All language subtitles for The Alec Baldwin Show s01e04 Mike Myers & Cecile Richards

This is an ABC color presentation.

Hello, I'm Alec Baldwin. First up
tonight, a conversation with actor and

comedian Mike Myers.

The former SNL star became a household
name in a box office sensation with

immensely popular films like Wayne's
World and Austin Powers, a series of

blockbuster movies with some of the most
indelible characters of our time.

His latest project is the new Queen
biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Also tonight, former Planned Parenthood
president Cecile Richards joins us.

Earlier this year, she stepped down from
her post at Planned Parenthood, but

continues to be a passionate advocate
for women's rights and the need to

more women in the American political
system. We're glad you've joined us.

Myers and Cecile Richards coming up
right now.

Are we going to show the clip? Do we
have the clip? What's the clip of?

Let's watch this commercial.

Hi,

Joey. Hi, Jack.

Candy flavor.

Oh, it's Wrigley's. Yeah.

Well, you graduated to the big stick.

Wrigley Spearmint.

Spearmint straight.

Yeah, straight, Jack.

The name's Ned, Joey.

Yeah, real straight.

Look how adorable that boy is.

Thank you. I can't get over how much he
looks like my son Spike. That's the

crazy thing. I think you could tell
people that was Mick Jagger and they'd

it. Yeah. Is it kind of a young... It
looked like my haircut was with a cool

whip. You have the same haircut. Yeah,
pretty much.

But when you were a kid, was there a lot
of funny in what you were doing? That's

obviously not funny.

Were you funny then?

You know, I grew up in a house, a
Liverpool house.

Liverpool Irish, Liverpool Scottish
house.

And my dad often, when kids would come
into the house, and my dad didn't like

them, he'd be like, well, that guy
Bruce, he can't come in anymore.

I'd go, why? He's not funny.

And I'd be like, what do you mean? He
goes, well, to come into a Liverpool

house, you have to either have a song, a
story, or a good joke.

He's got no sense of humour. He was out.
He was out.

Were you funny as a kid?

I tried to be. I tried to be. I valued
it more than anything.

There's two things I wanted to do.

I wanted to be in Python, and I wanted
to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And I still think I have a shot for the
Toronto Maple Leafs. You still play

hockey, right? I still play hockey. I
play floor hockey every Tuesday.

But when do you first realize you are
funny? Because eventually when you have

that talent, people remind you of it
again and again and again. How old were

and where were you when people said, you
know, you really ought to pursue this?

Well, I grew up in government
-subsidized housing.

And in the middle of this housing was a
common area.

And there was a stairway that led to an
underground parking lot. And that was my

stage. So the cement stairway that's
raised became, that's where I did going

down the stairs and doing the canoe.

And I would just come up and down as
different characters. And I just valued

It was just such an important thing to
be funny. My brothers are super funny.

Paul and Peter are funny.

And I would say, hey, guys, wait up,
kid, for so long.

And my mom never thought I was funny,
which is hilarious.

My mom would say, oh, I see you trying,
Mike. Yeah.

You're just not funny.

My mother doesn't even know the name of
my movies.

Yeah. Cynthia, I loved you in The Search
for Black November.

That's a great movie.

That is a great movie, though, I have to
say. Black November is a great movie.

One of my favorites.

But my mom didn't even, with Wayne's
World, she was like, oh, that Dana

funny.

Oh, we just got it, you know. But
Americans do, don't they? They're slick.

They're slick.

They're a beat ahead.

Yeah. About the Commonwealth people.

When did you know you were funny?

When I made my brothers laugh.

I think. Would you know you were funny?
You're going to make a living at it.

I would say after Austin Powers 2.

You know John Lovitz, right?

Or as a friend of mine says, the late
John Lovitz. It's such a funny joke.

I love John Lovitz. One of the most
naturally funny people.

He used to watch the show on Monday
after the Saturday.

And I would hear laughing from his
office. And I'd go, God, what's funny?

like to see what's funny. And he was
watching himself.

And going, you've got to see this. This
is so awesome.

And I said, if you could put that in
pill form, I would actually try and get

prescription of that. Because that's the
part I have. I'm only now starting to

like stuff that I've done. It takes a
long time. Really?

Why?

I don't know. I think... Have you been
insecure about it the whole run? The

whole, yeah.

It's remarkable.

Is it working?

I'll tell you where I felt good about
it. So Barbra Streisand hadn't performed

in 22 years and she wanted Linda
Richman, my character Linda Richman, to

the audience and sort of heckle support
her and then be brought up to the stage,

right? Which is a huge honor.

