Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear Drawing Big Crowds Already; Politics Gets Weird; Wild Signs Appearing on the National Mall; Craig Shoemaker: Where's the Laughter Lobby in Washington?; Bringing Humor Back to the National Conversation

Aired October 30, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you all, welcome back. I'm T.J. Holmes.

Those are just a few of the other things voters will decide on Tuesday. We're going to share a few more with you during this half hour as we examine this unusual campaign season.

And to add to this unusual season, an unusual rally happening on the National Mall in Washington today. This rally not being hosted by candidates or political parties, the left or the right. It's being hosted by two comedians.

Our Kate Bolduan with the preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI THOMAS, SOCCER MOM AND STEWART FAN: We have real patriots can handle a difference in opinion. We have Obama, probably not trying to destroy America.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Heidi Thomas is frustrated. She's watched the anger that seems to dominate this year's heated political races and tunes into "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" to cool down.

THOMAS: I started watching it every night and I'd go to bed in a better mood because I felt like I wasn't going insane.

JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: A real gathering!

BOLDUAN: When Stewart announced the Rally to Restore Sanity on the Washington Mall, this self-proclaimed soccer mom from Virginia gathered a van full of friends and made plans to attend.

THOMAS: It would be a fun day of like-thinking people are going down there and rallying for some sanity.

BOLDUAN: Stewart's rally has certainly grabbed headlines. Many asking, could the man making a living off mocking politicians actually be stepping into political activism. No one is quite sure what to expect.

STEWART: We're only here, though, until 6:00 because we have a sitter. BOLDUAN: And the comedian/media critic/pop culture icon isn't offering many specifics.

STEWART: This is for the people that are too busy, that have jobs and lives and are tired of their reflection in the media as being a divided country and a country that's ideological and conflicted and fighting.

BOLDUAN: Stewart says the rally is not political, though it lands on the weekend before the midterm elections and seems designed as the reply to FOX News host Glenn Beck's Rally to Restore Honor.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, CNN'S RELIABLE SOURCE: Is this going to be a fun Saturday event with a lot of laughs that we get to replay the clips on television, or is it going to be something that, while wrapped in humor, is going to make a serious political point about folks in the middle, moderates who are alienated by the extremists on both sides or by the partisan shouting on both sides?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: I don't think I need to intro it anymore, T.J., but the Roots are playing behind me. We're here at the rally, we're up at the press podium. The stage is behind us, that's where everyone's going to be on stage.

One of the things we don't know, though, is exactly who's coming on stage. We know about Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but a lot of the program (INAUDIBLE) a lot of unknowns here.

But there are a lot of people gathering already this morning. Trying to really figure out what this rally is all about.

HOLMES: And, Kate, I don't know if you can hear me well at all right now. I hope you can because -- OK, it got a little quiet. Oh, it started again.

But listen, give us an idea. We see a few people milling about behind you, but give us a sense of just how many people already are starting to gather. The best you can. Not necessarily a number, but give us a sense.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

What's behind me is the, I think it's the VIP section. To the side of me, it seems like (INAUDIBLE). Behind our camera, which next time we'll try to turn the camera, it's really tight and we can't move it around right now, there are a mass of people coming down the sidewalk on both sides of the mall coming in this direction. It really looks like busloads of people that really unloaded and are heading in this direction.

Though, of course, any kind of music is going to attract the crowd. So they're really starting to come this way.

And one thing I forgot to tell you, T.J., there are some wild signs here. You know, signs at the rallies are always something that we take a lot of interest in. Just to give you a little indication, one of the first signs I saw when I walked in was, "Does This Sign Make My Butt Look Big?"

HOLMES: Did you answer that person, Kate?

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: I did not comment.

HOLMES: All right. Kate, we're going to check in with you. It sounds like things are getting going there.

So we will check back in with Kate there at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear here in a second.

Again, we're talking about comedians here headlining in D.C., able to bring out those crowds. We're going to be talking about this rally, talking about this campaign season, talking about these comedians. So who else to talk to but another comedian? We're going to bring in now Craig Shoemaker who has been joining us this morning from L.A.

Craig, let me ask you, what do you make of what we're seeing in D.C. right now? Is this something to be taken seriously, or do you think these guys are just going to put on a performance and have a little fun?

CRAIG SHOEMAKER, COMEDIAN: Things look pretty exciting there as opposed to here in front of all of these people in Los Angeles. The self-obsessed people of L.A., we're celebrating "Shalloween."

