they pay to kill elephants and lions and other wild animals and helping to conserve them overall? >> it's a difficult thing. yes, they do spend millions of dollars. as a matter of fact, anderson, the people that hunt and fish throughout the world, especially in the united states, you're talking billions of dollars go to the animals. however, in some countries in africa, i guarantee you those animals don't see one dime. i'm not saying all of them. i'm saying some of them, the hunters help keep them alive, that's all. when there's overpopulation of certain animals we have to be managing the animals. that's the problem we have today. it's called predator/prey relationship the good lord put here and we screwed it up. so therefore, with them, the good hunters, i'm saying, which most of them are, they will go in there and a lot of money is giving to these folks -- as far as the trophy hunting, i've never been on one. i don't hunt. so i can't sit here and knock the hunters. i can say, as far as trophy hunting, i couldn't do it. i've been in a village once filming where meat was brought in from an animal, these people

were strarving to death. this was 15 years ago. one other thing, anderson. ten years ago, i don't remember the village or what country because i do a lot, a man said, do you want to see what elephants did to a village last week? i guess, yeah. i went in there and i couldn't believe what i saw. looked like an atomic bomb went off. four people lost their lives. at that point, anderson, someone has to the control the numbers of elephants. elephants have had a tough time, some countries are coming back, some aren't. hopefully what's happening here, the hunters -- i couldn't possibly do that, but the elephants can be relocated to other countries. but thank goodness we have a way of controlling these animals, we have to. because if we don't, it's going to turn into a mess we can't repair. >> i appreciate you talking about this. i know it's a complex issue and i appreciate your expertise. >> thanks a lot. it's a tough issue. thanks, anderson. make sure to tune in for "trophy" this sunday at 9:00 eastern and pacific time. now it's time to hand it to

chris cuomo and "cuomo primetime." >> have a good weekend, my friend. a provocative question and a quest for answers. why would donald trump's lawyer allegedly pay off a porn star? and we go one on one with president trump's former campaign manager, cory lewandowski. why he says the president's words are not a problem. let's get after it on friday night. i'm chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time". >> well, my friends, we are on the eve of martin luther king weekend, a man who coached us to judge people on the content of their character, not the color of their skin or the place they come from. president trump breathed new life into those words with his ugly invective about wanting of less brown people and more people from norway. we're going to go one on one

with campaign manager, corry lee w lewandowski. see if he can adjust the president's words and deeds. let's start with facts first. this may be the image of the week. who do we see? hud secretary ben carson. for all his controversies, carson pulled himself up from poverty, became a neurosurgeon, represents so much of what dr. king fought for and dreamed. behind him, a president who makes us wonder how really feels about people who look like carson. and then you have vice president mike pence, characteristically silent. like he is on his boss' vulgar slur. but pence isn't alone. you hear that? that is the silence of the gop leadership, mcconnell, ryan, so many others seemingly content to swallow whatever trump feeds the country, as long as they can get legislation they like. many of you have voiced your

feelings to me since we learned these words from the president, hot and cold. we've seen news folk outraged, even weepy. but what about those elected to respect our values and lead by example, where are they now? none are looking to come on tonight, so let's get after it with a man who knows donald trump so well, he wrote a book about him. former campaign manager cory lewandowski, his new book is called "let trump be trump." cory, always a pleasure. >> chris, i had nothing else to do on a friday night. so i love being with you. >> nice of you to take the opportunity. i haven't spoken to you since the new year. the best to you and the family for 2018. >> same to you and your family, chris. >> let me get your response on this reporting tonight. the allegation that the president's lawyer made a payment to a porn star, i think she goes by stormy daniels.

have you ever heard anything about this? >> i've only heard what's being reported in the last couple hours. what i've seen is what the public reports are, which is the white house has said this was an allegation which was talked about prior to the election that was shot down. and she has said there's no truth to this. i don't know why this is a news story. i do understand the "wall street journal" has some type of sourcing on this that they say a payment was made. we have two individuals, the white house speaking on behalf of the president and the individual in question who supposedly received a payment saying there's no truth to the story. so in a normal journalism word you would have two sources, both prime sources, both who said it didn't take place. >> i don't disagree with your skepticism, but you know what makes it funky, the outlets, "the wall street journal", the new york post, even fox fuse had it on one of their websites.

