All Things Considered on NPR & Classical Music

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

At his White House briefing this week, President Obama himself took issue with Mitt Romney's welfare claim.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: You can't just make stuff up. That's one thing you learn as president of the United States. You get called into account. And I feel very comfortable with the fact that when you look at the campaign we're running, we are focused on the issues and the differences that matter to working families all across America.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

In Aurora, Colorado, the Century Aurora 16 Cineplex remains closed. It was the site of the mass shooting last month during a midnight premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises." Twelve people were killed; 58 others injured. Now city officials in Aurora are asking for public input on what should be done with the movie theater.

Reporter Kurtis Lee is writing about this for The Denver Post. And, Kurtis, the movie theater is owned by the company Cinemark USA. Did they ask for public input on this or is Aurora doing this own their own?

It's a typical day at a Head Start center near downtown New Haven, Conn., and restless 3- and 4-year-olds squirm and bounce on a colorful shaggy rug vying for their teacher's attention. Down the hallway several women make their way to a parenting class, stopping to marvel at a 4-month-old baby.

What you don't see, says the center's Keith Young, is men, fathers.

In Nairobi, Kenya, when friends want to celebrate a birthday, the end of bachelorhood or a graduation, they often go out for goat. This communal and culinary tradition in Kenya is called nyama choma — literally, roasted meat. While it's usually goat, some places offer beef, chicken and lamb. If you know where to look, you can even get illegal zebra and and wildebeest meat.

When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney selected Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to be his running mate, Catholics passed a milestone. For the first time in history, both vice presidential candidates, Ryan and Vice President Biden, are Catholic.

But if Biden and Ryan share the same faith, they couldn't be further apart in their cultural and political worldviews. On issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, taxes and Medicaid, they are miles apart.

How can that be?

Reflecting 'The Old And The New'

Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, has died. He was 57 years old. Meles was reportedly being treated at a hospital in Belgium. He came to power after leading rebels and overthrowing the country's dictator in 1991. He was a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, but was also increasingly authoritarian.