NPR 2012-05-04

 GOP Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota has endorsed 2 presumptive Republican presidential nominee 3 Mitt 4 Romney. NPR's Craig Windham reports Bachmann says her one-time rival for the GOP nomination 5 promises a new vision of prosperity and liberty.

 
Bachmann says Romney would sweep away failed economic policies and government controls and boost job creation.
 
"That's our future in America. That's something to get excited about. It's why we must elect Mitt Romney."
 
Bachmann is a Tea Party favorite who has waited for months to endorse 1 Romney following her exit from the GOP race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses 6. Just prior to those caucuses, Bachmann told ABC that Romney cannot beat President Obama because the former Massachusetts governor, in her words, wrote the blueprint 7 for the health care law the president pressed Congress to enact 8. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.
 
Meanwhile, Romney is slamming the Obama administration for allowing one of the best-known Chinese activists 9 to leave the US embassy in China. Chen Guangcheng escaped house arrest in a rural part of that country, spending six days in the US embassy. He left after US officials got Chinese officials to assure them he would be left alone. Romney, though, says the US failed him.
 
"(It's also apparent), according to these reports, if they're accurate, that our embassy failed to put in place the kind of verifiable measures that would assure the safety of Mr. Chen and his family. If these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom."
 
But State Department officials say Chen never asked for asylum 10 during his stay at the US embassy. He is now asking for that asylum for both himself and his family in the United States.
 
The Labor 11 Department says last week's jobless claims fell more than the market expected. As NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, it comes just ahead of Friday's monthly unemployment report.
 
The weekly claims for unemployment benefits had been creeping up in recent weeks, adding farther to speculation 12 the job market was hitting another slump 13. But last week the number of seasonally 14 adjusted claims fell by 27,000 to 365,000. Meanwhile, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas says this morning employers announced more job cuts in April than the previous month or previous year led by cutbacks in teaching jobs and government work. Economists 15 expect the Labor Department's Friday report will show another month of weak private-sector job growth, and that the jobless rate will remain unchanged at 8.2%. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.
 
Mortgage rates are at record lows once again. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac says the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan is down to 3.84%. It's the lowest since long-term mortgages were created in the 1950s. The 15-year rate is also lower, down to an average of 3.07%, also a record.
 
On Wall Street just before the close, preliminary numbers have the Dow down 62 points at 13,207, NASDAQ down 36, the S&P 500 down 11.
 
The family of a Florida A&M marching band member who died in a hazing 16 incident wants the school to cancel the famed band. Robert Champion's mother says it's the only way to stop hazing in the musical group. That comment comes a day after 13 people were charged in her son's death. Eleven were charged with felony hazing. Two others face misdemeanor counts.
 
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk is heading home three months after the Republican lawmaker suffered a stroke. NPR's David Schaper reports that Kirk has been released from a rehabilitation 17 hospital in Chicago. But there's still no word on when he might be able to return to work in Washington DC.
 
The 52-year-old Kirk has been hospitalized since January. He underwent emergency surgery in the days after suffering a stroke which included the temporary removal of part of his skull 18 to allow for swelling 19. As his condition improved, Kirk moved to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in February. And his family and staff say the first-term senator's been making steady progress ever since. While hospitalized, he's been meeting frequently with his staff and his Illinois congressional colleagues, including Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. A statement from his office says Kirk is now moving home with his family. Mark Kirk is a moderate Republican who served in the House for ten years before winning what had been President Obama's US Senate seat in 2010. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.
 
A new dinosaur 20 hall's coming to Washington DC. David Koch is donating a record 35 million dollars to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History to build a new dinosaur hall on the National Mall. That's the single biggest gift in the museum's 102-year history, and it will be named in Koch's honor. Koch is a billionaire from New York City. He was the Libertarian Party's VP candidate in 1980. He's been a major donor 21 to conservative political causes.