that does it for me today, i wish everyone a happy holiday season with friends and family. for now, stay where you are, there's much more news coming up on msnbc. up on msnbc. tonight, on the many has ontario. our most memorable moment of 2023. this hour, we're look back on the start of the israel-hamas war, and donald trump's unprecedented for indictments, and the words of the late great truth teller, daniel ellsberg.

let's get started. ♪ ♪ ♪ according to the new nbc polls out this morning, and for the first-time, donald trump is now leading in a hypothetical general election matchup. now, this isn't just bad news for president biden. this is terrible news for the very future of american democracy. for weeks, we've been warning you on this show about the dangers of the second trump term. the former president after all, has promised retribution. pledged to round up protesters with the military, and suggested using the justice department to go after his political enemies. these are plans that should terrify each and every single one of us. tonight, i want to pull back the curtain take a look at who could be tasked with carrying out trump's radical agenda come 2025. and answer the question, what would a second trump presidency without any human guardrails, without any adult in the room, actually look like? let's start with the second highest office in the land, the

vice president of the united states. earlier this month, trump floated the name of someone you've probably heard of before, x fox host and far-right frozen food, air tucker carlson. trump said that he liked carlson, quote, a lot. and would consider him for vp, because, quote, he's got great common sense. here they are pulling around at a ufc fight. just last week. now, i don't have time to go through all of the horribly racist and sexist and bigoted remarks that carlson has made throughout his career, to bigoted even for fox in the end. he's just a small taste of the views that could be soon just a heartbeat away from the presidency. >> we have a moral obligation to admit the -- even if it makes our own un and dirtier and more divided. >> dirtier. next, up trump's national pick for a national security visor, michael flynn. if that name sounds familiar, because we already had that job during trump's first term only for 24 days before he was forced to resign in disgrace. earlier this year, trump pledged to bring the former army lieutenant general back,

calling flynn, quote, somebody really special. a reminder that this is the man who suggested trump seize voting machines and declare martial law in some states in order to re-run the 2020 election. since then, he's embarked on a nationwide tour, traveling from city to city to address some election denialism, christian nationalism, and the wild qanon type conspiracy theories. let's move on to him a man people have not have heard, of mike davis. he's the man many of trump's been circle, including his own son don jr., and steve bannon, are pitching to be the country's next possible attorney general. earlier this, week over on my peacock show, i dove deep into the conservative lawyers record from davis's threats to send journalists to the d.c. gulag, to his repeated calls on social media first followers to, quote, arm up against the violent black underclass. and it appears i may have struck under, the davis interest wanted to my long modeling from early this week, pledging to indict me. when he's a.g..

for what, i'm not sure. is also to send me to the d.c. gulag. that's a totally normal non fascist response for a man eyeing to become the nation's chief law enforcement officer. right? now to another man you may not know so well. kash patel. trump loyalist, former national security council staffer, could very well become the country's next cia director, despite a lack of qualifications. during his first administration, trump already tried to install patel as deputy cia director, of then president backed down when his director of the cia threatened to quit if he hospital. since then, patel is become one of trump's top defenders in the classified documents case. he's falsely claimed that trump had unilateral authority, declassified record saying, quote, he could literally stand over a set of documents and say these are now declassified. magic. last year, sycophant patel even published a trump inspired children's book. called the plot against the king. which the ex president has said should be available in every

school america. last but certainly not least, maybe the craziest possible future administration efficient of all. white house press secretary laura bloomer. that's what's looming. don jr. suggested looming for the job just last week. >> laura lu morneau to be -- for the dead. she's a bulldog, man i'll say that. she get after it. i love to see airs persecutor just to watch d.c. explode. >> bloomer already has a close relationship with the former president, here they are running shoulders at trump's bedminster golf course. in fact trump repeatedly asked his aides to find a position for the 2024 election campaign. but the far-right activist and self-described proud islamophobia is blocked by none other than fellow far-right figure and islamophobia, congresswoman marjorie taylor greene, who called bloomer, quote, mentally and stable in a documented liar. -- when she said all palestinian american employees of the federal government should be purged from their jobs for

