Lovett or Leave It - Open Secrets and Lies

Episode Date: October 14, 2017

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins Jon to discuss Weinstein and justice for victims of sexual assault from Hollywood to college campuses to the military. Plus, we cover guns, Iran, and there's a new quiz. Then Jenni Konnor, Symone Sanders, and Neal Brennan talk about the culture around harassment in Hollywood, Trump's sabotage of the health care system, and the important issues of Avatar sequels and Eminem's resistance poetry.

What is up? Thank you guys for coming out. I see a Pod Save America shirt. I see some repeals and go fucks yourself. Which, as of the news today, we are just changing to go fuck yourself. Before I bring out our amazing guests and our incredible panel,

I do have to do some housekeeping. First, November 3rd, Washington, D.C., Love It or Leave It is coming to the Anthem. There are some seats left. Two shows at the Beacon, sold out. You're fucked. You have to go to Crooked.com. If you haven't gone to Crooked.com yet,

we have brought on Editor-in-Chief Brian Boitler. We have... The Boitler. We have... The Boitler heads are here. And we have an awesome contributor network with Ira Madison III, Aaron Ryan, Tim Miller, Julissa Arce, and many more, including one of our guests tonight. And there's merch, all right?

So if you wanna get called on at this show, you know what to do. Guys, I am very excited about this show tonight because our first guest is someone I'm so excited to talk to. She is the author of Off the Sidelines and the senator from the great state of New York, my home

state. Please welcome Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Welcome, Senator. Thank you. I'm delighted to be here. Hello, everybody. Happy Friday night. This is our first senator at the improv. Hopefully not our last. So it has been a week of extraordinary developments from foreign policy to domestic policy and health care. But at the same time, the whole country has been talking about these stories about Harvey Weinstein, Ronan Farrow's story in The New Yorker,

Megan Toohey and Jodi Kantor's stories in The New York Times. Megan Toohey and Jodi Kantor's stories in the New York Times, and not only about this, but it's kicked off a larger conversation about sexual harassment and sexual assault. We're a week into this discussion. What have you taken away from these stories and the reaction to them? Well, the stories are outrageous and disgusting. That's everyone's natural reaction to them. But I really think we have to take this

moment to have a national conversation about the degree and amount of violence and harassment and sexual assault in society today. It's not just Hollywood. It's also on college campuses. It's also in the military. It's also in the NFL. It's something that's prevalent and something that we really need to speak out about. And I just want to thank all the survivors that have come forward. I can tell you how hard that is for someone who's endured something so horrific to be able to stand up and tell your story publicly is something you're asking to really relive some of the worst moments of your life.

And so I just want to thank them for having the courage to speak up and speak out because without them you cannot bring accountability and you cannot bring transparency to the problem. So you mentioned what's happening on campus. A report by the National Institute of Justice found that roughly one in five women are victims of sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault while in college. In 2011, the Department of Education announced guidelines giving schools a process for dealing with sexual assault cases. A few weeks ago, Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, announced that she was rescinding those guidelines. We have talked about the hissing. And I have said, I'm not a...

I have welcomed boos. It's not like I'm telling you to be quiet. I'm giving you a means to express your negativity. But the hissing makes people uncomfortable. And so we're doing boos. And I don't want to have to tell you people again. It's a serious topic. You're embarrassing me in front of Senator Gillibrand. I don't want to have to tell you people again. It's a serious topic.

You're embarrassing me in front of Senator Gillibrand. And if I have to do this again, I will turn this car around. Senator, it's a policy show at the comedy club. We do what we can. So, leaving it all in, a few weeks ago, Betsy DeVos... Fine.

She announced that she was rescinding these guidelines. What is the biggest danger? What's the biggest danger in rescinding these guidelines? Well, one of the reasons why I voted against Betsy DeVos

is because she has spent her career trying to undermine public school education. And she now then adds to that the rescinding of this rule, which was supposed to protect students on college campuses. What President Obama put in place was a guideline that said, these cases need to be adjudicated fairly. You need to have a standard whereby you can find someone responsible. Because one of the biggest challenges you have with sexual assault on a college campus is a lot of times these assailants are recidivists. They do it over and over again. And you need to have a way to kick that person off campus,

get them out of school. Not every survivor is going to want to go to law enforcement. Not every law enforcement is going to take survivors seriously. But you need to have a system that allows for accommodation, changing your class schedule, maybe making sure you're in a different dorm room, and only a school can do that. So what these guidelines said is if you have a preponderance of the evidence to find someone to be responsible, you can take action.

Betsy DeVos says, oh, I'm really worried about innocent, those who are accused who are innocent. Well, I am just as concerned about a situation where an innocent person would be blamed, but I'm equally concerned about a guilty person going free. And we have a chronic problem in this country where survivors of sexual assault have come forward. The administrations of the schools where they go to school have not only blamed them but then retaliated against them for coming forward. That is the challenge we are up against. And so rescinding those guidelines was just, it showed such a lack of understanding, a

lack of understanding of what the problem is and how to solve it. And if she really cared about solving sexual violence on college campuses, she would not only have left the guidelines in place but supported my good bipartisan bill, which would have created a national survey so that you could actually, every student in America could fill out a survey to say, what's the climate like at your school? Have you ever been assaulted? If so, did you report? If not, why not? That would give every college administration a snapshot of what a school's like so they can fix the problem. I mean, honestly, fixing the problem should be her priority, not trying to make it more difficult for survivors to come forward and get justice.

So the argument that's been made is this is a step to protect the due process rights of those who have been accused. Obviously, we're sending these guidelines is a step backwards for the victims. Are there steps that should be taken to not only strengthen and give victims the ability to not only get justice but get protected on campus while also taking additional steps to meet these criticisms? Are these criticisms worth meeting as well that Betsy DeVos and people on that side of the argument make? So I don't think the criticisms are legitimate. I do think the processes at most schools are still a kangaroo court. I think they don't know what they're doing. And so one of the things that we have in the bill is to have basic

training so that these schools, their adjudication processes, if it's the gym teacher and the science teacher and the college counselor, that they would all be actually trained in a certified program so they know how to do these these types of cases but one of the most important components of the bill is to have a confidential advisor on every campus and this is important because studies have found that if the first person you go to see after an assault can tell you all your options this is what it looks like if you go through the campus system this is what it looks like if you go to the campus system. This is what it looks like if you go to the police. If there's a second victim or a third victim, you might want to then testify. But if you do ever want to do something, you should get your rape kit done today.

