CNN news 2008-12-02 加文本

From the cnn Center in Atlanta on this first of December, can you believe it? Good morning to you, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Well, thank you for checking in with us. Let's take a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

From speculation to confirmation, Barack Obama is set to announce his nomination of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state this morning and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as homeland security chief. Susan Rice, a Clinton administration steward, is expected to be the pick for U. S. ambassador to the United Nations, and D. C. attorney Eric Holder is expected to be Obama's choice for attorney general.

Also filing some other key positions here. Defense Secretary Incumbent, we should say Robert Gates, is expected to keep his current job. And Democratic officials also say retired General Jim Jones will be named national security advisor.

Meanwhile, President Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India. This comes of course in the aftermath of a 60-hour terror siege in Mumbai that killed close to 200 people including six Americans. The White House says President Bush has assured Indian officials that the United States will put its full weight behind that ongoing terror investigation.

Plans under way to bolster U. S. security. The Pentagon expects to have some 20, 000 uniformed troops trained to work with state and local officials if there is a terrorist attack. But critics say such a plan would strain the military, giving them too large role in our domestic law enforcement. The Bush administration has pushed for a heightened homeland security, or rather, homeland military role since the middle of this decade.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin back in the spotlight today and back on a campaign trail as well. The former Republican vice-presidential nominee is in Georgia today, trying to give Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss a big boost before tomorrow's runoff election. Chambliss is facing Democrat Jim Martin in this runoff. And the runoff was ordered as neither candidate received the 50% plus one vote needed on Election Day to win outright. (WWw.hxen.net)

Holiday shopping season getting off to a pretty good start. A survey found shoppers spent about 7% more in malls and websites during this past Thanksgiving weekend than they did last year. And for Cyber Monday, that is today, the National Retail Federation is expecting more than 84 million people to shop online from either home or work.

And be sure, of course, to stay with cnn. com 24/7 for news from all around the world, and that we'll have updates right here throughout the day.