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- Daniel talks with Bob Fulton, author of "The Summer Olympics: A Treasury of Legends and Lore" (Diamond Communications/South Bend, Indiana) about the first United States Olympic team. The 13 competitors arrived in Athens, Greece in 1896 for the revival of the long-dormant Games. Their prospects for success were dismal - but they went on to win more gold medals than any other nation in Track and Field. (6:00) ("Our First Olympics" by Bob Fulton, American Heritage magazine, July/August 1996)

Gene Bryan Johnson of member station WNYC reports on the trial of Lemrick Nelson and Nelson Price. Nelson was acquitted of state murder charges in a previous trial. In that hearing, he was accused of stabbing Yankel Rosenbaum in the violence that occured in Crown Heights, Brooklyn after a black child was killed by a car driven by a Hasidic man 6 years ago. Nelson is now being tried on federal charges of violating Rosenbaum's civil rights. Price is charged with violating Rosenbaum's rights by whipping the crowd into a mob that searched for Jews to attack.

Today marks the third anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda that killed up to one million people - mostly members of Rwanda's minority ethnic group, the Tutsis. On April 6th, 1994, a plane carrying the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down mysteriously sparking 3 months of ethnic and political massacres. We present a retrospective of the events and explain what was behind the genocide and how the Zairean civil war is rooted in the Rwanda's tragedy.

The White House is holding Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) at a distance, pending a Jan. 6 vote that will decide Lott's fate as Senate Republican leader. Political analysts say the focus on Lott's racially insensitive remarks undermines President Bush's efforts to reach out to minorities. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

Though the U.S. unemployment rate has climbed abruptly to 6 percent, plenty of jobs are going unfilled. Employers can't find enough trained workers to fill medical positions and many other skilled jobs. NPR's David Molpus reports.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports on Georgia Senator Zell Miller, a Democrat who has given the Bush Administration two huge gifts -- a promise to vote for the confirmation of Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft and his support for the President's 1.6-trillion-dollar tax cut. Miller was appointed to the seat last year following the death of Republican Sen. Paul Coverdell. He had a reputation for reaching across party lines, and insists this is not a precursor of switching to the GOP. But these two actions have created a buzz in Washington.

The new president of the United States will be forced to govern without a clear mandate or a sympathetic Congress. Whoever he is, that person will have to call on his power of persuasion and courage of conviction - two of the qualities that define what Dr. Robert Coles calls Moral Leadership. Liane speaks with Dr. Coles, Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at the Harvard University Medical School and author of the new book, Lives of Moral Leadership. (6:30) { NOTE: Lives of Moral Leadership is published by Random House, ISBN # 0-375-50108-8}

NPR' s John Ydstie reports President Bush unveiled his budget blueprint today. The $1.9 trillion budget allows overall discretionary spending to rise by 4 percent, but calls for deep cuts in some programs and the elimination of others. At a briefing this morning, budget officials reiterated the administration's position that projected surpluses leave plenty of room to both boost spending on some programs while cutting taxes by $1.6 trillion over six years.

Gov. Lamont says the plan to distribute more than 3 million COVID-19 rapid tests and 6 million N95 masks to residents is "the best defense" against COVID-19 in the state.

In Baghdad, around 6,000 Iraqi army officers, unemployed since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, line up for hours to receive a $100 stipend from American forces. The payment comes as U.S. officials gear up to start recruiting for a new Iraqi national army. Hear NPR's Eric Westervelt.