← The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert
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- [00:02]
Kaley Cuoco
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- [00:30]
Stephen Colbert
Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the Now It Pays to Discover. Learn more at discover.com credit card based on the February 2024 Nielsen report. Welcome one and all in here out there to the Late Show. I'm your host Stephen Colbert. Quick question, quick question. Before we get started tonight, anyone here from out of the country? All right. Well, you live here now because you're never going to want to fly again. Because, because for the past week, there have been thousands of delays at Newark Airport right across the river, including hundreds of cancellations just this morning. We now know the culprit was a 90 second blackout during which air traffic controllers temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear or talk to them. Oh, no. See here, those are three fairly important things. That means for 90 seconds our air traffic control system was. There's one. There's one right there. There's another. Okay, you, you, you circle, you little blue ones, you land, you. This blackout led to a cascade of problems throughout the week. And after a long investigation, we now know that a fried piece of copper wire sparked the blackout. Unlike the other blackouts at Newark, which were caused by the grand coconut margarita at Terminal A Chili's 2. You know their slogan, Chili's 2 flight delay, we'll put Rome in your queso. New York Senator Chuck Schumer had some harsh words for the FAA saying, why are we using copper wire in 2025? Have they heard of fiber? Of course, this is Chuck Schumer, so we can't be sure what kind of fiber he was talking about. If you're really, if you really want to keep things moving, if you really want to keep things moving. You need more fiber. I'm talking lentils, whole grains, legumes, not too much of your bloat. Canned pumpkin. Surprisingly good. The man in charge of fixing this mess is unfortunately Transportation Secretary and White Lotus Guest. Remembering what he did at the full moon party, Sean Duffy. Duffy. Duffy went on Fox News to take full responsibility and then dump it on somebody else. We have really old infrastructure in America. It hasn't been updated in the last 30, 40 years. This should have been dealt with in the last administration. They did nothing. Yes, this problem has been going on for years. Biden should have done something about it. Or really, really the guy before him should have done something about it. The truth is, Biden did do something about it. In the 2021 infrastructure bill, he had $25 billion to improve airports. Unfortunately, all 25 billion was spent on Logan Airport's pet relief area with many fire hydrants. So wahapa. Well, they started the upgrade, but it didn't help that once Trump got into office, the Doge Bros. Immediately fired 400 staffers at the FAA, including maintenance, mechanics and employees who work on electronic issues. Those are the people who do the stuff. There are plenty of useless people you could have fired, like the TSA agent who says you can't bring in a snow globe. I hate having to chug my snow globe right before security. I get the snow in my throat. Duffy claims he's going to spend the money on the new system, but warned it might take three to four years. Not exactly what you want to hear in a crisis. Reminds me of those old Life Alert commercials.
- [04:59]
Kaley Cuoco
I've fallen and I can't get up.
- [05:03]
Stephen Colbert
Don't worry, we'll be there in three to four. She's fine, she's fine. She's fine. Duffy is also catching a lot of heat because just a couple of days after the blackout that he didn't tell any of us about, he posted nice to come home on a Friday night to home cook steak tacos. After a long week working@the.Latinowife. after a little backlash like that, he followed up with I apologize for dragging my latinawife into this. I know it's a problemo and we are quesa dealing with that. Yoquero forgiveness.
- [05:46]
Kaley Cuoco
Wow.
