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Don Lemon Tonight

Florida Governor Scott, Locked In Tight Senate Race, Calls For Investigation Into His Own Race; Questions Surround Acting Attorney General Whitaker; Democrats Call For Protection Of Mueller Probe; President Trump Rattled By GOP Losing House; Democrats Net 30-Seat Gain in House with Additional Races Still to be Called; Gunman Kills 12 People in California Bar Massacre; Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospitalized After Fracturing Three Ribs in Office Fall. Aired 11-12a ET

Aired November 08, 2018 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. And the polls closed two days ago. Some key races still undecided tonight. House Democrats have so far picked up 30 seats, but that number could grow as more outstanding races are called. Tonight some stunning news coming out of Florida. Governor Rick Scott who is running for the U.S. Senate is calling for an investigation of his own race against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson.

And also tonight, more fallout over the President's firing of Jeff Sessions. Sources telling CNN there is a growing sense of concern over the man who is now acting Attorney General. Many White House staffers were apparently unaware of Matthew Whitaker's multiple public statements questioning the Mueller investigation and undermining its premise. Whitaker plainly stated he doesn't believe in the basis of the investigation that he is about to be in charge of.

And Matthew Whitaker now has the authority to overturn anything Mueller does if he deals it. "So, inappropriate as he said or unwarranted under established departmental practices that it should not be pursued."

Well, protesters taking to the streets tonight, depending protection for the Mueller investigation. So we have a lot to discuss. Carl Bernstein is here is, also Max Boot. Max is the author of "The corrosion of conservatism, why I left the right," Douglas Brinkley joins us, as well. The famous and brilliant historian. We appreciate all of you.

So first, Max, what's going on down in Florida? Because the sitting governor, Rick Scott, ordering an investigation deploying law enforcement over an election that he is in charge of. Does this sound OK to you?

MAX BOOT, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: It doesn't. I mean, listening to Rick Scott, I mean, his primary evidence that there is fraud seems to be his voter margin is going down which would seem to be an indication that he is not getting as many votes as he would like. That is not indication there's fraud or there is a reason to declare a crisis. And so I think this is very suspicious, especially when Donald Trump joins in and is tweeting about how there is some massive scandal going on in Florida, that being a member of Donald Trump's Party may be in danger of losing his election.

LEMON: Let us read that tweet. Carl, I want your response here, he said, this is what the President tweeted. Law enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with election fraud in Broward and Palm Beach, Florida. Voted for Rick Scott, a scandal, corruption. I mean, does it sound like the President's getting ahead of the facts here?

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It does. We have a larger problem which is that it's become almost impossible with this President to have an administration of justice in this country that proceeds in a bipartisan and factual way. That the waters are so muddied by his misstatements and also by everything being so highly politicized, particularly by Republican secretaries of state on this question of voter suppression. We need to find a mechanism that somehow the two parties and the people of this country can come together on in which people's votes count.

And that every indication we have so far in all of these allegations going back for years is that voting fraud is a very, very minutia part of votes cast and there's no reason to trust Donald Trump on anything he is ever said about casting ballots and so called illegitimacy in elections.

LEMON: Doug, let us talk about the margins here. Because they're getting tighter both the Senator's and governor's race. We may see automatic recounts for both. Florida, Florida, Florida. Why is it always Florida?

[23:05:00] DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, because everything that is loose in the country goes into in to Florida like a giant chute and everybody there squabbles. And you know, it's a state that has extreme environmentalists. There's a red tide going on in Florida now and the everglades are disappearing. But it's also been ground zero in the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King had his famous fight in St. Augustine. It's just divided between right and left. A lot of money goes into the state. It's on the Eastern Time zone. Donald Trump lives in Mar-a-Lago. Brought a lot of media attention there recently. Most famously 2000 with Gore and Bush. And that is one of the defining moments of our time when Al Gore ended up losing in Florida after it went to the Supreme Court. So dangling chads.

LEMON: Don't remind, please. I still have -- nightmares about that.

BRINKLEY: I know. We've got memories. It is, but the other story, Don, Florida yesterday's Democrats are in control of Pennsylvania and Michigan now which means in 2020, the Republicans at all cost have to have Florida or there's no way they're going to be able to win and hence, this is important for Republican Party that Rick Scott is able to persevere over Bill Nelson right now. LEMON: I want to get something else in. Because we're going to be

talking about this whole thing that is happening in Florida, Georgia, as well if that goes to a recount. Max, let us talk about Matthew Whitaker, the new and acting Attorney General, because Jeff Sessions was fired, asked to resign which means he is fired. Do you think he is now the acting A.G. because he is a frequent critic of the Mueller investigation?

BOOT: It certainly looks like it. I mean, it's hard to see what other qualifications he has. And you know, there was that very compelling article that came out today from Neil Patel and George Conway, Kellyanne Conway's' husband saying that this is a violation of the constitution to appoint somebody who was not confirmed by the Senate as the acting Attorney General.

And it's pretty clear why he was appointed, because he has this record of trashing the Mueller investigation. I mean, he has denied that there was Russian interference. He has denied there was obstruction of justice. He has denied there was collusion. I mean, he has prejudged the case before becoming Bob Mueller's supervisor. This is so improper on its face. This is so worrisome about what it means for the rule of law.

LEMON: One second. Carl, because I think it's interesting what you say. Why does George Conway keep doing that it is against the White House position when his wife is -- I mean?

BERNSTEIN: I think he feels strongly about these things. And you know, he is a lawyer with tremendous -- he has tremendous conservative credentials, but he is really broke within his federalist society brethren. And the question you should really ask is not why as George Conway speaking out, why are all these other conservative lawyers not speaking out when the rule of law is under assault from the President of the United States.

LEMON: You say that this is -- that you believe that this is all about a Presidential coup?

BERNSTEIN: It is a Presidential coup to undermine the administration of justice and the rule of law in the United States. Such as we have never see. In Watergate, what we had a secret conspiracy led by Richard Nixon to undermine free elections to obstruct justice. This is being done by a President of the United States in plain sight. He is not trying to hide anything. He is saying to his base, he is saying to Republicans, go with me to shut down this investigation by this new appointment that I have made. Plain sight, obstruction, undermine. It is unprecedented. It is a slow motion Saturday night massacre.

LEMON: You've been saying that for a long time ever since this all started. You were saying it was a slow motion Saturday night.

BERNSTEIN: Well, and I wrote a piece in the Washington Post saying that at some point this was going to come. Now it has. And the price is so high institutionally in terms of the constitution. And in terms of what it means to have a functioning democracy with three branches of government that functions.

The fact that Republicans have gone along with this and continue to and Watergate, the big difference is that when Nixon fired Archibald Cox and you the resignations of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, the Senate by a 77-0 vote unanimous voted to create the Senate Watergate committee, because Republicans joined with Democrats to say, we cannot have this kind of obstruction. It's not -- we should not make light of this.

LEMON: No, I'm not. That is an honest question.

BERNSTEIN: No, of course, we're not going to have any such thing. And indeed, Trump has had cover from the Republican Party in Washington. He has been the President of his base, not the President of all the people of this country nor has he made any attempt to be the President of all the people of this country.

[23:10:00] LEMON: It's surprising to me, Douglas, as much as you know folks are concerned at the White House with cable television, right? That there's a growing sense of concern there over the negative reaction to Matthew Whitaker that they didn't know about his stance and so on. I mean, come on. Did they think everything that he said about the Russia probe wouldn't be on full display here? Didn't they do, what do they call it, extreme vetting on him?

BRINKLEY: Well, they should have with Matt Whitaker, but Trump kind of snuck him in under the wire here in many ways. This is somebody who absolutely cannot be overseeing the Russia probe. He needs to recuse himself. The word recuse can't be said enough when it comes to Whitaker. Let's hope he does that, but the Democrats now had won congress.

The DNC mentioned they got over 30 seats. And Nancy Pelosi is going to matter, because if Donald Trump dares to fire Mueller and dismiss the report, then you will have a new Congress, 100 percent looking for his tax returns starting to doing subpoenas of Trump and really looking into his financial transactions in a way that Mueller may or may not have.

So I think Donald Trump's got to take the hard medicine that Mueller very well may accuse him of obstruction of justice and Trump's going to say that is not obstruction, it's called the firing of James Comey and others and it is going to become a big fight coming up in the next few weeks. Really, I think January is the showdown month.

LEMON: Go ahead.

BOOT: One thing I just want to point out quickly on what Doug said is that they don't have to fire Mueller. This is the strategy that Matt Whitaker outlined before. He said that basically the acting Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General can starve Mueller of resources and can prevent him from having the money to go forward, can whittle down his mandate, so he can't look at everything that he is looking at right now. That could we'll be the strategy.

That will it be much harder for Democrats in the House to stop. That is why this is so insidious and it's so incredibly important that Whitaker not take this job that he has to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation.

BERNSTEIN: I'm going to suggest it's too late because the damage has already been done in all likelihood. What has driven Trump up the wall and I've talked to people he express this had too is the fact he does not know what is going on in the Mueller investigation. And now as a result, he now has in the Fox guarding the hen House, he already has his person there who is now looking into what it is that Mueller has and can report back to the President and the President can demand to see it with legitimacy except it again is an obstruction at the same time.

LEMON: Hold those thoughts. I'm going to have you guys stick around for another block here. Would Matthew Whitaker approve a subpoena of President Trump? And what would that mean for the investigation? We'll be right back.

[23:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Multiple sources telling CNN that Robert Mueller's team has begun writing its final report. But now the playing field has changed with Rod Rosenstein no longer in charge of the Russia investigation. I'm back now with Carl Bernstein, Max Boot and also Douglas Brinkley. So, let's talk about what's going on. CNN is reporting Robert Mueller's team has begun writing its final report. Rod Rosenstein -- it's going to be Matthew Whitaker. Is that a problem?

BOOT: If Whitaker tries to suppress or alter its findings, absolutely that is a huge problem. I think this is where the fact that the Democrats have taken control of the House is incredibly important, because they will be able to subpoena Mueller's report. That will make it much more difficult to hide that. Although you could imagine the President trying to claim executive privilege and you could imagine a court fight going all the way to the Supreme Court, but the playing field is a little bit fair now with Democrats in control of at least one House.

LEMON: But the "Post" is reporting, Carl, that Whitaker wouldn't approve a subpoena.

BERNSTEIN: That apparently is true. He won't approve a subpoena to the President of the United States. And it may end up there that the President will not be subject to questioning.

LEMON: Let me ask you something, because you mentioned, you said a slow -- did you say this was a slow move, is all about a coup, a slow- moving coup.

BERNSTEIN: Not a coup -- a coup to undermine the administration of justice.

LEMON: OK, fine, I get you. OK, but you also have been mentioning what you called a cold civil war. And you think that has something to do with the President's reactions to this election and? BERNSTEIN: Well, I think -- look, we are in the midst of a cold civil

war in this country that Trump has -- that precedes Trump and he has brought to the point of ignition. And what we saw yesterday was a rage-aholic President, almost as we've never seen him. And that he is in a rage among other things, the reason he is so enraged at the press is that the press is the reason in his mind that the Democrats won the House.

And the reason than Mueller is still there doing his job. And he is not all together wrong about that, the President of the United States, because the press indeed has held him accountable for his lying and lying and lying and lying. And that figures in the results that we saw coming from the polls across the country and enabled the House to be taken by the Democrats. And it also has enabled Mueller to stay with Rosenstein there proceeding with his investigation. He has not been able to shut it down. Now he is finally is in the process.

LEMON: Even his reaction afterwards when it didn't look like Democrats could win, by over winning by such a large margin and now, there are places are now where Democrats are still winning. And so I'm sure that does not sit well for the President. I've got Douglas, I want to bring you in here and I want ask you about something that "The Washington Post" is reporting tonight. And this is from the former first lady's book. And she talks about this President and the whole birther lie that he carried on for years and years and years.

[23:20:03] And she said, this is from former first lady Michelle Obama. The whole birther thing was crazy and mean spirited, of course. Its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed. But it was also dangerous, deliberately meant to stir up the wing nuts and kooks, she writes. What if someone with an unstable mind loaded a gun and drove to Washington, what if that person went looking for our girls? Donald Trump with his loud and reckless innuendos was putting my family's safety at risk and for that, I never forgive him. What do you think of that?

And that is from the National (inaudible) page, by the way. Go on.

