December 6, 2022 • 39 mins
EPISODE 89: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump: "Who you are going to believe? Me on Truth Social, or Me on Truth Social? I never said I wanted to terminate the Constitution! I only said I wanted to terminate articles OF the Constitution! (2:50) Trying to backpedal on his latest coup call, Trump just digs his hole deeper: he is now subject to 18 USC 115 Section 2385: Advocating the overthrowing of the government of the United States. (4:30) Some current GOP figures finally - mildly - defend the Constitution against Trump (6:30) But best of all: dozens of GOP quotes, from Boebert to Hannity, vowing eternal vigilance to protect the Constitution, including Kevin McCarthy's "That Constitution, and the freedoms it protects, must be defended and preserved for us and for our children." Take these quotes and put them on signs and drape them around the necks of these blowhards: Corner. Them.
B-Block (13:50) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Bentley in Santa Rosa (14:48) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Georgia: Trump literally phones it in. What does ABC News do about its love co-anchors? (18:09) IN SPORTS: Verlander, Turner, Kershaw get paid. Yankees spend on...Brian Cashman? (21:08) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: A Times headline slip, Kanye West's latest racist hallucination, and Glenn Greenwald compete for the honors.
C-Block (25:34) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I've been quiet about her since 2006 and despite a series of jaw-dropping mistreatments since 2016. And I probably would've remained so. But when my ex, Katy Tur, turned her husband's vasectomy into a photo-op for their newscasts, something snapped. When the New York Times and Washington Post asked to talk to me about her, this is a person who told them she'd ask me, then told them I declined - without ever telling me. And that, sadly, is just the tip of the iceberg.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Countdown with Keith Oldman is a production of I Heart Radio.
Trump's threat to terminate the Constitution is so bad that
(00:25):
now even he has attacked it. Quote the fake news
is actually trying to convince the American people that I
said I wanted to terminate the Constitution, he posted on
his Truth social media platform. This was two days after
he advocated quote for the termination of all rules, regulations,
and articles, even those found in the Constitution, and posted
(00:47):
that on his Truth social media platform. Trump has now
proceeded to again call for the overthrow of the government
of the United States, quoting steps must be immediately taken
to right the wrong. An election should go to the
rightful winner, or at minimum be redone. There should be
no time limit for change. Once again, a guy with
(01:08):
a political base and millions of cultists with guns can
insist that who is president should be decided not by
the Constitution, not by an election, not by the Electoral College,
not by the Supreme Court even but by him and
he is still at large, rather than being detained under
(01:29):
eighteen USC. Chapter one, fifteen, section to five. Quote. Whoever
knowingly or willfully advocates a bets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability,
or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the
United States by force or violence shall be fined under
this title, or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
(01:54):
Most relevant yesterday was not Trump's ludicrous denials, which you're
gonna believe me on truth social or me on truth social.
And I never said I want to determinate the Constitution.
I only said I wanted to terminate articles of the Constitution.
Most relevant yesterday was the idea that maybe, just maybe,
(02:16):
the idea that they could finish Trump off on this
subject if they all stand up to him, or at
least that every last Republican is going to be asked
about this perfect either or that Trump has created him
or the Constitution. Maybe that is just beginning to dawn
on them. There are still ninnies and always will be.
(02:40):
Who can actually say what Roger Marshall, the Senator from
Kansas who believes nine eleven is pronounced nine one one
said yesterday, quoting Marshall, I don't know if that's being
taken out of context or where it came from, as
if it wasn't a direct quote. And then after he
said that he ran away from reporters. On the other hand,
Senator Mikowski of Alaska said, suggesting the termination of the
(03:03):
Constitution is now only a betrayal of our oath of office,
it's an affront to our republic. Close though no, Senator,
it is also a betrayal of our republic. Senator Rounds
of North Dakota said, anyone who desires to lead our
country must commit to protecting the Constitution. They should not
threaten to terminate it, which in this era of jellyfish
(03:25):
as Republican senators, constitutes borderline defiance. Swearing to uphold the Constitution.
Quote is the principal, the bedrock of our country. I
couldn't disagree more, said Senator Thune of South Dakota, But
when asked if that disqualified Trump, he would still go
no further out there. If you're one of these people
(03:46):
who's interested in running this year, this is certainly an
opportunity that would create some contrast. Sadly, the far right
is willing only to criticize Trump if a they don't
have to mention his name or be they can make
it look like they're criticizing him on political strategy, not
you know, the whole debate between constitutional government and a dictatorship.
(04:10):
The right wing troll Ben Shapiro criticized Trump not because
he endorsed a coup and then came back to clarify
it and endorsed a new coup, but because quote it
allowed the Democrats and the media to avoid the Twitter
files story entirely by redirecting to Trump's spoken authoritarianism. In
other words, the fact that there is no Twitter file
(04:33):
story indirectly becomes Trump's fault. This is a lie, This
is dereliction of duty by any US citizen, even Ben Shapiro.
But hell, if it undermines Trump, I will hold my
nose and take it. But what he is the most
useful for, again scrambling the creature of the New York
Post called Trump de Dumpty not a month ago at
(04:53):
the mid terms, is not the new quotes from Republicans
but the old ones. Aaron Fritzchner, the chief of Staffed Congress,
and Don Bayer and Media Matters for America the heavy
lifting on these, and they were worth the effort. October
eighteenth of this year, Representative Lauren Bobert quote, the Democrat
(05:14):
Party sees the Constitution as a roadblock rather than a
road map. Uh No, that's Trump. October Representative at least Stevanic,
I will always stand up for our constitution. Don't don't,
don't tell Trump undated harm Meat Dylan the MAGA trying
to become Republican National Committee chair. The Democrats would just
(05:37):
tear up the Constitution. No, no, that that that's Trump too,
undated Sean Hannity. Democrats are now ready to shred the constitution.
No that that that's your boy Trump undated, Pete Hexeth,
Fox News. Democrats want to tear up the Constitution, overturn it,
and rewrite it now, No, Pete, all three of those things.
(06:00):
That's also Trump. And from September seventeenth of this year
Constitution Day, the anniversary of the official adoption of that constitution,
a series of wonderful quotes. Representative John Rose of Tennessee.
Every day, I pushed back against those who seek to
undermine our constitution, bended, or disregard the parts in which
(06:24):
they don't agree. N that's that's also Trump. Representative Monica
de la Cruz of Texas. We have to protect our
constitution at all costs. Without it, we don't have anything.
Oh Monica, MAGA may throw you out for saying that.
Representative Byron Donalds of Florida. The left treats the Constitution
(06:45):
as an inconvenience in their pursuit of power. Now, Byron,
that's Trump. Representative Barry louder Milk of Georgia the January
five Congressional Tour guide. We celebrate one of the most
significant documents ever written, the bedrock of our government. Like Constitution.
Don't tell Trump or those you took on the tour.
(07:06):
Representative Fred Keller of Pennsylvania. Our Constitution given to us
by our creator and paid for by our veterans. Uh No,
Fred Trump is your creator and he paid for it.
Representative Randy Weber of Texas. The Constitution now more than ever,
as we witness blatant attempts to circumvent the one document
(07:27):
that preserves our individual liberties. We must protect it at
all costs, except criticizing Trump. Representative Carlos Hjimenez of Florida. Today,
our Constitution and the values we hold dear are under attack.
You are correct, sir. Representative Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma.
