The Daily Show: Ears Edition - China's "Game of Thrones" Gambit & Democrats' Fox News Dilemma | Ava DuVernay

Episode Date: May 22, 2019

U.S.-China trade tensions cause a "Game of Thrones" blackout, 2020 Democratic candidates take different approaches to Fox News, and Ava DuVernay discusses "When They See Us." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. John Stewart here. unbeably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. May 21st, 2019. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is the Daily Show, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for coming

out. I'm Shavanoa. Our guest tonight is a writer and director with a new Netflix limited series about the Central Park 5. Ava Duvene is joining us everybody. First, let's catch up on today's headlines. Let's kick it off with the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. All right? With no deal in sight, both countries are hitting each other with hundreds of billions of dollars in new tariffs. And now, ordinary people in China are suffering some truly dire consequences. The Wall Street Journal says millions of people in China could not watch the series finale of Game of Thrones because of the U.S.-China trade fight.

Chinese viewers expected to see the final episode. Instead, I saw a notice about transmission problems on 10 cent video, the exclusive streaming provider of HBO content in China. Many fans fumed over social media. HBO says China restricted Game of Thrones from airing due to the trade dispute. Yeah, that's right. American consumers may be paying higher prices, losing their family farms and watching their businesses go under, but China doesn't get to watch Game of Thrones.

USA! USA! That's what I'm talking about. But this is a true, that's a true story. China can't watch the Game of Thrones finale, and they are pissed! And once they get to watch the finale, they'll be double pissed! Oh man! I feel like this is how the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US the US thus could could could could could thus could thus thus thi thi thi thrown thi th watch the finale, they'll be double pissed. Oh man, I feel like this is how the U.S. could actually win the trade war, right? Because you realize America's best export is pop culture. And if you can make it so that China always gets some of it, but not the whole thing, it's going to drive them crazy. Yeah. For instance, when the new Star Wars movie comes out, just send China a version where it's the long scroll in the beginning, immediately followed by credits.

Yeah, people will be livid. You could do it with music, too. Send China EDM songs, but then cut out the part when the beat drops. Yeah, it'll drive them insane. It'll just be like 12 hours of like, tig-dig-di, dig-dig-dig-dig-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-di-you-you-you-tick-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you-you th. You could-you th. You th. You th. You th. You you th. You you th. You you th. You you th. You you th. You yout-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t When China watches the Daily Show, they only get the set-ups to jokes, no punchlines. Yeah. Check this out. What do you call a Chinese president who can't read? All right, let's move on from the trade war to America's culture war, because Alabama is added again. A week after banning abortion, now they're doing this. Alabama Public Television has chosen not to air PBS's recent Arthur episode featuring a same-sex marriage. According to the director of Alabama Public Television,

the wedding of Arthur's third grade teacher, Mr. Ratburn, to Patrick, a chocolate maker, poses a problem for the young target audience who might watch the show without adult supervision. Really, Alabama? This is so insane. For starters, you can't keep reality hidden from children forever, okay? Eventually, kids are going to learn that Art Varks are gay, okay? It's inevitable. And also, what exactly are you afraid of?

Just because a kid loves something in a cartoon, it doesn't mean that they're going to try and copy that behavior. I grew up watching Sponge Bob, but I don't live in a cartoon doesn't mean that they're going to try and copy that behavior. Right? I grew up watching SpongeBob, but I don't live in a pineapple. No, I live in a two-bedroom apartment under the sea, right? Anyway, Alabama says they don't want this, they want a kid's show that reflects its values better. Yeah, so instead of Arthur, they're airing a Baba-A-Baharerb-a' episode where the government shuts down his baborcion clinic. And finally, if you've ever worried you're not good at your job, you can rest assured that there's someone even worse at his. Ben Carson has been accused of being not qualified

to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Today he didn't help his cause. He confused a real estate term with a cookie. I'd also like you to get back to me if you don't mind to explain the disparity in REO rates. Do you know what an REO is? An Oreo? R. E. E.O. Real Estate? Oh. Real Estate. Owned. That's what happens when a property goes to foreclosure. We call it an REO. Real Estate? What's the O? the O? the O? R.O? What's the O? R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. R. E. E.......... the. the. the.. the.. the....... the.. the. R. R goes to foreclosure. We call it an REO. Oreos? Yo, Ben Carson is a legend, man. Do you know what the O stands for?

What if he just said Oreo again? A real estate, REO? Yes. It's a cookie you can live in. I like how he wasn't confident as well. He reminded me of all of us in school. They were like, and what is the own? He's like, oh, when I just, yeah. His own, I'm not just, huh?

