The Takeaway

Trump Administration Makes Dramatic Change to U.S. Asylum Policy

Starting today, migrants who do not seek asylum in at least one other country they cross through before reaching the U.S. cannot request asylum here.

What the Media Gets Wrong About Racism

What Trump's racist tweets, and the media's response to them, say about the experiences of women of color in the United States. 

Other segments:

With Voting On the Line, Some Florida State Attorneys Are Addressing Onerous Court Fines 

Some State Attorneys in Florida are looking for ways to turn court fines and fees into community service to give more Floridians the right to vote.

The Latest on the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Race

In the United Kingdom, a Conservative Party leadership race is underway to determine who will become the country’s next prime minister. 

Political Scandals are Shaking Up Puerto Rico. What Exactly is Happening?

Two former top government officials were arrested and the governor is embroiled in his own scandal. We break down the situation.

Centers for Unaccompanied Migrant Children Expand

While media attention has been focused on the adult and family migrant facilities near the border, the number of shelters for unaccompanied children and babies continues to expand. 

Why Some Amazon Workers Are Striking Today

Today is Amazon Prime Day, but this year, workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota, plan a six-hour work stoppage. It's the first of its kind in the U.S.

Other segments:

New Orleans Residents Survey the Damage After a Weekend of Heavy Rainfall

The Takeaway checks in with a New Orleans community member to hear how residents are dealing with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Barry.

France Moves to Impose a "Digital Tax" on Big U.S. Tech

France may be the first to pass a so-called “digital” tax on major US-based tech companies including Google, Amazon, and Facebook.

The ongoing migrant crisis is getting worse, as the Department of Homeland Security is running out of room to house the increasing number of migrants detained at the border. And when evidence of the conditions dominated the news cycle earlier this month, the outrage prompted lawmakers to get involved. But how that involvement played out became the latest point of contention between factions within the Democratic Party.

The Senate passed a spending bill aimed at alleviating what the Trump administration said was a lack of funding to properly house detained migrants. But the Democratic-controlled House, wary of writing a blank check without strict limits on how that money would be spent, sent a revised bill back to the Senate. But when that bill died with Mitch McConnell, the conservative-leaning "Problem Solvers" caucus of the House Democrats signaled that they were willing to pass the Senate's no-strings-attached bill, with or without the support of Speaker Pelosi.

When Pelosi ultimately sided with the Problem Solvers, it set off a backlash among the party's progressive wing, most notably Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, known collectively as "The Squad." And the outrage breathed new life into a long-simmering division between The Squad and Party leadership.

This week, Amy examines how deep these divisions go, and whether or not party unity is possible heading into 2020.

Also, Representative Seth Moulton from Massachusetts, who's running for the Democratic presidential nomination, joins Amy for her Candidate Talk series.

Guests:

Ryan Grim, the DC bureau chief at The Intercept, and the author of We’ve Got People: From Jesse Jackson to AOC, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement

Seth Moulton, Represents Massachusetts's Sixth District in the House of Representatives, Democratic presidential candidate

Heidi Heitkamp, former Senator from North Dakota

Steve Kornacki, National Political Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, author of the book The Red and the Blue

Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Citizenship and American Identity Program, author of Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy

Amy sits down with Representative Seth Moulton who announced in April that he is running for president. He's one of the few combat veterans seeking the Democratic nomination, having served as a Marine in Iraq over the course of four deployments.

Moulton has been a vocal critic of Democratic leadership, wanting to see a new generation take the helm. He made waves in challenging Nancy Pelosi's leadership spot, in an unsuccessful bid for House Speaker in 2018. Moulton did not qualify for the first debate and is unlikely to appear for the second round later this month in Detroit.

U.S. Hispanic Population is at All-Time High, But Growth is Slowing

We analyze the U.S. Hispanic population demographically, economically, and politically, and look into what this means for the Latino vote in 2020.

Chicago Defender Ends Print Run

The Chicago Defender is one of the most important black publications in U.S. history and it will now only publish its content online.

Director Lulu Wang on Negotiating Different Parts of Her Identity in "The Farewell"

When filmmaker Lulu Wang’s grandmother was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer six years ago, Wang's family chose not to tell her grandmother that she had been given just months to live.

Other segments: 

Michael Johnson is Released 25-Years Early After Being Convicted of Violating HIV Criminalization Law

Michael Johnson was sentenced to nearly 31-years in prison for not telling his partners he had HIV. His trial and release are making people take another look at HIV criminalization laws.