claiming that, quote, if you want to serve in the federal government, you should be born in this country. now, when these kind of far-right figures waiting in the wings, waiting to serve in a possible second trump administration, it really no surprise that the economies -- magnesium dubbed donald trump, quote, the biggest data to the world in 2024. so, look, yes, you can be upset about the economy, you can be frustrated over joe biden's age, you can angrily disapprove of the way the administration is handled the situation in gaza. those are all legitimate concerns. objections, criticism. we cannot overlook what's taking shape right before our very eyes. a second trump term filled with an extremist, far-right army of ultra loyalists in total psych offense. with little regard for the constitution. which will be beyond anything we've ever seen in modern american history. on that note, joining me now is democratic congressman, greg azar of texas. congressman, i am sure you are disillusioned, leftist, young

voters people voted for biden in 2024, and are saying to are not voting for again. it doesn't matter if trump comes back. we survived one trump term, we can survive another. when i hear people say that. how bad you think the second trump term will be? and why do you think so many americans just don't see the threat. >> well, we can't have this election be the last fair and free presidential election in this country. so, we absolutely have to flip the house so we have a speaker of the house that will preserve the vote and make sure we count presidential elections. we cannot have donald trump continuing to threaten to weaponize and utilize the federal government to take down his political opponents. it's just unacceptable. for american democracy. and so, when i talk with so many young folks in my district, young, diverse, and working class. we have to remember, in the civil rights movement people don't just go out and vote once. they don't just go out and do sit ins at lunch counters once.

we have to continue the struggle cycle after cycle after cycle. and through disillusionment, challenges keep the we're going. >> so, congressman, new nbc d.c. know paul sows biden's approval rating falling to 40%, the list of his -- four presidential for the first time in a hypothetical general action. all the usual caveats about polls and -- do apply. but do you think people in the white house get how bad the situation is getting, how big the threat of a trump victory? and what do you think they should be doing to address these pretty dire poll numbers? >> we should be taking these numbers seriously. and doing all the work that we can. to keep trump out of the white house. i think there's two things we need to do. the first, is to show and remind people what donald trump would do to your pocketbook, because he's such a corporate grifter. how much of a liar and a fraud he is. but then we have to draw a strong contrast.

that will take all of us getting the message out. because this country isn't just run by joe biden. it will take an entire party and a whole set of activists. but it would help if we have the president drawing the strongest contrast possible. and i've seen president biden do it. look, we've seen many stood up to corporate police and talked about getting rid of these junk fees. we've seen we talk about getting immigrants work permits to show everybody kicker tribute here. we've seen him take on powerful interests, and i think that's when he's at the strongest. and drawing a contrast with this con man. >> a big issue, of course driving this falling by the numbers's bombardment of gaza. a majority of democratic voters believe his voters have gone too far. it's his gaskins in gaza, among voters 18 to 30, for 70% of them disapprove of biden's handling of the war. could the president lose reelection because of what's happening in gaza right now? and therefore, how big a political, and a moral mistake, is it for joe biden to sow uncritically back israel, and back this war? >> there is the critical moral

case, but as you laid out here, many, there is an important view of the politics that we have to look at here. i believe that nbc poll, because i just ran a pole here in my own district in central texas writer from san antonio of austin. 80% of democratic voters said there were more likely to support an elected official who standing for a cease-fire and peace and protecting innocent civilians, is really a palestinian alike. from getting killed. and i am proud to see more and more members of congress moving in this direction. even the president starting to move in the direction of saying, we need a cease-fire and long term peace. without killing thousands more innocents people. that's where our voters are and so the same way i was saying the president has stood up to big powerful corporate interests. i think this is a moment to stand up for peace. because so many voters, including young voters, have been sickened by seeing indefinite occupation. and these long waged wars in the middle east that don't make

