Ep. #681: Rick Caruso, Larry Wilmore, Erin Perrine

Summary

Real Time with Bill Maher – Episode #681: Rick Caruso, Larry Wilmore, Erin Perrine
Release Date: January 18, 2025
Host: Bill Maher
Guests: Rick Caruso, Larry Wilmore, Aaron Perini

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1. Opening Remarks and Current Events

Timestamp: [00:31] – [07:39]

Bill Maher kicks off the episode by addressing recent wildfires affecting Los Angeles, particularly in Pacific Palisades and Altadena. He shares a personal anecdote about a local fire, highlighting the community's resilience despite significant property loss. Maher criticizes the city's preparedness and response to the fire crisis, emphasizing the need for better infrastructure and funding for essential services.

Notable Quote:

Bill Maher: "[...] it's predictable, Bill. What's predictable is preventable." ([09:38])

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2. Guest Segment: Rick Caruso on Fire Management and Political Landscape

Timestamp: [07:39] – [19:20]

Rick Caruso’s Background and Political Experience

Bill Maher welcomes Rick Caruso, a civic leader and founder of Caruso Real Estate, who previously ran for mayor. Caruso discusses his political journey, transitioning from the Republican Party to an independent, and eventually aligning with the Democratic Party during his mayoral campaign. He critiques the one-party dominance in local politics, arguing it stifles diverse representation and effective governance.

Notable Quote:

Rick Caruso: "[...] keeping the old guard, keeping the career politician was more important than doing what I could argue in the best interest of the people." ([08:37])

Critique of Fire Department Funding and Infrastructure

Caruso highlights the inadequacies in LA's fire management system, pointing out that reservoirs were offline during peak fire season and that vegetation management was neglected. He stresses the importance of proactive measures and better funding for emergency services to mitigate future disasters.

Notable Quote:

Rick Caruso: "If you're building in a fire area, so we designed it to the highest levels to withstand it." ([15:19])

Discussion on Rebuilding and Preventative Measures

Caruso advocates for smarter rebuilding strategies, emphasizing the need to use non-combustible materials and improve infrastructure resilience. He also mentions his private rapid response team, which alleviates the burden on the LA Fire Department, though he acknowledges not everyone can afford such services.

Notable Quote:

Rick Caruso: "We're going to reopen it. People get their businesses back. What's not being talked about now are the thousands of people that have lost their jobs." ([16:27])

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3. Panel Discussion: Larry Wilmore and Aaron Perini on Political Shifts and Social Issues

Timestamp: [19:20] – [43:00]

Political Realignment in California

Larry Wilmore analyzes the shifting political landscape in California, noting the challenges Republicans face due to Democratic registration dominance and the difficulty in mobilizing low-propensity voters. He suggests that for Republicans to succeed, a significant party realignment is necessary, requiring substantial resources and strategic candidate positioning.

Notable Quote:

Larry Wilmore: "Joe Biden cannot, credibility has no credibility to carry that argument." ([36:34])

Influence of Big Tech and Social Media Regulation

The panel delves into the influence of tech giants like Zuckerberg and Musk on politics and society. They critique the inconsiderate handling of free speech by social media platforms and discuss potential regulatory measures. Wilmore highlights the hypocrisy in Biden's stance on the tech industrial complex, pointing out the Democratic Party's historical complicity with big tech.

Notable Quote:

Larry Wilmore: "Joe Biden cannot, credibility has no credibility." ([36:34])

TikTok Ban and Foreign Influence Concerns

Aaron Perini discusses the complexities surrounding the potential TikTok ban, emphasizing national security concerns related to Chinese investment and data access. The conversation touches on efforts to remove Chinese influence from American cell phones and the economic implications of such bans.

Notable Quote:

Larry Wilmore: "It's not the goal. The goal was to get the Chinese investment [...] out of the business." ([43:46])

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4. Social Commentary on Current Affairs and Cultural Issues

Timestamp: [43:00] – [58:20]

Biden’s Farewell Speech and Industrial Complexes

Maher references President Biden's farewell speech, where he warns against the rise of the tech industrial complex, likening it to Eisenhower's warnings about the military-industrial complex. The panel debates Biden's credibility in advocating for regulation given his administration's policies and alliances with big tech companies.

Notable Quote:

Larry Wilmore: "Joe Biden cannot, credibility has no credibility to carry that argument." ([36:34])

Impact of AI and Technological Advancements on Employment

The discussion shifts to the ramifications of AI on mid-level coding jobs. The panel expresses skepticism about the claims that AI will create more opportunities, arguing that tech leaders are negligent about the societal impacts of automation.

Notable Quote:

Bill Maher: "They don’t give a fuck what the repercussions of AI taking everybody's job." ([41:46])

Transfer of Power and Presidential Conduct

The panel debates the norms of presidential behavior during transfers of power, critiquing Donald Trump's reluctance to participate in peaceful handovers and the social expectations placed on former presidents by figures like Obama. They emphasize the importance of civility regardless of political differences.

Notable Quote:

Larry Wilmore: "There is an opportunity now for a political shift in California." ([24:11])

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5. "New Rules" Segment: Satirical Takes on Current Policies and Events

Timestamp: [58:20] – [59:51]

Bill Maher concludes the episode with his signature "New Rules" segment, where he humorously critiques various societal and political issues:

• Performance Standards for Politicians: Mocking the incompetency and superficial dealings of elected officials.
• Consumer Policies: Satirizing Starbucks' policy changes compared to European cafe cultures.
• Fire Management Policies: Highlighting the ineffectiveness of current strategies in combating wildfires.
• Public Safety and Infrastructure Funding: Critiquing the misplaced priorities in government budgeting, leading to inadequate responses to disasters.

Notable Quote:

Bill Maher: "wildfires in California are like boob jobs in a strip club. Inevitable. And they're only going to get bigger." ([54:00])

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Conclusion

The episode navigates through pressing issues such as wildfire management, political realignment, the influence of big tech, and societal responses to disasters. Through engaging discussions with Rick Caruso, Larry Wilmore, and Aaron Perini, Bill Maher explores the complexities of governance, public safety, and the interplay between politics and technology, all while maintaining his characteristic blend of humor and incisive critique.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Bill Maher]

My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career Day and said he was a big roas man.

