NPR 2008-04-04

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Transcript¹

From NPR news, in Washington, I am Jack² Speer.

Georgia and Ukraine may not have formally got on the path toward NATO membership today, but the alliance did pledge eventual³ membership for the two ex-Soviet states. And Bush administration officials are counting that as a success. NPR’s Michele Kelemen reports.

NATO stopped short of offering Ukraine and Georgia so-called membership action plans. But the US and some of the newer NATO states push hard to get a final communiqué that says those countries will become members of the alliance. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said NATO’s open-door policy probably won’t be popular in Russia. “This is an unequivocal statement. Yes, I do not frankly⁴ think that is probably a very popular position in Moscow.” Rice also hailed what she called a breakthrough agreement over missile defense⁵. NATO endorsed⁶ US plans for a missile shield and recognized the protection it would give to Europe. Rice said she hopes the US can persuade Russia that it is in its interest to cooperate on missile defense. Michele Kelemen, NPR news, Bucharest.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed moved to assist the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns in order to prevent a potentially damaging blow to the nation’s economy. More from NPR’s Giles Snyder.

Testifying before the Senate Banking⁷ Committee, Bernanke said Federal officials could not let Bear Stearns go under, because of its extensive reach in financial markets. “The sudden failure of Bear Stearns likely would have led to a chaotic⁸ unwinding of positions in those markets and could have severely⁹ shaken confidence.” Bernanke and other major players in the deal to sell Bear Stearns to JP Morgan Chase were on Capitol Hill to defend the 29-billion-dollar rescue. The deal has sparked debate on whether the government has improperly¹⁰ risked public funds. The Democratic Chairman of the committee Christopher Dodd of Connecticut questioned whether Bear got preferential treatment while many Americans are struggling under mortgage debt. Giles Snyder, NPR news, Washington.

Several veteran airline inspectors¹² today told lawmakers they were basically ignored by their supervisors¹⁴ when they raised concerns about inspections¹⁵ of discount carrier Southwest Airlines. Inspectors in a House Transportation Committee hearing said supervisors of the Federal Aviation Administration looked the other way, in one instance removing an office manager from his job when he complained. Calvin Scovel is Inspector¹¹ General of the Department of Transportation. He says in some cases the airline was given the OK to continue fly non-inspected airplanes. “The balance has tipped too heavily in favor of collaboration¹⁶ at the expense of effective oversight¹⁷ and appropriate enforcement.” The FAA since proposed fines of more than 10 million dollars against Southwest.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama raised a bit less money last month according to his campaign though the frontrunner for the nomination¹⁸ still apparently¹⁹ took in about 40 million dollars. The number is likely to give him a huge financial advantage over rival Hillary Clinton. The Clinton camp says it raised 20 million dollars last month.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 20 points today to close at 12,626. This is NPR.

A New York Times reporter is among two foreign journalists who have purportedly²⁰ been detained in Zimbabwe amid signs President Robert Mugabe might now be prepared to turn to intimidation²¹ as he seeks to stave off an electoral threat to his 28-year-old rule. 5 days after the election was held there, the country’s electoral commission still has not released results of the disputed presidential vote. Condition of Times reporter identified by the Paper’s Barry Bearak. Another reporter has also reportedly been detained.

The Department of Education says a growing number of families are taking advantage of their right under the No Child Left Behind law to switch schools. Though the department says many remain unaware²² of the options available to them. NPR’s Larry Abramson reports.

 No Child Left Behind requires the schools making inadequate²³ progress must notify parents of their right to change schools. They must also offer tutoring services. But this new report says only 1% of the 6 million eligible²⁴ students took advantage of their right to switch and only 17% of those eligible got extra help. One reason is poor communication. At some urban schools only a quarter of eligible parents said they knew about the school choice option, and only half said they knew they could get tutoring. The number of students taking advantage of these options has grown, but that may be in part because a growing number of schools are failing to meet federal standards. Under No Child Left Behind all students must be making steady progress toward the goal of proficiency²⁵ in reading and math by 2014. Larry Abramson, NPR news, Washington.

 No.2 US PC maker¹³ Dell today said it would be cutting more than the 8,800 jobs it had initially²⁶ announced as the company seeks to trim its expenses by at least 3 billion dollars a year. The company Monday announced plans to close a desktop²⁷ PC plant in Austin Texas.