CAN YOU BELIEVE IT.
HE IS SO NICE TO SEE YOU, AARON.
>> GREAT TO SEE YOU.
>> James: HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP?
HOW HAVE YOU BEEN COPING WITH EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING ON?
>> OH, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD HAPPILY TRADE
THEIR STRUGGLES FOR MINE.
>> James: WELL YES, THERE IS LOTS OF BLESSINGS TO KOWBILITY
COUNT, FOR SURE.
BUT I'M CONNEDDERRING, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE, FOR MY MONEY
ONE OF THE GREATEST WRITERS ALIVE.
DURING ALL OF THIS TIME, DO YOU GET PEOPLE GOING WELL, THIS MUST
BE GREAT FOR YOU.
YOU CAN JUST WRITE ALL DAY AND YOU THINK YEAH, I DON'T FEEL
THAT CREATIVE RIGHT NOW SUR PIEINGLY-- SURPRISINGLY.
>> THAT IS EXACTLY RIGHT.
I DON'T FEEL THAT CREATIVE RIGHT NOW.
I'M MORE FRIGHTENED THAN ANYTHING.
AND IT ST HARD WHEN YOU KNOW, SO MANY PEOPLE ARE REALLY
SUFFERING.
EITHER THEY'RE SICK OR THEY ARE UNEMPLOYED OR THEY ARE NOT IN
SCHOOL.
IT'S BAD OUT THERE.
SO IT'S NOT GOOD FOR ME.
>> OBVIOUSLY THE ELECTION IS COMING UP.
IT'S BEEN AN ABSOLUTE ROLLER COASTER.
EVERY DAY SOME CRAZY NEWS STORY, UNFORE SEEN.
WHAT'S BEEN THE MOST SHOCKING EVENT FOR YOU OUT OF THIS
ELECTION?
WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT STANDS OUT OVER THESE PAST KNEW
MONTHS.
>> FIRST OF ALL, LET'S REMEMBER I HAVE BEEN ENGAGED POLITICALLY
IN FICTIONAL WORLDS, WHERE I GET TO DECIDE WHAT EVERYBODY SAYS
AND DOES.
BUT WITHOUT A DOUBT THE MOST SHOCKING THING HAS BEEN THE
PRESIDENT TELLING US OVER AND OVER THAT THERE WILL NOT BE A
PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER.
I FEEL LIKE WE'VE BEEN GIVEN A HEADS UP, THAT MEN WITH BOX
CUTTERS AND BAD INTENTIONS ARE BOARDING PASSING TO PLANES.
THAT IS SOMETHING I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULDER WHAT.
I DON'T ANY ANY OF US DID.
>> James: BECAUSE I REMEMBER, HE ALLUDED TO IT WHEN HE WAS
RUNNING IN 2016.
THERE WAS A MOMENT IN 2016 WHERE HE SAID I WILL-- THE PROTEST IF
I WIN.
I REMEMBER WATCHING THAT THINKING THAT'S IT NOBODY CAN
TALK ABOUT DEMOCRACY IN SUCH A WAY AND GO ON TO BECOME THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
AND I MEAN HOW WRONG COULD I HAVE BEEN.
>> THAT'S RIGHT.
HE IS NOW THE PRESIDENT SAYING IS THAT UNLESS HE WINS IT'S BEEN
RIGGED.
THAT MAIL-IN BALLOTS ARE CORRUPT AND HE HAS PEOPLE BELIEVING IT.
AND IF-- THERE WAS A POLL RECENTLY, 23% OF AMERICANS
BELIEVE IN Q A NON, SO THERE-- Q-ANON, SO THERE IS A
HUGE POPULATION OF PEOPLE WHO ARE GULL I BELIEVE AND A THIRD
WHO HAVE THIS IDIOCY THAT TRUMP AND HIS ABLERS ARE TRYING TO
SELL.
>> DOES IT COME DOWN TO A RESPONSIBILITY IN THE MEDIA,
WHICH IS SOMETHING IN YOUR JOE I REALLY LOVED THE NEWSROOM, YOU
TOUCHED UPON QUITE A FEW TIMES.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MEDIA TO NOT BE ENTERTAINED.
TO JUST BE FACT DRIFEN.
HOW DO WE-- HOW IS THAT PROTECTIVE AND BRING IF IN A
WAY, WHAT YOU NEED SELF-REE NEWS CONVERSATION IN-- ORGANIZATION
IN AMERICA IF NOT THE WORLD TO GO WHOEVER ANNOUNCES THAT
SOMEONE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE WON.
WELL NOT EVERY VOTE HAS BEEN COUNTED AND WE WILL NOT RESPOND
TO THAT.
>> YEAH, THE PROBLEM IS WHEN YOU SAY THE MEDIA, WHO EXACTLY ARE
WE TALKING ABOUT NOW?
