April 13, 2023 • 34 mins
EPISODE 177: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump stole a map. The map shows classified intelligence info. Trump took the map to Mar-a-Lago. Trump showed the map to "aides and visitors." That is the definition of the dissemination of national intelligence, and that is ESPIONAGE. That's up to 10 years in jail. If he showed it to a foreign power it's life - or worse.
And the New York Times also reports "Prosecutors have now interviewed nearly everyone who could offer insight in connection with the documents..." while The Washington Post says Special Counsel Jack Smith has opened a new line of inquiry: into possible fraud by Trump on those idiots he conned into donating to fight a rigged election he knew WASN'T rigged. If that sounds familiar to you, that's exactly what Fox "News" did and it sounds like before the trial has even started Fox is losing its battle with Dominion. There are tapes of Bartiromo and Giuliani and Sidney Powell admitting they can't prove claims they've made on Fox against Dominion and Fox hid them from Dominion AND the judge and the judge is pissed.
And if it needed to get worse for Murdoch or Trump: Trump's ludicrous claim to Murdoch's minion Tucker Carlson that everybody at the courthouse cried as they arrested him is refuted by a Michael Isikoff news source, who adds a perfect metaphorical knife between the ribs of Trump's insatiable ego.
B-Block (15:57) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The Justins are back, Chuck Schumer and other Senate Dems want DOJ to see if their 1st or 14th Amendment rights were violated and if citizens of Memphis and Nashville were denied their rights to choose their representatives, Tucker Carlson goes full racist on them. Ro Khanna calls on Dianne Feinstein to resign, and the New York Post inadvertently suggests Republicans aren't Americans. (19:30) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: The drama in MAGA-land: if they have to boycott Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch, how will they get drunk cheaply? A Missouri state senator doubles down on his belief that adults should be able to marry 12-year olds. And the first question on the application to work for Gov. Sarah Huckabee is: what's YOUR favorite thing about Gov. Sarah Huckabee?
C-Block (24:35) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Even for Los Angeles local TV, where if you hang on to your job for seven years you can keep it for seventy years, Jerry Dunphy was a mandarin. The first local news star and maybe the last. Shot in the parking lot of his station. Fired by one station one night, hired by another 24 hours later. And his memorable catchphrase "From the desert to the sea to all of Southern California: a good evening." It was memorable - except when Jerry Dunphy COULDN'T REMEMBER IT.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. It's espionage,
obstruction of justice and conspiracy to defraud donors and espionage.
(00:30):
Trump stole a map. The map shows sensitive intelligence information.
Trump took the map to Marilago. Trump showed the map
to quote aids and visitors, and we already know that
ain't the only thing he stole, but it is enough.
That is the dissemination of classified national intelligence, and that
is espionage. Eighteen US Code seven ninety three Gathering, transmitting,
(00:56):
or losing defense information. Those found guilty shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years,
or both, or if it's really bad, eighteen US Code
seven ninety four, gathering or delivering defense information to aid
foreign government. Those found guilty shall be punished by imprisonment
(01:18):
for any term of years or for life, unless the
action directly concerned nuclear weaponry or other means of defense
or retaliation against large scale attack, war plans, communications intelligence,
or major element of defense strategy, which shall be punishable
by death. And the Special Counsel Jack Smith knows about
(01:41):
the map Trump stole, and he is asking witnesses in
front of the Grand Jury about the map Trump stole
and along with the rest of this as reported by
The New York Times. One source says investigators have asked
about Trump showing the map while on a plane. A
second source says investigators believe he showed the map to
at least one adviser after he left office. A third
(02:05):
source says he may have showed the map to a
journalist working on a book. A fourth source, not for
the Time Story but for the Washington Post says investigators
have asked about Trump showing maps and other materials. Two
donors and the Times zero's in on the Special Council
constructing a day by day, maybe hour by hour timeline
(02:28):
of where this map was and where Trump was and
when he allegedly showed it to others. And this is
in addition to the case we already know he's building
about Trump directing a conspiracy to obstruct justice by having
his lawyers swear he had returned all the documents he
stole when he hadn't. And almost simultaneously to the release
(02:51):
of the Time Story, there's one in the Washington Post
that says Jack Smith has so much going on in DC.
He's got two grand juries working there and one of
them is hearing evidence about financial fraud, the entire Election
Defense Fund and Save America pack and every other scam
Trump ran between the election and the day he left
(03:13):
Washington in disgrace. Subpoenas in recent weeks, the Post rights
to Trump advisors and former campaign aids, Republican operatives, and
other consultants involved in the twenty twenty presidential campaign unquote.
And there's already been some testimony, and they want all
drafts of all fundraising memos and quote. One person with
(03:35):
knowledge of prosecutors inquiries said they appeared to be exploring
whether people who approved the ads saying the election was
stolen separately acknowledged their fundraising pitches were based on lies unquote.
And if that sounds familiar, it should. It is the
basic premise of the Dominion Voting Systems one billion, six
(03:59):
hundred million dollar defamation suit against Fox. It is one
to claim you won an election and there's a vast
conspiracy to keep you out of office. It is quite
another to claim you won an election when internally you
admit you did not and there is no conspiracy, But
you want people to give you money to fight the conspiracy.
(04:20):
That is fraud, and theoretically, though not practically, there could
be account of fraud for every donation Trump and his
lackeys successfully solicited. And now, as to the big question
as to when already quoting the Times, prosecutors have now
(04:41):
interviewed nearly everyone who could offer insight in connection with
the documents. According to one person briefed on the range
of witnesses, unquote, I think the Times could not be
more clear here if they had drawn you a map.
So the classified kleptomania espionage case against the defendants seems
ready to go. An obstruction case seems like a no brainer.
(05:04):
Where exactly Jack Smith is on January sixth is unclear.
The new vein of material the conspiracy to defraud donors
that just started weeks ago. And so the comment from
the bench during the sentencing of January sixth defendant Robert
Stanford on Tuesday by Judge Paul L. Friedman is even
more fascinating today than it was yesterday, if you don't
(05:28):
remember it. Quote, there are still people who believe the
election was rigged. There are still people who support Donald Trump,
though not many showed up at the court in Manhattan.
We'll see what happens here at this court when the
Justice Department moves in a few months. I suspect, whatever
(05:48):
the timeline ahead of us, whoever is writing this script
is clearly beginning to draw the threads of his plot together.
The hilarious Tucker Carlson atonement interview of Trump Tuesday Night,
now running again and again on a loop on all
of the state TV channel annals in Russia, is the
perfect segue to the subject of the Fox Dominion trial
(06:10):
in Delaware. Turns out, it's not good to have lied
when you're Trump, and it's also not good to have
lied for Trump. They are not only now starting to
pick the jury, the judge may delay things because he's
already furious at Fox for possible misrepresentations to the court.
As the judge Eric Davis phrased it yesterday, this is
(06:32):
very serious, he said. What's very serious is Fox withheld
important information from Dominion's lawyers and appears to have suppressed
extraordinary evidence from its own on air staff. Dominion says
it didn't learn to last week that Rupert Murdoch actually
had a titled position inside Fox quote news unquote, and
(06:54):
thus it could have subpoenaed another cash of evidence if
it had known that. And when the scapegoated, Carlson and
Maria Bardaromo, producer Abby Grossberg filed her own suit. It
turns out she alleged Fox lawyers never revealed that she
had recorded a Trump official saying the campaign had found
(07:16):
nothing wrong with the voting in Georgia. She also said
there were other recordings inside Fox, including Sidney Powell and
Rudy Giuliani, both saying they could not prove their own
allegations that Dominion voting machines were somehow used to commit
voting fraud. But everybody put that on Fox anyway, and
(07:38):
that would be proof of fraud, not by Dominion, not
by voters, not by the Democrats, but by Fox and
Giuliani and Powell and anybody who put them on television.
And now, on top of all that, the judge believes
Fox hid all evidence pertaining to all of that from
(07:58):
Dominion and from him. It is so bad, the judge
says he will appoint an outside council especial master to
find out exactly how much Fox lied to him, and
he will tell the jury about it. It could be
going worse for Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump, But I
really don't see how Vanity Fair is out with a
(08:23):
story that Rupert Murdoch notified the latest X Missus Rupert
Murdoch Jerry Hall, that he wanted to divorce her in
an email. Ever, the Romantic and Trump has moved to
delay Egene Carroll's lawsuit against him alleging he raped her,
(08:43):
claiming that there was a media frenzy that would deny
him a fair trial, and of course that his arrest
last week would deny him a fair trial in New
York City, and immediately Egene Carroll pointed out that the
media frenzy is of Trump's deliberate creation, and the lawyer
and the former FBI agent Asha Ranappa pointed out that
if Trump's story that everybody at his take and arraignment
(09:06):
at the Manhattan District Attorney's courthouse last week cried, if
that was really true, she notes, it means there has
to be a huge part of the potential jury pool
in the Carol case that loves Trump and would cry
when he shows up in court and would apologize that
he was being tried, and of course he would get
a fair trial then. And finally, of course came the
(09:30):
inevitable other shoe. In Trump's farcical recollection to that buffoon
Tucker Carlson, they were crying. They were actually crying. They
said I'm sorry, they said twenty twenty four, sir, and
tears were pouring down. Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News quoted
a law enforcement source who said it was quote absolute bs.
(09:53):
There were zero people crying. There were zero people saying
I'm sorry. Unte In fact, the source said, aside from
his lawyers and Secret Service agents, Trump interacted only with
a handful of District attorney employees at the courthouse and
had extremely limited exposure with others during his arraignment. The
former president, the story goes on, looking glum said little
(10:16):
during the booking unquote. But wait, there's more. One final
little perfect twist of the knife. In two Trump's magnificent
obsession with himself, quoting Isakoff and his source, inside the courthouse,
(10:38):
one final lovely time. The only hiccup came when Trump's
fingers were too dry for fingerprinting, at which point district
attorney employees provided lotion for his fingers. Are you going
(11:01):
to say it? Or am I? Well? I am the
one with the microphone, so I guess I'm the one
who's going to say it it rubs the lotion on
its skin, or else it gets the hose. Again, sir,
(11:28):
I swear to God I read that. I thought it
was going to say he had no fingerprints. Still ahead
on this edition of Countdown, and once again, is there
a lot of news to do postscripts on? As Justin
Pearson is appointed to replace himself in Tennessee unanimously, with
all the Republicans staying away in shame, Senator Chuck Schumer
has a very good question, dear Department of Justice, did
(11:51):
their expulsions violate the Constitution? How about federal civil rights law?
How about you go check the damn breaks? In California,
a Democratic congressman calls for ailing Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein
to resign because her absence is keeping judges from being confirmed.
It's worse, person's all right, so worse you have to
(12:13):
check it twice to make sure it could possibly be true.
The Missouri lawmaker who not only insists adults should be
able to marry twelve year olds, but then doubles down
on this insistence in horrifying fashion, And that next question,
if you're applying to work for the new Arkansas governor,
but longtime serial liar Sarah Huckabee Sanders quote, what is
(12:36):
an accomplishment of the governors that you admire the most?
Now I'm not kidding, Yes she is saying. But enough
about me? What do you like about me? That's next?
This is countdown. This is countdown with Keith Olberman postscripts
(13:07):
to the news some update, some insights, some snarks, some prediction.
Stateline Shelby County, Tennessee, and now both the state senators
expelled last week for LBW legislating while Black are back
appointed by their responsible bodies to fill the empty seats.
Justin Pearson selected yesterday by the Board of Commissioners. There,
(13:28):
the vote was seven zip, with all the Republicans missing
in action. Stateline, Washington Senator Chuck Schumer, usually the master
of the press release and the Sunday Slow Newsday news conference,
has instead led a group of Senate Democrats who have
asked a couple of outstanding questions. In a letter to
the Department of Justice, Schumer, Warnock, Padilla, Murphy, and Shots
(13:50):
have urged the Attorney General to use all available legal
authorities to determine whether the First Amendment rights of Justin
Jones and Justin Pearson were violated, and if their Fourteenth
Amendment civil rights were violated by an active discrimination based
on Senators also ask if the citizens of Memphis and
Nashville had their rights to be represented by legislators of
(14:12):
their choice violated. Dateline, Fox Land just a reminder, Tucker
Carlson is a raving, irredeemable racist. I mean beyond anything
Bill O'Reilly used to bring to that cesspool that is Fox.
Carlson explained last night that quote Justin Pearson isn't white,
which is probably how he got into Bowden College in
(14:32):
the first place. Carlson later implied Pearson sounds like a
quote sharecropper. This is Tucker Carlson, who sounds like Martin
Shortz parody TV character Jimminy Glick. Only Jimminy Glick isn't
a flaming racist and misogynist. Thank yo, Nancy Faust, I'm
(15:13):
Tucker and Carlson. Dateline. California Senator Diane Feinstein, one of
the stalwarts in her state for half a century, retiring
at the end of this term, says she has no
intention of resigning and will return to the Senate as
soon as her doctors clear her for travel. She's been
sidelined for shingles. She says she will, however, give up
(15:35):
her seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But with Biden
judgeship appointments piling up unconfirmed now totaling in the dozens,
calls have begun for her to resign now, and the
first name figure to insist on that, the California Democratic
Congressmen Rokana yesterday and Dateline New York truth leak out
(15:56):
of the Murdoch New York Post yesterday, an arcle about
polling since the arrest of the defendant, headline quote Trump
surging in Republican voter polls, sinking with Americans. And that
is perfect because the implication clearly is Republicans aren't Americans
(16:29):
still ahead on countdown from the desert to the sea
to all of southern California. If you know what that means,
you already know this story. If you don't, I'll tell
you it will be worth your time. First time for
the daily roundup of the miss grints, morons, and Donning
Kruger effect specimens who constitute today is where as persons
in the world Bronze John Rich singer. He sings both
(16:50):
kinds of songs, country and Western. John Rich went on
the ed you know somehow I got fired by both
CNN and Fox Henry Show on the Real America's voice
streaming feed, and he addressed, it's the crisis afflicting MAGA world.
