Morning Edition on NPR & Classical Music

Weekdays 5 to 9 AM
Hosted by: Steve Inskeep, Renee Montage &
Sueann Ramella

Sueann Ramella, Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne help you wake up informed and up-to-date, on our flagship news show, Morning Edition. NPR's weekday morning newsmagazine includes coverage of breaking national and international stories, as well as thoughtful ideas and commentary, arts and culture reviews, and notes on human interest. Throughout the morning, Sueann also brings you regional news and weather to help you plan your day.

Below, you will find articles, transcripts, and clips of many of the stories heard on today's Morning Edition.

Visit Morning Edition at NPR.org

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Africa
1:06 am
Fri May 25, 2012

How Crumbling U.S. Dollars Bailed Out Zimbabwe

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 7:17 pm

Four years ago, Zimbabwe experienced one of the worst cases of hyperinflation in history. The country abandoned its own currency and switched to the U.S. dollar — a move experts say prevented a complete economic collapse.

But using American dollars has created a host of bizarre issues. The bills are filthy, crumbling and often in short supply. There are no U.S. coins to make change, so chocolate is handed out instead. There is, oddly, an abundance of $2 bills.

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Shots - Health Blog
12:51 am
Fri May 25, 2012

Dispatchers' CPR Coaching Saves Lives When Every Minute Counts

Credit Courtesy of Medic One Foundation
Becky Cole was eight months pregnant with her son Ryan when she passed out. Her husband performed CPR for six minutes with the help of a dispatcher before medics arrived.

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 7:09 am

Your chances of surviving a sudden heart attack may depend on where you live; some American cities have survival rates five times higher than others. One difference can be 911 dispatchers.

If they coach someone over the phone to give CPR, the chance of surviving goes up. There's now a push to make it universal, but some cities are slow to implement the necessary training.

Becky Cole was eight months pregnant with her fourth child when she collapsed against the bathroom door. It was January 2011 in the Seattle suburb of Woodinville.

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Around the Nation
12:50 am
Fri May 25, 2012

Walk This Way: Crossing The Golden Gate Bridge

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 11:12 am

On May 27, 1937, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge opened, connecting bustling San Francisco to sleepy Marin County to the north. The Oakland-Bay Bridge had opened six months earlier — but the Golden Gate was an engineering triumph. It straddles the Golden Gate Strait, the passage from the Pacific Ocean into the San Francisco Bay, where rough currents prevail and winds can reach 70 mph.

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Shots - Health Blog
12:48 am
Fri May 25, 2012

Need A Nurse? You May Have To Wait

Credit iStockphoto.com
Some fear that with rising medical costs and an aging population, the country's nursing staff will be stretched too thin.

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 7:15 pm

Nurses are the backbone of the hospital — just ask pretty much any doctor or patient. But a new poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds 34 percent of patients hospitalized for at least one night in the past year said "nurses weren't available when needed or didn't respond quickly to requests for help."

Since nurses provide most of the patient care in hospitals, we were surprised at the findings. We wanted to find out more. We wanted to know what was going on from nurses themselves. So we put a call-out on Facebook.

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Music News
12:30 am
Fri May 25, 2012

Eurovision 2012: The Babushkas Make It To The Final

Credit Vano Shlamov / AFP/Getty Images
Russia's singing group Buranovskiye Babushki hold their national flag as they celebrate making it through to the Eurovision final on May 22 with Moldova's entrant, Pasha Parfeny (left), and his dancers.

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 7:26 am

StoryCorps
12:29 am
Fri May 25, 2012

The Day Taps Echoed Through Belgium's Hills

Originally published on Fri May 25, 2012 7:09 am

During World War II, Harrison Wright served with the Army in Europe. And as he recalls during a visit to StoryCorps with his grandson Sean Guess, he was sent on a very special assignment to mark the end of the war.

Wright was drafted in March 1943.

"I was an 18-year-old boy," he says. "I blew the bugle in our outfit," he adds, largely because he had played the trumpet in high school.

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Around the Nation
4:13 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Safeway Meat Clerk Reinstated After Fight

Ryan Young saw a pregnant woman being kicked by her boyfriend. He leaped out from behind the meat counter and intervened. Safeway suspended him, citing a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence. But after the union took up his cause and people boycotted the store, Safeway reinstated Young, calling his action "commendable."

Around the Nation
4:06 am
Thu May 24, 2012

'Tebowing' Move Not Appreciated At Graduation

Chuck Shriner was about to receive his diploma from Fort Myers Catholic School in Florida when he dropped to one knee, and struck the praying pose made famous by quarterback Tim Tebow. Shriner won a $5 bet but lost the chance to get his diploma onstage.

Africa
3:17 am
Thu May 24, 2012

Muslim Brotherhood Unmatched In Grassroot Support

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

OK. So as we've heard, one big question is whether Egyptian voters will give the presidency to an Islamist candidate. The leaders in pre-election polls include a candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, as we've heard, and there's another leading candidate who used to be in the Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood already has the biggest share of seats in Egypt's parliament. And now leaders of this 84-year-old party face the challenge and the possibility of winning the presidency.

Merrit Kennedy reports from Alexandria.

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Business
3:17 am
Thu May 24, 2012

The Last Word In Business

Originally published on Wed June 20, 2012 11:26 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is Robocop car.

American customers have not been able to buy a new Chevrolet Caprice since 1996. Now the car is back, as a police car. The 2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV and Detective goes beyond the old black-and-white. Its computer system is voice activated, "Knight Rider"-style. It has eight cameras positioned to scan thousands of license plates per shift, which police computers can then check against a database to find if drivers have outstanding warrants or tickets.

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