memeorandum: MTP Transcript for Mar. 18, 2007 (MSNBC)

2:10 AM ET, March 19, 2007

Top Items:

U.S. attorney's firing may be connected to CIA corruption probe — WASHINGTON - Fired San Diego U.S. attorney Carol Lam notified the Justice Department that she intended to execute search warrants on a high-ranking CIA official as part of a corruption probe the day before a Justice Department official sent …

Discussion: MyDD, The Anonymous Liberal, Patterico's Pontifications, PoliBlog (TM), protein wisdom, Obsidian Wings, JustOneMinute and Multi Medium

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Leahy Wants Bush Aides to Testify on Fired Prosecutors — The Democratic senator leading the inquiry into the dismissal of federal prosecutors insisted today that Karl Rove and other top aides to President Bush must testify publicly and under oath, setting up a confrontation between Congress …

Discussion: The Reaction, LiberalOasis and Balloon Juice

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:

Prosecutor's Firing Was Urged During Probe — The U.S. attorney in San Diego notified the Justice Department of search warrants in a Republican bribery scandal last May 10, one day before the attorney general's chief of staff warned the White House of "a real problem" with her, a Democratic senator said yesterday.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, TalkLeft and LiberalOasis

MSNBC:

MTP Transcript for Mar. 18, 2007 — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday, the attorney general of the United States under fire. Why were eight U.S. attorneys removed? Did the Bush administration mislead Congress? With us, from the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, The Caucus and WorldwideStandard.com

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:

Justice Dept. Recognized Prosecutor's Work on Election Fraud Before His Firing — One of the U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration after Republican complaints that he neglected to prosecute voter fraud had been heralded for his expertise in that area by the Justice Department …

Discussion: Oliver Willis

Robert Gehrke / Salt Lake Tribune:
Right-hand man now a scapegoat?

Discussion: TBogg

Newsweek:
Disorder in King George's Court

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Talking Points Memo and TPMmuckraker

Doyle McManus / Los Angeles Times:
Gonzales' plight puts Bush at risk

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Grasping Reality … and Angry Bear

Tim Lambon / New Statesman:

Observations on Iraq — It's hard to describe the noise when a whole cabinet of crockery is emptied on to the floor. Even harder not to shout in indignation when the American soldier who intentionally tipped it forward, until the plates and dishes slid smashing to the floor, says without regret …

Discussion: Today in Iraq and Jules Crittenden

Siun / Firedoglake:
"The desire for freedom resides in every human heart."

Discussion: Today in Iraq

Faiz / Think Progress:

Hume Launches New Smear: Plame Lied Under Oath — Today on Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume continued his campaign to smear Valerie Plame Wilson. Previously, he had falsely said that it was "unlikely she was" covert. — Instead of apologizing this morning, he launched a new attack against Plame …

Discussion: Angry Bear, The Reaction, Hullabaloo, Don Surber and At-Largely

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
I was waiting for this: Hume says Plame lied under oath

Discussion: The Mahablog

Adam Nossiter / New York Times:

Uproar Over Power Broker's Unpaid Utility Bills — Everybody has to pay the light bill, an unpleasant maxim lately made even more so here, knowing the powerful do not always observe it. — Month after month, Memphis Light, Gas and Water allowed City Councilman Edmund Ford to forgo paying thousands …

Jerusalem Post:

Report: France urged Israel to hit Syria — French President Jacques Chirac told Israel at the start of the war in Lebanon that France would support an Israeli assault on Syria, it was reported on Sunday. — Army Radio reported that in the message, which was delivered by Chirac to Israel via …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Atlas Shrugs

CNN:

Poll: Confidence in Iraq war down sharply … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Americans are starkly less confident and proud of their country's involvement in Iraq, according to poll results released Sunday. — However, the poll — results of which were released on the eve of the Iraq war's 4-year anniversary …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, My Left Wing, Liberty Street and Times of London

Stephen Gerlis / Times of London:

Unravelling the confessions of the 9/11 chief — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is finally talking to his US captors.Yosri Fouda, the only journalist ever to interview him, knows why — In April 2002, as chief investigative reporter on Al-Jazeera, I was taken blindfolded to meet Khalid Sheikh Mohammed at a safe house in Karachi.

Discussion: The Washington Note, Captain's Quarters, Prairie Weather and Jihad Watch

Eleanor Clift / Newsweek:

Gore on the Un-Campaign Trail — Since the documentary he starred in, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award, speculation has only increased about Al Gore's potential entry into the presidential race. He is not taking any overt steps toward running, and that may be the cleverest strategy of all.

Discussion: Tennessee Guerilla Women, Liberal Values and Macsmind