Fact
ba
.
se
Interview: Conan O'Brien Interviews Joe Biden on 'Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend' - December 20, 2023
-
Joe Biden Person
-
Conan O'Brien Person
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:00:00-00:00:28 (29 sec)
"President Biden, welcome. When I do this podcast, I'm always looking for points of commonality. Being Irish is such a part of who I am. There are phrases that have lived on in my family. My mother always called me a bold stump. Conan, you're a bold stump. But I think there's so much of that that's just in who I am, and it's got to be a huge part of who you are being Irish."
1
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:00:28-00:00:37 (8 sec)
"Well, it really is. But I think it's because, think about it, the Irish, even once they got here and made it, they were still viewed as lesser because they were Catholic."
2
Conan O'Brien
Positive
00:00:37-00:00:37 ( sec)
"Yes."
3
Joe Biden
Somewhat Negative
00:00:37-00:00:45 (8 sec)
"My mother used to say, "Remember, Joey, the best drop of blood in you is Irish. Remember, you're a Biden." I'm thinking, who the hell is a Biden? You know [Inaudible]"
4
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:00:45-00:00:46 (1 sec)
"Yeah. Yeah."
5
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:00:46-00:00:47 (1 sec)
"And that's not Irish."
6
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:00:47-00:00:47 ( sec)
"Right."
7
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:00:47-00:00:48 (1 sec)
"Biden's not Irish."
8
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:00:48-00:00:48 ( sec)
"Right."
9
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:00:48-00:00:51 (3 sec)
"It's all about principle and pride."
10
Conan O'Brien
Positive
00:00:51-00:01:14 (23 sec)
"Yes. It was instilled in us by my mother that we are proper Irish. We are lace curtain Irish. Now, my mother's father had been a policeman in Worcester, Massachusetts, directed traffic. Made, I think, $55 a week. But my mother was able to go to Vassar College and then Yale Law School. So, it was all about moving upward in our world."
11
Conan O'Brien
Leans Positive
00:01:14-00:01:27 (13 sec)
"And it was very important for our mother that we were proper. And then I get into this business where I professionally make a fool of myself. She had to figure that out. But it's a lot about pride."
12
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:01:27-00:01:39 (12 sec)
"It's kind of expected, you think. I mean, look, for years, before our ancestors came, mine came in 1848. My mom is 100% Irish. My dad is a quarter Irish."
13
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:01:39-00:01:40 ( sec)
"Yeah."
14
Joe Biden
Somewhat Negative
00:01:40-00:01:48 (8 sec)
"But, you know, they got in those coffin ships in the 1850s, and they came leaving a sense of being always ridiculed --"
15
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:01:48-00:01:49 ( sec)
"Yeah."
16
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:01:49-00:01:54 (5 sec)
"And -- and looked down on. And there was an enormous pride in -- in our literature."
17
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:01:54-00:01:54 ( sec)
"Yeah."
18
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:01:54-00:02:00 (6 sec)
"Whether you were a farmer or a poet, there was always -- it's just something about -- look, we know who we are."
19
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:02:00-00:02:00 ( sec)
"Yeah."
20
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:02:00-00:02:06 (6 sec)
"We know who we are. My mother said, "Joey, never bow, never bend, never yield. Never.""
21
Conan O'Brien
Leans Negative
00:02:06-00:02:07 (1 sec)
"She sounds tough."
22
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:02:07-00:02:09 (2 sec)
"My mother was five foot one."
23
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:02:09-00:02:10 (1 sec)
"Five foot one."
24
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:02:10-00:02:18 (8 sec)
"Five foot one. Almost five foot two. And she was everybody's mother confessor. I'll show -- I'll show a picture of my mom. You got to come over to the Oval after this is over if you have a minute."
25
Conan O'Brien
Leans Positive
00:02:18-00:02:21 (3 sec)
"It's funny, you're offering that and your staff is all saying no, absolutely not."
26
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:02:21-00:02:22 ( sec)
"Well --"
27
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:02:22-00:02:25 (4 sec)
"Because you know what? They've looked into my record."
28
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:02:25-00:02:38 (12 sec)
"Well, they looked into mine, too, so we're OK. But there's a picture of my mom by my desk, and my mom is holding Barack's hand on the night we get announced out in Chicago."
29
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:02:38-00:02:38 ( sec)
"Yeah."
30
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:02:38-00:02:52 (14 sec)
"A million people, etc. And my mother was everybody's mother confessor. Everybody would go to my mom for advice or they had trouble. And so, my mom, she was hearing somebody's confession, figuratively speaking, she'd sit so you could see her profile. When you came in the door, and she'd go like this, like keep -- keep moving."
31
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:02:52-00:02:54 (1 sec)
"Keep moving. Keep it moving."
32
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:02:54-00:03:02 (8 sec)
"I called her, and I said, the president asked me to be considered being vice president. I -- I don't want to do that. I said, "Barack, I don't want to be vice president.""
33
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:03:02-00:03:02 ( sec)
"Right."
34
Joe Biden
Leans Negative
00:03:02-00:03:06 (4 sec)
"Finally, he said, "Well, damn, it's only you.""
35
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Negative
00:03:06-00:03:07 (1 sec)
"There are no other choices."
36
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:03:07-00:03:30 (23 sec)
"And -- no, that's what he said to me. And so, he said, "Go home and talk it over with your family." I was on the train. It was when he became the de facto nominee in August. So, I go home, sit everybody down. Everybody wants me to do it. I didn't want to do it. I looked at my mom, who was living with them because my dad had passed, and she said, "Joey, remember I called you and I asked you about what kind of guy he was, and you said he was honest and smart." I said yeah. "Let me get this straight, honey."
37
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:03:30-00:03:33 (3 sec)
"The first Black man has a chance to be president. He says he needed you and you told him no."
38
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:03:33-00:03:34 (1 sec)
"Wow."
39
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:03:34-00:03:49 (14 sec)
"I said whoa. Anyway, there's a picture of my mom when -- she wasn't even supposed to be out, when a million people were out in Chicago when we got announced. And we walked down, she walks off the stage, and there was a picture of her grabbing Barack's hand. She says, "Come on, honey, it's going to be OK." She walks him out."
40
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:03:49-00:03:50 (1 sec)
"That's fantastic."
41
Joe Biden
Slightly Negative
00:03:50-00:03:51 (1 sec)
"No, that's -- that was my mom."
42
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:03:51-00:04:09 (18 sec)
"But I mean, that's the -- you know, it doesn't matter what you achieve in this life. I mean, this is a big moment for me. I have -- I'm a huge history buff. I am an amateur presidential historian, and I've interviewed presidents in my day, but never a sitting U.S. president. So, I want to get it on the record that this is a huge honor for me."
43
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:04:09-00:04:10 ( sec)
"Oh, come on."
44
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:04:10-00:04:30 (20 sec)
"It's a big -- it's a big deal. But I love that whoever you're talking to and one of the reasons that I love this -- doing this podcast so much, so much of us are the same. Ninety-two years old, my mother tells me to do something, I'll do it, to this day. She may not like the way I do it. But no matter what I've achieved in this life, it's fascinating to me that you were waffling on the vice presidency and your mother said you're doing it."
45
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:04:30-00:04:34 (4 sec)
"Yeah. Well, she said, "This guy says he wants your help, and you told him no.""
46
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:04:34-00:04:34 ( sec)
"Yeah."
47
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:04:34-00:04:45 (11 sec)
"But my mother and my father, my father was a really honorable guy. His phrase was, you're a man of your word. Without your word, you're not a man. Remember that. Remember that. That was my dad."
48
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:04:45-00:04:46 ( sec)
"Yeah."
49
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:04:46-00:04:52 (6 sec)
"Everything with him was about the notion of just being honorable and straight. Never lectured it, just did it."
50
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:04:52-00:05:10 (18 sec)
"It's funny how we keep these people with us. I have on my desk -- I did a performance at the Kennedy Museum -- Kennedy Library, I'm sorry, in Massachusetts. And my parents were in the audience, and someone snapped a picture of the both of them laughing. They sent it to me, and I have that on my desk because I think that's the only reason I do what I do."
51
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:05:10-00:05:20 (10 sec)
"It really did start when I was a kid in the '60s in a highchair, making them laugh. That was my first audience, and those were the people I'm trying to impress, and I'm still trying to impress them, you know?"
52
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:05:20-00:05:23 (3 sec)
"Well, you know what's interesting -- how many kids in the family?"
53
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:05:23-00:05:24 (1 sec)
"There are six of us."
54
Joe Biden
Positive
00:05:24-00:05:43 (19 sec)
"When my dad died, everybody thought that I should be the one to do the eulogy. We all sat and wrote it, the four kids. What stunned me was my dad was a man who came up in the '30s in high school and was, you know, you didn't tell your daughter how much you loved her and always hugging her. You're just --"
55
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:05:43-00:05:44 (2 sec)
"Oh, that's -- yeah. It's generational."
56
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:05:44-00:05:44 ( sec)
"Generational."
57
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:05:44-00:05:45 (1 sec)
"It didn't happen."
58
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:05:45-00:05:58 (13 sec)
"But -- so what amazed me is the different relationship he had with each one of us. My sister Valerie was -- he loved her and adored her. Thought she was beautiful, and she is. But he never say it. He didn't -- he didn't say it out loud."
59
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:05:58-00:05:58 ( sec)
"Yeah."
60
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:05:58-00:06:09 (12 sec)
"So, when I'm -- we're writing the eulogy together, all of us, my brother Jimmy, who was more like my dad than any of us, he said, "Well, talk about the time dad took me flying as a pilot." He took you flying?"
61
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:06:09-00:06:10 ( sec)
"Yeah."
62
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:06:10-00:06:16 (6 sec)
"But he said, "Now, don't tell anybody. He went down to the New Castle County Airport, rented an airplane." None -- none of us ever knew it."
63
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:06:16-00:06:18 (2 sec)
"Right. You all saw different versions of him."
64
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:06:18-00:06:18 ( sec)
"Yeah."
65
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:06:18-00:06:19 ( sec)
"Yeah."
66
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:06:19-00:06:26 (7 sec)
"I mean, it really wasn't my dad. He didn't preach it. He just did it. It was about integrity. You had to be honest."
67
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:06:26-00:06:50 (24 sec)
"I have a topic I wanted to bring up with you, which is near and dear to my heart because it's been the root of this podcast I've been doing for about five years. I get to talk to a lot of "important people," people that have achieved amazing things. And what I try to get them to talk about, which is the things that they thought of as maybe a disability or a problem when they were younger that helped fuel them, that when they were younger, they desperately wished it would go away."
68
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Negative
00:06:50-00:07:08 (19 sec)
"They thought of it as a weakness. But when they look at the span of their life now, they see that that actually helped forge them. And I know you've talked about this, but when you were growing up, you stuttered, and it must have been the fuel, in some ways, to have pushed you forward."
69
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:07:08-00:07:12 (4 sec)
"Well, when I was a kid."
70
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:07:12-00:07:15 (3 sec)
"You've got this problem licked, by the way."
71
Joe Biden
Leans Negative
00:07:15-00:07:38 (23 sec)
"For me, I was really lucky. I had a mother and a father that -- my mother would say, "Don't let this define you. Look at me, Joey. You're handsome, you're smart. You're a decent young man. Don't let this define you." Taught me how to fight. It used to be a -- a joke, and when I was growing up in grade school and high school that, you know, you could beat up Biden, but he'd hurt you going down."
72
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:07:38-00:07:38 ( sec)
"Right."
73
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:07:38-00:07:50 (12 sec)
"The point was that it made me realize in our family, this is a God's truth, Conan, four of us, we're never allowed to make fun of anyone, no matter how mean they were to us if they had something they couldn't overcome."
74
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:07:50-00:07:51 (1 sec)
"Right."
75
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:07:51-00:08:02 (11 sec)
"Swear to God. If you did, you'd get your rear end kicked when you went home. Not a joke. And so, it taught me that there's a lot of people dealing with dilemmas that take away their pride, their dignity."
76
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:08:02-00:08:02 ( sec)
"Yeah."
77
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:08:02-00:08:20 (18 sec)
"I don't know whether it's the thing that pushed me about -- like, for example, even though I was a stutterer, I ended up being elected the class president, that kind of thing. But it wasn't -- I didn't run for that reason. But there's something about your dignity and your pride. It doesn't just manifest itself in terms of an impediment."
78
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:08:20-00:08:38 (18 sec)
"For example, when we were kids, there were a couple of hard times financially for my dad. I remember being invited to -- I was talking to this about my sister last night, my best friend, and we were going to a cotillion at Mount Pleasant High School, which was rated the best high school in Delaware, in an area that was an affluent area."
79
Joe Biden
Slightly Negative
00:08:38-00:08:58 (20 sec)
"And we lived in not bad area, but a less affluent area. And I was invited to the cotillion. I went to the Catholic school, St. Helena's, in that district. And it was, you know, just a little different. I remember being invited, and I was anxious to go. And my mom -- I had an uncle who lived with us at the time."
80
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:08:58-00:09:23 (25 sec)
"He was five-seven, and my mom couldn't find a white shirt for me. And so, we got one of his shirts and with French cuffs on it, and my mother -- and it fit loosely, but it fit. My dad had always wore cufflinks to work, and my dad had the cufflinks. We couldn't find any. I didn't know what to do. So, my mom goes downstairs over the washing machine in the basement in the garage level and gets two nuts and bolts and brings them up and puts them on me."
81
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:09:23-00:09:25 (2 sec)
"And I said -- no, swear to God, my --"
82
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:09:25-00:09:27 (2 sec)
"Today, that's a fashion statement."
83
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:09:27-00:09:50 (23 sec)
"And I said, "Mom, I can't go. They're going to make fun of me." If anyone makes fun of you, you turn around and say, you don't have a pair? I swear to God. True -- on the health of my children. So, I go to the punch bowl and this guy Frank grabs me and says, "Hey, look at Biden. Nuts and bolts." Everybody was starting to laugh, and I said, "Frank, you don't have a pair of these?"
84
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:09:50-00:09:59 (9 sec)
"I swear to God. I swear to God. He turned and said, "Yeah, I have them. I have them. I have them." Not a joke."
85
Conan O'Brien
Very Negative
00:09:59-00:10:15 (15 sec)
"My theory is that if you stay connected to these things that embarrassed you when you were a kid, whatever it was, speech impediment or anxiety or feeling awkward or not being a good athlete. My list goes on and on and on. Having weird hair, having a weird name."
86
Joe Biden
Positive
00:10:15-00:10:17 (2 sec)
"I wish I had your hair. I'd trade right now if you want."
87
Conan O'Brien
Somewhat Positive
00:10:17-00:10:21 (4 sec)
"If you want this hair, it comes off. It's a -- it's -- it's -- it velcros on the back. Yeah."
88
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:10:21-00:10:22 (1 sec)
"If I could do it I would do it."
89
Conan O'Brien
Very Negative
00:10:22-00:10:44 (21 sec)
"I will -- I will mail you this wig tomorrow. Do some polling first on how people are going to think about that. But I think what it does is it gives you empathy. I think empathy comes from a sense, if you felt that pain, if you see someone else and you sense that maybe they're feeling that pain, you're awakened to it."
90
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:10:44-00:10:47 (3 sec)
"That's -- I think the superpower that comes from it is you have --"
91
Joe Biden
Very Negative
00:10:47-00:11:03 (16 sec)
"I'm certain you're right. When I got elected, I was using Senator Kennedy's office over in the Capitol to interview staff, and I got a phone call from my fire department. They put a young woman on the phone, and she said, "There's been an accident. You got to come home." December 18th. I wasn't sworn in yet."
92
Joe Biden
Leans Negative
00:11:03-00:11:30 (26 sec)
"And I said, there's been -- your wife is Christmas shopping with your kids. My kids were then 13 months old, almost three and almost four. And she was so nervous. She said they're dead. And I was enraged by it. I remember going out of the Capitol and looking up at the dome. I swear to God, I'm embarrassed about it, but -- and I said, "God." I just screamed and didn't know where my boys were alive."
93
Joe Biden
Very Negative
00:11:30-00:11:53 (23 sec)
"They were badly injured with a skull fracture and bone -- and every bone in his body broken virtually. He was in a body cast, arms, legs. Anyway. What I learned, though, is that after that, when I'd show up at a friend's viewing or family viewing, and they'd stop everything. The family would stop, even if they didn't know, and they'd come to me, just come to me."
94
Joe Biden
Very Negative
00:11:53-00:12:02 (10 sec)
"And I realized what they're really saying is he lost what we lost, and he made it. He's still walking. People have to know --"
95
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:12:02-00:12:05 (2 sec)
"That you can persevere, you know."
96
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:12:05-00:12:05 ( sec)
"Yeah."
97
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:12:05-00:12:06 ( sec)
"Yeah."
98
Joe Biden
Leans Positive
00:12:06-00:12:17 (11 sec)
"And if you made it through, they think, well, maybe -- maybe I can. Maybe I will. I spend a lot of time with families that are going through tough times."
99
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:12:17-00:12:17 ( sec)
"Yeah."
100
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:12:17-00:12:32 (15 sec)
"Because you know it gives them some solace. And look, I want to be clear. I was really lucky. I had enormous help. By the time I came home, my sister and her husband had given up their apartment and already moved in to help me raise the kids. My brother did. We have an expression in our family, for real."
101
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:12:32-00:12:51 (19 sec)
"If you have to ask, it's too late. If you have to ask, it's too late. I've never had to ask. And think of the people who've gone through the stuff that we're talking about. They're heroes. They get up every day, put one foot in front of the other, and do it by themselves. So, I had an enormous advantage dealing with my -- things I went through."
102
Conan O'Brien
Very Negative
00:12:51-00:13:07 (16 sec)
"I tried to impart that to my kids that whatever you're going through, even if you're miserable right now, it's going to yield something later on. Of course, what you're describing is the worst thing anybody can describe, and what they're going through usually is something extremely minor, the scale of it."
103
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:13:07-00:13:09 (2 sec)
"It's the same principle, which is --"
104
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:13:09-00:13:13 (3 sec)
"Absolutely. The scale varies, but the help needed."
105
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:13:13-00:13:25 (13 sec)
"You clearly have a strong moral compass. You do things that you think are right. You take positions sometimes that you -- you think are right that maybe aren't always immediately popular or popular with everyone, but that's part of the job."
106
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:13:25-00:13:40 (15 sec)
"Well, it is part of the job, I think. But it's also part of, you know, how we're raised. I used to kid Barack. We sit down every morning at 9 o'clock together for the first 10 minutes to half an hour. I used to say to him, all politics is personal."
107
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:13:40-00:13:41 ( sec)
"Yeah."
108
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:13:41-00:13:42 (1 sec)
"That's what I say to him all the time."
109
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:13:42-00:13:42 ( sec)
"Yeah."
110
Joe Biden
Positive
00:13:42-00:13:46 (4 sec)
"We used to know one another better. Things have changed so much --"
111
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:13:46-00:13:46 ( sec)
"Right."
