Lovett or Leave It - Michael Cohen, Perfect Hero!

Episode Date: March 2, 2019

Trump's ex-lawyer (and just plain ex-lawyer) Michael Cohen testifies before Congress and it was WILD. Fox & Friends is loving the dynamic between Trump and Kim Jong Un. And Green Book is drawing all the attention away from the fact that Bohemian Rhapsody is also bad. Live from the Chicago Theater, Peter Sagal, Akilah Hughes, and Kim Bellware join to break down a lot of big news along with rising health care prices, redlining in the housing market, and why Lovett actually likes Malort.

Hello, Chicago! It is great to be back. It is a shame that we couldn't do it on a day with something to talk about. You know, I'm watching the hearing. I'm in Chicago. And I think to myself, I wish there was some kind of a disgusting botanical, some wretched tourist trap of a beverage.

Something to go down as smoothly as that hearing. Travis, is there any malort? Something to go down as smoothly as that hearing. Travis, is there any malort? Guys, we got him. We didn't get him. And I will tell you something that I discovered last year. Right here on this stage. I unironically like Malort. I am not pretending.

And listen, I'm not the person that pretends to be tough. It doesn't work for me. I genuinely like this beverage. I will once again read the back. Jepson Malort has the aroma and full-bodied flavor of an unusual botanical. Its bitter taste is savored by two-fisted drinkers. has the aroma and full-bodied flavor of an unusual botanical. Its bitter taste is savored by two-fisted drinkers. What does that mean?

Michael Cohen. Hey, everybody, I'm so sorry. I, uh, I was on the Long Island Railroad between Ron Concom and Bethpage, and I found out about right from wrong. Somebody told me about Kant's categorical imperative, it blew my fucking mind. I'm so sorry. Oh god, what have I done?

Oh geez Louise. Oh man. You really stepped in at this time, Michael. What are my options? All right, let's check the options. Option number one, jail for a long time. Oh, jeez, Luis. Option number two, jail for a long time.

Plus, I'm liberal now? I don't know. I'll do that one. I don't know. I don't know. Michael Cohen. The people we have needed to figure out what the fuck is going on are the worst fucking people in the world.

We got Omarosa on Big Brother talking about nuclear proliferation. Got Michael Cohen who got his law degree in the mezzanine level of Shea fucking Stadium. You might find this hard to believe, but when I first met Mr. Trump, I was blinded by his charisma and handsomeness. I fell under his spell.

And now I stand before you, a new and different man who recently found out about this thing called the criminal code. Listen, I bet it all on taxi medallions like five seconds before Uber. I'm so fucked. Unbelievable. There is something about this week.

You had Matt Gaetz, congressman from Florida. What would happen if a frat paddle became a person? Doing literal witness tampering on Twitter. This is what he tweeted. He said, "'Do your wife and father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat.

I wonder if she'll remain faithful when you're in prison. She's about to learn a lot.'" United States Congressman! He deleted it. And then he quote tweeted Nancy Pelosi to apologize. And that was very good. We got beat by the dumbest fucking criminals. Shame on all of us for relishing in it. These are the people that beat us. People who do things like get WikiLeaks on the blower and find out about their activities in advance.

Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, I'm a fucking Rosa, Don Jr. These people defeated us. These are the people that bested us at the polls. There I was at the Roosevelt Field Mall eating French fries with cheese from Ranch One next to the Express for Men, and it occurred to me...

Too specific? And you have Jim Jordans and Mark Meadows. Didn't ask one real question. They got this guy in front of them, they don't ask one real question. They got this guy in front of them, they don't ask one real question. They are covering up for Donald Trump and they don't even know why. They just know it's better for them if he's there.

They don't care what the real story is and they're not interested in finding out. They don't ask a single question, not one real question. And you think, what connects Matt Gaetz? What even connects people that are the leadership of the Republican Party, people like Mark Meadows and people like Jim Jordan? And what connects them is they are all responding to a market that tells them that disagreeing with Donald Trump, going against Donald Trump is never in their interest, no matter what it is, no matter how bad the story, no matter how bad the truth, and they don't care.

There's a lot of substantive, urgent, near-term questions raised by what Michael Cohen said. And Michael Cohen is a world-class doof, but what he testified to is really important. And so what matters is not Michael Cohen's take on this political moment. It really doesn't matter. And Michael Cohen's emotional, moral journey is of very little interest to me, as you can tell. But he said this, and I think after the dust settles and after we deal with the actual criminality and facts and substance of what Michael Cohen talked about, I thought this was actually really important about what led to this moment. Let's roll the clip. I'm responsible for your silliness because I did the same thing that you're doing now

for 10 years. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years. And the fact that you pull up a news article that has no value to it, and you want to use that as the premise for discrediting me that I'm not the person that people called at 3 o'clock in the morning would make you inaccurate in actuality would make you a liar which puts you into the same position that I am in and I can only warn people the more people that follow mr. Trump as I blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that I'm suffering. Yeah. I like that. Listen, we have to talk about deep dish pizza. It'll make sense in a second. And you know, because here's the thing, there's something about Malort

and something about deep dish pizza, which is, do you guys actually like deep dish pizza or is it a scam? You do like it, good. Cause it's one thing to think you're falling for a tourist trap, but it's another to love it. You know, you don't wanna show up at Bubba Gump Shrimp because you think it's like a cool local place. It's one thing to find out it's a chain.

It's another to tell someone it's your favorite restaurant. You got to try this place I love. It's called Bubba Gum Shrimp. But today's hearings were a lot like deep dish pizza. It was heavy. It took a while. You can't believe how much you got down. It was pretty tasty.

But now you don't feel good. But you're still pretty open to having some more. Alright, we have got a fantastic show for you tonight. Thank you all for coming out. Please welcome our panel. She's a reporter who covers breaking news, politics, and culture. Her work has been featured in the New York Times and Rolling Stone. Please welcome Chicago's own Kim Bellware. How you doing?

Thanks, hi. Listen, I got caught in a bit of a reverie. And I had more malort than I planned. I'm so sorry. That's a trick we play on out-of-towners. You know what? Sometimes when people set a trap for you, the smartest thing you can do is fall right in it.

Before we bring out the rest of our panel, I do want to ask you, because Chicago just had this big election. Now... This is the 36% who did vote. Right. So it was a 14-person race. There was very low turnout,

but from that race, two African-American women will now face off to progressive African-American women. You know, for people that don't follow Chicago politics very closely, to progressive African-American women. You know, for people that don't follow Chicago politics very closely, what are some things that you took away from this race? Not enough people wanted another daily. Not into the machine, okay.

