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Host Bob Edwards talks to Richard Allen, National Security Adviser under President Ronald Reagan, about the tape recordings he made in the White House Situation Room the day President Ronald Reagan was shot. Most every top administration official was in the room that day, and the tapes provide a rare glimpse of their private conversations about who was in charge, whether the assassination attempt was part of a conspiracy, and what to do about Soviet subs closer than usual to U.S. shores. Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the attempt on Reagan's life. This interview is the first of two parts.

NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg reports that the Bush administration is trying to decide whether to fight Democrats over the use of the American Bar Association to screen judicial nominees. The administration would like to eliminate this step in the nomination process, though it's been done since the days of President Eisenhower.

More than armed insurrections, kidnappings or plane crashes, it's the trip across town that often strikes fear in the hearts of foreign correspondents. This is especially true in Latin America, where creative driving is a way of life. But NPR's reporter in South America, Martin Kaste, says that Brazil has become the surprising exception.

Noah Adams speaks with Kathleen Cambor, author of In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden. Her book is a novel based on the events surrounding the Johnstown flood in 1889. The flood claimed 2,200 lives after a dam burst on Memorial Day weekend. The book traces some of the complex social tensions between the residents of Johnstown and the wealthy Pittsburgh industrialists who'd built country homes nearby and on whose land the defective dam stood. The book is published by Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.

American Lori Berenson begins her retrial on terrorism charges in connection with a leftist guerilla plot to seize Peru's Congress. Berenson was originally sentenced to life by a military tribunal five years ago. The retrial comes after the United States complained about a lack of due process in the first trial. Claire Marshall reports from Lima.

Congress recently repealed a set of rules governing repetitive motion in the workplace -- rules put in place during the final days of the Clinton administration. Congress did that by invoking a 1996 law that allows the review of federal regulations within the first months after they are imposed by the executive branch. Now some members of Congress want to use the same power to review some of President Bush's rules changes, specifically as they apply to abortion. NPR's David Welna reports.

Alan Cheuse reviews Gabriel's Story by David Anthony Durham. It's the story of runaway black youths in the great American West of the 1870s. The book is published by Doubleday.

NPR's Peter Overby reports on the first amendment to the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform bill that has passed the Senate. By a 70-30 vote, lawmakers approved a proposal that would help level the playing field for candidates who run against rich opponents who finance their own campaigns.

NPR's Steve Inskeep profiles Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. The first-term Republican, who is considered a close friend of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and endorsed him during last year's presidential primaries, is pushing a campaign-finance reform measure that has become the vehicle for those opposed to the McCain-Feingold bill. Hagel's measure, which limits -- but does not eliminate -- soft money contributions, is tacitly backed by President Bush. McCain calls Hagel's bill a "poison pill" that would not change the system in any meaningful way.

After a five-day struggle to save it, a 40-story-high oil rig sank today off the coast of Brazil with 400,000 gallons of crude oil and diesel fuel on board. Last Thursday, 10 people died when gas explosions damaged the rig. Now officials are trying to prevent an environmental disaster. Noah Adams talks with reporter Tom Gibb.