If you do that, you are more likely to ultimately go to law enforcement and to ultimately get your rape kit done so that you have evidence. And so that component is so important to find justice in more cases. So that's what the bill would have done. And everything that's applied to a survivor is also applied to the accused. So any right to have support, guidance, notice will go to both sides. And so that's all in the bill. And so it would strengthen the process at each of these schools. So you said that in many campuses this is like a kangaroo court,

which seems to be something that would not serve victims, but also create risks for those who are accused. It doesn't serve either party. Right. So it seems like this would be an area where there could be some kind of bipartisan progress. Is there hopes for this to pass? What do you hear from your Republican colleagues? We have close to, I think, 35 co-sponsors, and at least close to a dozen are Republicans.

It's widely bipartisan. And so you would imagine that if we would get to vote on it, it would pass. But we haven't been afforded that opportunity. And so this is one of the issues where people have to speak out. You know, the one thing we've learned in the Trump era, the most important thing any of us can do is be heard. And so whether you are really great on social media, whether you show up at marches, whether you go to the town halls, whether you write letters to your congressperson or senators, it's all making a difference. And so this era of activism is really important because it's the difference between winning or losing any one of these issues. So one other, look, we're talking about this culture and the need to take action on sexual assault. You've also taken up the cause of fighting sexual assault inside

the military. I think it's an issue people don't know a lot about. For someone who's not following this issue, not aware of what happens inside the military, what do you think people need to know about the way sexual assault cases are treated inside the military and what has to change?

Okay. So today, in the military and what has to change. Okay. So today in the military, if there's an assault and a woman or man wants to come forward to report that assault, their commander within their chain of command is the one who looks at the evidence and decides whether or not it's allowed to go to trial. And if that commander knows you're assailant or likes you're assailant or doesn't know you or care about you, your chance of getting justice is minimal. And what I've seen when I've looked at all these cases is there's so much bias. That one year when I looked at all the cases at the four major bases, 86% of the time when she said it was rape and he said it was consensual, the case didn't move forward.

86% of the time. You do not have 86% of false reporting. And so what we need is a justice system in the military that's worthy of the sacrifice these men and women are making. There is no possibility for justice. And if you are brave enough to come forward and report that you've been assaulted, last reported 59% of survivors said they were retaliated against for reporting. said they were retaliated against for reporting. So all our bill does very simply is says that decision of whether a crime's been committed and whether it should go to trial, whether it should go to court martial, should be made by a military prosecutor, not somebody in your chain of command who's not a lawyer, not trained, and may well have biases. And so it's just really trying to

professionalize what's happening in the military because our men and women deserve it. We're covering so many topics, and I want to move on to another. This is a rapid fire. So you used to have an A rating from the NRA and received endorsements from them since you grew up in a family that hunted. But since you joined the Senate... My mother.

She did shoot the Thanksgiving turkey. At the supermarket or...? Mostly in our backyard. She did shoot the Thanksgiving turkey. At the supermarket or? Mostly in our backyard. We lived in a place with a lot of woods. I don't want a turkey. I want one that went through the capitalist system of making it fat and delicious. I don't want the Darwin one. I want the Butterball one.

But since you joined the Senate, your NRA rating has dropped from an A to an F. What happened? Did you stop studying? I mean, did you... Is it a senioritis? What went wrong? Well, so one of the challenges I had when I was appointed is my house district was in a real rural area.

And my lens on guns was hunting and Second Amendment. That was pretty much what my constituents cared about. But when I became senator for New York, I realized that not only did I need to understand all New Yorkers and what their lives were like, but I needed to learn a lot more about what was happening in our communities. And so one of the first things I did is I went to Brooklyn and I met with a mom and a dad who had lost their daughter to gun violence, to a stray bullet. Her name was Ny'Asia Pryor-Yard. And it is such a horrible experience to meet someone who's lost someone through gun violence. It is crippling. It is heartbreaking. And I can't tell you how quickly I realized that not only had been wrong, but I hadn't taken the

time to fully understand the destruction that gun violence was creating in America. And so I decided at that moment it wasn't an evolution. It wasn't a long-term decision. It was a moment when I said, there's no way I'm not going to help this family. And there's no way I'm not going to do something about the gun crime in our state. And so I started working with the commissioner, the NYPD commissioner at the time, with the commissioner, the NYPD commissioner at the time, and a lot of moms who had suffered the same horrible story about how do you make our community safer? It's absolutely morally wrong that a mom can bring her kid to a park, a four-year-old boy to a park in Brooklyn, and he dies. Like, that should not happen in America. And my lowest day in the Senate was the

day that Congress could not pass one law after Sandy Hook. Not one law. And to be a mom with young kids who picks up my kids every day, just like those parents expected to do, is outrageous. And so I believe the gun debate has to change. I think we have to identify it for what it is, and it is the story of greed. And if you look at the issue, it is about gun manufacturers who want to make more money and do not care the consequence of their decisions. Today, the biggest issue the gun manufacturers want to accomplish in Washington is to make it easier for people to buy suppressors, which are silencers. Even though law enforcement has said, do not do that. Right now it's hard. You have to get a certification process. It is not easy.

And if you make it easy, then criminals will use them. And then we can't detect where gunfire comes from as easily. They have all these devices in cities to know exactly where a gun is shot from. But those gun manufacturers want to make that extra bit of money, whether it's $200 every time a gun sold. They're doing it purely out of greed, something that overwhelmingly harms society. And why are they now fighting the ability to ban the devices that can make a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic weapon? Why should it be legal for any American to buy a military-style weapon anywhere and be able to use it where the only purpose of that weapon is to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time?

It is so disgraceful. And I have to say, there is no better example of the difference between capitalism and greed. And the gun manufacturers manifest a disregard to humanity because they just want to make money. So if I was being cynical, I'd say you were a rural, you were represented a rural part of New York that was more pro-gun. And when you represented New York as a whole, you became more anti-gun. Now, I don't begrudge that change. But I think one thing that would be helpful from that change is, look, you're in West Hollywood. This is a place that is liberal, that is pro-gun control.

