The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Michael Cohen's Secret Side Hustle | Joaquin Castro

Episode Date: May 10, 2018

A white Yale student calls the cops on a napping black schoolmate, Michael Cohen is accused of selling access to President Trump, and Trevor interviews Rep. Joaquin Castro. 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, 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. May 10, 2018. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York. This is the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. My guest tonight is a Democratic congressman from Texas. Wachin Castro is joining us everyone. But first, over the past few weeks, you may have noticed a lot of stories about black people getting the cops called on them for no good reason, like for moving into their own apartment, for staying at an Airbnb, for golfing too slowly. It has been exhausting. Unfortunately, for any black people looking to take a nap, I've got some bad news.

Yale University officials say they're deeply troubled by a racially sensitive incident involving two grad students, Lelde Sionbola, who is black, shot video of a white student who'd called campus police on her. Siambolla had fallen asleep in the common room of their building. The other woman thought she was an intruder. Come on, man. This white lady called the cops because she saw a black woman sleeping? Sleeping.

That's literally the least threatening thing a person can do. I mean, what did she tell the cops? Yeah, I know she's sleeping, but who knows what she could be dreaming of. I mean, this could be dangerous. The last time they had a dream, we had to let them vote. Get over here quick. What are you afraid of? And the worst part is, she was sleeping because she was tired because Starbucks wouldn't sell her coffee. And you know, guys, I, sadly, this is not an isolated incidents.

Just the other day, I, Trevor Noah, got the cops called on me for sleeping while I was driving. This whole thing makes me crazy, man. I mean only a week ago Yale pulled Cosby's honorary degree. It's like make up your mind Yale. Are you for or against women sleeping? What do you want? I take your ooze and put them in my jaw. But let's move on to some good news. Now to that breaking news, those three Americans who have been held by North Korea, they are now back in the United States. Just after 3 a.m. the three American prisoners released from North Korea, stepped

out of that plane and into a made-for-t. TV moment produced by the president himself, one saying, It's like a dream. Wow, what a happy ending. And I can see why one of these guys said, it's like a dream. Because one of these prisoners was taken during the Obama administration. And now he's like, wait, the apprentice guy is president? Is this a dream? But still, but still, let's not hate. Congratulations to President Trump for getting these men freed.

Yeah, and I honestly mean it. Their families will be happy to have them back. Their spy agencies will also be happy to have them back. And I think we can all agree that it's a great moment. And we can also agree that Donald Trump can make a really great moment very weird. I want to thank Jim Johnlin who really was excellent to these three incredible people. It's very early in the morning. I think you probably broke the all-time in history television rating for 3 o'clock in the morning that I would say. You know, only Trump could be thinking about TV ratings in the middle of a hostages coming home party. I like, it's 3 a.m. who cares about ratings? Like does

Donald Trump have a rivalry with the lady from the pasta boat infomercial. What are you doing? It's also strange that Trump said Kim Jong-un was excellent to the prisoners. It's almost like they were they were they were they were they were they were they were the they were the the the the the the the the th th th th th the th th th th th th th th th. th th. true true true true true true true. true. true. true. true. true. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. Only only only only only only only only only only only only only only only only tr. Only tr. Only t. Only t. Only t. Only t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. true. true. true. true. true. I true. I true. I true. I'm true. I'm true. I'm true. I'm true. I'm true. I'm true. I'm true. I'm true. I t. I Kim Jong-un was excellent to the prisoners. It's almost like they were the hostages, but Trump is the one with Stockholm syndrome. He was very nice, so nice, I love him. And I'm happy that these guys are home. You know, they went through a lot. Physical abuse, emotional abuse. They were forced to eat disgusting food in a cramped space where they couldn't move their arms and legs, and that was just their flight back on Spirit Airlines. Spirit Airlines, a North Korean labor camp in the sky. That's right, we're not playing today.

But let's move on from people getting out of prison to people who might be headed there. Yesterday we talked about how President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was secretly receiving huge payments for a number of corporations, right? A story that was first uncovered by Michael Avenati, Stormy Daniels' lawyer, who, just by the way, looks exactly like what a lawyer and a porno looks like. Just seems like you'd be in that scene, he'd be like, your honor, if it pleases the court, then I'll keep on going all year. Yeah. Yeah.

But now, we're learning that some of those payments were even bigger than first reported. A source told C.MBC that AT&T paid Cohen now up to $600,000 as part of a consulting contract to get insight into President Trump. Pharmaceutical giant Novartis paying him more than a million dollars over the span of a year. All of the money that we have just been talking about was paid to a bank account that Cohen created in 2016 to pay off Stormy Daniels. That's right. Corporations paid millions of dollars into the same shell company that Cohen then used to pay off Stormy Daniels.

And right now, I can't believe that an affair with a porn star is the least scandalous part of this story. And when you think about it, if AT&T put money into the same account that Cohen then paid Stormy Daniels, then in a way, some of AT&T's money was used to pay off Stormy Daniels. And I'm an AT&T customer, which means I paid off Stormy Daniels. She better not tell any of my secrets. Although now when I look at my AT&T phone bill, I finally understand what Stormy Hush payment was for. I thought it was like a hurricane thing or something.

Now it makes sense. It makes sense. Now, the big question here is, why would multi-billion dollar corporations give so much money to never call Saul over here? Because it turns out it's because it's because of what he promised. Cohen approached a pharmaceutical company called Novartis and landed a one-year deal with them, promising them access to the White House on things related to health care policy. Cohen pitched potential clients on his close association with Trump,

noting that he still was the president's lawyer. He showed photos of himself with Trump and mentioned how frequently they spoke, even asking people to share news articles describing him as the president's fixer. I'm crushing it, he said, according to an associate who spoke to him in the summer of 2017. I'm crushing it. Yeah, he's explicitly bragging about selling access to the president. Like this guy's not just a swamp creature, he's literally selling swamp tours. That's what he's doing. And it's more than just a little theee- the-s the-s thi-s thi-s thi-s thi-a-s thi-s thi-s thi-s thi-s thi-s thi-s thi-s thi-s, thi-s, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-a, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-s, their-s, thi-s, thrususususkkk.-s. Ia-s. I'mauooosucoo-s. I'm-s. I'm-s. I'm thrususususk-s. I'ma-s. I'm thi-s, I'm thi- president. Like, this guy's not just a swamp creature. He's literally selling swamp tours. That's what he's doing. And it's more than just a little suspicious

that all of these companies desperately wanted something from Trump. Drug companies were on edge because Trump had said that he would clamp down on their pricing. Korea Aerospace Industries was bidding for a 16 billion dollar contract with the US Air Force and as for AT&T, Trump had been publicly threatening to block its $80 billion merger with Time Warner. So for all of these companies, it made sense to pay Michael Cohen. Like if you want access to the president, who else are you going to pay? Eric?

He can't get you access to Trump. Yeah. In fact, Eric was probably one of Cohen's biggest clients. He was like, hey Michael, it's Eric, I'll give you 100 grad for my dad's phone number, please. Like, just give me the last four digits. I'll guess the other three. Come on, man. Now, the questions people are going to be asking are, is Trump in on this or was Michael Cohen running a solo side hustle?

We don't know. But for now, it looks like there's a possibility that these corporations may have been conned. Novartis said, we wanted him to advise us on health care. We had one meeting with him, and oh, by the way, after that meeting, we decided that he wasn't of any use to us, but because of the nature of our contract, we then had to continue paying him $100,000 a month until the contract was over. No, it's amazing. I'm actually shocked that these major corporations got tricked by the classic Nigerian print scam.

Because if Michael Cohen had pitched them in an African accent, they would have seen this coming from a mile away. Just think about it. Hello, my dear friend, my name is Michael Cohen. I write to you with a blessed opportunity, huh? My friend Donald Trump is soon to be president. And if you permit me my desire to send me $1.2 million, I promise to make you very, very rich. We'll be right back. 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 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 day of the show. My guest tonight is a Democratic congressman from Texas who serves on both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Please welcome Congressman Wakene Castro. Welcome to the show. Thank you.

Let's talk about the news that just broke today. You and your fellow Democrats on the House Select Intelligence Committee released about 3,500 Facebook ads today, showing how Russian agents bought ads to try and create, you know, conflict around the 2016 election. There were many ads, for instance, around the Super Bowl and Biance that they bought, which is insane. Like, they were trying to break us apart using Biance. That's the biggest scandal, isn't it? Yeah, one of the biggest scandals. Right. Yeah, I mean, it was amazing. They were basically trying to pour asset on every wound in American politics. So if you look at those ads,

and actually not everything has been released because there's a whole cache of videos also. But it was try to cut people up, thea'laclaves matter, pro-cop, pro-Hispanic, pro-hospanic, thiii. It was really trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying trying tha, thau, to to thau, to really really really thau, thau, thau, to thau, to to to thi, to tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th....... thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, not, thic. It was really trying to cut people up every single way that you could. And I can't help but think that it basically exacerbated a lot of the tensions in a way that helped Donald Trump get elected. Right, and many people say America is more divided now than ever before.

There's no doubt that Facebook has played a role in this. Do you think that it is now up to Facebook or up to Congress to find to find to find to find to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the to the to the to to the to the the to to, th me, the thoom d. thoome, thoome, thoome, thi, the thi, the, thoomoomoomoomoomorrow, to, to, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, they, they, they, the the the the the the they, the they, they, they, the the the the thiiiahahahahahahahahahahahahahe, the the thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thau, thae, thauuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thauoomoomorrow, thae, thi up to Facebook or up to Congress to find a solution to this problem? Do you say no political ads on Facebook or do you say that political ads have to be curated? How does this problem begin to get solved? Well I think it's actually both. I think it's on Facebook and on Congress. But one of the things that they have to do that's, you don't have to say who's paying for it right now. You know, if you go look at a campaign sign or a television ad, you know where people say, I approve this message, right?

There's none of that on Facebook. So that would be an easy first step so that we can actually see who's paying for this stuff. Right, just create some accountability so people to thia, their, thii, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, 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, thi, thi, thin, thin, tho.. thoooooooomoomorrow, thoooomorrow, thoooomorrow, thi.. thoooooo. their, the story that doesn't leave the news. You know, some people think it's over-exaggerates, as others feel like it's not thought of as being serious enough. We recently found that Michael Cohen, Trump's personal lawyer, has been receiving payments from corporations, and one payment he received was from a company that's linked to a Russian oligarch who's close to Vladimir Putin. On a scale of 1 to 10, how shady is that?

It's about a 12. I mean, it's like this guy is about as shady as you can get. I mean, he basically has made his career a sacrifice fly, you know, Devin Nunez, but also Michael Cohen, for the president. I mean, this is somebody who, and you know, we did the interview of him several months ago, but you could tell that there was something that he wasn't telling us. Right, right, right. And as all this stuff is coming out, I mean, it's clear that there are a lot of things wrong with this guy.

When you, when you made a statement about this, you know, that AT&T and NOVATS is that's, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, too, to bea, to bea, too, too, their, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, tha, is something, is something, is something, is something, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is saying this is clearly them, you know, it reeked of influence peddling. Could you help explain to me to maybe help me understand what is the difference between this and lobbying? Because I've always thought of lobbying as corruption, so I don't understand what the difference is between what they were doing with Michael Cohen and what lobbying is. I mean, well, the easiest thing to say is look, for the the difference the difference, the the the the the the the easiest is, the easiest is, the easiest, the easiest, the easiest, the easiest, the easiest, the easiest, the the the the the the the the the the the the the to, to, to to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to help, to me, to help, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to thing to say is look, for example, Novartis put out a statement saying that they were paying Michael Cohen for health care counseling or consulting. The guy has no background in health care. Absolutely zero knowledge about health care. So why are you paying him $250,000 or whatever it was that they paid him?

It makes no sense. But what is the difference between that and lobbying is what I'm saying? Well, I think, well usually, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, th.. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the difference between that and lobbying is what I'm saying? Well I think, well usually, I mean these folks have to register, right? So we know that you're accepting the money, we know what clients you're taking on. And usually when you're getting paid to lobby, it's because you have an expertise in the field. So would you say then the only difference really is that one is formalized and the biggest difference. Right. If we talk about your Republican counterparts on the committee, they also announced about Russia,

they said, hey, we found no collusion. This issue is done and done, and we're over this. The Democratic committee has said, we're not done yet. We still want to talk to some people. We still have evidence to release. Has it become so politicized that the eventual answer of this Russia investigation is not going to mean anything? I hope not. I mean the House investigation got really politicized. Devin Yunis, who is a chairman, has basically been working in service to the president. And,

you know, and so yeah, things basically went off the rail with the house investigation. But you still have the Senate investigation and a lot more bipartisanship there. And Bob Mueller, of course, who's the only person in this whole thing that can prosecute anybody for a crime, his investigation seems to be on track. Right. Moving on to immigration, you have been a champion for many drea. You have been a champion for many dremors. You've been a champion for many immigrants, who have been to America who are trying to start a new life. The issue of DACA has been one that has been plaguing both dreamers, and I would argue the United States as a whole. President Trump passed the problem on to Congress,

and many say rightfully so, because this is an issue that should be voted on, the president shouldn't decide it. Why does it seem like it's such a difficult issue? Republicans are just saying they want money for the border wall. Why don't Democrats just say, okay, fine, have your money for the border wall and let's get these dreamers where they deserve. Yeah, you're right. I mean, I think it's a shame that it has, that nothing has happened. There is actually some light that maybe at the end of the tunnel, this week, 18 Republicans finally signed on to what's called a discharge petition................ And, and, and, and, and, and, to. the. the. to. the. the. the. to. the. the. to. the. the. to. the. to. to. toe, toe, the the to be the the the the, the the the they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, their, their, their. Yeah, their. Yeah, 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 thr. thr. te. te. te. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. they. their their their their their their thr. the Democrats, then even though Paul Ryan doesn't want to put

the bill on a floor for a vote, he would be forced to give us a vote on this bill. So that's actually something that's promising and could happen as early as next week. That's really exciting. When you talk to your constituents, as someone who's in Texas, I believe if my numbers are correct, there are about 100,000. Yeah, 120,000. 120,000. Do these people, like, is the community accepting as well? Do your constituents go, no, we want these dreamers to be here, we want to give them the life that they were promised?

Yeah, I mean, even in what is considered a red or conservative state like Texas, you still have over 75% support for dreamers. You know, and I always remind folks that there is a scarier day in America than the day when everybody wants to come here. That's the day when nobody wants to come here. that's the day when nobody wants to come here and lend their hard work and their talent to succeeding, but also making this a better country. And it's interesting that you bring up the Republicans because one thin, always been impressed impressed about is how you have been known as the person who reaches across the aisle. You find

ways to work with Republicans who you may disagree with. What is your secret? Is it cupcakes? Well you know there's a back story to that is it basically I got elected to the Texas legislature when I was 28 and I'm 43 now but in all of those years I've always been in the minority party. I've never existed in the majority party. Now I believe that's going to change next year. I think Democrats are going to win back the House of Representatives. Yeah, I also think that we're going to finally win a Senate seat. I think Betto O'Rourke will beat Ted Cruz in that Senate race in 2018. Wow. That's my prediction. But yeah, so when you're the

minority party actually, you can't beat the other side with numbers. Right. You can't just run people over with numbers because you don't have the numbers on your side. So it forces you to learn how to work with people that you don't necessarily agree with with and they don't agree with you. But you try to find common ground on some things. This is something that you've extended to not just your fellow lawmakers but also voters. You've been holding dissenter town halls. We should find a fascinating concept. What you basically do is you hold a town hall, but specifically for people who don't

like you and don't agree with you. Have you never heard of Twitter? You can do that there. No, that's actually, that's what inspired me. Look, every day I would get these messages. I mean, people calling you every name in the book, right? Right. On Twitter, on Facebook, sometimes they put their actual name, but oftentimes people don't. And I said, you know what, why don't we just,

why don't I just invite all these folks and actually hear them out in person and give them a chance to tell me what they want to tell me. And so a few weeks ago, we did that. And you know, it wasthere people who walk away going, I think differently, or is it just a forum for people to shout? Yeah, I mean, I don't know if anybody walked away saying, hey, I'm going to vote for you now, but I do think that they respect that you took the time to actually sit there and they know that I'm going to stand up for what I believe, but then I'm also going to explain to explain to explain to explain, I'm going to to explain, I'm going to to explain, I'm going to to explain, I'm going to to explain, I'm going to to explain, I'm going to to listen, I'm going to to listen, I'm going to to listen, I'm going to to listen, I'm going to listen, I'm going to listen, I'm going to to explain, I'm going to to listen, I'm going to to be a to be a to be a 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 toe, I'm going.s, I'm going.s, I'm going. toeck. toeck. tooomeck. tooomea, I'm, I'm going. toe. too, I'm going. toe. toe, I'm going, I'm going, I'm also going to explain why I believe it, and I'm going to listen to people even when we disagree. I think every representative, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat,

owes that to the people they represent. And is there any one person who came to that event who maybe changed you a little bit? Yeah, no, I mean, hearing other people's perspective, that's the thing. that you can get so caught up in the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their throe throe. throeck. throgeauauauauwogeauwoged. threatheaqqqqqqqqqqqaqaqqaqaqaqaqaqaqqqqqqaqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq of their their their their their their their their their their their the people that agree with you. And you know, you're grateful for those folks too, but you can get so caught up in that bubble that you don't consider the other side enough. So yeah, of course, there are times where listening to the other side, listening to people in my district. It makes me think twice on some issues. You've been in the game for a long time, but you're still a young man, and it, and it, and it, and it, and it. And it. And it. Thank, th. Thank, th. Thank, th. Thank, th. Thank, th. Thank, to. Thank, to. Thank, to. Thank, to. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank you. Congressman Waukeen Castro, everybody. Thank you so much.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11. Ten Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 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 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 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.