welcome to "amanpour" on pbs. tonight, one of the world's most prominent satirists discuss his eternity optimism, the triumph of back create and finding the upside in donald trump's presidency. i go backstage with "the daily show" host trevor noah, as he sold out performances at london's o2 arena. plus, he is the 19-year-old musical maestro who stole the show at the royal wedding of harry and meghan. my conversation with the chart-topping star chillest sheku kanneh-mason.

good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. i'm christiane amanpour in london. trevor noah has cemented his place in donald trump's america. using his unique comic voice to speak truth to power every night on "the daily show." but noah's path to his comedy central perch is an amazing story in its own right. his memoir says he was literally born a crime in apartheid south africa. he was the child of a white mother and a black father. now, he puts it, he's broken into the world's elite recognized by "time" magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2018. i spoke with trevor noah shortly before his sold-out comedy performance at london's massive 02 stadium, a gig that coincided with the royal wedding. his show is called "the end of days tour." and i asked about finding laughter in the shadow of the so-called apocalypse.

trevor welcome back to the program. >> thank you so much for having me back. >> what is the end of days? a disaster story? why? >> no. i call it "the end of days tour" in many ways that's what people feel this is. u feel like there is war d of starting everywhere. you feel like governments switching over, populism around the world, and a sentiment and feeling especially online people feeling it is the end of days. it's upon us, and i figured if it's going to be the end of the world, might as well have one more comedy tour. why i called it "end of days" comedy. >> how do you think it will assuage people's panic and fear? >> oh, i don't think it will at all. if anything, my show will confirm that the world is ending but people will find much joy in that definition of what's happening to us. no. you know what? i think the world i live in is one of eternal optimism. which is not devoid of realism, but rather saying this is the world we live in, but it's going

to get better. it can get better. things are continually getting better. so comedy for me reminds me i can and should feet better about what's happening. >> can you tell us what you feel better about? what's getting better in the united states? >> i'll give an example in the united states. the downside, donald trump president. the up side, more women than ever running for office. >> that's a good one. >> the up side. more women than ever winning local state race. that's an upside you normally fore. in politics than ever >> more journalism and more comedy. >> exactly. up side with all of it. >> you have been here about two years and said a lot has happened in this country and i guess around the world in those two years. >> right. >> what? >> in many ways for me the uk has always been close to my heart. partly because of the history with south africa. partly because this was my first

closely tied because of cambridge analytica and the likes. so you really are dealing with a place that in many ways inspired a movement that you're seeing all over the world. so i keep tabs on what britain is going through, what the people are experiencing, what's happening in the uk, how theresa may is diagnose as prime minister and -- >> and what's your verdict? what grade? >> i wouldn't give her a grade, because i don't live here. i work off what people -- >> what feeds into your comedy? >> interesting. it depends on what mode of transport your in, in the uk. that's what i find. if you're in a private car might get a different reaction than when on the tube. depends who you ask and what mode of transportation you're in, a different grade for what theresa may is doing. >> and we just cannot escape the fact that theresa may started it

and brexit continued it. there is a horrible strain of nativism abroad. >> right. >> whether it's here, whether it's in the europe, whether it's in the united states. and here you're arriving right in the middle of this wind rush crisis? >> yes. >> so many african-caribbeans, who were invited to britain to rebuild this country when there weren't enough people after the war and suddenly find themselves persona non grata. >> right. >> i wonder how you take that? >> you have a group of people for all intents and purposes british. the british went around the world forcing people to be british. many of these people accepted that title, came to britain, built what they believed was their country and then one day wake up and are told time for you to go home, but where is home if not the place that i've built? and so -- you know, when you see the story, you -- you come to realize that unfortunately this fairy tale that maybe we've told ourselves at times about how people have changed is not as true as we'd like to believe.

