THEY USED SIGNAL TO BYPASS TRUMP. THEY KNOW HE'S GOING CRAZY - 3.27.25

Summary

Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Episode: THEY USED SIGNAL TO BYPASS TRUMP. THEY KNOW HE'S GOING CRAZY

Date: March 27, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, Keith Olbermann dives into a bombshell revelation: key members of the Trump administration used the encrypted messaging app Signal to communicate sensitive national security plans—specifically, discussions about bombing Yemen—purposefully to exclude Donald Trump from the conversations. Olbermann argues that Trump's own cabinet no longer trusts his judgment or mental fitness, so they developed a workaround to conduct policy discussions without his involvement. The episode details the legal and political implications of this, lampooning the key figures involved, and drawing comparisons to past governmental miscommunications. Classic Olbermann snark, political analysis, and some personal anecdotes on governmental incompetence are woven throughout.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Underlying Scandal: Cabinet Members Bypassing Trump

• Revelation: Trump’s national security and defense team deliberately organized secure communications on Signal to keep Trump in the dark about war planning, especially relating to Yemen.
  • Olbermann’s summary: “They are cutting Trump out. That is the only and the inescapable conclusion to all this.” (04:52)
  • Motivation was not secrecy from Democrats or investigators, but from Trump himself because of fears about his stability and unpredictability.
• Espionage Law Reference:
  Olbermann points to 18 US Code 793 as potentially applying to these officials (“gathering, transmitting or losing defense information. Paragraph F.”) and details its wide applicability—even if the information isn’t classified. (06:47)

2. The Players and Their Missteps

• Key officials involved: Mike Waltz (National Security Advisor), Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence), Pete Hegseth (Secretary of Defense), with cameo idiocy from JD Vance and others.
  • Highlights Waltz’s awkward explanations for why journalist Jeffrey Goldberg appeared in the signal chat.
  • Gabbard’s carelessness: Gabbard’s phone and Signal profile details were easily found online, as reported by Der Spiegel. (19:32)
  • Per Olbermann, many participants acted with stunning incompetence: “Three of the biggest idiots in the history of this country…” (04:31)
• Notable quote regarding Trump’s grasp:
  “He had no idea what the messaging scandal was, and he had no idea who Jeffrey Goldberg was, and he could barely remember what the Atlantic was long enough to take a really low energy dig at its circulation numbers. Trump is going potty and his cabinet knows it.” (05:43)
• Olbermann’s characterizations:
  He repeatedly calls the cast of characters “idiots,” often listing them rapid-fire for comedic effect.
  E.g., “Mike Waltz is an idiot. JD Vance is an idiot. Pete Hegseth is an idiot... Tulsi Gabbard, two idiots...” (27:44)

3. Legal & Security Implications

• Espionage Risks:
  These officials could theoretically be prosecuted under Espionage Act for transmitting defense info on an app after being warned not to. But political reality (the Attorney General being loyal to Trump) makes this unlikely.
  • “To be guilty of espionage, you have to be charged with espionage. And the person who would charge the other people on the list with espionage is probably the most subservient of Trump’s slaves, his Attorney General.” (11:10)
  • Still, the 10-year statute of limitations lingers over these actors.
• Security Breaches:
  The app (Signal) was formally prohibited by the NSA for sensitive communications just a month prior, yet officials ignored this.
  • “The National Security Agency put out a memo last month specifically saying: do not use Signal. It’s vulnerable... This chat, this edition of Signal Gate came after that warning.” (22:28)
• Contradictory Arguments:
  Officials try to claim the chat wasn’t about classified info, though discussions touched on targeting and war timelines for Yemen. - “The director of no Intelligence [Gabbard] says there was a discussion around targets. That would be war plans. Levitt said there were no war plans. Levitt lied.” (25:39–25:57)
  • Olbermann notes the hypocrisy given their attacks on Hillary Clinton for analogous infractions.

4. The Goldberg Mystery: Media Access and Paranoia

• Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor of The Atlantic, ended up on the Signal chat. Reasons were murky.
  • Olbermann suspects this is because Waltz or another official had him in their phone as a semi-regular contact, possibly from older, more bipartisan days at the Pentagon.
  • Paranoia spreads: “Trump’s chief concern during multiple conversations with Waltz has been why his NSA would have Goldberg’s number in the first place.” (citing Politico, 10:31)
  • Olbermann’s Occam’s razor: “Goldberg was in Waltz’s phone because Waltz put him there.” (16:30)

5. Anatomy of the Leaks: International Fallout

• German newspaper Der Spiegel easily tracks down the officials' phone numbers, emails, and even their app accounts from public breaches:
  • “Der Spiegel reports: Reporters were able to find mobile phone numbers, email addresses, and even some passwords belonging to the top officials... those affected include Waltz, Gabbard, and Hegseth.” (19:32)
  • He lampoons the data security practices of U.S. intelligence officials using as inspiration Gabbard’s leaky Signal profile.
  • “Just when you think human speech has become advanced enough to describe how dumb Tulsi Gabbard is. The DNI, the Director of National Intelligence, has a Signal profile connected to a phone number that is available on the Internet.” (20:24)

6. What the Leaked Chat Revealed: Who’s Really in Charge?

• Key content of the Signal chat:
  • JD Vance expresses doubts about bombing Yemen, proposes delay owing to lack of public understanding, risk to oil markets, and inconsistencies with Trump’s public message.
  • Joe Kent (Counterterrorism Center nominee): “There is nothing time sensitive driving the timeline. We'll have the exact same options in a month.” (29:01)
  • SM (unidentified): Rehashes the President’s order but prioritizes extracting economic concessions from allies.
  • Key insight: These officials are having a genuine, reasoned debate outside the President’s view, fearing his instability.
    • “I mean, read those texts. The bully boy in eyeliner, that’s Vance in public, threatening and swearing and blustering. The guy in the text seems to think about things.” (06:41)
• Olbermann's conclusion: “The point of this is you have a president whose own people think he is now a complete Phoebe, that he cannot function, that he cannot be trusted, that he cannot be trusted not to do something at least disastrously stupid...” (13:40)

7. Historical Parallels and Incompetence in Government Communications

• Olbermann relates personal and historical anecdotes of communication breakdowns in government:
  • Civil War: Robert E. Lee’s Special Order 191, a lost invasion plan found by a Union soldier.
  • Bush Administration: The White House’s hilarious inability to spell Olbermann’s name correctly and resultant misdirected emails, highlighting bureaucratic incompetence.
    • “Put an email in front of an administration staffer, any administration, any century and they would screw it up. Put a phone call… and they would screw it up. Put literally a handwritten note… and they did screw it up.” (39:50)
  • Personal story with Joe Wilson: Olbermann recounts the White House attempt to plant talking points with him before an interview with former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, which backfired spectacularly.

