rabbits who caused all the trouble, and the unicorn in the garden. all the news and commentary now on "countdown." good evening from new york. the letter arrived at the white house today at 10:30 in the morning, and by 10:45 they were calling the president on air force one to tell him the news. in our fifth story tonight, justice john paul stevens indeed will leave the supreme court at the end of this term, setting the stage for another summertime battle over an obama nominee. stevens is the court's only military veteran, a republican. he was appointed to the court in 1975 by president ford. he will turn 90 years old later this month. an early swing vote, stevens found himself increasingly in the lead on the left. as the court has moved further and further to the right. in recent years he led the court coalition straddling ideological lines against bush/cheney abuses of executive power, most notably