When I took my oath of office, ICE wore to
(07:50):
protect and defend our Constitution, and it is a responsibility
I do not take lightly. Yeah, well, let's see how
not lightly you take it, Mark Wayne. And then the
money quote of all my quotes, I will read it,
then tell you who said it. Quote. Now, more than ever,
(08:12):
that Constitution and the freedoms it protects must be defended
and preserved for us and for our children. Yes, Kevin McCarthy, speaker, presumptive. Obviously,
these quotes are in and of themselves nuggets of gold,
(08:32):
and dozens more of them are just sitting there. But
more importantly, they are just sitting there in car load lots,
waiting to be read back to the Republicans who spoke them,
along with Trump's constitutional termination quote and Trump's corrected constitutional
termination quote for weeks and months and if need be,
(08:53):
years to come. There are still a couple of reporters
hidden embedded among the access journalists who have taken over
d C. And for those few, these are how to
succeed in the media political industrial complex business without really trying.
Because remember, Trump never said he wanted to terminate the Constitution.
(09:17):
He only said he wanted to terminate all rules, regulations
and articles found in the Constitution. Still ahead, the night
(09:40):
before his last candidate was to be judged at the
polls by the people of Georgia. For herschel Walker's last rally,
Donald Trump phoned it in. No, no, literally, he didn't
show up. He just phoned it in. Big free agent
signings in baseball, including a guy getting an eleven year
contract from the Philadelphia Phillies and a no trade clause.
(10:03):
And for fifteen years I have remained silent about somebody
in this business who used to live with me. I
have put up with metaphorical punches from her and with
actual punches from her. This now has to stop things
I promised not to tell about. Katie ur Ahead. That's next.
This is Countdown. This is Countdown with Keith Olberman still ahead.
(10:36):
Four and forty one million dollars on baseball free agents yesterday.
That's three guys for a total of fourteen years plus
worse persons, and sorry, I've just had enough. When you
turn up. Bestsected me into a photo opera newscast. All
bets are off things I promised not to tell. Also
(10:58):
Ahead first. In each edition of Countdown, we feature dog
in need. You can help. Every dog has its day.
I've had two dogs with desperate, life threatening, devastating heart problems.
What do you do? What do you do when they
tell you your four month old puppy has an enlarged
heart and a hole in his heart, but they can
operate to save him, but it will cost nineteen thousand dollars?
(11:21):
Do you give up and say let him die? That
is what he is facing, Little Bentley in Santa Rosa, California.
He looks like a pug, big ears, cute as a bug.
The family turned to Soft Paws Rescue and they are
doing a fundraiser for him. On Cuddley. One of my
rescue puppies could be saved with surgery. He was, He's
now four and a half. The other Mishu could not.
(11:42):
No surgery could help him. So stories like this always
hit home for me. Bentley on Cuddley or look for
him on my Twitter feeds. I thank you and Bentley
thanks you both. Scripts to the news, some headlines, some updates,
some snarks, some predictions. Dateline Atlanta as the old commercial
(12:05):
used to go. Did you ever get the feelings? Some
people just stop trying. The Republicans first insisted everybody should
only vote day of so it'll be raining, probably lightly
at least to start the last day of voting for
the Senate from Georgia today, What did Trump do for
his man? Herschel Walker phoned into a tell A rally
last night thanks for stopping by. A far right interviewer
(12:29):
asked Trump's not Too Bright spokesperson Liz Harrington for the
phone number so supporters could join the Tell Tell rally,
and Liz Harrington did not know what the phone number was.
See a hush dateline Moore County, North Carolina. Darkness continues
there after somebody shot up to power substations and blacked
out the county, but there is a development. Sunday, the
(12:52):
sheriff's office said a COVID Karen and January six audience
member who had boasted on social media that she knew
why the county had been blacked out, that it was
over a drag show in local theater and God's work. Well,
the sheriff's office said she had nothing to do with
the terrorism. She was just boasting. Now. It turns out
the woman Emily Rainey, took a selfie at a Back
(13:15):
the Blue rally in October with the county sheriff. Stay
tuned and date line Lincoln Square, New York. ABC News
has given Good Morning America third hour co host t J.
Holmes and Amy Roeback leaves of absence as it tries
to figure out what to do when your hosts are
married to other people, but they are doing their own
(13:38):
two shots. As it were years ago, I was the
sportscaster at a station where this exact thing happened. The
anchors thought nobody knew. Everybody knew when I would come
out onto the set during the commercial before the sportscast.
It felt like I was the kid brother that one
of them had been forced to take along on the date.
(13:59):
Here is the up shot. There is no way out.
If they break up, will hate each other. If they
don't break up, the divorces will be in the papers
every day for months. And worst of all, if they
get divorced and they get married to each other, the
thrill of cheating will quickly evaporate, and soon their conversations
will be like the ones on the newscast stage. This
(14:23):
is an actual quote about two weeks after the honeymoon. Yes,
I promise when we get home, I will fix the
garbage disposal unit. Later came the claim by one of
our other news anchors that the new Mrs Anchor had
tried to run over Mr Anchor in the parking lot.
(14:44):
Advice fire them both, or keep the one you really
like and fire the other one. Or move them to
different jobs in separate buildings. This is sports Center. Wait,
(15:10):
check that not anymore. This is countdown with Keith in Sports.
Now that last winter's lockout has been forgotten by everybody,
baseball owners can resume spending on free agents. The New
York Mets, having lost Jacob de Graham, gave Cy Young
Award winner Justin Verlander two years at forty three million
(15:33):
a year, plus investing option for a third year for
thirty five million. This reunites him with Max Scherzer. They've
pitched together in Detroit a decade ago. On opening Day,
Verlander and Scherzer will be a combined seventy eight years old.
So it's Max and Justin and pray for no rusting.
The Phillies finally nailed down their deal with shortstop trade
(15:54):
Turner X of the Dodgers, and what a deal it
carries through the season of twenty thirty three, three hundred
million dollars over eleven years and a no trade clause.
The Rodgers did bring back their longtime centerpiece, Clayton Kershaw
one year, twenty million dollars. Twenty million dollars, and you're
admitting this publicly. What an embarrassment is Kershaw retired? Kershaw
(16:18):
got a bad agent? What kind of fool? What? What's
twenty million dollars? Thank you? Nancy Faust and the New
(16:38):
York Yankee signed general manager Brian Cashman for four years. Seriously,
Brian Cashman inherited a dynasty from an executive Gene Michael
and Bob Watson in his own Yankees teams have won
one World Series in twenty five years and have not
been back since. I have said it before and I'll
(16:59):
say it again. If you want to convince me that
Yankees owner House Steinbrenner is actually the son of the late, great,
perceptive George Steinbrenner, I'm gonna need to see a fraternity
test and it goes by quickly. Five years ago, Baker
Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy as the best in college football.
Four years ago, he was the number one pick in
(17:20):
the NFL Draft. This year, well, the highest possible q
b R number that's quarterback rating is a hundred and
fifty eight point three Baker Mayfield for the Carolina Panthers
eighteen point two five one different quarterbacks assessed by that
cumulative QBR stat since it came into use in two
(17:42):
thousand six. That ranks Baker Mayfield five out of five.
The Panthers waived him yesterday. He is twenty seven years old. Ahead,
(18:02):
I'm sorry when she went ahead and used a vasectomy
as a photo opt to promote promote her newscast and
her husband's that's that's when I just snapped things I
promised not to tell about Katie tur Next, first, the
daily roundup of the misgrants, morons and Donning Kruger effects
specimens who constitute today's worst persons in the world. Lebronze
(18:25):
The New York Times look the Groomer things a paranoid
bull from the far right, But the word does characterize
a disgusting act, so the original Times oh bit was problematic.
It read quote Nick Bollet Terry groomer of Tennis Champions
dies at. It now reads Nick boll Terry, nurturer of
(18:48):
Tennis Champions dies at our runner up. Kanye West remember him?