And I know a lot of people are saying that this hearing proves Ben Carson doesn't know anything about his job. But in his defense, people, no creatures are at their best off the hibernation. All right, that's it that's that's that's that's that's. Fox News. It's the number one cable news network in America. And probably the last thing your grandpa saw before he died. And right now, Fox News is at the center of a big debate among Democrats, who are running for president. Elizabeth Warren's refusal to hold a town hall on Fox has sparked a debate among Democrats in the 2020 field. To Fox or not to Fox?

The Democratic National Committee say it's not something Democrats should do because by going on Fox Democrats are just helping this network that vilifies them every day nonstop. Fox News is a hate-for-profit racket. I'll talk to Fox News reporters, but what I'm not going to do is give them a full hour of my time so they can raise money and they can raise credibility often. That's right. Elizabeth Warren, for one, is refusing to go on Fox News, which is a little ironic because her tribal name is woman who talks to Fox. But I do understand where Warren is coming from.

You see, Fox News at this point often acts more like a propaganda outlet than a news outlet. So why would you go on there and give them legitimacy? You don't argue with the crazy person on the subway who says, the earth is flat! We all know that the earth is round, right, with a little handle on the top so that God can spin it. That's, yeah, I mean, what do you think?

It just spins on its own, you guys are crazy. But seeing as the tho's, While Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris are avoiding Fox News like Coote's, Bernie Sanders, Vermont Senator and guy who uses a Walgreens bag as a briefcase has gone for a different approach. He went on Fox and held an hour long town hall. Millions of people every single year lose their health insurance. Now what we are talking about actually is stability that when you have a Medicare for it is there now and

we'll be there in the future. A show of hands of how many people get their insurance from work, private insurance right now. How many get it from private insurance? Okay, now of those, how many are willing to transition to what the senator says, a government-run system. Wow. That had to be a shocking thing for Fox News to watch, right? Turning on their TVs and seeing a crowd cheering for a socialist plan for Medicare for All.

In fact, that's probably what killed your grandpa. That's what that was. You realize that's the opposite. It's the exact opposite of what Fox viewers were expecting to see. It's like buying a ticket to see Paddington.. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th th the th th the th. the opposite. It's the exact opposite of what Fox viewers were expecting to see. It's like buying a ticket to see Paddington, but then you walk into the wrong theater and all of a sudden it's 50 shades of gray. You just be like, mommy, why is Paddington being so mean to that lady.

You're not supposed to be seeing this. Mommy, thi. No, hold on, not yet, not yet. Not yet, not yet. But you see, what Bernie Sanders did there was interesting. He didn't pan that to the Fox audience. He stuck to his principles, and by the end, the audience was on his side, which ends up being good for the Democrats. Because normally when Fox viewers hear about Medicare for All, it's stuff like, the government will only pay for your pills if you go trans. And that's why Elizabeth Warren's point about legitimizing Fox News.

Pete Budajj, he showed that there's not necessarily the case, right? He showed that you can do it a different way. Because the mayor of South Bend, Indiana and host of Nathan for you, he did a Fox Hall on Sunday. And he showed that visiting Foxx doesn't have to mean that you endorse them. You know a lot of folks in my party were critical of me for even doing this with Fox News. I mean when you got Tucker Carlson saying that immigrants make America dirty, when you've got Laura Ingram comparing detention centers with children and cages to summer camps, then there is a reason why anybody has to swallow heart and think twice before participating in this media ecosystem. But I also believe that there are a lot thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi, thi, 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. thi th. thi. I thi. I the the the the. the. the. the. the, the, the. the. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to theeeateeee. the. the and think twice before participating in this media ecosystem.

But I also believe that there are a lot of Americans who my party can't blame if they are ignoring our message because they will never hear it. If we don't go on and talk about it. I hope you'll join me in making sure that that next era is better than any that we've had so far. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you. Wow, a standing ovation. Wow. Standing ovation.

Pete Budajejeejah went on Fox News, trashed their most popular anchors and then got a standing ovation at the end. That is amazing. That is amazing. That is amazing. Because if someone came to your house and told you how ugly your kids were, you'd probably be like, get the hell out of here! You wouldn't be like, someone had to say it. You got a big ass head, Billy.

You got a big ass head. Someone had to say it. You got a big ass head, Billy. You got a big ass head. Someone had to say it. And it wasn't just the audience. Some reporters on Fox News actually credited BudaJejjjj for coming onto their network. But the kids with the big ass heads, they weren't as happy. Mayor Pete, who desperately needs a rebutta judge. Now when he wasn't pushing for tax increases or lobbying, lame cheap shots, he was trying

to pass off political pablum as some type of high-minded oratory. Maybe we should call him Pope Pete, because don't you love how he, you know, because he attends church, we're supposed to treat him as the be-all and end-all moral authority or the arbiter of who is and who is not operating in good faith. Okay. I get that Laura Ingram is trying to dispete, but I don't know if she achieved that by calling him Pope. People like the Pope. It's not a great diss. It's like going, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the Pope. It's not a great diss. It's like going, you know this guy Steve is always walking around being a dick to everyone.

