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3 Dead, 22 Injured After a Car Plowed Into a Crowd of Spectators Watching Oklahoma State University Homecoming Parade; Hurricane Patricia Quickly Weakened Once it Hit Land in Mexico; Democratic Candidates Scheduled to Speak in Front of a Crowd of 6,000 People; Ben Carson Leading Trump in Iowa in Two Separate Polls. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 24, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:09] POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: 3:00 eastern, I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you live from New York.

And we begin with breaking news out of Oklahoma. Three people are dead, 22 more injured after a car plowed into a crowd of spectators watching the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade today.

Sara Ganim is with me. She is following the story.

Typical Saturday afternoon. Everyone is celebrating. Three people dead, 22 injured.

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Supposedly to be a joyous event. And police are now saying this was a DUI-related crash. In addition to the three that are dead, Poppy, eight are critically injured, were airlifted from the scene. There are seven more serious injuries. And on top of that, seven more of who were what police call walking wounded.

We know that the crash reconstruction team is on the scene. They say it may take several days to figure out what happened. From eyewitness accounts, they know that this driver which was apparently speeding went through a police motorcycle that was parked acting as a barricade and into the crowd of people. You can kind of see from the photos that we're showing you here that it clearly went into the crowd, clearly injuring several people.

We know, also, Poppy, that this driver was arrested. Her name is Adacia Chambers. 25 years old. She is a resident of Stillwater, Oklahoma. And she is now in jail charged with DUI.

HARLOW: And we will see what other charges may come considering you have three deaths already. The university, what's the university saying?

GANIM: The University, you know, talking about how this is supposed to be a joyous day, and it was really stolen from them. They are emphasizing, though, it was a tough decision for them to make, whether or not they were going to go through with the game today. They are going to play it. But I want you to take a listen to what the university president said how difficult that decision was. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS HARGIS, PRESIDENT, OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY: The Oklahoma state homecoming parade is probably one of the most wholesome, happy events in the country. And to have it fouled like this and these victims is terrible tragedy. We reach out and embrace the victims and their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANIM: The other thing police are asking for is help from people who are there, you know. It was a big crowd. And they are assuming that there is, in addition to more eye witnesses, they are hoping that there are video evidence that they can use to work from as this investigation moves forward.

HARLOW: Again, a 25-year-old under arrest in jail, three people dead, eight critically injured.

Sara Ganim, thank you very much. We'll keep you posted on this.

Also, we are tracking what was hurricane Patricia through last night, but then it quickly weakened once it hit land in Mexico. Major flooding, though, in Texas, has derailed this train, it remains a threat to millions of Americans. That's because heavy rain from the tropical depression that was hurricane Patricia continues to fall 24 hours ago. Patricia, you heard it, was the most powerful storm ever recorded in the western hemisphere. It weakened before it made landfall last night in northwestern Mexico.

Ed Lavandera in Texas with more details on that train that was washed right off the tracks.

Hi, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, the rainfall here in Texas has been unrelenting for more than a day and a half. We are near the town of Corsicana where the train derailment occurred just several hours ago. That is the car that you see behind me. The two lead cars rescued from there earlier today. But when you think about this, that train, 64 cars worth were filled with cement. And if the flood waters here had the power to topple all of that over, that really gives you a sense of the staggering power that these flood waters can move with. All of this rushing down that way, and as you see here the rainfall continues to fall heavily at times. And it's really incredible. The rainfall totals is mesmerizing in many ways.

Here in the Corsicana area, some have recorded nearly 20 inches of rain here in the last day and a half. So even though in some places, here we've seen the flood waters recede a little bit, we're told that crews are now going to be bringing in the heavy equipment to try to get that train situation here fixed. There's not much of an environmental concern because, as I mentioned, a lot of those cars were carrying cement so that the environmental impact doesn't seem to be a very serious issue at this point. But it is the rainfall. And as hurricane Patricia continues to push its way through Mexico

toward the northeast and into Texas, all of those storm systems combining with the storm system that's already over the state of Texas is going to cause more flooding and in the southern part of the state. So places like Houston and Galveston, really on the lookout for the rest of this weekend -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Ed Lavandera, thank you very much.

I want to go to Tom Sater. He is in the CNN severe weather center.

Look, we thought this was going to be catastrophic for Mexico. Luckily, it wasn't. But look what it's done just the pressure system to Texas.

[15:05:08] TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's only beginning now in Texas, Poppy. In fact, the rain they have had the last two days has nothing to do with Patricia. But now their totals could be doubled. So, again, there's going to be more rescues, there is going to be more first responders, not just in Texas, but Louisiana and Mississippi that will be on high alert.

We've never see a storm rapidly develop like this one in history. Went from a measly tropical storm to a category 5 in 24 hours. But also, we've never seen one in history dissipate this quickly. It's amazing. Mexican civil defense did a great job of evacuating on the coast from (INAUDIBLE). About 400,000, and there's no fatalities as of yet. It's amazing right now.

The moisture, however, is now meeting up with that stalled system in Texas. All the colors you see here, the last two days, this has nothing to do with Patricia. But now they're starting to meet.

First of all, the rain totals. You can see south of Dallas, back to Austin, San Antonio, a lot of flooding. Look at the numbers, Waco over 11 inches, also, Corsicana, 18, 20 inches in Powell, and it could double.

As you look at the warnings that are in effect, they're going to start to become more numerous in red. And they're going to start to slide east. There Is going to be coastal problems, as well, from around Houston down to Galveston.

Here is the radar. Now, it's starting to clear up from Dallas to San Angelo. That's good news. But now we're finding it all coming together. Watch the radar, and you can see how the moisture meets. So, again, this is going to be a big problem. Not just for central and eastern Texas, but it'll slide into Louisiana and Mississippi. An area that's been under drought, and they've been fighting Bush fires for the last couple of weeks. So, they need the rain, they could do without another 10, 20 inches of rainfall.

HARLOW: Absolutely. We saw with the rain already and the flooding did to that train.

SATER: Right. HARLOW: Tom, thank you very much. You'll keep a close eye on it for

all of us.

Next, we turn to blocks. One hundred days out, Democrats converging on Iowa today in what is traditionally a critical pivot point in the race for the White House. This as Bill Clinton, the former president expected to make his first appearance officially on the campaign trail. We will take you there live.

Also, Donald Trump fired up yet again, responding to new polls showing him losing momentum in the critical buckeye state.

And also ahead, he is the master of the sky hook. Do not miss my exclusive one-on-one interview with NBA hall of famer Kareem Abdul- Jabbar. His life all documented in a new HBO film about to air. Also, his thoughts in the Republican front-runner Donald Trump and diversity in Hollywood. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:10:52] HARLOW: We are exactly 100 days out from the first in the nation Iowa caucuses. And for the Democratic presidential candidates, there is no bigger event, perhaps, than tonight's Jefferson Jackson dinner. All three major Democratic candidates still standing, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, scheduled to speak in front of a crowd of 6,000 people. So make no mistake, this is not your typical fundraiser. But an event the past candidates have used to turn the race upside down.

Sunlen Serfaty joins me now from Des Moines, Iowa, where Sanders will hold a campaign rally in a few hours.

No votes being cast for 100 days, but we are exactly 100 days out from the Iowa caucuses, why is this dinner so important? And has actually been sort of a pivotal moment for change in past campaigns? What is it about this dinner?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, this dinner really comes and marks a time where the campaign here in Iowa is really shifting to the more intense phase. The candidates tonight and in the past at these dinners, they're on the same stage, back to back, in front of the same crowd, talking to the same party activists. So what they do is really try to bring their best, really try to kick it up a notch, as caucus goers here can see the candidates back to back and compare the differences.

So you will see many candidates here on stage tonight really try to set themselves apart, differentiate themselves from the crowd. Really trying to send them into this next phase, spring board them into the next stage, so to speak, with momentum, wind at their back. And that is also far away here in Iowa, where the key is really organizing. They want to enter this next phase with a lot of momentum.

