How many people here celebrate Cyber Monday?
You guys, uh... you guys celebrate Cyber Monday?
(whooping)
I'm disappointed.
I feel like Cyber Monday has lost, like, the spirit
of what it was about. You know what I mean?
Like, Black Friday still has the spirit.
We are going to line up at midnight.
We're gonna try and kill each other for a TV.
Cyber Monday has no purpose.
Like, what's the point of Cyber Monday?
'Cause we do cyber every day. You know what I mean.
No one waits for this day to order some shit from Amazon.
You just, like, order...
Amazon even has their own day. It's called a Prime day.
You know what I mean?
I just feel like we've lost the spirit
of what this day was about.
It was the day when we celebrated Baby Jesus
-ordering things at 20% off. -(laughter)
What did I buy? Oh, everything.
I mean, Cyber Monday-- I'm not going to not participate.
(laughter)
Yeah, I just bought a bunch of shit.
I got 40% off.
I didn't need anything, but I just did it
'cause that's what America's all about.
Yeah. Then I'm gonna sell it on eBay now.
Circle of life, hakuna matata.
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from the heart of Times Square
in New York City, the only city in America, it's
The Daily Show.
Tonight-- oh, my what?
Dr. Peter Hotez and Thandiwe Newton.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Hey, what's going on, everybody?
Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah.
Let's jump straight into the big story today
which is obviously the Omicron variant,
the coronavirus mutation causing more chaos
in the world than Rihanna's booty pajamas. Ooh.
So let's try to break it down-- not the pajamas, the variant--
in another edition of Keeping Up with Corona.
♪ ♪
For most of 2021,
the world has been fighting off various COVID variants,
which are all more efficient than the OG from Wuhan.
We had Alpha, we had Lambda, we had Delta.
You know, COVID basically turned the planet
into the shittiest frat house of all time.
But just when we thought we had it all figured out,
last week, scientists in South Africa announced
that they discovered a new variant.
And what they saw is freaking people out.
Scientists are racing to learn more about a new COVID variant
already setting off alarm bells around the world.
NEWSWOMAN 2: According to South African scientists,
the Omicron variant has more than 50 mutations
and is likely to be more transmissible.
It has a bunch of mutations,
a disturbingly large number of mutations
in the spike protein, which is the business end of the virus.
NEWSWOMAN 3: The COVID-19 vaccines
target the spike protein.
If the spike changes too much and in the wrong way,
it could make the vaccines less effective.
NEWSWOMAN 4: The president of Moderna said yesterday,
what's most scary about this virus is,
it has managed to put all of its greatest hits into one variant.
Yes, it's all the greatest hits in one place.
Like if Mamma Mia! killed you
instead of teaching you about the power of love.
(sniffling)
And what's so scary about this thing is all the mutations
to the virus's spike protein
because the spike protein is how the virus penetrates our cells.
It's basically COVID's dick.
And a mutated dick is never a good thing.
Yeah, there's no Hallmark cards that say,
"Congratulations on your Mutated Dick."
But, yeah, I'm no expert,
so to get us a more informed perspective,
I sent Roy Wood, Jr. out to CDC headquarters in Atlanta.
And, Roy, I know you're standing by right now.
What can you tell us?
Well, Trevor, the Omicron variant
is the 12th variant of COVID
and the fifth variant of concern,
now spreading in the 20th month of the global pandemic.
I've been talking to the top scientists at the CDC,
and everyone seems to agree...
Come on, man, just...
now, just stop.
Just stop, man.
Chill, man. Just...
Variant after variant after variant.
Just... Damn!
-Uh... -Shit got to stop, bro.
I-I'm sorry, Roy, this is what the scientists are saying?
Oh, no, of course not. Uh, I'm paraphrasing, Trevor.
The actual scientific consensus on the Omicron is...
Aw, shit!
(bleep) I got to cancel this damn vacation.
I pushed it back two, three times.
To St. John's. I want to go.
Now they're gonna shut everything down.
