Late-night hosts on Thursday discussed the upcoming talks between the Trump administration and the North Korean leader, Kim Jung-un, the likelihood Michael Cohen will flip on Donald Trump, and the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks.
Stephen Colbert
“Everyone is talking about Donald Trump’s potentially epic summit with Kim Jong-un,” Stephen Colbert began. “It’s the dispute of the ill-fitting suits. It’s the men with the nukes putting up their dukes.”
“The stakes are huge,” the host continued, adding that Trump, according to reports, sees the North Korea crisis as his “Great Man” of history moment. “The greatest presidents end up on our currency. Donald Trump could end up on our hush money.”
According to a source from Axios, Trump has said of the meeting: “Just get me in the room with the guy and I’ll figure it out.”
“He’s going to wing it with a nuclear madman,” replied Colbert. “It’s like your surgeon going, ‘We’re just going to open you up and improvise.’
Moving on to the president’s escalating legal troubles, Colbert said: “There are some doubts about the president’s current attorney and man-who’s-definitely-seen-the-Trump-sex-tape, Michael Cohen. Apparently, Trump and his advisers are increasingly worried that Cohen might be susceptible to cooperating with federal prosecutors.
“One Trump team lawyer says Cohen’s loyalty depends on how much prison time he’s facing,” Colbert explained. He quoted from a Politico report in which a source said that, faced with just two to four years in prison, “Michael Cohen would be a stand-up guy. I think he’d tell them to go piss up a rope.” The source added: if “it’s 18 to 22, then how loyal is he?”
“Michael Cohen disclosed Sean Hannity’s name in court after being asked twice,” Colbert shot back. “He’s not five minutes loyal.
“Let’s just pause a moment to notice that they have jumped immediately to whether Michael Cohen will turn state’s evidence against the president of the United States to avoid jail time, which everybody believes is coming for at least one of these guys,” Colbert concluded. “The word innocent is nowhere in this conversation.”
Trevor Noah
Meanwhile, Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah discussed the ongoing controversy involving two black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, who were arrested for trespassing at a Starbucks while waiting to meet a friend.
“If you’re a black person, you’re probably buzzing from some great news right now,” Noah began. “Kendrick Lamar just won a Pulitzer prize for music, the first time this award has gone to someone not in classical music or jazz. Other great news: Beyoncé tore the roof off Coachella. And guys, this was the blackest performance at the whitest festival.
“All in all, it feels like a great couple of days for black America,” the host continued. “But unfortunately, if you’re a black person who is not on stage, not everything is going your way.”
Two black men waiting to meet someone are arrested at Starbucks: https://t.co/XZ9bizj6mb pic.twitter.com/Jm9xhNKYRT
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) April 17, 2018
Noah then showed news coverage regarding Nelson and Robinson, who arrived at a Philadelphia Starbucks for a business meeting and were denied access to the restroom because it was only for paying customers. Moments later, a white store employee called 911 and police arrived on the scene to arrest the men.
“How crazy is this? Two men arrested for waiting to meet someone at Starbucks,” Noah said. “There are some people saying, ‘Well, why were these guys in Starbucks doing nothing?’ Because that’s what Starbucks is for!”
Noah continued: “If I can get serious for just a minute here: do you have any idea what it does to a person’s dignity to be arrested … by bike cops? Someone calls the cops on you, and instead of driving up with sirens wailing all bad-ass, they’re like ding, ding, ding ding.
“America clearly has a problem with policing and black people,” the host added. “On the one hand, you have people calling the police because they see black people as inherently threatening. And then you have police who only know how to respond to a call with an arrest or violence.”
