GWEN IFILL: The State Department today disputed claims it jeopardized the probe of the Blackwater shootings in Iraq. Guards from the private security company killed at least 17 Iraqi civilians last month in Baghdad.
It was widely reported today State Department security officials gave immunity to the guards to get their statements. Since then, the reports said, some of the guards have refused to talk to the FBI, citing the promised immunity.
Today, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack refused to comment on the particulars. He did say this.
SEAN MCCORMACK, State Department Spokesman: We can't immunize people here at the Department of State from federal prosecution. And even with limited protections that we've talked about, that I've read about in the press, those limited protections do not preclude a federal prosecution.
GWEN IFILL: Later, the Justice Department said any suggestion the guards were given immunity from federal criminal prosecution is inaccurate. But the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said it's part of a "well-worn" pattern. "If you get caught," he said, "they will get you immunity. If you get convicted, they will commute your sentence. They are the amnesty administration."
The Iraqi government took steps today to make private security companies more accountable. The ruling cabinet approved draft legislation to remove their immunity from Iraqi law. It was granted by the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004. Prime Minister al-Maliki promised to push the bill through the Iraqi parliament.
The U.S. death toll in Iraq climbed today when three more soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb. But for October, the overall toll could be the lowest in nearly two years: 36 Americans have died in Iraq this month, nearly a quarter of them from non-combat causes.
The latest U.S. report on reconstruction in Iraq found some progress today. Special Inspector General Stuart Bowen said electricity output is the highest since the U.S. invaded in 2003. It's still far below the estimated demand. The report also said, while violence is down, it's still a major concern that slows rebuilding.
President Bush and congressional Democrats butted heads again today over funding the war in Iraq. Mr. Bush insisted Congress act soon on his full request of nearly $200 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. He met with Republican leaders at the White House and afterward criticized any delay.
GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: I know some on the Democrat side didn't agree with my decision to send troops in, but it seems like we ought to be able to agree that we're going to support our troops who are in harm's way.
I know the members feel that way standing with me; I hope the leadership feels that way. It would be irresponsible to not give our troops the resources they need to get their job done because Congress was unable to get its job done.
GWEN IFILL: The president added, as he did last week, that Congress has spent too much time on antiwar measures, investigations and bills it knows he will veto. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected that criticism. He said the president does not have a blank check.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), Senate Majority Leader: We feel very comfortable fighting for America's priorities. We feel very uncomfortable listening to the president talk about what we're doing that's wrong when we know the main problem we have in America today is the inordinate amount of time, effort and money being spent in an intractable civil war in Iraq which has destabilized that region and dropped our standing in the world community.
GWEN IFILL: Democrats have divided over the war funding request. Some want to approve $50 billion to $70 billion to cover just a few months.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today on limiting the scope of a child pornography law. The Bush administration urged the court to uphold a 2003 federal law against promoting child porn. Opponents argued the wording limits legitimate creative expression, including films that portray adolescent sex. We'll have more on this story right after the news summary.
A top Justice Department official apologized today for remarks about black voters. John Tanner heads the voting rights office. In a speech this month, he discussed how voter ID laws affect the elderly and minorities. At one point he said, "Our society is such that minorities don't become elderly the way white people do. They die first." Tanner made his apology at a House hearing today. We'll have more on this story later in the program tonight.
The nominee for attorney general today sought to clarify his view of waterboarding. Michael Mukasey has declined to say flatly the practice of simulated drowning is torture. Today, in a letter to Democrats, he called it "repugnant to me." He pledged to study the issue further and he said he would leave office rather than condone any violation of the law.
Democrats demanded today that the acting head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission resign. Nancy Nord has opposed a bill drafted by Democrats to give the commission more money, personnel and authority. That's after a flood of tainted products were recalled this year. Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it's time for Nord to go.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), Speaker of the House: I said that any commission chair who does not, in the face of the facts that are so clear, says we don't need any more authority or any more resources to do our job does not understand the gravity of the situation and does not understand the concerns that America's parents have for the safety of their children.
GWEN IFILL: White House officials did not react to calls for Nord's resignation. Instead, they voiced "serious concerns" about provisions in the Democrats' bill. They objected to giving mandatory compensation to whistleblowers and to letting the 50 states enforce safety standards themselves.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said the real issue is whether the bill makes things better.
DANA PERINO, White House Spokeswoman: It's not about the price tag; it's about the policy. And there are a couple of different policies in there, like the whistleblower provision, that we think might incentivize people to wait until a problem is too severe so that they could get a financial award rather than stopping something immediately. So it's just those particular provisions, and it's something I think that we can work through.
GWEN IFILL: The bill is now working its way through the Senate.
President Bush today nominated retired Army General James Peake to be secretary of veterans affairs. Peake spent 40 years in military medicine before retiring in 2004. The president said his new nominee would work "tirelessly" to get rid of backlogs in VA care and benefits. He would replace James Nicholson. The nomination is subject to Senate confirmation.
Six French charity workers faced kidnapping charges in Chad today. They were among 17 Europeans involved in trying to fly 103 children out of the north African nation. The government challenged claims the children were orphans from Sudan. We have a report narrated by Damon Green of Independent Television News.
DAMON GREEN, ITV News Correspondent: They flew to Africa on what they say was a rescue mission. Now they're facing charges of kidnapping. Seventeen Europeans locked in a courthouse in eastern Chad where the country's president has accused them of stealing children to sell to pedophiles and organ banks.
Among those under arrest, 74-year-old pilot Jacques Wilmart. These are the children Wilmart collected from the refugee camps, 103 of them. According to the charity that organized the mission, all orphans and all refugees from the brutal conflict in Darfur in western Sudan.
But it now emerges that many of them are from Chad, and officials from UNICEF are trying to establish if they really are orphans. The French families who paid thousands of dollars to bring them out of Africa insist no one is being bought or sold.
"This wasn't about adoption," says this father. "It was just to save lives, to save the children."
In Chad, they see it differently, claiming the charity workers pretended the children were sick to provide an excuse for bringing them out. Now Western diplomacy will have a job to bring out its own citizens, let alone the children they set out to rescue.
GWEN IFILL: French officials condemned the private group's actions and said they could discredit other humanitarian efforts in the region.
The head of the world's largest brokerage firm, Merrill Lynch, was forced out of his job today. Stanley O'Neal's departure came after the company posted the worst quarterly loss in its history. He was blamed for heavy investments in subprime mortgages and other risky debts. We'll have more on this story later in the program.
The price of oil dropped sharply today. In New York, it was down more than three dollars a barrel, after Mexico said it's resuming full production.
But on Wall Street, stocks were down, as consumer confidence in October fell to its lowest point in two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 77 points to close at 13,792. The Nasdaq fell less than one point to close at 2,816.
