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New Day

Interview with John Cleese; Jon Stewart Apologizes for Joke About Voting; Abducted Philadelphia Woman Found Alive; Interview with Mimi Walters

Aired November 06, 2014 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The car that he was driving had been equipped from a -- with a GPS monitoring system because of his credit history. So he contacted the dealership yesterday, found out through the GPS monitoring where this car was. He said that by 3:30 yesterday afternoon that FBI, U.S. federal marshals and ATF had surrounded, at a distance, the car. They saw them both in the back seat. They did not move in because they wanted to protect Carlesha. They did not want a hostage situation.

When they found him exiting the vehicle, that is when they moved in, they apprehended him, they had him in custody between 5:30 and 6:00 last night and they rescued her and she went right here after that to the hospital with minor injuries.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, what a great outcome all things considered. Jean Casarez, thanks so much for the update this morning.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela for what else we need to know.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: I have five things, Alisyn. And here we go.

Number one, President Obama telling voters "I hear you" after a devastating midterm election. The president says he is willing to work with Republicans and will not abandon his agenda.

Israeli police say a Palestinian suspect has turned himself in, claiming he was the driver of the truck that slammed into three Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint Wednesday.

Texas Governor Rick Perry due back in court today for a pre-trial hearing. He has been indicted on charges that he abused his power by stripping funding from a local district attorney's office.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released new ratings for child booster seats for vehicles. Ratings are based on how well three-point shoulder and lap seat belts fit a child.

Alex Rodriguez has reportedly admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs from BioGenesis founder Tony Bosch. "The Miami Herald" says A- Rod confessed after he was granted immunity from prosecution.

We do update those five things to know, so be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. We'll do, Michaela, thanks so much.

President Obama vows to work with Republicans or without them. So, can the president and the GOP find common ground? Congresswoman-elect Mimi Walters is going to join us to discuss her first order of business.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And, boy, if you don't find this guy as funny, you don't know funny. John Cleese is here to talk about his new book and really what he introduced to the world of comedy. There he is. Look, he even sits funny. A great pleasure to have him here. It really is.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and expected Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell all come out and spoken about the need to change Washington and how much they can accomplish through bipartisanship. But is that really going to happen? What about the executive order the president is threatening? Here to talk about all of this and the road ahead is one of the newest members of the House, Congresswoman-elect California Republican Mimi Walters.

Good morning, Congresswoman-elect.

MIMI WALTERS, CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT, (R) CALIFORNIA: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: How does that title sound?

WALTERS: I love it. I've worked 18 years for that title. I'm thrilled.

CAMEROTA: Oh, that's great. So congratulations on your victory. When are you heading to Washington?

WALTERS: I'm heading next week for orientation and meeting a lot of my new freshmen classmates.

CAMEROTA: It's always fun to talk to a bright-eyed, rosy-hued newcomer like yourself before Washington squashes your spirit. So you are aware, aren't you, that as you head down there, that Congress has the lowest approval rating ever? I mean I think it's something - it's in the teens. It might even be 13 percent approval rating. So how are you going to tackle that feeling?

WALTERS: Well, you know, what happens is, your people at home, your constituents, they really love their representatives. And so that I'm going to go is I'm going to go back to Washington, D.C., and I'm going to represent the people of Orange County the best of my ability.

CAMEROTA: OK. So you have made promises to your constituents. Now, there is also this tone today in Washington about collaboration, crossing the aisle, bipartisanship. Is that what you promised your constituents?

WALTERS: Absolutely. I mean you get the best policy when both sides come together. And when both sides understand that you each have to give a little bit, that's when you get your best policy. And I think that that's what the American people expect, and that's what the American people want, witnessed by this election on Tuesday evening.

CAMEROTA: Tuesday's election brought the number of women in Congress to more than 100. Do you think that will change the way Washington works?

WALTERS: Absolutely. I believe women are solution-oriented people. I mean, think about it, I'm a mom of four kids. I'm usually a referee in my house. I'm the one that gets the phone call from a child if somebody's been mean at school or they haven't done well on an exam and I have to help them solve their problems. And I think women, by nature, because most of us are moms, have that philosophy when there's a problem, let's figure out a solution to it.