BECAUSE THERE IS ONE NETWORK, ONE NEWS NETWORK THAT HAS A LOT
OF VIEWERS THAT LIES TO ITS VIEWERS ON A REGULAR BASIS.
I THINK THAT FRANKLY I THINK THE EXCEPTION OF FOX, THE OTHER NEWS
NETWORK, AND NEWS OUTLET, NOT JUST TELEVISION, PRINT, ONLINE,
HAVE ACTUALLY IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS DONE A PHENOMENAL JOB OF
COMING AROUND TO THE BELIEF THAT THIS ISN'T NORMAL A.
THAT WE SHOULD CALL A LIE A LIE.
FRANKLY I THANK GOD FOR THEM, THAT THIS HAS NEVER BECOME
NORMALIZED.
AND BY THE WAY THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO DESERVE THANKS FOR, THAT FOR
NOT NORMALIZING THAT, YOU AND THE OTHER LATE NIGHT HOSTS.
>> James: I HEAR WHAT YOU ARE SAYING BUT MOSTLY ME.
>> James: WHEN.
>> WHEN THE DAY COMES YOU DON'T OPEN YOUR SHOW WITH YOU CAN
BELIEVE WHAT IS GOING ON, THAT IS WHEN WE ALL CAN GET
FRIGHTENED.
>> James: I THINK A TAKE A THE LO OF CREDIT FOR THAT, I THINK
IT'S MOSTLY ME.
>> IT IS MOSTLY YOU.
>> James: IN MANY RESPECTS, IF I HADN'T BEEN HERE THE LAST FOUR
YEARS, I AM AFRAID TO THINK WHAT WOULD HAPPEN.
BECAUSE I.
>> JOKE ALL YOU WANT, MY BRITISH FRIEND, BUT IT'S TRUE.
>> James: WE ARE TALKING ABOUT, AND I COULDN'T BELIEVE
THIS, IT MADE ME FEEL VERY OLD BUT WE ARE COMING UP TO THE TEN
YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE SOCIAL NETWORK BEING RELEASED.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT IL FILM, WHAT DO YOU THINK NOW WHEN YOU
SEE WHAT FACEBOOK HAS BECOME AND WHAT IT REPRESENTEDS TO SO MANY
PEOPLE.
>> YEAH.
LISTEN, I KNOW MORE ABOUT FACEBOOK IN 2005 THAN I DO ABOUT
IT IN 2020.
>> James: FOR SURE.
>> BUT BACK THEN I JUST FELTS THAT FACEBOOK AND OTHER SOCIAL
MEDIA WERE JUST KIND OF BAD FOR US SOCIALLY.
IT WASN'T A GOOD WAY TO SOCIALIZE WITH PEOPLE.
BUT NOW IT'S GROWN TO BE MUCH, MUCH WORSE THAN THAT.
ST A AMPLIFIER AND MULTIPLIER OF BAD INFORMATION, WHICH AGAIN, IT
WOULDN'T MATTER IF PEOPLE WEREN'T QUITE SO GULLIBLE.
AND AVAILABLE WITH THIS ABSURD INFORMATION.
IF PEOPLE TOOK THEIR NEWS DIELT MORE SERIOUSLY.
>> James: BUT ALSO IT IS THE ALGORITHM.
YOU COULD HAVE A SLIGHT INTEREST ARE O I SLIGHT THOUGHT AND THE
ALGORITHM WILL TAKE YOU FURTHER INTO WHATEVER IT IS YOU MIGHT BE
SORT OF INTERESTED IN.
SO IT SORT OF, IT BECOMES A THING WHERE LIKE NO LONGER, I
THINK BACK TO 2005 WHEN YOU WROTE THE FILM AND YOU SORT OF
THINK WELL, SORRY, WHEN FACE BOOK STARTED IT AND YOU STARTED
TO WRITE THE FILM AFTER THAT.
THE ARGUMENT WAS THAT WE ARE JUST A PLATFORM.
WE ARE JUST A FLAT FORM WHERE THINGS EXISTED.
THAT ARGUMENT DOESN'T HOLD UP TODAY.
>> NO, IT DOESN'T HOLD UP ANY MORE.
MAWB THAT WAS THE IDEA.
BUT YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT IT AND SEE WHAT IT HAS BECOME NOW.
AND WHAT IT HAS BECOME IS THAT THEY'RE GOING, FACEBOOK IS GOING
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.
>> WE HAVE TO CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR BRILLIANT NEW FILM, THE
TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO SEVEN.
THIS SAY MOVIE YOU WROTE AND DIRECTED.
FOR ANYONE WHO HADN'T CAUGHT IT YET.
TELL US WHAT IT ABOUT.
>> SURE, IT SAY TRUE STORY.
