Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central. Would you fight nobody? Nobody here?
Speaker 1: I don't know what I would do. I think everyone
Speaker 1: thinks they know what they do, but I don't know
Speaker 1: what I would do if they said the war is
Speaker 1: coming and then I have to fight. I think I
Speaker 1: would be pretty good in war, though not like fighting.
Speaker 1: There's other parts of war that you can also participate in.
Speaker 1: I would be good at shouting that the people are coming.
Speaker 1: I think that would be my job if I was
Speaker 1: fighting in a war, I would be the person who
Speaker 1: rides a horse from one place to the next, telling
Speaker 1: people the people are coming, and then they'll be like,
Speaker 1: are we're gonna fight? I'm like, yeah, you guys should fight.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go tell the next town that the war
Speaker 1: is coming, and then I just keep riding telling everyone
Speaker 1: that I told everyone. Then atmost far away from the
Speaker 1: war is possible. But I'm also like a hero because
Speaker 1: they go he rode and he told us, very important
Speaker 1: part of the job. Everyone takes that for granted. So
Speaker 1: if you guys need someone to warn you that a
Speaker 1: war is coming, I got your backs, the furthest back possible,
Speaker 1: coming to you from the heart of times where in
Speaker 1: New York City, the only city in America. It's The
Speaker 1: Daily Show. Here's a disc tonight, Insane in Ukraine, the
Speaker 1: World un Friends Russia. It's Samantha Power. This is The
Speaker 1: Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Hey, what's going on? Everybody?
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah. Let's jump
Speaker 1: straight into the big news, which is the only one
Speaker 1: that anybody's talking about. It's Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and
Speaker 1: so on today's episode, that's all we're gonna be covering
Speaker 1: the invasion, the international resistance, Ukraine's resistance which has been amazing.
Speaker 1: And then our guest on the show actually serves on
Speaker 1: President Biden's Security Council and has dealt with Russia directly.
Speaker 1: So everything on the show today is all about Russia's invasion.
Speaker 1: In many ways, Russia has invaded our show. So let's
Speaker 1: do this. It has been four days since Russian troops
Speaker 1: rolled into name bring Ukraine, touching off the largest European
Speaker 1: conflict since World War Two, all when Harry and Megan
Speaker 1: left the Royals. So let's do it. People, Let's catch
Speaker 1: up on all the latest developments in our newer segment,
Speaker 1: The war in Ukraine. As the pandemic started winding down,
Speaker 1: people all across the world have been thinking about what
Speaker 1: they're gonna do as the world opens up, you know,
Speaker 1: Spend more time with family, find a better work life balance,
Speaker 1: stitch all your old masks together into a giant mask
Speaker 1: and then use that as a comfort blanket. But Vladimir
Speaker 1: Putin clearly had very different post pandemic plans invading a
Speaker 1: sovereign country. And you know, for years people have said
Speaker 1: that Russia might invade Ukraine because it's always been Putin's
Speaker 1: wet dream to reunite the Soviet Union, you know, sort
Speaker 1: of the same way Disney wants to tie all of
Speaker 1: its franchises together. And now Mickey is fighting Thanos. It's
Speaker 1: weird but profitable. So yeah, Putin has done the unthinkable,
Speaker 1: and in response, almost every nation around the world has
Speaker 1: gone yo, mo man, that is not cool. Much of
Speaker 1: the world is trying to tighten its grip around Russia
Speaker 1: to get Vladimirputin to back off Ukraine. For the first
Speaker 1: time ever, the EU will finance that purchase and delivery
Speaker 1: of weapons to Ukraine. Similarly, the United States, for the
Speaker 1: first time, has approved the direct delivery of Stinger missiles
Speaker 1: to Ukraine as part of the package approved by the
Speaker 1: White House. That decision came on the heels of Germany's
Speaker 1: announcement that it will send five Stinger missiles and other
Speaker 1: weapons and supplies to Ukraine. This was a historic break
Speaker 1: from Germany's post World War two foreign policy. The President
Speaker 1: is joining forces with European allies by kicking most Russian
Speaker 1: banks out of Swift in, the international banking messaging system
Speaker 1: that makes global transactions easier. New sanctions will also target
Speaker 1: Russia's central bank, and allies are beginning to target Russian
Speaker 1: oligar exurtise to putin who shield is wealth accounts. Russian
Speaker 1: planes and private jets from oligarchs can no longer fly
Speaker 1: over dozens of countries. The European Union in Canada are
Speaker 1: banning the flights from their airspace. Air France also just
Speaker 1: announced that it has suspended service from Russia. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1: They're cutting off banking, their arming, their enemies. And on
Speaker 1: top of that, airlines are stopping flights to and from Russia,
Speaker 1: which in my opinion might be one of the worst things, because,
Speaker 1: I mean, the best part about going to Russia is
Speaker 1: that you can fly out of Russia. Now they don't
Speaker 1: even have that. And if there's one thing that tells
Speaker 1: you how big these sanctions are, it's that the Swiss
Speaker 1: have gotten involved. But you understand how big that is, right.