Then the next thing you know, you're gonna have
strange people delivering your food, and you got to wonder
whether or not they've been eating some of your French fries
and then I got to be cooped up with the boy
and I got to home-school him, figure out which button
is the Zoom button and how to print the homework
on the printer that has no ink.
And then that's just another whole-ass day.
And then, we're in a two-bedroom apartment.
It's three of us. It's just not enough space.
I can hear her phone calls through the wall.
I can hear him playing the Nintendo Switch.
I'm trying to be on a conference call,
and God forbid, I actually get a little bit of silence
in this house so I can enjoy my (bleep) PlayStation
that I sat online for (bleep) Cyber Monday to (bleep) buy.
I actually got a goddamn PlayStation
that I can't even (bleep) play now,
'cause everybody's gonna be in the house,
'cause "You can't play violent video games around the boy.
We don't want him learning about violence."
Well, what other good games are there to play
on a PlayStation other than violent games?
You have to pretend violence in this country
to keep from doing violence in real life,
and that's what she doesn't understand.
She doesn't understand
that that's what the video games do for me,
and I just think if I just had just a third bedroom,
-a third bedroom. -All right.
That's all we need is a third bedroom,
and that would give me the space that I need.
But then we would have to move uptown, and that's too far,
-and then you got to have -All right, all right,
-a 40-minute train ride, -well, thank you, thank you.
and I'm in a train ride, and everybody's got Omicron...
All right, thank you so much, Roy.
Thank you so much, Roy. Thank you for keeping us updated
on... on your developments?
-Thank you so much for that. -No problem, Trevor.
Now, look, I understand the frustration
of facing yet another new variant.
I mean, how did that happen after everything we did?
I mean, for two years now, people, we wore masks
for some of the time,
we social-distanced when it was convenient,
then, like, half of us got vaccinated.
What more is it gonna take!
But at the same time, we shouldn't panic,
because this variant was just discovered.
So there's still a ton that we don't know about it.
We don't know how long it's been around.
We don't know if it causes more severe illness.
We don't know if it can evade our vaccines.
We know less about this variant than your grandmother knows
about JoJo Siwa, and she just knows she's scared.
That's it.
And it could very well be that all these mutations
that sound so scary turn out to not be that big a deal.
You know? Like when Apple acts like it's making tons of changes
to the iPhone, and then we're like:
Aah! I need a new iPhone! I need a new iPhone!
And then you get it, and you're like: Wait.
It's just a slightly different camera?
I killed a man in line for this thing.
So, right now, basically all we know about this strain
is that it's called Omicron. That's all we know.
And even the name of the virus has a complicated story.
NEWSMAN: A World Health Organization panel
has just named the strain Omicron
and classified it as a variant of concern.
NEWSMAN 2: The World Health Organization
named this variant Omicron
instead of the next letters in the Greek alphabet,
nu or xi.
In a statement to the Associated Press,
they said they skipped nu
because it sounds like the word "new"
and that Xi is a common last name.
Yes, it's true. Xi is a very common last name,
particularly among Chinese authoritarian leaders.
I see you, WHO.
And this really shows you the clout that China has, man.
'Cause the World Health Organization is like,
"Oh, we don't want to offend one guy in China."
Meanwhile, Greece is over here like,
"What?! You stole our whole alphabet, malakas."
And it has been interesting to see how sensitive
the scientific community has become
about naming COVID variants, right?
Because back in the day...
You realize back in the day, nobody cared.
Like, nobody cared about naming diseases.
Doctors would even name diseases after themselves.
"I discovered a disease that destroys the mind,
"making you slowly forget your life
"and the people that you love.
"And whenever people get this disease,
"I want them thinking of your boy, Alzheimer!
"Yeah. That way, they'll never forget me.
"I mean, they might forget, but yeah,
you know what I'm saying. Yeah, it's gonna be quite cool."
But the good news about them skipping those letters
is that that means we're almost halfway to omega now,
which is the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
And that means once COVID reaches the end of the alphabet,
it can't make any more variants, people.
That's just science. We did it, baby. Yeah.
