1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:23,635 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olberman is a production of iHeartRadio gear 2 00:00:23,715 --> 00:00:26,675 Speaker 1: before Me. At the Trump rally in front of Trump 3 00:00:26,715 --> 00:00:31,595 Speaker 1: Tower in New York City teams a vast multitude, as 4 00:00:31,635 --> 00:00:34,875 Speaker 1: far as the eye can see, millions and millions of 5 00:00:34,955 --> 00:00:39,075 Speaker 1: patriots rallying for Trump at his Monday evening rush hour 6 00:00:39,195 --> 00:00:44,035 Speaker 1: rally in New York City. The number is literally unaccountable. 7 00:00:44,835 --> 00:00:56,075 Speaker 1: And when I say uncountable, I mean let me count them. One, two, two. 8 00:00:57,235 --> 00:01:00,715 Speaker 1: There's two people here. As my cousin Mike Tyson says, 9 00:01:01,835 --> 00:01:04,435 Speaker 1: everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth, 10 00:01:05,235 --> 00:01:08,755 Speaker 1: and these people just got punched in the mouse. Two 11 00:01:08,795 --> 00:01:12,835 Speaker 1: guys at the rally. Dell could be worse. They could 12 00:01:12,835 --> 00:01:15,195 Speaker 1: be rallying in the parking lot of an in and 13 00:01:15,195 --> 00:01:22,955 Speaker 1: out burger in Laguna Hills, California. Two people. Oh the humanity. 14 00:01:24,115 --> 00:01:28,355 Speaker 1: Thanks Keith, great report. Kind of wish I was kidding 15 00:01:28,395 --> 00:01:31,235 Speaker 1: about that rally at Trump Tower drawing two people, or 16 00:01:31,275 --> 00:01:34,115 Speaker 1: the one downtown by the New York Young Republicans at 17 00:01:34,115 --> 00:01:37,995 Speaker 1: the Federal Courthouse drawing an estimated twenty two people and 18 00:01:38,115 --> 00:01:41,835 Speaker 1: a hundred reporters, or the part about that in and 19 00:01:41,875 --> 00:01:45,155 Speaker 1: out burger in Laguna Hills, California, because Roger Stone says 20 00:01:45,235 --> 00:01:48,355 Speaker 1: that's where today's Trump rally actually is, in the parking 21 00:01:48,395 --> 00:01:51,315 Speaker 1: lot off exit ninety one of the five Freeway, and 22 00:01:51,355 --> 00:01:54,675 Speaker 1: a reminder that in and Out has no drive through. 23 00:01:56,235 --> 00:02:00,995 Speaker 1: This is four seasons total landscaping all over again. But 24 00:02:01,195 --> 00:02:04,355 Speaker 1: it's as if there was a four seasons total landscaping 25 00:02:04,715 --> 00:02:08,355 Speaker 1: and a new Rudy Giuliani in every American city making 26 00:02:08,395 --> 00:02:11,235 Speaker 1: a fool out of himself and Trump and their cult 27 00:02:11,315 --> 00:02:14,235 Speaker 1: again and again and again. And now it's the Simpsons 28 00:02:14,315 --> 00:02:19,395 Speaker 1: meme stops to hop he's already dead, and the full 29 00:02:19,435 --> 00:02:24,395 Speaker 1: fledged right wing insane headless chicken. This can't happen. I've 30 00:02:24,435 --> 00:02:26,755 Speaker 1: never really seen one, but that's got all the airmarks 31 00:02:26,755 --> 00:02:28,915 Speaker 1: of being a run on the bank panic by Trump. 32 00:02:28,995 --> 00:02:34,635 Speaker 1: And the gang continues uninterrupted and unrelieved, and it will 33 00:02:34,675 --> 00:02:38,595 Speaker 1: continue through today at least and into tomorrow because the 34 00:02:38,715 --> 00:02:43,315 Speaker 1: Stormy Daniel's grand jury has the day off today. And 35 00:02:43,435 --> 00:02:46,115 Speaker 1: this is the most fun I've had in like two years. 36 00:02:48,555 --> 00:02:51,715 Speaker 1: And while Politico reported that there could be an indictment 37 00:02:51,755 --> 00:02:54,755 Speaker 1: and arrest of Trump tomorrow because the grand jury really 38 00:02:54,875 --> 00:02:58,155 Speaker 1: is off today, CNN quoted a person close to the 39 00:02:58,195 --> 00:03:01,875 Speaker 1: Trump team, who I'm thinking could easily be CNN's new owner, 40 00:03:02,475 --> 00:03:07,755 Speaker 1: who says they aren't expecting any initial appearance by Trump arraignment, arrest, mugshot, 41 00:03:07,875 --> 00:03:11,155 Speaker 1: but no purp walk, repeating there will be no purp walk. 42 00:03:11,875 --> 00:03:14,995 Speaker 1: The Trump team is not expecting even the first hurdle 43 00:03:15,075 --> 00:03:18,715 Speaker 1: to happen before next week. Then again, the CNN reporter 44 00:03:18,795 --> 00:03:21,635 Speaker 1: on this is PAULA red Or, earlier yesterday said Trump 45 00:03:21,675 --> 00:03:24,675 Speaker 1: was showing restraint because he had only called for violence 46 00:03:24,715 --> 00:03:27,475 Speaker 1: in some of his social media posts. And then, of 47 00:03:27,475 --> 00:03:30,635 Speaker 1: course Trump promptly insisted that when there's violence in New York, 48 00:03:30,635 --> 00:03:33,515 Speaker 1: the police should not defend any victims if they're anti Trump, 49 00:03:33,635 --> 00:03:37,515 Speaker 1: but support the thugs. The only restraint Trump should be 50 00:03:37,555 --> 00:03:42,795 Speaker 1: showing is a straight jacket. It is amazing that after 51 00:03:42,875 --> 00:03:46,355 Speaker 1: all this time, eight years in politics and forty plus 52 00:03:46,475 --> 00:03:49,915 Speaker 1: years in public life, people still step on the same 53 00:03:50,035 --> 00:03:53,835 Speaker 1: trump Ian rake again and again. Oh, he hasn't said 54 00:03:53,875 --> 00:03:58,955 Speaker 1: something stupid, or threatened something stupid, or promised something stupid 55 00:03:59,035 --> 00:04:02,595 Speaker 1: in the last ten twelve hours, so he clearly never 56 00:04:02,715 --> 00:04:07,075 Speaker 1: will do so again. Not only did this read from 57 00:04:07,195 --> 00:04:11,155 Speaker 1: CNN fall for it, but Kevin McCarthy fell forward again, 58 00:04:11,915 --> 00:04:15,315 Speaker 1: McCarthy said, if Trump's arrested, he McCarthy believes there should 59 00:04:15,315 --> 00:04:18,035 Speaker 1: not be protests and quote, I think Trump, if you 60 00:04:18,115 --> 00:04:21,355 Speaker 1: talk to him, he doesn't believe that either. And of course, 61 00:04:21,395 --> 00:04:24,035 Speaker 1: hours later, Trump went back on to social media to 62 00:04:24,035 --> 00:04:27,395 Speaker 1: claim he was being persecuted by the radical left, communist 63 00:04:27,515 --> 00:04:30,955 Speaker 1: Marxist rhinos and losers. And he first posted a message 64 00:04:30,995 --> 00:04:34,835 Speaker 1: implying that Ron Dessantis was a pedophile or gay, and 65 00:04:34,955 --> 00:04:38,155 Speaker 1: then deleted that message, and then within the hour posted 66 00:04:38,155 --> 00:04:40,635 Speaker 1: a new version of that message showing an image of 67 00:04:40,715 --> 00:04:45,835 Speaker 1: dessantists with seemingly underaged girls. And it was then McDonald 68 00:04:45,835 --> 00:04:51,675 Speaker 1: Trump finally became president. His supporters spent Monday as they 69 00:04:51,675 --> 00:04:55,435 Speaker 1: spent Sunday, as they spent Saturday, as they will spend 70 00:04:55,475 --> 00:05:00,715 Speaker 1: each day until mug Shotmas, making the proverbial unforced errors. 71 00:05:01,235 --> 00:05:04,595 Speaker 1: Whatever Trump's attorney, Robert J. Costello said, to try to 72 00:05:04,715 --> 00:05:07,315 Speaker 1: impeach Michael Cohen at the Grand Jury in New York 73 00:05:07,395 --> 00:05:10,355 Speaker 1: yesterday was not enough to even make the Grand jury 74 00:05:10,435 --> 00:05:14,395 Speaker 1: call Cohen to Rebut even though Cohen was sitting outside 75 00:05:14,435 --> 00:05:18,755 Speaker 1: in the hallway after speaker McCarthy bordered on obstruction of 76 00:05:18,835 --> 00:05:21,915 Speaker 1: justice twice on Sunday by threatening to cut off federal 77 00:05:21,955 --> 00:05:25,195 Speaker 1: funding to the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Three of his 78 00:05:25,515 --> 00:05:30,115 Speaker 1: sleaziest lieutenants, Jim Jordan, Jamie Comer, and Brian I actually 79 00:05:30,195 --> 00:05:36,195 Speaker 1: worked for Fox Style, wrote Bragg, requesting documents and testimony, 80 00:05:36,435 --> 00:05:40,475 Speaker 1: with no apparent awareness that Da Bragg can ignore them, 81 00:05:40,515 --> 00:05:43,795 Speaker 1: because not only would a Biden Justice Department never enforce 82 00:05:44,115 --> 00:05:48,075 Speaker 1: a contempt of Congress complaint against him, even if they 83 00:05:48,075 --> 00:05:51,355 Speaker 1: somehow got the votes in the House, but a Republican 84 00:05:52,235 --> 00:05:55,915 Speaker 1: department would hesitate to interfere with another prosecutor and a 85 00:05:55,995 --> 00:06:01,555 Speaker 1: prosecution already in progress. While Dessantis triggered Trump by laughing 86 00:06:01,595 --> 00:06:04,195 Speaker 1: as he said, quote, I don't know what goes into 87 00:06:04,395 --> 00:06:08,035 Speaker 1: paying hush money to a porn star, the dumbest remark 88 00:06:08,155 --> 00:06:11,755 Speaker 1: still had to have come from New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenny. 89 00:06:11,835 --> 00:06:15,515 Speaker 1: Tenny told Newsmax, quote, I think this is all going 90 00:06:15,555 --> 00:06:19,035 Speaker 1: to blow over because I don't see any way that 91 00:06:19,035 --> 00:06:21,675 Speaker 1: they're actually going to get Donald Trump to appear in 92 00:06:21,715 --> 00:06:25,195 Speaker 1: a court for indictment or any type of charge. So 93 00:06:25,235 --> 00:06:30,395 Speaker 1: I think, again, this is grandstanding. Tenny was so magnificently 94 00:06:30,475 --> 00:06:34,235 Speaker 1: wrong about this that even the Newsmax hosts had to 95 00:06:34,355 --> 00:06:36,915 Speaker 1: gently explain to her that the day Trump said he 96 00:06:36,955 --> 00:06:39,995 Speaker 1: was going to be arrested, he also said he would 97 00:06:39,995 --> 00:06:42,955 Speaker 1: show up in court. This is not going to just 98 00:06:43,115 --> 00:06:48,435 Speaker 1: blow over. Meanwhile, on the arrest Trump, while we still 99 00:06:48,475 --> 00:06:51,875 Speaker 1: can and when he's been arrested, arrest Trump again front 100 00:06:52,675 --> 00:06:56,035 Speaker 1: his Georgia attorneys through a hail Mary, asking that the 101 00:06:56,355 --> 00:07:00,475 Speaker 1: entire Fulton County grand jury report be quashed erased. Legally, 102 00:07:00,835 --> 00:07:03,195 Speaker 1: you never know about this stuff, but it seems unlikely 103 00:07:03,195 --> 00:07:06,435 Speaker 1: to happen, given that exactly the same time, the Fulton 104 00:07:06,475 --> 00:07:10,915 Speaker 1: County prosecutors were asking to interview one of Trump's non 105 00:07:11,195 --> 00:07:16,235 Speaker 1: Georgia attorneys, the infamous Christina bob And in the case 106 00:07:16,395 --> 00:07:20,075 Speaker 1: of the company that may go bankrupt because they defamed 107 00:07:20,075 --> 00:07:24,875 Speaker 1: on Trump's behalf, Fox quote News unquote and Dominion Voting 108 00:07:24,915 --> 00:07:29,195 Speaker 1: Systems go into their Delaware courtroom today having each asked 109 00:07:29,235 --> 00:07:32,075 Speaker 1: the judge for summary judgment, in other words, claiming that 110 00:07:32,195 --> 00:07:35,755 Speaker 1: the other side is so incredibly guilty that there is 111 00:07:35,795 --> 00:07:38,475 Speaker 1: no need to bother with a trial, so just find 112 00:07:38,515 --> 00:07:42,635 Speaker 1: against them now. While rumors flew that Fox may settle 113 00:07:42,635 --> 00:07:45,955 Speaker 1: and remember Dominion suited for one billion six hundred million 114 00:07:45,995 --> 00:07:49,395 Speaker 1: dollars in damages, while the next suit by Smart Mattocks 115 00:07:49,435 --> 00:07:54,355 Speaker 1: were two billion, seven hundred million. The entire case went crazy. 116 00:07:54,475 --> 00:07:58,835 Speaker 1: Last night, somebody leaked that Abby Grossberg, former producer for 117 00:07:58,955 --> 00:08:03,355 Speaker 1: Maria Bartaromo and now guest booker for Tucker Carlson, is 118 00:08:03,435 --> 00:08:07,835 Speaker 1: suing her employer at Fox. She has accused Fox's lawyers, 119 00:08:08,315 --> 00:08:12,195 Speaker 1: i'll be an essence setting her up, of coercing her 120 00:08:12,235 --> 00:08:17,075 Speaker 1: into giving misleading testimony in the dominion lawsuit. She's also 121 00:08:17,195 --> 00:08:21,275 Speaker 1: sued them for gender discrimination, and Fox has in turn 122 00:08:21,555 --> 00:08:24,755 Speaker 1: sued her to keep her from talking about what the 123 00:08:24,795 --> 00:08:28,555 Speaker 1: attorneys talked to her about, but she has already talked, 124 00:08:28,875 --> 00:08:33,035 Speaker 1: and not just about the attorneys. Grossberg says that Fox 125 00:08:33,115 --> 00:08:38,395 Speaker 1: bosses called Maria Bartaromo a quote crazy bitch unquote end quote, 126 00:08:39,075 --> 00:08:42,955 Speaker 1: menopausal unquote. She also says when she switched over to 127 00:08:42,995 --> 00:08:47,115 Speaker 1: Tucker Carlson's show, Carlson's top producer, Justin Wells, asked her 128 00:08:47,155 --> 00:08:53,915 Speaker 1: if Barbaromo was having an affair with Kevin McCarthy. The 129 00:08:53,995 --> 00:08:59,435 Speaker 1: world answers you later, Grossberg claims, quoting The New York Times, 130 00:08:59,715 --> 00:09:04,315 Speaker 1: mister Carlson's staff joked about Jews and freely deployed a 131 00:09:04,355 --> 00:09:07,875 Speaker 1: full her term for women. She says that before Michigan 132 00:09:07,915 --> 00:09:11,515 Speaker 1: Republican governor candidate Tutor Dixon was interviewed on Carlson's show, 133 00:09:11,835 --> 00:09:15,155 Speaker 1: v quote, staff held a mock debate about whether they 134 00:09:15,155 --> 00:09:17,875 Speaker 1: would prefer to have sex with miss Dixon or her 135 00:09:17,915 --> 00:09:24,115 Speaker 1: Democratic opponent, Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Unquote, huh, all, this line's 136 00:09:24,155 --> 00:09:30,115 Speaker 1: up without Tucker Carlson behaved at MSNBC anyway. Three final thoughts. One, 137 00:09:31,195 --> 00:09:35,315 Speaker 1: Mike Tyson really is my cousin the line about everybody 138 00:09:35,315 --> 00:09:36,875 Speaker 1: has a plan till they get hit in the mouth. 139 00:09:37,315 --> 00:09:40,595 Speaker 1: He was adopted by his first boxing manager, Customatto and cuss. 140 00:09:40,635 --> 00:09:44,075 Speaker 1: His niece, Geraldine Jerry was married to my uncle. She 141 00:09:44,155 --> 00:09:47,395 Speaker 1: was my aunt Jerry by marriage and adoption. Mike Tyson 142 00:09:47,435 --> 00:09:50,755 Speaker 1: and I are cousins, okay. Two. The impeccable Julia Davis, 143 00:09:50,795 --> 00:09:53,995 Speaker 1: who monitors Russian TV for The Daily Beast, quotes a 144 00:09:54,035 --> 00:09:58,915 Speaker 1: commentator there as saying, translated, it's possible that our Donald 145 00:09:59,235 --> 00:10:03,035 Speaker 1: Fredovich Trump might end up in the slammer, to which 146 00:10:03,035 --> 00:10:06,795 Speaker 1: George Conway added the helpful note that Fredovich means son 147 00:10:06,995 --> 00:10:11,115 Speaker 1: of fred, a common Russian usage, so Trump's name in 148 00:10:11,195 --> 00:10:16,475 Speaker 1: Russia is Donald, son of fred But of course let 149 00:10:16,555 --> 00:10:19,035 Speaker 1: me add that you could pronounce that name differently, and 150 00:10:19,075 --> 00:10:26,675 Speaker 1: suddenly he's Donald Fredo Fitch. And three bad news for him. 151 00:10:26,715 --> 00:10:30,355 Speaker 1: You know about the alleged anti Semitism in Tucker Carlson's 152 00:10:30,395 --> 00:10:33,915 Speaker 1: office and the whole Bartar Romo Kevin McCarthy question. On 153 00:10:33,955 --> 00:10:38,755 Speaker 1: the other hand, Rupert Murdoch is getting married again. Her 154 00:10:38,835 --> 00:10:42,715 Speaker 1: name is Anne Leslie Smith, and this time it's for life. 155 00:10:43,675 --> 00:10:48,115 Speaker 1: Rupert is ninety two years old. It's the thought that 156 00:10:48,275 --> 00:11:04,795 Speaker 1: counts still ahead of us. In this edition of Countdown, 157 00:11:04,875 --> 00:11:07,475 Speaker 1: twenty years since we attacked Iraq. And I actually heard 158 00:11:07,475 --> 00:11:11,395 Speaker 1: a BBC interview Aska the other day. If overall it 159 00:11:11,435 --> 00:11:14,435 Speaker 1: had turned out to be a good thing, it was 160 00:11:14,515 --> 00:11:17,835 Speaker 1: during the Iraq War and George W. Bush's compulsive lying 161 00:11:17,875 --> 00:11:20,075 Speaker 1: about the Iraq War that I first became a true 162 00:11:20,075 --> 00:11:22,955 Speaker 1: political commentator. I would like to read you some of 163 00:11:22,955 --> 00:11:26,275 Speaker 1: the anti war commentary I gave, not during the war, 164 00:11:26,355 --> 00:11:28,635 Speaker 1: but before it, in two thousand and two and early 165 00:11:28,675 --> 00:11:31,515 Speaker 1: two thousand and three, And then, if you'll indulge me, 166 00:11:31,595 --> 00:11:34,635 Speaker 1: the backstory to the first ever special comment the one 167 00:11:34,675 --> 00:11:40,355 Speaker 1: about Donald Rumsfeld's moral and ethical confusion speech and the 168 00:11:40,395 --> 00:11:43,555 Speaker 1: comment itself, and then in things I promised not to tell. 169 00:11:43,635 --> 00:11:46,155 Speaker 1: Sometimes life throws you into the deep end of the pool. 170 00:11:46,835 --> 00:11:49,875 Speaker 1: On July second, nineteen seventy nine, I was a fan 171 00:11:50,075 --> 00:11:53,555 Speaker 1: cheering Thurman Munson from the stands at Yankee Stadium. On 172 00:11:53,635 --> 00:11:57,315 Speaker 1: August second, nineteen seventy nine, I was a reporter covering 173 00:11:57,355 --> 00:12:00,595 Speaker 1: the shocking news that Munson had died piloting his own 174 00:12:00,635 --> 00:12:04,555 Speaker 1: private plane, the story that broke two minutes before my 175 00:12:04,755 --> 00:12:20,315 Speaker 1: first sportscast. That's next. This is countdown something different today 176 00:12:20,395 --> 00:12:23,555 Speaker 1: because it is now twenty years since this country attacked 177 00:12:23,675 --> 00:12:29,515 Speaker 1: Iraq on what we now know was cherry picked, falsified, dishonest, corrupt, 178 00:12:29,595 --> 00:12:33,115 Speaker 1: manufactured evidence about weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. 179 00:12:34,075 --> 00:12:37,755 Speaker 1: For nearly six years, the president of the United States 180 00:12:37,795 --> 00:12:41,835 Speaker 1: insisted those weapons did exist, and his cult insisted they 181 00:12:41,875 --> 00:12:44,515 Speaker 1: did exist. And there are some who at worst today 182 00:12:44,595 --> 00:12:47,315 Speaker 1: think of George W. Bush as benign in the context 183 00:12:47,355 --> 00:12:51,275 Speaker 1: of Trump, who still believe they exist. There is also 184 00:12:51,395 --> 00:12:55,755 Speaker 1: now a lot of dismissal of liberal media types who 185 00:12:56,115 --> 00:13:01,475 Speaker 1: let Iraq happen. It's an absolutely valid criticism, but it 186 00:13:01,515 --> 00:13:06,035 Speaker 1: requires context. I was anchoring on CNN as US troops 187 00:13:06,115 --> 00:13:09,715 Speaker 1: landed in Afghanistan that night, and I was anchoring on 188 00:13:09,835 --> 00:13:14,315 Speaker 1: MSNBC as they landed in Iraq to fight against a 189 00:13:14,395 --> 00:13:18,755 Speaker 1: presidential administration that could end careers by simply saying this senator, 190 00:13:19,275 --> 00:13:23,275 Speaker 1: this reporter, this American is not tough enough on terrorism. 191 00:13:23,715 --> 00:13:29,155 Speaker 1: Meant accepting and fighting threats, threats to your job, your livelihood, 192 00:13:29,395 --> 00:13:33,715 Speaker 1: even your life. Not everybody could face all three. I'm 193 00:13:33,715 --> 00:13:37,035 Speaker 1: happy to say circumstances permitted me too. But a few 194 00:13:37,075 --> 00:13:39,395 Speaker 1: twists and turns the other way, and it might have 195 00:13:39,475 --> 00:13:42,795 Speaker 1: been different. I might have been afraid. I might have 196 00:13:42,835 --> 00:13:46,635 Speaker 1: had a mortgage. I did a daily radio commentary for 197 00:13:46,675 --> 00:13:49,155 Speaker 1: ABC News in two thousand and two and two thousand 198 00:13:49,155 --> 00:13:51,875 Speaker 1: and three in addition to the CNN work, and on 199 00:13:51,955 --> 00:13:54,915 Speaker 1: October twenty eighth, two thousand and two, as Bush began 200 00:13:55,035 --> 00:13:57,515 Speaker 1: to push for a war he had planned for Iraq 201 00:13:57,955 --> 00:14:00,875 Speaker 1: long before nine to eleven occurred, I said that before 202 00:14:00,915 --> 00:14:03,675 Speaker 1: we gave into Bush, we needed to present all the 203 00:14:03,755 --> 00:14:07,435 Speaker 1: evidence we had as a country to the United Nations, 204 00:14:07,835 --> 00:14:10,675 Speaker 1: the way John F. Kennedy had done so through the 205 00:14:10,715 --> 00:14:14,275 Speaker 1: Ambassador Adlai Stevenson during the Cuban missile Crisis of nineteen 206 00:14:14,315 --> 00:14:18,235 Speaker 1: sixty two. Little did I know that when they finally 207 00:14:18,395 --> 00:14:22,835 Speaker 1: did that, they would use fake evidence and send Colin 208 00:14:22,875 --> 00:14:27,195 Speaker 1: Powell there to pretend it was not a lie. On 209 00:14:27,315 --> 00:14:29,675 Speaker 1: January twenty nine, two thousand and three, I expanded on 210 00:14:29,715 --> 00:14:32,035 Speaker 1: this idea of the necessity of evidence made public at 211 00:14:32,035 --> 00:14:35,075 Speaker 1: the UN, quoting from my script for the ABC show, 212 00:14:35,795 --> 00:14:37,795 Speaker 1: It's got to be more than just a proof that 213 00:14:37,875 --> 00:14:42,515 Speaker 1: Iraq had or has anthrax. Many of our allies had 214 00:14:42,675 --> 00:14:46,635 Speaker 1: or have anthrax. We have or had anthrax. Draw us 215 00:14:46,635 --> 00:14:49,995 Speaker 1: a map, miss President. The idea that these weapons aren't 216 00:14:50,035 --> 00:14:52,755 Speaker 1: just part of the madness of Sadam Hussein, but are 217 00:14:52,795 --> 00:14:56,475 Speaker 1: being provided to the far graver threats the terrorists has 218 00:14:56,555 --> 00:15:01,035 Speaker 1: to be established. Mister Bush said that America's purpose is 219 00:15:01,075 --> 00:15:04,275 Speaker 1: more than to follow a process. It is to achieve 220 00:15:04,315 --> 00:15:08,515 Speaker 1: a result. But that's not true. That's not this country. 221 00:15:08,715 --> 00:15:11,635 Speaker 1: We are about both the process and the result. We 222 00:15:11,715 --> 00:15:16,235 Speaker 1: are not our enemies. Powell's speech to the United Nations 223 00:15:16,235 --> 00:15:19,795 Speaker 1: has to be so much about process that all doubts 224 00:15:19,835 --> 00:15:25,275 Speaker 1: are erased. By March seventh, two weeks before we started bombing, 225 00:15:25,355 --> 00:15:27,715 Speaker 1: I said something on ABC that got me called in 226 00:15:27,755 --> 00:15:32,635 Speaker 1: by management. Quote I think President Bush really doesn't know 227 00:15:32,715 --> 00:15:35,875 Speaker 1: what he's doing. If there has been a more lackluster 228 00:15:36,035 --> 00:15:38,835 Speaker 1: public performance at a news conference by an American president 229 00:15:38,875 --> 00:15:42,035 Speaker 1: than mister Bush's last night, I cannot recall it. He 230 00:15:42,115 --> 00:15:46,035 Speaker 1: sounded like a talking doll pull its string and it 231 00:15:46,075 --> 00:15:48,435 Speaker 1: gives you one of a couple of answers, sometimes the 232 00:15:48,435 --> 00:15:51,355 Speaker 1: same one over and over again. It is not enough 233 00:15:51,395 --> 00:15:54,075 Speaker 1: to smirk at the people who disagree with you, mister president. 234 00:15:54,355 --> 00:15:55,755 Speaker 1: It is not enough to look at the rest of 235 00:15:55,795 --> 00:15:58,795 Speaker 1: us like we were too stupid to understand you, so 236 00:15:58,915 --> 00:16:00,755 Speaker 1: you're not going to bother to explain it to us. 237 00:16:01,635 --> 00:16:05,675 Speaker 1: That was not leadership by chief executive or irret media. 238 00:16:05,875 --> 00:16:09,115 Speaker 1: That was getting a roll of stamps and mailing it in. 239 00:16:10,875 --> 00:16:15,195 Speaker 1: On March twenty third, two thousand and three, just twenty 240 00:16:15,275 --> 00:16:18,835 Speaker 1: years ago, and I was on MSNBC again. By this point, 241 00:16:19,275 --> 00:16:21,955 Speaker 1: a supply clerk with a maintenance company on the ground 242 00:16:22,035 --> 00:16:25,435 Speaker 1: in Iraq was captured by the Iraqis private Jessica Lynch. 243 00:16:26,155 --> 00:16:28,995 Speaker 1: The military and the Bush administration immediately put out a 244 00:16:29,035 --> 00:16:33,475 Speaker 1: story that she was being tortured by evil Iraqi Sadam 245 00:16:33,555 --> 00:16:38,235 Speaker 1: Hussein doctors. Then on April first, there was the glorious 246 00:16:38,315 --> 00:16:42,155 Speaker 1: rescue of Jessica Lynch and the parades and the you 247 00:16:42,435 --> 00:16:46,315 Speaker 1: better not question. This story mandates from management at MSNBC, 248 00:16:47,155 --> 00:16:51,235 Speaker 1: which lasted at MSNBC and elsewhere about six weeks until 249 00:16:51,275 --> 00:16:55,235 Speaker 1: a newspaper in Toronto printed a different account of how 250 00:16:55,355 --> 00:16:59,035 Speaker 1: Jessica Lynch returned to American hands. It was that Lynch 251 00:16:59,275 --> 00:17:02,915 Speaker 1: was rescued from an Iraqi hospital and a US military team, 252 00:17:02,955 --> 00:17:05,995 Speaker 1: in good faith went to extract her, but that this 253 00:17:06,115 --> 00:17:10,715 Speaker 1: was all arranged by the Iraqi doctors, one of whom 254 00:17:10,795 --> 00:17:13,795 Speaker 1: sneaked over to the American lines at night and said, listen, 255 00:17:14,115 --> 00:17:16,195 Speaker 1: one of your soldiers is hurt and we don't have 256 00:17:16,275 --> 00:17:19,315 Speaker 1: the right equipment to help her. Could you swing by 257 00:17:19,515 --> 00:17:23,995 Speaker 1: and pick her up? I reported that version on MSNBC, 258 00:17:24,235 --> 00:17:27,235 Speaker 1: quoting the Toronto paper virtually word for word, and the 259 00:17:27,315 --> 00:17:30,475 Speaker 1: next day my boss, Phil Griffin called me in and 260 00:17:30,515 --> 00:17:34,915 Speaker 1: said that the head of NBC News and the NBC president, 261 00:17:35,035 --> 00:17:38,035 Speaker 1: Bob Wright, the president of the network, had been on 262 00:17:38,075 --> 00:17:41,915 Speaker 1: the phone all morning insisting I should be fired immediately 263 00:17:42,395 --> 00:17:46,955 Speaker 1: for implying that the Bush administration had lied. Griffin proudly 264 00:17:46,995 --> 00:17:49,675 Speaker 1: said he had talked them into letting me get away 265 00:17:49,755 --> 00:17:56,995 Speaker 1: with apologizing, apologizing to the troops who rescued her. I 266 00:17:57,075 --> 00:18:00,315 Speaker 1: have to say, despite my reputation for flying off the handle, 267 00:18:00,355 --> 00:18:03,435 Speaker 1: I did some very good and very quick thinking. The 268 00:18:03,515 --> 00:18:09,195 Speaker 1: demand was comical nonsense journalistically. On the other hand, if 269 00:18:09,195 --> 00:18:12,195 Speaker 1: I agreed to apologize to the troops who rescued her, 270 00:18:13,275 --> 00:18:15,675 Speaker 1: I would get the chance to tell the real Jessica 271 00:18:15,755 --> 00:18:20,715 Speaker 1: Lynch story again that night. So I did. The apology 272 00:18:20,795 --> 00:18:25,635 Speaker 1: was fifteen seconds, and while unnecessary, was sincere in my 273 00:18:25,675 --> 00:18:29,395 Speaker 1: admiration for the troops. I made sure that the retelling 274 00:18:29,395 --> 00:18:32,715 Speaker 1: of the true Lynch rescue story that followed took two 275 00:18:32,755 --> 00:18:36,875 Speaker 1: minutes and fifteen seconds. Over the next three years, I 276 00:18:36,915 --> 00:18:39,955 Speaker 1: took every opportunity I could to criticize the war and 277 00:18:40,115 --> 00:18:42,475 Speaker 1: Bush and how he had lied us into it, but 278 00:18:42,595 --> 00:18:46,995 Speaker 1: always in small doses, in little asides, in two minute readers, 279 00:18:47,035 --> 00:18:51,315 Speaker 1: in questions to guests. And then it got a little longer, 280 00:18:51,395 --> 00:18:53,995 Speaker 1: a few pieces here and there, a few brief two 281 00:18:54,075 --> 00:18:57,475 Speaker 1: or three minute commentaries. But the self censorship of the 282 00:18:57,515 --> 00:19:02,435 Speaker 1: time by most major media outlets in this country was infuriating. 283 00:19:02,435 --> 00:19:06,595 Speaker 1: And then came the night I decided I didn't care anymore. 284 00:19:07,475 --> 00:19:10,435 Speaker 1: On August twenty ninth, two thousand and six, a flight 285 00:19:10,595 --> 00:19:12,915 Speaker 1: I was taking from Los Angeles back to New York 286 00:19:12,995 --> 00:19:16,715 Speaker 1: was delayed, and as we sat on the tarmac at LAX, 287 00:19:16,795 --> 00:19:19,515 Speaker 1: I read and I read it for the first time, 288 00:19:19,555 --> 00:19:22,115 Speaker 1: I think in my life. I read a news story 289 00:19:22,195 --> 00:19:25,315 Speaker 1: on my phone and it was about the then Secretary 290 00:19:25,355 --> 00:19:28,675 Speaker 1: of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, saying about how any of us 291 00:19:28,675 --> 00:19:31,955 Speaker 1: who disagreed with the Bush administration's policy in Iraq, or 292 00:19:31,995 --> 00:19:36,875 Speaker 1: indeed just disagreed with the Bush administration itself, were morally 293 00:19:37,395 --> 00:19:46,315 Speaker 1: or intellectually confused. Well, this pissed me off. Our takeoff 294 00:19:46,435 --> 00:19:50,035 Speaker 1: kept getting pushed back and back, the drinks in first 295 00:19:50,115 --> 00:19:54,195 Speaker 1: class kept getting pushed forward and forward, and my ire 296 00:19:54,355 --> 00:19:56,795 Speaker 1: kept getting pushed up and up. And so I took 297 00:19:56,835 --> 00:20:00,235 Speaker 1: the few pages of my trip itinerary and scratched out 298 00:20:00,715 --> 00:20:03,915 Speaker 1: what turned out to be a very very long commentary, 299 00:20:03,915 --> 00:20:08,435 Speaker 1: which I figured I'll read on MSNBC and then they'll 300 00:20:08,475 --> 00:20:11,715 Speaker 1: fire me. I aired it the last next night, and 301 00:20:11,795 --> 00:20:14,275 Speaker 1: I fully expected they would fire me, or somebody would 302 00:20:14,275 --> 00:20:16,515 Speaker 1: throw me in the back of a car, or in 303 00:20:16,555 --> 00:20:19,115 Speaker 1: the trunk of a car perhaps, or I'd wind up 304 00:20:19,115 --> 00:20:23,675 Speaker 1: at Gitmo or all of the above. If you don't 305 00:20:23,715 --> 00:20:27,675 Speaker 1: mind I'd like to read that commentary handwritten as it 306 00:20:27,795 --> 00:20:30,915 Speaker 1: ran on MSNBC on August thirtieth, two thousand and six. 307 00:20:31,635 --> 00:20:35,115 Speaker 1: We needed a graphic to indicate that this was a commentary, 308 00:20:35,195 --> 00:20:38,835 Speaker 1: just my opinion, and I wanted to emphasize that this 309 00:20:38,875 --> 00:20:40,955 Speaker 1: commentary was just going to be a one shot thing. 310 00:20:41,555 --> 00:20:43,715 Speaker 1: So I just threw out a title and they made 311 00:20:43,755 --> 00:20:47,355 Speaker 1: it into a graphic. So I said, call it a comment, 312 00:20:47,875 --> 00:20:56,195 Speaker 1: call it a special comment. The man who sees absolutes 313 00:20:56,395 --> 00:21:00,035 Speaker 1: where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning 314 00:21:00,235 --> 00:21:04,475 Speaker 1: is either a prophet or a quack. Donald S. Rumsfell 315 00:21:05,315 --> 00:21:09,675 Speaker 1: is not a prophet. Mister Rumsfeld's remarkable comments to the 316 00:21:09,755 --> 00:21:12,995 Speaker 1: veterans of Foreign Wars yesterday demand the deep analysis and 317 00:21:13,115 --> 00:21:16,875 Speaker 1: the sober contemplation of every American, for they do not 318 00:21:17,035 --> 00:21:20,395 Speaker 1: merely serve to impugne the morality or intelligence, indeed the 319 00:21:20,475 --> 00:21:24,195 Speaker 1: loyalty of the majority of Americans who oppose the transient 320 00:21:24,235 --> 00:21:28,115 Speaker 1: occupants of the highest offices in the land. Worse still, 321 00:21:28,635 --> 00:21:34,715 Speaker 1: they credit those same transient occupants our employees with total omniscience, 322 00:21:35,395 --> 00:21:39,555 Speaker 1: a total omniscience which neither common sense nor this administration's 323 00:21:39,595 --> 00:21:45,035 Speaker 1: track record at home or abroad suggests they deserve. Dissent 324 00:21:45,475 --> 00:21:49,875 Speaker 1: and disagreement with government is the life's blood of human freedom, 325 00:21:50,475 --> 00:21:53,315 Speaker 1: and not merely because it is the first roadblock against 326 00:21:53,315 --> 00:21:55,595 Speaker 1: the kind of tyranny. The men mister Rumsfeld likes to 327 00:21:55,595 --> 00:21:58,715 Speaker 1: think of as his troops still fight this very evening 328 00:21:58,755 --> 00:22:04,035 Speaker 1: in Iraq. It is also essential because just every once 329 00:22:04,075 --> 00:22:07,115 Speaker 1: in a while it is right and the power to 330 00:22:07,195 --> 00:22:12,155 Speaker 1: which it speaks is wrong. In a small irony, however, 331 00:22:12,195 --> 00:22:16,115 Speaker 1: mister Rumsfeld's speech writer was adroit in evoking the memory 332 00:22:16,275 --> 00:22:20,715 Speaker 1: of the appeasement of the Nazis, For in their time 333 00:22:20,755 --> 00:22:23,435 Speaker 1: there was another government, faced with true peril, with a 334 00:22:23,475 --> 00:22:28,475 Speaker 1: growing evil, powerful and remorseless. That government, like mister Rumsfeld's, 335 00:22:28,755 --> 00:22:31,955 Speaker 1: had a monopoly on all the facts. It too had 336 00:22:31,995 --> 00:22:36,235 Speaker 1: the secret information. It alone had the true picture of 337 00:22:36,275 --> 00:22:39,955 Speaker 1: the threat. It too dismissed and insulted its critics in 338 00:22:40,075 --> 00:22:45,875 Speaker 1: terms like mister Rumsfeld's, questioning their intellect and their morality. 