And, yeah, I mean, I think we're seeing some really interesting new coalitions form and progressive, you know, kind of progressive organizers are having a lot of success. I wrote a story today about maybe saying we should change the way we vote, do some rank choice voting. Oh, oh, you guys have heard of that. Yeah, they're nerds. You guys like rank choice voting? Let me hear for rank choice voting. All right. Nerds.

voting. Let me hear for rank choice voting. All right. Nerds. Chicago now has this runoff, but the outcome will be Chicago will have an African-American woman leading this state. Historic, yeah. First time. That's a big deal. Yeah.

All right. Let's bring out our next guest. She's a writer, comedian, and YouTuber, and she's a crooked contributor. Please welcome back the very funny Akilah Hughes. How are ya? So good. I would like to try some of that Malort. Straight out.

Akilah's gonna take a swig. Straight up. What else we gonna do? Thoughts? What is that? It's like hot oranges. Yeah, yeah. It's as if someone dipped some fennel in a

Tropicana. And again, unironically, not trying to prove anything, alright? Not trying to play into some heteronormative notion of what it means to drink. I don't give a shit. I like it. I genuinely enjoy the taste,

and I'm no longer drinking it for comedy. I can't believe it's legal to sell that. Like, you should be ashamed of yourself for putting that in a bottle. I want to see how many people remember the old Flickr account Malortface, if anybody ever submitted. Yeah, okay. Flickr account Malort face, if anybody ever submitted. Yeah, okay. Flickr.

I don't know if that still exists, but you would have someone drink Malort for the first time, and you take a photo of their face when they take it. And it'd go into a... You see my face? Yeah. Nothing happened to it. It seemed like you loved it. Might as well be a fucking LaCroix.

Because I like Malort. All right, enough nonsense. Please welcome the host of NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and Chicago's future mayor, it seems. Please welcome Peter Sagal. Hi, Peter. I'm not drinking any Malort.

None of us who live here drink that shit. True story, though. Why are we talking about Malort? Why has Malort become a thing? Malort is a thing because a couple of years ago it went from being in this obscure thing that only a few people knew about to a cool, hip brand. How did this happen?

This guy writes to this old woman who ran the company. This is a true story. I'll tell you how I know it's true. It was you. And he says, look, you need... It was not me. I will not take credit for this. You need a social media presence. I will run your Twitter account for free for a year.

And at the end of the year, you decide if it was worth it. And if you like it, you pay me. And she's like, okay, she's an old lady. She's like, this guy will do it for free. So he makes Malort this insanely cool, funny brand, including a contest. He says, everybody submit your favorite motto for Malort. The one that gets the most votes will become the official slogan of Malort

for like the Christmas season, no matter what it is, if you guys vote for it. And the one that won, and this was like Christmas, I don't know, 2011, was Malort. Those pants won't shit themselves. And I'll tell you how I know it's true, because I love telling that story. And I told it at a party to a guy,

and he was like, yeah, that was me. And he confirmed it. Well, I like it when a slogan happens to speak to a deeper truth. Let's get into it. What a week. Earlier today, in his prepared testimony, Mr. Cohen... Mr. Cohen? What the fuck?

Michael Cohen. Fucking Jane Austen write this one? Who has pled guilty to lying in Congress and will go to prison for his crimes, blasted the president as a racist, a conman, and a cheat. Some of the hits. Cohen testified Trump personally reimbursed him for the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, which, if Trump knew it was against campaign finance laws, would be in violation of those laws. And Cohen brought evidence.

He brought photocopied checks of the reimbursement written by Donald Trump with his dumb sharpie signature that he wrote while he was President of the United States. How fucking charming. Imagine if the Republicans had a check from Bill Clinton to pay off, well it would be Lanny Davis, for, you know, for giving money to Monica Lewinsky in 1998 to keep that story a secret. I wonder if it would have bothered them. I wonder if Jim Jordan would have taken issue. Cohen testified that he was in the Oval Office with Trump

when Roger Stone called Trump and told him that he'd just gotten off the phone with Julian Assange. Assange said... to expect more e-mail dumps on HRC soon, which led not only to Trump being very excited, but also to the phrase, massive dump being said in a congressional committee like 40 times,

and everybody pretended they were adults about it. I'm sorry, Peter. I got so nervous that Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me was gonna be here, and I wanted to class it up. And I've already blown it. I'm not currently on NPR. So fuck it. All right. Nice.

Assange said to expect more e-mail dumps on HRC soon, to which Trump replied, wouldn't that be great? If Trump claimed to Mueller in his sworn written testimony that he was not aware of any contacts between Stone and Assange, that could be a crime. Next, Roger Stone's conversation with Mr. Trump could also open the president up to further campaign finance violations. between Stone and Assange, that could be a crime. Next, Roger Stone's conversation with Mr. Trump

could also open the president up to further campaign finance violations. Federal law bars campaigns from taking anything of value from foreign entities. The conversation with Roger Stone could be used to help prove that Trump and his campaign knowingly accepted valuable help from WikiLeaks and Russia. Cohen also shed light on BuzzFeed's article earlier this year saying that Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That's not how he operates. But he added that the president implicitly instructed him to lie about the Moscow deal by repeatedly lying about it

himself. Also, Trump's lawyers edited Cohen's statements before he testified to Congress. Fascinating stuff. Cohen says he believes he saw Don Jr. telling Trump about the Trump Tower Russia meeting. And he said it was notable because Don Jr. would not set an important meeting alone and that he went behind his father's desk, which no one ever did. And, and again, this is just an aside that we all enjoy, he said Donald Trump repeatedly referred to his son as having the worst judgment of anyone in the world. And it's weird. Today was an absolutely brutal day for Donald Trump Jr. You know what's funny? I bet Michael Cohen is wrong.

I bet Don Jr. does go behind his father's desk, but only when his father's not there. And he goes behind the desk, and he sits down, and he puts on his deep dad voice, and he says, Well, Don Jr., I'm glad you've come into this office like I asked you to so I could tell you I love you.

Dad, do you mean it? And then he just sits there really quietly before he runs out. Do you mean it. Dad, do you mean it? And then he just sits there really quietly before he runs out. Do you mean it, Dad? Do you mean it? He runs around the other side of the desk and he's like, I love you too. And he runs back and he's his dad again.

He says, let's play some ball. And he runs around again. You want to play catch with me, Dad? Yeah. And then Hope Hicks came in and is like, Don Jr., what are you doing? Nothing, nothing, nothing. I think if anybody should have this grievance, it's Tiffany.

Or that other one that he doesn't seem to remember he has. Yeah, man. Eric and Tiffany, they really fall right there in the middle between the good one and the bad one. You know, Tiffany was seated at the State of the Union, like right next to the little kid who was brought in because he gets bullied because his name is Trump. And all I can imagine is Tiffany turning to him and saying, you too, huh? Cohen also testified that Trump

directed him to use Trump Foundation funds to acquire a portrait of Trump. The portrait was purchased by the fake bidder for $60,000. Trump directed the Trump Foundation, which is supposed to be a charitable portrait was purchased by the fake bidder for $60,000. Trump directed the Trump Foundation, which is supposed to be a charitable organization, to repay the fake bidder just by keeping the art for himself. This could be a civil violation of state laws

governing acceptable charity use. Also, we found out that it was done through a man named Matthew Calamari. It's a trap. Anybody? Anybody? First thing I thought about. I pictured that fisherman buying that beautiful bar.

I thought you were a nerd. He has a name. Admiral Ackbar, who's from Mons Calamari. Peter Sagal coming into my house and wait, wait, don't telling the shit out of me. Unbelievable. Alright. All right. So, Jim Jordan, to me, who always seems like

he's giving the speech in a movie where a villain is telling a girl she can't be on the football team. You know what I mean? Like, it's always like, you'll never play for the Badgers. Girl like you, you think you can throw a ball and play for the Badgers? Not on my watch you think you can throw a ball and play for the Badgers? Not on my watch. I haven't been here at Badger State. Anyway, there's a clip of Jim Jordan being ridiculous. Let's roll it. I see a guy who worked for 10 years and is here trashing the guy

he worked for for 10 years. Didn't get a job in the White House. And now you're behaving just like everyone else who's got fired or didn't get the job they wanted like Andy McCabe like James Comey same kind of selfish motivation after you don't get the thing you want that's what I see here today and I think that's what the American people mr. Jordan all I wanted was what I got to be personal attorney to the president to enjoy the senior year of my son in high school and waiting for my daughter who's graduating from college to come back to New York I

got exactly what I want exactly what you want what I want so I think one thing I learned is that Andrew McCabe James Comey and Michael Cohen's children learned that they had something in common, which is, hey, you don't need to bring me into this. I'm good. Don't, you say whatever you got to say, but I'm not here. I'm not in it. I'm not connected. But in all seriousness, Kim, what did you make? So Republicans, I think, didn't do a lot of substantive defending of Donald Trump today, but they did try to attack Michael Cohen's credibility, and fair enough. Do you think that that was effective at all? What did you make of it?

I first have to say, I will answer that question, but I don't typically see a lot of cable news. I didn't know that's what Michael Cohen sounded like, and when I heard the Ben Stiller impression on SNL, I thought that was just, you know, kind of playing it up. I didn't know that he actually sounded like a Scooby-Doo villain. But, no. Quick question before you get to your real answer. I also did a Michael Cohen impression in your presence quite recently. I didn't know that I had to listen to that part. It was nice seeing you all. No, but in all all seriousness what did you make of his defense

i mean it definitely seemed like there was a hesitation on the republicans part to not you know do anything that was going to damage the president make it look like the president had a lot of awareness of the things that cohen was alleging the you know president asked him to do i don't think that they had very substantive criticism. It was all about attacking his credibility. This guy's a liar. Why would we believe anything he says, especially if it's going to be damaging to the president? So it was about what I expected. Yeah. Akilah, it is true. Michael Cohen, the reason he is going to jail is because he lied to Congress on behalf of Donald Trump.

He is not a particularly faithful narrator, and yet he is the person we have now brought out to say here is all this evidence against Donald Trump. What did you make of that, of Michael Cohen's star turn as someone trying to take the side of those who believe Donald Trump is a racist, is a cheat, is someone who's committed crimes? Well, I think the reality is that Michael Cohen has nothing to lose anymore. I mean, he's already going to jail for sure. It's either like for a very long time or a slightly less very long

amount of time. And so I think like for me, it's like, okay, initially he's lying because he's trying to save his ass. Well, Mueller has gotten has gotten him clearly so fine if he wants to be over here on our side like I'll take all the help we can get to the point of like them not like the Republicans not actually asking Michael Cohen any questions just attacking his character and like trying to defend the president who is on record lying every day of his life. It's interesting, the tactics. I don't know if you all saw the guy in the back with the big poster that said,

Liar, liar, pants on fire. But I plan on going to all of my ex's weddings. And just sitting in the back, the big ass side, like, he's a liar. He's lied before. I think it's, I mean, is it effective? No, they're still getting married. But does it make me feel better? Absolutely.

I feel good. They're still getting married, but you feel okay. And you ruined their day a little bit. Vindicated, even. Peter, basically Republican after Republican basically used their time to say, this is a guy that just wants a book deal. This is a guy that's out for himself.

This is a guy that just spent his career lying and manipulating and committing crimes. And yet, he is someone who committed those lies and crimes while working for the president and while being a deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee. Did you find any of that to be, say, confusing? Yeah. I mean, I watched it. that to be, say, confusing? Um, yeah. I mean, I watched it.

I spent seven hours today doing nothing but watching this hearing, which, by the way, forewarning, this week's Wait, wait, it's gonna suck, because I didn't work on it. But the thing that I kept... Do you have this? You must have this experience, because you were an actual speechwriter, which is you keep watching these people, and you're like, say that, say this.

And you're like holding up placards to your TV, hoping they can somehow see it. And the thing that I wanted someone to bring up was this. They kept saying, Michael Cohen, you can't be trusted because you were convicted of lying to Congress. You're a convicted liar. You were convicted of lying to Congress. And yet you're in front of Congress. Oh, my God, what a scandal. You were convicted of lying to Congress. And I wanted someone to say, well what was the lie? The lie was that Donald Trump didn't do anything wrong. So I wanted someone to say, so if you are so upset with me that I lied

about that, then you must accept that the truth is, is that Donald Trump did something very wrong. And if he'd only done that, their brains would have like, like in those computers in Star Trek where they say, you know, this only tells the truth and I lie. And, you know, they blow up. This statement is a lie. Beep, boop, bop, bop, compute. And they would all end up with like brains like Louie Gohmert. And they would all... I have a thing about Louie Gohmert.

He's not so much worse than anybody else, but he's bald and I feel personally hurt. No, I get that. I get that. He is bald and quite stupid. Yeah, why is... I mean, ever since Henry Waxman left the national stage, there's no smart, bald guys left. Who do we got? We got that guy, Gomer.

We got Matt Whitaker? I mean, do they all have to look like failed supervillains? They're all dressed like Lex Luthor at some regional comic con, and it's just, it's not good. It's tough out there. It's tough out there for sure. I mean, one thing that I always feel when I watch these hearings is, do members of Congress not know what five minutes are?

Do they never, does no one ever explain to them how short a length of time five minutes are? They're like, I only have five minutes, so let me start by talking about where my ancestors came from. Now that I'm through that, let me say that the people of my district in a part of Tennessee, they're good people.

They're salt of the earth. They're the real Americans. And they sent me here to do a job, and the job is to make sure that I get to the truth. And the truth is, we need to find out what happened here. And I don't care about what's a Democrat or what's

a Republican. I came here to find the truth. And so that's what I'm going to do today. I'm going to turn to you. I'm sorry, Congressman, your time is up. I yield. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield my time to a more senior dum-dum. Look, we've had a lot of fun here today.

