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Mayor Investigated over Drugs; LAX Shooting Sparks Security Concerns; TSA' Officer's Family "Devastated"; Big Names Stump for Virginia's Governor; Court Strikes Key ObamaCare Provision; Feds Investigate Teen's Mysterious Death; GOP Senators Threaten Obama Nominations; Cher Suggests Sonny in Hell; Paralympian Wins Marathon Wheelchair Race; "SNL" Tackles Criticism on Diversity; New Test on Knife in Amanda Knox Case; Astronaut Talks about Confronting Fear

Aired November 03, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Welcome to the second hour of the CNN NEWSROOM this Sunday afternoon, a look at our top stories right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Toronto's mayor says I'm sorry. But Rob Ford is not going to resign, standing his ground despite photos of him reportedly smoking crack cocaine.

New details surfacing about the deadly shooting of a TSA officer at LAX. What the suspected gunman did after firing the first shot.

And "SNL" gets political, taking on the topic of race with one of the hottest actresses on the planet right now.

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WHITFIELD: Toronto's mayor makes an admission today. He says he has made mistakes but he also reaffirmed that he has no plans of resigning even though police claimed they have video reportedly showing Rob Ford smoking a crack cocaine pipe.

Nick Valencia is following today's developments.

So, Nick the mayor did offer an apology but he was not very specific about for what he was apologizing.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, Fred. He apologized for unspecified mistakes. He said that he takes full responsibility -- we just don't know exactly what he is taking full responsibility for.

He made these allegations days -- he addressed these allegations, I should say, just days after the police chief of Toronto said that they have video evidence, digital video that shows the mayor allegedly smoking crack cocaine.

Now Mayor Ford, Mayor Rob Ford, he did address that, he said that this video should be made public. Take a listen to what he had to say earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ROB FORD, TORONTO: I want the police chief, Bill Blair to release this video for every single person in the city to see. That is the right thing to do. And Chief, I'm asking you to release this video now.

Whatever this video shows, whatever this video shows, folks, Toronto residents deserve to see it and people need to judge for themselves what they see on this video.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Now earlier this week, Mayor Ford was featured prominently in a more than 460-page report by the police investigating drug gang activity. And that report was important for as much for what it didn't say about Mayor Ford, as much as what it did say. There was page after page, Fred, of redacted pages in there, blacked out, completely blacked out in terms of his allegations to drug abuse, crack cocaine abuse, page after page blacked out.

But it did show him photographed in front of what police say was a crack house with three alleged gang members.

WHITFIELD: So he really is giving permission for the police chief to release that video, which then the logic would be he must be very certain that he is not on there. Or does it mean that, he is kind of giving into the pressure or trying to appease people who say they want to see more of what's been reported?

VALENCIA: I think a defense could be even if he is caught smoking from a glass pipe, we don't know what was in that pipe. So he wants Toronto and people in Toronto, like he said, to take a look at this video and decide for themselves.

And you would think that after so many people have come out and asked for him to take a leave of absence or altogether step down, you'd think that his public support would drop. But that has actually gone up about 5 percent, his approval ratings there locally have gone up about 5 percent.

WHITFIELD: It is a fascinating story. Thanks so much for bringing that to us, appreciate it.

New details about what took place on the West Coast Friday, that deadly shooting at LAX. Prosecutors say the suspected gunman fired at a TSA officer at point-blank range, walked away and then came back to shoot him again.

That TSA officer, Gerardo Hernandez, died and now officials are trying to figure out are security changes needed there.

Stephanie Elam, live for us right now in Los Angeles.

So Stephanie, is LAX expect to make security changes, entertain it, what's happening now that the airport is back open?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, they are looking at their security measures and they have instituted extra security in light of all that happened here, the tragedy that happened here on Friday.

They are looking at the security and changes that they made earlier this year; in fact we heard from the police chief for the airport and he talked about exactly some of these changes and how they are looking at it.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PATRICK GANNON, L.A. POLICE CHIEF: We have a security strategy that we employ every single day, obviously today and for the foreseeable future, we'll continue our very high-profile at the curbs and anywhere in those ticketing areas and anywhere on our (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And he also talked about the threat at the airports, at all airports, is really from the curb to before you get into security. And at that point, everyone has been screened past that point and looking on how to make those areas safer here, Fred. And that's something every airport is probably looking at now.

WHITFIELD: And what more have investigators said about the suspect, Paul Ciancia?

