- 7 hours ago
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - Season 11 Episode 36 -
Claire Danes, Rep. James Clyburn
Claire Danes, Rep. James Clyburn
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00:0040 years old.
00:01That is why President Trump says he is proposing
00:04what his administration is calling, quote,
00:06a complete game changer, a 50-year fixed-rate mortgage.
00:11Life expectancy in America today is 78.4 years.
00:17Wondering if you can afford that first house?
00:19With the Donald J. Trump 50-year mortgage, you can.
00:22And don't worry that you'll be long dead
00:24before your home is paid off,
00:26because we'll send the bills right to your grave.
00:30With a 50-year mortgage,
00:34think of the equity you'll be building up
00:36while your flesh is falling off.
00:38Only 36 more years and this house will be mine.
00:44And be sure to check out the Donald J. Trump 50-year car loan.
00:48Car.
00:49It's The Lake Show with Stephen Colbert.
00:54Tonight, freeze the day.
00:57Plus, Stephen welcomes
01:00Claire Danes
01:03and Congressman Jim Clyburn.
01:08Featuring Louis Cato and The Lake Show Band.
01:13And now, live on tape from the Ed Sullivan Theater
01:17in New York City, it's Stephen Colbert!
01:21Thank you, everybody, for you, baby!
01:41Welcome, friends.
01:42Thank you very much.
01:43You're good, you're good.
01:43Welcome, one and all, to The Lake Show.
01:46I'm your host, Stephen Colbert.
01:47I want to start off...
01:49Right off the bean here,
01:53I want to start by wishing everybody a happy Veterans Day.
01:56All of us here at The Lake Show...
01:58All of us who work here at The Lake Show
02:01want to send our gratitude to those who have served our nation.
02:05I wish I could thank every one of our troops in person,
02:08and I might get the chance when Trump sends them to New York.
02:13Now, I also...
02:15Got to. He's got to.
02:20I also want to thank everyone here in my audience tonight
02:22who braved freezing temperatures
02:24and the first snow of the season here in New York.
02:29Those are the heroes.
02:30I'm glad you guys are okay.
02:42I'm glad you're going to say
02:43you're now safely inside the Ed Sullivan Theater
02:45where it is much colder.
02:48It's not just New York.
02:49All over the United States,
02:51there's the Arctic Clippers coming down.
02:53Folks are getting hit with an Arctic blast.
02:55Down south, the cold is causing all kinds of problems.
02:57In Florida, residents were warned
03:00that iguanas paralyzed by the cold
03:02might start falling from trees.
03:06As opposed to the rest of the year in Florida
03:08when reptiles falling from the trees
03:10are thrown by Iguana Dave.
03:13The guy who throws iguanas
03:15is also the mayor of Daytona Beach.
03:18Things are...
03:19It's a fun town.
03:20Things are getting chilly up on Capitol Hill
03:22after a small group of Democrats
03:23voted with Republicans to end the shutdown.
03:26To end the shutdown
03:30without restoring health care subsidies,
03:32Democratic leadership has taken heat
03:34from the rank and file.
03:35Chuck Schumer,
03:36who is supposed to be the leader
03:37of the Senate Democrats,
03:39reportedly gave the deal, quote,
03:41neither a blessing nor a curse
03:43and did not direct senators
03:44on how they should vote.
03:47Bold leadership!
03:50Reminds me of the stirring words
03:52of William Wallace.
03:53They may take our lives!
03:56Or our freedom!
03:58Their choice!
03:59Whatevs!
04:02Whatever.
04:03Now, here's the thing.
04:05It's so obviously a failure of leadership.
04:08Schumer's facing fury
04:10from every part of the party.
04:12Moderate House members,
04:13progressive senators,
04:14self-described insurgents,
04:16establishment candidates,
04:17not to mention low-rise governors,
04:19zaddy comptrollers,
04:21gluten-free city managers,
04:23and deputy mayors
04:23on tandem bikes.
04:24It's a very,
04:25very big tent.
04:28The shutdown,
04:29which is technically still not over,
04:31has caused major chaos
04:32at airports across the United States,
04:34where air traffic controllers
04:35have gone unpaid for so long
04:37that many have had to call out of work
04:39or even resign.
04:41Trump is not happy with them,
04:42so yesterday he posted,
04:43all air traffic controllers
04:45must get back to work now.
04:48Anyone who does it
04:49will be substantially ducked.
04:52Wow.
04:53That sounds...
04:54Man, that sounds like an awesome job.
05:03Extremely high stress,
05:04understaffed,
05:05you work six days a week,
05:06you don't get paid,
05:07and the president attacks you in public?
05:09How could it get better?
05:11Maybe a donkey could kick you in the nuts
05:12while it rains iguanas on your head?
05:16Trump also...
05:18Good old iguana Dave.
05:20How are we going here?
05:22How's it going?
05:23Trump also let those controllers know
05:25he's not going to forget
05:26them playing hooky,
05:28writing,
05:28You will have a negative mark,
05:30at least in my mind,
05:32against your record.
05:36Really?
05:37Really?
05:38A negative mark in that mind?
