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For decades, bandleader Skitch Henderson set the mood for Tonight Show audiences. Liane Hansen talks with the man who has just been honored with the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian Institution for his contributions to American culture.

Despite a fierce firefight early Sunday, no major violence occurred in the Sunni Triangle. In northern Iraq, Kurdish voters cast two ballots: one for the National Assembly and one for the creation of an independent region Kurdistan. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Peter Feaver of Duke University talks about why overall support for the war in Iraq hasn't dwindled, despite much higher casualties than either politicians or the public expected. Feaver says Americans can accept a high human cost for a war if they think the United States will ultimately win. Hear Feaver and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

With a penchant for constantly reinventing his sound, Andrew Bird is an unusual combination of songwriter, violinist, guitarist, vocalist and professional whistler. On his new CD, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, he plays virtually every instrument.

A federal judge says the U.S. government must provide detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with a fair opportunity to challenge their incarceration. U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green says Defense Department hearings do not satisfy last year's Supreme Court ruling on the matter. The ruling is a setback for the government, but the detainees may face a long legal battle before they get what they want.

President Bush praises Mike Leavitt, his nominee to head the HHS, for improving child welfare services during his tenure as governor of Utah. The president's praise for Leavitt's record is not universally shared in Utah, or among some national children's advocates. Hear NPR's Howard Berkes.

Daniel Serwer, vice president and director of Peace and Stability Operations for the U.S. Institute of Peace, explains the complex process of electing a 275-member national assembly for Iraq. The assembly's first job will be to write a constitution by Aug. 15, 2005.

The soldier who asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about the shortage of armored Humvees is a national guardsman from Nashville. Tennessee residents talk about Army Spc. Thomas Wilson, and what people there think about his audacity. Hear NPR's John Ydstie.

Only 25 percent of the medium and heavy military trucks hauling fuel, supplies, etc. along Iraq's dangerous highways have armor protection. The military is working to remedy this using steel plates, but the weight of the plating can slow down trucks, making them an easier target. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

A reputed Ku Klux Klan member is charged with the murders of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. NPR's Michele Norris talks about the case with Jerry Mitchell, a reporter for the Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.