The Daily Show: Ears Edition - California's Inmate Firefighters | Cory Booker & Edward Norton
Episode Date: November 6, 2019Trevor highlights California's inmate firefighters, Cory Booker talks about his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, and Edward Norton discusses "Motherless Brooklyn." Learn more about your ad-choi...ces at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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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 to to to to to to to to to to to th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the the the the the the the the. I am the. I am to to to to to to to to to to the. I to to to to to to to to the to 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 theeeeean. thean. thean. toean. toean. toeeean. toeee toe toe to to the the 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.
November 5th 2019. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York.
This is the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. We have
two guests joining us tonight. First up, New Jersey Senator and Candidate for President
of the United States, Corey Booker is going to be on the show tonight, everybody.
Then an actor who also wrote and directed a brand new film motherless Brooklyn
Edward Norton is going to be here everybody.
Also on tonight's show someone snitching on Donald Trump bad guys are now saving lives and why the Popeye sandwich is dangerous.
So let's catch up on today's headlines. It's officially November which means two things. One Wycliffe
should be back soon and also the Popeyes chicken sandwich has returned but if
you're thinking about running out to get one you might want to brush up on
your self-defense skills. Breaking news overnight a Maryland man was
stabbed in a fight over the popular Popeyes chicken sandwich.
The Popeyes was packed you can't imagine. People were standing in line they were waiting. They were waiting, they were waiting. They were waiting, th, th, th, th, th, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one. One. One. One. One. One. One. One. One. One. One. One. One. One, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, 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 over the popular Popeyes chicken sandwich.
The Popeye was packed, you can imagine.
People were standing in line, they were waiting, they were wanting the brand new Popeye's
chicken sandwich and police are saying that in that line, two men started to get into
an argument. The argument escalated, it is believed it was over that chicken sandwich.
And so they went outside, and that is when one of the two of them
took out a knife, the other was stabbed.
God damn!
People are getting stabbed over a chicken sandwich?
I guess it really is healthier to be vegan.
Wow!
Maybe it's just me, but I don't know why this sandwich is making people go crazy.
They're fighting each other.
People are fighting the employees in the parking lots on the street. It's getting out of
control. No other chicken place is dealing with this. At Chick-fil-a, they're
like, we love God. At Popeye's, they're like, God is dead.
Welcome to Thunderdome. Meanwhile, at White Castle, they're like, you only had one
stabbing. That sounds nice.
And the crazy thing to me is that someone got stabbed, but everyone else stayed in line.
Yeah, they were like, wow, that's horrible.
But you know what else would be horrible?
As if I didn't get my chicken sandwich.
Like, it's so popular that I wouldn't be surprised if someone in line called 911.
Like, I'm at Popeyes and someone just got stabbed and the 911 on operaties, like,
you're at Popeyes, can you get me one of those sandwiches, please?
All right, but let's move on to today's big impeachment news.
One of the big players in the Ukraine scandal is Gordon Sondland,
Trump's ambassador to the EU to Congress that he had no knowledge of a quid pro quo.
But now he's changing his tune.
And the latest on the impeachment showdown and a Trump appointed U.S. envoy now revising
his earlier testimony before Congress acknowledging there was likely a quid pro quo.
Gordon Sunlund acknowledged he understood that American military aid to Ukraine was linked to the Ukrainians making a public statement promising to investigate corruption in 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 tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. tune. Hea tune. Hea tune. Hea tune. Hea the. He. He.. He. He. He. He. He. He. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. This. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te Ukraine was linked to the Ukrainians making
a public statement promising to investigate corruption in their country.
Wow.
So this guy is just revising the testimony he gave under oath?
We can't even edit out tweets, but this guy's walking into Congress just like, oh,
you said quid pro quo.
I thought you said squid pro quo. Quid wakes so much more sense. Yeah, we tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot tot to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to make to to to to to make to make to to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to make to to make to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the public the public the the public told the public toe toe to' to' statement to' statement toe. too' statement the public the public toe. to' statement toe. toe. toe. toe. toe I thought you said squid pro quo.
Quid wake so much more sense.
Yeah, we totally did one of those.
Yeah, yeah.
But actually, I'll be honest, I feel bad for Sandland,
because he was the first to testify.
Right?
And he probably thought everyone else was going to have his back,
and also say there was no snitched on him. And now he's like, yeah, no, no, I'm also changing my story.
It's sort of like when you were a teenager and you told your friends,
all right, remember, we tell our parents there were no,
there was no liquor at this party, okay?
And then you tell your parents the story,
and then everyone else is like,
yeah, Trevor brought the liquor, and finally, if you got a library book that is overdue, you might be in bigger trouble than you think.
A Michigan woman is fighting to stay out of jail over some forgotten library books.
