1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:22,075 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. Joe Biden, 2 00:00:22,355 --> 00:00:26,115 Speaker 1: five points behind Trump in the Fox News poll in March, 3 00:00:26,675 --> 00:00:30,235 Speaker 1: is now two points ahead of Trump in the Fox 4 00:00:30,275 --> 00:00:34,435 Speaker 1: News poll in June. A top Midwestern political reporter says 5 00:00:34,475 --> 00:00:37,395 Speaker 1: the Trump campaign is now warning local media that it 6 00:00:37,435 --> 00:00:41,475 Speaker 1: will vet all questions for Trump at the Republican Convention 7 00:00:41,595 --> 00:00:45,475 Speaker 1: and only give access to Trump to those local outlets 8 00:00:45,475 --> 00:00:48,835 Speaker 1: whose questions have been approved in advance and one week 9 00:00:48,875 --> 00:00:52,195 Speaker 1: before the debate, As rumors continue to swirl that Trump 10 00:00:52,235 --> 00:00:54,675 Speaker 1: will back out as soon as he can find some 11 00:00:54,755 --> 00:00:57,355 Speaker 1: way to blame it on Biden. It is not only 12 00:00:57,395 --> 00:01:00,155 Speaker 1: a certainty now that Robert Kennedy Junior will not be 13 00:01:00,275 --> 00:01:02,635 Speaker 1: at the debate, but it's beginning to look like he 14 00:01:02,795 --> 00:01:06,915 Speaker 1: is on far fewer state ballots than his campaign has 15 00:01:06,955 --> 00:01:10,795 Speaker 1: been claiming. The Fox polling first, Trump has led the 16 00:01:10,835 --> 00:01:15,395 Speaker 1: Fox Beacon Shaw poll every month since October. He was 17 00:01:15,435 --> 00:01:18,715 Speaker 1: still ahead last month by a point. Trump also led 18 00:01:18,755 --> 00:01:21,435 Speaker 1: Biden in the five candidate version of the Fox poll 19 00:01:21,515 --> 00:01:24,595 Speaker 1: by five points in March, by six points last November, 20 00:01:24,795 --> 00:01:28,435 Speaker 1: and Biden is now also ahead in that crowded field 21 00:01:28,635 --> 00:01:33,395 Speaker 1: by one point. There are three remarkable internal numbers doesn't 22 00:01:33,435 --> 00:01:36,195 Speaker 1: sound like much, but Fox says thirty two percent of 23 00:01:36,235 --> 00:01:40,475 Speaker 1: its respondents now believe the economy is in excellent or 24 00:01:40,555 --> 00:01:43,875 Speaker 1: good shape, and that is the high water mark for 25 00:01:43,955 --> 00:01:48,475 Speaker 1: the entire Biden presidency. Fox also says voter confidence in 26 00:01:48,555 --> 00:01:52,835 Speaker 1: Biden on the economy has swung wildly towards the president. 27 00:01:53,235 --> 00:01:56,595 Speaker 1: They favor Trump by five points on the issue, but 28 00:01:56,835 --> 00:02:01,115 Speaker 1: last month they favored Trump over Biden by thirteen points. 29 00:02:01,715 --> 00:02:06,515 Speaker 1: And Fox's poll also suggests that seventy three percent of 30 00:02:06,635 --> 00:02:11,515 Speaker 1: Black voters support Biden. Fox notes, I'll say that again. 31 00:02:11,875 --> 00:02:15,595 Speaker 1: Fox notes that at this point in twenty twenty, their 32 00:02:15,715 --> 00:02:18,995 Speaker 1: poll said he had the support of seventy nine percent 33 00:02:18,995 --> 00:02:23,435 Speaker 1: of black voters and wound up hugely overperforming in that number, 34 00:02:23,635 --> 00:02:29,355 Speaker 1: getting ninety one percent of the actual votes. So Fox 35 00:02:29,395 --> 00:02:33,635 Speaker 1: says Biden has a slim lead over Trump among registered voters, 36 00:02:33,635 --> 00:02:36,395 Speaker 1: and within that a three point swing in one month, 37 00:02:36,635 --> 00:02:39,875 Speaker 1: a seven point swing in three months. He has an 38 00:02:39,915 --> 00:02:43,035 Speaker 1: eight point swing towards Biden on the economy, and he 39 00:02:43,075 --> 00:02:46,955 Speaker 1: has the highest approval on the economy he has ever had. 40 00:02:48,195 --> 00:02:52,835 Speaker 1: So what is the headline sitting atop the Fox News 41 00:02:52,995 --> 00:02:57,875 Speaker 1: website story about the Fox News poll now showing Biden 42 00:02:57,955 --> 00:03:04,515 Speaker 1: ahead of Trump and surging. Quote Fox News poll Biden 43 00:03:04,715 --> 00:03:12,235 Speaker 1: Trump matchup tilts toward one candidate. If their viewers and 44 00:03:12,355 --> 00:03:16,075 Speaker 1: readers go to their homepage and they do not click through, 45 00:03:16,595 --> 00:03:20,195 Speaker 1: they will assume Trump is surging in the polls, when 46 00:03:20,195 --> 00:03:25,035 Speaker 1: in fact his support is ebbing away. Yes, it sure 47 00:03:25,075 --> 00:03:27,875 Speaker 1: looks like the scene in Citizen Kane where Orson Wells 48 00:03:27,915 --> 00:03:30,595 Speaker 1: loses the election and they have to choose which banner 49 00:03:30,675 --> 00:03:33,235 Speaker 1: headlined to print on his newspaper, and they go with 50 00:03:33,675 --> 00:03:38,515 Speaker 1: fraud at polls. But contrary to the other meme, you 51 00:03:38,675 --> 00:03:41,955 Speaker 1: do have to give them credit. Fox is corrupt as hell, 52 00:03:42,395 --> 00:03:45,635 Speaker 1: but they are really good at it. And as a 53 00:03:45,715 --> 00:03:49,475 Speaker 1: PostScript to this, that seven point three months swaying to 54 00:03:49,555 --> 00:03:55,875 Speaker 1: Biden represents perfect timing in one respect. Axios has now 55 00:03:55,915 --> 00:04:01,595 Speaker 1: published this headline one Big Thing DEM's Fear Biden Loss 56 00:04:02,115 --> 00:04:06,155 Speaker 1: over a piece insisting Biden is losing in every poll 57 00:04:06,555 --> 00:04:10,075 Speaker 1: and has made no progress in any poll, and it 58 00:04:10,155 --> 00:04:13,555 Speaker 1: trashes everything about the Biden campaign. And it quotes yet 59 00:04:13,595 --> 00:04:18,355 Speaker 1: another disaffected semi conservative ex Democrat you were not sure 60 00:04:18,475 --> 00:04:21,555 Speaker 1: was still alive, named Howard Wolfson, saying if the election 61 00:04:21,675 --> 00:04:25,195 Speaker 1: were today, Biden would lose it, saying that Biden learned 62 00:04:25,235 --> 00:04:27,715 Speaker 1: the wrong lessons about twenty twenty and twenty twenty two, 63 00:04:28,035 --> 00:04:30,955 Speaker 1: and is mistaken in hitting Trump on his convictions and 64 00:04:31,035 --> 00:04:34,915 Speaker 1: his dictatorship. Says Biden only won in twenty twenty because 65 00:04:34,915 --> 00:04:41,195 Speaker 1: Democrats coalesced to stave off Bernie Sanders, and the Axio 66 00:04:41,395 --> 00:04:46,635 Speaker 1: story includes the phrase quote many senior Democrats, including some 67 00:04:46,755 --> 00:04:51,195 Speaker 1: of President Biden's aides, doubt his theory for victory, which 68 00:04:51,275 --> 00:04:56,315 Speaker 1: relies on voter fears about January sixth, political violence, democracy, 69 00:04:56,675 --> 00:05:01,315 Speaker 1: and Donald Trump's character. And yet the Axios piece never 70 00:05:01,355 --> 00:05:07,075 Speaker 1: actually says on what Biden should be running instead. And 71 00:05:07,235 --> 00:05:10,755 Speaker 1: that's just the worst of the kind of peace that 72 00:05:10,875 --> 00:05:14,155 Speaker 1: looks like it should have been narrated by a shivalant 73 00:05:14,315 --> 00:05:19,675 Speaker 1: Sean Hannity. It gets posted, it's their lead story, and 74 00:05:19,915 --> 00:05:24,675 Speaker 1: hours later outcomes of Fox poll showing Biden ahead and 75 00:05:24,715 --> 00:05:29,555 Speaker 1: surging and even surging on the economy a week before 76 00:05:29,675 --> 00:05:37,555 Speaker 1: the first debate, and there's more signs of Trump panic 77 00:05:38,115 --> 00:05:43,675 Speaker 1: trading interview access to Trump in exchange for letting the 78 00:05:43,715 --> 00:05:49,595 Speaker 1: campaign vet your questions to Trump ask a question about, 79 00:05:49,635 --> 00:05:53,675 Speaker 1: of all things, the twenty twenty election and you're gone. Yes. 80 00:05:53,995 --> 00:05:57,915 Speaker 1: According to the political editor of the NBC television affiliate 81 00:05:57,955 --> 00:06:02,795 Speaker 1: in Saint Louis, Mark Maxwell of Channel five KSDK, this 82 00:06:02,835 --> 00:06:06,035 Speaker 1: is not some local liberal. This is a standard, play 83 00:06:06,075 --> 00:06:10,035 Speaker 1: it straight local TV politics specialist. And what he said 84 00:06:10,155 --> 00:06:13,435 Speaker 1: in an interview with Heartland Signal and It's radio station 85 00:06:13,635 --> 00:06:18,195 Speaker 1: WCPO that they released viraly yesterday is probably not as 86 00:06:18,195 --> 00:06:20,995 Speaker 1: shocking as it should be, given the fact that Trump 87 00:06:21,035 --> 00:06:24,595 Speaker 1: has corrupted everything he's come close to, except perhaps the 88 00:06:24,715 --> 00:06:28,755 Speaker 1: Visiting Nurse Association. It's not as shocking as it should 89 00:06:28,835 --> 00:06:32,235 Speaker 1: be to hear this, but it's still pretty shocking. 90 00:06:32,395 --> 00:06:34,195 Speaker 2: I planned to cover them were public a national convenition, 91 00:06:34,355 --> 00:06:37,235 Speaker 2: Democratic national convention this summer. I have been hearing from 92 00:06:37,235 --> 00:06:38,955 Speaker 2: some of my friends in local media who are also 93 00:06:38,995 --> 00:06:41,515 Speaker 2: planning to be there from across the country that the 94 00:06:41,555 --> 00:06:44,795 Speaker 2: Trump campaign is already trying to vet their questions, and 95 00:06:44,795 --> 00:06:47,195 Speaker 2: they're saying, look, if you play nice, will might give 96 00:06:47,235 --> 00:06:49,435 Speaker 2: you some airtime. You'll feel real important. You can talk 97 00:06:49,475 --> 00:06:51,315 Speaker 2: to the former president and put them on your airwaves. 98 00:06:51,635 --> 00:06:54,115 Speaker 2: But if you ask about the twenty twenty election, you're out. 99 00:06:54,235 --> 00:06:57,195 Speaker 2: People that I'm hearing from are saying, like, well, that's bogus. 100 00:06:57,275 --> 00:06:58,635 Speaker 2: We're not going to play ball like that. I mean, 101 00:06:58,635 --> 00:07:00,915 Speaker 2: it's not how this works. You don't get to screen 102 00:07:00,955 --> 00:07:05,195 Speaker 2: our questions. But for as much as a bluster about 103 00:07:05,195 --> 00:07:08,195 Speaker 2: twenty twenty being stolen all this, there're very sentence to us. 104 00:07:08,195 --> 00:07:12,155 Speaker 1: You don't like the conflict, Mark Maxwell, KSDK Saint Louis. 105 00:07:12,355 --> 00:07:15,515 Speaker 1: Why would they try to stop people from asking Trump 106 00:07:15,555 --> 00:07:19,835 Speaker 1: about the twenty twenty election, Because when Trump is talking 107 00:07:19,875 --> 00:07:23,155 Speaker 1: about the twenty twenty election, he is not talking about 108 00:07:23,515 --> 00:07:26,395 Speaker 1: the economy, And going back to that Fox poll, his 109 00:07:26,555 --> 00:07:30,995 Speaker 1: trust lead over Biden on the economy just dropped about 110 00:07:31,075 --> 00:07:34,555 Speaker 1: sixty percent in one month. And when Trump is talking 111 00:07:34,555 --> 00:07:37,195 Speaker 1: about the twenty twenty election, he is not talking about immigration, 112 00:07:37,435 --> 00:07:39,835 Speaker 1: And again going back to the Fox pole, his trust 113 00:07:39,955 --> 00:07:43,795 Speaker 1: lead over Biden on immigration dropped from thirteen points to 114 00:07:44,035 --> 00:07:48,155 Speaker 1: nine points in one month. And the same Trump campaign 115 00:07:48,275 --> 00:07:52,475 Speaker 1: bosses who Rick Wilson said day before yesterday are telling 116 00:07:52,555 --> 00:07:56,275 Speaker 1: journalists off the record they can't control their candidate anymore. 117 00:07:56,515 --> 00:08:00,275 Speaker 1: Are convinced that his edge is on the economy and 118 00:08:00,435 --> 00:08:05,315 Speaker 1: on immigration, and he's pissing it away talking about the 119 00:08:05,355 --> 00:08:09,955 Speaker 1: wrong election. Here, of course, is one other large reason 120 00:08:10,355 --> 00:08:13,955 Speaker 1: they don't want Trump talking about twenty twenty to local 121 00:08:13,995 --> 00:08:18,715 Speaker 1: TV reporters or anybody else, because when he does, he 122 00:08:19,035 --> 00:08:25,995 Speaker 1: sounds even more crazy than usual. Ramin Setuda, the author 123 00:08:26,035 --> 00:08:28,915 Speaker 1: of the new book on The Apprentice, with even more 124 00:08:29,595 --> 00:08:33,675 Speaker 1: jaw droppers from his six different interviews with Trump, like 125 00:08:33,915 --> 00:08:38,955 Speaker 1: how he confidently told me that Joan Rivers voted for 126 00:08:39,035 --> 00:08:44,515 Speaker 1: him when he ran for president. Joan Rivers died on 127 00:08:44,595 --> 00:08:49,555 Speaker 1: September fourth, twenty fourteen. And if, like me, you were 128 00:08:49,555 --> 00:08:54,235 Speaker 1: thinking maybe maybe she voted for him in a primary 129 00:08:54,595 --> 00:08:58,235 Speaker 1: in twenty eleven, twenty twelve, didn't he start to run 130 00:08:58,275 --> 00:09:01,635 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eleven, twenty twelve, Trump pulled out 131 00:09:01,675 --> 00:09:06,035 Speaker 1: before the primary started. He also says that in one 132 00:09:06,075 --> 00:09:09,155 Speaker 1: of his other interviews that his first interview with Trump 133 00:09:09,235 --> 00:09:11,075 Speaker 1: was more than a month after Trump was thrown out 134 00:09:11,115 --> 00:09:14,755 Speaker 1: of office. Quote, there was one day where Trump told 135 00:09:14,755 --> 00:09:19,355 Speaker 1: me he needed to go upstairs to deal with Afghanistan. 136 00:09:21,035 --> 00:09:25,995 Speaker 1: Unless that is a metaphor for the call of nature. 137 00:09:26,955 --> 00:09:30,635 Speaker 1: In March twenty twenty one or later, Trump either thought 138 00:09:30,675 --> 00:09:32,915 Speaker 1: he was still president of the United States and had 139 00:09:32,915 --> 00:09:36,115 Speaker 1: to go deal with Afghanistan, or he thought he could 140 00:09:36,155 --> 00:09:39,875 Speaker 1: get away with lying to a magazine editor and author 141 00:09:40,315 --> 00:09:42,315 Speaker 1: that he was still president and had to go deal 142 00:09:42,355 --> 00:09:46,635 Speaker 1: with Afghanistan, each of which either of which is you 143 00:09:46,675 --> 00:09:52,235 Speaker 1: know nuts. The more you hear we are now still 144 00:09:52,275 --> 00:09:54,755 Speaker 1: less than forty eight hours after Trump called President Biden 145 00:09:54,955 --> 00:10:00,395 Speaker 1: Joe Bride. The more you hear, the more you listen 146 00:10:00,435 --> 00:10:02,795 Speaker 1: to that story from Saint Louis that the Trump campaign 147 00:10:02,835 --> 00:10:05,235 Speaker 1: wants to know the questions in advance, and the more 148 00:10:05,275 --> 00:10:08,875 Speaker 1: you ask yourself, they only want to know the questions 149 00:10:08,915 --> 00:10:13,555 Speaker 1: in advance. I mean, at Trump's rate of decline, they're 150 00:10:13,555 --> 00:10:17,475 Speaker 1: going to start providing the reporters with the only questions 151 00:10:17,635 --> 00:10:21,835 Speaker 1: they are allowed to ask him, or they may start 152 00:10:21,875 --> 00:10:51,395 Speaker 1: just handing out tapes of Trump answering questions asked by himself. Okay, 153 00:10:51,435 --> 00:10:54,995 Speaker 1: so what about the debate and would Kennedy sue to 154 00:10:55,035 --> 00:10:57,435 Speaker 1: get into the debate, Well, this much is clear. The 155 00:10:57,515 --> 00:11:01,515 Speaker 1: Washington Post has concluded there is no way Bob Kennedy 156 00:11:01,635 --> 00:11:04,435 Speaker 1: meets the qualifications to be on the stage at CNN 157 00:11:04,515 --> 00:11:07,435 Speaker 1: had quarters in Atlanta one week from tonight. The deal 158 00:11:07,715 --> 00:11:10,515 Speaker 1: is presumptive nominee of one of the two major parties. 159 00:11:10,755 --> 00:11:14,155 Speaker 1: You can be on stage, or you're in an outside 160 00:11:14,195 --> 00:11:17,275 Speaker 1: party that's on enough state ballots to earn at least 161 00:11:17,275 --> 00:11:20,875 Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy electoral votes, and you are getting 162 00:11:21,115 --> 00:11:25,515 Speaker 1: fifteen percent or more in at least four respected national polls. 163 00:11:26,595 --> 00:11:30,395 Speaker 1: Leaving aside the question whether or not there are four 164 00:11:30,635 --> 00:11:34,355 Speaker 1: respected national polls, the Washington Post says, so far, if 165 00:11:34,355 --> 00:11:37,715 Speaker 1: the RFK Junior campaign won all the states where he's 166 00:11:37,795 --> 00:11:41,715 Speaker 1: actually on the ballot, he would get an electoral vote 167 00:11:41,795 --> 00:11:46,875 Speaker 1: count of one hundred. That would be Delaware, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, 168 00:11:46,915 --> 00:11:49,715 Speaker 1: and Utah, all of which say he has qualified. And 169 00:11:50,395 --> 00:11:53,875 Speaker 1: California and Hawaii, where Kennedy is not yet on the 170 00:11:53,875 --> 00:11:57,435 Speaker 1: ballot but is the presumptive nominee of smaller parties which 171 00:11:57,475 --> 00:12:03,155 Speaker 1: have already begun the process of qualifying. Everywhere else, Robert F. 172 00:12:03,275 --> 00:12:06,355 Speaker 1: Kennedy Junior says he is on the ballot. He is 173 00:12:06,475 --> 00:12:10,995 Speaker 1: definitely wrong, and he may be lying. The Post reports 174 00:12:10,995 --> 00:12:15,115 Speaker 1: that in California, Florida, Hawaii, South Carolina, and Texas, Kennedy 175 00:12:15,155 --> 00:12:19,395 Speaker 1: has done some of the work, submitted ballot petitions or 176 00:12:19,435 --> 00:12:23,235 Speaker 1: been nominated by a party that previously qualified in that state, 177 00:12:23,715 --> 00:12:26,235 Speaker 1: but that he has not been officially certified yet in 178 00:12:26,315 --> 00:12:30,155 Speaker 1: any of those This is how precarious, it is for 179 00:12:30,315 --> 00:12:34,395 Speaker 1: Kennedy in Florida. In Florida, he has been nominated for 180 00:12:34,475 --> 00:12:41,075 Speaker 1: president by the Reform Party, the Ross Parro Reform Party. 181 00:12:41,635 --> 00:12:45,635 Speaker 1: Ross Parro the third party independent who helped sink the 182 00:12:45,635 --> 00:12:50,155 Speaker 1: first George Bush in nineteen ninety two. Ross Perot died 183 00:12:50,235 --> 00:12:54,595 Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, and Ross Parrot's Reform Party died last 184 00:12:54,635 --> 00:12:57,235 Speaker 1: year and it dropped off the ballot in Florida. They 185 00:12:57,235 --> 00:13:01,635 Speaker 1: are trying to requalify and then in turn qualify Kennedy 186 00:13:01,715 --> 00:13:07,035 Speaker 1: as the Reform Party candidate. Thing is said in Florida. 187 00:13:07,115 --> 00:13:10,435 Speaker 1: So back to the immediate concern that the only way 188 00:13:10,635 --> 00:13:14,435 Speaker 1: Kennedy will be at the debate is in spirit. Hell, 189 00:13:15,275 --> 00:13:18,235 Speaker 1: I'll be at the debate in spirit. We'll be doing 190 00:13:18,235 --> 00:13:22,395 Speaker 1: another live countdown podcast right after the debate on YouTube, 191 00:13:22,755 --> 00:13:24,395 Speaker 1: just like the one the night of the State of 192 00:13:24,395 --> 00:13:28,875 Speaker 1: the Union. But will Trump be there? And if he's there, 193 00:13:29,395 --> 00:13:34,835 Speaker 1: will he really be? You know? There? Even The New 194 00:13:34,915 --> 00:13:38,075 Speaker 1: York Times has put out a piece suggesting Trump is 195 00:13:38,155 --> 00:13:42,155 Speaker 1: lowering expectations for his own success and what he's told 196 00:13:42,195 --> 00:13:46,635 Speaker 1: his cult will be Biden's failure. And again, circling back 197 00:13:46,675 --> 00:13:50,955 Speaker 1: to that Fox poll, they actually ask their registered voters 198 00:13:51,035 --> 00:13:54,195 Speaker 1: who will win next Thursday, As if there has been 199 00:13:54,235 --> 00:13:57,715 Speaker 1: anything resembling a consensus about who won a given presidential 200 00:13:57,755 --> 00:14:02,555 Speaker 1: debate since Ronald Reagan. They are picking Trump, but only 201 00:14:02,555 --> 00:14:07,155 Speaker 1: by fifty to forty five. Also asked how important several 202 00:14:07,275 --> 00:14:10,875 Speaker 1: key issues are to voter's decisions on who to choose, 203 00:14:11,035 --> 00:14:15,275 Speaker 1: and the vaguely phrased ones get basically ninety eight percent somewhat, 204 00:14:15,395 --> 00:14:18,995 Speaker 1: very or extremely important. Like the candidate's leadership skills Are 205 00:14:18,995 --> 00:14:22,235 Speaker 1: they somewhat, very or extremely important? The candidate's age and 206 00:14:22,355 --> 00:14:25,115 Speaker 1: mental soundness are they very blah blah blah blah blah. 207 00:14:25,155 --> 00:14:28,195 Speaker 1: You might as well ask if you will choose between 208 00:14:28,275 --> 00:14:30,795 Speaker 1: them based on which one of them is the old 209 00:14:30,875 --> 00:14:34,915 Speaker 1: white dude. But the answers to the how important to 210 00:14:34,995 --> 00:14:38,915 Speaker 1: your vote is the candidate's performance in the debates, that's 211 00:14:38,955 --> 00:14:42,035 Speaker 1: at least a little sharpened. I think it's fair to 212 00:14:42,115 --> 00:14:45,915 Speaker 1: say nobody is rooting for their candidate to do an 213 00:14:45,955 --> 00:14:50,875 Speaker 1: Ian McKellen into the orchestra pit. They expect their guy's 214 00:14:50,995 --> 00:14:56,675 Speaker 1: performance to be at least intelligible. Thirty percent say that 215 00:14:56,795 --> 00:15:00,955 Speaker 1: performance is extremely important to their vote, twenty five percent 216 00:15:01,035 --> 00:15:04,435 Speaker 1: say very important, thirty one percent say somewhat important meeting 217 00:15:04,715 --> 00:15:07,035 Speaker 1: that the eye don't give a crap about. The debate 218 00:15:07,115 --> 00:15:11,395 Speaker 1: number is only thirteen percent. That's not a lot, And 219 00:15:11,435 --> 00:15:15,395 Speaker 1: it again underscores a question being seriously asked behind the 220 00:15:15,435 --> 00:15:18,915 Speaker 1: scenes at the Trump campaign and of course in public 221 00:15:19,115 --> 00:15:23,235 Speaker 1: loudly and seriously pitched by the Trump campaign about Biden. 222 00:15:24,235 --> 00:15:28,835 Speaker 1: What happens if Trump calls Biden Obama during the debate. 223 00:15:29,715 --> 00:15:33,395 Speaker 1: What if Biden doesn't do any of the dubious things 224 00:15:33,395 --> 00:15:36,315 Speaker 1: the right wing echo chamber has lied about. What if 225 00:15:36,355 --> 00:15:40,835 Speaker 1: Trump starts talking about how in nineteen eighty eight he 226 00:15:40,875 --> 00:15:47,715 Speaker 1: got voted for by Joan Rivers or Johnny Rivers or 227 00:15:47,915 --> 00:15:53,355 Speaker 1: Doc Rivers Over the weekend in Detroit at the Black 228 00:15:53,475 --> 00:15:57,235 Speaker 1: Church all the white people go to, Trump suggested he 229 00:15:57,355 --> 00:16:01,795 Speaker 1: might deliberately lose the debate to make sure Joe Biden 230 00:16:01,875 --> 00:16:06,475 Speaker 1: does not drop out of the campaign. Drop out, you know, 231 00:16:06,555 --> 00:16:11,355 Speaker 1: to be replaced as the Democratic candidate by the former 232 00:16:11,555 --> 00:16:21,515 Speaker 1: first Lady Joan Rivers. I'll be there. I'll be at 233 00:16:21,515 --> 00:16:25,755 Speaker 1: the debate at least on YouTube. Also of interest, here, 234 00:16:25,875 --> 00:16:28,395 Speaker 1: I already quoted Citizen Kane once and I'm gonna do 235 00:16:28,475 --> 00:16:32,195 Speaker 1: it again. Fox had to pay Dominion Voting Systems seven 236 00:16:32,275 --> 00:16:35,555 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty seven and a half million dollars to 237 00:16:35,755 --> 00:16:40,515 Speaker 1: settle its lawsuit over Fox's lies about Dominion voting systems. 238 00:16:40,835 --> 00:16:44,275 Speaker 1: But now a Fox host is insisting all the videos 239 00:16:44,355 --> 00:16:48,835 Speaker 1: Fox has doctored and clipped and decontextualized, they are all 240 00:16:48,955 --> 00:16:52,555 Speaker 1: legit and not doctored and not clipped and not decontextualized. 241 00:16:52,755 --> 00:16:57,635 Speaker 1: And it's everybody else who is lying about Fox. The 242 00:16:57,675 --> 00:17:01,355 Speaker 1: citizen Kane quote. If it was anybody else, I'd say 243 00:17:01,355 --> 00:17:02,835 Speaker 1: that what's going to happen to you would be a 244 00:17:02,915 --> 00:17:06,555 Speaker 1: lesson to you. Only you're gonna need more than one lesson, 245 00:17:06,955 --> 00:17:10,835 Speaker 1: and you're gonna get more than one lesson. That's next. 246 00:17:11,275 --> 00:17:12,075 Speaker 1: This is countdown. 247 00:17:13,715 --> 00:17:30,675 Speaker 3: This is countdown with Keith Alberman. This is Sports Senate. 248 00:17:31,155 --> 00:17:39,195 Speaker 3: Wait check that not anymore. This is countdown with Keith Alberman. 249 00:17:39,435 --> 00:17:44,675 Speaker 1: In Sports Dateline, Birmingham, Alabama, the Negro League's Tribute Game 250 00:17:44,715 --> 00:17:48,755 Speaker 1: will proceed as scheduled tonight. It is now not a 251 00:17:48,835 --> 00:17:51,955 Speaker 1: salute to, but a memorial to the late Willie Mays. 252 00:17:52,315 --> 00:17:54,995 Speaker 1: The San Francisco Giants playing the Saint Louis Cardinals at 253 00:17:55,035 --> 00:17:58,635 Speaker 1: Rickwood Field in Birmingham, where Mays made his professional debut 254 00:17:59,195 --> 00:18:03,075 Speaker 1: three quarters of a century ago. Fox has the telecast 255 00:18:03,555 --> 00:18:06,355 Speaker 1: Fox could not be Bob Third to put an African 256 00:18:06,395 --> 00:18:10,795 Speaker 1: American announcer or analyst in its announced booth. As the 257 00:18:10,875 --> 00:18:14,075 Speaker 1: tributes continued to pour in four Mays, who died Tuesday 258 00:18:14,075 --> 00:18:16,675 Speaker 1: afternoon at the age of ninety three, I did want 259 00:18:16,715 --> 00:18:21,675 Speaker 1: to mention one snapshot of one small trivial moment in 260 00:18:21,755 --> 00:18:25,755 Speaker 1: his career that illustrates something not being frequently mentioned in 261 00:18:25,795 --> 00:18:30,275 Speaker 1: the descriptions of the extraordinary talents of Willie Mays, his 262 00:18:30,635 --> 00:18:35,155 Speaker 1: extraordinary intelligence, how much he knew about the game. He 263 00:18:35,235 --> 00:18:39,475 Speaker 1: played On the twenty fifth of July in nineteen sixty 264 00:18:39,515 --> 00:18:42,955 Speaker 1: seven at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, the Giants and 265 00:18:43,035 --> 00:18:46,075 Speaker 1: the visiting New York Mets were scoreless. In the bottom 266 00:18:46,075 --> 00:18:49,435 Speaker 1: of the third inning, Heyesiuss Alou and Bobby Ethridge of 267 00:18:49,475 --> 00:18:52,675 Speaker 1: the Giants singled, and Willie Mays was up next, and 268 00:18:52,755 --> 00:18:55,675 Speaker 1: he lined a sure two base hit, a double that 269 00:18:55,755 --> 00:19:00,035 Speaker 1: scored Alu. But as Ethridge chugged into third base, Mays 270 00:19:00,395 --> 00:19:05,355 Speaker 1: stunned everybody in the ballpark. He deliberately stopped at first base. 271 00:19:05,955 --> 00:19:10,555 Speaker 1: No injury, no stumble, no hesitation, no misreading of the play, 272 00:19:10,635 --> 00:19:13,475 Speaker 1: no fear of the outfielder's arm. He just turned a 273 00:19:13,515 --> 00:19:16,755 Speaker 1: double into a single. And he explained later that he 274 00:19:16,835 --> 00:19:19,915 Speaker 1: had done so deliberately, that he had turned a double 275 00:19:19,955 --> 00:19:26,435 Speaker 1: into a single so that first base would not be open, unoccupied, 276 00:19:26,515 --> 00:19:30,075 Speaker 1: and so the Mets would not then walk the next 277 00:19:30,115 --> 00:19:34,035 Speaker 1: Giants hitter, the slugger Jim ray Hart, so that the 278 00:19:34,075 --> 00:19:37,395 Speaker 1: Mets pitcher Jack Fisher could pitch instead to first baseman 279 00:19:37,475 --> 00:19:41,595 Speaker 1: Jack Hyatt, who hit after Heart did. Mays said, he 280 00:19:41,675 --> 00:19:45,035 Speaker 1: knew that Heart hit Fisher very well. Now this is 281 00:19:45,235 --> 00:19:48,955 Speaker 1: pre internet in nineteen sixty seven. This is pre pitcher 282 00:19:49,075 --> 00:19:53,875 Speaker 1: versus hitter matchup data. This is almost pre scouting. Willie 283 00:19:53,915 --> 00:19:58,555 Speaker 1: Mays just knew that Hart hit this pitcher, Jack Fisher, 284 00:19:58,675 --> 00:20:02,155 Speaker 1: real well. And because first base was not open, the 285 00:20:02,155 --> 00:20:05,955 Speaker 1: Mets did not intentionally walk Hart, and Heart promptly hit 286 00:20:05,955 --> 00:20:08,595 Speaker 1: a three run homer off Jack Fisher, and the Giants 287 00:20:08,595 --> 00:20:11,915 Speaker 1: wound up winning five to four. If you look it 288 00:20:12,035 --> 00:20:15,435 Speaker 1: up now, you will find out that lifetime this Jim 289 00:20:15,515 --> 00:20:19,955 Speaker 1: ray Hart hit three thirty nine lifetime in sixty two 290 00:20:19,995 --> 00:20:24,075 Speaker 1: plate appearances against Jack Fisher, the highest that Heart hit 291 00:20:24,395 --> 00:20:27,875 Speaker 1: against any pitcher he faced more than forty five times 292 00:20:27,915 --> 00:20:32,275 Speaker 1: in his career, and before we could look that up somewhere, 293 00:20:32,595 --> 00:20:36,275 Speaker 1: Willie Mays knew that. So yes, the catch, the home runs, 294 00:20:36,315 --> 00:20:39,715 Speaker 1: the stolen bases, the ability to judge what was going 295 00:20:39,795 --> 00:20:43,075 Speaker 1: to happen next, Yes, all of it valid and to 296 00:20:43,155 --> 00:20:46,435 Speaker 1: be remembered forever about Willy Mays. But the fact that 297 00:20:46,475 --> 00:20:50,395 Speaker 1: Willy Mays turned his double into a single so that 298 00:20:50,515 --> 00:20:52,995 Speaker 1: Jim ray Hart would get to hit against the pitcher 299 00:20:53,195 --> 00:20:55,915 Speaker 1: he hit really well, and Jim ray Hart hit the 300 00:20:55,915 --> 00:20:59,915 Speaker 1: home run that guaranteed the Giant's victory. That's who Willy 301 00:21:00,035 --> 00:21:07,355 Speaker 1: Mays really was. Eight line in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada. 302 00:21:07,835 --> 00:21:11,395 Speaker 1: Infielder Justin Turner of the Blue Jays, generally speaking, one 303 00:21:11,435 --> 00:21:14,395 Speaker 1: of the more thoughtful of baseball's players, has had one 304 00:21:14,435 --> 00:21:18,155 Speaker 1: of the worst ideas of all time. Appearing on the 305 00:21:18,195 --> 00:21:22,435 Speaker 1: Foul Territory TV streaming show, mister Turner was asked what 306 00:21:22,515 --> 00:21:24,395 Speaker 1: he would do if they let him be commissioner for 307 00:21:24,435 --> 00:21:27,875 Speaker 1: a day, and he has suggested expanding baseball to thirty 308 00:21:27,915 --> 00:21:32,115 Speaker 1: two teams, scrapping the current American and National League formats, 309 00:21:32,315 --> 00:21:35,355 Speaker 1: and rearranging things so that the World Series every year 310 00:21:35,715 --> 00:21:40,515 Speaker 1: would be an Eastern team versus a Western team. The 311 00:21:40,595 --> 00:21:44,315 Speaker 1: television audience for the Baseball World Series peaked in nineteen 312 00:21:44,435 --> 00:21:47,995 Speaker 1: seventy eight. It was an average of forty four million 313 00:21:48,155 --> 00:21:53,235 Speaker 1: viewers per game. Last year, the average was just under 314 00:21:53,475 --> 00:21:57,115 Speaker 1: five million viewers per game, so the audience is about 315 00:21:57,275 --> 00:22:01,035 Speaker 1: one tenth what it was in nineteen seventy eight, even 316 00:22:01,035 --> 00:22:04,435 Speaker 1: though the population is one third larger than it was 317 00:22:04,875 --> 00:22:08,435 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy eight. Why did the World Series die? 318 00:22:09,315 --> 00:22:11,915 Speaker 1: A thousand reasons, but one of them shows up in 319 00:22:11,955 --> 00:22:14,675 Speaker 1: what happened to the ratings Starting about nineteen ninety six. 320 00:22:15,075 --> 00:22:17,995 Speaker 1: The Braves and the Yankees still got twenty five million 321 00:22:18,075 --> 00:22:21,235 