NPR 2009-07-24

The top Senate Democrat 1, majority leader Harry 2 Reid made it official today there will not be a vote by the full Senate on revamping health care until after the August Congressional recess 3 rather than before as President Obama had hoped. At a town hall meeting in Ohio, the president said he was comfortable with putting off the vote. More from NPR’s David Welna.

Referring to pending 4 health care legislation, majority leader, Reid said he’d rather have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness than try to jam something through the Senate before the August break. At a high school in Shaker Heights, Ohio, President Obama reacted calmly to the postponement 5, saying he wanted the health care overhaul 6 done by the fall.

"If people are legitimately 7 working out tough problems and some of these problems are tough, I mean this is a big system and it’s complicated. So I have no problem if, if I think people are really working through these difficult issues and making sure that we get it right. But I don’t want to delay just because of politics."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she still thinks her chamber 8 can pass health care legislation before leaving for the August recess at the end of next week. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

The US Chamber of Commerce has thrown its support behind President Obama’s pick for the Supreme 9 Court. The Chamber announced today it will endorse 10 Sonia Sotomayor, calling her a well-qualified judge who would be fair and even-handed on business issues. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue says  Sotomayor has seen firsthand the burdens the legal system places on businesses. On the other side of the issue, the National Rifle Association continues to say it will oppose the nomination 11, citing what it terms a hostile view of the Second Amendment 12.

The number of people filing first-time jobless claims was up slightly last week. The government says the adjusted initial claims rose by 30, 000 for the weekend in July 18th to 554, 000, a figure that was in line with analysts 13’ forecast. The Labor 14 Department also cautioned against reading too much into the numbers, saying the July data was distorted by an unusually large number of seasonal 15 lay-offs.

US stocks were up sharply today on positive earnings 16 news. The Dow rose above 9, 000 for the first time since January. NPR’s John Ydstie reports.

E-bay, Ford 17 and AT&T all posted better earnings results than analysts had expected. That, plus an increase in home sales, helped boost the major stock indexes higher. It was the 12th session in a row that the NASDAQ has gained ground, its longest positive streak 18 since 1992. Ford shares jumped as the carmaker pared expenses and added market share. AT&T earnings were swelled 19 by the rapid sale of Apple’s iPhones. A string of positive earnings reports have helped power the S&P 500 index up 11% since July 10th. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow gained 188 points. That was a gain of more than two percent today. The NASDAQ rose 47 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed up 22 points today.

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The police officer who arrested Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home last week said today he will not apologize to Gates. And he said he is disappointed by President Obama’s remarks about the incident last night during his national broadcast news conference. Referring to Gates’ arrest, Mr. Obama said anyone of us would have been "pretty angry" and he added police acted stupidly in arresting someone when there was proof they were in their own home. However in a radio interview Sgt. James Crowley who is white said the President does not know all the facts. When police came, Gates at first refused to show ID and accused the officer of racism 20. The police showed up at Gates’ house after someone called and reported two men were breaking into the home.

Family and friends of the late television news icon 21 Walter Cronkite mourned his passing at a funeral in New York this afternoon. Reporter Kaomi Goetz has more.

Dozens of Walter Cronkite’s family and friends, and even strangers who had gathered outside of St. Bartholomew's Church in Midtown Manhattan were ushered 22 inside for the hour-long service. TV newsmen Matt Lauer, Tom Brokaw, Hill Smith and others all came to pay respects to their former colleague who paved their way in television news. Bill Jacker was visiting from Florida and stood outside the church before the funeral began. The 79-year-old says Cronkite was like an old, trusted friend. "He’s an important part of my life early on. Everyone listened to him and believed in him. And he certainly did a very, very good job as far as I was concerned." The Protestant service included scripture 24 readings by family members and humors and emotional remembrances. For NPR News, I’m Kaomi Goetz in New York.

Crude oil futures 25 prices were up sharply today. Oil rose $1.76 a barrel to close at $67.16 a barrel in New York.

I'm Jack 23 Speer, NPR News in Washington.