Morning Edition

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It was pretty clear that the recent bout of winter weather that many of us have seen was going to have an effect on job growth in February. The question was how much. And it turns out less than expected. That's the message from the government's monthly employment report that's out today. It found that U.S. employers added 175,000 jobs to their payrolls last month. As NPR's John Ydstie reports, it's more than expected.

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene. A family business in Chicago folded this week because of the Fed. It was a mother father daughter shoplifting ring that went from Maryland to Texas. The family stole millions of dollars worth of retail - Legos, electronics, bags of coffee. They auctioned the items on eBay, making more than four million bucks over the past decade. The tool of their trade - clothing. The family's matriarch had a special black dress outfitted with compartments to stuff stolen goods.

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning, I'm Linda Wertheimer.

Spring has not yet sprung but high schoolers are thinking ahead to prom. A Florida teen enlisted the a cappella group Straight No Chaser for his video invite to Megan.

STRAIGHT NO CHASER: (Singing) Let it go. Let it go...

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Megan, will you go to prom with me?

(APPLAUSE)

WERTHEIMER: He showed the video in class. It's on YouTube. Megan said yes. Heaven knows he tried.

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

Senior U.S. officials were warned of imminent Russian military action in Crimea about a week before the troop movements that have sparked a major international crisis over Ukraine, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency tells NPR.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The recent bout of winter weather that many of us have felt has hit the U.S. economy. Winter storms cooled job growth in February. The only question is by how much. Economists, investors and job seekers are looking to today's employment report from the government for an answer. NPR's John Ydstie says their predictions have been dampened by the weather too.

JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE: John Sylvia is the top economist for Wells Fargo. His forecast for job growth in February has been pounded down by the weather.

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Enzyme David Greene.

Let's return to the saga of bitcoin, the digital currency. Yesterday, "Newsweek" announced that it uncovered bitcoins founding father - but the man they named - Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto - denied it. Just last week, the bitcoin world was rocked by a half billion dollar bank robbery.

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Goodnight stars. Good night air. Good night noises, everywhere.

A woman named Margaret Wise Brown wrote those words. And you probably recognize them. You've probably read them out loud many times. It's from her book, "Goodnight Moon." Margaret Wise Brown died in 1952. But much of what she wrote was never published, including her songs and poems.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene. It's been a tradition in the Windy City for 50 years. The water in the Chicago River is dyed green for St. Patrick's Day. Only this year some residents have a question: Can you dye ice?

That might be the challenge if the river doesn't thaw in time. Organizers are optimistic - even if it means using a tug boat to break up the ice. I am tempted to believe them. The group that dyes the river and unclogs it - as needed - is the local Plumbers Union.

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning, I'm Linda Wertheimer.

Wake Up and Smell the Bacon. No, we're not making breakfast in the studio. It's the name of Oscar Mayer's new app and iPhone device. It's a piece of limited edition hardware that plugs into the headphone jack. Along with your alarm, you get the signature smell and sizzle. It's a really nice way to wake up - unless, of course, you're a bacon-free family.

You're listening to MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

For all of California's troubles advertising health care to Latinos, that state has embraced the Affordable Care Act and is spending millions of dollars to get people to sign up. Florida is a different story.

Florida has a high rate of uninsured Latinos - almost 10 percent of all the country's uninsured Hispanics who are eligible for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act live in the state.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

And I'm Linda Wertheimer.

A handful of Senate Democrats joined Republicans yesterday to defeat President Obama's choice to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Debo Adegbile is a civil rights lawyer who once helped handle the appeal of a cop killer. He nomination forced a tough choice upon Democrats: Vote yes and infuriate law enforcement groups - or vote no and anger minority voters.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In Pakistan, peace talks between the government and the Taliban came to a halt last month after militants executed 23 soldiers. Pakistan's military responded with airstrikes, and that led the Pakistani Taliban to declare a cease-fire. The government has now agreed to engage in fresh negotiations - even though attacks by splinter groups continue, underscoring just how decentralized these militants are.

A survey from Vouchercloud finds that a lot of Americans don't talk tech — at least not very well. More than 20 percent of respondents thought MP3 was a robot from Star Wars.