1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:21,275 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. Oh 2 00:00:22,435 --> 00:00:25,715 Speaker 1: somebody told Trump about the fourteenth Amendment last night and 3 00:00:25,795 --> 00:00:31,235 Speaker 1: he's panicking. Quote. Almost all legal scholars have voiced opinions 4 00:00:31,235 --> 00:00:34,875 Speaker 1: that the fourteenth Amendment has no legal basis or standing 5 00:00:35,355 --> 00:00:39,195 Speaker 1: relative to the upcoming twenty twenty four presidential election. The 6 00:00:39,435 --> 00:00:43,475 Speaker 1: insurrectionists who try to overthrow the government and talks about 7 00:00:43,555 --> 00:00:47,595 Speaker 1: terminating the constitution lied at seven fourteen Eastern last night. 8 00:00:48,235 --> 00:00:52,075 Speaker 1: Like election interference, it's just another trick being used by 9 00:00:52,075 --> 00:00:57,035 Speaker 1: the radical left, communists, Marxists, and fascists to again steal 10 00:00:57,155 --> 00:01:00,075 Speaker 1: an election. Who's going to tell him that it was 11 00:01:00,155 --> 00:01:03,515 Speaker 1: passed by the Republicans and that the most famous politician 12 00:01:03,515 --> 00:01:06,075 Speaker 1: it was used to disqualify in the nineteenth century was 13 00:01:06,115 --> 00:01:09,115 Speaker 1: a Democrat, and the most famous politician it was used 14 00:01:09,155 --> 00:01:12,475 Speaker 1: to disqualify in the twentieth century was a Socialist Party 15 00:01:12,555 --> 00:01:18,795 Speaker 1: member Make America. Trump does not answer threats that don't 16 00:01:18,835 --> 00:01:22,435 Speaker 1: scare him, and he can't help but answer those that do. 17 00:01:23,275 --> 00:01:29,075 Speaker 1: He's terrified, and we know who terrified him. The Wall 18 00:01:29,075 --> 00:01:32,835 Speaker 1: Street Journal published a nine hundred word editorial exactly seventy 19 00:01:32,875 --> 00:01:36,155 Speaker 1: seven minutes before Trump's post and it is aptly titled 20 00:01:36,355 --> 00:01:41,195 Speaker 1: the fourteenth Amendment Trump Panic, aptly because while the journal 21 00:01:41,275 --> 00:01:44,995 Speaker 1: usually has the confidence and arrogance and factuality of Marie 22 00:01:45,075 --> 00:01:50,155 Speaker 1: Antoinette apocryphaly talking about dessert, this time the lead fascist 23 00:01:50,315 --> 00:01:55,955 Speaker 1: say Murdoch, sound really scared themselves. They have resorted to 24 00:01:56,035 --> 00:01:59,595 Speaker 1: the argument that even if the fourteenth Amendment doesn't just 25 00:01:59,675 --> 00:02:02,835 Speaker 1: apply to people who literally fired a gun at the 26 00:02:02,955 --> 00:02:06,235 Speaker 1: flag or those who instr them to, it can't apply 27 00:02:06,355 --> 00:02:10,595 Speaker 1: to January sixth because January sixth wasn't a real insurrection, 28 00:02:10,755 --> 00:02:17,835 Speaker 1: because h it didn't succeed. Fourteen to three advocates are, 29 00:02:18,035 --> 00:02:21,435 Speaker 1: per the journal, quote, willing to put democracy at risk 30 00:02:21,675 --> 00:02:24,675 Speaker 1: in order to save it. But US institutions held up 31 00:02:24,715 --> 00:02:29,155 Speaker 1: reasonably well despite the strains of the Trump presidency. Even 32 00:02:29,195 --> 00:02:32,595 Speaker 1: the events of January sixth, the transfer of power took 33 00:02:32,635 --> 00:02:36,475 Speaker 1: place on schedule. The rioters and organizers are being punished, 34 00:02:36,515 --> 00:02:40,595 Speaker 1: often severely unquote in other words, what do you mean 35 00:02:40,675 --> 00:02:45,675 Speaker 1: attempted murder? What kind of crime is attempted murder? Either 36 00:02:45,755 --> 00:02:50,355 Speaker 1: there's murder and the guys dead and you go to jail, 37 00:02:51,355 --> 00:02:55,555 Speaker 1: or there isn't murder and you go home. Am I right? 38 00:02:58,595 --> 00:03:00,995 Speaker 1: The last thing you want to hear and the last 39 00:03:01,035 --> 00:03:03,675 Speaker 1: thing I want to read to you in this first 40 00:03:03,755 --> 00:03:06,995 Speaker 1: episode after the long holiday weekend is a Wall Street 41 00:03:07,075 --> 00:03:11,515 Speaker 1: Journal editorial. But I must underscore that there are two 42 00:03:11,675 --> 00:03:13,795 Speaker 1: main themes to it. The other one is to equate 43 00:03:13,835 --> 00:03:17,675 Speaker 1: the January sixth coup attempt with I'm serious about this 44 00:03:17,955 --> 00:03:24,195 Speaker 1: protests against the Vietnam War, and they reveal stunning weakness 45 00:03:24,235 --> 00:03:27,235 Speaker 1: in the argument. And it's not the coincidence that the 46 00:03:27,275 --> 00:03:31,515 Speaker 1: word appears in the headline panic, especially for fascists like 47 00:03:31,555 --> 00:03:34,595 Speaker 1: the Journal editorial board. I mean, I keep thinking of 48 00:03:34,635 --> 00:03:38,035 Speaker 1: the great Charlie Adams cartoon with the Patent Office officials 49 00:03:38,035 --> 00:03:40,875 Speaker 1: sticking a gun out the window towards a packed city 50 00:03:40,915 --> 00:03:44,795 Speaker 1: street while the meek looking inventor looks on hat literally 51 00:03:44,835 --> 00:03:49,715 Speaker 1: in hands death ray, says the Patent Office man Fiddlesticks. 52 00:03:50,035 --> 00:03:55,915 Speaker 1: It doesn't even slow them up insurrection. That's ridiculous. Quote. 53 00:03:56,475 --> 00:03:59,955 Speaker 1: Republicans across the government broke with mister Trump and supported 54 00:03:59,995 --> 00:04:04,115 Speaker 1: that transfer of power. Yeah, less than half of them, 55 00:04:04,795 --> 00:04:08,275 Speaker 1: forty seven of them voted to legitimize his coup attempt. 56 00:04:08,715 --> 00:04:11,435 Speaker 1: But because it wasn't two hundred and forty seven of them, 57 00:04:11,635 --> 00:04:17,875 Speaker 1: it wasn't a real interaction anyway. Trump does not understand 58 00:04:17,915 --> 00:04:20,675 Speaker 1: any of that nuance. He might have seen the piece 59 00:04:20,675 --> 00:04:22,875 Speaker 1: and been drawn to the headline because he saw the 60 00:04:22,875 --> 00:04:26,995 Speaker 1: words Trump, panic and fourteenth and assumed it had something 61 00:04:27,035 --> 00:04:29,035 Speaker 1: to do with his golf game in the fourteenth hole. 62 00:04:30,075 --> 00:04:32,515 Speaker 1: But he's very much like a wild animal. He can 63 00:04:32,635 --> 00:04:36,875 Speaker 1: smell fear, and the journal piece reeks of fear. And 64 00:04:36,915 --> 00:04:39,275 Speaker 1: there's that word panic in the title, and panic in 65 00:04:39,315 --> 00:04:41,795 Speaker 1: the last paragraph, in the word panicky in the middle, 66 00:04:41,795 --> 00:04:45,875 Speaker 1: and that's all Trump needed to set him off. Plus, 67 00:04:46,715 --> 00:04:50,435 Speaker 1: the topic of the fourteenth Amendment and the disqualification clause 68 00:04:50,555 --> 00:04:54,995 Speaker 1: fourteen three is finally seeping into the mainstream media from 69 00:04:55,035 --> 00:05:00,795 Speaker 1: places like oo here. Adam Schiff said on MSNBC over 70 00:05:00,835 --> 00:05:03,515 Speaker 1: the weekend that it should be used against Trump. ABC 71 00:05:03,755 --> 00:05:06,915 Speaker 1: News did a long peace on it. Politico humiliated itself 72 00:05:06,995 --> 00:05:09,715 Speaker 1: as usual, but it did get it into the discourse. 73 00:05:10,275 --> 00:05:13,235 Speaker 1: The sleeper legal fight that could define twenty twenty four 74 00:05:13,315 --> 00:05:16,155 Speaker 1: is Trump even eligible to run? Which is a better headline, 75 00:05:16,195 --> 00:05:18,515 Speaker 1: I guess than what I would have predicted. This one 76 00:05:18,635 --> 00:05:23,155 Speaker 1: weird trick could make Chris Christy, the Republican nominee. Trumpians 77 00:05:23,195 --> 00:05:29,955 Speaker 1: hate it the Journal. Notwithstanding, and one last thing to extrapolate, 78 00:05:30,075 --> 00:05:33,515 Speaker 1: using their theory that there are no unsuccessful insurrections, I 79 00:05:33,555 --> 00:05:38,315 Speaker 1: await their next editorial explaining that the whole Confederacy's slavery 80 00:05:38,475 --> 00:05:41,875 Speaker 1: battle between the states thing wasn't really a civil war 81 00:05:41,915 --> 00:05:45,195 Speaker 1: because President Lincoln might have been killed but not the government. 82 00:05:46,235 --> 00:05:48,115 Speaker 1: It is a good time to note again that the 83 00:05:48,195 --> 00:05:52,835 Speaker 1: fourteenth was used a year ago to expel a sitting 84 00:05:52,955 --> 00:05:56,395 Speaker 1: local official in New Mexico, and Coy Griffin had been 85 00:05:56,435 --> 00:06:00,995 Speaker 1: convicted only of a misdemeanor trespass charge, and he didn't 86 00:06:00,995 --> 00:06:04,115 Speaker 1: even try to appeal, and the Republican Party didn't even 87 00:06:04,115 --> 00:06:09,555 Speaker 1: try to appeal. Owhen it did keep the vice President 88 00:06:09,635 --> 00:06:12,675 Speaker 1: of the Confederacy out of the Senate after he won 89 00:06:13,115 --> 00:06:18,315 Speaker 1: election as a Democrat in eighteen sixty six, and Alexander Stevens, 90 00:06:18,315 --> 00:06:22,115 Speaker 1: by the way, had been convicted of nothing. He was 91 00:06:22,235 --> 00:06:25,955 Speaker 1: arrested for treason on May eleventh, eighteen sixty five, released 92 00:06:25,955 --> 00:06:29,155 Speaker 1: from prison in October without even going to trial. Kept 93 00:06:29,195 --> 00:06:31,475 Speaker 1: out of the Senate at first by the remaining military 94 00:06:31,475 --> 00:06:35,235 Speaker 1: occupation laws in the wake of the Lincoln assassination, and 95 00:06:35,315 --> 00:06:38,755 Speaker 1: the third clause was included in the fourteenth Amendment, which 96 00:06:38,795 --> 00:06:42,355 Speaker 1: is basically about everything but the rebellion, largely to give 97 00:06:42,395 --> 00:06:46,835 Speaker 1: the government a way to legally keep unrepentant Southerners like 98 00:06:46,955 --> 00:06:51,235 Speaker 1: Stevens out permanently. It was adopted on July ninth, eighteen 99 00:06:51,315 --> 00:06:53,475 Speaker 1: sixty eight, and they used it to keep Stevens out 100 00:06:53,515 --> 00:06:56,435 Speaker 1: of the Senate. By eighteen seventy two, when he began 101 00:06:56,475 --> 00:06:59,275 Speaker 1: to run for the House, a different spirit was abroad 102 00:06:59,315 --> 00:07:03,195 Speaker 1: in the land. A Confederate Amnesty Act passed that May, 103 00:07:03,435 --> 00:07:06,915 Speaker 1: and Stevens slipped in and served nearly nine years in 104 00:07:06,955 --> 00:07:09,275 Speaker 1: the House, even though all that time he continued to 105 00:07:09,315 --> 00:07:13,795 Speaker 1: insist that secession was constitutionally protected and that the war 106 00:07:14,555 --> 00:07:19,835 Speaker 1: was all Northern aggression. In nineteen nineteen fourteen three was 107 00:07:19,955 --> 00:07:23,195 Speaker 1: used to keep a Congressman elect, Victor Berger of Wisconsin, 108 00:07:23,355 --> 00:07:27,195 Speaker 1: literally a member of the Socialist Party, out of the 109 00:07:27,235 --> 00:07:30,355 Speaker 1: House because he had been convicted of violating the Espionage 110 00:07:30,395 --> 00:07:33,075 Speaker 1: Act during the First World War when he opposed US 111 00:07:33,315 --> 00:07:36,995 Speaker 1: entry into it. Burger sued it went to the Supreme Court. 112 00:07:37,195 --> 00:07:39,435 Speaker 1: The court said that was not enough, and he was 113 00:07:39,475 --> 00:07:43,115 Speaker 1: seated in nineteen twenty one. The point, of course, is 114 00:07:43,155 --> 00:07:45,395 Speaker 1: that Stevens was kept out even though he was never 115 00:07:45,435 --> 00:07:48,915 Speaker 1: convicted of anything, never even tried for anything, and he 116 00:07:49,155 --> 00:07:54,875 Speaker 1: was readmitted only after a congressionally approved amnesty. Fourteen three 117 00:07:54,995 --> 00:07:57,595 Speaker 1: was then used to keep Victor Berger out until the 118 00:07:57,635 --> 00:08:00,955 Speaker 1: Supreme Court ruled it was his conviction that was excessive, 119 00:08:00,995 --> 00:08:04,355 Speaker 1: not his disqualification from serving in the House. And while 120 00:08:04,395 --> 00:08:07,155 Speaker 1: a legal bid to knock Marjorie Taylor Green off the 121 00:08:07,155 --> 00:08:10,435 Speaker 1: ballot last year because of the fourteenth came to nothing, 122 00:08:10,755 --> 00:08:16,075 Speaker 1: it did produce several rulings, largely unresolved that sitting members 123 00:08:16,115 --> 00:08:20,355 Speaker 1: of Congress could be expelled for participating in rebellion. And 124 00:08:20,435 --> 00:08:23,755 Speaker 1: of course the biggest question is this, do you have 125 00:08:23,835 --> 00:08:28,875 Speaker 1: to be convicted of insurrection to be banned from serving 126 00:08:28,995 --> 00:08:33,315 Speaker 1: as president? The Supreme Court would, of course rule whichever 127 00:08:33,355 --> 00:08:36,915 Speaker 1: way would get Alito and Thomas the most frequent flyer miles, 128 00:08:37,275 --> 00:08:39,995 Speaker 1: but otherwise the answer seems to be no. There is 129 00:08:40,035 --> 00:08:43,115 Speaker 1: a law on the books written to enforce fourteen three. 130 00:08:43,595 --> 00:08:48,155 Speaker 1: It's eighteen US Code two three eighty three quote whoever incites, 131 00:08:48,795 --> 00:08:53,355 Speaker 1: sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or 132 00:08:53,355 --> 00:08:55,755 Speaker 1: insurrection against the authority of the United States or the 133 00:08:55,835 --> 00:09:00,115 Speaker 1: laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort there too, shall 134 00:09:00,155 --> 00:09:02,995 Speaker 1: be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 135 00:09:03,035 --> 00:09:06,275 Speaker 1: ten years, or both, and shall be incapable of holding 136 00:09:06,355 --> 00:09:12,195 Speaker 1: any office under the United States. So in Code two 137 00:09:12,275 --> 00:09:17,955 Speaker 1: three eight three, you can be banned for rebellion, for insurrection, 138 00:09:18,635 --> 00:09:22,995 Speaker 1: for assisting in either for inciting it, for giving aid 139 00:09:23,195 --> 00:09:25,395 Speaker 1: or comfort to those who did, and best of all, 140 00:09:25,755 --> 00:09:32,555 Speaker 1: for setting it on foot setting it on foot. If 141 00:09:32,635 --> 00:09:37,475 Speaker 1: any phrase in any statute anywhere better applies to what 142 00:09:37,555 --> 00:09:41,675 Speaker 1: Trump did on January sixth than setting rebellion and insurrection 143 00:09:41,915 --> 00:09:46,475 Speaker 1: on foot, I'd like to see it. Trump could wind 144 00:09:46,555 --> 00:09:50,115 Speaker 1: up being Victor Berger convicted of anything under the umbrella 145 00:09:50,195 --> 00:09:52,915 Speaker 1: of the Espionage Act, or he could be Coy Griffin 146 00:09:52,955 --> 00:09:56,235 Speaker 1: convicted of misdemeanor trespass. Or he could be Alexander Stevens 147 00:09:56,275 --> 00:09:59,835 Speaker 1: convicted of nothing at all. So Trump is not only 148 00:09:59,915 --> 00:10:03,555 Speaker 1: panicking about the fourteenth Amendment. He has good reason to. 149 00:10:08,915 --> 00:10:11,395 Speaker 1: Of course, Trump could still be convicted of everything, and 150 00:10:11,475 --> 00:10:16,395 Speaker 1: if he is, Mark Meadows gets the game ball. We 151 00:10:16,515 --> 00:10:20,875 Speaker 1: underestimated two things about Mark Meadows last week, how dumb 152 00:10:20,955 --> 00:10:25,435 Speaker 1: he is and how much he convicted himself when he 153 00:10:25,475 --> 00:10:29,995 Speaker 1: took the amazingly risky chance of testifying for three hours 154 00:10:30,035 --> 00:10:33,155 Speaker 1: in a procedural long shot. Hearing to try to get 155 00:10:33,195 --> 00:10:37,035 Speaker 1: himself a whiter jury pool in northern Virginia rather than 156 00:10:37,075 --> 00:10:41,235 Speaker 1: the one in Atlanta. Portions of the transcript came out 157 00:10:41,275 --> 00:10:44,835 Speaker 1: after the holiday weekend began, and he really is a 158 00:10:44,995 --> 00:10:49,995 Speaker 1: complete dope. They asked why if he was acting under 159 00:10:50,115 --> 00:10:54,555 Speaker 1: color of his office as a White House official and 160 00:10:54,635 --> 00:10:56,755 Speaker 1: the trial should be moved to federal court and not 161 00:10:57,355 --> 00:11:00,235 Speaker 1: acting as a mere part of Trump's political gang. Why 162 00:11:00,835 --> 00:11:03,435 Speaker 1: if that was the case, he got involved in the 163 00:11:03,475 --> 00:11:07,635 Speaker 1: fake electors ski quote. It was mentioned to me that 164 00:11:07,715 --> 00:11:10,075 Speaker 1: there was litigation going on and that you had to 165 00:11:10,115 --> 00:11:13,675 Speaker 1: have a provisional or conditional elector. And what I didn't 166 00:11:13,675 --> 00:11:16,835 Speaker 1: want to happen was for the campaign to prevail in 167 00:11:16,955 --> 00:11:21,915 Speaker 1: certain areas and then not have this. Well, first off, 168 00:11:21,915 --> 00:11:26,235 Speaker 1: he just mentioned the campaign. He wanted something for the campaign. 