The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trump Celebrates Melania's Birthday by Ranting on "Fox & Friends" | James Forman Jr.

Episode Date: April 27, 2018

Kim Jong-un takes a page from the Trump playbook, President Trump goes on an epic rant on "Fox & Friends," and author James Forman Jr. discusses "Locking Up Our Own." 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 is 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 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. April 26, 2018. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is the Daily Show withanishal, everybody. I'm Trevor Noah, thank you so much for tuning in.

Let's get into it. My guest tonight is a really amazing man, a Yale law professor, who last week won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Locking Up Our own. to-James for James Fore Foreman Jr. is joining us everybody. Now it's going to be a great conversation because his book is about race and criminal justice, a topic that's very much in the conversation right now. For example, in the last couple of days you may have heard the name Meek Mill in the news. And if you were just hearing it for the first time, you were probably thinking,

Mick Mill, is that a gluten-free garnola bar or something? You know, it's like, here at Meek Mill, we only used the gentlest oats and berries. But no, Meek Mill is a big time Philadelphia rapper, Meeke Mek Mill, whose imprisonment on gun and drug charges drew widespread protests, celebrated his freedom last night at an NBA game. Hours earlier, Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the 30-year-olds release. The court cited credibility problems with a key witness in his original trial 10 years ago. How do you feel?

He met with comedian Kevin Hart in the locker room. I said we're home no me. Damn, who is Kevin Hart's agent? He's even starring in Meek Mill's prison release? He's everywhere. But this story really is great news. Not just for Meek Mill, but also for advocates of criminal justice reform. Because Meek Mill had become a symbol of a system

that tries to keep people in prison rather than genuinely giving them a second chance. And Mickmills release wasn't the only good news for justice today. A verdict in the retrial of comedian Bill Cosby. The man has now been found guilty on all charges against him. Guilty of sexual assault, three second-degree felonies. He faces the possibility of up to 30 years in prison for his crimes. Yep, Bill Cosby guilty.

So I guess once again, he's given us a classic heartwarming ending. So it's officially over for Bill Cosby now, I mean, because whether he goes to jail or not, the shameful title of sexual predator will hang over his head forever. So he can't do anything now, except maybe run for president. But let's switch to international news. You remember how President Trump told us that he got North Korea to agree to stop conducting nuclear tests?

Well, it seems that North Korea conveniently left something out. North Korea's only nuclear test site appears to have collapsed. That may be why Kim Jong-un said he's suspending tests. The site is under a mountain in the northeast part of the country. Chinese scientists say it collapsed after five nuclear blasts. The North Korean test triggered earthquakes, making the area unsafe for further testing. Whoa, whoa, whoa. So part of the deal Kim Jong-un is making is to give up the the the the the the the the the that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th, thi,, whoa, whoa, whoa. So part of the deal Kim Jong-un is making

is to give up the test site that he already destroyed. I didn't realize that out of the deal was translated into Korean. That's a slick move. Yeah, it's like when your meth lab blows up, and then the cops arrive, and you're like, OK, look, I'll guys drop the charges and I'll stop making meth. I'll just stop it. And by the way, it was also weird how the news said that the site was shut down because it's now unsafe to test nuclear weapons. Like, how safe does it need to be to detonate a nuke, like safely at a site? Are they safety inspectors walking around? Like, we'd love to incinerate this place with the heat of a thousand thousousousousousousousousousousousousousousousousousousousousous thous thous thous thous thous thous thous thous. thousand thousand thousand toe. toe, toe, 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 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 the to the the their, their, their, their their their their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the te.ooooooo-s. the the too-s. too-s, too-s, too-s too- sons, but that staircase doesn't have a railing where it's just not safe. Oh, and here's a little weird detail.

