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Dr. Drew

Sandy Hope & Help

Aired November 07, 2012 - 21:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST (voice-over): Tonight`s show is about hope and help. Two days ago, I stood in the wreckage of superstorm Sandy. I stood in debris that used to be people`s homes. I listened to people cry over the lives washed away in an instant.

And I must tell you, I felt helpless. And right now, a new storm is bearing down on the same area. All of us need to be concerned. It could happen to any of us.

This show is about help and hope.

Plus, the presidential election is finally over. But our country remains deeply divided. How can we bring people together to rebuild our fractured society?

Let`s get started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Let`s do get started.

As I said, help and hope are the themes tonight. Now, two days ago, I went to Staten Island and saw firsthand the damage of superstorm Sandy. That`s a mouthful, superstorm Sandy.

That same area and many of the other areas in New Jersey and New York are suffering again right now, this time from a storm called a nor`easter, which are punishing, cold wet storms that drop in from the arctic temperatures.

And the question I have to start out here with is -- how much can these people endure? I stood in those houses. You saw some of that footage. In fact, I would love if we could play some of that footage again of me walking inside those houses.

What I want you know is, in those houses, the floors were full of mud, they were warped. They were wet. You could feel it emanating from the walls.

There it is. That`s actually a house they had already torn everything out of that particular day. That`s cement floor. A little different from what I`m talking about. There you go. That`s the real stuff.

Thousands of people living like that. And now that wet, muddy floor and those walls are literally freezing. No beds to lie on. No heat. No electricity.

What are these people supposed to do?

First joining me -- there`s the storm itself. That`s actually footage of the nor`easter coming in. As you see, it swirls up and comes back down.

This is a new storm. This is not just the hurricane. This is the heels of the hurricane, now something coming down from the north, bringing arctic temperatures and wet. An

My daughter, who is up in there, told me this evening -- she called it a blizzard. She`s from southern California. Not a great judge of it, but enough to catch her attention.

Cade Courtley, former Navy SEAL, author of "SEAL Survival Guide".

Cade, what do you imagine these people are going through after nine days without power or heat?

CADE COURTLEY, FORMER NAVY SEAL: So much. I mean, it`s unfortunate. But, remember that you`ve made it this far. So, everything about survival begins with a mindset.

And, folks, your mindset right now needs to be "I`ve got a little bit further to go". Everything says that Friday the sun comes up and the weather goes away. The only goal right now is to get from now until Friday morning sunrise.

And the way to do that is in little increments, OK? What we call little victories in POW training. That`s OK, I made it to noon. OK? I got a chance to eat something. OK? I made it to sundown.

Little victories like that. Like here`s a worst case scenario for that. The POWs in Vietnam, they said a really good day was when they got a cockroach and they were going to eat that later. That was a little victory for them. Some of them were doing that for seven years.

PINSKY: Cade --

COURTLEY: And these folks can make it to Friday morning.

PINSKY: Cade, these are regular folks. They had no specialized training. They didn`t sign up to be soldiers. They just -- you know, they were living their lives and now find themselves in this situation.

I guess off the heels of that, we ought to be asking, who else could this happen to? Should we all be prepared to be in this position? And if so, how?

COURTLEY: Nobody ever expects to be in this situation. So what you need to do is -- again, the mindset. Instead of how did this happen to me? It`s I`m going to be ready when this happens to me.

Look, I have all the compassion in the world for the people that are going through this right now. You have two choices. You can fight on to Friday morning or you can quit. I know you`re tougher than that. You can make it to Friday morning.

But this is really for the people out there that are sitting in their living rooms right now, they have a beautiful sunny day in L.A. or something like that. Get ready. Because this time next week, we could potentially be talking about a major earthquake in your neighborhood. Get ready for this.

PINSKY: I believe we`ve got Rita Cosby. She`s investigative journalist for HLN on the East Coast in the middle of the storm.

There you are. Oh, my goodness. Rita, what are conditions like at the moment?

RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Dr. Drew, they are absolutely miserable. It`s bitter outside, it`s been snowing and it`s very, very heavy wind, howling, blistering wind. It`s pounding as it`s hitting my face here.

I`ve been out. As you know, I was talking to you in Hoboken last week in some rough conditions. This is absolutely bitter.

And for residents here, you`re talking about survival. In the last I would say probably about mile, one square mile area that I am in here I have only seen one family, one family around. They are being heated by a propane heater and just told me that the fuel is running out.

