Countdown Newsletter -- 05/02/06: GOP Blues?

[Patsy Stone]

Better late than never; work's been a bi-atch...

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Tonight on Countdown
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Six months before Republicans try to hold on to control of Congress in the fall elections, a new poll shows President Bush has slid to the lowest approval rating of his presidency, and a majority of voters say they'll vote for Democrats in November. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday found Bush's approval rating at 34%, two points under his previous low. He also received the lowest ratings of his presidency on his handling of the economy, energy and foreign affairs. He tied his previous low on Iraq: 32%. The poll showed Democrats leading 54%-39% among registered voters who were asked which party they would prefer in a congressional race. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-01-gallup-poll_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA

The Secret Service's records documenting convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's contacts with Bush administration officials may not reveal all such meetings, the White House said Tuesday. The Secret Service has agreed to turn over White House visitor logs showing when Abramoff met with administration officials - and with whom. But presidential spokesman Scott McClellan cautioned reporters from viewing the release as all-inclusive. http://www.forbes.com/business/energy/feeds/ap/2006/05/02/ap2714162.html

Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann broadcasts LIVE at 8 pm et, and the count is never complete without you. Join us.

Spies Among Us. Despite a troubled history, police across the nation are keeping tabs on ordinary Americans. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060508/8homeland.htm

He plays a chef on "The Sopranos," but John Ventimiglia cooked himself a recipe for disaster when he was busted for drunken driving and cocaine possession yesterday about a block away from his Brooklyn home. http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/67857.htm

Also, Louis Gross, the actor who plays Tony Soprano's new bodyguard, has been charged in a Queens break-in. Gross was previously arrested on shoplifting charges in February. http://www.wnbc.com/news/9144479/detail.html

That's some of what we're planning for tonight's show.

Finally,
WASHINGTON -- Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the damage from Hurricane Katrina, nearly one-third of young Americans recently polled couldn't locate Louisiana on a map and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi. Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn't find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WHERES_LOUISIANA?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOME
But could they find their --- from a hole in the ground?
Probably not.

-- Carey Fox

Countdown Home: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

Other News...
A top al-Qaida leader whose links stretch from Afghan terror training camps to extremist networks operating throughout Europe has been detained in neighboring Pakistan and possibly handed over to American authorities, according to a U.S. law enforcement official. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12589682/

The U.S. diplomat leading six-nation talks on Iran's nuclear program predicted Tuesday that European governments would prepare a resolution for the U.N. Security Council that could allow for sanctions, and he insisted that diplomatic efforts were not dead. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12541482/

Illegal immigrants and their supporters vowed to keep up the pressure on Congress for reforms after more than 1 million people stepped out of the shadows and poured into the streets in a nationwide show of economic clout. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591698/

A two-day public hearing about the Sago Mine disaster that killed 12 men opened Tuesday with victims' relatives seeking answers. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12594329/

The government forecasts massive disruptions if bird flu or some other super-strain of influenza arises, with as much as 40 percent of the national work force off the job, but it doesn't foresee closing U.S. borders to fight the spread, according to a draft of the national response plan obtained Monday by The Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12584149/

A Harvard sophomore's novel, pulled from the market last week after the author acknowledged mimicking portions of another writer's work, appears to contain passages copied from a second book. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12594078/

'Tonya and Nancy,' a soap opera minus soap. Figure skating's most infamous incident, now set to music. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12594915/