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Melissa Block talks with Senator Mark Warner of Virginia about the looming so-called "fiscal cliff" and what steps might be taken now that the election is over.

With the election over, attention in Washington has turned to the nation's debt and deficit challenges — most immediately the looming fiscal cliff. That's the $600 billion worth of expiring tax breaks and automatic spending cuts set to start taking effect Jan. 1.

The president and Congress agreed to those automatic measures to force themselves to find a more palatable compromise to rein in deficits. On Wednesday, there was an attempt to jump-start that process.

In his victory speech Tuesday night in Chicago, President Obama signaled his desire to find a compromise. He said the priorities for his second term include deficit reduction. Eighteen hours later at the Capitol, House Speaker John Boehner offered the president a tentative olive branch.

"Mr. President, the Republican majority here in the House stands ready to work with you, to do what's best for our country," Boehner said.

Last year, Boehner's House Republicans steadfastly refused to raise taxes to reach the balanced deficit-reducing budget compromise sought by the president, one that included both tax increases and spending cuts. On Wednesday, Boehner suggested that had changed.

The Two-Way

Shake A Leg Or Throw A Fist? Which Will It Be On Capitol Hill?

It's been an eventful week in politics, but now what? The fiscal cliff looms, the Republican Party does some soul searching, and some are asking, did the elections change anything? Melissa Block talks with our regular political commentators, E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of the New York Times.

Steve Inskeep has business news.

On Friday, President Obama made his first public remarks since winning re-election. He used the moment to insist on greater revenues from the affluent in any deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Exit polls show that 71 percent of Latinos voted for President Obama, compared with just 27 percent who picked Mitt Romney. That marks the widest gap in Latino support between two presidential candidates in recent history. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz speaks with American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas about the GOP's trouble attracting Latino voters.

NPR's Scott Horsley reports on a new Congressional Budget Office report that explores the economic and budget impacts of the "fiscal cliff."

Republicans and Democrats agree: Election season may have ended just four days ago, but it's already time to get back to work. In this case, "back to work" might mean, "back to fighting."

Friday, leaders in both parties made their opening bids on how to deal with the tax, spending and debt problems that face the country at the end of this year.

While the scenario echoes last year's spending battle, there are some differences that could push the parties toward the resolution they never reached last time around.

Where The President Stands

In the East Room of the White House, nearly 200 Obama supporters sat in chairs, ready to jump to their feet the minute the commander in chief entered the room. These were President Obama's first public remarks since election night.

"Now that those of us on the campaign trail have had a chance to get a little sleep, it's time to get back to work. And there is plenty of work to do," he said.

The campaign was challenging. But two days back in Washington was enough to remind everyone that governing is no cakewalk either. Many of the president's lines Friday were lifted directly from his stump speech.

"We can't just cut our way to prosperity. If we're serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue," he said. "And that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes."

The president said he's open to compromise, with one caveat: The rich must pay more. According to Election Day exit polls, six in 10 voters said they agree, a number you're likely to hear a lot from Democrats.

"I'm open to new ideas. I'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges, but I refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced," Obama said.

Enlarge Susan Walsh/AP

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio holds a news conference on Capitol Hill Friday.

Nearly two years ago, Soner Yalcin and more than a dozen of his employees at the online news outlet OdaTV joined the growing list of incarcerated Turkish journalists. Yalcin, owner of OdaTV, is one of the sharpest critics of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

As their trial proceedings dragged on, challenges to the state's case grew, and most of the outlet's journalists were released, pending the trial's conclusion. But Yalcin and two others remain behind bars, 22 months and counting.

Turkey is disputing a new report that names it as the world's leading jailer of journalists, with scores behind bars — ahead of Iran, China and other authoritarian states.

The Committee to Protect Journalists met with officials in Ankara this week about the problem, and found them adamant that the journalists had broken criminal laws. The ongoing international attention to Turkey's treatment of the media has raised hope that reforms could be forthcoming.

The Two-Way

More Than 700 Kurdish Prisoners Now On Hunger Strike In Turkey

Republicans and Democrats agree: Election season may have ended just four days ago, but it's already time to get back to work. In this case, "back to work" might mean, "back to fighting."

Friday, leaders in both parties made their opening bids on how to deal with the tax, spending and debt problems that face the country at the end of this year.

While the scenario echoes last year's spending battle, there are some differences that could push the parties toward the resolution they never reached last time around.