CAMEROTA: Yes, women are master negotiators. You're so right. Well, Congresswoman-elect Mimi Walters, thanks so much for taking time for NEW DAY this morning. We wish you the best of luck on your new adventure to Congress.

WALTERS: Thanks so much.

CAMEROTA: A pleasure to see you.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: What a rare treat we have for you this morning, a comedy icon, a smart and provocative writer and an Oscar nominee, John Cleese. Look at him. Look at the genius on display! He's got an autobiography out and he's going to be here talking about it. Look at that, and he switches just like that. That's the genius. And he's back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: I could watch this for the rest of the day. This is the best day ever!

Now for something completely different, John Cleese, entertainment legend best known for that wonderful ministry of silly walks, a sketch from only the best TV show ever, "Monty Python's Flying Circus". He's an Oscar nominated screen writer for "A Fish Called Wanda". He's an actor who has appeared in movies ranging from "Harry Potter" to "James Bond". Talk about range.

He also -- well, he has new autobiography.

So anyway you've said that once or twice when you've been at a party. We're so pleased to have him with us. John Cleese is in our studio. This is such a delight. Thank you so much for being here.

JOHN CLEESE, ACTOR: You're sweet because it's lovely to be here. I've watched the show so often but I've never actually been in the studio.

PEREIRA: You know, I was thinking as we were looking through the book I thought to myself, so this is a Cambridge educated man about to embark on a profession in the legal realm.

CLEESE: Yes.

PEREIRA: What a different world it would be and I'm so glad it didn't turn out that way -- selfishly speaking.

CLEESE: So am I -- you know, otherwise I would have been a lawyer.

CUOMO: Heaven forefend.

CLEESE: I escaped.

PEREIRA: You escaped.

CLEESE: I was in this show, a little student review at Cambridge and suddenly there was a guy in the club room afterwards having a great (inaudible) -- he said I love this show and want to put you on the West End. And we all said what? You know Broadway -- the English Broadway. I said are you serious? He said yes, we ran for five months and I was in show business like that.

PEREIRA: Thank goodness.

CLEESE: I wrote to this very posh firm of lawyers who were (inaudible) -- solicitors of the Bank of England. And I said I'm sorry, I'm not going to be a lawyer, I'm going into show business. They must have thought I was crazy.

CAMEROTA: And your memoir reveals about your childhood and what particular influences sort created your warped sense of humor.

CLEESE: Thank you so much -- thank you for that choice of words. Well, it is a bit warped. W.C. Fields said a wonderful thing about professional comedians. He said if a man dresses up as an old woman and putters on the street and falls down a manhole most people laugh. But to make a professional comedian laugh it really has to be an old woman.

We do have a slightly odd sense of humor because -- I think it's because we can abstract ourselves from the thought.

PEREIRA: But isn't that brilliant though -- the abstracting from the thought. What I find wonderful is how you fully admit to the fact this was a survival -- humor for you was a survival technique.

CLEESE: I think it was for a lot of the -- Peter Cook, who was the greatest comedian we ever produced he always said to me he started making people laugh because he was bullied at school. When I went there, you know, I was an only child of older parents. My dad was 46 when I was born, my mom was 40, which was quite old at the time.

And I was brought up very much on my own. I didn't have good social skills and so when I went to school, I got bullied a bit, believe it or not. I was taller than the masters, but I still got bullied because I was physically so weak. And I found that if you can make people laugh, suddenly this feeling of warmth and acceptance.

PEREIRA: It disarms people, doesn't it?

CLEESE: Yes, it does. I mean you know who have the best jokes?

CUOMO: Who?

CLEESE: Salesmen.

PEREIRA: It's true.

CLEESE: They walk in there, and they make a couple of jokes and that's the best way --

PEREIRA: To warm up the crowd a little bit.

Cleese: -- yes, just to melt the ice.

CUOMO: At what point did you start to recognize the cultural impact that you had had with your work not just in the U.K. but literally certainly across this country, just about every continent?

CLEESE: I remember there was one particular cartoon of George Bush Sr. when he was president. And it was a cartoon that involved the dead parrot and I remember thinking to myself, my God. And you can't pick up a British newspaper I would say, in any given week there will be some reference to Monty Python, usually a dead parrot, but what have the Romans ever done for us.

It's extraordinary how it just passed into the language, because when we started we had no idea. We were just making each other laugh. It was so wonderful.

PEREIRA: I think the most beautiful thing about it, it was really sort of an organic start. It wasn't something -- we have to come up with a brilliant idea.

CLEESE: It was so funny, because we wanted to do a show together because we liked each other, and we'd known each other for two years. And Chapman and I had been writing for Peter Sellers.

CUOMO: Wow.

CLEESE: When we were watching these kids' programs on at 4:30, which was the funniest thing on English television. Of course, it was the other four pythons so I rang them up and said, what about doing a show? We went along to meet the head of Light Entertainment and he said what are you going to do? I said we're going to do a funny show. He said yes but -- we said well, you know, humorous material. We had no idea what we were going to do. I promise you, no idea. No idea.

Listen to us, this pitying way and he said oh, go, make 13 programs. Can you imagine that happening nowadays?

PEREIRA: No.

CUOMO: Not today.

CLEESE: That's something about creativity, the very fact that we had no idea what we were going to do. And we did it. We didn't know if anyone was going to laugh.

PEREIRA: Boy, have we.

CLEESE: I remember the tea lady. We made four shows before they were ever transferred until one day the tea lady used to come around during rehearsal period gave us a cup of tea. And she said I've never seen such rubbish in my life, I don't know why we're wasting the license, paying money for this crap. It's not even being transmitted yet.

CAMEROTA: She was a one-woman focus group.

CLEESE: Right and people didn't notice this. People didn't think that it was particularly funny to begin with. It takes time.

CUOMO: Sometimes it takes time for people to catch on. What I'm shocked by is that I'm reading through the notes on this, yes, he doesn't like "The Meaning of Life". I've always used that movie as a litmus test. If you don't like this movie there's something wrong with you. If you don't like the movie, there's something wrong with you.

CLEESE: No, I love bits in it. I love bits in it. But we could never decide on a story. We spent two years sitting around writing funny stuff and we couldn't come up with a story. What was great I think about life of Brian is it's actually quite a good story. Otherwise we were just doing sketches.

There are scenes, I mean the fat man, I just love that. I just love that scene. Terry Jones played the fat man and directed it, one of the great, great artistic achievements to write with him.

PEREIRA: It kind of feels like one of the best gifts that you can give -- this gift of laughter.

CLEESE: It feels like that more and more and more because just listening to the interview about Washington, a 13 percent approval?

PEREIRA: Right.

CLEESE: It's clear to me that democracy has failed. It doesn't work. You've got to move on and find something better. Lord knows what that was.

CUOMO: Well, that's the problem. What's better.

CAMEROTA: Comedy.

CLEESE: Comedy at least, I was doing a talk show and I just -- I was watching the audience and I thought this is really good. There's a sort of sense of unity and community in the audience and they're all enjoying doing the same thing and it just felt good.

PEREIRA: This is incredible and I think people are going to want to pick it up. It tells the story of leading up to "Monty Python's Flying Circus".

Really a pleasure -- John Cleese. Thanks so much for coming.

CLEESE: The book is brilliant.

PEREIRA: It is. It is.

CUOMO: Objectively.

CLEESE: Objectively.

CUOMO: He's an objective critic. He doesn't even like "The Meaning of Life".

CLEESE: I like bits of it. I like bits of it -- the bits about my mother.

(CROSSTALK) CUOMO: John Cleese, thank you for being with us on NEW DAY.

CLEESE: Thank you very much.

CUOMO: Brilliant example of what comedy can do for you in a good way.

When we come back we're going to talk about when comedy can get you into trouble. We're going to talk about Jon Stewart and laughing at the idea of voting and then apologizing. Was he telling the truth? Wasn't he? What happened?

He sat down with Christiane Amanpour and got more than he bargained for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: We are talking as Americans go to an election, the midterms right here today. Did you vote?

JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: No.

AMANPOUR: No?

STEWART: No, I just moved. I don't even know where my thing is now.

AMANPOUR: What do you mean?

STEWART: I moved to a different state.

AMANPOUR: Really? Where are you?

STEWART: I can't disclose.

AMANPOUR: You can't divulge.

STEWART: We got a whole thing going.

AMANPOUR: Yes, very secret.

STEWART: It was very secretive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Was he joking? Does it matter? Comedian Jon Stewart known for taking politics very seriously and a lot of you take him very seriously about politics. Tells Christiane Amanpour "I did not vote" and there was a lot of trouble with that. However, later on the show, his own show he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: I did vote today. I did know where my -- I was being flip and it kind of took off and you know, I want to apologize because I shouldn't have been flip about that because I think I wasn't clear enough that I was kidding and it sent a message that I didn't think voting with as important or that I didn't think it was a big issue, and I do. And I did vote, and I was being flip and I shouldn't have done that. That was stupid, so I apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: They applaud but he was preaching to the choir. It blew up online. Everybody's talking about it, so we'll discuss it. Camerota, controversy? Michaela, nontroversy?

CAMEROTA: Nontroversy.

CUOMO: The big problem is, if he did vote, if he didn't vote. Now he says he did vote, he could get, you know, this could get a little dicey for him.

CAMEROTA: The reason that I think that it bears some discussion is because it didn't seem like he was being funny. That wasn't funny. He is a funny guy, he's a super funny guy. that wasn't a funny joke. Where was the joke, where was the punch line?

So I think that there was -- I think that Christiane inadvertently revealed something about him and the irony is rich because he spends his career pointing out absurdity and hypocrisy in government and the media when he sees it, he does a good service, does a great job of it and somehow he was exposed in the process that he's not as engaged as we all think he is.

CUOMO: And you think he was joking?

PEREIRA: I totally think he was. It's Jon Stewart. It's "The Daily Show". Here's the difference. On his show, his show is scripted. It is a highly-produced show. Look at his whole demeanor in how he does that show and how he was with Christiane -- very different. He was more relaxed, he was just sort of speaking off the cuff. He was being glib, he was being flip. It might not be as obvious because he doesn't have all the studio lights about him. It's Jon Stewart being Jon Stewart.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Because he went back and apologized, because he knows tonally he was being flippant. Something he doesn't think --

CUOMO: Or apologized because he got caught and he's a guy who takes himself very seriously, he's a political commentator and people take him --

PEREIRA: He isn't a political commentator in the same way we expect our political commentators to be.

CUOMO: But people think he is. They take him very seriously. Every once in a while there's a poll, who do you get your news from? Jon Stewart. You wonder why there's disaffection when it comes --

PEREIRA: How does he define himself?. CUOMO: He will say I don't pretend to be a journalist but the show winds up projecting him as that. And that's why there's a kerfuffle over it.

CAMEROTA: And also because if he found a politician who said, no I didn't vote, I don't even know where to file my polling (inaudible). He would have shown it on his show. That's exactly the thing that he would have highlighted so it was just funny to see him caught in the crosshairs of something like that. But he apologized and I'm sure he found a way to vote if he hadn't by the time he had talked to Christiane.

PEREIRA: He voted.

CUOMO: You better hope so because there's some fan of Bill O'Reilly out there right now --

CAMEROTA: Digging up the records.

CUOMO: -- trying to find out.

PEREIRA: I can't believe that Jon Stewart apologized -- it's so funny.

CUOMO: Look, you can take it two ways and it's relevant because he is relevant in the political dialogue. But he's got a little taste of it, my brother. How's it taste when it's coming your way?

PEREIRA: Let's not be firing shots across the bow.

CAMEROTA: Revenge is a dish served cold, my friend.

CUOMO: Anyway we wish him well and he did do the right thing by the troops. Christiane made that point.

PEREIRA: Absolutely. Great.

CUOMO: Lot of news this morning. A lot of things going on for you at the "NEWSROOM", we take you there right now with Poppy Harlow, in for Carol Costello.

PEREIRA: Hello.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys and on the record I just agree with all of you. Nontroversy -- controversy, I'm just going to agree with all of you.