>> welcome back. i'm michael steele, jonathan capehart is off this morning. coming up this hour, the main event. the states top election

officials decide to remove donald trump from maine's primary ballot. but what happens next? and could other states follow suit? i'll talk to one of the lead plaintiffs in the case. plus, the do nothing congress. congressional republicans face a hefty to-do list when they return to work in the new year. including keeping the government open. so why are they already putting their focus on an impeachment inquiry into president biden, despite no evidence of wrongdoing? and as the war between israel and hamas wages on, we will take a closer look at how the conflict has become a political and religious flash point, in this country. a powerful discussion with a diverse group of faith leaders is coming up. we begin this hour with donald trump getting the booed off the 2024 primary ballot in a 2nd state. on thursday, in a historic move,

main secretary of state shenna bellows ruled that trump is not qualified to hold the office of the presidency under section 3 of the 14th amendment to the constitution. that provision bans anyone who is not engaged in an insurrection from serving in public office after previously swearing an oath to the united states. the ruling came after bellows received 3 separate challenge is seeking to block trump's eligibility. she's the first election official to make this decision unilaterally. however, we should note, the main secretary has stayed her decision pending court review, which means the disgraced ex president will remain on the ballot, at least for now. billows used the same argument made by the colorado supreme court in its bombshell ruling to remove trump from the ballot there last week. on wednesday, the colorado republican party asked the u.s. supreme court to overturn that decision. now, it's a waiting game, to see if the highest court in the land will weigh in on trump's

legal and political future. joining me now is ethan struggling, he was one of the lead plaintiffs in the challenge to keep trump off the ballot and maine. he is also the former mayor of portland, maine. welcome. why did you file this challenge regarding trump's eligibility in the first place? was this the outcome that you expected? >> good morning, and thanks for taking my subject. i don't know if it's the outcome that we expected, it's certainly the one that we hoped for. i think everybody after january 6th was sort of shaking their heads, saying to themselves, how is this even possible? the man in the white house is trying to block the peaceful transfer of power through a violent insurrection. and at that moment, we all were thinking, this guy needs to be impeached, number one. and number 2, certainly never be allowed back into the white house. and then from there, as he has tried to get back to the white house, the 14th amendment to the constitution started getting a lot more interest as

we recognized that this was put in place back in 1868 and still applied. and once colorado rolled, once a judge in colorado determined that there was indeed a finding of fact that president trump had engaged in insurrection, had incited a riot to block that peaceful transfer of power, [inaudible] there's a finding effect, a court has ruled that this man has engaged in insurrection and therefore the constitution must apply. kelowna supreme court followed suit and said yes, and now, thankfully, shenna bellows, secretary bellows here in the state of maine, has ruled as she did. not expected, certainly hope for, but if you look at the constitution, it's pretty black and white. this man should not be allowed back in the white house or anywhere near it. >> yeah, i wanted to address a point that a trump campaign

spokesman said in response to the ruling. quote, we are witnessing in realtime the attempted theft of an election, and the disenfranchisement of the american voter. is that not the response for that is the height of hypocrisy here, when you think about what the presidency was, how it ended, and what trump himself did? >> you know, it's incredible. he tried to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters by overturning an election that he lost. he's never accepted -- he's a perpetual loser just over and over again, and he will refuse to accept anytime that he legitimately loses. so it is the height of hypocrisy. interestingly, just the week before or 2 weeks before secretary fellows had disqualified chris christie from the palate, because he had not submitted the requisite number of signatures. well, we didn't hear donald trump at that time complaining about the voters right to

choose whom they wanted to when that person was knocked off the ballot. but donald trump is no less qualified than chris christie at this point. >> you're a democrat, you filed this challenge with former republican lawmakers. so this is clearly not a partisan issue, as many would like to freeman as. you also have challenges now rising in a few states, across the country. do you think the u.s. supreme court should intervene and really, does it speak to a bipartisan moment, if you will? >> yeah, i do think the supreme court should weigh in. i expect they probably will, and i hope they put aside their partisanship and the fact that the 3 of them were appointed by donald trump, i hope they put all that aside. you look at the constitution, it's very clear. when you step back, if this weren't donald trump, i don't think there would be any controversy around it. somebody who commits insurrection against the country who is an elected official, who swore an oath to

uphold our constitution, who then violates that constitution in such a way that the 14th amendment applies, it is a very black and white. that person cannot hold office again. so, it's very important the supreme court way in. they weigh in soon. we don't want to have happen, very specifically for republicans, is we don't want people going to the ballot box, looking for a candidate who is not qualified, that will then be taken off the ballot later. there isn't losing all their votes, they're being disenfranchised. what we're saying is get him off the ballot now, he is clearly not call qualified, can't hold the office, let people choose among who remains. nikki haley or the vac ramaswamy, or ron desantis. >> all right, ethan streamlined, thank you so much for coming on the show. joining me now to continue this conversation, lucy caldwell, political strategist and former campaign manager for joe walsh's 2020 presidential campaign. and molly jon fast, special correspondent at vanity fair and host of the fast politics

podcast. welcome to you both. lucy, i want to get you to listen to a clip of one of trump's 2024 primary opponents. you know him well. former new jersey governor chris christie, responding to maine's decision. >> it makes him a murder. he is a very good at playing poor me, poor me. he's always complaining. the poor billionaire from new york to spending everybody else 's money to pay his legal fees. for me. but when stuff like this happens, this should be decided by the voters of the united states. it should not be decided by courts. >> so does he have a point? will this just make trump a murder among his base? >> well, we know that donald trump can spin gold out of the worst news possible. he's done that with all of the news around indictments, he does that all the time. anything that would -- maybe he's like teflon don. the kinds of things that would undo another candidate, he is somehow makes it a benefit.

i think we need to be careful on both sides. whether you want the supreme court decision to become the law of the land, based on how scotus does or does not take this up. or you are hoping for a different outcome. we have to be able to separate the remedy of the courts versus what is happening electorally, and let the voters here decide. and i say that is somebody who spends all my time trying to defeat donald trump. so i think there's a middle ground between what chris christie is saying and what those like the last person interviewed said, which is essentially that it's fine to pursue this remedy when the courts have their say, we all need to respect the courts, just as we were relieved when the supreme court, including a court where many of those justices were appointed by donald trump, rejected his calls for them to decertify the 2020 election. so we have to really cool heads prevail, because it's a very uncomfortable moment for american democracy. >> it's really interesting,

molly. lucy raises an interesting point about the court and the role it's playing, and you have, and i'd like to get your reaction to vivek romo swami calling the ruling a threat to democracy, and doubling down on his own pledge to remove his name from anybody that did not include trump's. i'm not shocked by that, it's performative. but the underlying messaging to me about the court to me is still powerful. >> look, these are the republicans, that are killing themselves to defend donald trump. that's their thing. they want the people running against donald trump or history leaders, which is a very odd dynamic for a republican primary. but i think it's worth thinking about how many times donald trump has not been treated the way that the constitution says he should be treated, or that the congress says he should be treated. look, we got here because republican senators refused to

convict him. right? right after the insurrection, there was an impeachment, and 10 republican senators said, no, we are not going to find him guilty of what's obviously happened, and they even admitted it. and instead they're like we're going to kick the can, he's going to go away, it's going to be fine. so now here we are, fast forward a few years later, he's not gone away. they could have put a stop to all of this, and they decided not to. so yet again, we see donald trump, and people are saying let's do the political calculus. we don't want to get his people upset. let's ignore this section 14 of the constitution. i, mean look. the supreme court is obsessed with text relisten. they are obsessed, right? every single piece of text in this constitution, they're ready with ricky need to take at domestic violence, because it didn't exist when the constitution was written. so i think it's worth thinking about, like here is text that

says you cannot overturn the election. officers who do this should be removed. so either your attacks vilest, or your not. and i think we're going to see. >> lucy, you had a trump campaign spokesman saying this is a quote, hostile assault on american democracy. so given the threat that a 2nd trump term could actually pose, which is the greater threat to democracy at this point? >> well, of course donald trump is the ultimate threat to american democracy at this moment, as are the candidates who are shaping themselves and his molds. he is a unique threat. i still think that there are questions around section 3 of the 14th amendment. i want nothing more than for donald trump to go away forever, and for trump-ism to die. it's terrible. but there are questions i think, including the last sentence of section 3 of the amendment, -- remove the so-called disability,

let alone the due process that -- has committed insurrection. i believe he has, but a court has not found that he has. so i say all of that to say, yes, we can both hold in our minds that trump is an unbelievable threat to american democracy, that all possible avenues should be pursued, but at the end of the day, if the supreme court does not choose to uphold the supreme court ruling, we do not accidentally, as people who are pro democracy, further erode our democratic traditions by questioning the legitimacy of the supreme court, et cetera. it's not a fun answer, but i believe it is. cooler heads have to prevail here. >> all right, we're going to take a quick break. coming up, republicans congressional chaos with so much at stake, when the house returns. why republicans escalating their baseless impeachment inquiry against president biden? lucy molly will be back with me to discuss that in 60 seconds. to discuss that in 60 seconds. s right!

plans start at $25 per line guaranteed for 3 years. only on verizon. >> when congress returns in the having triplets is... -amazing -expensive. so, we switched to the bargain detergent, but we ended up using three times as much and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back with tide, and the clothes are clean again. do 3x the laundry and get a tide clean. it's got to be tide.

new year, it's facing along to do list. among the most urgent of unfinished businesstang action on 2 looming funding deadlines. one on january 19th, and another on february 2nd. and yet, house republicans are spending their energy ramping up their baseless impeachment inquiry into president biden. even though they haven't produced any evidence that biden has committed a crime. you know that pesky high crimes and misdemeanors thing. so why are they continuing the charade? well, they don't really have anything else to run on. they certainly can't attack president biden on the economy, which exceeded expectations this year. inflation is ticking down. the gdp is growing at a strong pace. and the unemployment rate continues to drop. so, the question is. how long are republicans willing to go to distract the

american people from biden's accomplishments? back with me is lucy caldwell, political strategist and former campaign manager for joe walsh 's 2020 presidential campaign. and molly jon fast, special correspondent at vanity fair and host of the fast politics podcast. so, lucy. do you agree with me that this impeachment inquiry is merely smoke and mirrors? because republicans lack anything substantive to offer to the voters. we actually heard one of their own members say we've done nothing here. >> yes, absolutely. and sometimes when people ask me, why are you no longer a republican? it's like, even if i could put the pesky anti democratic pro clashes impulses of today's republican side, they're also not united by or bound by any particular policy agenda that would translate into actual policy making. that's why you see their so-called agenda is basically fearmongering and sort of based

ring up craziness. but when we ask ourselves why are they doing this stuff? i think a lot of it comes down to the fact that the republican party today has a very high floor with their base. right? you can look at things like why did glenn younkin say far right stuff in the weeks leading up to the november election in virginia, even though he supposedly a moderate? because he sees it's a needle to threat at this moment, which is to basically be fearmongering crazy people, and leave it up to democrats to answer to that void. that republicans will continue to do this because all they're trying to do is make sure that their base shows up for them next year. >> so, molly, while creating the fear the republican-controlled house only managed to send 27 bills to president biden's desk in 2023. that's actually 221 fewer pieces of legislation, signed into law, then in 2022.

so should be expect anything meaningful, legislatively, or otherwise, when they return in 2024? >> no. look, we have a burn it down caucus in the republican party. and they are against any kind of legislation. so, you have this guy who was the 4th in power, maga mike johnson, he became speaker. he didn't have a ton of experience, he'd been in the house for about 9 years. he had never been really in leadership. i mean, you talk to democrats and they're like, that would be putting your 4th in charge, which is a pretty big, bold move towards problems. and it was because no one else could get a consensus. right? and this guy came in there and he really didn't have -- they put him in there because he didn't know people, so nobody resented him. they presented jim jordan, and he's had a lot of trouble with the votes. and it's worth taking a moment

to reflect on how well nancy pelosi did this job. because she never lost votes like this. i mean, he loses rule votes. he has these -- the only thing he really got past last semester was this tiered cr. everything else, he couldn't get past. he couldn't even kick everything down the road. so january is really going to be a terrible month for congress, because they have so much stuff to start getting together. and even like really important stuff, like the farm bill that took at your down the road. so i think it's going to be a real problem. i also think that this guy has to do a ton of fun racing if republicans want to keep the house. and i think that that is going to be really hard for him to. look, i don't agree with almost everything that mike johnson believes in. but i do think he's got a terrible year ahead of him. >> well, to that point, lucy, when you're looking at what the lawmakers need to get accomplished to avert a

government shutdown, they also need to reach an agreement on immigration, which is holding up critical aid to ukraine and israel. so will that be the thing that sort of moves the needle to molly's point, on what the legislative agenda could be, potentially, in 2024? >> it may be. but this republican party loves brinkmanship, so it's going to get worse before it gets better. and they will take it all the way to the brink, so that they have played out the kind of extremism that we see in action in this congress. and then maybe, as molly says, kick the can down the road by passing a cr, or by temporarily funding. but they are not going to do anything that will systemically fix all of the dysfunction that we are seeing in congress right now. that is a feature, not a bug, of this republican congress. >> molly, i want to get your thoughts really quick on and nikki haley. i'll just let that sit out

there. i mean, look. niki says that slavery was -- the civil war was about freedom. what are your thoughts? >> look, it's really disappointing. because i had thought that there was at least one republican candidates who was not morally reprehensible. i was wrong. right? the civil war was about slavery. slavery is wrong, the confederates where the bad guys, we all need to share the same reality. look, nikki haley knows better. she was pandering to the base, because she hoped it would help her. it's incredibly disappointing, because it shows that there may be -- in this race, there's one candidate who's not deplorable, and he is a little bit deplorable, but it would be chris christie. because at least he is sort of on earth one with the rest of us. so it's incredibly disappointing, and it's too bad, because she had a place in this primary, and she lost it. >> earth one. that's amazing.

it's still a stable space. lucy caldwell in mali jon fast, thank you both for joining us both this morning. coming up, the conflict in the middle east has parked growing tensions here at home. i'll talk to 3 faith leaders about how people are coping, and what we continue to process it all together. that's after the break.

to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. joi'm gonna be emotional,le she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys.

i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, >> the united nations is it restores a lot of faith in humanity. painting a dire picture of the situation in gaza.

the assistant secretary general told the security council on friday that the humanitarian situation in gaza continues to deteriorate, and he called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. as the war rages on between israel and hamas in gaza, here in the u.s., the conflict also has become a flash point. large protests have become common occurrences in cities across the country, most recently shutting down train stations and airports over the holiday weekend. and there has also been a rise in both antisemitic and islamophobic incidents. joining me to talk about how we can find some common ground is reverend dr. jackie lewis, senior minister at the middle collegiate church, and the author of fierce love, a bold path to ferocious courage and rule breaking kindness that can help heal the world. rabbi barra, who teaches courses on judaism and theology at fordham university, and dr. hussein rashid, academic speaker and educator. welcome to all of you.

