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Grammys Host Mass Wedding Ceremony; Macklemore And Ryan Lewis Win Top Honors; Race, Rap, Genre Collide At Grammys; Love Breakup In France's Highest Office; Rand Paul: Bill Clinton A "Predator"; Report: "Marlboro Man" Dead From Smoking Illness

Aired January 27, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Couldn't believe you were looking and seeing them, who was that person for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, OK, I have to say this. Ever since I was a kid, it was my dream that Madonna was going to sing at my wedding. I didn't know how it was going to happen --

BALDWIN: And you got it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and I got it, and so what I told every other couple there, I said you owe me a thank you because I have been manifesting this since I was 8 years old.

BALDWIN: Madonna, who else?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madonna is a big one. On our way out, we high fived Ringo and shook Paul McCartney's hand.

BALDWIN: Of course, you did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Sir Paul McCartney has very soft hands.

BALDWIN: Good to know. What more about the night? You said you mentioned you had to rehearse. Were your friends and family in on this or did you have to sign your lives away in some confidentiality agreement and you just said, mom, make sure you are watching the Grammys on Sunday night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, right, something like that. We did signed several weeks ago an agreement stating we would not share any information with anyone. That was only -- the restriction on that was only lifted earlier last week. We could share information with just close friends and family. We were only allowed at that time to say that "we were getting married on the Grammys," quote/unquote.

We really didn't know about the big names and who was going to be involved until we arrived at our first rehearsal, which was Saturday afternoon. We were then told to keep that under wraps. The world started finding out about it yesterday morning before the show. That's when the cat was out of the bag.

BALDWIN: Thanks for inviting us to your wedding, Gentlemen. We appreciate it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for coming. We loved having you.

BALDWIN: Best of luck to both of you, much happiness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much.

BALDWIN: Coming up, we will stay on the Grammys and the rapper, Macklemore, will talk about how he apologized to a fellow nominee for winning best rap album. Why? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's continue our conversation on the Grammys, some big winners and some even bigger shutouts at the 56th Annual Awards ceremony including the snub for the heavily nominated, Compton-based rapper, Kendrick Lamar.

His highly acclaimed debut album was expected to dominate the rap categories, but he didn't win one single trophy. Instead the top honors went to the Seattle-based rap duo we were just talking about, Macklemore and Ryan Lews. The snub has the hip hop world spinning.

Even Macklemore tweeted about this is. This is what he said on Twitter shortly after his win quoting him, he deserved being Kendrick Lamar, he deserved best rap album. I'm honored and completely blown. Macklemore also sent a text to Kendrick Lamar even apologizing further sharing that on Instagram.

This is what he said, quote, "You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It's weird and sucks that I robbed you. I was going to say that during the speech and the music started playing during my speech and I froze. Anyway, you know what it is."

Then that really is the question in the hours following. What is it that has this rap community in a firestorm about Macklemore's win today? Joining me now is CNN's political commentator, Marc Lamont Hill, talking to you because you also wrote a book called, "Beats, Rhymes and Class with hip hop pedagogy.

So Marc Lamont Hill, I know you have been all a Twitter on this. Why do you think when you read these back and forth with Macklemore and Kendrick Lamar, why do you think he felt guilty that he won?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, because first of all he knew he didn't have the best rap album of the year. Whether you like Macklemore or not and I think he's a great artist and great album that should have won some awards, he certainly didn't make the best rap album.

Kendrick Lamar not only had the best rap album of the year, but really one of the greatest rap debut albums in the history of the genre. So it sort of stunning that he didn't win, at the same time, it's not entirely surprising because in some ways last night the Grammys re- enacted an very old American ritual of white artists appropriating and taking credit for the creations of black artists. Now that --

BALDWIN: Give me another example. You are saying in addition to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis?

HILL: Well, let's look at who has won the award in the last 15 years. I think M&M has won it three or four times.

BALDWIN: Drake won it last year.

HILL: Yes, Drake did win it last year, but you know, Drake won it and others won it other than white artists, but it's interesting to see how white artists are overrepresented on the Grammy award list relative to how many artists there in the hip hop world. This is bigger than Macklemore. Let me clear. I'm not mad at Macklemore. Macklemore wouldn't do anything wrong. He didn't even really need to apologize. It's not his fault that the Grammy award people are stupid.

BALDWIN: Do you think he even belongs in the category?

HILL: It's a tough conversation. I mean, on some levels, yes. I don't like to police the boundaries of rap or hip hop saying you are not a rapper and you are a rapper because that can get really tricky. Yes, Macklemore is a rapper. Yes, he makes rap music. Does he make good rap music? That's debatable.

But what's interesting here is that we see Eminemification of this. We see it with Elvis and Justin Timberlake. I made that word up right on national television. There is a whole tradition of this in almost every genre of black music. We see it in blues and rock. It's frustrating.

For the same reason that we get frustrated when Elvis is called the king of rock 'n' roll when there are people like Little Richard and Chuck Berry feeling unrewarded. It's now Macklemore who is a rap artist or made the rap album of the year when Kendrick had one of the best artistic creations of the generation.

