1 00:00:04,795 --> 00:00:23,195 Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. Good News. Everyone. 2 00:00:23,875 --> 00:00:28,875 Speaker 1: Trump saved us from nuclear holocaust. He did so by 3 00:00:28,955 --> 00:00:33,035 Speaker 1: doing something no president had ever done before, and only 4 00:00:33,275 --> 00:00:37,155 Speaker 1: he could have thought of, and only he realized, and 5 00:00:37,315 --> 00:00:44,115 Speaker 1: only he accomplished. He dealt with North Korea. Were you 6 00:00:44,235 --> 00:00:46,795 Speaker 1: in charge of the Trump Organization? He was asked in 7 00:00:46,835 --> 00:00:49,515 Speaker 1: a deposition last April for the State of New York's 8 00:00:49,515 --> 00:00:52,475 Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty million dollars civil fraud lawsuit against 9 00:00:52,475 --> 00:00:55,795 Speaker 1: the company, a transcript of which has just been unsealed. 10 00:00:56,235 --> 00:00:56,435 Speaker 2: No. 11 00:00:57,235 --> 00:01:00,755 Speaker 1: Trump explained he was not in charge. Quote. I was 12 00:01:01,035 --> 00:01:06,115 Speaker 1: very busy. I was I considered this the most important 13 00:01:06,195 --> 00:01:15,635 Speaker 1: job in the world, saving millions of lives. Unquote. Ah, 14 00:01:15,715 --> 00:01:19,915 Speaker 1: when was that quote? I think you would have nuclear 15 00:01:19,995 --> 00:01:23,515 Speaker 1: holocaust if I didn't deal with North Korea. I think 16 00:01:23,555 --> 00:01:26,275 Speaker 1: you would have a nuclear war if I weren't elected. 17 00:01:26,515 --> 00:01:29,315 Speaker 1: And I think you might have a nuclear war now, 18 00:01:29,555 --> 00:01:32,915 Speaker 1: if you want to know the truth unquote. 19 00:01:34,475 --> 00:01:34,635 Speaker 3: Uh. 20 00:01:37,595 --> 00:01:44,075 Speaker 1: Thanks. This underscores a part of Trump's insanity that it 21 00:01:44,155 --> 00:01:47,315 Speaker 1: sometimes seems like we have gotten all too used to 22 00:01:48,035 --> 00:01:52,875 Speaker 1: He really does think he is the first person to 23 00:01:53,035 --> 00:01:56,075 Speaker 1: have ever thought of something, or to have ever done 24 00:01:56,195 --> 00:01:59,355 Speaker 1: something that, in fact, everybody else in his position did 25 00:01:59,395 --> 00:02:02,795 Speaker 1: as long ago as nineteen forty six. I never hear 26 00:02:02,915 --> 00:02:06,315 Speaker 1: him say something like this. Only I saved millions of lives, 27 00:02:06,435 --> 00:02:09,915 Speaker 1: because only I dealt with North Korea without thinking of 28 00:02:09,915 --> 00:02:14,275 Speaker 1: what the idiot director Roger Debris in mel Brooks's movie 29 00:02:14,315 --> 00:02:18,155 Speaker 1: The Producers says about the play itself, quote, I never 30 00:02:18,195 --> 00:02:21,555 Speaker 1: knew that the third reichmant Germany. I mean, it's just 31 00:02:21,715 --> 00:02:27,915 Speaker 1: drenched with historical goodies like that. That is Trump. If 32 00:02:27,915 --> 00:02:31,315 Speaker 1: that was not enough insanity for you in this deposition, 33 00:02:31,995 --> 00:02:34,315 Speaker 1: parts of which are included in the latest edition of 34 00:02:34,315 --> 00:02:38,715 Speaker 1: The New York Times. And remember, the deposition was supposed 35 00:02:38,715 --> 00:02:43,315 Speaker 1: to be about how the Trump organization defrauded everybody and how, 36 00:02:43,315 --> 00:02:47,075 Speaker 1: according to prosecutors, Trump frequently overstated his net worth, sometimes 37 00:02:47,075 --> 00:02:49,315 Speaker 1: by as much as two billion to ordred million dollars. 38 00:02:49,795 --> 00:02:55,515 Speaker 1: Trump also explains to Senior Attorney Kevin Wallace, quote, friends 39 00:02:55,515 --> 00:02:58,675 Speaker 1: of mine have said you are the most honest person 40 00:02:58,835 --> 00:03:02,235 Speaker 1: in the world. So we've done a good job. Don't 41 00:03:02,235 --> 00:03:06,995 Speaker 1: get credit for it. Well, we did say thanks for 42 00:03:07,035 --> 00:03:11,315 Speaker 1: stopping the big blowy uppy God, this guy is nuts. 43 00:03:11,795 --> 00:03:15,755 Speaker 1: Why Lord, have you blighted us with this nuts guy. 44 00:03:17,915 --> 00:03:21,275 Speaker 1: One last exchange from the transcript with Trump attorney Christopher 45 00:03:21,315 --> 00:03:25,715 Speaker 1: Kais talking to Attorney General's Office attorney Kevin Wallace Kiss. 46 00:03:26,355 --> 00:03:28,555 Speaker 1: We're gonna be here until midnight if you keep asking 47 00:03:28,635 --> 00:03:32,555 Speaker 1: questions that are all over the map. Wallace, Chris, We're 48 00:03:32,555 --> 00:03:35,475 Speaker 1: gonna be here until midnight if your client answers every 49 00:03:35,595 --> 00:03:40,635 Speaker 1: question with an eight minute speech. I can see it now. 50 00:03:41,115 --> 00:03:46,555 Speaker 1: The epitaph on Trump's headstone, You're welcome. Welcome, of course 51 00:03:46,595 --> 00:03:50,595 Speaker 1: in all caps. You know the headstone near the bunker 52 00:03:50,635 --> 00:03:57,715 Speaker 1: on twelve at Bedminster. Regardless of the chaff being thrown 53 00:03:57,835 --> 00:04:01,435 Speaker 1: at the prosecutors at every turn, there is progress around 54 00:04:01,475 --> 00:04:06,595 Speaker 1: the edges. Peter Navarro, the poc it sized financial charlatan 55 00:04:06,675 --> 00:04:10,155 Speaker 1: and Trump loyalists who defied a subpoena to testify to 56 00:04:10,235 --> 00:04:12,635 Speaker 1: the January sixth Committee, has now lost his bid to 57 00:04:12,795 --> 00:04:16,715 Speaker 1: avoid trial for that defiance, and the trial will begin Tuesday, 58 00:04:17,275 --> 00:04:19,795 Speaker 1: and in doing so, Navarro provided one of the most 59 00:04:19,915 --> 00:04:24,355 Speaker 1: joyful moments of the last eight years. Navarro insisted Trump 60 00:04:24,395 --> 00:04:27,755 Speaker 1: had asserted executive privilege to keep him from testifying, which 61 00:04:27,835 --> 00:04:31,035 Speaker 1: was a neat trick since a Trump was not president then, 62 00:04:31,395 --> 00:04:33,955 Speaker 1: and B the committee had not even been formed when 63 00:04:33,995 --> 00:04:38,115 Speaker 1: Trump was still president, and most relevantly, C Navarro could 64 00:04:38,115 --> 00:04:41,475 Speaker 1: not prove Trump even tried it after he was president. 65 00:04:42,235 --> 00:04:45,995 Speaker 1: But the satisfying moment came when, as he addressed the 66 00:04:46,035 --> 00:04:48,595 Speaker 1: media following the judge's ruling that the trial will go 67 00:04:48,715 --> 00:04:53,515 Speaker 1: on the five to six ish, Navarro realized that there 68 00:04:53,515 --> 00:04:56,355 Speaker 1: had been a woman standing behind him all that time, 69 00:04:56,635 --> 00:04:59,995 Speaker 1: holding a sign reading Trump lost and you know it. 70 00:05:01,235 --> 00:05:04,995 Speaker 1: Navarro then reached up to grab the sign from her hand, 71 00:05:05,155 --> 00:05:09,555 Speaker 1: and she nonchalantly and effortlessly reached it up about an 72 00:05:09,595 --> 00:05:14,875 Speaker 1: inch or so higher, and Navarro could not grab it. 73 00:05:15,475 --> 00:05:19,195 Speaker 1: He was s out of luck is in here? Anybody 74 00:05:19,195 --> 00:05:24,995 Speaker 1: want to own up to that? Here's the problem, bro, 75 00:05:25,595 --> 00:05:32,315 Speaker 1: you're already facing charges. Y, So this whole time situation, Yes, okay, 76 00:05:33,515 --> 00:05:36,875 Speaker 1: if you did not hear that woman clearly, she says, Bro, 77 00:05:37,675 --> 00:05:41,675 Speaker 1: you're already facing charges, go ahead and commit another crime. 78 00:05:42,555 --> 00:05:49,515 Speaker 1: I've been standing here the whole time situational awareness unquote. 79 00:05:49,755 --> 00:05:55,435 Speaker 1: And that woman's name was Fannie Willis. In a different 80 00:05:55,595 --> 00:05:59,875 Speaker 1: Washington courtroom, Judge Beryl Howell ruled against Rudy Giuliani in 81 00:05:59,915 --> 00:06:03,195 Speaker 1: the defamation case. Against him by the Georgia election workers, 82 00:06:03,275 --> 00:06:06,355 Speaker 1: Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. But if you've heard reporting 83 00:06:06,355 --> 00:06:10,315 Speaker 1: that Giuliani has lost that case, that is not exactly correct. 84 00:06:10,555 --> 00:06:13,475 Speaker 1: The judge simply ruled that the case can continue against 85 00:06:13,515 --> 00:06:17,235 Speaker 1: Giuliani because he clearly said what the two women claim 86 00:06:17,315 --> 00:06:19,795 Speaker 1: he said, and now they can take the case to 87 00:06:19,875 --> 00:06:23,835 Speaker 1: trial and see what, if any damages Giuliani owes them, 88 00:06:23,875 --> 00:06:26,915 Speaker 1: proving that Rudy has never, not even for a stretch 89 00:06:26,955 --> 00:06:30,275 Speaker 1: of eight or ten minutes, been half as smart as 90 00:06:30,275 --> 00:06:33,555 Speaker 1: he thinks he is. Rudy Giuliani then promptly went on 91 00:06:33,675 --> 00:06:37,075 Speaker 1: the air with Greg Kelly of Newsmax and smeared Freeman 92 00:06:37,155 --> 00:06:41,515 Speaker 1: and Moss again. Quote, I interpreted what I saw on 93 00:06:41,555 --> 00:06:44,275 Speaker 1: a tape. I still interpret it that way. I mean, 94 00:06:44,315 --> 00:06:47,555 Speaker 1: there's no doubt they were screwing around. What I said 95 00:06:47,555 --> 00:06:50,595 Speaker 1: about Ruby Freeman is that they violated the law of 96 00:06:50,675 --> 00:06:53,915 Speaker 1: Georgia in the way they counted those ballots. There's no 97 00:06:54,115 --> 00:06:57,195 Speaker 1: question they did. They threw the public out, you can 98 00:06:57,235 --> 00:06:59,795 Speaker 1: see that on the tape, and it's clear that they 99 00:06:59,795 --> 00:07:05,515 Speaker 1: were hiding the ballots. Unquote. I have two options here. 100 00:07:05,515 --> 00:07:08,115 Speaker 1: I'm wondering if these remarks will be added to the 101 00:07:08,195 --> 00:07:11,075 Speaker 1: current case against Giuliani, or they will be made into 102 00:07:11,075 --> 00:07:15,035 Speaker 1: a second and entirely new one. Either way, this prediction 103 00:07:15,475 --> 00:07:20,395 Speaker 1: someday years from now, when Rudy Giuliani is a footnote 104 00:07:20,435 --> 00:07:24,195 Speaker 1: to the coverage of nine to eleven. If the nation survives, 105 00:07:24,475 --> 00:07:29,795 Speaker 1: there will be statues erected to honor Ruby Freeman and 106 00:07:29,875 --> 00:07:35,275 Speaker 1: Shay Moss in not a Washington courtroom, but a well 107 00:07:35,315 --> 00:07:39,315 Speaker 1: known popular capitol building in that same city. The revenge 108 00:07:39,355 --> 00:07:43,595 Speaker 1: fantasies continue to inflate inside Trump's semi human brain, and 109 00:07:43,715 --> 00:07:46,075 Speaker 1: one of them looks like it's going to send Kevin 110 00:07:46,155 --> 00:07:50,155 Speaker 1: McCarthy right over a cliff. There is no question that 111 00:07:50,195 --> 00:07:53,595 Speaker 1: the Republicans are going to try to impeach President Biden, 112 00:07:54,195 --> 00:07:57,835 Speaker 1: almost solely doing so to get Trump off their backs, 113 00:07:58,395 --> 00:08:01,275 Speaker 1: and they may try to do it without first getting 114 00:08:01,355 --> 00:08:06,715 Speaker 1: a House vote approving and impeachment inquiry. The problem with 115 00:08:06,875 --> 00:08:09,675 Speaker 1: that is when the Democrats tried to start the first 116 00:08:09,715 --> 00:08:13,235 Speaker 1: Trump impeachment without a vote on an inquiry, the Republicans 117 00:08:13,355 --> 00:08:18,155 Speaker 1: wailed so loudly Congressman Doug Collins memorably screamed, it's not 118 00:08:18,315 --> 00:08:22,955 Speaker 1: impeachment unless there is a vote. That Nancy Pelosi held 119 00:08:22,955 --> 00:08:26,635 Speaker 1: the vote. So now McCarthy has two choices. It's not 120 00:08:26,795 --> 00:08:31,075 Speaker 1: impeachment without a vote, or hold the vote and watch 121 00:08:31,115 --> 00:08:34,075 Speaker 1: it fail because he doesn't have two hundred and eighteen 122 00:08:34,115 --> 00:08:36,955 Speaker 1: Republican votes, because of his congressmen who were elected in 123 00:08:36,995 --> 00:08:42,715 Speaker 1: districts won by Biden. More amazingly, there is more awareness 124 00:08:42,755 --> 00:08:45,475 Speaker 1: within the Republican caucus than there is in the American 125 00:08:45,515 --> 00:08:49,235 Speaker 1: news media that while yes, the Republicans don't have the votes, 126 00:08:49,595 --> 00:08:53,795 Speaker 1: they also don't have the evidence. Politico quotes a senior 127 00:08:53,875 --> 00:08:57,355 Speaker 1: gopaid who sees what might be a train wreck for 128 00:08:57,475 --> 00:09:01,355 Speaker 1: the ages coming as saying, we haven't proven the case 129 00:09:01,395 --> 00:09:04,755 Speaker 1: for impeachment yet, how can you start impeachment. We have 130 00:09:04,915 --> 00:09:07,555 Speaker 1: done what you need to do to start impeachment. There 131 00:09:07,755 --> 00:09:12,715 Speaker 1: is no way we'd get the votes, unquote, mister speaker. 132 00:09:13,515 --> 00:09:18,155 Speaker 1: Just Thelma and Louise. This thing hit the gas. The 133 00:09:18,235 --> 00:09:28,675 Speaker 1: canyon is that way down at the granular level. A 134 00:09:28,795 --> 00:09:33,275 Speaker 1: Georgia State politician prostituting himself to protect the criminal Trump 135 00:09:33,355 --> 00:09:37,675 Speaker 1: against prosecution by Fulton County District Attorney Willis has now 136 00:09:37,715 --> 00:09:40,635 Speaker 1: had the audacity to claim that the district attorney is 137 00:09:40,755 --> 00:09:47,955 Speaker 1: using quote her position in a political manner. She's politicizing this. 138 00:09:47,955 --> 00:09:52,275 Speaker 1: This guy has threatened Fannie Willis with reprimands, sanctions, hearings, 139 00:09:52,555 --> 00:09:56,875 Speaker 1: state Senate investigations, and removal under a new law to 140 00:09:57,035 --> 00:10:05,515 Speaker 1: oust wayward prosecutors. And she's the one politicizing this. This 141 00:10:05,755 --> 00:10:10,755 Speaker 1: cracker's name is Steve Gooch. No, I'm not making that up. 142 00:10:11,195 --> 00:10:20,755 Speaker 1: Gooch gch and he is the Majority leader. And if 143 00:10:20,795 --> 00:10:24,475 Speaker 1: he did not already sound like a complete cliche, Steve 144 00:10:24,675 --> 00:10:31,235 Speaker 1: Gooch grew up in Lumpkin County, Georgia. He's one of 145 00:10:31,235 --> 00:10:38,075 Speaker 1: the Lumpkin Gooches. And the real surprise about Steve Gooch's 146 00:10:38,115 --> 00:10:41,915 Speaker 1: remarks Wednesday was that they have been met with blowback 147 00:10:42,355 --> 00:10:46,395 Speaker 1: from within the Georgia Republican Party. Georgia House Speaker John 148 00:10:46,475 --> 00:10:50,915 Speaker 1: Burns has taken an extraordinary step of writing to the 149 00:10:50,915 --> 00:10:53,795 Speaker 1: rest of his caucus to dismiss what he calls quote 150 00:10:53,955 --> 00:10:58,635 Speaker 1: theatrics like this. Burns writes, a select few are calling 151 00:10:58,675 --> 00:11:02,035 Speaker 1: to defund a duly elected district attorney of this state 152 00:11:02,355 --> 00:11:04,955 Speaker 1: and her office in an attempt to end that's your 153 00:11:04,955 --> 00:11:09,155 Speaker 1: fear with the criminal justice system. Let me id this 154 00:11:09,235 --> 00:11:12,595 Speaker 1: guy again, he is the Republican Speaker of the Georgia 155 00:11:12,675 --> 00:11:17,875 Speaker 1: State House, quote targeting one specific da in this banner 156 00:11:17,955 --> 00:11:21,755 Speaker 1: certainly flaunts the idea of separation of powers, if not 157 00:11:21,955 --> 00:11:28,515 Speaker 1: outright violates it. Speaker Burns, a Republican, also points out 158 00:11:28,595 --> 00:11:31,275 Speaker 1: that the state government does not have a kind of 159 00:11:31,435 --> 00:11:35,235 Speaker 1: line item veto on the salaries of each prosecutor. You 160 00:11:35,315 --> 00:11:39,635 Speaker 1: want to defund Fannie Willis, you have to defund all 161 00:11:39,755 --> 00:11:43,515 Speaker 1: the district attorneys in the state of Georgia, quoting Speaker 162 00:11:43,555 --> 00:11:47,075 Speaker 1: Burns again, regardless of your views of this case, removing 163 00:11:47,115 --> 00:11:50,395 Speaker 1: this funding would also have the unintended consequence of causing 164 00:11:50,435 --> 00:11:55,795 Speaker 1: a delay or complete lack of prosecution of other serious offenses. 