ELAM: Well, they do believe it looks like, at this point, that he acted alone. He reportedly was dropped off at the airport by a roommate that, at this point officials believe that he had nothing to do with what went down here, that this was all Ciancia's plan alone.

Also hearing now that there were some rambling text messages that he was sending to his family members, to his younger brother back in New Jersey and that when the father caught wind of this, he reached out to the police chief in their town there in southern New Jersey, and then had them call Los Angeles; they checked his place.

This was about 10:30 am Friday morning here in Los Angeles. As we all know, that was about an hour after everything started happening here at LAX. But whatever was in those text messages was enough for them to be alerted.

Also learning that he had five magazines on him here at the airport and that the two guns that he possessed so far we seem to hear were legally (ph) obtained by Ciancia before he went on this rampage here; that clearly seems to have targeted TSA members, even mentions TSA in his note, not specifically employees, just TSA in general and saying that he wanted to instill some fear in them, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much, at LAX. Appreciate that. So the wife of the TSA officer killed in that attack said he was always excited to go to work and took pride in his job, 39-year-old Gerardo Hernandez was working as a travel document checker when he was shot on Friday. His wife, Ana (ph), said she and her two children are simply devastated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

He was a wonderful husband, father, brother, son and friend. Gerardo would have been 40 next week. I am truly devastated and we are all heartbroken and will miss him dearly.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Hernandez had been working for the TSA since 2010. He is the first TSA officer to be killed in the line of duty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: John Kerry is in Cairo today asking the Egyptians to work towards democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): The secretary of state met with Egypt's foreign minister and told Egyptians the U.S. didn't suspend military aid to the country as a punishment for the overthrow of its first democratically elected president, but because it is, quote, "policy."

Kerry is the highest level U.S. official to visit the Egypt since former president Mohammed Morsy's ouster. Morsy is accused of inciting violence during anti-government protests during the summer. His trial begins tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Some big names hitting the campaign trial in the Virginia governor's race. President Obama the biggest name, just recently speaking at a rally for Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe in Arlington today.

The message with the race so close -- so close with McAuliffe's Republican challenger, Virginians can't afford to stay home.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- when it comes to creating good jobs, when it comes to investing in education, when it comes to giving more Virginians the opportunities that they deserve, Terry understands what folks are going through. He knows how to get things done. That is why I hope you guys are fired up on Tuesday because we cannot let people stay at home when so much is at stake.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): But the president wasn't the only big name backer for McAuliffe. There you see actress Kerry Washington, fresh off her hosting stint on "Saturday Night Live" last night. She also energized the crowd.

KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS: I know that there is a lot at stake for Virginia on Tuesday. The outcome of this election will matter. And who your next governor is will matter. Virginians deserve a governor who will invest in education and ensure all Virginians have a chance to succeed.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, McAuliffe holds a slight 4 point lead over Republican Ken Cuccinelli.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A federal court takes a significant bite out of the president's health care law. On Friday, we learned a three-judge panel struck down a key provision on mandatory contraceptive coverage.

Let's go live now to Washington, and CNN's Barbara Starr, so Barbara, walk us through the court's decision.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's what's going on, Fred. A provision of the Affordable Care Act requires some businesses with 50 or more employees to provide insurance for birth control or pay a substantial fine. In this federal appeals court decision, that has been struck down now. The court rules the company, the employer that brought the case, Freshway (ph) Foods of Ohio, could not be forced to provide birth control. Part of the court's decision saying, quote, "They can either abide by the sacred tenets of their faith, pay a penalty of over $14 million, and cripple the companies they have spent a lifetime building or they become complicit (inaudible) grave moral wrong."

What is the court talking about? Well, the owners of the company are of the Catholic faith and objected on religious grounds. But the suit was filed in the name of the company and a company cannot have religious beliefs. So the court wants this to move on. They basically upheld it for now, and they are now not going to force the owners to provide birth control that would -- that would have been required. They say it would challenge their religious beliefs.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Barbara Starr, for bringing that to us from Washington.

Now major developments in a case of a teenager found dead inside a gym mat at his high school. Was Kendrick Johnson's death an accident? Or murder? The feds are investigating.

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WHITFIELD: A Georgia man will be charged for accidentally setting fire to his wife by flicking his lighter near a gas pump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): The video is shocking and it was all caught on surveillance camera at this gas station -- right here the couple -- as you see it right there, standing outside their truck near the nozzle when flames shot out.

