Gail Collins: Bret, much serious stuff to talk about today, but I want to get my canine issues out of the way first. Kristi Noem of South Dakota is publishing a new memoir she presumably hoped would help her chances of being named as Donald Trump’s running mate. Gail: In it she brags about having killed her dog, Cricket, for a string of bad behavior. Bret: In the same memoir, Noem claims to have met Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, which never happened. Maybe she was confusing him with the governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum?

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Persons: Gail Collins, Bret, Kristi Noem, Donald Trump’s, Bret Stephens, Trump, Seth Tupper, Gail, Noem, Kim Jong, Doug Burgum Organizations: Gov, Cricket, South Dakota Searchlight, North, Republican Locations: South Dakota, North Korean, North Dakota