why would murdock-owned properties go out of their way to do a false story about the president of the united states? they must have vetted it. some editorial staffs must have consulted, thought it was okay. legal staffs. why would murdock properties do this if it's that thin? >> it's a great question. i think as you look back at some of the stories that have been written about this candidate and about this administration, there have been, on many occasions, mistakes. i don't know about this story, but i know the woman who is supposedly received this money according to "the wall street journal" has now been on the record saying she hasn't received any money. she's a primary source. the person who supposedly made the payment according to the "wall street journal" which would have been then-candidate trump through his attorney saying this never took place. so i don't know where the sourcing comes from. >> i got you.

you agree with me it's interesting where it came out, though, isn't it? interesting where it came out? >> it's interesting, but i don't understand when you have two people, the only two people who know if it took place, both saying it never happened. if that's the case, i don't know how someone that see ability to write a story. >> because there's more allegations about the money and some proof. the answer will come from mr. murdock, he's the one that put it out first. it'll be interesting to see how they want to back up this story. let's talk about something that is certainly more important and could not be more real. you know what the president said. let me ask you, cory, did you get on the phone and get to the president and say, hey, you can't talk like this, this isn't what america is, we have to be better than this, mr. president? do you make that call? >> i didn't speak to the president yesterday, chris. i was actually -- i was in washington yesterday and then i spent time in tennessee helping congresswoman run for the u.s. senate down there. i didn't speak to the president yesterday. i didn't speak to the president today. i don't know what was said in the meeting because i wasn't there. >> you know what was said in the meeting.

>> we have two senators, both republicans -- here's what i know. we've got two republican u.s. senators, men who i don't think we are questioning their credibility or their convictions, tom cotton, who said that they didn't hear that conversation take place. >> that's not what he said. cotton wasn't sure what he heard, he didn't remember this. they want to duck it. they don't want to own this. they want trump to own it. >> we weren't there. >> dick durbin was there, and other people were there. when the white house was called, let me tell you what's got my antenna up. it sounds just like something he would say, and second, when the white house was contact, they had an opportunity to back off on this right away and they didn't. the reporting cnn was, the words are what they were and we think this is going to be okay with the people who supported the president, like when he talked about the nfl and he said certain things that were ugly about the people who were protesting. we think they agree and we're going to be okay. they could have backed off then if they wanted.

i don't think you want to argue accuracy here. >> chris, i don't know who they spoke to at the white house or if they were in the room. >> raj is who they talked to. he did not deny the words. >> you have two republican senators -- i saw a statement from two republicans senators who were in the room -- >> who say he didn't say it or they said they don't remember hearing it? there's a difference, cory. you were in law enforcement, you know there's a difference. >> but chris, they put a joint public statement out. i wasn't there. i don't know if raj was there. what i know is the president said he didn't say it, two republican u.s. senators in the room say they didn't hear it said. here's what i know -- >> do you think durbin is just making it up? what a coincidence, the democrat heard it and said he said that and a lot of other ugly stuff and the republicans say they're not sure what they heard. come on. >> look, it wasn't that long ago when barack obama called libya something very similar, as you

know, and no one talked about it back then. >> by the way, they weren't similar circumstances, but even if they were, even if he did the exact same thing -- >> nobody called barack obama a racist. nobody accused barack obama of being a ray cyst for calling a country like libya the same thing. >> first of all, it's not even the word, cory. it's not even what he used. by the way, we're allowed to say the word, it's on the screen right now. but this is what it is. you're trying to confuse the standard and we'll get to why. first let's take a look at the premise. you're saying everybody uses bad words, why are you coming after him? it's not the word. >> it's just me and mooch. we're the only ones who use bad words. >> it was the analogy, okay? it was, i don't want brown people here. why do we have to have all these brown people. why can't we have more people from norway? what's the difference between people from the sudan and norway? let's think, what's the main distinguishing characteristic between el salvador, sudan,

haiti and norway, could it be white people? >> i can tell you. >> what's the difference? >> i'm happy to tell you if you want me to. in haiti the average person's income is $804 a year. in norway, the average person's income is $97,000 a year. if those refugees are going to come to the united states, do you want a person who's average income is $800 a year and they're going to be a contributing member of society? or a person whose income is $97,000? these aren't my statistics, they're government statistics. >> you see what i'm pointing at right now? >> i can't see it. i'm in a studio. >> i'm pointing at my heart. i want heart. you want heart. you want people who come here with the love in their heart for this country and for opportunity. >> of course you do. >> and who will work their ass off to make the most of the opportunities like your ancestors did and my ancestors did. what did the lewandowskis bring down before they came here?

