NPR 2009-12-04

President Obama meeting with members of his economic team said today that “we cannot hang back and hope for the best” with unemployment continuing to rise. The president told participants at a White House jobs forum 1 that despite some signs the economy is growing again, many businesses remain reluctant to hire.

If we get serious, then the 21st century is gonna be the American century, just like the 20th century was. But we're going to have to approach this with a sense of seriousness and try to set the politics and the chatter 2 aside for a while and actually get to work.

President's remarks come as new figures show a drop in weekly first-time unemployment claims. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on Congress to tap unused money from the Wall Street bailout fund to create jobs. Around 140 billion dollars in federal bailout money remains 3 uncommitted.

Iraqi officials say a suicide bomber 4 killed five people today in Tikrit, the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein. They say the dead include a police commander and at least two of his bodyguards 5. More from NPR's Corey Flintoff.

Police say the bomber targeted Lieutenant 6 Colonel Ahmed al-Fahal, the head of an anti-terrorism unit, in an area that was formerly 7 a stronghold of Sunni insurgents 8. There’re conflicting details about the identities of some of the other people killed. Although some were apparently 9 police bodyguards and some were civilians 11. They say the colonel was visiting a goldsmith shop in Tikrit when the bomber attacked. The bombing is typical of much of the current violence in Iraq which appears to consist of assassinations 12 aimed at police, military and government officials. Security in general has been much better in recent months. And November marked the lowest number of civilian 10 casualties since the US-led invasion in 2003. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Baghdad.

Secret Service has placed on administrative 13 leave. The agency was responsible for allowing an uninvited Virginia couple into a White House state dinner last week. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told the Congressional hearing that his agency bore the entire responsibility for allowing Tareq and Michaele Salahi into the state dinner. Republicans on the panel asserted the White House Social Secretary office bore part of the responsibility because there was no one at the gate to help agents with guest list’s discrepancies 14. But Secret Service director Sullivan said in a fact the buck 15 stopped with him.

Congressmen, this is our fault and our fault alone. There is no other people to blame here. You know, look at me and blame me. This is our fault.

Sullivan was the only witness at the hearing. Neither the White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers nor the Salahi themselves appeared. The committee staff is preparing subpoenas 16 compelling the Salahi to testify. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 86 points today, ending the session at 10,366. The NASDAQ lost 11 points. The S&P 500 was down 9 points today.

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 Federal authority is now indicating that more charges could be forthcoming in the case alleged 17 terror plot in New York City. Assistant US Attorney said today those charges could be contained in an indictment 18 against Colorado airport driver Najibullah Zazi. The prosecutor 19 did not specify 20 the charges during the course of pretrial hearing held today in Brooklyn. Authorities have alleged Zazi received instructions on explosives in an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan. They claimed he purchased beauty supplies in Denver suburb that could be used to make peroxide bombs before traveling to New York in September.

Florida is hoping to secure federal funding for a high-speed rail line. The legislature had taken up the matter in a special session. NPR's Greg Allen reports.

Florida already has much of the land and most of the permitting done for a high-speed rail line that will run from Tampa to Orlando. It’s one of the several proposals for high-speed rail submitted to Obama administration which next year will decide which state will receive more than 8 billion dollars in stimulus 21 money. Florida has requested more than 2 billion dollars for its project. While the project is close to shovel 22 already, federal officials warned that Florida's proposal could be hurt by a lack of regional rail that will connect to a high-speed line and extend its reach. Two regional rail lines in Florida, one already operating, and one that's proposed have languished 23, because of lack of funding. This special legislative 24 session may change that and if it does, may improve Florida's chances of receiving some of the 8 billion dollars in federal stimulus money for a high-speed rail. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

To find a time mortgage rates were this low, you'd have to go back to 1971. And even then, they weren't as low as they were this week. Freddie Mac said today, the average rate on the 30-year mortgage this week fell to 4.7%. That's the lowest level since the Housing Finance Agency began keeping track.

I’m Jack 25 Speer, NPR News, in Washington.