Ashes to Ashes? Trump Administration Rethinks Nuclear Strategy

Coming up on today’s show:

• The government will run out of money on Friday. Republicans have introduced a stopgap funding measure, but Democrats say they won’t vote for anything without protection for DACA recipients. Rachael Bade is a congressional reporter for Politico. She joins The Takeaway to talk about the latest in the government shutdown showdown. 

• In Hannepin County, Minnesota, local officials are responding to an increase in immigration arrests by spending tens of thousands of dollars on legal defense. Brandt Williams is a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio. He discusses one county’s efforts to push back against the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive stance toward undocumented immigrants.

• From the jungles of Colombia to the suburbs of Ohio, the illegal gold mining trade can be found all over the world. Nicholas Nehamas, an investigative reporter for The Miami Herald, looked into the gold trade for the new series, “Dirty Gold, Clean Cash.” It’s a deep dive on the illegal gold trade, which has been going on for decades.

• Yemen is suffering from the worst hunger crisis in the world, but a port used to bring in much needed food and supplies could be closed by Friday. Stephen Anderson, country director for the U.N. World Food Program in Yemen, discusses the humanitarian crisis in the country and concerns about the Port of Hodeidah’s possible closure.

• The first group of Rohingya Muslims are set to be sent back to Myanmar next week, as part of an agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar governments. Eric Schwartz, is president of Refugees International and former U.S. assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration. He says that moving refugees now is premature, dangerous and potentially deadly for the Rohingya.

• A new strategy memo drafted by the Pentagon and awaiting approval from the White House calls for the development of low-yield nuclear weapons. It would also expand the circumstances under which nuclear weapons could be used, including possibly in retaliation for major cyberattacks. Michèle Flournoy served asunder secretary of defense for policy from February 2009 to February 2012. She joins us to explain.

• A massive pool of genetic information, 1 million strong: That’s the goal of a new initiative from the National Institutes of Health, called “All of Us.” It would give scientists and medical researchers a huge amount of data to study and learn from. And starting this spring, Americans are invited to participate. NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins has the details. 

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich