NPR 2010-05-06

Pakistani officials are assuring the US government they'll do everything in their power to help investigate the case of the American accused of parking a car bomb in New York City. Faisal Shahzad became an American citizen last year. He's originally from Pakistan. And investigators 1 say he claims he learned how to use explosives there. The Pakistani government is reportedly urging the United States to create a joint 2 investigation 3 team.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City Police Commissioner 4 Raymond Kelly have testified before a Senate hearing today on terrorism legislation. They're backing a bill that would stop any person on the terrorism watch list from buying a gun or getting a permit to buy explosive material. NPR's Margot Adler reports.

Speaking before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Commissioner Kelly said there had been 11 attempted terrorist attacks on New York City since 9/11, each defeated by close cooperation between the NYPD and federal and state partners. Kelly said that Faisal Shahzad had bought a semi-automatic assault weapon back in March and had taken it with him when he drove to the airport to board a flight to Dubai.

"The more we can do to deny would-be terrorists access to these weapons, the safer we will all be."

Mayor Bloomberg said denying guns to those on the terrorist watch list was just common sense, no different from police randomly 5 checking bags in the subway or making passengers boarding airplanes pass through metal detectors 6. Margot Adler, NPR News.

Senate lawmakers say they've reached a deal to strip a provision from the financial reform bill. It would set up a 50-billion-dollar fund for failed Wall Street firms. NPR's Audie Cornish reports the fund took a lot of criticism even though it was supposed to be paid for by banks and not taxpayers 8.

The new proposal hatched by Senators Chris Dodd and Richard Shelby would have the FDIC borrow taxpayer 7 dollars from the Treasury 9 to cover the costs of dissolving a failing firm. Senator Dodd says the money would be paid back after.

"We agreed to have it a post-payment responsibility, a fund that would be borne by creditors 10 or the industry itself, based on whether or not there were enough assets in the failed institution to pick up the costs of winding 11 down that firm that was failing."

The new agreement would also require creditors who benefit from a liquidation 12 to pay back the government. And it would try to ban the fire management from working in the financial sector 13 after. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

Greece's prime minister is calling the deaths of three people in a fire today in Athens murder. Tens of thousands of marchers filled the downtown part of the Greek capital, furious over the Greece government's plans to slash 14 spending. Some protesters threw gas bombs into a bank office and Greek officials say the victims appeared to have died from smoke inhalation.

On Wall Street just before the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 61 points. It was at 10,865.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

The Kansas State Senate today held a vote to override 15 a veto of a bill restricting certain abortions 17. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports the override effort did not garner 18 enough votes.

Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson vetoed the bill that would have required doctors to provide a medical diagnosis 19 for late abortions. It also would have allowed patients to sue providers if they had evidence that a late abortion 16 was performed illegally. Earlier this week, the Kansas House voted to override the governor's veto. But today, the Senate fell one vote short of the 2/3 majority needed to overturn it. No late abortions have been performed in Kansas since the murder of Doctor George Tiller in Wichita last year. But some anti-abortion activists 20 fear other doctors will resume the practice. Nebraska lawmakers also passed a bill aimed at late abortions. That law bans abortions after 20 weeks, based on the assumption that fetuses 21 feel pain. The Nebraska law is seen as a direct challenge to the US Supreme 22 Court decision that legalized abortion. Kathy Lohr, NPR News.

Energy company BP says it has sealed one of three leaks on an oil well deep in the Gulf 23 of Mexico. It's spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the water. This is washing toward beaches in four states and threatening fishing and other industries. The federal government says oil is still gushing 24 from two other pipe leaks.

Tennessee authorities say another person has died in flooding in the central part of the state. At least 18 people have now perished in the past few days while heavy storms pound Tennessee and surrounding states and dumped more than a foot of rain. Tornadoes 25, hail and swollen 26 rivers have forced thousands of people to evacuate 27.