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School Shooting Takes Place in Colorado; Winter Storms Hits Parts of U.S.; "Saturday Night Live" Criticized for Lack of Black Female Cast Member; New Information Released on Sign Language Interpreter at Mandela Memorial; Gun Legislation Debated; College Quarterback Helps Fan; Congress May Not Pass Unemployment Insurance Extension
Aired December 14, 2013 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was pretty scary. There were two shots by my classroom. And then we heard the screaming.
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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Just one year after the Sandy Hook School Shooting, a student targeting a librarian opens fire in the Colorado high school, and the suspect, the motive, the investigation, all the details ahead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was home and this started coming down, so this has been constant all day, yes.
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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So if your teeth are chattering in the northeast, brace yourself because it's going to get a lot colder. A snowstorm, you may already be feeling it, there's one on the way. Parts of New York, New England could get as much as 10 inches of snow.
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KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS: And Kenan won't --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nope.
WASHINGTON: Well, in that case, I will leave and in a few minutes, Oprah will be here.
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BLACKWELL: After getting hammered for not having enough black female cast members -- well, not a single black female cast member -- it looks like "Saturday Night Live" may have taken some action. Comedian Debra Wilson joins us to talk about reports of some secret auditions to find the show's next black female cast member. PAUL: We want to wish you a good morning. I'm Christi Paul. We're so glad to have your company.
BLACKWELL: And I'm Victor Blackwell. It is a pleasure to be with you as well. It's 10:00 here on the east coast, and you're in the CNN Newsroom.
PAUL: We have to talk about the shock and the grief and the search now for answers in Colorado this morning.
BLACKWELL: Police and students and parents, they all want to know the question that everybody really wants to know, they want an answer to the question, why? Why a student walked into his high school and opened fire on his classmates. And this happened yesterday on the eve of today's one-year anniversary of the deadly rampage at sandy hook elementary school in new town, Connecticut.
PAUL: So in this latest incident, here's what we know. Police say 18-year-old Karl Pierson, see him there, shot and injured a 15-year- old girl. Minutes later when police got to the school they found Pierson dead on the floor. Students at the high school in the Denver suburb described just these frightening moment when is they heard gunshots.
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ALEXIA BARRENT: It was terrifying, because we heard gunshots, and Dana, she came running down the stairs and saying she -- someone's been shot.
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PAUL: CNN's Casey Wian is following the investigation for us in Centennial, Colorado. Good to have you with us, Casey. I know police believe the shooter may have been targeting his debate team coach. Do we know why yet?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There apparently, Christi, was a disagreement between the two. And the reason he came heavily armed with a shotgun and two Molotov cocktails. At this point they don't know why he shot the 15-year-old girl, an innocent bystander.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: School's going on lockdown, and I don't know why. The north side of the school, there's a fire in the library.
WIAN: Chaos and confusion at Colorado's Arapahoe High School as a gunman opens fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on the north side, in the west parking lot. I have a student down in the athletic hall. Shotgun shell on the ground. I assume he has a shotgun. I see two shotgun shells on the ground here.
WIAN: And this morning, the suburban Denver high school is still a crime scene.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Be advised at this time we do have one student down, and they have found shotgun shells.
WIAN: Police say the gunman, identified as 18-year-old Karl Halverson Pierson, shot one student before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was pretty scary. There were two shots by my classroom. And then we heard the screaming.
WIAN: Police say Pierson appears to have been seeking revenge against the specific faculty member because of what police call a confrontation or disagreement. Witnesses saw Pierson enter Arapahoe High School carrying a shotgun and making no attempt to hide it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw him. He was kind of running military towards the building. I alerted everybody in the building, and that's when I heard two big bangs, just boom, pop.
WIAN: Police say Pierson asked other students the whereabouts of a faculty member, reportedly the school's librarian and head of the speech and debate team.
GRAYSON ROBINSON, ARAPAHOE COUNTY SHERIFF: When the teacher heard that this individual was asking for him, the teacher exited the school immediately. In my opinion, it was the most important tactical decision that could have been made.
