NPR 2008-09-08

The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is getting a positive initial reaction from Wall Street. US stock futures 1 are up sharply, harbinger of a possible strong rally tomorrow. Treasury 2 Secretary Henry Paulson, in announcing the action, says the two mortgage finance firms are so large and such an integral part of the financial system that the failure of either of them would cause great turmoil 3 in the global markets. Both presidential candidates are supporting the move. Nancy Pfotenhauer is an economic advisor 4 to GOP nominee 5 John McCain. "Fannie and Freddie are an example of crony capitalism 6. I mean, basically these entities 7 were set up, they, they were given the upside, the return, but not the risk. " Pfotenhauer was on CNN's Late Edition.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama says the takeover of the firms was necessary to prevent a deeper crisis. Obama also said today that if the economy is in a recession, he would delay pressing to rescind 8 the tax cuts that were enacted 9 by Congress at the behest of President Bush, but he would push for tax relief for the middle class. "The economy is weak right now. The news with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, I think, along with the unemployment numbers, indicates that we're fragile. I want to accelerate those tax cuts through a second stimulus 10 package, get more money into the pockets of ordinary Americans, see if we can stabilize 11 the housing market. And then we're going to have to reevaluate at the beginning of the year to see what kind of hole we're in." Obama was on ABC's This Week.

Hurricane Ike is poised 12 to rake across Cuba with powerful winds and rain that forecasters say could cause widespread flooding and mudslides. The storm is being blamed for at least 37 deaths in Haiti. Ike has lost a bit of its strength but it's still a Category-3 storm with winds of 120m/h. Todd Kimberlain, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center, says Ike is likely to make landfall along the Gulf 13 Coast later in the week, but exactly where is unclear. "That cone 14 of uncertainty 15 is pretty wide. I mean, it encompasses 16 areas from the central Gulf Coast to Texas. And so it's a lot too early that we can't really say with any certainty, you know, whether it's going to be Louisiana or Texas or maybe even Mississippi. " Before it reaches the Gulf though, Ike is expected to brush past the Florida Keys. NPR's Allison Keyes has more.

Florida Key West is still evacuating 17, says Emergency Operations Center spokeswoman Sandi Copes. "We encourage all Floridians to remember that a lot of times the forecasts are uncertain, so we wanna make sure that they're listening to their Emergency Operation officials." Meantime in New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin is warning that another evacuation might be a problem for residents who just returned after fleeing Hurricane Gustav. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

The United Nations is threatening to suspend deliveries of emergency food supplies to Sudan's Darfur region because of a surge in hijackings and attacks on World Food Program workers and drivers. The agency supplies food to more than three million people there. More than 100 UN vehicles have been hijacked 18 so far this year, and many others have been attacked and robbed.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Rescue workers in Egypt are searching for more possible survivors 19 from a massive rockslide on the outskirts 20 of Cairo today. At least 32 people were killed. Aya Batrawy  has more from Cairo.

Egyptian authorities said after 24 hours of searching, 31 bodies were pulled out of the rubble 21 and 46 people were wounded. The number of those missing is uncertain, but residents of the area said there could be hundreds still stranded 22 below. At a nearby hospital, a mother sits waiting to hear news about three of her children. One man, whose children were killed by the rockslide, said the government was well aware that the mountain was collapsing 23. But according to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the government is working hard to get people out of these unauthorized towns. For NPR News, I am * in Cairo.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is wrapping up a five-nation trip that included a landmark 24 visit to Libya. The last stop was Morocco. Jerome Socolovsky has more.

Rice's visit followed an upsurge in terrorist activity in the region. Attacks in Nigeria left more than 100 people dead just last month. Morocco has been a recruiting ground for jihad fighters sent to Iraq. After meeting with the Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Rice said counterterrorism cooperation between the US and North African governments is good. But there's always more you can do, she added. Rice says the US wants to empty Guantanamo prison as soon as possible. Human rights groups are concerned about the treatment North African inmates 25 would face on returning. Rice says protections would be sought for them, but that America has an obligation not to let dangerous people on the streets. For NPR News, I am Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.