UPI VIDEO NEWS 01.03.08

Obama takes the lead in Iowa.

Senator Barack Obama has grabbed the number one Democratic spot in Iowa as voting for the 2008 presidential election begins there today. That's according to a new poll just released. Barack Obama is in a four-point lead over John Edwards. Hillary Clinton has faded to third. In the Republican race, Mike Huckabee expanded his lead six points over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson is in third place. Today's contest in Iowa kicks off a state-by-state battle to choose Republican and Democratic candidates for the November election to replace President Bush.

Meanwhile, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is denying that he'll run for president. There's been speculation recently that the mayor may jump into the race after it was announced that he would attend a forum next week. That forum is being led by a bipartisan group that believes the Republican and Democratic parties are out of touch. Bloomberg is now independent. Earlier today, he said he's going to focus on being mayor and wants to see an independent approach in the '08 elections to stop partisan bickering and special interests.

The U.S. Justice Department is launching an investigation into the CIA's destruction of those videotapes. The tapes showed harsh interrogation techniques of terrorism suspects. The CIA says it acted lawfully, but critics say the agency ignored court orders and investigators' requests that it hand over evidence in various terrorism cases.

A California congressman is retiring after being diagnosed with cancer. Democrat Tom Lantos says he will not seek re-election this year because of his disease's treatment and development. The 79-year-old, who's the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says he has esophageal cancer. Lantos is the latest of more than a dozen members to announce plans to leave the House at the end of the year.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.20.07

Giuliani hospitalized for flu-like symptoms.

Doctors say Republican Rudy Giuliani can go home today after spending the night in the hospital. The presidential candidate was admitted in St. Louis yesterday with flu-like symptoms. He'd been campaigning in Missouri, preparing for the Republican primary there in February. There's no word yet on when the former New York mayor would leave the hospital today.

White House staffers are returning to work today following a fire that broke out in their building in the White House compound. Yesterday, smoke billowed from the historic Eisenhower executive office building. The fire reportedly started in the ceremonial offices of Vice President Dick Cheney, although he was in the White House at the time. Officials the source of the fire may have been an electrical closet or telephone bank. There were no reports of any injuries.

The Democratic presidential candidates are virtually neck and neck with just two weeks until the Iowa caucuses. A new poll out shows 30 percent of likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers support Senator Hillary Clinton as the nominee. Senator Barack Obama trails closely behind at 28 percent and Senator John Edwards comes in at 26 percent. The poll's sampling error is at plus or minus 4 percentage points, making the race nearly a tie. On the Republican side, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee leads the GOP pack at 33 percent. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney comes in second place at 25 percent.

The CIA is expected to begin turning over documents to Congress related to the destruction of terror suspect videotapes. The agency reportedly agreed to give up the material after a House committee chairman prepared subpoenas for officials and attorneys. The tapes were apparently destroyed in 2005 and showed the use of harsh interrogation techniques on two Al Qaeda suspects that year.