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CNN TONIGHT

Donald Trump to Host "SNL" This Weekend; Quentin Tarantino Strikes Back; Tea Party Favorite to Win Kentucky Govenor Race; CNN Projects Ohio Voters Will Reject Legalizing Recreational Marijuana; Carson, Trump Lead Republican Field; Hillary Clinton Met with African American Parents. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired November 3, 2015 - 22:00   ET

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


[22:00:00] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: CNN TONIGHT with Don Lemon starts right now.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Live from New York, it's Saturday night Trump. This is CNN Tonight. I'm don lemon.

Coming soon to a TV near you, the comedy styling of the mogul who wants to be your next president Donald Trump hosting SNL this weekend, but not everybody is laughing. Protesters from more than a dozen Latino organizations planning to gather outside where he rocks tomorrow.

I'm going to talk to the congressman who called up NBC on the house floor and a comic who says the GOP is waging a war on comedy.

Meanwhile, a year away from the election, from Election Day, the conventional wisdom says don't take Donald Trump or Ben Carson seriously. But what if the conventional wisdom is wrong?

Plus, the Hollywood heavy weight in hot water over his comments about police. Quentin Tarantino strikes back, but is this a battle he can win? We're going to discuss all of that.

But I want to begin with a day in Trump. Donald Trump's new book "Crippled America" went on sale today and he is meeting tonight with the staff of Saturday Night Live.

CNN's Sara Murray is here with more on that. So, Sara, Donald Trump's new book dropped today. As I said, you know, he's gearing up for this SNL this weekend. What's the latest on this day in Trump?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. As you may know, Donald Trump likes to promote himself. So, today, he was at Trump Tower releasing his latest book, and he gave us a little preview of what to expect between now and the end of the week as he gets ready for SNL. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This evening I'm meeting with Lorne Michaels and the whole staff and we'll start the preparation. We'll pick our skits. Am I nervous? Not too nervous. Not too nervous.

But we're going to -- we'll do a good job and we're going to have a fantastic show. We're going to have all a lot of fun. My Jeb impression? No, I don't want to do that. I don't like showing a person sleeping at a podium.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: So, you saw there, Don, he's holding back his Jeb impression but maybe we'll see that later in the week when he finally does get a chance to host.

LEMON: Sara, Donald Trump, does he ton of media all the time. So, why -- why is this controversial?

MURRAY: So, as you said, there are a number of Latino groups who are protesting the fact that Donald Trump is hosting. So, he'll he on throughout the entire show. And I think their issue is that it's not a new show. And we look at Saturday Night Show it's an entertainment program and Donald Trump, of course has offended a number of groups particularly Hispanic group, with some of the disparaging comments he's made about them.

And they don't feel like he should be given this kind of platform, this sort of entertainment platform when he's making these comments. Now, a number of people hit back saying it's your choice to watch the show. And, you know, he is one of the front runners for the republican field right now. And I think we're going to see, you know, just how vehement those protests are tomorrow.

LEMON: Yes. I remember there is a little bit of controversy of people who are trying to figure out why Ben Carson was, you know, doing a book tour during the middle of his campaign, but Donald Trump's book came out today. Why is he doing this in the middle of a campaign?

MURRAY: Well, and Jeb Bush has a book out, too. I mean, this is kind of what you do when you run for president. You put out a book and, of course, you get the sales from that. Donald Trump says he's going to be donating his proceeds.

But if you look at some of my Trump, this is the way for him to sort of put out a campaign manifesto and say, look, I'm serious. I wrote a book about what I want to do for America. Now, if you dig a little deeper into the pages of this book, he doesn't put out a lot of new policy ideas. He doesn't really dig very much below the surface of a number of ideas he's bloated on the campaign trail.

For instance, he just sort of says, I'll fix Social Security, he doesn't say how he'll do it. But the fact that he has put out a book does sends a certain signal that I'm serious about this and I do have a plan.

LEMON: OK. Thank you, Sara. We appreciate your reporting. Now I want to bring in Congressman Luis Gutierrez, a democrat from Illinois. He wants NBC to disinvite Donald Trump from Saturday Night Live. Also with me here is Sirius XM host Dean Obeidallah and comic and a former SNL staffer. Interesting insight will come from him. And Gabriel Sherman, the national affairs editor for New York Magazine or as we call him Gabe Sherman around here.

Congressman Gutierrez, to you first, you along with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are calling for NBC to disinvite Donald Trump from hosting SNL this weekend. Had they responded?

REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: First, Don, thanks for having me on.

LEMON: Thanks for coming.

GUTIERREZ: I really appreciate it. I think this is a veryi mportant issue, and so I'm thankful to you.

LEMON: Yes.

GUTIERREZ: Look, last June, Donald Trump began his campaign for the presidency by saying all Mexicans that come to the county are all murderers, rapists, and drug dealers. Oh, wait a minute, he said, a few of them are OK. A few.

You know, when he made those racists remarks, what did NBC Universal Comcast that corporate ended to do? They said we want nothing to do with you, they said to Donald Trump. They cancelled their contract with him and they said he doesn't represent their values.