Now, the truth is that so far,
there are some encouraging signs
that Omicron may only be causing mild symptoms
in the people who have it,
although experts say it'll take at least a couple of weeks
before we really understand what the strain can do.
But the world isn't waiting to find out.
Governments are moving quickly tonight
to limit travel into their countries
in an attempt to slow the spread
of the new COVID variant called Omicron.
NEWSMAN: Overnight, the United States banned entry
for noncitizen travelers from South Africa
and seven neighboring countries.
At least 44 other countries
are also imposing travel restrictions.
I took immediate steps to restrict travel
from countries in southern Africa.
But while we have that travel restrictions
can slow the speed of Omicron,
it cannot prevent it.
But here's what it does.
It gives us time.
Gives us time to take more actions,
to move quicker,
to make sure people understand
you have to get your vaccine.
You have to get the shot.
Yes. If you give America just a couple more weeks,
surely all the anti-vaxxers
will finally come around and get their shots.
Oh, bless your heart, Joe.
No, for real, I mean, I understand
where the U.S. is coming from on this, right?
If you can slow down the spread of Omicron even a little bit,
than you have time to research it.
You have time to work on new vaccines,
and you have time to consult with Joe Rogan
on a treatment plan.
I mean, hey, maybe this time he'll say vaccines.
You don't know.
So, a lot of people support this travel ban,
although Republicans aren't giving Biden any credit
for taking a tough stance.
If fact, today,
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, he tweeted that
"while Biden is banning travel from South Africa,
"he's doing nothing to stop South Africans
from crossing the southern border illegally."
And, you know, Greg Abbott has a very good point here.
Every day, millions of South Africans
walk across the...
Atlantic Ocean
to cross the border?
I mean, why did I book a flight? I could've just hitched a ride.
What is this?
This is the biggest load of bullshit ever.
(stammers) Look, props to the governor of Texas
for being able to turn literally any story
into a complaint about the border.
"Everyone's watching Red Notice on Netflix,
"when what they should be doing
is watching our southern border!"
Now, you-you guys may not know this about me,
but I, too, am a South African.
Relax, relax. Everyone in the studio, relax.
I do not have the variant, I think.
Got the O.G. one.
And as a South African--
who does not have the variant--
I think this travel ban is total bullshit.
I really do.
I mean, first of all,
COVID is a hoax.
We can all agree on that, right? (laughs)
No, but-but, second of all,
Omicron has already been found in over a dozen countries,
a dozen countries around the world.
Right? We don't know where it started.
We don't know how long it's been around.
It's everywhere, from Hong Kong to Israel to Spain.
So why aren't you banning travel
from all of those countries, too?
Huh?
Only the African countries?
What's the difference between the African coun...
Ah.
I still don't get the logic.
What, you think Omicron is-is gonna get to Europe
and then just decide to stay there?
"I was going to spread to America,
but I simply cannot leave the beauty of Barth-elona."
And, look, I mean, maybe America is buying itself
a couple of weeks before it gets overrun with Omicron.
But don't forget,
don't forget about the costs of this action, too.
Because you do realize
that other countries are paying attention,
and they realize if-if they're gonna get punished
for telling the world about new variants,
they're gonna stop telling the world
whenever their scientists discover new variants.
I'm just saying, don't be surprised
when the next variant pops up in Europe
and Italian scientists come out acting like nothing is wrong.
(Italian accent): "Everything is fine.
This is just a-- how you say?-- a TikTok challenge!"
But that's where we are right now.
There's a new coronavirus
that we don't know anything about.
And because of that,
I can't go home to my uncle's baby shower.
And, man, I really wanted to go.
You don't see your uncle get showered by babies much.
Anyway, when we come back, I'm gonna be talking
to an actual scientist about what Omicron means
for the actual world.
You don't want to miss it.
We begin with the developments
on the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
-The name is "Ahmicron." -"Ahmicron."
-"Ohmeecron." -This new "Ahmuhohmycron" variant.
"Ohmohmicron."
The rapidly spreading "Ohmycron" variant.
The "Ahmeecron" variant.
Then there's "Ahmahmeecron."
Is it "Ahmecron"?
"Ahmohmycron" or something? Yeah, from-- Yeah.
I might be messing up the pronunciation of this.
Is it "Omicron"? "Ohmicron"? How do we say it?
It's called the "Omnicron."
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
We've been talking about the new Omicron variant
that's spreading around the world,
and to continue that conversation, I'd like
to welcome Dr. Peter Hotez on the show.
He's the co-director of The Center for Vaccine Development
at Texas Children's Hospital, and he's here to talk more
about what Omicron is
and how countries should be reacting to it.
Dr. Hotez, thank you so much for taking the time.
Let's jump straight into this thing.
Um, how much should we be blaming South Africa
for this new variant?
I mean, basically, South Africa destroyed the world, right?
This is our fault.
Yeah, I mean, this-this is so demoralizing,
what's-what's being done now
to the people of not only South Africa,
but Botswana and neighboring countries,
Malawi, etcetera.
Look, um, it goes like this.
The-the... our worst pandemic variant threats, right,
the Alpha variant-- how did that happen?
It arose out of an unvaccinated population
out of the United Kingdom in... at the end of 2020.
So we already knew that
if you leave large populations unvaccinated,
that's how the worst variants arise.
And then, in 2021, it happened again with the Delta variant
rising out of an unvaccinated population, uh, in India.
And that's what we're living with right now
in the United States and most of the world.
So what did people think was going to happen
if we refuse to vaccinate the African continent,
and help Africa vaccinate itself?
This was both predicted and predictable.
So, the rise of Omicron was inevitable from the simple fact
that the African continent is virtually entirely unvaccinated.
Maybe six percent. That rounds off to zero.
And-and the point is, there was never the leadership,
the policy decision to work with African governments
to get the African people vaccinated.
And so, I feel the people in southern Africa are paying
for this twice. One: they're not vaccinated,
and now we're going to punish them further,
on enacting... implementing travel restrictions
which we already know don't work.
Um, they haven't worked this entire epidemic.
Why would they work now?
Let me ask you this question, though.
This is really confusing, I think, for a lot of people
in and around the variants,
and I think it's a two-part question.
Number one, how do we know, or do we know,
where this variant comes from?
You know? Because people say South African variant or not,
but it was sequenced, as I understand, in South Africa.
Nobody knows where it's from, correct?
And then the second part of that is,
are we not only discovering a variant now
but not where the variant is?
Like, if people start testing all over the world,
and they now understand what to test for,
aren't we just gonna see, you know,
Omicron popping up everywhere as if it is spreading when
-in fact, it's already there? -Oh, of course, of course.
So, that's always my first talking point
when people are wringing their hands about the Omicron variant.
They're saying: Oh, my God,
but it's in multiple European countries
and in Australia and Canada, maybe the United States.
And I say: Well, yeah, that's been true
of every variant we've had.
By the time we identify a new variant,
it's almost always all over the world.
And so the fact that it's in multiple European countries,
-Mm-hmm. -in Australia and Hong Kong and-and Canada,
likely the U.S., that always happens.
It's not unique to Omicron. It's true of every variant.
From the very beginning, we've known this.
For instance, when we were all focused
on enacting travel bans, uh, from China,
right, as the epidemic began, the pandemic began,
what happened?
This virus came in from southern Europe
to ignite the horrible epidemic in New York City
-in the spring of 2020. -Right.
That was a lesson in itself.
By the time we identify a new variant,
it's already gone global.
So, looking at the situation now,
you have people panicking, you have stock markets tumbling,
you have, you know, people cancelling their travel plans.
Nobody knows what to do.
Airlines said they're cancelling flights
to and from South Africa-- then they said
they're gonna undo it from the U.K.
Governments don't seem to know what they're doing.
Was this a knee-jerk reaction?
Did-did they react without thinking first?
Or did they do the right thing in getting ahead of it
because they don't know what the new variant is all about?
