President Bush tells the nation that come August troops in Iraq will no longer have to serve 15 month deployments. The number will be redued to 12 months. We' get a report on the hearings from Demetri Sevastopulo, Pentagon and Intelligence Correspondent for the Financial Times.

As protests continue surrounding the Olympic torch relay on its way to Beijing, Pico Iyer joins us for a conversation about the Tibetan spiritual and political leader. Iyer has known the Dalai Lama for decades and is the author of a new book about him, "The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama."

After two days of flight cancellations, the nation's largest carrier, American Airlines, announced it would ground 900 more flights today. Tens of thousands of passengers are stranded, and on their website American says it "sincerely regrets the inconvenience." New York Times reporter Micheline Maynard fills us in on the industry-wide implications.

Bill Littlefield joins us for our weekly conversation about sports.

Harmonica player and singer Leslie Johnson, otherwise known as "Lazy Lester," is one of the few remaining Louisiana swamp blues musicians.