People in this area are desperate, Dr. Drew. It`s dire conditions. Thousands are still without power because of hurricane Sandy.

This area was hit so hard with that huge wall of water. I`m 5`4". The wall of water that came through a hundred yards or so away from me here was out seven or eight feet, much taller than me. Imagine the kind of damage and destruction and so few people even have homes left.

Take a look at the house behind me here. You can see, this whole facade has been ripped off. People are just lost everything they own.

I want to show you also something, Dr. Drew. I`m out here in the middle of it all. You can see all the snow. This has just been in the last few hours.

But take a look over here. This just broke my heart when I saw this, a wedding picture on the front of a car. Somebody`s wedding picture, reminding them of happy times as --

PINSKY: Wow.

COSBY: -- as tonight they`re going through one of the most dismal times ever, freezing, no heat, no power. And the Red Cross and FEMA stations that were set up about a mile away from here, supplying people with blankets, and food and water. Those have shut down because the conditions are so horrendous tonight.

PINSKY: OK, Rita, you`re breaking my heart. I have been -- I don`t know exactly where you are, but I`ve been on Staten Island.

And the one thing they had going for them was the community was swelling up. Leaders were emerging. People were helping one another. There was food. There was clothing.

Are you saying that even those community supports are beginning to collapse now? There was a lot of frustration of FEMA and Red Cross, I was hearing. But at least the communities still had the ability to rise up and support itself. Is that what`s collapsing now as well?

COSBY: Collapsing because of this nor`easter, because the weather is so brutal, so bitter. And because the resources are so sparse at this point. But because the -- you can see. I mean, we`re in the middle of a blizzard. It is horrible temperatures right now.

And these makeshift locations where everybody was coming to -- I was at one of them when it opened up. And thousands of people came there. They are now closed because they said they cannot function in this type of weather condition.

PINSKY: OK.

COSBY: So people are really desperate, really frustrated.

PINSKY: This is so hard to watch, having sort of walked those streets.

Cade, let me ask you this. I think there`s a certain time you evacuate, right? Isn`t this that time? I mean, don`t we just have to find a place for these people to live? Are you still with me, Cade? Are they still out there? I don`t see you just yet.

COURTLEY: I am here, Dr. Drew.

PINSKY: There you are. I mean, this looks ridiculous to me. I actually found a Web site. Am I allowed to reference that Web site? Yes.

I found a Web site. I was fishing around, called BandB.com, where people were matching up online people who needed a home with people who wanted a home, for free, a place to stay. This is now the community outreach that has to happen. They needed to evacuate, these people.

Isn`t that reasonable?

COURTLEY: I said it Monday. Let me say it again, life always before property. Why? Why do you decide that you are going to stay put? If you absolutely have to, there better be a good reason for it. If you`re there to protect your home from looters and you lose a relative in the process of protecting your property, you are not going to be able to understand that going on in the future. So, get out.

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: And, by the way -- yes. And by the way, the one thing that the people who are paranoid about looting, first of all, it`s too cold to do any looting tonight.

But one thing I noticed when -- on Staten Island, anyway, is there was police stationed on most corners, at least the entry areas to these neighborhoods that were badly hit. So, forget about the looting. Forget like -- just as Cade is saying, worry about your physical wellbeing.

Let me talk to a caller. Debbie in Pennsylvania -- Debbie.

DEBBIE, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, Dr. Drew.

PINSKY: Hi. What`s happening?

DEBBIE: Just wanted to tell you that I`m concerned about the storm as well. It`s not in my area. We do have it. It`s not as bad. My husband is out on the road and that really concerns me, his safety in New Jersey.

PINSKY: Yes. You guys are sort of used to heavy snows and cold weather, more so than us out here. But I completely agree. There is more to be concerned with than even just the people who have been suffering so far. Everybody needs to stay safe.

On that point, are you prepared if a disaster strikes? We`re going to tell you what you need to do to stay safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew Jimmy. He got blown right out of the back of his house. The guy next door saved us. If he didn`t knock on my door, we would all be dead.

PINSKY: I`m sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

PINSKY: Give you lots of hugs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matter of 30 seconds, there was six feet of water in my basement. From there, my wife started having anxiety. I said let`s get out. She said, pick up the dog. Picked up the dog.

By the time I got him to the middle of the street, it`s already waist high. You can look on the side of my house, you can actually see where the water level is. It was about six feet of water in the street.

