The Daily Show: Ears Edition - FBI Charges NBA Stars in Gambling Scheme & Trump Touts Ballroom Post-East Wing Demo | Jeff Tweedy

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

Michael Kosta dives into the alleged involvement of Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat star Terry Rozier in illegal gambling schemes. Plus, Donald Trump continues to defend the construction of his mega-sized White House ballroom as he fully demolishes the East Wing. And Josh Johnson thanks the contractor-in-chief on behalf of waltz-loving podcast bros everywhere. Jordan Klepper dives into "Fox & Friends" co-host Lawrence Jones, who is breaking the mold as a Black libertarian at a conservative, white-centric network. However, Jones’s unusual interview skills and angry MAGA undertones suggest he really is one of them. Jeff Tweedy, Grammy award-winning frontman of the band Wilco and bestselling author, sits down with Michael to discuss his new solo album, “Twilight Override,” named to evoke his feeling of getting older and watching a world that “appears to be getting darker.” Tweedy also discusses why he’s glad to have spent his formative years as a musician in the midwest, his theory that repressed trauma after Covid is one cause of present-day chaos, and the need for everyone to spend less time on their phones and more time with people who love them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. is it the macha or am I this energized from scoring three Sephora holiday gift sets definitely the sets full size and minis bundled together what a steal and that packaging so cute it practically wraps itself and I know I should be giving them away but I'm keeping the summer Fridays and rare beauty by Selena Gomez I don't blame you the best holiday beauty sets are only at Sephora gift sets from summer Fridays rare beauty way and more are going fast get full size favorites and must have minis bundled for more Shop before they're gone, in store or online at Sephora.ca.

You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for new. This is The Daily Show with your host, Michael Costa. Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Michael Costa. We've got so much to talk about tonight. Trump deport the East Wing from the White House.

We meet the Fox News guys, always interrupting people at diners, and the NBA dropped a new collab with the mafia. So let's get into the headlines. Let's kick things off with Cash Patel, FBI director and man with resting he had a major announcement today and no it's not about the Epstein files those are still securely firmed inside Mike Johnson's clenched butthole but it is news that might affect your fantasy lineup breaking news of seismic proportions involving the NBA Chauncey Bullops the head coach for the Portland Trailblazers arrested for allegedly

participating in rigged poker games run by four Italian crime families Oh, damn. An NBA head coach might have ties to the mafia? Well, I guess that explains the new Portland Trailblazers assistant coach, Vinnie the Clam. I will say the mafia must really be hurting if the biggest NBA name they can get is Chauncey Billups. They couldn't get Shaq. He'll take money for anything. And as bad as it sounds, that's not even the worst NBA scandal that got exposed today.

Miami Heat star Terry Rozier was allegedly part of an illegal gambling scheme where gamblers made millions on prop bets. He allegedly was sending information to sports betters about who was going to play in games, who would be out on injury. And according to one law enforcement source, he begged out of a game early, only about nine minutes in faking an injury. And officials say that he profited himself from that. Jesus Christ, Terry. you've made over $160 million in your career. You shouldn't be doing gambling schemes? Leave the schemes for the guys on the bench.

They're the ones who need the money. But still, I think the FBI should leave them alone. This is America. You don't arrest NBA players with gambling problems. We force them to play baseball for a year. Either way, the NBA understands this scandal has really tarnished their integrity. That's why the league is making it up to fans

by offering them a $50 free play on a fan duel using the promo code jailblazer. I'm going to make it, baby. Come on. This is the one. This is the one. But enough about corrupt insiders gaming the system for profit. Let's move to Donald Trump. This week, he's been focused on his passion project,

building a ballroom for the White House. Now, when he started, he promised that it would be separate from the existing White House, and he wouldn't touch the East Wing, that this construction would strictly be over the pants. Then, this week, there was a minor change to the plan when Trump ripped open the side of the East Wing like it had a Laboo Boo Boo inside.

But all right, so maybe a little bit of damage, but I'm sure he'll keep the rest of the historic East Wing intact, right? Right? Right? New images appear to show the entire building is gone. It's been demolished. Jeez, holy shit, man. Keep in mind, everyone, this is a rental, you know?

Any day now, Trump, yeah, you get it. New Yorkers get it. Any day now, Trump's going to get a call from the White House's Albanian landlord, like, what the fuck is this? What's going out here? But this is all happening so fast. This guy's been taking 15 years to give us a health care plan, but in three and a half days, he's demolished half.

the White House. Donnie T. Tell me this is going to end up looking good. So I thought I'd bring this out because this is going to be probably the finest ballroom ever built and we're doing it. No cost to the country. It's being put in. The money is being put in by me and donors. Jesus Christ, look at this thing. It's huge. It's bigger than the actual White House. It looks like one of those crabs with the big arm, doesn't it? I mean, I don't know a lot about architecture, but I do know a thing or two about overcompensating for a small penis.

By the way, check out this fedora I bought the other day, huh? Pretty cool, right? No way a guy is a small penis who wears this. that's not funny oh in case you're wondering that guy's sitting next to trump that's not the ballroom architect that's just the head of NATO this poor guy's continent is locked in a death match with Russia

and he has to sit there like yeah ballroom looks great I can't wait to tell the front lines about this I mean I like how Trump's schedule it's like a madlibs you're meeting with head of NATO to discuss ballroom design then talking to the Dalai Lama

about Arnold Palmer's c- now huge fan of Arnard Palmer's here who

Arnold Palmer's co-ha If a ballroom is so important, why didn't a previous president build it? It's because they didn't have the ballroom balls. Administration after administration have publicly and privately spoken about the need for a larger event space. So while many presidents have privately dreamt about this, it's President Trump, who is actually doing something about it. Yeah, well, not every president.

I don't think FDR was dying for a ballroom where he could show off his dance moves. But besides him, every other president has wanted a ballroom. We all remember that famous scene, remember, from the movie Lincoln. Leave the Constitution alone. The peace commissioners appear today. State-by-state you can ask you. I can't listen to this anymore. We're stepped out upon the world's stage now.

Now, with a fate of human dignity in our hands. so let's build a fancy ballroom we can dance in now now now god what a great documentary huh now the truth is i don't really give a shit about a ballroom at the white house like if we're being honest none of us even knew that what was in the east wing until they started knocking it down three days ago but i do think that this serves as a perfect reminder to never listen to what trump says and instead look at what he does. Because he says, I won't touch the East Wing, but he does demolish the East Wing.

Just like he says he supports free speech, but he does punish anyone who tries to use it. Or like he says he loves the Constitution, but then he does blow up boats without any due process. So just remember, over the next three to 20 years that he's in office, don't listen to, his promises. Just look at the crater of results. Now,

for more on the reaction to Trump's ballroom, we go to Austin, Texas, with Josh Johnson. Josh, there's no way that Trump's base is happy with all the time you're spending on this ballroom. You couldn't be more wrong. All the

podcast Alpha Males down here are excited about this, all right? I just sat down with the Cho Bros. Podcast, and this is exactly what they wanted. They demanded two things. One, no dudes in dresses, and two, a place where a man can pull up his finest breeches and wear a wig or whatever.

Ashante, bitches. None of this sounds bro-y to me. I mean, I'm kind of a bro myself. I've never wanted to go to a ball. You sound a little suss if you ask me, all right? You're really saying as a little kid, you never fantasized about receiving a wax-stamped-stamped invitation.

beckoning you to the grandest event of the season, all in the hopes you could stand in line, gazing upon the fair countenances of the most eligible daughters in the land? No, no. Gay! How is that gay? Look, man, I just sat down with the sloppy seconds crew,

and we all agree. If the thought of tying up a cravat, strapping up your silk garters and dancing the quadrille so that you can marry into one of the nobable, houses doesn't excite you, then maybe you just don't got that dog in you, all right? Hell yeah. Me and the stinky pinky lads,

we can't wait to go down beast mold at a White House ball. Beast mode? Like Marshawn Lynch? What? No. Beast mode like when you're sweeping the beauty bell off her feet, all right? You know with the teapot cheering you on and a little candlestick over there, hoping you clapped cheeks,

all right? The curtains, the curtains even close them. because they know you about to get nasty whilst waltzing I'm sorry John did you say waltzed yeah whilst waltzing like whilst waltzing whilst waltzing like wiles waltzing like waltzing forget it forget it forget it forget it I just think that when the base who voted for a man who said he was going to bring back manufacturing and construction I don't think they were expecting a fancy

white house ballroom oh shit okay hold off Costa this is my jam to the window to the window to the bolts. You know, damn, that does look fun. Josh Johnson, everyone. When we come back, we'll find out the latest ass on the Fox and Friends couch. Don't go away. Welcome back to the daily show. Every year, there's more. And more and more reporters in the news media. So to find out who some of them are, we go to Jordan Klepper

in our ongoing segment, News to Meet You. When it comes to Fox News hosts, there's definitely a type. You've got your blondes, your other blondes, your dirty blondes, your youthful blondes, your shrieking blondes, and, of course, Tray Gouty. There's at least one person on Fox that breaks the mold. Fox and Friends co-host Lawrence Jones.

And what might initially stand out is that he's a black reporter on a mostly white network for mostly white people. But that doesn't bother Lawrence. In fact, he's well aware of the optics. When someone is hearing about Fox News, I think the elephant of the room is

they don't expect someone that looks like me. I'm a black man and I'm also a conservative. I'm not a Republican member. I'm a conservative. I'm a libertarian. I said, well, I'm a libertarian. You're a strong Republican conservative man. And sometimes I disagree with the party.

He goes, well, that won't be a problem. When we disagree, you just be you. Great, great. He's a free thinker ready to challenge the status quo. This isn't your father's Fox News host. That guy was fired for sexual harassment eight years ago. No. The network is excited to welcome a fresh

diverse staff, and I'm sure his co-workers won't make it awkward in any way. What's the other? I'm back in studio with you. Well, bro, what on earth is going on here? What's with that in your head? The part. You said you love the part. It's flavor. We've got to bring some

flavor. Is that a Nike swoosh? It's like, it's a part. A part. It's a part. Yeah. Well, brother, your time's up. Security. But when he wasn't explaining his hair to Stuart Varney, Lawrence was out in the field conducting diner focus groups, shoving his microphone into the syrup smeared faces of the Maga faithful.

Sir, how do you feel about this economy under Joe Biden? Terrible. We're talking about the former president being under prosecution right now. What do you make of it? Do you think that is fair? You say that you're going for Donald Trump and McCormick. The question is why? 78% of America's are living paycheck to paycheck.

Sir, how do you feel about this economy? What do you think about that, that trash comment? You seem just like an average day woman. You seem just like an average day woman. Smooth with the ladies there, Lawrence. Yeah, she's a Wednesday, folks, but with a little makeup, she could be a late afternoon Thursday. Now, eventually, Lawrence landed his own show

where he honed his interviewing talents on the streets. We begin tonight right here in New York City where we see cops being shot on a daily basis. Do you feel safe in the city? Yeah, absolutely. I don't feel unsafe walking around or doing anything. Absolutely. I think, well, I trust the police force a lot,

and I think that the city is back and rejuvenated, and so there are people out all the time, and yeah, I feel safe. Do you feel safe in the city? Yeah, I do. Frankly, I didn't expect those responsibilities. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Because you only watch Fox News. You know, and just a quick note. If you're trying to paint a city as dangerous, maybe don't do it from an artisanal farmer's market. The scariest thing there is the markup on everything. is the markup on heirloom tomatoes. Regardless, Lawrence quickly became Fox's most dependable man

on the street reporter. They could send him anywhere, and I mean anywhere. Watch these two clips that could not have more different energies. So tell me, how do y'all start y'all's death? Morning, Christine. Two things you can't live without. Bronzer and cocaine. Wake up on bronzer, cocaine.

We're good for the day. Bronzer, dear cocaine. And no, I'm a senior in college. So we're back at Toro Academy of Bergen County. I just want to bring in the panel back in. What does the Torah say about bronzer and cocaine? But Lawrence's beat wasn't just hard drugs and Judaism. No, Fox also set him down to the border to report live from the war zone.

Fox News reporter, contributor Lawrence Jones, Is there anyone that believes this is a manufactured crisis? I'm standing right on the border by the Rio Grande is right behind me. They didn't just tell me that it was a crisis. They actually showed me the crisis on the border. It is a crisis, Sean. They stole one of my ear pods. Crisis.

So, quick question. Lawrence, did that bulletproof vest shrink in the wash? I mean, it's supposed to cover more than just your nipples. Are you running a marathon? What's happening here? Regardless of the ill-fitting apparel, going on Fox News assignments can be a humiliating experience. But Lawrence prides himself as a freethinker,

a libertarian who will challenge Fox orthodoxy. So, when he actually had the chance to sit down next to the most powerful person on the planet, I'm sure he took his opportunity to ask the questions no one else on Fox News was brave enough to ask. We got a six-year-old from Massachusetts, and who wants to know about your favorite animal? I love cows.

I love cows. No heifers, no heifers, cows. The truth is, while Lawrence may tout his outsider perspective and claim he's not what viewers are used to, If you listen close, he's just another fox blonde. People are so sick of all the woke nonsense. We've just gotten so crazy with this woke nonsense. White privilege doesn't have a legal definition.

I don't believe in the whole notion of white privilege. And these are the same people who can't even define what a woman is. They can't even define what a woman is. We can't even protect our own borders. We cannot protect the border. They're paid professional agitated. There's a lot of paid professional protesters. They're indoctrinating our kids.

indoctrating our kids, it's an indoctrination cesspool. Wow. Wow. Lawrence, no offense, but you seem like an average day Fox News host. Sorry. Good night. Good fucking luck. Thank you, Jordan. When we come back, Jeff Tweedy will be joining me. Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is a Grammy award-winning musician

and best-selling author, who's the lead singer of the band Wilco. His new solo album is called Twilight Override. Please welcome Jeff Tweedy. Thank you for coming. Thanks for having me. Thank you for being here. I love meeting people that are always making stuff.

Yeah. You are always making stuff. I can't stop. This thing is three discs. This is not a disc, though. This is a record. It was cut down from five. It was?

Yeah, I mean, actually kind of was, yeah. I mean, that is why? Why? You know, everybody says now, keep it short, 40 seconds. That's too long. Right. And then I open up Twilight Override, your album, and it's two hours of music. But people also listen to podcasts where three guys talk for four hours about, I don't know.

Bullshit. I don't know. Right, right. Right. Right. But, yeah, I don't know. It was just like I've made a lot of records. I've made some double records in my life. And I've always been kind of curious why more people haven't made triple records. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what I think could be next.

It's quadruple. Quadruple. Yeah. I'm way ahead of you. You already got that figured out. Did you sit down to write three or five or whatever it was, or does it just flow? Well, I tend to write a lot. I mean, I have a pretty good disciplined practice of writing a lot.

So I always have quite a few songs, but I did set out to make a triple record. I did think, I wonder what you can do with a triple record in terms of having different types of moods, of moods, meet other moods, what you wouldn't have if you just go for the bang for the buck kind of, you know, single record. I will say I was immediately intrigued by the length because everything now is so short, and it's a little punk rock of you to say,

I'll do whatever the fuck I want. Yeah. And I respect that. That was really great. Yeah. Yeah, here, yeah. Leave them money less. I mean, I've been saying it. What is Twilight Override? Twilight override is, you know, just this notion that we're, I'm getting older, that the world appears to be getting darker for a lot of people. I think looking around, it just seems that way.

It doesn't feel as hopeful as it once, as it once did. The future doesn't seem as bright. But I don't know. This is the thing that I did. to combat that, and that is I spend time making things, being creative, trying to spend time with things that love me and people that love me as opposed to things that don't.

Right. You know, like I don't think my phone loves me. Yeah. Yeah. If anything, the phone makes you feel isolated, even though it's sold to us as connected. Right. There's kind of a willingness on our part, which is kind of shocking,

to get up and kind of put ourselves in a cage every morning of like who I'm going to start thinking right away about who I hate. Yeah. You know? You know, I'll go to the dog park and I'm standing by myself and my dog's running around

and there's 20 people and there's 30 dogs and I'm not talking to anyone and I'll immediately go to grab my phone to scroll and I'm like, what is better entertainment? Right. That's a pretty high dog-to-person ratio. It is. And there's nobody more entertaining than the weirdos.

with dogs. Yeah, multiple dogs. Multiple dogs. So, yeah, I mean, I love that. And I always feel myself personally, I'm happy when I'm creating. Right. You've written two books. One of your books is about how to write a song.

And, man, when I read that, I can't tell you how much as a comedian that also pertained to writing comedy. Right. And I love that. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't write a song? Right.

So your book was a failure, in my opinion. Yeah. I just want to make sure you didn't write two songs because then you need to buy two books. Two books, yeah. No, but you talked about becoming a songwriter and how I think maybe it was even in your journal or something. You shared a journal entry and you're like, these are song lyrics that I was writing. Right. You don't always think you can write a song, but maybe, is it in me?

I can do it? Oh, absolutely. You think so? Oh, yeah. I mean, you just have to lower your definition of what a song is. Right. That's what I do for jokes. It works for jokes.