Melinda Jones says she vaguely remembers checking out the books where the sidewalk ends
and night from the Charlotte Library.
She says she found out about a warrant for her arrest over the overdue books when she went
for a new position at work.
She says she never got a notice about the fines because she moved.
Now she faces a maximum penalty of 93 days in jail.
Okay, okay. This story is insane.
First of all, I don't know you can check out books from the library.
I thought that was just a place where people went to masturbate and print resumes. That's wild. But for real, though, does does this woman th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi th 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 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 thi thi to to to theeeeeeeeea toeeeeauuu-au-a'' thi thia' thia' thi thi thi thi a place where people went to masturbate and print resumes. That's wild. But for real, though, does this woman really need to be arrested for overdue library
books?
Like, who does that help?
Huh?
If anything, it's not going to help kids, right, when she's on an episode of Scared
Straight, what is she going to say?
Keep trying to read out there in them streets, you're gonna end up in here with me, kids! And I'll be honest with you, you know what I think?
I think these late fees only make people not want to return stuff.
Yeah. I went through the same shit back in the day with Blockbuster, right?
Yeah. I rented a video, and I missed the deadline by like an hour.
So then they were like, oh, we're gonna charge you double. I'll just the I'll have it another day I'm not gonna pay it I've already seen passenger 57
but I'll watch Wesley Snipes again I'll do it yeah then I kept forgetting
and then they kept forgetting and then they're like we sent me a notice
to say that I'm not gonna the tel and then I'm not gonna jail and then I'll the complete price of the movies I'm gonna jail to the I'll I'll I'll I'll I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not 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 they they to they they they they they 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 the the the the the the try I I I ttry I ttry I tttry I tttttry ttttttttry they. I they. I they. I not going to jail. And then Wesley Snipes were into jail, which was a plot twist that nobody saw coming. So if you ask me, it's
messed up that people can get in trouble for keeping library books too long. I mean, the
only good thing about this is that that's the one crime president Trump will never be indicted for. Yeah. Yeah, Trump can't even enter a library. It's. It's. It's. It's. tap. t. t. t. t t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. try. t. t. try. try. tha. try. tha. try. try tha. tha. tr-I tha' tha' tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. the. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. t. So. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tf. tf. tf. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha., it burns. I just wanted to masturbate. Ah!
All right, that's it for the headlines.
Let's move on to our top story.
Wild fires.
As the climate changes and the land becomes drier, they're becoming an even bigger problem,
burning down 7 million acres in the United States each year.
Which is terrible, because without forests,
Don Jr. would have nowhere to sit.
Now, although wildfires have recently been on the rise,
these blazers have been a major issue in America for a very long time,
so much so that the US Forest Service even created a hero devoted to stopping the fires.
Smokey Bear. You have so many reasons to protect your forest.
Hey, kids, I'm Smoky Bear.
Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.
My friends depend on me, Smoky Bee, to voice suplea.
Buzz, what's up, man?
Left some leaves burning out here.
So the next time you're in the forest, be extra careful, okay?
If you knew it was me, would you have listened?
Ah! What the fuck was that? Forget fires, I'm never going to be able to trust a beautiful woman ever again?
Say, Trevor, want to go back to my place? Get the hell out of you, you bear? I'm never going to be able to trust a beautiful woman ever again.
Say Trevor, want to go back to my place?
Get the hell out of you, you bear?
I'm not falling for your tricks.
But yes, for decades, America has tried everything to prevent wildfires.
And in California, they've gone way beyond talking bears.
We're finally learning some good news about the wildfires in California.
Most of the fire is still considered active are either well under control or almost out,
thanks to the thousands of firefighters who have been battling the flames alongside hundreds
of inmates.
You see all the firefighters in Orange?
Those are California inmates.
This state has been using prisoners to fight fires since World War II.
Yeah, that is really, really interesting. Inmates in California can volunteer to help put out
fires that have gotten out of control. And I think it's great that these prisoners are willing
to help in a time of need. And just for extra motivation, I think they should be allowed
to bring their squad from prison to hype them up as they fight the fire, you know? Yeah, they can just be standing in the back like, you'll get his ass T-bone,
extinguish this bitch, remove either oxygen fuel or heat. That's what you do to stop a fire.
Now, you would think any prison of volunteering for a dangerous job like this would be in it
for some big reward. But it turns out, that's not the case. Inmate firefighters get paid an average of $2 a day.
When they're battling live fires,
they earn an additional $1 per hour.
Though they only earn about a dollar per hour
to risk their lives, every day of work
as an inmate firefighter counts as two days toward their sentence.
Wait, hold up.
Inmates get two days off their sentence for every day they fight
the fire? That's not much of a reduction. Like if I was an inmate I just want to
keep the fire going. Yeah. I'll just be out there like, oh no! I accidentally turned
my hose to the spread fire setting again.
