-The president's use of a Sharpie
to doctor an official hurricane forecast
is now an actual scandal
that has prompted multiple official investigations.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-So you remember how like two weeks ago,
there was this whole thing where a dangerous hurricane
named Dorian was headed toward the United States,
and so the president, you know, the guy whose job it is
to protect Americans, tweeted out that Alabama
will most likely be hit much harder than anticipated.
And then some people in Alabama started to freak out.
So then the National Weather Service had to be like,
"No, Alabama will not see any impacts from Dorian."
And instead of just letting it go,
the president took out a big map in the oval office
and drew a little circle on it with a Sharpie
to include Alabama and make it look like he was right?
You know, like he was accepting one of those
giant novelty checks for a thousand dollars,
but then wrote in a bunch of zeros and went,
[ As Trump ] "Wow, you're giving me a billion dollars?
Too generous, but I accept. No takebacks."
[ Normal voice ] You remember that whole thing?
It was fun.
Well, anyway, after like a full week of coverage,
we all thought it was over. We wanted to let it go.
The White House wanted to let it go.
Even the PR Department at the Sharpie company
was probably like,
"Okay, maybe there is such a thing as bad publicity."
[ Laughter ]
And I'm sure Alabama wanted to let it go,
because for a week they were all, like,
"Are we going to get hit by a hurricane or not?
Because I've been sleeping on a cot
in a high school gymnasium for seven days."
[ Laughter and applause ]
Well, guess what --
It's not over. That's right.
The whole insane Sharpie thing is still going.
First, we found out earlier this week that staff
at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
were instructed not to contradict
the president's Sharpie hurricane forecast.
And then we found out that the Secretary of Commerce,
Wilbur Ross, threatened firings at NOAA
after Trump's Dorian tweets.
That's right, Wilbur Ross, the guy who once tried
to defend Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum
by holding up a beer and can of soup in a live TV interview,
threatened to fire actual scientists
for contradicting the president.
Look at this. He looks like he's bringing hurricane supplies
to Alabama.
[ Higher-pitched voice ] I -- I don't have water,
but how about a soup and beer party?
[ Normal voice ] So Wilbur Ross threatened to fire scientists
for issuing accurate weather forecasts
that contradicted the president's stupid tweets.
But, hey, it's not like Wilbur Ross has ever, himself,
committed an actual fireable offense, right?
-A federal judge has taken the extraordinary step
in ruling that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
acted in bad faith and broke several laws
when he asked a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross held in contempt.
Now this battle is all about Ross hiding evidence
that might show whether Republicans
changed the 2020 census to discriminate
and help their own party, the GOP.
-The president's Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross,
stands accused of misappropriating
or outright stealing as much as $120 million
from former investors and business partners.
That's according to a new investigation from "Forbes."
-We all know Wilbur Ross had problems before this.
Aides have been saying from the beginning
he regularly falls asleep in meetings.
-Ross was famously caught sleeping during Trump's speech
to Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia
back in May of 2017.
-And on top of all that,
two former colleagues remember the Commerce Secretary
taking handfuls of Sweet'N Low packets from a nearby restaurant
so he didn't have to go out and buy some for himself.
So he's an alleged criminal
who took Sweet'N Low from restaurants
and falls asleep in meetings.
He's like a character from a Clint Eastwood movie
where a bunch of old guys plan a bank heist.
[ Laughter ]
[ Gruff voice ] You guys grab the money,
I'll grab the soup and beer.
[ Laughter and applause ]
[ Normal voice ] Also, just let it sink in that Wilbur Ross
is a billionaire who steals Sweet'N Low,
which is in no way sweet, but it's plenty [bleep] low.
I mean, how about instead of a citizenship question,
the census asks, "Are you a billionaire
who steals Sweet'N Low?"
And if you answer yes, we shoot you into space.
[ Laughter ]
So that was all stuff that happened this week.
And as a result, Democrats called on Ross to resign
and NOAA's Chief Scientist
said he would investigate what happened.
Now, you think that would be the end of it,
but no, this insane story is still a thing.