(LAUGHTER)

But, I wish I was there. I mean, it looks like it's going to be a great time and I think that their whole Restore to Sanity is a wonderful thing. You know, I think we need more laughter.

They say the laughter is the best medicine, right? So you go to a comedy club, it's a $20 co-pay to get in, you cover charge.

HOLMES: But, Craig, these guys -- is it difficult, though, to take comedians seriously? We know that Jon Stewart has been able to make some -- I mean, he just interviewed the president this week for goodness sakes. So we know he's engaged and involved.

But is there a place for comedians? Is it tough for them to breakthrough and to be taken seriously? Do they ever want to be taken seriously, quite frankly?

SHOEMAKER: Well, of course we want to be taken seriously. There's a method behind our madness and there's a message to be said. And I think that comedians are critical thinkers and that's what I think our country needs more of instead of these sound bites.

We live in this whole ADD society. It's like, you know, quick, you know, and people just follow that. And why not follow someone that's actually -- we're up on stage for an hour and a half or so and we're -- we're inviting you into this new space and new way of being?

And I just think that laughter's so underappreciated. And we're underfunded actually. We don't have the billionaire corporations, you know, that are behind us.

HOLMES: Craig, you said you do not touch politics when you're on stage. Do you think -- and you said you're -- I mean, we know so many other -- I won't say politicians -- comedians, in their routines. They make fun of these guys, it's a big part of what they do on stage.

Why do you stay away from it?

SHOEMAKER: Well, I -- I -- I shouldn't say that.

I talk about my real life about raising kids and stuff, which is why I'm not in Washington right now. I'm at home with the kids. And within that, comes things that you don't put them in the category. We always need categories. It's not specifically about politics, but it's about life.

You know, I talk about, you know, talk about corporations, you know, things that are accepted we don't think about. I'm watching TV with my son the other day and he turns to me and goes do you have erectile dysfunction? I have to explain erectile dysfunction to my child. Which is -- am I being political? I have to say while Bob is smiling because this corporation, this drug company --

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Those commercials are everywhere.

SHOEMAKER: I know. They're everywhere.

HOLMES: Those commercials are everywhere.

Craig, don't go too far. We're going to continue to check in with this rally and these comedians up there, our comedian out there in Los Angeles.

And also, we're going to be talking about one of the most talked about issues on any ballot anywhere, California's marijuana legalization bill.

But other states are keeping a close watch on what California is going to do with its Prop 19. We're talking about that, that's one you've heard a lot about, but there are other propositions and amendments and questions on the ballot you may not have heard about. It is a whacky, a whacky campaign season.

Seven past the hour, stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, 10 minutes past the hour now. This event, this is not scheduled to start for the next several hours, the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, as it's being called, in Washington at the National Mall being hosted by Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. They have been promoting this thing for some time.

And again, hours away and people are starting to gather. We saw the stage set up. They already have the Roots, a band up there, that's been playing and entertaining the crowd.

And it's also entertaining to see some of the signs people are bringing. Jon Stewart has made a big issue out of a lot of the signs you see sometimes at the Tea Party rallies or other political rallies that just have some nasty language on them. So he challenged people to be creative with their signs.

You see there on the right, "Gay Hitler For President." Certainly, people just trying to have some fun with this thing.

We saw another one that said, "Obama-Cake is a Lie."

Another sign that our Kate Bolduan just told us about that said, "Does This Sign Make My Butt Look Big?"

And someone else had a sign we just saw that said, "I'm Not Threatened By Your Post Secondary Education."

So clearly, people are starting to have fun with this. And we saw some Furries -- is that what they call people walking around in some costumes down there? But as you see, people are starting to gather. Expecting huge crowds. This is starting here shortly.

Of course, people are talking habit this political season. The balance of power in Washington, D.C. right now up for grabs. We know this is talking about who is going to take over the House and the Senate, but there are a few other things that are on the ballot you may not know about, including in Rhode Island where they are voting whether or not they want to change the name of their state.

Now, you may be thinking change it from Rhode Island to what? But actually, the official name of the state is the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Some people took issue with the word "plantations" being in there. This name goes back to the 1600s when the colony of Rhode Island was brought together with Providence Plantations and they shared the name, so officially that has been the state name. So now they're voting whether or not to just drop the Providence Plantations and make it the state of Rhode Island.

Also, this one really got us. This is out in Denver where they have ballot initiative 300. It would require the city to set up a privately-funded, Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission. The point of this is to ensure the health, safety and cultural awareness of Denver residents when it comes to future contact with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles.

