JIM LEHRER: The making of the world's largest airline began today. Delta and Northwest announced a merger agreement last night. The deal was initially valued at $3.6 billion.
The new company would take the Delta name with more than 80,000 employees. Executives said they hope to limit staff cuts and keep all their hubs open.
The CEO of Delta said the rising cost of oil helped drive the merger.
RICHARD ANDERSON, CEO, Delta: Obviously, escalating fuel prices make any leader in a business sit back and say, "OK, what do you do to counteract that? What steps should you logically take to make your company secure and more resilient?" And, certainly, fuel is an important factor in that.
JIM LEHRER: The merger will need federal approval. Two of Northwest's largest unions have yet to agree to it.
In Washington, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee also raised doubts. Democrat James Oberstar of Minnesota said the argument about higher fuel costs is "hollow."
REP. JAMES OBERSTAR (D), Minnesota: It just means a bigger airline with more fuel, and more cost, and costs then that they will have to shed in some way in order to compete in the marketplace. And when they crash, it will be a bigger crash, much bigger than anything in the past.
JIM LEHRER: Delta and Northwest indicated they hoped to have the merger completed in eight to nine months. We'll have more on this story right after the news summary.
The rising cost of energy and food pushed wholesale inflation sharply higher last month. The Labor Department reported today producer prices jumped more than 1 percent in March, nearly triple the expected increase.
And the price of oil kept going today, up another $2, to close in on $114 a barrel.
Gas prices, taxes and polls dominated the presidential race today, a week before the Pennsylvania primary. NewsHour correspondent Kwame Holman narrates our report.
KWAME HOLMAN: In Pittsburgh today, Republican John McCain went after his two Democratic rivals on money matters. He said they would allow the Bush tax cut to expire.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), Arizona: They're going to raise your taxes by thousands of dollars a year and they have the audacity to hope you don't mind.
KWAME HOLMAN: McCain also called for a temporary suspension of the federal tax on gasoline from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: The effect will be an immediate economic stimulus, taking a few dollars off the price of a tank of gas every time a family, a farmer, a trucker stops to fill up.
KWAME HOLMAN: Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama dismissed McCain's ideas as just continuing President Bush's policies.
A new poll by Quinnipiac University had Clinton still leading Obama by 6 points in Pennsylvania, unchanged from a week ago. The survey was taken over four days. It overlapped widespread reporting of Obama's remarks that small-town Americans cling to guns and religion because they're bitter about economic conditions.
Today, Obama addressed a town hall with veterans in Washington, Pa. And he took on Clinton's charge that his words were elitist.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: When somebody makes that argument, particularly given that I've spent my entire life working with workers and low- income communities to try to make people's lives a little bit better, then that's when you know we're in political silly season.
KWAME HOLMAN: Clinton did not return to that issue today. Instead, she laid out plans for her first 100 days in office at the Associated Press's annual meeting in Washington.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), New York: I will sign executive orders ending the war on science, ordering the closure of Guantanamo, reversing many of the anti-labor provisions that President Bush adopted, and looking very clearly at what we have to do to rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class in our country.
In short, starting from day one, the Bush-Cheney era will be over in name and in practice.
KWAME HOLMAN: The two Democratic candidates meet tomorrow night in Philadelphia for their first debate in more than a month.
JIM LEHRER: A planned nationwide strike over Zimbabwe's presidential election faltered today. The opposition party demanded the release of results that are more than two weeks overdue, but state-run media did not publicize the strike. And police and soldiers spread out around the capital city to crack down on any protesters.
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Washington today. He was greeted by President and Mrs. Bush at Andrews Air Force Base. It was the pope's first visit to the United States since he became pope in 2005.
It's also the first visit since a scandal over sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy came to light in 2002. The pontiff vowed today not to let that happen again. We'll have more on the pope's visit later in the program tonight.
Bombings across Iraq killed nearly 60 people today. The worst was in Baqouba. A car bomb exploded at midday in a busy government office district. Hospital officials said at least 40 Iraqis died in the blast, 70 others were wounded. The U.S. military gave slightly lower numbers.
To the west, a suicide bomber in Ramadi killed at least 13 people; another 20 were hurt.
The maker of the painkiller Vioxx faced new questions today. The drug was pulled in 2004 over links to heart trouble and strokes. Today, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported Merck and Company knew of the risks in 2001. The journal also raised questions about the ghost-writing of favorable research. We'll have more on this story later in the program tonight.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 60 points to close at 12,362. The Nasdaq rose 10 points to close at 2,286.