Kathy Lee, eat your heart out.

And I was in Hawaii on vacation and I
got a call, you know, because usually I

stay under a fake name and you can't get
through. And all of a sudden it's,

hello, Mike, it's Barbara, right? And I
was like, what?

I thought it was my brother Paul, right,
calling.

And so she said, come and do this show.

And I did it.

But during the rehearsals, I went to
the, you know, the loge area, the inside

part of the stadium, you know, in the
hockey rink where all the concessions

I see her by herself crying.

And I said, Barbara, are you good?
What's going on? And then she turned to

and she said, is it any good?

Nobody told me.

I said, any good?

You're Barbara Streisand, dude.

I'm not actually a natural Barbara
Streisand fan. You've made me a fan just

through the rehearsal.

I'm a fan, but I'm not like a fan. But
now I get it. It's like bell -toned,

perfect. And she was like, oh, thank
you. And I just thought, oh, wow. It

of doesn't.

It's kind of a universal, as Lorne
Michaels will always say, it's the 60

hum of I suck, I'm good enough, I'm
suck, I'm good enough, until you reach

right oscillation.

And what was interesting when I was
watching clips of you in performance,

were someone who your characters, you
watch the clips with the sound off.

And the facial mask and the physical
behavior of the character is very

and very commanding. Right. You watch
your characters sing the a cappella.

Queen in the car with Carvey and the
other two guys. And when you turn the

you're like this going... When you see
you in a lot of the characters, but the

character's on top, he has the answer,
he's the smartest.

He's a happy survivor.

Mr.

Powell.

My job is to acclimatize you to the 90s.
You know, a lot changed since 1967.

No doubt, though, but as long as people
are still having promiscuous sex with

many anonymous partners without
protection, while at the same time

with mind -expanding drugs in a
consequence -free environment, I'll be

a pound.

Do you think that the Austin Powers
movies could be made now?

In the Me Too, Time's Up era, where
Austin's a bit randy?

Well, I put it a different way. Do you
think All in the Family could be made

now? Do you know what I mean? I don't
know. I don't know. And where the joke,

you know, is he was so clearly on the
wrong side of everything.

I mean, baked into Austin is everybody
pointing out that he is.

Out of time, you know, I mean that it's
sort of a Rip Van Winkle You know this

better than I ever will which is that
there's certain character you put a

on he could say anything You know, he's
jolly you can almost get away with it

Yeah, there is almost all of my
characters have an after Basque of you

where they think they're hilarious again
because I've always admired people who

are Confident I mean, I mean John Lovitz
has a right to be confident, you know

because he is I remember

This is a little dark, but when Phil
Hartman got murdered by his wife

Brynn, who I knew very well, and I spent
many... He was sort of my closest...

Dana and Phil were my two closest
friends at SNL.

And there was an impromptu wake at David
Foster's house.

And it was hours after it happened, and
I just kept saying, hold on, Brynn

killed Phil?

And then Brynn killed herself?

I couldn't, I still can't believe it.

And I just kept saying that. And then we
got to the wake and I just said to

everybody, hold on, Brynn killed Phil
and then Brynn killed herself?

And John Lovitz went, oh, come on,
you're making it sound worse than it

And I was like, oh my gentle, are you
kidding me?

That is the funniest joke I've ever
heard in my life. We all hit the ground.

laughed for half an hour.

And I was like.

love it that he's the most naturally
funny human being in the world and it

me i was sad of course but i knew that
nobody would have loved that joke more

than phil hartman and it made me proud
to be in a community of people as my dad

would always say it you know just wait
till it gets funny that's what my dad

would say in the way that hartman

was what I saw early on when you were on
and I would do SNL and in the way that

Hartman was one of the most deft people
in terms of loading blanks in the

rehearsals and then he'd save the best
when we were on the air.

I studied at the hem of Phil Hartman's
garment. Yeah, me too, me too. I mean, I

sat beside him and I had a chance as I
was there longer and I realized I wasn't

getting fired, although I thought I was
every week and I could sit next to the

host. I stayed next to Phil, who was
across from the host.

and literally studied him. And he had
notation, Phil.

So he knew his characters and his
instruments so well that he had, like,

on each script.

And I'd go, what's that? He goes, oh,
that's Charlton Heston. But I'm only

to do that 7%. I'm going to put another
thing on top of that.

I was like, oh, my God. He made things
better than written.

But you have that same quality. I think
you have a fantastic instrument.

You have great... The lines are good.

No, I do. Can I say a line in a funny
way? Yes. Am I funny? No, because I

write. The people that are funny are
people who write it.

Tina's funny. Carl Buck's funny. You're
funny. You create this.

I'm an actor, and I say lines. If I say
them in a funny way and you like them,

great. But I'm not as funny as a person
because I don't write this stuff, and I

can't. But when you're on SNL, rather
than going through all of the, you know,

the kind of well -known path and the
audition tape and everything, and Lauren

and so forth, when you're on the show
and in the beginning you're...

Probably giddy, I would imagine. You
were very, very happy. I was scared. I

actually did an audition. I got
recommended by Pam Thomas, Dave Thomas'

-wife, producer.

And I came in, and I had done work on
Canadian television, a show called It's

Only Rock and Roll, and I did this thing
called Wayne's Power Minute, which is

Wayne Campbell.

What do you think that they wanted you
for?

They wanted you to come on the show.

If I had to guess, I guess they wanted
to have a young Martin Short, you know,

at that time.

The small guy with lots of energy. No
audition for them? I didn't audition,

It was all on people recommending.
Because had I auditioned, I would not

been hired.

I'm the worst auditioner in the world.
That's true?

Oh, terrible.

What about the writing and your
performance?

You know, when I was first on the show,
other than Conan...

As Lauren has often described, it is a
little bit of the court of the Borgia in

which people go, here, I've got a drink
for you, poison ring. Drink it up. You

seem thirsty.

It's competitive.

It's very competitive.

When I first handed in Wayne's World, I
handed it in show three on

yellow legal pad, stapled, put it on the
pile, 4 o 'clock in the morning, and I

thought if this doesn't work, I'll
probably get fired.

And another writer came in and went
through the pile.

And as a Canadian, I'm like, you can't
go to the pile.

That's the pile, right?

Looked at it.

Says, is this yours?

Took it and took it off the pile and put
it on the read -through table. He took

it off the pile.

I put it on the pile.

He left.

Didn't say anything.

Another writer came in and said, is this
your sketch?

I was like, yeah.

He went through it and went, it sucks.

And threw it on the ground.

And I thought I was going to throw up.

But, you know.

I feel like a hand grabbed me by the
scruff and went over and picked it up

put it on the pile. And I just thought,
come on, dude.

You know, right through the script of
the footage, you invite them to the

premiere of Waynesboro. Yes, I did. I
put him in Waynesboro, too.

It's absolutely true.

Yes, I like Ruler, Ogre Ox and Makita
Cop.

And then I think I would like a large
with AIM.

When Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2
are done, I mean, nothing can prepare

for the leaps you can make in terms of
income.

No. And I grew up in government
-assisted housing in Toronto. You know,

sold encyclopedias. My mom worked in the
office of a factory. But it was also a

weird time, too. I have to say, my dad
was very ill.

When I got hired for Saturday Night
Live, my dad had just burnt himself in a

bath in our government housing.

you had to put a little bit of hot and
10 things of cold for a shower. He was

the British Army, never had showers. But
in his dementia, he poured himself all

hot and burnt the entire half of his
body. How old was he then?

God, he died when he was 61.

He was 58.

Young. I'm 65.

I'm 55, by the way.

So every phone call I got during that
period of time was either...

You're on Saturday Night Live or your
dad is ill, you know, and he's wandered

into traffic. That was another one. So
my dad lived the last part of his life

the burn unit, Scarborough General
Hospital in Toronto.

So as all this stuff happening, I'm
going up to Toronto to a burn unit where

have to go through an airlock and put on
a hairnet, gloves and booties and

hearing people scream from the burn bath
in whatever ring of hell that is.

So it was always.

such a strange thing so we didn't think
they were going to make the movie didn't

think they're going to release the movie
my dad died november 22nd 1991 died on

the thursday i did saturday night live
on the saturday went up to toronto

out his coffin buried him on well we you
know had the funeral for him on the

tuesday then on the thursday i went to
los angeles to see the first cut of

wayne's world it's all just this crazy
mixed emotions then the

movie is a big hit In February, my life
has completely changed.

Took his ashes to Liverpool on Concord.

Flew to London on Concord, which my dad
always wanted to go on Concord. And I

guess he did. You know what I mean? In
the end, he did. In the end, he did.

flew up to Liverpool, spread his ashes
on the Mersey.