WIAN: In addition to the shotgun, authorities found two Molotov cocktails inside the school. One was rendered safe. The other had been detonated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's why the deputies encountered a large amount of smoke in the immediate area. That was ignited either immediately, prior to, or during the shots being fired.
WIAN: As part of the investigation, authorities will be looking at school surveillance video. They are also searching Pierson's car, his home, and another home he had access to. The shooting happened just 10 miles from the infamous 1999 Columbine High School shooting where Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband was a freshman at Columbine, so he's freaking out right now. It's bringing back horrible memories of that. Yes, it's just way too close to home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: And just a few minutes ago, authorities opened up the parking lot behind me. Students are now being allowed to come back onto campus and retrieve the cars that they left here after yesterday's shooting around noontime. Christi and Victor?
PAUL: Casey, let me ask you something. Initially, authorities thought two people might have been shot by Pierson. Now they think it's just the 15-year-old girl. What do you know about her or how that confusion came about?
WIAN: Actually, what happened Christi was this second victim, the second student was splattered with blood from the first victim. She thought she had been shot. Paramedics initially thought she had been shot when they took her to the hospital. They found out she had no gunshot wound, just blood splatter from the other victim. There were also three other students treated for what authorities say were anxiety panic attacks, very understandable in a situation like this.
PAUL: Sure. OK, Casey Wian, we appreciate the update. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: The shooting from yesterday brings back all of the painful memories for the families of Sandy Hook elementary. Today marks one year since 26 people were killed during that massacre.
PAUL: Moments ago, President Obama paid tribute to the victims by observing a moment of silence, as we all did. The president and first lady also lit candles in their honor.
BLACKWELL: Now, despite a very painful journey over the past year, some of the Newtown families have tried to move forward by fighting for tougher gun regulations. Let's bring in CNN's Poppy Harlow. Poppy, we know that immediately after the Newtown shootings, the White House and some members of Congress started from Washington-out to try to change the gun laws. But these families have started their own initiatives in smaller ways around the country, as well.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Victor. Good morning to both of you. They certainly have. You can't categorize all of the families that lost loved ones in Newtown together. They're all healing in their own respective ways. But many of them are standing literally side by side with the president, vice president, different members of Congress, fighting for tougher federal gun laws.
That has not worked this year. We've not seen a tougher federal gun legislation, we have not seen that passed. That has come to the disappointment of the president, who talked about it in his weekly address this morning, saying we haven't yet done enough to make our communities or our countries safer. But in the state of Connecticut, we have seen much stricter gun laws passed.
I want to play you some sound now from Nicole Hockley. She is the mother of beautiful six-year-old Dylan Hockley. Our Jake Tapper had a moment to speak with her earlier this week just about what this year has been like for her.
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NICOLE HOCKLEY, SANDY HOOK MOTHER: This past year, I've been spending a lot of time getting educated on the causes of gun violence, and really committing myself to the mission that Sandy Hook promised to prevent future gun violence and save lives. And it's been a baptism of fire in many respects, but I've learned a lot, and I believe that there's a lot of hope in terms of positive change that we can make happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Our heart goes out to her, her entire family, and everyone in Newtown. She described Dillon as a real cuddler, he loved to hug, he loved to laugh, he was only six years old. Those are the memories that everyone is talking about today.
BLACKWELL: Yes, Poppy Harlow for us in New York, in New York because the people of Newtown to have some space, to have some time today to reflect in their own way without reporters, without the national media. We're respecting that. And most national news organizations are. Poppy, thanks.
PAUL: Thank you, Poppy.
You know, the other story we have to talk about today is the weather.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: Which is really not pretty -- well, it's pretty, but it's not comfortable.
BLACKWELL: It's pretty out a window. It's pretty on TV. It's pretty.
PAUL: Yes, that's Detroit there. The folks there are getting ready to break out the sweaters and the snowplows, as you can see. Temperatures now, very chilly 18 degrees, as much as six inches of snow could fall before that storm heads out there. But we want to go west, from the motor city to Chicago, where Jennifer Gray is out in Grant Park. It has been snowing all morning on you, and it still is, I think I can see, yes?
JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is still snowing. It's been snowing since the wee hours of the morning. We've had about two inches of snow, more possible as we go through the late morning and into the afternoon. You were asking me earlier, Christi, if people are out. You bet people are out. This is Jim Marsh. Come on in, Jim. We caught him running a few minutes ago. You're from D.C., in town for a wedding. Some people would call you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, this is a beautiful day for a wedding in Chicago, I love Chicago. It's beautiful out here.
GRAY: And I guess it's all about the miles at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we're going to get the miles in.
GRAY: You need a run along. You're making me look like a wimp, because I'm in a snow suit and you're practically in shorts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, enjoy the weather. Welcome to Chicago.
GRAY: Thanks so much. Yes, we are going to see very cold temperatures here in Chicago all the way through Thursday. Temperatures will be at or below freezing. And speaking of Chicago and it being cold in the snow, you know, for the month of December, they normally see about three inches of snow. They already received four, and that was before this snowstorm, and so, definitely ahead of schedule.
We have 22 states covered in winter storm watches and warnings. We have snow from Chicago all the way up into the northeast, and that is going to continue throughout the night tonight into early tomorrow morning, and that's when it's expected to push out through Maine and off the coast.
So we're going to see this continue for the next 24 hours, and possibly 36 as we go into the afternoon on Sunday. Snow accumulations inside New York City could see five to seven inches of snow. Around Boston, we could see up to eight inches of snow. And then places like upstate New York could see even higher amounts. So, guys, it is just a cold morning here in the windy city. And speaking of winds, we could see anywhere 30 to 40-mile-an-hour winds in the northeast.
PAUL: Jennifer, congratulations, because you made him the talk of the wedding.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: People are sitting at home, I went out for a run, and I just saw you on TV.
GRAY: He's a braver soul than I am.
PAUL: You and me both, Jennifer. I'm with you there. Jennifer Gray, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: If you're not feeling any richer this morning, don't worry, no one else is.
PAUL: Yes.
BLACKWELL: Because nobody won last night's drawing, we're talking mega millions. But double check your numbers in case you matched a few. Here they are -- 19, 24, 26, 27, 70, and the mega ball 12. Now, if you want in on the next jackpot, the drawing is Tuesday. This time, the jackpot will be $550 million.
PAUL: Whoo!
BLACKWELL: Maybe more, because you know the lines just stack up.
PAUL: Right.
BLACKWELL: And the jackpot often increases. It really depends on how many people buy tickets.
PAUL: My seven-year-old will go by and, oh, $100 million? That's not worth it. I'm, like, who are you? Are you kidding me? BLACKWELL: Yes, yes, right?
PAUL: And I'm sure if somebody handed you a million bucks, you would say, no, thank you.
BLACKWELL: Yes, right. Not enough.
PAUL: We chat about money, because that's a funny topic, but it's not for a lot of people out of work right now.
BLACKWELL: Yes, out-of-work Americans would love to see Congress extend the unemployment benefits before the holidays, but that's looking less and less likely.
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MARY CARY, FACES LOSING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: Are you ready to see me on the street begging for food? You know? I know I'm not ready to.
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BLACKWELL: Yes, no one wants to see that, but it could soon be a reality for some of more than a million people who could lose benefits at the start of the year.
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BLACKWELL: It's 17 minutes after the hour now. New Year's Eve, nothing to celebrate for more than a million Americans. The holiday is, of course, at the end of the month.
PAUL: Which means it's the end of emergency unemployment benefits, this is what it's getting down to, and money they need will be cut off. CNN's Tory Dunnan is joining us now from Washington. Troy, I know you spoke with a woman that's facing that very predicament, right?
TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, her name is Mary Cary, and she lives in Virginia, and like many people she said she was shocked to find out that extending long-term unemployment benefits is not part of the proposed budget deal. She said if they're renewed, it would be enough to help her get through the winter, but if not she fears she'll lose her home and end up in a shelter.
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DUNNAN: For Mary Cary this is home sweet home.
CARY: You'll see his big feet.
DUNNAN: At 53, she lost her job in June after 20 years as a medical biller. Now she's desperate.
