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Ken Khachigian, senior adviser to Fred Thompson's exploratory presidential campaign, says Thompson has caught up with top GOP candidates in fundraising. It helps that Americans have some comfort and familiarity with Thompson, he tells Michele Norris.

President Bush's three recent Supreme Court nominations reveal the complications and motives involved when politicians choose the nation's top judges, legal observers say. Political science professor David Yalof is an expert on the history and evolution of the Supreme Court nomination process.

Jon Miller reports from Lima on Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's strategy towards the crisis in the Japanese ambassador's residence, where leftist rebels still hold 74 hostages. Fujimori refuses to consider the hostage-takers' demand that he free their imprisoned comrades, but at the same time he is actively seeking a negotiated solution. The Peruvian leader is resisting pressure from his military to storm the residence. He has even sent a top advisor to meet with jailed rebel leaders.

Carolyn Jack reports from Toronto on the growing demands for the resignation of Canada's top military officer. General Jean Boyle has come under fire in the course of an official inquiry into the killings of Somali civilians by Canadian peacekeepers. The inquiry has uncovered allegations of a coverup of the military's handling of the 1993 torture and murder of a Somali teenager. The calls for Boyle's removal escalated when he defended himself by questioning his staff's integrity and moral fiber.

Bob Dole is just back from a visit to northern California, where he campaigned for himself and for a Republican congressional candidate. Most House and Senate candidates want the top of the ticket to appear in the district to take advantage of the presidential candidate's coattails. But in the California case and others, the local congressional hopeful may be more popular, and Dole may not have much to offer in the way of assistance. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and top White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey resign as a jump in unemployment figures and United Airlines' financial woes stir more concern about the U.S. economy. Hear more from NPR's Scott Simon and Joe Nocera of Fortune magazine.

David Callahan's book Kindred Spirits chronicles the achievements of Harvard Business School's class of l949. The year produced leaders of many top American enterprises, including Xerox, Bloomingdale's, Capital City-ABC and the Sequoia Fund. Callahan speaks with NPR's John Ydstie and Joe Nocera of Fortune magazine.

Code breaker Leo Marks died January 15th at the age of 80. He served as one of Britain's top code makers during WWII. There he revolutionized the military's code making methods. He wrote about his experiences in Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War 1941-1945. Marks was also a screenwriter. His most famous film was the 1960's cult-classic Peeping Tom.

President Bush today tried to keep the focus on the tax cut plan he will submit to Congress tomorrow. But the shooting just off the White House grounds got most of the media attention. Earlier in the day, top aides to the president had scrambled to deny stories that said they were shutting down White House offices devoted to AIDS research and to promoting better race relations. NPR's White House correspondent Don Gonyea reports.

The Bush administration condemns the assassination of a top commander of the Kurdish resistance in northern Iraq. A State Department spokesman says the United States had been working closely with Gen. Shawkat Haji Mushir. Mushir's death is blamed on a Kurdish Islamist movement with al Qaeda ties. NPR's Ivan Watson report.