Stephen Colbert Takes CNN to Task for Retracted Article

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Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. What do you think of it? What else are you interested in? Let us know: thearts@nytimes.com.

They Forgot the Countdown Clock

Stephen Colbert and President Trump finally have something in common: They’re enjoying the chance to take some shots at CNN, after the network retracted a report about a Trump ally. Three journalists resigned on Monday in the wake of the incident.

“This is CNN’s worst mistake since their short-lived spinoff, ‘Wolf Blitzer’s Rockin’ Situation Garage.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“CNN says that the retraction does not mean the facts of the story were necessarily wrong, but they pulled the story because standard editorial processes were not followed. Yes, it’s a fine story — they just forgot to call it ‘breaking news’ and have a countdown clock.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

A ‘Tonight Show’ Veteran, Hiding in Plain Sight

In the middle of filming on Tuesday, Jimmy Fallon discovered that he had a 92-year-old “Tonight Show” veteran in his midst: Bill Hayes, the actor and singer whose recording of “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” hit No. 1 in 1955. He appeared as a guest on the show three times.

Most of their interaction happened off the air, but it’s on YouTube.

Seth Meyers on Private Prisons

Seth Meyers took “a break from the breaking news” on Tuesday to discuss President Trump’s low-profile support for the private prison industry, a reversal of Obama administration policies.

He pointed out that CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America, had donated heavily to Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

“If you’re surprised that a private prison company donated to his inauguration, remember: His campaign slogans were ‘build a wall’ and ‘lock her up.’ That’s a recipe for building a prison.” — SETH MEYERS

“Secrecy is not good here. When you add ‘secret’ to ‘prison,’ it makes it 10 times worse. It’s like when you add ‘secret’ to ‘Santa.’ Santa’s great, but secret Santa? No, thank you. ‘Oh, a candle.’” — SETH MEYERS

The Punchiest Punchlines (Merkel Edition)

“It came out yesterday that under the Republican health care plan, 22 million people will lose their health insurance over the next decade. Twenty-two million — or as Trump put it, ‘Wow, that’s like half my inauguration crowd.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview yesterday: ‘I laugh at least once every day. Otherwise I cannot do this job.’ Once every day? I would have guessed once, period. ‘It was 1989. My father wore a silly hat. I chuckled.’” — SETH MEYERS

The Bits Worth Watching

“There’s nothing that could make you look like a fool right now.”

“An electric eel may or may not be released.”

What We’re Excited About on Wednesday Night

Late night has been fielding a short-handed squad this week, with Jimmy Kimmel, James Corden and Conan O’Brien all taking time off. But Samantha Bee will be back for her weekly dose of political acerbity on Wednesday.

Also, Check This Out

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Jay Leno isn’t slowing down. On the standup circuit, he still plays more than 200 shows a year.

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