Hello there. You're about to watch
an episode of The Daily Show.
That means there's some news and some jokes on the way.
So if you like laughing and news,
you're in the right (bleep) place, honey.
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New York City,
the only city in America,
it's The Daily Show.
Tonight,
Rudy revealed,
Will France go Trump?
and Alexander Skarsgård.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
(cheering and applause)
What's going on, everybody?
Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thank you for coming out in person.
-(cheers and applause) -Thank you for being here.
Thanks for joining. Take a seat, everybody.
Take a seat. We have got an exciting show tonight.
Our guest is the star of The Northman, which is
one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year.
And he's shirtless, the whole movie.
Alexander Skarsgård is joining us, everybody.
And then, later on, we're going to be talking about the
big election in France.
It is a very important story.
But don't worry, I will be doing a silly accent, too.
But first, let's jump straight into today's headlines.
-(applause) -♪ ♪
All right, let's kick things off with the big media news.
As you "gnow"-- as you know.
Not "gnow."
There are now more streaming services than hot takes
about Elon Musk, right? There's everything.
There's, there's Netflix, there's Hulu,
there's Paramount+, there's HBO Max, there's Paramount+,
and, of course, everyone's favorite, Paramount+.
And, so, last month,
seeing the gap in the market,
CNN launched its own streaming service
called CNN+.
And this was a big deal.
In fact, they said
it would be the future of news.
And if that's the case,
the future's looking bleak.
Less than a month after launching,
CNN+ announced today
the streaming service is shutting down.
It launched March 29th.
Warner Bros. Discovery networks made that decision, though,
saying it was about quality
and "customers will be best served
with a simpler streaming choice."
Last week, CNBC reported that the streaming service
had less than 10,000 views a day.
About $300 million
has been invested so far in CNN+.
The plan, according to my sources,
was to put a billion dollars into it
over the course of four years,
hoping to hit profit after four years.
Wow. Did they say they had less than 10,000 views a day?
You could have just been on TikTok.
(laughter and applause)
That's wild. CNN+ was such a disaster,
they'll have to send Anderson Cooper to cover it
in a tight black T-shirt.
(laughter and applause)
This is so insane.
The craziest part of the story is that they said
they spent $300 million
on this thing.
$300 million.
What did you do with that?
Did you, like, clone Wolf Blitzer or something?
Look, 'cause if you did that,
I'd actually watch that show. Yeah, I would.
"I've got breaking news."
"No, I've got breaking news."
(screams)
(applause)
But...
But you want to know what the worst part
about this CNN+ thing is?
It's that I can't make jokes about all the shows on it
because nobody knows what they are.
Yeah, it's not fair.
It's not like you're gonna understand a joke
about the CNN+ show Jake Tapper's Book Club
because you don't even know if that's a real show.
But it is.
-(audience questioning) -Or is it?
(laughter)
No, I'm kidding. It's fake, it's fake.
Ah! You believe me! It's actually real!
You see? You don't know!
-That's my point! You don't know! -(applause)
It is a real show. Or it was a real show.
All right, but let's move on
to a different spectacular disaster,
Rudy Giuliani,
former aide to Donald Trump
and lawyer who makes all his clients
look innocent in comparison.
Since his role in the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election,
Giuliani has largely disappeared from public view,
like a snail retreating into its shell
but way more disgusting.
And if there's one thing America loves,
it's a big comeback.
And last night, Rudy got his.
NEWSMAN: A little bit of controversy
on The Masked Singer last night.
Personal lawyer to former President Donald Trump
and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani popped out
of a giant rooster suit
while singing a rendition of "Bad to the Bone."
♪ She could tell right away ♪
♪ That I was bad to the bone. ♪
But as he revealed himself, this is what happened.
Judge Ken Jeong stormed off the stage--
apparently didn't like it-- saying, "I'm done."
Yeah. Rudy Giuliani just got voted off The Masked Singer.
Which means he's about to spend the next five years claiming
that he actually won The Masked Singer.
(gasping, clapping)
And I guess history, history was made last night,
because, for the first time in The Masked Singer's history,
a contestant took off their mask and everyone was like,
"No, no, put it back on. Put it back on.
"Put it on. We don't want to guess.
Put it back on."
(applause)
It's also weird how Rudy has the time to be on a game show
but he's "too busy" to testify in front of Congress.
Like, maybe they should've just tricked him, right?
Congress should have just, like, made it seem
like it was The Masked Singer. Combine the whole thing.
Pop him in the giant costume
and then sit him in front of the January 6 committee.
Do it!
(cheering and applause)
Yeah, that's the game show America needs.
Bernie Sanders would be sitting there like,
"Uh, based on his utter disregard for democracy,
"I'm gonna guess the rooster is Rudy Giuliani.
-(applause) "Let's take off the mask and see.
"See who we're about to indict.
"It was him. I told you it was him.
I could see the-the melting through the mask.
I could see it."
All right, that's it for the headlines, but before we go,
let's check in on traffic
with our very own Roy Wood, Jr., everybody.
(cheers and applause)
-Thank you, Trevor. -Okay, my man.
-Good to see you, man.
We're talking about traffic.
A quick look at the roads. Look, man,
you know, before traffic, man, let me just say something
-about the CNN+ thing. -Uh-huh.
I don't appreciate the fact that they didn't give it a chance.
All right, look, I don't know how y'all do it in Africa,
but, like, in America, like, if you're in a bad relationship,
you don't break up. You get married.
-(laughter, applause) -And then you add a kid
and a house and credit card debt
and another kid,
you cheat on each other a little while,
and then, after 20 years, you get a divorce.
That's the American way. You got to give stuff a chance.
-Just 'cause it looked bad? -I think that's a terrible way.
I mean, that's probably why Afghanistan was so long, Roy.
You should get out quickly when you realize you made a mistake.
So when something's bad, you're saying you should end it?
-Yeah, that's what I'm saying. -Okay.
(laughter)
Well, what you mean? Like, what about... what about this?
-You going to end this? -No, because... no, this is...
This-- what I'm doing, this job-- you gonna end this?
-No, no, this is... this is... -Am I safe?
-Is my safe? Is my job safe? -Yeah, of course you're safe.
This is great. What do you mean?
This is going... this is going well. Just do
-the traffic, and you're good. -I think you should...
Yeah, let... you should give me a little more money.
-(laughter) -I'd... 'cause... -No, but you-you...
Look, I'm sorry to jam you up like this, but this is live TV.
This is the perfect place. I got you by the balls right now.
-I just need to... I'm nervous. -Roy, just do the traffic.
-(applause) -I'm nervous. -Don't encourage him.
-Do the traffic. -I'm just... All right, the road...
If you just do the traffic, that's...
I just don't feel comfortable doing...
Look, can you just pay me now for the rest of the year?
Just pay me now for the rest
-of the year. -Why would I pay you now for the rest
-of the year? -That's the price. You got a credit card on you?
I'm not giving you my credit card.
You got a credit card on you? Let me get your Venmo.
-Roy, I'm not giving... No! No! -Just real quick. Let me get...
All right, we're gonna take a quick break.
-Just give me your credit card. -After the break,
we're gonna talk about France's election.
France's election. You don't want to miss it.
-(applause and cheering) -(indistinct chatter)
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
You may or may not know this, but right now,
Europe is experiencing one of its most uncertain periods
in a long time with a lot of questions
that they have yet to answer.
You know, how involved should they get in the war in Ukraine?
Should NATO continue to expand?
Uh, is Holland the same place as the Netherlands?
And if so, why do they have two different names?
And with Angela Merkel no longer holding everything together
like Europe's lederhosen,
all eyes have now turned to France.
And it turns out before France can figure out
what to do with Europe,
they've got to figure out what to do with themselves
as we'll learn in another installment
of Other Countries Have News, Too.
-♪ ♪ -(cheering and applause)
For decades now, France has been
one of the few countries in Europe
you didn't have to worry about, right?
They didn't make Nazis. They didn't go bankrupt.
They didn't hire a wet Teletubby as their prime minister.
But this weekend, this coming weekend,
as the French people gear up for a national election,
everyone is wondering if this is the moment
when France goes off the deep end.
