CNN 2009-03-11(在线收听

Good morning, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Reggie Aqui. Thanks for checking in. Here is what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

President Obama outlined his plan for a major overhaul of the country's education system last hour. "It's time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career. We've accepted failure for far too long. Enough is enough. America's entire education system must once more be the envy of the world and that's exactly what we intend to do." The president's stimulus package budgets billions of dollars in grants to local school districts and billions more for building schools and training teachers.

The struggling global economy has led to job cuts at United Technologies. That company announced this morning that it will reduce its global workforce by 11,600. The cuts are part of 600 million dollars in additional restructuring actions this year for United Tech whose products include, Carrier heating and air conditioning, Sikorsky helicopters and Otis elevators.

Delta Air Lines says that it has to cut its international capacity by an additional 10%. That is because of, you guess it, the global recession. The flight cuts will begin in September.

A 410-billion-dollar spending bill is expected to go for a vote in the Senate today. Most of the debate is focused on billions of dollars in pet projects. In actuality they account for less than 2% of the entire bill. Senator John McCain's attempt to strip the bill of its earmarks was defeated last week. The government is expected to run out of cash tomorrow at the stroke of midnight eastern if that bill isn't passed.

Alleged swindler Bernie Madoff is expected in court today. A federal judge could decide to remove Madoff's attorney for a conflict of interest. The attorney's late father is a former Madoff investor. Madoff will be back in court on Thursday again. He is expected to plead guilty to allegedly masterminding a 50-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Please stick with us here at CNN and CNN.com Live as we bring you the updates throughout the day.

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/cnn2009/3/75291.html