I'm not making this stuff up, folks. Let's turn to Arizona now, a lot of attention on this one. This is the Civil Rights Amendment, some call it; also known as Prop 107. It would essentially ban affirmative action in the state. Ban it on programs that are administered by statewide or local units of government including state agencies, cities, counties and school districts.

Also, the one that everybody is keeping a close eye on out in California, Prop 19, to regulate, control and tax cannabis. Prop 19 has been polling back and forth. It's kind of been split. The latest we found said 52 percent of likely voters support Prop 19, 41 percent opposed to it.

So let me bring in Craig Shoemaker, our comedian who is out in Los Angeles. Craig, if you had to bet right now, what would you say is going to happen in your state? Will your state be the first to legalize marijuana for recreational use?

SHOEMAKER: I don't know. I don't know who would vote against it, seriously. I mean, there's no MAM. There's Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, because drunk drivers kill people and alcohol kills people.

But pot, frankly, it doesn't do that much harm. It's been demonized and vilified and -- in the press and things like that.

HOLMES: There's some people, Craig, would disagree with you. If you say it does no harm. We were telling kids for years, don't smoke weed, don't do drugs. This is a drug still, right?

SHOEMAKER: Yes, but -- you tell them don't do drugs and half of them are on Ritalin. You know, when we were growing up, we were just hyperactive. I was so hyper I used to sleepwalk and wet my sister's bed, but nobody gave me drugs for it. They would just turn me around, go pee in your own bed.

HOLMES: Now, are you worried, though, Craig --

SHOEMAKER: You dealt with things differently back then. But marijuana --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Yes, is your state -- are you worried there it might become a laughing stock? People just don't think that bodes well and looks well for a place that, all right, let's just all get high.

SHOEMAKER: Well, that -- I mean, that's an exaggerated thing, you know. That comes from the corporations, as well.

I mean, you know, pot, you know how much you would to smoke to overdose? Six hundred pounds of pot within five minutes. And you talk about a fatty. That's how much you would have to smoke.

But alcohol kills people, tobacco does, but again, there's no money behind marijuana. But there should be because it used to be our third largest cash crop. And by the way, I don't even smoke pot. I'm not saying I didn't used to. I don't smoke it at all, many, many years, and I'm not condoning its use. But I used to. I used to think I was a genius. That's how I got started in comedy, my friends would go, that was funny, you should use write that down and use it in your act.

HOLMES: What's this? Where did you get that 600-pound stat in five minutes? How do you know that?

SHOEMAKER: That is in my movie. We did all the research for this movie, it's called "Totally Baked." It's all about what do you tell your kids?

I was singing that song "joker, smoker, midnight toker." My son goes, what's a toker? I said it's somebody who smokes pot. And he goes in the kitchen, he pulls out a pot and says how do you smoke that, Dada?

HOLMES: That's good to hear, he's still innocent.

SHOEMAKER: Daddy probably tried back in the '80s.

What's that?

HOLMES: He's still innocent. That's good to hear, he's still innocent of it right now.

Craig, standby, we're going to keep talking to you. I'm going to take a quick break here. We've got more of these whacky things that are on the ballot to tell you about.

Also, we're not going too far away. Deirdre (ph), if you could let me have that live picture of D.C. once again. We're seeing the pictures from the National Mall, this Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. People are starting to show up to this rally that's being held by two comedians, folks. Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central told people to show up with these signs and we have seen some interesting ones. We are not too far from there. Our crews are right there.

Quick break here. We're right back, folks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty past the hour now.

You know about the politicians you're going to elect to put back into Congress or into Congress coming up on Tuesday, but there are a lot of states dealing with certain ballot measures you may not know about, including this one in Oklahoma.

They have a measure on the books now or on the ballot, I should say, that would ban Islamic law, ban Sharia law in Oklahoma. It would require that all of the courts would use in the federal and state laws when handing down decisions would prohibit them from using international law or Sharia law even though right now Sharia law doesn't exist in Oklahoma at all.

Let's turn to Michigan now where Proposal 2 is on the ballot. This would prevent, if you're a felon, from serving in public office for 20 years after your conviction. This comes after the disgraced former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick and former city council president as well got into some scandals.

Also, let's turn to Massachusetts where they have Question Number One. This would eliminate the sales tax on beer, wine and liquor. This has been put in place now. A lot of people think is going to cost, it could cost up to $100 million plus for the state coffers, which could in turn affect people and the services some of them get, also affect education funding and all kinds of things in that state.

I want to bring Craig Shoemaker we've been talking to this half hour back in. Does that make sense to you, Craig? No tax on liquor?

