NEWS LITE : CHIEF JUSTICE NAILS LICENSE PLATE PUZZLE.

When The Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock asked which automobile was referred to in a license plate that read 1 DIV 0, the reader with the quickest right answer was Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

``Dear Dr. Gridlock: . . . I believe it refers to an Infiniti, since when you divide 0 into 1 the result is infinity,'' the nation's top-ranking judge wrote.

When Ron Shaffer, who writes the column, called Rehnquist's office at the Supreme Court to verify his entry and congratulate him, a delighted Janet Barnes, the chief justice's secretary, asked, ``Did he win?''

Rehnquist's response was published Monday.

Governor Ventura to bring back Body?

Here's a concept to grapple with: Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura may be ready to rumble again.

The tough guy who left wrestling to enter the political ring will appear Aug. 22 at the World Wrestling Federation's Summer Slam, though it remained unclear Monday whether his role will be that of wrestler or referee.

Ventura said only that the event will benefit charity.

``He's going to be taking some vacation time. It's business that is separate from his gubernatorial duties,'' said Ventura spokesman David Ruth, who also refused to elaborate.

Ventura, 47, hasn't really wrestled in more than a decade.

Kinnear's wife got bum billing as writer

Greg Kinnear's wife isn't a writer after all, but the Oscar-nominated actor says she has a tougher job.

Kinnear said in the August issue of Cosmopolitan magazine that an article four years ago mistakenly identified his wife, Helen Labdon, as a writer.

``She doesn't work, but she does so much more than I do,'' Kinnear said. ``She keeps my sanity intact and handles all the details in our lives with such incredible grace that I love her for it.''

Kinnear recently played Meg Ryan's boyfriend in ``You've Got Mail.''

Franz might have left if Caruso had not cratered

Emmy-winning TV cop Dennis Franz says he was close to leaving ``NYPD Blue'' after the first season because he and co-star David Caruso didn't exactly get along like buddies with badges.

Franz, who has won three Emmys during his six-year tenure on the drama, said he has fared decidedly better with Caruso's two replacements, Jimmy Smits and Rick Schroeder.

``I honestly don't know how much longer I would have stayed with the show,'' Franz told TV Guide.

(The crisis was resolved when Caruso bailed from the show to seek stardom on the big screen. He's still looking.)

``Life is too short to be that unhappy with something you should be loving. . . . The work process for me became not enjoyable.''

Franz said Smits' exit after four years was very hard for him because the guys, aww, had grown so close.

Titles reinvented in Cabinet offices

Washington Monthly says the following job titles have been added during the Clinton administration's ``Reinventing Government'' initiative:

Deputy associate deputy secretary; associate deputy assistant secretary; assistant deputy assistant secretary.

Well, the administration did pledge to create jobs.

Go, USA; Khrushchev becomes American

Nikita Khrushchev's son became a U.S. citizen Monday, choosing the material advantages of capitalism 40 years after his father vowed communism would easily surpass the American way of life.

``I'm feeling like a newborn. It's the beginning of a new life,'' the 64-year-old Sergei Khrushchev said after taking the oath of citizenship inside a Roman Catholic school auditorium in Providence, R.I.

At his side was his wife, Valentina Golenko, who also took the oath to defend the United States.

They became American citizens 40 years after Nikita Khrushchev told then-Vice President Richard Nixon on July 24, 1959, during the famous ``kitchen debate'' in Moscow: ``In another seven years we will be on the same level as America. When we catch you up, in passing you by, we will wave to you.''

Another time, the Soviet leader said his country would ``bury'' the United States. Khrushchev has said his father's ``we will bury you'' remark was misunderstood. The remark meant that capitalism would die and that the Soviet economic system would outlive it, he said.

Sergei Khrushchev, once an important missile engineer for the Soviets, and his wife have been living in the United States since he came here in 1991 as a visiting instructor in Cold War history at Brown University in Providence, where he still teaches.

Since then, Khrushchev has become American as a Buick or a Pontiac - in fact, he owns one of each. Khrushchev lives in a ranch house in Cranston, a suburb dotted with lawn sprinklers and grills. The home has central air, a Jacuzzi and an entertainment center.

News Lite is compiled by Karen Duffy from Daily News staff and wire reports

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo: (1) Kubrick considered

In an exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer - half of which will air Wednesday on ``Good Morning America'' and half on ``20/20'' - Tom Cruise speaks for the first time about filming ``Eyes Wide Shut.''

(2) Sergei Khrushchev and Valentina Golenko take the citizenship oath.

(3) Rehnquist

(4) Franz