Remember all the predictions that we'd soon see $200 a barrel oil? Ahhhh, those were the old days. Oil prices fell below $70 a barrel yesterday for the first time in 14 months. That's less than half its record high just three months ago. OPEC members have decided to hold an emergency meeting next week in Vienna to figure out how to shore up prices.

The stock market fluctuations are only the beginning of the recession story. Bob Brusca, Chief Economist with Fact & Opinion Economics, untangles the recession web of weak retail sales, weak industrial output and growing unemployment.

There are more details today on a draft agreement to extend the U.S. mandate in Iraq. According to the BBC, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is briefing members of Congress about a deal that would extend the U.S. presence in Iraq to 2011, but start a pullout of troops from Iraqi urban areas in the middle of next year. The deal still has to pass muster with the Iraqi parliament.

With Election Day less than three weeks away, activists are warning the nation about voter fraud. Columbia law professor Nate Persily joins The Takeaway to tell us about what may actually block your vote: chaos at the polls. With at least 2 million new registrants and new balloting technology, Persily warns that November 4 could mean confusion for voters.

The Takeaway continues its ongoing look at America as a patchwork nation, rather than a collection of red and blue states. This time, we focus on the "Immigration Nation." It's a group of 12 million people in 144 counties that have large Hispanic populations.

Feeling tired on your drive to work this morning? Frustrated by your early morning and late nights? A new study on sleep says even though you feel like you’re chronically sleep deprived, you might be getting more sleep than you think. Jim Horne of Loughborough University tells John and Adaora why we might be getting exactly as much sleep as we need.

With Election Day less than three weeks away and polls showing the potential for a Democratic landslide, The Takeaway talks to the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, about what districts he will be watching and as his party seeks to gain seats.

The trial of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, continues. Sen. Stevens takes the stand in Washington D.C. — an extraordinary step for a sitting senator, let alone one running for re-election. Alaska Public Radio Network’s Libby Casey joins The Takeaway with a wrap-up of this week’s trial developments.

In the run-up to the presidential election, the BBC has sent a bus of reporters and producers on a 38-day, 4,000-mile journey across the United States. Their goal is to gain insight into the American electorate. The Takeaway talks to Steve Evans and Chloe Hadjimatheou, both with the BBC.

Forty-eight years ago this week, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for participating in a sit-in at an Atlanta department store. After the other protestors had been released, King was kept behind bars. Almost overnight, civil rights and race became key issues in the 1960 presidential election. Senator John F. Kennedy reached out to Coretta Scott King that week to allay fears that her husband would be lynched. JFK’s civil rights advisor and former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford tells The Takeaway how one phone call influenced the outcome of the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy Presidential election and why the story matters now.

The Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays went head to head Thursday night in a game the Sox had to win to stay alive in the American League Championship Series. In the 7th inning, the Rays were up 7-0, but the boys from Boston managed a miraculous rally and won the game, 8-7. The Sox will need to win their next two games to advance to the World Series.

This fall, energy and the environment have taken a back seat to financial turmoil, national security and the wars that the nation is fighting on two fronts. But when voters head to the polls they need to know where both candidates stand on important policies concerning nuclear energy, offshore drilling and clean coal — to name a few. For a look at how John McCain and Barack Obama plan to tackle energy dependence and global warming, The Takeaway turns to Martin Smith.

Guest: Jad Mouawad, New York Times reporter who covers the energy industry

Analysts were bracing for new numbers on housing construction today. They had expected a decline of 1.6 percent, but construction starts actually dropped by a whopping 6.3 percent.