Protesters interrupt Nancy Pelosi during live taping of ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’

Day two of live hosting of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago right after the Democratic National Convention was unexpectedly interrupted.

The evening’s first guest, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was interrupted during her on-air conversation with Colbert, in which she summarized the DNC’s past activities. Pushing back on the “architect” label against President Joe Biden’s decision to step down from the 2024 presidential campaign, things took a turn just a few minutes into their discussion.

While discussing her new book, “The Art of Power,” a protester began shouting from the audience. Colbert addressed the person and the audience, saying, “For those who don’t know, there is a protest going on in the audience.”

The host then quickly threw it to a commercial, declaring that he would return: “The topic is about Israel and Palestine and if you have a seat, we should go to the commercial break. When we come back, I’ll ask the next question I had on that subject.

When they returned, Colbert answered a question from his earlier interview with Pelosi, but then quickly switched gears. “Let’s talk about another aspect of power,” he said, returning to the protesters’ question. “The US uses its power abroad, as I said before. There’s a political protester here. There is a political invention in the city, you are a politician and protests are normal. People are protesting, even within the Democratic party there is disagreement about what is the proper use of American power, especially protected power abroad, firm and soft power. If the goal is the peaceful and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians, what role does the United States play?

Pelosi’s response focused primarily on President Biden’s current and past record on foreign policy. “Let me say that this is a role that President Biden played very well for many years when he was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs,” Pelosi said. “He was a senator, vice president and president for a long time. His global experience is enormous. If I could tell a story before you were born, I went to John F. Kennedy’s inauguration when I was in school. And in the speech he gave during this incredible inaugural address, he told the citizens of America, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” You probably read that in the history books. It was my childhood. The next sentence he says in the speeches: ‘Ask the countries of the world not what America can do for you, but what we can do working together for the freedom of humanity.’ That is our mission. That’s what Joe Biden was all about. So yes, we had a promise to Israel. It was in our security interests to do this. Israel was attacked by a terrorist organization. We want the hostages released. But we don’t want children to be murdered in Gaza. So we have to come up with a solution. And right now, we received word earlier today that Israel has agreed to the ceasefire. We hope that Hamas will do the same. But it brings me to the point of saying to you: war has no role in a civilized society. We need to learn more about trust and peace.”

During the latter part of this response, the audience began to shout again, to which Colbert responded, “As you can see from the continued outcry here, that response is unsatisfactory to some people.”

Colbert then turned to the protester and asked if they wanted an answer to their question about whether they wanted to “listen” to Pelosi’s response. Returning to his guest, he then directed the question to her: “They have said that the United States should not play any role in supplying weapons to Israel to kill people in Gaza. That’s what they say.”

“Israel has the right to defend itself,” Pelosi said. “But the other part is that has been so important to all of us for years: there has to be a two-state solution. There can be no peace unless there is a two-state solution. Israel, a secure Jewish democratic state in the region. And the Palestinians also have their own, safe country there. Unless you have a two-state solution, you will not have a solution to this.”

At this point the shouting grew louder and Cobert instructed the protesters: “Please do not interrupt my guests.”

After a few more shouts from the crowd, Colbert began to wrap up his conversation with his first guest. Pelosi tried to change the subject by shouting, “Isn’t it great to be in Chicago?” The segment went commercial shortly afterwards.

Hakeem Jeffries was the next guest, and Colbert also asked him about the ongoing conflict in Gaza with a hypothetical question: How would Chairman Jeffries advise President Harris?

“What President Biden is doing right now, what Kamala Harris is doing as part of the Biden-Harris administration, to do everything possible to reach a ceasefire agreement,” Jefferies said. “To bring the hostages home, to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians who are in danger through no fault of their own. Increase that assistance immediately and continuously. And to find a path to a just and lasting peace. A safe Israel and the Palestinian people who can experience the dignity and self-determination they deserve.”

At the end of the evening, after the show went off the air, Colbert addressed the audience and thanked them for coming, expressing his gratitude – but he did not address the protesters otherwise.

According to insiders, all demonstrators left of their own accord and the matter was settled peacefully.

This is day two of Colbert’s live show in Chicago, with Monday’s episode ending just after 1 a.m. Central Time.