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The Florida Supreme Court sat in solemn session today to hear the arguments of both presidential campaigns regarding the counting of disputed ballots. Lawyers for Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush took turns bearing the questions of the seven justices, who now must decide whether this presidential election contest comes to an end or goes on. NPR's Melissa Block reports from Tallahassee.

Host Robert Siegel talks to NPR's Melissa Block, who previews tomorrow's hearing by the Florida Supreme Court on an appeal by Vice President Al Gore to overturn the certification of George W. Bush as the winner of the state's electoral votes. Gore asked the court to set aside the ruling by Leon County Circuit Court Judge N. Sanders Sauls that some 14,000 disputed ballots need not be hand counted.

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports on the latest skirmishes -- both in the courts and in efforts to sway public opinion -- in the unresolved presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. As he did last night, the Vice President insisted that the appeals process needs to go on because all the votes in Florida have not been counted. But the Bush camp called it "extraordinary" that the Democrats are trying to win in the courts what they couldn't win in the official certified vote tally.

Linda talks to Andrew Kohut, Director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, about what the public opinion polls are showing about the Florida ballot recounts. The latest poll by the Pew Research Center show that voters siding with George W. Bush, even though they doubt the accuracy of the vote count. Most voters also are against a new election in Palm Beach County, Florida, regardless of the confusing ballots there.

A sound montage of some of the voices in this past week's news, including Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris; Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush; Secretary of State Harris; Terre Cass, Court Administrator of Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis; former Secretary of State James Baker; Gore attorney David Boies {boyz}; and Florida State Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters.

Linda speaks to NPR's Debbie Elliott who is in Tallahassee covering the lawsuit by the Gore campaign to invalidate the official Florida vote tally which was certified by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris yesterday. The Gore camapaign says enough votes have been left uncounted in three Florida counties to make up the 537 vote lead currently held by Texas Governor George W. Bush.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports from Seminole County, Florida, on yet another lawsuit that's been filed over the presidential election. Attorney Harry Jacobs says the elections supervisor in Seminole should not have allowed Republican volunteers to correct mistakes on absentee ballot applications. Those ballots would have normally been thrown out. If the ballots are determined to be invalid, George W. Bush could lose his advantage over Al Gore.

In his new book A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush, author Ron Kessler offers a positive portrait of President Bush's leadership. Though Kessler supported Al Gore in the 2000 election, he says he plans to vote for Bush this year. He speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Michele Norris talks with Dennis Ross, former U.S. envoy to the Middle East, about the various options Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is considering regarding diplomacy in the region. Ross was the point person to the Middle East under presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.

President George W. Bush drops his resistance to extending the deadline for the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The commission has asked Congress for two more months to conduct its inquiry, extending its deadline to July. Bush is now asking Congress to grant the request. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.