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[00:02]
A
Hey, Sal. Hank, what's going on? We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvana and it was so easy.
[00:08]
B
Too easy.
[00:09]
A
Think something's up? You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price, and it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed.
[00:25]
B
Buy your car today on Carvana.
[00:29]
A
Delivery fees may apply. Welcome to the Late show, everybody. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. I don't need to tell y' all what's going on. Over the weekend, the United States and Israel conducted a massive bombing campaign against Iran. We now face an unpredictable and unstable situation. That brings me to my long running segment, America at What? We haven't run that graphic in six years. I said long running, not frequent. This military mission has been dubbed Operation Epic Fury. Fun fact. No, fun fact. Epic Fury is an anagram for French. Forget Epstein. Now right off the top, can we check that? Can we check, make sure that's the case. Fact check that. Now right off the top, I want to point out that an open ended war of choice in the Middle east with no clear exit strategy or defined victory is where I got on this train. And in the last 25 years of talking about this stuff on TV, I have learned not to stand up here and say like Moses on the mountaintop or on day three of a new war, whether this is going to be a good or this is going to be a bad. But I will definitely say that we have no clear idea where this is going or why it's going there. Now say what you want about George W. Bush, and I did okay. He sold that guy, went out there, he sold his Middle East. War. That's what the W stood for. Middle East. He was not a smart man. He went to the un, he went to Congress, he gave speeches for a year leading up to it. He sent Colin Powell to the UN with a vial of what appears to be country time lemonade. Just this much. Just this much could have refreshed everyone on the Security Council. Compare that to the present potus. Six days ago, he gave what is officially the longest state of the union dress of all time. And the subject of Iran was a drive by in a two hour speech. He gave it three minutes. The man's had longer farts. But whether or not he explained the need to the American people beforehand, the fact is we're at war or we're not. Because according to the Constitution and the war Powers act, only Congress can declare war. And he never got approval from Congress. But he did say the lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war. So it is a war, which means it might be an illegal war. And now Congress is going to punish him by voting to give Trump war powers after the Iran strikes. Just as good. Don't worry, honey. I'm going to put the condom on right after we have sex. Although admittedly, that might make it a little more difficult to get on hold. It's like trying to put a glove on mashed potatoes. Saturday afternoon. By Saturday afternoon, Iranian state media confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead. Now, to be clear, Khamenei was not a good guy. He was a ruthless autocrat, but he was 86 years old. Do we really need two carrier groups to kill him? You could have just spilled some water on the kitchen floor and taken away his life. Alert. He'd never get up. The Ayatollah was in power for a staggering 37 years, starting in 1989, following the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini. Now, Khomeini came after Khomeini. It sounds like those are similar. So here's how you remember it. I before E. That's neither of them. You're welcome. Now, immediately. Immediately. Both the United States and Israel said that Operation Epic Fury was launched, seeking regime change. But apparently regime change doesn't necessarily mean changing the regime. Trump pitched a repeat of Maduro here, sorta saying, what we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect. We kidnapped Venezuela's president, left all the other bad guys in charge, blocked the legitimately elected guy from power, and stole their oil. That scenario can be described as perfect in the same way that Saw II can be described as one woman's journey to find herself. But we can't. We can't. We can't pull a Venezuela. We can't pull a Venezuela even if we wanted to. Because when asked about a succession plan, Trump said the attack was so successful, it knocked out most of the candidates. It's not going to be anybody we were thinking of, because they're all dead. Second or third place is dead. If everyone you wanted to take over is dead, then it wasn't a successful mission. Good news, kids. I killed that spider in your room. And your hamster is dead. And the cat is dead. They're all dead. Today was a success, but when it comes to launching this new war, the question Everyone is asking is to quote the President's favorite song, why? They said. Part of it. They said, regime change. But Trump also said that he had to do this in order to achieve freedom for the Iranian people, which is related to regime change. So that's pretty straightforward. Until he later said the reason was that Iran might strike first. Got it? Got it. Or maybe not, Because Trump then said it was a response to Iran using games, tricks, and stall tactics in their recent negotiations. Sure, fine. Until he told ABC that this was because of the Ayatollah's foiled plots to assassinate him, saying, I got him before he got me. They tried twice. I got him first. This is war, not a game of tag. I got him before he got me. And now you can't tag back because the Mar A Lago Ballroom is the safe zone. Ollie, Ollie, Ayatollah free. You can't tag back. You can't touch. No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Remember, I'm rubber and you're kablooey. So what do we got here? Regime change, Freedom for the Iranian people. Too many games and tricks. Get him before he gets me. Then finally today, Trump landed on his fifth rationale during a ceremony at the White House. An Iranian regime armed with long range missiles and nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat to the Middle east, but also to the American people. Our country itself would be under threat, and it was very nearly under threat. Very nearly under threat is very nearly a good reason to send our troops into harm's way. Tragically, six American service members have already died in his war. That sacrifice, and any sacrifices to come, any loss of civilian life for that matter, deserve at the very least, clarity from our leaders as to why that sacrifice is being asked. Because this war is on, and it seems like there could be more of it. Iran has already launched missiles at Israel, the, the uae, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon. My God, that's the entire Trump board of peace. But that shouldn't come as a surprise. None of that should come as a surprise, because here's the thing. We know that once you start bombing, folks, the fighting tends to take on a life of its own. As Admiral Julius Pringle once said, one once you pop, you can't stop. Trump is also. He said that. Check that out, too. Trump is also open to negotiations with Iran during the war. He says yesterday he told the Atlantic, they want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. But also, he noted that some of the Iranians involved in the negotiations in recent weeks were no longer alive. But we are going to Weekend at Bernie's them to complete the negotiations. Marco is going to deploy the sunglasses and Pete's going to do this funny thing where he makes him hump a surfboard. The reporter then asked Trump whether he had any indication of renewed Iranian threats against the US homeland since the start of the attack. Trump's response? I don't want to tell you that. Oh, it's like the old terror alert system from way back when it goes, I don't want to tell you that you get three guesses and rhymes with everyone is bread. No surprise, the color coding. I remember the color coding now. Surprisingly, no member of the administration came out on the Sunday shows this weekend to defend the president's decision to attack. Until this morning when the Pentagon sent out Pete Hegseth. He promised that this war will contain 0% woke. No stupid rules of engagement, no nation building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars. No politically correct wars, no gluten free missiles. This is 100% raw milk, all beef death patty that could lead to the destruction of mankind. Not personkind. Okay? It's Armageddon, not Armageddon. You wanna go, bro? You wanna go? You got a problem, bro? Somewhere else. Somewhere else. Hegseth also assured the American people that this war will not be like previous Mideast quagmires. To the media outlets and political left screaming, endless wars. Stop.
[10:46]
B
This is not Iraq.
[10:47]
A
This is not Iraq. We checked and the spelling is different. We've got a great show for you tonight coming up. Former special presidential envoy Brett McGurk,
[11:07]
B
My
[11:07]
A
first guest tonight, has held senior national security roles under the last four presidents and has negotiated past deals with Iran. He's now a CNN national security analyst. Please welcome to the Late Show, Brett McGurk. Mr. McGurk, thanks so much for being here.
[11:22]
C
Okay.
[11:23]
A
Appreciate you coming up here. Of course. A moment's notice. As I said before, you served as national security positions for four presidents. Give my audience just a quick synopsis of your experience in the Middle east and specifically with Iran.
[11:37]
B
Steven. Well, first, it's great to be here at such an important moment. Yeah, I served under Bush, Obama, two years with Trump and then the last four years with Joe Biden. I was his White House Middle east advisor and I spent a year in Iraq in 2004. And I've been dealing with, dealing with this vexing issue of Iran. Really over the last 20 years, one way or the other, I've Negotiated hostage deals with Iran. You might know Jason Rezaia on the Washington Post reporter. I helped the deal with him to get out of Iran. After spending 500 days in Evan prison, I've negotiated deals with Iran that have failed. I've been under fire from Iran and Iraq. I've known people who've been killed in Iraq. 600Americans, of course, were killed by Iranian roadside bombs in Iraq. I've known some of them. Every president, Stephen, has dealt with this vexing issue going back to Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan sunk the Iranian navy in an operation named Praying Mantis, very similar to what our military is doing now. It is a vexing, most difficult issue.
[12:32]
A
Did this attack come as any surprise to you?
[12:36]
B
I was surprised by the timing that it came so suddenly. I think you made a good point earlier, Stephen, that the case I don't think has been made to the American people as I think it can be
[12:46]
A
made, clearly hasn't been made. It remains to see whether it can be made because generally speaking, the case is better to be made ahead of time right now. I mean, given everything you just said, that so many presidents have had to deal with this back from Jimmy Carter till now, that nobody is defending the Khamenei regime or their behavior in terms of the terrorism, their missile program, their clear pursuit of nukes, since even no one is defending that. Why do you think only 27% of Americans in a Reuters Ipsos poll approved these strikes? 43% disapproved and 29% were not sure. So about a third of Americans aren't sure. I mean, and this is this right now, you might say, not to be flip about this. This is the good part. When the American military has gone in and done what they always do, which is being extremely effective in their attack, isn't this the chance for the highest possible approval the president could get with this thing? Why do you think it's got such low approval?
[13:44]
B
I think, let me cite one of the best military strategists in history. In this iconic theater, I doubt there's been much talk, Carl von Clausewitz, but he said that any.
[13:53]
A
We couldn't come up with anything that rhymed with Clausewitz
[13:58]
B
before launching a military operation. A leader such as a president has to be clear in his own mind of what he wants to achieve and how to achieve it. And that's not always the strongest suit of President Trump and very clear, shifting objectives. So I think the American people have legitimate questions about what exactly are we trying to do here and what I saw the administration do today and I've served a lot of his people. I know Dan Kaine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I worked with him very closely back in the counter ISIS campaign. He's an incredible, incredible military tactician. And he tried to lay out today we actually do have specific objectives. We were working to degrade Iran's overall power structure, its military capacity, so it cannot project power outside of its borders. It was a more limited objective than regime change. And he was kind of trying to narrow what presidents seem to lead with over the weekend. But no, this has not been. I think if you're going to, you have to lay out to the American people. I'm old fashioned. You know, there used to be this point saying, you know, it was never really like this, Stephen, that foreign policy stops at the water's edge and presidents would sit behind the Resolute desk and lay out to the American people exactly what we're going to do. That's eisenhower and George H.W. bush and I've been in the Oval Office for some of those addresses and
[15:12]
A
people came together behind Commander Chief after
[15:14]
B
he had his case. I think that's an important element of presidential leadership, to lay out to the American people exactly what we're trying to do.
[15:20]
A
Trump has said that the big wave hasn't even happened yet. What would a bigger wave than this be? I know you don't know, but it can't be.
[15:29]
B
Exactly. But I think, you know, knowing something about these things, what's been happening in the last last couple days is what you call a shaping. You're taking out all. Make sure Iran has no air defenses left. By the way, these are Russian air defense systems, which the world now knows really don't work very well. Trying to go after Iran's missiles so that they cannot do what they've been doing the last two days, firing missiles at us. We've tragically lost six American troops. I think our hearts go out to their families. Missiles against the Gulf states and missiles against Israel. So going after the missiles and then once you do some of that, then our pilots can hover over Iran with lower risk and I suspect we'll see more strikes against what's left of the nuclear program. There's a deeply buried site. The Iranians came to us in the. Actually the Biden administration said, oh, we're going to bury, we're going to dig into a new mountain and have a deeply buried nuclear site. It's called Pickaxe Mountain. We're going to put centrifuges in there. And they're building this site. It wasn't hit in the June war. I suspect it'll be hit now. I don't know for sure. I think we'll see that coming. But look, what worries me though still, Stephen, is that you have to have defined objectives so that if you don't define your objectives going in war, conflict has a momentum of its own. And that's how you get an emission creep and expanding goals. And before you know it, it really does become something that can be endless. I think you have to be very tied to your objectives here. And hopefully within a couple weeks or something, we can actually see this winding down.
[16:52]
A
That is, the Rumsfeld famously said five days, five weeks. I doubt five months in terms of how long Iraq would go.
[16:59]
B
That's a very important lesson. I landed in Iraq In January of 2004, eight months into the war, and I was a civilian advisor. And you land at the airport in Baghdad. Many Americans had this experience to serve there. And you drive to what was then the Green Zone, this highway called the highway of death and bombed out vehicles driving 80 miles an hour. And you just realize our country got ourselves into something we didn't fully anticipate, understand, or were prepared for. And we invaded Iraq with 130,000 troops with an unlimited objective to create a constitutional democracy. So the ends and the means of that strategy, there was a huge gap and that's what we fell into. We later corrected that later in the Bush administration. But no, no, you have to be tied to your objectives, align your ends and means and be very disciplined. And I hope, and that's what I saw General Kaine trying to do today, I really hope that's where this, the
[17:54]
A
president said that he doesn't have the yips when it comes to putting boots on the ground. And yips for people who don't know it's a golf term, like you get a little shake at the last minute before you putt, you have a little hesitancy, a little nerves about it. Do you have the yips about us putting troops on the ground when it comes to that?
[18:13]
B
I, one of the best secretaries of defense. I serve with Bob Gates, who was the secretary of defense under both Bush and Obama. He was quoted, if a president would have to have his head examined to send American combat brigades into Southwest Asia, which Iran is part of. What I very much agree with that. So, look, air power can be effective, but this is why the objectives have to be well defined. If you're talking about trying to change the Iranian political system or regime change from the air that's almost impossible to do. We don't have the power to do that, to orchestrate a change like that and to put US Boots on the ground in Iran? No, I would definitely, I guess, have the yips. Is that the right way to put it?
[18:50]
A
Yes, I guess. I don't know. It's his term, not mine. Now, what do we know about the people of Iran? There has been some celebrations in the streets, but then again, they still have the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have all the weapons.
[19:09]
B
Exactly.
[19:10]
A
And they're not exactly gonna lay them down and say, oops, are bad. Do you think there's a chance that there actually will be a civilian uprising to overturn this regime?
[19:21]
B
Stephen, it's a country of 90 million people. We've had no American diplomats there, really, since the revolution. So our feel for what's happening on the ground is extremely limited. We know, though, that the people demand a change. But you made a key point. I had an experience in sitting with Iranian counterparts and negotiating with them, and they would say to us, when you put a hard demand on the table, you Americans, you're always changing your government every two to four years. We can just wait you out. That's how they see us. And I said to this guy, once you have lost the support of a critical mass of your population, the young people, your population do not support your system. And he just said something very menacing. He said, actually, we do have support of enough of the people. He said, we have all the weapons and the besieged militia, which is the internal security apparatus, and the Revolutionary Guards, they guard the revolution. They protect the revolution. And Henry Kissinger famously said about Iran, they have to decide whether they are a country or a cause. And this Islamic Republic in Iran, they are. Their aim is to spread the revolution around the world. It's a revolutionary state, very ideological. And so their aim is to protect the revolution and to use violence against their own people to stay in power. So what I fear, Stephen, when you look ahead, is that even if the people do rise up once again, that what is left of the system, they have the monopoly of violence, and they're willing to use it. And that would be very tragic. And I think, you know, the administration has to think through that scenario. What do they do if in a month, you start to see uprisings and you start to see the mobilization to do another crackdown?
[20:59]
A
Back to Rumsfeld, he. He said, after the chaos, after enduring Operation Enduring Freedom, that was the second Iraq War, I think he said, hey, democracy is messy. You know, he said, stuff happens. Essentially, Colin Powell, on the other hand, famously gave his Pottery Barn rule, which is, you break it, you own it. Does this administration own the situation in Iran?
[21:26]
B
I see. It's a great question. And I lived through. I mean, the issue in Iraq, by the time I got to Iraq, was already broken. The army had been disbanded. We did de Ba' athication meeting the entire bureau, actually, all the teachers. Nobody could work the whole thing. And this huge vacuum opened up. I mean, that is not what I see happening here in Iraq. There's a corollary here to that Powell doctrine that when I hear the Trump administration talk about this, you know, we're going to. We break it, and it's the Iranian people actually own what comes next. And. And so they're not taking ownership of that step. But I suspect even with this leadership decapitation, this regime is resilient. It's multilayered. They will find another leader. He might be significantly weaker. They might find some.
[22:13]
A
Who do you think it might be?
[22:15]
B
It's a great question.
[22:16]
A
I mean, I'm available in June. Brett, thanks so much.
[22:26]
C
Thank you.
[22:26]
A
Brett McGurk, everybody. We'll be right back with Daniel Radcliffe. For years, Gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens through deeply reported narrative driven stories. We're digging into the myths, scandals, and power structures that stand still shape the south and in a lot of ways, the country itself. Follow and listen to gone South Season 5, an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. Joining me now is a Tony Award winning actor, you know, from Swiss Army Man, Merrily We Roll long and all, all of the Harry Potter instructional videos. Please welcome back to The Late Show, Mr. Daniel Radcliffe. Nice to see you again.
[23:31]
C
Thank you for having me.
[23:32]
A
How you been?
[23:33]
C
Oh, my. Yeah, yeah.
[23:34]
A
You grew a big old bushy beard.
[23:35]
C
I did. Well, I've been allowed to for my current job. They made me shave the last time I was here.
[23:39]
A
Oh, that's nice.
[23:40]
C
So, yeah, I can just be lazy.
[23:41]
A
Oh, you look great. You kind of look like a fisherman.
[23:44]
C
Thanks. You know what? On the Reggie Dinkins show that I'm doing, Erica Alexander saw me come into work one day and said she thought I looked a lot Longshoreman, which I will take as a similar. Yeah, yeah.
[23:53]
A
Similar compliment. So last time you were here was for Merrily We Roll along with our friend Jon Groff and Lindsay Mendez. Now you're back on the Broadway stage for every brilliant thing right there. Also at the Hudson Theater, same place you did the last great theater. And this is very different. This is a one man show, in
