NPR 2009-07-23

President Obama says the US is still on track to pull all troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. His comments came following an Oval Office meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

The message from both Mr. Obama and the Iraqi leader is that the recent US troop withdrawal 1 from Iraqi urban areas is going well that despite some strategic differences that each says are dealt with as they arise. The president calls it an important moment that will lead to an eventual 2 US pullout from the country. "Prime Minister Maliki and I have no doubt that there will be some tough days ahead. There will be attacks on Iraqi security forces and the American troops supporting them. There are still those in Iraq who would murder innocent men, women and children. There are still those who want to foment 3 sectarian conflict. But make no mistake, those efforts will fail." The president also pledged to work with the United Nations to lift Saddam Hussein era sanctions imposed against Iraq. Don Gonyea, NPR News, the White House.

As President Obama continues his push towards reworking the nation's health care system, there is some resistance coming from both sides of the aisle 4. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today she remains 5 confident there will be a vote on health care next week, others are less certain. Entering a closed-door meeting of Democratic lawmakers, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel of New York told a colleague today nobody wants to tell Pelosi she is moving too fast. And speaking on the House floor, Republican leader Mitch McConnell had a similar criticism. "This is too important to be rash, we need to take our time and do it right." President Obama for his part has remained on the offensive. He is expected to plead this case for a broad health care overhaul 6 during a scheduled news conference this evening.

National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair is rejecting charges that his organization has gotten too big. Blair was responding to questions before an audience at the US Chamber 7 of Commerce. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

Congress has leveled charges of bureaucratic 8 bloat at the Director of National Intelligence almost since the day they voted to create the post. Many lawmakers say the idea was to create a lean, mean quarterback for US Intelligence efforts, not a huge layer of bureaucracy on top of the CIA and other spy agencies. But Director Dennis Blair, who took up the job this past January, says once you take away all the people on assignment from other agencies, he is running the entire intelligence community with a staff of only about 600 people.

"To lead an organization of 100, 000, I think it is roughly right and I'm adjusting it with a scalpel not a meat axe 9." In other words, Blair says he is open to some small adjustments. Mary Louise Kelly, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 34 points to end the session at 8, 881. The NASDAQ gained 10 points today. The Standard & Poor’s 500 was down a fraction.

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Authorities say records of the Virginia tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho have turned up at the home of the former director of the university's counseling center. The latest development on the case was revealed in a memo 10 from Governor Tim Kaine's chief legal counsel to the families of the 32 victims of the shooting rampage Cho carried out on the Virginia Tech Campus in April, 2007. The records were said to have been removed from the center more than a year before the shootings when Dr. Robert Miller 11 transferred to his position as director. The records of several other students were also found. Virginia's state police are conducting a criminal investigation 12 into how those records disappeared.

A Court at The Hague is redrawing the boundaries of an oil region claimed by both north and south Sudan. Both sides have said they will respect the agreement. But as NPR's Gwen Tompkins reports, the people most affected 13 by the ruling have yet to weigh in.

The Abyei region is filled with people from a branch of the Dinka tribe, who are loyal to Southern Sudan and a population of Arab herdsmen called the Misseriya, who are more closely associated with northern Sudan. Both groups have been rambling 14 with their animals over Abyei for a century or more. And Wednesday's ruling on the new boundaries of the region will reportedly not affect the rambling rights of either. But there has been increasing tension between the two groups over natural resources in Abyei. And the new map has changed the boundaries of some important grazing land and watering spots. For oil investors 15 like China, Malaysia and India, Wednesday's decision means business as usual. But the local tribes must ultimately decide whether they can live with the changes to their territory. Gwen Tompkins, NPR News, Nairobi.

Airplane builder Boeing beat the street in terms of its second quarter earnings 16. The company says for its latest quarter it earned $998 million or $1. 41 a share.

I'm Jack 17 Speer, NPR News in Washington.