were they bringing down the big bucks? >> rich people come here -- of course they do. your family did, my family did. we followed the rules and did it the right way. there's nothing wrong with that. that's what the president is saying. we want people to come here. >> hatians followed the rules, too. people who came here under tps, they followed the rules too, my brother. that's how they got here. >> it was a temporary solutions. and now what the president is saying is let's have a comprehensive immigration strategy. >> he could have said that. he didn't. he said, hey, why are you making this deal offer to me right now that if we want to do daca, you have to have the tps people in here? why do we have to have people from these lousy countries? why can't we have more people from norway? that is about wanting special type of people. >> isn't that what was said in 1965? >> he doesn't want theeopl

who are from those places, corry, just own it? >> didn't the liberal line of the senate, ted kennedy, say the exact same thing in 1965? are you accusing him of being racist. >> what did he say? >> he said, this is going to preclude people from western europe from coming in and we're going to get people from africa and other countries that aren't from western europe and they're going to overrun our country. that's what he said in 1965 when they passed legislation. he's one of your heroes. i know he is. are you going to accuse him of being a racist? >> you don't know who my heroes are. i knew senator ted kennedy, and there is zero chance that he would have ever said i would love to have more people from norway than people from these shithole countries. he would have never said it, you know why? because he didn't think white people were inherently better than brown people, that's why. >> what ted kennedy said in 1965 was very clear. >> -- people anxious for opportunity. i get what you're doing. i would even give you a golf clap for looking back into

history and trying to find something to make an analogy on this. >> i come prepared for you, baby, because that's what i know. >> but you don't seem to want to own about what the president said. it's not about his language. >> chris, you have to put it in context -- >> he said he doesn't want poor, brown people. he wants the nice white people to come. >> that's a great story to say he's a racist. >> why did he bring up norway? i haven't said that and not because i couldn't say it, it's because i don't know it's productive. i think what's productive is trying to drill down on these things. >> chris, you know why president was great the other day, when he brought all the cameras in and they had an open dialogue for 55 minutes with republicans and democrats sit ing around the table and no one walked out and said the president said this or that. the american people watched it. let's have more of those because the first time the cameras are off, we have two different accounts of what might have been said in a room. so let's bring the cameras in every single time and make

people negotiate in front of the american people. >> it's not a veracity issue. >> of course, it is. >> it's not a veracity issue, no way. there's no way that -- i'm not talking about the difference between house and home. he was talking ugly about people from those countries and expressing a preference. you want to talk about the meeting, i think you're right. i would love it all to be televised. maybe a little counter productive. there may be deal making and sausage making to virtuous goals that maybe would be fore stalled. but i think more transparency would probably be a good thing. but there were things we saw that weren't that encouraging. the president did not show great understanding about the state of play with what was going on. he did not seem to understand the negotiating tactic of a clean bill versus an attached bill. he agreed with feinstein and then had to change his mind when mccarthy spoke up. that wasn't the art of the deal

going on in that room for the president, was it? >> chris, what the president said was you want to give me the heat, i'll take all the heat you want. i'll get you a deal done, but here's what the requirements are. we have to have a wall on the southern border. we have to -- >> we do have a wall. >> not on 200,000 miles. >> you can't have it. that's what kellyanne conway told me and the president now knows. >> 40% of the immigrants coming in right now are chain migration immigran immigrants. >> one step at a time. >> are there contours? >> the wall will be a big deal because we know the gang of 8 had language on chain migration on the lottery. this was predig erred. they had talked about these things. it's wall, a signature promise that i watched you many times gladly smile and applaud through, that it was going to be a brand-new wall that was going to go the whole way, just like china did, 30 feet high, bricks and mortar, and he knows how to build it and mexico is going to pay for it.

