Constitution demands him somewhere, somehow in all the madness we faced, delta, omicron, a war on u. S. History, a massive rollout plan that vaccinated hundreds of millions of americans, despite widespread antivaccine madness. We also saw something we rarely see in the criminal Justice System for black folks, accountability. It was a year that woke everyone up in a pivotal and scary time for our country. Next year, it is just as wild, probably wilder. Hang on, folks, there is still a lot of work to be done. Joining me now is Michael Steel former chair of the Republican National committee. Jason johnson, professor of journalism and politics at morgan state university. Thank you all for being here. I appreciate you guys. We will sign our positives. I like to get right to the negative. Not today. Not today. We will go for the positive first. We like to do a segment here called who won the week . You guys are veterans of this fun plan, now we want to know who won is whole year . Lets start off positive, chairman steel, my friend, we will ask you the big question. The big question. Big one. In your mind, who won the year . Yeah, im ready for that. Let me say i am so happy to be with this crew. This is going to be a great conversation. Just met le Get It On The Record officially. I bet. So we know where were coming from. Who won the year . In my one, that is the honorable nancy pelosi. She has demonstrated time and time again a level of political resilience that is unmatched in modern politics. I know this first hand because im the guy who got her fired in 2010. Right . So i know what im talking about. I remember. I know what im talking about. So i have such admiration for her from her leadership, her tenacity, i disagree vehemently with a lot of the policies that nancy is out here promoting. I rarely get into the trench and do it all over again for the fate. But in terms of trying to hold the line on our democracy, number one, but at the same time, trying top navigate and move this administration, the Biden Administration into a position where it can pick up a win . Shes demonstrated that. Shes gotten two good wins for them this year. You have to tip the hat to the once and forever Speaker Of The House, nancy pelosi. No, i agree with you. I think she will go down in history with tip oneal, some of the greats in both of the chambers, the sam rayburns, the people you name buildings after. I would say she is probably the most effective Speaker Of The House probably in u. S. History. Shes had to navigate the most difficult times, with a first black president getting through the most massive healthcare change, you know, really since fdr was in or lbj. She had one of the most, she has really been the most effective speaker. I dont know if you can argue that, whether you are politically on her side or not. Thats not even arguable. Thats a really strong choice for you. Remember the days we used to argue about policy, it was so normal. Wasnt it fun . Remember . The policy. I love the fact that you were so wrong. I wasnt so wrong, it was so wrong. I loved it, though. Tiffany cross, after all that little referee with Michael Steel, remember how wrong he was on everything . Who in your mind, Tiffany Cross, tiffany d. Cross, who won the year . Funny. I have to say so much of what we talk about comes from reporters, particularly print reporters. So i have to say print reporters won the year. You know, those are the people who go and pour through thousands of pages of mon not us the government documents, they cultivate sources. They spend months what we talk about in minutes. And we wouldnt know a lot of things we do were it not for great reporters. I like the former local reporter, we so counted on the miami herald which would break the stories we could follow up on and do the deep dives that we didnt necessarily have the resource at the miami herald the Jeffrey Epstein story was completely broken by the miami herald. Its not by prosecutors, it was the bhaem miami herald. A reporter tried to undermine democracy in that state and colorado and other states trying to intimidate voters and interview them without saying who they are. You are absolutely right. We have to, the one thing about these local reporter kind of situations where you need the journalism, but its like how many subscriptions can i possibly have . I got the kansas city star, the herald, the sun sentinel and they add up to a campbell subscription. Thats the thing. People have to remember, journalcism not free. Get those subscriptions. Pay, gift them to people this holiday season. People have to remember this is something, you know, that stands on the front line of democracy just like voters do. You are absolutely right. While you are getting subscription, get the 19th news. That is worth supporting. We put you last, amazing answers from the chairman, Michael Steel, from the chair woman Tiffany Cross. Last to you, jason johnson, what you got . Who won the year . So keeping on brand with my personality, my view of american politics, say hi to the bad guy, my winner every year is steve bannon. Our country is much less safe, much less democratic. Much less capable of protecting its citizens and much more corrupt than it was a year ago. And this man is one of the architects behind it. We all wonder kind of like when you break up brady and belichick. Who is worse . Who has fallen behind america . Will trumpism survive without trump . Weve seen it, the architects behind tearing our country down and sell it for spare parts are getting away with it. Ground zero for that is steve bannon. This is a man behind a coup thats almost a year old and somehow hasnt gone to jail. Jesse smollett faked a crime. She in