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Linda Wertheimer speaks with Philip Delves-Broughton, N.Y. bureau chief of the Daily Telegraph, who is covering the trial of rap singer Puffy Combs. Combs is on trial for weapons possession and bribery charges. He testified in his own defense today. Delves-Broughton says that Combs denied the charges, and was very composed under cross-examination, making for an impressive witness. He also says Combs has been dressing conservatively, more like a banker than a rap star.

Robert talks with Hugo Young, a political columnist for the Guardian newspaper, about John Major and the speech Major made today in Brussels. He denounced the European Union's social chapter on workplace standards. The speech is widely being viewed as a part of Major's re-election campaign, which is currently in trouble. Major is hoping to rally conservative voters in Britain, who may have doubts about the European Union and the changes that would come to the United Kingdom if various social standards for employment are changed.

Linda Wertheimer travelled to northeastern Ohio last week, driving along the shores of Lake Erie, talking to voters about the Presidential campaign. She met with the types of voters candidate Dole is courting and needs to win over -- fiscal conservatives, people concerned with familiy values and the moral center of this country, people who have voted for Republicans in the past. But Linda Wertheimer found that many people who one might expect to vote for Dole AREN'T, and they tell us why.

The signing of the agreement on Hebron between Israel and the Palestinians has proven to have far-reaching implications. Most of the Arab world was watching to see what conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would do in those negotiations. The fact that the peace process has continued has raised hopes that a peace agreement might be reached between Syria and Israel as well...which would go a long way toward achieving a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. The United States is expected to push for such an agreement between the two nations soon. NPR's Eric Weiner reports.

Stephen Moore, who's president of the Club for Growth, a conservative political action committee says he favored returning dollars to taxpayers when the economy was strong. Now he thinks a tax cut's even more essential to managing a soft landing instead of a recession with economic growth slowed, the stock market down, and the tax burden above 21%. He urges the full Bush tax cut plus capital gains cut to help high tech. http://www.clubforgrowth.org

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that Pope John Paul the Second plans to beatify two of his predecessors next month. The two popes who will be elevated on the ladder toward sainthood influenced the Roman Catholic Church in very different ways. Pope Pius the Ninth is regarded by many as an arch-conservative, known for promulgating the doctrine of papal infallibility. He's also known as the pope who insisted a Jewish boy in Rome be raised a Catholic, against the wishes of the boy's parents. Pope John the Twenty-third, by contrast, is renowned for liberalizing the Church with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

In its first three months, the administration of President Bush has kept its distance from the power problems of California -- making clear it wanted the state to work out its own problems. But today the president issued a directive to federal agencies in that state instructing them to turn off escalators and keep air conditioning at a low level this summer. President Bush also used the occasion to restate the government's commitment to conservation as a key element of its policy for controlling energy costs and avoiding shortfalls. NPR's Don Gonyea reports from the White House.

Behind the fight over possible legislation to overhaul Social Security is a battle for the allegiance of older voters -- and it's turning nasty. A conservative group called USA Next surprised a lot of people by running an online ad attacking the senior citizens' group AARP. The ad charged that AARP's "real agenda" wasn't Social Security or any other seniors' issue, but rather an alleged opposition to the troops in Iraq and alleged support for gay marriage. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

Jacki reports on the turmoil in the Canadian province of Ontario over budget cutbacks. The Conservative government of Premier Mike Harris has cut about 8-million dollars in spending so far in an effort to curb a 100-million dollar debt. On Friday and Saturday, tens of thousands of union workers rallied in Hamilton, Ontario to protest government policies. The province faces a strike by members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) at 12:01 Monday morning. Union offices warned the walk-outs would escalate, with as many as 55-thousand of the province's 81-thousand union workers off the job by mid-week.The chief issue in contract talks between the union and the government is job security. On Friday, the government announced an 18-percent cut in provincial hospitals and as many as 20-thousand layoffs of hospital workers during the next year.

Neil Cavuto is a relatively calm Fox News personality. He's a Wall Street conservative less prone to shouting than musing, a host given to letting his guests have their say. He hosts more hours of cable news than anyone else at the big three news cable channels: 17 hours of live shows a week. And he does that despite having multiple sclerosis, which prevents him from doing so much as reading from a teleprompter.

Luke Gorski is a traveler with a big task this summer. Luke called in for his weekly check-in to tell KAXE/KBXE's Heidi Holtan and John Latimer about this leg of his journey exploring all 66 Minnesota state parks this summer. Click the player above to hear the entire conversation. For the other installments of this summer pilgrimage, click here to read more in the KAXE/KBXE archives.

Omar Sosa To kick off the new year, Tell Me More revisits memorable conversations with musicians heard on the program in 2009. Legendary jazz musician and composer Omar Sosa has earned his ranking within a unique class of world musicians. Since his childhood years spent in Cuba, Sosa has been able to call many other places home, such as Ecuador, Spain and San Francisco. Along the way, he's soaked up various sounds and rhythms of the cultures he encountered. Back In April, Sosa dropped by NPR's Studio 4a for a performance chat in which he described his efforts to connect the sounds of the African diaspora with that of the Americas.

From Michel Martin To Jay Leno: Soul Singer's Career Takes Off — Before In a special New Year's encore of performances heard on the program, Tell Me More revisits its conversation with soul singer Eric Hutchinson. Since his chat with host Michel Martin, Hutchinson has continued on his rise to stardom, having appeared on the former Tonight Show with Jay Leno and having toured with pop star Kelly Clarkson. Hear Hutchinson talk candidly about his early struggle to gain recognition in the music industry and about how his career, remarkably, took a turn for the better.

Linda talks with Rhonda Albom who survived a crash in a 1998 Ford Explorer this spring. Albom describes the harrowing experience when the tread on her tires separated while she was driving her vehicle on April 25th. Her Ford Explorer rolled three times, spun 180-degrees and took out a street sign leaving her 20-day-old baby bloody in the back seat. Linda rejoins the conversation with Rhonda Albom who, along with her 20-day old daughter, survived a crash in her 1998 Ford Explore in April. Albom tells of her surprise about what the companies knew and when. She is suing both Bridgestone/Firestone and the Ford motor Company. She has also begun distributing flyers alerting Firestone tire owners of what happened to her and to her family.

Melissa Block speaks with Dan Friedman, who covers Washington for the New York Daily News, about how a question he asked of a source on Capitol Hill became the centerpiece for an explosive story spread by conservative media. Friedman says that in asking whether Chuck Hagel, who's been nominated to be secretary of defense, had received speaking fees from controversial groups, he made up the name "Friends of Hamas" as a farcical example. That name later surfaced on Breitbart.com, despite the fact that the group does not exist.

Oil & Politics -- NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports that both presidential candidates, George W. Bush and Al Gore, say the U.S. needs to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. Bush would like to see the U.S. boost domestic production, while Gore tends to focus on conservation measures. But experts are skeptical. They say even if the U.S. boosts domestic production substantially, it wouldn't be enough to influence the price of oil. And there are doubts about how much the nation's energy appetite can be reduced through conservation.

Veteran newsman Robert Trout has the second of two reports about the history of the Republican party, through his own reporting on the last 17 conventions over a period of nearly seventy years. Today, Trout picks up in the late 1940's and early 1950's, and the fight between moderates and conservatives -- between the forces of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Robert A. Taft. Eisenhower won. But the pendulum swung back in the 1960's with the nomination of Barry Goldwater. Ultimately, Trout points out that the struggle between moderate and conservative still marks party proceedings today.

The Reform Party opened its national convention in Long Beach California today, still divided over the official standing of presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. Supporters of the firebrand conservative insist he has won a mail-in primary for the Reform nomination, while other party members say he has been disqualified. Buchanan supporters had the upper hand in the convention hall, so the dissenters walked out. NPR's Andy Bowers talks to Noah live from Long Beach.

- In his first public remarks since his reprimand and fine by the House Ethics Committee, Speaker Newt Gingrich lashed out at the media and the Democrats for following a "double-standard" when dealing with conservatives who make ethical mistakes. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports Gingrich's unrepentent remarks received applause from the audience in his Georgia district, but the speaker still faces the question of how he will pay his $300,000 fine and possibly more questions from the IRS over possible tax violations.

Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush has held conservative Christian leaders at arms length in his effort to woo moderate, swing voters. Bush's public distance, however, does not appear to have hurt him among the campaign foot soldiers who identify with the religious right. As NPR's David Molpus reports from North Carolina, questions Bush raises about Al Gore's truthfulness resonate loudly with this group, and they are working hard to get out the vote next week.