NPR 2012-12-15

　　From NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
 
　　A shooting spree at a Connecticut elementary school has left an unknown number of people dead. School district officials at Sandy Hook Elementary School say the shooting occurred this morning. Law enforcement officials say the gunman, a 20-year-old man with ties to the school is dead. The Connecticut Governor's top aide Roy Occhiogrosso says he is deeply saddened by today's tragedy.
 
　　You can imagine the governor is horrified 1 by what's happened. He is meeting with the families right now. His chief concern is to get the families the information they need as quickly as possible. That's why he is not here.
 
　　Pat Broderick, Chairman of the Emergency Department at Danbury Hospital says they are doing everything they can to assist families and victims.
 
　　We have many staff members who live in the Sandy Hook area who have been impacted by this. We have set up crisis services that we have mobilized to the Sandy Hook firehouse to be of assistance. The FBI has joined local law enforcement in responding to the deadly school shooting. NPR's Scott Horsley has White House reaction.
 
　　President Obama was first briefed on the shooting by his Homeland Security Advisor 2 in the Oval Office this morning. White House Spokesman Jay Carney says the President later spoke 3 by telephone with his FBI director and Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy.
 
　　I can just tell you that as a father, incidents like these weigh heavily on him. And I think everyone who has children and can imagine the enormous suffering that accompanies an event like this.
 
　　Carney sidestepped questions about gun control, saying today is not the day, but what he called long-running Washington policy battles. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.
 
　　Inflation at the retail 4 level is down slightly. NPR's Dave Mattingly reports cheaper gas helped drive down the consumer price index by 0.3%.
 
　　Gasoline prices fell nearly 7.5% last month. That's the sharpest decline in almost four years. It offset 5 a slight rise in food prices. Unemployment is still near 8% in the U.S. and with limited growth in incomes, Chief Economist 6 Stewart Hoffman at PNC Financial, says inflation in the economy remains 7 a non-issue.
 
　　It's still well under control and drops in the consumer price index are driven by drops in gasoline prices. It's actually good for the consumers' pocketbook.
 
　　The Federal Reserve expects the nation's jobless rate to remain above 6.5% for at least another three years. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.
 
　　Just to recap a shooting spree at a Connecticut elementary school this morning has left an unknown number of people dead.
 
　　At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down five points at 13,164; the NASDAQ Composite was down 13.
 
　　This is NPR News.
 
　　President Obama says he won't go after Washington State and Colorado for legalising marijuana. In a Barbara Walters ABC News interview, Mr. Obama was asked whether he supports making pot legal. He says he wouldn't go that far but won't pursue the issue in the states where voters legalized the use of marijuana in the November's elections. Marijuana remains illegal under Federal Law who was legalized this month in Washington State and Colorado.
 
　　Some of Britain's most eminent 8 scientists have called for a government pardon for World War II code breaker Alan Turing. Larry Miller 9 reports he killed himself after being prosecuted 10 for being gay.
 
　　Cambridge physicist 11 Stephen Hawking 12 is among 11 signatories to a letter in the Daily Telegraph, urging the prime minister to formally forgive Turing. The scientists described him as a British hero and one of the most brilliant mathematicians 13 of the modern era. Turing's team broke the Nazi's Enigma 14 code. Former colleagues say without him, Britain would have lost the war. In 1952, with homosexuality illegal, Turing was convicted of gross indecency after a chemical castration and removal of his security clearance 15, he swallowed cyanide. The British government apologized three years ago but he has been refused a posthumous 16 pardon. There is a bill in the House of Lords that could achieve that. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.
 
　　The Pentagon is planning to send Patriot 17 air defense 18 missiles and 400 troops to Turkey. It's all part of a NATO force aimed at protecting Turkish territory from a possible Syrian missile attack. Speaking at a Turkish airbase, Defense Secretary  Leon Panetta told troops the country might need such weapons.
 
　　I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News, in Washington.