Countdown with Keith Olbermann

SPECIAL EPISODE 65: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: This was an assassination attempt. It was meant to be the execution of the Speaker of the House, 11 days before the midterms. It was a political crime, an act of domestic terrorism, an extension of the January 6th coup, the full expression of a new mantra of a political party gone insane, the culmination of the cult of Donald Trump (3:18) And THIS MUST BE SAID NOW by the Democratic leaders and media now cowering behind bothsidesism and electoral mediocrity (4:23) And it must be said by President Biden: that the attempted assassination of Nancy Pelosi was an attack on the government of the United States, inspired by the GOP, MAGA, and Trump. And Biden must also say: IT STOPS HERE. (7:25) Democrats must also push back on the GOP filth who actually tried to dismiss this as a random break-in, like Ronna McDaniel, Glenn Youngkin, and the journalistic whores of Fox News, Newsmax, and others (11:53) And I want to have the conversation about POTUS' emergency powers - big and small (12:42) Because after a week in which Trump threatened to have reporters raped, thugs maced students, militia stalked ballot drop boxes, antisemitism and pro-Putin propaganda was rewarded, and now an assassination attempt - this country is under attack. Friday it was life and death for the Pelosis. Now, it is life and death for the rest of us. B-Block (17:38) FRIDAY'S SPECIAL COMMENT: 90 months for a 1/6 Insurrectionist and 1/6 Committee pursuit of Secret Service turncoats. But two years after the coup and not one insurrectionist politician, stochastic terrorist, or Trump is in jail (18:45) As the midterms loom we must act as if democracy is already lost and we are trying to fire up an electorate - and candidates - who might get it back (22:25) We are betrayed by two supposedly liberal institutions: the political infrastructure and the media, yet CBS, CNN, New York Times, others, are still hedging their bets, ready to protect their profits in case Full Fascism comes to this country (28:00) Instead of making a plain case: Republicans = Fascists, Democrats = Destroyers of Fascism, we are trying to hide under euphemisms and appeasement and fear. (33:40) We have nothing to fear but fear itself. But to paraphrase to FDR but my late friend Bill Hurt in "Body Heat," "Sometimes the fear comes down so heavy I feel like I should wear a hat." C-Block (36:47) FRIDAYS WITH JAMES THURBER: Dog lover Thurber’s lovable dog story about an unlovable dog that if you’re a dog lover, you’ll just love. It's "The Dog That Bit People." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 64: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: 90 months for a 1/6 Insurrectionist and 1/6 Committee pursuit of Secret Service turncoats. But two years after the coup and not one insurrectionist politician, stochastic terrorist, or Trump is in jail (2:55) As the midterms loom we must act as if democracy is already lost and we are trying to fire up an electorate - and candidates - who might get it back (6:30) We are betrayed by two supposedly liberal institutions: the political infrastructure and the media, yet CBS, CNN, New York Times, others, are still hedging their bets, ready to protect their profits in case Full Fascism comes to this country (12:08) Instead of making a plain case: Republicans = Fascists, Democrats = Destroyers of Fascism, we are trying to hide under euphemisms and appeasement and fear. (17:47) We have nothing to fear but fear itself. But to paraphrase to FDR but my late friend Bill Hurt in "Body Heat," "Sometimes the fear comes down so heavy I feel like I should wear a hat." B-Block (21:51) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Yofiel, in the Bahamas (23:54) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Zeldin under unexpected investigation; Why does the Omaha PD need a tank?; New York Post hacked - nobody notices the difference; Lucianne Goldberg dies. Thoughts and prayers. (27:17) In sports: Britain's Foreign Secretary actually tells LGBTQ soccer fans to "flex and compromise" at the anti-gay Qatar World Cup, plus the World Series preview from a guy who may have checked out on the World Series after 55 years. (29:42) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: GOP Chair Ronna McDaniel attacks Biden's stutter and Fetterman's stroke but sucked up to Trump's brain damage and insanity. She competes with Elon Musk and Tudor Dixon - who may be the dumbest person in America - for the honors. C-Block (34:30) FRIDAYS WITH JAMES THURBER: Dog lover Thurber’s lovable dog story about an unlovable dog that if you’re a dog lover, you’ll just love. It's "The Dog That Bit People." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 63: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:46) I cannot be certain which scumbag I hate more today: Joe Scarborough or Samuel Alito. It's amazing that a shameless venomous opportunist, whose behavior for 30 years implies a damaged psyche, has the nerve to attack and not celebrate the recovery from stroke of an honest politician (5:30) Scarborough is the political whore who tried to mainstream Trump on MSNBC yet never once asked him "Why do you say things that make no sense?" or "Have you had an aneurysm or concussion?" or "Have you used drugs that can interfere with or damage your cognitive ability?" (7:27) His attack on Fetterman is worse than it seems because for every American recovering from injury or illness, it is a slap in their face from a creature not worthy of any position of influence in this business or this society (10:30) And "Justice" Samuel Alito, who has now failed mathematics, history, and ethics, may still be worse after his self-martyring speech to a fascist group (15:20) Perhaps Alito can resign and be replaced by an attorney who once defended the murderer of an abortion doctor. The attorney was named Joe Scarborough. B-Block (18:15) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Kodah, in New York (19:00) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Surprisingly good news for Dems in early voting numbers and the generic Congressional Ballot; the implication Kash Patel is willing to testify against Trump; Kanye crashes Skechers and gets shown out by security; Musk tries to float a joke only to see it sink; Another Herschel Walker abortion story (23:00) IN SPORTS: Boone stays, the new NYC Marathon chief may have togo, and they're not booing, they're chanting "Potvin Socks" (26:07) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: NewsNation TV and Louis DeJoy compete with National Review Online publishing the rants of a Pennsylvania Republican who wants genocide against Democrats for the honors. C-Block (30:33) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Back 43 years ago today, they actually banned Willie Mays for promoting gambling (rather than give him a big paycheck). At age 20 I had to interview him, and the bizarre way he answered his phone still resonates me - as does the bizarre way he was drafted by the army right after his big league debut and how that might have cost him the all-time Home Run Record.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 62: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Voters would rather have cheap gas than the right to vote. Herschel Walker, lying abortion-funder and out-of-wedlock absentee father is the Man of God, not a pastor at Martin Luther King's church. The Congressional Progressive Caucus undermines the Democrats on Ukraine two weeks to the election. We know things ARE getting worse - but WHY are they getting worse? (2:40) Four answers: 1) 40+ years of Rush Limbaugh and imitators (4:00) 2) Individual moral turpitude, and blackmail (5:15) 3) The incompetence of the news media and the shortage of qualified reporters and analysts (9:15) 4) The ubiquity of platforms for anyone and everyone to become a political commentator and a political combatant when 30 years ago if you weren't in "the media" your choices were calling in to a talk show or writing a letter to the editor. B-Block (16:40) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Blaze in New York (17:50) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Debate-a-palooza. Never give them a viral moment, like Oz on abortion or Oz on the debate being just a "television show" or Zeldin and Dixon appearing soft on crime; Saudis reneged on an oil deal; we must make Prince Mohammed bin Bonesaw pay. (23:35) IN SPORTS: Retired Serena Williams says "I am not retired." For the first time since 1950 - 1950! - there will be NO African-American players in the World Series. (27:40) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Marco Rubio rushing to the aid of an injured...Charlottesville white nationalist buddy to Proud Boys? Doug Mastriano extolling the virtues of moving to Russia? They compete with the would-be Oklahoma Superintendent of Schools who wants to impose 'Christian Patriotic Education Training' on the state's public teachers. C-Block (32:39) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's 42 years ago this month when, as the Jimmy Carter-Ronald Reagan presidential election loomed, control of the 1,000-station radio network owned by the world's second largest news organization was left for eight hours entirely in the hands of a 21-year old sportscaster pressed into service because of a flu wave: ME. And that's when our chief Washington correspondent phoned in from the campaign trail, thoroughly blitzed and thoroughly articulate!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 61: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Am I really seeing this WaPo headline? "ANTISEMITES RALLY AROUND KANYE WEST" (3:20) As Adidas (finally) and his agents, documentarians, and others drop him (3:35) LAPD ties the 405 Freeway sign to antisemitic leaflets in Westwood (4:36) And something worse looms in Colorado: a Republican member of the State Board of Education has gotten the word "Nazis" replaced by "National Socialist German Workers Party" and demanded America acknowledge "this party was and is a socialist party." (7:05) The next stage has begun: assume a MAGA will come up to you shortly and say "Hitler was a Democrat. The holocaust is your fault. Antisemitism is your fault. Kanye West is your fault." Let's walk through his history: appointed as Chancellor by Conservatives, arrested Communists, sent Union Leaders to concentration camps, dissolved the Social Democratic Party, had Goebbels say "National Socialism opposes liberalism...liberalism broke under the blows." (14:00) On a much much much lighter note: you'll never believe who's advertising for a Concept-to-Consumer Manager? Yep: Adidas and Kanye. B-Block (17:09) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Jerry in Houston (18:08) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: DeSantis freezes when Crist asks him ONE debate question; Senate/Governor polling improves for Dems; Proud Boys embarrass Pen State; Coerce or Caress Walt Nauta and Kash Patel as Document investigators press hard for testimony (22:02) IN SPORTS: Yankees embarrassed themselves but Yankee fans did themselves proud saying helloooooo to Ted Cruz; my fellow giant-head Bruce Bochy gets a new gig; and you'll never believe who predicted, NINE YEARS AGO, that the next Phillies World Series appearance would be in 2022! (25:16) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Soccer's World Cup vies with Right Wing Troll Jacob Wohl and Justice Sam Alito - who gets pounded from beyond the grave by Ted Kennedy - for the honors. C-Block (30:04) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I paid $2000 plus a game ticket for it, but I promised never to run exclusive video of a near-brawl between Yankees' ace Roger Clemens and a Yankees fan in the middle of the 1999 World Series. What happens when you have facts, but not truth? You side with truth - and your bosses start looking for a reason to fire you. It's quite a saga.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 60: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: Did Trump steal the classified documents not for selling or espionage or kleptomania but as Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free cards? (4:06) New Washington Post reporting informs us that besides the document describing another country's nuclear capabilities, Trump took one about Iranian missiles, another about intelligence efforts against China, and materials that would expose U.S. intelligence methods or agents, or expose this country to retaliation. These are conceivably capital crimes and maybe he thought having the documents - or copies - was his insurance (6:11) Trump fixated again on leaks over the weekend (7:04) And proposed getting leakers to confess by threatening them with rape in prison (8:19) The fascination with the leak, not the crime, extends to Trump's prostitutes like Jonathan Turley who invoke the "No Electoral Interference" unwritten law, which died six years ago this Friday at the hands of James Comey (10:12) The FBI and DOJ should be worried about Trump's plans to send goon squads to voting stations, starting in Philly, and contesting every close election (11:00) The good news is: the 1/6 Committee decision to subpoena Trump gave Nancy Pelosi the chance to make ANOTHER great joke at his expense (and gave me a chance to make an even better one!) B-BLOCK (15:31) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Eamon in New York. (16:30) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Tucker Carlson threatens a Congressman on behalf of his failson Buckley Carlson (is his nickname Buckles?), Antisemites above the 405, Kanye insists Adidas can't drop him - so we'll have to boycott other athletes associated with Adidas, Jenna Ellis joins the surge in antisemitism, why is Centcom still helping Saudi Arabia, and Boris Johnson goes away (24:55) IN SPORTS: Yankees swept, Padres send themselves home early, oooh boy the World Series is...a reunion of the 1980 NLCS? (27:16) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The Canadian Freedom Convey's impact on kids with cancer, competing with professional self-owner Matt Walsh-Blog and El Douche' himself for the honors. C-BLOCK (30:13) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Ever watched a movie and there was a scene that seemed taken directly from your own life? It happened to me with "A Christmas Story." When Little Ralphie loses his mind and nearly kills the bully? I did that. But I had a reunion with the bully a scant 43 years later!