This Morning from CBS News, Jan. 12, 2017
1st encounter
President-elect Donald Trump held a free-wheeling news conference at Trump Tower yesterday -- the first one he’s held since winning the presidency in November. It was meant to outline how Mr. Trump will deal with his business once he’s in the White House, but it focused instead on Russian election interference, and what Moscow may or may not know about him.
“Wholly inadequate”
President-elect Donald Trump has decided he will not sell his assets or place them in a blind trust, as government ethics experts had urged. He insists he can hand the Trump Organization over to his kids, temporarily, while he runs the country, without compromising his position as a world leader. Walter Shaub, the head of the government ethics office, disagrees.
Porous border
With the president-elect dismissing the need for a blind trust, all that will stand between Mr. Trump and and the Trump Organization is his word that he will keep its operations at arm’s length. Experts say this porous legal barrier is ripe for abuse.
Conflicts of interest
Secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson faced aggressive questioning yesterday at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about his possible conflicts of interest involving ExxonMobil, his position regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia and his views on climate change.
The real scandal?
There was a certified Donald Trump scandal this week, but Will Rahn argues it had nothing to do with Russia or intelligence. At the president-elect’s news conference, the issue of vaccines did not come up once and that, Rahn says, is a shame, as Mr. Trump’s coddling of vaccine deniers could affect normal people a lot more than the supposed goings-on of the FSB.
Repeal and replace
Encouraged by President-elect Trump, Republican lawmakers are planning to pull the plug on Obamacare. But we look at how the GOP’s plan to use state-run risk pools in a post-Obamacare world could make it harder for patients with preexisting conditions to get health insurance.
“Smart guns”
An MIT freshman says he’s developed a “smart” gun which, in theory, could save lives. But the firearms industry hasn’t embraced the idea. We visit Colorado for a demonstration of the invention, which relies on a fingerprint sensor.
Fuel costs
The vital fuel on which millions of people worldwide rely daily -- coffee -- is likely to see a significant price hike this year. The price increase will be driven by lackluster supply and growing consumption in the U.S., China and India. One of the key culprits behind the drop in supply, is Mother Nature herself.
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