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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, the NCAA has leveled severe penalties against Penn State for failing to stop former assistant football coach and convicted sexual predator Jerry Sandusky. We'll have the latest on that story in a few minutes.

The NCAA laid out severe penalties against Penn State University today - in light of a child rape scandal. The school's football team has been banned from post-season play, docked scholarships, fined heavily, and stripped of past victories. Michel Martin discusses the penalties with Sports Illustrated's Pablo Torre.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Penn State says it accepts the sanctions announced this morning by the NCAA. College sports' governing body announced punitive sanctions against Penn State University after the child sex abuse scandal that has tainted the reputation of the football program and the former coach, the late Joe Paterno. Penn State will be fined $60 million and lose 14 years of victories, from 1998 to 2011, among other penalties. Here's the NCAA president, Mark Emmert.

If you think you've been hearing more about product recalls lately, you have. But if "recall fatigue" is setting in, you need to shake it off for this one: Cargill Beef Solutions is announcing a recall of about 30,000 pounds of fresh ground beef from a Pennsylvania plant because of possible contamination with Salmonella Enteritidis.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

By now you may have heard the news - the NCAA, which governs college sports, has penalized Penn State University's football program for overlooking or covering up the abuse of children, the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

We're going to talk about this now with our regular sports commentator, Frank Deford, who's on the line. Hi, Frank.

FRANK DEFORD, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London starts in four days with the carefully choreographed opening ceremony. But a related spectator sport is already well underway: Dissecting the economic impact of the games.

A show we did in February looked at how big an economic boost cities really get from hosting the Superbowl, and much of the same analysis is being applied to this year's games.

Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street this morning as traders reacted to word that Europe's debt crisis may be deepening and that China's economy may slow, Bloomberg News says.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 200 points, or a little less than 2 percent, after an hour of trading. Other indices were also off.

Saying that the punishment is "warranted by the conspiracy of silence" among Penn State University's top leadership that turned a blind eye to former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse of young boys, the NCAA just announced sanctions on the school that include:

-- A $60 million fine. The money will go into an endowment fund to support programs around the nation that assist victims of sexual abuse, NCAA President Mark Emmert said.

President Obama and Mitt Romney this week will be courting military veterans and raising more money. Romney also will be taking his campaign overseas.

Both speak at the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nev. Obama will address the group today. Romney speaks to the group tomorrow, before heading to London for opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics.

Ten years ago, Romney ran the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Good morning.

The nature of the news today has made the subjects of our early posts unfortunately grim:

-- Dozens Dead After Iraq's Bloodiest Day This Year.

-- 13 Reported Dead, 10 Injured After Pickup Crashes In Texas.

The death toll keeps rising and is now said to be around 100 after a series of bombings and shootings today in Iraq. More than 200 people were wounded in what appear to have been coordinated attacks in at least 13 cities. According to The Associated Press, it has been that nation's "deadliest day so far this year."

A pickup truck overloaded with 23 men, women and children who authorities suspect were in the country illegally crashed Sunday in south Texas. There are reports now, from KSAT-TV in San Antonio and other local news outlets, that 13 people are dead and 10 injured.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

First of five parts

It's sunset in the village of Atima. The old police station clearly was part of the government at one point. The police basically left and now the police station itself is a headquarters for the rebels.

The flag on top of the police station is no longer the Syrian flag, but the flag of the revolution. It's a bit in tatters, but it's still there.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Let's hear some of the sounds from last night in Aurora, Colorado. That's where thousands of people gathered to remember victims of last Friday's shooting. Twelve people were killed. And the explosives rigged in the suspect's apartment suggest it could have been far worse.

NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Police in Aurora, Colorado spent the weekend disarming a snarl of bombs and incendiary devices inside the apartment of James Holmes. He's the man police arrested early on Friday, just after they say he opened fire in a crowded movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring 58. Holmes is described as a 24-year-old who'd been studying at the University of Colorado. He's expected in court later this morning.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The 19th International AIDS Conference is underway in Washington. More than 20,000 people are in this city from around the world to discuss the latest developments in the effort to prevent the spread of HIV and help people who already have it. NPR health and science correspondent Richard Knox is here to talk about the meeting. Richard, good morning.

RICHARD KNOX, BYLINE: Good morning.

INSKEEP: Natural that you'd have a big meeting like this in Washington, global capital, but there's also a story about AIDS in Washington, D.C.

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We imagine high-powered lawyers making plenty of money, and surely many do, but the American Bar Association has revealed a bit of a secret. A huge number of new law school graduates cannot find jobs as lawyers. The weak job outlook, coupled with high tuition, is prompting many students to think twice about law school. Enrollments are falling. NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

If there is a founding ethos in the world of high-tech startups, it's this: The idea is everything. Facebook's initial public offering might have seemed like the perfect illustration. A simple concept, conceived by a college student, became a $100 billion empire in just 8 years.

Yoselyn Gaitan, an 8-year-old with a shy smile, sits quietly in an exam room at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., wearing a tiny hospital gown. She looks a little uneasy as she waits to be brought back to the operating room for the final surgery on her cleft palate.

Kelly Schraf spots her through the curtain and tiptoes into her room.

Every morning, Shannon Orley parks as far away as possible from her office in Anchorage, Alaska. And on the sprawling Providence Alaska Medical Center campus that is really far away.

"Right around 1,000 steps each way. Definitely worth it," Orley says.

Thirty years ago, we first began hearing about AIDS — then a mysterious, unnamed disease that was initially thought to be a rare form of cancer that affected gay men. Scientists soon learned that it was neither of those things, and, in fact, it was a virus that everyone was vulnerable to.

That vulnerability became apparent when, in 1991, basketball superstar Magic Johnson announced that we would retire immediately because he had contracted HIV.

President Obama is in Aurora, Colo., on Sunday, meeting with the families of the victims of the deadly theater shootings that killed 12 people and injured 58 more. He'll also attend a memorial service and meet briefly with local officials.

Outside the movie theater where Friday's rampage occurred, there's a makeshift memorial at the edge of a hot and dusty lot. There are hundreds of candles and flowers, American flags and signs memorializing the victims.

"It's a sad time, very sad time," said William Cloud, a local professor, who came by to pay his respects.