NPR 2011-06-04

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

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is fighting charges that he illegally spent campaign funds to cover up an extramarital affair during his 2008 run for the White House. In North Carolina today, Edwards pleaded not guilty to six counts that also include conspiracy 1 and making false statements. He later made a brief statement in which Edwards said he was wrong but did not break the law.

"I will regret for the rest of my life the pain and the harm that I've caused to others. But I did not break the law, and I never ever thought I was breaking the law."

Edwards eventually admitted to fathering a child with his mistress that prompted his wife Elizabeth to leave him. She passed away last year after a long battle with cancer.

The unemployment rate is a higher 9.1% after companies added only 54,000 jobs last month. The Labor 2 Department's report out today reflects a slowest hiring pace in eight months. House Republican Leader Eric Cantor says the numbers are further proof that President Obama's job growing strategies are not working.

"If there were ever an indicator 3 that we actually need to start having a plan to grow jobs, this is it."

But the administration says overall the economy is still growing. NPR's Scott Horsley says President Obama sought to drive home that message at a Chrysler plant today.

The president's visit to a Toledo plant, where Chrysler assembles Jeep Wranglers 4, was intended to showcase the turnaround by the automaker since a government rescue two years ago. While the US auto 5 industry is hiring again, Mr. Obama had to acknowledge millions of Americans are still out of work.

"I don't want to pretend like everything's solved. We've still got a long way to go."

Manufacturing has been a bright spot in the economic recovery. But last month, factories trimmed some 5,000 workers from their payrolls 6. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

Some of the largest anti-government protests are being reported out of Syria, especially in the city of Hama, as NPR's Deborah Amos explains.

There are reports of demonstrations 7 across Syria. But the turnout in Hama is significant, say activists 8. More than 50,000 people marched after Friday prayers and suffered heavy casualties when Syrian security police fired on the protesters. Hama was the site of a crackdown in the 1980s, when tens of thousands died, considered one of the deadliest acts by an Arab government against its people. The Syrian government turned off the Internet today across the country, and the usual torrent 9 of protest videos posted on the web dried up. Reports from inside the country came mostly from satellite phones. Deborah Amos, NPR News, Gaziantep, Turkey.

And still no end to clashes in Yemen, where the president suffered minor 10 injuries in an attack on his palace.

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Doctor Jack 11 Kevorkian, the retired 12 pathologist dubbed 13 "Doctor Death" for assisting in more than 100 suicides of terminally ill patients, has died. Kevorkian passed away at a Detroit-area hospital today following a brief illness. He was 83 years old.

The TV actor, best known for playing Gunsmoke's Marshal Matt Dillon, has died. James Arness was 88 years old, and he died in his sleep of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles today. NPR's Neda Ulaby has this appreciation 14.

US Marshal Matt Dillon held back the bad guys and held up the law in Dodge 15 City, Kansas during the days of the Wild West. He epitomized frontier justice.

"I'm going out in the street, and I'm gonna wait for you."

"Well, have fun."

"I wanna kill you."

"Mr. Dillon."

The part was actually created for John Wayne, who turned it down and suggested James Arness. Arness was well over six feet tall, and Wayne liked to joke he was just too big for the movies. Arness became Gunsmoke's moral heart, and the show became TV's longest-running Western. Before his death, James Arness was named an Honorary US Marshal. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

With football's first preseason game just months away, there's still no sign of progress on a collective bargaining deal. Today, the NFL and its players ended their court arguments in St. Louis over the legality of an owner-imposed lockout three months ago.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down nearly 100 points, or nearly 1%, at 12,151, NASDAQ down more than 1% at 2,733.

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