How many of these have you sent out?
CARY: Probably along between 300, 400.
DUNNAN: She's part of more than 1 million Americans receiving emergency long-term unemployment, up to 99 weeks instead of 26.
CARY: We're asking for a helping hand so that we can get a job.
DUNNAN: And you're actively trying to?
CARY: Every day, probably 12 hours of the day.
DUNNAN: President Obama wanted lawmakers to extend them.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If members of Congress don't act before they leave on their vacations, 1.3 million Americans will lose this lifeline.
DUNNAN: They're set to expire December 28th.
CARY: I know I will survive. I know my son will survive, you know? No, I won't have this home that I've worked hard for for eight years. But I worry more about my animals, because they didn't have a choice.
DUNNAN: In true Washington form, it's become a political debate.
NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: It's practically at the level of immoral to do the people that work hard, play by the rules, lose their job through no fault of their own.
SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: I do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they're paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers.
DUNNAN: Michael Strain is an economist at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute.
MICHAEL STRAIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: The problem with that logic is that while it may apply pretty well in a healthy economy, it doesn't apply as well in an economy that's still very weak.
DUNNAN: Strain says people on unemployment benefitting generally stay unemployed longer, but in a recession, it's different.
STRAIN: If their benefits expire, they may conclude that their job search is just hopeless. They just may leave the labor force, which means that they -- some of them end up on public assistance rolls.
DUNNAN: Something Mary Cary says she'll be forced to turn to.
CARY: Are you ready to see me on the street begging for food? You know? I know I'm not ready to. My life's not over. I might have slowed down a bit, but I can be a very contributing member of society.
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DUNNAN: So, Mary Cary could be waiting for weeks for benefits, and that's if she gets them at all. It's important to point out the House has gone home for the year and the Senate won't take up any extension until after New Year's. And with Republican opposition, it's really far from a sure thing. And Victor and Christi, I just got an e-mail from Mary. She says putting politics aside, she hopes she actually doesn't have to continue on the benefits, that positive thoughts she'll get a job anyway.
BLACKWELL: Yes. The folks want to go back to work.
PAUL: They do. Wishing her positive thoughts, as well.
BLACKWELL: Tory Dunnan in Washington for us, thank you.
Still to come, new details about the sign language interpreter now under huge criticism after the Nelson Mandela memorial, surprising details about his background. We've got that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Let's go to South Africa now. That nation is preparing for tomorrow's state funeral for its former president and revered statesman Nelson Mandela.
PAUL: The plane carrying the Nobel laureate's body arrived in South Africa's Eastern Cape province today. Thousands of mourners lined the street. As Mr. Mandela's remains were transposed to the village where he spent his childhood days and he'll be buried, that's when all those people came out to see him.
BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, we are learning more about that sign language interpreter, and you've heard, he has been widely ridiculed for his signing at the Mandela memorial service. That was on Tuesday. CNN's Errol Barnett is in Johannesburg. Errol?
ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A bombshell is emerging out of South Africa this weekend. A local network has uncovered documents which reveal the rap sheet of the so-called fake interpreter from Tuesday's memorial service for Nelson Mandela. In these pages, it shows that Thamsanqa Jantjie faced rape and murder charges, although he was found not guilty. He was found guilty of theft back in 1996, although it's unclear if he served any time. There were other chargers in this rap sheet, which include theft, house breaking, and malicious damage to property. Those charges, we can see from these pages, were withdrawn.
Now, when faced with questions about these charges by the local network, Thamsanqa Jantjie didn't deny them. He wouldn't comment further, but then asked how they were able to get their hands on these pages. Now, when CNN tried to go to the courthouse and see these documents, we were told they were kept offsite.
The government is now facing serious security questions, because Thamsanqa Jantjie also has admitted to being schizophrenic and possibly suffering from an episode while he was standing feet away from U.S. President Barack Obama and many other world leaders on Tuesday. The government says it will and has launched an investigation into how this man was vetted. They've also admitted they made mistakes, but they're also saying they can't get in contact with the organization they hired him through. All of these questions costing a shadow over South Africa ahead of Nelson Mandela's state funeral on Sunday. Christi and Victor, back to you.