you know? i think we -- we at many times realize that people are nicer when things are going well for them, but maybe that covers their true feelings and emotions, and so we have to ask ourselves if people always feel economically down trodden and become racist, are they ever not being racist, or is it just tied to economics? or does being poor make you racist? if that were true many people of color should be racist around the world and that doesn't seem to be cause and effect. so i think if anything, it shows you that there are a lot of issues that we don't deal with when things are going well. >> you didn't spare president obama the satirical side of your tongue. >> right. >> how different is it, wailing on him compared to wailing on donald trump? >> to try and compare the two would be false equivalency and absolute madness. anyone who tries to compare them has to admit they're being crazy. >> i'm not. how different as a comedian? >> oh, wow.

it cannot be more apparent. one is ripe for comedy. one is -- for instance, donald trump has left no contradiction unturned. that's his thing. donald trump is a gift to every level of comedy, if you want to, know, apply comedy or satire at the lowest level, donald trump is ripe. you don't have to dig deeper. but if you do dig deeper, you'll get more as well. obama was like many politicians. a water table that is buried far beneath the surface. so to get to the right joke and the right piece of satire that would really illuminate obama, you have to dig so many layers and dig through the weeds to get to the water table of jokes. donald trump has waterton surface. and the deeper you dig, the more water you find. so i think that's the difference between them is there is more. >> you are a person of color, in fact. half white, half black.

>> right. >> so is meghan markle. >> yes. >> you've been here during the incredible royal wedding. black rocked the royal family this weekend. >> right. >> the reverend was phenomenal in his speech. >> yes. >> the black gospel choir. the black cellist, apparently only 19 years old. >> right. they've never seen anything like it. >> right. >> what did you get from watching? what did you -- >> i thought it was beautiful. it was beautiful to see two families coming together from different walks of life. it was american, it was british. it was black and it was white. it was beautiful to see these cultures coming together, to hear an african american choir singing that music, you know, in front of the royal family. we've watched royal weddings before. we've never heard that kind of music in that space, and it was beautiful. it added life to the -- to the -- to the atmosphere you've never experienced before. you know? to have a black pastor brought in essence that you hadn't experienced before.

i saw david beckham's face during one of the sermons. you could see he was enjoying it, like damn, i didn't expect this. that's what black people have brought to every single space that they've inhabited over time is a flavor that is oftentimes missing. >> they did. and i wonder if you were struck -- i was struck. i was struck, by actually how well the black culture fitted in with the, you know, the white culture. >> right. >> you know, the church culture fitting in with the royal -- it actually works. showed how diversity works. >> yes. but that's the thing. i don't know what people sometimes think. grown they think that they'll invite black people to their wedding and all of the sudden, i don't know, there is going to be chaos? the people won't arrive on time? i don't know what they assume would happen. but if anything, people just showed that it's beautiful to include different cultures into a single space, because what you get from that, i feel, is a beautiful and inclusive and unique experience.

>> do you think we're anywhere near a game-changing moment or tipping point moment? not just the royal wedding and everything you just said, but "black panther." >> right. >> a lot of black culture is suddenly, you know, donald glover doing what he is doing. >> right. >> and you tweeted recently a black excellence picture with all the black co-stars from "black panther," et cetera and friends. what do you think is going on in that culture right now? >> i think -- >> or in our culture. >> i think in many ways it is what often times happens when there is a rise in white nationalism. when there is a rise on the right. you will find often times that's when black art and artists of color generally persevere, because i know as a comedian, when there is something to punch against, that's when you truly flex your muscles.

when you are a creative person and you are living in a world where the seeds of oppression are being planted, that's where you feel like the soil is most fertile to explore yourself and what you stand for. and that's not to say that blackness is defined by its oppression or by its fights against oppression, but rather that it has experienced that will for so long, that in many ways, it knows how to thrive within those confines. and so part of it could be that, and part of it could just be time. could just be the time we are experiencing. you know? you had a world where you know, barack obama was the first black president in america. you had a world where culture was steadily changing, where hip-hop music was slowly becoming the most popular music in the world surpassing rock. this is something i think is also gradual. so we may be noticing it now, but you find the ground swell has package been growing for such a long time. >> what were you saying with the picture you tweeted?

