raise your risk of heart disease. that's going to wrap things up for "sgmd" today. stay things connected with me on twitter @dr.sanjaygupta. new day sunday continues right now with christi paul and victor plaqblackwell. new trouble for chris christie. explosive allegations that the governor threatened to withhold super storm sandy funds if his building project wasn't approved. and now the governor's office is fighting back big. rodman goes to rehab. friends say the north korea trip is what put him over the edge but does rodman really have a problem or is he just hiding from the media? dad, get out of here! you're embarrassing me. >> dad, i'm serious, you told you sit in the bathroom all night. go away. it was a big debut on

"saturday night live." so did zamata deliver or did the pressure kill the punch line? "new day" starts now. good morning to you. our viewers deliver. skied them what was for breakfast. oh, the menus that i'm seeing on twitter an facebook. >> some traditional and non-traditional choices. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. 8:00 here on the east coast. this is "new day sunday." starting out in new jersey. governor chris christie's camp is pushing back hard against new claims of political payback tied to super storm sandy. >> the mayor of hard hit hoboken are saying officials in christie's administration threatened to withheld sandy aid money if she didn't support a plan of the governor's. >> she provided cnbc with journal entries that she says back up her claims. zimmer's spokesperson gave cnn

this statement. the bottom line is that the lieutenant governor came it to hoboken, pulled me aside in a parking lot and made it clear that sandy aid was contingent on moving ahead with the rockefeller development. she knew that it was wrong and even said so. however, just last week, zimmer told cnn she did not think sandy aid money was being withheld from hoboken because she didn't endorse christie's re-election. you hear the difference there. cnn has not had a chance to question zimmer about the discrepancy in her statements. >> but we will. responding to the latest claims, a spokesman for christie, considered a top 2016 republican presidential contender, remember, blasted the report saying, "governor christie and his entire administration have been helping hoboken get the had help they need after sandy with the city already having been approved for nearly $70 million in federal aid and is targeted to get even more when the obama administration approves the next rounds of funding. so christie's camp calls the

claim partisan politics. >> the allegations come as evidence, as you know, mounts that aides to christie arranged to tie up lanes to major bridges -- at least one major bridge, as political revenge. >> couple of different allegations and scandals here. we want to sort it out for you and dig a little deeper. candy crowley and steve cassenbaum. steve, you talked to zimmer last night. what did she tell you? >> she's standing by her word. she says that she believes that this sandy relief aid was tied to a big real estate development project, a proposal, on the north side of hoboken. she says she was told by the lieutenant governor during an event in hoboken, she was taken aside and she was told that eventionly the sandy relief

funds that she requested were contingent on her, on mayor zimmer, pushing through this development on the north side of the city. >> so zimmer says she talked to the new jersey lieutenant governor after an event last may, then journaled about the conversation right after. she even sent cnn pictures of those journals. i think we have them. i can read this one. the handwriting on the screen is tough to decipher but it says, the word is that you are against it and you need to move forward or we're not going to be able to help you. i know it is not right. these things should not be connected, but they are, she says. if you tell anyone i said it, i will deny it. of course that's the mayor of hoboken, miss zimmer, describing the conversation she had with the lieutenant governor. receive, that was seven months ago. apparently this happened may 13th. did she say why she waited until now to come out with this? >> i didn't have the chance to ask her that. she had a very brief

conversation with me very late last night and so i didn't get to put that question to her. she did say in the interview on msnbc that perhaps she should have come out sooner but that she'sstanding by this now and she has to do what she feels is right for the people of hoboken. this revolves around a very big real estate deal in the very small densely, tightly packed city of hoboken. it is only one square mile. real estate is a very touchy issue in that town and she was very concerned about this. on one hand. if she went forward with this real estate development proposal, she said she might get a lot of flack, might even get sued by owners of other real estate within the city for a number of reasons. but if she didn't go through with it, she said she was convinced that she wouldn't get the sandy funds. >> i think this is part of what's so confusing. because it is an about-face for her. even in august she tweeted, "very glad governor christie has

been our governor." and she didn't mention any of this or any of her concerns in the cnn interview that we had with her last week. sandy, you're getting to talk to her in about an hour. what do you want answered? >> well, i think the one question is why now, why didn't you wait, was anything illegal done here. there's just some unanswered questions about her side of the story. as you all said, the chris christie office, new jersey governor's office, is pushing back very hard. >> candy, i wonder, right now the consistencies between these two scandals -- the gw bridge, and this, if these claims are indeed true, no connection directly to governor christie. even at the end of the investigations and the assembly in new jersey and what could come out of this, the governor is vindicated. he had no involvement. looking ahead to 2016 is there

more of the where there's smoke, there's fire concept, that he could be damaged even though he did nothing wrong? >> sure, history is filled with people who had accusations in the media that they were unable to get rid of even when found vindicated. now with google, for heaven's sakes, it pops up whenever. there are always going to be people, no matter what is found, that are going to blame the new jersey governor. but what's important to republicans is someone who can win and if -- or to democrats, for that matter. but if it holds out that he did nothing wrong in either case, and republicans see him as most likely to beat the democratic candidate, then my guess is they'll nominate him. >> we've been watching florida real closely the last couple of days because in the midst of all of this he's down there fund-raising for the governor of florida. but depending on what happens there over the next -- yesterday and today and how successful or

not successful that is, is that a good gauge of what we can see in the future in terms of his potential politically, or no? >> well, it's a gauge of where we are right now. i don't think we can say it is "the" gauge until we hit the next step. the danger for democrats is that there is a genuine policy thing going on with government officials or aides to the governor, rather, shutting down a traffic jam, if they did, for political reasons -- putting out a traffic jam, if they did so for political reasons. now it's a genuine question that is troublesome, democrats say, my gosh, this is an abuse of power. but if this starts to look like one more big political fight, if this starts to look like a political vendetta. you now have the chairwoman of the democratic national committee who's basically shadowing the new jersey governor around flord as he

attends these's vents, giving news conferences, more and more democratic mayors are coming out. have you to be very careful that this stays on the facts and stays afar as way from the politics as they can. >> teef, the timing can lead to that or infer that possibly the reason she's coming out nou knkno -- is this is part of the conversation that's already started. from your conversation with her is there any indication that this was -- the catalyst was actually the conversation about the ad that's being investigated and the money that was maybe used inappropriately for the sandy recovery package in advertising. >> you talking about the ad that featured governor christie and his wife, "stronger than the storm"? we really didn't have an opportunity to talk about why she came forward now and didn't when she had a chance earlier other than she just said she needs to do what's right for the people of hoboken. sandy funds in new jersey, it is

a very, very touchy, emotional issue for the people of the state. 80% of the city of hoboken -- only one square mile, somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people. 80% of hoboken was under water. so she wants to protect her city, that this city is a very important place in new jersey, it is tightly packed, very few ways in and out of the city. she wants to protect the city and she's very concerned, clearly, of whether or not she's going to get what she needs to do that. >> all right. steve kastenbaum, a brief conversation with hoboken mayor dawn zimmer last night. candy crowley has the expanded kfs co conversation at the top of the hour. 9:00 a.m. eastern. on candy crowley's "state of the union." the firefighters in california are battling this raging wildfire all night. we have a lot more on that and the weather forecast.

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the california drought is so bad that the governor has declared a state of emergency. >> jerry brown is calling it perhaps the worst drought the state has seen in 100 years. conditions are right for wildfires and the effects on agriculture will likely be felt far beyond the state's borders. here's cnn's kyung lah. >> what is this? >> this is my bedroom. >> reporter: what was his bedroom before the colby wildfires swept through the

foothills. firefighters continue to battle the blaze as alex larson returned home to what's gone. learning firsthand the fury of california's drought. >> it's a ticking time bomb and if something happens, all it would take would be one lightning bolt. >> reporter: from these charred hills in los angeles, to the dried out lake beds of the central valley, to the hills of albert strauss' dairy farm, the state's drought is palpable and painful. >> this is the year i've ever seen. >> reporter: farmers pressured california's governor to act. he says while he can't make it rain, he can declare a state of emergency. >> it just takes everybody pitches in. >> reporter: everybody cut back on water by 20%. the state's reservoirs are at critical levels, setting record lows. snow knacks are 80% lower than normal and it is only getting worse. areas of extreme drought expanded in just one week.