05:40You know what?
05:43I'll take my chances.
05:45I'll never forget your disloyalty.
05:49Harold, Sharon,
05:51what's your name?
05:53Burlap?
05:53Acida?
05:55Acida me the pina colada?
05:56Then...
05:57Then Trump let controllers know
06:11how easy it would be to replace them.
06:13If you want to leave service
06:14in the near future,
06:15please do not hesitate to do so
06:17with no payment
06:18or severance of any kind.
06:20You'll be quickly replaced
06:22by true patriots.
06:23Maybe I'm alone,
06:32but I don't care
06:33if the guy landing my plane
06:34is a true patriot.
06:35I just want him
06:37to know what he's doing.
06:38I don't want a surgeon saying,
06:39okay, I didn't go to med school,
06:40but I'm pretty sure
06:42the torso is where they keep
06:43all the important wet stuff.
06:46Proud to be an American.
06:48Where at least
06:51where is that lung?
06:53I think that's
06:54the kidney part.
06:57Trump is an old
06:58nepo-billionaire
06:59who simply does not understand
07:01how hard it is
07:01for regular people
07:02to survive these days.
07:03And right now,
07:04regular people are not happy.
07:06A survey measuring
07:07consumer satisfaction
07:08with current conditions
07:09has fallen to 52.3%
07:12this month,
07:12marking the worst ever
07:13for the survey
07:14dating to 1951.
07:18Consumers have not felt
07:19this bad
07:19since we fed
07:20our babies cigarettes.
07:23Since every man's wife
07:24was named Susan.
07:26Since we did free throws
07:28like this.
07:31Pretty good, though.
07:33That's how I was taught.
07:36Eighth grade.
07:38Trump.
07:39Trump is doing his best
07:40to convince people
07:41that they actually like
07:42his economy that they hate.
07:44For instance,
07:45he keeps bragging
07:46that a Thanksgiving meal basket
07:47from Walmart
07:48is 25% cheaper
07:49than last year.
07:50Just one problem.
07:51It has half as many items
07:53as last year.
07:54So it's not an apples
07:56to apples comparison,
07:57which is good
07:58because apples are up
07:59almost 5% from last year.
08:02Reminds me of the old saying,
08:03an apple a day,
08:04oh no, I'm ruined.
08:08One thing,
08:09one thing Americans really love
08:11is having a place to live.
08:12Me included.
08:14I'm a bit of a shelter head,
08:16but it's getting increasingly hard
08:19to afford home ownership,
08:20which is why on Saturday,
08:21Trump proposed adding
08:22a 50-year mortgage.
08:24And the Washington Post
08:25did the math
08:26for anyone buying
08:27a $400,000 house
08:28with a 10% down
08:29and 30-year mortgage,
08:31you would owe
08:32about $2,300 each month.
08:34With a 50-year loan,
08:36it would come down
08:36to about $2,000 a month.
08:39So far, so okay,
08:40but that doesn't take
08:41into account interest.
08:42On that same home,
08:43a 30-year loan
08:44would mean you would pay
08:46$438,000 in total interest,
08:49but with a 50-year loan,
08:50the number jumps
08:50to $816,000.
08:54That's a hell of a leap.
08:56I haven't seen a deal
08:56this bad since Payless
08:58ran their infamous promotion,
08:59buy one, get scabies.
09:02That was a long walk.
09:04Yeah.
09:04That was a long walk.
09:06I was thirsty.
09:08I got to the scabies well.
09:11This big, dumb policy
09:12that fixes nothing
09:14is the brainchild
09:15of Federal Housing Finance
09:17Agency Director
09:18and Bulldog
09:19watching someone else
09:20hump his favorite leg.
09:23Bill, it doesn't look happy.
09:25Bill Pulte,
09:26here's the actual true story
09:28of how this policy
09:29came to be.
09:30On Saturday,
09:31Pulte arrived at Trump's
09:32Palm Beach golf course
09:33with a piece of
09:35three-by-five
09:35poster board in hand.
09:37That poster board
09:38had this image
09:39of President Roosevelt
09:41under the phrase
09:4130-year mortgage
09:42and Trump under the phrase
09:4450-year mortgage.
09:47Roughly 10 minutes later,
09:49Trump posted the image
09:50to Truth Social.
09:51So he just sees a poster
09:52and 10 minutes later,
09:53it's public policy?
09:54We need to get someone,
09:57anyone,
09:57into Mar-a-Lago
09:58with this poster.
10:00Smash Burger.
10:05Smash Burger.
10:07Smash burger.
10:27It's not just homes that have become unaffordable, thanks to Trump's tariffs,
10:36there's a new American dream just out of reach, noodles for dinner, because an upcoming
10:41107% tariff means that Italian pasta is poised to disappear from American grocery shelves.
10:47Okay.
10:48That's it.
10:51We are officially in a pasta emergency.
10:54The levels go, Papar Defcon, Barilla, and uh-oh, SpaghettiOs.
11:01This affects uh-oh, SpaghettiOs.
11:06That's old.
11:07I'm old.
11:08I'm old.
11:09This affects all your favorite Italian pasta brands from A to Z.
