THE EARLY LINE

By MICHAEL WEISSKOPF

Senate hearings on campaign financing are back. Watch for these potential highlights:

WHAT COULD HAPPEN

Buddhist nuns could cop to laundering money for a Vice President Al Gore event

HOW IT COULD PLAY

Saffron robes make good TV, catch the public's eye

[WHAT COULD HAPPEN]

Former presidential aide Harold Ickes may explain donor sleepovers in Lincoln bedroom

[HOW IT COULD PLAY]

Celebrity names boost the ratings, feed Leno jokes

[WHAT COULD HAPPEN]

Johnny Chung could explain why he gave $366,000 to get White House entry for Chinese business associates

[HOW IT COULD PLAY]

First admission by a donor might persuade other witnesses to open up

[WHAT COULD HAPPEN]

Dem Party chief Don Fowler may face data showing that contrary to his denial, the CIA was called to open White House doors for a shadowy big donor

[HOW IT COULD PLAY]

A cloak-and-dagger element always plays well on talk radio

--By Michael Weisskopf