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Sunday Morning News

Transition of Power: Bush Still Contemplating Three Cabinet Posts, Other High-Profile Positions

Aired December 31, 2000 - 9:32 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President-elect George W. Bush is spending new year's eve on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. A spokesperson says Bush has been chopping cedar and talking to his staff. Bush plans to return to Austin tomorrow.

Upon his return, President-elect Bush still has three cabinet posts to fill as well as some other high profile positions.

CNN's senior White House correspondent John King joins us again from Austin, Texas with more on that.

Hi, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kyra.

And we're told when the president-elect does return to work early in the week he will, indeed, turn his attention quickly to rounding out his team to three cabinet vacancies still left at the Departments of Labor, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy.

Other major posts, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Bush has not picked his choice for that position yet. Or nor has he named a Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, some sources suggesting in that position he might ask the current CIA chief, George Tenet, a Democrat, to stay on at least for a short period of time.

The president-elect also will turn his focus to the slowing economy. He plans a two day economic conference here in Austin to seek out advice from his own economic team and some outside advisers on what they believe to be the reasons for the economic slowdown. This very significant politically, remember, an across-the-board tax cut was the signature issue of the Bush campaign. He says he's committed to going forward with that, but there are some skeptics in an evenly divided Congress so it will be a very tough sell politically.

And there's also an interesting economic argument going on right now that Mr. Bush wants to explore, we're told, in this meeting. Some economists say a tax cut is just the medicine the economy needs, that it would prime economic growth. But others worry about it. In a slowing economy, government tax revenues go down and some economists think a big tax cut on top of that would drain even more money from Washington and run the risk, again, of deficit spending.

Mr. Bush says he'll hear everyone out. But he says make no mistake about it, he campaigned on that across-the-board tax cut and he is committed to pursuing it when he takes office less than a month from now and the new Congress convenes, as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, John King, thanks for the update.

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