Politics and views in the United States.

The Senate dismisses the Mayorkas impeachment. Maryland Lawmakers fail to increase voting access. Texas Democrats call for better Black maternal health. And polling confirms strong support for access to reproductive care, including abortion.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Does this now mean that the organizers of January 6th should also risk financial ruin?

I mean, you had police officers hurt there.

People were killed.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump questions if a court ruling against Black Lives Matter organizers should also apply to the Capitol insurrection.

The Fifth Circuit says activists who staged a BLM event can be held liable by a police officer injured by protesters.

Civil rights advocates say that could effectively end the right to protest for states in the district - Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

Twelve jurors have been selected in former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan.

Opening statements could begin Monday.

Meanwhile, a federal judge says lawsuits filed by police and members of Congress against Trump for January 6th can proceed.

California Congresswoman Barbara Lee is the lead plaintiff in an NAACP lawsuit.

Our democracy was at risk.

It was an assault on our democracy.

And in our lawsuit, we are saying that we must hold him accountable.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week on Trump's claim he has unlimited lifetime immunity from prosecution for presidential actions, including on January 6th.

More than 100 Columbia University students were arrested Thursday after refusing to take down what they call a Gaza solidarity encampment on campus.

Jewish graduate student Kim Silverman tells CBS she no longer feels safe there.

To hear them cheering in Tefada right now, when that instilled so much fear in so many Jews all around the world, is just really disturbing.

Wednesday, Columbia's president told a congressional committee it's challenging to both protect Jewish students from harassment and ensure free speech.

Anti-vaccine activist and minor party presidential candidate Robert F.

Kennedy Jr. has qualified for the ballot in Michigan, where the last two elections were decided by less than 1 percent of the vote.

For the second time in two weeks, Arizona Republicans have blocked repeal of the state's near-total abortion ban.

State Representative Oscar De Los Santos says voters want it repealed.

It is time for Republicans to listen to the vast majority of Arizonans and to stop silencing us.

State legislatures are seeing dozens of bills this year to stop book bans and protect librarians, but those are being outpaced by legislation going the other direction.

West Virginia lawmakers passed a bill to make librarians criminally liable for running what state delegate Brandon Steele describes as "sanctuaries of pedophilia."

I'm here to protect children.

I'm here to protect our young people and make sure that they are not put in a vulnerable position where they are presented with pure pornography.

Opponents say these laws whip up a frenzy of censorship and target books by and for minorities.

I'm Catherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.