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00:00A rapper Nicki Minaj doubling down on her support for press
00:05President Trump at a recent event he held in Washington.
00:08Nicki Minaj.
00:10Nicki Minaj in a white fur coat holding President Donald Trump's discolored hand.
00:15And now Nicki Minaj describes what Donald Trump's discolored
00:20hand is like.
00:25Ports this and I know how.
00:30And one look makes children cry.
00:34I need.
00:35I need.
00:36It's a better look.
00:39You should.
00:40You should try.
00:41Pirates.
00:42It's a late show.
00:45Stephen Colbert.
00:46Tonight.
00:47Italian Ice.
00:50Plus.
00:51Stephen Welcomes.
00:52Alexander.
00:55Scott.
00:56Scott.
00:57And Jacob Soberoff.
01:00Featuring Lewis Kato and the Link Show Band.
01:05And now.
01:06Live on tape from the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York.
01:10New York City.
01:11It's Stephen Colbert.
01:15Am Thessaloniki.
01:16History.
01:17Alright.
01:18Thank you very much.
01:20Hello, friends.
01:21How are you?
01:22Hello.
01:23Hello.
01:24Hello.
01:25Thank you very much.
01:31Welcome.
01:33Welcome.
01:35In here, out there, all around the world, to The Late Show.
01:39I'm your host, Stephen.
01:40Colbert.
01:41Ladies and gentlemen.
01:45I want to sincerely thank everybody watching this broadcast tonight for tuning in.
01:50I know.
01:51I'm well aware that right now, America is a rough watch.
01:55Before I turn on the news, I usually grab a bite stick and strap on a cup.
02:00And...
02:02But we did find one piece of happy...
02:05And we'll be right back to the news today.
02:06Uh...
02:07Let me close that.
02:08There we go.
02:09It's...
02:10It's...
02:11It's...
02:12It's...
02:13It's...
02:14It's...
02:15It's...
02:16It's...
02:17...
02:20It's...
02:21It's...
02:22It's...
02:23It's...
02:24It's...
02:25It's...
02:26It's...
02:27It's...
02:28It's...
02:29It's...
02:30It's...
02:31It's...
02:32It's...
02:33It's...
02:34It's...
02:35It's...
02:36It's...
02:37It's...
02:38It's...
02:39It's...
02:40It's...
02:41It's...
02:42It's...
02:43It's...
02:44It's...
02:45It's...
02:46It's...
02:47It's...
02:48It's...
02:49Yeah, it is, you know...
02:54I couldn't have known there were some consequences,
02:56but I just want to warn everybody that that's when you have to be...
02:59extra careful.
03:01Because if you startle him when he's cornered,
03:03he'll inflate his neck.
03:04He's a black pouch.
03:09Didn't expect that zoom in there.
03:11Yeah, right.
03:12Surprised me a little bit.
03:13His mask...
03:14His mask deportations are incredibly unpopular.
03:16Just to give you some idea of how much people
03:18do not like what ISIS...
03:19is doing on Reddit, a fascist kink role-playing subreddit...
03:24has now banned posting any ice porn.
03:29Okay, but before they take away all the ice porn,
03:32let me just see this one one more time.
03:56Was that good for you?
03:59It was good for me.
04:00Trump's PR problem is about to get worse because yesterday Bruce Springsteen
04:04dropped a new anti-ice protest song called Streets of Minneapolis.
04:09Minneapolis, which obviously echoes his 1990...
04:14the 1993 hit Streets of Philadelphia, which was about the AIDS crisis.
04:17It just goes to prove the old...
04:19the old adage, you really don't want Bruce Springsteen to write a song about your streets.
04:24Not even Sesame.
04:29Oscar's in the trash can't...
04:31The song...
04:32The song came out...
04:34yesterday afternoon and Springsteen released a statement saying,
04:37I wrote this song on Saturday...
04:39recorded it yesterday and released it to you today.
04:43Okay.
04:44Well...
04:45I also had a productive weekend.
04:48I did...
04:49put the laundry on Saturday, put it in the dryer Sunday...
04:54and it's still in the basket today.
04:59We're both...
05:00We're both...
05:04We're both kind of the boss.
05:07We're both kind of the boss.
05:09You will not be surprised if the lyrics are poignant and powerful.
05:13And here's a taste.
05:14Oh, I'm Minneapolis, I hear your voice.
05:19Singing through that bloody mist.
05:22Singing through that bloody mist.
05:24We're in our home.
05:25They killed and roamed in the winter of...
