>> Stephen: EVERYBODY, GIVE IT UP FOR JON BATISTE AND STAY
HUMAN RIGHT OVER THERE!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: JON... YOU KNOW...
I...
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) JON, I HOLD IN MY HAND-- I'VE
GOT HERE-- WE'VE GOT A COUPLE OF AMAZING GUESTS TONIGHT.
BEFORE WE GET TO THE GUESTS, I WANTED TO SAY YOU KNOW HOW LUCKY
I FEEL.
ONE OF THE REASONS I'M LUCKY TO HAVE THE SHOW IS I GET TO SHARE
THE STAGE WITH YOU AND THE BAND EVERY NIGHT AND WHAT A PLEASURE
IT IS.
BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT, NO MATTER WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE
WORLD, THAT MUSIC YOU DO IS A FORCE OF POSITIVITY.
IT'S BEAUTIFUL.
BEAUTY IS TRUTH, TRUTH IS BEAT BUTTY.
THAT IS ALL YOU KNOW AND ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.
AND I'M CURIOUS WHAT YOUR REACTION IS TO HOW MOVING IT IS
TO SEE THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE PLAYING MUSIC IN THE FACE OF
THIS EVIL.
>> Jon: FOR ME, THAT'S WHAT MUSIC IS ALL ABOUT.
THAT'S THE WHOLE REASON THAT IT EXISTS UNTIL THE UNIVERSE.
( APPLAUSE ) BE IT UNIFIES, AND IT GIVES
HOPE.
WHEN YOU PLAY MUSIC AND YOU SEE PEOPLE GATHERING JUST TO HEAR
IT, THEY FORGET, JUST FOR THAT MOMENT, WHAT'S HAPPENING, AND IT
FILLS THEM WITH SOMETHING THAT'S VERY GOOD FOR THEIR SOUL.
THAT'S WHAT MUSIC IS ABOUT.
>> Stephen: IT'S A FOOD, IT'S A FOOD.
>> Jon: IT'S FOOD, SPIRITUAL FOOD.
>> Stephen: COMMUNION.
( APPLAUSE ) JON, JUST A MOMENT, DENEE
BENTON, BROADSTAR AND STAR OF THE "THE GILDED AGE" WILL BE OUT
HERE IN A MOMENT.
MY GUEST TONIGHT IS A PROFESSOR AT STANFORD
UNIVERSITY WHO SERVED AS THE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA FROM
2012 TO 2014.
PLEASE WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE SHOW," AMBASSADOR MICHAEL
McFAUL!
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: GOOD TO SEE YOU
AGAIN.
>> GREAT TO BE BACK.
>> Stephen: AMBASSADOR MICHAEL, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?
>> MIKE'S JUST FINE I CAN CALL YOU STEVE?
>> Stephen: NO.
>> OKAY.
>> Stephen: I MIGHT CALL YOU AMBASSADOR BECAUSE I'M A SILLY
MAN WITH A STUPID SHOW, AND THESE ARE VERY SERIOUS TIMES AND
I'M VERY GRATEFUL YOU COULD BE HERE TO TRY TO GIVE US SOME
CONTEXT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING.
HOW LONG-- WAS IT TWO YEARS YOU WERE AN AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA?
>> TWO YEARS IN MOSCOW, BUT THREE YEARS AT THE WHITE HOUSE
WORKING FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA ON RUSSIA AS WELL.
SO FIVE YEARS IN THE GOVERNMENT.
>> Stephen: I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE WHO
ARE IN THE BUNKER, OR WHEREVER ZELENSKY IS.
>> THAT'S RIGHT.
>> Stephen: RIGHT NOW.
>> JUST 30 MINUTES AGO.
>> Stephen: YOU WERE JUST TALKING WITH SOME OF THEM OKAY.
>> TEXTING WITH THEM.
MY MAN STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKY.
>> Stephen: SO WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM THEM?
>> WELL, TWO THINGS.
FIRST OF ALL, THAT GUY IS AN INCREDIBLE HERO OF OUR TIMES.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ).
ARE YOU KNOW, I HOSTED HIM AT STANFORD LAST SUMMER FOR ABOUT
FIVE HOURS.
WE HAD-- YOU KNOW, IT WAS A FUN TIME.
HE LIKES TO MAKE JOKES, TOO.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW HIS CAREER.
>> Stephen: HE PLAYED THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE IN A COMEDY
BEFORE HE WAS THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE.
>> CORRECT.
>> Stephen: I DON'T BELIEVE IN MIXING COMEDY AND POLITICS.
>> OKAY, ALL RIGHT.
YOU'RE NOT PLANNING TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT?
OKAY.
HE JUST SAID IT HERE.
HE'S NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
BUT, I MEAN, HE'S AN CHARISMATIC, FUN, INTERESTING
GUY.
YOU KNOW, I FOLLOWED HIS CAREER FOR A LONG TIME.
BUT TO SEE THIS TRANSFORMATION IS QUITE REMARKABLE.
UKRAINE, YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER, IS A DEMOCRATIC PLACE.
THEY'VE GOT OPPOSITION PARTIES, PEOPLE THAT HATED HIM.
THINGS ARE NASTY THERE.
THEY'VE ALL RALLIED BEHIND HIM, AND HE'S TRULY A HEROIC FIGURE,
IN MY EYES.
SO THAT'S THE FIRST THING.
THEY'RE FIGHTING HEROICALLY.
THEY WILL FIGHT TO THE PEND UPON THEY WILL ONE DAY WIN.
I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THAT WILL BE.
BUT THEY'RE ALSO FRUSTRATED.
THEY'RE ALSO FRUSTRATE.
>> Stephen: THEY WANT MORE FROM THE WESTERN POWERS, AND US
SPECIFICALLY, OBVIOUSLY.
>> CORRECT.
>> Stephen: WHAT MORE CAN WE REALLY DO?
I WANT TO GET TO THAT SUBJECT.
WHAT CAN WE DO SHORT OF ACTUALLY GETTING IN THE MILITARY
ENGAGEMENT, TO BE FIGHTING ON THE GROUND WITH THEM OR IN THE
AIR?
>> WELL, I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD GO TO WAR WITH RUSSIA
IN UKRAINE.
SO WHEN IT'S-- YOU KNOW, THERE'S AN ARGUMENT ABOUT THE NO-FLY
ZONE, RIGHT.
THAT'S THE LATEST NEWS RIGHT NOW.
THAT MEANS-- A NO-FLY ZONE IS A EUPHEMISM FOR A DECLARATION OF
WAR.
THAT MEANS THAT AN AMERICAN PILOT SHOOT DOWN A RUSSIAN
PILOT, AND THAT'S A DECLARATION OF WAR.
SO WE SHOULD JUST CALL IT THAT.
I THINK THAT'S A MISTAKE.
I I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD DO THAT.
I SUPPORT PRESIDENT.
>> Stephen: WE WOULD ALSO HAVE TO TAKE OUT OF OUT ANTI-AIRCRAFT
BATTERIES, CORRECT?
>> CORRECT.
YOU CAN'T JUST FLY SORTIES OVER THERE.
AND THE RUSSIANS, BY THE WAY, HAVE VERY GOOD ANTI-AIRCRAFT.
>> Stephen: AND IT WOULD BE IN RUSSIA.
SO WE WOULD HAVE TO BE BOMBING IN RUSSIA.
>> CORRECT.
I THINK THAT'S OFF THE TABLE.
I SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT ON THAT.
EVERYTHING SHORT OF THAT I THINK WE SHOULD DO FOR THEM.
THAT MEANS MORE WEAPON SYSTEMS AND MORE SANCTIONS ON THE
RUSSIAN ECONOMY.
SO MORE WEAPONS, MORE SANCTIONS.
THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT.
I MEAN, HE WANTS MORE THAN THAT.
