As the health care bill enters a critical phase and the Senate Finance Committee gets ready to vote on it as early as next week, we take a look at who might get left behind. We talk with Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, and two ordinary Americans from the health care trenches: Dr. Harry Walker, director of MetroHealth Center for Community Health in Cleveland, Ohio; and Andre Singleton, a 23-year-old student and uninsured cancer survivor from Kansas City, Mo.

The Takeaway's Femi Oke visited a town hall on health care reform that was unlike any other: part poetry slam, part politics. We bring you some of the voices from a health care debate of a different kind.

Hear Dina Smith sing her own adaptation of the classic "If I Were a Rich Man."

Hear 19-year-old James Jaydon Woodard read his untitled poem, incorporating themes of fast food and ill health, both mental and physical.

Hear 19-year-old Yafreici Peralta read her poem "Wealth Care."

Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin takes us through the thrilling 163rd game of the baseball season for the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers.

All this week we've been talking about the war in Afghanistan, eight years since it first began. It's the war that might have been forgotten in the shadow of the Iraq War. We hear some of the stories you've been sending us.

As the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is in charge of making sure his party maintains its 60-seat majority, in spite of a daunting agenda that includes health care reform and coming back from the economic brink. But in his new book, "Growing American Roots: Why Our Nation Will Thrive as Our Largest Minority Flourishes," Menendez argues that Democrats should tap into something of a secret weapon — a growing population of Latino voters who are eager for change.

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Today marks the eighth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, and we take a look back at the start of the war, when President George W. Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom. We also hear the reactions at the time, and an embedded journalist's descriptions of the fight on the ground.

Regional foreign ministers from across the Americas are heading to Honduras in the next few hours.
They're going there to try to end the worst political crisis Honduras has suffered in decades. Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is still holed up in the Brazilian embassy in the capital of Honduras.
Today, diplomats from across the region are trying to set up talks between President Zelaya and the interim leader Roberto Micheletti. With the current situation, we talk with Americo Martins, Americas Editor at our partner, the BBC.

It's October and pumpkins are everywhere, so why don't we eat more of it? Food writers Lolis Eric Elie and Michael Krondl say it's because Americans just don't know what they're missing. Lolis is a Takeaway contributor and author of "Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country," and he offers up his "Great Aunt Stella's Pumpkin Dessert." Michael Krondl, author of "The Great Little Pumpkin Cookbook," teaches us a thing or two about eating this fall staple fresh from the farm.

Click through for their pumpkin recipes.

Today marks the eighth anniversary of the U.S. sending troops to Afghanistan. To help mark the occasion we get the personal stories of three veterans of that war: Joe Sturm, Marco Reininger and Genevieve Chase.

On Oct. 7, 2001, President George W. Bush announced that the U.S. military would be making strikes against al-Qaida targets and Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan. By November 2001, the U.S.-backed military alliance had taken Kabul. By December 7, the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar had fallen. Eight years later we are still there. There are currently 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, and 869 American lives have been lost since the beginning.

Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich recaps yesterday's meeting at the White House on the next steps for the war in Afghanistan.

We take a look at the growing trend of buying prepaid debit cards, and whether it's financially good or bad. New York Times' finance reporter Louise Story helps us figure out if this is a good way to spend your money or just a bad decision.

Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin talks about what each team must do to be successful in the post season. We also take a peak at Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.

A message from the Taliban is being heard almost everywhere across Afghanistan. It's from a militant denouncing the evils of the Afghan government and its corrupt officials. The message says that if the Afghan people want justice, only the Taliban can deliver it. For more we go live to Afghanistan, to Martin Patience, Kabul correspondent for our partner, the BBC. We also speak to Christine Fair, from the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University; and Spc. Marco Reininger, spokesperson for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Last week, a horrifying cell phone video put the Chicago Public School system under a national spotlight. It captured dozens of teenagers in a street brawl using wooden beams as weapons. An innocent boy named Darrien Albert was brutally beaten to death. He is one of five teenagers who have been killed in Chicago this school year.

This morning, Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be having breakfast with Mayor Daley of Chicago to discuss the high levels of youth violence in the city. Linda Lutton, a reporter with WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, talks with us about school violence in Chicago.

Today marks the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. While it was once deemed a war of necessity, many of the people who believed that have changed their tone. One was a central figure in 2001 when war was declared: Richard Haass was an adviser to former Secretary of State Colin Powell and is now president of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the book "War of Necessity, War of Choice."

(click through for full transcript.)