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Two NYC Cops Killed; Gas Prices and the Economy; Holiday Travel; Colorado Pot Lawsuit; FSU's Jameis Winston Cleared of Wrongdoing; The Top Ten Entertainment Stories of 2014

Aired December 22, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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


RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: There is though still a lot of anger, even a lot of tension between the New York police department and city hall now. The officers are turning their back on Mayor Bill de Blasio, saying that he didn't do enough, perhaps, to stop the protests, maybe even encouraged them and supported them.

How difficult now is that divide and having that divide between city hall and NYPD in order to move forward to a peaceful process?

KADIATOU DIALLO, UNARMED SON KILLED BY NYPD IN 1999: You know, Randi, this is why we all have to dig deep in our heart. Division is not going to solve any problem. We all need to come together for healing in the purpose of justice in a legal way and peaceful way. Even the politicians and elected officials and all the community at large is one body. This is how it's supposed to be. So this is my hope and this is my message to them.

KAYE: If you could reach out to the NYPD or even the mayor, what would you say to them? What would you advise them?

DIALLO: The same message, it shouldn't be two worlds. It should be one people for common cause and for common purpose for humanity. That's my message.

KAYE: And what about the nation? I mean it's not just New York where this is being felt. It's not right here in New York alone. But it's the whole nation. I mean it's -- there is a lot of anger and a lot of distrust.

DIALLO: Yes.

KAYE: For police officers.

DIALLO: Yes. It is our calling. This is call to action for everyone. Each one of us have a role to play. Parents, teachers, elected officials, and also clergies. This is our moment now more than ever. We need to come together. We need to talk to our young that they are angry. We understand that. But they need to turn their pain and anger into something positive for nationwide and worldwide.

KAYE: Kadiatou Diallo, appreciate it. Thank you very much and for all that you're doing to try and keep the peace, we certainly appreciate that as well. DIALLO: Thank you so much.

KAYE: Nice to see you.

I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: U.S. drivers are guzzling with glee this holiday season as gas prices continue to drop. The national average for a gallon of gasoline, $2.39, that's down 85 cents from this time last year. As for oil producers, they're understandably less thrilled. The reality, there's not enough global demand for three major players, the U.S., Russia, and Saudi Arabia. So despite the price pinch, OPEC's holding firm on not slashing production. A move that's fueled conspiracy theories.

CNN Money chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here to break it all down for us, help all of us understand this. All right, so let's --

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN MONEY CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there.

KAYE: Hi there.

Let's start with the U.S. What do these falling oil prices mean for the economy, as well as jobs?

ROMANS: Well, the most immediate impact, of course, for the economy is that people have more money in their pockets. I mean about $100 more a month to spend, Randi. And it will be about $100 billion in consumer pockets next year if these sort of oil prices hold, which everyone expects will. So that is a direct stimulus.

When you talk about the producers, though, it gets a little more sticky because we've had such big job creation in Texas, in North Dakota, in parts of the country where we are producing more oil than we have for 30 years. And as we produce all that oil, this price is coming down. And as the price goes down, it becomes less lucrative to produce more oil in some of these hard to reach places that can be, you know, less cost efficient to get out. So we'll be closely watching there to see if prices continue to fall, does it choke off some of that production that has been a big boom for the U.S.

KAYE: All right, I think that puts it in perspective for us.

ROMANS: So interesting the conspiracy theory that comes with this, too, Randi, because you've got the Russians who are saying -- Vladimir Putin said, maybe this is the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that are conspiring to drive prices down so that it could hurt Russia. The U.S., of course, says no. Saudi Arabia says it's not going to cut production because the less efficient new players, like the United States maybe, should be the ones to cut production. So it's almost a global game of chicken. As prices keep going down, OPEC keeps producing oil, the U.S. producing oil, at 30 year highs, Russia blaming other people because it's really hurting Russia. Conspiracy theories in the oil patch gets so interesting when prices move violently. So I think it's going to be an interesting 2015.

KAYE: They're hard to keep up with.

ROMANS: Yes. Yes.