PAUL: Thank you, Errol Barnett, for the report.
We want to show you some of the images. You can see just how close the interpreter was to President Obama and other world leaders at the memorial service. And that's part of what has a lot of people really upset, because if he was in a schizophrenic state --
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: -- there's no telling what could have happened.
BLACKWELL: Yes. And there was no person closer to the president than this man.
PAUL: Well, you know, this is a question that gets asked every school shooting, right? Is it time to get serious about new gun restrictions? We're going to talk to our guests about the politics of it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: So good to see you this morning. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: And I'm Victor Blackwell. Here are five stories we're watching this morning.
PAUL: Number one, police in suburban Denver believe the teenage gunman in yesterday's school shooting may have been targeting his debate team coach. The shooter has been identified as this guy, 18- year-old Karl Pierson. Witnesses say he opened fire with a shotgun before killing himself, and we know a 15-year-old girl was critically injured and hospitalized now.
BLACKWELL: Number two, the cause of the death of a woman who vanished from her hospital bed and later found dead in a stairwell has been ruled an accident. According to the medical examiner, 57-year-old Lynn Spalding died from dehydration and complications from chronic alcoholism. Ms. Spalding was discovered in October by a California hospital employee 17 days after she went missing.
PAUL: Number three, a police chase through Los Angeles ended with gunshots and a driver in the hospital. A silver corvette dodged police for an hour and a half before crashing into another car. Police apparently shot the driver as he tried to escape. He was taken to a local hospital. We do not know, however, his condition right now.
BLACKWELL: Number four, China's newest spacecraft has landed on the moon. That makes China only the third country to make a soft landing there. The rover that will be doing all the work is called Jade Rabbit. People in China voted for that name. It will be on the moon for three months, studying the lunar crust. PAUL: Number five, well, things just got more interesting for the mega millions jackpot, but bad news nobody won last night. The numbers -- 19, 24, 26, 27, 70, and the mega ball 12. Here's the good news. The next drawing, Tuesday, already up to $550 million. But your chances of winning are one in 259 million. Don't worry about that. If you want to play, go play.
BLACKWELL: Yes, it's only a buck.
We have this conversation in America every time there is a school shooting, or a mall shooting, or a theater shooter. Is now the time for the country to talk about increasing controls on purchasing guns and being able to own guns and where you can take them? And driving that question this time, the shooting at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, just a stone's throw from columbine, you remember 1999, the shooting at that school. One student was critically wounded. The gunman, he killed himself.
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JOHN SPIEGEL, ARAPAHOE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: We heard, you know, just a really big bang. Our class really thought nothing of it. It was just one. And 10 seconds later, three more, just consecutively in a row. There was screaming, we heard someone yelling, "Help me, help me, we need help."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Let's talk to Amy Holmes in New York, she anchors "The Hot List" at TheBlaze.com, and also in New York Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor at New York 1 news. Good to have you both for this conversation this morning.
ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEW YORK 1 NEWS: Good morning.
AMY HOLMES, ANCHOR, THEBLAZE.COM: Good morning.
BLACKWELL: So I'm going to start with you, Amy. I mean, actually, both of you know that tighter gun laws went nowhere at the federal level after Newtown. The president enacted some executive orders. But is this shooting in Colorado going to in any way force this conversation, especially since it coincides with the anniversary of Newtown?
HOLMES: Well, I think the conversation we need to have is broader, and we always go to gun control. But oftentimes we find out the perpetrators of the crimes have mental illness, that in the case of Newtown, there were very troubling things about that young man. And it also worries me, frankly, that we're normalizing these stories, that they get so much publicity, and there's been research done that shooters are inspired by the idea of becoming famous, becoming infamous, having their names in the headlines. So when we talk about this, unfortunately, politics shoves it into the gun-control debate, when I think the debate needs to be -- or at least the discussion needs to be much broader.
BLACKWELL: Errol?
LOUIS: I agree that the discussion needs to be broader. What I would add to that is gun ownership in America, the percentage of homes with guns in them, have been declining for the last 40 years, so cultural shifts take a lot of time. And so even something as graphic as the Newtown massacre doesn't necessarily move the country faster in the direction that it's already going.
But I think the writing is on the wall for gun ownership. There are very different attitudes than when I was a kid about a lot of different things, whether you're talking child safety seat, or women in the workplace, it just takes a while for the things to set in. But I think we're seeing this happen.
I mean, it was 50 percent in the early 1970s, half of all of the households in the country had guns. Now, we're down around in the low 30 percent, and there's no sign of that turning around.
BLACKWELL: You say that, and I want to bring this up, and, Amy, I'll let you talk about this stat right after it. "The New York Times," after what you just said about the increasing gun control, Errol, "The New York Times" released some stats that states have passed 109 new gun laws since Newtown, 70 of those loosened gun restrictions. Amy, is this telling us that people, yes, they're having the conversation and deciding that they're going to go in the opposite direction that some believed they would?
HOLMES: Well, as you saw, the more that the president talked about gun control the more support for it he lost, actually. And because I think a lot of Americans look at the stories and they realize it actually is not about gun control. It's about very troubled individuals, and in almost all circumstances, they either had the guns legally, they purchased them legally, they went through the background checks, or they stole them.
So this isn't a question of, you know, private purchases on the internet, or needing more gun control. I think that we need to keep a closer eye on our family, our loved ones, disturbed people in our community.
And I would actually would like to advocate for looking at mental illness and should people who have a record of mental illness be allowed to own guns, and to underscore Errol's point, which is if you have gun ownership going down, but we seem to see this -- you know, the increases -- I don't know if it's an increase, about you we see these circumstances of these gun crimes, then the two don't correlate. So what is driving this? Is the very fact that we're talking about it here on CNN, a national program, inspiring young men who are disturbed to think about becoming infamous in their own right? I don't know, but I think we need to talk about it.
BLACKWELL: So what's the suggestion? We not talk about it? I can't imagine a news organization would not cover a shooting at a high school. Should we just ignore it?
HOLMES: Well, he had -- he had a graph of all of the people who had committed the gun crimes and that he want to outnumber them. So clearly these people are watching the news. They are thinking about infamy, and they're thinking about wanting to make their mark because they're a very troubled, disturbed people.
BLACKWELL: Errol?
LOUIS: Those that want to loosen restricts are finding fewer and fewer places to go. It's admirable to talk about mental health, but we can almost go legislator to legislator, and I think Amy knows this, and you'll find those folks don't want to put one penny into actual treatment of mental health broadly speaking or in localities.
So once in a while, we have to look at what we have, and what we have is a crisis and a tragedy in community after community. And again, I think the communities are making up their mind, and I see it leading toward a large, broad national consensus over time that we've got to do all of this differently.
When we see laws, Victor, in Iowa where they want to make it legal to own guns if you are legally blind, and there's a fight that's going on there right now, you know, when you've gotten to that point, you've reached a point of absurdity, and people are going to say we're going to have to do something that makes more sense. It will be up to probably a younger generation to make that really happen, but I think the handwriting is on the wall.
BLACKWELL: Yes, we've covered that law, the proposal in Iowa. You know, Amy, I take your point that after these shootings, that we talk about gun law and gun controls more, but I could tell you it's unscientific, but when I came in, the tweets and Facebook messages that came to me were about guns specifically. So we have the conversation that a lot of people are having. CNN political commentator Errol Louis, Amy Holmes from The Blaze, good to have both of you.
HOLMES: Thank you.
LOUIS: Thank you.
PAUL: Well, "Saturday Night Live" has a bit of a problem, one that some people don't want to talk about. But the solution, take a look here, could be somewhere in this picture.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Beyonce showed how to shock the internet, specifically Instagram and Facebook and Twitter.
PAUL: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP) PAUL: Her self-titled release was available only on iTunes at midnight on Friday, 14 tracks, 17 videos, a little bit of everything, including a cameo by Blue Ivy, her daughter with Jay-Z, of course. Fans had to buy the full thing, though, if they wanted it. They're not complaining.
