Morning Edition on WAMC

Police say the white powder contained in several envelopes that were mailed to various bank branches in New York City turned out to be non-toxic.

Police say seven envelopes were sent Monday to several Wells Fargo branches, a JP Morgan Chase branch and an office building. Telephone calls to Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase were not immediately returned.

Police say the suspicious envelopes caused evacuations of several bank branches, but no injuries were reported. Police had no suspects.

The envelopes were sent on the eve of planned May Day protests around the country.

WAMC's David Guistina gets the morning headlines from Mike Spain, associate editor of the Albany Times-Union.

Listen to Paul Caiano's WAMC Regional forecast.  Paul Caiano is a meteorologist at WNYT Newschannel 13. He graduated from SUNY Albany in May of 1993 with a B.S. in the field of Atmospheric Science/Meteorology.

The nation's second-largest bank is planning to layoff about 2,000 people at its investment banking, commercial banking and wealth management units, according to The Wall Street Journal. The cuts are notable because they include high earning employees in operations that account for most of Bank of America's profits since the financial crisis.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The president's counterterrorism chief, John Brennan, made another statement yesterday. He argued that drone strikes to kill militants are legal.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Brennan's remarks were unusual. It's rare that the administration mentions drones at all. Yesterday, Brennan chose to say that the missile strikes by unmanned aircraft which take place in countries like Yemen and Pakistan fit within international law.

Well in case of an emergency, break glass!

Last night in Miami, Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire hit six of nine field goal attempts, but the last thing he hit may’ve taken him out of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. 

In a new report, the employment firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas predicts more jobs for teenagers this summer. While the jobs picture is improving, CEO John Challenger says teen hiring is still several years away from returning to pre-recession levels.

Two stories out of China — the escape of a blind dissident from house arrest and the corruption scandal involving a top politician and his family — have attracted international attention. But inside China, the picture is different. The government has successfully suppressed the story about the dissident, Chen Guangcheng, such that most Chinese have never even heard of him. The Communist Party has waged a smear campaign against the fallen official, Bo Xilai, whom citizens see as a loser in a power struggle, a corrupt politician or both.

In the second part of his interview, Steve Inskeep talks to author Robert Caro about the process he goes through in writing his biographies of Lyndon Baines Johnson. The Passage of Power is the fourth volume of Caro's massive biography of Johnson.

Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire is the latest politician to appear on the campaign trail with presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. That's fueled speculation that Ayotte is being considered as a running mate.