1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:21,515 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. He 2 00:00:21,715 --> 00:00:25,915 Speaker 1: lied about it. He stole the story of a young 3 00:00:26,035 --> 00:00:29,955 Speaker 1: murdered Michigan woman. He purposely altered it. He made himself 4 00:00:29,955 --> 00:00:32,715 Speaker 1: the hero of it. He made up a story about 5 00:00:32,715 --> 00:00:36,675 Speaker 1: her family. He then exploited them as an excuse to 6 00:00:36,715 --> 00:00:40,835 Speaker 1: try to turn local cops into his own private paramilitary 7 00:00:40,875 --> 00:00:46,275 Speaker 1: police force. He lied about it. Or his dementia or 8 00:00:46,315 --> 00:00:50,995 Speaker 1: ephasia or insanity or whatever specifically does not work right 9 00:00:51,075 --> 00:00:54,275 Speaker 1: in his brain is now so bad that he read 10 00:00:54,515 --> 00:00:57,395 Speaker 1: about the poor woman in the New York Post, the 11 00:00:57,435 --> 00:01:01,275 Speaker 1: New York piece of shit post, and he could no 12 00:01:01,355 --> 00:01:04,795 Speaker 1: longer tell the difference between what he had read and 13 00:01:04,875 --> 00:01:11,755 Speaker 1: what had actually happened, or both. The New York Post Monday, 14 00:01:12,395 --> 00:01:17,355 Speaker 1: Ruby Garcia had a smile that illuminated the room. Or 15 00:01:17,555 --> 00:01:20,955 Speaker 1: contagious laughter Trump Tuesday. 16 00:01:21,075 --> 00:01:24,275 Speaker 2: Now Ruby's loved ones and community are left grieving for 17 00:01:24,355 --> 00:01:27,435 Speaker 2: this incredible young woman, remembering what. 18 00:01:27,555 --> 00:01:28,995 Speaker 3: They called her. 19 00:01:29,155 --> 00:01:32,075 Speaker 2: They said, she had just this most contagious laughter, and 20 00:01:32,355 --> 00:01:33,315 Speaker 2: when she walked into a. 21 00:01:33,355 --> 00:01:34,755 Speaker 1: Room, she lit up that room. 22 00:01:34,875 --> 00:01:36,875 Speaker 2: And I've heard that from so many people. I spoke 23 00:01:36,915 --> 00:01:38,035 Speaker 2: to some of her family. 24 00:01:38,795 --> 00:01:43,075 Speaker 1: There are scumbags in this world. And then there is 25 00:01:43,395 --> 00:01:48,835 Speaker 1: Donald Trump. He did not talk to anybody in her family, 26 00:01:48,875 --> 00:01:52,635 Speaker 1: and his lie or his delusion, or his lie and 27 00:01:52,755 --> 00:01:56,755 Speaker 1: his delusion continue to echo through the Grand Rapids area. 28 00:01:57,195 --> 00:02:00,475 Speaker 1: Ruby Garcia's sister confirms no one in her family talked 29 00:02:00,475 --> 00:02:04,395 Speaker 1: to Trump. Of course, she can't know whether he hallucinated 30 00:02:04,435 --> 00:02:09,075 Speaker 1: about that or just lied. She simply is angry. She 31 00:02:09,235 --> 00:02:13,195 Speaker 1: is angry at Trump's fabrication and angry at Trump's fixation, 32 00:02:13,315 --> 00:02:17,235 Speaker 1: his fixation on undocumented immigrants as if they committed every 33 00:02:17,355 --> 00:02:20,115 Speaker 1: crime in this country. She is angry that Trump has 34 00:02:20,155 --> 00:02:24,195 Speaker 1: exploited her late sister and their family, quoting the focus 35 00:02:24,235 --> 00:02:27,555 Speaker 1: should be on my sister right now, who she was 36 00:02:28,035 --> 00:02:33,915 Speaker 1: in life and completing this nauseating episode. When pressed about why, 37 00:02:34,035 --> 00:02:36,515 Speaker 1: Trump said he had spoken to the family when he 38 00:02:36,595 --> 00:02:39,715 Speaker 1: had not and was actually reading virtually word for word 39 00:02:39,755 --> 00:02:43,195 Speaker 1: from the New York Post this from NBC News quote. 40 00:02:43,355 --> 00:02:47,555 Speaker 1: The Trump campaign declined to comment on the record. A 41 00:02:47,675 --> 00:02:52,955 Speaker 1: source familiar said the campaign keeps the details of whom 42 00:02:53,035 --> 00:02:56,955 Speaker 1: he speaks to and the contents of the conversation's private, 43 00:02:57,555 --> 00:03:03,755 Speaker 1: unless the family agrees to share them, which is itself 44 00:03:04,275 --> 00:03:09,035 Speaker 1: another lie, because if her sister is wrong. And Trump 45 00:03:09,075 --> 00:03:12,995 Speaker 1: really did speak to some eighth cousin who just happened 46 00:03:12,995 --> 00:03:15,715 Speaker 1: to say exactly what the New York Post had written 47 00:03:15,835 --> 00:03:19,475 Speaker 1: the day before. He did not keep the contents of 48 00:03:19,515 --> 00:03:24,475 Speaker 1: that conversation private. And of course it is not like 49 00:03:24,555 --> 00:03:26,715 Speaker 1: this is the first time Trump has taken the life 50 00:03:27,035 --> 00:03:30,555 Speaker 1: of a murdered young woman, exploited it, turned it into 51 00:03:30,635 --> 00:03:33,515 Speaker 1: a weapon against an ethnic group, turned it into a 52 00:03:33,555 --> 00:03:38,675 Speaker 1: weapon to justify racism and unthinking hatred and authoritarian measures. 53 00:03:38,915 --> 00:03:41,315 Speaker 1: He did it last month in Georgia to the murdered 54 00:03:41,355 --> 00:03:45,795 Speaker 1: college student Lake and Riley. There, the family did talk 55 00:03:45,835 --> 00:03:50,395 Speaker 1: to him, and he rewarded their generosity. However misguided or 56 00:03:50,475 --> 00:03:54,275 Speaker 1: naive you or I might think it, it was generosity, 57 00:03:54,315 --> 00:03:58,795 Speaker 1: and he rewarded their generosity by autographing a photograph of 58 00:03:58,835 --> 00:04:04,555 Speaker 1: the late Lake and Riley and on it spelling her 59 00:04:04,795 --> 00:04:34,195 Speaker 1: name wrong. Legally, the Trump fronts have actually been quiet, 60 00:04:34,235 --> 00:04:37,035 Speaker 1: though we have the revenge of Juan Mrshawan. Now, no, 61 00:04:37,195 --> 00:04:40,715 Speaker 1: he will not delay the Stormy Daniel's hush money election 62 00:04:40,915 --> 00:04:45,395 Speaker 1: interference trial again passed a week from next Monday, so 63 00:04:45,515 --> 00:04:48,315 Speaker 1: Trump can wait for the Supreme Court to fail to 64 00:04:48,395 --> 00:04:53,555 Speaker 1: invent presidential immunity and thus make Joe Biden king. There 65 00:04:53,675 --> 00:04:57,075 Speaker 1: is also the further clarification that Jack Smith has indeed 66 00:04:57,515 --> 00:05:00,235 Speaker 1: warned Judge Eileen Cannon that if she does not drop 67 00:05:00,355 --> 00:05:04,995 Speaker 1: this nonsense of having both legal teams right competing jury 68 00:05:05,075 --> 00:05:08,875 Speaker 1: instructions over a key point in the espionage case, the 69 00:05:08,915 --> 00:05:12,195 Speaker 1: one she is too legally stupid to decide for herself. 70 00:05:12,355 --> 00:05:15,635 Speaker 1: If she does not forget this coin flip and rule 71 00:05:15,835 --> 00:05:19,035 Speaker 1: on the goddamned thing already, Jack Smith will take a 72 00:05:19,115 --> 00:05:22,395 Speaker 1: writ of mandamus, a demand that she do her damn 73 00:05:22,515 --> 00:05:26,475 Speaker 1: job and correctly, this time to the Eleventh Circuit and 74 00:05:26,555 --> 00:05:32,315 Speaker 1: get her recused from the case. So nothing really legal 75 00:05:33,155 --> 00:05:37,075 Speaker 1: unless you consider the Constitution of the United States and 76 00:05:37,195 --> 00:05:41,595 Speaker 1: Trump's efforts to you know, terminate it like kind of 77 00:05:42,195 --> 00:05:47,155 Speaker 1: legal ish. A follow up now to my synopsis here 78 00:05:47,235 --> 00:05:52,475 Speaker 1: Tuesday of the piece by Peter Tanjit spelled tungue it 79 00:05:53,515 --> 00:05:55,915 Speaker 1: in a magazine called The American Conservative that matter of 80 00:05:55,915 --> 00:05:59,155 Speaker 1: factly demanded the repeal or the bypassing of the twenty 81 00:05:59,195 --> 00:06:03,995 Speaker 1: second Amendment and its constitutional requirement of presidential term limits 82 00:06:04,395 --> 00:06:09,635 Speaker 1: because us, clearly, said mister Tanjit, its authors did not 83 00:06:09,795 --> 00:06:11,515 Speaker 1: mean for it to apply to a president who had 84 00:06:11,515 --> 00:06:18,075 Speaker 1: served two non consecutive terms. Lisa Needham at the public 85 00:06:18,195 --> 00:06:21,915 Speaker 1: notice site connects two dots I had missed. She writes, 86 00:06:21,955 --> 00:06:25,715 Speaker 1: The American Conservative is a quote partner un quote of 87 00:06:26,795 --> 00:06:31,475 Speaker 1: Project twenty twenty five. Project twenty twenty five is a 88 00:06:31,515 --> 00:06:36,355 Speaker 1: twenty two million dollar political purity arm of the Heritage Foundation. 