Feeling it, theres one on the way. Parts of new york, new england could get as much as 10 inches of snow. And kenan wont . Nope. Well, in that case, i will leave, and in a few minutes, oprah will be here. 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 Deborah Wilson joins us to talk about reports of some secret auditions to find the shows next black female cast member. We want to wish you a good morning. Im christi paul. Were so glad to have your company. And victor blackwell. 10 00 here on the east coast, and youre in the cnn newsroom. We have to talk about the shock and the grief and the search now for answers in colorado this morning. 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 todays oneyear anniversary of the deadly rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in new town, connecticut. So in this latest incident, heres what we know. Police say 18yearold karl pierson, see him there, shot and injured a 15yearold 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. It was terrifying, because we heard gunshots, and dana, she came running down the stairs and saying she someones been shot. Oh, cnn casey winen 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 debateteam coach. Do we know why yet . Reporter there apparently, cri cristi, was a disagreement between the two. And the reason he came heavily armed with a shotgun and two molotov cocktails. At this point, they dont know why he shot the 15yearold girl, an innocent bystander. Schools going on lockdown, and i dont know why. The north side of the school, a fire in the library. Reporter chaos and confusion at colorados Arapahoe High School as a gunman opens fire. Im on the north side, on 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 herement. Reporter this morning, the high school is still a crime scene. Be advised at this time we do have one student down, and they have found shotgun shells. Reporter police say the gunman, identified as karl pierson shot one student before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. It was pretty scary. There were two shots by my classroom. And then we heard the screaming. Reporter 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. I saw him. He was kind of running military towards the building. I i alerted everybody in the building, and thats when i heard two big bangs, just boom, pop. Reporter police say pierson asked other students the whereabouts of a faculty member, and reportedly the schools librarian and head of the speech and debate team. 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. Reporter in addition to the shotgun, authorities found two molotov cocktails inside the school. One was rendered safe. The other had been detonated. And thats 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. Reporter as part of the investigation, authorities will be looking at School Surveillance video. They are also searching piersons 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. My husband was a freshman at columbine, so hes freaking out right now. Its bringing back horrible memories of that. Yeah, its just way too close to home. Reporter 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 yesterdays shooting around noontime. Christi and victor . Case, let me ask you something. Initially, authorities thought two people would have been shot, but now, they think its just the 15yearold girl. What do you know about her, or how that confusion came about . Reporter actually, what happened christi, was the 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 understanding in a situation like this. Sure. Okay, casey wian, we appreciate the update. Thank you. 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. 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. 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. Lets bring in cnns poppy harlow. Pop poppy, we know that immediately after the newtown shootings, the white house and some members of congress started from washingtonout, just to try to change the gun laws. But these families have started their own initiatives in smaller ways around the country, as well. Reporter youre right, victor. Good morning to both of you. They certainly have. You cant categorize all of the families that lost loved ones in newtown together. Theyre all healing separately, but many of them are standing side by side with the president , Vice President , different members of congress, fighting for tougher federal gun laws. Thats not worked this year. Weve not seen a tougher federal gun legislation, we havent seen that passed. That has come to the disappointment of the president , who talked about it in his weekly address this morning, saying we havent 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 hocly. She is the mother of beautiful 6yearold dylan hockley. Jake tapper spoke with her earlier this year. This past year, ive 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 its been a baptism of fire in many respects. But ive learned a lot, and i believe that theres a lot of hope in terms of positive change that we can make happen. Reporter our heart goes out to her, her entire family, and everyone in newtown. She described dillon as a real cud letter, he loved to laugh, and only 6 years old. Those are the memories that everyone is talking about today. Yeah, poppy harlow for us in new york, in new york because the people of newtown to have some space, some time today to reflect in their own way without reporters, without the national media. Were respecting that. And most National News organizations are. Poppy, thanks. Thank