From comedy centrals world news headquarters in new york, this is the daily show with jon stewart. [daily show theme song playing] [cheers and applause] jon welcome to the daily show. My name is jon stewart. Oh, we have a fine program tonight. My guest Elizabeth Kolbert author of sixth extinction about how we as a species doomed ourselves. Its a beach read really. [laughter] wanted to wish good health to young bob costas. He dropped out of tonights coverage due to a nasty eye infection. I told him, bob, do not wash your face with the water. [ laughter ] but bob is all, im eighttime sportscaster of the year bob costas surely my eyes eyes are impervious to russian toxins. Look at the poor eye. [ laughter ] hes a good man were going to help him out. To lift some of the burden from bobs pink, goopy shoulders, here is tonights the daily show olympics moment. That doesnt seem very sensitive. Here we go. Can i do this. Yesterday i can do. This yesterday saw canadian skier alex bilodeau. Here is alex in the lead hes catching up so he shot him right there the other guy died and he fell off a cliff. [ laughter ] so ultimately a big victory for the guy who shot the other guy. [laughter] bob, stay and rest those peepers weve got these games covered for you. No problem. [ laughter ] moving on at last months state of the Union President obama made one thing clear. Lets get Immigration Reform done this year. Lets get it done. Its time. Jon oh, its time, baby. [laughter] americas biological clock is ticking, baby. Its time to have an anchor baby, baby. But of course there was one major problem, um, republicans. Mainly in the house of representatives. You know this will thing will be doa with House Republicans around. This problem has been around for at least the last 15 years. So i think its time to deal with it. [ laughter ] jon just got a butt tickle. Ladies and gentlemen, pass the nachos, i think this is going to happen. This is amazing after decades of trying to reform what everyone acknowledges is a broken immigration system, the leaders of both parties agree that now is the right time. All the pundits are saying this is not the right time. Expensive Immigration Reform should happen just not right now. Jon what are you talking about bully. For god sakes why not . The president and Democratic Party will get credit and further bolster their hispanic vote. Jon who cares who gets credit fine how we call the bill the Republican Party presents the only we love hispanics at ano 2014. Does that do it. The last thing the republicans want is to open up the immigration can of worms. This is something that would obviously alienate their base. I think its the one thing that could republicans the senate. Jon yes, Immigration Reform might alienate some of your base but might embasen some of the aliens. Republicans could win some hispanic support but would you rather cater to the voters who will be dead before you can say the word chipotle. Damn your sin tism pundits this isnt about politics. Marco rubio. Were dealing with this issue because this is who we are. We are the most compassionate nation on earth. We are the people that welcomed frem aler on the world for over 200 years, each of us the direct descendants of immigrants have created the single greatest society man has ever known. Jon . United we stand, divide we fall. Just the eastern europeans. Now just the political asylum seekers. In your face, doubters. Rubio laid out [laughter] rubio laid out why were doing this. And guess what . Old majority house leader Johnny Boehner sees your political calculation and scoffs. Republicans will not try to pass Immigration Reform this year. [laughter] jon but he said it was time. The greatest nation 200 years just the eastern europeans. [ laughter ] what happened . Theres widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws. And its going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes. Jon how did we go from this is the time to deal with this in two weeks the president doesnt enforce the laws of america. What you are saying the president cant be trusted to enforce the laws of the land because thats his whole job. Out of all the constitutional articles thats like the second one. Thats right, i have a constitution i just read it for the articles. [ laughter ] for the Republican Caucus for the Republican Caucus to suggest that they will not entertain Immigration Reform because they dont trust this president to enforce the laws of the land is perhaps the greatest projection in the history of psychology. I give you this republican congresss record of enforcing enacted law. Republicans have voted 48 times to repeal obamacare. They are moving to make the implementation of it hard thench vote to cut dodd frank. The republicans have pushed a Record Number of filibusters therchl blocked president obamas executive and judicial nominations. Republicans blocked appointments as matters of general principal. Jon the g. O. P. Saying they dont trust the the president s ability to enforce the law is like bob costas saying i dont want to borrow your glasses. I dont know where theyve been. [ laughter ] instead of having a real conversation we have to have a disinagainousoff. They want Immigration Reform but they dont trust the president to enforce the law, particular it will enforcement part. Lets enact the law this year but simply not let it start until 2017 after president obamas term is over. Jon now this is the kind of passive aggressive democracy our founders intended. Well, you know, if you dont [laughter] [ applause ] you know, we get together in order to form a more Perfect Union but if you dont think this union is perfect,ehh, you like to form your own union . [laughter] what say you, now, john boehner . Speaker boehners office rejected the idea. Boehner spokesman Michael Steele said it was entirely impractical and eliminate any incentive for president obama to enforce the laws during the remainder of his second term. [ laughter ] jon that makes no sense. Let me see if i have this straight. We have an urgent issue, immigration in this country that strikes at the heart of who we are as a people that we must solve but we cant because the only way to keep the president enforcing our current disastrous Immigration Law is to talk about but not deliver a better one. Chris christie 2016. [cheers and applause] now theres a guy who knows how to clog a hey guys sorry were late. Did you run into traffic . No, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. You stopped by the house . Uhhuh. Yea. Alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. You leave the house in good shape . Yea. Yea, of course. [ sportscaster talking on tv ] lastsecond field go yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at t digital life. Personalized Home Security and automation. Get professionally monitored security for just 29. 99 a month. With limited availability in select markets. We all know what its like. I picked everybody up. I did all my errands. We get to the end of the day and i am toast. In fact, weve had toast for dinner. Cereal. Rice cakes. Trail mix. But tonight i nailed it. This is a real dinner. Kfc family feast. 9 pieces any recipe, 3 large sides, 6 biscuits, 19. 99. Do not give up on dinner. Mmmmm. This momma fed her babies. And her mate. Ew. The kids are grossed out by that. To you are here. Man, the kids are grossed out by that. That life exists and identity. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be . The inventor of great taste and less filling. The one that dared to say, maybe light beer should taste like beer. And for a limited time, miller lite is back in the original light can. It runs on doritos. [ barks ] sure. So now what . Got to put the whole bag in. Okay. Yes its really working, jimmy [ humming, thumping ] [ humming ] [ thumping ] this is the greatest moment of my life get out of my yard [ birds chirping ] jimmy . Youre so old. [ crunch ] its the future [cheers and applause] jon welcome back to the show. Have you noticed just a touch more existential ennui in the air this week . No apparently they havent. [ laughter ] well, theres a reason for that. French president Francois Hollande begins an official visit to the United States on monday, the first by a french president since 1996. They hope to talk about strengthening economic ties and working together on climb change. Jon sorry im going to have to interrupt there. We played a clip from the Al Jazeera American channel that was threatening to get inappropriately indepth about foreign policy. Obviously Al Jazeera America is new here and dont know how we do things. Let me show you how american America Networks do. French president Francois Hollande arrives in the u. S. He is flying solo. He is here alone. The french president is coming stag. [ laughter ] jon stag. Alone. Solo. [laughter] by his lonesome. There you go. Thats the news its 2014 we have a black president but apparently cant handle a foreign dateless one. Why isnt he bring the the madam . He announce his split from a partner of seven years amid reports he cheated on her with a younger actress is. Movie actress is julie guillet. Shes not coming either. [ laughter ] [cheers and applause] jon also not coming hollandes second miss stress a waifish cigarette world not as worldly wise as she prevents or his third miss stress, a cat with a white stripe on his back. [laughter] a french man has an affair. S the dog bites man of france. Why does this change anything . The french president s decision to come alone has people talking and white house staffers scrambling. [laughter] jon to date him . Iconic photo that we see at every state dinner with the two couples will be a little different. Jon not that different. I mean he will be wearing pants. 300 dinner invitations engraved with the former first ladys name had to be scraipped. Jon we can kill people with sky robots from miles away, i think we can shred 300 invitations. I dont mean to trivialize this he had etiquette nightmare. How will that affect seat something in. Seating arrangements are made delicate at best. These things are not just chance. No, no, no, no, its specific. Our president and first laidly would be seated next to the spouse. So that is something that they have toll change. They have to change. Jon danger, danger. How will they handle the seating . Oh, my [laughter] hello, yes, emily post, we have a code france. Repeat a code france. What is that . Really died in 1960 . Sorry to bother you. [ laughter ] what are we going to do . Its up to me to solve this etiquette emergency. Its so horrible. The president and mrs. Obama sitting here and the french president here. Then wait a minute, okay, solved. [ laughter ] [cheers and applause] fine, what else do you want to tell us about this tawdry soap oprah and how its open opera and how its thrown a meal into turmoil. Its not just about the dinner, of course. France say top al imrie and topics like syria and iran are on the table. Jon thank you for getting into actual substance. Tell us about syria and iran. Topics like syria and iran are on the table but at least for now Foreign Affairs seem overshadowed by affairs of the heart. Jon yes. [ laughter ] they do seem overshadowed becathe chill of peppermint. The the rich dark chocolate. York peppermint pattie. Get the sensation. Instead of paying too much for an ipad, i got the surface 2. First of all, it comes with office and outlook. Then, with free skype calls to phones in over 60 countries, i can talk to my cousins any time. And then, i got 200 gigs of Cloud Storage free so i can get my photos and stuff almost anywhere. Others charge for that. Surface is such a great deal. I feel like i should tell somebody. Hey honestly i want to see you be brave you think youre a better driver than me . Everyone knows hes a better driver. [ monarch ] i can feel love. Vengeance. Motor oil all swirling together. You may want to close your eyes for this. Ow [ male announcer ] rated pg13. Rich, chewy caramel rolled up in smooth milk chocolate. All aboard. Rolo. Get your smooth on. While stopping at dunkin donuts, so now im sitting in the bed of my truck, sipping a latte and smiling. Mydunkin enjoy a delicious latte the next time you stop at dunkin. Share your story. Mydunkin berry pomegranate mio. Do i just squirt a little . Or you can squirt a lot. Really changes your water. It changes everything. [ male announcer ] mio. Squirt some. Welcome back. My guest tonight a staff writer at the new yorker. Her new book is called the sixth extinction, an unnatural history. Please welcome to the program Elizabeth Kolbert. [cheers and applause] how are you . Pretty good, how are you . Jon very well, thank you. The book is called the sixth extinction. There have been five extinction events thus far. Heretofore, yeah. Jon those are what . The fifth and most famous is the extinction that did in the dinosaurs. Jon that was an asteroid. That was an asteroid. Jon and prior to that what had extincted the animal . A variety of thingsism tinted things extincted the animals. The first is 450 million years ago believed to be caused about a sudden cold snap. Jon polar vortex if you will. Major, major polar vortex. Jon the sixth extinction is caused by an Invasive Species that you write about. That would be us. Exactly. Jon your early description of us reminded me of the asian carp. [ laughter ] there are similarities. Jon we are introduced to an area and we immediately spread out and make it out our own. Yeah, were the worlds most successful Invasive Species. Weve gone to every continent. Started now the one continent and now occupy every climate and habitat that you can imagine. Were there. Jon and we are, in doing so, killing a lot of things. [ laughter ] that seems to be an unfortunate side effect. Jon now you have this book is not musings on this. Theres scientific evidence, if you are to believe science. [ laughter ] yes, i chose to go with the scientific evidence. [ laughter ] jon i understand. I prefer to teach the controversy but okay. And i was really fortunate enough to go out with a lot of really wonderful scientists, talented scientists incredibly dedicated scientists. So we went to the Great Barrier reeve. I went reef. I went to the amazon rainforest and the top of andes with great folks. Jon in some respects it took a giant astroid to cause an extinction and were doing it our slz. Its impressive if you think about it. Were doing it without even trying. Weapon havent even really put our minds to it. Jon just think if we got together and thought you know what . Lets only make those plastic canned things that trap dolphins. Lets only make that, really fill up the ocean with them. Exactly think what we could do. Jon its interesting that biodiversity as you get towards eat kuwaitor you write a lot about in canada theres a tremendous land mass only 20 species of tree but belize has over what is it 200 . Yeah, like 700. Theres an interesting phenomenon which you viscerally sort of see in the tropics where they are way more diverse. One of the things we talk about in the book is we associate Climate Change is a problem that is effecting the polar bears. We always see pictures of them. I dont want to minimize the problems of polar bears. Jon and also sensitive they get depressed. They do. They are great beasts. Jon you give them a coke they are fine. [ laughter ] exactly. But, you know, Climate Change is really a problem of a more massive problem actually where cree tiewrs to actually live which is in the tropic and they tend to live in the narrow rain. When we were in the andes we were walking along and one of them said to me pick out a leaf youll see it for 100ars or so this yards or so this shape of leaf that tree has only this range. You write theres a migration al algorithm of 30 feet per what is the 30 feet per day. Jon to mie migrate. That you have to be marching to keep up with the climate. The climate is changing so quickly all the species would have to be on the move exactly north. Jon its the opposite of how jews go when they get older. Exactly. Dont good to florida. Go to jersey. Jon maybe New Hampshire is the new florida in some respects. Well keep an eye on that. Exactly. [ laughter ] jon the ocean issue is the one where its really stark, where the reefs are the rain forest of the seat and they are turning into petrified forests. Yeah, thats kind of a downer. Yeah. [ laughter ] reefs turn out to be they are built by these tiny little gel lat us in creatures and they have to put on wait to stay even. As we pollute the air were poring acid into the water. Jon as is there anything about how many antidepressants were putting make them less anxious to what were doing to the habitat. Maybe theres an nsf grant in there for you, i think. Jon in some ways the story of this is book is just what serial killers [laughter] on a hopeful note. Yes. Jon was there a helpful note . I did not see one. I was waiting for what you were going to say. Jon i got to the end and i was like my guess is theres an epilogue in there. Theres no subject too grim we cant have a little humor. Jon exactly. That hopefully will be the epitath of the planet. That hopefully will be the epitath of the planet. On the fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Everybody knows that parker. Well, did you know auctioneers make bad Grocery Store clerks . Thatll be 23. 50. Now. 75, 23. 75, hold em. Hey now do i hear 23. 75 . 24 hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter, now half, 24 and a half and. 75 25 now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and