BRINKLEY: You know, I got to read the memoir. Or I signed a nondisclosure agreement and actually read becoming a Michelle Obama's powerful book that comes out next Tuesday. And that is in it. "The Washington Post" I can confirm has the correct quote there. And Michelle Obama is somebody who is very upset at Donald Trump's behavior particularly in a string of stories that talk about her children. And that how threatened she felt once the birther conspiracy theory kicked in and the fact that Obama was a, her husband was a secret Muslim.

And actually grapples in this book with right wing extremism and what Trump's spinning of ugly conspiracy theory meant for her as a mom and living in the White House and feeling threatened. Remember the White House was shot at, people forget that at one point during the presidency when all these stories were coming out and the alt-right media.

LEMON: Again, I'm going to bring you in, Max. She says that it is underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed.

BOOT: That bigotry and xenophobia is in plain sight right now as well, Don. Certainly you saw it in plain view during the midterm campaign I mean, to the point that Mrs. Obama was making about the conspiracy mongering about birtherism. We've always had conspiracy in this country. People who thought that Eisenhower was a Russian agent or that the moon landing was fake.

We've never had before is we never had a conspiracy monger in the White House and Donald Trump continues to propound crazy conspiracy theories even as President. For example, suggesting that George Soros was behind the Central American caravan. This is very corrosive. This is an assault on truth. This is an assault on sanity. Emanating from the White House.

LEMON: Go ahead, Carl?

BERNSTEIN: It's a war on truth. That has been why he has been strong to his base.

LEMON: Before you do that, and I'll let you finish what, do you think of the first lady's remarks?

BERNSTEIN: I would like to read the whole book. I think the important thing she is talking about there and Max is saying, as well, Donald Trump has done all of this in plain sight. He is made no attempt to hide the conspiracy. He is out there with the wild conspiracies? It helped carry him to the White House. And now it is the basis by which he governs.

And he governs through his words, through his conspiracies. Through appealing to this base that goes along with this including the Congress people who are in the Republican Party in a position to stop it and have done nothing whatsoever to say hey, we cannot have this.

LEMON: Yes. Douglas I'm paraphrasing here, but she says she is put -- the former first lady, put off by politics and seen nothing in the last 10 years that would change that and that she is not going to run. I don't think she was. I mean, she stood by her husband. But it is my understanding that she wasn't a big fan of him running in the first place. She was never a big fan of politics.

BRINKLEY: Absolutely.

LEMON: You can understand why.

BRINKLEY: Well, you know the reasons why. She just wasn't wired that way, but she fell in love with Barack Obama. She fell in love with his great grin and his warm heart and they became this storybook fairy tale couple. And you know, the memoir which is going to be this megahit, Don. This thing's going to sell so many copies I can't even tell you because it's not a Washington cookie cutter book memoir.

It's a beautiful piece of literature that she is done. A lot of it is uplifting about you know, Chicago and her childhood and her parents on and on. The Trump parts and you've just quoted one part from the "Post," but I think the Trump parts are obviously going to garner a lot of media attention, because we would think maybe she tried to avoid that clash, but no, she goes right at the President of the United States for intimidating her family and for lying to the American people and for being a misogynist.

LEMON: She says according to "Washington Post," Max, that her body buzzed with fury after hearing the Access Hollywood tapes, I mean a lot of people can relate to that.

BOOT: I mean, I don't blame her. I mean I think everybody with any sense of decency should be buzzing with outrage on a daily basis about the things that Donald Trump says and does.

[23:25:05] I think what's alarming to me is the way it's been normalized and we kind of accept it and we move on. There's so many outrages piling up. I mean, we don't have time to talk about the facts that he barred, you know, for example, Jim Acosta from the White House, because there is a more important scandal which is that he fired Jeff Sessions and installed this henchman at the Justice Department. There is something every single day. It's normalizing this kind of craziness. And I think it's -- you know, Mrs. Obama is to be commended. We can't lose that sense of outrage about what he is doing.

LEMON: I got to go. We're out of time. Thank you all. I appreciate it. Thank you.

From NFL linebacker to frontlines of congress, Congressman elect Colin Allred joins me on his historic win. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Democrats have netted at least 30 seats in the House, and there are few key races still to be called. This blue wave is bringing in newcomers who could shape Congress for years to come. And one of those newcomers is Colin Allred.

He is a former NFL player-turned attorney, now turned congressman- elect. We spoke to him the night before the election, and he joins me now. Congressman-elect, thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us. Congratulations on your win.