05:2926.
05:32We'll take a stand.
05:34For this land and the stranger that I need.
05:39We'll remember the names of those who died.
05:42We'll remember the names of those who died.
05:44On the streets of Minneapolis.
05:49Thank you, Bruce.
05:50Yeah.
05:54That's amazing.
05:55That's lovely.
05:59That's what you're looking for.
06:00Yeah.
06:01That is amazing.
06:02Do you know how hard it is?
06:04To rhyme with Minneapolis.
06:06I went to the farmer's...
06:09market.
06:10But forgot my apple list.
06:14I went to the farmer's...
06:15I went to the farmer's...
06:16I went to the farmer's...
06:17I went to the farmer's...
06:18I went to the farmer's...
06:19I went to the farmer's...
06:20I went to the farmer's...
06:21I went to the farmer's...
06:22I went to the farmer's...
06:23I went to the farmer's...
06:24I went to the farmer's...
06:25I went to the farmer's...
06:26I went to the farmer's...
06:27I went to the farmer's...
06:28I went to the farmer's...
06:29I went to the farmer's...
06:30I went to the farmer's...
06:31I went to the farmer's...
06:32I went to the farmer's...
06:33I went to the farmer's...
06:34I went to the farmer's...
06:35I went to the farmer's...
06:36I went to the farmer's...
06:37I went to the farmer's...
06:38No, yes, I agree with
06:43all that noise.
06:44That's a terrible idea.
06:45The only ice I want to see
06:46at the Olympics is ice dance.
06:48Two hotties.
06:52Two hotties.
06:53Two hotties twirling on skates
06:55to an instrumental version of Mi Espresso.
06:58Are they married?
06:59Are they siblings?
07:00I don't care.
07:03Trap those high tide butts in some sparkly leotards
07:06and make them spin.
07:08It's been for our pleasure.
07:11Technically, DHS is sending a...
07:13a division of ice called
07:14Homeland Security Investigations.
07:16Allegedly, these agents will be there...
07:18in what they're calling a security role
07:20with no patrolling or enforcement.
07:23Of course, American ice won't be doing enforcement
07:25in Milan.
07:26That's a job for Milan ice.
07:28Or as they say in Italian, gelato.
07:33I know.
07:34I know.
07:35Granita.
07:36I know.
07:37Granita.
07:38I know.
07:39In response to this ice planet...
07:43Italian lawmakers have demanded that their government
07:45deny Trump's thugs entry to Italy.
07:48Well, I'm not surprised.
07:49Good for you.
07:50Good for you, Italia.
07:53I'm not surprised at all.
07:54This is America's greatest insult to Italy
07:56since Olive Garden's steak gorgos...
07:58Olive Garden, when you're here, the...
08:03the word sirloin has an asterisk.
08:05All this bad PR about ice...
08:08Here's to have gotten to Trump.
08:09He seems a little rattled.
08:10Case in point, this week he sent a bizarre...
08:13fundraising email to MAGA donors with the subject line,
08:16Are you an illegal alien?
08:18That's a weirdly accusatory greeting.
08:23It's like getting a birthday card that says,
08:25Happy birthday, Grandpa.
08:26Are you a cannibal?
08:28The only...
08:29The only email...
08:31The only email subject line...
08:33More shocking is the one that tells you all the hot MILFs
08:36in your area are only one...
08:38one mile from you...
08:40and lonely...
08:42tonight.
08:43What are the odds?
08:46Well, ladies and gentlemen...
08:48Thank you very much.
08:56That's something.
08:57That's something.
08:59Got some hot MILFs in here tonight.
09:01And...
09:02Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen.
09:03Because this weird email is about to get truly strange.
09:06It continued...
09:08I reached out last week about my citizens-only survey.
09:12Your file says...
09:13says you're a top mega-patriot.
09:14But my records...
09:16to my survey still say...
09:18response pending.
09:20Don't tell me...
09:21you're an illegal AL-
09:23million.
09:24That cannot be true.
09:26This is your final moment to prove...
09:28Don't tell me wrong.
09:29Please.
09:30Please.
09:31Are you a proud American citizen?
09:33Or does ICE need to come and track you down?
09:39Holy cow!
09:40That's...
09:44That's not a fundraising email.
09:46That's blackmail.
09:48And also, the most unhinged combination of desperate emotions and font styles I've ever...
09:53seen.
09:54That's like getting an email from Xfinity that reads...
09:56Your account is overdue.
09:58My file says you love the internet, but my survey still says...
10:02response pending.
10:03Do you even love the internet?
10:05Or do I need to kill you?
10:07Please.
10:08Please.
10:09Please.
10:10Please.
10:11I love you.
10:12Don't make me do this, babe.
10:13Top hat.
10:14Saxophone.
10:13Yield sign.
10:14Beach umbrella.
10:18Yes.
10:20Yes.
10:24Booyah, Navy!
10:25Booyah, Navy!
10:26Booyah, Navy!
10:27Oh!
10:28Ladies and gentlemen, that sound means it's time to talk about Melania Trump.
10:33Because tonight, the first lady's documentary Melania...
10:38premiered at the Trump the Kennedy Center.
10:41The premiere was attended by...
10:43members of the administration like Pam Bondi, Pete Hagzeth, Kristi Noem...
10:48RFK Jr., and Kash Patel, as well as several former...
10:53NFL players and UFC fighters, which means a bunch of people with...
10:58brain damage...
11:01sat next.
11:10Sat next to NFL players and UFC fighters.
11:11You got to go to the punchline.
11:13You got to go faster.
11:14I got to get to the punchlines faster.
11:16These people.
11:18They're good.
11:19They're good.
11:20They're good.
11:21Reviews are still rolling in, but apparently...
11:23Kash Patel was riveted.
11:28It wasn't just at the Trump the Kennedy Center.
11:30There were premiere events in over two dozen cities, including...
11:33Phoenix, Detroit, and Kansas City, or as Melania calls them...
11:36No, thank you.
11:38That's a big splashy debut for a documentary about a first lady who's...
11:43signature achievement is...
11:44Hat!
11:45And this film did not come...
11:48cheap, y'all.
11:49To produce and distribute it, Jeff Bezos paid $75 million...
11:53Now, obviously, he's one of the richest men in the world.
11:57That's Trump's...
11:58Trump changed to Bezos himself, but it might have helped the 16,000 people that...
12:03Amazon announced they were firing yesterday.
12:06You know what?
12:08I have had it.
12:09I say we stormed the castle.
12:11Let's see.
12:12Uh...
12:13Amazon has pitchforks.
12:14That's good.
12:15And...
12:16Let's see.
12:17They also have...
12:18Torches.
12:19That's good.
12:20And...
12:21Let's see.
12:22I'm Prime.
12:23Let's order that.
12:24And...
12:23Then...
12:24The revolution will start in two business days.
12:26There you go.
12:28Keep that nearby.
12:29Keep that together.
12:30Keep that together.
12:33To promote Melania the movie, Melania the person...
12:38Melania the Fox News, where she was asked about dancing to YMCA with her...
12:43Her husband.
12:44You've never done the Y, have you?
12:45I did.
12:46You did?
12:47Yeah.
12:48Was that on the inauguration night?
12:50Correct.
12:51It's different than his.
12:52Yes.
12:53My Y is different than his.
12:55It's not so much this Y.
12:57It's...
12:58It's more...
12:59Why?
13:00Oh, my God.
13:02Oh, my God.
13:03Oh, my God.
13:04Wow.
13:09Thank you, thank you.
13:10Yeah.
13:13Hold on this time. Melania!
13:18Melania also talked to, uh,
13:23the Fox Business News' Maria Bartiromo
13:26and explained her vision for the...
13:28At least, I think that's what she was saying.
13:31What I wanted to do is...
13:33to put the product, the film, into the...
13:38Theatres, um, very cinematic product.
13:43People will see it, we will see fashion.
13:46All accurate, except for the part...
13:48where people will see it.
13:51We got a great show for you tonight.
13:53My guests are Alexander Skarsgård.
13:56The little thing over the A.
13:58And journalist Jacob Soboroff,
14:00when we come back,
14:01we celebrate the 25th...
14:03anniversary of the Greatest World Trilogy of all time,
14:06The Lord of the Rings.
14:08Join us.
14:09Join us.
14:13Join us.
14:15Join us.
14:16Join us.
14:17Join us.
14:18Join us.
14:19Join us.
14:23sponsored by Allstate. You're in good hands.
14:28Allstate.
14:33Allstate.
14:38Oh, hey, everybody. Give it up for Louis Cato.
14:43There's a little band right there.
14:45Oh, you guys sound good, mate.
14:47Love energy.
14:48Just love it.
14:49Just love the energy you guys are giving off tonight.
14:51Good to see all of you.
14:52Hope you're doing well.
14:53Stay warm.
14:54It's a frosty one this week.
14:56Yeah, man. It's cold.