Where-where do you see this going
as a scientist who's actually studying these viruses?
Well, I think it's a little bit of that.
I think a lot of it is the fact
that these governments and U.N. agencies
were heavily criticized in the past
for not reacting fast enough.
In-in some ways, I think this is an overcompensation.
But when you break it down,
um, I think, you know, we have...
we have to be more realistic
about how serious this-this variant is.
First of all, the fact that it's in multiple countries.
We've already said that's not a surprise.
That happens with just about every variant.
Point number one.
Point number two, in terms of severity of illness,
there's no evidence I've seen that this.. the ill... this...
that the illness produced by the Omicron variant
is worse than anything else that we've seen.
So take those two things off the table.
In terms of its resistance to vaccines,
um, it will almost certainly not be as susceptible
to the original vaccinations as the original strains,
but we've seen this before.
We've had another variant out of South Africa in 2020
called the B.1.351, the Beta,
which should have been a wake-up call back then.
Uh, and then one out of South America, the Lambda.
And the point is there was enough crossover
or what Tony Fauci calls spillover
from our existing vaccines
to partially cross-neutralize it.
So, my hope is that that's the case
with our current vaccines, especially for individuals
who have gotten three mRNA vaccines
where there's a 30...
three-three RNA doses
where there's a 30 to 40 full rise
in virus-neutralizing antibodies.
So I am hopeful there will be at least partial protection,
and we'll know that over the next week or so.
So, our lab is looking at our vaccine
against the Omicron variant.
Moderna's doing the same. Pfizer's doing the same.
J&J's doing the same. So, we'll know that,
uh, hopefully, over the next week.
The best thing people can do right now
is to use all the vaccines that are available.
So, get three doses, if you can, of mRNA,
vaccinate your kids
and if you've been infected and recovered,
if you can get vaccinated on top of that,
that's the best...
gives you the best possibility
of helping you weather these new variants.
Do you think-- before I let you go-- do you think, um, like,
scientists/whoever was marketing this,
do you think they made a mistake by calling it a vaccine?
Do you think that's confused some people?
'Cause they say, "Well, if I have a polio vaccine,
"then I'm fine. I don't get polio.
If I get the measles vaccine, I don't get measles."
Do you think they should have just called this, like,
"the-the shot"? Like, a COVID shot? Like you have a flu shot?
You know, I think, you know,
if they had, uh, always from the beginning said
this was a three-dose vaccine,
then people would have understood this better.
And as a three-dose vaccine, I really do think it halts
not only symptomatic illness and hospitalization
but there's some data now showing
it could also halt infection, uh, as well.
Just that it wasn't marketed that way.
-It wasn't billed that way. -Huh. Okay.
But, you know, if you look at all our pediatric vaccines,
for instance, what do we do with our kids?
We give a series of primary immunizations,
you wait six months to a year and then you give the boost.
And that's what gives you the long-lasting durable protection.
The point is the mRNA vaccines
were just going by the same playbook
that every other vaccine we have,
and-and I tried to give that message
back in January, February.
But I think, you know, the other problem that we had
was the company CEOs, you know,
were-were sending out these press releases.
And, you know, when company CEOs send out press releases,
they're not meant for you or for me--
they're meant for the shareholders
and to spectacularize their accomplishments
and to jack up the stock prices.
And-and they were very effective at doing that.
But it was tone-deaf to the impact
and how these vaccines would be perceived by the public.
Well, again, Dr. Hotez, thank you so much for the time,
-and, uh, good luck to you out there. -Thank you, Trevor.
Thanks for all your great stuff. I really appreciate it.
Appreciate you.
Uh, don't forget, people, Dr. Hotez's book,
Preventing the Next Pandemic, is available now.
All right, when we come back,
the one and only Thandiwe Newton
will be joining me right here in the studio.
So don't go away.
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guest is Emmy award-winning actor
and producer Thandiwe Newton.
She's here to talk about her new documentary
about the fight for democracy in Zimbabwe.
-Wow. -Let's go.
-Everyone out. -MAN: We're here for a press conference
with Nelson Chamisa, and as you can see,
the riot police have just turned up.
(man speaking foreign language)
-Why is this...? -(indistinct chatter)
So, if this is a democracy,
why are you shutting down the press?
(overlapping chatter)
Wow. Tense.
Thandiwe Newton, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Um, let's jump straight into it.
You know, when I first heard
that you were going to be part of making a film
about an election that was stolen,
about people who felt like they were robbed,
about a democracy that was under threat, I was like,
"Are you doing something about America?"
And then, no. The information came out, and I was like,
"No, this is about Zimbabwe." A story
that I've been following almost my whole life...
Of course you have.
-...because of South Africa's proximity to the country. -Yeah.
-But let's-let's talk about that immediately. -Yeah.
This is a story not just about Zimbabwe,
-but about democracy as a whole. -Mm. Mm.
And you decided to tell it. What inspired you to go,
"This is a moment to tell this story"?
It was frustration more than anything.
Um, I've been a human rights activist for two decades.
Um, activism very often comes out of suffering,
personal suffering, or certainly
-witnessing the suffering of others. -Mm-hmm.
Um, and that was... both those aspects were true for me.
And I have been fighting for the rights of women and children.
Um, and I realized recently that I've been a spokesperson
for people all over the world except for Zimbabwe,
my own home, because I feared
-the political backlash. -Wow.
And...
what happened last...
in 2018, 2019, is that I realized
that this isn't about politics.
This is human rights...
-and this is about the future of humanity. -Right. Right.
Because the work that I've done in Congo, similarly,
um, is... this is...
it's a framework that is... we can see all over the world.
-Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. -You talk about, is this America?
Well, yes, it is. It's happening in Zimbabwe.
It's happening in Congo. It's happening in the United States.
It's happening in the Middle East.
It's happening everywhere, this imbalance,
-this knowledge of where power rests, -Right.
and an inability for that to be shared amongst everybody.
So to see my fellow Zimbabweans being devastated...
and it's, obviously, it's been going on a long time
and we thought Mugabe, you know...
-Yeah, but that was... -the release of Mugabe...
-That-that was a big story. -to his own fate, yes.
-Yeah, that was a big story... -And with so much hope.
Yes. A lot of people saw the story of Zimbabwe,
and here you had a leader who...
you know, like many other leaders in the world,
came into power with really good intentions,
-Oh, yeah. -it seemed at the time.
I mean, you see the story unfolding in so many countries,
-where the people who fight to free a country -Power corrupts.
are not often the people who are best to lead that country
-when it is free. -Yes! And look,
this is what Chamisa is currently saying.
Nelson Chamisa, a young politician in Zimbabwe,
who was Mnangagwa's opposition.
Mnangagwa should be happy to have a powerful opposition.
-Right. -Should. And win, win,
and then you share the country
that, even with a powerful opposition,
you're still the rightful person to lead.
I would love to know how you got the access that you did
in this election, because, I mean,
when you're watching this documentary--
oftentimes you watch documentaries
and, you know, it's interviews that are predominantly trying
to tell you what's happening in the story.
-Mm-mm. None of that. -In this story,
you are in the story,
-Mm-hmm. -we're seeing what is happening.
You know, you're seeing how votes are being manipulated.
You're seeing how precincts are reporting
one person winning by 300,000 votes
when there are only, like, a hundred thousand people
-who live in that area. -Mm.
-How did you... -And you also see that there's access
by one party and none by another.
-Right. But how did you get the access into... -The access.
I mean, because Zimbabwe has been notorious for very long
and that the ruling party, the ZANU-PF,
has said, "No, we're-we're running our elections.
We've won, and that's none of your business."
So, how did you get in?
And how did you get your people in safely
to tell that story?
NEWTON: Camilla Nielsson-- wonderful filmmaker.
She had already made a documentary called Democrats,
-which was about Mugabe. -Mm-hmm.
And they had allowed her to film.
Full access. Both parties.
Um, so, here she was.
They actually banned her first documentary.