Posted on Instagram that he thinks Elon Musk is half
Chinese and quote they probably made twenty to thirty Elon's
and he's the first genetic hybrid that's stuck. Well, let's
not forget about Obama. That's not weird enough for you.
(19:10):
This was apparently a campaign statement of some sort. He
followed that up with quote ya twenty four, let's unify
and found out, find out, and that followed it with
the clever acronym that he's using in his campaign l
U a FO for let's unify and find out. Anybody
(19:31):
care enough to get this guy? Help anybody, anybody at
all but our winner, somebody about whom the answer to
that question would be no. Glenn Greenwald, former journalists hyperventilating
about the story of Hunter Biden's lap, Well, I mean
it currently turned out to not be about Hunter Biden's laptop, right,
it was about his lap, quoting g G. The ongoing
(19:54):
attacks on Matt Taiebe from jealous employees of NBC, CNN,
the Daily Beast and collapsing Brooklyn based digital outlets is
a form of s castic terrorism that is literally putting
him in a harm's way and straight up inciting violence
against him and his family. C C FBI. Well, first, no,
(20:16):
it isn't. Secondly, Greenwalt cited for just explosive tweets. The
strongest language used against Tibe and any of them was quote,
what a sad, disgraceful downfall After a statement like that,
he's way likely to be sent cash rather than threats.
But about Greenwald, in two thousand and ten, he contacted
(20:36):
me out of the blue to asked me to confirm
off the record a story for Salon about Joe Scarborough
and Chris Licked getting Marcos Melitzis of the Daily Coasts
banned from MSNBC. I told him he was right on
the money off the record. Then I said something or
I wrote something that was mildly critical of another story
he had written, and Greenwald notified me that if I
(20:56):
did not retract the criticism, he would tell my bosses
that I had been his source and they would fire
me for talking to him. Schmuck, Glenn. I have become
what I used to criticize Greenwald two days worse person,
then the worl to the number one story on the
(21:30):
Countdown and my favorite topic, me and things I promised
not to tell, And in nearly all of these the
target for criticism or mocking or eye rolling, or at
least one of the targets for criticism were mocking or
eye rolling. Is me not this time? This is about
somebody else who has pretty much been throwing punches at
me for fifteen years and I have never responded, not
(21:51):
even to defend myself. And that isn't just entirely a
metaphor literally on one occasion at least throwing punches at me.
So if this seems mean spirited or vengeful, I'll wear it.
Bringing this up is obviously painful for me. That's why
I have not done it over the course of fifteen years.
But I've just had enough. And the thing is, what
(22:15):
pushed me over the edge yesterday doesn't even have anything
to do with me, And oddly that is what pushed
me over the edge, because I'm reading in the Daily
Beast and I'm reading in Politico, and people are sending
me this video of this person and how she talked
her husband into getting a vasectomy and they've gone public
with the vassectomy because the two of them are insufferable
(22:36):
publicity addicts, and they have turned a vasectomy into a
family photo op for their TV shows, and honest to god.
I went looking for my name in their vasectomy story,
and I was surprised and relieved I wasn't mentioned. And
I was surprised because every other piece of publicity this
(22:58):
person has generated for herself for at least the last decade,
she has wound up somehow simultaneously mentioning me in it
while also complaining that anytime anybody talks about her, they
mentioned me for some reason. And this is so unfair
to her. And she's the victim here, because she's always
the victim here. So here is the headline. On January two,
(23:21):
thousand seventeen, Katie tur of MSNBC asked me to write
her trump book for her. She was serious, and there
are receipts. I'll get back to the book story, but first,
Since last spring, when her second book came out, I
(23:42):
have read story after story that boiled down to one
of the headlines I read that was katie Urs relationship
with Keith Alderman haunted her. Now, the articles have not
been overtly negative, except in a passive aggressive sense, although
try out that headline on yourself there and see if
you like to be described as haunting someone. But she
(24:03):
wrote a book claiming that men experiences somehow, including the
time she lived with me, hurt and slowed and limited
her career. So all this time, I have remained silent
about the nearly three years she and I lived together
and the eight years after that, during which I remained
her good and loyal friend. And I have remained silent
(24:23):
even though the day she moved into my place in
New York, she expected a New York TV station would
hire her with no experience and no audition tape. And
I have remained silent about how her father, whom she
has never stopped trashing, sent her ten thousand dollars worth
of cameras and editing equipment to help her get started.
And I have remained silent about how I pushed her
(24:44):
to not just sit there staring at all that equipment
her dad sent, but to use it to go cover
stories so she could at least make a tape. And
I have remained silent even though once she didn't like
something I told her, and she immediately said she was
thinking of calling the New York Post gossip page and
telling them terrible things about me. And I have remained
silent that after I asked her to move out, I
(25:07):
paid her rent at a new apartment for a year
so she could keep working and living in New York.
And I have remained silent, even though I paid off
her college loans, and when she complained that every time
you googled her name, you've also got my name, I
loaned her the money to hire a company that altered
her Google results. And I have remained silent, even though
I introduced her to her first agent and to all
(25:28):
the people who hired her at News twelve and w
p I X and w NBC and NBC News. And
I have remained silent even though when she happened to
be assigned to Trump's campaign announcement and Trump knew who
she was because when we lived together, it was in
one of these Trump buildings here and she got to
do the last great actual interview with him, and NBC
(25:50):
promptly offered her the chance to be its reporter on
his campaign. She called me and said, no, I'm going
back to London. I don't like politics. You know that
I was the one who told her she was nuts
and this wasn't politics, it was dark, terrible history and progress.
And she sighed and said, fine, Okay, send me some
books about it. And I have remained silent, even though
(26:12):
she sent me nearly all of her scripts for her
NBC news stories, including her Trump campaign coverage in two
thousand sixteen, and I edited nearly every one of them,
and several times I had to completely rewrite them for her.
And I have remained silent even though when her father
announced he was transitioning, the friend she called up in
hysterics was me. And I have remained silent even though
(26:35):
she twice lied to reporters and editors at the New
York Times and The Washington Post, telling them she had
asked me on their behalf to do interviews with them
about her. And I have remained silent, even though she
lied to them that I had declined the interviews. And
I have remained silent even though six days after my
emergency appendected me in two thousand seven, she started punching
(26:55):
and slapping me with real intent to do harm because
the living room wasn't clean enough in our place, And
how exactly do you even try to send yourself against
a woman a d and twenty five pounds lighter and
a foot shorter than you. So yesterday I'm reading stories
about her husband getting a vassect to me, and I'm
sitting there waiting to see how she managed to make
(27:18):
this one my fault. When Katie's first book came out,
she reduced our entire history to a throwaway anecdote defending
Kelly and Conway. The story described me as somebody she
had dated briefly in her twenties. After the book came out,
(27:38):
and frankly and calmly, I don't know for certain who
wrote her first book. I mean, people who can't write
suddenly can find their muse. It's possible she wrote it
and her other books too. But after the first book
came out that dismissed three year ar years of our
shared life as dating briefly in her twenties, I told
her she had been awful to me, and she replied,
(27:59):
I'm sorry. You're right, I'm a terrible person and it
is the last thing we ever discussed. I told her
I would not indicate with her again, and I have not,
nor have I spoken about her publicly, But I do
keep wondering about that book. I still have a text
from her from PM on December eleventh, two thousand sixteen,
after she had signed her contract for her book, which
(28:21):
became unbelievable. An ironic title it reads, do you still
want to share your Trump doc with me? Doc? Here?
Meaning my trove of documents, my hundreds of pages of
Trump notes that I had kept for use in my
g Q video series. And I joked back, sure, how much?
