"Piers Morgan Live, Rewind": Harvey Weinstein on Oprah's Oscar "snub," debating an African black rhino hunt, and political offerings from the Kennedy clan

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.

• Weinstein on Oprah's Oscar "snub": "She will bounce back"

On the heels of Thursday's 2014 Oscar nominations announcement, Friday evening saw "Piers Morgan Live" solicit reaction from movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

In response of legendary media queen Oprah Winfrey's perceived snub, the man who produced the film sited timing as the key ingredient in Winfrey not being nominated for her role of Gloria Gaines:

"We had a decision to make. We could open the movie in August, and you know what I mean, and there's always the problem with the Oscars. You forget. I mean it's always the movies that open later in the year that get all the excitement and the heat," explained Weinstein. "I made the decision to go in August. Look at the movie, it did $160 million here. But more even importantly, here's our first movie – and a lot of it is because of Oprah, you know – that's going outside of this country. It did $60 million in France, $10 million...this would be a Black directed film with a Black cast that's going to do close to $100 million."

Despite failing to hear he name listed amongst those up for an Oscar, Weinstein noted that Winfrey will recover:

"She will bounce back. I mean I'm trying to find another role for her right away. She knows she's had her ups, she's had her downs," he detailed. "And she's great in the movie."

• To kill or not to kill: The African black rhino

On the heels of his provocative interview with big-game hunter Corey Knowlton – a man who's paid 350-thousand dollars for the right to kill an endangered African black rhino – on Friday evening Piers Morgan asked Jeff Flocken and John Jackson to debate the ethics behind the forthcoming African expedition.

"This is the case of critically endangered species being hunted for trophy. The message that it's sending the world is that this animal is worth more dead than alive," said Flocken, the Regional Director of the North America International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). "The animal's being poached at a horrific rate for its horn, which is valued in traditional Asian medicines as well as curios like ash trays or statues. And the reason it's so valued is it's rare. A trophy hunt that makes it spectacle of auctioning off the right for a wealthy foreigner to kill one is only saying that's another reason why it's worth more dead than alive."

Jackson, meanwhile, the Chairman and President of Conservation Force and a man instrumental in setting up the arrangement with the Nambibian government, insisted that despite his co-guest's claims, the elimination of a single black rhino is actually the best path forward for the preservation of the species long term:

"One hundred seventy seven nations of CITES and the scientific authorities...have determined that this is in the best interest of the rhino," said the man who encouraged Knowlton to bid on the rhino. "This is about conservation not his personal hunting interest. He didn't want to do this. We ask him to do it."

Where do you stand on this divisive and polarizing issue?

• Two Kennedy's on Christie, Hillary, and Obama

As politics continues to garner space in the hearts of Americans, and on the pages of the nation's newspapers, on Friday evening "Piers Morgan Live" asked guests Patrick Kennedy and Christopher Lawford to share their insights on a selection of stories that are pacing the conversation within Washington, and beyond.

"He's the current political pinata...and like pinatas, people put blindfolds on, and they just whack 'em," said Lawford, a "New York Times" best-selling author, activist, and actor, referring to Chris Christie. "If you can't stand the heat, don't get in the kitchen. He made himself a national figure. Everybody knew this day was going to come, and we'll see how he fares when the spotlight is on you."

Meanwhile, Lawford's cousin offered his reaction to the news that Hillary Clinton had included his dad – Senator Edward Kennedy – on her political hit list after she failed to earn his endorsement in the 2008 battle for the Democratic Presidential nomination:

"I think my dad took the long view, and that was that his brothers were there in the civil rights movement, early on. And I think he felt an obligation not only to making a political decision but to his brothers' memory. And I think he felt this obligation to be with this historic figure Barack Obama at that time," revealed the former Congressman. "So, I hope that the Clinton's understand that. I know in the heat of the moment, you can't, because that's just the way things are."

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