So, I guess, my question is, what happened, why are you such hypocrites?

LEMON: So, Congressman, with all due respect...

(CROSSTALK)

GUTIERREZ: And NBC Comcast that after you said that in June, today you are inviting him to be on your signature show.

[22:05:02] LEMON: I just want to -- I don't want to be disrespectful we have limited time. You understand how this works. And I want to get to the heart of the matter here. I don't want to re-litigate that. But I want to know have they responded to you Congressman, please?

GUTIERREZ: No, no, they have not. And that's not what is important, Don. What is important at this moment is that when you hear bigotry, when you hear racism that you stand up. Because today, someone can begin a campaign and disparage a whole nationality of people, 45 million strong in the United States of America, it's America big people of Puerto Rican descent like my mom and dad.

And so, it is the right thing to do to stand up. And you know, Don, I don't want to get into an argument with you either. But if they have said...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I'm not arguing at you at all, it is just -- it is just over time. That's it.

GUTIERREZ: .. if they said in June they want no republican relationship, and today because of ratings they want to put him under show. And look, he's not just showing up, you know, for a communal shot, he's actually going to be the host of the show, which means if they want their show to be linked directly to him and I think that's just wrong.

LEMON: Yes. He has also hosted this program before. And then just to hear for -- because Donald Trump has said a number of times and people say he called all Mexicans immigrants racists or criminals.

He says, he says when Mexico sends their people over they sends their murderers and their rapists. So, just to play devil's advocate there, but he hosted the show before. Dean Obeidallah has had some insight on that. Dean, you were there the last time he hosted the show. Why the constant -- why do you think the controversy at this moment is happening?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, THE DAILY BEAST COLUMNIST: It's exactly what Congressman Gutierrez is saying. It has to do with comments. I mean, I'm not a defender of Donald Trump, he said things about my community, I'm Muslim.

But Saturday Night Live is not validating Donald trump's views by having him on. The same way they didn't validate Hillary Clinton's views by having her on the Camille. And my friends who work there told me they got a lot of push back from people on the right for having Hillary on, the same way now people on the left are saying you shouldn't have Trump on.

LEMON: So, you have taken him to task for controversial comments, you believe he's made about Muslims.

OBEIDALLAH: And I've read about it...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And the Congressman has taken him to task for controversial comments...

OBEIDALLAH: Yes.

LEMON: ... about Mexicans and Hispanics. So, why the difference? Why do you say let him go on?

OBEIDALLAH: Because first, I come from a comedy background. I understand that Saturday Night Live and someone who worked there and knows people who worked, they're not, in any way validating his views. They're putting a man on who is in the public eye. If the other politicians on before. If the standard for having a politician on is that no none objects, they can never have politicians on. We'll lose that.

LEMON: Because they never had a comedian on it. OBEIDALLAH: Well, they never had a comedian but you'll have a political comedy -- you never have a political -- politician on who might be visiting and most aren't in today's world. We lose that.

LEMON: Let's -- let's look at him the last time he hosted SNL. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I went on The Tonight Show. The highest ratings ever. I went on Oprah. Her highest ratings ever, and I guarantee you that right this second, Regis and Kelly is getting its highest ratings ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's electric. You can feel it!

TRUMP: And, Reg, if I turn away from your camera, your ratings will drop five points, watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, he's been doing -- he's been doing this for a whilet.

OBEIDALLAH: Right.

LEMON: Talking about ratings talking about polls. He loves them. You said this could be the most unique show ever.

OBEIDALLAH: There -- I wrote an article in CNN that just came out about the fact, usually the host comes on and the show have the same agenda, the funniest show possible. The added thing is that Donald Trump wants to help his campaign by going on the show.

And there might be conflict. What the writers want to do is be as funny as possible. Donald Trump was, that doesn't help me in this campaign. So, you might have more challenging time than ever with the SNL writers going with Donald Trump.

LEMON: So, Gabe, what do you think the strategy is behind this? Because there are people who would say, listen, he's already a media celebrity, he needs to talk policy, and rather than, you now, comedy. What's the strategy here?

GABRIEL SHERMAN, NEW YORK MAGAZINE NATIONAL AFFAIRS EDITOR: Well, listen, I agree on, first of all, the point about comedy -- it needs to be a safe place. We can't policing what comics can talk about. Who can be involved in comedy? It is like the ultimate sacred safe space in terms of the First Amendment.

But to Trump's point, I think his job is to show that he can laugh at himself. I mean, he's made these divisive controversial comments. I think it's smart strategy if he embraces, if he does sketch that somehow involves the Hispanic community or Latino characters.

Because he needs to show -- if what he says is true on campaign trail that he doesn't have problems with Hispanics as an ethnic group, but it's about a policy choice. I think a smart policy strategy would to be the show that he is getting along with Hispanic characters.

LEMON: Congressman, would you like to respond to anything that Gabe or Dean said about this? Go ahead.