>> that's right. >> the second part has become a laughable afterthought, and now we hear, well, now that he's president and he has met with experts, it turnsut that a wall is not feasible to build all the way across the border because it turns out there are rivers involved. it's like what happens you become president and they give you a map and there's new information on it that no one had before? everyone was saying this to him. >> chris, it's very simple. it's called -- he's going to build a wall. it's called sealing the border. we are a sovereign country. look at the countries who have problems with their neighbors, and guess what they do, they build a wall. look at israel and the southern border of mexico. we are a sovereign nation and we have the right to control our borders. and who comes in -- because if one american citizen dies from a person crossing that border illegally and something happens to them, that's one too many. and it's the job of the president of the united states

to keep our citizens safe from all enemies both foreign and domestic and that means people coming across the border illegally. >> he's not offering to do anything that wasn't already negotiated in the last bill. put fences where you need them, sensors where you need them, shore up the points of entry. >> hillary clinton wanted to build a wall. >> but she didn't want to build a brand-new wall across the border. >> the wall's going to get built. >> you mean wall as a metaphor, put security where you need it. no, no, no. and now he's saying it and you guys say, well, it's okay, it was just in the interest of getting a deal. really? so your principles mean nothing as long as you get a deal done? >> chris, i don't believe that. the deal which includes building the wall and stopping the lottery and includes ending chain migration, stopping sanctuary cities. that is the comprehensive immigration package we're talking about. but the wall is paramount. the wall will get built. it is what he campaigned on. >> i thought daca was paramount,

i thought saving the 800,000 was paramount. i thought it was like a bill of love. >> let me tell you something. i don't think you can tell me within a million people how many illegal immigrants are in this country, not within 100 or thousand or 100,000. >> i'll tell you one thing, i don't know the number, but i know this. no matter how many illegal people, if you want to call them that, are in this country. they're not our biggest problem. they're not the boogie man that you guys are treating them as. >> they are illegal. >> they're not who's creating the crime in this country. they're not stealing jobs from people. they're not the boogie man. they're people -- >> of course they're taking jobs. >> a lot of them are like your ancestors and my ancestors, two generations ago. that's what they're like. and you're making them sound like creatures from the black lagoon. that's the truth, my brother. >> no, i'm not. >> that's what's going on with this conversation. we both know it. so you want to build a wall, fine. but now you're not going to build a wall. you want to have a safe border, that's fine. everybody wants a safe border.

but that's not the way this talk started. it was ugly and scary and xenophobic, and now to get a deal done, that's all going to go away and we should be okay with it. i think you should remember what people said, why they said it, corry. >> i remember, but what we don't even know how many illegal immigrants are in the country. that's a problem. >> no question. >> that's literally the population of new hampshire. we need to do a better job. >> we need to do a better job. >> we need to find out how many illegals are here. >> we should know who's here and who isn't. >> the government owes accountability. >> you are absolutely right. >> yes, we should. >> but that wasn't the original sales pitch. let's see what deal they come up with. i'll end this on good news for you. i think the president will get his deal, and he's going to get a wall out of it. i think the democrats are going to cut that deal. why? i have no idea. i'll track it. you're welcome back whenever you want to discuss these issues, my friend. >> thank you, chris. >> be well. cory lewandowski, everybody. the president has gone from

a very stable genius to slamming countries in just five days. when will the gop finally speak some truth to power? we have rick santorum versus ben gellis, the great debate where else to be on a friday night? next. -looks great, honey. -right? sometimes you need an expert. i got it. and sometimes those experts need experts. on it. [ crash ] and sometimes the expert the expert needed needs insurance expertise. it's all good. steve, you're covered for general liability. and, paul, we got your back with workers' comp. wow, it's like a party in here. where are the hors d'oeuvres, right? [ clanking ] tartlets? we cover commercial vehicles, too. i think there's something wrong with your sink.

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all right. ready for the great debate? we're ending the week tallying the fallout from the president's political statements. plit toe's susan glasser summed it up this way. is the president nuts? is the president racist? did the president pay off a porn star right before the election? and angels wept. joining me the former head of the naacp and current candidate for governor of maryland, mr. ben gellis and form er republican senator, rick santorum a cnn senior political commentator. gentlemen, thank you for being with us. rick, let me start with you.

