Jon Stewart Sits Down with CNN's Kaitlan Collins After Trump's Public Insults at Correspondents' Dinner

[00:00] JON STEWART: Let me ask you

[00:01] a question.

[00:03] [LAUGHTER]

[00:05] Go on.

[00:07] [LAUGHTER]

[00:08] How-- how was your weekend?

[00:09] [LAUGHTER]

[00:11] What'd you-- what'd you do?

[00:12] Anything fun?

[00:13] It was good.

[00:14] It was quiet.

[00:15] JON STEWART: Was quiet.

[00:16] No, it wasn't.

[00:17] Was that-- that was

[00:19] Friday night.

[00:20] Yeah.

[00:22] [LAUGHS]

[00:24] There are times when I watch

[00:25] him, and I think to myself,

[00:28] this can't be real.

[00:31] Like, this can't be America.

[00:34] America.

[00:35] You've heard of us.

[00:36] We're great.

[00:37] Been here.

[00:38] You've been here for years.

[00:39] 34 years.

[00:41] Yes.

[00:42] We're the-- we're number one.

[00:43] We're the best-- that guy

[00:44] runs us?

[00:46] What?

[00:47] In the room that night,

[00:49] did it feel surreal?

[00:51] Did it-- was he bombing as hard

[00:52] as it appeared on the TV?

[00:55] You know, I've covered Trump

[00:56] for 10 years.

[00:57] And so I've listened to pretty

[00:59] much all of his speeches for

[01:00] 10 years,

[01:01] with very little exception.

[01:02] And so I actually think it's

[01:04] helpful for other people

[01:05] to be able to listen to them

[01:08] in their entirety, which

[01:09] people really don't that much

[01:10] these days.

[01:11] In the room, I think--

[01:13] I was not surprised when he

[01:14] insulted me.

[01:15] That happens pretty regularly

[01:16] inside the Oval Office.

[01:18] This is just a bigger venue

[01:19] where it was happening.

[01:20] What was most surprising to me

[01:22] was, the room was filled

[01:23] with a lot of his staffers,

[01:25] his cabinet, his allies,

[01:27] Republicans in Congress.

[01:28] It was so quiet in the room

[01:30] during the president's remarks.

[01:32] Because of how much they

[01:33] respect him.

[01:34] [LAUGHTER]

[01:37] Who's to say?

[01:39] Hard to tell, really.

[01:42] In your mind, having--

[01:44] first of all, what do you think

[01:47] is going on

[01:49] with his relationship to you?

[01:51] You are-- I have to give you

[01:52] a great amount of credit.

[01:54] You are unflappable in those--

[01:56] you ask very

[01:57] straightforward questions.

[01:58] I have-- I've written some

[01:59] stuff down about, like--

[02:02] you've asked it about--

[02:04] you pardoned the founder

[02:05] of Binance, all

[02:07] these different things.

[02:08] You're asking about that,

[02:09] a very straightforward question

[02:11] about why he pardoned

[02:12] this gentleman, who now has

[02:14] an involvement in his family's

[02:16] crypto business

[02:17] or had helped promote it.

[02:19] His answer to you on that was

[02:21] he-- you said to him, "This guy

[02:23] admitted to his crimes."

[02:24] Trump said to you, "You don't

[02:26] know much about crypto.

[02:28] You know nothing about nothing.

[02:30] You're fake news."

[02:32] [LAUGHTER]

[02:33] But he didn't answer

[02:34] the question.

[02:35] No.

[02:36] And then he said he didn't

[02:37] really know who the person was.

[02:39] Right.

[02:41] Why-- you are very

[02:42] straightforward with him.

[02:43] You don't play coy.

[02:45] You don't frame it in

[02:46] gotcha ways.

[02:48] And he just-- you're

[02:50] a terrible person.

[02:51] You're a stupid person.

[02:52] You don't smile.

[02:54] When that's done, does

[02:55] someone-- is there an office

[02:57] of, like, smoothing things out

[02:59] that comes to your office

[03:00] and says--

[03:02] like in a bar, when your friend

[03:03] gets in a fight,

[03:04] like, hey, man, he's drunk.

[03:05] Like, I'm so sorry.

[03:06] Like--

[03:07] [LAUGHTER]

[03:09] What do they do?

[03:11] Are they embarrassed?

