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This was supposed to be a great year for Major League Baseball. Attendance was up, and the Boston Red Sox finally won the World Series. But now baseball's making headlines for the biggest drug scandal in its history. Revelations regarding Yankees slugger Jason Giambi's use of steroids may have stern implications for homerun legend Barry Bonds and others. Sport officials are meeting in Phoenix to discuss the issue; Congress has warned that if changes don't come soon, they will pass laws to require higher standards.

Last weekend in Orlando, Fla., Sen. John Kerry gave a speech on the middle class. Hear an excerpt from that speech as part of a series of excerpts from the presidential candidates' speeches to be broadcast in the weeks before the election.

Tonight's presidential debate format calls for the moderator, Charles Gibson of ABC News, to ask the candidates questions submitted by an audience of undecided voters, who were hand picked by the Gallup organization. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll, about how audience members were selected.

Should Sen. John Kerry be elected president, the new first lady would be Teresa Heinz Kerry, a woman quite different from the traditional cast of White House wives. The widow of a Republican senator who died in a helicopter accident in 1991, she married Kerry in 1996. But through her decades of public life in both parties, she has shown a penchant for independence. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer.

At Tuesday's vice presidential debate, both Vice President Cheney and Sen. John Edwards stretched, muddled, and sometimes mangled the truth. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep.

The closure of a major flu vaccine manufacturer will cause major shortages during the upcoming flu season, say health officials. Before its license was suspended, the Chiron Corp. intended to ship 48 million doses of flu vaccine to the United States. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Only 16 U.S. presidents have been elected to a second term, and not all of those have gone well: Witness Ronald Reagan's Iran-Contra debacle and Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal. On policy matters, controversial issues that presidents put off during their first term can cause trouble during their second term. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and historian Robert Dallek.

Right after the Sept. 11 attacks, most Americans thought the United States was letting in too many immigrants. But that has changed. We discuss some surprising results from a new poll on immigration.

Admonished by the House Ethics Committee for the second time in a week, Rep. Tom DeLay responds by thanking the committee for "dismissing" the charges against him. While one charge was deferred, none were dismissed. DeLay offered no explanation of his response. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.

Asked whether immigrants need to believe in God in order to be fully American, a majority of both native-born Americans and immigrants say no. But twice as many immigrants as non-immigrants say yes (immigrants and non-immigrants are equally religious themselves). How religious is America, and how tolerant is it of non-believers? NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports.