Morning Edition

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

Look at the electoral maps put up by political analysts and a few things become clear: President Obama holds an advantage in the state-by-state electoral votes that determine this fall's election.

INSKEEP: But his lead in several key states is narrow, and as of now, the red and blue maps put up by those analysts suggest he is still short of the 270 votes he would need to win.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Decades ago, there were hardly any Sikhs in the Milwaukee area. After a 1960s change in immigration law made it easier for people to reach the U.S. from Asia, they began flowing in. And one of the earliest arrivals was Swaranjit Arora, who came in the '60s and arrived in Milwaukee in 1972 to teach at the University of Wisconsin. He talked with us about how things have changed.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. While NASA put a rover on Mars, audiences were riveted by the high- stakes landing, and also by some high hair. Bobak Ferdowsi was on the mission control team when suddenly, his haircut made him famous. It's a mohawk, streaked in red and with stars dyed on the sides of his head.

"Mohawk Guy" has become an Internet star. He says he gets a new haircut for each mission, with colleagues voting on the design.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep, with an awkward moment for the housing authority in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. A fire alarm went off inside an apartment building. Strobe lights flashed. A high-pitched screech went on and on. And building managers had to confess the problem. The switch to shut off the alarm was in a locked room, and the housing authority did not have the key. The same room contains access to an ATM. The alarm was shut off 16 hours later. You're listening to MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, as we cover the Olympics, some of you have asked for spoiler alerts, but for this next report that is probably not necessary. NPR's Mike Pesca is taking us inside the world of India's men's field hockey team. We're not too worried about spoilers. Not just because most Americans don't care much about field hockey, but because the Indian squad has done a pretty good job itself of spoiling things. As Mike reports, the team's record tracks with the overall state of the Indian Olympic effort.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Financial regulators in New York said yesterday they may bar a British bank from doing business in the state. They said that because the bank allegedly laundered some $250 billion in Iranian money through its branch in Manhattan. The bank is Standard Chartered Bank. It does much of its business in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. But like any global bank, it wants to have a foothold in the U.S. markets, and that foothold is now in danger. For more, we turn to NPR's Jim Zarroli in New York.

Jim, Good morning.