“Obama” Discusses Gun Control, Jay-Z on “SNL”

Punk rock skit pays tribute to Margaret Thatcher, Weekend Update tackles North Korean missile drama.

Gun control, rockets in North Korea and the passing of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made for plenty of material on a politically-charged episode of "Saturday Night Live" this week.

The show opened up with President Barack Obama (Jay Pharaoh) during an address, where he claimed the the country made drastic steps in the ongoing gun control debate this week with the ‪bipartisan Manchin and Toomey‬ compromise to expand backround checks.

"This week the Senate voted 68-31 to begin debating the idea to discuss gun control," he said. "Let me say that again. They've agreed to think about talking about gun control. Amazing."

Sens. J‪oe Manchin (Jason Sudeikis) and Pat Toomey‬ (Bill Hader), who Obama said will most likely lose their jobs over their deal, then took the podium and discussed their accomplishment.

"If our bill passes, no individual can purchase a handgun from a private dealer without being asked, ‘Are you a good person,’ as well as the follow up question, 'Seriously, are you?'" Toomey (R-Pa.) said.

The pair said that they weren't able to strike a deal on high capacity magazines, but they were able to limit the number of guns you could shoot at once to two.

Under a compromise provision, the penalty for someone shooting three or more guns at once is the person gets to have a fourth gun.

The senators' amendment would also ban AK-47s from coin-operated vending machines and end a Papa John's promotion -- buy two medium pizzas, get a free gun -- except on weekends.

"We are confident that this bill will get passed in the Senate and it will go to the House of Representatives where it will immediately get shot down," Toomey said.

"And that's not a metaphor," Manchin (D-W.Va.) said. "They will literally throw the bill up in the air and shoot it with a gun."

Obama then ended the conference by addressing rapper Jay-Z, whose new song "Open Letter" fueled more GOP speculation that Obama and the White House gave the rapper and his wife, Beyonce Knowles, permission to go to Cuba.

"I gotta deal with Jay-Z telling everyone I let him go to Cuba," Obama said. "I thought he was on my side."

The show also featured a skit that centered around punk rock singer "Ian Rubbish" (Fred Armisen) who admired the political decision-making of the recently deceased Margaret Thatcher.

On Weekend Update, host Seth Meyers addressed gun control reform in the U.S. after Larry Pratt, the head of the group Guns Owners of America said this week that he did not believe the polls that said 90 percent of Americans want background checks, calling them "hokum."

"He (Pratt) must have his finger on America's pulse if he knows cool slang words like hokum," Meyers said.

Meyers had Huffington Post Editor-in-Chief Ariana Huffington (Nasim Pedrad) discuss Kim Jong-Un's threats of launching a nuclear missile. Despite the Pentagon's warnings that North Korea may be able to put a nuclear weapon on a missile, Huffington wasn't worried.

"When men talk about missiles, they're really talking about their penises," Huffington said. "Like, 'Wait until you see my missile.' And then when it comes down to it they say, 'I'm so sorry. That's never happened to my missile before.'"

Huffington also addressed the possible political comebacks of former New York congressman Anthony Weiner and former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

"All politicians, are to some degree, liars," Huffington said. "So why not elect the worst possible liars? That way you'll always know when they're lying."

Huffington did say her opinion was somewhat motivated by other factors.

"No one is happier when politics and sex come together," she said. "That's why the homepage of the Huffington Post looks like the highway after a truck full of hard news collides with a truck full of side boobs."

The segment also featured Brad Paisley (Jason Sudeikis) and LL Cool J (Kenan Thompson), who were in the news this week for their song, "Accidental Racist," which drew controversy for its racially-charged lyrics. Meyers asked the duo if they thought about the lyrics before they went public with them. The unlikely musical combination stood by their work and said they "cured" racism.

"We wrote that song in 11 minutes," Paisley said.

"We almost finished a whole pizza," LL Cool J added.

This week's host was Hollywood veteran Vince Vaughn; the musical guest was Miguel, who performed "Adorn" and "How Many Drinks?"

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