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Violent events in the Middle East drew American attention away from the presidential election today, and even drew the candidates away from their campaigns. Vice-President Gore returned to Washington to meet with security advisors, while Bush decried the terrorist attack on the USS Cole during his campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Michigan. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr takes a look at the evolution of George W. Bush's foreign policy positions, in light of last night's debate.

This year's Miss America Pageant is undergoing an overhaul. The stage sets, the swimsuit competition and the selection of the judges is all new. One of the most radical of changes is the music. There She Is, the song made famous by Bert Parks, has been redone in a techno style. Robert talks with Jeff Margolis, the producer and director of this year's pageant, about the changes to this year's show.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports on the Israeli political Left. The last two weeks of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians have divided liberal politicians who previously supported the peace process.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Rami Khouri, an Amman-based journalist and an expert on the Middle East, about the latest situation in the region.

Bob Edwards talks with Bill Cosby and Dwight Allen about their new book "The 100 Billion Dollar Challenge." The actor/comedian has teamed up with the Old Dominion University professor to urge the public to raise the money necessary to really reform education. They say they want to challenge how students are taught...and how teachers are trained. Their book will be published on the internet this weekend. More information can be found at npr.org.

NPR's Steve Inskeep at the Pentagon reports U.S. officials are continuing an investigation into yesterday's terrorist attack on a navy destroyer in the Arabian port of Aden. The wounded sailors and the bodies of those killed in the blast are being flown home.

NPR's Ted Clark reports the foreign minister of Iran flew to arch-enemy Iraq today; the first such visit in a decade. The two countries are trying to reconcile some of their differences, but normalization appears a long way off.

Robert talks with Donald Oberdorfer, a Professor at Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and author of Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, about the Nobel Peace Prize awarded this year to the President of South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung. They discusses what the Nobel will mean for the continued talks between North and South Korea, as well as Secretary of State Madeline Albright's visit to North Korea. (4:00) Two Koreas: A Contemporary History is published by Basic Books, 1999.

Robert talks with Jacob Weisberg, Chief Political Correspondent for the online magazine, Slate, about two political ads that are dry, side-by-side comparisons of the candidates' tax and spending plans. Weisberg says that this is a carry over from the Democratic convention, when Al Gore was seen to have succeeded by sticking with policy. Two other ads -- more elaborately produced with musical scores -- aim to leave the impression that their candidate is warm and inclusive while the other candidate's policies are exclusionary. (6:30) Slate magazine can be found on-line at http://slate.msn.com