339 00:22:46,115 --> 00:22:51,755 Speaker 1: That government was England's. In the nineteen thirties. It knew 340 00:22:52,115 --> 00:22:55,355 Speaker 1: Hitler posed no true threat to Europe, let alone England. 341 00:22:55,715 --> 00:22:59,195 Speaker 1: It knew Germany was not re arming in violation of 342 00:22:59,235 --> 00:23:03,275 Speaker 1: all treaties and accords. It knew that the hard evidence 343 00:23:03,315 --> 00:23:09,315 Speaker 1: it received which contradict did policies, conclusions, and omniscience needed 344 00:23:09,315 --> 00:23:14,515 Speaker 1: to be dismissed. The English government of Neville Chamberlain already 345 00:23:14,595 --> 00:23:19,395 Speaker 1: knew the truth. Most relevant of all, It knew that 346 00:23:19,435 --> 00:23:23,675 Speaker 1: its staunchest critics needed to be marginalized and isolated. In fact, 347 00:23:23,755 --> 00:23:26,915 Speaker 1: it portrayed the foremost of them as a bloodthirsty warmonger 348 00:23:26,955 --> 00:23:31,275 Speaker 1: who was, if not truly senile, at best morally or 349 00:23:31,355 --> 00:23:38,275 Speaker 1: intellectually confused. That critic's name was Winston Churchill. Sadly, we 350 00:23:38,355 --> 00:23:41,875 Speaker 1: have no Winston Churchill's evident among us this evening. We 351 00:23:41,995 --> 00:23:47,595 Speaker 1: have only Donald Rumsfeldt's demonizing disagreement. The way Neville Chamberlain 352 00:23:47,715 --> 00:23:53,715 Speaker 1: demonized Winston Churchill, history and one hundred and sixty three 353 00:23:53,835 --> 00:23:58,155 Speaker 1: million pounds of Luftwappa bombs over England taught us. All 354 00:23:58,715 --> 00:24:03,635 Speaker 1: that mister Chamberlain had was his certainty and his own confusion, 355 00:24:04,675 --> 00:24:08,075 Speaker 1: infusion that suggested that the office cannot only make the man, 356 00:24:08,795 --> 00:24:12,715 Speaker 1: but that the office can also make the facts. Thus 357 00:24:13,035 --> 00:24:18,155 Speaker 1: did mister rumsfeld make an apt historical analogy, accepting the 358 00:24:18,195 --> 00:24:21,395 Speaker 1: fact that he has the battery plugged in backwards. His 359 00:24:21,515 --> 00:24:26,315 Speaker 1: government absolute and exclusive in its knowledge. Is not the 360 00:24:26,355 --> 00:24:29,395 Speaker 1: modern version of the one which stood up to the Nazis. 361 00:24:29,675 --> 00:24:33,635 Speaker 1: It is the modern version of the government of never Chamberlain. 362 00:24:35,275 --> 00:24:40,355 Speaker 1: But back to today's omniscience, that about which mister Rumsfeld 363 00:24:40,515 --> 00:24:46,155 Speaker 1: is confused is simply this. This is a democracy, still 364 00:24:46,555 --> 00:24:51,235 Speaker 1: sometimes just barely, and as such all voices count, not 365 00:24:51,475 --> 00:24:55,595 Speaker 1: just his. Had he or his president perhaps proven any 366 00:24:55,635 --> 00:24:59,395 Speaker 1: of their prior claims of omniscience about Osama bin Laden's 367 00:24:59,435 --> 00:25:03,795 Speaker 1: plans five years ago, about Sodom Hussein's weapons four years ago, 368 00:25:04,155 --> 00:25:07,995 Speaker 1: about Hurricane Katrina's impact one year ago, we all might 369 00:25:08,035 --> 00:25:11,795 Speaker 1: be able to swallow hard and accept their omniscience as 370 00:25:11,835 --> 00:25:17,355 Speaker 1: a bearable, even useful recipe of fact plus ego. But 371 00:25:17,515 --> 00:25:20,155 Speaker 1: to date this government has proved little besides its own 372 00:25:20,235 --> 00:25:25,235 Speaker 1: arrogance and its own hubris. Mister Rumsfeld is also personally confused, 373 00:25:25,555 --> 00:25:29,235 Speaker 1: morally or intellectually about his own standing in this matter. 374 00:25:30,115 --> 00:25:34,275 Speaker 1: From Iraq to Katrina to the entire fog of fear 375 00:25:34,395 --> 00:25:39,275 Speaker 1: which continues to envelope this nation. He, mister Bush, mister Cheney, 376 00:25:39,675 --> 00:25:44,915 Speaker 1: and their cronies have inadvertently or intentionally profited and benefited 377 00:25:44,955 --> 00:25:48,875 Speaker 1: both personally and politically, and yet he can stand up 378 00:25:48,875 --> 00:25:52,235 Speaker 1: in public and question the morality and the intellect of 379 00:25:52,275 --> 00:25:55,315 Speaker 1: those of us who dare ask just for the receipt 380 00:25:56,395 --> 00:26:02,755 Speaker 1: for the Emperor's new clothes. In What country was mister 381 00:26:02,875 --> 00:26:07,715 Speaker 1: Rumsfeld raised as a child of Whose heroism did he 382 00:26:07,955 --> 00:26:11,315 Speaker 1: read on What side of the battle for freedom? Did 383 00:26:11,355 --> 00:26:16,195 Speaker 1: he dream one day to fight? With? What country? Has 384 00:26:16,275 --> 00:26:21,915 Speaker 1: he confused? The United States of America. The confusion we, 385 00:26:22,115 --> 00:26:26,115 Speaker 1: as its citizens must now address is stark and forbidding, 386 00:26:26,755 --> 00:26:29,595 Speaker 1: But variations of it have faced our forefathers, when men 387 00:26:29,675 --> 00:26:33,875 Speaker 1: like Nixon and McCarthy and Curtis LeMay have darkened our 388 00:26:33,955 --> 00:26:38,515 Speaker 1: skies and obscured our flag. Note with hope in your 389 00:26:38,555 --> 00:26:42,155 Speaker 1: heart that those earlier Americans always found their way to 390 00:26:42,195 --> 00:26:46,275 Speaker 1: the light, and we can too. The confusion is about 391 00:26:46,275 --> 00:26:49,595 Speaker 1: whether this Secretary of Defense and this administration are in 392 00:26:49,635 --> 00:26:54,795 Speaker 1: fact now accomplishing what they claim. The terrorists seek, the 393 00:26:54,835 --> 00:26:58,235 Speaker 1: destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the 394 00:26:58,275 --> 00:27:01,355 Speaker 1: same veterans mister Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City 395 00:27:01,955 --> 00:27:06,915 Speaker 1: have so valiantly fought. And about mister Rumsfeld's other main 396 00:27:06,995 --> 00:27:11,235 Speaker 1: assertion that this country faces a quote new type of 397 00:27:11,355 --> 00:27:15,155 Speaker 1: fascism unquote, as he was correct to remind us how 398 00:27:15,195 --> 00:27:19,155 Speaker 1: a government that knew everything could get everything wrong. So 399 00:27:19,235 --> 00:27:22,515 Speaker 1: too was he right when he said that, though probably 400 00:27:22,555 --> 00:27:25,115 Speaker 1: not in the way he thought he meant it, this 401 00:27:25,195 --> 00:27:29,835 Speaker 1: country faces a new type of fascism. Indeed, although I 402 00:27:29,995 --> 00:27:33,835 Speaker 1: presumptuously use his sign off each night in feeble tribute, 403 00:27:34,395 --> 00:27:36,675 Speaker 1: I have utterly no claim to the words of the 404 00:27:36,715 --> 00:27:40,675 Speaker 1: exemplary journalist Edward R. Murrow. But never, in the trial 405 00:27:40,755 --> 00:27:43,075 Speaker 1: of a thousand years of writing could I come close 406 00:27:43,115 --> 00:27:46,395 Speaker 1: to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier 407 00:27:46,475 --> 00:27:50,235 Speaker 1: generation of us at a time when other politicians thought 408 00:27:50,275 --> 00:27:54,115 Speaker 1: they and they alone knew everything and branded those who 409 00:27:54,155 --> 00:28:00,195 Speaker 1: disagreed confused or immoral. Thus forgive me for reading Murrow 410 00:28:00,315 --> 00:28:05,395 Speaker 1: in full. We must not confuse dissent with loyalty, he 411 00:28:05,475 --> 00:28:09,515 Speaker 1: said in nineteen fifty four. We must remember always that 412 00:28:09,635 --> 00:28:13,835 Speaker 1: accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence 413 00:28:13,995 --> 00:28:17,795 Speaker 1: and due process of law. We will not walk in 414 00:28:17,995 --> 00:28:20,955 Speaker 1: fear one of another. We will not be driven by 415 00:28:21,155 --> 00:28:25,075 Speaker 1: fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep 416 00:28:25,115 --> 00:28:27,555 Speaker 1: in our history and our doctrine and remember that we 417 00:28:27,595 --> 00:28:31,035 Speaker 1: are not descended from fearful men, not from men who 418 00:28:31,155 --> 00:28:36,075 Speaker 1: feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend 419 00:28:36,115 --> 00:28:45,315 Speaker 1: causes that were, for the moment unpopular. When MSNBC management 420 00:28:45,355 --> 00:28:47,395 Speaker 1: came into my office the next afternoon, it was not 421 00:28:47,475 --> 00:28:49,675 Speaker 1: to fire me, nor throw me into the back seat 422 00:28:49,835 --> 00:28:55,395 Speaker 1: or the trunk of a car. The MSNBC president Griffin asked, 423 00:28:56,075 --> 00:28:58,995 Speaker 1: could you do one of those every night the ratings doubled? 424 00:29:00,115 --> 00:29:03,715 Speaker 1: I told him no, they should be done only when necessary. Well, 425 00:29:03,795 --> 00:29:08,755 Speaker 1: could you do one of those only when necessary? I said, 426 00:29:08,955 --> 00:29:12,955 Speaker 1: he had a deal. It is correct to say the 427 00:29:13,035 --> 00:29:16,275 Speaker 1: news media failed twenty years ago as this nation lied 428 00:29:16,355 --> 00:29:20,395 Speaker 1: its way into Iraq. It is also correct to say, 429 00:29:20,595 --> 00:29:22,995 Speaker 1: and I will go out on the egotistical limb to 430 00:29:23,035 --> 00:29:38,875 Speaker 1: say it that some of us tried. Still ahead on countdown, 431 00:29:38,915 --> 00:29:41,675 Speaker 1: will continue this theme of history in the making, but 432 00:29:41,795 --> 00:29:45,675 Speaker 1: switch it to sports. Four weeks to the day that 433 00:29:45,755 --> 00:29:48,875 Speaker 1: my full time broadcasting career began, I had to cover 434 00:29:48,955 --> 00:29:52,955 Speaker 1: for a one thousand station radio network the tragic breaking 435 00:29:52,995 --> 00:29:56,835 Speaker 1: news of one of baseball's most popular players, a man 436 00:29:56,875 --> 00:29:58,995 Speaker 1: I had been cheering from the stands as a fan 437 00:29:59,155 --> 00:30:04,155 Speaker 1: literally a month before dying in a plane crash. I'm 438 00:30:04,155 --> 00:30:06,515 Speaker 1: that happy. First in each edition of Countdown, we feature 439 00:30:06,515 --> 00:30:08,355 Speaker 1: a dog in need you can help. Every dog has 440 00:30:08,355 --> 00:30:12,355 Speaker 1: its day to Phoenix, not the city, but the dog, 441 00:30:12,515 --> 00:30:14,875 Speaker 1: spring Hill, Tennessee. We don't know how this happened in 442 00:30:14,955 --> 00:30:18,995 Speaker 1: this tiny Yorkie, evidently from a breeder's dumped in a 443 00:30:19,075 --> 00:30:22,035 Speaker 1: field at barely a year old. He was healthy. He 444 00:30:22,115 --> 00:30:26,115 Speaker 1: is not healthy now, parasites, there's some blood in his cough. 445 00:30:26,435 --> 00:30:29,395 Speaker 1: He's in intensive care at the animal hospital. But House 446 00:30:29,395 --> 00:30:32,355 Speaker 1: of Stray's Rescue is going all out to save his life. 447 00:30:32,635 --> 00:30:34,555 Speaker 1: It already has a home lined up for him if 448 00:30:34,595 --> 00:30:36,675 Speaker 1: he makes it. If you can donate, you can find 449 00:30:36,755 --> 00:30:40,555 Speaker 1: him on Cuddly that's Phoenix fe Nix, or on my 450 00:30:40,595 --> 00:30:44,275 Speaker 1: Twitter feeds. Your retweets would also help him. Thinking good 451 00:30:44,275 --> 00:30:47,875 Speaker 1: thoughts for him can't hurt either. I thank you, and 452 00:30:47,995 --> 00:31:03,635 Speaker 1: Phoenix thanks you. August second, nineteen seventy nine is now 453 00:31:03,715 --> 00:31:07,795 Speaker 1: forty three years ago. And if I sound incredulous about that, 454 00:31:07,835 --> 00:31:11,715 Speaker 1: it's because I'm incredulous about that. A certain part of 455 00:31:11,755 --> 00:31:15,195 Speaker 1: me is always living back there on August second, nineteen 456 00:31:15,235 --> 00:31:18,515 Speaker 1: seventy nine, and the rest of that day is seared 457 00:31:18,555 --> 00:31:22,235 Speaker 1: into my memory, like my name and address one month 458 00:31:22,275 --> 00:31:24,995 Speaker 1: earlier to the day, July second, nineteen seventy nine, I 459 00:31:25,035 --> 00:31:28,035 Speaker 1: had been in the stands in my family seats back 460 00:31:28,075 --> 00:31:30,635 Speaker 1: of first base at Yankee Stadium in New York, a 461 00:31:30,755 --> 00:31:34,715 Speaker 1: twenty year old Yankees fan, applauding Thurman Munson's r behind 462 00:31:34,795 --> 00:31:37,395 Speaker 1: double and Lou Pinello's two for four day and Roy 463 00:31:37,435 --> 00:31:41,875 Speaker 1: White's appearance, since Roy White was my mother's favorite Yankee player, 464 00:31:42,635 --> 00:31:45,675 Speaker 1: but months in particularly, he had been playing for the 465 00:31:45,755 --> 00:31:49,315 Speaker 1: Yankee since I was nine. I was now twenty, thus 466 00:31:49,355 --> 00:31:54,075 Speaker 1: more than half my life now. On August second, nineteen 467 00:31:54,075 --> 00:31:56,195 Speaker 1: seventy nine, I was finishing the first month of my 468 00:31:56,235 --> 00:32:00,755 Speaker 1: professional broadcasting career. It was my seventh or eighth solo 469 00:32:00,915 --> 00:32:05,675 Speaker 1: shift anywhere for money. I was the night time sportscaster 470 00:32:05,795 --> 00:32:10,515 Speaker 1: of United Press International's radio network one thousand stations worldwide 471 00:32:10,595 --> 00:32:14,435 Speaker 1: known as UPI Audio. For my first sportscast of the 472 00:32:14,555 --> 00:32:17,595 Speaker 1: night due to go at five forty five PM, I 473 00:32:17,675 --> 00:32:20,795 Speaker 1: had long since finished my script. Tom Watson was leading 474 00:32:20,875 --> 00:32:23,675 Speaker 1: Round one of the PGA Golf in Michigan. The lawyer 475 00:32:23,675 --> 00:32:27,035 Speaker 1: who owned Washington of the NFL, Edward Bennett Williams. He 476 00:32:27,075 --> 00:32:30,315 Speaker 1: had just bought the Baltimore Orioles. There was an exposed 477 00:32:30,355 --> 00:32:34,595 Speaker 1: Cubs matinee at baseball game in Montreal that prevailed through 478 00:32:34,795 --> 00:32:38,715 Speaker 1: three rain delays. It was just about five forty three 479 00:32:38,755 --> 00:32:41,235 Speaker 1: pm Eastern Time, and I was making the short walk 480 00:32:41,595 --> 00:32:45,155 Speaker 1: from the little sports cubbyhole to the little main on 481 00:32:45,355 --> 00:32:49,635 Speaker 1: air studio in UPI World headquarters in the Daily News Building, 482 00:32:49,755 --> 00:32:52,235 Speaker 1: or if you saw the movie the Superman Building on 483 00:32:52,315 --> 00:32:55,875 Speaker 1: forty second Street in Manhattan. I was just walking past 484 00:32:55,995 --> 00:33:00,155 Speaker 1: the bank of thermal printers, each making their sluggish, muted 485 00:33:02,075 --> 00:33:06,315 Speaker 1: honking sound as they slowly printed stories out onto what 486 00:33:06,515 --> 00:33:10,235 Speaker 1: wasn't really paper. There was the main UPI wire, the 487 00:33:10,315 --> 00:33:13,875 Speaker 1: UPI Sports Wire, the UPI Business Wire, the UPI International Wire, 488 00:33:14,075 --> 00:33:18,435 Speaker 1: the UPI Radio wire, several internal message wires via which 489 00:33:18,475 --> 00:33:21,755 Speaker 1: the UPI bureaus around the world could communicate with headquarters 490 00:33:21,755 --> 00:33:25,515 Speaker 1: in New York, or as it was abbreviated NX. Those 491 00:33:25,555 --> 00:33:29,155 Speaker 1: message wires were the nineteen seventy nine equivalent of texting. 492 00:33:29,955 --> 00:33:33,075 Speaker 1: As I got within a foot of these machines, one 493 00:33:33,075 --> 00:33:35,515 Speaker 1: of them made a noise I had never heard before, 494 00:33:35,875 --> 00:33:40,395 Speaker 1: a series of ten really loud bells. As I moved 495 00:33:40,435 --> 00:33:42,475 Speaker 1: over to see what the hell they could mean, the 496 00:33:42,555 --> 00:33:45,315 Speaker 1: news editor, Frank Raphael came over to check as well. 497 00:33:45,915 --> 00:33:52,675 Speaker 1: We saw the words simultaneously. We gasped simultaneously, Cleveland Bureau 498 00:33:52,795 --> 00:33:56,955 Speaker 1: to nx Thurman, Munson Catcher, Captain New York Yankees dead 499 00:33:57,195 --> 00:34:04,555 Speaker 1: piloting private plane, Canton Akron Airport thirty Still it stuns 500 00:34:04,915 --> 00:34:08,555 Speaker 1: to read those words aloud. As soon as they finished printing, 501 00:34:08,635 --> 00:34:11,555 Speaker 1: Cleveland sent it again. The bells went off again. I 502 00:34:11,595 --> 00:34:13,715 Speaker 1: could see I now had about a minute until I 503 00:34:13,755 --> 00:34:16,475 Speaker 1: went on the air. The editor pointed this out to me, 504 00:34:16,835 --> 00:34:19,195 Speaker 1: You'll have to add lib the sportscast, then come out 505 00:34:19,235 --> 00:34:20,995 Speaker 1: here and do a voice or just talk about his career. 506 00:34:21,075 --> 00:34:23,115 Speaker 1: Keep repeating that it's a bulletin that he's dead, and 507 00:34:23,155 --> 00:34:25,635 Speaker 1: that he was piloting a private plane. You know anything 508 00:34:25,675 --> 00:34:29,755 Speaker 1: about him and planes? And I remember saying, oh God, 509 00:34:29,835 --> 00:34:32,595 Speaker 1: I do. And he said, well, use whatever you think fits. 510 00:34:33,075 --> 00:34:35,075 Speaker 1: If more details come in, I'll bring them into you. 511 00:34:35,315 --> 00:34:37,595 Speaker 1: I'll try to get somebody at the airport for some sound. 512 00:34:38,835 --> 00:34:41,475 Speaker 1: I don't remember anything of what I said on the 513 00:34:41,475 --> 00:34:45,075 Speaker 1: air that night, nor in the special report the voicer 514 00:34:45,155 --> 00:34:47,075 Speaker 1: the editor had had me record. As soon as I 515 00:34:47,115 --> 00:34:51,395 Speaker 1: finished that live sportscast, it was all recorded. I never 516 00:34:51,435 --> 00:34:54,795 Speaker 1: wanted to hear any of it. I never wanted to 517 00:34:54,875 --> 00:34:57,595 Speaker 1: keep any of it. I have basically the rest of 518 00:34:57,595 --> 00:35:01,035 Speaker 1: my career on tape. But I knew my youth was 519 00:35:01,195 --> 00:35:05,435 Speaker 1: over right then. Thurman Munson had joined the Yankees when 520 00:35:05,435 --> 00:35:08,515 Speaker 1: I was nine years old, literally more than half my 521 00:35:08,595 --> 00:35:12,315 Speaker 1: life ago. He was the first good rookie I ever 522 00:35:12,355 --> 00:35:16,195 Speaker 1: saw added to my team. My family was convinced he 523 00:35:16,235 --> 00:35:19,235 Speaker 1: looked like my mother's cousin Billie. I met him a 524 00:35:19,235 --> 00:35:22,235 Speaker 1: couple of times, had photographed him once, interviewed him once. 525 00:35:22,275 --> 00:35:25,635 Speaker 1: He was gruff and forbidding, but I had never had 526 00:35:25,675 --> 00:35:28,755 Speaker 1: a problem with him. What I knew about him and 527 00:35:28,955 --> 00:35:32,995 Speaker 1: his plane I spoke of as generically as possible in 528 00:35:33,075 --> 00:35:35,555 Speaker 1: my mind. I flashed back to lunch in the press 529 00:35:35,635 --> 00:35:37,995 Speaker 1: room at Yankee Stadium four months earlier, when I was 530 00:35:37,995 --> 00:35:41,835 Speaker 1: still in college with my friend Rick Serone, the editor, 531 00:35:41,995 --> 00:35:46,715 Speaker 1: not the catcher Munson. Rick said, almost surreptitiously, leaning in 532 00:35:46,835 --> 00:35:50,795 Speaker 1: toward me over the little table. Munson is flying his 533 00:35:50,875 --> 00:35:55,955 Speaker 1: own plane back home to Ohio on like every day off. 534 00:35:56,755 --> 00:36:01,155 Speaker 1: The Yankees are terrified he's not as good a pilot 535 00:36:01,275 --> 00:36:05,435 Speaker 1: as he thinks. He is, honest to God, wanted executives 536 00:36:05,555 --> 00:36:08,755 Speaker 1: is trying to get George. That would be George Steinbrenner, 537 00:36:08,795 --> 00:36:12,275 Speaker 1: the owner, to trade him to Cleveland, just so he'll 538 00:36:12,315 --> 00:36:15,955 Speaker 1: get out of the damn plane. They're all terrified he 539 00:36:16,075 --> 00:36:21,675 Speaker 1: might wind up killing himself. I don't know how many 540 00:36:21,715 --> 00:36:24,915 Speaker 1: special reports I did forty three years ago today, in 541 00:36:24,995 --> 00:36:28,555 Speaker 1: addition to a new sportscast every hour. Later, a friend 542 00:36:28,555 --> 00:36:30,635 Speaker 1: of mine from college, who didn't even know I'd gotten 543 00:36:30,675 --> 00:36:33,635 Speaker 1: the job as a sportscaster. I was so new there, 544 00:36:34,195 --> 00:36:37,435 Speaker 1: told me he was driving in Buffalo listening to the 545 00:36:37,475 --> 00:36:39,755 Speaker 1: all news station on the radio. He heard them say 546 00:36:39,835 --> 00:36:41,835 Speaker 1: munths and had been killed and with more here's Keith 547 00:36:41,875 --> 00:36:44,435 Speaker 1: Alderman in New York. And he said he almost drove 548 00:36:44,475 --> 00:36:48,595 Speaker 1: off the road because of the double shock. And I 549 00:36:48,675 --> 00:36:51,995 Speaker 1: do know my boss, Sam Rosen, who did the morning 550 00:36:52,035 --> 00:36:54,555 Speaker 1: shift and would have only gotten home from it around 551 00:36:54,595 --> 00:36:57,435 Speaker 1: one or two pm. He came back into the office 552 00:36:57,435 --> 00:37:01,315 Speaker 1: to supervise things and to put together a long memorial 553 00:37:01,475 --> 00:37:04,955 Speaker 1: special to feed that the thousand stations that you dar 554 00:37:05,035 --> 00:37:08,355 Speaker 1: stuff would all use. I was so glad to see 555 00:37:08,435 --> 00:37:11,155 Speaker 1: Sam that day. And then he handed me a piece 556 00:37:11,195 --> 00:37:16,835 Speaker 1: of paper. Those are the home phone numbers for Lupinella 557 00:37:17,395 --> 00:37:23,395 Speaker 1: and Roy White, call them, try to do interviews, be gentle, 558 00:37:24,555 --> 00:37:29,755 Speaker 1: record first, ask later, like Munson. They had played in 559 00:37:29,835 --> 00:37:33,075 Speaker 1: that game a month before. Really was my last as 560 00:37:33,115 --> 00:37:36,635 Speaker 1: a fan. Roy White had been with the Yankees since 561 00:37:36,675 --> 00:37:40,875 Speaker 1: I was six years old. Lupinella answered his phone, and 562 00:37:40,915 --> 00:37:42,755 Speaker 1: somehow I asked him if he would talk to me 563 00:37:42,795 --> 00:37:46,395 Speaker 1: for two minutes, and he did, and almost immediately he 564 00:37:46,515 --> 00:37:51,075 Speaker 1: burst into tears. There was such raw, immediate brutal pain 565 00:37:51,235 --> 00:37:53,915 Speaker 1: in his voice. I did the only thing I could 566 00:37:53,955 --> 00:37:56,475 Speaker 1: think of. I said, listen, you should not have to 567 00:37:56,515 --> 00:37:59,235 Speaker 1: do this all night. I will make copies of this 568 00:37:59,315 --> 00:38:02,115 Speaker 1: interview and give it to the other radio networks so 569 00:38:02,155 --> 00:38:05,275 Speaker 1: they will leave you alone. And only then did I 570 00:38:05,315 --> 00:38:07,715 Speaker 1: think to ask my boss Sam, who by the way, 571 00:38:07,715 --> 00:38:10,715 Speaker 1: still does the New York Rangers games on TV, if 572 00:38:10,715 --> 00:38:13,915 Speaker 1: that was okay, and mercifully, Sam said, it was a 573 00:38:13,955 --> 00:38:17,555 Speaker 1: great idea. When I called Roy White, and Roy White 574 00:38:17,595 --> 00:38:20,115 Speaker 1: was literally on the Yankees the day I became a 575 00:38:20,195 --> 00:38:24,355 Speaker 1: Yankee fan. He begged me to tell him that they 576 00:38:24,395 --> 00:38:28,275 Speaker 1: had discovered some kind of a mistake, that Thurman Munson 577 00:38:28,395 --> 00:38:32,955 Speaker 1: was not dead. Both he and Panella were blunt, but 578 00:38:33,115 --> 00:38:37,515 Speaker 1: gentle and courteous, and I did make copies of the interviews, 579 00:38:37,515 --> 00:38:40,155 Speaker 1: and I can see myself handing a cassette to a 580 00:38:40,195 --> 00:38:43,395 Speaker 1: guy from NBC Radio named Mike Levinthal, who ran a 581 00:38:43,475 --> 00:38:46,715 Speaker 1: kind of cartel, almost a black market among New York 582 00:38:46,795 --> 00:38:51,395 Speaker 1: radio sports reporters. Those interviews, the parts with Panella and White, 583 00:38:51,435 --> 00:38:55,635 Speaker 1: not me, were all over radio that day. I also 584 00:38:55,715 --> 00:38:58,635 Speaker 1: remembered discovering, after three or four hours of literally working 585 00:38:58,715 --> 00:39:01,635 Speaker 1: non stop, that I had never really known what that 586 00:39:01,835 --> 00:39:04,595 Speaker 1: meant before. I remember I was supposed to be done 587 00:39:04,715 --> 00:39:06,555 Speaker 1: at eleven PM, that was the end of the shift, 588 00:39:06,595 --> 00:39:08,875 Speaker 1: but I stayed until one am, and I just merit 589 00:39:08,955 --> 00:39:11,595 Speaker 1: rarely made the train, the last one of the night 590 00:39:11,675 --> 00:39:14,955 Speaker 1: back to my house. I remember my boss Sam Rosen 591 00:39:15,035 --> 00:39:18,195 Speaker 1: talking to our stringer in San Francisco, fellow named Rob Navius, 592 00:39:18,755 --> 00:39:21,435 Speaker 1: and he said, they're killing my team. I should go 593 00:39:21,475 --> 00:39:26,155 Speaker 1: to Mexico and smoke myself blind. The things you remember 594 00:39:26,235 --> 00:39:29,715 Speaker 1: at a time of stress and tragedy. In my youthful 595 00:39:29,795 --> 00:39:33,115 Speaker 1: misunderstanding of how these things worked, I found myself coming 596 00:39:33,155 --> 00:39:35,835 Speaker 1: back to the thought that I had somehow failed Thurman 597 00:39:35,915 --> 00:39:38,835 Speaker 1: Mounthson by not telling somebody about that Yankee fear from 598 00:39:38,875 --> 00:39:41,795 Speaker 1: April that he was not as good a pilot as 599 00:39:41,835 --> 00:39:45,675 Speaker 1: he thought he was. Although even then I asked myself, 600 00:39:46,155 --> 00:39:50,755 Speaker 1: who were you going to tell? There are two postscripts 601 00:39:50,755 --> 00:39:53,075 Speaker 1: to my story of the twenty year old me covering 602 00:39:53,075 --> 00:39:56,355 Speaker 1: the night Thurman Mounthson died. Twenty years later, I was 603 00:39:56,395 --> 00:39:58,475 Speaker 1: hosting Baseball's Game of the Week on Fox and I 604 00:39:58,515 --> 00:40:00,715 Speaker 1: asked my producer what we were doing for the months 605 00:40:00,715 --> 00:40:06,195 Speaker 1: in anniversary. He asked what anniversary. He was younger than 606 00:40:06,235 --> 00:40:09,675 Speaker 1: I was. I had to explain it to him. Even then, 607 00:40:10,355 --> 00:40:12,515 Speaker 1: you want to write something we can preproduce, like a 608 00:40:12,675 --> 00:40:16,955 Speaker 1: minute and a half, minute and a half. I did it, 609 00:40:17,515 --> 00:40:19,835 Speaker 1: didn't think much of it. A couple of years later, 610 00:40:19,875 --> 00:40:21,755 Speaker 1: I was one of the public address announcers at Old 611 00:40:21,755 --> 00:40:24,715 Speaker 1: Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium, invited by the PR director 612 00:40:24,795 --> 00:40:29,515 Speaker 1: Rick Serone. Same Rick Serone who in April nineteen seventy 613 00:40:29,595 --> 00:40:31,795 Speaker 1: nine told me about Munthson and the private planes and 614 00:40:31,795 --> 00:40:36,595 Speaker 1: the Yankees spheres. It is a small world. The twenty 615 00:40:36,595 --> 00:40:39,635 Speaker 1: fifth anniversary of Thurman Munson's death was just days away. 616 00:40:39,875 --> 00:40:42,715 Speaker 1: His widow, Diane was there. We had never met. Then 617 00:40:42,715 --> 00:40:44,435 Speaker 1: she saw me on the field and raced up to 618 00:40:44,475 --> 00:40:47,155 Speaker 1: me and hugged me. That piece you did on him 619 00:40:47,595 --> 00:40:49,715 Speaker 1: on the Game of the week. When was it five 620 00:40:49,795 --> 00:40:53,115 Speaker 1: years ago? That was the best memorial I've ever seen 621 00:40:53,275 --> 00:40:58,075 Speaker 1: to Thurman. We both cheered up. I couldn't believe she 622 00:40:58,155 --> 00:41:01,635 Speaker 1: said that I told her about that night in nineteen 623 00:41:01,675 --> 00:41:04,395 Speaker 1: seventy nine, what had had been like for me? I said, 624 00:41:04,835 --> 00:41:07,275 Speaker 1: it was almost insulting to tell her, but I thought 625 00:41:07,275 --> 00:41:10,915 Speaker 1: it was important somehow to share. She hugged me again. 626 00:41:11,115 --> 00:41:15,635 Speaker 1: It was deeply moving and it is still. The other 627 00:41:15,715 --> 00:41:20,075 Speaker 1: PostScript I only learned of last year. Four forever, and 628 00:41:20,155 --> 00:41:22,875 Speaker 1: the coincidence here with my friend and former boss Sam 629 00:41:22,955 --> 00:41:24,595 Speaker 1: Rosen being the Hall of Fame announcer of the New 630 00:41:24,675 --> 00:41:28,795 Speaker 1: York Rangers hockey team is extraordinary. But forever, the reporter 631 00:41:28,915 --> 00:41:31,315 Speaker 1: covering that hockey team, the Rangers, for the newspaper the 632 00:41:31,315 --> 00:41:35,195 Speaker 1: New York Post, has been Larry Brooks. I had forgotten 633 00:41:35,835 --> 00:41:38,395 Speaker 1: until last year that the year that Thurman Munson was killed, 634 00:41:38,475 --> 00:41:41,555 Speaker 1: Larry was a very very young beat reporter covering not 635 00:41:41,795 --> 00:41:45,715 Speaker 1: Rangers hockey but Yankees baseball. And somebody sent me a 636 00:41:45,795 --> 00:41:50,235 Speaker 1: clipping from the New York Post from Saturday July twenty eighth, 637 00:41:50,355 --> 00:41:54,795 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine, five days before Munson's fatal plane crash. 638 00:41:54,875 --> 00:42:01,635 Speaker 1: It is almost beyond belief. Larry Brooks's story began quote, 639 00:42:02,675 --> 00:42:09,475 Speaker 1: reports of Thurman monthson death are exaggerated, at least slightly unquote. 640 00:42:10,355 --> 00:42:13,555 Speaker 1: Of course he was using a metaphor. Munson's knees had 641 00:42:13,555 --> 00:42:16,075 Speaker 1: been giving him trouble, and the manager of the Yankees, 642 00:42:16,115 --> 00:42:18,435 Speaker 1: Billy Martin, was giving him more time off between catching 643 00:42:18,435 --> 00:42:22,475 Speaker 1: assignments than usual. But Larry's story also included an even 644 00:42:22,595 --> 00:42:27,275 Speaker 1: more jaw dropping quote. Asked about the rumors he might 645 00:42:27,355 --> 00:42:30,755 Speaker 1: not catch again this year, Munson said, I don't know 646 00:42:30,795 --> 00:42:34,715 Speaker 1: who started them. It was Martin. Asked after the game 647 00:42:34,795 --> 00:42:41,355 Speaker 1: how his knees felt, he said, quote sore, real sore. Hey, 648 00:42:41,475 --> 00:42:49,835 Speaker 1: you might be seeing my last hurrah ute. Larry says 649 00:42:49,875 --> 00:42:53,675 Speaker 1: that since August second, nineteen seventy nine, forty three years ago, 650 00:42:54,195 --> 00:42:59,995 Speaker 1: that story has haunted him. Now it haunts me, maybe 651 00:43:00,035 --> 00:43:16,195 Speaker 1: it haunts you. I've done all the damage I can 652 00:43:16,235 --> 00:43:18,435 Speaker 1: do here. Thank you for listening. Here are the credits. 653 00:43:18,515 --> 00:43:21,235 Speaker 1: Most of the music was arranged, produced, and performed by 654 00:43:21,235 --> 00:43:24,315 Speaker 1: Brian Ray and John Philip Channel, who are the Countdown 655 00:43:24,395 --> 00:43:28,995 Speaker 1: musical directors. All orchestration and keyboards by John Philip Channel, guitars, 656 00:43:29,035 --> 00:43:32,955 Speaker 1: bass and drums by Brian Ray, produced by t Ko Brothers. 657 00:43:33,395 --> 00:43:36,315 Speaker 1: Other Beethoven selections have been arranged and performed by No 658 00:43:36,475 --> 00:43:39,995 Speaker 1: Horns Allowed. The sports music is the Olberman theme from 659 00:43:40,195 --> 00:43:42,795 Speaker 1: ESPN two. It was written by Mitch Warren Davis Curtisy 660 00:43:42,835 --> 00:43:46,755 Speaker 1: of ESPN, Inc. Musical comments by Nancy Faust, the best 661 00:43:46,755 --> 00:43:50,595 Speaker 1: baseball stadium organist ever. Everything else is pretty much my fault. 662 00:43:51,155 --> 00:43:53,395 Speaker 1: Let's countdown for this the eight hundred and fifth day 663 00:43:53,475 --> 00:43:56,715 Speaker 1: since Donald Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected 664 00:43:56,755 --> 00:43:59,635 Speaker 1: government of the United States. Arrest him now while we 665 00:43:59,675 --> 00:44:03,315 Speaker 1: still can, or if as you listen to this it's 666 00:44:03,355 --> 00:44:07,155 Speaker 1: already happened, rest him again while we still can. The 667 00:44:07,235 --> 00:44:10,115 Speaker 1: next schedule countdown is tomorrow. Until then, I'm Keith ol Reman. 668 00:44:10,195 --> 00:44:21,635 Speaker 1: Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown 669 00:44:21,675 --> 00:44:25,435 Speaker 1: with Keith Olverman is a production of iHeartRadio. For more 670 00:44:25,515 --> 00:44:30,475 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 671 00:44:30,515 --> 00:44:32,355 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.