11:13I'm talking Agritalia, Barilla, Rummo, Gruppo Milo, Chimpanzini Bananini, Botticelli Cera Baby,
11:26It's-a-Mi Mario, and Home Alone's Agio Peci.
11:30While most Americans, while most Americans can't afford a house or pasta to cook it in,
11:36Trump is slathering the White House in gold like an Ottoman Sultan freebasing nougat.
11:43You may-you may recall, uh, that Donald Trump destroyed the East Wing of the White House
11:47to build a massive compensation for his weird tiny penis.
11:50But the renovations, renovations don't stop there, because recently the Oval Office got this new outdoor wall sign that says,
12:05The Oval Office.
12:07Uh-oh, Grandpa's getting old, and they have to start labeling stuff just to make sure he isn't too confused.
12:15They also labeled The Desk and Eric.
12:20Yeah.
12:21Quite an improvement.
12:22Yeah, yeah.
12:23Upgrade.
12:24That was nice.
12:25Upgrade.
12:26Let's take a look at that Oval Office sign again.
12:29Man, he loves those fancy cursive letters.
12:33He even used them for his stupid presidential walk of fame.
12:36That's a font I call luxury-assisted living.
12:40Why?
12:42Because that's what comes up when you Google luxury-assisted living fonts.
12:47That's just-and that's just part of it.
12:50Right?
12:51Right?
12:52That's just part of Trump's extreme gold makeover.
12:56Over the past few months, he's covered the entire White House in gilded dingle dangles.
13:01They're on the outside.
13:02They're all over the inside.
13:04I mean, it really looks like they're multiplying.
13:07We've got a great show for you tonight.
13:14My guests are Blair Gaines and Congressman Jim Clyburn.
13:19And when we come back, meanwhile, enjoy this one soon.
13:23Whoo!
13:25Whoo!
13:26Whoo!
13:30Whoo!
13:31Whoo!
13:32Whoo!
13:33Whoo!
13:34Whoo!
13:37We're all young!
13:39Whoo!
13:42Let's have a taste of S circa Delhi's eye reading power,
13:45though.
13:46You want to give us a taste by powiedzieć Dr.
13:49Blair Gaines and Dr.
13:53And the K-tons.
13:54Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, yeah.
14:00Folks, if you watch the show, you know I spend most of my time
14:03down at the news firm over there,
14:05designing a topical story structure of glass-fibered reinforced polymer,
14:08encasing a monocoque structure of milled polyethylene
14:12terra-phthalate foam.
14:16An undulating panelized system with a front door cast in white bronze
14:21to build for you the groundbreaking yet functional Diller, Scofidio,
14:24and Renfro Mansion, that is my monologue.
14:26But sometimes, folks, just sometimes I chase a family of raccoons
14:29out of a disused port-a-potty and chuck in a seat cushion
14:32torn out of Motorhead's abandoned tour bus,
14:35then hunker down in the bog yurt of news that is my segment.
14:40Meanwhile.
14:45It's seeing, it's comforting, it's meanwhile.
14:48Meanwhile.
14:51Meanwhile, Apple is introducing something called the iPhone Pocket,
14:56which features a singular 3D-knitted construction
14:59designed to fit any iPhone.
15:01This is a totally groundbreaking new iPhone accessory,
15:05unless you own a sock.
15:09Then you have one already.
15:11But for something so revolutionary,
15:13you're going to have to pony up,
15:14because the iPhone Pocket in the short strap retails for $149.95,
15:19and the long strap design is $229.95.
15:23Perfect for anyone saying,
15:25I wish there was a stocking stuffer
15:27that would start a huge fight with my spouse.
15:31Meanwhile, it was just reported
15:32that a man snapped 65 cucumbers in 30 seconds
15:36to break the world record,
15:38obliterating the previous record of 50.
15:41Man, now breaking 50 cucumbers seems pointless.
15:49Meanwhile, they've run out of records.
15:52They've run out of records.
15:54Meanwhile, a flamingo that went missing
15:56from a wildlife sanctuary in Cornwall, England,
15:58over a week ago,
15:59appears to now be living in northern France.
16:03Well, yeah.
16:06Of course it went missing.
16:07It's a flamingo.
16:10It doesn't want to live in England.
16:11I don't understand.
16:13These penguins seem to really hate Dubai.
16:18Meanwhile, in animal news,
16:20researchers who were filming bats
16:22to learn how they communicate
16:23caught this footage of a rat
16:25just hanging out near some bats,
16:27and...
16:29pow!
16:32He grabs one,
16:34and he carries it off.
16:36I love unlikely animal friendship videos.
16:43They're probably back at the rat's apartment
16:46snuggling now.
16:48Meanwhile,
16:49some sad fast food news.
16:52Wendy's will close roughly 300 stores
16:54starting in late 2025.
16:57Well, I guess everything ends eventually,
17:00which coincidentally was also
17:01the original slogan for the Baconator.
17:03Meanwhile...
17:08It makes you feel better about eating it.
17:12Meanwhile, in Albania,
17:13the world's largest spider web
17:15housing 110,000 spiders
17:17has been found shocking researchers.