Mugabe banned it with... using the same law
that they used for pornography,
-that it wasn't good for people to watch. -Right.
Anyway. Um, and that happened.
And then Camilla went on a three-year legal battle
to have Democrats be shown,
and she won.
So, as a result, she had the freedom
to continue her work as documentary maker,
and all we see in this film
is what she witnessed.
She doesn't... There's no talking heads.
-Right. -She doesn't get anyone to say anything.
She doesn't manipulate anybody. One of the things
I love about her as a filmmaker, she has the...
It's called cinema verité.
It's a style where you do not intrude on what you see.
All you see in this film is what was actually happening,
and it is more crazy than any kind of murder mystery,
any kind of CIA drama.
You cannot believe what's happening in front of your eyes.
You know, when a story like this is told
about a country like Zimbabwe on a continent like Africa,
there is a certain apathy
that infects people when watching this.
They go like, "Well, that is what happens."
You know? They'll be like, "Well, that's...
"That's a third-world country. That's what happens.
"You know, it's bound to happen.
Of course that'll happen."
And yet it feels like now,
maybe because of what's been happening in the U.S.,
maybe because of what's been happening in, you know,
-whether it's Brexit or-or Ukraine or... -Mm.
It feels like there is a different understanding
of a shared threat if people are not careful.
What is that idea?
What do you think people can learn in watching this,
-regardless of where they live, about democracy? -(exhales)
We are a common humanity.
We're a common humanity.
And one thing that people will realize
is that the people that they see are so like them.
You'll recognize that what's happening in Zimbabwe
is happening, as I've said, everywhere
because we are all in a fight for our freedom.
-Mm. -All of us.
Whether it's in our business, whether it's at the workplace
and you're an actress in the film business,
whether it's-- you're a sportsman
and you're trying to take a knee to say enough,
we are all fighting for our freedom.
And there are microcosms everywhere.
Watch-- Or don't watch this documentary.
-No, watch it. Let's go with "watch it." -But to not,
to not see...
Okay, here's one thing.
This change doesn't happen fast.
And we think it does because we're in a time
of incredible media, technology.
But the truth is, real systemic change...
Mm-hmm.
...takes time.
Have faith. Have faith.
Feel something. That's the other thing, I would say.
Feel something.
This documentary, others like it,
force you to actually engage and feel.
We need to bring feeling back into our humanity.
I really believe it.
And-and the irony that technology, strangely,
is... (stammers) has come from lack of feeling.
-You know? -Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
And it's very often orchestrated by people
who... who have lost their capacity to feel.
You know, we know that we're in a world now
where there are people that just don't have empathy.
-It's scary, right? -Right.
But then work with us.
Work with us that still feel, that still cry every day,
that still can't turn away from the television.
There is a system that currently works.
It's-it's hideous, but it-it's moving forward.
We also know that there are people suffering in this system
and there are people cheating the system.
If we find the cheaters,
those that are suffering will suffer less.
-Hmm. -And that...
won't happen in-- We can start something in our lifetimes.
That's why I tell people to watch it.
-Yeah. -Watch the documentary,
draw the parallels to the world you live in
and the best way to say it is feel.
-Feel something. -Thandiwe Newton, thank you so much
-for joining me on the show. -Thank you for having me.
Always a pleasure to have you here.
All right, people, President will be in theaters December 17
and it will be available on digital in February.
We're gonna take a quick break,
but we'll be right back after this.
Well, that's other show for tonight. But before we go,
some exciting news.
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It's our Happy Belated Holidays sweatshirt.
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So if you want to check it out,
scan the QR code
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Until tomorrow, stay safe out there,
get your vaccine and, remember,
try to get on Omicron's good side now
by standing for it online.
Yeah. Then, when it gets here,
it'll be like, "This guy's cool."
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
VIRGIL ABLOH: I don't feel responsible
to a preconceived notion of art.
I feel more responsible to a...
community that is trying
to change the tide
or to sort of live in an optimistic society
that art, design, music and fashion
actually change the world for the better.