Report: Taliban Leader Dead In Pakistan

Good morning.

As our day gets going, there's more news about the fate of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Taliban in Pakistan. One of his commanders, Kafayat Ullah, tells the Associated Press that he can "confirm that Baitullah Mehsud and his wife died (Wednesday) in the American missile attack in South Waziristan."

From Islamabad, NPR's Philip Reeves says that if Mehsud is dead that would be a "major coup" for American and Pakistani intelligence agencies:

Another story just breaking comes from northern Iraq, where at least four bombs have exploded — killing at least 26 people.

News of a much different sort is likely to grab lots of attention at 8:30 a.m. ET. That's when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports on the July unemployment rate and issues its estimate of how many jobs were cut from businesses' payrolls last month. The agency will post the news here, and we'll pass it along as quickly as possible.

According to Bloomberg News, economists expect BLS will say that employers cut 325,000 jobs (less than the 467,000 in June) and that the jobless rate edged up to 9.6% from 9.5% in June.

Politico writes this morning that "the White House is playing a delicate expectations game as it braces for Friday's release of the nation's unemployment rate." It has put the possibility of a 10% jobless rate "on the table" so that anything lower will look like "a win."

Among the other stories making headlines:

— St. Petersburg Times' The Buzz blog — "Mayhem" At Democratic Lawmaker's Town Hall: "Pity the many Tampa Bay TV, radio and print radio reporters who showed up to cover a nuanced discussion of health care reform options at a town hall meeting headlined by state Rep. Betty Reed and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor. Instead they had to make do with covering total mayhem, as hundreds of protesters turned the event into a near riot."

The Buzz also posted video:

Related story on Morning Edition — "Drug Deal Poses Problem To Health Overhaul":

— Senate.gov — How Lawmakers Voted On "Cash-For-Clunkers": By a 60-37 vote, the Senate last evening agreed to add $2 billion to the "cash-for-clunkers" program that offers rebates to some consumers who trade in old gas guzzlers for more efficient vehicles. Click here to see how each senator voted. Seven Republicans crossed the aisle to join the majority of Democrats in supporting the measure (Alexander of Tennessee, Bond of Missouri, Brownback of Kansas, Collins of Maine, Corker of Tennessee, Snowe of Maine and Voinovich of Ohio). Four Democrats joined the majority of Republicans in opposing it (Leahy of Vermont, McCaskill of Missouri, Nelson of Nebraska and Warner of Virginia). Three senators, all Democrats, did not vote (Byrd of West Virginia, Kennedy of Massachusetts and Mikulski of Maryland).

Related story on Morning Edition — "Senate Refills 'Cash-For-Clunkers' Program":