[24:17]
C
a manner of speaking. Yes. So it is. It's a show about. It's about a young boy who was making a list to cheer up his mom who was dealing with depression. And it's about how the making of this list of brilliant, wonderful things follows him into adulthood and how it sort of become the story of, you know, you tell the story of his life sort of through this list. But the reason I say it's sort of a one man show is that there is a huge amount of audience participation which is very, very fun for those who like it. And it's. It is so really.
[24:47]
A
So what did it do that you get suggestions or what do you suggest?
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C
So there's basically, there's the list itself. There's sort of 80 pieces of card I hand out every night. And they are to the audience. To the audience. And so if you. If the show starts at 8, I'm in the audience at 7:30, I'll be seeing everyone as they come in handing out cards. It has a number on them. If I shout the number, you shout the thing that's written on the card. That's the sort of lower grade.
[25:07]
A
As they come in, Daniel Radcliffe is in the audience.
[25:09]
C
Yeah, I'm freaking out. I'm really alarming people who are just trying to find their seats, but it's a lot of fun. And then for about. For five people in the show. Five people do play characters in the show. So five people who walk into the theater not knowing this is going to happen that night will end up being on stage and doing scenes. And it's really. It should feel every night like we are making the whole play together. It's really lovely.
[25:33]
A
I got to ask though, so you're in the audience when everybody comes in. Does any. Does anybody not realize it's you right at first? They go, why did they hire longshoreman to be an usher?
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C
The place I am most alarming to people is as I'm running up the stairs to try and hand out cards on the top floor of the theater, I am running past people going, oh, excuse me, excuse me. And you can tell people are briefly, very annoyed to be being pushed past. And then they're like, oh, I guess I have to let you go. You're fine. But yeah, it's fun. It's fun doing.
[26:00]
A
Had you done a one man show before?
[26:01]
C
No, never. And I would only want it like the things that obviously Sarah Snook did Dorian Gray and Cynthia Erivo now doing Dracula. That's something that I have so much respect for. And it's like what they do is amazing. But this is very much not that this is. I think I would only want to do a one man show if I was also roping in people from the audience. Cause it just, it's fun and weird and different.
[26:22]
B
Sure.
[26:22]
A
You happy to do any one man show? As long as it's not a one man show.
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C
As long as it's not a one man show. Yeah, exactly.
[26:26]
B
Yes, yes.
[26:27]
A
I feel the same way here now. Had a baby last time you were here?
[26:31]
C
Yes.
[26:31]
A
How old is that child now?
[26:32]
C
He is almost three.
[26:33]
A
Oh, that's big enough to be wandering around.
[26:36]
C
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[26:37]
A
Three is very as many said the people who say terrible twos have never
[26:40]
C
had a three because everybody loves telling the parents of two year olds that three is in fact worse. I found this out recently because they're stronger. They're stronger, more willful.
[26:49]
A
Does he come to the theater?
[26:50]
C
He has been a few times. His actually his mom Erin did a play last year in Lincoln center. So he was on that stage for a bit. I have brought him into the Hudson theater now a couple of times and he is far too comfortable on a stage for my liking. He wandered around the other day. He's also only been on a stage where it's an empty auditorium and he was wandering around. He visited the other day and he was wandering around just shouting. As soon as he got on stage he just started shouting, dancers to your places. I was like, I was like, where has this. Evidently it's something that he has in his gymnastics and dance class so that he has learned from them. But the fact that he even knew to say that on a stage is terrifying and unsettling.
[27:28]
A
So he wants to be a stage manager when he grows up.
[27:30]
C
Ideal. Great. Behind the camera, off the stage, Great. Be stage management, be a director. Great.
[27:35]
A
Give him a little three ring binder on a stopwatch. He'll be fine. Absolutely. Okay. You are also starring in the new sitcom the Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins alongside Tracy Morgan.
[27:48]
C
Morgan, yes, absolutely.
[27:53]
A
Recently the two of you attended a Knicks game. There you go. That's fun. The two of you the Knicks game. Is he a fun hang off set?
[28:02]
C
Yeah, he's the most like whenever you do anything with Tracy, you sort of go like, well I can't. If I do this again, it won't be nearly as fun. Cause yeah, this was my first time Ever going to a basketball game and, like, Tracy Morgan. Ever.
[28:12]
A
Any basketball game.
[28:13]
C
Any basketball game. Yeah. And it was with Tracy Morgan to the Knicks. So it's really. It was a pretty. It was a cool and insane experience.
[28:19]
B
Sure.
[28:19]
A
It's not always like that.
[28:21]
C
I guess not. Yeah. No, I mean, Tracy, you know, he will say five of the most insane things you've ever heard a human being say every day. He kept telling me that he was gonna make LeBron give me his shoes, and I was like, you know, please, please don't. I'm sure he doesn't want to.
[28:38]
A
Did you get LeBron's shoes?
[28:39]
C
I did not, but only because Tracy didn't manage to speak to him. I am fully convinced that if he had managed to, like, eyeball him, I might have one of LeBron's shoes right now.
[28:47]
A
But, yeah, you could use it as a boat.
[28:49]
C
I mean, I certainly could. Yeah, I could get to work in that.
[28:52]
A
Wow. We have to take a quick break. We're right back with more Daniel Radcliffe, everybody. Back with the star of every brilliant at the Hudson theater here on Broadway, Daniel Radcliffe. Okay. This year marks 25 years since the first Harry Potter film. I'm sure you know it.
[29:20]
C
Right.
[29:20]
B
Okay. Okay.
[29:20]
A
Came out now. Not to get into that, but now there's gonna be a Harry Potter series.
[29:27]
C
Yes.
[29:27]
A
Okay. That they're doing on hbo. Does it feel good to pass the Beauxbaton, as it were?
[29:32]
C
Very good.
[29:33]
B
Yeah.
[29:34]
C
Yeah, it really does. You know, I'm actually delighted that if, you know, when my kid grows up and is into Harry Potter, he can watch a version that is not me, which I feel like watching it with your dad would be less cool. Right. Take you out of it.
[29:47]
A
You don't want to pull for your dad.
[29:48]
C
No, exactly. Yeah. So he'll be able to do that.
[29:50]
B
And.
[29:51]
C
Yeah, it's lovely. And it means at some point there will be somebody else to answer all the Harry Potter questions. And I can pass that on to them, too.
[29:57]
B
It's great.
[29:57]
C
Yeah.
[29:58]
A
So it doesn't bother you like someone else is going to be thought of as Harry Potter?
[30:01]
C
I mean, you know, we've had three spider mans in my lifetime. We've had. When you look at, like, so far. So far. Yes, so far. I mean. And, you know, if you look at a character like Sherlock Holmes, like, it's something like there were always going to be many, many iterations. So very happy to see it be passed on to somebody else. And best of luck to all of them.
[30:19]
A
Your friend, Tom Felton. Draco Malfoy. Is on Broadway right now. Yes, he is.
[30:22]
B
Yeah.
[30:23]
A
Have you had a chance? Have you guys seen each other's stuff?
[30:26]
C
I have not seen. We haven't been to each other's shows yet.
[30:29]
A
The problem being you both are on stage at the same time.
[30:31]
C
There's that, but he also. It was weird. He came to the premiere of the Merri movie came out last year, and he came to that. And it was really. It was lovely to see him, but that. All the press around. It was like, tom Felton and Dan Radcliffe reunite for the first time in 16 years. Like, guys, you don't know our lives. We've hung out a bunch. Like, just because we haven't been doing it in front of cameras, there's the assumption that, like, oh, this is the first time they've seen each other. It's like, no, we are friends outside of this. Yeah.
[30:57]
A
So the show is called Every Brilliant Thing again. It's at the Hudson Theatre. What are five brilliant things about life? Oh, five according to Daniel Radcliffe.
[31:07]
C
Okay, I'll count. Okay. Tom Lehrer. You know Tom Lehrer, Those songs, right?
[31:12]
A
First we got the bomb, and that was good because we delivered teeth in motherhood.
[31:15]
C
Exactly.
[31:16]
A
Then Russia got the bomb, and that's okay. Balance of power is maintained that way. Who's next?
[31:20]
C
There you go.
[31:21]
A
You got any more of that one Edit. Give me a Tom Lane.
[31:25]
C
We will all go together when we
[31:26]
A
go Doing the Vatican rag.
[31:29]
C
Doing the Vatican rag. Poisoning pigeons in the park. The element song. Oedipus Rex.
[31:33]
A
Once was a man named Oedipus.
[31:34]
C
You may have heard about his old complex. His name appears in Freud's index. Cause he loved his.
[31:37]
A
Loved his mother. He loved his mother. Like mother. His mother was a sister and his
[31:44]
C
son with his brother. One thing on which you can depend is he sure knew a boy's best friend.
[31:48]
A
Is.
[31:49]
C
Yes.
[31:52]
B
Yeah.
[31:53]
C
So you know Tom Lehrer. I got to meet Tom Lehrer once.
[31:57]
A
No way.
[31:57]
C
Yeah. He came to see how to succeed when I was doing that show. So that my son. And all the ways he mispronounces words he doesn't know. Somebody gave him a toy Lamborghini, and he has remembered it as zucchini, which I will never correct.
[32:12]
A
Even better.
[32:12]
B
Even better.
[32:13]
A
Yeah.
[32:13]
C
And what else? Oh, I'm only up to 2. I'm gonna use one of the ones from the show, which I love that we have at the moment, which is when the windshield wipers wipe to the beat of the song. Yes. Right. Come on.
[32:26]
A
100%. You're in tune with the universe.
[32:28]
C
And can I see Stick with three. I'm sure there's more you can stick with three. You. You were a brilliant thing.
[32:33]
A
You.
[32:34]
C
I know it's kind of sucker.
[32:36]
A
It took you so long. What took you so damn long? Now we can go.
[32:41]
C
We'll stop at 4.
[32:42]
A
Thank you very much, Daniel Radcliffe. Every brilliant thing is on Broadway at the Hudson Theater. Go see it. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. How many discounts does USAA Auto insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi vehicle discount, Safe driver discount, New vehicle discount, Storage discount. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usaa.com autodiscounts restrictions apply. America, America, you used to be so fun but now you go to bed at night scrolling on your phone. Well listen up America. Carnival is here with world class crew and ropes course too. And comedy and snorkeling and dining like everything from sea to shining sea.
[33:46]
C
Find your fun again@carnival.com Carnival is calling
[33:49]
A
ship's registry the Bahamas in Panama.

