SPB News for Saturday.

42% Want McCain to Answer 3:00 a.m. Phone Call — Before Hillary Clinton was declared the winner in Texas, most American voters had read, seen, or heard about her 3:00 a.m. telephone commercial. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 43% had seen at least part of the commercial …

· McCain's New Web Ad Links Him to Churchill, Roosevelt

Tax rebate letter costs $42 million
An IRS mailing to inform taxpayers about upcoming rebate checks comes with a big price tag. Full story

US puts ships from Syria on watchlist The United States has put ships making port calls in Syria on a watchlist, an official said Thursday, as Washington ratcheted up the pressure on Damascus over its alleged links with terrorism. Syria was placed on a so-called "Port Security Advisory List" amid "concerns about the connections between Syria and international terrorist organizations," the State Department's deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

Officials Lean Toward Keeping Next Iraq Assessment Secret A new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq is scheduled to be completed this month, according to U.S. intelligence officials. But leaders of the intelligence community have not decided whether to make its key judgments public, a step that caused an uproar when key judgments in an NIE about Iran were released in November.

Who leaked the details of a CIA-Mossad plot against Iran? By Yossi Melman The Bush administration is prolonging the hunting season against journalists. The latest victim is James Risen, The New York Times reporter for national security and intelligence affairs. About three months ago, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena against him, ordering Risen to give evidence in court. A heavy blackout has been imposed on the affair... But conversations with several sources who are familiar with the affair indicate that Risen has been asked to testify as part of an investigation aimed at revealing who leaked apparently confidential information about the planning of secret Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad missions concerning Iran's nuclear program.

AP chief: Press freedoms are among casualties of terrorist attacks on US The shadow of the Sept. 11 terror attacks is eclipsing press freedom and other constitutional safeguards in the United States, Associated Press President and chief executive Tom Curley said at the annual dinner of the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation on Thursday. "Congress steps back from its constitutional role of executive oversight. Civilian oversight of the military wanes. A Justice Department interprets laws in ways that extend police powers. More drastically, prisons are established in places where government or military operatives circumvent due process or control trials," Curley said in accepting the foundation's First Amendment Leadership Award.

Commander warns of Qaida threat to US 'elections' Al-Qaida [al-CIAduh] terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States to maintain their credibility and ability to recruit followers, the U.S. military commander in charge of domestic defense said Thursday. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, also told reporters he has not seen any direct threats tied to the U.S. presidential 'elections.' But he said it would be rash to think that such threats are not there.

Missing FAA badges The federal government insists it does it's best to keep the traveling public safe and secure, but apparently dozens of federal inspectors failed to do that with their own credentials. An NBC5 investigation reveals over the past 5 years, 112 FAA aviation inspector badges have been stolen or lost. Aviation expert Denny Kelly says "with that badge you can get in the cockpit in flight."