There was a chart that was circulating that showed that in gun-owning households, Donald Trump would have gotten every electoral vote but five. And in households that don't own guns, Hillary Clinton would have gotten every electoral vote but five. This is a divide that I think feels hard to cross for people. And you hear this from conservatives, you hear this from rural Democrats that say, you don't get it, you don't get how important this issue is. At the same time, it has been one of the few issues on which there's been almost no progress. What are we doing wrong? You know, you were someone who was pro-gun.

You were one of the people saying liberals didn't get it. So what didn't we get? What do we have to do to change the politics in parts of the country where even though people say they support background checks, some of these issues pull well, nothing seems to happen. At the federal level, we can't seem to get anything done. It's the people that we elect, and Congress is bought and sold by the NRA. And I can tell you, the problem is, is they don't empathize and they don't understand. If you ask the American people what they think about gun control,

overwhelmingly something like 70% said, of course you should be on assault weapons, of course you should have background checks, of course you should have an anti-trafficking statute. And if you actually ask NRA members, they agree with you. So this is one of the instances where Congress is not in line with the American people. And I have to say, Congress on its best day is 20 line with the American people. And I have to say, Congress on

its best day is 20 years behind the American people. And so there is literally no better example than guns. And so it's not that we don't understand the issue, it's that we need to be more effective in telling the stories of families who are suffering and making sure people across this country are willing to tell their members of Congress, stop protecting gun manufacturers' profits. It's not worth it. It's not worth it with what's happening to our communities. So I want to ask one last question on another major development today, which is Trump announced that he would decertify the Iran nuclear deal.

It comes despite the fact that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said Iran is complying. Secretary Mattis said the deal is in our national security interest. The international community wants him to keep the deal in place. I thought you said we were going to have fun. We are having so... First of all... The Iran deal is not fun. I know, I know.

Listen, we strike a balance here. This part, right now we're having fun. No, no, finish the question. It's a very important question. It's the thing that keeps me up at night, so go ahead. Okay. We're loosening up now

on the Iran deal question. The deal gets thrown to Congress, 60 days to introduce legislation to reimpose sanctions or amend the deal. What do you think should happen, and what do you think is going to happen? And then I promise what's next is just a game and light and a comedy. Okay.

So the Iran deal was a really important, it was an important accomplishment of the Obama administration because Iran was poised to manufacture missiles that were able to deliver a nuclear weapon within a number of years, a shorter amount of time than you can imagine. And so President Obama decided to engage Europe, China, Russia, and said, will you do sanctions with us? Will you please help us put so much pressure on Iran that they'll come to the table? Because this is getting to a place where it's very, very dangerous, existential threats to Israel, to allies, and a very dangerous place. And so all those countries, our allies in Russia and China, did come to the table. They put on the most aggressive sanctions

they could, and it got Iran to the table. They got to a place where they had a deal. Iran said they would shut down all their nuclear production for weapons and that they would mothball their plants. Now, President Trump decided this is a bad deal, and I would have never negotiated such a bad deal. So what's happening now is it goes to Congress. And now, because he said that they are not in compliance, it allows Congress to implement sanctions. If Congress implemented sanctions about nuclear production, the sanctions that were removed,

we therefore are the breachers of the agreement. And then Iran does not have to follow the agreement at all. And so it is a big deal and it is really problematic. And if you put it in the context of North Korea, it's a disaster because we made a deal with a nuclear-producing country that had high levels of sophistication, was already on to second and third generation production, and said, if you will agree to give up your nuclear program,

we will let you enter the world you will agree to give up your nuclear program, we will let you enter the world community and start having an economy again. If we back out now, do you think North Korea is going to come to the table and say, we'll give up our nuclear weapons? Do you think there's any hope that there will be a political or diplomatic solution in North Korea? And I can promise you, there is no military solution with North Korea. And so it's just the beginning of a very, very tough fight that has absolutely severe consequences for U.S. national security. Senator, that wasn't funny at all. No, I told you. I told you. And I also find this so hard to believe because one of the people

Donald Trump was consulting on this issue is Sean Hannity. That was reported in the Daily Beast. Hannity. That was reported in the Daily Beast. Thank you for booing and not hissing. Obviously these are very serious issues and I'm glad we're talking about them but before we let you go, we did want to play a game. Now

Now we have some cards here for you. Okay, I'm all ready. Senator, you've had this initiative called Off the Sidelines. It's about encouraging women to get involved in politics and run for office. Now, recently, this faced a major setback when we

learned that Stephen Miller, the president's advisor, did enter a track meet to prove that he was faster than a woman when he was in college. Although the results are questioned because he jumped in for only the last lap. That being said, obviously this week, Trump's presidency, there's been a lot of progress.

We have a ways to go. We wanted to play a game to highlight that. This is going to be a game called What Fucking Year Is It? Here's how the game works. Senator Gillibrand is going to read quotes, sexist quotes

about women in politics, and it will be your job to determine what year, decade, century, or millennia these quotes were issued. Is there anyone who would like to play the game What Fucking Year Is It?

Hi, what's your name? Joanna. How are you, Joanna? I'm a little nervous. I come to a lot of these shows and I avoid the games because I'm terrified now that John

made you make them harder. Fabbro. Lucky he's handsome. Are you first or am I first? You're first. You're going to read all the quotes. Okay. So, Joanna, here's how it works.

We're going to read you these quotes and then I'm going to give you a choice as to when the quote was issued. Are you ready to play the game? I am ready. So, Senator, please read Joanna the first quote. Will the women's protest be over in time for them to cook dinner? Now, Joanna,

that is either something that was said after the Women's Liberation March of 1971 or the Women's March of 2017. That was 2017.

Who said it? That is correct. It was said by Atlantic County Freeholder Republican John Carmen. We don't know who he is. He didn't do well tonight. You are one for one, Joanna.

This was said of a Supreme Court nominee. Let's hope that the key conferences aren't when she's menstruating. Or something. Or just before she's going to menstruate. That would be really bad. Lord knows what we would get then. Now here's the question. Was it that about Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981? Lord knows what we would get then. Now here's the question.

Was it that about Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 or Sonia Sotomayor in 2009? Who said it? Was it about the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court? Or was it about Obama's appointee before Mitch McConnell decided he wasn't allowed to make those kinds of appointments. I'm going to go with 2009. Joanna, you're right.