PINSKY: It was up to here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Now, notice how those people -- first of all, they were living in that house. Notice how they were dressed. That was two days ago. They look like they needed a lot of gear to deal with how cold it was then.

It was 40 degrees then. Now it`s 20 and snowing. It`s way worse.

Northeast residents just recovering from Sandy hit with yet another storm. I`m back with former Navy SEAL Cade Courtley and investigative reporter Rita Cosby.

And one of the heroes of Sandy was P.J. Marcel, an off-duty sergeant with the volunteer rescue squad in Queens. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

P.J MARCEL, RESCUED QUEEN RESIDENT DURING SANDY: As you can see here, I got young lady and the child on board. So far two confirmed rescues, burning house still in the back. We`ve got other people still coming out of the houses right here.

Don`t worry, mom, it`s a short trip. Don`t worry about it, babe. Don`t worry. Think about it`s warm. Come on, babe! Think about it as a nice, hot sauna.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: So, P.J., first of all, hats off to you, man, for doing that. You went out in the storm with your truck and just started piling people on board and bailing them out. What motivated you?

What -- are you a first responder? Was this something you felt you had to do? What happened that night?

MARCEL (via telephone): Yes. Well, Dr. Drew, thanks for having me on. Yes, I`m a first responder with the volunteer ambulance core, trained New York`s EMT.

PINSKY: So you knew what you were doing?

MARCEL: I knew exactly what I was doing, been volunteering with various emergency agencies for a number of years. So, before this happened as soon as it came on to the news and they were saying about possible evacuations, three days in advance before Sandy hit, I was well ready to go.

PINSKY: P.J., let me ask you this -- I`ll have Cade in on this as well -- if you are someone that believes you have equipment that can help save people and you want to get out and help but you`re not trained, should you do it?

MARCEL: Well, you can -- it`s evolution. Somebody is screaming for help, you`re going to run to them. If there`s a panic attack, you want to -- you`re going to focus -- somebody is having a panic attack, you focus your attention toward that individual or group.

So if you`re not trained, it`s not like you can`t be there to help. Somebody says help and they need help, your initial response is to respond even if you`re just a regular citizen and/or a trained emergency personnel.

PINSKY: Cade, how do we respond to that? I think all of us want to believe we are someone who would respond and wouldn`t be able to live with ourselves if we didn`t. Is that the appropriate thing to do and are there safer ways to do it or not?

COURTLEY: Good on you, P.J. He`s classic example of bad situations, leaders come. They show up and they do that sort of thing.

You need to understand, it was so devastating, to so many people, you need people to step up and help each other out. And absolutely you don`t put yourself in harm`s way unnecessarily, but you have to step up and help each other out. And, again, good on you. This is an example of what --

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: I was afraid you were going to say, no, stay home. Follow the authorities. Don`t do anything. I mean, we have to take risks if we`re going to save other people.

I want to go back out to Rita.

Rita, there was a lot of frustration when I was out there with FEMA and the federal response. What are you hearing now that things are getting so desperate? There was no place for these people to live, no answers, no trailers.

Why couldn`t they get them out, especially as desperate as things are now?

COSBY: Yes. You know, people are very angry and very outraged. I talked to some people at FEMA and Red Cross, they said, look, we came as soon as we could. But if you talk to any of the residents here, they said no.

And also, look at the situations. I mean, it`s blizzard conditions out here. You can see it, Dr. Drew.

There is so much snow. The temperatures are dropping. It`s going to be an extremely rough night here. The residents are just pleading for help, pleading for food.

In fact, the house, the one I was describing where that one family the only lights are on is because we`re providing lights off our truck.

PINSKY: Oh my goodness.

COSBY: Think about how difficult this is going to be. This is really dire. And they are begging for help and saying, help is not on the way soon enough.

PINSKY: OK, a couple of things here. When we get back, we`re going to talk -- Cade is going to give us the must-have survival kit. But before we do, at the end of the show on Monday, I was speaking to someone in New Jersey by the name of Ashley.

Ashley, I am so delighted you called in. We lost your phone number. Please do not -- do not sign off, do not hang up tonight without leaving your phone number with our staff here because I said I was going to call you back and here we are now. I didn`t get a chance to. I was worried about you.

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: Here`s the deal. You were desperate on Monday. Things, I imagine, are worse today. We get back from break, I want you to tell me how things are now. OK?

ASHLEY, CALLER FROM NEW JERSEY: You got it, Dr. Drew.