BLACKWELL: It's $16, $15.99 to be exact. Yes. Making fun of Beyonce, you know, it's not easy on "Saturday Night Live." Why? Because the cast has no black women, and "SNL" has been slammed for it.
PAUL: Yes.
BLACKWELL: It's been going on for a couple of months now, and the show even tried to make light of it when guest host Kerry Washington played a couple of roles in one sketch. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What a nice surprise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that Oprah can come in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, because of the whole --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Kenan won't?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, in that case, I will leave, and in a few minutes, Oprah will be here.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mrs. Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Pretty clever. But "SNL" is now looking for a new face to add to the cast, and she could be in this picture. It's held auditions for black women, and apparently it actually will add one next month, or they will. So here with her own take, Debra Wilson. I don't know, Debra, do you think they had to make this move?
DEBRA WILSON, COMEDIENNE: I don't think they had to make the move, but what they did is, since they are making the move, they're actually admitting that, yes, they need women of color, and not necessarily a black woman. Right now, we're talking about a black woman, an African-American woman, but quite frankly, I would be very, very happy to see any woman of color that can tell her story, that can tell her history, that can bring a colloquial comedy to it, so that you get more of an audience that get a chance to see a shade of themselves, essentially.
BLACKWELL: You know, Debra, we spoke with Kenan Thompson said he would not play a black woman on -- or a woman at all on the show until "SNL," the producers, added a black woman. And what you said then stood out, and Kenan talked about it, as well, that it takes not just a black comedian, but a certain skill set that black women sometimes come in, white men, white women, any comedian it take as certain skill set that sometimes comedians just don't have.
WILSON: Indeed. But on the other end of that spectrum, at the same time, if you're playing a woman, you can't really get the new nuances of the woman, so whatever comedy you are doing at that point is going to be taken just a little bit away from and distracted by the fact that you're not a woman. So, I mean, if you are going to play a woman and you really need a woman for that role, it's going to be necessary to bring someone in who can play that character and not feel like the distraction is a man playing a woman.
PAUL: OK, so let me ask you this. Comedy has been called the boys' club of sorts. Do you think that's changing?
WILSON: Oh, absolutely it's changing, and it's not because of what I think, but because of what I see. And there are many references to many comedies in which they've had women that have had a meteoric rise. Angela Johnson, you may have seen Angela Johnson who is on Mad TV. She was found on YouTube. She had over 2 million, 3 million, 4 million hits. And that's how Mad TV found her. So comedy is always changing. And not only that, you have Melissa McCarthy, and even though she's not a woman of color, the point is, Melissa McCarthy had this meteoric rise from television and "Mike and Molly" completely forward in film, where she's doing lead roles in film.
So there is a great opportunity for women, so, therefore, they're opening the bottleneck for women of color, as well. And it's amazing time for this to be happening. It's the 21st century, so it's overdue, I would say.
PAUL: I was just going to say, "overdue" is the word we need there.
BLACKWELL: And I think for a lot of people, tell me if I'm wrong here, Debra, it would be ground-breaking when they add a second woman of color, not just one to fill the women of color roles, but to have maybe more than one, to be on the show at the same time.
PAUL: For "Saturday Night Live," yes, that would be groundbreaking, essentially, because it would have two of them at the same time. But it's nice to be able to have that flavor to it so that you're also building an audience that says, we get an opportunity to see an image of ourselves, our colloquial humor, things that could broaden the spectrum of comedy for the show itself.
PAUL: Debra Wilson, always great to have you here. Thank you for sharing your insights and your perspective with us.
WILSON: Indeed, Happy blessed, wonderful, holidays.
PAUL: You too, thank you so much.
WILSON: And a positive, wonderful new year.
PAUL: Yes, Amen to that. Thank you, Debra.
OK, so we need to move to some sports here. And the thing is not every star on the football field is a hero off the field.