GUTIERREZ: Let me just say the following. Don, I had the great opportunity to visit six high schools four weeks ago, about 2,000 students. They didn't ask me about the Pell Grants, they didn't ask me how I could help them get into college, they didn't ask me about West Point or the academies, which is what I usually engage seniors in a conversation.

[22:10:01] They asked me about Donald Trump on what I was going to do whether or not the 14th Amendment was going to be eliminated from the Constitution and they were going to lose their citizenship. There was going to be round of.

To see things it's not just divisive, things are outright on people who are afraid. And they asked me to stand up and that's what I'm doing. So, all I have to say is, look, Dean, he lost their show, Sterling he lost the clippers. I remember there was a gentleman who named Rick Santos who said some deplorable things. He lost his bid at CNN.

There are thresholds that when you pass them you're not allowed to continue to go on the show. And I know you don't want to -- this might not be an issue that's important but it's important in my community. When people see him hosting they are branding the show. That gives credence to the kinds of racist things that he says. And so there are just things he just don't pass.

LEMON: No, no, no, I didn't say it was -- not an important issue. What I said I'm just here to facilitate because we don't have a lot of time, and I want to make sure that everybody's point that comes across. So, Congressman, I thank you for being on. Gabe, thank you very much, and thank you Dean. We'll see you all here soon.

OBEIDALLAH: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: I appreciate it. Donald Trump is on CNN's New Day tomorrow morning beginning at 6 a.m.; 6 a.m. tomorrow morning CNN's New Day.

When we come back, decision day 2016 just one year away, who will get the nomination, it may not be who you think. Some political predictions next.

Plus, shocking news about addiction in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:14:59] LEMON: We have breaking news this election day. CNN projects republican Matt Bevin, a Tea Party favorite has won the governor's race in Kentucky. Again, matt Bevin, Tea Party favorite won the governor's race in Kentucky.

And in Mississippi, CNN projects republican Governor Phil Bryant will win re-election. Meantime, we are one year away from the presidential election and Ben

Carson and Donald Trump lead the republican field right now. Is it time to e-write the conventional wisdom in this campaign?

Let's talk about it with republican strategist Rick Wilson, Kayleigh McEnany, editor of Political Prospect, republican strategist, Kevin Madden who has worked for Mitt Romney's campaign, among others and he's the looks on -- the Romney son you said that you are -- the others, everyone thought he was a Romney son when he was working with Mitt Romney. And Charles Blow, CNN political commentator and New York Times op-ed columnist, and all around pretty controversial.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Yes. You're not in that. It's good to have all of you.

(OFF-MIKE)

LEMON: Nothing, nothing. You'll see it on when you DVR it, if you DVR. OK. So, I'm going to start. Today, one year from the election day, do you think we'll be looking, Kayleigh, to you first, do you think we'll be looking at Hillary Clinton versus either Ben Carson or Donald Trump, who is it going to be?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, POLITICAL PROSPECT EDITOR: The odds are certainly on their favorite, Don, because I don't think we've really ever seen an election cycle like this. If you look at Donald Trump, he's been polling number one for 100 days. Romney, you know, was a very up and down kind of fickle at the top jockeying between one and two.

Here you see a consistent front runner. Moreover, I think the most telling statistics of all is that you have Ben Carson, where 50 percent of GOP voters have him at number one or number two.

LEMON: OK.

MCENANY: That's significant number and I predict that Ben Carson will likely be the nominee.

LEMON: We're going to go to all of that. I just want to go around robin here to see what you guys think. So, I'm going to ask you Rick Wilson, who do you think it will all -- who's the match-up?

RICK WILSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think the match-up is Hillary Clinton is appearing to consolidate and actually live up to her inevitably reputation this time because there is sort of a coalescing around her.

Sanders may be raising some money but it feels like she's going to be a nominee. And if I were to put odds today, I would say that actually Marco Rubio is going to end up being the nominee for a couple of reasons.

I think Trump and Carson are still oversold stocks and I think that there is still a desire for -- by republicans to see someone who they know can go in and can face up against Hillary Clinton not only on the debate stage but on the campaign trail and defeat her.

LEMON: OK. All right. Let's turn to my guest here on the studio. So, Charles Blow, what do you think?

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's an unanswerable question. If you take today, right? So, you would -- obviously project Clinton and maybe you would project Rubio or maybe Bush. I don't count Bush out as much as other people do.

But there are all the unknowable's and the other things you cannot predict and you have, like you said, an entire year for those things to bubble up.

LEMON: And also the commission would insist that polls don't matter right now, at least that's what it is, but this is a nontraditional campaign.

KEVIN MADDEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, well, I think polls matter. What you have to watch about the polls are the trend lines?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Well, do you think is going to...

MADDEN: I think it's -- I agree with Rick. I think it's more likely that we'll see a Rubio nominated out of our contest and he'll end up going up against Hillary Clinton.

LEMON: Rubio stacks up well against Hillary Clinton in some of the polling that we have. If you have -- let's put this up right now. Here it is, head to head poll, Clinton versus Carson, 47, Carson is the best at this point. Clinton versus Rubio, 44 percent, he's second. And then Clinton versus Bush at 43 percent, as Charles said, I wouldn't count him out. And then, Clinton versus Trump, 50 to 42 percent. So, what's your first -- what's your reaction to this number, Kayleigh?