169 00:11:27,555 --> 00:11:31,595 Speaker 1: That's not his office, that's his campaign. And then the 170 00:11:31,595 --> 00:11:34,275 Speaker 1: follow up question of Meadows was why did you not 171 00:11:34,475 --> 00:11:38,635 Speaker 1: want that to happen? Answer quote, Well, because I knew 172 00:11:38,675 --> 00:11:43,595 Speaker 1: I would get yelled at if we had not. What 173 00:11:44,555 --> 00:11:50,115 Speaker 1: follow up question to Meadows by whom? Answer Meadows? Quote 174 00:11:50,475 --> 00:11:56,515 Speaker 1: by the President of the United States Uh, yeah, that's 175 00:11:56,595 --> 00:12:01,195 Speaker 1: really a bad answer. Mark Meadows just confessed to acting 176 00:12:01,315 --> 00:12:05,275 Speaker 1: not on behalf of the president under color of office, 177 00:12:05,435 --> 00:12:09,435 Speaker 1: but for the campaign. He used similar words quote for 178 00:12:09,515 --> 00:12:13,955 Speaker 1: the campaign and out of fear of getting yelled at, 179 00:12:14,635 --> 00:12:18,475 Speaker 1: which means Trump was fully involved in a political scheme, 180 00:12:19,475 --> 00:12:22,595 Speaker 1: which also means Trump got Meadows fully involved in a 181 00:12:22,635 --> 00:12:26,155 Speaker 1: political scheme, which is a third problem because Meadows had 182 00:12:26,155 --> 00:12:29,435 Speaker 1: insisted he did not play quote any role in the 183 00:12:29,475 --> 00:12:31,715 Speaker 1: fake elector's scheme, and then he not only admitted it, 184 00:12:31,715 --> 00:12:34,675 Speaker 1: but the prosecution also produced an email in which Meadows 185 00:12:34,675 --> 00:12:37,755 Speaker 1: had written, we just need to have someone coordinating the 186 00:12:37,795 --> 00:12:42,715 Speaker 1: electors for the states. There is an excellent chance now 187 00:12:42,755 --> 00:12:45,355 Speaker 1: that the District Attorney of Fulton County adds at least 188 00:12:45,395 --> 00:12:48,835 Speaker 1: one perjury charge against Mark Meadows, and he's also not 189 00:12:48,875 --> 00:12:51,595 Speaker 1: going to get the trial reassigned to federal court because, 190 00:12:51,995 --> 00:12:55,395 Speaker 1: as the impeccable Ryan Goodman of Just Security notes, remember 191 00:12:55,395 --> 00:12:58,835 Speaker 1: when the judge asked both sides last week if all 192 00:12:58,915 --> 00:13:02,555 Speaker 1: of Meadows's actions had to be under color of his office, 193 00:13:03,195 --> 00:13:04,675 Speaker 1: or if it was enough for just one of them 194 00:13:04,955 --> 00:13:08,235 Speaker 1: to be. There's an easy to miss reverse image there. 195 00:13:08,675 --> 00:13:11,595 Speaker 1: The judge is also saying, oh, by the way, what 196 00:13:11,635 --> 00:13:15,835 Speaker 1: does it mean if at least one, and maybe all 197 00:13:15,955 --> 00:13:19,235 Speaker 1: but one of Meadows's actions was not under color of 198 00:13:19,275 --> 00:13:23,315 Speaker 1: his office, And now we know which one would be 199 00:13:23,355 --> 00:13:27,515 Speaker 1: at least one. I have long assumed here that at 200 00:13:27,555 --> 00:13:30,275 Speaker 1: the federal level, Mark Meadows either flipped on Trump or 201 00:13:30,275 --> 00:13:33,195 Speaker 1: simply gave Jack Smith everything he had on him without 202 00:13:33,235 --> 00:13:37,155 Speaker 1: formally agreeing to testify against him. Doing the same in 203 00:13:37,235 --> 00:13:39,875 Speaker 1: Georgia must be flying through the mind of his attorney 204 00:13:39,955 --> 00:13:43,275 Speaker 1: right now, because Meadows has dug himself a really deep 205 00:13:43,355 --> 00:13:47,715 Speaker 1: pit that ends in a penitentiary. And one more note 206 00:13:47,715 --> 00:13:50,235 Speaker 1: on this bid to sever trials and go to federal 207 00:13:50,275 --> 00:13:52,835 Speaker 1: court in Georgia no matter what the price, and boy, 208 00:13:52,835 --> 00:13:54,875 Speaker 1: oh boy, the price turns out to be really high. 209 00:13:55,235 --> 00:13:58,715 Speaker 1: This is from Randall Eliason of George Washington University Law 210 00:13:59,155 --> 00:14:02,235 Speaker 1: and its lawyer and nerd humor. But it's pretty good 211 00:14:02,315 --> 00:14:07,075 Speaker 1: lawyer and nerd humor, and Cheesebroo ends up being tried 212 00:14:07,115 --> 00:14:11,355 Speaker 1: by himself in Georgia. The headline should be the Cheese 213 00:14:11,395 --> 00:14:15,715 Speaker 1: stands alone. But if he ends up being tried with 214 00:14:15,915 --> 00:14:26,595 Speaker 1: Sidney Powell, of course, then it's cheese and Kraken. Cheese 215 00:14:26,635 --> 00:14:31,395 Speaker 1: and Kraken. One last note here, the website Decision Desk 216 00:14:31,675 --> 00:14:34,715 Speaker 1: HQ first big one to call twenty twenty for Biden, 217 00:14:34,795 --> 00:14:37,315 Speaker 1: by the way, had a really good quick write up 218 00:14:37,715 --> 00:14:40,755 Speaker 1: erasing one of the most widespread assumptions about the indictments 219 00:14:40,755 --> 00:14:44,075 Speaker 1: of Donald Trump. No, they are not helping him in 220 00:14:44,155 --> 00:14:47,835 Speaker 1: the polls, either in the Republican primary polls or in 221 00:14:47,915 --> 00:14:51,875 Speaker 1: the general election matchup polls. One of the great gnawing 222 00:14:52,115 --> 00:14:56,275 Speaker 1: undercurrents of fear in this whole thing, what if prosecuting 223 00:14:56,355 --> 00:15:01,595 Speaker 1: him just gets him elected, has no basis in reality. Unquestionably, 224 00:15:01,675 --> 00:15:04,475 Speaker 1: Trump has raised money off the prosecutions, but even most 225 00:15:04,515 --> 00:15:07,115 Speaker 1: of that seems predicated on the assumption that Trump would 226 00:15:07,155 --> 00:15:10,035 Speaker 1: not have raised similar amounts of money in a similar 227 00:15:10,075 --> 00:15:14,755 Speaker 1: timeframe anyway. But Decision Desk notes a that a few 228 00:15:14,755 --> 00:15:18,355 Speaker 1: weeks ago, Elliott Morris at ABC News wrote Trump's lead 229 00:15:18,355 --> 00:15:21,875 Speaker 1: in the twenty twenty four primary hasn't shifted significantly since 230 00:15:21,915 --> 00:15:25,435 Speaker 1: the third indictment was unsealed on August first. It then 231 00:15:25,555 --> 00:15:28,515 Speaker 1: notes that last week Charles Franklin of the Marquette Law 232 00:15:28,555 --> 00:15:33,475 Speaker 1: Poll said even that was wrong. Quoting Franklin, the indictments 233 00:15:33,515 --> 00:15:36,355 Speaker 1: of Donald Trump have not boosted him in the polls, 234 00:15:36,755 --> 00:15:41,115 Speaker 1: either for favorability or for his support in the GOP primary. 235 00:15:41,155 --> 00:15:44,275 Speaker 1: This claim keeps getting repeated as if the data is supported, 236 00:15:44,995 --> 00:15:50,395 Speaker 1: it does not unquote, and this, unlike most data, is 237 00:15:50,435 --> 00:15:53,595 Speaker 1: not hard to parse. Franklin notes that any growth in 238 00:15:53,635 --> 00:15:56,475 Speaker 1: Trump's lead in the GOP race has had nothing to 239 00:15:56,555 --> 00:15:59,835 Speaker 1: do with him, or the indictments or anything pertaining to him. 240 00:16:00,075 --> 00:16:06,755 Speaker 1: This is all about Desantus's numbers collapsing. Charles Franklin, Marquette Lawpole. Again, 241 00:16:07,155 --> 00:16:13,155 Speaker 1: there has been very little trend in Trump's primary vote unquote. 242 00:16:18,395 --> 00:16:23,035 Speaker 1: Also of interest here after this past weekend, anybody got 243 00:16:23,035 --> 00:16:27,595 Speaker 1: any remaining questions about Elon musk Oh. He's pro free 244 00:16:27,635 --> 00:16:31,355 Speaker 1: speech and anti anti Semitism. And then he says the 245 00:16:31,395 --> 00:16:36,195 Speaker 1: reason Twitter advertising is crashed is the Anti Defamation League. 246 00:16:36,475 --> 00:16:38,235 Speaker 1: And then there's all sorts of things about what the 247 00:16:38,275 --> 00:16:43,435 Speaker 1: Anti Defamation did to conspire against him, So he's going 248 00:16:43,475 --> 00:16:50,035 Speaker 1: to sue them. Have fun in discovering nitwit. Also, all's 249 00:16:50,115 --> 00:16:53,235 Speaker 1: well at CNN. The new guy starts it a month and 250 00:16:53,395 --> 00:16:56,475 Speaker 1: four days, so this is the golden time for him, 251 00:16:56,795 --> 00:17:00,435 Speaker 1: when nothing bad is his fault and anything good is 252 00:17:00,635 --> 00:17:03,515 Speaker 1: a reflection of his wisdom, and don't pay any attention 253 00:17:03,555 --> 00:17:06,755 Speaker 1: to that lible incident from the BBC when he leaned 254 00:17:06,795 --> 00:17:08,995 Speaker 1: over in the middle of a friendly conversation with a 255 00:17:08,995 --> 00:17:11,915 Speaker 1: BBC colleague and suddenly bit the guy in the arm 256 00:17:12,195 --> 00:17:17,635 Speaker 1: hard enough to leave Marx. This is CNN. Our new 257 00:17:17,675 --> 00:17:24,275 Speaker 1: boss may be a vampire. That's next. This is countdown. 258 00:17:25,475 --> 00:17:36,435 Speaker 1: This is countdown with Keith Oberman. Pose scripts to the news, 259 00:17:36,555 --> 00:17:39,835 Speaker 1: some headlines, some updates, some snarks, some predictions, date lines, 260 00:17:39,875 --> 00:17:44,235 Speaker 1: CNN World Headquarters, Hudson Yards, New York. Well, the Chris 261 00:17:44,315 --> 00:17:47,115 Speaker 1: lickt era is just a memory now and CNN is 262 00:17:47,155 --> 00:17:50,395 Speaker 1: in the wys and comforting hands a former BBC in 263 00:17:50,475 --> 00:17:53,595 Speaker 1: New York Times chief Mark Thompson, and the controversies and 264 00:17:53,635 --> 00:17:56,115 Speaker 1: the biting pain of the last year are gone. And 265 00:17:56,155 --> 00:17:59,395 Speaker 1: wait what, a former BBC reporter and producer said, Mark 266 00:17:59,435 --> 00:18:02,955 Speaker 1: Thompson once bit him in the newsroom, and the BBC 267 00:18:03,035 --> 00:18:08,075 Speaker 1: confirmed it but claimed it was horse play. I'm going 268 00:18:08,115 --> 00:18:10,955 Speaker 1: to avoid getting too deep in the woods here, so 269 00:18:11,115 --> 00:18:14,675 Speaker 1: let me just read some of the original story by 270 00:18:14,755 --> 00:18:20,155 Speaker 1: Richard Kay in Britain's tabloid The Daily Mail from April thirteenth, 271 00:18:20,235 --> 00:18:25,115 Speaker 1: twenty twelve. Quote he has always enjoyed a reputation as 272 00:18:25,115 --> 00:18:29,035 Speaker 1: a controversial figure, but last night an extraordinary story about 273 00:18:29,075 --> 00:18:34,595 Speaker 1: how BBC Director General Mark Thompson bit a newsroom colleague 274 00:18:35,155 --> 00:18:39,235 Speaker 1: was sweeping the corridors of the corporation. The bizarre, apparently 275 00:18:39,315 --> 00:18:44,275 Speaker 1: unprovoked attack was on senior television journalist Anthony Massey. Thompson's 276 00:18:44,315 --> 00:18:47,715 Speaker 1: forty four year old victims suffered clear bite marks through 277 00:18:47,875 --> 00:18:52,435 Speaker 1: his shirt and immediately reported the incident. Their bosses were 278 00:18:52,475 --> 00:18:55,515 Speaker 1: so determined to hush up the affair, however, that Massey 279 00:18:55,635 --> 00:19:01,475 Speaker 1: was promptly sent to Rwanda on a perilous assignment, and Thompson, 280 00:19:01,555 --> 00:19:04,635 Speaker 1: then a rising star, was allowed to continue his sore 281 00:19:04,995 --> 00:19:08,755 Speaker 1: career unhindered. The story has only become public thanks to 282 00:19:08,795 --> 00:19:13,795 Speaker 1: a leaked email exchange between Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman and Massey, 283 00:19:14,155 --> 00:19:17,955 Speaker 1: in which Pasman observes that the Director General is quote 284 00:19:18,075 --> 00:19:22,795 Speaker 1: quite clearly insane unquote. A spokesman for Thompson last Night 285 00:19:22,875 --> 00:19:27,395 Speaker 1: confirmed the story but claimed it was quote horseplay. The 286 00:19:27,435 --> 00:19:29,795 Speaker 1: tale began to make its way into the public domain 287 00:19:29,835 --> 00:19:32,955 Speaker 1: when Paxman emailed Massey, who is now on the BBC's 288 00:19:32,995 --> 00:19:37,475 Speaker 1: Foreign newsdesk but long worked in Bosnia and elsewhere as 289 00:19:37,595 --> 00:19:41,555 Speaker 1: Kate eighty's producer. As an aside, I don't have any 290 00:19:41,595 --> 00:19:44,795 Speaker 1: idea who Kate eighty is. I probably should have googled her. 291 00:19:45,475 --> 00:19:48,875 Speaker 1: Paxman asked, I've got to interview Mark Thompson tomorrow. Is 292 00:19:48,915 --> 00:19:53,435 Speaker 1: it true that he wants bit you? Unquote? Massey replied, 293 00:19:53,475 --> 00:19:56,035 Speaker 1: too late for the big interview, but gave full detail. 294 00:19:56,515 --> 00:19:59,835 Speaker 1: It is absolutely true, he said. It was nineteen eighty 295 00:19:59,875 --> 00:20:01,915 Speaker 1: eight when he was the newly appointed editor of the 296 00:20:01,995 --> 00:20:07,155 Speaker 1: nine o'clock News, and I was a home news whose organizer. Again, 297 00:20:07,195 --> 00:20:11,755 Speaker 1: I probably should have googled that home news organizer. It 298 00:20:11,835 --> 00:20:14,955 Speaker 1: was nine fifteen in the morning. According to the victim, 299 00:20:15,115 --> 00:20:17,715 Speaker 1: I went up to his desk to talk about some story. 300 00:20:17,995 --> 00:20:19,955 Speaker 1: I was standing next to him on his right, and 301 00:20:19,995 --> 00:20:23,235 Speaker 1: he was sitting reading his horoscope in the Daily Star. 302 00:20:23,875 --> 00:20:27,435 Speaker 1: I always remember that detail. Before I could say a word, 303 00:20:27,515 --> 00:20:31,755 Speaker 1: he suddenly turned, snarled, and sank his teeth into my 304 00:20:31,875 --> 00:20:35,555 Speaker 1: left upper arm, leaving marks through the shirt but not 305 00:20:35,795 --> 00:20:39,835 Speaker 1: drawing blood. It hurt. I pulled my arm out of 306 00:20:39,875 --> 00:20:42,555 Speaker 1: his jaws like a stick out of the jaws of 307 00:20:42,595 --> 00:20:45,715 Speaker 1: a labrador. The key thing is we didn't have a 308 00:20:45,835 --> 00:20:48,235 Speaker 1: row first or even speak, and I had never had 309 00:20:48,275 --> 00:20:51,955 Speaker 1: any dispute with him. He was just recently arrived in 310 00:20:51,995 --> 00:20:54,515 Speaker 1: the newsroom and I hardly knew him. He just bit 311 00:20:54,635 --> 00:20:57,075 Speaker 1: me in the arm for no reason, without any warning 312 00:20:57,195 --> 00:21:01,235 Speaker 1: or preamble. I don't think it was personal, the victim continued, 313 00:21:01,475 --> 00:21:04,115 Speaker 1: Something turned in his brain, and anyone who had been 314 00:21:04,115 --> 00:21:07,435 Speaker 1: standing there at that moment would have been bitten. Linda 315 00:21:07,555 --> 00:21:13,355 Speaker 1: from the t Bar, the BBC chairman, Keith Graves, anyone again. 