8. "Worst Persons in the World" Segment (starts 53:39)

• Bronze: Stephanie Borowitz, a Pennsylvania legislator, for bragging about a perfect “John Birch Society” score.
• Runner Up: Steve Bannon, whose increasingly self-censored rants make for “a show without the violent threats.”
• Winner: Bill Maher, mocked for pal-ing around with Kid Rock, wanting to meet Trump at the White House, and for Olbermann’s long, comic history of knowing—but not liking—Maher back to their days at Cornell.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Trump being cut out:
  “There was a workaround around Trump. They are cutting Trump out. That is the only and the inescapable conclusion to all this.” (04:52)

• On cabinet's judgment of Trump:
  “The only part of the job he's putting any effort into anymore is the blah blah blah speech part.” (05:28)

• On espionage law:
  “It does not have to be classified information... It only has to be defense information that's in the code. Transmitting or losing defense information.” (12:54)

• On technological cluelessness:
  “They are convening on Signal, which might as well be an app you get free with the purchase of a lot of porn because there is no chance Trump has any idea how it works.” (05:08)

• On administrative stupidity as democracy's greatest bulwark:
  “For the one millionth time in this series alone, the democracy is preserved less by our exertions to save it than it is by the stupidity of those who seek to destroy it.” (27:59)

• On the Biden security clearance double standard:
  “The context of all this was the big show they made last week of Trump removing security clearances of the Bidens and everybody else he doesn’t like because nominally they can’t be trusted with secret information. … We have to keep that for Tulsi Gabbard to give away.” (26:47)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------------|---------------| | Olbermann’s opening thesis: cabinet vs. Trump | 04:15–06:30 | | Espionage Act law explanation | 06:47–12:50 | | Signal leak details & officials' incompetence | 19:32–22:50 | | Detailed legal contradictions & hypocrisy | 23:37–27:35 | | Signal chat content analysis | 28:50–30:50 | | Personal anecdotes on government incompetence | 38:30–50:30 | | “Worst Persons in the World” segment | 53:39–61:00 |

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Notable Quotes (with Attribution and Timestamp)

• “He had no idea what the messaging scandal was... Trump is going potty and his cabinet knows it.”
  — Keith Olbermann, 05:43

• “There is at least one ghost mechanism in place to allow Trump’s cabinet members to try to get something done without destroying the world yet.”
  — Keith Olbermann, 13:01

• “Goldberg was in Waltz’s phone because Waltz put him there.”
  — Keith Olbermann, 16:30

• “The director of no Intelligence says there was a discussion around targets. That would be war plans. Levitt said there were no war plans. Levitt lied.”
  — Keith Olbermann, 25:39–25:57

• “Just when you think human speech has become advanced enough to describe how dumb Tulsi Gabbard is. The dni, the Director of National Intelligence, has a signal profile connected to a phone number that is available on the Internet.”
  — Keith Olbermann, 20:24

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Tone & Style

Olbermann is blistering, sardonic, and hyperbolic—freely calling high-ranking officials “idiots,” musing about whether the saving grace of democracy is the sheer incompetence of its would-be saboteurs, and liberally referencing everything from Sunset Boulevard to his own career blunders. Long detours into historical and media-industry anecdotes are used to lampoon perennial governmental dysfunction.

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Summary Takeaways

• Trump’s own cabinet intentionally excluded him from major national security conversations due to a perceived loss of his mental faculties.
• Their use of insecure technology (Signal), against explicit security advice, now exposes them to espionage charges—though prosecution is unlikely barring a political sea change.
• The scandal highlights both how little faith senior officials have in Trump, and the ongoing, historic inability of governmental staff to securely or competently communicate.
• Olbermann concludes the survival of democracy may depend less on valiant defenders and more on the idiocy of those trying to undermine it.

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For more detailed news, Olbermann’s full historic anecdotes, and sparkling asides—listen to the full episode.

Transcript

[Keith Olbermann]

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[Keith Olbermann]

Welcome to today. From back to school to tackling your to do list, the Today show is your best start to the day. It's a new season and every morning we're here to help you take it all along. As the forecast calls for football all across the country, blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.

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We're getting back to all of it.

[Keith Olbermann]

