S4 E23: Joe Arpaio, DACA & Scranton Train: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

[Music] w welcome welcome welcome to Last Week Tonight I'm John Oliver thank you so much for joining us and look as we speak hurricane Irma is battering Florida and for coverage of that I cannot recommend strongly enough that you watch something else right now because for us we have a lot to catch up on we have been off for the last couple of weeks and we've missed a great deal of stories from continuing tensions with North Korea to equifax's massive data breach to me personally falling off the Taylor Swift Train look what you look what you made me do Taylor but but we have to begin tonight with President Trump the Eric Trump of old people the the president had an erratic week even by his standards best characterized by two big decisions now on Wednesday he met with Congressional leaders to hammer out a deal to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government Democrats wanted just a thre Monon extension to give them strategic leverage while Republican leadership was understandably fiercely against that Republicans wanted a long-term solution to avoid another bruising fight in December but in the Oval Office sitting down with leaders of both parties the president sided with the Democrats that stunning image the president cutting a deal with Democrats and blindsiding his own party yeah that is a surprising move as you can see from Chuck Schumer's expression there it's is it's if it's right in the middle of saying you are not very smart are you buddy and the details of how the negotiation unfolded are really striking because three months was the democrat's first offer and Trump just took it it was so shocking Republicans apparently froze in mid smile which must have been an unsettling sight given that I will remind you this is what it looks like when Mitch McConnell Smiles in real time it's creepy when his smile moves it's downright terrifying when it freezes and before Republicans could could even try and Salvage that meeting it was completely derailed at the height of a tense meeting sources say first daughter Ivanka Trump entered the Oval Office to pitch her agenda on the child tax credit throwing the meeting off topic Republican leaders visibly annoyed by her presence you know I believe that's actually the name of of ivanka's upcoming biography visibly annoyed by her presence the Ivanka Trump story and that was far from the most uncomfortable moment involving ianka this week because at a North Dakota event later that same day he introduced his daughter like this come up pish bring Ivanka up come on up honey she's so good she wanted to make the trip she said dad can I go with you she actually said Daddy can I go with you I like that right Daddy can I go with you I said yes you can oh his 35-year-old daughter calls him daddy and he likes it that is just one of those facts that on some level I already knew I just never wanted to have confirmed it's like when someone airbnb's your place they ejaculate on literally everything or if I was there for the Manson Murders I probably would have stabbed someone I'm not good with peer pressure it would have been so weird if I was the only one not stabbing i' I'd have probably had a quick stab and look look it is good that the government is getting funded and there was Hurricane Relief attached to this bill but nobody seems exactly sure why Trump made this decision one senior Republican AIDS told Politico it was mystifying adding maybe it's about the wall I don't know none of it makes any sense which really should have been the slogan of Trump's presidential campaign maybe it's about the war I don't know none of it makes any sense and and this was not the only big decision that Trump made this week for less than clear reasons because on Tuesday he took a far more consequential step president Trump is ending former President Obama's signature immigration program the deferred action for childhood arrivals known as DACA protects about 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the us as kids from deportation yes Donald Trump ended dacker which allowed him to both kill an Obama era program and pick on 100 of thousands of immigrants which for Trump is really killing two birds with one stone incidentally his favorite childhood Pastime Mommy I killed the fancy pigeons again I need a new batch now now dacka not only protects its recipients or dreamers uh from deportation it allows them to work through a renewable two-year permit it was a temporary measure implemented by President Obama because Congress had failed to pass immigration reform for over a decade and whatever people's feelings on other aspects of immigration they over whelmingly believe that dreamers should be allowed to stay in the country the problem is that during the campaign Trump promised his base not only that he would end Ducker but that he would Deport its recipients although beyond that he didn't really seem to have much in the way of a concrete plan they have to go what if they have no place to go we will work with them they have to go Chuck we either have a country or we don't have a country we will do it and we will expedite it so people can come back in I still still not clear Chuck it'll work out so well you will be so happy in four years you're going to be interviewing me and you're going to say what a great job you've done president Trump but that is not a plan saying they have to go but then they can maybe come back in and ending s like he's trying to hypnotized Chuck Todd it will work out so well you'll be so happy in four years you're going to say what a great job you've done president Trump now when I snap my fingers you're going to wake up and wet your pants boom now now you would hope hope that now he's in office Trump would have formulated the plan outlining exactly what he would like to see happen regarding the dreamers but apparently as late as one hour before the decision was to be announced Administration officials privately expressed concern that Mr Trump might not fully grasp the details of the steps he was about to take which again is awful but it is something we all probably presumed anyway like the fact that Tom hanks's character in Cast Away absolutely Wilson There is no doubt in my mind that that happened and sure enough later that day Trump seemed to be walking back his decision saying Congress now has 6 months to legalize daaka and if they didn't he would revisit this issue so he's all over the place dreamers have to go but maybe they can come back or maybe they don't have to go at all and in the meantime 800,000 people's lives are in the balance and when asked on air force one about these mixed signals he was still maddeningly vague about anything even resembling a plan Chuck and Nancy would like to see something happen in so do I and I said if we can get something to happen we're going to sign it and we're going to make it going to make a lot of happy people okay listen because this is important anytime Trump says he's going to make people happy or that you're going to be happy in the future that means he has got nothing and he's trying to end the conversation remember that's how we shut down Chuck Todd on the plane and he doesn't just do it with immigration he does it with everything here's how he talked to Business Leaders about his plans to change trade policy wait till you see what's up for you you are going to be so happy that is the tone of somebody who forgot to buy an anniversary gift and is stalling for time wait until you see what's up for you I'm going to be back in 45 minutes you're going to be so happy honestly he does this for everything here are his promises for Border safety the Middle East steel tariffs replacing Obamacare and infrastructure we are going to make it so that everybody is happy I think you're going to be very happy with the end result the steel folks are going to be very happy millions of people will be happy right now you have millions and millions and millions of people that are unhappy you're going to be so happy with Trump I think you already are okay but in each of those cases it's the way you get to that feeling that is important laying out a government policy that's just you'll be so happy is like naming a restaurant you're going to be so full okay that's the goal but how ow what am I filling myself with is it Asian fusion or wet cement I promise this happens all the time and and in case that you you're wondering what he does when people aren't happy don't worry he even has a solution for that because remember the debt sealing meeting and how Furious Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan were this was Trump later that same day and I'll tell you what we walked out of there Mitch and Paul and everybody Kevin and we walked out and everybody was happy but no they absolutely weren't not Mitch not Paul not Kevin none of them and Trump may be able to fool people by saying they'll be happy in the future but we cannot let him trick people into thinking they were happy in the past and in that way it is actually weirdly ironic that he is taking such a hard line against dreamers because this guy is clearly out of his mind and now this and now a look at what the NFL will and will not tolerate Colin Kaepernick is a free agent but even though he's a talented quarterback no team has signed him many believe that's because he's too controversial for NFL fan bases there's a lot of baggage that comes with Colin Kaepernick maybe this is too controversial and they don't want to deal with that in their stadiums meanwhile Jones was suspended for one game following an arrest in January for an incident involving him spitting out a nurse violated the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances a DUI earlier in the allseason domestic violence DWI May arrested in December for extreme DUI he violated the league substance abuse policy and will miss the first four games of the season now Bryant was also suspended for the first four games last season while he was a member of the Cleveland Browns for pedu now in between those two suspensions he was suspended for three games after the Lions claimed him off waivers that suspension was due to an arrest back in 2015 and yet they would have a tough time I think signing somebody who protested the the American flag and the national anthem I wouldn't want them on my team I [Music] wouldn't moving on our main story tonight concerns presidential pardons the only genuine get out of jail free card pardons are one of the most powerful tools available to a president and they have been used controversially in the past Bill Clinton uh pardoned Mark