British Prime Minister Gordon Brown begins an official visit to the United States today. He’ll be the first European leader to meet President Obama in the White House. And on the agenda — you guessed it —the global financial crisis. Joining The Takeaway to tell us what Britain’s embattled Prime Minister will be saying to our new President is Philip Stephens, Associate Editor of the Financial Times.

For more from Philip Stephen's, read his article on Gordon Brown's U.S. visit, The way to reset a once-special relationship in today's Financial Times.

The global markets took a trip down memory lane yesterday, unfortunately not in a good way. The S&P dropped to its lowest level since November of 1996. The Dow fell below 7,000 for the first time since 1997. The FTSE 100 to a it lowest level in 14 years in dollar terms. Japan's Nikkei slid near its lowest point in 26 years. Michael Hunter, markets reporter for the Financial Times joins us with his take on the gloom-and-doom economy.

Bad sportsmanship took an ugly turn as Pakistani gunmen attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team on its way to play in the Pakistani city of Lahore. At least five Pakistani policemen protecting the team's bus were killed, while seven cricketers and their assistant coach were injured. For more we turn to Schwaib Hassan, the BBC's Pakistan correspondent, who joins us from Karachi.

Cuban President Raul Castro replaced eight cabinet ministers yesterday in a shake-up that ousted politicians linked to Fidel Castro. This move could signal a new era for Cuba. To talk about Cuba's future we are joined by James Painter, Latin American analyst for our partners, the BBC.

Talk about turning a notion on its head. What if your coveted winter vacation—the time when you leave the bitter, snowy cold behind and head for a few days of palm trees—could actually add to your winter blues? New research in psychology shows that interruptions from things we dislike may make us detest them all the more, whereas interruptions from doing something we really adore say, watching an episode of Friday Night Lights may highlight our appreciation. Benedict Carey, a science reporter from the New York Times, joins The Takeaway to explain.

Read his story on the dreaded commercial break Liked the Show? Maybe It Was the Commercials in today's New York Times.

Last month, President Obama sent a secret hand-delivered letter to Russia's President Dmitri Medvedev. It was an offer: the U.S. would back off from deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe, if Moscow would help deter Iran from developing long-range weapons. Moscow has not responded to the letter, but many people see this as an effort to reset the relationship between the U.S. and Russia. New York Times reporter Peter Baker wrote a front page story on this and he joins us now.

For more, read Peter Baker's article, Obama Offered Deal to Russia in Secret Letter in today's New York Times.

A rising tide of violence stemming from Mexico’s drug war has sent thousands of Mexican nationals fleeing across the border to the United States. Some of them go home, but thousands more say they cannot without fear of reprisal. Understandably, the number of Mexicans seeking asylum in the United States has skyrocketed in the past year. We’re joined by Carlos Spector an immigration attorney in El Paso, Texas, who has been helping people flee the violence.

Here is raw footage of Mexican troops being deployed to the border city of Ciudad Juarez, the country's most dangerous drug city.

The President of the West African Nation of Guinea-Bissau was shot and killed yesterday by renegade soldiers. The soldiers blamed the President for the bomb blast that killed his main rival, the army chief of staff, the day before. To unravel the twisted tale, we are joined by Will Ross, the BBC's West Africa correspondent in Accra, Ghana.

When judges have received campaign contributions from interested parties in a case, should they recuse themselves? Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. goes before the U.S. Supreme Court today to answer that question. Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times, joins Farai and John with a look at the case and how the system of electing judges influences the justice system.

For more on the implications of this case, read Adam Liptak's article, Case May Alter Judge Elections Across Country, in the New York Times.