89 00:06:36,715 --> 00:06:39,195 Speaker 1: And you remember the Heritage Foundation. They are the owners 90 00:06:39,195 --> 00:06:43,875 Speaker 1: and operators of the Supreme Court. Everything in the Trump 91 00:06:44,115 --> 00:06:48,195 Speaker 1: Reich is connected. That goes without saying, but the direct 92 00:06:48,235 --> 00:06:51,635 Speaker 1: link between the magazine that just casually confirmed Trump and 93 00:06:51,675 --> 00:06:54,475 Speaker 1: the fascists intent to keep him in office through at 94 00:06:54,555 --> 00:06:58,675 Speaker 1: least twenty thirty three or longer if they can get 95 00:06:58,675 --> 00:07:02,035 Speaker 1: away with it, the connection between them and Project twenty 96 00:07:02,075 --> 00:07:04,995 Speaker 1: twenty five. The group pledged to get fifty thousand government 97 00:07:05,035 --> 00:07:09,555 Speaker 1: employees fired and replaced by card carrying party members personally 98 00:07:09,635 --> 00:07:12,955 Speaker 1: loyal to Trump. This is a stark reminder that this 99 00:07:13,115 --> 00:07:17,035 Speaker 1: is all part of a coordinated plan and that these 100 00:07:17,195 --> 00:07:23,515 Speaker 1: two dots Misneedham has connected are lethal ones. Project twenty 101 00:07:23,555 --> 00:07:29,475 Speaker 1: twenty five exists to replace the quote deep state think 102 00:07:29,555 --> 00:07:33,355 Speaker 1: of the trademark logo here and the American Conservative's new 103 00:07:33,395 --> 00:07:38,595 Speaker 1: thrust against presidential term limits exists to preserve Americans freedom 104 00:07:38,635 --> 00:07:43,075 Speaker 1: TM to elect anybody they quote damn well feel like 105 00:07:43,155 --> 00:07:50,315 Speaker 1: it TM in a triumph of democracy TM. All of 106 00:07:50,355 --> 00:07:53,995 Speaker 1: which is true provided you view the deep state and 107 00:07:54,315 --> 00:08:01,715 Speaker 1: freedom and democracy as mere trademarked brand names. Because a 108 00:08:01,755 --> 00:08:04,635 Speaker 1: plan that wipes out the institutional knowledge and the incident 109 00:08:05,195 --> 00:08:08,355 Speaker 1: norms and the institutional proprieties of the day to day 110 00:08:08,435 --> 00:08:11,715 Speaker 1: workings of the American government and replaces it with people 111 00:08:11,755 --> 00:08:14,355 Speaker 1: with no experience and no skill in nothing but blind 112 00:08:14,475 --> 00:08:17,715 Speaker 1: fealty to a madman who decides whether or not they 113 00:08:17,755 --> 00:08:20,595 Speaker 1: get their paycheck this week. That is not replacing a 114 00:08:20,675 --> 00:08:24,475 Speaker 1: deep state. It is in fact building a deeper and 115 00:08:24,635 --> 00:08:29,955 Speaker 1: a more deeply incoonfident state. And the plan that also 116 00:08:29,995 --> 00:08:32,955 Speaker 1: wipes out elements of the Constitution on a fun house 117 00:08:33,075 --> 00:08:38,035 Speaker 1: mirror version premise of freedom and democracy tom weeks after 118 00:08:38,075 --> 00:08:41,835 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court already staffed, wiped out one element of 119 00:08:41,875 --> 00:08:44,875 Speaker 1: the Constitution, namely the fourteenth Amendment, that is in fact 120 00:08:45,955 --> 00:08:51,395 Speaker 1: the end to freedom and the means to murder democracy. 121 00:08:52,115 --> 00:08:54,195 Speaker 1: And we haven't even drawn in some of the figures 122 00:08:54,195 --> 00:08:57,475 Speaker 1: in the hundred. Other organizations like the American Conservative that 123 00:08:57,555 --> 00:09:01,035 Speaker 1: are also partners of Project twenty twenty five, which is 124 00:09:01,075 --> 00:09:06,635 Speaker 1: like saying they're partners of Stalin or eds like Russell 125 00:09:06,795 --> 00:09:12,795 Speaker 1: votes Center for Renewing America. The Center for Renewing America. 126 00:09:14,075 --> 00:09:17,475 Speaker 1: The Ministry of Truth, which is to eliminate everything in 127 00:09:17,515 --> 00:09:20,995 Speaker 1: government that is not controlled by a church somewhere, is 128 00:09:21,115 --> 00:09:25,275 Speaker 1: paralleled by Stephen Miller's America First Legal, which is currently 129 00:09:25,275 --> 00:09:28,435 Speaker 1: on a binge to eliminate diversity by going to court 130 00:09:28,915 --> 00:09:33,515 Speaker 1: and suing diversity into the ground. Suing CBS claiming a 131 00:09:33,515 --> 00:09:37,355 Speaker 1: writer for a show called Seal Team was fired because 132 00:09:37,675 --> 00:09:40,995 Speaker 1: he was a straight white male, Suing the National Football 133 00:09:41,075 --> 00:09:45,715 Speaker 1: League because it requires teams to interview, not higher just 134 00:09:45,915 --> 00:09:51,675 Speaker 1: interview minority candidates for vacant head coaching positions. Axios reports 135 00:09:52,115 --> 00:09:57,155 Speaker 1: Stephen Miller, a worm in a suit, is poised to 136 00:09:57,235 --> 00:10:02,035 Speaker 1: reposition civil rights in his Justice Department to make it 137 00:10:02,275 --> 00:10:07,755 Speaker 1: end what he calls and it called quote affirmative discrimination. 138 00:10:09,155 --> 00:10:14,715 Speaker 1: Trump's spokes wrestler Stephen Chung added that Trump is quote 139 00:10:14,875 --> 00:10:20,315 Speaker 1: committed to weeding out discriminatory programs and racist ideology across 140 00:10:20,355 --> 00:10:25,035 Speaker 1: the federal government. One wonders if Chung knows about the 141 00:10:25,075 --> 00:10:28,435 Speaker 1: CBS poll from last fall indicating that fifty eight percent 142 00:10:28,675 --> 00:10:33,395 Speaker 1: of Trump voters believe people of color are advantaged over whites. 143 00:10:34,395 --> 00:10:39,555 Speaker 1: Poor Chung. If Trump gets elected, the government may deny 144 00:10:39,635 --> 00:10:43,275 Speaker 1: him the job he already has, and then with Trump 145 00:10:43,315 --> 00:10:46,795 Speaker 1: in charge, he would probably have to announce his own firing. 146 00:10:49,235 --> 00:10:53,675 Speaker 1: Project twenty twenty five is the equivalent of a multinational conglomerate, 147 00:10:54,235 --> 00:10:57,755 Speaker 1: and a misnamed one at that Project eighteen twenty five 148 00:10:57,875 --> 00:11:01,195 Speaker 1: might be more accurate, while the Peter Tanjit end of 149 00:11:01,235 --> 00:11:03,035 Speaker 1: it is looking to go back to a time when 150 00:11:03,075 --> 00:11:05,515 Speaker 1: the only thing standing between a president and a term 151 00:11:05,635 --> 00:11:08,515 Speaker 1: circumscribed only by the length of his life was that 152 00:11:08,635 --> 00:11:13,195 Speaker 1: quaint little custom started by George Washington. And George Washington's dead. 153 00:11:13,275 --> 00:11:17,315 Speaker 1: Now there is also the Emma Waters end of it, 154 00:11:17,355 --> 00:11:20,715 Speaker 1: at the other end of the spectrum. And who is she? 155 00:11:20,715 --> 00:11:24,835 Speaker 1: She is the newest star on the trumpests forced birth 156 00:11:25,115 --> 00:11:27,755 Speaker 1: firmament anti abortion. 157 00:11:27,915 --> 00:11:28,115 Speaker 3: You know. 158 00:11:29,195 --> 00:11:32,675 Speaker 1: The media, of course, continues to misrepresent Trump's fifteen week 159 00:11:32,795 --> 00:11:37,315 Speaker 1: national abortion ban as some kind of moderate proposal. It's 160 00:11:37,355 --> 00:11:41,035 Speaker 1: not moderate, and it's not national. There wouldn't be a 161 00:11:41,155 --> 00:11:45,795 Speaker 1: national abortion standard, whether at fifteen weeks or twenty four. 162 00:11:46,595 --> 00:11:49,115 Speaker 1: There would be outright bans in all the states that 163 00:11:49,155 --> 00:11:51,795 Speaker 1: can get them enacted, and in the states where abortion 164 00:11:51,955 --> 00:11:56,075 Speaker 1: remains legal at like twenty four weeks, it suddenly wouldn't 165 00:11:56,115 --> 00:11:58,395 Speaker 1: be legal at twenty four weeks. That is where there 166 00:11:58,395 --> 00:12:07,795 Speaker 1: would be a national fifteen week abortion ban. Abortion after mefipristone, 167 00:12:07,875 --> 00:12:11,315 Speaker 1: after the Alabama ruling against in vitro, and the continuing 168 00:12:11,355 --> 00:12:15,075 Speaker 1: assault on it nationwide. This is where this Emma Waters 169 00:12:15,115 --> 00:12:18,795 Speaker 1: comes in. Starting in Michigan, where laws went into effect 170 00:12:18,795 --> 00:12:25,355 Speaker 1: in January decriminalizing compensated surrogacy, letting surrogate mothers get paid 171 00:12:25,595 --> 00:12:31,435 Speaker 1: or reimbursed for their expenses and time bearing another woman's child. Also, 172 00:12:31,595 --> 00:12:37,435 Speaker 1: laws went into effect providing more legal protections for LGBTQ parents. Well, 173 00:12:37,475 --> 00:12:40,915 Speaker 1: that's where Waters began her attacked, and there is a 174 00:12:40,955 --> 00:12:44,355 Speaker 1: twist here. The usual Project twenty twenty five formula against 175 00:12:44,355 --> 00:12:47,235 Speaker 1: families they don't like or family planning they don't like, 176 00:12:47,315 --> 00:12:52,715 Speaker 1: begins with lawsuits. The attack on surrogacy begins a little 177 00:12:52,715 --> 00:12:56,195 Speaker 1: bit more subtly on what studies say about the long 178 00:12:56,275 --> 00:13:00,235 Speaker 1: term effects on the kids born through surrogacy. Ms Waters 179 00:13:00,275 --> 00:13:04,275 Speaker 1: herself writes that studies say, quote children born from surrogacy 180 00:13:04,275 --> 00:13:08,595 Speaker 1: agreements of any sort do as well, if not better 181 00:13:08,915 --> 00:13:14,155 Speaker 1: psychologically than their natural born peers. Unquote, How in the 182 00:13:14,155 --> 00:13:16,875 Speaker 1: hell does that let the Trump Nazis go after surrogacy 183 00:13:17,595 --> 00:13:21,395 Speaker 1: Because Waters then says that, sure, the studies that have 184 00:13:21,515 --> 00:13:25,315 Speaker 1: been conducted are all positive, but what about the studies 185 00:13:25,795 --> 00:13:32,435 Speaker 1: that have not been conducted? No, seriously, quote, there is 186 00:13:32,475 --> 00:13:39,315 Speaker 1: a huge difference between no harm and no known harm. 187 00:13:40,115 --> 00:13:44,595 Speaker 1: It is the same kind of melodious sophistry that let 188 00:13:44,635 --> 00:13:48,795 Speaker 1: Peter Tangit insist that nobody alive when presidential term limits 189 00:13:48,795 --> 00:13:52,155 Speaker 1: passed in nineteen fifty one could have had any idea 190 00:13:52,155 --> 00:13:56,915 Speaker 1: about Grover Cleveland serving non consecutive terms in the nineteenth 191 00:13:56,915 --> 00:14:00,315 Speaker 1: century except the author of the amendment, the congressman who 192 00:14:00,395 --> 00:14:05,115 Speaker 1: was sixteen when Grover Cleveland was re elected. It's the 193 00:14:05,155 --> 00:14:10,035 Speaker 1: same fluid nonsense that pleases the same low IQ Trump 194 00:14:10,115 --> 00:14:15,675 Speaker 1: supporters that says, sure, the studies now say surrogacy only 195 00:14:15,755 --> 00:14:20,275 Speaker 1: helps kids adjust, but what about the studies in the 196 00:14:20,355 --> 00:14:25,675 Speaker 1: twenty third century? Like, sure, the Earth has revolved around 197 00:14:25,715 --> 00:14:28,995 Speaker 1: the Sun all these years, but what if next year 198 00:14:29,755 --> 00:14:37,795 Speaker 1: the Sun revolves around the Earth. There are few saving graces. 199 00:14:37,875 --> 00:14:40,875 Speaker 1: As the Republicans prepare to climax, They're forty years of 200 00:14:40,875 --> 00:14:44,515 Speaker 1: building up hatred, building out on racism, and building upon 201 00:14:44,675 --> 00:14:49,075 Speaker 1: paranoia inside their own cult, all while the Democrats are 202 00:14:49,115 --> 00:14:55,155 Speaker 1: busily publicly, loudly and seriously arguing over whether Trump really 203 00:14:55,435 --> 00:14:59,195 Speaker 1: is a fascist or if those of us who use 204 00:14:59,275 --> 00:15:02,995 Speaker 1: the term now if we're just diminishing the memories of 205 00:15:03,035 --> 00:15:06,595 Speaker 1: the victims of fascism in Italy and Spain and Germany 206 00:15:06,635 --> 00:15:09,435 Speaker 1: in the thirties by calling him that when perhaps he's 207 00:15:09,515 --> 00:15:19,635 Speaker 1: not fully fulfilled the reti. However, despite our stupidity, sometimes 208 00:15:19,955 --> 00:15:23,795 Speaker 1: the Republican's right hand is too busy to know what 209 00:15:23,875 --> 00:15:27,515 Speaker 1: its deathhand is doing. What's on the ballot in November 210 00:15:27,515 --> 00:15:32,075 Speaker 1: in Florida a ballot proposition protecting abortion rights in Florida 211 00:15:32,515 --> 00:15:38,315 Speaker 1: and a second ballot proposition expanding marijuana sales in Florida 212 00:15:38,355 --> 00:15:43,755 Speaker 1: from for medical purposes to hey whatever, Which is when 213 00:15:43,875 --> 00:15:50,395 Speaker 1: Democrats did something rather clever. Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez 214 00:15:50,435 --> 00:15:54,795 Speaker 1: Rodriguez suddenly said her team saw a quote path to 215 00:15:54,955 --> 00:16:00,475 Speaker 1: victory appearing in Florida. But is even the draw of 216 00:16:00,555 --> 00:16:04,555 Speaker 1: protecting abortion and getting pot for your home and off 217 00:16:05,075 --> 00:16:08,555 Speaker 1: hot and cold running pot? Is that enough to reshape 218 00:16:08,955 --> 00:16:14,235 Speaker 1: the presidential election? In God's waiting room before you answer that. 219 00:16:15,275 --> 00:16:19,475 Speaker 1: Campaign manager Rodriguez didn't say that, did she. She didn't 220 00:16:19,515 --> 00:16:22,595 Speaker 1: say Biden now stood a chance, or a good chance, 221 00:16:22,755 --> 00:16:26,115 Speaker 1: or even a remote chance of winning Florida. She said 222 00:16:27,395 --> 00:16:31,635 Speaker 1: she saw a path to victory there. Well, you know 223 00:16:31,675 --> 00:16:34,435 Speaker 1: what a path to victory in Florida would be getting 224 00:16:34,515 --> 00:16:38,035 Speaker 1: Republicans to have to spend more of those campaign pennies 225 00:16:38,235 --> 00:16:41,195 Speaker 1: that Trump is not spending on lawyers to defend a 226 00:16:41,315 --> 00:16:44,875 Speaker 1: state he won by three times as large a margin 227 00:16:44,955 --> 00:16:58,355 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty as he had in twenty sixteen. And 228 00:16:58,835 --> 00:17:02,195 Speaker 1: there are Trump tody's, and there are Trump cultists, and 229 00:17:02,235 --> 00:17:06,435 Speaker 1: there are Trump's slaves. And then there are Congressman Guy 230 00:17:06,595 --> 00:17:11,155 Speaker 1: Russenthaler and Michael Waltz and Andy Ogles and Chuck Fleischman 231 00:17:11,475 --> 00:17:17,475 Speaker 1: and Paul Gozar and Barry Moore and Troy Nells. And 232 00:17:17,595 --> 00:17:22,875 Speaker 1: they have introduced a bill to rename Dulles Airport in 233 00:17:23,035 --> 00:17:32,355 Speaker 1: Virginia Trump International Airport. One would think that after his 234 00:17:32,475 --> 00:17:36,715 Speaker 1: debacle with the Trump Shuttle, where he took the popular 235 00:17:36,795 --> 00:17:40,515 Speaker 1: and profitable hourly flight service from New York to Boston 236 00:17:40,555 --> 00:17:43,035 Speaker 1: and in just two years and five months he literally 237 00:17:43,115 --> 00:17:46,355 Speaker 1: put it out of business. One would think Trump would 238 00:17:46,355 --> 00:17:52,035 Speaker 1: want to keep his name away from anything aeronautical. Still, 239 00:17:52,635 --> 00:17:58,275 Speaker 1: in the spirit of bipartisanship, I have an alternate suggestion, 240 00:17:59,595 --> 00:18:02,595 Speaker 1: given his track record, given the need of a new 241 00:18:02,675 --> 00:18:06,155 Speaker 1: name for the product in question, why not ree christen 242 00:18:06,635 --> 00:18:10,675 Speaker 1: those Boeing seven thirty seven max nines after him, the 243 00:18:10,835 --> 00:18:17,195 Speaker 1: Trump seven thirty seven Max nine convertible, Because if anybody 244 00:18:17,275 --> 00:18:45,875 Speaker 1: knows doors falling off, it's Trump still ahead of us 245 00:18:45,875 --> 00:18:49,235 Speaker 1: on this initiative countdown to paraphrase the old joke forty 246 00:18:49,395 --> 00:18:53,915 Speaker 1: five years ago. Right now, the letter was in the mail. 247 00:18:54,995 --> 00:18:59,155 Speaker 1: All it would do when it got there was changed 248 00:18:59,155 --> 00:19:02,675 Speaker 1: my career things I promised not to tell coming up, 249 00:19:02,995 --> 00:19:06,715 Speaker 1: and yes, as I warned you, a slightly truncated format 250 00:19:06,755 --> 00:19:12,435 Speaker 1: today and maybe tomorrow. Details on tomorrow to come. Knoscopy. 251 00:19:13,075 --> 00:19:15,435 Speaker 1: So somebody said, what kind of doctor goes into the 252 00:19:15,555 --> 00:19:18,675 Speaker 1: klonoscopy business? So I said, I'm not going to cast 253 00:19:18,715 --> 00:19:23,875 Speaker 1: any stones. I cover Trump for a living. It's basically 254 00:19:23,915 --> 00:19:27,755 Speaker 1: the same thing, isn't it. First Still more idiots to 255 00:19:27,835 --> 00:19:30,315 Speaker 1: talk about the daily roundup of the miss Grants, morons 256 00:19:30,355 --> 00:19:34,355 Speaker 1: and Dunning Krueger effects specimens who constitute two days worse 257 00:19:34,555 --> 00:19:39,675 Speaker 1: persons in the world. We start with the bronze worst. 258 00:19:39,795 --> 00:19:44,435 Speaker 1: Charlie Kirk. Balloonhead is back. That's right, Old balloonhead is 259 00:19:44,515 --> 00:19:50,555 Speaker 1: back speaking at the weekly Conservative conference wherever the sea 260 00:19:51,275 --> 00:19:57,195 Speaker 1: pap the Sea Pack, Sea Pap Pack Balloonhead conference. They 261 00:19:57,235 --> 00:20:00,195 Speaker 1: have to have these conferences weekly to keep conservatives in 262 00:20:00,315 --> 00:20:04,115 Speaker 1: line and also to prevent them from possible accidental exposure 263 00:20:04,155 --> 00:20:08,595 Speaker 1: to reality. Charlie Kirk attended this one. He does eighty 264 00:20:08,635 --> 00:20:10,955 Speaker 1: seven of them a year. He told the audience that 265 00:20:11,035 --> 00:20:14,875 Speaker 1: women in their early thirties are quote not at their 266 00:20:14,995 --> 00:20:20,435 Speaker 1: prime and quote not as attractive in the dating pool. Now, 267 00:20:20,475 --> 00:20:23,955 Speaker 1: before you think about complaining to somebody about this nit wittedness, 268 00:20:24,555 --> 00:20:27,155 Speaker 1: you ladies in your thirties don't need me to correct 269 00:20:27,155 --> 00:20:31,795 Speaker 1: the record on this. Just ponder what Charlie Kirk's home 270 00:20:31,875 --> 00:20:35,955 Speaker 1: life is now like. When they married, his wife was 271 00:20:36,875 --> 00:20:42,795 Speaker 1: thirty two, Say, Charlie, is that a new beard? The 272 00:20:42,915 --> 00:20:46,715 Speaker 1: runner up worser Mike Davis, the Trump fascism legal eagle 273 00:20:46,955 --> 00:20:51,675 Speaker 1: who makes Tom Fitten look like Oliver freaking Wendell freaking Holmes. 274 00:20:52,275 --> 00:20:56,075 Speaker 1: He also hallucinates, I mean, by comparison, Stephen Miller is 275 00:20:56,115 --> 00:21:00,435 Speaker 1: almost normal. Davis has now posted about the death threats 276 00:21:00,475 --> 00:21:05,355 Speaker 1: against Judge Eileen Cannon, which haven't happened, ex maybe from 277 00:21:05,395 --> 00:21:11,115 Speaker 1: Trump's lawyers, and quote Schumer physically threatening Gorstch and Kavanaugh 278 00:21:11,155 --> 00:21:13,635 Speaker 1: from the Supreme Court steps if they didn't rule Schumer's 279 00:21:13,675 --> 00:21:17,955 Speaker 1: way on a pending case. Bad news, Mike, that that 280 00:21:18,155 --> 00:21:22,115 Speaker 1: also didn't happen. That certainly didn't happen in your awake time. 281 00:21:22,795 --> 00:21:27,035 Speaker 1: That was in one of your dreams, mister wackdoodle. But 282 00:21:27,155 --> 00:21:31,035 Speaker 1: our winner the worst. Oh my god, this is going 283 00:21:31,075 --> 00:21:34,195 Speaker 1: to happen weekly, isn't it. It's one of my former 284 00:21:34,275 --> 00:21:41,035 Speaker 1: SportsCenter co anchors, Sage Steele, fired by ESPN for well 285 00:21:41,395 --> 00:21:44,795 Speaker 1: for a decade of being too annoying for words, and 286 00:21:44,955 --> 00:21:48,195 Speaker 1: then going off on a right wing anti vax this 287 00:21:48,395 --> 00:21:52,635 Speaker 1: is my country because daddy was in the war crusade. First, 288 00:21:52,675 --> 00:21:55,475 Speaker 1: she claimed that the devil hit her in the mouth 289 00:21:55,555 --> 00:21:57,835 Speaker 1: with a golf ball to try to keep her from 290 00:21:57,875 --> 00:22:02,515 Speaker 1: speaking her truth, because yes, you're important enough for God 291 00:22:02,715 --> 00:22:07,355 Speaker 1: or the devil to bend the universe to talk to you, 292 00:22:07,675 --> 00:22:13,035 Speaker 1: but only in a complicated metaphor that you could easily misunderstand, 293 00:22:13,835 --> 00:22:17,835 Speaker 1: especially if you're a moron. Then, in her new talk 294 00:22:17,835 --> 00:22:20,955 Speaker 1: show Sage Steele leaned into her guest and touched his 295 00:22:21,035 --> 00:22:26,155 Speaker 1: knee and asked, what is Joe Rogan's dream? And when 296 00:22:26,155 --> 00:22:30,035 Speaker 1: he looked at her in shock and disgust. It took 297 00:22:30,035 --> 00:22:33,395 Speaker 1: her about ten seconds and then she realized that her 298 00:22:33,435 --> 00:22:38,555 Speaker 1: guest wasn't Joe Rogan, that it was the kickboxing promoter 299 00:22:38,715 --> 00:22:41,675 Speaker 1: Dana White, that the only thing they had in common 300 00:22:41,755 --> 00:22:47,555 Speaker 1: was that they were bald, middle aged men. Now, Sage 301 00:22:47,595 --> 00:22:50,875 Speaker 1: Steele has told Fox Digital that her interview with President 302 00:22:50,915 --> 00:22:55,835 Speaker 1: Biden for ESPN in twenty twenty one was scripted. Quote. 