165 00:11:58,795 --> 00:12:04,995 Speaker 1: The Speaker of the Georgia House, John Burns from Newington 166 00:12:05,115 --> 00:12:10,235 Speaker 1: near Savannah, Frankly, I fear for his life because back 167 00:12:10,235 --> 00:12:13,715 Speaker 1: in the State Senate, where Majority Leader Gooch is saying 168 00:12:13,755 --> 00:12:19,435 Speaker 1: Willis is quote definitely tainted, Gooch is actually one of 169 00:12:19,475 --> 00:12:23,995 Speaker 1: the moderate Republican senators. While betraying his office by serving 170 00:12:24,035 --> 00:12:28,235 Speaker 1: Trump instead of America, Gooch found himself reprimanding Georgia freshman 171 00:12:28,315 --> 00:12:31,835 Speaker 1: State Senator Colton Moore, whom I have quoted here repeatedly 172 00:12:31,875 --> 00:12:33,835 Speaker 1: ever since he claimed that the defendants in the Trump 173 00:12:33,875 --> 00:12:38,395 Speaker 1: case are now facing death by lethal injection. More seems 174 00:12:38,435 --> 00:12:41,115 Speaker 1: to have backed off that and now says it's not 175 00:12:41,275 --> 00:12:44,795 Speaker 1: death by lethal injection, just life in prison and just 176 00:12:44,835 --> 00:12:48,235 Speaker 1: for fun, he mixed in the Civil War. Moore wants 177 00:12:48,275 --> 00:12:52,035 Speaker 1: a special session of the Georgia Senate called to impeach 178 00:12:52,075 --> 00:12:57,715 Speaker 1: Fannie Willis because she indicted Trump with absolutely no irony 179 00:12:57,755 --> 00:13:01,315 Speaker 1: in his voice nor any self awareness. Majority Leader Gooch 180 00:13:01,555 --> 00:13:04,035 Speaker 1: has responded to that with, quote, we want to make 181 00:13:04,075 --> 00:13:06,995 Speaker 1: sure we come down, we look at this stuff deliberately, 182 00:13:07,035 --> 00:13:10,075 Speaker 1: and we do it in a mature way. You see. 183 00:13:10,115 --> 00:13:14,395 Speaker 1: Gooch opposes this special session idea not because it's an 184 00:13:14,435 --> 00:13:17,435 Speaker 1: abuse of the separation of powers, but because it would 185 00:13:17,475 --> 00:13:23,635 Speaker 1: require support from some Democrats. And Gooch opposes the impeachment 186 00:13:23,675 --> 00:13:27,355 Speaker 1: idea not because it's obstruction of justice, but because it 187 00:13:27,395 --> 00:13:31,635 Speaker 1: would require a two thirds vote and quote, they're simply 188 00:13:31,715 --> 00:13:35,875 Speaker 1: no way we'd have the numbers to do that. What 189 00:13:36,075 --> 00:13:39,075 Speaker 1: we are seeing from the Republicans in the Georgia State 190 00:13:39,155 --> 00:13:42,435 Speaker 1: Senate is an utter breakdown of any awareness that they 191 00:13:42,435 --> 00:13:46,355 Speaker 1: are there to serve the state constitution and its laws, 192 00:13:46,755 --> 00:13:50,635 Speaker 1: and the nation or anything in fact except the whims 193 00:13:50,635 --> 00:13:54,235 Speaker 1: of their political cult and the Moloch at its head. 194 00:13:55,395 --> 00:13:59,315 Speaker 1: We will exercise Trump from this country. The courts will 195 00:13:59,355 --> 00:14:01,915 Speaker 1: get him, or those in his party who are worse 196 00:14:01,955 --> 00:14:04,755 Speaker 1: than he is will get him, or the actuarial t 197 00:14:05,115 --> 00:14:08,715 Speaker 1: will get him. But I do not know how we 198 00:14:08,755 --> 00:14:11,315 Speaker 1: will be able to relieve this nation of the stain 199 00:14:11,555 --> 00:14:14,475 Speaker 1: of this madness in the hearts and minds of the 200 00:14:14,475 --> 00:14:19,235 Speaker 1: Republicans that Trump has infected. When I say I worry 201 00:14:19,275 --> 00:14:23,155 Speaker 1: for the safety of Georgia House Speaker Burns, because he's 202 00:14:23,195 --> 00:14:26,435 Speaker 1: bringing up separation of powers and how you can't defund 203 00:14:26,515 --> 00:14:29,395 Speaker 1: one Georgia District attorney, you'd have to defund them all, 204 00:14:29,675 --> 00:14:31,715 Speaker 1: and if somehow you could, you'd also wind up ending 205 00:14:31,715 --> 00:14:34,955 Speaker 1: the prosecution of murder and rape in Fulton County. I'm 206 00:14:34,955 --> 00:14:39,715 Speaker 1: not exaggerating. Burns has brought common sense to a party 207 00:14:39,755 --> 00:14:43,595 Speaker 1: where Gooch is a moderate and more represents the we're 208 00:14:43,595 --> 00:14:47,275 Speaker 1: in the mood for a lynching wing of the state GOP. 209 00:14:51,515 --> 00:14:53,635 Speaker 1: So as always, we come back to my contention that 210 00:14:53,675 --> 00:14:56,235 Speaker 1: democracy is still breathing, not because of our efforts to 211 00:14:56,315 --> 00:14:58,475 Speaker 1: preserve it, but because of the stupidity of those who 212 00:14:58,475 --> 00:15:03,395 Speaker 1: would destroy it. Andy Clyde is the Georgia Congressman who 213 00:15:03,395 --> 00:15:06,555 Speaker 1: sits on the Appropriations Committee, and he thinks he can 214 00:15:06,595 --> 00:15:09,515 Speaker 1: save his Lord and Master Trump by defunding with US 215 00:15:09,955 --> 00:15:12,515 Speaker 1: and Alvin Bragg and Jack Smith, even though the first 216 00:15:12,515 --> 00:15:14,675 Speaker 1: two are not using federal funds and the third is 217 00:15:14,715 --> 00:15:18,435 Speaker 1: perpetually funded by the nineteen eighty seven Act which established 218 00:15:18,435 --> 00:15:28,395 Speaker 1: his office. Now Congressman Clyde is himself being investigated. Our 219 00:15:28,475 --> 00:15:32,715 Speaker 1: friends at CREWE Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington 220 00:15:32,875 --> 00:15:35,435 Speaker 1: have just filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional 221 00:15:35,435 --> 00:15:42,435 Speaker 1: Ethics because Andy Clyde is self dealing what looked like traditional, amoral, murderous, 222 00:15:42,555 --> 00:15:44,795 Speaker 1: run of the mill Republican worship of the thrill of 223 00:15:45,275 --> 00:15:48,315 Speaker 1: killing people with guns turns out to be worse than that. 224 00:15:48,955 --> 00:15:52,515 Speaker 1: In January, the Department of Justice approved stricter regulations on 225 00:15:52,755 --> 00:15:56,675 Speaker 1: stabilizing braces that allow pistols to be fired off the 226 00:15:56,755 --> 00:15:59,995 Speaker 1: shoulder like rifles, because God knows, we don't have enough 227 00:16:00,075 --> 00:16:04,995 Speaker 1: rifles in this country. They call these things pistol bracestively, 228 00:16:05,395 --> 00:16:08,475 Speaker 1: and they have factored in many mass shootings already, including 229 00:16:08,475 --> 00:16:11,795 Speaker 1: the one that claimed ten in a Boulder, Colorado grocery 230 00:16:11,835 --> 00:16:17,915 Speaker 1: store in twenty twenty one. Congressman Clyde naturally supports mass shootings, 231 00:16:18,155 --> 00:16:22,555 Speaker 1: specifically those that use pistol braces. He has introduced a 232 00:16:22,595 --> 00:16:26,435 Speaker 1: bill to eliminate most of the new restrictions on pistol braces. 