of course, that means that santa is on his way to wherever you are at. he's already delivered three billion gifts to millions worldwide. but he's still got a way to go before he reaches the united states. so stick around. according to the norad santa tracker, his most recent location put some soaring above central africa right now. we hope that he makes it to your house before too long. or you'll have to wait a bit longer. that wraps it up for us this hour, i am richard louis, you can catch yachtsman tomorrow on msnbc. a very merry christmas to slow those of you who celebrated symone starts right now.

>> greetings everyone, i am simone sanders thompson and welcome to the special edition of symone. a 2023 year in review. today, we are looking back at a year of nonstop consequential news. in order to put this year into perspective we need to remember that much of what unfolded in 2023 was built on the foundation of unprecedented events in 2022 like the dobbs decision overturning roe v. wade or history defying midterms and a criminal referral of donald trump after the january 6th committee investigation and so much more. after all of that, 2023 was a year of reckoning. let's break that down. the definition of reckoning is this. a time when one was called to account for one's actions to pay ones debts or fulfill promises or obligations. from the very start of the year, from the halls of congress that the former president to picket lines to communities like yours, there were reckonings on many fronts. the year kicked off with republicans taking back the

house, but it was clear from the start that they were going to bring affective governing to a halt. >> no person having received the majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname is speaker has not been elected. >> the speaker has not been elected. >> a speaker has not been elected. >> a speaker has not been elected. >> congressional chaos began in january when it took 15 rounds of voting for kevin mccarthy to be named house speaker. his republican colleagues ousted him after less than a year kicking off yet another chaotic battle for speaker. house republicans refusal to govern has made this congress one of the most unproductive congresses in nearly a century. this played out as americans were dealing with real life-changing issues. women across the country continue to reckon with the reality of a post roe america. antiabortion referendums expanded voter turnout and universally failed at the ballot box. but 2023 ended with some women

forced to mount costly lawsuits hoping to avoid being forced by their state government to carry a non viable pregnancy to term. even pregnancies that would put their very lives at risk. people like britney watts who was facing criminal charges in the state of ohio after suffering a miscarriage. american is also reckoned with their workplaces after an unprecedented year's long pandemic transformed the way americans punched their time cards. nearly 500,000 workers went on strike across a variety of sectors from the entertainment industry to the automotive industry. duly elected mayors from cities and towns across the country from red state governors. three tennessee state lawmakers make national headlines when they face expulsion proceedings from the republican majority state house for protesting gun violence on the floor of the chamber. the trio known as the tennessee three sat down with me for their first joint interview

after two of the members representative justin pearson and representative justin jones were expelled by the republican colleagues. >> we cannot continue to operate in a very old way of thinking, and a very new moment in tennessee and american history. >> but their constituents face a reckoning as well. when their votes were shut down by people that they never elected, the people were overwhelmingly voting to sun pierson and jones back to the tennessee legislator, where the to continue to serve. and state rep gloria johnson, who narrowly survived the expulsion vote, is now running from the united states senate. but the events in tennessee are one small part of a larger reckoning, which has been underway since this country's inception. a reckoning of the democracy that is supposed to define us is everyone fairly are presented? does the public have faith in democracy? do those charged with safeguarding democracy have its best interests at heart? in 2023, the court protected

section two of the voting rights act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race. but a lower court has limited who can sue on those grounds in seven states. and the supreme court justices are facing their own reckoning with reports that justice clarence thomas and justice sonia aledo failed to disclose major gifts from billionaire friends calling the courts ethics and its legitimacy into question. and another reckoning is expanding beyond our borders. i'm talking about the war in ukraine, this seems poised to enter a second year, people are grappling with how involved america should be. and three months into the, israel-hamas war, americans are reckoning with the u.s. response to the brutal october 7th attack and hostages taken by hamas, as well as to the devastating human toll of israel's continued military offensive in gaza. we are going to unpack this year of reckoning in today's special edition of symone. we are also going to look ahead to what it all means as we head into 2024. >> my panel joins me now.

