- 14 hours ago
Jimmy Kimmel Live - Season 24 - Episode 16: Don Lemon
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00From Hollywood, it's Jimmy Kimmel Live!
00:04Tonight, Don Lemon and Alex Honnold
00:08with the Kletos!
00:11And now, Jimmy Kimmel Live!
00:31I hope this is the show.
00:33Thank you for watching, and thank you for joining us here in Hollywood, California.
00:40And it's very nice, so I appreciate it.
00:42Now, please stop.
00:46I have to tell you something.
00:47I had to, it's Groundhog Day today,
00:49and I had to explain Groundhog Day to my kids this morning.
00:51They didn't know what it was, and I told them,
00:53and they looked at me like I was nuts.
00:54I don't think they even believed me.
00:55They were like, yeah, right, Dad.
00:57I mean, it doesn't make sense when you really go through it,
00:59but thousands of true believers were up bright and early
01:03in Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania,
01:04where, I am sad to report, Punxsutawney Phil
01:07came out of his hole, saw the Epstein files,
01:10went right back there, and hung himself.
01:14He's dead.
01:17For all the Mondays we've done this show,
01:19and I think we've done, like, 800 or 900 Monday shows,
01:22I don't know that we've ever had more madness to go through.
01:25There's so much.
01:25I'll start with what we know.
01:27On Friday morning, the ironically titled Department of Justice
01:30released about half of the Epstein files.
01:33They were supposed to release all of them
01:35on December 19th of last year.
01:37That obviously didn't happen.
01:38They claimed they needed time to redact the names of the victims,
01:41but whether intentionally or as a result of incompetence,
01:44or a combination of both, they released thousands of files
01:47that did not have the names or photos of many of the victims redacted,
01:51but they did do a pretty decent job of redacting the names of the victimizers.
01:55There are many disturbing accounts of questionable activity in emails,
02:00notes, text messages, et cetera, and about a lot of famous people,
02:03including Bill Gates, Steve Bannon, Richard Branson, and, of course, Donald Trump.
02:07And it would seem that some other famous people,
02:09including Elon Musk and Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary,
02:13may not have been telling the whole truth about their interactions with Jeffrey Epstein.
02:18It is clear that Prince Andrew is royally f***ed, which is...
02:22You know, it's a term you hear a lot, but rarely when it is literally true.
02:28And most of all, it is so bananas that the guy who's in charge of releasing all these files
02:37and redacting all this evidence is Donald Trump's own personal defense attorney.
02:42You know, when Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of fraud, Todd Blanche was his lawyer.
02:47Now Todd Blanche is the gatekeeper to the Epstein files.
02:50And the woman who could give us clarity on who did what, Jelaine Maxwell,
02:54is now doing yoga in a country club detention center
02:58because Todd Blanche moved her to one for reasons that he still hasn't explained to anyone.
03:03And then there's all this other stuff going on,
03:06busting into the election headquarters in Georgia,
03:09arresting journalists like Don Lemon, who is here with us tonight,
03:13suddenly shutting down the Kennedy Center for two years,
03:16calling for nationalized elections,
03:18Trump suing the government he runs for $10 billion.
03:22My head is spinning. I guess that's the point, but my God.
03:26Remember when Trump was threatening to invade Greenland?
03:29That was not even two weeks ago.
03:32We're living in dog years now.
03:34And it's only going to get nuttier now that this new batch of Epstein files is out.
03:38The distract-o-matic is cranked all the way up.
03:40The DOJ released three million pages on Friday,
03:43which sounds like a lot until you realize there is another three million pages
03:47that they haven't released and do not plan to ever release,
03:50even though they are required to release all of it by law.
03:54And it's important to remember, the Justice Department is a completely independent agency
03:57from the White House when anyone other than Donald Trump is president.
04:01Trump put Pam Bondi and Todd Blanch in charge of the DOJ,
04:05which is kind of like the IRS hiring your mom and dad to do your tax returns, okay?
04:10And there are so many characters in the mix.
04:13Elon Musk. Now, Elon Musk, back in June when he was fighting with Donald Trump,
04:16he made a big announcement.
04:17He wrote, time to drop the really big bomb.
04:19Real Donald Trump is in the Epstein files.
04:22That is the real reason they have not been made public.
04:24Have a nice day, DJT.
04:26And we all went nuts.
04:27But what he neglected to mention is that he is in there, too.
04:30His name comes up more than a thousand times, including in 2012,
04:34when he and Epstein were planning a visit to the island.
04:37Elon claims he never went to Epstein Island.
04:40He says his correspondence is being deliberately misinterpreted by his enemies.
04:43For example, when he wrote Jeffrey Epstein, a registered sex offender, by the way,
04:48to ask what day night will be the wildest party on your island,
04:52he was asking so he could avoid that night.
04:55He had a lot of work to do.
04:56And he didn't want to be distracted by wild parties.
04:59You understand?
05:00There are a lot of emails.
05:02This one is from a sender whose name was blacked out to Epstein
05:05on the day after Trump won the election in 2016.
05:08The emailer said, I remember flying back with Donald on his plane the first weekend.
05:12I went to visit you in Florida, was the weekend he met Melania,
05:16and he kept on coming out of the bedroom saying,
05:17wow, what a hot piece of ass.
05:20Yeah, I don't think they mentioned that in the Melania documentary.
05:24The word Trump comes up 4,896 times when you search the Epstein files,
05:30which is interesting considering this testimony from FBI Director Cash Patel
05:34back in September of last year.