The woman suffered second and third degree burns. Her husband faces one count of reckless conduct.

A man was shot on campus during homecoming weekend at North Carolina A&T State University. Police in Greensboro are now searching for four suspects; officials say the 21-year-old victim is expected to be OK. The university was locked down for about a half an hour after the shooting last night.

WHITFIELD: And major developments in a case that CNN has been digging into for more than six months now. A U.S. attorney announced that he is launching a federal investigation into the death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson. Johnson was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at his high school in Valdosta, Georgia, in January.

Officials say Johnson suffocated after falling into the gym mat while reaching for a shoe. But his parents believe he was murdered.

CNN's Victor Blackwell has been on top of this story for more than six months now, and I asked Victor how federal investigators plan to move forward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: The U.S. attorney says it's a combination of a review and an investigation. So he and the FBI will be looking at the original investigation from local authorities, but also, they're going to go out and conduct their own interviews.

I spoke with a former FBI special agent and he says they're going to treat this like a cold case, in many ways, going out, trying to find the people who were in the gym, around that gym, and knew the basic facts. So they'll create their own investigation as well.

WHITFIELD: There are an awful lot of inconsistencies, everything from deeming it accidental, and then suddenly, OK, it looks like foul play was involved, and even the condition of Kendrick's body.

How will federal authorities go about that?

Does it appear as though there may be a sophisticated cover-up and that being part of the federal investigation?

BLACKWELL: Well, that's what the family believes. They believe that this was a cover-up. And we've reported that. We do not know, because that statement from the U.S. attorney was very carefully written, what the specific impetus, what that one detail was that initiated the investigation.

But we do know that there's a possibility that there could be another exhumation.

In my conversations with the former FBI specialist, he says that there is the one from the state, the autopsy, and then the private autopsy; maybe the FBI lab will want their own autopsy. So a third to kind of find out which one of these is more in the right direction of what actually happened.

WHITFIELD: Some of those things are long term. What's next immediately?

BLACKWELL: What's next? The authorities, FBI, will be going into Valdosta and starting to have conversations with the officials there, the investigators, and the people in the community.

We also know at the local level, we're expecting an announcement from the coroner to decide if he will open an inquest, which would gather a jury of six people; they would listen to testimony, look at evidence, and determine if Kendrick's death was an accident or a homicide.

If it's deemed homicide, it changes his death certificate, and that could start a parallel local investigation to find the person responsible.

WHITFIELD: Victor Blackwell, thanks so much. Keep us posted on this.

BLACKWELL: Sure will.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The president is definitely trying to get his agenda back on track. But these GOP senators are putting up some roadblocks. Who are they and why are they doing this?

CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us next with answers.

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WHITFIELD: This week the president's nominees for federal judges, chair of the Federal Reserve and his choice to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency could hit some roadblocks. Senate Republicans, at least one, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, says he will block every nomination until he get more information and testimony from survivors of the Benghazi attack.

CNN's Candy Crowley is with me now, anchor of "STATE OF THE UNION" and our chief political correspondent.

Good to see you, Candy.

So you spoke to another senator today about this.

Why, despite low Republican approval, ratings are these senators steadfast on this approach which can be construed as obstructionism?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST: I'm not -- well, first of all, they say they're obstructionists in the Obama administration for not bringing these witnesses forward. But second of all, I'm not sure how crazy they are about this idea.

Even Senator Graham has said this is the only leverage I've got here to get these people up here. And let's remember that Senator Graham is up for reelection. There are conservatives who are angry with him about immigration and other issues.

So this is also although he has pursued it forever, even when he wasn't up for reelection, this is clearly also something that politically helps him in his state.

But when I talked to Kelly Ayotte, who is a close friend, in fact, she and Lindsey Graham and John McCain are often referred to as the three amigos, when I pressed her on, are you with him, are you going to block every nomination till you get these witnesses up there about Benghazi, she wouldn't say yea or nay. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KELLY AYOTTE (R), N.H.: I will evaluate whatever we means we need to do to get that information. But I hope we can work this out cooperatively and I think we should be able to. But it's been too long and we have been brushed off for too long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Big election day on Tuesday as well, Virginia governor, New Jersey governor, New York mayor's race. The president and the Clintons have thrown their support behind Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe in Virginia.

So if McAuliffe were to win after the president's won Virginia twice, would this make that state which has been traditionally red, would it now be blue?