tara palmieri is a senior political reporter for putt, a democratic strategist and former director of the democratic party and jennifer warren's former chair of the new hampshire republican party and host of the is it just me or have we all lost our minds podcast. i just love the name of that podcast. okay, first off, that's what i'm going to start with. what is the most consequential reckoning that you believed americans face this year? >> not a big question at all. but you know, i think that the biggest reckoning that america has had, that the law has had, is not donald trump is not this one off figure that just became president, went away, and there's no lingering consequences or traces that trump is in this heavily embedded in the country. that if you are waiting for november of 2024 to get rid of trumpism, that is no longer possible because, what you might expect will happen is already happening in our country.

and that the vestiges of his behavior and the cold like family that he created is now propelling him to talk about dictatorship for more openly than he ever did. if we, as a country, don't come to grips with the fact that he will do exactly what he is saying, that america is going to be a very different place in 2024, 25. >> jennifer, same question. >> well, i would take puzzles answer and just bring it a giant step forward. beyond where he even left it. and say that it is the trumpism that he referenced. the authoritarianism. the dictator like leadership that comes with trumpism is not only embedded in donald trump and his followers, but it is now protected by a major political party in our country. the republican party,'s

leadership, everywhere from the rnc right down to county committees too voters, to primary voters, to its activists, to its base, to a number of media outlets across the country that have always been a voice for the republican party, they are now not just protecting donald trump, but protecting everything that basil just laid out there. they have become a voice for authoritarianism. defending trump when he, quote spooked an in the positive and attacks immigrants with great negativity. his continued dog whistles, racism, and anti-immigration policy. so i would say that the greatest reckoning that we are facing as a nation is the very anti democracy voices of the republican party, and their willingness to defend what trumpism has become. >> tara, what about you, do you

agree? >> i agree with everything that you all said and i was going to say, in fact, i do think that there is a year of reckoning in the sense that we've seen activists, democratic activists come out and vote for abortion rights. it was enshrined in ohio and it would be a red state by more than 50% of the voters. we saw glenn youngkin who is a conservative up and coming governor from virginia. he won pretty resoundingly and then when he tried to make this a central issue 15-week abortion limit in virginia, he lost. the democratic party won in the state house, and it is a losing issue for the democrats. so if there's anything that might be able to topple donald trump, is this overturning of roe versus wade and the democrats are very motivated to make sure they have these rights. >> also any additional conversation about glenn youngkin running for president and what happened in 2023.

jennifer, to terrence's point. women across the nation have been reckoning with this continued legislation that has targeted their right to make decisions about their own bodies. do you think that republicans are going to have to reckon with these unpopular efforts come 2024? >> no question about it that we saw in 2022, we saw it in some of the things that were on the ballot this year there is no question that this is the issue that has the ability to move voters in 2024 in a way that could be very unfavorable to the republicans. i think that as one of the things that i've been thinking about as we prepared for this conversation is that, you know, the presidents numbers are not where he needs them to be yet for 2024. but he also has not been campaigning, he has been governing, he has been leading, and i think that when joe biden is on the campaign trail, and this becomes a conversation about women's rights, about

women's autonomy, about the ability and women -- we are intelligent enough to make decisions for ourselves, i think that when that becomes the conversation, then it is going to be even more influential than it has been up until now. >> americans have also been reckoning with power grabs from republican elected officials, whether we are talking about blue state mayors dealing with red state legislators, we mentioned what happened in tennessee where the tennessee three, members of congress hosting their -- you know the speaker of their own party. it is insane. launching a baseless impeachment inquiry? i mean i've been looking for the evidence and asking for it and nobody has been able to show anything. basil, my question is, how do we get here? it just seems a little bit more crazy than usual. >> yeah, it does, i think you mentioned that we have the most unproductive congress in 100 years. one of the points that i like to make is that there are

people in positions of power that don't care about public service. i think that's the bottom line. they care about self interest, and people argue that politicians are always self interested but this is different. this is not just party and country this is a self interested self preserving body of elected officials that really only care about propping up this co-leader. the person who engages in this religious fervor that we've never really seen in modern political history. and because of that, and all that everyone has said, it is very difficult to tear down a symbol. easier to tear down a man. and what donald trump has presented himself as is as a simple, the people who propped him up, push him up here to become the symbol for this movement, and that is why it has been so difficult to kind of pull them from him and try to go in a different direction. so, to your point, which is a very important one, that is why

it is really incumbent upon everybody else to create and engage in that resistance. >> this is an interesting point because this is also a reckoning i think for the republican party, at least when it comes to the presidential. i think that voters are reckoning with just a fraud political party at broaddus. coming into 2023, i know that there's a lot of discussions about is going to be competitive? who can challenge trump? desantis might take him down. now look where we stand. are voters, do you also think that maybe they are reckoning with the fact that the -- at least when it comes to the republican side of the aisle, there's not much competition as they thought existed for the former president? >> it's really crazy because if you actually look at the national polls, overwhelmingly people do not want to see a matchup between donald trump and joe biden. and a lot of republicans are unhappy with donald trump but the way that the party system works, the primary voters in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, they love donald trump. they can't get enough of him.

these are red meat, maga, they want, they don't want diet coke, they don't want desantis. you can't force it, but it is kind of crazy to think that back to the year, we started this year off and trump had a pretty lame announcement that he was running for president. it was after a pretty brutal midterm where all of his waco candidates didn't get, they didn't win. and then you have desantis riding high above trump in new hampshire. >> until he wasn't. >> until now. 9% in the polls. it's crazy. >> it is literally crazy. we are going to take a quick break but don't worry, because terrible and jennifer are sticking around, we are going to have a little fun later in the show. be ready for a lightning around, y'all. coming up next out of all of the things that 2023 will be remembered for, this image on your screen will likely be near the top of the list. after the break, we will dig into the legal reckoning that

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>> much of the 2023 reckoning played out in courtrooms. donald trump made history as a first president or former president to face criminal charges, and that has set into motion a larger reckoning for our legal system as a whole, because this has just never happened to any president before, let alone one who's actively campaigning for a second term as the front runner. but also, some of these

indictments have hinged on untested legal arguments and let's just remember, donald trump was indicted four times and seven months he was charged indian new york hush money case. the special counsel's federal classified documents case in florida, the federal 2020 election interference case in washington d.c., and finally, fulton county georgia brought to a sleeping racketeering case against trump and several codefendants. altogether, that's 91 felony charges for donald trump. each case is a step towards accountability for the former president and his former personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, has already faced consequences and civil court. a jury ordered that he pay workers a total of 100 and $48 million for defamation, emotional distress, and punitive damages. remember, their lives were turned upside down when giuliani repeatedly spread election lies accusing them of fraud. those were just a few of the illegal reckonings in 2023.

several others directly impact everyday citizens voting rights. particularly in black and brown communities and that is our democracy. you might remember that we covered the supreme court decision that upheld a critical part of the voting rights act. in case you forgot, the justices ruled that the state of alabama violated section two of the voting rights act by packing is black voters and to just one congressional district. but in november, we saw a new challenge to section two out of arkansas. when the eighth circuit court of appeals in st. louis ruled that if the naacp and the arkansas policy panel did not have section two to sue over the state house. that decision affects voters in seven states and ammunition of the united states supreme court may well have to weigh in on this issue again. it is a lot so i have enlisted two of our analysts, our civil rights attorney and former manhattan deputy district attorney.

kathryn, in a rare public statement earlier this year, special counsel jack smith made a point to say that the law applies to everyone. even the former president. do you think that all of the trump indictments together are enticed or a reckoning, if you will, for the rule of law in this country? >> it proves the fact that the former president of the united states has been indicted in four different jurisdictions to into federal that he is not above the law. he's innocent until proven guilty and there will be, he would prefer not be trials, but presumably there will be at least one trial, so yes the fact that he's been indicted, he's not above the law. >> charles, officials like fani willis in fulton county and even laetitia james in new york am stood strong in the face of criticism but also other attorneys.

there are some people in the legal community that were very critical of what they were doing, what did you make of herschel strength this year? >> people need to understand the role of the prosecutor in when you are talking about all of the examples that you gave both laetitia james and fani willis, and then you added alvin bragg, as well as a special prosecutor jack smith's you are seeing prosecutors do exactly what it is that they do. it's not unusual, unfortunately speaking, as a former prosecutor, i'm sure that kathryn can attest to this as well, that prosecutors are deriving simply for doing their jobs. but i do think it is important to point out that when you point out what we've seen this posture from donald trump his accolades and all of his supporters, there is a notion of white nationalism that has garnered a particular vitriol that has been directed both alvin bragg as well as fani willis and laetitia james. that is something that needs to be called out. prosecutors are not above criticism. we are at the end of the day public servants. but when you are talking about

some of the attacks that we have seen. it has risen to another level. that is something that really, really has the potential to become even more dangerous from a safety concern when you are talking about upholding one of america's most fundamental democratic institutions in our courts. >> also the attack on judge tanya chutkan who's overseeing the federal election interference case. this brings to mind for me, that these indictments of donald trump, that they have been tests of political speech versus protecting the legal process says. there've been some limited protective orders implemented in some cases. let's look ahead to the trial is coming up in 2024. are you at all worried about this becoming a bigger issue than judges and lawyers will have to reckon with? >> first, ma'am, it doesn't protect speech that is used as an instrument of crime, so, you know, donald trump can, and his lawyers can say, it is political speech that he is

being prosecuted with. that's just not accurate. he is being prosecuted for action in the span that he took and that people are acting on his behalf took. i always say that as a financial forward prosecutors. fraudsters use the gift of gab in order to commit their fraud. so, i'm not concerned. his lawyers on the four different indictments are going to throw everything up on the wall to see if it sticks, that is what defense attorneys do. but my only concern is, will these cases ever be tried? we won the election interference, one key federal one is scheduled for march 4th, that is now on hold because we are determining the special counsel is hoping that the supreme court will take it and sort of leapfrog over the district court of appeals but that may not happen. so it really will be justice, and justice could be an acquittal, will that happen before november 24? >> we'll just happened before

november 24? we will have to wait and see. only talk about the future voting rights. because we saw the supreme court upholds section two of the voting rights act this year which was consequential. but then we also saw in the same year, particularly in a lower court that kind of undid that whole thing in know in seven states across the country, it says that only the government can sue under section two. rubio there and putin like independent lawyers. are you concerned about the implications of this ruling? and what it will mean going forward? >> simone, how could i not be. as a civil rights attorney in part, one of the things that people need to understand is that when you are talking about the future of section two in the voting rights act, what you are really looking to do is to make this a political discussion. what i mean by that is when you leave it up to the government

and the only people who are in power to actually sue when you are talking about the potential infringement upon people's right to vote, it ends up being the federal government and the doj. the problem with that is that in bill barr doj, it looks very different than a merrick garland doj where krista clark is the head of the civil rights union. those people who are making those decisions will have the inclinations, and those inclination should not be the thing upon which someone's right to vote rests, and that is the problem with the elimination of section two, and what we are seeing in states across the country. so yes, it is very concerning, it is something that we should keep an eye on, but more importantly. we have to have a strategy we cannot get to brown versus board of education or any of those limestone legal victories that we have seen fall through the courts without a strategy, and you do not get to dobbs and the reversal of roe v. wade without a strategy. so the question going forward for next year, for 2024, when you are talking about the

