Boxer, Fiorina clash in hard-hitting debate

Fiorina found herself on the defensive for much of the night as she was grilled over her positions on abortion, guns and the environment.

Herhold: Opening testimony in Los Gatos murder-for-hire trial makes for fascinating viewing

Aside from the facts of the crime, the lawyers tried to play on the jury's emotions.

Los Gatos murder-for-hire trial begins with bloody photos, desperate text messages

Paul Garcia thought he was above suspicion. No one would ever believe he was capable of ordering a murder -- and certainly not because he felt jilted by a beautiful brunette bartender who loved another man, Santa Clara County prosecutor Jeff Rosen told a jury Wednesday.

Santa Clara County supervisors get answer they wanted in quest to opt out of federal law enforcement program

The federal Secure Communities plan had sparked confusion for government officials around the U.S.

Court documents: San Jose's 16th homicide of year stemmed from jealous argument

But Gannon Crediford didn't kill his girlfriend, he killed her friend, papers say.

The California Report

Schools Experiment With Online Instruction For Kids. End Music.

The California Report

California Vets Reflect On Iraq Combat's End. Electric Car Manufacturing The Next Big Thing?. End Music.

The California Report

Campaign Ad Funders Don't Always Need to Disclose. The Giving State: Companion Dog Patrol. End Music.

The California Report Magazine

We look at a brewing controversy over Islam and religious freedom, as plans for a new mosque in southern California generate small but angry protests. Also, what does it take to succeed in a sport requiring sharp elbows and very strong bones? We get a lesson in Roller Derby 101.

The California Report

Scientists Dismissed From State Toxics Panel. New Health Insurance Exchange Could Offer More Choice. End Music.

Oil Rig Explodes In Gulf Of Mexico

The rig, about 80 miles south of Vermillion Bay along the central Louisana coast, exploded about 9:30 am. CDT Thursday. Emergency crews are en route to the scene.

Fed's Bernanke: Banks Aren't Too Big To Fail

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told a panel investigating the financial crisis that regulators must be ready to shutter the largest institutions if they threaten to bring down the financial system."If the crisis has a single lesson, it is that the too-big-to-fail problem must be solved," he said.

Factory Orders Edge Up; New Jobless Claims Fall

Orders to U.S. factories managed a slight gain in July, boosted by as a surge in demand for commercial aircraft. Meanwhile, the number of people requesting unemployment benefits declined for the second straight week, but the overall level remains high.

Home Contracts Up; Rates Dip To 4.32 Percent

The number of buyers who signed contracts to purchase previously occupied homes rose 5.2 percent in July but remained well below last year's levels. And  the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 4.32 percent this week, the lowest level in decades.

Discounts Spur Sales, But What About The Holidays?

Many retailers report surprisingly solid gains for August, helped by aggressive discounting, even as unusually hot weather and job worries kept a lid on back-to-school buying. The results are providing a sliver of hope for the economic recovery, but worries remain about the critical holiday season.

More top news (npr.org)

China's War on Illegal Structures

In an effort to rid the country of unsafe, illegal and aging structures, the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development plans to demolish half of the country's residential buildings in the next 20 years. Illegal structures in China have a legacy of poor construction quality and dangerous conditions, especially during earthquakes or storms. But, relocating millions of residents is no small task for a country that is urbanizing at one of the fastest rates in history--and battling corruption at nearly every level of government.

Thursday: Middle East Talks Begin; Hurricane Earl Forces Evacuations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Wednesday. Photo by Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images.

The day after meeting with President Obama at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sit down for the first of a series of meetings aimed at creating peace in the Middle East as well as the creation of a Palestinian state.

The meetings at the State Department will be mediated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell.

The BBC's Paul Reynolds outlines where the United States, Israel and the Palestinians stand on these core issues of the conflict: Jerusalem, borders, settlements, refugees and security.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro says the building of settlements may tear down the peace talks:

"Up until now, Netenyahu has managed a balancing act -- keeping together his largely right wing coalition, many of whom support settlements -- while moving forward with the peace talks. They don't want to see him back down on the issue of settlements."