Summary7 min read

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Daniel Radcliffe | (EXTENDED) Foreign Policy Expert Brett McGurk
Date: March 3, 2026
Host: Stephen Colbert
Main Guests: Brett McGurk (foreign policy expert, former special envoy), Daniel Radcliffe (actor)

Episode Overview

This episode of The Late Show Pod Show dives into the U.S. and Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran—Operation Epic Fury—and unpacks its causes and consequences with former presidential envoy Brett McGurk. Later, Stephen welcomes Daniel Radcliffe to discuss his current Broadway show, parenting, and the enduring legacy of "Harry Potter." The episode is marked by Colbert's trademark humor, sharp political analysis, and playful banter.

1. Opening Monologue: America’s War in Iran

[00:28–11:06]

Main Points

Background: Over the weekend, the U.S. and Israel launched a massive bombing campaign against Iran, leading to a complex and unpredictable fallout.
Operation Epic Fury: Colbert mocks the operation’s name, wittily speculating about its origins and offering a reality-check on the state of U.S. military action.
Presidential Rationale: Dissects President Trump’s shifting and increasingly muddled justifications for the strike—regime change, “freedom for the Iranian people”, preempting an attack, retaliation, and deterring nuclear threats.
Comparison with Previous Wars: Poignant allusions to George W. Bush's lead-up to Iraq; emphasis on the absence of Congressional approval and the vague objectives of the current campaign.
Critique of Communication: Colbert criticizes the administration for not making a clear case to the American public.

Notable Quotes

“Right off the top, I want to point out that an open-ended war of choice in the Middle East with no clear exit strategy or defined victory is where I got on this train.” — Stephen Colbert [00:34]
“He sold that guy, went out there, he sold his Middle East war. That’s what the W stood for. Middle East.” — Stephen Colbert [01:37]
“If everyone you wanted to take over is dead, then it wasn’t a successful mission. Good news, kids. I killed that spider in your room. And your hamster is dead. And the cat is dead. They’re all dead. Today was a success.” — Stephen Colbert [05:18]
“Once you start bombing, folks, the fighting tends to take on a life of its own.” — Stephen Colbert [09:59]

2. Interview: Brett McGurk on the Iran Crisis

[11:06–22:25]

McGurk’s Background and Perspective

[11:22–12:31]

Experience: 20 years in U.S. Middle East policy, served under Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden, involved in Iran hostage negotiations, witnessed both successful and failed diplomatic efforts.
Historical Context: Noted that every president since Carter has had to confront the "vexing issue" of Iran.

Quote:
“I’ve negotiated deals with Iran that have failed. …Every president, Stephen, has dealt with this vexing issue going back to Jimmy Carter.” — Brett McGurk [11:36]

Was the Attack a Surprise?

[12:31–12:45]

Surprised by Timing: McGurk did not expect such a sudden escalation and agreed that the President failed to make the case to the public beforehand.

Quote:
“I was surprised by the timing that it came so suddenly. …The case hasn’t been made.” — Brett McGurk [12:36]

Public Opinion & Leadership

[12:45–13:43]

Low Support: Only 27% of Americans approve of the strikes; Americans have “legitimate questions” about objectives.
Leadership Critique: Criticizes President Trump’s “shifting objectives.”

Quote:
“Before launching a military operation, a leader…has to be clear in his own mind what he wants to achieve and how to achieve it. And that’s not always the strongest suit of President Trump.” — Brett McGurk [13:58]

Military Objectives & Risks

[15:20–16:52]

Shaping Operations: The strikes are meant to degrade Iran’s military and missile capabilities, not full regime change.
Risk of Mission Creep: Warns that without clear objectives, the conflict could spiral.

Quote:
“If you don’t define your objectives going in, war, conflict has a momentum of its own.” — Brett McGurk [16:31]

“Boots on the Ground”

[17:54–18:50]

Cautious Advice: Strongly advises against sending American ground troops.

Quote:
“If a president would have to have his head examined to send American combat brigades into Southwest Asia… I very much agree with that.” — Brett McGurk [18:14]

Iranian Domestic Reaction & Regime Resilience

[19:08–20:58]

Limited U.S. Intelligence: The U.S. cannot gauge street-level sentiment in Iran.
Regime’s Hold on Power: The Revolutionary Guard and security apparatus are prepared to violently suppress uprisings.