i was really looking forward to this conversation. reverent dr. lewis, you were on this program with dr. rashid back in october, when the war in gaza first began. has any or your -- any of your views, or your advice to congregants changed since then? >> thank you for having us. no, i would say actually, my grief, as i think the world has, has increased, has sharpened, it's catastrophic. i don't think any of us expected this conflict and this violence to last this long. so we're more doubled down if you will as my call as a christian clergy of peace. especially during this time, it's our holy days, we just finished hanukkah, we celebrate the birth of a jewish baby born to poor parents, born in battle of him, raised in nazareth. my people call him a jewish palestinian baby, who grew up

to teach us to love our neighbor as ourselves. it is crushing to the bone to see in this holy time, so many dead bodies, all the dead children, all the grieving parents. the hostages still in captivity, i cry every day, and i cry the same cry, please god, let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with us. >> rob, i what advice do you give members of your faith community, who may be feeling just overwhelmed by all of this, this news is coming from overseas, many of whom who have relatives and friends, and how are they dealing with that tension here at home? >> it's, first of, all very difficult to say something about the community as a whole. the jewish community right now is really in trauma and suffering, i think. in part because there are those,

and i would include myself among them, who cannot support this war. who are pleading for a cease-fire. who know that there's no way that a military solution to the conflict and the tensions between palestinian's and israelis in this land that they both are on and are not leaving has to be another way, there has to be another way found. unfortunately, a lot of the jewish institutional community is wholeheartedly supporting israel and believes that it is actually incumbent upon all of us to do so. and there are as i said, those of us who are resisting that. as reverend jacqui said, this is one of the most heartbreaking moments in my memory, in terms of this kind of situation. the casualties, over 8000 children and over 20,000 individuals who have been killed in massive, indiscriminate bombing. and we also can't forget that israelis are traumatized by what was a vicious and obscene

attack on people in the southeast and southwestern part of israel. i don't think that what happened on october 7th has to be brought up every single time, because while it was horrible and unforgivable, we are now dealing with another case, which is also horrible and unforgivable, and must and. and so i am committed to that. i'm a member of rabbis for cease-fire, and i am determined to do everything i can possibly to end this bloodshed, and begin a conversation that allows palestinian and israeli's, jews and muslims, and christians, to live together. we have so much more uncommon than we have that divides us. and it's -- >> i was going to say, as an excellent point, doctor rashid, you the reverend, and -- our members of different religions, but you have some

things in common. you have that connection. when it comes to views on humanity and loving your fellow man, that's the thing that kind of brings it all together. what would you say or bridges that gap between all of you? how does that work, given the tensions that each faith tradition is confronting right now? >> thank you for having me on, and thank you for that question. i think you've outlined really what is driving my work right now, and the work of the communities which i belong in, which is you cannot talk about love until you have justice. there is no love, there is no possibility of love, without justice. and what's bringing together my community, yes, i do tend mostly to muslim communities, this is a question of injustice. this is a question of oppression. and as my colleagues reverend jackie and rub my own and have said, is that all of our communities are hurting, and i find i'm working more and more with people who are committed to justice across questions of religion, or no religion.

this is not a religious conflict. i've said this before, i will continue to say this. the more we frame this as a religious conflict, the less likely we are to find a solution. this is a political conflict, that means a political solution. because we cannot raced palestinian christians, we cannot erase palestinian atheists, we cannot erase palestinian jews, and by crafting this as an israeli -- as a jewish muslim conflict. this is a question of politics that we need to strive towards. and i think the thing that's hurting my communities the most is that when we look for agency, whether it's to repair the world, whether it's to do good in the world, to fight for that justice, is that as citizens of the united states, we turn to our government, to listen to our demands. and most members of the u.s. population are calling for a cease-fire, and our government doesn't wish to listen. and i think we have to push harder, and we have to ask questions why it's okay for us to support a genocide in every

part of the word. we are not opposing the genocide against the leaders, we're not opposing the genocide against the palestinian, but we're committed to opposing occupation of ukraine. and we cannot help but ask is there a racial component to all of this as well? president biden will not speak to it. >> reverend louis, there ve been a number of stories written about a generational divide when it comes to how young people are approaching and viewing this war, versus older generations. a divide that's more political than it is religious. is this something that you've noticed among the young people in your congregation, and how do you begin to approach that divide? >> yes, there is a generational divide about how we understand this. 2 different kinds of ways i'm noticing. one is, young people, period, are no bs -- excuse my colloquialism their, straightforward. they want to hear the truth,

they want to speak to. truth in some ways, i've been watching young people to be nuanced in their analysis about this. in other, words i don't want young people to and act the injustices among each other that they're decrying in the rest of the world. with them, decrying this occupation, is what it is. i'm with them decrying the ongoing oppression of palestinian peoples, as my colleague doctor rashid is saying. they are not a monolith, they're very diverse. there christian, jewish, muslim, atheists and palestine. so young people see the oppression, call it out for what it is, and i'm very proud of that. what i would encourage them to do is to continue to be in dialogue with one another to not sort of -- do not oppress one another in the ways that they engaged on campuses, for example. but i want to make sure that i'm not saying to say that this is an occupation, that's not antisemitic. to say that this is an outrageous amount of violence,

that's not antisemitic. we can get on a slippery slope sometimes in our conversations, and i'm encouraging all of us, from every generation, to take care of how we have these debates. one quick more thing to say, older people like me, we are the ones who have the power to demand something different from our government. we have the power to an act policies and practices that demand something different from our government. fear is causing too many of us to stay silent, and we are spending so much money to obliterate palestine. to obliterate gaza, because we don't want to be honest about the catastrophe there. that's something that old folks like me need to do better about, calling for justice. >> rob i, i am just a little bit of time left, so this is a

hard question to ask with the short answer. how do you begin to approach those instances of antisemitism that have really become increasingly more common since the war began? >> well first of all, i want to challenge that notion. i think that the amount of antisemitism in terms of violence is not as great as people are saying. i think there is kind of a feedback loop that is making that fear spiral. but it is true. there is antisemitism, antisemitism is one of those deep biases and hatreds that is very, very difficult to unpack. i would say that for the last -- since 2015, i have been very much connected in strong intersectional groups of people who are really trying to see how all of our oppression, our marginalization, are related to one another. and i think that we spend 7 or 8 years building the relationships that we need for

this moment. this is the moment we were preparing for when we started to really work together and think of ourselves as connected. so i don't discount the antisemitism. i don't discount the islamophobia that's been enacted, i think that they are both consequences of a society that is very uncomfortable with recognizing both marginality and also intersection. and i think that it's on us as elders, all say that's my category with jackie, to do everything to take on that knowledge and use it and work together. we must work together. you must see each other as sister and brother. and know that, to put it in old language of inner sexuality, all of our freedoms are bound up in each other's freedom. >> amen to that. reverend, dr. jackie lewis, rabbi bra ullman, and dr. hussein rashid, thank you for

coming on the show. i really appreciate it. concerns continue to grow over the use of artificial intelligence in everything from politics to art. a breakdown of where we stand as we enter the new year, that's after the break. .

>> this year saw the rapidly growing use of artificial intelligence everywhere from the classroom to hospitals. but there are also growing

concerns about how to regulate it. nbc's jake ward takes a closer look at this year of a.i.. >> artificial intelligence. >> artificial intelligence. >> could soon transform hollywood. >> and the harm the software can cause. >> 2023 was when a i went from nerdy jargon to a daily part of politics, entertainment, >> ceci petite, dude. >> even school work. >> how many of you used a.i. like ceci pt or board in this discussion? >> it is come at us very fast. ceci pt from industry leader openai now has 100 million weekly users just since its launch last year. with 92% of fortune 500 companies using the technology, according to the company. but beyond ceppitelli, the stuff i did this year is amazing. it caught a glimpse of our thoughts. >> so, as long as i have seen it, and you know the patterns of my brain, then the a.i. will lead that out of my brain. >> yes, exactly. >> spotted mental health risks in children. >> an output will say this is a patient of high-risk, this is a

