October 5, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

HEARINGS -- Noah and Robert will talk about the day's proceedings before the House Judiciary Committee, which is preparing to vote on whether to instigate impeachment proceedings against President Clinton. We'll hear excerpts of statements made by Committee members and the hosts will talk about what will come next in the impeachment hearings process. (6:15)

THE PLAYERS, THE PARTISANSHIP -- Robert talks with Ron Elving, the political editor for USA Today. They discuss who's who on the House Judiciary Committee. They'll also talk about the level of partisanship that's expected to be maintained as the Committee tries to reach a decision on the implementation of impeachment proceedings against the President. (5:00)

OTHER STORIES -- Other stories we're following today include: Albright to Mideast and World Bank & IMF. (:30)

KOSOVO DEVELOPMENTS -- NPR's Tom Gjelten reports on the latest developments in the Kosovo crisis. In a widely anticipated report to the UN Security Council today, Secretary General Kofi Annan said the most recent atrocities in Kosovo were largely the work of Yugoslav forces. But as NATO forces stood poised to take action, Annan said he still could not verify whether Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had complied with UN resolutions demanding an end to hostilities and asked the Security Council to make the final determination. (4:00)

DAN SEZ -- NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that the tragedy in Kosovo has grown in the face of American ambivalence and distraction. (3:00)

CHINESE MILITARY BUSINESS -- NPR's Mary Kay Magistad reports that the Chinese military is under orders to divest its interests in thousands of companies by the end of the year. China's President Jiang Zemin issued the order because of widespread corruption in businesses linked to the military. Enforcing the order will be difficult, as the military has its hands in everything from karaoke bars and pharmaceuticals to Baskin-Robbins ice cream. (6:00)

RUSSIAN NEW AGE SPIRITUALITY -- In this time of financial turmoil and political chaos, many Russians are turning back to traditional Russian spirituality. New Age mystics are drawing on traditions of the old Russian Orthodox Church. NPR's Michele Kelemen visits a Moscow tea house and a shop catering to spiritual and religious needs called "The Inward Path." (6:30)

RACHMANINOFF PIANO ROLLS -- Robert talks to engineer Wayne Stahnke, who has developed a new type of reproducing piano performances. The Bosendorfer electronic reproducing piano allows music rolls made in the early part of the century to be played with striking clarity. The result is the CD "A Window in Time," which features 19 works written by Rachmaninoff, being played by Rachmaninoff. "A Window in Time" is available from Telarc Discs, catalogue number CD-80489. (8:00)

HEARINGS II -- NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports on the House Judiciary Committee's deliberations today on whether to start an impeachment inquiry against President Clinton. They based their consideration on a referral by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, who said the President lied under oath, tried to obstruct justice and committed other impeachable offenses in the Monica Lewinksy matter. Members of the committee generally split along party lines, with Democrats seeking a shorter inquiry that would narrowly focus on the Lewinsky matter and Republicans arguing that their investigation should not be restricted. (7:15)

THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY -- Noah talks with NPR White House correspondent Mara Liasson as the House Judiciary Committee debates a resolution asking the full House for permission to conduct a formal impeachment inquiry into President Clinton's actions. As the House panel deliberated, the President spoke at a combined meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. (4:00)

OTHER STORIES -- Other stories we're following today include: Kosovo Developments. (:30)

ALBRIGHT TO MIDEAST -- NPR's Ted Clark reports that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is flying to the Middle East today to try to unblock the Middle East peace process. Hopefully, this will clear the way for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to fly to Camp David in the coming weeks to reach a settlement on a second Israeli withdrawal from occupied lands. (3:45)

CROSSING GENDERS -- Commentator Reynolds Price wonders how male fiction writers have managed successful portrayals of female characters, while female novelists have not been as successful with their male characters. (4:00)

WORLD BANK & IMF -- NPR's John Ydstie reports that President Clinton spoke today to financial officials from the big industrial countries and emerging markets. The group, called the G22, has been working on reforms for the global economy aimed at minimizing economic turmoil in the future. Among other things they have agreed on the need for more information sharing by governments, banks and businesses in emerging markets and by foreign investment companies, like hedge funds. That would allow all parties to better to asses the risks they face. (4:15)

CARDOSO VICTORY -- NPR's Mike Shuster reports from Sao Paulo that Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso won a second term in yesterday's election. But Cardoso will have no honeymoon; with the economy in crisis and the IMF assembling a bailout package, he'll soon have to announce austerity measures to cut the massive budget deficit. Any budget-cutting plan will have to include changes in Brazil's social security system, which has become a huge drain on the treasury. Civil servants can retire after just twenty years, with one hundred percent of their salaries and future raises. (3:30)

MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON -- Massachusetts just opened a new maximum security prison - the second in the state. But most of the overcrowding in state prisons is among inmates who are classified as less of a security risk. Some critics say the new prison will pressure state officials to re-classify inmates to maximum security - whether they're higher risk or not. Maximum security prisons are costlier to run, and they isolate inmates for up to 22 hours a day. From member station WBUR, Monica Brady reports. (4:30)

RADIO PIRATES -- A group of community broadcasters from around the country has converged on Washington trying to draw attention to their cause and what they see as persecution by the Federal Communications Commission, which has been shutting down low-powered, unlicensed "pirate" stations. On Sunday evening, the pirates launched Radio Libre Mt. Pleasant, a pirate station for that Washington, D.C. community. They also held workshops on how to start a pirate station; issues of media concentration; and possible legalization of low-powered radio. This morning, they held a debate at the Freedom Forum, and marched to the FCC and the National Association of Broadcasters. NPR's Dean Olsher reports. (7:30)