Morning Edition on 89.5-1

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now, if the health care law survives constitutional scrutiny, the Republicans who are running for president have vowed to repeal the law if elected. One GOP candidate now appears less likely to have that opportunity. Newt Gingrich is short on victories and low on cash, and he is dramatically shrinking his campaign for president.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with new owners for the L.A. Dodgers.

One of the more legendary athletes here in Los Angeles, basketball's Magic Johnson is leading a consortium of investors to buy the Major League baseball team.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is a $2 billion deal. And that shatters the record for the most money paid for a North American sports franchise. The NFL's Miami Dolphins went for $1.1 billion three years ago.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And our last word in business today is lost and found.

For nearly 60 years, the whereabouts of a painting by Paul Cezanne remained a mystery. Some art experts feared his 19th century painting was lost forever. The watercolor is a study for a famous series of oil paintings Cezanne called "The Card Players."

The nation's capital is focused on the Supreme Court this week, and that includes members of Congress. Wednesday is the third day justices will hear arguments considering the constitutionality of President Obama's health care overhaul.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning, I'm David Greene.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

It's the third and final day for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the Obama health care overhaul. The justices hear arguments today on what parts could remain in effect if the court rules the individual mandate of the health care law is unconstitutional. After yesterday's arguments, that seemed more likely than most experts had expected.

NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Pope Benedict stuck to mostly spiritual themes on a visit to communist Cuba's most sacred shrine. This morning, the pontiff leads a mass in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution. As Nick Miroff reports from Havana, so far even Benedict's gentle push for greater religious and political freedoms for Cubans has been rejected by the government.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Florida state investigators are continuing to look into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. His family has been part of a widespread campaign calling for the arrest of the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed the 17-year-old high school student. Yesterday, the parents of Trayvon Martin were up on Capitol Hill attending a forum on hate crimes and racial profiling. NPR's Sonari Glinton reports from the Capitol.

Comedian Bill Maher's $1 million check to the superPAC supporting President Obama's re-election is the first seven-figure donation to the group since Obama tacitly endorsed the fundraising strategy in early February.

And it has brought new focus to some of Maher's statements about women — specifically Republican women — and led to calls for the White House to disavow the HBO host and his money.

Folklorist Alan Lomax spent his career documenting folk music traditions from around the world. Now thousands of the songs and interviews he recorded are available for free online, many for the first time. It's part of what Lomax envisioned for the collection — long before the age of the Internet.