And she joked back ten twenty dollars And I emailed
(28:43):
it all to her for free that night, with only
one request, don't leave me out of your acknowledgements in
the book. And guess what, she left me out of
the acknowledgements in the book too. More than a month later,
at two thirty pm on Sunday, January twenty two, I
had just returned home from Los Angeles and doing Bill
maher show, and Katie Turch texted me about why they
(29:03):
had never invited her on, and then she switched topics
to ask, quote, I want to write this book. I
had taken a nap, so it was not until five
thirty two that I replied, what, Well, you're not serious,
how would that work? That's when she phoned she was
about to give the advanced money back to the publisher.
She said, I can't write a book. I'm like fifty
(29:26):
words short and it's terrible. I'll give you a half
the money. I'll give you more than half the money.
I pointed out to her that I had written or
rewritten dozens of her stories for NBC News and MSNBC,
and it was not a question of money. It was
a question of what we could get away with no
viewer and maybe only one executive in a million whatever.
(29:46):
Notice that one sentence or one paragraph of script in
her two minute report was actually written by me. First
of all, she was the one saying it each time
I wrote or rewrote in her name for NBC. It
was a fireable offense for her, but one that nobody
would ever think to look for, even though there is
(30:07):
necessarily an email trail ten miles long. But writing a
book for her about Trump in my writing style, not
read aloud by her, but in print, I have a
pretty distinct writing style which I don't think I could
ever sufficiently hide for more than about seventeen words at
(30:28):
a stretch. Somebody would notice. Her publisher might cancel it
or even sue, or if it got published, NBC might
notice it and fire her. It was not just a
bad idea for her and very dubious ethically, but it
stood an excellent chance of destroying her career and damaging mine. Maybe.
(30:48):
She said, Okay, you're right, And she told me she
was going to talk it over with her boyfriend Tony
from CBS that night, and her thought was to give
back the advance and cancel the book. And I said,
ghostwriter maybe, And she said like who? And I said,
I had no idea. I tried to joke her out
of the grim prospects by reminding her that at least
for the several thousand dollars worth of research I gave her,
(31:10):
I had cut the price to no dollars and no sense.
And anyway, the next thing I knew the book was published.
There isn't a paragraph of it that reads like the
rest of her writing. And I get reduced in it
from the guy she lived with for three years who
started her career, to somebody she dated briefly in her twenties,
and the dark half of an anecdote defending Kelly Ann
(31:33):
freaking con job. I will say, I think the things
I glossed over before about the New York Times and
Washington Post were genuinely deplorable. The thing about the Post first,
a Washington Post reporter I had known for more than
a decade named Paul Farhey called me up and asked
me to do an interview with him about Katie, and
(31:54):
I had my doubts. As I said to Paul, this
is at least a little sexist. When I broke through
an MSNBC in nobody called up one of my ex girlfriends,
even the ones that the business to ask one of
them about me. This was an unfair gradient for her
or any woman, that the first thing a reporter or
just somebody googling her brought up or found was her
(32:16):
boyfriend or ex boyfriend, especially me. It is utter misogyny.
In fact, on the other hand, there could be a
calculation in which it is useful to Katie if I
do the interview and amplify the publicity. It is also
one of the things I had warned her about literally
the day we started dating, and in fact I reminded
her of it the night of the first real date
(32:39):
at an Al Gore book event at the Museum of
Natural History in New York in the whale room. Sure enough,
I went from the whale room to the men's room
for a moment while I was out an online gossip
clown who had been following us around, went over and
pretended he knew her or something, And when I got back,
she was bubbling over telling me she'd met a friend
(32:59):
of a friend and told him all about us. And
I asked if she had remembered my warning, and she
obviously had not. End quote. Katie turn new girlfriend of
Keith Olberman, was online before we got home, so when
she found there was a way to scrub your Google searches,
so every time somebody plugged in her name they would
not also get Keith Olberman's girlfriend or Keith Alderman's ex girlfriend.
(33:23):
As I said, I helped her pay to use that service.
I get it. The sexism prevails. Maybe it'll go away someday,
maybe it won't. So anyway, when far He of the
Post called me up, I called Katie. She said she
thought it was sexist and anyway, she wasn't participating with
the Post's story on her, and it would really help
(33:45):
if I did not do so either, So I declined
the interview, and a week later there in the Washington
Post was a big feature on Katie tour because guess what,
she did participate with it after all, complete interview and
worst yet, she told far He that she had encouraged
me to do the inter you with him, so he
put it in the paper that I declined to be interviewed,
(34:08):
so I looked like an idiot. And another thing, I'm
not mad. Please don't put in the newspaper that I
got mad. I called her up and I yelled at her,
and she apologized and she promised she would not do
anything like that ever again, and then she probably did
something even worse. A month or two later, the New
York Times article comes out. It is a huge profile
(34:31):
of her, I think, in the magazine or weekend edition,
and in it, Mr Olberman refused to be interviewed for
this story. This is a complete surprise to me. I
didn't even recognize the writer's name. I found her contact
info and I reached out to her and said have
we ever spoken? And she says no, And I say emails, texts,
(34:55):
and she says no. And then I say, then, when
did I refuse to be interviewed for your Katie Turn
article for the New York Times? And she says, oh,
I asked Katie Turn to ask you, and Katie Turr
asked you, and you told Katie Turry you refused to
be interviewed, and I said, none of that happened. And
there is a long silence on the end of the phone,
(35:16):
and then the writer says, let me call the editor
to take that part out. And The Times changed the
online version of why I didn't do the interview, although
they do not note that they changed it. And I
later got a note from a Times editor apologizing she
just lied to this reporter from the Times. Just lied. Oh.
(35:38):
I'll call him and ask oh, he told me he
doesn't want to talk to you about me. Just lied.
And I just sat there, and I know, very unlike me.
I have to say, I was actually too angry to
do anything anyway. As I mentioned, Katie Turr published another
book this year, and a lot of the publicity was
about how I haunted her and she had to go
(35:58):
to great lengths to separate her career from mine, even
as she keeps mentioning me, and even though she asked
me in dead seriousness to write the first book for her.
The book, the second one, is mostly about all the
impediments and roadblocks she has faced while what's the word
forging her career? But I will add this last point
and then drop the subject, I hope forever. For forty
(36:22):
three years full time, I have done this and counting college,
it's God help me forty seven years. And throughout that
stretch I have tried to acknowledge anybody and everybody who
helped me in my career, even the ones I don't like,
even people who are totally utterly politically opposed to me.
(36:42):
I still think fondly of Stuart Varney from Fox News,
because he taught me, when I was right up against
it one night, how do you use a teleprompter. I'll
always cherish the memory of working with Stuart Varney. He
was such a help to me. Politically, we could have
a duel, but of course, as I said, the dynamic
is different. I'm a guy still. Her book is about
(37:06):
people who hindered her, and almost none of it is
about people who helped her. She is rapidly turning into
a kind of professional martyrdom. I saw this in its
earliest stages sixteen years ago, and she is now going
from making it martyrdom into a brand, and yesterday with
(37:26):
turning a vassectomy into a photo op. I just had
enough of it. I just ran out of the energy
required to cover for her. And I'll say this lastly
and sincerely. If your story of your career is all
about people you think held you back, and not even
(37:46):
mostly about the people who bent over backwards to help
you along, that is all just very very sad. I've
(38:10):
done all the damage I can do here. Don't put
it in the paper that I goes mad. Thanks for listening.
If you're not following or subscribed or whatever to this podcast,
please do so. If you can stop a passer by
on the street and get them too as well, thank you.
Here the credits. Most of the music, including our theme
from Beethoven's Ninth, was arranged, produced and performed by Brian
Ray and John Philip Chanelle. They are the Countdown musical directors.
(38:32):
All orchestration and keyboards by John Philip Chanelle, guitars, bass
and drums by Brian Ray, produced by t k O Brothers.
Other Beethoven selections have been arranged and performed by No
Horns Allowed. The sports music is the Olberman theme from
ESPN two, and it was written by Mitch Warren Davis
courtesy of the ESPN Inc. Musical comments by Nancy Faust,
(38:53):
the best baseball stadium organist ever. Our announcer today was
John Dee. Everything else was pretty much my fault. So
let's countdown for this the seven hundred day since Donald
Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected government of
the United States, and what the fourth since his second
attempted coup? Arrest him now while we still can. There'll
(39:17):
be a new addition tomorrow. Until then, I'm Keith Olberman.
Good morning, good afternoon, goodnight, and good luck. Countdown with
Keith Alderman is a production of I heart Radio. For
more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Countdown with Keith Oldman is a production of I Heart Radio.
Trump's threat to terminate the Constitution is so bad that
(00:25):
now even he has attacked it. Quote the fake news
is actually trying to convince the American people that I
said I wanted to terminate the Constitution, he posted on
his Truth social media platform. This was two days after
he advocated quote for the termination of all rules, regulations,
and articles, even those found in the Constitution, and posted
(00:47):
that on his Truth social media platform. Trump has now
proceeded to again call for the overthrow of the government
of the United States, quoting steps must be immediately taken
to right the wrong. An election should go to the
rightful winner, or at minimum be redone. There should be
no time limit for change. Once again, a guy with
(01:08):
a political base and millions of cultists with guns can
insist that who is president should be decided not by
the Constitution, not by an election, not by the Electoral College,
not by the Supreme Court even but by him and
he is still at large, rather than being detained under
(01:29):
eighteen USC. Chapter one, fifteen, section to five. Quote. Whoever
knowingly or willfully advocates a bets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability,
or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the
United States by force or violence shall be fined under
this title, or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
(01:54):
Most relevant yesterday was not Trump's ludicrous denials, which you're
gonna believe me on truth social or me on truth social.
And I never said I want to determinate the Constitution.
I only said I wanted to terminate articles of the Constitution.
Most relevant yesterday was the idea that maybe, just maybe,
(02:16):
the idea that they could finish Trump off on this
subject if they all stand up to him, or at
least that every last Republican is going to be asked
about this perfect either or that Trump has created him
or the Constitution. Maybe that is just beginning to dawn
on them. There are still ninnies and always will be.
(02:40):
Who can actually say what Roger Marshall, the Senator from
Kansas who believes nine eleven is pronounced nine one one
said yesterday, quoting Marshall, I don't know if that's being
taken out of context or where it came from, as
if it wasn't a direct quote. And then after he
said that he ran away from reporters. On the other hand,
Senator Mikowski of Alaska said, suggesting the termination of the
(03:03):
Constitution is now only a betrayal of our oath of office,
it's an affront to our republic. Close though no, Senator,
it is also a betrayal of our republic. Senator Rounds
of North Dakota said, anyone who desires to lead our
country must commit to protecting the Constitution. They should not
threaten to terminate it, which in this era of jellyfish
(03:25):
as Republican senators, constitutes borderline defiance. Swearing to uphold the Constitution.
Quote is the principal, the bedrock of our country. I
couldn't disagree more, said Senator Thune of South Dakota, But
when asked if that disqualified Trump, he would still go
no further out there. If you're one of these people
(03:46):
who's interested in running this year, this is certainly an
opportunity that would create some contrast. Sadly, the far right
is willing only to criticize Trump if a they don't
have to mention his name or be they can make
it look like they're criticizing him on political strategy, not
you know, the whole debate between constitutional government and a dictatorship.
(04:10):
The right wing troll Ben Shapiro criticized Trump not because
he endorsed a coup and then came back to clarify
it and endorsed a new coup, but because quote it
allowed the Democrats and the media to avoid the Twitter
files story entirely by redirecting to Trump's spoken authoritarianism. In
other words, the fact that there is no Twitter file
(04:33):
story indirectly becomes Trump's fault. This is a lie, This
is dereliction of duty by any US citizen, even Ben Shapiro.
But hell, if it undermines Trump, I will hold my
nose and take it. But what he is the most
useful for, again scrambling the creature of the New York
Post called Trump de Dumpty not a month ago at
(04:53):
the mid terms, is not the new quotes from Republicans
but the old ones. Aaron Fritzchner, the chief of Staffed Congress,
and Don Bayer and Media Matters for America the heavy
lifting on these, and they were worth the effort. October
eighteenth of this year, Representative Lauren Bobert quote, the Democrat
(05:14):
Party sees the Constitution as a roadblock rather than a
road map. Uh No, that's Trump. October Representative at least Stevanic,
I will always stand up for our constitution. Don't don't,
don't tell Trump undated harm Meat Dylan the MAGA trying
to become Republican National Committee chair. The Democrats would just
(05:37):
tear up the Constitution. No, no, that that that's Trump too,
undated Sean Hannity. Democrats are now ready to shred the constitution.
No that that that's your boy Trump undated, Pete Hexeth,
Fox News. Democrats want to tear up the Constitution, overturn it,
and rewrite it now, No, Pete, all three of those things.
(06:00):
That's also Trump. And from September seventeenth of this year
Constitution Day, the anniversary of the official adoption of that constitution,
a series of wonderful quotes. Representative John Rose of Tennessee.
Every day, I pushed back against those who seek to
undermine our constitution, bended, or disregard the parts in which
(06:24):
they don't agree. N that's that's also Trump. Representative Monica
de la Cruz of Texas. We have to protect our
constitution at all costs. Without it, we don't have anything.
Oh Monica, MAGA may throw you out for saying that.
Representative Byron Donalds of Florida. The left treats the Constitution
(06:45):
as an inconvenience in their pursuit of power. Now, Byron,
that's Trump. Representative Barry louder Milk of Georgia the January
five Congressional Tour guide. We celebrate one of the most
significant documents ever written, the bedrock of our government. Like Constitution.
Don't tell Trump or those you took on the tour.
(07:06):
Representative Fred Keller of Pennsylvania. Our Constitution given to us
by our creator and paid for by our veterans. Uh No,
Fred Trump is your creator and he paid for it.
Representative Randy Weber of Texas. The Constitution now more than ever,
as we witness blatant attempts to circumvent the one document
(07:27):
that preserves our individual liberties. We must protect it at
all costs, except criticizing Trump. Representative Carlos Hjimenez of Florida. Today,
our Constitution and the values we hold dear are under attack.
You are correct, sir. Representative Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma.
When I took my oath of office, ICE wore to
(07:50):
protect and defend our Constitution, and it is a responsibility
I do not take lightly. Yeah, well, let's see how
not lightly you take it, Mark Wayne. And then the
money quote of all my quotes, I will read it,
then tell you who said it. Quote. Now, more than ever,
(08:12):
that Constitution and the freedoms it protects must be defended
and preserved for us and for our children. Yes, Kevin McCarthy, speaker, presumptive. Obviously,
these quotes are in and of themselves nuggets of gold,
(08:32):
and dozens more of them are just sitting there. But
more importantly, they are just sitting there in car load lots,
waiting to be read back to the Republicans who spoke them,
along with Trump's constitutional termination quote and Trump's corrected constitutional
termination quote for weeks and months and if need be,
(08:53):
years to come. There are still a couple of reporters
hidden embedded among the access journalists who have taken over
d C. And for those few, these are how to
succeed in the media political industrial complex business without really trying.
Because remember, Trump never said he wanted to terminate the Constitution.
(09:17):
He only said he wanted to terminate all rules, regulations
and articles found in the Constitution. Still ahead, the night
(09:40):
before his last candidate was to be judged at the
polls by the people of Georgia. For herschel Walker's last rally,
Donald Trump phoned it in. No, no, literally, he didn't
show up. He just phoned it in. Big free agent
signings in baseball, including a guy getting an eleven year
contract from the Philadelphia Phillies and a no trade clause.
(10:03):
And for fifteen years I have remained silent about somebody
in this business who used to live with me. I
have put up with metaphorical punches from her and with
actual punches from her. This now has to stop things
I promised not to tell about. Katie ur Ahead. That's next.
This is Countdown. This is Countdown with Keith Olberman still ahead.
(10:36):
Four and forty one million dollars on baseball free agents yesterday.
That's three guys for a total of fourteen years plus
worse persons, and sorry, I've just had enough. When you
turn up. Bestsected me into a photo opera newscast. All
bets are off things I promised not to tell. Also
(10:58):
Ahead first. In each edition of Countdown, we feature dog
in need. You can help. Every dog has its day.
I've had two dogs with desperate, life threatening, devastating heart problems.
What do you do? What do you do when they
tell you your four month old puppy has an enlarged
heart and a hole in his heart, but they can
operate to save him, but it will cost nineteen thousand dollars?
(11:21):
Do you give up and say let him die? That
is what he is facing, Little Bentley in Santa Rosa, California.
He looks like a pug, big ears, cute as a bug.
The family turned to Soft Paws Rescue and they are
doing a fundraiser for him. On Cuddley. One of my
rescue puppies could be saved with surgery. He was, He's
now four and a half. The other Mishu could not.
(11:42):
No surgery could help him. So stories like this always
hit home for me. Bentley on Cuddley or look for
him on my Twitter feeds. I thank you and Bentley
thanks you both. Scripts to the news, some headlines, some updates,
some snarks, some predictions. Dateline Atlanta as the old commercial
(12:05):
used to go. Did you ever get the feelings? Some
people just stop trying. The Republicans first insisted everybody should
only vote day of so it'll be raining, probably lightly
at least to start the last day of voting for
the Senate from Georgia today, What did Trump do for
his man? Herschel Walker phoned into a tell A rally
last night thanks for stopping by. A far right interviewer
(12:29):
asked Trump's not Too Bright spokesperson Liz Harrington for the
phone number so supporters could join the Tell Tell rally,
and Liz Harrington did not know what the phone number was.
See a hush dateline Moore County, North Carolina. Darkness continues
there after somebody shot up to power substations and blacked
out the county, but there is a development. Sunday, the
(12:52):
sheriff's office said a COVID Karen and January six audience
member who had boasted on social media that she knew
why the county had been blacked out, that it was
over a drag show in local theater and God's work. Well,
the sheriff's office said she had nothing to do with
the terrorism. She was just boasting. Now. It turns out
the woman Emily Rainey, took a selfie at a Back
(13:15):
the Blue rally in October with the county sheriff. Stay
tuned and date line Lincoln Square, New York. ABC News
has given Good Morning America third hour co host t J.
Holmes and Amy Roeback leaves of absence as it tries
to figure out what to do when your hosts are
married to other people, but they are doing their own
(13:38):
two shots. As it were years ago, I was the
sportscaster at a station where this exact thing happened. The
anchors thought nobody knew. Everybody knew when I would come
out onto the set during the commercial before the sportscast.
It felt like I was the kid brother that one
of them had been forced to take along on the date.
(13:59):
Here is the up shot. There is no way out.
If they break up, will hate each other. If they
don't break up, the divorces will be in the papers
every day for months. And worst of all, if they
get divorced and they get married to each other, the
thrill of cheating will quickly evaporate, and soon their conversations
will be like the ones on the newscast stage. This
(14:23):
is an actual quote about two weeks after the honeymoon. Yes,
I promise when we get home, I will fix the
garbage disposal unit. Later came the claim by one of
our other news anchors that the new Mrs Anchor had
tried to run over Mr Anchor in the parking lot.
(14:44):
Advice fire them both, or keep the one you really
like and fire the other one. Or move them to
different jobs in separate buildings. This is sports Center. Wait,
(15:10):
check that not anymore. This is countdown with Keith in Sports.
Now that last winter's lockout has been forgotten by everybody,
baseball owners can resume spending on free agents. The New
York Mets, having lost Jacob de Graham, gave Cy Young
Award winner Justin Verlander two years at forty three million
(15:33):
a year, plus investing option for a third year for
thirty five million. This reunites him with Max Scherzer. They've
pitched together in Detroit a decade ago. On opening Day,
Verlander and Scherzer will be a combined seventy eight years old.
So it's Max and Justin and pray for no rusting.
The Phillies finally nailed down their deal with shortstop trade
(15:54):
Turner X of the Dodgers, and what a deal it
carries through the season of twenty thirty three, three hundred
million dollars over eleven years and a no trade clause.
The Rodgers did bring back their longtime centerpiece, Clayton Kershaw
one year, twenty million dollars. Twenty million dollars, and you're
admitting this publicly. What an embarrassment is Kershaw retired? Kershaw
(16:18):
got a bad agent? What kind of fool? What? What's
twenty million dollars? Thank you? Nancy Faust and the New
(16:38):
York Yankee signed general manager Brian Cashman for four years. Seriously,
Brian Cashman inherited a dynasty from an executive Gene Michael
and Bob Watson in his own Yankees teams have won
one World Series in twenty five years and have not
been back since. I have said it before and I'll
(16:59):
say it again. If you want to convince me that
Yankees owner House Steinbrenner is actually the son of the late, great,
perceptive George Steinbrenner, I'm gonna need to see a fraternity
test and it goes by quickly. Five years ago, Baker
Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy as the best in college football.
Four years ago, he was the number one pick in
(17:20):
the NFL Draft. This year, well, the highest possible q
b R number that's quarterback rating is a hundred and
fifty eight point three Baker Mayfield for the Carolina Panthers
eighteen point two five one different quarterbacks assessed by that
cumulative QBR stat since it came into use in two
(17:42):
thousand six. That ranks Baker Mayfield five out of five.
The Panthers waived him yesterday. He is twenty seven years old. Ahead,
(18:02):
I'm sorry when she went ahead and used a vasectomy
as a photo opt to promote promote her newscast and
her husband's that's that's when I just snapped things I
promised not to tell about Katie tur Next, first, the
daily roundup of the misgrants, morons and Donning Kruger effects
specimens who constitute today's worst persons in the world. Lebronze
(18:25):
The New York Times look the Groomer things a paranoid
bull from the far right, But the word does characterize
a disgusting act, so the original Times oh bit was problematic.
It read quote Nick Bollet Terry groomer of Tennis Champions
dies at. It now reads Nick boll Terry, nurturer of
(18:48):
Tennis Champions dies at our runner up. Kanye West remember him?
Posted on Instagram that he thinks Elon Musk is half
Chinese and quote they probably made twenty to thirty Elon's
and he's the first genetic hybrid that's stuck. Well, let's
not forget about Obama. That's not weird enough for you.
(19:10):
This was apparently a campaign statement of some sort. He
followed that up with quote ya twenty four, let's unify
and found out, find out, and that followed it with
the clever acronym that he's using in his campaign l
U a FO for let's unify and find out. Anybody
(19:31):
care enough to get this guy? Help anybody, anybody at
all but our winner, somebody about whom the answer to
that question would be no. Glenn Greenwald, former journalists hyperventilating
about the story of Hunter Biden's lap, Well, I mean
it currently turned out to not be about Hunter Biden's laptop, right,
it was about his lap, quoting g G. The ongoing
(19:54):
attacks on Matt Taiebe from jealous employees of NBC, CNN,
the Daily Beast and collapsing Brooklyn based digital outlets is
a form of s castic terrorism that is literally putting
him in a harm's way and straight up inciting violence
against him and his family. C C FBI. Well, first, no,
(20:16):
it isn't. Secondly, Greenwalt cited for just explosive tweets. The
strongest language used against Tibe and any of them was quote,
what a sad, disgraceful downfall After a statement like that,
he's way likely to be sent cash rather than threats.