CROWLEY: It would be a conservative blue. It would, statewide, certainly you are talking about a sweep by Democrats at the top. On the other hand, they still have Republican legislature. So but the two U.S. senators are Democrats.

So it is still in the contestable states for sure. It is, at the heart of it, Virginia is a conservative place. But remember they are going from a very conservative governor who is term limited, Governor McDonnell, to a man, Terry McAuliffe, who has never held public office before but nonetheless is probably slightly left of center on the Democratic side. So swing state I think is probably the best way that you're going to be able to describe Virginia for a while.

We shall see, come Tuesday, perhaps.

Candy Crowley, thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: (Inaudible) asked Cher a provocative question about her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono, if she had just one minute to talk to him now, what would she say? Her stunning reply straight ahead.

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WHITFIELD: Cher can't seem to forgive her late husband, Sonny Bono. During a recent Q&A session on Facebook to promote her first album in 12 years, the singer and actress was asked a lot of questions about the husband she divorced back in 1975.

Sam asked this, "Hi, Cher. If Sonny Bono were still alive today but you only had a minute to talk to him, what would you say?"

Cher's response, "How hot is it where you just came from?"

Ouch.

Her feelings are nothing new. Just listen to this interview from just a few months ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHER, PERFORMER AND ACTRESS: When I was with Sonny, I really wasn't -- I was more like -- when I met him I was 16, so it didn't bother when until I was about 20-something, you know, 23. And it started to chafe at me. I really wanted to do what I wanted to do, say what I wanted to say. I didn't want to be shackled to someone else's opinion.

And Sonny was very much, my opinion is your opinion. So when I decided to leave him, I just thought I have to get back to myself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow. So just last month Cher told Reddit that Sonny's ghost played tricks on her at home. Sonny died in 1998.

The New York City Marathon is being held for the first time in two years. Last year the race was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy. Just a short time ago two Kenyans took first place in the men's and women's divisions.

Our Alexandra Field joins us with more on the victories.

So Alexandra, tell us more about the two winners and the grand prize.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, for the men, Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai won the race with a finish time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 23 second. For the women it was Kenya's Priscah Jeptoo with a time of 2 hours 25 minutes and 7 seconds.

They each won $100,00 for that. They ran amid the 47,000 runners who set out to try and cross the finish line at New York City's Marathon. It is estimated a crowd of 2.5 million people are cheering them on along a course that spans the city's five boroughs. It took 2.5 hours just to get all those runners over the starting line. Seven hours into the race now, many of them are still out there, grinding out those 26.2 miles.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: That is a bear of a race.

So a Paralympic track medalist apparently made history as well. Tell us about her story. FIELD: Well, one of the most moving moments of the race, Tatiana McFadden is paralyzed from the waist down. She was born with spina bifida. She won the race in today's wheelchair division. She also won her races this year at the marathons in London, Boston and Chicago. Today's victory makes her the first athlete ever to win the grand slam. That's all four major marathons in a single season, right, Fred? Wow.

WHITFIELD: That is incredible and then tell me about security and how it impacted the race at all today.

FIELD: That's just the reality of today's race. Given the attacks at the Boston Marathon back in April, runners faced a stricter security measure state. So did the crowd. But for runners in particular, they had to adjust to a few changes. They were told this year that they couldn't run with backpacks, they couldn't have water packs on their backs. They couldn't wear face masks. They couldn't wear those bulky costumes. People in the crowd, they were also told that if they brought large bags or backpacks those things would be subject to search. The goal here, just to make this a safe race day for everyone, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good and glad it was. And congrats to the winners and really congrats to all of the racers. Anyone who attempts it and anyone who actually crosses the finish line, pretty extraordinary feat.

Thanks so much, Alexandra.

An Atlanta man has broken the record for the fastest cross-country drive ever. Ed Bolian drove cross-country from Manhattan to L.A. in just under 29 hours. How did he do that? And he stopped by our set this morning and talked to Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul on "NEW DAY."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: What was the toughest part for you?

ED BOLIAN, RECORD-BREAKING CROSS-COUNTRY DRIVER: Really the preparation. I spent literally almost 10 years dreaming about it and thinking about different ways to solve all of the problems that come up with trying to do something like this.

BLACKWELL: So you said that there were laser jammers and also bedpans. Were there pit stops at any time?

BOLIAN: Well, whenever anybody asks you, whenever you talk about driving across the country this fact, the question, is what about the cops? And the question is, where do you use the bathroom? And so fortunately the bedpans and bottles and things like that were not required for such a use. We stopped three times for gas and about five times on the side of the road.

