NPR 2009-09-14

President Obama says he's willing to consider compromise variations to his plan for overhauling 1 the nation’s health care system but only if he’s convinced they will work.

"I have no interest in having a bill get passed that fails, that doesn’t work. You know, I intend to be president for a while. And once this bill passes, I own it." Mr. Obama in an interview that will air tonight on CBS’s "60 Minutes".

The administration has been working with GOP Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, who’s considered one of the only Republican Senators who might vote with Democrats 2 on health care legislation. But Snowe says flatly that the president’s proposal for a government-run health plan as an option for uninsured Americans and small businesses will not make it through Congress.

"I’ve urged the president to take the public option off the table because it’s universally opposed by all Republicans in the Senate, and therefore there’s no way to pass a plan that includes a public option." Snowe was on CBS’s "Face the Nation".

The Republican Congressman 3 who shouted "You lie!" to President Obama during his speech to Congress last week is insisting that he will not apologize to the House of Representatives for the incident. Unless he relents, Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina could face a formal rebuke 4 from the House, as NPR’s David Welna reports.

House Democratic leaders say they will introduce a resolution of disapproval 5 this week if Representative Wilson does not apologize in the same chamber 6 where he shouted at the President Wednesday night. But Wilson told Fox News Sunday he’s done apologizing.

"I apologized one time. The apology was accepted by the president, by the vice-president, who I know. I am not apologizing again."

Wilson also described his outburst as a “town hall moment”. Another South Carolina Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham, told Fox he was satisfied with Wilson’s first apology.

"He has apologized to the president. That’s enough to me. It’s good that the president accepted it. But I’d like to see this matter end. Joe’s a good man. He made a mistake."

Still Wilson continued to insist President Obama was misstating the facts. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

Federal health officials say some swine flu vaccine 7 may be ready earlier than first thought. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

"We are on track to have an ample supply rolling by the middle of October, but we may have some early vaccine as early as the first full week in October."

Sebelius was interviewed on ABC’s "This Week". She says the earliest vaccine will probably go to first responders and health care workers. The second wave of swine flu infections in the US is expected to peak sometime in October and Sebelius says she is confident the vaccine will be available in time to beat the peak of the expected flu season.

China’s government says it is looking into whether the US is subsidizing exports of vehicles and chicken meat to that country. The antidumping investigation 8 comes two days after an announcement by the administration.

This is NPR.

Six construction workers have fallen to their deaths inside a skyscraper 9 being built in Hong Kong. Officials say the workers plunged 10 about 20 stories when a platform inside an elevator shaft 11 collapsed 12.

A former Canadian diplomat 13 who was freed in April after being kidnapped by Al-Qaeda militants 14 in Niger is claiming that a high-level leak may have led to his capture. Dan Karpenchuk has more.

United Nations’ special envoy 15 Robert Fowler says the government of Niger may have leaked information that guided his Al-Qaeda kidnappers 16. Fowler says he has an e-mail from the UN office confirming it had passed on his travel plans to "all the appropriate people”. And the government of Niger and the UN offices in Africa and New York were aware of his travel plans and route. Niger’s ambassador to Canada is calling Fowler’s allegations grotesque 17 and ludicrous and is demanding an apology. Fowler and his aide endured more than four months of captivity 18 in the desert when they were kidnapped. They were on a mission to broker 19 a peace deal in Northern Niger between the government and minority ethnic 20 Tuaregs. For NPR News, I’m Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

A man suspected of robbing banks in five states has been arrested in a motel in Missouri this weekend on a tip from someone who recognized him from the TV program "America’s Most Wanted". The man was wanted on felony warrants for charges ranging from armed robbery to receiving stolen property.

Juan Martin del Potro has advanced to his first Grand Slam final with a straight set of victory over Rafael Nadal today at the US Open Tennis Tournament. The sixth seed del Potro took control of the match early and never let up to score his third straight win over Nadal. Also today, Jack 21 Kramer, a tennis champion in the 1940s and ’50s has died at his home in Los Angeles.