How are they going to get drunk cheap if they
are all boycotting bud Light and the other thirty one
(17:14):
Anheuser Busch beer brands. Because bud Light put a transperson
on a can, It's actually broke a lot of hearts.
Bud cores Miller. I'm a bud guy, I'm a Corps guy.
So a lot of people are going, what do I do?
Have you all considered a little white wine? WHI ne wine?
(17:35):
W h I n E get it? Hello? Runner up
Missouri State Senator Mike Moon from ash Grove, Missouri. Ash Grove,
You know ash Grove, it's near you, Dora and Ebenezer
in Dadeville. It's like thirty miles northwest of Boaz. In
(17:55):
twenty eighteen, somebody looked at Missouri state law and said,
good God. The legal age to marry in this state
is fifteen, with or without parental permission. So they changed
it to sixteen with parental permission, and Senator Moon opposed
the change, and he opposed age fifteen and age fourteen.
(18:15):
In age thirteen. This year, Senator Moon has introduced to
build a banded care for transgender miners. Representative Peter Meredith
of the state stood up and noted Moon's hypocrisy. Meredith
said to Moon, quote, you voted no on making it
illegal for kids to be married to adults at the
age of twelve if their parents consented to it. You said, actually,
(18:37):
that should be the law, because it's the parents right
and the kids right to decide what's best for them
to be raped by an adult. End quote. So Moon
promptly doubled down his reply quote, do you know any
kids who've been married at age twelve? I do, and
guess what, they're still married. Well, then I guess that
(18:59):
justifies child rape. To Senator Moon, case closed. Huh. But
our winner the Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee. If you
are applying for a job on a board or commission
in Arkansas, there is an online form you have to
fill out. One question asks you to write two hundred
and fifty words on which book you've read that would
(19:19):
best define your life. And why wait, you've read a
book and you want to go work for Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
But then there's this question for which you have to
write not two hundred and fifty words, but five hundred words. Quote,
what is an accomplishment of the governors that you admire
the most? Man fishing for compliments, huck Sarah Huckabee. The
(19:46):
good news is, since it's her, presumably when you answer that,
it's okay if you lie. Two days worst worst it
and the to the number one story on the countdown
(20:11):
and my favorite topic, me and things I promised not
to tell. And somebody sent me a video of him
the other day and I laughed again, and I flashed
back again. And now you get to hear about him too.
From the desert to the sea to all of southern California.
Good evening. You may or may not have ever heard
of Jerry Dunfie. That statement that you may or may
(20:32):
not have ever heard of Jerry Dunfie sent anybody from
southern California who was more than thirty five years old
into a deep, stunned silence. Because Jerry dunfe was ubiquitous
on TV News in Los Angeles from nineteen sixty until
two thousand and two. He died a week after his
last newscast, and there are some in the business who
have seriously believed he may show up again sooner or
(20:56):
later on TV, even though he's dead. He worked for
Channel two and he and his team won all the
ratings wars for fifteen years, and then one year the
station finished only tied for first in the Spring LA
ratings of nineteen seventy five, so the CBS corporate geniuses
in New York fired him and he went to Channel
(21:18):
seven like thirty six hours later, and then Channel seven
won nearly all the ratings periods there over fourteen years.
And then after six years at Channel nine, he was
hired back at Channel two, where he started where they
fired him. Hired back at Channel two for a couple
million more than he was making when they fired him
twenty years earlier, and then he went back to Channel
line and he was still on every night at the
(21:39):
age of eighty and Oh, by the way, he worked
for twenty nine years after he came out of the
KABC studios. On the night of October twenty fourth, nineteen
eighty three, hopped into his Rolls Royce with the station
makeup lady by his side, and was ambushed and shot
in the neck by four assailants, leading him to issue
(22:00):
the memorable statements They said, don't move, and I didn't,
but they shot anyway unquote, And they never figured out
who shot him or why. But Jerry Dunfey was back
on the air three weeks later. Anyway, And you cannot
imagine how many different guesses there were about that in
the LA news industry when I was on the air
(22:22):
there from nineteen eighty five through nineteen ninety one. There
is no question that in creating the fictional newscasters Ted
Baxter and Kent Brockman, and maybe even Ron Burgundy, much
was stolen from Jerry dunfe. Jerry Dunfey had a huge
shock of white hair, a craggy face, and a rich
(22:43):
baritone voice. He was in twenty one different movies, including
Oh God and the Amazing and Margaret Flick Kitten with
a Whip. Now, really there is an Ann Margaret film
called Kitten with a Whip. Anyway, I knew Jerry Dunfy.
He was a smart man, and a nice and a
welcoming man and obviously quite a business man, but he
(23:04):
did a tendency on the air to become, in his
own words, a teleprompter reading machine. He said, you put
it up there, and I'm going to say it down here,
and that's what this story is about. When I got
to Los Angeles at the age of twenty six in
nineteen eighty five, our newscast Channel five News at ten
(23:25):
was like something out of the nineteen sixties. The studio
had carpeting on the walls. There were no graphics to
speak of, just a big rear screen projection device. Our
best reporter, the lovely stand Chambers, had literally worked there
since the station had signed on the air for the
first time thirty eight years before, and he would keep
(23:46):
working there for another twenty five years. Our inimitable anchorman,
Hal Fishman, would not wear an IFB an earpiece, because
he thought viewers might think that if he did, it
was because he needed a hearing aid. He did, however,
wear one of a series of two pay of different
length to simulate the need for a haircut. Until the
(24:10):
first commercial break was over on News at ten, only
Hal spoke. His female co anchor just sat there adoringly
and The producer was a marvelously frantic character named Jerry Rubin,
who every night at nine PM, an hour to airtime,
would run around the newsroom screaming battle stations, battle stations,
(24:31):
and who took me seriously only when I could figure
out what his as Jerry phrased it, invisible thread was
running through his nightly ordering of the stories, the rundown.