But there was a moment at the end of the hearing that I found really moving, and it was from the chairman of the committee, Elijah Cummings, kind of summing up what he thought. And he clearly was genuinely emotional at the close of this hearing, because Elijah Cummings, he doesn't need to impress or be anything to anybody. He's good. But let's roll this clip of how he closed this hearing.

People come in here and say, oh, oh, this is the first hearing. It is not the first hearing. The first hearing was with regard to prescription drugs. Remember, a little girl, a lady sat there, drugs. Remember a little girl, a lady sat there, Ms. Wortham, her daughter died because she could not get $333 a month in insulin. That was our first hearing. Second hearing, HR1, voting rights, H.R. 1, voting rights, corruption in government. Come on now. We can do more than one thing. And we have got to get back to normal. I thought it was a beautiful moment.

Because I think it's easy to be numb to what we saw today. And what we saw was an attorney for president describing criminal and deeply unethical behavior, but also every single Republican in that committee except for one, Justin Amash, who's worth noting. Justin Amash, I think, in the way he talked to Michael Cohen, was an exception that proved the rule, because he sincerely asked him questions, questions he wanted to know the answer to.

And it was remarkable, right? Because I don't like Justin Amash's politics, right? He's a right-wing person, he's a conservative person, but he has the audacity to be intellectually honest and to try to understand what motivated this person to try to elucidate this incredible scandal that we're all living through and try to understand what motivated him. But other than Justin M. Ash, we saw Republican after Republican use their time not to attack the substance of what Michael Cohen was offering,

but to simply defend the president and attack the credibility of Michael Cohen, not because they believe it, not because they're worried about the truth, but because they believe that's what's in their interest as a party and in their interest as individuals from blood-red conservative districts. I think the important thing, I mean, I actually spend a lot of time

trying to understand what they're thinking. And I think the important thing to understand is that they don't think they're defending, they think they're attacking. And what they think they are attacking is the greatest threat to the America they love, which basically is all of you. They, I mean, if you watch and you spend any time on conservative websites, even serious ones like National Review, they firmly believe... I mean...

That's kind. I mean, relatively speaking. It's like everybody says, it's the premier intellectual journey of the right wing. It's the best they've got. It's the best they've got. That's a fact. Like, you know,

the survival packs and dried food they're selling on their pop-up ads are of a higher quality than on the Federalist is what I'm saying and if you like, whatever they're supposed to be conservative and William F. Buckley and small government and the Constitution and all these incredible atrocities are happening on those points and what are they thinking about

oh my god, AOC war address or oh my god Justin Smollett or oh my god some other thing that the liberal Democrat media thing did because they're out to get us and they hate us and we have to stop them first and that's in a weird way scarier because the worst things are done not because I need to do this but I need to stop those awful people from doing it. So you know that if Donald Trump, God forbid, does refuse to leave office, he will not do it because he'll say, well, it's important for me to be president.

He'll say because the election was stolen and those people are trying to steal it and it was unfair and we have to stop them. and those people are trying to steal it, and it was unfair, and we have to stop them. And that's what I find scary, is not their intellectual dishonesty or their refusal to grapple with the issues, but how angry they all are. And anger justifies too many bad things. I think that's right.

One final question before we move on. Michael Cohen described the racist language that Donald Trump uses behind the scenes, which obviously comports described the racist language that Donald Trump uses behind the scenes, which obviously comports with the racist language Donald Trump uses in front of the cameras. However, Mark Meadows did literally ask a black woman to stand up to prove that Donald Trump isn't a racist. Was anyone on the panel convinced? I'll go first. No.

Homegirl didn't even take off the sunglasses. She was like, I guess I'm going to stand now. Like, it was, listen. How much time do we have? I cannot believe in the years. I can let's be real let's go back i can believe that in year 2019 there is a white man on earth who thinks i know a black is sufficient for you know all of the racist things that Donald Trump has done. It is absolutely bonkers that he thought, well, that clears that up. He's not a racist.

He knows this black person. And she's just standing there looking around like, can I sit back down? It was every day of my fifth grade class where it was just like, things are fine in Black History Month. She's here. And I'm like, ah. I hated it. I hated every second of it.

And no, it doesn't disprove anything. There are still children in cages. We'll leave it there. When we come back, OK Stop! Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back!

Calm down. Jeez. Now it's time for a game called OK Stop. We'll roll the clip and the panel can say OK Stop at any point to comment. Last year, Donald Trump's summit with Kim Jong-un was seen as one of the many, many high points of his presidency. So he's currently in Vietnam for the first time

to try to recreate the magic. And earlier this morning, the globalists at Fox and Friends were tittering with excitement about seeing Donald Trump play the hits once again. There was an agreement that was signed suggesting that Kim Jong-un was going to start moving towards denuclearization. The U.S. intel community is suggesting he has not followed through on that. So the key here in Hanoi is in these meetings ahead to get some specificity from the North Korean dictator. You see the smiles, the handshakes.

That was the first part of all of this. You see the smiles and you see the handshake. Just want to be clear. Republicans spent eight years saying that Barack Obama was an apologist for dictators who didn't understand

how to stand up for American values on the international stage. Having gotten absolutely no concessions, having gotten absolutely no forward motion on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program, Donald Trump is standing next to a murderous totalitarian, shaking hands and smiling. Now, what many people have said for a very long time is,

this meeting is what you give as a reward for some kind of achievement, that this elevates Kim Jong-un on the national stage. But right now, what we have is we have nothing. We have nothing but this moment. And all we have learned so far is that Donald Trump is prepared to offer concessions on what North Korea is allowed to have. And Donald Trump barred four American journalists from participating in the dinner because they shouted questions at this moment. So while Ed Henry is saying it's all smiles, of course it's all smiles. Kim Jong-un is getting everything he wants.

He gets to stand next to the American president. What did we get? We got absolutely fucking nothing. I saw the body language. Kim Jong-un, as he listened to his own translator explain what President Trump was saying, looked in that shot there early on listening to what President Trump... Okay, stop. To check the room, how many of you who are fans of the 1990 Bulls

feel weird about the fact that Dennis Rodman is best friends with this guy? Oh, yeah, it's a Chicago thing. The Chicago Bulls. I don't know if you can put that on Chicago. That's a Dennis Rodman thing. He was looking intently as if he wanted to listen to every word and then started smiling

a lot and laughing about the fact that they have a strong relationship as if he was agreeing with the president. Okay, stop. Okay, well, I was absolutely going to okay stop as well. When I smile and laugh, it's because it's like a dark room and I'm like I don't know if you asked a question and I'm just gonna nod along and I believe that that he's like oh this is Donald Trump because from the propaganda posters America's been putting out he looks a little different like I think that he seems absolutely confused and he doesn't know

what's happening but also this is just a nightmare. I just want to understand why Donald Trump is in Vietnam. He's there to taunt Kim Jong-un. First of all. He's there to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He's said it. He wants the Nobel Peace Prize. He's never going to win.