05:36You said you don't know the number of times Trump's name appears in the files,
05:40so it could at least be a thousand times, is that right?
05:43You can characterize the numbers however you want it.
05:45Explain me my time, director.
05:47It sounds like if you don't know the number, it could at least be a thousand times.
05:51It's not.
05:51It's not.
05:52Is it at least 500 times?
05:53No.
05:54Is it at least 100 times?
05:55No.
05:55Then what's the number?
05:56I don't know the number, but it's not that.
05:59Well, he was telling the truth.
06:00It isn't 100.
06:01It's 4,896, and we still have 3 million files to go.
06:07The award for most mentions in the Epstein files by a member of Trump's cabinet so far
06:12goes to this jolly dipstick, Howard Lutnick, who is our Secretary of Commerce
06:16and one of Trump's most vigorous sucklers of teeth.
06:19Lutnick lived next door to Epstein.
06:22He had a relationship with him, but claimed he severed ties in 2005 and called him disgusting.
06:27He said Epstein was disgusting, which is hard to understand because this new batch of files
06:32shows that Lutnick was making plans to visit Epstein's island on December 23, 2012, seven years later.
06:39Maybe he wanted to go to make sure Epstein was still disgusting?
06:42I don't know.
06:43I know Lutnick's name pops up 138 times.
06:46You can search these names on the DOJ website.
06:49You know, but before they let you in, you have to confirm that you're 18 years or older.
06:54For real, that's not a joke.
06:56And if you click no, they ask, um, are you cute?
07:01Well, that is a joke, but the first one wasn't.
07:04One of the more random things we learned from the files is that in 2013 Microsoft
07:10banned Jeffrey Epstein from Xbox Live, which is weird.
07:14Epstein got a letter saying he's not allowed to be online playing games anymore
07:17because he's a registered sex offender.
07:20And listen, I don't want to get into any conspiracy theories here, but follow me on this one.
07:24So these files include Jeffrey Epstein making some pretty outrageous allegations
07:29about Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft, asking Epstein for an STD medication.
07:35That was in 2013, the same year he suddenly got kicked off Xbox Live.
07:41I guess Jeff found out the hard way.
07:43You crash the gates, you get the hook.
07:46No call of duty for you.
07:48Melania gets a shout-out, too.
07:52Or someone named Melania gets a shout-out.
07:54There's an email to Jelaine Maxwell from a woman named Melania.
07:58The New York Times said it's unclear if it's the future first lady Melania or another one.
08:04If it was that Melania, Maxwell appears to have had a very friendly relationship with her,
08:08which somehow also didn't make the movie.
08:11I guess you can't put everything in.
08:12It was either that or the inside look at her hat collection and something had to go.
08:16And, of course, the president says these new files absolve him of wrongdoing completely.
08:21Yes, in the same way that Glove absolved O.J. of wrongdoing.
08:25He even has the audacity to play the old Jeffrey Who card.
08:29He wrote, not only wasn't I friendly with Jeffrey Epstein,
08:33but based upon information that has just been released by the Department of Justice,
08:37Epstein and a sleazebag lying author named Michael Wolff conspired in order to damage me and or my presidency.
08:44That's right. Trump wasn't friendly with the man he said this about to New York magazine in 2002.
08:50I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with.
08:55It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on
08:59the younger side.
09:00I mean, what more do we need?
09:04Trump was able to stay awake long enough this afternoon to take, I don't know what,
09:08I guess I don't know what this was, maybe a victory lap?
09:11I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein.
09:12And in fact, if you look at the DOJ, they announced, you know, they released three million pages.
09:18It's like this is all they're supposed to be doing.
09:21And frankly, the DOJ, I think, should just say we have other things to do because that whole thing has
09:26turned out.
09:26I mean, other than Bill Clinton and, you know, Bill Gates and lots of people that have a lot of
09:32questions about it, but nothing on me.
09:35You know what? I'm going to take him at his word on this one.
09:37That's a wrap, folks. Donald says he's in the clear.
09:39I'm almost surprised he's not bragging about how much he's mentioned in the Epstein file.
09:44Like, I'm in there more than any other, more than Abraham Lincoln.
09:48And then President Dimension got back to the issues that matter most to the American people,
09:55which it was his review of the Grammy Awards last night and a joke host Trevor Noah made at his
10:01expense.
10:01He said that I spent time on Jeffrey Epstein's Island.
10:06I didn't. I mean, he's a lightweight. This guy is a terrible.
10:09I think he's terrible. I thought he did a terrible job at the Grammys.
10:13I thought the whole Grammys was terrible. I watched part of it. It's not watchable.
10:17But he was a lousy host. I'd say not as bad as Jimmy Kimmel, but pretty close.
10:27I mean, how did I get in there?
10:32I was at home last night minding my own business.
10:36Boy, I really got up his ass. I mean, he also posted about me last night.
10:42And let me tell you something. Donald Trump somehow has time to watch every award show and hates them all.
10:48He doesn't like any of them. No one I know watches more award shows than Donald Trump.
10:53He's planning to sue Trevor Noah now. He's also suing the government, our government, for $10 billion
10:59because a contractor who worked for the IRS leaked his tax returns.
11:03You know those tax returns every other president shows voluntarily?
11:06Well, they leaked them. They leaked his taxes and found that he only paid $750 in federal taxes in 2016
11:14and 2017.
11:15And now, not only is he suing the government that he is currently running for $10 billion,
11:21he's also planning to figure out a settlement that he will pay himself.
11:26This is the first time a sitting president has sued his own executive branch.
11:30And it's also one of the nuttiest lawsuits ever.
11:33He's suing the IRS for $10 billion, two-thirds of their total annual budget,
11:38because his taxes were leaked while he was running the IRS.
11:43You're suing the IRS. Talk a little bit about what it's like to be on both sides of a lawsuit.
11:49It's very interesting. I have another one where, you know, I've virtually won the Mar-a-Lago break-ins here.
11:55And I have to work out some kind of a settlement. I'm supposed to work out a settlement with myself.
12:00Yeah, I'm going to offer myself a billion and see if I go for it. We'll go from there.
12:05He's finally figured out a way to sue himself. It is the ultimate form of financial masturbation.
12:11But don't worry. I want you to know all your hard-earned taxpayer money he's suing for is going to
12:19a good cause.
12:20I think what we'll do is do something for charity.
12:24You know, we're thinking about doing something for charity, where I'll give money to charity.
12:27We could make it a substantial amount. Nobody would care because it's going to go to numerous, very good charities.
12:34Yeah, almost at the hand of it. He's always finding new and innovative ways to fleece the American people.
12:39Fun fact, when Trump got roasted on Comedy Central, he said his entire salary was going to charity, which he
12:45got a lot of positive press for.
12:46And then he gave the money to the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which later got shut down by the state
12:51of New York for fraud.
12:52But that's the art of the deal. That's it.
12:55Franklin Long also announced, with no heads up given to the staff who have been working there for years,
13:01that he will be closing the Trump-Kennedy Center.
13:03You know this thing he renamed after himself? He said,
13:06I've determined that the fastest way to bring the Trump-Kennedy Center to the highest level of success, beauty, and
13:11grandeur
13:11is to cease entertainment operations for an approximately two-year period of time
13:16with a scheduled grand reopening that will rival and surpass anything that has taken place with respect to such a
13:21facility before.
13:23This is actually smart. Artists can't keep refusing to perform there if he knocks it down.
13:30You know, sometimes when you love something, you have to kill it.
13:33If all goes well, the Kennedy Center will reopen two years from now as the Kid Rock and Roll Hall
13:39of Fame.
13:40And I think the Center seemed to be in perfectly good enough shape for the First Lady's movie premiere on
13:44Thursday night.
13:45Melania the movie, with a budget of $75 million, made $7 million over the weekend.
13:51It set a record. It was the biggest opening for a non-musical vanity project slash brazen corporate bribe in
13:5710 years.
13:57The First Lady kicked things off at the premiere with a lively open to a nationwide live stream.
14:05So here is a warm welcome to my guests in New York City.
14:11Hello, Boston. Hello, LA.
14:14I'm sure everyone in Nashville is having a lovely time already.
14:20My film is about to begin.
14:23She does films.
14:24She does...
14:25She writes books.
14:27She does it all.
14:28Melania has a score of 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.
14:32But on Fox News, it got a strong 100%.
14:37Melania should be nominated for...
14:39I guess it's an Oscar, right?
14:40That's for movies.
14:41And if she was to go, she would be the best dressed and the classiest dressed by a long time.
14:46Mark my words right now.
14:47If Melania gets nominated for an Oscar, I will host that show, whether they ask me to or not.
14:54I will insist on it.
14:56You know how this ends, right?
14:58This ends with Melania winning the first ever FIFA Best Actress Award.
15:03And when they aren't shaking down companies like Amazon, Trump and his friends are busy arresting journalists.
15:08On Thursday night, Don Lemon, the former CNN host, he's an independent journalist.
15:13And another independent journalist from Minneapolis named Georgia Fort were arrested for reporting on the scene at an anti-ice
15:19protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
15:22After multiple judges refused to sign off on a warrant to arrest them, Trump's DOJ convened a grand jury to
15:29charge them with conspiracy to deprive the congregants of the church of their rights and to interfere with religious freedom
15:35in a house of worship.
15:36And, of course, Trump claimed he didn't know anything about it.
15:39No, I don't know anything about the Don Lemon thing, but he's a sweet-spack.
15:43Everyone's known that.
15:44It's a washroom.
15:45Probably, from his standpoint, the best thing that could happen to him.
15:50He's getting, you know, he had no viewers.
15:52He had, he was a fan, he was a failed host.
15:54And now he's, uh, he's in the news.
15:57I didn't know anything about it.
15:59That's right.
15:59I called for his arrest and pleasured myself to a video of it happening.
16:03But other than that, it's news to me.
16:05I didn't even know.
16:06Anyway, Mr. President, if you're watching tonight, get your bottles of ketchup ready, because all the way from the FBI's
16:12most wanted list, Don Lemon is here for his first interview.
16:17And I want to make no answer, Rory.
16:21We have Don locked up in the green room backstage, so you're going to be okay.
16:25But before we get to Don, we have a tradition to uphold the first day of the month, showed up
16:30yesterday, unannounced once again.
16:32And once again, our nation's news people can hardly believe it.
16:36Well, good Monday morning, everyone.
16:38And we're already in February.
16:41Wow.
16:41It's hard to believe.
16:42It's hard to believe that it's the start of February.
16:45It's hard to believe it's already February.
16:46It's hard to believe it's actually February now, because I thought January was never going to end.
16:50Happy February.
16:50Can you believe it?