303 00:22:55,915 --> 00:22:57,755 Speaker 1: I was told, you will say every word that we 304 00:22:57,795 --> 00:23:00,275 Speaker 1: write out. You will not deviate from the script. Like 305 00:23:00,555 --> 00:23:04,315 Speaker 1: every single question was scripted, gone over dozens of times 306 00:23:04,355 --> 00:23:06,795 Speaker 1: by men, any editors and executives. I was told not 307 00:23:06,915 --> 00:23:09,355 Speaker 1: to deviate. It was very much this is what you 308 00:23:09,395 --> 00:23:11,755 Speaker 1: will ask, this is how you will say it, no 309 00:23:11,995 --> 00:23:16,675 Speaker 1: follow ups. The saddest part of this is that it 310 00:23:16,675 --> 00:23:19,195 Speaker 1: has clearly never once occurred to Miss Steel that this 311 00:23:19,395 --> 00:23:25,635 Speaker 1: was done to protect her and to protect ESPN, because 312 00:23:25,675 --> 00:23:28,235 Speaker 1: if the interview with Biden had not been scripted, there 313 00:23:28,275 --> 00:23:30,475 Speaker 1: would have been an excellent chance that she would have 314 00:23:30,555 --> 00:23:35,755 Speaker 1: leaned in and said, what is Joe Rogan's dream, um 315 00:23:37,155 --> 00:23:44,755 Speaker 1: um um, what is Joe Biden's dream? I mean on 316 00:23:44,755 --> 00:23:46,875 Speaker 1: one of the half dozen or so sports centers we 317 00:23:46,995 --> 00:23:51,155 Speaker 1: did together, one of her interviews with a baseball player 318 00:23:51,355 --> 00:23:54,755 Speaker 1: live after he won an award was completely scripted by 319 00:23:54,795 --> 00:23:57,915 Speaker 1: the producers. I think it was when Clay Bellinger won 320 00:23:57,955 --> 00:24:00,395 Speaker 1: the Most Valuable Player award in the National League. Because 321 00:24:00,395 --> 00:24:03,435 Speaker 1: everybody at ESPN knew, I mean the interns in ad 322 00:24:03,595 --> 00:24:06,995 Speaker 1: sales on day one, they knew that Sage Steele was 323 00:24:07,035 --> 00:24:12,035 Speaker 1: a disaster waiting to happen. Clay Bellinger, MVP of the NL. 324 00:24:12,275 --> 00:24:18,395 Speaker 1: What's Joe Rogan's dream? In the interview with Fox and 325 00:24:18,515 --> 00:24:22,435 Speaker 1: Oh God, is sheep perfect for Fox? Watch your ass, 326 00:24:22,515 --> 00:24:25,715 Speaker 1: Jesse Waters, there's another person over the age of twenty 327 00:24:25,715 --> 00:24:28,315 Speaker 1: one with the mind of a four year old. Sage 328 00:24:28,315 --> 00:24:33,155 Speaker 1: Steele went right to the fascist Biden age plot thing quote. 329 00:24:33,355 --> 00:24:36,035 Speaker 1: When someone is struggling, we allow them to continue to 330 00:24:36,075 --> 00:24:38,155 Speaker 1: be in the spotlight and put them out there in 331 00:24:38,195 --> 00:24:42,315 Speaker 1: the first place when they knew there were issues. That 332 00:24:42,555 --> 00:24:47,195 Speaker 1: is almost word for word. What a senior ESPN executive 333 00:24:47,435 --> 00:24:50,235 Speaker 1: a vice president, He may be a president by now. 334 00:24:50,395 --> 00:24:53,315 Speaker 1: What a senior ESPN executive said to me after one 335 00:24:53,315 --> 00:24:55,835 Speaker 1: of those sports centers we did together in twenty eighteen 336 00:24:55,915 --> 00:25:00,715 Speaker 1: or nineteen about Sage Steele. When someone is struggling and 337 00:25:00,715 --> 00:25:02,635 Speaker 1: we allow them to continue to be in the spotlight, 338 00:25:02,835 --> 00:25:04,475 Speaker 1: we put them out there in the first place, when 339 00:25:04,715 --> 00:25:09,595 Speaker 1: when we know their issues. One last Sage Steal quote. 340 00:25:10,035 --> 00:25:12,555 Speaker 1: I think it's really heartbreaking that the people who love 341 00:25:12,675 --> 00:25:15,315 Speaker 1: Joe Biden and say they truly care about him have 342 00:25:15,395 --> 00:25:19,755 Speaker 1: allowed it to get to this point. Sage. I know you. 343 00:25:20,715 --> 00:25:24,155 Speaker 1: I know Joe Biden. Not only is his mental acuity 344 00:25:24,235 --> 00:25:28,755 Speaker 1: ten times yours right now, but so is President Lyndon 345 00:25:28,875 --> 00:25:33,915 Speaker 1: Johnson's right now ten times yours. And Lyndon Johnson has 346 00:25:33,955 --> 00:25:39,395 Speaker 1: been dead since nineteen seventy three. Sage, it will never 347 00:25:39,595 --> 00:25:42,555 Speaker 1: till the day she dies or gets hit by the 348 00:25:42,595 --> 00:25:46,555 Speaker 1: next golf ball sent by the devil Dawn on her 349 00:25:46,955 --> 00:25:49,595 Speaker 1: that all she has said about Biden is actually a 350 00:25:49,635 --> 00:25:54,915 Speaker 1: plea for help about herself. Steal Two days worst. What 351 00:25:55,195 --> 00:25:59,515 Speaker 1: is Joe Rogan's dream person in the world? 352 00:26:06,915 --> 00:26:22,555 Speaker 3: Uh, this is Countdown with Keith Elberman. 353 00:26:26,075 --> 00:26:29,475 Speaker 1: Here's the number one story on the Countdown. A little early, 354 00:26:29,835 --> 00:26:32,515 Speaker 1: I promised this episode would probably be a little short 355 00:26:32,555 --> 00:26:37,755 Speaker 1: because of the impending medical procedure. Details to come. It's 356 00:26:37,835 --> 00:26:40,315 Speaker 1: more a schedule issue than a health one, and an 357 00:26:40,355 --> 00:26:44,235 Speaker 1: unconsciousness issue, I mean intentional unconsciousness, not like the normal 358 00:26:44,275 --> 00:26:48,675 Speaker 1: type I have. But it's okay because the topic of 359 00:26:48,715 --> 00:26:51,955 Speaker 1: my favorite topic, me and things I promised not to 360 00:26:51,995 --> 00:26:54,595 Speaker 1: tell and the missive in question. One of the most 361 00:26:54,675 --> 00:26:59,355 Speaker 1: important letters in my entire life was in the mail 362 00:27:00,075 --> 00:27:05,955 Speaker 1: in transit to me forty five years ago right now. 363 00:27:07,115 --> 00:27:09,835 Speaker 1: Plus I just saw, after all these years, a photograph 364 00:27:09,915 --> 00:27:11,875 Speaker 1: of the man who sent that letter when he was 365 00:27:11,915 --> 00:27:14,955 Speaker 1: a newscaster at WCBS Radio in New York, and he 366 00:27:15,115 --> 00:27:18,315 Speaker 1: sued it up in a Yankees uniform at a radio 367 00:27:18,595 --> 00:27:22,075 Speaker 1: All Star game at the original Yankee Stadium in the 368 00:27:22,115 --> 00:27:26,875 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen sixty five. He looks serious and young. 369 00:27:27,995 --> 00:27:30,755 Speaker 1: He was three months older than my dad was, and 370 00:27:30,835 --> 00:27:33,515 Speaker 1: it was as startling to see him as it is 371 00:27:33,595 --> 00:27:36,755 Speaker 1: still startling to read the letter he wrote to me. 372 00:27:38,515 --> 00:27:41,435 Speaker 1: This is the story, and it is a long one 373 00:27:41,835 --> 00:27:45,595 Speaker 1: of the Adler letter and the hell through which I 374 00:27:45,635 --> 00:27:49,475 Speaker 1: had to go just to read it. The Adler Letter 375 00:27:49,635 --> 00:27:52,035 Speaker 1: falling into my hands on the night of Sunday, April eight, 376 00:27:52,195 --> 00:27:56,435 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine, was like the PostScript to a breathless 377 00:27:56,475 --> 00:27:58,995 Speaker 1: five hundred page novel that turns out to be a 378 00:27:58,995 --> 00:28:02,155 Speaker 1: million times more exciting, more interesting, and more important than 379 00:28:02,195 --> 00:28:04,395 Speaker 1: any of those five hundred pages, or the five hundred 380 00:28:04,395 --> 00:28:09,595 Speaker 1: pages combined. We had driven by that point around nine 381 00:28:09,755 --> 00:28:13,555 Speaker 1: or ten hours. I do not believe I ever actually 382 00:28:13,635 --> 00:28:16,555 Speaker 1: expected to die on the trip, but I was at 383 00:28:16,635 --> 00:28:19,955 Speaker 1: least a dozen times absolutely convinced that George and I 384 00:28:19,995 --> 00:28:22,875 Speaker 1: would wind up in the hospital. He and I were 385 00:28:22,955 --> 00:28:25,555 Speaker 1: college seniors, gone home to see the defending two time 386 00:28:25,595 --> 00:28:28,595 Speaker 1: world champion New York Yankees opened the nineteen seventy nine 387 00:28:28,635 --> 00:28:31,155 Speaker 1: baseball season, and then back on the road for the 388 00:28:31,195 --> 00:28:34,035 Speaker 1: four and a half hour trip from the parking garage 389 00:28:34,035 --> 00:28:37,475 Speaker 1: at Yankee Stadium to the rural wilds of Ithaca, New York. 390 00:28:37,995 --> 00:28:41,275 Speaker 1: We had done this countless times, but I did not know, 391 00:28:41,475 --> 00:28:44,355 Speaker 1: as I got out of my dad's car and later 392 00:28:44,435 --> 00:28:52,395 Speaker 1: on into George's that this trip had two previously unimaginable components. First, 393 00:28:52,915 --> 00:28:56,315 Speaker 1: at that hour, the Adler letter had already been sitting 394 00:28:56,395 --> 00:28:59,315 Speaker 1: in my mailbox at my apartment at two hundred and 395 00:28:59,355 --> 00:29:02,395 Speaker 1: seven Delaware Avenue, Ithaca, New York, for at least one day, 396 00:29:02,395 --> 00:29:05,595 Speaker 1: maybe two. And I did not know the other thing 397 00:29:05,995 --> 00:29:08,515 Speaker 1: and only found it out as George told me about 398 00:29:08,555 --> 00:29:11,715 Speaker 1: it at the ball game. His father had yelled towards 399 00:29:11,795 --> 00:29:15,555 Speaker 1: him as George backed out of the driveway that morning, George, 400 00:29:16,035 --> 00:29:20,635 Speaker 1: there's rain in the forecast. Drive Carefully, remember I took 401 00:29:20,675 --> 00:29:26,635 Speaker 1: off your snow tires because it's spring now. The midpoint 402 00:29:26,755 --> 00:29:30,755 Speaker 1: of the trip to my school, Cornell and his Ethaca College, 403 00:29:31,475 --> 00:29:35,195 Speaker 1: more or less, was a McDonald's restaurant in Liberty, New York. 404 00:29:35,715 --> 00:29:38,195 Speaker 1: And we stopped there and got a late lunch or 405 00:29:38,195 --> 00:29:40,395 Speaker 1: an early dinner. And I was sitting facing the window 406 00:29:40,395 --> 00:29:43,275 Speaker 1: and George was sitting facing the counter, And as we 407 00:29:43,515 --> 00:29:47,755 Speaker 1: ate and mumbled, I said, George, you have a really 408 00:29:47,795 --> 00:29:52,075 Speaker 1: bad case of dandriff Or did it just start really snowing? 409 00:29:53,075 --> 00:29:56,915 Speaker 1: George wheeled around to look out the window. Uh oh. 410 00:29:57,195 --> 00:29:59,315 Speaker 1: We wrapped up our burgers and took them with us 411 00:29:59,315 --> 00:30:02,075 Speaker 1: and literally ran to the car. My father and his 412 00:30:02,155 --> 00:30:07,435 Speaker 1: goddamn snowtire obsession, George shouted. Within an hour on the 413 00:30:07,435 --> 00:30:10,075 Speaker 1: outskirts of Binghamton, New York, three or four inches of 414 00:30:10,075 --> 00:30:12,555 Speaker 1: snow had reduced speed to just above single digits and 415 00:30:12,675 --> 00:30:16,955 Speaker 1: visibility to next to nothing. George was a meticulously good driver. 416 00:30:17,115 --> 00:30:21,395 Speaker 1: Didn't matter. We spun out a full three sixty loop 417 00:30:21,475 --> 00:30:24,275 Speaker 1: the loop. We're going north. Oops, we're going west and 418 00:30:24,395 --> 00:30:26,635 Speaker 1: on coming traffic. Oops, we're going south into the cars 419 00:30:26,675 --> 00:30:28,635 Speaker 1: behind us. Oops, we're going east into the ditch next 420 00:30:28,635 --> 00:30:32,755 Speaker 1: to the highway. Oo, boy, we're going north again. I 421 00:30:32,795 --> 00:30:35,115 Speaker 1: think we spun out six or seven times on the 422 00:30:35,195 --> 00:30:39,755 Speaker 1: highway alone before we got to Binghamton. There was some 423 00:30:39,995 --> 00:30:43,035 Speaker 1: sola scene, seeing other cars in both directions doing exactly 424 00:30:43,035 --> 00:30:45,595 Speaker 1: the same thing, and concluding that George's father could not 425 00:30:45,675 --> 00:30:48,555 Speaker 1: have had the time to remove all their snow tires too. 426 00:30:50,515 --> 00:30:53,515 Speaker 1: We were not far north of Binghamton, still skidding, still spinning, 427 00:30:53,595 --> 00:30:57,595 Speaker 1: George swearing NonStop. When he interrupted himself long enough to 428 00:30:57,635 --> 00:31:00,435 Speaker 1: ask me what time it was. I had to hold 429 00:31:00,475 --> 00:31:03,275 Speaker 1: my watch up to the car window to get brief 430 00:31:03,355 --> 00:31:07,075 Speaker 1: flashes of illumination from the highway lights. A little after seven, 431 00:31:07,555 --> 00:31:11,555 Speaker 1: we skid it again. George swore loudly put the Ranger 432 00:31:11,595 --> 00:31:14,915 Speaker 1: game on. I'd do it myself, but we skid it again. 433 00:31:15,715 --> 00:31:17,555 Speaker 1: By now I was getting kind of used to it. 434 00:31:18,035 --> 00:31:21,275 Speaker 1: I turned the radio literally before George regained control of 435 00:31:21,275 --> 00:31:24,395 Speaker 1: the steering I found the Ranger station, the one in 436 00:31:24,435 --> 00:31:27,435 Speaker 1: New York WNW. If you had told me that night 437 00:31:27,475 --> 00:31:29,035 Speaker 1: that a little over a year later I would be 438 00:31:29,075 --> 00:31:32,475 Speaker 1: broadcasting on WNAW, my first thought would have been, so 439 00:31:32,515 --> 00:31:36,235 Speaker 1: we don't get killed tonight. Because George's father took off 440 00:31:36,275 --> 00:31:38,315 Speaker 1: the snow tires. That's nice. Oh and I worked there, 441 00:31:38,315 --> 00:31:41,075 Speaker 1: and I'm not a ghost. If you told me that 442 00:31:41,155 --> 00:31:43,995 Speaker 1: night that the Adler letter was waiting for me back 443 00:31:44,035 --> 00:31:46,275 Speaker 1: in my snow covered mailbox in Ithaca, I might have 444 00:31:46,355 --> 00:31:50,275 Speaker 1: pressed George to go faster, and they might never have 445 00:31:50,315 --> 00:31:55,635 Speaker 1: even found our bodies. The storm, as storms often did 446 00:31:55,675 --> 00:31:59,275 Speaker 1: in those long gone days, somehow boosted the AM radio 447 00:31:59,355 --> 00:32:01,835 Speaker 1: signal from New York, and though we were two hundred 448 00:32:01,835 --> 00:32:05,555 Speaker 1: miles away from the transmitter, Marv Albert and the WNAW 449 00:32:05,835 --> 00:32:09,715 Speaker 1: Rangers broadcast was clear as a bell. The traction even 450 00:32:09,715 --> 00:32:12,675 Speaker 1: seemed to get a little better, But we both knew 451 00:32:12,675 --> 00:32:18,075 Speaker 1: the ordeal that lay ahead. The exit from the highway 452 00:32:18,955 --> 00:32:25,755 Speaker 1: at Whitney Point. It amazed us, as it amazes the 453 00:32:25,795 --> 00:32:28,995 Speaker 1: students there now, as it must have amazed the students 454 00:32:28,995 --> 00:32:31,835 Speaker 1: who went there a century ago. A century and a 455 00:32:31,875 --> 00:32:35,235 Speaker 1: half ago. That Cornell University, which I attended an Ithaca College, 456 00:32:35,275 --> 00:32:37,955 Speaker 1: which George attended, were both an hour's drive away from 457 00:32:37,995 --> 00:32:42,115 Speaker 1: the nearest highway. There was, in fact, no access to Ithaca, 458 00:32:42,115 --> 00:32:45,235 Speaker 1: New York by anything more than a two lane road. 459 00:32:45,395 --> 00:32:48,715 Speaker 1: It was legendary on the Cornell campus that old Ezra Cornell, 460 00:32:48,995 --> 00:32:53,315 Speaker 1: the barely literate railroad tie preservative tycoon of the nineteenth century, 461 00:32:53,475 --> 00:32:56,195 Speaker 1: decided to give away nearly all of his fortune, which 462 00:32:56,195 --> 00:32:58,475 Speaker 1: today would have been at least a billion dollars. And 463 00:32:58,515 --> 00:33:00,035 Speaker 1: he told a friend he was going to open a 464 00:33:00,155 --> 00:33:06,955 Speaker 1: university where anyone can study anything. His friend reacted in horror, 465 00:33:07,715 --> 00:33:13,195 Speaker 1: They will stampede the place. Ezrak Cornell laughed, Wait, you 466 00:33:13,235 --> 00:33:18,435 Speaker 1: see where I put it. Ezrak Cornell's little geographical joke 467 00:33:18,555 --> 00:33:21,995 Speaker 1: was still vividly alive one hundred and ten odd years later. 468 00:33:22,595 --> 00:33:24,955 Speaker 1: The easiest of the roots to his university was the 469 00:33:24,955 --> 00:33:29,195 Speaker 1: one that took you from Ithaca to Whitney Point. Whitney 470 00:33:29,195 --> 00:33:32,675 Speaker 1: Point the capital of the metroplex there Whitney Point, Lyle 471 00:33:32,715 --> 00:33:36,635 Speaker 1: and Center Lyle, also known as the Calcutta of Broome County, 472 00:33:36,955 --> 00:33:39,435 Speaker 1: where nearly three thousand people live atop each other in 473 00:33:39,435 --> 00:33:43,155 Speaker 1: conditions so crowded that every person barely has his own 474 00:33:43,235 --> 00:33:47,435 Speaker 1: square mile. Once you got off at Whitney Point, you 475 00:33:47,435 --> 00:33:50,475 Speaker 1: were at the mercies of Route seventy nine, where if 476 00:33:50,515 --> 00:33:53,035 Speaker 1: traffic were light or the driver's adroit you might make 477 00:33:53,075 --> 00:33:55,595 Speaker 1: it back to Ithaca in thirty minutes, but if you 478 00:33:55,715 --> 00:33:59,955 Speaker 1: got stuck behind somebody, it could be an hour or two. 479 00:34:00,355 --> 00:34:03,235 Speaker 1: Or if there was an April blizzard and George's father 480 00:34:03,275 --> 00:34:05,875 Speaker 1: had take it off your snowtip, it could take you 481 00:34:05,955 --> 00:34:09,315 Speaker 1: longer than it took Antarctic explorers to reach the South Pole, 482 00:34:09,715 --> 00:34:11,915 Speaker 1: and you'd see more snow and ice than they did. 483 00:34:13,515 --> 00:34:16,515 Speaker 1: I believe George and I skidded making the left turn 484 00:34:16,635 --> 00:34:19,195 Speaker 1: off the highway, but he managed to stay on the road. 485 00:34:20,835 --> 00:34:24,075 Speaker 1: The radio signal was not quite as fortunate. Within minutes 486 00:34:24,075 --> 00:34:27,075 Speaker 1: of leaving the highway, WNW began to compete for space 487 00:34:27,115 --> 00:34:30,795 Speaker 1: on George's car radio, with some audible noise that the 488 00:34:30,875 --> 00:34:35,235 Speaker 1: radio could suddenly pick up from his turn signals, make 489 00:34:35,275 --> 00:34:38,155 Speaker 1: a right, and Marv Albert was being drowned out by 490 00:34:38,195 --> 00:34:44,235 Speaker 1: a loud Ejan Vickers cross the click punk fans slashers 491 00:34:44,275 --> 00:34:49,315 Speaker 1: click click click, Within minutes after the first spin out 492 00:34:49,315 --> 00:34:52,715 Speaker 1: on Route seventy nine, mercifully with literally no other cars 493 00:34:52,755 --> 00:34:56,995 Speaker 1: on the road. The woo woos arrived. We never figured 494 00:34:56,995 --> 