( cheers and applause ). >> jon: that's our show. have a great thanksgiving. here it is, your moment of zen. >> newt gingrich is being dogged by a report that he earned $1.6 million consulting for freddie mac. >> president obama, are you prepared to give back all the money that freddie mac >> tonight, how the super committee cut the deficit? if you have an answer, please forward it to the super committee. and my guest susan orlean has written a biography of rin tin tin. halfway through the interview i will get distracted by a squirrel. in honor of thanksgiving, i am doing the whole show with my pants unbuttoned. this is the "colbert report." captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing )

( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: welcome to the report. thank you so much for joining us, ladies and gentlemen. >> stephen! stephen! stephen! stephen! stephen! ( cheers ) >> stephen: thank you so much. thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen. please, enough. here organization heroes, all. nation, you know if you watch this show that i have always respected "people" magazine. ( laughter ) as a reliable news source. never forget-- they were the only ones to break the story of richard gere's sin mop-- cinnamon rolls. but now the old glossy,

multicolored lady has done the unthinkable. in their annual sexiest man alive issue, they have bestowed the crown on bradley cooper. yeah, i know, i know. i'm angry, too. ( laughter ) sexy? please! is that a man a horse take a dump at a wig factory? ( applause ) i don't get it, people? why! why did you pick him? just because he can speak french? ( speaking french ) oh, big deal! anybody can do that. oui, oui. it's easy. just listen to this interview answer right in here on the little interview page. when they ask him, what makes you laugh?" he says, "observing life. life is very comical. people tripping and falling."

sounds like a nice guy. come trip, bradley cooper trippednana and she sheaterred her pelvis and he's laughing at her, isn't she sexy. for the record, in case you're wondering, i am not mad at "people" magazine because they did not include me in this year's issue although they did include me in the 100 men sexiest video online. ( cheers and applause ) yeah! yeah, people. i guess i'm good enough for the web but not for print. maybe you shouldn't have used a picture of me when i was wearing that leathure replica of my face. ( laughter ) folkes, i'm not mad about this. i'm mad at "people" magazine because they used to have standards. like in 2005, when they named matthew mcconaughey the sexiest man alive. he is nowhere, not on one page

of this issue. are you saying he is no longer sexy? have you seen this ad for dolce and gabana? his torso alone is so sexy, that it is rejecting his shirt. ( laughter ) sexiest man alive should be like the supreme court-- once you are picked, you are sexiest for life. look at nick nolte. he was 1992's sexiest man, and look at him now. still sexy. ( laughter ) ( applause ) read the constitution, "people" magazine. until such time as mr. mcconaughey wants to step down, he is the beefcake in chief. and you are not to stain your cover with this misshabben homunculous. somebody had to say it. information, like all americans, i have pinned my hopes and dreams on the 12 members of the super congress. kerry, murray,-- i don't have to name them.

we all grew up with the action figures. the origin story of the super congress is well known. it was created last summer because of a freak rift in the debt ceiling continuum. the president wanted to raise the debt ceiling. the house refused to do that without budget cuts, and the u.s. came perlsly close to defaulting until at the last minute both sides found the courage to come together and let something smn else figure this ( bleep ) out later. their later is our now. unless this is a rerun, in which case you know how this turns out but don't tell me because i'm tivoing the end of america. now, the super congress' daring submission to find 1.2 patrol in budget cuts. and so far, shave agreed to... jack jim? >> the super committee on capitol hill, is grinding to a halt. >> i don't think the gang of-- the super commit segoing to

succeed. >> super committee victim to partisan bickering, and the desire for nobody to drink their tough medicine. >> stephen: and if nobody drinks their tough medicine by law it must instead be delivered rectally. you see, a failure by the super committee triggers automatic deep cuts to military spending. senate republicans say they will try to untrig they're trigger. but obama promises a veto to retrigger the untriggerred trigger ( laughter ) to avoid these cuts in defense, someone has to sacrifice, and we all know who that someone should be. and they are the subject of tonight's word. ( cheers and applause ) the 1%. folks. everybody's talking about it. there is a tiny minority of americans who could be doing a lot more for our nation, a minority who live a lifestyle the 99% could not imagine. you know who i'm talking about.