do you understand the criticism of what the president said most recently with respect to countries and the people who come from there to here? >> sure. i think the criticism is, for the most part, appropriate. the president shouldn't be talking like this. i know it was a private conversation and there's some question as to what he said and whether he said it. i mean, the president denies saying it, but if, in fact, he did say that, those are comments that are beneath the presidency and very troublesome. look, you heard me talk many times. i think the president's doing a good job on a lot of policy things, but just gets in his own way by making these types of comments that hurt him and his agenda and i think hurt the american people. i wish he would stop doing it. >> ben, do you think there's a chance he didn't say it? and if he did say it, what does it mean to you? >> there's zero chance he didn't say it. we saw the limits of what the

white house staff is willing to do. they engage in fake news with him and they exaggerate his accomplishments,. but apparently they're not willing to lie about what's probably a recorded fact, that he said this. and frankly, it's so consistent with all the other things that he said. when are we just going to believe him that he is who he pretends to be. he calls people from mexico murderers and rapists. he says he's entitled to grab women by the pussy because he is a celebrity. he says that the central park 5 are guilty even though dna proved them innocent. you can go on and on and on. we have to put pressure on all the folks who, frankly, will defend him and will stay silent to actually stand up for what this country is about because even your talk with cory, when

he said we should let the rich folks in, has he been to the statue of liberty recently? has he read the words at the bottom? that's not what it talks about. has he turned over the money and seen what it says on the back, out of many, one. we're supposed to be a melting pot, a shelter in the storm to the hungry and poor. that's what we have to get back to. >> i get the political expedience, you have to be careful. when is enough enough? paul ryan stood up when barack obama said in the state of the union, trump's muslim ban and paul ryan stood up and said i'm not saying the muslim ban is a good thing, we shouldn't have a religious test, but this is not the kind of thing -- this denigrates the presidency. a president shouldn't speak this way. and on this, he's so mousey about it. mcconnell's silent about it. at what point is enough enough? >> i don't think there's been

shortage of speaking truth to power when it comes to the president's statements. i think many republicans -- the question is, how often do you have to do it? how many times are you going to be required to say i don't agree with what the president said and move on to the next question. >> every time. >> but if it's every day, no, i don't think every time. there reaches a point where you have to say, look, this is a president -- >> rick, you need to because our kids are listening. >> i understand why you would want someone to respond every time to everything -- to every accusation or every statement that he makes. but i think at some point it becomes a distraction. we all know who donald trump is. i think every republican will tell you that donald trump doesn't have a filter and says things that are not what a president should be saying. i don't know of a single republican who hasn't said that on multiple occasions. the question is, can we get past this and understand that's who he is and the american public is going to make a political judgment about that and then

actually try to get something done here. >> statement from civility from the republican party that they repeat as their party line because what we're seeing, quite frankly, through the silence -- >> there's no silence. i disagree there's silence. >> there's no silence? our governor here in -- >> a lot of the guys said nothing, rick, you know this. >> again, i don't think that every time the president says something -- and it is on a daily basis, that you require everybody to say something about it. that's a false standard. >> it doesn't need to be everybody, certainly the head of the party. >> count me. >> i will count you. buffer, -- but, you know what, if you were in there right now and you were part of the leadership, i think there's a different responsibility. let's bounce the ball the other way. ben, even though the president is consistently buried under his own words, and he is consistently getting crushed in the media for it, the democrats are still losing to him.

he is. i know that's going to upset people on the left, and we have a ton of democrats who watch. but just think about your own interest as democrats. they lost on the tax bill. yes, it was a reconciliation vote, only 50, but they lost. and the only high ground they had coming out of that was what? that he did it along partisan lines and he divided the country along partisan lines and along socioeconomic lines. but with daca, the whole country, except for rick santorum, wants you to take care of the d.r.e.a.m.ers. even the republicans are 77% in the latest poll. why do they have to give him the exaggerated idea of a wall and the ability to say he's a unifier? when they don't have to. why are the democrats going give him this deal? they don't have to do it to help the d.r.e.a.m.ers. why go 0 for 2? >> frankly, i don't get the way our party often negotiates in congress. you know, the republicans are so insane that they now are trying to play it like tug of war on a football field from the second tear of the bleachers. and then we say they've gone way

up in the bleachers, let's walk to the 50-yard line and start tug of war from there. and they get in the end zone and we say, how did that happen? we have to start from what we want if we want to get anything close to it. but at the same time we have to be smart enough to actually say, how did it come to be that the republicans control every branch of our federal government. and it gets down to the fact that we let them really build a movement that now controls three quarters of our states. so we've got to get serious about taking back our states and moving forward in our states no matter what happens in washington. we have families here tonight, children will go to bed, and they'll wake up in a cold sweat at 2:00 in the morning, rush into their parents' bedroom to make sure they're still there. these are american citizen children with immigrant parents who are terrified every night, and quite frankly, it is not

