Liev Schreiber | with Obama Roasts Trump's White House Makeover & GOP Melts Down; Trump Says "Norway Sucks": A Closer Look

0:02President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump voted over the weekend in Florida. Man, that sounds like Trump's worst nightmare. A felon and an immigrant voting?

0:16That's right. President Trump voted over the weekend in Florida. But I think he thought it was another cognitive test because he wrote in giraffe.

0:30From 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, please enjoy this podcast edition of Late Night with Seth Myers. On today's show, Seth talks to actor Liam Schreiber. But first, a closer look.

0:47MAGA lost their minds after Barack Obama roasted Donald Trump's White House renovations. Meanwhile, Trump and the GOP are resorting to increasingly desperate attacks. With one week left before Election Day For more on this, it's time for a closer look

1:04We're now about one week away from the election Usually this is when candidates try to cement their closing messages Something simple and hopeful that leaves voters with a sense of optimism And motivates them to get to the polls In 2008, for example, then-Senator Barack Obama told voters He was giving them a chance to turn the page In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put greed near responsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifices of folks right here in Ken, folks right on Main Street. You can choose policies that invest in our middle class and create new jobs and grow this economy from the bottom up so that everyone has a chance to succeed.

1:45In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election. And in one week, you can do all that stuff And then in eight years, you can undo it all For no f***ing reason In one week, you can vote for me, a skilled communicator, competent leader And then in eight years, you can replace me With a real estate moron who stands like a plastic lawn snowman that's losing air In one week, you can vote for my soaring oratory And then in eight years, you can vote for a guy Who makes sounds like this Seriously

2:29What the f***? So that was Obama's closing message Fast forward 18 years And the GOP's closing message is, let's say, slightly less elevated In Ohio, they're running an ad Exploiting the childhood trauma of a gubernatorial candidate In Michigan, they're calling the Democratic Senate candidate a jihadist. They're using an anti-trans slur against the Democratic Senate candidate in South Carolina. And in Texas, they're making gross, homophobic jokes like this. Now, before we get started, I love you too, sir. In a totally platonic way. To be clear. I'm the vice president, not James Tallarico. Ha ha ha ha ha.

3:11Hold on, I got to tell all my friends at the fifth grade lunch table about that one They're going to think it's so funny Oh, Derek, Kevin, you got to hear this joke from J.D. Vance What do you mean that's not cool? What do you mean you're allies and you believe in kindness? Oh, man, fifth grade's really changed This is how desperate and gross they are They're stooping to gutter bigotry and homophobia Trump has even been trashing a bunch of countries for no apparent reason Wait, oh, sorry, I know the reason, racism I said, why do we always have to take people from house countries? Libya, Yemen, Haiti, Somalia.

3:49Remember what I called them? House countries. We do remember that. It was in 2018, and you actually called them whole countries, not house countries. Although, I guess I can't blame you for not remembering what you said, since whenever your brain is asked to recall anything, it makes this sound. Buh.

4:10Ironically, house would be a great secret code name for your new ballroom. Here's an update on Operation House. It's going to come in late and over budget, and I was just told that if a bird lands on it, the whole thing is coming down like a house of cards. Also, I have to point out, eight years ago, Trump denied making the whole country's comment. He's now gleefully bragging about it, which is yet more proof that if you take his word on anything, you'll always end up humiliated. He's like a guy who pleads not guilty to drunk driving, gets off scot-free and then says to the judge, do you know where I can get a beer helmet that won't fall off when I'm driving?

4:43But this is nice. Trump is trying to be inclusive by adding more countries to his list of s**holes based on the fact that some of them won't give him awards. Sweden, Norway, I don't think so because I didn't get the Nobel Prize even though he ended it. So I don't want anybody from Norway. I don't want anything to do with Norway. Frankly, Norway sucks.

5:12Norway has become a house country, actually. Sorry, you think people are trying to immigrate here from Norway? Please, I can't take any more free health care. I would like to pay$5 ,000 to talk to an iPad about my ailments. It's a very accurate... It's a very accurate accent. Also, the government of Norway has nothing to do with the Peace Prize That's decided by the Nobel Committee Getting mad at the entire country of Norway because you didn't win a Peace Prize Is like getting mad at King Charles because you didn't win a BAFTA Which I am, by the way, because I definitely deserved a BAFTA for my guest role As Detective Inspector David Wimbley On the Yorkshire murders Who can forget my famous catchphrase I'm afraid we've lost them in the moors again, governor

6:04off? But as dumb as Trump's complaint was, his reaction to not winning the Peace Prize was even dumber. And it was announced that it was gotten by a woman that nobody ever heard of. I said, what about me? Do they do two of them? Oh, man, that's just pathetic. I mean, I've also wanted to win things, but I know when to take the loss. When they say, and the Emmy goes to John Oliver, I don't turn to my wife and say, maybe they'll do two?

6:37Also, what do you mean they gave it to a woman no one ever heard of? It's a peace prize. They don't have to give it to someone who's famous. It's for peace, not celebrity. You're acting like they gave people's sexiest man alive to Frank from Staten Island. Vance and Trump both have record low approval ratings, and some GOP candidates, like Michigan's Mike Rogers, won't even associate themselves with MAGA because it's so toxic. Do you consider yourself to be a MAGA Republican? Listen, I'm going to tell you something. I get you guys on the national press, but this is a little bit disgusting to me.

7:11Hold on, but Congressman, I'm asking you about you. I'm just asking about you. This is important. But it's not answering my question. Because the Democrat coalitions that we have are the fastest growing coalitions we have. And that anger here, which is why this huge Democrat coalition is building around us. All you all want to do is talk about something else on the ground. Are you a MAGA Republican? I've already answered the question, Kristen. That's just what I want to know. Do you consider yourself to be a MAGA Republican? Kristen, let me, I'm going to go right back through this. Go right back through what?

7:44You didn't say a thing. That interview would have been equally informative if it had sounded like this. Do you consider yourself to be a MAGA Republican? Yeah. I mean, we are enjoying it. We are enjoying the existence of that time. But let's give Rodgers another shot. Trump campaigned for Rodgers in Michigan. Trump even told reporters, quote, pretend I'm on the ballot. He wants this entire election to be about him, so this should be an easy question. Is a vote for Rodgers a vote for Trump's agenda? Let me ask you, Congressman, is a vote for you a vote for the Trump agenda?

8:26I'm apologizing. I'm having some difficulty in my earpiece, but is a vote for you? I'm not sure. I'll tell you what a vote for me is. It's a great day for the state of Michigan. Oh, man, it's hard to pull the old I'm going through a tunnel when they can see you're not in a tunnel. But nice work. The only way that could have been more obvious is if he'd used a hair dryer to drown out his own voice. Sorry, Kristen, I can't hear you. I'm in the car and there's a lot of traffic. Hold on. The signal is breaking up Still can't hear you, Kristen Uh-oh, pizza's here And he brought a DJ with him Whoa, Kool-Aid man, is that you?

9:05Oh, yeah I'll be right there Sorry I couldn't hear you, Kristen Vote for Mike Rogers I'm coming! Trump doesn't have much to say about the Republican candidate Instead, he's spending most of his time fear-mongering about the Democrats If Abdul and the Democrats win, they will open the floodgates and invite hordes of jihadists to our shores, creating a nightmare of violence and terror until you cannot even have a Christmas. Remember when I started the war on preserving Christmas when I was to 2016? We will proudly say Christmas again. We're saying it. Remember the stores were afraid to put up Christmas trees.

9:50They didn't want him to use red or green. Oh, these people are crazy. But we ended that one pretty quickly. That was sort of easy. My new favorite thing is watching people behind Trump clap at stuff that they're not sure if they should be clapping at. Like, yeah, yeah, Christmas is back. Yeah, Norway sucks. Also, it was easy because none of that happened and you didn't do anything. Why not brag about some other you made up? We brought back Christmas and we put a stop to the dragon attacks Trump was not alone on the campaign trail this weekend While he was dissing Norway and ranting about Christmas A much more popular politician, Barack Obama Was also on the stump Taking aim at Trump's White House renovations I don't know if you've noticed But he is very focused on home renovation He should be on HGTV The guy is building a ballroom that is bigger than the White House paved over the Rose Garden.