14:57Next week, I will have...
14:58the one and only Sir Ian McKellen joining me on the show.
15:03Truly, truly a treasure.
15:05And the fact that he's coming got me thinking of...
15:08the Lord of the Rings, as if...
15:13As if I ever needed an excuse.
15:18If you're a Tolkien fan like me, and I hope for your family...
15:23for the sake that you're not, then you know that this year marks
15:26the 25th anniversary of the Lord of the Rings.
15:28movies, which means it's also the fifth anniversary of the time I celebrate
15:33the 20th anniversary of the greatest film trilogy of all time.
15:38I like the occasion the way I do all my major life events by hanging out with
15:41a bunch of movie stars and rappers.
15:43That's what happens.
15:44Take a look.
15:48Lord of the Rings number one trilogy of all time, sir!
15:53It's the number one trilogy of number one trilogy.
15:56Play to the night and go!
15:58It sounds silly.
15:59We're all black girls of almost three Billy.
16:02Sixteen times without...
16:03I made a free Willy!
16:04I made a free Willy!
16:05You, Wales!
16:06Best Triple Feature!
16:08Hell yeah!
16:09We would win it!
16:10We got the only trilogy with everything in it!
16:12Don't believe me!
16:13See?
16:14You can check for yourself!
16:15The Godfather doesn't even have one now!
16:17CGI!
16:18Oh my God!
16:19Yeah, we have that s**t!
16:20Andy Serkis doing work as motion capturing it!
16:22Stop!
16:23You, Wales!
16:24It's better how you make me sick!
16:25Jar Jar can go ahead and suck my...
16:28All right!
16:29Yay!
16:30Woo!
16:31Woo!
16:32Woo!
17:17What the hell?
17:19Damn.
17:42Robert Piles!
17:47Cutting down pretenders like Aragorn swore, G-17 Oscar.
17:52That's king forever, that's more than these three mother put together.
17:57Costumes, unassailable. I'm only on this song because Ian McKellen's unavailable.
18:01Show me!
18:02Back to the future, oh you got a DeLorean? We got sexy elves on overload.
18:07An archaeologist, sorry I'm snoring, it's Indiana Jones in the temple.
18:12The people are boring. Billionaire fights crime? I don't understand.
18:15The Dark Knight's capitalistic.
18:17Propaganda.
18:18And hockey ain't ****. **** the Mighty Ducks.
18:20And I know it's five movies.
18:22But Twilight's a **** Anakin.
18:24I'm barely in those movies.
18:27The women are gorgeous, the fellas are cheap.
18:29Not my mind rapping Elvish while Circus plays the ****.
18:32Choking onion, gomo arot en ese señalame.
18:35Hargar XNL den janar a-
18:37Qua canta l'amar.
18:38Play it we.
18:39Marta, bevli, amboreva, lave e da vinci.
18:42Ten brown, queta vera la mia bevina.
18:45No.
18:47Like Gwen C.
18:48Lord of the Rings is the number one trilly.
18:50Movies so sick I gotta-
18:52Take an Advili when I'm sippin' daffodillies.
18:54Sippin' chamomillies.
18:55Lord of the Rings.
18:57This is the number one trilly.
18:58But, I will admit, the naked gun mo-
19:02movies are pretty great.
19:03Lord of the Rings is the number one trilly.
19:07Anybody and they know the dilly.
19:09From Jackson, Philly, to Manila, Philly.
19:12All the fishes, the seaweed, the trilly.
19:14Lord of the Rings is the number one trilly.
19:16Lord of the Rings is the number one trilly.
19:17Lord of the Rings is the number one trilly.
19:19Lord of the Rings is the number one trilly.
19:22Trilly, trilly, trilly, trilly.
19:27Thank you to John Baptiste, Elijah Wood, Sean Ashton, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monahan.
19:32Hugo Weaving, Annie Circus, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Method Man, Killer Mike, and Anna
19:37Kendrick.
19:38Thank you to Sir Peter Jackson and everyone who made these great films.
19:42For the last year's anniversary, to all who celebrate, we'll be right back with Alexander's Star Star.
19:48Y'all.
19:57There you go.
20:02Welcome back, my friends, ladies and gentlemen.
20:07My first guest tonight is an Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor.
20:12Who do you know from Big Little Lies, Succession, and The Northmen?
20:15He now stars in the film...
20:17Pellion.
20:18All right then.
20:19I'll be off.
20:20All right then.
20:21I'll be off.
20:22I'll be off.
20:23Don't come back before six.
20:27If you do, you'll have to wait outside.
20:28If you do, you'll have to wait outside.
20:29Um...
20:32If you have...
20:33If you have...
20:34What?
20:35Six...
20:36Today?
20:37Oh...
20:38Sorry, are you busy tonight?
20:40Is there a booming market for Collins...
20:42Smith's that I'm not aware of?
20:43Well, no, but...
20:45It's just...
20:46What?
20:47Yeah.
20:48I'll...
20:49I'll see you at six.
20:50I'll see you at six.
20:52I need you to pick up some things.
20:55There.
20:57It takes to your shopping list.
20:58Yeah.
20:59Okay.
21:00Yeah.
21:02You can keep these.
21:03I don't need chocolate.
21:04Right, no.
21:05Of course you don't.
21:06I mean...
21:07And buy yourself a butt ply.
21:09You're too tight.
21:10Yeah.
21:11Yeah.
21:12Yeah.
21:13Yeah.
21:14Um...
21:15Lovely.
21:16That sounds like a plan.
21:17Please welcome back to The Late Show, Alexander Skarsgård.
21:47Thank you, Charles.
21:49Thank you, Charles.
21:51Thank you, Charles.
21:52Alexander.
21:53Nice to see you again.
21:54Steven, nice to see you again.
21:55Always a pleasure.
21:56Listen, I'm excited.
21:57to talk about the film Pillion, but before we do that, as is so often...
22:02the case when I talk to a Skarsgård, we've got to talk about the pickles first.
22:07Because...
22:08Not again.
22:09Yes, we have to talk about the pickles.
22:10Last May, both you and your...
22:12your father, your father first, and then you were on the show.
22:15And when your father was on the show, he...
22:17you made a request to me that I was supposed to pass on to you.
22:20And I want to show you the clip, the clip of...
22:22of what the request was.
22:24I have a present, actually, for your father.
22:26Because when he was here...
22:27I said, you know, Alexander's gonna be on next week.
22:30Yeah.
22:31And I should ask.
22:32He goes, no, but...
22:32would you please have him pick up some groceries?
22:35And so he said, while he's in New York...
22:37can you go down to the pickle man down in the Lower East Side and...
22:42get me...
22:43pickles.
22:44Yeah.
22:47Well, here's the thing.
22:48He was just here.
22:49Well, I know.
22:50Okay?
22:51He was just here.
22:52And he said he never got the pickles.
22:55Can you explain what happened?
22:57He got the pickles.
22:59He did not get the pickle juice.
23:02He got...
23:03He got dry pickles?
23:05So I took the container...
23:07back to Stockholm?
23:08Yeah, I was gonna fly back to Stockholm and...
23:10to deliver it to my...
23:12his brother because he was too lazy.
23:13He was, I mean, obviously in New York himself, he could have picked him up, but he...
23:16he said they couldn't fit...
23:17put it into his bag, so...
23:18Why do you have children if not to get your pickles for you?
23:20Yeah, yeah.
23:21Delivery.
23:22And I was...
23:23and I was like, all right, I'm gonna tape it up.
23:25I put them in five plastic bags.
23:27And taped it up.
23:28And then...
23:29um...
23:30forgot that the air pressure...
23:32uh...
23:33It was a plastic container, so the whole thing exploded...
23:37in my suitcase.
23:38So I got there and I gave him the pickles...
23:41uh...
23:42but...
23:42the pickle juice was all over my clothes, basically.
23:45My suitcase was...
23:46drenched.
23:47So I still kind of...
23:49smell of pickle juice.
23:50Yes.
23:51Like my undoing...
23:52underwear is...
23:53It...
23:54drenched.
23:55He told us it ruined...
23:56It ruined your underwear.
23:57Still damp.
23:58Still damp.
23:59Damp with pickle juice.
24:00Yes, that might not be the pickle juice.
24:02Um...
24:03Well, to make it up to you, we got you more pickles to bring to your father.
24:07Some Ziploc bags...
24:09which I'll hold on to.
24:11Yeah.
24:12Which I'll hold on to.
24:13And we heard about the underwear, so we also got you replacement underwear.
24:16Oh, much of...
24:17I appreciate it.
24:18Anyway, they're personalized, if you want to...
24:20Thanks, dude.
24:21If you want to open those up.
24:22You say if you want to put them on?
24:23Did you say that?
24:24Oh, listen.
24:25I mean...
24:27You're welcome, .
24:28Oh, so, I laughed so!
24:29I'm vandaag!
