under the pier. >> the family happy to have her back home after a long journey. >> i was healthy, -- he ran a mile and a half and then swim across and thinking to run a mile. >> now hoping his pause stay on dry land. >> hopefully his swimming days are over and definitely hopefully swimming in the hudson is over, because when it came back he was very stinky. >> but quite a journey bug, we are so happy that bear's home and safe. all right thanks to steve ramos for that. that wraps up for everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian, i'll be back to preempt tomorrow right here on msnbc. simone starts right now. re on msnbc. simone starts right now. greetings, you are watching simone, brittney griner, she is back on home soil. the wnba star is in texas for medical care and reunited with her wife after being in prison and russia for almost a year.

i have the action from one of our teammates, plus new details from the state department official who knows how it all unfolded. and it has been another terrible, not very good kind of bad week for donald trump, on several legal fronts. as january six committee at some stage for -- as a criminal what follows. we will get into the latest on what to expect in the meeting having tomorrow. and later, and the award winning actress, singer and producer extraordinaire sheryl lee ralph joins me live. we will dig into our phenomenal role on the hit show abbott elementary and what else she has been working on. all in today's simone and. i am simone sanders townsend, and i have something to say. sanders townsend and i have something to say. wnba star brittney griner is back on u.s. soil today --

to road to reclaiming her life after 200, and 94 days in russian captivity. american officials secure -- an exchange for russian arms dealer victor bout. arrived in san antonio texas yesterday where she is undergoing a routine medical evaluation and wolf henry medical center. this moment was months in the making, driven by teammates and the white house and griner's wife, cheryl. here is part of charles, charles griner's reaction to president biden told her that brittani's released. >> stop it. she is on the ground. >> great day, this is a great day. it's such a good day. oh my god. >> a great day for cherelle, griner. the release of an american citizen from the clutches of a foreign adversary and it should be called for celebration. some. on the right are falsely implying her release came at

the expense of paul whelan the u.s. marine who's been held in russia for nearly four years. >> let's think about what we did here. we traded a basketball player for a known terrorist, a criminal. >> he left a marine behind. think about, it it's not an equal exchange. >> but this by the administration's efforts to bring whelan home as well, russia's demand for securing his relieves could not be met. whelan's own brother david whelan recently acknowledged it just that, take a listen to this. >> i think president biden made the right decision. his job is to protect all americans and to care about all americans. it would've been wrong friends to leave behind an american when he had the ability to bring one home. >> but brittney griner's challenges they are far from over. she left the united states in february as a renowned athlete. she returns in a position that she never asked to play. a symbol of americans held captive overseas and a target of a right-wing grievances all

of forging her own path towards healing from trauma that most of us will truly never understand. during runners ten months in russian captivity, she received unwavering support from the nba in from the wnba and her phoenix american friends. her release for social media was flooded with the excitement and outpouring of love. one of brittani's teammates, breonna turner tweeted thank you to every single person that kept britney griner's name alive. hashtag we are bg. and brianna turner joins me now. breonna, thank you so much for being here. when and how did you find out that britney was released and what did you feel in that moment? >> i found out early, saturday morning about 7:00. my mom busted my door, i thought something really bad happened. she was just like bg is free, bg is free and i was like am i dreaming? like what and then i hopped on twitter, turn on the tv and it was breaking news. it was an amazing feeling.

>> oh my goodness i know it has to be i mean everyone, people who were advocating for her release, folks who are covering the story like myself. i know it felt good to see her come home but i have to imagine for you especially with a special feeling. can you talk a little bit about the wee rbg campaign? and the role that that campaign played in keeping brittani's name really on the forefront during her detainment in russia? >> yes definitely, so it was b rbg dot org, it was a website dedicated to her case and how she was determined to be wrongfully detained. we had t-shirts we are the we are beating has tag. whether the goal was to keep teachers name alive we do not want her to be forgotten or to feel forgotten. -- i mean i think the advocacy that you all really built up and the media campaign, i think it really did make a

difference. there are some folks out there who have been critical right? you have commented on this what i would call a false narrative that brittani is anything but a proud american. what you have to say to those critics of hers? >> definitely bg is a proud american, she has been at the olympics multiple times, has won gold medals, has represented this country. she is a proud american and i know people have their doubts. i am not sure why but knowing her as a person, as her friend i know her personally and she is proud to be american. regardless and she can speak against the country and talk about the country, or wants better for the country but does not mean she hates the country. >> what we can be critical of america because we love her, someone said that and i think it's absolutely accurate in these times we live in now. bsolutely brittani, she is finae on u.s. soil. i think that there is a question of mental health and her physical recovery and frankly that that should be the focus. do you know of any support that she's being offered by the wnba or by fellow mercury teammates?

