Government & Politics

Linda Douglass is the senior congressional correspondent for ABC News. She'll talk about how she handles rumors and allegations of officials' sex lives, and she'll tell us her opinion of the Flynt investigations.

Flynt joins us to discuss his investigations into the private lives of congresspeople. In light of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, he's gathering information on other officials. The coverage has led to the resignation of House Speaker Robert Livingston.

Jeffrey Toobin is the legal correspondent for ABC news and a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine. He will also discusses the impeachment vote against President Clinton.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss discusses the upcoming Impeachment vote in the House. He is author of "Taking Charge: the Johnson White House tapes 1963-64" now in paperback.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg comments on language as a source of national pride and independence.

Film critic John Powers reviews "A Simple Plan" by filmmaker Sam Raimi. The quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over four million dollars in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane.

Husseini writes for the Jordan Times, the country's only English-language daily. Her reporting on "crimes of honor" has brought to light the practice of a woman being murdered by her own relatives when it's thought the woman brought dishonor upon them. In one instance a 16 year-old schoolgirl was killed by her older brother because her younger brother raped her. Police and prosecutors have taken little notice of "honor killing" but that attitude has begun to shift because of Husseini's efforts.

Journalist Eric Schlosser talks about who is profiting from America's prison boom. He is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. He wrote this month's cover article entitled "The Prison Industrial Complex."

An expert on prison systems around the world, Vivien Stern. She's written the new book, "A Sin Against the Future: Imprisonment in the World" (Northeastern University Press). Stern is Senior Research Fellow in the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College and Secretary-General of Penal Reform International.

Historian and author Deborah Gray White has compiled a new history of black women and their struggle against racism and male chauvinism. It's called "Too Heavy a Load: Black Women in Defense of Themselves 1894-1994" (W.W. Norton) White is a professor of history at Rutgers University and the co-director of the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the final "NYPD Blue" episode featuring actor Jimmy Smits.

South African Judge Tandaswa Ndita. Her focus is family law. She's been educating rural communities about the new constitution and the new rights accorded to women. For the first time under the law, women are no longer considered household property, and have been given the status of personhood. The Judge can also be seen in the new documentary "A Woman's Place" which premieres nationwide on PBS, November 27th.

Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel by Tom Wolfe, "A Man in Full" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux).

In 1980, Debbie Morris was a 16 year-old high school junior who was kidnapped, raped, and beaten by Robert Lee Willie. Willie's story was portrayed by Sean Penn in the film "Dead Man Walking." She has written about her life in "Forgiving the Dead Man Walking." (Zondervan)

President Carter has written 13 books since leaving office. His latest is "The Virtues of Aging" (Ballantine). In his retirement, Carter founded The Carter Center and launched The Atlanta Project a communitywide effort to attack the social problems associated with poverty.

Film critic John Powers reviews "Happiness," the ironically titled new film by Todd Solondz.

American Egyptologist Kent Weeks talks about his discovery of the largest tombs ever found in Egypt. It's called KV5 and is the burial ground for the sons of the Pharaoh Ramses the Second who many scholars believe ruled during the Jewish exodus from Egypt. Weeks and his team have discovered more than 150 corridors and chambers buried deep below the hills in the Valley of the Kings. He hopes it will be open to tourists in ten years. He has written about his 1995 discovery and the excavation in his new book "The Lost Tomb" (Morrow).

Biographer Nina Burleigh talks about Mary Pinochet Meyer who it is believed was a mistress of President John F. Kennedy. She was found shot and murdered a year after Kennedy's assassination. Burleigh has written about Meyer's life in "A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer. (Bantam)

War correspondent Scott Anderson talks about the many wars he has witnessed. He has reported from Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Rwanda and Beirut. He has just written his first novel "Triage" (Scribner) which is about a the toll war has on a war photographer. He is also the co-author of War Zones and is a contributing editor to Harper's magazine. His stories have also appeared in The New York Times Magazine and the Boston Globe.

TV critic David Bianculli previews the ABC telemovie "Columbo: Ashes to Ashes" starring Peter Falk. It airs tonight at 9:00.