courts, and you are talking about it, what is the strategy? >> what is the strategy? we've got to find the strategy today. catherine charles is asking good questions. thank you both very, very much. the year 2023 proved just how fragile freedom can be, even in a democracy. everything from studying black history which to be very clear is american history, to laws targeting the lgbtq+ community, to basic reproductive rights. i'm, next we will look at the battles waged in the last 12 months against our fundamental freedoms, and against our fundamental rights as americans and before we go to break, we will hear from one of the people at the center of these fights. she had to flee her home state of texas to receive an abortion after she learned her pregnancy was no longer viable and put her life at risk. >> we are going through the loss of a child. there is no outcome here that i take home my healthy baby girl. forcing me to continue the pregnancy, the pain and

suffering, putting me through the risks of continuing the pregnancy, the risks of childbirth, again. i think it is cruel. ink it is cruel. ink it is cruel. cil gummies. the easy way to get your daily fiber. we are america.

[crowd chanting] governor, black history is american history and you are on the wrong side of history. >> forcing a trans child to go through puberty when they are trans, that is tantamount to torture. the next ten years of education, when you about your heads in

prayer, there's blood on your hands. >> bad books and burning books are the same. both are done for the same reason. fear of knowledge. >> we will not be a quiet, and we through the first break. >> this year, countless americans across the country reckoned with disturbing attacks on their rights and freedom, the right to choose, the right to learn their history, the right to what they can wear, the right to bodily autonomy. 2023 saw at least 75 anti lgbtq bills become law across 23 states. it's all black history courses sanitize nafta from officials. 2023 saw women order to delay lifesaving abortion until the government gave him permission, or they were forced to cross state lines. americans are reckoning with these attacks by protesting for their rights in the streets and in hearing rooms, where they gave officials a piece of their

mind. what the 2023 teach us about protecting our rights and freedoms. joining me now to discuss this and aa c p president and ceo derek johnson. thank you for being here, there. what have you observed and how people are reacting to attacks on their rights and freedoms in this particular year of reckoning? >> many people are fighting, this is all a result of they are running out of constituents. they're running out of what folk, therefore they are using texas to fear around race to generate enough energy to maintain a voting base to continue their agenda. for the most part, that agenda 's policy regulations and taxes, whose tax, who is not tax, what the tax dollars are used for. what we are witnessing unfortunately is a reckoning that at some point, will tip the skill and ultimately address a movement that will

prevail. >> you know, black americans saw our rights attacked, especially in the academic year this year. specifically the ap program targeted not just affordable across the country, and then the supreme court second down race conscious decision making, as it applied to politic missions. education seems to be a major target for anti black rhetoric. why do you think that is? >> you always say, you think about brown versus the board of education, but because occasion really started in the backdrop of the civil war, particularly and southern states, when three african americans established as one of their angel policy initiative was the creation of a system of educating young kids. from that time to now, it has always been under attack. in fact, we've always had two systems of education and the country, want to train a labor force for cheap labor and another to train critical

thinkers to run the government. >> in the lead up to the segment, i talked about all of the different ways our freedoms and rights have been attacked this year, and it seems to me that none of the struggles have happened and a vacuum. struggles faced by black americans, by lgbtq+ americans, by the struggles that women are facing, all of this is intertwined. can you speak to that, because, sometimes, if you like people believe that it's one frontline over here, one battlefield over there, but this is the same battlefield that we are fighting these fights on? >> it is absolutely a coordinated strategy. short term fights for a long term strategy. some of the long term strategy is controlled in federal court. african americans, we are keenly aware of what is taking place before federal judges, what our federal court is doing for our rights, and attack on the voting rights act right now. we are looking at perhaps another supreme court decision

as a result of a federal case that came out of arkansas, which would determine who could bring in section to claim. only the government could bring the claim or private citizens. if the supreme court decides that private citizens -- are unable to bring up voting rights claim, it would undo over 60 years of precedent. so, the short term sometimes are this traction's, so they can carry out their long term strategy of maintaining domination control for as long as possible. >> derek johnson, thank you so much for being here to wrap up this year. the naacp has been at the forefront of many in these fights. i appreciate your time and work. >> thank you, continue to do the great work. >> up next, folks, it was not all doom and gloom in 2023. we also got a chance to turn the symone spotlight on some of the biggest names in culture. from patina --

to dionne warwick, wrappers like little nas, even legends like patty la belle opened up on a career, the infamous national christmas tree lighting performance with no backup singers. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> where my background singers? these are the wrong words on the qcard's, i don't know the song. >> i messed up that they like crazy, it was freezing. the security held them up. honey, that is so freaking funny, every time i see that, a car laughing. car laughing metamucil gummies. the easy way to get your daily fiber. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid before it begins. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. oil oil ale ale ale ♪ ♪ ♪ choose acid prevention. choose nexium.

>> between fiancée, taylor swift and barbie, 2023 showed us that women are reeling the entertainment industry. record setting eras tour brought a swift these around the u.s., and she officially became a billionaire this year, according to forbes. beyoncé's earth shaking renaissance tour raked in $579 million, with 3 million fans showing up across 39 cities, according to live nation. both artists are making millions more from movies based on their consular. and actors debuted in july, the barbie movie quickly became the number one movie in the year, earning 1.4 billion dollars at the box office.

it also made it movie's director greta gerwig, the first solo female director to earn more than one billion dollars. way to go, ladies. this year, i've had the opportunity to speak to amazing women dominating their industries. in my summoned spotlight interviews, we heard from women who brought us moments of inspiration and joy. to end the year, here are some of the spotlight moments that i treasured the most, started without sir sourcing or -- who plays the role of queens charlotte in the netflix series, queen charlotte, an origin story. she told us why the betrayal of queen charlotte is so necessary. take a listen. >> how closely does the backstory actually lineup with the real life queen charlotte? >> you know, charlotte is not in the books, originally written by julia bowen. to have her, to be able to put her into the mix, really create

a bigger space for these conversations to be had. >> talk about the importance of making ballet more accessible. why is this critical to your legacy? >> it's giving me the skills and tools to be come leaders in your community but also to continue the art form, to create future patrons, to educate black and brown communities, for them to feel and know that this is something that they can invest in, be a part of, do the foundation, we have created our own framework. >> you talked about how you would never live to see your 45th birthday. as we sit here, you are a fabulous -- can i say? 79 -- >> almost 80. six months to 80. my sisters all died in their early 40s. i really thought i would not make it. my time is coming, right? and it never came. each year, of course, i celebrate with them, even though they're not with me, and

say, i made it girls, i'm almost 80. i did not think that i would make it, to be this age. it's a wonderful thing, when you think all of your sisters and mothers, everyone is gone, and i am still standing. >> what's a dream character on broadway that you have not had the opportunity to play but you loved. >> i loved being able to stretch myself and do things unexpected. there are so many things i love to. do i love shakespeare, i love acting in all forms. this next stage, i would love to do something completely different. >> you have a tony, you have a grammy. we need you to get an oscar. >> how long have you to put the? gather >> for years. >> for years, and how did you? me >> music school. >> stop this, okay, wait. you all remind me basically, when missy and her friends came on the scene, she was not coming for too much. all the other girls were doing, she was herself, out of the box,

like afrofuturism. i feel like that is what y'all are doing, as well. >> thank you a lot. her cosigning gives us more fuel to continue to be ourselves, and whatever that comes out as. >> my entry to twitter was basically to let the kids know, there is a grown up here, and she does not play these kinds of games. let's get to the point. we will now take time to think about what we are writing, and how we talk to each other, and we are going to always do it with a smile. >> don't go away, folks, my political panel is back for a little lightning round about some of the biggest stories in 2023 and also their prediction for 2024. you don't want to miss this one. thi one.