MCENANY: Look, you know, with Ben Carson I think you see a remarkable juxtaposition when you put him next to Hillary Clinton. Ben Carson is soft spoken doctor. He pervades honesty. It just -- it resonates off of him. He's your, you know, neighborhood doctor is the vibe that you get from Ben Carson.

You can trust that with Hillary Clinton who is under FBI investigation for potential criminal charges, fewer than a third of the nation trusts her. It's a very stark contrast between the two. You see authenticity on one hand and on inauthenticity on the other.

LEMON: Charles, you make the point that Carson barely spoke during the last debate and you think -- do you think that helped him?

BLOW: Well, yes. I think that part of his appeal is that he doesn't create -- he doesn't trouble the water, right? And so, that's part of what people like about him is that he seems easy going or whatever. I think, you know, more problematic for him is that, to me, he feels more like the Trumps, they are an enterprise. I mean, that's why you have both him and Trump now out, you know,

selling books while on the campaign trail. They are out -- they make money. That's what they do. And you know, from the speeches to, you know, his interactions or interconnectedness with man attack -- that's what he does, he judge -- he has used his biography to generate an incredible income stream for himself. And that is what he is doing.

I don't think that in the end is going to be what voters, whoever, the republican voters or whoever are going to be attracted to.

[22:20:06] LEMON: You mentioned his book because his book is called "Crippled America" released today and had a press conference for the book he didn't hold back. I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Marco Rubio's personal finances are discredited. Oh, no, his personal finance, all you have to do is look at his credit card. I mean, he is a disaster with his credit cards. And I tell you what. I love Florida. I'm in Florida all the time. And for years I've been hearing that his credit cards are a disaster.

I would think when you take a look at it you are going to find that. But his credit card debt and his problems with credit card and what he did when he was running the party apparatus with credit cards, I've heard about it for years. Well, he has a very bad record of finances if you look at what happened with his houses, with his, you know, he certainly lives above his means. There is no question about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I want Kevin and Rick to get on this quickly. I don't have much time. Why do you think he is going so hard against -- why does it say he's going so hard against Rubio?

MADDEN: Oh, Rubio, I mean, the buzz right now on Rubio is pretty great. Folks see -- starting to see him emerging as probably the candidate that comes out of that other bracket which is the more traditional candidate. So, Trump wants to take that head on right now before he has to take it on later.

LEMON: Is he kind of a hybrid, though, Rubio do you think, sort of traditional...

(CROSSTALK)

MADDEN: He -- if you look at the genesis of Marco Rubio as a national candidate it came from the energy of the Tea Party back in -- back when he ran for the Senate and took on would then the traditional sort of establishment candidate in Charlie Crist in Florida.

So, he has an ability, probably better than anybody in this race right now to bring together the traditional wing of the party with the outsider wing of the party.

LEMON: Rick, I'll give you the last word. WILSON: Well, being the democrat that he secretly is Donald Trump of

course, was regurgitating and vomiting out Charlie Crist's discredited talking points about Marco Rubio.

He was reading straight from the Charlie Crist's auto file, a series of assertions which have been thoroughly debunked to dismiss and it doesn't surprise me because Donald Trump is spiritually and politically, frankly, a democrat running as -- running as, you know, the same kin do rhetoric and talking points that Charlie Cist did against Marco.

LEMON: OK.

WILSON: Rather unsuccessfully I may add.

LEMON: Rick, next time you come I want you to say what you really feel. All of you as a matter of fact. I thank you. It's a great panel. I love having you, guys, together as a group.

MCENANY: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Thank you very much. We'll see you next time.

BLOW: Thanks.

LEMON: When we come back, shocking news about addiction in America. Plus, Quentin Tarantino says he won't be intimidated by police. But, did he go too far when he spoke out about police brutality?

[22:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We have breaking news. It's from Ohio where CNN projects that voters will say no to legalizing recreational marijuana. It is an issue that came up in last week's presidential debate.

Ohio Governor John Kasich says he doesn't favor it and here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sending mixed signals to kids about drugs is a disaster. Drugs are one of the greatest scourges in this country. I spent five years of my administration working with my team to do a whole sort of things to try to rein in the problem of overdoses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A shocking new study says the problem of drug use, alcohol, and mental illness has gotten so severe that for the first time in any first world country the death rate for white middle age people is on the rise, while its declining for blacks and Hispanics.

It is a finding that stunned researchers and has implications for the election and the candidates on the campaign trail.

Joining me now is Dr. Drew Pinsky. Dr. Drew is addictionologist and host of HLN's The new Dr. Drew, also here with me is Bob Beckel, CNN political commentator and author of "I Should Be Dead, My Life Surviving Politics, TV and Addiction."

Now you see why we have you both here. But Dr. Drew, let me start with you. You know, for the first time experts like you have known for a long time, I should say, have known, that there is a big problem out there with drugs and alcohol addiction, and mental illness.

