The Takeaway

Honduras Caravan: Thousands of Hondurans Fleeing Violence Head to the U.S. Amid Trump's Threats

President Trump has urged Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador — known as the Northern Triangle — to stop the people from traveling north, threatening to pull aid to the countries.

How Effective is Major League Baseball's Domestic Violence Policy?

This season, the Houston Astros traded for a player after he was suspended for domestic violence allegations. Now, the team is announcing efforts to combat domestic violence.

Legalizing Marijuana, Canada Navigates New Social and Legal Implications

Canada is just the second country to legalize recreational marijuana.

U.S. Relationship with Saudi Arabia Poses Risks to National Security

The apparent slaying of Jamal Khashoggi has exposed the geopolitical risks inherent in the U.S.'s relationship with Saudi Arabia.

A Booming Jobs Market: What Does It Mean For All Americans?

A booming labor market means it’s also a great time for employees to ask for more money in their current role, or to find new, better work. But who is left out of this prosperous moment?

Guests:

Nina Lakhani 

Sarah Kinosian

Whitney McIntosh

Vanmala Subramaniam

Nader Hashemi

Harry Holzer

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

Journalist's Disappearance Puts Spotlight on Saudi Arabia's Record of Human Rights Abuses

Since seizing power in Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has escalated the Kingdom's disregard for human rights.

The Dangers of Being a Woman and a Journalist

Last week Viktoria Marinova, an investigative television journalist in Bulgaria, was brutally murdered. Journalism seems as dangerous as ever for women in Europe. Why?

Maine Opponent to Medicaid Expansion is Given National Position in Trump Administration

As Maine's health commissioner, Mary Mayhew was instrumental in opposing the popular effort to expand Medicaid. Now she's been elevated to a national post.

During a Hurricane, People with Disabilities Fail to Find Equal Access to Emergency Programs

Lapses in communication not only affect the county’s deaf and hard-of-hearing population, but also the millions of other Americans living with disabilities.  

At One All-Black High School, Players Take a Knee with Intention

At one small, all-black private school in Maryland, 32 high school football players have agreed as a team to take a knee before every single game, with their coach's support.

Guests: 

Sarah Leah Whitson

Jodie Ginsberg

Dan Diamond

Marcie Roth

Richard Johnson II

Cornell Wade 

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

Recover, Rebuild: Updating Our Communities for a New Climate Reality

Hurricanes like Michael reveal that our infrastructure, building codes, and preparedness protocols are based on outdated models. We consider a new way forward.

The US-Saudi Relationship: What Happens Now?

The economic ties are strong and may prevent the U.S. from taking any meaningful action in response to the targeting of the journalist.

What is Preventing Native Americans from Getting to the Polls?

The voter ID law upheld in North Dakota last week shines a light on the broader issue of disenfranchisement of Native Americans.

Warren's DNA Test Perpetuates Stereotypes, Native Communities Say

Until this week, Elizabeth Warren had refused to participate in DNA testing. And many native communities see her decision to do so as offensive and one that plays to stereotypes.

Gavin McInnes and the Proud Boys: Misogyny, Authoritarianism, and the Rise of Multiracial White Supremacy

After Gavin McInnes spoke at the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan last weekend, right-wing Proud Boys clashed with protesters after the event.

Guests:

Craig Fugate

Thad Miller

Graham Lee Brewer

Tanya Hernández

David Neiwert

Ben Freeman

Jacqueline DeLeon

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

Migrant Family Separations: The Trump Administration May Bring Back the Policy

The Trump Administration is floating the idea that migrant family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border may come back.

Jamal Khashoggi: Journalist's Disappearance Reveals Broader Crackdown on Other Dissidents

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's mysterious disappearance has caused shockwaves throughout the world, with many now looking at Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on dissenters.

Voter ID Law in North Dakota Will Affect Native American Communities

The voter ID law is expected to influence the tight senate race between Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp and her challenger Kevin Cramer.

Questions of Voter Disenfranchisement Cast Doubt on Georgia's Elections

Georgia Secretary of State and GOP gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp is being accused of disenfranchising voters ahead of the midterm elections.

Lawsuit Against Harvard Puts Asian-Americans at Center of Affirmative Action Debate

A lawsuit accusing Harvard of using admissions practices that discriminate against Asian-American applicants goes to trial today. It could end race-based affirmative action nationwide.