Speaker 1: The Swiss don't get involved in anything anything. The Swiss
Speaker 1: don't get involved in war, they don't get involved in alliances.
Speaker 1: My dad didn't get involved in my life. I would
Speaker 1: ask him to hug me and he tells me that
Speaker 1: his official policy was to stay neutral. I mean, think
Speaker 1: about it. Think about this for a moment. Putin's move
Speaker 1: is so crazy that Germany is like, it's time for
Speaker 1: us as Germany, so we build our military and the
Speaker 1: world is like, yeah, I hope. Now beyond all the
Speaker 1: blocking flights and arming Ukraine, one of the biggest moves
Speaker 1: that Europe and America are taking right now is cutting
Speaker 1: Russia off of Swift. Right, which is huge. Was used
Speaker 1: like we're talking no folklore, not even the short version
Speaker 1: of all two well, which I'm sorry, what, Oh, it's
Speaker 1: a different Swift. What it's an international banking system that
Speaker 1: verifies transactions across the globe. Oh, woman, they should probably
Speaker 1: change their name because that's confusing you know anyway. What
Speaker 1: Russia has done has gotten the world so riled up
Speaker 1: that it's not just the governments that are responding to
Speaker 1: this warld No, everyone around the world is finding their
Speaker 1: own way to show Putin that he's a national. Major
Speaker 1: news from the sports world, the World Soccer Organization FIFA
Speaker 1: is banning Russian teams from all of their games. The
Speaker 1: organization issuing a statement today banning Russian clubs and national
Speaker 1: teams from all competition until further noticed. FIFA says it
Speaker 1: stands in quote full solidarity with all of the people affected.
Speaker 1: In Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union has banned Russia from
Speaker 1: participating in this year's Eurovision Song contest. And back here
Speaker 1: at home, several governors around the United States are asking
Speaker 1: stores to pull Russian products off their shelves. A restaurant
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas went on the street and porta all
Speaker 1: of their bottles of Russian vodka out onto the street.
Speaker 1: They'll be offering Ukrainian vodka instead. Formula One dropped the
Speaker 1: Russian Grand Prix from the season's racing calendar, and the
Speaker 1: International Olympic Committee also urging sports federations to move or
Speaker 1: cancel their events in Russia and Belarus, and the International
Speaker 1: Judo Federation suspending Putin status as Honorary President and Ambassador
Speaker 1: of the federation. In yeah, no World Cup for Putin,
Speaker 1: no Eurovision Song Contest for Putin, no more being president
Speaker 1: of the International Judo Federation. And in case you're wondering, yes,
Speaker 1: he will no longer be allowed to host this year's Oscars,
Speaker 1: which I was kind of looking forward to. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be interesting now. I know a lot of people out
Speaker 1: there wondering. They're like, oh, man, who cares. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're having their economy destroyed. Who cares? If people are
Speaker 1: pouring out vodka? Who cares? But people this actually makes
Speaker 1: a difference. Right, South Africa had sanctions on it, which
Speaker 1: was really bad back in the day during a part tide.
Speaker 1: But it was the collective idea around the world that
Speaker 1: people were not for what was happening. That's sort of
Speaker 1: spurt a lot of the change. And don't forget oftentimes
Speaker 1: in life it's the little things that hurt the most.
Speaker 1: You think they're small, but they get to you, you know, like,
Speaker 1: think of it this way. Would you rather be shot
Speaker 1: or blocked by your ex? Oh, and just by the
Speaker 1: way now that Russia is not going to be playing
Speaker 1: in the World Cup. I mean that means there's going
Speaker 1: to be an open spot, right. I'm just saying, FIFA,
Speaker 1: if you want to hook South Africa up with that spot.
Speaker 1: You know, we've never invaded another country. You know, we
Speaker 1: barely even have a military. So if you're interested, shoot
Speaker 1: me a dear. I see you, FIVA. So practically every
Speaker 1: democracy in the world right now is coming down hard
Speaker 1: against Russia, and it actually might be having an effect
Speaker 1: because just this morning the two countries held five hours
Speaker 1: of peace talks, which is good, although Russia did continue
Speaker 1: bombing Ukrainian cities the whole time that the peace talks
Speaker 1: are happening, which is not a good sign. I mean,
Speaker 1: bombing a country during your peace talks, it's like bringing
Speaker 1: your side chick to couples therapy doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Yeah,
Speaker 1: she's the problem, but don't get it twisted. Russia is
Speaker 1: feeling the effects of the world camping down, especially the
Speaker 1: economic effects, the value of the Russian ruble hitting an
Speaker 1: all time low this morning, the first business day since
Speaker 1: harsh sanctions were imposed against Moscow for waging war on Ukraine.
