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Conan O'Brien: Thank you. Thank you. Please remain seated. That is not necessary. [applause]
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[laughter] thank you, don’t stand, that wouldn’t be right. Good evening, thank you,
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Mr. President, Mrs. Obama, distinguished members of the press and Bon Jovi.
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Yes, it is an honor to share the stage with the President. When you think about it, the
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President and I are a lot alike. We both went to Harvard, we both have two children and
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we both told Joe Biden we did not have extra tickets for tonight event.
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We also have something else in common, I too recently got in hot water for talking about
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a public official’s good looks. It was when time I would not shut up about that stone
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cold fox, Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood. Oh, man. I like the cut of his jib.
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Bu President Obama, President Obama, you had some great jokes. It was a pleasure watching
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you stand here and do what I do. Now it is only fair that I get to do what you do. That’s
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right, ladies and gentlemen, for the next 15 minutes I will be mired in intense dysfunctional
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standoff with congress. This is going to be fun.
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Now right away, I would like to formally congratulate the President on his re-election. Congratulations.
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Thank you.
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As you all know, he is hard at work creating jobs. Since he was first selected, the number
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of popes has doubled. And the number of tonight show hosts has tripled. Congratulations.
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And while I’m at it, I would like to congratulate President George W. Bush on big dedication
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of his Presidential library. Yes, the library has millions of books, articles, and documents
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and if you go, you can be the first to read them. You can’t hurt me.
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Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get going. Right here at the start I am going to share something
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with you people and it does not leave this room. I say this with absolute confidence,
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because we are on C- Span. Who doesn’t love C-SPAN, seriously? C-SPAN. It’s an entire
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channel shot the backup Camera on a Ford Explorer. Congratulations to C-SPAN for winning the
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bid to broadcast this event. They narrowly beat out HD TV two, TVC South America and
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the Hilton Hotel how to check out channel. That’s right, the Hilton. It is great to
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be here at the Hilton.
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Is it just me or is it time to stop using Priceline to book this event? No, I really
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love the Hilton. I love their motto, sorry the Radisson was booked.
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I was worried that because of the sequester we would be forced to hold this event at a
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less prestigious hotel then the dc Hilton. Then I was told that was not possible.
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I do want to thank the Hilton for accommodating us. They were kind enough to reschedule a
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cash for gold seminar. By the way, for those of you here for the cash for gold seminar,
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that has been moved to salon ‘B’ on the mezzanine. And if Joe Biden asks, there are
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no extra tickets for that, either.
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Quick announcement, before we really get going, before we continue, if any of you are live
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tweeting this event, please use the #incapable oflivinginthemoment. [laughter] yeah. Yeah.
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Yes, Yes. Also, to any U.S. Senators here tonight, if you would like to switch your
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dessert or your position on gay marriage, please signal a waiter. By the way Speaking
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of dinner, tonight entrees were halibut, and filet mignon. Or as CNN reported, lasagna
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and couscous. There is a gavel here, and I don’t know why. [gavel pounds]
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Here is a fun fact about tonight’s food, everything you it was personally shot by Wayne
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Lapierre. Don’t worry it was during a home invasion. The fish came in through the window.
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It wasn’t peppercorn, it was buckshot, ladies and gentlemen. Incidentally, you may not know
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this, but Wayne Lapierre is merely the executive Vice President of the NRA. Which begs the
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question, how freaking crazy do you have to be to be the actual President of the NRA?
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He is not even at the top.
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Also, I would like to acknowledge that earlier this evening there was some confusion with
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the seating chart. For a moment, someone accidentally sat governor Chris Christie with the Republicans.
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That was awkward, and I apologize. Very awkward. But speaking of tables, before dinner, I had
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a chance to mingle, you probably saw me. I worked the crowd, shook some hands and sold
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my twitter account to Al Jazeera for $500 million. They will buy anything. (ah ha ha
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ha ha ha)
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It is an absolute joy to be her at the White House correspondents dinner. Last year, Tom
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Brokaw criticized this event for having too many superstars and A-list celebrities. When
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I told him I would be attending this year, he said, that’s more like it. That should
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not be funny to you.
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But this is really a star- studded event. this year, you have taken it to new heights.
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I have to congratulate you. New heights! Because you have some of the guy from duck dynasty
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is here – duck dynasty. Which can only mean one thing, the guys from storage wars said
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no. I love duck dynasty, don’t get me wrong. I really don’t think the whistle — all
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my god, it works. It’s incredible. He is here. I always hated that one.
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As some of you know, this is my second time speaking at this event. I was 18 years ago
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in 1995, a lot has changed since then. Today you can get real-time information on world
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events from something small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Back in 1995, we
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called that George Stephanopoulos. I can see if George is here because there is a crouton
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in the way.
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It is amazing to think how much our country has changed in 18 years. Think about it. If
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in 1995 you told me that in 2013, we would have an African- American President with a
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middle name Hussein, who was just reelected to a second term in a sluggish economy, I
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would have said, oh, he must have run against Mitt Romney.
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By the way, no offense, Mr. President, I do congratulate you on your victory, but as a
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late-night comedian, I was kind of pulling for the rich guy who’s horse danced in the
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Olympics.
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The demographics of this country have been rapidly changing over the past two decades.
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I look forward to hosting this event 18 years from now. Then, my opening line will be, [speaking
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spanish] Si. Especialmente, Presidente Mario Lopez. But, my prior experience has taught
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me how these dinners work. If the President laughs, everyone laughs. If the Fox News table
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laughs, a little girl just fell off her bike.
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How are you doing, Bill? Yes, all the Washington news media are here tonight, including the
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stars of online journalism. I did the Huffington post has a table. Which has me wondering,
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if you are here, who is covering Miley Cyrus’s latest nip slip? Who is assembling today’s
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top 25 yogurt related tweets? Seven mistakes your making with bacon, and
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that’s a real one, and you should be ashamed our yourselves.
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By the way, just before dinner, I tried to say a quick hello to Arianna Huffington, but
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she made me watch a 32 second ad first. — 30-second ad first.
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Yes, a lot of online stars in the room, but unfortunately Matt Drudge couldn’t make
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it. Ya, he had a prior commitment to teach a web design class in 1997.
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Of course, the Washington print media is also joining us this evening. The print media are
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here for two very good reasons. food and shelter.
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You know, how are you, you know, some people say print media is dying, but I don’t believe
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it. Neither does my blacksmith. You have got to meet Zachariah, he is great. Man, rough
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year for Newsweek, which after 80 years published its last print issue. Yeah. Time magazine
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might be gloating, but they really shouldn’t, because Time will outlive Newsweek a way Juliett
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outlived Romeo. Read the play, it is very smart.
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Things are so tough for old media, Reuters – (this is a true story) Reuters is having
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its after party right here at the Hilton. Because nothing says we are having a great
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here like having your after party at the same table where you just had dinner. With that
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in mind, Reuters is asking everyone here to leave a little wine at the bottom of the glass.
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And to be fair, print media still has a big star in Bob Woodward. Got to give it up for
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Bob Woodward. [applause] Earlier this evening,
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a waiter asked him if he wanted regular or decaf and he said, Stop threatening me!
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Also tonight, some big names in television news. When it comes to television news, we
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have a divided landscape. Fox news is watched by conservatives, MSNBC watched by liberals
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and CNN is watched by people who clean the offices at CNN. [laughter] [oohs] Oh, it gets
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worst. CNN’s ratings are so low, now when it comes up, James Earl Jones says, you are
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watching CNN? what the hell? I have to say, in the past two years, CNN has made some odd
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moves. It replaced the — popular Larry King with one of the scheming footman from “Downton
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Abbey.” it is good to see my old friends at MSNBC. Chris Matthews is here. Chris Matthews has the only show
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where the commercial exists just so they can wipe the spittle off the lens. By the way,
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during the Boston coverage on MSNBC last week, Chuck Todd stopped
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a pundit from speculating on on fire side — unverified information. There is no joke
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here. I’m just letting the people at CNN know that you can do that. This is a learning
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experience.
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Hello to Fox news star Bill O’Reilly, Bill has become quite the author. He’s had two
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recent bestsellers, ” Killing Kennedy” and “killing Lincoln.” He also wrote a
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book that wasn’t as nearly as popular – the Natural Peaceful Death of Taft. What were
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you thinking.
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The truth is Bill O’Reilly (and this is true) is now working on his next book, due
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out this fall, this time about the killing of Jesus. It will be the first time in history
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Jesus’s death is blamed on Obamacare.
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Two quick shout outs to PBS and NPR. PBS — yes! [applause] Those people love to party. Guys
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if you get lucky tonight – Be safe, where a tote bag. It works. You have got to love
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NPR. Still the number one source for news delivered as if there is a toddler sleeping
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in the next room. Shh!
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NBC NEWS is in the house. They have had a rough go of it. The Today Show let go of Ann
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Curry. After being told that an curry said, how broker tells the world that he crafted
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answer the White House and I am getting fired? Al is the reason there are no more tours of
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the White House, they’re still hosing it down.
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Brian Williams is here. Brian – I am a big fan of your show. Rock Center with Brian Williams
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– If you haven’t seen it, imagine brand delivering the evening news on a different
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floor of the building, a little later, with a slightly different tie. It is a mind blower.
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You gotta check it out.
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As I look all around the room, I see all the media here tonight, I realize this is one
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big high school cafeteria. That is all it is. Think about it. Fox is the jocks. MSNBC
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is the nerds. Bloggers are the Goths. NPR is the table for kids with peanut allergies.
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[laughter] Al Jazeera is the weird foreign- exchange student nobody talks to. And print
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media, you are the poor kid who died sophomore year in a car crash. Ya, cheer up, we dedicate
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the yearbook to you.
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Of course, probably the biggest or that people covered this past year was the Republicans
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failure to recapture the White House. Hard to believe they did not fare better with this
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port of celebrities like Ted Nugent and Meatloaf. They underestimated the number of voters who
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still drive carpeted vans.