Quote:
“They have all the weapons and the besieged militia, which is the internal security apparatus, and the Revolutionary Guards… Their aim is to protect the revolution and to use violence against their own people to stay in power.” — Brett McGurk [19:39]

Who Owns the Fallout?

[21:26–22:13]

Powell Doctrine Reference: Administration wants Iranians, not Americans, to “own what comes next," but the regime is resilient and a power vacuum is unlikely.

Quote:
“Even with this leadership decapitation, this regime is resilient. …They will find another leader. …They have the monopoly of violence, and they’re willing to use it.” — Brett McGurk [21:33]

3. Interview: Daniel Radcliffe

[23:31–32:41]

On Broadway: Every Brilliant Thing

[23:53–26:26]

About the Play: Radcliffe stars in a participatory one-man show centering on a young man’s list of “brilliant things” to cheer his depressed mother—each performance involves heavy audience interaction.
Unique Audience Experience: Radcliffe hands out around 80 cards to audience members; some end up performing on stage.

Quote:
“It should feel every night like we are making the whole play together. It’s really lovely.” — Daniel Radcliffe [25:20]

Parenthood

[26:26–27:34]

Fatherhood: Son is almost three and is “far too comfortable” on stage already.

Quote:
“He visited the other day and … as soon as he got on stage, he just started shouting, ‘Dancers to your places!’ I was like, where has this…?” — Daniel Radcliffe [27:09]

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins (New Sitcom)

[27:48–28:51]

Tracy Morgan Stories: Radcliffe shares the riotous experience of attending his first basketball game ever—courtside with Tracy Morgan.

Quote:
“Tracy… will say five of the most insane things you’ve ever heard every day. He kept telling me he was gonna make LeBron give me his shoes.” — Daniel Radcliffe [28:20]

Reflecting on Harry Potter Legacy & New HBO Series

[29:19–30:57]

Passing the Torch: Happy for the series reboot and the chance for his son to watch a version “that is not me.”
On Multiple Iterations: Cites the frequent recasting of Spider-Man and Sherlock Holmes as precedent.

Quote:
“I’m actually delighted that… my kid can watch a version that is not me, which I feel like, watching it with your dad would be less cool.” — Daniel Radcliffe [29:33]

Five Brilliant Things About Life

[31:06–32:41]

Radcliffe’s list includes:
- Songwriter Tom Lehrer’s music
- His son and his adorable mispronunciations (“zucchini” for Lamborghini)
- When windshield wipers sync with the music
- Stephen Colbert (reluctantly proposed by Colbert himself!)

Quote:
“I’m gonna use one from the show: when the windshield wipers wipe to the beat of the song.” — Daniel Radcliffe [32:23]

4. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Very nearly under threat is very nearly a good reason to send our troops into harm’s way.” — Stephen Colbert [07:53]
“It’s Armageddon, not Armagedden. You wanna go, bro?” — Stephen Colbert (parodying Pentagon spokesman) [10:45]
“The show is called Every Brilliant Thing… What are five brilliant things about life?” — Stephen Colbert [31:06]

5. Timestamps for Key Segments

Opening monologue, war in Iran: [00:28–11:06]
Interview: Brett McGurk on Iran: [11:06–22:25]
Daniel Radcliffe—New Play and Fatherhood: [23:31–27:30]
Radcliffe on Tracy Morgan & Harry Potter legacy: [27:30–30:57]
Radcliffe’s “Brilliant Things” list: [31:06–32:41]

6. Tone & Style

Colbert: Satirical, incisive, quick-witted, but sincere in questioning war and its rationale. His tone encourages skepticism and reflection while delivering laughs.
McGurk: Calm, authoritative, candid, and policy-wonkish, with the gravity born of firsthand experience in the Middle East.
Radcliffe: Warm, self-deprecating, charming, and playful—especially in his interaction with the audience and on fatherhood.

7. Summary Takeaways

The episode offers a smart, skeptical take on the latest American military intervention, highlighting the lack of clear objectives and historical echoes of past Middle East quagmires.
It provides expert policy analysis that cautions against escalation and ground involvement in Iran.
The second half shifts to lighter territory with Radcliffe, exploring the joys of theater, comedy, and parenthood—but not before drawing out connections between stage, legacy, and life’s simple pleasures.

