Morning Edition on KTTZ HD2

The sixth installment of the Fast & Furious movie franchise opens Friday. David Greene talks with director Justin Lin, about the new film. Lin, an Asian American, was bothered by how Asian characters were portrayed in the franchise.

On Thursday, President Obama is expected to explain how the fight against al-Qaida has changed, and how the U.S. will adapt its counter-terrorism policies to the evolving threat. The president will speak at the National Defense University.

On Wednesday, Lois Lerner, the IRS official overseeing the tax-exempt organizations office, refused to testify during a hearing on Capitol Hill, and was attacked by some Republicans on the House committee. Her brief appearance was the beginning of a five-hour session marked by angry outbursts and allegations of political motives.

Prison is a tough place, but Congress made an exception nearly 30 years ago, giving terminally ill inmates and prisoners with extraordinary family circumstances an early way out. It's called compassionate release.

But a recent investigation found that many federal inmates actually die while their requests drift through the system.

One of them was Clarence Allen Rice.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene. We now know the tornado that struck the city of Moore, Okla., on Monday was an EF5, with winds over 200 miles an hour. That designation is the strongest possible rating for a tornado. Federal, state and local teams are on the ground this morning, cleaning up debris and tending to survivors. But there is little - if any - chance of finding any more survivors; that, according to the fire chief in Moore.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm David Greene.

Well, our wings have been clipped by some listeners. Yesterday, we told you about how some scientists in Canada saw their research crops destroyed by geese. We used the term Canadian geese. Listeners like Frank Cohen said we got that wrong.

FRANK COHEN: They're not Canadian geese. They're Canada geese because they don't hold passports, as far as I know, and it's not a nationality. It's a species name

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Linda Wertheimer. A drummer in Baltimore pulled off the interstate yesterday, out of gas. So he pulled his drum kit out of the trunk and sat up on the shoulder and played along with traffic. When a state trooper pulled up, drummer boy explained he was just biding his time until help arrived, practicing his chops. He got away without a ticket and with the gift of gas from the highway department. Rock on. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.