BLACKWELL: And that goes for the basketball court, the boxing ring, the baseball diamond. But Alabama star QB found something in common with one fan that led to a one of a kind bond between the two.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Jameis Winston is hours away from possibly -- possibly -- winning the top award in college football. That's the Heisman Trophy. Now, the win would come after prosecutors decided last week not to charge the Florida quarterback -- when I say Florida, I mean FSU so the Gators fans don't get confused about this -- in a sexual assault case. Now, other contenders for the award include last year's winner, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, or Alabama's quarterback A.J. McCarron.
PAUL: Even if McCarron never stepped on a football field again, he'd still be a hero in Alabama.
BLACKWELL: And not just because of the two national titles he's won back-to-back -- or not as back-to-back, but as quarterback. One reason is for his special bond with a fellow classmate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A.J. MCCARRON, ALABAMA QUARTERBACK: I always remember him watching football through the cracks of our fence just so he could see a glimpse of the team standing in rain and, you know, cold weather, whatever it was, just because he wanted to be around the game. We had gotten done with practice, and I saw two buses starting to pull away. I saw A.J. I could tell, you know, he had some type of disorder and tried to, like, raise his hand at the bus -- at the two buses, and they just pulled off. And it was starting to rain. And so, I just felt bad.
A.J. STARR, ALABAMA STUDENT: I hear someone say, hey, man, you need a ride?
MCCARRON: He just had this big smile on his face, and was, like, yes.
STARR: As he got closer, I'm, like, that's A.J. McCarron.
MCCARRON: And so, we're pulling around, I'm taking him home, lives right down the street, and I'm, like, I'm A.J. McCarron.
STARR: Yes, I know who you are. My name is A.J., also.
MCCARRON: And if that's not a message from above, then I don't know what is. So, you know, I was holding tears back, just hearing his story, and him having cerebral palsy and how it happened to him. You know, umbilical cord got wrapped around his neck when he was in his mom's stomach and cut off his airway.
STARR: It's kind of hard to go out in the real world and sort of meet people.
MCCARRON: I started bawling, crying, I couldn't handle it anymore. And I called Joe, who is director of our football operations here, and told him the story. I said is there any way we can get him a job here? He called me back the next day and was, like, he's going to help in the equipment room, getting the stuff ready for the games, and doing laundry. He won't get paid. I told A.J. that. He said, I don't even want to get paid. I just want to be here and be around the team.
STARR: I was so excited that I get to be around the football players and just interacting with all of the guys. I'm so thankful for all A.J. and this organization has done for me.
MCCARRON: Here's a kid, you know, who's been through all types of obstacles, and he still wakes up smiling every day and ready to go to work. And I feel like he's, you know, taught me more than I've actually -- or given me more than I've actually given him.
STARR: Every time I come here, and no matter how bad my day is, or what I may go through, I'm just -- when I come here, it goes out the window, you know. I'm probably the happiest man on this planet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: All right, and winter storm warnings in effect from Kansas all the way to Maine. If you're looking out your window, and you're seeing it, I don't need to tell you about it.
BLACKWELL: You know what's going on, including the folks in Mount Kisko, New York. It's where we find Fred Pleitgen this morning. Fred, how are the people dealing with this snow?
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's becoming more difficult, guys. I have to tell you, the storm has really intensified in the past -- I would say the past hour or so. There's a lot bigger snowflakes, more snowflakes, and the visibility has gotten worse. A lot of people are having trouble clearing the sidewalks, working on that the entire time. The snow started at 5:30 in the morning and you had snowplows coming out immediately, also salt spreaders as well. So now the road conditions are actually OK.
What people are trying to do is get a lot of the things they want to get done as early as possible. One of the places that opened early is the hair salon here on Maine Street, Billy's hair salon. People were coming in early to get their hair done so they'd be finished before the snow gets really bad. One of the things we do expect to happen over the course of the day, possibly tonight into Sunday, is that this snow will turn into icy rain, and that could mean some very tough road conditions, guys.
PAUL: All righty, Fred Pleitgen, take it easy out there. Thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: And that'll do it for us today.
PAUL: Yes. Don't go anywhere. Much more ahead in the next hour of the CNN Newsroom. Make great memories today with our own come like Martin Savidge. Martin?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Christi. And thank you, Victor. Thanks, guys.