Rich Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon and as we've mentioned before Abraham Lincoln wants pardoned a man for attempted bestiality that is true and In fairness this was the horse that's a pretty horse right there I'm not saying that you should it I'm just saying I wouldn't kick it out of bed for eating apples the point here is while we were away Donald Trump issued his very first pardon and it was a doozy a legal lightning bolt from president Trump late Friday a presidential pardon for Arizona's controversial anti- illegal immigration hardliner Sheriff Joe Arpaio that's right Donald Trump pardons Joe Ario a man who answers the question what if a decaying Russet potato somehow hated Mexicans but but let's look at that decision because if the president of the United States is going to use his very first pardon on someone this early in his term it really is worth knowing exactly who Joe apayo is and what the implications of this decision may be and you probably may have heard of Jo Aro before he has carefully cultivated an image over 25 years as a hard-nosed sheriff with unconventional methods that the media has lapped up Joe Oro is known as America's toughest sheriff sheriff AO who's been dubbed America's toughest Sheriff America's toughest Sheriff Joe Aro he's known as America's toughest sheriff for his crackdowns on illegal immigration and petty crime he brags about making prisoners eat baloney sandwiches so rotten the meat has turned green he makes his inmates wear pink he uses chain gangs inmates are forced to wear striped prison Garb and pink underwear well that is just awful the pink underwear is fine but no one should be forced to wear horizontal stripes they widen the silhouett that is a fact that's a fashion fact now AIO really didn't mind that coverage he actually welcomed it cuz he loves being on camera so much that he essentially spent years treating prisoners as props for a reality show and sometimes literally he actually had a short-lived show called smile you're under arrest where people with outstanding warrants would be tricked into appearing on a set only to be pranked in the worst way possible oh wa W I got one more surprise these two people are actually deputies of sheriff J Poo's office take them down take them down so dude you got to smile cuz you're under arrest oh for real for real po there is what wait wait hoop there it is now for the record even then that reference was 15 years old which is a real Wiggy whack thing to do D and look tricking people into arrest for your own Amusement is a terrible idea for a reality show the only worst idea is not making Peter The Bachelor look at that face are you idiots ABC let me just say this Peter if you are out there you are and shall forever remain my bachelor # Peter is my bachelor # he's a celor now Aire will honestly do anything for a camera and if you don't believe me watch him sing his favorite song which of course is Frank and arras my way the universal anthem of everywhere watch him sing it for a documentary film crew the record shows I took the [Music] blows and then is my way here's something interesting there when Frank Sinatra heard that he actually climbed out of his grave walked 400 miles to aro's house rang the doorbell and simply said no but but what does doing it aro's way actually mean because Trump didn't just pardon him he touted arpaio's support on the campaign Trail even having him speak at the Republican convention so Trump clearly doesn't seem to have any real problem with our Poo's way and for the record it is far more than just the eye-catching circus that you've seen so far and many people were effective Maricopa County where he was the sheriff until just last year contains over 4 million people that's a higher population than that of 24 States and conditions in his tth City weren't just eccentric they were appalling temperatures there could rise as high as 145° uh food was limited to two meals a day and then there was this Chinese law enforcement officials drop in for some tips from Joe who just brushed up on his Mandarin I hear China very tough and criminal correct huh I'm asking them in China yes do they put women yes on a chain gang no thank you I am still the first in the in the world yes AO actually put women on Chain Gang so I guess hash feminism it's a gray area and look remember ouro operates jails not prisons and jails are typically for people serving sentences of less than a year or even just awaiting trial which is not to say that anyone should be subjected to some of arpaio's treatment at one point he actually installed webcams in the jail one of which showed female inmates using the toilet which wound up being linked to by pornographic sites and while the cameras were eventually pulled the Sheriff's Office defended themselves with their lawyer saying they did not show the private parts of any inmates and no juveniles would have been displayed unless they look older and lie to us and just spare a thought there for the attorney who went all the way through years of law school only have to tell a reporter don't worry the women we broadcast taking a were probably all adults and ouro seemed routinely impervious to criticism of any of his tactics I have not received many negative comments other than the justice department or ambassy International or the civil liberties unit yes Joe but those are the three key groups who might criticize you over mistreating prisoners so you just went three for three on that one you're not going to get complaints from Carl's Junior the Girl Scouts and Hootie and the Blowfish that's not what those groups do so is it frankly any wonder that when a reporter asked inmates whether ouro had any nicknames one responded Hitler while another responded Hitler and that that is a charge that he's defended himself against by saying my daughter has adopted children of various ethnicities I got a black a Mexican with Down Syndrome even and yet I'm the racist I'm the fascist I'm the Hitler and look I'm not going to argue with him on that one that is just Sound Logic right there that is why when you play the board game Guess Who's the Hitler the first things you ask to narrow it down are do their daughter got a black and do their daughter got a Mexican with with Down Syndrome even because if their daughter got those they can't be the Hitler it's right there in the rules and look look A's jails weren't just tough and humiliating they were sometimes deadly over the years the county has paid out multiple large settlements to families of inmates who've died following incidents in his facilities including over $8 million to the family of Scott Norberg who died in custody after being restrained shocked and beaten by guards and when one officer tried to two other guards that the inmate was in dire trouble their response was chilling I told him that he was turning blue I I purple I don't think he was breathing and he said I who gives a after uh spidale responded to you who gives a and you warned officer gurnie what did Mr gurnie say basically who gives a look you can't see someone dying and say who gives a you can't even see something dying and say that with of course the sole exception of orchids because really who gives a they're they're high maintenance Little Flower cucks and they all deserve to die now now now I should tell you the justice department declined to prosecute that case and both arayo and the officers insisted they did nothing wrong in fact arayo was so Unapologetic that both officer who gives a and officer who gives a were later promoted presumably to Lieutenant whatever and Sergeant zero given and and that promotion the problem is that promotion sends a pretty clear message to AO sta almost as clear a message as a president pardoning the man who oversaw all of this and remember apaya wasn't just in charge of jails he was also a law enforcement officer though his respect for the law seemed awfully selective now over the years his office repeatedly launched criminal cases against his perceived enemies be they County officials or even judges some of which were so shockingly flimsy they were dismissed or thrown out one civil suit that he brought turned out to be so baseless it was actually cited in the disbarment of the attorney who brought it with a member of the disbarment panel saying it was nothing short of fumbling with the law like children wielding a buzzing chainsaw which is not only an amazing statement it's also actually my favorite Precious Moments figurine and and for America's toughest Sheriff APO seemed to to let certain crimes fall through the cracks in 2011 it came out that his Department had failed to properly investigate more than 400 sex crimes some of which involv children and while APO eventually admitted to that his apology left a lot to be desired if there were any victims out there I apologize uh to those victims if there were any hold on if there were any there were we know that that is a casual ual indifference to overlooking sex crime so egregious I am genuinely surprised that Penn State hasn't erected a statue of him and amazingly here's the amazing thing none of what you have just seen not the conditions uh not the deaths not the baseless charges against his critics has anything to do with why he was convicted and needed a pardon that stems from racial profiling which his department has been repeatedly accused of over the years and one huge investigation made some really troubling allegations a three-year investigation by the justice department found what it called unconstitutional policing and a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos who are up to nine times more likely than whites to be stopped by a Maricopa County Deputy in one incident cited in the federal report a Hispanic driver was incarcerated for 13 days before his citation was dismissed for not using his turn signal think about that 13 days for a turn signal in ction and that is in Arizona where an old person driving with their turn signal on is literally their state sealed and and not surprisingly in 2011 a lawsuit alleging his Department had a pattern of racial profiling resulted in this a federal court in Phoenix has decided Arizona authorities cannot arrest people suspected of being illegal immigrants solely because of their appearance if Arpaio does not comply with the court ruling darpo could ultimately be held in contemp of court and face jail time you'll never guess what happened apayo did not comply with that Court ruling in fact over the next 18 months his office detained at least 171 people without charge and turned them over to immigration enforcement and last July a federal judge found alaio guilty of criminal contempt and at that point he was