The NYPD has been monitoring Muslims. Affirmative Action is under attack. A Koran was burned in Afghanistan sparks protests. The GOP primary race roles on, and Rick Santorum believes in Satan. These stories and more will be covered by our panel which includes Kai Wright, editor of Colorlines, Farai Chideya, a journalist and blogger at Farai.com, and Ron Christie, Republican political strategist, CEO of Christie Strategies, and former special assistant to President George W. Bush.

The Associated Press has obtained a new report from the New York Police Department which provides a surprising portrait of just how far the NYPD's intelligence division went in a surveillance program targeting Muslims. The NYPD tracked closely the activities of Muslim student groups at 13 colleges in the northeast, monitoring their e-mails and taking notes on their activities. 

An 80-minute movie called "The Third Jihad," produced by the Clarion Fund, asserts that a vast number of radical Islamic forces exist in the U.S. and are preparing a violent jihad against America. Last January, the NYPD revealed that this direct-to-DVD movie had been shown once during anti-terrorism officer training. But this week, following a freedom of information request, the Brennan Center for Justice revealed that the video may have been viewed by nearly 1,500 officers during training breaks as well.

They may have lost their home in Zuccotti Park, but Occupy Wall Street made its presence felt in Lower Manhattan on Thursday. Nearly 300 people were arrested as Occupy Wall Street protesters marked the movement's two month anniversary with a "Day of Action." Demonstrators attempted to delay the opening of the New York Stock Exchange. They later held demonstrations on New York City's subway system before gathering for a march across the Brooklyn Bridge. And it wasn't just New York. Demonstrations were held across the country as the movement plans its next moves. 

A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled Tuesday to uphold New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to evict the Occupy Wall Street protesters from their camp in Zuccotti Park. It was a setback that some worry the movement cannot recover from. Yet, protesters themselves remained upbeat yesterday claiming evictions will only make them stronger. But perhaps instead of quelling the movement as he intended, Bloomberg actually reinvigorated it. 

Hours after police in riot gear stormed Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan to evict Occupy Wall Street protesters, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended his decision to clear the encampment in a press conference. Taking credit for the decision, Bloomberg said the raid was necessary for public safety. A judge issued a restraining order against New York City in the early hours of Monday morning, saying the protesters could return to Zucotti with their belongings. After initially saying the park would reopen at 8:00 am on Monday morning, Bloomberg said the park will remain closed while the city clarified the restraining order.

On Monday, The Takeaway spoke with New York University professor of international relations Alon Ben-Meir and National Review writer Charles C.W. Cooke to discuss reports of illness and lawlessness at Occupy Wall Street encampments around the country. Today, after Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered police to clear the protesters' camp at Zuccotti Park, Ben-Meir and Cooke rejoin the program to react to the day's events.

"It’s the economy, stupid." "No new taxes." "Four more years." "Change we can believe in." In modern politics, a campaign is dead in the water if it does not have a clear, concise message that can be expressed with the economy of a soundbite. One constant criticism of the movement loosely started by the Occupy Wall Street protests in Manhattan is that they lack such a coherent message. But is that a bad thing? 

Over 700 protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement were arrested on Saturday while attempting to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. Police said the arrests were made because protesters were obstructing the roadway, though many protesters have charged that the NYPD tricked them by allowing them onto the bridge. The movement, now in its third week, has spread from a handful of protesters in New York's Zuccotti Park to demonstrations in Boston, Washington, Denver, Los Angeles, and other cities.

Recently we spoke with David Kennedy about combating gang violence. Kennedy founded a project called Operation Ceasefire that helped reduce gang violence nationally. Today, we're speaking with a police officer who has also had success in reducing gang-related crime. Los Angeles police chief and former NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton joins us to share his experiences. During his tenure heading the two largest police departments in the U.S., Bratton has presided over precipitous drops in crime.

A new investigation by the Associated Press has revealed that the New York Police Department has pursued aggressive surveillance and intelligence gathering tactics that operate far outside its jurisdiction as part of its anti-terror efforts in the decade since 9/11. These programs were developed and continue to be implemented with assistance from the Central Intelligence Agency, which is prohibited from spying on Americans, and often target Muslim communities. While some details of the NYPD's intelligence gathering operations are well known, the CIA's involvement and the extent of the clandestine operations focusing on Muslims have been kept from not just the public, but the New York City Council and the federal government as well.

This morning, we reported on an Associated Press investigation into the New York Police Department intelligence gathering operations in the decade since 9/11. According to the AP, the NYPD has been aided by the CIA in setting up and executing an unprecedented domestic spying operation that targets Muslim communities and operates outside both agencies' borders.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Paul Browne responded to the AP's story, calling the article "marked by outright fiction" in an email to WNYC reporter Bob Hennelly. Read the entirety of his statement below.

Two men have been caught conspiring to bomb synagogues in Manhattan in an undercover sting. The New York Police Department, who led the operation, say Ahmed Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh purchased weapons and an inert hand grenade from undercover officers, after saying that they were planning a terror attack. There is no indication the two are affiliated with a terrorist organization. Joining The Takeaway is Robert Hennelly, senior reporter for our flagship station, WNYC.

President Obama is in New York today to pay his respects at Ground Zero and meet with family members of victims of 9/11. Whenever the president is in town, the New York Police Department is on heightened security. But this time, they will be keeping the status quo. The NYPD’s 35,000 officers have been on alert since Sunday night when the White House announced Osama bin Laden’s death. Officers have been working overtime to protect subways during rush hour and have been commanded to be on the lookout for suspicious packages at landmarks. Police officials say there have been no specific threats against the city, but New York is still a prime target for terrorist attacks. 

Every year, with NYPD sponsorship, 200 young kids, most of them Muslim, gather in open spaces to yell and throw and hit.  More specifically, they're praising glovesmanship, bowling carrom balls, and knocking Dilscoops: They're playing cricket for the "NYPD United."

In the months after 9/11, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly reached out to the city's Muslim population. WNYC reporter Bob Hennelly explains how that strategy has worked and what those relationships have meant during the current controversy surrounding the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said yesterday that the bomb found in an S.U.V. Saturday evening in Times Square was amateurish and flawed, but could have been deadly.