COLIN ALLRED (D), CONGRESSMAN-ELECT IN TEXAS: Yeah, thank you so much, Don. Really happy to be with you.

LEMON: You beat a congressman who represented your district for over 15 years. How do you think you pulled that off?

ALLRED: Well, I think that my opponent had lost touch with this district. And I had a story to tell about who we were here in North Texas. This is where I was born and raised, and I think I had a story to tell about what we do and what we can do when we invest in each other and when we give folks a chance. People responded to that. And I'm so proud of everyone in this community who got involved in our race, who spent their precious evenings and their weekends talking to their neighbors. I think that was the difference maker for us.

LEMON: You said you -- that folks gave you a chance. You are happy that folks gave you a chance. So, in giving you the chance, I guess, you know, they think that you're going to be their voice. So, what are the issues? You spent a lot of time talking about issues, but what are the issues that are important to them?

ALLRED: Yeah, well, as we talked about the other night, health care is definitely number one. And I think people were worried about what was going to happen with health care. They were worried that we were going to lose those protections for pre-existing conditions like breast cancer which my mom has had. And I think they understood that this is something that probably shouldn't be a political football but it had become one.

We also have some things that are unique to our area like infrastructure. We're one of the most rapidly growing areas in the country. If you come down here and drive on our streets, you will feel that. We need to invest in infrastructure. We have jobs that we can't fill because we haven't done enough on job training. We need to invest in that as well.

LEMON: Yeah. So, another issue, you know, is going to be that you are going to have to deal with and that is gun violence. Mass shootings, sadly. Another devastating mass shooting last night. Twelve people killed at a bar in California. Give me your stance on gun violence.

ALLRED: Yeah. Well, we clearly have to do something. This is a public health crisis in my opinion. And it begins with universal background checks on the sale of all guns. There are loopholes that are open right now that we absolutely must close.

This is something that I think is consistent with the Second Amendment, consistent with the Supreme Court's rulings in this area, and it is something that I think the majority of responsible gun owners here in Texas agree with.

We already have a pretty rigorous process here for getting a concealed handgun license. I think people understand that this just keeps people safe.

LEMON: Yeah. So, people in D.C., lawmakers have been trying to tackle this issue forever. You know that. But with a Republican Senate passing gun legislation -- I mean, that seems unlikely. Is there a risk that you won't be able to deliver anything to your voters on this issue?

ALLRED: Well, you know, Don, as you know, it took decades to get the civil rights act. It took decades for us to get women's suffrage. Sometimes fights are worth having even if you can't get them done immediately. And I think the American people, certainly the people of my district, expect us to try and get something done on this, to take common sense steps. And if folks stand in the way of that, I think there's going to be political consequences for doing that.

LEMON: Yeah. Let's talk about another race in your state and that was a race for senator, because Beto O'Rourke, able to get much closer to unseating Ted Cruz than many people thought even possible. I think he did actually a little bit better than the polls showed. Do you think some of the energy, money directed at O'Rourke helped you, some of that attention?

ALLRED: Absolutely. Absolutely. It was a very good thing for us. This was a great election for Texas, and I'll tell you why. It's not just a great election for Democrats here in Texas, because we just haven't had competitive statewide elections here in far too long. And as you know, when you have that, sometimes you don't have the accountability that comes along with that.

And I think that what Congressman O'Rourke was able to do was really, I think, highlight some things that were important to Texans that I hope Ted Cruz will listen to in the Senate, and he got so many people excited. It certainly helped our race, it helped our state House races. It was good for our democracy.

LEMON: So, Democrats won back the House, right? House Democrats are going to have to vote soon on leadership. That includes picking a speaker. Ten Democrats have told Politico that they don't support on Nancy Pelosi's bid. Given the size of a Democratic majority, she really can't afford to lose too many members.

[23:35:01] Do you support Leader Pelosi's bid?

ALLRED: Well, what I've said from the very beginning, and this goes back over a year, is that I want to see what my options are. I want to see who is running. I want to have conversations with them about what their plans are for the caucus, for the country. And I think this position gives me some leverage. It gives me the ability to get some commitments for things for North Texas.

That's what's most important to me. Here in my district, I'll be honest with you, we didn't talk a lot about Nancy Pelosi or about this. It's not I think on the top of the mind of most of the folks that I talked to.

LEMON: Thank you, congressman-elect. I appreciate your time.

ALLRED: Thank you so much, Don.

LEMON: Twelve people killed in yet another mass shooting overnight, not even two weeks after the mass shooting in Pittsburgh in the Pittsburgh synagogue. The astonishing number of people in this country who continue to die in gun violence and why it just keeps happening.

[23:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: It has happened yet again in America. A mass shooting. Another scene of carnage and mass murder. This time at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, northwest of Los Angeles. A gunman killing 12 people before apparently killing himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): We're making entry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): We're making entry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): We got multiple people down. We need a lot of ambulances.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): There are multiple shots being fired in the back northwest area.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Witnesses say there was a stunned silence inside the bar as the gunman opened fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEOFF DEAN, SHERIFF, VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: It appears he walked up to the scene. He shot the security guard that was standing outside. He stepped inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, WITNESS: These big pops, pop, pop, pop. I saw him point to the back of the cash register, and he just started kept -- he just kept firing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The gunman is identified as 28-year-old Ian David Long, a marine veteran who served in Afghanistan and was often seen at the bar. Tonight, authorities have identified a Facebook post that they believe he posted around the time of the attack.

Here's what it reads. "I hope people call me insane. Wouldn't that just be a big ball of irony? Yeah, I'm insane, but the only thing you people do after these shootings is "hopes and prayers" or "keep you in my thoughts." Every time. And wonder why these keep happening."

Why are these mass shootings still happening time after time after time? I want to replay for you, if you will, the very words we wrote on this show right after the murders at the high school in Parkland, Florida. This was back in February. It broke our hearts. Every single one of these shootings, they always do break our hearts. That was nine months ago. And it says if we wrote the script tonight after this latest massacre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): This is a sickness that has infected the country. Unchecked and unfettered gun violence. Today, 17 lives are over. Seventeen families are torn apart. Parents who sent their kids to school this morning. Imagine that. Many people send their kids to school, just like they've done every other day for years.

They trusted their kids would be safe. Teachers went to work this morning, trusted that they would be safe in their space, in their work environment. The way we all should be safe in our work environments every day, everywhere. In our schools, our churches, our offices, at concerts, at nightclubs. Do you feel safe tonight?

There's another fact that we need to face. Every single one of us is just playing the odds at this point. The odds that in a country of 325 million souls, that we won't be the ones who get hit by the next bullets that start flying.

We won't be the one that gets that phone call about someone you love who did. Your son, your daughter, your brother, your sister, your spouse or your parent, even a friend, anyone you know. The phone call that changes your life.

But with every deadly shooting in this country, the odds get worse and worse and worse. Are you really willing to keep playing those odds? Your life is too precious for that. The lives of our loved ones are too precious. The lives of people in our cities and towns are too precious. Have we forgotten that life is a gift?

It's a disgrace that this is still happening after Sandy Hook, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Emanuel AME Church, Pulse nightclub shooting, Las Vegas, the list goes on and on and on. This is who we are right now. But is this really who we want to be? A country where anybody at any time could be shot to death.

And then when a bunch of people are killed and lives are shattered, we are sad and maybe angry and then we forget and we move on until the next time, with the tragedy remaining in the headlines for even a shorter time than it did before.

So just forget politics here. This is about lives. The lives of all Americans. We need to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Everyone agrees with that. People who oppose gun control will say today is not the day to talk about it.

[23:45:00] And you know what? They are absolutely right. Because the day to talk about it was weeks, months, years or decades ago. And yes, of course, we also need to make mental health a priority in this country.

But guess what, we can do both. We can do both of those things at the same time. If we don't, we have no one to blame but ourselves. This is America, people. Don't forget that. I know that we are better than this.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: So, what's happened since the Parkland murders? Since I said that? More shootings than we could possibly go through. So here are just a few of them. OK? The gunman fatally shot four people in a waffle house in Tennessee. That was in April. A gunman killed 10 at a Texas high school. That was May. A shooter killed five in a Maryland newsroom. June.

In California, in September, a gunman went on a shooting spree killing five and then himself. And less than two weeks ago, a gunman kills 11 worshipers in a Pittsburgh synagogue. Mass shootings in America. A crisis and a sickness.