and have you or any of your other teammates made plans to go and see her in texas? >> i think right now we are giving her time and space with her wife, her family. the requested of privacy so we are all respecting that right now. i think when the time comes, we will be able to meet with bg in the wnba will do whatever they can to assist her on what she needs moving forward. right, now the main focus is just a recovery and we will see how she is feeling as this time goes on. >> breonna turner, thank you so much for your time and congratulations to you and everyone, we are so glad brittani is back home. >> thank you. >> let's bring in the state department special representative for racial equity and justice, desiree cornea smith. greetings, greetings to you desiree. i want to get into this because now that britney is safe, is there anything more that you can tell us about the specifics of the negotiations for her release? >> well thank you for having me, against him and i am so glad to be back to be talking about

bg's return right? and if i can say so, i told you so. when i was first on your, show a few months ago i told you that we were working tirelessly, every single day to bring beachie home and every single other wrongfully detained american. so it is bittersweet that bg's home. unfortunately, we were not able to get paul whelan home. this time but that does not mean we are going to stop working on his release. there are dedicated professionals across the u.s. government that worked tirelessly to secure the release of wrongfully detained americans around the world. and so i've really just wanted to underscore that because just to counter this false narrative that has gotten speed or traction out, there that we somehow have forgotten paul whelan. we have not forgotten paul and i'm really glad that you claimed that clip from his brother, i think it shows their grace and class and dignity of the whelan family and their

understanding. >> i want to talk about paul whelan because, it seems to me that this criticism of britney griner's release is putting american against american. brittney griner against paul whelan and it feels like that is playing directly into vladimir putin's goal of dividing folks inside the united states. >> that's exactly right. we prioritize the secretary of state has repeatedly said that there is no greater priority for him or for the state department or for the president. and the safety or security of american citizens abroad. again, he travels every day with a list and wrongfully detained americans with him on his person. because it is at the top of his list of priorities of his mind. i really want to commend all of my tallies at the state department and across the administration whose full-time

job it is to secure the release of wrongfully detained americans. that includes paul whelan. >> what can you tell us about the negotiations regarding paul whelan? it is my understanding that the russians are potentially treating him differently because he's accused of espionage. i want to be clear that the accusation is an unfounded baseless accusation. >> that's absolutely correct, let me just foot stomps that. these are sham espionage charges. unfortunately, like the president said on thursday, the russians are treating on differently. and that is why we are not able to get you home yet. does not mean we will stop working to win him home. we have to look at these cases at case by case basis. and unfortunately, paul has been wrongfully detained for several years. and we will continue to negotiate. beyond, that unfortunately i cannot offer any additional

details because those negotiations are ongoing. i'm sure you can understand they are quite sensitive. >> i'm sure before let you, go before completely understand quite sensitive. that brittney griner release was months in the making. and so sensitive that a very small group of people as my understanding were aware of what was happening. quickly can you just tell me what was victor bout's value to russia? and if you could tell me on his release jeopardizes national security in the united states? is that true? >> let me just say that this was a very difficult decision that the president had to make. and he did not make this decision lightly. he did not make this decision lightly. but at the end of the day, when he had the chance to bring an american home, he made the decision. and i will also say that we take a u.s. national security extremely, extremely seriously. and we will continue to monitor and stay vigilant to protect

u.s. national security always. >> all right, desiree cornea smith, a good diplomat at the state department. thank you very much for your time today coming on. >> thank you >> appreciate your time. ahead on simone. we have brand-new legal setbacks for citizen donald trump on the january six committee is preparing to meet one the weekend tomorrow to discuss potential criminal referrals. i have little expert who will bring you all down but first, y'all know who it is. my bestie, richard is here. rachel one of the top news stories? hey richard. >> hey, simone good to see. you sportsman illness grant well died last night will covering world cup soccer in qatar. he was 49 years old. earlier in the week, while wrote that he was feeling sick. he was reportedly detained last month by stadium security guards for wearing a rainbow t-shirt. in support of lgbtq plus rights. there are no reports that the two incidents are linked. the new york city health commissioner issued a new indoor mask advisory advising cases of covid, flu and

