PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Now on to our final game, Lightning Fill In The Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill-in-the-blank questions as he or she can; each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS: I can. Amy has 2, Hari and Mo each have 3.
AMY DICKINSON: Oh.
SAGAL: OK, Amy, you are in third place. You're going to be up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, Don McGahn officially stepped down as blank.
DICKINSON: White House counsel.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to financial reports, since July, social media site blank lost 30 percent of its value.
DICKINSON: Facebook.
SAGAL: Right. This week...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...The prime minister of Australia said he was considering recognizing blank as Israel's capital.
DICKINSON: Jerusalem.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, Paul Allen, one of the founders of blank, passed away at the age of 65.
DICKINSON: Microsoft.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to a new study, over half of the births in the U.S. occur outside of blank.
DICKINSON: A hospital.
SAGAL: No, out of marriage. On Wednesday, the blank jackpot reached $900 million.
DICKINSON: The Lotto (ph) lottery.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: It's called Mega Millions. This week, a staff meeting at a bank in China was interrupted by blank.
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
DICKINSON: A bear, a wolverine or a team-building...
(LAUGHTER)
DICKINSON: ...Exercise of hide-and-seek.
SAGAL: No. It was interrupted by a 5-foot-long python falling from the ceiling and landing on an employee.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: After falling from the ceiling, the snake slithers between the employee's legs for a while, then made its escape. Anyone who wants to see the whole thing can check out the security camera footage that was uploaded online - unless they're one of the staff members who were there who can see the whole thing just by closing their eyes and trying to fall asleep.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Amy do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Four right, eight more points, total of 10. She's in the lead.
SAGAL: All right. We have flipped a coin. Mo has elected to go last, so Hari, fill in the blank. On Monday, President Trump toured the areas of Florida and Georgia that were ravaged by blank.
HARI KONDABOLU: Hurricane Michael.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: For the first time in 25 years, blank went when an entire weekend without a single shooting.
MO ROCCA: Chicago.
SAGAL: No - actually, New York City. This week, Senator Ted Cruz and his Democratic challenger blank held their final debate in San Antonio.
KONDABOLU: Beto O'Rourke.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, a gubernatorial candidate in blank accused her rival of suppressing the minority vote.
KONDABOLU: Georgia.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, Nebraska's tourism board announced they were changing the state slogan from Nebraska nice to blank.
KONDABOLU: All the corn you can eat.
SAGAL: No. They changed it to...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: They changed it to Nebraska - honestly, it's not for everyone.
(LAUGHTER)
KONDABOLU: Whoa.
SAGAL: On Wednesday, streaming service blank showed bigger than expected growth, adding 7 million users in 2018.
KONDABOLU: Spotify.
SAGAL: No, Netflix. Hundreds of people received calls from an animal hospital...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...In Hawaii thanks to a blank.
KONDABOLU: A beached whale.
SAGAL: A tiny gecko stepping on a phone's...
DICKINSON: No.
SAGAL: ...Touch screen.
DICKINSON: No.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: According to the hospital's director, she was worried there was some kind of emergency when she got nine calls in a row from her work number with just silence on the other end. The calls were actually being made by a gecko, whose tiny, little feet were dialing up everyone on the phone's recently called list. While some people complained, most were actually really thankful for the gecko's call, which helped them save 15 percent or more on their car insurance.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Hari do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Three right, six more points, total of nine. He's in second place. And Mo needs four to win.
SAGAL: All right, Mo. You ready? Here we go. This is for the game. On Monday, the Treasury Department released a report showing that the blank had grown to its highest amount in six years.
ROCCA: The deficit.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, President Trump threatened to end aid to blank unless they stopped a migrant caravan from reaching the U.S.
ROCCA: It's Honduras.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, it was reported that special counsel blank would release a report on the Russia investigation after the midterms.
ROCCA: Robert Mueller.
SAGAL: Right. During his interview...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...With "60 Minutes," Trump suggested that Defense Secretary blank may soon leave his post.
ROCCA: Mattis.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: You all right, Mo?
ROCCA: No, it's just that - audio is a very intimate medium.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: A campaign manager in Nevada thinks his candidate still has a chance of winning a place on the House legislature even though he's blank.
ROCCA: Dead.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Twenty-two states have confirmed cases of a new paralyzing disease that mimics the effects of blank in children.
ROCCA: Well, it's something very sad.
SAGAL: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
ROCCA: It's the effects of rickets.
SAGAL: No, polio. On Sunday, the British royal family announced that blank was pregnant with her first child.
ROCCA: Meghan Markle.
SAGAL: Yes. This week...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...A police officer in India was praised for his bravery...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...After his gun jammed while chasing a robbery suspect, and he managed to apprehend him by blanking.
ROCCA: He was running after - he was an officer...
SAGAL: Yes.
ROCCA: And was running after someone that he needed to apprehend.
SAGAL: He did.
ROCCA: And he apprehended him, but he was praised...
SAGAL: Because, remember, his gun jammed, and yet he - nonetheless, he was able to bring the villain to heel and apprehend him.
ROCCA: The - by going bang, bang.
SAGAL: That's exactly...
ROCCA: Oh, my God.
SAGAL: ...What he had done.
DICKINSON: No.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
DICKINSON: No.
KONDABOLU: What?
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: He made gun noises with his mouth.
KONDABOLU: Oh, my God.
SAGAL: This was a guy - the guy - dangerous criminal - 18 warrants out for him. He cornered him, but his gun had jammed, so he just pointed the gun and went bang, bang, bang. And the guy cowered and ducked, and he was arrested.
(LAUGHTER)
DICKINSON: Whoa.
SAGAL: The suspect says he's embarrassed by the whole thing and really should have known something was up when the officer seemed not to only have a pistol but also a laser gun, a grenade launcher and a light saber.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: (Imitating light saber).
DICKINSON: (Imitating laser gun).
SAGAL: Bill, did Mo do well enough to win?
KURTIS: It's Mo, it's Mo.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: Congratulations.
ROCCA: Thank you very much. Thank you.
KURTIS: So close to perfect, too - very close.
ROCCA: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
