Politics and views in the United States.

Trump reportedly is considering replacing Pete Hegseth as defense nominee, the French PM is ousted, South Korea rejects martial law, Montana blocks a trans bathroom ban, and women's representation in state legislatures hits new highs.

TRANSCRIPT

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

They say unless you make a statement, we will publish it as is.

And I think that's a despicable way to treat anyone.

Penelope Hegseth, the mother of President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Defense Department, is criticizing the New York Times for publishing an email she sent her son.

The email harshly criticized Fox News host Pete Hegseth for abuse and mistreatment of women.

She says she wrote it during his difficult divorce and she now supports his nomination.

Hegseth is meeting with senators, but the Washington Post reports Trump is considering replacing him as new charges of sexual misconduct come to light.

Roger Wicker is a Mississippi Republican.

There are questions that some members have, and we're gonna be working for an answer.

Police are searching for the gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a busy Manhattan hotel.

The suspect fled north towards Central Park on a bike.

Authorities are describing it as a carefully planned targeted killing.

Chase Strangio made history as the first transgender attorney to argue before the Supreme Court.

He's representing a teen denied testosterone treatment by a Tennessee law.

A transgender adolescent boy cannot receive testosterone because he was assigned female at birth.

Had he been assigned male at birth, he could receive that same medication.

That is sex discrimination.

A strong bipartisan majority of Montana lawmakers rejected a proposal to make trans individuals use the capital bathroom matching their gender at birth.

Opponents say the rule was written to target the state's first transgender legislator.

Meanwhile, the number of women elected to state legislators will reach a record one third of all seats next year.

Jean Sinsdack is with the Center for American Women.

We need to see bigger jumps in terms of the numbers of women running and getting elected.

In order to get closer to parity, we're certainly making progress, but there's a ways to go.

A broad French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, was ousted by a no confidence vote, making his government the shortest lived in recent history.

Far right and left wing legislators united to remove Barnier, deepening political challenges for President Emmanuel Macron.

In South Korea, the president has been forced to almost immediately lift his declaration of martial law.

Citizens rallied to preserve their democracy less than 40 years after the end of military dictatorship there.

Lawmakers from both the president's party and the opposition voted against the declaration.

Finally, Vice President Kamala Harris's historic campaign loss is moving some to ask if sexism and racism contributed to her defeat.

Latasha Brown with the Black Voters Matter Fund argues Harris's identity was both a challenge and a source of inspiration.

We cannot also accept this idea that because she was a woman and she was black, that that in fact was a scarlet letter for her.

In fact, part of the reason why he attacked it because it was a superpower as well.

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

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