NPR 2008-04-21

The Democratic presidential candidates are crisscrossing Pennsylvania today as they closed out the final weekend of campaigning before that state’s primary. The top strategists for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama squared off today over how long the fight for the party's nomination 1 should go on. NPR’s Allison Keyes reports.

 The latest polls show Clinton with a slight lead in Pennsylvania and Obama with a slight lead in Indiana and North Carolina. He is ahead in the popular vote and with elected delegate, while she leads in super delegates. Her top strategist Jeff Garran tells NBC’s “Meet the Press” Clinton still has a chance to win. "There is an analogy in what happened in November 2000 when, er, after the close count in Florida, all of these people were wringing 2 their hands, saying ‘oh my gosh, we have a constitutional crisis on our hands, we've got to get this done quickly.' The voters were saying ‘no, slow down, let’s, let’s get it right. Let’s let the process play through.’ And that’s what Democratic voters are saying now." But Obama’s strategist David Axelrod says if Clinton uses, what he calls, "the kitchen-sink strategy" to win the nomination she can’t win legitimately 3, it'd hurt the Democratic party. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

 GOP candidate John McCain’s latest financial report shows while the Democrats 4 continue their primary battles, he has been quietly amassing 5 a campaign war chest for the fall. The Arizona Senator raised 15 million dollars in March, the best month yet for his campaign.

 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Iraq today, even as tensions rose in Baghdad following new threats from radical 6 Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. NPR’s JJ Sutherland reports from Baghdad.

 Rice came to Iraq to support Iraqi politicians who’ve taken a hard line against Sadr’s militia 7, the Mahdi Army. In recent weeks, the Iraqi government has attacked Sadrists in the southern city of Basra and in their Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City. Last night, Sadr threatened "open war" against the Iraqi government if they don’t stop attacking his militia. Today, the city was tense. South of Baghdad, the Iraqi army is deploying 8 in force across the region. For a month now, Sadr has observed a self-declared cease-fire, telling his forces to only fight in self-defense. Mahdi Army commanders say they are waiting his orders on whether to rise up, saying his orders may come as soon as tomorrow. JJ Sutherland, NPR News, Baghdad.

 Pope Benedict celebrated 9 Mass before a crowd of nearly 60,000 people in New York’s Yankee Stadium today. He called on Catholics and all Americans to use the blessings 10 of freedom wisely in order to build a future of hope for coming generations. “It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness.” Earlier, the Pope visited Ground Zero. He'll depart the US later this evening.

 This is NPR News from Washington.

 China’s government is calling for calm and order amid a wave of nationalistic protests. Demonstrators in several Chinese cities protest today outside branches of the French retailer 11 Carrefour. NPR’s Anthony Kuhn has the story from Beijing.

 Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Carrefour outlets 12 in cities including Xi’an, Harbin and Jinan. They were protesting Carrefour’s alleged 13 support for Tibetan independence and the protests that dogged the Olympic torch relay in Paris. The company has denied supporting any political movements. Expressing patriotism 14 in a rational way is a responsible attitude towards the nation, the official People’s Daily newspaper said in a front-page editorial that was also broadcast on state television. Meanwhile, overseas Chinese staged protests in London, Paris and Washington D.C. this weekend against perceived bias 15 in western media reports about Tibet. Anthony Kuhn , NPR News, Beijing.”

 There has been another sharp jump in gasoline prices, up nearly 16 cents a gallon over the past two weeks(10以下数字请用英语写^^) to a national average of  $3.47 for a gallon of self-service regular. Industry analyst 16 Triby Lundberg says there are a number of reasons for the rise. “The number one cause is much higher crude oil prices, and secondarily is higher ethanol prices. Ethanol prices are up and we have to use more this year blended into our gasoline.” Lundberg says the highest gas prices in the most recent survey were in San Francisco; the lowest in Newark, New Jersey 17. Gas prices are 60 cents a gallon higher than they were at this time last year.