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There's new information in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Florida boy who was fatally shot by George Zimmerman last month. Zimmerman told police that Martin assaulted him, and a family spokesman confirms Martin was suspended from school at the time of his death. Guest host Jacki Lyden speaks with Miami Herald reporter Frances Robles.

The Trayvon Martin case is bringing conversations about race to the front pages, the airwaves, and dinner tables. Even the president weighed in on the shooting last week. But freelance journalist Reniqua Allen writes in The Washington Post that having a black president is making those conversations harder to have, not easier.

Transcript

JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

I'm Jacki Lyden and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Michel Martin is away this week. Coming up, after a successful presidential runoff in Senegal and a military overthrow in Mali, we'll talk about questions of leadership in West Africa. That's coming up.

But, first, we turn our attention to Cuba, where Pope Benedict is continuing his tour of Latin America. He's in the midst of a three day visit to the island. Tens of thousands of people greeted him in Santiago last night.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

Senegal and Mali have experienced recent upheaval. Guest host Jacki Lyden talks with NPR's West Africa correspondent, Ofeibea Quist-Arcton about the rebellion and coup d'etat in Mali, as well as the recent news that the Senegalese president conceded a very controversial election.

Family relationships are becoming more complicated as they expand to include surrogate parents, donor siblings, or birth parents. Guest host Jacki Lyden is joined by three parents who all have non-traditional families: Carrie Goldman, mom of three girls, Jay Rapp, dad of two, and Tina Testa, mom of twin boys.