Politics and views in the United States.

President-elect Donald Trump considers reclaiming Panama Canal. Lawmakers are uncertain Trump's cabinet will help everyday Americans and, advocates feel Biden must reconsider clemency actions.

TRANSCRIPT

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

A secure Panama Canal is crucial for US commerce and rapid deployment of the Navy from the Atlantic all the way to the Pacific.

It's an incredible thing.

President-elect Donald Trump says he might move to reclaim the Panama Canal because of large fees on US shipping.

Treaties signed decades ago return the American-built canal to Panama.

The government there says ownership and the billions in tolls it collects are not up for debate.

Trump also cites what he calls a possible Chinese takeover, though the Chinese Foreign Ministry says they support keeping it in Panamanian hands.

Meanwhile, news organizations are bracing for the possibility of presidential revenge.

Caroline Hendry with the Society of Professional Journalists says Trump's multiple lawsuits and threats to broadcast licenses may mark a new era for the press and the law.

It just should not be seen as normal that powerful elected officials wage legal campaigns against reporters and their employers, often because they don't agree with what's being published or broadcast.

With much of the president-elect's administration already nominated, some lawmakers charge the billionaires he's named don't show the competence or desire to improve the lives of everyday Americans.

Florida Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost says Trump promised to fight for working-class Americans but wants to install the wealthiest cabinet in history.

So you expect him to believe that someone like Elon Musk, who's worth over $340 billion, is going to be in charge of helping to decide what my mom's Social Security check is going to be?

Montana Supreme Court is upholding a landmark climate ruling that says the state violated residents' constitutional right to a clean environment by permitting fossil fuel projects.

State officials argue the greenhouse gases emitted there are minimal compared to global emissions, but 16-year-old plaintiff Grace Gibson-Sender calls it a victory for the future of every young person in Montana.

None of us, children or adults, have the luxury of time.

Climate change will not wait for children to become people in power.

President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of almost all the people on Federal Death Row to life in prison.

That's winning praise, but also calls for more from justice reform advocates.

Zoe Towns with Forward.us says clemency should focus on those still serving long sentences.

Of all of those people, the pardons and the commutations on home confinement, nobody actually walked home from prison, right?

Nobody's prison term was reduced in any way.

Half of Americans have had a family member incarcerated, while one in three has a criminal record themselves.

The recent budget extension keeps provisions from the last farm bill in place for another year, meaning most farmers are working under 2018 levels of support despite higher costs.

National farm groups say they are not panicking, but the deep divisions in Congress have many worried about agricultural support over the long haul.

John Hanson of the Nebraska Farmers Union says they feel overlooked.

Those of us who represent agriculture see a deepening financial crisis that a lot of farm families are facing, and we look to Congress for relief.

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

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.