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Around the Nation
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

Ben And Jerry Raise Dough For Occupy Movement

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founder's of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, are part of a group of business leaders trying to raise money for Occupy Wall Street to help it regain its earlier momentum. Host Scott Simon talks with them about how they've already raised $300,000 and aim to raise $1.5 million more.

Sports
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

Bounties Uncovered: Paying For Pain In The NFL

Originally published on Sat March 3, 2012 10:48 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A National Football League investigation revealed yesterday that the New Orleans Saints had a bounty program. Players were paid bonuses off the books for putting game-ending hits on opposing players. The NFL says bounties were paid for the past three seasons, including 2009 when the Saints won the Super Bowl. Defensive players were offered $1000 for a cart off - an injury so bad a player would be carted off the field - and $1,500 for a knockout, which needs no explanation.

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Presidential Race
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

In Ohio, A Battle To Prove Electability

Originally published on Sat March 3, 2012 10:48 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Now, to Super Tuesday. Ohio may not offer the most delegates of the ten states who will vote on Super Tuesday, but it has become the most coveted state for all the candidates of the Republican nomination for president, a microcosm of the countrywide fight for supremacy. Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney will all campaign there today. NPR's Tamara Keith has this campaign update from Cleveland.

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Politics
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

Where GOP Women Stand On The Political Race

Originally published on Sat March 3, 2012 10:48 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

As the candidates battle it out, there's a key fact always worth remembering: 53 percent of those who cast votes in the last presidential election were women.

Michelle Bernard is a political analyst who studies voting trends among women. She is the founder and CEO of the conservative Bernard Center for Woman, Politics, and Public Policy. Thanks for being with us.

MICHELLE BERNARD: Thanks for having me.

SIMON: Let's try and clear this up. Is there a women's vote?

BERNARD: Yes.

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Around the Nation
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

BP Expects To Pay $7.8 Billion To Oil Spill Victims

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is Weekend Edition from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

BP is beginning to settle the financial bill it faces from a 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A group of individuals and businesses who sued the company have agreed to settle for nearly $8 billion. The plaintiffs all say they were harmed when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 men, and leading to the massive spill.

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Europe
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

With Elections, A Look At U.S.-Russian Relations

Three years ago this month, President Obama said he hoped to promote more cooperation between the U.S. and Russia. It would be hard to see where that may have happened recently, as Vladimir Putin approaches power again. Host Scott Simon speaks with the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, about Sunday's elections in Russia.

Middle East
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

The World Watches Syria: What Will It Do?

As the violence in Syria continues, the international community has been unable to do much more than continue to condemn it. Host Scott Simon talks with Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy about the mounting debate over intervention and the new humanitarian access to the country.

Sports
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

A Changing Season: A New Spring Training Ethos

Originally published on Sat March 3, 2012 10:48 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

Baseball has begun its spring training season. That used to be taken as a sign of spring. Is it now a sign of ka-ching in Major League Baseball? Jim Bouton, who pitched for the New York Yankees, the Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and about a dozen other major, minor, and semi-pro teams, the man who shook up baseball 40 years ago with his classic diary, "Ball Four," so widely quoted and reissued, joins us from the studios of New England Public Radio in Amherst.

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Politics
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

What Does Obama's Foreign Policy Stand For?

David Rohde is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and former New York Times reporter, who's now a foreign affairs columnist for Reuters and The Atlantic. He talks to host Scott Simon about what he calls the "Obama doctrine" in a piece that appears in the current issue of Foreign Policy magazine.

Movies
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

DeVito 'Speaks For The Trees' In 'The Lorax'

Originally published on Sat March 3, 2012 10:48 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

Danny DeVito, a short, funny guy with a long and winding career in movies, TV, on-stage and online, from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" off-Broadway and onscreen, to the TV shows "Taxi" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," and online films. His latest project transports him to the land of Truffula trees and singing fish.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "THE LORAZ")

DANNY DEVITO: (as The Lorax) I'm playing poker. He's playing Go Fish. And I think he's hungry.

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Television
8:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

Actor Ciaran Hinds Takes On Crime

Ciaran Hinds seems to show up in every other movie you may have seen over the past decade, including There Will Be Blood, The Road to Perdition, Harry Potter and The Debt. He's currently starring in the hit television series Above Suspicion based on the Lynda La Plante novels. Host Scott Simon speaks with Hinds about his career.

Governing
6:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

Occupy May Seem To Be Receding, But Look Closer

Originally published on Sat March 3, 2012 12:45 pm

For people who watch TV news or read newspapers, the Occupy movement might seem to be in hibernation.

Most of the encampments are gone, and diminished numbers take part in protests.

But there's a lot of ferment behind the scenes — at least at Occupy Wall Street.

Check the Occupy Wall Street website and you'll see at least 15 events every day: meetings by working groups on arts and culture, alternative banking, media, security.

'Pop-Up' Protests

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Fresh Air Weekend
1:56 am
Sat March 3, 2012

Fresh Air Weekend: 'Being Flynn,' Barry Blitt

Credit

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors, and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

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The Two-Way
1:00 am
Sat March 3, 2012

Tornadoes Slow, With Destruction In Their Wake

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:59 am

This morning, the death toll rose in areas affected by extreme weather in the Midwest and the South. Towns have been wrecked and the number of people missing is unclear. Now, residents are starting to sift through the wreckage and recover what they have left.

At least 28 people have been reported dead. (Note: This number is bound to change, and we'll update as we have more information.)

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Around the Nation
6:33 pm
Fri March 2, 2012

Storms And Tornadoes Lash Eastern U.S.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

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Economy
6:09 pm
Fri March 2, 2012

GM Puts Volt Into 'Neutral' To Let Sales Catch Up

Credit Bill Pugliano / Getty Images
Workers assemble a Chevrolet Volt at GM's Detroit Hamtramck Assembly Plant in October. The auto maker says it will idle the plant for five weeks, to allow demand to catch up with inventory.

General Motors will suspend production of its Chevrolet Volt electric car for five weeks amid disappointing sales.

A GM spokesman said Friday that the company will shut down production of the Volt from March 19 until April 23, idling 1,300 workers at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.

"We're taking a temporary shutdown," said GM spokesman Chris Lee. "We're doing it to maintain our proper inventory levels as we align production with demand."

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Middle East
5:57 pm
Fri March 2, 2012

U.S. To Israel: Iran Is Feeling Heat From Sanctions

The White House meeting next Monday between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be the most critical encounter for the two men since they took office.

Netanyahu is expected to argue that time is running out on efforts to discourage Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Obama may say the Israelis can count on U.S. support, but that they should give sanctions and diplomacy time to work before turning to military action.

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It's All Politics
5:39 pm
Fri March 2, 2012

Santorum, Romney Vie For 'Center Of The Political Universe': Ohio

Republicans in 10 states will vote on Super Tuesday next week, and the general election battleground state of Ohio may be the most coveted prize.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports that both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are pushing hard for the state, where 63 delegates are at stake.

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U.S.
5:38 pm
Fri March 2, 2012

Air Force Mortuary Official Resigns Amid Scandal

Credit Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images
The remains of a U.S. Army private arrive at Dover Air Force Base for a transfer ceremony last November. The mortuary at Dover Air Force Base has come under accusations that body parts of the nation's war dead were cremated and the ashes dumped in a Virginia landfill.

Originally published on Fri March 2, 2012 5:46 pm

One of three officials accused of mismanaging the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Del., and of retaliating against three whistle-blowers, has resigned.

The Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative agency, said Friday that Quinton Keel had resigned and that it is in touch with Air Force officials about their final decisions on disciplinary action against the two other accused officials.

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The Two-Way
5:25 pm
Fri March 2, 2012

Widespread Tornadoes Across Tennessee And Ohio Valleys Leave Three Dead

Originally published on Wed May 23, 2012 10:59 am

Yet another line of extreme weather is cutting across a wide swath of the country today. On Wednesday, tornadoes pounded some of the same areas and caused 13 deaths.

The AP reports that 14 people have been killed in southern Indiana. (Keep in mind that in these situations, this number is bound to change.)

RTV 6 in Indianapolis reports that authorities are still trying to get a handle on the damage.

The local station reports:

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