France Télécom Executives Face Up to a Year in Prison for Creating Work Conditions That Led to 35 Suicides

The trial of seven former France Télécom executives, charged with creating work conditions that led 35 of their employees to die by suicide, will be over Friday. 

Native Leaders Invite 2020 Candidates to Presidential Forum

The forum will be hosted by Native organizations in Sioux County to talk about issues specifically related to Native Americans.

Joy of World Cup Victory Contrasts with Fight for Equal Pay

As the US women's soccer team celebrated their fourth World Cup win with a ticker tape parade in New York, the players continue to fight for equal pay and more investment in the sport.

Farai Chideya on the Broken Adoption System in the U.S.

The journalist and author has had three adoptions fall through.

Other segments:

The Iranian Diplomat Behind the Nuclear Deal, Now Caught in the Middle 

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was integral to the 2015 nuclear deal. But now he's under fire from hardliners on both sides. 

Can Cities Solve the Affordable Housing Crisis? 

There is an undeniable affordable housing crisis in this country. But when local leaders try to step in and solve this problem, there’s often big time pushback from local residents.

Even With Insurance, the Cost of Health Care Remains a Crushing Burden

Meanwhile, a US Circuit Court of Appeals is once again hearing arguments on the fate of Obamacare.

A Look At Rising Drug Prices

Prescription drugs are becoming increasingly unaffordable, making the issue one of the most important of the 2020 presidential race. 

Congress Raises Concerns Over Facebook's Planned Cryptocurrency 

Last week, congressional leaders asked Facebook to stop the development of its new cryptocurrency until they can assess the risks and opportunities for regulation.

Other segments: 

Digital 'Fingerprinting' Is The Next Generation Tracking Technology

When you browse the web, advertisers can use this technology to store your location and identity.

As Iran and the U.S. Escalate Tensions, Europe is Caught In the Middle

Iran’s breach on uranium enrichment leaves France, Germany, and Britain in a difficult position over what to do in response.

Recent tensions within the Democratic Party played out this weekend when Nancy Pelosi called out progressive Democratic politicians in an interview with the New York Times.

After all the drama in 2016, the Democratic National Committee has reformed the nomination process. Today on Politics with Amy Walter from The Takeaway, a look at the new rules and what impact they could have both intended and unintended.

Tom Perez was elected as chairman of the DNC in 2017. Perez's mission is to insure that 2020 isn’t a repeat of 2016. That doesn’t just mean winning, it means re-instilling faith in the system for Democrats. And the DNC has done a lot of work on this front. Amy Walter talks with chairman Perez about the reforms the DNC has undertaken.

Also: we look into the potential unintended consequence of the new superdelegate rule with Dave Wasserman from the Cook Political Report. Alexandra Jaffe, political reporter for the Associated Press, talks debates and whether or not the new rules worked for the first round. Jeff Link, a longtime Iowa Democratic strategist, explains what’s new for the first caucus state and the role that Iowa plays in the presidential nominating process. We also tackle the unwritten rules on money and fundraising with Maggie Severns of Politico and try to figure out what the role of the DNC actually is these days, and how it’s changed in the last 25 years with Jamal Simmons of HillTV.

Amy's Final Take: 

When it comes to covering a primary, the media spends most of its time focused on candidates - their personalities, their policies, and their blunders.

But, winning candidates spend A LOT of their time focused on the unsexy stuff - how to leverage the rules to their advantage. For example, Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008 realized early on that the delegate rules meant that caucuses were going to win him a lot of delegates - even if they didn’t garner as much media attention as big primary states like Pennsylvania or Texas.

This year, Democrats have lots of new written and unwritten rules to figure out. One unwritten rule: How to raise lots of money without looking beholden to corportists and 1 percenters. Thus far, it’s meant that no candidate has been able to raise the sort of eye-popping fundraising numbers as candidates Barack Obama in 2007 or Hillary Clinton did in 2015. On July 15, the second quarter fundraising reports are publicly available giving us another chance to see which candidates are thriving - and which are struggling - to keep up.

The new debate rules meant that almost every candidate got on stage. But, only a few of them really broke through. The debates did not fundamentally reset the race. But, they did give us a benchmark for evaluating these candidates over time: Who wears well and who withers as the campaign gets into higher gear?

Read her latest Cook Political Report here.

Even as our national focus has turned towards cyber threats, vulnerabilities in our election systems abound -- from outdated voting machines and hack-able technology to lack of paper back-ups and no procedural standards across states or even counties.