The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Mazie K. Hirono on "Heart of Fire"

Episode Date: May 9, 2021

Hawaii Sen. Mazie K. Hirono reflects on her trailblazing career, her memoir, "Heart of Fire," and sparring with Sen. Ted Cruz about her anti-hate crimes bill protecting Asian Americans. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. Senator Hirono, welcome to the

daily social distancing show. Thank you. It's good to be with you, Trevor. You are what many people would term a trail blazer, because no matter what you're doing in life, it is oftentimes referred to as a first. You're often a first in a position, whether it's the first woman assuming that position, or the first Asian American assuming that position. You are oftentimes breaking down barriers,

whether it's in the House of Representatives, or as a lieutenant governor, to thoult, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the to, the the the toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, the toe, toe, toe, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, anda, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thii.e, thi.e, te,e,e,e,e,e,e,e.e.e.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea,ea, or now as the Senator of Hawaii. What does it feel like to constantly be breaking new ground and not having people to look for to inspire you? Or do you find people who are not in your career to inspire you to do these things? Oh yes, there are a lot of people. My mother is the main inspiration because she was a courageous risk taker who completely changed my life by bringing me to this country. Not very many people can point to one person who

did that. And so I have her to look to for so much of what I do and how I do it. You wrote a beautiful book about your story, how your mother brought you here and basically fought to set up a life for yourself and your family. Did you know from the onset that this was going to be a book about your mother and her journey? Or were you surprised as you were writing it about how much she did to set you up to have the life that you have today? Oh, I've known for a long time that this is a book that I would dedicate to her because she had suffered two strokes, wasn't able to tell her story and I just thought she was such an extraordinary person that I wanted to do this

to dedicate to her and I did. You know what when I first got to America, one of the things I knew about Hawaii was that everyone was just chill. And I remember when I went to Hawaii, I was like this is one of one the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most 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. thi thi was 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. I was is is is is a th. I was is a th. I was is is th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was thi. I was thi. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. And I remember when I went to Hawaii, I was like, this is one of the most chilled, amazing places I've ever been. You know, like, pretty late back. Yeah, like, even the, like, even the, like, even the weather man is wearing, like, you know, it's got like, you,. You know, it's always the weather. It's good times, you know, it's just got that. But, well, I mean, I'm in team Hawaii now. I mean, I'm making my shirt and hoodie. I see that. But I think a lot of people would be proud to say that, yes, Hawaiians are chilled, but Hawaii also has one of the most fierce senators who is willing to fight for people's rights that she believes in. There were a few issues that I'd love to talk to One of those issues was in a measure

that Ted Cruz brought forward and I mean I know Ted Cruz is always trying to troll people. We're well aware of that on the show. Good word. But what what he did was very slick in trying to harness the feeling that many Asian-American communities feel in that they feel like they're being excluded from going to universities because universities have certain quotas or systems that they use to infuse diversity into the school. All the Democrats voted against it. Ted Cruz was like, you see, they don't like Asians. They, the Democrats just want to do this for some minorities and not others. You said this was a cynical attempt by Ted Cruz to try and create really a fight amongst people. Talk me 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 thu th thu, thu, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thu, thu, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. 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, the, the, the, the, thean, thean, tean, tean, tean, thea, thea, thea, the, the, the, the, Cruz to try and create really a fight amongst people. Talk me through that initiative and what you think colleges and universities can do to

be as inclusive as possible whilst not making other people feel like they're not in or in because of the color of their skin. I said discrimination on the basis of race for an emissions policy is already illegal. I know that there's a bunch of Yale Asian law students who got the Trump administration to follow the file a lawsuit or something. And so this is not pitting one group of minorities against another. For Ted Cruz to use that example as somehow he's standing with the Asian American Pacific Islanders is such a BS, you know, so this is, that's Ted. And in fact just today we had another markup in the Judiciary Committee.

I had a very simple bill that would just collect more information about who gets patents in our countries because women, minorities do not, we need to get the data and he tried to change, he tried to put in an amendment. And he says to be, 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, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tha, tha, tha, tod, tod, today, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tod, ttod, tod, tod, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, t to get the data and he tried to change, he tried to put in an amendment. And he says to be, I don't know why you don't like my amendment, are you saying that it's burdensome? I said it's not necessary. I said there's a difference. He didn't say anything after that, but this is to do and his amendment was a distraction. He does that all the time. I'm glad that he at the end voted for the bill 94 to 1 and there was one outlier Republican

which is seeing a lot for the Republicans who didn't vote for it and the less said about that guy the better. You have to work with these people and you know the Democrats have a slim majority to work with. Do the Democrats have an idea of how to actually get things done if it's really just always going to be split down the middle, nobody moves? Mitch McConnell's goal in life is to retake the Senate, which means that he's not going to be trying to help Joe Biden achieve his big programs that help Americans. He's not about to help all the Senate Democrats achieve our goals either.

So we start with that proposition, which means that we're not going to get a lot done unless we face up to the need for filibuster reform. I would like to get rid of filibuster. Or we're going to have to use some of the process like reconciliation to pass some of these really big bills that are needed. Previously, and correct me if I'm wrong, I feel like in the past, you were one of the Democrats who said the filibuster needed to be protected. You know, a lot of Democrats said the filibuster needs to be protected so that the minority always has a say in which laws are being passed.

Do you not worry about the inconsistency in that message or is there something that people may be missing? Oh, you know, a consistency is a goblin of little minds. So I've learned watching Mitchel Khan over the last four years. He hardly ever gave the Democrats much chance to exercise our 60 votes, to deny him the 60 votes, because he would rarely put out any substantive legislation in his busyness to get as many ideologically oriented people onto the courts for lifetime appointments or passing the 1.5 trillion the tax cuts. You think that, well, the filibuster protects minority voices, but notice we were in the minority for four years and we basically got shafted at every turn. So I learned from that. And also that the filibuster is a vestige of the Jim Crow days. And so we need to move on away from th from from from from from from th th th th this th th th from this th th th th th th th th th that the filibuster is a vestige of the Jim Crow days, and so we need to move on away from this rule that's not even anything that is in law or in the Constitution.

That's an honest take to have, and I think a wonderful note to end on, is a lawmaker in America saying, hey, look, I'm willing to change my mind as time progresses. Senator Hirono, thank you so much for joining me on the show, and good luck. Pleasure. Aloha. Aloha. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central

and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.

Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts.