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Commentator Baxter Black talks about a professional homeless person and her dog.

Noah talks to Tod Marks, Senior Editor at Consumer Reports Magazine, who writes the monthly Recalls column. They discuss the process of recalling consumer products. He says the number of people who respond to a recall tends to rise with the price of the item. He also says automobiles are the easiest item to recall, because there are records of who bought them.

A new report from the Surgeon General calls for sweeping measures to reduce tobacco use. Among them: higher taxes on tobacco products and tighter regulation of marketing and sales. NPR's Jon Hamilton has a report.

Host Howard Berkes continues the second part of a two part story on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Mormon Militiamen killed over a hundred Arkansas settlers on a Southern Utah field in 1857...and now the Mormon Church is working to put the matter to rest. The Church has not accepted blame for the incident, but it has built a new monument on the site. Some descendents of both the travelers and the militiamen say the gesture is helping them come to terms with what happened a hundred and forty-seven years ago.

Host Howard Berkes talks to Ted Sorensen, former special counsel and speechwriter to President John F. Kennedy, about the selection this week of Senator Joseph Lieberman to be Vice President Al Gore's running mate. Sorensen was part of Kennedy's 1960 campaign, the last time a candidate's religion played a role in an election. Kennedy had to fight anti-Catholic bias to win the Democratic nomination and the presidency.

Commentator Frank Deford has words of praise for Jerry West, who's retiring from a 40-year career in basketball, as player, coach, and executive. West announced on Monday that he's retiring as Vice President of Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers.

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports that other countries are following the example set in the U.S. and suing tobacco companies to recover health care costs. Cases are already pending in South America, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports on Firestone's announcement today that it is recalling six-and-a-half million tires of a type that has been linked with 46 deaths. The tires are used on light trucks and sport utility vehicles, and have been blamed in accidents that involved the tread separating from the tire casing. The incidents have occurred mainly in southern states in hot weather. Most of the tires have been installed on Ford Explorers.

Howard Berkes talks with author Stephen Pyne about a series of wildfires that burned through the rockies in 1910.

Commentator Adriana Trigiani loves to shop on the Internet, and she especially loves a bargain.

Moscow Times reporter Natalya Yefimova reports that an explosion ripped through a crowded underground walkway in central Moscow today, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens more. Police said the blast was apparently caused by a bomb planted in the passageway beneath Pushkin Square. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the mayor of Moscow was quick to suggest Chechen rebels might be to blame.

Twenty-eight states filed suit today, accusing the five major record labels of fixing prices on CD's. The suit follows a settlement earlier this year between the labels and the Federal Trade Commission over an FTC investigation into similar charges. Both involved an industry policy dubbed MAP - for "minimum advertised price" - the labels helped finance advertising for record stores that agreed not to sell CD's below a minimum price set by the labels. Today's suit was filed in New York. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports. 3:30

Host Howard Berkes talks to Paul Eisenstein, publisher of The CarConnection.Com about the recall of twenty million tires. Bridgestone/Firestone, the company that makes the tires is expected to make a formal announcement today.

Julia Barton of member station WHYY reports that protesters arrested outside last week's Republican National Convention remain in jail days later, and refuse to give their names to police. The protesters say people could be singled out if they did give real names, but police contend protesters are remaining in jail by choice.

NPR's Tovia Smith reports on the unique challenges that Joseph Lieberman's strict religious beliefs may present as his campaign for Vice-President kicks into gear.

David D'Arcy reports on Filmmaker John Waters and his new movie, Cecil B. Demented. The film's main character seems loosely based on Waters' own life; Cecil B. Demented is a director of shock cinema and has attracted a cult-like following. But unlike Waters, Demented is a terrorist who targets bad cinema for destruction.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from London on an angry public debate over whether pedophiles should be publicly identified. Street mobs have forced wrongly accused men into hiding. Police blame lurid accounts of pedophile crimes in the tabloid press.

Advances in medicine have made it possible for very small pre-term babies to survive. But these infants who survive still face high risks of developing disabilities. A study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine puts some hard numbers to the rates of pre-term disabilities. This will help doctors and parents understand, at least statistically, what a baby's chances are for normal development. NPR's Allison Aubrey has this report.

Mark Moran of member station KJZZ reports on efforts by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to crackdown on illegal immigrants in the southwestern United States. The smuggling of undocumented immigrants has become a multi-billion industry in the US and the INS hopes to curb the practice through a new initiative called operation denial.

From Maine Public Radio Charlotte Renner reports on recent changes to Maine's campaign finance legislation.

NPR's Anthony Brooks reports on the campaign trail of Vice President Al Gore and his running mate Senator Joseph Lieberman. Yesterday for the first time both candidates campaigned together and made stops in their home-towns. Today, Gore and Lieberman along with several Governors from southern states are campaigning in Atlanta.

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews the new documentary, The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Televangelist Tammy Faye Baker is the subject of the film.

Howard Berkes talks with naturalist Craig Childs, author of The Secret Knowledge of Water: The Essence of the American Desert. Childs documented his cross-country trek through the deserts of North America as he searched for water holes, small springs, and other signs of water. His quest took him to a place most experienced desert hikers avoid: directly in the path of a flash flood. (8:20) The Secret Knowledge of Water : Discovering the Essence of the American Desert by Craig Leland Childs is published by Sasquatch Books; ISBN: 15706

NPR's Scott Horsley reports on a commercial database that keeps track of millions of Americans who have bounced checks. More than 85-thousand bank branches subscribe to the database, called Chexsystem, and use it to screen potential customers. But critics say a single bad check can place someone's name on the database, and once listed, it's unlikely they'll be able to open an account for up to five years.

Janet Heimlich reports form Brownsville, Texas, where a jury decided not to award punitive damages to a Tejano family who sued to regain lost profits from mineral rights discovered on their former land. Last week, the same jury gave the Balli family 1.1 million dollars in compensatory damages; the case is potentially groundbreaking since it could open the door to similar claims by Mexican American families.