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"Piers Morgan Live, Rewind": New take on 'Boston Strong', Tempers run high in pot debate

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Whether you fell asleep early, stayed out too late, or simply want to watch it again, we realize it's not always possible to get your entire "Piers Morgan Live" fix from television. As an answer to this, we offer the below labor of love – "Piers Morgan Live, Rewind" – dedicated and designed to getting you caught up and connected to the conversation.

  • Living the American Dream

Is The American Dream still alive and well in 2014? On Monday, Piers Morgan kicked off the new year with two young guests – brothers Johnny and George Huynh – who have taken social media by storm, demonstrating that happiness may still be achievable even in the face of extreme adversity.

The sons of Vietnamese immigrants, the Huynh brothers didn't have an easy start; while growing up in the suburbs of Boston amidst high crime rate and low income, the boys were raised solely by their disabled mother after their father committed suicide.

But the brothers determinedly used education as a means of rising above their seemingly hopeless circumstances. And their story has hit a chord with audiences in the US and around the world, thanks to the reporting and ongoing twitter updates of Boston Globe reporter Billy Baker.

“It’s a dream thing, you know. You’re a journalist. You hope to find this sort of magical story and I walked into this.” Baker told Morgan on Monday’s broadcast.

With the mentoring and encouragement of Emmett Folgert – the founder of the Dorchester Youth Collaborative – Johnny and George have excelled in high school and are now taking on the collegiate world. Johnny is currently attending UMass Amherst, and George has been accepted to Yale University.

Yet for all their accomplishments, these two independent teens give much credit to the father who was absent for much of their adolescence.

George reminisced about his childhood, saying “When I was in elementary school, he would always check my homework to make sure I was doing it well.”

“He was very smart for someone who didn't have that much of an education,” added Johnny. “He didn't have the opportunities we had. But he was still very – he was a very smart man.”

To learn more on how to contribute to the Dorchester Youth Collaborative please visit:
http://dorchesteryouthcollaborative.org/contribute/

  • Tempers run high in pot debate

As things cooled down across much of the United States, things heated up in the "Piers Morgan Live" LA studio Monday night, as Piers Morgan debated the controversy surrounding Colorado’s newly legalized pot industry with guests Howard Samuels, CEO and founder of The Hills Treatment Center, and Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Howard pushed in favor for maintaining the prevalent prohibition on marijuana. But when asked by the host if alcohol and tobacco should also be outlawed, Howard exclaimed that it is “too late!”

“Why would I add a third industry that is a dangerous industry that gets your children and my children even more exposure to marijuana.”

Nadelmann saw less trouble for changing marijuana policies, and more possibility for economic improvement:

“You’re transforming it from an illegal industry, where conflicts are resolved with violence where you empower organized criminals ... into a legal industry.”

Tempers certainly ran high as Nadelmann and Samuels battled the hot-button issue. Watch the above excerpt from the debate and tell us what you think.

For the next edition of "Piers Morgan Live," watch CNN every night at 9.
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