Politics and views in the United States.

Trump meets with Ukraine's Zelensky in pursuit of a peace deal, while faith leaders hold vigils for detained immigrants. Iowans face losing health insurance and college education has become a major indicator of party support.

TRANSCRIPT

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

You can't be America first and be pro-Russia.

Russia is a self-declared adversary of the United States, and here they are mercilessly killing Ukrainians and trying to take Ukrainian land.

Ohio Republican Mike Turner says he's wary President Donald Trump may bend a Russia-Ukraine peace deal toward Moscow.

Turner has long been the congressional ally of NATO in Europe and was removed as chair of House Intelligence just before Trump's second inauguration.

The White House has moved away from a peace outline favorable to Russia.

Trump met again with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Sunday.

Speaking to reporters, Trump would not say if the U.S. would provide post-war security guarantees to Ukraine, even though that is a central part of a 20-point peace plan backed by Kiev.

Discussions continue, although the Kremlin has not welcomed the current proposal, and continues to attack civilian targets.

Faith leaders are starting a 40-week prayer vigil outside of ICE offices in eastern Pennsylvania.

Peter Petamonte with the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia says the immigration crisis isn't partisan, but arrests of migrants when they make their required check-ins is new to the second Trump administration.

I think with the second term we are seeing a heightened escalation beyond what we saw with other administrations targeting immigrant communities and marginalized communities as well as targeting our democracy.

The White House says their immigration sweeps target violent criminals.

One survey found three quarters of the nearly 75,000 people detained have no criminal history demeanor of entering the country illegally.

American politics seem to be realigning based on education levels.

Upper-income voters with degrees used to back the GOP, but in 2024, Democrats won 14 of the 15 most college-educated states.

Doug Sosnick with the Brunswick Group says recent elections in Virginia and Miami confirmed that the shift is real, but he warns against expecting it to always be consistent.

Trump has uniquely been able to get people to come out and vote who had normally not voted.

Support for Trump is personal and has not been transferable to other Republicans, particularly when he's not on the ballot.

Advocates in Iowa say people brace for much higher out-of-pocket costs when Congress failed to find a way to extend health insurance tax credits.

Mary Nell Treves with child care group ACES 360 says a lot of people they see won't be able to afford health coverage. when we look at groceries and gas and housing costs.

And I don't know too many Iowans who have an extra $500 or $1,000 a month to keep their coverage.

And those are the kind of increases Iowans could be facing.

Treffs warns people will stop going to the doctor and end up using more expensive emergency room care, which they often won't be able to pay for.

The loss of tax credits is likely to land harder in rural areas, where about a quarter of farmers and ranchers get their coverage through the ACA. and most hospitals are already under financial stress.

Congress has flirted with the possibility of a vote on an extension in the first weeks of the new year, but there remains little consensus on Capitol Hill.

I'm Zimone Perez for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.