The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Scott Pruitt's Petty Side Hustles | Regina King

Episode Date: June 8, 2018

The NFL's Malcolm Jenkins delivers a silent message to President Trump, Scott Pruitt's list of potential ethics abuses keeps growing, and Regina King talks "Seven Seconds." 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. June 7, 2018. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York.

This is the Candy Show, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you. Thank you, thank you so much. I'm Trevor Noah, tonight's guest from the Netflix series, 7 Seconds. Regina King is here, everybody. Man, we're going to have some fun. But first, let's get straight into it.

Let's catch up on the headlines. Remember how when Donald Trump uninvited the Philadelphia Eagles from the White House earlier this week? He said it was because the NFL players shouldn't kneel during the anthem. And then he went on to say they also shouldn't stay in the locker room. Well, Eagle Safety, Malcolm Jenkins, he's struck on a new form of protest, and damn if it wasn't effective. Philadelphia Eagle Safety Malcolm Jenkins

refused to answer questions about President Trump uninviting the Super Bowl champs to the White House this week. But he said he wanted to set the record straight as to why some NFL players have been taking a need. Are you surprised or this you guys are kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind the the the to to to to the the to to to their to their to to to to to to to to to to to to surprised or you know, this is, you guys are kind of enboiled in this controversy with the White House. Oh, and that phone. Yeah, please load a phone.

Are you not going to say anything tod see it. What are you listening to you? What are you listening to lie. I loved every single moment of this because he's basically doing love actually but for justice. Yeah. You realize for black people, racial equality is our Kiranightly. It's love blackually. That's what it is. You can feel it. And the best part is, Jenkins has found a way to protest where President Trump will never come after him, right? He's done in a way that never, Trump will never come after him because we all know Trump doesn't read. Yeah. When Trump sees words, his brain just slides right over them. He's gonna see the players on the field with the signs and he'll be like, look at them all standing for the anthem finally holding their beautiful white flags. They surrender. They all surrender. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. th. the. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho' tho, thu tho' tho- tho- tho- tho- tho- thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu to to thu to to thu to thu to to thu to thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu them, all standing for the anthem, finally, holding their beautiful white flags.

They surrender. They all surrender. We've won. All right, let's move on to our main story. Since Trump took office, there's been no shortage of financial scandals coming out of this cabinet. There was housing secretary, Ben Carson, to buy a $31,000 dining set. Treasury Secretary, Steve Manuchin, wasted almost a million dollars on travel expenses, and of course, Attorney General Jeff Sessions,

who spent $3 million on an experimental body-stretching operation. Worth every penny, if you ask me, I think he looks great. But nobody in Washington has been as consistently caught up in scandal as EPA Chief Scott Pruitt. And surprisingly, his scandals haven't come from him working to destroy the environment. No, no, no. They've come from his little side hustles, right? And normally when you find out about corruption in DC is the kind of corruption that

makes you mad, you know, millions in bribes, but with every new Pruitt revelation, every time you find out, you just go, wait, what? This morning the controversies keep coming for EPA Chief Scott Pruitt. Emails show that Pruitt had one of his aids reach out to chick-fil-a. Scott Pruitt apparently tried to use his position as head of the Environmental Protection Agency to get his wife a franchise with chick-fil-a. As astonishing as that sounds, even more astonishing, it's all in writing in government emails. You know, I'll be honest, this is not the fast food scandal I saw

coming out of the White House. Yeah, if anything, I thought it would be Trump getting in trouble for pardoning the hamburger. That's what I thought it would be. And yes, in case you didn't know, the hamburger is in prison and not for stealing burgers, he was trafficking fent fent fent fent fent........ And, the the the they. Hea. Hea, thi. Hea, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th th thi, thi, thi, thi, th thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, th. th. th. th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thin, th th thin, th th th th th th thr-I's thr-s. thr-I's thr-I's thin, anyl horrible story but but just think about this for a second you're the head of a major government agency with influence over some of the biggest corporations in the world and you decide to abuse your position to get your wife a chicken store my man focus you have all that power you got to think bigger it's like it's like he's Thanos and he's using the infinity gauntlet to cut the line at Disney World. It's just like, too many people. All right, Space Mountain.

And honestly, the only thing weirder than Pruitt timerying to score his wife at Chick-Fillay was his explanation for it. Look, my wife is an entrepreneur herself. I love, she loves, we love, we, Chick-file is a franchise, a faith, and it's one of the best in the country. And so, that's something we were very excited about. So, and we need more of them in Tulsa and we need more of them across the country. So anyway, it's an exciting time. What?

It's an exciting time. What's an exciting time? He's so busted in that moment that he couldn't come up with the right emotion. He sounds like a guy caught red-handed at a murder scene. Well, I'm the body, the body, I came in and he try to grab try to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab try to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab to grab me to grab me, he's to to to to to 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 he, he. He. He, he he, he he, he to to to to to to to to to to to to the try and he. try and he, he try and he try try try and he, try try, try, try, try, try and he's try, to to to to to to to to to to the try and he tried to grab me and his head, and anyway, it's an exciting time, officer. And it really is an exciting time for Pruitt, because he's finding little grifts all over Washington. New trouble for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, poohit, political reports he loved eating at the White House so much he's been asked to eat there less often.

Fruitt was frequenting the White House mess, an exclusive restaurant run by the Navy, with excellent food, by the way, at bargain prices. Oh yeah, you heard that right. Scott Pruitt was eating so many discounted meals at the White House. They had to ask him to please stop coming. Like, I've heard of the government curbing handouts, but not for one guy. Like, how cheap to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to tooom th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the theiolk, th, th, th, th, th, by their, by, by their, by, by their, by their, by their, by, by, by, by, by, by, by, by, by, by, by, by, by, by, by the the the the the the the the the government curbing handouts, but not for one guy. How cheap can you be?

Scott Pruitt's so cheap, he's probably at Starbucks like, so what you do is you bring an empty thermos, you fill it up with some of that 2% milk they got sitting out there and boom, free milk, yeah, what do you say? Like the man can't help himself. Remember that time when George Bush was in Iraq and a guy threw a shoe at him, right? If that were Pruitt, he probably would have caught the shoe and be like, Yes! One more invasion, and I'll have a pair! Like I'm telling you, once you begin to understand this guy's mindset,

all his other weird scandals start to make more sense. Like earlier this week, we found out that Pruitt used EPA officials to buy him a used mattress from Trump's hotel. And it's a weird story. And at first, we thought that maybe he was trying to suck up to Trump, right? But it turns out he was just trying to score a hotel mattress for cheap. In his mind, he was just like, it's cheaper than buying it new, and they throw in the bed bugs for free. And in addition, in addition, just tod today tod today tod today tod today, just tod today, just to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th, thue, thue, thue, the, the, the, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thui, thui, thui, thui, thui, thui, thui, thi, thui, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi we found out that Pruitt, this is a true story, Pruitt sent his security detail to go and get him moisturizing lotion from a Ritz-Coulton hotel.

Yeah. He basically asked his taxpayer-funded security to protect him from ashy ankles. That's what he did. So now, this guy has got his gods running around town trying to snag him some fancy moisturizer like it's lotions eight or some shit like that. Like, how is this real life? And there are actually signs that Republicans in Congress, who are of course the only people who matter in Congress are also starting to get tired of Pruitt's endless claims. And he scabs. Because when you combine these small grifts griftsthe other things that he's done, it's a pretty impressive list.

The White House is awaiting an ethics review on Pruitt that could lead to his removal. The list of probes or investigations into Pruitt is a long one, from leasing a DC condo from a lobbyist's wife below cost to spending tax dollars on first class travel and weekend trips home, handing out jobs and pay raises to political aids, holding questionable meetings with companies seeking EPA favors. Thirteen separate probes now underway involving Pruitt. I've never seen a political scandal that looks like a Star Wars opening. Look at that list. Like that list of investigations is longer than a CVS receipt. That's what it is. Yeah, and by the way, Scott Pruitt, if you save those thiiiiiii 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, with thi, with th, with thi's thi, with thi, with th list. Like that list of investigations is longer than a CVS receipt. That's what it is.

Yeah. And by the way, Scott Pruitt, if you save those receipts, you can tape them together and you hang it up and it's like a free curtain. Yeah, you can do it. You know, honestly, what's funniest to me about this entire thing is that if Prui does get fired, it won't be because he's an EPA chief who's destroying the environment. It'll be because he got caught up in some embarrassing scandal, like stuffing his pockets with White House toilet paper.

But I mean, you know what? At least he'll go down doing what he loves. So to Scott Pruitt, my friend. Scott Pruitt, my friend. Cheers. And may you grift until the last possible second. We'll be right back. 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. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is a two-time Emmy Award-winning actor, director, and producer, who stars in the Netflix series Seven Second Seconds. Please welcome, Regina King. So good. So good to have you. It's so good to have you. It's so good to be back.

This is, wow. I can I tell you. It's so good to be back. This is, wow. I, can I tell you, seven seconds is one of those shows that you, you know, like Netflix will catch you sometimes because you just watch a show, then it goes like, recommend, recommend. I saw seven seconds and I saw your face and I started watching the show and I was not ready for how intense and amazing the show is.

Yeah, it's pretty intense. It really is. If you give us a light breakdown of what the story is and where it goes. Yes, it is about a family who their son has been hit by a police officer, a drive-by, if you will, but literally the car hits him, and he's left to die and they try to cover it up. And it's my character in particular, just knows that something is not right about it. And as you follow her, it's her trying to get justice for her son. And you have to watch it if you haven't, to see what happens.

But it definitely is telling a story about things that are going on right now. I mean, it's interesting that you show, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. th. th. thi, thi, 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, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, the, the, the, th. the is, the is, I, th. th. the the the thinks, is, thinks, thinks, thi. th now. I mean, it's interesting that you, you know, show, which I loved the, the, I don't know his name, but the strong safety from the Philadelphia Eagles. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And you know what, you know what's powerful about the story is that it, it really captures the human element of a very difficult story to tell because in the story I will only spoil the

beginning of the first episode for you and that is that the police officer makes a mistake. He makes a mistake and it's a story of how the cover-up really does make what happened worse because he made a mistake and because his officers are involved in something shady they're afraid of how this will look and so they cover it up and it becomes worse and you have these families embroiled. Everyone has stories, everyone has secrets that they're trying to keep. And that really makes it worse. How do you think, like, the success of the show was defined by the humanity of every

single one of the characters? Because I, one, the first thing is the fact that Venus, V V V V V V, she, instead of making it be a child that was shot by a police officer, it was a child that was hit by a police officer and then this story of a cover-up. So that's where I think the humanity comes in and the choices that we make and as being a product of our choices. And that's what I guess made, allowed people to see it from a more human perspective. Right, right. And that really is, I think what makes seven seconds so successful. That combined with the amazing acting.

You're phenomenal in it. Thank you. I know the Emmys are coming up and honestly, like you have won two Emmys. I see a third in your future it is genuinely phenomenal phenomenal acting. Over time you know as an actor in Hollywood you've slowly seen a shift in how actors of color have been recognized for their work you know all too often I've heard people say like oh Regina, Regina King, she's really come out of nowhere and she's just like, especially for black people, you're like, from nowhere?

You mean our lives? What do you mean nowhere? Does it feel like that change is finally gaining traction? Do you feel like there's a shift in the right direction? Sure, and I think television is interesting. Yeah, I think television has been responsible for a bit of a show. I mean, just the fact that I'm sitting here with you and how you were the one that the baton was passed to. Right, right. I hear you what you say? It's an example of that there has been this shift in TV and and creators in television are having opportunities to tell stories that mirror what's the th....... th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I thi thi thi thi th and creators and television

are having opportunities to tell stories that mirror what's going on in life. So I say sure because I think we've got a long way to go. Definitely. No, definitely. And I think a lot of that long way will be, I really think inspired by the fact that people of color are now gaining equity. Because somebody like yourself is a really well known actor who has killed the game for a long time. You've been amazing. Thank you. And now we see you directing, we see you producing, we see you directed shows like, this is us.

You know, you've been out there. Thaned. Thank you. Thank you. But you also directed shows like This is Us, you know, you've been out there. Was it ever a choice? Did someone ever say to you, hey, Regina, do you want to direct or do you want to act? Was that ever a choice that was put in front of you? No, that was not a choice that was put in front of me. That was a desire and some examples that were before me. You know, Marla Gibbs was a huge example, and I think a lot of people, she doesn't get the credit

that she deserves because she was one of the first that was producing and starring and sold her own show. You know, 227 was a show, was a stage play that she took to NBC and sold it. And so I got to have a front row seat to see a woman do that. Right. And so I kind of feel like it was it was in me to desire to have more ownership and more of a presence than just an actor. Although I love acting, I would I will never stop doing it but I know that there's ways that I can bring opportunities

to tell our stories even more and in a more present way. do you, do you, do you ever 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 to to th the th th th th th the th the the the thi thi thi the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. the th. I 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. theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. to the. that I can bring opportunities to tell our stories even more and in a more present way. Do you ever feel that it's hard? Because honestly, I cannot stress enough how talented you are as an actor. I mean, everything from the boondocks through to seven seconds. You're phenomenal. So is there ever a moment where you're directing somebody somebody and then you're just like, just do it like this and then go out in front there.

Like, is there ever that moment where you're like, just do it! Do it the way I would do? You know what, roll on me. Is that ever a feeling that you have or do you completely separate yourself and change your role? Yes, I really try, I have had some really great mentors..... I have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to to to to to to to to to to to to to to, I, I, I, I, I, I have a to, I, I, I, I have a the, I, I've, I've, I've, I'm, I've, I've, I've, I've, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, just, just, just, just, just, just, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I....... I'm, I. I'm, I'm, I.a. I'm a a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a tha.a, tha.a.a.come, just, just, just, t tha.a.a.a.a.a.come, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, I have had some really great mentors as directors and it's really important to not, because I know what I don't want as an actor. I don't want a director to give me a line read or, you know, tell me that, say it like this. I don't want that.

So I really am conscious of that. But I will say there are times that I am behind the camera and the actors are just so amazing and they're so great and I want to jump in there and be in the scene and act with him. So I do have those moments. I'm excited to see what you're going to be doing next. Seven Seconds is an amazing, amazing story that you're telling. Good luck for the Emmys that are coming up. Thank you for being on the show with us again. Thank you. Seven seconds is available on Netflix. Please, trust me. You want to watch it. Regina King, everybody. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, 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. The Weekly Show. about. The election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.