Highest honor, double finger guns with a wink. [ laughter ] donald trump donald trump reportedly paid aids and staffers to cheer and clap for him at his press conference yesterday. Eh, not the worst thing hes paid people to do for him. [ laughter ] [ applause ] i mean, laugh and clap. Thats right, trump paid staffers to clap for him at his press conference. I mean, can you imagine anything sadder than that . Please clap. [ laughter and applause ] seth okay. Thats sadder, i take it back. Im willing to admit when i am wrong. [ light laughter ] that is sadder. The head of the office of government ethics said yesterday that the only way for donald trump to completely avoid conflicts of interest is to sell his assets and place them in a blind trust. Said trump, fine, i trust ivanka. [ laughter ] Senate Republicans today passed a budget blueprint marking the first steps towards repealing obamacare. Which means its going to cost us a lot more to get this mole looked at. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] researchers in japan are saying that flashing a peace sign in photos might increase chances of fingerprint data being stolen. And letting your mom take the photo guarantees it. [ laughter ] seth my identity more bad news, my identity got stolen again. [ light laughter ] childrens magazine highlights has announced that its next issue will include a picture of a samesex couple for the first time in its 70year history. Making it the easiest game of whats wrong with this picture mike pence has ever played. [ laughter and applause ] the dentist will see you now, mr. Pence. Im almost [ laughter ] north korea has reportedly finished building a water park in russia. Oh, thats cool, i know a guy who loves russian watersports. [ laughter and applause ] and finally, a Harry Potter Themed restaurant opened this week in brooklyn. Or more likely, thats just how people in brooklyn dress. [ laughter ] [ laughter and applause ] ladies and gentlemen, we have a fantastic show for you tonight. Hes the star of hbos the young pope and a fantastic actor, our friend jude law is on the show tonight. [ cheers and applause ] from nbcs blindspot, were joined by sullivan stapleton. [ cheers and applause ] and very excited about this, hes been here before, were so happy to have him back. Were going to be cooking up some burgers with one of our favorites. Action bronson is back in the house tonight. [ cheers and applause ] before we get to all of that, this week has been a wakeup call for anyone who still held out hope that donald trump might change as president. From his war on the free press to his sprawling and unprecedented conflicts of interest, trump has proven that his presidency will be a major test for our democracy. For more on this, its time for a closer look. [ cheers ] seth trump, of course, held his First Press Conference as president elect yesterday and it was clear, trump was interested in one thing above all else, picking a fight with the media. As far as buzzfeed, which is a failing pile of garbage, writing it, i think theyre going to suffer the consequences. And since youre attacking us can you give us a question . Go ahead. Mr. No, mr. President elect, mr. President elect go ahead, go ahead mr. President elect, since youre attacking our News Organization no, not you, not you. Your organization is terrible. You are attacking our News Organization, can you give us a chance to ask a question, sir . Go ahead. Quiet. Quiet. Mr. President elect go ahead. Hes asking a question, dont be rude. Mr. President elect, can you give us a question . Youre attacking us, can you give us a question . Dont be no, im not going to give you a question. Im not going to give you a question. Can you you are fake news. [ laughter ] seth i will say, i do hope you are fake news makes it into lexicon as a sassy comeback. [ light laughter ] youre the worst member of this sorority, kayleigh. Well, you claire, are fake news. [ applause ] its going to be its going to be the new bye felicia, bye fake news. [ laughter ] but in fact, the cnn report was not fake news. Both the director of National Intelligence and Vice President joe biden have recently made comments that seemed to confirm what cnn reported. Trumps hostility towards the press is the kind of thing you usually see in authoritarian regimes. In fact, in an especially creepy move, trump stocked the press conference with employees who laughed at his jokes and shouted out supportive answers to his rhetorical questions. And in case youre wondering what kind of jokes the paid staff were there to laugh at, here is an example. Does anyone really believe that story . Im also very much of a germaphobe, by the way, believe me. [ light laughter ] seth thats the president elect joking about how he couldnt have been in a room where russian prostitutes were urinating on each other because hes a germaphobe. Just for a, where were at as a nation. If you wanted to check in on that. [ laughter and applause ] seth also, and i know its a waste of time to keep pointing this stuff out, but in a 2015 Hollywood Reporter article, trump said, im not germophobic. [ laughter ] but whatever, up is down, black is white. We should just admit were all living in the upside down with barb. Stay strong, barb, were coming to get you. Or not. [ cheers and applause ] but the heavyhanded tactics werent the only creepy things about trumps press conference,there was also his usual penchant for empty spectacle. After all, this press conference was called in the first place to detail how trump would deal with his massive Business Empire as president. To prove he was taking issue seriously, he brought with him a prop table full of piles of folders and documents that he claimed were the real documents he actually signed. But when reporters asked to see the documents, they