Speaker 1: viewers per game that year. Then the next season they 322 00:22:21,315 --> 00:22:25,515 Speaker 1: began interleague play. Teams from the American League and the 323 00:22:25,595 --> 00:22:29,675 Speaker 1: National League had never faced each other except in exhibitions 324 00:22:29,755 --> 00:22:32,715 Speaker 1: or in the World Series since the American League opened 325 00:22:32,715 --> 00:22:36,795 Speaker 1: for business in nineteen oh one. The point was the 326 00:22:36,915 --> 00:22:40,795 Speaker 1: teams and the leagues were distinct. The World Series was 327 00:22:40,995 --> 00:22:44,355 Speaker 1: utterly novel, and it was that thing that all sports 328 00:22:44,435 --> 00:22:49,315 Speaker 1: leagues try to fabricate today, an actual organic rivalry between 329 00:22:49,315 --> 00:22:52,195 Speaker 1: everybody who followed the American League and everybody who followed 330 00:22:52,235 --> 00:22:56,875 Speaker 1: the National League. Most American League fans hated the National League, 331 00:22:56,915 --> 00:23:00,875 Speaker 1: or at least disrespected it, and vice versa. This was 332 00:23:00,955 --> 00:23:05,275 Speaker 1: true because, well, I'll give you this example. When my 333 00:23:05,435 --> 00:23:10,075 Speaker 1: grandfather died in nineteen eighty seven, he died hating the 334 00:23:10,115 --> 00:23:13,315 Speaker 1: American League. He would watch the World Series and the 335 00:23:13,315 --> 00:23:16,435 Speaker 1: All Star Game and route against the American League team. 336 00:23:16,675 --> 00:23:19,195 Speaker 1: He would mock the American League New York Yankees. He 337 00:23:19,195 --> 00:23:21,915 Speaker 1: would insist they played in the weaker league than did 338 00:23:21,955 --> 00:23:25,955 Speaker 1: his National League New York Mets. His hatred in nineteen 339 00:23:25,995 --> 00:23:29,875 Speaker 1: eighty seven owed to something that had happened in July 340 00:23:30,555 --> 00:23:34,435 Speaker 1: of nineteen o three. He was a little boy then, 341 00:23:34,915 --> 00:23:38,355 Speaker 1: when the star shortstop of his National League New York Giants, 342 00:23:38,635 --> 00:23:43,195 Speaker 1: George Stacey Davis, jumped to the Chicago White Sox of 343 00:23:43,235 --> 00:23:45,675 Speaker 1: the brand new American League that had been in nineteen 344 00:23:45,675 --> 00:23:48,795 Speaker 1: oh two. In nineteen oh three, Davis jumped back to 345 00:23:48,835 --> 00:23:50,715 Speaker 1: the New York Giants, but as part of the peace 346 00:23:50,755 --> 00:23:54,195 Speaker 1: settlement between the warring leagues that happened right about then, 347 00:23:54,395 --> 00:23:59,595 Speaker 1: Davis was ordered back to Chicago. Grandpa was still angry 348 00:23:59,675 --> 00:24:04,635 Speaker 1: about what they did to his Giants. Eighty four year 349 00:24:04,835 --> 00:24:14,155 Speaker 1: years later. Hatreds like that were inherited, cultivated, cherished, maintained. 350 00:24:14,595 --> 00:24:19,635 Speaker 1: My mother became a New York Yankees fan entirely because 351 00:24:20,395 --> 00:24:24,915 Speaker 1: her father, my grandfather, was pissed off by that. You 352 00:24:25,035 --> 00:24:29,235 Speaker 1: may try to create rivalries that resemble that in any sport, 353 00:24:29,275 --> 00:24:33,555 Speaker 1: in any time. In fact, they form only from true hatred. 354 00:24:33,995 --> 00:24:38,835 Speaker 1: It was Coke versus Pepsi. It was Ford versus Chevrolet. 355 00:24:39,035 --> 00:24:44,915 Speaker 1: It was forgive me, Republican versus Democrat. And then Baseball 356 00:24:44,955 --> 00:24:48,635 Speaker 1: stopped keeping the leagues separate, stopped making the World Series 357 00:24:48,995 --> 00:24:52,755 Speaker 1: the battle the only battle between the leagues, and it 358 00:24:52,875 --> 00:24:57,395 Speaker 1: suddenly didn't mean that much. Interleague play began in nineteen 359 00:24:57,515 --> 00:25:00,275 Speaker 1: ninety seven. That nineteen ninety six World Series audience had 360 00:25:00,315 --> 00:25:03,395 Speaker 1: been twenty five million viewers a game. Within four years, 361 00:25:03,435 --> 00:25:06,635 Speaker 1: they were down to eighteen million per game. Since two 362 00:25:06,715 --> 00:25:09,755 Speaker 1: thousand and four, when the Red Sox played and finally won, 363 00:25:10,075 --> 00:25:12,795 Speaker 1: the average has been more than twenty million viewers a 364 00:25:12,835 --> 00:25:17,275 Speaker 1: game only once. It was last as many as fourteen 365 00:25:17,355 --> 00:25:20,755 Speaker 1: million six years ago. If you want to make the 366 00:25:20,755 --> 00:25:23,875 Speaker 1: World Series live again, you have to make it interesting 367 00:25:23,915 --> 00:25:28,675 Speaker 1: to fans whose personal teams are not playing in it. 368 00:25:29,195 --> 00:25:31,955 Speaker 1: That used to be everybody, because you were a fan 369 00:25:31,995 --> 00:25:33,755 Speaker 1: of a team, but also a fan of a league 370 00:25:34,795 --> 00:25:37,035 Speaker 1: that may not be salvageable. It may be too late. 371 00:25:37,315 --> 00:25:40,995 Speaker 1: But what baseball should do is eliminate interleague play immediately 372 00:25:41,155 --> 00:25:43,875 Speaker 1: and see if it can bring the league versus league 373 00:25:44,035 --> 00:25:47,115 Speaker 1: rivalry back to life. And if that doesn't work, try 374 00:25:47,155 --> 00:25:51,315 Speaker 1: something else stupid, like East versus West, or alphabetical order 375 00:25:51,395 --> 00:25:57,035 Speaker 1: versus numerical Who knows what? Because Grandpa wasn't just still 376 00:25:57,115 --> 00:26:01,315 Speaker 1: angry about George Stacey Davis eighty four years later, he 377 00:26:01,475 --> 00:26:05,275 Speaker 1: was also convinced that the National League played real baseball, 378 00:26:05,515 --> 00:26:08,315 Speaker 1: but that the American League was not only weak and bad, 379 00:26:08,595 --> 00:26:12,635 Speaker 1: but that it was fixed, fixed so that the Yankees 380 00:26:12,675 --> 00:26:16,195 Speaker 1: would win the pennant nearly every year. You can't buy 381 00:26:16,915 --> 00:26:21,035 Speaker 1: that kind of devotion from customers. The crazy has to 382 00:26:21,075 --> 00:26:25,515 Speaker 1: be organic. Sorry, justin Turner, Baseball has been steadily eliminating 383 00:26:25,555 --> 00:26:30,235 Speaker 1: the crazy, and it has made its world series small. 384 00:27:03,475 --> 00:27:28,795 Speaker 1: Thank you. Nancy Fowl still ahead of us on this 385 00:27:28,955 --> 00:27:31,755 Speaker 1: edition of Countdown. It's hot here, I mean it's not 386 00:27:31,835 --> 00:27:34,595 Speaker 1: that hot. It's hotter in a lot of other places here, 387 00:27:34,755 --> 00:27:37,475 Speaker 1: and it's only going to get hotter. And there was 388 00:27:37,515 --> 00:27:39,515 Speaker 1: a nice strong wind here yesterday and that is often 389 00:27:39,555 --> 00:27:42,395 Speaker 1: the difference between life and death in this city above 390 00:27:42,515 --> 00:27:45,755 Speaker 1: ground anyway, not in the subways. In the subways where 391 00:27:45,795 --> 00:27:49,275 Speaker 1: it's always hellish, and when they say the real feel 392 00:27:49,355 --> 00:27:53,115 Speaker 1: is ninety two degrees, I flashback to the relatively recent 393 00:27:53,275 --> 00:27:56,235 Speaker 1: past here when not all of our subway cars had 394 00:27:56,315 --> 00:27:59,115 Speaker 1: air conditioning, and that in turn reminds me of the 395 00:27:59,115 --> 00:28:01,875 Speaker 1: morning I got into one of those non air conditioned 396 00:28:01,875 --> 00:28:05,475 Speaker 1: subway cars after having had a few years the day 397 00:28:05,515 --> 00:28:10,515 Speaker 1: and the night before like forty beers coming up in 398 00:28:10,595 --> 00:28:13,635 Speaker 1: things I promise not to tell. But first there are 399 00:28:13,635 --> 00:28:16,435 Speaker 1: still more new idiots to talk about. The daily roundup 400 00:28:16,675 --> 00:28:19,595 Speaker 1: of the mis grants, morons and Dunning Kruger effects specimens, 401 00:28:19,915 --> 00:28:24,675 Speaker 1: who we celebrate as today's worst persons in the world. 402 00:28:24,915 --> 00:28:28,075 Speaker 1: Lebrons worse. And this is going to piss off a 403 00:28:28,075 --> 00:28:32,235 Speaker 1: lot of reporters. David Carr, the former media reporter and 404 00:28:32,355 --> 00:28:35,595 Speaker 1: long form writer of the New York Times. This is 405 00:28:35,675 --> 00:28:39,155 Speaker 1: kind of unfair because he's dead. He died in twenty fifteen. 406 00:28:39,195 --> 00:28:42,955 Speaker 1: He died in the Times newsroom. But I was surprised 407 00:28:42,995 --> 00:28:46,955 Speaker 1: to have just discovered that Georgetown University held an event 408 00:28:47,035 --> 00:28:50,635 Speaker 1: this week honoring Carr's memory. In which David Carr was 409 00:28:50,675 --> 00:28:55,275 Speaker 1: saluted by a room full of former colleagues and other journalists. 410 00:28:56,115 --> 00:28:58,035 Speaker 1: Let me state at the outset that I've never heard 411 00:28:58,115 --> 00:29:00,955 Speaker 1: anybody who worked with him who said anything except that 412 00:29:01,075 --> 00:29:04,475 Speaker 1: David Carr was the best mentor in the world, That 413 00:29:04,515 --> 00:29:07,835 Speaker 1: he was a singular influence in their success, that he 414 00:29:07,955 --> 00:29:11,315 Speaker 1: was a constant inspiration and support. And I don't doubt 415 00:29:11,555 --> 00:29:15,195 Speaker 1: any of that, not for a moment, nor that his 416 00:29:15,315 --> 00:29:19,635 Speaker 1: recovery from addiction was inspirational and heroic. And he was 417 00:29:19,715 --> 00:29:22,155 Speaker 1: such a crack addict at one point that he once 418 00:29:22,275 --> 00:29:25,635 Speaker 1: left his newborn twins in a freezing car and they 419 00:29:25,635 --> 00:29:28,435 Speaker 1: were underweight because his girlfriend was also an addict. He 420 00:29:28,555 --> 00:29:30,475 Speaker 1: left them in a freezing car so he could go 421 00:29:30,555 --> 00:29:33,675 Speaker 1: buy and use more drugs. That's how bad it was. 422 00:29:33,835 --> 00:29:38,155 Speaker 1: And he overcame. That journalists can celebrate a good man, 423 00:29:38,275 --> 00:29:42,555 Speaker 1: an inspiration, a friend. That's not what I'm criticizing. But 424 00:29:42,755 --> 00:29:45,395 Speaker 1: please do not do what they also did, which was 425 00:29:45,435 --> 00:29:50,115 Speaker 1: to celebrate David Carr as a good journalist. I noticed 426 00:29:50,115 --> 00:29:53,155 Speaker 1: this when he died in February twenty fifteen. The grief 427 00:29:53,195 --> 00:29:57,795 Speaker 1: and the plaudits filled social media and touched my heart. 428 00:29:57,835 --> 00:30:02,075 Speaker 1: There were dozens, probably hundreds, and they were all reporters 429 00:30:02,115 --> 00:30:06,235 Speaker 1: and colleagues. There was not one one word from anyone, 430 00:30:06,475 --> 00:30:09,715 Speaker 1: as near as I could tell, not one word from 431 00:30:09,795 --> 00:30:14,275 Speaker 1: anybody that David Carr had reported on or written about. 432 00:30:16,035 --> 00:30:19,155 Speaker 1: Often that happens. People tell tough truths and are hated 433 00:30:19,195 --> 00:30:21,835 Speaker 1: for telling the tough truths. It's happened to me every 434 00:30:21,835 --> 00:30:24,395 Speaker 1: once in a while. But that's not what happened here. 435 00:30:25,435 --> 00:30:29,075 Speaker 1: That happened here because David Carr constantly violated the most 436 00:30:29,115 --> 00:30:32,835 Speaker 1: basic premises of journalism. He did a story on me 437 00:30:32,995 --> 00:30:36,275 Speaker 1: for The Times in twenty eleven. I was warned by 438 00:30:36,275 --> 00:30:40,475 Speaker 1: people he had written about before, don't let him talk 439 00:30:40,515 --> 00:30:43,795 Speaker 1: to you. He's already written the piece in his head. 440 00:30:44,635 --> 00:30:47,515 Speaker 1: It was three thousand words. I guess it was okay. 441 00:30:48,035 --> 00:30:50,315 Speaker 1: I remember not liking it when it came out. I 442 00:30:50,355 --> 00:30:53,115 Speaker 1: read it again the other day and it was it 443 00:30:53,195 --> 00:30:56,275 Speaker 1: was kind of foolish. They spent some money on a 444 00:30:56,275 --> 00:30:59,355 Speaker 1: cartoon of me. The cartoon looked nice, the publicity was 445 00:30:59,395 --> 00:31:01,395 Speaker 1: great when I needed it for a new show on 446 00:31:01,435 --> 00:31:03,915 Speaker 1: a new network. But the point is, when the article 447 00:31:04,035 --> 00:31:07,555 Speaker 1: was written, NBC had just breached my contract and we 448 00:31:07,635 --> 00:31:11,155 Speaker 1: had settled that with an agreement full of non disparagement 449 00:31:11,195 --> 00:31:14,475 Speaker 1: clauses and non disclosure agreements. Blah blah blah. They couldn't 450 00:31:14,515 --> 00:31:17,475 Speaker 1: trash me. I couldn't trash them. There was an arbitrator 451 00:31:17,515 --> 00:31:22,915 Speaker 1: who oversaw this, who eventually find NBC like one hundred 452 00:31:22,915 --> 00:31:27,155 Speaker 1: thousand dollars for violating it for disparaging me anyway. And 453 00:31:27,235 --> 00:31:29,875 Speaker 1: I had also left to start a rival news organization 454 00:31:29,915 --> 00:31:33,795 Speaker 1: at Current TV and then as now, NBC likes to 455 00:31:33,915 --> 00:31:37,275 Speaker 1: dirty people up when they leave NBC, and they were 456 00:31:37,275 --> 00:31:40,075 Speaker 1: going to dirty me up. And I told David carr 457 00:31:40,155 --> 00:31:42,875 Speaker 1: All this. Some of it I told him on the record, 458 00:31:42,875 --> 00:31:44,795 Speaker 1: and some of it I couldn't tell him about then, 459 00:31:45,555 --> 00:31:47,115 Speaker 1: and he even put it in the piece. He even 460 00:31:47,155 --> 00:31:50,155 Speaker 1: inadvertently may have identified one of his anonymous sources for 461 00:31:50,195 --> 00:31:53,995 Speaker 1: this story. He wrote of MSNBC's president, who was notorious 462 00:31:54,035 --> 00:31:56,475 Speaker 1: for calling up New York writers The Post and The 463 00:31:56,515 --> 00:31:59,355 Speaker 1: Daily News and The Times and offering them off the 464 00:31:59,395 --> 00:32:03,875 Speaker 1: record comments. He wrote quote Phil Griffin was president of 465 00:32:03,955 --> 00:32:08,315 Speaker 1: MSNBC did not return calls or emails requesting a comment. 466 00:32:08,835 --> 00:32:12,915 Speaker 1: Employees of MSNBC were prevented from speaking on the record 467 00:32:12,955 --> 00:32:17,235 Speaker 1: by non disclosure agreements signed when Olderman left and by 468 00:32:17,275 --> 00:32:19,755 Speaker 1: the way, at that point, it was a violation of 469 00:32:19,795 --> 00:32:23,155 Speaker 1: the non disclosure agreement to acknowledge there was a non 470 00:32:23,195 --> 00:32:27,555 Speaker 1: disclosure agreement. NBC violated it even telling him that. And 471 00:32:27,715 --> 00:32:30,275 Speaker 1: note his use of that word on the record, because 472 00:32:30,355 --> 00:32:33,915 Speaker 1: David Carr granted at least one NBC employee the right 473 00:32:33,955 --> 00:32:36,675 Speaker 1: to say anything they wanted off the record about me, 474 00:32:36,755 --> 00:32:41,915 Speaker 1: which actually is fine except in one set of circumstances, 475 00:32:41,955 --> 00:32:46,355 Speaker 1: except if there's one problem. Whoever he talked to lied 476 00:32:46,395 --> 00:32:50,075 Speaker 1: to him. Carr wrote that I isolated myself in my 477 00:32:50,195 --> 00:32:53,475 Speaker 1: office to avoid people. No, I was isolating myself in 478 00:32:53,515 --> 00:32:56,715 Speaker 1: my office to write an hour's worth of scripts. He 479 00:32:56,795 --> 00:33:00,955 Speaker 1: wrote that I might have felt slighted, underappreciated, and ignored MSNBC. 480 00:33:01,355 --> 00:33:03,675 Speaker 1: That never happened. I felt a lot of things there, 481 00:33:03,715 --> 00:33:06,395 Speaker 1: but never I've never felt a ignored. I often felt 482 00:33:06,475 --> 00:33:09,475 Speaker 1: leave me alone. I never felt ignored. He wrote that 483 00:33:09,515 --> 00:33:13,235 Speaker 1: I made demands for a renegotiated contract and an extension. 484 00:33:13,875 --> 00:33:17,795 Speaker 1: I never demanded a renegotiated contract nor an extension. When 485 00:33:17,835 --> 00:33:20,315 Speaker 1: we tried to settle the breach of contract, I offered 486 00:33:20,315 --> 00:33:22,995 Speaker 1: some terms under which I would stay and ask for 487 00:33:23,035 --> 00:33:25,435 Speaker 1: their terms. I don't know if that was the same thing. 488 00:33:25,475 --> 00:33:29,475 Speaker 1: But I never demanded a contract renegotiation. Quote. There were 489 00:33:29,515 --> 00:33:32,795 Speaker 1: times when he threatened not to come to work. Not true. 490 00:33:33,795 --> 00:33:38,075 Speaker 1: Not once. He wrote that there were substitute hosts on 491 00:33:38,355 --> 00:33:42,195 Speaker 1: standby if I didn't show up, which happened once in 492 00:33:42,315 --> 00:33:44,955 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety eight. When the substitute host was on standby. 493 00:33:45,115 --> 00:33:47,315 Speaker 1: His name was John Gibson, and he was there because 494 00:33:47,675 --> 00:33:51,875 Speaker 1: I had kidney stones. Only time it happened, he didn't 495 00:33:51,955 --> 00:33:55,435 Speaker 1: mention the kidney stones. He wrote that very senior people 496 00:33:55,555 --> 00:33:58,835 Speaker 1: spent hours talking him. That would be me off a 497 00:33:58,955 --> 00:34:01,515 Speaker 1: ledge and into the town car that would take him 498 00:34:01,515 --> 00:34:05,515 Speaker 1: to the studio. Not once, not ever. Quote. When he 499 00:34:05,595 --> 00:34:07,915 Speaker 1: wasn't threatening not to show up, he was threatening to quit. 500 00:34:08,275 --> 00:34:10,915 Speaker 1: Never did either of those things. Carr wrote that my 501 00:34:10,995 --> 00:34:13,275 Speaker 1: criticisms of Fox News, and this was the part that 502 00:34:13,355 --> 00:34:16,435 Speaker 1: really did piss me off, were mere enmity. That was 503 00:34:16,475 --> 00:34:19,115 Speaker 1: the word he used, because I needed an enemy on 504 00:34:19,155 --> 00:34:22,115 Speaker 1: the air. It is not true. They were in there 505 00:34:22,195 --> 00:34:25,115 Speaker 1: because in twenty eleven Fox News was on its way 506 00:34:25,155 --> 00:34:28,115 Speaker 1: to becoming what it is now, and people like him 507 00:34:28,115 --> 00:34:30,595 Speaker 1: did not believe that was going to happen, and so 508 00:34:30,675 --> 00:34:33,955 Speaker 1: they just assumed I was doing it to get ratings. 509 00:34:34,915 --> 00:34:38,875 Speaker 1: Now again, sometimes untrue things get into the newspapers, even 510 00:34:38,875 --> 00:34:42,435 Speaker 1: into the New York Times. Even that many in one 511 00:34:42,515 --> 00:34:46,155 Speaker 1: story is not enough to slam a guy nearly a 512 00:34:46,195 --> 00:34:49,235 Speaker 1: decade after he died in the middle of their newsroom. 513 00:34:49,675 --> 00:34:55,075 Speaker 1: Sources embellish, sources, spin, sources lie to you, and a 514 00:34:55,115 --> 00:34:59,275 Speaker 1: reporter cannot always check everything for the truth or non 515 00:34:59,395 --> 00:35:03,195 Speaker 1: truth behind the fact that the guy said it. But 516 00:35:03,315 --> 00:35:05,675 Speaker 1: the reason I have pointed out all of these stories 517 00:35:06,475 --> 00:35:10,315 Speaker 1: in detail, all these stories gotten anonymously from somebody or 518 00:35:10,435 --> 00:35:13,555 Speaker 1: many somebody's at NBC, is that even though the late 519 00:35:13,635 --> 00:35:17,115 Speaker 1: David Carr spent a full day with me and did 520 00:35:17,155 --> 00:35:19,315 Speaker 1: a separate long interview with me on another day, and 521 00:35:19,395 --> 00:35:22,955 Speaker 1: sent countless follow up emails with further questions, he never 522 00:35:23,035 --> 00:35:27,235 Speaker 1: asked me about any of those stories. He never asked 523 00:35:27,275 --> 00:35:30,075 Speaker 1: me about the supposed threats not to show up, the 524 00:35:30,075 --> 00:35:32,235 Speaker 1: ones that didn't happen, and not the stuff about the 525 00:35:32,275 --> 00:35:36,235 Speaker 1: substitute host who was on standby because you know, kidney Stones, 526 00:35:36,955 --> 00:35:40,675 Speaker 1: none of it. He never asked me. New York Times 527 00:35:40,675 --> 00:35:46,195 Speaker 1: reporter media reporter never asked me to confirm, contradict, deny, 528 00:35:46,395 --> 00:35:50,115 Speaker 1: or no comment, never asked me. And most journalists will 529 00:35:50,115 --> 00:35:53,235 Speaker 1: tell you that if you don't ask the subject of 530 00:35:53,275 --> 00:35:57,155 Speaker 1: your story about a negative tale about them, or a 531 00:35:57,235 --> 00:36:01,195 Speaker 1: sourced piece of information or something anonymously given to you, 532 00:36:01,555 --> 00:36:04,755 Speaker 1: or some gossip, the reason you are not asking is 533 00:36:04,755 --> 00:36:08,235 Speaker 1: is you don't want a good paragraph or anecdote to 534 00:36:08,355 --> 00:36:15,195 Speaker 1: be destroyed by a denial or by being disproved. David 535 00:36:15,275 --> 00:36:18,715 Speaker 1: Carr never asked me about any of those juicy pieces 536 00:36:18,755 --> 00:36:24,955 Speaker 1: of gossip which weren't true, which he didn't check. And 537 00:36:24,995 --> 00:36:27,635 Speaker 1: there's something else that seems to me that erases any 538 00:36:27,715 --> 00:36:30,475 Speaker 1: reasons to hold him up as a role model for journalists. 539 00:36:30,995 --> 00:36:35,675 Speaker 1: What are the classic switcherous reporters use? It was suggested 540 00:36:35,715 --> 00:36:38,155 Speaker 1: to me once and I just couldn't do it, is 541 00:36:38,195 --> 00:36:41,115 Speaker 1: to ask the subject of your story to do something, 542 00:36:41,115 --> 00:36:43,995 Speaker 1: and then you leave out the fact that you asked. 543 00:36:44,355 --> 00:36:46,075 Speaker 1: You make it look like the subject of the story 544 00:36:46,195 --> 00:36:49,075 Speaker 1: just did it. There are three references at least in 545 00:36:49,115 --> 00:36:51,675 Speaker 1: this story to the media blitz that I was doing 546 00:36:51,875 --> 00:36:54,795 Speaker 1: and my flogging my new show. There is not one 547 00:36:54,835 --> 00:36:57,875 Speaker 1: reference to the fact that David Carr asked to interview me, 548 00:36:58,675 --> 00:37:01,315 Speaker 1: not the other way around. To read the piece, you 549 00:37:01,315 --> 00:37:04,355 Speaker 1: would think. He did not ask me endless follow up 550 00:37:04,395 --> 00:37:07,715 Speaker 1: question by email, and the story that became many late 551 00:37:07,795 --> 00:37:10,435 Speaker 1: night email conversations that were part of a blitz of 552 00:37:10,475 --> 00:37:15,155 Speaker 1: press to advance my career. Over dinner at a game 553 00:37:15,275 --> 00:37:17,675 Speaker 1: at Yankee Stadium, I paid for his ticket. He and 554 00:37:17,755 --> 00:37:20,275 Speaker 1: The Times never reimbursed me. By the way, He asked 555 00:37:20,315 --> 00:37:23,115 Speaker 1: me to explain in as much detail as possible the 556 00:37:23,195 --> 00:37:27,475 Speaker 1: technical process of reading the teleprompter on TV. So I 557 00:37:27,555 --> 00:37:32,195 Speaker 1: did in intricate detail. Mostly I quoted Tom Snyder's intricate 558 00:37:32,275 --> 00:37:36,035 Speaker 1: technical explanation of the teleprompter. He closed the piece with 559 00:37:36,155 --> 00:37:39,275 Speaker 1: three plus paragraphs about that that are designed to make 560 00:37:39,275 --> 00:37:43,075 Speaker 1: it look like I just launched into it, never says 561 00:37:43,115 --> 00:37:46,475 Speaker 1: he asked. It begins with he knows exactly what to 562 00:37:46,515 --> 00:37:48,475 Speaker 1: do when the red light on the camera beckons him 563 00:37:48,515 --> 00:37:52,115 Speaker 1: to begin talking, and the piece ends with he looked 564 00:37:52,155 --> 00:37:58,195 Speaker 1: like that guy on television, the one who likes the camera. Yeah, no, no, 565 00:37:58,315 --> 00:38:01,755 Speaker 1: I was just answering his question. I hadn't thought of 566 00:38:01,875 --> 00:38:05,635 Speaker 1: David Carr or the story or this little journal ethics 567 00:38:05,715 --> 00:38:08,435 Speaker 1: limbo dance that he did. Hadn't thought of him or 568 00:38:08,475 --> 00:38:11,235 Speaker 1: it for years. I certainly hadn't spent all the time 569 00:38:11,235 --> 00:38:14,595 Speaker 1: since twenty fifteen thinking when's the right time to trash 570 00:38:14,635 --> 00:38:17,555 Speaker 1: a dead guy from the Times who broke all their 571 00:38:17,635 --> 00:38:22,275 Speaker 1: journalistic rules at my expense and considering that ticket literally 572 00:38:22,275 --> 00:38:25,555 Speaker 1: at my expense. But a couple of months ago, one 573 00:38:25,555 --> 00:38:29,275 Speaker 1: of my friends who Carr interviewed for the piece, brought 574 00:38:29,555 --> 00:38:32,875 Speaker 1: up the interview. Something had reminded her about it, and 575 00:38:32,915 --> 00:38:35,195 Speaker 1: she wanted to tell me. She was still furious at 576 00:38:35,235 --> 00:38:38,515 Speaker 1: the questions he asked her the moment I left the room, 577 00:38:38,755 --> 00:38:41,555 Speaker 1: tell me the worst thing you can about him. It 578 00:38:41,635 --> 00:38:45,195 Speaker 1: was thirteen years ago. She's madder now than I was then. 579 00:38:46,675 --> 00:38:48,635 Speaker 1: And then came the social media stuff from the thing 580 00:38:48,715 --> 00:38:52,435 Speaker 1: at Georgetown remembering his work. So again, the people who 581 00:38:52,475 --> 00:38:57,555 Speaker 1: were there, Jake Tapper, Amanda Ripley, Eric Wemple, Brian Stelter, others, 582 00:38:58,035 --> 00:39:02,115 Speaker 1: they get together to honor a departed friend, to honor 583 00:39:02,195 --> 00:39:06,275 Speaker 1: a mentor, to salute the memory of a courageous inspiration. 584 00:39:06,755 --> 00:39:09,355 Speaker 1: I honor them for doing that, but let's not pave 585 00:39:09,355 --> 00:39:12,955 Speaker 1: over reality here. Nobody he wrote about said anything about 586 00:39:13,035 --> 00:39:17,715 Speaker 1: him when he died, Not anything nice, just not anything. 587 00:39:18,995 --> 00:39:22,115 Speaker 1: As a journalist, the late David Carr was a corner cutter. 588 00:39:23,235 --> 00:39:26,555 Speaker 1: You may want to be the David Carr kind of colleague, 589 00:39:26,635 --> 00:39:29,155 Speaker 1: you do not want to be the David Carr kind 590 00:39:29,195 --> 00:39:33,955 Speaker 1: of journalist. Okay, back to this decade and the living 591 00:39:34,635 --> 00:39:40,115 Speaker 1: sort of the runner up worser, Trump again ettd. Every 592 00:39:40,355 --> 00:39:45,235 Speaker 1: team Trump touches dies this. He wrote on Saturday night. 593 00:39:45,675 --> 00:39:50,995 Speaker 1: Wow co. The Florida Panthers are a fantastic ice hockey team. 594 00:39:52,195 --> 00:39:54,995 Speaker 1: They're three and zero against the very good Edmonton Oilers 595 00:39:55,035 --> 00:39:58,355 Speaker 1: from Canada. They're down one to nothing tonight, but it's 596 00:39:58,395 --> 00:40:02,235 Speaker 1: still early. Hopefully they will put them away. Very impressive 597 00:40:03,355 --> 00:40:11,235 Speaker 1: in sports. We call this bandwagoning and ETTD or ETTTD. 598 00:40:11,915 --> 00:40:14,875 Speaker 1: The Florida Panthers were leading the Stanley Cup Finals in 599 00:40:15,115 --> 00:40:18,075 Speaker 1: ice hockey. Who the hell calls it ice hockey? For 600 00:40:18,155 --> 00:40:20,555 Speaker 1: those of you who've just arrived on Earth, it's ice hockey. 601 00:40:21,235 --> 00:40:23,475 Speaker 1: They were leading three games to none, and they were 602 00:40:23,475 --> 00:40:27,035 Speaker 1: only trailing the Edmonton Oilers in Game four one to nothing, 603 00:40:27,315 --> 00:40:29,875 Speaker 1: two goals, and they win the Stanley Cup. When Trump 604 00:40:29,915 --> 00:40:32,275 Speaker 1: wrote and posted what I just read you, and then 605 00:40:33,435 --> 00:40:36,715 Speaker 1: they went to hell on a Trump basket. Florida lost 606 00:40:36,795 --> 00:40:40,035 Speaker 1: that fourth game Saturday night, not one to nothing, but 607 00:40:40,195 --> 00:40:43,795 Speaker 1: a little bit worse than that. They gave up eight goals. 608 00:40:43,875 --> 00:40:48,155 Speaker 1: They lost eight to one. Then Tuesday night they lost 609 00:40:48,195 --> 00:40:51,235 Speaker 1: again again, missing the chance to clinch the Stanley Cup 610 00:40:51,315 --> 00:40:54,915 Speaker 1: five to three. They now lead Edmonton three games to two, 611 00:40:55,635 --> 00:40:59,115 Speaker 1: and Edmonton's chance to tie the series up and set 612 00:40:59,155 --> 00:41:02,635 Speaker 1: up Florida for the worst choke in hockey history is 613 00:41:02,715 --> 00:41:09,835 Speaker 1: Friday Night. Because ettd every team Trump Tart touches dies, 614 00:41:11,675 --> 00:41:16,275 Speaker 1: but our winner the worst. Greg Guttfeld of Fox Fox 615 00:41:16,315 --> 00:41:20,115 Speaker 1: has been actively altering and editing video of the President 616 00:41:20,155 --> 00:41:24,195 Speaker 1: to make him seem feeble or lost, when of course 617 00:41:24,195 --> 00:41:26,435 Speaker 1: it is the boy they pimped for Trump, who called 618 00:41:26,475 --> 00:41:30,115 Speaker 1: the president Joe Bride, who called his own doctor Ronnie 619 00:41:30,155 --> 00:41:34,355 Speaker 1: Jackson Ronnie Johnson. And that's just since Sunday, stay tuned, 620 00:41:34,355 --> 00:41:38,315 Speaker 1: there'll be more. But that's what they do Fox News. 621 00:41:38,715 --> 00:41:41,915 Speaker 1: They're whores. That's what I tried to tell David Carr 622 00:41:41,915 --> 00:41:43,675 Speaker 1: in twenty eleven, and he wrote it up like it 623 00:41:43,715 --> 00:41:47,195 Speaker 1: was just a marketing scheme for MSNBC or Current TV. 624 00:41:48,515 --> 00:41:52,315 Speaker 1: Gutfeld wins this award today because he went a little 625 00:41:52,355 --> 00:41:55,755 Speaker 1: further than just being a whore. He insisted on air 626 00:41:56,115 --> 00:42:01,315 Speaker 1: that it's everybody else who's lying. It's not Fox quote. 627 00:42:01,875 --> 00:42:04,555 Speaker 1: When we see something we've edit the media is not 628 00:42:05,115 --> 00:42:07,995 Speaker 1: because they're the engine behind their hoaxes. The Dems in 629 00:42:08,035 --> 00:42:10,395 Speaker 1: the media are lucky we don't match their dishonesty. By 630 00:42:10,395 --> 00:42:13,555 Speaker 1: the way, Fox News top rated cable TV network or 631 00:42:13,595 --> 00:42:17,955 Speaker 1: cable news network always often the top rated cable TV network. 632 00:42:18,235 --> 00:42:22,355 Speaker 1: They're the media. They're in fact the establishment media. Anyway, 633 00:42:22,355 --> 00:42:25,075 Speaker 1: to resume Gutfeld's quote, when we see something, we've had 634 00:42:25,115 --> 00:42:27,595 Speaker 1: it the media is not because they're the engine behind 635 00:42:27,635 --> 00:42:30,435 Speaker 1: their hoaxes. The Dems in the media are lucky we 636 00:42:30,435 --> 00:42:33,835 Speaker 1: don't match their dishonesty. We could, we don't. We don't 637 00:42:33,835 --> 00:42:38,315 Speaker 1: have to because basically we don't have to make up crap. Well, 638 00:42:38,355 --> 00:42:41,755 Speaker 1: of course you don't have to make up crap, Gutfeld, 639 00:42:42,115 --> 00:42:46,595 Speaker 1: it's provided to you by Rupert Murdoch. Greg, you don't 640 00:42:46,595 --> 00:42:50,675 Speaker 1: make up crap. You just paid Dominion seven hundred and 641 00:42:50,715 --> 00:42:54,355 Speaker 1: eighty seven million, five hundred thousand dollars to settle their 642 00:42:54,395 --> 00:42:58,875 Speaker 1: suit against you for making up crap because Rupert Murdoch 643 00:42:59,075 --> 00:43:06,875 Speaker 1: had too much money. Gutfeld two days, worst person in 644 00:43:07,075 --> 00:43:25,955 Speaker 1: the world. It's not a marketing point to the number 645 00:43:25,995 --> 00:43:28,635 Speaker 1: one story on the countdown and my favorite topic me 646 00:43:28,755 --> 00:43:33,475 Speaker 1: and how I learned not to drink. Anybody over the 647 00:43:33,475 --> 00:43:37,155 Speaker 1: age of twenty seven and the number may actually be 648 00:43:37,275 --> 00:43:40,475 Speaker 1: way lower than that can look back in genuine horror 649 00:43:41,115 --> 00:43:44,395 Speaker 1: at a day on which they did something alarming or 650 00:43:44,435 --> 00:43:49,395 Speaker 1: potentially physically injurious or fatal at a much younger age. 651 00:43:50,275 --> 00:43:54,875 Speaker 1: For me, since the day I turned twenty three and 652 00:43:54,955 --> 00:43:59,275 Speaker 1: a half on July twenty seventh, nineteen eighty two. That 653 00:43:59,395 --> 00:44:03,075 Speaker 1: day was July twenty fifth, nineteen eighty two, and I 654 00:44:03,075 --> 00:44:06,155 Speaker 1: remember on my twenty third and half birthday being kind 655 00:44:06,195 --> 00:44:08,315 Speaker 1: of surprised that I had made it through the previous 656 00:44:08,355 --> 00:44:11,635 Speaker 1: three days. July twenty fifth, nineteen eighty two is one 657 00:44:11,635 --> 00:44:15,395 Speaker 1: of those timeless, airless, stultifying summer sundays in New York 658 00:44:15,715 --> 00:44:19,155 Speaker 1: that can arrive and sit on your head and do 659 00:44:19,275 --> 00:44:22,395 Speaker 1: its best to smother you. It can get there anytime 660 00:44:22,395 --> 00:44:24,355 Speaker 1: from the end of May until the middle of September. 