No. So he needs to stop. He's said it now. You're not getting it. There's a shop here in Chicago. They advertise all over town. They do want teas, any custom teas in one hour, right? We could right now, you know them,

go out and get a T-shirt saying, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Give it to Trump, and this would all be over. Have a very warm relationship that's come together in a short time. Here's what the president said that led Kim to smile. I think that your country has tremendous economic potential, unbelievable, unlimited. And I think that you will have a tremendous future with your country. Okay, stop.

He's thinking, I'm going to take this guy for everything he's got. There is a certain laugh that we have now had to see on the faces of people like Kim Jong fucking un and Vladimir Putin and it is the laugh that says I cannot believe my luck holy shit Vladimir Putin at a meeting at the Kremlin and a couple nerds came in and said we think we can hack Facebook and like maybe it'll work and he's like go for it we'll see what happens holy shit politically Vladimir Putin was walking out of the casino on his last day at Vegas, and he put $100 on 34, and then it landed on 30 fucking four. Did you guys see the thing

that Trump apparently, CNN reported it, that Trump apparently said about Kim Jong-un? He said he's genuinely impressed with him because he, Trump, knows a lot of people who grew up wealthy and powerful like Kim Jong-un did, and Kim Jong-un has done a, knows a lot of people who grew up wealthy and powerful like Kim Jong-un did. And Kim Jong-un has done a lot better than those other people who end up screwed up by growing up in a wealthy family. And the first question is, compared to who, Mr. President, what people do you know who grew up in a wealthy, powerful family who you know intimately who are really screwed up? Do you, I mean, he's like, you know,

does he say to Eric, Eric, look at that. Can you be more like Kim Jong-un? It does appear that Donald Trump is trying to do some Kim Jong-un stuff. So it's like, yeah, I look up to this guy. I want my kids to inherit the United States and then

run it into the ground where England has sanctions on us, I guess. I mean, I don't know where we're going with this, but I wanna get off. Isn't this the guy who fed his uncle to dogs? Yeah. I believe also, yeah, it's like, first of all, first of all, I like that it's,

again, an implicit criticism of Don Jr. That, a reminder that Don Jr. is having the worst fucking week. He's like, look at this kid. His parents were rich, but he grew up okay. Then, to your point, he also did kill one of his uncles with an

aircraft carrier weapon. Didn't he shoot him with an anti-aircraft gun? One of those things that sort of blows you up. And I look forward to watching it happen and helping it to happen. And we will help it to happen. And I will only... I will only close by saying

it is ironic what happened today in Washington because Donald Trump had to go all the way from D.C. to Vietnam while his own personal Vietnam was finally happening in Washington. And that's OK Stop. When we come back, we're going to play a game about drug prices.

Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. Congress was a buzz this week. And we're not just talking about Jim Jordan making Michael Cohen look like Atticus Finch. That's a stretch. On Tuesday, there was a Senate Finance Committee hearing in which leaders from seven different pharmaceutical companies faced questions about high drug prices. Together, the seven companies represented in the hearing are worth $1.13 trillion.

How'd they get that money? Well, in 2018 alone, the U.S. spent $345 billion on prescription drugs. On the campaign trail, the polyamorous criminal tweet bot Donald Trump promised to negotiate lower drug prices through Medicare but he abandoned that idea almost immediately upon being elected. So anyway as Trump refused to take this issue seriously and

Republicans refused to expand Medicare and Medicaid and focus only on repealing Obamacare which would make matters worse, drug prices in America have doubled over the last decade. And in some situations, it's much worse than you imagine. So we want to highlight this sad fact in a game we are calling, you'd have to be on drugs to think these drug prices are acceptable, but you're not on drugs because the prices are so high, which is why you ration your insulin while Howard Schultz walks around saying Medicare for All is un-American, which is sort of true in the sense that reform requires confronting what we have accepted as American and what elites lack the guts and imagination to change.

Too long. Here's how it works. I will give you, our panel, the name of a drug and what it used to cost. And then without going over, you have to guess what that drug costs today. You can psych each other out. This is a blood sport competition amongst the three of you. Are you ready? I come from an herbal medicine family, but I'm going to do my best.

All right, question one. EpiPen is a brand-named auto-injector used on the spot to halt life-threatening allergic reactions and asthma attacks. It's one of the world's most essential drugs, according to the WTO. In 2007, it was $47 for one injector. Without going over, how much does one life-saving injector cost a day? I'll start with you, Kim. I should know because I actually need one, but I haven't had health insurance for the past year.

So let's say $200. We have $200. Akilah? What was the original price? The original price was $47. I'm going... This is just like the prices, right? I know, it's pretty fun. I love it. I'm like, what the just like The Price is Right. I know, it's pretty fun.

I love it. I'm like, what the fuck do any of you know? Someone with an allergy say something. How much? Five? I'm saying 500. 500. She's saying 500. $1.50. I'm just gonna say, this is an audience of nerds

they know what an EpiPen is I remember when this happened because wasn't it that Martin Shkreli was going on over here being America's most hated person until now but quietly the EpiPen company just jacked up the price

and I remember it as being something like $5.50. So I'm going to go slightly higher and say $5.01. Wow. This is why people hate the prices, right? I'm sorry. Was that a shitty thing to do? No. That was a petty thing to do.

Peter, you're playing the game, and I respect the hell out of it. However, Kim has won because it is $284 per injector. What did you say? She said $200. I said $200. Oh, I thought you said $300. A 500% price increase. That's why we were remembering 500%.

Yeah, there you go. It was a number. Question number two. Question number two. Cosmogen is a chemotherapy drug used to treat certain types of cancer. It's another drug on the WTO's list of essential medicines, and it has been around since 1964. In 2004, Cosmogen was priced at $17 per injection.

Without going over, what is the current price of this supremely important medicine? $55,000. Spoken like someone that's very confident. I'm going to say, what was the original price? The original price was $17 per injection. I'm going to say $275. We have $275 from Kim. Akilah, you're up.

I'm going to say $800. $800 from Akilah. Peter Sagal. I'm not going to say $801. But I am going to go higher because I think it from Akilah. Peter Sagal. I'm not going to say 801. But I am going to go higher because I think it's got one of those cancer drugs you hear about that are just a nightmare. Because what are you going to do? Not take the drug? I'm going to say $1,000.

Peter, it has gone from $17 per injection to $1,900 per injection, an 11,000% increase for a drug older than most people running for president, including Pete Buttigieg. I like him. I almost fist-bumped people not being able to get their medicine, but I stopped myself in time.

Yeah, it's a tough one to cheer for. It's hard to feel good about winning. Question three. Daraprim is the only drug that treats a rare serious parasitic infection. In 2009, one pill cost $1. In 2015, the drug was acquired by Turing Pharmaceuticals, Martin Shkreli's company. Without going over, what is the current price per pill for Daraprim? I'll start with Peter. Well, you mentioned Martin Shkreli, so it must have gone

way up. And this, of course, by the way, most mentioned Martin Shkreli, so it must have gone way up. And this, of course, by the way, most people don't know this, but this actually was due to the influence of the Parasite Lobby. Big Leech, they're known as. Martin Shkreli, so whatever reasonable, insane guess, you have to double it.

So I'm going to say he doubled it to $800. Peter says $800. The thing about the Parasite Lobby is the little parasites meet with their lawyers and they're like, ugh, these people are disgusting. So stupid. Akilah, we have $800 suggested by Peter. It was initially $1?

It was initially $1. I'm gonna say $2, because I'm petty. Akilah says $2. Peter's at $800. Kim, what is your guess? $860. Really dumb not to say $801, but I'll allow it. Akilah, it's actually gone up to $750 per pill.

Eat it, everybody. Sorry people who got the parasites though. Real sorry about that, that sucks. I'll tell you the parasite I have, his name is Martin Shkreli, am I right? All right. Is he in jail now? Whatever that Wu Tang album,

did he ever give that up or did he just have it? The court took it. The court took it. The court took it? Now some judge has it? What? All right. Question four. Akhtar, a drug used to treat a number of illnesses

like epilepsy, MS, arthritis, and more, has been around since the 1930s. This medicine is a hormone that is collected from pigs at the slaughterhouse. It is incredibly easy to get, as we have a lot of pigs. In 2000, one vial of this drug cost around $40. Without going over,

how much would it cost for you to purchase one vial of this easy to find hormone? I'll start with Kim. $1,200. $1,200 for a $40 vial. Akilah, what do you think? Higher!

Higher! Higher! Well, okay. Calm down. How much did it cost initially? $40? It initially cost $40 per vial. In, like, 1940?

In 2000. Oh, okay. Listen, we've all been drinking Malort so I'm gonna go ahead and say I'm gonna say 1600 1600 Bob yeah Donald Trump's SAT score damn Peter what do you think I'm gonna

I'm gonna low ball it just to take that space so I'll say $300 Kim it is currently $39,000 per vial. A 97,000% increase for literal

pig juice. I want to be clear that I got it right. What did you say? I said $1,600. What did you say? $1,200. Oh, I thought I had it backwards. Sorry. Let me win one thing ever I'm not Drew Carey I got it wrong

I don't care Akilah Yes You got it right Finally I'm gonna win this game You've all won the game Thank you for playing

That very long named game When we come back We're gonna play a game About redlining Don't cheer that. Shame on you. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Chicago. Home of deep dish pizza and even deeper levels of public corruption. Home of fingerless gloves and fingerless mayors.

Home of American heroes like Barack Obama. Elwood Blues and Rod Blagojevich. Oh wow, you don't like Rod Blagojevich. Oh, wow, you don't like Rod Blagojevich. What a fucking surprise. Sheep. Yeah, Chicago may be one of the top seven cities in America. What would you have accepted? Top three? You want to hear top three?

Top three? accepted. Top three? You want to hear top three? Shame on you for accepting top three as a compliment. We know how to convict a felon. We know how to convict a felon. Yeah, you really got that R. Kelly

guy in the nick of fucking time. Woo! Where was Tommy Lee Jones when you needed him? I gotta transition to some serious stuff here. Hold on. I'm emotionally preparing you. So yes, Chicago is a wonderful city full of wonderful foods and people.

And I really like what you did to rebuild after you burnt down that one time. But it also has flaws, serious flaws. It is also one of the most segregated cities in the United States. Yeah, it got pretty quiet. In this game, we're going to focus on systemic government practices that shaped Chicago's neighborhoods and neighborhoods across the country that led to the segregation we still see today

in a game we're calling The Red Line Ain't Just a Train on State Street. That was the right amount of laughter and sort of a kind of somber embrace of the notion of the game. Would someone out there like to play the game? Hi, what's your name? Brandy. Brandy? Yes. What a nice name? Brandy. Brandy?

Yes. What a nice name. Thank you. And are you from the great city of Chicago? I am not. I'm actually from central Illinois. Be nice. Calm down, guys.

Sorry. Where in Illinois are you from? Tiny town called Minunk. Minunk. Let's hear it for Minunk. Are you ready to play the game Brandy? I'm ready. Question number one. After FDR signed the National Housing Act of 1934, the new Federal Home Loan Bank Board was tasked with creating residential security maps to determine the safety of real estate investments in

various neighborhoods. They used a color-coded system that labeled black or brown neighborhoods as red or unsafe for investment, and white neighborhoods as green or safe for investment. As a result, what percentage of home loans went to white families between 1934 and 1968? Is it A? 60% of all home loans went to white people, which is roughly the same percentage of white people who have tried to say, it's lit, and then realized they couldn't pull it off and shouldn't have tried. Or is it B?

75% of all home loans went to white people. 75% is also the percentage of his children Donald Trump can name. Or is it C? 98% of all home loans went to white people? I'm going to go right in the middle and go with B. Incorrect. Ah, C!

It was incorrect. B! No, I need you to tell me what's right. Where is the no sound? Peter, I want you to know something. I said to everybody that you're going to be on the show tonight, all right? Peter, I want you to know something. I said to everybody that you're going to be on the show tonight. All right?

Wait, wait, don't tell me he's going to be in the house. We've got to put our best, we've got to put our best, most professional foot forward. All right? And that means having a no sound, a critical moment. And I'm embarrassed. And frankly, humiliated.

And I'm comforted, so don't worry about it. I'm feeling better about myself. Don't applaud that. That's right, it's C. 98% of home loans went to white people, roughly the same as the share of votes for Green Book that came from white Academy voters. Brandy, question two. Why didn't people of color just choose to move to other areas where they could get a loan is it a because the real estate industry

began to use something called race covenants which barred the sale of property to non-white people in certain neighborhoods and when it wasn't that explicit people of color were often intimidated out of neighborhoods with threats and actual violence. Or is it B? Shut up. Or is it B? Is it B? Let's see. Because people of color thought they'd already caught too many breaks and figured they'd sit this one out. Who wrote these? Or is it C?

Moving sucks. It's like, where do they get all this stuff? Why did I keep all these tote bags? And what am I supposed to do with a painting my sister-in-law painted? Who gives art as a gift? It's insane. What do you think, Brandy?

As she said, it's A. You got it. Question three. These sorts of policies have been illegal for decades. Why won't us cranky liberals get over it and stop talking about the past? Is it A? Because the effects are still felt to this day. By owning homes, white people were able to accrue wealth from rising property values. And this influx of new wealth attracted new businesses, which drove up property value even more. This allowed white people to pass down wealth and privilege through generations. But at the same time, the same isn't true for people of color.

