To the Point

Does Vice President Dick Cheney Have Too Much Power?

Five days after last weekend's shooting accident in Texas, President Bush said Vice President Cheney's handling of it was "just fine" with him. But during the interim, it appeared there was growing tension between their staffs. Today, Cheney spoke out about it again during a speech in Wyoming. Outside the White House, even Republicans are asking if Cheney's unprecedented power and independence is damaging to the President. Has Cheney become a sort of "co-president" whose penchant for secrecy makes him unaccountable to the public? If the President wants it that way, does it really matter? We get perspective from journalists, scholars, and Cheney's friends and former colleagues, including former Senator Alan Simpson.Making News: 1,500 Missing after Mudslide in PhilippinesOn the Philippine island of Leyte an entire village including an elementary school is covered in 30 feet of mud. Residents, who had evacuated after days of heavy rain, came home to encounter the massive landslide. Out of a population of 1857, almost 1800 are missing. David Petley, Director of the International Landslide Center at the University of Durham in Great Britain, elaborates on some of the less visible reasons for the disaster.Reporter's Notebook: LA Race Riots Cast Light on Black-Brown RelationsTwo people have died in more than a week of bloody violence between blacks and Latinos in Los Angeles County jails. After some inmates were transferred to state prisons and others were temporarily segregated by race, the violence has died down. Sheriff Lee Baca blames the trouble on gang members who've brought their grievances in off the streets. We get two views, from nationally syndicated columnist and civil rights activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson and attorney and author Nicolas Vaca.