glass, it doesn't spill your drink when it melts. all the land ice held in place by the ice dams, a glacial the size of florida, it's already hanging on by its fingernails. but now with less sea ice protecting it, it spells bad news. >> how much of the melting can be attributed to climate change? >> because it's so complicated, the weather systems in the southern ocean, they need at least another decade of data to say specifically impeerically that this is what percentage is caused by planet cooking pollution as well, but the trend lines are just so obvious. they've had spikes in record high temperatures like the freakish ones we saw up in the arctic and greenland are starting to happen down here as well. and this is, of course, a threat to sea coastal cities everywhere. >> bill weir, appreciate it. thank you. that's it for us tonight. jake tapper's one of one interview with bill mahr starts

now. ♪ in this era of tribal politics, comedian bill mahr doesn't care if you're a democrat or a republican. >> truth isn't always 50/50. >> welcome -- >> his decades at the cross odes of politics and comedy given him an insight political consultants and bookies would die for this in 2015. >> donald trump could not go all the way, i i don't think they're right. >> this a few years later. >> i don't think he's leaving, even if he loses the election in 2020. >> tonight bill looks ahead to 2024 and trump's odds now. >> you think he'll get the nomination and do you think he can beat joe biden? >> mahr doesn't hold back about president biden or the democrats either. >> democrats sometimes can take it too far. >> he gives us his unfiltered take. >> how do you define -- >> on cancel culture, religion and one of his favorite hobbies. >> so you're a connoisseur of weed, i think that's fair to say. >> i think that's very fair. >> realtime to primetime, this is a cnn one on one special.

♪ welcome to a cnn primetime special one on one with bill mahr. i'm jake tapper in washington. back from a sitdown with a man who isn't afraid to take on, well, anything. bill maher has been a figure in the world of political comedy for more than 40 years. and he doesn't seem to care who is in power or whether his opinions unpopular. he still hits the road for standup shows across the country and currently the host of "realtime with bill maher" on hbo, like cnn is owned by warner brothers discovery. this hour, you'll hear maher's takes on the next race for the white house, state of comedy and cancel culture. first we talked about how he got started in comedy and how he has become the great predictor of donald trump.

>> so thanks so much for doing this. >> hey, pleasure. >> so, a lot of people might not know that your dad was actually in the news biz. >> yeah. >> your mom was a nurse but your dad was in the news business. i'm wondering how much you think that might have had an effect on the fact that you do very news-oriented comedy. >> tremendously. first of all, he was also funny. and you'll find this a lot with comedians. that comedy genes sort of gestate through a generation. i grew up in a house that was interested in the news. my parents talked about the news. i was aware of it. in a way i don't think most kids were. so those are my influences, comedy and news. and then what did i do? i wound up doing a show that is a comedy show that uses the news as fodder. and i wish my father could have lived to see it. >> did he pass away early? >> no. but he saw me do johnny carson but he didn't see "politically

incorrect". >> what's your response when people tell you, and you must hear this a lot, that they get -- you're one of their primary sources of information? >> flattered. and as it should be is my response. i feel like people are looking for something that is not slanted. i mean, i certainly have lost fans over the years because i don't say the things that please people all the time, but that's my ultimate bond with the audience. when i lose people, it's like, okay. well, you were never meant to be with me in the first place. >> yeah. >> we can't have a relationship. >> there are a whole lot of people who are just conditioned to only hearing, only wanting to hear one side of the story. >> correct. they do not want to hear the other side. i mean, it's so ironic. when i started on "politically incorrect" 30 years ago, 1993, everybody said, you know, you can't really do a show like this because you're giving your opinions. that's not what talk show hosts do. they don't and can't give their

opinions. you'll alienate half the crowd. that's not what johnny carson did or david letterman or jay leno did. i said, well, let's give it a try. maybe the people are a little more sophisticated than you're giving them credit for and can actually take it, that a guy who is on tv, they don't always agree with him, but they still like him. just like in life. you don't always agree with your friends on everything. so, it did turn out that it was okay because here i am 30 years later still on. but i get every year when we are looking for maybe we want new writers on our show. i love the writers i have. but you know what, i'm running a business here. >> right. >> i'm sorry. it's brutal. but if i can find somebody better, that's what i'm doing. i always serve the show first. so every year i read these packets of proposed writers. i read them this year as i do every year. it's stunning how uniform their points of view are. >> hasn't always been that way. >> exact -- i don't remember. i don't think it was every quite this bad.

exact same point of view on every single issue. and it's very predictable. i have a relationship with people who want to hear what i think is the truth and i'm going to present both sides. and they may not be fair and balanced. may not be equal weight put to each side because that's not what the truth is. is truth isn't always 50/50. >> right. >> so, i live with that. but, it's -- it gets more difficult because we're so tribal now. >> so it's interesting about this is because this comes after, you know, five, six years of trump where it's not like you pulled punches against him at all. >> no. nobody was harder on that man, i don't think, and honestly nobody was more -- had their hair on fire about what was going to happen as far as him not believing in democracy and not wantsing to leave. >> i don't think he's leaving. even if he loses the election in 2020. he could lose by a landslide in 2020 and i still think he would

say it's rigged, fake news, deep state. if trump loses the election in november, he's not going to leave. >> you were predicting that in 2018. >> oh, '16. >> '16. >> before he was president. >> he's not going to leave. >> never going to leave, right. and -- >> what made you think that? >> have you seen this man? he's everything wrong with a human being, stuffed into one man. i mean, how could he ever do anything different? he is incapable, i think, of ever conceding defeat. i've never seen him do it. why do i think he would be gracious in that situation or say he ever lost. and he said it. even in 2016 when he was running, they would ask him point blank, would you -- well, it's -- you know, he's basically saying if we win, yes. then it's a fair election. if we don't, it was rigged. he would never actually just come out and say, yes, of course. this is america. this is how we do it. this is the jewel in our crown in this country. the peaceful transfer of power.

nothing like that. >> you've been the great predictor of donald trump. you thought he could win. you thought he wasn't going to leave peacefully. he's running. >> oh, yeah. >> do you think he is going to get the nomination and do you think he can beat joe biden? >> both. >> both you think affirmatively or both they could happen? >> well, first of all, it might not be joe biden. i think if it's biden against trump, biden will win. i do. not guaranteed, but i think that's a really good bet. it was the first time. and i think it would be the second time even more so. >> even at age 82? >> yes, absolutely. well, first of all, i think that's a big red hering that his age is such a factor. you don't need to be young or spry to be president. yes, it's very helpful to run for president. you need to be energetic and look sharp at a debate. he can do the job of president perfectly fine. and i think he's done the job perfectly fine. do i love everything he's done,

absolutely not. but, you know, he's president. that goes with the territory. but generally he's restored normality. he's got some things passed that nobody thought he could get through this divided congress. got out of afghanistan. did he stick the landing on that one, no. but at least he did it. i mean, ukraine -- i think he's done fine. and every other country in the world seems to have gotten this idea about the elderly, they're wise. that's what you need. i don't mind that he's 82, 84 or 86. yes, if he loses his marbles. but there's plenty of 86-year-old people who have not lost their marbles and people used to get that. we have an important decision to make. go to the elders. they will tell you what the wise decision is. then you young people will go and carry it out. he doesn't have to go and do every little thing. reagan didn't do anything. he went to bed at 4:30. so, that does not bother me at all.

now, it will bother people in the country because when you run for president, you get exposed. your flaws. yes, when you're in your 80s, he will stumble. he was always a gaffe machine to begin with. >> yeah. >> so it could look bad. but i think as -- if it's trump against biden, i think biden will win. but -- >> whats if it's -- >> if it's not biden, i don't know. >> you talk about the democrats being so hemmed in by identity politics. the counterargument would be it's always been identity politics. it's always been white people, so people like you and me didn't notice. now it's just an effort at inclusion, which i'm sure theoretically you support. >> yeah. i support it in fact. but, the democrats sometimes can take it too far. i would categorize liberal as different than woke. you know, woke, which started out as a good thing, alert to injustice, who could be against that, but it became sort of an

eye roll because they love diversity except of ideas. and that's not really where we should be. i mean, they have a trail of very bad ideas, i would think, in wokeness. >> how do you define wokeness. i hear people use the term all the time. it means something different to everybody. >> again, collection of ideas that are not building on liberalism but very often undoing it. i mean, five years ago, abraham lincoln was not a controversial figure among liberals. we liked him. now they take his name off schools and tear down his statues. really, lincoln isn't good enough for you? you know, five, ten years ago, bedrock liberalism was we are striving to be a color blind society where we don't see race. of course, we see it, but it doesn't matter. that's not what woke is.

woke is something very different. it's identity -- we see it all the time. it's always the most important thing. i don't think that's liberalism. i mean, i could mention so many issues like that. i remember doing that show on hbo, comic relief for the homeless. and the idea then, again, among liberals, i thought, was for the sake of compassion, can we get these people off the streets so they have a roof over their heads? and now it's how dare you try to move the homeless. this is where they live. it's like, again, you change the definitions and then you say i'm more conservative? i believe what i've always believed. you change these things and yell at me for it. up next, he got it right in 2016 and 2020. what's bill maher's take on trump 2024? >> if it's a bunch of people in there, yeah, they're going to split the anti-trump vote because, you know, trump has a very hard core following. i mean, it's a cult.

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it's not me who's changed. it's the left. who now made up of a small contingent who have gone mental and large contingent who refuse to call them out for it, but i will. do you think democratic politics have changed their views? or do you think they're just afraid of their party's

activists the way a lot of republicans are afraid of their party's activists, the maga folks. >> be, they're afraid. >> just afraid. >> yes. i think both sides. i think again, this four tribes in this country. i think there's old school liberals and old school conservatives, republicans and democrats. the kind of people who used to -- i think that's the majority of the country. >> hillary clinton and jeb bush. >> yeah. the kind of people who never agreed on a hell of a lot but found ways to work together. they didn't hate each other. it wasn't all about making liberal tears and cry and all this stuff. and you know, owning and destroying people. it was just, yeah, i don't agree with bob dole, but we can work together. we can get a grand bargain, that kind of stuff. and so i think that's the majority. but then you have trumpers. and then you have wokesteres. those fringes are not doing this country any great favors. >> if donald trump is challenged

for the nomination, obviously challenged by governor nikki haley and talk of other people, governor desantis. >> right. >> mike pompeo and others. vice president pence. do you think any of them can take him out? >> no. but i think what they will do is ensure him the nomination. >> by splitting all the alternates. >> absolutely. >> same thing that happened before. >> the only way trump doesn't get that nomination is if it's just him and desantis. if it's a bunch of people in there, yeah, they're going to split the anti-trump vote because, you know, trump has a very hard core following. i mean, it's a cult. and cults don't ever go away. look at kristy hannity. so i despair about that because i think when politicians smell the white house, they don't care about the repercussions for the cou country, they just want to go for it. desantis against trump, i think, could get it. somebody said to me once a conservative guy, the thing you guys don't understand about us is we don't really like trump.

now, that doesn't speak for all the trumpers. he definitely has some real fans. >> oh, sure. >> but there's a lot of people who voted for him and that's their little secret. we don't like him either. we just vote for him because the stuff that you guys are doing on your fringe is scarier to us than what he's doing, which is a saying a lot. i'm not quite with them, but i get it. >> yeah. it's also that he hates the same people that they hate. even if they don't agree with trump, you know what i mean. >> yes. they love it he sticks his thumb in their eye. >> yeah. do you think that desantis is part of the old school republican tribe? or do you think he's more of a trumper 2.0? >> that's the great question. i don't know if he's playing a part or if that's really him. you know, the reason he's so effective is he does two things at once. he can be a real old school republican who just takes care of business. you know, covid, the hurricane, stuff like that.

he just goes about his business. he doesn't do crazy stuff. but then when he wants the throw red meat to the base, he's a performance artist. and he does a lot of really outrageous stuff. but i get it that that's where the party is. if you want a big future in that party, especially if you want to take on donald trump, you got to ride both those horses at once. >> everybody keeps saying to me, but he has no personality. i don't think people care. a lot of politicians don't have personality. nixon had no personality. i mean, i could name some politicians who have absolutely no personality. it's not a prerequisite. it's great if you have one, like obama had a great one and kennedy had a great one. but you know, biden is not, you know -- i mean, james brown at the apollo exactly. you know, i don't think that's going to hold ron desantis back. >> it's interesting i met this couple from florida. liberal democrats. and then they told me how much

they loved ron desantis. >> really? >> loved him. and it's for the governance. >> from florida? >> yeah, they were from florida. >> the people in florida like him. >> he won re-election with almost 60% of the vote. >> the rest of the country was overdoing covid, i was there doing covid, it was night and day from this place. and you know, i am not one who was ever on the page with covid paranoia. so i thought it was a breath of fresh air. and the people there when they would visit me here sometimes they would say, oh my god, the middle of the pandemic. what are you -- you people live like this? so unnecessary. we don't live like this. it turned out a lot of what ron desantis did was smarter than what the people who were criticizing saying. he kept the beaches open. yes, you're not going to get it outside. in fact, it's good. get some fresh air and some sunshine that would be better for you. he also protected the elderly. it was much more targeted. sort of the opposite of what happened in new york state. next, he's an outspoken

critic of what he calls cancel culture, but someone with a history of controversial comments himself, does bill maher think his clock is ticking? >> anybody in this era can absolutely fall off the ledge at any moment. in two seconds i could get cancelled. anybody could. cut! another health insurance commercial, another aqua-aerobics scene. yup. moshealth insurance companies see us all the same: smiley seniors golfg, hiking... don't forget aiquing. that's w i chose humana. th see me, not a stereotypical senior.

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the oath of office i took was to comedy. and if you do goofy shit wherever you are on the spectrum, i'm going to make fun of you because that's where the gold is. >> what is it like to be a comedian in this era? is it more difficult? do audiences boo you at times that you're not ready for them to boo you or you're surprised? >> it's always possible. i mean, it's interesting. my studio audience at realtime always booed me. not for most of the show but they were definitely more woke than i was and definitely more sensitive. you know, i would ask all the time, why? these are the people who they

claim that they, you know, flew all the way across the country, they waited for months to get tickets to the show, they're my fans. then they come here. oh, something about when you get in public you have to put on this act that you are somehow more of a moral person than you really are. not that i'm doing anything immoral, but that you have to react in a certain way to things that are politically incorrect. you think i would come preadvertised. i mean, there's a sign right there -- >> politically incorrect. >> that -- the show was called realtime. and then and five years ago -- i don't know what they did with the audience, but they got rid of the groaners. it made my life so much better. people actually say to me, i miss the days when you used to fight with the audience. maybe you do, but i don't. >> yeah. >> but i was never one of those comics who could just pretend, oh, i'm sorry. i must have made a mistake there. i would be like, no, i didn't

make a mistake. there's something wrong with that joke. stop groaning. get the stick out of your ass. i must have said that 20 times on my show. and then when the pandemic came around, first we didn't have any audience. then we shot here. and when we came back, we were allowed to have like half the audience because of social distancing. again, they just weeded out the people who were groaning. and i would say in the last three, four years, i've never had that problem again and it is such a pleasure. my audience who comes to my show now understands me. they think like me. they have open minds. they're not woke. they're generally liberal but they can be conservative, too. and we have a great time. and there's no groaning. and i love it. and on the road, it was always that way. people who pay a good penny for a hard ticket price to come see a standup show, they generally want you to be exactly who you are. so it's -- it was always pretty hard to get -- i would have to be pretty far out there.

