NPR 2011-05-06

From NPR News in Washington, I’m Lakshmi Singh.

Members of the group that took out Osama bin 1 Laden 2 is expected to be thanked personally by President Obama. The White House says the president plans to travel to Fort Campbell, Kentucky tomorrow to meet some of the Navy SEALs who were involved in the military assault over four days ago in Pakistan that led to the al-Qaeda leader’s death.

Against the backdrop of snapshots and camera flashes, President Obama placed a wreath at New York’s Ground Zero earlier this afternoon, saying little as people reflected on the thousands of lives lost in the 9/11 attacks that bin Laden ordered in 2001. NPR’s Joel Rose says the president also encountered a warm welcome of first responders and 9/11 family members.

I think that a lot of people I talked to were very glad that the president took the time to come up here and to recognize this New York City. He has a lot of supporters here, and they feel that he did the right thing by coming here to [the] World Trade Center site and, you know, to show that you’re consulted in his thoughts, and that he really is their president.

NPR’s Joel Rose.

Also a somber 3 moment at the Pentagon, where Vice 4 President Joe Biden laid a wreath near the spot where American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building on September 11th. NPR’s Tom Bowman reports from the Pentagon.

The vice president was flanked by Defense 5 Secretary Robert Gates. He carried a wreath, passed a group of firefighters who helped put out the blaze that day. The two men placed their hands over their hearts as "Taps" was played. The ceremony was just steps away from the Pentagon Memorial, which includes a bench for each person killed there that day. One hundred and twenty-five people were killed inside the Pentagon; another 64 died aboard the American Airlines flight. Vice President Biden met privately 6 with family members of the victims. Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington.

Pakistan’s army says it is limiting US military personnel in that country to minimum essential levels. They aren’t saying what prompted their decision, but there is widespread anger in Pakistan over the US raid that killed bin Laden. The al-Qaeda leader was found living in a mansion 7 within 40 miles of Islamabad, prompting questions from the US and other anti-terrorism allies about how much Pakistan really knew of bin Laden’s whereabouts.

US oil prices dropped nearly 9% in their fourth day of declines to settle just under 100 dollars a barrel. Prices haven’t fallen this much in one day since April of 2009. Michael Lynch, head of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, says that with many more people complaining about rising fuel prices, a lot of investors 8 are now, as he put it, running for the door. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 140 points before the close at 12,583.

This is NPR.

For the first time since the economic collapse 9, all three of the US automakers are turning profits. General Motors announced today it made more than three billion dollars in the first quarter. NPR’s Sonari Glinton reports that’s GM’s highest quarterly profit in more than a decade.

The last time gas prices were this high, General Motors wasn’t really competing in the small car market. The last time the company was as profitable, it was making its money from trucks and SUVs. Now, GM’s compact car, the Chevy Cruze, is the company’s bestseller. The Cruze helped make GM three times as much money as it did the same time last year. That good news comes with a twist. GM is recalling more than 150,000 Chevy Cruzes. GM will check to make sure the car’s steering 10 shafts 11 are properly installed, though no accidents have been reported. Sonari Glinton, NPR News.

In the latest tally 12 of new unemployment claims, the number of filers has risen again. The Labor 13 Department reports dated last week saw an increase of 43,000 people who filed for jobless insurance for the first time. Overall, applications rose to 474,000, the highest level in eight months.

At least 17 lives were lost today in a suicide car bombing in central Iraq. It was the second major attack in that country since al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s death four days ago. Iraq’s security forces have been on high alert for reprisal 14 attacks from al-Qaeda and its affiliates 15.

The latest from Wall Street: the Dow was down 140 points before the close, more than 1%, at 12,583, and the NASDAQ has fallen nearly 0.5%; it’s at 2,850.

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.