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A pair of trivial stories intruded on serious business at the Pentagon. An on-court brawl in the NBA and a mountaineering adventure in Oregon overshadowed the swearing-in ceremonies for Robert Gates, the new Secretary of Defense. CBS and NBC both led with the story of the lost trio of climbers on Mount Hood: the death of one in a snow cave and the feared loss of the other two down a lethal cliff face qualified as the Story of the Day.

NBC covered the climbers' plight most heavily: Kerry Sanders led with Kelly James' death some 300 feet below the summit and the as yet futile search for Brian Hall and Jerry Cooke, showing stunning footage of helicopter searches along snow-packed ridges. They are thought to have fallen into The Gullies "where 13 other mountaineers have died in the last 40 years."

Peter Alexander (at the tail of the Sanders videostream) followed up with survival tips for those of us contemplating a December mountain climb. CBS' Jerry Bowen had already shown us how snow caves work last Friday.

Andrew Tyndall 12/19/06 9:57:59 pm

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