1 00:00:04,755 --> 00:00:08,995 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:24,075 --> 00:00:28,915 Speaker 1: having spent weeks and months falsely defining countless lgbt Q 3 00:00:29,195 --> 00:00:34,795 Speaker 1: issues as sex crimes against children. Tucker Carlson began his 4 00:00:34,875 --> 00:00:38,555 Speaker 1: Fox News program last night with a pious, almost serious, 5 00:00:39,115 --> 00:00:43,195 Speaker 1: borderline concerned mention of the mass shooting at Club Q 6 00:00:43,395 --> 00:00:46,515 Speaker 1: in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Saturday night on Sunday morning, and 7 00:00:46,555 --> 00:00:50,955 Speaker 1: he said, quote, violence and cruelty should always horrify us. 8 00:00:52,435 --> 00:00:56,875 Speaker 1: That is what Tucker Carlson said last night. On the 9 00:00:56,995 --> 00:01:00,195 Speaker 1: night of September nine, however, Tucker Carlson told his viewers 10 00:01:00,435 --> 00:01:03,475 Speaker 1: to fight back against the l g b t Q community. 11 00:01:03,795 --> 00:01:09,355 Speaker 1: He invoked together drag shows and transgendering and the castration 12 00:01:09,395 --> 00:01:12,795 Speaker 1: of children, and he said, quote, no parents should put 13 00:01:12,875 --> 00:01:16,315 Speaker 1: up with this for one second, no matter what the 14 00:01:16,395 --> 00:01:20,475 Speaker 1: law says. Your duty, your moral duty, is to defend 15 00:01:20,515 --> 00:01:25,715 Speaker 1: your children, unquote, no matter what the law says. This 16 00:01:25,875 --> 00:01:29,155 Speaker 1: was only the starkest of his attempts to instigate violence 17 00:01:29,155 --> 00:01:32,115 Speaker 1: against gays and transgenders, and doctors and schools and teachers, 18 00:01:32,715 --> 00:01:35,595 Speaker 1: the ones he claims are perpetrators of sex crimes. Only 19 00:01:35,635 --> 00:01:40,875 Speaker 1: the starkest of hundreds of such slanderous commentaries because he 20 00:01:40,995 --> 00:01:45,155 Speaker 1: is trying to attract an audience of conspiracy theorists whose bleak, 21 00:01:45,235 --> 00:01:49,715 Speaker 1: distorted world leads them to believe Fox News and to 22 00:01:49,835 --> 00:01:55,555 Speaker 1: believe in cabals, of cannibals and pedophiles, because if they 23 00:01:55,595 --> 00:02:00,515 Speaker 1: watch his show, he makes more money. And Tucker Carlson 24 00:02:00,555 --> 00:02:02,395 Speaker 1: has never spent a moment of his life being concerned 25 00:02:02,435 --> 00:02:04,555 Speaker 1: about actual victims of child abuse, or of any of 26 00:02:04,555 --> 00:02:07,235 Speaker 1: the kind of abuse, or if any victims were indeed 27 00:02:07,275 --> 00:02:10,635 Speaker 1: of anything or anyone except him and how much money 28 00:02:10,715 --> 00:02:15,035 Speaker 1: he can make. Last night, Tucker Carlson identified the real 29 00:02:15,195 --> 00:02:19,315 Speaker 1: victims of Colorado Springs himself and his viewers. He said 30 00:02:19,355 --> 00:02:22,035 Speaker 1: they were all under attacked by those quote who have 31 00:02:22,235 --> 00:02:26,995 Speaker 1: a deeply unhealthy fixation on the sexuality of children, which 32 00:02:27,075 --> 00:02:30,275 Speaker 1: might better describe somebody like Tucker Carlson who goes on 33 00:02:30,355 --> 00:02:34,515 Speaker 1: national television and fixates at least once every week about 34 00:02:35,995 --> 00:02:40,155 Speaker 1: the sexuality of children. Carlson dismissed the assertion that he 35 00:02:40,195 --> 00:02:43,835 Speaker 1: contributed in any way, starcastically, or otherwise to the shootings 36 00:02:43,835 --> 00:02:48,355 Speaker 1: in Colorado Springs and the other assaults on the LGBTQ community, 37 00:02:48,395 --> 00:02:51,315 Speaker 1: and he said it was an excuse to defend that 38 00:02:51,435 --> 00:02:55,915 Speaker 1: quote unhealthy fixation on the sexuality of children, which every 39 00:02:55,915 --> 00:02:58,515 Speaker 1: time Carlson says it, and he says it a lot, 40 00:02:59,035 --> 00:03:01,635 Speaker 1: sounds more and more like a disturbing admission, and suggests 41 00:03:01,635 --> 00:03:05,915 Speaker 1: the authority should be investigating Tucker Carlson. The premise, of course, 42 00:03:06,635 --> 00:03:10,115 Speaker 1: is that a television program like Carlson's, which Carlson and 43 00:03:10,195 --> 00:03:13,475 Speaker 1: his employers, a company called News Corp. As dangerous to 44 00:03:13,555 --> 00:03:18,275 Speaker 1: this country's survival as any terrorist organization, have defended in 45 00:03:18,355 --> 00:03:22,915 Speaker 1: court by saying, nobody should really believe that what Carlson 46 00:03:23,035 --> 00:03:27,315 Speaker 1: is saying on that show is actually true. The premise 47 00:03:27,555 --> 00:03:30,795 Speaker 1: of all of the Tucker Carlson's throughout history is that 48 00:03:30,875 --> 00:03:34,475 Speaker 1: they can't be guilty of indoctrinating people to believe that 49 00:03:34,555 --> 00:03:38,115 Speaker 1: every LGBTQ person or ally, or doctor or teacher is 50 00:03:38,155 --> 00:03:41,795 Speaker 1: a quote groomer. They can't be influencing people in that way, 51 00:03:41,875 --> 00:03:45,315 Speaker 1: as if by remote control to shoot up gay bars 52 00:03:45,355 --> 00:03:48,755 Speaker 1: in Colorado, because television can have that kind of influence 53 00:03:48,795 --> 00:03:52,435 Speaker 1: on people. This is while they are telling you that 54 00:03:52,515 --> 00:03:56,795 Speaker 1: drag queens and teachers and transgendered people, they they are 55 00:03:56,835 --> 00:04:02,235 Speaker 1: the ones who are able to indoctrinate people remotely. Television can't, 56 00:04:02,435 --> 00:04:07,635 Speaker 1: Tucker Carlson can't. A man dressed as Britney Spears can 57 00:04:07,675 --> 00:04:12,155 Speaker 1: indoctrinate children into altering gender. But Tucker Carlson telling the 58 00:04:12,195 --> 00:04:14,755 Speaker 1: people who watch his show, perhaps a total of half 59 00:04:14,755 --> 00:04:17,755 Speaker 1: a billion times a year, that dressing up as Britney 60 00:04:17,755 --> 00:04:23,355 Speaker 1: Spears is a sex crime, he can't indoctrinate anybody. Television 61 00:04:23,395 --> 00:04:28,315 Speaker 1: can't make people do things, and that's why Tucker Carlson's 62 00:04:28,355 --> 00:04:33,515 Speaker 1: ravings are interrupted by commercials from Golden Corral and Bass 63 00:04:33,595 --> 00:04:37,755 Speaker 1: Pro shops and the telecaster of the Soccer World Cup. 64 00:04:37,795 --> 00:04:44,875 Speaker 1: Because television can't make people do things. Maybe Tucker Carlson 65 00:04:44,955 --> 00:04:47,795 Speaker 1: believes that, maybe that is why he doubled down on 66 00:04:47,875 --> 00:04:51,595 Speaker 1: his self martyring victimhood and his attack on the LGBTQ 67 00:04:51,875 --> 00:04:54,555 Speaker 1: community while they are still cleaning up the carnage at 68 00:04:54,555 --> 00:04:58,315 Speaker 1: Club Q. And somebody, somebody out there is planning to 69 00:04:58,355 --> 00:05:02,275 Speaker 1: respond to this intentional hysteria in this nation by attacking 70 00:05:02,475 --> 00:05:05,755 Speaker 1: the next gay or transvestite or transgend entered person he sees. 71 00:05:06,155 --> 00:05:08,315 Speaker 1: And where's that next person easiest to find? If not 72 00:05:08,355 --> 00:05:12,235 Speaker 1: at a public club or parade or other events. I 73 00:05:12,315 --> 00:05:17,475 Speaker 1: worked with Tucker Carlson. To my knowledge, he believes in nothing. 74 00:05:18,475 --> 00:05:23,875 Speaker 1: He has no principles, no scruples, no beliefs, no red line, 75 00:05:24,595 --> 00:05:31,475 Speaker 1: no morals except his desire for money and revenge. He 76 00:05:31,635 --> 00:05:34,595 Speaker 1: was the mainstream Republican willing to share the stage with 77 00:05:34,675 --> 00:05:38,595 Speaker 1: liberals on Crossfire on CNN, and got fired. So then 78 00:05:38,595 --> 00:05:43,475 Speaker 1: he became the reasonable face of deliberate conservatism on MSNBC 79 00:05:43,875 --> 00:05:47,035 Speaker 1: and got fired. So then he was the intellectual far 80 00:05:47,155 --> 00:05:52,115 Speaker 1: right contributor on Fox News and got nowhere. So then 81 00:05:52,115 --> 00:05:54,235 Speaker 1: he turned into a polished version of a q and 82 00:05:54,315 --> 00:05:58,075 Speaker 1: on chat room, selling Trump and replacement theory and transphobia, 83 00:05:58,355 --> 00:06:00,995 Speaker 1: insisting to his audience that no parents should put up 84 00:06:00,995 --> 00:06:03,475 Speaker 1: with this for one second, no matter what the law says. 85 00:06:03,755 --> 00:06:05,355 Speaker 1: And he got his own at Lee show at eight 86 00:06:05,355 --> 00:06:07,755 Speaker 1: pm every night and the top ratings in cable news. 87 00:06:10,395 --> 00:06:12,235 Speaker 1: No parents should put up with this for one second, 88 00:06:12,275 --> 00:06:14,435 Speaker 1: no matter what the law says. That is not his creed, 89 00:06:15,595 --> 00:06:19,315 Speaker 1: that is his brand. He is worse than the creature 90 00:06:19,315 --> 00:06:22,275 Speaker 1: who shot up the club in Colorado. Because Tucker Carlson 91 00:06:22,315 --> 00:06:24,955 Speaker 1: may or may not believe a single word he says. 92 00:06:25,795 --> 00:06:31,915 Speaker 1: He only believes in those words ability to make him money, 93 00:06:32,155 --> 00:06:38,755 Speaker 1: he is a whore, God damn him to hell, and 94 00:06:38,795 --> 00:06:41,315 Speaker 1: would that it were just Tucker Carlson. But it's not. 95 00:06:42,355 --> 00:06:44,715 Speaker 1: Whenever there is a mass shooting and one of us says, 96 00:06:45,075 --> 00:06:49,155 Speaker 1: but guns, the far right always responds, Oh, it's too soon, 97 00:06:49,315 --> 00:06:52,795 Speaker 1: or how dare you politicize death and grief? So thoughts 98 00:06:52,795 --> 00:06:57,435 Speaker 1: and prayers. But if you will notice, after a shooting 99 00:06:57,435 --> 00:07:00,635 Speaker 1: with a clearly defined hate basis, like in Colorado Springs, 100 00:07:00,635 --> 00:07:03,795 Speaker 1: those on the right don't even slow down or say 101 00:07:03,835 --> 00:07:06,795 Speaker 1: it's too soon to I'm back in spew more stochastic 102 00:07:06,915 --> 00:07:10,235 Speaker 1: terrorism into the Swiss cheese minds of their viewers and 103 00:07:10,275 --> 00:07:13,395 Speaker 1: supporters sometimes though they change it up a little bit. 104 00:07:13,915 --> 00:07:17,235 Speaker 1: In the aftermath of the shooting, an interview appeared at 105 00:07:17,235 --> 00:07:22,795 Speaker 1: the news site Semaphore with Mike Pompeo, former Defense secretary, 106 00:07:22,835 --> 00:07:26,835 Speaker 1: former Secretary of State under Trump. Hard to believe, but 107 00:07:26,955 --> 00:07:31,875 Speaker 1: it really happened. They asked Pompeo to identify the central 108 00:07:32,035 --> 00:07:35,075 Speaker 1: issues that any Republican presidential candidate should run on in 109 00:07:36,355 --> 00:07:39,035 Speaker 1: he's trying to be that candidate, and he answered, quote, 110 00:07:39,595 --> 00:07:43,995 Speaker 1: making sure we don't teach our kids crap in schools, 111 00:07:44,035 --> 00:07:48,235 Speaker 1: which we are at the center of doing. Pompeo did 112 00:07:48,275 --> 00:07:52,955 Speaker 1: not specify the crap on the right. Generally, the crap 113 00:07:52,995 --> 00:07:59,075 Speaker 1: includes anything positive about minorities, especially lgbt Q, or anything 114 00:07:59,115 --> 00:08:03,315 Speaker 1: negative about white Americans. Quoting Pompeo again, I get asked, 115 00:08:03,355 --> 00:08:06,035 Speaker 1: who's the most dangerous person in the world. Is it 116 00:08:06,155 --> 00:08:11,035 Speaker 1: Chairman Kim Jong Oon? Is it Sijan Pang? The most 117 00:08:11,075 --> 00:08:17,315 Speaker 1: dangerous person in the world is Randy wine Garden. It's 118 00:08:17,315 --> 00:08:20,235 Speaker 1: not a close call. If you ask who's the most 119 00:08:20,235 --> 00:08:23,515 Speaker 1: likely to take this republic down, it would be the teachers, 120 00:08:23,595 --> 00:08:31,395 Speaker 1: unions and the filth they're teaching our kids. End quote. Firstly, 121 00:08:31,875 --> 00:08:36,235 Speaker 1: that is as dumb a thing as any human being 122 00:08:36,355 --> 00:08:41,755 Speaker 1: over the age of six could say to almost anybody. 123 00:08:42,075 --> 00:08:45,515 Speaker 1: It is literally by itself disqualifying for public office. And 124 00:08:45,595 --> 00:08:49,075 Speaker 1: yet this baboon Pompeo is also the clown who once 125 00:08:49,155 --> 00:08:52,835 Speaker 1: yelled at a reporter do you think Americans care about Ukraine? 126 00:08:53,835 --> 00:08:57,835 Speaker 1: He also insisted there would be a smooth transition in 127 00:08:57,875 --> 00:09:01,995 Speaker 1: November to a second Trump term, and he's running for president. 128 00:09:03,675 --> 00:09:07,515 Speaker 1: But more importantly, it's just the same thing Tucker Carlson 129 00:09:07,595 --> 00:09:12,115 Speaker 1: said is saying, will say with the gun sight, the 130 00:09:12,155 --> 00:09:17,155 Speaker 1: stochastic gun sight moved over slightly to one direction, back 131 00:09:17,195 --> 00:09:23,315 Speaker 1: to invoking words like kids and filth and danger and teaching, 132 00:09:23,955 --> 00:09:26,195 Speaker 1: putting a target now on the head of the American 133 00:09:26,435 --> 00:09:31,355 Speaker 1: Federation of Teachers Chief and of every teacher in this country, 134 00:09:31,515 --> 00:09:34,595 Speaker 1: men and women who have for generations in this country, 135 00:09:34,635 --> 00:09:38,515 Speaker 1: for centuries in this country, been underpaid, even the ones 136 00:09:38,555 --> 00:09:42,915 Speaker 1: in the religious indoctrination schools are underpaid. Teachers who for 137 00:09:42,955 --> 00:09:44,675 Speaker 1: the last two years have had to try to do 138 00:09:44,755 --> 00:09:47,515 Speaker 1: their jobs for no money, in the middle of a pandemic, 139 00:09:47,555 --> 00:09:51,875 Speaker 1: with the lives of kids literally in their hands because 140 00:09:51,875 --> 00:09:55,435 Speaker 1: of school shooters and disease, or the futures of kids, 141 00:09:55,435 --> 00:09:59,435 Speaker 1: still their responsibilities, though they are miles away and interconnected 142 00:09:59,435 --> 00:10:04,875 Speaker 1: only by computer screens, the filth they're teaching our kids. 143 00:10:07,435 --> 00:10:10,835 Speaker 1: Mike Pompeo, you are a braver man than I am. 144 00:10:10,875 --> 00:10:13,915 Speaker 1: If I had said that about teachers, I would have 145 00:10:14,035 --> 00:10:20,915 Speaker 1: disappeared from this country before morning, because the teachers now 146 00:10:20,955 --> 00:10:26,195 Speaker 1: are the next targets. That means, when something happens, Mike 147 00:10:26,235 --> 00:10:30,595 Speaker 1: Pompeo can dismiss the idea that his words could possibly 148 00:10:30,595 --> 00:10:35,595 Speaker 1: have contributed to it. Of course not. I couldn't indoctrinate 149 00:10:35,635 --> 00:10:40,595 Speaker 1: the stupid people of this country. And he will say 150 00:10:40,595 --> 00:10:44,035 Speaker 1: that while somebody is working on his next Mike Pompeo 151 00:10:44,195 --> 00:10:48,795 Speaker 1: campaign ad to run on television, even though Tucker Carlson 152 00:10:48,835 --> 00:10:53,075 Speaker 1: has reassured us that words on television cannot possibly actually 153 00:10:53,235 --> 00:10:57,475 Speaker 1: influence anybody to do something they wouldn't otherwise do. As 154 00:10:57,515 --> 00:11:15,875 Speaker 1: Tucker Carlson throws to a commercial for Tommy Coppery still ahead, 155 00:11:15,915 --> 00:11:19,475 Speaker 1: Bob Iger returns to run Disney, meaning I can return 156 00:11:19,515 --> 00:11:24,035 Speaker 1: to the advice he gave me in March nine, and 157 00:11:24,155 --> 00:11:27,235 Speaker 1: it's still the best advice I have ever gotten in 158 00:11:27,315 --> 00:11:32,435 Speaker 1: my life. Courage and cowardice. At Soccer's World Cup, Iran's 159 00:11:32,475 --> 00:11:35,915 Speaker 1: players protest by refusing to sing their national anthem, but 160 00:11:36,035 --> 00:11:40,075 Speaker 1: the captains of six European squads give in to the 161 00:11:40,115 --> 00:11:44,715 Speaker 1: homophobic hosts in Qatar. And this day used to be 162 00:11:44,755 --> 00:11:47,315 Speaker 1: as mournful and reflective a day as there was on 163 00:11:47,355 --> 00:11:52,275 Speaker 1: the American calendar, a day everybody knew the anniversary of 164 00:11:52,315 --> 00:11:55,915 Speaker 1: the assassination of President Kennedy. I am just old enough 165 00:11:55,955 --> 00:11:58,355 Speaker 1: to be able to remember what us four and five 166 00:11:58,435 --> 00:12:03,275 Speaker 1: year olds that day I thought was happening fifty nine 167 00:12:03,355 --> 00:12:07,555 Speaker 1: years ago. This after noon, that's next. This is Countdown 168 00:12:13,835 --> 00:12:21,155 Speaker 1: is five four, three to one. This is Countdown with 169 00:12:21,355 --> 00:12:27,995 Speaker 1: Keith Openman still ahead on Countdown. It's fifty nine years 170 00:12:28,075 --> 00:12:32,315 Speaker 1: now since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Back then, 171 00:12:32,515 --> 00:12:34,955 Speaker 1: US kids knew something was wrong. We couldn't be sure 172 00:12:35,035 --> 00:12:39,595 Speaker 1: what because there were no cartoons on TV and all 173 00:12:39,635 --> 00:12:42,355 Speaker 1: the adults were crying the story of that awful day 174 00:12:42,395 --> 00:12:44,675 Speaker 1: coming up first. In each edition of Countdown, we feature 175 00:12:44,675 --> 00:12:46,555 Speaker 1: a dog in need you can help. Every dog has 176 00:12:46,555 --> 00:12:50,555 Speaker 1: its day. Let me repeat Elaine Boosler's wonderful offer about 177 00:12:50,555 --> 00:12:53,555 Speaker 1: the kill list at the New York Pound here and 178 00:12:53,635 --> 00:12:55,835 Speaker 1: ask if there's somebody who can do something very special 179 00:12:56,155 --> 00:12:59,155 Speaker 1: from her charity Tales of Joy. Elaine says, anybody who 180 00:12:59,155 --> 00:13:01,875 Speaker 1: adopts a dog from the New York shelter on the 181 00:13:01,955 --> 00:13:04,915 Speaker 1: kill list gets a year's worth of food and GILR 182 00:13:04,995 --> 00:13:08,915 Speaker 1: vet care and other supplies. We have two beautiful bonded 183 00:13:08,955 --> 00:13:11,315 Speaker 1: dogs whom they are ready to kill. They are both 184 00:13:11,395 --> 00:13:14,995 Speaker 1: on that list. Cottage is the girl, Chef is the boy. 185 00:13:15,395 --> 00:13:17,995 Speaker 1: They are big shepherd mixes and they will need work 186 00:13:18,035 --> 00:13:21,155 Speaker 1: and training, but half their problems will be alleviated the 187 00:13:21,155 --> 00:13:24,795 Speaker 1: moment they get out of prison. And your big expenses 188 00:13:24,795 --> 00:13:27,235 Speaker 1: will be covered by Elane. Look for them on my 189 00:13:27,315 --> 00:13:30,475 Speaker 1: Twitter feed for dogs in need at Tom Jumbo Grumbo, 190 00:13:30,955 --> 00:13:46,155 Speaker 1: I thank you, and cottage and Chef thank you. Poscripts 191 00:13:46,195 --> 00:13:49,515 Speaker 1: to the news some headlines, some updates, some snarks, some predictions. 192 00:13:49,595 --> 00:13:53,315 Speaker 1: Date line Louisville. No change in the James Comer scandal. 193 00:13:53,355 --> 00:13:55,955 Speaker 1: He is the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee 194 00:13:56,115 --> 00:13:58,995 Speaker 1: and has promised investigations of Joe and Hunter Biden, but 195 00:13:59,035 --> 00:14:01,675 Speaker 1: will not comment on whether or not he will investigate 196 00:14:01,715 --> 00:14:05,115 Speaker 1: the claims of his college girlfriend, Maryland tom Us that 197 00:14:05,235 --> 00:14:08,035 Speaker 1: he beat her, threatened her life, and tried to cover 198 00:14:08,115 --> 00:14:11,555 Speaker 1: up his own role in aborting their child by trying 199 00:14:11,555 --> 00:14:13,595 Speaker 1: to force her to not use his name on the 200 00:14:13,635 --> 00:14:18,155 Speaker 1: paperwork Stateline, Los Angeles. Two years after retiring, the retired 201 00:14:18,195 --> 00:14:22,315 Speaker 1: Disney chairman Bob Iger did a Jay leno and replaced 202 00:14:22,315 --> 00:14:25,835 Speaker 1: the man who replaced him, Bob Japeck. Rumors swirl Iger 203 00:14:25,955 --> 00:14:30,275 Speaker 1: may spin off ESPN or buy Netflix or both. The 204 00:14:30,595 --> 00:14:33,515 Speaker 1: ESPN thing is ironic, as you will hear shortly, because 205 00:14:33,515 --> 00:14:35,515 Speaker 1: I wanted to mention that Bob Iger gave me the 206 00:14:35,595 --> 00:14:39,075 Speaker 1: single best piece of advice I have ever received. He 207 00:14:39,115 --> 00:14:41,595 Speaker 1: gave it to me in nineteen seventy nine, and nobody 208 00:14:41,635 --> 00:14:44,115 Speaker 1: has topped it that I have passed it along to 209 00:14:44,195 --> 00:14:47,635 Speaker 1: others at least a thousand times. When I was a 210 00:14:47,755 --> 00:14:50,475 Speaker 1: senior in college, people I had worked with at my 211 00:14:50,555 --> 00:14:53,435 Speaker 1: internship at Channel five in New York sent me to 212 00:14:53,475 --> 00:14:56,395 Speaker 1: see him for job getting advice. He was then the 213 00:14:56,475 --> 00:14:59,075 Speaker 1: husband of one of the news assignment editors at the station, 214 00:14:59,515 --> 00:15:02,235 Speaker 1: and he was a vice president of ABC's Wide World 215 00:15:02,235 --> 00:15:05,515 Speaker 1: of Sports program. Plus he had gone to Ithaca College 216 00:15:05,515 --> 00:15:08,075 Speaker 1: and I was at Cornell, so there was the upstate 217 00:15:08,115 --> 00:15:12,635 Speaker 1: New York geography thing. Bob recounted that while he was 218 00:15:12,675 --> 00:15:15,715 Speaker 1: in school, he had freelanced as a television sportscaster in 219 00:15:15,715 --> 00:15:19,195 Speaker 1: the area, and that was his career goal. He said 220 00:15:19,195 --> 00:15:21,955 Speaker 1: that as he graduated, he was offered two jobs. One 221 00:15:22,035 --> 00:15:24,875 Speaker 1: was as a sportscaster on the weekends at Channel five 222 00:15:24,955 --> 00:15:28,595 Speaker 1: in Syracuse for ten thousand dollars a year. The other, 223 00:15:29,075 --> 00:15:32,955 Speaker 1: after his internship there, was as production assistant at Wide 224 00:15:32,955 --> 00:15:36,835 Speaker 1: World of Sports for ten thousand, five hundred dollars a year. 225 00:15:37,515 --> 00:15:40,195 Speaker 1: Tiger told me he thought long and hard about this 226 00:15:40,275 --> 00:15:44,075 Speaker 1: decision and decided on the Wide World of Sports job 227 00:15:44,155 --> 00:15:46,715 Speaker 1: because one it was in New York and not Syracuse, 228 00:15:47,475 --> 00:15:51,235 Speaker 1: and he was from New York, and to five dollars 229 00:15:51,275 --> 00:15:54,555 Speaker 1: was a lot of money in ninety three and three. 230 00:15:54,675 --> 00:15:57,555 Speaker 1: He figured once he established himself, he could move laterally 231 00:15:57,595 --> 00:16:00,955 Speaker 1: from being a producer or similar to being on the air. 232 00:16:01,715 --> 00:16:04,115 Speaker 1: In fact, Bob told me when I met him a 233 00:16:04,195 --> 00:16:09,715 Speaker 1: scant forty four years ago, next Fair March, oh my goodness, 234 00:16:09,755 --> 00:16:12,315 Speaker 1: because I had been on TV so much, he said. 235 00:16:12,355 --> 00:16:15,075 Speaker 1: I was soon promoted a chief production assistant, then to 236 00:16:15,155 --> 00:16:18,395 Speaker 1: associate producer. Then they found out I'd take an economics 237 00:16:18,395 --> 00:16:20,675 Speaker 1: classes at Ithaca College, and somebody asked if I could 238 00:16:20,675 --> 00:16:22,915 Speaker 1: help out with the budgets. Next thing I know, I'm 239 00:16:23,035 --> 00:16:26,195 Speaker 1: vice president of budgeting for Wide World of Sports. I 240 00:16:26,315 --> 00:16:29,475 Speaker 1: still want to be a sportscaster, but it's six years later, 241 00:16:29,515 --> 00:16:31,435 Speaker 1: and if I want to do it, I still have 242 00:16:31,475 --> 00:16:34,235 Speaker 1: to go to Syracuse, where they are now paying eleven 243 00:16:34,275 --> 00:16:36,475 Speaker 1: thousand a year. But I have a wife and a 244 00:16:36,555 --> 00:16:38,395 Speaker 1: child now to take care of, and the job i'd 245 00:16:38,435 --> 00:16:40,595 Speaker 1: have to quit here at ABC pays me six figures. 