the hills across california are brown. in january, this is usually all green. it's summer weather in winter here and that hurts everyone. about half the nation's fruits, nuts an vegetables come from california. as the farms wilt, so does the country's food supply and prices, they're on the climb. >> we're waiting for rain. we're praying. we're going to do a rain dance. >> reporter: and there may be no other option, as the forecast offers no immediate relief for the ever browning golden state. kyung lah, cnn, los angeles. >> kyung lah, thank you for that. jennifer grey, you can see the map behind her. jennifer, that does not look good for people who need rain. >> we're needing rain in the way and it doesn't look like we'll get it any time soon. that persistent ridge of high pressure still in place across the mwest.

it's just been keeping owl all of the showers out of the way that's what we're going to see again today. we'll get more of an onshore flow as we go through the middle part of the week. that will definitely increase humidity. won't bring rain but at least it will bring some moisture to the atmosphere. look at these temperatures though, still 10 to 15 degrees above normal for the next couple of days. >> allrightee, thank you, jen, very much. listen to this. >> you're embarrassing me! >> dad, i'm serious. i told you sit in the bathroom all night! go away! >> sasheer zamata's big debut. live report on "snl's" newest live report on "snl's" newest cast member. es, ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com for safety information and a free one-month trial. diarrhea, gas, bloating?

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18 after the hour now. for the first time in more than six years, and really on the heels of a lot of criticism about the show's lack of diversity, a black female cast member joined "snl" last night. >> with all eyes on sasheer zamata, the show's new star was featured in a number of skits. you saw her a lot in her debut. cnn's alexandra steele has more. >> live from new york, it's saturday night! >> reporter: those words have been coming in to america's living room for decades, but last night's show represented something more. zamata is the first female african-american cast member to be hired by "snl" since maya rudolph left the show in 2007. >> mazel tov. >> whoa, whoa. this is your auntie rhonda. >> reporter: and she didn't

disappoint. ♪ resolution ♪ resolution ♪ revolution >> reporter: joining cast mates and guest coast drake in skit after skit, singing, dancing, acting and spoofing rihanna. >> dad, get out of here! you're embarrassing me! >> reporter: "snl" launched a nationwide search last fall for a black of diversity. >> in that case i believe and in a few minutes oprah will be here. >> reporter: but in true "snl" fashion they turned the tables and poked fun at themselves. on the streets of new york this weekend, fans think the new addition was the right call. >> i feel like if she's qualified and she's ready to be up there, that's great. there have always been plenty of funny black comedians. i don't think that's ever the problem. i just think they finally made the choice and that's a good thing. >> there's going to be a lot of eyes on her. could be a good thing.

could be a gate opener for her career. >> reporter: tv stars like will ferrell, tina fey and eddie murphy all got their starts on "snl." >> sasheer for her first night on "snl." >> let's bring in alexandra field with us now. a lot of tweets last night. how's the reaction been on social media. >> this was a highly anticipated debut and a lot of people were watching so some of the early feedback i found is this. one review retweeted a lot calls her performance low key but notable. that's a pretty fair start for a newcomer to "snl." what we know is that the producers and writers there gave her a lot of opportunity to appear on stage and to really introduce her to the audience that's been hoping to see her. >> she looked perfectly comfortable. >> alexandra field, thank you. keep watching "new day." at the bottom of the hour, a

panel of comedians from around the country -- new york, l.a., atlanta -- will join us to give their takes on last night's show and the new "snl" stars. stay with us for that. also, celebrities gathered at the 20th annual screen actors guild show last night. >> it exclusively honors performers. i was supposed to be in dead. i stayed up watching a.j. zblmplt >> breaking bad took outstanding performance by an ensiemble in drama series. >> miguel marquez is at the

sundance film festival. this year really special for actor william h. macy. making his debut as a director. what's the word there? >> reporter: well, huge, huge deal. not only is he making his debut as a director, but it is the final piece of the festival here so that's the coveted spot. his film "rutterless" premiers at the endest fe esof the festi he told us about it. >> he loses his son to gun violence at the very beginning of the film and it destroys his life really and he's running from the grief. and through the machinations of the plot his wife brings had him some music his son wrote. it sounds bad when done this way, he starts playing that music, yadda, yadda, yadda, hill later ensues. >> there is a lot of music in this thing? >> ton of music.

he forms a band with anton yellsin. >> he gets this music from his ex and it was music his son worked on. through whatever, catharsis, whatever -- >> that's how he sort of redeems himself through this music. >> it's redemptive, yes. >> this music will appear here in live form. >> we are going to play, yes. >> crazy time for you this week. >> yes. >> you just got here today. what's it like out there? >> optimistic. there's a lot of really, really great films. i love the state of the independent film industry and the community and sundance is a place that constantly points a camera at our business. i think there are some great films here. >> and it is a place for some very, very serious films, i'm discovering. is this going to live up to it? >> very serious fliilms. >> hopefully we'll ride the line. it is certainly about something. >> gentlemen, have a great week. i want to see you sing.

take care. >> all right. >> thank you very much. >> so the deal is, later this week the band from the film -- there are seven songs in that film -- they'll get together at sundance. if bill macy gets just tipsy enough -- which is possible at sundance -- he may join in this a few songs. >> what about you? >> not tipsy enough. >> i mean singing, yeah. singing. >> oh. singing. i'll sing for you any time but i'm not going to sing right now. >> thank you, miguel. tomorrow we celebrate the late martin luther king jr.'s birthday. long before there was a federal holiday the fbi tries to thwart king's activism. we are talking to the burglars who raided fbi files and stopped their efforts. do not miss what they have to say. plus the first lady hold her 50th birthday bash at the white house. you are seeing some of the

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three americans were killed in a taliban attack at a popular restaurant in afghanistan's capital this weekend and the obama administration now condemning that attack. it killed 21 people. canadians, britons and afghans are among the dead and the taliban claimed the attack was revenge for a u.s. air strike that killed afghan civilians. number two -- new jersey governor chris chris it kri chr is pushing back hard. the mayor of hard-hit hoboken says officials in christie's administration threatened to withhold aid money if she didn't support a redevelopment plan favored by the governor. christie says hoboken has gotten the money it's due with more on the way. three, a quick look at the 17-year-old who was arrested and charged in a school shooting in pennsylvania. rockwell turned himself in and was charged as an adult, accused of shooting two students at a high school gym on friday.

police suggested the shooting may have been accidental. the suv driver who was chased down and beaten by a swarm of bikers will file a lawsuit against the city of new york. the driver claims the city was negligent in hiring and training its police officers. prosecutors say some off-duty police officers participated in this attack. the driver's wife and 2-year-old daughter were also in the suv. the family is seeking $75,000 each in damages. animal lovers look at your screen. people are lining up to see the new giant panda cub at washington's national zoo. 4-month-old bao bao was born in august. her birth was broadcast live on the zoo's panda cam. she'll be on exhibit for a few hours every day. you only have a few years to visit her because the zoo says when she turns 4, she'll move to the china conservation and research center. it was the perfect cover-up for a crime that the perpetrators believed was justified. it was march 8th, 1971.

muhammad ali and joe frazier are duking it out in the fight of the century. >> but as that battle unfolded on tv screens around the world, nine burglars are breaking into the fbi field office in media, pennsylvania and making off with a cache of documents that would change history. >> among the records was exactly what the thieves were hunting -- evidence of then-fbi director jj. edgar hoover's decision to snuff out political dissent among college students and african-americans. >> it was the first evidence of an operation called coin tell pro. it was revealed as the dirty tricks program hoover used to try to cause martin luther king to commit suicide. it is also the program that helped bring hoover down. >> for more than 40 years the story of the burglary has been a tightly held secret until now. joining us from philadelphia are

two of the admitted thieves, john and bonnie raines. and from new york, betty metzger, author of "the burglary -- the discover of j. edgar hoover's fbi." of course we are interested in this element of the story because of the martin luther king holiday. can you give us some insight into some of the things that haven't been widely discussed that targeted dr. king and civil rights groups? >> yes, i can do that because i was part of the civil rights movement back in the the early 1960s. i was arrested in little rock as a freedom riders and went on to the march of selma in '65. for those of us who were active in that civil rights movement it became very clear to us that j. edgar hoover wanted the return to quiet on the streets of the south. he was not interested in protest. he was not interested in the social justice questions for

black americans. if he had won that struggle, segregation would have continued. now we brought that information from the south to the north when my wife and i and others became active in the anti-vietnam war movement. we expected hoover to do the same thing and hoover did the same thing. >> so bonnie, as you break into this office and you take all this paperwork back and are sifting through these documents for the first time, what immediately stood out to you? did you have an ah-ha moment where you found something and what was it? >> well, first of all, we separated the documents. we separated out the criminal investigations and only concentrated on the documents that were political. and it didn't take long before we found one that was quite startling where the fbi called for agents to enhance the paranoia among members of the

left and to create the impression that there was an fbi agent behind every mailbox. and that was very shocking. >> let's bring in the author, betty metzger, now. when this happened you were a reporter at "the washington post." of course, a newsworthy event when the fbi office was broken into in media, pennsylvania. but did you realize at that time how big of a deal this was? >> well, when the burglary took place, there were very just very brief reporting on it. it wasn't until two weeks later when theburg lares sent out their files that had been stole than we had any idea what had happened that night and, yes, it was immediately recognized that it was significant by the nature of the files, like the one that bonnie referred to about enhanced paranoia. up until that moment there was no information about what the

fbi was doing against various movements. people in those movements had suspicions but there was no knowledge until the burglars sent out those files. >> speaking to burglars, back to you, john and bonnie. this was an incredible risk you were taking in 1971. and i understand you even arranged for some relative to care for your three children if you went to prison. so why were you so committed to this? why was it worth the risk for you? john, why don't you go first. >> okay. well, it's hard for people today to realize how powerful j. edgar hoover was in washington. he had almost five decades the head of that very powerful institution which he modeled as kind of a mirror image of his self-. he thought himself an expert on what american and un-american activities looked like. un-american activities were any activities that he disagreed with. well, he was untouchable by the folks we sent down to

washington, our politicians, and he never faced hard questioning. we had grave suspicions that he was using informers, that the intention of his surveillance was, as he put it, intimidation. but we had no documented evidence. we had to try to get that documented evidence. its he's just this clear -- if we did not do this, it would not have been done. that was the truth back tlen. >> bonnie, it's been more than 40 years since this burglary, since all this came to light. why now come forward and say we were a part of this? >> well, i think that, first of all, it reminds all citizens that we continue to have to be vigilant and that we as individual citizens have a responsibility. and just because we were parents of young children didn't mean that we could duck our

responsibilities as citizens seeking the truth. and so i think that it's important to tell the story now because there are some parallels in our democracy now that -- an that discussion has to continue and i think our human rights have to be protected to this day. >> well, we are grateful for the information we learned from what happened back on march 8th, 1971. i think a lot more people will remember it from what you did, not just the fight between frazier and ali. john and bonnie raines, thank you so much. betty metzger, author of the book "the burglary." thanks for joining us this morning. speaking of washington, let's give you a live look of the white house right now. the president and first lady may still be sleeping after a rockin' night last night. >> the biggest bash in the nation to celebrate michelle obama's five-oh. cameras were not allowed inside.

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the entrance to the white house may as well have included a red carpet because michelle obama's 50th birthday celebration was a star-studded bash. apparently beyonce performed, president obama did the duggie. and the president even gave an emotional speech. >> reporter: after the sun went down, the stars came out. >> looking forward to having good old-school dance music. >> going to have a good time. thank you, guys, i'm going to have a ball. this is great. >> beyonce performed. john legend and stevie wonder, of the many who sang happy birthday at the first lady. >> 50 and fabulous. >> reporter: but the hottest ticket came with a blunt presidential director. this would be a dance party. >> the first lady asks you to

cut a rug, you cut a rug. >> reporter: no dinner, no formalities, loosen that tie, come with a full stomach and wear comfortable shoes. >> got your dancing shoes on? >> absolutely. i have my flats. >> the entire white house state floor transformed into a dance floor. the bar was set high. the first lady is known to bust a move with ellen, at white house events, and even doing the duggie. last night it was president though who stole the show. >> well, beyonce was pretty good, but seeing barack obama doing duggie was even better. >> reporter: and once the guests got through the gates, they were told no pictures, no cameras. the white house wanted privacy but they also wanted people to let their hair down on the dance floor. >> she's got a really fun loving streak. she loves to dance. she loves music.