Seventy-four percent of neighborhoods that were graded as high risk or quote hazardous eight decades ago are still low to moderate income today. White families today have nearly 10 times the net worth of black families. And in Chicago's ritziest neighborhoods, you know the ones, the most sought after homes in the 1930s are still worth nearly three times more today

than homes in red-lined neighborhoods. You did it! Travis, I think we've got to spice up these multiple-choice quizzes. Or is it B? Okay, before I read B, I just have to say bars. That was like the tightest rap song in 2019. Thank you.

True. Generational wealth. This country's fucked up. All right. Or is it B? Because redlining is like an X. We don't like to talk about it every day, but sometimes you take a good long shower

and have a new revelation about a conversation you had at a Marshall's once, where you both got mad after a good long shower and have a new revelation about a conversation you had at a Marshall's once, where you both got mad after a good day together. So now, of course, you're going to bring this up to your friends. Like, I'm totally over it. I just thought this was an interesting new revelation, okay? Very specific. Or is it C?

Because it's too hard for us to admit that we're living in a post-racial America. I mean, Barack Obama, Cardi B, white guys waiting in line for Jordans. Racism is solved. So let's all get together, black and white, and sit down to watch America's favorite movie, Green Book. What do you think, Brandy?

It's A! Brandy, you've got it, and you've won the game. The Red Line ain't just a train on Sage Street. Thank you for playing. Guys, give it up for Brandy. When we come back, we'll spin the rant wheel.

Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. Now it's time for the rant wheel. Here's how it works. We spin the wheel and rant on the topic wherever it lands. This week on the wheel, we have... the rainforest whale, Facebook moderators,

the film Bohemian Rhapsody, we have Senator John Cornyn quoting Mussolini, we have Kardashian spin-off scandals, R. Kelly, misuse of the phrase, beg the question, and the hostless Oscars. Let's spin the wheel yes it is landed on the misuse of the phrase beg the question and I think we all know that it was suggested by Peter Sagal.

He's standing up. He is standing up. Could I get a follow spot? You cannot. Everybody uses beg the question to mean raise the question. It happened just today in the Michael Cohen hearing. Somebody said, well, that begs the question, what were you doing there?

No, it doesn't! And everybody gets upset. Well, come on, Peter, why are you doing this? We all know that language changes. People say, I could care less, when they mean I couldn't care less, and we all accept it. This is why we need to keep beg the question,

because we need it to describe a particular phenomenon. That phenomenon is, assuming the premise of the argument is evidence for your argument. Let me illustrate. Somebody might say, you might be arguing with a homophobe, and the homophobe might say, being gay is wrong. And you'd say, well, prove to me that being gay is wrong. And they'd say, well, because it's unnatural. They're begging the question. They're assuming what the thing they're arguing is already true as evidence of what they're arguing. You see, that's a bad thing. We need to name it. That's why we must preserve it

to call out question beggars wherever they appear. So say it with me, everybody. Beg the question. Beg the question. Beg the question. We need to keep it because it's essential. Let's spin it again. It has landed on R. Kelly, which I believe was suggested by Kim. It was. Is everybody having fun so far?

Because that's about to stop. Yeah, so we've seen the news reports of his indictment, of his inability to postpone, and then his very bizarre, you know, actually getting out of jail. And we found out that after three days in the Cook County Jail, he was bailed out by a woman who identified herself as a friend. Shout out to the Sun-Times, who found this report. And they did identify the woman who paid the $100,000 for R. Kelly's bail, was also someone who is a, I think she is an administrator of a daycare,

which looks bad for a lot of reasons. And I mean, that is kind of a funny and horrible and ironic thing to see. But, you know, there's a lot of things going back because if anybody has lived in Chicago for more than 10 years, you've seen this before because this happened in 2008 and you saw that R. Kelly was acquitted. As I think about all of the, you know, really terrible things that we heard over the weekend, with the things he's accused of, the four different women, alleged victims, and the fact that he is now free, the thing that I really go back to is there are still a lot of people supporting him. It's been well documented, what he's been accused of in the past.

He was acquitted. He does enjoy the presumption of innocence. But we also are coming to a point culturally where we believe victims. We hear women when they say something happened to them, when they say somebody harmed them. And so now we have four different victims, three who are under the age of 17. In two cases, there's believed to be video,

there's DNA evidence in at least two cases. And with all of this evidence that the state's putting together, there are still people out there who are asking the question, can we separate the art from the artist? I don't want to ask anybody to raise their hand, but how many of you still have Ignition Remix on a party mix somewhere on Spotify? You need to rethink that. And it's been long enough to where, yeah. It's not even that good of a song. To be completely frank, I don't

like it when white people say, run my hands through my fro. It's just not, it's not for everybody. And it's also not for me. You can quit that song and it's fine. And you know this is something I think especially important for Chicago audiences. Obviously he occupies a really important place in Chicago music history, but also think of the women in most of these cases, they're Chicagoans too. They have been, these videos, these videos are 10 years old. So think about for 10 years what it's like to see somebody play that song at weddings, play that song at parties, pay his $100,000 to get out on bail, and think about what we want to see happen going forward.

What does justice look like if we are going to believe victims? what does justice look like if we are going to believe victims? Can I... I just want to add one thing, and I always do this when this topic comes up. A lot of people are responsible for the fact that R. Kelly is now finally in legal jeopardy. Most importantly, his victims who came forward, the people who made the documentary.

But the original guy who was on this story, who kept on this story... Jim! Jim DeRogatis! Jim DeRogatis! Of the Chicago Sun-Times, formerly now WBEZ. He is an absolute goddamn hero

who did this in the face of apathy and threats and kept on it because he felt that these women who were his are Kelly's victims deserve justice and thanks in part, in great part to him, they might get it. Let's spin it again.

It has landed on the hostless Oscars, Akilah. That was for sure me, yeah. I loved the hostless Oscars. I did. It wasn't a hindrance. The show didn't end at midnight. It ended at 1130, and I appreciated that. I couldn't understand initially why they were like, no one wants to host. I get it. It's not a great gig. These people make way more money than this usually, and no one ever likes it in the reviews the next day. So it's like, why would you sign on? So I get why maybe it was a problem

after Kevin Hart's weird non-apology tour where he was saying he wasn't going to keep talking about it, but please book him on your show to not talk about it. People were reluctant to sign on. But I also believe that nothing should ever be hosted. No offense, John. I am... I often have... Okay, often's a stretch. I sometimes have parties, and I am presumed to be the host, but the reason my parties are successful is that I do not host. One time, in fact, I had a party, The reason my parties are successful is that I do not host. One time, in fact, I had a party and it was mostly in my backyard and it was a fire pit

party and suddenly the fire alarm inside my apartment was going off and you know what happened? Nothing. Because I didn't go in there and check on it. Turns out someone was trying to roast an acorn squash and I had dropped a piece of pizza in the oven months prior and so it was burning the apartment down. But you know what? A real host would have been like

everybody evacuated and i said fuck that and you know why i said that john because parties are better when no one's hosting we don't and i think we should take this energy all the way to the white house no one should run for president 2020 collectively we will figure it out and that's what we've learned. I think it's something to consider. I think we've tried having presidents for a very long time, and the results are thus far mixed. So your evidence that we shouldn't have a host for anything

is the fact that your kitchen was on fire in the middle of a party? Well, it didn't burn down and I still live there, so turns out it was fine. I will only pose for all of us a question. Who brings an acorn squash to a party to roast in the kitchen? These are real questions.