And the best way to start is together. Watch the Today's show weekday mornings at 7am on NBC. The U.S. electric grid is approaching a breaking point as demand soars from data centers and home energy use. Our aging infrastructure can't keep up and the Department of Energy warns that without action, blackouts could surge 100 fold by 2030. The good news? One solution is already here. Propane. It's American made, stored on site and always ready, powering homes and businesses with cleaner, reliable energy that doesn't depend on the grid or the weather. Learn [e-mail] hello, it is Ryan and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on chumbacasino.com I looked over the person sitting next to me and you know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumba Casino. Everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumba Casino's home to hundreds of casino style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere. So sign up [e-mail] to claim your free welcome bonus. That's chumbacasino.com and live the Chumba Life sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VG.com prohibited by law 21/ terms and conditions apply. Countdown with Keith Olbermann is a production of iHeartRadio. The reason Trump's team of idiot rivals messaged each other their war plans on and might as well have been AOL Instant messenger or Yahoo Pager or I Kremlin. The reason wasn't to keep these communications secret from the Senate or from future investigations or from the Democrats. It was to keep them secret from Trump. They no longer trust Trump. They no longer think Trump understands what's going on. There was a workaround around Trump. They are cutting Trump out. That is the only and the inescapable conclusion to all this. Also, they can all be charged with espionage under 18 US code 793 gathering, transmitting or losing defense information. Paragraph F. I'll circle back to this and if you missed this, a German newspaper found live mobile numbers and email addresses for Waltz and Gabbard and Hegseth. I'll circle back to that. Also, Waltz and Gabbard and Hegseth are three of the biggest idiots in the history of this country, but paramount and completely ignored. So far. Near as I can tell, the real lesson of the yeah man, it's Yemen emoji party is they are cutting Trump out. Either he is as exactly bonkers as we've all thought he was getting, or they've all decided the only part of the job he's putting any effort into anymore is the blah blah blah speech part. And they are convening on signal, which might as well be an app you get free with the purchase of a lot of porn because there is no chance Trump has any idea how it works. Just as when asked Monday, he had no idea what the messaging scandal was, and he had no idea who Jeffrey Goldberg was, and he could barely remember what the Atlantic was long enough to take a really low energy dig at its circulation numbers. Trump is going potty and his cabinet knows it. And before he tells them to go blow up Yemen, they are finding a place to meet without him to actually discuss blowing up Yemen. And I might add, nearly everybody on these texts that we've seen except Hegseth discussed it kind of rationally. And I mean, even Vance made sense until he started to talk jingoist, isolationist nonsense with Hegseth. I mean, read those texts. The bully boy in eyeliner, that's Vance in public, threatening and swearing and blustering. The guy in the text seems to think about things. And I'm gonna go out further on a limb and answer the most intriguing, most unaddressed question of this Entire mess. Why in the hell would the name of the editor of the Atlantic pop up automatically in the auto composition in the phone of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz? I mean, huh, Is my name in there too? How about Jasmine Crockett's? Now there might be a reason a textbook standard issue liberal Goldberg, or people like Goldberg at least, would be in Mike Waltz's phone or whoever's phone Mike Waltz would have been using. Mike Waltz used to be a defense policy director for Rumsfeld at the Pentagon and Gates at the Pentagon. And Bob Gates was Secretary of Defense for three years under Obama. Bob Gates knew liberal people and Bob Gates used to actually ask liberals their opinions on defense stuff because the world was like that back then. In the old days, even Rumsfeld did that occasionally. Jeffrey Goldberg's number may have been in Mike Waltz's phone, may have been used often enough that it popped up automatically in Mike Waltz's phone because he asked his opinion on something once. And that if you are Mike Waltz, is the last thing you, you want Trump or any of these psychopaths who work for Trump to know. Guess what? I'm not the first person to have noticed this. Certainly not the last person to have noticed this. Even Politico noticed it. In an aside yesterday, Trump's quote, chief concern during multiple conversations with Waltz has been why his NSA would have Goldberg's number in the first place. Indeed, some corners of MAGA world have been awash with unevidenced theories that Waltz was already leaking to the Atlantic, which may explain Waltz's eager denials on Fox. Eager is the polite word for insane. This whole thing, insecure as it is, illegal as it is, moronic as it is, folks need to be fired as it is, is indeed about keeping everything off the books off the books that Trump can see. By the way, there's a second critical point here that has been entirely overlooked. I've heard it hourly since Monday. Isn't it lucky that Jeffrey Goldberg was the outsider on this chat and just him and nobody else? Well, who in the hell said that's true? How do we know Goldberg was the only person on there who shouldn't have been on there? How do we know his name didn't pop up when Mike Waltz hit the name of some other media figure? I don't know, Brit Hume or somebody, or David Muir, I don't know. How do we know there weren't 47 reporters on the chat? How do we know there weren't 22 former national security advisors on the chat? How do we know who waltz and these other clowns are running their plans past to make sure Trump doesn't get out in front of them and order the bombing of Kansas City or something. The other issues here are all valid and intriguing. And as a story, boy, did they hit the cloud just right. We got 77 and a half inches of snow here. This story has twice as much engagement worldwide as any other news story this year. But the news news here is there is at least one ghost mechanism in place to allow Trump's cabinet members to try to get something done without destroying the world yet. And if that's the case, the point of this is you have a president whose own people think he is now a complete Phoebe, that he cannot function, that he cannot be trusted, that he cannot be trusted not to do something at least disastrously stupid if that thing requires him to do anything more than blather for 40 minutes and morph slowly into Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. We need a whole new president like later today. The one we have now is nuts. Positively definitely nuts, and his own people know it. I'm not defending any of them. I'm not defending what they did. None of these people are qualified for their jobs. None of them are really smart. None of them are honest. If they were honest, they probably wouldn't even try this. None of them are worth the oil with which to fry them to hell. But this, surprisingly enough, is not a Trump plan to keep reality from America. This is an American plan to keep reality from Trump. And Here comes the espionage. 18 US code 793 and a preface that to be guilty of espionage, you have to be charged with espionage. And the person who would charge the other people on the list with espionage. Minaj is probably the most subservient of Trump's slaves, his attorney General. Still, it's there. And the statute of limitations is 10 years. So, hey, U19, lawyer up. 18 US code seven nine, three. Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information. And as I seem to recall having mentioned three years ago, it does not have to be classified information. Another red herring. It only has to be defense information that's in the code. Transmitting or losing defense information. Whoever being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document writing code, book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information relating to the national defense, 1:1, through gross negligence, permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust or to be lost, stolen, abstracted or destroyed. Or 2 having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost or stolen, abstracted or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction or destruction to his superior officer shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. Since Pam Bondi isn't going to charge them today, and even if she did, she could probably still find a way to get the case in front of Eileen. Nobody gets convicted on my watch. Canon the real worry for people like Mike Waltz is Trump still being interested in this story later today. The longer they all go without letting him get distracted by something, and I'm betting Stephen Miller is willing to tell him he needs to invade Australia today. The longer Trump's compulsion to make somebody else hurt builds up, the panic in Waltz's decreasingly coherent explanations for how Jeffrey Goldberg's name got in his effing phone book is obvious. He is at the stage where he first suggested it was an accident, then it was an AIDS doing, maybe. Then that thing that happens when you enter somebody's name but somebody else's number, which sounds great until you remember that never happens. Then the thing where the mystery phone name gets, quote, sucked into your phone, unquote. Mike Waltz is about an hour away from claiming Jesus, put it there. Why also would Goldberg have done this? The idea that he has somehow done something wrong here, or in fact done something, is madness. Why would he scheme his way onto this signal group and then publish what he found there, thus incriminating himself, but not publish all of it, and in fact leave the good stuff out at first? What does it say that Waltz and Hegseth and the rest of them he implicates, all of them would be stupid enough to use a public message app that Jeffrey Goldberg could hack his way into. I mean it's that easy and it's his fault that you picked it. Even if he did hack his way in somehow, or he sweet talked his way, what'd he do? Did he sweet talk Kristi Noem like all the other boys do? Occam's Razor explains that Goldberg was in Waltz's phone because Waltz put him there. So let's go to the phones and I mean that. Would you like some of Waltz's old phones? Der Spiegel can get them for you. It's a complicated story. It does not translate well from the original German. What does it? But the gist is their staffers at this German news magazine were able to beg borrow and steal live active phone numbers and emails for all of these Trumpist clowns, including the big three of defense. I'll just read the first two and a half graphs. You'll get the idea. Private contact details of the most important security advisors to US President Donald Trump can be found on the Internet. Der Spiegel reports. Reporters, forgive me, were able to find mobile phone numbers, email addresses, and even some passwords belonging to the top officials. To do so, the