And it's a big hit.

And it just was an odd time of
craziness. Up and

down. Yeah. Up and down. It took me a
long time to...

find an equilibrium after that.

Do you watch FNL?

I do. Every now and then? Every now and
then. Online?

I'm assuming with kids who are asleep by
10 o 'clock. I am asleep by 10 o

'clock. Yeah, it's amazing.

You know, the days are long, but the
years are short. You know, that's what

say.

And this is the happiest time of my
life, by the way.

Like, by far the happiest time of my
life.

I thought I was going to like having
kids. I didn't know I was going to love

this much. You and your wife have three
kids. Yes, we have three kids in the

last seven years.

And someone, I read somewhere, I heard
somewhere that one of your kids turned

you and said, when are you going to do
another Austin Powers?

Yeah. The other day I was reading, I
don't know what I was reading to him,

anyway, something.

Ninja Turtles.

And he's falling asleep. And I go, all
right, Spike, switch off the light. He

goes, will you stay for five minutes?
Sure.

And then three minutes in, dada, yeah?

You going to do another Austin Powers?

I said, maybe.

He goes, okay.

Falls asleep, thinking I can escape.
Dada, yeah?

Is it going to be from Dr. Evil's
perspective this time?

I said, I think so.

That's good.

Am I a producer on this movie? Then it's
Data, what's Dr.

Evil's lair going to be? And I said, an
oil rig.

Falls asleep.

Data, what's an oil rig? Then he said,
it should be the sewers.

I said, okay. And I'm thinking, that
isn't a great idea.

He is obsessed with Austin Powers.

But he said something, because I
thought... Not that I'm on this level,

know, of course I worship the Beatles.
And as a public person, you wonder how

to, that would be a question I would
have for you. How do you, how do you

of do it? Because my, like I said, my
dad sold encyclopedias and the most

person in my gene pool supposedly is
William Wordsworth. I'm related to on

on my mom's side. But otherwise, you
know, when people talk about past life

regressions and they go, I was a king, I
know I was a peasant. You know what I

mean? I definitely was making mud
bricks, you know what I mean, in

lives. So it's an odd thing.

But I remember Danny Harrison, the story
of him going to school and somebody

said, your dad's a Beatle.

And I'm going, what? Shut up. What are
you talking about? And he came home to

George Harrison and said, are you a
Beatle? And he's like, yeah, I am

He goes, why didn't you tell me? He
goes, I suppose I should have, right?

And I thought, this is Kelly, my wife
Kelly's idea was, you should just sort

tell him.

and then we should show him the movies.

And he's obsessed with them. Oh, my God.
And he has an Austin Powers costume

that he'll wear out of the house and
stuff.

And we're in our summer place, and it
was raining, and we're under an awning

outside under a blanket. And he said,
Dad, can I tell you a secret?

I said, sure. And he whispered in my
ear, I'm your biggest fan.

And I was like, I can't. I think we
might have done it right to make it.

a good thing, you know what I mean? My
favorite moment is in the George

Harrison, the concert for George, and
Danny's up there playing with all of

Yeah, killer, right? Oh, you cry.

You know, I got the last letter George
Harrison ever wrote. That's what the

question was going to be. Okay, then. I
want to hear that.

Tell us about the letter. So we were
shooting Austin Powers 3, and we called

Big Friday because we had to change the
schedule to have Tom Cruise play Austin,

Danny DeVito played Mini -Me, Kevin
Spacey played Dr. Evil, Gwyneth Paltrow

played this character.

Oh, I don't remember.

What was it?

Nurse.

Norma.

Norma.

Sorry.

And Steven Spielberg is playing the
director.

And Rob Lowe played.

Rob Lowe played. Did Rob Lowe play R .J.
Wagner? He played number two, yeah.

But it was all in this one day. The
movie within the movie. The movie within

movie. Austin, which is the movie
version of Austin Powers.

And it was so much pressure. It cost
$100 ,000 in just

rescheduling everything.

$100 ,000 well spent.

So I wake up and it's raining. And it's
an outdoor shoot at Paramount. And I

thought, ah, crap.

We're dead because we only get them for
one day. What are we going to do?

Jay calls me and says, you know, we've
got 400 towels.

And then I switch on CNN and George
Harrison has died.

And I thought, this is the worst day of
my life. I love George.

I love them all. But George, I have the
George, the six faces in Liverpool, one

of which is the George Harrison. And I
have that face, you know what I mean?

And I get a phone call from Gavin
DeBecker. Do you know Gavin DeBecker,

security guy?

But he's calling from a stairwell.

And he's like, letter, dead.

And I'm like, what is that? I thought
somebody's trying to kill me or

And I thought, this is, it's raining.

George Harrison has died. I'm literally
inconsolable and somebody's trying to

kill me.

I get into work.

Gavin got a letter and someone wants me
dead.

Well, this is what I thought it was
because it was from a stairwell from,

know, oldie worldie operation.

Giant phones, Soviet phone.

And so I get into work and Jay is.

The director, Jay Roach, is super doing
this, which is always a bad sign, which

means he's having to sort things out.

And he's like, I think it's going to
break. I think the weather broke. It

I get into the makeup trailer, and
there's Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise,

these people.

And they're all like, it's great, Mike.
Don't worry.

We'll go later if we have to. Oh, my
God. It was just like, we do it. It's

funnier than written.

The sky's clear.

The towels work way better than written.

And I'm still thinking somebody wants to
kill me, though, right?

Spielberg had broken his leg on a moped
three days before, had pins in it, but

still showed up.

And he guest directs that day, right?

So all this stuff happens. We wrap out.
Tom Cruise was amazing.

fantastic, and then there's a knock at
the door, and it's Gavin, and he has a

letter, and I'm like, okay, I open it
up, and it's the last letter George

Harrison ever wrote, it says, dear Mike,
I've been looking all over Europe for a

mini -you doll, but I haven't found one,
and it's like, I know you, Dr. Ebel

said, fricking, but it's actually
frigging, as a foreign fish and finger

I'm like, and it turns out to be the
best day of my life.

And, you know, when you talk about
taking time away and having a sense of

you have enough, right around that time
kind of went, I'm good.

You know what I mean?

Literally, like if you wanted to, as a
joke, have a sense of accomplishment,

you'd have Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise,
all these people and get the last

letter. On the day that George Harrison
died, I received the last letter. What

you're doing is working. Just to answer
your question from before and to answer

with more clarity.

I'm very grateful for all the wonderful
success.

It didn't bring my father back from the
dead.

It didn't make certain people I love not
kill themselves, for example, or

whatever.

For such a profound experience, you
would hope that it has more otherworldly

supernatural powers than it does.

It doesn't make you understand who you
are more. It doesn't prevent it, but it

doesn't. answer those cosmic questions.

I've enjoyed my personhood for the last
15

years, and I've thoroughly enjoyed my
parenthood for the last seven years. And

it is, I think I finally have the
balance between a public life and a

life. And literally, this is the
happiest time of my life. Like, I'm so

for

the abundance and the ability to dial
into it and to dial out of it.

So

Bohemian

Rhapsody is the It's not safe to say
that it's a Freddie Mercury biopic. It's

about the band. No, it's about Freddie
Mercury and the band, but it's Freddie

Mercury -centric.

And I've seen it, and it is fantastic.

I have a small part in it. I play the
EMI record executive who tells them that

they can't do Bohemian Rhapsody because
it's six minutes long, and it's a quasi

-operatic dirge full of nonsense words.

For me, a delicious irony was, of
course, how much Bohemian Rhapsody was

Wayne's world and how, even on
Wikipedia, I'm associated with that

held fast for them to include that in
the cut of the film. I fought very hard

for that because that was the song of me
and my friends in Scarborough, Ontario,

in the Dodge Dart Swinger that would
drive around going downtown.

And we all had a Galileo, and it was a
huge ga -ga -ga -ga -ga. Like, that

really is from my life.

Then to be called and they're doing a
movie about Freddie Mercury.

I'm such a huge fan of Freddie Mercury
and Queen.

And then would I want to play the EMI
record executive who tells them they

have that song on the album after all of
the trials and tribulations of getting

it. What's the line he has? You say six
and a half minutes.

It goes on forever. Yes, it's a six.

Six -minute quasi -operatic derge
comprised of nonsense words.

It goes on forever.

And he says... I pity your wife.

Six and a half minutes is forever. It's
forever.

Yeah, yeah. You've never been on
Broadway.

No. You never did a show on Broadway.
No.

Why? Does it appeal to you? I would
imagine you would just... It appeals to

I would love to do an evening with Dr.
Evil.

Right. Or something like Mambo Mouth
would be fun.

Several characters in an evening. But
I'd love to do it. Yeah.

or a Billy Crystal -style thing where
you're yourself.

I never thought about that. And talk
about your career.

Oh, that's so interesting.

That's so interesting. I never thought
about that. You're not married to the

character, and you could change it every
night.

But I always thought that Broadway for
you would be, because in that way,

not to make it all about this, but
you've had enormous success. You've been

financially successful.

And now it's funny how there are some
stars who make more money on Broadway

they do in the movies. Yeah. Well, this
is what I was saying before about the

business has changed. You know what I
mean?

That's great. The traditional brick -and
-mortar comedy, It's not really where

it's at right now. It is more streaming
wood than Hollywood.

You know, genuinely, I can't think of
anybody that people would welcome with

open arms more than you. That's very
nice. To come back and make films again.

Yeah. Go back and make those big movies,
Mike. Yeah. Well.

Maybe. By me.

No one's more of a genius than Lauren to
calculate. How much do you need to live

pretty well in New York? That's what I'm
thinking. Right, and I also had to

borrow money off them. You did? I did. I
went, it was my first half season. I

realized that I had no income for the
summer, and I was making $1 ,000 a show

a writer, but I only did 10 shows.

And that if I got on, I got an
additional $2 ,000, and I didn't get on

shows. The rent was so incredibly high,
and I didn't have an income.

Somebody said, well, go talk to Lorne
and borrow money.

I'm like, what?

So I waited outside his office for about
eight hours, and then he came in and

said, how much do you need?

And I said, $5 ,000?

I don't know, right?

And he went, really?

What's your rent? And I had to tell him
what my rent was. If you look for

another apartment, I know.

And then he went, okay. He goes, it'll
be taken from your check in the new

And I thought, yeah, right.

They're going to miss $5 ,000, you know
what I mean? And then I went to cash my

check. I went to the chemical bank.
That's how long ago it was.

And I was the same cashier when I first
got hired. You know, my name is Michael

Myers, right? And I wasn't a public
person yet. And there was a killer named

Michael Myers from the Halloween film.
So the lady was like, I'll cash the

just as long as you don't kill me.

And then the whole bank had to come over
and look at it. But when I came back, I

put the check. She goes, hey, I saw you
on the show. Okay. And then she went,

it's zero dollars.

Lauren took out the money.

He took it back.

And the people who do know your mother,
who, A, combined a kind of very folksy

sense of humor with a tremendous
intensity and integrity.

Everybody thought that Ann Richards had
a lot of integrity and they believed in

her besides her being so charming.

When you think about your mom's career,
what comes to mind for you?

I think that she was just an
unapologetic, progressive Democrat,

on what? What do you think it was from?

I think she spent, you know, she spent
like most of her life being a housewife,

taking care of us, you know. What was
your dad doing?

He was out being a civil rights, you
know, champion attorney.

So they were like -minded politically,
very like -minded. Oh, very like

But, you know, he kind of got the glory
and she was back home making the perfect

dinner party. And I think that's just
when the women's movement came along and

she realized she could do something
other than.

make the perfect dinner for her kids.
She just never gave up. And I think part

of her deal was she felt like she not
wasted those years, but that those were

lost years. And so she was always a big
advocate for women saying, do not wait.

Don't wait till they call you and say
you're the right one to run.

I mean, no one. It wasn't like the party
said to her, you've got to be our

gubernatorial candidate. She had to beat
two men in the Democratic primary to be

the nominee.

And I think so. She just realized you
had like couldn't waste time. She had

run for anything prior to that. No, she
had run for state treasurer. She was

very successful, but no one with the
state treasurer did. What really

is she got tapped to speak at the
Democratic Convention in Atlanta.

That was sort of it. Once she did that,
she had the chance to do something

bigger. I'm going to do a movie. We
could get Holly Hunter to play your

Oh, that'd be great. And get Holly
Hunter, somebody really tough and

interesting. And she's there at the
house. The kids are gone. The husband's

getting the glory, as you said. And she
just stares into her casserole.

In the casserole, she sees the writing.

The macaroni says, run for governor.

It's kind of like that. Run for state
treasurer.

That would take a lot of macaroni. Or
county commissioner. It would take the

prop department a lot of time to arrange
the macaroni to spell run for state

treasurer. County commissioner precinct
three. But anyway, whatever. It

happened. And your dad?

So he's still in Austin.

He's a civil rights attorney.

The Republic of Austin.

Yes, exactly.

All my family finally ended up in
Austin.

But it's funny because the reason she
ran for office the first time is because

they asked my dad, and he is completely
unsuited for public office.

