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The handover, only the second orderly transition of power in China under communist rule, began Thursday. Party leaders kicked off a weeklong congress that will end with President Hu Jintao handing power to Xi Jinping. NPR's Shanghai correspondent Frank Langfitt talks about China's new leaders.

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

With all the election news, we couldn't get to it earlier, so it's Thursday and time to get to your comments.

While we were busy paying attention to storms and presidential politics earlier this week, we missed a story from Oklahoma that may just (insert four-letter euphemism for urine here) you off.

It seems that when 3-year-old Dillan Warden of Piedmont, Okla., (no joke!) had to "go" on Sunday he did what many little guys will do:

Florida is again having problems determining the winner of its presidential vote. But its difficulties are entirely different from the ones that kept the nation in suspense for more than a month back in 2000.

"It was just a convergence of things that were an embarrassment to Florida," says Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Update at 2:13 p.m. ET. Life In Prison:

Jared Loughner, the 24-year-old who pleaded guilty to killing six people and wounding 13 others during a shooting spree at a congressional meet-and-greet in Tucson, Ariz., will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Loughner was sentenced today as a U.S. District Court in Tucson, Ariz.

Before the judge handed down his punishment, victims and their families addressed Loughner and the court.

Hundreds of thousands of service members are transitioning from bases to college campuses. As Americans get ready for Veterans Day, host Michel Martin discusses the challenges veterans face, and the programs that help them succeed. She talks with Meg Mitcham, a veteran and the head of veterans programs for the American Council on Education.

The election is over and the deadline for the so-called "fiscal cliff" is drawing closer. Host Michel Martin speaks with NPR Senior Business Editor Marilyn Geewax about how the two relate, and what it could mean for America's economic future.