patient at low risk. >> and created tons and tons of weird art. >> the godlike power to commission any artist in history. >> yeah, that's the fun part. >> but as 2024 approaches, as ability to trick anyone's eyes could be the end of trust. >> deep fake, face swap, unbelievably az to do. >> in just the time it took us to set up our cameras, uc berkeley professor -- made me look like i had starred in dr. strange. >> on my laptop. >> this is -- in half an hour, an hour? >> 10 minutes. >> wow. >> that same tech in our politics could be dangerous. the republican national committee already aired one a.i. generated ad full of fake imagery. >> go to slovakia right now where the russians are trying to interfere with elections. go to sudan, where we're seeing fake audio trying to stow civil unrest. >> still, i -- said earlier this year that the risk of misuse is not worth giving up on a.i.. >> it's better just to trust people that they're going to use things in good ways. you're always going to get some

edge case that just is having an effect on the world. >> a. i investors like former google ceo eric schmidt say company should more or less regulate themselves. >> there's no one in the government who can get it right. but the industry can roughly get it right. and then the government can put a regulatory structure around it. >> that argument has mostly worn out. europe and china have both moved forward on broad a.i. regulations this year, it is 2023 winds down, the u.s. remains the wild west for a i. a world changing technology moving so fast, and with little sign of slowing down. jake ward, nbc news. >> and thanks to jake ward for that report. and up next, how history will remember 2023. are we at a turning point for american democracy? marlo thomas: my father founded saint jude children's research american democracy?

hospital because he believed no child should

die in the dawn of life. in 1984, a patient named stacy arrived, and it began her family's touching story that is still going on today. vicki: childhood cancer, it's just hard. stacey passed on christmas day of 1986. there is no pain like losing a child, but saint jude gave us more years to love on her each day. marlo thomas: you can join the battle to save lives. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the lifesaving research and treatment these kids need now and in the future. jessica: i remember as a child, walking the halls of saint jude, and watching my sister fight for her life. we never imagined that we would come back. and then my son charlie was diagnosed with ewing's sarcoma. vicki: i'm thinking, we already had a catastrophic disease in our family. not my grandson too. marlo thomas: st. jude has helped

push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% when it opened to 80% today. join with your credit or debit card for only $19 a month, and we'll send you this saint jude t-shirt that you can proudly wear to show your support. jessica: for anybody that would give, the money is going towards research, and you are the reason my child is here today. charlie: i was declared-- this will be two years cancer free. but there's thousands and thousands of kids who need help. saint jude, how many lives they do save is just so many. marlo thomas: charlie's progress warms my heart, but memories of little angels like stacy are why we need your help. please become a saint jude partner in hope right now. [music playing] have you ever considered getting a walk-in tub? well, look no further. proudly made in tennessee, a safe step walk-in tub

is the best in it's class. the ultra-low easy step helps keep you safe from having to climb over those high walled tubs, allowing you to age gracefully in the home you love. and now, back by popular demand, for a limited time, when you purchase your brand-new safe step walk-in tub, you'll receive a free shower package! yes! a free shower package, and if you call today, you'll also receive $1600 off. now you can enjoy the best of both worlds. the therapeutic benefits of a warm, soothing bath, that can help increase mobility, relieve pain, boost energy, and even improve sleep. or, if you prefer, you can take a refreshing shower all in one product! call now! all right, tandy, what's it gonna be, the drink made from whatever was laying around,

or the one made with your drizzly haul? drizly! >> this year could go down in stock up today, sip well, tomorrow. drizly. history as a turning point in the fight to protect american democracy. especially with donald trump declaring he would be a dictator on day one if he would return to the white house. earlier this, week he leaned into his autocratic tendencies by sharing a word cloud pole featuring the words revenge and dictatorship, to describe him. but despite all of this and his many legal problems, trump remains the front runner in the republican primary, with the iowa caucuses less than 3 weeks away. joining me now, douglas brinkley, presidential historian and professor of