reporters used commercial people search engines along with hacked customer data that has been published on the Web. Those affected by the leaks include National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Skull. Most of these numbers and email addresses are apparently still in use, with some of them linked to profiles on social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn. Terrific. One more detail. National Intelligence Director Gabbard was seemingly more careful with her data than her two male colleagues. She apparently had her own data blocked in the commercial contact search engines that contained the data of Hegseth and Waltz. But her email address was to be found on WikiLeaks and Reddit. Gabbard's email address is available in more than 10 leaks. One of those also contains a partial telephone number, which, when completed, leads to an active WhatsApp account and a signal profile. A signal profile? They found a Tulsi Gabbard signal profile. Well done, Der Spiegel. Just when you think human speech has become advanced enough to describe how dumb Tulsi Gabbard is. The dni, the Director of National Intelligence, has a signal profile connected to a phone number that is available on the Internet. Well, let me correct that. Dni, National Intelligence, Director of no Intelligence, doesn't know who has her phone, doesn't know where she was, doesn't know where anybody is. The time Mr. Witkoff was actually in Russia during this chat discussion, was he not? I was not aware of that. Was he on his personal phone at the time? I don't know. Well, it's my understanding that he was indeed in Russia. Director Gabbard, you were also traveling during this discussion, correct? Yes. And where were you? I was traveling through the Asia Pacific region. I don't recall which country I was in at that time. You don't remember the country? I'd have to go back and look at the schedule. Okay, how about now, Tulsi, do you know what country you were in now? And for 10 points, so you can move on to the lightning round, is it Hawaii or. Hawaii. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay, so why else should 19 Trump appointees be fired or prosecuted or both? Well, I only have 19 reasons so far, but I've been busy. You heard the first three. The phones and the espionage and what a dope Gabbard is. The others 4. Signal is a way to have off the books conversations. The conversations can self erase at a week and can be adjusted in Project 2025. Like you needed something else hanging off this gigantic story in Project 2012. It says, Use signal for these communications, so there are no records. Good idea. Worked out well so far for you, Number five. But the National Security Agency put out a memo last month specifically saying, do not use signal. It's vulnerable. Oh, why do you think it's vulnerable? Because all of your accounts are in the files of Der Spiegel. 6. This chat, this edition of Signal Gate came after that warning. And in it there's a reference to a previous signal chat. So America's alleged intelligence kingpins ignored their own advice about protecting intelligence. 7. Trump's in House. Russian Steve Witkoff was on the chat, reportedly at or near the Kremlin. 8. Here's something Senator Kelly noted. Department of Defense policy prohibits discussion of even controlled unclassified information on unsecured devices. He asked Gabbard, are you aware of that? She said, looking very stern. I haven't read that policy. CIA Director Rat Face. I'm sorry, Ratcliffe. I'm not familiar with the DOD policy. Number nine. The White House says none of this was classified, meaning Goldberg, of course, could publish it. And then they accused Goldberg of publishing classified material. It's gotta be one of the other kids. 10. Senator King targets, weapons attack sequences and timing were all discussed. Gabbard again says nothing's classified. Again, this is a red herring. It's like saying there's a difference between war plans and battle plans. You can go to prison for losing non classified plans. All it says is defense information right now. Included among the things you could go to jail for for losing that is defense information would be Tulsi Gabbard's phone number. What are you in for, ma'? Am, I lost my phone. How many years did you get? 9.11. On Tuesday, Senator Warner hit another nail on the head. And the idea somehow. Well, none of this was classified. But we can't talk about it here in the Senate. You can't have it both ways. When even Senator Warner has got you, you've been got. 12. Ratcliffe now adds that signal has been deemed permissible for senior officials. Waltz, he said, sent a signal message to conduct coordination for this. If that was Waltz and not somebody who owns what was Waltz's phone in 2002? Number 13 the press secretary. Her moron lady. The center fielder answering for the President. She lied. Caroline Levitt. No war plans were discussed. Gabbard testified that there was discussion around targets. So okay, what's a war plan? What's a war? A war is something where you try to target things, people, buildings. And the director of no Intelligence says there was a discussion around targets. That would be war plans. Levitt said there were no war plans. Levitt lied. Or perhaps she was just misinformed and is a moron. 14. Your CIA director rat face. And by the way, he looks like Steve Carell in Anchorman, doesn't he? He says he can't recall if the timing of the strikes or if delaying a month was in the chat, even though that seems to have been the whole point of the chat. 15. The defense secretary didn't get the message initially that the White House had authenticated the chat and he was continuing to pretend that it was all fabricated. You're talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so called journalist, he said, putting more brill cream in his hair. And they posted it. His office posted it online. To which Brit Hume, Brit Hume for crying out loud answered Hegseths. You're talking about a deceitful, highly discredited so called journalist by writing oh for God's sakes, the administration has already confirmed the authenticity of the message. 16. They individually and as a group have now done everything they have ever accused Hillary Clinton of, except they've done it several times each in one week. 17. The context of all this was the big show they made last week of Trump removing security clearances of the Bidens and everybody else he doesn't like because nominally they can't be trusted with secret information. Because we can't let the Bidens have secret information. We have to keep that for Tulsi Gabbard to give away. 18. Adam Kinzinger wrote 3 days ago Trump took away my non existent security clearance at the same time his cabinet was texting top secret plans with a member of the media on board. Kind of sums it up. And 19 the denouement. The final touch. Elon Musk is investigating what happened. Meaning Elon Musk and God knows how many more of his slave boys will be getting access to defense information they should not have. Once again, let me go way out on a limb here. Mike Waltz is an idiot. JD Vance is an idiot. Pete hegseth is an idiot. Marco Rubio idiot Tulsi Gabbard 2 idiots John Ratcliffe idiot who looks like Carell in Anchorman. Scott Besant idiot Susie Wiles idiot Steve Witkoff idiot Steve Miller idiot Joe Kent idiot Alex Wong Idiot Brian McCormick Idiot Walker Barrett idiot Dan Katz idiot Mike Needham idiot Jacob Last name unconfirmed Less of an idiot because at least he kept his last name unconfirmed. Make him the new Director of National Intelligence. Hey Jacob, come over here. You're in charge now. For the one millionth time in this series alone, the democracy is preserved less by our exertions to save it than it is by the stupidity of those who seek to destroy it. The reason, as I noted before, that I suspected something even more was going on behind the scenes, is the texts made too much sense. Nearly as important as the fact that they sent them to Jeffrey Goldberg and not the wrestler known simply as Goldberg, is the fact that a lot of the group chat here, which was not sent to Johann Goldberg, who performed the Bach Goldberg Variations calmly and even, dare I say, intelligently examines how dumb it was to bomb Yemen and be in such a hurry about it, and how little key players in that administration believed it was anything more than a publicity or strategy stunt. Roger Sullenberger of the Daily Beast pointed this out first, and it was a smart find. Let me quote Goldberg, not the lead character in the old Jeff Garland sitcom the Goldbergs. Let me quote Jeffrey Goldberg quoting what the moron sent him. At this point, a fascinating policy discussion commenced. The account labeled JD Vance responded at 8:16 team I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan, but I think we are making a mistake. Vance was indeed in Michigan that day. The Bance account goes on to state 3% of US trade runs through the Suez 40% of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn't understand this or why it's necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message. The Vance account then goes on to make a noteworthy statement. Considering that the vice President has not deviated publicly from Trump's position on virtually any issue. I am not sure the President is aware. There's your tip off. I am not sure the President is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There's a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself, but there is a strong argument for delaying this. A month doing the messaging, work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc. Goldberg goes on a person identified in Signal as Joe Kent, Trump's nominee to run the National Counterterrorism Center. His name, Joe Kent, wrote at 8:22 There is nothing time sensitive driving the timeline. We'll have the exact same options in a month. At this point, the previously silent SM joined the conversation. Is he bald? Does he hate everybody? Is he sniveling? I think I know who SM is. As I heard it, the President was clear green light, but we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement. For example, if Europe doesn't remunerate, then what? If the US successfully restores freedom of navigation at great cost, there needs to be some further economic gain extracted in return. The disagreement, the relatively calm discussion about this being an unnecessary rushed event underscores something whoever is making the calls like hey, why do you say we go bomb Yemen? And just whoever is convincing Trump to do something like this was presumably not actually on that group chat because to go back to the beginning, they had this chat on a public board at MySpace, I think, so that Trump would not know and they could figure out how to keep him out of this because he's gone nuts. Also of interest here, even more on this cataclysm with the reminder that mishandling communications is apparently the first thing they ask you if you are good at or bad at if you want to go into government. Hey, see this pile of papers? Can you screw this up? The Bushies once spent a day failing to email me and instead wound up revealing to me their secret roster of people they would go to at NBC whenever they needed a favor or to get the news slanted in Bush's favor. It's a history as old as time itself. And in unrelated news, Bill Maher is an idiot. No, I mean in a new way. That's next. This is Countdown.