PAUL: And nobody every -- no arrests, no tickets, no nothing? BOLIAN: No, you got to think, safety and avoidance of all of these things was obviously a top priority. But we had three people fully devoted to making sure that didn't happen.

BLACKWELL: So you now had this record, 2,850. Are you going to try again to break it?

BOLIAN: No, no, no.

BLACKWELL: OK. Once is enough.

BOLIAN: Exactly, exactly. I'm good here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Pretty extraordinary. Well, glad that it ended and no one got hurt. All safe.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, NBC's "Saturday Night Live". The show caught a whole lot of grief over not having any black women on its cast. And now producers are dealing with it as only "SNL" can, with humor. That's coming up next.

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WHITFIELD: If you got up early enough this morning, you may have seen a rare natural phenomenon, a partial solar eclipse. It could be seen for about 30 minutes along most of the East Coast. You can see the full eclipse in this video taken from Uganda. The next chance you to see a total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be 2017.

"Saturday Night Live" poked fun at itself last night. It tackled head on all the criticism that it's received lately over the show's lack of diversity.

"SNL" veteran Kenan Thompson said last month that he is done -- he is just simply done playing female characters, specifically black female characters. He is protesting the fact that there are no black women on the "SNL" cast. So last night "SNL" used guest host Kerry Washington to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am so sorry to interrupt but Oprah Winfrey has arrived for the dinner and she would love to pop in and say hello.

JAY FARROW, "BARACK OBAMA": Well, that's wonderful.

KERRY WASHINGTON, "MICHELLE OBAMA": What a nice surprise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isn't it? So don't you think you should go and get changed?

"MICHELLE" Why? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that Oprah can come in?

"MICHELLE" Oh, because of the whole --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly.

"MICHELLE": And Kenan won't?

"BARACK": No.

"MICHELLE": Well, in that case I will leave and in a few minutes Oprah will be here.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The producers at "Saturday Night Live" would like to apologize to Kerry Washington for the number of black women she will be asked to play tonight. We made these requests both because Ms. Washington is an actress of considerable range and talent and also because "SNL" does not currently have a black woman in the cast.

"As for the latter reason we agree this is not ideal situation and look forward to rectifying it in the near future -- unless, of course, we fall in love with another white guy first."

WASHINGTON, "OPRAH WINFREY": I'm here!

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: CNN entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner is here now. Nischelle, you and Oprah are like this. So I can't wait to hear what Oprah thinks about that rendition.

But first, let's talk about "SNL" poking fun at itself over what really is a serious matter.

So does it end with these skits and Kerry Washington or does NBC make a concerted effort to find black female talent?

It's out there.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, well, first of all the skit was funny. So let's just say that. Second of all, the question that you asked, will they go and try to find black female talent? That is the question that is out there now, Fred, and I'm not sure that we have the answer to it.

Hopefully "Saturday Night Live" will take heed and listen to their own lampooning and find someone but let's be clear about this and let's be real. What you hope they don't do is go out and just get someone to placate the critics.

You hope they go out and find someone funny, and you alluded to it. It can be done, there are a number of very funny African-American comedians that are working today.

I did think it was interesting in that skit, in that skit, excuse me, as well last night. Not only did they have Kerry Washington playing just about every black female in pop culture. Today they also showed just how many white males they do have on the cast because they had six Matthew McConaugheys come in all at once. And that was very funny. But it did drive home the point of the lack of diversity there.

WHITFIELD: So the question has been what will "SNL" do? Will they find just anyone or will they really make a concerted effort to find someone talented?

Now what about those on staff? How uncomfortable about they about this, are they trying to make an appeal to the show to do more?

TURNER: Well, I think it is really interesting. That's a very interesting. Jay Farrow, who you see there in the skit playing President Obama, was one to come out and address the controversy and say you know what, we need to do get better and there isn't really an excuse for this. I mean, he threw out names like Darmirra Brunson, saying she is very funny. She is out there working and she is ready to do this show.

There are other black female comedians, Torrie Hart is very funny. Kym Whitley is very funny. Loni Love, Glo Delt (ph), all of those women off the top of my head, very funny women who are ready to do "Saturday Night Live".

But also Kenan Thompson, who is another black member on the cast, actually started this firestorm. Even though it's been talked for a while, he is the one that came out and said listen, there aren't any black females right now because the ones that we found aren't, quote- unquote "ready." So I think there is some talk about it and hopefully this talk will lead to action, because the point that has been made by the critics is, yes, no one likes to hear you are not diverse enough but when you are a show that addresses pop culture and some of the biggest names in pop culture right now are African-American women, it is a bit of a shame that you don't have African-American women on the cast.

WHITFIELD: And so, Nischelle, traditionally how does "SNL" go about looking for top talent? Is it checking out all of the comedy clubs? Are there auditions? Do we know?

TURNER: Well, you know what they do, they go to the groups like The Upright Citizens Brigade, they go to The Groundlings. They go to SCTV, Second City TV and they go to those comedy troupes a lot of times to look for their talent.

Now what may -- the question may be in the conversation may go to them are those troupes diverse enough? And also, you know, a lot of times when you have African-American women that are out working in comedy, you will hear from them that the lack of opportunity, not just at "Saturday Night Live", but the lack of opportunity in general is there. I mean we see a lot of black female comedians today doing what? Going to talk show host route. Sheryl Underwood, Aisha Tyler, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, all of them made their name today another way because they are working comedians but sometimes the opportunities aren't there.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating stuff. All right. Thank you so much, Nischelle, for bringing that to us.

TURNER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Coming up next in the NEWSROOM a new DNA test could be a major turning point in the Amanda Knox case. But will it clear her name forever? More on what the new results reveal, next.

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WHITFIELD: A new DNA test on a critical piece of evidence in the Amanda Knox case could go in Knox's favor. It focuses on a knife police say was used in the murder of Knox's roommate in Italy. Erin McLaughlin has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it looks like there's some good news for Amanda Knox.

Court proceedings in her case next week will focus on new DNA tests. The tests involve a small portion of the knife prosecutors say was used to kill Meredith Kercher.

Now according to Italian media reports, the tests rule out the possibility that Kercher's DNA is present in the sample tested. The results are expected to be revealed in court on Wednesday. The written conclusions by forensic experts have already been filed in Florence.

Now this knife was a critical piece of evidence in the original trial that found Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito guilty of killing Kercher in 2007. An appeals court overturned the convictions in 2011, but Italy's Supreme Court reversed that decision, so the case is back in court.

Both Knox and Sollecito have always maintained their innocence of Kercher's murder. Knox remains in the United States. She says she had no plans to return to Italy -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Erin McLaughlin

So Knox has opened up about the whole ordeal since she has been back in the U.S. She has published a book and spoken openly about it. She also spoke to CNN's Chris Cuomo earlier this year about the moment she found out Kercher was murdered.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You find out the most horrible truth of what was going on in that house. Now you know. Now you're outside. And now begins another box to check. You don't react the right way. You don't react the right way. You were kissing your boyfriend. Your friend is dead inside. You are not supposed to do that.

KNOX: Not supposed to. Well, I think people forget that I did not see into Meredith's room. It was inexplicable, the idea that she had been murdered. How? Why? Who? Like all of these things were things that I was struggling to even confront emotionally, but, also, just understanding.

CUOMO: But you're kissing your boyfriend.

KNOX: Well, he kissed me because I was outside in that courtyard. And I was standing there looking lost and he felt bad for me. He kept close to me. He was just trying to comfort me. And there was nothing he could say to tell me that it was going to be all right. He just did what we normally did, which was kissing.

CUOMO: Your roommates, your roommates, your boyfriend, the cops, they all say the same thing. They thought you were responding weird. Odd. Strange.

KNOX: Yes.

CUOMO: Why? Why are you the one who is strange? What makes you strange?

KNOX: I reacted differently than the way people expected a young woman to react. But to hold me to a stereotype of how people react to certain things is unreasonable. And it's unreasonable to assume guilt based upon a reaction. I mean, my reaction was more stunned.

CUOMO: Life now. What does normal mean?

KNOX: I think I'm very fortunate that most people treat me just like anybody else. I mean --

CUOMO: You get that vibe with everyone you meet?

Do they think I'm a killer? Do they think I'm a killer?

KNOX: Fortunately, I'm not living in that mental place. That would be something that's unlivable. But at the same time, I mean, I still am living through this.

CUOMO: Can you still have fun?

KNOX: I mean, it's not like I'm -- my sister says that I don't have fun. I do what's important to me. And when I'm with people that I trust, I have a good time. I laugh. I dance.

CUOMO: Do you party?

