The Takeaway

By now you’ve heard the headline...General Qassim Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful military commander, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have grown from an already simmering level. Cities and security officials in the U.S. have ramped up efforts in anticipation of retaliation.

Soleimani’s death was mourned angrily in Iran, where thousands rallied in Tehran and the general’s hometown of Kerman. 

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollaha Khamenei, said in a statement: “Revenge awaits those criminals who have tainted their filthy hands with his blood and the blood of the other martyrs of last night's incident." 

Soleimani’s killing was cheered here at home, by the administration, and former officials like John Bolton, who tweeted: “Long in the making, this was a decisive blow against Iran’s malign Quds Force activities worldwide.”

Meanwhile, on Friday morning on CNN, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained the administration’s rationale for the strike, saying that the action was intended to help with “De-escalation.” Detractors say that’s a fantasy, and regardless, Democrats in Congress are wondering this weekend why they weren’t consulted on the move.

And that’s where the debate really is on this: Most American politicians agree that Soleimani was a threat to the United States, but does the move create instability in the region that we can’t escape? Was it worth the risk of a war with Iran? “What’s next?” is obviously the question on everyone’s mind. 

For more on this, we turn to Borzou Daragahi, the International Correspondent for The Independent, covering the Middle East, Europe, & North Africa. We spoke to Borzou on Friday morning.

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On Thursday, presidential candidates seeking the Democratic nomination gathered in Los Angeles for the sixth debate. Maya King of Politico and Kevin Robillard of HuffPost join Politics with Amy Walter with analysis of the state of the Democratic primary field.

Also, Toluse Olorunnipa of The Washington Post recaps President Trump's time in office as we head into 2020 and Jesse Paul of the Colorado Sun weighs in on how vulnerable Republicans in the Senate are thinking about 2020. 

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Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't have time to listen right now? Subscribe for free to our podcast via iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.

Want to comment on this story? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page or Twitter.

While the lines in comedy are changing at the moment, not everyone is feeling limited by these new rules. As with much of the media landscape, women of color are severely underrepresented on stand-up and improv stages. But as the barriers to entry shift, some are finding their voices heard in a way that seemed impossible five or ten years ago. As part of a new series, The Takeaway is going to explore this complicated moment in comedy. We’ll speak to some of the women of color stand-ups and sketch comedy stars who shaped the comedy world into what it is today. And we'll hear from younger comics on what the landscape looks like for them. One question at the center of it all: whose moment is it in comedy today?

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