Now, we're here at the Bernie Sanders rally in a few hours he will kick off this weekend's festivities. And then he will march with the people that will gather here later across the bridge over the Des Moines River into that event hall. He will come out, Poppy, to the song that revolution starts now. That was the anthem of the Occupy Wall Street movement. So certainly, a lot of performance element of tonight, a little stage craft from the candidates - Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes, I was reading, and that song certainly means a lot to a lot of people. His message of income inequality. He's going to hope he can close that seven-point gap with Hillary Clinton in Iowa.

Sunlen, thank you very much.

Just a week and a half ago, the political class was wondering whether a bad debate performance from Hillary Clinton would clear the way for Bernie Sanders. Instead, she is celebrating arguably the best ten-day stretch she could've asked for from the debate to vice president Joe Biden not running to the Benghazi hearings where she emerged from that 11 hours of testimony pretty much unscathed.

But this is far from over, folks. Bernie Sanders trailed Clinton by single digits in that critical state of Iowa. And just a couple of hours, you're going to see those two people, Hillary Clinton is going to bank on combined star power for her husband, the former president Bill Clinton, and the pop icon Katy Perry to keep the momentum going at their rally in Iowa ahead of the dinner tonight.

Let's bring in CNN political commentators Buck Sexton and Van Jones to talk about it.

Thank you both for being here, gentlemen.

And Van, let me begin with you. We haven't seen much of Bill Clinton on the trail. Not nearly what we saw at this time in 2008. What do you think we're going to see from him going forward and the impact he can have on this campaign.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think, obviously, he is the super weapon for all Democrats. It's not just Hillary Clinton. Even for President Obama was considered the MVP of the campaign in 2012. So people, you know, it is a downside, he can make mistakes. He's human. But I will tell you what? For every dumb thing he says, he's going to say 100 brilliant things. And he also just brings the base, even progressives who don't like his policies like Bill Clinton. And so, you've got two for the price of one. They said that in the 1980s, and it's still true.

HARLOW: Buck, when you look at Hillary Clinton's fund raising after the Benghazi hearings, her aides are saying that she had the best hour of fund raising right after that hearing ended. In all, she added 100,000 new donors in October alone. Do you think this underscores the argument that the Benghazi hearings hurt the Republican Party or no?

[15:15:02] BUCK SEXTON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No.

HARLOW: This is what you would hope for if you're running for president to make it through these. SEXTON: I don't think it backfired. I think we are where everyone

assumed we would be, perhaps, six months ago, which is the consolidation of the Democratic Party around Hillary Clinton. And really, what you see here is Hillary not having this amazing ten-day period where everyone's changed their mind about her, she's just pulled her campaign out of the depth of despair. So bad, it seemed a few weeks ago that maybe Joe Biden was even going to get in the race.

So now, she has had a good ten days. In comparison, she had a terrible couple of months that he has had. But that doesn't mean that all of the sudden this is clear selling against the Republicans. It is going to be Hillary, by the way, all the stuff about Bernie Sanders, and is he going to be a real contender, I think that that's increasingly looking like a very, very long shot that we not to take attention to.

HARLOW: But Van, if you look at the numbers, Bernie Sanders is only trailing Clinton in the most recent polling by seven points in Iowa. And I also want you to take a look at this, right? This is a hypothetical match-up in a general election. When you put Clinton versus Trump and Sanders versus Trump, we should have that to pull up for you guys here. You've got Sanders beating Trump by a wider margin. Is Sanders out of this thing? Doesn't seem like it.

JONES: Look, look -- I just have to point out that going into the Jefferson Jackson debate this time eight years ago Barack Obama was lower down in the polls, I believe, than Sanders. Anything can happen in a Democratic primary, Democratic caucus. And let's not forget, Bernie Sanders is probably going to do something today that is going to electrify that Iowa base.

Hillary Clinton has done extraordinarily well. I think she was like Beyonce, flawless in the debate. I think when it came time for the hearings, it was like trying to tie down Gulliver. I mean, they just couldn't do it. She was awesome. But you put her in front of a big crowd, you put her in front of a bunch of party activists, she does not have a track record of being able to do much with that.