In fact, it's even more of a thing now
because yesterday, we found out that the White House itself
was directly involved in efforts to pressure officials at NOAA
to side with the president over their own scientists.
-"The New York Times" reports
that acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney
told commerce secretary Wilbur Ross
to have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA, publicly disavow this tweet that was sent
by the National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama,
which said the state would not feel the effects of the storm.
A senior administration official told the "Times"
Mulvaney wanted to correct the record
because he felt the Birmingham tweet went too far.
National Weather Service tweet went too far.
One that actually forecasts the weather.
[ Laughter ]
-Think about how insane this is.
Two of the most senior officials in our government
called up a scientific agency and threatened to fire them
unless they changed their forecast
about a dangerous hurricane just so they could pretend
the president was right when he accidentally said
a state that was not in the Hurricane's path would get hit.
I mean, what's next, are they going to make Melania
change her name to Melanie to justify Trump's typo tweet?
[ Laughter ]
I'm shocked Trump didn't just go all the way
and make Congress pass a disaster aid bill for Alabama.
[ As Trump ] I'm here in Montgomery
to help rebuild from the hurricane.
And in the meantime,
we'll be moving all these people into temporary shelters.
[ Normal voice ] But my house is fine.
[ As Trump ] No, your house was destroyed.
Here, look at this photo.
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Normal voice ] So...
this insane, dumb thing the president did
that we all desperately wanted to move on from
will not go away.
In fact, and this is real,
this whole thing has now triggered
multiple official investigations.
NOAA's Chief Scientist has said he would investigate
why the agency backed Trump over its experts on Dorian.
The Commerce Department Inspector General
has opened an investigation, and on Wednesday,
a Democrat-controlled House Science Committee
kicked off its own inquiry.
This all started with a Sharpie.
If the pen is mightier than the sword,
the Sharpie is a long-range missile.
I mean, this is an actual scandal now.
There are multiple investigations.
That means there's a chance, which would be awesome,
we could have meteorologists testifying before Congress.
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Southern accent ] Please state your name for the record.
[ Normal voice ] Uh, my name is Breeze Thunder.
[ Southern accent ] And Mr. Thunder,
where did the president tell you to lie?
[ Normal voice ] Well, first, the lies began over here,
but then they eventually picked up speed and moved down here.
[ Laughter ]
[ Southern accent ] Also, And remember,
remember, that you are under oath.
Mr. Thunder, is dew point an actual thing?
[ Normal voice ] No, it is not.
[ Laughter ]
Seriously, this is now officially the craziest
weather-related scandal America has seen since this one.
-Right now dew points in the 20s
and near 30 degrees across central Mississippi.
Well, hey, there.
-I don't know what's going on, but Zane doesn't know.
[ Laughter ] Are you sure?
Are you crazy sure? -[ Laughs ]
Well, we've got a little bit of interesting things
going on right now.
Take a look at what's going on right now.
You want to point out the weather right now?
-Yeah, there are farts everywhere and toots.
I don't even know. It's crazy.
[ Laughter ]
-You laugh. You laugh.
Trump just made that kid
Director of the National Weather Service.
[ As Trump ] I'm hearing Alabama is about to get hit very hard
with farts and toots. It's scary.
But the National Guard will be ringing --
will be bringing matches and Glade PlugIns
to the affected areas.
[ Normal voice ] Yesterday Trump was asked in the oval office
about the report that his Chief of Staff
instructed NOAA to disavow their own scientists
and side with Trump,
and Trump pretended that he personally
had nothing to do with it.
-Did you tell your Chief of Staff to have NOAA
disavow those forecasters to who said that Alabama
was not -- -No, I never did that.
I never did that.
That's a whole hoax by the fake news media
when they talk about the hurricane
and when they talk about Florida and they talk about Alabama.
That stuff, just fake news.
It was -- right from the beginning, it was a fake story.
-He just covers lies with more lies.
I'm surprised he didn't say...
[ As Trump ] This is a really hard week for me because --
and I didn't want to say this,
but I was also hit by the hurricane.
[ Laughter and applause ]
[ Normal voice ] So Trump denied that he personally
ordered his aides to intervene and tell a scientific agency
to lie about a dangerous hurricane
in order to justify an embarrassing tweet
and a map he doctored with a Sharpie.
Well, you'll never guess what happened next.
On Wednesday, the news broke that, yes,
it was, in fact, Trump who ordered the Sharpie cover-up.
-"New York Times" today and "The Washington Post"
revealed that the White House and Donald Trump, himself,
were behind threats against weather forecasters
who, wait for it -- forecasted the weather.
"The Washington Post" adds that the president, himself,
was behind the threats to the weather forecasters.
President Trump told his staff
that NOAA needed to deal with the tweet
that seemed to contradict his statement
that hurricane Dorian posed a significant threat to Alabama.
-Of course, it was Trump who ordered it.
Trump orders his aides to lie all the time.
He doesn't even let Mulvaney cough in his presence
without permission.
-Trump, interrupting his interview with ABC News,
to scold his Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney,
for coughing while he was speaking.
-But at some point, I hope they get it...
-[ Coughs ] ...because it's a fantastic
financial statement.
It's a fantastic financial statement.
And -- Let's do that over.
He's coughing in the middle of my answer.
-Yeah, okay. -I don't like that, you know?
-Your Chief of Staff -- -If you're going to cough,
please leave the room. -We should get a shot of --
and I'll come over here. -Just can't --
You just can't do that. -Okay.
-Sorry, Mr. Trump.
-Hey, you leave him alone.
He was probably coughing from all the dust
kicked up by that hurricane.
At least we knew it wasn't Wilbur Ross who was coughing,
because he was probably sound asleep.
He'd, uh -- He'd been up all night stealing Sweet'N Low.
[ Laughter ]
And by the way, now that there are multiple
official investigations of this whole insane ordeal,
let's not forget that on top of everything else,
by doctoring the map, Trump may have also broken federal law.
-This is in "The Washington Post,"
and they say flatly, "It was Trump who used
a black Sharpie to mark up an official NOAA map
which he displayed during an oval office briefing
on Wednesday."
-And there's one more problem.
As a Fox News meteorologist noted,
it's a violation of federal law
to falsify a National Weather Service forecast.
-Wouldn't it be great
if this was the thing that finally brought him down?
I mean, seriously.
[ Laughter, cheers, and applause ]
This about it.
Think about everything else that came before this.
He obstructed justice, paid off a porn star,
takes money from taxpayers and foreign governments
at his personal properties,
and they finally nail him for map vandalism.
[ Cheers and applause ]
It would be like -- It would be like if they got
Charles Manson for tearing the tag off his mattress.
I mean, seriously, when it comes to breaking the law,
how much worse could things get for Donald Trump?
-Breaking news now.
Sources telling CNN that in recent weeks,
prosecutors with the New York District Attorney's Office
have interviewed Michael Cohen,
President Trump's former fixer and personal attorney.
The investigation is looking into whether
the Trump organization broke any state laws
by falsifying business records.
-The former lawyer is now an inmate serving three years
in prison for, among other crimes,
his role in procuring those payments
to porn star Stormy Daniels,
which constituted a campaign finance violation.
Let's not forget this -- a case in which the president
was an unindicted co-conspirator.
-They're investigating whether the Trump organization
violated any state laws
relating to those hush money payments to women.
-That's right. Investigators are looking at
the Trump organization's handling of hush payments
to cover up affairs.
Trump is so versatile,
he's managed to break laws relating to Stormy Daniels
and stormy weather.
[ Laughter and applause ]
Sharpiegate is a perfect,
stupid microcosm of the Trump era.
He lies and concocts insane conspiracy theories
and then strong-arms the rest of the government
into enforcing those lies.
Like on climate change, he's repeatedly called it a hoax
and now his government is scrapping regulations
on everything from methane emissions
to energy-efficient light bulbs,
to clean water protections,
resulting in at least 85 environmental rollbacks
under Trump.
Sharpiegate is just the latest,
dumbest example of Trump's war on reality.
Congress needs to get him out of there immediately,
like they did with this guy.
-There are farts everywhere and toots.
I don't even know. It's crazy.
[ Laughter ] -This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