enough to wait for the federal government to change. we have to find ways to make them feel secure here in our states. >> here's the thing. rick, as a starting point, the president isn't where you are on this. he's off the they're here legally -- he's saying bill of love, i want to help them. and a lot of republicans have said the same thing. imagine from your negotiating background in d.c., if the democrats came to the table and said, listen, you're the one who set the deadline and putting all these guys here. we know you don't like what obama did, we want a clean bill, we want daca, or we want you to go back to that tax bill and give a certain% of the corporate profits they're going to get, and a percentage has to go to wages. that or we're not giving you anything. why not do a hardline negotiation? they have the leverage. this is not a 50 plus 1 vote. >> elections have consequences, and the fact is they don't control either chamber of the congress. >> but they need 60 on this. >> they do.

there are a lot of rick santorum like folks who don't like the idea of providing amnesty. >> 70% plus of republicans in a poll. >> i understand that's the polling. but it's not necessarily reflective of what the mood is among members of congress. i think what members of congress entente have wanted, and have been very clear about this, unless we have enforcement, unless we control our borders, unless we control our visa programs, we have visa overstays which are half of the people here illegally. >> that's true. tell that to all the people who say we're a wall away. >> it's not just the wall. >> we're short on time. that's all we're hearing. final point, ben. i got to wrap. >> how quickly we forget. all three of us probably have ancestors that came through ellis island. and frankly, we know what the the slur wop stands for.

it stands for, without papers. so many of us -- italians were slurred by that and so many. those ancestors were white and apparently that wasn't a problem. but when you're brown or black and you don't have papers, now that's a problem. >> not the same. >> now you're an illegal person. >> not the same. >> that's outrageous. >> just so you understand -- i understand what you're saying, ben. give me a minute, chris. >> be a patriot. >> the reality is my father and grandfather came here, you're right, they had papers, but a lot of people didn't. but we had labor shortages during the turn of the last century, and the reality is most of the workers were unskilled workers and we needed unskilled workers. that's not the case anymore. secondly, we had no welfare system. basically if you came to this country -- >> have you ever been to a farm recently, rick? i can take you to some in pennsylvania. >> it's a different world we're coming into, compared to 100 years ago, and you can't compare the two.

>> come to any farm with me and you'll see plenty of need for unskilled laborers. come on. >> up until the last year, wages have not gone up in this country, slowest wage growth in 30 years for those wage earners, low skilled wage earners. the reality is -- >> the majority of people who have been coming in here earn minimum wage. you fight it every time. don't act like you want to increase wages when you're completely against raising the minimum wage. >> i'm for raising the minimum wage. >> you and i can solve that problem. gentlemen, i appreciate it, robust and reasonable. thank you very much. appreciate you being on the show. have a good weekend, fellas. mr. trump says something inflammatory and leaders of the gop stands up and says we have to start this garbage --

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republican reaction to president trump's slur about immigrants from, quote, shithole countries can be filed under profiles in noncourage, maybe call it profiles in pusillanimousness. most in the gop are silent on the president's latest racially charged remark. most notably, the leadership -- although house speaker paul ryan did muster this. >> i read those comments later last night. the first thing that came to my mind was, very unfortunate, unhelpful.

>> compare that to the old ryan, remember when president obama mentioned president trump's muslim ban during a state of the union address? ryan stood up and said such talk degrades the presidency. that's not what presidents ought to be talking about. now, you saw what he just said. mcconnell, though, said nothing. so let's get to the point with cnn politics editor at large, chris chris cillizza. happy friday night to you. >> pusillanimous? >> it was a strong start. >> you're a lawyer. >> indeed. what do you make of the non-handling of this situation by the gop? do you subscribe to the rick santorum theory, they can't say something every time, it happens too often? >> sort of. if you reacted every time trump

tweeted something or said something, you would be responding all the time, but this is not a mole hill. that is mountain. this is donald trump making very clear that immigrants from a basically all-white country, norway, are welcome, and immigrants from places like el salvador, haiti, and african countries, what are they? brown and black, are not welcome and doing so in crude terms. whether he used that exact word or some iteration of it, no one is claiming that he wasn't making clear that he wanted more white immigrants and less black and brown immigrants. and that to me is something that you can't just say -- this isn't just another one of the things that donald trump does. this is a big deal. >> but that is how they handled it. whom do you give this distinction of being the big award winner for saying nothing? >> this is a win for mitch mcconnell. you mentioned it, but he's the senate majority leader, chris.