on the other side, of course, we still have cops killing black people. we have shootings. obviously a lot of black people are victims of those. we have just so much racism as well. >> the hardest thing for people to understand at times is that blackness is not homogenous. you know? black doesn't exist in one box. black has many different shades. black has many different experiences. black is a signifier that connected many people together, because of what was imposed upon black. but the truth is, black in and of itself has many different angles to it, and that's what's beautiful about it. so the black experience can contain joy. it can contain strife. it can con cain struggle. it can contain excellence. it can contain all of these things because that is nuance. that is what it's supposed to be. and so to be in a space -- like for myself, to be at the met gala and notice year on year, i've been lucky enough to be

invited, how the group of people invited has slowly changed to see it go from a group that you can fit in one picture to now multiple pictures to now an ensemble that you have to stitch together images to work is a powerful moment for me. >> even more powerful, you have been named one of "time" magazines 100 most important people. so not only are you invited to the met gala year after year, but a poor boy born in south africa to a black mother, a white father, it was illegal. the subject of your book, or the title called "born a crime." what does it feel, suddenly, to be the establishment? >> it's interesting. i think -- suddenly -- i don't think is the word i would use, because it takes so long that it may become apparent suddenly to some people, but when i look how long it has taken me to do anything i realize that nothing was suddenly. you know when i look at the journey that my family went through and south africa went through, nothing was suddenly. in fact, that journey isn't even complete for many people in our country.

in many ways the first part is it's not the suddenly. the second part is, i don't think we have ever or are in the place where we would be able to call ourselves the establishment. you know? in many ways you may become part of or be allowed access to power, or the establishment, but it would be naive to assume we have become that. you know? and that is generally the journey of any group that has historically been oppressed or minorities. you find ways to gain access to spaces of power. but to assume that you own that power is something that i think is naive and often times dangerous idea to possess. >> "daily show" alum michelle wolfe found herself in the seat of power at the white house correspondents' dinner and was lambasted by the press afterwards. they didn't like what she was saying. said this thing about sarah sanders. we're going to play it. >> i actually really like sarah.

i think she's very resourceful. like, she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. like maybe she's born with it. maybe it's lies. it's probably lies. >> do you think that was a look-ous thing? >> i think that was one of those jokes that tricks you into exposing how you feel about the subject matter. which is one of the most dangerous jokes in comedy, because it's a joke that relies on you to define it in many ways, and so if you read the words of that joke, and you don't know who sarah huckabee sanders is, all the joke is saying is, somebody knows how to turn facts into lies. and applies them as makeup. and that can be used -- >> i agree. i thought it was really unfair, this criticism she got, because i read the whole thing.

>> right. >> i saw interviews of her. but i was there when stephen colbert did his in 2006. again, the people in the room had no idea how to laugh at themselves. what does that tell you? >> here's something with comedy that's different and difficult. the white house correspondents' association is an interesting room in that in many ways in my opinion it has become too close to the people that it covers. so sometimes you blow the lines. i actually think it's good donald trump doesn't attend. i don't think it's supposed to be that type of event. i think it's strange for the press to become chummy with the people that they're reporting on. i think it's strange for people to build relationships. as a journalist, you don't require access to do your job. >> it's very dangerous. >> if anything, access is the reason you end up going and fighting a war in iraq that doesn't need to be fought because there are weapons that don't actually exist. access is a double-edged sword. so what people and journalists oftentimes need to be careful of, in my opinion, is the fact that you can become friends with the people you're supposed to be

monitoring. you become friends as opposed to being the fourth estate, and so when these people are your friends, you may become offended when people make jokes about them, but were they just subjects you were reporting on, you wouldn't feel a certain way about it, i think. >> would you ever do it? >> i don't think i would do it -- because i don't understand, really what the event is meant to be. and -- if the event is going to throw a comedian under the bus after the comedian has done what a comedian is going to do then i don't think that's the space for a comedian could be in. >> lupita nyong'o wrote about "born a crime," the title of your book, and about that incredible story when your mom actually throws you out of the car. >> yes. >> tell us. it is a crazy story. in a way, it sort of shaped you. >> it did in many ways but what was crazy for me wasn't the fact in a my mother threw me out of a moving vehicle. what was crazy was that that wasn't a story that would have first jumped to my head when telling you any of the stories

