Countdown Newsletter -- 04/19/06: McClellan Quits, Rove Shifts

[Patsy Stone]

LOL! The Best of Scotty!

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Tonight on Countdown
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A Bush administration shake-up continued Wednesday, with White House press secretary Scott McClellan announcing his resignation and adviser Karl Rove shedding some duties. Rove is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections. An administration source told NBC that the shift was "an acknowledgement of the tough political climate." Rove "is the best pitcher in the league in terms of politics and strategy," the source added, so "it's obvious" he should focus on the mid-term elections. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12387465/

Countdown Presents: "The Best Of Scott McClellan"
You don't want to miss it.

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

Gail Norton had announced the expansion of wetlands in the country, but that's if you count golf course water hazards and new farm ponds. Also the EPA is touting financial, international and domestic commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions... but British scientists say the U.S. in 2004 emitted more greenhouse gasses than anytime in history.

Play dates are probably not in the stars for Grier Hammond Henchy and Suri Cruise.
Grier, a girl, was born to Brooke Shields and husband Chris Henchy on Tuesday. In a strange twist of fate, Suri--also a girl--was born on Tuesday too, to Tom Cruise and fiancé Katie Holmes. More strangeness: Both girls weighed about 7 pounds, and both are 20 inches long. Weirder yet: "Access Hollywood" is reporting that the girls were born in the same hospital, on the same floor. However, neither party has released information about where the births took place. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0604190175apr19,1,802487.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

And this didn't make it into last night's show because the Cruise baby bumped it. Can you believe it?
But tonight...
Monica Novotny reports: Ghosthunters. Monica accompanied a group of people... professionals by day... ghosthunters by night... as they went to concerned people in NYC to see if their homes or places of employment are haunted.
Hey, 'Who you gonna call?'

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

Finally,
NICOSIA, Cyprus - Women on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus hope to form the world's longest chain of bras with the twin aims of heightening awareness of breast cancer and winning a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The Cypriot, British and Dutch organizers hope to string together as many as 100,000 bras on April 30, beating the current record of 79,000 bras held by Singapore, and forming a 56-mile chain. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11923773/from/RS.2/
Gotta get this one in too...
WAUKESHA, Wis. -- Lance Nesta did what many people do when receiving a fruitcake - he set it aside, only to rediscover it more than 40 years later in his mother's attic. Nesta couldn't resist taking a peek at the cake, still in its original tin and wrapped in paper. "I was amazed that it hadn't changed at all," he said. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FRUITCAKE_FIND?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOME

-- Carey Fox

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

Hey, we don't have time to cover it all, so here's today's Other News...
Lawyers for NBC News, The New York Times and Time Inc. accused a former White House aide Tuesday of threatening the integrity of their news-gathering operations by seeking access to a wide range of documents in the CIA leak case. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12384696/

Police searched the dorm rooms of two Duke University lacrosse players after the two were arrested on charges of raping and kidnapping an exotic dancer during an off-campus team party. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12366767/

Britain does not expect Iran to comply with United Nations Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment by the end of April, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Wednesday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12381929/from/RS.4/

The Egyptian government said on Wednesday it had broken up a group of at least 22 militant Islamists planning bomb attacks on tourist targets, a gas pipeline near Cairo and Muslim and Christian religious leaders. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12383395/

Consumer prices shot up in March, reflecting higher costs for gasoline, clothing and hotel rooms, with core inflation rising by the biggest amount in a year. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12386633/

Warmer Alaska worried about wildfires. Forests shaped 'to be something that we haven't seen'. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12386507/from/RS.3/

All 69 people trapped for hours in two cable cars that were suspended hundreds of feet above the East River after losing power have been rescued, police said Wednesday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12378848/

101-pound man eats 6,500 calories a day. Stomach condition keeps 22-year-old from putting on weight. "I'm a medical mystery," said Matt Chaffee, who weighed in at 101 pounds on Saturday. "I've accepted it." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12388081/