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The Justice Department is investigating the videotaped beating of a black suspect by Philadelphia police officers yesterday. The incident was captured on tape from a TV news helicopter which and replayed repeatedly on national television. Philadelphia police commissioner John Timmoney says while the videotape appears inflammatory, it is not yet clear whether police used excessive force to subdue Thomas Jones. Police say Jones had hijacked a police car, and exchanged gun fire with officers before he was cornered by police. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports the U-S has announced that it ready to resume normal trade with Vietnam. The two countries almost had an agreement a year ago, but the Vietnamese government balked at the fine print. This time, the former combatants appear ready to do business. The motivation for the two sides? US investment in Vietnam lags far behind European countries and Japan. Despite tentative steps to open up to the world, Vietnam remains a very poor country.

Noah talks with Jerold A. Edmondson, Professor of Linguistics, and Chair of the Linguistics Department at the University of Texas. Edmondson has documented two languages in North Vietnam that had previously been unknown to linguistics experts. He recorded samples of the language directly on his laptop computer in the field. (4:30) More information is available at http://ling.uta.edu/~jerry/research/

Linda talks with Andrew Kohut, Director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, about the center's latest poll on how the presidential candidates' messages are playing with the public.

NPR's Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem reports the ongoing peace summit at Camp David is prompting dueling demonstrations in Israel, with supporters and opponents of the peace process taking to the streets.

Host Madeleine Brand talks to NPR's Rob Gifford about today's meeting between U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and China's President, Jiang Zemin. The issues they will be discussing include Taiwan, U.S. plans for a missile defense system, and arms proliferation.

NPR's Jack Speer reports that corporate earnings are coming in strong, but are not strong enough to outweigh the fear of higher interest rates.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that due to the cost of producing television shows, some networks are considering charging their affiliate stations for the use of their signal. Local stations, who used to be paid by the networks for access to their audiences, are fighting the move. They say if they are forced to pay to access the programming they rely on, many stations may go out of business.

Janet Heimlich reports from Austin, on the way public defenders in capital murder cases are chosen in Texas. County judges appoint private attorneys to represent indigent murder defendants. Critics say the system is flawed because there's no guarantee that a defendant will get a competent lawyer, or that the judge will approve funds to properly investigate the defendant's case.

Host Madeleine Brand talks to reporter Phil Mercer who is in Suva about the latest developments in Fiji. Deposed Fiji Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and 17 other political hostages were freed today after being held for 56 days by nationalists demanding an end to ethnic Indian political power.