Commenting on the national popularity of Newark Mayor Cory Booker following his appearance on the Tonight Show last night, Steve Adubato offered this comment in an AP story:
The only time a Newark mayor made national headlines before Cory Booker was when they were indicted or went to jail," Adubato said.
The long awaited showdown between Mayor Booker and Conan O'Brien on the Tonight Show took place last evening. As he walked on stage, the Mayor checked to make sure the seat wasn't rigged, but Conan said they didn't have the money for that, before they began:
"Many jokes are made about Newark by comedians," O'Brien said on Friday's show. "You honed in on me like a cruise missile. Why me, Mayor Booker?"
"When there's a herd going after you, you have to sort of look at the weakest gazelle," Booker joked
Here was the segment, which starts at 19 minutes of the show:Don't miss the Newark Joke Jar either. The two played off each other very well for an entertaining 15 minutes split in 2 segments. I thought the Mayor did really well. He took the opportunity to talk about some of the accomplishments Newark has made before a national audience. He even collected a $100,000 contribution from Conan, his wife and NBC to help the Mayor's Newark Now non-proft charity. Conan closed by saying that it was one joke and man was it expensive.
Tonight is the night that Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien put an end to their feud... maybe. But before Mayor Booker appears with Conan, he'll be participating in a live chat will be hosted on Ashton Kutcher's Ustream & Facebook Channels. Here's what the Mayor says will go on during the 5pm pre-game:
"We're going to focus on urban America and how Newark, New Jersey is doing things that have an impact on really on where our country could go and I believe must go for ever to make real on the promise of this nation," Booker said.
Will you be watching? We'll post the segment from the Tonight show over the weekend.
The ongoing war of words between Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien will come to a head this Friday night. Here's how the Yahoo TV blog gave readers the news:
While critics continue to question what President Obama has done to earn a Nobel Peace Prize, Hillary Clinton's peacemaking efforts are quickly bearing fruit.
Thanks in part to the secretary of state's involvement, NBC announced Monday that "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien will sit down with Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker on Friday to put an end to their weeks-long feud.
"I admire and respect Mayor Booker, and I look forward to our summit on 'The Tonight Show' this Friday," O'Brien said in a press release. "My apologies for bumping Brad Pitt, J.D. Salinger, and a reunited Led Zeppelin, we'll have them back real soon."
It's amazing how much coverage Booker has gotten by utilizing new media to engage. Booker continues using these platforms to try and change public opinion about the city of Newark, while performing the day to day duties of Mayor. At the same time he keeps raising his own profile. Here was Booker's final response to Conan before the invite:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a taped segment on The Tonight Show last night where she tried to intervene in the ongoing war of words and banning that has gone on in the Conan vs. Newark Mayor Cory Booker Feud.Booker has gotten some great exposure for Newark as he tries to turn around public opinion of the city. Clinton was pretty funny about the whole thing as well. This is all leading up to a Booker appearance on the show himself.
Conan joked last week that Booker was setting up a program to improve the health of his city's residents - "the health care program would consist of a bus ticket out of Newark."
"I'm also mayor of the city with one of the largest airports in the United States... I'm officially putting you on the Newark New jersey Airport No Fly List. Try JFK buddy."
Here's the video from Booker:
It's a pretty creative way to respond and try to correct some of the stereotypes that exist about the city and while he's joking about the no-fly list, he's extremely serious about dispelling some of the typical thinking around Newark. Here's what Booker had to say about not letting these criticisms go unanswered:
"From now on, if people are going to make fun of our city, I'm going to step back at them." Booker said in an interview.
"With everything that is happening here, Newark is not a joke."
The late-night joker then pointed out that he could easily get to Newark by navigating the nations sewer systems because "everyone knows, all sewer pipes lead to Newark."
O'Brien even did a little research and found out that a small section of Newark Airport's Terminal A is actually in neighboring Elizabeth, New Jersey.
"So Mr. Mayor, looks like you need to brush up on your Essex County/Union County geography," Conan chided.
The talk-show host also officially banned Booker from Burbank's airport.
In the end, O'Brien invited the mayor on to his show so they could settle their differences "like gentlemen."
Booker said he would respond some time today to Conan's latest. Back in 2007, ESPN commentator Barry Melrose toured the city and apologized for comments he had made that were critical. We'll see how long it takes for Booker to appear on the Tonight show to settle this.