a safer. >> congressman, 40 members of congress have now called for a cease-fire, including yourself. only one senator, dick durbin. how disappointed are you in your senate counterparts, especially progressive titans like bernie sanders, and elizabeth warren, who have called for a pause in the bombing, denounced israeli attacks on civilians. but have steadfastly refused to join you in your call for a cease-fire. >> i've spoken with so many members of the progressive, caucus folks in the senate house. so many people trying to wrestle with this decades long conflict and figure out what the path forward is for peace. and when i talk to people who are disillusioned or disheartened in this moment, i point to the large movement of just in the first few days, it was less than -- members of congress as you listed out, it's over 40. i think there is movement. and it's important for people to continue to les wrestle with a question and speak up. >> congressman greg casar, thank you for time. appreciate it >> coming up, my

conversation this year with congresswoman alexandra ocasio-cortez. aoc, just weeks in the israel-hamas war. israel-hamas war together, feels better together. we now over two months into a

brutal war between israel and hamas. near the start of this conflict, i spoke with democratic congresswoman alexandra acosta cortez. after she met with some family members of hostage being held by hamas. >> congresswoman, thanks for coming back on the show. is it fair for me to summarize your position, and the position of some of her fellow progressives as that you're calling for hamas to reach the hostages in for israel in the u.s. to agree to a cease-fire. >> correct. correct. that's actually correct. >> what would you say to the israelis who say they suffered a horrific terrorist attack, over 1400 people killed, many in gruesome ways. children killed, abducted. so they say, they're fighting a war of self-defense. any other country, could it be as would fight if they were in

the same position. what is your reaction to that line of argument? >> i think one of the things that important recognize about the situation is the asymmetry of what is going on. as well as the collective punishment of what is happening to the palestinian people at this moment. hamas has absolutely engaged in horrific attacks. in every single day, there are more details that are released about what occurred on october 7th that shocks the human consciousness. and shocks our conscience, our collective conscience. however, we do know as well that war crimes do not constitute, and are not appropriate response for other war crimes. hamas's hostage taking, their hostage taking of children, of the disabled elderly, civilians. our war crimes. but when we are talking about the blockading of water.

food. electricity. to a population of 2.2 million palestinians. . we are talking about dropping, what we're seeing from human rights watch reports in confirmation of organizations like amnesty international, human rights watch. the dropping and deployment of white phosphorus, which is also a war crime. it is unacceptable to think that 1700 palestinian children alone, that their deaths will somehow make up or justify the violence of what we saw on october 7th. you know, here in congress, every single year, we pass a defense budget. every single year, we hear about the precision, the sophistication, the technological capacities. to meet targets with such precise tricks. yet, what we are seeing unfold

in gaza is an indiscriminate bombing campaign. we are seeing the dropping of white phosphorus. the indiscriminate weapon. we are seeing civilian centers being bombed. we are seeing churches. we are seeing thousands upon thousands of people being killed by the strikes. and it occurs to me, and i think a question that we all must ask ourselves, is what price of innocent life is acceptable in terms of targeting hamas? and are we even receiving, we are receiving daily counts every day, about the number of innocent people that are dying. we are not seen reports on how effective this has actually been in terms of dismantling hamas. i think it's very important for us to raise that point. i think it's also very important for us to understand that this is part of a larger intergenerational cycle of violence. >> so, you mention war crimes. and human rights watch did this

week said ahmaud should be investigated for committing war crimes in southern israel. as you said. but also israel is also being accused of war crimes by both human rights watch and amnesty international. just to be clear, your view is that both sides have been in or committing war crimes, because 95% of your colleagues in congress won't even call for a cease-fire, let alone accused israel of war crimes. >> i don't see how anyone can look at reputable international organizations confirming the carrying a deployment of white phosphorus by the israeli government, these really military, and say that there is no question here. in fact, george paul, a state department official that resigned publicly this week, pointed specifically to this issue. that the leahy laws, the united states leahy laws, require united states to assess if the government is committing war crimes or engaged in gross violations of human rights. and that must be considered in

any weapons transfer or military aid assistance. and from an individual whose role directly involved the assessment and deployment of these weapons and consideration of the he, he himself is saying that u.s. law is, in his view, being violated. that must be an absolute consideration. because we are talking about the role of democracy. and fighting for democracy. the whole case for democracy it lies upon interests upon civil society rule of law in the protection of human and civil rights. and we must make our case more so in wartime than almost any other time. to make the distinguish meant of what makes us different. >> congresswoman, your critics would say that it's all well and good calling for a cease-fire, that doesn't deal with the problem of hamas. doesn't protect israeli civilians from future hamas

attacks. i wonder, for example, what is your response to senator schumer, majority leader schumer, who suggested in remarks that punchbowl published on friday, that those of you progressive in the house who are calling for a cease-fire or suggesting israel is attacking hospitals are basically taking, he said, quote hamas's position. >> you know, i have great respect for senator schumer. and we enjoy a very strong working relationship. this is an area of disagreement. i would say that if we want to see how this is going, we can just look back at the many different cycles of violence and response. and i do not believe that it it's absolutely not a defense of hamas. in order to criticize this current approach. this indiscriminate violent approach. 1700 children are dead. and when i think about the

political aims of violence, the material aims of violence often involve the destruction of human life. and much of the horror that we've seen. many of the political aims of violence is to further radicalize and entrench both parties into further violence. and when we see people radicalized to dehumanize the palestinian population as the result of hamas, this is part of the goal of that political violence. and when we see the dehumanization of israeli families as a result of this. this is part of the political aim. and we have to be able to get ourselves to break the cycle. because hamas and terrorism -- >> congresswoman, you would accept a cease-fire, we would leave hamas in place? you would accept that the cost of saving civilian lives in gaza? >> i think in immediate sense, we have to have a pause.

and what is going on. as we mentioned, only 14 trucks have made it through had any military nate. we are talking about a full blockade of water for a population of 2.2 million people, 1.1 million people in northern gaza. and we're supposed to think that 14 trucks is going to somehow, in any way, in any way, address what is happening in terms of the the starvation the famine the thirst that is happening? i mean, we're now in a state where there is risk of cholera, and other types of waterborne disease. i mean, what, 14 trucks of water? >> on that note about what's happening, i can open notice that almost, you mentioned dehumanization, almost all of these, 18 house democrats who called for a cease-fire in gaza are people of color. how much of the congressional indifference to palestinian life in gaza the refusal in d.c. to acknowledge sometimes

that humanity and the innocence, not to mention suffering of all ordinary gazans how much of that is driven by the fact that they're arabs. or they're mostly all muslims. for they don't look like ice, do you think? >> i mean, i will say that i have long found the ignoring and sidelining of palestinians in the u.s. house of representatives, the humanity of palestinian populations in the five years i've been in congress quite shocking. this is not something that is new to many of us. i have engaged alongside many of my colleagues from betty mccollum's bill on the detention, conditioning aid in making sure that it's not going to the detention of children. to just raising the routine human rights issues. we've been trying to raise the alarm bells around this. for years. and there have been virtually

no acknowledgment in the united states of house of representatives about the extreme plate and continued human rights violations of the palestinian people. for years. i think i find it alarming. i found it shocking. i found it shocking. when in 2019 or in 2020 in our first term of the house of representatives when a prime minister netanyahu band to united states sitting members of congress from coming to israel. representatives rashida tlaib and ilhan omar. banned two members of the united states congress from entering the country. that my own colleagues did not seem to say or do much of anything. that should be an affront to our entire government and country. so, you mentioned your colleagues in the congress, before we run out of time, i've

gotta ask you about the house itself. you have no speaker right now. the republicans defenestrated kevin mccarthy. couldn't agree on steve scalise or jim jordan. now, byron donald, congressman from florida wants to be speaker. what do you make of him? >> i, you know, is only served one term in the u.s. house of representatives. he last thing that he did in the oversight committee was attempt to submit falsified evidence to an impeachment hearing. i think it helps to know we're all the bathrooms or before you went for the u.s. house of representatives personally. and i think it helps to have some real experience in one of the most complex legislative bodies in the world before you try to run it. >> last question for you, just looking forward, just despite republican dysfunction, that'll do well in the polls. in the presidential polls. looking forward to november 2024, especially now with this war in gaza. seems to be alienating a few key parts of the democratic base, young voters, progressives, arab american voters and states like michigan. how worried are you about joe biden's reelection prospects