HE WANTS A NO-FLY ZONE.
ZELENSKY SAYS THAT VERY CLEARLY BECAUSE HE WANTS NATO TO BE
INVOLVED IN THE WAR.
AND CAN YOU BLAME HIM?
>> Stephen: HE'S ALREADY IN THE WAR.
>> HE'S IN THE WAR.
HIS KIDS ARE DYING.
THEIR CHILDREN ARE BEING BOMBED BY THIS-- THIS EVIL MAN WHO
RULES RUSSIA.
HE WANTS US TO GET INVOLVED.
AND THAT'S THE DIFFICULT SPACE.
THAT'S HIS NATIONAL INTEREST.
THE PRESIDENT IS PROTECTING US.
THEY OVERLAP A LOT, BUT THERE ARE SOME PLACES WHERE THEY
DISAGREE.
>> Stephen: ZELENSKY IS SHOWING EXTRAORDINARY BRAVERY.
HOW WORRIED SHOULD-- HOW WORRIED ARE YOU FOR HIS SAFETY?
>> VERY.
BECAUSE PRESIDENT PUTIN, WHEN HE ANNOUNCED THIS WAR, IT WAS A
58-MINUTE SPEECH.
SO, BY THE WAY, IF YOU'VE GOT TO GIVE A 58-MINUTE SPEECH TO
EXPLAIN WHAT YOU'RE DOING, THAT PROBABLY MEANS YOU DON'T REALLY
UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
I'M PROBABLY THE ONLY PERSON THAT LISTENED TO THE WHOLE
THING.
I SPEAK RUSSIAN.
I BET MOST RUSSIANS TUNED OUT AFTER A MINUTE, 50.
BUT HE SAID TWO THINGS, AND HE'S A DEAD SERIOUS GUY.
I'VE DEALT WITH HIM.
I MET HIM FIRST IN 1991.
I FOLLOWED HIS CAREER.
HE HAS CHANGED A LOT IN THAT TIME.
HE SAID TWO THINGS AND WE SHOULD LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAID.
ONE, "I PLAN TO DESTROY THE UKRAINIAN MILITARY."
AND, TWO, "I WANT TO CARRY OUT DE-NAZIFICATION."
AND WHAT HE MEANS BY THAT IS TO WIPE OUT THE GOVERNMENT, TO KILL
MR. ZELENSKY.
OUR INTELLIGENCE HAS FOUND A HIT LIST OF PEOPLE THEY PLAN TO
KILL, AND THEY'RE THE PEOPLE THAT LED WHAT THE UKRAINIANS
CALL THE REVOLUTION OF DIGNITY BACK IN 2014.
I HAVE SEVERAL FRIENDS ON THAT LIST.
AND HE'S DEAD SERIOUS ABOUT IT.
AND I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR-- WHEN HE SAYS "DE-NAZIFICATION,"
HE'S TALKING ABOUT A JEWISH PRESIDENT, ZELENSKY, WHOSE
NATIVE TONGUE IS RUSSIAN, WHOSE GRANDPARENTS FOUGHT AGAINST REAL
NAZIS IN WORLD WAR II.
THAT'S WHAT HE PLANS TO DO.
AND, BY THE WAY, THEY'RE ALREADY KILLERS.
THEY'RE MURDERERS.
IT THEY'RE CALLED... TRY TO SAY THAT WORD.
IT'S A HARD WORD.
THEY ARE CHECHIEN ASSASSINS WHOSE JOB IS TO-- TO TAKE OUT
ASSASSINATION.
SO I'M VERY WORRIED FOR HIM.
I ADMIRE HIS COURAGE TO STAY IN KYIV, THE CAPITAL.
BUT I-- I WORRY FOR HIM AND THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A BREAK, BUT WHEN WE COME BACK, I
WILL AMBASSADOR McFAUL HOW THIS WAR IS PLAYING TO THE
RUSSIAN POPULOUS.
STICK AROUND.