John McCain and Barack Obama debate Tuesday at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. People from Iowa City, Concord, N.H., Birmingham, Ala., and Los Angeles talk about what they want to hear from the candidates.

Smaller companies are looking outside traditional funding sources as banks that want to reduce risk are pulling back on loans. Angel investors, family members and personal funds all come with their risks as well as benefits, however.

Late last month a group of Somalian pirates hijacked a ship carrying $30 million worth of arms and about 20 crew members. The pirates are still aboard and are making lofty demands. We explore just how big a threat pirates pose in 2008.

J.T. Nesbitt lost everything he had in the 2005 hurricane, including a thriving motorcycle design business. Now the motorcycle mechanic is hoping to put his life back together, by breaking a world land speed record in a car he salvaged from the floodwaters.

The ongoing financial crisis is posing some opportunities for parents to teach kids about smart money management. Mocha Moms Jolene Ivey, Cheli English-Figaro and Asra Nomani welcome money coach Alvin Hall, author of Show Me the Money, to discuss teaching youngsters how to become financially sound.

Host Michel Martin kicks off Rhode Island's Freedom Festival with a conversation on a bicentennial commemoration, marking the end of the transatlantic slave trade. Martin is joined by filmmaker Katrina Browne, Africana Studies professor Dr. James Campbell, Mary-Kim Arnold and the Rev. Jeffery A. Williams, head pastor at the Cathedral of Life.

Former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee looks ahead to tonight's second presidential debate. The former Republican talks about switching political parties and why he now supports Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the White House.

Nevada is one of several states still up for grabs. Republican voters in the state's rural counties are enthusiastic about Republican presidential nominee John McCain. But Democrat-run voter registration drives are gaining ground in urban areas like Las Vegas. Neither campaign is taking the state for granted.

The 1864 cyclorama painting, "The Battle of Gettysburg," is on display in a new visitors center. The National Park Service wants to demolish the old building, but it was designed by Richard Neutra, one of the most important figures of modern architecture. Neutra's son has filed a lawsuit to force the Park Service to reconsider its decision.

U.S. policymakers trying to fix the nation's housing crisis may have a blindspot: rural America. A company relied on for foreclosure data says it doesn't report on 900 rural counties. Critics say the omission may foil attempts to help homeowners.

Fifteen years after she released her groundbreaking album Exile in Guyville, the femme rocker is on tour, performing the album live in front of audiences. She discusses Exile's influence on herself as well as the music industry.

Law enforcement officials are excavating next to a freeway near Los Angeles on Monday, hoping to locate the body of 15-year-old Roger Madison. An L.A. detective has made it her personal mission to give this story — which began in the '60s — an ending.

To national audience, Michelle Obama is well-known because of her husband's presidential candidacy. But the attorney and businesswoman has an impressive and distinguished career of her own. Liza Mundy, author of Michelle, a new biography of Michelle Obama, writes about the Chicago native's professional aspirations and how they coincided with her Sen. Barack Obama's political journey.

Oktoberfest weekend is a time for pierogies, polka and politics in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., home to white, Catholic swing voters. But a lot of voters in northeast Pennsylvania's former textile and mining communities are still undecided.

Capt. Michael Joseph Medders of Avon Lake, Ohio, was a standout football player in high school, known for toughness on the field and kindness towards his teammates.