and the chances of a donald trump return to power? >> i think we need to understand that we one of the lessons that must be learned from donald trump's first election is that it is not sufficient. and has never been sufficient. to say, well, the other guys worse. i think it's an argument that is very understandable. i understand it completely. and it is, on its face, correct. but where it is offensive and where i think folks sometimes lack sensitivity in that, is that only some populations are asked to have the rights held hostage. to ask to have their humanity and inhumanity held hostage. and say we don't really need to prioritize the policy demands of these constituencies because of how much worse the opponent is. i think a democratic coalition,

not just means involving protecting people from erosion, it means actually championing and incorporating other policy priorities in our governance. we have a year and i think it's important to demonstrate that year to come. congresswoman alexander coaches thank you so much for a time tonight appreciative. >> next, one of my favorite 62nd rantz of 2023. donald trump's -- the first set him apart from every other president in american history. history atients say you know doc, it really works. a force to be reckon with. no, not you saquon. hm? you! your business bank account with quickbooks money, now earns 5% apy. 5% apy? that's new! yup, that's how you business differently. (crowd cheers) sore throat got your tongue? mucinex instasoothe sore throat medicated drops. uniquely formulated for rapid relief that lasts and lasts.

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money payments -- is the first president to be indicted for a federal crime after being indicted for special counsel jack smith under the espionage act -- classified documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice -- the first former president to be indicted for a federal federal crime, and going to office after being indicted by special counsel jack smith dispatched to a safe return towards the 20 election -- the first former president to be found liable of sexual abuse in a new york court -- the first candidate who come election will literally be on trial for crimes and multiple jurisdictions, the first president to release details of his taxes, and the first president to be impeached twice for obstruction of congress in 2019 and for his inciting an insurrection in 2021. he's the first president voted to convict in the senate. he's the first president defeated in the election. inauguration -- the first president to incite an insurrection in the nation's capital. and therefore, the first president to ever ever violate the peaceful transfer of power since this country began. ♪ ♪ ♪ coming up, my conversation

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american icon, daniel ellsworth, best known for releasing the pentagon papers in 1971. but over five decades, he continued to deliver urgent warnings about press freedoms, nuclear weapons, government surveillance, climate change, and more. i had the privilege of speaking with him one month before he sadly passed at the age of 92.

here is our conversation. daniel ellsberg, thank you so much for joining us on the show tonight. we appreciate you taking your time out. can i start by asking you how are you feeling right now? and when you look back at your life at a moment like this, your career, what are you most proud of? >> well, i'm feeling very well, under the circumstances, as well as expected, terminal pancreatic cancer, in operable. so, i'm very lucky to live this long and i'm lucky to be talking to you right now. >> and you said look at have lived this long, you are in your 90s. when you look back at your nine decades plus on planet earth, what do you cherish most? what memory do cherish most? what are you mostly proud of achieving? >> just to show how old i am, i'm reading in the paper today about the coronation. actually, my former wife and i, when we were both 20, we were

on the curb watching princess elizabeth go to westminster abby to be crowned, and we were there all night in that drizzling rain. and we were able to see her come back from westminster abby. we had the privileged position them. those 70 years, it seemed to be turning around again. i came back actually from england, go into the marine corps because i felt it was my turn. i've been accepted from conscription for a couple of years for education, so i thought it was my turn to go. and yet, the korean war, i was about to say vietnam, the korean war was still very much on. and i was actually proud of my country that i was in no way a militarist, i had no background in that. but i thought it was right that we should be opposing aggression, and that there was purely aggression by the north koreans against the south. as a matter of fact, i stayed in the marine corps for an

extra year, where the french and british allies were committing aggression against egypt in the swiss canal. i expected to be involved -- we are in the mediterranean. again, aggression is still going on 70 years later. >> daniel, your most famous, of course, for your stance against the vietnam war and the aggression there. remind us of the moment you decided to become a whistleblower, that moment when you decided to copy and leak all those documents to pentagon papers to go against all what you've done in your career up until this point, when you decided to risk life in prison. remind us of that moment. >> well, a few weeks earlier, a bit earlier, i had been introduced to young americans who were on their way to prison. in fact, to resist the draft and to resist what they thought was a wrongful war. and i agreed with them on that. and they put that question in my mind, what should i do now if i'm against the war, and given that i'm now ready to go

