Countdown Newsletter -- 04/25/06: Scapegoat McCarthy?

[Patsy Stone]

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Tonight on Countdown
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A U.S. official told CNN on Monday that the CIA officer fired for leaking classified information was accused of a "pattern of behavior," including multiple contacts with more than one reporter. http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/24/cia.firing/

Of course, as we reported last night, Newsweek and NBC News are reporting that McCarthy has denied she leaked classified information about CIA detention centers to a reporter for The Washington Post. http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/04/reports_cia_off.html
Something's going to have to give on this one...

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

Under pressure to do something about high gasoline prices, President Bush on Tuesday announced a series of measures, among them temporarily halting deposits to the nation's strategic petroleum reserve to make more oil available for consumer needs. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12469582/

The airlines have come up with a new answer to an old question: How many passengers can be squeezed into economy class? A lot more, it turns out, especially if an idea still in the early stage should catch on: standing-room-only "seats." Airbus has been quietly pitching the standing-room-only option to Asian carriers, though none has agreed to it yet. Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal. But even short of that option, carriers have been slipping another row or two of seats into coach by exploiting stronger, lighter materials developed by seat manufacturers that allow for slimmer seat backs. The thinner seats theoretically could be used to give passengers more legroom, but, in practice, the airlines have been keeping the amount of space between rows the same to accommodate more rows. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/267888_seats25.html

Monica Novotny reports: Viral Video.

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

Finally,
HAYWARD, Calif. -- A man who spent five hours naked and stuck in the chimney of his stepmother's home was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs, police said. Police say Michael Urbano, 23, locked himself out of the house early Saturday morning and decided to get in on a cable TV wire through the chimney. But the wire broke and Urbano fell, getting stuck about three-quarters of the way down. He was freed when a firefighter pushed him to safety. "We get him up, and he's naked as a jaybird," said Hayward police Lt. Gary Branson. "He tells us he took his clothes off because there would be less friction going down the chute. We did find his clothes. So that part checked out." "He's not fat," Branson said, "but he used to play football. He's not that little." http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NAKED_MAN_CHIMNEY?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOME
Stupid is as stupid does.

-- Carey Fox

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

Other News...
Consumers shrugged off higher gasoline prices in April and sent a widely watched barometer of consumer confidence to its highest level in almost four years, a private research group said Tuesday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12478734/

Police arrested 10 people Tuesday and divers retrieved body parts from the sea after three bombs ripped apart a Sinai beach resort at the height of Egypt's tourist season, killing 24 people and injuring more than 80, many of them foreigners. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12475961/

A Duke University lacrosse player charged with raping a stripper was ordered Tuesday to stand trial in an unrelated assault case. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12467091/

Two NASCAR fans were electrocuted in a campground outside Talladega Superspeedway when a flagpole they were erecting touched power lines. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12478552/?from=ET

Lone lawmaker blocks Flight 93 memorial. Families of passengers and crew in D.C. for showdown.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12454358/from/RS.1/

Jurors in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui headed into a second day of deliberations Tuesday to decide whether the Sept. 11 conspirator should receive a death sentence or life in prison. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12477155/from/RS.2/

A Harvard University sophomore promised to change her debut novel in future editions after acknowledging that she had unintentionally borrowed material from an author she deeply admired. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12477624/