16:52No, I literally cannot.
16:53Can you believe it's already February?
16:55Just happy February.
16:56I know.
16:57Can you believe it?
16:57It's wild.
16:58I'm so glad we're done with January.
17:01Sunday, February 1st.
17:02Can you believe it?
17:03A new month.
17:03We made it, Clay, to February 1st.
17:06Can you believe that?
17:07It has been a while, hasn't it?
17:09We are in the month of February.
17:10Can you believe it?
17:11I can't believe it.
17:12Is that something?
17:13I can't believe it.
17:14Well, it must be true.
17:15It says it right there in the teleprompter.
17:17But how?
17:18How, Ben?
17:19How?
17:19How can it be February?
17:20It was just January.
17:22I don't know, Cheryl, okay?
17:24I don't know.
17:25Is that what you want to hear?
17:33Well, we've got a big show for you, right?
17:35Alex Honnold is here, and we'll be right back
17:37with the recently incarcerated Don Lemon.
17:52Hi, everyone.
17:53I'm back tonight.
17:54A man who can climb anything and everything.
17:56His new special on Netflix is called Skyscraper Live.
18:00Alex Honnold is with us.
18:02This week, we have new shows with Kate Hudson, Odessa Azayan, Duke McLeod, who is six years
18:09old, Michael Irvin, who is not, and Ted Danson with music from Cassius Culpepper and Whitney.
18:14So please join us for all that.
18:15Our first guest tonight is a longtime TV and digital newsman who, on Thursday night, was
18:20arrested for committing journalism, which is a very serious crime under our current administration.
18:25Joining us now to share all the incredible details, please welcome Don Lemon.
18:46Thank you for being here.
18:49And I hope you're OK.
18:50I hope you're mentally OK after what happened to you.
18:54How are you?
18:55I don't know.
18:56You don't know.
18:56No, that's a really, that's an honest answer.
19:00I don't know.
19:01I mean, I'm OK.
19:02Uh-huh.
19:02But I'm not going to let them steal my joy.
19:05But this is very serious.
19:06I mean, these are federal criminal charges.
19:08Yeah.
19:08And time in prison can change a man, even if it's just one night.
19:11Yeah.
19:12Well, not yet.
19:13Don't get ahead of yourself.
19:14You're not in prison yet.
19:15So for anyone who doesn't know, you are not a favorite of Donald Trump's.
19:19No.
19:19Going back to your days at CNN.
19:21No.
19:21You're not on his top 10 list.
19:23No, but he says he doesn't know me.
19:24He goes, I don't know who he is.
19:25He doesn't know who you are, but he doesn't like you.
19:27Yeah.
19:27OK.
19:28And on January 18th, is that correct?
19:30You were covering a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, an anti-ICE protest.
19:36Apparently, there's a pastor at the church who's also a local ICE official, which is, I think,
19:42just as Jesus would want.
19:44And I believe we have some B-roll protesters interrupted the Sunday service, and you followed
19:53them in.
19:54You interviewed various people in the church.
20:01And afterward, well, you were arrested.
20:05Now, first, I want to ask you, is there a difference between whether those protesters had the right
20:11to go into a church and whether a credentialed journalist like yourself had the right to go
20:17in and cover them going into the church?
20:20Well, listen, obviously, I'm in the middle of this.
20:22I can't say a lot.
20:23There's a lot that I cannot say.
20:25But what I will say is that I'm not a protester.
20:27I went there to be a journalist.
20:28I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening.
20:32I was following that one group around, and so that's what I did.
20:35I reported on them.
20:36But I do think that there is a difference between a protester and a journalist.
20:40So the next day, Trump reposts something from someone saying that you should be arrested,
20:46you should be sentenced in prison for violating the FACE Act.
20:50And at this point, are you thinking, oh, I might get arrested?
20:54Well, not until they started, you know, the drip, drip, drip of people starting to talk
20:58about it.
20:59I think Todd Blanche and Pam Bondi and all those folks talked about it.
21:02Here's the interesting thing, though, is that my, after that, you know, I retained
21:05an attorney.
21:06And the attorney reached out to them and said, basically, I understand that you have an interest
21:10because your folks have been talking about it.
21:12And so if you are serious about this, then let's do it the right way.
21:16He's perfectly willing to self-report it, which means turn yourself in.
21:19And so we don't have to go through this whole rigmarole and never heard back from them.
21:23That is customary in a situation like this, that someone would be allowed to turn themselves
21:28in.
21:28But yeah, people who are accused of much worse things than I am accused of doing is they
21:34are allowed the courtesy.
21:35I mean, Donald Trump was allowed the courtesy to turn himself in when he was.
21:38That's right.
21:39He did.
21:39Yeah.
21:39And so then the DOJ goes around and tries to find, and correct me if I have any of this
21:48wrong, some judges to charge you.
21:49And the judges say, no, we're not going to do that.
21:51I think it was two different judges and an appeals court.
21:55I think so was three altogether.
21:58And then they find a grand jury.
22:00Right.
22:00And how does, do you know, are you familiar with how that happens?
22:04Like, how do they find this group of people who are willing to bring charges against you?
22:09I don't know.
22:09I'm not that, you know, astute with, at least I don't know the process that well because
22:14I'm not an attorney, but, you know, um, I assume that they, you know, they figure out
22:20who the folks are and they send it to them and then they write up the indictment as to
22:24what they are, you know, what they want charged and then they give it to them.
22:28But, um, you can write whatever you want to in an indictment as I've been doing some
22:32research.
22:32You can say whatever you want and for, you know, even if you lie about it, prosecutors can
22:40pretty much say what they want with impunity and they don't face any sort of consequences.
22:45The activists who went into the church were arrested and you were arrested.
22:49Georgia Fort, who's a local journalist in Minnesota, was also arrested along with you.
22:55And how is she doing?
22:56Are you, I assume you're in close touch with her?
22:58I'm not in contact with her.
22:59You're not?
22:59I cannot be at this point.
23:00Okay.
23:01Oh, you cannot be.
23:01Oh, interesting.
23:02Okay.
23:03So, um, take us through what happened.
23:05Uh, it was Thursday night when they came to get you, right?
23:08Okay.
23:09When they got me.
23:10You're here in L.A.
23:10When the popo came.
23:12Yeah.
23:12Um, you gotta laugh at something, right?
23:15But, again, it's very serious.
23:17I had gone to, um, I was here to cover the Grammys.
23:20Grammys is going to do the red carpet.
23:22Um, and I had gone to the Black Music Collective event that night where the importance of black
23:28music and artists and whatever.
23:30And the reason I cover it is because of the First Amendment, the freedom of expression.
23:33And the art of music is part of that.
23:36And then I had gone to the Spotify party, and it's all young people.
23:39And they're like, Mr. Lemon, oh, my God, I love watching you on TikTok.
23:42And I'm like, wow, that's, that's different than, my grandma loves watching you on CNN.
23:46So it's a whole new article.
23:48Uh, and I got back to the hotel.
23:50I walked in with, I had my swag bag from the thing.
23:52And I was walking up to the room, and I pressed the elevator button.
23:55And these, and all of a sudden, I feel myself being jostled.
23:58And, and the people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs.
24:02And, and I said, what are you doing here?
24:03And they said, uh, we came to arrest you.
24:05And I said, who are you?
24:06And then finally they, like, identified themselves.
24:08And I said, if you are who you are, then where's the warrant?
24:10And they didn't have a warrant.
24:12So they had to wait for the, someone from outside, an FBI guy, to come in to show me a
24:16warrant on a cell phone.
24:18And by that time, I, I was, like, trying to, you know, figure out what was going on.
24:22To get my bearings and drop, they dropped all my stuff.
24:24My glasses had fallen on the floor.
24:25I'm like, I can't read that.
24:27So they had to pick my glasses up.
24:28And I read it.
24:29And still, what does that mean?
24:30You know, so, uh, and then they, it was a bunch of guys.
24:33And they took me outside.
24:34FBI guys were out there.
24:36I mean, it was, it had to be maybe a dozen people.
24:40Which is a waste, Jimmy, of resources.
24:42Because I told them weeks before, maybe once or twice, that we would, you know, I think my attorney tried
24:47to contact them once, maybe twice.
24:49That I could just go in and it would have to be the folks who were just working there that
24:53day.
24:53And they wouldn't have to have all these people following me around.
24:56It's more than just a waste of resources.
24:58So they grab you and they take you where?
25:00Well, you're right about more than just a waste of resources.
25:02They want that.
25:03They want to embarrass you.
25:05They want to intimidate you.
25:06They want to instill fear.
25:07And so that's why they did it that way.
25:08Uh, they took me down to a, uh, a holding place in the, the, the federal courthouse.
25:14And they give you, did mug shots, uh, strip search, all of that stuff?
25:18No, no, no strip search.
25:20Uh-huh.
25:20But mug shot, fingerprints, the whole nine yards.
25:23Uh-huh.
25:23Twice.
25:24Did they put you in a cell?
25:25I was in a holding room.
25:27You're in a holding room.
25:28Yes.
25:28And how long are you in that holding room?
25:30From about midnight, 1230 to one or so the next day.
25:35Who did you make your one phone call to?
25:37Here's the interesting thing.
25:38I didn't have a one phone call.
25:40I never had a one phone call.
25:41Isn't that, wait a minute.
25:41I watch a lot of TV.
25:43I know.
25:44I said, I asked them, do I get my one phone call, Jimmy?
25:46They said, no, you don't.
25:47You get to talk to your attorney when, whenever the court says that you can.
25:51And so that wasn't until the next day.
25:53But I tell you how I got that out.
25:55I had my Apple watch on in my phone.
25:57And I called my husband.
26:00I said, you know, hey, Siri, call Tim.
26:02And he was asleep.
26:04Went to his voicemail.
26:05And then I said, hey, Siri, call Abby Lowell, who's my attorney, and went to his voicemail.
26:10He was traveling back from someplace.
26:12And finally, I had, I got into the front of an FBI agent's truck.
26:19And he, they had the handcuffs on me.
26:21And my bracelet, I had on a bracelet that my husband bought me for our wedding, which was
26:26this diamond bracelet.
26:27And it kept getting caught.
26:29And it was kind of hurting.
26:30And I, they said they'd take it off.
26:32And I said, do you mind taking that up to my husband in room, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
26:36And one of the FBI agents said, sure, and took it up.
26:39And that's how my husband found out.
26:40Otherwise, no one would have known where I was.
26:42Wow.
26:43All right.
26:43All right.
26:44We're going to take a break.
26:44We'll be right back with Don Lemon.
26:52Make no mistake.
26:53Under President Trump's leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely.
27:00And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.
27:07We are back with Don Lemon.
27:08That is Pam Bondi, our attorney general, lying to us, using her freedom of speech to lie.
27:15And I think it's worth noting that last year, the Trump administration made it legal for ICE agents
27:21to enter houses of worship, schools, health care facilities.
27:25But they're saying that it's not OK for journalists to do the same thing.
27:30I think that's interesting.
27:31Yeah.
27:31You, while you're in custody overnight, we're talking about being in a holding cell.
27:36And what's going through your mind?
27:39Like, what are you doing?
27:40How do you pass that time?
27:41Well, the entire time it happened, you know, I said I thought it might happen.
27:46And my attorney, you know, called them or reached out to email them and reached out to them.
27:50It never heard back.
27:51But the entire time, I was thinking that I'm a journalist.
27:55And I just start thinking in my head, how many agents are there?
27:59Who am I riding in the truck with?
28:00Like, I wanted to keep mental notes of that.
28:02I couldn't, obviously, I didn't have a phone or anything to write it down.
28:05So that's what I was doing, sort of, you know, people count their steps.
28:07I just kept chronicling what, and in my head, what I was doing, what I was seeing, what was happening.
28:13Every time I needed to go, because it was a holding room, every time I needed to go to the
28:17restroom, I had to knock on the door.
28:18They had to come and get me and then take me to the bathroom and stand there while I was
28:22using, while I was peeing.
28:24So, yeah, it was bizarre.
28:25You mentioned the act of courtesy that FBI agent extended to you.
28:29Were you treated well?
28:30So, not by the guys that arrested me, obviously, but, you know, not all federal agents are the same.
28:37And the guys who work for Homeland Security and the FBI are not the guys that you see out there
28:41on ICE, you know, who have 47 days of training, who are, you know, violating people's due process rights.
28:47They are completely different people.
28:50And I have always had a very good relationship with law enforcement, especially federal law enforcement, because I used to
28:56do these franchises when I was in local news, called, you know, FBI.
29:00And I was in the office of the FBI's most wanted, right, Alabama's most wanted and New York's most wanted,
29:03which ever market I was in.
29:05And so, these guys were professional, they were courteous, and they were kind, but not the original Homeland Security guys
29:15that took me in.
29:15When did you realize that this was a very, very big story?
29:19I did. I had no idea.
29:20I had a little bit of an idea when I got, when I asked to use the restroom.
29:25And, you know, sort of early in the morning, I wasn't sure what time.
29:28I didn't have a watch or anything, so I didn't know.
29:30And so, I go out, and they open the door to the room where the agents, you know, their house,
29:35their office, and there was CNN on a monitor.
29:39And on the thing I could see, former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested in Los Angeles.
29:43And I said to the guy, I was like, is that, he goes, I said, is that happening a lot?
29:49He goes, you've been on all morning.
29:52Yeah.
29:52And he says, this is a big deal.
29:54But I still didn't know how big a deal it was, Jimmy, I swear to you.
29:57I walked out.
29:58My attorney said to me, on the phone, finally, when I got out, he said, I've prepared a statement.
30:05You can rewrite it and edit it, but you need to deliver the statement.
30:09I'm like, deliver it to who?
30:10Like, what are you talking about?
30:11And they said, the people who are waiting outside.
30:14And so, my husband and I walk out, and I see this, like, I mean, I don't know how many
30:20reporters and paparazzi and helicopters.
30:24I had no idea.
30:25And I asked my husband, I said, what happened with the channel today?
30:28Because I was concerned about, that's my livelihood and my channel and my viewers.
30:33And he said, the channel's been going all day.
30:35We have Monique Presley, who is an attorney and a friend, and other folks who were filling in for me.
30:43And they said, every journalist that you know has been calling in and coming on the show.
30:48And it's been going for about nine hours.
30:50You got a lot of support from your fellow journalists.
30:52Yeah.
30:55And I want to thank everybody for all of their support, especially the journalists, especially the people out there.
30:59I mean, it's been amazing just walking down the street or wherever I am,
31:04and people will say, they're good to see you.
31:06It's good to see you.
31:07I said, yeah, it's good to be seen.
31:08But it's a lot of support.
31:09Trump said this is the best thing that ever happened to you.
31:11Did you want to thank him for this?
31:14No.
31:14He doesn't know who I am.
31:17He's never seen me before.
31:21And like many recently freed prisoners, you went right to the Grammy Awards events.
31:25Like a young Suge Knight, you attended the...
31:29Well, I was in Los Angeles, and what my attorney said is, live your life.
31:33You were there to cover what I did not do.
31:35I didn't cover, because I thought it was a little odd.
31:37Well, you were the news then.
31:39Yes.
31:39And it was a little odd for me going, hey, you know, what dress are you wearing?
31:42Who do you think is going to win best artist?
31:44But I was there because, again, I believe it's freedom of expression.
31:47And I think artists are extremely important for us at this time, just as I think journalists are as well.
31:52You, um, you, you know, a couple of weeks ago, this reporter named Hannah Nathanson of the Washington Post...
32:00Her house frayed it, or searched.
32:01The FBI went to her house, and I feel like it didn't get much attention at that time.
32:07Because people are afraid.
32:09And, look, I have lots of great friends who work in corporate media.
32:14But corporate media has been neutered right now.
32:17They are afraid.
32:18And that's the reason I'm so happy with what I do, because I'm closer to the ground.
32:22I've always been, even when I was in corporate media, I wanted to be on the scene.
32:25I didn't want to be on a tripod when they call them sticks.
