The Daily Show: Ears Edition - CNN's Democratic Presidential Debates - Night Two | Cornell Belcher

Episode Date: August 1, 2019

Trevor continues his live coverage of CNN's Democratic primary debates, and NBC/MSNBC political analyst Cornell Belcher weighs in on how the candidates performed. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast. The Weekly Show is going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about

ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. Beautiful. Welcome to the Gaelic. Welcome to the Daly. Show everybody. Thank you so. Thank you so much for tunnigh.

Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for coming out. Let's do it. My name is Chalanoa and tonight we are coming to you live. That's right. Let's do it. My name is Chauma Noah and tonight we are coming to you live. That's right, we're completely live. Don't believe me, look at the screen behind me. It's night out. Huh? You see, we're

live. Now, the second night of the Democratic debates just ended. And of the two nights, this was the debate everybody was everybody was waiting for. You know, if if if, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th, th, we're th, we're th. th, we're th. th. th, we're th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, we th, we th. th, we th, we th, we are th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. 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 to to theee. the. the. th debate everybody was waiting for. You know, if last night was a small lower back tattoo, tonight was Mike Tyson's face. Because coming into tonight, we all knew it was about beef. The stage is set for a second heated showdown. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris facing off just hours from now. High stakes rematch, the tod facing off again tonight after her blistering attack in the first debate. Biden vowing he won't be so polite this time.

Joe Biden telling donors it's no more Mr. Nice Guy. I was probably overly polite and the way I didn't respond. Yes, according to Biden, the last time he didn't do well was because he was overly polite which is a convenient excuse for getting your ass handed to you. I I that same excuse to whenever I lost the fight in high school. The only reason he was able to shove me in that locker is because I'm a gentleman. So in the buildup to tonight's debate, the main story was Kamala Harris versus Joe Biden.

But because Corey Booker has also been going off to Biden for the past couple of weeks, tonight's debate was set up for fireworks, especially once we found out where everyone would be standing on that stage. Biden will find himself flanked by Booker and Harris. Biden standing in between two candidates who have targeted him most. Corry Booker, Kamala Harris, and racial inequality could be a very big discussion.

Joe Biden is an uncomfortable sandwich on that stage. He's got on either side of him, Kamala Harris and Corey Booker. Yeah, Joe Biden, this was an unlucky drawman, man. Corey Booker on the one side, Kamala on the other side, and he's in the middle. It's like the world's most racially charged Oreo. I feel like the world th. It's instinctively try to lock his car doors. It was like, ah, no attacks. And if you tune into the debate hoping to see conflict, it didn't take long for you to get your wish.

Vice President Biden's campaign calls your plan, quote, a have it every which way approach. Well they're probably confused because they've not read it. There will be a public plan under my plan for Medicare and a private plan under my plan for Medicare. If you notice, there's no talk about the fact that the plan in 10 years will cost $3 trillion. You will lose your employer-based insurance. You can't beat President Trump with double talk on this plan. You're just simply inaccurate in what you're describing. Your plan, by contrast, leaves out almost 10 million Americans.

So I think that you should really think about what you're saying, but be reflective and understand that the people of America want access to health care. That's right, two minutes into the debates, and Kamala was already removing her earrings. Oh, it's on. It's on. Now, this time, this time, Biden and Kamala were arguing back and forth about who had a

stronger health care plan. And compared to the previous skirmish, they were a lot more civil, as you saw. You know, this was like a couple fighting after the cops had told them to calm down, you know? Just like, like th........... 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. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi.? Just like, nah, I'm trying to keep my cool here, but your health care plan ain't shit, just like your mama. But other than that, other than that, the health care debate was pretty civil tonight. Again, the Democrats largely agreed on the big picture of getting universal health care. What they disagreed on is how to get there. Biden proposed polishing Obamacare and disrupting the system as little as possible. Kamala wanted a Medicare plan that also incorporated something that would include private insurance

and Bill DiBlazio, he just wanted to knock the whole thing down, you know, just like he did to Tokyo. So, to figure out who had the best plan. The Democrats got down to the numbers. And I mean a lot of numbers. Let's talk about the fact that that that that that the the that the the the the that the the the the that the the the the the the the the the that that the the the the the that the the that the that that that that that the numbers and I mean a lot of numbers. Let's talk about math. Let's talk about the fact that the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies last year alone

profited 72 billion dollars. My plan costs $750 billion. That's what it cost, not $30 trillion. Thank you, Mr. Burs. That is 70% of what the government will collect in taxes over the next 10 years. 20% of our economy, one out of every $5 spent on health care. I don't know what math you do in New York. I don't know what math you do in California, but I tell you, that's a lot of money.

Hey, I'll tell you what kind of math we got in New York number one and number two assho That's the kind of math we got here Hey Can I be honest with you guys this this is the part of the debate where I think Democrats really needs to get a whole lot better? No one at home can keep up with all of these numbers 40 billion seven percent 70 percent over 10 years 10 years, 30 trillion, 3 trillion, when you compound the, no, it's too complicated, right? It almost made me miss Donald Trump. Yeah, because when he does math, he just comes out stage like, folks, we're gonna do numbers.

Best numbers, bigger numbers. And everyone in home is like, yeah, numbers. You gotta find a middle ground. So, so tha, so tha, so, so, so, so, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, thiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, th, thi, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thiiiiiiiii. thi. thii. thi. thi. It's thi, thi, th yeah, numbers. I guess there's numbers. You've got to find a middle ground. So that was health care. Then came immigration. And just like last night, the major question facing Democrats was how would they deal with the crisis at the border? Most of them agreeing again

that they would try and find a more humane way to treat asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. But when they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they brought they brought they brought they brought they brought they they they they they they they they their their their their their their their their th. th. th. the. the. thoom. thoom. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thed. thed. thed. thed. thed. thed. thed. toed. toed. to to to to toed. to to to toed. toda. today. today. today. Joe Biden probably wished that he could have been deported out of this debate. Vice President Biden, I didn't hear your response when the issue came up of all those deportations. You were vice president of United States. I didn't hear whether you tried to stop them or not, using your power, your influence in the White House. The President came along and he's the guy that came up with the idea first time ever of dealing with the dreamers. He put that in the law. I don't hear an answer from the vice president.

I'm confused. Mr. Vice President, you want to be present in United States. You need to be able to answer the tough questions. I guarantee you, if you're debating Donald Trump, he keep my recommendation to him in private. Unlike you, I expect you would go ahead and say whatever was said privately with him. That's not what I do. Oh, hold up. Did Joe Biden just call Bilibazio a little ass snitch?

That's what he said, right? Yeah. I didn't realize Biden was so true to the streets. He's like, Mr. Mayor, unlike you, I protect my neck because these bitches ain't loyal. That's what I do. So, this is where the debate got interesting, right? Bill DiBlazio, sucker punches Biden out of nowhere, asking him why he let Obama deport so many people. And just when Biden is trying to battle the giants of New York, Corey Booker jumps in with the Shiv. Mr. President, you can't have it both ways. You invoke President Obama more than anybody in this campaign. You can't do it when it's convenient,

and then dodge it when it's not. Yeah, Corey Booker makes a good point. Joe Biden's really good at using Obama when it'll help his resume. But then when it comes, is that the Irish guy, Patty Obama? Is that who? I think I've been to that pub. And that Obama line was just the beginning, right?

Because after that, Corey went on full-on attack mode. Senator Booker called your new criminal justice reform plan, quote, an inadequate solution to what is a raging crisis in our country, unquote. Why is Senator Booker wrong? Well, I don't, I think he is wrong. I think we should work together. He has a similar plan. I think that we should change the way we look at prisons. We have a system right now that's broken, and if you want to compare records,

and frankly, I'm shocked that you do that you do, I am happy to do that. There's a saying in my community, you're dipping into the coolade and you don't even know the flavor. You need to... Whoa! Yeah. You know what's cool about being black? You can just make up phrases and white people don't know if it's real? You know what's the debate and every white person in the room just looked at me like, is that a thing?

Is that a? Black people, we can just say whatever. Just be like, man, you better watch yourself because right now you're deep frying a chicken but ain't got no skin. This is where Corrie was in the rope. This is where Corey was in his elements. He had the thin, the ropes. And he was always going to have him on the ropes. Because Vice President Biden has been in politics for 50 years. He is bound to have more baggage than anyone else.