history at rice university. so, here's the question, doug. is this a turning point for american democracy? or have we already run off the road? >> i don't think we run off the road yet, i think there's still a lot of resistance to a republican nominee, presumably donald trump, claiming he wants to be a dictator on day one. i think we will have to see what the american voters feel about that. we have to remember that donald trump lost the last election by millions of votes. so people will get more engaged over the summer, but it's dangerous. i mean, it's been a bad year for democracy around the world. i, mean look at what's going on in nature with the government just figuring out the coup, or in india where people are being arrested and repressed, or russia with what's going on with their hammering at the ukraine, and china sending balloons over the united states. it was not a great year for feeling the power of democracy

and the future. but the u.s. is still the citadel of democracy, and we're going to run an election in 2024, and it will be free and fair, and we will see what happens. >> i think a lot of people feel ambivalent about that last point, doug. because here we are in 2023, and we have a political candidate running for the presidency of the united states, nikki haley, who can't admit, can't say what caused the civil war. so how do you imagine we're still having this conversation in 2023, if we still are the citadel of democracy? how do we reconcile that? >> well, we have to first realize she is from endoh american immigrants, and so she should know better. this has been a country that gave her great opportunities. she was doing well, a lot of people were being attracted to her. then in my mind she turned cowardly, and refused to stand up to the trump base, and

instead did ike he all routine about the civil war. later had to retract. but look, by her doing that, it might cost her new hampshire. it might boot her out of the race. it's a pretty big mistake. the problem, is trump makes those daily and seems to get away with them, and she is a one-off moment like that in it could be the end of her. so we're still living in the age of trump, where people, all the energy of the media, peoples motions, are focused on trump. and he's acting like it's world federation wrestling. i'm on my revenge tour. i will be the dictator, and pound his chest. that's what he's good at, drawing the eyeballs, drawing the attention. we're talking about him today. i have to believe our democracy is more resilient than trump-ism, of today. i just do. but it's awful scary, and with the electoral college, there's no dump -- doubt trump would lose the popular vote.

but with the electoral college, -- we're going to have 3rd party candidates out there who could easily be spoilers. so it's a buckle up, year 2020, 4 with democracy on the ballot. >> we have less than a minute left, i do want to get a quick thought from you on how do we contextualize this period, relative to other periods in history? is this an outlier? is there a theme? is it consistent? >> i think you have to remember, with mccarthy-ism in the 1950s, how big that red scare was. but we were blessed to have that out of the right came dwight eisenhower as republican president, who was the supreme allied commander of world war ii. and eventually with the u.s. army they took out mccarthy. mccarthy died by the end of the 50s. but imagine if mccarthy had been president. that's the spirit of donald trump. he is joe mccarthy, the 21st century, except he'd already been in the white house. he's indicted 91 times or more by now, and he very well may

end up being busted this march, april, and may. >> all right, douglas brinkley, thank you for joining us this morning. we really appreciate it. and think all of you for watching. i'll be back here tomorrow for another 2 hours of msnbc reports, starting at am eastern. keep it here, because my friend charles coleman has the latest after the break.

loving this pay bump in our allowance. wonder where mom and dad got the extra money? maybe they won the lottery? maybe they inherited a fortune? maybe buried treasure? maybe it fell off a truck? maybe they heard that xfinity customers can save hundreds when they buy one unlimted line and get one free. now i can buy that electric scooter! i'm starting a private-equity fund that specializes in midcap. you do you. visit xfinitymobile.com today. here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi

and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. >> good morning, it's saturday, december 30th, and you're watching velshi on msnbc. i'm charles coleman junior, in for my friends and colleague ali velshi, and we have got a lot to talk about. now listen. no one likes a good story better than me, and with that, allow me to share the or