JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: At a federal courthouse here in Washington this morning, it was big tobacco against big government. Billions of dollars are at stake, money the federal government is suing to recover for tobacco-related health care costs. The tobacco industry wants the whole case thrown out. CNN senior Washington correspondent Charles Bierbauer joins us now to help sort this out -- Charles.</s>CHARLES BIERBAUER, CNN SR. WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Jeanne, what tobacco is saying that the government discovered just last year: a clause which it had either ignored or rejected for more than 30 years. District Judge Gladys Kessler turned to the government lawyers and said: Well, if the Department of Justice had been rejecting the idea that Medicare fell under the Medical Care Recovery Act for all those years, how do you explain your change in the last year and a half? And then the judge said: You knew you were going to have to answer that question, didn't you? Federal lawyers say that they felt the original ruling that excluded Medicare from the Medical Care Recovery Act was wrong in the first place. What the government is seeking to do is recover some $20 billion a year from tobacco, that it spends on tobacco-related illnesses either through Medicare, through Defense Department medical plans, Veteran's Administration plans, Indian Affairs plans, the Federal Health Employee Benefits program. And what the tobacco companies in this particular instance are doing, are asking Judge Kessler to dismiss this suit. We're not even at the trial phase yet -- Jeanne.</s>MESERVE: Charles Bierbauer, thank you.
Tobacco Companies Ask Federal Judge to Throw Out Suit