233 00:16:26,635 --> 00:16:30,075 Speaker 1: He's introduced a Congressional resolution that would nullify the Department 234 00:16:30,115 --> 00:16:33,875 Speaker 1: of Justice rule about pistol braces. He's introduced an amendment 235 00:16:33,915 --> 00:16:37,355 Speaker 1: that would prevent ATF from spending any money to enforce 236 00:16:37,435 --> 00:16:43,955 Speaker 1: the rule. So whose pocket is Andy Clyde in his own? 237 00:16:44,835 --> 00:16:49,235 Speaker 1: Turns out Congressman Andy Clyde busily accusing Fannie Willis and 238 00:16:49,315 --> 00:16:52,235 Speaker 1: Alvin Bragg and Jacksmith of corruption and deceit, And this 239 00:16:52,515 --> 00:16:58,755 Speaker 1: that owns Clyde Armory, Inc. A company that sells firearms 240 00:16:58,955 --> 00:17:04,635 Speaker 1: that are equipped with pistol braces. Introducing legislation to law 241 00:17:04,995 --> 00:17:08,395 Speaker 1: his own pockets with money made from the blood of 242 00:17:08,555 --> 00:17:13,195 Speaker 1: mass shooting victims is not just wildly unethical, it may 243 00:17:13,235 --> 00:17:17,915 Speaker 1: in fact be illegal. But go on, Congressman, tell me 244 00:17:17,955 --> 00:17:27,115 Speaker 1: about the threat to the nation represented by Fannie Willis 245 00:17:28,435 --> 00:17:32,075 Speaker 1: also of interest here. Even by the slovenly ethical standards 246 00:17:32,075 --> 00:17:34,675 Speaker 1: of cable news, this would seem to be a no brainer. 247 00:17:35,035 --> 00:17:38,995 Speaker 1: You cannot be a cable news anchor while serving as 248 00:17:39,035 --> 00:17:43,035 Speaker 1: a media advisor to a three billion dollar international corporation 249 00:17:43,515 --> 00:17:47,955 Speaker 1: and flying on the founder's private jet and doing damage 250 00:17:48,035 --> 00:17:53,115 Speaker 1: control for him with other media outlets. Why MSNBC is 251 00:17:53,195 --> 00:17:57,155 Speaker 1: going to have to fire one of its primetime hosts. 252 00:17:57,995 --> 00:18:01,875 Speaker 1: Plus Wednesday at about two forty five pm Eastern, we 253 00:18:02,035 --> 00:18:04,675 Speaker 1: here hit a threshold, and I wanted to thank you 254 00:18:04,875 --> 00:18:08,235 Speaker 1: for it now and not wait till later. On February first, 255 00:18:08,235 --> 00:18:12,395 Speaker 1: we celebrated the first milestone of podcasts, the You Don't 256 00:18:12,595 --> 00:18:17,595 Speaker 1: Suck download milestone of an audience of one million in 257 00:18:17,675 --> 00:18:21,595 Speaker 1: one month. Yesterday we reached for the month of August 258 00:18:21,635 --> 00:18:26,155 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, between downloads and verified YouTube plays, the 259 00:18:26,235 --> 00:18:30,915 Speaker 1: milestone of a total audience of three million in one month. 260 00:18:32,515 --> 00:18:36,395 Speaker 1: I thank you. We will finish up what you downloaded 261 00:18:36,395 --> 00:18:40,795 Speaker 1: today in a moment. That's next. This is countdown. This 262 00:18:41,475 --> 00:18:54,515 Speaker 1: is countdown with Keith Elberman. Postscripts to the news, some headlines, 263 00:18:54,555 --> 00:18:58,355 Speaker 1: some updates, some snarks, some predictions. Dateline Covington, Kentucky. The 264 00:18:58,355 --> 00:19:03,195 Speaker 1: good news is during the latest Mitch glitch, whatever it was, 265 00:19:03,235 --> 00:19:06,635 Speaker 1: that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was looking 266 00:19:06,755 --> 00:19:11,315 Speaker 1: at out on a horizon only he could see. It 267 00:19:11,395 --> 00:19:14,395 Speaker 1: seemed like it made him happy. The bad news is, 268 00:19:14,475 --> 00:19:17,475 Speaker 1: for the second time in about a month, McConnell has frozen. 269 00:19:17,955 --> 00:19:21,115 Speaker 1: And his handlers, who would all need new jobs if 270 00:19:21,155 --> 00:19:23,395 Speaker 1: he say, had to resign or retire or he went 271 00:19:23,395 --> 00:19:26,435 Speaker 1: into a permanent stupor or something. They just kept him 272 00:19:26,435 --> 00:19:29,355 Speaker 1: out there in front of the media and pretended everything 273 00:19:29,475 --> 00:19:32,395 Speaker 1: was fine and he was just having trouble hearing I 274 00:19:32,515 --> 00:19:35,195 Speaker 1: see some of my thoughts about what running for reelection 275 00:19:35,595 --> 00:19:36,595 Speaker 1: in twenty eight sex? 276 00:19:37,995 --> 00:19:47,235 Speaker 4: Oh sure, did you hear the question senator running for 277 00:19:47,275 --> 00:19:48,715 Speaker 4: reelection in twenty twenty six? 278 00:19:51,035 --> 00:19:51,235 Speaker 2: Yeah? 279 00:19:53,155 --> 00:19:55,035 Speaker 3: All right, I'm sorry you are wearing a new minute. 280 00:19:57,315 --> 00:20:03,995 Speaker 4: Anyway outside on. 281 00:20:06,275 --> 00:20:17,995 Speaker 3: Okay, Sadi also have a question, please speak up? 282 00:20:18,635 --> 00:20:23,515 Speaker 1: Most concerning that followed a twenty minute talk by McConnell 283 00:20:23,595 --> 00:20:26,355 Speaker 1: to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in which everything 284 00:20:26,435 --> 00:20:30,635 Speaker 1: seemed to be okay. Cincinnati TV station WLWT reports that 285 00:20:30,795 --> 00:20:34,475 Speaker 1: between the speech and the freeze, McConnell quote walked down 286 00:20:34,515 --> 00:20:37,115 Speaker 1: a few steps from the podium and caught himself as 287 00:20:37,195 --> 00:20:39,755 Speaker 1: if he were about to fall as he approached his chair. 288 00:20:40,635 --> 00:20:44,115 Speaker 1: If you are wondering about the subtext here. Kentucky's Republican 289 00:20:44,235 --> 00:20:47,675 Speaker 1: legislature passed a law taking from the governor there the 290 00:20:47,795 --> 00:20:50,435 Speaker 1: right to appoint a new senator of his own choosing 291 00:20:50,515 --> 00:20:53,915 Speaker 1: to an empty seat. Now it must be a senator 292 00:20:53,955 --> 00:20:57,275 Speaker 1: from the same party as the departed incumbent, who is 293 00:20:57,395 --> 00:21:01,835 Speaker 1: selected from a list supplied by that party. Politico reports 294 00:21:01,875 --> 00:21:04,035 Speaker 1: that asked about whether he would go along with that 295 00:21:04,195 --> 00:21:07,875 Speaker 1: new law or simply ignore it, appoint to Democrat and 296 00:21:07,995 --> 00:21:11,475 Speaker 1: take his chances in the courts, Kentucky's Democratic Governor, Andy 297 00:21:11,515 --> 00:21:17,195 Speaker 1: Basher twice refused to answer, and Dateline Washington prosecutors wanted 298 00:21:17,235 --> 00:21:21,395 Speaker 1: Judge Timothy Kelly to sentence Proud Boys leaders Enrique Tarrio 299 00:21:21,635 --> 00:21:24,515 Speaker 1: and Ethan Nordeen to thirty three and twenty seven years 300 00:21:24,755 --> 00:21:29,395 Speaker 1: in prison, respectively, yesterday after their convictions for seditious conspiracy. 301 00:21:29,795 --> 00:21:32,715 Speaker 1: As the time for sentencing came and went, Tario and 302 00:21:32,875 --> 00:21:38,315 Speaker 1: Nordeen were sentenced to nothing was postponed Judge Kelly had 303 00:21:38,635 --> 00:21:42,275 Speaker 1: a medical issue. Nordean will now be sentenced along with 304 00:21:42,395 --> 00:21:45,875 Speaker 1: other Proud Boys members on Friday. Tario will not be 305 00:21:45,995 --> 00:21:50,355 Speaker 1: sentenced until next Tuesday. And I know that sounds completely fishy, 306 00:21:50,435 --> 00:22:08,555 Speaker 1: but that's only because it is still ahead on countdown. 