We talk about it on your show and on this show all the time. But the numbers are still shocking. Why is this particular group of Americans struggling so much right now?

DREW PINSKY, HNL'S THE NEW DR. DREW SHOW HOST: Well, there's two points to be made. I mean, this is not a surprise to someone like me. I've been saying for anyone that will listen, to anyone who will listen, that there is a tsunami coming of these kinds of problems that the overprescribing of opioid and benzodiazepines, the inadvertent -- the inadvertent overdosing, the mental health issues around these phenomenon are staggering and absolutely common place.

You add to that, the economic stressors that people are experiencing and that -- those two together seem to be the outcome necessary to create these staggering numbers. Precisely why this is happening and why so intensely has yet to be worked out.

But I will you the first culprit that I've been watching for the last 10 years has been the overprescribing of opiates.

LEMON: Yes, of opiates. And we just had a conversation about that a couple weeks ago in here. You know, we all know addiction and mental health know no racial boundaries, no age boundaries, but you know, it is white men, white women age 45 to 54 with high school level education, the death rates are going up.

The opposite for black and Hispanic Americans in that same age group. And a lot because of that is because of prescription pain pills as you've said. Are these age groups prescribed prescription pain pills more than any other group?

PINKSKY: It appears to be so. I mean, again, I watch this age group grow and get older and they were the first leading edge of really a pandemic of childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences. And as they reach adolescence young adulthood they look for ways to regulate their emotions and drugs and alcohol and then ultimately, pills for what they were offered.

In the African-American and in the black and the Hispanic community they weren't the same kind of access to medical system, they weren't likely to be prescribe. In fact, physicians, there is some suggestion they have been somewhat recalcitrant to prescribe any substances to those group.

LEMON: Interesting. Bob, I want to turn to you because, look, one of the authors -- the authors of the study are economist. And one of them is named Angus Deaton, he just won the Nobel Prize for his work in health economics. And he says that it is because of our economic stress that household incomes for this group have since the 1990's.

[22:29:58] Income inequality has been a term that we have been using in this election season. If you take that into consideration is it not unfair here? It's deadly right?

BOB BECKEL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure it is. And, you know, I'm a victim of it. I just came off of opioid addiction after back operation. And I was at a pain management center and I watched people who committed who had never been addicted to anything.

Who had gone through operations and were prescribed opiates and as a result of that they got addicted. But I think the bigger point here is, if you look at this demographic, this group, first of all, the toughest ones to get clean. I mean, I've been clean of alcohol and drugs for 14 years.

LEMON: Why are they the toughest to get clean?

BECKEL: They tend to be so sure of themselves and they know what they're doing. But in this case, you know, you what they call oxytoxin they call hillbilly heroin.

LEMON: Right.

BECKEL: And it's rampant in rural America. And doctors overprescribe this stuff. It also drug dealers. I mean, I worked with a lot of addicts and alcoholics and I asked a drug dealer the other day when I went to a crack house to pull a kid out, so we -- how do you guys are doing, because I used to buzz from these guys? And he said we're doing great. He said we're not selling cocaine anymore, we're selling just opiates.

PINSKY: Heroin.

LEMON: Go ahead, Dr. Drew.

BECKEL: Heroin.

PINKSY: Heroin. And what happens is that the doctors are finally getting the message they've been overprescribing for the last 15 years. Look, I remember, 10 or 15 years ago, when, in Florida particularly, patients could walk into a pain management organization and look at a menu and select for themselves the particular opiates they wanted.

Doctors were taking the position who are you to say what pain is or whether it's under control. It was insane. So, now they're getting the idea that they are overprescribing. They're taking these patients, they're looking at the patterns and going, oh, my gosh, there's a problem here. You're a bad patient, I'm not going to prescribe to you anymore.

LEMON: Yes.

PINKSY: As opposed to bring them in and say we have a problem. You're an addict, I didn't intend to do this, let's fix it. They cut them off and they go to the streets. That's where the heroin...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And that's what happened. And listen, the candidates, we've been hearing a lot from the candidates about drug use and about drug rehabilitation and the crisis in America. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R-NJ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I sat there as the Governor of New Jersey at his funeral and looked across the pew at his three daughters sobbing because their dad is gone, there but for the grace of god go I. It can happen to anyone.

JEB BUSH, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I have some personal experience in this just as a dad and it is the most heart breaking thing in the world to have to go through.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was struck by this statistic that last year for the first time we had more deaths by overdoses than we did by car crashes.

CARLY FIORINA, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My husband, Frank and I buried a child to drug addiction. So, we must invest more in the treatment of drugs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, they're just not -- they're not just responding to what they're seeing in the media, they're responding this is hitting home for a lot of in their communities and in their homes. They have to address it.

BECKEL: Listen, I don't know of anybody that doesn't somewhere or another can trace back a problem with addiction with alcoholism or drugs. But the interesting about this is, this may be the first time where there is a bipartisan consensus where democrats and republicans have come to the conclusion that this is a very big problem.

We're talking about millions of people. You're talking about and millions of voters. The number of people affected by drug overdoses in the sale of opioids and heroine are enormous. And if you don't address it you're not doing yourself any good as a candidate because it is a prevalent and a demanding issue.