KAYE: All right, Christine, thank you. Appreciate it.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

KAYE: Meanwhile, a snowstorm is pounding the Colorado Mountains this morning for a second day, making travel pretty much treacherous. And if you haven't reached your Christmas destination yet, well, beware. CNN's Jennifer Gray has details on a storm that could slow you down.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. The good news with this storm, though, Randi, it sit's mainly going to be rain once it makes its way to the East Coast. It is snowing in the Rockies, but we are expected to see mainly rain across the rest of the country. A lot of folks will just wake up to a messy Christmas Day instead of a white Christmas, but we will see a couple of spots with a little bit of snow.

Let's look at the radar. We are seeing some rain across the southeast, the mid Atlantic. Tuesday's forecast could possibly see severe weather across the Gulf Coast. So if you are traveling say from New Orleans through the Florida panhandle, be careful. We're also looking at rain from Chicago on down through the Gulf. A little bit of snow around the Great Lakes.

By Christmas Eve, the flurries extend all the way down to Oklahoma possibly with a little bit of a mixture, of course, across the Great Lakes. If you are traveling on Christmas Eve, some of the airports that could give you trouble, LaGuardia, also D.C., Charlotte, Atlanta. Could see a couple of slowdowns because of the rain. Also dealing with very gusty winds. We could see winds up to 30 miles per hour across some of the major cities. So that could also cause delays as well.

Christmas Day, actually, pretty quiet. We are going to look at a couple of flurries across northern New England, but staying dry across the southeast, which is good news. We could see six to eight inches of rain across the panhandle. And then in the northeast, we could see one to two inches, and that is through Wednesday. One to three in northern New England.

The snow, not all that impressive. However, if you are waking up somewhere like Chicago, Marquette, we could see a white Christmas for you. So that will be something to enjoy.

But look at these winds. We are going to see the possibility of winds reaching about 30 miles per hour as we go through the day on Tuesday into Wednesday. Look at Atlanta, 25 mile per hour winds. And then that's going to climb up the East Coast. Wednesday, 30 miles per hour winds in Philly, 23 in New York. So the rain, combined with wind, Randi, is going to make for a mess if folks are traveling tomorrow and Wednesday.

KAYE: Yes, I don't like the looks of your map there, Jennifer, at all. Hopefully it will improve.

GRAY: Yes, it will.

KAYE: Thank you very much, Jennifer gray, appreciate it.

Still to come, Oklahoma and Nebraska now suing Colorado for legalizing pot. Do the angry neighbors really have a case or will their fight go up in smoke?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Recreational marijuana has been legal in Colorado now for almost a year. But now their neighbors have had enough. Border states Oklahoma and Nebraska have now filed a lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to deem Colorado's profitable but controversial marijuana laws unconstitutional. Quote, "federal law undisputedly prohibits the production and sale of marijuana," and, "Colorado has undermined the United States Constitution." HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson joining me now to discuss this.

So nice to see you.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: To discuss marijuana. Good to see you, Randi.

KAYE: What else is there to discuss on a Monday morning, right, the week of Christmas.

JACKSON: Got to love it.

KAYE: All right, so according to the federal government, marijuana's still classified as a schedule one substance, defined as the most dangerous drug with no currently accepted medical use. Does Nebraska, does Oklahoma have a case here?

JACKSON: No. Well, let's lay it out first, OK?

KAYE: You didn't even have to think about that.

JACKSON: Right, let's lay it out first. The first thing is, is states say this. Listen, you have 50 states in the union and every state is its own sovereign. We're independent. Every state can do whatever it wants to do, right? They have their own governor. They have their elected officials and they vote on things, no matter what it is, death penalty, gun control. In this instance, you have Colorado, and Colorado voters said we want to legalize marijuana. And it's their prerogative to do that as a state.

Now, what does Nebraska and Oklahoma say? That's say that's nice, but you're in violation of a little something called federal law. But then, guess what, Randi, it's the federal government that should be concerned about that, not states, right? It's the federal government's fight, not Nebraska and Oklahoma's fight. And so the reality is this, the federal government has said we're not going to enforce this, we're not going to step into this.

But here's where Nebraska and Oklahoma come in. They say, wait a second, you're having an effect upon our economy.