00:35:00,355 Speaker 1: out what they were, but they waxed and waned so 495 00:35:00,595 --> 00:35:04,035 Speaker 1: slowly that at first I asked George why Ranger fans 496 00:35:04,035 --> 00:35:08,155 Speaker 1: at Madison's Square Garden were chanting woo woo during the game. 497 00:35:09,435 --> 00:35:12,595 Speaker 1: George was too busy swearing to answer. The snow was 498 00:35:12,635 --> 00:35:16,035 Speaker 1: now horizontal, and as it danced towards us in George's headlights, 499 00:35:16,035 --> 00:35:19,435 Speaker 1: it was hypnotic, and the Ranger broadcast now sounded like this. 500 00:35:20,035 --> 00:35:25,635 Speaker 1: Vickers crossly woo woo oOoOO, Poplan slashes, click, click, damn 501 00:35:25,715 --> 00:35:29,435 Speaker 1: it all to hell wooooo. Pragretson holds in the same 502 00:35:29,515 --> 00:35:35,075 Speaker 1: woo woo, son of a bench. The trip from Whitney 503 00:35:35,155 --> 00:35:37,555 Speaker 1: Point had taken well over an hour, and we were 504 00:35:37,595 --> 00:35:41,515 Speaker 1: not halfway there yet. When the inevitable happened. George kept 505 00:35:41,555 --> 00:35:44,795 Speaker 1: a steady slow pace ten or fifteen miles an hour tops. 506 00:35:44,835 --> 00:35:48,355 Speaker 1: He really was a great driver. He did not accelerate, 507 00:35:48,635 --> 00:35:50,915 Speaker 1: he did not turn. Yet all of a moment, his 508 00:35:51,115 --> 00:35:55,035 Speaker 1: green nineteen seventy Dodge Dark decided to make an abrupt 509 00:35:55,155 --> 00:35:58,715 Speaker 1: left at about a forty five degree angle. We were 510 00:35:58,835 --> 00:36:01,755 Speaker 1: off the road in seconds. And headed for an unscheduled 511 00:36:01,795 --> 00:36:03,835 Speaker 1: visit to the front porch of a farmer's house that 512 00:36:03,915 --> 00:36:05,755 Speaker 1: had to have been sent at least two hundred feet 513 00:36:05,755 --> 00:36:10,035 Speaker 1: from the road here. Finally, the heavy snow worked to 514 00:36:10,235 --> 00:36:14,475 Speaker 1: our advantage. It slowed us, then it stopped us just 515 00:36:14,995 --> 00:36:17,915 Speaker 1: two or three feet before we would have plowed into 516 00:36:17,995 --> 00:36:22,235 Speaker 1: this guy's house. However, since we were in Richford, New York, 517 00:36:22,355 --> 00:36:25,355 Speaker 1: birthplace of John Rockefeller, by the way, or we were 518 00:36:25,435 --> 00:36:30,555 Speaker 1: in Caroline or Caroline Center or Slaterville Springs, or wherever 519 00:36:30,715 --> 00:36:35,035 Speaker 1: the hell we were, the homeowner emerged, bearing not a 520 00:36:35,115 --> 00:36:38,995 Speaker 1: gun nor an attitude, but genuine concern. In fact, he 521 00:36:39,075 --> 00:36:40,835 Speaker 1: heard the Ranger game on the radio and asked me 522 00:36:40,915 --> 00:36:44,075 Speaker 1: the score, which is when I noticed, at the moment 523 00:36:44,115 --> 00:36:46,515 Speaker 1: we had left the road, the woo woos had stopped 524 00:36:46,915 --> 00:36:49,155 Speaker 1: and the waw signal was as good as it must 525 00:36:49,155 --> 00:36:53,195 Speaker 1: have been in Madison Square Garden in New York. The 526 00:36:53,275 --> 00:36:56,115 Speaker 1: farmer helped us push the car back onto Route seventy nine, 527 00:36:56,155 --> 00:37:00,435 Speaker 1: and as we got in, he went and said, weary 528 00:37:00,595 --> 00:37:04,595 Speaker 1: snow tires. George started to swear again. I took over 529 00:37:04,835 --> 00:37:08,315 Speaker 1: and explained about George's father never been up here, has 530 00:37:08,395 --> 00:37:11,675 Speaker 1: he George started the car back up and now drove 531 00:37:11,715 --> 00:37:14,875 Speaker 1: even slower. Within a minute, the woo woos were back 532 00:37:15,115 --> 00:37:19,635 Speaker 1: marv Alvert Imsel Messina. Woo Woo woo where the Rangers lead. 533 00:37:19,835 --> 00:37:20,835 Speaker 1: Whoo woo woo. 534 00:37:23,195 --> 00:37:23,795 Speaker 3: We got there. 535 00:37:24,555 --> 00:37:28,995 Speaker 1: Finally, George was actually going to try to drive up 536 00:37:29,115 --> 00:37:32,475 Speaker 1: the hill that led to the other hill that led 537 00:37:32,515 --> 00:37:36,715 Speaker 1: to the Delaware Avenue hill where my apartment was. Calculating 538 00:37:36,755 --> 00:37:38,955 Speaker 1: that I had pressed my luck sufficiently, I told him 539 00:37:39,075 --> 00:37:41,235 Speaker 1: just let me out at East State and Mitchell and 540 00:37:41,355 --> 00:37:45,275 Speaker 1: I'd make it from there on foot. Thankfully, George's father 541 00:37:45,435 --> 00:37:48,635 Speaker 1: had not removed the sure grip souls from my winter boots. 542 00:37:49,355 --> 00:37:51,595 Speaker 1: I actually went to my radio station first. It was 543 00:37:51,635 --> 00:37:53,595 Speaker 1: literally a two minute walk from there to my apartment. 544 00:37:53,915 --> 00:37:56,715 Speaker 1: I lingered at WVBR for fifteen or twenty minutes and 545 00:37:56,755 --> 00:38:00,235 Speaker 1: then hiked back. The Rangers had won their game. From 546 00:38:00,275 --> 00:38:02,315 Speaker 1: the station I had called George's apartment and he had 547 00:38:02,355 --> 00:38:04,995 Speaker 1: made it back there, and I took my first deep 548 00:38:05,035 --> 00:38:07,915 Speaker 1: breath since the McDonald's in Liberty. Then I reflected that 549 00:38:07,995 --> 00:38:11,115 Speaker 1: it was only six hours until my next class, and 550 00:38:11,235 --> 00:38:15,235 Speaker 1: guess what I was gonna cut. I stopped off the 551 00:38:15,315 --> 00:38:18,635 Speaker 1: snow on my porch at two hundred and seven Delaware Avenue, 552 00:38:18,995 --> 00:38:21,835 Speaker 1: and I opened the door and I dumped my bag inside, 553 00:38:22,235 --> 00:38:24,635 Speaker 1: and then I reached into the mailbox and I saw 554 00:38:24,675 --> 00:38:35,395 Speaker 1: it immediately the return address Adler WCBS, CBS Radio, the 555 00:38:35,475 --> 00:38:39,155 Speaker 1: Division of CBS Inc. Fifty one West fifty two Street, 556 00:38:39,235 --> 00:38:41,635 Speaker 1: New York, New York one zero zero one nine two 557 00:38:41,675 --> 00:38:46,035 Speaker 1: one two nine seven five four three two one. Lou 558 00:38:46,275 --> 00:38:52,195 Speaker 1: Adler was radio news in New York City in April 559 00:38:52,275 --> 00:38:56,795 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine. And this was April nineteen seventy nine. 560 00:38:57,795 --> 00:39:06,035 Speaker 1: I could barely breathe. The Adler letter was in the 561 00:39:06,235 --> 00:39:10,795 Speaker 1: Adler Letter, which explains why five decades later, I know 562 00:39:10,875 --> 00:39:12,955 Speaker 1: it by heart and can tell you exactly where it 563 00:39:13,155 --> 00:39:23,115 Speaker 1: is at the moment. That's next. This is Countdown, resuming 564 00:39:23,235 --> 00:39:25,675 Speaker 1: the number one story on the Countdown and the several 565 00:39:25,755 --> 00:39:30,835 Speaker 1: lifetimes contained. On Sunday, April eighth, nineteen seventy nine, I 566 00:39:31,115 --> 00:39:36,315 Speaker 1: survived nine or ten eight hundred hour drive in a blizzard, 567 00:39:36,395 --> 00:39:39,355 Speaker 1: right after my friend's dad had healthfully removed the snow 568 00:39:39,475 --> 00:39:43,355 Speaker 1: tires from my friend's car. I had lived to resume 569 00:39:43,435 --> 00:39:46,195 Speaker 1: my desperate bid to graduate college in two months and 570 00:39:46,395 --> 00:39:48,555 Speaker 1: get a job somewhere in radio. In three months, and 571 00:39:48,635 --> 00:39:51,515 Speaker 1: against all odds, amid all the snow and mess, there 572 00:39:51,635 --> 00:39:54,275 Speaker 1: was a letter waiting for me at my apartment in 573 00:39:54,515 --> 00:39:58,955 Speaker 1: silent snow, inundated Ithaca, New York, A letter from Lou Adler, 574 00:39:59,755 --> 00:40:03,475 Speaker 1: the news director of the leading all news station in 575 00:40:03,595 --> 00:40:08,395 Speaker 1: the United States of America. Lou Adler had begun on 576 00:40:08,715 --> 00:40:12,355 Speaker 1: WCBS the year I was born. In nineteen sixty seven, 577 00:40:12,395 --> 00:40:15,035 Speaker 1: the station went all news, and it immediately became the 578 00:40:15,195 --> 00:40:17,835 Speaker 1: best all news station in the country. Lou Adler co 579 00:40:17,995 --> 00:40:20,795 Speaker 1: anchored the mornings, and eight years earlier he had become 580 00:40:20,835 --> 00:40:24,995 Speaker 1: the station's news director. He was the best. His co anchor, 581 00:40:25,115 --> 00:40:28,395 Speaker 1: Jim Donnelly, was the best. His sportscaster at Engles was 582 00:40:28,475 --> 00:40:31,475 Speaker 1: the best. His reporters were the best, His weatherman was 583 00:40:31,475 --> 00:40:34,395 Speaker 1: the best, His traffic guys were the best. His jingles 584 00:40:34,435 --> 00:40:38,395 Speaker 1: were the best. I listened daily in high school, and 585 00:40:38,515 --> 00:40:40,955 Speaker 1: when I was home from college, I did not take 586 00:40:41,115 --> 00:40:45,355 Speaker 1: literal notes, only mental ones. My college graduation, if I 587 00:40:45,475 --> 00:40:48,435 Speaker 1: made it, was seven weeks away. I had never worked 588 00:40:48,475 --> 00:40:50,475 Speaker 1: on television in any form, but I had been on 589 00:40:50,675 --> 00:40:53,515 Speaker 1: radio two or three thousand times by then, and I 590 00:40:53,555 --> 00:40:56,875 Speaker 1: thought I was pretty good at it. In the preceding months, 591 00:40:56,955 --> 00:40:59,995 Speaker 1: I had flooded every radio station in every major market 592 00:41:00,075 --> 00:41:02,795 Speaker 1: in the Northeast with a demo tape and a resume. 593 00:41:03,195 --> 00:41:05,395 Speaker 1: I figured I might as well start in my home 594 00:41:05,435 --> 00:41:08,635 Speaker 1: of New York and not eliminate a potential job, no 595 00:41:08,755 --> 00:41:10,915 Speaker 1: matter how long a long shot it might have been. 596 00:41:11,875 --> 00:41:14,475 Speaker 1: If I wasn't good enough to work there, I concluded 597 00:41:14,555 --> 00:41:17,075 Speaker 1: I should let the people who ran New York's radio 598 00:41:17,155 --> 00:41:20,635 Speaker 1: stations decide that, since that's what they were paid to do. 599 00:41:22,995 --> 00:41:26,635 Speaker 1: To this point they had decided that by not responding, 600 00:41:27,835 --> 00:41:30,435 Speaker 1: I got a few nibbles from some of the smaller stations, 601 00:41:30,475 --> 00:41:33,035 Speaker 1: but as April eighth turned to April ninth, I had 602 00:41:33,235 --> 00:41:37,395 Speaker 1: no job prospects. Other friends were getting offers in Waterbury, Connecticut, 603 00:41:37,995 --> 00:41:41,715 Speaker 1: and Laconia, New Hampshire, the thought of which, and nothing 604 00:41:41,755 --> 00:41:45,795 Speaker 1: against either of those cities, filled me with terror. And now, 605 00:41:46,115 --> 00:41:49,795 Speaker 1: after this ordeal by snow and without snow tires, after 606 00:41:49,875 --> 00:41:53,835 Speaker 1: the WNW whooo's and Georgia's father's near fatal decision to 607 00:41:53,875 --> 00:41:56,435 Speaker 1: remove those winter tires, here in my hand was a 608 00:41:56,555 --> 00:41:59,035 Speaker 1: letter from the man who was, to my mind, the 609 00:41:59,115 --> 00:42:03,115 Speaker 1: best radio newscaster I had ever heard. Obviously, it would 610 00:42:03,115 --> 00:42:06,115 Speaker 1: be a rejection, even in that moment, even at my 611 00:42:06,235 --> 00:42:10,795 Speaker 1: age twenty years, two months and change, I was awestruck 612 00:42:11,195 --> 00:42:15,115 Speaker 1: not only that lou Adler had replied, but that he alone, 613 00:42:15,995 --> 00:42:18,315 Speaker 1: of all I had written to, he had been the 614 00:42:18,395 --> 00:42:22,195 Speaker 1: one who replied. I believe I did not remove my 615 00:42:22,395 --> 00:42:25,995 Speaker 1: parka before opening the envelope. I did put on one 616 00:42:26,155 --> 00:42:30,715 Speaker 1: lamp in my apartment, and I read WCBS CBS Radio, 617 00:42:30,915 --> 00:42:33,835 Speaker 1: a division of CBS Inc. Fifty one least fifty two Street, 618 00:42:33,875 --> 00:42:35,835 Speaker 1: New York, New York, one zero zero one nine two 619 00:42:35,835 --> 00:42:39,035 Speaker 1: one two nine seventy five four three two one April third, 620 00:42:39,195 --> 00:42:42,115 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine, mister Keith Olderman, two hundred and seven 621 00:42:42,195 --> 00:42:44,795 Speaker 1: Delaware Avenue, Atica, New York, one four eighty five. Oh, 622 00:42:45,995 --> 00:42:49,595 Speaker 1: dear mister Olderman. This will reply to your letter of 623 00:42:49,715 --> 00:42:52,275 Speaker 1: March twenty seventh, with which you included a tape of 624 00:42:52,315 --> 00:42:57,755 Speaker 1: your sports work on WVBRFM. Sometimes it's hard to know 625 00:42:57,835 --> 00:43:00,475 Speaker 1: what a man can do by listening to a brief tape. 626 00:43:01,195 --> 00:43:09,155 Speaker 1: I stopped wait a man, which oh me, I'm just 627 00:43:09,195 --> 00:43:11,955 Speaker 1: a kid. Sometimes it's hard to know what a man 628 00:43:12,035 --> 00:43:13,795 Speaker 1: can do by listening to a brief tape, but I 629 00:43:13,875 --> 00:43:16,755 Speaker 1: must tell you I was excited by what I heard 630 00:43:16,795 --> 00:43:20,795 Speaker 1: of yours. I think you have exceptional talent and poise 631 00:43:21,275 --> 00:43:25,155 Speaker 1: considering your age and experience. You read well, and you 632 00:43:25,275 --> 00:43:28,275 Speaker 1: write well, and you know how to use tape. If 633 00:43:28,355 --> 00:43:31,435 Speaker 1: the short tape is truly representative of what you can do, 634 00:43:31,875 --> 00:43:34,835 Speaker 1: and if your knowledge of sports is broad, and if 635 00:43:34,875 --> 00:43:37,875 Speaker 1: you can perform under pressure well, then I feel you 636 00:43:37,995 --> 00:43:43,875 Speaker 1: have an excellent future in this industry. By this point, 637 00:43:43,955 --> 00:43:45,955 Speaker 1: my heart was beating so furiously I could hear it. 638 00:43:46,675 --> 00:43:48,475 Speaker 1: I was this close to hearing it make the woo 639 00:43:48,515 --> 00:43:51,995 Speaker 1: woo sound. I think it might be a good idea 640 00:43:52,115 --> 00:43:54,515 Speaker 1: for us to meet. Let me know when you can 641 00:43:54,595 --> 00:43:57,235 Speaker 1: make it to New York. I have nothing here for you, 642 00:43:57,355 --> 00:43:59,675 Speaker 1: and I know of nothing solid. But if I feel 643 00:43:59,715 --> 00:44:02,235 Speaker 1: as strongly about your potential after we meet as I 644 00:44:02,315 --> 00:44:07,035 Speaker 1: do now, a meeting certainly could do you no harm. Sincerely, 645 00:44:07,915 --> 00:44:18,235 Speaker 1: Lewis c Adler, Director News, Operations and Programs LCA slash PEP. George, 646 00:44:18,555 --> 00:44:20,675 Speaker 1: I screamed into the phone. Can we drive back to 647 00:44:20,755 --> 00:44:25,875 Speaker 1: the city right now? He swore. I read George the letter. 648 00:44:26,235 --> 00:44:29,515 Speaker 1: He paused, No, we shouldn't go tonight. You're not going 649 00:44:29,555 --> 00:44:31,395 Speaker 1: to see him tomorrow, wait till you get your appointment. 650 00:44:31,435 --> 00:44:33,395 Speaker 1: But Jesus, this is like the manager of the Yankees 651 00:44:33,595 --> 00:44:35,635 Speaker 1: asking you to stop by the stadium and bring your 652 00:44:35,635 --> 00:44:40,075 Speaker 1: glove and bat just in case. I think I got 653 00:44:40,115 --> 00:44:42,715 Speaker 1: to sleep at sunrise. I had read the Adler letter 654 00:44:42,915 --> 00:44:45,795 Speaker 1: twenty or thirty times, and not until the fifteenth or 655 00:44:45,875 --> 00:44:48,315 Speaker 1: so did I stop expecting it to have turned back 656 00:44:48,355 --> 00:44:54,755 Speaker 1: into some courteous form letter rejection badly xeroxton slightly offsetter. Slowly, 657 00:44:55,035 --> 00:44:57,275 Speaker 1: it dawned on me that my own assessment of my 658 00:44:57,475 --> 00:45:02,235 Speaker 1: radio skills were not predicated on ego or even the 659 00:45:02,315 --> 00:45:05,275 Speaker 1: context of what else I could hear in Ithaca, which 660 00:45:05,355 --> 00:45:08,035 Speaker 1: was then the three hundred and fifty first largest radio 661 00:45:08,115 --> 00:45:11,395 Speaker 1: market in the country. Good but still three hundred and 662 00:45:11,395 --> 00:45:16,435 Speaker 1: fifty first. I cannot now describe the sense of validation 663 00:45:16,635 --> 00:45:20,715 Speaker 1: except to say that I have seriously considered not taking 664 00:45:20,835 --> 00:45:23,035 Speaker 1: Lou Adler up on his offer to meet him at 665 00:45:23,155 --> 00:45:27,235 Speaker 1: CBS World Headquarters, black Rock itself, where Bill Paley would 666 00:45:27,275 --> 00:45:31,715 Speaker 1: be working upstairs, because short of offering me a job, 667 00:45:31,835 --> 00:45:34,595 Speaker 1: there really was no chance mister Adler could do or 668 00:45:34,675 --> 00:45:38,355 Speaker 1: say anything more that could make me feel better. Or 669 00:45:38,475 --> 00:45:41,795 Speaker 1: more confident that my dream of becoming a sportscaster would 670 00:45:41,875 --> 00:45:45,755 Speaker 1: not lead me to starvation or to Laconia, New Hampshire. 671 00:45:47,835 --> 00:45:51,955 Speaker 1: In fact, in person, Lou Adler found more things to say. 672 00:45:52,115 --> 00:45:54,155 Speaker 1: If I had an opening for a sportscaster right now, 673 00:45:54,235 --> 00:45:57,715 Speaker 1: I would seriously consider you for it. I would hesitate 674 00:45:57,795 --> 00:46:00,115 Speaker 1: because of your age and your lack of practical experience, 675 00:46:00,515 --> 00:46:03,395 Speaker 1: and then I'd probably do it anyway. He was as 676 00:46:03,595 --> 00:46:07,115 Speaker 1: warm and supportive and informal as his letter had been, 677 00:46:07,155 --> 00:46:09,955 Speaker 1: structured and serious and tempered. Let me take you on 678 00:46:10,035 --> 00:46:13,515 Speaker 1: a tour. We saw the live studios, the production studios, 679 00:46:13,555 --> 00:46:17,435 Speaker 1: the writer's area. I wasn't just speechless again, I was breathless. 680 00:46:18,435 --> 00:46:20,955 Speaker 1: And you should probably recognize this man by voice, if 681 00:46:20,995 --> 00:46:25,395 Speaker 1: not by sight. Keith Olderman. Meet our sports director Ed Engles. Ed, 682 00:46:26,195 --> 00:46:30,355 Speaker 1: this is Keith. This is the fellow with the tape. 683 00:46:31,755 --> 00:46:34,555 Speaker 1: Ed Ingles took a moment that his eyes widened. Hi, 684 00:46:35,235 --> 00:46:38,475 Speaker 1: what a tape, Jesus, Lou, don't tell me you've hired him? 685 00:46:38,635 --> 00:46:42,635 Speaker 1: Did you fire me? I must admit I thought for 686 00:46:42,715 --> 00:46:45,635 Speaker 1: a second it might have happened. I did not shrink 687 00:46:45,875 --> 00:46:50,595 Speaker 1: entirely from that fantasy. Lou Adler laughed, No, Eddie. Then 688 00:46:50,635 --> 00:46:55,035 Speaker 1: he paused, it was irresistible. Not yet. We went back 689 00:46:55,075 --> 00:46:57,755 Speaker 1: to Lou Adwer's office. Have you got any job prospects? 