On the other hand, Bernie Sanders is going to rip the roof off that place. He's going to have the passion and you may literally see a shrinkage of the distance between Hillary and Sanders. This thing is not over. You got the smart money bets on Hillary Clinton. But what is happening with Bernie Sanders, I think the mainstream has been underestimating. He has got something by the tail and he is moving forward hard. And everything for the next two weeks really plays to him. It's going to be the ground game of passion. He's got that.

SEXTON: A few things about what Van said. One is that the idea that Hillary Clinton did a fantastic job in the debate. That's just relative to the competition. She was going up against people like Lincoln Chafee whom literally everybody that I have ever spoken to has said, we have no idea why he thinks he should even run for president never mind why he thinks he could become president. The rest of that debate stage with the exception of Jim Webb seemed way out of step with I think normal America would consider its politics. And I think that Hillary Clinton did a good job in comparison to people that quite honestly were way out of their depth with the exception of Webb, who was also by the way not going to be a Democrat anymore.

And the idea that Bernie is doing anything other than providing some sort of a foil for Hillary Clinton to seem more centrist even though she describes herself as a progressive, I think that's becoming increasingly laughable. I mean, she is -- Bernie Sanders is a socialist. When you look at the poll that show who Americans will vote for --

HARLOW: A democratic socialist as he puts it.

SEXTON: Nonetheless. When you see the polls -- socialist is just above communist. So I don't think that Bernie Sanders is going to be the Democrat nominee as much fun as it is to have him in the race right now.

HARLOW: I want to get Van. I want to get your take on the GOP in Iowa, right? Because we have this big move this week and the fact that Donald Trump for the first time in more than 75 days is not leading in Iowa anymore. You've got Ben Carson leading him in two separate polls. He's one, the Des Moines Register Bloomberg poll. You got a sizable gap there. Carson at 28 percent. Trump at 19 percent. Here's how he reacted to that today in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Carson is lower energy than Bush. I don't understand what's going on. Because we're going to talk about the fact that for the first time in 100 days I had a poll that said I'm in second place in Iowa. Don't worry, don't worry, only in Iowa, the rest we're killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: OK. By the way, Ben Carson just came out, guys, and said his energy levels are just fine, and he's not worried about it at all.

What do you think, Van? Is this a clink or in the Trump armor?

JONES: It's hard to say. I will say it's so interesting to hear somebody trying to make fun of the Democratic field. And then you show the Republican field and you have a surgeon racing against a reality TV star. And those are your front runners. So I just want to point that out.

That said, I can't tell -- sure, never held office. I can't tell if the -- Trump is starting to wear thin when it comes to the ground game in a place like Iowa. The stuff that Trump does well, the social media, the big media events, that kind of stuff, it can wear pretty thin in a small place like Iowa where people expect you to be there. They expect you to shake their hand, answer very, very tough questions. It could be he's wearing thin in Iowa. And if so, that might show a pathway for other people to begin to deflate him. But I'll tell you what, every time we count out Donald Trump, we come back and apologize. So I'm out of counting Donald Trump out business.

[15:20:18] HARLOW: Before I let you go -- (CROSSTALK)

SEXTON: Can I have an opportunity to respond to Van? I mean, I'm coming from the right and I'd like to share my thought on what I think is happening with Trump.

First of all, no one really thinks in the long-term at this point, even still the odds are that Trump is not going to be the nominee. So the incessant focus on Donald Trump and only Donald Trump, I think, is unfair to the rest of the field of candidates.

I also think Dr. Carson is somebody who should be running for president because he's not a career politician is poor hard. I think we'll see evangelicals and social conservatives come out in support of Dr. Carson. As soon as Trump begins to fall away, he's going to get tired of this game. And then we'll see who the real Republican contender actually going to be.

HARLOW: OK. Before I let you go to pay attention to another GOP candidate, Buck. Jeb Bush, he comes out yesterday, his campaign is cutting salary, cutting staffers, saying this is a lean and mean machine. And then you have point to Senator John McCain in 2008 saying he had money troubles. He goes on to win New Hampshire. He goes on the win Florida. He goes on to win the nomination.

Van, to you, are you worried about the Jeb Bush camp or do you think that this is just a lot ado about not much trouble?

JONES: Something's happening in the Republican Party that's hard to get your head wrapped around. I certainly don't insult the good Dr. Carson if I had something wrong with my brain. I want him to work on it. I don't know if he should be the president of the United States.

That said, you do have something happening where they just are rejecting all of their elected people. If you told us six months ago that Jeb Bush would be in single digits in his own state, you would say something's gone wrong with the Republican Party. I think that Jeb Bush is in real trouble. I don't think you should be whistling past a great graveyard on this. He's showing leadership to fix it, but he is got a real problem.

SEXTON: Jeb Bush is not the establishment candidate, really, anymore. You're seeing that support shift over. I think Marco Rubio is going to pick a lot of that up. And as to why the conservative base is upset with the elected politicians, it's a longer discussion than we have time for now. But it's with plenty of good reason given what's happened after the midterm election and the sense that leadership in D.C. is betraying the base and pretending to stand for principles and they're not actually doing that. But those are some of the dynamics that are happening right now. I don't think it's as clear cut as saying, well, Jeb Bush isn't doing well. So the Republican are not doing well.

No, Republicans, most of them actually are happy that Jeb Bush is cutting staff salaries and realizing that this isn't some sort of nepotistic dynasty that we're trying to allow to get built. HARLOW: All right, Buck, Van, thank you.

JONES: Yes. But Jeb is not in D.C. and Rubio is in D.C.

HARLOW: There you go. I've got to get a break in. We'll have more from both of you. Stay with me. Quick break.

Ahead, next, we are getting out first images of the damages along the coast. Some of it, there, of Mexico from that historic hurricane. You are looking at live pictures out of (INAUDIBLE) Mexico where it really hit there in northwestern Mexico.

Our Martin Savidge on the road. Live report from him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:51] HARLOW: Well, the remnants of hurricane Patricia now soaking the American southwest. The Dallas-Ft. Worth area and nearby counties under flash flood warning. Right now, voluntary evacuation is underway. Highways closed. And at least one person missing. You see that car there pretty much submerged in the water. These areas have been pounded by as much as 20 inches of rain.

Former FEMA director David Paulison joins me now on the phone.

You know, we thought this was going to be detrimental for Mexico. And it is exacerbating just the rain we've seen for two days now in Texas. Do you believe the worst is over for Texas or do they need to brace for more?

DAVID PAULISON, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: Well, I think they need to brace for more. People are saying it's just getting started. We're really lucky in Mexico. This was a huge, huge hurricane. And they just did an outstanding job, an outstanding job of getting everybody evacuated out of the area. So they had no fatalities. I think Texas got a great emergency management system. They're on top of things. And they'll take care of the people there.

HARLOW: When you look, though, at, I think we have images we can pull up of this freight train, 64-car train gets knocked off the tracks because of this flooding. When you look at people that live in these low-lying areas in Texas, around the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, what are you saying to them right now about what they're supposed to do?

PAULISON: Well, they need to listen to their emergency manager. But it is really begs a different issue and needs to talk about is our building codes and allowing people to build an area back in. Keep building at the same time, you know. If look at Sandy, we've got $30 billion sitting there in HUD and department of transportation not being spent. We could take some of those dollars and use it for mitigation to protect areas like we just showed in Texas (INAUDIBLE). The home being flooded out and doing some flood preparations. The building code coalition came out with the report that showed some glaring issues we need to deal with the building codes.

HARLOW: And finally, when you look at the -- some of these cars that got submerged on the road, what do you say to folks looking at the roads and thinking, I can drive through that? That's not too bad. Is that a miscalculation?

PAULISON: Absolutely. We see it time and time again where people try to go through move waters within the road when the building water cross there ended getting stuck (INAUDIBLE). But more than that, it could cause people's lives. And when they see the roads (INAUDIBLE) go back the other way.

HARLOW: David Paulison, former FEMA director, thank you very much. We'll keep a close eye on Texas there. Thank you, sir.

Coming up next, switching gears. He is known for being a basketball legend. Six-time NBA champion, but also a mystery writer, a novelist who loves Sherlock Holmes. I'll talk live with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about what he is doing now. The op-ed he just wrote about diversity in Hollywood and the HBO documentary "the first one" about his life. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:33:02] HARLOW: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, six-time NBA champ, all-time leading scorer, league's most valuable player. His accomplishments, though, off the court are huge, as well. He is a "Time" magazine columnist. Best-selling author of 11 books and education ambassador. And now, the first documentary about his life, a trail blazer called Kareem, minority of one debuts November 3rd, only on HBO.

Joining me now, the man himself, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Thank you for being here.

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Nice to be with you, Poppy.

HARLOW: Let's talk about this book. This is a novel about the brother of Sherlock Holmes. And I didn't know until I started reading that you're a huge Holmes fan. Why did you write this mystery?

ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, I've always enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes stories. And Mike Craft (ph) was a character that intrigued me because they didn't really flesh him out very much in the original stories. Dr. Doyle (ph) kind of left him as a mystery man. But Sherlock Holmes, when talking about his older brother describes him as being incredibly intelligent with a photographic memory. And great deductive powers. And someone who often times is the British government itself. And as you know, you know, in the 19th century, the British government was a world superpower. So it makes for a very interesting set of thoughts to think about what he did and why he did it.

HARLOW: Sure. So let's talk about this documentary. I, for one cannot wait to see it, coming out November 3rd on HBO. Minority of one, the life story of you. I can imagine it's kind of scary to let someone tell your story, especially someone like you who, you know, for many, many years was known as not being that open with the press and, you know, you've talked about your evolution on that front and many others. I want to play a clip for our viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was destined for greatness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was this incredible young talent who started hearing about in eighth grade.

[15:35:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But as the legend grew, the man remained an enigma.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the most misunderstood people ever in sports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: HBO sports presents a definitive look on and off the court at an American sports icon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you think about what he's meant to the NBA, it's off the charts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kareem, minority of one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So the theme song to the documentary is don't let me be misunderstood by Nima Simone. Why is this so (INAUDIBLE) of your life and why tell it now?

ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, for the longest time, I avoided the press. It had a lot to do with what happened to me at UCLA where John Wooden told us that, you know, the press could be a problem and have to keep them at arm's length. And I just took that to heart, and I took it too far. And it really complicated my life and made it difficult for me to connect with this sports-loving public. And, you know, I paid a price.

HARLOW: Well, you delve in this documentary, I know, into a lot of things, your family, your religion. Here you come out in your 20s. You're famous, you convert to Islam publicly. Talk to me about what that was like and how it has shaped your path, Kareem, until now.

ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, you know, when you're in a situation where the country is changing and there's so many new ideas and new approaches to things are coming about. And me changing my religion was certainly something that was not expected. And the conservative writers who were the sports writers at the time, at times took me to task and tried to bait me and challenge me as to what I was thinking about in living my life the way I did. And you know, I responded, you know, aggressively. And sometimes, you know, it came across the wrong way.

HARLOW: Before I let you go, we're going to get a break and get a lot more in on the other side. Your father, a police officer, someone that you couldn't talk too much. You recount not being able to talk to him about what happened to Emit Till. As you look back on that now and how that shaped you, Kareem, tell me about that.

ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, when I saw what happened to Emit Till, they showed a picture of him after they pulled him out in the river. And, you know, I just couldn't understand what he had done to deserve that type of treatment. And when I asked my parents, both my dad and my mom, you know, they really didn't have the words to explain it. And it was something that really bothered me and got under my skin and made me wonder, you know, where I was living and, you know, what was life in America all about that, you know, black Americans had to put up with that kind of treatment. And it really helped motivate me in terms of the things that I chose to be activist about. You know, freedom, justice and equality for all Americans is a serious issue and we all have to support that. And I got that message loud and clear while I was still in grade school.