Let's call him Big Dick Steve. That will show him. Then everyone will know what a big throbbing dick he has. I mean, is. So, Laura Ingram, Tucker Carlson, and Brian Kilmead, they were all pretty pissed with Budajj's star turn on Fox. But there was one Fox viewer who was downright heartbroken. Last night I watched Alfred E. Newman. What's going on with Fox, by the way? What's going on there? They're putting more Democrats on than you have Republicans.

There's something strange is going on at Fox. Something very strange. Did you see this guy last night? I did want to watch. You always have to watch the competition, if you call it that. And he was knocking the hell out of Fox and Fox's put him. Somebody's going to have to explain the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole to to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain the whole to explain to explain the whole to explain to the whole to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the to to to to to to to to to to thocks. knocking the hell out of Fox and Fox's buttermiss. Somebody's gonna have to explain the whole Fox deal to me. Oh

Poor Trump. You realize what happened here, the news network that he loves the most, flirted with a younger, hotter candidate and he's clearly shook. He's clearly shook. You heard when his voice broke what is going on with Fox? You know who Trump is? Trump is basically a guy scrolling through his ex's Instagram trying to act like he doesn't care. It's just like, look at this new guy.

This new guy, Fox is with, what a loser. His boobs are way smaller than mine. You know what it'd be funny is if I followed him. Totally as a, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thu, thu, tho-hea, tho-hea, tho-hea, tho, tho, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, tho, thu, thu. He's, thu. He's, thu. He's, thu. He's, thu. He's, thu. He's, thu. He's, thu. He's, he. He's, he's, he's thu. He's thu. He's thu. He's tru. He's tru. He's tru. He's tru-hea'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a, tru. He's tru. He's tru. He's than mine. You know what it'd be funny is if I followed him, totally as a prank, totally as a, oh no, I like one of his posts, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, unlike, unlike. So should Democrats go on Fox News or should they stay awake? Look, I don't think there's one correct answer, all right? In many ways, you know, it's just like eating an Oreo. You know? Yeah, you can dunk it, you can twist it, you can lick it, you can do whatever.

Just as long as you don't think it's a fucking real estate term you should know as a part of your goddamn job. We'll be right back. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many

of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated filmmaker who directed and co-wrote the new limited series on Netflix called When They See Us. Please welcome, Ava Duvene. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. to be here. And congratulations on another hit. This time in a different space, telling a different story. It's a story that many Americans are familiar with, but I don't think told like this time in a different space telling a different story It's a story that many Americans are familiar with but I don't think told like this The Central Park five is what they were named called by the media the press at the time and You've changed just the title of the film alone about these these five boys who were accused of raping a jogger in central park You changed the title everyone assumed it would be called the central park five????????????????, the? the?, the? the? the? the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their?, their?, their?, their?, their?, their?, their?, they?, they?, they?, they?, they? they? I? I? I? I? I? I? I? I? I? I was? I was? I was? I was? I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm somea? I'm somea. I'm somea. I'm somea. I'm somea. te. te. te. tole. tethe title. Everyone assumed it would be called the Central Park Five, but you changed the title when they see us. Why?

You know, the Central Park Five, I felt was a political moniker, dehumanized them. It made you not actually hear and understand and know who they are. They were five boys, Antron, Raymond, Kevin and Corey, who were were just, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, th, the, th, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, their, and, and, and, their, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, Yusef, Antron, Raymond, Kevin and Corey, who were just boys in Harlem on a spring day in 1989, and they were kind of ripped out of their youth. I mean it was the last day, April 19, 1989, was the last day that they were ever boys again. So around this whole thing of boys will be boys, the Kavanaugh stuff. That was happening while we were shooting this and I couldn't help but wonder why are some boys allowed to rough house and act stupid.

And other boys are instantly criminalized and so that's a bit of what we examine. And so that's larger than just the case of the Central Park Five. So I want to ask the question, what do you see when you see us? It really is a painful story because it's these five boys who at the time many people believed were responsible for this rape and they pleaded their innocence and in the story I mean we watch how they're coerced into into giving these testimonies and what was interesting was it when you were filming the series it was literally it's being released around the

