morning at 4:30 am. we get you updated on the pg&e shutdowns. what neighborhoods will be affected and for how long. have a good night. we will see you tomorrow. captioning sponsored by cbs >> a second whistleblower has come forward claiming to have knowledge of president trump's dealings with ukraine. attorney andrew bakaj tweeted today saying his firm is now representing two whistleblowers. >> and now, "the late show" presents, the whistleblowers! ♪ ♪ ( laughter ) ( laughter )

( cheers and applause ) >> announcer: it's "the late show" with stephen colbert! tonight, the betrayal. plus stephen welcomes neil degrasse tyson and ambassador susan rice, featuring jon batiste and "stay human." and now live on tape from the ed sullivan theater in new york city, it's stephen colbert! ( cheers and applause ) ( theme song playing )

whoo! thank you so much, everybody! welcome to "the late show." i'm your host stephen colbert. ( cheers and applause ) i have a simple but extremely important question -- can we take away donald trump's phone? ( laughter ) or, if he has to have one, could it be this one? ( laughter ) 'cause everything he does with his phone is bad. tweeting, talking, sexually harassing it. ( laughter ) (as trump) "siri, what are you wearing?" ( laughter ) here's how his phone makes things worse -- yesterday, after a phone call between trump and turkish strongman recep erdogan, the president announced that the u.s. is withdrawing troops from northern syria posts, leaving kurdish allies to face turkey. this is a complete betrayal of the kurdish fighters who helped the u.s. defeat isis, and there's only one way out of this.

kurds, you've got 24 hours to dig up dirt on joe biden. ( laughter ) ( cheers and applause ) i'm not the only one who's alarmed. so is south carolina senator and possum you've trapped at the bottom of a garbage can lindsey graham. ( laughter ) graham is normally a reliable trump toady, but today he said this on fox and friends. >> the kurds stepped up when nobody else would to fight isis. if we abandon them, good luck getting anybody to help america in future. i expect american president to do what is in our national security interest. it is never in our national security interest to abandon an ally who helped us fight isis. >> stephen: look how uncomfortable the fox and friends are, sitting through that. ( laughter ) they're just agoo nicing. jim, zoom in and see what they're thinking. >> national security--

>> oh, my gosh, trump turns on his allies? we're his allies! >> what if we go from fox and friends to fox and enemies? >> hey, now, you're an all-star! get your game on! get paid!" ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: now, we kid. but here's what brian kilmeade actually said: >> what a disaster. the president's statement through stephanie grisham is we defeated the caliphate and the caliphate is destroyed. we would not have done that without the kurds who did all of our fighting. now we are saying, "okay, turks go wipe them out or force them out." what kind of message is that to the next ally that wants to side with us? a disastrous series of events. i hope the president will rethink this. >> stephen: okay, brian, i get what you're saying, but to

re-think something, he has to have thinked it first. i'm not sure the evidence is in on that one. ( chrs and applause ) >> jon: yeah, got to use the brain to think it. >> stephen: but still, i can't believe trump lost brian kilmeade. that's like timmy losing lassie. ( barking ) ( laughter ) he'll be fine. it wasn't just graham and kil killmeade. people on both sides of the aisle unloaded on trump for this betrayal. so trump went on twitter and went full twit, saying that though he's pulling out of syria, "we will be focused on the big picture, knowing we can always go back and blast!" (as trump) "we can go back and blast! we can also bring the boom-booms, the blammo, and if all else fails, multiple kablooies." ( laughter )

but, in defending his actions, he saved the best for worst -- "as i have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if turkey does anything that i, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, i will totally destroy and obliterate the economy of turkey-- i've done before!" ( audience reacts ) >> jon: whoa! >> stephen: what is he talking about? >> stephen: wow, he's gone full god-emperor. (as trump) "it is i, donald the great, of unmatched wisdom and infinite wives, destroyer of casinos, conqueror of 10-piece mcnuggets scourge of chrissy tiegen, defeated only once in battle by my eternal nemesis: umbrella." ( laughter )