307 00:22:08,635 --> 00:22:11,355 Speaker 1: It may have been the day American television news jumped 308 00:22:11,395 --> 00:22:15,395 Speaker 1: the shark. Wow the first day and the shark was 309 00:22:15,595 --> 00:22:20,195 Speaker 1: in the Rubicon twenty six years ago. Now this weekend, 310 00:22:20,315 --> 00:22:24,355 Speaker 1: since we humiliated ourselves after the tragic death of Diana, 311 00:22:24,435 --> 00:22:26,755 Speaker 1: Princess of Wales. Coming up in Things I promise not 312 00:22:26,875 --> 00:22:29,755 Speaker 1: to tell first time for the daily roundup of the Misgrants, 313 00:22:29,795 --> 00:22:33,755 Speaker 1: Warns and Dunning Kruger effects specimens who constitute today's worst 314 00:22:33,875 --> 00:22:38,315 Speaker 1: persons in the world lebrons. Holly Peterson of San Francisco. 315 00:22:38,835 --> 00:22:43,235 Speaker 1: She's an anti pickleball activist. I know that sounds ridiculous, 316 00:22:43,275 --> 00:22:45,755 Speaker 1: but this is serious stuff. The noise of that game, 317 00:22:46,275 --> 00:22:52,035 Speaker 1: puck puck, puck, puck, puck puck. The noise of that 318 00:22:52,235 --> 00:22:55,995 Speaker 1: game for hours on end is so maddening that some 319 00:22:56,315 --> 00:23:01,115 Speaker 1: anti pickleball activists in British Columbia started a hunger strike. 320 00:23:02,115 --> 00:23:04,195 Speaker 1: Here in New York, they turned the skating rink in 321 00:23:04,275 --> 00:23:07,715 Speaker 1: Central Park into like a twenty four court pickleball complex, 322 00:23:08,115 --> 00:23:11,595 Speaker 1: and that pock pock sound is annoying, though it's not 323 00:23:11,675 --> 00:23:14,195 Speaker 1: as bad as the roller disco they had here last 324 00:23:14,235 --> 00:23:18,195 Speaker 1: summer that played the same track every night. Oh it's 325 00:23:18,275 --> 00:23:22,435 Speaker 1: Donna summer must be seven fifty eight pm. But peterson 326 00:23:22,595 --> 00:23:26,755 Speaker 1: San Francisco eight bedroom home sits right on top of 327 00:23:26,795 --> 00:23:30,955 Speaker 1: the Presidio Wall playground there, and that's where they have 328 00:23:31,155 --> 00:23:34,675 Speaker 1: pickleball courts in San Francisco. And at that close distance 329 00:23:34,755 --> 00:23:38,595 Speaker 1: it is maddening, life altering, she says. Miss Peterson has 330 00:23:38,635 --> 00:23:42,915 Speaker 1: started a petition, and that's fine. I hear her almost literally. 331 00:23:43,555 --> 00:23:47,115 Speaker 1: But there's a twist here. The San Francisco Chronicle reports 332 00:23:47,155 --> 00:23:49,395 Speaker 1: that in that eight bedroom home that she is trying 333 00:23:49,435 --> 00:23:53,715 Speaker 1: to sell now for thirty six million dollars, Holly Peterson 334 00:23:53,755 --> 00:24:01,275 Speaker 1: has a built in pickleball court. Pickleball not lest g 335 00:24:01,635 --> 00:24:04,995 Speaker 1: be pickleball judged. The runner up Robert O'Neil, who his 336 00:24:05,075 --> 00:24:07,515 Speaker 1: living claiming to people that he killed Osama Bin Laden 337 00:24:07,955 --> 00:24:10,875 Speaker 1: and then going on Fox and then Newsmax and insulting 338 00:24:10,915 --> 00:24:13,875 Speaker 1: people as a commentator and tying everything that happens in 339 00:24:13,955 --> 00:24:16,955 Speaker 1: the world, from our stance against China to the use 340 00:24:16,995 --> 00:24:20,035 Speaker 1: of masks during the pandemic to how he killed Osama 341 00:24:20,075 --> 00:24:23,635 Speaker 1: bin Lada quote thank god it wasn't Delta flying us 342 00:24:23,635 --> 00:24:27,715 Speaker 1: when we killed Bin Laden unquote idiot so drunk he 343 00:24:27,795 --> 00:24:31,395 Speaker 1: fell asleep At a Texas hotel bar, a guard tried 344 00:24:31,395 --> 00:24:34,835 Speaker 1: to escort O'Neill to a room. He was arrested after 345 00:24:34,915 --> 00:24:37,155 Speaker 1: he allegedly punched the guard and twice called him the 346 00:24:37,355 --> 00:24:40,035 Speaker 1: N word. Asked for his statement by the New York Post, 347 00:24:40,115 --> 00:24:42,475 Speaker 1: O'Neil launched into a speech about how he fired the 348 00:24:42,555 --> 00:24:47,115 Speaker 1: shots that killed Osama bin Laden. But the winner Stephanie 349 00:24:47,315 --> 00:24:52,355 Speaker 1: Rule of MSNBC. Anybody remember when CNN fired Chris Cuomo 350 00:24:52,475 --> 00:24:55,155 Speaker 1: a year ago because he was secretly advising his brother, 351 00:24:55,315 --> 00:24:58,755 Speaker 1: the embattled governor of New York, and his boss was 352 00:24:58,795 --> 00:25:02,155 Speaker 1: also secretly advising the governor, and so was his boss's girlfriend, 353 00:25:02,675 --> 00:25:05,355 Speaker 1: and they were all soft pedaling CNN coverage of the 354 00:25:05,395 --> 00:25:10,275 Speaker 1: governor's scandals. Remember that MSNBC has a similar problem, and 355 00:25:10,315 --> 00:25:12,635 Speaker 1: the only reason it is not viewed as a bigger 356 00:25:12,755 --> 00:25:16,235 Speaker 1: problem is when Stephanie Rule did this, she was a 357 00:25:16,355 --> 00:25:21,635 Speaker 1: business reporter elsewhere at Bloomberg News. CNBC reports, and that's 358 00:25:21,755 --> 00:25:26,755 Speaker 1: kind of uncomfortable CNBC reporting about MSNBC. CNBC reports that 359 00:25:26,875 --> 00:25:31,235 Speaker 1: something unfortunate came up in a shareholder lawsuit against Kevin Plank, 360 00:25:31,435 --> 00:25:35,195 Speaker 1: the founder of under Armor, charging him with artificially inflating 361 00:25:35,275 --> 00:25:38,395 Speaker 1: the price of the stock and costing investors' money. When 362 00:25:38,475 --> 00:25:42,435 Speaker 1: Morgan Stanley had downgraded the company stock in twenty sixteen, 363 00:25:43,235 --> 00:25:48,275 Speaker 1: Stephanie Rule asked the founder, Plank, to send her company 364 00:25:48,435 --> 00:25:52,115 Speaker 1: private data that would contradict a report, and then she 365 00:25:52,315 --> 00:25:55,635 Speaker 1: advised that they should send that data to other media outlets. 366 00:25:55,995 --> 00:25:59,075 Speaker 1: And when the stock improved, Plank said he was saying 367 00:25:59,155 --> 00:26:01,355 Speaker 1: thank you to Stephanie Rule by arranging for her to 368 00:26:01,515 --> 00:26:07,635 Speaker 1: interview company spokesperson NBA star Steph Curry. Then she was 369 00:26:07,755 --> 00:26:11,075 Speaker 1: suddenly taking trips on Plank's private jet, and then he 370 00:26:11,195 --> 00:26:14,275 Speaker 1: established a private phone number so she could advise him 371 00:26:14,315 --> 00:26:18,395 Speaker 1: on media relations in private while she was supposedly covering 372 00:26:18,435 --> 00:26:22,195 Speaker 1: his company as a member of the media. Asked if 373 00:26:22,235 --> 00:26:24,395 Speaker 1: she was flying as a friend or as a reporter, 374 00:26:24,555 --> 00:26:27,435 Speaker 1: she answered, quote, I was flying on his plane as myself. 375 00:26:27,635 --> 00:26:30,635 Speaker 1: Stephanie Rule, I'm not really in a category one or 376 00:26:30,715 --> 00:26:36,035 Speaker 1: the other. Ethics here MSNBC and Stephanie Rule rightly covering 377 00:26:36,195 --> 00:26:39,955 Speaker 1: Clarence Thomas improperly taking free jet trips from people whose 378 00:26:39,995 --> 00:26:43,595 Speaker 1: cases he might adjudicate, and correctly pointing out the appearance 379 00:26:43,675 --> 00:26:47,075 Speaker 1: of a conflict of interest Meanwhile, Rule had taken her 380 00:26:47,115 --> 00:26:50,515 Speaker 1: own undisclosed free jet trips from people she covered and 381 00:26:50,675 --> 00:26:54,675 Speaker 1: might cover again, and serving as their media advisor. Is 382 00:26:54,755 --> 00:26:57,995 Speaker 1: it exactly the same thing, No, it is not. Is 383 00:26:58,075 --> 00:27:00,755 Speaker 1: it that serious? No it is not. Is it close 384 00:27:00,875 --> 00:27:06,715 Speaker 1: enough to merit firing her? Yeah, you can't do that, Stephanie. 