But about Greenwald, in two thousand and ten, he contacted
(20:36):
me out of the blue to asked me to confirm
off the record a story for Salon about Joe Scarborough
and Chris Licked getting Marcos Melitzis of the Daily Coasts
banned from MSNBC. I told him he was right on
the money off the record. Then I said something or
I wrote something that was mildly critical of another story
he had written, and Greenwald notified me that if I
(20:56):
did not retract the criticism, he would tell my bosses
that I had been his source and they would fire
me for talking to him. Schmuck, Glenn. I have become
what I used to criticize Greenwald two days worse person,
then the worl to the number one story on the
(21:30):
Countdown and my favorite topic, me and things I promised
not to tell, And in nearly all of these the
target for criticism or mocking or eye rolling, or at
least one of the targets for criticism were mocking or
eye rolling. Is me not this time? This is about
somebody else who has pretty much been throwing punches at
me for fifteen years and I have never responded, not
(21:51):
even to defend myself. And that isn't just entirely a
metaphor literally on one occasion at least throwing punches at me.
So if this seems mean spirited or vengeful, I'll wear it.
Bringing this up is obviously painful for me. That's why
I have not done it over the course of fifteen years.
But I've just had enough. And the thing is, what
(22:15):
pushed me over the edge yesterday doesn't even have anything
to do with me, And oddly that is what pushed
me over the edge, because I'm reading in the Daily
Beast and I'm reading in Politico, and people are sending
me this video of this person and how she talked
her husband into getting a vasectomy and they've gone public
with the vassectomy because the two of them are insufferable
(22:36):
publicity addicts, and they have turned a vasectomy into a
family photo op for their TV shows, and honest to god.
I went looking for my name in their vasectomy story,
and I was surprised and relieved I wasn't mentioned. And
I was surprised because every other piece of publicity this
(22:58):
person has generated for herself for at least the last decade,
she has wound up somehow simultaneously mentioning me in it
while also complaining that anytime anybody talks about her, they
mentioned me for some reason. And this is so unfair
to her. And she's the victim here, because she's always
the victim here. So here is the headline. On January two,
(23:21):
thousand seventeen, Katie tur of MSNBC asked me to write
her trump book for her. She was serious, and there
are receipts. I'll get back to the book story, but first,
Since last spring, when her second book came out, I
(23:42):
have read story after story that boiled down to one
of the headlines I read that was katie Urs relationship
with Keith Alderman haunted her. Now, the articles have not
been overtly negative, except in a passive aggressive sense, although
try out that headline on yourself there and see if
you like to be described as haunting someone. But she
(24:03):
wrote a book claiming that men experiences somehow, including the
time she lived with me, hurt and slowed and limited
her career. So all this time, I have remained silent
about the nearly three years she and I lived together
and the eight years after that, during which I remained
her good and loyal friend. And I have remained silent
(24:23):
even though the day she moved into my place in
New York, she expected a New York TV station would
hire her with no experience and no audition tape. And
I have remained silent about how her father, whom she
has never stopped trashing, sent her ten thousand dollars worth
of cameras and editing equipment to help her get started.
And I have remained silent about how I pushed her
(24:44):
to not just sit there staring at all that equipment
her dad sent, but to use it to go cover
stories so she could at least make a tape. And
I have remained silent even though once she didn't like
something I told her, and she immediately said she was
thinking of calling the New York Post gossip page and
telling them terrible things about me. And I have remained
silent that after I asked her to move out, I
(25:07):
paid her rent at a new apartment for a year
so she could keep working and living in New York.
And I have remained silent, even though I paid off
her college loans, and when she complained that every time
you googled her name, you've also got my name, I
loaned her the money to hire a company that altered
her Google results. And I have remained silent, even though
I introduced her to her first agent and to all
(25:28):
the people who hired her at News twelve and w
p I X and w NBC and NBC News. And
I have remained silent even though when she happened to
be assigned to Trump's campaign announcement and Trump knew who
she was because when we lived together, it was in
one of these Trump buildings here and she got to
do the last great actual interview with him, and NBC
(25:50):
promptly offered her the chance to be its reporter on
his campaign. She called me and said, no, I'm going
back to London. I don't like politics. You know that
I was the one who told her she was nuts
and this wasn't politics, it was dark, terrible history and progress.
And she sighed and said, fine, Okay, send me some
books about it. And I have remained silent, even though
(26:12):
she sent me nearly all of her scripts for her
NBC news stories, including her Trump campaign coverage in two
thousand sixteen, and I edited nearly every one of them,
and several times I had to completely rewrite them for her.
And I have remained silent even though when her father
announced he was transitioning, the friend she called up in
hysterics was me. And I have remained silent even though
(26:35):
she twice lied to reporters and editors at the New
York Times and The Washington Post, telling them she had
asked me on their behalf to do interviews with them
about her. And I have remained silent, even though she
lied to them that I had declined the interviews. And
I have remained silent even though six days after my
emergency appendected me in two thousand seven, she started punching
(26:55):
and slapping me with real intent to do harm because
the living room wasn't clean enough in our place, And
how exactly do you even try to send yourself against
a woman a d and twenty five pounds lighter and
a foot shorter than you. So yesterday I'm reading stories
about her husband getting a vassect to me, and I'm
sitting there waiting to see how she managed to make
(27:18):
this one my fault. When Katie's first book came out,
she reduced our entire history to a throwaway anecdote defending
Kelly and Conway. The story described me as somebody she
had dated briefly in her twenties. After the book came out,
(27:38):
and frankly and calmly, I don't know for certain who
wrote her first book. I mean, people who can't write
suddenly can find their muse. It's possible she wrote it
and her other books too. But after the first book
came out that dismissed three year ar years of our
shared life as dating briefly in her twenties, I told
her she had been awful to me, and she replied,
(27:59):
I'm sorry. You're right, I'm a terrible person and it
is the last thing we ever discussed. I told her
I would not indicate with her again, and I have not,
nor have I spoken about her publicly, But I do
keep wondering about that book. I still have a text
from her from PM on December eleventh, two thousand sixteen,
after she had signed her contract for her book, which
(28:21):
became unbelievable. An ironic title it reads, do you still
want to share your Trump doc with me? Doc? Here?
Meaning my trove of documents, my hundreds of pages of
Trump notes that I had kept for use in my
g Q video series. And I joked back, sure, how much?
And she joked back ten twenty dollars And I emailed
(28:43):
it all to her for free that night, with only
one request, don't leave me out of your acknowledgements in
the book. And guess what, she left me out of
the acknowledgements in the book too. More than a month later,
at two thirty pm on Sunday, January twenty two, I
had just returned home from Los Angeles and doing Bill
maher show, and Katie Turch texted me about why they
(29:03):
had never invited her on, and then she switched topics
to ask, quote, I want to write this book. I
had taken a nap, so it was not until five
thirty two that I replied, what, Well, you're not serious,
how would that work? That's when she phoned she was
about to give the advanced money back to the publisher.
She said, I can't write a book. I'm like fifty
(29:26):
words short and it's terrible. I'll give you a half
the money. I'll give you more than half the money.
I pointed out to her that I had written or
rewritten dozens of her stories for NBC News and MSNBC,
and it was not a question of money. It was
a question of what we could get away with no
viewer and maybe only one executive in a million whatever.
(29:46):
Notice that one sentence or one paragraph of script in
her two minute report was actually written by me. First
of all, she was the one saying it each time
I wrote or rewrote in her name for NBC. It
was a fireable offense for her, but one that nobody
would ever think to look for, even though there is
(30:07):
necessarily an email trail ten miles long. But writing a
book for her about Trump in my writing style, not
read aloud by her, but in print, I have a
pretty distinct writing style which I don't think I could
ever sufficiently hide for more than about seventeen words at
(30:28):
a stretch. Somebody would notice. Her publisher might cancel it
or even sue, or if it got published, NBC might
notice it and fire her. It was not just a
bad idea for her and very dubious ethically, but it
stood an excellent chance of destroying her career and damaging mine. Maybe.
(30:48):
She said, Okay, you're right, And she told me she
was going to talk it over with her boyfriend Tony
from CBS that night, and her thought was to give
back the advance and cancel the book. And I said,
ghostwriter maybe, And she said like who? And I said,
I had no idea. I tried to joke her out
of the grim prospects by reminding her that at least
for the several thousand dollars worth of research I gave her,
(31:10):
I had cut the price to no dollars and no sense.
And anyway, the next thing I knew the book was published.
There isn't a paragraph of it that reads like the
rest of her writing. And I get reduced in it
from the guy she lived with for three years who
started her career, to somebody she dated briefly in her twenties,
and the dark half of an anecdote defending Kelly Ann
(31:33):
freaking con job. I will say, I think the things
I glossed over before about the New York Times and
Washington Post were genuinely deplorable. The thing about the Post first,
a Washington Post reporter I had known for more than
a decade named Paul Farhey called me up and asked
me to do an interview with him about Katie, and
(31:54):
I had my doubts. As I said to Paul, this
is at least a little sexist. When I broke through
an MSNBC in nobody called up one of my ex girlfriends,
even the ones that the business to ask one of
them about me. This was an unfair gradient for her
or any woman, that the first thing a reporter or
just somebody googling her brought up or found was her
(32:16):
boyfriend or ex boyfriend, especially me. It is utter misogyny.
In fact, on the other hand, there could be a
calculation in which it is useful to Katie if I
do the interview and amplify the publicity. It is also
one of the things I had warned her about literally
the day we started dating, and in fact I reminded
her of it the night of the first real date
(32:39):
at an Al Gore book event at the Museum of
Natural History in New York in the whale room. Sure enough,
I went from the whale room to the men's room
for a moment while I was out an online gossip
clown who had been following us around, went over and
pretended he knew her or something, And when I got back,
she was bubbling over telling me she'd met a friend
(32:59):
of a friend and told him all about us. And
I asked if she had remembered my warning, and she
obviously had not. End quote. Katie turn new girlfriend of
Keith Olberman, was online before we got home, so when
she found there was a way to scrub your Google searches,
so every time somebody plugged in her name they would
not also get Keith Olberman's girlfriend or Keith Alderman's ex girlfriend.
(33:23):
As I said, I helped her pay to use that service.
I get it. The sexism prevails. Maybe it'll go away someday,
maybe it won't. So anyway, when far He of the
Post called me up, I called Katie. She said she
thought it was sexist and anyway, she wasn't participating with
the Post's story on her, and it would really help
(33:45):
if I did not do so either, So I declined
the interview, and a week later there in the Washington
Post was a big feature on Katie tour because guess what,
she did participate with it after all, complete interview and
worst yet, she told far He that she had encouraged
me to do the inter you with him, so he
put it in the paper that I declined to be interviewed,
(34:08):
so I looked like an idiot. And another thing, I'm
not mad. Please don't put in the newspaper that I
got mad. I called her up and I yelled at her,
and she apologized and she promised she would not do
anything like that ever again, and then she probably did
something even worse. A month or two later, the New
York Times article comes out. It is a huge profile
(34:31):
of her, I think, in the magazine or weekend edition,
and in it, Mr Olberman refused to be interviewed for
this story. This is a complete surprise to me. I
didn't even recognize the writer's name. I found her contact
info and I reached out to her and said have
we ever spoken? And she says no, And I say emails, texts,
(34:55):
and she says no. And then I say, then, when
did I refuse to be interviewed for your Katie Turn
article for the New York Times? And she says, oh,
I asked Katie Turn to ask you, and Katie Turr
asked you, and you told Katie Turry you refused to
be interviewed, and I said, none of that happened. And
there is a long silence on the end of the phone,
(35:16):
and then the writer says, let me call the editor
to take that part out. And The Times changed the
online version of why I didn't do the interview, although
they do not note that they changed it. And I
later got a note from a Times editor apologizing she
just lied to this reporter from the Times. Just lied. Oh.
(35:38):
I'll call him and ask oh, he told me he
doesn't want to talk to you about me. Just lied.
And I just sat there, and I know, very unlike me.
I have to say, I was actually too angry to
do anything anyway. As I mentioned, Katie Turr published another
book this year, and a lot of the publicity was
about how I haunted her and she had to go
(35:58):
to great lengths to separate her career from mine, even
as she keeps mentioning me, and even though she asked
me in dead seriousness to write the first book for her.
The book, the second one, is mostly about all the
impediments and roadblocks she has faced while what's the word
forging her career? But I will add this last point
and then drop the subject, I hope forever. For forty
(36:22):
three years full time, I have done this and counting college,
it's God help me forty seven years. And throughout that
stretch I have tried to acknowledge anybody and everybody who
helped me in my career, even the ones I don't like,
even people who are totally utterly politically opposed to me.
(36:42):
I still think fondly of Stuart Varney from Fox News,
because he taught me, when I was right up against
it one night, how do you use a teleprompter. I'll
always cherish the memory of working with Stuart Varney. He
was such a help to me. Politically, we could have
a duel, but of course, as I said, the dynamic
is different. I'm a guy still. Her book is about
(37:06):
people who hindered her, and almost none of it is
about people who helped her. She is rapidly turning into
a kind of professional martyrdom. I saw this in its
earliest stages sixteen years ago, and she is now going
from making it martyrdom into a brand, and yesterday with
(37:26):
turning a vassectomy into a photo op. I just had
enough of it. I just ran out of the energy
required to cover for her. And I'll say this lastly
and sincerely. If your story of your career is all
about people you think held you back, and not even
(37:46):
mostly about the people who bent over backwards to help
you along, that is all just very very sad. I've
(38:10):
done all the damage I can do here. Don't put
it in the paper that I goes mad. Thanks for listening.
If you're not following or subscribed or whatever to this podcast,
please do so. If you can stop a passer by
on the street and get them too as well, thank you.
Here the credits. Most of the music, including our theme
from Beethoven's Ninth, was arranged, produced and performed by Brian
Ray and John Philip Chanelle. They are the Countdown musical directors.
(38:32):
All orchestration and keyboards by John Philip Chanelle, guitars, bass
and drums by Brian Ray, produced by t k O Brothers.
Other Beethoven selections have been arranged and performed by No
Horns Allowed. The sports music is the Olberman theme from
ESPN two, and it was written by Mitch Warren Davis
courtesy of the ESPN Inc. Musical comments by Nancy Faust,
(38:53):
the best baseball stadium organist ever. Our announcer today was
John Dee. Everything else was pretty much my fault. So
let's countdown for this the seven hundred day since Donald
Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected government of
the United States, and what the fourth since his second
attempted coup? Arrest him now while we still can. There'll
(39:17):
be a new addition tomorrow. Until then, I'm Keith Olberman.
Good morning, good afternoon, goodnight, and good luck. Countdown with
Keith Alderman is a production of I heart Radio. For
more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Keith Olbermann
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