Countdown Newletter: 9/30/05 -- Scooter's Permission Slip

[Patsy Stone]

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Tonight on Countdown
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New York Times reporter Judith Miller appeared for testimony before a federal grand jury Friday, throwing a spotlight once again on the White House role in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity. Freed after 85 days in a federal detention center, Miller arrived at the federal courthouse to testify for Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation about her conversations in July 2003 with Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9535787/


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

The White House on Friday criticized former Education Secretary William Bennett for remarks linking the crime rate and the abortion of black babies. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9535204/

Rep. Tom DeLay was ordered to appear in a Texas courtroom on Oct. 21 to face the conspiracy charge that forced him to step down as House majority leader. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9541066/

Cooler, wetter air and calmer wind helped thousands of firefighters battling a wildfire early Friday that has pushed hundreds of people from their homes in the hills and canyons along the city's northwestern edge. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9522852/

Mayor Ray Nagin invited residents of some of New Orleans' most popular neighborhoods to return at their own risk beginning Friday, a move that could bring back about one-third of the city's half-million inhabitants. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9521299/

Police said Thursday they are looking for the parents or caregivers of a young girl found alone in Ridgewood, Queens, earlier this week. The 4-year-old, who identified herself as Valerie San Pedro, is of Hispanic descent, and has brown eyes and hair. http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=10&aid=53901

Booked Larry Starr. The last time Larry was on Countdown, he was modeling his ex-wife's wedding dress on Ebay in order to sell it. Larry still has the wedding dress and a new book: "Bitter, Party of One . . . Your Table Is Ready: Relationship Advice From a Guy Who Has No Business Giving It."

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

Finally,
A British rower has set a record for the slowest-ever Atlantic crossing, coming ashore in southern England Friday, 124 days after leaving North America. The time was a disappointment, considering the 23-year-old rower, Oliver Hicks, had hoped to break the record of 62 days for the fastest west-to-east crossing. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BRITAIN_SLOW_ROWER?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOME
For his next act: a slow boat to China.

-- Carey Fox

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

More:
President Bush is holding a short list of candidates, believed topped by women and minorities, to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court and join new Chief Justice John Roberts. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9541776/

Sunni-led insurgents killed at least nine people with a car bomb in a crowded vegetable market on Friday, the Muslim day of worship, in the second blast against Shiite civilians in as many days, police said. The death toll rose to nearly 100 from the previous day's attacks in another Shiite town. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9530709/

The U.N. health agency on Friday said it was impossible to estimate how many people would die from a new influenza pandemic, adding that it has warned countries to prepare for a death toll of up to 7.4 million. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9535929/

Engineers made final preparations Friday for the weekend launch of a Soyuz spacecraft to the international space station, with a Brooklyn-born scientist who reportedly paid $20 million for the journey among those aboard. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9536324/

Get ready to hear the phrase "...and the Oscar (you can sub in Golden Globe, Screen Actors' Guild award, etc) goes to Philip Seymour Hoffman." Yes, he's that good in this week's "Capote." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4515000/

[gkhouston]

1. "Bitter, Party of One"??

is this supposed to be equal time since last night's program dumped on guys with don'tdatehimgirl.com?

[Berry Cool]

3. Maybe, but it should be grounds for more snark.

Which is a good thing.

Expect yet another night of hilarity from Keith "I've Been Dating Since 1974" Olbermann as he commiserates with the author.

[RevCheesehead]

2. OK, so the WH is willing to distance itself from Bill Bennet,

but has NO comment on Delay, Scooter, Judith Miller, etc...? :eyes:

Sheesh. Even I could see how Bennet's comments, abhorrent as they were, were taken out of context to sound worse than he intended. It was a dumb remark to make, publically. But it is no worse than the shit-storm that is following this administration at every turn. And all we get from Scottie is "this is part of an ongoing investigation, and we will not comment," and so on?

They need to re-think the "moral high ground" - because it appears that they're about to back-pedal off a cliff.

:rant: