NPR 2010-01-29

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

President Obama is on the road repeating his promise to boost job growth and broaden economic recovery. Today, he took his case to a town hall meeting in Tampa Florida.

"Irresponsibility from Wall Street to Washington left good, responsible Americans who did everything right still struggling in ways they never imagined. Joe and I took office in the middle of this raging storm."

President Obama and Vice 1 President Joe Biden went to Tampa to talk about an eight-billion-dollar funding for a national high-speed rail system. Florida is getting money to build the Tampa-Orlando corridor. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia will receive grants.

The defense 2 is expected to begin its case today in the trial [of] Scott Roeder. He was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of an abortion 3 provider. Roeder has confessed to shooting Dr. George Tiller but said he did it to protect the unborn. Roeder is expected to testify on his own behalf. From Wichita, NPR's Kathy Lohr has details.

Roeder testified that he did shoot Tiller last May in the lobby of his church. He said he became a Christian 4 in 1992 and began protesting outside of clinics including Tiller's clinic. Defense attorney Mark Rudy asked Roeder to describe the types of abortion procedures he knew about and that led to strong objections from the prosecution 5.

”Partial birth abortion, forceps, where they go in and tear the baby limb from limb.”

“Objection, Your Honors!”

"Hold on, and the jury is admonished 6 to disregard that answer."

Roeder said he believes abortion is murder. The judge’s allowing testimony 7 about Roeder's anti-abortion beliefs. Defense attorneys say Roeder had an unreasonable 8 but honest belief that what he did was justified 9. Kathy Lohr, NPR News, Wichita.

Congress is a step closer to increasing the country's debt limit by nearly two trillion dollars to over 14 trillion. The Senate passed the bill today and now it's on to the House.

The State of Oklahoma is under a winter storm watch, as officials and residents prepare for a major snow and ice system to move through. From Member Station KOSU, Michael Cross has more.

Meteorologists are predicting as much as an inch of a freezing rain to move through Oklahoma throughout the day and eventually change to snow. The National Weather Service says up to 12 inches of snow is possible in western and northern Oklahoma. Government offices and schools across the state are closed. The governor has declared a state of emergency for all 77 counties as officials get ready for the ice to cause dangerous road conditions and power outages. Oklahoma's two major airports, Will Rogers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa International, are canceling flights. For NPR News, I'm Michael Cross in Oklahoma City.

Dow's down more than a hundred. This is NPR.

J.D. Salinger, author of the literary classic "The Catcher in the Rye" has died. His son says Salinger passed away yesterday at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire. He was 91 years old.

Howard Zinn, radical 10 historian and political activist 11, has died at the age of 87. His 1980 book "A People's History of the United States" sold more than a million copies and was an alternative to mainstream 12 historical text. NPR's Margot Adler reports.

Howard Zinn lectured widely and was heavily involved in US civil rights and anti-war movements. His book "A People's History of the United States" told the story of the nation through the voices of working-class people, women and minorities. The book came out during the Reagan years and was celebrated 13 by the left. Published with very little promotion 14, only 5,000 copies at first, by 2003, in word of mouth, it had sold more than a million copies. Many companion editions were published including a graphic 15 novel. Zinn was Professor Emeritus 16 in the Political Science Department at Boston University where he taught from 1964 to 1988. He was close friends with Linguist 17 and political activist Noam Chomsky, who said that Zinn's work changed the way millions of people saw the past. Howard Zinn died of a heart attack. Margot Adler, NPR News.

The auto 18 industry is credited with a latest gain reported among big-ticket items. According to the Commerce Department, US factories posted again a 0.3% after an upswing in orders for vehicles. But overall, the recession cost manufacturers big in 2009. Orders for durable 19 goods plunged 20 by more than 20% for the year, the largest drop in nearly two decades.

Last check on Wall Street. Dow was down 99 points at 10,137.

This is NPR.