PINSKY: You sound a little better right now. So, I`m hoping things are good with you.

ASHLEY: No. They`re desperate.

PINSKY: But you`re laughing at least now.

We`ll talk about it after the break. Be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK CAMERADA, HOMEOWNER IN STATEN ISLAND: My body is shutting down. There`s no words to explain or express the stress, the pain, the suffering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: OK. So, Ashley called us at the end of our last program. And thank God she called in again tonight to give us an update and things have gotten more desperate.

Ashley, paint the picture for us. What happened and what`s going on now?

ASHLEY: Well, what`s going on now, Dr. Drew, is there is still no power. There`s over almost 400,000 customers still without power here in the Ocean County, Monmouth County area. I`m sorry about that.

PINSKY: How are you getting through this storm? You were hit with this storm surge.

ASHLEY: Yes.

PINSKY: You were complaining there was no one to lead you out of that mess and now this. How are people surviving?

ASHLEY: Well, now the governor has issued that we can only get gas on odd or even days. So if you don`t have an odd or even day and let`s say the storm is happening now. You can`t get -- you can`t get gas for your generators right now because you`re an odd or even number.

PINSKY: But, Ashley, what are people doing, Ashley? Normally would it not be true that if people had lack of -- didn`t have proper place to live and it got to 20 degrees, generally the authorities would round people up and put them in shelters.

What`s happening now?

ASHLEY: Yes. And the thing was, Dr. Drew, is that they wanted everybody out of the shelters today.

PINSKY: Why?

ASHLEY: Because they want to get schools back up and running and the shelters are in the schools. So they were kicking people out of shelters with nowhere to go!

PINSKY: So, Ashley, help me understand -- what are people doing? It sounds so desperate. What`s happening?

ASHLEY: So they reopened the shelter just for today and tomorrow. And then it`s basically on your own.

PINSKY: What are people going to do? Is FEMA there? Is Red Cross there?

ASHLEY: Well, the thing is that Red Cross is here, but they don`t have enough drivers with CDL licenses to drive the trucks to come help us.

PINSKY: So how many people are with you in your neighborhood? Are we talking about hundreds of people in that vicinity sort of trapped where you are?

ASHLEY: Yes.

PINSKY: Has anyone --

ASHLEY: Yes. And I actually got to move more inland because I haven`t had power through the storm. I lost, you know, over -- sorry about my phone. Over $200 worth of food and I don`t make that much. I`m not on food stamps. I`m not on assistance.

And, you know, that was my money for the month for food. You know when I mean?

PINSKY: Yes, I do.

ASHLEY: Because I can`t get like any assistance no matter where I turn. And you turn to FEMA --

PINSKY: Yes.

ASHLEY: -- and they want to give you a loan to pay them back. Yes, it`s low interest, but I can`t even afford to feed my family. How am I going to pay back the loan?

PINSKY: Ashley, how many people in your family?

ASHLEY: It`s me and my 7-year-old son.

PINSKY: Cade, when we get back, I want to talk to you about the five must-haves people need to be prepared for disaster.

And, Ashley, please stay with me. I`m going to be checking in with you over the next few days to make sure you get through this. I just -- it seems so insurmountable, this whole situation.

But, Cade, in addition to the five must-haves, one of the things I want to ask you -- I heard this over and over again. People are so crippled financially. How much money should be set aside for a disaster? Because that seems to be one of the lessons to be learned here is that people are really up against it and part of it is financial. I`m going to take a quick break and be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCEL: You got to come with us, babe! No, that`s what you got to do. Ma`am, we can`t get to you if you get sick!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: That is local hero P.J. Marcel who, himself, had been without power now for nine days. As a volunteer first responder, his life was placed in jeopardy by those who ignored evacuation orders.

P.J., you`re there. It`s cold. I`m hearing frustration about FEMA. I understand everyone is angry. I imagine you are, too. Tell me about it.

VOICE OF P.J. MARCEL, RESCUED QUEENS RESIDENTS DURING STORM: Well, Dr. Drew, let me tell you something, being well prepared for this, you`re always going to run out of resources at some time. Nine days into this, I had 20 gallons of gas to start for my generator, extra food on the table and candles, batteries and flashlights. It`s diminishing.

The Red Cross and FEMA, they`re say they`re doing a great job. I don`t see them. I don`t know where they are. You know, the resources are running low around here. People`s patience. No heat. No power. I don`t know how much longer we`re going to be able to put up with this.

