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NPR'S DAVID MOLPUS REPORTS ON OSEOLA (oh-see-OH-lah) McCARTY OF HATTIESBURG (HAT-eez-berg), MISSISSIPPI, WHO IS BEING HONORED TONIGHT AT A DINNER OF THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. MS. McCARTY, WHO DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL IN THE 6TH GRADE, IS FUNDING SCHOLARSHIPS AT HER HOMETOWN UNIVERSITY WITH PREFERENCE GIVEN TO AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN FINANCIAL NEED...A GIFT OF AT LEAST 150-THOUSAND DOLLARS COMING FROM A WOMAN WHO SPENT 75 OF HER 86 YEARS CLEANING AND IRONING OTHER PEOPLES' CLOTHES.

SCOTT SIMON TALKS WITH ASSOCIATED PRESS SCIENCE EDITOR PAUL RAEBURN ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK "THE LAST HARVEST: THE GENETIC GAMBLE THAT THREATENS TO DESTROY AMERICAN AGRICULTURE" (PUBLISHED BY SIMON & SCHUSTER), WHERE HE STATES THAT HUMANS HAVE NOT LEARNED FROM IRELAND'S GREAT POTATO FAMINE WHICH BEGAN 150 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH...AND THAT NOT ONLY POTATOES GROWN ON AMERICA'S FARMLANDS ARE AT RISK.

For the record, we play the sound of a barbershop quartet that won a recent singing competition.

As potential presidential candidates start to line up, voters will begin thinking once again about who will make the best leader for this country. Daniel talks with historian Michael Beschloss and Charles Cook, of the Cook Political Report, about what qualities the American public typically looks for in a leader. And whether those qualities are necessarily what it takes to be a good president.

Daniel talks to Nepeti Nicanor, the founder of New Namibia Books, the first independent publishing company in Namibia, and Jenny Davis - author of one of the books published by New Namibia Books. Davis' book is a collection of stories for children adapted from folktales told by the many ethnic groups in Namibia.

Jacki talks with Colonel Piers Wood of the Center for Defense Information about the sucess or failure of U.S. troop deployments since the early 1980's. Col. Wood says military mission where their is a clearly defined objective have met with sucess. It's the mission such as peacekeeping where goals are not clearly stated, where U.S. Troops have had problems.

Jacki speaks with James Chiles, author of an article in the December issue of Smithsonian Magazine about the early days Congress. Chiles says that Congress in the early 19th century was a raucus place...with members hurling personal insults at each other, and in some cases resorting to violence.

LETTERS: SUSAN READS LISTENER MAIL

LETTERS: SCOTT READS SOME LISTENER RESPONSES TO THE PROGRAM.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered one week ago, and NPR's Andy Bowers pieces together a chronology of how the assassination took place. He reports from Jerusalem.