Tonight on Countdown

[madokie]

Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top former Pentagon brass denied any cover-up and rejected personal responsibility Wednesday for the military's bungled response to Army Ranger Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan. "I know that I would not engage in a cover-up. I know that no one in the White House suggested such a thing to me. I know that the gentlemen sitting next to me are men of enormous integrity and would not participate in something like that," Rumsfeld told a House committee. It was Rumsfeld's first public appearance on Capitol Hill since President Bush replaced him with Robert Gates late last year. Retired Gen. Richard Myers, former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he learned of the likelihood of friendly fire toward the end of April but that it wasn't his responsibility to inform the White House or the Tillman family. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., charged that unanswered questions surrounding Tillman's death reac
h into the highest ranks of the Pentagon and beyond. "The concealment of Cpl. Tillman's fratricide caused millions of Americans to question the integrity of our government, yet no one will tell us when and how the White House learned the truth," said Waxman.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20056399/

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Appearing with Larry King tonight on CNN, Vice President Cheney said he did not recall if he sent Attorney General Gonzales to former A.G. John Ashcroft in the now-famous 2004 incident. http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003619175

The Bush administration's chief intelligence official said yesterday that President Bush authorized a series of secret surveillance activities under a single executive order in late 2001. The disclosure makes clear that a controversial National Security Agency program was part of a much broader operation than the president previously described. The disclosure by Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, appears to be the first time that the administration has publicly acknowledged that Bush's order included undisclosed activities beyond the warrantless surveillance of e-mails and phone calls that Bush confirmed in December 2005. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20044214/

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would possibly send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive. The Illinois senator warned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that he must do more to shut down terrorist operations in his country and evict foreign fighters under an Obama presidency, or Pakistan will risk a U.S. troop invasion and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20070536/

The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Clinton with a 21-point lead over Obama in the Democratic horserace (43%-22%) -- up from her 14-point lead back in June (39%-25%) and her five-point lead in April (36%-31%). In addition, she leads Giuliani in a potential general election match-up, 47%-41%, when those numbers were essentially reversed back in March. And in this latest poll, a whopping 74% say that at least 24 straight years of Bushes and Clintons in the White House won't be much of a consideration when they vote. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/01/299879.aspx

Whoopi Goldberg, officially named Wednesday as the new moderator of "The View" as the show puts Rosie O'Donnell in its rearview mirror, said her new job is a "big ol' thrill for me." Goldberg jogged down the aisle of the New York studio, slapping hands with the audience, when the announcement was made live on the air by show creator Barbara Walters. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080101056_pf.html

Pop legend Sir Elton John wants the internet closed down. Never one to keep his opinions to himself, the Rocket Man has waded into cyberspace with all guns blazing. He claims it is destroying good music, saying: "The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007350453,00.html

Obviously Sir Elton hasn't seen this....
It began as a fitness routine for old lags, but inmates in the Philippines have become a worldwide phenomenon and added a whole new dimension to jailhouse rock. Hundreds of prisoners decked out in orange jail-issue jumpsuits are the latest stars of the internet with video clips of their routines going down a storm on YouTube. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2136222,00.html

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

[Lex]

1. Thanks!

Cool.

I Tivo KO every night. Never miss one.