NPR 2008-11-11

President George Bush and the man who will replace him, President-elect Barack Obama met today at the White House. The two men were joined by their wives who also got a chance to chat. NPR's Don Gonyea says by all indications the meeting went well, with the two men able to put aside whatever differences they may have had during the campaign.

By all accounts, the Bush White House has really reached out to make this as smooth and as effective of a transition as possible. That coming despite the fact that it's a Republican handing off to a Democrat 1, that coming despite the fact that Senator Obama said some very strong things, very critical things about President Bush over the course of the campaign. Press Secretary Dana Perino said President Bush knows that's all politics and the water just rolls off his back. NPR's Don Gonyea in Washington.

After the meeting, Senator Obama flew back to Chicago to begin work on setting up his administration. Michelle Obama, for her part, visited two of Washington's best known private schools. The couple have two daughters aged 2 seven and ten.

Mortgage financier Fannie Mae has posted its largest quarterly loss ever, 29 billion dollars. NPR's Jeff Brady has more.

In SEC documents, Fannie Mae says it may have to tap by a 100-billion-dollar pot of money set aside by the Federal Treasury 3. If that happens, the government will receive an ownership stake in Fannie in exchange. The bulk of the company's losses last quarter came from tax breaks it won't be able to take advantage of now, because it doesn't anticipate returning to profitability any time soon. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Washington.

Credit card giant American Express will now be able to do what a number of big banks have already been able to do: go to the US government for low-cost financing. That's a resolved decision by the Federal Reserve board to allow AMX to become a bank holding company. The approval from the Fed represents an ongoing 4 reshaping of the financial services industry. The Fed's move is similar to a decision in September: to transform the nation's two largest investment firms Golden Sachs and Morgan Stanley into bank holding companies.

Every airport in the nation will have a special security lane set up for traveling families starting November 20th. The Transportation Security Administration says it wants to help ease travel, especially during the busy holiday season. NPR s Pam Fessler has more.

The family lanes which are already in place at 48 airports are designed for those who might need more time at security check points. In announcing the expansion, TSA administrator 5 Kip Hawley said the move should increase passenger convenience and security. He said families have indicated that they prefer moving into check points at their own pace and the program so far has been popular. The lanes will also be required for passengers traveling with medically necessary liquids that exceed the current three ounce limit. Those travelers will be subjected to an additional screening which Hawley said should take less than two minutes. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow Johns Industrial Average fell 73 points today. The Standard & Poor's 500 dropped 11 points. This is NPR.

Search crews in Haiti now say they expect to find no additional survivors 6 from last week's school collapse 7 that has claimed the lives of at least 94 students and teachers. A Virginia firefighter in charge of the US rescue team helping 8 out there said it's unlikely the death toll 9 will go much higher. Captain Michael Itsfan from Fairfax, Virginia says three days after the school collapsed 10, sonar and search dogs have located a few more bodies, though, he says it's unlikely anyone else remains 11 alive. Four children were pulled alive from the rubble 12 on Saturday.

A space probe called Phoenix 13 which landed on Mars last May is no longer sending signals back to earth and NASA managers say the mission is over. NPR's Joe Palca has more.

Phoenix was sent to the northern polar region of Mars. It went there because satellites around Mars had detected the presence of ice at or near the surface near the Polar Regions. When Phoenix first landed, the pictures only showed red dirt stretching off to a flat horizon. But when the cameras looked underneath 14 the probe where the dust had been disturbed by landing rockets there was a white patch that looked just like ice. Instruments leader confirmed that there was ice just a few inches below the dusty surface. Mission managers knew the space craft would be dying around now. It's solar-powered and there just wasn't enough sunlight as the Martian winter approached to keep the probe's batteries charged. A dust storm also helped hasten the mission's end. Joe Palca, NPR News, Washington.

Officials in Illinois say a man being questioned in connection with the killings 15 of actress Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew will remain in jail. Authorities say William Balfour is being held for violating various parole violations 16. Balfour's hearing ended with the decision that there's probable cause to continue to hold him. He has been questioned about but not charged in the killings.