1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:21,595 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. We 2 00:00:21,635 --> 00:00:26,755 Speaker 1: are so goddamned afraid of offending somebody by defending democracy. 3 00:00:27,315 --> 00:00:30,995 Speaker 1: The first Fourteenth Amendment case against Trump is decided, and 4 00:00:31,035 --> 00:00:34,915 Speaker 1: the Minnesota State Supreme Court wriggled out of both disqualifying 5 00:00:34,955 --> 00:00:39,035 Speaker 1: him from the ballot and wriggled out of not disqualifying 6 00:00:39,115 --> 00:00:43,115 Speaker 1: him from the ballot. Chief Justice Natalie E. Hudson says 7 00:00:43,515 --> 00:00:46,955 Speaker 1: the court will not bar Trump from the Minnesota ballot now, 8 00:00:47,035 --> 00:00:52,915 Speaker 1: because hey, we're still in the primary stage. No, seriously, 9 00:00:53,555 --> 00:00:57,435 Speaker 1: Chief Justice Hudson writes, there is quote no state statute 10 00:00:57,435 --> 00:01:00,395 Speaker 1: that prohibits a major political party from placing on the 11 00:01:00,435 --> 00:01:04,475 Speaker 1: presidential nomination primary ballot or sending delegates to the National 12 00:01:04,475 --> 00:01:09,995 Speaker 1: can supporting a candidate who is ineligible to hold office. 13 00:01:11,555 --> 00:01:14,515 Speaker 1: That's what the Supreme Court of Minnesota decided this on. 14 00:01:14,995 --> 00:01:18,355 Speaker 1: Not the exact dimensions of Trump's role in the insurrection, 15 00:01:18,675 --> 00:01:21,795 Speaker 1: not the applicability of Clause three of the Fourteenth Amendment, 16 00:01:22,155 --> 00:01:26,475 Speaker 1: not the analysis of the deliberations leading to the passage 17 00:01:26,515 --> 00:01:30,075 Speaker 1: of the fourteenth Amendment. That it is self executing, and 18 00:01:30,155 --> 00:01:33,595 Speaker 1: if you were part of a rebellion, you start ineligible 19 00:01:33,635 --> 00:01:36,595 Speaker 1: to hold office, and you can only become eligible to 20 00:01:36,715 --> 00:01:39,995 Speaker 1: hold office if two thirds of Congress votes to waive 21 00:01:40,155 --> 00:01:45,715 Speaker 1: your ineligibility, which is what the goddamn fourteenth Amendment actually says. No, 22 00:01:46,955 --> 00:01:50,035 Speaker 1: the Minnesota Supreme Court decided this based on the oh look, 23 00:01:50,515 --> 00:01:54,395 Speaker 1: a technicality which allows us to not rule and not 24 00:01:54,635 --> 00:01:59,275 Speaker 1: anger anybody and not cause of fus not have to 25 00:01:59,275 --> 00:02:02,435 Speaker 1: deal with threats or get this kicked up to the 26 00:02:02,555 --> 00:02:06,915 Speaker 1: US Supreme Court. It's so messy, the escape clause that 27 00:02:07,035 --> 00:02:10,355 Speaker 1: seems to be the universal goal of everyone placed in 28 00:02:10,395 --> 00:02:13,155 Speaker 1: a position in which they can risk a little to 29 00:02:13,235 --> 00:02:17,355 Speaker 1: defend freedom and the Constitution, rather than waiting until freedom 30 00:02:17,395 --> 00:02:20,555 Speaker 1: and the Constitution are dead and millions will have to 31 00:02:20,675 --> 00:02:26,275 Speaker 1: risk everything to restore them. Basically, Chief Justice Hudson says, 32 00:02:26,315 --> 00:02:30,875 Speaker 1: with seeming relief that she can sidestep this controversial but 33 00:02:31,035 --> 00:02:36,275 Speaker 1: completely constitutional and virtually unavoidable action because there ain't no 34 00:02:36,395 --> 00:02:41,395 Speaker 1: law against the Republicans nominating Trump or Putin or Jankyuger 35 00:02:42,115 --> 00:02:46,155 Speaker 1: or a very smart giraffe. Hey, that's their problem. What 36 00:02:46,235 --> 00:02:51,755 Speaker 1: are we the candidate police? Actually you are you are 37 00:02:51,795 --> 00:02:58,395 Speaker 1: the candidate police. Chief Justice Hudson sadly is the finest 38 00:02:58,475 --> 00:03:04,155 Speaker 1: personification of the political and cultural diversity that our clunky, unwieldy, 39 00:03:04,875 --> 00:03:11,235 Speaker 1: sometimes brutal, swift as molasses nation has somehow produced over 40 00:03:11,315 --> 00:03:16,155 Speaker 1: two hundred and forty seven years. She's African American. Her 41 00:03:16,235 --> 00:03:19,915 Speaker 1: dad was the first African American football coach at a 42 00:03:19,955 --> 00:03:24,355 Speaker 1: predominantly white college in modern history. She fought her way 43 00:03:24,395 --> 00:03:26,515 Speaker 1: up the Minnesota legal system for twenty years, and then 44 00:03:26,515 --> 00:03:28,835 Speaker 1: she was made a judge by a governor from the 45 00:03:28,915 --> 00:03:32,195 Speaker 1: Independence Party, and then put on the Supreme Court by 46 00:03:32,195 --> 00:03:35,395 Speaker 1: another governor from the Farmer Labor Party, and then named 47 00:03:35,475 --> 00:03:38,635 Speaker 1: Chief Justice by yet another governor from the Farmer Labor Party. 48 00:03:39,355 --> 00:03:44,875 Speaker 1: And when it came time to defend the Constitution, she said, nah, 49 00:03:44,915 --> 00:03:48,395 Speaker 1: I don't have to. And she said nothing about Trump's crimes, 50 00:03:48,675 --> 00:03:51,835 Speaker 1: and she presumably left the door open to try the 51 00:03:51,955 --> 00:03:55,835 Speaker 1: Fourteenth again when he becomes the nominee. Unless the Republicans 52 00:03:55,915 --> 00:04:03,195 Speaker 1: go with the giraffe. It's heartbreaking. The Fourteenth Amendment provides 53 00:04:03,235 --> 00:04:07,955 Speaker 1: a mechanism for override its automatic disqualification for traders and 54 00:04:08,075 --> 00:04:14,315 Speaker 1: insurrectionists like Jefferson Davis and Dementia J. Trump. If it 55 00:04:14,395 --> 00:04:18,955 Speaker 1: was not automatic, it would not have an overriding mechanism, 56 00:04:19,475 --> 00:04:22,235 Speaker 1: because if it was not automatic, if it was not 57 00:04:22,435 --> 00:04:28,115 Speaker 1: guilty until proved innocent, it wouldn't need an overriding mechanism. 58 00:04:29,675 --> 00:04:33,435 Speaker 1: And Justice Hudson and the Minnesota State Supreme Court punted. 59 00:04:34,195 --> 00:04:42,475 Speaker 1: They punched a pail full of water, absolutely no result whatsoever. Well, yeah, 60 00:04:42,515 --> 00:04:45,595 Speaker 1: that's not entirely true, is it, because naturally she did 61 00:04:46,035 --> 00:04:49,555 Speaker 1: hand Trump another lump of raw meat to throat to 62 00:04:49,715 --> 00:04:54,075 Speaker 1: his cult. The Fourteenth Amendment challenges, said a Trump henchman 63 00:04:54,115 --> 00:04:57,835 Speaker 1: within minutes of the announcement, are quote, nothing more than 64 00:04:57,915 --> 00:05:04,835 Speaker 1: strategic unconstitutional, unconstitutional hyphenated in the statement incorrectly by the way, 65 00:05:05,475 --> 00:05:09,715 Speaker 1: strategic unconstitutional attempts to interfere with the election unquote. And 66 00:05:09,755 --> 00:05:13,035 Speaker 1: then dementia Jay, in his role as the most insecure 67 00:05:13,075 --> 00:05:17,595 Speaker 1: man in the world, posted ridiculous Fourteenth Amendment lawsuit just 68 00:05:17,635 --> 00:05:21,915 Speaker 1: thrown out by Minnesota Supreme Court without merit unconstitutional. Congratulations 69 00:05:21,995 --> 00:05:29,595 Speaker 1: to all who fought this hoax Fourteenth Amendment and the Constitution, 70 00:05:30,515 --> 00:05:33,795 Speaker 1: and for that matter, what our predecessors who survived the 71 00:05:33,835 --> 00:05:38,555 Speaker 1: Civil War so carefully crafted so it could never happen again, 72 00:05:38,635 --> 00:05:42,595 Speaker 1: All of them dismissed as a hoax by the most 73 00:05:42,595 --> 00:05:47,715 Speaker 1: despicable criminal this nation has ever produced. Thank you, Justice Hudson, 74 00:05:48,195 --> 00:05:51,755 Speaker 1: Thanks for going out on a limb for the nation. 