690 00:46:58,435 --> 00:47:00,435 Speaker 1: I explained that a month earlier, thanks to a chain 691 00:47:00,515 --> 00:47:03,355 Speaker 1: of recommendations that stretched from my internship at Channel five 692 00:47:03,395 --> 00:47:06,875 Speaker 1: Television the year before through a young ABC sports executive 693 00:47:06,955 --> 00:47:10,595 Speaker 1: named Bob Eiger. I think it was to a friend 694 00:47:10,675 --> 00:47:12,155 Speaker 1: of a friend of a friend of a friend. I 695 00:47:12,235 --> 00:47:15,835 Speaker 1: had met everybody at the radio network of United Press International, 696 00:47:15,875 --> 00:47:17,435 Speaker 1: and I was supposed to go back and see them 697 00:47:17,915 --> 00:47:22,235 Speaker 1: about working their freelance as summer vacation relief for the 698 00:47:22,315 --> 00:47:25,395 Speaker 1: year ahead in sports and in news. Oh, that would 699 00:47:25,395 --> 00:47:28,355 Speaker 1: be ideal for you, Lou Adwer said. It's a tough 700 00:47:28,395 --> 00:47:31,035 Speaker 1: place to work. They don't pay well at UPI, but 701 00:47:31,115 --> 00:47:33,675 Speaker 1: it's here in the city, and every other radio station 702 00:47:33,755 --> 00:47:36,435 Speaker 1: in this country will hear you on the feed. That's 703 00:47:36,435 --> 00:47:39,315 Speaker 1: where we hired ed from at Ingles. So if we 704 00:47:39,435 --> 00:47:42,355 Speaker 1: have an opening, he smiled broadly, I can poach you 705 00:47:42,475 --> 00:47:44,355 Speaker 1: and get you here in less than two weeks, can I. 706 00:47:47,795 --> 00:47:50,915 Speaker 1: Mister Adler then suggested that CBS station in Atlanta would 707 00:47:50,915 --> 00:47:53,235 Speaker 1: be needing a sportscaster in a few months. I'll stay 708 00:47:53,275 --> 00:47:54,995 Speaker 1: on top of that. They already have a copy of 709 00:47:55,035 --> 00:47:56,835 Speaker 1: your tape. I hope you don't mind. I made several 710 00:47:56,955 --> 00:48:00,195 Speaker 1: copies of your tape. If UPI does not work out, 711 00:48:00,395 --> 00:48:02,835 Speaker 1: I am confident you will be offered a job in Atlanta, 712 00:48:02,915 --> 00:48:05,475 Speaker 1: and maybe quite a few other jobs. I hope I've 713 00:48:05,475 --> 00:48:07,235 Speaker 1: been of some help. Stay in touch. It's one of 714 00:48:07,275 --> 00:48:09,155 Speaker 1: the privileges of this job to be able to help. 715 00:48:09,195 --> 00:48:12,275 Speaker 1: But frankly, you're not going to need that much help. 716 00:48:15,035 --> 00:48:17,315 Speaker 1: I may have taken the train back to my folks house, 717 00:48:17,435 --> 00:48:20,675 Speaker 1: or I may have just walked the twenty miles or floated. 718 00:48:22,675 --> 00:48:25,595 Speaker 1: The UPI job worked out full time. Two months later, 719 00:48:26,155 --> 00:48:29,675 Speaker 1: at the first game I covered for money, I walked 720 00:48:29,715 --> 00:48:32,715 Speaker 1: into the press box at Chase Stadium and there was 721 00:48:32,995 --> 00:48:36,555 Speaker 1: ed ingles. Thank god you went to UPI. The way 722 00:48:36,675 --> 00:48:38,875 Speaker 1: Adler went on about you, I seriously wondered if he 723 00:48:38,955 --> 00:48:40,675 Speaker 1: was planning to bring you in and kick me out. 724 00:48:42,075 --> 00:48:45,555 Speaker 1: The Atlanta offer Lou Adler arranged came I turned it down. 725 00:48:46,275 --> 00:48:48,275 Speaker 1: About a year later, I got a call from Adler's 726 00:48:48,275 --> 00:48:50,915 Speaker 1: assistant saying they were going to need a new afternoon 727 00:48:50,955 --> 00:48:53,595 Speaker 1: sportscaster at WCBS, and would I send a new tape. 728 00:48:54,555 --> 00:48:56,835 Speaker 1: But by that fall, when the job opened, Lou Adler 729 00:48:57,115 --> 00:49:00,915 Speaker 1: was leaving WCBS to become news director and vice president 730 00:49:00,995 --> 00:49:04,875 Speaker 1: of another New York radio station, WOR. His successor would 731 00:49:04,915 --> 00:49:07,555 Speaker 1: choose somebody else for the job. Just as I heard 732 00:49:07,555 --> 00:49:09,275 Speaker 1: from the people who ran the radio network that the 733 00:49:09,395 --> 00:49:12,595 Speaker 1: WOR folks had started the year before. It was not 734 00:49:12,755 --> 00:49:16,795 Speaker 1: coincidental Lou Adler had sent these people starting this new 735 00:49:16,875 --> 00:49:23,275 Speaker 1: network my tape. There is inevitably from the distant future 736 00:49:23,915 --> 00:49:27,235 Speaker 1: a punchline. In two thousand and six or two thousand 737 00:49:27,235 --> 00:49:29,635 Speaker 1: and seven, when Countdown had become the highest rated cable 738 00:49:29,675 --> 00:49:33,275 Speaker 1: news program that wasn't on Fox, an email appeared in 739 00:49:33,395 --> 00:49:37,275 Speaker 1: my inbox. I could not believe the name of the sender, 740 00:49:38,555 --> 00:49:41,875 Speaker 1: Lou Adler. He began just as formally as he had 741 00:49:41,955 --> 00:49:44,515 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine. He actually felt it was necessary 742 00:49:44,635 --> 00:49:48,715 Speaker 1: to remind me about his letter. He said he watched 743 00:49:48,755 --> 00:49:51,355 Speaker 1: every night, and when he found other viewers of the program, 744 00:49:51,435 --> 00:49:54,315 Speaker 1: he told them the story. Proudly, he said. He asked 745 00:49:54,835 --> 00:50:00,515 Speaker 1: if I remembered. I wrote back, immediately, remembered remembered. I 746 00:50:00,595 --> 00:50:03,075 Speaker 1: told him I still had his letter and I still 747 00:50:03,115 --> 00:50:05,315 Speaker 1: had the sense of confidence it had given me, that 748 00:50:05,395 --> 00:50:07,795 Speaker 1: it was central to my decision to more or less 749 00:50:07,835 --> 00:50:09,635 Speaker 1: give up my sports career at the age of thirty 750 00:50:09,675 --> 00:50:11,795 Speaker 1: eight and try news. And I told him the whole 751 00:50:11,915 --> 00:50:14,195 Speaker 1: driving back to Ithaca and the snow tire story just 752 00:50:14,275 --> 00:50:19,235 Speaker 1: for fun. Lou wrote back again within minutes. He had 753 00:50:19,355 --> 00:50:22,955 Speaker 1: just retired after running the mass communications program at Quinnipiac College, 754 00:50:22,995 --> 00:50:24,635 Speaker 1: and he said he had had a strong sense of 755 00:50:24,675 --> 00:50:27,595 Speaker 1: his career having been the proverbial punch into a pail 756 00:50:27,755 --> 00:50:32,755 Speaker 1: of water. Now it was my turn to reassure him 757 00:50:32,835 --> 00:50:35,195 Speaker 1: that the people like me who he had supported and 758 00:50:35,355 --> 00:50:39,035 Speaker 1: taught and broadcast to had long since begun to support 759 00:50:39,155 --> 00:50:42,675 Speaker 1: and teach the next generation, and that generation was already 760 00:50:42,675 --> 00:50:44,595 Speaker 1: supporting the one after that. And there would be people 761 00:50:44,675 --> 00:50:47,515 Speaker 1: in this business beginning their careers after both of us 762 00:50:47,595 --> 00:50:50,715 Speaker 1: were dead who would owe a debt of gratitude, whether 763 00:50:50,835 --> 00:50:54,915 Speaker 1: or not they knew it to Lou Adler, as I 764 00:50:55,035 --> 00:51:00,995 Speaker 1: always will. Lou Adler died five years ago at the 765 00:51:01,035 --> 00:51:05,315 Speaker 1: age of eighty eight. There are letters and photos in 766 00:51:05,395 --> 00:51:08,155 Speaker 1: the hallway that leads in from the front door of 767 00:51:08,235 --> 00:51:14,155 Speaker 1: my home. They are from Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, 768 00:51:15,315 --> 00:51:33,755 Speaker 1: Joe Biden, and Lou Adler. I've done all the damage 769 00:51:33,755 --> 00:51:36,115 Speaker 1: I can do here. Thank you for listening. Countdown. Musical 770 00:51:36,195 --> 00:51:39,475 Speaker 1: directors Brian Ray and John Phillip Shanelle arranged, produced, and 771 00:51:39,595 --> 00:51:43,195 Speaker 1: performed most of our music. Mister Ray was on the guitars, 772 00:51:43,275 --> 00:51:47,915 Speaker 1: bass and drums. Mister Shanelle handled orchestration and keyboards. Produced 773 00:51:47,955 --> 00:51:51,955 Speaker 1: by Tko Brothers. Other music, including some of the Beethoven compositions, 774 00:51:52,075 --> 00:51:55,395 Speaker 1: arranged and performed by the group No Horns Allowed. Sports 775 00:51:55,475 --> 00:51:58,595 Speaker 1: music is the Olderman theme from ESPN two, written by 776 00:51:58,675 --> 00:52:02,395 Speaker 1: Mitch Warren Davis courtesy of ESPN Inc. Our satirical and 777 00:52:02,475 --> 00:52:05,635 Speaker 1: pithy musical comments are by Nancy Fauss. The best baseball 778 00:52:05,675 --> 00:52:10,195 Speaker 1: stadium organist ever. Our announcer today was my friend John Deem. 779 00:52:10,955 --> 00:52:15,075 Speaker 1: Everything else was pretty much my fault. That's countdown for 780 00:52:15,115 --> 00:52:17,995 Speaker 1: this the two hundred and seventeenth day until the twenty 781 00:52:18,155 --> 00:52:21,515 Speaker 1: twenty four presidential election, but oney one hundred and eighty 782 00:52:21,595 --> 00:52:25,715 Speaker 1: fourth day since Dementia j Trump's first attempted coup against 783 00:52:25,755 --> 00:52:29,155 Speaker 1: the democratically elected government of the United States. Use the 784 00:52:29,235 --> 00:52:33,515 Speaker 1: Fourteenth Amendment. Use the not regularly given elector objection option, 785 00:52:34,235 --> 00:52:36,915 Speaker 1: use the Insurrection Act, use the justice system, use the 786 00:52:37,035 --> 00:52:40,035 Speaker 1: mental health system to stop him from doing it again 787 00:52:40,755 --> 00:52:45,195 Speaker 1: while we still can. The next scheduled countdown is tomorrow. Again, 788 00:52:45,795 --> 00:52:50,155 Speaker 1: it might not happen. It might be abridged, depending on 789 00:52:50,355 --> 00:52:56,235 Speaker 1: this routine medical procedure. If the hospital issues of bulletin, don't, 790 00:52:56,315 --> 00:53:00,475 Speaker 1: look for a new addition tomorrow. Otherwise, bulletins is the 791 00:53:00,555 --> 00:53:04,635 Speaker 1: news warrants till then. I'm Keith Olderman. Good Morning, good afternoon, 792 00:53:04,995 --> 00:53:19,755 Speaker 1: good night, and good luck. Countdown with Keith Olreman is 793 00:53:19,795 --> 00:53:24,555 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 794 00:53:24,635 --> 00:53:29,275 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.