Politics and views in the United States.

Officials react to death of aid workers in Israeli air strike. The Minnesota Supreme Court hears a voting law challenge and lesser-known Democratic candidates discuss the presidential race.

TRANSCRIPT

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

This incident is emblematic of a larger problem and evidence of why distribution of aid in Gaza has been so challenging.

White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby says he's one of many outraged when seven World Central Kitchen workers were killed by an Israeli airstrike.

More than 200 aid workers have been killed since the Gaza war began last October, an unusually high number.

World Kitchen says its workers were in three separate vehicles.

Each was hit separately, in spite of being clearly marked on the roof.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. will press Israel for an impartial investigation.

As we have throughout this conflict, we've impressed upon the Israelis the absolute imperative of doing more to protect innocent civilian lives, be they Palestinian children, women and men, or be they aid workers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists the strike was a regrettable mistake.

World Kitchen is pausing aid efforts even as famine in Gaza has killed dozens.

Estimates say about a third of the food is getting in compared to pre-war levels.

Netanyahu also faces a domestic political crisis.

Police there say a third day of mass demonstrations against his government turned violent when hundreds of rioters tried to break through barriers protecting his home.

Meanwhile, Minnesota's Supreme Court is considering a challenge to laws restoring voting rights to the formerly incarcerated.

In their suit, the Minnesota Voters Alliance says the new laws violate a state constitution bar on voting by people with felony convictions unless they've regained their full civil rights.

James Dickey, MVA's attorney, argues federal precedents show civil rights are bigger than just voting rights.

Every federal case, including decisions by the U.S.

Supreme Court interpreting the phrase civil rights in the context of restoration, holds that it refers to a body of rights and at very least the right to vote, hold office and serve on a jury.

Several states held presidential primaries yesterday, even though the nominations are already decided.

Democratic challenger Marianne Williamson had suspended her campaign but says she reactivated it after gaining traction.

She says Democrats need to reevaluate the race, which they can only win through their traditional support of working-class Americans.

The Democrats are not going to win in 2024 by scolding people or shaming people who don't agree with everything they're saying.

And they're not going to win just by scaring people about Donald Trump.

Harvard professor Cornel West says he's running in part because today's politicians don't maintain the values that civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. stood for.

Politics has become just legalized corruption and normalized bribery, where people will say anything to stay in office, and there's no genuine concern for people, let alone poor people, working people.

Long-shot legislation in Congress could limit former President Donald Trump's ability to use government files.

The Guard Act would restrict access for government officials who've been charged or convicted of obstructing an official proceeding or unlawful retention of national defense information.

Trump is awaiting trial on 38 counts of mishandling classified documents.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org. course.