NPR 2010-06-23

The top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, is in hot water with the White House for some derogatory comments he made during an interview for a magazine article. The remarks were controversial enough to have him summoned to the White House. NPR's Jackie Northam reports McChrystal will also have to face Defense 1 Secretary Robert Gates.

Secretary Gates said he read with concern the profile of General McChrystal which will appear in the upcoming edition of Rolling Stone magazine. In the article, McChrystal and some of his aides criticize and mock senior officials in the Obama administration, including Vice 3 President Joe Biden and National Security Advisor 4 Jim Jones. Gates said McChrystal made a significant mistake and exercised poor judgment 5 in some of his comments. Gates said McChrystal apologized to him and to others named in the article, and says he will meet personally with McChrystal to discuss the matter. But the defense secretary does not say one way or the other whether McChrystal will stay in his job. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Washington.

A big legal setback 6 for the White House today: a federal judge in New Orleans has struck down the Obama administration's six-month moratorium 7 on new deepwater oil wells. White House says it'll appeal. We've got the latest from NPR's Scott Horsley.

US District Judge Martin Feldman ruled the administration hadn't provided an adequate reason for its drilling moratorium, saying the failure of one deepwater rig does not justify 8 halting others. President Obama pushed the pause button on deepwater drilling to allow a study commission time to investigate what went wrong with BP's deepwater well triggering the nation's worst oil spill. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs argues it's too risky 10 to restart drilling before that study is complete.

"Continuing to drill at these depths without knowing what happened does not make any sense."

The moratorium was challenged by people whose livelihoods 11 depend on offshore 12 drilling rigs. They argue the Gulf 13 Coast region already reeling from the oil spill can't afford to lose any more jobs. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

South Carolina is holding a runoff election today. It'll determine the state's Republican gubernatorial candidate for November.

An army of firefighters is still trying to get control of a 10,000-acre fire near Flagstaff, Arizona. So far it's about 10% contained. Hundreds of people have been evacuated 14, but Kim Ott, spokeswoman for the city of Flagstaff, says there're still some holdouts.

"It's still voluntary, you know, mandatory 15 and that we are asking people to leave, but nobody has been taken away by force. I guess it’s one thing. There are some folks that do choose to stay in their home, but we are encouraging people to leave."

A nearby highway that was closed because of thick smoke has reopened.

Last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones industrials down nearly 150 points at 10,293, NASDAQ losing 27, 2,262.

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As of today, the words "light", "mild" and "low tar 2" disappear from cigarette labels and tobacco advertisements. As NPR's Brenda Wilson explains, those descriptions and a host of new rules are in effect one year after the Food and Drug Administration assumed authority to regulate tobacco.

Under the new regulations, tobacco companies must stop labeling cigarettes as "light", "mild" or "low tar". Health officials say many Americans mistakenly believe light and low-tar cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes. Most of the new rules, however, are aimed at industry tactics that the FDA says appeals to young people, such as free samples, gifts with logos and brand name sponsorship of music and sporting events. All are now outlawed 16. Cigarette vending 17 machines will be allowed only in adult facilities. Cigarettes can no longer be sold in smaller quantities than 20 cigarettes. The tobacco industry says it already has packs of cigarettes on the shelves that do not have the descriptors, but the FDA is concerned about inserts in the new packs that say "Your Marlboro Lights pack is changing, but your cigarette stays the same." Brenda Wilson, NPR News.

Energy chiefs have been criticizing President Obama's six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling that a federal judge in New Orleans has since rejected. At a conference in London today, participants argued the ban would severely 18 affect costs and threaten security of supply. The president of Transocean, which owned the BP-leased rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April and led to the spill, says White House could have taken more immediate 19 steps that would have allowed drilling to resume. When a BP executive spoke 9, protesters heckled him and held up a banner that showed the BP logo splattered with black paint.