Stephen Colbert's Christmas gift to David Letterman

During an interview for “Face the Nation” Stephen Colbert revealed what he is giving his predecessor David Letterman for Christmas.

The current host of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” sat down with “Face the Nation” moderator John Dickerson in the famous Ed Sullivan Theater and the two spoke on a wide variety of topics. Colbert described the origin of his gift to Letterman, and he explained how he decided where he would stand to deliver his opening monologue for his show each night.

“When I first came into this theater-- and Dave was still here-- we came in on a Saturday morning at 8:00 or something because we had to think about what changes we were going to be making before they left.” Colbert said. “I walked around stage. I was there with my manager, James Dixon and my wife, Eve. And we just walked around thinking, ‘Where would I want to stand?’”

Colbert described searching on the dark stage for the perfect spot until he encountered a large pile of boxes. After removing the boxes, he told Dickerson he found his spot, and he looked down and noticed a red dot that had been hidden by the boxes.

“I was standing where he [Letterman] stood.” The new “Late Show” host explained. “I thought, ‘Oh, this just feels right,’ There’re places onstage where you feel like you’re communicating with everybody, and it’s hard to explain. It just feels right. And that spot just felt right. And I was so happy to look down and see the spot between my feet.”

While Colbert’s new staff began renovating the Theater, they decided to have the one square removed and framed. The framed tile had been leaning against a wall in Colbert’s office upstairs in the Ed Sullivan Theater for the past two years with many visitors confused by its significance.

“I haven’t hung it on the wall.” Colbert said. “That’s Dave’s. So-- I sent it to him for Christmas.” 

You can see more of our interview with Colbert here.