385 00:27:07,075 --> 00:27:10,995 Speaker 1: I can be media and your media consultants simultaneously Rule 386 00:27:11,355 --> 00:27:29,955 Speaker 1: today's worst person in the world. Just ahead, there's the 387 00:27:30,075 --> 00:27:33,395 Speaker 1: old line about never going to see how sausages are made. 388 00:27:34,115 --> 00:27:36,595 Speaker 1: Then there's the only thing that's worse than that, the 389 00:27:36,715 --> 00:27:39,835 Speaker 1: day you realize that the place you work actually is 390 00:27:40,915 --> 00:27:44,395 Speaker 1: where the sausages are made. The coverage of the death 391 00:27:44,435 --> 00:27:47,195 Speaker 1: of Princess Diana twenty six years ago. This weekend Things 392 00:27:47,235 --> 00:27:49,875 Speaker 1: I promised not to tell next first time to feature 393 00:27:49,875 --> 00:27:51,995 Speaker 1: another dog in need. You can help. Every dog has 394 00:27:52,035 --> 00:27:56,315 Speaker 1: its day. Thomas is five months old, an ordinary white 395 00:27:56,395 --> 00:27:59,435 Speaker 1: and cream and black mutt. And they had to amputate 396 00:27:59,555 --> 00:28:01,555 Speaker 1: one leg in the back and two in the front 397 00:28:01,595 --> 00:28:04,155 Speaker 1: are broken, and the fourth one is mangled, and he 398 00:28:04,315 --> 00:28:07,515 Speaker 1: is lying. They're wagging his tail at the people taking 399 00:28:07,675 --> 00:28:10,995 Speaker 1: care of him. Bite wounds, possible violence at the hands 400 00:28:11,035 --> 00:28:15,115 Speaker 1: of humans found on train tracks and he's wagging his 401 00:28:15,395 --> 00:28:18,875 Speaker 1: tail at people who are taking care of him. Thomas 402 00:28:18,995 --> 00:28:22,275 Speaker 1: is on antibiotics and getting laser treatments for the pain, 403 00:28:22,955 --> 00:28:25,035 Speaker 1: and he was not supposed to make it. He's going 404 00:28:25,115 --> 00:28:27,915 Speaker 1: to make it. Our friends at Hounds and Pounds found him. 405 00:28:27,955 --> 00:28:30,115 Speaker 1: They're caring for him, and they are doing the fundraiser 406 00:28:30,155 --> 00:28:32,995 Speaker 1: at cudley dot com. And you can help by donating 407 00:28:33,155 --> 00:28:36,035 Speaker 1: or by finding him on my feed and retweeting him. 408 00:28:36,035 --> 00:28:40,315 Speaker 1: Look for Thomas at Cudley. Thomas. Thanks you, and I 409 00:28:40,435 --> 00:28:52,635 Speaker 1: thank you finally to our number one story on the 410 00:28:52,715 --> 00:28:56,435 Speaker 1: countdown and my favorite topic, me and things I promised 411 00:28:56,475 --> 00:28:59,995 Speaker 1: not to tell. The date on the death certificate was Sunday, 412 00:29:00,075 --> 00:29:03,395 Speaker 1: August thirty first, nineteen ninety seven, but because of the 413 00:29:03,515 --> 00:29:06,755 Speaker 1: time difference, the news was known here very late on 414 00:29:06,835 --> 00:29:09,915 Speaker 1: the night of Saturday, August thirtieth, nineteen ninety seven. It 415 00:29:10,075 --> 00:29:13,395 Speaker 1: was the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. And please 416 00:29:13,515 --> 00:29:16,675 Speaker 1: do not misunderstand me. I'm not equating anything that happened 417 00:29:16,715 --> 00:29:19,955 Speaker 1: to me around that time with what happened to her, 418 00:29:20,795 --> 00:29:23,475 Speaker 1: or what happened to those who loved her, or what 419 00:29:23,595 --> 00:29:26,195 Speaker 1: happened to those who simply admired her from Afar. But 420 00:29:26,355 --> 00:29:29,915 Speaker 1: in retrospect, I can see that Saturday night as a 421 00:29:30,075 --> 00:29:34,315 Speaker 1: demarcation point in the history of news in this country. 422 00:29:34,915 --> 00:29:37,595 Speaker 1: Three nights earlier, I had watched them pack the last 423 00:29:37,675 --> 00:29:40,955 Speaker 1: of my stuff into the van at my home in Southington, Connecticut, 424 00:29:41,155 --> 00:29:42,955 Speaker 1: where I had lived for five and a half years, 425 00:29:42,995 --> 00:29:46,835 Speaker 1: while I did ESPN's Sports Center. Great show, much of it, 426 00:29:46,995 --> 00:29:50,515 Speaker 1: great fun, a great partner, a great house, four bedrooms, 427 00:29:50,515 --> 00:29:53,955 Speaker 1: three thousand square feet. He did swimming pool house, fact system, 428 00:29:54,315 --> 00:29:58,195 Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty one thousand dollars. All that was great, 429 00:29:58,715 --> 00:30:01,595 Speaker 1: not really a great life. I was on my way 430 00:30:01,675 --> 00:30:05,755 Speaker 1: to a new life at MSNBC was a photo shoot 431 00:30:05,795 --> 00:30:09,635 Speaker 1: for Esquire. They dressed me up like Austin Powers. I 432 00:30:09,755 --> 00:30:13,035 Speaker 1: didn't get it then, I don't get it now. Then 433 00:30:13,075 --> 00:30:15,395 Speaker 1: an interview with TV Guide, and then suddenly an invitation 434 00:30:15,515 --> 00:30:18,075 Speaker 1: for my old friend and new boss, Phil Griffin to 435 00:30:18,155 --> 00:30:20,755 Speaker 1: come join him and his family for a long weekend 436 00:30:20,915 --> 00:30:23,755 Speaker 1: in the Hamptons. I had never been there. It was 437 00:30:23,835 --> 00:30:26,875 Speaker 1: not the kind of thing I did. It was long Island. 438 00:30:26,995 --> 00:30:29,555 Speaker 1: I was from Westchester. But they were willing to pay 439 00:30:30,155 --> 00:30:34,675 Speaker 1: and it was spectacular. Even though my accommodations consisted of 440 00:30:34,755 --> 00:30:38,115 Speaker 1: a converted garage, the bed and breakfast part of the 441 00:30:38,195 --> 00:30:40,155 Speaker 1: home of a woman who had had her own show 442 00:30:40,235 --> 00:30:43,675 Speaker 1: on Channel two in New York forty three years previously, 443 00:30:44,075 --> 00:30:48,555 Speaker 1: and whose walls were filled with momentos from it. I thought, briefly, 444 00:30:48,675 --> 00:30:50,955 Speaker 1: and with a shutter, that's what my walls are going 445 00:30:50,995 --> 00:30:54,515 Speaker 1: to look like in twenty forty if I live that long. Well, 446 00:30:54,555 --> 00:30:56,635 Speaker 1: that's not twenty forty yet, and I haven't lived that long. 447 00:30:56,675 --> 00:30:58,195 Speaker 1: But I'm happy to tell you there are dozens of 448 00:30:58,235 --> 00:31:00,235 Speaker 1: photos in art covering my walls, and only one of 449 00:31:00,275 --> 00:31:02,315 Speaker 1: them is a memento of an old TV show I did. 450 00:31:03,035 --> 00:31:07,995 Speaker 1: But the point was and is taken anyway. A nice 451 00:31:08,035 --> 00:31:10,715 Speaker 1: meal with the Griffins at their Hampton's full house rental 452 00:31:10,795 --> 00:31:14,235 Speaker 1: on Friday, A warm day spent at a pristine beach 453 00:31:14,515 --> 00:31:18,675 Speaker 1: on Saturday, pronounced good with kids by Phil's wife, and 454 00:31:18,795 --> 00:31:22,795 Speaker 1: then we went across the bay to the Hampton's home 455 00:31:23,435 --> 00:31:26,075 Speaker 1: of Jeff Zucker, then the head of the Today Show 456 00:31:26,155 --> 00:31:29,315 Speaker 1: and the de facto operational head of all of NBC News. 457 00:31:30,075 --> 00:31:33,715 Speaker 1: We dined on his balcony overlooking the water. We watched 458 00:31:33,875 --> 00:31:37,435 Speaker 1: the fireworks overlooking the water. And we were just having 459 00:31:37,475 --> 00:31:41,555 Speaker 1: a nightcap on this vast lawn of his, overlooking the water. 