Countdown Newsletter -- 05/11/06: Privacy? What Privacy?

[Patsy Stone]

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Tonight on Countdown
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The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY. The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans - most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews. "It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is "to create a database of every call ever made" within the nation's borders, this person added. For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made - across town or across the country - to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others. The three telecommunications companies are working under contract with the NSA, which launched the program in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the sources said. The program is aimed at identifying and tracking suspected terrorists, they said. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm

President Bush today defended his adminstration's decision to collect information on tens of millions of domestic phone calls, saying the National Security Agency program was legal, protects the privacy of Americans and helps guard the nation against terrorist attacks. "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans," he said. Instead, the NSA's efforts "strictly target al-Qaeda and their known affiliates." http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-11-nsa-reax_x.htm

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Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe. The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles has issued subpoenas in an investigation into the relationship between Lewis (R-Redlands) and a Washington lobbyist linked to disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe), three people familiar with the investigation said. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-lewis11may11,0,2817251.story?coll=la-home-headlines

In back-to-back weeks, the "American Idol" voters have kicked off the two people who might actually have a shot at a musical career. First came Paris Bennett, and on Wednesday, Chris Daughtry, widely considered to be one of the favorites to win the competition, instead became the ninth of the original 12 finalists to be shown the door. While Bennett's exit last week was no great shock - she was just 17 and too young to compete with the musical veterans - Daughtry's fate was unexpected. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12729017/

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

Finally,
SHANGHAI, China -- Shanghai is getting set to open a "human zoo." Four Australian men will live in a glass box on a downtown mall for two weeks in June, with the public able to watch them sleeping, eating and bathing, a news report said Thursday. "They won't turn off the lights or pull down the curtains. They show their whole life, from getting up to going to bed." The group, known as the Urban Dream Capsule, has drawn crowds with similar displays in London, Montreal, Hong Kong and other cities.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHINA_HUMAN_ZOO?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOME
Why? Why?

-- Carey Fox

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

Other News:
Senate leaders reached a deal Thursday on reviving a broad immigration bill that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens and said they'll try to pass it before Memorial Day. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12739608/

British security services had come across two men who went on to carry out last year's July 7 bomb attacks on London but did not believe them to be urgent threats, a parliamentary committee reported on Thursday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12732167/

A priest was convicted Thursday of stabbing a Roman Catholic nun to death as she prepared for Easter services at a hospital 26 years ago, a murder prosecutors say was steeped in religious ritual. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12739830/

Teacher says she was fired over in vitro. Kelly Romenesko was told procedure violated school's Catholic doctrine. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12738144/

Forensic scientists might have found a DNA link between a Duke lacrosse player and the female stripper who alleges she was raped at a players' house party March 13-14, the Durham Herald Sun reported Thursday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12739861/

Floyd Patterson, who came back from an embarrassing loss to become the first boxer to regain the heavyweight title, died Thursday. He was 71. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12740585/

Wild find: Half grizzly, half polar bear. Hunter bags what expert 'never thought would happen' in wild. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12738644/