10:50Paved it over. Put a helicopter pad on the side lawn. And then there is just gold everywhere. What's up with the gold?

11:05I mean, he's got the wife's looking like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory. It's just gold everywhere. I've said it before, I'll say it again My favorite Obama is stand-up Obama You can hear more jokes like that In his new Netflix special, Barackin' in the USA Now, you might have expected that the right would embrace Obama's light-hearted jab, since they're so pro-comedy I mean, the left wanted to make comedy illegal, you know You can't make fun of anything So then it was like, comedy sucks It's like, nothing's funny, you can't make fun of anything It's like, legalized comedy Wow, I gotta tell my friends at the fifth grade lunch table about this Derek, Kevin, you gotta see this guy He's so cool, he's wearing a gold chain and sunglasses inside What do you mean he's a chode?

12:01No, he doesn't look like a rapper named Vanilla Lice That's so funny, you guys I know I said comedy is legal, but not when it's aimed at me Go back to Model UN and tell them I said Norway sucks But you heard him, comedy is legal again Which is why you might have expected MAGA To be all laughs and smiles But actually they seem slightly offended by Obama's joke MAGA pundits have been losing it on social media Calling it classic Obama snobbery And saying he's an elitist hack Who is undefeated at condescending to regular folks Real Americans love Cheesecake Factory Oh my god, I'm excited I finally get to do this Okay, everybody ready?

12:39Are you triggered, snowflakes? Trigger Legalized comedy You guys are right You're right, though You're right, when you're right, you're right Donald Trump would never condescend to his voters When you stand up here, it's just like the love I could say the stupidest things and you'd clap You know, I love you so I'm sure I could say the stupidest things and you'd clap Look, you're doing it right now. You did it for Norway Sucks. You're like trained seals. You'll do what I say. You're even clapping for that. You're clapping for me, calling you trained seals, which is exactly what a trained seal would do.

13:20In fact, I remember a seal came up to me, big seal, strong seal. Tears pouring from his beady little eyes down onto his whiskers, onto his gray, blubbery body. And I said to him, would you like some fish? And he said, sir, I'm not an animal. I'm an elite Special Forces soldier. The GOB has made it clear with their desperate closing message That the party is politically and intellectually barren They have nothing left but bigotry and fear-mongering They're not talking about how to fix the economy, the war, corruption Or high gas prices For all intents and purposes Their closing message might as well be this This has been a Closed Show up

14:06Our guest tonight is a Tony-winning and Emmy-nominated actor. You know from his work in Ray Donovan, The Perfect Couple, and Spotlight, he stars in the Apple TV series Nocturne, premiering October 30th with two episodes followed by a new episode every Friday. Please welcome back to the show our friendly Ev Schreiber, everybody!

14:28How are you? I'm well. Wonderful. I'm good. You just embarked on something that I would find very nerve-wracking And I'm wondering how it actually affected your nerves You taught a Shakespeare class at USC Well, no, I'm directing the MFAs And a production of Measure for Measure So you're dealing... I did teach a class on Shakespeare for them Okay Yeah And so are you looking forward to directing MFA students? Yeah Yeah. It's hard, you know. You know, why do we have these 400-year-old plays? I have this pet peeve about reductive language. And I do think there's something extraordinary about these plays.

15:19for instance they guess that Shakespeare had around 26 ,000 word vocabulary the average English speaking person today has a 6 ,000 word vocabulary and so yeah I'm probably somewhere around 45 you're going to get it up there I'm working on it everybody I know who knows you says like he can do 48 but you know language is not trending now No, it's really not. Especially with social media, everything's become so reductive that, you know, we use emojis to speak now. We don't use words. And there is a little bit of fear in me that when language goes, what happens to people like you and I who are in the language business?