Oh darn.
And also, I don't care if they're prisoners, getting a few dollars a day to fight a wildfire as bullshit.
Now while the prisoners are getting basically nothing for doing a dangerous job,
the state of California saves an estimated $100 million a year by using inmates to fight the fires.
And what's extra messed up is that despite fighting fires year after year while in prison,
many of these inmates aren't allowed to use any of that firefighting experience once they've served their time.
Despite their experience, an inmate firefighter may find it tough to land a full-time job after they complete their sentence.
To become a firefighter, most departments require an EMT license,
but EMT certifying boards have a pattern of denying applicants with a criminal history.
When they leave that service, they are told they will never, ever be allowed to be a firefighter.
Okay, you've got to admit, that's just shitty.
You fight fires in prison, but then when you're released, you're not allowed to do it professionally.
So basically, if you're an ex-con walking around
and you see a fire, what, you have to commit a crime
before they'll let you help?
She's like, oh no, that orphanage is on fire,
quick, help me rob this bank.
So the question istime. Well, to give us some expert perspective, we're joined by the most noble firefighter of all.
Smoky the Bear, everybody.
Smoky, where do you stand on the issue of X-cons working as firefighters?
First of all, Trevor, thanks for inviting a bear on to your show.
HASHTagag diversity matters.
And secondly, I believe ex-cons could make great firefighters.
And I'm a living example.
Wait, are you saying that you're an ex-convict?
That's right.
Shout out to my boys and Stan Quentin.
Stay hard, my brothers.
Wait, what were you in jail for?
In the 90s, I ran a Ponzi scheme that preyed on the elderly.
But I didn't know right from wrong, I was doing a lot of blow.
Damn, that is hardcore. I thought it would be for something like stealing honey or something.
Wow, Trevor, just because I'm a bear, you assume I steal honey?
Do I look like Winnie the Pooh?
That's racist!
Oh, no, no, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Okay, I forgive you.
See, that's what this country's all about.
Giving people second chances.
That's why anyone who wants to fight fires
except for people who won't put out their campfires, those people
should have their dicks ripped off by a bear. But not me, I'm still on parole.
Wow, that's a pretty extreme. Not as extreme as discriminating against people who've paid their
debt to society. Ex-convicts should be able to trade as firefighters. And that's why I'm changing
my slogan to, remember, only you and Cell Block D can prevent forest fire.
Well, thank you so much for joining. I smokey the bear, everyone. Over the way 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 show.
My guest is a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
Please welcome New Jersey Senator Corey Booker. All right.
Welcome back to the show.
It is good to be back here.
It has been a year and a lot has changed in that year.
You are running for President of the United States.
You're in the Democratic primary.
Let's start with something that you've managed to do that nobody else seems to have
managed to do in the Democratic field, and that is everyone agreed in the beginning to be nice. Everyone said this is a race about great ideas
And we all agree on many things so we will be nice and then like two debates in people like you're a moron
And you've been very vocal in saying like no, I'm still not going to do that. How's that going for you? Look look? Look, th. How to beat Donald Trump, who is darkness, who is hate.
And one of my greatest heroes, King said, you know, darkness can't draw about darkness, only
light can do that.
Hate can't draw about hate, only love can do that.
And this is the mistake I think we make in this country.
You've got to be mean.
To think to be strong, you've got to be cruel. But we've taken on demagogues and bigots and fear mongers.
Every generation of America has had that.
I would say the gardens of our democracy
have never been free of those weeds.
McCarthyism, the no-nothing party, which was anti-immigration.
the same language that Trump uses.
But how did we beat them in every generation? We didn't beat Bull Connor by bringing bigger dogs and bigger firehoses and being like
him.
We beat him because these artists of activism were the exact opposite.
They fought his firehoses and dogs with unarmed truth and relentless, fearsome, ferocious
love and ignited the moral imagination of this country and brought more people together.
But do you think that that is what is driving the populace right now?
Because it feels like, it feels like sentiment right now is very much, we're fighting.
Yeah. People must be fighting.
You know, and as you said, the fighting must be from a negative place.
It's not fighting for good, but rather fighting against a thing.
And you said you're fighting to beat Donald Trump, but you want to do that with kindness. So what does that mean? Well, and that thi that that thiiii. that that that that thii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. thi. th. thi, thi, thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, 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. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. t. teee. toge. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. th. the the the the the the the the t with kindness. So what does that mean? He snaps you and then you hug him? How does that work?
First of all, most people who actually know about my career
know that I beat the toughest, vicious political machine.
There's an Oscar-nominated documentary.