KNOX: No, I don't go to parties. CUOMO: Why not?

KNOX: I mean --

CUOMO: It's not part of normal life? How old are you now?

KNOX: I'm 25. I guess -- well --

CUOMO: You're just a baby.

KNOX: Don Salo (ph) said I aged 40 years in four. I'm not interested in partying.

CUOMO: Still smoke weed?

KNOX: Actually, no.

CUOMO: Why not?

KNOX: After being in prison, and seeing how drugs destroyed the lives of so many people around me, I can't get near it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Earlier that year was that interview. So the new evidence, the new DNA evidence in the Knox case is expected to be revealed in court in Italy this week.

All right, coming up, next, "The Science Behind."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMANDER CHRIS HADFIELD, ASTRONAUT: Hi, I'm Commander Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space and I watch "The Science Behind" on CNN.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: In the next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, the president's health care law takes another hit. An appeals court strikes down a provision on birth control coverage. Find out why at the top of the hour.

This week on "The Science Behind," we take a look at Chris Hadfield's explorations in space. The former astronaut, NASA astronaut, spent 144 days as the commander of the International Space Station. That's where he earned the nickname "the singing astronaut" for this performance, in fact, from space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING, "SPACE ODDITY")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That's good. Yes, that's why it went viral, getting more than 18 million views and making Hadfield a bit of a star among astronauts and everyone else. Now he's written a book called "An Astronaut's Guide of Life on Earth."

I spoke with Commander Hadfield earlier and I asked him what's one of the lessons space has taught him about living life on Earth?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADFIELD: You know, we do one of the most dangerous things that anybody faces, and that is riding up an elevator, crawling in on your hands and knees and riding a rocket to space.

And the real lesson from that is how do you prepare for something that is inherently terrifying?

How do you get yourself ready?

Because a lot of things scare people, and people are a little bit paralyzed by fear, but how do you break things down?

How do you learn the lessons in advance?

How do you sweat the small stuff, every little bit.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HADFIELD: So that when something really terrifying is happening, you're not panicked and waving your arms around, but, in fact, you are focused, you take all the right actions, and you know how to make something successful. And that was part of one of the things I learned as an astronaut, and part of the reasons for writing the book.

WHITFIELD: That's incredible because fear is usually the thing that stands in the way of somebody reaching for their dreams.

You had your aspirations of going to space. But you probably weren't thinking about all of those inherent dangers, were you? You were thinking about the goal, which is, you know, the fascination of space exploration?

How did you get past -- or not even look at, or perhaps overlook -- the fears?

HADFIELD: It comes --

WHITFIELD: The dangers, I should say.

HADFIELD: It comes through visualization and preparation, you know? Not just hoping things won't happen but actually visualizing disaster on a regular basis, it sounds really negative, but it's not. We're in the business of visualizing disaster, getting the people around that can really talk your way through it, think about it and develop a set of rules and personal behaviors. So then, actually, when things go badly, you don't get that horrible rising feeling --

WHITFIELD: Panic. HADFIELD: -- and, in fact, you kind of -- you feel calm. It actually makes us optimistic. It makes me optimistic.

WHITFIELD: Oh, how inspirational. OK, so quickly let's talk about -- or maybe not so quickly -- let's talk about your video, this rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." Your son actually kind of tweaked the lyrics for you.

Were you immediately on board with this or did you --

HADFIELD: No.

WHITFIELD: Were you talked into it? Tell me.

HADFIELD: Well, if someone asked you to sing "Space Oddity" while you're up there commanding a space station --

(CROSSTALK)

HADFIELD: -- yes, it was -- he had to talk me into it. You know, this -- originally, the astronaut dies at the end of that song. But he rewrote the lyrics. I liked how my voice sounded on top. I got Ann Greiner and Joe Corker (ph) (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

HADFIELD: And it really came out bigger and better than I thought it would.

And the video, I think, really, Fredricka, the difference is the video links sort of fantasy and art with reality of what the space station actually is, and that -- that's why 18 million or 19 million people found it interesting, I think, just because it actually, that shows that the space station is more than just a laboratory, but it's kind of a stage for interesting human culture.

WHITFIELD: And among those who found it fascinating, I understand, David Bowie.

Did you hear about his response?

HADFIELD: I heard recently that he said it was, like, you know, the best rendition of the song ever, which is pretty high praise.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yes, he's a pretty cool guy, that one right there, Chris Hadfield. Thanks so much for being with us, Chris.