Politics and views in the United States.

Epstein survivors join lawmakers calling for full release of documents. Advocates file an international legal complaint about Gaza genocide and the federal government is taking over train stations.

TRANSCRIPT

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

We the survivors are suffering severely.

We take our kids to school and everyone is talking about it.

We can't read the news or do anything without hearing crazy stories that are only able to live on because the government continues to hide the evidence and the truth.

So people just make up stories.

Haley Robson, one of many young women sexually abused by dead billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, is joining calls for the files about him to be released.

The GOP-controlled House just released more than 30,000 documents from a Department of Justice investigation.

Most had already been made public, but the chair of House Oversight says more are coming.

President Donald Trump is calling the Epstein case a "democratic hoax," although his name reportedly appears in the files.

Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey and California Democrat Ro Khanna are working to force the release of all documents relating to Epstein.

Their measure looked likely to pass until Trump and the Republican House leadership twisted arms to stop it.

It's now reportedly two votes short.

House Republicans are creating a new January 6th subcommittee reopening investigations into the attack on the Capitol.

GOP leaders are vowing to review all the evidence, saying the original committee's work was biased by Democrats' dislike of Trump.

NGOs are filing an international legal complaint against the use of American taxpayers' money for what they call genocide in Gaza.

The complaint to the Human Rights Arm of the Organization of American States charges that both the Biden and Trump administrations bent U.S. tax law to fund Israel's war.

Seth Donnelly is with taxpayers against genocide.

With a ruling of guilt by this commission, that strengthens and fortifies efforts by others including in our own ranks to take it even higher, to seek prosecution by the ICC and other international forum.

The White House denies genocide is happening in Gaza and the government of Israel defends their actions as self-defense.

Trans stations are now a venue for the federal government's moves to take control from cities.

While unveiling the latest rolling stock for Amtrak's Acela route, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says they're taking over Washington DC's Union Station in part to beautify it.

We are going to make the investments to make sure this station isn't dirty, that we don't have homelessness in Union Station.

We want a place where businesses want to obtain leases and set up shop and serve the community of D.C.

City residents say the station hasn't actually had a permanent homeless population in years.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser says she would welcome federal investments since the station needs $8 billion in repairs the city can't afford.

But similar takeover plans for Boston's South Station are being met with resistance from Governor Maurer-Healy, who says they have nothing to do with public safety or transportation.

After bombing a drug vessel near Venezuela, the Trump administration says it's going to war directly with drug cartels based there, which it says, without proof, are tied to its government.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the 11 people killed in the strike were part of a narco-terrorist organization bringing drugs to the U.S., although he didn't offer more specifics.

He calls the strike part of an ongoing campaign.

And it'll happen again.

The point is, the President of the United States is going to wage war on narco-terrorist organizations. was operating in international waters headed towards the United States to flood our country with poison and under President Trump those days are over.

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

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.