-The president and his Republican allies
have brought into a ludicrous conspiracy theory
claiming it was Ukraine that interfered in the 2016 election.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Suspenseful theme plays ] [ Cheering and applause ]
Among the many qualifications you'd expect a person to have,
in order to become president of the United States,
one of them would be an ability to function in the morning.
That is not the case with Donald Trump.
I mean, look at him. I mean, that
[ Laughter ] is how a cat reacts
when you try to move them off your bed.
Alright, you know, fine. Just stay there.
[ Laughter ] In fact, one small detail
we learned from last week's impeachment hearings
was that Trump hates mornings.
You might remember that an embassy staffer,
David Holmes, testified that he overheard a call between Trump
and his hand-picked ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland,
in which they discussed their scheme
to orchestrate a quid pro quo with Ukraine.
Holmes said he could hear Trump screaming
on the other end of the call and then added this...
-After the call ended, Ambassador Sondland remarked
that the president was in a bad mood,
as Ambassador Sondland stated was often the case
early in the morning.
[ Laughter ]
First of all, it doesn't surprise me
that Trump is in a bad mood early in the morning.
Look at what he eats.
He has the diet of a 16-year-old stoner.
[ Laughter, clapping ] When you have that much
fried food sloshing around in your digestive tract,
you're not gonna sleep well.
That's why Trump always looks like
he just woke up screaming in the middle of a nightmare
where he's bein' chased by a giant drumstick
with the head of Adam Schiff.
[ Laughter and applause ] So, the impeachment hearings
established not only that Trump orchestrated
a criminal conspiracy to extort a foreign country
to interfere in the 2020 election,
using hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money,
they also established that Trump hates mornings.
And we saw Trump's irritability on full display Friday,
when he woke up bright and early and called in
for a video conference with his therapist,
the host of "Fox and Friends."
[ Laughter ] Now, this interview lasted
for a total of 53 minutes!
[ Audience ohhs ] And here's a little time lapse,
just to give you a taste of how long and how insane it was.
-Mr. Trump, good morning to ya. -Good morning.
-Good morning.
-Good to have you on "Fox and Friends" today.
[laughs] As you said in your tweet, another slow news week.
-I see these hearings.
Well, we have a great day and then, you pick up
the phony New York Times, which is a total phony paper.
I don't read it anymore. You can't read it.
I have really good hearing
and I've been watching guys, for 40 years, make phone calls
and I can't hear when you're -- and you can be two feet away.
I can't hear.
Why aren't all those countries in Europe,
why aren't they paying?
Why is it always the United States, the sucker?
I got elected on that. You know, 'cause we're like
a gravy train for them, okay? [ Laughter ]
We're like a gravy train.
-Let's see if it works. -One other thing, before we get off.
[ Laughter ] The Republican Party.
Oh, yeah. I know. We can keep this goin' all day, right?
It's easy. 'Cause, if you have a bulldozer
-Right. -or if you have heavy blowtorches and things,
you know, you can break through. I love your show.
-Thank you so much, Mr. President,
for being with us. -Yeah.
-President Trump, thanks so much. -Thank you much.
-Both: Thank you. -Both: Alright.
-Goodbye. [ Laughter ]
-Well, we just went 57 minutes without havin' a sip of water.
-Right. I know. -Water?!
[ Laughter and applause ] After that, I woulda reached
for the vodka.
[ Laughter and applause ] I mean, those guys
barely said a word.
How would Trump even know
he was actually talkin' to anyone?
At some point, they should just disconnect his phone
and let him think he's on TV.
[as Trump] I love your show.
You people are great.
What's that, Steve?
[ Dial tone ] [ Laughter ]
[laughs] That's a great point, Steve.
[ Laughter ] This interview is still
a revealing glimpse into the madness
that has taken hold of the Republican Party
and the right-wing media apparatus that supports it.
For example, when the last impeachment hearing ended
on Thursday, the Democratic chairman, Adam Schiff,
ended it with a closing argument that summarized the evidence.
-This president believes he is above the law,
beyond accountability.
And, in my view, there is nothing more dangerous
than an unethical president
who believes they are above the law.
And I would just say, to people watching here at home
and around the world,
in the words of my great colleague,
"We are better than that."
[bangs gavel] Adjourned.
[ Applause and cheering ]
Wow. That's a...
stirring defense of democracy that neatly summarized
the president's various abuses of power.
And, now, Mr. President, your rebuttal.
-Adam Schiff is a sick puppy.
[ Laughter ] Let me tell ya, he's a sick puppy.
[laughing] He's so sick. Now, Schiff, remember this --
He makes it all up. He's sick.
There's somethin' wrong with him.
-There's something wrong with him?
You just spent an hour screaming into a telephone!
[ Laughter ] You're not a president.
You have the anger and free time of a sports radio caller.
[as Trump] I call it the failing New York Times
and let me tell you another thing: The Mets suck!
[ Laughter ]
I really think contrast is worth noting
and sums things up perfectly: On one hand, you have a calm,
measured, fact-based defense of democracy
and the rule of law from one side that,
whatever their faults as politicians,
inhabits our actual reality.
On the other hand, you have a red-faced lunatic screaming
at three terrified captives, [ Laughter ]
trapped on a TV set ike they're in a "Saw" movie.
I mean, look at 'em. [ Laughter ]
look like three tourists sitting on the subway
who just saw a roach smokin' a cigarette.
[ Laughter ]
And, by the way, I'm sure the roach was smokin' the cigarette
because he just heard Trump's interview.
[ Laughter and applause ] "This Trump guy's
out of his goddamn mind."
[ Laughter and applause ]
[ Fresh laughter ]
Now, we've seen two weeks of conclusive evidence
in public impeachment hearings, with one witness after another
testifying definitively that there was, in fact,
a corrupt quid pro quo.
Congress is likely to move on to the next phase,
passing articles of impeachment in the House
and starting a trial in the Senate, so,
in the "Fox and Friends" interview,
Trump gave us a preview of one
of his lines of defense, a line Republicans
have unsuccessfully repeated for weeks.
Trump said he was just concerned about corruption
in Ukraine, in general, not the Bidens, specifically.
-We're looking for corruption.
There's tremendous corruption.
We're looking for --
Why should we be giving
hundreds of millions of dollars
to countries when there's this kind of corruption?
-Mr. President --
A couple of days ago, -Anyway, go ahead.
-your ambassador to the United --
to the EU, Mr. Sondland, in his opening statement,
said that there was quid pro quo.
There was quid pro quo, he said, because you wanted
an investigation into corruption,
in exchange for a visit to the White House,
or something like that.
-Yeah. Well, that's total nonsense.
I do want, always, corruption.
[ Laughter ] -Ahnh.
[ Clapping ] I don't think
that's what you meant.
[ Laughter ] Also, what's with the insane syntax?
[laughing] "I do want, always, corruption"?
[ Laughter ] That sounds like something
a gangster would say in an off-brand version
of "Grand Theft Auto."
[ Laughter, clapping ] "I do want, always, corruption.
Car stealing is your next mission."
[ Laughter ] It's obviously a ridiculous lie
that is contradicted by literally all
of the evidence. Trump has no defense,
so all he can do is smear the witnesses
with lies and conspiracy theories.
Take, for example, the former ambassador to Ukraine,
Marie Yovanovitch, who gave her moving testimony
about the smear campaign against her.
Yovanovitch is a career foreign service officer
who has served Republican presidents and, yet,
Trump concocted a ridiculous lie about her.
-I don't even know these people.
You know, I come to Washington.
So you've had Bush and you have Never-Trumpers.
And I come in and I end up
with thousands of people that are Never-Trumpers.
-Right. -Clinton people.
And, sometimes, the Never-Trumpers are worse
than Clinton and Obama people, believe me.
But this ambassador that, you know,
everybody says is so wonderful,
she wouldn't hang my picture in the embassy, okay?
She's in charge of the embassy.
She wouldn't hang it.
It took like a year and a half or two years
for her to get the picture up.
She said bad things about me,
didn't wanna hang my picture in the embassy.
Standard is you put the president of the United States'
picture in an embassy.
-None of that is true.
The embassy in Kiev hung the official photographs
of the president, vice president,
and secretary of State
as soon as they arrived from Washington, D.C.
And a former embassy official in London tweeted
it took the White House almost 15 months
to get official photos sent to embassies to hang
and were instructed not to print other photos.
And I understand why the White House
would prevent embassies from printing other photos.
because, then, you could pick whichever one you want,
like this one.
[ Laughter ] Or, you know, like this one.
Or my personal favorite, you know, this one. I mean.
[ Laughter and applause ] In a way, that one looks
like an actual work of art.
That should be hanging
in the Salvador Dalí Museum,
under the title Melting Criminal.
[ Laughter and applause ] -Awww. -So.
[ Cheering] It was not,
in any way, shape, or form,
it was not Yovanovitch's fault the pictures were delayed.
It was the White House's fault.
And if you're wondering why it would take the White House
15 months to send photos, maybe it was because
the guy in charge was on the [bleep] phone for an hour!
[ Laughter and applause ]
But this is the paranoid alternate reality
Trump and his Fox News allies live in.
Anyone who disagrees with his criminal behavior
is a spy or a traitor or a so-called Never-Trumper.
Trump has used that phrase repeatedly,
even to describe the Russia advisor
to Vice President Mike Pence who testified last week.
The advisor, Jennifer Williams,
was asked about that accusation during her hearing.
-Ms. Williams, are you a Never-Trumper?
-I'm not sure I know an official definition of a Never-Trumper.
-Yeah. No one knows what it means
because it's a dumb, made-up term.
It sounds like a fictional animal from "A Wrinkle in Time."
"There were fur pigs and gryffindoodles
and Never-Trumpers."
[ Laughter ]
This is the paranoid alternate universe
Trump and his allies on Fox News inhabit
and reinforce for their audience.
Everyone who's against them is a spy and a traitor.