316 00:21:13,635 --> 00:21:16,675 Speaker 1: I should have googled those people. It just happened to 317 00:21:16,675 --> 00:21:20,195 Speaker 1: be me. Thompson didn't apologize or explain, so I went 318 00:21:20,235 --> 00:21:23,275 Speaker 1: to complain to my then boss, Chris Kramer. All Kramer 319 00:21:23,355 --> 00:21:26,835 Speaker 1: said was, quote, this whole place is full of effing 320 00:21:26,955 --> 00:21:30,275 Speaker 1: headbangers unquote, which was a fair point and indeed is 321 00:21:30,315 --> 00:21:33,515 Speaker 1: still true, but didn't help. Somehow. I wanted to bring 322 00:21:33,555 --> 00:21:37,355 Speaker 1: the whole BBC disciplinary process down on Thompson's head, but 323 00:21:37,475 --> 00:21:40,595 Speaker 1: Kramer was desperate for that not to happen. So I 324 00:21:40,635 --> 00:21:43,235 Speaker 1: got sent abroad on some story for a month or so, 325 00:21:43,355 --> 00:21:45,555 Speaker 1: and when I came back, it had lost momentum and 326 00:21:45,595 --> 00:21:49,635 Speaker 1: I never pursued it. Massey added that quote, in those days, 327 00:21:49,995 --> 00:21:55,395 Speaker 1: it seemed quite acceptable for senior people to bite junior colleagues. Unquote, 328 00:21:56,275 --> 00:21:59,395 Speaker 1: The BBC said, quote Mark did bite him, but it 329 00:21:59,475 --> 00:22:01,755 Speaker 1: wasn't intended to hurt him. He thought he was doing 330 00:22:01,795 --> 00:22:04,995 Speaker 1: something funny. When he was later told that Anthony thought 331 00:22:04,995 --> 00:22:07,755 Speaker 1: he had gone for him, Mark went up and said 332 00:22:07,835 --> 00:22:11,595 Speaker 1: sorry and tried to make amends. Mark does remember the 333 00:22:11,635 --> 00:22:14,555 Speaker 1: incident because of your members, Anthony took it the wrong way. 334 00:22:15,435 --> 00:22:21,875 Speaker 1: It was horseplay. Unquote Richard Kay in the Daily Mail 335 00:22:21,955 --> 00:22:26,555 Speaker 1: of April thirteenth, twenty twelve, the new chairman of CNN, 336 00:22:26,635 --> 00:22:33,635 Speaker 1: everybody clearly management once bitten twice shy, So the vetting 337 00:22:33,715 --> 00:22:38,115 Speaker 1: process is still top right over there. Memo to CNN 338 00:22:38,275 --> 00:22:41,715 Speaker 1: staff and my friends who still worked there. If you're 339 00:22:41,795 --> 00:22:45,915 Speaker 1: in an argument with your new boss, Mark Thompson, whatever 340 00:22:45,995 --> 00:23:05,195 Speaker 1: you do, do not say Mark bite me. Still ahead 341 00:23:05,195 --> 00:23:08,235 Speaker 1: on countdown, ah back to school September in New York. 342 00:23:08,475 --> 00:23:11,115 Speaker 1: It's opened with a real feel of ninety two degrees, 343 00:23:11,755 --> 00:23:14,755 Speaker 1: and still I cannot and will never shake the sense 344 00:23:15,155 --> 00:23:17,995 Speaker 1: that it is now winter because this is the month's 345 00:23:18,075 --> 00:23:22,515 Speaker 1: school starts. Moreover, this month of September never starts without 346 00:23:22,555 --> 00:23:25,755 Speaker 1: me thinking of the superstar Cornell History professor who once 347 00:23:25,875 --> 00:23:29,235 Speaker 1: nearly failed all of us in his class because the 348 00:23:29,315 --> 00:23:33,115 Speaker 1: New York Football Giants lost a game things I promised 349 00:23:33,155 --> 00:23:34,955 Speaker 1: not to tell. Coming up first time for the daily 350 00:23:34,995 --> 00:23:37,755 Speaker 1: roundup of the miss grants, morons and Dunning Kruger effects 351 00:23:37,755 --> 00:23:41,955 Speaker 1: specimens who constitute today's worst persons in the world. The 352 00:23:41,995 --> 00:23:46,475 Speaker 1: Bronze Matt the sound of one hand slapping slap and 353 00:23:46,555 --> 00:23:50,075 Speaker 1: his wife Mercedes, and Mercedes is either an idiot or 354 00:23:50,195 --> 00:23:53,675 Speaker 1: very very broad minded. The Daily Beast reports that after 355 00:23:53,675 --> 00:23:56,835 Speaker 1: a bunch of employees resigned in protest from his little 356 00:23:56,875 --> 00:24:01,595 Speaker 1: fascist insurrectionist seapack last year, that spring of twenty twenty two, 357 00:24:01,995 --> 00:24:06,435 Speaker 1: the Slaps brought in a priest to see pack headquarters 358 00:24:06,715 --> 00:24:11,155 Speaker 1: and conducted an exorcism. And this was before we found 359 00:24:11,195 --> 00:24:14,075 Speaker 1: out about the allegations of the Herschel Walker campaign staffer 360 00:24:14,075 --> 00:24:18,275 Speaker 1: that Schlapp had groped him holy water, medallions, incantations, everything 361 00:24:18,275 --> 00:24:21,635 Speaker 1: but biting some guy on the arm. We'll never know 362 00:24:21,675 --> 00:24:23,755 Speaker 1: if Schlap used either of the money quotes from the 363 00:24:23,795 --> 00:24:25,955 Speaker 1: movie by the way, on the Herschel staffer. Is there 364 00:24:25,955 --> 00:24:30,235 Speaker 1: someone inside you and the power of Christ compels you? 365 00:24:31,115 --> 00:24:33,635 Speaker 1: Or did he just sort of free form on it. Hey, 366 00:24:33,715 --> 00:24:36,995 Speaker 1: did I tell you about the exorcism in my pants? 367 00:24:38,355 --> 00:24:43,275 Speaker 1: The runner's up Saint Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Yeah, 368 00:24:43,315 --> 00:24:48,115 Speaker 1: there's an invisible thread stretching through today's worsts. Now, this 369 00:24:48,195 --> 00:24:50,795 Speaker 1: is a topic fraught with political implications, but that does 370 00:24:50,795 --> 00:24:54,235 Speaker 1: not make this story any less true nor any less troublesome. 371 00:24:54,555 --> 00:24:59,075 Speaker 1: The cemetery contains, per the Philadelphia Inquirer, a quote large 372 00:24:59,075 --> 00:25:04,635 Speaker 1: stone cross honoring Nazi collaborators. That's right, a monument on 373 00:25:04,675 --> 00:25:11,075 Speaker 1: on us soil honoring Nazi collaborators, using the tortured logic 374 00:25:11,115 --> 00:25:14,435 Speaker 1: that since some Ukrainians fought with the Nazis late in 375 00:25:14,475 --> 00:25:18,235 Speaker 1: the Second World War against the Russians, they were kind 376 00:25:18,275 --> 00:25:22,795 Speaker 1: of okay. This monument near Philadelphia was erected sometime in 377 00:25:22,835 --> 00:25:26,275 Speaker 1: the nineties to honor the Galitzian unit that fought with 378 00:25:26,475 --> 00:25:31,115 Speaker 1: the SS. The paper quotes Ukrainian history expert John Paul Himpke. 379 00:25:31,715 --> 00:25:35,115 Speaker 1: The unit quote helped suppress the Slovak uprising. It was 380 00:25:35,155 --> 00:25:38,915 Speaker 1: involved in atrocities against Poles and Slovaks. It welcomed into 381 00:25:38,995 --> 00:25:42,035 Speaker 1: its ranks many perpetrators of the ethnic cleansing against the 382 00:25:42,035 --> 00:25:46,875 Speaker 1: Polish population and of the Holocaust. It propagated anti Semitism 383 00:25:47,075 --> 00:25:49,115 Speaker 1: and seems to have been involved in a roundup of 384 00:25:49,235 --> 00:25:54,315 Speaker 1: Jews in Brody in nineteen forty four. This was one 385 00:25:54,355 --> 00:25:58,235 Speaker 1: of the Ukrainian units condemned by Ukrainian President Zelenski in 386 00:25:58,235 --> 00:26:02,635 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, and we've got a monument dedicated to 387 00:26:02,675 --> 00:26:05,475 Speaker 1: them near Philly. And by the way, it's one of 388 00:26:05,515 --> 00:26:10,515 Speaker 1: apparently forty two monuments honoring Nazis, usually individual Nazis on 389 00:26:10,635 --> 00:26:14,995 Speaker 1: American soil, which brings us, via the invisible thread to 390 00:26:15,115 --> 00:26:20,955 Speaker 1: today's winner. Elon Musk quote. To be super clear, I'm 391 00:26:21,075 --> 00:26:24,915 Speaker 1: pro free speech, he tweeted at twelve thirty yesterday, but 392 00:26:24,995 --> 00:26:29,675 Speaker 1: against anti semitism of any kind. This was so untrue 393 00:26:29,715 --> 00:26:32,235 Speaker 1: that within half an hour Musk, who had