Politics and views in the United States.

The government defends its drone responses, lawmakers debate anti-Islamophobia and transgender policies, a stopgap spending deal sparks tensions, and Trump threatens more legal actions against the media.

TRANSCRIPT

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

As open and as transparent with the American people as we can be, what we won't do is speculate or hypothesize about something we don't know.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby is defending the response to the numerous drone sightings.

The Defense and Homeland Security Department say they found no national threats in the 5,000 reports, but local officials and members of Congress accuse the administration of minimizing public concerns.

Federal law enforcement, security and aviation agencies are deploying more detection technology and urging Congress tighten drone laws.

The Biden administration has introduced a first national strategy for combating Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate.

Edward Ahmed Mitchell of the Council on American-Islamic Relations calls it insufficient for what is a dangerous moment.

He says it lacks meaningful changes to federal policies and is coming too late.

Normally, we would celebrate a White House strategy to combat Islamophobia, but the problem is they've released it with a month left, so it can't have any real impact.

Meanwhile, in Nebraska, state lawmakers prepare for the new legislative session where they'll debate LGBTQ+ rights.

Governor Jim Pillen has signaled plans to reintroduce a bill banning transgender students from participating in sports outside of their gender at birth.

Last year, a similar proposal narrowly failed.

Grant Friedman is with the ACLU of Nebraska.

Getting folks to realize they're there to make Nebraska a better place for everyone and focus on the issues that need to be dealt with and not kind of these fringe issues that is being blown out of proportion across the country.

On Capitol Hill, congressional leaders have finalized a year-end spending package before Friday's government shutdown.

It includes a $100 billion disaster aid provision that contains $10 billion for farmers.

That has drawn criticism from conservative budget hawks who argue Speaker Mike Johnson conceded too much to Democrats.

Johnson's position remains tenuous given his very narrow majority.

In New York, Luigi Mangione has been indicted on first-degree murder and other charges in the ambush killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg called the shooting a premeditated act of terror.

This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation.

In other legal news, President-elect Donald Trump is suing the Des Moines Register, its parent company and pollster J. Ann Seltzer over a pre-election poll showing him trailing Vice President Kamala Harris in Iowa.

The lawsuit alleges that amounts to election interference, though legal experts question the argument's validity.

Free speech advocates are denouncing Trump's suits against the press as attacks on the First Amendment.

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.