S11 E25: Traffic Stops & VP Debates: 10/6/24: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

John Oliver discusses the power given to cops during traffic stops and some simple ways we can start to change that, and J.D. Vance’s week surrounding the vice presidential debate.
Connect with Last Week Tonight online...
Subscribe to the Last Week Tonight KZbin channel for more almost news as it almost happens: / lastweektonight
Find Last Week Tonight on Facebook like your mom would: lastweektonight
Follow us on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news: lastweektonight
Visit our official site for all that other stuff at once: www.hbo.com/lastweektonight

[@oscargr_]

Some people died in a god given hurricane, but it was all worth it because Pittsburgh got an hour of story time with Vance.

[@lavrentivs9891]

Same kind of people who claimed that the flooding after hurricane Katrina was because of homosexuality.

[@unvergebeneid]

They say He works in mysterious ways and we cannot know His plan. But after hearing this, I'm pretty sure His plan, whatever it is, is absolute dog shit.

[@zephshoir]

You could have every episode be about cops terrible action and you would never run out of topics related to it

[@natanoj16]

​@@kobesamurai no. Because those things are the bare minimum and their job.

[@kristelbrok998]

​@@kobesamurai why should we celebrate people doing the bare minimum, while others do so much damage?

[@carmonaragorn]

@@kobesamurai Of Course one short episode should cover those.

[@quietreason8679]

@@kobesamurai I think this episode explained it pretty well. Cops are busy enforcing a system that doesn't really do much good at all. When the amount of suspects caught in traffic stops is around 0.3 percent, they have to stop 300 cars to find one potential criminal. That's not an efficient use of police resources, or as you put it, it's not doing a lot of good. If they instead used their time more wisely, maybe they could prevent more actual crime. Let's not forget the 299 innocent people who just had their day ruined by a pretextual stop, being fined for taking "too wide a turn" so the cop can go fishing for crimes and the police department can get a new margarita machine (this actually happened in Texas).

[@Mr.Ciobanu]

Aka america

[@nicholaslogan6840]

That Taco Lady deserves an award.

[@maciek19882]

I don't appreciate that cat mockery of the Last Supper

[@chinesesparrows]

Maybe a burrito

[@jomarcentermjm]

And a lifetime supply from tacobell.

[@gamepapa1211]

Reminder: being surprised that political debate is actually civil is very, VERY weird. Because it's SUPPOSED to be civil. And you can blame the Orange Baboon and his MAGA weirdos for changing all that.

[@FelisImpurrator]

That's not necessarily a good thing, though, because JD Vance is just as extreme if not more so - disguising his ideology with civility makes it seem more palatable.

[@AshkanKiani]

Just go back and look at the era right before oranguman, Bush, Obama, McCain. It was the norm.

[@gamepapa1211]

​​@@FelisImpurratorpoint. Counterpoint: yelling "THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS, THEY'RE EATING THE CATS" is not what a presidential candidate should be doing on national TV. That should be reserved for addled grandpas celebrating the 18th year of his retirement at a nursing home somewhere in Florida.

[@aribantala]

​@@gamepapa1211 "We should be civil in our political discourse" The other side: Spouting the most uncivilised BS ever graced the history of political discourses

[@FelisImpurrator]

@@gamepapa1211 It should be if they're Republicans. The side with the unilaterally destructive ideology and policy positions should be exerting as little effort as possible to look more presentable or appealing, and just full-throatedly express their real beliefs and intentions - because it makes them look worse and their loss is the world's gain.

[@kyuven]

Mika Brzezinski's feelings about sports is how I feel about 24 hour news stations having 22 hours of the same 3 stories. "OK we've reported that news. How about something else happening? You're airing 24 hours a day. Why do I get more news from a 30 minute youtube news show than you?"

[@piccalillipit9211]

Mika Brzezinski's father was a terrible neocon warmonger.

[@I.amthatrealJuan]

The end scene looks so adorable. A toucan playing with his cats

[@kari-pekkamakkeli9494]

🐾

[@etcetraetcetra3173]

😄

[@TammeraFreno]

😂🎉good one! John, you know that was funny...love you, JO❤

[@kokkolintu3528]

How nice of them not to attack the bird! 😸😸🦜😸😸

[@closedcl8]

"My passion runs deep for tacos" Giggity

[@komninosm]

I'm an assman

[@thomaslennon608]

He is so uncomfortable around the "cats" at first. "There are so many of you!"