spent the 394 00:26:32,235 --> 00:26:37,795 Speaker 1: weekend amplifying the hashtag ban the ADL, had gone full 395 00:26:37,875 --> 00:26:42,355 Speaker 1: anti Semitic trope. Quote. Since the acquisition, he means of 396 00:26:42,595 --> 00:26:45,715 Speaker 1: Twitter by him, the ADL has been trying to kill 397 00:26:45,795 --> 00:26:49,395 Speaker 1: this platform by falsely accusing it and me of being 398 00:26:49,475 --> 00:26:53,675 Speaker 1: anti Semitic and then quote. Our US advertising revenue is 399 00:26:53,675 --> 00:26:58,595 Speaker 1: still down sixty percent, primarily due to pressure on advertisers 400 00:26:58,675 --> 00:27:03,355 Speaker 1: by ADL that's what advertisers tell us. So they almost 401 00:27:03,435 --> 00:27:09,715 Speaker 1: succeeded in killing x slash Twitter exclamation point unquote. So 402 00:27:11,315 --> 00:27:15,475 Speaker 1: how many different anti Jewish cliches and tropes can you 403 00:27:15,515 --> 00:27:18,515 Speaker 1: put in one paragraph? This might be the record here 404 00:27:18,555 --> 00:27:22,235 Speaker 1: by Musk. Let's see, you got one. The Jews control 405 00:27:22,315 --> 00:27:25,795 Speaker 1: the media in here. You've got two. The Jews have 406 00:27:25,995 --> 00:27:30,195 Speaker 1: undue influence over business. You got three. The Jews control 407 00:27:30,235 --> 00:27:33,235 Speaker 1: all the money. You've got four. It's all the Jews fault. 408 00:27:33,715 --> 00:27:36,555 Speaker 1: And best of all, you've got five. There's a Jewish 409 00:27:36,595 --> 00:27:43,235 Speaker 1: conspiracy against fill in the blank, Elon Musk. Well, Elon, 410 00:27:43,355 --> 00:27:45,475 Speaker 1: if you're not an anti Semite, you better have a 411 00:27:45,515 --> 00:27:51,035 Speaker 1: really good alternative explanation, like insanity or acute physical illness, 412 00:27:51,395 --> 00:27:55,595 Speaker 1: because guess what, you, Musk are behaving exactly the way 413 00:27:55,715 --> 00:27:59,595 Speaker 1: an anti Semite behaves, and the rest of us pretty 414 00:27:59,675 --> 00:28:01,875 Speaker 1: much have to respond the way we would to an 415 00:28:01,915 --> 00:28:06,755 Speaker 1: anti Semite who was running an anti Smit website. Elon 416 00:28:06,915 --> 00:28:28,955 Speaker 1: Musk two days, worst person in the world. Finally to 417 00:28:29,115 --> 00:28:32,315 Speaker 1: the number one story on the countdown and my favorite topic, 418 00:28:32,675 --> 00:28:37,835 Speaker 1: me and Things I promised not to tell So September again, 419 00:28:38,515 --> 00:28:41,755 Speaker 1: I literally don't know anybody who ever shakes the childhood 420 00:28:41,835 --> 00:28:44,715 Speaker 1: dread of back to school days in August and the 421 00:28:44,755 --> 00:28:48,555 Speaker 1: beginning of September. Third grade, high school, college doesn't matter, 422 00:28:48,995 --> 00:28:53,395 Speaker 1: forty four degrees, ninety four degrees, doesn't matter. It's September, 423 00:28:53,435 --> 00:28:56,835 Speaker 1: and by now. The dread, even if you liked school, 424 00:28:57,115 --> 00:29:03,035 Speaker 1: remains until the day you die, especially if it invokes 425 00:29:03,075 --> 00:29:05,395 Speaker 1: memories like the one I have about the I nearly 426 00:29:05,395 --> 00:29:09,515 Speaker 1: failed a for credit course in college because of a 427 00:29:09,635 --> 00:29:14,355 Speaker 1: fumble in a professional football game. Forty four years ago. 428 00:29:14,395 --> 00:29:17,515 Speaker 1: This week, I actually walked reluctantly but proudly into a 429 00:29:17,555 --> 00:29:20,315 Speaker 1: class at Cornell University, if I remember correctly. To get 430 00:29:20,315 --> 00:29:24,875 Speaker 1: into Professor Joel Silby's nineteenth Century American History course eight 431 00:29:24,955 --> 00:29:29,155 Speaker 1: credits spanning two semesters, I had to get special permission 432 00:29:29,155 --> 00:29:31,835 Speaker 1: from the History department because I was not a history major. 433 00:29:32,195 --> 00:29:34,675 Speaker 1: I just took all the history classes they would let me, 434 00:29:34,795 --> 00:29:37,555 Speaker 1: and this was one of the best ones. And I 435 00:29:37,595 --> 00:29:40,635 Speaker 1: remember Professor Silby's first lecture and the accent and the 436 00:29:40,675 --> 00:29:43,555 Speaker 1: mannerisms that quickly identified him not only as a fellow 437 00:29:43,675 --> 00:29:47,555 Speaker 1: native New Yorker, but as a Brookly Knight and a 438 00:29:47,595 --> 00:29:50,515 Speaker 1: Brookly Knight fan of as he quickly told us the 439 00:29:50,555 --> 00:29:55,275 Speaker 1: New York Football Giants what Professor Joel Silby said next, 440 00:29:55,315 --> 00:29:57,875 Speaker 1: cause the I think it was two hundred or so 441 00:29:57,995 --> 00:30:01,515 Speaker 1: other students in the lecture hall to laugh, all of 442 00:30:01,555 --> 00:30:05,875 Speaker 1: them except me, because I was the sports director of 443 00:30:05,915 --> 00:30:08,915 Speaker 1: the Cornhill student owned radio station, and in those days 444 00:30:08,955 --> 00:30:13,475 Speaker 1: you could actually know everything about and everybody in all 445 00:30:13,555 --> 00:30:15,875 Speaker 1: the national sports off the top of your head. And 446 00:30:15,955 --> 00:30:17,995 Speaker 1: usually that meant you could figure out all the teams 447 00:30:17,995 --> 00:30:20,555 Speaker 1: in all the sports that had the slightest chance of succeeding, 448 00:30:20,915 --> 00:30:23,115 Speaker 1: and all the teams in all the sports that did not. 449 00:30:23,275 --> 00:30:26,675 Speaker 1: And the New York Football Giants did not. I want 450 00:30:26,715 --> 00:30:28,915 Speaker 1: you to know, I grade the papers, not the teaching 451 00:30:28,915 --> 00:30:32,915 Speaker 1: assistance me and I happened to be a lifelong, therefore 452 00:30:33,075 --> 00:30:37,235 Speaker 1: long suffering fan of the New York Football Giants. I 453 00:30:37,275 --> 00:30:40,195 Speaker 1: saw my first Giants game in nineteen forty five, and 454 00:30:40,275 --> 00:30:42,835 Speaker 1: over the years I happened to have developed this habit 455 00:30:42,875 --> 00:30:45,515 Speaker 1: of grading your papers on Sunday afternoons and evenings right 456 00:30:45,555 --> 00:30:49,315 Speaker 1: after I watch my New York Football Giants. So, to 457 00:30:49,355 --> 00:30:53,715 Speaker 1: some degree great or small, your grade will depend on 458 00:30:53,875 --> 00:30:57,275 Speaker 1: how well the New York Football Giants do in this 459 00:30:57,515 --> 00:31:01,955 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight National Football League season. One hundred and 460 00:31:02,035 --> 00:31:06,435 Speaker 1: ninety nine of Joel Silbey's students laughed. I emitted a 461 00:31:06,475 --> 00:31:12,395 Speaker 1: low moan, since they had gone to five NFL championship 462 00:31:12,435 --> 00:31:15,315 Speaker 1: games in the six seasons ending in nineteen sixty three 463 00:31:15,315 --> 00:31:18,915 Speaker 1: and lost all five. By the way, the Giants had 464 00:31:18,915 --> 00:31:22,315 Speaker 1: had exactly two winning seasons, and they had lost nine 465 00:31:22,355 --> 00:31:25,835 Speaker 1: of fourteen games the year before nineteen seventy seven. Though 466 00:31:25,835 --> 00:31:28,315 Speaker 1: they had opened this nineteen seventy eight season with a 467 00:31:28,395 --> 00:31:31,315 Speaker 1: narrow victory over a very bad Tampa Bay team, and 468 00:31:31,435 --> 00:31:33,475 Speaker 1: the first half of their schedule had as many as 469 00:31:33,515 --> 00:31:36,195 Speaker 1: four more opponents who they might be better than they 470 00:31:36,235 --> 00:31:38,635 Speaker 1: would be lucky to win two games in the second 471 00:31:38,635 --> 00:31:41,475 Speaker 1: half of the season. When I got back to the 472 00:31:41,555 --> 00:31:45,355 Speaker 1: radio station, I looked at the Giants' schedule and Professor 473 00:31:45,395 --> 00:31:48,995 Speaker 1: Silbey's class schedule, and I circled one critical day when 474 00:31:48,995 --> 00:31:55,235 Speaker 1: the schedules converged, Sunday, November nineteenth, nineteen seventy eight. Our 475 00:31:55,395 --> 00:31:59,195 Speaker 1: term papers were due on Thursday the sixteenth. He could 476 00:31:59,235 --> 00:32:04,195 Speaker 1: actually read them all after the Giants Eagles game that night. 477 00:32:04,235 --> 00:32:08,235 Speaker 1: In the following day, Amazingly, your new York Football Giants 478 00:32:08,675 --> 00:32:11,555 Speaker 1: actually opened the season winning three of their first four. 479 00:32:11,995 --> 00:32:14,235 Speaker 1: In the middle of October, they were still five and three, 480 00:32:14,275 --> 00:32:17,235 Speaker 1: and in the history lecture room, Professor Sylvie was very happy, 481 00:32:17,395 --> 00:32:21,355 Speaker 1: and he often recreated highlights of his glorious Giants pleasing success, 482 00:32:21,635 --> 00:32:25,035 Speaker 1: and he was furiously fanboying on the new quarterback they'd 483 00:32:25,035 --> 00:32:31,355 Speaker 1: brought in from the Canadian League, Joe Pisarchick. If you 484 00:32:31,395 --> 00:32:34,195 Speaker 1: are a football history fan, or god forbid, a fan 485 00:32:34,235 --> 00:32:37,595 Speaker 1: of the New York Football Giants, you already know where 486 00:32:37,595 --> 00:32:41,675 Speaker 1: I'm going with this. The Giants lost the next three games, 487 00:32:41,715 --> 00:32:44,835 Speaker 1: and then our term papers were due on November sixteenth, 488 00:32:44,835 --> 00:32:48,515 Speaker 1: and Joel Sylvie turned morose. And I was at the 489 00:32:48,595 --> 00:32:51,995 Speaker 1: radio station watching the Giants Eagles game of the nineteenth 490 00:32:52,035 --> 00:32:54,395 Speaker 1: on a big black and white TV in the lounge 491 00:32:54,795 --> 00:32:59,555 Speaker 1: when my nightmare unfolded impossibly. The Giants led the much 492 00:32:59,595 --> 00:33:02,595 Speaker 1: better Philadelphia Eagles fourteen to nothing. After the first quarter. 493 00:33:02,795 --> 00:33:06,555 Speaker 1: Pisarcik threw two touchdownses. After the third quarter, it was 494 00:33:06,555 --> 00:33:09,835 Speaker 1: still seventeen to six Giants. Then the Eagles scored and 495 00:33:09,875 --> 00:33:11,675 Speaker 1: they were driving to go ahead with a minute and 496 00:33:11,675 --> 00:33:14,315 Speaker 1: a half left in the game. When the impossible happened 497 00:33:14,555 --> 00:33:17,915 Speaker 1: deep in Giants' territory. The Philly quarterback threw an interception 498 00:33:18,475 --> 00:33:21,795 Speaker 1: with eighty three seconds left and in possession of the ball. 499 00:33:21,835 --> 00:33:25,355 Speaker 1: The Giants led seventeen to thirteen. The crowd at the 500 00:33:25,435 --> 00:33:30,555 Speaker 1: radio station was ecstatic. I was even more ecstatic. All 501 00:33:30,595 --> 00:33:33,195 Speaker 1: the Giants now had to do was stall and have 502 00:33:33,315 --> 00:33:36,955 Speaker 1: the quarterback fall on the ball, maybe twice, as if 503 00:33:36,955 --> 00:33:39,955 Speaker 1: he had heard me. The quarterback, Joe Pisarcik fell on 504 00:33:39,995 --> 00:33:43,595 Speaker 1: the ball. Then he nearly killed me by handing the 505 00:33:43,635 --> 00:33:46,155 Speaker 1: ball off to his running back Larry Zanka, who plowed 506 00:33:46,235 --> 00:33:48,315 Speaker 1: up the middle to get a first down and burn 507 00:33:48,395 --> 00:33:51,915 Speaker 1: another thirty seconds off the clock. The Eagles called their 508 00:33:51,995 --> 00:33:55,315 Speaker 1: last time out thirty one seconds left, thirty one seconds 509 00:33:55,315 --> 00:33:58,995 Speaker 1: to my grade in Joel Silbey's nineteenth century American history class, 510 00:33:59,195 --> 00:34:03,075 Speaker 1: probably ending up being half or maybe even a full 511 00:34:03,195 --> 00:34:06,155 Speaker 1: grade better than I deserved. All Joe Pisarchik had to 512 00:34:06,195 --> 00:34:08,155 Speaker 1: do was fall on the damn ball again and it 513 00:34:08,235 --> 00:34:14,675 Speaker 1: was over. However, on the Giant's sideline, offensive coordinator Bob 514 00:34:14,755 --> 00:34:17,835 Speaker 1: Gibson decided that the safe play, the winning play, was 515 00:34:17,835 --> 00:34:21,995 Speaker 1: for Jopisarchic to hand the ball off again. To Larry Zanka. 516 00:34:22,075 --> 00:34:25,515 Speaker 1: Now that might have been the right play, only Bob 517 00:34:25,555 --> 00:34:30,715 Speaker 1: Gibson and everybody else failed to tell Larry Zanka. Larry 518 00:34:30,835 --> 00:34:33,595 Speaker 1: Zanka assumed he was there just to block for Joe Pisarcik, 519 00:34:33,835 --> 00:34:36,515 Speaker 1: as Joe Pisarcik collapsed to the turf and ran out 520 00:34:36,555 --> 00:34:40,155 Speaker 1: the clock and got me a better grade instead, Pisarchik 521 00:34:40,195 --> 00:34:43,355 Speaker 1: handed the ball to where Zanka's hands should have been, 522 00:34:43,635 --> 00:34:46,595 Speaker 1: except Larry Zanka was in the blocking stance, and Pisarchik 523 00:34:46,635 --> 00:34:50,355 Speaker 1: in fact handed it off directly to Larry Zanka's helmet. 524 00:34:51,515 --> 00:34:55,395 Speaker 1: I screamed. The ball bounced once off the turf and 525 00:34:55,435 --> 00:34:58,435 Speaker 1: directly into the hands of Philadelphia cornerback Herman Edwards. I 526 00:34:58,475 --> 00:35:01,635 Speaker 1: continued to scream there was nobody near Edwards, and he 527 00:35:01,675 --> 00:35:03,755 Speaker 1: scooted twenty six yards into the end zone, and the 528 00:35:03,755 --> 00:35:06,675 Speaker 1: Giants lost the day game nineteen to seventeen. In the 529 00:35:06,755 --> 00:35:09,115 Speaker 1: last seconds, and as the Giants fans at the radio 530 00:35:09,155 --> 00:35:12,755 Speaker 1: station shouted or moaned or swore, I could see Professor 531 00:35:12,835 --> 00:35:16,235 Speaker 1: Joel Sylby shutting off the TV, grabbing our papers and 532 00:35:16,355 --> 00:35:24,075 Speaker 1: sentencing us to hell, and I continued to scream. Our 533 00:35:24,235 --> 00:35:26,875 Speaker 1: term papers were returned on Tuesday, the twenty first, just 534 00:35:26,915 --> 00:35:30,875 Speaker 1: before school broke for Thanksgiving. I actually was thankful I 535 00:35:30,955 --> 00:35:33,475 Speaker 1: got either a B or a B plus. I can't 536 00:35:33,475 --> 00:35:35,435 Speaker 1: find the paper. It should be somewhere in a box. 537 00:35:36,075 --> 00:35:39,075 Speaker 1: There was a rumor which I was never able to confirm, 538 00:35:39,155 --> 00:35:41,795 Speaker 1: that my B or B plus was the highest grade 539 00:35:41,835 --> 00:35:46,715 Speaker 1: in the class. I can confirm. I saw classmates most 540 00:35:46,875 --> 00:35:49,955 Speaker 1: far more prepared and astute than myself, most of them 541 00:35:50,035 --> 00:35:53,955 Speaker 1: history majors, looking at their grades and blanching visibly. One 542 00:35:54,075 --> 00:36:00,475 Speaker 1: girl cried, a C, really a C. Professor Joel Sylby 543 00:36:00,555 --> 00:36:02,515 Speaker 1: said much of our grade would depend on how well 544 00:36:02,515 --> 00:36:04,635 Speaker 1: the New York Football Giants did in that nineteen seven 545 00:36:04,675 --> 00:36:07,395 Speaker 1: the eight national football season, and my god, they had 546 00:36:07,435 --> 00:36:09,395 Speaker 1: just sustained a loss so bad that it is still 547 00:36:09,435 --> 00:36:13,875 Speaker 1: talked about to this day. My classmates did not listen, 548 00:36:14,995 --> 00:36:22,195 Speaker 1: and I only am escaped alone to tell thee There 549 00:36:22,275 --> 00:36:26,715 Speaker 1: is a PostScript. The PostScript takes place thirty two and 550 00:36:26,875 --> 00:36:31,155 Speaker 1: one half years later. I returned to Cornell in March 551 00:36:31,235 --> 00:36:34,475 Speaker 1: of twenty eleven to give a lecture and teach a 552 00:36:34,515 --> 00:36:37,795 Speaker 1: series of classes to students who