17:21Even more shocking to the researchers
17:22was that Gary was like,
17:23hey, guys,
17:24there's like 110,000 spiders in here.
17:28I'm gonna poke it.
17:30Everybody open your eyes and your mouths
17:32and poke the spiders.
17:36I'm not happy that he's in Albania.
17:39That feels too close to New York
17:41while he's poking that thing.
17:44All right.
17:45Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is seeing the return
17:47of Balls Out Bowling
17:48where nudity is required.
17:54Pro tip,
17:55that little blower is perfect height
17:56for drying more than your hands.
18:00Couldn't quite get that joke out.
18:02Couldn't quite get that joke out.
18:04Enjoyed it a little bit too much.
18:05The event is open to all adults
18:06interested in body positive,
18:08non-sexual social nudity.
18:11Non-sexual.
18:13So remember,
18:16fight the urge.
18:20Meanwhile,
18:227-10 split.
18:27While nudity is mandatory at the event,
18:29guests must bring a towel to sit on.
18:34Interesting place,
18:35interesting place to draw the line.
18:38Uh, please sit on a towel
18:39to keep a bowling alley hygienic.
18:41Now, here are your rental shoes.
18:43We bought them during
18:43the Johnson administration.
18:46They carry 10 of 12 known
18:47flesh-eating bacteria.
18:50Shh, shh.
18:51Meanwhile,
18:52Starbucks announced
18:54its 2025 holiday menu
18:55and includes a glass cup
18:57for cold drinks
18:58resembling a honey bear container.
19:00The new viral bear cup
19:01is causing mayhem
19:02with customers saying things like,
19:03I will fight you for it.
19:05I will fight you for it.
19:07Incidentally,
19:07also the code
19:08for any Starbucks bathroom.
19:09Meanwhile,
19:12next year,
19:13Buckingham Palace
19:13will stage
19:14the largest ever display
19:15of Queen Elizabeth II's fashion.
19:17Oh, and I cannot wait.
19:20Who can forget
19:21the Queen's
19:22icon of Bob Mackie
19:23Oscar look?
19:25We'll be right back
19:26with Claire Danes.
19:44Hey, everybody.
19:46Welcome back.
19:48Ladies and gentlemen,
19:49my first guest tonight
19:51is an Emmy Award-winning actress
19:53you know from
19:53My So-Called Life,
19:55Temple Grandin,
19:56and Homeland.
19:57Her new show
19:58is The Beast and Me.
19:59Please welcome back
20:00to The Late Show,
20:01Claire Danes.
20:02Yeah!
20:02Hey, nice to see you again.
20:23It's so nice to see you.
20:25You know, I think I...
20:26Everybody's happy to see Claire Danes.
20:30It's been too long
20:33since we've had you on the show.
20:35It's been a minute.
20:35The last time...
20:36We've talked...
20:38Five years ago,
20:39I guess,
20:40was the last time,
20:40but it was on Zoom.
20:41Yeah.
20:42Because it was...
20:42It was the sad COVID days.
20:44Yeah, sad COVID days.
20:45As opposed to those
20:46happy COVID days
20:47that we all remember.
20:49You know,
20:50I ate some bread.
20:51I made some bread.
20:53Were you one of those people
20:54who got into the sourdough world?
20:55Yeah.
20:55I have a good friend
20:56who teaches people
20:58how to bake bread,
20:59and honestly,
21:00like the weekend
21:00before the COVID curtain fell,
21:03I had a lesson with her
21:04and she gave us some starters
21:06as like party favors.
21:08So I was like,
21:08good to go.
21:10But...
21:10Leave me alone.
21:11Yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:12To do my kneading.
21:13Yeah.
21:16That was the finale.
21:17The last time we spoke
21:18was the finale of Homeland.
21:19Yeah.
21:19Which was fantastic.
21:21Huge fan.
21:21You know I'm a huge fan.
21:22Of anything you do,
21:23but that particularly, especially.
21:26Yeah.
21:26What do you think
21:28Carrie's doing these days
21:29over in Russia?
21:30Is she still over there?
21:31Because it ends, spoiler,
21:32she's over in Russia at the end.
21:34Yeah.
21:34What do you think she's doing?
21:36I...
21:36I...
21:37Ice skating.
21:39No, I don't know.
21:41I hope she's okay.
21:43I do wish her well.
21:45I don't know.
21:46I'm worried about her.
21:46I'm so worried about her.
21:48Maybe she's found her way back.
21:49I mean, she did forge
21:50that connection with Saul,
21:52so I don't know.
21:53Maybe there was some...
21:53With the book at the end
21:54and all that kind of stuff.
21:54Don't we know?
21:56Remember Showtime?
21:57I do remember...
21:58Faintly, but yes, yes, yes.
22:00Okay, this year...
22:01Here's another show
22:02that I just loved.
22:03It was only on
22:04for a single season.
22:05Not even.
22:0619 out of 22 episodes.
22:07We didn't even make it
22:08to the end of one season.
22:09Well, it's incredibly influential.
22:11It's a cult classic,
22:12My So-Called Life.