PINSKY: And P.J., what is missing? Why -- wherever I went, I heard the same story. Now, whether you`re in Staten Island or Jersey or Rockaway Beach, wherever, same frustration. What`s missing? Is it the lack of leadership? Is that the federal government just doesn`t have the funds to do this? Tell me.

MARCEL: Well, Dr. Drew, let me be a realist with you, like I tell everybody. You got to sit down and relax before you panic. Everybody is in the state of panic. There`s no power, there`s no electricity. There`s no way to communicate. The phones are shoddy. You can`t have communication with loved ones, and friends, and family.

You can`t get the proper guidance by television and/or radios. People`s cars got wiped out. There`s no way to mobilize and move to another location. So, the panic is setting in, and that`s why a lot of these resources that are available are unable to -- you know, people are just unable to get them. They don`t know where they are.

PINSKY: They don`t know where they are. And the thing that I keep hearing is -- and Rita Cosby, I want to go out to you, too, is that the people are looking for a leader to emerge to sort of lead them out and give them a plan and a structure and move them forward. Are you hearing a lot of that kind of talk as well?

RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Yes, they feel like there`s no leadership.

PINSKY: And P.J., you were going to say, please go ahead.

MARCEL: I`m still here, Dr. Drew. I lost you for a minute.

PINSKY: But you started to make a comment. Go ahead.

MARCEL: Yes. I was going to say that they`re looking for a leader to emerge. You know, I have to say Senator Joe Addabbo here at Howard Beach done a wonderful job of preparing resources for any neighbors, neighborhoods in (INAUDIBLE) and Howard Beach to get supplies.

Household items and goods, and then, you`ve got people that are six blocks away that don`t know this is happening in Howard Beach and crying on the television that there`s no resources available. Meanwhile, they could just walk down the street.

PINSKY: Again, it`s this coordination and lack of information and plan. And the map you just saw shows -- you really get a sense it`s all over New England. It`s mid Atlantic state. It`s in Jersey. I mean, this is -- there`s the map again. I mean, this is a highly populated area. This is a massive piece of the population in our country that`s trying to weather this out tonight.

And within that massive area are people that are desperate and panicking, as we heard P.J. say. Rita, back to you. Are you hearing people start to get to the point of panic? And when they panic, where do they go when they do?

COSBY: Yes. You know what? People are panicked. And also, to P.J.`s point, they were saying when they opened these sort of distribution points, of course, they`re closed down now with the bad weather, but when they had the distribution points, they were telling me -- here I am, a member of the press, oh, we got the word out.

We put it out on the internet. I said, well, most people around here don`t have any power. They don`t have any internet. They said oh, I didn`t think about that. I mean, it just seems like they`re just not organized. They`re not put together. And in terms of panic, people here are very worried. I know tonight a number of people moved into shelters that were not in shelters before.

But also in the midst of all this, I want to tell you a glimmer of hope, Dr. Drew. Just about a minute ago, we saw a car come by and a woman, citizen, you know, sort of a guardian angel, if you will, in this neighborhood, the first person I`ve seen out in a long time came by and said is there anybody who needs food, water?

We`ve got hot blankets and we pointed out to the guy`s house, you know, down the block, the only house where we know there`s a family inside. And so, there are still some amazing stories of hope and neighbors helping neighbors.

PINSKY: Yes.

COSBY: -- extraordinary in these dire conditions.

PINSKY: Yes. And again, it`s people local, people helping people. Neighbor helping neighbor that is the consistent story in this. There`s really something to be learned here, guys. I mean, those of us that are not in the middle of the disaster, reach across the hall or the lawn and pay attention to your neighbors. This is a big deal. Let`s go to Charles in Staten Island. Charles, what do you got?

CHARLES, STATEN ISLAND: How are you doing, Dr. Drew?

PINSKY: Charles.

CHARLES: She`s right (ph). We don`t have no leadership here. We have nobody here actually taking control, coming down and saying, you know what, these people need light. These people need electricity. These people need heat. And we`re getting nowhere. And like everybody is saying, we are all starting to panic because now it`s very cold outside.

We don`t have heat. We don`t have electric. We have nothing here. What is this going to turn out to be?

PINSKY: And Charles my understanding is that some places had it for a short period of time and then it was turned off again because of the cold. There was concern about what that was going to do the system. And so, again -- go ahead.

