Politics and views in the United States.

Biden highlights the challenges faced reaching a Gaza ceasefire, progressives urge action on the Equal Rights Amendment, the future of TikTok remains up in the air, and plans for protests build ahead of Trump's inauguration.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Yesterday, I announced a ceasefire, the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

The road to that deal was not easy.

It's taken eight months of nonstop, relentless effort by administration to get it done.

President Joe Biden highlighting a hard-won deal in Gaza during a Defense Department farewell ceremony.

President-elect Donald Trump is also claiming credit for the ceasefire, citing his previous threat that there would be hell to pay if hostages weren't released by his inauguration.

But the deal may still collapse.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is postponing a cabinet vote, accusing Hamas of adding last-minute conditions.

Israeli critics accuse Netanyahu of repeatedly doing just that himself during the negotiations.

Outgoing Missouri Progressive Representative Cori Bush is joining the Equal Rights Amendment Alliance in daily protests, urging Biden to certify the ERA before Trump takes office.

This trauma, these injustices are happening every single day around the country and under your watch.

But you don't feel the burn of it.

You have the power to act.

You can publish the ERA.

Nearly a quarter million Americans have signed petitions for the ERA to be enacted.

Critics argue many of the state legislatures, which previously voted for the constitutional amendment, would not do so now.

The fate of social media platform TikTok remains unclear, with a law banning it being challenged in court.

Republican Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton says the app's owners had a chance to sell it and avoid a pending ban.

TikTok is a Chinese communist spy app that addicts our kids, harvests their data, targets them with harmful and manipulative content, and spreads communist propaganda.

Rural advocates are voicing concerns about Trump's healthcare policies, including his alignment with vaccine skeptics.

University of Texas Professor of Medicine Jule Mullins says more conspiracy theories may accelerate a decline in vaccinations.

It's just increasingly easy for information that is untrue, misleading, inaccurate, and unchecked.

That's a risk for all of us.

Others say rural health is likely to worsen if Medicaid's budget is squeezed.

Brittany Bolton with Groundwork Ohio says their hospitals and providers are hanging by a thread and depend on the program.

Provider shortages, hospital closures, and long travel distances across rural areas.

At least 13 counties do not have maternal care in the entire county at this point in Ohio.

Finally, thousands prepare to march in Washington ahead of Trump's inauguration.

Anna Zeros with Nonviolent Peace Force says a march planned for Saturday has a low risk of conflict, but says they'll carry out de-escalation tactics if needed.

People often escalate because they're not being heard and because they feel vulnerable.

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

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.