[@closedcl8]

Ah yes, welcome back to "US cops do what now?" the show. Kudos from Manila for uploading full episodes!

[@komninosm]

Wtf arrested for a sticker? Surely that cop must lose his job for idiocy. I assume that guy sued the police and won a lot of money.

[@Damitche024]

🤙🏼

[@Ravus_Sapiens]

​@@komninosmha! You should be a comedian. Two words: Qualified Immunity. You generally can't sue police in the US, and even when you can, the amount you might win from such a suit is severely limited by law.

[@ladyofhollows9841]

3:13 My capital cursive "y" could give any boarding school's headmaster a teary-eyed Anton Ego flashback but trust me, my parents raised me wrong in every bloody way! There are some seriously fucked up people with absolutely delightful handwriting 😹

[@ladyofhollows9841]

5:33 When has the American education system has EVER been envied? Exactly WHEN?! The whole world have been laughing at how you Yanks can't find other countries in a map since BEFORE there was an internet! 😹

[@badwrongbadong]

Hush dont break their illusion

[@BlackStar250874]

Well, I think never. But that has enough truth for Vance, like Haitians eating dogs and cats.

[@Kikoberserk]

LMAO thought the same

[@diazalex5314]

A lot of third-world countries based their education with the Western style. Americans do not appreciate what they have. School provided lunch, wood and metal works, working computers, bus to ferry far flung kids, etc

[@marquitabelgrove2094]

Can't even find their own country on one 😂😂😂😂

[@piccalillipit9211]

*THIS IS WHY YOU ARE ALWAYS TOLD YOU LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE **_FREE_* because you are unbelievably oppressed No one in my country ever mentions freedom, because we have freedom. You live in the land of the FREE the same way people on the DPRK live in democracy

[@johnnybee69]

True, but not exactly correct, freedom in the US is political code for big business, it means freedom from regulation and government forcing you to treat workers decently. It has nothing to do with Joe 6-pack who can't drink until he's 21 and will be paying off both student debt and medical bills until he reaches the USAs decreasing life expectancy.

[@axelvillesen]

Imagine being in makeup for 3 hours just for a one minute bit 😂 Man I love this show

[@tarielkaroldan4106]

Love the tribute to Jimmy Carter in the intro, with the simple heading "C"

[@jayceh]

Well, well, well, if it isn't the freest country in the world

[@Pecisk]

Freest for white rich guys. They never said that part out loud, well, sometimes.

[@kari-pekkamakkeli9494]

There's no freedom at all! Except for those who have all the money & power! 3rd world bullshit! Greetings from Finland!

[@Khaisz.]

Every week when we get a new episode, I learn something new that just solidifies my belifs that USA is a social experiment in "How can we turn something that shouldn't be bad, into the worst thing possible".

[@Dadudedo]

Loved the "no sports" lady! ❤😂

[@fumuki9281]

I'm not Black nor American but wow my heart goes to you. I'm not sure I could handle feeling in danger all the time and fearing to not be believed and facing severe consequences for stuff as minor and mundane as driving. That mother confronting the police is so calm yet she must be so scared. Really fucked up

[@komninosm]

Arrested for a sticker? Did he sue the police afterward?

[@Ravus_Sapiens]

Probably couldn't. They have Qualified Immunity.

[@davidladjani108]

Jail for not paying fines ? Is this the 19th century ?

[@trowawayacc]

Late capitalism

[@mulrich]

Here in Denmark, you can request a transformation sentence, where you opt for a predetermined number of days in prison instead of paying a fine, up to 60 days depending on the monetary size of the fine. And yes, it can definitely be abused. Fur example, if the fine is between DKK 7,500 and 9,999, you can request ten days in prison instead. But that maximum of 60 days applies even if the fine is huge. A man convicted of fraud was fined DKK 11 million. He requested a transformation sentence and was sentenced to 60 days in prison on top of the prison sentence he'd already been handed for the fraud.

[@witchdoctor6502]

broken taillight should be a 2 minute stop where cop tells you to fix it

[@DaDunge]

If its actually something dangerous like a broken tail light or loose bumper ot should be "You've got a broken taillight, I've already taken your registration down, if we stop you again without it being fixed we'll impound the car. Have a nice day."