32:28I'm like, no, I want to be mobile.
32:30I want to get out and talk to people.
32:32As I do now, I'm like, man on the streets.
32:33It's like, that's kept me relevant in this time, because I go out and I just talk to people.
32:37Sometimes I do it live.
32:38I never know what they're going to say.
32:39Some people hate me.
32:40They go, I don't like you.
32:41You're stupid, or whatever.
32:42But I, all of it, I'm here.
32:45I'm doing it because it's closer to the ground.
32:47And I think that right now, we don't need the gatekeepers.
32:50We don't need the people saying, well, careful what you say, because we need access to the
32:54president, and we don't want to lose this interview for the morning show, or you know what I'm
32:57saying?
32:57Or we need to get our mergers and acquisitions done in Washington, so don't piss off the
33:02president, or he might sue us.
33:04So that's why I'm doing what I'm doing, because I think there's a real need right now.
33:08This is an important time.
33:09This is not time for folly.
33:10It's not time for putting on, for false equivalents and putting people on television and on news
33:16programs, giving them a platform who come on just to lie.
33:20And it's, I think people are sick of that.
33:23Some things, some things are objectively bad, Jimmy, and you don't have to, just because
33:28you say something critical of Donald Trump or a Republican, it doesn't mean that you have
33:33to go and say something, oh, well, you know, the Democrats or Joe Biden.
33:37It's no, some things are objectively bad, and I think it's important in this time to
33:41point that out.
33:41I'm going to, I'm going to give you a plug, because this is a way you can support independent
33:46journalism.
33:47Don Lemon, his show, The Don Lemon Show, it's live at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern, every
33:52weekday on YouTube.
33:53That's a lot of work, right?
33:55YouTube, yes.
33:56YouTube, Twitch, and anywhere you get streaming, it's a lot of work live every single day,
34:01every weekday, two hours.
34:03So, like, and subscribe to The Don Lemon Show on YouTube, become a member, subscriptions
34:09are free, memberships are very reasonable, and so, but seriously, you need to support
34:13independent journalists in this time, I think that's going to carry on.
34:15That's right.
34:16Thank you, Don.
34:17Thank you so much.
34:18I really appreciate it.
34:19We're behind you.
34:20In everything that you've gone through.
34:22Don Lemon, everybody.
34:23We'll be back with Ellen Connery.
34:31This week on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Milo Ventimiglia, Ted Danson, and Kate Hudson, plus music from
34:40Whitney and Cassius Culpepper.
34:51Hi, and welcome back to the show.
34:52Nine days ago, our next guest, Spider-Man, is way up all 101 stories of the tallest building
34:59in Taiwan without even so much as a rope.
35:01It was streamed live across the world.
35:04If you missed it, I won't tell you how it ends, but you can watch Skyscraper Live on
35:08Netflix now.
35:09Please welcome Alex Honnold.
35:22How are you, Alex?
35:25I'm good.
35:25Thank you, guys.
35:26I'm good.
35:26I'm glad you're alive.
35:27I am, too.
35:28I feel like there are two kinds of people that watch these shows.
35:31There's the kind of people like me who suffer thinking like, oh, my God, I hope nothing
35:35happens to him.
35:36And then there's a small percentage of people going, I hope he falls.
35:40I think that's a pretty small percentage.
35:42Yeah.
35:43I hope.
35:43But they're there.
35:44Does Netflix have a plan if you, like, did they cut, like, to an episode of Bridgerton
35:49live in progress?
35:50What is that?
35:51That's worse than death.
35:52No, I honestly don't know what the plan is.
35:54Thankfully, I'm kept out of the loop on all that.
35:57Yeah, I guess that's good, huh?
35:58You, um, when you decide to climb, how do you decide to climb the 11th tallest building
36:04in the world?
36:05Is that, so you have 10 more to build up to?
36:07Yeah, exactly.
36:08It's an 11-season show.
36:10It's great.
36:11No, it's, uh, well, it was the tallest building in the world when it opened in 2004.
36:14So, you know, once upon a time, it was very big.
36:16Uh-huh.
36:16Um, but no, actually, it's just there aren't that many buildings in the world that are
36:19suitable for this kind of thing.
36:20We scouted a handful of them, and Type 0101, as it turns out, is perfect for rock climbing,
36:24in case anybody's interested in trying.
36:27Was it, it seemed like maybe it was easy for you.
36:31It wasn't easy, but it was kind of in the sweet spot where it's not cutting edge.
36:36Like, it's not super, super hard for me.
36:37If it's hard enough that it's interesting, it's hard enough to be engaging, it's very exciting.
36:40Yeah.
36:41But it's easy enough that I can do it on live TV on the day that somebody tells me that
36:45I
36:45have to do it.
36:45You know what I mean?
36:46It's like, like, if you're doing something on television, you kind of need to make sure
36:48that it's within a certain band of comfort zone.
36:50And so, for me, it was, like, right in the middle, where I was like, this is hard enough
36:53that it is very engaging enough to try, but easy enough that I can do it.
36:57When you're climbing a building like that, do they put up, like, some signs in the building
37:01saying, like, hey, window washers, don't open the windows today?
37:06Those types of windows don't open.
37:07Yeah, they don't open.
37:08Yeah, they don't open.
37:08Um, did you see anything weird going through those offices?
37:13No.
37:13There were some very enthusiastic folks in some of the offices, though.
37:16I mean, there were a lot of people waving, taking videos, doing the whole things.
37:19One of the days that I was practicing with the rope on, I looked through a corner, and
37:23there was a guy in a corner office, and he looked at me very disapprovingly.
37:25He shook his head.
37:26And then I flipped the rope around the corner so you could see my rope and harness better.
37:31And then he was like, hmm, okay.
37:34And then I just kept climbing.
37:35He was like, oh, that's fine.
37:35Yeah, I'm sure he sees that all the time.
37:38Did anybody try to talk you out of doing this?
37:41Not, no, not really.
37:43Though, uh, certainly nobody ever talks me into it.
37:46We have, uh, I think, um, uh, some, uh, some footage here.
37:49Yeah, I mean, I know Mark was excited being up there.
37:52Oh, no, no, no, no.
37:54Emily, no!
37:55Why?
37:57Oh!
37:58What's on your mind at that moment?
38:00Oh, style points.
38:01You just have to play around a little bit.
38:03I mean, that was near the top of the building, and so I'd already done most of the really
38:07hard stuff, and you're kind of having a good time, you're enjoying the view.
38:09It's like, you've got to play around a little bit.
38:13You don't...
38:14You don't think?
38:16I just can't think of anything that would be less fun than that.
38:20No, there's like a certain, uh...
38:22If you named almost anything, say, would you rather, the answer would be the other thing.
38:27No, it's more secure than it looks.
38:29Is it?
38:30Yeah.
38:30No, it's super fun.
38:31I mean, the thing is, getting to climb one of the biggest buildings in the world kind
38:34of feels like a childhood dream to begin with.
38:36Like, already you feel like a little kid out playing in this incredible landscape, and
38:39so to get to play on the building like that, it's pretty fun.
38:41Oh, you know what?
38:42I was just wondering.
38:43Did anybody...
38:43Was anyone watching you on Netflix while you looked through the window at them?
38:47Were they watching the TV while...
38:49Could you see the broadcast?
38:50No, I don't think so.
38:52You don't think so?
38:53I saw a lot of people with phones.
38:54I didn't see anybody streaming the program.
38:56That would have been too much, because then I'd be like, wait, am I seeing myself?
38:59Yeah, it would be like looking into infinity.
39:01Yeah, it'd be infinite.
39:02Yeah, exactly.
39:03Is it more dangerous for the camera people than for you?
39:06No, they're on ropes, but it is, uh...
39:08But it is exciting for them.
39:09I don't know if you saw the program, but there's a cameraman, my friend Brett Lowell, dangling
39:13in space, you know, 50 feet away from the wall, just hanging for, I don't know, like
39:171,000 feet he got dragged up.
39:18And the wind was quite extreme that day, and so he was blowing around a bunch.
39:21And I was like, that does look quite scary.
39:23Yeah.
39:24I came into work that day.
39:25I told our camera guys, you don't know how good you have it.
39:31We have another video here, I believe.
39:34I don't know if you want to fall.
39:45I hate you, Alice Connell.
39:48This is some white people's s***.
39:57That's why Guillermo isn't here tonight, sadly.
40:01How about your kids?
40:03It's your, um...
40:04Like, you can't scold your children for anything, can you?
40:08I mean, like, if they climb up on the refrigerator...
40:11I definitely never scold them for climbing.
40:13Okay, yeah.
40:13But I scold them for life.
40:15Would you want them, would you want to watch them climb a structure like that?
40:21I mean, it's always harder to watch somebody free-selling.
40:23I mean, if they had been training for 30 years and they felt very comfortable, you know,
40:26I'd like to think that I would trust my kids enough to make good decisions and do what
40:30they feel comfortable with.
40:31But I'm sure it would be stressful to watch.
40:33Yeah, it would be probably much worse than doing it yourself.
40:36Yeah, I mean, in general, watching free-selling is way worse than doing it yourself.
40:40Well, again, this is unbelievable.
40:42Now, I know you have a...
40:43You've got a special that's on...
40:47You've got a series now.
40:48And the series is called what?
40:50Yeah, Get a Little Bit Out There.
40:51It's a travel show around Nevada.
40:53I did that this fall.
40:54You're living in Vegas now.
40:55Yeah, I do.
40:56And you're from Las Vegas.
40:57I am from Las Vegas.
40:57You're not a rock climber.
40:58I didn't even know...
41:00Listen, I didn't climb...
41:01I barely climbed into bed at night.
41:04I was so surprised you moved to Vegas.
41:07It's the best climbing in the country.
41:08That's just...
41:09It's unbelievable.
41:10You're up there on Red Rocks climbing?
41:11Yep.
41:12Yeah.
41:12I moved there for the climbing.
41:13It's world-class, four-season rock climbing.
41:15It's the best climbing in the country.
41:16Yeah, and when you get to the top, you can gamble.
41:20Actually, people always ask if I gamble.
41:21I always joke that I only gamble with my life.
41:23Yeah.
41:23You know, that's everything in Vegas.
41:25Well, I'm glad you won that bet.
41:30Skyscreeper Life is the name of it.
41:31You've got to see it.
41:32It's on Netflix now.
41:33Alex Honnold, everybody.
41:41Thanks to Don Lemon and Alex Honnold.
41:44Apologies to Matt Damon.
41:45We ran out of time for him.
41:47Nightline is next.
41:47Join us tomorrow night with Ted Danson, Duke McLeod, and music from Cassius Culpepper.
41:52Thanks for watching.
41:53Good night.
Comments