The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Al Franken On The MN Senator Against Free School Lunches | Heather McGhee

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

Al Franken tackles the latest news including a Minnesota senator arguing against free school lunches, Idaho voting to bring back execution by fire squad, updates from the possible Trump arrest, and Jordan Klepper taking to the streets of New York to witness the chaos. NYT bestselling author Heather McGhee discusses some of the history that created the racial wealth divide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to the Daily Show. I'm Al Franken, it's day three of my time at the show. And it's day three of my time at the show and it's also day three of the Trump indictment watch. Now nothing happened today but let me be clear about something. I only have one more day this week behind this desk and if some other host gets this one I'm gonna be pissed. So come on Alvin Bragg tomorrow. But whatever let's let's get into today's fiddlid headlines. Okay, let's kick things off with my home state of Minnesota, which just became the

fourth state in the Union to guarantee free school lunch to every single. Yeah, yeah. That's a, that's a pretty good feel-good story in Minnesota, right? Well, one Republican state senator didn't think so. Mr. President, I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry. Yet today, I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that says they don't have access to enough food tea. Now I should say that hunger is a relative term, Mr. President, you know?

I had a cereal bar for breakfast. I guess I'm hungry now. The bad news is this is a guy who we call in Minnesota a big jerk. The great thing is we've got 10,000 lakes we canthere, but this guy's clearly a jerk. And I don't know why this guy is being so stingy. There's a simple solution here. Every year at the Minnesota State Fair, they always carve a giant butter sculpture of Princess Kay of the Milky Way. So why don't we take that one.

Now let's head west a couple of states to the great state of Idaho where they just voted to bring back firing squads as a potential form of capital punishment. Death by firing squad. That is so red state. Personally I prefer the method of execution in liberal states, give them a few Ambien, and put a Ken Burns documentary on until they've met their god. Now some people argue that a firing squad is less barbaric than lethal injection, but I have an even less barbaric idea.

What if we just didn't execute people at all? Or we duct tape a hand grenade to their head. And finally, let's talk about Donald Trump who could be arrested any day. Now, in the porn star hush money case and according to the New York Times, Trump is trying to decide whether he should smile for the cameras when he gets arrested. Now personally I think it would be a good idea to smile. In fact, maybe he could do this smile. You'll notice we put that black bar across the young woman's face to help maintain her anonymity. But don't forget, Trump has four separate investigations that could land him in jail. Remember, those classified documents he took from the White House?

Well, that case just got a lot more serious for him. Trump faces multiple criminal investigations. Sources telling ABC News, a federal judge is determined that there's enough compelling preliminary evidence that Trump broke the law on another case, the special counsel's investigation of Trump's handling of classified documents. In particular, prosecutors say he knowingly misled his attorneys so that they would file a sworn statement last June that he knew was false, claiming that a diligent search of his Marlago estate found that he had turned over all the classified documents

in his possession. So just to be clear, Trump was already in trouble for stealing classified documents from the White House and now he may have broken the law again by tricking his own lawyers into lying to the government. So Trump's original crimes are now having their own little baby crimes. You know, they grow up and implicate you so fast, don't they? The little guy. Can you imagine being a lawyer for Donald Trump? Can you imagine being a lawyer for Donald Trump and finding out he set you up? That would make you question whether it was even worth buying a degree from Barbados in the first class.

So look, I know there are a lot of different cases going on and this all seems very complicated but there is a simple explanation. Trump is a criminal. I hope that clears that. Now, as you know, as Trump faces the prospect of arrest, he is called on his supporters to take to the streets and protest. So Jordan Clepper went down to the courthouse to bear witness to the chaos. Check it out. Last week Donald Trump declared his arrest was imminent and called for a protest to take our nation back outside the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. So yesterday I ventured all the way downtown and joined the media circus to observe this crowd

of MAGA protesters who were definitely around here somewhere. Yeah, this is the true social here. It says, Tuesday, protest, take our nation back. Excuse, is this the protest for Trump? Or the tru-the-trute- or, the supporting, are we taking our nation back? Is that today? I thought it was today.

So I did have the day right. And then I found a proud the otally concealed Trump supporter. Why are you here? Because I'm here to support Trump because they want that diner. So Trump went on his own social media and he called out people his supporters to come out here and support him. And right now, that's just you. I'm here, I'm here. Have you the crowd. I don't need you, you will come outside.