24:30You're welcome.
24:31I'm registrar.
24:32I may restart it, but I hope so.
24:33I may be sure it doesn't matter.
24:34Hopefully that's the same way.
24:35You feel overwhelmed.
24:37You'd eat your own juice, you know?
24:39You need a widow, and you'd beνοing your wine.
24:41You should beatics, you mean?
24:42はい.
24:43I am
24:55Oh, that was good.
25:10Thank you, guys.
25:15Please have a seat.
25:17Expect to see that.
25:27Cheers.
25:32You and your dad, you and your dad, who was a delightful guest.
25:37To have on, too.
25:38He is of such a pleasant graveliness, you know, when he speaks, yes.
25:42Yes, I really enjoyed being here, Stephen.
25:44This is the best day of my life.
25:47You guys have been hitting the red carpet together.
25:50You were hitting different festivals together.
25:52You got Sentimental Value, which was nominated for an Oscar.
25:54You got Pillian, which is getting great, great reviews.
25:56Yeah.
25:57Great notices.
26:00Is that fun?
26:01Is it nice to be with each other?
26:02Do you enjoy each other's films?
26:03No, it's great because I don't have to deliver stuff like pickles to him.
26:06He's right next to me.
26:07Do you go to each other's films to support each other?
26:11Yeah.
26:12Supports.
26:13Well, yeah, we were at the...
26:14Supports.
26:15I mean...
26:16I saw his...
26:17His film at Telluride this summer, this past summer, and he saw Pillian there.
26:21Yeah.
26:22His review?
26:23He loved Pillian.
26:25He thought it was the greatest film of the year.
26:27He loved the year.
26:29We saw a clip in the intro.
26:32What's the film about other than, say, the spicier aspects of it?
26:37It's kind of a Richard Curtis-esque
26:42romantic comedy.
26:44Love Actually, that sort of thing?
26:45Yeah, but with a little...
26:47A little bit of BDSM dom, sub-dom story.
26:52Sure.
26:53Yeah.
26:54And you were in your character...
26:56Tell me...
26:57Tell us about your character.
26:58He rides in a motorcycle gang, I think?
27:01Yeah, Ray...
27:02Is a member of a motorcycle gang, and he spots...
27:07Harry Melling's character, Colin, at a pub, and...
27:12And decides to kind of take him on as a pillion.
27:15And what's a pillion?
27:16People don't know a pillion.
27:17Someone who sits behind him on his motorcycle.
27:19Rides in the back.
27:20But also...
27:21And then they...
27:22They start a relationship, a very...
27:25So it's kind of a love story.
27:27But...
27:28Because it's very...
27:29The rules are very strict.
27:30Ray is very dominant.
27:32Love on your own terms.
27:34On...
27:35On Ray's terms, yes.
27:36Very much so.
27:37But it's kind of a coming-of-age story.
27:39It's for...
27:40Colin, Harry's character...
27:42It's his first relationship.
27:44So he's kind of figuring out what he wants out of a relationship.
27:47And if this is right for him or not.
27:49The movie, as you said, is about...
27:51It's a...
27:52First Love.
27:53I'm just curious.
27:54Do you remember...
27:55Your First Love?
27:57I do, Stephen.
27:58You do?
27:59I do.
28:00I do.
28:01I do.
28:02Yeah.
28:03Yeah.
28:04Do you mind sharing that with us?
28:05Who that is?
28:06Yeah, it was...
28:07It was...
28:08It was...
28:09It was...
28:12I don't want to say...
28:14Like, let's just call her Bob.
28:17It was a girl.
28:18I was eight years old in Sweden.
28:19Okay.
28:20And I had a crush on her for like two years.
28:22And did she know that you had a crush on her?
28:24Yeah.
28:25Very much so.
28:26Yeah.
28:27She knew...
28:27She knew that she was unrequited?
28:28Well, I...
28:29After two years of...
28:30I didn't have...
28:31She was...
28:32A year older as well.
28:33And...
28:34And...
28:35Very pretty.
28:36So I couldn't really talk to her.
28:37But I got...
28:37As I was leaving school one day...
28:38Or as I was leaving school one day...
28:40I found a note in my pocket.
28:42And...
28:43The pocket of my jacket.
28:44And it was a note from...
28:46Bob.
28:47Uh...
28:48Saying like...
28:49Do you want to be my boyfriend?
28:51Yes, no, maybe.
28:52Oh...
28:53That's exciting.
28:54It was exciting.
28:55And so I went home...
28:57And...
28:58Yes.
28:59And then...
29:00Couldn't sleep all night.
29:01I was so excited to come back.
29:02And I...
29:02Kind of pictured what that scenario would be.
29:04I would come to school.
29:05And she'd be like...
29:06He said yes!
29:08Um...
29:09And then the next morning I got there and...
29:11And I saw...
29:12Uh...
29:13Bob.
29:14And...
29:15Gave her the note.
29:16And she was like...
29:17What...
29:18What...
29:19What is this?
29:20And then I heard...
29:21My friend Mort...
29:22Who's no longer my friend.
29:27Oh, your friend put the note in your pocket?
29:28He wrote it.
29:29Oh, your friend put the note in your pocket?
29:31He wrote it.
29:32Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:33Wow.
29:34So she knew...
29:35Yeah.
29:36Wow.
29:37So I...
29:38Kids can be so...
29:37I lost a girlfriend and a best friend.
29:39I lost a girlfriend and a best friend.
29:40Oh.
29:41I'm so...
29:42I'm so sorry.
29:43It was a rough day, yeah.
29:44Maybe someone will love you someday.
29:46Maybe.
29:47But...
29:48Yeah.
29:48też...
30:12The film Pillion is in select theaters February 6th.
30:17And nationwide February 20th.
30:19Alexander Skarsgård, everybody.
30:22Take him sober off.
30:33Welcome back, everybody, ladies and gentlemen.
30:36Folks.
30:37My next guest is the senior political and national correspondent for MS Now.
30:42We've just written a new book, Firestorm, The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster.
30:47Please welcome back to The Late Show, Jacob Soborov.
31:08Here we go.
31:09Wow.
31:12Welcome back.
31:13Thank you for having me.
31:14Nice to see you.
31:15Always nice to talk to you.
31:16I want to get to your book, Firestorm.
31:17Firestorm in just one moment.
31:19But before we get into the book, you just got back.
31:22You got back from Minneapolis.
31:23I did, yeah.
31:24I know, among other things, you were covering the ICE raids.
31:26You spoke with Governor Tim Walton.
31:27And we've heard a lot this week about some talk of...
31:32of de-escalation and changing of...
31:35some changing of leadership and policy there.
31:37What's the reality on the ground?
31:38What are things like there this week?
31:39I think the first thing that everybody needs to understand is...
31:42when they say they're going after the worst of the worst, they are doing anything but.
31:46And...
31:47...
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32:00...
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32:04These are people who want to come here for a better life and you've got people
32:07like Greg Bovino going around in...
32:09...
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32:11...
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32:20awful, quite frankly, but I will say the people in the streets are what has given me extraordinary hope.
32:25And that's what kicked Greg Vivino out of Minneapolis.
32:27The LaPeef was responsible.
32:30I know, the first time, the first time-
32:35What we ever spoke actually had to do with your covering of immigration closely during the first Trump administration, and you wrote a-
32:40He wrote a best-selling book about his family's separation policy, and I'm just curious, now-
32:45Uh, compare Trump's immigration policy-
32:50Now to Trump 1.
32:52What is different?
32:53What's the same?
32:54How is it amplified?
32:55This is- I would call it a supersized version of the family separation policy.
32:59Um-
33:00Mass deportation is family separation by another name. It's not family separation-
33:05at the border.
33:06And family separation itself was one of the most shameful things I can imagine from the first administration.
33:10The Republican-appointed judge who stopped the policy called it one of the most shameful chapters in the history-
33:15of our country.
33:16And Stephen Miller, you know, they separated 5,500 children deliberately-
33:20from their parents then. They wanted to do 25,000. This program that they're doing now is-
33:25It was modeled after a 1954 program that- that deported a million Mexicans and some-
33:30Americans, and now they're not just deporting, they're killing immigrants-
33:35and American citizens-
33:36like Renee Nicole Good-
33:37and Alex Preddy-
33:39.
33:40And that's why I have to be in these cities. That's why I continue to go there. That's why we continue to-
33:45spotlight this. And that's why I think, as I said, again, it is so extraordinary to watch the American people push back on it.
33:50As horrifying as it was the first time. And it was.
33:55It was shocking to watch this during the first Trump administration.
34:00What- How is he able to do more now? What is the difference? Is it-
34:03Is it Gnome? Is it-
34:05Is it Bovino? We had Homan the first time already. What- What makes the difference this-
34:10.
34:10time around?
34:11I think that there are far fewer checks, you know, whether or not you like John Kelly-
34:15um, he was a- he was a check on Stephen Miller in the first term. Stephen Miller is-
34:20.