CHARLES: I haven`t had anything since the storm hit. And where everybody else -- I don`t know if where we live. We have absolutely nothing. We have children down here. We have families. And everybody is just trying to live with nothing.

PINSKY: Charles, how do you get through this? What are you doing?

CHARLES: I`m just trying everything possible between me and (INAUDIBLE), my neighbors, and we`re just trying to keep warm and just do anything possible to wrap ourselves with blankets, keep the kids warm with blankets, keep them bundled up. You know, anything just to keep us warm and get it through the night. When you have nowhere to go, you have no choice but to deal with this.

PINSKY: Now, the -- we lost my connection with Cade. And before last break, I said he was going to give us the five must haves. I actually have them written down. He says have $100 in small bills available, at least one gallon of water per person per day. You can go three or four days without food but you cannot go a day without water, prescription medications at least two or three days, sealable plastic bag with passport, license, contact numbers, doctor.

And finally, he said flashlights with extra batteries and/or glow sticks to be able to see is a really important thing in the night. And again, in this case, it breaks my heart to think about what needs to happen. It was bad enough just to try to walk around your neighborhoods when it was sunny and cold out.

Now, it`s snowing and freezing. Get out of there. That`s all I can see. Find a place to live. Again, remember that website I found, BandB.com (ph) where people are hooking up people online. Again, how do you get online if you have no power? This is the really challenging part about all this. But, rely on others, reach out to those people close to you. Leaders will emerge.

Rita, thank you for joining us as well. Oh, and those of you who have generators, be careful. Do not use them indoors. The generators are a lifesaver right now, but do not use them indoors. Rita, I saw you there for a second. Thanks, Rita. Thank you to P.J. Marcel. You can go inside and get warm somewhere.

COSBY: Thank you.

PINSKY: Ashley in New Jersey, I`ll be checking in with you.

And again, next, we`re going to talk about something entirely different. I wonder if it`s germane to what`s happening here in these cities which is we -- these things we can`t afford anymore, including in a disaster. We`re going to talk about what now has made us so divided and what we needed to pull ourselves back together. Got a little panel generated. Be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: All right. We are changing gears tonight. And, obviously, we`re on the heels of an election. The question is, has politics made us a nation of haters or now that the presidential election is over, can we begin to come together, rebuild, solve problems? I`ve been talking all night tonight. And the last show about the horrible problems in a disaster. We can`t get that right.

And it`s starting to look to me like we can`t afford to get it right. I wonder if that`s the biggest sort of issue we have here is being able to afford anything anymore, both individually and as a country. Place your comments at 855 DrDrew5.

Please welcome attorneys Areva Martin and Lisa Bloom. Lisa is legal analyst for Avo.com. They both feel that our country is hopelessly split because of political and other issues. Kim Serafin, senior editor for "In- touch Weekly," a former spokesperson for the mayors of New York and Los Angeles. She says that now election is over, Americans will begin to come back together.

And finally, Andy Dean, host of "America Now with Andy Dean." Now, Andy, you say the problem is that people like Lisa and Areva see the world in a totally different way. And then you, you have at it first. What`s going on?

ANDY DEAN, HOST, AMERICA NOW WITH ANDY DEAN": Well, Dr. Drew, it`s simple math here. The country -- look, we all want free health care, free Obama phones, all this stuff, but somebody has got to pay for them. And the issue right now is we`ve run out of money in this country. And just like you being a doctor and you give a patient medicine and say you got to take this, otherwise, you`re going to die.

We got to take our medicine as a country. And right now, Barack Obama is unwilling to do that. And if we can`t get this solved, there`s going to be hyperinflation. If you want an example, look at Greece. This country could turn into that.

PINSKY: Areva, you`re shaking your head yes.

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: You know, Dr. Drew, Andy`s comment about we all want free medical care, who are you talking about? Middle class people have jobs. Middle class people, working people pay for what they need.

And these are the kinds of buzz words, you know, people want free stuff, that I think is really about masking so much of the racism and so much of the prejudices and biases that this election has brought out and has brought to the surface and that people don`t want to talk about, but I resent that comment.

I don`t want anything free. I want a job so I can buy what my family needs. And that`s what most Americans want.

PINSKY: Andy, hold on. You`re shaking your head and laughing. I`ll have Lisa pile on a little bit first -- Lisa.

LISA BLOOM, LEGAL ANALYST, AVO.COM: Yes. Andy and I have skirmished before on his show, and I respect you, Andy. But I`ve never even heard of an Obama phone. I don`t know what the heck that is. I mean, look, the point is we are divided as a nation. We`re divided because the right wing is opposed to gay rights.