were told they couldnt. And not only that, from close up photos, it looked like the papers inside were all blank. [ laughter ] even if you were doing a middle school play, you would write something on the folders to make it look real. [ laughter and applause ] which brings us to the next serious test trump poses for our democracy, his conflits of interest. Our system of government depends in part on our adherence to the rule of law as a way of preventing and rooting out even the possibility of corruption. But yesterday trump basically announced a sham arrangement in which he would not divest from his companies or put his holdings in a blind trust and instead would just hand the empire over to his sons, Kim Jung Eric and kim jung donald. [ laughter ] the reason why this is so troubling is because having a president with such a massive and opaque Business Empire is an open invitation to unconstitutional bribes or other types of financial coercion. How do we know thats a possibility . Because trump himself literally admitted he was offered a massive amount of money from a foreign businessman, a couple of days ago. Over the weekend, i was offered 2 billion to do a deal in dubai with a very, very amazing man, a great, great developer from the middle east. Hussain, damac, friend of mine, great guy. And i turned it down. Seth he offered you 2 billion and thats how you say his name . Hussain. Damac. [ laughter ] he said it like he was guessing it in a game of pictionary. Hussain damac tree a beaver when it comes to these potentially massive conflicts of interest, its not just trump we have to worry about, theres also his cabinet of millionaires and billionaires. Like his choice for secretary of state. The former ceo of exxonmobil, rex tillerson. Tillerson ran a company that has massive Oil Interests spread out throughout the world, particularly in russia. In fact, in 2011, exxon struck a deal with the russian government to drill in the russian arctic. A deal tillerson and Vladimir Putin personally celebrated with a champagne toast. Look at them, either they just struck a deal to drill for oil or they just hired the joker to kill batman. [ laughter ] to the future of gotham [ laughter ] a new gotham will rise [ laughter ] now, exxon was never able to actually move forward with that deal because of u. S. Sanctions against russia. Sanctions that as secretary of state, tillerson would be in a position to try and lift. So naturally tillersons confirmation hearing yesterday, senators were interested in what kinds of conversations tillerson has had with trump about his policy toward russia. And after asking tillerson a series of questions about his positions on russia, tillerson admitted trump and he hadnt even talked about it. For all of these answers that youve given me, does the president elect agree with you . The president elect and i have not had the opportunity to discuss this specific issue or the specific area. I would have thought that russia would be at the very top of that considering all the actions that are taking place. Is that did that not happen . That has not occurred yet, senator. Thats pretty amazing. [ light laughter ] seth you didnt talk about russia . What did you two talk about . He told me about a friend of his, great guy. Hussain [ laughter ] damac [ laughter ] of course tillersons association with the Worlds Largest oil company also puts him in a conflicted position with regard to Climate Change. The secretary of state will be in charge of our global agreements to limit Greenhouse Gas emissions. But for years, exxon actively suppressed information about manmade Climate Change. Tillerson was asked about that at his hearing and basically just admitted he didnt want to answer. Are these conclusions about exxonmobils history of promoting and funding Climate Science denial, despite its internal awareness of the reality of Climate Change during your tenure with the company, true or false . Senator, since im no longer with exxonmobil, im in no position to speak on their behalf. The question would have to be put to them. Im asking you whether those allegations about exxonmobils knowledge of Climate Science, and decision to fund and promote of you contrary to its awareness of the science, whether those allegations are true or false. The question would have to be put to exxonmobil. Do you lack the knowledge to answer my question or are you refusing to answer my question . A little of both. [ audience ohs ] [ light laughter ] seth a little of both, of course, is rich guy speak for none of your [ bleep ] business. Also, the senator who asked that question looks familiar, where do i know that guy from . [ light laughter ] oh, [ bleep ] its tim kaine i totally forgot about that dude. [ laughter ] so weve got an incoming president waging war on the press and claiming he doesnt have to divest from his business. You know what i say to that . Bye, fake news. [ laughter ] this has been a closer look. [ cheers and applause ] seth well be right back with jude law. [ cheers and applause ] ziploc presents cafeteria chaos. School lunch can be difficult. One little struggle. Can lead to one monumental mishap. Not with ziploc easy open tabs. Because life needs ziploc. Sc johnson. Todays the day oh look creepy gloves for my feet. See when i was a kid there was a handle. And a face. This is nice. And does it come in a california king . Getting roid rage. Hemorrhoid. 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[ cheers ] also, fred armisen is with us, everybody [ cheers ] im so excited to have fred here. Fred, portlandia, season seven airing now on ifc. Congratulations on your incredible show. [ cheers and applause ] fred thank you. Seth and this is very exciting, fred. I heard that you have another show in the works. Obviously jude law, he is about to come out. Hes on a new show on hbo called the young pope, where he plays a young pope. Fred uhhuh. [ light laughter ] seth and i heard youre producing a show, starring in a show where you play a young historical figure. Is this true . Fred yes, i play a young donkey owner. [ laughter ] so i acquire this donkey, and im too young to know how to ride it and how to control it and stuff. [ laughter ] so, its just, you know, a lot of the older donkey people, like, they know what to do. [ laughter ] im supposed to be just learning about it. Im just, like, im young. You know, here your donkey. What do i do . [ laughter ] seth okay, historically, this is so interesting. Historically are donkey owners older . Fred absolutely. Thats the thing. When youre older, you just know what to do with donkeys. [ laughter ] seth okay, whats a normal age to get your first donkey . Fred 40. [ laughter ] yeah, easily. Easily 40. You just tell it, you know, lets go up the hill or go through the canyon or, you know, get the buckets or whatever. But when youre young, youre just all [ laughter ] seth so youre too young. When the show starts, youre too young to know how to get a donkey to go through a canyon. Fred yes, and the way they do it is put a big, like, a wig on me, like, a big sort of, bowl haircut. [ light laughter ] so thats just me with a stick, like, trying to get seth oh, so you play younger . Yes. [ light laughter ] seth how young are you playing . Fred eight. [ laughter and applause ] seth young donkey owner, where can we see it . Fred hbo, 6 00 in the morning every day. [ laughter ] seth what . Fred 6 00 in the morning, every day on hbo. [ laughter ] seth give it up for fred armisen. [ cheers and applause ] our first guest tonight is an oscar and golden globenominated actor you know from films like the talented mr. Ripley, sherlock holmes, and cold mountain. He stars in the upcoming hbo series, the young pope, which premieres january 15th. Lets take a look. I inquired about you. Everyone tells me you are shining example of goodness. I thank you for believe in them, heavenly father. It is i who should thank you for allowing me to be here without hoards of tourists. Its my duty, holy father. Is it hard, close off the basilica to tourists . No, no. All we had to do is hang up a sign saying closed. [ laughter ] seth please welcome to the show, jude law. [ cheers and applause ] seth how are you . Hey, very well. Seth congratulations on the show. I had really enjoyed the first episode. Thank you. Seth its beautiful. Its very beautiful. Seth it looks beautiful. You shot it in rome, obviously. Yeah, we shot it in rome, in and around the vati actually, thats not true. Around the vatican. Seth right. They never let you in . No. Seth yeah. The pope didnt say, tell me about it. We would love to shoot something here. Well, you know, apparently, they are famous for just remaining silent. So, the requests went in. Seth yeah. And we just never heard back. Seth you never heard back . [ laughter ] but, apparently, yeah, they have also seen it, and they were all quite pleased. I mean, we havent made something that we, you know, is poking fun or scandalous. Seth no. Its a kind of whatif situation. Seth well and i think one of the most interesting elements of the show is, how, i think, your expectations when you hear there is a show called the young pope, and youre playing the pope, that it would be a different pope than it is. Yeah. Seth that its a very, i thought, counter to what my expectations were. I think thats the kind of clever catch, really. You know, it hes the First American pope. Hes the youngest pope in papal history. The assumptions are that hes going to be scandalous and liberal, and, in fact, hes absolutely the opposite. It starts just after the conclave. No one knows quite how or who voted for him. And so, first of all, people are trying to work out what his motives are. And he, himself, has a kind of issue. Because hes an orphan and believes that, you know, with this newfound position, hes gonna finally have the answers of why his parents left him and so on. And so, he goes through a crisis of faith, himself. Seth pope issues. Hes got some pope issues. Big pope issues. [ laughter ] seth so, the other young pope issues. Seth yeah, he has young pope issues. And the interesting thing about, you know, the cardinals yeah. Seth is it seems like theyve selected this young pope because they believe he will be malleable to them a puppet. Seth once he gets to power. Yeah. Seth and it turns out, hes maybe more of a headache than they expected. Very much so. Hes actually the opposite. Seth a little bit of a parallel to maybe what happened with our election. Well, its it was very interesting. You know, we made this. It was written well over a year ago. We made it about a year ago. And it was just extraordinary to see, you know, the election here unravel and unfold, rather. Rather less [ laughter ] unfold. Seth yeah. And seth it really came to pieces. [ laughter ] and and what was interesting was suddenly is the relevance, you know, of the peace. And i guess, you know, that a lot of that is down to this great writer Paolo Sorrentino seth mmhmm. Who directed the great beauty, won an Academy Award for it. You know, i think great writers have a sense for their antennae reads, the environment, the ether, and he just lucked out. Seth yeah, and i think people dont give it enough credit. When a show is topical in any way, shape, or form mmhmm. Seth they had to predict who the president would be a year, two years, three years, ago. And thats really, i think, why it worked out so well. I mean, at the same time, you know, count trying to contra counter voting is also not a new thing. I mean seth right. If you look at the present pope, it was a sort of reaction to benedict, who stepped down. Who w