Politics and views in the United States.

The GOP House votes to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress, Donald Trump again accuses Joe Biden of being on drugs, and many veterans say restrictive voter ID laws erode the democracy they fought for.

TRANSCRIPT

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

The effort to threaten, to defund our investigations and the way in which there are contributions to an atmosphere that puts our agents and our prosecutors at risk, these are wrong.

Attorney General Merrick Garland says a GOP-controlled House vote to hold him in contempt undermines the Justice Department's ability to run independent investigations.

House Democrats say Republicans are agitating to get the audio of special counsel Robert Herr's interview with President Joe Biden for campaign ads.

The transcripts are already available.

The president's campaign says criticism of his age and mental stamina are unjustified, but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson faults the White House for withholding tapes under executive privilege, saying Biden is robbing voters of a chance to decide for themselves.

They obviously confirm what the special counsel has found and would likely cause, I suppose in his estimation, such alarm with the American people that the president is using all of his power to suppress their release.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz is threatening to resign June 8th unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu develops a better post-war strategy.

His demands include a clear plan for replacing Hamas and governing Gaza without the full Israeli occupation favored by the prime minister's far-right allies.

Gantz could beat Netanyahu if a government collapse leads to an early election, but other members of the coalition's war cabinet are voicing similar concerns that Gaza could turn into a guerrilla war.

Speaking at a National Rifle Association convention, former President Donald Trump floated the idea of being a three-term president, citing FDR's four terms.

He also called for drug testing before the debates and made the baseless charge that Biden was high during the State of the Union.

He did the State of the Union the other day.

He was high as a kite.

So I think we should call for drug tests on the debate.

Meanwhile, Biden is calling out Trump and other Republicans for culture war attacks.

My predecessor and extreme MAGA friends are responsible for taking away other fundamental freedoms from the freedom to vote to the freedom to choose.

But I've always believed that the promise of America is big enough for everyone to succeed, and I mean that.

Florida Governor and former presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis just signed a law requiring the state policy documents to delete the phrase "climate change."

Florida Democrats say a state that could soon end up underwater can't afford to ignore sea level rise.

Veterans say they're outraged by a proposed New Hampshire voter ID law.

It would be one of the country's strictest, requiring proof of citizenship to register and eliminating an affidavit process helping new voters without documentation.

Former U.S. Marine Corps Major and Durham Town Councilor Curtis Register says it disenfranchises those who fight to preserve our most basic rights.

It feels like a betrayal of those that have been injured or sacrificed time away from their kids or even an ultimate sacrifice that we have folks trying to take away rights that were given via the Constitution.

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

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