on trump's ballot eligibility. in the last two weeks, both colorado and maine have ruled that trump'sconstitutionally ineligible, citing the 14th amendment. while states like michigan in california have decided to allow trump to stay on the ballot. as 2024 approache trump is facing a mix of campaigning in courtrooms. trump's facing up to five separate trials in the new year with the e. jean carroll defamation trial is set to begin on january 16. that's just one day after the iowa caucuses. with trump holding a commanding lead over his republican challengers for the white house, will any of his legal troubles make a difference? will it matter at all? well, joining me now, barbara mcquade, former u.s. attorney, law professor at the university of michigan law school and an msnbc legal analyst. glenn kirschner, former federal prosecutor, host of the justice matters podcast, and an msnbc

legal analyst. of course, the one and only, rick wilson, cofounder of the lincoln project, republican media strategist. welcome to all of you. he is also the author of run against the devil, a plot to save america from trump and democrats from themselves. i love that one. so, barbara, let's start with you. will the supreme court be forced to weigh in on trump's ballot eligibility? i think that's the driving question right now. >> i think so. i don't know how they dodged this. in light of the fact that we have seen different opinions now coming out of different states. i think, ultimately, there is a risk that we get this patchwork of eligibility that's different in all 50 states. even that each state gets to decide procedurally how they handle ballot questions, the substance of who is eligible is really a question for the u.s. supreme court interpreting the 14th amendment, it's a question. i think most people expect that the court might find some

procedural off-ramp to avoid answering the media question. i think they need to resolve this so we have uniformity as we approach the election. >> glenn, the same question to you in terms of the court weighing in. one of my thoughts is that maybe they wait for a few more states to make a decision. you know, right now you have to have said yes, to have said no, what are your thoughts there? >> i think they probably recognize that time is of the essence. this is something that has to be decided urgently as we move toward primary elections in the various states. i agree with barb that the supreme court will inevitably take this up for review. here's something fun to keep an eye out for, michael. i think what we need to keep an eye out for is whether justice, neil gorsuch, agrees with judge neil gorsuch, with respect to how to resolve this issue.

frankly, my favorite part of the supreme court ruling in colorado was when they quoted judge neil gorsuch, about ten years ago had to resolve this precise issue whether states can be candidates off their primary ballots because the candidate was disqualified under some provision of the constitution. here's what judge neil gorsuch wrote. a state's legitimate interest in protecting the integrity and practical functioning of the political process permits that, permits the state to exclude from the ballot candidates who are constitutionally prohibited from assuming office. so, judge gorsuch is sort of 90% of the way there, already ruling that states have this authority. let's see if justice gorsuch agrees with himself from ten years earlier. >> yeah, that has to be fascinating to watch the potential flip-flop there. rick, i want you to take a listen to what main secretary of state had to say about threats she and her colleagues

had to face center decision to bar trump from the ballot. >> the dehumanizing images that have been placed on line of me, the threatening communications to people in my family and to my staff, people who work for me, it is designed to instill fear and provoke silence, to keep people from speaking out. >> why is this not a concern for folks? seemingly fly pass this idea that trump's allies and sick offense randomly threaten, yeah, because trumpism trouble. what should we be concerned about here, what does it say about this process? >> the great senator -- had a phrase called deviancy. we have now defined deviancy

down to where threats and violence, especially for women who are anywhere in trump sites, the degrading and humiliating sexualize material that these people send about women, it's now become something, this background noise, people shrug their shoulders, there's nothing we can do about trump's base, they're just like that. no, that's not really acceptable. you also know that donald trump will never say to his base, hey, stop that, that's an appropriate. we're supposed to be offering a system of some sense of balance and discretion, morality. they are fundamentally believers in the power, the political power of threats, intimidation, harassment. they use it as a main part, an explosive part of their political strategy. >> barbara, i want to chat with you a little bit about the latest finding by jack smith, challenging donald trump's argument that this case should

be dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity. what's the significance of this development? >> jack smith argues why he believes that immunity is not appropriate in a criminal case. he points out some pretty good examples, lawyers and law professors like to use hypotheticals to try to point out the fallacy of logic. one of the things they do here is they come up with examples that if donald trump is earning his argument, that the president is immune from any act taken while in office, it would mean that a president could accept bribes in exchange for an official act or it could mean that he could order the assassination of political rivals as he delivers the state of the union address. of course, those cannot be right. that's why he argues that there can be no immunity for criminal acts. he takes a secondary argument says, even if there is some immunity, there's certainly no broader than the supreme court has already ruled in the civil context.

in clinton versus john's case, the court talked about where that line is. there is another case called fitzgerald versus mix in the talks about that line. that is the outer periphery of a president's duties, it's the line, it's where you draw the line. if he is engaging in interfering with state administration of election laws, which is not presidential duties, it's the province of the state. even under his argument, he has exceeded the scope of his duties when he acted. therefore, that conduct is not immune from criminal prosecution. >> we also saw jack smith file a motion on wednesday, seeking to block trump from making political arguments during his federal election interference trial. okay, is that a pipe dream? what do we see happening with that? that is gonna be almost impossible to stop trump from making such political noise. >> well, impossible, but don't forget, oh, i'm sorry.

>> go ahead, glenn. >> impossible, don't forget we have judge tanya chutkan presiding over this case. all jacks mitt has done is put donald trump's lawyers on notice that they're gonna have to comply with the rules of evidence, the rules of procedure, and what is a proper, and what is an improper argument to make in court. judge chutkan is up to the task. look, all of this, michael, boils down to one simple question, both the immunity issue and whether donald trump and his lawyer should have to abide by the rules of procedure and the rules of evidence once the cases of trial. in the office of the presidency, do we want lawlessness or do we want accountability? donald trump's ask is for lawlessness. he wants the courts to grant him permission to commit any and all crimes, even crimes resigned -- the presidency. that is not the stuff of democracies, that's the stuff of dictatorships. that's where donald trump has said he wants to take us. >> that stuff of dictatorships,

that's what i really focus on. thatyou have trump who is basicy using these criminal court proceedings, domestic court proceedings, civil court proceedings, as a badge of honor, and right? using them to his benefit. yet chris christie saying this week, you know, really warning us that disqualifying trump from the ballot would just make him a martyr to his base. do you agree with that? how do you address, how do we as a society, address this authoritarian embraced by trump when he sees any aspect to challenge that as a badge of courage and honor for him? >> the greatest gift any authoritarian or want to be authoritarian can have, michael, it's a sense among political leaders that that person is above the law, has no accountability, has no, that the fear of the reaction of that person's base is justified,

it justifies ignoring the law and ignoring the constitution, ignoring the political moral good of pushing him off the ballot. you know, the idea that people said, well, we'll settle this at the ballot box, we settled at the ballot box in 2020 and whipped trump's but. yet, on january 26th, he still had a violent could overthrow that election. i am skeptical about the sort of approach to dictatorship in authoritarianism that my colleagues seem to take. i think he is a threat. i think you have to beat him at the ballot box we have to go at it from every direction at once. you cannot just hope for one miracle to take trump off the stage nationally. >> everything, everywhere, all that wants, right, that's how i like it. rick wilson, stick around. i have more for you, my friend. barbara and glenn, thank you both for joining us this morning. up next, a closer look at the 2024 race and why it's looking

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the iowa caucuses. new hampshire primaries, yes, the fun begins. the first two states where voters get to weigh in on their party's nominee for president. as candidates get ready to make their final pitch, nbc's steve kornacki is that the big board with the look at what we have here and what we can expect. >> all right, well, we are approaching once every four years, the big one, the presidential election year, 2024 is almost upon us. let's take a look here how politics, how the election of 2024 has taken shape in 23. the big questions we are looking at as 2024 kicks off. first of all, who's gonna be the republican nominee presumably against joe biden at the start of 2023? this seemed like a very up in

the air question. you can see the trend line for the candidates. remember, the started 2023, republicans are coming off a pretty rough mid term, candidates that have been closely aligned with donald trump had lost key races in 2022. at the start of 23, rhonda sentence was running pretty close in the poll average to donald trump. look what happened, it just exploded here for trump and went the other way for desantis. what happened right around here in the calendar? that's when the first indictment of trump came down, the one from the manhattan district attorney. it almost seems to have triggered a rally around trump effect among republicans. this has held all year, through all the legal drama, everything else that has happened. here we are at the end of the year. in average, trump just has open lengths ahead of ron desantis, nikki haley, and ramaswamy, kristie to, for that matter. we'll see in the early contest if any of those candidates and have a shot here to beat trump. we're probably gonna have to make some noise, whether it's desantis in iowa, he seems to be trying to claim his flag there, haley and new hampshire,