No, I got this. Okay. I'm here to actually see what's going up. Everyone was talking about it, so I came here to check it out. You want to see it with your own eyes? It's right, because I don't believe what I'm hearing on the news meetings. So what have you seen so far? Absolutely, and was nothing. This was an unusual MAGA rally. The numbers were low and it was in my own city. However, the arguments over some basic facts were refreshingly familiar.

Do you think it's fair for Trump to be indicted if that does happen this week? Listen, I don't know all the specific facts, but what I do know is he's my president? Right now? I think he's my president. Right now? I think he's my president. You think he's serving the role as your president currently? Well, he's, in my heart he's my president. I just have to be clear sometimes. Well, sure, sure.

You think Joe Biden is president, right? No, I think that man is a scam. I just know that's alleged he's to be athat man doesn't make an assessment. But technically he is there. He is serving the role of president. Maybe, I don't know. I haven't been down in Washington D.C. I've not seen him walk in the White House. You don't think he actually spends time in the White House. I don't know. Well, there are videos of him in the White House. Can we just want to get beyond this fact. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He he. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He he. He is. He is. He is. He is. He is. I th th th. He. I th th th th th th th th th. I have. I have. I have. I have. I have. I have. I have. I have. I have. I have. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I th. I th. I th. I th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the president of the United States. Fact? That's what some said.

Oh, okay. This is right. Deborah, why are you here today? Joe Biden is going after him because I didn't know why he's going after him because they going to push him out to do and probably bring Michelle, Michael Obama in, okay? But Michael Obama. Why do you call her Michael Obama? What did Joan Rivers say? What did Joan Rivers say?

That's correct. If anybody remember what she said? Do you get most of your news from Joan Rivers? Oh, no, I don't get none of my news from Don River. I'm just telling you what she said about Michael Obama, okay? Regardless of their sources, the MAGA crowd, which the police estimated to be between three and six people believe these charges were unworthy of a former president. I don't feel Trump should be in trouble. That's unconstitutional. I feel to indict a president.

This is a political attack. Yes. They're not charging somebody else for this crime. They did charge somebody else with this exact crime. Yeah, and so why should he be charged? did charge somebody else with this exact crime yeah and so why should he be charged well michael Cohen was charged pled guilty served time in jail

this loyalty if it ain't loyce is nothing this is about a man who cheated on his wife with a porn star while his wife was at home with their newborn son. But loyalty is a big issue for you. This... We've made... Right.

So we all know Trump doesn't understand how the law works. Turns out he doesn't know when it works either. But for Maga supporters feeling FOMO about missing the Donald's Showdown with Justice, I'm confident you'll get another chance. How are you going to be here today? I don't know, maybe a couple more hours, walk around, grab something to eat. If Trump is indicted in Georgia next, you go in there?

I don't know, maybe I will. It's like a big old indictment tour, right? I'll see in Georgia, maybe we'll th D.C. Jordan Clepper, everyone. All right, when we come back, we'll tell you why Chuck or Carlson's face looks like that. So don't go away. Thank you. Welcome back to the Daily Show. You know, we have a lot of fun here, but none of our jokes would be possible without the work of real journalists.

Welcome back to the Daily Show. You know, we have a lot of fun here, but none of our jokes would be possible without the work of real journalists. Real journalists like Tucker Carlson. Now many people know Tucker Carlson as a world-class asshole, but what those people often fail to mention is that he also looks like an asshole. Although it turns out, Tucker gets a lot of help, as we'll discover in another installment of the people behind the people. We have this information as part of a criminal investigation,

but we can't announce it immediately, as we typically do. We're going to hold it. Okay, great. Now... I want you to look dumbfounded. As if Nintendo just announced Luigi's trans. Good. Good.

Yes. Yes. My name is Gavin Bancroft, and I'm Tucker's face coach. If you've ever seen Tucker looking like a groom that pooped himself at the altar, or a scandalized baked potato, well then you've seen my work. All right, Tucker gazed into the camera like you're a 10-year-old watching a cow give birth. Perfect. Now hold it. Hold it.

Hold it. Some people think Tucker was born with a face that looks like an inbred boat shoe, but it's actually a lot of hard work. Yeah! That's why he pays me $400,000 a year, American. Okay, and laugh like you're a fancy prince who just saw a peasant get kicked by a mule. Oh God, because we don't do math. Oh, I'm constantly looking for inspiration. I'll scour the internet for new surprised or disgusted faces Tucker could make during his interviews,

or when he finds out one of the M&M's is a lesbian. The green M&M got her boots back, but apparently is now a lesbian, maybe. It's such a treat for me to get to work with Tucker. He's got all the attributes a face coach could want. A 40-pound skull, a natural mouth breather, the haircut of a drunk lacrosse dad. It's a face that's just made to tell old people that Abbott Elementary is critical race theory. We've experimented with more subtle expressions. Hey, Tuck, let's just try a casual little smile like you were walking to work and you saw a Mexican family getting evicted. But at the end of the day, Tucker knows where his bread is buttered. And that's looking like Frankenstein walked in on his parents having sex.

All right, that's a wrap on Tucker's Face. Tucker's face, everyone. See you tomorrow. Stay tuned because when we come back, Heather McGee will be joining me on the show. We'll be right back after this word from the the Daily Show. My guest tonight is an author who's New York Times bestseller, the sum of us has just been adapted for young readers. Please welcome Heather McGee. Good to see you here. You know, I've been doing a podcast, very procedious podcast for about four years now. You're my favorite guest.

You've been on three times. You're my favorite guest. You're so brilliant. Thank you. You've been on three times, you're my favorite guest, you're so brilliant. Now you're an economist, you, and you, the first time we met was during the banking crisis and we talked a lot about that, subprime loans, etc. And housing has always been a big part in the gap in terms of wealth between blacks and whites. Can you explain where that kind of started? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I always say wealth is where history shows up in your wallet. So today, the average black college graduate has less wealth on average than the average

white high school dropout. Makes no sense, right? Say that again. Yes. So if you're the average white high school dropout, you are wealth. You are wealthier than the average black college graduate. So that's history showing up in your wallet, their history. too their history showing up in your wallet. th. th. th., not a paycheck. We are talking about your home equity, your stocks, your bonds, your inheritances.

And that all dates back to, that massive racial wealth divide that we have today, dates back to when most middle class Americans' wealth began, which was in the New Deal era, coming out of the depression. The progressive FDR government said, we want to to to to to to th and, th and, th. th. th. th. thiiii. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that's, thi, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that's, that's, that's, that's, th. And, thi. And, that's, that's, that's thi. thi. that's that's thi. that's the. that's that's the. that's that's all that all that all that all all the. that all all all thto commit to affordable housing and mass home ownership. And they created this massive system, this system of public subsidy. And they based it on the never substantiated assumption that black people would be too much of a credit risk.

And so they commissioned maps of the entire country's largest cities, and surveyed them down to the block level for their racial and ethnic character and said if there was a high Negro concentration, we're going to circle that with a red line and say banks do not lend here. And that really only ended in the 1970s and it was quickly replaced by what people call reverse redlining which is when those contiguous communities of lower wealth black communities were targeted with those high-cost loans.

And that's what we were talking about back in 08. Yeah. But yeah, the red lining started during the progressive FDR in the early 30s. That's right. And you know, the way I see it, and this is really the kind of core idea of the early 30s. That's right. And you know the way I see it and this is really the kind of core idea of the sum of us, you know you and I met not just because black families were being disproportionately targeted early in the subprime crisis before it was a household word, you and I met once

everything had followed apart right once Lehman had gone bankrupt once trillions of dollars in household wealth and eight million dollar jobs had disappeared overnight. And for me it was such an object lesson in the way in which racism can ultimately have a cost for everyone. We ignored the canaries in the coal mine, what was going on with black and brown families early in the crisis and banking committee members just weren't focused on it and then obviously we know how the story ended. Well the some of us is about how race intersects with economic inequality and it became an instant New York Times bestseller and

now you've done a book that's for school children, for toddlers. No, not for toddlers. But for middle schoolers? Yeah, yeah, yeah, middle school, night school. Yeah. And how do you explain this to them? How do these kids are able to understand this, right? Yeah, I mean I noticed thisthis is the book and it's a little shorter than the other, but it seems pretty sophisticated. Yeah, it's, we really didn't dumb it down. That was the lesson I got. We did sort of casual focus groups of educators and middle school students, and

they were like, don't dumb it down. We actually have access to all the same information you do, and we have the same kinds of questions, right? The core question at the heart of the sum of us is why does it seem like we can't have nice things in America? Nice things like not like flying cars, but nice things like universal health care and paid family leave and child care and a great school in every neighborhood. And they have those questions too. And so in the sum of us, I use a thr-a th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the too. And so in the sum of us I use a lot of data and a lot of history but ultimately it's a series of stories like the story of the drained public pool and that now the the cover of this is the boy jumping in a pool a white boy

looks like and I think a black child there. Tell that story because that's the first story you tell these kids right. Yeah it is. It's the story, because that's the first story you tell these kids, right? Yeah, it is. It's the story of what happened to many of the countries nearly 2,000 lavishly funded grand resort-style public swimming pools that were built in that same New Deal era of public goods around when the big housing subsidies were happening. And I like to get the kids to picture what it would look like to have a community pool that was free and could hold over a thousand swimmers at a time. And most of them, you know, they kind of gasp and they're excited about the idea. And then I tell them that they were usually for whites only. And they're sort of like, oh, you know, and then I say, but then in the civil rights movement, black families began to say, you know what, it's our tax dollars that have funded those public pools all along. We want our kids to swim and the court sided with them and progress was made.

And then many towns and cities, not just in the Jim Crow South, decided to drain their public pools rather than integrate them. They literally drained out the water and backed up truckloads of dirt. And I really see in the conversations they have, the questions they asked me, they get it. This is so unbelievable. And they did that all over the place. All over the country, yeah. And Ohio and West Virginia, all over the country. So and then they planted over it.

So just so black and white people couldn't swim together. That's exactly right. It's this zero-sum story, this old story that says that progress for people of color has to come at the expense of white people, that we can't all sort of share in well-being, that we're in this competition for dominance and status. And you know what, young people get it. It's this story that is, of course, unbelievable. But they've lived in America long enough to know

that it's actually quite believable. Because they understand that over their lifetime, public goods have really been atrophying, that they don't have those big, beautiful swimming pools, that there isn't free college the way there was. That was a kind of a public pool that was funded by the government and they know that as the college-going population got more diverse for them, right? They're already in a generation. The zero-sum idea is basically that wealthier whites taught poorer whites that anything that helps African-Americans hurts them.

Yeah, yeah. That's zero sum. That's right. And the sum of us is about we all do better when we all do better, which is what Paul Walston is to say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The late grade, the late great. You know, it's the part of the book that young people really resonate with is the hopeful part, right? They want to hear that we can fix this and I truly believe that everything about the world that we see now, all the dysfunction, it's because people made decisions to make the world as it is.

And so people can make better decisions. And the core message is that through collective action, people coming together, across lines of race, finding solidarity, recognizing that we all do better when we all do better and that we all want big, beautiful public pools, we can really win and take on powerful interests, but we can't if we're divided. And they get that. it's been a really fun trip across the country, schools, libraries, middle schools. You've been going all over the country, finding communities where this is happening in Minnesota. In we have a town Wilmer, Minnesota.

It's in Canada-Yoha County. It's the biggest turkey producing county in Minnesota, which is the biggest turkey producing town. Of course. I went to the graduation there, about half the class German Scandinavian, about a third of the class Hispanic, there's a big meat packing plant there, about 15% Somali. This was the most beautiful thing I had ever gone to in the time that I was in the Senate. This town just worked together. Lewis and Maine is doing that all over the country. This works when we all, when we realize the sum of us.

That's how we create wealth, that's how we create prosperity, that's how we create a good life for all Americans. That's right. You should really run for office now. Heather McGee, the young readers adaptation of, Heather's book is available now and the Some of Us podcast series is available wherever you get your podcast. Okay, we're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back. That's our show for tonight, but before we go, I'd like you to very seriously consider donating to Sandy Hook Promise. That's our show for tonight, but before we go, I'd like you to very seriously consider donating to Sandy Hook Promise. The foundation started by parents who lost a child at Sandy Hook Elementary School 10 years

ago. I met these parents after the school, after the shooting in 2012, and what they've done is absolutely amazing to try to save other families from going through the horror that they experience. If you can, please help support their continuing work by donating to the link below. Really would appreciate it. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 10 Central on Comedy Central

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