to prison, as they are. without their example, it would not have occurred to me to ask that question of myself. it would not have occurred to me to do something that could have put me in prison for life. but i think that wasn't excessive under the circumstances. their example was right. i got the message. i sensed the power of nonviolent action on my own life. so, i had reason to think that it might have some effect on events, and to shorten that war. >> daniel, the official argument for the vietnam war was to make the world safer place from communism. of course, it did not make the world a safer place. most u.s. wars haven't, sadly, in the years since. but how dangerous, in your view, is the world today compared to when you released the pentagon papers, especially when we think about the threat of nuclear war, climate change, and more? >> well, i was extremely worried in the late 70s that nuclear war might well be imminent. i had a mistaken idea as to why that might be.

i was under the delusion, and i persuaded, allowed myself to be persuaded that the soviet union was gearing up, preparing itself to launch a surprise attack on that united states. that proved to be a total hoax. it was a delusion. they won't even trying to acquire that capability at that time. but on the basis of that, i would have said that it was at maricle that 70 more years, we have gone without a nuclear war. but we have arrived at a point where i think, again, we are on the verge of it. it is possible imminent possibility of a nuclear war, either small or large. the thing that people are not thinking about that, but that's the real possibility now. and it would assure us into an era, i think, of small nuclear wars before the whole thing blows up, and nuclear war vanquishes -- i wouldn't say that in 70 years the world has got safer.

30 years ago, on the first cold war ended, i would've said that. but there are people in this country and abroad who like the idea of cold war. they'd rather have a world of division in which the u.s. and its allies dominate half the world, or half of europe. and protect them from the other half. we rather have a world in which there was -- democracy, peace, freedom across all of europe, that's what gorbachev called for. it seemed possible that, but not now. >> it doesn't, sadly, especially with events in ukraine. last question before i let you go, joe biden said last week at the white house correspondents dinner that journalism is not a crime. and yet, his administration continues to pursue the prosecution of julian assange for publishing secrets about u.s. war crimes in places like afghanistan, and prosecuting him under the espionage act, as you were, by richard nixon, which doesn't allow a defendant to explain to a jury why they

did what they did. so, what is your advice, daniel, to a whistleblower who's looking at what happened to you, looking at what happened to assange and others, and sees the espionage act. he wants to speak out, but he's afraid. what's your advice? >> assange is facing a very heavy penalty, as i expected to get at that time, putting out 7000 pages of top secret documents. expected to go to prison for life and that didn't happen, again, almost by a miraculous convergence of events. the exposure of crimes that nixon committed against me. now, it's much more likely that assange will be found in the digital age, but it remains true that there are circumstances in which it absolutely is justifying and being willing to take the greatest, personal risks for nonviolent truth telling to try to avert war, to try to avert a massive violation of the constitution, and in the case of edward snowden and the

surveillance. and the information of assange and chelsea manning that put out about mass of war crimes we were committing in that region. in other words, there are times it is worth giving your life to revert terrible catastrophe. and we are at this moment on a road to hell. the world, in terms of climate, and in terms of nuclear war possibilities, there should be, i think, a global emergency. as greta thunberg keeps pointing out, people are not rising to that challenge. as for biden and julian assange, of course, going way back, he said that julian assange is putting out the truth about the 2010, 2013 going back to that. he said that made him a terrorist -- that's ridiculous. >> it was ridiculous language from biden than. --

it's obviously ridiculous. we are out of time. you said we need people to rise to the challenge. you did. we appreciate your service to this country, daniel. and we all pray for your well-being and health coming forward in the coming weeks and months. thank you so much to talk to us tonight. >> thank you. appreciate, it mehdi. next, elon musk censures speech on his own platform, mounting to election interference in the turkish presidential election. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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former host tucker carlson announced he was bringing his show to twitter, this was the reason he gave. >> amazingly, as of tonight, there aren't many platforms left that allow free speech. the last big one remaining in the world, the only one's twitter. >> yes! twitter is the only big platform for free speech left on planet earth. it's a narrative that the boss of tesla, starlink, and yes,

twitter, elon musk himself has of course but from the very beginning that he was buying twitter to save free speech that he himself was a free speech absolutist. his quote, excuse me, from a little over a year ago, starlink has been told by some governments, not ukraine, to block russian news sources. we will not do so unless at gunpoint. sorry to be a free speech absolutist. in fact, musk and twitter are so publicly devoted to free speech that standing up to those who suppress it, the chief himself tweeted on friday afternoon, i'm adamant about defending free speech, even if it means losing money. bravo, bravo. [applause] and yet, what's this? just hours later, twitters global government affairs account tweeted, in response to legal process and to ensure twitter remains available to the people of turkey, we have taken action to restrict access to some content in turkey today. in case you were not aware, today was election day in turkey. president erdogan is facing the biggest challenge yet in his

two decades in power, state-run news agencies are suggesting tonight that the latest figures show that this could go to a runoff, and leading up to today, and for years, the autocratic turkish president has been no friend to the free press or to free speech. naturally, all this lead some to question musk's move, including this stark notice -- quote, the turkish government asked twitter to censor its opponents right before an election. and elon musk complied, it should generate some interesting twitter files reporting. in fact, not a word of condemnation from the so-called twitter files reporters, not surprising as they also said nothing about their hero musk. and authoritarian indian prime minister, narendra modi's government, to block on twitter and talk about modi -- internet blackout across the northern state of punjab, as well as silencing modi's major critics. something about iglesias tweet touched a nerve, quote, did your brain fall out of your

head, iglesias, musk tweeted. the choice is to have twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets, which one do you want? there's plenty of folks on twitter have pointed out. musk seems to think that i wait response -- it was a burn, a -- and it was a -- but not against iglesias and his critics. but it was against moscow self. musk put in writing on his own website under his own name a clear message for all autocratic and repressive governments around the world to see an act on. threatened to shut down twitter in your countries and the chief twist will do whatever you want. he will limit whatever tweets you like. his army of fans might say, what was he supposed to do? to which the answer is, maybe, be a free speech absolutist. wait to be held at gunpoint. be willing to lose money. or at the very least, just follow the example of other major social media companies,

jimmy wills, the founder of wikipedia, took to twitter, and took the, i am not the air to an emerald mine, twitter ceo, to task detailing how his team stood for their principles and fell all the way to the supreme court of turkey when the erdogan government threatened wikipedia. even twitter itself under its old management, who musk and his fans claim were very censorious, did not care about free speech. they stepped up to erdogan in 2014 and they won again at the turkish supreme court. just to be clear, when fbi agents asked old twitter to take them down some tweets containing election misinformation, and old twitter agreed to some but refused to take down others, that's the aim of free speech, a victory for the deep state, the ultimate censorship, and election interference. but when the turkish government says, take down some tweets 24 hours out of a crucial election, and twitter rolls over and complies, that is musk just following the law. free speech be dammed. i don't know. is this musk just preparing for

autocratic governments like erdogan or modi's to our own? or is just about the money for him. surely, his capitulation could not have anything to do with stuff like this, could it? there's no financial conflict of interest here right? either way, it is capitulation to, quote, tech journalist kara swisher, being a persistent glistening to authoritarian governments upon which are other businesses are dependent has a very vichy france vibe. guess what? you can't crown yourself the grand who bar of free speech while also craving leak caving to the demands of foreign autocracy, the way you happen to have other business interests. oh, hypocrisy, elon musk be thy name. thanks for watching. that wraps up our most memorable moments of 2023 here on the mehdi hasan show. for most, do you, happy holidays and goodnight. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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joanna gaines: discoveries at saint jude helped this kid beat cancer at age two. marget: and now this kid has three kids. chip gaines: and that's what we do at saint jude. subject: give thanks for the healthy kids in your life tonight on ayman -- and give a gift that could last a lifetime.

we are rounding out the year by highlighting some of our most and lighting moments with our favorite guests. in 2023, with all the historic indictment of donald trump and the intensification of his authoritarian ambitions. we