75 00:05:55,675 --> 00:05:58,955 Speaker 1: Status of the other Fourteenth Amendment cases well, Trump's legal 76 00:05:58,995 --> 00:06:03,275 Speaker 1: team rested its case Friday, having now added a constitutional 77 00:06:03,315 --> 00:06:07,075 Speaker 1: expert from the Federalists Society, So I'm assuming he was 78 00:06:07,115 --> 00:06:10,755 Speaker 1: an expert on our constitution, not that of Weimar Germany's. 79 00:06:11,315 --> 00:06:15,435 Speaker 1: Their other Colorado witnesses included the retiring Congressman Ken Buck 80 00:06:16,075 --> 00:06:20,515 Speaker 1: the day after Trump had trashed him online, Cash Patel, 81 00:06:21,315 --> 00:06:25,035 Speaker 1: Katrina Pearson, a Trump operative who insisted that it was 82 00:06:25,155 --> 00:06:28,315 Speaker 1: Antifa that did it. Another Trump operative who explained that 83 00:06:28,315 --> 00:06:32,195 Speaker 1: there was no insurrection on January sixth. So there's a 84 00:06:32,275 --> 00:06:36,955 Speaker 1: chance Trump is deliberately throwing this case final. Colorado arguments 85 00:06:36,995 --> 00:06:38,995 Speaker 1: are weak from yesterday, and then it will go to 86 00:06:39,035 --> 00:06:44,035 Speaker 1: a jury of six four Republicans and two independents. The 87 00:06:44,075 --> 00:06:48,035 Speaker 1: status of the efforts to preclude Schedule F, the means 88 00:06:48,035 --> 00:06:50,715 Speaker 1: by which Trump, upon returning to power, could fire virtually 89 00:06:50,755 --> 00:06:54,195 Speaker 1: any government employee he wanted to for whatever reason he wanted, 90 00:06:55,075 --> 00:06:58,075 Speaker 1: meaning that you would have to be or maybe even 91 00:06:58,115 --> 00:07:03,475 Speaker 1: have to swear personal loyalty to Trump. Has that gone well? 92 00:07:03,715 --> 00:07:06,995 Speaker 1: The Biden White House Office of Personnel Management promulgated a 93 00:07:07,035 --> 00:07:11,755 Speaker 1: proposed rule two months ago aimed at hamstringing schedule F 94 00:07:12,675 --> 00:07:16,875 Speaker 1: and it's still marked proposed. And anyway, take a guess 95 00:07:16,875 --> 00:07:22,075 Speaker 1: what the easiest thing for one White House is to repeal, yes, 96 00:07:23,275 --> 00:07:28,755 Speaker 1: another White House's rule as to something in Congress to 97 00:07:28,915 --> 00:07:34,035 Speaker 1: protect the civil service, to prevent a personal loyalty oath 98 00:07:34,555 --> 00:07:39,995 Speaker 1: signed in blood by every federal employee. Nothing crickets. But anyway, 99 00:07:39,995 --> 00:07:41,835 Speaker 1: how are you going to get it past House Republicans, 100 00:07:41,955 --> 00:07:45,515 Speaker 1: for whom Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan just were not 101 00:07:45,755 --> 00:07:50,715 Speaker 1: doctrinaire enough measures to stop what the Washington Post reported 102 00:07:50,715 --> 00:07:54,835 Speaker 1: Sunday about officially politicizing the Department of Justice and shoehorning 103 00:07:54,835 --> 00:07:57,755 Speaker 1: the Federal Trade Commission, or or say the Federal Reserve, 104 00:07:58,315 --> 00:08:01,075 Speaker 1: just taking them into some White House department so that 105 00:08:01,115 --> 00:08:04,315 Speaker 1: Trump would be directly in charge of them. Nothing has 106 00:08:04,355 --> 00:08:08,555 Speaker 1: any been proposed so far so that even if House 107 00:08:08,595 --> 00:08:12,355 Speaker 1: fascists killed it, you could use that as a campaign 108 00:08:12,435 --> 00:08:16,995 Speaker 1: issue next year. Hasn't even been proposed by House Democrats 109 00:08:17,195 --> 00:08:22,595 Speaker 1: or Senate Democrats. We are so goddamned afraid of offending 110 00:08:22,995 --> 00:08:27,515 Speaker 1: somebody by defending democracy that we are going to bend 111 00:08:27,755 --> 00:08:36,875 Speaker 1: over backwards and fall directly into fascism. There's an extraordinary 112 00:08:36,995 --> 00:08:42,195 Speaker 1: French film, La Regle dujeu The Rules of the Game. 113 00:08:42,755 --> 00:08:47,075 Speaker 1: It premiered on July seventh, nineteen thirty nine, three hundred 114 00:08:47,115 --> 00:08:50,395 Speaker 1: and fifty four, days before France fell to the Nazis. 115 00:08:51,115 --> 00:08:54,035 Speaker 1: It was written and directed by Jean Renoir, and in 116 00:08:54,075 --> 00:08:58,235 Speaker 1: it he plays the hero's buddy, Actav, and at one point, 117 00:08:58,235 --> 00:09:01,995 Speaker 1: Octav says something about the corruption and the lack of 118 00:09:02,115 --> 00:09:06,755 Speaker 1: morals and the just plain lack of effort to stand 119 00:09:06,835 --> 00:09:10,555 Speaker 1: up for what's right, which is what the movie is about. 120 00:09:11,355 --> 00:09:16,635 Speaker 1: And this quote from Octav, the point of Jean Renoir's movie, 121 00:09:17,755 --> 00:09:20,395 Speaker 1: is the quote that has come to symbolize the France 122 00:09:20,875 --> 00:09:23,835 Speaker 1: that folded like a card table in front of the 123 00:09:23,915 --> 00:09:28,595 Speaker 1: Hitler onslaught and the vshi France full of more collaborators 124 00:09:28,595 --> 00:09:33,315 Speaker 1: than the Germans had believed possible. You see, in this world, 125 00:09:33,915 --> 00:09:39,635 Speaker 1: there is one awful thing, Octav says, seemingly fighting back 126 00:09:39,675 --> 00:09:41,755 Speaker 1: for a moment and then he gives up with a shrug, 127 00:09:42,675 --> 00:09:54,395 Speaker 1: and that is that everyone has his reasons. You see, 128 00:09:54,395 --> 00:09:56,475 Speaker 1: in this world, there is one awful thing and that 129 00:09:56,675 --> 00:10:02,915 Speaker 1: is that everyone has his reasons. We may be the 130 00:10:02,915 --> 00:10:07,155 Speaker 1: twenty first century version of pre Hitler France. We all 131 00:10:07,315 --> 00:10:19,355 Speaker 1: have our reasons to just shrug or to smirk first 132 00:10:19,395 --> 00:10:22,635 Speaker 1: and cash a big paycheck later, which is what the 133 00:10:22,675 --> 00:10:25,795 Speaker 1: impossibly over her head Kristin Welker did last night at 134 00:10:25,795 --> 00:10:29,235 Speaker 1: the Republican Debate, which NBC and she and Lester Holt 135 00:10:29,315 --> 00:10:33,795 Speaker 1: prostituted their journalistic reputations to participate in and carry. Because 136 00:10:33,795 --> 00:10:37,235 Speaker 1: if there's gonna be a vs. America, goddamn it, NBC 137 00:10:37,555 --> 00:10:41,955 Speaker 1: Universal Comcast is going to survive and guarantee its investors 138 00:10:42,115 --> 00:10:48,915 Speaker 1: a prophet over all the dead bodies. Vivek Ramaswami, who 139 00:10:48,955 --> 00:10:54,955 Speaker 1: is absolutely batshit crazy, decided that the best way to 140 00:10:55,035 --> 00:10:58,195 Speaker 1: try to be the top feces on that pile was 141 00:10:58,235 --> 00:11:03,035 Speaker 1: to confront Kristin Welker, and he went into one of 142 00:11:03,075 --> 00:11:05,635 Speaker 1: his high speed rants that would make Trump Junior wonder 143 00:11:05,755 --> 00:11:09,875 Speaker 1: what is that guy on? About the Trump Russia conspiracy 144 00:11:09,915 --> 00:11:13,955 Speaker 1: story as NBC covered it from twenty sixteen onwards, and 145 00:11:14,035 --> 00:11:18,475 Speaker 1: Ramswami demanded that Kristin Welker answer this question, was that 146 00:11:18,595 --> 00:11:21,875 Speaker 1: real or was that Hillary Clinton made up disinformation? And 147 00:11:21,915 --> 00:11:25,035 Speaker 1: he pointed at her and said go and she just 148 00:11:25,195 --> 00:11:30,675 Speaker 1: smiled at him. And when she didn't say anything or 149 00:11:31,115 --> 00:11:38,435 Speaker 1: defend NBC News, or defend the news media, or defend reality, 150 00:11:39,275 --> 00:11:42,235 Speaker 1: he went on to insist that the media had rigged 151 00:11:42,275 --> 00:11:44,915 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty election. The media had rigged the twenty 152 00:11:44,955 --> 00:11:48,715 Speaker 1: twenty election, and it had rigged the twenty sixteen election. 153 00:11:50,395 --> 00:11:54,195 Speaker 1: That's right, kid, the media rigged the twenty sixteen election 154 00:11:54,955 --> 00:11:58,835 Speaker 1: for Trump. We were all in the bag for fascism, 155 00:11:59,195 --> 00:12:04,155 Speaker 1: v vake. What should have happened was Kristin Welker should 156 00:12:04,155 --> 00:12:07,755 Speaker 1: have taken that moment to recognize and almost anybody watching 157 00:12:07,915 --> 00:12:11,675 Speaker 1: NBC for the Republican debate last night as a Trumpist 158 00:12:12,315 --> 00:12:16,395 Speaker 1: or a Republican and therefore hadn't watched NBC and like, 159 00:12:16,675 --> 00:12:18,915 Speaker 1: who shoot, when did I go back there? Two thousand 160 00:12:18,915 --> 00:12:22,995 Speaker 1: and three, and is unlikely ever to watch it again, 161 00:12:23,755 --> 00:12:27,235 Speaker 1: and probably nearly all of them believe that the twenty 162 00:12:27,235 --> 00:12:31,355 Speaker 1: twenty election was rigged and or JFK. Junior has come 163 00:12:31,395 --> 00:12:35,835 Speaker 1: back from the dead, and or QAnon his reality or 164 00:12:35,875 --> 00:12:38,795 Speaker 1: all of the above. She should have recognized that, and 165 00:12:38,995 --> 00:12:42,275 Speaker 1: she should have taken the extraordinary opportunity that she and 166 00:12:42,395 --> 00:12:46,835 Speaker 1: she alone had just been gifted by Vivek Ramaswami to 167 00:12:47,155 --> 00:12:53,155 Speaker 1: expose the viewers, however briefly, to reality, to what has 168 00:12:53,275 --> 00:12:57,915 Speaker 1: actually happened, not in Trump's addle mind nor on Fox News, 169 00:12:57,955 --> 00:13:02,795 Speaker 1: but in the actual world, even if only a hundred 170 00:13:02,835 --> 00:13:06,555 Speaker 1: of them registered what it was. She should have summarized 171 00:13:06,595 --> 00:13:10,075 Speaker 1: what Robert Muller actually said in his report about Russia, 172 00:13:10,115 --> 00:13:13,675 Speaker 1: that there was contact between Russian entities and the Trump campaign, 173 00:13:14,195 --> 00:13:17,515 Speaker 1: and that in no way was he clearing Trump. And 174 00:13:17,555 --> 00:13:20,155 Speaker 1: she should have said what Attorney General Barr did to 175 00:13:20,195 --> 00:13:23,315 Speaker 1: cover up the report and the contact between Trump and Russia. 176 00:13:23,755 --> 00:13:25,915 Speaker 1: And she should have said that any fair analysis of 177 00:13:25,955 --> 00:13:28,595 Speaker 1: the actual events of twenty sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen would 178 00:13:28,635 --> 00:13:31,755 Speaker 1: confirm that there was a conspiracy between the Trump campaign 179 00:13:31,915 --> 00:13:35,715 Speaker 1: and later the Trump administration and elements controlled by Vladimir 180 00:13:35,755 --> 00:13:38,915 Speaker 1: Putin and the Russian government. So to answer your question, 181 00:13:38,955 --> 00:13:42,715 Speaker 1: mister Ramaswami, Yes, and by the way, mister Ramaswami, your 182 00:13:42,915 --> 00:13:49,035 Speaker 1: batshit crazy, I mean hell. Ramaswami called Vladimir Zelenski a 183 00:13:49,155 --> 00:13:55,915 Speaker 1: Nazi last night, and even Nikki Hayley called Ramaswami scum 184 00:13:56,715 --> 00:14:02,035 Speaker 1: over a debate about TikTok then he is scum. Mister Ramaswami. 185 00:14:02,115 --> 00:14:06,275 Speaker 1: Welker should have said you're wrong and your scum. And 186 00:14:06,315 --> 00:14:12,035 Speaker 1: then here's Lester Holt with the weather. Lester, I mean, honestly, 187 00:14:12,075 --> 00:14:14,755 Speaker 1: what would have happened next? Would a crowd full of 188 00:14:14,795 --> 00:14:18,915 Speaker 1: Republicans have suddenly begun to hate her? They hate her? Now? 189 00:14:19,475 --> 00:14:22,155 Speaker 1: Would a crowd full of Republicans have demanded NBC News 190 00:14:22,235 --> 00:14:25,755 Speaker 1: fire her? They are demanding NBC News fires her now? 191 00:14:26,635 --> 00:14:31,875 Speaker 1: Would NBC News have fired her now? What after they 192 00:14:31,915 --> 00:14:38,955 Speaker 1: just fired the last guy. I would have carried her 193 00:14:38,955 --> 00:14:41,675 Speaker 1: into work every day on my back if she wanted that, 194 00:14:41,715 --> 00:14:45,555 Speaker 1: if she had done something like that, But she just 195 00:14:45,675 --> 00:14:57,235 Speaker 1: smiled because well, because everybody has his or her reasons 196 00:14:59,675 --> 00:15:03,915 Speaker 1: on the subject of the Republican horse race. Horses ass race, 197 00:15:04,755 --> 00:15:06,955 Speaker 1: that's not even that real, is it. I have been 198 00:15:06,995 --> 00:15:09,635 Speaker 1: turning this subject over in my mind for three days 199 00:15:09,635 --> 00:15:13,315 Speaker 1: now and I cannot figure something out. I don't have 200 00:15:13,355 --> 00:15:17,715 Speaker 1: a starting point. Why did the Governor of Iowa, Kim 201 00:15:17,795 --> 00:15:24,955 Speaker 1: Reynolds endorse DeSantis? Now it's like chasing after the Titanic 202 00:15:25,435 --> 00:15:28,635 Speaker 1: in the fastest ship of nineteen twelve and getting up 203 00:15:28,675 --> 00:15:30,835 Speaker 1: next to her as the lifeboats are going into the 204 00:15:30,875 --> 00:15:35,755 Speaker 1: water and getting off your ship and boarding her and saying, gee, 205 00:15:35,835 --> 00:15:38,555 Speaker 1: look at all this room I have on board the Titanic. 206 00:15:40,475 --> 00:15:43,475 Speaker 1: I mean, Governor Reynolds is my age. And she did 207 00:15:43,515 --> 00:15:46,075 Speaker 1: not get a degree from any of the five colleges 208 00:15:46,115 --> 00:15:50,035 Speaker 1: she attended until the year twenty sixteen, and she had 209 00:15:50,075 --> 00:15:52,595 Speaker 1: a couple drunk driving arrests at the turn of the century. 210 00:15:52,635 --> 00:15:56,635 Speaker 1: But she's not a total idiot, is she? Or does 211 00:15:56,675 --> 00:16:00,515 Speaker 1: she know something we don't about this race that will 212 00:16:00,515 --> 00:16:03,555 Speaker 1: make her the only one who winds up in the lifeboat. 213 00:16:05,755 --> 00:16:12,795 Speaker 1: I hope that's the case, But I'm trying to analyze Republicans' 214 00:16:12,955 --> 00:16:16,435 Speaker 1: turn my hair gray. On the last day of testimony 215 00:16:16,475 --> 00:16:20,395 Speaker 1: at the Trump civil fraud trial, here Girl Junior testified blankly, 216 00:16:20,755 --> 00:16:25,035 Speaker 1: having apparently sustained severe memory loss. Her presence was clearly 217 00:16:25,115 --> 00:16:27,955 Speaker 1: just the mechanism by which the prosecution could thereby introduce 218 00:16:27,995 --> 00:16:31,155 Speaker 1: a series of key emails from twenty eleven in which 219 00:16:31,195 --> 00:16:34,195 Speaker 1: Deutsche Bank was trying to establish Trump's actual net worth 220 00:16:34,395 --> 00:16:37,035 Speaker 1: as being at least three billion, when he said it 221 00:16:37,075 --> 00:16:39,755 Speaker 1: was four billion, the state now says it was one 222 00:16:39,755 --> 00:16:43,275 Speaker 1: and a half billion, and Ebanca helpfully tried to negotiate 223 00:16:43,315 --> 00:16:46,035 Speaker 1: it down to two billion, which is kind of like saying, 224 00:16:46,555 --> 00:16:49,395 Speaker 1: what's the patient's temperature and the nurse says one hundred 225 00:16:49,395 --> 00:16:52,235 Speaker 1: and one, doctor, and he says that's too high to operate. 