Where The President Stands

In the East Room of the White House, nearly 200 Obama supporters sat in chairs, ready to jump to their feet the minute the commander in chief entered the room. These were President Obama's first public remarks since election night.

"Now that those of us on the campaign trail have had a chance to get a little sleep, it's time to get back to work. And there is plenty of work to do," he said.

The campaign was challenging. But two days back in Washington was enough to remind everyone that governing is no cakewalk either. Many of the president's lines Friday were lifted directly from his stump speech.

"We can't just cut our way to prosperity. If we're serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue," he said. "And that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes."

The president said he's open to compromise, with one caveat: The rich must pay more. According to Election Day exit polls, six in 10 voters said they agree, a number you're likely to hear a lot from Democrats.

"I'm open to new ideas. I'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges, but I refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced," Obama said.

Enlarge Susan Walsh/AP

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio holds a news conference on Capitol Hill Friday.

John Crowood's traditional London cab was one of a horde when he began driving more than 30 years ago, trundling through the city's streets among so many benevolent black beetles.

Today, he's one of a dwindling band. Crowood says that the only company that makes the classic, retro London cab had to recall 400 of its newest vehicles after a mechanical defect was found, leaving hundreds of his fellow cabbies unable to ply their trade.

"They've been ordered off the road because they're not fit for use. And now the cab drivers are stuck because they can't get the replacement taxis because there aren't enough spare taxis available for them to use," he says.

Part-time drivers had already nabbed all the available rental vehicles just ahead of the lucrative holiday season. Gary Nickles had only been driving his new taxi two weeks when it was recalled — too late to grab one of the last remaining rental vehicles, as he's discovered on a tour of all the rental firms.

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Pimp My Rickshaw: India's Drivers Pump Up The Glam

Robert Siegel speaks with new Senator-elect Heidi Heitkamp. The North Dakota Democrat won the seat vacated by the retiring Kent Conrad.

Far from the political theater of China's Communist Party Congress in Beijing this week is a cave that the country's next leader once called home.

Just 15 at the time, Xi Jinping was sent by his family in Beijing to the remote rural village Liangjiahe in the hills of Shaanxi Province, hundreds of miles away, where for seven years he lived in a cave scooped out of the yellow loess hillsides.

He arrived there in 1968, after his father, a revolutionary fighter and former vice premier, had fallen from political favor.

"Many kids were leaving Beijing and being seen off by their parents," says historian Tan Huwa from Yanan University.

"Their kids were crying about leaving their lives in Beijing. But he was smiling when he left because leaving was his only way out," Tan says. "His father's situation was such that if he stayed, he wouldn't even amount to anything."

Enlarge Louis Lim/NPR

Xi lived in the cave house on the far right, in Liangjiahe village in central China. After his father's political downfall in Beijing, his parents sent him there when he was 15 in 1968.

With long gas lines persisting more than a week after Superstorm Sandy, New York imposed a gasoline rationing plan Thursday that lets motorists fill up every other day. Police will be at gas stations Friday morning to enforce the new system in New York City and on Long Island

If Congress fails to act, some $15 billion will be cut from science funding in January 2013. Physics professor and Beltway insider Michael Lubell talks about how science can escape that "fiscal cliff," and what to expect for climate change, healthcare and space under four more years of President Obama.

Iran is stockpiling gold. That's the way David Cohen sees it. He's undersecretary of the Treasury, and the Treasury's point man for the banking sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Iran.

"Iran is attempting to hoard gold, both by acquiring it and by preventing the export of gold from Iran, in a somewhat desperate attempt to try and defend the value of its currency," Cohen says.

Enlarge Vahid Salemi/AP

Iranians make their way through Tehran's main bazaar. Iran's economy is under increasing strain, and its currency has fallen sharply.

Robert Siegel talks with Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs, for a broad-ranging conversation about what President Obama's foreign policy priorities are likely to be going into his second term.

With the electorate becoming more diverse, so are the people they're electing to represent them. Host Michel Martin speaks with congresswoman-elect Grace Meng. She's part of the new group of female lawmakers heading to Washington and the first Asian American to represent New York in Congress.

A new Congressional Budget Office report explores the economic and budget impacts of the "fiscal cliff. The non-partisan government agency warns automatic tax hikes and spending cuts could do serious damage to the economy.