- [05:47]
Stephen Colbert
We first learned we need to make that up, right? That's real. We first learned about Newark's problems when an air traffic controller warned an NBC journalist that the airport was unsafe for travel, saying, avoid Newark at all costs. If you could afford all costs, you wouldn't be in Newark. And it won't get better anytime soon because due to the blackout, some air traffic controllers are now out on a 45 day trauma leave. Wait a second. There's such a thing as trauma leave? Byee. I'm off to the tropics. All y'all. Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. Wait, wait, wait. No, no, no, no. Wait a second. Stop, stop, stop. Damn it. I forgot my ticket's out of Newark. We do have an update on Trump's plan to reopen Alcatraz. We now have a pretty good idea where he got his bad idea. And it's exactly where you think he did, because Trump' announcement came the morning after the Clint Eastwood movie Escape From Alcatraz was on local TV in Palm beach while Trump was down there in Mar? A Lago. That's not the first time a president has based national policy on a movie he watched. Who could forget this classic speech? Mr. Gorbachev Let the three men raise the baby yesterday. Yesterday, at a press conference, Trump shared what he knew about Alcatraz. It housed the most violent criminals in the world and nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there, but they, as you know the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up and it was a lot of shark bites, a lot of, lot of problems. Wow, that's a pretty dramatic story. It's not what happened, but it is in the movie Escape from Alcatraz where shreds of the material of the raincoat are found floating in the bay. He thinks movies are real life. I saw terrifying documentary folks last night about this guy Shrek and his talking donkey, by the way. No, folks, listen, don't let the wife fool you. She looks beautiful, but she is also. Oh, folks, I hate to say this, there's sad news in the wide world of web because the pioneering teleconferencing app Skype is officially dead. And if you can't attend the memorial service in person, there will be a zoom link. This end of Skype is truly the end of an Internet era, as Skype has been around for over two decades. But don't cry because it's over. Cry because you'll never hear this again. Skype struggled to stay relevant in recent years, but at its peak, it had over 300 million users. Wow, that's a lot of people. Or as they would have said, wow, that lot of users online are mourning the end of Skype, with one saying, the hardest part is going to be teaching my technologically inept parents how to use a new app. Oh, maybe I can help Meet me at the technologically inept parents camera. Hey, Bud. Hey, Bud. Bud, can you see me? Can you see me? I can't see you, buddy. Is your Internet on? Hold on. Let me get your mom. She's in the garden. Barbara. Barbara, we're on the Internet. Barbara. You know what? Let me. I do a regular call. You're gonna have to. You're gonna have to hang up. You hang up. That was almost too good. Tomorrow's a big day for us Catholics because it's the start of the Conclave to pick a new pope. Now, not every cardinal gets to pope. According to the rules, only those Cardinals younger than 80 are able to participate. Which means Rome's fake idea industry is booming right now. No, no, I swear, it's me. I'm 79. My name is. My name is Chloe Steinmetz. I'm from a Weehawken, New Jersey. I just look.
- [10:52]
Kaley Cuoco
I look different without the hat.
- [10:54]
Stephen Colbert
Once the cardinals enter the conclave, they are cut off completely from the outside world. Even the meals are strictly controlled. There's a rule that no foodstuffs can be served that might obscure a secret message. For example, a cardinal's ravioli might be stuffed with an illicit note from the kitchen staff. That sounds silly, but that's how back in the 1950s, we briefly ended up with Pope Boyardee. We got a great show for you tonight. Coming up, Rachel Maddow spring savings are in the air. And at Ross, where they have savings on all the brands you love, from the latest fashion to outdoor decor and even pet supplies. Savings are in every aisle. Go to ross and save 20 to 60% off other retailers prices on your favorite spring finds. Right now, the Home Depot has spring deals under $20. So no matter what you're working on, the deals are blooming at the Home Depot with savings on plants, flowers, soil and more. Then light up your outdoor space with Hampton Bay string lights was $34.97, now only $19.99. And get the grill going with two 16 pound bags of Kingsford charcoal. Was $19.98, now only $17.88. Don't miss spring deals under $20 now through May 7 at the home Depot, subject to availability, valid on select items only. Welcome back, everybody, friends and neighbors, Roman's countrymen. My guest tonight is the Emmy award winning host of the Rachel Maddow Show. Please welcome back to the late show, Rachel Maddow. I admire this. I admire the pep in your step.
- [12:43]
Kaley Cuoco
It's like Riverdance, but you can use your arms Great.
- [12:46]
Stephen Colbert
Well, I want to contact. Hit off of that energy you have right there. You know, I love having you on because I said, you're the explainer. You can lay everything out like parts on the lawn and assemble it back together into meaning for our lives. You do this very well. Nobody does it the same way you do.
- [13:00]
Kaley Cuoco
I like your faith.
- [13:01]
Stephen Colbert
You get grand, you get granular in an interesting way, obviously. My overall question is, what the. Well, let's get into it slowly. Let's get into it slowly. Okay, so your beard back to Mondays again after doing every night of the week for the first hundred days.
- [13:17]
Kaley Cuoco
Yes.
- [13:17]
Stephen Colbert
Okay, so how you went through the last first hundred days of Trump, now the second first hundred days, what has it taught you about the new playbook for the administration? What's different? What's the same?
- [13:29]
Kaley Cuoco
So the common wisdom when Trump was coming back for a second term was that he would have worked out all the kinks in the first term, that maybe he had some, like, really radical intentions for the country in the first term, but he wasn't very good at doing anything. And so we didn't get. We didn't have to deal with the worst of it. So the common wisdom was he'll be better at it this time around. Not true. Turns out there was no learning about how to do the stuff. And so we still.
- [13:58]
Stephen Colbert
That's a common problem with authoritarianism, isn't it? Because it all kind of has to go through one guy, and if the one guy doesn't change, if he's just as he was, then things will be much the same.
- [14:08]
Kaley Cuoco
The personalization of government means you are depending on. On the personal competence of the guy in charge who thinks Alcatraz. Right. I mean, should nobody escape from Alcatraz since Clint Eastwood? And so then, I mean, like you said, like, he thinks movies are real. Okay, well, that's a limiting factor in terms of what can happen at an authoritarian government.
- [14:32]
Stephen Colbert
Sure.
- [14:33]
Kaley Cuoco
So, okay, he's no better. The other thing that was different in the first room, you might remember, he was inaugurated in the first term, and then the day after was the Women's March. Yeah, right, right, right, right. At inauguration was the Women March. Women's March. One of the hugest peaceful, civil disobedience demonstrations all over the world there's ever been. This time was different. There wasn't one huge protest. But in Trump's first hundred days this term, people protest in, I swear, like, all 50 states every day, and it never stops. And some of those protests are big, but in every, like, I mean, Every day I'm covering protests in Tuscaloosa and Boise and Lima, Ohio, and places you. I have to watch local news clips to figure out how to pronounce the name of the town where there is the demonstration and the demonstrations against Trump have not stopped in there every single day. And there isn't a Republican member of Congress anywhere in the country, in any congressional district, who can show his or her face without getting yelled at by his or her constituents about what Trump is doing.
- [15:37]
Stephen Colbert
Right.
- [15:37]
Kaley Cuoco
And that is different. That is different.
- [15:39]
Stephen Colbert
I love, I love. I think it was a New York guy, Lawler, who actually said he asked for IDs to prove that you were actually in the constituency in his constituency, because they were like, it's outside agitators. And so they did. They checked everybody's id. Everybody was actually a constituency, and they just booed him from elder breakfast.
- [15:57]
Kaley Cuoco
And you're finding that even in, like, Republican plus 30 districts, like places where Democrats haven't won an election in living memory, but still, there's enough angry people, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans in every congressional district in the country that Republicans now just aren't showing their faces because they can't take it. I mean, that's what happens when you, like, cut Meals on Wheels, you cut Head Start, you mess with Social Security, you do all this stuff, you are never going to survive politically. And that's the message the American people are sending already.
- [16:29]
Stephen Colbert
We have to take a quick break. We're right back with more Rachel Maddow, everybody. Now streaming. When everything's on the line, real heroes rise to the occasion. TV's hottest show is Fire Country. We're firefighters. We're gonna find a way to get you out of here. We take the hits together.
- [16:53]
Kaley Cuoco
We're on the same team.
- [16:55]
Stephen Colbert
I'm right here with you no matter what. I would never leave you hanging in the deep end. This place is a way of giving you New family Fire Country. All episodes now streaming on Paramount. Plus, find mom's best gift at Target. Now through Mother's Day, get up to 40% off gifts for her. Discover trendy apparel and swimwear that'll elevate any wardrobe. Jewelry that'll make her smile shine brighter, and even chocolate that'll turn any moment into something sweeter. There are endless options to choose from to show her she's the best. Hurry. Save 20 to 40% on select apparel, jewelry, chocolates and more this Mother's Day only at Target. Restrictions apply. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You might say all kinds of stuff when Things go wrong, but these are the words you really need to remember. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. They've got options to fit your unique insurance needs, meaning you can talk to your agent to choose the coverage you need, have coverage options to protect the things you value most, file a claim right on the State Farm mobile app, and even reach a real person when you need to talk to someone. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Hey everybody, we're back with Rachel Maddow. You've to highlight the work of local news, which I really enjoy. Local news, if it goes away, we'd all be poorer for it because we got to find out what's going on for our friends and neighbors, despite the tax on the press. Are you hopeful about the future of journalism?