KAYE: Right.

JACKSON: We're arresting all of these people who are coming in.

KAYE: Impounding vehicles. All kinds of things.

JACKSON: Exactly. Our jail cost are going up and our court costs are going up because of what you're doing in your state. And so the argument is an interesting one. It's a federal issue. Does Nebraska and Oklahoma even have standing or the ability to bring forward a suit that involves the federal government? They say yes because you're affecting our economy.

KAYE: Right.

JACKSON: And Colorado says no, our voters, we do what we want to do.

KAYE: But, you know, we were talking about this earlier off camera. You said, like, where does it stop, right?

JACKSON: Exactly.

KAYE: Because if you start doing it with marijuana, it might lead to what?

JACKSON: Yes. So what ends up happening is this. If you make the argument that marijuana's having an effect upon my state, because everybody's traveling back and forth. So what you have to do, Colorado, is undo that and you can't legalize marijuana. The federal government, since 1970 says, you know what, you can't do it.

But guess what, in the event that the Supreme Court takes the case and they say, you know, we're going to overturn that and, Colorado, you can't do that, what about gun control? Can you have one state, Randi, that has gun control laws that are not that strict. And guess what? Because they're not strict, all the residents are coming to your state to get guns. And they're traveling in our state, and they're traveling with these guns. So now I could say you have to undo that lax gun control law because people are coming to you --

KAYE: Right, no matter the product is.

JACKSON: Exacly, so it's the parade of horribles, Randi. Where does it end? If you allow this, do you allow for other measures such as guns and other things?

KAYE: Because you'd have states, in effect, controlling what other states can do.

JACKSON: Exactly. And every state is independent, every state can do what it wants to do. So why should you in Nebraska and Oklahoma tell me what to do in Colorado?

KAYE: Well, they certainly think they have a case. Meanwhile, Colorado's attorney general promsing to fight back, quoting here, "It appears the plaintiff's primary grievance stems from non-enforcement of federal laws regarding marijuana as opposed to choices made by the voters of Colorado. We believe this suit is without merit and we will vigorously defend against it in the U.S. Supreme Court."

JACKSON: Interestingly enough, John Suthers, of course, he as an individual opposed this measure. But now that he's the attorney general, he has to back what's lawful in his state. And that's what's lawful in his state so he's going to defend it. And of course I'm not surprised the statement is without merit. I happen to agree. But w could both be wrong. We'll see what the supremes have to say about.

KAYE: The supremes. I like that.

JACKSON: The supremes, the ultimate law of the land.

KAYE: All right, Joey Jackson, always a pleasure. Nice to see you.

JACKSON: Thank you.

KAYE: All right. Still to come, Florida State's Jameis Winston heads to the playoffs after being cleared in a critical hearing. And one attorney says he feels duped.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston will play in the national championship semifinal game after clearing a major off-the- field hurdle. Brian McFayden has the story for us -- Brian.

BRIAN MCFAYDEN, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, good morning, Randi. Yes, former Heisman Trophy winner Winston has been cleared of any wrongdoing at a student code of conduct hearing from an alleged 2012 sexual assault. Florida State held a two day hearing earlier this month to determine if Jameis Winston violated any sections of the code of conduct. That included sexual misconduct and endangerment. Jameis Winston was never arrested from the 2012 incident but still faced a school hearing because of Florida State obligations under Title IX.

Independent hearing officer and former Florida state supreme court justice Major Harding wrote this to Winston. Quote, "This was a complex case and I worked hard to make sure both parties had a full and fair opportunity to present information. In sum, the preponderance of evidence has not shown that you are responsible for any of charged violations of the code. Namely, I find that the evidence before me is insufficient to satisfy the burden of proof."

Winston's accuser's attorney John Clune wasn't happy with the ruling by Harding, saying quote, "We are stunned and dismayed by the order. There are certainly glaring bases for appeal, but at some point we have to recognize that Florida State is never going to hold Jameis Winston responsible. We will consider an appeal but right now we feel a little duped."