You can watch on YouTube called Street Fight
about me coming up through the tough urban politics,
threats all my life, windows on my car car car car car car car car car car car,
my life, windows on my car, smash, phones tapped. So I've seen the toughest of politics,
but we beat them and that machine,
not by being like the machine, by giving an alternative
and not making it about them.
This campaign shouldn't be about what we're against.
It should be about what we're for.
It shouldn't be about, you know, even I say this to Democrats right now. this is not a moment in a moment, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I the moment, I the moment, I the moment, I the moment, I the the the the the thi, I say, I say, I say, I say, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, 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 th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. theeean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the goal of this party is, the end goal is not to beat Republicans, it should be to unite Americans.
And the way you do that is by calling to the best of who we are.
Look, I love this, and it's not easy.
My campaign staff told me, you know, when we started this out, the polls, yeah, we want
somebody that's going to go out there. And so I still I I I I I I I I I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still I still th. th. thi thi th th thi thi thi. thi. thi tho thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th th th thi. th th th th th th th th thi. th th. th th. th. th. thi. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the is the is the. the. the. the. the. theeei the. thei the. the. the. the. about to jump up. Big guy sees me before the stage.
I'm a big guy, and he stops me.
And he goes, dude, I want you to punch Donald Trump at the face.
And I look at him, I don't miss a beat,
and I go, dude, that's a felony.
And we're not going to beat him by being like him. And that doesn't mean we're tha thuuuuu. thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and thin, and to to to to to to to to thin, and, and 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 th..... th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, I, I thi, I thi. the. the. thean, I thean, I thean, I thean, thean, I to to to to to to to to to to to to those moments, I think, that this election is not a referendum on who he is, one guy in one office, is a referendum on who we are. And this
is a moment in America where people are fighting over chicken sandwiches. We need, we need,
we need a revival of civic grace. We need a more courageous empathy for each other,
because too many of us feel left out and left behind. Let me ask you then about the, about the op the op the op the op the op the op the op the op the op the op the op the op the op th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, that, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. One, th. One, th. One, th. One, th. One, 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. And, thin, thin, thin, thin, to, to, to, to, to, toooooooooooooooooooooooooo. And, the. And, the, the, the, feel left out and left behind. Let me ask you then about the op-ed that you penned.
You wrote an op-ed talking about what the Democratic Party needs in particular.
And you know in no uncertain terms you have basically said that the Democratic Party
is a diverse party and you feel that the Democratic leadership needs to reflect that. But right But right now, it's no secret that the people leading in the polls
happen to be white.
And you're saying the party needs to be diverse in who it picks to lead it.
But what does that mean? Because I'm always confused by that when people say
because I go like, diverse should mean that white could also be in the lead if everyone is focused in the same direction.
Well, let me make at this point two ways. Number one, everybody's talking about what I'm going
to do when I'm president. I came to the United States Senate. Fourth black person ever elected
popularly to that office. And I got there and I was shocked. I was like, wait a minute. This is the least diverse place I've ever worked. I looked at the judiciary judiciary judiciary. The judiciary. The judiciary. The judiciary. The judiciary. The judiciary. The judiciary. The judiciary. The judiciary. The judiciary. the judiciary. the judiciary. the judiciary. the judiciary. the ju. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the the th. th. 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, the, the, the, the, the, the, I'm, the, I'm, the, I'm. the, the, I'm. I'm. I'm the, the, the, the, I'm. I'm the, the, the, I'm. I'm the, I'm. I'm even on a staff position. These folks are making decisions about laws that disproportionately affect black people.
So I went to Chuck Schumer with a great young senator named Brian Schottes and we said,
Chuck, can you make every Democratic senator have to publish the diversity statistics on their
staff, reveal how many diverse gender and race diversity? And guess what's happened to gender
and race diversity on our staffs that's actually increased. Well, I know from Harvard case studies that diverse teams are better teams.
We are at a point in America where we have to understand that any great thing we do,
any great thing we do, comes from broader and bolder coalitions.
When we wanted to go to the moon, we had to get hidden figures together with white astronauts made us better to compete with the Russians who had put up Sputnik. And so in this presidential election, I'm tired of
hearing people define electability about how can you recapture a white voter
who might have voted for Obama and that switched over. When look at the three
Midwestern states that we lost by 77,000 votes combined, Michigan, Wisconsin
and Pennsylvania. Pick any of them. Wisconsin alone, in Milwaukee,
the African-American vote declined from 16 to 12 to 16.
It went down about 70,000 votes.
And we only lost that state, I think, by 10,000 votes.
We have to have a candidate that has an authentic connection to the full diversity
and can excite and energize all of who we are, not just one faction. So what you're saying, if I understand correctly, is that too much focus seems to be placed
on one specific type of voter. People are saying like, how do we win the white middle
class voter who voted for Trump and Obama as opposed to saying how do we win voters,
including black people who also didn't turn out? Because I imagine you and I've
heard this in the black community before. I live, I'm the only person in the Senate, the only person in this race that lives in an
African American urban center.