22:15This year...
22:15This year marks 30 years
22:19since the end of that show.
22:21How old were you
22:23when you made that show?
22:23I was 13 when I made the pilot.
22:26Wow.
22:27I was in junior high.
22:28It did not get picked up.
22:30I went to my freshman year
22:31of high school,
22:32and about in October,
22:34you know, a month in or so,
22:35I got a call saying,
22:36oh, no, no, we are going to pick it up.
22:38So, yeah, I was 14
22:39when I did the bulk of the show.
22:41But a baby.
22:42I mean, I felt very mature
22:44at the time.
22:46Yeah, I mean,
22:46certainly you look the right age,
22:49but your performance
22:49was actually was so...
22:52I mean, had you done
22:52a lot of acting?
22:53It was so well-developed
22:54that I couldn't imagine
22:55you were actually that young.
22:56I mean, not so much.
22:56But, yeah, I've been at it
22:57for a while, I guess.
22:59But, I mean, yeah, no.
23:01I have an almost 13-year-old child now,
23:04and I look at him,
23:04I'm like, no, no, no,
23:05I was definitely not...
23:08Not ready to do that.
23:09...not close to an adult person
23:10at that point in my life.
23:11I did a show just for three seasons
23:13called Strangers with Candy,
23:14and that show...
23:16A brilliant show.
23:17Oh, we watched...
23:17We watched My So-Called Life.
23:19We watched the entire season.
23:20Oh, that makes me feel
23:21really, really good.
23:21Because we started writing
23:22it in 97 or 98.
23:25So you guys had just been on
23:26for that one year.
23:27Yeah, yeah, yeah.
23:27Oh, no.
23:28Oh, that's so lovely to hear.
23:30No, I'm still really close
23:31with so many people
23:32involved in the show,
23:32but really, Winnie Holtzman,
23:34who wrote the show,
23:35is a dear, dear friend.
23:36And I just saw her in L.A.
23:38day before yesterday.
23:39She came to a screening
23:40of this new show of mine.
23:41I'm going...
23:41She wrote Wicked, too.
23:43Wow.
23:43So I'm going to her premiere.
23:45It was hers and hers.
23:46So it still feels like
23:48it's very much
23:49in the present tense
23:49because so many of those
23:50connections are still very alive.
23:52So, again, you were saying
23:53at 13, we did the pilot.
23:54You'd already done a little work.
23:56How did you first get into acting?
23:58What made you say,
23:59like, oh, I'm going to do that?
24:00Yeah, I danced as a kid.
24:01I grew up here in New York,
24:02and I took a dance class.
24:05And sometimes dance companies
24:06would come looking for,
24:07like, young talent,
24:08and I was pretty hammy,
24:09and I would often get picked.
24:11And so I had some experience
24:13working in, you know,
24:14in production.
24:16Very, very small scale,
24:17like to 12 people.
24:19I'm in my kitchen now.
24:21But, yeah.
24:22Did you...
24:23You were, like, on point
24:23and that kind of stuff?
24:24No, no, like,
24:24rolling around the floor
24:25at, like, contemporary dance.
24:26Like, yeah.
24:28Yeah.
24:31There's, like, poetry
24:31that doesn't rhyme?
24:32Exactly.
24:34But, yeah.
24:36So I did...
24:36And that was my first experience
24:37of performing,
24:38and I really loved it.
24:39And, yeah,
24:40and I was just really drawn to it.
24:42From the age of five on,
24:43I knew I wanted to do this.
24:45And I went to Lee Strasberg
24:48when I was 10.
24:50And I went to a performing arts
24:51junior high school
24:52and met other kids
24:52who were doing this professionally,
24:54and I, like, learned
24:55what a headshot was.
24:56And my dad had been
24:57a photographer.
24:58He was then a contractor,
24:59but we still had a darkroom
25:00in our loft.
25:00And the woman who was renting it,
25:02like, took my headshots.
25:03It was very ad hoc.
25:04Well, the new series,
25:06the new miniseries,
25:07is The Beast in Me.
25:08You star and executive produce.
25:09I do.
25:10What's it about,
25:10and who do you play?
25:11Yeah, I do star in it.
25:13I do executive produce it,
25:14and it's so hard to say
25:15what it's about still.
25:16No, I play a writer,
25:18Aggie Wiggs,
25:19a very successful writer.
25:20She won the Pulitzer,
25:21and in that flush of success,
25:23she moved optimistically
25:24to this, like, affluent neighborhood
25:26in Long Island
25:27with her wife and child.
25:28And then she has
25:31a very tragic accident.
25:33She's driving,
25:34and her son is in the back seat,
25:35and he's killed
25:36by a drunk driver,
25:36and she never fully recovers.
25:38So it's been about four years,
25:39and she's still in
25:41kind of profound grief,
25:42and her marriage has dissolved,
25:43and she can't produce any work,
25:45and she's in a kind of hell.
25:47And this man moves in next door,
25:49a very, very kind of
25:52notorious, controversial
25:54real estate scion,
25:56and his wife had died,
25:58and there's a lot of, you know,
25:59talk about his potential
26:02involvement with that.
26:03Did he do it?
26:03Yeah, did he, did he not?
26:04So, you know, there's a lot.
26:06Anyway, and we strike
26:07this unlikely relationship,
26:09and he becomes the subject
26:11of my next book,
26:12and, you know,
26:13they're kind of hunting each other,
26:15and, yeah.
26:16They have this weird,
26:18perverse romance,
26:19in a way, of the mind.
26:21Okay.
26:22Yeah, but it's scary.
26:23A romance of the mind.
26:24And it's good.
26:25A romance of the mind.
26:25It's good, and that's...
26:26We have a clip.
26:27Oh, we do.
26:28We do have a clip.
26:29Great.
26:29Yes, we do.
26:30We do have a clip.
26:31I knew that.
26:31I did actually know that.
26:34Do you want to say anything?
26:35Sure, yes, okay.
26:36The clip.
26:36You don't have to.
26:37No, no, no, no.
26:37I think this is the second episode.
26:39You're going to cold.
26:39No one explained it.
26:40When I saw it,
26:40no one explained it to me,
26:41and I understood it.
26:42It speaks for itself.
26:43Okay.
26:44Roll it.
26:44I'm pitching the book to him.
26:46Okay, here we go.
26:47It seems to me you're quite misunderstood,
26:50and I think a lot of people
26:51would want to hear your side of the story,
26:53especially if you've got the right person to tell it.
26:56Why would I let you do that
26:57if you think I'm a murderer?
26:59You just told me you're not.
27:01If that's true,
27:02what are you afraid of?
27:07Hiding in the suburbs
27:08won't make this go away.
27:10The less you say,
27:13the more people will invent.
27:14I was in that crowd,
27:16and they were angry.
27:17They're looking for someone to crucify.
27:20Gossip and carnage, right?
27:26Even if Benitez doesn't get the votes
27:28and you manage to finish Jarvis Yards,
27:30whatever you build,
27:32anything you put your name on
27:33will always be tarnished.
27:36As long as you keep letting them define you.
27:40I'll let you ride it.
27:44I'll let you ride it.
27:50So, you're saying that the drama
27:51involves you living next to someone
27:53who might be dangerous.
27:54Yeah.
27:55You're from New York.
27:56I am from New York.
27:57Did you have any dangerous neighbors?
27:59Because you don't know
28:00who you're going to get in New York.
28:01I was the dangerous neighbor.
28:04You were the nightmare neighbor?
28:06I was the nightmare.
28:07How were you with a nightmare?
28:08You seemed like a nice person.
28:09I had this really wonderful loft.
28:11It was like my bachelorette pad
28:12on Worcester Street.
28:13What the hell were we talking about?
28:14I was like in my 20s, right?
28:15Yeah, sure.
28:16And I was dating a musician,
28:18and he had gifted me a drum set
28:20for a birthday.
28:21The best possible neighbor.
28:23And who was my downstairs neighbor
28:26but Billy Corgan
28:28from the Smashing Pumpkins.
28:33And he would meet me in the elevator
28:34and be like,
28:35yeah, good progress, Claire.
28:39Great.
28:40Well, that was kind of positive.
28:42Yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:42Do you still play?
28:45No, I don't think I ever played again.
28:48Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:49Oh, gosh.
28:50So, yeah, it traveled, apparently.
28:53The sound.
28:54No, yeah, of course it does.
28:55Yeah.
28:55Of course it does.
28:57Well, thanks so much for being here.
28:58Lovely to see you again.
28:59Thank you for having me.
29:00The Beast in Me
29:01will be available on Netflix
29:03starting this Thursday.
29:05It's Claire Danes, everybody.
29:07We'll be right back
29:07with Congressman Jim Clyburn.
29:21Hey, everybody.
29:23Welcome back.
29:25Ladies and gentlemen,
29:27my next guest has represented
29:28South Carolina's 6th Congressional District
29:31for over 30 years.
29:32Please welcome to Late Show
29:33Congressman Jim Clyburn.
29:53Hey, Congressman,
29:53thanks so much for being here.
29:54Thank you very much for having me.
29:56I haven't been down to South Carolina
29:57since August.
29:58How is Palmetto State doing?
30:00It's doing great,
30:01but you're coming back
30:01a little more often.
30:02I know.
30:03I agree.
30:04That's what my wife says, too.
30:05It's a great spot
30:06to stand upon there.
30:06People may not know
30:08I pointed out to you
30:08is that I do the monolith
30:09every night
30:10on a little map
30:11of South Carolina
30:12over there.
30:13Great foundation.
30:14So I feel like I'm at home.
30:15That's great.
30:16Now, last night,
30:18I want to get to your book
30:20right here,
30:21The First Eight.
30:22We will talk more about that
30:24in just one moment,
30:25but last night,
30:26the Senate passed a deal
30:27and Speaker Johnson
30:29is finally calling
30:30the House back to vote
30:31Yes.
30:32on the end
30:33of the longest
30:34government shutdown.
30:35After 41 days,
30:38did anyone get
30:39anything they wanted?
30:41Who benefited here?