[Larry Wilmore]

Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend.

[Bill Maher]

My friends still laugh at me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign.

[Rick Caruso]

Go to LinkedIn.com results to claim your credit.

[Bill Maher]

That's LinkedIn.com results.

[Rick Caruso]

Twitter terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn the place to be, to be.

[Bill Maher]

Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late night series Real Time with Bill Maher. Buddy, how you doing? Hey. Thank you. Welcome back. Hi. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Wow, we're back. I know. Thank you. Thank you. I'm so glad you're putting on a happy face. Thank you. Wow. I appreciate that. Okay. Thank you so much. That helps us, all of us, a lot. Because it's a new year, a new season, a lot of new things happening. We have a new president in three days. It's gonna be okay. Take a deep breath. Oh, oh, oh, wait, we're in la. Don't take a deep bre. Yeah, we had a little fire out here. I don't know if you heard about that local story. I'll tell you this, I will never, once again make fun of rednecks who have their homes on wheels. I mean, Louisiana people, they cannot drive in fire. Am I right? Did you get enough alerts on your phone that made you shit yourself? Evacuate now. I'm like, I think I just did. Oh, I can't fire. No. Louisiana is a very unique place, wouldn't you agree? Even our millionaires are homeless. Oh, there's anyone here from Pacific Palisades? Those people are pissed. The hydrants ran out of water. It's like a drag show running out of glitter. I don't know anybody. I don't know anybody who didn't even either lose their house or had to bug out of their house, you know? And for all the people who sent me a text, stay safe. Thank you so much because I was about to run right toward the flames and then I saw your text and did. That was very helpful. But, hey, they don't have. We're not down. We're not. We're down. We're not out. We will rebuild. I keep hearing that. And we will. What else are we going to do? No, we quit. No, we're going to rebuild. But this is not going to be easy considering Trump wants to Deport all the guys who work with hammers. What a fucked up place this is. And now street lunatics are setting more fires, which is unforgivable. You're endangering the looters. Yeah, looters. Yeah. I tell you, a thing like this, right? Brings out, you see, the best and the worst in people. The best are firefighters who saved our ass. The worst, all these people who are looting, causing new fires. Some of them, I think, were set originally. One arsonist admitted. He said, I enjoy causing chaos and destruction. And Trump said, fine, run the Justice Department. And, oh, yes, I. We're joking. Joking. Gentle humor. That's what I do. Right. It's just gentle rumor because we have a new president and don't. I just wanted to say congratulations. Look, things have been said, and you know what it really is, is some of the writers here don't want. They don't want to make America great again like you and me. I say, go Team Disruptor. Yeah. They're having the confirmation hearings for the people who Trump wants in his cabinet. It's the same hearing every day with every different person, the Democrat get up there. And they say, if Trump wanted you to break the law, will you? And they say the same thing. I'm not going to tell you. I don't want to ruin the surprise. The most. The most controversial one is Pete Hegseth. You like Pete? Pete's up there for defense secretary. And apparently so many people have complained about him having a drinking problem that he is promised, if he is confirmed to stop drinking. And if he is not confirmed, he's going to get drunk and fuck your girlfriend. But the inauguration is Monday. Oh, they got everything going on. Church service, swearing in, luncheon parade. Three balls, which is three more than Merrick Garland has. And one more very important story for all the kids watching. TikTok. Woof. It's gone as of Sunday. Gonna need a new time sock. Ooh. They say a lot of the kids are gonna return to Facebook. Wow. Even online, they're moving back in with their parents. All right, we got a great show. We have Larry Wilmore and Aaron Perini here. But first, he's a civic leader and founder of the real estate company caruso, who in 22 ran for mayor here. Rick Carus. Oh, look at that. How you doing? Good to see you.

[Aaron Perini]

All right.

[Bill Maher]

So great to have you here.

[Rick Caruso]

Thank you.

[Bill Maher]

I can tell you of all the guests I've had in this opening spot, you know, and we advertise during the week so people see who they're gonna. I've never had more people say, oh good, I wanna see this guy, make sure what happened here. And if people who run the country don't know, you ran against our current mayor. Yes. And lost by not too much. You started out running as a Republican, which is what you are, and then ran as an independent and then as a Democrat. You're running out of parties to leave. Right.

[Rick Caruso]

Which is probably a victim.

[Bill Maher]

But I just want to start there because I think it says a lot about a one party state. And I would say this, if it was any one party running anything, I don't think it's healthy that you had to put a D by your name even to be in the race. Would you comment on that?

[Rick Caruso]

Well, what I did do is 10 years ago I left the Republican Party and I became an independent. And then when I was thinking about running for mayor, I did turn to the Democratic Party. And so I did that before I ran. And listen, the reality is we've got a system in this country that's a closed loop and we got to get out of that closed loop system because you saw in my race, the Democratic Party was horrified that I was getting close. Biden flew out to campaign for Harris, flew out a couple times, Nancy Pelosi, I mean, they should have just filled up Air Force One and done it all at one time. And then at the very end when we were tied, they finally convinced Obama to come in and endorse her. So it was just an amazing process to watch how keeping the old guard, keeping the career politician was more important than doing what I could argue in the best interest of the people.

[Bill Maher]

So I mean, the big controversy here is, could it have gone better? I say, yes, could have gone better handling the fire?

[Rick Caruso]

Oh, of course.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. Well, there's lots of people who say, don't, you know, it's, look, I don't want to end, step on my editorial at the end of the show, which is what this is about.

[Rick Caruso]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

But that's my view. Is that, is fire bad? Yes. And is it inevitable out here? Yes, it is.

[Rick Caruso]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

But I do think we could have done better. I mean, I know that's your point of view. Tell me what you would have done.

