Morning Edition

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Canadian performing artist Fan Yang set a Guinness record for number of people enclosed in a soap bubble. Yang burst the previous record by getting 181 people — arms at their sides — to resist the urge to poke the bubble as it slowly rose around them.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has been busy after a tape emerged of him telling wealthy donors that nearly half of Americans see themselves as victims dependent on the federal government. Now he's trying to make those remarks part of a broader argument: What is the proper role of government and who should pay for it?

Fundraising reports filed Thursday night by the presidential campaigns look a lot like recent public opinion polls. They show President Obama with a slight advantage in monthly fundraising last month — while Republican Mitt Romney has the edge by some other measures.

unemployment is still above 8 percent and some companies are warning of lower profits. Yet the stock market keeps climbing. Renee Montagne talks to David Wessel, economics editor of The Wall Street Journal, about why markets are at their highest levels since the financial crisis four years ago.