[23:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs after falling in her Supreme Court office last night, the court said in a statement. Ginsburg, who is 85 years old, was hospitalized for observation and treatment. She became the second woman to serve on the high court and is now a progressive and pop culture icon.

So, joining me now is Irin Carmon, the co-author of "Notorious RBG" and everyone loves that name. Good evening. Thank you so much for joining us, Irin.

IRIN CARMON, NATIONAL REPORTER, MSNBC: Thank you for having me, Don.

LEMON: You know, you literal wrote the book on Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Talk about the reaction to her latest health scare.

CARMON: Well, from the moment that I woke up -- I'm in the west coast -- from the moment that I woke up, I started getting panicked messages from the many people out there who love Justice Ginsburg. They're of course concerned when they see a headline that says that she's in the hospital.

But that said, I am here to reassure all of Justice Ginsburg's fans. She has certainly been through worse. She is extremely resilient. I actually just this evening spoke to her trainer, Bryant Johnson, author of "The RBG Workout."

And I can exclusively report that he is not worried. So, if her trainer is not worried, I am not worried. He calls her tough as nails, and he says that he's pretty sure he's going to have to hold her back --

LEMON: Yeah.

CARMON: -- from having to do more push-ups.

LEMON: Oh, my god. OK. So, listen, let's talk about -- she's been through -- this is the first time that she's had a major medical scare. Can you tell us more about her health history?

CARMON: She has had some serious bouts with hospitalization in the past. In 1999, she had colorectal cancer. Ten years later, it was caught very early that she had a pancreatic tumor and it was removed in stage one. She has actually previously been hospitalized for a bruised rib, and she also had a heart stent put in in 2014.

But funny story about that 2014 heart stent. My co-author, Shana Knizhnik, who started the "Notorious RBG" meme, actually had an appointment to come see her in chambers right after that. She thought it was going to be canceled because, of course, Justice Ginsburg had just been in the hospital.

But when she arrived and the meeting was still on, she asked Justice Ginsburg if she had any message for her fans, and again, she's about 10 days out of the hospital at this point, and Justice Ginsburg said, tell them I'll be back doing push-ups next week.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: She never missed a day on the bench, despite all of that?

CARMON: Yes, and I believe that is a record that she still holds, because I believe the court was not sitting today, so we shall see how quick her recovery is. Of course, she should take all the time that she needs.

But despite all the serious health issues that she's faced in the past, despite the fact that she is the oldest justice on the Supreme Court and has served for 25 years, that is a record that she holds.

She's never missed a day on the bench. She was even on the bench shortly after the death of her beloved husband, Marty, because that's how she is -- how committed she is to getting the job done.

LEMON: You know, as I said, she's become a folk hero on the left. Many young people, young women absolutely love her. There's a lot of concern around the country about her, about her and her well being, and as you said, you know, you were extremely concerned this morning, many people were having panic attacks about it. Talk to me about that.

CARMON: Well, I've seen a lot of people who are offering to donate ribs --

(LAUGHTER)

CARMON: Donating ribs, obviously, not being a thing. People who are asking to wrap her in bubble wrap, a bubble around the entire Supreme Court, if possible. I understand why people are concerned. It's not great to see that someone is in the hospital, especially someone who is one of nine lifetime appointments.

Definitely folks who are fans of Justice Ginsburg don't want to see Donald Trump or a Republican Senate replace her. But to the extent that a two-time cancer survivor who is 85 years old is robust and healthy in mind and body, she certainly is.

LEMON: Yeah, 85, one of only four liberals left on the court. If she were to retire, it would flip a liberal spot to a conservative judge and make the balance 6-3, possibly for a generation.

[23:54:59] No one is probably more aware of that than she is. CARMON: Yes, of course. And she's made it really clear that she is going to stay on the bench as long as she can do the job at full steam. She's mentioned before that Justice John Paul Stevens retired at age 90, he's still out there, he's still writing.

I think she has every intention of staying put and seeing the work that she's committed her entire life to, which is the cause of equality and justice, seeing it all the way through for as long as she possibly can.

LEMON: Irin, we really appreciate it. Thank you so much for an update on RBG.

CARMON: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Thank you so much.

CARMON: Thank you. Good to be with you.

LEMON: Absolutely. And thank you for watching. Our coverage continues.

[24:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)