[Rick Caruso]

Well, let me just, just to put it in context for a minute, I was very fortunate as a young man. I was a commissioner with Tom Bradley, worked for him. I worked for Dick Reardon and I worked for Jimmy Hahn, for Tom Bradley and Dick Reardon. I was the head of the Department of Water and Power. So I know A little bit about the water and power issue here. I also know a lot about what good leadership looks like. Those three were good leaders. To know there's a fire, coming to know you're in fire season. We had a fire three weeks ago in Malibu. Six years ago, we had a fire in Brentwood. And for those that don't know the Brentwood area, it's 15 minutes from where the Palisades fire was. There's 40 year old vegetation between Brentwood and the Palisades. And at that time I said, if that fire travels, it's going to come through and wipe out the Palisades. I'm so sad that I was right. It was predictable, Bill. What's predictable is preventable. And then on top of it to have a main reservoir out of service during peak fire season. Yeah, I mean, that's border negligence. And so we've got to get to the back story of this, but you've got to make good business decisions. Running this city is running a business for the benefit of the residents. And what everybody should have been saying, we had all the alerts about the, the firestorm coming in or the winds coming in. Why wasn't more done? Why didn't we make sure the reservoirs were all topped off and you should never run out of water?

[Bill Maher]

You mentioned the vegetation. Now, I remember when we had a fire when Trump was president and he came in, he said, you don't rake, you're not raking. And I did joke, we all did jokes about it, but, you know, we got to get over this thing. Is he wrong? Usually, yeah, but I'm not going to. I remember when he took Ivermectin or something and then Ivermectin, which won the Nobel Prize and nobody. It was like that became snake oil. No. Just because Trump says it doesn't mean it's automatically wrong.

[Rick Caruso]

Automatically.

[Bill Maher]

Did he have a point about that that we don't?

[Rick Caruso]

Of course he did.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

[Rick Caruso]

Of course he did. And what we should be doing in the city and what we should do now, we have an opportunity underground. The power lines.

[Bill Maher]

Well, yeah, of course.

[Rick Caruso]

But when everybody starts talking about rebuilding, yes, we need to rebuild quickly and yes, we need to get people back in their homes, but we also need to be smart about it because the Palisades, just like Altadena, and God bless the families there, too, the Palisades is going to remain in a fire zone. Say, don't go build the same damn thing.

[Bill Maher]

You know what they did in Sacramento?

[Rick Caruso]

What's that?

[Bill Maher]

Goats.

[Rick Caruso]

Goats.

[Bill Maher]

Goats work. Goats yeah. Yeah, man. Work fucking goats.

[Rick Caruso]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

No, you put them on the hillside and they eat the vegetation.

[Rick Caruso]

Yes.

[Bill Maher]

And they're cheap, they work cheap, and they get great milk. I've heard people criticize you and say, you know, when you ran for mayor, you didn't talk about the fires. What you talked about was the homeless. And then I read more than half the fires here are caused by homeless. Well, the connection is huge.

[Rick Caruso]

First of all, that's wrong. And one of the videos that I made during the campaign, I did talk about the homeless, but I made a video in the campaign saying the fire department needs to be fully funded. And if I'm mayor, it will be fully funded. And that video.

[Bill Maher]

But don't the homeless start a lot of the fires?

[Rick Caruso]

The homeless do.

[Bill Maher]

They do start a lot of fires.

[Rick Caruso]

But, Bill, think about this. We're the second largest city in the United States. We're a world class city. We have fields of mothballed equipment because we don't have the money to start it up. We have 10 times the calls of service today than we did in the 60s. But we have less fire stations should people be. None of it makes sense. But we have political leaders that don't prioritize the safety and the livability of our city. And that's the number one job.

[Bill Maher]

Should people be asked to defend their own home more? Because you see this a lot. Where there's a block, and this is not just this fire, other ones where most of the houses are gone and then one's right in the middle that isn't because that guy got up on the roof with the hose.

[Rick Caruso]

Yeah, Not a good idea.

[Bill Maher]

No, no, I was gonna do it. Why? Why no building A. I'm gonna thug it up.

[Rick Caruso]

Put it in your underwear so your clothes don't catch on fire. I know it's dangerous. Listen, the people. This fire was incredibly dangerous. And I've been in the Palisades. I've seen it. You can't even get your head around it. It is so bad, so sad. It literally looks like the area has been carpet bombed. Yeah, but see, and that fire came through so quickly.

[Bill Maher]

But in this Palisades, your area did not burn.

[Rick Caruso]

Well, we're in Bremen, but my daughter lost her house. Right. Our. My daughter lost her house.

[Bill Maher]

What did you do differently there?

[Rick Caruso]

We built it differently. That whole village that we built is built without any combustible materials. We knew we're building in a fire area, so we designed it to the highest levels to withstand it. And then we had we do that with Earthquakes.

[Bill Maher]

Why can't we do it with fire?

[Rick Caruso]

We could do it.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, we did it.

[Rick Caruso]

Right, right. And being. There's nothing wrong with being prepared. You should be prepared. And then we have this rapid response team and that rapid response team. The minute that high wind advisory went out, we've got companies with retardant and we've got firefighters that help to reduce the resources the city has to put on us, that we could free up to others.

[Bill Maher]

But you call them rapid response people call that a private fire department. Is that. Is that.

[Rick Caruso]

It's private.

[Bill Maher]

Is that good? Of course it's good.

[Rick Caruso]

Because by us having our own team there, it freed up LA Fire Department to go take care of other.

[Bill Maher]

But not everybody can afford the private fire department.

[Rick Caruso]

Well, they can't. No. But here's what I would tell you. If we have a fully funded fire department that has more resources, you wouldn't need the privates.

[Bill Maher]

So can I explain?

[Rick Caruso]

Can I just say. Can I just say one other thing? Because, you know, people talking about Caruso shouldn't have saved, you know, his downtown village. That downtown village include eight homes that we saved. It include all the retailers and the restaurateurs. Hundreds of jobs are saved. We're going to reopen it. People get their businesses back. What's not being talked about now are the thousands of people that have lost their jobs, that have no support system. The gardeners, the pool men, the service people, the delivery people, everybody that works, the waiters, the chefs, everybody's going to have their job back that has their businesses at our village. That is the right thing to do. And we've got to figure out how to get help to those that need help the most. And there's a lot of people out.

[Bill Maher]

What can we do about idiots? No, I mean, like I read there are people who, like, during this, we're setting off those things where you put a candle inside because it's beautiful to watch it go up in the sky. And also fireworks.