and why not -- you only turn 50 once. >> reporter: that milestone toasted in front of hundreds of guests by the president. >> wonderful speech. >> oh, yeah. moving. and inspiring. and he raised the bar for all of us. i don't know how we'll live up to it. >> reporter: and while we are having a little bit of fun with this, there is a serious question to who is paying for such a lavish affair. well, since this is a private event, the obamas are footing the bill, not taxpayers. >> i know a lot of people had that question. thank you. it may not come as a surprise to a lot of people that nba bad boy dennis rodman is back in rehab. waking up there this morning, in fact. especially if you saw his interview here on cnn earlier this month. but is his trip to north korea to blame for it? plus, if you caught "snl" last night, you might have noticed a change. right? fresh new face that everybody's talking about today.

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dennis rodman is in rehab this morning. the former nba seeking treatment for alcohol addiction. >> according to rodman's agent, his drinking escalated during that controversial trip to north korea. nick valencia's been following this story. why north korea? where it all kind of just blew up? >> i think so. that's according to his agent saying this trip where he was a cultural ambassador, he went over there with about ten other basketball players for the birthday of the dictator of north korea. that's when the problems started. his friend was on "new day" last hour and i talked about how he

had a beer in his hand at all times. >> i think he probably had an awakening. i mean what happened in north korea was -- it was a big deal. it was a big deal and it doesn't look good and it backfired on dennis. i think he genuinely needs help. >> this is at least his fourth stint in rehab for dennis rodman if you count the celebrity rehab with dr. drew. his agent released a statement to the media that read, in part, his drinking escalated to a level that none of us had seen before. when he came back i discussed with him on a personal life how concerned i was. he sat down and decided for him to go to rehab. he's going to be there for about a month. >> when you saw the interview with chris cuomo on "new day," and he said he was drinking, you could understand how that could indeed be a problem for him. four times now. but there are some people who undoubtedly ask about the timing. is he just running from the media. >> you mentioned it last hour. sometimes in hollywood when the

publicity gets a little too hot an things get a little too negative, it is too easy for celebrities to retreat to rehab or blame their problems on substance abuse. but we want to be very clear -- alcoholism is a disease. for dennis rodman it's been a long history for him. i spoke to somebody last night who used to work with him back in 2006. they said even back then he was going through a lot of problems, drinking. just wanted to have people around him so that he wasn't drinking alone. >> it's interested when you say he wants people around him. that really screams of some fear or insecurity that maybe he's just lost. >> sure. when a lot of people heard about dennis rodman, this nba starring with going to north korea? they've thought that, he's lost, he's misguided. from the corners of his supporters we are hearing that pressure was just a little bit too much for him. . >> of course, we wish him the best. we look forward to a statement from dennis himself soon. she is the first black female cast member on saturd"sa

night live" in almost seven years. >> only the fifth ever, too. she had a big debut last night. no pressure! come on, right? sasheer zamata, how did she do? >> we'll get comedian lonnie love and scott drakeman's reaction next. ♪ they lived. ♪ they lived.

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madonna is getting slammed over racist hash tag she posted on instagram. it was a picture of her teenage son boxing with the #dis --

followed by the "n" word. immediately criticism came pouring in from her fans and madonna issued a full apology say he she did not mean the hashtag as a slur and she apologized. during an interview at a party, juan pablo galanos said there should not be a gay bachelor because it is not a good example for kids and called homosexuals "perverted." juan pablo apologized for his comments on facebook. he only meant gay men were more affectionate apparently and that because english is only his second language, he can sometimes express himself incorrectly. live from new york, it's sasheer zamata. black female cast member joined

the last of "snl" in a big way. >> the show's newest star was featured in a number of skits on her debut. that was good for her first showing. she also performed the hook of the song poking fun at all of our new year's resolutions an giving her take on what pop star rihanna must have been like before she made it before. >> before rihanna was an international superstar she starred in a barbados early classic reboot. ♪ ♪ >> joining us from los angeles,

comedian lonnie love who's author of "love him or leave him but don't get stuck with the tab." and in new york, comedian scott flakeman. huge role obviously. lonnie, give us your thoughts. >> i think last night became saturday negro live. it was great. you know what? this puts to rest there are no black female comedians ready for "saturday night live." this all happened because they were saying maybe they can't find anybody because there's no black females that are ready. this girl is ready, it was funny. her first words were mazel tov! love the adversity. >> well, in the spirit of "snl," we've added our own black female cast member. cheryl underwood is here.

>> hey, cheryl! i was wondering, i said where is cheryl at? >> what did you think? >> i thought it was great that on dr. king weekend we can realize the dream of sisters being on tv. i thought it was a good platform. now what we need to see is sisters being in ice cube movies like he always pick the male comics to do. >> she's just not okay with what it is. she is going to push it forward. >> oh, yes, oh, yes. >> how about it? >> i just want to say how happy i am to provide diversity to this panel. and i love sasheer was fantastic. there are two highlights for me last night. one, finding out that drake is jewi jewish. had no idea. sasheer was wonderful. as lonnie said, i thought it was very ironic the first time we saw sasheer was paired up with keenan thompson who famously and so wrongly said that there are no black female comedians who

were ready and qualified. every time she was on screen she gave the show a shot of adrenalin. she has an electric personality and i predict that next season she's going to go from supporting feature player to a regular member of the cast. >> what are you saying? >> she didn't look like rihanna but i think the sketches was a little too black for my taste. let's make it a little more mainstream and put those characters in that happen to be black. whole show went a little too black like they was just overdoing blackness. >> lonnie, you're laughing. what do you think. >> because that's why i called this saturday negro live. it's like, okay, just add the little diversity that you need to add but let's not overdo it. it was like it's not "in living color." we still got to keep it mainstream to keep everybody. let's involve everybody. now we need to find an asian. that's what i want, some asian people on "saturday night live." that's what i want. >> do you think "snl" hand this the right way?

kerry washington hosted. she was michelle obama. then she had to run off and become oprah. >> that was fun. >> did they do it the right way. >> it got them a lot of publici publicity. lauren michaels has a great eye for talent. i just wish he would have done this seven years ago when maya rudolph left the show. i'm so happy sasheer's on the show but only five black women in the 38-year history of "saturday night live" is not right. this on the day before dr. king's weekend in 2014, we need tons of diversity. not just because it is socially responsible for politically correct. it's funnier. the more diverse the writing staff, the cast is, the better the show is, the funnier an the more relevant it is. >> now the writing cast is more diversified. how will that change what we see? was yesterday hey, here it is, it is a big debut or because -- she said she thought lonnie said she thought she went a little

bit overboard or that was just their first time -- >> i think they're going to smooth it out a little bit. i think it is great they got these two writers. i know leslie personally. she is a great comic. i think it is going to give it another flavor. it is like when eddie murphy was on. you need her to interact with the other cast members because this is what america is all about. let's see some jokes that make you kind of cringe or make you laugh. i can't wait for the february "12 years a slave" sketch. people don't get mad. this is entertainment. hey, lonnie, congratulations on the real. >> i love you, cheryl. >> cheryl underwood, lonnie love -- >> oh, is it time to go? >> yeah. >> i got to go speak at a church in augusta. >> you're going to go speak in a church after that? >> just because i cuss for a living don't mean i don't know the lord. >> get to know him.

thank you for starting your morning with us. make some great memories today. >> "state of the union with candy crowley" starts at the top of the hour. reining in big brother -- or not. today, privacy versus security. the president looks for middle ground and finds no man's land. >> we still have a long way to go to make sure we balance america's privacy interests on the metadata. >> we have gone too far in attacking the privacy rights of the american people. >> i didn't think any changes were called for. the fact is the ones the president made are really minimal. too much, too little, or mostly poll it tickiticspolitic? an introduce with house committee chairman mike rogers.