( piano riff ) ( applause ) but we can't forget about trump's ukraine scandal. i'll give you the latest in tonight's "don and the giant impeach." ( laughter ) >> it was a really great conversation, and everybody will say that. >> stephen: when it comes to this scandal, it feels like someone's feeding me crazy pills. i mean, we have seen the transcript of the phone call where trump pressures the president of ukraine for dirt on joe biden, but everywhere you look, republicans are saying, "there's nothing wrong with this call. you didn't see what you saw." it's like that scene in "star wars." >> you don't need to see-- >> the transcript. >> we don't need to see-- >> the transcript. >> these are not the-- >> transcript-- >> you're looking for. ( laughter ) >> stephen: and, now, the lawyer -- "star wars." people love "star wars."

( applause ) ( piano riff ) >> stephen: now the lawyer for the whistleblower announced they're representing a second whistleblower. a second whistleblower. they are really starting to build a case that the president did the thing he has repeatedly admitted. ( laughter ) plus, on thursday, house democrats received a series of damning texts that demonstrate how ukraine was pressured before the president's call. in one exchange, former ambassador to ukraine william taylor straight-up asks ambassador to the e.u. gordon sondland whether military aid and a meeting between trump and ukrainian president zelensky are contingent on the biden investigation. taylor says, "are we now saying that security assistance and white house meeting are conditioned on investigations?" to which sondland replies, "call me." ( laughter ) oh, that looks bad. you don't text "call me," if the

phone call is "i just wanted to make sure that no one ever finds out how innocent we are." ( laughter ) no, this was the "call me" you get from your lawyer after you text, "how much meth can i cook and it's still a misdemeanor?" ( laughter ) "call me." ( cheers and applause ) >> jon: i can't relate. >> stephen: they had their phone call, sondland and taylor. then, a few days later, taylor texted "as i said on the phone, i think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," sondland reportedly called trump and then replied, "bill, i believe you are incorrect about president trump's intentions. the president has been crystal clear, no quid pro quos of any kind." that's the way you write a text when you know someone else is going to read it. ( laughter ) "you up?" "susan, you are incorrect in

assuming i am 'up' for late-night extramarital shenanigans. i havecrysn l clear i am not meeting you at the motel 6 at 11:00 p.m. call me." ( laughter ) ( cheers and applause ) got to back up and come back into it again. and it's not just ukraine. remember, last week, trump stood on the white house lawn and said this -- >> china should start an investigation into the bidens. because happed in china is just about as bad as what happened with ukraine. >> stephen: don't admit that ( laughter ) what are you doing? it's like bill clinton saying (as clinton) "i did not have sex with that woman, miss lewinsky. i had sex with all women! there's plenty of me to go around, ladies. belly up to the bubba buffet!" ( laughter ) ( cheers and applause ) >> jon: oh, my! wow!

>> stephen: but just standing out there and bluntly asking china for election help is a tough one for republicans to spin-- but they came up with a terrible excuse, that trump was joking about china investigating the bidens. i just want to point out that i tell jokes for a living, and successful or not, rarely do people i work with have to go on sunday news shows to explain that i was joking. ( laughter ) >> jon: well, except that one time. look, stephen was just joking when he said the president of russia was named "vladamir poopin!" ( piano riff ) s s s take it, bob woodward! >> stephen: thank you. thank you. ( applause ) >> stephen: today trump announced a new trade deal with japan. and he started by thanking the folks who worked on it. >> i would particularly like to recognize zippy! zippy duvall. he's been with us from the beginning. zippy?

zippy? where is my zippy? ( laughter ) now maybe there's somebody named zippy duval, but it really sounds as if trump has gotten so unpopular that he's just making up the names of supporters? (as trump) "zippy duvall? blippity-blop von donglestein? mr. podium q. microphone?" ( laughter ) no, he was very -- ( piano riff ) -- very proud of all the american products we'll be selling in japan. >> 126 million japanese consumers will have greater access to high-quality american almonds, blueberries, corn wine, poultry and egg products, beef, pork, wheat and so much more! >> stephen: always exciting when trump's trade deals match his restaurant orders.

( laughter ) (as trump) "i'll have the almonds, blueberries, corn, poultry and egg products, beef, pork, wheat and so much more. ( laughter ) the lady will have a garden salad." ( laughter ) ( applause ) when questions turned toward his impeachment, he seemed shocked that he was being impeached at all >> you can't impeach a president for doing a great job. you cannot impeach a president for having the lowest and best unemployment numbers we have had in 51 years. you can't impeach a president for tax cuts and regulation cuts. >> stephen: that's true. but you can impeach a president for asking a foreign leader to interfere in our election, and then being dumb enough to release the transcript and brag about it on television. ( cheers and applause ) we've got a great show for you tonight. when we return, neil degrasse tyson. stick around!

( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) ♪ (dramatic orchestra) performance comes in lots of flavors. there's the amped-up, over-tuned, feeding-frenzy-of sheet-metal-kind. and then there's performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. that's the kind lincoln's about. ♪ fishrisotto. buffalo. (buffalo wild wings) gelato. cheesecake. (cheesecake factory) grilled steak. clam bake. milkshake. brussels sprout. sauerkraut. fresh-caught trout. alfalfa sprout. curry. fried turkey.

mcflurry. (mcdonald's) cacciatori. chimichurri. ad-lib: (inhale) spiral ham. blackberry jam. rack of lamb. candied yams. pokes. smokeys. gnocchis. and them banging raviolis. we are america's kitchen. doordash. every flavor welcome. emreplenished,d, fortified. emerge everyday with emergen-c. packed with b vitamins, electrolytes, antioxidants, plus more vitamin c than 10 oranges. why not feel this good every day? emerge and see. 60% of women wear the wrong size pad, and can experience leaks. you don't have to with always my fit try the next size up and get up to 20% better coverage - day or night because better coverage means better protection always. dealing with psoriatic arthritis pain was so frustrating. ♪ my skin... it was embarrassing. my joints... they hurt. the pain and swelling. the tenderness. the psoriasis.

i had to find something that worked on all of this. i found cosentyx. now, watch me. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are getting real relief with cosentyx. it's a different kind of targeted biologic. cosentyx treats more than just the joint pain of psoriatic arthritis. it even helps stop further joint damage. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms. if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. i got real relief. i got clearer skin and feel better. now, watch me. get real relief with cosentyx.

( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) >> stephen: hey, everybody! give it up for jon batiste and "stay human," the band! ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: ladies and gentlemen, my first guest tonight is the director of the hayden planetarium at the american museum of natural history, the host of "star talk" and "cosmos," and the author of the new book, "letters from an astrophysicist." please welcome back to "the late show," neil degrasse tyson!

( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) >> stephen: neil, good to see you again. >> hey, hey. >> stephen: always pleasant. you look at me like you miss my vest or something. >> stephen: i was looking for the vest. i realize it's gone. >> no, no, not today. >> stephen: are you just wearing it underneath the shirt, like a hair shirt? >> yeah, it's underneath the shirt. >> stephen: we were talking backstage before you came out, and people ask me all the time who is my favorite guest on the show and i always say neil tyson, and people always seem to understand that. one of the reasons is you're one of the easiest guests to get on because if i'm lucky, i'll get

in a word edgewise. ( laughter ) my first question is not easy because you haven't been here for a year and in that past year you were accused of sexual misconduct by a few women. i know there were three investigations. >> yeah, that's right. >> stephen: and at the end of those, they did not find any grounds to dismiss you from your jobs at the hayden planetarium or on "star talk" or "cosmos" on fox, but, regardless of that outcome, i can't imagine that was aarcularly satisfying result for you or these women who have said that they're not satisfied by that result. what has this last year been like for you? >> it's been very long, and it's been. been -- when i think about what i valued over that time, it was,

in particular, just the value of support from family, from friends, friends even such as you, even, and especially fans who were there the whole time, and they're there now, receiving all that i do for them, trying to bring the universe down to earth for whoever will listen. >> stephen: i think a lot of people, during the last couple of years of sort of the elevation of the expansion of the #metoo movement have been asking the questions what can we learn from this? what did you learn over the last year, regardless of what the outcome is here, what did you learn? >> yeah, that's what i learned. i learned that i had friends in time of need and in time of stress, that's what i learned from this year. you know, as a scientist, most

of the time i'm just thinking objectively about the world, thinking a little less about emotion, about feelings, about -- and when i needed it most, people were there for me -- again, family, friends and fans, especially fans. >> stephen: and for the fans, as i think i've said to you before, clearly, the audiences love you, and they want to love you, and part of the last year is an emotional response because factually it has been adjudicated but we weren't there. the full results weren't revealed to us. we weren't there for any of the instances and the accusations. it is an emotional experience for everyone involved. >> yeah, sure. but i would you will also say that the fans are -- at least what i try to do with the fan base is try to never be the object of their interest, that it's the universe and i'm just a

conduit to the cosmos for them. so i think of it differently, i think they like learning about science and the universe and i'm a vehicle for that -- >> stephen: well, they piggy back on your enthusiasm. you are a professional enthusiast. when i talk to you, i feel one side of my body is singed by the radio active enthusiasm you have for science. >> if it was radio active, you would lose your arm later in the week. >> stephen: it's still early in the night ( laughter ) >> just f.y.i. >> stephen: i want to talk to you about the universe. one of the things you and i bond on is our love of exploring the unknown. one of the things i have on my computer is the live feed from the international space station. >> very nice. >> stephen: i want to see what's going on on planet earth around there. for weeks now this is what it

says on the i.s.s. feed. it says "previously recorded." ( laughter ) what do they not want us to know, neil tyson? ( cheers and applause ) what are you scientists hiding from us aliens? >> i am not authorized to divulge. ( laughter ) it is true that, if it were aliens, the first thing they would take out is your ability to monitor the oath. so consistent with that. >> stephen: i say to you, ah-ha, neil tyson. >> i'm not saying it is aliens. i am saying if aliens wanted to poke into our situation, they would make us blind athand not have us see what we're up to. >> stephen: i'm saying n.a.s.a. is shut it down so we can't see the aliens, we are being protected from the knowledge by our own governments, like the snakes in the western united states, the cluster of lights off the coast

>> oh, you think the government is competent enough to pull that off. ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: let me tell you -- i'm just saying. >> stephen: -- last week n.a.s.a.'s chief scientist said n.a.s.a. is close to making an announcement about life on mars and we, the human race, are not ready for it. come on, that's saying we know but we're not going to tell you. >> first, i'm worried i'm ready for it and that might mean i'm not part of the human race, given the logic of that sentence. >> stephen: so you're ready for it? >> totally. >> stephen: i'm ready for it, too. >> are you? > ( laughter ) >> stephen: if you weren't ready would you know? if you found out there was even microbial life related to mars maybe the top of your head would blow off.

>> if we found life off earth i would change the human condition that we cannot imagine. >> stephen: we would want to know is it edible. ( laughter ) >> you can imagine entire strains of life that are entirely not edible to us. there are amino acids that have different kirality. >> stephen: what's kirality. they're molecules that are differen a mirr than they are in your hand. they're mirror reflections of each other. >> stephen: are molecules like that? >> some are. >> stephen: are we kiral? ( laughter ) >> you haven't looked in the mirror lately? you don't know your symmetries? ( laughter ) dna turns in one direction, not the other. >> stephen: which way. clockwise up. >> stephen: never counterclockwise. >> not for life on earth, no. so these are things that are different in a mirror. if you find life, it could be --

you might want to eat it, but it would have no nutritional value to you, like fiber. ( laughter ) >> stephen: what do you think -- >> that's true. don't shoot the messenger, goes right through you. ( laughter ) >> stephen: so we're going to find met mus -- metamucil on ma. ( laughter ) >> so astro physically, it is practically as interesting if we found mats of microbial life as it would if it were a green alien with a ray gun because it's life somewhere off of earth, that's the boundary we would be crossing in our quest to convert ignorance into knowledge. >> stephen: do you think that it would unite humanity? >> good point. so i don't know for sure, but i can tell you, given how table we have all been, especially in recent years, where we are finding reasons to separate

ourselves and then fight, to find life somewhere else might be the first occasion to unify earth as a tribe of its own. ( applause ) >> stephen: well, we have to take a little bit of a break. don't go away. back with more neil degrasse tyson, everybody. ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) people with type 2 diabetes ) are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7 and maintained it. oh! under 7? (announcer) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (announcer) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? (announcer) ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles.

do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i discovered the potential with ozempic®. ♪ oh! oh! oh! ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) if eligible, you may pay as little as $25 per prescription. ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. [ soft piano music playing ] mm, uh, what do you do for fun? -not this.

♪ -oh, what am i into? mostly progressive's name your price tool. helps people find coverage opon. flo has it, i want it, it's a whole thing, and she's right there. -yeah, she's my ride. this date's lame. he has pics of you on his phone. -they're very tasteful. he has pics of you on his phone. you sure you don't want me to come with you? i'm very sure. because i can. (laughs) make good choices. you make good choices. i am. fiber is good for digestive health. good choices never tasted so good. kellogg's raisin bran.

( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: hey, everybody! welcome back! we're here with neil degrasse tyson! author of "letters from an astrophysicist." but you're the astrophysicist. these aren't what people wrote to you, this is what you wrote back to people? >> it's both, but it also contains letters i just wrote, one to my parents, one to n.a.s.a. there's a eulogy i wrote in a form of a letter to my father who passed a couple of years ago. i wrote an open letter 2012

because i lived two blocks from ground zero and just to witness that was -- i mean, i get -- i well up just remembering that. my accordance related to that -- my correspondence related to that, and letters to people in search of meaning and they write to me on the hope, and i think i delivered it at least in some of the cases where i can share astrophysicist luminosity on a decision they need to make next. it includes letters from people in prison, there are letters -- what are you doing. >> stephen:. >> stephen: i'm writing the phrase cosmic perspective luminosity. i want to name a band that. ( laughter ) >> i could say shed light on it, but luminosity is what stars do.

it comes out of that. so there's a jewish woman raising a ten-year-old son who's on the autism spectrum and he comes home from hebrew school and says he doesn't believe in god and that he thinks the bible is just stories and she says, where did you get these ideas? and he says, cosmos. >> stephen: are you happy, neil? haven't the jews suffered enough, neil? ( laughter ) i've got to get to this letter. >> another letter. >> stephen: a letter from 2006 -- >> so after that exchange, she invited me to his bar mitzvah. >> stephen: that's nice. that was very nice. >> stephen: everybody knows that you were involved with the demotion of pluto from planet to also ranet. >> get over it. >> stephen: no one's over it, no one forgives you. take a look at. this would you mind reading to

the people what the young person wrote to you here? >> this in the book is reproduced in facsimile, this is from a fourth grader. a missed off fourth grader. ( laughter ) it's in a chapter called hate mail. >> stephen: oh, okay. third grader. dear scien-test. >> stephen: you're mocking a fourth grader? wow! ( laughter ) ( applause ) wow! >> i'm just -- because they don't see the word spelled, i i am enunciating. dear scien-test. what do you call pluto if it's not a planet anymore? if you make it a planet again all the science books will be right. do people live on pluto? if people live there, then they won't exist! why can't pluto be a planet? if it's small, it doesn't mean it doesn't have to be a planet anymore. some people like pluto and if it

doesn't exist they don't have a favorite planet. please write back, but not in cursive because i can't read in cursive. ( laughter ) ( applause ) i just want to know, we dug up that child, she's in college, majoring in environmental studies in florida. so she turned out okay in spite of this. >> stephen: wow, letters from from -- "letters from an astrophysicist" is on sale now. neil degrasse tyson, everybody! good to see you again! we'll be right back with former national security advisor susan rice! ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) [ "turn around, look at me" -the vogues ] ♪ there is someone ♪ walking behind you

♪ turn around ♪ look at me ♪ there is someone ♪ look at me mmm. (chef) ah-hem. hvr seasoning. table 7. keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for hiv in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights hiv with three different medicines to help you get to undetectable. that means the amount of virus is so low

it can't be measured in lab tests. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a build-up of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're hiv-positive, keep loving who you are, inside and out. ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. ♪ don't stop, i can't feel the heat ♪ ♪ yet don't let it catch you whoa! ♪ i can't feel the heat another foodie trip. who even cares? 211 people. thanks, captain obvious.

don't hate-like their trip, book yours with hotels.com and get rewarded basically everywhere. that fish is done, carol. hotels.com. be there. do that. get rewarded. ever since you brought me home, that day. i've been plotting to destroy you. sizing you up... calculating your every move. you think this is love? this is a billion years of tiger dna just ready to pounce. and if you have the wrong home insurance coverage, you could be coughing up the cash for this. so get allstate and be better protected from mayhem, like me-ow.

so get ahey.ate and be better protected ♪hey.mayhem, you must be steven's phone.

now you can take control of your home wifi and get a notification the instant someone new joins your network... only with xfinity xfi. download the xfi app today. ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) >> stephen: hey, everybody! welcome back! ladies and gentlemen -- ( cheers and applause ) oh, my goodness -- folks, my next guest is a diplomat and national security expert who has worked for two presidents and has just written a memoir called, "tough love." please welcome, former national security advisor and ambassador susan rice! ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) >> stephen: nice to see you. nice to talk to you as myself. we talked once in 2011, but i'm

not sure that guy i used to play liked you that much. >> i doubt he did. he wasn't so nice. >> stephen: he was perfectly nice. you just disagreed politically. >> all right, yes. >> stephen: well, you're a perfect person to have on right now. obama's national security advisor for years, our present president has just announce add withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria allowing turkey to come in and really have their way with the kurds who they labeled a terrorist organization. what does this mean to stability in that region? >> stephen, i woke up this morning to hear that news and, as i do, it seems like six days a week, i just put my head in my hands. this is bat (bleep) crazy. ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: for those of us who may not have followed the role of the kurds in helping us

fight against i.s.i.s., why is this? >> let me explain. >> stephen: why is this? because these are the people who, for the last four years, have been fighting on our behalf with our equipment to defeat i.s.i.s., and they have done it with enormous efficacy, and they've sacrificed immensely, and we basically just said to them, see ya, and let the turks who are like the hungry wolf trying to kill the lamb go for it, and it's just appalling because, you know, we promised them our partnership, and we promised them, if they worked with us to defeat our common enemy, but particularly the united states and the western enemy, then we would stand with them, and trump woke up on the wrong side of the bed, it appears, and decided never mind,

which is why, finally, the republicans in congress have gotten a pulse today. >> stephen: even mitch mcconnell has come out against this movement. lindsey graham, mitch mcconnell, people on "fox & friends" were against it, god help us. >> imagine. it must be really, really bad. >> stephen: i'm not in there with the president making these decisions. have you heard any rationale being given for it? because i don't quite understand how he's justifying this. have you heard -- >> there's no justification you or i would understand. he seems to be trying to couch this in we have been at war too long, i'm sick and tired of all this, somebody else should take up the burden, bye. >> stephen: that's not a bad argument on a certain level because america has been at war for a long time, since 2001. >> but these are different wars, to be precise. this is a war that we have been involved in very smartly through these partners. american servicemembers are not

in combat on the ground in syria in any meaningful way. they have been advising and supporting these very brave kurdish allies who have taken the fight to i.s.i.s. on our behalf. that's the smart way to fight terrorism, and that's what we started and what we pursued during the obama administration. trump continued it and, at some point, i guess he decided he'd had enough, but the problem is i.s.i.s. is still there, and when they come back, and when those prisoners that the kurds have been holding on our collective behalf get released supposedly into turkish hands, those are terrorist who will come back and try to harm us and try to harm our european allies. >> stephen: the national security council staff the going to be cut, trump announced, he's going to be cutting the national security council staff. we'll be less safe if that happens. >> well, if trump just gives an

edistrict, cut it -- an edict, cut it arbitrarily by some radical amount, it will be dangerous and it will be detrimental. it's one thing to rationally and wisely reallocate staff and do a thoughtful downsizing, that's what i did under the obama administration -- by the way, not directed by the president of the united states, i did it myself because i thought we could rebalance some jobs here, put more there, take some from here. what trump did, apparently, was get angry at the career professionals who work at the national security council and said, you know, off with their heads. >> stephen: the whistleblower, reportedly, was an intel official assigned to the n.s.c. the president says the whistleblower is a spy. does that description make any sense to you? >> no. i mean, it's part of denigrating the loyal americans who are still serving in our government, thank god. it is one's responsibility, as a

public servant, if you see something wrong or illegal or otherwise immoral to report it, and if that -- if serving your country and prioritizing, you know, the interests of the american people above the interests of an individual leader, even if he's the president, constitutes spying, then, you know, i think that tell us all you need to -- tells you all you need to know about donald trump. he has equated himself with the state and, therefore, nancy pelosi and adam schiff and anybody who questions the legality of his actions is by definition a spy or a traitor. nice. >> stephen: nice guy. are there any times that you've agreed with the president on his foreign policy? what about when he -- ( laughter ) what about when he ordered air strikes against syrian military installations after assad used

chemical weapons against his people gwen? gwen -- again? >> i agreed with that decision to use force which was a limited set of strikes and i advocated for that during the obama administration, and president obama decided that, before he would do that, he thought it was best to get congressional authorization, which ended up not being forthcoming, and he worked to get a deal with the russians that got 13 metric tons of chemical weapons out of syria. when the syrians again used chemical weapons and demonstrated they all didn't come out or they made new ones, i didn't disagree with president trump's decision to use force, but the problem was it was one and done. he used force, he didn't back it up with diplomacy. he could have played -- it's so unfortunate because he's perfect at this, he could have played in 2017 the crazy aunt in the at tick at which point nobody in the world knew what he might do and put the fear of god into the

syrians and the russians that this might be the beginning of something really serious and, instead, he had his senior officials go out the next day and say, thank you very much, that was all well and good, good night, and didn't narrowly up, did the same thing in 2018 with no follow up, so we all felt good for 24 hours -- hey, we stood up, we dropped some bombs on the syrians dr. but at the end of the day, every single ounce of chemical weapons that was in there on the day we struck, if not more, is still there today, so i prefer attend of the day president obama's approach. >> stephen: belle be back with more former national security advisor susan rice and "tough love." almost done, folks!) chics (indistinct cheering and laughing in the background.) that was a funny one! she's the funny one! ♪ (man) my mother was so wrong about you. (man, shouting) honey what are you doing?

(woman, shouting) let's have a harvest party!? (man, shouting) i'll invite my mom! (man) nice! (woman) yeah, we need that. (man) definitely! ♪ all i have to do is dream ( ♪ ) only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol®. for fast pain relief.

so you don't have to stash antacids here.... here... or here. kick your antacid habit with prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. emreplenished,d, fortified. emerge everyday with emergen-c. packed with b vitamins, electrolytes, antioxidants, plus more vitamin c than 10 oranges. why not feel this good every day? emerge and see. fishrisotto. buffalo. (buffalo wild wings) gelato. curry. cacciatori. chimichurri. fried turkey. blueberry. mcflurry. (mcdonald's) cheese cake. (cheesecake factory) grilled steak. clam bake. milkshake. we are america's kitchen. doordash. every flavor welcome.

( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) [flicker of lights] [hum of fan] [sound of door opening] ♪ ♪ i'm not regular ♪ i will not give you regular ♪ ♪ [click, click, click] [click, click, click] [flicker of lights] ♪ i'm not regular ♪ i will not give you regular

only roomba i7+ uses two multi-surface rubber brushes. ♪ and picks up more pet hair than other robot vacuums. and the filter captures 99% of dog and cat allergens. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba™. hendless shrimp even hotter? you bring back nashville hot! oh yeah - it's back. crispy shrimp... ...tossed in a spicy rub... ...and drizzled with sweet amber honey. more shrimp more ways. endless shrimp's just fifteen ninety nine. hurry in. ♪ e*trade core portfolios is an easy, automated way to get invested. we'll save you time by building, monitoring and managing a portfolio for you and provide all hands-on deck support when you need it- helping you become top dog. ♪

seaonly abreva cany to help sget rid of it in... ...as little as 2 1/2 days when used at the first sign. abreva starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. abreva acts on it. so you can too. male voice: grrr, feed me. come on! she won't mind! she won't mind at a... woman: richard? hey, sheila. silence your growl. just one bowl of frosted mini wheats and you're good till lunch. just one bowl of frosted mini wheats ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ blow a kiss, into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on

♪ blow a kiss, into the sun ♪ all we need is somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: hey, everybody! welcome back! we're back here with former national security advisor and author of the new book "tough love" susan rice. did you ever have to be tough with obama? because you're very direct. >> you think? >> stephen: yeah. okay. yeah, you know, there were times when i just had to tell him what for. so, for example, on

st. patrick's day, every year, st. patrick's day is a big deal in the white house. the irish prime minister comes, everybody is wearing green boot nears, it's all very fancy. president of the united states comes down into the oval office for the morning briefing on intelligence and foreign policy and he's wearing this weird tie that's kind of like teal blue with weird flex in it and i said, mr. president, that tie is not green. he's, like, come on, rice, of course it's green. i sort of raised it up to his face and said, man, it's not green, and called for reinforcements from to the staff members and they said, right, it's not green. so he turns around, very annoyed, walks back down to the residence, comes back with a legitimately green tie on. end of that conversation. that was all well and good until next year, literally 365 days later, he comes back with the same old teal necked tie.

>> stephen: is he color blind? i've got to tell you, that question crossed my mind. and i said, man, it's still not green this year, wasn't green last year, not green this year, and he walked back up and not the right tie and, you know, that was, you know, tough love. >> stephen: is any of the story you just told me classified? >> it's not classified, no. >> stephen: now, again, the book is called "tough love." you're very direct now. were you direct and tough at an early age? >> you know, i have been accuse of that, and i think if you pulled my family, some of my teachers, they would tell you that. my mom likes to tell a story on me and i remember this well, when i was about four years old, she took me to this very exclusive school for an interview, and this was a school in washington that she really wand me to get into, and i had already been refusing to answer questions, ignoring everybody. we walk up the hill to the

principal's office and the principal is trying to interview me and i just won't talk, and my mother is mortified. she thinks that, you know, i'm deliberately trying to embarrass her, which probably i was -- ( laughter ) -- and as we're talking out of the office, i notice, over my shoulder, this fish tank which belonged to the principal, and i turn around and i say, hey, lady, your fish is dead. ( laughter ) because i have to floating on top, right? >> stephen: this is all you said? >> it was all i said, but it's enough to get me into the school. it worked! >> stephen: maybe it was a test. ( applause ) susan, so nice to see you again. ( piano riff ) the book is "tough love" and it's available starting tomorrow! former national security advisor susan rice, everybody! we'll be right back! ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) you know when you're at ross and your new fall look

just keeps getting better? check this out! that's yes for less. score a head-to-toe look you'll love and save 20 to 60 percent off departmeto prices. at ross. yes for less.

and you get first dibs on that brand... ...at that price? that's yes for less. seriously, get the fall brands and styles you love and save 20 to 60% off department store prices. at ross. yes for less. >> stephen: that's it for "the late show," everybody. tune in tomorrow when my guests will be will smith and the hot priest himself, andrew scott. now stick around for james corden. good night! captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ♪ are you ready y'all to have some fun ♪ feel the love tonight don't you worry ♪ where it is you come from it'll be all right ♪ it's the late, late show