16:04Yeah, it's not great. Yeah. It's not great when you do, like, yeah, when we do a whole segment on the show and someone's like, I just wish it was a thumbs up emoji. I guess most of what we're doing is thumbs down But you, I actually want to ask about this Because you had sort of a red carpet moment Where you had an interaction With a reporter who was trying to get a sound bite About your new show, Nocturne And I'm paraphrasing here But it was a version of Quickly tell me three words that explain the show Yeah And that was frustrating I didn't do well Yeah I think you spoke up to your defense of why we...

16:45My mother called me this morning. My mother follows my career via the Internet, unfortunately. And my mother, the first words out of her mouth when I answered the phone were, so what did you do? As if I were in this kind of trouble all of the time. Yeah. But the truth is, yeah, you know, mea culpa. I had a moment. I was thinking about that thing about reductive language. and how hard it is to articulate, what a responsibility it is to articulate that to these MFAs. And I'm on the press line for Nocturne, and I might not be the best person on the press line that ever was on a press line. And I walk up to this lovely, charming woman, and she says to me, describe the show in three words to a best friend quickly.

17:35And I'm at that age now where I don't do things terribly quickly. anyways but also the redundancy of three words and quickly completely stumped me and i went off on some terrible tirade about monkeys and profanity and i i i apologize you've made you've made amends i should say with the words but she hit my she hit my uh funny my yeah is that you're my my Achilles heel. Yes. But, you know, we got through it. It went totally fine. I said something about like, what kind of question is that? And then I started swearing about monkeys and stuff. And then I said, is there anything about the show that interests you?

18:16And she said, I love the genre. And I said, OK, let's talk about that. And then we started to have a really great conversation. I also think it's weird when they're like, it's your best friend as well. They're like, picture it's your best friend, but they also don't have a lot of time. Your best friend in the world What is that about? How would you do it differently For a different person? I will say they gave you way too much information It felt a lot like a game show It's like, three words, it's your best friend, go Well you know what I realized Is that we should practice How to respond To have three word responses Yeah Like, how are you doing?

18:54I am fine, that's good Once we get into more complicated stuff like how's your family generally good yes yeah or uh no i think i'm like what you know we know each other i might be like how is your family i give you seven words because you know what i mean because obviously my uh we uh a member of my family yeah has become a friend of yours a collaborator yes i know so uh my sister-in-law ariel ash yes has a design firm she's amazing Yeah, Ash and Leandro And they've worked on your apartment They have And I saw on Architectural Digest You said, I love to argue with Ariel It's really fun So that is my sister-in-law that you love to argue with And she's also designed our home I know Homes You know, we've had a couple over the years And she's great But I can't argue with her Why not?

19:48Because she's my sister-in-law Oh, right And it's too hard to argue with her Because she's arguing with my wife So I have to like, there's nowhere for me to jump in But have you had any success arguing with her? I love arguing with Ariel I have never been successful Yeah And that's shocking, because it is your home You'd think, right? Yeah, and it's expensive stuff No, it's weird, because the same thing It's expensive, I'm paying her And she doesn't even have to live there And I've never won Here's the worst part The worst part is that she's taught my wife how to argue with me. Yeah. And I can't win with her now either because she follows Ariel's technique.

20:31Well, the other thing that really burns me is every time I lose an argument to her, like two months later, I realize she was right. Has that happened to you as well? That's what it is. After I lost my first three with her, I realized I'd lost all three of those because it turned out that she was right. Yeah. I stopped arguing for any outcome. I was arguing simply because I actually enjoy arguing. Oh, so it's just the art of the argument for you. No, that's why I got in trouble on the press line. Yeah, now we're really getting to the meat of it here. I'd like an argument. We'll be right back with more from Liam Sharper.