he's the single most powerful person, republican, other than donald trump, in washington. he didn't say a word. i just think, even if you put out a two-sentence statement that says, donald trump's views don't reflect mine or the republican party's. and i'll note very quickly there, there's danger here for the republican party by saying nothing. donald trump was not a republican before he ran for office. he's barely, in terms of views, a republican now. when donald trump is out of office four years or eight years from now, they're going to have to pick the pieces of the republican party up, and it's not going to be the donald trump party. it's going to be the republican party and what do they stand for. >> who's the runner-up? >> tom cotton and david purdue. i watched earlier today -- earlier this hour. i watched cory lewandowski say repeatedly two republican senators said that donald trump did not say these things in this oval office meeting. they were both there.

that's not what their statement said. >> that's what i said to cory. >> yes. what their statement said was, we don't recall if he did this. >> right. >> which, chris, let's be honest. use common sense here. if they could say he did not say this, he did not do this, we were there and we know it, don't you think they would have? >> yes, strong point. >> of course they would have. >> strong point. >> i think using that as some sort of, well, they're -- they're not saying that. you have dick durbin on the record. you have lindsey graham, you have other folks, say, yes, this is what he said. plus, let's remember it's not about that word. it's about the sentiment, which is white people, white immigrants are welcome, black and brown immigrants, why do we have so many of them. that's the important thing. >> i hear you and i appreciate you. thank you, chris cillizza. you will always get an award in

my eyes. >> have a good weekend, my friend. >> a little bit of a change of topic, but just as provocative a situation. elephants, rhinos, lions, all marching close to extinction each year. we know this, right? is game hunting the answer? a conservationist and a big game hunter says, yes. how? another great debate, next. it's ok that everyone ignores me while i drive. it's fine. because i get a safe driving bonus check every six months i'm accident free. and i don't share it with mom!

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tonight, a special great debate. some of our planet's most majestic animals are getting closer to extinction. that is a fact. if i asked you how to save them, an idea that would not jump to mind would allow them to be hunted for trophies. this sunday marks the premiere of the cnn original film "trophy" and in it they argue conservation and hunting may be closer than you think. watch this sneak preview. >> i've been a hunter my whole life. i lost my dad a few years ago, and he was a hunter. and i think that he would be

really tickled to tell the people back home at the coffee shop that his son is out hunting a lion. >> this is the largest hunting convention on the planet. >> crocodiles are really mean. >> besides, i want a pair of boots. >> poachers will shoot every last one, because there's a commercial driven desire. >> people are confused how hunting and conservation go together. >> you could just pick whatever animal you want from the menu they offer you, see the price, and book the kill. >> and that money will all go back into conservation. >> how much for that sucker? >> 35. >> i have the recipe to save the rhino from extinction. sell the horns, keep the rhinos alive.

on the black market, the retail value of this horn could be $250,000. the operation is painless. it will take two years to go through the same procedure again. >> all i need is for it to be legal. >> farmers before making money out of it. >> there's not one. >> all right. so the question is, does big game hunting help or hurt conservation? here to debate it are hunter and chief rancher phillip glass, and the ceo and general counsel of born free usa. good to have you both here. mr. glass, let's begin. what is your take and why? >> my make is that hunting and conservation go together. we have a centuries long track record of success, from north america to south africa to central asia. everywhere we're apply thing commercial model, the animal numbers are increasing. it's the countries where you can't hunt where the tragic stories are being told, such as

kenya, who lost 8 080% of its w life. >> it is a bad image but a reality that this money that comes into it winds up making the difference in conservation. acceptable to you as a rational is >> it is not, chris. i think what the statistics really know is that less than 3% of the money that gets paid for the money actually goes back into the community. the vast majority of that money is going into the outfits that are running the hunting, going into the government hands. they're really not going back into the commuty or for conservation of the species. >> the money is a token,ot legitimate value. the numbers are pumped up. fair criticism, mr. glass? >> you know, chris mohr was featured in the film. he's the anti-poaching leader in zimbabwe where i hunted the lion. he was on tell vick in new york city and he stated he and the

