Morning Edition from NPR

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Now for our last word in business: crooner.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JOSEPH KOBZON: (Singing in foreign language)

MONTAGNE: Joseph Kobzon has been called Russia's Frank Sinatra for his voice and also for his suspected mob connections. That's why the U.S. has banned him from entering the country since 1995.

One night in 1995 completely reshaped the lives of Phil and Laura Donney. Their parents were arguing, and their father stabbed their mother, killing her. Phil was 7; his sister was 4.

Ken Donney was sent to prison, and the children went to live with their mother's sisters.

Phil, 23, recently sat down with his aunt, Abby Leibman, the twin sister of his mother, Nina Leibman.

"What was it like becoming a parent to my sister and I overnight?" Phil asks.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in Afghanistan on a long-planned trip that has turned into something of a fence-mending mission. A U.S. soldier is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians. That attack is the latest in a series of negative events involving U.S. forces.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: