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Commentator Belle Waring says choosing a pet from an animal shelter can be a roll of the dice.

A New Zealand air force plane returned safely today to Christchurch after retrieving four ill Americans and seven other U.S. staffers from a frigid research station near Antarctica's coast. A second perilous rescue mission to the bottom of the world is now underway. An eight-seat Twin Otter plane has landed at the South Pole to evacuate a sick American doctor. Antarctica's harsh, dark winter conditions usually preclude flights in or out. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports consumer confidence slipped again in April. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index has fallen six of the last seven months and fell more in April than expected. The Federal Reserve has been cutting interest rates in a bid to keep the economy from falling into recession. Today's report indicates that consumers are still worried about the economy.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission meets tomorrow to consider a plan to ease California's power crisis. The commission may back off from its opposition to electricity price caps by approving temporary caps during power emergencies. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports.

Host Bob Edwards talks to Dr. Karl Erb, Director of the Office of Polar Programs at the National Science Foundation in Washington. They discuss the daring airlift of a sick American doctor, who was working at a research station at the South Pole. A small plane carried Dr. Ronald Shemenski across Antarctica to a British research center near the coast of the continent. After resting overnight, the crew will take Dr. Shemenski to Chile today where he'll be treated for gall stones.

NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg reports on a case before the Supreme Court. Tobacco companies are challenging a Massachusetts law that would limit outdoor advertising for their products. They say it's a violation of the right to commercial free speech; Massachusetts says its law is written carefully to prevent the companies from marketing to children.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead continues with part three of his Avant-Garde Made Easy series. This time he considers composer, improviser and saxophonist Anthony Braxton.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on today's arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court over limits imposed on tobacco advertising by the state of Massachusetts. At question is whether the state has the power to restrict ads for a product that is legal for adults, illegal for children, and dangerous and addictive for everyone.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled a man is legally obligated to continue to pay child support for a little girl -- after a DNA test proved that he is not her father. Linda Wertheimer talks with Elizabeth Bartholet, a professor of family law at Harvard Law School and author of Nobody's Children. (4:00) Nobody's Children is published by Beacon, 1999.

Commentator Frank Deford ruminates on the ability of the new professional women's soccer league to survive in the world of American sports. Overall, Deford says, the odds aren't too bad.

NPR's Cheryl Corley reports that IBM officials say its new ad campaign is cutting edge. They're painting graffiti-like symbols on Chicago's sidewalks. But city officials call it vandalism and are insisting the company pay big money to clean-up the ads.

NPR's Steve Inskeep reports on a fundraiser hosted by Sen. Hillary Clinton at her new Washington, D.C., home last night. Attendees shelled out a thousand dollars per person to help Clinton's colleague, Sen. Maria Cantwell, pay debts she accrued while campaigning for office.