BALDWIN: Let me jump in because I was reading this "Time" magazine article just to broaden the conversation out to your point. This isn't just about Macklemore. No African-American artist had a number one hit on the Billboard's top 100 chart all of 2013. No Jay-Z or Beyonce or Kanye. Ten years ago, you know, many had top hits. I'm wondering why.

HILL: Well, I think there a lot of reasons. I think the genre has bent a little bit. Often times artists who would have been making number one rap songs are making different types of songs. Experimenting and playing. You see Ferrell who is deeply steep in the hip hop genre last night --

BALDWIN: He was all over.

HILL: Right, and with Daft Punk and other artists who aren't traditional hip hop artist. You saw Justin Timberlake who back in the day was making primarily hip hop stuff. He also embraced a Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z in a different kind of way. Exactly, so I think part of it the genre was bending. I think that's cool. I think it's ebbs and flows. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next two years. You see Little Wayne come back with the number one album and the number one song. I wouldn't be surprised if you see Drake come up with the number one song. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw Eminem on his next album come up with the number song.

That's all entirely possible. I'm cool with that. What I'm not cool with is when people take over a genre all of his resource and ask let's get all of the credit and then we end up having a reductive conversation about Macklemore whether he should feel guilty or whether he is good or bad. Macklemore is not the problem. It's the industry that doesn't reward black genius.

BALDWIN: Eminemification --

HILL: That's the word of the day.

BALDWIN: Marc Lamont Hill, thank you, my friend. I appreciate it.

HILL: My pleasure.

BALDWIN: And all of the music fans, make sure you tune in to CNN Thursday night for our one-hour special, "The 60's The British Invasion" see and hear how the Beatles influenced the sound of a generation, "The 60s, The British Invasion" premiers Thursday night, at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

A U.S. president pushing the first lady out of the White House, absurd, of course, but what's ridiculous here, this is reality in France. The reason the press came around this woman in India, she is particularly intense. This is the former first lady of France in her first public appearance since she and President Francois Hollande parted ways on Saturday. This break up is the culmination of weeks of scandal involving Hollande's reported love triangle.

She is in the middle and his partner is Valerie Trierweiler. Not a French last name, allegations of another woman. That woman is film actress, Julie Gayet. She is suing the magazine that first reported an affair. So joining me now, you can see her, CNN's international, Hala Gorani. So you know, high power political couples usually they try to, you know, stay together at least until they are out of office.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: In this case it was impossible for the president to ignore because there were these pictures of him published in a tabloid magazine of him apparently visiting his secret girlfriend, the 41-year-old French actress. He had to address it. Why?

Because his girlfriend, his partner if you will, was on the state payroll in the sense that she was officially the first lady of France. She had a staff and she had a title. Now she wants to put her name in where the page used to be. You get the page were looking at is non- existent. How cruel is the internet?

It's a 24-hour, the page is gone. She is in India right now on a previously scheduled charity trip. She was of course surrounded by journalists. This is criticism that you can love as a journalist, Brooke. This is a charity to highlight hunger in India. I don't think that many journalists would have been around the former first lady of France.

If there hadn't been this love triangle. She told journalists don't feel bad. She spent the week in the hospital for being treated for depression after the revelation that her partner was having an affair, an alleged affair. She said don't feel bad for me. I'm fine.

BALDWIN: So typically though in France, the pretty, they steer clear of private affairs for the most part.

GORANI: In the past, but you know, things are changing a little bit. First, you have social media. You have these tabloids magazine and do you remember the head of the IMF? He had that love scandal on that New York. That changed things a little bit. Little by little, French people even though they don't think that that means this is an impeachable offense or something that should require the president to step down, they are starting to talk a little bit more about the private life of their elected officials.

This is not just about his private life, Brooke, I mean, he was allegedly visiting his secret girlfriend on a scooter with the helmet on his head. Not daft punk, but the French president. We had allegedly the Secret Service protecting him and delivering croissants. People are a little bit upon set about that as anything. They are not saying he shouldn't be allowed to do it. He wants to. There has to be some accountability as to how state funds are spent. They need clarification on whether the partner is officially the first lady.

BALDWIN: My head is spinning a little.

GORANI: I know. I was thinking to myself, wow, this whole kind of diagram has been in my head for weeks now. People are talking about it in France before the big state visit to D.C. Francois Hollande is coming to Washington, D.C. on February 11th. He will be coming alone. He says he is now a bachelor and will live alone for the next 40 months of his presidency.

BALDWIN: We will look for the press to follow him in Washington. I am sure. Hala, thank you very much.