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my team is around through about the ear with a lightning round. cycles, jennifer horn and miss palmieri, thank you for coming back. i will ask each of you a few questions, and you will each have 15 seconds to answer each one. we'll hear this buzzer, okay -- that's the sound, he already? let's start with the winners and losers of 2023. basil, you first, winners? >> my winners, ruby freeman and shaye moss. those two amazing women who risked it all really to stand up for democracy and themselves, $148 million from rudy giuliani but most importantly, they stood up for us. >> who are your losers? >> my loses are every single

january 6th defendant. >> there you go. jennifer, what about you? >> well, i was going to say, my winner for 2023 is justice, and while that might not seen instinctively correct, january six convictions and donald trump indictments let us know -- >> that buzzer is aggressive. the buzzer is aggressive. what about your losers, jennifer? >> my losers, i would like to say, ethics, honor and truth in politics, under attack at every level. scotus, congress, presidential candidate and an entire political party that is building their platform on election lie. >> tara, how you're going to be that? who are your winners? >> i think hakeem jeffries is a winner this year. he managed to raise a lot of money for the party, while seemingly keeping them united

through the israel palestine conflict. it seems like the party as lost. >> losers? >> losers, i would say kevin mccarthy. it took him 15 rounds to become speaker at the house, and then he was obviously ousted. he had a rough year. >> rough to say the least. how about, what was your top moment of 2023, basil? >> the trump mugshot. that says it all. it is putting everything and everyone who aligns with him, everything he's ever set on trial, and that's what we need in the country. we need to put him on trial. >> jennifer, what about you, top moment of 2023. >> top moment was the speaker at the house, and prove it once and for all, hopefully once and for, all that when you sell your soul, you ultimately lose the game. >> okay, buzzer. that moment?

>> my top moment was when he struggled to get the gavel. it was so cringey, round after round to still have the speaker. i don't think i'll ever forget anything like that, it's never happened before, it's nuts. >> i was definitely up a very late. our final lightning round moment, and i may need more time, maybe not, i want to get you each, and i am being told no. i want to give you each a prediction for 2025. i want to get y'all on record. this time, i will let tara go first. tara, your prediction for 2024. >> i think that donald trump will probably be the republican nominee, but i do think that if for some reason, he is not, he'll take the party down with him. he'll demand a write in campaign, hate claimed fraud and his own party, and that the republicans will end up having to deal with the repercussions of that. >> okay, all right, jennifer, what is your prediction for 2024? >> i would say trump is already

taking the republican party down with him. my prediction is that while it is probably going to be an ugly year in politics, that in the end, democracy will win, and joe biden will be in charge of the white house. >> last but certainly not least, basil smikle, your prediction for 2020, for just one. >> young people will say this, for all of these attacks on p 12 education, whether it was recent attacks, there are young students that are engaged, motivated, mobilize, and even though they get counted out a lot, right now, when we think about when and where their energy is, they will come from them. if you think about every political moment in social history, it's been -- >> it has. we will be watching. basil smikle, tara palmieri and jennifer horn, thank you all very much. folks, as i have said before, 2023 has been a year of reckoning. throughout the program, we holidays moments that we look

down in history for causing change, sparking debate and fostering accountability. this was a year that folks found out quickly what happens when you infringe upon the peoples rights, the people stood up, and we covered a lot of ground throughout the year. it has been an honor to advocate for you, i am talking about our viewers. it's been an honor to share the facts, to dig deeper, to look around at what is happening across our world and figure out how it connects to the picture of our everyday lives. it does not stop here in 2023. when the clock strikes midnight on january 1st, 2024, we must all continue to do the work, hold our leaders accountable, fight our freedoms, fight against all efforts to diminish our democracy. that work is necessary in this moment. so, thank you so much for watching tonight, the special addition of symone msnbc. i am symone d. sanders townsend,

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