October 8, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY VOTE -- Today, the House of Representatives voted 258-176 to open an impeachment inquiry that would examine President Clinton's fitness to hold office. Noah and Robert have the details of the vote, and we'll hear excerpts from statements made by both Republicans and Democrats in the debate period that was set aside before the vote. (5:00)

PROCEDURE EXPLAINER -- Noah talks with NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg about what to expect in the upcoming impeachment inquiry, focusing on procedural issues. (4:00)

CLINTON & HMOS -- While President Clinton waited for the House to vote on an impeachment inquiry, he carried out a schedule that included an announcement on trying to keep HMO's available to Medicare recipients... and a meeting on the budget. NPR's Mara Liasson reports. (3:00)

BOATS IN MOATS -- Dan Collison reports for a second time on a fight concerning an initiative on the Missouri ballot which will determine the extent of riverboat gambling in the state. The fight pits the well-financed casino industry against a rag-tag army of anti-gambling activists. The issue deals with casinos that are not actually on rivers, as allowed by the state law, but on land in manmade moats. Casino opponents fear the ballot initiative to allow so-called "boats on moats" would leave the door open for casinos throughout the state. (8:00)

NEW UNIONISM -- NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports that the country's two largest teachers unions -- the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers -- are changing their agendas. They're putting less emphasis on salaries and working conditions, more on academic excellence. It's a self-preservational shift, partly in response to criticism. (6:15)

ARKANSAS SENATE RACE -- Republicans have been making big gains in Arkansas in the past half-dozen years, in spite of -- or because of -- Bill Clinton's ascendence to the presidency. They even elected their first senator since Reconstruction in 1996, when Mr. Clinton was sweeping the state. But NPR's David Molpus reports that the GOP may fall short in their attempt to elect another senator this year, in one of the few states where talk about the president's relationship with Monica Lewinsky falls on deaf ears. (6:30)

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SOAP BOX OBIT -- Myron Scott, the founder of the All American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio, died on Sunday at the age of 91. Noah talks with Jeff Iula, the general manager of the Derby, about Scott's involvment with the annual event. Scott, who was a photographer for a newspaper in Dayton, Ohio, created the event in 1933, after seeing children coasting down a hill in a makeshift cart. He persuaded his paper to sponsor a series of local races that summer and to stage a race for boys from different cities the following year. The event moved to Akron in 1935. He was later employed by General Motors' Chevrolet division, where he came up with the name of one of the most famous sportscars in history...the Chevrolet Corvette. (4:30)

TODAY'S HOUSE VOTE -- NPR's Brian Naylor reports on the House vote today to authorize the House Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment inquiry against President Clinton. The House agreed to a resolution that would allow an open-ended inquiry, without a set time limit. Democrats failed to get an alternative plan approved that would have limited the inquiry to the Monica Lewinsky matter and to set a time limit of Dec. 31. Republicans said they had no desire to drag the inquiry out, but did not want their hands tied. (5:30)

SWINGING DEMOCRAT -- Robert talks with Democratic congressman Gary Condit, who represents the 18th district in California. They discuss why Condit voted across party lines to establish an open-ended impeachment inquiry of President Clinton. (4:00)

O'HARE FLIGHTS -- Chicago's O'Hare Airport will NOT be adding at least 30 extra flights a day. Under pressure from Congressman Henry Hyde, a plan to add flights to O'Hare has been dropped from the Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill. From member station WBEZ, Tony Sarabia reports. (2:30)

KOSOVO CONTACT GROUP -- NPR's Michael Goldfarb reports from London on the meeting there of the six-nation Contact Group on Yugoslavia. The London meeting is taking place amid intense diplomatic efforts across Europe today to get Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to commit to peace in Kosovo while NATO moves closer to using military force against Milosevic to resolve the crisis. (3:30)

KLA GAINS & LOSSES? -- Noah talks with Kurt Schork, a correspondent for the Reuters News Agency in Pristina, Yugoslavia. They discuss how the Kosovo Liberation Army will fare if NATO decides to pursue the use of airstrikes in the defense of Kosovo Province. They also talk about the conditions facing refugees in the region. (4:15)

VOLATILE MARKETS -- NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that U.S. stocks ended down slightly today. It's the fourth consecutive day of losses. By late afternoon the Dow Industrials had recovered some of an early morning loss of more than 250 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index was still down sharply on the day, though. It lost more than 6 percent and is down more than 30 percent from its peak. Analysts blamed many factors, but all mentioned concern about corporate profits in a slowing economy. (2:30)

END OF THE WORLD (BANK MEETING) -- NPR's John Ydstie reports that finance officials from around the world have ended several days of discussions aimed at putting an end to an economic crisis that has hurt one country after another. While there weren't any specific intiatives announced, IMF and World Bank officials said there was broad agreement on what needs to be done to put a halt to the 15 month long crisis. The IMF also announced that it was close to reaching an agreement with Brazil on an aid package that would help that nation survive the world financial crisis. (4:30)

CAPITAL CONTROLS -- NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports the United States and 21 other nations are proposing a new level of regulation on international capital flows in a bid to avoid future economic crises. A set of reports from a new group of nations called the G-22 said governments should start requiring hedge funds and other big institutional investors to disclose where and how they've borrowed and invested abroad. The reports were released yesterday as part of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which are taking place in Washington this week. (5:30)

JOSE SARAMAGO -- The winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature was announced this morning. The winner is 75 year-old Portuguese writer Jose Saramago. He is the first writer in Portuguese to win the Nobel. He's also the fourth European in a row to win it. He's often been mentioned as a favorite to win in the past. His novels and poetry mix magical realism (he's been compared to Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez) with political commentary. A Communist, Saramago often takes the point of view of the working man. He's worked as a metalworker and a journalist. His first major success did not come until he was 60 years old...with the publication of the novel Memorial do Convento...published in English in 1982 as Baltasar and Blimunda...the tale of two lovers trying to escape the Inquisition in Portugal in a flying machine. NPR's Dean Olsher reports. (4:00)

SLAM -- Bob Mondello reviews the new film SLAM, the first fictional movie by director Marc Levin. The title refers to "poetry slams," and the main character, Ray Joshua, is a 20-year-old African American poet in Washington DC, who gets involved in poetry competitions while in prison. Bob says the word-play is brilliant... and the directing impassioned. (3:30)