has some encouraging pulling news there. can one of them beat trump and one of these early states? of course, haley, south carolina will play a key role among the early states as well. can one of them beat trump in the early states and make this race? that's what we're gonna find out the first six weeks or so of 2024. how about the democratic end of things, joe biden seems poised to be the democratic nominee. what kind of years -- he started 2023 coming off those good midterms for democrats and his approval rating was 40 6:50. wasn't that bad. he's taken a hit this year as we start to close out the year, final nbc poll had him at 40% approval, 57% disapproval, how does this compare to past presidents entering the reelection era? you can see here, the florida we have right now, these are the final polls heading into the election, the reelection year. nbc conducted. look, trump got beat in 2020, he was at 44 heading into his reelection year. bush senior got the 92, he was

at 52, heading south rapidly there. you see how that number compares, that's the lowest, that's the lowest in an nbc poll for an incumbent facing reelection year. it is a tight race when you pull biden versus trump at the start of the year and the average of the polls nationally. biden had a two-point advantage now at the end of the year, it's trump who, on average, has a two-point advantage here. very close race, obviously. what are the concerns of voters? the dynamics will be talking about? if this race does materialize, joe biden, of course, he's the oldest president ever at this point. his physical fitness, his age, three and four voters in our polls say it's a major moderate concern. big thing in 24 is gooey trump 's legal situation. are their convictions? what goes on in the courtroom for him? 62% now say that's a major moderate concern for them. if there is a conviction, with a number change? with the number change based on how the numbers sort out? big question, obviously, we'll be following it well into 2024. this is interesting too, there

is clearly, with this question is showing you here, matching trump against a generic democrat, trump loses sizably, imagine biden against a generic republican, biden loses by double digits. it's just showing you broadly there is not a big appetite for trump versus biden, even though it seems that each party at least as we enter 2024, is poised to go in that direction. that leads to this final graphic here, a poll from wall street journal recently. included a bunch of third-party options. against biden and trump, they added up to 17%. that's a big question heading into 2024. is there gonna be third party candidates to create a wild card? >> steve kornacki, thank you so much for that report. really appreciate it. joining me again to discuss all of that is rick wilson, cofounder of the lincoln project and republican strategist. you need to help me understand, how in the world 74% of the people are more concerned about biden's age then they are the fact that you have a

presidential candidate with 91 felony indictments against him? how do you understand what we just saw from steve? >> sure, i can explain that question very simply. you have a percentage of democrats who are still unhappy with joe biden. the message for them is, grow the heck up. he is gonna be the nominee, better get behind him. it's not because you're gonna magically get glenn phillips or gavin newsom, anyone else, it's up by the time it's all over, this is only one reality, it's gonna be joe biden versus donald trump. republicans will get behind trump no matter what he does or says or is. democrats are still complaining and moaning about biden's two old. well, he's the guy, he's the guy who's doing the job. he's turning it to be a terrific president. they need to unify, that's why that number is weak. look, the republicans who live in the bubble, i know they're

always gonna believe in the same things, they're always gonna believe the craziest possible thing about joe biden. donald trump is both a guy who is under massive criminal overhype. look, trump is not the picture of fitness either. trump's only a couple years older than biden. -- lethargy are not your allies in longevity. >> i can assure you, he's not 215 pounds, that is for darn sure. look, hey, rick, you have nikki haley and you have run desais who at some point seemingly challenge donald trump, could be a challenge. there are sitting at 24% and 10% and 9% of kristie out there as well. how does this, what does this say about where the republican base is right now? what do people need to understand about what's really happening here?

why are they still hanging on to this idea that nikki's gonna come rallying around the corner and wipe him out by the time he gets to new hampshire? >> look, i think nikki will overperform in both iowa and south carolina and new hampshire, that and $3.65 gets to the smallest thing on the menu at starbucks. at the end of the day, donald trump is still going to win all of those three states in the beginning. and then, we go to super tuesday, donald trump will win texas and california, winner takes all, and a bunch of other red states, he will, on that day, accumulate almost 25% of the total vote tally he needs. by the time we get to florida on the 12th of march, desantis is gonna lose by 40 to 50 points against donald trump in florida. trump have gotten to about 40%. by the time you get to the other big prize on the market,

you're gonna have ohio, it's a ball game, it's done, it's already done. so, these fantasies from the donor class and the gentry republican media class, the review boys, somehow they're gonna pull it off. what you've seen is that the parties base loves trump, they want trump, they're gonna get trump again. that is something that all the fantasizing from megadonor's on the republican party cannot possibly change. it will not alter where the gray -- in the maga base are in their hearts and minds, such as they are politically. they want trump, they're gonna get it. >> let's go with that dance a little bit longer here and break it down, the frank about what we're dealing with. a second trump term poses a direct threat to american democracy. the reason i say that, i think the reason why people are aware,

the man told us he wants to be a dictator on day one, right? like, that's gonna happen. there are alarm bells out there. >> sure. >> that, to me, they just don't make sense when people look at biden and his polling numbers, you have him trailing president trump at this point. do you think biden and the democrats are doing enough to get the message out that there is a real threat here that has nothing to do with biden's age, it has nothing to do with biden's son, and everything to do with donald trump and the maga cult that wants to take washington and the country in the direction that is not where the constitution or founders want us to be? >> if a lot of the democrats are discontent with joe biden, we would not see these numbers looking as they do. we would not be at the risk of a third-party disruption in the electoral college map as we go

forward in this campaign, we would not be at risk of watching donald trump and his allies explicitly tell us exactly what they're going to do once they take power. they're explicitly describing the reliance on the power of the executive. short-circuiting congress, using the power of the president to fire everyone in the federal government who's not rabid trump supporter. they are telling us exactly what they want. well trump has a clownish aspect, michael, a crown mission, each are in some ways, people that are building -- making these plans, there are serious people. they are not stupid, they're not yeah who's, there are serious. a lot of them are, quite frankly, evil, like steve bannon and stephen miller. they are going to do this if we reelect donald trump in this country. they're telling you every day, i don't want any democrat to be surprised, to wake up in

january of 2025 and say, well, who could've seen this coming? everyone can see it coming. you have to push forward, you have to defeat trump. that's the only way to win this thing. >> yeah, they wake up in january and go, how did this happen? well, yeah. you know how it happened. rick wilson, thank you, my friend, for joining us this morning. i really appreciate you. still to come, security prep ahead of tonight's massive celebration in times square. a live report is coming up right after the break. after the break. now earns 5% apy. 5% apy? that's new! yup, that's how you business differently.

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down to midnight here in the u.s.. it's already 2024 for our friends and australia. check out this colorful fireworks display in sydney just a short moment ago. with less than 15 hours to go until the clock strikes 12 on the east coast, preparations are already underway in times square. new york city law enforcement has ramped up security with up to 1 million people expected to gather to watch the famous new year's eve ball drop tonight. joining us live from times square is nbc news correspondent, george solis, has the b. george, give us a preview of what we can expect tonight, my friend. >> yeah, happy new year to you. i have my hat, i have my glasses, they're ready to go, i'll show you in a moment. the key thing here is security. and my pd has actually expanded

their securities on this year. they've actually limited entry points in the times square to make sure people can get in and out safely. once you get impasse those barriers, once this officially gets going, there will be no leaving for those of actually want to watch this phenomenon known as the ball drop here in times square. you're talking aviation, drones, canines, uniformed officers, undercover officers, a number of agencies making sure that all these revelers stay safe. speaking of revelers, we're expecting about 1 million people to funnel into times square this afternoon to get ready for that iconic ball drop, to ring in 2024. that's not just happening here in new york in times square, it's happening across the country. number of agencies, a number of police, basically getting in position as we speak to make sure that wherever people want to ring in the new year, they can do so safely. officials here in new york saying there is gonna be nowhere safer than times square tonight. they're really holding to that. as we can see, there's a lot of

activity, barricades have been set up here throughout the coming week. you can rest assured that, you know, there are sparing no expense out here to make sure all of these revelers are able to watch this wonder. as you mentioned, people already celebrating the new year in parts of asia, parts of the world. now, we are waiting for our countdown here in times square. a bit chilly, but hopefully it's gonna get a little bit warmer as the night progresses. like i said, i promised it, i have a glasses, i have my hat, were ringing in 2024 and style. back to you. >> looking good! looking good! happy 2024! george solis, thank you, my friend. i really appreciate you. coming up, a look back at everything that's happened in 2023 from the middle east to capitol hill to hollywood. hill to hollywood.

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what a major year has been. historic headlines captured the year from the war in the middle east, the house speaker's ouster, multiple indictments of the former president, even a hunt for missing submersible. in the world of entertainment, we cannot forget the biggest stars, taylor swift and beyoncé. barbenheimer sparked a new era for cinema after making a global box office, setting global box office records. nbc's joe fryer has a look back at all that happened this year. >> how do you define a year

like 2023? was that the year of the strike? >> no pay! >> or was it the year of the swift? did offer a glimpse of the future with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and the weight loss drug ozempic or a blast from the past? >> hi, barbie! >> hi, can! >> with the pink coated resurgence of a classic doll. was that the speaker was muted or simply a political prelude to 2024? the campaign trail lined with pit stops in the courtroom. 2023 can be defined in so many ways, to much of the world it was a world headlined by war in the middle east. >> breaking news tonight, war erupts in the middle east, a stunning surprise attack by palestinian militants. >> it started on october 7th, the day many now call israel's 9/11, a surprise attack hamas

militants stormed into israeli towns and military bases. >> they were just all around me. they were going tree by tree and shooting. bam bam bam. >> israel's foreign ministry says about 1200 people were killed, more than 200 taken off to, including young children. >> it's something no parent can ever imagine, to see a child in the hands of terrorists. >> reporter: israel's response was swift and relentless, with thousands of palestinians killed, a humanitarian crisis, israel faced mounting criticism. those tensions seen on american streets and college campuses with reports of antisemitism and islamophobia, spiking across the country. as the middle east war waged on, the one between ukraine and russia trudged on. ukraine's long awaited

counteroffensive stalling in american support waning. one of many issues highlighted in america stark divisions. and january, it took 15 ballots. >> the speaker has not been elected. has not been elected. has not been elected. >> reporter: to elect kevin mccarthy is speaker, the position he held just nine months before he was ousted. >> i fought for what i believe in, i believe in this country of america. >> reporter: like reality tv, new contenders came and went. >> ship that doesn't have a rudder right now. >> reporter: before louisiana's mike johnson got the gavel. >> the house will be an order. >> reporter: an election followed by an expulsion. scandal representative george santos became the third congressman since the civil war to be ejected from the chamber. no controversy it seemed could shake the gop's support for former president donald trump who made history to.

>> it was a legal spectacle never seen before in america, the former president being fingerprinted and charged with 34 felonies. >> reporter: mr. trump's appearance in a new york courtroom created a media circus that was repeated with indictments and florida, washington, then georgia, where he mugged for the shot. >> we did nothing wrong, i did nothing wrong. >> reporter: he has pleaded not guilty to all charges while preserving a vast lead for his party's presidential nomination, skipping debates. >> donald trump is a lot different guy than he was in 2016. he owes it to you to be on the stage. >> reporter: leading the rest of the field to squabble for seconds. >> do you want to leader from a different generation who's gonna put this country first or do you want nick cheney in -- >> their five inch heels, i don't wear them unless you can run in them. >> reporter: on the democratic side, president biden announced his reelection bid in april. >> are you saying you would be

taking part in our upcoming election? >> i plan on running. >> reporter: inflation dropped in 2023, so did the president's approval rating, hitting an all-time low. now, voters are bracing for a potential 2020 rematch, it's leaving many disenchanted. >> we want to future! we had a future! >> reporter: the wave of labor just contents of the country in 2023, pushing unions to the picket line. the united auto workers went on strike against detroit's big three, eventually winning record pay hikes. hollywood was effectively shut down with rioters striking and actors before reaching deals with studios. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> this is the best day ever. >> it is the best day ever. >> amid the strikes, the box office got a boost from an unlikely couple, barbie and oppenheimer. >> the race against the not

seize. ♪ ♪ ♪ both of these open at the same time inspiring a cultural phenomenon called barbenheimer. >> the double feature. >> now the films are hoping to follow the steps of this year's big oscar winner, everything, everywhere, all atwin's. sci-fi flick won best picture, star, michelle yeoh, became the first asian woman to win the academy award for best actress. there were first that were far less desirable in 2023. the united nations declared in late november that this was virtually certain to be the planets warmest year on record. the year with the most billion dollar disasters in u.s. history, including hurricane nadal yeah. >> we actually just lost power here right now. >> reporter: and a fire storm that ravaged the island of maui. >> local people of lost everything, they lost their house, their animals, and it's devastating. >> reporter: it is the

deadliest u.s. wildfire in more than a century, with more than 100 people killed. gun violence played the country again must cities like lewiston, maine, joining the long list of communities linked to mass shootings. >> why would he do this? why in lewiston, maine? >> reporter: 18 people were killed their, six were gunned down and private elementary school in nashville, three of them children. >> how are children still dying? why are we failing them? >> reporter: tragedy also reached the depths of the ocean. >> let's get right to the story, the whole world is watching the urgent search for a missing submersible. >> reporter: in june, ocean gates submersible vanish won a sightseeing tour of the titanic wreckage. a desperate search offered to hope to find people on board, the crews eventually determined a catastrophic implosion killed everybody on the ill-fated voyage. in the sky, the u.s. military shot down a chinese spy balloon flying over american airspace,

tensions between the two countries. the crisis at the border widened in 2023 with places like new york and chicago running out of room to house migrants who -- >> [inaudible] send those cops to jail! >> in january, protesters took to the streets following the death of tyre nichols. the 29-year-old black man was kicked and punched during a traffic stop in memphis, dying three days later. five police officers were fired and charged with state and federal crimes, one has since pleaded guilty, the other not guilty. in the courts, the supreme court handed down a historic decision in june, affirmative action, effectively ending race conscious college admissions. >> this is a really disappointing decision. >> reporter: perhaps no court case generated more attention in 2023 than the trial of alec murdaugh, the disgraced attorney from south carolina.

he was accused of killing his wife and son. he took the stand in his own defense. >> take this gun or any gun like a, lawyer sons brains out. >> no, i did not. >> reporter: jury deliberated only three hours before finding murdaugh guilty. king charles the third was officially coronated and may. prince harry was there for the event, his wife, meghan markle was notably not. the year with the royal rift between the -- spared no one. harry's memoir. >> we want privacy! >> the south park parity. >> thanks for having us on the show. >> reporter: for many, the year 2023 was the one we lost a friend. >> hi, it's chandler. >> actor, matthew perry, died in october at the age of 54. matthew perry, die in october a t the age of 54. ♪ ♪ ♪ the music world said goodbye to

an icon, tina turner. ♪ ♪ ♪ the mayor of margaritaville, jimmy buffett. tributes also poured in for trail blazing women in politics, senator diane feinstein, the first female supreme court justice, sandra day o'connor, and former first leader, rosalynn carter. ♪ ♪ ♪ it was a huge year for women and entertainment. stadiums are ruled by queen bey, beyoncé, who also won a 32nd grammy. also by taylor swift, became a billionaire and time's person of the year. the artist even crossed over into football, showing up at chiefs games to support her newbold, travis kelce. speaking of sports, some mont biles vaulted to her sixth world title. the come back on the mat matched by one on the field.

buffalo bills safety, damar hamlin, suffered cardiac arrest and medics restarted his heart. >> this event was life-changing, that's not in the my story. >> hamlin did just recover, he returned to the game he loves, a symbol of resilience and strength. that might be the best word to define 2023. >> coming up, a look back at some of the top entertainment stories of 2023. stories of 2023. my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. narrator: time is running out to give a year-end gift like no other, a gift that can help st. jude children's

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hollywood went on strike. in may of this year, the writers guild of america initiated the strike that went through the tail end of september. during that strike, members of the screen actors guild also went on their own strike. that didn't reach a tentative deal until november. while the two major industry unions negotiated contracts, all eyes turn to the two biggest popstars in the world, beyoncé and taylor swift. they had two of the highest grossing tours ever and spawned to critically acclaimed concert films. joining me now to break down the year an entertainment, chris witherspoon, ceo of -- an msnbc entertainment contributor. so, chris, let's start with the strike real quick. the strikes have been resolved. how long do you anticipate hollywood in the rest of us are

going to have to wait to feel the repercussions due to the major work stoppage? >> yeah, it's important to keep in mind, there were over 118 days that folks weren't working in hollywood. the writers rooms were shut down, the reduction was completely halted. we're gonna feel the effects of this for months ahead. we might have a bit of a feast or famine of content in 2024. there were 124 releases last year and theaters. this year, coming up only 107 films will be released while the across the country and theaters. the box office might be down over a billion dollars and 2024 due to the strike. i think it's important to keep in mind that a platform like netflix this year put out a show that was released over ten years ago called seuss, it did really well. it was number one show in the country at one point. i think it's the time for the streaming platforms, a lot of platforms that have a big, massive trove of ip, library of content, to have that content

and see what they can bring to audiences us fresh new stories. >> okay, let's get our swift and beyoncé on here. taylor swift was named times person of the year. that's the title usually reserved for politicians, religious leaders, tech visionaries. what does that say about her dominance this year? then, you have beyoncé making history with the renaissance tore, becoming the highest grossing tour by a black artist ever. so, how does that tour elevate her status as one of the greatest entertainers of all-time? how do these two women compete in the same space? >> i mean, listen, there is no arguing taylor swift's time's person of the year. she had over a billion dollars in sales for her concert, highest grossing tour of all-time. she went to 151 countries, spanning five continents. the eras tour also broke records as the film, highest-grossing concert film when it came out november. she's winning offstage. you know, we've seen her love

story play out with travis kelce, it's been amazing. but beyoncé, i mean, beyoncé, to be 20 plus years in the industry, her renaissance tour proved to be a cultural movement and set a new standard for the concert going experience can be. she never released videos for the renaissance album. she says the fence where the visuals, they wear the visuals. people showed up, they showed out. it was a fashion moment. it is great to see her concert also open number one of the box office. this is a sign of what i think feeders can become. they can become venues for these great concert going experiences. keep in mind, beyoncé also made history in february, becoming most grammy winning artist of all-time. so, it's a great year for both of those ladies. >> there is no slowing down, chris. finally, before we go, this is also a big year for shows on the small screen. what were some of your favorite tv moments this year? >> listen, a show that came out on netflix, it's called beef. it's amazing, starring ali wong. if you haven't watched, michael,

please get into. it's about two strangers get into a road rage -- nominated for a globe in glove awards, broke a lot of ratings. also show called poker face, a mystery of the week series. my son and i love watching the show. it stars natasha leo, you can binge on peacock, please watch that as well. a series called the last of us on hbo max, if you haven't watched it, based on a video game, i'm now playing the video game, i'm not a gamer, but i love the show that much. delivered huge ratings for hbo max. also bringing a lot of golden globe nominations. succession on max, it was the final, the series finale for succession this year. there are so many jaw-dropping moments. episode three, please watch, it will gag you. you will be gagged. nominations right now for golden globe awards as well. >> i love, it the last of us is the kicker. it's amazing. chris witherspoon thank you very much. happy 2024 to you! thanks, everyone, for watching.

katie feng and jonathan capehart are back next weekend. a special programming note, i'm excited to be teaming up with my friends, alicia menendez and simone sanders, to bring you the weekend for two hours every saturday and sunday. it starts on saturday, january 13th at 8 am eastern on msnbc. i'm looking forward to it. i get dressed up, we hang out. keep it here, charles coleman is next with the latest. with the latest. right now across the u.s., people are trying to ban books from public schools and public libraries. yes, libraries. we all have a first amendment right

to read and learn different viewpoints. that's why every book belongs on the shelf. yet book banning in the u.s. is worse than i've ever seen. it's people in power who want to control everything. well, i say no to censorship. and i say yes to freedom of speech and expression. if you do too, please join us in supporting the american civil liberties union today. for over 100 years, the aclu has fought for your rights and mine. including the right to read all manner of books. so please call or go online to myaclu.org. for just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. you can become a guardian of liberty and help protect all the rights promised to us by the u.s. constitution. make no mistake, this move to ban books is a coordinated attack on students right to learn.

this is a clear violation of free speech. that's why the aclu is working to fight against censorship in all its forms. it is so important now more than ever. so please call or go to myaclu.org and become an aclu guardian of liberty, for just $19 a month. use your credit card and you'll get this special we the people t-shirt and more to show you're helping to protect the rights of all people. the aclu is in all 50 states, d.c. and puerto rico defending our first amendment right of free speech and all of your constitutional rights. because we the people, means all of us. so please, call or, go online to myaclu.org today.

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you're watching velshi on msnbc. it's sunday, december 21st, and i am sitting in for my friend and colleague, ali velshi. happy new years eve. we made it. we begin this morning with the closing of a chapter. 2023 was a lot of things, but more than anything else, it was the year a former u.s. president was indicted on a host of