Even Gordon Sondland, the ambassador
who testified last week, is supposedly
a secret member of the deep state now.
This guy donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee.
$1 million, and, yet, over the weekend,
Fox host Jeanine Pirro said Sondland was out to get Trump.
-His testimony is not only canceled by the facts,
but by his demeanor, his arrogance,
and his inappropriate smirking,
[ Laughter ] making it clear that he,
like many deep state bureaucrats,
is not a fan of the president.
-He's a deep state bureaucrat?!
He's a businessman who gave the president's inaugural committee
$1 million, and then Trump appointed him.
If he's a deep state bureaucrat, then everyone is!
Jeanine Pirro probably says the same thing
about her own reflection in the mirror.
[as Pirro] Who are you?!
And why are you copying my movements?!
[ Laughter ] You're a part of the deep state!
Don't point at me!
[ Laughter ] The Republican Party
of Donald Trump is a movement consumed by paranoia,
peering around every corner, looking for spies and saboteurs,
indulging in disseminating absurd conspiracy theories.
For example, Trump's been peddling an unhinged
and completely debunked conspiracy theory
that it was actually Ukraine, and not Russia,
that interfered in the 2016 election.
Trump repeated that insane claim again
during his interview Friday and even "Fox and Friends,"
the show that is more pro-Trump
than virtually any other show on TV,
tried to gently push back.
-It's very interesting.
They have the server, right?
From the DNC, Democratic National Committee.
-Who has the server? -The FBI went in
and they told 'em, "Get outta here!
You're not getting it. We're not giving it to you."
They gave the server to Crowdstrike,
or whatever it's called, which is a country --
which is a company owned by a very wealthy Ukrainian.
And I still wanna see that server.
You know, the FBI has never gotten that server.
That's a big part of this whole thing.
Why did they give it to a Ukrainian company?
-Are you sure they did that?
[ Laughter ] Are you sure they gave it to Ukraine?
-Well, that's what the word is.
[ Laughter ] -Oh!
Oh, is that what the word is?
Do ya spend a lotta time hangin' out on street corners,
gettin' the latest scoop? [ Laughter ]
Seriously, who do you even talk to, anyway?
You spent most of your time wandering around in circles
[ Laughter ] on the White House lawn,
by yourself. He's probably out there
hopin' to find the server.
[as Trump] Crowdstrike? [ Laughter ]
Where are you, Crowdstrike?
It's like you know it's bad when even "Fox and Friends"
is questioning Trump.
That would be like E! putting up a disclaimer
during the "Kardashians," that said,
"This is all scripted. None of this is real."
[ Laughter ]
Yet, Trump's allies on Fox and the Republican Party
have actually been repeating this nonsense, even though
his own former national security official Fiona Hill
debunked it during the impeachment testimony.
And, in an interview,
Trump's former Homeland Security advisor Tom Bossert
also said it had been debunked
and, yet, on Sunday, GOP Senator John Kennedy
repeated it, anyway.
-Senator Kennedy, who do you believe
was responsible for hacking
the DNC and Clinton campaign computers, their emails?
Was it Russia or Ukraine?
-I don't know.
[ Light laughter ] Nor do you.
Nor do any of us.
Miss Hill is entitled -Well, I mean,
-to her opinion. -let me just interrupt to say,
the entire intelligence community
says it was Russia.
[ Scattered laughter ]
-Right. But it could also be Ukraine.
-No, it can't! [ Laughter ]
Literally everyone who has studied this said it can't.
It was Russia.
[as Kennedy] Coulda been Ukraine?
Coulda been Russia.
Coulda been a swamp witch that turned me
into a senator, from a rooster.
[ Laughter, clapping ]
Could've been.
[ Laughter ] And then, there's Rudy Giuliani,
who, at this very moment, is under criminal investigation,
In fact, today, we learned that subpoenas have been issued,
seeking information on Giuliani's consulting business
as part of a broad federal investigation
into possible money laundering, obstruction of justice,
and campaign finance violations.
Over the weekend, Rudy was asked by Fox News
if he was worried about getting indicted
and his reaction was very Rudy-esque.
-Are you afraid, Mr. Mayor, that you could be indicted?
-Ohhh, wow.
[ Laughter ] How long have you known me?
-I've known you several years.
-You think I'm afraid?
-I-I don't know. -Do you think I get afraid?
[ Laughter ] -Having no fear
is a good quality if you're Daredevil,
but, Rudy's like a contestant on that game show "Wipeout,"
who gives a thumbs-up to the camera
right before a foam hammer knocks him into the water.
[ Laughter ]
And I do think you get afraid.
I mean, have you looked at yourself?
You always look afraid. [ Laughter ]
You look like you found out what you [laughing] did.
[ Laughter ] The Republican Party
and the right-wing media apparatus it supports
are spreading insane conspiracy theories.
Meanwhile, we keep getting more and more evidence against Trump
and, every time, they go...
-Ohhh, wow.
[ Laughter ] -This has been "A Closer Look."
♪♪ [ Cheering and applause ]