246 00:16:40,715 --> 00:16:43,435 Speaker 1: So here's my advice to you. If you want to 247 00:16:43,515 --> 00:16:47,595 Speaker 1: be on the air, be on the air. Don't take 248 00:16:47,635 --> 00:16:49,795 Speaker 1: some other kind of job in radio or TV just 249 00:16:49,835 --> 00:16:51,915 Speaker 1: because it pays better, or you can live in New 250 00:16:51,995 --> 00:16:55,635 Speaker 1: York or live with your parents be on the air. 251 00:16:56,675 --> 00:17:16,435 Speaker 1: Tremendous advice. Good luck, Bob. This is Sports Center. Wait 252 00:17:16,635 --> 00:17:24,595 Speaker 1: check that not anymore. This is countdown with Keith in 253 00:17:24,835 --> 00:17:27,835 Speaker 1: sports Day three of the World Cup. Dawns and temporary 254 00:17:27,875 --> 00:17:30,435 Speaker 1: soccer fans here can probably put away the words pitch, 255 00:17:31,035 --> 00:17:34,915 Speaker 1: nil and kit for another few years, as the joke goes. 256 00:17:34,995 --> 00:17:39,315 Speaker 1: The US lost to Wales one to one. Wales is 257 00:17:39,355 --> 00:17:42,715 Speaker 1: the size of Iowa. More importantly, two days in Qatar, 258 00:17:42,795 --> 00:17:45,155 Speaker 1: and the thing is already a train wreck. The members 259 00:17:45,195 --> 00:17:47,955 Speaker 1: of the Iranian team took the field against England yesterday 260 00:17:47,955 --> 00:17:51,155 Speaker 1: and when Iran's national anthem played, the players did not 261 00:17:51,395 --> 00:17:54,555 Speaker 1: sing it. They had done this before in September, before 262 00:17:54,595 --> 00:17:57,275 Speaker 1: the protests in their homeland turned to cute and the 263 00:17:57,315 --> 00:18:02,875 Speaker 1: dictatorship's reactions savage and bestial. Iranian players risked everything by 264 00:18:02,915 --> 00:18:05,955 Speaker 1: not seeing their anthem at the World Up. On the 265 00:18:06,035 --> 00:18:10,275 Speaker 1: other hand, the captains of England, the Welsh, Belgium, Denmark, 266 00:18:10,435 --> 00:18:13,115 Speaker 1: Germany and the Dutch were going to wear anti discrimination 267 00:18:13,235 --> 00:18:16,355 Speaker 1: arm bands in their opening World Cup games. Simple bright 268 00:18:16,395 --> 00:18:21,275 Speaker 1: bands on one sleeve saying one Love. Just before play began, 269 00:18:21,475 --> 00:18:26,795 Speaker 1: FIFA soccer's international governing body, Open Seven for Bribes, warned 270 00:18:26,835 --> 00:18:29,075 Speaker 1: that any player wearing the arm band would be given 271 00:18:29,075 --> 00:18:31,795 Speaker 1: a yellow card by the referee. It would be considered 272 00:18:31,795 --> 00:18:34,915 Speaker 1: a violation not of tournament rules, which would lead to 273 00:18:34,955 --> 00:18:38,075 Speaker 1: a fine, but of game rules, which would lead to 274 00:18:38,115 --> 00:18:42,515 Speaker 1: a punishment to yellow cards. And you are ejected here 275 00:18:42,635 --> 00:18:44,795 Speaker 1: you would get one for just wearing this arm band. 276 00:18:45,235 --> 00:18:49,875 Speaker 1: The six captains and their countries promptly chickened out because 277 00:18:49,875 --> 00:18:53,835 Speaker 1: they're losers. The Iranians put their lives at risk for 278 00:18:53,915 --> 00:18:57,075 Speaker 1: what mattered to them, but the captains of six liberal 279 00:18:57,115 --> 00:19:01,235 Speaker 1: democracies immediately folded, giving way to the homophobia written into 280 00:19:01,275 --> 00:19:04,395 Speaker 1: the laws of the host country, Qatar, which should not 281 00:19:04,475 --> 00:19:06,995 Speaker 1: be the host country of this or anything else. They 282 00:19:07,035 --> 00:19:10,195 Speaker 1: did so instead of saying something like, oh, no arm bands, 283 00:19:10,715 --> 00:19:14,355 Speaker 1: then we're not playing the game. Only England came out 284 00:19:14,355 --> 00:19:17,275 Speaker 1: of all this with even a measure of self respect. Intact. 285 00:19:17,515 --> 00:19:20,235 Speaker 1: Alex Scott, a former member of the English women's national 286 00:19:20,235 --> 00:19:22,115 Speaker 1: team who was now part of the announcing crew for 287 00:19:22,155 --> 00:19:26,835 Speaker 1: the BBC war The One Love arm Band Anyway Live 288 00:19:27,355 --> 00:19:32,355 Speaker 1: on TV from the sidelines Also in sports, yesterday, Baseball's 289 00:19:32,355 --> 00:19:34,515 Speaker 1: Hall of Fame ballot was announced. There is only one 290 00:19:34,595 --> 00:19:39,275 Speaker 1: serious candidate among fourteen newly eligible X players, or there 291 00:19:39,315 --> 00:19:43,075 Speaker 1: would be, but he is Carlos Beltron, whose career wins 292 00:19:43,115 --> 00:19:46,795 Speaker 1: above replacement total puts him in the Gary Carter, Larry Walker, 293 00:19:46,875 --> 00:19:50,875 Speaker 1: John Smoltz range. But Beltron was so heavily implicated in 294 00:19:50,875 --> 00:19:54,555 Speaker 1: the Houston Astros signed stealing scandal in two thousand seventeen 295 00:19:54,595 --> 00:19:57,315 Speaker 1: that when it hit, he was fired by the New 296 00:19:57,395 --> 00:20:01,155 Speaker 1: York Mets, who had just hired him as manager. This 297 00:20:01,195 --> 00:20:03,995 Speaker 1: would usually leave the field clear for holdovers, but the 298 00:20:04,075 --> 00:20:07,235 Speaker 1: only series also rans there last year did not seem 299 00:20:07,275 --> 00:20:10,755 Speaker 1: to be on trajectories for election. Scott Roland, the third baseman, 300 00:20:10,795 --> 00:20:13,275 Speaker 1: Billy Wagner, the relief picture, Todd Hilton, the slugging of 301 00:20:13,435 --> 00:20:16,435 Speaker 1: first baseman of the Rockies. I think Roland is a 302 00:20:16,475 --> 00:20:19,795 Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, Maybe Wagner. I will never have a vote. 303 00:20:20,195 --> 00:20:22,155 Speaker 1: Other newcomers on the ballot this year are a fan 304 00:20:22,195 --> 00:20:26,955 Speaker 1: favorites like Jason Worth, Bronson Arroyo, Matt Caine, and Jacoby Ellsbury. 305 00:20:26,995 --> 00:20:29,155 Speaker 1: And after fifty six seasons as a fan, I am 306 00:20:29,195 --> 00:20:33,275 Speaker 1: beginning to think my baseball affection is slipping. I could 307 00:20:33,275 --> 00:20:35,435 Speaker 1: have sworn until I read that he's now on the 308 00:20:35,435 --> 00:20:38,435 Speaker 1: Hall of Fame ballot, that Jacoby Ellsbury was still on 309 00:20:38,475 --> 00:20:42,915 Speaker 1: the roster of the New York Yankees on the injured list. 310 00:20:51,195 --> 00:20:53,595 Speaker 1: I had there is a date somewhere in our history. 311 00:20:53,635 --> 00:20:56,795 Speaker 1: Everybody born before that date knows what today is. The 312 00:20:56,835 --> 00:21:00,995 Speaker 1: anniversary of everybody after it might or might be reminded 313 00:21:01,035 --> 00:21:04,235 Speaker 1: of it, or might never understand it. I am just 314 00:21:04,395 --> 00:21:06,195 Speaker 1: old enough to be able to tell you what we 315 00:21:06,475 --> 00:21:12,275 Speaker 1: kids thought fifty nine years ago today when JFK was assassinated. Next, first, 316 00:21:12,275 --> 00:21:14,595 Speaker 1: the daily roundup of the miscrants, morons and donning cruder 317 00:21:14,635 --> 00:21:18,755 Speaker 1: effect specimens who constitute today's worst persons in the world. 