Indeed, the New York Times asks:

"How does Mr. Netanyahu address the Israeli religious right, which supports settlements and has more political influence now than in 2000? Will he or the government ever be able to bring the settler movement on board to any negotiations?"

Foreign Policy's Stephen M. Walt, meantime, examines Hamas' motives in shooting four Israeli settlers on the West Bank on Tuesday:

"[M]y first thought was that the shooting was both a crime and a blunder, because it would only reaffirm Hamas's pariah status and keep them outside the peace process even longer. But then I reconsidered. I think the more important lesson here is that Hamas has already assumed that this latest round of talks will fail, and that this failure will pound the final nail in the coffin of the two-state solution."

The Washington Post's Scott Wilson finds an unlikely source of optimism in these talks: Iran:

"One reason for optimism may be the shared regional fear of Iran, which has only grown since talks broke off between Israelis and Palestinians in December 2008....Iran's threat is a common concern to all of them."

Hurricane Earl Heading for East Coast

Hurricane Earl is heading toward the East Coast on Thursday with winds of around 145 mph, a powerful Category 4 storm. Forecasters are trying to determine exactly how close the strongest gales and heaviest surge would get to shore.

The governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland declared states of emergency, and three counties in North Carolina have issued evacuation orders.

The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning early Thursday for the coast of Long Island in New York and a hurricane watch was issued for areas of Massachusetts. A hurricane warning was already in effect for the coast of North Carolina.

Gates Visits Afghanistan

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan for meetings with President Hamid Karzai and top NATO commander Gen. David Petraeus. Gates also plans to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Meantime, NATO said two U.S. service members were killed.

Bernanke Testifies

Fed Chief Ben Bernanke testifies Thursday before the financial crisis inquiry commission. Bernanke is presenting his analysis of the crisis and views on potential risks as the panel approaches the end of its yearlong investigation into the Wall Street meltdown.

The Wall Street Journal is live blogging the hearing today.

The Morning Line: The Clash in California

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Republican Carly Fiorina sparred Wednesday in an hour-long debate at St. Mary's College in California that highlighted their stark differences on issues ranging from the economy and climate change to immigration and abortion.

The Los Angeles Times reports, "Much of the debate focused on the economy and illustrated the clear choice for voters between Boxer's call for greater government intervention and Fiorina's advocacy of a bevy of tax cuts that she said would give businesses more freedom to hire and expand."

Boxer accused Fiorina of opposing legislation in the Senate that saved the jobs of more than 16,000 teachers. Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, said businesses must be "freed from strangling regulation and freed from taxation."

Fiorinia also took direct aim at her Democratic opponent, who is seeking a fourth term in the Senate. "Barbara Boxer may say she is fighting for Californians but the truth is she is fighting hardest for another six years in Washington, D.C.," said Fiorina.

Boxer, meanwhile, targeted Fiorina's tenure at HP. "When she was CEO of Hewlett-Packard, before she was terminated actually, she shipped 30,000 jobs overseas," said Boxer, before slamming the multi-million dollar severance package Fiorina received in 2005.

During a round of questioning about Proposition 23, a November ballot initiative that would suspend California's 2006 climate change law until the state's unemployment rate stays at or below 5.5 percent for a year, Fiorina said she had not yet taken a position on the matter. Boxer responded, "Well if you can't take a stand on Prop. 23, I don't know what you will take a stand on."

On immigration, Fiorina said she supported giving children who are brought to the United States illegally by their parents and who have lived in the country most of their lives a path to legalization and a chance to pursue high education. Boxer called for comprehensive immigration reform, noting that Fiorina had called such legislation a "distraction."

The debate also covered social issues like abortion, which provided one of the night's sharpest exchanges, reports the Times.

"If my opponent's views prevailed, women and doctors would be criminals, they would go to jail. Women would die, like they did before Roe v. Wade," said Boxer, a fierce critic of restrictions on existing abortion rights.