30:42Well, I think
30:43everybody got
30:44some of what they wanted.
30:45The other side
30:46got more of what they wanted
30:47than what we wanted.
30:49We got some protections
30:50for SNAP, WIC.
30:53These are not
30:54unimportant programs.
30:56However,
30:57when it comes to
30:57the Affordable Care Act,
30:58making health care
31:00not only accessible
31:02for everybody,
31:03but affordable
31:03by everybody.
31:06That we did not get.
31:08That was the stated goal.
31:10Absolutely.
31:11And it's still the goal.
31:13If at first you don't succeed,
31:14you keep trying.
31:15And I think
31:16that we are going
31:18to stay in this fight.
31:19Harkin Jeffers
31:20has made it very clear
31:21that this is not
31:22the end of this fight.
31:24And who knows?
31:25What was the vote?
31:27Are they promising
31:29to put the bill
31:31on the floor?
31:32Or are they promising
31:33to let us bring
31:34the bill to a vote?
31:35I don't know that.
31:36I've been listening for that.
31:37In the House, you mean?
31:39Yes.
31:40And the Senate.
31:41You see,
31:42the Senate
31:42has promised a vote.
31:44But we gave them
31:47outside eight votes
31:49to bring a bill
31:50to the floor.
31:51That's how they got
31:52to 60
31:52to cut off the filibuster.
31:54Now,
31:55are they going
31:55to give us
31:56the votes we need
31:56to cut off the filibuster
31:58so that we can have
31:59a direct vote
32:00on the bill?
32:02What is your,
32:02you want to lay
32:03some money on that?
32:06Because I can make
32:07some quick cash
32:07right now, I think.
32:09Not from me,
32:10because I will not
32:11bet on the Senate
32:11by any means.
32:13All right.
32:15Now,
32:16as I said,
32:17you've got the new book,
32:18The First Eight,
32:19A Personal History
32:20of the Pioneering
32:21Black Congressman
32:22Who Shaped a Nation,
32:24comes out today.
32:25Who were the first eight?
32:27And why did you
32:27want to write this book?
32:28Well,
32:28these were eight
32:29African Americans
32:30that served
32:31in the United States
32:32House of Representatives
32:33from South Carolina
32:34before me.
32:35They served first
32:37from December 12,
32:391870.
32:41Joseph Rainey
32:41was absolutely
32:43the first African American
32:44ever elected
32:45to Congress
32:47from the little town
32:48of Georgetown,
32:48South Carolina.
32:51And
32:52we're going to
32:54read down
32:55through a litany.
32:57The Lodge
32:57was from Aikens,
32:59South Carolina.
33:00We got Richard Cain
33:02who came
33:04to South Carolina
33:06from New York.
33:08He was born
33:09in West Virginia,
33:11came to New York
33:12to pass the
33:13Bridge Street,
33:14AME Church,
33:15and he went
33:17to Charleston
33:18to reestablish
33:20a church
33:21that has come
33:22into the consciousness
33:23of everybody
33:24in the country,
33:26Emmanuel AME Church.
33:28It's where
33:29he first pastored
33:30and he moved
33:31into politics
33:32from there.
33:33Now,
33:33if I could go
33:33through things
33:34like Rancia,
33:35Robert Brown,
33:36Elliot,
33:37and then there was
33:38a guy named
33:40Robert Smalls.
33:41You write
33:42that Robert Smalls
33:44lived the most
33:45consequential life
33:46of any South
33:48Carolinian
33:48in memory.
33:50I know who
33:50Robert Smalls was.
33:51Tell the people
33:52about this man's
33:52extraordinary story.
33:54Robert Smalls
33:54was born into slavery.
33:57Now,
33:57around the age of 17,
33:58he started working
33:59on the waterfront.
34:00Here,
34:02he was prancing
34:03around the ship
34:05one day.
34:06He threw
34:06on the captain's cap.
34:08and one of his
34:10buddies said to him,
34:12you know,
34:12when you put
34:13that cap on,
34:14you look exactly
34:15like the captain.
34:18This set off
34:19something in his head
34:20and he started
34:22making a plan.
34:24He started
34:24studying the currents.
34:26He knew
34:27how the currents
34:28flowed
34:28in the Charleston Harbor.
34:30He then listened
34:31to all of the whistles.
34:34He knew what
34:35the whistles meant
34:36and then he hatched
34:38the plan
34:38to escape
34:40from slavery.
34:41He brought his family
34:43into the plan
34:44and a few
34:45of his close friends
34:46because he noticed
34:48that on every
34:49Friday night,
34:51the three guys
34:52who ran the ship
34:54would go
34:55into Charleston
34:56and would not
34:58come back
34:58until Saturday.
35:01He picked
35:03the Friday night
35:04that he was
35:05going to wait
35:06for them
35:06to go in
35:07and when he
35:08thought
35:09it was safe,
35:11he put that
35:11captain's cap on
35:13and he
35:15fired up
35:16the engines.
35:18He started
35:19the whistles
35:19to go in
35:20and they took
35:21the planter,
35:23that ship,
35:24out of the
35:24Charleston Harbor
35:25past Fort Sumter
35:27where the Civil War
35:29began.