[03:12] You know, but that's

[03:13] why I asked the questions

[03:15] the way I do,

[03:16] is because I want anyone

[03:17] to be able to listen to what

[03:19] I'm asking,

[03:20] whether that's at a briefing

[03:21] or during a moment

[03:22] with the president, and think,

[03:24] I want to know the answer

[03:25] to that too.

[03:26] Or that is a good question.

[03:28] I don't want it to only serve

[03:29] one audience or one

[03:30] political leaning.

[03:31] I want anyone, from my family

[03:33] in Alabama

[03:34] to people in the White House

[03:35] to people in Washington,

[03:36] to be able to hear that answer

[03:37] or hear that question

[03:38] and think, what is the answer

[03:39] to that?

[03:40] And--

[03:42] Well, the answer is,

[03:43] very clearly, you should

[03:44] smile more.

[03:45] [LAUGHTER]

[03:47] It's the answer to all

[03:48] the questions.

[03:50] [LAUGHTER]

[03:52] I want to ask you--

[03:53] this is--

[03:54] [CHEERING, APPLAUSE]

[03:57] It's-- it's stunning to me.

[03:59] [APPLAUSE]

[04:01] We were watching-- when he was

[04:03] doing that, you sitting next

[04:04] to Wolf Blitzer.

[04:06] Wolf Blitzer is a

[04:07] 78-year-old man.

[04:08] [LAUGHTER]

[04:10] Not a lot of density

[04:12] in those bones.

[04:13] I know what I'm talking about.

[04:14] I'm in the same position.

[04:15] He looked like he wanted

[04:17] to go up there and shake him.

[04:19] He was so angry on your behalf.

[04:22] But you don't get angry.

[04:24] How do you maintain that level

[04:27] of detach?

[04:28] Well, first off, can I

[04:29] say about Wolf--

[04:30] Wolf actually picked me up

[04:31] for the dinner that night,

[04:32] and we rode together

[04:34] to go to the dinner.

[04:35] He was presenting the awards

[04:36] that night after he was

[04:37] supposed to do them back

[04:38] in April, when--

[04:39] He still has his license?

[04:41] [LAUGHTER]

[04:43] Wolf is an excellent driver.

[04:46] But we went to the

[04:47] dinner together.

[04:49] And Wolf and I were really

[04:50] good friends.

[04:51] He was one of the first people

[04:52] that I met when I worked

[04:53] at-- when I started at CNN.

[04:55] And he's called me every day

[04:56] since Friday.

[04:57] And he's just a dear friend.

[04:58] But actually, one of the best

[04:59] parts of the dinner

[05:00] was Wolf reading

[05:01] the descriptions of the awards.

[05:03] JON STEWART: In front of him.

[05:04] And why-- why people, why

[05:05] the reporters got them, you

[05:07] know, my colleagues, who also

[05:08] did esteemed reporting, great

[05:10] reporting, and deserved

[05:11] those awards.

[05:12] And so I loved hearing Wolf

[05:14] read the descriptions of what

[05:15] they were

[05:16] and why people got them.

[05:18] In terms of my reaction,

[05:20] I've always felt this,

[05:22] regardless of who's

[05:23] the president,

[05:24] whether it's Joe Biden, Donald

[05:25] Trump-- those are the two

[05:26] I've covered.

[05:27] It's really not about me.

[05:29] And I don't want it to be

[05:31] about my reaction.

[05:33] And so I think if you let

[05:34] it become about that,

[05:36] then it becomes a back

[05:37] and forth between the two

[05:38] of us.

[05:39] And instead, I think it's more

[05:40] effective to remind people

[05:41] in those moments, when he is

[05:42] insulting me

[05:43] or when he is criticizing me,

[05:45] about the question I asked

[05:46] or the reporting

[05:47] that I did that he was so

[05:48] angry about in this moment.

[05:50] And the fact that I got

[05:51] an award for it really bothered

[05:52] him, clearly.

[05:53] And so I just think

[05:54] in those moments,

[05:55] it's important to put

[05:56] the reminder back on the work,

[05:57] on the question,

[05:59] and on the non-answers

[06:00] that we get.

[06:02] JON STEWART: It's-- and you do

[06:04] it very well.

[06:05] [CHEERING, APPLAUSE]

[06:08] AUDIENCE MEMBER: Whoo!

[06:12] And I-- and I appreciate

[06:15] that answer.