She's jamming it. That was noted Watergate felon, Gordon Liddy. Gee, Gordon Liddy. Senator Gillibrand, you are up. A man who teaches a woman to write should know that he is providing poison to an asp. Yeah, asp. Was that 1642? From downtown.

Here's the challenge. Who uses the word asp? Well, we'll find out. I think they're common in Egypt. Well, you know what? You're sort of giving her a hint. Was that said 50 years ago, a thousand

years ago, or 2,000 years ago? Okay, sorry. I'm gonna go with 2,000. Yes! That is a quote from the 4th century BCE.

The fact that I had to pause is just sad. People have been saying this shit for 2,000 years. One final quote. This is a bonus, and it will be your job to decide whether or not it is true or false. A Southern Democratic House member said this to a certain Democratic New York Congresswoman who later went on to be a senator from the state of New York who happened to be pregnant at the time.

Nine months pregnant at the time. Nine months. Sorry. They knew it was true. They knew it was true. Here's the thing. The games aren't real. They win either way.

Okay. You ready? You're even pretty when you're fat. What was the... Obviously, it's true. Joanna, you won the game. Senator, what was the other one? We went through some options upstairs.

What was the other one that involved... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was when I was also pregnant, working out in the members' gym. Good thing you're working out. You wouldn't want to get porky. Thanks. Listen, I'm sorry I have to do this,

but for those listening at home, she did mouth the word asshole. I did not. I did not. False statement. False statement. I deny that charge. Denied. A lot of politics

happening up here. Guys, please give it up for the great senator from the state of New York, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Thank you so much. That was so great. Thank you. When we That was so great. Thank you.

When we come back, our awesome panel. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. She is a writer and executive producer of HBO's Girls and a co-founder of Lennyletter.com. Please welcome Jenny Connor. She's an incredible strategist. She served as press secretary for the Bernie Sanders campaign and she is one of Crooked Media's newest contributors. Please welcome Simone Sanders.

And he is a comedian and co-creator of Chappelle's Show. He has a Netflix special called Three Mics. It's out now. Please welcome Neil Brennan. Guys, how's it going? It's good. Good. What a week. Let's get into it. i want to start with this sorry just waving to people from the stage it's very it was very aggressive i was her mentor at sundance

that's such a um she's working a working writer. It's a very sweet thing But I was her mentor at Sundance is like the most LA thing I've ever heard in my entire life Should I go no, no, no, please stay please stay so This way, I don't know that it's an insult by the way, I didn't say I don't I don't think it is. an insult, by the way. I didn't say it was. To be the most LA thing. I don't think it is, necessarily. I think that's what everyone was thinking. Just saying. I feel great about it.

Jenny, are we okay? You and me? I don't know. I think this is fun. Before this started, John told me this was going to be fun approximately 45 times. And it really made me doubt it. Okay, I'm going to stop talking. Okay, here's the thing, guys.

Small talk, not my strength. Let's talk about the fucking news. All right. Harvey Weinstein, this story broke. Everybody's been talking about it, especially out here. It's been a week. Actually, Lenny Letter has run accounts of women's experience with other forms of sexual harassment and assault beyond Harvey Weinstein.

Obviously, this has led people in Hollywood across the country to talk about the culture in this industry, the problems in our culture beyond Hollywood that leave powerful men able to get away with these kinds of crimes. Jenny, what do you think people don't understand about the Hollywood aspect of this is there something specific to Hollywood culture that allowed someone like Harvey Weinstein to operate with near impunity for decades I don't

necessarily I think it's happening everywhere in every culture but I do think I mean it sort of started like in the I mean he's Louis B. Mayer it's something we've seen so much of over the course of the history of Hollywood, which is relatively young compared to many, like the steel industry or something like that. And I mean, I don't know. It's the one I'm in, so it's what I see mostly.

But the fact that it's in Hollywood is making the reaction bigger in an important way because it's movie stars telling their stories and people care about that and we didn't see it with o'reilly in the same way or roger ailes or anything like that we just we're seeing it now in a way where you're like oh i'm gonna listen because someone who won an oscar is talking about this and i'm glad for that. Now that it has come out, there's been this conversation about how it was an open secret. Yes.

And that there was whispers of this and stories of this, and then there are jokes at the Oscars and 30 Rock about this. Had you heard about this? Oh, yeah. I worked in the same building as him. I worked in Tribeca Productions, and he hit on my friends in the elevator. I was surprised by the number, and I was surprised by the rapiness.

It's a terrible word, but I thought it was more coercion, quid pro quo, and less, I'm going to hold you down, things like that. And so that was surprising to me. But I sure did know about it. I mean, we wanted to do a story about it. And our lawyers were like, oh, good luck with that. Like, you need the backing of the biggest paper in the world or magazine to be able to do it. or in the world or magazine to be able to do it. Neil, do you think that there's anything, I mean, as a guy working in Hollywood, very successful.

Woo! Woo! I mean, just a juggernaut comedian. Right. Top of your field, top of your craft, respected and famous. This is a great intro. Are we still talking about me? No, but no.

So what role do you think guys play in, do guys protect each other in this industry? Do guys play a role in how people like Harvey Weinstein get away with this for so long? All right. There's a couple things I want to say. One of the things is guys as Jenny pointed out in the

green room, that guys don't like to get in other guys' beefs unless they're sure that there's like a thing. So guys would rather just kind of ignore shit. And like especially with sex stuff, it's all so vague and like people are drinking and it's kind of ignore shit and like especially with sex stuff it's all so vague and

like people are drinking and it's kind of like i don't when does when does it when does it become my business you know what i mean and the other thing is the the reason more guys didn't come forward is because they're just as afraid of harvey as the women are um. One of the problems is a lot of showbiz is allowing bad behavior from talented people. I know a ton of talented people, and some of them are great, and some of them are total pieces of shit. So it's like when do you intervene?

