Radio Workshop

The Latest Headlines (Transcript)

by Catherine Fenollosa

US and British troops are continuing to secure cities throughout

Iraq… including Baghdad. There are reports of additional Iraqi

troops surrendering. In a Pentagon briefing earlier today, Defense

Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reminded the nation that the war is still

going on:

Tape:  "As liberated iraqis were celebrating their newfound

freedom, we

lost an american marine in a firefight in baghdad and suffered a

number of wounded. A sad reminder that the situation in iraq is

still dangerous and that a good deal of work remains"  :17

Rumsfeld says there is still tough work ahead, including securing

northern oil fields and confirming the whereabouts of Iraqi leader

Saddam Hussein.

Airplanes

Federal authorities say many small aircraft pilots are not

following new flight rules. The FAA tightened the airspace over the

Metropolitian area last month… instituting air defense

identification zones. The new rules require pilots to submit flight

plans and keep continual contact with traffic controllers. Today,

FAA spokesman Jim Peters says there's been 66 violations in the

last three weeks:

If you're going to fly, you got to file a flight plan and then you

got to be squawking and talking to avoid being pulled over by a

traffic cop.  :10

There are no currently plans to lift the security zones.

Church checks

The New York Archdiocese says its temporarily suspending background

checks of employees, including priests. The checks had been put in

place following recent sex abuse sandals in the Catholic Church.

But church officials say priests, teachers and other archdiocese

employees questioned the checks. They said they were skeptical of

what would be done with the information collected.

MTA

One of the MTA's top Directors… who was suspended for alleged

corruption… testified today before a state committee. Security

Director Louis Anna-mone was accused of obstructing an internal MTA

investigation. In his testimony, Anna-mone said it was the MTA and

other top officials who tried to cover up his own probe into

corruption at the agency. Anna-mone was suspended earlier this

month. Some assembly members are proposing legislation to reform

the MTA. They say the agency is too secretive and is not

accountable to the public.

Wall Street Numbers

On Wall Street today, the Dow closed _____.