i could do it to get people to groan on the road, but look, any comic in this era, anybody in this era, can absolutely fall off the ledge at any moment. it just makes me laugh when people say to me, you know, you're uncancellable. are you kidding. in two seconds i could get cancelled. anybody could. >> who were the comedians that influenced you, encouraged you to walk towards this path where you're not afraid to say what you think? >> carlin was the main one who did that in the era when i was growing up and was thinking about being a comedian when i was a kid. he was the guy who when i was really little, he was, you know, just a suit and tie, short haircut, doing funny stuff but not controversial. and then he had that big turn around, around 1970, when i was 14. so this was very formative for me. i already knew i wanted to be a comedian.

and so to see a guy do that, suddenly he had long hair and was wearing a t-shirt and he was challenging the establishment. and he was saying bold things. and he did that for the rest of his life. i didn't always even agree with him. you know, he said some really weird things. he was not an environmentalist, for example. but he never pulled a punch. and he, you know -- i remember one special his first -- his opening line, i can't say the word, but it's the word that begins with f, and it was f lance armstrong. this is when lance armstrong was the biggest hero. >> before he was uncovered. >> this was before the fall. >> yeah. >> just to say that's his opening line. don't tell me who my heroes are. don't tell me who my heroes are supposed to be. don't dictate that to me. >> yeah. >> i loved that. and i like lance armstrong. >> you must have met carlin a million times. >> i met him a few times. he was on my old show a couple

times. it wasn't for him. i understand why. you had the share the stage with three other people. and they were not up to his intellectual caliber. so, he didn't do that a lot. we were not contemporaries, so i did not really know him at all. but i did speak at his memorial. and i was proud to be there. >> so, you know, i hear a lot about comedians being afraid to perform in the new environment, but by the same token, i see dave chappelle is doing very well. >> yeah. >> one thing i wanted to get your reaction to shotgun. obviously chappelle has been criticized a lot because of his making fun of transgender -- the transgender community. this is what david cross says. he is an edgy comedian. >> yes, great comedian. >> he is not talking about you certainly and not even talking about chappelle necessarily in the quote but talking about people who make the kind of jokes making fun of transgender

he said you're positions you're as this bull shit voice, you can't silence me. who gives a shit. that important to you. move on and not hurt hundreds of thousands of people. it's a choice people make. i thought that was an interesting quote. i guess the larger criticism of chappelle from people like david cross is he's punching down, not like what carlin did punching up. what do you think? >> i don't really agree. i mean, i think the transcommunity is asking for too much. again, the difference between liberal and woke. liberals are people who i think would say i certainly would trans is of course a real thing. some people are just, they probably don't like this terminology, but born in the wrong body, whatever the equipment doesn't match how you feel. absolutely. and it's great we live in a time where people like that can freely live the lives they should live with all the dignity and protection of the law that

we can afford them, like anybody else in society. i think that's the liberal point of view. the woke point of view is something very different, like well babies are born now and just jump all, we don't know what they are. congratulations you have a boy. well, let's not be hasty. there's a penis. that could be an indication of a male, but it's really -- we'll find out later. we can always get rid of it. it's not wrong to have this discussion. this is something that's very new. >> yeah. >> it's not to shut -- to shut down debate with these words like phobia. you're phobic and you hate -- we don't hate. there's no hate. it's not phobic. we're not afraid. we're just discussing something very new that involves children and these interventions you're making have repercussions for the entire rest of their lives. and it's about their health which i think should come first. >> so, i think of a transactivist were here right now they might say we're not afraid of having discussions and

debate. but you're talking about these issues at a time when states like idaho and florida and others are talking about banning these procedures, regardless of what the kid and the parents and the doctor want. >> well, that's -- >> and that's like a bigger issue than the term pregnant people. >> well, that's probably a backlash that went too far. i think that is to completely ban it. but i also -- i also don't agree with what you just said. they absolutely do want to shut down debate. next on cnn primetime, he's given million dollar political donations in the past, so will bill maher open his wallet again? >> i remember my manager saying, couldn't you just give 500,000? and i said, no, because the million dollars gets people's attention.

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instead of giving an i voted sticker to the people who did vote, let's make the people who didn't vote wear one that says i couldn't be bothered.

>> the way you talk, i wonder if you're going to be as involved politically in 2024 as you have been in the past. i remember you giving millions of dollars to help barack obama get elected. >> well, yes. i gave $1 million to obama. that one absolutely happy i did that. >> 2012. >> the first year of the citizen's united ruling -- >> pro obama super pac. >> correct. because i felt like at the moment people had not gotten the memo that we're playing on a completely different field than we ever were before. anybody can give any amount of money and somebody has to ring the bell here and say, look, we're at the million dollar level. i remember my manager saying, couldn't you just give 500,000? and i said, no, because a million dollars gets people's attention. >> yeah. >> especially from somebody who is not a billionaire. you know, a million dollars

hurt. i wasn't driving an uber, but it hurt. i thought it was important the first black president get re-elected. almost more than getting elected. >> it wasn't about mitt romney. >> it was not about mitt romney. i wasn't a big fan of mitt romney, but mitt romney wasn't -- i wouldn't give anything for mitt romney to have been president instead of donald trump. no, it was about we have to make sure that the first black president gets a fair shake and gets re-elected, otherwise people would have said, oh, we tried a black president, it didn't work. he was such the perfect first black president. and i think one of our greatest presidents. >> thank you so much. did a hell of a job in this office. >> then i gave chuck schumer came around in 2018 and said, i think i can retake the senate. if you give me $1 million. i know you've done it before. and i did it again. that one i might want back because first of all didn't work. >> right. >> and you know, yeah.

so, now of course every democratic politician is calling me up, hey, you're -- >> the million dollar guy. >> you're the easy touch. no, i think i'm done. >> obama didn't ask you for $1 million. >> yeah. >> but are you going to get involved? do you think it's important for democrat -- >> it's possible. >> to be in the white house and for the democrats to control the senate? what do you think of the republican-led house? >> if it's trump running -- the problem is i don't think money works anymore. i don't think it matters. trump beat hillary and spent way less than she did. he just was smarter. he didn't saturate the air waves with commercials like she did. and i think -- i've been in markets when i'm on the road doing standup i'm in a hotel for literally 18 hours. and i see the same commercial 50 times. by the time -- i don't know who this candidate is and i hate them. it can work the other way around. >> right. >> trump saved all his money and put on this great commercial, this hour-long commercial like the day before the election. that was very effective. and people saw that.

and -- >> it was a lot of facebook ads. a lot of internet stuff. >> yeah. and of course he was also this guy that america had come to think of as this genius businessman because he was on the apprentice and i can't go into it. but look, if it was -- if i thought $1 million could stop donald trump from being president again, yes, i would get out my checkbook again. >> were you despondent when trump was elected? did you think oh my god this isn't the country you thought it was. >> i was afraid for my own well being. i thought i could wind up in guantanamo bay. i still think i could. he was ranting about me all last week again. he's obsessed sometimes. i don't know. he went on a tear for about eight months when he was president every time he would have a rally. i have a list three pages long of the things he's called me. >> bill maher, everybody know bill maher, a radical left maniac with modest television