Like for instance, I don't want to say this, but John, before the show, cornered me and forced me to massage his ego. So yeah, it's the problem of the culture. It's the problem of, in his case, it's sex. In somebody else's, it's a problem of the culture it's a problem of in his case it's sex in somebody else's it's drug use in somebody else's it's it's alcohol in somebody else's it's rageaholic like I would argue that his problem isn't sex

it's abuse yeah it's power and abuse yeah but there are people it's like when does it be like Richard Pryor beat his wife and did coke? Should someone have turned him in? You know what I mean? Yeah, because he beat his wife.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Like, when does it become like a citizen's arrest kind of thing? I mean, Simone, what did you make of this from DC, seeing this story break and the way it was covered and the way it was treated like a peculiarly Hollywood story? Yeah, like, I found it interesting that folks were talking about it as though no one really knew Harvey Weinstein.

They were like, oh, my goodness, I can't believe that this is something that someone is accusing someone of. This happens? Yeah. Oh, my God, this is happening. This happens. So I thought that was pretty shocking. And then the race to kind of, from some folks on the conservative side of the aisle,

you know, kind of paint this as, well, oh my goodness, what is Hillary Clinton gonna say? Like as though Hillary Clinton is responsible for Harvey Weinstein being a predator. Like I didn't understand how she was responsible for him being a predator. And we automatically started talking about her and not the fact that he's a freaking predator. Well, also, just

it's Tucker Carlson. Tucker, I mean, you're in Fox News. Oh my God, Fox News? And Fox News was like, when is Hillary Clinton going to speak up about this? If that ain't the... Okay, pot. You might need to be quiet. I do not think Fox News

is a platform of which to pretend to be as they are this beacon of hope for women and taking on sexual predators. Tucker Carlson, you're in Bill O'Reilly's fucking time slot. How'd that happen? Okay, so I

really found that was absolutely ridiculous. But the rush to, instead of focus on the courageous women that came forward to tell their stories, instead of us having a real fruitful conversation in politics and even in Hollywood about rape culture and how we do enable these things and whether it's a joke or when we see it we don't address it, instead of having those kind of conversations, we automatically rush to, well, goodness, what does this mean for 2020 Democrats fundraising? I don't give a damn about what this means about fundraising.

I wanna hear about the people and their stories. And the last thing that just really burned my button, if you will, was... Okay, I will. Look, I don't... It burned my button. I was on TV the other night, and we were talking about this.

That's got to be worse than I was a mentor at Sundance. Hold on, let me think about it. Please, please. I'm putting them both on the sides of the scales of justice. Yeah. Jenny's ears are still worse.

I'm sorry. Buy it, lock. I'm trying to be... I'm surprised by the results. I'll take it. I'll take it worse I'm sorry I'm trying to be I'm surprised by the results I'll take it I was on TV the other night not at Sundance but I was on TV and we were talking about this

and a conservative pundit is on and she's like Donald Trump we have a sexual predator in the White House and she's like oh well he never used his power to coerce any women that worked under him. And I'm like, man, man, he is the vagina-grabbing president. Okay, never forget. No one is excused in this realm, but the Democrats didn't elect a sexual predator as the current president of the United States

after a whole video came out about him being a freaking sexual predator. as the current president of the United States after a whole video came out about him being a freaking sexual predator. And so the race to kind of equate these two things on the Republican side of the aisle in D.C. was just nauseating. Instead of, I think we should be focusing on having a real conversation about rape culture,

having a conversation about what it means to step up and come forward when things like this happen to people. We may not be aware, but I'm sure everybody knows someone that has been a victim of some type of sexual assault, unfortunately. And we are not talking about it. I know that's not funny, but it's true.

To that conversation, are there other open secrets? In D.C., are there other names that aren't being said, the open secrets about, oh, the whispers about somebody else? Do you right now know names that aren't in the public but that are about people that are either harassing or abusing women on a regular basis but until now have not yet been outed? Are you aware of those men right now?

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I know that there are people um like I'm probably not allowed to say the name Oliver Stone so I shouldn't so I'm not going to I'm not gonna say that um but but there are people I've heard of like that who who I've heard um are really awful to women. I mean, this is the thing I'm scared of, which is that Harvey's behavior is so abhorrent and so repulsive that the medium level creeps, who we deal with every day, every day. The guy who says, you know, if you didn't have a boyfriend, I'd fuck you.

Or the guy who grabs your ass or being him a movie star or someone else, the director who harassed Lena when we were on location, not one of our directors, a different network. But, you know, those guys, the medium-level creeps, are going to look at Harvey and say, oh, that's not me. I have nothing to do with that behavior. I never held a woman down. I never offered a woman a job. And so that's like my fear. And so I hope this wave of kind of the ass grabbing call outs keeps going and that we ride that wave of medium level harassment.

You know what I mean? And that becomes more public and more problematic because it's so systemic that we're never going to get out from under it as long as those men see it as like Cosby or Harvey or those things that they're not. That's so true. I mean, that's true. Like we live with medium level harassment every single day. Every single day we live with medium-level harassment every single day. Every single day we live with medium-level harassment. So when you asked the question, I said, oh, my God, yeah,

I know lots of medium-level harassment, like medium-level offenders. Does that rise to the level that everybody wants to jump up and call them out and call them to the carpet and hold them accountable? I personally have never witnessed someone or someone that I know personally or even know of in politics, like they have a direct relationship that someone had told me that they have raped them. But rape should not have to be the bar that has to be met to do something about this. Yeah. One of the reasons that I think more guys didn't come out on, I think it's going to have a chilling effect in a positive way.

I really do. Because I've had just the amount of texts and phone calls and just people like, it's a lot of like, wait, not like anyone's calling me going like, hey, am I a rapist? Like no one's, it's not like that. But there's a bit of like you kind of go over your entire, every sexual experience you've had and gone like was I wrong like it's you know it's it's it's sobering I think for a lot of guys and I don't think it I I think a lot of guys

real scumbags will probably go like well I'm not that bad but I think for there's like a lower level of people that is like okay cool I'm not, I'm not that bad. But I think for there's like a lower level of people that is like, OK, cool. I'm not I'm not going to let that happen to me or even come close. You know, I think it's also I'm sorry, an empathy issue of just like, OK, that makes women are constantly uncomfortable. So let me stop doing or implying shit that could make women uncomfortable but having said that it's still awful it's still i think that the like everyone should make all their male friends and partners and everything listen to the audio the harvey audio because i think people who are really allies and really sympathetic until you hear what that feels like it felt like

realer than any anything I've heard it was really crazy and I think for guys for guys to hear it is like oh I don't know if I've been exactly that guy but I've been in the neighborhood you know what I mean

like I've been around it I think they have to listen to it for lots of reasons. Also because it's so fun. It's really fun. It's really fun. I made it my ringtone. I think we can leave it there. So, you know, we...

