NPR 2012-03-19

 Voting in Puerto Rico's Republican primary closes at this hour, where 20 delegates are up for grabs. Next up, the Illinois primary where Republican presidential hopefuls remain in a pitch battle for their party's nomination 1. And as NPR's Louise Schiavone tells us, the contest is not necessarily friendly. 

 
Rick Santorum says he’s not backing down now, and if Mitt 2 Romney really were a strong candidate, he'd have a bigger edge in the delegate count than he currently does.
 
“Governor Mitt Romney spent about 70 million dollars ahead, huge amounts of resources, huge staff. You know, during the time that these delegates had to be filed for these states, I was driving around in a truck with a guy named Chuck.”
 
The Pennsylvania Republican spoke 3 on CNN, campaigning ahead of his own schedule on Illinois. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney recalled a 2008 endorsement 4 from Santorum.
 
“I’m Rick Santorum. No one puts words in my mouth. I want you to know that if you want to nominate a conservative, a real conservative, well, you have to nominate Mitt Romney.”
 
Illinois Republicans vote Tuesday. Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.
 
The head of the International Red Cross is on his way to Moscow, trying to gain support for aid workers in Syria. Lisa Schlein has this report from Geneva.
 
ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger warns the humanitarian 5 situation in the Syrian city of Homs and other areas affected 6 by the unrest remains 7 extremely difficult and could deteriorate 8 further. He says he will tell Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that it's absolutely essential to have a two-hour daily break in the fighting. This, he says, will allow for emergency medical evacuations to take place safely and for aid to reach vulnerable people swiftly. Russia is seen as one of the few remaining allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The ICRC says it is talking to all those who could have a positive influence on its work in Syria. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.
 
The founder 9 of the Guardian 10 Angels, Curtis Sliwa, says the white Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed a black teenager should be charged in the shooting.
 
“Not only this is a set, civilian 11 patrols back, because this is the incident that will be remembered as opposed to the thousands of situations where civilian patrollers pounded somebody’s aid. But it also talks about the situation of whether civilians 12 should have weapons or not.”
 
911 police tapes of the incident are raising questions for some about the volunteer's claim of self-defense in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. 
 
Iran is apparently 13 feeling the pinch of financial sanctions imposed by the West over the country's nuclear program. Iran's central bank announced today that it will bring part of its foreign currency exchange rate into line with the much higher rate on the streets. Iran's currency has lost much of its value as a result of the sanctions. The growing gap in value between the official rate and the street rate is prompting a growing black market in currencies in Iran.
 
This is NPR News.
 
In the world of sports, the March Madness process of elimination 14 is down to the so-called Sweet 16 in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. NPR's Mike Pesca previews some of the key games in today's matchups.
 
Norfolk State and Lehigh which each upset in No.2 seed on Friday are both underdogs today, which you imagine is how they like it. Lehigh faces a physical Xavier team, whereas Norfolk’s opponent Florida is a sensational 15 offense 16 of team, which has trouble defending, a description that applies to Lehigh's last conquest, Duke. Top-seeded Michigan State faces Saint Louis coached by [inaudible] Rick Majerus. Another No.1 seed, North Carolina faces Creighton. Both teams run the top ten in offense out of the 338 schools in Division 1. Georgetown takes on NC State; Kansas faces Purdue; Cinderella Ohio is up against South Florida; and the Bearcats of Cincinnati battle[s] the Florida State Seminoles. Mike Pesca, NPR News.
 
Tourists and Washington DC area locals are enjoying the early arrival of the city's famed cherry blossoms. Victoria Favier from Virginia says the best viewing of the blossoms is early in the morning, especially when there is mist in the air. 
 
“With the mist is hanging in everything, you know, all around, and we've never seen the Washington Monument hidden like that. It's just, it's very special to be out here.”
 
She says she does not think there is a climate problem connected to the early arrival of the cherry blossoms. Others have commented on the warm weather bringing the blossoms out earlier. Much of the East Coast has enjoyed unseasonably mild winter. Spring officially rise[s] in just two days on March 20th. 
 
I'm Jim Howard, NPR News in Washington.