a criminal he had committed and was convicted of a crime you know the thing that the people he puts in tents and pink underwear had done and and which he felt meant that they had forfeited any right to complain he had done that and he hadn't even been sentenced before Trump started hinting at a pardon for a frankly incredible reason was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job that's what you know what I'll make a prediction I think he's going to be just fine okay but here's the thing there he absolutely was not just doing his job he was also doing something legal you wouldn't say that John Wayne gasy was just doing his job even though he was by all accounts a pretty good birthday clown it it's it's the stuff he was doing on top of that that needed addressing and yet and yet I do not doubt that Trump thinks that everything Joe alaio did was or should be part of a law enforcement officer's job and that is the real problem here that is why this pardon is a slap in the face to Latinos that Aro and his Department unconstitutionally targeted and that is why it's a slap in the face to the very rule of law itself because AO broke the rules he was sworn to uphold rules that are put in place to protect citizens from a government going out of control and Trump giving him a pass after everything that you have seen tonight and saying he was just doing his job is a loud confirmation that at least as far as this White House is concerned for the next few years La enforcement won't necessarily be expected to do their jobs the way the Constitution or the court say they should should instead like Sheriff Joo they should absolutely feel free to do their job um what's the term [Music] way and now this and now Joo sings another song with no sense of irony whatsoever I'm going to make it to Heaven light up the sky like a flame I'm going to live forever baby remember my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] name finally tonight I'd like to give you a quick word regarding trains or as I call them ground ples now you may remember one of our recent and now segments concerns Scranton Pennsylvania's WP more specifically their backyard train that runs behind their weather forecasters all year round it is a Charming feature of that newscast and the people of Scranton have a lot of opinions about it regularly calling in during their TalkBack segment TalkBack callers seem to be pretty much obsessed with the train and trolley in our backyard I would just like to know whose idea it was to put a train in the backyard I'm calling about your train woo keep the train baby question what is going on with the train why isn't it running it hasn't been running in weeks w w w the Train's not running I wish C would put a quarter stick in that train and blow it up whoa whoa that level of emotional investment in a toy train set is usually only experienced by middle-aged dads who are divorced or about to get divorced well here's the thing it turns out the people of Scranton saw our segment on them and the reason I know that is this our backyard train getting some national attention some folks love it some folks feel it's at our area's expense you know what I just watched this joh Oliver train controversy this guy we're not we're not clowns for his entertainment I think this guy owes us a apology here in NECA hey hey hey look first let me be clear I do not think that residents of Scranton are clowns for my entertainment I don't think clowns are for entertainment at all they are for murder threats attempted murder and actual murder that's it that's what clowns are for so please please as well don't think that I was making fun of your backyard train I love that backyard train and I also love how passionate you all are about it and if you don't believe me let me prove it to you because my only criticism of your train set is that I think you deserve a better one a bigger one an almost irresponsibly large one and that is why and I hope you don't mind we have used HBO's resources to make you something truly special please come with me because I have something to show you that I'm pretty sure you are going to like Scranton look at this oh it's not the train set that Scranton needs but it is the train set it deserves this spins around and it has every Scranton Landmark that we could find on Google it's all there the Scranton sign is there the electric city building multiple other Scranton landmarks I know you have a waterfall that's why this thing has a waterfall as well there's three levels of trains there's the Tonk hanuk Viaduct at the pen paper building from the office that's right there the time's building and radio tower is there and of course of course what what we wouldn't miss the lacana Station Hotel and coal mine tour this thing even has a train tunnel the shape of Scranton's famous son basketball coach PJ carimo I mean look at this beautiful thing Scranton we built it for you seriously this is yours now you need to come and get it it can't stay here so please W call us to arrange pickup or delivery of the greatest backyard train that local news has ever seen oh that's right this thing also catches fire I forgot about that that's something you should probably know that's our show tonight thank you so much for watching we're off next week because of the Em's we'll see you two weeks time good night it's yourson