One thing that happened today was Donald Trump announced that he was going to stop making the cost-sharing reduction payment. He's so crazy. Yo, let me... No, he is literally, for lack of a better term, batshit crazy. So I have been on a plane, multiple planes most of today, and I'm in D.C., I'm at

the D-Trip, like we're getting ready for this briefing that we're doing with my clients. And I'm standing outside looking at the television, and he's giving a whole press conference, talking about how, yeah, the Democrats are going to have to come to the White House and negotiate with me on healthcare now because the market is really, you know, it's really falling out. I'm like,

you did this! What is wrong? know, it's really falling out. I'm like you did this. What is wrong? Also, it sounded like a threat. It sounded like he was a mobster threatening something. Like it sounded like Tony Soprano. There's an old joke. He's like the crackhead who steals your VCR and then helps you look for it. Yeah. Basically.

Yeah. Trump is like remember in like every 80s sitcom, someone would pretend to be a doctor. And then like someone would choke in the restaurant or like they'd have a heart attack. And then the person would go like, you know what? I have a confession to make. I'm not really a doctor.

Trump gets in that situation and then goes like, get me five scalpels. I am a doctor. Anyway, what Trump did today was sabotage the healthcare system once more. It's something that he has the power to do

but I just wanted to get people to go to getamericacover.org That's going to help make sure that people can get the coverage and information that they need. It's an organization stepping up to make up the difference and to make sure people get covered, even though the Trump administration is desperately trying to make sure that the enrollment period is shorter and that people can access the website and there's no promotion and no advertisement and no help. Shout out to them.

Yeah. access to the website and there's no promotion and no advertisement and no help. Shout out to them. I don't think people understand when they say that Donald Trump is rolling back these subsidies, that literally means that for folks whose copay is probably now like $20, their copay could be $2,000. It could literally be $2,000.

There are all these services that folks are getting for, for lack of a better term, very, very, very discounted because the federal government stepped up with this subsidy program. And now the federal government is like, i.e. the president, is like, actually, we don't really want to do that anymore. That's not our thing. It's not in the budget. And this was always something that, this was in the law, and it's murky in the law because it's, these payments are there to help people afford insurance. And it's been especially important in the states where Republicans refuse to expand Medicaid because a lot of people who would have fallen through that crack were able to buy insurance and get help to pay for their insurance.

And there's this constitutional question that's being debated. But Trump was making the payments. And the ruling that was issued in the court was stayed and what is absolutely true is that Congress should solve this right this is something that there could be a bipartisan fix Republicans have come out in favor of this Republican governors have come out in favor of this because this is of preventing Trump from making this move of keeping these payments going because no one benefits from this this is just gonna going to cause premiums to go up. It's going to cause people to get more tax credits from the government. So it's actually also going to cause the deficit to go up. So

this is a this is a a massive problem. And and also didn't need to be a problem, right? No, it wasn't a problem. He made it a problem. And now he's saying you guys need to fix this. And it's like, dude, you we didn't have this problem. This is similar. This is similar to what he did on Paris. It's similar what he's done on climate. It's it's and Iran, right? And Iran. It's like a pretty nice, pretty nice environment. You have there be a shame if something were to happen to a pretty nice health care system you got. There'd be a shame if something were to happen to it. But you're supposed to threaten, get what you want,

and then not follow through. He just, like, he shoots, he just pulls the trigger, and then the healthcare system's dead on the ground, and he's like, shame if something were to happen to the healthcare system. It's like, that's not how fucking ransom works, you dinkus, you terrible dealmaker. It's like, that's not how fucking ransom works, you dinkus.

You terrible deal maker. He's a horrible deal maker. He's a horrible deal maker. This is just yet another example of how he's just a shitty deal maker. He was never the guy that could close the deal.

Now he's like, you guys gotta come to my house and deal with me. And we're like, no. It's not how this freaking works. Yeah, it's, he is, look, I've said this before,

but he is constantly in negotiation with a small business over marble countertops. And here's the thing, when you walk away from a deal on marble countertops, when you act crazy, I'm like, I'm not paying for these marble countertops, these aren't the countertops I ordered, get the fuck out of my office.

No one dies of a fucking treatable disease. So basically you should all call your senators and your congress folks and visit that website you should donate to lots of people and you should just help hold this white house accountable because this is absolutely ridiculous people are going to die people are already dying in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I got a question, which is very amateurish, but that's my brand. Okay, I live in California. Do I need to call my senators if they're already on the Democratic side?

So we get that question a lot. First of all, if you're in California, it's not just about senators. There are House races, and there are, we've talked about the California Seven, and these are Republicans in districts that Hillary Clinton won.

Swing left focuses on a lot of districts that we can flip, and everywhere in the country, you may not necessarily live in a swing district. If you live in this area, you may be represented by Ted Lieu or Adam Schiff, who are going to be on the right side of this issue. But you're always, you can donate to people

that are challenging these Republicans in moderate districts. And you can drive. You're always within driving distance. So there are moderate Republicans. I have a Tesla, so I might not be. Go ahead, though. I just want to update.

One, two, three. Tesla. I have a Tesla. Then Sundance. Then I was on television. Small price. Anyway, look. I just want to say it's so much worse to be second.

When we come back, OK, stop. Yeah. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. Now, for a segment we call Okay, Stop. Here's how it works. We watch a clip as it goes. We pause it by saying, Okay, stop, to talk about what's on the screen.

It's pretty self-explanatory. Donald Trump, who obviously is a devout Christian went to the value voters summit did I almost get a spit take? I literally almost choked on this water Kelly, you know what I'll throw it in mid-stop let's watch the clip

we also stand with the millions of people who have suffered from the massive fires which are right now raging in California and the catastrophic hurricanes along the Gulf Coast in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands. And I will tell you, I left Texas and I left Florida and I left Louisiana and I went to Puerto Rico and I met with the president of the Virgin Islands. Okay, stop. This is what happens when you sleep through that whole semester of U.S. history.