661 00:44:25,115 --> 00:44:28,755 Speaker 1: I was invited to a party on Long Island, Scias 662 00:44:28,835 --> 00:44:33,435 Speaker 1: it Maybe, where nine college friends were already having a 663 00:44:33,475 --> 00:44:36,955 Speaker 1: great time drinking. My friend Peter rented a duplex there 664 00:44:36,995 --> 00:44:39,315 Speaker 1: and shared it with some radio colleagues of his, including 665 00:44:39,595 --> 00:44:43,755 Speaker 1: impossibly the former New York Rangers hockey player Pete Stemkowski. 666 00:44:44,595 --> 00:44:46,875 Speaker 1: My friend Glenn Cornelius, who we would lose when he 667 00:44:46,915 --> 00:44:49,075 Speaker 1: turned thirty nine and whose name is on the studios 668 00:44:49,075 --> 00:44:52,235 Speaker 1: of our Cornell radio station's new facility along with my 669 00:44:52,315 --> 00:44:54,795 Speaker 1: dad's was there. He was in charge of grilling the burgers, 670 00:44:55,715 --> 00:44:58,515 Speaker 1: and his wife was there. Then my friend Peter's parents, 671 00:44:58,795 --> 00:45:00,515 Speaker 1: and a pal who used to be Pat Lions and 672 00:45:00,555 --> 00:45:02,875 Speaker 1: a T shirt but is now Patrick J. Lyons of 673 00:45:02,915 --> 00:45:04,835 Speaker 1: the Foreign desk of the New York Times thank you 674 00:45:04,995 --> 00:45:07,155 Speaker 1: in a beard and a three piece suit that makes 675 00:45:07,195 --> 00:45:10,035 Speaker 1: them look like Britain's ambassador to this country. In eighteen 676 00:45:10,115 --> 00:45:13,595 Speaker 1: ninety seven, I mention all this because it is in 677 00:45:13,635 --> 00:45:17,515 Speaker 1: my diary for the next day. I don't actually remember it, 678 00:45:17,555 --> 00:45:20,275 Speaker 1: and I don't actually remember it because it was so 679 00:45:20,435 --> 00:45:23,195 Speaker 1: damn hot that I would not leave Peter's well air 680 00:45:23,235 --> 00:45:26,355 Speaker 1: conditioned living room even to go grab a burger that 681 00:45:26,395 --> 00:45:30,755 Speaker 1: Glenn Cornelius was fixing with expert precision. I just sat there. 682 00:45:31,155 --> 00:45:34,235 Speaker 1: I just sat there and drank beer. Mind you, I 683 00:45:34,315 --> 00:45:37,315 Speaker 1: didn't drink a lot in college or thereafter. I was 684 00:45:37,355 --> 00:45:40,555 Speaker 1: never once carted in my life. I think I got 685 00:45:40,595 --> 00:45:44,115 Speaker 1: my first bar beer at the age of thirteen, But 686 00:45:44,235 --> 00:45:46,315 Speaker 1: as of that day in nineteen eighty two, I don't 687 00:45:46,315 --> 00:45:48,955 Speaker 1: believe I had ever had something to drink on three 688 00:45:49,075 --> 00:45:52,875 Speaker 1: consecutive days, and I probably hadn't had anything to drink 689 00:45:52,915 --> 00:45:55,635 Speaker 1: on two consecutive days more than four or five times 690 00:45:55,675 --> 00:46:01,075 Speaker 1: in my life. But that day was so oppressive, so unpleasant, 691 00:46:01,355 --> 00:46:06,715 Speaker 1: that I just kept drinking beer, and I did not stop. 692 00:46:07,035 --> 00:46:10,355 Speaker 1: From my arrival at two or three PM until my 693 00:46:10,515 --> 00:46:14,595 Speaker 1: departure just before ten, I had a beer in my 694 00:46:14,715 --> 00:46:20,595 Speaker 1: hand for seven eight hours without interruption. In those days, 695 00:46:20,595 --> 00:46:22,555 Speaker 1: if I stuck to one kind of beverage, I would 696 00:46:22,595 --> 00:46:25,595 Speaker 1: neither stay obviously drunk, nor would I get a hangover. 697 00:46:26,355 --> 00:46:28,835 Speaker 1: I do not know how many beers I had that 698 00:46:28,995 --> 00:46:32,595 Speaker 1: stultifying afternoon and evening. If I only got a new 699 00:46:32,635 --> 00:46:35,995 Speaker 1: beer every fifteen minutes, that would still be twenty eight 700 00:46:36,515 --> 00:46:41,075 Speaker 1: or thirty beers. Might have been less, might have been more. 701 00:46:41,195 --> 00:46:44,875 Speaker 1: My guess is it was more closer to forty. I 702 00:46:44,955 --> 00:46:48,315 Speaker 1: recall having the presence of mind to ask my friends Peter, 703 00:46:48,435 --> 00:46:50,275 Speaker 1: pat and Glenn not merely to take me to the 704 00:46:50,315 --> 00:46:52,395 Speaker 1: train station so I could get back to my apartment 705 00:46:52,395 --> 00:46:54,195 Speaker 1: in the city, but to stay with me on the 706 00:46:54,235 --> 00:46:57,115 Speaker 1: platform to make sure I got on the train rather 707 00:46:57,195 --> 00:47:00,475 Speaker 1: than falling in front of it. I also remember them 708 00:47:00,475 --> 00:47:02,075 Speaker 1: going so far as to make sure not just that 709 00:47:02,115 --> 00:47:04,835 Speaker 1: I got on, but that I sat down, And I 710 00:47:04,875 --> 00:47:07,835 Speaker 1: recall being overjoyed at the train's air conditioning, considering that 711 00:47:07,875 --> 00:47:10,635 Speaker 1: at ten PM that night at the train station it 712 00:47:10,715 --> 00:47:15,275 Speaker 1: was still ninety degrees out. I'm pretty sure I splurged, 713 00:47:15,435 --> 00:47:17,355 Speaker 1: and it was a splurge in those days for a 714 00:47:17,395 --> 00:47:19,355 Speaker 1: cab back from Penn Station to my home on the 715 00:47:19,395 --> 00:47:21,995 Speaker 1: other side of town, even though my salary is the 716 00:47:22,075 --> 00:47:26,875 Speaker 1: national sports correspondent for CNN, was twenty six thousand dollars 717 00:47:26,915 --> 00:47:30,635 Speaker 1: a year. And never once in all of this boozy 718 00:47:30,755 --> 00:47:33,355 Speaker 1: time did I forget that not only was I do 719 00:47:33,595 --> 00:47:36,195 Speaker 1: in at CNN at nine thirty the following morning, but 720 00:47:36,235 --> 00:47:39,115 Speaker 1: that I was also due in at my part time 721 00:47:39,235 --> 00:47:42,755 Speaker 1: job as the backup sportscaster on a New York radio 722 00:47:42,795 --> 00:47:48,635 Speaker 1: station WNAW at four the next morning. It was past 723 00:47:48,675 --> 00:47:50,795 Speaker 1: eleven PM when I got into my apartment, whose air 724 00:47:50,795 --> 00:47:53,395 Speaker 1: conditioner was poorly designed for the purpose and did little 725 00:47:53,435 --> 00:47:57,875 Speaker 1: bit blow air around. Though still wobbly from drink twenty 726 00:47:57,875 --> 00:48:02,435 Speaker 1: eight beers thirty forty. I immediately set two alarms for 727 00:48:02,515 --> 00:48:05,955 Speaker 1: three am, four hours. Hence, I got a huge block 728 00:48:05,995 --> 00:48:08,075 Speaker 1: of ice out of my freezer. I put it in 729 00:48:08,115 --> 00:48:10,675 Speaker 1: the tub in front of my giant room fan. I 730 00:48:10,715 --> 00:48:13,235 Speaker 1: took a delightful shower. I did not dry off. I 731 00:48:13,275 --> 00:48:16,555 Speaker 1: simply wrapped myself in my bed sheep, and I fell asleep. 732 00:48:17,315 --> 00:48:19,315 Speaker 1: I woke up to the alarms three and a half 733 00:48:19,395 --> 00:48:23,515 Speaker 1: hours later, slightly less drunk, but not much less drunk. 734 00:48:24,355 --> 00:48:27,515 Speaker 1: I showered again, shaved and still drunk, put on a suit, 735 00:48:27,715 --> 00:48:30,595 Speaker 1: shirt and tie, checked the temperature, which had cooled all 736 00:48:30,635 --> 00:48:35,075 Speaker 1: the weight down to a balmy eighty eight, and still drunk. 737 00:48:35,395 --> 00:48:37,715 Speaker 1: I walked in the middle of the night through the 738 00:48:37,835 --> 00:48:40,275 Speaker 1: risky New York of nineteen eighty two to the radio 739 00:48:40,355 --> 00:48:46,235 Speaker 1: station fourteen blocks downtown. But of course it was morning, 740 00:48:47,035 --> 00:48:49,995 Speaker 1: and morning, whether you are drunk or not, still drunk 741 00:48:50,395 --> 00:48:53,955 Speaker 1: means breakfast. So I stopped at the best all night 742 00:48:54,035 --> 00:48:57,595 Speaker 1: diner among several that were open along the route, and 743 00:48:57,675 --> 00:49:02,395 Speaker 1: I got something to go, eggs, bacon and sausage, a 744 00:49:02,395 --> 00:49:06,995 Speaker 1: little French toast, orange juice, coffee, and of course two 745 00:49:07,035 --> 00:49:10,315 Speaker 1: pieces of pastry. And I carried it and I was 746 00:49:10,355 --> 00:49:14,355 Speaker 1: still drunk into WAW Radio Metro Media Radio in New York. 747 00:49:15,355 --> 00:49:18,555 Speaker 1: I greeted, still drunk, the newscasters and producers. I grabbed 748 00:49:18,595 --> 00:49:21,035 Speaker 1: the role of sports wire copies still drunk that had 749 00:49:21,075 --> 00:49:23,235 Speaker 1: been churning out since about six pm the night before, 750 00:49:23,275 --> 00:49:25,875 Speaker 1: and still drunk, found the stories I needed, and still 751 00:49:25,955 --> 00:49:28,595 Speaker 1: drunk while I ate my breakfast that with today sustained 752 00:49:28,675 --> 00:49:31,155 Speaker 1: me for three and a half weeks. I wrote my 753 00:49:31,155 --> 00:49:35,595 Speaker 1: first sports cast to air at five thirty AM. I 754 00:49:35,755 --> 00:49:38,515 Speaker 1: finished it. I looked at the clock. It was four 755 00:49:38,515 --> 00:49:42,595 Speaker 1: to thirty AM. So since the sports stories rarely changed 756 00:49:42,635 --> 00:49:45,675 Speaker 1: on the morning shift, I still drunk wrote the six 757 00:49:45,875 --> 00:49:48,315 Speaker 1: thirty sports cast as well, and then the seven to thirty, 758 00:49:48,315 --> 00:49:51,555 Speaker 1: and still drunk, and it's still being only five ten am. 759 00:49:51,635 --> 00:49:53,635 Speaker 1: I wrote the last of the sports cast, the eight 760 00:49:53,675 --> 00:49:57,995 Speaker 1: to thirty. In point of fact, drunk, I was working 761 00:49:58,035 --> 00:50:02,795 Speaker 1: faster than I normally did. A perusal of world history 762 00:50:02,835 --> 00:50:06,155 Speaker 1: suggests that the stories of the morning included the Yankees 763 00:50:06,195 --> 00:50:08,355 Speaker 1: losing six to four of the Angels, with ex Yankee 764 00:50:08,435 --> 00:50:11,195 Speaker 1: Reggie Jackson going one for three in front of fifty 765 00:50:11,195 --> 00:50:14,275 Speaker 1: one thousand, five hundred and sixty one sweating fans at 766 00:50:14,395 --> 00:50:18,555 Speaker 1: Yankee Stadium, that Dave Kingman made two unassisted double plays 767 00:50:18,555 --> 00:50:20,715 Speaker 1: at first base for the Mets as they lost three 768 00:50:20,755 --> 00:50:24,235 Speaker 1: to two, with the victorious Padres, placing the tragic second 769 00:50:24,275 --> 00:50:27,355 Speaker 1: basement Alan Wiggins on the disabled list because he had 770 00:50:27,395 --> 00:50:31,755 Speaker 1: been arrested for cocaine possession, and that goalie Hubert Berkenheimer 771 00:50:32,235 --> 00:50:34,835 Speaker 1: starred as the New York Cosmos won their fifth straight 772 00:50:34,875 --> 00:50:37,675 Speaker 1: game eleven straight at home over the San Diego Soccers. 773 00:50:38,755 --> 00:50:41,955 Speaker 1: An ill fated Olympic sort of thing called the National 774 00:50:41,995 --> 00:50:45,675 Speaker 1: Sports Festival was well underway in Indianapolis. It was as 775 00:50:45,715 --> 00:50:49,915 Speaker 1: boring then as it sounds now, no matter how drunk 776 00:50:50,435 --> 00:50:55,115 Speaker 1: your sportscasterre happened to be. At five point thirty am, 777 00:50:55,155 --> 00:50:58,755 Speaker 1: I went on the air, still drunk and read my 778 00:50:58,875 --> 00:51:03,075 Speaker 1: script flawlessly. By six point thirty I was beginning to 779 00:51:03,115 --> 00:51:06,835 Speaker 1: sober up. At seven, I was a little headachey. At 780 00:51:06,875 --> 00:51:09,755 Speaker 1: eight thirty, I was now one hundred percent not drunk. 781 00:51:10,795 --> 00:51:12,795 Speaker 1: I said goodbye to all of my radio colleagues. I 782 00:51:12,875 --> 00:51:15,315 Speaker 1: checked the temperature, now back up to ninety three degrees, 783 00:51:15,555 --> 00:51:17,475 Speaker 1: and I went out and walked one block to the 784 00:51:17,515 --> 00:51:20,915 Speaker 1: downtown subway train that would take me to the World 785 00:51:20,995 --> 00:51:23,595 Speaker 1: Trade Center. And the eight hour day that awaited me 786 00:51:23,675 --> 00:51:26,075 Speaker 1: as a reporter out in the field with a camera crew. 787 00:51:26,115 --> 00:51:27,715 Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, in nineteen eighty two, that 788 00:51:27,755 --> 00:51:32,995 Speaker 1: particular subway line did not have air conditioning. My diary 789 00:51:33,155 --> 00:51:35,675 Speaker 1: entry leaves out the story that I covered that day 790 00:51:35,675 --> 00:51:37,475 Speaker 1: for CNN, but it does note that I made a 791 00:51:37,555 --> 00:51:41,555 Speaker 1: tape of the drunken radio sports casts and listened that 792 00:51:41,675 --> 00:51:45,635 Speaker 1: evening and enjoined them immensely because I had no memory 793 00:51:45,675 --> 00:51:51,275 Speaker 1: of researching, composing, writing, or reading them whatsoever. My diary 794 00:51:51,315 --> 00:51:53,835 Speaker 1: also says I made dinner plans with a girl at 795 00:51:53,955 --> 00:51:57,035 Speaker 1: WNW who I was dating, and I flirted with another 796 00:51:57,035 --> 00:51:59,555 Speaker 1: woman at CNN who said that my new publicity photos 797 00:51:59,715 --> 00:52:02,075 Speaker 1: had made me look like a puppy dog. She and 798 00:52:02,115 --> 00:52:07,795 Speaker 1: I also made dinner plans. This is like a month 799 00:52:07,835 --> 00:52:11,355 Speaker 1: and a half of life for me today, or even 800 00:52:11,355 --> 00:52:15,155 Speaker 1: at the age of thirty three, let alone twenty three. 801 00:52:15,315 --> 00:52:17,595 Speaker 1: I remember, either that day or the next, possibly as 802 00:52:17,595 --> 00:52:19,635 Speaker 1: I listened to the sportscasts I had done while on 803 00:52:19,715 --> 00:52:23,035 Speaker 1: still drunken autopilot, that it was very impressive to me 804 00:52:23,075 --> 00:52:25,675 Speaker 1: that I had managed to do all this without swearing 805 00:52:25,715 --> 00:52:28,955 Speaker 1: on radio or fainting while standing up and holding a 806 00:52:28,955 --> 00:52:32,155 Speaker 1: CNN microphone out into the ninety three degree heat, or 807 00:52:32,235 --> 00:52:35,595 Speaker 1: getting unwell in front of either of those girls, that 808 00:52:35,715 --> 00:52:39,835 Speaker 1: I could, in the parlance of those just post madmen years, 809 00:52:40,675 --> 00:52:45,635 Speaker 1: hold my alcohol. And then I also remember that, just 810 00:52:45,675 --> 00:52:50,275 Speaker 1: as quickly I remembered in nineteen eighty two the names 811 00:52:50,395 --> 00:52:53,115 Speaker 1: of some of my father's uncles and some of my 812 00:52:53,235 --> 00:52:56,555 Speaker 1: mother's cousins who they had told me had all died 813 00:52:56,595 --> 00:53:00,315 Speaker 1: around the age of forty forty five because bluntly they 814 00:53:00,355 --> 00:53:04,355 Speaker 1: could also hold their alcohol. Where I got the phrase 815 00:53:04,435 --> 00:53:05,875 Speaker 1: I did, I don't know, but I did think of 816 00:53:05,915 --> 00:53:09,115 Speaker 1: it that night. It's not you are holding your alcohol. 817 00:53:09,195 --> 00:53:14,395 Speaker 1: It's called functional alcoholism. And functional alcoholism will allow you 818 00:53:14,475 --> 00:53:16,915 Speaker 1: to drink forty beers one night and then work from 819 00:53:16,955 --> 00:53:19,795 Speaker 1: four am to six pm the next. Then later it'll 820 00:53:19,835 --> 00:53:24,875 Speaker 1: come back and you know, kill you. Since that episode 821 00:53:24,875 --> 00:53:26,955 Speaker 1: in July nineteen eighty two, the number of times I 822 00:53:26,955 --> 00:53:30,395 Speaker 1: have had double digit drinks on one day is one. 823 00:53:31,915 --> 00:53:34,075 Speaker 1: I was thirty seven. I was going to a party 824 00:53:34,115 --> 00:53:37,595 Speaker 1: celebrating what everybody else was believing was me joining their 825 00:53:37,675 --> 00:53:41,235 Speaker 1: Chicago radio station, but which I alone knew management had 826 00:53:41,275 --> 00:53:44,875 Speaker 1: instead decided to close that radio station and fire all 827 00:53:44,915 --> 00:53:47,195 Speaker 1: of them, and before I left my hotel, I took 828 00:53:47,195 --> 00:53:49,435 Speaker 1: a bunch of the hotel business cards with me because 829 00:53:49,475 --> 00:53:51,715 Speaker 1: I wasn't sure I'd still be able to speak later 830 00:53:51,795 --> 00:53:53,955 Speaker 1: that night. I wanted a card so I could just 831 00:53:54,035 --> 00:53:56,195 Speaker 1: head it to the cab driver. And that is exactly 832 00:53:56,235 --> 00:54:01,675 Speaker 1: what happened, and legitimately, I do not believe that in 833 00:54:01,755 --> 00:54:04,555 Speaker 1: all the years since then, and that's nineteen ninety six, 834 00:54:05,555 --> 00:54:09,275 Speaker 1: I have ever had anything to drink two days in 835 00:54:09,315 --> 00:54:12,715 Speaker 1: a row, and that street probably goes back to nineteen 836 00:54:12,755 --> 00:54:16,715 Speaker 1: eighty two as well, never have anything to drink two 837 00:54:16,795 --> 00:54:20,875 Speaker 1: days in a row. And not to preach, but may 838 00:54:20,915 --> 00:54:37,675 Speaker 1: I suggest that you shouldn't either. I've done all the 839 00:54:37,755 --> 00:54:40,115 Speaker 1: damage I can do here. Thank you for listening. Countdown 840 00:54:40,195 --> 00:54:44,035 Speaker 1: Musical directors Brian Ray and John Phillips Chanel arranged, produced, 841 00:54:44,075 --> 00:54:46,835 Speaker 1: and performed most of our music. Mister Ray was on 842 00:54:46,875 --> 00:54:49,875 Speaker 1: the guitars, bass and drums, and mister Shanelle handled orchestration 843 00:54:49,955 --> 00:54:53,475 Speaker 1: and keyboards. It was produced by Tko Brothers. Other music, 844 00:54:53,515 --> 00:54:57,075 Speaker 1: including some of the Beethoven compositions, were arranged and performed 845 00:54:57,075 --> 00:54:59,835 Speaker 1: by the group No Horns Allowed. The sports music is 846 00:54:59,875 --> 00:55:03,235 Speaker 1: the Olderman theme from ESPN two written by Mitch Warren 847 00:55:03,275 --> 00:55:06,955 Speaker 1: Davis courtesy of ESPN. In our satirical and fifthy musical 848 00:55:07,035 --> 00:55:10,395 Speaker 1: comments are by Nancy Faust, the best baseball stadium organist ever. 849 00:55:10,675 --> 00:55:13,115 Speaker 1: Our announcer was my friend Kenny Maine, and everything else 850 00:55:13,275 --> 00:55:17,595 Speaker 1: was as usual, pretty much my fault. So that's countdown 851 00:55:17,635 --> 00:55:20,155 Speaker 1: for this the one hundred and fortieth day until the 852 00:55:20,155 --> 00:55:23,955 Speaker 1: twenty twenty fourth presidential election and the two hundred and 853 00:55:23,955 --> 00:55:28,075 Speaker 1: sixty first day since convicted felon Donald Trump's first attempted 854 00:55:28,115 --> 00:55:31,355 Speaker 1: coup against the democratically elected government of the United States. 855 00:55:31,835 --> 00:55:35,395 Speaker 1: Use the July eleventh sentencing hearing, use the mental health system, 856 00:55:35,715 --> 00:55:39,555 Speaker 1: use presidential immunity if it happens, to stop him from 857 00:55:39,595 --> 00:55:46,835 Speaker 1: doing it again while we still can. A reminder we 858 00:55:46,875 --> 00:55:50,395 Speaker 1: will be live again on YouTube after the debate a 859 00:55:50,435 --> 00:55:55,675 Speaker 1: week from tonight if Trump shows up. And also please 860 00:55:55,715 --> 00:55:58,035 Speaker 1: send your link to this podcast to somebody who does 861 00:55:58,075 --> 00:56:02,355 Speaker 1: not already listen. It is free after all. The next 862 00:56:02,395 --> 00:56:05,915 Speaker 1: scheduled countdown is tomorrow. Bulletins is the new warrants till then. 863 00:56:05,915 --> 00:56:09,035 Speaker 1: I'm Keith Olberman. Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and 864 00:56:09,595 --> 00:56:28,355 Speaker 1: good luck. Countdown with Keith Olberman is a production of iHeartRadio. 865 00:56:28,635 --> 00:56:33,795 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 866 00:56:34,075 --> 00:56:36,035 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.