He would ask me to come into the newsroom and
look at the rundown and say, all right, I'll verman,
you're so smart. What's the invisible thread? And he only
(24:52):
began to like me when I could recite to him
from memory the starting lineup of his beloved nineteen forty
five Chicago Cubs. But he stayed liking me. We remained
friends for thirty years. Anyway. Jerry had come to Los
Angeles in nineteen sixty nine, hired away from WGN in
Chicago to become the lead writer for This is where
(25:13):
the Story comes together. You guessed it, the Jerry Dunfie
newscasts on k n XT, the CBS station in Los Angeles.
In fact, after winning every sweeps period for nine years,
the newscast had rightly become the big news with Jerry Dunfie.
And it began with an unseen announcer intoning the big
news with Jerry Dunfey. Now here is Jerry Dunfey. And
(25:38):
then Jerry dunfee said his catchphrase, the catchphrase of all
catch phrases. Unlike the guy I worked with in New
York when I was an intern, Bill Jorgensen, thank you
for your time this time till next time, Jerry Dunfey said,
from the desert to the sea to all of Southern California,
good evening. Nonsense, of course, but boy it sounded good.
(26:02):
From the desert to the sea to all Southern California,
good evening. He said this so often that it is
still used in some promotional announcements by Channel nine News
in Los Angeles and Channel seven News in Los Angeles
and Channel two in Los Angeles. From the desert to
the siege to all of Southern California, good evening. I'm
(26:23):
dead well. No, they don't actually say that, but that's
pretty much what it means. The only joke about the
night he got shot outside the parking lot that I
can tell is that when the cops arrived, Dunphy said
to them from the desert to the siege to all
of Southern California. Good evening, I've been shot in the neck.
(26:45):
The first night, my friend Jerry Rubin sat down to
write the Big News with Jerry Dunfee. Jerry Rubin was
a little nervous. He got there early, he said. He
wrote some stories a dozen times each trying to get
it perfect. Finally, for the lead story, which if memory serves,
was about a bank robbery in Pasadena, Jerry got Jess right,
(27:05):
and on that nineteen sixty nine evening at six pm,
viewers of the Big News on Channel two in Los Angeles,
those for whom from the desert to the sea, who
all of Southern California was not a cliche but mantra.
They heard the familiar Channel two screeching theme music, and
then the Big News with Terry Dunfie. Now here is
Jerry Dunfie, And up popped Jerry Dunfie's face, and he
(27:27):
said three armed and very dangerous modern day desperadoes are
still loose in Pasadena tonight. After blah blah blah blah blah,
the newscast ended an hour later. Jerry Reuben was very relieved.
Jerry Dunfie strode back to his desk before presumably going
out to warm up the rolls Royce and avoid the
gunmen who would finally get him fourteen years later, and
(27:49):
not even slow him down. And that's when the station's
news director leaned out of his office and waived the
two Jerry's inside. What the hell happened, Dunfie? Did you
retire it? You can't retire it. It's in the contract.
You have to stay it, according to Jerry Reuben. Dunfey
looked blankly at his boss. Jerry Reuben said he was
(28:10):
even more confused himself. From the desert to the sea,
he didn't say from the desert to the sea. At
the start of the big news you say, from the
desert to the sea to all of southern California, Good evening.
Only tonight you didn't say, from the desert to the
sea to all of Southern California, good evening. You said
something about a bank. What the hell, Jerry, we got
two hundred and fifty phone calls. Jerry Dunfey now pursed
(28:34):
his lips and turned to the new writer. What the hell, Reuben,
didn't you put it in the script? Jerry Reuben kept
this part to himself, but frankly, he said he couldn't
believe what he was hearing. For nine years, this man
Dunfey had signed on virtually every one of his news
broadcast every night at six and then again every night
at eleven by saying, from the desert to the sea
to all of southern California could evening. But apparently if
(28:57):
you did not write it in the script and did
not put it on the telepropter for him, he would
forget it. Before Jerry Reuben could say anything, Jerry Dunfie
barked at him with some understanding. Don't you understand when
I'm out there, I'm a teleprompter reading machine. You put
it up there, I'm going to say it down here.
(29:18):
You don't put it up there. I'm not going to
say it down here. The news director looked sternly at
Jerry Reuben. Jerry Reuben did not burst into uncontrollable laughter,
race from the building k and XT was in on
Sunset Boulevard, and get on the first plane back to Chicago.
He just said yes, sir, and the news director said
(29:39):
good and everybody left, and from that night at eleven
o'clock onwards. Jerry Reuben always started his script for the
lead story by typing out, from the desert to the
Sea to all of Southern California, Good evening, there's a
twenty six car pile up on the Santa Monica Freeway
after another mattress has been dumped in the left lane.
Or from the desert to the siege to all of
Southern California, Good evening, Burbank bank burgled or whatever. Over
(30:04):
the next few weeks, the lead story on the Big
News with Jerry Dunfie would change, as lead stories do.
At five PM or five thirty or five fifty, something
big er would happen, and it was the Big News.
So Jerry Reuben would often have to rewrite page one
of the script, and every time he rewrote it, and
every time he re rewrote it, and the one time
(30:26):
he told me that he re re rewrote it, Jerry
remembered to start page one with from the desert to
the Sea to all Southern California, A good evening. All
was well, the teleprompter reading machine was happy, the news
director was happy, Jerry Reuben was happy, and Ben Calamity
(30:47):
struck at about five fifty eight. One night, Jerry Reuben
was told there is a refinery fire in Torrents. It
is the new lead story. Just say, we're rushing the crew.
Get it written. He started to type our top story,
breaking news a refinery, and then he tore the page
from his machine. He started a new His fingers danced
(31:08):
across the keyboard from the desert to the sea to
all of southern California. Good evening, our top story tonight,
breaking news. Our refinery fire is just erupted in Torrents.
A Channel two Big News Live crew is rushing to
the scene at this hour, and we will have a
Big News live report from Rick Davis before this newscast
is over. Reuben knew he did not have time to
get a production assistant to take the new lead script
(31:29):
into Dunfie, nor to tape it into the script about
to pass through the teleprompter, so he did both things himself.
New lead. He screamed at Dunfie, throwing the page at him,
and the unseen announcer was already at mid introduction when
Jerry Ruben taped that new piece of script into the
prompter without remembering to remove the old lead script from
(31:51):
the prompter, and this is what Los Angeles heard, the
Big News with Jerry Dunfie. Now here's Jerry Dunfie from
the desert to the sea to all of southern California.
Good evening, Our top story tonight. Breaking news or refinery
fire has just erupted in Torrance. A Channel two Big
(32:11):
News Live crew is rushing to the scene at this hour,
and we will have a Big News Live report from
Rick Dabis before this newscast is over. Jerry Dunfie dramatically
turned over page one and began to read page two.
From a desert to the sea to all of southern California.
Good evening, Our top story tonight, Mayor Sam your he said,
Jerry Reuben said, My head dropped to my desk with
(32:35):
a thud. I've done all the damage I can do here.
Thank you for listening. Here are the credits both to
The music was arranged, produced and performed by Brian Ray
(32:56):
and John Philip Chanelle, who are the Countdown musical directors.
All orchestration and keyboards by John Philip Chanelle. Guitars, bass
and drums by Brian Ray, produced by Tko Brothers. Other
Beethoven's elections have been arranged and performed by the group
No Horns Allowed. The sports music is the Olderman theme
from ESPN two and it was written by Mitch Warren
(33:18):
Davis courtesy of ESPN, Inc. Musical comments by Nancy Fauss.
The best baseball stadium organist ever at our announcer today
was Kenny Maine. Everything else pretty much my fault. Let's
countdown for this the eight hundred and twenty eighth day
since Donald Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected
government of the United States. Don't forget to keep arresting
(33:39):
him while we still can. The next schedule countdown is tomorrow.
Until then, I'm Keith Olderman. Good morning, good afternoon, good night,
and good luck. Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production
of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio
(34:04):
app Ful Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. It's espionage,
obstruction of justice and conspiracy to defraud donors and espionage.
(00:30):
Trump stole a map. The map shows sensitive intelligence information.
Trump took the map to Marilago. Trump showed the map
to quote aids and visitors, and we already know that
ain't the only thing he stole, but it is enough.
That is the dissemination of classified national intelligence, and that
is espionage. Eighteen US Code seven ninety three Gathering, transmitting,
(00:56):
or losing defense information. Those found guilty shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years,
or both, or if it's really bad, eighteen US Code
seven ninety four, gathering or delivering defense information to aid
foreign government. Those found guilty shall be punished by imprisonment
(01:18):
for any term of years or for life, unless the
action directly concerned nuclear weaponry or other means of defense
or retaliation against large scale attack, war plans, communications intelligence,
or major element of defense strategy, which shall be punishable
by death. And the Special Counsel Jack Smith knows about
(01:41):
the map Trump stole, and he is asking witnesses in
front of the Grand Jury about the map Trump stole
and along with the rest of this as reported by
The New York Times. One source says investigators have asked
about Trump showing the map while on a plane. A
second source says investigators believe he showed the map to
at least one adviser after he left office. A third
(02:05):
source says he may have showed the map to a
journalist working on a book. A fourth source, not for
the Time Story but for the Washington Post says investigators
have asked about Trump showing maps and other materials. Two
donors and the Times zero's in on the Special Council
constructing a day by day, maybe hour by hour timeline
(02:28):
of where this map was and where Trump was and
when he allegedly showed it to others. And this is
in addition to the case we already know he's building
about Trump directing a conspiracy to obstruct justice by having
his lawyers swear he had returned all the documents he
stole when he hadn't. And almost simultaneously to the release
(02:51):
of the Time Story, there's one in the Washington Post
that says Jack Smith has so much going on in DC.
He's got two grand juries working there and one of
them is hearing evidence about financial fraud, the entire Election
Defense Fund and Save America pack and every other scam
Trump ran between the election and the day he left
(03:13):
Washington in disgrace. Subpoenas in recent weeks, the Post rights
to Trump advisors and former campaign aids, Republican operatives, and
other consultants involved in the twenty twenty presidential campaign unquote.
And there's already been some testimony, and they want all
drafts of all fundraising memos and quote. One person with
(03:35):
knowledge of prosecutors inquiries said they appeared to be exploring
whether people who approved the ads saying the election was
stolen separately acknowledged their fundraising pitches were based on lies unquote.
And if that sounds familiar, it should. It is the
basic premise of the Dominion Voting Systems one billion, six
(03:59):
hundred million dollar defamation suit against Fox. It is one
to claim you won an election and there's a vast
conspiracy to keep you out of office. It is quite
another to claim you won an election when internally you
admit you did not and there is no conspiracy, But
you want people to give you money to fight the conspiracy.
(04:20):
That is fraud, and theoretically, though not practically, there could
be account of fraud for every donation Trump and his
lackeys successfully solicited. And now, as to the big question
as to when already quoting the Times, prosecutors have now
(04:41):
interviewed nearly everyone who could offer insight in connection with
the documents. According to one person briefed on the range
of witnesses, unquote, I think the Times could not be
more clear here if they had drawn you a map.
So the classified kleptomania espionage case against the defendants seems
ready to go. An obstruction case seems like a no brainer.
(05:04):
Where exactly Jack Smith is on January sixth is unclear.
The new vein of material the conspiracy to defraud donors
that just started weeks ago. And so the comment from
the bench during the sentencing of January sixth defendant Robert
Stanford on Tuesday by Judge Paul L. Friedman is even
more fascinating today than it was yesterday, if you don't
(05:28):
remember it. Quote, there are still people who believe the
election was rigged. There are still people who support Donald Trump,
though not many showed up at the court in Manhattan.
We'll see what happens here at this court when the
Justice Department moves in a few months. I suspect, whatever
(05:48):
the timeline ahead of us, whoever is writing this script
is clearly beginning to draw the threads of his plot together.
The hilarious Tucker Carlson atonement interview of Trump Tuesday Night,
now running again and again on a loop on all
of the state TV channel annals in Russia, is the
perfect segue to the subject of the Fox Dominion trial
(06:10):
in Delaware. Turns out, it's not good to have lied
when you're Trump, and it's also not good to have
lied for Trump. They are not only now starting to
pick the jury, the judge may delay things because he's
already furious at Fox for possible misrepresentations to the court.
As the judge Eric Davis phrased it yesterday, this is
(06:32):
very serious, he said. What's very serious is Fox withheld
important information from Dominion's lawyers and appears to have suppressed
extraordinary evidence from its own on air staff. Dominion says
it didn't learn to last week that Rupert Murdoch actually
had a titled position inside Fox quote news unquote, and
(06:54):
thus it could have subpoenaed another cash of evidence if
it had known that. And when the scapegoated, Carlson and
Maria Bardaromo, producer Abby Grossberg filed her own suit. It
turns out she alleged Fox lawyers never revealed that she
had recorded a Trump official saying the campaign had found
(07:16):
nothing wrong with the voting in Georgia. She also said
there were other recordings inside Fox, including Sidney Powell and
Rudy Giuliani, both saying they could not prove their own
allegations that Dominion voting machines were somehow used to commit
voting fraud. But everybody put that on Fox anyway, and
(07:38):
that would be proof of fraud, not by Dominion, not
by voters, not by the Democrats, but by Fox and
Giuliani and Powell and anybody who put them on television.
And now, on top of all that, the judge believes
Fox hid all evidence pertaining to all of that from
(07:58):
Dominion and from him. It is so bad, the judge
says he will appoint an outside council especial master to
find out exactly how much Fox lied to him, and
he will tell the jury about it. It could be
going worse for Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump, But I
really don't see how Vanity Fair is out with a
(08:23):
story that Rupert Murdoch notified the latest X Missus Rupert
Murdoch Jerry Hall, that he wanted to divorce her in
an email. Ever, the Romantic and Trump has moved to
delay Egene Carroll's lawsuit against him alleging he raped her,
(08:43):
claiming that there was a media frenzy that would deny
him a fair trial, and of course that his arrest
last week would deny him a fair trial in New
York City, and immediately Egene Carroll pointed out that the
media frenzy is of Trump's deliberate creation, and the lawyer
and the former FBI agent Asha Ranappa pointed out that
if Trump's story that everybody at his take and arraignment
(09:06):
at the Manhattan District Attorney's courthouse last week cried, if
that was really true, she notes, it means there has
to be a huge part of the potential jury pool
in the Carol case that loves Trump and would cry
when he shows up in court and would apologize that
he was being tried, and of course he would get
a fair trial then. And finally, of course came the
(09:30):
inevitable other shoe. In Trump's farcical recollection to that buffoon
Tucker Carlson, they were crying. They were actually crying. They
said I'm sorry, they said twenty twenty four, sir, and
tears were pouring down. Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News quoted
a law enforcement source who said it was quote absolute bs.
(09:53):
There were zero people crying. There were zero people saying
I'm sorry. Unte In fact, the source said, aside from
his lawyers and Secret Service agents, Trump interacted only with
a handful of District attorney employees at the courthouse and
had extremely limited exposure with others during his arraignment. The
former president, the story goes on, looking glum said little
(10:16):
during the booking unquote. But wait, there's more. One final
little perfect twist of the knife. In two Trump's magnificent
obsession with himself, quoting Isakoff and his source, inside the courthouse,
(10:38):
one final lovely time. The only hiccup came when Trump's
fingers were too dry for fingerprinting, at which point district
attorney employees provided lotion for his fingers. Are you going
(11:01):
to say it? Or am I? Well? I am the
one with the microphone, so I guess I'm the one
who's going to say it it rubs the lotion on
its skin, or else it gets the hose. Again, sir,
(11:28):
I swear to God I read that. I thought it
was going to say he had no fingerprints. Still ahead
on this edition of Countdown, and once again, is there
a lot of news to do postscripts on? As Justin
Pearson is appointed to replace himself in Tennessee unanimously, with
all the Republicans staying away in shame, Senator Chuck Schumer
has a very good question, dear Department of Justice, did
(11:51):
their expulsions violate the Constitution? How about federal civil rights law?
How about you go check the damn breaks? In California,
a Democratic congressman calls for ailing Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein
to resign because her absence is keeping judges from being confirmed.
It's worse, person's all right, so worse you have to
(12:13):
check it twice to make sure it could possibly be true.
The Missouri lawmaker who not only insists adults should be
able to marry twelve year olds, but then doubles down
on this insistence in horrifying fashion, And that next question,
if you're applying to work for the new Arkansas governor,
but longtime serial liar Sarah Huckabee Sanders quote, what is
(12:36):
an accomplishment of the governors that you admire the most?
Now I'm not kidding, Yes she is saying. But enough
about me? What do you like about me? That's next?
This is countdown. This is countdown with Keith Olberman postscripts
(13:07):
to the news some update, some insights, some snarks, some prediction.
Stateline Shelby County, Tennessee, and now both the state senators
expelled last week for LBW legislating while Black are back
appointed by their responsible bodies to fill the empty seats.
Justin Pearson selected yesterday by the Board of Commissioners. There,
(13:28):
the vote was seven zip, with all the Republicans missing
in action. Stateline, Washington Senator Chuck Schumer, usually the master
of the press release and the Sunday Slow Newsday news conference,
has instead led a group of Senate Democrats who have
asked a couple of outstanding questions. In a letter to
the Department of Justice, Schumer, Warnock, Padilla, Murphy, and Shots
(13:50):
have urged the Attorney General to use all available legal
authorities to determine whether the First Amendment rights of Justin
Jones and Justin Pearson were violated, and if their Fourteenth
Amendment civil rights were violated by an active discrimination based
on Senators also ask if the citizens of Memphis and
Nashville had their rights to be represented by legislators of
(14:12):
their choice violated. Dateline, Fox Land just a reminder, Tucker
Carlson is a raving, irredeemable racist. I mean beyond anything
Bill O'Reilly used to bring to that cesspool that is Fox.
Carlson explained last night that quote Justin Pearson isn't white,
which is probably how he got into Bowden College in
(14:32):
the first place. Carlson later implied Pearson sounds like a
quote sharecropper. This is Tucker Carlson, who sounds like Martin
Shortz parody TV character Jimminy Glick. Only Jimminy Glick isn't
a flaming racist and misogynist. Thank yo, Nancy Faust, I'm
(15:13):
Tucker and Carlson. Dateline. California Senator Diane Feinstein, one of
the stalwarts in her state for half a century, retiring
at the end of this term, says she has no
intention of resigning and will return to the Senate as
soon as her doctors clear her for travel. She's been
sidelined for shingles. She says she will, however, give up
(15:35):
her seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But with Biden
judgeship appointments piling up unconfirmed now totaling in the dozens,
calls have begun for her to resign now, and the
first name figure to insist on that, the California Democratic
Congressmen Rokana yesterday and Dateline New York truth leak out
(15:56):
of the Murdoch New York Post yesterday, an arcle about
polling since the arrest of the defendant, headline quote Trump
surging in Republican voter polls, sinking with Americans. And that
is perfect because the implication clearly is Republicans aren't Americans
(16:29):
still ahead on countdown from the desert to the sea
to all of southern California. If you know what that means,
you already know this story. If you don't, I'll tell
you it will be worth your time. First time for
the daily roundup of the miss grints, morons, and Donning
Kruger effect specimens who constitute today is where as persons
in the world Bronze John Rich singer. He sings both
(16:50):
kinds of songs, country and Western. John Rich went on
the ed you know somehow I got fired by both
CNN and Fox Henry Show on the Real America's voice
streaming feed, and he addressed, it's the crisis afflicting MAGA world.
How are they going to get drunk cheap if they
are all boycotting bud Light and the other thirty one
(17:14):
Anheuser Busch beer brands. Because bud Light put a transperson
on a can, It's actually broke a lot of hearts.
Bud cores Miller. I'm a bud guy, I'm a Corps guy.
So a lot of people are going, what do I do?
Have you all considered a little white wine? WHI ne wine?
(17:35):
W h I n E get it? Hello? Runner up
Missouri State Senator Mike Moon from ash Grove, Missouri. Ash Grove,
You know ash Grove, it's near you, Dora and Ebenezer
in Dadeville. It's like thirty miles northwest of Boaz. In
(17:55):
twenty eighteen, somebody looked at Missouri state law and said,
good God. The legal age to marry in this state
is fifteen, with or without parental permission. So they changed
it to sixteen with parental permission, and Senator Moon opposed
the change, and he opposed age fifteen and age fourteen.
(18:15):
In age thirteen. This year, Senator Moon has introduced to
build a banded care for transgender miners. Representative Peter Meredith
of the state stood up and noted Moon's hypocrisy. Meredith
said to Moon, quote, you voted no on making it
illegal for kids to be married to adults at the
age of twelve if their parents consented to it. You said, actually,
(18:37):
that should be the law, because it's the parents right
and the kids right to decide what's best for them
to be raped by an adult. End quote. So Moon
promptly doubled down his reply quote, do you know any
kids who've been married at age twelve? I do, and
guess what, they're still married. Well, then I guess that
(18:59):
justifies child rape. To Senator Moon, case closed. Huh. But
our winner the Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee. If you
are applying for a job on a board or commission
in Arkansas, there is an online form you have to
fill out. One question asks you to write two hundred
and fifty words on which book you've read that would
(19:19):
best define your life. And why wait, you've read a
book and you want to go work for Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
But then there's this question for which you have to
write not two hundred and fifty words, but five hundred words. Quote,
what is an accomplishment of the governors that you admire
the most? Man fishing for compliments, huck Sarah Huckabee. The
(19:46):
good news is, since it's her, presumably when you answer that,
it's okay if you lie. Two days worst worst it
and the to the number one story on the countdown
(20:11):
and my favorite topic, me and things I promised not
to tell. And somebody sent me a video of him
the other day and I laughed again, and I flashed
back again. And now you get to hear about him too.
From the desert to the sea to all of southern California.
Good evening. You may or may not have ever heard
of Jerry Dunfie. That statement that you may or may
(20:32):
not have ever heard of Jerry Dunfie sent anybody from
southern California who was more than thirty five years old
into a deep, stunned silence. Because Jerry dunfe was ubiquitous
on TV News in Los Angeles from nineteen sixty until
two thousand and two. He died a week after his
last newscast, and there are some in the business who
have seriously believed he may show up again sooner or
(20:56):
later on TV, even though he's dead. He worked for
Channel two and he and his team won all the
ratings wars for fifteen years, and then one year the
station finished only tied for first in the Spring LA
ratings of nineteen seventy five, so the CBS corporate geniuses
in New York fired him and he went to Channel
(21:18):
seven like thirty six hours later, and then Channel seven
won nearly all the ratings periods there over fourteen years.
And then after six years at Channel nine, he was
hired back at Channel two, where he started where they
fired him. Hired back at Channel two for a couple
million more than he was making when they fired him
twenty years earlier, and then he went back to Channel
line and he was still on every night at the
(21:39):
age of eighty and Oh, by the way, he worked
for twenty nine years after he came out of the
KABC studios. On the night of October twenty fourth, nineteen
eighty three, hopped into his Rolls Royce with the station
makeup lady by his side, and was ambushed and shot
in the neck by four assailants, leading him to issue
(22:00):
the memorable statements They said, don't move, and I didn't,
but they shot anyway unquote, And they never figured out
who shot him or why. But Jerry Dunfey was back
on the air three weeks later. Anyway, And you cannot
imagine how many different guesses there were about that in
the LA news industry when I was on the air
(22:22):
there from nineteen eighty five through nineteen ninety one. There
is no question that in creating the fictional newscasters Ted
Baxter and Kent Brockman, and maybe even Ron Burgundy, much
was stolen from Jerry dunfe. Jerry Dunfey had a huge
shock of white hair, a craggy face, and a rich
(22:43):
baritone voice. He was in twenty one different movies, including
Oh God and the Amazing and Margaret Flick Kitten with
a Whip. Now, really there is an Ann Margaret film
called Kitten with a Whip. Anyway, I knew Jerry Dunfy.
He was a smart man, and a nice and a
welcoming man and obviously quite a business man, but he
(23:04):
did a tendency on the air to become, in his
own words, a teleprompter reading machine. He said, you put
it up there, and I'm going to say it down here,
and that's what this story is about. When I got
to Los Angeles at the age of twenty six in
nineteen eighty five, our newscast Channel five News at ten
(23:25):
was like something out of the nineteen sixties. The studio
had carpeting on the walls. There were no graphics to
speak of, just a big rear screen projection device. Our
best reporter, the lovely stand Chambers, had literally worked there
since the station had signed on the air for the
first time thirty eight years before, and he would keep
(23:46):
working there for another twenty five years. Our inimitable anchorman,
Hal Fishman, would not wear an IFB an earpiece, because
he thought viewers might think that if he did, it
was because he needed a hearing aid. He did, however,
wear one of a series of two pay of different
length to simulate the need for a haircut. Until the
(24:10):
first commercial break was over on News at ten, only
Hal spoke. His female co anchor just sat there adoringly
and The producer was a marvelously frantic character named Jerry Rubin,
who every night at nine PM, an hour to airtime,
would run around the newsroom screaming battle stations, battle stations,
(24:31):
and who took me seriously only when I could figure
out what his as Jerry phrased it, invisible thread was
running through his nightly ordering of the stories, the rundown.
He would ask me to come into the newsroom and
look at the rundown and say, all right, I'll verman,
you're so smart. What's the invisible thread? And he only
(24:52):
began to like me when I could recite to him
from memory the starting lineup of his beloved nineteen forty
five Chicago Cubs. But he stayed liking me. We remained
friends for thirty years. Anyway. Jerry had come to Los
Angeles in nineteen sixty nine, hired away from WGN in
Chicago to become the lead writer for This is where
(25:13):
the Story comes together. You guessed it, the Jerry Dunfie
newscasts on k n XT, the CBS station in Los Angeles.
In fact, after winning every sweeps period for nine years,
the newscast had rightly become the big news with Jerry Dunfie.
And it began with an unseen announcer intoning the big
news with Jerry Dunfey. Now here is Jerry Dunfey. And
(25:38):
then Jerry dunfee said his catchphrase, the catchphrase of all
catch phrases. Unlike the guy I worked with in New
York when I was an intern, Bill Jorgensen, thank you
for your time this time till next time, Jerry Dunfey said,
from the desert to the sea to all of Southern California,
good evening. Nonsense, of course, but boy it sounded good.
