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CNN Sunday Morning
Al Gore Appears on "SNL"
Aired December 15, 2002 - 07:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I bet you didn't know that Al Gore had a funny side. He does though, because he showed it last night. Former Vice President appeared on "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE."
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, if the politics thing doesn't work out, he does a great Trent Lott. So question, did his campaign for laughs actually win many votes or any potential votes somewhere down the line if he were to -- well, you know.
COSTELLO: You know.
MOLINEAUX: CNN's Jason Bellini has the feedback of some young people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al Gore playing Trent Lott in "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" sketch? That's funny. So says the reaction of a group of NYU students who watched the show. Al Gore playing himself kissing Tipper, that's not so funny.
SARA HUSTON, NYU STUDENT: He was playing himself so much, I think he was funnier when he was playing other characters and he was actually like poking fun at himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
DARRELL HAMMOND (as Chris Matthews): Does your bullhead behavior spell trouble for Republicans?
AL GORE, (as Trent Lott): Oh, yes. And when I said our country wouldn't have all these problems if Strom Thurmond had been elected president, it has nothing to do with segregation. I simply meant that things would have been better if Thurmond were president because he would have kept white people and black people separate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELLINI: It's Al Gore in a different role, but no one here believes he's doing "SNL" just for the fun of it.
Is he doing this because he's going to run again? Do you think that's why he's doing this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. But I mean like when I vote for someone running for an election, I don't vote for a comedian, you know? Different...
HUSTON: Well, yes. But it still helps his image.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.
BELLINI: An image that they feel he still needs to work on if he's going to take another crack at the White House. The late night comedy shows where he's appeared recently, giving him a chance to show he's learned from his mistakes. Jay Leno, setting him up for a one liner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORE: Put all the food in a lockbox, you know?
JAY LENO, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: Oh, that's good. A lockbox.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELLINI: Conan O'Brien testing his agility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, THE CONAN O'BRIEN SHOW: We're not paying you a lot.
GORE: Yes, well...
O'BRIEN: You're getting like $300 bucks for being here. I don't think that's going to provide much, oh, I'm sorry, $600 bucks.
GORE: Thank you very much. OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELLINI: And Jon Stewart, pushing his buttons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, THE DAILY SHOW)
JON STEWART, HOST: Are they evil?
GORE: No, Jon, they're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELLINI: To students who all say they voted for him in the last election, the consensus on the re-emerging Gore, so far, so good.
GROUP: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks like he's having a good time. Like we were saying earlier, he's been out of the spotlight for so long. And I honestly like to come back and battle the image that he had during the election. I couldn't think of like a better way for him to come back.
BELLINI: To five young voters, Gore took one step forward on the laughter factor.
Jason Bellini, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 15, 2002 - 07:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I bet you didn't know that Al Gore had a funny side. He does though, because he showed it last night. Former Vice President appeared on "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE."
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, if the politics thing doesn't work out, he does a great Trent Lott. So question, did his campaign for laughs actually win many votes or any potential votes somewhere down the line if he were to -- well, you know.
COSTELLO: You know.
MOLINEAUX: CNN's Jason Bellini has the feedback of some young people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al Gore playing Trent Lott in "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" sketch? That's funny. So says the reaction of a group of NYU students who watched the show. Al Gore playing himself kissing Tipper, that's not so funny.
SARA HUSTON, NYU STUDENT: He was playing himself so much, I think he was funnier when he was playing other characters and he was actually like poking fun at himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
DARRELL HAMMOND (as Chris Matthews): Does your bullhead behavior spell trouble for Republicans?
AL GORE, (as Trent Lott): Oh, yes. And when I said our country wouldn't have all these problems if Strom Thurmond had been elected president, it has nothing to do with segregation. I simply meant that things would have been better if Thurmond were president because he would have kept white people and black people separate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELLINI: It's Al Gore in a different role, but no one here believes he's doing "SNL" just for the fun of it.
Is he doing this because he's going to run again? Do you think that's why he's doing this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. But I mean like when I vote for someone running for an election, I don't vote for a comedian, you know? Different...
HUSTON: Well, yes. But it still helps his image.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.
BELLINI: An image that they feel he still needs to work on if he's going to take another crack at the White House. The late night comedy shows where he's appeared recently, giving him a chance to show he's learned from his mistakes. Jay Leno, setting him up for a one liner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORE: Put all the food in a lockbox, you know?
JAY LENO, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: Oh, that's good. A lockbox.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELLINI: Conan O'Brien testing his agility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, THE CONAN O'BRIEN SHOW: We're not paying you a lot.
GORE: Yes, well...
O'BRIEN: You're getting like $300 bucks for being here. I don't think that's going to provide much, oh, I'm sorry, $600 bucks.
GORE: Thank you very much. OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELLINI: And Jon Stewart, pushing his buttons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, THE DAILY SHOW)
JON STEWART, HOST: Are they evil?
GORE: No, Jon, they're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELLINI: To students who all say they voted for him in the last election, the consensus on the re-emerging Gore, so far, so good.
GROUP: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks like he's having a good time. Like we were saying earlier, he's been out of the spotlight for so long. And I honestly like to come back and battle the image that he had during the election. I couldn't think of like a better way for him to come back.
BELLINI: To five young voters, Gore took one step forward on the laughter factor.
Jason Bellini, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