And I hear this all the time, people getting cynical about American politics, they don't
feel like people are talking to them.
They have a lot of presidential forms. I went to one speaking to formally incarcerated recently. And I was very angry. I got there, usually there's 10, 15,
with 78 candidates running for president right now,
usually can get a few there.
And there's only three of us.
And I said at the end of that,
to these formerly incarcerated people
who face lifetime sentences, they're out of prison.
But remember, once you have a criminal conviction, For doing things that two of the last three presidents admitted to doing, it's hard to get a job, it's hard to get a loan from the bank, it's hard to make it work economically.
And I just said candidly to them, I said, look, the Democratic Party has been wrong on this issue.
And the one thing we need from a president is somebody that people can trust is going to fight, to thiii. to fight to fight to fight to fight to fight to fight to fight to fight thi. And thi. And thi. And thi. And thi. And thi. And thi, thi. And to fight, thi. And to fight to fight, to fight, to fight to fight to fight to fight thi, thi, thi, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi. And, thi. I's thi.canananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananan, thi. And, th think we have to have, is a president that can evoke sort of an authenticity
of spirit with folks to say, okay, I believe that you're going to be with us on this.
But then how would you explain polling in places like South Carolina where they've polled
African Americans and then in those, in that place, you know, it's Joe Biden and number one and then like you go down the list and it's like Elizabeth Warren and then it's Budaje and then it's you.
How do you explain that? That's amongst African-American voters. So that's
black people going, no we're gonna go with Joe Biden. Some have said look it's not
about you Corey, we just want to go with the person who we think can win. And that's because right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right the the the the the the the the th because right the th because right the th because right th is because right the the the the th is because right the the the th. th is th. th is th. th. thi thi thi thi thi's thi. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And th. And th. And th. And thi's the. And the. And that's the. And the. And that's is is the. And the. And the. And the. And thi's the. And thi's thi's thing voters say they want. Like we're all making... They just want to win. Yeah, and I think it's a lot of its fear.
We don't want to mess this up.
But we don't do things best when we do them out of fear as a country.
We do them best when we do them out of faith.
And so let me tell you about Obama. He was behind African-American voters in South Carolina just like I am. In fact, we have never, and you're in my lifetime in the Democratic Party, never has someone
who's been at the front and right now in the polls ever going on to the White House.
Oh wow.
It has always been Jimmy Carter pulling about 1% now, Bill Clinton about 4%, Barack Obama,
21 points behind. But ultimately what Obama challenged us for Kennedy, I can go through the candidates is to not make a a to to to to to to to to to to to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to the the to be a the the the to be a the to be a to, the to, the to, to, to, to, to, and the the their, and their, and to, and to, and to, and their, and their, and their, and their, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and 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, the, I can go through the candidates,
is to not make fear-based decisions.
Let's be a country that understands that, dear God, beating Donald Trump is important,
but it's the floor, it's not the ceiling.
It gets us out of the valley, it doesn't get us to the mountaintop.
The leaders that we seem to understand that can ignite and energize us, are not ones that are the safe bet, or the ones that call us to something higher
and something greater.
I'm running not the easy way.
I'm not running because I want to punch Donald Trump in the face.
Oh, we're gonna beat him.
And I look forward to being on a debate stage
if he tries to invade my running just just to beat Donald Trump so then I'm running for because Pete because in my
community right before Donald Trump was elected we had lots of
challenges in this country right so then tell me about some of the
policies that separate you in the field because the Democratic Party
has laid out a wide range of policies that people agree on to the large extent but then the details is what right for a to a to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the the to to the to to the the the the the to the the to the 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 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to to to to to to to then the details is what right what what first of all so for instance let's let's say like with with Medicare for all yeah right
you're for Medicare for all yes I absolutely believe the best system in
this country is a single-payer system okay so would that would that
eliminate people's private insurance no so this this is what I'm saying to you
is that on issues like this we tear each other down over a lot of the policy details when we forget the the the the the the the 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 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 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. toe. toe. toe. to differences between us because everybody on that stage, every single one wants universal health coverage, every single one, while we're competing
against somebody who right now is working in the court system to take away the Affordable
Care Act, to take away preexisting conditions.
Yeah, but how does the voter choose in the Democratic primary if people do not
distinguish themselves with their policies? Because I understand what you're saying, in principle, but then how does a Democratic voter go like, yeah, but I still want to vote for the person who will enact what I think is the best policy.
Well, first of all, I want to caution us voters to think that we're going to make a decision
by somebody checking every box on our, on our sort of list of things that we want.
And I want to be very serious about that because, look, I'm I'm their to. I to. I to. I to. I want th
Look, it's exciting to me. A lot of people who are my friends in politics are running.
And I've learned things from other people on the stage on policy.
I've got bills with a lot of folks on the stage,
because there's a lot of us running.
And that's why I think the policy issues are important.
I'm excited to have been the only one to put out a plan on child poverty,
170 plans. the most pressing issues in our country. I'm happy that I was able to move the field even a bit on gun licensing.
Those are really important.
But what we've got to understand is, I don't know if you even remember what the policy
differences between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were on health care.
Because below all of those policies, to make those things even possible for the next president,
has to be the president that can best capture the spirit of this country and build new American coalitions to make things possible.
The next president of the United States has got to be someone who can heal this country.
Remind us that the lines that divide us are not nearly as strong as a ties that bind us,
and call us to do things that this country hasn't been able to do,
because the things we even agree on right now, we agree, 90% of us on common sense gun safety checks.
The infrastructure of this country is falling apart.
China just built 18,000 miles of high-speed rail,
and the busiest rail quarter in America
that goes from Boston to D.C. through this city,
I'm not exaggerating.
Runs half an hour slower than it did in the 1960s.
We agree. Well, steady steady, we the the the th, we th, we th, we th, we, we, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, thi, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, th. tho, th. tho, th. th. th. th. th, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, to, to, tooooooooooooooooooooooooo. toda, today, today, today, is today, is t race. We agree that we love our children, but why are we the only nation without universal
prenatal care?
We now lead industrial nations in infant mortality, maternal mortality, complications at birth.
I could go through the things that we even agree on that we're not doing well.
So to me, the issue is, yeah, I want to talk, I'm a policy wonk, and I'd love on the debate stage talking about policy,
but there's something beneath that.
Who is the president that can create
those new American coalitions, not tear down the other side,
but call to them.
When I first got to the Senate, I'm not exaggerating,
and I started talking about criminal justice reform. told me you can't get a big bill passed that liberates people. They were telling me about Willie Horton if people come out of prison.
And I said, okay, no, I'm sorry.
I'm going to start working to do the hard work of building coalitions across the aisle.
And a few years later, the only major bipartisan bill to pass under this president is the
first step back that I led on the Democratic side about 90% of those are African Americans.
This is about who can get things done, and right now we're a country that is so gridlocked
because we hate each other just because we vote differently.
I'm in airports all the time and people will come up to me and say, oh, you're that
politician guy, and go, yeah, he goes, what party are you?
Because the next, they're going to judge me by what I say. Everything I say after I say I'm a Democrat is going to fall into whether they believe
they should stand with me, believe what I say or not.
That's not the way we get big things done.
Let me tell you, the last time I was in what's called the skiff,
it's where senators go in a basement below the Senate to read confidential documents.
That's when that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's the the their that's that's their their that's that's that's their their their that's their their that's their that's their their their their their no their th.
Yeah. And I've got some 10 crew stories I'll tell you after.
And the last thing I read was a document, a series of documents about the Russians interference
in our election.
And I was, I got so angry when I read one section about one of their strategies to destroy
our democracy because it reminded me I'm a history buff of what Khrushchev said is how he was going to to beat America. He said we're not going to beat America, tanks. to to to to to tanks, tanks, tanks, tank, to tank, tank, tank, tank, tank, their tank, ta, ta, ta, their the-crue, the-crue, the-crue, I' their their thea, I' tha, I' tha, I' thea, I' their theu. I' tha, I' their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their, I, I's, I's, I's, I' their te, I' te, I' te, I' te, te, te, te, te, te, te. te. te. te. te. tre. te. tre. te. te. te. te, te, their strategies to destroy our democracy because it reminded me I'm a history buff of what Khrushchev said as how he was going to beat America.
He said we're not going to beat America tanks or missiles, we're going to beat them
because they're going to corrupt from within. Well, you know what this document said?
The Russians are trying to make us corrupt from within. They're going this country, because they know no democracy can function unless we find a way to put more indivisible
into this one nation under God.
Right now, we face an existential crisis in this country,
where even the things we agree on,
we're not moving them beyond.
And meanwhile, in our parents' generations,
we created these coalitions,
the civil rights movement wasn't just black people marching for rights to help liberate African-Americans.
Somehow, these leaders were able to get suburban folks,
white folks, people of the whole spectrum,
to become a new American consciousness to move us forward.
This is a moment in America,
where we are at a crossroads.
And it's the choices in between Donald Trump and not Trump. The choices, are we going to continue to lead to lead to lead to continue to continue to lead to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to lead to continue to lead to lead to lead to lead to lead to lead to lead to lead to to to to to to to to to to to to to to do to to to 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 the the the the the the the the co o... the to do. the too the too too too too tomo too to too too to too too the too the too the the the the to continue to lead this planet on the issues that matter from climate change to setting a standard
for quality of life? Or are we going to descend to be the first generation of
Americans where our life expectancy is going down. Baby boomers 90% did
better economically than their parents. For millennials it's down to 50-50.
Other countries are looking at things we used to be the best at and say, ha ha, we're going beyond you on lowering the cost of college
and the percentage of college graduates and more.
So this is the choice we have.
And I'm telling you it's not all about Donald Trump.
I want to beat him, defeat him.
I want to replace him and get him out of office.
But that's not why I'm running president because I'm running president because I'm because president because president because president because because because because because because because because because because because because because because because because because
I believe this is the moment that we as a country have to see that we have common cause and common purpose because we certainly have common pain.
The president that can get us there, that's the one that doesn't just be Donald Trumpets,
the one that gets us to the mountaintop, and that's what I believe our destiny is.
Howe-fort the task.
Good luck to you and the rest of the race. Senator Corey Book, everybody. We'll be right back. Hey everybody, we'll be right back.
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. Welcome back to the day of show.
My next guest is an Academy Award nominated actor who wrote, directed, produced and stars in the new movie, Motherless Brooklyn.
See that guy?
For any years? Yeah. Nice face.
If? Nice yourself.
Nice yourself.
You got a light? You got a light? tea. You got a light?
Um.
Geez.
Huh.
Jeez.
Sorry.
Geez.
Geez.
Please welcome. Geez, I forget I ask.
Please welcome, Edward Norton. Welcome to the Daily Show.
And congratulations on making a movie that has taken you what, two decades to finally put together?
I read the book. I read the book about the time we were putting out Fight Club.
Right. 20 years ago, yeah. So you read this book when you were making Fight Club?
And like the story gripped you and then you were like, I'm going to make this movie? Yes, well it's a great, the character, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thee. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. you were like I'm gonna make this movie. Yes well it's a great the character in case you don't understand what
you just saw there he has he has Tourette syndrome and obsessive compulsive
disorder and he's he's a detective but he he trips himself up quite a lot
right right he's not exactly the the Bogart smooth smooth detective. Right it's a different type of story and I mean that's what made the the book the book the book 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 the the the the the the the the the the th of the th of 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 the the the the ti. I I ti. I teea. I tea. I tea. tea. tea. tea. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, smooth detective. Right, it's a different type of story, and I mean that's what made the book interesting,
was it was a story of a PI who has Tourette's and also his OCD, but is brilliant.
And as the readers, we fall in love with this character, you know, because we root for the underdog,
you know, and you've taken that story and you've's like in the 90s, and then you've taken it to the 50s.
Why?
Well, it has a, it, the power of the novel is just what you said.
It's your deep identification with this guy with his very chaotic, hilarious, poignant mind.
And the plot, it's hard to explain. In the novel, it feels like a 50s gum-shoe novel,
though it's set in modern Brooklyn.
Interesting.
But in a way, what we wanted to do was stick to the feel of it.
And I'm a big fan of films like LA Confidential and Chinatown and things like that.
I love those films that really take you back into a sensual atmospheric time where, you know, the magic of movies,
when it's, you go into those worlds and you go, wow, this is really cool.
The music is great, the actors are adult and great, and the dialogue is great, and then they
take you down into sort of a dark weave of the dark things that are going on in society.
But I really liked the idea of doing that with a character
who's a little different than your typical gum shoe.
It's interesting that you say the story takes us back to a time,
because although the story is said in the 50s,
it feels very much applicable to what life is like today.
Because I won't spoil anything for you, but this is basically a story about a racist landlord
from New York who's destroying the world.
Yes.
I,
I, um, and he's played by Alec Baldwin.
Well, yeah.
Yeah. Well, yeah. I want to qualify that because there's no wigs involved, no small hands.
And it's not, it's not based on our insane clown president.
It's not, it's really not. There was a, there was a, there was a true Darth Vader in New York in the 20th century,
named Robert Moses, who, unlike others, was
a genius.
He was a genius, a dark genius.
But kind of like Anakin Skywalker gone over into Darth Vader, he was this great progressive
thinker who went very dark, and to a degree that people really don't understand,
he ran New York City like an imperial fiefdom for nearly half a century and everything that was done don't understand. He ran New York City like an imperial fiefdom
for nearly half a century and everything
that was done in this city that in some ways baked
discrimination into the infrastructure of the city
was done by him.
Right.
