NPR 2009-09-07

The White House says the resignation of President Obama's special adviser 1 on green jobs, Van Jones, came because Jones had decided 2 the agenda of the president is bigger than any one individual. Jones stepped down from his position with the White House Council on Environmental Quality amid rising calls for his resignation by Republican leaders who criticized his past statements and links to certain groups. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

The President and the CEQ accepted his resignation because Van Jones, as he says in his statement, understood that he was going to get in the way of the President, and ultimately this country, moving forward on something as important as creating jobs in a clean energy economy.

Gibbs was on ABC's "This Week". Jones had previously 3 issued apologies for a derogatory statement about Republicans and for signing a petition in 2004 suggesting former President Bush might have knowingly allowed the 9/11 attacks.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai is edging closer to the 50% mark in the vote count from that country's recent elections. But officials have thrown out results from 447 polling stations because of allegations of fraud. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson has more from Kabul.

Disqualifying results from less than 500 polling stations across the country is unlikely to appease 4 angry candidates and voters who allege 5 mass voting fraud, especially when comparing the number of disqualified stations to the nearly 19,000 polling stations whose votes the commissioners 6 have declared valid 7. The latest results, representing ballots 8 from 74% of polling stations, have Karzai inching ahead with 48.6% of the vote. His top rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, has 30.7% of the votes. Karzai doesn't have enough votes to be declared the winner outright 9 and the race appears to be headed for a runoff next month. But a runoff cannot be scheduled until all ongoing 10 fraud investigations 11 are completed. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Kabul.

The weekend closure of one of the nation's busiest bridges is likely to have to be extended. Inspectors 12 have discovered some damage to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that could delay its reopening. Bob Hensley of Capital Public Radio has details.

The bridge that connects San Francisco and Oakland was closed Thursday night for a planned seismic 13 upgrade project. While inspecting the structure which partially 14 collapsed 15 during an earthquake 20 years ago, a crack was found in a chain-like steel link that helps support a section of the bridge. Officials say that flaw alone is enough to shut down the ten-lane toll 16 bridge that's crossed daily by hundreds of thousands of vehicles. The 73-year-old bridge was last inspected in 2007. So officials reason the crack materialized over the past two years. The structure was scheduled to reopen Tuesday morning following the holiday weekend. But now officials say they are not sure when the bridge would reopen. To accommodate detour 17 vehicles, commuter 18 train and ferry services have been expanded. For NPR News, I'm Bob Hensley in Modesto, California.

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The administration officials are not saying if President Obama will insist on a government health insurance option as part of any overhaul 19 of the nation's healthcare system. But Mr. Obama's political adviser David Axelrod says the President is not walking away from a public option. "He believes the public option is a good tool now. It shouldn't define the whole health care debate, however." Axelrod was on NBC's "Meet the Press". The President speaks to Congress about the health care issue on Wednesday evening.

The former ruling party in Mexico, the PRI, has suspended campaigning for a state congressional seat after their candidate and his family were murdered. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

Jose Francisco Fuentes Esperon had announced on Friday that he was running for a congressional post in the southern state of Tabasco. He was found shot to death the next day. The gunmen who burst into his house in Villahermosa also killed his wife and two young sons. Local officials said they had no suspects or potential motives 20 for the murders, but said the act was carried out with viciousness and cruelty. As Mexico's drug war grinds on, more than 13,000 people have been killed nationwide since December of 2006. Increasingly, government officials including politicians, police officers and prosecutors 21 are being targeted. Last month, the head of the state congress in Guerrero was assassinated 22 outside his home. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City.

The huge wildfire in the mountains north of Los Angeles is now 51% contained and is no longer threatening homes. Fire crews are building protective lines to keep the blaze from spreading eastward 23 across a mountain highway in the San Gabriel Wilderness 24. Authorities are working to determine who set the fire. At least a dozen investigators 25 are working on the case.