Speaker 1: Now European operations for one state owned Russian bank are
Speaker 1: already facing bankruptcy, saying in a press release they're failing
Speaker 1: or likely to fail. Long lines of Russians waiting at
Speaker 1: eight MS after days of punishing sanctions levied on Moscow
Speaker 1: by the West, many Russians are worried their bank cards
Speaker 1: will stop working or that banks will limit cash withdrawals. Well, damn.
Speaker 1: If Putin's goal is to bring back the glory days
Speaker 1: of the Soviet Union, people waiting hours in long lines
Speaker 1: is definitely a start. And please don'tn't get me wrong.
Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong. I don't like the fact that
Speaker 1: ordinary Russians are suffering for what Putin is doing. I
Speaker 1: don't like that. But then again, if they didn't want
Speaker 1: him as president, I mean, they shouldn't have re elected
Speaker 1: him with one seven percent of the vote. But the
Speaker 1: big question now is what will Putin do in the
Speaker 1: face of a cratering economy and a war that is
Speaker 1: not as easy as he probably wanted. Well, apparently his
Speaker 1: plan is to make things a whole lot work Ukraine
Speaker 1: and a dramatic escalation in the crisis there. Russia's military
Speaker 1: confirms this morning that the country's nuclear forces have indeed
Speaker 1: been put on high alert. President Vladimir Putin calls it
Speaker 1: a response to quote aggressive statements by NATO leaders. Mr.
Speaker 1: Putin is becoming even more desperate. It's showing that his
Speaker 1: military progress is failing on the ground that he has
Speaker 1: to resort to this kind of threat. He is pushing
Speaker 1: his inner circle away. We saw him publicly humiliating his
Speaker 1: closest advisors. That's what's most concerning. Nobody there to prevent
Speaker 1: a catastrophic misstep. Oh man, this is not good. Putin
Speaker 1: is threatening by activating whose nuclear What does it even mean?
Speaker 1: He's like getting my nuclear team read for what? For what? Putin?
Speaker 1: You realize this is not a good thing. Putin is
Speaker 1: going nuclear and there's no one there to stop him. See, people,
Speaker 1: this is why every crazy world leader needs a pasty
Speaker 1: son in law by his side. Yeah, keeps them in check,
Speaker 1: because no father in law wants to act the fool
Speaker 1: in front of the man who's banging his daughter. You know, now,
Speaker 1: before you panic, before you panic. I know they said nuclear,
Speaker 1: and I know they said Putin, But please take a breath. Yes,
Speaker 1: the threat of nuclear annihilation may have increased. Yes, we
Speaker 1: may be on the brink of World War three, and
Speaker 1: yes Europe is once again at the mercy of one
Speaker 1: power hungry dictator. But on the bright side, when was
Speaker 1: the last time you thought about COVID? Yeah? But still man,
Speaker 1: this invasion of Ukraine has put the world on edge,
Speaker 1: and it has amounted to one of the most dramatic
Speaker 1: weeks in a really long time. Like I don't know
Speaker 1: about you, but I have been glued to the TV
Speaker 1: all weekend watching all the news everything, and beyond the
Speaker 1: war itself, I will say this. I will say this,
Speaker 1: beyond the war, there's a really interesting thing that I learned,
Speaker 1: and that is a lot of people on TV didn't
Speaker 1: expect a war like this to happen in let's say
Speaker 1: certain neighborhoods. This is not a developing third world nation.
Speaker 1: This is your These are prosperous, middle class people. These
Speaker 1: are not people trying to get away from areas in
Speaker 1: North Africa. They look like any European family that you
Speaker 1: would live next door to. What could be a difference
Speaker 1: here from other conflicts you know that could seem very
Speaker 1: far away, you know, in Africa and Middle East or whatever.
Speaker 1: I mean. These are Europeans that we're seeing being killed.
Speaker 1: This isn't a place with all due respect, you know,
Speaker 1: like a rock or Afghanistan. You know, this is a
Speaker 1: relatively civilized, relatively European I have to choose those words
Speaker 1: carefully to city where you wouldn't expect that or hope
Speaker 1: that it's going to happen. Wow, that was you choosing
Speaker 1: your words carefully. That was the careful version. So what
Speaker 1: were you going to say if you weren't choosing your
Speaker 1: words carefully. I just hope the next time this happens,
Speaker 1: it happens back in the Middle East where it belongs.
Speaker 1: Was here's the thing, people, here's the thing beyond the racism,
Speaker 1: right like, let's let's let's forget the racism, or how
Speaker 1: I wish we could forget about the racism. You don't
Speaker 1: realize that until very recently, fighting crazy wars was Europe's thing.
Speaker 1: That was Europe's entire thing. That's all of European history.
Speaker 1: They even had something called the Hundred Years War. You
Speaker 1: understand how long that is. That's like a decade. They
Speaker 1: got a Nobel Prize because they stopped fighting. Imagine that.
Speaker 1: Now people are gonna be like to see this in
Speaker 1: in Europe to see this, Like I'll tell you no,
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I was shocked to
Speaker 1: see how many reporters around the world, by the way,
Speaker 1: seems to think that it's more of a tragedy when
Speaker 1: white people have to flee their countries, because I guess
Speaker 1: what the darkies were built for it. I mean, you
Speaker 1: see how they run in the Olympics page to clearly
Speaker 1: God has given them this talent for a reason. I
Speaker 1: totally agree. I mean, even if this wasn't a war,
Speaker 1: these people would probably be fleeing their homes for fun.
Speaker 1: It's just who they are. Back to you guys in
Speaker 1: the studio, all right, we have to take a quick break,
Speaker 1: but please don't go away because we've talked about the Russians.
Speaker 1: But when we come back, we're gonna be talking about
Speaker 1: the Ukrainian heroes who are inspiring the world. So don't
Speaker 1: go away, because if you do go away, it needs
Speaker 1: you to support Russia. Because you stayed for the Russian
Speaker 1: part but not the Ukrainian part. You should be ashamed
Speaker 1: of yourself. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Daily Show. Early on we were talking about the global
Speaker 1: fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But obviously the people
Speaker 1: facing the greatest impact from the war are the Ukrainian
Speaker 1: people themselves. Half a million people have been forced to
Speaker 1: leave their homes and they fled to neighboring countries. Hundreds
Speaker 1: of civilians have reportedly been killed, and countless others are
Speaker 1: huddled in basements, bomb shelters, and subway stations to avoid
Speaker 1: Russian missiles that are reigning down on their neighborhoods. In fact,
Speaker 1: one woman even gave birth while she was hiding out
Speaker 1: in the subway, which is terrible. I mean, the only
Speaker 1: leave still, the lining I could think was that at
Speaker 1: least it wasn't a New York subway, you know, because
Speaker 1: that newborn would have been kicked by a subway dance
Speaker 1: and then arrested for not paying their fair. But still,
Speaker 1: there is no doubt that this war has been devastating
Speaker 1: for Ukraine. But at the same time, it's also clear
Speaker 1: that Putin has failed miserably in his attempt to break
Speaker 1: the country's spirit. Because I don't know about you, man,
Speaker 1: but I've been on Twitter basically NonStop since this war started,
Speaker 1: just refreshing, refreshing, refreshing, you know, doing my part so
Speaker 1: I've seen all the videos coming out of this war,
Speaker 1: and trust me, Ukrainians are not messing around the troops
Speaker 1: defending Ukraine's Snake Island, as it's called in the Blacks.
Speaker 1: He instantly became the country's first heroes of the resistance
Speaker 1: thanks to this stunning exchange with Russian forces. This clip
Speaker 1: shows a man it looks like he's carrying an anti
Speaker 1: tank mine. He did this wild managing to keep his
Speaker 1: cigarette in his mouth. This is the sort of extraordinary
Speaker 1: resistance Russia is facing. Here, one hundred miles northeast of Kiev,
Speaker 1: a man tries to block a Russian tank. He kneels
Speaker 1: in front of it, determined to stop it in its tracks.
Speaker 1: US officials believe this will be a pyric victory for
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin, symbolized by that Ukrainian grandmother who confronted the
Speaker 1: Russian soldier. After berating him, she handed him some sunflower
Speaker 1: seeds to put in his pocket and then said she
Speaker 1: looks forward to seeing sunflowers grow when his dead body
Speaker 1: lies down on Ukrainian soil. Okay, I'm not a military
Speaker 1: strategist at all, but if a grandmother hands me seeds
Speaker 1: and tells me that sunflowers will bloom from my corpse.
Speaker 1: I think it's time to retreat. And also love how
Speaker 1: her aggression we're still on brand for a grandma, Like
Speaker 1: she's wishing him death, yes, but she's also doing gardening
Speaker 1: at the same time. You know, the only way we
Speaker 1: could have been more grandma is if she used his
Speaker 1: blood to spell out a message asking why her grandson
Speaker 1: isn't married yet, and you know, just by the way,
Speaker 1: just by the way. One of the strangest experiences of
Speaker 1: the modern world is following a war on social media
Speaker 1: because all the other stuff on social media doesn't go away,
Speaker 1: It just gets mixed in together, like my my whole
Speaker 1: timeline this week was Ukrainian civilians picking up weapon, rocket
Speaker 1: hitting a building, uncut jobs, tanks rolling into Kiev. I'm
Speaker 1: cut jobs, uniting the people of Ukraine. Did I say
Speaker 1: I'm cut jobs? But those people that we're seeing in Ukraine,
Speaker 1: those are the ones who have just gone viral. One
Speaker 1: of the reasons Ukraine has been able to put up
Speaker 1: such a fierce resistance to Russia is because everybody, and
Speaker 1: I mean everybody is stepping up and joining the fights
Speaker 1: across this country. We've seen volunteers who've taken up arms,
Speaker 1: while other I'm making molotov cocktails, including this group of
Speaker 1: women who have set up an assembly line. Painter Natasha
Speaker 1: tak Chenko says she's put down her brush now mastering
Speaker 1: the art of making a Molotov cocktail. Hounkering down with
Speaker 1: her neighbors in the parking garage of their apartment building
Speaker 1: turned bomb shelter and makeshift factory. Similar scenes across the
Speaker 1: country how to instructions broadcast on state TV. Even the
Speaker 1: former Prime minister now going viral with his demonstration the
Speaker 1: government encouraging all Ukrainians to take up arms and fight.
Speaker 1: This man leaves with two a K forty seven's, even
Speaker 1: though he's never fired a gun. Do you know how
Speaker 1: to use that? To tell the truth? I am not
Speaker 1: good at it, but I understand. I just need to
Speaker 1: to have some to find some quiet place and figure
Speaker 1: out how it works. Wow. Can you believe it? That
Speaker 1: guy was just given two assault rifles even though he
Speaker 1: has never fired a guy? I mean, if you're American
Speaker 1: you can believe it, of course, But for everyone else
Speaker 1: in the world, this is crazy and how insane is
Speaker 1: it that Ukrainian public television is actually teaching people, teaching
Speaker 1: people how to make Molotov cocktails. You understand how I'm
Speaker 1: saying that is right? Like, imagine if during the Cuban
Speaker 1: missile crisis, Mr Rogers had come out like, all right, kids,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna show you how to kill your communist neighbor. Now,
Speaker 1: when you talk about Ukrainian stepping up to this moment,
Speaker 1: one big part of this resistance movement is Ukraine's president himself,
Speaker 1: Vladimia Zelenski, who, by the way, nobody thought would be
Speaker 1: able to lead his country like even less so in
Speaker 1: a war against Russia. Right. And the reason people had
Speaker 1: their doubts is because just four years ago Zelenski wasn't
Speaker 1: even in politics. He was a comedian. Yeah, he was
Speaker 1: acting in TV shows, busting moves on, Dancing with the
Speaker 1: Stars and this is completely real. This is completely real.
Speaker 1: He even showed up on a TV show where he
Speaker 1: pretended to play the piano with his penis. See this
Speaker 1: is why I always wipe down the piano with life
Speaker 1: soul before I play. Yeah, I don't want my penis
Speaker 1: touching the same keys as someone else. But you see
Speaker 1: that guy, see that guy, you watched that clip, You like,
Speaker 1: that's ridiculous. He's the president of Ukraine right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's the guy who has to rally his country against
Speaker 1: an overwhelming Russian invasion. And despite everyone's doubts and everything
Speaker 1: that they thought he would be, this man has more
Speaker 1: than stepped up to the occasion. With his country in crisis,
Speaker 1: Ukraine's president, to Vladimir Zelenski, is the very definition of
Speaker 1: leading from the front, sharing videos of himself on the
Speaker 1: street to reassure his people that he's still in the country.
Speaker 1: The more he's braving Russian missiles and air strikes and
Speaker 1: telling Ukrainians, you are strong, you are unbroken. He reportedly
Speaker 1: turned down a US offer to help him evacuate, saying
Speaker 1: I need ammunition, not a ride. Damn as hell against
Speaker 1: I need ammunition, not a ride that's some action movie
Speaker 1: ship right there. Meanwhile, Trump was hiding underground when people
Speaker 1: came with placards to the White House. There's so many
Speaker 1: words out there, hide me. And you gotta give Zelenski
Speaker 1: credit for refusing to flee the country, because that's not
Speaker 1: just breat for a comedian. That's great for any leader,
Speaker 1: any leader. I mean, when was the last time you
Speaker 1: saw something like this right. Most of the time, when
Speaker 1: leaders are in danger of getting overthrown or there's a
Speaker 1: war something, they're the first ones to grab a suitcase
Speaker 1: full of cash and bounce. Yeah, they'll be like, we
Speaker 1: must defend this country to the death. Your death, though,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna Switzerland. But Zelenski, no, he's standing his ground
Speaker 1: and maybe even going down with the ship, which has
Speaker 1: turned him into an international hero. So for more on this,
Speaker 1: let's go out now to an of the hero, our
Speaker 1: very own, Michael Costa, who is reporting live from the
Speaker 1: center of the conflict in Ukraine. Michael, can you hear
Speaker 1: me right now? And most importantly, are you safe? Yes, Trevor,
Speaker 1: I'm safe. Thanks for asking. War as hell, but I
Speaker 1: am doing the best that I can. Well, I'm sorry, Michael.
Speaker 1: Is that the Eiffel Tower behind you? Are you? Are
Speaker 1: you in Paris? Aren't you? Aren't you supposed to be
Speaker 1: in Kiv? Oh? No way, man, there's a war over there,
Speaker 1: haven't you heard? Paris is as close as I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get to all that. It's not like it's so easy
Speaker 1: here either. The waiters are so rude. Michael. I'm disappointed
Speaker 1: in you. Come. We spoke, I thought you were going
Speaker 1: like man, especially after seeing how brave presidents Zelensky has been,
Speaker 1: you should be as brave. You're a fellow comedian. You
Speaker 1: should be proud of the example that he's setting. Proud.
Speaker 1: This Lensky thing is a disaster for us, Trevor. People
Speaker 1: are gonna see this comedian being brave, and they're gonna
Speaker 1: think we're all brave. I did not become a comedian
Speaker 1: to be brave. I became a comedian to eat free
Speaker 1: chicken fingers at comedy clubs. If a Russian ever threatened me,
Speaker 1: I would not be standing my ground. I'd be learning
Speaker 1: how to make borsh the way that he likes it.
Speaker 1: Another one, but this time a white one. Well you
Speaker 1: know what, Kosta, I'm disappointed, and that is just you,
Speaker 1: my friend, because I'm a comedian and I'm inspired by
Speaker 1: Zelensky stepping up to fight. Really, so you want my
Speaker 1: train ticket to Keiths so you can fight on the
Speaker 1: front lines. Well, I mean, I think I have more
Speaker 1: value here at the show, you know, getting the wood
Speaker 1: out to the people, informing them a blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: Admit it, you're a coward. There's no world leader inside
Speaker 1: of you. Trevor, it's just more chicken fingers. Okay, fine,
Speaker 1: I'm not brave either, but I still think it's inspiring
Speaker 1: to see one of our own be brave. You know, Trevor,
Speaker 1: you're not really grasping what's at stake here. It's not
Speaker 1: just about fighting in wars. After seeing Zelensky, people are
Speaker 1: going to expect comedians to do all sorts of selfless acts, now,
Speaker 1: stopping crime, responding to amber alerts. Just this morning, someone
Speaker 1: asked me to hold the elevator. I'm still shaking from that.
Speaker 1: Just imagine if I had actually held it for well,
Speaker 1: you know something, Kosta. I think that, in your own way,
Speaker 1: you actually are brave. Yeah. I mean not many people
Speaker 1: would have the guts to sound like that much of
Speaker 1: an asshole on TV. I'm actually really inspired. Thank you, Trevor.
Speaker 1: I I appreciate you know, and and when you put
Speaker 1: it that way, I I am sort of a hero.
Speaker 1: So if you excuse me, I just saw an old
Speaker 1: woman fall and I gotta get out of here before
Speaker 1: she asked me for help. So inspiring, Michael, thank you
Speaker 1: so much. All Right, when we come back, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be talking more about the war in Ukraine. With foreign
Speaker 1: policy expert Samantha Powell. So don't go away? Did he
Speaker 1: pay his bill before he left? Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Daily Show. My guest tonight is Samantha Power, administrator of U.
Speaker 1: S a I d. And a member of President Biden's
Speaker 1: National Security Council. She joins us from Brussels to talk
Speaker 1: about the war in Ukraine. Administrative Power, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining us on the show. Thank you for
Speaker 1: having me. You know, it's really crazy how the last
Speaker 1: time I spoke to you was actually on the Daily Show.