We`re divided because the right wings opposed to reproductive rights for women. But guess what, most of the country has voted now, and the four states have voted in favor of marriage equality. Women stood up in record numbers in this election and said, you know what, we`re not going to stand for these assaults on women anymore.

So, I invite you, Andy, and all of your friends to join us as we go forward in human history toward social progress. Areva`s right. Nobody works hard (INAUDIBLE) middle class and the poor. Those kinds of comments are just insulting.

PINSKY: Kim I`m going to have you respond in just a second. But first, Andy, respond to that.

DEAN: Well, I mean, Drew, they ignored the subject, which is the country is running out of money. And they say, oh well, if the rich could just pay their fair share, do a little bit more. Right now, the top five percent pay 60 percent of the income tax and Obama wants to make that higher. That`s an entrepreneurship on business, and it hurts job creation.

PINSKY: All right. Kim, you --

BLOOM: I am an entrepreneur. I am a job creator. PINSKY: Hang on, Lisa. Hold on.

BLOOM: I own my own small business.

PINSKY: Hold on. Kim, you say things are going to be a little more moderate. You think things are going to come back together. First of all, how? And I wonder if state`s rights are going to begin to assert themselves again. I thought it was really interesting that we had these cannabis initiatives and we have gay marriages now.

States rights are beginning to step up and I don`t know -- that`s going to collide, I think, with the federal government at some point, but could that possibly be a healing mechanism?

KIM SERAFIN, SR. EDITOR, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": I think perhaps. I mean, I think that for every election.

PINSKY: I can`t hear Kim. Can you guys hear her?

SERAFIN: Can you hear me OK?

DEAN: I can`t

SERAFIN: All right.

BLOOM: No, but I`ll jump in on that, Dr. Drew.

PINSKY: Go ahead, Lisa.

BLOOM: You know, I think you`re making a good point about state`s rights. And we`ve always had state`s rights in this country --

PINSKY: Of course.

BLOOM: -- for 250 (ph) years where states can decide, you know, what they want to do. The question is, when you look at the red and blue on the electoral map last night, it is a little discouraging to see how divided we are. You look around the periphery of the country, it`s blue. And in the middle and the south it`s red.

But I also tell you, I`m here in Miami to do a speech. I speak all over the country. I just came from Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, all red states. And my message is very well received, the message about women`s empowerment and education. There`s a lot that unites us. And I hope we can all focus on what unites us.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOOM: People like you and me. We can focus on the common enemy, the common enemy of climate change, the common enemy of economic problems in this country, of cutting education, because there are bigger enemies out there than each other.

PINSKY: Now listen, this has been a horrific week, and there`s been a -- heroes have emerged.

MARTIN: Yes.

PINSKY: We have been coming together to help one another in our neighborhoods in the face of this disaster that we`ve been talking about through the show. The question is, can we come together politically and how do we do that? I want to hear from you on this issue as well. 855- 373-7395. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I so wish that I had been able to fill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy. That won`t change after tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: You know, we`re a show about human behavior and about human experience and I`m trying to stay non-political, but it`s hard not to when people are so split apart the way we are in this country. The leaders seem conciliatory. Adam, you`ve been the most inflammatory so far. Kim, I haven`t heard from you yet. I will in just a second, but I go to you, Adam.

Somewhere in here, I`m concerned that there is a problem coming where the federal government is going to collide with the states. I mean, I think the pot initiatives were very interesting. Those states have now said this is what they want to do. They should be allowed to do that if that`s what they want to do.

The federal government says no. How much should our federal government be intruding into the communities, into the states, and into our lives? Isn`t that really what`s going on here?

DEAN: You`re talking to me, Andy?

PINSKY: Yes. What did I say?

DEAN: That`s OK. Adam. My parents do that. What are you going to do? So, when it comes to drug laws, look, the federal drug laws in the books say no to marijuana, no to LSD and heroin. So, they states are going to legalize it. They`re still subject to federal laws. So, when it works in one direction, you have to respect it, just like with Obamacare.

The Supreme Court ruling said, hey, that has to fly. So, the states have to accept it. So, liberals can`t like it on one hand and then not like it on the other. I mean, that`s just what it is. The federal government supersedes the states.

PINSKY: Kim, help me with this. How are we going to heal these camps? How do we come together? We`re doing it for a storm in the northeast, I think. How do we continue to do it to solve the problems of our country?

SERAFIN: It is true. You see Bruce Springsteen and Governor Chris Christie clearly coming together, two people from opposite sides of the political spectrum. They managed to come together. So, I think that`s definitely a good sign, even though Chris Christie clearly taking some heat for it from maybe the far right of his party.

But I think after every election, you say, ah, this is the worst, most angry, most partisan election ever and then it turns out it`s not really and you figure out a way to go on and the world keeps turning. And I think you also have to look at the generational issues. Nineteen percent of the electorate was voters between 18 and 29.

So, those are people who maybe less identify with party labels, people who maybe climate change is an issue that`s important to them that`s not so much Republican/Democrat, marriage equality, and issue that`s important to them. Younger people don`t frame it as a Republican or Democrat issue necessarily.

So, I think just as the voting age, as younger people start becoming more active on the political scene, you`re going to see a change happening.

PINSKY: I think you`re right, although, some of the younger people are sort of ringing a libertarian kind of a bell I keep hearing. But look, those pictures of Governor Christie and Barack Obama coming together to help because of a disaster. I think that is sort of the metaphor for going forward. No, Areva, you don`t think so?

MARTIN: You know, we`ve seen this time and time again, Dr. Drew. What we`re ignoring is the race issue. And race is a very sensitive topic in our country. And we`re having this big discussion but we`re not talking about the elephant in the middle of the room, and that is this country is still divided along racial lines.

And unless, we`re willing to purge and to have these very difficult discussions that, you know, you in the medical field know sometimes we`ve just got to talk about the tough stuff. We`re not going to be able to heal.

Yes, in the midst of a crisis, we can get a Republican and a Democrat a Black person and a White person to go on television and tour community and talk about, you know, let`s getting along. But every study, every poll shows that this country is as divided today as it was pre-Obama, as it was during his election and every pundit expects that it will continue to be until we grapple with this ugly thing called race in this country.

PINSKY: And Lisa, you haven`t spoken in a couple of minutes. Couple of thoughts from you here?

BLOOM: Well, I think there is a lot that -- first of all, I agree with what Areva just said. And I also think there`s a lot that we share. For example, I wrote a piece about voter I.D. laws on Avo.com. I was very concerned that people were going to be deterred from voting. Apparently, that did not happen in any significant way.

People showed up in large numbers. They voted. They waited hours and hours in line. This is the kind of thing we can all get behind, but every American should vote. Every American should have basic social services. Of course, we all want to help storm victims, no matter whether they`re red, or blue, or black, or white.

I mean, we have to find these areas of commonality and enforce them. And I salute Obama and Christie for joining hands across parties to help one another and to support one another. They`re both doing a good thing. We need more of that kind of mutual --

PINSKY: I agree. That`s right. We`ve got to take a break. That is a great place to take a break. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: I`m still with my panel. I`m going out to Denise in New Jersey -- Denise.

DENISE, NEW JERSEY: Yes. Hi. What I said was there`s too many egos involved. I always felt when people went into politics it should be about diplomacy. People to see both sides of the coin. Everybody is about egos. We start this country, we were based on certain founding but we have all these people that are moving to this country.

There`s going to be a lot of different views, a lot of different religions, a lot of different thoughts and people are not fitting together and thinking about the country. They`re thinking about what they stand for in their own personal life and their own personal views, and this country is too diverse for that. We need them to put their egos aside and compromise.

PINSKY: I`ve got about 20 seconds. Who wants to respond?

DEAN: I`ll take it.

PINSKY: OK.

DEAN: I don`t think Denise made any sense. But as to Areva, everything is about race, just race -- it`s very dangerous behavior. It`s not about

MARTIN: It`s honesty, Andy. Get real, Andy.

DEAN: It`s all about race, like a chatty Kathy doll. We get it, you know?

PINSKY: All right, guys. At that, we could go on and on and on here. Let`s think in terms of commonality, common grounds, solving problems. We`ve got a lot to deal. We can`t afford much in this country anymore. We can`t even afford to help people who are out there, freezing tonight.

I want to thank Rita Cosby, I want to thank Cade Courtley (ph), Areva Martin, Lisa Bloom, Kim Serafin, Andy Dean of AmericaNowRadio.com, and all the callers and viewers. Remember to go online to help. I`m not going to read all this. Just remind you, Nancy Grace starts right now.

END