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Katie Couric concluded a Thursday night look at the pros and cons of nationalizing banks by seeing the federal government as a comforting security blanket: “Nationalization may have a psychological impact as well, and Uncle Sam wrapping his arms around failing banks in this country might provide a big dose of confidence for the American consumer.” Building to her pro-nationalization conclusion, Couric asserted that “everyone hopes to avoid what happened to Japan back in the 90s when the government pumped good money into bad banks, essentially keeping unhealthy financial institutions that weren't going to make it anyway on life support,...

On Monday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez asked Republican Congressman Eric Cantor about President Obama’s proposed housing bill: "Unlike the stimulus, will you urge your fellow Republicans in the House to support this?" When Cantor criticized the proposed bill and the passage of the "stimulus" bill, Rodriguez declared: "But Congressman, it's clear that Americans are begging for help with foreclosures. Corporations are begging for bailouts. Can the Republican Party accept that there are situations when large-scale government intervention is necessary?" Cantor began to explain that Republicans supported some aspects of the "stimulus," but Rodriguez quickly interrupted him: "But...

On Thursday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric introduced a report on the Democrats’ so-called "stimulus" plan about to pass Congress: "And we'll tell you what's in it for you, including tax breaks...It's designed, in part, to get you spending again by giving you the money to do it." However, in July of 2001, when President Bush was trying to get tax cut legislation passed, then Evening News anchor Dan Rather warned: "...new worries that his big tax cuts, along with a shrinking budget surplus, are re-shaping the political and fiscal landscape of the country." Following Couric, Correspondent Nancy Cordes...

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of Abraham LincolnÂ’s birthday on ThursdayÂ’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez did a segment highlighting five, "...things you may not know about Honest Abe," including his sexual orientation. The segment featured New York University history professor Jeffrey Sammons, who argued: "One of the very interesting stories about Abraham Lincoln is that he might have been gay. Lincoln actually did sleep in the same bed with a gentleman for a four-year period." Rodriguez concluded: "So the question of Abraham Lincoln's sexuality still remains a mystery." In addition to spreading revisionist rumors about LincolnÂ’s sexuality,...

Michelle may bring home the bacon, but she sure doesn't fry it up in a pan. During last year's presidential campaign, the media worked overtime to portray John and Cindy McCain as wealthy private jet junkies with more homes than they can remember, while showcasing Barack and Michelle Obama as just another middle class family with two working parents, one car and freshly paid off student loans. In 2008, a media frenzy whirled around Mrs. McCain's income and the $170,000 she paid household staff in 2006. On the other hand, Mrs. Obama was defined as an average mom who juggled...

I might have expected Harry Smith to cheerlead Pres. Obama’s stimulus plan. But interviewing an economist this morning, the Early Show anchor was surprisingly skeptical. Smith’s guest was Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, who appeared before the House Budget Committee yesterday in support of the stimulus proposal. Zandi testified that the plan “will ensure that [the downturn] remains a recession and not a depression.” Smith began by surprising Zandi with a full-page ad in today’s New York Times [sponsored by the libertarian Cato Institute], signed 200 economists saying the stimulus package is unnecessary. Zandi retorted that there are...

If the White House and Pentagon are going to make wise decisions about what to do with the Guantanamo Bay detainees they are going to need accurate information upon which to base their new policies. Yet the single most cited “fact” last week about the terror suspects - that 61 of the men released from Gitmo have returned to fight against us - is simply not true. The number is far lower than that. And the longer “61” is used as a “talking point” by critics of the administration of President No. 44 the longer it will be before a...

“So, can you see Wisconsin from your Chicago mansion that Tony Rezko helped you buy?” OK, that was not Katie Couric’s opening question to Pres.-elect Obama in an interview aired in part on this morning’s Early Show. How soft was the Evening News anchor? Downy soft doesn’t begin to describe it. Twice Couric went so far as to help the president-elect answer her own questions. Now that’s the kind of interview a president could get to like! Here was Katie’s actual opening salvo. KATIE COURIC: Are you starting to realize the enormity of your new job? Hard-hitting stuff! And the...

The three network morning shows on Friday almost totally skipped any coverage of President Bush's farewell address to the country on Thursday. Despite having a combined eight hours of air time, NBC's "Today," CBS's "Early Show" and ABC's "Good Morning America" devoted only 55 seconds total to reporting on Bush's speech. Instead, important topics such as "Obama thongs" and cheddar biscuits were highlighted. Over a period of two hours, "The Early Show" ignored the speech entirely. "Good Morning America," which has a similar running time, allowed a mere 17 seconds. The "Today" show, which now encompasses four hours of broadcast...

Near the end of ThursdayÂ’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith unveiled the latest painting by artist Peter Max, a mural of 44 portraits of Barack Obama. Max has created numerous paintings for the Early Show set and Smith praised the artistÂ’s latest work: "Okay, wow. That is really, really, really cool...Wow. Well, that is pretty impressive. I hope somebody in the President-elect's transition office is taking a look at this. That is really amazing. Wow." Smith asked Max: "What is your feeling as an artist as we come up on to this inauguration time and time of change?" Max...

Sarah Palin’s New Interview: Did Tina Fey and Katie Couric exploit her? Yes 71% 575 No 29% 238 Total Votes: 813 http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/showbiz.tonight/

"After an outcry from the White House and conservative bloggers who claimed that the report had been based on falsified documents, CBS retracted the story, saying that the documents' authenticity could not be verified. Rather, who had been with CBS for decades and was one of the most familiar faces in American journalism, was fired by the network the day after the 2004 election."

On Friday morning’s The Early Show on CBS, viewers were treated to what almost seemed like a parody of Barack Obama’s mainstream media paparazzi fawning over the Democratic President-elect, as the show ran a report exploring the question of "How cool is Obama?" and co-hosts Harry Smith and Tracy Smith referred to Obama as "the man" and "the epitome of cool," respectively. Audio of the classic rock group the Chiffons singing "He’s So Fine" even played as the piece on Obama’s "coolness" began. Tracy Smith oozed as she plugged the segment: "We’re actually talking about how a lot of people...

When it comes to bailouts of American business, Barney Frank and the Congress may be just getting started. Nearly two trillion tax dollars have been shoveled into the hole that Wall Street dug and people wonder where the bottom is. As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, it turns out the abyss is deeper than most people think because there is a second mortgage shock heading for the economy. In the executive suites of Wall Street and Washington, you're beginning to hear alarm about a new wave of mortgages with strange names that are about to become all too familiar. If you...

"60 Minutes" Barney Frank lovefest was in full fear on December 14th in its profile of the voluble of the House Banking Committee - portraying Frank as the irascible but lovable public servant who is working 24/7 to save the planet from the financial crisis.  What is skated over is Frank's complicity in its origins, his former partner who was knee deep at Fannie Mae and Frank's little episode with a prostitution ring being run out of his domicile - which of course, he didn't know about - as if any other politician would get away with that jive. 

A military judge must review unaired portions of a CBS "60 Minutes" interview with Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich in which he recounts the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians following a roadside bombing, a military appeals court has ruled. Prosecutors contend that Wuterich may make admissions on those tapes, known as outtakes, that could help them prove him guilty of manslaughter and related offenses in the 2005 slayings in the Iraqi city of Haditha. The Nov. 17 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is the latest in an ongoing skirmish between CBS and the Marine...

Is Harry Smith sad that the Mumbai terrorists missed their intended American and British targets and hit Indians? Strange as it sounds, it's hard to interpret his remark of this morning otherwise. Smith was discussing the attacks on the Early Show with CBS terrorism expert Jere Van Dyk when he made his bizarre observation. View video here.

When Dan Rather filed suit against CBS 14 months ago -- claiming, among other things, that his former employer had commissioned a politically biased investigation into his work on a "60 Minutes" segment about President Bush's National Guard service -- the network predicted the quick and favorable dismissal of the case, which it derided as "old news." So far, Mr. Rather has spent more than $2 million of his own money on the suit. And according to documents filed recently in court, he may be getting something for his money. Using tools unavailable to him as a reporter — including...

After spending much of the spring and summer hyping the dire consequences of rising gas prices, CBS on Thursday night decided the plummeting cost of gas at the pump is really bad news. Noting that “crude settled at about $58 a barrel today, that's about $90 less than it was in July,” fill-in CBS Evening News anchor Harry Smith warned “that comes as a mixed blessing.” Reporter Mark Strassmann found an ecstatic man paying less than $2.00 a gallon, but Strassmann spoiled the mood: “Low gas prices are also bad news and the lower prices go, the worse the news...

American firm found to be illegally transporting tech trash to China, transforming a town in southern China into a toxic wasteland There's little doubt that China is heavily polluted. This was showcased at the Beijing Olympics, which were held under constant fear of smog. The country is also the world's largest CO2 emitter. China and the U.S. have long played the blame game over who is to blame for the other's pollution. NASA studies have shown that as much as 15 percent of the U.S. air pollution is simply smog blown over from China. The Chinese, however, say that it’s...