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Countdown to 'Countdown'

Simultaneous 'Countdown' of the top news stories exclusively  at Countdown.msnbc.com
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Schiavo autopsy — The autopsy of Terry Schiavo is complete: She was in, and had been in, a persistent vegetative state.  She had massive and .  She was blind — she was not looking at people from her hospital bed.  She was examined for cervical spine damage an hour after her collapse in 1990, none was found.  There was also no evidence of her being mistreated in any way; no drugs, and no heart attack.  Her brain was about half normal size.  And once her feeding tube was removed, she would not have been able to survive even if she had been given water or food….And if you don't believe the doctors, you have to be willing to believe that they would be willing to lose their licenses and jobs if they were proved to be incorrect.  Terry Schiavo's parents apparently believe exactly that.  Their attorney says Bob and Mary Schindler want to discuss the autopsy with other medical authorities, and may sue again — in some way, over some thing.

Calif. quake — For most of us, last Christmas may seem as distant a part of the past, as Thanksgiving 1992.  But in Sri Lanka — six months after the tsunami that devastated the island — the coalition government may have collapsed, because some of the parties supporting it cannot abide the idea of relief money being given to the Tamil Tiger rebels who control parts of their island nation.  And the word ".  Try Oregon.  There was a huge underwater earthquake off the California coast last night.  All of a sudden, seemed a lot closer to Colombo Sri Lanka.

Jackson reality TV — You've seen the trial!  You've heard the allegations! You've watched the !  Now, don't miss the !  Just when you thought the Michael Jackson saga might finally be nearing finality, news comes that Jackson and some of his relatives are "pitching" a six-part documentary-style reality show, about the trial — and that ABC, A & E, and Fox have at least listened.  You didn't think those cameramen who followed Jackson in the early days of the case — the ones to whom he would offer verbal and fingered direction — were just compiling home movies, did you? 

Porn queen meets Bush — When politics met porn, it's not in a nickname but in the flesh.  Adult actress Marey Carey was among the dozens who ran for Governor of California two years ago and recently attended the .  The Republican Party fund-raising event featured none other than the President of the United States.  A spokesman for the the dinner said the money was donated to National Republican Congressional Committee.  No comment was made on moral values.