you, poppy. You know, the other story we have to talk about today is the weather. Yes. Which is really not pretty well, its pretty, but its not comfortable. Its pretty out a window. Its pretty on tv. Its pretty. Yeah, thats 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. Mm. As much as 6 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 Grey is out in grant park. It has been snowing all morning on you, and it still is, i think i can see, yes . Reporter yes, it is still snowing. Its been snowing since the wee hours of the morning. Weve had about 2 inches of s w 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. Youre from d. C. , in town for a wedding. Right. Reporter some people would call you. No, its a Beautiful Day for a wedding in chicago, i love chicago. Its beautiful. Reporter its about the miles at this point. Yes, were going to get the miles in. Reporter you need a runalong, youre making me look like a wimp. Well, enjoy the weather. Welcome to chicago. Reporter thanks so much. Yeah, 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 chael and it being cold in the snow, you know, for the month of december, they normally see about 3 inches of snow. They already received 4, 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 thats when its expected to push out through maine and off the coast. So were 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 5 to 7 inches of snow. Around boston, we could see up to 8 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 40mileanhour winds in the northeast. Jennifer, congratulations, because you made him the talk of the wedding. Yes. People are sitting at home, i went out for a run, and i just saw you on tv. Reporter hes a braver soul than i am. You and me both, jennifer. Im with you. Jennifer grey, thank you so much. If youre not feeling any richer this morning, dont worry, no one else is. Yeah. Nobody won last nights drawing, were 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. Whoo maybe more, because you know the lines just stack up. Right. And the jackpot often increases. It really depends on how many people buy tickets. My 7yearold will go by and, oh, 100 million . Thats not worth it. Im, like, who are you . Are you kidding me . Yeah, yeah, right . And im sure if somebody handed you a million bucks, you would say, no, thank you. Yeah, right. Not enough. We chat about money, because thats a funny topic, but its not for a lot of people out of work right now. Yeah. Outofwork americans would love to see congress extend the Unemployment Benefits before the holidays, but thats looking less and less likely. Are you ready to see me on the street begging for food . You know . I know im not ready to. Yeah, 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. [ female announcer ] thanks for financing my first car. Thanks for giving me your smile. Thanks for inspiring me. Thanks for showing me my potential. For teaching me not to take life so seriously. Thanks for loving me and being my best friend. Dont forget to thank those who helped you take charge of your future and got you where you are today. The boss of your life. The chief life officer. Like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. Try zyrtec® liquid gels. Nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. Zyrtec®. Love the air. Spending the day with my niece. I dont use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. Before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. Even wellfitting dentures let in food particles. Super poligrip is zinc free. With just a few dabs, its clinically proven to seal out more food particles so youre more comfortable and confident while you eat. So its not about keeping my dentures in, its about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. Where their electricity comes from. They flip the switch and the light comes on. Its our job to make sure that it does. Using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. Generating electricity thats cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions it matters. 17 minutes after the hour now. New years eve, nothing to celebrate for more than a million americans. The holiday is, of course, at the end of the month. Mmhmm, which means its the end of emergency Unemployment Benefits, this is what its getting down to, and money they need will be cut off. Troy dunnan is joining us from washington. Troy, i know you spoke with a woman thats facing that very predicament, right . Reporter yeah, her name is mary carrey, and she lives in virginia, and like many people, she said she was shocked to find out that extending longterm Unemployment Benefits is not part of the proposed budget deal. She said if theyre renewed, it would be enough to help her get through the winter, but if not, she fears shell lose her home and end up in a shelter. For mary carrey this is home sweet home. Youll see his big feet. Reporter at 53, she lost her job in june after 20 years as a medical biller. Now, shes desperate. How many of these have you sent out . Probably along between 300, 400. Reporter shes part of more than 1 million americans receiving emergency longterm unemployment, up to 99 weeks instead of 26. Were asking for a helping hand so that we can get a job. Reporter and youre actively trying to . Every day. Probably 12 hours of the day. Reporter president obama wanted lawmakers to extend them. If members of congress dont act before they leave on their vacations, 1. 