Presidential rivals McCain and Obama appeared on the same stage last night at the ServiceNation Presidential Candidates Forum at Columbia University. ServiceNation is a coalition of 110 state and national organizations looking to expand service opportunities. The Takeaway’s political director, Andrea Bernstein, talked about both candidates’ views.

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Lehman Brothers, the nation’s fourth-largest securities firm, is struggling to stay alive after investors rejected its survival plans. The company’s stock plummeted a further 40% after losing half their value earlier in the week. Lehman executives are trying to find a buyer or investor to save the bank. Ben White, a reporter for the New York Times, discusses the issue with The Takeaway.

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Hundreds of thousands of Texans are fleeing as Hurricane Ike barrels towards the coastline. Are the hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes and extreme weather we've seen lately just random chance? Are these storm clusters seasonal? Or are humans and global warming causing more storms and more severe storms? The Takeaway talks to MIT atmospheric science professor Kerry Emanuel to find out.

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Zimbabwe opposition officials say some are unhappy with a complicated deal that finally has President Robert Mugabe agreeing to relinquish some power. The two officials said the breakthrough gives opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai control of the government and the police force that has been terrorizing the opposition. Mugabe controls defense forces under the deal agreed Thursday night after three months of negotiations. The two officials said Tsvangirai broke a deadlock with an agreed proposal for a Council of State made up of Mugabe and two deputies and Tsvangirai and two deputies. Two other officials said some opposition leaders are unhappy about the deal. Two of the officials confirmed that Mugabe, 84, would head the Council of State and Tsvangirai, 56, the Cabinet. The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because of a media blackout.

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Two and a half years ago, newly elected Chilean President Michelle Bachelet vowed to rid Chile of the divisions and mistrust that had captured the nation. These problems come from a decades-old dark past that involved the U.S. government. New documents released this week reveal private conversations between Nixon and Kissinger about attempts to stop Salvador Allende from taking office and thwarting him once he did.

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We take a sonic tour of music inspired by tragedy. How composers have turned tragedy into music, and its cathartic power.
NOTES FROM TERRANCE MCKNIGHT ON HIS SELECTIONS
Americans heard a lot of sad music during the anniversary of 9/11 this week. But great music is born of tragedy, inspiring composers to create what moves us. Terrance McKnight, music host at WNYC, took a sonic tour of music inspired by tragedy and examined its cathartic power.

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Who is Sarah Palin? After weeks of keeping her away from the national news media, the McCain campaign granted an interview with Palin to Charlie Gibson and ABC. Last night, they aired the first part of their heavily promoted and unscripted interview with Palin. Palin is currently traveling with an entourage of McCain writers, policy assistants and handlers. David Mark, senior editor at Politico.com, spoke with The Takeaway what we heard and what we have yet to hear from the Republican nominee for VP.

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Texas is bracing for a big one. Hurricane Ike’s northwest trajectory is on track to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday, landing somewhere between Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Texas-Louisiana border. Evacuations were underway earlier this week Houston and Galveston. Paul Pendergraft, senior producer for news and public affairs at KUHF-Houston Public Radio, joins us from the embattled city.

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NBC shows are back on the air at iTunes after being unavailable for nearly a year. What does this mean for the free content available on Hulu? The Takeaway talks to Wired Magazine’s Nancy Miller about what this business deal means about the future of the small screen on the even smaller one.

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Great stories spill out of the sports world this week. The Chicago Cubs, who haven’t won a world series in 100 years, are in first place in NL central division. The Tampa Rays, another perennially last place team, are poised to take make the playoffs and are in first place in the AL East. New York Met Carlos Delgado has been on fire, hitting 24 home runs since the All Star break. The University of Texas mourned the death of their basketball coach Don Haskins, who started five black players against an all white team in the 1966 NCAA championships, inspiring the film Glory Road.

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Gen. David Petraeus, the new head of Central Command, says he probably won't ever use the word "victory" when talking about the war in Iraq.

Q: Do you think you will ever use the word "victory"? Petraeus: I don't know that I will. I think that all of us at different times have recognized the need for real restraint in our assessments, in our pronouncements, if you will. And we have tried to be very brutally honest and forthright in what we have provided to Congress, to the press, and to ourselves.

He went on to say that long-term gains in Iraq are not irreversible, and that he believes the administration is in for a long struggle with the war.

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The multibillion-dollar, 17-mile-long, particle-smashing Large Hadron Collider is being hailed as the greatest experiment ever. But ultimately, when you get beyond the Collider's 21st-century bells and whistles, the pursuit of scientific knowledge boils down to the individual mind wrestling with the unknown. The Takeaway looks back at this simpler side of science with Robert P. Crease, the author of "The Prism and the Pendulum: The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments in Science"

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Presidential rivals McCain and Obama appeared on the same stage last night, saying they would be setting politics aside for the day. But it's back to the sparring today, with new ads from both campaigns. The Takeaway’s political director, Andrea Bernstein, talked about both candidates’ views.

Obama's "1982" ad

McCain's "Disrespectful"

Obama's "Real Change" ad

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The National Weather Service is warning residents of Galveston, Texas they could "face certain death" if they don't evacuate. At this report, the center of Hurricane Ike was about 230 miles southeast of Galveston and moving toward the upper Texas coast at about 13 miles-per-hour. Top winds are near 105 miles-per-hour and forecasters say it could strengthen before making landfall early Saturday.

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Investment bank Lehman Brothers is continuing its struggle to stay alive today. The stock price is in free fall; its shares fell as much as 11 percent to $3.75 in early electronic trading, after investors rejected a survival plan floated by the company on Wednesday. Now executives are looking for someone to buy the company, or at least make a major investment in it.

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