318 00:21:19,875 --> 00:21:24,635 Speaker 1: The Bronze CNN Stephen Collinson, identified as a senior political 319 00:21:24,675 --> 00:21:27,355 Speaker 1: reporter there and clearly out to prove both sides is 320 00:21:27,395 --> 00:21:30,515 Speaker 1: um is in charge in the paste eating world of 321 00:21:30,595 --> 00:21:34,475 Speaker 1: New Boss Chris licked the headline on Collinson's piece on 322 00:21:34,515 --> 00:21:38,755 Speaker 1: the CNN website, quote dueling probes into Trump and Biden 323 00:21:38,795 --> 00:21:43,275 Speaker 1: could define the four campaign thirty two paragraphs of this 324 00:21:43,475 --> 00:21:47,555 Speaker 1: crap quote, A storm of investigations targeting leaders of both 325 00:21:47,555 --> 00:21:52,395 Speaker 1: political parties will shape the campaign, but risks angering voters 326 00:21:52,715 --> 00:21:56,115 Speaker 1: who just showed their frustration with the priorities being ignored. 327 00:21:58,035 --> 00:22:01,315 Speaker 1: Thirty two paragraphs, which equate the appointment of a special 328 00:22:01,355 --> 00:22:06,075 Speaker 1: counsel to decide about prosecuting Trump for mishandling documents or 329 00:22:06,235 --> 00:22:10,235 Speaker 1: espionage or treason or inciting the January six coup attempt. 330 00:22:11,115 --> 00:22:14,475 Speaker 1: And that's the same as Kevin McCarthy's appointment of committee 331 00:22:14,475 --> 00:22:17,395 Speaker 1: heads to investigate Joe Biden in order to generate SoundBite, 332 00:22:17,395 --> 00:22:21,155 Speaker 1: s fort Fox News. Not one word about the impact 333 00:22:21,155 --> 00:22:25,395 Speaker 1: of either of the quote dueling probes on you know, 334 00:22:26,075 --> 00:22:29,555 Speaker 1: the future of representative government in this country. Hey, Licht, 335 00:22:29,835 --> 00:22:34,075 Speaker 1: this Collinson guy, he's a keeper. You can have an 336 00:22:34,075 --> 00:22:37,955 Speaker 1: anchor at nine runner up another old friends, Saysar Conde, 337 00:22:38,075 --> 00:22:42,835 Speaker 1: chairman of NBC News. The Daily Beasts Confider media newsletter 338 00:22:42,875 --> 00:22:46,795 Speaker 1: reports quote a crisis of confidence at thirty Rock with 339 00:22:46,875 --> 00:22:50,835 Speaker 1: two causes. First one hired in Conde pledge to have 340 00:22:50,835 --> 00:22:53,915 Speaker 1: a fift diverse workforce, Yet in the last month he 341 00:22:53,915 --> 00:22:57,435 Speaker 1: has abruptly fired an African American anchor, Tiffany Cross of 342 00:22:57,515 --> 00:23:02,435 Speaker 1: MSNBC and an lgbt Q anchor, Shepherd Smith of CNBC 343 00:23:03,235 --> 00:23:07,115 Speaker 1: the Second Cause, quoting Confider. Another bone of contention has 344 00:23:07,115 --> 00:23:10,595 Speaker 1: been Conde's decision to pay Rachel Maadow thirty million dollars 345 00:23:10,595 --> 00:23:13,715 Speaker 1: to work less, a move that the staffers said had 346 00:23:13,755 --> 00:23:17,555 Speaker 1: been particularly galling at a time when many NBC employees 347 00:23:17,675 --> 00:23:22,075 Speaker 1: enter the holidays fearing they'll soon face layoffs. How could 348 00:23:22,075 --> 00:23:24,955 Speaker 1: you have a crisis of confidence in Caesar Conde? You 349 00:23:25,075 --> 00:23:28,235 Speaker 1: had confidence in him in the first place. But our winner, 350 00:23:28,315 --> 00:23:32,275 Speaker 1: Kaylee mcinaney a Fox nudes. Yes, that's right. I've completed 351 00:23:32,315 --> 00:23:36,635 Speaker 1: the cable news hat trick, CNN, n MAC and now Fox. 352 00:23:37,235 --> 00:23:40,155 Speaker 1: The Fascist channel has yet to launch its annual telethon 353 00:23:40,195 --> 00:23:42,755 Speaker 1: against the War on Christmas because it is yet to 354 00:23:42,795 --> 00:23:46,235 Speaker 1: finish its new telethon against the War on Thanksgiving. It's 355 00:23:46,275 --> 00:23:50,275 Speaker 1: Monday edition of Outnumbered, who was devoted to attacking the 356 00:23:50,275 --> 00:23:56,515 Speaker 1: actor John Leguizamo for tweeting Happy Indigenous Survivor's Day f Thanksgiving. 357 00:23:57,715 --> 00:24:01,835 Speaker 1: Kaylee Mcinaney's contribution to this she described Leguizamo as quote 358 00:24:02,075 --> 00:24:06,315 Speaker 1: a man named John whose name I cannot pronounce us. Hey, Kaylee, 359 00:24:06,355 --> 00:24:08,235 Speaker 1: we all saw you when you were Trump's White House 360 00:24:08,235 --> 00:24:15,835 Speaker 1: propaganda secretary. All names are names. You cannot pronounce Kaylee mcinnati, 361 00:24:16,515 --> 00:24:22,795 Speaker 1: or is Joe Rogan called her Kaylee McKenney today's worst person? 362 00:24:23,915 --> 00:24:27,555 Speaker 1: How did you pronounce this next word in the world? 363 00:24:28,675 --> 00:24:40,075 Speaker 1: Uh to the number one story on the countdown and 364 00:24:40,115 --> 00:24:43,435 Speaker 1: things I promised not to tell. And I am probably 365 00:24:43,515 --> 00:24:46,835 Speaker 1: one of the youngest people you know who has a 366 00:24:46,915 --> 00:24:52,635 Speaker 1: distinct memory of the Kennedy assassination. On this sad anniversary. 367 00:24:52,715 --> 00:24:55,555 Speaker 1: Understand how old this memory is. Me telling it to 368 00:24:55,675 --> 00:24:58,475 Speaker 1: you now is the equivalent of somebody on that day 369 00:24:58,475 --> 00:25:03,035 Speaker 1: fifty nine years ago, November twenty, nineteen sixty three telling 370 00:25:03,075 --> 00:25:06,795 Speaker 1: me of his childhood memory is of the nineteen o 371 00:25:07,115 --> 00:25:11,395 Speaker 1: four election, or somebody in nineteen five going on about 372 00:25:11,395 --> 00:25:14,515 Speaker 1: the Civil War, or more appropriately, the day Lincoln was shot. 373 00:25:15,595 --> 00:25:18,235 Speaker 1: On November twenty, nineteen sixty three, I was two months 374 00:25:18,275 --> 00:25:20,995 Speaker 1: and five days shy of my fifth birthday. I was 375 00:25:21,035 --> 00:25:24,395 Speaker 1: in kindergarten and we finished every Friday around noon, and 376 00:25:24,435 --> 00:25:26,035 Speaker 1: I was already home and in my room. And the 377 00:25:26,075 --> 00:25:29,275 Speaker 1: reason I can see it so distinctly is that just 378 00:25:29,435 --> 00:25:33,315 Speaker 1: weeks before, my folks had bought a new television black 379 00:25:33,355 --> 00:25:36,395 Speaker 1: and white, of course, crystal clear picture, or so we thought, 380 00:25:36,835 --> 00:25:38,715 Speaker 1: and it was the first new one they had bought 381 00:25:38,875 --> 00:25:43,395 Speaker 1: in eight years. And they took the old television, a 382 00:25:43,475 --> 00:25:47,115 Speaker 1: gigantic thing that required its own rolling stand, and had 383 00:25:47,115 --> 00:25:49,475 Speaker 1: a speaker the size and the tan color of a 384 00:25:49,555 --> 00:25:52,115 Speaker 1: high fire record player, and had the giant rabbit ear 385 00:25:52,155 --> 00:25:56,795 Speaker 1: antennas that you hear about in satires these days. And 386 00:25:56,835 --> 00:25:59,035 Speaker 1: they rolled that thing into my room and set it 387 00:25:59,115 --> 00:26:02,555 Speaker 1: up speaking of rabbits under my giant bugs bunny wall clock, 388 00:26:02,635 --> 00:26:05,395 Speaker 1: with the ears pointing to all the characters in the cartoons. 389 00:26:06,635 --> 00:26:09,795 Speaker 1: I was in my room watching cartoons, luxuriating in my 390 00:26:09,915 --> 00:26:14,275 Speaker 1: newfound television ownership. No other kid I knew had their 391 00:26:14,315 --> 00:26:18,115 Speaker 1: own TV. And my mother was out in our tiny 392 00:26:18,235 --> 00:26:20,675 Speaker 1: living room in our tiny house in Hastings on Hudson, 393 00:26:20,715 --> 00:26:23,595 Speaker 1: New York, when I heard her shout. Now, not long 394 00:26:23,635 --> 00:26:25,875 Speaker 1: after I heard the phone ring. It was in the kitchen, 395 00:26:25,915 --> 00:26:27,995 Speaker 1: the phone, and it had a chord so long that 396 00:26:28,075 --> 00:26:30,675 Speaker 1: it could stretch into the living room. And it was 397 00:26:30,715 --> 00:26:33,115 Speaker 1: quickly apparent that if my mother was not crying, she 398 00:26:33,195 --> 00:26:36,515 Speaker 1: seemed about to. I came out and stood next to her, 399 00:26:36,555 --> 00:26:38,315 Speaker 1: and she said, your father wants you to go in 400 00:26:38,355 --> 00:26:41,355 Speaker 1: the room and close the door and watch the cartoons. 401 00:26:41,515 --> 00:26:45,955 Speaker 1: He will be home soon. This made no sense. I 402 00:26:46,075 --> 00:26:48,795 Speaker 1: was a kid, I was not an idiot. I was 403 00:26:48,875 --> 00:26:52,275 Speaker 1: still aware of time. It was the middle of the afternoon, 404 00:26:52,315 --> 00:26:54,035 Speaker 1: and Dad would not be home on the train from 405 00:26:54,035 --> 00:26:57,235 Speaker 1: New York before six, at least he wasn't supposed to be. 406 00:26:58,035 --> 00:27:00,155 Speaker 1: But I went back into my room. I did not 407 00:27:00,275 --> 00:27:03,635 Speaker 1: fully close the door because I was something of a sneak, 408 00:27:03,995 --> 00:27:06,075 Speaker 1: and soon I heard my mother tell my father to 409 00:27:06,075 --> 00:27:08,515 Speaker 1: be careful and hurry back home. The next thing I 410 00:27:08,515 --> 00:27:10,675 Speaker 1: heard was her back in the kitchen dialing the phone. 411 00:27:10,675 --> 00:27:13,875 Speaker 1: And these were the days of the rotary phones, where 412 00:27:13,955 --> 00:27:16,075 Speaker 1: if you had to dial the number nine, it took 413 00:27:16,115 --> 00:27:19,915 Speaker 1: several seconds to move the rotary dial clockwise and even 414 00:27:19,955 --> 00:27:23,795 Speaker 1: longer for it to rebound to the starting point counterclockwise. 415 00:27:24,515 --> 00:27:27,075 Speaker 1: And each time you did this it made so much noise. 416 00:27:27,115 --> 00:27:29,595 Speaker 1: It sounded like somebody trying to start the electric lawnmower 417 00:27:30,195 --> 00:27:34,635 Speaker 1: or maybe a prop plane. Given enough quiet on the street, 418 00:27:34,635 --> 00:27:37,995 Speaker 1: you could hear it from outside. Well, that noise gave 419 00:27:38,035 --> 00:27:40,275 Speaker 1: me cover to sneak back into the hallway about halfway 420 00:27:40,315 --> 00:27:42,595 Speaker 1: between my room and the living room, and I heard 421 00:27:42,595 --> 00:27:45,435 Speaker 1: my mother saying, my god, Barbara, did you see Kennedy 422 00:27:45,435 --> 00:27:48,435 Speaker 1: has been shot. What's going to happen next? It was 423 00:27:48,475 --> 00:27:51,355 Speaker 1: her sister in law, my uncle Bill's wife, Barbara. Barbara 424 00:27:51,435 --> 00:27:54,235 Speaker 1: and Bill lived in Connecticut at that time. This was 425 00:27:54,275 --> 00:27:57,635 Speaker 1: a long distance call. I am not sure if they 426 00:27:57,675 --> 00:28:00,715 Speaker 1: got off the phone before my dad got home more 427 00:28:00,755 --> 00:28:04,075 Speaker 1: than an hour later. I am confident my mother told 428 00:28:04,115 --> 00:28:07,715 Speaker 1: Aunt Barbara that she heard Walter Cronkite say three men 429 00:28:07,755 --> 00:28:11,395 Speaker 1: shot Kennedy, and she would insist that for the rest 430 00:28:11,435 --> 00:28:14,475 Speaker 1: of her life. Now I went back to my room 431 00:28:14,515 --> 00:28:16,995 Speaker 1: and started changing the channel. Another feat of strength. In 432 00:28:17,075 --> 00:28:22,035 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three, unity literally changed the dial. I settled 433 00:28:22,075 --> 00:28:25,435 Speaker 1: on Channel two and Yes, at age four, I occasionally 434 00:28:25,475 --> 00:28:27,915 Speaker 1: watched the news. I certainly had an idea who the 435 00:28:27,915 --> 00:28:30,395 Speaker 1: president was and who John F. Kennedy was, And although 436 00:28:30,675 --> 00:28:32,795 Speaker 1: it is lodged in my memory that fifty nine years 437 00:28:32,795 --> 00:28:35,595 Speaker 1: ago today, I was not sure that they were one 438 00:28:35,635 --> 00:28:39,755 Speaker 1: in the same person. But what I could tell was 439 00:28:39,795 --> 00:28:42,795 Speaker 1: that either Kennedy or the President, or both of them, 440 00:28:42,955 --> 00:28:45,755 Speaker 1: or they were the same person had been shot in 441 00:28:45,835 --> 00:28:49,635 Speaker 1: some place called Dallas. I didn't know what the president 442 00:28:49,715 --> 00:28:52,715 Speaker 1: did per se, but I had figured out a lot earlier, 443 00:28:52,755 --> 00:28:54,835 Speaker 1: mostly because of the coverage of John Glenn and the 444 00:28:54,875 --> 00:28:57,715 Speaker 1: other early astronauts that anything on television that wasn't a 445 00:28:57,755 --> 00:29:01,955 Speaker 1: cartoon or a comedy or a western, or a ball 446 00:29:01,995 --> 00:29:04,355 Speaker 1: game or a thing with doctors, or something designed to 447 00:29:04,395 --> 00:29:06,435 Speaker 1: scare the crap out of me, like the Twilight Zone 448 00:29:06,515 --> 00:29:10,675 Speaker 1: or the Outer Limits, anything but that was necessarily important, 449 00:29:11,115 --> 00:29:15,595 Speaker 1: often very important. The rest of that day is largely 450 00:29:15,635 --> 00:29:19,715 Speaker 1: a blank, except for dinner. I ate my parents did not. 451 00:29:20,555 --> 00:29:22,555 Speaker 1: I have some memory of them putting me to bed 452 00:29:22,675 --> 00:29:25,715 Speaker 1: impossibly early for a Friday night, with the excuse being 453 00:29:25,755 --> 00:29:27,755 Speaker 1: that we were going to see the Carls the next 454 00:29:27,875 --> 00:29:31,395 Speaker 1: day in New Jersey. The Carl's were friends of my folks. 455 00:29:31,435 --> 00:29:33,635 Speaker 1: I think my mother knew her from a bank she 456 00:29:33,675 --> 00:29:36,795 Speaker 1: had worked at. They lived in Westfield, New Jersey, an 457 00:29:36,795 --> 00:29:39,515 Speaker 1: hour away across the George Washington Bridge and everything, and 458 00:29:39,555 --> 00:29:42,835 Speaker 1: maybe every three or four weeks or so, either we 459 00:29:42,875 --> 00:29:44,595 Speaker 1: would go see them or they would come see us, 460 00:29:44,595 --> 00:29:47,835 Speaker 1: and our trip had long since been planned. The Carl's 461 00:29:47,875 --> 00:29:50,235 Speaker 1: had two boys, one a couple of years older than me, 462 00:29:50,315 --> 00:29:53,475 Speaker 1: one just slightly younger. I can remember the trip only 463 00:29:53,515 --> 00:29:56,395 Speaker 1: because one of my joys at the age of four 464 00:29:56,555 --> 00:29:59,515 Speaker 1: and five was looking for all the different kinds of cars, 465 00:30:00,675 --> 00:30:04,315 Speaker 1: and on that Saturday I was sorely disappointed. There weren't 466 00:30:04,355 --> 00:30:09,555 Speaker 1: any cars. The roads were deserted. First, my folks didn't 467 00:30:09,555 --> 00:30:12,475 Speaker 1: eat today, they didn't talk. And now there was nobody 468 00:30:12,515 --> 00:30:15,955 Speaker 1: on the streets or the parkways or the bridge. Something 469 00:30:17,035 --> 00:30:20,755 Speaker 1: was really wrong. We got to the Carl's faster than 470 00:30:20,755 --> 00:30:24,075 Speaker 1: I could recall ever having done so. Ordinarily, Mr Carl 471 00:30:24,115 --> 00:30:26,155 Speaker 1: loved quiz me about the cars I had seen, but 472 00:30:26,235 --> 00:30:29,275 Speaker 1: on that Saturday and he and his wife simply said 473 00:30:29,275 --> 00:30:31,715 Speaker 1: a quick hello to me, and then their boys and 474 00:30:31,755 --> 00:30:33,995 Speaker 1: I were rushed into their room, and for all I know, 475 00:30:34,075 --> 00:30:37,315 Speaker 1: they locked us in. I last saw these two guys 476 00:30:37,315 --> 00:30:40,595 Speaker 1: around nine. Their dad was in the petroleum industry, and 477 00:30:40,595 --> 00:30:42,995 Speaker 1: they had lived in Venezuela, and I think they went 478 00:30:43,035 --> 00:30:45,555 Speaker 1: back there, so forgive me, I don't remember their names. 