112
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:13:46-00:14:07 (20 sec)
"In public life that it's like an old bad joke. Some of my best friends are Republicans, but they were senators, they're my friends. I mean, close friends. When I ran the first time, 29 years old, I'm running against a man who fought in World War II, who was a judge, who was a -- became a lieutenant governor, then to senator for three terms, a really fine man named Caleb Boggs."
113
Joe Biden
Positive
00:14:07-00:14:09 (2 sec)
"He helped write the Clean Water Act."
114
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:14:09-00:14:09 ( sec)
"Yeah."
115
Joe Biden
Very Negative
00:14:09-00:14:23 (14 sec)
"And -- and the last debate we were having, he stood up and they asked -- he was asked a question, and he didn't know the answer. And he said, "Well, I'd have to get back to you." I knew the answer, but I -- my dad would have been angry with me if I gave the answer because it would have embarrassed him."
116
Conan O'Brien
Very Negative
00:14:23-00:14:25 (2 sec)
"You would have shamed him."
117
Joe Biden
Positive
00:14:25-00:14:26 (1 sec)
"Yes."
118
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:14:26-00:14:26 ( sec)
"But you can't do that."
119
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:14:26-00:14:27 (1 sec)
"You can't do that."
120
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Negative
00:14:27-00:14:27 ( sec)
"No."
121
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:14:27-00:14:28 (1 sec)
"Anyway."
122
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:14:28-00:14:47 (19 sec)
"This might be an Irish trait or it just might be a trait that we both share, but it is hanging on to old cars. My father would drive a car until it had 300,000 miles on it and the paint would fall off. And then he once hired a house painter to repaint the car because it was cheaper. And this car looked like it had cystic acne."
123
Conan O'Brien
Negative
00:14:47-00:15:07 (20 sec)
"It was a bad -- you know, terrible. And he just kept it going. But it was a point of pride you keep a car going. My first car was a 1992 Ford Taurus. I still have it. It's not worth anything, but I still hang on to it because in my lineage, you hang on to a car forever. You. Have a '67 Corvette."
124
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:15:07-00:15:11 (4 sec)
"Corvette. Goodwood Green, 327 and 350. It can flat-shift. It can move."
125
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:15:11-00:15:13 (1 sec)
"Now, did they let you drive it?"
126
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:15:13-00:15:16 (3 sec)
"Not anymore. But no, seriously --"
127
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:15:16-00:15:20 (4 sec)
"I think I saw a tear in your eye right there."
128
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:15:20-00:15:24 (4 sec)
"Oh, by the way, they take me out to the Secret Service test track, which is an old runway."
129
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:15:24-00:15:24 ( sec)
"Yeah."
130
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:15:24-00:15:45 (21 sec)
"I've got my Corvette up to 132 miles an hour. It's only 327. The reason I had the Corvette in 1967 when I was marrying my deceased wife, who came from her dad. He was a Navy guy who owned some restaurant. Wonderful, wonderful man. But they were of greater means than we were. And my dad, he wanted to give us a wedding gift, and he couldn't afford anything of consequence."
131
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:15:45-00:16:03 (18 sec)
"He said, "Joey, give me your car." I had -- then I had a '62 Chevy Bel Air, and she had a Pontiac Tempest, a '64 I guess it was. I'm not sure the year. And he said, "I'll fix them all up, and that'll be my gift to you, guys. You can come pick them up." And she was down in Delaware 10 days before the wedding before she went home."
132
Joe Biden
Positive
00:16:03-00:16:23 (20 sec)
"So, we went to pick up the car at the dealership. He -- he was a manager of the dealership. Anyway, we pull up and all -- everybody, from the mechanics to the salesperson, just everybody's outside and -- and waiting for us. And so, we got out of the car and walked up, and dad said, "I'm going to give you a wedding gift early, guys." And then everybody separated."
133
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:16:23-00:16:31 (8 sec)
"It was a brand new '67 Goodwood Green Chevy Corvette hardtop. And he was so proud because he could afford the payments."
134
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:16:31-00:16:31 ( sec)
"Right."
135
Joe Biden
Positive
00:16:31-00:16:42 (11 sec)
"And so, I'm talking with Jay Leno going out to second time to race these cars. And he said, "You want to sell your car?" And I said -- he's probably listening, so I got to -- I hope I get it right."
136
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:16:42-00:16:44 (2 sec)
"He's not listening to this. Don't worry about it. Yeah."
137
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:16:44-00:16:46 (2 sec)
"Well, he may learn something."
138
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:16:46-00:16:47 (2 sec)
"Yeah. He should -- he should learn, but he won't. Yeah."
139
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:16:47-00:16:53 (6 sec)
"But anyway. I -- I still said, you know, you have -- I noticed you have -- in the glove box, you have the original sticker."
140
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:16:53-00:16:54 (1 sec)
"Yeah."
141
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:16:54-00:17:10 (16 sec)
"I said, "Yeah, I didn't realize I have all that." And he said, " Do you want to sell it?" And I said, "I don't think so. My son would come down from heaven because they rebuilt the engine, all original parts." And he said, "You get $144,000 for it." And I said, "No, can't do it." I'm --"
142
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:17:10-00:17:10 (1 sec)
"Yeah."
143
Joe Biden
Somewhat Negative
00:17:10-00:17:21 (11 sec)
"For 36 years, I was listed as the poorest guy in Congress, but I couldn't separate with that car. By the way, the new Corvette coming out, this one, electric, zero to 60, 2.9 seconds."
144
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:17:21-00:17:22 (1 sec)
"Are you going to drive that one?"
145
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:17:22-00:17:24 (2 sec)
"I'm going to give it a shot. I drove the other one."
146
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Negative
00:17:24-00:17:26 (2 sec)
"I can distract the Secret Service."
147
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:17:26-00:17:27 ( sec)
"Well --"
148
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:17:27-00:17:28 (1 sec)
"You can make a run for the car."
149
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:17:28-00:17:32 (4 sec)
"By the way -- by the way, I drove one of those big Ford Broncos."
150
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:17:32-00:17:32 ( sec)
"Yeah."
151
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:17:32-00:17:33 (1 sec)
"Electric."
152
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:17:33-00:17:33 ( sec)
"Yeah."
153
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:17:33-00:17:34 (1 sec)
"4.9 seconds."
154
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:17:34-00:17:36 (2 sec)
"Oh, it's unbelievable."
155
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:17:36-00:17:38 (2 sec)
"Mine is 5.2."
156
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:17:38-00:17:38 ( sec)
"Right."
157
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:17:38-00:17:49 (11 sec)
"And that's flat-shifting. But all kidding aside, I mean, this -- I just love -- love car. I don't know a damn thing about the engines. I don't know anything about it. I just know how to drive them, and I love it."
158
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:17:49-00:17:55 (5 sec)
"I just know there's a big wheel in the front, and I put on the gas, and I move forward. That's all I know and nothing else."
159
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:17:55-00:18:01 (6 sec)
"Well, by the way, you know, the new ones, they have a launch switch. Like I -- I got the -- a Porsche."
160
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:18:01-00:18:01 ( sec)
"Yeah."
161
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:18:01-00:18:21 (20 sec)
"Up to 171 miles an hour. And what you do is you put your foot on the gas and the brake, and on the button on the -- on where the gear shift is, you hit launch, and you watch the launch symbol inside the speedometer, and it counts down. And when it gets down to zero, you just take your foot off the brake and you move."
162
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:18:21-00:18:24 (3 sec)
"It is like whoa. It is incredible."
163
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:18:24-00:18:59 (35 sec)
"Hearing you talk about cars, it's the most excited -- oh yeah. You brought up something that I've been thinking about. You have more experience than most people in public life. You came to Washington in 1973, and you've worked pretty much -- or you've known every president since Richard Nixon, and you've known every world leader since Golda Meir."
164
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:18:59-00:19:10 (11 sec)
"You've met so many of these different people. Who pops for you after all this time? Are there people that come to mind where you think now that person really stands out as an incredible leader?"
165
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:19:10-00:19:32 (22 sec)
"Well, there are a number of people who fit that role. I remember I spent a lot of time in her first term with Golda Meir in -- in Israel. I had great working relationships with -- I didn't agree, but with the Bush family. They were both decent, honorable men. I think one of the smartest guys I ever worked with and knowledgeable but also facile was Bill Clinton."
166
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:19:32-00:19:32 (1 sec)
"Yeah."
167
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:19:32-00:19:36 (3 sec)
"And look at Barack Obama, he has a backbone like a ramrod."
168
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:19:36-00:19:36 ( sec)
"Yeah."
169
Joe Biden
Positive
00:19:36-00:19:46 (10 sec)
"And the guy that I recently saw was a guy who was just really totally decent, and it was as good a former president as a president, and that was Jimmy Carter."
170
Conan O'Brien
Positive
00:19:46-00:19:46 (1 sec)
"Unbelievable. Yeah."
171
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:19:46-00:19:57 (10 sec)
"Yeah. I went down to his wife's funeral and saw him. He was in tough shape. And as I went over to give him a kiss and all he said was I love you."
172
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:19:57-00:19:57 ( sec)
"Yeah."
173
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:19:57-00:20:07 (10 sec)
"And, you know, Republicans I became close friends with like Chuck Hagel. Man, I mean, there's a guy, talk about courage. A decent, honorable guy."
174
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:20:07-00:20:09 (2 sec)
"You were good friends with John McCain."
175
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:20:09-00:20:10 (1 sec)
"Real close."
176
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:20:10-00:20:19 (9 sec)
"I never voted for John McCain, but I respected him and I admired him. And I didn't vote for Mitt Romney, but --"
177
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:20:19-00:20:21 (2 sec)
"I admire him. He's -- he's an honorable man."
178
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:20:21-00:20:39 (18 sec)
"I respect him -- I respect him, and I think he's an honorable man. And I think those are both men that have a strong moral compass. And so, it begs the question, we're living in this time now where having those kind of relationships, you think about Ronald Reagan working with Tip O'Neill. You were there for that."
179
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:20:39-00:20:39 ( sec)
"Yeah."
180
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:20:39-00:20:45 (6 sec)
"You saw that. That used to be how it worked. And I don't know how -- do you think we can get back to that?"
181
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:20:45-00:21:02 (16 sec)
"Well, you know, that's interesting. And I -- I guess it was my sixth year as vice president, toward the end of the vice presidency, and recall, my responsibility was to deal with the House and the Senate and Congress. And I realized there were new senators that I didn't know that well like I knew most of them."
182
Joe Biden
Negative
00:21:02-00:21:21 (19 sec)
"So, I went over to the private Senate dining room to meet the new ones. It's gone. And right after I got elected, I didn't want to be here because my wife and daughter were killed. And then -- anyway. But a group of five senators came to me and saved my sanity, starting with Mike Mansfield, Teddy Kennedy, a guy from South Carolina, Fritz Hollings."
183
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:21:21-00:21:23 (2 sec)
"Anyway. Eagleton. Others."
184
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:21:23-00:21:23 ( sec)
"Right."
185
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:21:23-00:21:48 (25 sec)
"To convince me to just stay six months so we can help us organize. Well, they already had 58 Democratic senators. They didn't need -- and I had elected a Democratic governor, so it would have been a Democrat. But I stayed. And I used to spend a lot of time trying to avoid being with people. And finally, one day, Teddy came in and said, "You're going to lunch with me and just come and sit and listen." And I'd go over and sit down, and you get to know people."
186
Joe Biden
Very Negative
00:21:48-00:22:04 (16 sec)
"And then you travel -- when we travel together, and it's kind of hard to really feel the vitriol for a man if you learn his wife has breast cancer or if he has a child with an alcohol problem, or if he has -- I mean, it humanizes people and you get to know people."
187
Conan O'Brien
Very Negative
00:22:04-00:22:08 (4 sec)
"It's what Michelle Obama, I think, says. You can't -- it's hard to hate up close."
188
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:22:08-00:22:09 (1 sec)
"Well, that's a great line."
189
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:22:09-00:22:32 (23 sec)
"And I -- I think -- I can tell, and this relates a little bit to earlier when we were talking about this Irish quality, but I know that I like to be in a room with people. When COVID was happening and I was talking to people on Zoom, I felt like I wasn't quite coming across the way that I wanted to. I liked to be in a room with people and let them take the measure of me, and I take the measure of them."
190
Conan O'Brien
Leans Positive
00:22:32-00:22:40 (8 sec)
"And I get the feeling that what really helped us in a bipartisan era, the Washington you came to, was that people were in physical proximity."
191
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:22:40-00:22:40 (1 sec)
"They were."
192
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:22:40-00:22:42 (1 sec)
"The dining room that you were in."
193
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:22:42-00:22:43 (1 sec)
"That doesn't happen anymore."
194
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:22:43-00:22:43 ( sec)
"Yeah."
