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- As Washington prepares for President clinton's inauguration tomorrow, Daniel visits the historical Mall, which has been transformed to accomodate the celebrations. Daniel takes us on a tour of the various attractions, including live music in heated tents and vendors hawking the official souvenirs that will help pay the $30 million price tag for the event.

Steve Inskeep reports that candidates at both the Presidential and Congressional levels make very different use of radio for their political ads than they do television. Candidates are "narrowcasting" with their radio spots -- tailoring messages to ethnic or Christian voters. And candidates are using radio to wage very negative campaigns, while keeping their television ads more positive.

NPR's Mara Liasson reports that Bill Clinton today took the oath of office for his second term as President of the United States. In his inaugural speech he issued a passionate call for racial and political unity. "We must succeed as one America," he declared.

Commentator Murray Horwitz has been looking at a photo of Bill Cosby and his son Ennis for nearly ten years. The two are pictured on the cover of a book of photographs of fathers and their sons -- a book which also contains a photo of Horwitz and his son. Horwitz says that since the death of Ennis Cosby, the way he looks at the photo of the Cosbys has changed -- and so, maybe, has his relationship with his son. (3:00) ((STATIONS: "Fathers and Sons" was published by Abbeville Press, in

President Clinton asked Arkansas poet Miller Williams to write a poem for the Second Inaugural. The poem is titled "On History and Hope."

The federal government's reports on the state of housing in the US have been sharply divided between the record number of Americans who own homes... and the fast-increasing number who live in so-called "worst case housing." Those are the people who are stuck in squalid conditions, or whose housing costs such a large part of their income that one more rent increase will leave them on the streets. NPR's John Nielsen explores the crisis facing the working poor and government policy makers.

Robert talks to David Courtwright, the author of the book Violent Land: Single Men and Social Disorder from the Frontier to the Inner City. Courtwright argues that young single men are the group most likely to commit violent acts and communities with a high ration of young single men have a violence rate that is much higher than the norm. In some frontier communities where mining and ranching were the main economic engines, there was a very high gender ratio... sometimes forty men for every woman...and as a result, also a very high violence rate.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that the Supreme Court today heard arguments on whether Paula Jones' sexual harrassment suit against President Clinton can go forward while he is still in office. The court has ruled in the past that civil suits cannot be brought against a sitting president if they involve his official actions, but Jones' says that Clinton harrassed her while he was still governor of Arkansas. The president's attornies argued today that any suit against the president could interfere with his official duties and should be delayed. Jones' attornies said the president had same responsibilities as other citizens.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports on new tensions in Israel, following the drive-by shooting of a Jewish settler family outside of Ramallah, which left a mother and child dead. A radical Palestinian group based in Damascus claimed responsibility. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank "heroes" at the family funerals today, a statement that seemed certain to further aggravate growing Palestinian anger over settlement growth in the West Bank.

Unemployment figures around the country hover just above five percent. NPR's Rick Karr reports that the labor market is particularly tight in parts of the midwest, especially for skilled labor.

- Jacki talks with Bruce Harris, Director of Covenant House, a Latin America-based organization dedicated to helping the increasing numbers of homeless kids living on the streets of the region's cities. Harris is about to travel to Sweden with three of the kids to receive a humanitarian award.

- In southern New Jersey, Girl Scouts are staging a work slow-down as they sell their legendary cookies from door-to-door. The scouts are insisting they be allowed to keep 10 cents more per box, a demand that Girl Scout officials have rejected. Jacki speaks with Jan Snyder, the Girl Scout supervisor who organized the labor action, who says her superiors are nickle and diming her troops.

Six foreign aid workers, including four nurses, were shot at point-blank range and killed today at a Red Cross hospital south of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. The identities of those responsible remain unknown; both the Russian and Chechen governments have condemned the attack.

Banning Eyre reviews the latest recording by the Lebanese composer Marcel Khalife. The work features the Arabic lute, the oud. It's entitled "Jadal: Oud Duo" and it's part of Khalife's on-going attempt to create a solo instrumental repertoire for the oud, which is traditionallly used as a backing instrument for a singer. Eyre finds the piece, which runs just over and hour, to be addictive!

- Jacki speaks with Albany, Georgia, City Commissioner Marvin Bannister, who wants to pull the plug on the televised procedings of his commission. Bannister wants to thwart his rivals in neighboring towns, who are using videotape of the commission's inept deliberations to lure business away from Albany.

NPR's Martha Raddatz reports on another hearing on Capitol Hill today, discussing the effects of possible chemical exposure during the Persian Gulf War. The Pentagon announced today that it is looking for scientists to conduct more studies on how low-level exposure to chemical weapons affects both people and animals. The research is part of the Pentagon's efforts to solve the mystery of why thousands of veterans who fought in the Gulf War have suffered a range of ailments including nausea, chronic fatigue and memory loss.

Personal bankruptcies have increased sharply in the past year. A new study puts the increase at 26% from the year before...a development that many economists find surprising. Analysts say it's unusual for bankruptcy to be increasing without being accompanied by a recession. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.

For the first time since 1979, Iraqi oil started flowing to markets legally today. It's a result of the UN oil-for-food resolution that relaxes the stringent embargo against Saddam Hussein's nation. US officials express confidence that the UN-monitored oil sales will not erode the general sanctions program and the grand coalition that opposed Saddam Hussein in Desert Storm. But analysts are not so sure. They expect nations in the region will see the deal as a green light to resume trading and smuggling with Iraq. NPR's Ted Clark reports.

Noah talks with Ken Auletta, who writes about the media for The New Yorker, about reports today that Michael Ovitz is stepping down as the number-two executive for the Walt Disney Company. Auletta says that Ovitz' apparent departure is not surprising to industry- watchers...there have been many tensions within the company in the last six months.

The White House announced an agreement with several airlines today, under which the carriers will make sure that their cargo holds have fire detectors. The decision is a result of the ValuJet crash in the Everglades that killed 110 people last May. Investigators say the accident was caused by fire in the cargo hold. NPR's Steve Inskeep has a report.