jail. Steve bannon is responsible for turning around this country and turning it into a Reality Tv Show this man has won the year. None of us are better off for it. That unfortunately is the state of marine makes in 2021. Its interesting. Because you are absolutely right. This is a guy who has basically got four shirts and none of them fit. None of them i think he laundered. He literally looks like a who hobo. Hes mangled to own a president donald trump, he was his sven galli and destroying democracy, he says on his podcast whatever he does, i think he lives for free in some sheiks apartment. I dont know where he makes his money. He has managed to destroy and destabilize the country. I cant argue with you. Its a negative choice. Its accurate. My pick for who won the year kind of off what jason said. I would like to get each of you guys comments. I would say despite all of our attacks on degrees and the fight to destroy in this multicultural experiment that has not worked, i would say black women won the year. This is why. The fight that people Lake La Tasha Brown and Stacey Abrams and you can think of so many of these women who have refused to lay down to stand down and have insisted that theyre going to continue to push forward, darnell la frazier, the teenager who filmed the George Floyd Murder and changed the world by doing that. Black women i think are fighting the good dam fight. So im going to give black women. You all won the year. You all won the year. Tiffany, can i get an amen, Tiffany Cross . Amen. I mean, look, we won the year, joy, we are in that, the most amazing sorority that exists. Thats all black women, to be among this group of women. Black women, la tasha brown honored, speaking of things done, its true. But even though black women won the year, i do want to say that we are not out here. Its our job to save the world. Were trying to save ourselves and the world benefits from it. Were trying to save our husbands, our daughter, our sons, our sisters, our mothers, our parents. Were trying to save our immediate parents and Everyone Else that benefits from it. I hope there are people out there thai take note and lessons. Were tired and this fight would not be such a brutal battle if we could look no our left and right and see our counterparts and allies fighting with the same amount of righteous anger we bring to these debates and these wars every single day. I hope when we celebrate black women, we are delivering a lesson for others to learn. I think about corey bush, ayanna pressley, ilhan omar. All of these women taking the heat and the threats, the death threats, it is not easy. Women of color have come together i have to say more broadly. The sisterhood of women of color, the squad is a perfect example of it. They have fought together arm in arm linked the progressive caucus, god bless them. They are women of all races and colors and color primary. Were trying to save this country, you all. You let us . My friend is speaking with me for the absolute worst of 2021. Thats right after this. 2021 was hardly a slow news what does a Foster Kid Need from you . To be brave. To show up. For staying connected. The questions they werent able to ask. Show up for the first day of school, the last day at their current address. For the mornings when everythings wrong. For the manicure that makes everything right, for right now. Show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most at helpfosterchildren. Com every day in business brings something new. So get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. Introducing Comcast Business mobile. You get the most Reliable Network with Nationwide 5g included. And you can get unlimited data for just 30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. Available now for comcast Business Internet customers with no lineactivation fees or Term Contract required. See if you can save by switching today. Comcast business. Powering possibilities. Year. While there were a few promising headlines, we saw a lot of awfulness, from the republican rebellion against democracy, to a wild spread of vaccine to bounty hunting abortion laws. Weve had plenty of targets, plenty, for our absolute worst, lets take a look. Kremlin cruz. The crocodile cruz who perhaps thinks that Swamp Realness will make him more electable. Yes, yes, Screamer Cancun Cruz is the absolute worst. Wasnt he always, really . Governor jeff desantis. Baby momma desantis. Grim reaper of the south. Sacrificing citizens live of the career of death cult leader. Tuckster donning his furrowed brow made to the signal gravitas. We now know the male version of a karen with 911 on speed dial and a sense of presumed authority over peoples lives should from this day on be called a tucker. Good Ole SpinelessHouse Minority leader, puppet kevin, hypocrite kevin. Maybe its Balloon Man Kevin because he has some spine. Gates has managed to make Beavis And Butthead he is one and the other, you guess which. Marjorie taylor green greene, she blamed a wildfire on a laser beam from outer space. Trump will always be the absolute worse. It puts a dangerous target on the backs of educators and young people. The Antivax Movement has been putting a dangerous target on the backs of young people. The absolute scariest. Ahaaaa and do you want to know the substance of my spooky nightmare . Come closer. Closer. Closer. Ghosts or goblins that go boo. Its what americans can look like in january, 2025. The Republican Party is a lot of things, antidemocracy, antivoting, antihistory, geraint fact, deeply opposed to antiracism. What they are not is prolife. The mod were day Republican Party is the Living Embodiment of the race to the bottom. Ha, ha, ha. Back quickly