The U.S. Virgin Islands. It doesn't get more clear that the Virgin Islands are the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He is the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands. I don't... Okay. Maybe he's fully disassociated and he's finally met with himself.

Which is all he's ever wanted. These are people that are incredible people. They've suffered gravely. Okay, stop. They also can't vote for him, like all the other places he just mentioned. That's true.

Be there. So I'm here to thank you for your support and to share with you how we are delivering on that promise, defending our shared values, and in so doing, how we are renewing the America we love.

Can you do okay stop? Okay stop. Just to get him to stop. Is that allowed? I just feel like I've seen enough. It's never been done before. Great. No, we're not going to do it now.

We just did, motherfucker. Look through on one promise after another. I didn't have a schedule, but if I did have a schedule, I would say we are substantially ahead. Okay, stop. He has no legislative accomplishments. He has done nothing but muck up the world. Like, the schedule would say you're failing.

I don't really know. I just love, like, that is the most bullshitty I'm gonna fuck up my deadline thing I've ever heard. Like, when I was missing deadlines in college, like, I wish I had. I don't have a schedule, but if I did, I'd be beating it. Yeah. Like wish I had. I don't have a schedule, but if I did, I'd be beating it. There's a professor at Williams College

I wish I could have used this on sophomore year to just get through the period of time before I totally let him down. He's so... He could be drowning, and he'd be like, my breathing has never been better like he's such a also he had a fucking hundred day thing he had a list of things he wanted to

do in the first hundred days and he didn't do any of them yeah it's also like what do you mean you don't have a schedule it's not an unlimited thing yeah you mean you don't have a schedule? It's not an unlimited thing. You do run out of time. Yeah. Thankfully. Probably. Not soon enough. And something I said so much during the last two years, but I'll say it again, as we approach the end of the year,

you know, we're getting near that beautiful Christmas season that people don't talk about anymore. They don't use the word Christmas because it's not politically correct. You go department stores. Okay, stop. I just love the idea of... Remember when people used to mention Christmas?

Now it comes and goes, and you're like, wait, when was Christmas? I miss Christmas. I forgot. It just came and went this year. We never talked about it. Yeah. It was so subtle in America. Yeah. The way we do Christmas. Yeah. A happy new year. They'll say other things and it'll be red. They'll have it painted, but they don't say, well, guess what? We're saying Merry Christmas again. Okay, so I think this is really instructive

because Trump figured something out here, which is he could be divorced three times. He could call STDs his Vietnam. There could be a pussy tape. There could be a story about him committing sexual assault against his ex-wife. He could be one of the most vulgar and despicable people we've ever created. But as long as he hit those little culture bullshit buttons, he'd get applause at the Value Voter Summit.

And it really is exposing. It's identity politics for white people. Conservative white people. It is. That's what it people. Conservative white people. It is. That's what it is. I'm sorry. The whole thing Donald Trump has been doing has been identity politics for the Republican base. This harkens back to the Southern strategy way back before I was alive.

That's all this is. But who knew there were such cheap dates? Like, Merry Christmas? That's the thing. All they want is Merry Christmas. That's the thing. You could get so far with Merry Christmas. And two things I feel like we learned

through this election. One is that as the word evangelical became less about practice and more about identity, it became less meaningful. And also, a lot of those who could have used that term to describe themselves were using

it in this identity way and they were cheap dates as you were saying we have to break down these evangelical silos in America so we can get back to the root of the thing how? how do we break down the evangelical silos? yeah how do we break down the evangelical silos?

I mean look if I had the answers, I probably wouldn't be sitting here with y'all this Friday night. No offense. I love you. Would you have like a megachurch? What would you be doing? I would probably have a megachurch except I would open my doors for the hurricane. We'll leave it there. When we come back, The Rant Wheel. we'll leave it there. When we come back, the rant wheel.

Kate, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. Now it's time for the rant wheel. You know how it works. We will spin the wheel and rant about whatever topic on which it lands. Here are the topics this week. Someone who was beaten by white

supremacists was arrested in Charlottesville. Sex addiction used as an excuse by predators. Hollywood and other industries so-called open secrets. CNN's Chris Salissa. McDonald's short-lived Szechuan sauce.

Eminem is good now, Avatar sequels, and Jimmy Fallon's comments on politics. Just in general. Ooh, just in general. Well, and specifically. Let's spin the wheel.

Let's spin the wheel. It has landed on Avatar sequels. What happened to James Cameron? So he makes the biggest movie of all time about giant blue monsters. It leaves no impact on the culture, like just footprints in sand along the beach. And then he says to himself, this is my life.

I figured out what my life is about, and it is about slowly, inexorably forcing my country and the world to see not one, not two, not three, but four Avatar sequels. And I am so confident in these films that I'm going to coordinate the release of these things to alternate with Star Wars movies.

Where is the appetite for more Avatars? What is going to happen? I found out today that Giovanni Ribisi is going to be in all four sequels. It was announced. And then I thought to myself, oh, that's right, when I saw that movie, I think 100 years ago, Giovanni Ribisi was in it.

I don't remember anything about it. I think he was a villain. And now I know he's not going to die for three and a half movies. You know where the appetite is? China. China. China, yeah. That's where the appetite is China China that's where the appetite is it makes a billion dollars in China

but James Cameron can do whatever he wants he's made the two biggest movies of all time he could choose anything he could choose anything in the world to make movies about he went to the bottom of the ocean and then he made Terminators. I mean, he did such cool things.

I don't even care if you want to do one Avatar sequel. Don't you want to do some different stuff? Don't you get sick of looking at the blue people on the computer? Four of them? We're going to need four of them? James Cameron could do some interesting shit. I've never seen passion like this from you over anything. Well, except for the...

Also, this is the... Also, this is the second huge Avatar rant of the week, which the first one is papyrus, which I'm sure everyone saw. And by the way, that papyrus thing has been bothering me for a decade. Let's spin it again.

Four Avatar movies. What are we going to do with them? Are we all going to see are we all gonna see them i'll see them you get to keep going after you're spinning i mean there's no rules okay it has landed on what happened in charlottesville and so i don't know if you saw this but there was a video circulating that showed that basically white supremacists in Charlotte targeted and just beat the shit out of a guy, a black person who had to basically stumble away because he was hit in the head. He runs

away. And apparently these guys managed to get an arrest warrant issued and this person was arrested this week. He's being charged with a felony. What did he do? He's literally being charged with a felony. What did he do? For fighting back. He's being charged with a felony. What did he do? For fighting back. He's being charged with a felony.