[Rick Caruso]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Look, I don't think California needs a lot more regulations, but fireworks.

[Rick Caruso]

I agree.

[Bill Maher]

I think it's safer if we shut off guns like they do in the Middle east. If you want to celebrate.

[Rick Caruso]

Wow, really?

[Bill Maher]

Or just have the city set off one firecracker thing. Fire show, but it causes fires.

[Rick Caruso]

I agree. And there's talk that this was caused because of fireworks the week before, and it smoldered. Listen, I have zero tolerance for that, okay? Zero tolerance.

[Bill Maher]

So you sound like you're gonna run again. Are you?

[Rick Caruso]

You know, somebody told me last night, instead of Running again. Just run. And, Bill, I gotta tell you, I don't know. I'm wired to run towards the problem rather than away from it.

[Bill Maher]

You just told me to get out of the house.

[Rick Caruso]

But I don't know what I'm gonna do yet. I really don't. It's not a political answer because right now I want to focus on the rebuilding. I want to call people out that are dysfunctional. I want to call people out that are in the way. I want to do whatever I can to cut the red tape. I want people to build their homes and get this community back up and running. There's time for me to decide if I'm going to run or not. But I can tell you I am just honored that I can at least help in some way. But we've got to get a lot of people involved. And this problem is too big for politics. And I've got zero patience. And everybody should have zero patience for politics. And this idea that the federal aid is going to come with conditions and.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, that's bullshit.

[Rick Caruso]

Bullshit. No.

[Bill Maher]

Thanks, Rick. I appreciate it. I'll see you down the road. Thank you very much. Rick Caruso. Let's meet our panel. Bullshit. You heard that? All right, here they are, first show of the season. He's a producer, actor, comedian, writer. Wow. And host of the podcast Larry Wilmore, Black on the Air. Larry Wilmore is back with us, and she's a Republican strategist at Axiom Strategies and communications director for Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, Aaron Perini. Aaron, great to have you here. You're not from here, right? No. You live in D.C. yeah. Larry, you. You were here.

[Aaron Perini]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

How was your fire, Larry? How was your. Did you fight or flight? How was your.

[Aaron Perini]

Put the hose in my hand, Bill. And went after it.

[Bill Maher]

And then the fire came.

[Aaron Perini]

Yeah, then the fire came. See that? We're comedians. We have to make jokes. It's sad.

[Bill Maher]

Everybody needs to laugh. I know. Yeah.

[Aaron Perini]

Like, people were going after the looters. The looters got a loot. That's their job. They're criminals. Criminals have to commit crimes, Bill.

[Bill Maher]

They do.

[Aaron Perini]

Even in the sad situation. But I am from Pasadena. My father lived there. My grandmother. My great grandmother. Yes, his father. Different people in Altadena. Man, it is sad what happened there. When I saw the criticism, which was crazy about Palisades, rich people losing their homes. So this is a working class nightmare, too, you know, so many working class families and their. What you can call wealth was in their homes, Bill. Like, they have nothing. Like, how are People going to rebuild, they don't have funds to rebuild. Just even relocate is terrible, you know, so. And I knew, I have many friends that lost their homes and it happened like that, like in an instant. I've never seen anything like it. So it was pretty scary.

[Bill Maher]

What do you think about the. Well, you're a strategist, you should answer this one. But the fact that people are saying this is going to change. I was talking to Rick about one state. We've been a one party state for quite a while now. Not that we haven't had Republicans in the past, but for the last 20 years at least. I mean, it's just one party. Will this change that? I mean, I see things that I never saw. You know, we will shoot looters on sight. Right? You know that where the sign used to be in this house? We believe they took that one down and put up the shoot looters on sight sign.

[Aaron Perini]

You know, everything's upside down. You have black people in lots looking at the Palisades going, man, what verdict were they mad about? You know, it's upside down.

[Larry Wilmore]

You know, there is an opportunity now for a political shift in California. And you've already been seeing it happening a little bit already. You saw it in this last November election with LA District Attorney Gascon losing to Nathan Hockman, who was an Assistant Attorney General under George W. Bush. You've already seen where progressive policies are being pushed away in California in 2020. House Republicans, California and New York are considered the majority makers in the House of Representatives. That's where you pick up those seats to get you into the speakership. California in 2020 really helped lead the charge of turning seats to Republicans to bring in a House Republican majority. 22. We slipped a little. 24. They've been able to stay competitive in some of these races, like David Valadao. But if you look at a state like California, purely politically, you're looking at like a 45% Democrat registration, about a 24% Republican registration, and about a 21% no party registration. You have about an 84% registration rate in the state. Because of the political realignment that you've seen in the United States over the last decade, Democrats have become the higher propensity turnout voter. What does that mean? It means that in an off cycle year, your non presidentials, your midterm years, your special elections, your recall elections, where it's not a learned pattern of behavior, most people, if they vote, they'll generally vote one of four, they'll vote in a presidential election Right. These people are more hardwired to vote regularly now. So you are already at a registration deficit of nearly 2 to 1 with Republicans. Even if you add in the non registered folks, you're going to see that that's almost identical to Democrat registration in the state. Getting out a low propensity voter gives you generally, in the national election with Donald Trump, that was the shift you saw, was that they were going after low propensity voters, those who don't regularly behave in that fashion.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Larry Wilmore]

In order to do that in California, politically, you got to catch like political lightning in a bottle. You got to have a candidate with money. You gotta have a candidate who can raise money, and you gotta have somebody who can take that coalition of Republicans non registered and pull from Democrats. If you want to be a Republican who wins, it's a complete party realignment.

[Bill Maher]

But people are pissed now. See, by the way, this is why we need people other than comedians, because they know facts and stuff. We need this mixture of.

[Aaron Perini]

That's right. Like, you know, even Karen Bass, you know, I have to give her a little bit of credit. She is the first black person ever to be. To come back from Africa.

[Bill Maher]

That's a great line.

[Aaron Perini]

Usually.

[Bill Maher]

That's a great line.

[Aaron Perini]

It's the other way around.

[Bill Maher]

But I feel like as we're now here, if you're watching this tonight, it's January 17th, you may be watching this a little later, and Trump is already president, but it seems like the mood is very different than his first time in because it's, you know, there's people who are mad than anybody's working with them. There are people who are mad that Carrie Underwood is singing at the inauguration. I don't know if there's an applause for Carrie Underwood. I don't know if that. Yes, she's not.

[Larry Wilmore]

I don't know why everybody's so shocked that a country music star is singing God Bless America at the presidential inauguration. But people have become so fallen in understanding that Donald Trump won and he won again. And that has upset people. The fact that he won the first time made people real angry the second time, they're even more upset. And now you're not supposed to be able to celebrate at this point. Let normal be normal. Let a country music singer go and sing at the inauguration. That's normal. Or any singer, any singer, if you want to go.

[Bill Maher]

And I get it about Donald Trump and the things you don't like him about him, I don't either. But you can't hold this hostage to every other part of life would be my view. I saw there was a picture, I think we have it here, of him with Obama at Jimmy Carter's funeral. And there's Trump making Obama laugh. I mean, a hate crime.

[Aaron Perini]

True. You know, all I want. I only want the transcripts. That's all I want. You know, because in my mind. In my mind, Trump is. Remember when you said I had a small dick? It's true.

[Rick Caruso]

It's true.

[Bill Maher]

I don't think he said that.

[Aaron Perini]

And then Obama's like, you know what? I really am from Kenya.

[Rick Caruso]

You had it right, bro.

[Larry Wilmore]

I mean, civility isn't weakness. And that's kind of what we've all forgotten. There are only four living people right now who understand what it's like to be President of the United States. Barack Obama and Donald Trump are two of those people. If they can sit next to each other after everything these two men have said about each other.

[Bill Maher]

Let's not forget, only one side is civil when they lose. Trump didn't go to anybody's inauguration.

[Larry Wilmore]

Well, Jackie Gross is not going to his.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, I don't blame him. Or Michelle Obama, because he didn't even go to theirs. Or he still hasn't conceded those elections.

[Aaron Perini]

No.

[Larry Wilmore]

The way. Well, Donald Trump did concede the 2020 election. He did. Yes. We signed the tape 100%. I know for sure.

[Bill Maher]

Where is it? Where is it? Where is the.

[Rick Caruso]

I don't.

[Bill Maher]

Where is it? Where is it?

[Larry Wilmore]

I know for sure.

[Bill Maher]

Donald Trump did.

[Aaron Perini]

He did not.

[Larry Wilmore]

Here's the thing. Here's something else you should know. He did not concede. He did. He said he lost. Yes, he did. He did it in the Senate.

[Aaron Perini]

He conceded that he wasn't president.

[Larry Wilmore]

No. In the 2024 cycle. I mean, listen, I know the facts. I saw. This is like, what, are you on TV for a living? But here's the thing again, like, why is it that if he doesn't. If somebody doesn't want to go, don't make them go. Like, if Donald Trump didn't want to go, okay, If Carrie Underwood does want to sing. It's the same idea in reverse. Let them not go.

[Bill Maher]

Let them go.

[Aaron Perini]

I disagree with that. But if you're the former president, you should participate in a peaceful transfer of power. If Nancy, you know, Nancy Pelosi doesn't want to go at this point, that's different than the president. It's the least you can do as the ex president. That's the least you can do. A show for the inauguration? Are you kidding me?

[Larry Wilmore]

Well, it looks like they're all going to be there this time.

[Aaron Perini]

Okay, yes, the other side. Exactly. Yes, of course. Of course Trump's gonna be there. He won.

[Bill Maher]

But it's funny, they were at Jimmy Carter's funeral and when I was reading about Jimmy Carter and I remembered from he was president, you know, the thing about him was he did not play. He did not play the game. He was truly an outsider. And I thought, that's true. Trump is the only guy since who's kind of the same way. Like, I didn't come here to make friends. That was Jimmy Carter's mantra. And by the way, it worked. Nobody liked him. I thought he was quite the good president. Never fired a shot.

[Aaron Perini]

REI co op presents a mini mindfulness break. Take a deep breath in. Picture yourself on a mountain. As you hold your breath, look down at your skis, freshly waxed thanks to your REI membership. Carving through powder like a knife to warm butter. Breathe out slowly. Let the air leave your lungs like you'd leave your local co op with all the gear, clothing, classes, and advice you could hope for. Make time to opt outside rei.com oh.

[Bill Maher]

Such a clutch off season pickup, Dave. I was worried we'd bring back the same team. I meant Those blackout motorized shades lines.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blind.

[Aaron Perini]

Hard to install.

[Bill Maher]

No, it's easy. I installed these and then got some for my mom. She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and install hall of fame son. They're the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world. Blinds.com is the goat.

[Rick Caruso]

Go to blinds.com for 40% off site wide.

[Bill Maher]

Blinds.com, rules and restrictions may apply. And Trump is sort of similar in that way, too. Trump's kind of anti war. You know, he wants to get out of war, which is sort of a switch on what we used to think of. We used to think of the Republicans or the Hawks.

[Aaron Perini]

Yeah, well, Jimmy Carter, his problem was he was a micromanager. He wanted to do everything. And then Trump's problem was he wants to get credit for everything.

[Bill Maher]

Right?

[Aaron Perini]

Those are the two, the yin and the yang. But you know, that quality that you talk about. Trump is the reason why his win encompassed so many different people, because he's not an ideologue. You know, he's just more of a figurehead for a movement or that type of thing. I think that's why it's easier for people who don't necessarily have an ideology or in the middle to say, oh, yeah, I like what that guy says.

[Larry Wilmore]

And that's the ideological realignment that I was talking about earlier is that Trump has brought in more of these low propensity voters. And also you're talking about the similarities of Jimmy Carter and how they have this mentality of like, I'm not in this to make friends. They're also more likely at this point to represent the same kind of voters because of the political realignment than people realize because of the shift in the Democratic Party now to more elites and the Republicans to more the blue collar working class voter. That comparison's a fair one just given the ideological breakdown of parties.

[Bill Maher]

But I find it so interesting that, you know, for most people's lives, most of us, and not all and not every time, but you, you know, when we change presidencies, you might not even know it. And yet the perception we are in such a state of anxiety that when it's the Republican, everything's different and vice versa. I know when Biden and before that Obama was president, all the right wing sites would sell survival products. Survival products like prepper seeds. Remember that? And emergency food because they were going to rat fuck the universe so badly that, that you needed tactical vests and gas masks. Okay, now that the shoe's on the other foot, liberals are doing this. I saw this article about. Oh, liberal prepper. Oh, there it is. Should you be prepping for Trump?

[Aaron Perini]

Why is he a.

[Bill Maher]

But the liberal prepper kit is a little different. Would you like to see what's in the lib? Okay, I thought you liked it. For example, in the liberal kids, you have all gender tampons. There's a camouflage NPR tote bag. You have prepper seeds that come in indica and sativa. That's important. A dehydrated chardonnay. Yes, that I think is very. You have an SOS beacon that flashes in Morse code. We are low key, lost. Oh, a mask for when you're by yourself alone in the middle of the wood. Oh, of course. You gotta have toilet paper with Trump's face on it. Gaydar. Oh, important. A satellite phone on your parents phone plan. And of course a portable AM radio so your nanny can listen to the Mexican station. All right, so. So Joe Biden is leaving office and I see he gave his farewell speech and I thought it was an interesting theme and I thought it was the right one. He harked back to Eisenhower, who very famously, when he was leaving office, before John F. Kennedy came in, warned about the military industrial complex. That was 1960. That's a long time ago. And we still haven't listened because that only gets worse. But Biden's thing was the tech industrial complex. So now we got two industrial complex and I could add the pharmaceutical medical one. Oh, we're lousy with complexes. But Biden said today an oligarchy is taking shape of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy. Basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. Obviously we've seen the tableau. We're about to see it at the inauguration. Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg are all on the dais. I think this is who Joe Biden.

[Aaron Perini]

Tim Cook I think too.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. And the guy from TikTok. We'll get to that. And you know, these are all the most powerful men in the world because we want to stick it to the elitist. And I don't think Joe Biden is wrong. I mean he talked about back in the day 100 years ago. I remember when, I don't remember, but I remember reading that John D. Rockefeller, I think at one point was worth 2% of of GDP in this country. And they did something about it. They did. They created antitrust and they broke up Standard Oil. I don't see us doing that with this group, should we?

[Larry Wilmore]

There's always been a large conversation around, especially on Capitol Hill regulation of social media companies and how you're going to do that in order to not step on the First Amendment. But I find it very difficult for Joe Biden to credibly hold argument about about the tech industrial complex when it has so served Democrats up into this point. He talks about the fact that there is extreme wealth and that this needs to be broken up. Democrats didn't have a problem with that extreme wealth when $1 billion was raised by Kamala Harris in under 100 days to be able to try to fuel her to the presidency. Nobody minded extreme wealth then. They didn't mind extreme power when Joe Biden was able to unilaterally pardon his son for over a decade of alleged or convicted crimes. And they certainly didn't mind extreme influence when both the Biden White House and the Biden campaign were pressuring these social media companies to suppress conversations stories, the Hunter Biden laptop story, people pushing back on Covid that they didn't like. So while we can definitely have a conversation on the overall merits of regulation when it comes to social media companies and the be uber wealthy if you want to in this country, but Joe Biden cannot, credibility has no credibility. To carry that argument, I think a.

[Aaron Perini]

Distinction would be That. I mean, Kamala, it took like a billion people to give her a billion dollars, you know, really? You know what I mean? I'm being facetious, of course, but for Trump, it took one guy to give him a lot of money, and now he has a lot of influence. Influence. Elon Musk, you know, I mean, that was an extraordinary amount of money that he then, as his stock went up, you know, he realized tenfold. You know, he profited actually off of that. You know, but this person has influence. And a lot of people, you know, I mean, it is kind of. I get what you're saying where it's kind of ridiculous for us to now think, oh, people with power and money may have undue influence. Whoa, when did this happen? Right. Like, it's always been the case here. Right. But I think the more concern is that it's really in the hands of a few people who have direct influence. It seems like even more now than ever. I've never seen it quite like this.

[Bill Maher]

Well, we don't know how much money they have because of the Citizens United ruling in 2010. You remember when Obama was at the State of the Union and he said there's an undue influence and Alito was in the. No, no.

[Larry Wilmore]

Joe Biden received the most dark money in political history in this last election cycle. Democrats continue to bemoan all that they profit off of when it comes to politics in this country. And you want to know why Republicans are fed up and voters are fed up quite frequently? It's because they're like, wait, it's okay for you, but not for me. It's a joke.

[Bill Maher]

Okay, but first of all, money doesn't even matter that much anymore. Trump would. Wait, it does. You need some money. But Trump was outspent both times. Anyone?

[Larry Wilmore]

It's very true. But money makes it easier to get your message out in politics. It makes it so much easier. TV ads matter. And as much as voters, and I understand it, say they don't like negative ads, it motivates people the most to get to the polls, and you need the money to be able to get that message out there.

[Bill Maher]

But I take your point about free speech. I think. I'm with you. I mean, Zuckerberg didn't. You know, the cynical people are saying, and maybe they're right that he did a 180 on free speech. Yeah, they're right that he's. That there's to be cynical about it.

[Larry Wilmore]

Absolutely. They have every right to.

[Bill Maher]

Zuckerberg.

[Larry Wilmore]

There's no reason all of a sudden that we should now think that he is grand protector of the First Amendment and this real truth seeker when he has a long history of again suppressing Republicans and trying to be the arbiter of Trump.

[Bill Maher]

Well, what he would say, I mean, here's some of his quotes. He said. He's talking about what happened when Biden was president. He said they would come, they would call us and scream at us to take down true information. He said they pushed us and said anything that says vaccines might have side effects, which is not even controversial. Everything has side effects you basically need to take down. It is possible, I think that, you know, he's a fairly young guy and he got taken the first time around and he's like. Because I think his basic instinct to begin with was a free speech guy. And now he's like, yeah, you know what? I should have gone with my gut.

[Aaron Perini]

Yeah. He probably gets pressure from the people who he feels he's aligned with. I don't know why people are believing anything on Facebook in the first place. You know, honestly, I think the thing that should protect us from disinformation and misinformation on social media should be our brains and our common sense. That should be the thing.