195
Joe Biden
Leans Negative
00:22:43-00:22:51 (8 sec)
"And so, it's a lot easier to hate when you don't know. And so, as I said, I went over and found out there was nothing there. Nobody to talk to."
196
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:22:51-00:22:51 ( sec)
"Right."
197
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:22:51-00:22:54 (3 sec)
"By the way, John McCain became one -- we were like brothers."
198
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:22:54-00:22:54 ( sec)
"Yeah."
199
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:22:54-00:22:57 (2 sec)
"He asked me to do his eulogy when he was dying."
200
Conan O'Brien
Somewhat Negative
00:22:57-00:22:59 (2 sec)
"He asked you to get a -- speak at his -- to do the eulogy at his funeral."
201
Joe Biden
Leans Negative
00:22:59-00:23:17 (18 sec)
"And -- but an interesting thing. He had been released as a prisoner of war, came back to the Senate and -- to be part of the military cadre that sits down in the Senate that travels with senators when they go abroad. And John ended up traveling with me over -- well over 300,000 miles, and we became friends."
202
Joe Biden
Slightly Negative
00:23:17-00:23:34 (16 sec)
"As a matter of fact, I introduced him to his wife. We were going to Japan, and we stopped in Hawaii. And the admiral's daughter was this beautiful woman who -- who now works with me, and he talked about it. I said, "Go up and meet her," and he wouldn't do it. So, I went up, and I introduced him. They ended up getting married."
203
Joe Biden
Positive
00:23:34-00:23:35 (2 sec)
"And we were friends."
204
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:23:35-00:23:38 (2 sec)
"Have you done a lot of matchmaking in your life? Is it --"
205
Joe Biden
Slightly Negative
00:23:38-00:23:41 (3 sec)
"No -- no, but -- but John -- John would have done it for me."
206
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:23:41-00:23:41 ( sec)
"Yeah."
207
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:23:41-00:23:42 (1 sec)
"In other words --"
208
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:23:42-00:23:42 ( sec)
"He would have done it for you."
209
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:23:42-00:23:47 (5 sec)
"He wanted to, but he didn't want to be -- he was still in the military. We were in a military base."
210
Conan O'Brien
Somewhat Positive
00:23:47-00:23:48 ( sec)
"Sure."
211
Joe Biden
Negative
00:23:48-00:24:01 (13 sec)
"And I'm the one that talked -- one of the ones that talked him into running for office. I knew he wasn't going to run as a Democrat, and he ended up running. And we would argue like hell. We'd, I mean, hammer and tong like two brothers. But then that was it."
212
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:24:01-00:24:20 (19 sec)
"That's a good way to put it because I have that relationship with one of my brothers, in particular, my brother Neil. We're very close. We love each other. We argue. We just really go at it, and then we put that aside, and we have these great conversations and laugh, and I'll say, "OK, I'll talk to you tomorrow." And he says, "All right."
213
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:24:20-00:24:34 (14 sec)
"Well, see you tomorrow. Love you." You know, that's the conversation. But there's a safety. There feels like there's a safety in these relationships. And maybe that's what we're getting away from a little bit is I don't know if it's social media. I don't know if it's the politics has changed. So --"
214
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:24:34-00:24:35 (1 sec)
"I think it's changed."
215
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:24:35-00:24:35 ( sec)
"[Inaudible]"
216
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:24:35-00:24:37 (2 sec)
"I think it's changed, but I think it's beyond social media. I think it's the media generally."
217
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:24:37-00:24:38 (1 sec)
"Yeah."
218
Joe Biden
Slightly Negative
00:24:38-00:24:48 (10 sec)
"And I'm not blaming the media, but things have changed. I mean, who -- who are the editors anymore? You don't know if somebody's saying, no, you can't print that in this paper because that's not accurate. There's no editors anymore. And --"
219
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:24:48-00:24:48 ( sec)
"Right."
220
Joe Biden
Slightly Negative
00:24:48-00:24:58 (10 sec)
"But we have to get back to knowing one another, just knowing each other. When you know someone and you know their personal problems, not that they have to open up to you and everything, but you just become acquainted with them --"
221
Conan O'Brien
Positive
00:24:58-00:24:59 ( sec)
"Yes."
222
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:24:59-00:25:05 (6 sec)
"A lot of it has to do with sense of decency. You have to get to know the other person."
223
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:25:05-00:25:14 (9 sec)
"Is it frustrating for you because I do see the way you -- and again, I think this is something I like to do, too. I like to shake a person's hand."
224
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:25:14-00:25:14 (1 sec)
"Yeah."
225
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:25:14-00:25:26 (12 sec)
"I like to be in the space with them. Now, you're the most powerful person in the world. You're in the White House, and it's harder to just get your hands -- shake hands with someone and look them in the eye."
226
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:25:26-00:25:28 (2 sec)
"The Secret Service is here."
227
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:25:28-00:25:28 ( sec)
"Yeah."
228
Joe Biden
Slightly Negative
00:25:28-00:25:31 (3 sec)
"I drive them crazy because I want to have tactile contact."
229
Conan O'Brien
Positive
00:25:31-00:25:32 ( sec)
"Yes."
230
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:25:32-00:25:36 (4 sec)
"I want to look at somebody. You can tell if you look in their eyes what they're thinking about you."
231
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:25:36-00:25:36 ( sec)
"Yeah."
232
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:25:36-00:25:37 (1 sec)
"What you're thinking about them."
233
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:25:37-00:25:38 ( sec)
"Right."
234
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:25:38-00:25:43 (6 sec)
"For example, I met yesterday with the families, all have hostages still held by Hamas."
235
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:25:43-00:25:44 ( sec)
"Yeah."
236
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:25:44-00:25:59 (15 sec)
"You know, it's personal. It's -- I -- I don't know. It's -- and by the way, the Secret Service, God love them. They put up with me in terms of I make their job harder, I know. I try not to. But my instinct is I see a crowd on the side of the road, I get out and say hi, talk to them."
237
Conan O'Brien
Leans Negative
00:25:59-00:26:24 (25 sec)
"I understand that. I had the -- I have the same issue and I have no Secret Service. I want Secret Service. I probably need it. A lot of people have different opinions about me. But I desperately love to dive into a crowd and start talking to them. And often, I've had the experience where someone will stop me on the street and ask for a selfie and I'll be chatting with them, and then 15 minutes later they say, "Conan, I have to go."
238
Conan O'Brien
Positive
00:26:24-00:26:25 (2 sec)
"I need to go now." OK."
239
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:26:25-00:26:26 (1 sec)
"I've had that --"
240
Conan O'Brien
Somewhat Positive
00:26:26-00:26:29 (3 sec)
"Are you sure because I'll do another 10 minutes?"
241
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:26:29-00:26:30 (1 sec)
"I've had that experience."
242
Conan O'Brien
Somewhat Positive
00:26:30-00:26:37 (7 sec)
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. They say, "Mr. President, we just wanted a selfie, but we really don't want to hear that story.""
243
Joe Biden
Positive
00:26:37-00:26:40 (3 sec)
"I've become an expert at taking it. It's easier for me to take the selfies."
244
Conan O'Brien
Positive
00:26:40-00:26:41 ( sec)
"Yes."
245
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:26:41-00:26:49 (8 sec)
"But look, I think it's important people know and able to get a sense of who their leaders are."
246
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:26:49-00:26:49 ( sec)
"Yeah."
247
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:26:49-00:27:11 (22 sec)
"Not just what they say, but I mean who they are. It's one of the things about the presidency that's -- I mean, it's amazing to me, understandably, how people, if they know your background and know you, what you've done, there's more of a connection. Like, for example, people are surprised I wanted to go into Kyiv in the middle when the attack was taking place."
248
Conan O'Brien
Leans Positive
00:27:11-00:27:28 (17 sec)
"I was going to ask you about that because I believe -- I was trying to find a precedent. But you've gone to two active war zones, and that is highly unusual, and I don't know how -- first of all, when you -- was the first lady OK with that when you said I'm going to go --"
249
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:27:28-00:27:42 (14 sec)
"Yes, she was. She is a tough lady and she knew -- I wanted to demonstrate that -- first of all, I wanted to see for myself what was happening. And the Secret Service, God love them, the last thing they want to do is put a president on a train, 10-hour train ride."
250
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:27:42-00:27:43 ( sec)
"Yeah."
251
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:27:43-00:28:04 (21 sec)
"And when we got off the train and I met with Zelenskyy and we're -- we really do have a moral obligation to help these people. And then the ride back was similar, but I didn't view it. I got coverage of this is -- the only thing it did was say, well, he was not 300 years old. Well, how could he do 20 hours back and forth?"
252
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:28:04-00:28:04 ( sec)
"Right."
253
Joe Biden
Positive
00:28:04-00:28:36 (32 sec)
"But for me to see, I was showing the staff -- today, we're talking -- coming on -- getting ready to come over here, I have a photograph of when Chuck Hagel and John Kerry were with me, and it was in the first month after I became president. And President Obama said, "Joe, I want you to go and make your own assessment of what's going on in Afghanistan." So, we -- we traveled the entire country in a helicopter, and we were going back and John Kerry wanted to see where Osama bin Laden had escaped through the Kunar Valley to the mountains."
254
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:28:36-00:29:05 (29 sec)
"And our helicopter was forced down in a snowstorm. And barely, they found us a place to land, which was incredible. And there's a picture of us all standing behind the helicopter to stay warm. I think it was something like 18 below zero. We were only 17 klicks from Bagram Air Force Base. And I'm looking at that and thinking to myself, the guys I was with, the CENTCOM commander, the pilots, John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, because, well, we wanted to see for ourselves what was real."
255
Conan O'Brien
Somewhat Positive
00:29:05-00:29:13 (8 sec)
"If you're in a briefing room and someone's giving you papers, they're showing you photographs, it's really not the same. You've got to go there. You've got --"
256
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:29:13-00:29:29 (16 sec)
"No, it's not the same. And it depends on who's talking to you. And by the way, it's -- it's really tough, I think, to -- for a briefer to come in and sit down with the president of the United States and tell him this, that, or the other thing. And the people that I've -- matter of fact, I'm going to be seeing Chuck Hagel after this program."
257
Joe Biden
Positive
00:29:29-00:29:36 (7 sec)
"He's going to come over to the office. We're still friends. He's a Republican."
258
Conan O'Brien
Somewhat Positive
00:29:36-00:30:00 (24 sec)
"I wanted to read you a quote. It's a quote that I -- I love. It's by Vladimir Lenin. I don't think he gets quoted a lot here at the White House, but I'm going to go for it. There are decades where nothing happens and weeks where everything happens. You are living through an extraordinary time as president."
259
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:30:00-00:30:14 (14 sec)
"It feels like the world is turning on its axis every 36 hours. Are there times when you wake up on the -- in the morning and think I wish it was a little bit duller right now. I wish things would just settle down."
260
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:30:14-00:30:24 (10 sec)
"Well, yes and no. Look, yes, when I had that cranial aneurysm, the doctor was trying to explain to me whether it was congenital or environmental, and I said, "Doc, I don't care, just fix it.""
261
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:30:24-00:30:26 (2 sec)
"Yeah. This is back in -- this is '88?"
262
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:30:26-00:30:43 (17 sec)
"This is '88. And he looked at me and said, "You know what your problem is, Senator?" And I said, "No, doc." Well, he said, "You're a congenital optimist." Well -- seriously, that was his quote. Here's the deal, though. One of the things that I've never been more optimistic about America's chances in my whole life."
263
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:30:43-00:31:02 (18 sec)
"I wasn't going to run again because I just lost my son. He should be sitting, being interviewed, not me. He was the attorney general, Bronze Star winner, major in the US Army. Anyway. One of the things that comes through to me is that for all the difficulty, when I wasn't going to run because I was going to write a book on inflection point in American history."
264
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:31:02-00:31:05 (4 sec)
"I think we're at one of those points that every seven or eight generations occurs."
265
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:31:05-00:31:06 ( sec)
"Yeah."
266
Joe Biden
Very Negative
00:31:06-00:31:27 (21 sec)
"Not because of any one leader, but the world is changing. Everything's in motion. And what we do in the last couple of years, in the next three or four years, is going to determine the course of the country and the world for the next five or six decades. I believe that with every fiber of my being. If we prevent Ukraine from collapsing -- I've worked like hell, not just me, to hold NATO together tightly."
267
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:31:27-00:31:32 (5 sec)
"It's never been as tight, expanded. We have an opportunity to change the dynamic in Europe for generations."
268
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:31:32-00:31:32 ( sec)
"Yeah."
269
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:31:32-00:31:42 (9 sec)
"My mother, God love her, I remember going to identify my family. They actually said, "Joey, out of everything terrible, something good will happen if you look hard enough for it." I thought it was the cruelest thing she ever said to me."
270
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:31:42-00:31:42 ( sec)
"Yeah."
271
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:31:42-00:31:44 (2 sec)
"But look what's going on in the Middle East now."
272
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:31:44-00:31:44 ( sec)
"Yeah."
273
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:31:44-00:32:01 (17 sec)
"You know, I was able to get a resolution passed through the G20, leaders of the 20 largest nations, to build a railroad from Riyadh all the way through into Saudi Arabia, Jordan, up through Israel, all the way into Europe, because there's much more reason for them to be together than to be apart."
274
Conan O'Brien
Neutral
00:32:01-00:32:25 (24 sec)
"I'm not a journalist, so I'm allowed to give my opinion. And I as a, again, amateur historian, I think it's absolutely crucial that Ukraine prevail. And it's -- it's something that I'm very passionate about. I get confused, you know, as you know, the Washington you came to in the 1973, Republicans were always tough on foreign policy, tough on Russia."
275
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:32:25-00:32:36 (11 sec)
"And now, MAGA Republicans, they've kind of flipped the script and they're saying, "Well, we can let Ukraine go. It's not really in our interest." And I don't understand it. It's confusing to me."
276
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:32:36-00:32:40 (4 sec)
"They also say -- other guy says, "If we can work with Putin. He's smart." Yeah."
277
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:32:40-00:32:49 (9 sec)
"The other guy, I like that he's the other guy. He's like Voldemort now. His name shall not be mentioned."
278
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:32:49-00:32:51 (2 sec)
"Well, good point."
279
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:32:51-00:32:52 (1 sec)
"Yeah."
280
Joe Biden
Negative
00:32:52-00:32:53 (1 sec)
"I plead guilty."
281
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:32:53-00:32:53 (1 sec)
"Yeah."
282
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:32:53-00:32:57 (4 sec)
"But look, I mean, just if -- nothing but global warming is changing the world."
283
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:32:57-00:32:57 ( sec)
"Yeah."
284
Joe Biden
Positive
00:32:57-00:33:16 (19 sec)
"Ice caps are melting. That's true. But guess what it brings that along with. Now, you got China and -- and Russia in the North Pole trying to circumvent the globe, change the dynamic in the region. I mean, the things that are happening, for example, the idea that we're having to rebuild infrastructure, but some countries don't have the capacity to do it."
285
Joe Biden
Slightly Negative
00:33:16-00:33:23 (8 sec)
"I've been met now twice, I've had the leaders of the Pacific nations come and be with me here because they're worried about going underwater, not making it."
286
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:33:23-00:33:24 (1 sec)
"Yeah. Yeah."
287
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:33:24-00:33:38 (14 sec)
"Just go down the list. But I think, maybe because I'm a congenital optimist, when I told my staff a couple of years ago I was going to bring South Korea and Japan together, they looked at me like -- now, look, I know a fair amount about foreign policy. I have more experience than any president has ever had."
288
Joe Biden
Very Negative
00:33:38-00:33:45 (7 sec)
"It doesn't mean I'm good or bad. Just I know these heads of state. It's a small world. It's getting smaller and smaller."
289
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:33:45-00:33:45 (1 sec)
"Yeah."
290
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:33:45-00:34:02 (16 sec)
"And for example, China. China is a competitor, but I have a relationship with Xi Jinping. I've spent more time with them than any world leader ever has just because when I was vice president, Barack wanted me to get to know him because it wasn't appropriate for a president to spend time with him because -- but we knew he was going to be the president."
291
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:34:02-00:34:20 (18 sec)
"He's a very tough, smart guy, but he's got enormous problems. And so, for example, when I put together The Quad, India, Japan, Australia, and the United States, he said, "You're trying to surround me." I'm not trying to surround you. I said, "We're just not going to let you change the dynamic of world rules." So, whether it's international airspace or whether it's sea space."
292
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:34:20-00:34:41 (21 sec)
"I said, "Well, I didn't write them." I said, "Well, that's what they are. We're not going to change them." So, many parts are moving that there's an opportunity to realign the world in a way that is less likely to result in war, less likely to result in human suffering. Now, I know people look at me and say, "Well, you're just too optimistic." There's ways to step up and lead."
293
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:34:41-00:35:06 (25 sec)
"And look, one of the things is, again, I want to make it clear, it's not because Joe Biden's president. It's the moment. Madeleine Albright said America is the essential nation. Conan, that's not a joke. Who leads the world if the United States doesn't? Who? Who? No one else can. And we have an obligation and an enormous opportunity to leave our kids and our grandkids a better world."
294
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:35:06-00:35:19 (13 sec)
"I like that you describe yourself as an optimist, congenital optimist. I always tell people I'm a 52% optimist. There's a good, healthy dose of me that is very worried and very concerned, but I always lean towards optimism. It's the more challenging standpoint to take."
295
Joe Biden
Very Positive
00:35:19-00:35:26 (7 sec)
"Well, don't get me wrong, I -- I have written about, and I think I know pretty intimately downside."
296
Conan O'Brien
Slightly Positive
00:35:26-00:35:26 ( sec)
"Yeah."
297
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:35:26-00:35:41 (14 sec)
"But look, we've got to remember, we're the United States of America, for God's sake. Nothing, nothing, nothing is beyond our capacity when we work together. I mean, it really isn't. Think, we're the only nation that has come out of every crisis stronger than we went in."
298
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:35:41-00:35:53 (12 sec)
"I did want to end on I've been doing this for a long time, and so it was a big honor when I -- I got the call that the -- the president of the United States was going to speak to me in the White House."
299
Joe Biden
Positive
00:35:53-00:35:54 (2 sec)
"It's my honor. Come on."
300
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:35:54-00:36:05 (10 sec)
"And it's -- you know, it's a -- it's -- it's an honor. And I'm rooting for you. And as the Irish say, God bless you. You know, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to do this."
301
Joe Biden
Slightly Positive
00:36:05-00:36:07 (2 sec)
"Oh, come on. Do you guys have a chance to come over and see the Oval?"
302
Conan O'Brien
Very Positive
00:36:07-00:36:08 (1 sec)
"I'd love to see the Oval."
303
Joe Biden
Neutral
00:36:08-00:36:10 (1 sec)
"Come on, let's go do it."
304
Conan O'Brien
Somewhat Positive
00:36:10-00:36:11 (1 sec)
"All right. Let's do it. Thank you."
305
Joe Biden
Somewhat Positive
00:36:11-00:36:13 (2 sec)
"Thank you."
306