3 million americans will lose this lifeline. Reporter theyre set to expire december 28th. I know i will survive. I know my son will survive, you know . No, i wont have this home that ive worked hard for for eight years. But i worry more about my animals, because they didnt have a choice. Reporter in true washington form, its become a political debate. Its 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. I do support Unemployment Benefits for the 26 weeks that theyre paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to the workers. Reporter michael strain is an economist at the conservativeleaning American Enterprise institute. The problem with that logic is that while it may apply pretty well in a healthy economy, it doesnt apply as well in an economy thats still very weak. Reporter strain says people on unemployment benefitting generally stay unemployed longer, but in a recession, its different. If the 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. Reporter something mary carrey says shell be forced to turn to. Are you ready to see me on the street begging for food . You know . I know im not ready to. My lifes not over. I might be slow slowed down a bit, but i can be a very contributing member of society. Reporter so, mary carrey could be waiting for weeks for benefits, and thats if she gets them at all. Its important to point out the house has gone home for the year and the senate wont take up any extension until after new years. And its far from a sure thing. I got an email from mary, putting politics aside, she hopes she doesnt have to continue on the benefits, that positive thoughts shell get a job anyway. Yeah. The folks want to go back to work. They do. Wishing her positive thoughts, as tory dunnan, thank. New information about the sign language interpreter. Surprising details about his background. Weve got that next. People dont have to think about where their electricity comes from. They flip the switch and the light comes on. Its our job to make sure that it does. Using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. Generating electricity thats cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions it matters. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. Tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. Tylenol®. Its not the juggle a bunch of rotating categories card. Its not the sign up for rewards each quarter card. Its the nogames, nomessinground, noearninglimithaving, doilooklikeimjoking, turboboosting, heavyweightchampion oftheworld cash back card. This is the quicksilver cash back card from capital one. Unlimited 1. 5 cash back on every purchase, everywhere, every single day. Now tell me, whats in your wallet . You stand behind what you say. Theres a saying around here, every single day. Around here you dont make excuses. You make commitments. And when you cant live up to them, you own up, and make it right. Some people think the kind of accountability that thrives on so many streets in this country has gone missing in the places where its needed most. But i know youll still find it when you know where to look. Lets go to south africa now. That nation is preparing for tomorrows state funeral for its former president and revered statesman nelson mandela. The plane carrying the Nobel Laureates body, and thousands of mourners lined the street. Hell be buried, when all of the people came out to see him. Meanwhile, were learning more about the sign language interpreter, and youve heard, he has been widely ridiculed for his signing at the mandela memorial service. That was on tuesday. Cnns Errol Burnett is in johannesburg. Errol . Reporter a bombshell is emerging out of south africa. Cnn has uncovered documents of the rap sheet of the fake interpreter from tuesdays memorial service. In these pages, it shows that he faced rape and murder charges, although he was found not gui y guilty. He was found guilty of theft by in 1996, although its 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, he didnt deny them. He wouldnt 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 off site. The government is now facing serious security questions, because he 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. Theyve also admitted he made mistakes, but theyre also saying they cant get in contact with the organization they hired him through. All of these questions costing a shadow over south africa ahead of Nelson Mandelas state funeral on sunday. Christi, victor, back to you. 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 thats part of what has a lot of people really upset, because if he was in a schizophrenic state yes. Theres no telling what could have happened. Yeah. And there was no person closer to the president than this man. Mmhmm. Well, you know, this is a question that gets asked every School Shooting, right . Is it time to get serious about new gun restrictions . Were going to talk to our guests about the politics of it. Stick with innovation. Stick with power. Stick with technology. Get the new flexcare platinum from Philips Sonicare and save now. Philips sonicare. Yeah. I heard about progressives name your price tool . I guess you can tell them how much you want to pay and it gives you a range of options to choose from. Huh . Im looking at it right now. Oh, yeah . Yeah. Whats the. Guest room situation . The name your price tool, making the world a little more progressive. No, im good. [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette, you celebrate a little win. Nicorette mini delivers fast craving relief in just 3 minutes. Double your chances of quitting with nicorette mini. Where their electricity comes from. They flip the switch and the