A new Congressional Budget Office report explores the economic and budget impacts of the "fiscal cliff. The non-partisan government agency warns automatic tax hikes and spending cuts could do serious damage to the economy.

The U.S. trade deficit shrank to the lowest level in nearly two years because exports rose to a record high. The gain may not last given the global economic slowdown.

The deficit narrowed to $41.5 billion in September, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That is 5.1 percent below the August deficit and the smallest imbalance since December 2010.

Exports climbed 3.1 percent to an all-time high of $187 billion. That followed two monthly declines and reflected stronger sales of commercial aircraft, heavy machinery and farm goods.

Imports rose 1.5 percent to $228.5 billion. An increase in consumer goods drove the gain, including shipments of the new Apple iPhone 5. Higher oil prices also contributed to the gain.

The narrower trade deficit could lead the government to revise its July-September economic growth estimate slightly higher than the 2 percent annual rate reported last month. That's because U.S. companies earned more from overseas sales while consumers and businesses spent less on foreign products.

But economists cautioned that the increase in exports may only be temporary. One reason is soybean exports rose 32 percent in September from August, in part because of a jump in prices linked to the summer drought.

"More generally, export growth has slowed by more than import growth as the weak global backdrop has taken its toll," said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "So while these data may boost third-quarter ... growth by a couple of tenths of a percent, further ahead net exports may not add anything to growth."

Europe's debt crisis and slower global growth in emerging markets had weakened demand for U.S. goods overseas in the previous months. That subtracted from economic growth in the third quarter.

Exports to the 27-nation European Union were unchanged in September from August. Exports to Latin America grew 4.2 percent, although exports to Brazil declined. Brazil is South America's biggest economy.

So far this year, the U.S. deficit is running at an annual rate of $554 billion, slightly below last year's $559.9 billion imbalance.

The U.S. deficit with China increased to $29.1 billion in September. It is running 6.8 percent ahead of last year's record pace. America's deficit with China last year was the highest imbalance ever recorded with a single country.

The widening trade gap with China has heightened trade tensions between the two countries. Many have complained that China's trade practices are unfair. American manufacturers say China has kept the yuan undervalued against the U.S. dollar. A lower valued yuan makes Chinese goods cheaper for U.S. consumers and American products more expensive in China.

The Obama administration has lobbied China to move more quickly to allow the yuan to rise in value. But it has refused to cite China as a currency manipulator. That designation would require negotiations between the two nations and could lead to the United States filing a trade case against China before the World Trade Organization.

Robert Siegel and Melissa Block talk with our regular political commentators, E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of The New York Times. We get their take on President Obama's victory, as well as what it means for the direction of the GOP.

On Thursday, there were talks in Qatar aimed at restructuring and reinforcing Syria's opposition movement.

Mark Danielewski is the author of The Fifty Year Sword.

When I was 12, the movie was forbidden. What my parents matter-of-factly declared too scary, friends confirmed with added notes of hysteria: "Nothing more terrifying!" "The most horrifying film ever made!" "People pass out!"

In Provo, Utah, where I grew up, Mormon children — and in my world that meant all of my friends — reported how just a glimpse resulted in actual, irreversible possession.

No one, though, had explicitly forbidden the book. And one day I found it — on one of those unvisited shelves that at some point cross over from being a place about reading to a plank consigned to storage — beside a copy of The Joy of Sex and something called Slaughterhouse-Five.

Still, I was careful not to let my parents know that I was now in possession of this Bantam edition with its glossy purple cover framing a curiously enigmatic image. It had hues of apricot, and was gauzy in a way that was vaguely feminine, even erotic. It was nothing like the movie poster — with that silhouette of Father Merrin, the Jesuit priest, about to enter the house of the possessed girl, brim hat on, valise in hand, caught in a hazy beam of light. In another context the illumination might have suggested something promising and welcoming rather than the dim dread that poster still evokes in me.

The book, however, felt warm and forgiving. And despite what the words within conveyed, those soft edges felt much different: safe, like a smoked glass through which to view dark suns.

Emman Montalvan

Mark Danielewski is also the author of House of Leaves.

