Politics and views in the United States.

Hamas says it doesn't have 40 Israeli hostages needed for a possible ceasefire. Arizona Republicans squash Democrats attempt to repeal the near-total abortion ban and House GOP tensions intensify over a surveillance law.

TRANSCRIPT

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

Many families have mourned the loss of loved ones, while others still live with the uncertainty of knowing their family members are held in captivity.

Republican Indiana Congressman Jim Baird speaking about families of Israelis held in Gaza.

Hamas now says it can't meet the demand to release 40 hostages to start the first phase of a ceasefire.

Observers have questioned how many of the estimated 130 hostages might be held by other groups or may already be dead, but the announcement comes as a surprise.

An Israeli airstrike that killed sons and grandchildren of a top Hamas leader is also making ceasefire negotiations difficult.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing his own difficulties.

Former President Donald Trump encouraged House conservatives to shoot down an update to a controversial surveillance law.

Trump claims falsely that FISA was used to spy on his campaign.

Johnson says the current legislation would have put in warrant protections for people inside the U.S.

But these reforms would actually kill the abuses that allowed President Trump's campaign to be spied on.

And there are massive new, for example, criminal and civil penalties for using opposition research.

Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr condemned his old boss's call to kill FISA and said there will be blood on people's hands if the intelligence tools expire.

But Johnson's right flank is already unhappy.

After the Speaker needed help from Democrats to pass a $1.2 trillion spending package and avoid a government shutdown, right-wing Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to remove him.

"How he handles the FISA process and how he handles funding Ukraine is going to tell our entire conference how to handle the motion to vacate."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says they'll soon take up Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas' impeachment.

Republicans say Mayorkas should be removed for failing to enforce immigration law, but Democrats, including Schumer, describe the impeachment as political and baseless.

"The Senate is ready to go whenever the House is.

We want to address this issue as expeditiously as possible.

And as I said yesterday, impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements."

Following the Arizona Supreme Court upholding a 160-year-old ban on nearly all abortions, Democrats tried but failed to repeal it in the Republican-run legislature.

Democratic Senate candidate Congressman Ruben Gallego points to an abortion referendum headed for the ballot, as when voters will get their say.

"We're going to fight all the way until November so we can get abortion rights back for our women in Arizona."

President Joe Biden is condemning the court's decision, putting back in place a law actually passed when Arizona was still a territory.

"Elect me. I'm in the 20th century, 21st century, not back then.

There weren't even a state."

Trump was in Georgia Wednesday and said he would not sign a national abortion ban if re-elected.

He criticized the Arizona law for going too far.

I'm Alex Gonzalez for Pacific Network and Public News Service.

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