Politics and views in the United States.

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy applauds U.S. House passage of aid. House Speaker Mike Johnson gets bipartisan praise for the foreign aid deal, but still faces a threat to his job. And Nebraska moves to restore voting rights for people released from prison.

TRANSCRIPT

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

This is the show of leadership and strength of the United States.

Through an interpreter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells NBC that 60 billion in aid that passed the House Saturday will give his country a chance at victory.

Zelensky and others have repeatedly warned that blocking military assistance would mean a Russian victory.

Despite opposition from extreme conservatives, the bill now moves to the Senate where quick passage is expected.

House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul is praising his fellow Republican, Speaker Mike Johnson, for the passage of 95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

He went through a transformation.

At the end of the day, a profile in courage is putting the nation above yourself.

And that's what he did.

But Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene warns a move to oust Johnson is coming, saying he betrayed Republican demands for more funding for the southern border, instead sending it abroad.

Speaker Johnson refuses to use his power as Speaker of the House to do any type of negotiating to secure the southern border and stop the madness in our country.

Johnson has called the threat absurd and says he won't resign.

Greene seems to have Republican votes for a motion to vacate the Speakership, but Johnson may be able to hang on with support from Democrats.

Florida Democrat Sheila Scherfelis McCormick, the first Haitian American in the House, is calling for action to halt the flow of firearms to Haiti and an end to deportation of migrants escaping violence and hunger there.

We have to do everything we can as Americans to not to continue to support the gangs by giving them the ammunitions that they need to terrorize the Haitian people.

A new transitional council and a possible Kenyan peacekeeping force aim to end the lawlessness and reestablish government control.

But top congressional Republicans are blocking 300 million requested by the State Department for Haiti.

They say they want more clarity on how funds would be used.

Nebraska lawmakers have passed a bill to restore voting rights for felons who finish their sentences.

Right now, they have to wait two years.

As of last October, 26 states and the District of Columbia have expanded voting rights for people with criminal records.

California Governor Gavin Newsom says he wants to make it easier for people from neighboring Arizona to get abortions in his state now that Arizona has revived a strict Civil War-era law.

He says travel bans could be coming.

Not enough attention's been placed on the fact that we're not just criminalizing women's access to reproductive care in certain states.

Now we're criminalizing their travel.

He says if a Republican wins the White House, there will be a push for a strict nationwide ban.

Finally, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin says the nation is in a moral crisis, which even threatens our democracy.

Tuning out and not paying attention is an action.

In fact, somehow not participating is even worse than many other things you can do because it means you're saying, "I don't care."

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

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