Speaker 1: This was pre um you know, all of this happening.
Speaker 1: I think it was even pre pandemic. And one of
Speaker 1: the questions I asked you was about Russia. You responded
Speaker 1: saying that Russia is a constant threat, and it seems
Speaker 1: like that has come true. If that's the case, my
Speaker 1: first question to you is how did you see it
Speaker 1: coming and and how did the US seem to not
Speaker 1: do what it could have done or was this something
Speaker 1: that was inevitable. It's it's a great question. And I
Speaker 1: will say that I was you an ambassador under Barack
Speaker 1: Obama in his second term, and we could find pockets
Speaker 1: of cooperation. But for me What really made clear that
Speaker 1: Russia was heading in a different direction and it had
Speaker 1: great consequences for humanity was the Serial crisis, and particularly
Speaker 1: you might remember the bombing of Aleppo, which was, like
Speaker 1: before it, the bombing of Grosney in Chechnya, internal to Russia.
Speaker 1: So suddenly Russia, outside of its borders was backing, yes,
Speaker 1: a regime of government that was also a member state
Speaker 1: of the United Nations, pulverizing civilians. First time I ever
Speaker 1: heard the phrase, Trevor fake news, which has now become
Speaker 1: a staple, was the Russian ambassador at the United Nations
Speaker 1: talking about claim making a set of false claims about
Speaker 1: what was happening in Syria and about how all they
Speaker 1: were doing is neutralizing terrorists. And it was the first
Speaker 1: time they were asking us not to believe what we
Speaker 1: saw with our own with our own eyes. And then
Speaker 1: of course we had the interference in the twenty six election,
Speaker 1: which was so systematic. So when you ask where are
Speaker 1: things going, I mean they have obviously turned now in
Speaker 1: the darkest direction imaginable, galvanizing the democratic world, but well
Speaker 1: beyond that, I mean galvanizing statements also from for example,
Speaker 1: the African countries that Latin American countries and others in
Speaker 1: the world who are who are just saying enough, you know,
Speaker 1: cannot pulverize civilians in this way. You can't try to
Speaker 1: take over a country just because you want to make
Speaker 1: your own country bigger, like that's not okay and um,
Speaker 1: but it's been a reality check I think for for
Speaker 1: a lot of countries and publics around the world who
Speaker 1: didn't realize that it it had gotten this bad From from
Speaker 1: a layman's perspective, it feels like the world isn't a
Speaker 1: place where either countries are afraid of Russia or you know,
Speaker 1: let's say, for instance, Germany or many countries around Europe,
Speaker 1: they're so dependent on Russia for its its energy, um,
Speaker 1: you know, providing energy. Uh, they saw the dependence on
Speaker 1: Russia for wheat, et cetera. It feels like the world
Speaker 1: is in a position where they can chastise Russia, but
Speaker 1: they can't actually do anything to Russia. Is there something
Speaker 1: the world could do When we were warning about the
Speaker 1: true build up on the other side of the Ukraine, Uh,
Speaker 1: there were you know, some countries within Europe that we're questioning,
Speaker 1: you know, is that is that really true? Would could
Speaker 1: really do it, and and it was kind of a
Speaker 1: little bit of wishful thinking in the sense of you
Speaker 1: don't want to have to impose those costs. You don't
Speaker 1: want to do them also to the Russian economy, And
Speaker 1: nobody wants to goes into wakes up in the morning
Speaker 1: and says, you know, I want to inflict severe economic
Speaker 1: pain on another country. Well, the invasion itself has produced
Speaker 1: a degree of unity and a willingness to go further
Speaker 1: than we have seen Europe ever be willing to go,
Speaker 1: and to bear those costs potentially to their own economies
Speaker 1: at least in the short term. Certainly major questions now
Speaker 1: about their energy sources and energy prices. Are those going
Speaker 1: to be up. But they basically said what he is
Speaker 1: doing is intolerable and we are going to bear some
Speaker 1: of those spillover effects because we have to inflict a
Speaker 1: degree of punishment here in the hopes of getting him
Speaker 1: right now at the beginning. You know, it's only been
Speaker 1: going for less than a week, but to get him
Speaker 1: to step away from this reckless, devastating course of action,
Speaker 1: and you know, the kinds of steps that have been
Speaker 1: taken just in the last forty eight hours go so
Speaker 1: far beyond what most observers thought was conceivable for just
Speaker 1: the reason you say, this kind of mutually assured destruction
Speaker 1: interconnectedness of the energy market and of our economic system large.
Speaker 1: But the swift sanction is the most severe sanction that
Speaker 1: one can impose, you know, cutting off the U S citizens,
Speaker 1: European citizens ability to do business with the Russian Central Bank.
