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Week In The News: ISIS, Measles And A New Harper Lee Novel

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Jordan vows revenge on ISIS. Measles anger. Arms for Ukraine. Harper Lee’s new novel. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Jordanians chant slogans to show their support for the government against terror during a rally in Amman, Jordan, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Jordanian warplanes bombed Islamic State targets on Thursday, state TV said, after Jordan's King Abdullah II vowed to wage a "harsh" war against the militants who control large areas of neighboring Syria and Iraq. (AP)
Jordanians chant slogans to show their support for the government against terror during a rally in Amman, Jordan, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Jordanian warplanes bombed Islamic State targets on Thursday, state TV said, after Jordan's King Abdullah II vowed to wage a "harsh" war against the militants who control large areas of neighboring Syria and Iraq. (AP)

Video you never want to see this week out of ISIS territory.  A Jordanian pilot burned alive.  Jordan, enraged.  Is this a turning point?  In Washington and Kiev, talk of the United States arming Ukraine against, effectively, Russia.  High stakes.  In California and beyond, anger over measles and the parents who do not vaccinate.  GOP politicians, on the fence.  We’ve got another mega-hack.  Another Harper Lee novel.  Brian Williams in a tough light.  And the biggest three-month surge in jobs in seventeen years.  This hour On Point:  Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

James Kitfield, contributing editor at National Journal. Senior fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. (@jameskitfield)

Lisa Lerer, reporter for Bloomberg Politics. (@llerer)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)

From Tom’s Reading List

Bloomberg Politics: Why Do Republicans Have Such a Hard Time With Vaccines? -- "While neither party has a lock on anti-vaccine sentiment, the GOP's suspicion of government, broadly, and of science, in general, is particularly strong, which explains why Republican candidates often find themselves struggling to strike a balance between medical evidence and conservative mistrust. It's a conflict that's played out for years over climate change, as Republicans try to please their base while fending off mockery for disputing long-established evidence that human activity contributes to rising temperatures. And it flared up again last year amid fears of an Ebola outbreak when doctors criticized Republicans, including Christie, for calling for stringent quarantines."

Breaking Defense: How To Manage Putin: Russia’s ‘Escalation Dominance’ -- "What troubles some experts about the Ukraine crisis is a phenomenon called 'escalation dominance.' The term was coined by U.S. military and national security experts who developed the strategy of deterrence during the Cold War. The concept holds that the United States can best contain conflicts and avoid escalation if it is dominant at each successive rung up the 'ladder of escalation,' all the way to the top rung of nuclear weapons. Such a doctrine, based in balance-of-power calculations, is important because that’s how former KGB operative Vladimir Putin and his tight circle of military hardliners and spies seem to think."

Defense One: Carter Survives To Fight Another Day — "Carter is widely expected to be confirmed and sworn in within a couple of weeks as Obama’s fourth defense secretary. Carter, the Pentagon’s deputy until 2013, appeared well-prepared for a barrage of questions from senators on several military policy issues, from sexual assault to acquisition, the nation’s nuclear strength and detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

This program aired on February 6, 2015.

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