AP Network News. I’m Jackie Beshara.
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A suicide attack has killed more US marines in Iraq, but officials say they don’t know how many are dead. The suicide attack took place west of Baghdad where a marine unit was operating. Two witnesses on the Jordanian side of the border say a man attempted to drive into Jordan from Iraq following the attack, but was believed to have been apprehended in a refuge camp that straddles the Jordan-Iraq border.
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If defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld had any questions about what his boss thinks of his job performance, today should leave no doubts. President Bush personally asked Rumsfeld to stay on. White House correspondent Mark Smith has more.
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--- According to a senior administration official, the president and his defense chief talked it over in the Oval Office and agreed he should stay at the Pentagon for the time being. The official says Bush feels Rumsfeld is the right person at this moment in history to lead US armed forces in the war on terror.
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The president also thinks former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik is the right man to protect the homeland. Bush announced today his nomination of Kerik as homeland secretary. Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani says Kerik is an excellent choice.
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--- Bernie is one of the few people that lived through a terrorist attack, and had to deal with it from a command level, so he’ll understand what’s necessary for that. And he also understands the position New York is in as one of the primary targets.
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Kerik led rescue operations on 9/11.
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Health and human services secretary Tommy Thompson is on his way out. Thompson gave the president his resignation today. He is the eighth cabinet member to decide not to stay on during Bush’s second term.
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There’s been another search of Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch in California, but police aren’t saying what they’re looking for. AP special correspondent Linda Deutsche reports it’s one search among many.
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--- They have been conducting them continuously since Jackson was arrested. And there are hundreds and hundreds of search warrants.
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This is AP Network News.
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If the Salvation Army bell ringers look a little stiff to you, it’s because they’re cardboard in the south. The Salvation Army is using animated cardboard cutouts to staff its red donation kettles across the south. Mark Brown is with the Birmingham Salvation Army.
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--- We have the support. We have people who are helping us. Just not enough to raise the kind of money we need.
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The cutouts bear the image of a uniformed Salvation Army officer and feature a motorized arm waving a silent cardboard bell. Anyone who approaches will hear a loud jingling sound from a speaker and a cherry, “Merry Christmas. God bless you.”
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Remember the Alamo? A copy of the letter a Texas commander wrote that promised victory or death at the battle of the Alamo has sold for nearly $300,000 at auction. A Sotheby spokeswoman says the letter from William Travis is one of only four known copies.
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