no longer afterwards felt 553 00:36:37,795 --> 00:36:40,875 Speaker 1: they had gotten their full money from the University, my 554 00:36:40,955 --> 00:36:43,955 Speaker 1: alma mater, was very kind to me. They gave me 555 00:36:43,995 --> 00:36:46,115 Speaker 1: a tour of the secret places they never would have 556 00:36:46,115 --> 00:36:48,635 Speaker 1: shown me when I was a struggling student, like where 557 00:36:48,635 --> 00:36:52,115 Speaker 1: they kept Cornell's copy of the Gettysburg address. And they 558 00:36:52,155 --> 00:36:55,075 Speaker 1: promised me something special for lunch the first day, And 559 00:36:55,155 --> 00:36:57,675 Speaker 1: sure enough I was dropped off at a restaurant, and there, 560 00:36:58,235 --> 00:37:01,635 Speaker 1: rising from a table to greet me with applause, were 561 00:37:01,755 --> 00:37:05,795 Speaker 1: Cornell's official historian and former Professor Glenn alt Schuller and 562 00:37:05,875 --> 00:37:09,875 Speaker 1: their very famous history professor Walter LaFeber, and I swear 563 00:37:10,595 --> 00:37:16,755 Speaker 1: Professor Joel Silby, and they were fans of mine. Of 564 00:37:16,755 --> 00:37:20,755 Speaker 1: course I could not leave well enough alone. After a 565 00:37:20,795 --> 00:37:24,235 Speaker 1: few minutes of very pleasant conversation with mister alt Schuller 566 00:37:24,235 --> 00:37:27,355 Speaker 1: and Professor Lea Faber and Professor Silby, I brought up 567 00:37:27,355 --> 00:37:30,595 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventy eight term paper Joe Pisarcik Handoff story. 568 00:37:31,515 --> 00:37:34,635 Speaker 1: Professor la Faber looked at Professor Silby like Professor Silby 569 00:37:34,715 --> 00:37:38,595 Speaker 1: was out of his mind? Is that true? And Sylby 570 00:37:38,635 --> 00:37:43,595 Speaker 1: smiled and said, yes, yes it is. And then Joel 571 00:37:43,595 --> 00:37:46,315 Speaker 1: Silby looked off into the distance as if he were 572 00:37:46,355 --> 00:37:51,275 Speaker 1: peering backwards through time nineteen seventy eight. That's when you 573 00:37:51,315 --> 00:37:55,715 Speaker 1: could really enjoy being a professor. He then looked back 574 00:37:55,755 --> 00:37:59,795 Speaker 1: at me and smiled, Keith, you won't believe this, but 575 00:37:59,995 --> 00:38:03,235 Speaker 1: I actually graded those papers pretty fairly, and I didn't 576 00:38:03,275 --> 00:38:06,995 Speaker 1: follow through on my original old plan. After the fumble, 577 00:38:07,035 --> 00:38:09,275 Speaker 1: I actually turned off the TV and I sat there 578 00:38:09,315 --> 00:38:11,275 Speaker 1: for a few minutes, and I asked my soul if 579 00:38:11,315 --> 00:38:14,835 Speaker 1: it was okay for me to take my revenge on 580 00:38:14,955 --> 00:38:21,515 Speaker 1: the universe by failing all of you the favor gulped Oh, 581 00:38:21,675 --> 00:38:24,795 Speaker 1: said Sylby. It was so great to be a professor 582 00:38:24,835 --> 00:38:28,595 Speaker 1: back then. I laughed so much I had tears in 583 00:38:28,675 --> 00:38:32,075 Speaker 1: my eyes. And then Sylvie said, okay, okay, maybe I 584 00:38:32,115 --> 00:38:34,355 Speaker 1: was a little unfair to you guys, but you know, 585 00:38:35,435 --> 00:38:38,235 Speaker 1: it's the Giants, and you have to take this as 586 00:38:38,235 --> 00:38:40,155 Speaker 1: a whole. The year they won their first Super Bowl, 587 00:38:40,235 --> 00:38:43,315 Speaker 1: what was that eighty six? The final examine that class 588 00:38:43,395 --> 00:38:46,195 Speaker 1: was like two days after they finished the regular season, 589 00:38:46,195 --> 00:38:48,315 Speaker 1: fourteen and two, eight o'clock in the morning. So I 590 00:38:48,395 --> 00:38:51,115 Speaker 1: go to the final see, which I never do, and 591 00:38:51,155 --> 00:38:54,235 Speaker 1: I waited until they were all sitting there sweating, and 592 00:38:54,275 --> 00:38:56,555 Speaker 1: I said, remember last September when I told you your 593 00:38:56,595 --> 00:38:58,795 Speaker 1: grade will depend on how well the New York Football 594 00:38:58,835 --> 00:39:02,635 Speaker 1: Giants doing this nineteen eighty six National Football League season, 595 00:39:03,475 --> 00:39:06,875 Speaker 1: And it was just silent, and I said, well, if 596 00:39:06,915 --> 00:39:09,875 Speaker 1: you didn't notice, they went fourteen and two, and I 597 00:39:09,915 --> 00:39:11,875 Speaker 1: haven't been this happy since when they won the title 598 00:39:11,915 --> 00:39:16,035 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty six. So guess what, there's no final exam. 599 00:39:17,475 --> 00:39:20,595 Speaker 1: And nobody moved, so I said it again, there's no 600 00:39:20,835 --> 00:39:24,235 Speaker 1: final exam. Go home, go study for something else. Y'all 601 00:39:24,315 --> 00:39:27,395 Speaker 1: get a's. And then there was a couple of seconds 602 00:39:27,395 --> 00:39:30,155 Speaker 1: of silence, and they all simultaneously realized I was not kidding, 603 00:39:30,275 --> 00:39:34,875 Speaker 1: and everybody cheered and ran out into the sunshine. So 604 00:39:35,155 --> 00:39:38,515 Speaker 1: with me and professors Alt Schuler and la Faber, now 605 00:39:38,515 --> 00:39:43,435 Speaker 1: in tears. Sylby said, see it evens out, and I said, 606 00:39:43,635 --> 00:39:46,755 Speaker 1: the hell it does. I graduated in nineteen seventy nine. 607 00:39:46,755 --> 00:39:49,395 Speaker 1: How does it canceled final in nineteen eighty six even 608 00:39:49,435 --> 00:39:53,395 Speaker 1: it out for me? Fella? Joel Silby thought for a second, 609 00:39:53,435 --> 00:39:57,675 Speaker 1: and then he said, well, I am buying you lunch. 610 00:40:10,875 --> 00:40:12,715 Speaker 1: I've done all the damage I can do here. Thank 611 00:40:12,755 --> 00:40:14,635 Speaker 1: you for listening. Countdown has come to you from our 612 00:40:14,715 --> 00:40:17,555 Speaker 1: studios high on top the sports Capsule building here in 613 00:40:17,635 --> 00:40:20,755 Speaker 1: New York. Here are the credits. Most of the music arranged, 614 00:40:20,755 --> 00:40:23,515 Speaker 1: produced and performed by Brian Ray and John Phillip Schhanel. 615 00:40:23,875 --> 00:40:27,195 Speaker 1: They are the Countdown musical directors. All orchestration and keyboards 616 00:40:27,235 --> 00:40:30,595 Speaker 1: by John Phillip Schanel, Guitars based in drums by Brian Ray, 617 00:40:30,755 --> 00:40:34,395 Speaker 1: produced by Tko Brothers. Other Beethoven selections have been arranged 618 00:40:34,475 --> 00:40:37,595 Speaker 1: unperformed by the group No Horns Allowed. The sports music 619 00:40:37,715 --> 00:40:39,955 Speaker 1: is the Olberman theme from ESPN two and it was 620 00:40:39,995 --> 00:40:43,795 Speaker 1: written by Mitch Warren Davis courtesy of ESPN Inc. Musical 621 00:40:43,795 --> 00:40:46,715 Speaker 1: comments by Nancy Fauss. The best baseball stadium organist ever. 622 00:40:47,035 --> 00:40:50,075 Speaker 1: Our announcer today was my friend Howard Feynman, and everything 623 00:40:50,075 --> 00:40:52,715 Speaker 1: else was pretty much my fault. That's countdown for this 624 00:40:52,755 --> 00:40:55,315 Speaker 1: the nine hundred and seventy third day since Donald Trump's 625 00:40:55,315 --> 00:40:58,475 Speaker 1: first attempted coup against the democratically elected government of the 626 00:40:58,555 --> 00:41:02,315 Speaker 1: United States. Convict him while we still can. The next 627 00:41:02,355 --> 00:41:05,475 Speaker 1: schedule countdown is tomorrow. Bulletins has the news warrant till then. 628 00:41:05,475 --> 00:41:08,515 Speaker 1: I'm Keith Olderman. Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and 629 00:41:08,835 --> 00:41:20,675 Speaker 1: good luck. Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. 630 00:41:20,955 --> 00:41:26,275 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 631 00:41:26,395 --> 00:41:28,355 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.