HARLOW: All right, Kareem, stay with me. A lot more to talk about, including politics. You've got certainly some opinions in this political race. We'll talk about them on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:16] HARLOW: We are back with basketball legend Kareem Abdul- Jabbar. He's the subject of a new HBO documentary "Kareem Minority of one." And you have a new op-ed today in "Time." And you look at the lack of diversity in Hollywood. And you talk about the fact that Hollywood, for a lot of the world, is the face of this country.

Kareem, here is part of what you write. You wrote, it's all of our jobs to fight discrimination. And you went on to say as Edmond Burke said, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Who do you feel is doing nothing to stand up for diversity in Hollywood?

ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, you have actors like Brad Cooper who said that he would share the number on his paycheck with the women actors that he acts with so they could have an idea of who is being treated equally. And, you know, other actors have said they're not going to do that. That's not their job. But, you know, if fighting discrimination is all of our jobs, then, you know, they've got to understand what Bradley Cooper did and do something similar in order to get to the people that make the decisions and have them understand that they're not treating all of the actors and actresses equally. And, you know, get them to figure out a way to do that and change the template for how our movies are made and how our various actors are perceived and treated.

HARLOW: Yes, we saw when it comes to not just gender discrimination, but discrimination along racial lines, we saw Viola Davis, this incredible acceptance speech this year as she becomes the first black woman to win an Emmy as a lead actress in a drama. She talked about opportunity. And what stood out to me so much, and you quoted in your op-ed, she said, you cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there. How do you think Hollywood is, overall Kareem, in terms of being reflective of minorities in this country and creating opportunity for minorities, especially in those leading roles?

ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, I think sometimes they drop the ball with creating opportunities. And that has to do with the fact that so much of the entertainment business you work with the people that you know and understand. And when you start out with the racial divide, that racial divide kind of perpetuates itself.

But, when the people that are behind the cameras, you know, the writers and directors, and people in charge of shooting movies, when they are diverse, then their diverse attitudes and observations come across on the screen and we get a better aspect of diversity in our entertainment. And, you know, that's what we've got to work at. But it takes -- it takes a conscious effort to do that. Because the status quo was so ingrained and so acceptable to everyone. And, you know, that's something we have to change.

[15:45:25] HARLOW: You -- we spoke in the last block about how you converted very publicly to Islam during your career, when you were younger basketball player. And you wrote an op-ed also in "Time" about Ben Carson, a candidate leading in Iowa right now for president.

You wrote, because of him, Muslims are now a little less safe as they walk home. And this was after Carson said here on CNN, I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of the nation, pointing to Sharia law as being unethical (ph) to the constitution.

Look, he is leading the polls now in Iowa. What's your reaction to that?

ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, you know, that's for the people in Iowa to deal with. I think that, you know, we all understand that religion is not a requirement with regard to running for political office. Your religion is not supposed to be considered. As Dr. King said we're supposed to be judged by the content of our character. So as long as we can get to that ideal and pursue it, I think that we can overcome people's tendencies to discriminate and be biased. It's unfortunately a natural aspect of human nature, and we have to do something to fight it on a daily basis.

HARLOW: Is there a candidate you like for 2016, Kareem?

ABDUL-JABBAR: Well, I'm going to wait until the debates are over and the nominations are in and see what the two final candidates have to say. And, you know, I'll -- I guess I'll chime in at that point.

HARLOW: All right. We'll have you back then. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, thank you very much.

ABDUL-JABBAR: It's a pleasure. Nice talking with you, Poppy.

HARLOW: You, too.

All right. We should mention HBO where that documentary is airing is owned by Time Warner that is a parent company of us here at CNN.

Coming up next, I spoke with one of the top female executives at Facebook about what it will take to get more women finally into tech.

