>> 2022 was the year the word world failed. since returning to power after president biden pulled u.s. troops out of afghanistan in 2021. the taliban's crackdown has been brutal. the rights and freedoms of afghan women have, regressed and one final move to women's rights before the world and, they've been in the room attending school after first grade independent university. we'll get into that and more the next. our another hour of velshi starts right now. good morning, and i new year. it is sunday. january 1st. i'm hassan, sitting in for my good friend ali velshi.

and you congressional class will be sworn in republicans will officially take back control of the health of representatives. let us pause and reflect on that for a moment. less than two years after i violent -- stormed the capitol in attempt to stop biden from becoming president. -- we'll be back in control of the lower chamber of commerce. many of the republicans returning to congress or joining it for the first time this week supported the big lie that led to that armed insurrection. granted, republicans only have a slim majority in the house. the roadways that some folks initially warned about never actually happened. but it is remarkable that it barely took one election cycle for the gop to regain power at the seat of our government. in the lead up to this year's election, republicans fixing high gas prices and inflation in the influx of microsoft. they grabbed but all of that

for months. and offered real solutions for those, an obvious effort to rile up the base and put democrats on the defensive. but now they are about to take power, the question is what are they going to do about inflation or the crisis at the border? with a divided congress it will be difficult for either party to pass meaningful legislation for the next two years. republicans are not bothered about registration. house republicans have began planning investigations into some of the most pressing issues of the day. like hunter biden's laptop. they're also interested in probing the department of homeland security, and some members have even been called for impeachment. the impeachment secretary alejandro mayorkas at the department of homeland security. they also want oversight hearings about big tech, allegations of social media companies have, been quote, silencing americans as free speech. investigating covid's origins and their connections to china is also on the list. -- and woke ideology.

these culture war topics but house republican kevin mccarthy, himself, but the. way that's how seriously they are taking all of that. i speak clear, these investigations will not lead to any actual policy change. it'll be more like publicity is to rehabilitate the reputation of the republican party. and donald trump ahead of the 2024 election. >> joining me now, molly john vause, host of the fast politics podcast. and -- of anything. and hugo lowell, investigative reporter for the guardian. thank you both for joining me this. morning, hugo use mental and time on capitol hill. preview, for, us what is ahead in the next two years as we enter another area with a divided congress, in the republican party bent on spectacle and publicity hearings. >> it's going to be house of representatives that is increasingly focused on investigations. not least because republicans have repeatedly broken the house in the senate, failed to

create any sort of policy that they want to pursue. rebuking a center of, congress before even trying to come up with legislative power needs ahead of the midterms. then i cannot legislate, the only other thing they can do is to investigate and increasingly. clear at the kind of investigation that they want is political in nature. if you look at -- hunter biden is not a member of the government. he is just the president's son. and they want to view -- the culture of the administration. just as they want to use afghanistan -- as a cudgel to beat the administration at, large as well. there is always going to be a critical sense to. this and i think one has to wonder if this is the kind of thing that republicans want to be prioritizing, ahead of the 2022 presidential election. as we say, we have been comforted because they have no one. else and nothing else to do.

>> so, molly, weak messaging in strategizing in the past. given republicans are playing viewing congress is for. show how the democrats respond to these investigations, these republican antics. >> it is. interesting what they are trying to do is do -- great success for republicans with benghazi. they worked really hard to discredit hillary clinton, and they diminish trump so that when she landed, trump had something to run on. all those investigations, and those hearings. i do think it is really important to the democrats meet each one of these allegations with answers. i don't think that is a place for the high road. i do think that is a place for fighting back, and defending themselves. of, course the question is, hunter biden is not an elected official. he is not running for. office he's never running for

office. he's an artist who lives in california. i do think that's the ridiculousness of this may in fact heard a republicans. and if you look at what happened with bill clinton, right, it's that impeachment, it did ultimately help bill clinton because it was so ridiculous and the american people decided it was so silly they would not take it seriously. >> you preempted, molly, my follow-up. which is going, to be does the american public have an appetite for endless hearings into hunter biden's laptop another frivolous issues? given that we were told for the last 12 months by the republican party that inflation is the big issue. it can table issues on the big issue. stop talking about democracy, democrats. talk about what is hurting americans at the. pump is not really going to back fire do you think? >> i think the thing that we do not know about, now, is the fake news. deplore for a shun of these

websites, like maggot 1 to 3. and i think we have to, wonder like, how much of the american voting public is influenced by that. in 1998, what had happened to bill clinton? that kind of thing did not have this proliferation of these drug news sites. the answer is i don't know, but i would think that the american public, historically, has found this kind of stuff pretty disgusting. >> yeah, i guess that's a very good point you make about the bubble that some of the base inhabit where independents do. let's see. hugo, in 2021 marjorie taylor greene was stripped of her committee assignments by democratic vote in congress. kevin mccarthy wouldn't do it despite how ridiculous remarks about nancy pelosi, talking about the old comments we had made about killing pelosi. or her chasing david hogg down the street. all the other jewish space laser, et cetera, it. sandra she of course changed her way.

she still says and does outrageous things, far-right things and yet she is back and kevin mccarthy to speaker. she is expected to be back on committees, maybe even they were site committee which is the gate she walks. what does it say about the congressional gop in the house gop of marjorie taylor greene is calling the shots going forward? , >> it's an interesting point you. rays marjorie taylor greene has actually played a very clever game in the last few years. where republicans have been the minority. she has been playing to her face, and saint benedict they want to. here you want to hear about the jewish space. nation you want to hear about how she can teach biden, impeach andrew mayorkas. even though she doesn't have a right to get there. but what she has done is traded that to kevin mccarthy and said look if i back before your ego ship quelled, then i will be able to shift the dynamics of the far-right, section the freedom caucus section of the republican caucus. and maybe we'll get the votes you need to get to become the

speaker. and i think that is the kind of power and politics that republicans -- grapple with. it is increasingly clear that marjorie taylor greene has turned it to be one of the more shrewd members of that conference and managed to spare the conference to her will. and this is really not really seen before seeing people like lisa fanone, who has always been very tactical about the kind of people she wants to back. because her quest for political power. marjorie taylor greene has pay played particularly clever game, never to the trump credentials. handing the sort of damocles over. now you've been to my. well that is an interesting dynamic that mccarthy and in the river that congress would have to back. >> although hearing dispatcher, jewish space, later qanon lady being described as a true member of the gop caucus was not on my new year's morning bingo card.

>> so i don't. no >> on that, note on the bar being low, molly, i've got to ask you, what do you make of the recent and ongoing fight between former powers lauren boebert and marjorie taylor greene? how is that going to affect the gop going forward? >> it is amazing, right? boebert and greene are a big part of the party. think about marjorie taylor greene. a hugely successful small dollar donations which the base loves. even though both were barely got reelected, because she does come from actually a pretty mixed district, i do think that this could hurt them. they are majority so slim. kevin mccarthy is barely speaker. every unforced error could be a disaster for him. so i do actually think this is going to be a problem for them. and you have a lot of really wild gop house members, and a

very slim majority. so i think there is going to be problems for them. >> quick last question to you then, you, on that note. kevin mccarthy, does he have the votes to finally get the speakers gavel that he so desperately craves? >> i don't know. and i don't think the republicans know, either. i think they're playing a very difficult game. republicans have not lined up behind him in a way that he clearly had hoped. people like matt gates and other freedom caucus members i think are going to be a real issue for him and clearly the compromise that is going to see is that we're gonna have the motion to vacate rolls. easier one -- party to depose him? i think he's actually giving that concession if he wants to become speaker. i speak to republicans who think there is no way mccarthy lost a speaker if he gets there. >> we will have to leave it

there on that note. molly, john, fast hugo lowell. thank you both and i happy new year. coming, up no relief from ukrainians on new year's eve as russia ramped up its missile campaign. a sign of what is to come as we head into 2023 and i will speak with a member of ukraine's parliament about his constituents became targets and vladimir putin's bloody campaign. and oh my from my own richard engel about the inspiring resilience of a nation under siege. his special report, next. his spiaecl report, next ♪ ♪ you've done the hard part. you quit smoking. now do the easy part and get scanned for lung cancer. if you smoked, you may still be at risk, but early detection could save your life. talk to your doctor and learn more

at savedbythescan.org >> for the people of, ukraine

the very first our 2023 have been assessing damage. marshall fire more than 20 christmas house and targets around the capitol. kyiv. killing one person and assaulting one official,

described as tehran. new year's eve -- accused moscow of deliberately aiming for residential areas in the. attack sense if i, we are ukrainian troops had financing medications violently against vladimir putin's campaign. despite the powerful resolve a nation under attack, thousands have been killed and entire villages wiped out. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more on how we got here and where things are heading in this new year. and a warning, some of the images you're about to see are disturbing. >> in the twilight hours of february 24th, president vladimir putin talk to russian state television to announce a special military operation. the aim to demilitarize and to de-nazify ukraine. minutes later, explosions rock ukraine scandal of kyiv. missiles rained down across the country, and russia's massive military moved across the board. putin's special operation was