ratings. >> the press nut job, low rating sleaze bag. and he was doing it again last week. he doesn't like i'm on cnn. i don't know why that gets to him. he doesn't like -- >> oh, he's doing it now since you started doing the thing on friday nights. >> yes. he doesn't like that. >> on truth social he does it. >> or in a rally. he doesn't like that fox quotes me. when fox quotes me, you know, of course, fox will watch one of my shows, 90% of it might be something they -- material they hate, they take out of it. >> the even liberal big maher, they do to you every time. >> we hate this guy, he's awful. but you know, he said one good thing. and trump that drives -- so i don't know. so i am afraid of trump on a very personal level because i don't think he likes me. i understand why. and i don't know what he would do in a second term. he is obviously someone who does not know any boundaries. you have to worry when you see

what other authoritarian rulers do in other countries to people. i don't think he'll be putin and start pushing people out windows, but i'm not going to live on the 30th floor anywhere either. >> do you think he long for your approval? >> no. i cannot get into his head. i just think he -- he lives -- he's a media creature. he doesn't read. he only looks at television. every time he quotes me, he always says i was watching the show accidentally. >> right. >> if he only knew -- >> just stumbled on hbo. i don't know how that happened. >> he's not aware of what a preposterous figure he is. ahead on this "cnn primetime" special -- >> you can believe in the spaghetti monster, whatever god you want, whatever myth you want, we don't care. we just want to be left alone and not castigated. >> big maher's take on religion

and whether or not he considers himself an aggressive atheist. they customize your car insurance, soso you only pay for what you need. with the money we e saved, we thought we'd try electrtric unicycles. whoa! careful, babe! saving was definitely easier. hey babe, i think i got it! it's actually... whooooa! ok, show-off! help! oh! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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>> got a super powerful. he can do anything. >> that's true.

>> why does he not just obliterate the devil and therefore get rid of evil in the world? >> he will. >> he will? >> i know you're not a religious guy. in fact, you are an aggressive atheists. >> [laughter] no, not aggressive. i've used it for comedy fought or certainly. i think one really good movie -- i made one really good movie in my life which was called religulous, really funny, not mean-spirited about religious. but evs, somehow the idea that we are aggressive or want to proselytize. that is what religion does. we are the opposite. we don't care. we don't care. you believe whatever you want to believe. you can believe in the spaghetti monster, you can believe in whatever gaudy want, whatever myth you want. we don't care. we just want to be left alone and not castigated for it. and i would like a little representation. i mean, the supreme court is somehow now six and a half

catholics. >> six and a half? >> one of them i think is gorsuch, one of them is like a compelling in or was raised catholic. but i mean, that is not good representation. talk about diversity. how about diversity that really matters? diversity of thought. i think there's one or two people in the entire congress. >> oh, i think there's more than that. >> and they'll say it? >> that's like saying in the 1950 house there were no gay people. >> yeah there were, they're just run out. >> i've a sneaky feeling obama is not really a super christian like he said. he used to say, well, the first thing in the morning i get scripture on my blackberry. really? >> well, somebody sent it to him. >> somebody said to him, okay. he said my mother was a humanist, wink wink, humanist. i mean, look. >> but your dad with catholic, your mom was jewish? >> yes, i was raised catholic. i went through the rigmarole. i paid my dues, jack.

>> agnosticism makes more sense to me, the idea that, look, i have no idea. that makes more sense to me that it is a. >> the same thing, almost. >> atheism is there's nothing there. >> no, no, you're wrong. atheism means atheism. >> i have no beliefs? >> no, the-ism is the belief in god. i preached the gospel of i don't know. >> i think that's agnostic is what that is? >> again, you're splitting hairs. you are getting hung up on the terms. even richard dawkins, the famous atheist, says on a scale of 1 to 7, where seven would be total certainty that there is no god, i am a 6.9. because we don't know. because there are so many questions we cannot answer. of course, and i allow for that. of course but, what an atheist says is yes there are questions we can't answer, like how did we get here. but what we don't do is make up stories to say how we got here.