Loading summary

Transcript141 lines

[00:02]
A
Hey, Sal. Hank, what's going on? We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvana and it was so easy.
[00:08]
B
Too easy.
[00:09]
A
Think something's up? You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price, and it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed.
[00:25]
B
Buy your car today on Carvana.
[00:29]
A
Delivery fees may apply. Welcome to the Late show, everybody. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. I don't need to tell y' all what's going on. Over the weekend, the United States and Israel conducted a massive bombing campaign against Iran. We now face an unpredictable and unstable situation. That brings me to my long running segment, America at What? We haven't run that graphic in six years. I said long running, not frequent. This military mission has been dubbed Operation Epic Fury. Fun fact. No, fun fact. Epic Fury is an anagram for French. Forget Epstein. Now right off the top, can we check that? Can we check, make sure that's the case. Fact check that. Now right off the top, I want to point out that an open ended war of choice in the Middle east with no clear exit strategy or defined victory is where I got on this train. And in the last 25 years of talking about this stuff on TV, I have learned not to stand up here and say like Moses on the mountaintop or on day three of a new war, whether this is going to be a good or this is going to be a bad. But I will definitely say that we have no clear idea where this is going or why it's going there. Now say what you want about George W. Bush, and I did okay. He sold that guy, went out there, he sold his Middle East. War. That's what the W stood for. Middle East. He was not a smart man. He went to the un, he went to Congress, he gave speeches for a year leading up to it. He sent Colin Powell to the UN with a vial of what appears to be country time lemonade. Just this much. Just this much could have refreshed everyone on the Security Council. Compare that to the present potus. Six days ago, he gave what is officially the longest state of the union dress of all time. And the subject of Iran was a drive by in a two hour speech. He gave it three minutes. The man's had longer farts. But whether or not he explained the need to the American people beforehand, the fact is we're at war or we're not. Because according to the Constitution and the war Powers act, only Congress can declare war. And he never got approval from Congress. But he did say the lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war. So it is a war, which means it might be an illegal war. And now Congress is going to punish him by voting to give Trump war powers after the Iran strikes. Just as good. Don't worry, honey. I'm going to put the condom on right after we have sex. Although admittedly, that might make it a little more difficult to get on hold. It's like trying to put a glove on mashed potatoes. Saturday afternoon. By Saturday afternoon, Iranian state media confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead. Now, to be clear, Khamenei was not a good guy. He was a ruthless autocrat, but he was 86 years old. Do we really need two carrier groups to kill him? You could have just spilled some water on the kitchen floor and taken away his life. Alert. He'd never get up. The Ayatollah was in power for a staggering 37 years, starting in 1989, following the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini. Now, Khomeini came after Khomeini. It sounds like those are similar. So here's how you remember it. I before E. That's neither of them. You're welcome. Now, immediately. Immediately. Both the United States and Israel said that Operation Epic Fury was launched, seeking regime change. But apparently regime change doesn't necessarily mean changing the regime. Trump pitched a repeat of Maduro here, sorta saying, what we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect. We kidnapped Venezuela's president, left all the other bad guys in charge, blocked the legitimately elected guy from power, and stole their oil. That scenario can be described as perfect in the same way that Saw II can be described as one woman's journey to find herself. But we can't. We can't. We can't pull a Venezuela. We can't pull a Venezuela even if we wanted to. Because when asked about a succession plan, Trump said the attack was so successful, it knocked out most of the candidates. It's not going to be anybody we were thinking of, because they're all dead. Second or third place is dead. If everyone you wanted to take over is dead, then it wasn't a successful mission. Good news, kids. I killed that spider in your room. And your hamster is dead. And the cat is dead. They're all dead. Today was a success, but when it comes to launching this new war, the question Everyone is asking is to quote the President's favorite song, why? They said. Part of it. They said, regime change. But Trump also said that he had to do this in order to achieve freedom for the Iranian people, which is related to regime change. So that's pretty straightforward. Until he later said the reason was that Iran might strike first. Got it? Got it. Or maybe not, Because Trump then said it was a response to Iran using games, tricks, and stall tactics in their recent negotiations. Sure, fine. Until he told ABC that this was because of the Ayatollah's foiled plots to assassinate him, saying, I got him before he got me. They tried twice. I got him first. This is war, not a game of tag. I got him before he got me. And now you can't tag back because the Mar A Lago Ballroom is the safe zone. Ollie, Ollie, Ayatollah free. You can't tag back. You can't touch. No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Remember, I'm rubber and you're kablooey. So what do we got here? Regime change, Freedom for the Iranian people. Too many games and tricks. Get him before he gets me. Then finally today, Trump landed on his fifth rationale during a ceremony at the White House. An Iranian regime armed with long range missiles and nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat to the Middle east, but also to the American people. Our country itself would be under threat, and it was very nearly under threat. Very nearly under threat is very nearly a good reason to send our troops into harm's way. Tragically, six American service members have already died in his war. That sacrifice, and any sacrifices to come, any loss of civilian life for that matter, deserve at the very least, clarity from our leaders as to why that sacrifice is being asked. Because this war is on, and it seems like there could be more of it. Iran has already launched missiles at Israel, the, the uae, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon. My God, that's the entire Trump board of peace. But that shouldn't come as a surprise. None of that should come as a surprise, because here's the thing. We know that once you start bombing, folks, the fighting tends to take on a life of its own. As Admiral Julius Pringle once said, one once you pop, you can't stop. Trump is also. He said that. Check that out, too. Trump is also open to negotiations with Iran during the war. He says yesterday he told the Atlantic, they want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. But also, he noted that some of the Iranians involved in the negotiations in recent weeks were no longer alive. But we are going to Weekend at Bernie's them to complete the negotiations. Marco is going to deploy the sunglasses and Pete's going to do this funny thing where he makes him hump a surfboard. The reporter then asked Trump whether he had any indication of renewed Iranian threats against the US homeland since the start of the attack. Trump's response? I don't want to tell you that. Oh, it's like the old terror alert system from way back when it goes, I don't want to tell you that you get three guesses and rhymes with everyone is bread. No surprise, the color coding. I remember the color coding now. Surprisingly, no member of the administration came out on the Sunday shows this weekend to defend the president's decision to attack. Until this morning when the Pentagon sent out Pete Hegseth. He promised that this war will contain 0% woke. No stupid rules of engagement, no nation building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars. No politically correct wars, no gluten free missiles. This is 100% raw milk, all beef death patty that could lead to the destruction of mankind. Not personkind. Okay? It's Armageddon, not Armageddon. You wanna go, bro? You wanna go? You got a problem, bro? Somewhere else. Somewhere else. Hegseth also assured the American people that this war will not be like previous Mideast quagmires. To the media outlets and political left screaming, endless wars. Stop.
[10:46]
B
This is not Iraq.
[10:47]
A
This is not Iraq. We checked and the spelling is different. We've got a great show for you tonight coming up. Former special presidential envoy Brett McGurk,
[11:07]
B
My
[11:07]
A
first guest tonight, has held senior national security roles under the last four presidents and has negotiated past deals with Iran. He's now a CNN national security analyst. Please welcome to the Late Show, Brett McGurk. Mr. McGurk, thanks so much for being here.
[11:22]
C
Okay.
[11:23]
A
Appreciate you coming up here. Of course. A moment's notice. As I said before, you served as national security positions for four presidents. Give my audience just a quick synopsis of your experience in the Middle east and specifically with Iran.
[11:37]
B
Steven. Well, first, it's great to be here at such an important moment. Yeah, I served under Bush, Obama, two years with Trump and then the last four years with Joe Biden. I was his White House Middle east advisor and I spent a year in Iraq in 2004. And I've been dealing with, dealing with this vexing issue of Iran. Really over the last 20 years, one way or the other, I've Negotiated hostage deals with Iran. You might know Jason Rezaia on the Washington Post reporter. I helped the deal with him to get out of Iran. After spending 500 days in Evan prison, I've negotiated deals with Iran that have failed. I've been under fire from Iran and Iraq. I've known people who've been killed in Iraq. 600Americans, of course, were killed by Iranian roadside bombs in Iraq. I've known some of them. Every president, Stephen, has dealt with this vexing issue going back to Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan sunk the Iranian navy in an operation named Praying Mantis, very similar to what our military is doing now. It is a vexing, most difficult issue.
[12:32]
A
Did this attack come as any surprise to you?
[12:36]
B
I was surprised by the timing that it came so suddenly. I think you made a good point earlier, Stephen, that the case I don't think has been made to the American people as I think it can be
[12:46]
A
