The annual NATO summit opened yesterday afternoon in Chicago, bringing leaders from around the world to President Obama’s former home to confront questions surrounding the future of a post-conflict Afghanistan. As the two-day summit continues today, Western leaders will try to further define their path out of Afghanistan. Hassina Sherjan is the founder and country director of Aid Afghanistan for Education. David Sanger is the chief Washington correspondent for our partner, The New York Times.

President Obama’s endorsement for gay marriage was a landmark moment for the nation, but African-Americans have historically been against the issue. Is that about to change? Rev. Delman Coates discusses ideologically and morally "evolving." He is a pastor at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Prince George County, Maryland, and was among just a handful of African-American preachers in the state to support a bill this past February legalizing gay marriage.

“I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” President Obama told Robin Roberts in an interview with ABC News yesterday. The comments mark an apparent end to Obama’s two-year, self-described “evolution” on the issue. An openly gay minister from North Carolina and a spokesperson for the Christian-values group American Family Association share their reactions.

It was a moment perfectly staged for an American audience: In a speech that neatly coincided with the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death, President Obama addressed the country from Bagram Air Base after secretly traveling to Afghanistan. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich breaks down the President's address.

As they look towards the general elections, it's clear that President Obama and GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney both face very specific problems. Romney’s problem is one of personality: no candidate in the modern polling era with personal favorability ratings as low as his has ever won the presidency. Obama doesn't have a popularity problem, but he does face some trouble with the economy: no incumbent president has ever won re-election with unemployment rates as high as they are likely to be in November. Carroll Doherty, associate director for Pew Research Center, and Kenneth C. Davis, author of "Don't Know Much About History," explain what is behind these numbers.

Eleven Secret Service employees are accused of bringing prostitutes back to their hotel in Cartagena ahead of President Obama's visit for a summit in Colombia. The agents and officers have been placed on leave while the agency investigates their conduct. Although prostitution is legal in parts of Colombia and no law was broken, if the reports are true, the employees still violated rules of conduct. Tim Weiner, author of "Enemies: A History of the FBI," has won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for his work on national security. Weiner explains what happened and why the employees' alleged indiscretions could have put the President Obama's life at risk.

In this conversation with Kathleen Hall Jamieson, professor of communications and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, we hear how Democrats plan to rehabilitate the word "ObamaCare" through coordinated public relations campaigns online and off.  

At a White House press conference on Friday, President Obama was asked to comment on the Trayvon Martin case. Ron Christie, Takeaway contributor and Republican political strategist says President Obama overstepped in his remarks. Xilla, an editor at Global Grinder, says the president's remarks were appropriate — and deeply moving.

Todd Zwillich, Takeaway Washington correspondent and Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for The Takeaway look at the stories coming up in the week ahead, including the Supreme Court hearings about health care legislation, President Obama's meetings in South Korea and the Conference Board Confidence Index and the Michigan Consumer Sentiment reports slated to come out this week.

Gas prices rose for the ninth straight day Sunday. The average price for a gallon of gasoline is now $3.83 — not that far from July 2008’s record high of $4.11. In fact, gas prices are already more than $4 a gallon in seven states. As gas prices have risen, they’ve also increasingly become a touchy political talking point. This week President Obama is setting off on a four state tour to promote and defend his energy policies. He'll stop in Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oklahoma.

As voters in Michigan prepared to head to the ballots Tuesday, President Obama delivered a rousing speech to the United Auto Workers Union in Washington D.C., taking the opportunity to campaign on the success of the auto-bailout. Three years and some $80 billion later, the rescue of Chrysler and GM has remained fresh in the minds of voters in Michigan. However, the significance of the bank and auto bail-outs may mean something else — or perhaps nothing at all — to voters in other parts of the country.

Monday morning, President Obama sends Congress his 2013 budget plan. The president’s budget includes stimulus-style spending increases on highway construction projects, schools, and other public works. It also includes increased taxes for wealthy Americans and corporations. What it doesn’t include are significant cuts, and the president already getting push-back from Republicans about his plan. They say it avoids making needed sacrifices and that it doesn’t do enough to curb the deficit or keep the rapid growth of benefit programs like Medicare in check.

In the end, the invasion of Iraq did not find any weapons of mass destruction, nor did it eradicate Al Qaida. The war did, however, topple dictator Saddam Hussein. It also cost hundreds of billions of dollars and went on for years. Now that the last U.S. troops will be quietly departing Iraq between today and the end of the year — President Obama will address soldiers at Fort Bragg Wednesday about the end of the Iraq war and the pullout of combat troops — The Takeaway looks back at the campaign that began with "shock and awe" in 2003 and will end with a "home by christmas" pullout in 2011.

The Takeaway kicks off a new series today where we talk with voters from each of the key electoral states to see what the political and economic situation feels like on the ground. We begin in Pennsylvania, where President Obama will be spending the day Wednesday discussing his jobs bill, and garnering the support of his base at the same time. Joining the roundtable discussion are Walt Rowen, owner of Susquehanna Glass Company in Columbia, PA, Randy Robertson, owner and president Triple R. Guitar in Lemoyne, PA and Jackie Magaro, owner and operator of Mr. Sandman, a residential restoration service company.

President Obama is hosting European Union leaders at the White House for this year's US-EU summit. Dominating discussions will be the issue of the European debt crisis. Eighteen months into its sovereign debt crisis, Europe is running out of time to find a real solution, and fears of contagion are growing.

Over the weekend, U.S. retail sales climbed 16 percent, hitting a record total of $52.4 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. The average shopper spent $398.62 during the holiday weekend. Despite these promising retail numbers, other economic indicators aren't as positive this week. 

During a visit to Australian on Wednesday, President Obama announced that 2,500 U.S. troops will be sent to the country to boost security in the Pacific region. The move is seen as a strategy to counter China's increased influence. He spoke strongly on China's rising responsibilities and the U.S. perspective on its growing strength. China responded by saying that it "may not be quite appropriate" to expand U.S. military in the region.

President Obama is set to announce a new program on Wednesday that the White House says will help lower interest rates on student-loans. He will unveil the proposal during an appearance in Colorado. The plan will allow students who hold both government and private loans to consolidate both into one low-interest government loan. The announcement comes as the president continues to highlight ways his administration can boost the economy through executive actions that don't require approval from Congress. Obama has expressed frustration with lawmakers, who have held up his jobs plan on Capital Hill.

President Obama's approval ratings are at an all-time low. August's Gallup poll numbers showed that 41 percent of American adults approve of the way Obama is currently handling his job. Some of the largest declines in approval come from African-American voters — a group that formerly voted for Obama.

President Obama's address last night was seen by many as a crucial political moment — a chance for him to reinvigorate support for his strategy on the economy and job creation. Obama's approval rating has been at an all-time low, so the stakes were high. He needed to reach the electorate and instill confidence in voters. How well did he do? This is the question we’re discussing with constituents from around the country.