light comes on. Its our job to make sure that it does. Using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. Generating electricity thats cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions it matters. Morning, turtle. My friends are all around me my friends, they do surround me i hope this never ends and well be the best of friends [ male announcer ] the 2014 chevrolet traverse. All set . All set. [ male announcer ]. With three rows of spacious seating for up to eight. Imagine that. Chevrolet. Find new roads. So good to see you this morning, im christi paul. And im victor blackwell. Here are five stories were watching this morning. Number one, police in suburban denver believe the teenage gunman in yesterdays School Shooting may have been targeting his debate team coach. The shooter has been identified as this guy, 18yearold karl pierson. Witnesses say he opened fire with a shotgun before killing himself, and we know a 15yearold girl was critically injured and hospitalized now. 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, 57yearold Lynn Spalding died from dehydration and complications from chronic alcoholism. Ms. Spalding was discovered in the hospital after she went missing, 17 days after she went missing. 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. Do not know, however, his condition right now. Number four, chinas 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. Number five, well, things just got more interesting for the big jackpot, but bad news, nobody won last night. 19, 24, 26, 27, 70, and the mega ball 12. Heres the good news. The next drawing, tuesday, already up to 550 million. But your chances of winning are 1 in 259 million. Dont worry about that. If you want to play, go play. Yes, its 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 when increasing controls on purchasing guns and being able to own guns and where you can take them . Driving that question this time, the shooting at Arapahoe High School in centennial, colorado, a stones throw from columbine, you remember 1999, the shooting at that school. One student was critically wounded. The gunman, he killed himself. We heard, you know, just a really big bang. The class really thought nothing of it. It was just one, and ten seconds later, three more, just consecutively in a row. There was screaming, we heard someone yelling, help me, help me, we need help. Lets talk to amy holmes in new york, anchors the blaze. Com, and also errol lewis, political anchor at new york 1 news, good to have you both for this conversation this morning. Good morning. Good morning. So im 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 . 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 were normalizing these stories, they get so much publicity, and so Much Research done that shooters are inspired by the idea of becoming famous, infamous, having their names in the headlines. So when we talk about this, unfortunately, politics shoves it into the guncontrol debate, when i think the debate needs to be or a discussion needs to be much broader. Errol . 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. Even something as graphic as the newtown massacre doesnt necessarily move the country faster in the direction that its already going. But i think the writing is on the wall for gun ownership. Very different attitudes than when i was a kid about a lot of different things, whether youre talking child safety seat, women in the workplace, it just takes a while for the things to set in. But i think were seeing this happen. I mean, it was 50 in the early 1970s, half of all of the households in the country had guns. Now, were down around in the low 30 rs. And theres no sign of that turning around. So that you say that, and i want to bring this up, and, amy, ill 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, yeah, theyre having the conversation, and deciding that theyre going to go in the opposite direction, that some believed they would . 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. Its 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 isnt 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 errols point, which is if you have gun ownership going down, but we seem to see this you know, the increase in i dont know if its an increase, about you we see these circumstances of these gun crimes, then the two dont correlate. So what is driving this . Is the very fafact that were t about it on cnn, a national program, inspiring young men who are disturbed to think about becoming infamous in their own right . I dont know, but we need to talk about it. Whats the suggestion . We not talk about it . I cant imagine a News Organization would not cover a shooting at a high school. Should we just ignore it . Well, atlanta had he had a graph of all of the people who had committed the gun crimes and he want to outnumber them. So clearly these people are watching the news. They are thinking about infamy, and theyre theyving about wanting to make their mark, because theyre a very troubled, disturbed people. Errol. Those that want to loosen restricts are finding fewer and fewer places to go. Its great to talk mental health, but we can go legislator to legislator, and those folks dont want to put one penny in treatment of meantal health. 