Countdown Tonight!
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Senate Democrats called for a special counsel to
investigate whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied
under oath and subpoenaed top presidential aide Karl
Rove Thursday in a widening probe into the dismissal of
federal prosecutors. "It has become apparent that the
attorney general has provided at a minimum
half-truths and misleading statements," four members of the
Senate Judiciary Committee wrote in a letter to Solicitor
General Paul Clement. They dispatched the letter
shortly before Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced the
subpoena of Rove, the president's top political
strategist. We have now reached a point where the accumulated
evidence shows that political considerations factored
into the unprecedented firing of at least nine United
States Attorneys last year," said Leahy, the chairman
of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Administration
officials have consistently denied any wrongdoing in
connection with the firing of the prosecutors, who were let
go last winter. Gonzales is at the center of the U.S.
attorney controversy, but the call for a perjury probe
involved alleged conflicts between testimony he gave
the Judiciary Committee last year and this week. The
issue revolves around whether there was internal
administration dissent over the president's warrantless
wiretapping program.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19975387/Looks like the multitude of scandals in this
administration are finally coming to roost.
Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann broadcasts LIVE at 8 pm
et, and the count is never complete without you. Join
us.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote to Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton hoping to calm a politically stoked
exchange between the Pentagon and the Democratic
presidential front-runner over planning for the withdrawal of
U.S. forces from Iraq. In the three-page letter,
obtained by The Associated Press Thursday, Gates sought to
both agree with Clinton that congressional oversight
of military planning is needed and at the same time
defend his undersecretary of policy, Eric Edelman.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19976693/from/RS.1/A bulletin warning airports about possible dry runs by
terrorists is "routine" and does not indicate fear of
an imminent attack, the federal Transportation
Security Administration said yesterday. Seizures of four
unusual packages since September prompted the agency
last Friday to tell airport security officials to watch
for "ordinary items that look like improvised explosive
device components." The memo, titled "Incidents at
U.S. Airports May Suggest Possible Pre-Attack Probing,"
said the seizures "raise concern" that terrorists may
be trying to "desensitize, distract or adapt plans" in
advance of an attack. But the TSA backtracked
yesterday, posting a message on its Web site saying last
week's bulletin was merely one of 90 such alerts over the
past six months.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usair265307398jul26,0,540516.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-printIn other words, there's nothing to these "cheese dry
runs" and never was.
The J.K. Rowling interview.
That's some of what we're planning for tonight.
-- Carey Fox
Countdown Home:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/The Daily Links:
Army Secretary Peter Geren is expected to recommend
that a retired three-star general be demoted for his
role in providing misleading information about the death
of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, military officials say, in
what would be a stinging and rare rebuke. Lt. Gen.
Philip Kensinger, who headed Army special operations,
is one of six high-ranking Army officers expected to
get official reprimands for making critical errors in
reporting the circumstances of Tillman's friendly-fire
shooting in Afghanistan in April 2004.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19975042/The U.S. military has noted a "significant
improvement" in the aim of attackers firing rockets and mortars
into the heavily fortified Green Zone in the past three
months that it has linked to training in Iran, a top
commander said Thursday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19972418/Job cuts, slimmer losses in North America and good
sales overseas helped Ford Motor Co. post surprise
second-quarter earnings Thursday of $750 million, its first
profitable quarter in two years.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19970567/Sales of new homes fell in June by the largest amount
in five months as the housing industry continued to
struggle with its worst downturn in 16 years. The median
home price also fell.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19974101/Wall Street fell sharply Thursday, with the Dow Jones
industrial average down over 300 points, extending its
weeks-long streak of volatility after disappointing
home sales figures added to investors' increasing
uneasiness about the mortgage and corporate lending
markets.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3683270/A top South Korean envoy headed to Afghanistan on
Thursday, scrambling to save 22 of his country's citizens
held captive by Taliban kidnappers after the militants
killed one hostage.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19913035/Michael Vick was due in federal court Thursday to
start a legal process that jeopardizes not only his
career, but also his freedom. The Atlanta Falcons
quarterback was expected to appear at a bond hearing and enter a
plea on dogfighting conspiracy charges.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19965019/Three female mountain gorillas and a male silverback
gorilla were found shot dead this week inside a
national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a
conservation group said Thursday. The bodies were discovered
inside Virunga National Park but it was unclear who
killed them and why, the International Gorilla
Conservation Program said in a statement.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19974474/Japanese girls born last year can expect to live to an
average age of 85.8 years, making them the
longest-lived in the world, according to figures released by the
government on Thursday. Their male compatriots fare
less well, with a life expectancy of 79 years, second
to Icelandic men at 79.4 years, the Health Ministry
said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19975238/Thawing sea ice in the Arctic could have a chilling
effect on ties among countries that share the area,
especially now that a Russian ship is headed for the North
Pole. The expedition plans to send a mini-submarine
crew to plant a flag on the seabed and symbolically
claim the Arctic for the Kremlin.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19952934/Daisy Valdivia is annoyed that someone stole her
backyard pool - and baffled at how they did it without
leaving behind a splash, drip or trace of the 1,000
gallons of water it contained. Valdivia awoke to find her
family's hip-high, inflatable, 10-foot diameter swimming
pool gone from her back yard Wednesday. Valdivia told
The Record of Bergen County the theft must have
occurred between 1 a.m., when her husband went to bed, and
5 a.m., when she awoke. She's amazed someone could
steal the pool that quickly and just wanted to know "what
the heck they did with the water," she said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12784369/=========================================
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