are michael, tiffany, and my hair journey is a part of whats happened. Right . I feel i had a whole journey well, i was going to say, at least your hair has a journey, jason and i yes. Mine left. That was a journey, too. Its gone. You all had your soul pros when you had them. It was a high top with a part. Did you have a gumby . I know you had a gumby. Lets move along. I did. Or jerry curl . Most are hidden. But they exist. The curl . Lets be real. Jason had a so glow. I know that. You know. Listen, the life of black hair. So we can do a whole show about that. But lets talk about the absolute worst. Lets see, which order should i go with . Lets go in reverse. Lets go to jason. Jason, tell me who you think . Its hard to fit. What is the absolute worst in your view of this year 2021 . So you went through a lot of the most hairable people, they were obvious and clear we can be unhappy with, who are terrible. But the absolute worst person for me is defined by the fact we had expectation they had disappointed at the harm of all. That is merrick garland. He will go down as the Neville Chamberlain of american politics. Merritt garland stood in the way of some of the Things Congress has done. Sat there passively, put together meek prosecutions and lawsuits against whats happening against Voting Rights in georgia and different kind of places. Merrick garland has been the single worst political feature in the country this area. The consequences of his weakness and reckless behavior may be the loss of our democracy next year. Listen, when he was president obamas pick for the supreme court, you know, and you had all kind of other people out there and my face was sort of like, so im not sure that he is the man for this moment. You know, mark the mile. He does seem to be very calm about what feels like a very urgent threat to our democracy. But we shall see. Perhaps things will change. Tiffany cross, who is the absolute worse . Okay. I will tell you the absolute worse. I am so tired of wearing mask everywhere i go. I am against being cancelled. I am against not being able to gather in large places, the absolute worse are these ridiculous uninformed disillusioned people who thinks their Google Search matches a medical degree and they refuse to get vaccinated. I am so over them. What i hear so often people will say, if you are vaccinated and im not, everybody should be protected because the vaccine works that way. No, you dufus, thats not how the vaccine works. There are certainly people out there that have a legitimate reason. I say god bless you, god speed. May you be a budge. For Everyone Else, you are causing society to come to a screeching halt. That casts a dark shadow over so many other areas of the globe. I think about those people in india, we saw a video of sons trying to revive their mothers. They could not get their hands on a beam, yet the idiotic people refuse to get a vaccine and refuse to wear a mask sometimes. You wonder, i see this all the time, people havent known actual oppression can mistake a mask for oppression. You managed to live your whole entire life and the first thing to oppress you was the mask. Why are you so bake anyway . Go get vaccinated. If not. Live on a little island, preferably on maralago and live there with all your other unvaccinated unintellectual people so the rest of cuss live freely. Its not sunday, but you can get an amen. Its not a church, but you can get a hallelujah. Okay. I dont even know how the door to the church are open. Come in here but only if vaccinated. Pass the bishop reverend dr. Michael steel. You got to follow that sermon and i dont know how youre going to do it. I feel sorry for you. Your charge, the chairman, help Michael Steel, help him, jesus. Look down upon him and give him wisdom and discernment. Please who is the absolute worst . Oh, thats another church. Im sorry. Oh, im going to do better than pastor who has laid out her sermon. She did. So what i want to do is sort of addressing the worst is just to get one big bucket and put all that issue you laid into at the beginning of this segment in that bucket. Every last one of them every last one, from mack to marjorie to paul to my car, all of them in the same bucket. Just dan crenshaw, republican congressman put it best. These are the Performance Artists. So the Performance Artists inside the gom, which is largely held most of the party, the collective wing of the party have become the big grifters. Have become the big emancipators of white fear. And those who want to address the plight of the down trodden who are living in suburbia, afraid of someone who is 7,000 miles away from them. This is the mess that theyve created. They have put out on The Street A Cesspool of stupid that people keep jumping into, this pool. Yes. I dont know why, but they do. They are the worst. They are the worst. Absolutely. I got to tell you, you also can get an amen on that, chairman steel and that leads directly to mine. I feel like with all that you have said, we have one body in this country that is supposed to be able to discern right from wrong and set things right when things are wrong. That is the United States supreme court. To me, they have failed utterly their job as Delineated By The Constitution to protect the most vulnerable. They only want to protect the rich, the power. , the corporation, the religious extremists. They have allowed the texas Bounty Hunter law to stand. They have allowed voter, the discrimination against voters to stand. Thanks god for Sonia Sotomayor who is the conscience of that body. But they have failed us. They have three trumpers on there. They are doing exactly what donald trump wants and goodbye to roe v. Wade you all. Based