that came from my life. and so for me, that story is just one example of a young boy living in a world where his mother would do anything to protect her child, and the thing she did on this day was throw me out of a moving taxi because the driver of the taxi was threatening to kill her, and i guess by proxy, myself. yeah, i love that lupita wrote about that. i guess it was something she connected with in the story, related with a woman trying to tell her place and that was one of the stories is the reason lupita signed up to make the movie that would be of my book "born a crime." >> she's going to play my mom. really exciting. >> thank you so much. lovely. thank you. >> thank you. ♪ [ playing "ave maria" ]

we turn now to the performance of a lifetime. one watched by millions of people, and serenaded his way into the history books. the musician, sheku kanneh-mason, a 19-year-old british cellist, whose breathtaking performance at the royal wedding of prince harry and meghan markle wowed the whole world. what is also extraordinary is that sheku kanneh-mason juggled that performance with his college exams and a chart high pressure topping hit album on both sides of the atlantic. he says it's been a crazy couple of weeks. so let's find out. sheku kanneh-mason is with me right now. and welcome to the program. >> thank you. >> so what has it been like? obviously, you're well on your way to success, but this royal wedding performance really propelled you into the stratosphere. >> yeah. performing, having the courage to perform at the royal wedding

is something unlike anything i've ever experienced before, and so i really just enjoyed the experience of that and being able to perform to so many people. see so many people is just -- such an amazing feeling and i really enjoyed that. >> did they choose the pieces or did you? >> the first few pieces i played were pieces i have loved playing for a long time and so i suggested them. and then "ave maria" probably the most well known of the three was their suggestion. >> but how did that happen? did she actually call you up and say, can you play for me? >> yeah. obviously not particular -- i didn't know i would be asked to perform at the wedding. i was just expecting a very important phone call. and it was a real honor to have been asked. >> i'm going to ask you to play a little something, because you have come with this unbelievable cello, which you just told me before we went on, dates from 1610, which i actually can't believe it's still survived and is sitting on our floor in our studio, but feel free.

pick it up, and play me whatever bit of classical music comes to your heart right now. >> so this is the iconic opening phrases. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ just beautiful. just that amount is beautiful, but i also noticed, sheku, a complete change in your body language. i mean you go from soft spoken to super intense. >> i mean, with a piece particularly with a piece that is impossible not to just get into that world and -- i guess when you work so intensely on a piece of music every time you come back to it it's such an amazing feeling. >> and you in your relatively young life have done this. you're all over the news right now. you're a college student. and you've got hit records. and you also with your family, you wowed britain on britain's got talent. >> that was just a very different experience, and i always enjoy performing with my

family, and always enjoyed performing to lots of people. so that was a very exciting opportunity to be able to do that. >> how many are there of you? >> there are seven. only six playing there but we have another younger sister. >> she plays now? >> she plays the cello, yes. >> and one of your heroes i think is bob marley, and your rendition of "no woman, no cry" went viral, didn't it? >> bob marley has been someone i've looked up to a long time. so it was great to do a cello version of his song. >> can you do that now? ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ just beautiful.

do you think you're perhaps helping and inspiring a new generation of young people to love classical, to love the cello? >> i think one of the most exciting things i ever see is when i play to a younger audience who perhaps has never heard music like this before, they respond in the most kind of natural way and generally really love the music that they hear. and i think it's just giving young people the opportunity to hear this music. >> well, that's really great. congratulations. thank you so much for being here. sheku kanneh-mason, really amazing. >> thank you. >> those are two remarkable talenting tonight. thanks for watching our program, "amanpour" on pbs, and join us for our program tomorrow nigh >> you'r

katty: you are watching "beyond 100 days" on pbs. president trump says the north korean nuclear program is over. christian: he insists everyone can feel safer since he took office but some of north korea's neighbors feel anything but safe. katty: the president of south korea says he is convinced north korea knows verification as part of the deal. supporters say the summit is a hit for the president's unorthodox diplomacy, but