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NPR's Kathleen Schalch has this profile of former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander, who has used a strong finish in the Iowa caucuses to emerge among the top three contenders to win Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Alexander's surge in the polls has brought a new wave of media scrutiny and questions about whether Alexander's folksy, conservative image squares with his record.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports that President Vladimir Putin is meeting with 21 Russian businessmen today in an effort to ease rising tensions caused by legal cases against big companies. The criminal tax investigations into some of Russia's top business tycoons, is making them unhappy. They accuse the government of singling them out.

Akiva Eldar, a political analyst for the newspaper Ha'aretz, joins Robert by phone from Jerusalem to talk about the Middle East peace process. A top Israeli negotiator returned today from a visit to Egypt, and signaled that Israel wants to "build on progress" made at the recent Camp David accords. Palestinians are also showing signs of flexibility in their positions, including the September 13 deadline for an independent Palestinian state.

At each Olympics, the winner of the 100 meters becomes known as the fastest man in the world. The race lasts a tad over 9 seconds, but it requires tremendous physical and mental preparation. It's not unusual for an elite sprinter to engage a scientist to analyze the biomechanics of his gait. But as NPR's Tom Goldman reports, at race time simplicity is best. Top runners say they are able to clear their minds of extraneous thoughts during their races.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meets this week in Washington, D.C. Topping the agenda is the issue of Vatican-inspired revisions to the charter against sexual abuse that the bishops signed in Dallas last June. NPR's Duncan Moon reports.

Linda speaks with David Broder and Haynes Johnson, two top political correspondents with the Washington Post and co-authors of the new book The System which examines how the machinery of government dealt with the problem of health care during the most recent effort by President Clinton to reform the health care apparatus. The 'system' failed to provide a solution to the problem, and authors Broder and Johnson say that failure demonstrates many of the vagaries and deficiencies of modern American politics.

A House committee opened hearings today into the White House's improperly obtaining FBI background files on top Republicans. While the committee looks into the matter, the White House has appointed Charles Easley, a career civil servant originally appointed during the Reagan administration, to be the new head of security. He'll run the office which obtained the files. NPR's Peter Kenyon has more on the story.

3: IRA KAY is the Practice Director of Watson Wyatt's Executive Compensation Practice. He's also the author of "Value at the Top: Solutions to the Executive Compensation Crisis" (Harper Collins).

Fighting crime and guns has become a top priority for both President Bill Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole. This past week, both men were out on the campaign trail pushing their solutions to the problem. While some people may say the candidates are just giving lip service to the issue, Commentator Mickey Edwards applauds both men for addressing this important issue.

Jazz percussionist Mongo Santamaria dies on Feb. 1 at 85. Santamaria scored a Top-10 hit with his version of Herbie Hancock's jazz-funk classic "Watermelon Man" in 1963. He also wrote the song "Afro Blue," later performed and made famous by John Coltrane. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has a remembrance.