[@kyuven]

​@DaDunge under ideal circumstances what they do is give you a fix it ticket. It takes some time to process since they need to see your license and registration...but it's still like 15 minutes tops. But that's the white guy privilege. Should be universal, though.

[@trowawayacc]

Helps you fix it*

[@mulrich]

​@@trowawayaccthat's not the police's job. They're police, not mechanics.

[@Arenuphis]

Idk, car mechanic police officers roving the roads, looking for this kinda thing, helping with the simple and quickly fixed stuff, and telling you useful information about what to do about the more complicated things, sounds pretty neat

[@andypanda4756]

Compound this with the current generation of Americans sleeping in cars. Someone needs to follow Police Cars and film their numbers of Traffic Infractions.

[@jongranada]

Thanks for uploading the full episode!!

[@wanderingyoutube]

Having fines finance law enforcement is the first step in privatization or corporatization of policing. Having seizures finance law enforcement is making police into pirates.

[@jindead5455]

What!? The USA is racist!? Say it ain't so!😂😂😂

[@megijapostaza]

28:03 I thought the eagle was humping the flag of Estonia 😂

[@joaquinmoran4006]

I saw that Cats setup coming from A MILE AWAY 😂😂😂

[@ThalesWell]

Cops are trained to use fancy words to say "why are you hitting yourself"

[@gamepapa1211]

"I'm focused on the future," said the guy whose entire platform was how much things were better four years ago. Hypocrisy, thy name is JD!

[@damiang888]

come on, you can't accuse just one person of hypocrisy in this election, even Harris is doing that kind of "let's move forward", "let's move to a new page" while being the current VP.

[@gamepapa1211]

@@damiang888 Name one time Harris claimed we were better off four years ago. Just one.

[@damiang888]

@@gamepapa1211 what? That doesn't make any sense, why do you want her to claim we were better during the Trump administration?

[@ashweenlama5077]

@@damiang888 Yeah because Harris isnt running on a socially and scientifically regressive platform while saying 'lets move forward' Trump/Vance are...

[@damiang888]

@@ashweenlama5077 ?? she has a platform now? what is her platform? giving 25k to people that want to buy homes, build the wall, no tax on tips, and the rest filled with Biden's platform from 4 years ago?

[@mr.jellyfish5544]

I kept trying to figure out why I’m able to see all the episodes on my mobile devices but NOT on my TV then I realized “oh, my devices think I’m in Japan right now,” and I’m gonna keep it that way.

[@stebopign]

that cats commercial gave me a big smile!

[@StatusNull]

thanks for full ep

[@saxyrep1]

JD Vance: "The american education system used to be the envy of the World..." 😂 No dude, no disrespect to my US fam but you've always been the nation of the original flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers, "9 month old kicking aborted foetuses", creationists and ancient pyramid building aliens on the discovery channel.

[@damiang888]

Today yes, but I think he meant, like, before 1980

[@saxyrep1]

@@damiang888 Even then, mate... The american schools system had taken a dramatic turn for the worse way before Vance was born. After rising every year for fifty years, student scores on a variety of achievement tests dropped sharply in 1967. They continued to decline through 1980. And in any case, "Envy of the World" is a crazy stretch.

[@damiang888]

@@saxyrep1 I did say before 1980, so... Do you want me to correct and say before 1967? Okay,let's agree on that. The rest might be hyperbolic, but even today everyone envies whatever education system is ranked as the best, it's not to far to assume that was the same situation in the years before 1967

[@elgraid]

@@damiang888 I think what he meant was even then.. It was good, but not like the best in the world by a long shot and everyone envied it. it was a good one, it isn't anymore and not wanting to finance it, not paying teachers and not letting poor people study is the direct cause of it (the exact thind JD and Drumpf clearly want to keep up and ramp up)

[@Shamalamadingdong11]

Viewer from the Philippines here. Loving the full episodes, kudos to the team. Regarding the story covered, and this is based on experience. I have been driving for 10 years now and I've never been stopped by police anywhere in our country. The people responsible for stopping drivers who have infractions( busted taillight, driving during coding days) are the traffic management officers in the provinces and metropolitan manila development authority. They issue the tickets, you pay in city hall. Absolutely zero interaction with police unless you are involved in a collision. There are also no-contact apprehensions in place of traffic stops here where you receive a letter of your infraction and a CCTV still of where the incident took place. Again, you go to city hall to pay the fine. Hope the US makes use of the millions of cameras on the road instead of traumatizing their citizens. Stay safe on the road everyone!

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

Well said. (You also look good in your pfp.)

[@maimee1]

12:14 When I see the murder number I thought, "How many Helenes per year is that"? My sense of humor seems fucked up 💀

[@LaSnob711]

I've been living and driving all over the world and i've been stopped 3 times in all the years... once in the EU where I'm from and TWICE in the US where I lived a tiny amont of my life. It's not a colour thing. It's your cops' attitude. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@DontStealMyBacon]

There is still a stark difference between how many people pulled over get to remain survivors, or otherwise have good outcomes - sadly determined far too much by melanin - within the grand US of A.

[@GArodrigo]

"Driving without a seat belt will get you killed" is not an unreasonable statement that a cop could make while stopping someone for not wearing a seat belt.

[@watata1t]

That statement should only be true if you are without one in a high speed crash, not parked talking to a cop

[@GArodrigo]

@@watata1t do you expect to be able to put on a seat belt while crashing? Just put it on before you start moving.

[@watata1t]

@@GArodrigo you missed that the cop was talking about getting shot by the cops in the traffic stop, not about a crash

[@lazymass]

He said "this is how you people get killed around here", in response to his uncooperation, had nothing to do with seat belt. It was a clear statement that he will shoot him if he won't cooperate.

[@Alcatur]

@@watata1t I also understood it as meaning the seatbelts. I hear "Simple thing, man, thats how people can get killed out here". I can understand why people are unsure, but it seems to be more applicable to seatbelts.

[@noobhemingway]

"There are so many of you" says John, ever so calmly.

[@renezada8]

Alright time to get depressed early on

[@ichiro.g]

ITA ABOUT TIME FOR JOHN TO TALK ABOUT CITY MGMT like its another Sim City gameplay

[@Mr.Ciobanu]

11:30 wtf is with this country? Getting stopped for a sticker

[@dariawilber2213]

Vance = Classroom hampster. Hilarious!

[@UndergroundRap4eva]

I get it, C = 100 and Jimmy Carter just turned 100 the other day. Clever.

[@FrankSkovPedersen]

That guy wearing the shirt is Tim Kennedy a former special forces and retired MMA fighter

[@skillethead15]

Putting people in jail for unpaid fines sounds a lot like debtors prison which is supposed to be against the law.

[@PROBOT-pv6ez]

Holy shit I remember that CATS ad.

[@amoineau]

When Vance talked about the education not being as good as it used to be, I'm disappointed you didn't mention that the right was to blame for making it evermore inaccessible and underfounded.

[@rajabuta]

I was half expecting John to play the Irish car safety ad xD

[@rollin340]

I love how genuinely uncomfortable he looked at the end there.

[@TripleVR]

This is the biggest reason which factored in to the decision to becoming an expat for me.

[@Michael-Masi-2021]

May I ask you, are you Black or Hispanic or White?

[@nicholaslogan6840]

John's hair looks better in this one

[@elinoris8047]

That bat that was apparently a "weapon" is just like the bat from when cartman tried to kill kyle, stan and kenny to shut them up.

[@The_Spartan_Legend]

15:46 - is that Detective Jake Peralta from "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"? 🤣

[@Larchitecte13]

What's bleak is the conclusion coming after so many of these shows : there is no down limit, no critical mass beyond which a country collaps. There will be no natural stop.

[@TonymanCS]

Such strange problem for a so-called "freedom loving" country. Imagine this in EU lmao.

[@unvergebeneid]

"a sore throat"? That's no aftereffect of cocaine I've ever heard of!

[@Michael-Masi-2021]

Then you been doing it wrong.

[@I.amthatrealJuan]

JD Vance should look into the future with learning from the past.

[@damiang888]

Instead of doing silly thinks like looking into what it can be, unburdened by what has been.

[@alanchase7329]

I agree with banning things hanging from the rear view mirror. They can be distracting and can obscure your view.

[@lanternlis1425]

Thanks for the coverage LWT team

[@bobkha992]

another episode on why you shouldn't live in the US

[@piotrrywczak7971]

12:12 *John Oliver I thought you were gonna talk about the issue of overusing STOP SIGNS in place of the yield signs* o_o I'm not American enough for this 😭

[@DanceGeekRob]

John, Vance is referring to the stupidity of Common Core.