respiratory virus rsv. so, far no changes to the rules, masks are still a voluntary but health officials urge everyone to be cautious. and on friday, a judge sentenced former minneapolis police officer alexander came to three and a half years for his role in the death of george floyd. cain pleaded guilty to one state charge and will serve his time concurrently with his federal sentence. king was the officer who kneeled on floyd's back and may of 2020 while convicted officer derek chauvin kneeled on floyd's neck for over nine minutes. more simone, right after this break. hi break. red lobster. the finer points of fun dining creating your own ultimate feast... ...is the ultimate form of shell-fish-pression. create your own ultimate feast is here. choose 4 of 10, like new cheddar bay shrimp. welcome to fun dining. (burke) deep-sea driving, i see... (customer) something like that... (burke) well, here's something else: with your farmer's policy perk, new car replacement, you can get a new one. (customer) that is something else.

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know some of your life thinking. let's be very clear. it is not clear who might be defending any of those referrals. meanwhile, down in florida this week we learned that additional items marked as classified were found at a storage unit belonging to former president donald trump. and the materials were found during a search led by a firm hired by donald trump's attorneys. we have got some legal questions about these headlines. and charles coleman is here to answer them. he is a silver rights attorney, a former prosecutor. my friend and an nbc news legal analyst. charles, it is very good to see you. let's start with the january six committee. okay? how does that special counsel jack smith factor into any potential criminal referrals from the committee. like, how does he use that in what he is doing? or does he? >> well, simone, it remains to be seen. it is important that viewers understand that jack smith, north the doj actually needs a criminal referral to proceed against anybody who has committed wrongdoing in the january six committee has found

information about the fact that they may give criminal referrals regarding former president trump, and anyone else gives them a push. but it is not necessary for them to move forward. it is momentum boulder and it does sort of say that not only is there spoke with there is likely fire. but shaq smith is gonna do whatever jack smith is gonna do. and he doesn't need a doj criminal referral to make that decision. >> okay, so you are a former prosecutor, right? if you were in these shoes, do you think that, what would your assessment be on if this criminal referral from the committee could potentially help fuel claims from donald trump's allies that this whole thing is a political, what is the word they like to use, which aren't, right. a political process. would you be concerned about that. should folks be concerned about this, that this referral can work against the doj. >> not necessarily, i think is important understand, again, the doj doesn't need congressman -- a grand jury or an indictment to prosecute the former

president. the right and those people who are continuing to align themselves with donald trump, they're narratives not gonna change. so from jack smith's perspective, rather, he is gonna continue to do what he needs to do as a prosecutor. and keep in mind, there are multiple avenues of investigation that our current. you just talked about mar-a-lago. that, quite frankly, maybe the most straightforward realm. and i've said this for a very long time. at the federal level, not counting donny lewis in fulton county. in georgia. but that on a federal level, the mar-a-lago cases more than likely the straightest line that the doj has to a short prosecution. >> really, okay, let's talk about mar-a-lago. because now you have got more classified documents that have been found at a trump storage unit. so given that and what you have just noted, how much does this new discovery hurt donald trump? how much does that help the department of justice investigation? even if the materials found by lawyers that were hard but on trump's lawyers? pardon me, researchers that

were hired by donald trump's lawyers. >> i think it does a little bit of both. i think it serves to further the narrative that the doj has advanced that, look, this was a well done, this was intentional in terms of president trump taking documents that did not belong to him. and basically putting them anywhere. i think, however, there has to be some level of concern by the doj, as well as the fbi in terms of conducting their investigation. because with the myriad of properties that donald trump has under his control, we don't necessarily know whether this constitutes a complete universe of documents which were taken from washington and in places that they shouldn't be. i think that is the sort of thing that underlies this whole conversation. that while there has been a subpoena for the documents that have been turned over, while they have feigned to have cooperate with that subpoena. because these documents keep showing up in other places it also raises the question, what else out there? >> this is just crazy to me, as someone who worked in the white house. the idea that he is taking

