This Morning from CBS News, Dec. 14, 2016
Old friends
The Trump transition team says secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson is already a diplomat. As CEO of a huge global corporation, ExxonMobil, Tillerson has developed strong ties to more than 50 countries. His critics are focused on just one of them, however. We look at the potential obstacles for Tillerson’s confirmation by the Senate.
Big Oil man
Rex Tillerson has had only one job since graduating from college -- working at ExxonMobil. Now the energy giant CEO may well be poised to embark on a second career as America’s chief diplomat. We examine how the veteran oil man, chosen by President-elect Trump as his secretary of state, might alter U.S. energy policy if confirmed for the job.
Foes no more
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump attacked Goldman Sachs as epitomizing Wall Street’s toxic influence on Washington. Yet the bank once reviled as a “vampire squid” for its role in the 2008 financial crisis is again riding high, with the president-elect tapping current and former execs for key roles in his administration. What’s behind the revival of “Government Sachs?”
Nightmare not over
With thousands of people still trapped there, the Syrian regime resumed bombing rebels’ shrinking swath of Aleppo today after what had been a night of calm, quashing hopes that the brutal aerial bombardment might finally be over. Both sides blame each other for the resumption violence, but Syria’s dictator has shown he’s willing to claim victory by any means necessary.
Arctic blast
Millions of Americans face dangerous cold as Arctic air blankets the northern half of the country. Temperatures plunged overnight from Montana to the Great Lakes. The frigid blast comes before a a major storm takes aim at much of the country. It’s expected to deliver snow and ice from the Mountain West to the East Coast, starting Thursday.
Handling hacking
Will Rahn argues that Russia’s hacking of Democratic servers was an affront to U.S. sovereignty and it must be investigated by Congress -- but it didn’t deliver Donald Trump victory. He says all the facts, nonetheless, must be rooted out and made public, and if Trump is smart about it, Rahn says he’ll change his tune and welcome such an investigation.
More top news:
U.S.
Prosecutors detail months leading up to Charleston church massacre
Boy trapped in snowbank for hours dies, another hospitalized
Babson College lifts ban on two Trump-supporting students
World
Dream come true for Afghanistan’s “Messi boy”
U.S. cuts arms sales to key ally over civilian deaths
2 border tunnels found leading from Mexico into U.S.
Politics
Source: Attempts to hack DNC go back as far as July 2015
Donald Trump picks Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke for interior secretary
John Kasich signs 20-week abortion ban, vetoes stricter provisions
President Obama signs 21st Century Cures act
Business
Cars that dodge repair bills and cost the least to fix
Why more borrowers are falling behind on their credit cards
20 top tech products for the holidays
Health
Where you live may determine how you die
Drug use by U.S. teens drops to all-time low
Science and tech
Polar vortex returns: Here’s where it will be coldest
Uber self-driving cars to hit San Francisco roads “very soon”
