As America marks Veterans Day, President Obama is reportedly considering four options for increasing troop levels in Afghanistan, which he will review during a meeting with his national security team today.  David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, writes in today's paper that three of the options before the president range from the deployment of 20,000 troops to the 40,000 recommended by General Stanley McChrystal.  The White House declined to specify an exact troop level associated with the fourth option, which has reportedly been added in the last couple of days.

• Washington Takeout: The Takeaway's Todd Zwillich handicaps the chances for health care reform in the Senate after President Bill Clinton came to Capitol Hill to deliver a pep talk.
• Sports Takeout: Our own Ibrahim Abdul-Matin talks about the 2009 Gold Glove awards in baseball.
• Listener Takeout: Listeners respond to our conversation on why it might be better to leave your job, even in a dreary job market, rather than staying for the long haul.

Hundreds gathered at Michigan’s state capitol in Lansing, Mich., yesterday to protest budget cuts to school programs. To help explain what's going on right now in Michigan, we're joined by Craig Fahle from WDET in Detroit, where he hosts the talk show “Detroit Today.” Also with us is Casey Christensen, a first-grade teacher in Roseville, Mich. It's part of our week-long series on the impact of state budget cuts.

A Brooklyn jury acquitted two former Bear Stearns executives Tuesday. The two men had been charged with lying to investors. To give us the low-down on all of this is a man accustomed to suing Wall Street titans, former New York attorney general (and former governor) Eliot Spitzer.

As the weather gets colder, our ovens get hotter! As you get ready to plan your holiday menus, we thought we'd give you a primer on the best secrets, recipes and strategies to making a truly fabulous apple pie. Jack Bishop, editorial director for America's Test Kitchen, says vodka is a suprisingly important ingredient in his apple pie repertoire. But he also gives us a recipe that celebrates the simplicity of the good, old-fashioned American dessert. (Click through for an assortment of apple pie recipes from America's Test Kitchen and White House Pastry Chef Bill Yosses.)

After recent visits by President Obama to Fort Hood, Dover Air Force Base and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, we discuss the relationship the president has with the armed services and service members, and how those relationships might inform his upcoming Afghanistan troop decision. We speak with Leo Shane, Stars and Stripes White House correspondent, and Richard Kohn, professor of military history at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

• Money Takeout: Newsweek columnist Dan Gross says it's no surprise that two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were acquitted on Tuesday. He says the roots of the financial collapse are stupidity, not criminality.
  
• Sports Takeout: Our sports commentator, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, gives his mid-season assessment of the NFL.
• Listener Takeout: Listeners tell us the difference that "Sesame Street" has made in their lives.

The financial reform bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chair of the Senate Banking Committee, would dramatically change the way U.S. banks are monitored. But with resistance from both Republicans and Democrats, the bill is unlikely to pass through the Senate before the end of the year. Here to tell us more about it is our Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich, along with John Cassidy, New Yorker staff writer and author of the book, "How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities."

What is closure, and how do you get it? In light of the traumatic events from the past week, we turn to you, our listeners, for stories of past tragedies and the emotional process that comes with the passing of time.

Last year, Judge Robert T. Russell, Jr. of Buffalo, N.Y., started the nation's first veterans' court to deal with the specific needs of former military personnel accused of minor crimes. Judge Russell joins us to explain how and why he started the court, while Tom Zabarowski, a former Army enlistee, explains how Judge Russell helped him to regain his life.