community received fully 50% of my lion safari dollars. so the facts he's putting out are simply false. some of us have been on the ground and know what we're talkingable, about how this money is distributed to these people. and the meat, as well. >> back up your theory about the numbers and the falsity of the profits going to actual conservation. >> so i think what we're talking about is there might be situations like what mr. glass is describing where he can trace the money going back to the community or a school. but we don't have to speculate. there have been studies done on this. and the studies are almost unanimous that a very low percent of the money that gets paid for trophy hunting is going back into the community. the numbers i've seen were as low as 3%. >> let's hook look at it differ. even if the numbers are exaggerated. if there is any money that is

attributing in some way to the numbers in these place where is they have the trophy hunting being better than in other countries, why isn't that a good enough basis to allow the practice to continue as a tradeoff? >> again, i would say i don't think that's actually true. there are countries which trophy hunting has been -- is allowed, and not just allowed but it's done quite ram pantly. and poaching and otheringti activities that were supposed to be reduced are not happening. what we're seeing in some of co amount of poaching is increasing or staying the same. you're not seeing the money going to conserving the species. >> mr. glass, respond to this notion. for a lot of people who see "trophy" this sunday, it's going to be about feelings. and the idea that if these are such a precious resource, and you don't need them for food anymore, why would we ever kill

them? what do you say to those people? >> it's simply about the numbers, about the population. the population of these animals before hunting became popular in south africa, in the '50s was about a million head of animals total. now there's 26million. the numbers don't lie. the numbers, the ln i hunted in zimbabwe. the lion population in 2016 in zimbabwe is increasing. so the countries we hunt, where our dollars are applied, the animal numbers are increasing. it's just a simple fact. >> here's what we know for sure, we need to do much better with many different species, because the numbers in too many cases aren't going away. thank you very much for being with us. appreciate it. the cnn film "trophy premieres this sunday at 9 p.m. up next, social status. let's take the temperature of

the tweets @chriscuomo. let's get it on. my name is jeff, and i'm the founder of ugmonk. before shipstation it was crazy. it's great when you see a hundred orders come in, a hundred orders come in, but then you realize i've got a hundred orders i have to ship out. shipstation streamlined that wh the order data, the weights of , everything is seamlessly put into shipstation, so when we print the shipping ll everything's pretty much done. it's so much easier so now, we're ready, bring on t. shipstation. the number one ch of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/tv and get two months free. america's small business owners. and here's to the heroes behind the heroes, who use their expertise to keep those businesses covered. and here's to the heroes behind the heroes behind the heroes, who brought us delicious gyros. actually, the gyro hero owns vero's gyros, so he should have been with those first heroes. ha ha! that's better. so, to recap -- small business owners are heroes, and our heroes help heroes be heroes

when they're not eating gyros delivered by -- ah, you know what i mean. this this this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can take on psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. humira is the #1 prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira.

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i use herpecin l.re, it penetrates deep to treat. it soothes, moisturizes, and creates an spf 30 barrier, to protect against flare-ups caused by the sun. herpecin l. that's nice. all right, let's check our social status tonight. tweeting, what did your kids think about your show last night? i love your new show. they felt like it was weird for me to say that word and they don't understand why everybody's so angry all the time, and you know what, neither do i. chris cuomo, are you always this awkward? yes. and one declares who synonymous is the word of the week, kid. thank you for being so supportive of this special this week. a few more weeks of fun to go. please stay with us. don't forget to catch me and allison every weekday starting at 6:00 a.m. in the east.

that's it for us tonight. thank you for watching. "cnn tonight" with don lemon, the man, starts right now. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. thank you so much for joining us. just one day after those disgraceful racist comments by the president of the united states, in the oval office calling african nations shithole countries, the president has not apologized. no surprise, trying to deny he used those words. but there's no denying it. he said it. senator rick durbin confirms it, and senator lindsey graham who was at the meeting also said he stood up to the president after those comments. senator tim scott said graham told him the reported comments are basically accurate. we all know the president meant what he said. sources telling cnn the president called friends to do a