Marbles, cartoonist Ellen Forney's excellent graphic memoir about being bipolar, opens with her in the middle of a 5 1/2-hour session in a tattoo parlor. Every time the needle traces a line, Forney writes, she can "see the sensation — a bright white light, an electrical charge." Those opening words are a perfect description of her book. From the very first page, Forney allows us to see sensation — to inhabit, as closely as possible, her bipolar world, from its manic, exhilarating highs to its oceanic, debilitating lows. Bipolar disorder defies easy treatment; each individual patient must become their own guinea pig to discover the balance of medication and lifestyle therapies that will allow him or her to achieve long-term stability. For Forney, this was an intense four-year process that she chronicles with her deceptively simple drawing style, an emotive line that matches her expressive prose.

Is it weird to call a memoir about bipolar disorder entertaining? Well, this one is, thanks to the ease with which Forney translates her vivacious, fearless personality to the page. This is easiest when she's getting that tattoo, planning a massive book party or orchestrating a steamy photo shoot in one of her manic phases, but her unfailing sense of humor, honesty and engagement with the world sustains us through the low phases as well. After receiving her diagnosis, Forney plans future projects to occupy herself when she becomes depressed, but as the cycle inevitably shifts, she writes, "I sensed that I had landed, a familiar feeling I'd forgotten. ... I had a tickle in my throat and there was pressure in my nasal passages. I'd forgotten this part, too. During a manic episode, depression seems entirely impossible. At the end of a high, though, I'd get sick. I had a sinking feeling ... I'd been so sure that I could manage without meds, that I could take care of myself. That conviction disappeared all at once."

Enlarge Jacob Peter Fennell/Gotham

Ellen Forney created the Eisner-nominated comic books I Love Led Zeppelin and Monkey Food.

As the old saying goes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. In other words, the child takes after the parent; the son is a chip off the old block.

Of course, that's often not the case. Straight parents have gay children and vice versa; autistic children are born to parents who don't have autism; and transgender kids are born to parents who are perfectly comfortable with their gender.

That's the kind of family Andrew Solomon has written about in his new book, Far From the Tree. In it, Solomon chronicles the lives of families in which the kids are, in one way or another, different from their parents. He explores how some of those differences come to be viewed as disabilities, while others are seen as part of that child's identity.

He joins NPR's Robert Siegel to discuss how differences can sometimes serve to unite families, rather than isolate them.

Interview Highlights

On vertical and horizontal identities

"I've divided identities into two categories. There are vertical identities, which are passed down generationally — so, ethnicity is hugely a vertical identity, nationality usually is, language is, often religion is. These are things a child has in common with his parents. But there are many other ways of being that tend to occur for parents who don't anticipate them. ... You have parents who perceive themselves to be 'normal,' whatever that means, and they have a child who has a condition which they often perceive to be 'abnormal.' And those children often grow up with the sense that the way they are is really a tragedy, and it would be great if they could change and fix that. And then in adolescence, frequently — sometimes earlier, sometimes later — they discover other people who are like them in their peer group. And so I've called [that] a horizontal identity because of the way it reaches out across, sort of sideways."

On whether it's fair to compare the experiences of families whose kids are deaf with families whose kids are, say, dwarfs or prodigies

"I found as I did the research that each of these individual differences felt very isolating to the people who were experiencing [them]. But then, in fact, there was an enormous amount that the parents dealing with these things all had in common. And ultimately it seemed to me as though difference was not something that isolates people, but rather something that unites people. And I thought, if the people who were dealing with autism could understand how similar this situation is to the parents of people with remarkable gifts who are prodigies — or to gay people, or to transgender people, or to dwarfs — if they could understand how much they all have in common, a lot of the isolation of those conditions would be mitigated."

Enlarge Annie Leibovitz/Courtesy of Scribner

Andrew Solomon's 2001 book, The Noonday Demon, won the National Book Award for nonfiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Voters in California rejected a ballot measure that would have ended the death penalty in the state. But they did pass a proposition that weakens the state's three strikes law.

With the election over, attention in Washington has turned to the nation's debt and deficit challenges — most immediately the looming fiscal cliff. That's the $600 billion worth of expiring tax breaks and automatic spending cuts that begin to take effect Jan. 1.

The president and the Congress agreed to those automatic measures to force themselves to find a more palatable compromise to rein in deficits. On Wednesday, there was an attempt to jumpstart that process.

In his victory speech Tuesday night in Chicago, President Obama signaled his desire to find a compromise. He said the priorities for his second term included deficit reduction. Eighteen hour later at the Capitol, House Speaker John Boehner, offered the president a tentative olive branch.

"Mr. President, the Republican majority here in the House stands ready to work with you, to do what's best for our country," Boehner said.

Last year Boehner's House Republicans steadfastly refused to raise taxes to reach the balanced deficit-reducing budget compromise sought by the president, one that included both tax increases and spending cuts. On Wednesday, Boehner suggested that had changed.

The Two-Way

Shake A Leg Or Throw A Fist? Which Will It Be On Capitol Hill?

Melissa Block talks with Senator Mark Warner of Virginia about the looming so-called "fiscal cliff" and what steps might be taken now that the election is over.

Robert Siegel and Melissa Block talk with our regular political commentators, E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of The New York Times. We get their take on President Obama's victory, as well as what it means for the direction of the GOP.

Melissa Block talks to Mara Liasson for an overview of what Tuesday's election means.

One-third of Senate seats were up for election. Republicans lost seats in Massachusetts and Indiana. And Democrats withstood hard-fought challenges to seats they have controlled since 2007 in Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin and Connecticut.

Voters in Washington state and Colorado approved ballot measures legalizing recreational marijuana use. In Colorado, the drug will be regulated like alcohol. Residents over 21 years old will be allowed up to an ounce of marijuana.

President Obama was the headliner Tuesday night, but most members of Congress also faced elections. Democrats retained control of the Senate while Republicans held on to control of the House. Now both sides of the divided Congress face significant challenges addressing the nation's fiscal problems.

Wisconsin voters chose the Obama ticket over their own native son Paul Ryan. And the state is sending the first openly gay senator to Washington: Tammy Baldwin defeated former Governor Tommy Thompson for the seat of retiring Senator Herb Kohl.

Let's first toast the season with steaming mugs of hot cider and glasses of sparkling hard cider. Then, let's start cooking. Cider isn't just good to drink. It can play the starring role in both sweet and savory dishes.

Lynn Neary talks to Jim Zarroli, who was covering Election Day in New Jersey.

Severe weather could be headed for regions hard hit by superstorm Sandy, so many homeowners are scrambling to make repairs. The rush might make them vulnerable to so-called storm chasers — con artists posing as contractors. Host Michel Martin speaks with Angie Hicks, founder of the website Angie's List, for tips on how to avoid home repair scams.

In Florida, Supreme Court justices are nominated by a commission and appointed by the governor. Every six years, they're up for retention. Voters decide whether to keep them on the bench or let them go.

Since the system was put in place in the 1970s, retention votes have been pro forma affairs, with justices doing little fundraising or campaigning.

But this year is different.

One ad, paid for by Americans for Prosperity, a national political action group founded by conservative billionaire David Koch, touched off a campaign by conservative activists who set their sights on reshaping one of the state's most powerful bodies.

A New Battleground

The ad criticizes the justices for blocking a 2010 initiative that opposed Obamacare. It was one of several decisions by the court in recent years that have angered conservatives.

"Shouldn't our courts be above politics?" the ad asks.

Fred Lewis, one of three Supreme Court justices up for retention, says conservative groups are injecting politics into a judiciary that's intended to be nonpartisan and independent.

"When you turn a judicial process into a popularity contest, then you have judges of whatever level looking over their shoulders before they make a decision," Lewis says. "And that's not the way this democracy is going to remain."

Enlarge Matt Stamey/Gainesville Sun /Landov

Speaking at the University of Florida in Gainesville, state Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis said Florida's courts should be independent. Lewis is one of three justices fighting to keep his seat.

Residents of two tiny villages in northern New Hampshire, Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, headed to the polls at midnight, casting the first Election Day votes in the nation.

After 43 seconds of voting, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney each had 5 votes in Dixville Notch.

In Hart's Location, Obama had won with 23 votes, Romney received 9 and Libertarian Gary Johnson received 1 vote. Thirty-three votes were cast in 5 minutes, 42 seconds.

The towns have been enjoying their first-vote status since 1948 and it's a matter of pride to get everyone to the polls.

Hart's Location Selectman Mark Dindorf says you could call it a friendly competition to see who gets votes tallied first, although he says Hart's Location is a town and Dixville Notch is a precinct.

Along with voting for the next president, people across the country are deciding on a long list of state ballot initiatives. The issues range from same-sex marriage to marijuana regulation and taxation. Steve Inskeep talks to Josh Goodman, a staff writer for the Pew Center on the States, about some of the state issues getting the most attention.

Residents of two tiny villages in northern New Hampshire headed to the polls at midnight, casting the first Election Day votes in the nation.

