Countdown with Keith Olbermann

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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