on the court. I hope they will set things right. But god help us if that court is supposed to be our salvation. They aint doing it. Michael steel, Tiffany Cross, jason johnson, thank you all very much. Up next, the World Food Program ambassador, celebrity chef Andrew Zimmer about the rising Food Insecurity. It was a fascinating discussion. Do not many is it. A must in your Medicine Cabinet less sick days cold coming on . Zicam is the 1 Cold Shortening Brand highly recommend it zifans love zicams unique zinc formula. It shortens colds zicam. Zinc that cold my hygienist cleans It Shortens Colds with a round head. So does my oralb my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. So does my oralb oralb delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. The world isnt grappling with the grueling realities of the covid pandemic for nearly two years now. While things have improved for many of us, covid19 has claimed the lives of nearly 800,000 americans, stress and anxiety have taken a brutal emotional toll on millions more. Many have lost their jobs and their homes, theyre struggling to feed their families, which has exacerbated Food Insecurity in this country. Researchers at nyu found nearly 15 of us holdholds and 18 with children reported Food Insecurity early in the covid19 pandemic. Nbc spoke with one of those families recently about what its like to feed this family in this challenging new world. I can feed my family for so 12 bucks a night, that works. What happens if you get to the end of the month . Lets not. Reporter the father of four lost his home and job during the pandemic and joined snap, a Government Assistance Program to help feed his family. You want noodles . Reporter its forced toughs in the checkout line. What is that like . Humiliating. Who am i going to upset, myself, my kid, its not going to be the full fulfillment of a meal. Reporter the decisions made in these aisles go way beyond dollars and cents. Staying on budget can mean the difference of being on fruits and vegetables and processed food. Last year more than 38 Million People lived in foodinsecure households, more than 9 million lived in households with low food security. 6 million in households with children and adults were food insecure. Half a million lived in households in which one or more child experienced low security. I recently spoke with an Award Winning chef and good will ambassador for the United NationsWorld Food ProgramAndrew Zimmer. I asked him how covid exacerbated the food problem in this country. Just like its done globally, we have experienced a potential 15year setback in the fight against hunger and the fight against food waste. You know, globally, its the same story as it is here at home. Its conflict, climate change, covid19, and the rising cost of food. And it is absolutely staggering to me that in america of just you know the end of 2021, that we are still sitting here talking about a problem that is solvable because we produce enough food to feed all americans as well as the 7 billion person global population. I will also point out to, you know, our viewers the numbers that you put up on the screen are probably anywhere from 10 to 25 too low. One of the problems of stats when it relates to hunger and Food Insecurity, is there arent a lot of people jumping up and down. Those who are willing to say yes, yes, yes, i need food, im not able to feed my family. That very brave man who was in the scene we just saw that ali was reporting on is a responsible parent who is out there saying yes. This is the situation that im in. But we have found there is so much stigma attached with hunger, its the people who were above the poverty line precovid, that 15, 18 of americans that dropped below the poverty line in march of last year, april of last year, those are the ones who were not jumping up and down raising their hand. Its absolutely heartbreaking. It is all related to those four cs, climate change, cost, covid and conflict. You know, its interesting you mentioned climb change, cost, covid, conflict. There is a big debate right now about whether or not you know democrats can get through this build back better act. Which a lot wanted to direct this, it feels like its about this. I remember you and i talked almost a year ago about the Restaurant Act and having to try to help people at every level of the food chain. You need to make sure the Restaurant Workers can still work. The people that do the meat packing can work and it all kind of works. There was some help for people back then and ppp, et cetera. Now, how are we having this fight to extend lets say the child tax credit. Give people more money to buy food with. Does it strike you as insane we are Sill Dithering whether or not to spend more money to make sure that people can get, you know, three square meals a day . I think its beyond insane. If you and i have talked about this so many times. Ive used the word criminal when we talk about hunger. It is not a problem that we dont have a solution to. We have enough food in america. We dont have the political will to actually change the laws. When you just talk about children, we have schools, all over america. If we passed a National School meals program, where we fed young people and used schools as the hubs. They are all over, whether or not a child is attending a certain educational facility, there are schools spread out all over. They all have cafeterias, if we subs ziez schools to the degree we subs Ziez Farmers Growing Crops for export. By the way, firearms are freer, not necessarily food for human consumption. We would be doing ourselves a much greater service. Not only are we consigning those children to hunger. But remember, there