21:08Welcome back to We're Here with Liam Sharper. I want to talk about your new show, but I have one last question about your apartment. Sure. Chicken coop. Yeah. You have an active chicken coop? Yeah, yeah. You can have chickens in New York as long as you don't have roosters. Interesting. Yeah. So, and is that because the roosters would wake everybody up? That's right. Okay. That's actually right. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. Yeah. Because it's so quiet here. Right. Look, as a New Yorker, when my wife first suggested this to me, oh, yeah, you can have chickens, but why on earth would you want to have chickens?

21:41Yeah. Was, for me, I've always kind of, I've had a thing with chickens since I was little that, I think it's like the... This is actually a really vulnerable moment for me. The similarity between chickens and dinosaurs has something that has always been very vivid for me. That's not where I thought that was going. So when you see a chicken in your head, it's triggering something where you're like tiny dinosaur. Microraptor. Wow. But these are chickens, they're laying eggs and you guys are eating eggs? They're beautiful. They have eggs and, yeah. And if somebody comes to your apartment, is there a good chance they're leaving with eggs?

22:20We give them eggs, yeah. We have a little box of things. It says Hazel's eggs. Hazel's our three-year-old. And we give them eggs. We had a jailbreak. We had a chicken bust out of our chicken crew last week, who actually, you know, and we're at five stories up. Yeah. The chicken jumped out off the roof and totally survived, no problems, which is amazing, which proof that they're dinosaurs. And my neighbor, who has a sweater store, was like, do you have chickens? I was like, yeah, okay. And she was like, I think I have one of your chickens. But we fixed the screen window, and that'll never happen again.

22:58It's so amazing that the first thing the chicken wanted to do was go sweater shopping. How did I know? How did I know? Congrats on the show. Procedural, noir, the great Stephen Graham was here last week talking about it. he's a serial killer, you're a homicide detective, and it's a great mustache. You know, every once in a while, you make a character choice. Yeah. And three days into shooting, you go, this might not be the best choice I ever made. Yeah. But you can't, because it's so expensive to shave the mustache off and go and reshoot those scenes. Oh, yeah, so you're stuck in. I'm stuck. Does, uh, does your how does your wife feel about the mustache?

23:41It's okay. She'd rather not be reminded. Yeah. Did you run it by Ariel? Did you ask Ariel what she thought about the mustache?

23:51I should have. You shot it near Pittsburgh. And I will say, as somebody, my dad's from Pittsburgh grew up there. He has a mustache. He's had a mustache the entirety of the time I've known him. All of the homicide cops that I met, almost all of them, had some form of facial hair. Yeah. And the mustache was very high on the list. And that's why I did it. It is like, look, there's a lot of, like, tropes in shows about homicide detectives. You know, the sort of grizzled homicide detectives. You did spend time with them. Did you find the stereotypes that we see on TV to be on the nose about them? I'm incredibly grateful to this group of guys who met with me on this show.

24:26And, you know, we met at a bar and there was a considerable amount of drinking. And towards the end of the night, we got into something which really blew my mind and thought I thought might be an interesting place to start this show, which is that these guys homicide detectives they see the the worst possible aspects of human nature every day and they carry that around with them all of the time and that the only community they have is each other which i think accounts for some of that thin blue line stuff and all the all of the tricky things but one of the questions i asked them as it got later into the night was do you remember the first dead body that you ever saw and the last one and that that was this incredibly emotional moment for all of them because they knew it but but talking about how inured to it they became right and that seemed like an interesting place to start a character with that idea of does your job is the trauma of your job start to affect your humanity in a way that maybe you're not the best person for the job uh and that that's really uh that's really by the way It's spectacular and fascinating and great that you took the time to meet with those guys.

25:38And what a cool thing that they're willing to share that with you. And it certainly shows up on screen. Thanks so much for being here. Thanks for having me. It's always such a pleasure. Good job, everybody.

25:52Late Night with Seth Meyers airs weeknights on NBC at 1235, 1135 Central. Original music on the Late Night podcast is by the HE Band. Don't forget to follow the handle LateNightSeth on social media and tell your friends to subscribe to the Late Night Podcast wherever they get their podcasts.