-- of war. although putin headlong tonight his attention for -- he openly claimed ukraine was part of, russia and demonized ukraine's leader. as putin had already legally annexed ukrainian territory, the crimea peninsula, with little international backlash. this time, condemnation came quickly. >> putin's choice to make it totally unjustifiable war on ukraine, we'll have left russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger. >> why grazing sanctions were rolled, out but they did little to deter. russia's military, ten times the side of ukraine moved swiftly to surround kyiv. but almost immediately, a cracks in the mighty russian army began to appear. the event was stalled. ukrainians organized and fought back. civilians banded together. many took up arms to defend

their country. it seemed vladimir putin had an accountant for this, the will of the ukrainian people led by unlikely people, vladimir zelenskyy. the nation rallied by the comedian turned politician, now wartime leader. facing -- and failing to target, kyiv russia focused its attacks on eastern ukraine. moscow called it a change of strategy. for the ukrainians, it was a major victory. but any celebrations were short-lived. as russian forces withdrew from around kyiv. evidence of atrocities and war crimes on a massive scale emerged. first in bucha, the pattern would continue and other liberated areas. ukrainian officials documented 50,000 alleged russian war crimes. russia has repeatedly denied that its soldiers are

responsible. >> why do you think this is, happening that there are now thousands of allegations of russian war crimes here? thousands of them? >> something was, you know, broken with mentality with them. >> in the east and in the south, russia's bloody campaign continued. [sound of artillery] with putin's forces firing missiles to hammer cities indiscriminately. u.s. officials estimate tens of thousands of ukrainian civilians have been killed, and 100,000 russian troops killed or wounded. ukrainians have soldiers on, backed by international support, including 20 billion dollars in weapons and military assistance from the united states. ukrainian troops have used it to launch a major counteroffensive, liberating large parts of eastern ukraine.

and then the southern city of kherson. occupied by moscow for eight months as the ukrainian military moved in soldiers were given a heroes welcome. president zelenskyy called the liberation of kherson, the beginning of the end of this war. how are you feeling today, mister president? how are you feeling? >> very well. >> how is this moment for you? >> the moment is very important, this was the biggest city that was occupied since 24 1st of february. so that is the biggest city and now it is free, so ukraine came so i am happy. >> as the conflict nears one year, there is still no end in sight. ukrainians fear the world is losing interest in the war as putin implores a brutal new tactic, mass targeting ukraine's infrastructure. this is just as temperatures plummet. he couldn't take ukraine as completely or quickly as he'd hoped, now it seems he is

trying to starve and freeze the country into submission. >> thank you to richard angle, joining me now for more ukrainian members of parlay, and you carl, andrew thank you so much for coming on to the show. according to ukraine's military, russia launched more than 20 missiles at kyiv yesterday, knocking power to 30% of the capital city. how are ukrainians holding up during this cold winter and how can the international community better support your country? >> thanks for having me here. yes, despite the new year holidays, russia was continuing to fight with ukrainian civilian infrastructure and with ukrainian civilians. yes, kyiv was attacked yesterday morning with almost 20 missiles, and later on it during the night they continued to attack with the chemicals with drones. thanks for ukrainian military

and thanks for our cooperation with the west, we learned well how to defend our sky. we did a huge progress for this year. you remember that we were asking the west to close our sky in january and february, and in ten months we have -- now we've reached an agreement with having patriots holding it together is giving good, excellent results because almost all missiles and drones that was launched by russia during the last 48 hours were shot down and by that, we think we saved probably hundreds of lives and we protected our infrastructure. because the main target of putin now is to defeat ukrainian energy systems as you correctly just said, that they want just to freeze millions of people. i want to remind them that still, there our numbers of

people in kyiv that is still under attack. coming back to the west, we are extremely thankful for everything, all that has been done by the united states in supporting ukraine in 2022. it was great leadership of the united states in 2022, but it is still not enough. yes, we were able to protect our country, yes ukrainian men and women are fighting on the front lines. but we need not just to be able to defend, we need to keep them off ukrainian land. we need attacking weapons. because as long as this war is going on, as more difficult for ukraine to stay in one piece. it is very exhausting for millions of ukrainians as inside of the country, as you know that millions of had to flee and they are living somewhere in europe, but everyone wants to come back. so we expect that 2023 will be the year of the maximum consolidation of western allies of ukraine, of nato, and of the united states of america. because still today the