30 year anniversary of when Donald Trump just as a private citizen ran an advertisement calling for the executions of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of of the of of of the of the of the of the of the of the of the the the the the their. their. their. their. their. their. the the the their. their. their. their. their their. their their their their their their their their their their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their. their. their. their. their. their. th. th. th. th. th. the. th. the. the. th. their. the their. their. their their their their their their their their. the 30-year anniversary of when Donald Trump, just as a private citizen, ran an advertisement calling for the executions of these five young men. Do you think that that sentiment, do you think that that in some way shifted the public's perception on how to deal with these boys? I mean, he was a part of a wave of people of privilege who were immediately starting to shape the story, starting to kind of indict these boys. What they were really upset about was the whole idea of criminality and making sure that they separated their own criminal tendencies

from what they thought was happening on the street that they had clear definitions, us and them environment. Pat Buchanan was also saying crazy stuff at that time. happening on the street, that they had clear definitions, us and them environment. Pat Buchanan was also saying crazy stuff at that time. There were a lot of prominent white folk who were out there acting Buck Wild, to be honest with you. And but this is a particular interest because he's called for their debts. He took out full page ads in four New York City papers. He spent $85,000, which is is is is is is is is is is is it's a lot of money now. And he, this was all before their trial, you know, it was

two weeks after the news broke. And so this, this film asked you to think about the news. You know, at that time, 89% of the headlines and the articles written about this case, didn't use the word alleged. 89% didn't use the word alleged. Wow. So it was just this kind of rush to judgment on the part of politicians, you know, the press, but also private citizens who had to wherewithal to shape the conversation. When you told the story,

you chose to tell it in a very specific way. and so you've broken it into pieces. But what you've done is like in each piece focused on a certain element of who the boys were dealing with. You know, it's dealing with the world that they're in, dealing with prison, dealing with their families, dealing post prison, et cetera. Why did you tell the story that way? Yeah, I mean, it's the story of this very famous. the thanks and cranniesies, the case, the end of it, you should be fully versed in all of the different nooks and crannies of the criminal justice system.

You know, part one is dealing with police interrogation, police aggression, precinct behavior, the stripping of rights of some citizens. Right, because these boys were questioned without their parents at first. Without their parents, without their parents, without 48 hours, without parents, without rest. The second piece is all about the court system. Judges, juries, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and bail. You know, this whole idea that we really have a debtor's prison in this country. You can pay to get out or you can be poor and stay in, and that's really who these criminals are, people who just couldn't pay. The third part is about juvenile detention,

thinnethe up kids in this country, sometime in adult spaces, and then post-incarceration, how we treat formerly incarcerated people as second-class citizens in this country. Right. So the whole breadth of that is explored as well as incarcerated in itself. So by the time you finish watching this four-part film, you will know about the Central Park Five, but you also know a lot more about how the system that we pay for as taxpayers, how it works. It's interesting because this story starts off with five boys who are accused of something that they confessed to and that for many people was it. They said, well, they confessed.

You know, and in the story, it's interesting how you show, you don't even explain, you just show how easy it is to just want to get out of a tough situation as these kids did. And were it not for the DNA evidence, their lives would have ended in prison. You chose to work with these boys who are now men on the film. There must have been a really emotional experience, not just for yourself, but for them, because they're reliving many of the things that robbed them of their childhoods. You put some systems in place, I believe you even had therapists or counselors on set. Why was that so important to you and why did you want them to be like a real part of the story? Well, I want them to be a part of the story because it is their story and my key purpose in this was to honor them, was to give them voice.

You know, the voices own words. They were coerced to say those things. So we haven't really heard from them. So that was the goal in the piece. But in doing it, I was showing a lot of really challenging stuff that I'm asking actors to participate. Your mind as an actor knows that you're doing something, but your body doesn't know what fear, adrenaline, beatings, riots, all kinds of things. And I didn't, and I heard from them afterward that they had a problem kind of letting go. So I said, if I ever do this again,

I'll make sure I have someone to create a really safe place. So they could call accounts, where they could call accounts where they their, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the they... the the the the to. to. to. to. to. the to. the to. to. the the the the the the the the the the the the of the day if they need it. It's a beautiful story that you've put together. I mean, it puts you into a different space. We know you for Selma. We know you for 13th. We know you for, now people will know you for when they see us. When we look at Ava's career, I mean, we know, wrinkle, and the other hand, it's like fantastical and it's beautiful. Do you find a way to resets and just be like, all right, now I'm going to switch to that?

Is there like a journey? Do you have to go to Hawaii in the middle and then come back? What do you do? Yes, for a long today, I would like to to to to to to to to theyn't to their to to to their to their to to their to to to to to to their to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to too and just just, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just...s.s. to to to the the the the to the the to the the the the to to the the too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. to. 't want to, well, because I didn't want to be put in a box. I'm already in a box. Hollywood thinks, you know, I'm supposed to do a certain thing. Yes. I wanted to kind of show that I could do a little bit of everything, but as I've become older and I think more mature about it, I know that, you knowto call me social justice woman? And then I'm okay with that. I'll told you whatever you want. Ava Duvene, thank you so much for being on the show again.

When they see up, an amazing limited series premieres May 31st on Netflix. Ava Duvena everybody. The Daily Show with Cover Noa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. to the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more.

This has been a Comedy Central podcast. John Stewart here, unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show, we're gonna be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.