It's not a fight that he could win. And then just when you thought that Biden was the target of the night, Telsy Gabbard pops up from under a prosecutor and that she'll be a prosecutor president but I'm deeply concerned about this record. She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana. She blocked evidence, she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row. And she fought to keep cash bail system in place that impacts poor people

in the worst kind of way. Yeah, that was a rough moment for Kamala. Because while she was trying to come after Biden for his history on criminal justice, Telsie Gabbard came after her for hers, which isn't exactly the best record. And you could see Kamala wasn't happy in this moment, you know, she was about to be like, Telsi, let me tell you a story about a little girl who got her ass beat. And that little girl was you. So now, you've got DiBlazo coming off to Biden. Booker jumping in the middle, Gabber hitting Kamala. It was almost like Quintan Tarantino wrote this part of the debate. Everyone killing everyone. And then just like yesterday, while all the bigger candidates were fighting, the smaller candidates used the little time they had to try and break through

with policy and ideas. And tonight's Marion Williamson was Colorado Senator Michael Bennett. This is the fourth debate that we have had, and the second time that we have been debating what people did 50 years ago with busing when our schools are as segregated today as they were 50 years ago. I believe you can draw a straight line from slavery through Jim Crow through the banking and the red lining to the mass incarceration that we were talking about on this stage a few minutes ago, but you know what other line I can draw? 88% of the people in our prisons dropped out of high school. Let's fix our school system and maybe we could fix the prison pipeline that we have. Okay. Okay? Say what you want about him, but Mr. Mackey is right.

Instead of spending half of the debates talking about laws written 50 years ago, it would have been nice to hear more about how the Democratic candidates plan to fix America's problems today. And I'll be honest with you, it was really weird that the Democrats allowed themselves to get side-tracked by side-beafes when they all also acknowledge that they have one common goal. Defeating public enemy, number one. But this pitting against progressives, against moders, saying one is unrealistic and the other doesn't care enough,

that to me is dividing our party and demoralizing us in face of the real enemy here. I would take any Democrat on this stage over the current president in the United States. We cannot tear each other down, we have to focus on beating Donald Trump. Don't let the Republicans divide this party against itself. We're going to make America better than it's ever been in the years to come. Let's do that together. You see, it's weird. Everyone says that. They all said they want to beat Donald Trump. But here's the honest truth. If the Democrats spend every single debate destroying each other, by the time you get to a one-on-one with Donald Trump, you'll already have done his work for him.

Yeah. Because you'll get to the debates all discredited and he won't have to do to to do to and be like, guys, so many numbers, 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. Welcome back to the Daily Show, coming to you live on debate night. My guest tonight is a Democratic strategist and pollster who was a member of Barack Obama's polling team. Please welcome, Cornell Belcher. Thank you for the show.

Thank you for having, brother, to do here. So, let's get straight into it. Tonight was a night where most people were looking to see how Joe Biden would recover from his first debate performance. Do you think he did a good job? I think Joe found the magic again. I think he woke up, I don't know if he took some uppers or something, but he certainly, he certainly was flat the first debate. This debate, it seemed like he was prepared, ready.

They came at him with a lot of punches, but he gave as good as he got this evening. I think he was the adult adult the adult the adult the adult the adult the adult the adult, thuiiiiuiuii. He was good, tooee. He was good, toozy. He was good, too. He was as good, too. He was too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too. He, too. He, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, to he got this evening. I think he was the adult in the room that a lot of people thought he would be in the first debate, this debate, he came back and had a solid performance. He really had an interesting tactic this time because the first time around he seemed surprised by what had happened. But even from the beginning of the debate, as we saw when he came out, he said to come out, he out, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th..................... He, th. th.. He, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, thin, thin, and, he, and, he. He, thr. He, thed, and, he. He. He. He, he was, he was, thr. He. He. He was, he was. He was, he was. He was, he wasto records, it was interesting that they brought up his record, but then he brought up his record. Is a record a good or a bad thing to have in this situation?

The good news for his opponent is he has a long record. The bad news for his opponent is he has a long record. I mean, he has a long record of actually accomplishing things and doing things, right? The whole things, th, th, the the th, the th, the the th, the the th, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, a, is, a, is, is, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a good, a, a good, a, a good, a, a, a, a, a, a good, is a, is a, is a, is a, is a, is a, is a. is a. is a. is a. is a. is a. Is. Is. Is. Is. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their, is a good, is a good, is a good, is a good. the their, is a. the back of about the Hyde Amendment, he pointed out the fact that most of them on his stage had supported the Hyde Amendment. So he does have a, so he does have a solid record, but there are some things there that certainly are problematic, certainly around the crime bill. But I thought the interesting back and forth between him and Senator Harris, like, you've got to be careful because obviously she has a bit of a glass of the thi. as as tolsie punched her. Right, tells me was a punch of the night. Yes.

It was a punch of night. And I think she was staggered by that punch. I thought that was a lion I had also thought Corey Booker may have had the blackest moment in presidential primary history. I don't think anyone has brought Kulade out at a debate? History, though, never anything as black as that. In primary history, in debate history. When you look at Kamala Harris, why do you think that Gloucestero moment is so severe for her?

Because, you know, Joe Biden gets attacked, but you know, his support among black votes has remained strong. With Kamala, it does feel like that's a weakness. Why? Well, it's interesting because, and by the way, I will remind people that Obama started off at this point. He was not winning African-American voters either. I'm not thinking he wasn't winning anyone. We were 30 points behind everywhere.

But African-American voters are such a large swath of the electorate. And you will notice that in her attacks from the first debate, which she rose in a poll, it didn't come primarily from African-American, from African-American voters. You know, so I think there's also a part of her where she's got to be careful. I can't say this on television, right? But if I were advising her, I'd say there are stereotypes out there about angry black women. And there's some sort of cues that you have to be careful because it turns people off and it's not fair but I think there were moments where she flashed anger tonight and I don't think that's particularly helpful. That's that's an

interesting point that you bring up because but I didn't say that. No no no you no you didn't. you know what, it is an honest and interesting point that you bring up is that there is a double standard in the world that you live in where, you know, if you're a man and you get angry, they go like the passion. Strong, yeah. Right.

But now Kamala has to figure out how to stradad, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, any of the stereotypes. And it's even worse for African American women. African American women have it very tough. Right. New Flash, African American women have it really tough. Let's talk about some of the other candidates on the night who are trying to have their moments. Who do you think stood out? Everyone said Marian William William Wilson won yesterday. to thiii, I tho, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu. thu. thu. thu. thi. to to to say, to say, to say, to, thu. to say, have to, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it, have it. th. th. th. New. New. th. New. New, to, to, to, to, to, to. New. New. New. New. th. New. th. th. th. thi. thi. to. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. toe. too. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. there are moments that stand out. Were you surprised that Marianne Williston had a cat from that last segment? I thought, of course she has a cat.

Of course she has a cat. You actually stole my Mr. Hand joke. He's totally missed her hand. But he did have a, have a broke up, breakout. I think Inslee had sort of had some moments, but also Yang, listen, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I th and I th and I th and I th and I th and I think Inslee had a sort of had some heads moments but also Yang listen I think Yang wanted to be because I want my thousand dollars a night thousand dollars a month right but but but but he also got very big applause lines right but some of those cats were clearly in the mode where I have to attack I have to make a breakthrough and some of it seemed desperate but some of those cats will not make the next debate and you can tell them old 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 the the the the the the their their their their their their. their. th. th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm their the. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I want their their their their their their their their their their their their. I their. I their. I their. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I they they they they they they they they they're they the. I the. I the. I the. I thi. I think. I theeeeeeeeee. I the. I theee. I the. I thi. I the. I th some of it seemed desperate, but some of those cats will not make the next debate.

And you can tell them old because I used the term cats. Yes, I can. So some of them will not make the old next debate. Who had the breakout? You know, DiBlazo hoped himself. I think he came across his New York took and he certainly went after Biden, but does he, 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, to, to, to, told, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, 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, they... I tometeen, tomorrow, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, told, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow a breakout? Right, right, right. You know, I think Corey Booker needed a breakout moment too, because he's been sort of flat. And I think, I think we will not question whether Corey Booker's black enough again after this debate.

Which is a win? That to me is a win in a debate. It's gonna help with Miss South Carolina. When we look at the larger narrative, and people that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's debates was, the narrative coming into the main debates was, Democrats are not here to fight against each other. It'll be a battle of ideas to present to America who should be the next leader. Yes. It feels like that is quickly devolved into,

you're the worst, you're the worst. Here's your bad record. Does this work for Democrats by putting them and keeping them by basically breaking them apart before the main race? I don't want to beat up on CNN, but I'm a beat up on CNN. The way they sat it up, they almost set it up so there would be contention. And the way they asked questions, sort of directed back at other candidates, it set up a format for fights and tension, which can be good ratings. But I think the substance of the debate was hurt. We were 20 or 30 minutes in on the health care debate,

and we didn't really have a great understanding of people's health care position, because they were just defending and attacking. I don't think that was particularly helpful. I certainly hope we won't see that. Again, I would rather them ask a question, OK, tell us us health care plan and why is your health can't better than everyone else's. Now, if someone else wants to, wants to, wants to pivot back in on that, that's fine, but don't set up the tension.

That's an interesting point. Thank you so much for being on the show. Great having you here. Cornell Belch, everybody. The Daily Show with Kervanoa, 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. 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. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you

have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.