And so our, in the same way that, let's say Chinatown is sort of,
the toa, the story of the to. that the secret history of New to th. th. th. th. to to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, that, that, that, that, thr-s, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the, thi, thi. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. throooo that's, theeea. thea. that's, thea. that's, the. And, that it stole all its water. What we wanted to do was sort of tell the secret history of New York in some ways. It really does make it a
story because on the surface everyone immediately jumped to Trump but as
you've said what it really does and I guess noir is a perfect format for this
is that like it tells the understory of the ugly underbelly of
New York and how people were forced to live where they were forced to live and how this shaped their lives oftentimes in a really negative way.
Yeah, and look, I think that it's true.
Noir films, you know, it's not the dime store gum-shoe novels, but real noir is, it's a great
tradition in American film.
It's a commentary that in some ways, we have this narrative of our country, we're proud of it, we're invested in it, and we go along in our daily lives trusting it for the most part.
Noir kind of peels the corner back and says, hey, there are things going on in
the shadows that we should be concerned about. There are people who are rigging
the game and if we tolerate it too much they're going to do us damage. And I think I think I th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi I thi I thi I thi I thi I thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thro-I thro-I thr-a thr-n' thro-a' to to to to to to to to to to their told 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 theu. theu. theu. thau. thau. thau. te. te. te. te. te. te to the public narrative.
And I think in some ways, the only tricky thing on this one was I was essentially going
to people and saying, hey, it's sort of like LA confidential, but Rain Man is at the center
of it.
And some people's eyes sort of crossed.
But I do think that sometimes an underdog, like someone who you root for,
not despite their affliction, but because of it
and because of their unique characteristics,
it engenders your empathy.
And I think when you feel empathy for a character,
it reminds you in some ways like what you care about the most.
You want to be the kind of person who roots for Forrest Gump or, you know, Rain Man. And I think that in a lot of ways, to me, motherless Brooklyn, the title of this great novel,
it was not just applicable to the idea of people looking out for each other on a personal
level, but the idea that we need to, we need to not orphan our own communities, we need to stand up as citizens and take care of each other.......... And I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and, and I, and I, and, and, the the the the the the the the the the the thi, thi, the the the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, and, thi, and, and, and, and, their, and, and, their, and, their, and, and, and, their, and, and, and, their, and, their, their, their, and, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, thi, to, toe, toe. And, toean, toean, toean, toea.a. toe. toe. thean, thi. thi. thi. And, thi, to stand up as citizens and take care of each other. And I think it's a, we're in the middle of that argument again, amazingly.
I think whether we're going to confer a heroic value in America on the idea that we take care
of each other or whether we're going to romance power.
And I think, and I think that's what this digs around it. I think it digs, it digs deeper and then you enjoy the the the idea, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and the, and th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, whether, th, whether, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thii, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thi, thi, thi,, but at the end of the day, you walk out and you're like, damn, I'm living in the 1950s modern day version
of a 1990s, 2017, 2019 modern day, old-time movie
that you've like put together.
You directed, starred, and produced, and wrote the movie.
Like, this is-
I'm getting exhausted.
Right. That's like, really complicated for somebody to, like, like, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, to, the, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, and, the, the, the, and, and, and, the, the, the, the, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, the, the, like, like, like, like, like, the.......... the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. Like did you, like was there of a point where you like,
you thought you were working with other people
and then at the end of it all, you were like,
it was all me.
You were like, it was all two.
Yeah, it was Tyler Durden times five.
It was just you all over.
Yeah, but that must have been a weird.
Why did you know what I mean?
Those are things I love.
They don't necessarily go together, but they do.
You have to have conviction in a way that the mashup of things you're interested in.
Right, right.
It's going to lead to direct something through someone else's hands. But plus, honestly, like, a lot of the, you know, when I was 18 or 19 and do the right
thing came out, it was one of the seminal experiences of my young adult life in terms of, here's
this guy, Spike Lee, he's this kid, who is he?
He wrote and produced and directed and starred in a movie about his neighborhood in Brooklyn.
And it was wildly entertaining with great music and mash-ups of public animity and jazz
and all this stuff.
And it was also this deep commentary on American life.
It was as trenching and explosive, a forced conversation about race without easy
answers. And for a lot of us, a film like that just rewrote the,
you know, what we were aspiring to.
And I think when you've done this long enough and you get a chance,
you, sometimes you want to take a swing at doing something like that,
like tell a story that matters to you
and tell it in an interesting way and do something original. I was very inspired by Warren Badydy, who who to to to to to to to th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thi, thi, th. And, I th. And, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi..ei. And, thi. And, thi. And, I'm, I'm, I'm, I think, I think, I'm, I'm, I think, I'm was inspired by Warren Beatty, who directed Reds, you know,
and wrote it and produced it.
And sometimes, sometimes it's hard to explain to people
why you want to do something, and when you feel that way,
you just got to do it.
Oh, you did it and you did it well.
Thank you so much for joining us in the show.
Yeah.
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