NPR 2009-07-16

Supreme 1 Court nominee 2 Sonia Sotomayor held her ground through another day of intense questioning by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today. President Obama's pick to replace retiring Justice David Souter refused to be drawn 3 out on the abortion 4 matter, saying she could not talk about the issue in the abstract. She's also stuck by her previous statement about a wise Latino woman possibly making a better ruling than a white man without the same life experience. As interpreting the law, the judge said a host of factors go into that, including facts, theory, precedents 5. "We can’t change law. We’re not lawmakers. But we change our view of how to interpret certain laws." Some senators seemed to be indicating today they would like to hear more specifics from the nominee though. Senator Arlen Specter said while Sotomayor has an exemplary record, he noted 6 he and other lawmakers had largely failed to elicit 7 any specifics from the judge.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a wide-ranging news conference today where she said she is appalled 8 by Iran's post-election crackdowns on protesters. Mrs. Clinton sent a strong message, saying Iran has a limited time to accept the administration's offer on engagement. On the country's nuclear program, she also had a clear message for Tehran. "Iran does not have a right to nuclear military capacity. And we’re determined 9 to prevent that. But it does have a right to civil nuclear power if it reestablishes the confidence of the international community that it will use its programs exclusively for peaceful purposes." In defending the administration's outreach efforts to Iran, Clinton said while an alternative to a national security arsenal-diplomacy is important, the US, in her words, cannot be afraid or unwilling 10 to engage."

The Space Shuttle Endeavor is apparently 11 just moments from lifting off after five failed attempts at getting the shuttle and its seven-member crew into orbit. Countdown is now underway. We go to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Sound suppression water system has been activated 12, protecting Endeavor and the launch pad from acoustic 13 energy. We’re

 going for main engine start. We have main engine start, 4-3-2-1, booster ignition, and lift-off of Endeavor. Completing Kibo, and fulfilling Japan’s hope for an out-of-this-world space laboratory.

Endeavor and its crew begin a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. It will deliver the final pieces of Japan’s space lab and over the course of the mission perform five scheduled spacewalks. NASA has eight missions remaining to complete construction of the space station, a 100-billion-dollar project that involves 16 nations.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 256 points to end the session at 8,616. That was a gain of more than three percent. The NASDAQ ended the day up 63 points. The S&P climbed 26 points today.

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Communications giant AT&T and the company largest union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract covering more than 18,000 employees in the Midwest. According to the leaders of the Communications Workers of America, the tentative deal comes after five months of negotiations 14, and is expected to be voted on by the rank and file within the next several days. AT&T is still negotiating in four other districts and is also in discussion with another of its unions in the Midwest. Proposed three-year contract covers workers in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana. It would call for wage increases of three percent for the first two years and 2.75% for the final year of the agreement.

A group of economists 15 and academics issued an open letter today to the Congress and the White House, arguing the Federal Reserve’s decision should be protected from the political process. NPR’s Yuki Noguchi has more.

The petition calling for the Federal Reserve's independence comes at a time when its Chairman Ben Bernanke finds himself defending actions taken during the financial crisis last year. 175 economists, mostly representing universities, said the Central Bank’s first priority should remain focused on monetary 16 policy. It should be allowed to tighten 17 or loosen monetary access without answering to Congress. Interfering 18 with that autonomy, the economists argue in the brief letter would be harmful. Meanwhile, a House bill proposing to give Congress more oversight 19 over the Fed is gaining steam, and at the same time the Obama administration is proposing to give the Fed greater responsibility to oversee 20 systemic financial risks. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

Once again, repeating this hour’s top story: the Space Shuttle Endeavor has lifted off after five failed attempts at getting the shuttle into orbit. Its crew will begin a sixteen-day mission to the space station.