NEWSWOMAN: A rematch runoff in the battle
for the most powerful politician in France.
Current President Emmanuel Macron
and far right candidate Marine Le Pen.
The two will face off on April 24th
as a repeat of their 2017 election.
NEWSWOMAN 2: This is the far right leader's
third and final attempt at the French presidency.
And if you go by the polls,
she's never got as close as this.
NEWSMAN: With the very latest polls
suggesting more support for Marine Le Pen,
more people are asking whether France is on the verge
of its own Brexit moment or Trump moment.
(audience groaning)
There's a possibility of a French Trump?
(laughter)
Jesus, if you thought Donald Trump was horny before...
(chuckles) I don't think the world is ready
for what this election could bring.
Can you imagine that?
"My fellow Parisians,
"the Mona Lisa is so hot. Totally hot.
"But she needs to smile more.
"If I win, we're gonna make Mona Lisa smile again.
"Oh. So much smiling.
Start smiling."
(applause)
But yeah.
France's current president, Emmanuel Macron,
is going up against far right candidate Marine Le Pen,
right, in an election that is happening this Sunday.
And yesterday, they sat down
for their first and only debate of the campaign,
and throughout the night,
you could tell that these two do not get along.
NEWSWOMAN: French President Emmanuel Macron sparring
with his far right rival, Marine Le Pen,
in a fiery, high-stakes TV debate last night.
NEWSMAN: Two politicians who clearly don't like
or respect each other.
The longer it went on, the worse the atmosphere.
LE PEN (translated): I find it so hard to follow you
as you have made so many false accusations.
(speaking French)
MACRON (translated): Stop mixing things up.
LE PEN: Do not give me a lesson.
MACRON: I'm not giving you a lesson.
LE PEN: Do not give me a lesson
on how to finance my plan.
You know, I-I know this fight was considered intense
by French media, but...
by American standards, that was pretty chill.
It was, uh... Yeah.
Everyone stayed in their seats. No one was screaming.
If anything, it looked less like a debate
and more like a stressed couple arguing at a restaurant,
you know?
It was like, "No, Brian,
"I told you, my parents gave me that money.
I don't want to spend it on crypto."
"I told you, babe. It's not crypto-- it's an NFT!"
"What's the difference?! What's the difference?!"
All that was missing from that debate was that moment--
you know when you're having dinner and you're fighting
as a couple and then the waiter comes over
and makes it super awkward?
That's-that's all that was missing, was just the waiter
coming in in the middle of that whole fight.
You know? Just being like,
"Okay, everybody, so, um,
"the specials of the day are...
"Ooh, I feel like I walked into something here. Did I...
"I'm feeling a little tension. Did he...
"did he say something to you?
"Is that-- is that what it is?
"Yeah, you know what, I feel like you guys
"need to work something out. I'll-I'll come back.
"I'll give you some time. I'll be back in about ten seconds.
"Okay. Okay, bye-bye.
Bye..."
(applause)
Now,
the stakes for this debate
were probably the highest that France has ever seen.
Because this election has gotten a lot closer
than people expected.
You see, when these two faced off in 2017,
Macron beat Le Pen by 30%.
But with only a few days left in this election,
recent polls have showed Le Pen within single digits.
Right? So she's not leading in the polls.
But, remember,
neither was Donald Trump in 2016.
-(groaning) -Yeah.
My point is,
hopefully Macron visits whatever France's Wisconsin is.
And there's a number of reasons,
there's a number of reasons that Le Pen is catching up to Macron.
Right? The country has experienced a refugee crisis.
There's obviously been a pandemic.
And, of course, there's rising inflation.
Which is why a lot of French voters are angry at Macron
and saying things like this.
Les taxes, les taxes, les taxes.
NEWSWOMAN: "Everyone talks about the taxes,
the taxes, the taxes," this woman said.
"We have no spending power.
We just work and buy groceries to eat."
(translated): We go out to restaurants less. We do less.
Otherwise it's really tough at the end of the month.
(translated): I think France is collapsing from the inside,
like a souffle.
(laughter)
(laughs)
You know, ev-every time you think
French stereotypes are exaggerated...
you see something like th--
Because, no, because using your cuisine
to comment on the dire state of your politics,
that's the most French thing you could do. You know?
"Our country's collapsing from the inside, like a souffle."
Like, who...
No, 'cause think about it.
I've never seen people in any other country
make a metaphor like that on the news.
Not once have I seen someone being interviewed
in the streets of Nigeria being like,
"Our problems run deeper
than the flavors of jollof rice, huh?"
-That's not a thing. -(applause)
It's not a thing.
But, of course, elections are about choices.
A lot of French people aren't thrilled
with Macron's presidency, but they'll still take him
compared to the person that he's running against--
the notorious Marine Le Pen-- because, you see,
she has a long history of being Islamophobic,
of being xenophobic, uh, agoraphobic.
Basically she doesn't like a lot of shit is what I'm saying.
And on top of that, the people that she does like
tell you a lot about the type of leader that she would be.
NEWSMAN: Le Pen is a NATO skeptic.
She wants to leave the EU and has modeled her campaign
on President Trump.
NEWSWOMAN: Le Pen has a history of cozying up
to President Putin, even putting a picture
of them together in one of her campaign pamphlets.
-(audience groaning) -Ooh! That, uh...
-That tape didn't age well. -(laughter)
She likes Putin? I mean, to be fair to her,
they asked her about Putin in 2017,
and back then, Putin was just undermining elections
and poisoning people. It was still too soon to tell.
She was like, "I'm on the fence. You never know."
But you see, it's views like these
that lead to Le Pen getting crushed
when she ran in 2012 and 2017.
But here's what dangerous about her.
Just like a Terminator, she gets smarter with each sequel.
Yeah. No, you see, after the last election,
she started to rebrand as a kinder,
gentler racist, you know?
Yeah. "May I take you back to where you came from?"
And the way she did that... She did it
by not abandoning her extremist views. No.
She just doesn't mention them as much anymore.
It's basically like when you do a Zoom meeting,
and then point the camera at that one clean corner
of your apartment? Do you know what I mean?
Yeah, now all of a sudden, things seem under control.
But you've still got a family of raccoons
eating leftover Chinese food on your couch.
-(chittering) -It's still the same world.
And Le Pen hasn't stopped at just moderating her words.
No, she's trying to revamp her image
to cultivate a more cuddly version of herself.
Marine Le pen has wrapped herself in, um, nice words, and
her cats. She's become a cat breeder.
Everybody loves that.
NEWSWOMAN: This kitten is so beautiful
that her name is "Her Majesty."
Oh, so adorable.
Yeah, that's how you know
Le Pen had the worst possible image before.
Because her PR people were like,
"You know what will make you more relatable?
"Becoming a cat lady. -(laughter)
It's going to help."
So that's where France stands
headed into the election this Sunday.
A moderate incumbent with weak approval numbers
hoping to hold off a xenophobic Putin ally
who's coming back for one last shot at the presidency.
And you know, that's what I love about French politics.
-It's just so different from the U.S.A. -(laughter)
All right, when we come back, Alexander Skarsgard is going
to be joining me on the show, so stay tuned.
(applause and cheering)
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight
is Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor
Alexander Skarsgård.
He's here to talk about his latest role
in the Viking epic The Northman.
I am Amleth the Bear-Wolf,
son of King Aurvandill War-Raven!
And I am
-his murderer! -(shouting)
(grunting)
Please welcome Alexander Skarsgård!
-♪ ♪ -(cheering and applause)
Thank you.
(clears throat)
The man himself, Alexander Skarsgård.
Sweden's sexiest man five years...
-Yeah? Five times over? -(cheering and applause)
20 years ago.
(laughter)
-Welcome to The Daily Show. -Thank you, sir.
First things first, um, you were on...
You were on Stephen Colbert's show yesterday, weren't you?
Yeah.
(laughter)
-Huh. -Yeah.
-(clears throat) -And Stephen Colbert tested...
Uh, he said today he tested positive for COVID, yeah?
Yeah.
Yeah, he did. Um...
-So, you... -We may or may not have made out.
Thing-Things got blurry after the show.
Um...
No, I-I-- Yes, I was on...
on Stephen Colbert's show last night, and, uh,
I've tested po... (stammers, exhales)
(laughter)
(applause)
(clears throat)
You were saying?
I-I've tested, um, n-negative,
extremely negative, three times today.
-So I should be fine. But it... -Okay.
This is probably a good idea.
-Oh, yeah, 'cause we-we test... -Let-Let's make this
-a very awkward first date. (chuckles) -(laughs)
This is, uh...
this is my first time being in this situation.
-I, uh... -(laughs): Yeah.
Yeah. This is nice. This is like Putin's table
-when he talks to people. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-(laughs) -Yeah. That's what this is.
-Yeah. (laughs) -"Let's figure out what we're doing."
But we can-- we can-- We've got,
-you know... -I'm basically as intimidated as his advisors.
(laughs) But this is, like, long-range c--
-Welcome to the show. -Thank you for having me.
This is my first socially distanced interview.
-I like this. This is-- You know? -Yeah. Yeah.
We got the vibe going on.
Congratulations on the movie.
-Thank you. -I, like-- First of all, I love Vikings.
-(chuckling) -I love-- No, really, I--
I grew up loving Vikings.
Just, like, the mythology, like, the--
you know, the dragons, the stories, the everything.
'Cause, you know, you'll-you'll watch stories
-or you'll read stories as a kid. Right? -Yeah.
But Viking stories always seemed like it was, like,
the best combination of everything.
And you took, what, ten years to get this movie going?
SKARSGARD: Pretty much, yeah. Pretty much ten years, yeah.
I feel like it's pretty-- It's, like, your heritage.
-You are like a Viking, essentially. -(clears throat)
Well, I-I was born in Sweden.
I'm fr-- And I'm from a Swedish family.
And my last name, Skarsgard, actually means...
"Skares," a Viking name, uh...
"gard" means "farm."
And it's a-allegedly a place in--
on one of the islands outside of Sweden.
So you're a Viking?
-(stammers) Who knows? -I...
It was a thousand years ago, but,
a-according to my grandfather, we're direct descendants
-of Skare. -Alexander, let me tell you something.
If I have any name--
If, like, my last name was "Trevor Giant Slayer,"
I'd be like, "Yo, I slayed giants.
-I'm related to people who slayed..." Like... -I...
Just claim it. So let's talk
about the film a little bit, man.
It's... I... I was actually... It's funny.
I was in the movie. I was watching
Everything Everywhere All at Once.
And that's when I saw the first trailer for your film.
And it was epic. Like, I mean, it's epic.
There's this one scene where you grab...
Like, someone throws a spear at you,
and, then, like, your character grabs the spear,
throws it back. Like, that was the moment.
-You know when you watch a trailer? -Yeah.
I was like, "I'm in. I'm buying my ticket."
No. It's one of the most epic-looking movies ever.
Well, we want... That was kind of the reason I wanted
to make the movie, 'cause I'd never seen, um,
a big epic Viking movie
that took on the mythology seriously
-or really went in deep into the mythology. -Right. Right.
And where you could experience, um, the fantastical world,
the mythology, the spirits
through the eyes of someone a thousand years ago,
so that was kind of the goal in starting in it.
Well, you've done it, man. It looks amazing.
You look amazing in it. I mean, you know,
-like, when... -This date getting better
-and better, actually. -(laughter, applause)
If, uh...
If Stephen didn't have COVID,
we would probably be making out, as well.
-Thank you so much for being on the show. -Thank you, Trevor.
Thank you for being negative and being so positive
-and joining us. -Ah, thank you.
Alexander Skarsgard, everybody.
The Northman opens in theaters April 22.
We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back after this.
(applause and cheering)
Well, that's our show for tonight. Keep watching, because
Jordan Klepper Fingers the Globe-- Hungary for Democracy
is coming up next. Until tomorrow,
stay safe out there, and, uh,
for the French elections this weekend--
Marine Le Pen, may you be as successful as CNN+.
Now here it is-- Your Moment of Zen.
You have a guy who was involved in a plot
-to overthrow American democracy... -Uh-huh.
...and he was invited on a reality TV show
uh, for ratings, I guess.