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 weve 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 theres a fight thats going on there right now, you know, when youve gotten to that point, youve reached a point of absurdity, and people are going to say, were 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. Yeah, weve 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 its 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, good to have both of you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, saturday night live has a bit of a problem, one that some people dont want to talk about. But the solution, take a look here, could be somewhere in this picture. [ male announcer ] in your lifetime, you will lose three sets of keys, four cell phones, seven socks, and six weeks of sleep. But one thing you dont want to lose is any more teeth. If you wear a partial, you are almost twice as likely to lose your supporting teeth. Poligrip and polident for partials seal protect helps minimize stress, which may damage supporting teeth by stabilizing your partial. And clean protect kills odorcausing bacteria. Care for your partial. Help protect your natural teeth. Beyonce showed how to shock the internet, specifically instagram and facebook and twitter. Yeah. She did it with a surprise album. Come on baby wont you hold onto me hold onto me her selftitled 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 jayz, of course. Fans had to buy the full thing, though, if they wanted it. Theyre not complaining. 16. 15. 99 to be exact. If you know. Yeah. Making fun of beyonce, you know, its not easy on saturday night live. Why . Because the cast has no black women, and snl has been slammed for it. Yeah. Its 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. What a nice surprise. Isnt it . Why . So that oprah can come in. Oh, because of the halls yes, exactly. And kenan wont . Nope. Well, in that case, i will leave, and in a few minutes, oprah will be here. [ laughter ] thank you, mrs. Obama. Im heeeeerrrr pretty clever. Snl is now looking for a new face to add to the cast, and she could be in this picture. Its held auditions for black women, and actually will add one next month, or they will. Here with her own take, Deborah Wilson i dont know, deborah, do you think they had to make this move . I dont think they had to make the move, but what they did is, since they are making the move, theyre actually admitting that, yes, they need women of color. And not necessarily a black woman. Right now, were talking about a black woman, an africanamerican 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 as chance to see a shade of themselves, essentially. 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, it takes not just a black comedian, but a certain skill set that black women sometimes come in, white men, white women, it take as certain skill set that sometimes comedians just dont have. Indeed. But on the other end of that spectrum, at the same time, if youre playing a woman, you cant 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 youre not a woman. So, i mean, if you are going to play a woman and you really need a woman for that role, it will be necessary to bring someone in who can play that character and not feel like the distraction is a man playing a woman. Okay. So let me ask you this. Comedy has been called the boys club of sorts. Do you think thats changing . Oh, absolutely its changing, and its not because of what i think, but because of what i see. And there are many references to many comedies in which theyve had women that have had a meteoric rise. Angela johnson, found on mad tv, and comedy is changing. You have melissa mccarthy, even though shes not a woman of color, the point is, melissa had this meteoric rise from television, mike and molly, completely forward in film, where shes doing lead roles in film. So there is a great opportunity for women, so, therefore, theyre opening the bottleneck for women of color, as well. And its amazing time for this to be happening. Its the 21st century, so its overdue, i would say. I was going to say, overdue is the word we need there. For a lot of people, tell me if im wrong here, debra, it would be groundbreaking when they add a second woman of color, not just one to fill the women of color role, but to have maybe more than one, to be on the show at the same time. For saturday night live, yes, that would be groundbreaking, essentially. Because it would have two of them at the same time. But its nice to be able to have that flavor to it, so that youre 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. Debra wilson, always great to have you here. Thank you for sharing your insightperspective. Thank you. Have a wonderful, positive holiday. Thank you. And a great new year. Thank you, debra. 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. 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. [ im only hum] [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no stop humans. One day were coming up with the theory of relativity, the next. Not so much. But thats okay. Youre covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from Liberty Mutual insurance. Total your car, and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. Learn about it at libertymutual. Com. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . Thanks for giving me your smile. Thanks for inspiring me. Thanks for showing me my potential. For teaching me not to take life so seriously. Thanks for loving me and being my best friend. Dont forget to thank those who helped you take charge of your future and got you where you are today. The boss of your life. The chief life officer. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. Tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. Tylenol®. We know you do so much more. Sleep tris ending soon interestfree for 3 event get 3 years interestfree financing on beautyrest black, stearns foster, serta icomfort, even tempurpedic. Plus, get free delivery, free setup, and free removal of your old mattress, and sleep trains 100day low price guarantee. But hurry, sleep trains interestfree for 3 event is ending soon superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep Jameis Winston is hours away from possibly possibly winning the top award in college football. Thats 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 dont get confused about this in a Sexual Assault case. Now, other contenders for the award include last years winner, texas a m quarterback johnny manziel. Or alabamas quarterback a. J. Mccarron. Even if mccarron never stepped on a football field again, hed still be a hero in alabama. Not because of the two National Titles hes won backtoback or not as backtoback, but as quarterback. But one reason is for his special bond with a fellow classmate. 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 pract e 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. I hear someone say, hey, man, you need a ride . He just had this big smile on his face, and was, like, yeah. As he got closer, im, like, thats a. J. Mccarron. And so, were pulling around, im taking him home, lives right down the street, and im, like, im a. J. Mccarron. Yeah, i know who you are. My name is a. J. , also. And if thats not a message from above, then i dont 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, umb iilical cord got wrapped around his neck, cutting off his airway. Its kind of hard to go out in the real world and sort of meet people. I started bawling, crying, i couldnt handle it anymore. And i called 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, hes going to help in the equipment room, getting the stuff ready for the games, and doing laundry. He wont get paid. I told a. J. That, he said, i dont want to get paid. I just want to be here and be around the team. I was so excited. Then i get to be around the Football Players and just and interacting with all of the guys. Im so thankful for all a. J. And this organization has done for me. Heres a kid, you know, whos been through all types of obstacles, and he still wakes up smiling every day and ready to go to work. And i feel like hes, you know, taught me more than ive actually or given me more than ive actually given him. Every time i come here, and no matter how bad my day is, or what i may go through, im just when i come here, it goes out the window, you know. Im probably the happiest man on this planet. Around here you dont make excuses. You make commitments. And when you cant live up to them, you own up, and make it right. Some people think the kind of accountability that thrives on so many streets in this country has gone missing in the places where its needed most. But i know youll still find it when you know where to look. I have a cold with this annoying runny nose. [ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesnt treat all that. It doesnt . [ male announcer ] alkaseltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fastacting antihistamine. Oh, what a relief it is congestion, for the smog. But there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. And now that the buses are running on natural gas, they dont throw out as much pollution into the air. So i feel good. I feel like im doing my part to help out the environment. And i know there are many myths out there about a reverse mortgage, so i want you to know the facts. There are currently no credit score or income requirements to qualify. You can get taxfree money from the equity in your home. You can use the money to pay off your current mortgage if you have one. The remaining money can be used for anything. Theres no monthly mortgage payments. And you still own your home call today to get your free guide and dvd. It explains how a governmentinsured reverse mortgage works. Theres no obligation. One reverse mortgage is a quicken loans company. Their licensed experts can answer all your questions. Call to find out what a great solution this can be. Dont wait, call now all right. And a winter storm warning in effect from kansas all the way to maine. If youre looking out your window, and youre seeing it, i dont need to tell you about it. You know whats going on, including the folks in mount kisko, new york. Fred, how are the people dealing with this snow . Reporter its 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. 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 snowplows coming out immediately, and salt spreaders as well. And now, the Road Conditions are actually okay. 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, billys hair salon. People were coming in early to get their hair done so theyd 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. All righty. Fred, take it easy out there. Thank you so much. And thatll do it for us today. Yeah. Dont go anywhere. Much more ahead in the next hour of the cnn newsroom. Make great memories today with our own come like martin savage. Ma martin savidge. The Colorado Community in shock after a teenager known as a good student, athlete, and a friend, opens fire at his school. Police hope to find out why he did that during key searches that are expected today. As you saw, a brutal blast from kansas to maine, heavy snow and sleet thats hitting tens of millions of people today. Well tell you how bad it is going to get and who is going to get hit the hardest. And if you didnt know this already, there is now more