NPR 2008-02-22

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Raum.

President Bush is wrapping up his five-nation African tour with a visit to Liberia. He arrived today in the capital Monrovia named for President James Monroe. Liberia had been founded by freed slaves. The U. S. has provided 715 million dollars as an aid to Liberia since a 14-year civil war ended in 2003. White House officials say the president will announce today that the U. S. will provide enough money to Liberia to pay for 1 million textbooks for school children by the start of the next school year.

A navy cruiser shot down a spy satellite over the Pacific Ocean last night. The satellite had lost power shortly after it was launched in 2006. It was coming back to Earth. It's expected to hit the Earth with a tank of toxic 1 fuel. The Pentagon feared it could land on a populated area. President Bush approved shooting down the satellite, in an effort to destroy the fuel tank before it could reach Earth. Harvard University astronomer 2 Jonathan McDowell says it's highly unlikely that anybody will be hurt by the debris 3. "In the 40 years that space debris has been raining down, uh, there has been one recorded instance of someone grazing their arm when they were hit by a small piece of metal coming down from space. " Pentagon officials say they should be able to confirm today whether the fuel tank was destroyed.

A new study from the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that all 50 states are better-prepared for a pandemic or biological attack than they were in 2001, but the study also points out that many states still lack trained staff and specialized 4 facilities. NPR's David Nogueras has more.

The study, which was the first such report compiled by the CDC, found that all states are now staffed to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to urgent health threats. Dr. Richard Besser is the director of the CDC's Coordinating 5 Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response. He told reporters during a conference call that the states have come a long way. "This report focuses on the building of systems, we now need to insure that these systems are working effectively to safeguard health and save lives. " Besser points out that the states need to effectively run their programs amid decreasing resources. More importantly, he says, they need to prepare for the distribution of countermeasures in the event of a pandemic. The CDC says it will issue this report once a year. David Nogueras, NPR News, Washington.

Wall Street opens this morning with the NASDAQ Composite Index at 2327. It gained nearly 21 points yesterday. The S&P also advanced, it rose 11 points to close at 1360. The DOW finished the day at 12, 427, up 90 points. It had been down 110 points earlier in the day. Oil prices are holding steady today, after rising above $101 a barrel for a time yesterday.

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The financial services company GMAC announced yesterday it will cut nearly 1000 jobs as part of cost-cutting effort. Detroit Public Radio's Jerome Vaughn has more.

GMAC is looking to reduce its cost in the wake of slower auto 6 sales and shrinking access to consumer credit. The company will take 20 offices located in U. S. and Canada and combined them into 5 regional centers. The job cuts will comprise about 15% of the workforce 7 in GMAC's auto loan business. The lending company lost more than 2. 3 billion dollars last year. Profits in the auto loan business could not settle large losses in GMAC's mortgage loan business. The company predicts that it will return to profitability this year though. General Motors sold a 51% stake in GMAC to a partnership 8 including Cerberus Capital Management for 14 billion dollars in 2006. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Vaughn, Detroit.

Democrat 9 Barack Obama has picked up another labor 10 endorsement 11, the Teamsters Union. President James Hoffa says he believes Obama can win. "Our polling indicates that there is an enthusiasm for him. I think it's going to grow. I think his candidacy is just starting to take off. " Ohio and Pennsylvania have owned the largest numbers of the union workers. Their primaries are coming up in the next few weeks.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is holding a news conference this morning. He is expected to discuss some reports about him published by the Washington Post and the New York Times. The reports say that 9 years ago, McCain had a close relationship with the telecommunications lobbyist, whose company had business before the Senate Commerce Committee, at which McCain was a member. A spokeswoman for McCain called the reports "part of a smear 12 campaign".

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News, in Washington.