NPR 2008-12-16

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From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack¹ Speer.

President-elect Barack Obama is again saying there is no indication from a review by his own lawyers that shows he had any direct contact with disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Speaking in Chicago today, Mr. Obama said details of an internal probe would be withheld² for several days, however, at the request of the US Attorney's Office, so as not to compromise their investigation³.

"There is nothing in the review that was presented to me, that in any way contradicted my earlier statements, that, er, this appalling⁴ set of circumstances that we've seen arise had nothing to do with my office, and that, you know, those facts will be forthcoming to all of you in due course."

Mr. Obama meanwhile announced today he's chosen Steven Chu to be his energy secretary, he said he's picked Environmental Protection Agency chief, ex-Environmental Protection Agency chief Carol Browner to handle White House energy policy and Lisa Jackson was his picked EPA.

US Supreme⁵ Court ruled today the tobacco industry must face dozens of lawsuits⁶ across the country, alleging⁷ cigarette makers⁹ engaged in false and deceptive¹⁰ practices in marketing¹¹ light cigarettes. NPR's Nina Totenberg has that story.

By a 5-to-4 vote, the court rejected the tobacco industry claim that it's immune from such state lawsuits under the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertizing law. Writing for the court majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said that the federal law does not exempt¹² the tobacco industry from the regular anti-fraud provisions of state law. Georgetown law professor David Vladeck represents a number of antismoking groups.

"We won a right to sue the tobacco industry for lying about whether light and low-tar cigarettes are actually safer than regular cigarettes."

The Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and at least one federal court have already concluded that light cigarettes are no safer than regular full-flavor cigarettes. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

Closing arguments began today in the case of five Moslem¹³ men accused of planning a terror attack against soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey¹⁴. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports.

Prosecutors¹⁵ say the FBI informants prevented the men from killing¹⁶ soldiers on Fort Dix. Defense¹⁷ attorneys say their clients were goaded¹⁸ into planning an attack by the informants themselves. The Fort Dix case only came to light after a clerk at a local Circuit City alerted law enforcement. He reported seeing a video of men firing assault rifles and praising Allah in Arabic. A short time later, the FBI infiltrated¹⁹ the group of men, and caught them on tape planning an attack on Fort Dix. Those recordings²⁰ were played extensively during the 26-day trial. Assistant US Attorney Michael Hammer said that the men had the mind-set to carry out an attack. The defendant²¹ says the words were just bravado²² in tough talk. The men never attacked the base. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, New York.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65 points today.

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While the White House is still saying no firm decisions have been made, Detroit is waiting to hear what kind of help might be forthcoming for domestic automakers who've said they needed immediate²⁴ cash infusion²⁵ to survive. Senator Carl Levin said he expects the deal will include around 8 billion dollars in immediate loans for General Motors and 7 billion dollars for Chrysler, Ford²⁶ said it does not yet need access to federal dollars. Levin says he expects the deal to be similar to a plan that was blocked by some Republican lawmakers. However, a Treasury²⁷ Department official would not say how long it might be before an announcement is made.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy meets with French auto²³ executives today as the global financial crisis spreads to the European auto industry. NPR's Sylvia poggioli reports from Paris.

The heads of Renault,Nissan and Fiat²⁸ say the car market will decline further next year. Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of French maker⁸ Renault, says he does not see a rapid end to the crisis in the auto industry, adding that if financial markets remain as they are, we will all be having problems. Sergio Marchionne, head of Italy's Fiat has predicted that only 6 car makers will survive in the long run from the current 50, adding that 2009 will be the most difficult year he has ever seen in his life. German car maker BMW is putting up more than 130 million dollars in aid for its German dealer²⁹ network. Robert Bosch, Europe's biggest car parts firm plans to cut 2,000 jobs while Volkswagen will discuss cost cuts this week. Sylvia poggioli, NPR News, Paris.

Tens of thousands remain without electricity in New York today following a massive ice storm last week. In  Massachusetts school is out in a number of communities there as utility crews continue their work. All told hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Northeast were affected³⁰.