Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) Update: CNN’s Anderson Cooper Finally Breaks Silence, Encourages Korina Sanchez to Fly to Tacloban (VIDEOS)
Two days after ABS-CBN newsreader Korina Sanchez hit him in a blind item for allegedly reporting wrong facts, CNN report Anderson Cooper finally broke his silence on the comment which created a social media storm as powerful as super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).
"Miss Sanchez is welcome to go there and I would urge her to go there," Pep.ph quoted Mr Cooper.
"I don't know if she has ... But her husband is the Interior minister, I'm sure he could arrange a flight."
Mr Cooper finally spoke on the issue after netizens chided Ms Sanchez for criticising the CNN reporter while she is safely talking from her studio and fed information by ABS-CBN staff, while Mr Cooper saw for himself how difficult it was for the storm survivors.
Here's Mr Cooper's latest report where he commented on Ms Sanchez's comments.
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He denied saying that there was no presence of Philippine government in Tacloban.
Mr Cooper, he quoted his Wednesday report when he said, "As for who exactly is in charge of the Philippine side of operation, that is not really clear. I am just surprised."
"I expected on this day five, I thought I may have gotten here very late, that things will be well in hand - and it does not seem like that."
But Mr Cooper did not delve longer on the controversy and instead stressed on the situation in Tacloban where he cited complaints of doctors about the lack of food, water and medical supply to deal with the medical emergencies before them.
Commenting on observations that his report became a political issue in the typhoon-ravaged country, Mr Cooper said, "If you've been watching the coverage over the past week, you know that we've been on the ground in Tacloban and elsewhere trying to be accurate as possible ... Accuracy is what we care most about here at CNN."
Ms Sanchez, following the flak she received, kept mum on the issue and instead flew on Thursday to Ormoc City to do field reporting.
There are reports that she will go to Tacloban next, but chances of a face-to-face encounter with the blonde reporter from CNN are nil because Mr Cooper is now in Manila.