226 00:16:52,355 --> 00:16:55,195 Speaker 1: She says, well, then, how about ninety nine point five? 227 00:16:57,195 --> 00:17:00,435 Speaker 1: Following up on Tuesday's democratic kicking of maga ass one 228 00:17:00,515 --> 00:17:04,195 Speaker 1: result not widely reported on that night, the fascist librarian 229 00:17:04,195 --> 00:17:09,635 Speaker 1: prosecuting cult moms for Hitler's Liberty lost control of the 230 00:17:09,675 --> 00:17:14,035 Speaker 1: school board in Penridge, Pennsylvania, ground zero on all the 231 00:17:14,035 --> 00:17:18,555 Speaker 1: school board stuff. Voters there elected five Democrats and they 232 00:17:18,795 --> 00:17:22,115 Speaker 1: now rest control of the board back from the book banners. 233 00:17:22,395 --> 00:17:27,355 Speaker 1: Similar results in school boards elsewhere. Trump did his usual 234 00:17:27,355 --> 00:17:29,515 Speaker 1: thing in the post Boredom he pretends and his cult 235 00:17:29,515 --> 00:17:32,715 Speaker 1: believes that he has a switch that controls gravity. Turned 236 00:17:32,755 --> 00:17:35,515 Speaker 1: it on, turn it off. He did the full and 237 00:17:35,555 --> 00:17:39,155 Speaker 1: total endorsement thing of Daniel Cameron for governor of Kentucky 238 00:17:39,235 --> 00:17:43,275 Speaker 1: and Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi for reelection, and Reeves 239 00:17:43,355 --> 00:17:46,235 Speaker 1: cake walked, so he took credit for that, and Cameron 240 00:17:46,275 --> 00:17:51,155 Speaker 1: got landslided on. So Trump blamed Mitch McConnell. Not a 241 00:17:51,315 --> 00:17:54,475 Speaker 1: mention of Virginia out of Trump, by the way, which 242 00:17:54,515 --> 00:17:58,515 Speaker 1: is fine because it is clear the Republicans have decided 243 00:17:58,515 --> 00:18:02,595 Speaker 1: on the scapegoat for losing both houses to the Democrats. 244 00:18:03,435 --> 00:18:07,635 Speaker 1: Guess who All that is left of him is his 245 00:18:08,115 --> 00:18:10,635 Speaker 1: fast Do you wonder about the RNC? Do we have 246 00:18:10,675 --> 00:18:13,915 Speaker 1: the right people running the show because we were not 247 00:18:14,035 --> 00:18:16,595 Speaker 1: doing something right? I think that's very obvious. 248 00:18:17,075 --> 00:18:19,435 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Rob, I think you're right in a 249 00:18:19,475 --> 00:18:23,115 Speaker 2: lot of places. I would say these state level races, 250 00:18:23,555 --> 00:18:26,835 Speaker 2: RNC doesn't really play a role in voter turnout. That's 251 00:18:26,955 --> 00:18:30,875 Speaker 2: run by the team on the ground, and that in 252 00:18:30,955 --> 00:18:32,755 Speaker 2: Virginia's led by Glenn Youngkin. 253 00:18:32,995 --> 00:18:35,995 Speaker 1: That was Ken Kochinelli, one of the real sleeze bags 254 00:18:36,075 --> 00:18:41,475 Speaker 1: of Virginia politics on Newsmax. But the young Kin donut 255 00:18:41,835 --> 00:18:45,715 Speaker 1: was not limited to the fringes. On Fox Blonde number 256 00:18:45,755 --> 00:18:49,115 Speaker 1: thirty seven said that was really a loss for the governor, 257 00:18:49,155 --> 00:18:53,195 Speaker 1: and then Brian Kilmead said, what an epic failure by 258 00:18:53,275 --> 00:19:02,275 Speaker 1: Governor Youngkin. By Felicia. One more electoral note. In two 259 00:19:02,315 --> 00:19:05,515 Speaker 1: thousand and three, Kentucky elected its first Republican governor in 260 00:19:05,555 --> 00:19:09,555 Speaker 1: thirty two years, Ernie Fletcher. A year later, George W. 261 00:19:09,675 --> 00:19:12,515 Speaker 1: Bush was re elected president in two thousand and seven, 262 00:19:12,555 --> 00:19:16,875 Speaker 1: Kentucky threw out Ernie Fletcher and elected the Democrat Steve Basheer. 263 00:19:17,635 --> 00:19:21,555 Speaker 1: A year later, Barack Obama was elected president in twenty eleven. 264 00:19:21,675 --> 00:19:25,675 Speaker 1: Basher was reelected in twenty twelve. Obama was reelected in 265 00:19:25,715 --> 00:19:29,875 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. With Basher term limited, it elected the Republican 266 00:19:29,915 --> 00:19:34,035 Speaker 1: Matt Beben. A year later, Trump was elected in twenty nineteen. 267 00:19:34,075 --> 00:19:39,635 Speaker 1: Beban was edged by Democrat Basher's Democrat son. A year later, 268 00:19:39,835 --> 00:19:45,235 Speaker 1: Democrat Joe Biden was elected president. I'm sensing a pattern here. 269 00:19:47,115 --> 00:19:57,555 Speaker 1: Tuesday night, the Democrat was re elected in Kentucky. Also 270 00:19:57,595 --> 00:20:00,395 Speaker 1: of interest here, you remember yesterday when I complimented the 271 00:20:00,395 --> 00:20:02,915 Speaker 1: work of a right wing polling outlet that showed Biden 272 00:20:02,995 --> 00:20:07,315 Speaker 1: had improved his image his approval disapproval number by five 273 00:20:07,395 --> 00:20:09,955 Speaker 1: points in just one month, and that the number of 274 00:20:10,035 --> 00:20:13,875 Speaker 1: voters who ranked his greatest liability, inflation as their key 275 00:20:13,995 --> 00:20:17,835 Speaker 1: issue to vote on that had dropped six points in 276 00:20:17,915 --> 00:20:22,515 Speaker 1: two months. Remember that when I saluted their work and 277 00:20:22,555 --> 00:20:29,275 Speaker 1: their independence, Well, they've responded by attacking me for quoting 278 00:20:29,395 --> 00:20:37,475 Speaker 1: their poll accurately. That's next. This is countdown. This is 279 00:20:37,555 --> 00:21:01,955 Speaker 1: countdown with Keith Olberman. Still ahead of us on countdown. 280 00:21:01,995 --> 00:21:05,075 Speaker 1: You saw this story about Jeff Bezos moving per minutely 281 00:21:05,155 --> 00:21:08,995 Speaker 1: from Seattle to Florida so he can be closer to 282 00:21:09,035 --> 00:21:13,995 Speaker 1: his parents and his partner, Lauren Sanchez. I used to 283 00:21:14,035 --> 00:21:18,835 Speaker 1: work with Lauren Sanchez twenty five years ago, and while 284 00:21:18,915 --> 00:21:21,235 Speaker 1: all of us at Fox liked her, we used to 285 00:21:21,315 --> 00:21:23,635 Speaker 1: cringe at the way she never did one interview with 286 00:21:23,675 --> 00:21:27,195 Speaker 1: an athlete without flirting with him, and then she had 287 00:21:27,235 --> 00:21:33,755 Speaker 1: one of her interviewees babies. AnyWho, the Bezos story reminded 288 00:21:33,795 --> 00:21:35,835 Speaker 1: me of Sanchez, and that reminded me of both of 289 00:21:35,875 --> 00:21:38,995 Speaker 1: them getting blackmailed by a Trump flunky, And that reminded 290 00:21:38,995 --> 00:21:41,715 Speaker 1: me of David Letterman getting blackmailed by a former CNN 291 00:21:41,755 --> 00:21:44,675 Speaker 1: assignment editor I worked with forty years ago, and that 292 00:21:44,795 --> 00:21:48,395 Speaker 1: reminded me to tell you their stories in things I 293 00:21:48,555 --> 00:21:51,915 Speaker 1: promised not to tell first time for the daily roundup 294 00:21:51,955 --> 00:21:54,555 Speaker 1: of the miss Grants, morons and Dunning Kruger effect specimens 295 00:21:54,675 --> 00:22:00,755 Speaker 1: who constitute two days worse persons in the world worse. Wow. 296 00:22:00,795 --> 00:22:03,875 Speaker 1: This is an audio daily double. This is Lauren Bobert 297 00:22:04,115 --> 00:22:07,435 Speaker 1: at the exit moment yesterday when she apparently realized for 298 00:22:07,475 --> 00:22:11,475 Speaker 1: the first time that being in Congress. Even if you 299 00:22:11,595 --> 00:22:16,075 Speaker 1: are a right wing hand sorry right wing nut job, 300 00:22:16,475 --> 00:22:18,435 Speaker 1: and you get up to talk about a spending bill, 301 00:22:18,755 --> 00:22:23,195 Speaker 1: you have to talk about the spending in the spending bill. 302 00:22:23,875 --> 00:22:26,955 Speaker 1: The lesson was taught to her by Congressman Stenny Hoyer 303 00:22:26,995 --> 00:22:31,475 Speaker 1: of Maryland. And guess what debate club Karen got a 304 00:22:31,555 --> 00:22:32,515 Speaker 1: D minus. 305 00:22:32,715 --> 00:22:33,755 Speaker 3: I'm asking if you will you. 306 00:22:33,915 --> 00:22:35,875 Speaker 1: For a question. Sure, ask your question. 307 00:22:36,195 --> 00:22:39,755 Speaker 3: What funds in this bill are used for the purposes 308 00:22:39,835 --> 00:22:50,155 Speaker 3: you uh can are opposed to? Oh? 309 00:22:50,275 --> 00:22:52,875 Speaker 4: Sorry, I couldn't hear the gentlemen. I was getting clarification. 310 00:22:52,955 --> 00:22:53,995 Speaker 4: This is precautionary. 311 00:22:55,795 --> 00:22:57,755 Speaker 3: Precautionary from what I'm assure. 312 00:22:57,875 --> 00:22:59,555 Speaker 5: Sanctuary city policies. 313 00:22:59,795 --> 00:23:00,635 Speaker 3: Yes, I understand. 314 00:23:00,755 --> 00:23:01,275 Speaker 1: I understand. 315 00:23:01,315 --> 00:23:04,035 Speaker 5: What are that are in place that are allowing the 316 00:23:04,115 --> 00:23:07,075 Speaker 5: refuge of illegal aliens in these cities, and there is 317 00:23:07,115 --> 00:23:12,075 Speaker 5: an influx in crime and drugs, I understand in these cities. 318 00:23:11,795 --> 00:23:14,835 Speaker 4: And there's no there's no way for these folks to 319 00:23:14,915 --> 00:23:18,315 Speaker 4: even report what is taking place because they are protected 320 00:23:18,715 --> 00:23:22,795 Speaker 4: under this fake policy that has been created that is 321 00:23:22,835 --> 00:23:25,715 Speaker 4: subduing the actual rule of law that we have in 322 00:23:25,755 --> 00:23:27,355 Speaker 4: the Constitution of the United States. 323 00:23:28,715 --> 00:23:31,435 Speaker 3: I understand that, But what you said is none of 324 00:23:31,435 --> 00:23:34,515 Speaker 3: the funds in this bill can be spent for that objective, 325 00:23:34,675 --> 00:23:37,675 Speaker 3: and that is precuption. What's funds are in this bill 326 00:23:37,875 --> 00:23:40,075 Speaker 3: to be spent for that objective. 327 00:23:40,515 --> 00:23:43,275 Speaker 5: I have seen this administration use all sorts of funds 328 00:23:43,515 --> 00:23:45,275 Speaker 5: and checked illegal aliens. 329 00:23:45,875 --> 00:23:48,235 Speaker 3: We're claiming my time, sure that it will not be 330 00:23:48,515 --> 00:23:51,275 Speaker 3: We're claiming my time. There are no funds in this 331 00:23:51,355 --> 00:23:58,035 Speaker 3: bill to do that. So this is just an opportunity 332 00:23:58,035 --> 00:24:01,075 Speaker 3: for you to stand and perhaps speak about an important subject. 333 00:24:01,075 --> 00:24:02,715 Speaker 3: I understand that, but there are no funds in this 334 00:24:02,795 --> 00:24:04,595 Speaker 3: bill to accomplish that objective. 335 00:24:04,875 --> 00:24:07,555 Speaker 1: Not to worry, I'm sure after that disaster, Lauren Bobert 336 00:24:07,635 --> 00:24:09,715 Speaker 1: will soon be getting a grip on it. In public 337 00:24:11,435 --> 00:24:14,235 Speaker 1: worser Nate Cohne of The New York Times, I fully 338 00:24:14,275 --> 00:24:16,915 Speaker 1: expect to one day be announcing that The New York 339 00:24:16,955 --> 00:24:20,635 Speaker 1: Times has merged with the Twitter account New York Times 340 00:24:20,715 --> 00:24:24,475 Speaker 1: pitch bot, because they are now overlapping at least once 341 00:24:24,595 --> 00:24:27,675 Speaker 1: a month. Tuesday night, with the first good news for 342 00:24:27,715 --> 00:24:30,955 Speaker 1: the Democrats, Andy Basheer's reelection in Kentucky, the pitch bot 343 00:24:30,995 --> 00:24:34,395 Speaker 1: tweeted at seven thirty six pm, Here's why that's bad 344 00:24:34,475 --> 00:24:38,355 Speaker 1: news for Joe Biden. At ten thirty three, the pitchot tweeted, 345 00:24:38,635 --> 00:24:41,475 Speaker 1: Democrats did well in today's elections, but if the narrative 346 00:24:41,555 --> 00:24:44,355 Speaker 1: is they did badly, that could be a problem for Biden. 347 00:24:45,035 --> 00:24:49,075 Speaker 1: At four to twelve am, he tweeted, did Democrats do 348 00:24:49,315 --> 00:24:53,755 Speaker 1: too well in Yesterday's elections? At five point fifty nine am, 349 00:24:53,795 --> 00:24:57,435 Speaker 1: he tweeted, Glenn Youngkin's push to take the Virginia Legislature 350 00:24:57,515 --> 00:25:00,115 Speaker 1: failed in both chambers. So why does it feel like 351 00:25:00,195 --> 00:25:03,955 Speaker 1: Biden is the one who suffered a humiliating defeat? All 352 00:25:05,035 --> 00:25:09,275 Speaker 1: perfect parodies of The Times at its most clueless, both 353 00:25:09,395 --> 00:25:14,195 Speaker 1: sizest tone, deafness. And then at twelve thirty pm yesterday, 354 00:25:14,235 --> 00:25:18,195 Speaker 1: the tweet came, there's really zero contradiction between the Biden 355 00:25:18,315 --> 00:25:21,595 Speaker 1: polling and the results last night, complete with a link 356 00:25:21,635 --> 00:25:25,795 Speaker 1: to an actual Times article headlined Tuesday was great for Democrats. 357 00:25:26,115 --> 00:25:29,515 Speaker 1: It doesn't change the outlook for twenty twenty four. Oh, 358 00:25:29,715 --> 00:25:34,835 Speaker 1: another perfect satirizing of The Times unyielding, snobbery and shallowness. 359 00:25:35,875 --> 00:25:39,075 Speaker 1: Except that was not the Times pitchpot that sent out 360 00:25:39,115 --> 00:25:42,115 Speaker 1: that tweet. It was the Times itself. It was its 361 00:25:42,235 --> 00:25:47,755 Speaker 1: chief political analyst, Nate Cone. As predictable as the sunrise 362 00:25:48,075 --> 00:25:52,475 Speaker 1: data guys and or polsters screw it up like nine 363 00:25:52,515 --> 00:25:56,595 Speaker 1: times out of ten and inevitably insists, no, no, we didn't. 364 00:25:56,995 --> 00:26:00,515 Speaker 1: Here are more numbers to prove it. See there's a 365 00:26:00,595 --> 00:26:03,315 Speaker 1: three and over, here's a six. We're right, you're wrong. 366 00:26:05,115 --> 00:26:07,835 Speaker 1: All we know about the guy behind New York Times 367 00:26:07,875 --> 00:26:12,035 Speaker 1: pitchpot is that he identifies as Doug J. Balloon, and 368 00:26:12,115 --> 00:26:14,635 Speaker 1: he once came out of character briefly to reveal he 369 00:26:14,755 --> 00:26:18,075 Speaker 1: is a college professor somewhere. All we know about the 370 00:26:18,115 --> 00:26:20,875 Speaker 1: New York Times is that Doug Jay Balloon could write 371 00:26:20,915 --> 00:26:23,915 Speaker 1: at least the headlines to all of the Times political 372 00:26:23,915 --> 00:26:27,595 Speaker 1: coverage every day, and he could also write the lead 373 00:26:27,635 --> 00:26:31,515 Speaker 1: paragraph to all of Maureen Dowd's columns every week, leading 374 00:26:31,595 --> 00:26:35,475 Speaker 1: us to the worst signal polling and two of its principles, 375 00:26:35,475 --> 00:26:39,355 Speaker 1: Brent Buchanan and John Rogers. You may recall that in 376 00:26:39,475 --> 00:26:43,035 Speaker 1: yesterday's edition, I reported on their most recent poll, which 377 00:26:43,075 --> 00:26:47,595 Speaker 1: presented two striking and sudden positives for Biden, a five 378 00:26:47,635 --> 00:26:51,235 Speaker 1: point improvement in his approval disapproval is so called image 379 00:26:51,235 --> 00:26:54,475 Speaker 1: in the last month, and a six point drop in 380 00:26:54,595 --> 00:26:57,715 Speaker 1: voters who think inflation is their key issue in the 381 00:26:57,795 --> 00:27:02,075 Speaker 1: last two months, nearly ten points in the last eleven months. 382 00:27:02,595 --> 00:27:06,395 Speaker 1: I complimented Signal Polling on its record on having posted 383 00:27:06,435 --> 00:27:09,355 Speaker 1: this stuff, even though it is identified as a center 384 00:27:09,515 --> 00:27:13,035 Speaker 1: right publisher, and this is unmistakably good news for Biden. 385 00:27:13,355 --> 00:27:16,475 Speaker 1: Then I complimented them on Twitter and other social media, 386 00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:19,395 Speaker 1: and I pointed out those two results while slamming Nate 387 00:27:19,475 --> 00:27:23,475 Speaker 1: Comb for like the CNN idiot David Shaleen, treating his 388 00:27:23,555 --> 00:27:26,115 Speaker 1: own poll like it was the only poll. In short, 389 00:27:26,315 --> 00:27:33,395 Speaker 1: I introduced Signal and these guys to you as professionals. 390 00:27:33,435 --> 00:27:38,155 Speaker 1: Silly me. It is amazing to me that after twenty 391 00:27:38,195 --> 00:27:41,675 Speaker 1: six years of covering this crap, that anything could surprise 392 00:27:41,795 --> 00:27:45,115 Speaker 1: me anymore. But you know what Signal's response was to 393 00:27:45,195 --> 00:27:50,315 Speaker 1: my spotlighting and complimenting them. The two guys, Rogers and 394 00:27:50,395 --> 00:27:55,155 Speaker 1: Buchanan attacked me, defended David Axelrod's paniced analysis of the 395 00:27:55,155 --> 00:27:59,235 Speaker 1: New York Times poll, and somehow dragged that whiny little 396 00:27:59,355 --> 00:28:05,235 Speaker 1: transvobe Riley Gains into this, honest to effing God, Riley 397 00:28:05,795 --> 00:28:10,435 Speaker 1: effing Gains Jesus suffering f in the middle of the 398 00:28:10,475 --> 00:28:14,075 Speaker 1: thing about polls and Biden. They also said I didn't 399 00:28:14,075 --> 00:28:16,275 Speaker 1: know what I was talking about, and I was desperate 400 00:28:16,315 --> 00:28:19,235 Speaker 1: to find something positive about Biden, and they mocked the 401 00:28:19,275 --> 00:28:23,355 Speaker 1: idea that Biden's image had noticeably improved since last month 402 00:28:23,435 --> 00:28:27,875 Speaker 1: by five points, which turned this whole thing into farce, 403 00:28:28,435 --> 00:28:31,195 Speaker 1: because when I wrote and said that, I was quoting 404 00:28:31,795 --> 00:28:40,075 Speaker 1: their own analysis of and press release for their own poll. Quote. 405 00:28:40,115 --> 00:28:45,035 Speaker 1: Take away three, Joe Biden's image noticeably improved since last 406 00:28:45,115 --> 00:28:50,915 Speaker 1: month by five points. That Signal Polling. Remember they'll deny 407 00:28:50,995 --> 00:28:55,395 Speaker 1: tomorrow the poll they sold you yesterday. And John Rogers 408 00:28:55,435 --> 00:29:00,555 Speaker 1: and Brent Buchanan of Signal Polling such slaves to their 409 00:29:00,635 --> 00:29:03,915 Speaker 1: own nit witted ideology that they have to fight back 410 00:29:04,795 --> 00:29:13,675 Speaker 1: against compliments. Two days, worst persons in the pollsters in disarray, 411 00:29:27,435 --> 00:29:29,515 Speaker 1: to the number one story on the countdown and my 412 00:29:29,595 --> 00:29:32,795 Speaker 1: favorite topic, me and things I promised not to tell. 413 00:29:32,835 --> 00:29:36,875 Speaker 1: And I was reminded on Saturday of two stories about 414 00:29:37,075 --> 00:29:39,875 Speaker 1: media blackmail because it was the anniversary of one of 415 00:29:39,915 --> 00:29:44,035 Speaker 1: those stories, the day Dave Letterman announced he had been blackmailed, 416 00:29:44,355 --> 00:29:46,635 Speaker 1: and they named the guy that they had arrested for 417 00:29:46,715 --> 00:29:49,315 Speaker 1: doing it, and I said, oh, him, of course it's him. 418 00:29:49,315 --> 00:29:51,675 Speaker 1: I've known him for twenty eight years. And then there 419 00:29:51,715 --> 00:29:54,835 Speaker 1: was the bigger blackmail story. And they named the woman 420 00:29:54,875 --> 00:29:57,115 Speaker 1: who was one of the victims, and I said, oh, her, 421 00:29:57,155 --> 00:29:59,035 Speaker 1: of course it's her. I've known her for twenty years. 422 00:29:59,835 --> 00:30:04,515 Speaker 1: That one first, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and 423 00:30:04,675 --> 00:30:07,955 Speaker 1: owner of the Washington Post, was being blackmailed by allies 424 00:30:07,995 --> 00:30:10,715 Speaker 1: of Crazy Trump, who expected to get positive coverage for 425 00:30:10,795 --> 00:30:13,755 Speaker 1: their leader of their cult. What they had on Bezos 426 00:30:13,915 --> 00:30:16,435 Speaker 1: was he had a girlfriend. They had pictures. It would 427 00:30:16,475 --> 00:30:19,715 Speaker 1: cost him hundreds of millions of dollars were his wife 428 00:30:19,715 --> 00:30:25,315 Speaker 1: to find out, He said, that'll happen. In February twenty nineteen, 429 00:30:25,355 --> 00:30:28,835 Speaker 1: Jeff Bezos went public, said his marriage was ending anyway. 430 00:30:29,195 --> 00:30:31,515 Speaker 1: He was sorry about the pain this caused his wife, 431 00:30:31,515 --> 00:30:34,515 Speaker 1: but he would now give her all she wanted, and 432 00:30:34,635 --> 00:30:39,715 Speaker 1: the National Inquirer blackmailers could shove it amid everything else. 433 00:30:39,755 --> 00:30:42,035 Speaker 1: It suggested to me that when you cannot figure out 434 00:30:42,075 --> 00:30:45,795 Speaker 1: what happened to the people who once seemed to have principles, 435 00:30:45,995 --> 00:30:49,115 Speaker 1: or at least seemed to have enmity towards Crazy Trump, 436 00:30:49,915 --> 00:30:53,795 Speaker 1: Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, others, remember that the odds were 437 00:30:53,955 --> 00:30:58,315 Speaker 1: amazingly small that the first time Trump's allies tried to 438 00:30:58,315 --> 00:31:01,835 Speaker 1: blackmail somebody on his behalf that they would find in 439 00:31:01,915 --> 00:31:05,675 Speaker 1: Jeff Bezos the one guy who would say no on 440 00:31:05,715 --> 00:31:09,875 Speaker 1: the first try. I don't think so. I have assumed 441 00:31:09,915 --> 00:31:13,075 Speaker 1: ever since that this process has been utilized for years 442 00:31:13,515 --> 00:31:18,475 Speaker 1: on Trump's behalf, in business, inside politics and at its fringes, 443 00:31:18,795 --> 00:31:21,115 Speaker 1: and that Bezos was not the first victim of this, 444 00:31:21,355 --> 00:31:23,355 Speaker 1: just the first victim who said, f you, this is 445 00:31:23,395 --> 00:31:28,795 Speaker 1: why we have fu money. But beneath all that important 446 00:31:28,795 --> 00:31:31,475 Speaker 1: stuff was yet another occasion where my jaw dropped to 447 00:31:31,555 --> 00:31:34,355 Speaker 1: the floor and I had to reattach it with Elmer's glue. 448 00:31:35,195 --> 00:31:37,515 Speaker 1: The woman at the center of the blackmail, the woman 449 00:31:37,515 --> 00:31:39,715 Speaker 1: for whom Jeff Bezos was going to leave his wife, 450 00:31:39,755 --> 00:31:43,755 Speaker 1: was named Lauren Sanchez, and like everybody else in this 451 00:31:43,875 --> 00:31:47,675 Speaker 1: twenty first century America, I used to work with her. 452 00:31:48,755 --> 00:31:52,355 Speaker 1: Lauren was a reporter and sometimes anchor at Fox Sportsnet 453 00:31:52,435 --> 00:31:54,995 Speaker 1: when I got there in nineteen ninety eight. Only sometimes 454 00:31:55,635 --> 00:31:58,195 Speaker 1: they wrote her a script once that actually read Roger 455 00:31:58,235 --> 00:32:01,035 Speaker 1: Clemens era is one of the greatest in his era, 456 00:32:01,555 --> 00:32:04,515 Speaker 1: and she, of course read Roger Clemens Era is one 457 00:32:04,555 --> 00:32:07,755 Speaker 1: of the greatest in his er. She was much better 458 00:32:07,795 --> 00:32:12,275 Speaker 1: at interviewing Lakers players after games, particularly Shaquille O'Neil, even 459 00:32:12,315 --> 00:32:14,515 Speaker 1: though he was more than two feet taller than she was, 460 00:32:14,555 --> 00:32:17,355 Speaker 1: and she used to insist on interviewing him standing up. 461 00:32:18,155 --> 00:32:23,595 Speaker 1: These little visits looked so odd on camera that I 462 00:32:23,635 --> 00:32:25,995 Speaker 1: remember seeing one of her stories being fed in from 463 00:32:26,035 --> 00:32:28,475 Speaker 1: the LA Forum and I asked the producer, were we 464 00:32:28,555 --> 00:32:30,835 Speaker 1: actually putting that on the air or just onto the 465 00:32:30,915 --> 00:32:35,915 Speaker 