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NPR's Phillip Martin reports on this week's NAACP National convention in Baltimore. After years of sagging influence, the organization is now returning as a political player. Presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush addressed the convention, as did President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Throughout the meetings, members worked to set the organization's future agenda, which includes a moratorium on the death penalty and establishing coalitions with other civil rights groups.

From West Virginia Public Radio, Jeff Young reports on the murder of a gay black man in the northeastern hill community of Grant Town. The death of 26 year old Arthur "JR" Warren Jr. is still under investigation, and two teenagers from a nearby town have been charged with murder.

Host John Ydstie talks to alternative country musician Jimmie Dale Gilmore about his new album, One Endless Night. The Texas singer/songwriter's been a tough artist to categorize: country music stations are not likely to put him in heavy rotation, but stations with American roots-type shows have been interested in Gilmore's twangy take on several non-country tunes, including Mac the Knife and the Grateful Dead's Ripple.

In the second part of her month-long series on celebrity gardens, NPR's Ketzel Levine visits the home of T. Coragghesen Boyle in Montecito, California. Boyle is the author of eight novels and several short story collections. Levine describes his work as 'dark and quirky,' and says, He's not so much a gardener as a referee among the thousands of plants in his jungle."

We talk about the current state of prescription drugs with DOCTOR Michael Winniford and DOCTOR PETER UBEL (U-bil). Dr. Winniford is a cardiologist, professor of Medicine at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and director of the Universitys Heart Care Center. Dr. Ubel is assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and is also on the faculty of the Universitys Center for Bioethics. The two doctors will talk about the high cost of prescription drugs, and the problems associated with that cost. It is especially hard for the elderly because often, insurance does not cover the costs of all medicines. WINNIFORD AND UBEL will also talk the business of prescription drugs, and the side effects of new drugs and new drug combinations. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW.) 12:28:30 FORWARD PROMO (:29)12:29:00 I.D. BREAK (:59)12:

NPR's Brenda Wilson reports from the International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa on advancements in caring for newborn babies infected with HIV.

Commentator David Ewing Duncan reflects on his attendance at the thirteenth International AIDS Conference.

On the final day of the International AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, former president Nelson Mandela urged scientists and political leaders to set aside their differences about whether HIV causes AIDS. As NPR's Brenda Wilson reports, Mandela said the dispute was distracting from efforts to help people who have AIDS.

Linda speaks with two people who participated in this year's world conference on AIDS in Durban, South Africa. Geeta Rao Gupta is from the International Center for Research on Women in Washington, DC. Natal Ngubane is a 27-year-old man who works with the Department of Health as well as with The AIDS Foundation in South Africa. He tested positive for HIV in 1996. Among the big issues at this year's conference were the effect of the disease on women, and the lack of available medicine for HIV infected people in developing nations. Geeta Rao Gupta says women in many parts of the word are vulnerable because they lack the power and status to resist unwanted sex with infected partners, or to ask for treatment. Transmission to children through pregnancy is also a big problem. Natal Ngubane is working on a grass roots level -- talking with people one on one about the necessity to practice safe sex and not spread the disease. Both Gupta and Ngubane say the conference provided an important opportunity to hear about scientific progress, and to meet other people struggling to fight the spread of HIV.

The Department of Justice is investigating whether baseball's Baltimore Orioles have illegally refused to sign players who defect from Cuba. Senator Jesse Helms claims team owner Peter Angelos instituted the policy to maintain good relations with Fidel Castro. But some baseball insiders say another factor may be at work: Cuban defectors quickly find agents and don't come cheap. NPR's Tom Goldman has the story.