these documents home and repeatedly just keeps finding new ones. anybody else would be in jail already for much less. lastly, i have to get some clarity on this thing. so there is a judge that rejected the department of justice request to hold donald trump's office in contempt. presumably because they keep finding these documents. should we care about this at all? it's a significant? >> well, it is significant in that we see jack smith being a lot more aggressive than we have seen merrick garland before him. it is very clear that jackson it is cut from the cloth of being a prosecutor. and there is a certain level of prosecution, prosecutorial initiative that you should be taking in a case like this, particularly something that is going on this long. on the dock that trump's attorneys have been as noncommittal as they have and have delayed as much as they have has also been a question of the doj allowing that to happen. and jack smith moving in this direction and trying to get them held in contempt. he may have known that it wasn't likely to work in his favor. but he also was sending a very

clear message that he is not going to allow them to continue with the tactics that they have thus far without seeking court intervention to move things along. and i think that ultimately that is a good sign. >> okay, all right, jack smith with a shot across the bow. okay, charles, thank you very much for breaking it down. we appreciate you. >> i had, we have got more. because there is a friend legal theory out there that gave rise during donald trump's attempts to reverse the 2020 presidential election. and it is now under consideration by the supreme court. we are gonna get into why you should be concerned. but first, senator chris ten sentiment is shaking up capitol hill after democrats nearly hold on to the senate. my political panel will weigh in on if you should care. stay with us, folks. us, folks. kevin! kevin! kevin? oh nice. kevin, where are you... kevin?!?!?.... hey, what's going on? i'm right here! i was busy cashbacking for the holidays with chase freedom unlimited. i'm gonna cashback on a gingerbread house! oooh, it's got little people inside!

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celebrating an expanded majority in the senate, yeah, there isn't a senator kristen sinema who announced she is switching parties and becoming an independent, take a listen. >> we make decisions about what is best for ourselves, our family, and our community so we don't spend a lot of time thinking about, this is a republican idea or is that the democratic idea. is this a liberal or say conservative. this is not how arizonans think. registering as an independent and showing up to work with a title of independent, it's a reflection of who i have always been. and it is a reflection of who

arizona is. >> very noisy video, now, to be very clear. sinema will keep her committee assignments and democrats will still control the chamber. so what is in it for her, while, my political panel is here. eugene daniels isn't embassy -- political contributor. and white house correspondent for politico. rohingyas is a former deputy assistant to president biden. and doug is a republican strategist and former communications director for the republican national committee i. should also add that rainey was, served in the vice president's office as well as the domestic policy adviser. i will start with you on this one because, you know, you have democratic congressman ruben guy a go, he is seen as a favorite to challenge for sinema in 2024. he had this to say, i will quote. at a time when our nation needs leadership most, arizonans to a voice that won't back down in the face of struggle. unfortunately, senator sinema is once again putting her own interests ahead of getting things done for arizonans. what is this mean? what does this mean for this --

what does this mean for prospects of 2024? >> well, let's just take a step back. so for kristen sinema and the decision that she made. there is a few things we can unpack here. so first of all, when we look at the confirmation of federal judges, that will be the legacy of president biden, and vice president harris. she is still a part of it, she will caucus with the democrats. and that will be helpful in advancing their agenda. when we look at nominees that still have to go through the process, democratic nominees are nonconference shull legislation. she will be helpful in advancing that. also the vice president is still very familiar with breaking tie votes and she is used to that and she will fulfill that constitutional duty. but there is no question. i think others will comment as well on the political headwinds that she was facing when it appeared that she was going to have to enter into a primary. and so when we look at some of the votes that she is having to take, she has had to take. particularly around, you know,

she voted against the increase in a moment wage last year. >> i mean, the people in arizona were very mad at her on some of this. i would just note this idea that this makes it better for her not to be in a primary. i know people have been saying that. but now she's an independent and democrats are gonna run someone else on the democratic primary. how does this benefit democrats, not this benefit republicans, i don't know. >> i am mystified by some of this. >> very mystified. >> she often goes out of her way to cause some controversy and get her name in the news. but democrats have been saying for months that what joe biden and what all democrats need to do our tell the biden administration's coalitions. and if you look at every accomplishment that joe biden and democrats can claim, kristen sinema is right there in the middle of it. as recently as this week with the gate marriage bill that biden is gonna sign. so i sort of don't understand some of the democratic complaining here. she is part of why you are successful. and you have kept her out. i say, as a north carolina republican where my old boss richard burr -- was also part of the game marriage bill, also part of the

immigration bill that he is working on with, who, sinema. when your party's ensures you and your party apparatus and your state tries to kick you out. you might be doing something right in 2022. >> well, we will have to see about that. look, eugene, let me bring you in here because kristen sinema joins two other independent senators, one of whom i used to work, for bernie sanders of vermont. and you've got angus king of maine. both basically operators democrats. and according to 5:30, eight sinema herself has voted to president biden's agenda 93% of the time. is there anything actually different about an independent kristen sinema. or is this, as she noted, you know, something she felt like she just needed to do for her. >> yeah, i think it is just making something concrete and obvious that was already very obvious to most of us. -- senate colleagues. because, when you talk to them, a lot of the assessment talking to them over the last 24 hours after this came down. but they said is, you know, she

doesn't come to a lot of caucus meetings. she votes with us all the time. she operates as kind of her own independent force. they were really frustrated with her earlier this year when she wouldn't make clear and plain where she stood on a lot of different issues. so it is kind of the same old same old. chuck schumer said this, he is expecting this to not change anything. rohingyas right about who is gonna vote continue to vote and probably caucus with democrats. but this is about doing what she said she wanted to do. which is to look like john mccain. the average, be very independent. not be connected to these parties. she is just taking one step further. >> all, right what we will just have to see how this works out. i want to move to the release of britney griner. we have one of her teammates on, and we just heard from desiree cormier smith from the state department. president trump has also joined in on this course from republicans who are falsely claiming that griner's release came at the expense of paul whelan who is another imprisoned american and he has been held in russia since 2018. paul whelan's brother david

were responded on twitter, saying this about the former president. former president trump appears to have mentioned my brother paul whelan's wrongful detention. more in the last 24 hours than he did in the two years of his presidency. doug, the administration has said that despite the rest efforts they could not get paul whelan released. they are gonna continue to fight for this. why is it, why are some people treating it as bad news that britney griner has been released? putting american against american. >> i think it is unfortunate, we should first celebrate what she is back home. what happened her was unjust, she is back on finally. this is good news. now, we can then look at the larger policies of the biden administration. see what works and what doesn't. we have seen some criticism from democrats, chris coombs being a good example. they have not called a two step, three step, ten step that trump and others have. trump is connect trump. we know whatever good news joe biden may have, even if there are larger policies that we should be looking at. trump is gonna be, you know, will that gets him away. >> i think that's an important point. do you agree, will trump trump,

they should ignore him and just stick forward to the agenda? >> absolutely, president biden as we heard earlier. president biden is going to, he has been representing all americans. and so it is important that we celebrate the release of britney griner. but we can also support that mr. whelan will get released one day. and that is how the president has been very forthcoming with the challenges that we're in front of us. and the decisions that you made. >> all right, while, before we go. actually, eugene. donald trump announced his 2024 candidacy a couple of weeks ago. he has been keeping a low profile. i mean, i haven't even seen him -- campaign rallies. you have any info, why, what is going on? >> there has not, we haven't seen anything. you, know this is a man who never keeps quiet. right, he has been on truth social. he popped up every once in a while. but, when you talk to people kind of in trump world, but they do say is that he doesn't feel like he is as excited to

run for president as he has been before the other two times. so i think that is part of it. he also, you know, kind of backed yourself into a corner by talking about running. so he is kind of going through the motions. i think that will probably pick up next year. he still hasn't figured out what his gonna run on at this point. which is, you know, kind of the same stuff that we have seen. i think he is also anticipating waiting to see what republican might be coming out and saying that they are also gonna run before he starts putting himself out there. >> he don't make sense to me. let me just say, it doesn't make sense to me. okay, let me just say this would not be a communication strategy that the great doug high wouldn't or's. thank you all. >> symone, just a second. we have something for you. so let's turn to this. >> what are we turning to. >> happy birthday, symone. >> happy birthday, so grateful for your voice.

for the words of wisdom that you bring to msnbc every single day. >> it's nina brown, i am joy lie, the one to take time out of our safari trip to wish you a very happy birthday, symone. >> happy birthday, symone, we love you, thank you for being on our platform. >> happy birthday, symone. i feel so luckily to work for you every day. we love you, the best day ever. >> happy birthday, symone. thank you for all that you do. we love you. >> happy birthday, symone. make good choices. >> [laughter] okay, thank you all very much, oh my goodness, thank you all very much. today is my 33rd birthday, my jesus year. eugene daniels, ronny -- thank you all so much, for being here. thank you everyone for that video, it was very kind. thank you. up next, we have this legal theory -- all the way to the supreme court. and the outcome could distort future elections. our democracy is still in trouble, feel. keep it right here, we're gonna discuss. scdiuss.

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stand and rejected many of the candidates who threatened our democracy. now, about a month later, the supreme court is considering a case that might endanger future elections. justices heard arguments wednesday in more the harper, it is a case based on the north carolina legislator's efforts to redraw the states congressional map. it is a based on a fringe,

right-wing idea called the independent state legislator theory. okay, i'm using all the quotes because it is, french it is a victory. it removes state courts from the oversight of federal elections. and it gives unchecked powers to state legislators. here is justice elena kagan in this week's hearing, take a listen to what she has to say. >> this is a proposal that gets rid of the normal checks and balances on the way big governmental decisions are made in this country. and you might think that it gets rid of all of those checks and balances out exactly the time when they are needed most. >> i am joined now by kathy fong, she is the national researching director for common cause, which has been fighting this case. kathy, thank you so much for being here. let's just start with this. why do people need to pay attention to more ev harper. >> thank you, simone. i think the reason why a common causes fighting so hard to make sure that every day people understand what is at stake with more the harbor is that

this is not just about who decides how lines are drawn for districts in north carolina. this is fundamentally about our american democracy. and whether the way that we think of our american democracy having checks and balances built in the three branches of government, essentially checking each one. no one branch of government having absolute power. whether that still is the fundamental core of our democracy. >> okay. >> or do we say that one branch, the legislature, cause absolute power? >> it seems quite strange to even think that there is a group of people that would believe that the latter is what we should be doing. can you just walk us through why, specifically, the independent state legislator theory is actually central to this case. because some people might say, oh, this is really just about redistricting. >> sure. i think in order to understand how we got here you have to understand what the underlying case was about. so this was a redistricting

case coming out of north carolina. where the north carolina state legislature controlled by one party decided that they were going to draw congressional lines that skewed in favor of their party. they wanted to rig the outcome of those elections. and when we challenged that, as common cause, and the southern coalition for social justice, we challenged that. the court said no. the court said that our state constitution prohibits rigging elections so that voters have no choice. they relied on a state constitutional clause called the free elections clause. as well as other clauses. and they said no. there was no place for the north carolina legislature to appeal that decision. they didn't like having their maps redrawn by the state courts in a fairway that resulted in a 77 result for democrats and republicans and an even steven map. and so the only way that they could challenge it was to go all the way to the supreme court. and insist that the state

courts are not the boss of me. right? so they came up with this crazy theory. it is called the eye assault, but i like to call it the bs multi. because it is full of bs. >> yes, kathy, yes, cathy! >> the constitution, yeah. the constitution doesn't have any way of restraining or constraining the state legislator when it comes to passing laws around federal elections. and they claimed by looking at that little clause in isolation that they want to throw out 230 years of precedent. they want to throw out what our framers understood. they went throughout the history and what every single state constitution enshrines. which is that we have got three branches of government. and each one has a check and balance on the other. they want to throw out the state courts and the state constitution because they don't want anybody to be the boss of me. and it is the only way that they can get around it to getting rid of the district maps that the state court said

that they have to follow. >> i know it took a minute, but i am glad, kathy, that you explained that. because i think there are a lot of folks that are wondering, how did this even get up to the court? >> exactly. >> but it is no coincidence to me that it is north carolina's legislature that won state courts out of the equation when it comes to drawing congressional maps. because i remember, about three years ago, when a three judge panel throughout the state's republican mauve. and accused the legislature of acting with what they called surgical precision and a highly partisan way. particularly targeting black voters. or disadvantage-ing black voters. so what do the justices have to say during arguments, if you can, quickly. >> in the supreme court, the justices, one by one, ask really hard questions. and this court arguments process took three hours. which is three times longer than usual. because they were really asking, where are you getting this blt

from? where do you find any kind of precedent or basis for it? again and again i think the questions revealed that there was no basis for arguing that the legislature should be able to act without anybody overseeing it. and so i really think what we are down to is whether we are willing to essentially nuclear bomb the house just because we don't like the color of the paint on the walls. >> i guess last question, caffey. it sounds like it is either or. what do you think that the justices could come up with some middle ground to be found in this case. if so, you have a theory and what that could look like? >> yeah, sure. i actually think if you move away from the crazy i.s. all team and you say, all right, we don't take courts, state courts out of the process of reviewing what state legislators do when it comes to passing federal election laws. but we do say, from time to time, if there is a real problem we can review what the

state court decides. that it does create a potential area for review that would have to be very differential to those courts. but maybe we would want to make sure that nothing that that state court does this out of line with the federal constitution. that might be the compromise. >> i am scared, i'm telling you, cathy, i am scared. because let me just say, north carolina, honey. they have been doing nefarious things in that state legislator for a very long time. kathy fong, thank you very very much for breaking it down, all your expertise, appreciate your time. >> thank you so much, and happy birthday, symone. >> i thank you, thank you. after the break, we will keep the good times rolling here, y'all. i'm very excited to be joined by a very special guest. the emmy award-winning actress cheryl lee ralph is in the simone spotlight, that is next, stay with us. stay with us moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin.

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simply put, she is an icon, y'all. an emmy award-winning icon. and she took home this year's award for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her role as barbara howard in the hit series, abbott elementary. here is part of that magical moment. >> i am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like! this is what striving looks like! and don't you ever, ever give up on you! >> i just play that when i need a pep talk. some of her other television credits include it is a living, instant mom, and militia. her big screen roles include sister act two and the mighty quinn. and she also received a tony nomination for her role in the broadway musical, dream girls. with me now is that icon, cheryl lee ralph. it is so good to see you, my friend. i want to start with that amazing emmy moment. everyone has asked you about it. and i just, what went through

your mind when you heard your name called? and why exactly did you make the decision to sing endangered species. >> you know something? symone, i honestly don't know what was going through my mind. because i couldn't even get the signal from my brain to my likes to tell me to stand up and walk towards the stage. i was in such absolute shock. but once i did get to center stage, i literally felt a sense of being at home. as a feeder actress. and i just had to relax. and i burst into what was comforting to me. and that was song. endangered species is a song that i have been singing for 20 years now. i included it in part of the one woman show that i wrote, sometimes i cried. and i have been singing it all around the world. so in that moment.

that song for me said everything. i am an endangered species, me, a black woman, endangered species. but i saying no victim song. i am never playing the victim. i am a woman. i am an artist. and i know where my voice belongs. and i will use it to speak up, not just for myself, but for others. and i think that that is what really came to me in that moment. carry on and center myself. and saying, to use my voice. >> use your voice. i mean, i remember watching that moment and i think that that song speaks to so many of us. he won the emmy for your role on abbott elementary. and did you imagine the impact of an elementary would have? did you think that this would be the role that got you your army when you first came on board? >> as an artist, you know, i don't think you go through your life thinking, oh, this is the

one where i get an award. this is the one where i get an award. or, oh, i will work towards getting an award for this. no, you think about doing your fast work. you think about putting your best self forward. you think about building a platform that will not just the stain you, but can't hold others to come. because with your success or with any success, it is the idea. for me, it's to bring others along with me. so i definitely knew that abbott elementary was gonna be a big hit. did i know about me winning an emmy, absolutely not. but i am glad i did! >> we are all glad that you did to, before i go, i want to know that you got a first ever christmas album, sleigh, it's out. i heard you last week, i believe. you have become, i would like to know, a woman motivational speaker for women all across the country. so in the last 30 seconds i have, what do you want to say

to the people who are hearing you right now who need a word? >> oh i just want them to know, it's what i said. don't you ever, ever get up on you. you are so wonderful. and so wonderful so that if you were not around, oh my god. something would change for more than just a few people. so get up in the morning, look in the mirror. love what you see. empower what you see. embrace what you see. and move forward. don't you ever give up on you, because you are so worth everything. >> thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you cheryl the ralph. you have been a lot of my, life i appreciate you so much for coming on today. thank you very much. >> happy birthday! >> thank you. thank you, and thank you out there folks for watching simone on this saturday. i am symone sanders-townsend, it is my birthday. politics nation with the great reverend al sharpton starts

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