Week In The News: Iowa Countdown, Zika Spreads, Oregon Standoff

All eyes on Iowa. Trump and the debate. Bernie versus Hillary. We’ve got death and arrest in Oregon. Zika alarm. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

All eyes on Iowa this week as politics get hyper-focused on the eve of the first real voting of the 2016 campaign. Donald Trump says no thanks to a Fox-hosted debate. Cruz, Rubio and the rest show up and have a pretty good go without Donald’s theatrics. Clinton says she’s the proven fighter, but Sanders is revolution-ready. In Oregon, arrests and stand-off casualty. All over, there is dismay at the rapid spread and menace of the Zika virus. This hour On Point, our weekly roundtable goes behind the headlines.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Jennifer Jacobs, chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. (@JenniferJJacobs)

Lisa Desjardins, political director for the PBS NewsHour. (@lisadnews)

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

Des Moines Register: In Trump's absence, Cruz takes fire at GOP debate — "Donald Trump was gone and almost forgotten Thursday night: His name was rarely uttered after the first few minutes of the night at the debate he boycotted in Iowa. Without the dominant national front-runner in the room, the target was the candidate who inherited center stage for the night: Ted Cruz."

PBS NewsHour: For such a key race, Iowa’s voter turnout remains surprisingly low — "As the first voters of 2016, Iowans play an outsize role in shaping the presidential primary races. A strong finish in the caucuses can help propel a candidate to the nomination; a poor performance usually spells disaster. Even so, only one in five registered voters in Iowa shows up to caucus, leaving just a sliver of partisan activists to anoint the early front-runners and winnow the primary field."

Stat News: ‘Alarming’ spread of Zika virus spurs global emergency response — "The World Health Organization on Thursday announced it would establish an emergency committee of external experts to advise it on the extraordinary Zika virus outbreak 'spreading explosively' through the Americas."

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