Speaker 1: That was something that until forty eight hours ago, I
Speaker 1: think President Putin still thought he was going to be
Speaker 1: able to draw upon. Now again, what needs to happen
Speaker 1: is then that the elites around Putin, who also have
Speaker 1: an awful lot to lose from the severity of these
Speaker 1: unprecedented sanctions with so many countries behind them, is that
Speaker 1: those elites, you know, need to chime chime in and
Speaker 1: do everything in their power to affect a calculus that's
Speaker 1: so far on Putiny part hasn't shown a lot of
Speaker 1: regard for the welfare of the Russian people. This is
Speaker 1: Putin's m oh and so that's the question of the
Speaker 1: people around him, and and when his cost benefit calculus
Speaker 1: is going to be affected by all of this, and
Speaker 1: and the sanctions that have been brought online and the unity,
Speaker 1: you know, make it the cost much more evident to
Speaker 1: him than I think anybody expected, including perhaps him. It
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like China has condemned Russia. They put out
Speaker 1: vague statements that sort of say, we just believe that
Speaker 1: everyone should be able to determine their borders, which you
Speaker 1: could almost read both ways. Funny enough, Um, is there
Speaker 1: a possibility that unless Russia stands up? You know, I mean,
Speaker 1: unless China stands up? Is there a possibility that that
Speaker 1: the world could almost push Russia to China and then
Speaker 1: trade in Asia just becomes Russia's way out? Or do
Speaker 1: you think the sanctions aren't going to be enough to
Speaker 1: get Russia to come to the table. Well, First of all, all,
Speaker 1: Russia's economy is massively dependent on Europe and the United States,
Speaker 1: as is Russian manufacturing UH and so many of the
Speaker 1: industries that keep the economy aflow, and so the dollar
Speaker 1: economy is still the animating force of the of the
Speaker 1: global economy. Um. I think when it comes to China's reaction,
Speaker 1: first of all, because of the relationship the President Putin
Speaker 1: and President she have have built a relationship predicated on
Speaker 1: UH not wanting any country to question what they are
Speaker 1: doing to their own people, um, you know, wanting to
Speaker 1: be able to crack down and repress and round people up.
Speaker 1: I mean that is something they have in common and
Speaker 1: that has brought them together, among among other dynamics. But
Speaker 1: given the the increasing closeness of that relationship, UM, many
Speaker 1: people expected that China would join Russia in vetoing you
Speaker 1: a recent UN Security Council resolution condemning what is happening,
Speaker 1: and instead, to your point, China just said, actually, we're
Speaker 1: going to abstain, um, and we're gonna say all parties
Speaker 1: should you know, have cooler heads or whatever. And so
Speaker 1: I actually think that it doesn't look like isolation. Of course,
Speaker 1: we think it's outrageous that that any country would would
Speaker 1: miss an opportunity to condemn, you know, a full on
Speaker 1: invasion of its neighbors. So an abstention is not the
Speaker 1: desired uh posture that that we would wish, you know,
Speaker 1: China or any members state of the United Nations to take.
Speaker 1: At the same time, it is a signal to putin
Speaker 1: that China is not attaching, uh it's massed to this sale.
Speaker 1: Uh you know that it is. It is putting some
Speaker 1: distance in there. And that, Trevor, I think is partly
Speaker 1: also because China has its own global project that it
Speaker 1: has embarked upon. China sees that the rest of the
Speaker 1: world is horrified UH, and that the rest of the
Speaker 1: war really has brought a degree of UH empathy and
Speaker 1: outrage to what Russia has done, and so China is
Speaker 1: a self interested actor in that world as well and
Speaker 1: looking out for its own standing well administrative Paul, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for taking the time. I know you're
Speaker 1: dealing with the crisis on the ground talking to many
Speaker 1: of these people. Hopefully it will be resolved sooner than later.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you for joining me on the show. Thank you, Trevor. Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break, but we'll be right
Speaker 1: back after this. Well that's our show for tonight, but
Speaker 1: before we go, as you've seen, families in Ukraine are
Speaker 1: fleeing violence and urgently need emergency aid. CARES Immediate Crisis
Speaker 1: Response aims to reach four million people, prioritizing women and
Speaker 1: girls and families and the elderly. So if you can,
Speaker 1: please donate at the link below to rush urgently needed water, food,
Speaker 1: hygiene kits and ongoing support in Ukraine until tomorrow. Stay
Speaker 1: safe out there, get your vaccine, and remember, be the
Speaker 1: Zelinsky in your group of friends, not the Putin. Watch
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