As Tension Grows With the United States, North Korea Looks South

Coming up on today’s show:

• Protests in Iran continued into Wednesday, and at least 21 people have died amid the demonstrations. Yesterday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei used Twitter to blame Iran’s “enemies” for the unrest. Thomas Erdbrink, Tehran bureau chief for The New York Times, and Borzou Daragahi, Middle East correspondent for BuzzFeed News, share the latest updates from on the ground and discuss how the current tension could potentially impact the stability of the region. 

• As the divisions between the U.S. and North Korea continue to deepen, it appears that Kim Jong-un is ready to look to his long-estranged neighbor: South Korea. Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the U.S. Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, explains. 

• President Donald Trump has pledged to end “American carnage,” but the U.S. remains an outlier when it comes to gun violence. In the first week of 2018, we dig into gun deaths and injuries with Alex Yablon, a reporter at The Trace, a non-profit, independent news outlet reporting on gun incidents.

• There were more than 650 homicides in the city of Chicago in 2017, down from 771 in 2016. The police department is taking credit for the drop in murders, but not everyone in Chicago sees the declining figure as something to celebrate. Shari Runner, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, explains. 

• In Germany, a new law says big social media companies must swiftly take down posts containing hate speech or face huge fines. Some are concerned that the law could lead to greater censorship, and inspire other more restrictive countries to do the same. David Kaye, a law professor at UC Irvine and the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, weighs in. 

• As Congressional leaders meet with the White House to discuss a legislative solution for DACA recipients, it’s unclear how family-based “chain migration” will fit into negotiations. Dara Lind is a senior reporter for Vox. She joins The Takeaway to talk about the realities of family-based migration.

This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich