Fair Use?

This Associated Press article appears to be a nothing more than a rewrite of yesterday's New York Times article about President Clinton's selection as a prospective juror in a federal criminal case in New York. The A.P. article (which is also available on the NYT website) credits the Times three times, but it doesn't appear that there's any original reporting by the A.P. So what's the point? And doesn't the Times lose syndication revenue if the A.P. is offering a competing version of the same article?

The A.P. article leaves out the troubling quote from the district judge that an investigation by the U.S. attorney's office disqualifies someone from serving on a jury. Why should the government get to disqualify someone from jury service just because he's had unfavorable dealings with federal prosecutors?