This is probably my favorite part of this story, this whole North Korea story. When Kim Jong-un goes down to South Korea to discuss denuclearization, it's been reported that he will be bringing his own personal toilets because, and this is completely real, the North Koreans are afraid that foreign spies are going to try and steal Kim's poo to discover if he has any medical issues. I'm going to analyze it. And you know the story made me realize that James Bond has really glamorized how we see spies? Because we think it's all like driving Aston Martins and getting late in Monte Carlo. Meanwhile, Double-5's mission has him crouched with a Ziplog bag and a porta party. He's like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Bid-da, ba-da. But let's move on. Today was a very bad day for President Trump. Not only was his favorite comedian found guilty, but then the man he picked for Veterans Affairs was forced to withdraw from consideration. And on top of all of that, Trump's 23 and me results came back and they confirmed that he's 50% Eric. So Trump did what everyone does when they're feeling down.

He called into a Fox News morning show, and it was honestly epic. Because normally when Trump has a bad day, we know Trump watches Fox and friends and yells at the TV but today he did the same thing but we all got to listen in. And you can tell from the start that this was going to be special. Thank you so much for being with us Mr. President. Well good morning and I picked a very very special day because it's Melani's birthday. So I said, let's do it on Malania's birthday. So happy birthday to Malaniya. All right, hopefully there'll be visits in between, but have you decided on or do you want to tell us what you got her?

Well, I better not get into that because I may get in trouble. Maybe I didn't get her so much. I'll tell you what she what she she she she she she beautiful card. How did Trump mess up the world's easiest question? It's like they threw him a softball and he swung and hit himself in the dick. I mean, it's her birthday. I can't believe that Donald didn't get Milania anything for her birthday. Now, she might think he's not a very good husband. Also I would pay anything to know what he wrote inside that card that he definitely didn't actually get. We're like roses are red, love is a mystery, I had a historic electoral college victory. Why did Trump say he called into Fox and

friends because it was Melania's birthday? Like what does that mean? He's like, honey I've got a great celebration plan for us today. I'm gonna talk to some TV people while sitting on the toilet. Like, oh thank you, Donald, my life is a beautiful dream. Dream. Okay, so the interview didn't get off to a great start, but then it got worse. I get along with Kanye. I get along with a lot of people, frankly. But Kanye looks and he sees black unemployment at the lowest it's been in the history of our country.

Have Republicans done a bad job ignoring the black community up until now? You know, I think it was just a custom. People don't realize, you know, if you go back to the Civil War, it was the Republicans that really did the thing. Lincoln was a Republican. Republicans did the thing? Trump would make a dope history teacher. It would be so easy to pass. Class, what was the turning the the the the the the the the the the the the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning was the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning the turning the thuine thuiting thuiting turning turning tune. tune. to to tune. to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be tune. toen. toen. tune. tune. tune. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu. tune. to history teacher. It would be so easy to pass.

Class, what was the turning point in the civil war? Uh, the thing? A plus? Like, he's the first sober person I've heard doing drunk history. That's amazing. Now, this interview was so long and incoherent and rambling that even Trump's friends on Fox and Friends became uncomfortable. And you could tell by the looks looks the looks the looks the looks the looks the looks the looks the looks the looks the looks the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the theambling that even trumps friends on Fox and Friends became uncomfortable and you could tell by the looks on their faces. I will not be involved with the Justice Department.

I will wait till this is over. It's a total, it's all lies, it's an absolute disgrace. And by the way. I want to ask you. No, no, but think of it. But they're lost of the electoral college that they should never lose because the electoral college is set up 700,000 from a group years to approve them. Years, we have judges that you would think that these guys would treat me great. I made them a fortune.

So they treat me horribly. And they treat me people say, you still have much asked of you. Just, there is no collusion with me. I would rather have the popular vote because it's, to me, it's much easier to win. It's a totally different set of goals, as opposed to Electro College. But we have an Electro College. I got 306 and she got, what, 223? So, remember, there was no way to break 270. I heard that on CBS and NBC and ABC. They're all fake news. I heard that for so long as CNN. Let's talk about...

You know, Mr. President, you know, we've talked to you all day, but it looks like you have a million thingry to bail on an interview with the President of the United States. Like how is it that he's the Commander-in-Chief, but it's the couch people who have better things to do. We'd love to keep chatting, but there's a video of a dog skateboarding that we have to get to Mr. President, goodbye. I never thought I'd say this, but I actually almost feel bad for Fox and Friends. Because if you're at a party and some boring ass dude wouldn't stop talking to, you could

just be like, oh, I had to go get a drink. But these poor guys are on live television. when it was pretty clear that he absolutely did not. He was like, no, I actually have the whole day free. After all, it's Melania's birthday. 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 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. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is a law professor at Yale Law School and author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Locking Up Our Own Crime and Punishment in Black America. Please welcome, James Foreman Jr. Thank you. Welcome to the show. Thank you.

Congratulations on winning the Pulitzer Prize. I can see why it was awarded to you in your book. Because this is an interesting take on a subject that has really been a Congratulations on winning the Pulitzer Prize. I can see why it was awarded to you and your book, because this is an interesting take on a subject that has really been in many conversations. Criminal justice reform, mass incarceration in America. You have tackled it from a slightly different point of view. Locking up our own. What does that mean?

So I wanted to write a book that put the African-American community front and center. I wanted to write a book a the the the to to thea to ta ta ta ta ta ta ta to to to ta to ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta tak tak interesting take, takeat interesting tak interesting takeateate, take take take take take take take. take. take. take. take. take. tak ta tak ta tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. tauu. tau. ta. tau. tau. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta a book that put the African-American community front and center. I wanted to write a book with black characters with black judges, black prosecutors, black police officers, black citizen activists, basically asking the question, in the last 50 years as America has barked on this process of incarcerating more and more people, what was happening in the black community? What were the debates that were going on? To show the multiple perspectives, you know, it's not a monolithic, we're not a monolithic community to show all of those arguments that were happening. So that's what the book tries to do. And you come at this from an interesting place because you worked in the

criminal justice system. you worked as a public defender. One of the stories you tell near the beginning of the book is really heart-wrenching, and it's a tale of a black judge who is looking at a young black man who is a defendant and he says to him, Martin Luther King didn't fight for civil rights for you to guard in the streets thugging. Yeah. And that made you really angry. Why? Well, it did. I mean, my client was charged with possession of a th. tha, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a ta, a ta, a ta, a thi, a ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, a ta, a ta, a ta, a ta, a ta, a ta, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a tha, a thi, a ta, a ta, a ta, a ta, ta, tauu.auauauauauau.au.au.au.au.au.au.au.au.auauauiauiaui possession of a gun and possession of a small amount of marijuana. It was his first arrest. I had a

letter from teacher and counselors at his school attesting to his character. His mother and grandmother were there in court. I was asking for him to get a second chance. Right. And the judge gives him this speech where he says listen it might you might you might think your life is tough now, but let me tell you about what it was like back in the day, back in Jim Crow, and he reads in this speech. And the reason it made me so angry is that I had become a public defender, I was a public defender because I viewed it as the civil rights issue of my generation. So I imagine myself and other public defenders in the Martin Luther King position. And here the judge was flipping it on its head and reading it and using this the speech the speech the speech, the speech, the speech, the speech, the speech, the speech, the speech, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. the, thi, thi, thi, thi, threat, th. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, and, the, and, 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, throwne, the.e, the.e.e.e.e.e.ea, the thr-I.ea, why, why, reason, why, why, why, threate, threate, the judge was flipping it on its head and using this speech along the way towards locking up another young black man and that felt to me just so offensive. Now what a lot of people may not know and I won't lie I

didn't know it to the depths that it goes into in the book but a lot of people don't know that in America many black leaders and many black communities were instrumental in igniting and fueling the war on drugs. The war that went on to incarcerate millions and millions of black men in America and black women as well. This is a difficult subject for many people to broach, because it's black communities sometimes from top to bottom that made these decisions, but in the book you argue that they thought they were doing the right thing. Yeah, and I think it's important to point out that they were constrained in lots of ways,

right? They didn't have all the options that were available to them. So they didn't have money for housing, money for education, money for rehabilitation programs. They couldn't get national gun control pass. So they're, they were constrained. But within those constraints, yeah, in many cases, people made decisions that were like the decisions that were made in the rest of America. They made decisions that didn't give people second chances, that lengthened prison sentences, that imposed mandatory minimums. And I wanted to, I wanted to show that, but it was important for me while doing that to not in any way suggest that the system wasn't full of racism, right, and that the system wasn't a system

that grew out of a history and a legacy of slavery. So I wanted to show how both of those things could be true. There could be this historic racism that's still manifesting itself today. And there could have been mistakes that were made by some well-meaning African-American leaders. When you speak to those leaders today, if you have the chance to, have any of them expressed their regrets of the decisions they made? Politicians aren't great at expressing regret.

Right. So, some that have stepped out of office have said, you know, we got cut up. It was a terrible time, right? The homicide rate tripled in the 1960s in this country, or tripled in D.C., it doubled nationally. In the crack ears, in the 80s and 90s, it seemed like every day in cities like DC, New York, Atlanta, Detroit, people were dying, multiple people a day. And people, and that made communities scared, and that made politicians want to respond.

Right. And yeah, they've said, some people have said to me, we went too far. And some people, you can see, are now choosing a different approach. Eric Holder is a great example. Right. He's featured in the book as somebody that pursued some of these policies and now he's really leading criminal justice reform. When you talk about criminal justice reform though, what does that mean? It seems like a term that's used broadly, but what are some of the ideas that you genuinely believe would alleviate the problem of having an entire population of some countries incarcerated within the United States?

Well, so first of all we have to get rid of mandatory minimums. We have to shorten prison sentences right now are the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th their thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus, thus, thus, threat. thea theou tri. tri. teou teou tri. When. When tri. When trimea trimeaq. When trimea trime. When trime. When trime, when trinenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenenene. When, when. When, when, t. When, t. When, t. When, te, te, te, te, te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te of mandatory minimums. We have to shorten prison sentences. Right now, the maximum that you can get for most crimes in this country is double and triple what it is around the world. We have to stop putting people, you talked about Meek-Mil earlier in the segment, we have to stop putting people on probation for, and then as soon as they make a mistake, as soon as they miss an appointment with a probation officer, test positive for drugs, you have these harsh judges revoking them and locking them up.

And we have to take the money that you save and reinvest it in communities, to build the drug treatment programs, that we know work if we would fund them adequately. To fund the after school the the the the the the the the the the the thi the the thiii, the the, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thrown....... the research shows work and keep kids out of crime if we fund them adequately. So I actually think we know what to do. It's about building a political constituency to do it. And that is starting to happen. You mentioned in Philadelphia Larry Krasner, the new DA, he's part of a generation of

new district attorneys around the country that's saying, you know what, the war on crime has been a failure and we need new approaches. And these are prosecutors saying that. That was unimaginable five years ago. It's interesting that there are some DAs who are stepping up and saying this needs to change. What would you say is possibly the single biggest aspect? Would you say education is the key? Because I was shocked to learn in the book that for young black men who haven't completed high school since the 1960s they are 10 times more likely to end up in prison just by not completing high school. Is that one of

the key things that needs to be worked on? Yes, both up front because education keeps people from getting arrested in the first instance for the reasons you just mentioned, but also there's a whole new movement which I'm to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to 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 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 their, their, their, their, their, their, they.. the theck. theck. theateateateateatea.ea.ea. Iea. Iea. I'm, theatea. Iea. I'm, their their their you just mentioned, but also there's a whole new movement which I'm a part of to provide high-quality education to people who are incarcerated. Like it's going to take us a long time, right, even with some progressive prosecutors, they're going to take us a long time to get out of being the world's largest jailer. And so while we have people incarcerated, let's provide them high quality education because the research shows that for every dollar you invest in education of somebody behind bars,

we as a society get five dollars in return because crime goes down, recidivism goes down, people are more likely to be employed. So I do think education is, if you had to pick one thing, and one of my arguments of the book is you can't really pick one thing because there's you know 50 things we have to do but if you said okay Foreman yeah I know but I've got a focus on one that's what I would choose. It's a beautiful book written so well it gives you the origins and the consequences of where we are and it's deserving of every award. Thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you th you th you th you th you th you th you to you to you to you to you to you to to to to to show. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Locking up our own. A fascinating book is available now.

James Foreman, Jr. 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. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.

This has been a comedy central podcast. This is going to be coming out every Thursday. 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 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.