35:30he did
35:32the right
35:32whistles
35:33and the sentry
35:35yelled out,
35:36go blow
35:37those damn
35:37Yankees
35:38out the water.
35:39And he said,
35:41I kept going,
35:44got beyond
35:45any capture.
35:48His wife
35:49had brought
35:50along
35:50a white
35:52bedsheet
35:53and they took
35:54that bedsheet
35:55and put up
35:56the flag
35:58of surrender
35:59and delivered
36:00that ship
36:02to the Union
36:03Army.
36:04And he got
36:05his freedom.
36:10And he went on
36:11to become a congressman
36:12as well.
36:13Absolutely.
36:14He became,
36:15for 10 years,
36:16a member of the
36:16House of Representatives
36:17in South Carolina.
36:18In fact,
36:19it was Robert Smalls
36:20that put up
36:20the resolution
36:22to have
36:23free public
36:25education
36:25for everybody.
36:27And Robert Smalls,
36:28who did not have
36:29an education himself,
36:30when he did that,
36:32South Carolina
36:33became the first
36:35state
36:36in the Union
36:37to provide
36:38free public
36:39education
36:40for all.
36:43He became
36:44such a celebrity.
36:45The people here
36:46in New York
36:46tried to get him
36:48to move here.
36:49They really wanted
36:50him to be
36:50a New Yorker.
36:51But he never,
36:52he stayed
36:53in the South
36:54until he died
36:56in 1915.
36:58Great guy.
36:59Take a lesson
36:59from him
37:00and go back
37:00to South Carolina
37:01is what you're saying.
37:01I'm trying to tell you.
37:03Listen.
37:04We have to take
37:04a quick break.
37:05We'll be right back
37:06with more.
37:06Congressman Jim Clyburn,
37:07everybody.
37:08It's a wrap.
37:14Hey, everybody.
37:16Welcome back
37:16to the show.
37:17We're here with
37:17the author
37:18of the new book,
37:19The First Eight,
37:20Congressman Jim Clyburn.
37:22I want to ask you,
37:24this is the great
37:25representative John Lewis.
37:26And when you were
37:27sworn into the house,
37:29you joined your friend
37:30John Lewis.
37:31We were lucky enough
37:32to talk to him
37:33a few times.
37:34And I'm just curious,
37:35what do you remember
37:35about meeting John Lewis
37:36for the first time?
37:37John Lewis and I met
37:39the weekend
37:40of October 15, 1960.
37:43It was the second meeting
37:45of SNCC,
37:47the Student Nonviolent
37:48Coordinating Committee.
37:49And we were having
37:51a disagreement.
37:52Those of us
37:52who were students
37:53felt,
37:55like we hear today,
37:57that the adults
37:58were not active enough.
38:00And so we were
38:02really in disagreement
38:04with Martin Luther King Jr.,
38:05who agreed to come
38:07meet with us
38:07in Atlanta.
38:10That's the weekend
38:11I met Martin Luther King Jr.
38:12for the first time.
38:13It was the same weekend
38:14I met John Lewis.
38:17We were both
38:1719-year-old college students
38:19at the time.
38:20And we formed
38:21a fast relationship
38:23that lasted right up
38:25until his death.
38:26And John and I sat
38:28there on the floor
38:30of the house
38:31just before he went home
38:32for the last time.
38:33He told me that day
38:35that he was going home.
38:37He did not think
38:39he would ever come back
38:40to Congress.
38:42John was one
38:44of the most remarkable people.
38:45I always said
38:46that he, among us all,
38:49was the only one
38:50that internalized
38:52nonviolence.
38:54Some of us practiced it.
38:56I never internalized it.
38:59John Lewis did.
39:01One of the most remarkable
39:02human beings
39:03I ever encountered.
39:06and we sort of went
39:07through life.
39:08We both met
39:09and married librarians.
39:11Our wives became
39:12great friends.
39:15And I spoke with him
39:17the night before
39:17he passed away.
39:19I called because
39:20the rumor had floated
39:21around that John
39:22had passed away.
39:23So I called his
39:24chief of staff
39:27and told him
39:28what I'd heard.
39:29And he said,
39:29no, he's still alive.
39:31I said, well,
39:32please tell him
39:32that I called
39:34and I'm still
39:35praying for him.
39:36And Michael,
39:37his chief of staff,
39:38said to me,
39:39why don't you tell him?
39:41He can hear.
39:43And he took the phone
39:44and put it
39:44on his shoulder
39:46and I talked
39:47to John that night
39:48and he passed away
39:49the next day.
39:51Well, Congressman,
39:52thank you so much
39:52for being here.
39:53Thank you for having me.
39:54His book,
39:57The First Date,
39:58is out now.
39:59Congressman Jim Clyburn,
40:00everybody.
40:16That's it for
40:17The Late Show.
40:18Tune in tomorrow.
40:18My guests will be
40:19Jonathan Karl
40:20and Pete Townsend.
40:22Good night.
40:24I'll see you next time.
40:25I'll see you next time.
40:26Bye.
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