1: gag reel for Christmas? We did not overlap long there after, 466 00:32:35,915 --> 00:32:37,875 Speaker 1: she gave birth to the child of NFL tight end 467 00:32:37,955 --> 00:32:41,075 Speaker 1: Tony Gonzales, long after she had ended her relationship with him. 468 00:32:41,235 --> 00:32:44,515 Speaker 1: Lauren Sanchez was hired to anchor the news on Channel thirteen, 469 00:32:45,115 --> 00:32:47,795 Speaker 1: which is a station that was apparently created because somebody 470 00:32:47,835 --> 00:32:50,195 Speaker 1: would always have to be in last place in the 471 00:32:50,235 --> 00:32:53,675 Speaker 1: news ratings, and it might as well be them. I 472 00:32:53,795 --> 00:32:56,115 Speaker 1: was back visiting in LA in the spring of two 473 00:32:56,155 --> 00:32:58,395 Speaker 1: thousand and two and dived in and out of as 474 00:32:58,395 --> 00:33:00,555 Speaker 1: many newscasts as I could so I could see what 475 00:33:00,675 --> 00:33:03,275 Speaker 1: my two ex employers there and so many of my 476 00:33:03,315 --> 00:33:06,915 Speaker 1: old colleagues and rivals were doing. That's when I saw it. 477 00:33:07,475 --> 00:33:11,035 Speaker 1: The worst or perhaps the best commercial for a local 478 00:33:11,075 --> 00:33:16,275 Speaker 1: television news sweeps series in human history in any language. 479 00:33:17,195 --> 00:33:20,715 Speaker 1: SWEEPS series used to be local TVs bread and Butter. 480 00:33:20,875 --> 00:33:23,595 Speaker 1: During the weeks when the local ratings were tabulated and 481 00:33:23,715 --> 00:33:26,915 Speaker 1: used to establish who was number one and thus how 482 00:33:26,995 --> 00:33:30,155 Speaker 1: much everybody's commercials would cost, each station would do a 483 00:33:30,235 --> 00:33:34,835 Speaker 1: series of special reports within each newscast. They were designed 484 00:33:34,955 --> 00:33:38,515 Speaker 1: solely to be advertised, to be sponsored, and to be 485 00:33:38,635 --> 00:33:42,795 Speaker 1: as salacious or silly, or unbelievable or titillating or just 486 00:33:43,075 --> 00:33:46,755 Speaker 1: as memorable as possible. When I was in local news 487 00:33:46,795 --> 00:33:48,475 Speaker 1: in LA in the eighties and nineties, we had a 488 00:33:48,515 --> 00:33:51,355 Speaker 1: series at Channel two with a very good reporter named 489 00:33:51,355 --> 00:33:54,635 Speaker 1: Dorothy Lucy, and the series was called The Search for Slees. 490 00:33:55,715 --> 00:33:59,555 Speaker 1: The commercials for the Search for Slees showed her riding 491 00:33:59,595 --> 00:34:01,955 Speaker 1: around in a jacuzzi built into the back of a 492 00:34:01,995 --> 00:34:04,795 Speaker 1: stretch Limo with an old guy with a beard and 493 00:34:04,835 --> 00:34:07,995 Speaker 1: a couple of bikini models in there too. That had been, 494 00:34:08,395 --> 00:34:11,835 Speaker 1: to my knowledge, the low point of the Sweeps series. 495 00:34:12,715 --> 00:34:15,715 Speaker 1: But now, as I watched in my hotel room in 496 00:34:15,755 --> 00:34:17,875 Speaker 1: Santa Monica in the spring of two thousand and two, 497 00:34:18,475 --> 00:34:20,995 Speaker 1: this is more or less what I heard the voiceover 498 00:34:21,035 --> 00:34:26,435 Speaker 1: announcer say this week a special report CACOP thirteen News 499 00:34:26,515 --> 00:34:32,715 Speaker 1: anchor Lauren Sanchez brings you how to meet a baller. Ladies, 500 00:34:32,755 --> 00:34:37,395 Speaker 1: find out where to meet the athlete of your dreams Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Dodgers, Angels. 501 00:34:37,635 --> 00:34:41,715 Speaker 1: Do you want to meet him? Do you want to 502 00:34:42,435 --> 00:34:46,755 Speaker 1: get to know him? Do you want to date him? 503 00:34:47,235 --> 00:34:49,595 Speaker 1: How to beat a Baller? This week on the CACOP 504 00:34:49,755 --> 00:34:53,675 Speaker 1: thirteen News at ten with Lauren Sanchez, How to Meet 505 00:34:53,715 --> 00:34:59,555 Speaker 1: a Baller. I'm not certain how they restored me to 506 00:34:59,675 --> 00:35:02,675 Speaker 1: human form from the puddle into which I had dissolved. 507 00:35:03,195 --> 00:35:05,475 Speaker 1: I do remember calling the desk to ask if it 508 00:35:05,555 --> 00:35:08,595 Speaker 1: was still Tuesday. It felt like I had been out 509 00:35:08,635 --> 00:35:14,955 Speaker 1: called for several weeks. I was appalled, shocked, chagrined, nauseated, mortified, embarrassed, humiliated, 510 00:35:14,955 --> 00:35:18,555 Speaker 1: And then I stopped and as an angelic choir saying 511 00:35:18,555 --> 00:35:21,755 Speaker 1: in the background, I changed my mind completely. This was 512 00:35:21,835 --> 00:35:25,835 Speaker 1: not Sweep's series madness. This was not a woman debasing 513 00:35:25,835 --> 00:35:29,435 Speaker 1: herself by teaching other women how to debase themselves how 514 00:35:29,475 --> 00:35:34,915 Speaker 1: to meet dollars. This was, for perhaps the first time 515 00:35:34,955 --> 00:35:37,875 Speaker 1: in Sweeps series history, perhaps the first time in local 516 00:35:37,915 --> 00:35:43,355 Speaker 1: television news history, a true expert lending her panoramic learned 517 00:35:43,635 --> 00:35:49,115 Speaker 1: comprehensive knowledge about one subject, requiring subtlety, insight, insider information, 518 00:35:49,475 --> 00:35:53,315 Speaker 1: and the selflessness to share it with mere ordinary women viewers. 519 00:35:54,755 --> 00:35:58,675 Speaker 1: How do you meet a baller? I would never have 520 00:35:58,835 --> 00:36:01,915 Speaker 1: known who to ask. I never would have known to 521 00:36:01,955 --> 00:36:07,835 Speaker 1: whom to send my wife or daughter or friend. Not really. 522 00:36:08,555 --> 00:36:13,075 Speaker 1: I knew there were experts, there were scholars, there were 523 00:36:13,155 --> 00:36:16,555 Speaker 1: fonts of wisdom. But Lauren Sanchez was the Einstein of 524 00:36:16,595 --> 00:36:21,435 Speaker 1: meeting ballers. And even in the glimmering light of knowledge 525 00:36:21,475 --> 00:36:24,395 Speaker 1: that radiated from her that week on Channel thirteen, Los Angeles, 526 00:36:24,395 --> 00:36:27,995 Speaker 1: two decades ago, even in the blinding aura of her brilliance, 527 00:36:29,115 --> 00:36:32,115 Speaker 1: could she have known that the ultimate target of the 528 00:36:32,155 --> 00:36:36,435 Speaker 1: Little Sweep series should have been No, mere Tony Gonzalez? 529 00:36:36,515 --> 00:36:39,235 Speaker 1: Or do you want to meet him? Do you want 530 00:36:39,315 --> 00:36:41,955 Speaker 1: to get to know him? Do you want to date him? 531 00:36:42,195 --> 00:36:44,275 Speaker 1: It should have been do you want to meet him? 532 00:36:44,515 --> 00:36:46,035 Speaker 1: Do you want to get to know him? Do you 533 00:36:46,115 --> 00:36:51,675 Speaker 1: want to date him? How to meet a bezos? In life? 534 00:36:52,635 --> 00:36:54,755 Speaker 1: You just don't expect people you worked with for a 535 00:36:54,795 --> 00:36:57,275 Speaker 1: few weeks, like Lauren Sanchez, to wind up as part 536 00:36:57,315 --> 00:37:02,195 Speaker 1: of modern American history. It just seems unlikely, not that 537 00:37:02,275 --> 00:37:05,115 Speaker 1: they could be involved in a blackmail story like hers, 538 00:37:05,715 --> 00:37:08,595 Speaker 1: and she was a victim, but that you could have 539 00:37:08,715 --> 00:37:11,155 Speaker 1: known her. And yet for me this was the second time. 540 00:37:12,275 --> 00:37:14,955 Speaker 1: On October first, two thousand and nine, it was the 541 00:37:14,995 --> 00:37:17,955 Speaker 1: anniversary that reminded me of both of these stories, my 542 00:37:18,075 --> 00:37:20,395 Speaker 1: friend David Letterman came out onto the stage of the 543 00:37:20,435 --> 00:37:22,595 Speaker 1: CBS Late Night Show and revealed that he had had 544 00:37:22,635 --> 00:37:26,235 Speaker 1: a series of consensual relationships with women on his staff. 545 00:37:27,435 --> 00:37:30,875 Speaker 1: The studio audience laughed, assuming it was the start of 546 00:37:30,875 --> 00:37:33,995 Speaker 1: some bit in which the guys at the Hello Deli 547 00:37:34,355 --> 00:37:37,555 Speaker 1: would somehow of a roll of some sort. But Dave 548 00:37:37,635 --> 00:37:40,875 Speaker 1: went on and on and on, and finally revealed he 549 00:37:40,955 --> 00:37:44,195 Speaker 1: had been the victim of an extortion plot and that 550 00:37:44,275 --> 00:37:46,955 Speaker 1: he and the Manhattan DA's office set up a meeting 551 00:37:46,955 --> 00:37:49,755 Speaker 1: with the blackmailer, who wanted two million dollars, with the 552 00:37:49,795 --> 00:37:53,515 Speaker 1: cover story being that he had written a screenplay about 553 00:37:53,635 --> 00:37:57,475 Speaker 1: Letterman that would reveal all the relationships, but he would 554 00:37:57,515 --> 00:38:01,355 Speaker 1: sell the quote screenplay unquote two Letterman for two million dollars. 555 00:38:03,075 --> 00:38:06,315 Speaker 1: Within hours, Letterman's blackmail or was identified by authorities. I 556 00:38:06,355 --> 00:38:08,915 Speaker 1: saw the name pop up on my computer terminal. NBC, 557 00:38:09,235 --> 00:38:12,555 Speaker 1: Robert Joel, Joe Halderman, and I looked at it, and 558 00:38:12,595 --> 00:38:17,595 Speaker 1: I said, of course, Joe Halderman. He had been the 559 00:38:17,635 --> 00:38:20,235 Speaker 1: assignment editor at CNN in New York from the day 560 00:38:20,235 --> 00:38:22,835 Speaker 1: I broke into television in August nineteen eighty one until 561 00:38:22,835 --> 00:38:26,475 Speaker 1: he left for CBS News a year later. All television 562 00:38:26,515 --> 00:38:30,155 Speaker 1: assignment editors have to deny reporters camera crews. There are 563 00:38:30,275 --> 00:38:34,075 Speaker 1: invariably scheduling conflicts, and ultimately there are always two stories 564 00:38:34,115 --> 00:38:38,435 Speaker 1: to shoot for every one camera crew available. But Halderman 565 00:38:38,595 --> 00:38:42,035 Speaker 1: used to enjoy denying us reporters crewise. He used to 566 00:38:42,035 --> 00:38:44,835 Speaker 1: like to mock us, to make us grovel, and then 567 00:38:45,035 --> 00:38:47,275 Speaker 1: when you got to your story with your crew, he 568 00:38:47,315 --> 00:38:50,075 Speaker 1: would page them and tell them to go cover something 569 00:38:50,075 --> 00:38:54,875 Speaker 1: else and leave you stranded there. And personally he had 570 00:38:54,995 --> 00:38:59,515 Speaker 1: absolutely no redeeming qualities. If you could travel back in 571 00:38:59,595 --> 00:39:01,755 Speaker 1: time to the twenty two or twenty three year old 572 00:39:01,835 --> 00:39:04,475 Speaker 1: me and explain who David Letterman would be and what 573 00:39:04,475 --> 00:39:06,675 Speaker 1: his fame would be like, and how I'd be a 574 00:39:06,715 --> 00:39:09,475 Speaker 1: guest on his show one night when a presidential candidate 575 00:39:09,555 --> 00:39:12,235 Speaker 1: canceled at the last minute, and how somebody I already 576 00:39:12,315 --> 00:39:14,355 Speaker 1: knew and had worked with at age twenty two or 577 00:39:14,355 --> 00:39:17,635 Speaker 1: twenty three would try to blackmail him over staffers he'd 578 00:39:17,675 --> 00:39:21,155 Speaker 1: slept with, and could I I would have interrupted you 579 00:39:21,195 --> 00:39:24,395 Speaker 1: by that point, said, matter of factly, Oh, it's Joe Halderman, right, 580 00:39:24,595 --> 00:39:27,555 Speaker 1: of course, Halderman total creep. You say he blackmails this 581 00:39:27,635 --> 00:39:33,235 Speaker 1: letterbox guy. Frankly, forty year old me probably could have 582 00:39:33,275 --> 00:39:35,755 Speaker 1: figured out the whole Lauren Sanchez thing for some time 583 00:39:35,875 --> 00:39:39,235 Speaker 1: traveling quiz master as well. Although I will make no 584 00:39:39,275 --> 00:39:42,395 Speaker 1: comparison between Joe Halderman and Lauren Sanchez, Lauren was very 585 00:39:42,395 --> 00:39:47,515 Speaker 1: pleasant and there is a lesson in that for you. 586 00:39:48,035 --> 00:39:51,315 Speaker 1: It's not just nostalgia. It's not a brush with greatness, 587 00:39:51,315 --> 00:39:54,355 Speaker 1: to use a lettermanesque term. Wherever you are in life 588 00:39:54,435 --> 00:39:57,475 Speaker 1: or in your career, you may have yet to meet them, 589 00:39:57,875 --> 00:40:00,715 Speaker 1: or you may have already met them. But this I 590 00:40:00,915 --> 00:40:06,315 Speaker 1: know to be true. You have your own Lauren Sanchez 591 00:40:06,835 --> 00:40:12,635 Speaker 1: and your own Joe Halderman already or already in the past. 592 00:40:13,355 --> 00:40:16,315 Speaker 1: And whatever your first impressions about them were, or are 593 00:40:16,515 --> 00:40:21,515 Speaker 1: or will be, you're damned right they are. And also 594 00:40:22,115 --> 00:40:24,795 Speaker 1: keep in mind that thought I mentioned that I had 595 00:40:24,835 --> 00:40:30,395 Speaker 1: about Bezos and the blackmail. Do you really think he 596 00:40:30,635 --> 00:40:34,555 Speaker 1: could have been the first one they tried to blackmail 597 00:40:34,595 --> 00:40:40,035 Speaker 1: into supporting Trump, and the first one turned them down 598 00:40:40,035 --> 00:40:56,515 Speaker 1: and went public. I don't think so. I've done all 599 00:40:56,555 --> 00:40:58,475 Speaker 1: the damage I can do here. Thank you for listening. 600 00:40:58,515 --> 00:41:01,515 Speaker 1: Countdown has come to you from the Vin Scully Studios 601 00:41:01,995 --> 00:41:05,755 Speaker 1: at the headquarters of the Olderman Broadcasting Empire in New York. 602 00:41:07,355 --> 00:41:11,675 Speaker 1: Joe Halderman, Oh my God. Countdown. Musical directors Brian Ray 603 00:41:11,675 --> 00:41:14,795 Speaker 1: and John Phillip Schanel arranged, produced, and performed most of 604 00:41:14,835 --> 00:41:18,235 Speaker 1: our music. Mister Chanelle handled the orchestration and the keyboards. 605 00:41:18,275 --> 00:41:20,795 Speaker 1: Mister Ray was on the guitars, the bass, and the drums. 606 00:41:21,075 --> 00:41:24,395 Speaker 1: It was produced by Tko Brothers. Another music, including other 607 00:41:24,435 --> 00:41:28,315 Speaker 1: Beethoven tunes, arranged and performed by the group No Horns Allowed. 608 00:41:28,755 --> 00:41:31,835 Speaker 1: The sports music is courtesy of ESPN Incorporated. It was 609 00:41:31,875 --> 00:41:34,595 Speaker 1: written by Mitch Warren Davis. It is called the Olderman 610 00:41:34,675 --> 00:41:38,755 Speaker 1: Theme from ESPN two. Our satirical and pithy musical comments 611 00:41:38,795 --> 00:41:41,875 Speaker 1: are by Nancy Faust, the best baseball stadium organist ever. 612 00:41:42,035 --> 00:41:45,195 Speaker 1: Our announcer today is my friend Kenny Maine. Everything else 613 00:41:45,275 --> 00:41:47,555 Speaker 1: is pretty much my fault. So that's countdown for this 614 00:41:47,595 --> 00:41:50,275 Speaker 1: The one thousand and thirty eighth day since dementia j 615 00:41:50,395 --> 00:41:53,915 Speaker 1: Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected government of 616 00:41:53,955 --> 00:41:57,715 Speaker 1: the United States. Convict him now while we still can. 617 00:41:58,395 --> 00:42:01,195 Speaker 1: The next scheduled countdown is tomorrow. Bolton says, the news 618 00:42:01,235 --> 00:42:05,675 Speaker 1: warrants till then. I'm Keith Olderman. Good morning, good afternoon, goodnight, 619 00:42:06,315 --> 00:42:22,795 Speaker 1: and good luck. Countdown with Keith Oldman is a production 620 00:42:23,035 --> 00:42:28,315 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 621 00:42:28,395 --> 00:42:31,755 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.