LEMON: Dr. Drew, you know, we talked about the crack epidemic and, you know, the -- and all the other epidemics that hit -- drug epidemics heroin, I think heroin mostly hits white communities, crack hit the black communities especially hard. Are we finally past the point where people look at drugs as an urban problem? A problem for minorities or the inner cities or lower income people?

PINSKY: Oh, sure. We're there. This last weekend's set of data that came out really brings that all the way home. This is white middle class men. And this -- I mean, that's who is dying right now. These guys are their hands on these drugs, they're getting accessibly involved with them.

And there's a bigger -- there is another issue here. A lot of people talking about treatment and what we ought to do but no one is talking about what the treatment ought to be. I'm a little surprised that Botticelli, who is the drugs are now, is coming out so strongly for drug replacement therapy.

I mean, that's an option and treatment for opioid addiction, but that's becoming the only thing people are talking about. I think that's a shame. He's a recovering guy, he should be advocating for formal recovery as well.

LEMON: Quickly, Bob.

BECKEL: Dr. Drew, you mentioned early childhood trauma.

PINSKY: Yes.

BECKEL: And there is -- there should be a treatment set up around that. And in fact, a guy named Dr. Peter (Inaudible) in Belle fort does nonmedical nonprescription work dealing with early childhood trauma which manifests itself as pain later in their lives. And so...

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: You're singing that -- you're singing to the choir.

LEMON: Yes.

PINSKY: I got to tell you every patient I treat. I tell people if you are bad enough you need to see me you had severe significant childhood trauma and that needs to be treated.

LEMON: Thank you, Dr. Drew. Thank you, Bob Beckel.

BECKEL: Sure.

[22:34:58] LEMON: I appreciate both of you. When we come back here, he fought the law. Quentin Tarantino strikes back at police, but is it a battle the Hollywood director can win?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Director Quentin Tarantino says he won't be intimidated by law enforcement. A boycott of his new movie "The Hateful Eight." A battle between the director and police began after Tarantino attended a protest against police brutality in New York, that was last month and said, quote, "I have to call the murderers, the murderers."

And joining me now Matt Belloni, executive editor at The Hollywood Reporter. Matt, it's good to have you here. Let's listen to what Quentin Tarantino said to spark this controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUENTIN TARANTINO, HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR: What am I doing here? I'm doing here because I'm a human being with a conscience. And when I see a murderer, I cannot stand by and I have to call the murderer the murderer and I have to call the murderers the murders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And Matt, the reaction from law enforcement from that what?

[22:39:53] MATT BELLONI, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Very swift and very negative. The top five police unions in the country all have said that they are going to boycott his films and they are going to encourage others to boycott it, the border patrol and national police group. Every one said they're boycotting Quentin Tarantino films. And today, he actually responded to that criticism and the growing outcry.

LEMON: Yes. We're -- before I get to what he said I want to talk about Jamie Foxx here and I want to get that in because I want to make sure this gets in Hollywood power house. He's a power house. Jamie Foxx defended Tarantino. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE FOXX, ACADEMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR: Quentin Tarantino.

(APPLAUSE)

FOXX: I want to say this, Quentin Tarantino, you are the boss. You are absolutely amazing, keep speaking the truth and keep telling the truth and don't worry about the haters. I'm going to let you know that right mow.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, how about the rest of Hollywood, Matt?

BELLONI: I think that -- it's an interesting issue because Quentin Tarantino has a film coming out in about a month and a half and his comments are controversial. I don't know that everyone in Hollywood agrees with what he said. But he was very swift to clarify these comments today. He's saying, you know, I'm not saying that all police are murderers, I'm not saying that, you know, that there is even a...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Matt, let me read it for you. And let me read it for me and you can respond. He says "I'm not being intimidated. Frankly, it feels lousy to have a bunch of people -- a bunch of police mouthpieces call me a cop hater. I'm not a cop hater. That is a misrepresentation. That is slanderous. That is not how I feel.

But, you know, that's their choice to do that to me. What I can -- what can I do? I'm not taking back what I said. What I said was the truth. I'm used to people misrepresenting me. I'm used to being misunderstood. What I'd like to think their attack against me is so vicious that they're revealing themselves. They're hiding in plain sight."

Again, not backing down and he's expected to do a lot of press for this movie. And do you think his comments are going to remain the same after this?

BELLONI: I think so. I mean, Quentin Tarantino is a very outspoken guy. This was not an accident that he was there at that protest. He flew from L.A. to New York specifically to go to that protest. He, you know, deals very strongly about this issue.

I don't see -- I don't see him backing down, really. I mean, he did clarify. He's saying at all, I'm not referring to all police officers as murderers. We don't know specifically who he was referring to when he made those comments.

I think that's kind of part of the problem. He was not referring to any specific incident. He was at a police brutality protest and use the word murderer many times. I think the police unions were correct to kind of take that -- take that and say, wait a second, what are you referring to here?

