The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Lester Holt on Leaving the Anchor Desk Behind and Taking the News to Small-Town America

Episode Date: April 29, 2019

"NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt discusses the growing bipartisan call for criminal justice reform and his passion for reporting on stories that resonate across America. 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. Unbelievably 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. Please welcome Lester Holt. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Do you miss desks now that you stand?

Is that the thing? Yeah, I do a lot of stand. I have a very fancy desk, but now they have me standing from this. Yeah, I like it. I like it. I come home like anybody else and like, oh, my feet are killing me. Right. The days of sitting are gone, my friends.

Yeah, no, it's a more, you know, you can project more and, uh, you can project more. I like it, you know, I like, you know, I like, you know, like, you're a more. It's like popping out. I first congratulate you for, you won an Emmy last night. Yeah, for the... Thank you. Thank you. It was, uh, for an interview I had done with President Obama, the night he gave his farewell to the country, we traveled with him to Chicago, right. Went to his favorite restaurant in Hyde Park in Chicago, sat down. And as we're doing the interview, of course, the clock is counting down because we have to get him out of there so he can get to a speech, his nine o'clock speech, but we won an Emmy for

it. I'm assuming you won the Emmy for not crying during the interview, is that what it was? Is that what it was? How, let me ask you this question? Let me ask you this question. This is something that comes up all, you, the the the to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, 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, the, the, the, the, I.. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I'm, the, the, the, the, the, the, t t t t ttoo.e.e.mea.me.me.me.me.me.me.me.me.me. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm the, the, the, the, media is liberal. Trump even said the other day, he said, oh you news people, I call you Democrats, you're all Democrats. How do you respond to the idea that as news people, you can report on the news and still have your own personal beliefs about politics that we may or may not know?

That's a really good question, because I tell people all the time, we're living human beings. You know, I don't know how to figure out immigration or whatever it may be, but we're professionals at the same time. I mean, I enjoy a spirited intellectual, you know, debate. I like to hear smart people talk about issues and you realize there's often there's no right answer and that's kind of the attitude I bring to the news set every night. But I I that that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's the the that's the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi tho th. I th. I th. I their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi thi thi thi thi theeeanan. I thooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooee. I know, most of that, you know, you just kind of let it go in winning right the other. You have to. Right.

Right. Right. to do our hater's are in the White House because there was a tweet that President Trump sent out and this was in August, right, where he said what's going on at CNN is happening two different degrees at other networks, two with the-oh. He said with NBC News being the worst, the good news is that Andy Lackey is about to be fired for incompetence and much worse, when Lester Holt got caught fudging my tape on Russia, they were hurt badly. Why do you fudge the tape? Well to put that in context, I was actually on vacation and I got slept in, I first seen open the phone I said to my, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th, th, thee, thee, thee, today, today, today, today, today, today, th th the threat, thee, thee, the good, the good, the good, the good, the put that in context, I was actually on vacation and I got slept in. I first seen I opened the phone I said to my hey honey

I got tweeted about by the president. It was you know, I you know, I you know at, I mean it was at that point I think it was 15 months after the interview right? Right. And the interview just a world on the same page is the interview that in many ways has shaped what's happening in America right????? the the the the the the the the the the th. th. the th. the the th. the th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I's th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I's th. I's th. I's th. I'm the. I'm the. to thee. to theeeeea. te. te. te. te. te. te. th. the. I thea. I th. I th. on the same page is the interview that in many ways has shaped what's happening in America right now. You sat down with the president and he basically admitted to firing James Comey because of the Russia investigation which has now come back to bite him. Well he acknowledged that the Russia investigation was on his mind and you know we it was it was a good spirit or a conversation he you know and there were no trick questions. He was very up front about, you know, why he wanted him fired. And, you know, the early reports were he thought it was a good interview. How do you not tweak back when the president tweets you saying you, you lied as a journalist?