460 00:31:42,435 --> 00:31:45,395 Speaker 1: My memory tells me the lawn was approximately the size 461 00:31:45,835 --> 00:31:48,915 Speaker 1: of the field at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. And 462 00:31:48,995 --> 00:31:53,235 Speaker 1: there were huge lights hanging off the house, which seemed 463 00:31:53,275 --> 00:31:56,475 Speaker 1: nearly as strong as the lights at Dodger Stadium. And 464 00:31:56,595 --> 00:32:02,235 Speaker 1: then suddenly everybody's phone rang. Summer ended in three seconds. 465 00:32:02,635 --> 00:32:05,755 Speaker 1: There were still pagers in those days. Those went off too. 466 00:32:05,995 --> 00:32:10,035 Speaker 1: You could even hear phones ringing in the distance, creating 467 00:32:10,075 --> 00:32:14,995 Speaker 1: something akin to a strange buzzing concert. My God, Zucker shouted, 468 00:32:15,075 --> 00:32:19,195 Speaker 1: Princess Die is dead. Now. He and Phil Griffin began 469 00:32:19,315 --> 00:32:22,795 Speaker 1: to pace across that giant lawn. Another phone rang, and 470 00:32:22,915 --> 00:32:26,715 Speaker 1: Zucker now had one pinned to each ear. Standing some 471 00:32:26,875 --> 00:32:29,675 Speaker 1: distance away with Phil Griffin's wife, I noticed how quickly 472 00:32:30,035 --> 00:32:33,995 Speaker 1: Griffin and Zucker synced up. They were walking towards each other, 473 00:32:34,355 --> 00:32:37,475 Speaker 1: crossing each other's paths, then walking side by side, and 474 00:32:37,555 --> 00:32:40,355 Speaker 1: then veering off in opposite directions, as if there had 475 00:32:40,435 --> 00:32:46,315 Speaker 1: been a choreographer somewhere. Phil's wife and I were equally disgusted, 476 00:32:46,515 --> 00:32:48,915 Speaker 1: not so much at her husband and Zucker, but at 477 00:32:48,955 --> 00:32:53,115 Speaker 1: the circumstances of Diana's death. Forty eight hours earlier, the 478 00:32:53,235 --> 00:32:55,835 Speaker 1: interviewer from TV Guide had actually asked me what my 479 00:32:56,035 --> 00:33:00,875 Speaker 1: first questions would be for my hypothetical guests, Nelson Mandela 480 00:33:01,235 --> 00:33:06,635 Speaker 1: and Sean Penn. My abstract concepts of the news my 481 00:33:06,795 --> 00:33:10,635 Speaker 1: new career were about news I watched or listened to, 482 00:33:11,115 --> 00:33:15,355 Speaker 1: like PBS or NPR, the all news radio stations in 483 00:33:15,435 --> 00:33:18,395 Speaker 1: New York or Washington when the atmospheric conditions were right 484 00:33:18,475 --> 00:33:22,795 Speaker 1: in Bristol, Connecticut, and my favorite news related show, British 485 00:33:22,955 --> 00:33:27,715 Speaker 1: Prime Minister's Question Time. This was not what I heard 486 00:33:27,755 --> 00:33:30,195 Speaker 1: Phil Griffin and Jeff Zucker arranging in the wake of 487 00:33:30,315 --> 00:33:34,275 Speaker 1: Diana's death, throwing out large offers to self announced royal 488 00:33:34,435 --> 00:33:38,475 Speaker 1: experts and accident analysts and people who knew Doty Fayed 489 00:33:38,955 --> 00:33:42,355 Speaker 1: and even some of the photographers in the cars chasing 490 00:33:42,475 --> 00:33:46,075 Speaker 1: Diana's into the tunnel when it crashed, offering them large 491 00:33:46,115 --> 00:33:49,475 Speaker 1: sums of money to make themselves available exclusively to MSNBC 492 00:33:50,075 --> 00:33:54,235 Speaker 1: for the duration, and booking whole planes full of reservations 493 00:33:54,635 --> 00:34:01,195 Speaker 1: to send everybody from the Today Show to the funeral. Now, look, 494 00:34:01,275 --> 00:34:03,955 Speaker 1: I was thirty seven years old then, I already understood 495 00:34:03,995 --> 00:34:08,235 Speaker 1: these were the nestsary logistical moves of smart executives. Sad 496 00:34:08,315 --> 00:34:10,675 Speaker 1: and terrible things happened, and people still had to go 497 00:34:10,795 --> 00:34:15,075 Speaker 1: on and cover them. But there was something exceptionally callous 498 00:34:15,235 --> 00:34:18,755 Speaker 1: and cold about the choreograph dance. I was watching as 499 00:34:18,835 --> 00:34:21,835 Speaker 1: I said to Phil's wife, the tabloid media has been 500 00:34:21,955 --> 00:34:25,755 Speaker 1: chasing celebrities for years, and tonight they finally got one. 501 00:34:26,435 --> 00:34:29,635 Speaker 1: She nodded, but punched me in the shoulder and corrected me, 502 00:34:30,395 --> 00:34:36,275 Speaker 1: we finally got one. You are part of we now well. 503 00:34:36,315 --> 00:34:38,475 Speaker 1: That in turn made me think about quitting on the spot. 504 00:34:39,315 --> 00:34:41,155 Speaker 1: My agent was on the West coast. It was not 505 00:34:41,315 --> 00:34:43,715 Speaker 1: that late there, and soon I joined Griffin and Zucker. 506 00:34:44,155 --> 00:34:47,235 Speaker 1: Zucker was on his third different phone by then pacing 507 00:34:47,395 --> 00:34:49,875 Speaker 1: on that lovely lawn while telling my agent that maybe 508 00:34:49,915 --> 00:34:52,915 Speaker 1: we should take the ABC boss Bob Iger up on 509 00:34:53,035 --> 00:34:54,555 Speaker 1: his offer. He said, if I ever wanted to go 510 00:34:54,595 --> 00:34:56,715 Speaker 1: back to ESPN, I should just call. What do you think? 511 00:34:56,795 --> 00:35:00,915 Speaker 1: I asked my agent too soon. The next week was 512 00:35:01,075 --> 00:35:04,995 Speaker 1: all Diana leading up to the funeral Overnight Friday, anchored 513 00:35:05,035 --> 00:35:09,515 Speaker 1: on NBC and MSNBC I think by Katie Curic, who 514 00:35:09,595 --> 00:35:12,515 Speaker 1: actually told the audience that some random British woman was 515 00:35:12,595 --> 00:35:17,635 Speaker 1: in fact the model Cindy Crawford. She wasn't Cindy Crawford. 516 00:35:18,275 --> 00:35:21,515 Speaker 1: This passing, forgotten, trivial mistake seemed to me to be 517 00:35:21,675 --> 00:35:24,995 Speaker 1: emblematic of what Diana's death had done in an instant 518 00:35:25,355 --> 00:35:29,355 Speaker 1: to the business I was just getting into. Suddenly the 519 00:35:29,435 --> 00:35:32,355 Speaker 1: last few years, if television news had clarified themselves and 520 00:35:32,435 --> 00:35:35,275 Speaker 1: a timeline had emerged in my mind. I had gone 521 00:35:35,315 --> 00:35:37,475 Speaker 1: to work for CNN at the start of its second 522 00:35:37,595 --> 00:35:41,235 Speaker 1: year nineteen eighty one. Yes, we were already in color. 523 00:35:41,995 --> 00:35:44,955 Speaker 1: We used to have a weather report, a sportscast, a 524 00:35:45,075 --> 00:35:48,995 Speaker 1: business update, and a science and medicine story every hour. 525 00:35:50,155 --> 00:35:53,195 Speaker 1: But by nineteen ninety five, CNN and everybody else had 526 00:35:53,275 --> 00:35:56,795 Speaker 1: learned just find one story and pound it into the 527 00:35:56,875 --> 00:35:59,955 Speaker 1: ground twenty four to seven if you can, and dress 528 00:36:00,035 --> 00:36:02,435 Speaker 1: it up so that the viewer does not feel dirty 529 00:36:02,555 --> 00:36:06,275 Speaker 1: for having watched it. First story in nineteen ninety five 530 00:36:06,395 --> 00:36:08,835 Speaker 1: was the oj Simpson trial, and while it was nominally 531 00:36:08,915 --> 00:36:13,075 Speaker 1: a genuinely important story about a huge public figure, people 532 00:36:13,195 --> 00:36:18,155 Speaker 1: forget that a huge public figure sportscaster and actor murdering 533 00:36:18,195 --> 00:36:21,875 Speaker 1: his wife. That's not what they covered at the OJ 534 00:36:22,035 --> 00:36:27,795 Speaker 1: Simpson trial. They were covering every salacious detail. They were 535 00:36:27,875 --> 00:36:32,795 Speaker 1: covering literally every blood stain, they were covering interracial marriage, 536 00:36:33,195 --> 00:36:37,115 Speaker 1: they were pitting whites against blacks. They