Exactly. No, we ask too much of that stuff. That's true. We expect it to be all great. One thing I love is that you're playing with your kids. Right. Is there two kids that you play with? Okay.

And they're in the band. Yeah, it's the maximum number of kids that I have. I'm thankful that, yeah. What's that experience like? I have a five and a two-year-old. I can never, I can't even imagine doing anything productive with my children. Yeah.

It's not productive. But, I mean, you get on the floor with them, you know. You have to get on their level. Yeah, it's true. Which I still do. Yeah. They're 30 and they're going to be 30 and 26. It's an incredible experience.

And, yeah. I do pay them, though. Okay, I was going to say. I've heard you talk a little bit about COVID and how it's affected all of us. and we kind of don't talk about it now, but share some of your thoughts on what you think COVID did to us. Oh, wow, okay, whoa.

Yeah, well, it resonated with me. Yeah, I just think that I think everybody's walking around with dealing with some trauma that isn't really being discussed or addressed or even diagnosed. And I think it was just an extremely traumatic time. There was a moment where it felt like it could be a breakthrough in terms of how we all see ourselves in the same situation and could be more empathetic towards each other.

And it was kind of squandered and be politicized really fast. And, but I think that it's, it's been swept under the rug. And it kind of explains a lot about how poorly a lot of people are behaving, in my opinion, is, you know, I think when you're really struggling and you're in pain and you have trauma that's unaddressed, those tend to be things that allow you to be a little bit less forgiving of other people and hurtful, you know? Yeah. So I just think it's part of what explains this kind of really chaotic time, I think,

we're living in. I've noticed on my street since that time, people drive faster down the road. Yeah. And, you know, there was always idiots that did that, but now it feels like more idiots. Everyone. Everyone. And I wonder, we must be feeling disconnected. because you wouldn't do you wouldn't recklessly drive if you felt more connected to all of us

yeah or are just rolling through stop signs i've noticed that that's a similar similar thing yeah i always think it's like um people have spent more and more of their time with things that don't love them like their phones and and uh i always think of it like the the shopping cart you know like when you're in your car uh you can scream at somebody else and you're like They can make minor little accident, and a little wave doesn't even help. You're just going to get yelled at and, like, whatever. But if you bump into somebody with your cart at the grocery store, it's like, oh, oh, sorry, my fault. You know, and that's because, you know, you're still human in that context.

I like that. But I think that, yeah, when we're inside a machine, like a car or inside of our minds with a phone, I think we tend to dehumanize each other quite a bit. Sometimes people will send me mean messages on the Internet, and like an idiot, I will respond to them. It's a terrible idea. And they'll go, oh, it's you, Costa? I love your stuff. And I was like, next time, start with that one.

Yeah, yeah. Start with that one. Lastly, you're from the Midwest, and you don't meet a lot of rock stars from the Midwest. You're from Southern Illinois. Talk to me about how that's influenced you, if it has at all. I'm a Michigan man myself.

I went to University of Illinois, so I'm just always rooting for any creative person to have any form of success from the Midwest because most of these people in New York don't even know what the f*** I'm talking about. Right, exactly. I tell people I'm from Michigan and they say, oh, I have a cousin in Minneapolis.

Exactly. That's not even the same state. It's a 14-hour drive away. Yeah. Yeah. No, people don't know what they're talking about. Yeah. No, I think that the thing that I can attribute

to being my formative years as a musician being spent in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Yeah. Yeah. Which is a... The mayor of St. Louis right there. I grew up on the other side of the Mississippi from St. Louis, on the East St. Louis side.

And I just think that you're given an opportunity to suck for longer before people start weighing in on how, you know, evaluating you, you know. I remember I moved to L.A. after I'd done comedy for five years in Detroit, I went to this awful Mexican restaurant that was doing stand-up. And I bombed hard. and the guy who comes up first was the booker for HBO.

You know, and I'm like, man, this was a lot easier in Detroit when nobody ever saw me that had any significance. So I guess what you're saying is that's what you did for life. No, you have a time and space to practice. Thank you so much for being here.

Twilight Override is available now. I can catch Jeff on tour in the city near you. Jeff Tweeney. We'll take a quick med right back after this. Thank you so much for Jeff. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ.

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That was the swimming pool where Jackie would say, I hear women inside. Are women inside? Quite a famous. I'm not saying anything. This was a part of a movie. And the Secret Service said, no, ma'am. There's no women inside, ma'am. I'm sorry, ma'am. You're going to have to move along. 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 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.