SHOEMAKER: Well, what would make tax, back to the marijuana -- what would make sense is why don't we grow marijuana, which used to be our third largest cash crop and tax it and we'd all make a little bit of money on something that's easily grown? It's a weed. So --

HOLMES: You sound like a huge proponent now for this marijuana out there in California. You said you don't smoke.

SHOEMAKER: Listen, I do not at all. I mean, in many, many years, so I don't condone it. So I'm probably a good representation of it. The stoners, they're at home right now. They're sleeping.

By the way, I'm really -- I'm just getting up in the morning because I'm really vehement about this topic. I'm having a hard time sleeping. Somebody said you should listen to white noise, so I tuned in Bill O'Reilly and put me right out.

HOLMES: Oh, come on now, don't take a shot at our colleagues over there at FOX --

SHOEMAKER: That's your colleague?

HOLMES: They are our colleagues in this business, Craig.

Now, one more I'm going to talk to you about after the break. And let me let our viewers hear this one.

This was out of New York where they always have a few interesting characters, if you will, in their politics. But this one really got a lot of people's attention.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY MCMILLAN, NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: It's a simple message, which I say all the time. Someone say I'm a one-issue candidate, but it boils down to one thing -- rent, it's too damn high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCMILLAN: It's a simple message, which I say all the time. Someone said I'm a one-issue candidate, but it boils down to one thing -- rent, it's too damn high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: OK. Craig Shoemaker, our comedian, has been helping us through this funny hour of politics.

On that point, is it as simple as that sometimes? Can a lot of people relate to what that guy -- that's a politician, a gubernatorial candidate up in New York, that was at a debate. But that is his platform, that is his party name.

SHOEMAKER: I love it.

HOLMES: You love it?

SHOEMAKER: I love it. I'm going to start my own party called "My Ex-Wife Costs Me Too Much." That's -- all my shows, by the way, I'm on tour this year, all shows are benefit shows and all proceeds go to my ex-wife. That's my -- there's a lot of people -- yes, your cover charge pays for her Botox.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Oh, my god, Craig.

But the guy in New York, can that resonate now?

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Some people found that to be funny, but there's a very serious topic there.

SHOEMAKER: Of course it is, absolutely. I think it's -- but I also think there is humor within that and I think he doesn't take himself that seriously. But it is -- it's -- that's the thing is that it's blending the humor. We need to do much more of it. We're way too serious in this country. I think that he's refreshing to me.

HOLMES: He's refreshing --

SHOEMAKER: I would vote for him in -- if I was in New York, I'd vote for that guy.

HOLMES: A lot of people argue some of these issues are no laughing matter, but you think we need to inject a little more humor into what we're seeing these days.

SHOEMAKER: I think everything is a laughing matter. I think death is a laughing matter. Instead of having a fear -- if you have -- instead of a funeral, have a fun-eral. Celebrate the person's life. Why do we have to be so morbid about everything? We just accept these paradigms in life without challenging them and giving it some humor.

I mean, what is wrong with having more humor? I don't understand why we fight against it. Instead we just go to, you know, the quick fixes and the sound bites and things like that instead of enjoying ourselves. We need to do much more than that. But again, we don't have a laughter lobby in Washington.

HOLMES: We're going to end -- you know, that's a very serious and succinct point there. Even though you're a funny man, that's a good point and maybe a lot of people will believe what you're saying there.

Craig Shoemaker, we appreciate you hanging out with us this half hour. We're going to catch up with you down the road, all right?

SHOEMAKER: Thanks for having me. Go to my website, Craigshoemaker.com, and come see me perform, we'll have some fun.

HOLMES: Prop 19, we'll see how that works out for you out there, buddy. Thanks so much,

And to our viewers, we're talking to a comedian there because a couple of comedians are playing a big role right now in our national politics. We're talking about Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. The two huge stars of Comedy Central are putting on a rally today. It's been called the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

A lot of people here just don't know what to expect from these rallies that we're going to see today. And I should say rally, they've kind of combined the rally into one. But we don't know what to expect. Are they going to take a very serious -- it's going to be a very political tone? Is this going to be a comedy show? What exactly is the point of this?

They have been building these up for the past month talking about it on their shows. We have seen a bunch of interesting signs that people have been bringing out.

And again, it's not scheduled to start for another several hours, several few hours here at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., but as you can see, people already gathered. We also have another shot we've been keeping an eye on as people -- just throngs of people starting to gather there in Washington, D.C.

We have our crews there, we'll keep a close eye on that and so many other things this morning. We'll be back at the top of the hour with more live news here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. But right now, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."