were sometimes I 537 00:36:37,275 --> 00:36:41,635 Speaker 1: saw it happen, making up bombshell stories. And all the 538 00:36:41,715 --> 00:36:44,835 Speaker 1: people now running MSNBC, which I was joining in its 539 00:36:44,915 --> 00:36:47,955 Speaker 1: second year, were those who had covered themselves in glory 540 00:36:48,515 --> 00:36:52,395 Speaker 1: or covered themselves in something at the OJ trial. It 541 00:36:52,555 --> 00:36:58,195 Speaker 1: is not coincidental that one media organization was discussed by 542 00:36:58,275 --> 00:37:01,875 Speaker 1: the judge Lance Edo for doing a fair job of 543 00:37:02,035 --> 00:37:09,955 Speaker 1: covering the OJ Simpson trial. Organization was ESPN SportsCenter. Anyway, 544 00:37:10,035 --> 00:37:12,555 Speaker 1: television news has never been the same. There was some 545 00:37:12,955 --> 00:37:15,555 Speaker 1: argument for twenty four to seven coverage of the Simpson 546 00:37:15,595 --> 00:37:19,395 Speaker 1: trial because it was a daily thing. Diana was dead, 547 00:37:19,515 --> 00:37:21,315 Speaker 1: and for a month it was treated as if it 548 00:37:21,355 --> 00:37:25,555 Speaker 1: had happened an hour earlier. Cable news by this point CNN, 549 00:37:25,675 --> 00:37:29,835 Speaker 1: CNN Headline, Fox and MSNBC now began to look for 550 00:37:30,395 --> 00:37:33,395 Speaker 1: twenty four to seven stories, or in their absence to 551 00:37:33,595 --> 00:37:37,395 Speaker 1: create them. The death of the Colorado little Girl, John 552 00:37:37,435 --> 00:37:41,155 Speaker 1: Benet Ramsey, every missing white woman in America, even the 553 00:37:41,235 --> 00:37:44,955 Speaker 1: Clinton Lewinsky story. I often did two live shows a 554 00:37:45,075 --> 00:37:48,075 Speaker 1: night about the Clinton Lewinsky story, even when there hadn't 555 00:37:48,115 --> 00:37:50,595 Speaker 1: been any actual news in a week or ten days. 556 00:37:51,275 --> 00:37:55,475 Speaker 1: If something happened, if some tidbit was reported by the 557 00:37:55,595 --> 00:37:59,275 Speaker 1: Washington Post, when all the news sites updated for the 558 00:37:59,355 --> 00:38:02,795 Speaker 1: only time all day at eleven pm Eastern, Yes, that's 559 00:38:02,835 --> 00:38:05,955 Speaker 1: how computers worked back then. We might stay on for 560 00:38:06,035 --> 00:38:09,635 Speaker 1: two or three extra hours to discuss this one sentence 561 00:38:09,715 --> 00:38:13,275 Speaker 1: in the revised Washington Post story, again and again and again. 562 00:38:14,595 --> 00:38:18,915 Speaker 1: We retrained TV audiences to fixate on one story at 563 00:38:18,915 --> 00:38:22,675 Speaker 1: a time, especially if that story involved somebody famous that 564 00:38:22,955 --> 00:38:26,875 Speaker 1: in turn magnified the celebrity element of all of American life. 565 00:38:27,195 --> 00:38:30,355 Speaker 1: It explains, in part, everything that has happened since Diana died, 566 00:38:30,395 --> 00:38:33,115 Speaker 1: from the Clinton story to the lionization of the generals 567 00:38:33,155 --> 00:38:35,715 Speaker 1: after nine to eleven, through the rise of Barack Obama, 568 00:38:35,955 --> 00:38:39,395 Speaker 1: and of course, the election of Trump. I did not 569 00:38:39,835 --> 00:38:42,835 Speaker 1: ultimately quit my new MSNBC show a month before it 570 00:38:42,955 --> 00:38:45,075 Speaker 1: was to premiere. The next morning, I took a bus 571 00:38:45,235 --> 00:38:47,315 Speaker 1: back to New York and vowed, too, as I've put 572 00:38:47,355 --> 00:38:49,995 Speaker 1: it in my diary, do a show that would expose 573 00:38:50,115 --> 00:38:53,475 Speaker 1: tabloidism and be upright at whatever cost to a tone 574 00:38:53,555 --> 00:38:56,595 Speaker 1: that I should be involved, however, distantly, in a business 575 00:38:56,675 --> 00:38:59,275 Speaker 1: that could, in essence kill three people, including the most 576 00:38:59,355 --> 00:39:04,315 Speaker 1: beloved woman in the world. Nice thought didn't happen. We 577 00:39:04,435 --> 00:39:07,155 Speaker 1: did the first show a month later, October one, nineteen 578 00:39:07,235 --> 00:39:10,275 Speaker 1: ninety seven. Phil Griffin was the producer. Half the time 579 00:39:10,435 --> 00:39:14,315 Speaker 1: was consumed by a roundtable of four celebrity journalists and gossips. 580 00:39:14,835 --> 00:39:16,755 Speaker 1: When I tried to draw them out on the media's 581 00:39:16,795 --> 00:39:20,795 Speaker 1: responsibility to the people in these stories, a voice talked 582 00:39:20,795 --> 00:39:23,515 Speaker 1: to me through my earpiece. It was Phil Griffin and 583 00:39:23,635 --> 00:39:27,555 Speaker 1: he was shouting forget that. Ask them who killed John 584 00:39:27,635 --> 00:39:43,195 Speaker 1: Vaney Ramsey. I've done all the damage I can do here. 585 00:39:43,275 --> 00:39:45,315 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. Countdown has come to you from 586 00:39:45,355 --> 00:39:48,675 Speaker 1: our studios high atop the Sports Capsule Building in New York. 587 00:39:49,515 --> 00:39:51,915 Speaker 1: Here are the credits. Most of the music arrange produced 588 00:39:51,955 --> 00:39:54,435 Speaker 1: and performed by Brian Ray and John Phillip Shanelle, who 589 00:39:54,475 --> 00:39:57,995 Speaker 1: are the Countdown musical directors. All orchestration and keyboards by 590 00:39:58,075 --> 00:40:01,355 Speaker 1: John Phillip Shanel. Guitars, bass and drums by Brian Ray, 591 00:40:01,475 --> 00:40:05,275 Speaker 1: produced by Tko Brothers. Other Beethoven selections been arranged and 592 00:40:05,395 --> 00:40:08,795 Speaker 1: performed by No Horns allowed. The sports music is the 593 00:40:08,915 --> 00:40:11,915 Speaker 1: Olberman theme from ESPN two, and it was written by 594 00:40:11,995 --> 00:40:15,715 Speaker 1: Mitch Warren Davis courtesy of ESPN Inc. Musical comments by 595 00:40:15,835 --> 00:40:19,275 Speaker 1: Nancy Fauss. The best baseball stadium organist ever. Our announcer 596 00:40:19,355 --> 00:40:22,035 Speaker 1: today was my friend John Dean, and everything else was 597 00:40:22,155 --> 00:40:24,675 Speaker 1: pretty much my fault. So that's countdown for this, the 598 00:40:24,755 --> 00:40:27,675 Speaker 1: nine hundred and sixty seventh day since Donald Trump's first 599 00:40:27,715 --> 00:40:31,555 Speaker 1: attempted coup against the democratically elected government of the United States. 600 00:40:32,035 --> 00:40:36,035 Speaker 1: Convict him now while we still can. The next scheduled 601 00:40:36,075 --> 00:40:40,195 Speaker 1: countdown is Tuesday. I don't take a lot of time off. 602 00:40:40,315 --> 00:40:42,875 Speaker 1: This is like the two hundred and eighty third edition 603 00:40:43,035 --> 00:40:47,475 Speaker 1: in thirteen months and still this Labor Day weekend. It'll 604 00:40:47,515 --> 00:40:51,675 Speaker 1: be bulletins as the news warrants till the next one, 605 00:40:51,755 --> 00:40:55,355 Speaker 1: whenever it is. I'm Keith Olberman. Good morning, good afternoon, goodnight, 606 00:40:56,075 --> 00:40:56,955 Speaker 1: and good. 607 00:40:56,875 --> 00:41:32,155 Speaker 2: Luck ride the st food talk on our slim f 608 00:41:32,955 --> 00:41:42,995 Speaker 2: bat Trapton for your drunken le sa diner. Come dinso 609 00:41:44,035 --> 00:41:53,155 Speaker 2: been down, feed basting mood and take gott avant and 610 00:41:53,475 --> 00:41:58,995 Speaker 2: spell din Broyd Bold sometime. 611 00:41:58,555 --> 00:42:07,235 Speaker 1: Freely don't can sip countdown with Keith Olderman is a 612 00:42:07,315 --> 00:42:12,115 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 613 00:42:12,195 --> 00:42:16,715 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.