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NPR's David Welna reports on the 20th anniversary of the Mariel Boatlift, the massive wave of immigration from Cuba to Florida in 1980. Over a five-month period, 125-thousand Cuban refugees left Cuba from the port of Mariel, and traveled to the United States in small boats. Processing the huge influx overwhelmed the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The INS task was even harder because the refugees included convicted criminals who had been released from prison and mental patients freed from institutions.

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.

NPR's Richard Harris reports from Bangkok that Thailand is leading the world in testing AIDS vaccines. That's because the nation has a strong scientific tradition, a good medical infrastructure, a willing populace and the political backing to conduct studies involving thousands of volunteers. Many of these ingredients are missing elsewhere in the world, where AIDS vaccines are more desperately needed.

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:

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

NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports on the newly signed trade agreement between the United States and Vietnam, which will open the two countries' markets to each other and encourage bilateral trade. It's the first diplomatic agreement signed by the countries since the end of the Vietnam War. Congressional approval of the trade pact is expected.

Host John Ydstie talks to Hanan Ashrawi , spokeswoman for the Palestinian Authority about Palestinian bargaining positions at the Camp David Summit. She says Chairman Arafat places particular importance on the status of Palestinian refugees and on the future of Jerusalem.

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.

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."