( laughter ) i'm talking about military veterans. ( laughter ) you see, only one% of americans served in iraq or afghanistan. now, thankfully, the super committee is serveing the interest of the 99% of us who didn't serve. >> lawmakers on the debt super committee are looking for $1.2 patrol in spending cuts. they've recommended cost-saving changes this military health benefits. >> stephen: they want to reduce military health benefits known as tricare. and the super congress recently received a letter supporting those cuts from the bipartisan leaders of the house and senate veterans affairs committees. they say of that trend, "we believe no constituency better understands the challenge america faces and no constituency is better suited to again lead by example by putting country first." with this letter, congress is sending our troops a clear

message-- that message that we can take for granted that service members are willing to give up more than the rest of us. now i know certainly we rich people can't give things up. i'm not used to it. i have never given up anything in my life. ( laughter ) now, folks-- ( laughter ) don't get me wrong. i know our troops have given up so much already. 10 years, two wars, and no one honored their sacrifice more than i. and i'll prove it. #-r i honor your sacrifice ( cheers and applause ) okay. okay, that's enough. that's enough. that's enough. but here's the thing-- once you're back in the states, if you're not continuing to sacrifice, why should i continue honoring you? you see, on the other hand, on

the other hand, veterans, imagine the pride in every patriot's heart when you let us cut parts of your health plan. you guys, if you let us do that, you guys will totally deserve medals for this. well, not metals. brass is expensive, but definitely stickers. and i promise-- ( laughter ) ( applause ) you veterans-- you veterans will not be sacrificing alone. the plan also calls for sacrifice from active service military. so while we're at it. you know the 41,000 troops the president is taking out of iraq? that's going to be expensive so i say let's make them buy their own plane tickets home. and while-- and while these debt-reducing more measures maym harsh, remember, congress has no choice. >> if this commission fails, there's a trigger cutting defense by $600 billion. >> stephen: and cutting defense spending is out of the question. because it is our giant military

machine that creates our veterans, and it's clear that they are the only ones we're willing to sacrifice for our country. and that's the word. we'll be right back. ( cheers and applause )

( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: thank you very much. welcome back, everybody. thank you so much. nation, can you smell-la-la-la colbert is cook? you shouldn't be able to because tvs don't transmitt smell. if you said yes, either your house is on fire or you're having a stroke. this is all for food. tonight's thought for food is brought to you by triscuits, rose mary and olive oil, now with natural flavor with other

natural flavor. ( laughter ) enjoy it as a snack or as an other snack. folks, america has always led the way in food delivery innovation, and we are breaking new ground again. >> now there's a fun and exciting way to create your favorite sweets. it's a cake. it's a pop. it's pushy pops. watch, just lode them up, push them up, nen then eat them up. layer them in fresh baked cakes or make an easy treat with your favorites from the store. that's right, no baking required. try minimuffins, cup cakes, browniees, even cookies. fill them with your favorite topping, add creamy frosting and don't forget the sprinkles. the possibilities are endingly. >> stephen: yes, pushy pops! and they call it pushy because it forces food down your throat. ( laughter ) and much more gently than the hungerhammer. ( laughter ) pushy pop footballly addresses the most annoying part of

eating, the pause between putting food in your face and putting more food in your face ( laughter ) ( applause ) at last, we can eat ourselves at a continuous reliable crem. and for too long, folks, our desserts have taken irregular shapes. why am i working so hard to put a square brownie down a round esophagus when pushy pops turns the food into a smooth cylinder my dijective track can understand. and you can prepack an entire meal. just remember to lode it in reverse order. start with dessert, maybe a little cheesecake, then your meat, preferably in loaf form. okay? then, of course, some starch-- maybe some mashed potatoes. there you go. and you want to top it off for your starter, some salad. all right.

mmm-mmm-mmm. look at that! ( cheers and applause ) now you've got a home cooked meal on the go just like mom used to plunge. ( laughter ) but the true jeanuous of pushy pops is that they're really just selling you empty space that you fill with the food you love. and in that spirit, i am thrilled to introduce my new product, jim? >> it's stephen colbert's set and square. it's a fun and exciting classic square that you can set all of your favorite foods on. like cookies. candy. even hamburger sandwiches. act now and you can also set things on setting square that aren't food. car keys, mail, slim jims, even smaller classic squares. that's stephen colbert's set and square. now available in circles.

