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Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against CBS is getting whittled down like a redwood at an Alabama beaver party. A Manhattan judge yesterday threw out two more of Rather's claims against the network, including his charge that his former bosses committed fraud by falsely promising to help restore his reputation after he became a "scapegoat" for a discredited story about President Bush's military career. "We are extremely gratified that the court has now dismissed the vast majority of Mr. Rather's claims," CBS said in a statement. Rather's lawyer, Martin Gold, said that despite Judicial Hearing Officer Ira Gammerman's ruling striking...

Not since 9/11 can I remember a worse week than the one we have just experienced. This week the death toll in Iraq went even higher; hundreds died as the government prepared to send more American troops into the war zone. Yet I don't remember even a casual conversation about that as the unimaginable tragedy unfolded at Virginia Tech. Reporters love to cover big stories, but there was no joy in our Washington bureau which carried the biggest part of the load in covering the Virginia Tech horror — for our people, there was only revulsion and a sense of...

Two private advocacy groups told a congressional hearing Tuesday that climate scientists at seven government agencies say they have been subjected to political pressure aimed at downplaying the threat of global warming. The groups presented a survey that shows two in five of the 279 climate scientists who responded to a questionnaire complained that some of their scientific papers had been edited in a way that changed their meaning. Nearly half of the 279 said in response to another question that at some point they had been told to delete reference to "global warming" or "climate change" from a report....

A few years ago my colleague Martin Plissner wrote a piece entitled "The 25 Percent Solution," quoting Rep. Louise Slaughter bemoaning the fact that the United States ranked 60th in women's political leadership, behind Sierra Leone and tied with Andorra. "With women holding barely 15 percent of the seats on Capitol Hill, it will soon trail Iraq and Afghanistan as well," Plissner wrote. The media is agog over the fact that Rep. Nancy Pelosi is about to become speaker of the House, and releases from women's organizations proclaim victories last Tuesday of "historic proportions." This is true. When the Congress...

Democrats stop celebrating, and Republicans, don't despair. I know the Democrats won the recent election on paper, but in the long run the Republicans just might be the big winners of Election 2006. In fact, I think the Republicans set the whole thing up so the Democrats could fail over the next two years, which will bring about a big Republican presidential win in 2008. What other explanation is there? I mean, do you think that Karl Rove and the rest of the Republican brain trust suddenly got stupid? I don't think so. Iraq Iraq looks like a no-win situation....

Gas prices are down, the stock market is at a record high and 60 percent of Americans say the economy is in good shape. So why are Republicans in so much trouble? I've been asked this in the past week by several (mostly rich) Democrats and Republicans, so I picked the brains of a number of pollsters. Kathy Frankovic, director of surveys for CBS News, pointed to the finding in the CBS News/New York Times poll conducted Oct. 5 to 8, which said that despite the increase in the number of people saying the economy was in good shape, they...

<p>The other night Dan Rather was back in center ring. In an hour long interview with CNN's Larry King. Rather spoke with quiet fury about the suits at CBS who treated him, a 44-year employee, so disgracefully. It turns out that at the end, it was the lawyers--not actor-turned corporate honcho Leslie Moonves--who told Rather "we just don't have a place for you." But, as Rather understood--as has anyone watching the networks these last years--CBS News is a cog in an entertainment company.</p>

DAN Rather, who forced Walter Cronkite into early retirement, refused to be interviewed for a documentary on his predecessor, who turns 90 on Nov. 4. Rather is believed to be sulking over the way he was dumped by CBS News after 44 years and replaced by Katie Couric, who graciously agreed to narrate the 90-minute "American Masters" profile of Cronkite. Couric, who'll become the new anchor of "The CBS Evening News" in September, recorded the narration last week, said Catherine Tatge, who wrote, directed and produced "Walter Cronkite: Witness to History," which is to premiere July 26 at 9 p.m....

DAN Rather made some surprising enemies during his many years as an award-winning reporter and anchorman for CBS News - one of them being his "60 Minutes" colleague Morley Safer, who Rather once suggested should have been shot dead. In "Lone Star," an unauthorized bio of Rather out this September, Alan Weisman writes that Safer "has not been a friend of Rather's for years, since their days in Vietnam." The final straw came when Rather took over for Safer not long after Safer's jolting report about the burning of a Vietnam village by a platoon of U.S. Marines. "When Rather...

THE DAN Rathers of New York and Austin, Texas, signal me that the rumor of their impending divorce is as highly exaggerated as the story of Mark Twain's death while he was still alive and kicking. I saw the Rathers in the capital city of Texas, where they have a condo overlooking the Colorado River. They buzz into town from their nearby ranch for games of bridge and barbecue. They always act like teenagers who just met. In fact, the artist Jean says to me that the only "D" word around their house is "date night." The couple just celebrated...

Continued dissatisfaction with President Bush and the Iraq war could spell trouble for Republicans in the fall congressional elections. More than one-third of voters in a CBS News poll say they will think of their vote as a vote against Mr. Bush, while just 14 percent will think of it as a vote for him. Forty-five percent say their view of the president will not be a factor in how they vote. Those numbers contrast sharply with the run-up to the 2002 midterm elections, in which Republicans won historic gains. Four years ago, 31 percent said their vote would be...

The National Geographic Society released the manuscript of what is called "The Gospel of Judas" yesterday. By National Geographic's own account, a team first assembled by the Maecenas Foundation has been working on the text since 2001. As a result of press releases tied to publication of the text, widespread coverage has repeated the claim that this is an authentic and unique representation of the historical relationship between Jesus and Judas, and that Jesus encouraged Judas to betray him. Despite the careful work by scholars that has gone into a document of obvious interest, I have to express disappointment when...

The usual suspects are crying out about a study suggesting whiny babies become conservative adults. Plus, bloggers herald news of 8.5 million Chinese moving into cities. And, are comic book publishers keeping a super hero from the public? Oh Baby! It's been a busy couple of weeks for social scientists. This week, psychologist Jack Block's controversial study is heating up the blogosphere, making it one of the most-cited news stories of the week. Block's study began in the 1960's when he began tracking over 100 nursery school kids in Berkely, California as part of a study of personality. Teachers and...

A lawyer for Osama bin Laden's former driver urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to curb President Bush's use of wartime powers to prosecute terror suspects held at a U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Attorney Neal Katyal, who represents Salim Ahmed Hamdan, told justices the military commissions established by the Pentagon on Mr. Bush's orders are flawed because they violate basic military justice protections. "This is a military commission that is literally unburdened by the laws, Constitution and treaties of the United States," Katyal said. Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito, the newest member of the court, pressed...

If you've bought gasoline in the last few days knows, you know that prices at the pump are on the rise again. Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations, told CBS Radio News the average price of all grades combined is up nearly 15 cents over the last two weeks, to $2.52. That's 40 cents higher than last year at this time. Tom Kloza, an oil analyst for the Oil Price information Service told The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler Tuesday, "This is pretty much typical for this time of year. It seems a little worse...

No American city has done more to defend itself against a terrorist attack than New York. Its police department, 37,000 strong and larger than the standing armies of 84 countries, has transformed itself from a traditional crime-fighting organization into one that places a strong emphasis on fighting terrorism. A thousand cops have been assigned to work exclusively on a new "terrorism beat." And, in an unprecedented move, New York has even stationed its own cops overseas. These changes are all based on New York's belief that having suffered two devastating attacks while the federal government provided for its protection, the...

Legendary broadcast journalist Dan Rather told a packed John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum last night that Comedy Central host Jon Stewart offers “another dimension to the American experience.” “I like him. I like the program,” Rather told a smiling Alex S. Jones, his interlocutor for the evening. After this cheerful beginning, Rather went on to address some of the tougher problems facing the media today, focusing on the market pressures which affect the quality of broadcast news. “Ratings no longer are king. Demographics are,” Rather said, noting that even shows with high ratings can now be taken off the air...

The City of New York will pay tribute to Peter Jennings today when the street where ABC News headquarters is located is renamed in his honor. It is a permanent geographical memorial to the man who left such an indelible mark on the landscape of American journalism. West 66th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue in New York City's Upper West Side will be dubbed "Peter Jennings Way." The Jennings family, ABC News President David Westin, New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and many of Jennings' former colleagues will attend the naming ceremony. Jennings lived close to his office...

BBC rules on impartiality were broken during a report on the Ten O'Clock News, the corporation's governors said. The complaint surrounded Guto Harri's report about the night's edition of Question Time, a month before the General Election last year. Governors said rules were broken when Harri said the then Conservative leader was booed, but did not mention the same thing had happened to Tony Blair. The omission breached BBC guidelines on accuracy and impartiality, they ruled. Interviews However, they also said that overall the report gave a "fair and balanced" account of the event, and did not uphold the broader...

A red-faced auction house was forced to withdraw a letter it believed was written and signed by the late President Ronald Reagan while he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease after it discovered it was a forgery. The autographed letter was supposed to be auctioned off this month, but Bill Panagopulos, president of Alexander Autographs in Greenwich, Conn., told CBSNews.com the letter was withdrawn after the forger came forward and admitted his handiwork. Originally it was believed Reagan wrote the note to a friend in February of 1998, about four years after he mostly disappeared from public view following his announcement...