NPR 2012-05-11

 The House Armed Services Committee is overwhelmingly supporting a 624-billion-dollar defense 2 legislation it calls for construction of a mission defense site on the East Coast, and [to] restore ships and planes that were supposed to be retired 3 early. However, the bill does not address the Pentagon's request for another round of cost-cutting base closings. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta criticized the move.

 
"By taking these funds from the poor, middle class Americans, homeowners and other vulnerable parts of our American constituencies, the guaranteed results will be confrontation 4, gridlock and a greater likelihood of sequester 5."
 
Lawmakers have challenged the savings 6 from previous closings.
 
College affordability 7 is turning into a hot-button issue this election season. NPR's Aswah Halid reports Vice 1 President Joe Biden is stepping up the administration's appeal to students to speak out.
 
The student loan battle seems like a partisan 9 relay race. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans shut down a Democratic bill to prevent student loans from doubling on July 1st. Now the vice president picks up the baton 10.
 
"We're gonna see an interest rate jump from 3.4% to 6.8%. That's going to average more than 1,000 bucks 11 a year."
 
Biden suggests Republicans are rich and just don't get it.
 
"I love these guys who think somehow 1,000 or 2,000 dollars more doesn't mean much. "
 
Both Democrats 12 and Republicans support keeping the interest rate for student loans low. But they can't agree on how to cover the cost. Aswah Halid, NPR News, Washington.
 
The State Department official responsible for refugees says that the US has allocated 13 40 million dollars to assist relief organizations aiding victims of the Syrian crisis. Dale Gavlak in Amman says the funds will be channeled through international and local agencies both inside Syria and surrounding countries, including Jordan.
 
Anne Richard, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration 14, also confirmed that contingency 15 plans have been developed with the escalating 16 violence in Syria. She says that she discussed these plans with Jordanian officials but declined to provide details.
 
"Is there planning going on? Yes, absolutely. Is there a specific plan to share with you today? No." 
 
"Wise people make plans. It's clear to me that responsible people in the Jordanian government are doing that."
 
Richard says the safest place for Syrians was on this side of the border, seeming to rule out calls again by Senator John Carrie and others for safe heavens or buffer 18 zones to be established for those fleeing the violence. Jordan hosts more than 110,000 Syrian refugees. For NPR News, I'm Dale Gavlak in Amman.
 
Meanwhile, the death toll 19 from suicide bombings in the Syrian capital today is at 55, hundreds more wounded.
 
This is NPR.
 
Federal authorities are suing the Arizona man who described himself as "the toughest sheriff" in the US. The government accuses Joe Arpaio of unlawfully racially profiling Latinos and his patrols for illegal immigrants. The lawsuit 20 comes after months of negotiations 21 to resolve the dispute over actions by Arpaio's department.
 
British Prime Minister David Cameron's former press secretary has testified that the judicial 22 inquiry 23 into media ethics 24 sparked by the phone-hacking 25 scandal at Rupert Murdoch's now-closed News of the World newspaper. Before taking the Downing Street job, Andy Coulson was editor of the tabloid 26. Larry Miller 27 reports that questionings state clear of phone hacking.
 
Coulson was limited in what he could say because he's been arrested by Scotland Yard in connection with the hacking scandal, though he insists he knew nothing about hacking under his editorship. He says he enjoyed working for Murdoch, denying the paper's political endorsements 28 were influenced by Murdoch.
 
"I don't feel, you know, sitting here now, that I was pushed or encouraged or certainly told to go a certain way."
 
British politicians have welcomed the support of Murdoch's papers, and the inquiry is looking into whether there was a quid pro 17 quo. Cameron has defended his appointment of Coulson, who resigned over the hacking allegations. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.
 
Ford 8 investors 29 are praising the company's executives for the company's turnaround in a 45-minute shareholder 30 meeting, the shortest on record for Ford shareholders 31. Shower praise on the CEO and the executive chairman. They have overwhelmingly supported the company's executive compensation in a non-binding say-on-pay vote.