DETROIT- November 14, 2001 - In an historic, unprecedented interview, the President of Russia will take questions directly from the American people during a special broadcast on Thursday, November 15, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. In the exclusive special report, President Vladimir Putin will engage the American public in a live call-in program moderated by Robert Siegel, host of NPR's All Things Considered. This is the only interview President Putin has granted during his visit to the United States.

Following this conversation, Neal Conan, host of Talk of the Nation from NPR News, will join listeners, foreign affairs experts and NPR reporters to continue the discussion about President Putin's meetings this week with President Bush and their impact on U.S. foreign policy.

Titled "Special Report from NPR News," the program can be heard locally on WDET101.9 FM or by accessing the live audio stream on www.wdetfm.org. The web site also will feature archival NPR News interviews about Russia and President Putin, as well as reports covering his past visits to the United States.

An audio file of the program will be permanently available 15 minutes after the broadcast is complete at www.npr.org/news/specials/putin/ If you would like to receive a transcript or video of the interview, please contact Laura Gross at 202-513-2304 or via e-mail at [gross@ npr.org. NPR, renowned for journalistic excellence and standard-setting news, information and cultural programming, serves a growing audience of more than 16 million Americans each week via more than 640 public radio stations. NPR Online is at www.npr.org and brings hourly newscasts, news features, commentaries and live events to Internet users through original online reports, audio streaming and other multimedia elements. NPR also distributes programming to listeners in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa via NPR Worldwide, to military installations overseas via American Forces Network and throughout Japan via cable.