The Daily Show: Ears Edition - So Much News, So Little Time - Whitaker, California Fires & Trump's WWI Rain Check | Jeffrey Wright

Episode Date: November 13, 2018

Recounts begin for Florida's Senate and governor's races, President Trump has a terrible week at home and abroad, and actor Jeffrey Wright discusses "We Are Not Done Yet." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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See Shopify.com slash POS 20 for details. 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 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 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 weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. November 12th, 2018. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York. This is the Daily Show with Trevor Noah, to everybody. I'm Trevor Noah. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Our guest tonight is an amazing actor who you might recognize from the hit show West World. Jeffrey Wright is here, everybody. Very fantastic guy. He has a new documentary about creating art with veterans.

But first, let's catch up on today's headlines. Florida. Florida. It's a state so laid back that their elections are still going on. Florida's Secretary of State has ordered recounts in both the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races after both unofficial results fell within the margin that triggers a recount by law. In the governor's race, Republican dissentent has a shrinking lead over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Andrew Gillum has rescinded his concession, which he made on election night. I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote.

Okay, this is just, this is just ridiculous. Like what is it with Florida and their elections? Both the governor's race and the Senate races have to be recounted. And if the recount can't find a winner, then of course under American law, the Russians decide the winner. That's how it works. And now, because more votes are coming in, Andrew Gillum has done the right thing. But you have to admit, unconceiting

is a pretty strange idea, right? It's almost like someone taps out in an MMA fight, and then three weeks later, just pops out in the parking lot. I'm unconceed. I unconceived. the thinn't think about you, Sandra. Andrew Gillum says we can make it work. By the way, wherever she is right now, I bet Hillary's like, can anyone unconceit? Moving on, former First Lady Michelle Obama is back in the news. And she's promoting her new book. And in interviews, she's throwing more shade than an

Amazon rainforest. The former first lady she's throwing more shade than an Amazon rainforest. The former first lady also referencing the current one. And how, when they met after the 2016 election, Obama told Melania Trump, she's just a phone call away. Pass she reached out to you and asked her any help. No, she hasn't. You saw that look, right? Yeah, she went instantly from first lady to first meme, just like that. That was dope.

But like, let's be honest here, like, did Michelle really think that Melania would call her for advice? Like, what advice is she going to give her other than run? She's not a divorce attorney. In other news, ballet, and this is good news. Ballet is something that was invented several hundred years ago by dancers who didn't want to disturb the downstairs neighbors. And recently, it got even more considerate. Nearly 200 years after the invention of point ballet shoes,

one of the world's oldest dancehue manufacturers is becoming more diverse. Britain's oldest manufacturer of point shoes, Freed of London, is not only selling the traditional pink slipper, in October, they introduced two new styles, brown and bronze, for dancers of color. Until this point, dancers had to use makeup or even paint to match their skin tone. Not knocking tradition and everything like that, but times are changing. And we need to see people who look like us. And in doing that, we need brown tights, brown shoes. Yeah, this is great news. This is really, really great news for ballet dancers of color,

because now, because of the brown shoes their skin looks natural while they contort their bodies into the most freaky ass unnatural ways and I think representation shouldn't just stop at ballet because you may not realize it if you're white but there's a lot of stuff that's fun that black people can't wear like how come there's no black people novelty aprons huh yeah don't they don't don't black people deserve to look ridiculous too don't and they and they and what they and what they and what they and what they and they and they and what they they they they they they they they they they they they they they th th th th th th their th th their th their their their their their their their their their they they they they they their they their they's their they they they's they's they's they's they's they's they's they's they's they they they they they they they they they they their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th I I I th I tho tho tho tho tho the tho to tho. tho. thea tho. thea thea thea thea. they're they're they're they're they're they're the black people deserve to look really ridiculous too, don't they? And what about condoms? It's about time we start getting brown skin colored condoms. Yeah, I don't want to clash when I smash. Why are you judging me?

I think my penis looked like it's got vertigo. All right, let's move on to our main story. President Trump. Don't oo. Go back and vote. Not a day goes by when he's not making Don't oo, go back and vote. Not a day goes by when he's not making headlines. But sometimes he makes so much news that we don't even have time to cover it all. Luckily though, not enough time is just the right amount of time for a segment we

like to call, ain't nobody got time for that. All right, let's just say it. This last week has not been a good one for the president. Hell, the last two years hasn't been a good one for the president. Trump's presidency is a lot like airplane Wi-Fi. There are moments when it seems to be working, but most of the time it's complete trash. But this week has been especially bad.

It started on Wednesday, when Trump replaced his house elf with Republican Vin Diesel, Matt Whitaker. Now the move caused immediate backlash from people who say Whitaker isn't qualified to be Attorney General. He's biased against the Mueller investigation and his appointment may even be unconstitutional. And the controversy has forced Trump into one of his most blatant lies ever. With his pick for acting Attorney General under fire, President Trump is defending his choice while also seeming to distance himself from the new man overseeing Mueller. I don't know Matt Whitaker.

Matt Whitaker worked for Jeff Sessions, and he was always extremely highly thought of, and he still is, but I didn't know Matt Whitaker. But that's not what he told Fox News a month ago. I can tell you Matt Whitaker is a great guy I mean I know Matt Whitaker. You know sometimes Trump lies so hard he gives my brain whiplash because most people lie in a gradual curve I know him well actually I know him through a friend well I don't know Trump is just like the Tokyo drift of lying. One means like he's my best friend hea he he he he he he he he is like he he is like he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he. Matt he. Matt he. Matt he. Matt he. Matt he. Matt he. Matt he he. Matt he he. Matt is he. Matt is he. Matt is he. Matt he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he's he's he's he's he's he's he's he he's he's he he's he he's he's he he's he's he's he's he he he he he he. I him, well actually I know him through a friend, well I don't know. Trump is just like the Tokyo drift of lying. One man's like he's my best friend, and he's like never heard of him. And Sarah Huckup, he's at the finish line like, that was totally normal driving at no point that the president changed his direction.

I mean at this point you just got a laugh when Trump, Newton's third law. For every Trump, there is an equal and opposite Trump. And by the way, and by the way, he also fits Newton's first law. A Trump at rest will remain at rest. That's right, we're doing physics jokes today, people. Buckle up. Now on a normal day, we'd have all the time to talk about how Trump appointing the volleyball from Castaway as Attorney General might be part of an ongoing plan to obstruct justice, but we just don't, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just th, and th, and th, and th, and th th th th th thi, and thi. And thi, and th. And, and th. And, and th. And, and th. And, and thi. And, and thi. And, and th. And, and th. And, and the th. And, and the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th.. And, and th. And, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, the the the to talk about how Trump appointing the volleyball from Castaway as Attorney General might be part of an ongoing plan to obstruct justice, but we just don't have the time right now, because there's a giant emergency in California and the president is making things worse. The US president responded to what's happening in California in a series. Trump twea, twee twea twea, theed theededededededededededed quoteeded quoteed quoteed quoteed quoteed quoteed quoteed quoteed quoteed quoteed quote their is their is their is no their is no their is no their, their, their, their, th. Thea, th. The- th. Thee, the- the-a, the-a, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thea. the thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. the the the the the the the the the the the. tweeted quote, there is no reason for these massive deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is poor. Billions of dollars are given each year with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement

of the forest. Remedy now or no more Fed payments. Okay, now, um, now this might sound crazy but I'm actually with Trump on this one. The man knows fires, okay. He fired Gary Buse. He fired meatloaf. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. th. th. th. th. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. Bill. 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 too. tole. too. the too. too. the too. too. the too. the too. the the forest. the forest'm actually with Trump on this one. The man knows fires, okay? He fired Gary Busey, he fired Meatloaf. I feel like he fires Omarosa every six months. If anyone's a fire expert, it's him. But yes, instead of lending a message of support and comforts,

Trump is blaming people while the fire is still happening. And on top of that he's incorrect. One, most experts say that the state's major fires have nothing to do with forest management and two, this could have all been avoided if Don Jr. hadn't hunted down smoky the bear. So it's been a rough few days for Trump. But he had a chance to put all of this behind him. In France, where the president traveled to mark the hundred-year anniversary too. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. the th. th. the the. the the. the the the. the. the the. the the. the. throwne. the. the. thoome. thoome, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. tode. toda. toe. toe. toe. toe. toda. toe. toda. toe. toe. toe. toda. the. the. the. the. the. the. World War I. All he had to do, or show up for a ceremony at an American cemetery to honor the World War I troops. Super easy, but apparently not easy enough. President Trump facing criticism right now over the decision to skip an event honoring American troops killed in France during World War I, calling off the trip because he could not chopper to it in the rain. Other leaders made it. The White House is blaming rain for not being able to make it.

The optics were undeniably awful, as other world leaders were able to pay their respects. Okay, so the president's helicopter can't fly in the rain? What? Does the helicopter need to keep its hair dry too? Is that what it is? And look, I understand whether, even if the helicopter couldn't fly, surely the president could have found another way to get there. I mean, all the other world leaders did. Even Merkel, even Angela Merkel made it, and her side lost World War I.

She had to be out in the rain like, we have come here to honor those fallen soldiers who beat the Shisa out of my country. And it was especially bad because when Trump didn't show up, Merkel used the opportunity to re-fight World War I. I unconceed. I unconceed. Look what you did, Donald. Now we don't even have time to get into how much backlash Trump got for taking a rain check on honoring fallen soldiers because we, who the the the the the the the the the the the th who th who the th who the th who the the th who th who th who beat the the the th th th the th the the the who beat the the the the the the the the theysysysysysysys-s who beat the who beat the who beat the who the shi-s, who the shi-s, who the shi-s, who the shi-s, who the sh-s, who the sh-s the sh sh sh sh sh sh-s the sh sh sh-s the sh sh-s th, who th, who the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the theys-s, thea-sys-sys-siziziz-sizzeriaseys-sizizzeryyzeeaseys-siziz-sieys-sys-s, the we don't even have time to get into how much backlash Trump got for taking a rain check on honoring fallen soldiers, because we have to focus on the tragic end of his bromance with Macron. They used to be friends, and things seem to be falling apart. And we've put this together in a special film we call Mercie next.

They certainly do appear to be having a great relationship, Macron and President Trump. The two leaders showing their affection and friendship beyond the usual handshakes. President Trump, who minutes after he landed here on French soil on Friday, sent off that critical tweet about the French president, really setting the stage for conflict. At one moment President Macron even reached over and touched President Trump's leg important to note that President Trump didn't return the favor. And it did seem that President Trump was in a sullen mood. Our time she's finished. 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. My guest tonight is an award-winning actor who stars in Westworld and is a producer of the new HBO documentary, We Are Not Done Yet. Please welcome Jeffrey Wright. Wow. It's an amazing audience. You're kidding me? Wow. You're kidding me? Cool.

You guys are amazing. Wow. You're the aft here? Yeah, this is an amazing audience. You're kidding me? Cool. Yeah, they're amazing.

Yeah, theyre. Can I just say, I mean, I've known you for a few years, but it's always weird speaking to you post-Westworld, because there are moments when I'm not sure if you are you or you. And I'm sure you get this for many people. You are so good playing that role. Has that just become something that you accept now? Is people waiting to see if you twitch?

I do glitch from time to time. I get myself away. I actually as well have a little bit of metal in this knee now, so I think that's kind of an upgrade on my former self. I had some knee surgery about a month ago. Yeah, I had a fix an old ACL injury, but it's all all good. That's where you went away. Okay. We've seen the show, they take you away, they repair you and then you come back. We get it. We got it. the the the the the the the the the the the the to get it. to get it. to get it. to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. th. th. th. that. that. that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. that's that's that's the, they take you away, they repair you, and then you come back. We get it, we get it. But you're here for a very different reason, and I guess on a timely date. You know, in the United States people are remembering veterans who fought in World War,

and your documentary, we are not done yet, is in a big part about people who have survived fighting in a war, you know, veterans who suffer PTSD. It's a powerful story, and what you do is you connect all of them to us and to each other using theater and poems. How did you even stop this process? It's a good question. I, you know, over time, I guess I kind of grew up and became a little more aware

and a little more appreciative of the men and women who serve. I think one of the mistakes that was made after Vietnam was that some of us conflated the politics of that war with the people who answered the call. And I think that would be a huge mistake right now. So I just, my respect, based on relationships that I developed with people who were veterans, based on an experience in Sierra Leone, going over there in 2001 during the war, peace, a ceasefire at the time, but the first war zone that I had ever experienced.

And it changes your thinking. Those things that you once took for granted, like security, you no longer take for granted. You don't take for granted that when the order falls away, somebody has to work to restore it. So there were a number of experiences over time that increased my respect. And I was doing a group of readings called Theater of War. There's a guy named Brian Dories who uses the Greek tragedies

as a platform for conversation about the consequences of war. And he does it in military communities. He even does it in inner city communities around gun violence. He, for example, argues that Ajax story, that's an examination of what we might contemporarily call PTSD. And so I was doing those, and I went down to D.C. for one of these readings, and there happened to be some people from the Pentagon there, and I asked, hey, is there any way I can get more closely involved? And in fact, a couple of weeks before that, I had been out in Colorado, at an airport, rural airport, with my kids coming home from

vacation skiing. And there was a guy sitting in a wheelchair, all the decorations there, and he was a triple amputee. And he recognized me, and I went over and I said hello, and we talked, and he talked about the people from my line of work who had visited him at Walter Reed. He had been hit by a mortar shell in Afghanistan. And it just like rocked me. I was like, man, what am I doing with my time

that I can at least go down and see if I can be useful too. So when I did this reading in DC, met these folks from the Pentagon. I said, hey, what can I do? They called me back. Somehow I passed the vetting process for the Pentagon, and they introduced me to a woman named Sima Reza, who runs a writing workshop with veterans who are working through their trauma through poetry. And one of them had the idea to put on a staged reading

of collective poems that they had written, and I was asked, would I come down and direct them? So, well, I never served, but you know, I know something about the theater. So I came down and it was a life-changing experience working with them. It's interesting that you say there are certain things we take for granted, such as security. A lot of America's military and a lot of the troops have been politicized because of who is in power. th. th. th. th. th. th. their. th. th. their. th. their. their. th. th. their. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to. to. to. to. toe. toe. thi. thi. toe. toe. toe. toe. to to to to to to to to to to to toe. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. the the their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the toe. toea. toea. toea. toea. toei. toea. toea. toea. toe. thi.that is apparent is that America seems to discard many of its troops when these people come home.

You see so many people that are lorded and applauded when they are out fighting. But when people come home, they struggle to find jobs. They struggle to find their place in society. And time and time again, we see these conversations where people are saying, who are no longer active, is it as important? What did you find when you spoke to the human beings behind the uniforms? The answer to that question is no.

And I think one of the things that I'm proud about, about this film is that it gives voice to those men and women who know best, those men and women who put themselves on the line. And these are veterans who experience PTSD from combat, but also sexual assault related to their military experience. But we don't hear from them. And we hear from the politicians and the blowhards who actually use these men and

women to divide us. So we have a conversation about police brutality, and all of a sudden the troops are brought into that conversation. Conversation about immigration all of a sudden we're deploying troops down there who are going to sit and do what? Fire on women and children? Can you imagine the optics of something like that? Can you imagine the act itself? So but we we hear the troops manipulated and the vets manipulated for political agendas, but we don't hear from them. And those very issues that are used as political tools are not addressed.

So you still have 20 vets per day dying from suicide. We heard a lot about that during the campaign, not so much anymore, but the rates are still the same. It's a powerful program that you put together. And what's great in watching thi 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 the the the the th th th the 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 the the the the the the the the the the. the. the. the. the. But thean thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. theeee. the. But much anymore, but the rates are still the same. Right. It's a powerful program that you put together and what's great in watching this documentary is you see the human side and all these people come out. You know for so long people have looked at them as only troops. I always see people saying, I thank you for your service and that becomes a it's an archetype that people hold up. Right. the human. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's that. It's the that. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's the the the the th. It's the the the the the the the th. It's great th. It's great the th. It's great the th. It's great the the the the the the th. It's the th. It's the th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's great. It's th. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's a that that. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's great. It's that. It's the that. It's the th. on the other side. Why was poetry so powerful?

Why do you think the arts was something that helped a lot of these veterans? Well, because I think they have stories and maybe as a result of the military culture, stories around vulnerabilities and stories around injuries that they can't communicate within that space. But there's a need to communicate it, otherwise, as they describe, it will kill them. So they need to get it out. They need to purge themselves of the shame of what they might not have been able to do, perhaps the shame of what they did, the injury as a result of losses that they experienced,

sexual assault as well. They have these things that they need to release in order to free themselves of these demons, and they need to be heard so that, one, they can perhaps be validated and perhaps be seen without judgment, but also what they describe is they want perhaps be validated and perhaps be seen without judgment, but also what they describe is they want to speak as a show of leadership for others who are like them, because there are thousands like them. You know, I think what we do at Veterans Day is wonderful to honor the

vets. Of course, we honor the men and women who put themselves in harm's way on our behalf. But I think at the same time what we do, they they they they they they they they they they they they th, they they do, they do, they do, th, they they they they the, they they they they they the, they they the, the, they they they they they they they they they the, they they they they they they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they they, they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they to to to to to to to to to to to the, to the, theateate, theate, theat, theate, theate, the, the, the, the, of course, we honor the men and women who put themselves in harm's way on our behalf. But I think at the same time what we do, perhaps too much, is we impose our sense of who they are onto them. Because there's a really stunning moment when we were working together in this piece and we show it in the film in which one of the vets is reading a poem, words that he's written and he comes to the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word the word tha tha 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, thi..... thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, thi, thi, the, thi, thi, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. We's, thi. We's, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii's, thi. Wea. thi. thi. thi. reading a poem, words that he's written, and he comes to the word heroic, and he can't say it, because he doesn't, he's conflicted about what his heroicism, what that word means for him.

And so rather than listen to them and hear that, they may be in pain, they may have shame. They just, perhaps, are confused, they may be in pain, they may have shame. They just perhaps are confused or whatever the emotions are around this. It's not what we perceive them to be. It's not so easy. And the thank you for your service is great, but they need a little more. They first need to be heard so that we can begin to understand them. So I mean, I think what we do is we either kind of claim them as our own,

we misunderstand them, or we ignore them. And the problems that they're facing are generational, homelessness, suicide. And if we're going to solve those problems, we're not going to solve them by talking ourselves, we're going to solve them first by acknowledging them, by hearing them, listening to them, and not making assumptions based on our own misperceptions. Well, thank you so much. The documentary does that anymore. We're not done yet. It's currently airing on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Now and HBO Go. You really want to watch it.

Jeffrey Wright, every day. on 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. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. 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 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.