made, clearly hasn't been made. It remains to see whether it can be made because generally speaking, the case is better to be made ahead of time right now. I mean, given everything you just said, that so many presidents have had to deal with this back from Jimmy Carter till now, that nobody is defending the Khamenei regime or their behavior in terms of the terrorism, their missile program, their clear pursuit of nukes, since even no one is defending that. Why do you think only 27% of Americans in a Reuters Ipsos poll approved these strikes? 43% disapproved and 29% were not sure. So about a third of Americans aren't sure. I mean, and this is this right now, you might say, not to be flip about this. This is the good part. When the American military has gone in and done what they always do, which is being extremely effective in their attack, isn't this the chance for the highest possible approval the president could get with this thing? Why do you think it's got such low approval?
[13:44]
B
I think, let me cite one of the best military strategists in history. In this iconic theater, I doubt there's been much talk, Carl von Clausewitz, but he said that any.
[13:53]
A
We couldn't come up with anything that rhymed with Clausewitz
[13:58]
B
before launching a military operation. A leader such as a president has to be clear in his own mind of what he wants to achieve and how to achieve it. And that's not always the strongest suit of President Trump and very clear, shifting objectives. So I think the American people have legitimate questions about what exactly are we trying to do here and what I saw the administration do today and I've served a lot of his people. I know Dan Kaine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I worked with him very closely back in the counter ISIS campaign. He's an incredible, incredible military tactician. And he tried to lay out today we actually do have specific objectives. We were working to degrade Iran's overall power structure, its military capacity, so it cannot project power outside of its borders. It was a more limited objective than regime change. And he was kind of trying to narrow what presidents seem to lead with over the weekend. But no, this has not been. I think if you're going to, you have to lay out to the American people. I'm old fashioned. You know, there used to be this point saying, you know, it was never really like this, Stephen, that foreign policy stops at the water's edge and presidents would sit behind the Resolute desk and lay out to the American people exactly what we're going to do. That's eisenhower and George H.W. bush and I've been in the Oval Office for some of those addresses and
[15:12]
A
people came together behind Commander Chief after
[15:14]
B
he had his case. I think that's an important element of presidential leadership, to lay out to the American people exactly what we're trying to do.
[15:20]
A
Trump has said that the big wave hasn't even happened yet. What would a bigger wave than this be? I know you don't know, but it can't be.
[15:29]
B
Exactly. But I think, you know, knowing something about these things, what's been happening in the last last couple days is what you call a shaping. You're taking out all. Make sure Iran has no air defenses left. By the way, these are Russian air defense systems, which the world now knows really don't work very well. Trying to go after Iran's missiles so that they cannot do what they've been doing the last two days, firing missiles at us. We've tragically lost six American troops. I think our hearts go out to their families. Missiles against the Gulf states and missiles against Israel. So going after the missiles and then once you do some of that, then our pilots can hover over Iran with lower risk and I suspect we'll see more strikes against what's left of the nuclear program. There's a deeply buried site. The Iranians came to us in the. Actually the Biden administration said, oh, we're going to bury, we're going to dig into a new mountain and have a deeply buried nuclear site. It's called Pickaxe Mountain. We're going to put centrifuges in there. And they're building this site. It wasn't hit in the June war. I suspect it'll be hit now. I don't know for sure. I think we'll see that coming. But look, what worries me though still, Stephen, is that you have to have defined objectives so that if you don't define your objectives going in war, conflict has a momentum of its own. And that's how you get an emission creep and expanding goals. And before you know it, it really does become something that can be endless. I think you have to be very tied to your objectives here. And hopefully within a couple weeks or something, we can actually see this winding down.
[16:52]
A
That is, the Rumsfeld famously said five days, five weeks. I doubt five months in terms of how long Iraq would go.
[16:59]
B
That's a very important lesson. I landed in Iraq In January of 2004, eight months into the war, and I was a civilian advisor. And you land at the airport in Baghdad. Many Americans had this experience to serve there. And you drive to what was then the Green Zone, this highway called the highway of death and bombed out vehicles driving 80 miles an hour. And you just realize our country got ourselves into something we didn't fully anticipate, understand, or were prepared for. And we invaded Iraq with 130,000 troops with an unlimited objective to create a constitutional democracy. So the ends and the means of that strategy, there was a huge gap and that's what we fell into. We later corrected that later in the Bush administration. But no, no, you have to be tied to your objectives, align your ends and means and be very disciplined. And I hope, and that's what I saw General Kaine trying to do today, I really hope that's where this, the
[17:54]
A
president said that he doesn't have the yips when it comes to putting boots on the ground. And yips for people who don't know it's a golf term, like you get a little shake at the last minute before you putt, you have a little hesitancy, a little nerves about it. Do you have the yips about us putting troops on the ground when it comes to that?
[18:13]
B
I, one of the best secretaries of defense. I serve with Bob Gates, who was the secretary of defense under both Bush and Obama. He was quoted, if a president would have to have his head examined to send American combat brigades into Southwest Asia, which Iran is part of. What I very much agree with that. So, look, air power can be effective, but this is why the objectives have to be well defined. If you're talking about trying to change the Iranian political system or regime change from the air that's almost impossible to do. We don't have the power to do that, to orchestrate a change like that and to put US Boots on the ground in Iran? No, I would definitely, I guess, have the yips. Is that the right way to put it?
[18:50]
A
Yes, I guess. I don't know. It's his term, not mine. Now, what do we know about the people of Iran? There has been some celebrations in the streets, but then again, they still have the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have all the weapons.
[19:09]
B
Exactly.
[19:10]
A
And they're not exactly gonna lay them down and say, oops, are bad. Do you think there's a chance that there actually will be a civilian uprising to overturn this regime?
[19:21]
B
Stephen, it's a country of 90 million people. We've had no American diplomats there, really, since the revolution. So our feel for what's happening on the ground is extremely limited. We know, though, that the people demand a change. But you made a key point. I had an experience in sitting with Iranian counterparts and negotiating with them, and they would say to us, when you put a hard demand on the table, you Americans, you're always changing your government every two to four years. We can just wait you out. That's how they see us. And I said to this guy, once you have lost the support of a critical mass of your population, the young people, your population do not support your system. And he just said something very menacing. He said, actually, we do have support of enough of the people. He said, we have all the weapons and the besieged militia, which is the internal security apparatus, and the Revolutionary Guards, they guard the revolution. They protect the revolution. And Henry Kissinger famously said about Iran, they have to decide whether they are a country or a cause. And this Islamic Republic in Iran, they are. Their aim is to spread the revolution around the world. It's a revolutionary state, very ideological. And so their aim is to protect the revolution and to use violence against their own people to stay in power. So what I fear, Stephen, when you look ahead, is that even if the people do rise up once again, that what is left of the system, they have the monopoly of violence, and they're willing to use it. And that would be very tragic. And I think, you know, the administration has to think through that scenario. What do they do if in a month, you start to see uprisings and you start to see the mobilization to do another crackdown?
[20:59]
A
Back to Rumsfeld, he. He said, after the chaos, after enduring Operation Enduring Freedom, that was the second Iraq War, I think he said, hey, democracy is messy. You know, he said, stuff happens. Essentially, Colin Powell, on the other hand, famously gave his Pottery Barn rule, which is, you break it, you own it. Does this administration own the situation in Iran?
[21:26]
B
I see. It's a great question. And I lived through. I mean, the issue in Iraq, by the time I got to Iraq, was already broken. The army had been disbanded. We did de Ba' athication meeting the entire bureau, actually, all the teachers. Nobody could work the whole thing. And this huge vacuum opened up. I mean, that is not what I see happening here in Iraq. There's a corollary here to that Powell doctrine that when I hear the Trump administration talk about this, you know, we're going to. We break it, and it's the Iranian people actually own what comes next. And. And so they're not taking ownership of that step. But I suspect even with this leadership decapitation, this regime is resilient. It's multilayered. They will find another leader. He might be significantly weaker. They might find some.
[22:13]
A
Who do you think it might be?
[22:15]
B
It's a great question.
[22:16]
A
I mean, I'm available in June. Brett, thanks so much.
[22:26]
C
Thank you.
[22:26]
A
Brett McGurk, everybody. We'll be right back with Daniel Radcliffe. For years, Gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens through deeply reported narrative driven stories. We're digging into the myths, scandals, and power structures that stand still shape the south and in a lot of ways, the country itself. Follow and listen to gone South Season 5, an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. Joining me now is a Tony Award winning actor, you know, from Swiss Army Man, Merrily We Roll long and all, all of the Harry Potter instructional videos. Please welcome back to The Late Show, Mr. Daniel Radcliffe. Nice to see you again.
[23:31]
C
Thank you for having me.
[23:32]
A
How you been?
[23:33]
C
Oh, my. Yeah, yeah.
[23:34]
A
You grew a big old bushy beard.
[23:35]
C
I did. Well, I've been allowed to for my current job. They made me shave the last time I was here.
[23:39]
A
Oh, that's nice.
[23:40]
C
So, yeah, I can just be lazy.
[23:41]
A
Oh, you look great. You kind of look like a fisherman.
[23:44]
C
Thanks. You know what? On the Reggie Dinkins show that I'm doing, Erica Alexander saw me come into work one day and said she thought I looked a lot Longshoreman, which I will take as a similar. Yeah, yeah.
[23:53]
A
Similar compliment. So last time you were here was for Merrily We Roll along with our friend Jon Groff and Lindsay Mendez. Now you're back on the Broadway stage for every brilliant thing right there. Also at the Hudson Theater, same place you did the last great theater. And this is very different. This is a one man show, in
[24:17]
C
a manner of speaking. Yes. So it is. It's a show about. It's about a young boy who was making a list to cheer up his mom who was dealing with depression. And it's about how the making of this list of brilliant, wonderful things follows him into adulthood and how it sort of become the story of, you know, you tell the story of his life sort of through this list. But the reason I say it's sort of a one man show is that there is a huge amount of audience participation which is very, very fun for those who like it. And it's. It is so really.
[24:47]
A
So what did it do that you get suggestions or what do you suggest?
[24:49]
C
So there's basically, there's the list itself. There's sort of 80 pieces of card I hand out every night. And they are to the audience. To the audience. And so if you. If the show starts at 8, I'm in the audience at 7:30, I'll be seeing everyone as they come in handing out cards. It has a number on them. If I shout the number, you shout the thing that's written on the card. That's the sort of lower grade.
[25:07]
A
As they come in, Daniel Radcliffe is in the audience.
[25:09]
C
Yeah, I'm freaking out. I'm really alarming people who are just trying to find their seats, but it's a lot of fun. And then for about. For five people in the show. Five people do play characters in the show. So five people who walk into the theater not knowing this is going to happen that night will end up being on stage and doing scenes. And it's really. It should feel every night like we are making the whole play together. It's really lovely.
[25:33]
A
I got to ask though, so you're in the audience when everybody comes in. Does any. Does anybody not realize it's you right at first? They go, why did they hire longshoreman to be an usher?
[25:46]
C
The place I am most alarming to people is as I'm running up the stairs to try and hand out cards on the top floor of the theater, I am running past people going, oh, excuse me, excuse me. And you can tell people are briefly, very annoyed to be being pushed past. And then they're like, oh, I guess I have to let you go. You're fine. But yeah, it's fun. It's fun doing.
[26:00]
A
Had you done a one man show before?
[26:01]
C
No, never. And I would only want it like the things that obviously Sarah Snook did Dorian Gray and Cynthia Erivo now doing Dracula. That's something that I have so much respect for. And it's like what they do is amazing. But this is very much not that this is. I think I would only want to do a one man show if I was also roping in people from the audience. Cause it just, it's fun and weird and different.
[26:22]
B
Sure.
[26:22]
A
You happy to do any one man show? As long as it's not a one man show.
[26:25]
C
As long as it's not a one man show. Yeah, exactly.
[26:26]
B
Yes, yes.
[26:27]
A
I feel the same way here now. Had a baby last time you were here?
[26:31]
C
Yes.
[26:31]
A
How old is that child now?
[26:32]
C
He is almost three.
[26:33]
A
Oh, that's big enough to be wandering around.
[26:36]
C
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[26:37]
A
Three is very as many said the people who say terrible twos have never
[26:40]
C
had a three because everybody loves telling the parents of two year olds that three is in fact worse. I found this out recently because they're stronger. They're stronger, more willful.
[26:49]
A
Does he come to the theater?
[26:50]
C
He has been a few times. His actually his mom Erin did a play last year in Lincoln center. So he was on that stage for a bit. I have brought him into the Hudson theater now a couple of times and he is far too comfortable on a stage for my liking. He wandered around the other day. He's also only been on a stage where it's an empty auditorium and he was wandering around. He visited the other day and he was wandering around just shouting. As soon as he got on stage he just started shouting, dancers to your places. I was like, I was like, where has this. Evidently it's something that he has in his gymnastics and dance class so that he has learned from them. But the fact that he even knew to say that on a stage is terrifying and unsettling.
[27:28]
A
So he wants to be a stage manager when he grows up.
[27:30]
C
Ideal. Great. Behind the camera, off the stage, Great. Be stage management, be a director. Great.
[27:35]
A
Give him a little three ring binder on a stopwatch. He'll be fine. Absolutely. Okay. You are also starring in the new sitcom the Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins alongside Tracy Morgan.
[27:48]
C
Morgan, yes, absolutely.
[27:53]
A
Recently the two of you attended a Knicks game. There you go. That's fun. The two of you the Knicks game. Is he a fun hang off set?
[28:02]
C
Yeah, he's the most like whenever you do anything with Tracy, you sort of go like, well I can't. If I do this again, it won't be nearly as fun. Cause yeah, this was my first time Ever going to a basketball game and, like, Tracy Morgan. Ever.
[28:12]
A
Any basketball game.
[28:13]
C
Any basketball game. Yeah. And it was with Tracy Morgan to the Knicks. So it's really. It was a pretty. It was a cool and insane experience.
[28:19]
B
Sure.
[28:19]
A
It's not always like that.
[28:21]
C
I guess not. Yeah. No, I mean, Tracy, you know, he will say five of the most insane things you've ever heard a human being say every day. He kept telling me that he was gonna make LeBron give me his shoes, and I was like, you know, please, please don't. I'm sure he doesn't want to.
[28:38]
A
Did you get LeBron's shoes?
[28:39]
C
I did not, but only because Tracy didn't manage to speak to him. I am fully convinced that if he had managed to, like, eyeball him, I might have one of LeBron's shoes right now.
[28:47]
A
But, yeah, you could use it as a boat.
[28:49]
C
I mean, I certainly could. Yeah, I could get to work in that.
[28:52]
A
Wow. We have to take a quick break. We're right back with more Daniel Radcliffe, everybody. Back with the star of every brilliant at the Hudson theater here on Broadway, Daniel Radcliffe. Okay. This year marks 25 years since the first Harry Potter film. I'm sure you know it.
[29:20]
C
Right.
[29:20]
B
Okay. Okay.
[29:20]
A
Came out now. Not to get into that, but now there's gonna be a Harry Potter series.
[29:27]
C
Yes.
[29:27]
A
Okay. That they're doing on hbo. Does it feel good to pass the Beauxbaton, as it were?
[29:32]
C
Very good.
[29:33]
B
Yeah.
[29:34]
C
Yeah, it really does. You know, I'm actually delighted that if, you know, when my kid grows up and is into Harry Potter, he can watch a version that is not me, which I feel like watching it with your dad would be less cool. Right. Take you out of it.
[29:47]
A
You don't want to pull for your dad.
[29:48]
C
No, exactly. Yeah. So he'll be able to do that.
[29:50]
B
And.
[29:51]
C
Yeah, it's lovely. And it means at some point there will be somebody else to answer all the Harry Potter questions. And I can pass that on to them, too.
[29:57]
B
It's great.
[29:57]
C
Yeah.
[29:58]
A
So it doesn't bother you like someone else is going to be thought of as Harry Potter?
[30:01]
C
I mean, you know, we've had three spider mans in my lifetime. We've had. When you look at, like, so far. So far. Yes, so far. I mean. And, you know, if you look at a character like Sherlock Holmes, like, it's something like there were always going to be many, many iterations. So very happy to see it be passed on to somebody else. And best of luck to all of them.
[30:19]
A
Your friend, Tom Felton. Draco Malfoy. Is on Broadway right now. Yes, he is.
[30:22]
B
Yeah.
[30:23]
A
Have you had a chance? Have you guys seen each other's stuff?
[30:26]
C
I have not seen. We haven't been to each other's shows yet.
[30:29]
A
The problem being you both are on stage at the same time.
[30:31]
C
There's that, but he also. It was weird. He came to the premiere of the Merri movie came out last year, and he came to that. And it was really. It was lovely to see him, but that. All the press around. It was like, tom Felton and Dan Radcliffe reunite for the first time in 16 years. Like, guys, you don't know our lives. We've hung out a bunch. Like, just because we haven't been doing it in front of cameras, there's the assumption that, like, oh, this is the first time they've seen each other. It's like, no, we are friends outside of this. Yeah.
[30:57]
A
So the show is called Every Brilliant Thing again. It's at the Hudson Theatre. What are five brilliant things about life? Oh, five according to Daniel Radcliffe.
[31:07]
C
Okay, I'll count. Okay. Tom Lehrer. You know Tom Lehrer, Those songs, right?
[31:12]
A
First we got the bomb, and that was good because we delivered teeth in motherhood.
[31:15]
C
Exactly.
[31:16]
A
Then Russia got the bomb, and that's okay. Balance of power is maintained that way. Who's next?
[31:20]
C
There you go.
[31:21]
A
You got any more of that one Edit. Give me a Tom Lane.
[31:25]
C
We will all go together when we
[31:26]
A
go Doing the Vatican rag.
[31:29]
C
Doing the Vatican rag. Poisoning pigeons in the park. The element song. Oedipus Rex.
[31:33]
A
Once was a man named Oedipus.
[31:34]
C
You may have heard about his old complex. His name appears in Freud's index. Cause he loved his.
[31:37]
A
Loved his mother. He loved his mother. Like mother. His mother was a sister and his
[31:44]
C
son with his brother. One thing on which you can depend is he sure knew a boy's best friend.
[31:48]
A
Is.
[31:49]
C
Yes.
[31:52]
B
Yeah.
[31:53]
C
So you know Tom Lehrer. I got to meet Tom Lehrer once.
[31:57]
A
No way.
[31:57]
C
Yeah. He came to see how to succeed when I was doing that show. So that my son. And all the ways he mispronounces words he doesn't know. Somebody gave him a toy Lamborghini, and he has remembered it as zucchini, which I will never correct.
[32:12]
A
Even better.
[32:12]
B
Even better.
[32:13]
A
Yeah.
[32:13]
C
And what else? Oh, I'm only up to 2. I'm gonna use one of the ones from the show, which I love that we have at the moment, which is when the windshield wipers wipe to the beat of the song. Yes. Right. Come on.
[32:26]
A
100%. You're in tune with the universe.
[32:28]
C
And can I see Stick with three. I'm sure there's more you can stick with three. You. You were a brilliant thing.
[32:33]
A
You.
[32:34]
C
I know it's kind of sucker.
[32:36]
A
It took you so long. What took you so damn long? Now we can go.
[32:41]
C
We'll stop at 4.
[32:42]
A
Thank you very much, Daniel Radcliffe. Every brilliant thing is on Broadway at the Hudson Theater. Go see it. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. How many discounts does USAA Auto insurance offer? Too many to say here. Multi vehicle discount, Safe driver discount, New vehicle discount, Storage discount. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usaa.com autodiscounts restrictions apply. America, America, you used to be so fun but now you go to bed at night scrolling on your phone. Well listen up America. Carnival is here with world class crew and ropes course too. And comedy and snorkeling and dining like everything from sea to shining sea.
[33:46]
C
Find your fun again@carnival.com Carnival is calling
[33:49]
A
ship's registry the Bahamas in Panama.