479 00:30:47,235 --> 00:30:49,915 Speaker 1: But as soon as Mrs Carl slammed their door shut, 480 00:30:49,955 --> 00:30:51,955 Speaker 1: the older one said to me, all right, what's wrong 481 00:30:51,995 --> 00:30:54,835 Speaker 1: with the grown ups? Why are they all crying? I 482 00:30:54,835 --> 00:30:57,115 Speaker 1: remember telling them that Kennedy had been shot, and I 483 00:30:57,115 --> 00:31:00,755 Speaker 1: thought Kennedy was the president, and the older one gulped 484 00:31:00,795 --> 00:31:04,555 Speaker 1: and asked, shot with a gun? We put on the 485 00:31:04,675 --> 00:31:07,035 Speaker 1: ancient black and white TV and went looking for something 486 00:31:07,075 --> 00:31:10,235 Speaker 1: to watch, and there was nothing on except men sitting 487 00:31:10,235 --> 00:31:13,115 Speaker 1: at desks looking ashen, even on the black and white 488 00:31:13,115 --> 00:31:17,195 Speaker 1: TVs of nineteen But I'm confident we did not realize 489 00:31:17,235 --> 00:31:20,155 Speaker 1: that they were talking about Kennedy and the assassination. We 490 00:31:20,275 --> 00:31:22,875 Speaker 1: just knew they were not supposed to be there on 491 00:31:23,035 --> 00:31:29,115 Speaker 1: our TVs. Saturday morning belonged to kids. On a Saturday morning, 492 00:31:29,155 --> 00:31:31,955 Speaker 1: the only two of the seven New York television stations 493 00:31:32,795 --> 00:31:36,075 Speaker 1: would not ordinarily be wall to wall with cartoons until 494 00:31:36,115 --> 00:31:39,435 Speaker 1: eleven AM or noon or later. One was the educational station, 495 00:31:39,515 --> 00:31:42,315 Speaker 1: Channel thirteen. The other was Channel five, and they had 496 00:31:42,315 --> 00:31:45,555 Speaker 1: a kid's show with a live studio audience full of 497 00:31:45,635 --> 00:31:48,715 Speaker 1: kids and games and clowns and whatever. On the others, 498 00:31:49,475 --> 00:31:52,675 Speaker 1: we could rely on quick Draw McGraw and bugs and 499 00:31:52,715 --> 00:31:55,035 Speaker 1: the like. But on this Saturday morning, they were playing 500 00:31:55,035 --> 00:31:57,715 Speaker 1: what sounded like church music, and the only thing they 501 00:31:57,715 --> 00:32:00,075 Speaker 1: displayed was their channel number and the call letters of 502 00:32:00,115 --> 00:32:04,555 Speaker 1: the station. Maybe they ran out of cartoons, said the 503 00:32:04,755 --> 00:32:08,115 Speaker 1: younger of the Karl brothers. Even at age four, I 504 00:32:08,195 --> 00:32:12,035 Speaker 1: understood television better than I did. Assassinations. They don't run out, 505 00:32:12,355 --> 00:32:14,595 Speaker 1: I said, They just play the same ones. Over and 506 00:32:14,675 --> 00:32:18,595 Speaker 1: over again, haven't you noticed? It amazed me that he 507 00:32:18,635 --> 00:32:21,115 Speaker 1: hadn't noticed, And it was at this point that I 508 00:32:21,155 --> 00:32:24,355 Speaker 1: began to really worry about what was happening. Any time 509 00:32:24,435 --> 00:32:26,875 Speaker 1: one of us left the brother's room to use the bathroom, 510 00:32:26,875 --> 00:32:29,275 Speaker 1: the adults who had stopped talking, they were stopping in 511 00:32:29,435 --> 00:32:32,715 Speaker 1: mid word. I Meanwhile, the three of us kids had 512 00:32:32,755 --> 00:32:35,515 Speaker 1: played every board game the brothers had, and the older 513 00:32:35,555 --> 00:32:37,475 Speaker 1: of them asked their parents to let us go outside 514 00:32:37,475 --> 00:32:40,155 Speaker 1: and play, and he came back shaken because they had said, no, 515 00:32:41,475 --> 00:32:43,835 Speaker 1: they always want us out of the house. What's wrong? 516 00:32:46,595 --> 00:32:48,755 Speaker 1: On the way home to Hastings and I think we 517 00:32:48,835 --> 00:32:50,995 Speaker 1: had been there long enough that it was getting dark already, 518 00:32:50,995 --> 00:32:54,275 Speaker 1: my parents finally filled me in at some point later 519 00:32:54,315 --> 00:32:56,595 Speaker 1: before I went to college. I remember asking my mother 520 00:32:56,675 --> 00:32:59,715 Speaker 1: what she told me and when, and she said they 521 00:32:59,715 --> 00:33:02,115 Speaker 1: had waited until the second day because they believed there 522 00:33:02,155 --> 00:33:04,395 Speaker 1: was a chance Kennedy had been killed by the Russians 523 00:33:04,995 --> 00:33:07,835 Speaker 1: and that there would be a war. And remember we 524 00:33:07,915 --> 00:33:12,195 Speaker 1: had almost had a war, almost a nuclear war, thirteen 525 00:33:12,275 --> 00:33:15,995 Speaker 1: months earlier that I have no memory of. I guessed 526 00:33:16,755 --> 00:33:18,435 Speaker 1: that it was easier to tell me in the car 527 00:33:18,555 --> 00:33:20,475 Speaker 1: because they didn't have to hide their faces from me 528 00:33:20,515 --> 00:33:24,955 Speaker 1: so I would not see if they were crying. My 529 00:33:25,035 --> 00:33:27,195 Speaker 1: mother did say she was amazed that I had figured 530 00:33:27,195 --> 00:33:29,275 Speaker 1: out what had happened, and that it had shocked all 531 00:33:29,275 --> 00:33:31,635 Speaker 1: the adults without really understanding what any of it meant. 532 00:33:32,315 --> 00:33:34,275 Speaker 1: She thought, by Saturday evening it was pretty clear the 533 00:33:34,355 --> 00:33:37,315 Speaker 1: Russians had not killed President Kennedy, and as bad as 534 00:33:37,355 --> 00:33:39,115 Speaker 1: it was, it was not going to get worse, so 535 00:33:39,155 --> 00:33:41,755 Speaker 1: they might as well tell me what I could understand, 536 00:33:41,795 --> 00:33:43,315 Speaker 1: and they decided it was safe enough to let me 537 00:33:43,355 --> 00:33:47,195 Speaker 1: go outside and play again. This, my mom was pretty confident, 538 00:33:47,235 --> 00:33:49,835 Speaker 1: meant that I was sitting there with them on Sunday, 539 00:33:50,115 --> 00:33:53,875 Speaker 1: probably over lunch, when Lee Harvey Oswald was himself assassinated 540 00:33:53,875 --> 00:33:57,955 Speaker 1: on live television. I think she's right. I recall them 541 00:33:58,035 --> 00:34:01,475 Speaker 1: changing the channel away from CBS, which they rarely did, 542 00:34:01,995 --> 00:34:04,835 Speaker 1: for once because they had just started to run some 543 00:34:04,915 --> 00:34:08,555 Speaker 1: sort of report from Roger Mud. My folks could not 544 00:34:08,595 --> 00:34:13,595 Speaker 1: abide Roger Mud no offense, they just couldn't. Only ABC 545 00:34:13,795 --> 00:34:17,715 Speaker 1: and NBC showed the murder of Oswald live. I'd love 546 00:34:17,755 --> 00:34:20,435 Speaker 1: to recount my reaction or my folks. I can't remember it. 547 00:34:22,235 --> 00:34:24,555 Speaker 1: I also have no idea what happened in school that 548 00:34:24,635 --> 00:34:27,435 Speaker 1: following short week. It was Thanksgiving coming up, and for 549 00:34:27,475 --> 00:34:29,995 Speaker 1: all I know, they canceled the three days worth of classes. 550 00:34:30,595 --> 00:34:33,035 Speaker 1: I do remember that as the shock of the assassination 551 00:34:33,115 --> 00:34:37,315 Speaker 1: wore off, my father was angry about something comparatively trivial. 552 00:34:37,355 --> 00:34:40,315 Speaker 1: He had, for the first time in his life as 553 00:34:40,315 --> 00:34:45,675 Speaker 1: a native New Yorker, got an actual reserved bleacher seats 554 00:34:46,395 --> 00:34:50,795 Speaker 1: for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Thirty four years He 555 00:34:50,835 --> 00:34:54,475 Speaker 1: had waited for this, but now it was obvious that 556 00:34:54,515 --> 00:34:56,715 Speaker 1: there were only two choices. Either they would cancel the 557 00:34:56,755 --> 00:34:59,275 Speaker 1: parade outright, or they would make it the briefest, grimmest 558 00:34:59,315 --> 00:35:01,755 Speaker 1: parade in New York City history. They chose the latter. 559 00:35:02,515 --> 00:35:05,035 Speaker 1: My memory is that my dad took me, but my 560 00:35:05,115 --> 00:35:08,755 Speaker 1: mom stayed home. Our location was at Broadway and around 561 00:35:08,755 --> 00:35:10,795 Speaker 1: fiftieth Straight, and I asked my dad what all the 562 00:35:10,835 --> 00:35:13,395 Speaker 1: black stuff was on a couple of the buildings. It 563 00:35:13,475 --> 00:35:16,715 Speaker 1: was morning crepe. Some of the buildings were adorned with 564 00:35:16,835 --> 00:35:20,115 Speaker 1: black morning crepe, as if we were there for Kennedy's 565 00:35:20,115 --> 00:35:24,835 Speaker 1: funeral procession, not the ceremonial first seasonal appearance of Santa Claus. 566 00:35:25,795 --> 00:35:28,595 Speaker 1: At one point, a group marched by with a huge 567 00:35:28,715 --> 00:35:33,755 Speaker 1: American flag wrapped in morning crepe, bigger than the flags themselves. 568 00:35:35,515 --> 00:35:37,875 Speaker 1: A year ago I found the box of slides that 569 00:35:37,995 --> 00:35:41,315 Speaker 1: my dad and inveterate photographer took of that parade. It 570 00:35:41,435 --> 00:35:44,195 Speaker 1: is amazing that the sense of shock at of people 571 00:35:44,275 --> 00:35:47,515 Speaker 1: pretending to be happy to be at a parade is 572 00:35:47,555 --> 00:35:51,595 Speaker 1: either retained by the images from that November or it 573 00:35:51,675 --> 00:35:55,275 Speaker 1: sparks my own emotional memories of the weird, disturbing experience. 574 00:35:56,115 --> 00:36:00,635 Speaker 1: There were the traditional Thanksgiving balloons. By the time Donald 575 00:36:00,755 --> 00:36:03,355 Speaker 1: Duck got to us, he was losing air rapidly, had 576 00:36:03,355 --> 00:36:06,555 Speaker 1: gotten punctured. How if you want a metaphor for November 577 00:36:06,635 --> 00:36:10,755 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three, there were bands, There was Santa and 578 00:36:10,795 --> 00:36:13,355 Speaker 1: it was warm. It was sixty degrees. Coats were open, 579 00:36:13,435 --> 00:36:15,515 Speaker 1: hats were off. But more than anything else, it was 580 00:36:15,635 --> 00:36:21,795 Speaker 1: almost silent. You could hear kids throughout, the younger, the louder, 581 00:36:22,995 --> 00:36:24,675 Speaker 1: but you could hear them from the other side of 582 00:36:24,675 --> 00:36:26,995 Speaker 1: the parade. It was as if you went to a 583 00:36:27,035 --> 00:36:32,115 Speaker 1: ballgame and the public address system didn't work. It's actually 584 00:36:32,155 --> 00:36:36,195 Speaker 1: quite a relief. For the first few minutes, I am 585 00:36:36,235 --> 00:36:38,995 Speaker 1: convinced I could hear the shoes of the band members 586 00:36:39,355 --> 00:36:44,155 Speaker 1: hit the pavement as they walked past me. There is 587 00:36:44,195 --> 00:36:46,995 Speaker 1: only one other thing from my childhood about the Kennedy 588 00:36:47,035 --> 00:36:50,195 Speaker 1: assassination that I remember carrying the kind of shock like 589 00:36:50,275 --> 00:36:53,115 Speaker 1: those first few days of observing all the disoriented and 590 00:36:53,235 --> 00:36:58,195 Speaker 1: as my friend in Jersey noted, crying adults in nineteen 591 00:36:58,515 --> 00:37:02,275 Speaker 1: seventy might have been seventy one, but I'm pretty sure 592 00:37:02,275 --> 00:37:04,555 Speaker 1: it was nineteen seventy. When I was in the eighth grade, 593 00:37:05,315 --> 00:37:08,515 Speaker 1: all of our classes were canceled late one morning and 594 00:37:08,595 --> 00:37:11,355 Speaker 1: we were gathered in the school chapel for a special assembly. 595 00:37:12,035 --> 00:37:15,075 Speaker 1: We had a lot of assemblies there, but never as 596 00:37:15,155 --> 00:37:18,795 Speaker 1: late as eleven am. Some guy came in, and I 597 00:37:18,835 --> 00:37:21,315 Speaker 1: have thought and asked and researched and have figured out 598 00:37:21,355 --> 00:37:24,555 Speaker 1: nothing about who he was. But he had a copy 599 00:37:24,635 --> 00:37:27,635 Speaker 1: of something almost none of us, and by us, I 600 00:37:27,715 --> 00:37:32,235 Speaker 1: mean Americans of vent had ever seen before. It had 601 00:37:32,275 --> 00:37:36,275 Speaker 1: been on television local television a couple of times, but 602 00:37:36,315 --> 00:37:39,235 Speaker 1: it would not be shown on national television in whole 603 00:37:39,835 --> 00:37:46,995 Speaker 1: for another five years. The speaker called it the Zapruder film, 604 00:37:47,035 --> 00:37:50,435 Speaker 1: and as much other assorted film from that day as 605 00:37:50,475 --> 00:37:54,475 Speaker 1: any JFK documentary I saw before I was an adult. 606 00:37:57,035 --> 00:38:00,275 Speaker 1: He showed that too, And while I do not remember 607 00:38:00,355 --> 00:38:02,915 Speaker 1: him espousing any of the conspiracy theories that by then 608 00:38:02,915 --> 00:38:05,635 Speaker 1: had become a constant in our country, that might be 609 00:38:05,635 --> 00:38:09,075 Speaker 1: because he showed us the Repruter film the way Kevin 610 00:38:09,115 --> 00:38:12,715 Speaker 1: Costner showed it in the Oliver Stone film JFK. We 611 00:38:12,795 --> 00:38:16,755 Speaker 1: must have seen the fatal shots twenty times, at every 612 00:38:16,795 --> 00:38:21,555 Speaker 1: speed slower than real time. I think we were all 613 00:38:21,675 --> 00:38:26,155 Speaker 1: ordered back into our respective history classes, where shocked students 614 00:38:26,875 --> 00:38:30,515 Speaker 1: listen to even more shocked teachers, and we asked the 615 00:38:30,555 --> 00:38:33,995 Speaker 1: same questions the Carls and I did on November three? 616 00:38:37,635 --> 00:38:52,955 Speaker 1: What's wrong with the grown ups? I've done all the 617 00:38:52,995 --> 00:38:55,355 Speaker 1: damage I can do here. Thank you for listening. If 618 00:38:55,355 --> 00:38:58,035 Speaker 1: you're not following or subscribed or whatever to the podcast, 619 00:38:58,035 --> 00:39:00,195 Speaker 1: please do so and stop a passer by in the 620 00:39:00,235 --> 00:39:03,195 Speaker 1: street and get them too as well. Here are our credits. 621 00:39:03,235 --> 00:39:05,715 Speaker 1: Most of the music, including our theme here from Beethoven's 622 00:39:05,755 --> 00:39:08,675 Speaker 1: Ninth Arrange, produced and performed by Brian Ray and John 623 00:39:08,675 --> 00:39:12,715 Speaker 1: Philip Shanelle The Countdown musical directors, All orchestration and keyboards 624 00:39:12,715 --> 00:39:15,555 Speaker 1: by John Philip s Chanelle, guitarist Bassed and drums by 625 00:39:15,555 --> 00:39:18,955 Speaker 1: Brian Ray. Produced by t k O Brothers. Other Beethoven 626 00:39:18,995 --> 00:39:21,795 Speaker 1: selections have been arranged and performed by No Horns Allowed. 627 00:39:22,195 --> 00:39:24,955 Speaker 1: The sports music is the Olderman theme from ESPN two. 628 00:39:25,475 --> 00:39:28,475 Speaker 1: It was written by Mitch Warren Davis courtesy of ESPN, Inc. 629 00:39:29,075 --> 00:39:32,995 Speaker 1: Musical comments by Nancy Faust. The best baseball stadium organist ever. 630 00:39:33,355 --> 00:39:36,435 Speaker 1: Our announcer today was Stevie Van's Aunt, and everything else 631 00:39:36,515 --> 00:39:38,835 Speaker 1: is pretty much my fault. So let's countdown for this, 632 00:39:38,875 --> 00:39:42,475 Speaker 1: the six eighty six day since Donald Trump's first attempted 633 00:39:42,515 --> 00:39:45,155 Speaker 1: coup against the democratically elected government of the United States. 634 00:39:45,395 --> 00:39:48,075 Speaker 1: Arrest him now while we still can. There'll be a 635 00:39:48,075 --> 00:39:51,355 Speaker 1: new episode tomorrow. Until then, I'm Keith Olderman. Good morning, 636 00:39:51,355 --> 00:39:59,755 Speaker 1: good afternoon, good night, and good luck. Countdown with Keith 637 00:39:59,795 --> 00:40:03,035 Speaker 1: Olderman is a production of I heart Radio. For more 638 00:40:03,155 --> 00:40:05,515 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart rate, do you visit the I 639 00:40:05,635 --> 00:40:09,995 Speaker 1: heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.