NPR 2008-10-22

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is campaigning in Pennsylvania today. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

Obama has a solid lead in Pennsylvania but McCain is still battling to turn Pennsylvania red. If he is to pull an upset, he'll have to take a blue state like Pennsylvania on November 4th. And today he urged his supporters to get out and vote. "We need to win in Pennsylvania on November the 4th and with your help, with your help we are gonna win." McCain appeared in Bucks 2 County which was once solidly Republican but it's been part of the trend in the Philadelphia's suburbs, which have been experiencing big Democratic registration 3 gains. From Pennsylvania McCain travels to New Hampshire-- the site of two of his crucial primary victories, but also a state that has been trending Democratic. Mara Liasson, NPR News, Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

Barack Obama campaigned in the State of Florida for a second day today where he sought to advance the message that neither the current President George Bush or his Republican rival John McCain have done enough to help average Americans during the current financial crisis. Obama accused McCain of what he termed "willful ignorance and wishful thinking" in terms of his approach to the country's current economic crisis. Obama will briefly 4 leave the campaign trail later this week to spend time with his ailing 5 grandmother in Hawaii.

President Bush says the US must continue to help the world's poor especially in this time of global financial crisis. NPR's Michele Kelemen has more.

The White House held a one-day summit on international development to highlight some of the programs that the administration started to fight HIV/AIDS and malaria 6 and help countries develop. President Bush said the US would stay committed to development, a thought echoed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "What we must not do is to allow our generosity 7 and our concern for others to fall victim to today's crisis. Reneging on our commitments to the world's poor can not be an austerity measure." This is a legacy 8 issue for the Bush administration as well.  Administration officials are trying to make sure the programs that have been successful continue in the next administration. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Federal investigators 9 say letters containing a suspicious white powder were mailed to Chase Bank branches in at least 9 cities across the US, though all initial tests so far have been negative for any dangerous toxins 10. Law enforcement officials say the threatening letters were sent to Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Newark, New York, Oklahoma City and Washington. FBI spokesman Rich Kolko says even if the substance is harmless, sending such letters is a serious matter. "Just sending these letters, even if the substance is inert 11, is still a serious crime. It's not a hoax 12, it's not a joke, and when we catch that person, they're gonna be going to jail." Officials say all the letters appeared to be from the same source and were apparently 13 mailed from Texas.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 231 points, the NASDAQ lost 73 points.

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Giant heavy equipment maker 14 Caterpillar 15 announced today it's laying off an as yet unspecified number of workers in the US, England and France. The giant multinational 16 says the cuts are coming as it seeks to deal with what it calls 'recessionary conditions'. The cutbacks will affect contract workers in North Carolina, Illinois and Europe who work at facilities that make heavy machinery 17 or diesel 18 engines for residential 1 construction or the highway truck market. Caterpillar employs more than 112, 000 people worldwide. It's the world's largest maker of heavy construction equipment.

United Airlines parent company UAL Corporation posted a loss for the third quarter but not as bad as expected. NPR's Cheryl Corley has more.

United's parent company says the airline had a loss of 779 million dollars. The reason why--record jet fuel prices in July, plus United lost out when its hedge contracts which locked in its ability to buy fuel at a set price ended up being higher than the cost of fuel when oil prices dropped recently. So this quarter loss is a lot different from a year ago when United had a profit of 334 million. Even so, excluding one-time costs, United says its loss figured to be about $1. 99 per share, much lower than what analysts 19 had expected. And what's also lower these days is fuel prices which CEO Glenn Tilton says "may have a significant positive impact on future profitability". But Tilton says it's still a volatile 20 situation. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

AAA reported today the national average price for self-serve unleaded fell by another 3 cents a gallon to $2. 89 a gallon. Crude oil prices have been falling despite concerns that OPEC may move to cut production in an effort to keep oil prices from dropping too quickly. Members of the cartel will meet on Friday.