[Bill Maher]

Well, good luck with that.

[Aaron Perini]

Exactly.

[Larry Wilmore]

A little bit. That's what X is trying to do with community notes now, right? They're trying to say instead of somebody else deciding what the truth is on something, we can all come together as a community and be able to put forward the facts to get something changed together instead of one person being the arbiter. Good example of this this week on Twitter. X. Sorry, Matt Milano, who's a Buffalo Bills player, apparently there was a tweet that said that he was trash talking Lamar Jackson ahead of our playoff game this weekend. If anybody has ever seen Matt Milano, the man has barely said three words to a reporter in his entire career. Bill's mafia stood up, put a community note on it so they don't get the locker room fodder to try and hit us.

[Bill Maher]

But see, where Elon doesn't have a leg to stand here is he does the same thing when somebody says something he doesn't like. Remember he did that thing with Don Lemon and Don Lemon was a little, I don't know, question and goodbye defense drated. But here's, I think the thing that Zuckerberg and the people in his camp are going to have to answer for more. He was talking this week about how he said soon AI can do the job of most mid level coders kind of bragging about this, right? Yeah. My question is, and then what. What job do most mid level coders do? I also saw the guy from Nvidia. That's the company that makes all the chips that go in to make AI work.

[Aaron Perini]

It's made the most money in the last five, 10 years.

[Bill Maher]

Basically the same thing. Bragging that AI can do this job and this job and this job. And then Bill Whitaker said the right question, of course, you know, what are these people going to do? And a total bullshit answer. Well, I think this is really going to create more. No, it's not. You're just doing it because you want to do it. I don't think these guys are even in it for the money. They have more money than could ever use. It's just fun. It's just fun to push the boundaries in the field that you're good at. I get it.

[Aaron Perini]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

But they don't give a fuck what the repercussions of AI taking everybody's job.

[Aaron Perini]

I know. It's almost like, as you say that, it's almost like they're making that old migrant argument. Hey, AI is just taking the jobs college graduates don't want to do, you know? You know, it's like, what are you talking about? This for people, you know, people want to be engineers. You know, these, these are our fields that people have abilities in. And, you know, a lot of genius about how to do things comes from, you know, the way that people think differently and all that stuff. And AI takes over that. That's a whole swath of opportunities for people to be creative about the future that goes on.

[Bill Maher]

They want to. You think they're trying to get.

[Aaron Perini]

I get what I can.

[Bill Maher]

Do you think they want to get rid of TikTok now? As of now, again, this is Friday, January 17th. As of now, TikTok goes away on Sunday. I mean, first of all, the kids are going to freak out, right? I mean, what Trump, he's so, you know, first of all, let's put this on the table because it's true. Trump used to be on this page. Let's get rid of TikTok. Then a big donor from TikTok came along and gave a lot of money to Donald Trump. And suddenly, coincidentally, I'm sure.

[Aaron Perini]

But also Trump also influencers on TikTok also supported Trump.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Aaron Perini]

So he got love from TikTok.

[Bill Maher]

So now he might save TikTok and then be a hero to the kids. He just lucks into everything.

[Larry Wilmore]

I think part of this is that there is for, for Republicans and for Congress. Especially when they passed the TikTok ban legislation. It wasn't about banning TikTok. That was never the goal. And it was. It's not the goal. The goal was to get the Chinese investment that is tied to the CCP out of the business because they didn't want any of TikTok having to report or have access to the inside of American cell phones. That was the push here. So the fact that he's saying he might save TikTok, it's because he's going to get another investor to come in possibly and buy it. I heard today that Kevin O'Leary put. Put in like a 20 billion dollar bid. Kevin O'Leary from Shark Tank?

[Bill Maher]

Shark Tank, yes.

[Aaron Perini]

Oh, boy. He's.

[Larry Wilmore]

He doesn't want to end Tick Tock. He wants.

[Bill Maher]

You make that kind of money on Shark Tank.

[Aaron Perini]

He says he wants. And as soon as he gets back his investment, he wants a dollar for every video. So that's his offer.

[Bill Maher]

What did he make his money in? He's got $20 billion or he's put together a team.

[Larry Wilmore]

Yeah, I think, I think it's a group. It's an investment group together.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

[Larry Wilmore]

But it's never been about banning the app. It's about getting Chinese influence out of American cell phones and especially those.

[Aaron Perini]

You mean the people that actually make the cell phones? We want to get them.

[Larry Wilmore]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, yeah, right. That's what I want.

[Larry Wilmore]

If you take one opportunity away though, that's better than leaving all the opportunities on the table for the Chinese to be in your phone.

[Bill Maher]

No, I understand that. And look, we ran out of time. I wanted to talk about that. There's a peace plan now that looks like it's going into effect in Gaza, which is a great thing, but you know, the kids have been indoctrinated by TikTok into, in my view, thinking the wrong way or certainly in a shallow way about the Palestinian conflict. But I think they would have been thinking that anyway. I don't think they needed the Chinese to make them stupid. I don't think the Chinese. I don't think the Chinese are upset about them being stupid, but I don't think they need their help. Anyway, thank you very much. We gotta go to New Rule. I like how you. Okay. New Rule Republican congressmen have to answer this. This question. Do you really not know how to spell military? Or. Or does your staff just all hate you? Or is your staff made up of incompetent Gen Z post grads who learn nothing in. I'm kidding. The answer is D. All of the above neural. I've got a lot on my plate. Stop trying to make me care about Blake Lively. She made a movie I didn't see with a guy I never heard of, and she says he's mean. And he says she's mean. If I wanted to tune out while you talk about someone you hate at work, I'd get married. Here's the only thing I think when I hear Justin Baldoni. Isn't he the guy who shot the health insurance guy? You have to admit that of all the thousands of photos of Joe Biden taken over his four years in office, none captures the essence of his presidency and the burden of office more than this one entitled why Did I Come In Here Again? New rule. Now that Starbucks has changed its policy to require all patrons to buy something in order to stay in the shop, they have to explain why that wasn't the policy to begin with. Where do you think you are? Europe, where they sit around in cafes for hours having interesting conversations? This is America, where we really refuel and head straight back to the machine. There's no cafe culture here. You're lucky if we get out of the car. New rules. Well, the French woman who was scammed by someone who used. Who used AI to convince her that Brad Pitt was in love with her, but that Brad needed money for kidney surgery because Angelina had frozen all of his assets. So she gave him 800. So she gave him $850,000 and divorced her husband. This lady must now be set up on a date with the real Brad Pitt. Now, I know that might be difficult, but I think with the connections in the business I do have, and with a little funding, I can get it done. So what I'm going to need from you is a wire transfer for $850,000. That will get me started. And finally, new rule. We may not be able to do much about the weather, but we do need a better plan for putting out a burning city than waiting for rain. America is so partisan now that even when there's a disaster of any kind, so many people choose to defend their own team, even over death. A lot of Democrats in this one party state this week went right to don't blame politicians. You can't do anything about the wind. Which is exactly half true. The wind part, yes, fire is a tough fight out here. And yes, global warming absolutely makes it work, but that's largely out of our control. What are we going to do? Pass a ballot measure to make sure Chinese stop burning coal? It's also, yes, undeniably True that LA is built in a stupid place to build a city, but when it's not on fire, it's really quite lovely. And it's my home. And stupid as its origin may be, it's not going anywhere. Axios ran a story on how getting the water out of the hydrants in Pacific Palisades was more complicated than it seems. I'm sure it is. I'm sure it's very complicated. That's why I pay 13% of my income in this state every year to people who I assumed were working on things like this. When asked why so many of the hydrants in the Palisades ran out of water, Governor Newsom said, the local folks are trying to figure that out. Yeah, you gotta do that. Before the fire, at least in the Palisades, the hydrants were still there. 300 other ones around the city are just gone, stolen for parts. One of the three reservoirs for the Palisades was offline at the one time of year when it was most needed. Louisiana's mayor, Karen Bass, the Nero of American politics, was fiddling in Ghana while the city burned and later placed the blame on eight months of negligible rain and winds that have not been seen in L. A in at least 14 years. Yeah, that's not that long a time. Maybe look in the history books to see how our ancestors handled it. Back in 2011, the mayor said about cuts to the fire department's budget. There were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation. The fire chief here had a slightly different take. She said, we are screaming to be properly funded. And, yes, the budget was cut, and it did impact our ability to provide service. And by the looks of all the fire engines in the boneyard, out of service because we didn't fix them. She's right. Exposed. Exposed power lines keep causing fires and keep not getting buried underground because it's expensive. I've heard people say, do you want to pay more tax taxes to fund this? No, I want you to use the exorbitant taxes you already collect to prioritize it. The power lines that cut through Topanga weren't upgraded because it endangered an herb, the milk vetch, which sounds like something they serve at Paso. I mean, talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. You know what the absolute worst thing for the environment is? Wildfires. A 22 study found that the smoke from just the 2 in 2020 wiped out 18 years of carbon reduction in the state, which means we suffered the pain of driving those early model Priuses for nothing. California is the place that spends money and gets nothing. Which is why you may have noticed when the fires broke out, no one escaped by high speed rail. We have the highest marginal tax rate in America. Higher than almost all other states. And soon Greenland. What is included for that? Breadsticks. Because it clearly doesn't cover fire. That's government's job. Protect us from crime, violence. I'm not saying Alabama would have done better with fires by fighting them with prayer in school, but look me in the eye and tell me anyone could have done worse. We just got our ass kicked by fire. Something Neanderthals fought to a tie. The good news is our fire chief is a lesbian. Am I against a lesbian being chief? Of course not. Do I think a lesbian can do the job? Of course I do. And maybe she's the best person for the job. Or maybe they really wanted a lesbian in that job and she's just the best lesbian for the job. And with essential services. That's not good enough. Crowley's official bio says Chief Crowley leads a diverse department, creating, supporting and promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion and equity, while striving to meet and exceed the expectations of the communities. Well, you didn't exceed my expectations, which was that the whole city wouldn't burn down. But it's telling that diversity is mentioned twice before we get to while while striving to meet expectations. Now, can you do two things at once? Yes, but it matters where your head is. Deputy Chief Kristen Larson said this.

[Larry Wilmore]

You want to see somebody that responds to your house, your emergency, whether it's a medical call or a fire call that looks like you.

[Bill Maher]

Which would sound kind of racist if a Southern sheriff said it. So. So we should be sending white firefighters to white houses and black ones to. Who teaches people this bullshit? No one cares what someone looks like when they're pulling you out of a burning house. Larson also seems to believe that if a female firefighter can't pick up a man and it's his fault, she said he got himself into the wrong place. If I have to carry him out of a fire. Well, tell that to these guys. Because who pays the highest price when politicians don't prioritize basic services? The first responders are heroes who every time go above and beyond because they have to, because we leave it all to them now. Is wokeness the main reason for the fires? Of course not. But it's also not wrong to associate some of the unforced errors our government made with the things normies see as hallmarks of uber progressive politics, questionable budget priorities, high taxes that get you nothing. Making everything about identity politics, virtue signaling overseas instead of tending to the nuts and bolts at home. Cali has no shortage of safety commissions and agencies and bureaucrats and regulators and, of course, sign language interpreters who communicate with their face. But common sense, we better get some of that vaccine, because wildfires in California are like boob jobs in a strip club. Inevitable. And they're only going to get bigger. All right, that's our show. My special. Has anyone else see this? You gotta see it. It's on HBO and streaming on Max. I want to thank Larry Wilmore, Aaron Perini and Rick Caruso. Now go watch Overtime on YouTube. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher every Friday night at 10 or watch him anytime on HBO On Demand. For more information, log on to h hbo.com.

[Larry Wilmore]

I'm Evan Ross Katz, the host of the White Lotus official podcast from hbo. Over eight episodes, you'll hear from season one and two cast members and we'll together unpack some of our favorite storylines.

[Bill Maher]

I started writing in August, and we.

[Larry Wilmore]

Were shooting in October. I didn't even know who was gonna die.

[Bill Maher]

I was literally just writing by the seat of my pants.

[Larry Wilmore]

Listen on Max or wherever you get your podcasts.