>> stephen: we'll be right back ( cheers and applause

( cheers and applause ). >> stephen: welcome back, everybody. thank you very much. my guest tonight is a writer for the "new yorker" and an author of a biography of rin tin tin. it makes sense-- i used the "new yorker" to house train my dogs. please welcome susan orlean. ( cheers and applause )

thank you very much. thank you. is thank you very much. thank you so much for coming on. >> my pleasure. >> stephen: okay, now, you are the writer who wrote the "orchid thief." >> i am. >> stephen: everybody knows that and that was made into the movie adaptation in which you were played by meryl streep. now you have the biography of "rin tin tin: the life and the "rin tin tin: the life and the legend." do you think streep could play rin tin tin? she could. >> i think-- yeah, the accent-- i don't-- yes. >> stephen: she can do it all. >> she can do anything. >> stephen: she can do it all. >> although she would be honored by the role because she's a great actor. >> stephen: tell me about the dog. this wasn't just a dog acting. >> right. >> stephen: the role of rin tin tin. rin tin tin was the actual dog. >> right. rin tin tin started-- he was a real dog. he was a puppy found on a

battlefield in world war i. most people know him as a television character. >> stephen: right, i remember from the 50s and 60's, the row runs of the boy and rin tin tin. >> right. it was rusty and rip masters. but what was incredible-- and the reason i ended up doing the book was discovering that he was a real dog found in a bombed out german dog kennel on a battlefield in france, was brought back to the united states and this was in 1918. and then he became a huge silent film star. >> stephen: how do you go from a dog found on a battlefield to a silent film star? because who is the soldier who found him? >> a man named lee duncan. >> stephen: was he in hollywood already. sn how do you get to hollywood with your dog? >> he lived in los angeles and he spent all of his time trapping the dog. there was another dog who was starring in film at the time. his name was strongheart. and german sheppard were a new

breed. most americans had never seen one. so they were a sensation. and a lot of soldiers came back from world world war i saying we just seen these amazing dogs. so lee trained him and trained him and one day thought, i think he's got star power. he had been filmed clearing a fence of 11 feet at a dog show. >> stephen: jumping over an 11-foot fence. >> yes, which is amazing. >> stephen: if he actually cleared the fence that would be impressive, too. >> maybe more impressive. and this clip of him jumping over this fence was used in a neuss reel and i think that was the point where we began thinking maybe he can go to hollywood. he walked up and down sunset boulevard. at that time hollywood was a new industry, and you could literally knock on doors and say, "look, my dog is really smart and talented." >> stephen: so how big of a star are we talking talking aboh rin tin tin? if this started after world war i, and i growing up knew about

rin tin tin, he must have been enormous. >> he was huge. in fact he was the first internationally recognized american star. he was the number one box office performer in much of the 20s. >> stephen: he was the tom cruise. >> yeah. >> stephen: of the 1920s ( laughter ). >> and he was going to be awarded the first best actor oscar. >> stephen: the first best actor oscar to this dog ( laughter ). >> yes. but there were people in the academy, which was then a very new industry, institution, where they started thinking, would it look strange if we give our first best actor oscar to a dog? >> stephen: so he won the vote and didn't get the oscar, and yet tom hanks has two ( laughter ) but i happen to know his coat is not silky at all. >> no, no! >> stephen: so let's show the people why rin tin tin was such

a big star. jim. ♪ ♪ >> stephen: that's exciting stuff. ( laughter ) ( applause ) i gotta ask, it was hard to tell from the footage. was he fixed? ( laughter ). >> no. >> stephen: he wasn't. >> no, and it's not hard at all to tell later in the film. >> stephen: really, he's got a big pair of slingers? >> he-- he had 44 children. >> stephen: he had 44 children! now, did any of those kids go on

to become stars? >> yes, when he died in 1932, which, by the way, was such a big event, that broadcasting throughout the united states was interrupted with the news bulletin to report this. and his son, junior, then stepped in and carry on the tradition. >> stephen: rin tin tin jr. >> right, and then the third and fourth. >> stephen: so junior's kids? >> junior's junior. >> stephen: well, that's hollywood. it's who you know ( laughter ) was it hard for rin tin tin to go from silent films to talkies? because i imagine he had a german accent? >> yeah ( laughter ) that was a problem. >> stephen: is there still a rin tin tin? >> yup. >> stephen: one of the actual descendants? >> yes. >> stephen: still acting? >> yes-- well he's a search-and-rescue job. he's rin tin tin 12. but the line has continued and that's partly what i thought was amazing that for almost 100 years this dog has been a figure in american culture in one form

or another. >> stephen: well, now in book form. thank you so much. susan orlean ( applause ) the book is "rin tin tin: the life and the legend." we'll be right back.