IN 1968, THERE WAS AN ANTIWAR PROTEST OF THE DEMOCRATIC
NATIONAL CONVENTION IN CHICAGO.
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PEACEFUL PROTEST BUT HE SOLVED INTO A
TERRIBLE CLASH BETWEEN POLICE AND NATIONAL GUARD.
SEVEN LEADERS OF THAT PROTEST, EIGHT ACTUALLY.
THERE ARE EIGHT NUMBER MEMBERS OF THE CHICAGO SEVEN, WERE PUT
ON TREUL AND CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO CROSS STATE LINES
IN ORDER TO INSIGHT A RIOT.
IT IS A FEDERAL CRIME, IT COMES WITH TEN YEARS IN PRISON AND THE
TRIAL ITSELF ULTIMATELY BECAME ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS TRIALS
IN HISTORY FROM-- THE DEFENDANTS WRE VERY COLORFUL, THE JUDGE
WAS CRAZY, AND SCM HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPENED IN THAT COURT
ROOM THAT SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN ANY AMERICAN COURT.
>> James: THIS IS A STORY I KNOW YOU HAVE WANTED TO TELL FOR
QUITE SOME TIME DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA, COULD YOU EVEN BEGIN TO
ANTICIPATE HOW RELEVANT THE FILM WOULD FEEL AT THIS MOMENT RIGHT
NOW?
>> NO, NEVER.
LOOK, IT STARTED 14 YOORS AGO WHEN STEPHEN SPIELBERG ASKED ME
TO COME OVER TO HIS HOUSE ON A SATURDAY MORNING.
SO IT IS VERY UNUSUAL.
I DON'T HANG OUT WITH STEVEN SPIELBERG.
HE TOLD ME THAT HE WANTED TO MAWK A MOVIE ABOUT THE CHICAGO
SEVEN AND CRAZY CONSPIRACY TRIAL THAT FOLD.
I SAID IT IS A GREAT IDEA.
COUNT ME IN AND A LEFT HIS HOUSE AND CALLED MY FATHER AND ASKED
TO DO THE CHICAGO SEVEN.
I HAD NO IDEA WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT, STEVEN SPIELBERG
ACTED THE WAY ANYONE WOULD.
BUT AFTER DOING A LOT OF RESEARCH, THEN IT JUST BECAME A
REALLY GOOD STORY TO TELL.
THIS IS GOING TO BE A TERRIBLE MOVIE.
>> I FEEL LUKE YOU ARE-- YOUR ENTIRE KAER RADIO, YOU HAVE
REALLY HAD A NABBING AT OF BEING SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF THE CURVE ON
WHAT YOU THINK PEOPLE MIGHT BE TALKING ABOUT OR CARE ABOUT.
EVEN WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT TODAY, THE NEWSROOM, THE SOCIAL
NETWORK, AND NOW THIS, TO TAKE IT ON AS A DIRECTOR, BECAUSE IT
IS A VERY DIFFERENT FILM, WAS THAT DAWNTING, THE SCALE OF TRK
THE SIZE OF IT?
>> YEAH, IT WAS INCREDIBLY DAWNTING TO ME, IT WOULD HAVE
BEEN DAWNTING TO ME IF IT WAS TWO PEOPLE IN A ROOM BUT THE
FACT THAT THERE WEREGOING TO BE RIOTS AND TEAR GAS AS WELL AS A
PRINCIPAL CAST OF 12 OTHER 13 PEOPLE.
THIS WAS A MUCH BIGGER THING THAN I IMAGINED I COULD
WRANGLING BUT HI A LOT OF HELP.
>> James: DID SPIELBERG EVER VISIT THE SET?
>> YEAH, WHAT IS THAT LIKE WHEN ARE YOU DREAMTING AND HE IS SITK
ON YOUR SHOULDER.
>> WHEN ARE YOU DIRECTING SEVERAL OF THE GREATEST ACTORS
IN THE WORLD.
>> YEAH.
>> WITH STEVEN SPIELBERG STANDING BEHIND YOU.
YOU KNOW, YOU JUST GO THROUGH IT YOU JUST, IT REALLY, I CAN'T DO
IT RIGHT.
THERE IS NO RIGHT MOVE I CAN MAKE HERE SO IT JUST MOVES THE
SET ALONG.
I THINK AT ONE POINT I WENT TO THE GUYS, HE I WENT TO SACHA
BARON COHEN AND JEREMY STRONG AND MARK RILEY AND REACHED IN TO
MY POCKET.
HI $23, I SAID GUYS, THE $23 IS YOURS, WHAT BUILD IF YOU CAN
JUST BE COOL THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.
>> James: WELL, THEY ABSOLUTELY TOOK IT ON BECAUSE
THE FILM IS BRILLIANT AND I URGE EVERYONE TO SEE IT