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 59: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: Liz Truss, the British Prime Minister, is more than just an eternal punchline who had to resign on her 45th day in office. She IS Kevin McCarthy. And Kevin Stitt. And Kari Lake. And Jim Banks. And Trump. And every idiotic Republican economist. (3:05) She truly believed Conservative Populist Mumbo-Jumbo could defeat reality. The fight between Mathematics and Liz Truss was not a pretty sight. Math brought addition and subtraction, and Truss brought a series of memorized sound bites. (5:34) And her bid to cut taxes for the rich, add billions to the debt, spend billions on energy, and make no spending cuts and not crash the economy was the dream of Trump economists Larry Kudlow (just 29 days ago!) and Steven Moore (just 26 days ago!) (6:30) This week Kevin McCarthy proposed to do internationally what Truss did domestically: wreck the world economy in a bid to cut Social Security and give the money to the rich. When the blowback started, McCarthy tried to walk it back only to see Jim Banks double down yesterday. (10:00) The ultimate lesson of Liz Truss is that the Conservatives believe their own bullcrap. That's why she's also Kevin Tritt, the Oklahoma Governor who laughed and told the crowd to laugh when his debate opponent spit facts on how much more violent crime there is in Oklahoma than in New York. And once again we ask: WHERE ARE THE COMMERCIALS SCREAMING "THEY ARE ALL LIZ TRUSS"? B-Block (16:21) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Ceres, in California. (17:16) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Kash Patel testifies to DC Trump Documents Grand Jury, Loeffler to Atlanta Trump Election Tampering Grand Jury. (19:28) IN SPORTS: Astros win again, baseball reveals unannounced experiment: video review of ball and strike calls? Why? And the plight of the Vancouver Canucks. (23:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Anti-immigrant Adam Laxalt gets a big surprise about his own Grandma, and competes against DeSantis's doctor and his guest hit on a QAnon show, and Lara Logan's blood libel proving too crazy even for NewsMax. C-Block (28:46) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: His epic short story - so topical 85 years after he wrote it - of when the biggest popular hero in America turns out to be the biggest jerk in America: "The Greatest Man In The World." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 58: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) The vague and underwhelming Bloomberg report about how prosecutors "believe there is sufficient evidence to charge Trump" was surprisingly specific about one thing: the timeline is developing in such a way that a Trump indictment for Obstruction of Justice and other crimes would not happen before the week of January 2 (or, as a longshot, the week of December 26) 3:44 Bloomberg also gives away its source: the FBI agents in "the team that's part of the classified records probe." (5:00) There is an unclear claim that DOJ would not indict ONLY on Obstruction. Does that mean they DO intend to file other charges, or that if they don't file others, they won't file ANYTHING? (6:50) DOJ may also be trying to time any announcement to fit appropriately with Trump's other legal vulnerabilities, like the Eastman Coup Georgia lying-in-a-sworn-statement case that just grew in seriousness yesterday (7:26) But probably not the E. Jean Carroll rape lawsuits for which Trump was deposed yesterday (8:00) Finally I take a wild guess at the EXACT date of any Trump indictment - at least the most appropriate date for it. B-Block (12:37) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Griffin, in California (13:36) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The voice of the Ohio voter is heard loud and clear: "F You, Fascist!" So why aren't Dem bigwigs funding Tim Ryan? And push comes to shove in the slowly-expiring British cabinet. No: Literally. Pushing and shoving in parliament. (17:31) IN SPORTS: You may think pitching decides baseball's post-seasons, but those with more homers won both games yesterday - and 101 of the last 120. And a Christmas Album allows me to confirm the ancient story of Philadelphia fans booing Santa Claus, plus New York fans throwing snowballs at Tiny Tim's tulips (21:11) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Sean Hannity tells us way too much of how his dad used to beat him with a belt. He and Jim Jordan compete with Kimberly Guilfoyle actually making a joke about Nancy Pelosi and plastic surgery. Can we start a GoFundMe to get Kim a mirror? C-Block (27:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: With Netflix's profits in the news, the story of the day I met with them to propose not just a streaming political show, but how they could own ALL of the TV News field in the post-cable future and all they could think about was...the necessity of putting on Italian subtitles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 57: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: "It is THE commercial: 'You're damn right gas prices are rising again,' Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi or Barack Obama or somebody says as THE commercial begins. 'Because the bone-cutting Saudis and the genocidal Russians and their Republican prostitutes here are raising your gas prices, deliberately.' THE commercial then runs through the rest of the Republican platform for the midterms." (4:27) But even as Kevin McCarthy goes on the record threatening another Debt Ceiling Crisis as a lever to cut Social Security and Medicare, THE commercial doesn't exist. (6:32) There could be a dozen versions of THE commercial - the one where the FBI perp-walks the child pornographer only to have Marjorie Trailer Park Greene swoop in and defund the Bureau and free the suspect. Or the one with Trump, on tape, handing Woodward the Kim Jong Un letters and saying "Oh, those are so top secret. Don't say I gave them to you!" (8:11) But with 20 days left until the midterms we are still hung up on safe arguments and with being better than the fascists. We have 20 days! Where is the urgency? Where is THE COMMERCIAL? B-Block (15:11) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Hitchcock, in Georgia. (16:02) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Marco Rubio's argument against Drop Boxes: They could blow up! And speaking of blowing up, there's John Durham (18:10) IN SPORTS: Amazon buys an NFL game for Black Friday, and did the Jerry Jones-Bob Kraft swearfest have a...happy ending? (20:22) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Tudor Dixon vows to stop "Critical Race Training" in Michigan, and competes with an Idaho lobbyist who compares drag shows to blackface, and the Fox News dingbat who says nobody who hasn't had a child can talk about abortion, for the honors. C-Block (24:45) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's 38 years since I left Channel 5 in Boston, and had to say farewell to the man who gave me one of the best pieces of advice I ever received. As a hundred fans appeared out of nowhere to cheer him, I asked anchorman Chet Curtis "how do you get USED to this?" His priceless advice: "DON'T."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 56: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: The old sports phrase is "No Pain, No Gain." The political corollary is: "No Pain, No Gain - But No Brain, No Pain." This is proved by Herschel Walker's latest lie about the abortion he paid for (3:00) To say nothing of similar amazingly stupid deceit from Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Donald Trump, Kanye West, and Elon Musk (5:53) And yet the World Championship may be held by the new U.K. government. Only on Day 41 and already a lame duck, Prime Minister Liz Truss doesn't show up to face the House of Commons and when someone jokes she's hiding under a desk, Truss's stand-in answers seriously "I can assure the house she is not under a desk." It's the longest sustained laughter I've ever heard a group of politicians express at another's expense, and it proves another theory that has been festering in me for decades (9:30) Namely: There are no adults. B-Block (13:21) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Jeezy, in Los Angeles (14:15) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: In the Senate debates, Utah's Mike Lee is caught seditioning and Ohio's J.D. Vance is caught lying, denying he ever claimed Alex Jones was a more credible source of information than Maddow (17:13) IN SPORTS: Baseball's jinxed post-season continues: they wait two-and-a-half hours to rain out the Yankees and Guardians when it never really rained. Plus the format is a disaster: the National League World Series team will have either the 10th or 11th worst record in the sport. And more taxpayers get scammed for a new stadium, this time in Nashville. I'll repeat the simple explanation proving all the 'benefits' of new sports facilities are non-existent folderol. (22:20) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Liz Truss's Health Secretary vies with Trump's balls and Oz drinking his own urine (yeah, they "made" you) for the honors. C-Block (26:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It was 48 years ago this month that I was at Boston University, aged 15, destined for an internship with the Boston Celtics, and to my shock I was offered a full merit scholarship - a free ride. And then a stringy-haired disc jockey at the college radio station said the set-up was all wrong and I would be making a mistake if I went there. Impossibly, that gaunt, snarky kid of 20 was named Howard Stern.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 55: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN" A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Donald Trump is an antisemite. "No president has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S...U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel. Before it's too late." (3:34) Translating Trump's manifold antisemitism, including the 'real loyalty' trope, his history of calling Israel "your country" to American Jewish groups, the 'You know some people would mistreat you Jews but I didn't so why haven't you rewarded me' threat, and especially (6:09) invoking the Evangelicals, for whom the Jews are a prop in their "End Times" fantasy of the return of Jesus followed by all Jews converting - or being slaughtered (10:30) Given Trump's history of Hitler worship this is especially virulent stuff. He praised Hitler's generals and economics and kept a book of his speeches in his bedroom (12:40) Yet when he endorsed candidate for NY Governor Lee Zeldin almost simultaneously with this antisemitism, Zeldin didn't refuse. B-Block (15:32) MORE ON TRUMP AND OTHER ANTISEMITES: (15:32) That House Judiciary GOP tweet ("Kanye. Elon. Trump.") aged well! (16:02) Kanye West goes on his THIRD antisemitic tirade in the last two weeks on the podcast "Drink Champs" (18:25) and we review the one that launched it all: the hateful cliches and bigotry West launched in his interview with Tucker Carlson, but Fox refused to air or acknowledge. C-Block (23:00) "OUR WONDERFUL EVANGELICALS": The hidden dagger in the Trump post is the dogwhistle to the Evangelical and other Fundamentalist movements and their belief that this is the hour for them to take over the country and exclude all minorities (and the majority) from governance (23:50) Ron DeSantis and the "Full Armor of God" movement and (35:25) "The New Apostolic Reformation" and their "Watchman" catechism that "We the Church are God's governing body on earth."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 54: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: It is the greatest sound bite of the last seven years. It is what at least half this country has been thinking. It is so cathartic to hear, to be life-affirming. Nancy Pelosi, on 1/6, hoping Trump shows up to The Capitol: "I'm gonna punch him out and I'm gonna go to jail and I'm gonna be happy!" It's the inscription for the base of a statue, it's a national motto, it's a Kate Bush song! (3:50) And knowing we would hesitate to say it has been the fascists' license to threaten and commit violence (5:15) If you're worried we're invoking political violence: this nation is already there. (6:45) We have wasted the 21 months since 1/6 playing nice - this is the only modern country where a violent coup was fended off and the surviving government had to ask nicely to prosecute the insurrectionists. (8:42) And given that November 6th is the 10th anniversary of the FIRST time Trump called for "Revolution" it's time to wrap it, and him, up. Frog-march him over to Nancy Pelosi. B-Block (13:28) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Smokey, in New York (14:23) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Government investigating Musk over off-again/on-again Twitter buy; the nightmare close to ESPN; the sentencing in Florida (16:16) IN SPORTS: A really unhappy family milestone for the Dolan Family of Owners if Cleveland's Guardians don't win the World Series; and Dan Patrick and I make our first dual appearance in three years - on Kenny Mayne's podcast (21:14) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD (21:14) Billo is Back! And trying to fend off Penn State University and NBC News Chairman Cesar Conde and his recent run of disasters, for the honors. C-Block (26:36) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: His immaculate comical short story of murderous intent overcome by the need to keep a marriage going so husband and wife can keep bickering: "Mr. Preble Gets Rid Of His Wife."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 53: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:47) SPECIAL COMMENT: The FBI has an informant! He's told them that after the subpoena, Trump ordered the boxes of documents moved, and it was all captured on Mar-a-Lago security video! He's the equivalent of Watergate's "Deep Throat" - let's call him "Deep STORAGE"! (2:25) But why does this Washington Post scoop sound so familiar? BECAUSE THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME THIS STORY HAS BROKEN (3:08) On August 10th, we learned there was an informant inside Mar-a-Lago, and a subpoena for security tapes. (3:41) Let me replay the relevant part of the August 11th Countdown commentary, to show that we first encountered "Deep Storage" that moment, and that the only true element to this story is WHAT the informant told the FBI about - moving the boxes. (11:45) So now we ask: did the informant tell the FBI anything that hasn't been reported? Is there more than one informant? But if there's only "Deep Storage" - WHO IS IT!?!?!? B-Block (15:52) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Thor, in North Central L.A. (16:53) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: That $1 Billion figure in the Alex Jones case? That's a minimum. There are still punitive damages to be assessed against the scum; Kanye does another "hate speech" and the show gets shelved; and another family member catches Herschel Walker in another lie. (19:54) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Joe Rogan, LibsOfTikTok and Tulsi Gabbard team up to battle Blake Masters and Chris 'I Used To Pretend To Have Hearing And Vision Problems To Explain My On-Camera Gaffes' Matthews - MSNBC's new undead guest - who trashed John Fetterman for using the equivalent of the text dictation device you have on your phone, during an interview. C-Block (27:42) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: We're in the baseball post-season now so I'll take you back to 1999. In one Yankees-Red Sox series as the host and dugout reporter for Fox, I was a) caught in the middle of a bottle-throwing melee at Fenway Park b) witness to a Yankee swearing endlessly at a manager c) visited by a pitcher (El Duque Hernandez) who supposedly didn't speak English but had a bunch of questions about SportsCenter, and d) was also visited by Bernie Williams, who was so deeply worried that I might be a Red Sox fan that he kept asking me about it even while he was due in the on-deck circle during the 1st Inning.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 52: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) Elon Musk boasted of talking to Vladimir Putin before tweeting his moronic "Ukraine Peace Plan" that just happened to give Putin everything he wanted. Then he blasted the reporter who broke the story - but didn't deny it (3:30) Which fit perfectly in a day in which the fascists proved reality means nothing to them: it doesn't have to BE real; it only has to SEEM real. Take Herschel Walker, now accused of demanding TWO abortions and demanding she pay for them. Meanwhile back on the campaign trail he starts talking about a bull who has impregnated three females and wants to impregnate three more (6:09) And the other new darling of MAGA, Kanye West, turns out to have been plenty crazy in the Tucker Carlson interview, but they left it on the floor. All the antisemitic tropes you can eat! (10:30) And then there's Tulsi Gabbard, who blew all the dog whistles in 'quitting' the Democratic Party just two years after she was thrown out of it (12:30) While the fascists can do nothing with sincerity or love - like Joe Biden's for his broken son - but mock it (13:34) And I am reminded of when I shared a studio with Sean Hannity and he gave away the entire Far Right Game: "Why are they so upset? I mean, it's only TV - it's not REAL!" B-Block (17:40) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Morgana in Gardena, CA (18:35) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Prediction by analysis: Garland WILL indict Trump; How can an LA City Council member take a "leave of absence," and remembering Angela Lansbury and her all-time great performance in "The Manchurian candidate." (20:26) IN SPORTS: Baseball's Rusty Champs, and Hockey's Referee Hosts (21:20) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Some Trumpers want a declaration of war against something you can't declare war against. They compete with Kevin McCarthy and Saudi Arabia for the honors. C-Block (26:50) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Somebody asked me recently "Whatever happened to Matt Lauer?" A look inside his reign of terror at NBC, and when it was directed at me because the husband of the late Terri Schaivo wanted to do an interview with me and not him. And a reminder of how the utterly corrupted Joe Scarborough responded to that story by saying "The Democrats (are) the party on the side of death."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 51: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Putin is doubling down and we must act. We must avoid war, so we must DO everything else. We must at least explore dissolving the United Nations and re-forming it without Russia (3:05) More practically, Biden must reverse his September decision and declare Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism - it's what the oligarchs fear most (4:27) And the need to do SOMETHING is not just about Russia. It's about Russia's propagandists here - paid or not - like Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, CPAC, and Michael Flynn. We have to make it career-ending to supply the Kremlin with anti-Ukraine sound bites. B-Block (15:09) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Al, in Miami (16:25) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The lone Ohio Senate Debate is a TKO for Tim Ryan over J.D. Vance, or, if you prefer, "Hillbilly Eulogy"; Maggie Haberman battered by BBC; LA Council resignations not enough. (20:15) IN SPORTS: Baseball lifer gets the big gig in Philly; the five-year plan in Carolina turns into a five-week plan; Tommy Tuberville blowback hits sports (22:23) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Candace Owens, Owen Shroyer, and Jason Whitlock defend Kanye West and antisemitism, and compete with Lauren Boebert and the Secretary of the Army for the crown. C-Block (27:08) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Five different baseball franchises have tried to get me fired - at ESPN, at KTLA, at Fox Sports. Only one has kinda sorta succeeded. The remarkable story from ten years ago: when MLB Network offered me a show, and then reneged when threatened by the Yankees.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 50: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: At his Sunday night rally in Mesa, Trump boasted he had boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago, their contents were all "his." He is all but daring Merrick Garland to arrest him (2:30) Mr. Attorney General: saying "I had a small number of boxes at Mar-a-Lago...guarded by Secret Service...they should give me immediately back everything they took from me, because it's mine" is a CONFESSION (4:06) We now learn he also offered to TRADE the documents for FBI Russia records (6:00) And Friday's conclusion that the FBI was at least ready to search Trump Tower and/or Bedminster was confirmed by Rolling Stone's report that DOJ is asking witnesses if he had documents in those locales (8:30) And while Merrick Garland stalls and hesitates, Trump's minions have dropped the pretense and are joining him on stage to admit they are there to end fair elections (11:00) And his cult's candidate for Governor of Arizona did something last night that was just this side of posing with a ball-gag in her mouth with the word "TRUMP" written on it. B-Block (13:54) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Boomer, in Los Angeles (15:01) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Small problem in the Kremlin case against the "terrorist" who blew up the Kerch bridge, as Michael Flynn calls US Ally Zelenskyy a "fool," the lead Democrats on the L.A. City Council are going to have to resign, and the bad reviews for Yankee Scented Candles may actually augur a new Covid wave, so get your Bivalent! (20:29) IN SPORTS: Ear today, gone tomorrow: Mets get waxed as Showalter's Musgrove Ritual falls on deaf ears (23:55) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Kanye West (and the Republican Attorney General who defended his antisemitism) try to stave off Tommy Tuberville's racism and Mehmet Oz's Hitler Symbolism for the honors. C-Block (30:21) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: My friendship with the legendary actress Elizabeth Montgomery (32:00) How it happened because of the founding of ESPN Radio and the unexpected scoop we got on the first weekend (34:25) Leading me to do my impression of my high school classmate Chris Berman as he greeted me on my first day at ESPN (38:44) And the extraordinary life lesson about fans and memory that she taught me and has stayed with me for 30 years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

COUNTDOWN EPISODE 49 A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: The FBI is preparing to search The Trump Golf Club And Cemetery in New Jersey or Trump Tower in New York. That's the clear implication of The New York Times report (2:24) that the Justice Department notified Trump's lawyers that it is not convinced that all the classified documents stolen by Trump have yet been retrieved (2:45) CNN went a step further, sourcing that DOJ demanded to Trump's attorneys all remaining documents must be returned. (2:53) There have been hints (like those empty folders with "CLASSIFIED" on them (3:14) And there was almost a compromise, but now Trump is hard-lining this and ultimately this ends with another search (5:02) Apart from the danger of him still having docs, there's the chance he's already sold or lost or had some stolen. (6:03) More bad news for Trump: Secret Service confirms Oath Keepers contacted them about "security procedures" which they position as ordinary but which a witness at the sedition trial implies had something to do with invocation of The Insurrection Act (8:20) And a key Proud Boy has flipped against Enrique Tarrio (8:51) But at least no one invoked The Herschel Walker Defense. B-Block (12:13) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Theodore, in New York (13:33) IN SPORTS: Baseball overshadows its own playoffs with streaming controversy while Canada's hockey scandal just keeps getting worse (15:49) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Matt Walsh-Blog defends his support for impregnating 16-year olds, and competes for honors with Kari Lake and TNT hockey nudnik Paul Bissonnette (17:45) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It is exactly 47 years since my first appearance on a professional radio station, when they told me I was only going to do one story in a five-minute sportscast and it was all a lie and I was 16 and I mispronounced my name. Twice. And I am actually letting you hear clips from it. C-Block (27:03) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: His epic story of public panic, and people so convinced they were right that they ignored common sense, science, and what their own eyes showed them: The Day The Dam Broke (42:22) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL BONUS: My entire 11:15 PM sportscast on WVBR-FM, Ithaca NY, on Tuesday, October 7, 1975! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

COUNTDOWN EPISODE 48 A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: A corrupt unstable ex-president is trying to use a corrupted Supreme Court to avoid prison - and that's just the start of our troubles (4:20) Happily, democracy has survived not so much through the exertions of those of us who would save it, but thanks to the laugh-out-loud stupidity of those who would destroy it (4:46) So LET'S laugh out loud. (5:00) Trump made a fool out of himself in Miami yesterday (7:25) Ron DeSantis implied the liberal media controls the weather (8:08) The Herschel Walker story - now morphed into "He paid for the abortion for the mother of one of his children" - precipitated a hilarious confession about GOP hypocrisy (9:49) Alina Habba is a blooper factory (10:35) Senator Marshall can't pronounce "9/11" (11:15) Ron Johnson endorses white supremacy (11:27) CPAC admitted its members are terrorists (11:54) And Trump actually said "When they leak on my administration." Wait - WHAT? B-Block (15:01) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Xica, in Van Nuys (16:07) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The bill to remove our missile systems out of Saudi Arabia after their oil blackmail, and bad polling news for Herschel and Boebert. (18:15) IN SPORTS: Steven Vogt goes out with a bang; maybe the real Most Valuable Player of the American League is neither Judge nor Ohtani; and the announcer nominees for the Baseball Hall of Fame are revealed (24:07) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: GOP Governor candidate swears there are kids "identifying" as cats, another GOP Congressional candidate exaggerates his military record, and they compete with Fox's Mark Levin's latest high-pitched whine. C-Block (27:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The day Dodgers' owner Walter O'Malley nearly caused his top lieutenant to pass out by saying "We lost $2,000,000 last year" and why that doesn't mean anything close to what it would sound like to us civilians.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 47 A-Block (1:46) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump's appeal of the "Special Master Compromise" is just a stalling tactic so he can time his 2024 announcement AFTER the Mid-terms but BEFORE he's indicted (2:16) He knows announcing before 11/8/22 will undercut many election deniers he needs in place in '24. He may even believe the DOJ won't indict him if he's an announced candidate. (4:00) Whatever the specifics, the appeal to Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court is nonsense: it might as well be 35 blank pages (6:11) The NYT notes he didn't even appeal the ruling that lets DOJ continue using the classified stolen documents in its investigation of him. (7:27) Trump could also be deflecting legal attention from his next real problem: The trial of The Oath Keepers (11:00) Prosecutors played a tape of a November 2020 meeting to plan a violent insurrection and if they can tie it to Trump's inner circle, he's meat. B-Block (14:45) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Ranger in Greenville, Tennessee. (15:48) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The abortion story won't hurt Herschel Walker. His son's videos will. And what happened to the lawsuit, Hersch? (20:08) IN SPORTS: Our long national nightmare is over: Aaron Judge is the new home run champ. And if you don't think so, ask yourself: which is the all-time Strikeout Record: Nolan Ryan's 383 in 1973 or Matt Kilroy's 513 in 1886? (24:19) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Mehmet Oz, torturer of puppies, competes with Roger Waters and David Zaslav of CNN for the honors. C-Block (30:50) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's the 15th Anniversary of the day MSNBC management told me they'd never let me use Rachel Maddow as my guest host, nor give her her own show, because no woman could get ratings in prime time, and we didn't need a second liberal show, and no LGBTQ woman host would ever attract male viewers! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 46 A-Block (1:46) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump just convicted himself of Obstruction of Justice. (2:50) The big debate within DOJ about charging him is about "consciousness of guilt." Could he have NOT known he had illegal possession of documents (including one detailing the nuclear capabilities of another nation)? If as The Washington Post reports, he actually packed the boxes himself, he knew - and the debate is over. (3:45) And to make it worse, he tried to suborn perjury, to get his attorney to sign a document in February saying he had returned all the documents (4:38) Which could lead to a conspiracy, since he DID get another attorney to sign the same kind of document in June (5:36) An entirely separate second path of Obstruction and Conspiracy was opened by his conversation with Maggie Haberman about the Kim Jung-Un letter (7:12) All of which explains the timing of his suit against CNN (8:45) And his threat to sue the 1/6 Commission, which may register in only one place: (9:00) CNN, where Chris Licht and John Malone have spent six months brown-nosing Conservative politicians in hopes that the leopards wouldn't eat THEIR faces. B-Block (13:17) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Whisper (14:20) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: It's one thing to be anti-abortion and to have a news organization prove you paid for a girlfriend's abortion, but it's quite another, Herschel Walker, to then be repudiated in public by your own son. Plus the Oaf Keepers' trial starts (18:06) IN SPORTS: Albert Pujols yes, Aaron Judge no; Monday Night Football fan flattened; National Women's Soccer League devastated by new report of coach corruption (20:50) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Scott Jensen and Kim Kardashian compete with a Twitter Karen who can't tell the Pennsylvania Senate from a minor league baseball team. C-Block (25:19) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The day I met actor Walter Matthau, his improbable hobby of vocal impersonations, and the kindness he extended me that was so extraordinary that though it was the only time I met him, when he died years later, I burst into tears.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A-Block (1:46) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump threatens violence against Mitch McConnell and Marjorie Trailer Park Greene implies Republicans should kill Democrats but the real sign over the weekend that the GOP has transformed entirely into a nihilist mob is neither of them (2:44) It's Susan "I Haven't Learned My Lesson" Collins, who has just noticed that "a Senator or House member (might be) killed." (8:30) It is the Collinses of this nation who have let Trump echo his cultists' call for Civil War by valuing their own offices and power more than they do the nation. B-Block (13:53) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Stella in St. Louis (14:58) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Brazil's Burn The Amazon vote goes to a runoff; they've identified the DeSantis Trafficking Coyote; Prime Minister Truss attacks the King; Trailer Park Greene self-owns. (17:37) IN SPORTS: Aaron Judge now has one homer in his last 49 plate appearances; Angels sign Ohtani - to trade him? T.J. Watt beats Fox to an exclusive about his A-Fib and they'll close a loophole to keep future Tuas on the bench. (21:18) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Michigan's Tudor Dixon (WHO THE HELL IS NAMED 'TUDOR') competes with Conservative unemployables Sophie Corcoran and Alex Bruesewitz (whose entry is one of the most despicable public statements I've ever covered). C-Block (28:25) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's the anniversary of the week David Letterman revealed, on his show, that he was being blackmailed. Incredibly, I WORKED WITH the blackmailer 40 years ago at CNN, and somehow I also worked with the other victim when the Trumpists tried to blackmail Jeff Bezos!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 44: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: This should've been a landmark day at the Supreme Court with Judge Jackson's Investiture (2:15) Instead it's again about the prejudice, the dishonesty, the proselytizing of Samuel Alito and the threat contained in his response to Justice Kagan: "Saying or implying that the court is becoming an illegitimate institution or questioning our integrity crosses an important line." (6:08) New Gallup poll shows trust in the Court has dropped from 67% to 47% in just two years (10:29) Alito thinks his job is to create laws that protect the "role" of Jesus in American life, and said so in Rome in July (12:12) And hidden within his reference to criticism that "crosses an important line" is a threat that Alito thinks the Court should ACT against those who dare to stand up against the theocracy he and the other political prostitutes of this course are building as we speak. B-Block (17:18) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Gulf Coast Humane Society (18:35) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: John Harris of Politico believes Maggie Haberman and the other Suppress-The-News-Til-You-Get-A-Book-Deal hacks proved journalism is "more powerful than Trump." He competes with LIV Golf and Ben Shapiro for the honors (23:26) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Exactly 10 years ago today my then-girlfriend faced the heartbreak of a dying family dog by telling me "I need a puppy fix." What followed was probably the most important day of my life. C-Block (36:51) Part Two of Things I Promised Not To Tell: Rudy Giuliani makes a cameo appearance in the middle of my meltdown and the ultimate triumph of love at first sight - and you'll hear from the girl herself.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A-Block (1:47) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trial of the Proud Boys starts in DC, near the trial of the Oath Keepers, while one liberal commentator is blasted for asking about climate change and Hurricane Ian, but Tucker Carlson is free to insinuate President Biden blew up the Nord Stream pipelines. So this question: (2:47) WHY and WHEN did much of our country GO CRAZY? When did despicable but sane conservatives go insane? (4:09) I think the answer is: the conservatives' guard rails began to fall off when the 9/11 PTSD sunk in (13:52) Certainly what Bush got away with, in Iraq, with torture, conservatives lost any fear that they couldn't get away with anything - including claiming JFK Jr. is back from the dead. B-Block (19:27) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Gonzo, in New York (20:27) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Coolio, In Memoriam; J.R. Majewski, in trouble again; Marjorie Trailer Park Greene, in divorce court; and John Barron rides again. (22:20) IN SPORTS: Tim Mayza and Matt Buschmann are in the record books! (Oh and Aaron Judge too) And of triple-headers, quadruple-headers, and sextuple-headers (23:56) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: MTG self-owns while hog-hunting, Martha MacCallum doesn't understand Puerto Rico, and Chris Hayes advocates something unconscionable, as they compete for he honors (29:45) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Saturday is the 29th Anniversary of the launch of the New Coke of TV Sports: ESPN2 - and I still have the scars! C-Block (41:15) Part two of Things I Promised Not To Tell. There were two reasons I was willing to give up SportsCenter to be the face of the ESPN2 disaster. One reason, I've always mentioned. But the other? I don't think I told more than one other person in 29 years. In this podcast: I TELL THEE.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

OATH KEEPERS COULD SCREW TRUMP A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: Keep your eye on the trial of Stewart Rhodes and the Oath Keepers as jury selection continues today. Rhodes' defense is: he and his terrorists were acting on what were to be legal orders from Trump as President. So...they just guessed that would be the case? They assumed? THEY HAD TO HAVE BEEN TOLD. Told? By whom? What will they say in their own defense and who will testify to what communications or meetings or conspiracies? They are on trial for Seditious Conspiracy and perhaps decades in jail and who they blame could be close to Trump - or Trump himself. (5:07) Other Oath Keepers have already flipped and implicated Roger Stone, Stop The Steal, and The Proud Boys (7:05) And ex-Trump physician, Congressman Ronny Jackson, who supposedly reached out to Stewart Rhodes for protection during the attempted coup. B-Block (15:16) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Jinxie in Brooklyn (16:39) IN SPORTS: Sure they clinched their division, but what about Aaron Judge's home run drought? And now that the NFL has cancelled its All-Star Game will the other leagues follow suit? (20:32) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The book banners of Bucks County PA taking it an extra yard, the University of Idaho, and the DeSantis appointee who just quit after a KKK photo surfaced, compete for honors (24:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: In the world of the movie "Network" it was 47 years ago this week that things began to go off the rails for Howard Beale, Max Schumacher, Diana Christensen, and the UBS Evening News. For my money, it's the greatest movie of all time - and especially the most prophetic. C-Block (37:03) More on "Network" and the 23 separate prophecies of auteur Paddy Chayefsky, who saw in 1976 what the rest of us could not imagine: what television news would look like in 2022.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

KYRSTEN SINEMA SHOULD RESIGN A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: I do not know how or why Senator Sinema of Arizona can still identify as a Democrat after appearing with Mitch McConnell at an event that was for all intents and purposes a Republican Campaign Rally for the mid-terms. Sinema praised McConnell for his "respect for the Senate" even though it was McConnell who made up a rule that denied Merrick Garland even a hearing for the Supreme Court and stole the seat for the Republicans. She blamed everybody BUT the Republicans for politics becoming "radicalized, spiraling steadily downward into bitter and tribal extremism" and never mentioned January 6th. She forecast a Democratic defeat in November. (9:53) I explain my personal relationship with Kyrsten Sinema, first as a friend, then in a brief dating relationship, then again as a friend, spanning nearly eight years, and her deterioration from as liberal and progressive a person as I've ever met to a clown who has fallen for Mitch McConnell's act. She should resign from the Senate - Arizona's governor would be required by law to name a Democratic replacement - and take her deliberate unwillingness to recognize the threat to democracy posed by the Republicans, and utilize it either to challenge Tulsi Gabbard for the role OF Tulsi Gabbard, or go host "Meet The Press." B-Block (19:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Edda in The Bahamas (20:13) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The Meadows texts: the "Crown Jewels" of the 1/6 Investigation; Liz Truss has them invoking the 119 days of George Canning; Ken Paxton flees. (22:45) IN SPORTS: The Judge Watch Never Stops; Brett Favre suspended by SiriusXM. (24:35) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Our boy Chuck Todd, the American Senator who doesn't know how to pronounce "9/11," and the Elitist cheering for the defeat of the Elitists without realizing he IS an Elitist, vie for the honors. C-Block (31:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It actually happened: the president of NBC summoned us to his 52nd Floor office to warn us that MSNBC was about to be taken off the air by order of the Chairman of G.E. because HIS MOMMY TOLD HIM TO.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TRUMP BACKING AWAY FROM "Q" OVER ROYALTIES? A-Block (1:47) SPECIAL COMMENT: At his latest rally Trump had security stop his cultists from doing the Q-Anon Sieg Heil and seemed to be backing away from the conspiracy theory. Or is it just that he found out he'll have to pay money for the damned "Q Song"? (5:15) Shocking developments as two excerpts from Maggie Haberman's book are actually relevant and revelatory as Trump confesses his true motivation for everything: the fear that people won't know who he is (9:07) And the Italian elections may seem remote and irrelevant, except that the apparent winner, the anti-LGBTQ anti-migrant fascist, is another Steve Bannon protege. B-Block (14:25) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Jelly Belly and Cooper in California (15:56) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Kevin McCarthy thinks he's quoting Lincoln when he's actually quoting a bank ad; JR Majewski says it's classified; Everybody hates Kyrsten, and NASA says 'Kiss your asteroid goodbye." (20:26) IN SPORTS: NFLPA has a headache over Too, and Judge stuck on 60. Plus the argument that the most homers is automatically the RECORD for homers is nonsense. The most strikeouts in a season isn't the RECORD for strikeouts, nor is the most steals. (27:52) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Somebody doesn't like my criticisms of CNN henchman Chris Licht, the Congressman who says women shouldn't vote, and what do you mean 'The Soviets irradiated Richard Nixon?' C-Block (33:13) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: For 46 years, I have told the saga of my ill-fated hero Fred Merkle and how they changed the rules on him in the middle of the game in September, 1908. But this'll be the first time I've told the extraordinary story of what his great-grandson did as a toddler, as his parents and I watched in astonishment, that left us wondering about reincarnation!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THIS IS VICHY CNN A-Block (1:37) SPECIAL COMMENT: Apropos of the Vichy CNN shake-up yesterday that saw Chris "Ate Paste" Licht reward Jake Tapper after he defended the "Special Master" ruling and attacked those on MSNBC who attacked CNN's biased analysis, and rewarded Alisyn Camerota for questioning whether what Ron DeSantis did to the asylum-seekers in Texas could really be kidnapping because they were treated so well by their rescuers in Martha's Vineyard, let's look again at the beginning. When Licht fired Brian Stelter and cancelled "Reliable Sources," we didn't know he had also already fired John Harwood. When I knew him at MSNBC, Licht was Joe Scarborough's hatchet-man. And now he's John Malone's. This... is Vichy CNN. B-Block (19:57) SPECIAL COMMENT: Would that it were exclusive to CNN. It's not. Every news outlet in the country has had "the" meeting: 'If this country goes fully fascist, how do we protect our profits?' The meetings began at MSNBC in 2006 - and they have never stopped. I told that story in the first episode of this series and it's worth revisiting it in the context of the collapse in the only ratings measurement that counts in television: viewers aged 25-54. These ratings at MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News are as low as they've been in 20 years, and MSNBC's newest show has settled in nicely into last place in prime time in the category. The fear of offending Right Wingers will kill the profits of cable news long before fascist oppression can. C-Block (38:38) SPECIAL COMMENT: With a little perspective, the obsession of CNN and other right wing media with the presence of two marines in the background of President Biden's Philadelphia speech about the threat posed by MAGA-Republicans, seems ridiculous and futile. EVERYTHING they've done since has served merely to prove that the president was right; contrast what Biden said in Philadelphia to the Q-Anon references and Q-Muzak and mass fascist salutes and stochastic calls to violence that Trump presented in Youngstown.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THE GODFATHER: PART TRUMP A-Block (1:46) SPECIAL COMMENT: Remember the baptism scene in "The Godfather"? Where Michael has everybody whacked? Metaphorically, that was Trump's Wednesday - only he was ALL 10 GUYS WHO GOT WHACKED. His Appeals Court appointees let the DOJ resume its investigation, declare declassification irrelevant (4:02) Trump replies to Spokesmodel Sean Hannity that he could declassify documents just "by thinking about it" - BLINK ONE FOR CLASSIFIED, BLINK TWO FOR DECLASSIFIED. But the judges just said declassification is a red herring. (5:30) NY AG James' lawsuit may hurt Trump more personally because he's accused of not being THAT rich, and needing to be THAT rich is perhaps Trump's only human emotion (7:30) Two other court cases for Trump (7:52) and maybe one coming for Ron DeSantis (8:40) And Trump Endorsee J.R. Majewski grabs what used to be the Third Rail of Politics: Lying about your military service. He didn't fight in Afghanistan; he loaded cargo in Qatar. We'll hear him recount his ordeal in Afghanistan that he didn't have. B-Block (14:31) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Koley (15:34) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The Electoral Count Act, McCarthy Suffers Premature Jocularity, Tucker Carlson slanders the wrong Ontario teacher, the World Bank boss is a climate crisis denier, and Contagious Defenestration continues even as Russia destabilizes (18:31) IN SPORTS: Buster Posey becomes management, Dayton Moore becomes ex-management, and why Aaron Judge's 60 Homers are not comparable to Babe Ruth's 60 Homers (like McGwire's 70 Homers were not comparable to Ruth's 60) (22:41) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Politicians walk out of Greg Norman's pitch for the Saudi Blood Money Golf Tour and he competes with Ted Cruz and the NBA for the honors. C-Block (27:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Sunday it'll be 16 years since a guy sent me, at my home, an envelope he claimed was full of anthrax. What happened next, including The New York Post getting vengeance against me by printing a story that identified the real culprit of the anthrax story: Me.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DOJ'S LATE NIGHT FILING AGAINST TRUMP A-Block (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT. I wonder if Trump has ever heard of Victor Marchetti? He will now. The Government's 1975 court victory over him defined who has to prove a Classified Document is STILL a Classified Document - and it ain't the government. The Justice Department with a killer filing in its appeal of the Special Master ruling (3:55) Even as the Special Master comes down on Trump like a ton of bricks. His insistence those are HIS documents because he declassified some of them but he can't tell you which ones or when, is attacked by Special Master Dearie (4:10) Who says "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Didn't somebody we all know use that same phrase yesterday? YES I DID. (6:03) If you think Trump's lawyers are nitwits, wait'll you hear Alina Habba not understand why it's called an OCTOBER Surprise (6:45) Trump also makes a dumb analogy about the search of his bedroom (7:40) While New York's Attorney General may be ready to move (8:00) And three of the asylum seekers DeSantis human-trafficked have filed a class action suit against him and he's reduced to using the phrase "Onesie-Twosies" (10:34) And Trump's desperate neediness leads to one of the greatest Owns in Twitter history: Greg Proops flattens Maggie Haberman for all time. B-Block (14:35) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Hooch (16:00) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Ron Johnson "condones" white supremacy; Bret "Mr. Journalist" Baier tried to get the Fox Arizona call retracted; Tucker Carlson may get more people hurt. (18:50) IN SPORTS: 60 homers for Judge, the passing of Maury Wills, three NHL vets retire (21:30) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The 1776 Restoration Movement scumbags compete with Ronna McDaniel and a ton of Fentanyl for Halloween, and the Australian TV hosts covering the Queen's funeral, for the honors. C-Block (26:45) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: 25 years since the head of the NBC part of MSNBC told me to ignore the head of the MS part of MSNBC. Andy Lack said they "were only supposed to give us money and computer terminals! Don't tell ME that we have to 'synergize' cable television and the internet - whatever the hell the internet is!"See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

HERSCHMANN SINKS TRUMP A BLOCK (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: Eric Herschmann may be today's John Dean. In 2021 he warned Trump to return all the classified documents he took with him. Because Trump ignored his advice that gives prosecutors a smoking gun (3:35) Because the Espionage Act requires the perp to have "WILLFULLY" concealed the stolen secrets (3:50) And 18 US Code 2071 also says any convicted "SHALL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM HOLDING ANY OFFICE UNDER THE UNITED STATES." (4:32) Herschmann has already testified against Trump at the House 1/6 Committee and is to testify to a Federal Grand Jury. (5:31) And Trump's handpicked 'Special Master" Raymond Dearie demands they tell him what Trump claims to have declassified and when, sending Trump's lawyers into a panic (7:53) While Trump is only worried about where Biden sat at Queen Elizabeth's funeral service and even in that, he inadvertently admits Biden is president, and he isn't (9:12) Meanwhile: Told you so: The DeSantis Migrant Kidnapping disaster is being investigated as a crime in Texas. B BLOCK (14:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Colson (15:22) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Sad sack New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc steps in it; GOP threatening to investigate its beloved U.S. Chamber of Commerce?; And what does TV news do, now that Elizabeth has finally been buried? (18:43) IN SPORTS: Now the Saudi Blood Money Golf Tour sends Greg Norman to DC to lobby on its heinous behalf. (20:50) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The GOP Congressman who confesses that unpaid student debt is the greatest recruiting tool for the US military, vies with a NYPD Lieutenant with 52 disciplinary allegations, and the Funeral Spider, for the honors. C BLOCK (25:24) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's 40 years since CNN let me spend well into three figures to take the three key figures from the Players Union to dinner during the 1982 NFL Strike. I'll even reveal the day a players' negotiator tried to strangle an owners' negotiator.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TRUMP IS AMERICA'S HITLER A BLOCK: (1:50) SPECIAL COMMENT: After the Saturday Trump rally in Ohio, and the modified Sieg Heil, and the QAnon Music, and the rewritten history, and the Sunday Mastriano rally in Pennsylvania, and the modified Sieg Heil there, and the QAnon Music there, and the rewritten history there, it is time to use the real words. Trump has stopped pretending, and embraced QAnon, Christofascism, and Violent Revolution. He is America's Hitler, and he must be stopped while we still have any capacity to do so. B BLOCK: (23:53) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Henrietta (25:21) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Fiona blacks out Puerto Rico; Tomi Lahren evacuates?; Henry Silva passes; How about "Emancipation: It Slaps"? (27:54) IN SPORTS: Tom Brady's bad day and Trey Lance's worse day; What does "American League" record mean any more?; The passing of Mrs. Gil Hodges (30:2) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: DeSantis spits on Nazareth, Pat Sajak, and Alysin "Is It Really Kidnapping" Camerota of CNN compete for honors. C BLOCK: (35:20) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The anniversary of the day in 1908 when my great grandfather Antony Zelenskyy turned down $1000 in stock in the company that would become no I just can't write itSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 STEPS TO STOP TRUMP TODAY A BLOCK (1:48) SPECIAL COMMENT: Ron DeSantis didn't "pull off a political stunt." He is guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking and must be arrested. (3:42) He's violated 8 US Code 1324 and (5:31) his agent lured people onto the flight to Massachusetts. There are 50 counts; it's 5 years each (8:09) Incredibly, the White House already had a meeting scheduled today about "litigation options" against DeSantis and Abbott (8:49) And we must stand up against the psychopathic scum the way our ancestors did against the psychopathic scum of 1860 (10:30) Plus: there's a three-step process to bypass the corrupt Trump-appointee who just erased American law to protect the pimp who put her on the bench: Appeal, Waive All Executive Privilege, and INDICT THE M'F'ER NOW, especially after the interview (13:05) in which he made seven separate incitements to another insurrection in just 37 seconds of an interview.(14:30) A reminder: the bully understands only the kick in the crotch. B BLOCK (19:10) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Cooper, in Los Angeles (20:42) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Marjorie Taylor Greene tries three times to kick and push a Young Voters' Organizer, finally gets her, no word on charges; Chris "Eats Paste" Licht demotes CNN's top liberal primetime host to co-host of the little-watched morning program (alongside a former reporter for "The Daily Caller"), WSJ whiffs on Biden's Railroad (25:30) IN SPORTS: Federer goes, Ohio Republicans vote themselves the right to inspect undressed teenaged girl athletes, Washington Commanders can't tell WHICH Washington (28:22) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: D'Souza confuses an arrested Republican for a Democrat, Mike Lindell literally forgets This-Is-A-Hardee's and Blake Masters wants to fire all the generals as they vie for hours. C BLOCK (34:10) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

JEFF CLARK SPILLS THE BEANS A BLOCK (1:45) SPECIAL COMMENT: The would-be Attorney General, Jeffrey Clark, inadvertently reveals the Justice Department is pursuing Obstruction of Justice, Conspiracy, and False Statement charges over the Eastman-Trump Fake Electors Scheme (3:30) NINE phones now seized, including Mike Lindell's. We'll get his nitwitted update on the worst crime since the crucifixion (7:30) It's confirmed: Monday's Trump "Golf Course Meeting" was actually...a golf course meeting, about sprucing it up for the Saudi Arabian Blood Money Golf Tour stop there next spring (9:00) Surprisingly, Trump declares himself Antifa (9:20) The Durham bull is over as the 'Deep State Investigation' ends in shallow waters (10:10) And in an unrelated headline: Queen Elizabeth is still dead. Seriously: British TV coverage gives one reason to worry about our UK cousins. PTSD seems to be settling in, and now they're claiming Elizabeth will be missed as much here in the US as there in the UK. B BLOCK (16:50) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The NBC News affiliate in Tampa kisses up to Ron DeSantis, Republicans attack Lindsey Graham for telling the truth about their secret abortion ban plan, and Etsy gets the message but a new sponsor steps up for Steve Bannon's Fascist Disco Party - and they compete for today's honors. (20:55) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL PART 1: The death of Ken Starr recalls his pollution of American news, especially cable TV, and I'll take you back to June 5, 1998, when I tried to quit as the anchor of MSNBC's top Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr show, two NBC News executives asked me to see an NBC official as part of a process to leave the network - except she turned out to be their leg-breaker and told me NBC versus me would be "David and Goliath" and NBC would crush me. C BLOCK (34:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL PART 2: But it was even worse: she promised that if I quit, NBC would put my parents "out on the street." That's how closely Ken Starr forged the link between his live made-for-tv political reality show and the profits at all the networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

URGENT CIA BRIEFING A BLOCK (1:48) SPECIAL COMMENT: Warning or Coincidence? CIA Director Burns urgently briefs Pelosi, McCarthy, Schiff, Gang of 8 at Capitol at close-of-business. Could easily be nothing except it's now public (3:24) that Trump stole classified documents marked HCS, SI, and FISA. It's all in the less-redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit. (4:05) Judge is again warned SHE is risking national defense (5:53) Trump gives up the pretense and posts a picture of himself wearing a "Q" lapel pin, referencing "The Storm." (6:43) An attack on Liberals to "restore Trump to President-King" is thwarted in Pennsylvania (7:15) Lindsey Graham falls further, announcing an anti-abortion bill that proves McConnell was lying that it was to be "left to the states" (11:03) Lindsey now works for the Mike Lindell party. Lindell says the FBI seized his phone at an Arby's. Then he says it was at a Hardee's. Please lord let the agents have said "Sir, this is a Wendy's." (11:31) And can it get dumber? Yes, if Lauren Boebert is around. Tasked with reading the Bible aloud to a bunch of Christian theocrats, she screws it up and refers to "Wonton Murders." B BLOCK (15:49) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Josephine in Illinois (17:06) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Polling showing Shapiro over Mastriano by 19? Warnock over Walker by 10? Is it legit? And what's wrong in Russia? An oligarch didn't defenestrate, he drowned! (19:08) IN SPORTS: Aaron Judge has 57 homers - and competition, and could they have become "The Southern California Angels?" (23:21) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Etsy, sponsoring Steve Bannon, competes with Erin Burnett and Brett Favre for the honors. C BLOCK (28:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Clinton-Lewinsky persecutor Ken Starr is dead, and so is the rule that you can't speak ill of the dead. He was a harbinger of today's Authoritarian Rules-For-Thee Fascism, and he distracted America from the looming threat of terrorism, and he leaked constantly and illegally, and he let people like NBC News President Andy Lack degrade and demean America - and me, too, when I told him I no longer wanted to do a "news" show designed to fulfill Starr's nakedly political purposes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THEY WERE DOIN' A GOLF A BLOCK (1:46) SPECIAL COMMENT: That wasn't a secret Trump Crime Family meeting at the golf course: They were doin' a GOLF (2:10) No matter who captioned the photos "Trump with Devin Nunes and Sean Hannity" it was Trump with his VP/Golf Courses and Director of Grounds. (3:35) I have witnessed Trump do this in one of his New York apartment buildings: he likes to show his employees how to do the jobs they are actually experts at. (5:40) It seemed to dovetail: 40 subpoenas! Dan Scavino! Boris Epshteyn! Seized phones! Of course they were meeting at a golf course! They were afraid of wiretaps, and everybody had their phones seized! Nope. They were doin' a GOLF (6:16) And they weren't trying to fix the Special Master case because it looks like the judge has realized she's screwed up and may walk it back. (9:08) After he lost the election Trump told people he wouldn't leave the White House. Why are we only finding this out now? Because Maggie Haberman held it for months (maybe longer) for her new book: "I'M NOT GOING TO REPORT ANY OF THIS UNTIL I GET A BOOK DEAL!" This is the third time Haberman has done this with this book alone. She joins Bob Woodward, Robert Costa, Jon Karl, and others as reporters who refused to report. (13:00) But Haberman's case is so egregious we need to know what ELSE she might be suppressing. So I think The House January 6th Committee should subpoena her to find out what she knows - or what she WILL know later when the damn book comes out. B BLOCK (16:49) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Willow (18:06) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: J6 Committee may invite Pence and Trump today, possible new PA Secretary of State goes full 9/11 Truther, and no one was injured at the Emmys. (21:35) IN SPORTS: The continuing shame of Mike Trout's anonymity, and the death of Queen Elizabeth messes with the weekly European soccer championship. (22:38) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Fox's Faulkner Freaks, Ronda Santis bribes voters, Matt Gaetz mocks his opponent's autistic son. C BLOCK (28:10) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The day my appendix burst and it was 48 hours before I knew it so I kept working and I beat CNN in the ratings anyway and I learned how to tell Rush-To-The-Hospital Appendix Pain from the other kind so I can tell thee and John Cleese reminded me it happened to him too and to milk it for all it was worth: "You and I were dying of septicemia!"See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE SHOULD RESIGN A BLOCK (1:48) SPECIAL COMMENT: "Simply because people disagree with a (Court) Opinion," says Chief Justice John Roberts over the weekend in Colorado, "is not a basis for questioning the legitimacy of The (Supreme) Court." Firstly: of COURSE it is! (2:50) Ever heard of Dred Scott, Johnny? (3:54) Secondly: that is hardly the primary reason your court's legitimacy is being questioned. It's being questioned because the Supreme Court has been poisoned by Conservatives. One Justice's wife is an insurrectionist. Another Justice is there because a Senate Majority Leader made up a phony rule. A third is there because the same Leader didn't FOLLOW the phony rule. At least three of them lied to the Senate. Alito gave a political speech mocking anybody who opposed him, or wasn't Catholic. It's time for Chief Justice Roberts to resign! (7:19) Judicial corruption is so pervasive that the "Special Master" Trump proposed to a judge he appointed, is the husband of one of the judges he appointed to the appeals court that next gets his case! (7:58) Happily the Department of Justice has offered Judge Cannon a climbdown from her decision to threaten National Security. (10:00) May video from London's Daily Mail has new significance: it shows Trump taking boxes of stuff from Mar-a-Lago to his golf course in New Jersey three days after the National Archives emailed about missing stuff (10:55) and last night we saw more video of Trump and private jets, ferrying him from New Jersey to DC sparking all kinds of speculation with the easiest explanation: he has another golf course near Dulles Airport (11:15) No, I don't know why he went, but the last time we saw him go to a golf course he buried a wife in it. Has Trump got anybody he needs to bury? B BLOCK: (15:20) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Janet the Boston Terrier in New Jersey (16:40) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Looks like the Russians are losing badly in Ukraine; a Kansas sheriff thinks he's going to war against the IRS, and the Royal Beekeeper has let the bees know the bad news about Queen Elizabeth. (19:55) IN SPORTS: Mahomes' hand is fine, Aaron Rodgers' head isn't (and it's probably my fault), who drew the line at Soldier Field, and Baseball shorts Doc White (24:10) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: CNN's Jake Tapper vies with Mike Pence and Kimberly "The New King Is My Friend" Guilfoyle for the honors. C BLOCK: (29:05) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The strange tale of how ESPN wanted me to take on New York radio legends (and illiterates) Francesa and Russo, but fate intervened.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

JUDGE CANNON RISKS NATIONAL DEFENSE A BLOCK (1:46) SPECIAL COMMENT: Department of Justice asks Trump Flunky Judge Aileen Cannon to stay her order for a "Special Master" to thumb through documents too top secret for most defense officials to know exist (3:29) To explain the continuing risk that Trump may have stolen MORE documents describing other nation's nukes (and done a better job hiding them) let's explore two hypothetical nations, one with nuclear capabilities and one without. Let's call them "Bisrael" and "Howdy Arabia" (6:05) DOJ emphasized they can't tell what Trump might still be hiding without knowing what they already have; I believe if the judge doesn't cooperate they should act without her, on the basis of national defense (7:10) And after former Trump US Attorney Appointee's revelations, no more crap from Republicans about "politicizing the DOJ." Trump wanted him to prosecute John Kerry (8:39) Grand Jury now investigating Trump's "Save America PAC" scam (9:12) and speaking of scam, Steve Bannon Does The Perp Walk and repeats "They'll have to kill me first." Whatever you say, Rasputin Only More Unkempt. B BLOCK (14:00) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Pumpkin, in Miami (15:25) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The death of Queen Elizabeth and her 25,782 days on the job and how she seemed to accept both reverence and irreverence with equal grace; and one of my original CNN colleagues Bernard Shaw has also died, leaving a controversial legacy and an infamous question in the 1988 Presidential Debates (23:24) IN SPORTS: Baseball is going to do it! Ban shifts, even though shifts have been in use IN THE MAJORS SINCE 1874 and even though without shifts the 1st Baseman would still spend all game standing ON 1st Base (29:11) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: I compete against Fox News and @GarfieldFanArt for the honors. C BLOCK (34:45) FRIDAYS WITH JAMES THURBER: Three of his best, and most admired, fables: "The Unicorn In The Garden," "The Rabbits Who Caused All The Trouble," and the one I have a tattoo for, "The Moth And The Star."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WHERE'S TRUMP'S DENIAL? A BLOCK (1:50) SPECIAL COMMENT: Everybody from Lindsey Graham to Marco Rubio to Kellyanne Conway attacked The Washington Post for reporting the FBI found a Top Secret document stashed at Mar-a-Lago "describing a foreign government's...nuclear capabilities." But who came out and said 'Nah, Trump DIDN'T DO IT?' Isn't ANYBODY going to deny it? (3:57) Even some nonsensical 'he did it to secure the documents' defense? No? Nothing? (4:24) Three DAYS before Nixon resigned, Congressman Chuck Wiggins was still insisting Nixon was innocent! Three days! NOBODY believes Trump DIDN'T do this! (6:00) Or is the "foreign government" really Israel and they're all too terrified to say anything? (6:25) But if it were Israel wouldn't Mitch McConnell throw Trump overboard to protect his own ass? (7:30) The other news: Steve Bannon Day. He says "they'll have to kill me first." Sounds like a plan. (7:42) Who is William S. Russell and why does the January 6 Grand Jury want to hear from him? (8:30) And yes, CNN led an hour last night pushing one of the 'The Real Crime Is The Leak' stories. The turning has begun. (11:00) When new CNN boss Chris Licht and I were together at MSNBC, I thought he ate glue (11:15) I've known Licht's first talent hire - Cop Apologist John Miller - since I worked with him in 1978! If you need a living symbol of CNN's coming conservatism, Miller is it. He's so bad that even New York Mayor Eric Adams (himself an ex-cop) apologized for him! B BLOCK (18:30) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DIE: Deserey, and a desperate need for fosters in NYC (20:55) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The problem with Obama's portrait, comparative life expectancy, Oath Keepers in our midst. (22:55) IN SPORTS: The guy from the Minnesota Twins? His cousin wrote Hamilton; Jerry Seinfeld blames "Timmy Trumpet" for the Mets slide; MSG boss Jim Dolan steps in political crap yet again (28:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Fox News screwing up the bio of a founding father, Senator Ron Johnson, and Michigan's Kristina Karamo vie for honors. C BLOCK (32:10) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The man I met on 9/11, who cheated death because the regular men's room attendant at a top New York City restaurant. It's the story of that sad anniversary, in miniature.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DETAIN THE NUCLEAR KLEPTOMANIAC A BLOCK (1:47) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump is a nuclear kleptomaniac. And per The Washington Post, the FBI recovered "a document describing a foreign government's...nuclear capabilities" he had taken to Mar-a-Lago. We do not have TIME for a Trump appointee's bought-and-paid-for delays. Judge Cannon must vacate her Special Master ruling, or the Department of Justice must ignore it, and if necessary arrest Judge Cannon as a risk to the national nuclear defense. (3:52) WHY is Trump not already in a naval brig or army stockage? WHY haven't Mar-a-Lago, Bedminster, and Trump Tower been sealed off indefinitely until we are sure he didn't stash MORE NUCLEAR DOCUMENTS THERE? (5:12) We spent the years after 9/11 listening to the Republicans warn of "loose nukes," dirty bombs, unimaginable risks - this document IS a loose nuke, it is the written equivalent of a dirty bomb, and TRUMP is the "unimaginable risk." 10:30 On August 26 Trump boasted "nothing mentioned on 'nuclear'" in the Mar-a-lago affidavit. Now 'nuclear' has been mentioned and Trump must be detained in a secure facility until we know we and our allies are safe, and then we can decide how many decades his sentence should be for. B BLOCK (15:28) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Cider, in Atlanta (17:05) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The Insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment is finally used to remove an officeholder; the damning video showing Sidney Powell's henchmen going in to access a Georgia voting system; the would-be Trump Attorney General Jeff Clark fails to get the bar association's punishment against him sealed. (20:35) IN SPORTS: Minor League Baseball players seem set to join Big Leaguers' union, Chicago Bears announce a new stadium just as they've done continuously since 1989, and Oakland's Dave Stewart will be honored, but not for Lucille - and how Nancy Faust figures in! (26:23) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD (26:23) As the new British Prime Minister's twitter handle, the Ohio GOP skunked by Trump, and the Proud Boy who wasn't too proud to lie, vie for the honors. C BLOCK (31:58) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It took a year to finally get to the sports anchor desk at WCVB Channel 5 Boston, but only six months to get the hell out. Why would you hire me to do sports if you didn't want me to tell jokes?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ARREST TRUMP WHILE WE STILL CAN A BLOCK (1:48) SPECIAL COMMENT: After the Rubber Stamp Judge he appointed has fabricated law to protect him from justice, Trump has again demanded that "they" overthrow the duly-elected government of the United States - 20 MONTHS TO THE DAY SINCE JANUARY 6TH (3:06) Arrest him NOW while we still can and before he sells the secrets he stole (4:39) Since we know he does not care if the next coup is violent or not, we must stop him NOW (6:05) "Judge" Cannon listened to Trump's "swirling allegation of bias" and used them as an excuse to issue a lawless ruling (8:55) We must act as if we had been invaded by a foreign nation with allies inside this country (9:05) There are six steps that can be taken: including impeaching Cannon, declaring the Federalist Society factory of treason as what it is: a Terrorist organization, search for more stolen documents at Bedminster and Trump Tower, double the number of 1/6 Committee hearings, have President Biden again give his Philadelphia speech (only this time with the gloves off) and ARREST. TRUMP. NOW. WHILE. WE. STILL. CAN. B BLOCK (19:36) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Rufio (21:02) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Trump's rally proves everything Biden said was true, and then some, plus the British have made a lookalike for Evil Tweety Bird their new Prime Minister (24:13) IN SPORTS: Nadal loses, Seal is there (under the name Seal Seal), Judge is poised to break Maris's record, the Oakland couple is sought, and Final Jeopardy is a sports question (28:45) WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Brianna Kellar, Jonathan Truly and Kristina "F it, I'll kill us all" Karamo vie for the honors. C BLOCK (33:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: First the Republicans ran a 9/11 Snuff Film unannounced - on MSNBC - and I apologized to our viewers. Then the Republicans told Tom Brokaw: if you don't get Olbermann fired, McCain won't show up to the Presidential Debate YOU are moderating. It all goes down hill from there, and the end result was: I got $22,000,000. Thanks Tom! Oh and ARREST. TRUMP. NOW. WHILE. WE. STILL. CAN. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BIDEN FULFILLED HIS OATH OF OFFICE A BLOCK (1:49) SPECIAL COMMENT: When political corruption and degeneration threatens the nation, it is NOT political to say so. Last night in Philadelphia, President Biden rose above politics, went beyond politics, and spoke in spite of politics (3:14) The most important part: No problem has ever been solved until someone stood up and said "this is wrong" as Biden did - and thank God he named names (5:50) Even knowing how the American Political Media Complex can't comprehend or digest new things, the networks and newspapers utterly mishandled the story, and bluntly CNN's Poppy Harlow, Brianna Keller, and Jeff Zeleny must've been showing their new Right Wing bosses that they can do Bothsidesism with the best of them. CNN humiliated itself last night (8:42) And the person who proved Biden's point - and the necessity of his speech - was Trump, dangling pardons for and apologies to the 1/6 Traitors (10:45) Trump also contradicted his own attorneys, matter-of-factly slipping in the claim he had declassified the documents he stole (12:20) While Clarence Thomas's continuation on the Supreme Court became even more untenable after his wife's latest disgrace (13:07) And circling back to the Biden speech: somebody else who proved him right? The heckler. What would Trump and his thugs have done to such a protestor? B BLOCK (17:02) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Ginger (18:15) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Another protesting Russian succumbs to the leading cause of death in that country: Windows; Greg Abbott is running on the greatness of the Texas Power Grid?; GOP now suing to stop Biden's College Loan Forgiveness plan. (20:35) IN SPORTS: So the Tom Brady Retirement/Un-retirement/Disappearance saga was about his wife? And the Yankees break in a 70-year old rookie tonight! (23:56) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: House Minority Leader McCarthy is a political poet, invokes "the electric cord of liberty"; Twitter opens Pandora's box with an edit button, and Sarah Palin mystified by Ranked-Choice as they contend for the award. C BLOCK (32:01) FRIDAYS WITH JAMES THURBER: The story is 88 years old but much of it rings true right now: "How To Relax While Broadcasting."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TRUMP CONFESSED LAST NIGHT A-BLOCK (1:49) SPECIAL COMMENT: His lawyers' answer to the DOJ Filing ADMITS Trump was in possession of all the documents prosecutors say were classified. It also makes NO CLAIM that Trump declassified anything. THAT'S! A! CONFESSION! (2:52) He also confessed on social media (4:51) So why hasn't he been perp walked? Finger-printed? Because the DOJ is still afraid of affecting the election! Not 2024, but the November midterms, even though Trump isn't running in them - merely because he's endorsed people who are! (7:45) The problem is, the delay in arresting Trump benefits those he's endorsed, and the "no electoral interference rule" is only in play because Trump has repeatedly stalled. (9:20) This makes the next 68 days until the midterms will be hell, because the revelations are still coming. Does "the" photo show Trump stole Iran Nuclear Deal documents? (12:17) And Trump's own lawyer Alina Habba may have inadvertently convicted him of espionage but she (13:10) dismisses espionage as a "mundane statute" which will come as a surprise to the Rosenbergs.(14:32) This is now an open and shut case. Good God, he's CONFESSED! Charge him already! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! B-BLOCK (19:32) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Arnold in Downey (20:42) Postscripts to the News: Palin loses, Mastriano and Ron Johnson employ conspiracy whack jobs (24:10) IN SPORTS: Serena did it, the Marlins toss back a player named Fishman, and the 35th Anniversary of Dave Bresnahan's Great Baseball Potato Caper (29:17) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Chuck Todd says he's not fired, by tweeting a link to a Mark Twain quote Mark Twain never wrote, in a cable he never sent, about a story that never ran. Par for the course. C-BLOCK (35:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Back-to-school-days means only one thing to me: the Cornell History professor who graded our papers right after he watched his beloved New York Giants - and was grading them right after the Giants pulled off the worst choke loss in their history!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TRUMP IS REALLY, REALLY, SCREWED A BLOCK (1:50) SPECIAL COMMENT: A Justice Department photo shows at least five bright yellow TOP SECRET/SCI files strewn on a gaudy carpet. Some pictures are worth a thousand words - this mind-blowing one looks like it's worth 10 to 20 in a Supermax for Trump. The DOJ answer to Trump's ill-conceived "Special Master" suit is released early Wednesday morning and in it, Trump destroys his own defense that he "declassified" all the documents, as government agents swear Trump did NOT assert Executive Privilege over any of the documents he turned over in June, nor did he claim any of them had been declassified. There are countless lesser Trump self-destructions in the DOJ filing that add up to Obstruction of Justice, Concealing Classified Documents, and Falsely Sworn Documents - and all this is BEFORE WE EVEN KNOW FOR SURE WHAT'S IN THE DOCUMENTS. (7:20) And this may not even be the worst news of the day for Trump. President Biden is clearly on offense, slamming Lindsey Graham for his "riots in the streets" promise. (8:06) Graham actually makes it worse: he goes back on Fox and flatly lies, and denies he said what he said on Fox two nights earlier (10:33) Biden's willingness to call out Republicans normalizes the terms he uses like "semi-fascism" and builds momentum for others to use them on a daily basis (14:20) To paraphrase "The Manchurian Candidate": "Are they saying ARE there any fascists in the Republican Party? Of course not! They're saying HOW MANY fascists are there in the Republican Party!" (14:20) Trump meanwhile goes full QAnon, posting direct messages from the imaginary figure and all but calling for another coup to be led by people who believe prophesy tells them to participate (17:15) But overarching all of it is that one photo: glowing TOP SECRET/SCI files on a carpet like so many baseball cards. B BLOCK (19:42) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Hadley (20:57) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Gorbachev dies just before Putin finishes undoing all his work. How will your town look under 10 inches of melted glacial water? How come the dirty words on the GOP headquarters were carefully sprayed AROUND the Republican logo? (23:32) IN SPORTS: Sweden warns its players: don't go to Russia. Why are we letting Russians play in the NHL? And sports blogger Clay Travis actually compares vaccine-refuseniks Aaron Rodgers, Kyrie Irving and Novak Djokovic to Muhammad Ali's refusal to be inducted into the military: "Covid is our modern era Vietnam," says the dumbest man on the planet (29:47) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Ted Cruz, Joe Rogan, and Herschel Walker - proudly insisting "My bike is not bent" compete for the honors. C BLOCK (34:43) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: It's the birthday of the late Daniel Schorr, the last man hired by Ed Murrow at CBS News, a proud member of Richard Nixon's enemies list, and my colleague at CNN 40 years ago. The best story? The day I had to delay his interview with the CIA chief for breaking... College Football Rankings News!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GRAHAM: "I REJECT VIOLENCE, BUT..." A BLOCK (1:49) SPECIAL COMMENT: Lindsey Graham is a Stochastic Terrorist, now trying to escape accountability. After insisting Sunday "there will be riots in the streets" when Trump is prosecuted, he now says "I reject violence. I'm not calling for violence. But..." The same man who said the night of January 6th "count me out, enough is enough" is now back in, laying the groundwork for another January 6th (5:49) Or maybe another Oklahoma City bombing. Trump has now posted an article comparing the FBI at Ruby Ridge to the Gestapo (7:00) And made another demand that he be made president immediately, directed to idiots Graham is encouraging to riot in the streets. (9:00) But, Special Master suit may backfire on Trump as DOJ plans 40-page refutation of Trump's lies in his filing (10:40) And Trump plant Tony Ornato has quit the Secret Service (12:00) Plus a microscopic answer to the question: Why did Trump steal all this? The report that Trump boasted of knowing details of the French President's sex life. B BLOCK (16:16) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Givenchy (17:49) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Biden's next "Freedom Speech," his approval ratings rise again, Chuck Todd may be fired from NBC's Meet The Press, and they recall Dinesh D'Souza's "book." (20:55) IN SPORTS: Serena starts her farewell well, and Aaron Rodgers admits he deliberately misled everyone about his 'vaccination.' And I'm proud of Aaron and Joe Rogan for confessing they're afraid of vaccine needles (27:46) WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Mike Lindell, Nikki Haley, and I vie for the honors. C BLOCK (32:45) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: A quarter century ago, the news broke from Paris that Diana, Princess of Wales, was dead. Beyond the tragedy, there is another story. That was the day American TV News eliminated any remaining dignity or sense of responsibility from its equations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GRAHAM THREATENS RIOTS IF TRUMP IS PROSECUTED A BLOCK: SPECIAL COMMENT (1:47) Senator Lindsay Graham (R-NC) has actually gone on television and threatened the peace and security of this nation with "riots in the streets" if Trump is prosecuted for mishandling classified documents (3:03) He must resign, be expelled, or censured (4:10) If you get your "riots in the streets, Senator, who has the law on their side, and the National Guard? These insurrectionists never stop to think their acts of violence would not be crushed (5:35) It's being done to try to blackmail the Department of Justice into letting Trump escape though he has compromised the "Human Intelligence Control System" and risked the lives of countless American agents and sources around the world (6:20) and must be prosecuted under 18 USC Code 794, the Espionage Act. (7:20) CIA notified all its stations last September of high number of agents and sources being "captured or killed" (8:26) This is not the first timeline suggestive of Trump jeopardizing American lives. 2019 Trump/Putin/List of Spies timeline detailed. (9:26) Trump/Putin/Helsinki 2018 timeline, plus the nearly simultaneous FBI tweet about the Rosenbergs, detailed. (10:50) 2017 MBS/Jared Kushner/Saudi round-up timeline detailed. (11:26) History of US traitor/Russian Spy Robert Hanssen and his 15 consecutive life sentences (12:10) History of US traitor/Russian Spy Aldrich Ames and his life sentence without the possibility of parole (12:30) DOD employee who without malice mishandled classified documents got three months (13:07) DNI Haynes warns Congress of damage to National Security and analysis she is referring to saving lives of agents/sources whose identities have been compromised (13:57) Mar-a-Lago affidavit by itself virtually convicts Trump of Obstruction and Attempt to Conceal Classified Documents (14:30) "Anna de Rothschild" cons her way into Mar-a-Lago to play golf with Trump - and Lindsay Graham (14:24) "Special Master" filing may backfire on Trump (17:37) If you get the riots you want, Senator, make sure you're near the front where we can all see you. B BLOCK: EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY (20:26) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS (21:51) Biden approval, new "Covid Shot," Doug Mastriano in Confederate Uniform, Marsha Blackburn and "The Taiwans," anti-abortion leader charged with soliciting sex from minors, Ron Johnson says people in Wisconsin thinks he's a "tool of Putin." (25:03) IN SPORTS: No I didn't buy it; Adidas doesn't believe Fernando Tatis Jr; new MLB 2023 schedule underscores how baseball killed The World Series by killing the independence of the two Leagues. (33:43) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Junior Trump, Kim Crockett, Marco Rubio vie for honors. C BLOCK: THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL (38:00) How James Gandolfini influenced the conception and the writing of the first "Special Comment" 16 years ago, and the horrible night I knew of Gandolfini's passing before it was announced. And I apologize: I discovered too late I misidentified Lorraine Bracco as "Elaine." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FOX GUEST SAYS TRUMP MAY HAVE TAKEN NUCLEAR RETALIATION PLANS A BLOCK: (1:50) We know Trump took nuclear weapons documents, information "among the most sensitive secrets we hold," documents marked "Special Access Programs" (2:19) What if it's even worse? What if it's worse than the worst we could imagine? (3:37) What if every crazy rumor about nuclear codes and invoking of The Rosenbergs is not only apt, but an understatement? (4:23) Biography of former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Ronald Kessler (5:12) Kessler, a past Trump apologist, appears on Fox News Channel Thursday night (6:30) Kessler says what Trump took "could very well include the plans for counterstriking against Russia in the event of a nuclear attack" (8:50) Or, "penetrations by the CIA of foreign embassies, of foreign leaders like Putin, as well as recruitments of spies overseas." And that the Russians would've been trying to get a spy into Mar-a-Lago, and may have succeeded (11:00) Reinhart poised to release search warrant affidavit with all redactions the government requested (12:08) CNN reports Trump has been getting legal advice from non-lawyer Tom Fitton (12:56) Fox Business reports his web host may sue Trump for non-payment for Truth Social (13:40) We should assume that what's in Trump's Pandora's Box could be worse than we can possibly imagine. B BLOCK: (17:30) Every Dog Has Its Day: Duo-Duo has been saved! And I'm plugging the Schwarzman Animal Center's "AMC To The Rescue" fund to treat shelter and pound pets who need medical help (18:59) Postscripts To The News: White House burns Republicans complaining about Student Loan Forgiveness program who themselves got PPP Loan Forgiveness - like Marjorie Trailer Park Greene (21:27) Who says she was swatted - again (22:01) Bill Barr turns on Trump (22:48) Couple confesses to stealing President's daughter's diary for Project Veritas (23:14) Tim Scott thinks "fruitful" and "fruit-filled" are the same word (25:04) Sports: Bryce Harper returns to the Phillies and that might be BAD news (25:40) Bengals-Rams scrimmage fight recalls Cletus The Slack-Jawed Yokel from The Simpsons (26:19) Anniversary of the ESPN2 show - and song, and the back story of how we launched it to mess with Fox (32:00) Jared Kushner, Doug Mastriano, and Ron DeSantis compete for Worst Persons dishonors. C BLOCK: (37:13) Time for James Thurber and a short story that invokes Red Barber and Vin Scully (37:50) And might've become a film directed by Burt Lancaster (38:00) Regardless, it's one of his best: The Catbird Seat.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ANYBODY NOTICE TRUMP CONFESSED? A BLOCK: (1:55) First, the memo William Barr had his lackeys write, with which he buried The Mueller Report, has now been released by a Federal Court. (4:25) It's exactly the kind of whitewash you'd expect, possibly pre-written by one of the attorneys who defended Sarah Palin during the McCain Campaign and another who signed off on the Bush Torture memos (5:46) Ryan Goodman says it's a "Get Out Of Jail Free Card" that starts with the sophistry that if Trump felt the investigation was undertaken just to undermine him politically, he couldn't have committed any crimes (7:20) Simply: the House of Representatives needs to start an investigation into possible Obstruction of Justice by Barr and his deputies Ed O'Callaghan and Steven Engel. (9:15) Oh by the way: the Trump Classified Documents Theft case is so enormous that nearly everybody missed the Trump confession contained in the court filing. If Trump wants "Executive Privilege" documents to be returned to him at Mar-A-Lago, he is necessarily confessing he TOOK THOSE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS TO MAR-A-LAGO. B BLOCK: (15:45) Every Dog Has Its Day: Duo-Duo in New York (17:16) You know how you KNOW Biden's Loan Forgiveness Program is good? Republicans are making fools of themselves trying to attack it. One complained without noting that his own firm had government loans worth $3,291,773 and they were... yup... forgiven. (20:10) A House Committee looking at Covid-19 turned up a familiar name among the charlatans: Mehmet Oz (20:46) The political data specialist of The Economist has preliminary good Mid-Terms news for Democrats, and better news for codifying Roe state-by-state.(22:15) Sports: Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson is dead (25:25) Eric Trump, Herschel Walker, and Marjorie Trailer Park Greene compete for Worst Person Honors. C BLOCK: (31:09) Things I Promised Not To Tell: Peter Jackson admits he considered asking a hypnotherapist to erase all his memories of making "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (32:30) which flashes me back to the day I first stepped into my college radio station - 47 years ago today! - and was warned to do something immediately if I ever wanted to enjoy radio or music again! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"AMONG THE MOST SENSITIVE SECRETS WE HOLD" A BLOCK (2:20) Washington Post reports some of the material Trump took recovered 8/8 is "among the most sensitive secrets we hold" (2:29) which could reveal American intelligence-gathering methods. This makes Trump a SPY (4:35) Reality Winner got 63 months for stealing one classified document so the math is: for 300 documents Trump would deserve 1,575 years (6:08) There once was the chance this was a mistake but it is now clear Trump went through all the documents and chose which to keep in defiance of the demand to return them (6:40) and reportedly supervised packing them at Mar-a-Lago. ALL OF THIS WAS A CRIME (7:45) Trump's lawyers humiliate themselves in front of Trump-appointed judge who says she can't tell from their filing what they want her to DO (9:48) Jared Kushner makes it worse (11:40) Rolling Stone reports Trump wants all "his" documents back (12:34) but as that song he always plays at his rallies reminds us: You Can't Always Get What You Want. B BLOCK (15:40) Every Dog Has Its Day: Sonny Boy (17:10) Primary Results (17:57) DeSantis closes his 3rd speech in a month with "put on the full armor of God" (18:17) Mehmet Oz reignites the "Crudite" saga (19:23) Sanders floats bill not to recognize Brazil government if Bolsonaro tries to ignore election. Can we get this bill for the US too? (19:51) Michigan residents warned not to walk their dogs: a new virus, or a Parvo variant, is abroad (20:54) Sports: Fernando Tatis Jr says he's sorry he used steroids but is sticking to his claim he only took them for Ringworm (22:00) Angels for sale (22:48) Oakland fans engage willy-nilly in hanky-panky, others celebrate with signs, security gets tetchy (24:44) Tucker Carlson, Senator Rick Scott and Florida's Lieutenant Governor compete for Worst Persons honors. C BLOCK (29:48) Things I Promised Not To Tell: It is 42 years to the day since I learned why Mom said "Never run for a train, there'll always be another one." I ran for - and HEAD-ON INTO - a New York City Subway train. The story winds through the U.S. Tennis Open, Dr. Renee Richards, a lesson in how to report sports, and ends with two new ventilators for Elmhurst Hospital during the pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NOW, TRUMP MUST BE PROSECUTED FOR ESPIONAGE A BLOCK (1:30) The New York Times' blockbuster and a stunning Trump leak of a letter from the National Archives makes it inevitable (2:15) There is no prosecutorial discretion here: if you've stolen MORE THAN 300 CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS THEY HAVE TO PROSECUTE YOU (2:43) And if some are the highest level of classification, you must be prosecuted FOR ESPIONAGE (3:00) The Times also implied there's video of people actually mishandling these documents (3:41) DOJ also isn't sure Trump isn't hiding MORE classified docs at Mar-a-Lago (5:08) None of the crimes mentioned on the search warrant are affected even if Trump somehow DID declassify the papers he stole (5:27) You also don't want to be Christina Bobb right now (6:47) Trump's motion to have a 'Special Master' review everything seized is described as 'Alice In Wonderland' (7:22) and incredibly it contains Trump boasting of how he got a threat relayed to Attorney General Garland (8:37) Judge Reinhart also seems to be leaning against unsealing the search warrant affidavit - in part for Trump's physical safety (9:55) Trump flunky Kash Patel is blaming the Government Services Administration because they haven't gotten around to blaming the moving company yet (10:05) Early Tuesday somebody connected to Trump LEAKED A NATIONAL ARCHIVES LETTER TO TRUMP'S LAWYER and ex-journalist John Solomon posted it (10:30) Archivist Debra Wall has detailed all of Trump's efforts to keep the stolen documents through the first five months of this year (11:07) Wall says Trump tried to claim executive privilege over them! The Biden White House finally agreed to waive any executive privilege (11:49) But Solomon (and presumably Trump) think the mere mention of Biden in the letter will let them paint this as Biden politically attacking Trump (12:09) without realizing that the letter confirms Trump DELIBERATELY held on to the documents and cannot claim some kind of mistake (12:39) And Wall even notes some documents were "Special Access Program materials" - bureaucratic speak of ultra-secret Black Ops programs. Trump is in twice as much trouble as he was before Solomon posted (15:20) They won't listen, but this would be a good time for his supporters to bail out on Trump because it's all indictments from here on in. B BLOCK (19:05) Every Dog Has Its Day: Roxy (20:33) Postscripts To The News: there's a Trump Electoral Fraud scandal too. The Your-Kraken-Is-Showing crowd seems to have illegally disseminated election data to people like friends of Sean Hannity (21:59) Why did The New York Times run a Trump Op-Ed by Rich Lowry when (23:13) it could've just reprinted his self-gratifying assessment of Sarah Palin's wink from 2008? (24:47) Sports: Tom Brady's back. The Masked Singer? Refilled his consecrated ground? (25:17) Bryce Harper's minor league rehab is...SPONSORED? (27:40) Trump, Tim Michels and Russia Ron Johnson compete for Worst Persons honors, with Ron insisting he was only involved in the coup for just "seconds." C BLOCK (32:00) My career stories - Things I Promised Not To Tell - focuses in this episode on the most talented (and most self-destructive) person I've ever worked with. He was a New York and Los Angeles radio news anchor and TV news reporter named Will Spens. He was a genius, but his ability to do what others would not try, eventually destroyed him.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"THREATS TO DEMOCRACY" VOTERS' NEW TOP ISSUE A BLOCK (1:51) 21% of voters polled by NBC say "threats to democracy" is their most important issue (2:08) Fascism Carries the Bible: Ron DeSantis again tells voters "put on the full armor of God" in speech for Doug Mastriano (2:42) whose security chiefs are an Evangelical minister and a former Oath Keeper (4:08) The NBC poll does not differentiate: there could be Republicans IN FAVOR of "threats to democracy" (5:45) Hatred, violence, and antisemitism now mainstreaming among GOP candidates after Pennsylvania Republican calls for "execution of Marxist/Communist Jews" (8:57) 24 hours after Oklahoma Republican says "I ain't owned by the Jews" and Arizona's Kari Lake hesitates to rescind her retraction of him (10:50) Secular stochastic terrorism on rise over weekend as Florida GOP House candidate says he'd have killed FBI agents (11:18) 24 hours after Florida State House GOP candidate says "his plan" would allow Floridians to shoot FBI, DOJ, IRS and ATF. Both men are still on the ballot Tuesday (13:40) All of this ties together in the "New Apostolic Reformation" whose members insist they "have been given legal power from heaven" to destroy all political enemies (16:14) What can we do? Take a page from Germany. You incite violence against public figures? You get arrested. Sadly, it's time. B BLOCK (21:19) Every Dog Has Its Day, including updates on three dogs (22:30) Postscripts To The News: Sen. Graham gets his delay, FBI STILL sifting through recovered documents Trump stole; Republican Senatorial campaign seems to have spent all the money (25:06) Sports: Former Red Sox star Bill "Spaceman" Lee has a cardiac episode on what amounts to EMT Night at the ballpark; Yankees Manager Aaron Boone news permitting me to tell you how I met Boone when he was 13; Sue Bird sets a record; Yadier Molina bails out on pennant race (30:27) The New York Daily News, CNN President Chris Licht and writers of the LOL-worthy "World Climate Declaration" vie for Worst Person Honors. C BLOCK (35:20) Things I Promised Not To Tell: 29 years to the day since Yankees Manager Buck Showalter locked his ENTIRE TEAM in the trainers' room to try to teach me some kind of lesson. And somehow we're friends anyway.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.