News Summary for May 21, 2008

JUDY WOODRUFF: The price of oil surged past yet another record today, as Congress demanded answers. The U.S. Energy Department reported a surprise drop in stockpiles. And with that, crude oil jumped more than $4 in New York trading, to settle above $133 a barrel.
The new record came as senators pressed the five largest oil companies to explain what's happening.
SEN. HERBERT KOHL (D), Wisconsin: People listening just don't get it. When demand is not going crazy, why are prices going crazy? They don't get it.
You say, "Well, we need more investment and so on," but demand is not going crazy worldwide. Why are prices at the pump going crazy when demand isn't going crazy?
PETER ROBERTSON, Vice Chairman, Chevron: Well, I think the combination of supply and demand are going crazy. There's a significant -- there's a significant demand increase in the world. And there is a significant, continuing reduction in supply, unless we continue to invest.
So a combination of those two things -- I think you said it's not going crazy, but this is an enormous gap that exists.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The House today passed a tax package that includes incentives for using renewable energy sources. It would cost $54 billion. The president threatened a veto because the House would raise some taxes to pay for the bill.
American Airlines announced today, in the face of record fuel costs, that it is cutting flights and workers and adding new fees for bags. The company will drop more than 10 percent of its schedule in the fourth quarter. And Chairman Gerard Arpey said he is expecting thousands of layoffs in the months ahead. American is the nation's largest airline.
On Wall Street today, stocks tanked for a second day on rising oil prices and a negative outlook from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 227 points to close at 12,601. The Nasdaq fell nearly 44 points to close at 2,448.
President Bush today vetoed the $290 billion farm bill. It was the 10th veto of his presidency. He said the bill gave too much aid to wealthy farmers and cost too much. The House immediately moved to override the veto.
Also today, the president signed a bill barring discrimination against workers or job applicants based on genetic testing.
Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both traveled to Florida today, after splitting victories in Oregon and Kentucky. The party has refused to count primary results in Florida and Michigan for voting too early.
Clinton said, if they are counted, she'd lead the popular vote. But the chair of the Democratic convention, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had this to say.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), Speaker of the House: How delegates are selected is by a process, and the person who has the most delegates becomes the nominee of the party. It's not been about the popular vote.
If you want to use the argument that Senator Clinton is making, use it, but at the end -- all I'm saying is, one way or another, in June, we will have a nominee.
JUDY WOODRUFF: We'll have more on the campaign, including my interview with Speaker Pelosi, a little later in the program tonight.
Rescuers in central China found a woman alive today, nearly nine days after the earthquake that devastated the region. We have a report on recovery efforts narrated by Tom Clarke of Independent Television News.
TOM CLARKE, ITV News Correspondent: Wang Youchun (ph) has spent 196 hours trapped under rubble; that's more than eight days. At first, they thought she might not make it, but her son has seen her quickly recover.
EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): When my mother saw me, she could recognize my voice. She said, "My son is coming. My son is coming."
TOM CLARKE: You might call it a miracle, too, if the day before, in the same town, Wang Wenzou (ph) hadn't also been rescued alive, and she is 102 years old, exhausted, but quite aware enough to tell a reporter she was hard of hearing and couldn't make out his question.
As if Sichuan hadn't suffered enough, the aftershocks continue, this one triggering a massive landslide, cloaking terrified bystanders in dust.
Amid all this, the government grapples with an extraordinary challenge: feeding some 5 million people made homeless by the disaster. "I'm eating cucumber porridge," says this woman at a newly built camp.
Refugees continue to leave devastated mountain regions and their collective needs are great. Government officials now appealing for an additional 3 million tents from the international community.
But the authorities face anger, too. Yesterday saw bitter protests like this one in Wufu, where 137 children were buried alive under their school.
Today, officials responded.
LI RONGRONG, China State Assets Management Commission (through translator): If we discover that some of the collapsed buildings were undertaken by central state construction companies, then we will certainly mete out severe punishment.
TOM CLARKE: The last official day of mourning ends today, to many signaling the unofficial close of search-and-rescue efforts.
But there is so much more to do: Toilets must be dug, shelters erected, waste collected, and the grim, yet urgent task of identifying still unburied victims, many by their DNA alone.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The official death toll now stands at more than 41,000. The Chinese government ordered budget cuts today to divert money to relief efforts.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Thailand today, still trying to save cyclone victims in Myanmar. Aid trickled across the Thai border into the country once known as Burma, and Ban urged the military junta to let more in. He travels there tomorrow.
Myanmar has accepted about 40 U.S. aid flights, but today it rejected a more extensive effort involving helicopters and naval ships waiting off the coast. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell urged the regime to reconsider.
GEOFF MORRELL, Pentagon Press Secretary: While we certainly are pleased that we've been able to provide some aid, we, obviously, have much, much more that is at the ready and on the Essex, and other assets just offshore, and can be provided at a moment's notice, if only the Burmese government would have a change of heart on this matter.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The official count there shows at least 78,000 people were killed in the storm; 56,000 are still missing.
An 18-month political stalemate in Lebanon came to an end today, with a deal brokered by Arab leaders. The opposition, led by Hezbollah, won veto power over government decisions, among other things. The militant group is backed by Iran and Syria. It routed forces loyal to the government in fighting earlier this month.
In Washington today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement, quote, "We view this agreement as a positive step."
Americans will now be allowed to send cell phones to family members who live in Cuba. President Bush announced the policy change today, and he appealed to Cuban President Raul Castro to let the phones reach Cuban citizens. Last month, Castro ended a ban on letting Cubans own cell phones.
Senator Edward Kennedy returned to his home on Cape Cod today, a day after the news broke that he has brain cancer. The 76-year-old Democrat waved to well-wishers and thanked hospital staff as he left a Boston hospital. Later, he went sailing on his sloop in the waters off his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts.
Kennedy's brain tumor is considered treatable, but not curable. His doctors are deciding on a course of therapy.
Hamilton Jordan died last night at his home in Atlanta, after a long battle with cancer. Jordan engineered Jimmy Carter's winning presidential bid in 1976 and served as White House chief of staff. In a statement today, the former president said he was "deeply saddened" to lose a trusted confidante and friend. Hamilton Jordan was 63 years old.