Search results for

Today's budget talks have been suspended. Robert Siegel speaks with NPR's Mara Liasson from the White House and Peter Kenyon from Capitol Hill about the why the negotiaitions broke down. Budget negotiators gathered again at the White House today, amid reports from both sides that the talks are on the verge of ending, either with a balanced budget agreement or a failure. Republicans had been hinting that, if they can't reach a settlement with President Clinton, they will bypass him and cut a deal with congressional Democrats to cut spending and taxes.

NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports that Texas Sen. Phil Gramm announced today that he would end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination after placing fifth in Monday's Iowa caucuses. Gramm's bid for the presidency was marked by an impressive fundraising and organizational effort, but his fiscally and socially conservative message never struck a chord with many voters. The question now is where his supporters will go -- to Pat Buchanan, who is expected to attract many of the social conservatives who backed Gramm, or to Bob Dole, who has a similar committment to balancing the federal budget.

NPR'S Margot Adler reports that the public schools in New Haven, Connecticut have had their share of problems: high dropout rates...rampant teen pregnancy...the kind of urban disfunction that makes going to school really tough, for kids and teachers alike. Five years ago, in an effort to turn things around, the New Haven schools embarked on an ambitious experiment...one designed to teach kids the life skills they'd need to grow and develop as emotionally healthy adults...to acquire what some researchers have called "emotional literacy"...or "emotional intelligence."

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports that a tobacco company, the Liggett Group Inc., has agreed to a settlmenment of a major class-action lawsuit. The settlement marks the first time a tobacco company has broken ranks with the industry to settle a major lawsuit individually. As part of the settlement, the company agreed to pay up to $50 million over 25 years for smoking-cessation efforts. The company also agreed to accept restrictions aimed at reducing smoking by young people. The company is also negotiating to settle lawsuits by states attempting to recover medical costs from smoking-related illnesses.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports on how the issue of education has evolved since the last presidential campaign. Four years after George Bush and Bill Clinton vied for the right to be the "education president," the Republicans competing for their party's nomination have fought strongly against the idea that Washington should have any role in education. When Bob Dole, Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan do bring up educational issues in their campaigns, America's schools often appear as an example of a larger moral decline these candidates say they will reverse if they get to the White House.

A court in Little Rock has been hearing opening statements today in a case in which President Clinton is expected to testify. A special prosecutor is making a fraud case against the president's former business partners James and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker. NPR's Jon Greenberg reports from Little Rock that one prosecution witness says then-Governor Clinton pressured him to make a government-guaranteed loan to Mrs. McDougal. Mr. Clinton denies the allegation.

NPR's David Welna reports on the very different perceptions in Havana and Washington of the Helms-Burton bill, signed into law today by President Clinton. Backers of the bill in Congress say it will hasten Fidel Castro's downfall by tightening the US embargo. But Cuban officials, while denouncing the bill, say they don't expect it to have much economic impact. In Washington, President Clinton's top adviser on Cuba says the bill gives the president less room to maneuver in dealing with Castro.

Linda Gradstein reports that for two Sundays in a row now...terrorist bombs have struck Israel...leaving that country grieving and angry...and unsteadying the always delicate middle east peace process. Last Sunday, twin suicide bombings killed 26 in Israel. Today, a bus bomb in downtown Jerusalem killed at least 19. In response, Prime Minister Shimon Peres today declared war on the militant Hamas organization, which claimed responsibility for the attacks. Peres said Israel would not rest until Hamas has been destroyed.

NPR's John Nielsen reports that public broadcasters testified before The House Telecommunications Subcommittee today, in response to a republican proposal intended to move public radio and television off federal supports by the year 2000. The broadcasters objected to the 1-billion-dollar cap on a proposed trust fund contained in the legislation and complained that other provisions would bring too much commercial pressure to bear on public broadcasting. But disagreement surfaced among the panelists over whether the proposal would shift too much power from local independent stations to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Noah talks with former Senator George Mitchell, special advisor to President Clinton on Northern Ireland, about the stalled Irish peace process in the aftermath of the IRA bombing in London friday night. -b- 2. RUSSIAN INVESTMENT - NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Moscow on one of the largest investors in Russia to date: the Coca Cola company of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Coca-Cola's efforts to do business with the Russians is a study in stubborness... a stubborn company facing off against the inertia of the Russian bureaucracy.