Let's spin it again. It has landed on Bohemian Rhapsody. More like, buckle your seatbelts, Get Ready, Bohemian Crapsody. You know, a lot of attention has been drawn by the film Green Book for being... Shitty? Shitty. Some part.

And fair enough. But I think that the ire directed at Green Book has drawn some of the spotlight away from the fact that the worst movie to be nominated for an Academy Award in a long time is a film by the name of Bohemian Rhapsody. And I think it's actually important that we take a moment and dwell on the fact that Bohemian Rhapsody is a piece of shit.

First of all, Rami Malek, who I love, a charming, strange fellow who is a wonderful actor, okay, won the Academy Award for, as far as I can tell, wearing Dracula teeth and saying things like, I wanna sing about... Commit to it. I wanna train from Ron Conklin. Shut up, I can only do one voice. I watched that movie.

No real conflict in it. And I love a movie where the people that made it, the people that were in the band, realized the conclusion of the film is Freddie Mercury was nothing without us. That is the conclusion of the movie made by the surviving members of Queen about Freddie Mercury.

Now, that alone is not enough of a reason to indict the film. However, I am very frustrated by a movie where, once again, AIDS is treated like the natural comeuppance in Act III. I fucking hate it. I hate it. Queen's great. But then, Freddie Mercury got all gay.

And when Freddie Mercury got gay, two things happened. He left the band, and he got AIDS, and they were both the dramatic irony saved for Act 3. And a second thing that really bothered me about this movie, which is something that happens in virtually every music movie, it also happens in A Star Is Born, there's a moment where the villain manager pulls one person aside and says, fuck these people.

You're shit. They're shit. It kind of drives a wedge. And the thing is, in real life, where we all live, if somebody comes up to you and says, hey, your best friend thinks you are an asshole and it's time you never talk to him again, you don't listen.

You go and you check in with your best friends and you say, hey, our colleague, who we don't know as well as we know each other, said some crazy shit to me. Did it make sense? Am I crazy? Oh, we hate him? We're still best friends? And that guy's one sentence doesn't change everything?

The creepy manager, who's clearly a douche, didn't get between us by saying one poignant thing about how you're the real talent or I'm the real talent? That didn't change everything? That's good. I'm glad I checked in with you before killing myself. I don't know if this is a good time to bring this up, but I think that Favreau guy is dragging you down.

You can't play on your level, John. Peter, thank you for telling me that. I'm going to make a series of very, very big life changes without ever talking to him. Unbelievable. And I'll add another thing. A star is born. That last song should have been better. It just should have been better.

That last song in A Star Is Born is better. That's the best picture, and we're not gonna spend a week talking about how Green Book's a piece of shit. And I don't know who, how to fix that in post, but it's an issue that I came to late. And one other thing. Recently, deep within the Amazon rainforest, people came across an incredible sight.

It was a dead, humpback fucking whale. Deep within the rainforest of the Amazon. And no one knows how it got there. A dead humpback whale inside, up river in the Amazon. We got to sort out this climate change thing, all right? Because the ocean is throwing whales miles inland. And I can't think of a more apocalyptic message than a giant, dead, humpback whale in the final surviving parts of the Brazilian rainforest. How many more signals do we need?

Let's end on a high note. This show's a mess, and I like it, and I don't care. Shut up, Peter Sagal. Mo Rocca's not here to save you. Hello, Favreau? Yeah, I think Lovett's driving you down, man. Unbelievable. Let's end on a high note.

You know, one thing that was striking today in the hearing, and it's something that's been true of many of the most poignant, important congressional hearings lately, as you move later in the hearing, and it's something that's been true of many of the most poignant important congressional hearings lately, as you move later in the day, the members get younger and much smarter. You had AOC, Ro Khanna, several others doing a legitimately great job in the closing moments of that hearing trying to drill Michael Cohn down, get some information, get some information that might lead to future inquiries. There was also another hearing this week. Katie Porter, one of the Crooked Seven who won,

an incredibly talented member of Congress. She was at the Equifax hearing. This was a hearing looking at the breach. So Equifax is one of these three big companies that has an incredible amount of data on each of us, which they failed to protect. I believe around 150 million people were compromised by an Equifax breach. None of us really have the ability to say no to Equifax. Katie Porter is talking to an executive from Equifax and says, I believe the CEO, and says, would you be willing to share today your social security, your birth date, and your address at this public hearing?

Now the executive responded, I would be a bit uncomfortable. Congresswoman, it's sensitive information that I like to protect, and I think consumers should protect theirs. He said, I'd be concerned about identity theft. I mean, this was beautiful. So then Katie Porter responds, if you agree that exposing this kind of information, information like that that you

have in your credit reports, creates harm. Therefore, you're unwilling to share it. Why are your lawyers arguing in federal court that there was no injury and no harm created by your data breach? But one thing that we have seen over and over again in just the first few months of this new Congress, what we're seeing in Chicago with two women of color, two progressive women of color competing for the mayor's race,

is that even as things have been pretty dark, even as we have been pretty sad to watch the descent of our politics, people like Jim Jordan and people like Mark Meadows and people like Laura Ingram and Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, in the midst of all that, we have seen people like Mark Meadows, people like Laura Ingram and Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. In the midst of all that, we have seen people like Katie Hill and Katie Porter and AOC and and Underwood and so many other incredibly impressive young members of Congress, diverse women, men, women of color, men of color, stepping up and not only just representing us in a new way, but bringing a new spirit of engagement and activism and not playing by the old rules

and asking smart, incisive questions, unbeholden to the way politics used to sound. Unbeholden to the way politicians are supposed to talk. And I think that in the midst of all of that, that is an incredibly inspiring and exciting development and that these are the people that are going to help lead us all the way out of this fucking mess. And that is what I thought today

at the close of that miserable fucking hearing. And I hope you all take the same thing away from it, too. That is our show. I want to thank Kim Belware, Akilah Hughes, Peter Sagal, and as always, Nancy Pelosi. Thank you to the city of Chicago for coming out tonight. And have a great night. Baby, I'm leaving, yes, I'm leaving It's going to be all on the side