Todd Zwillich

• WASHINGTON: Ben Bernanke is seeking confirmation as Fed chairman before his term ends next Sunday. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich tells us if the Senate will play politics with the nomination.
• SPORTS: After yesterday's NFL conference championships, we now know who's going to the superbowl: The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin recaps the game.
• YOUR STATE OF THE UNION: President Obama gives his first ever State of the Union speech this Wednesday. All week, we're asking listeners and guests for their own version — preferably in six words. We hear some submissions we've been getting so far.

• CONGRESS TAKEOUT: Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown arrives on Capitol Hill, and our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, looks at what's next for the Democrats and health care reform.
• MEDIA TAKEOUT: Liberal radio network Air America will cease operations, filing bankruptcy after six years on the air. New York Times reporter Brian Stelter looks at why the network failed.

This week in Washington has been all about the F word you can say on the air: 'Filibuster.'

• CONGRESS TAKEOUT:  We speak with our Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich about how Congressional Democrats are regrouping on health care reform in the wake of losing the Massachussetts Senate race.
  
• MONEY TAKEOUT: Starbucks was hit hard by the economic crisis, closing hundreds of stores across the country. New York Times reporter Louise Story explains why things are looking up for the coffee company.
• RESPONSES: Listeners weigh in on why Democrats lost their Senate seat in Massachussetts.

First off, a personal note: Yes, I was wrong about Massachusetts. I predicted Martha Coakley would likely find a way to win in one of the bluest states in the nation. I also said I was fine with being wrong. So there you go, my crystal ball didn't account for a Democratic blunder this big.

Now then, onto the business at hand:

Republican Scott Brown has won the late Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat after a heated battle in Massachusetts. Brown handily defeated Democratic candidate Martha Coakley. The win for Brown is a major defeat for Democrats, who can no longer muster 60 votes to overcome frequent Republican filibusters in the Senate.

• CONGRESS TAKEOUT:  Lawmakers in Washington went to bed yesterday knowing the dynamics of power in the capitol had changed. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich  looks at what's on today's agenda in the White House and Congress.
• MONEY TAKEOUT: New York Times finance reporter Louise Story talks about the Fed's audit of how it handled AIG - and a Senate re-confirmation hearing coming soon for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
• RESPONSES TAKEOUT: We listen to some of our listeners' reactions to a story we aired yesterday about the media coverage of the Haiti earthquake - what worked and what didn't.

Today, Massachusetts voters decide who will fill the Senate seat of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

There is no doubt: Losing a Massachusetts Senate seat to Republicans on Tuesday would be a devastating defeat for Democrats. It will be a repudiation of President Obama's domestic agenda, a sucker-punch for health care legislation, and a blow to Senate Democrats and their 60-vote lock against filibusters.

But would a Martha Coakley loss to State Sen. Scott Brown really debilitate Obama's agenda in 2010? The answer to that is a lot less clear than you think.

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT:  Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich looks ahead to next week's State of the Union address from President Obama and the political context into which he'll be speaking.
• MONEY TAKEOUT: Conan O'Brien is planning to leave NBC as soon as next week. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story gives us a rundown of the intellectual property he may leave behind.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Takeaway Sports Contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin gives us a rundown of this weekend's basketball games and the players and teams to watch going forward.

• CONGRESS TAKEOUT:  The USAID says that the search-and-rescue operation in Haiti will officially end sometime today, as relief agencies transition to other recovery efforts. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich brings us the latest on this and the U.S. military's deployment in Haiti.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: Sports Contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin tells about the big upset last night that ended the hopes of the Indianapolis Chargers and guaranteed the New York Jets a place in the AFC finals.
• MLK DAY TAKEOUT: Femi Oke and Celeste Headlee went to a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, and spoke about the future of the civil rights movement with Dr. Roscoe Brown.  Brown is a professor at CUNY graduate center and a former Tuskegee airman

• GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK: Our regulary segment with The Week Magazine. We reflect on the past seven days to see who had a good week and who didn’t. We’ll take your nominees anytime.
• CONGRESS TAKEOUT: Lawmakers, labor leaders, and President Obama were on Capitol Hill last night saying significant progress has been made towards a final health care bill. Takeaway correspondent Todd Zwillich was there.
• COMMUNITY TAKEOUT: The crisis in Haiti has affected many American Hatians living in New York. Takeaway Correspondent Femi Oke reports from a community center in Brooklyn that has become a hub for sending aid to the country. 

• ON THE GROUND: We talk with Marc Lacey, Caribbean correspondent for our partner The New York Times, who surveyed Haiti's earthquake wreckage from on high in a small jet. He reports on large buildings that are destroyed and early relief responses.
• CONGRESS: Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich reports on the U.S. government's efforts to help with Haiti's earthquake recovery.
• FAMILY: Yesterday on the Takeaway, we united by phone Mallery Thurlow, founder and director of Haiti Foundation Against Poverty, in Grand Rapids, Mich., with her boyfriend France Neptune, an aid worker in Haiti. We speak to her today to see if she's had further contact with him.

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT: Lawmakers in Washington have been deadlocked in negotiations to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the Healthcare bill. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich joins us to talk about the negotiations that have made some Democrats really sour.
• BUSINESS TAKEOUT: Leaders from the big four Wall Street banks were summoned to Capitol Hill yesterday. We speak with New York Times finance reporter Louise Story about these hearings.
• HAITI TAKEOUT: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke yesterday, saying recovery and aid workers are facing "a disaster of yet unknown magnitude" with conservative estimates of a death toll in the high thousands.

Washington Takeout: Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich on how comments by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) from 2008 could hurt him in 2010. Sports Takeout: Sports co...

Washington Takeout: Todd Zwillich was at the White House yesterday, and gives us his read on statements by Homeland Security advisor John Brennan and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano....

According to an unclassified intelligence report released by the White House on Thursday, several security agencies failed to act on available information that could have prevented th...

Washington Takeout: President Obama has taken sides in a debate over one aspect of health care reform: whether to tax high-cost insurance coverage, sometimes called "Cadillac plans....

President Obama said intelligence officials failed to connect the dots to prevent the Christmas Day almost-bomber from boarding a Northwest flight in Amsterdam bound for Detroit. We t...

Washington Takeout: Todd Zwillich "wonks out" as he goes behind the report showing that Americans spent $2.3 trillion on health care in 2008: 17 percent of our economy. Mobile Tec...