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Host Bob Edwards talks with NPR's Julie Rovner, about the various health care bills that Congress is expected to consider, when members return this week from the Labor Day holiday.

Commentator Kevin Phillips talks about the similarities he finds between Republican Presidential nominee George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. Phillips says it's ironic that Candidate Bush is trying to tie his opponent Al Gore, as closely to the President as possible, when it's actually Bush who seems to have more in common with the current occupant of the White House.

Host Bob Edwards talks to Clarence Wyatt, co-chair of the debate steering committee at Center College in Danville, Kentucky, about the possibility that his college and town won't be the site of a Vice-Presidential debate after all. The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates had scheduled one for October 5th, but the Bush- Cheney campaign omitted Danville from its list of approved venues. The town has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours in preparing for the event.

To marks California's 150th anniversary as a state , Bob looks back at the early years of the Gold Rush. The Gold Rush "jump-started" California, made it grow faster than anyone could have expected. We learn how disappointing those early years were for many of the people who went west. This story features commentary from historian Kevin Starr, and dramatic readings from diaries and other documents of the time. (8:15) Kevin Starr is the state librarian of California and author of 8 books about the state, including Americans and the California Dream: 1850--1915 by Oxford University Press (Trade); ISBN: 01950

NPR's Larry Abramson reports on Deutsche Telekom's bid to buy two US based telecommunications companies. Some lawmakers say the deal shouldn't be allowed because Deutsche Telekom is headed by a foreign government.

NPR's Diplomatic Correspondent Ted Clark reports on the closing stages of the Millennium Summit at the United Nations. Capping today's schedule — a signing by more than 150 world leaders of a final declaration in which they vow to spare no effort to end war, poverty and environmental degradation.

NPR's Eric Westervelt reports from Philadelphia that newly unsealed police documents show that Pennsylvania State troopers posed as union carpenters to infiltrate groups of protesters at last month's Republican National Convention. During the convention, Philadelphia police repeatedly denied any such infiltration. But city and state police worked together to contain the protests, so it's improbable that city police didn't know what the state police were doing.

In the second part of a two-part series on images of the President in film, Pat Dowell reports on how show business and politics have become intertwined. The movies treat the president's role with a high degree of symbolism...from a wise, almost divine figure during the thirties and forties, to a mythical hero and tough guy in the movies of today. Meanwhile, the real executive office has learned how to use the tricks of Hollywood to its advantage.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu speaks about his girlfriend's love of dogs, and his own dog experience.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reviews possible criminal and civil court actions that could be taken in relation to the Firestone tire failures. Both federal and state criminal charges seem unlikely. But several southern states are investigating possible civil suits, saying the tire maker should have reported tire failures and suspicions that the products might be defective.