- [18:38]
Kaley Cuoco
I am. There isn't a substitute for it. There isn't. I mean, user generated content and people posting stuff on social media and blogging and stuff is all of value. I'm not against. But professional journalism, where you've got a reporter who understands how to do the work, who reports to an editor, who makes sure stuff is up to standard and stuff gets corrected and fact checked and there's a professional system for it, there just isn't a substitute for it. And we're seeing some of the most, I think some of the most important stories of the Trump era already not playing out in Washington and not playing out in places where there are big nationally read papers, but in places like, for example, we featured on the show the other day a story out of Oklahoma City.
- [19:21]
Stephen Colbert
I saw this.
- [19:21]
Kaley Cuoco
Oh, you saw this? Yeah. There's a mom and her daughters who are home at their house in Oklahoma City. It's overnight hours, they're sleeping and men come and break down the door.
- [19:32]
Stephen Colbert
20 men.
- [19:33]
Kaley Cuoco
Yeah. And they do not identify themselves and they destroy the house. They tear it apart. They force the woman and her daughters outside in the front yard in their underwear in the rain. And it turns out that they're federal agents and they're looking for somebody else. They're looking for the previous owners of this home. And this woman and her daughters are not just traumatized by this experience, but these agents take all of their phones, all of their electronics and the money that they had in the house, all of their cash, which was the family's life savings, which they had in cash, and walk away. And they have no business card, they have nobody to call, they have no way to get in touch. This is the way that has anyone.
- [20:17]
Stephen Colbert
At the national level responded to this story? Anyone at the FBI or Homeland Security or anybody like that.
- [20:22]
Kaley Cuoco
So these agents told this woman and her daughters that they were the FBI and the Marshals Service and ICE and kfor. KFOR in Oklahoma City, local station, God bless them, called the FBI and the FBI said that wasn't us and called the Marshals Service and the Marshals Service said that wasn't us and called the Department of Homeland Security. And Department of Homeland Security didn't say anything for a long while. And that pressure from that local station, we picked it up at the national level, it's gotten a lot of national attention now, will eventually force Department of Homeland Security to give that family back their money and their phones and all the rest of it. But the most important stories don't necessarily happen in Washington. They happen where the rubber meets the road, where you've got an out of control federal government abusing people and thinking they'll ever have to pay for it. And you need local news organizations and reporters who are able to go there and tell those stories so we know about it, so we can respond. Yeah.
- [21:20]
Stephen Colbert
So one of the things that's interesting to me is that there is such gross and obvious incompetence and disregard for our institutions, touching third rails like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. This is not the behavior of people because the Republicans haven't stood up en masse to resist what Donald Trump has done. A few people here are there. This is not the behavior of people who seem like they believe they have to answer to voters in 18 months. That worries me. Not that they're not worried, but that they don't think that they should be worried because maybe they don't have to worry about an election at all.
- [22:02]
Kaley Cuoco
Yeah. And yes, that is the thing to worry about. And I mean, I feel like, for as heartened as I am about the American people literally protesting every single day against what Trump and the Republicans are doing, and so much more resistance than anybody told us to expect. I think it's also true that the people who warned us about how bad this was gonna be, the people who were really hysterical, like really the doomsayers, they were all right about how bad this is. And what we're experiencing is not just somebody who's fighting against the Democratic Party, he's fighting against the Democratic process. He doesn't think there should be elections. And they are consolidating power. They're disempowering Congress, ignoring Congress when they're defunding agencies or closing agencies. That's Congress's job. That's not the president's job. When they're defying court orders, that's them saying that the courts don't have authority over the president. That's consolidating all power in one man. That's authoritarianism. And that's what you do when you don't ever want to have an election because you want to stay in power for life. And that is what they are trying. All the worst predictions about what he'd be like are true, but the best hopes for how much the American people would stand up against it have not even matched a fraction of how much people are standing up and how much people are saying no. There has never in the history of this country been an American president who's been this unpopular at 100 days in the American public are just saying no. Are just saying no, no, no, no. We have to take another break.
- [23:33]
Stephen Colbert
We'll be right back with more RACHEL Maddow Every we're back with the author of the book, a prequel now in paperback. Rachel Maddow. There are reports that the owner of this company called the president, called the chairman of this, of this company, said, yeah, you got to get the news to lay off any bad Trump stories. And the word is that that was not passed on to the news division, I'm happy to say.
- [24:11]
Kaley Cuoco
Right on.
- [24:12]
Stephen Colbert
Have you been getting anything like that at msnbc? Are there any, like, hey, let's not talk about Trump too much over there.
- [24:17]
Kaley Cuoco
Not at all. And that's what leadership looks like here. Leadership is not that you don't expect that you're gonna get inappropriate political pressure. Leadership is hearing that inappropriate political pressure and making sure that the people who actually do the work never have to bear that cost themselves. That is what, that is what you need. And we're good at MSNBC that we're not experiencing editorial crimes.
- [24:44]
Stephen Colbert
You guys aren't being sued for $20 billion.
- [24:48]
Kaley Cuoco
There's always lots of threats of lawsuits, lots of bullying and that sort of stuff. Trump said right before the election that we should all be put on trial for treason so that they could execute us all at msnbc. Like, okay, okay, big guy. Wow. Yeah. The pressure is real. And Trump's authoritarian tendencies are as bad again as any of the worst critics said they would be. But the country's not having it and the country's pushing back. And so many of the things that he's tried to do have been pushed back because the American people are saying no, because elected representatives, including in Congress, can't defend what he's doing, and they start pushing back. That's how we're saving Head Start. That's how they're keeping Social Security field offices open. That's how so much of this stuff is going by the wayside. It's not just the courts holding the line. It's people pushing back and Trump finding himself alone on the wrong side of every argument.
- [25:42]
Stephen Colbert
Your book, your book prequel, An American Fight Against Fascism, which is out now on paperback, tells the story of the ultra right plots to bring authoritarian rule to the United states in the 1930s. Right. And into the 40s. Where are we now? If history doesn't necessarily repeat itself, but you see patterns, where are we in this process compared to this?
- [26:11]
Kaley Cuoco
We are in the midst of an attempted authoritarian overthrow of the US Government, and it is not by an insurgent movement like it was in the era that I write about in prequel. It's the party in power. And that said, I think that it still helps us to know that previous generations of Americans have fought their own fights against fascists. American fascism is a real thing. It's recurrent. Right now it's in the White House, and it's never been there before. But we know how to fight against fascists, and it depends on the American people loving liberty and loving democracy and knowing that what the founders gave us is something that we're not going to squander. We're not going to be the generation that loses it. There isn't one silver bullet. There isn't one thing that works against fascism. You have to do everything all at once. But you need journalism, and we need to protect journalists. You need the courts, and we need to protect the courts. You need lawyers, and they're not the most popular people in the world, but you need to protect lawyers so that we can access the courts, so the courts can play their role. You need to not give up on Congress and elected officials and demand more of them, hold them accountable and make sure they do what their constituents want. You need all of these things all at once, and you need the American people to stay engaged and to recognize that this fight is our fight. And when you do all of those things together, we've fought off every authoritarian movement this country has ever faced back to our founding, and we will fight this one, too, and we will beat this one, too. And the American public being so unified against what he's doing, I mean, a majority, good scientific polling says a majority of Americans think Donald Trump is a dictator who must be stopped. The American public's clarity of vision on that is the most valuable thing that we've got. And we need to hold to it, we need to respect it, and we need to act on it. But I'm more heartened than I ever thought that I would be.
- [28:05]
Stephen Colbert
100 days in Rachel, thanks for the contact. Hope. Yeah. Her number one New York Times best sellers prequel is out now on paperback. Rachel Maddow, everybody. 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. Now streaming. When everything's on the line, real heroes rise to the occasion. TV's hottest show is Fire Country. More firefighters to find a way to get you out of here. We take the hits together.
- [28:45]
Kaley Cuoco
We're on the same team.
- [28:47]
Stephen Colbert
I'm right here with you. No matter what. I would never leave you hanging in the deep end. This place is a way of giving you new family. Fire Country. All episodes now streaming on Paramount. Plus.