(26:02):
From the desert to the sea to all Southern California,
good evening. He said this so often that it is
still used in some promotional announcements by Channel nine News
in Los Angeles and Channel seven News in Los Angeles
and Channel two in Los Angeles. From the desert to
the siege to all of Southern California, good evening. I'm
(26:23):
dead well. No, they don't actually say that, but that's
pretty much what it means. The only joke about the
night he got shot outside the parking lot that I
can tell is that when the cops arrived, Dunphy said
to them from the desert to the siege to all
of Southern California. Good evening, I've been shot in the neck.
(26:45):
The first night, my friend Jerry Rubin sat down to
write the Big News with Jerry Dunfee. Jerry Rubin was
a little nervous. He got there early, he said. He
wrote some stories a dozen times each trying to get
it perfect. Finally, for the lead story, which if memory serves,
was about a bank robbery in Pasadena, Jerry got Jess right,
(27:05):
and on that nineteen sixty nine evening at six pm,
viewers of the Big News on Channel two in Los Angeles,
those for whom from the desert to the sea, who
all of Southern California was not a cliche but mantra.
They heard the familiar Channel two screeching theme music, and
then the Big News with Terry Dunfie. Now here is
Jerry Dunfie, And up popped Jerry Dunfie's face, and he
(27:27):
said three armed and very dangerous modern day desperadoes are
still loose in Pasadena tonight. After blah blah blah blah blah,
the newscast ended an hour later. Jerry Reuben was very relieved.
Jerry Dunfie strode back to his desk before presumably going
out to warm up the rolls Royce and avoid the
gunmen who would finally get him fourteen years later, and
(27:49):
not even slow him down. And that's when the station's
news director leaned out of his office and waived the
two Jerry's inside. What the hell happened, Dunfie? Did you
retire it? You can't retire it. It's in the contract.
You have to stay it, according to Jerry Reuben. Dunfey
looked blankly at his boss. Jerry Reuben said he was
(28:10):
even more confused himself. From the desert to the sea,
he didn't say from the desert to the sea. At
the start of the big news you say, from the
desert to the sea to all of southern California, Good evening.
Only tonight you didn't say, from the desert to the
sea to all of Southern California, good evening. You said
something about a bank. What the hell, Jerry, we got
two hundred and fifty phone calls. Jerry Dunfey now pursed
(28:34):
his lips and turned to the new writer. What the hell, Reuben,
didn't you put it in the script? Jerry Reuben kept
this part to himself, but frankly, he said he couldn't
believe what he was hearing. For nine years, this man
Dunfey had signed on virtually every one of his news
broadcast every night at six and then again every night
at eleven by saying, from the desert to the sea
to all of southern California could evening. But apparently if
(28:57):
you did not write it in the script and did
not put it on the telepropter for him, he would
forget it. Before Jerry Reuben could say anything, Jerry Dunfie
barked at him with some understanding. Don't you understand when
I'm out there, I'm a teleprompter reading machine. You put
it up there, I'm going to say it down here.
(29:18):
You don't put it up there. I'm not going to
say it down here. The news director looked sternly at
Jerry Reuben. Jerry Reuben did not burst into uncontrollable laughter,
race from the building k and XT was in on
Sunset Boulevard, and get on the first plane back to Chicago.
He just said yes, sir, and the news director said
(29:39):
good and everybody left, and from that night at eleven
o'clock onwards. Jerry Reuben always started his script for the
lead story by typing out, from the desert to the
Sea to all of Southern California, Good evening, there's a
twenty six car pile up on the Santa Monica Freeway
after another mattress has been dumped in the left lane.
Or from the desert to the siege to all of
Southern California, Good evening, Burbank bank burgled or whatever. Over
(30:04):
the next few weeks, the lead story on the Big
News with Jerry Dunfie would change, as lead stories do.
At five PM or five thirty or five fifty, something
big er would happen, and it was the Big News.
So Jerry Reuben would often have to rewrite page one
of the script, and every time he rewrote it, and
every time he re rewrote it, and the one time
(30:26):
he told me that he re re rewrote it, Jerry
remembered to start page one with from the desert to
the Sea to all Southern California, A good evening. All
was well, the teleprompter reading machine was happy, the news
director was happy, Jerry Reuben was happy, and Ben Calamity
(30:47):
struck at about five fifty eight. One night, Jerry Reuben
was told there is a refinery fire in Torrents. It
is the new lead story. Just say, we're rushing the crew.
Get it written. He started to type our top story,
breaking news a refinery, and then he tore the page
from his machine. He started a new His fingers danced
(31:08):
across the keyboard from the desert to the sea to
all of southern California. Good evening, our top story tonight,
breaking news. Our refinery fire is just erupted in Torrents.
A Channel two Big News Live crew is rushing to
the scene at this hour, and we will have a
Big News live report from Rick Davis before this newscast
is over. Reuben knew he did not have time to
get a production assistant to take the new lead script
(31:29):
into Dunfie, nor to tape it into the script about
to pass through the teleprompter, so he did both things himself.
New lead. He screamed at Dunfie, throwing the page at him,
and the unseen announcer was already at mid introduction when
Jerry Ruben taped that new piece of script into the
prompter without remembering to remove the old lead script from
(31:51):
the prompter, and this is what Los Angeles heard, the
Big News with Jerry Dunfie. Now here's Jerry Dunfie from
the desert to the sea to all of southern California.
Good evening, Our top story tonight. Breaking news or refinery
fire has just erupted in Torrance. A Channel two Big
(32:11):
News Live crew is rushing to the scene at this hour,
and we will have a Big News Live report from
Rick Dabis before this newscast is over. Jerry Dunfie dramatically
turned over page one and began to read page two.
From a desert to the sea to all of southern California.
Good evening, Our top story tonight, Mayor Sam your he said,
Jerry Reuben said, My head dropped to my desk with
(32:35):
a thud. I've done all the damage I can do here.
Thank you for listening. Here are the credits both to
The music was arranged, produced and performed by Brian Ray
(32:56):
and John Philip Chanelle, who are the Countdown musical directors.
All orchestration and keyboards by John Philip Chanelle. Guitars, bass
and drums by Brian Ray, produced by Tko Brothers. Other
Beethoven's elections have been arranged and performed by the group
No Horns Allowed. The sports music is the Olderman theme
from ESPN two and it was written by Mitch Warren
(33:18):
Davis courtesy of ESPN, Inc. Musical comments by Nancy Fauss.
The best baseball stadium organist ever at our announcer today
was Kenny Maine. Everything else pretty much my fault. Let's
countdown for this the eight hundred and twenty eighth day
since Donald Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected
government of the United States. Don't forget to keep arresting
(33:39):
him while we still can. The next schedule countdown is tomorrow.
Until then, I'm Keith Olderman. Good morning, good afternoon, good night,
and good luck. Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production
of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio
(34:04):
app Ful Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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