34:20is effectively the president when it comes to immigration policy right now. Um, as much as I think-
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36:47very close to your childhood home in Pacific Palisades.
36:52Right now, as I said earlier, you have the new book, Firestorm, The Great Los Angeles
36:57fires in America's new age of disaster, what perspective has this like?
37:02Last year, given you on what happened and what the future might be for that era.
37:07When I was covering the Palisades burning down, and we should also mention Altadena,
37:11you know, dozens of my...
37:12a few miles away on the other side of town, I thought I was looking into my past,
37:16watching my childhood...
37:17a neighborhood carbonized before my eyes, watching my home that I grew up in until...
37:22I don't know what I was looking at, but it turns out, I think,
37:25what I have learned is that what I was looking at was the...
37:27fire of the future, not a look into my past.
37:29It's the world that we'll all inhabit, and I think when you read the book...
37:32it reads in some ways like almost like a sci-fi thriller, but it is the lived real experience,
37:36not just of any...
37:37angelinos, but of so many people around the country and around the world
37:40who are going to experience natural...
37:42disasters like this.
37:43And again, as I look at the image on the cover of this book, which is so...
37:47extraordinary.
37:48And this was all over Los Angeles, all over the area.
37:52It was...
37:52this extreme, everywhere where the fire hit.
37:54Yeah.
37:55Remind us now, a year later, because I think we've...
37:57lost perspective on this.
37:58How big were these fires?
38:00How large was this destruction?
38:01Enormous.
38:0216,000 structures burned.
38:0531 people died as a direct...
38:07result of the flames.
38:08They say maybe 400 with excess mortality, not the direct connection to the fires.
38:12themselves.
38:13Three times the size of Manhattan burned in the largest...
38:17most populous county in the United States of America.
38:21And again, two...
38:22distinct neighborhoods entirely wiped off the map.
38:24Pacific Palisades and then Altadena, more historically...
38:27diverse, working class.
38:28And...
38:29and the recovery is equally difficult.
38:31So 16...
38:3216,000 structures burned down.
38:34A year later, how many of those have been rebuilt?
38:3712?
38:38No.
38:3912?
38:40It's not...
38:41it's not good.
38:42And I think...
38:42you know, one of the things you read in the book is that...
38:44whether it's immigration or covering these fires, we're not...
38:47the...
38:48mass casualty events.
38:49The fissures underneath society become so obvious.
38:52And one of them is affordability.
38:53L.A. is the most unaffordable city and the most unaffordable state in the country.
38:57And people who want to build back...
38:5940% of the homes that are... are selling the lots.
39:02are being sold to corporations now, not to Californians.
39:05So what is...
39:06what is the...
39:07a screenshot of that?
39:08People cannot afford to live.
39:09The insurance policies don't pay out enough.
39:11The premium...
39:12the premiums are going up.
39:13And people don't have enough money just from their jobs.
39:15And so they're gonna have to find, you know...
39:17life elsewhere outside of Los Angeles.
39:19And this is a book about people as much as it is about politics...
39:22or climate change, all of those things.
39:24And you read about people like engineers...
39:26300...
39:27engineers from Jet Propulsion Laboratory Caltech lost their homes in Altadena.
39:30You'll read about people like Kate...
39:32again...
39:33extraordinary JPL senior engineer...
39:34or Herb and Lloyd Wilson...
39:36her name...
39:37her neighbor...
39:38on McNally Avenue...
39:39they worked at UPS for 36 years...
39:41fell in love...
39:42and have had to move 10 times...
39:4410 times since the fire...
39:45because they can't afford to stay in their homes...
39:47but I found so much...
39:48just like...
39:49just like with...
39:50being on the streets of the immigration protest...
39:52so much inspiration from the people that are coming back from these fires...
39:55because they really...
39:56you know...
39:57they're not taking note for anything...
39:57for an answer...
39:58and L.A. will rebuild.
39:59Jacob, thank you so much for being here.
40:01Good to see you again.
40:04Firestorm is available now.
40:06Jacob, so...
40:07we'll be right back.
40:12That's it for The Late Show, everybody.
40:16Tune in next...
40:17And I'll be joined by...
40:18John Oliver, Mark Ruffalo, Ian McKellen, and James Taylor.
40:22Good night.
40:27Good night.
40:28Good night.
40:29Good night.
40:30Good night.
40:32Good night.
40:33Good night.
40:34Good night.
40:37Good night.
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