Guests:

Dara Lind

Leon Fresco

Sarah Aziza

John Hageman

Andra Gillespie

Natasha Warikoo

Hua Hsu

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

We are less than a month away from the Midterm Elections. And that also means we are two years out from the 2016 campaign, when then-candidate Donald Trump ran on a series of promises to the American people: creating millions of new jobs, revitalizing manufacturing, renegotiating NAFTA, and of course, building the wall.

For this hour of Politics with Amy Walter, we analyze President Trump's top promises that he made in his campaign, and whether or not he's followed through on them. We break these promises into six distinct sections: foreign policy, trade, jobs, the Supreme Court, Obamacare, and the southern border wall.

Here are ten of them, with the results so far:

1. Respect for America on the World Stage

Susan Glasser, a staff writer for The New Yorker, says President Trump has failed on this: "This is probably his biggest failure. By the numbers, by any objective standard, the United States has plummeted in world opinion."

2. Withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal

In May, President Trump finalized plans to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. "If you didn't think he was going to withdraw from the Iran deal, which is what some serious foreign policy people thought or convinced themselves of, you were wrong," says Susan Glasser.

3. Make NATO Allies Pay More

"It's not fair to say that as Trump has claimed, that he's gotten European allies to pay millions more," says Susan Glasser. "However, if you want to grade on a curve, you definitely could say that the threats or the bullying, or the blustering, or however you want to characterize it, have produced a new awareness in Europe that they ought to ante up more for their common defense in NATO than they felt pressured to do in the past."

4. Withdraw from The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Renegotiate NAFTA

President Trump followed through on withdrawing from TPP with an Executive Order on January 23rd. But he revived parts of the TPP to renegotiate NAFTA, which the administration finished just this month. According to Alex Lawson, Law360’s senior reporter on international trade, "[The new NAFTA] is an improvement," but the guidelines for the renegotiation were already drawn up by the Obama administration. "It's a little disingenuous for Trump to say that none of this happens without me...That's just not the case."

5. GDP Growth of Over 3.5 Percent Over 10 Years

GDP growth was over 4 percent in the second quarter of 2018, but Jim Tankersley, tax and economics reporter for The New York Times, says, "It's not what President Trump promised. It's not the supercharged sustained 3.5, 4 percent, which is really hard to do at this point in an economic cycle, but it's better than it was, and I do think he gets some credit for that."

6. Create 25 Million Jobs Over 10 Years

"We're right around 4 million jobs from the start of his presidency," says Jim Tankersley. "I will say that is a straight line continuation of the job creation pace we were on for the average of the last several years before his presidency." As for the question of creating 25 million jobs in 10 years? "You are unlikely to see that level of job creation."

7. Appoint Conservative Justices to the Supreme Court Who Support the Second Amendment and Oppose Abortion

Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch are certainly considered conservative justices. It remains to be seen how they will vote on Second Amendment issues, as well as on a potential Roe v. Wade debate. "The jury is still out," says Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUS Blog.

8. Fully Repeal and Replace Obamacare

Julie Rovner, Chief Washington Correspondent for Kaiser Health News, says that while the Trump administration has done quite a bit to dismantle Obamacare, they failed to fully repeal and replace it.

9. Build the Southern Border Wall 

The Trump administration claims that new fencing along the Southern Border is the Trump Wall. But according to Michel Marizco, senior editor for KJZZ, that is far from the truth. "What's going up now does not fit the definition" of the type of wall that Trump called for in his campaign and in an Executive Order that he signed early in his presidency.

10. Make Mexico Pay for the Southern Border Wall

As for Mexico paying for the wall? "No ma'am," says Michel Marizco.

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

Violence Against Transgender People is On The Rise

Violence against transgender people is at record high levels. And local police often fail to provide justice.

Poverty in St. Louis is Exacerbated by an Affordable Housing Crisis

Over a quarter of city residents are living below the federal poverty line, where finding affordable housing is nearly impossible.

One Year After Wildfires Raze Northern California, Residents Look Back

One family lost everything, just barely escaping their home before flames engulfed the community.

There's More Black Women Running in the Midterms, But They Face Bigger Hurdles

Black women running for office encounter outright racism and harassment, but also struggle more to gain funding and endorsements. 

"First Man" Tells a Story of American Exceptionalism. Is it Still Relevant in 2018?

Takeaway film critic Rafer Guzman and New York Times critic-at-large Wesley Morris dissect "First Man," and explore whether the story of Neil Armstrong is still relevant in 2018.

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

"They Were Cutting My Hands": Unaccompanied Migrant Children Encounter Problems with Asylum Policy

One teenager's story illustrates the many hurdles young people face trying to secure safety in the U.S.

Dissident Journalist Believed Assassinated by Saudi Hit Team in Turkey

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi went missing last month after visiting the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

Democratic National Committee Faces Criticism from Black Women

Ahead of the midterms, some Democrats are criticizing the DNC for not doing more to support black women running across the country or including them in top decision-making posts.

As Job Recruiters Turn to Artificial Intelligence, Concerns Arise Over Potential Bias

As applying for jobs becomes increasingly digitized, some worry about the role bias may play in designing AI recruiters.

Decades After Brown v. Board of Education, Segregation Plagues Yazoo City, Mississippi

By most measures, Yazoo City's schools rank at the bottom for academic performance in Mississippi, a state that itself has been ranked last in education quality nationwide

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

New UN Report Predicts Climate Crisis by 2040. Now What?

A new UN climate report predicts catastrophic damage by climate change by the year 2040. So what do we do now? We talk about technological and political solutions.

Trump Declares War on Poverty Over; Residents of Rural North Carolina Still Struggling to Get By

Battered by both hurricanes Maria and Florence, rural Lumberton, North Carolina, feels politically disconnected from Washington, DC.

Nikki Haley Announces She's Stepping Down as UN Ambassador

How will Nikki Haley's resignation impact the United States' relationships with the rest of the world?

Officer Who Shot 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice is Now Working for Another Police Force

What does the community think of this officer working for their department?

Are We Seeing Voter Disenfranchisement Leading Up to the Midterms? 

As registration deadlines close in before the midterms, we look at what trends may be happening with voter disenfranchisement.

Can the Partisan Empathy Gap Be Fixed?

In the aftermath of the Kavanaugh confirmation, there are deep feelings of resentment on both sides of the aisle. Is that growing anger something that can or should be solved?

Guests:

Megan Mullin

Mark Jacobson

Ashley Balcerzak

Ambassador Michael McFaul

Greg Roby

Jessica Huseman

Lilliana Mason

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

Senators Collins and Manchin: What Do Voters Think of their Kavanaugh Votes?

Although the voting for Kavanaugh was almost entirely along party lines, there were some senators whose votes we were all watching.

How the Supreme Court is Perceived with Justice Kavanaugh

With Kavanaugh's politically charged confirmation hearing, will he be a balanced and fair Justice?

Playwright Dominique Morisseau Calls for a Collective Shift in the Theater World

Dominique Morisseau is among the 25 winners of this years MacArthur “genius” grant. She spoke with The Takeaway about her work and breaking down institutional barriers in the theater.

On Columbus Day, Being Undocumented in America

That idea of home, of access to the American dream, is even more complicated when you are undocumented.

How Trump's Wall Would Devastate One Texas Community Struggling with Poverty

President Trump says the nation has conquered poverty. But communities like Presidio, Texas, are still struggling, and fear Trump's wall would crush its hopes for survival. 

Guests:

Emily Stewart

Jake Zuckerman

Professor Barbara Perry

Dominique Morisseau

Jose Antonio Vargas

Julissa Arce

Dave Levinthal

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.

Advocates for police reform have long looked to lawmakers in hopes of addressing the social inequities baked into the criminal justice system. And even though criminal justice reform receives bipartisan lip service, our polarized legislature has yet to make serious headway on issues like reducing sentences for low-level drug crimes.

But there's another layer of bureaucracy that may prove effective in transforming how the system doles out justice: our nation's district attorneys. And in what many expect could be a wave election, candidates across the country are vying to transform this crucial yet often overlooked role.

Guests: 

John Pfaff

Inimai M. Chettiar

Holly Harris

Satana Deberry

Shaun King

All music composed and produced by Jay Cowit.

You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.