes to a story on Laci Peterson by Wolf Blitzer. There is no such transcript as reported above. Following the links back to the transcript archive page, shows an Interview With Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, Wayne LaPierre, which is totally different than the one above.

I suspect that TPTB at CNN pulled the original.

 

[Sergeant Bob]

WAYNE LAPIERRE, EXEC. VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: What stops crime is every time a violent felon touches a gun, a violent drug dealer, a violent criminal, use the existing federal law, prosecute him 100 percent, confront the criminal directly, and take him off the street and put him in jail.

Did anyone notice the fact he stressed 100 percent prosecution of violent criminals? Maybe just wishful thinking but, I see that as a good sign.

 

[TarpleyG]

And from Jim in San Francisco: "Your sources implied that assault weapons are more powerful than currently legal guns, but it appeared that the only functional distinction was in the size of the clip."

Jim March, was that you???

or even the newer models that are the Buschmeister (ph) that were used in the D.C. sniping killings last year.

They are not illegal to buy or own right NOW you idiot.

GT

 

[FPrice]

I heard Wayne LaPierre speak at Mount Holyoke College (an all woman's school in Massachusetts) several years and I am not at all surprised that he took on CNN. I know he's not everyone's favorite but from what I have seen he is NOT afraid to take on the media or unfriendly audiences.

 

[Seminole]

Good for LaPierre! Now we need more of this from the NRA.

 

[Waitone]

The NRA and LaPierre may not satisfy RKBA purists, but remember it was LaPierre who single handedly took on Clinton on gun control during an interview with Russert. That was when LaPierre said Clinton was willing to accept a certain level of killing to advance his political agenda. Russert went vertical and ballistic and LaPierre all by himself put Clinton et al on the defensive. It was LaPierre all by his widdle, biddie sewf that stared down the badguys.

The fact that he went eyeball to eyeball with CNN on an obvious lie is no surprise.