>> all of this is just preface for me to say, if your dad is out there somewhere watching this, i think he would be happy about you being on cnn. >> [laughter] >> i think he would. i think as a news man, i think he would. >> if he's watching? >> whatever, i don't know how it works. >> we don't know how it works. but i doubted that. >> we don't know. but it's nice to think. >> a 6.9. >> but as make any sense for him to be we're here and we're not. and it's all just poof, to me, it does make any sense. >> but it seems to be the case. [laughter] >> there's no evidence to the contrary, but that doesn't mean the seems to be the case. >> correct. >> and if we use 10% of our brains only, there is 90% we don't know about. but >> we are dead, your brain is gone. it's being eaten by worms. so i would not count on that. >> after the break, forget politics, comedy, and live shows. bill maher reflects on one of his favorite hobbies.

>> so, you're a connoisseur of weed i think that's fair to say. >> i think it's very fair. what's it mean to be ever better? it's your customers getting what they ordered when they expect it. it's having g an ecommerce solution that scales with your business as you grow. it's using innovative technology that manages your inventory and orders. discover how ryder ecommerce makes your customer's experience ever better. julian's about to learn that free food is a personal eating trigger. no it isn't. yes it is. anthat's just a bit of psychology juan learned from noom weight. sign up now at noom.com all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work, helping them achieve financial freedom. we're investing for our clients

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my blood pressure is borderline. garlique healthy blood pressure formula helps maintain healthy blood pressure with a custom blend of ingredients. i'm taking charge, with garlique. >> you, know not a week goes by without someone asking me to get into the pot business with them. don't get behind, they tell me. we can make a fortune selling marijuana or billy bloods or silly belize wacky tobacco. >> so, you are a connoisseur of wheat, i think that's fair to say. >> i think it's very fair. >> what's the best league you've ever smoked? >> interesting you say that. i can answer that question. it was acapulco gold, and i've never seen it since. i was in college, and i remember it came in a brick. >> this isn't ithaca, new york,

at cornell. you get a break of it? but >> you know, cornell, that's i got through cornell. i mean, i was selling it. >> those were cold winters in ithaca, yeah. >> yeah, i would've never gone through college without that money wise. >> oh, selling it, you mean? >> yeah. [laughter] let's just say i was ahead of my time, because it's legal now. but it was like pressed into this brick. and it was gold. i've never seen pot that look that way. and i never had a high like that. i've never seen it again. but if anybody out there turned me in the right direction, i enormously appreciate it. >> but it wasn't all smoke at the bar. i also wanted to know who he looks up to most, his inspiration. and i surprised by his answer. >> who is your hero, other than ben karlyn, who is your hero then someone you look up to? >> george washington.

>> seriously? >> why is that even a question? >> because it seems like an earnest answer. >> because your bill maher, george washing? to >> but now that he is sort of semi cancel as well. >> that's not why i meant it. it's just i don't expect you. like he said rutherford b. hayes, i would've been surprised to. i just was not expecting it. i was, you know, expecting someone in the world that you live. >> oh, i see. well, -- >> i would have been more surprised by bob hope and george washing that. >> bob hope was not a good guy. >> i know, that's why i'm saying. >> i mean, when i was a kid it wasn't george washington, it was johnny carson, that's who i wanted to be. i wanted to be johnny carson and james bond. >> why georgia wants -- whitewashing to now? >> because he's the father of our country now. >> father of the country. also the willingness to only do two terms. >> exactly, that. first of all, leading the -- keeping the country alive. you know, he only thought when he was the general.

so, he only fought nine battles and only won three. he understood that he's not going to beat that british army. he just had to keep the army existing. he just had to keep them alive. so, he was always running away. and also, yes. gave up the crown when he could've gone the other way. and also, he was so precious and. he was the one who said political parties are going to be the death of us. once we get into that kind of factional thinking. and look at all these years later, that's really how it turned out. >> you can catch more during bill during realtime with bill maher every friday night i-10 pm on hbo. and his post show segment, overtime, which airs right here on cnn fridays at 11:30 pm eastern. i'll see you back here tomorrow on the lead. cnn tonight with alisyn camerota is next. >> goo