‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ team arrested at Capitol Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:00) A comedy sketch for the late show with Stephen Colbert ended with US Capitol Police arresting members of the production team. The crew had been filming a segment with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog when officers charged them with unlawful entry at a house office building. CBS says the team was there for authorized interviews with some members of Congress but they stayed after the film additional content. CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy joins me. Now, Oliver doesn't sound like a typical day up on Capitol Hill for a film crew. What more are you learning about this, and what can you tell us about Triumph for those who may be familiar with that character? Speaker 2: (00:37) Yeah, Jim, this wasn't, I don't think, a typical day on Capitol Hill for anyone involved. CBS says that they had a crew on Capitol Hill both Wednesday and Thursday, and they were filming a comedy segment around the January 6th insurrection hearings. On Thursday, they did some interviews, including with Adam Schiff, featuring Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. And later in the evening, apparently, they were confronted by Capitol Police outside visitor hours. Capitol Police confronted them and determined that they had been asked... They were part of a group that had been asked to leave the Capitol earlier in the day. And so at that point, Capitol Police, they detained this group of production team and they charged them with unlawful entry on Capitol grounds. Capitol Police are saying that this is an ongoing investigation. And so they're leaving room for more charges. But this is not normal business on Capitol Hill. And to give viewers a taste of what Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to mouthful does. We have some video here, Jim. Speaker 3: (01:54) The most distinguished and accomplished journalist I have ever worked with: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Tonight, it is with great pride that we present triumphed exclusive report, Jim. Speaker 4: (02:14) Here in the nation's Capitol, our leaders have gathered for the solemn process of voting along party lines. Many Republicans have complained about the length of these hearings and having to sit in the chamber for so many hours without having a spy to support them. Senator Lindsey Graham has been particularly inconvenienced as he was scheduled to have attended a scrapbooking convention with the other elderly women of South Carolina. Speaker 1: (02:45) I have to laugh. I'm sorry, Triumph does make me laugh. I hope Triumph is okay. Speaker 2: (02:50) Yeah. Hopefully Triumph was able to get out and this didn't leave him too scarred. Speaker 1: (02:56) But Oliver, it sounds as though this incident is being, I guess, thrown into the talking points from some on the right about what's going on with the January 6th insurrection. What can you tell us about that? Speaker 2: (03:09) Yeah, Jim, so while this is a story in of itself for CBS News or CBS, this has also become a story in right-wing media. So Fox broke this story last night and they're using it to really attack the hearings into the insurrection that occurred on January 6th. They're basically saying that this is proof that Democrats and the media are really the ones who are guilty of security violations at the US Capitol. Tucker Carlson over on Fox went as far to say that this crew committed insurrection at the Capitol, and he's asking what disciplinary in action that they're going to face. And so you really have these two stories playing out. While most of the media yesterday, I think, was probably leading with the developments into January 6th and what's been happening at the hearings, Fox was using this to delegitimize and to essentially mock that very serious work occurring on Capitol Hill.