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The republican party’s on the mend. One rising star on the right is Senator Marco
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Rubio. Or as he is known in the republican party, our black guy. Ya.
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By the way, as of today come in the U.S. Senate has a record number of African- american senators.
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Two. Two. In other words, there are now more African-Americans in the senate and in a Mumford
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and Sons concert. Thank you, younger people.
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Paul Ryan — I don’t understand! What’s he babbling about? Who is this man? Paul Ryan
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recently — he really burst through when he ran or Vice President. After the election,
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Ryan said President Obama was reelected because of the high turnout of urban voters. When
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he was asked how he liked his coffee he said, no milk, no sugar, just urban.
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Well there is RNC chairman writes previous — Reince Priebus. Tonight he is sitting
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between his brothers lather and repeat.
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House majority leader Eric Cantor is here. Or as I like to refer to him, yet another
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Jewish Republican from the south — Get sold.
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That also reminds me also joining us a Congressman from New York named Steve Israel. He is from
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New York and his name is Israel. Now, there is pandering, and then there is pandering.
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That is like having a Congressman from South Carolina named Jesus H.Gun – my name is
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Jesus – Jesus H. Gun.
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You’ve got to use this thing, it is fantastic. [Gavel Pounds]
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I mentioned Chris Christie earlier, governor Christie and Shaquille O’neal are sitting
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at the same dinner table. So, let’s give it up for the real unsung hero tonight, their
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waiter. That poor bastard is gonna lose an arm.
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And I believe we have one or two supreme court justices here. The supreme court seems divided
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over same-sex marriage. The liberal justices favorite it while the conservatives oppose
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any life long union between two men, unless it is Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
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What the hell was that?
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There’s no surprise, Speaker John Boehner is not here tonight. Speaker banner and President
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Obama are still struggling to get along. President Obama and John Boehner, are kind of like a
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blind date between Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow. In theory, they understand each other’s
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positions, but deep down, you know nothing’s ever gonna happen.
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[Gavel Pounds] [Gavel Pounds] Speaking of nothing happening, we are all hoping of course
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that nothing happens with North Korea. And that got me wondering, what is with Kim Jong-un?
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In the past, we have had really scary enemies like Saddam Hussain and Hitler. Now, suddenly
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our nemesis is a pouty teenage boy who dresses like Rosie O’donnell at the Emmys. Kim Jong-un
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does not understand that we aren’t afraid of him. What that guy doesn’t get is
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that we already have an unstable peninsula that will ultimately bring down america. It
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is called Florida. Yes it is.
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Yes, President Obama has a lot on his plate right now. But he is at the very nice stage
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where there are no more secrets left to come out about him. We all know that he lived in
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Indonesia as a child, studied at a Muslim seminary and occasionally ate dog. From the
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beginning, a kid who had his eyes set on the U.S. Presidency. Check, and check. Here I
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come.
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I know the relationship between the President and the press can seem a bit strained at times.
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Some in this room have accused him of being distant and aloof. When I asked the President
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about it earlier, he said, oh, and then walked away.
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Of course it is only natural, but Mr. President election was less exciting than the first
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time around in 2008. An election night on 2008, you celebrated with hundreds of thousands
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of people in Chicago’s Grant park. It was fascinating.
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This time around, you split the Char-dog with David Axelrod at the wiener circle. It just
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did not have the same buzz. And by the way I have a question. And I think some of you
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also have this question. It has been several months since you were reelected, so I am curious,
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why are you still sending everyone five e-mails a day asking for more money? You won. Do you
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have a gambling problem we don’t know about? Did you put it all on Gonzaga? You did, didn’t
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you? He did. [gavel pounds]
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President Obama has already made a lot of changes in his second term. You recently,
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Sir, you recently appointed John Kerry and Chuck Hagel. Very smart moves. You appointed
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the only two people in the United States who look even more tired than you. A great strategy.
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Mr. President, you will leave office as a very young man. And yet the Presidency has
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taken it’s toll. I don’t want to alarm you sir, but you are starting to look like
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a judge on “Law and Order.” Just say, you are on thin ice, counselor. You could
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have that part right away. Seriously, Mr. President, your hair is so white, it could
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be a member of your cabinet. He can handle it.
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Speaking of the Cabinent, the President, he recently picked the new treasury secretary,
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Jack Lew. If the President ever has to let him go, he can say, it is not Lew, it’s
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me. But the quote a city must but the President is that he is always the coolest guy in the
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room. That is what everyone says. He is the coolest guy in the room. Here is my question.
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Who else is in that room? It is not hard to be the cool one when the other guys in the
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room are Biden, Hagel, and Kerry. I would be cool to if I was in a room where Tom Vilsack
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is showing Steven Chu how to do the Harlem Shake.
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Now, I have made some jokes about the President this evening. Now, I am looking forward to
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my audit.
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President Obama: It’s coming.
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Conan O'Brien: It is coming. I know, sir, It’s coming.
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But, I would like to take a moment here and change gears and say some into the President.
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Regarding the events of the past two weeks. Some of you may not