I mean, he has suffered no fools.

And then he kind of turned to mom and
said, well, you know more about

Why don't you do it? Oh, wow. And she
said there was like this deafening

silence, and everybody went back to
their drinks, and she just did it

Wow. Yeah. Now, what were you doing
prior to when you took over Planned

Parenthood? What was your career before
that?

I was a labor organizer for many years.

At Brown.

Yeah, and at Brown, yeah. And you wanted
to organize the staff of the, you know,

you weren't organizing, there's no
lettuce pickers out there in Providence,

Rhode Island.

In Providence, no, but there were, my
janitors went on strike. The university

staff. Yeah, and the library.

Why did you want to do that?

Well, you know, I came from Texas. My
family was into the cause, and it was

really funny to be a big, fancy Ivy
League institution. I knew, you know, I

so out of...

out of the norm.

And I thought, well, if the janitors
were gonna go on strike, we gotta help

them. What triggered it when you were
there in Rhode Island? What happened?

I think I just felt like, you know, it
was a just cause.

And I remember calling my dad and
saying, I don't know what to do. The

are going on strike. And he says, well,
they're on the right, then you gotta be

with them.

And that kind of started my career, so.

We were talking about the idea of a
woman making another run, whoever that

woman may be.

For president.

For president. I'm sorry. The woman who
would run and win and do a good job

needs to be what?

Do you think? Without singling somebody
out.

They need to have what?

For me, at least for me to support a
woman who's running for president, she

needs to be for women. And she needs to
be for women's equality.

So I don't think just every woman is
going to be an ideal candidate. But I

we have. I think they.

The exciting thing right now is it's not
just going to be one woman running. I

think this next cycle, there are going
to be a lot of women running for

president. And to me, that's what
Hillary did for every woman, which is

out there and she did it.

And it's not going to be easy for the
next woman, but it could be easier

Hillary went through it.

And, yeah, I look forward to the day
when there are as many women in office.

And some of them will be great and some
will be less than great. It'll be

normal. But you look right now, the
outsides, I think, influence that women

the United States Senate are having and
women in the House of Representatives.

You know, you see Amy Klobuchar, Kamala
Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Maisie

Hirono, women who are finally, women are
beginning to see women finally in the

spotlight holding their own. I think
women in this country are on fire.

And they are ready for somebody else.

And so whether the nominee is a woman or
not, I think women are going to be

literally, they're going to decide not
only the midterms, but the next

presidential election. One of us can be
dismissed.

Two of us can be ignored. But together,
we are a movement and we are

unstoppable.

This is a slide that has never been
shown to me before. I'm happy to look at

but it absolutely does not reflect
what's happening at Planned Parenthood.

You're going to deny that we take those
numbers out of your report?

I'm going to deny this slide that you've
just shown me that no one has ever

provided us before.

I pulled those numbers directly out of
your corporate reports. Oh, excuse me,

lawyers are informing me that the source
of this is actually Americans United

for Life, which is an anti -abortion
group, so I would check your source.

Then we will get to the bottom of the
truth of that.

Planned Parenthood, I'm trying to think
about the climate that it was forged in

and birthed in.

That began what year?

A hundred years ago. A hundred years
ago. Yeah, exactly. And what were the

circumstances? Who founded it and why?

I mean, it was founded by Margaret
Sanger and her sister Ethel. They opened

little, actually a little storefront
birth control clinic here in New York.

And for 10 cents a piece, women could
get... Totally illegal information about

how to prevent pregnancy.

But even though it was illegal, women
lined up down the block.

Ten days later, Margaret was thrown in
jail by a cop who was impersonating a

mother.

where she went to jail and taught all of
her fellow inmates about birth control.

So that is really how Planned Parenthood
formed. It's just continuing to do

things even when they said we couldn't.
Having to deal with the church, I'm

sure. Oh, everything.

And now, I mean, it's one in five women
in this country have been to Planned

Parenthood for health care. It's the
most important reproductive health care

provider in America. I don't doubt that.
And it's actually really popular. I

think that's the other thing, Alec,
that's kind of a misnomer, people think.

That gets distorted.

Yeah, well, I mean, in fact, it's more
popular now than ever before.

I think because people realize the
president has tried to defund it.

And I think the exciting thing is not
only that we're a good health care

provider under Obama, we President
Obama, we got no copay birth control for

70 million women. And we now have the
lowest teenage pregnancy rate in the

country in our entire history. Abortion
is a modest amount of the percentage of

the work you do.

Absolutely. And like three percent of
the right.

The other thing, though, is even the
defunding that Congress has been trying

do, Paul Ryan is trying to do,
Republicans, federal funding doesn't pay

abortion because of Henry Hyde. Now, I
think that's wrong, but that's the law.

So actually what they're trying to get
rid of is birth control.

cancer screenings, all the other work
that we do. And I think the other thing

that's important, because we've gotten
better at birth control and more women

have it, is we're at a 30 -year low for
abortion in this country, actually the

lowest rate since the Roe decision.

And federal dollars don't pay for birth
control. They don't pay for abortion.

They pay for birth control.

Right, but not abortion. No. But they do
pay the legal fees, the settlement fees

for people accused of sexual assault, is
what I was told, right?

Doesn't the Congress settle some of
their sexual assault cases on behalf of

members of Congress? Yeah, I mean, if we
began to make the list of all the

things we better use for family
planning.

As we say years ago, my friends, they'd
say.

Because I'm Catholic, and we get into
the whole debate about abortion.

And my friends would say, if men could
get pregnant, abortion would be a

sacrament. I'm sure you've heard that
line before. I agree. I think Gloria

Steinem, she may be the author of that
one. That was her line? Yeah.

No, and I mean, what I think is, look,
if half of Congress could get pregnant,

we would absolutely quit fighting about
birth control and Planned Parenthood and

all of it.

But I do think, look, the crazy thing
is, I mean, money that goes for birth

control saves billions of dollars.

in unintended pregnancy and all the
other complications of not being able to

birth control.

It's not a great deal. If I were
president, we'd have the Manhattan

birth control. There you go.

We'd have the Apollo mission.

I don't know what you're thinking, but I
like it. I could get behind that. No,

no, no, I can't. My wife told me she
would divorce me if I did.

I love my wife madly, and she said to
me... Don't do it.

She goes, you run, I'm going to run.
That way.

In the other direction. So I know she's
not kidding. I would love to run for

something, but I don't think that's in
the cards. But where were you when Trump

won? Where were you election eve?

I was right here in New York City.

And were you monitoring it throughout
the night and you were present?

I actually, I think I may even write
about this in my book. I'm sitting in

booth at NBC with the earpiece in and
they keep saying, we're going to come to

you. And I'm looking at the screen.

of the country and things are it's
Pennsylvania too close to call you know

Wisconsin too close to call and they
keep saying they're going to come back

me and finally I you know I could see
what was happening and I said look you

know text me and took my earpiece out
and left the Javits Center and called my

daughter because she was working for
Hillary and like a lot of mothers and

probably fathers spent the next 12 hours
consoling three distraught children who

thought the world was coming to an end.

And then we got up the next morning and
made sure that Planned Parenthood's

doors were open.

And then because that's, you know,
people talk about, you know, they stayed

bed for a week. It's like we didn't have
the luxury of doing that.

In fact, it was really incredible.

That week after the election, those two
weeks, we had like a 900 percent spike

in women trying to get IUDs at Planned
Parenthood.

Because they were like going, I got to
come in before they get rid of my birth

control. before this administration
takes away everything I've got. And now,

course, the administration is trying to
end the sex education program that has

led to the lowest rate of teen
pregnancy. Why? What's their argument

Because they want to teach, well, and I
can't even say teach because it's not

even teaching.

They want the program to be abstinence
only.

The whole message is don't have sex.

Well, it's incredible because, one, at
some point, most people do have sex.

And so it's good to teach them what
healthy sex is like, what a healthy

relationship is, what contraceptive is.
And we also know all the medical

research shows that young people who
have sex education are less likely to be

sexually active until later. And when
they do, they're more likely to use

contraceptives. So why wouldn't we? And
most parents, they want their kids to

get sex education because God knows
parents feel like they're not equipped.

All right, let me just finish by saying,
so you're not quite sure you want to

run?

I'm not really, no, I'm not like focused
on running, but I am focused on...

Facilitating other people running.

And women voting.

Millions of women are not going to vote
in this November unless we actually ask

them to and tell them why it matters.

Women are worried. I feel like, look,
women are marching.

They're knitting their pussy hats.
They're going to town hall meetings.

But we got to vote because voting is the
only way we're going to change things.

Anyway, good to see you. Thanks for
doing this for me. Thanks a lot. I

appreciate it.

Cecile Richards' memoir, which came out
earlier this year, is called Make

Trouble. Thanks for joining us. We'll
see you next time.