This week, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama travel to Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico. Though the three states account for 19 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, they’re likely to be pivotal in the November presidential election.

A new report suggests that colorblind adoption leaves white parents unprepared to raise black children. Parents may not be mentally ready or have the appropriate social tools to parent children of a different race from their own. In turn, youngsters may experience social and psychological problems later in life. What does this mean for 1994's Multiethnic Placement Act, which says adoptive parents cannot request a specific race for their children? The Takeaway talks about these issues with a transracial family.

20% of the world's fresh water is in the 5 Great Lakes of North America. The lakes are what's left over from a giant glacial melt at the end of the last ice age 20 or 30 thousand years ago...which is why the water isn't salty. It's a lucky break for North America and an enticing solution to water problems outside the Midwest.

The defining moment in the 2008 Democratic nomination race is set to be a procedural event. On Saturday, the Democratic National Committee's rules committee will convene in a Marriott hotel in Washington, D.C., to decide the fate of the Michigan and Florida Democratic delegates. The Clinton campaign, which has supporters on the committee, wants them all seated. Expect a compromise.

Janie Larson and Amy Lipps were solidly middle class. Janie went to the food bank this week for the first time. Amy never took any kind of aid in her life before, but as she and her husband search for full-time work, they are now receiving food stamps. The Takeaway talks with two members of America's growing "nouveau poor."