LEMON: So, the question is, Matt, then how is he misrepresented? His comments are on tape. He's at a police rally and he said what he said. Is it because they're only taking a few words of what he said about the murderers and the murder -- the murderers?

BELLONI: I think what he means, and I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think what he is suggesting is that he's not referring to all police officers, he's not even referring to the majority of police officers. He's referring to specific incidents that he did not name that we can assume might be the incidents that have been in the news that have made headlines.

So, I think what he clarified today was that he is not anti-police that he is calling out specific incidents.

LEMON: Matt Belloni, from Hollywood Reporter, thank you very much. I appreciate you joining us here this evening on CNN.

BELLONI: No problem.

LEMON: When we come right back, the Tarantino go too far with what he said about police? We'll be right back.

[22:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Quentin Tarantino, the Hollywood director in hot water tonight over what he said about police brutality. Did he go too far is our subject tonight?

Joining me now is Harry Houck, CNN law enforcement analyst and a retired New York police detective. Mr. Marc Lamont Hill is here, he's CNN political commentator and the host -- a host of BET News.

Good to you see, both of you gentlemen. Harry, I'm going to start with you. His comments came four day after NYPD Officer, Randall Holder was shot and killed in East Harlem.

The commissioner here, Commissioner Bill Bratton said that this of his comments on a radio show. He said "Shame on him particularly at this time when we are grieving the murder of a New York City police officer. There are no words to describe the contempt I have for him and his comments."

Of course, Tarantino has a right to free speech but did his comments go too far is the question, Harry?

HARRY HOUCK, RETIRED NEW YORK POLICE DETECTIVE: Sure. Well, there's no doubt to me. Because here is a man whose probably -- who should have been specific. You know, when he is talking about the incidents, when we are saying cops or murderers and murderers are the murders and the murderers, whatever -- whatever he said, the fact is here, he should have been specific about what incident he was talking about.

All right. Maybe he would have got some support. But he did not. He just blanketed every single police officer out there with those comments and the group that he was out there with, and probably doesn't know anything about any of the incidents at all. Maybe what he really wanted to do was just get publicity for his new movie.

LEMON: Marc -- Marc, do you agree with that? I mean, the timing, you know, the timing is important as well. But do you agree with what Harry said?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I can't speak to the timing. What I can -- one thing to be clear is he didn't say all police are murderers. What he said, he was non-specific and I wish he would have named names. I think he didn't go far enough. I think it's important to identify and say names of people who you feel have violated, not just the rights of people, but literally who killed people.

But I don't think there is anything wrong with him going to a rally regardless of the reason and saying that murder happens. Police brutality happens. Police terrorism happens and it doen'st happen in isolated fashion. It happens across the board and by across the board, I mean, in every state, in every city, every year we see this thing happen. Not all police. But it does have irregularity.

LEMON: Harry, what are you saying?

HOUCK: It's -- yes. Listen, these incidents are isolated, OK? The fact is that Mr. Tarantino, you know, he believes, you know, he's a celebrity he can go out and he can talk about these type of things and do whatever he wants. And you know what? That's fine. But, you know what, the police departments out there can start doing what they think that they have to do also.

You're talking over -- the fraternal order of police has 300,000 members. There are over one million police officers and law enforcement agencies -- law enforcement officers in this country alone. [22:50:03] They have families. All right. They all have friends, plus.

all the people that support law enforcement. Mr. Tarantino thinks that this boycott is something he shouldn't worry about and I'll tell you what, he should worry about it.

And the other producers who are involved in his movies they're also very worried about it also. So, I think he's got something to worry about. Even if he comes out and apologizes tomorrow we all know it's not coming from the heart. All right. So, as far as we're concerned, police officers need to go out and start battling these types of things and we're not seeing that. And, thank God, I'll start and see it right now.

LEMON: I don't -- I don't think it seems like he is going to apologize. He's going to apologize. He doubled down today. Marc, as someone -- a big director like him who put himself in that position, do you think that he should be more careful about not enraging because it may endnager both sides?

HILL: No. I think he should operate out with a principle. And I don't always agree with Quentin Tarantino. I've disagreed with him on the inward uses the excessive...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: You have on this show.

HILL: In his movies. But Quentin always doubled down. He always say this is my principle this is where I stand. I have no reason to believe he's not operating at a principle. I just happen to think that he is right this time.

And if 350,000 or 3.5 million people boycott his films, if they boycott him because he is speaking out against police brutality, police murderer, police terrorism, again, not all police.

But in the incidents that we're talking about here, then I think that that's OK. I think he's willing to take the heat and happy we'll not to come to his movies so that he can take a principled stance. I admire Quentin Tarantino for that stance. I wish more people could agree with that.

(CROSSTALK)

HOUCK: Well, here's a guy -- here's a guy who's probably....

LEMON: Quickly, Harry. I want to get something else.

HOUCK: A close attention to detail when he makes his movies. Why doesn't he have a close attention to details when he is making comments about police officers?

LEMON: OK.

HOUCK: All right. And the fact that, you know, he makes his comments about police officers being murderers, it's a blanket statement. It's a blanket statement and that's where the police officers have that problem.

