NPR 2009-07-17

Supreme 1 Court Justice nominee 2 Sonia Sotomayor has completed her testimony 3 before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now legal experts, civil rights advocates and complainers from one of her former cases are before the panel. NPR's Audie Cornish reports.

The witnesses that got the most attention from the Senators were two New Haven 4 firefighters, Frank Ricci and Ben Vargas who areamong a group of firefighters who fought their department's decision to throw out result from a job exam where no black scored high enough for promotion 5 and an Appeals Court Panel that included Sotomayor issued a short judgment 6 against them which was later overturned by the Supreme Court. Lieutenant 7 Ben Vargas: "Of all that has been written about our case, it was Justice Alito who best captured our own feelings. We did not ask for sympathy or empathy. We asked only for even-handed enforcement of the law. And prior to the majority justice’s opinion, in our case, we were denied just that. "In earlier testimony, Sotomayor says the Appeals Court was bound by the precedent 8 set in earlier decisions. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

Former Treasury 9 Secretary Henry Paulson appeared before a congressional panel today where he defended his handling of the global financial crisis, but he came under a harsh questioning. Members of the House Oversight 10 and Government Reform Committee were specially 11 focused on the government's role in Bank of America's merger 12 with Merrill Lynch, saying executives were bullied 13 in the going ahead with that deal, but Paulson said that was not the case.

"Some have opined that I and other government officials allowed concerns about systemic risk to outweigh 14 concerns about potential harm to Bank of America and shareholders 15. That simply did not happen."

Paulson's efforts to convince Bank of America to go ahead with the deal even after discovering / large losses at Merrill came into light in April. Paulson said he believes his handling of the crisis including the Merrill Lynch deal was appropriate and helped save the nation from great peril 16.

President Obama is using an appearance for embattled New Jersey 17 Governor Jon Corzine to push his overhaul 18 of the nation's healthcare system. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

President Obama was in New Jersey to help Governor Corzine, the only Democratic incumbent 19 up for reelection next year. Corzine is trailing in the polls, but the popular president's visit helped get 56, 000 people out to a rally. The crowd held out signs that read "Obama and Corzine". The president told them to re-elect Corzine but also to push Congress to pass a healthcare overhaul.

"We have talked and talked and talked about fixing healthcare for decades, and we have finally reached the point, where inaction is no longer an option."

One Senate committee has already passed part of a healthcare overhaul, and the chairman of the key Senate Finance Committee says he's hoping to have a draft plan ready later today or tomorrow. Mara Liasson, NPR News with the President in New Jersey.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industry Average gained 95 points to end the session at 8,711. The NASDAQ Composite was up 22 points. The S&P 500 climbed eight points today.

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According to a key government oversight watchdog group, small aviation companies are falling under less safety oversight than large airlines, even though in some cases they are involved in riskier 20 operations. The report released by the Transportation Department's Inspector 21 General contends the Federal Aviation Administration conducts far fewer safety inspections 22 on the so-called "on-demand" operations, which are small, unscheduled flight with fewer than 30 passenger seats, than it does other operations. Report also accused the FAA of failing to target the inspections as it does do towards those operations with the greatest risk.

Chechnya's Kremlin-appointed president promises to investigate the murder of a prominent human right activist 23. Jessica Gallaher has details from Moscow.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov vowed 24 to personally oversee 25 the brazen 26 murder of top human rights activist Natalya Estemirova, who was gunned down in Grozny on Wednesday, shortly after being kidnapped. The news comes as Estemirova's colleagues and friends say that Kadyrov's own security forces are involved in her slaying 27. Kadyrov made the promise as the United States and the European Union condemned 28 the execution-style killing 29. Estemirova was deeply involved in chronicling rights abuses in Chechnya. She was killed on the same day as the release of a report she helped to research that concluded there was enough evidence to demand that Russian officials, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, be called to account for crimes committed on their watch. Violence in the North Caucasus has escalated 30 in the last few months. For NPR News, I'm Jessica Gallaher in Moscow.

The roof of a concert stage being built for Singer Madonna gave way in France, killing one worker and leaving nine others hurt. Officials in the France port city of Marseilles said the roof of the stadium where the stage was being set up fell on top of the workers.