And the crazy part about this was that it happened in front of, allegedly, in front of officers that were there on the ground to monitor the situation in Charlottesville. It was like across the street from a police station. Yes. Is it the parking lot? Yeah. And so now folks are all over Twitter and they're posting the faces of these men so that they too can be charged and arrested and maybe just dragged on social media. Because this is crazy,

but this is a reminder, folks, the justice system is not really about justice. I think it's also a reminder, I'm sorry, applaud for her, please. I did not mean to cut you off. I apologize for that. I think it's a reminder just in all of these situations

that there's a certain measure of fatigue happening because we've seen this story again and again and again and you have to truly remind yourself that every single time you have to find the same level of outrage

and the same level of resistance. Avatar level outrage. I don't think we can manufacture that. Yeah, that's probably too much to ask. But I do think there's a fatigue level even that this has sort of been shown less than some more recent crimes that were similar. Yeah, I couldn't even click on that story because it was such a it was so such a bummer it was like I couldn't believe like that must be a typo or something

yeah like what is wrong with the I don't know who's running the the legal office the district whoever is in charge of bringing the charges of these crimes I think we need to petition them and get them out of office that's just really crazy let's spin it one more time and if it doesn't land on Eminem I'm just need to petition them and get them out of office. That's just really crazy. Let's spin it one more time.

And if it doesn't land on Eminem, I'm just going to do that. That's how I'm feeling right now. I just do Avatar again. Yes! It landed on Eminem is good now. It's rigged. It's not rigged. Don't point at me and tell me it's rigged. It's not rigged. Don't point at me and tell me it's rigged.

It's not rigged. I really didn't know. Eminem. I don't know. How many of you guys saw this, this video of Eminem? He was at the BET Hip Hop Awards. I've never seen so many white people talking about the BET Hip Hop Awards. And here's what I want to say.

First of all, I saw Keith Olbermann say something along the lines of I finally get rap. 27 years. He said after 27 years, I get it. And here's what, that really pissed me off because I watched that video and I saw it shared like 40 fucking thousand times and they're like

watch as Eminem rips Trump this is the best thing we've ever seen. This is the best rap there's ever... It was just a slowly delivered shitty poem. It was garbage. There were a lot of clunkers. I disagree. I thought it was cool, truly.

But I also thought, in the world of pop stars, to say, you choose me or Trump. Taylor Swift's not doing that. It's fucking cool. I'm sorry. That's like a real challenge to your fans.

Yeah, like the Dixie Chicks did. What? The Dixie Chicks did. They did. And look what happened to them. And people chose. They fucking pay and pay and keep paying for that. So I'm just saying like I still think that's a punk move for a huge star.

Okay. I totally agree. So some nuance in today's rants. But I don't care. I still think that's a punk move for a huge star. Okay. I totally agree. So some nuance in today's rant. But I don't care. What is your rant? I'm in the middle of it. Oh, great. Here's my thing.

How's it going? I agree. Okay. Choose me or Trump. I don't know who's going to do that. I don't know who's going to be like, I don't know. I liked having Eminem and I liked Slim Shady and I liked Muslim bands and I have't know. I was, you know, I liked having Eminem in. I liked Slim Shady. And I liked Muslim bands.

And I have to choose. So I don't know how much of a difference it's actually going to make. And I am just generally sick of people saying that they love things because they agree with the politics. Because there are some, like, Keith Overbill is the best rapper. People love this show. I don't. I didn't get it. I didn't get it. No, this show. Oh, People love this show. I don't. I didn't get it. I didn't get it.

No, this show. Oh, people love this show. Because they agree with the quality. No, it's also high quality in like 100 different fucking ways. Okay, but Keith Overman, I don't know if he's necessarily qualified to say, like I'm not looking to him to tell me who is like the best rap artist of all time. You don't get his playlists on iTunes? Yeah, no. Very good.

Yeah, but I don't know. He's not necessarily the guru. He's not the rap goat for me out there in the streets. I heard he's going to make DJ Khaled-style albums now. He'll come with them. He'll get someone's album and then be like, Keith Olbermann, sir. Is that what Keith Olbermann is doing

in that little Twitter room he's in? Yeah. With that blue and red background that I think they haven't let him out of in quite some time? Yeah. What is going on with Keith Olbermann? What is he doing? He seems to be a TV news anchor for GQ magazine. What does that mean?

He's leading the resistance. I'm just telling y'all do they beat him in there I agree that Eminem had a lot of clunky rhymes if they were rhymes but the sentiment was great well sure and he had some good content

but look I'm not totally excusing the fact that Eminem has rapped about some very problematic stuff yeah but the basis of this is that Eminem bodied Donald Trump the other night at the BET Hip Hop Awards problematic stuff. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And we shouldn't. But the basis of this is Eminem bodied Donald Trump the other night at the BET Hip Hop Awards.

I agree with what, I agree with like the premise of what Eminem was saying, what he was doing, but I do think it's problematic that now everybody's waking up and saying, oh my God,

rap is just, Eminem brought rap back. Rap been here. Okay? Eminem didn't bring rap back. Rap has been here. Rap has been challenging and pushing the status quo. Whether you're talking about N.W.A., Q-Tip, Nas, Jay-Z, so...

Macklemore, Macklemore. Uh-uh, uh-uh, no, no, no. I sat on this very stage and was intimidated for 20 full minutes by Chuck D. That happened. Because, and Chuck D is a legend, and so people by Chuck D. That happened. And Chuck D is a legend. And so people like Chuck D and Nas, those are the shoulders of which Eminem stood on

to even be able to have the BET Hip Hop Awards the other night to be able to talk about Donald Trump in the context that he did. So it's important to have allies in this moment. I think Eminem was a really great ally. He stood up there. He took one for the team. And I'm just waiting for the president to give us his response on a real Slim Shady. Well, Trump's on a seven day delay,

and I don't think they covered it on Fox and Friends. That is our show. I want to thank Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Jenny Connor, Simone Sanders, Neal Brennan. Have a great night, guys. Thanks. Have a great night, guys. Thanks.