Winston's accusers has five class days to file an appeal. Florida State will participate in the first ever college football playoffs at the Rose Bowl against the No. 2 ranked Oregon Ducks. Randi? KAYE: Well, I guess a lot of people are going to be happy to see him

playing for sure. Brian, thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Yes, absolutely. Thanks very much.

Still to come, Taylor Swift makes music history and says good-bye to Spotify. We look back at the top entertainment stories of the year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC: TAYLOR SWIFT "SHAKE IT OFF")

KAYE: Yes, I'm dancing in my chair, I admit it. All right, the entertainment world was rocked by the deaths of a couple comedy legends in 2014, but celebrations for show business personalities also made headlines.

"Entertainment Tonight" correspondent and CNN contributor Nischelle Turner looks back at the top ten stories of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Frozen fever. This movie has won two Academy Awards, made over a billion -- yes, that's a billion with a b -- dollars worldwide and that song again, what was it?

IDINA MENZEL, VOICE OF ELSA: Let it go, let it go --

TURNER: Because of that song, the "Frozen" soundtrack has also become the best-selling album of the year.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": Today the sad news comedian Joan Rivers had has passed away at the age of 81.

TURNER: The comedy world and, well, all of us who just loved to laugh mourned the passing of an icon when Joan Rivers died in September of this year. She was 81 years old and died of complications while undergoing a minor surgery. All of Hollywood came out and mourned her. Goodbye, Joan.

So what do we want to call her? T-Swizzle, T-Swft, Taylor Swift, Cha- Ching? She became the first female artist to have three albums sell more than one million copies in one week. Good lord, that girl's good. Also, she said bye-bye to Spotify. Taylor pulled her music from the streaming service and proved, well, they need her more than she needs them.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST, "CNN TONIGHT": We're hearing from Bill Cosby's attorney, right, denying all allegations.

TURNER: We're talking about Bill Cosby and his fall from grace in 2014. More than 20 women have now come forward and said Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them. NBC has now canceled his upcoming project and Netflix has postponed his comedy special. Celebrities and selfies seem to go hand in hand these days, but what

happens when those personal photos become public fodder? A number of pictures of A-list celebrities were hacked into and released to the public. Pictures of people like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton. J- Law didn't take this one lying down, though. No. She called it a sexual violation and a crime.

It was Super Bowl Sunday, but the news that overshadowed the game was the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Yes, the Oscar-winning actor died in February after an accidental overdose. Celebrities took to social media to pay their condolences. Everyone seemed to say he was a good man who made great movies.

I think we're all still talking about what happens in an elevator doesn't stay in an elevator. Yes, the fight: Solange, Jay-Z in the elevator, at the Met gala. Beyonce standing to the side. Everyone then said what's going on with this marriage? Are they breaking up? Are they getting a divorce? Well, Beyonce and Jay-Z gave us a little answer at the MTV Music Awards. He got a big kiss from his wife, which said to all of us, "Mind your business."

Jay Leno said farewell; David Letterman announced he was leaving, too. Now we're seeing a new breed of late night TV hosts. Stephen Colbert is taking over for David Letterman; of course, Jimmy Fallon took over for Leno and he didn't miss a beat.

Yes, I'm talking about weddings. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, they got married to much fanfare in Italy. So we all see Kim Kardashian post every single moment of her life on Instagram. Well, that kiss, it became the most liked picture on Instagram this year.

Then there was Brangelina. They surprised us all. How did they keep that secret? Well, because they're private, that's how. And then, of course, there is Hollywood royalty of all royalty, George Clooney. How did Amal Alamuddin get him to walk down aisle? I need to talk to that lady, because whatever secret she got, I want.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION": Tonight, we've learned Robin Williams, a treasure to millions, has died.

TURNER: There's not a lot that shocks us in Hollywood anymore, but this one stunned us all. I'm talking about the passing of Robin Williams. He was 63 and Williams was sober but we know he was struggling with severe depression and early stages of Parkinson's disease. Robin Williams was loved and beloved in Hollywood. He was a husband, he was a father, and to all of us he was just kind of our favorite guy. His legacy will live on and he will never be forgotten.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: You can catch the "TOP TEN OF 2014" special on CNN Sunday evening at 6:30 Eastern Time.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

(MUSIC)