[@ronelitzur856]

what it boils down to is policing for profit. it's all about money. they will never stop doing police stops bc of the high profit.

[@trowawayacc]

The first story. Dam. 😂 that pivot from grim reality to first world problems. Bravo.

[@3rdmm]

Perfumed cardboard is called an "Air freshener"? Yes, that is a crime.

[@Magaso242]

My favorite episode of the year! Good stuff John!

[@ndmushroom1]

Watching the video for 25 mins, then suddenly the suits at HBO realize they released the wrong video, so now "Video unavailable". Oh well, I'll finish the Main Story segment on Thursday.

[@lavrentivs9891]

Wow, the voice on the large 'cat' at the end there is really impressive.

[@Buttercup697]

Regarding K-12 education in the US, the republikkkan party deliberately UNDER-funds public education. In fact, of the BOTTOM ten states in K-12 education EIGHT of them are republikkkan legislated states. And it doesn’t get much better in the other 40. The Northeast of course has the greatest concentration of schools excelling in STEM AND reading. (US News & World Report)

[@abbiezabbie1]

Funny fact, I'm in Israel and at the time of the attack i was actually eating a taco 😂

[@fan1kimiziithaBD]

More Nicola Coughlan mentions pls and thank you

[@ThalesWell]

JD Vance: Thinks American education should be good, refuses to fund American education.

[@FireSonata]

My Passion runs deep for cats ;)

[@olovskiPL]

Every nation needs a John Oliver!

[@bonniejarstad]

Spot on about the traffic stops, John!

[@TakaComics]

Whoever those actors at the end were... I know for a fact that at least one of them dreamed of putting on one of those costumes since they first saw Cats. They sold that bit so well! Also, All Cats Are Beautiful, but also another phrase that fits that acronym.

[@king.athompson1354]

Can't stop won't stop... Watching your show. !

[@bilboswaggings]

Vance was thinking he was taking part in "The couch tour"

[@HowToChangeName]

One thing not simple to do American police not being violent or dishonest

[@r4dios1lence92]

The no-sports news anchor, Mika Brzezinski, is my favorite news anchor now. I hope her next sports-talk cut off comes with "Moving on, our main story tonight" in a nod to this tribute.

[@DarthWaffle.]

I’m a retired cop and I never liked a cop car behind me. Professional victims

[@julespetrikov]

What a wonderful day to be a porcupine.

[@lucad27]

Oh Shit Here we go again

[@metatron6661]

He is not loosing his touch... 😂😂😂

[@jererasanen7410]

Just remember: this election isn't normal. Write it on a post-it note; hire a skywriter; tattoo it on your arse.

[@ossihurme7572]

To be fair dangling objects from rear view mirror train your eye to be less likely to pick up movements in the peripheral.

[@teacherrussell5206]

What the taco news people did, is EXACTLY what you do every show. Tragedy, than immediately defuse with the yuk yuks.

[@bovinityleak2066]

Thank once again john oliver.

[@I.amthatrealJuan]

25:32 Woah John, don't poke the bear

[@xskippysticky5092]

American values are so weird these days... i know i know, geopolitics and so on but come on... Supporting genocide should be red flag for everyone. And yes its both left & right😢

[@damiang888]

Not a single candidate has a good take about Israel, not even RFK Jr back when he was a candidate.

[@morbid1.]

police in america acts like gestapo... they have power trip

[@Ekami-chan]

27:15 WTF was that speech, that's so disturbing and to police officers? Ugh.

[@Gardens_of_Vanha_Talo_Soumi]

considering older model cars make up a great percentage of all vehicles traveling on the roadways, the reality of a traffic stop for operational violations will skyrocket.

[@chester5276]

STOP non-safety related stops.

[@hungrybeetroot]

The point about police having more time to address serious traffic violations is the one that should land for everybody. Imagine all the 100 miles per hour pickups that might have driven by while they were harassing that poor dude.

[@Jeb-z2g]

I'm such a a real one that I'm almost positive that the LBJ joke was written by Daniel O'Brien.

[@Pecisk]

They are not effective, but they make cops feel power and powerful. That is, that's the connection.

[@carlthepumpkinman]

Eyyyy I'm from Ann Arbor-- that's pretty cool to hear

[@errorcrj110]

I think we can acknowledge that a return to civility in politics is nice while we condemn Vance's blatant lies and bootlicking.

[@jorgerangel9888]

15:18 a child...