CBS Evening News open - 2004-12-10

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Thank you for welcoming News Channel 5

[0:02] into your home for 50 years.

[0:06] Tonight, Chief Justice William

[0:08] Rehnquist, battling cancer, will swear

[0:11] in President Bush for his second term.

[0:14] The President's choice for Homeland

[0:16] Security Secretary could be in for some

[0:19] tough questioning about possible

[0:21] conflicts of interest and more.

[0:23] More political parties sign up for

[0:25] Iraq's elections, but will voters show

[0:28] up? And an American pilot killed by

[0:31] friendly fire. How could it happen?

[0:34] It's the most popular Christmas gift,

[0:37] but there's something you should know

[0:38] about it. We'll tell you in CBS's Friday

[0:41] Consumer Alert. And what's wrong with

[0:43] this picture? Someone's taken liberties

[0:46] with the Christmas story.

[0:53] This is the CBS Evening News with Dan

[0:57] Rather reporting from CBS News

[0:59] headquarters in New York. Good evening.

[1:01] The Chief Justice of the United States,

[1:03] battling cancer and absent from the

[1:05] Supreme Court, will appear in public

[1:07] next month. William Rehnquist said today

[1:09] he will administer the oath of office to

[1:11] President Bush.

[1:13] There's been speculation about Rehnquist

[1:14] possibly retiring. He's 80 and under

[1:17] treatment for thyroid cancer.

[1:19] The President has now filled all the

[1:21] posts in his second term cabinet except

[1:24] Health Secretary. Today, he tapped Sam

[1:26] Bodman, the number two man at Treasury,

[1:28] to take over as Secretary of Energy.

[1:31] Bodman, who is 66, has degrees in

[1:33] science and chemical engineering. He's

[1:35] known for creative thinking and skilled

[1:37] at motivating others.

[1:39] The cabinet nominees all face Senate

[1:41] confirmation hearings. CBS's Jim Stewart

[1:43] reports it could be rough going for one

[1:46] of them who's a former undercover cop,

[1:49] Bernard Kerik.

[1:51] All told, President Bush has so far

[1:53] changed nine of his 15 cabinet

[1:55] secretaries, and none had looked more

[1:57] like a shoo-in at first than Bernie

[1:59] Kerik, his newly designated Secretary of

[2:01] Homeland Security. Only lately Kerik

[2:04] seems to be undergoing the torture of a

[2:06] thousand cuts. A different headline in a

[2:09] different newspaper, one after another

[2:12] after another.

[2:13] The latest document, Kerik's recent $6.2

[2:16] million sale of stock options he held in

[2:19] a stun gun company which plans on doing

[2:21] a lot of business with the Department of

[2:23] Homeland Security. Wouldn't that be a

[2:25] conflict of interest, the White House

[2:27] was asked today? We've looked into all

[2:29] these issues, and obviously he'll be

[2:31] talking about some of these matters

[2:32] during his confirmation hearing. We

[2:35] believe he will take all the appropriate

[2:36] steps to make sure that there are no

[2:38] conflicts. Kerik sits on the board of

[2:40] directors of Taser International, a

[2:42] maker of electric stun guns which have

[2:44] been the subject of a CBS News

[2:46] investigation following allegations the

[2:48] devices may have caused some unnecessary

[2:50] deaths. The former New York City Police

[2:53] Commissioner suspended his work with

[2:55] Taser since being nominated and would

[2:57] have to recuse himself from any

[2:58] decisions involving government contracts

[3:00] with the company should he be confirmed.

[3:03] But stun guns aren't Kerik's only

[3:05] problem. Despite endorsements from Rudy

[3:07] Giuliani and both New York senators, he

[3:10] and other New York officials received a

[3:12] tongue-lashing from the 9/11 Commission

[3:14] for lack of coordination following the

[3:16] World Trade Center attacks. I think that

[3:19] the command and control and

[3:21] communications of this city's public

[3:23] service is a scandal.

[3:26] It's

[3:28] And after President Bush appointed Kerik

[3:30] to train a new Iraqi police force last

[3:32] year, critics charged he left the job

[3:34] early and undone,

[3:36] leaving behind a force that was

[3:38] unprepared for the later insurgency.

[3:41] Given Kerik's bipartisan support, the

[3:43] odds are that he'll still be confirmed.

[3:45] Only the odds just aren't as good as

[3:47] they once were, Dan. Jim, returning to

[3:50] the Chief Justice Rehnquist story, he's

[3:51] going to stay on as Supreme Court Chief

[3:53] Justice at least through Inauguration

[3:55] Day. What's the significance of that and

[3:58] what do you make of it?

[4:00] Well, it means that he's put it off

[4:01] indefinitely or at least until past

[4:04] January. There'd been talk he would step

[4:05] down as early as today. Clearly, that's

[4:08] not the case now, and court officials

[4:09] have been mum on the subject. But by

[4:11] agreeing to stay on at least through the

[4:13] inauguration, the Chief Justice appears

[4:15] to be setting the stage for his

[4:16] departure. If he delays it past January,

[4:18] it would make it difficult for a Bush

[4:20] nominee to win confirmation in time to

[4:22] hear any of the arguments in this

[4:24] current session of the high court, Dan.

[4:26] Jim Stewart in Washington, thanks. The

[4:28] US military reports three more American

[4:30] troops, a Marine and two Army soldiers,

[4:32] have been killed in Iraq. And assassins

[4:34] gunned down a Shiite politician running

[4:36] in next month's Iraqi elections.

[4:39] With the violence, Iraq's interim

[4:40] government is pressing ahead with

[4:42] election plans, and CBS's Kimberly

[4:44] Dozier reports more candidates are

[4:47] signing up.

[4:50] Iraq's major Shiite political parties

[4:52] united this week, forming a powerful

[4:54] coalition that will compete for Iraqi

[4:56] votes.