accomplishments we have achieved our definitely of huge importance, but it needs to -- meaning that that big battle of the united states provided, hundreds of times more support the united kingdom and the southern union, meaning that -- the united states nor nato allies have more resources to help ukraine. and i will finish with quotation of general secretary of nato who said that to provide military support to ukraine's the strongest way to peace in europe. >> under putin's new year's address yesterday to rally support for his war in ukraine, saying quote, moral and historical righteousness is on our side. do you think the russian people believe that and do you think they will ever stop supporting this war? >> i am afraid that no one in the west understands the level of social catastrophe which is

happening in russia during the last 100 years. it is the period of negative selection during the gates. and for the last several months, what putin correctly did, he allows everyone with an education and everyone with money to flee the country. almost 1 million of educated russians, they run away from the war and the remaining amount of population definitely is extremely low educated, extremely poor, and they absolutely are hypnotized by more than 20 years of propaganda. you should see that adolf hitler took just seven years to convert germans to nazism, starting a war 1933 and going into 1939. but putin is already 22 years in power and every day they are washing the brains of all russians. so that is why i don't expect any evolutionary moments inside of russia, all these people

will be used is as meat for the war. as>> because the only resource that putin has at the moment's people. so we expect more people will come to the war, and definitely it will create a problem for ukraine. and the only answer that which will help is having more weapons from the west to defeat all of these crowds of barbarians. >> andrew sergeant, thank you for your time, happy new year. please do stay safe. coming up, one states plan to end cash bail faces a roadblock right before it is set to go into effect. we will explain why. plus, the latest from the vatican with new video of pope benedict xvi out this morning of, as the vatican prepares to lay the final pope to rest. lay the final pope to rest.

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of the pope benedict xvi day, he was brought to st. peters by silica for public viewing starting tomorrow. earlier today, the current pontiff, pope francis prayed for his predecessor in a special new year's day mass at st. peter's basilica. pope francis, diverting from his written homily to pray aloud for pope benedict the 16th, the vatican announcing his death at the age of 95. he will lie in state starting tomorrow with a funeral plan for this coming thursday, benedict was the first pope in 600 years to retire, so some procedures following his death will be entirely new. joining me now from front you is and is nbc news correspondent claudia reveler, thank you for joining. a funeral procession there on the way, what can you tell us about what is happening inside the vatican? >> hey mehdi, well today the pope, pope francis, just

presided over two scheduled events. this morning he led a mass that he holds every thursday of the year, in st. peters square, and then later on he delivered the scheduled sunday prayer from the weaned of -- and in both occasions, he paid tribute to pope emerita benedict the 16th. i will just read you what he said during the mass. he said today we interest beloved pope emeritus benedict the 16th to his holy mother that she will accompany him on his journey from here to god, and during his sunday prairies and let us join together with one heart and one soul in thanking god for the gift of his faithful servant of the gospel and a church. as you mentioned today, the vatican released the first pictures of the pope emeritus lying in the monastery where he moved in and lived in, since he resigned in 2013. and where he died yesterday morning. and then from tomorrow morning, the body will be moved into st. peter's basilica starting from

the early morning to give the faithful the last chance to bid him farewell. mehdi? >> nbc's clove ola vanya, thank you for your reporting. a new law in illinois was supposed to go into effect today to end cash bail for everyone accused of crimes in that state. it was that to be a major progressive overhaul of the illinois progressive system, but a last-minute ruling by a judge has put the new law on hold or at least in some parts of the state. nbc's shaq brewster has the details. >> as crime focused ads flooded television airways this fall -- >> it will soon be the law statewide. >> a sweeping new law in illinois took center stage in conservative messaging. >> didn't illinois just pass some new law? >> illinois, attempting to become the first state in the country, to abolish cash bail. if the law survives legal challenges, those accused of crimes will no longer need to pay $1 amount to be released.

instead, judges will determine detention based on if the person poses a threat. eliminating the wealth based advantage. >> in the 35 years that i've been a prosecutor, this is probably the biggest change in the criminal justice system that i have ever seen. >> two page county state attorney, robert berlin, was using ads attacking the law. >> you are going to have violent criminals out on the streets. >> he and other states attorneys secure changes signed into law this month. >> i was a vocal critic back then, but with this amendment, that has changed everything. judges have the tools to detain violent criminals, to detain defendants who are likely to commit other offenses and put the community at risk. >> chicago's chief public defender sharon mitchell, has been opposed to the existing bill system for years. >> we are moving to a system that is more serious, a system that is more informed, and a system that is more for and just. >> a federal government report

shows that more than 60% of defendants are detained pretrial because they can't afford to post bail. the report findings stark racial and gender disparities, with young black men over 50% more likely to be detained pretrial than white defendants. >> if you look at the jail population, it is much more reflective of who has access to money as opposed to who has been determined to be a risk or flight or or risk of public safety. >> during the height of the pandemic in 2020, trey dozier spent three months in a chicago jail when he couldn't post bond. >> the anxiety in the fear of just knowing that with every passing day when i'm in jail, the rest of my life is basically falling apart, it is in free fall. because of the situation of which i was seeing as just a misunderstanding, that needed to be sort out. >> after his partner's post about their tiktok experience went viral. >> it's the last time he went

missing, he was obviously confused and accidentally opened a ladies passenger car door, and police on the street assumed that he was stealing the car. >> the bell project stepped in to help pay the $10,000 required to secure his release. >> the new law would have given somebody the opportunity to actually look at the real true circumstances of my situation, and my arrest. >> do you think without the financial assistance from the bell project that you would have still been in jail right now? >> yes i do. >> our thanks to shaq brewster, for this report. coming up after the break. women in afghanistan have essentially been relegated to their homes after a brutal month of crackdowns by the taliban, how should the west respond as we head into the rest of 2023? that is next. that is next. secret had ph balancing minerals;

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>> as we kick off 2023 it is easy to simply not think about the fundamental freedoms we often take for granted in this country, but that is not the case for women and girls in afghanistan who are beginning their new year with far fewer rights than they had a year ago. after president biden pulled troops from that country back in august of 2021 ending the longest -- the u.s.-backed government in kabul collapsed almost immediately as the taliban we

took control. since returning to power, their crackdown has been brutal. just this past month the taliban banned girls from attending school after sixth grade, and from universities. they barred women from working in ngos, and most jobs outside of the home. they forced women to cover their faces in public and instructed them to only leave their homes in cases of necessity. this cruel effort to deny women and girls any agency over their lives has resulted in protests by some extremely brave women and their few male supporters in afghanistan. i am joined now by the author of the secrets guy and former nbc news correspondent, atia abawi, thank you so much for coming on the show. happy new year to you and your family, a téa, we have seen those extraordinary pictures of women protesting. what risks do women and men face when they publicly protest the taliban? >> well, thank you for having me on and happy new year to you as well. the risks they face are

massive. their faces are out there, we see them chanting, we see them protesting, and what we don't see here in america but i will see on afghan tv in a few weeks time is some of these women taken into custody and forced to say that they were influenced by someone outside of afghanistan to protests. women have gone missing, some have been found dead, these are extraordinarily amazingly courageous women that are still fighting for their rights that are diminishing not just day-by-day, minute by minute. when you mentioned the parks, the gyms, and the swimming pools. that sounds like something small, but these were female only parks. female only gems, female only swimming pools. the taliban don't even want them to have physical acts of activity outside of the environment of men. and i just want to emphasize that this is not islamic, when you don't let a woman go to school or a girl go to school. in fact, islam not only is it a right is them to be educated,

it is an obligation. so what the taliban are doing, they are not doing something that is based on the religion. they are doing something based on their lust for power. and it is something that we are going to continue to see until we see neighboring countries, countries that have influence. the west doesn't really have much of an influence anymore when it comes to money and when it comes to talking to their allies, pakistan, and qatar to have that influence with the pack with the taliban. >> so on that note, is there anything, apart from talking to some of the taliban's kind of pseudo-allies, that western governments, the american government, the international community, the u.n., can do to help afghan women? even muslim majority countries and muslim scholars who have come on to condemn the taliban's crackdown on women's rights, because as you say it is on islamic, they have been ignored to, haven't they? >> they have been ignored. but these are messages there. needs to be more of a power of influence, and that comes with money. that comes with direction.

in fact, we will talk to some afghans inside of afghanistan and they will say that they know members of the taliban that actually do want women to go to school but the. problem is that this influence of this power hungry, massage mystic, group primarily based in the south. they are having infighting within themselves. let's not pretend the taliban is this one cohesive, strong, government that are working to have influence on this country. they are actually butting heads against each other. but it is this one group that has the major influence, but it is also that one group that is talking to major countries such as pakistan such as qatar, they can have conversations with these leaders to have some sort of influence. and again, let's be honest, money also has a huge influence. and the taliban are desperate for money right now. they are desperate for aid. so the fact that these eight organizations have halted their operations in afghanistan such

as irc and i believe care as well, that is in a way, to influence the taliban to help the women of afghanistan. >> but as you say, some of these and beyond have stopped their work because the taliban, just over a week ago, ordered those ngos to stop having afghan women from coming to work. women from coming t work >> but how does that impact people of afghanistan where by my estimates, over 90% of people live in poverty? >> this is a way to influence the taliban, this might be the only way to influence -- but the people that continue to suffer our the afghan people. we are heading into these crucial winter months, the roads are about to be blocked into many of the provinces, the government there needs money to even salt some of the road so that they could even get aid into these provinces. unfortunately we are going to see afghan people dying.

it is always the afghan people who suffer, the people on the ground. it is never the people who have the influence, who will be fine, and they're heated mansions in kabul in kandahar, with the fire is blazing in their home and food to eat. but it will be the poor afghans who are already suffering that will continue to suffer. >> atia, we have spoken about this in terms of what the biden ministration would be doing and before these aid groups kind of suspended their work because of the misogyny towards their employees, even before all of that, there was a big debate raging here in the u.s. across 2022 about what the biden administration should or should be doing, that this issue of afghan assets, central buying assets that were frozen by the u.s.. that the biden administration said should go in part to the families of 9/11 victims, even though they were afghans on the planes at 9/11, what do you make of what the u.s. government could be doing in terms of afghan assets, afghan

money, separate to the whole a debate. >> so i personally believe that if the american government, the administration wanted to do more, they could do more. but the key word here is wanted to do more. from my experience in talking to different members within the government, and the government message they sent me is that they basically have wiped their hands. this is no longer their problem, they have said, many times, too many people. and unfortunately if, they wanted to do something they could, but the sentiment seems to be is that the want is not there. and they want to be rid of this problem as, you know, many of people here in this problem might think, okay it is not our problem anymore. but really it is our problem. we created what is afghanistan today. >> it is very much our problem, which is why we continue to cover the story. thank you, atia abawi for joining us today, happy new year to you and your family. >> thank, you and happy new year.

>> up next, a final look back at some of the brighter moments from 2022, and as we go to break, this was the scene in times square last night. people willing to brave those massive new york crowds to count down to midnight. stay with us. today i'm the ceo of my own company. it's the way my mind works. i have a very mechanical brain. why are we not rethinking this? i am more... i'm more than who i am on paper. one role of a lifetime... one sore throat. but she had enough. she took mucinex instasoothe sore throat lozenges.

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the way that the world came together, people took those long postponed trips -- as fears about the pandemic waned in a created some truly magical moments and feces, kristen welker, has more. >> they are the moments of joy we so desperately missed. >> are you kidding me?

what are you doing? >> the surprises that finally happened in 2022 after so much time apart during the pandemic. >> surprise. we surprised you. >> you surprised me. >> chances to reconnect and reflect. >> surprise,. >> to finally gather and do all of the things we had hoped for. ♪ ♪ ♪ like the concerts we couldn't wait to see, and the proposals. >> she said yes. >> in front of friends and family. >> it has been postponed twice.

>> there were the wedding celebrations that had been put on hold, and at long last, those first dances. there were long delayed trips. >> what does it say? >> disney? >> rewards for the little ones, who had been so patient. >> first trip since covid, a little surprise. >> this is south carolina mom took her son to see the city of lights. >> we told the city that we were coming for christmas, i'm surprised them for thanksgiving, i haven't seen them in two years. kate >> casey holiday made a grueling trip to california from australia for his mom carol, it meant the world.

>> it boils down to just the joy in the unexpected. >> cherish the time you have the people close to. you >> old friends sharon powell -- the two of them moved 14 miles apart during the pandemic. they're little girls, best friends too. >> the women surprising a little ones with this reunion. >> we are looking at them and we are both just crying, and it was just the most amazing feeling. >> i know she needed her best friend. so i just want her to know that the world is still a really good place. >> thanks to kristen welker for helping us and our new years show on a happier note it's. have a happy new year, ali will be back here next weekend, from 8:10 am eastern. as for me, i will back to my regular duties on the mehdi hassan show, 8 pm eastern live

on msnbc, and you can find new episodes on peacock as well. they will post every evening monday through thursday. stay right where you are though, stay right where you are, do not move. there is more msnbc in just a moment.

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