And as Congress, speaking of Washington, Congress snickers about everything and anything. I honestly did not expect Monica Lewinsky to be topic of debate here, but indeed she is. Find out why Rand Paul is bringing her up. Hillary Clinton may be getting ready for a presidential run.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It has been 13 years since he held public office, but there are signs, Bill Clinton could be an issue come 2016 if Hillary Clinton decides to run for president. Listen here to Rand Paul as he helps resurrect of all people, Monica Lewinsky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Someone who takes advantage of a young girl in their office, I mean, really. Then they have the gall to stand up and say Republicans are having a war on women? Yes, I think it's a factor. It's not Hillary's fault. It is a factor in judging Bill Clinton and his strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger joins me from Washington. She is our chief political analyst. You heard a little bit of the exchange with David Gregory. When asked if Bill Clinton might actually be an issue. He said it's hard to tell the Clintons apart. It does sound like Bill Clinton is fair game.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it sure seems like Rand Paul is sending a message to the Republican base saying I am very willing to go after the Clintons. Make that a plural. If Hillary Clinton becomes a front-runner in the Democratic Party, I think that's what the Republican base would like.

I think in terms of this so-called war on women that we have been talking about or war for women or whatever it is that coming up every four years, I think there could be a backlash to this. He did say if you point out with regards to the Clintons, it's hard to tell them apart. I don't know. It's easy for people to tell me from my husband. I don't think that's a problem. It could cause problems for him with women.

BALDWIN: OK, to your point, it does show he is willing to go there. This is something else. The more we think about it, the more thought provoking it is. This is Rand Paul talking about women here in 2014.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: This whole sort of war on women thing, I'm scratching my head because if there was a war on women, I think they won. I don't see so much that women are down thrive. I see women rising up and doing great things. I was worried about them doing great things because women are outcompeting the men in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So that's good to know, but what does that say to you about looking ahead to 2016 and how might Republicans campaign against the potential female.

BORGER: Again, I think this is Rand Paul taking a direct jab here at Hillary Clinton, one of her biggest pushes when she was secretary of the state. She talked about it now. She talked about it in the last campaign. It has been a big issue since she left office is advancement for women and girls not only in this country, but all over the world.

It is clearly something she cares very deeply about and is going to continue talking about. What Rand Paul was saying is like, OK, well, women, I think you are doing great. You are fabulous. You are wonderful. Things are fine. I don't really see that as an issue anymore. It was a direct jab at his potential rival.

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, thank you. Coming up, a family friend tells CNN the teenager who killed two people at a mall over the weekend left behind a journal that talked about being rejected by girls. That's not all we are learning today. Could this journal help provide a motive that is next?

But first this, a legally blind teenager sees the world differently, but that doesn't stop her from helping those in need. Chris Cuomo shows us how she is impacting our world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY" (voice-over): Meet 13-year-old McClaine Hermes, an avid reader and fierce competitive swimmer. Behind that smile lies a deeper story. She is legally blind. Her vision began to fail when she was 8 and doctors say in a few years she won't be able to see at all.

She wants your old shoes. In 2009, her father showed her an article about footwear soles being recycled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were giving people $5 discount or something on a new pair of shoes if they turned in shoes.

MCCLAIN HERMES, SHOES FOR THE SOULS: So we decided instead of recycling them, we collect them and would give them to people that needed them.

CUOMO: Shoes for the Souls was born. They say around 10,000 pairs of shoes have been collected over the past four years. Today, McClain is making a special delivery to an Atlanta homeless shelter. McClain challenges all teams to make a difference.

HERMES: If you have a dream and you think it's unrealistic, just keep on doing it. You will get there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The Associated Press reports one of the actors who played advertising smokers, the Marlboro man has died from a smoking-related illness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Come where the flavor is --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This Marlboro man from the 1970s, Eric Lawson was 72. The AP says he suffered from COPD. It's a pulmonary disease. When he began smoking reportedly at the age of 14, the nation was just beginning to learn the true dangers. Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look back at how cigarettes really transformed from habit to health hazard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make your own 30-day Camel mildest test in your t- bone.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: During smoking's hay day back in the 1940s and 50s, ads like this were common place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What cigarette do you smoke, doctor? In this nationwide survey of general practitioners, surgeons, specialists, diagnosticians and so on, the brand named most was Camel.

GUPTA: By 1950, American adults were smoking 4,000 cigarettes for every person every year. In 1952, Reader's Digest, then the country's most popular magazine published a two-page article, cancer by the carton. It was the first time a mainstream publication like this connected smoking to cancer. In 1955, the Federal Trade Commission forbade company from making positive health claims about cigarettes, blocking ads like this from Phillip Morris, scientifically proven to be less irritating to the nose and throat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Federal Trade Commission and Reader's Digest have done you a favor.

GUPTA: It's the moment that helped to launch fictional ad wiz, Don Draper, on ANC's "Mad Men."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We say anything we want. How do you make your cigarettes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're breed tobacco seeds, grow it, cut it, cure it, toast it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Everybody else's tobacco is toasted?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, everybody else's tobacco is poisonous, Lucky Strikes.

GUPTA: In fact that was an actual Lucky Strikes slogan in real life, but evidence of harm became overwhelming. On January 11th, 1964, Dr. Luther Kerry issued the very first surgeon general's report.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The strongest relationship between cigarette smoking and health was in the field of lung cancer --

GUPTA: The strong relationship, just how strong? He reported a 70 percent increase in mortality for smokers, heavy smokers at least 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers. The first warning on the pack in 1966 was a milestone, but also a major understatement. Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health. Today it gets right to the point. It causes lung cancer, heart disease and more. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)