But first, meet this CNN hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saving the slots for me is not just about saving the slots. It's about what they stand for. It's about losing habitat, it's about the importance of environmental protection for everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Watch her fascinating story at CNNheroes.com. While you are there, take a look at our top ten heroes. Vote for your favorites, CNNheroes.com. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:18] HARLOW: In this week's "American opportunity," how do we get more women into those high paying lucrative tech jobs? I sat down with the woman in charge of exactly that at Facebook.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: I want to touch on sexism in the workplace. You have said in past interviews that talking about sexism in the workplace is not quote "a defining characteristic of the workplace today." You went on to say it's a conversation that's quote "a waste of time." What were you saying?

LORI GOLER, HEAD OF PEOPLE, FACEBOOK: You know, for me it's really -- I love the lean-in message, I love the lean-in message about being personally empowered to make decisions, just to have ambition and to lean into the opportunities. You know, yes, I'm sure sexism exists in the world. I'm sure there are organizations where, you know, it's part of the experience of being there. It doesn't feel empowering to me to focus on that for myself personally. Institutions take a long time to change. I love the empowering message of being able to do something about it myself and being surrounded by people who can do something about it.

HARLOW: So is the thinking there it's a waste of time to think about the problem?

GOLER: You know --

HARLOW: For you personally.

GOLER: Of course, I think about it at Facebook, but I think, you know, I think for me to spend time on it in the world, I think the way for me to do that is through the way I lead my own life and by the way we lead Facebook and by providing a hopefully positive role model for organizations in the world.

HARLOW: There have been a lot of headlines out of Silicon Valley as a whole over the last year about women, not enough female representation on boards, sexism in the workplace. I know firsthand from some of these women running incredible start-ups had a hard time getting funding on their own. Are you seeing progress in the valley on that?

GOLER: I think the valley has a long way to go on all issues related to diversity and, you know, largely that's just a representation. Making Facebook more diverse is crucial in our journey to achieve our mission, you know, we really need to represent internally the 1.5 billion people around the world who use Facebook. And we're working really hard to do that in every possible way.

You know, some of it is, you know, if you think about just sort of the people who are in the valley now, companies are just stealing share from each other, it doesn't actually grow the pot. Part of what we need to do together is grow the pie. We need the pool to increase.

HARLOW: So what's the major impediment to that? Is it the fact that kids aren't learning to code in school?

GOLER: I think it's starting to happen, you know. I think if you look at some of the statistics, I mean, the overall statistics from women in college hasn't changed dramatically, but I'm hopeful that we'll start seeing a change in that regard in the next three or four years as this generation graduates from college.

HARLOW: Look, Facebook is not in charge of writing education policy in this country, however, you're an incredibly influential company. If you could see one thing change in education, elementary education, high school, you know, into college, I know when I have kids, I want them to have to learn how to code. Is that something we should see that would help in these jobs?

[15:55:29] GOLER: One thing that we have started to see is some schools starting to introduce basic coding in the same way they introduce math and science into the curriculum. I think if we had a lot more of that we would be in a much better place.

I just think helping students see what the opportunity is in the technical world or for technical jobs is an important part so they can picture themselves being part of the industry. Kids know what it means to be a doctor. They don't know what it means to be an engineer. It's harder to sort of understand that unless it's being explained. And so, I think the onus is on us to paint that picture and to help people understand what the opportunities are so that they can choose that path.

HARLOW: So for people watching this who are perhaps just graduating from high school, they are in college choosing their major, and they have this dream of working at Facebook or one of your competitors one day, what do you say to them, because you're in charge of people at Facebook.

GOLER: Yes, I would say, take a very close look at the computer science department in your school and seriously consider that path.

HARLOW: Don't be scared of getting a bad grade here and there?

GOLER: My God. I think it's all about learning. It's about building and particularly for the women out there, jump in, you know, this is a fantastic opportunity, it's a growing industry, it's a place where there are so many jobs and opportunities. And there's a basic supply and demand mismatch right now. So you know, it is really the place where there's going to be a lot of growth and opportunity now and in the years ahead.

HARLOW: Finally, the breakdown of men to women at Facebook in engineering, because I know that's something you want to grow, where are we at right now?

GOLER: We're working on it. It is definitely not where we want it to be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)