Politics and views in the United States.

Speaker Johnson calls out Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, while also calling Putin "dangerous." Voting rights advocates are concerned about the SAVE Act's impact on Civil Rights, and some Democrats call for prioritizing rural and working-class people.

TRANSCRIPT

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

When we did the aid to Ukraine a year ago, the whole point was to position Ukraine for peace talks, to make sure that they could hold the line until President Trump returned to the White House.

House Speaker Mike Johnson blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for the war in Ukraine and calls him dangerous.

But Johnson also says Vladimir Zelensky's behavior at a heated White House meeting was "shocking" and says the Ukrainian president may have to resign.

A handful of congressional Republicans are supporting Zelensky, with one accusing President Donald Trump of abandoning an ally.

The New York Times is reporting that even before last week's public dispute, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a halt to all offensive cyber operations against Russia.

The administration did not give the paper an explanation for the move.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the UK and France are preparing a peace plan.

This effort must have strong U.S. backing.

We're working with the U.S. on this point.

And let me be clear, we agree with the president on the urgent need for a durable peace.

Now we need to deliver together.

Meanwhile, Democrats like Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut say the White House is acting as an arm of the Kremlin.

Every single day you hear from the national security adviser, from the president of the United States, from his entire national security team, Kremlin talking points.

The last week, the White House has been pretending as if Ukraine started this war.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act is expected to be up for a vote in the House soon.

Voting rights advocates say if I requiring a birth certificate or passport from anyone who wants to register, it could deny the ballot to millions of citizens.

Kerry Dermott, with all voting is local action, says it's supposed to stop a kind of vote fraud that all but never happens.

This bill is really trying to solve a problem that does not exist.

And I think also what's going to happen if this does go into place is this online voter registration will be decimated by this legislation.

A coalition of rural progressive democratic organizations is urging the new chair of the National Party to invest more in rural and working class communities.

Anthony Flaccovento, with the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative, says it's time for the party to start prioritizing these often forgotten groups.

If we don't begin to win back a significant part of these rural and working class people, then Trump will more than likely survive these four years intact in the sense of getting his policies enacted.

Flaccovento calls the resistance reignited by Trump being back in the White House promising, but adds it has to reach beyond highly educated liberal folks.

Finally, Andrew Cuomo is entering what looks to be a contentious race for New York City mayor.

He resigned from the governor's office four years ago over sexual misconduct allegations, but says current mayor Eric Adams has led the city into crisis.

I'm Alex Gonzalez for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.