After 43 seconds of voting, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney each had 5 votes in Dixville Notch.

In Hart's Location, Obama had won with 23 votes, Romney received 9 and Libertarian Gary Johnson received 1 vote. Thirty-three votes were cast in 5 minutes, 42 seconds.

The towns have been enjoying their first-vote status since 1948 and it's a matter of pride to get everyone to the polls.

Hart's Location Selectman Mark Dindorf says you could call it a friendly competition to see who gets votes tallied first, although he says Hart's Location is a town and Dixville Notch is a precinct.

Before the Syrian uprising, Aleppo was many things: Syria's largest city, its economic hub and cultural capital, one of the oldest, continuously occupied cities in the world.

Now, Aleppo has a more ominous distinction: a city that's seen some of the worst destruction, not only in Syria, but of any battleground in many years.

It's been more than three months since rebels in Syria launched an offensive to take Aleppo. In the early days of the offensive, the rebels were able to take about half the city.

But since then, neither the rebels nor government forces have managed to gain the upper hand, leaving many to declare the battle for Aleppo — and the battle for Syria — a stalemate.

Front Lines In The Old City

You can see this in what was once a popular destination for tourists in the Middle East: the narrow winding alleyways of Aleppo's old city, built around the 12th and 13th centuries.

Narciso Contreras/AP

Rebel fighters watch as smoke rises after Syrian government forces fired an artillery round at a rebel position during heavy clashes in the Jedida district of Aleppo, Syria, on Sun., Nov. 4.

Could a united Syrian opposition be the game changer that finally topples President Bashar Assad, after almost 20 months of revolt and more than 30,000 dead?

"You need a game changer, either military or political, and hope it will break the stalemate," says Amr Azm, a Syrian-born professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio.

The Obama administration appears to embrace this view, and last week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the surprise announcement that the U.S. backed a plan to overhaul the Syrian opposition.

Hundreds of Syrian dissidents began five days of intense talks Sunday in Doha, Qatar. Clinton added urgency by also withdrawing support for the Syrian National Council, the exile-led group that has claimed to represent Syria's revolution for more than a year.

The SNC is widely seen as dysfunctional and has lost legitimacy with young activists as well as front-line militias. The group also has failed to convince Syria's minorities that it is a credible political alternative to Assad, who has ruled the country for 12 years, succeeding his father, who was in power for three decades.

A Rough Beginning

The so-called makeover meeting in Qatar got off to a rocky start Sunday as U.S. hopes clashed with the reality of fractious opposition politics.

Divisions quickly emerged. SNC leaders complained about a reduced role; Islamists disagreed with secularists; young activists charged that longtime exiles are out of touch. And the goal to build an alternative leadership could be infected with the same "virus" that sunk unity within the SNC, says Randa Slim, with the New America Foundation.

Enlarge Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images

Syrian rebel fighters prepare to launch a rocket in the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday. The rebels say they have launched a major assault on a government air base in northern Syria.

After pundit Ann Coulter called Barack Obama a "retard" on Twitter, John Franklin Stephens, a Special Olympian with Down syndrome, responded with an open letter in which he wrote, "You, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor."

With only a few days left until the election, President Obama pointed to the better-than-expected jobs numbers as evidence that — slowly but surely — his economic policies are working.

Two gifted cartoonists, two different styles and two very different points of view. Mike Lester and Jen Sorensen present their arguments — you decide.

Mike Lester/Cartoonist Group

cartoonistgroup.com

It's been a record year for political spending — an estimated $6 billion. TV ads make up more than half of that. What happens at TV stations when those ads no longer fill the air?

Broadway may be up and running, but lower Manhattan is still without power, which means many of the city's art venues have been scrambling. Canceled performances, impromptu rehearsals and loss of revenue have plagued theaters and dance companies alike.

Actor Richard Burton was one of the most acclaimed actors of his time, but his tumultuous relationship with Elizabeth Taylor captured the public's curiosity. A new book of his diaries reveals his dramatic personal life. Host Rachel Martin talks to Burton's daughter, Kate, and Chris Williams, who edited the diaries.

A new pope of Egypt's Coptic Christian community has been selected Sunday. It's a major event for the Copts, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 80 million.

Broadway may be up and running, but lower Manhattan is still without power, which means many of the city's art venues have been scrambling. Canceled performances, impromptu rehearsals and loss of revenue have plagued theaters and dance companies alike.