NPR 2009-11-06

From NPR News in Washington, I’m Lakshmi Singh.

The Fort Hood 1 military base in Texas is on lockdown because of a mass shooting today. NPR’s Pentagon correspondent Mary Louise Kelly has been covering developments. She is in the studio with us now.

What do we know so far about these casualties?

Lakshmi, what we have are reports of, in a neighborhood of seven dead, more injured, possibly upwards 2 of a dozen wounded. These reports are not yet confirmed by the Army, but they are confirming that there was a shooting, that there are people injured, some dead. The shooting we know took place about 90 minutes ago, so that’s around 2:30 PM Eastern Time, around 1:30 local. There are also reports that there were, there might have been more than one shooter involved, again that is not yet being confirmed by the army.

And we’ve heard reports that at least one suspect is in custody 3, what do you know about this?

We don’t know very much at all right now, much more questions than answers. So again all that the Army is confirming right now is an incident about 90 minutes ago at Fort Hood. Fort Hood is a massive Army base about 40,000 troops base. There are all Army and it's down in Killeen, Texas, which for those, you know, Texas. It’s about halfway 4 between Austin and Waco.

OK, thank you. That’s NPR’s Pentagon correspondent Mary Louise Kelly.

Two powerful lobbying groups representing doctors and older Americans are endorsing 5 President Obama’s healthcare plan. The president made an unannounced appearance at the White House daily briefing today to thank the American medical association NVAARP.

"They would not be with us if they believed that reform would in any way damage the critical and sacred doctor-patient relationship. Instead they are supporting reform because they’ve seen firsthand what's broken about our health care system."

There are critics argue the plan will severely 6 undermine the quality of health care.

Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas has told members of his party that he will not run in upcoming elections because of his frustration 7 over peace talks with Israel. NPR’s Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Jerusalem.

According to aides, Abbas told members of his Fatah party that he feels he can no longerlead the party in the election slated 8 for January though it's unclear if that is his final decision. Abbas has threatened not to run in the past only to be convinced otherwise whether it’s a political tactic 9 meant to send a message to Israel and the United States or a personal decision by the Palestinian leader, there is no doubt that the Palestinians are demoralized. They hoped the Obama administration would be able to pressure Israel to stop settlement expansion. Palestinians say without a complete settlement freeze, they can’t resume peace talks. Israel has agreed to a temporary and partial freeze but says there should be no pre-conditions for negotiations 10. Yesterday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the dream of an independent Palestinian state may have to be abandoned.

That’s NPR’s Lourdes Garcia-Navarro.

This is NPR.

President Obama is making good on a campaign promise today to meet with leaders of hundreds of Indian tribes. Native American leaders gathered at the Interior Department for a day-long conference. NPR’s Scott Horsley reports.

President Obama promised during the campaign to hostan annual summit with tribal 11 leaders. They are talking about economic development and how to improve health care and education in Indian country. Mr. Obama also directed his cabinet secretaries to produce detailed 12 plans in the next three months for improving consultation 13 with Indian leaders.

"I know what it means to feel ignored and forgotten, and what it means to struggle. So you will not be forgotten as long as I'm in this White House."

Mr. Obama acknowledged that unemployment on some Indian reservations is as high as 80%, and he said one in four Native Americans live in poverty. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

Federal prosecutors 14 have announced more arrests in the insider trading case involving Wall Street traders, lawyers and hedge fund managers, at least 14 people are charged in a multi-million-dollar scheme spearheaded by Galleon 15 Group founder 16 Raj Rajaratnam, one of America's wealthiest man.

Looking at numbers from Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 200 points at 10,006 at last check. The NASDAQ was up 15 points at 2,105.

Updating our top story, the Fort Hood military base in Texas is on lockdown now because of a mass shooting today. Media reports state at least seven people are dead, twelve others wounded.