David J Fazekas

It was 50 years ago today that a young Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the first 20th-century born President of the United States, defeating incumbent vice-President Richard Nixon.

We remember that historic election with the man who was coordinator of the Civil Rights section of Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign, former Sen. Harris Wofford (D-Penn.).

President Obama stood before reporters yesterday and addressed the big losses his party suffered in the midterm elections — including the turnover of the House of Representatives to Republicans. Obama accepted blame for not fullfiling voters' needs on the economy. How will the President's agenda now change? And with Republicans in control of Congress, what will their own agenda be? We'll look towards the future of Congress and the president with Peter Baker, chief political correspondent for The New York Times.

Ballot design has been a hot button issue every election year since the controversial 2000 elections, which saw George W. Bush narrowly win the presidency. That year, many voters in Palm Beach, Florida said they voted for Al Gore, when in actuality their votes wound up counted for someone else, due to the confusing design of the butterfly ballots used there.

Now, ten years later, with the help of Jessica Friedman Hewitt, we'll look at the problems that still exist with today's ballots and how they can still be improved.

Pollster describe elections like a horse race for a good reason: leads shrink, grow, and change hands, until at the very end, someone crosses the finish line first, and a winner is crowned.

John Zogby, president and CEO of polling firm Zogby International has been monitoring these changes in the final days leading up to Election Day.

If Republicans take control of the House of Representatives, as they are expected to, Democrats' policies may not be the only thing they attack.

A Republican-controlled House is expected to begin investigations and hearings into the Obama White House in what might hark back to the days of the Clinton administration.

Tomorrow is election day and candidates on both sides of the ballot are throwing their final pitch to voters. But are candidates trying to get away with throwing curve balls? We do a sanity check on various last-ditch ad campaigns with PolitiFact editor Bill Adair.

These mid-term elections are seeing massive amounts of money being raised and spent both left and right, from party committees to outside independent groups — much, much more money than the last mid-term elections in 2006. Over $260 million has been spent by outside groups, who have been able to remain largely anonymous since the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, earlier this year. 

But what are contributors expecting in return for their millions of dollars? 

It's Tuesday, and just seven days remain until mid-term elections. Republicans are looking to take control of the House, Democrats are desperately fighting to hold the Senate, and The Tea Party is looking to increase its political clout — and everyone is out on the ground trying to get out every last vote.

Two years ago, Barack Obama won the presidency in part by having inspired young people to come out and vote in record numbers. Early indicators say young voters aren't as excited about turning out this year. We hear from students from the University of Pennsylvania on how (and if) they plan to vote.

WikiLeaks released 400,000 documents on Friday that reveal cases of torture and abuse of detainees by Iraqi security forces. The reports also increase the number of civilian casualites in the war. WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, Julian Assange is the man at the center of this controversy, as he faces accusations that he has put U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians in danger. Also being heavily criticized is The New York Times, which published the reports.

If Democrats are able to hold a majority in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi will have to decide if she will run for House Speaker again. However, many Democrats are already saying that they would not support her if she does run.

The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, has the details of this developing story.

Kelvin Whitehurst, is 28 years old, lives in Nashville, Tenn., and has lived most of his life in and out of poverty. He believes it was the lack of drive to succeed during his school years that contributed to most of his life living under the poverty line. That lack of motivation, he says, came from not having anyone show him the right way, which he did not recieve when he was a child living in foster care.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood before the youth wing of her Christian Democratic Union Party over the weekend and said that multiculturalism has failed in the country. The integration of Muslim Turks and Germans has gone on unsuccessfully over the last 40 years.

Last night, the last of the 33 trapped miners in Chile was finally brought to the surface, after a record 69 days below ground. Rescue workers worked non-stop, pulling each miner out one-by-one.

Now that Chileans have the attention of the world, what's next for the South American nation?

The new video game, "Medal of Honor" comes out today, but it's already mired in controversy. Unlike most first-player shooter war games that take place in past or fictional wars, this game is set in present-day Afghanistan. American fighters face off against a Taliban-like faction, and players can choose to be the opposing side. That side was originally called the Taliban, but the game makers relented to calls from protestors and changed it to "Opposing Force." Is this war too raw to get video game treatment?

The San Francisco Giants had a chance to close out its divisional series against the Atlanta Braves yesterday and meet the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin wonders if the Braves will be able to live another day. He also previews Game five of the ALDS between the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays.

Every Monday, we take a look at the big stories in the week ahead. This week's Agenda, covers foreclosures, midterm elections, calls for UN peace keepers in  Sudan and the Nobel Prize in Economics.

On October 7th, 2001, less than a month after the attacks of September 11, American and British forces entered Afghanistan seeking to disrupt terrorist activities and capture members of al-Qaida. Nine years later we look back and reflect on one of the longest armed conflicts the U.S. has ever seen. Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs joins us for the hour.

Lou Dobbs made a name for himself on cable TV for railing against illegal immigrants and the businesses that hire them. But a new report in The Nation magazine raises questions about Dobbs' own ties to undocumented workers. According to the story, the former CNN anchor hired contractors who employed illegal immigrants to tend to his horse farm and his mansion.

A federal judge barred the use of a key witness for the government yesterday in the trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, currently being tried for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.

The government acknowledges that the witness, Hussein Abebe, was identified by Ghailani while being interrogated – possibly tortured – in a secret CIA overseas prison, and as such, his testimony would be inadmissible.