Oh, my Goodness it's a Newsletter: 6/14/06: Rose Garden Roll-Out

[Patsy Stone]

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Tonight on Countdown
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President Bush on Wednesday reiterated U.S. support for the newly named Iraqi government and rejected calls for a quick drawdown of American troops. "The policy of the U.S. government is to stand with this (Iraqi) government and help them succeed," he said at a news conference in the Rose Garden. "Iraqi and coalition forces are still on the offense," Bush said. He cited raids of suspected terrorist targets. "We got new intelligence from those raids which will enable us to keep the pressure on the foreigners and the local Iraqis who are killing innocent lives." Facing the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, Bush over the past several weeks has sought to bolster support among his conservative base and for the war in Iraq. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13018899/

Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann broadcasts LIVE at 8 pm et, and the count is never complete without you. Join us.
Brian Unger subs the rest of this week.

On the CIA leak investigation, Bush called the special prosecutor's work "thorough." He sidestepped a question as to whether an apology was necessary for Rove's involvement. "Now we're going to move forward," he said. "I trust Karl Rove. He's an integral part of my team." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13018899/

Top Republicans exulted Tuesday at the news that Karl Rove had escaped a criminal charge. But even without an indictment of President Bush's chief political advisor, the 3-year-old CIA leak investigation has dealt serious political damage to the president and some of his most trusted associates and friends. The White House still must try to overcome that damage as Republicans strive to retain control of Congress in the November elections. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-assess14jun14,0,985731.story?coll=la-home-headlines

The government doled out as much as $1.4 billion in bogus assistance to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, getting hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation, and even a divorce lawyer, congressional investigators have found. Prison inmates, a supposed victim who used a New Orleans cemetery for a home address, and a person who spent 70 days at a Hawaiian hotel, all were able to get taxpayer help , according to evidence that gives a new black eye to the nation's disaster relief agency.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13310790/

JENNIFER ANISTON's publicists are angrily brushing off new rumors the actress has become engaged to boyfriend VINCE VAUGHN, insisting they're no longer going to comment on rubbish.
Hollywood gossips were in a frenzy of excitement when they spotted Aniston wearing a 9.5 carat, canary diamond SUZY FABRIKANT ring recently and immediately started penning wedding stories.
But a publicist for the former FRIENDS star rants, "Jennifer is past the point of responding to any of these ludicrous rumors."


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

Finally,
LONDON (AP) -- A British man on Wednesday admitted delivering a package containing a venomous tarantula to a work colleague the day he handed in his resignation. At Leicester Magistrates' Court in central England, Mahlon Hector, 22, pleaded guilty to delivering a rare Mexican red-kneed tarantula in a box addressed to a woman colleague at the branch of the store Marks & Spencer in Leicester, where they both worked. At the same time, he handed store bosses his resignation. The intended recipient, Susan Griffin, was not hurt. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TARANTULA?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOME
Imagine what he would have done if he'd been fired.

-- Carey Fox

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

Other News:
Consumer inflation registered another sizable increase in May, pushed higher by soaring gasoline prices. Core inflation excluding food and energy was also worse than expect but analysts took comfort in the fact that the jump came from special factors. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13312533/

In the face of growing criticism over the treatment of detainees, Pentagon officials have decided to make public all of the military's interrogation techniques. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13311144/

Large eruptions of searing hot gas and debris forced more than 1,000 villagers to flee Mount Merapi's slopes Wednesday, and authorities raised the volcano's alert level to its highest status again, just a day after they let people go back home. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13165201/

Sensitive information on millions of U.S. military personnel and veterans remains at grave risk because of weak security controls that have not yet been fixed, government investigators said Wednesday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13318229/

One of President Bush's Republican allies on Wednesday urged the administration to allow the chief U.S. negotiator to pay a trust-building visit to North Korea. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13317622/

Doctors began a marathon operation Wednesday to separate 10-month-old twins who were born joined from the lower chest to the pelvis. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13312323/

Honda Motor Co. is recalling over 561,000 vehicles in three models to replace a faulty part used in starting an engine, a company official said Wednesday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13314718/

German police confirmed Tuesday what World Cup observers have suspected: The U.S. team has been given an unusually heavy security detail for soccer's showcase event. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13305025/