Politics and views in the United States.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to be a free man, Georgia law enforcement training to prevent voter intimidation, and the nation's first publicly funded religious charter school is ruled unconstitutional.

TRANSCRIPT

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

In some ways, if you believe in something and you want to see it occur, you have to pay a price.

For WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, that price was more than a decade of exile and jail after releasing classified military information.

But today he's a free man.

The Australian has accepted a plea deal which will let him return home.

US freedom advocates praise Assange for helping expose possible US war crimes.

Others argue he put American lives at risk.

Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are gearing up for Thursday's first presidential debate.

After years of accusing Biden of being senile, former RNC spokesperson Tim Miller says Republicans are now stuck with trying to lower the bar.

Donald Trump is concerned about how this debate is being framed up.

That is why he's doing all the weird stuff about Joe Biden being on drugs.

Trump allies say a strong Biden performance could only be from drug use, and that Trump is entering a hostile environment with biased moderators.

The debate will air live on CNN with no studio audience.

Primaries took place Tuesday in Colorado, Utah and New York, which saw the most expensive House primary in history.

Progressive New York Democrat Jamal Bowman struggled against a multimillion-dollar effort from pro-Israel groups to unseat him over his position on Gaza.

It is a mass murder.

It is a war crime.

What is happening in Gaza right now?

Meanwhile, Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado faced skeptical new voters after opting to move to a district friendlier to conservatives.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has stopped what would have been the country's first publicly funded religious charter school, ruling it both unconstitutional and against state law.

The K-12 online school was set to start classes this fall, with part of its declared mission to evangelize to students about Catholicism.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters says he's hopeful the Supreme Court will take up the case.

The reality is clear.

Our students need more options.

We have to be a leader in school choice, and we have to protect religious freedoms here in the state of Oklahoma.

Georgia is the first state to require law enforcement be trained on election intimidation and interference.

A one-hour mandated class on state election law aims to prepare police for poll site disturbances.

Voting rights activist Stacey Abrams says poll workers face continued threats and voter misinformation is a dangerous trend.

As I keep saying, don't panic.

We've got this election.

We just need to show up and keep our eye on the mission, and that is casting our ballots.

And finally, a Wisconsin court has ruled that voters with disabilities can demand accessible absentee ballots via email.

Voting rights groups had challenged state law, which allowed only military and overseas voters to vote online.

I'm Katherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.