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Despite an air crash that claimed the life of Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan last night, the two major presidential candidates decided to hold their debate tonight in St. Louis as planned. Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush are each taking time to remember Carnahan during the 90 minute meeting, which features a town hall format. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports.

NPR's David Welna reports on the tragic death of Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, the Democratic nominee running in a hotly-contested Senate seat against incumbent Republican John Ashcroft, who perished in a plane crash, along with his son and a campaign adviser. Carnahan's death robs the Democrats of one of their best chances at picking up a Senate seat. But more importantly, it robs a state of a very popular public official, and it darkens the mood as the presidential candidates hold their final debate tonight in St. Louis.

NPR's Julie Rovner looks at health care policies President Clinton has established by executive order, often because he could not get them through Congress in legislation. Those items are subject to change under whoever takes over the White House next. Some of those policies deal with patients' rights and abortion.

John Burns, Middle East Correspondent for the New York Times, is in Aden, Yemen, covering the investigation into the explosion that killed seventeen sailors abroad the U.S.S. Cole last week. He tells Noah Adams about investigators' discovery of bomb making materials in a house near the port where the U.S.S. Cole was moored. Burns also talks about the effort to retrieve bodies and wreckage from the Navy destroyer.

NPR's Linda Gradstein in Ramallah, West Bank, reports many Palestinians are dismissing the results of the Middle East peace summit in Egypt, saying the uprising against Israel must continue.

Robert talks with Itamar Rabinovich, president of Tel Aviv University, and former Israeli Ambassador to the United States. Rabinovich was a member of Israeli Prime Minister Barak's delegation in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, as an observer to the negotiations for a cease fire agreement. He talks about the Israeli government view of the agreement.

Commentator Rawlins Gilliland, a public speaking-consultant and former National Endowment for the Humanities Poet-in-Residence, says other people's music seems to form a soundtrack to his life. It's a constant background din -- as he drives with his top down, talks on his cell phone, stops at a gas station, works out at his gym, visits a park, and finds a birthday party in progress on his own block.

NPR's Gerry Hadden reports from Mexico City on efforts to fight the spread of the AIDS virus, especially among the migrant worker population. Six cross-border programs have been established to provide educational and other resources, but researchers say migrant laborers who contract the virus in the United States and then come home to their families, often spread the virus deep inside Mexico, to areas where there are no AIDS programs. The campaign to halt the spread of AIDS also is hindered by cultural taboos that make it difficult to educate the population and change people's behavior.

Noah talks with Richard Ben Cramer, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the new book Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life, about two personalities of the man known as The Yankee Clipper, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio: the elegant athlete and national icon, and the intensely private man, distant and eaten up by resentments of Mickey Mantle and others. (7:45) Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life, by Richard Ben Cramer is published by Simon and Schuster, ISBN # 0-684-85391-4.

As part of an effort to air stump speeches on Wednesdays this election season, All Things Considered plays a portion of Democrat Al Gore's speech in Cedar Rapids, Iowa last week. Gore said that even though we are living in a time of great prosperity, more needs to be done for those left behind -- to help improve education for all children, to provide good health care coverage for all people, to ensure that seniors can afford their prescription drugs. Gore said under his administration, he would use the prosperity to help everyone, not just the wealthy.