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NPR's John Burnett continues his report on Herman Wrice's war on drugs.

Robert talks to Harold Rothwax, who for 25 years has been a judge on the New York State Supreme Court and has now written a book entitled, Guilty: The Collapse of Criminal Justice. In his book Rothwax outlines areas of needed reforms in the criminal justice system, including how some evidence is thrown out even when obtained in good faith. (Published by Random H

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports on reaction to a report showing that 40 percent of black men in California were under some sort of criminal justice control last year. The rate is four times that for Latinos and eight times the rate for white men. Some blame an unfair system, especially with higher penalties for crack cocaine offenses. Others say the numbers reflect who's committing the crimes.

Robert talks with Youssef Ibrahim (YOO-seff EE-brah-heem), a correspondent in the Paris bureau of the New York Times, about the return today of two senior Iraqis to Baghdad from Amman, Jordan. Hussein Kamel Hassan (hoo-SANE KAH-mel HAH-sahn), his brother Saddam Kamel and their wives, who are daughters of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, defected to Jordan last August. Hussein Kamel ran Iraq's secret military program and called for the overthrow of the Iraqi government. President Saddam Hussein today pardoned the brothers upon their return to Iraq.

Former congressman Kweisi Mfume officially takes over as president of the NAACP (N-DOUBLE-A-C-P) today. He's being sworn-in in style, with President Clinton presiding, in the Great Hall of the Justice Department. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

What is Patrick Buchanan's appeal? Robert talks with NPR political commentator Steven Stark about the populistic appeal of presidential contender Pat Buchanan. Stark says it's both his economic nationalism and moralistic preaching that appeals to his supporters.

Commentator Mickey Edwards says Pat Buchanan cannot lead the Republican Party to victory in November. He says the party had better wake up to that fact and nominate somebody who is electable, or face the probability of another four years of Bill Clinton in the White House.

NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports that Texas Sen. Phil Gramm announced today that he would end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination after placing fifth in Monday's Iowa caucuses. Gramm's bid for the presidency was marked by an impressive fundraising and organizational effort, but his fiscally and socially conservative message never struck a chord with many voters. The question now is where his supporters will go -- to Pat Buchanan, who is expected to attract many of the social conservatives who backed Gramm, or to Bob Dole, who has a similar committment to balancing the federal budget.

Anthropolgist ELIZABETH MCALISTER is an expert on Haitian Vodou and she's studied Haitian Vodou in Brooklyn and in Haiti. She's compiled a new album of sacred and ceremonial music recorded in Haiti and in New York, "Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou." (Smithsonian Folkways). (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW

Interview with LEON FLEISHER continued.