Fiorina reiterated her support for overturning the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, but tried to turn the discussion back to the economy. "The most important issue right now in this election is the creation of jobs," she said.

Based on an average of recent polls compiled by Real Clear Politics, Boxer currently has a narrow lead in the race, despite the significant advantage Democrats hold over Republicans in voter registration.

Wednesday's debate was sponsored by KTVU-Channel 2, the San Francisco Chronicle and KQED public radio.

HOW MANY COMEBACKS DOES THIS KID HAVE?

A few months back, Bill Clinton bestowed his "comeback kid" title on Sen. Blanche Lincoln after she scored a come-from-behind primary victory over Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. The former president is going to try to work his Arkansan magic one more time.

Lincoln's campaign announced that Mr. Clinton will be campaigning with her in Little Rock next week to commemorate the one year anniversary of her becoming Agriculture Committee chairman. (An odd thing to celebrate in this anti-Washington campaign year, but Ag clout is still clearly something worth touting in Arkansas.)

However, those heady days in the aftermath of her primary victory in May are far behind. Lincoln is trailing Republican Rep. John Boozman significantly in the polls and is in a race that looks to be increasingly slipping away. Arkansas is a tough state for a Democrat in any year. This year, it may be near impossible.

But that won't stop Mr. Clinton from attempting to jump start Lincoln's fall campaign season back home. Keep your eyes on his campaign schedule later in the fall. Whether or not his visit on Sept. 8 is his final campaign stop for Lincoln will tell us a lot about where he sees the race heading on Nov. 2.

DUELING CHAIRMEN

The chairmen for the national Democratic and Republican parties are beginning to unveil their core messages, strategies and tactics as we prepare to enter the post-Labor Day crush of the midterm campaign season.

In an interview with the Hotline's Reid Wilson, RNC Chairman Michael Steele talked up his plans to spend most of the fall on a bus tour. He'll hit the 48 mainland states over the course of six weeks, fundraising along the way.

"'In anticipation of the cynics out there, there's a huge fundraising component to this trip that will help sponsor the bus, that will help pay for gas,' Steele said, adding that he'll be attending fundraisers for local and state parties and candidates along the way."

Steele has been nothing if not controversial while at the helm of the Republican Party. The lackluster cash-on-hand totals at the RNC remains a clear signal to Republican candidates running in tight races across the country that the national party apparatus should not be counted upon as a major component in their strategies.

Facing a far more difficult task this cycle, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine plans to make the morning show rounds next week, as well as a Daily Show appearance. POLITICO's Mike Allen takes a look at Kaine's fall campaign kickoff.

"An aide said Kaine plans 'the sharpest contrast that he has made to date on the direction the country would go if Republicans got back in charge.'"

And Allen reports that there will be some historical context to Kaine's argument.

"'He'll make a strong case for what Democrats and President [Barack] Obama have done and make an analogy to how often Americans have turned to Democrats for heavy lifting in tough times,' the aide said.

"Kaine will invoke President Franklin D. Roosevelt following President Herbert Hoover, President Bill Clinton taking office following a recession and 12 years of Republican rule, and President Harry Truman running against a Republican Congress."

FEMA Chief: Katrina Lessons Aid Hurricane Earl Planning

Listen to the Audio

A massive egg recall over fears of a salmonella outbreak raises new questions on whether the Food and Drug Administration can handle its regulatory role. Betty Ann Bowser has more.

JIM LEHRER: Now: to the Food and Drug Administration and to questions of regulation. The salmonella outbreak and the major egg recall have raised questions once again about whether an agency charged with regulating drugs and food can adequately do its job.

NewsHour health correspondent Betty Ann Bowser has our report. Our Health Unit is a partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: For the past few years, it's been one food safety scare after another. There was E. coli-laced spinach, salmonella-tainted peppers. Then peanut butter products were recalled, and the latest, bacteria-laden eggs.

There have also been problems with drugs. The ingredients in a contaminated blood thinner came from China. And whether the tainted products are from abroad or the United States, it's the Food and Drug Administration's job to make sure they're safe for American consumption. The FDA has received some new money from Congress to police food and drugs, $141.9 million last fiscal year alone just for food safety, a top priority for FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg.

MARGARET HAMBURG, commissioner, Food and Drug Administration: We want to try to work with the food industry to put in place risk-based strategies and preventive controls to ensure that problems will not arise, rather than chasing them after the fact and waiting until people get sick to identify that there's a problem, and then scramble to address it.

All of this will take time, of course, but it will make our program, I think, much more effective and efficient.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: But Hamburg says it's not enough, because her agency needs more money and resources to do its job.

MARGARET HAMBURG: FDA plays this critical and unique role, and, yet, it's mysterious to me. I really don't understand, but we have never had the resources that we need to fully support our activities. We have, you know, unfortunately been under-resourced over many years in this important area, and at a time when, in fact, the global challenge is growing.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Another challenge, tens of millions of packages filled with pharmaceuticals from other countries pour into the United States every year. Most are illegal, and not approved for use in this country, and some are well-disguised counterfeits.

Any of this stuff -- this stuff dangerous?

ANDREA CHARLES-JULIEN, investigator, Food and Drug Administration: Oh, definitely, definitely, especially when you see a lot of the counterfeit medications.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Andrea Charles-Julien is the FDA's lead inspector in one of the busiest international mail-processing points in the country, Miami.

ANDREA CHARLES-JULIEN: We see a lot of the antibiotics, tetracycline, ampicillin. We see a lot of injectable contraceptive medications, heart medications. You name it, we see it.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Many of the counterfeit drugs have the wrong ingredients, not enough ingredients, or are just outright fakes.

The products often come from online pharmacies. More and more Americans are buying medications online with or without a prescription because they don't have health insurance or they can't afford to get a prescription from a licensed physician.

A typical Viagra pill can cost $8, on the Internet, perhaps as little as 99 cents. We found some sites offering a two-for-one, free Viagra with the purchase of another medication, and without a prescription. While there have been very few reported cases of people becoming sick or dying from taking unapproved or counterfeit drugs, the FDA is concerned because the trade is growing so fast.

DAVID ELDER, director of Regional Operations, Food and Drug Administration: The volume of imports has been growing exponentially over the past decade. Our ability to regulate them is challenged. The amount of staff that we have has certainly not kept pace with the growth.

Now, this is an interesting one.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: David Elder heads the FDA's field operations. He says Miami is a good illustration of the agency's manpower shortage. Of the 36 million pieces of mail that come through here each year, 8,000 to 10,000 get pulled for inspection. But FDA employees, just three of them, are able to inspect only about 40 a day.

Eighty percent of all the ingredients in drugs sold in U.S. pharmacies today are imported. That includes prescription and nonprescription drugs. The largest quantities come from India, China, and Canada. And while these ingredients are produced in factories overseas that are approved by the FDA, they rarely get inspected by federal regulators.

Allan Coukell, a pharmacist and director of the medical safety program at the Pew Health Group, says, in the last decade, the number of plants in India and China making ingredients for the American market has doubled, at a time when FDA has fewer resources to inspect them.

ALLAN COUKELL, Pew Health Group: If you're manufacturing overseas, you might never see an inspector after the initial inspection at the beginning of your manufacturing process.

When inspections do go on overseas, they tend to be much shorter than domestic inspections. They're generally pre-announced, meaning the manufacturer has time to prepare. And, if problems are identified, the agency is much less able to go back subsequently and follow up to see whether those problems were adequately corrected.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: In 2008, 81 people died in the U.S. after being given the blood thinner heparin. Ingredients for its manufacture came from China. Heparin is made from pig intestines and some mom-and-pop operations like this one, shown on the Wall Street Journal's Web site, where there is virtually no quality control.

ALLAN COUKELL: We know there are risks associated with making drugs this way. Someone in China deliberately sold a counterfeit ingredient into the manufacturing process. It looked to tests like the real ingredient, but it ended up sickening Americans here.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: A 2008 Government Accountability Office report said it would take FDA 13 years to inspect all of its approved drug facilities abroad, including 566 in China and 299 in India. Doctor Hamburg says, because drugs have become so much a part of the global economy, FDA needs Congress to update its resources and give it more legal authority.

MARGARET HAMBURG: You know, you have to -- to realize that many of the laws that created the FDA are the same laws that we're operating under today. And, at one time, they were fitting and appropriate, but the world has changed a lot. And we do need some new tools and authorities.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Hamburg also wants Congress to give FDA more power to regulate the nation's food supply, which every day comes more and more from other countries.

A bill that would have been the first to increase FDA's authority over food in 70 years passed the House last year, but the Senate failed to take action before going home for its summer recess. The legislation would require many food processors to keep records and report what they do to prevent contamination, would give the agency power to recall food products suspected of contamination. Currently, FDA can only react when tainted food has made people sick.

Former Deputy FDA Commissioner William Hubbard says, the legislation is badly needed.

WILLIAM HUBBARD, former deputy commissioner, Food and Drug Administration: The Centers for Disease Control estimates that maybe 75 million people get sick each year from contaminated food, and maybe 3,000 or 4,000 of them will die, and 300,000 of them will end up in the hospital. That's a lot of people. And the economic costs are very high. When I started in the FDA in the 1970s, the food budget was half of the agency's budget. Today, it's only a quarter. So, the food budget's been allowed to deteriorate.

They only do about 8,000 inspections of domestic food processing facilities in this country now, and there are 150,000 of them to inspect. So, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they're not doing nearly as much as the public would expect them to do.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Currently, FDA inspects only 1 percent of all imported food at the dock. Meanwhile, there are more than 150,000 foreign processing companies shipping their food products into the United States.

Pakistan cricketers 'were set up'

The three Pakistan cricketers accused of corruption may have been set up, according to the country's high commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan.

Bid for Middle East peace begins

The US Secretary of State tells the Israeli and Palestinian leaders they have the "opportunity to end this conflict" as direct peace talks begin.

PM backs Hague over aide rumours

David Cameron supports William Hague "100%" following speculation about the foreign secretary's private life, the PM's spokeswoman says.

Ministers propose 45p drink price

The Scottish government says drinkers should be charged a minimum of 45p for every unit of alcohol as part of efforts to cut consumption.

Strike 'kills Afghan civilians'

Ten election campaign workers have been killed in an air strike by Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, Afghan officials say.

Essentials of Financial Regulatory Reform

Congress has approved sweeping reforms for the U.S. financial system. In tonight's program, NBR's Darren Gersh reports on the regulatory reform vote. You can learn about the essential provisions of the legislation here.

Big Changes for Credit Cards

The second wave of credit card reform takes effect this summer. The changes are designed to protect consumers. But, as Darren Gersh reports in tonight's program, the protections could come at a cost. Learn more about the changes credit card users will start seeing this summer here.

Generation Y

As Anna Olson reports tonight, Generation Y - loosely defined as today's twenty-somethings - remain optimistic about their futures despite the troubled economy. That economy has prevented many of them from getting the jobs they want and, in some cases, from getting any job at all. Learn more about Generation Y here.

Jeopardy in the Gulf: Gulf Shores, Alabama

Tonight, NBR's Jeff Yastine begins a 3-part look at how the oil disaster is affecting communities in Gulf Coast states. His first report focuses on Gulf Shores, Alabama, which is experiencing a decline in the vacation rentals that drive its economy. Learn more about Gulf Shores here.

Two Views from the BP Hearing

BP CEO Tony Hayward testified on Capitol Hill today, answering tough questions about the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Lawmakers were, for the most part, critical of BP. Representative Jack Welch (D-VT) argued for Hayward's resignation. And, at the other extreme, Representative Joe Barton (R-TX) apologized for the political shakedown that led BP to create a $20 billion compensation fund. Listen to these lawmakers below and cast your poll vote.