Oh, I, you know, that's a, that's a foolhardy game as a journalist. You can't get into that because, you know, thue, thue sometimes makes people uncomfortable. We'll do stories that may challenge your worldview or challenge what you've always thought something to be. And, you know, if you got in the position of, you know, you know, responding to every critic of something you reported, that would be a, take it down a road you don't want to go down. And certainly I'm not going to get into it with the President of the United States. Let's talk about the journey that you've taken on the news. It's been really interesting to see some of the stories that you're covering, particularly with regards to criminal justice reform. You know, when Meek Mill was in prison, you were one of the first and few news programs that reached out to him in prison.

You conducted an interview with him over the phone. Why is it so important for you to catch up on these stories? Because I noticed there's a specific focus on this. Because I think there's a moment in time here where both red and blue, both Republicans and Democrats are starting to understand there's a need for criminal justice reform. That's one of the few things they can talk about and find some common ground. Mick Mill's story was, you know, he served time for crimes he was convicted of, but then he got caught in, what he thought was a probation trap, where you are on probation and you do something and then you're back in for more, for more time. Yeah, and so it was a fascinating story. He had, you know, the celebrity to of course put this on the front burner and you're right, I spoke him on the phone a few times, interviewed him, and then we were there. I mean, literally there as he came out and, you know, he was whisked away in a helicopter.

He was at the 76ers game that day and we interviewed him within hours of that. But he's one of many people who have brought a lot of attention to this, and it's something that I've become more and more passionate about. I've noticed your passion in the stories you cover and in the manner you cover them in as well. Because, you know, you've started taking yourself away from the desk, but I've also noticed that you started taking the news to the people, which is really interesting. You're embarking on a multi-state tour right now, where you're going around the country,

speaking to people who you're reporting the news about, which is an interesting way to do it. We've always seen the news as being in a place. You're making it seem like the news is where the people actually are. What are you doing? Well, you know, I'm a reporter, so I'm always more comfortable in the field. I always tell you, you know, they say, I want to be an anchor someday. I say, well, that's great. I said, but just so you know, the broadcast on the road to major stories, you know, hurricanes or attacks or whatever may be going on. But it's also important to go visit communities when nothing horrible is happening. I was in local news for 20 years and, you know, you have a community, you know, whether it was Los Angeles or Chicago, you know, you had a community. I speak to the whole country every night. And it's important to, you know, get out, you know, to the to, to, to, the, to, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, to, to, you, to, you, you, you, to go, to go, to go, to go, to go, to go, to go, to go, to go, to go, to go, to go. And, to go. And, to go. And, to goe, to goe, to go. And, to go. And, to go. And, to go, to, to, to, their, their, their, their, their, and, their, and, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, you, you, you know, tooome.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.a.a.e.e.a.a.a.a. And, describe it as a bubble, to get out, look

at stories that may resonate across the country but are playing out in a unique way in a particular city. So this is a third time we've done this. We'll go next week, we'll be in a different city every night, you know, doing stories that are important in those communities, but again, ones that may ring familiar to others. Do you find that that th th th th th th th th th their th th their th their their th th th their their thi their their their thi their their thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, you find when you go to these communities that people hunger for the need to be, like they hunger to be seen? Is that a big thing where they go, wow, Lester Holt with the national news is here talking to me in a small town that no one really thinks about.

Yeah, and it's important because I, I bristle when I'm when people start to think of this big authoritative anchor job like we're on some kind of altar, we're not, you know, we're reporters and I'm lucky to be, you know, the chief reporter if you will, every night. Right. But I want people to know that this, the broadcast, we want the broadcast to always be relevant, to be modern, to tou to touch people, to cover the stories that they're thinking about, and to do that you really have to to to to to theto get out. So it's, you know, it's a no-brainer for me. As a reporter, I like to be where the people are, where the stories are being made, and I think it, you know, makes me better at what I do. Well, congratulations on everything. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Lester Kitschop, is a tour. Next, Cux America tourn' to a weeknigh. A. too, Les. Next, Les. Next, C. Next, C. C. C. C. C. C. C. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A............................................................................................................................................................. 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.

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