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VGW Group void where prohibited by law 21 terms and conditions apply. This is Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Postscripts to the news, some headlines, some updates, some snarks. Still ahead, of course, worst persons and the joy that is Bill Maher going to the White House. Because if anybody can smell a change in the wind, it's Bill Maher. I should have had that fist fight with him in 1978. First, this is the Countdown podcast and these are the places where there's news 8 line the White House, aka the ship of Fools. I was going to do a bulletin for you Monday night about Trump's college of rival morons, led by national Security Adviser Waltz sending via a messaging app their plans to bomb Houthi rebels in Yemen to two Cabinet secretaries, two intelligent directors, the White House Chief of staff, the Deputy White House Chief of staff, the Middle East Special Envoy, the Counterterrorism center director, the vice president, the editor of the Atlantic, several Major League baseball players, and of course, a dead letter box in Antarctica because his name apparently popped up automatically when Waltz typed In the initials J.G. they say now for Jameson Greer. Instead, it turned out to be Jeffrey Goldberg. Easiest explanation is, as I suggested earlier, that's right, Mike Waltz knows Jeffrey Goldberg and may have already leaked to him. I guess we should just be happy the autocorrect typed in a milquetoast boringly responsible mild liberal like Jeffrey Goldberg instead of, say, Whoopi Goldberg or Rube Goldberg. But of course that was Monday, and it was widely enough covered that you didn't need a gratuitous, obvious Immediate update from me. The radiance of the Trump administration's stupidity and culpability and, as I noted earlier, the dawning realization that Trump is not making the decisions here anymore. The messages are on Signal or WhatsApp or Telegram or iCremlin or wherever, so they can keep them from Trump. This gigantic shit show shined magnificently on its own with no added help from me for three days. However, I can add a little background to this, a little history, like 163 years worth. Hillary Clinton may turn out to have been the former governmental figure the most skilled at keeping keeping confidential communications confidential. Seriously. Put an email in front of an administration staffer, any administration, any century, and they would screw it up. Put a phone call in front of an administration staffer and they would screw it up. Put literally a handwritten note in front of an administration staffer, and they did screw it up. Nixon's phone calls were all recorded for about five years, and only one or two low level members of his staff even suspected anything. Until John Dean figured it out. Hell, Robert E. Lee's Special Order Number 191 from September 9, 1862 detailed the South's invasion of Maryland. Except somebody he gave it to dropped it. Dropped it on a campground at Frederick, Maryland, and a northern corporal found it on the ground four days later. And suddenly the north had General Lee's invasion plans at the opposite end of the importance spectrum, but with the same degree of utter incompetence and stupidity. I have my own personal experience I'd like to share with you about this topic, about a President's trusted aides, about the fact that none of them could type the proverbial Shakespearean tome. If they had 5,000 monkeys with them, and typewriters unlike Trump's, who couldn't keep his secrets secret, George Bush's trusted aides literally could not help but keep them secret. They could not manage to successfully send an email to me. It took them hours, perhaps days, to figure out how to to send me an email. The thing wouldn't work no matter how many times they hit it over the head with something. And by the time they did figure it out, they had inadvertently wound up giving me the list of everybody at NBC whom they trusted and whom therefore I knew. From that moment forward, I could not on Monday, May 3, 2004, my executive producer phoned me at home and said, we got Ambassador Joe Wilson. He'll be on the show tomorrow. Within hours, the communications office of the White House of George W. Bush began a desperate, ceaseless, tireless effort to send me one email with talking points about Ambassador Joe Wilson, which repeatedly, hilariously failed to get through to me because none of them could spell my name correctly. By late in the evening of May 3rd and throughout the morning of May 4th, I got calls and forwarded emails from people throughout NBC who had received emails of their own from the Bush White House communications office, all of them with attachments addressed to Keith Olbermann without the L, Keith Olbermann with only one N, K Olbermann, Keith spelled wrong, and even Keith Overman with a voice. This was actually truly the first day I believed I was having an impact on the Bush White House, and also the first day I realized they were incredibly stupid. There democracy still had a slim chance. The Internet had been operating at more or less its present speed since about 1997 or 1998. My name was all over the Internet in articles about my news career, about my sports career, about my previous news career. There were articles I had written, there were books I had written, and these people who were trying to reshape the United States of America into a reactionary, conservative, cruel, xenophobic, semi authoritarian state were not smart enough to figure out how to spell my name just so we know who we are talking about. By this point, Scott McClellan had succeeded the infamous Arie Fleischer as press secretary. His deputies were Dana Perino, who went from being the stupidest person ever to be White House press secretary to being one of the stupidest persons ever to have a show on Fox News. Pamela Stevens, who later wound up as a producer at cnn, because political press people are exactly like unemployed football coaches or baseball managers who get TV jobs and then leave the TV jobs to go back onto the field. The communications director was named Dan Bartlett. And there was another communications person there named Nicole Wallace, who has somehow shaken off the stink of working for both George and Jeb Bush and is now considered a darling of msnbc, even though her only true non fascist credential is she doesn't like Trump either. The crack White House media team representing the most powerful man in the world in the anxious and foreshadowing years after 9 11, and not one of them could even find anybody else who could spell my name, let alone spell it themselves. More on them in a moment, but I need to explain who Joe Wilson was, if you don't know, and why he was so important. Long before Colin Powell confessed to Tim Russert that he had been lied to by the White House and thus he himself had lied to the United nations about Saddam Hussein's imaginary weapons of mass destruction, those were the excuses from Bush Cheney for dragging this country into an unnecessary and national soul, destroying war in Iraq with lies and torture and scapegoating and suppression and brutality. Before that, there was Ambassador Joseph Charles Wilson IV. And in 2002, after pressure from the White House, the CIA sent him back to the scene of his first diplomatic posting, the African nation of Nigeria, to get proof for Bush that Saddam was trying to buy yellow cake uranium there to make nuclear bombses out of. And Wilson quickly found out it was nonsense and he reported back. And the Bush White House promptly buried his findings. And Instead, in the 2003 State of the Union address, just before he started bombing Iraq, George W. Bush said the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. It was and remains a complete lie and war occurred because of it. And Joe Wilson called it a complete lie. In an op ed in the New York Times on July 6, 2003, the Iraq War was still at this stage defined by rah, rah, we're winning. But Saddam's WMD and his biological weapons and his chemical weapons might be over the next hill and you'd better not criticize what we're doing, or maybe you're a terrorist. Joe Wilson said the emperor had no clothes in 2003. He was an American hero of the highest order. A week later, a Dick Cheney flunky named Scooter Libby and a Deputy Secretary of State named Armitage began a campaign to punish Joe Wilson and discredit him. They leaked to a dyspeptic and hate filled columnist named Robert Novak, who is now working in the Bureau in hell that Wilson's wife was an undercover agent for the CIA and that her name was Valerie Plame and that the pair of them were dirty Democrats. And moreover, it was Plame who had urged that her own husband be sent to Niger to deliberately not find the uranium or the Saddam Hussein signed receipts or whatever Bush expected to find there. The Bush White House destroyed the career of, risked the life of, and ruined several assignments and contacts of one of this country's own secret CIA agents just to make her husband look bad. So in May 2004, when Joe Wilson wrote a book about all this crap and he inexplicably wanted to go on msnbc, which was still at that point trying to be more conservative than Fox nudes and wanted to go on my little watched show, which was considered the neutral outlier on a network full of Joe Scarboroughs and Michael Savages. This was a happy surprise for us, which was followed by this wonderful flailing effort by the Bush White House to send me talking points about Joe Wilson before I interviewed him. They not only could not spell my name, but they were utterly convinced that my interview was designed to discredit Joe Wilson. The talking points, which eventually got to me from Assistant Press Secretary Pamela Stevens consisted of six items over two pages. The headings were as follows. 1. Political motivation. This was about Wilson calling Dick Cheney a lying SOB About a year after the Niger trip. I couldn't figure this one out. Dick Cheney was a lying SOB that's how I got to be vice president. 2. Gingrich spokesman calls allegations about alleged March 2003 meeting completely false. This cited Newt Gingrich and his people as if they were good sources as opposed to the punchlines they already were back then in 2004, talking point number three, McClellan points out political objective and four, McClellan addresses accusations. These were quotes from the press secretary. This man suddenly quit that job two years later, 2006 and confessed he had repeatedly lied for George W. Bush and the others and now he just couldn't take it anymore. And he would come on my show and give one of the best atonement interviews I've ever heard. It went on for 45 minutes. 5. Fleischer says VP office did not request trip. A quote from McClellan's predecessor who Unless he is talking about baseball, you should assume he's lying. Plus he might be lying about baseball. And finally, six. Statement by George J. Tennant, July 11, 2003. This was a quote from the CIA director which they thought was their home run. And it basically Consisted of this. Bush never saw that report. That was it. There are three punchlines to this story. Number one, I don't know why the Bush Communications office assumed I was there to take down Joe Wilson. But the moment I saw these talking points, any lingering doubt I had that they were not all lying bastards down there was erased. I used the talking points in my interview, all right? I read them out loud to Joe Wilson, and he rebutted each of them with impeccable charm and elegance. He and Valerie Plain became regular guests on my show and would beat the crap out of George Bush with aplomb right through the morning of January 20, 2009. Second punchline. A year earlier, a supply clerk with a maintenance company on the ground in Iraq was captured private Jessica Lynch. The military and the Bush administration immediately put out the story that she was being tortured by them evil Iraqi Saddam Hussein doctors. There was the glorious rescue of Jessica lynch which followed, and the parades and the you better not question this story period, which lasted about six weeks until a Toronto newspaper printed a substantially different account that lynch was rescued from an Iraqi hospital and a US military team in good faith went in to extract her, but that this was all arranged not by some sort of part of intelligence or US operations or the allies, but by the Iraqi doctors, some of whom sneaked over to American lines at great danger and said, one of your soldiers is hurt and we don't have the right equipment to help her. You swing by and pick her up. I reported that version on msnbc. And the next day, as I was still taking my coat off, my boss, Phil Griffin, called me in and said that the head of NBC News and the president of NBC, Bob Wright, had been on the phone all morning to him, insisting I should be fired for implying that the Bush administration had lied. Griffin proudly said he had talked him into letting me get away with just apologizing to the troops. I can't even read this with a straight face now, 20 years later, apologizing to the troops who rescued her. I must credit myself when my brain was full then, that I did some quick thinking. The demand was comical nonsense journalistically. On the other hand, if I agreed to apologize to okay the troops who rescued her, whoever you want, I would get the chance to tell the whole real story of Jessica lynch again. So I did. The apology was 15 seconds and, while unnecessary, was sincere. I didn't want to make the troops look bad. They didn't know anything about this crap. I made sure, however, that the retelling of the true lynch rescue story took about two and a half minutes. That was in June of 2003. So why as of May of 2004, the Bush White House thought I was sympathetic to them, I'll never know. Or why they bothered with me, I'll never know. Which brings me to the last point. The unintended side effect, with the long term impact of all those failed White House emails with my name misspelled, was that this Pamela Stevens person promptly forwarded them to people around NBC whom she considered friendly to George W. Bush. One of them was Tom Brokaw's assistant. Another was in the office of future NBC News President Steve Capus. And the final one was to some guy named George Uribe. And so I found out all the people in the Bush administration's We like Them list at NBC News who I should avoid under all circumstances. Let's see, Brokaw's assistant. So no Brokaw, somebody in Capis's office and no Capas. And this guy George Uribe. And George Uribe turned out to be a guy hired by MSNBC from Fox News to go work for George Scarborough. He fell out of favor with Joe Scarborough and I guess he didn't henchman enough for Joe's taste. And his influence fell to a guy. I don't think I've mentioned him to you yet. Chris Licht.

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Welcome to today. From back to school to tackling your to do list, the Today show is your best start to the day. It's a new season and every morning we're here to help you take it all on. As the forecast calls for football all across the country, blockbuster stars, live concerts and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.

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And the best way to start is together. Watch the Today show weekday mornings at 7am on NBC. The U.S. electric grid is approaching a breaking point as demand soars from data centers and home energy use. Our aging infrastructure can't keep up and the Department of Energy warns that without action, blackouts could surge 100 fold by 2030. The good news? One solution is already here. Propane. It's American made, stored on site and always ready, powering homes and businesses with cleaner, reliable energy that doesn't depend on the grid or the weather. Learn [e-mail] Ch Ch Chumba looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime. Play anywhere. Play on the train. Play at the store. Play at home. Play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in. So what are you waiting for? Or don't delay. Chumba Casino is free to play.

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Vgw group void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply. Believe it or not, there are still more new idiots to talk about. The daily roundup of the miscreants, morons and dunning Kruger effect specimens who constitute today's other worst persons in the world. Here are your nominees. The Bronze Worse Stephanie Borowitz Stephanie Borowitz is a standard issue. Utterly fungible, completely. Stepford Wife, religious nut job representing the 76th district of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. The 76th. The 76th. You know, limestone Township and Mifflinburg. Stephanie, who once booed the capitol officers from January 6th and insisted there was no January 6th is just dangerous enough to hurt herself. And she has the Bucks County Beacon reports that she has now posted and boasted on social media about how you should always see how your representative votes and not what they say. And she's super duper proud of her 100% lifetime score, her total approval, her completely non partisan apolitical grade from the John Birch Society. I'll just say that again. She has a 100% lifetime score, this Pennsylvania State representative from the John Birch Society. All right, if I have to explain the John Birch Society, let me just sum it up thusly while you Google it. It's the Ku Klux Klan. Only for those of you who don't like fires and who do have shoes. Mifflinburg, the runner up. Why, it's Steve Bannon. And I have good news for you. We've broken him. We broke him. All those annoying complaints about his violent language and implied threats and delusions of grandeur, well, it's finally happened. Steve has begun to edit himself, boasting on his online feed, which is like one step up. Now from the Michael Savage Kvetchathon Hour about the El folderoo from the lawyers, from Paul Comma Weiss. You remember one of the stories before Signalgate, Bannon was typically filled with violent fantasies, but this time, they had a difference. He is self editing. Let me quote Bannon. You only beat them by hitting them upside the head with a 2x4. That's a metaphor. Put their heads on pikes. Metaphor. Metaphor. Ten second quote. He used the word metaphor three times. Gotta say, without the violent threats, it ain't much of a show anymore, Steve, huh? But our winner. Speaking of all threats, it's Bill Maher. As I've mentioned before, Bill Maher has gotten imperceptible, but steadily dumber every day that I've known him. And I've known him since about this time of year in 1978. Now he says he has a new friend, Kid Rock. How dumb do you have to be to have Kid Rock as a friend? As a new friend? Like, you just made a deliberate choice to become friends with Kid Rock. It's like saying, I've just made the deliberate choice to get a venereal disease. Those two topics are not connected. Kid Rock and venereal disease. Quoting Maher. I mean, Kid Rock was here a couple of weeks ago. I want you to meet Trump. He said, I'm gonna take you to the White House soon. Now we're going. Good plan, Bill. If Kid Rock had stopped by and said, I want you to meet Hitler, I'm gonna take you to hell, would you have gone there? Actually, now that I think of it, if there were girls there, yeah, probably you would have gone to. Anyway, Mar was on this podcast. He also said he's convinced Musk is not doing what he's doing to get richer. Bill's kind of naive at times. Quote, he does not care about money. Which circles back to my earlier point about Bill getting dumber every year, every month, every week, every day. And he insists he is going to go to the White House. Quote, that's my model for meeting Trump. It's like, be respectful, which he deserves. He won not once, but twice. All right, how many. How many people in life have won, and you wouldn't cross the street to meet them. You're gonna go to the White House to meet this turd? It's funny, maher continued. My girl said to me, what are you gonna wear? I said, I'm not gonna dress like Zelensky. There's news in there. By the way, Bill. Bill has a new girl. Bill's new girl has been in the country long enough that she can speak English. Bill, his new girl has been in the country long enough. She can speak English. Anastasia.commar Today's other worst person in the world. Now, while I'm here, it's worth giving you the whole background about Bill Maher. Like I said, my history with him dates to the 1970s, and it sat there unrevealed for 30 years until one day it all flashed over me like this. Sometime in 1985 or 1986, I saw a movie on cable called DC Cab. There was a character in it. Clearly the actor portraying him was talented and funny, but for some reason I felt like I knew him from somewhere and I really didn't like him. I remember the feeling was so strong that I stuck around to watch the credits to find out who he was. His name was Bill Maher. M A H E R I had a teacher named Bill Mayer, but his name had a Y in it. He was my advisor in high school. Now, it wasn't him, but I knew three things. He was talented, I didn't like him, and I knew him from somewhere. This is pre Internet, of course, so no way to find out where I knew him from. Hallowell's annual Film Guide would be my best bet. Maybe he'd be in the new one coming out. Checked calendar just eight or nine months from now. Eventually I found out Bill Maher was in the year ahead of mine at Cornell University. He was not at my radio station. He was in my college. Maybe I knew him from a class somewhere. I could never nail it down. I like to say I have a photographic memory, but it's all Polaroids and I haven't always bothered to label them. Almost everything that ever happened is stuck inside this big empty head of mine. But often key details like who, what, when, and where are just missing. Never wrote them down. And honestly, in this case, it was not worth the effort. I knew I was was the right word, the word was. Aware of him when we were both in college. Occasionally, especially after I went from ESPN to MSNBC in 1997, a writer would note the coincidence of university and years and ask me about it. And I would say just that. I don't remember if he was in a class with me or I knew him somehow, but I was aware of Bill maher. And then 22 years ago this month, November 23, 2000, I went on his old show. Politically Incorre used to be the late night show on abc. This was when I was doing sports for Fox in la and it was an all sports episode. Lennox Lewis, the boxer. Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Todd Zeal, the first baseman of the New York Mets, and me from Fox Sports. When I met Bill Maher before the show, I asked him about Cornell and whether or not we ran into each other. I didn't know anybody there. I didn't see anybody. I didn't do comedy anywhere. I didn't talk to anybody. I didn't meet you. Okay? Excuse me. That settles it. Except during the recording of the show, when Mar contradicted me on some point, I got angry at him and there was no reason to get angry at him. So I dismissed the anger and I dismissed the moment. Except on the way home, I kept thinking, I know him from school somehow, no matter what he says. And I know I didn't like him in school. In the next decade, Bill switched to his weekly HBO political show. And I went back and turned MSNBC into a political network. And the Internet happened. So the Cornell juxtaposition became easier for reporters to stumble over. So I would tell them the same thing. I can't remember the details, but for 29 years now, I have been convinced I was aware of Bill Maher at Cornell. Finally came the day, March 20, 2009, when they asked me to go on Real Time. And Bill Maher, Cornell University 78, asked me, Cornell University 79, something about colleges. And I said, well, as you know, we overlapped at Cornell. And I don't know if we met, but I was aware of you there. And he interrupted and said, no, you weren't. And I just went back and answered his question. Now, after every episode of his program, Mar has, or at least had a little party backstage. I mean, catered with booze and with more guests than there are people in the studio audience. And usually a bunch of models having done that show four times where they will fly you in first class and put you up for the weekend in LA just to do their show and there's a party. I began to suspect that, like many of the guests, Bill Maher does the show just so he can have the party. Anyway, not long after it started, overcomes Mar. And he's mad at me. And mind you, even if his allegation that he is 5ft 8 is correct, I'm just under 6 4. So he's giving up a lot of height during an argument, and he starts yapping about how I should stop saying I was aware of him at Cornell, and I'm just trying to get publicity off something that never happened. And who could remember that kind of crap anyway? And he never talked to anybody in four years in college because, quote, except for the Ithaca high school students I sold drugs to, unquote. And I notice he's getting heated, and this is just triggering that core belief of mine that I was aware of him in college and I didn't like him. And now it becomes clear to me he didn't like me either. He's getting loud enough and he's swinging his arms around now, and it looks kind of funny, but apparently it happens in the office sometimes. And this is when Scott Carter, who was the executive producer, whom I definitely did know since, like 1992 when he worked at Comedy Central with my friend Alan Havey, Scott Carter comes over to defuse the situation. Scott was a three piece suit kind of guy with thumbs, tuck in a vest, who would call a group of men fellows, as in say fellows. So Scott comes over and says, say fellows, with your Cornell alumni reunion here. And of course, this makes Bill Maher even angrier. Let me ask you something. I used to drive down from Hobart to see concerts at Cornell. Have to say, I think Cornell was the leading concert school in the nation back in our day. And now Scott starts to list who he saw in concert at Cornell. Robert Palmer and the famous Grateful Dead concert at Cornell at Barton Hall. He was there. And I say, I went to Springsteen and Marr mumbles something about Loggins and Messina. And I know what Carter is doing here. He's defusing. And we do a couple of rounds of who saw which Cornell concert. And finally I say, I can top both of you comic geniuses. I saw Robert Klein in concert at Cornell. Now, it is criminal, but there's an excellent chance. You may not know who Robert Klein is. Suffice to say as prominent a comedian in the 60s, 70s, 80s as George Carlin or Richard Pryor. HBO itself was built on annual George Carlin concerts and annual Robert Klein concerts and everybody else. And Robert Klein wasn't quite as deep or eternal as George Carlin, but he was really on the money during Watergate and during Reagan. So I say, I saw Robert Klein in concert at Cornell. And Maher looks at me funny and not angrily, and says quietly, I was at that too. I saw Robert Klein too. And I don't really register that mars mood has now utterly changed. He's not angry, he's confused. Well, I say, I can still top you because after that concert I interviewed Robert Klein. Now Bill Maher starts to squint and he looks at me and he looks at Scott Carter and he looks back at me and he says, wait, I interviewed Klein after that concert too. And I'm smiling through all this and smiling and smiling and smiling. And then suddenly, simultaneously, it hits Bill Maher and me at the same moment in the same fullness of detail. And I stop smiling and I shout at Bill Maher, you. And he pulls his arms in towards his stomach and kind of bends forward at the waist and covers his face with his hands and he says, oh God, I'm so sorry. Jesus, it can't be. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And while the anger wells up inside me so powerfully I can almost see it in my own eyeballs, Bill Maher's concert going producer Scott Carter is really confused. Say, fellows, did I miss something? Did I have a brief stroke or episode? And I say, bill. And I just remembered how I happened to be aware of him in school. And Marr still has got his hands over his face and people are looking at us and Bill is shouting apologies. And I say, you want to tell him or should I? And Mar just shakes his body no and mumbles no, God, you do it. I can't, I can't, I can't. And it all came back to me. For years I would tell people the story of the Robert Klein concert at Cornell University in 1978. Our radio station co sponsored his appearance along with the Cornell Concert Commission. And in the contract we specified that a couple of us real comedy nerds at the radio station would get to go backstage afterwards and tape a brief 10 or 15 minute interview with Robert Klein. Basically paid, we paid him not much, but we paid him to do an interview. And when my pal Andy Grossman and I get backstage to talk to Robert Klein and we have our two microphones and two mic stands and three tape recorders, there is this guy, this short guy, and he's yelling at the chief of the Cornell Concert Commission and he's yelling at Robert Klein's manager and he's demanding that he should get to interview Robert Klein, because like Klein, this kid says he is a stand up comedian and he publishes the Cornell humor magazine and he Points at me and he says, he should get priority over these, quote, corporate sellouts from the Cornell radio station. I hated him on sight. Oh, wait, I say to him, in 1978, and he's small and he's got dirty stringy hair and he's loud. And I say, you are the publisher of the Cornell humor magazine, the Cornell Widow. And he snorts and says, I wouldn't get caught dead publishing that corporate sellout Cornell Widow. And so I say, oh, so then that means you're the publisher of the Cornell alternative humor magazine, the not so Big Red, or whatever it is they call it. He says, no way. They're corporate sellouts. I publish this. And he pulls out a stack of mimeographed pages stapled together, and there's like a drawing on the front of a naked girl and handwritten. It says it's his comedy magazine. And I look at Robert Klein's manager and I say, so it's 10 o', clock, and if you leave now while this idiot is screwing this up, the limo can still get Mr. Klein to Elaine's in the city before it closes, right? And the manager is wildly impressed, you know, of Elaine's. And I said, yes, and I felt like an adult. And I also said, if we give this guy five minutes of our time right now, while we're setting up our tape recorders, can we still have 10 minutes with Mr. Klein? And the manager says, good plan. I like the way you think. And he points to the kid and gestures for him to come along. No. The kid shouts, I want half an hour. These corporate sellouts deserve nothing. And now I'm getting angry. I say, buddy, so far all the corporations in the world have paid me about a hundred bucks. So I threaten him. Now, mind you, I believe this is literally true. Since 1967, when I was eight years old, I have started two fist fights. Two in 55 years. I am a man of peace. I am loud, but I am a man of peace. But I say to this guy, you now have two choices, kid. Five minutes with Robert Klein or I hit you in the face. And he runs to where Klein's manager is still gesturing towards him, and he screams, corporate sellout. And he disappears to do his interview. And behind him, he leaves his little homemade mimeograph, 10 or 12 page humor publication. And I pick it up and I read it and register it and dismiss it before I leave the building. And if I had only remembered what it said on the COVID All the years of mystery and I was aware of him and all that would never have happened because the COVID of the magazine read Bill Maher's Comedy Magazine by Bill Maher. And now back in. Well, technically, this is correct. Back in real time at the party in the Hollywood studio in 2009. The producer Scott Carter says nothing. And Bill Maher is still doubled over in shame. And I say, are you satisfied that I was aware of you? And he mumbles, yes. And I say, will you ever question my memory again? And he mumbles, no. And he says, if I need him to do my show or a charity benefit or something, just call. And he says he's ashamed, and he offers me his hand to shake, and we shake. And finally I say, and by the way, Bill Maher of Bill Maher's Comedy Magazine by Bill Maher, are you a corporate sellout? And he says, kinda. And that's how I was aware of Bill Maher in college. I've done all the damage I can do here. Thank you for listening. You know, I was thinking maybe I should get on this Signal app. This thing sounds like a lot of fun. Better than X. Brian Ray and John Philip Chenale, the musical directors of Countdown, arranged, produced and performed most of our music. Mr. Chenale handled orchestration and keyboards. Mr. Ray was on guitars, bass and drums. And it was produced by TKO Brothers. Our satirical and pithy musical comments are by the best baseball stadium organist ever, Nancy Foust. The sports music is the olderman theme from ESPN2, written by Mitch Warren Davis, courtesy of ESPN Inc. Other music arranged and performed by the group. No horns allowed. My announcer today was also Nancy Foust. Everything else was, as ever, my fault. That's Countdown for today. Just 1,396 days until the scheduled end of his lame duck and lame brain term. Unless Musk removes him sooner, or the actuarial tables do. The next scheduled countdown is Monday. As always, Bolton's. As the news warrants, remember, impeach Trump. It won't work now. It will win Democrats the midterms. If there are midterms. Till next time, I'm Keith Olbermann. Good morning, good afternoon, good night, and wait for it here. Good luck. Countdown with Keith Olbermann is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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