LEMON: OK. Harry, let's move on and Marc. I want to talk about Chicago because I think this is very important. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton met with parents whose African-American children have died in shootings. Treyvon Martin's mom, Sybrina Fulton was one of those moms. I want you to listen to what she told CNN's Sunny Hostin today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYBRINA FULTON, TREYVON MARTIN'S MOM: We all understand that all officers are not bad officers. We do have some bad officer and we do have some good officers. But at the same time, you know, our bad officers are not being held accountable and which makes it much easy for them to pull the trigger because you're not going to be held accountable.

You're not going to be arrested, you're not going to go to jail. So, what is the consequence for somebody to shoot and killing an unarmed person? There is no consequence. There is no accountability for what is going on right now.

Because if we are so quick to pull the trigger on someone and treat them like an animal, you know, and then - we've almost got to that point here in this country where we're treating each other like animals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, Harry, you've been a cop, is it ever easy for an officer to pull the trigger?

HOUCK: It's never easy. No police officer wakes up in the morning and say, gee, today I want to kill somebody. It's very hard to do. All right. And we've seen in a lot of these cases in the past that we've actually talked about in your show and other shows here in CNN where the police officer were exonerated.

This fact that police officers can't shoot somebody because they're not armed. All right. It's not true. A police officer can shoot somebody who isn't armed if the police officer feels his life is in danger. And these police officers have been exonerated.

And we have other officers like in Baltimore which are going to trial and then we have the officer in North Charleston that shot somebody in the back.

That was a bad incident. That officer will pay for what he did, OK? But the fact is that the main problem in Chicago is the black-on-black crime. You don't see them talking about that at all. Some little child just got shot the other day in Chicago. I think it was 9 years old.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: We're going to talk about that now. We're going to talk about -- but I need you to respond, Marc, and then

I want to move on and talk about this 9-year-old boy. Go ahead. HILL: A couple of things. Harry says no one talk -- he said they

don't talk about it. I'm not sure who they is. But I was in Chicago last week dealing with Chicago violence. I've been to Chicago 10 times in the last 14 months dealing with this.

There are people who are on the ground in Chicago every single day doing violence interruption. There are people on the ground every day doing conflict resolution.

So, it's just not sure on which people they are addressing it. The protest and the marches look different from black-on-black violence and gang violence than they do for police because I have an expectation that police won't murder me. I don't have the same trust of the blood in the crisp.

So, it's a slightly different circumstance here.

LEMON: Yes.

HILL: Harry said the police officers don't wake and say I'm going to shoot somebody. I don't doubt that. I think they oftentimes really feel that there is a visible threat. The problem is there is white supremacist anxieties about black bodies that make everybody seem like a threat even if they are not holding a weapon. And, yes, some officers are...

(CROSSTALK)

HOUCK: That's a load, Marc. That is a load and you know it. You have no proof to that at all.

LEMON: OK. Let's move. Marc, let's move on.

HILL: Hold on.

LEMON: Marc, I have less...

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: But he's lying on live television. There is a Stanford study that shows this.

LEMON: All right.

[22:55:00] HILL: There are multiple studies that show this.

HOUCK: Stanford. That's somebody we can believe. A bunch of academics.

HILL: I'm supposed to believe -- I thought we should ignore data, evidence from big universities, randomized control...

(CROSSTALK)

HOUCK: No, no. Look at the law. Look at the statistics. You're calling every cop a murderer where they have been cleared. You think the officer in Ferguson was a murderer, Marc?

HILL: You completely changed the subject.

HOUCK: Do you think the officer in Ferguson was a murderer?

HILL: No. No.

HOUCK: Answer the question.

HILL: I said no. That's an answer to your question.

HOUCK: OK. Do you think the officer in Ferguson was just justified in doing what he did? Because you and I have argued this point before.

HILL: Right. So, I don't know why you're talking about it now. You just said that we should discount the studies that show that race plays a factor.

LEMON: Yes.

HILL: You say, oh, Stanford. I thought we actually look at the study, read the study or we can get an expert who actually understands how to interpret the study who can demonstrate that race does play as factor.

HOUCK: No. Interpret, that's the word.

LEMON: Yes. Unfortunately, I'm out of time. Unfortunately, I'm out of time. But I also want to say that we didn't get a chance to talk about the 9-year-old who was shot and killed in Chicago. Can you, guys, please stop...

HILL: No, Harry. You have no expertise.

HOUCK: A bad interpretation.

LEMON: Can you guys, please, stop. We're talking about a dead kid here.

HILL: OK. No, we weren't talking about a dead kid here.

LEMON: I'm talking about a dead kid, he's 9-year-old boy who was shot and killed and police don't know if it was random or if it was targeted.

(CROSSTALK)

HOUCK: And you know what, Don.

LEMON: His father has told on Chicago press that they believed that this boy was targeted because of his issues because of the father's issues. Again, our thoughts go out to this 9-year-old boy.

HILL: My prayers to...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: My thanks to Harry Houck and to Marc Lamont Hill. Thanks, everyone. We'll be right back.

[23:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)