are greater chances that their outcomes are going to be less sufficient than we would want, hungry children dont study well, sleepless, more prone to disease, cost escalates because then they start becoming a healthcare problem. They get some of the big foodrelated diseases like diabetes and Heart Disease as young adults. And were seeing early onset pediatric diabetes numbers going through the roof because as we saw earlier, people are being fed cheap calories instead of healthy calories. Look what states have the biggest Food Insecurity. It turns out its the lowest rates of getting people vaccinated. It turns out the same states where medicaid wasnt expanded, this part of america, this red america, where you see all of this. Isnt it the case that the more that kids are out of school lets say because of covid, that i have to learn at home, the more theyre away from Good Nutrition program, the more that theyre are basically trapped by covid, the hungrier kids are going to be . Dont we have to solve covid in order to start sochlg hunger . I think you are not incorrect. I agree with you. I know where you are going with this. I agree 100 its a mobbious script. You have to drop in anywhere on that mobbious script and solve the problem. Eventually if you go Astronaut Style questionbyquestion and solve it, you can solve it. Ill describe it a slightly different way. We have talked about those near 800,000 die. Some say of covid. Some say of disinformation. I did not clone that comment. I did not create it. Its the same thing with the hunger issues as well, there is disinformation about food in those states, about nutrition in those states, the Disinformation Battle is being lost and thats increasing our Hunger Challenge as well. Absolutely. If you increase those comorbidities, diabetes, et cetera, makes you more vulnerable, its all connected. Andrew zimmerman, you are so great. Always appreciate the chance to talk with you. Thank you, joy. Up next, an amazing new documentary takes us back to the streets so many of us grew up on, Sesame Street and remind us how conservatives rejected the Ground Breaking diversity then just as they are today. Well be right back. Green could be big like an ocean or important like a mountain or tall like a tree are they singing about race back then . Of course, they were singing about race. But they were singing about being down in the dumps because youre a little, green frog. Some thought it was about a green frog. And others thought, maybe it was something else. For more than 50 years, the muppets that live on one of the most famous streets have been entertaining and more importantly, educating generations of children. Sesame street helped teach my kids important lessons and values that they hold today, especially the idea that we can all live together, no matter what street we come from, the color of our skin, fur or feathers are. Of course, Sesame Street is not immune to todays culture of hyperpartisan attacks, but in truth, it has faced opposition since this inception in 1969. In fact, just months after its debut, the show was temporarily banned in mississippi because of its diversity. The new documentary street gang, how we got to Sesame Street shares the origins of this american treasure and how a talented ensemble came together to learning that still holds true today. Joining me now is the director of the documentary and the actress who played maria on Sesame Street more than over more than 40 years and you are one of my absolute heroes, maria, oh my god. I cant believe im talking to the real maria. I will say i am excited to talk to you. You helped raise me and my kids. I feel like you are everything. Just talk a little about what you talk about in that clip a bill little bit. Because its not that easy being green. My crew knows its my favorite song. I nearly sat here and cried listening to it. Ray charles singing it with kerrmy. You caught on to something that people missed. That song meant something to a little brown kid, my brown kid, it was about being different. I sure will. I will never forget that, lena horn was kermit the frog. I wasnt a writer, i didnt know the behindthescenes yip etty Yip Etty What was going on. It was nuance and a lot of levels and sophisticated. I was thrilled to be a part of this. Its incredible. Marlin, lets talk about this movie. Because, you know, i think a lot of people missed that point. It was pretty revolutionary to create Something LikeSesame Street in the 1960s. We still had an active fight over civil rights going on. We had just lost dr. King the year before. There was a lot of volatility racially. How did this incredible thing get started . This is one of my favorite things about this story. The fact that, yes, its a movie about Sesame Street. But it really is a story of this group of performers, writers, educators, who came out of this tumultuous point in our country. The protest against the vietnam were in full stream e steam. The Womens Movement was starting the Civil Rights Movement was burgeoning. This group got together, we want to make a difference reach under served children. We want to add, it meant so much to me to get on this show. Because i was raised in the bronx, watching hours of television. Never seeing any Puerto Ricans on television or latin people on television and feeling invisible. So when they asked me to be on this show, i thought, oh my goodness, i can be for kids what i wished someone was there for me when i was a can id. I have to say to you. I am not going to do that. You literally were one, honestly, i think you might have been the first latina i really saw on a regular basis on tv and i think for a lot of kids. I grew up in a Town Majority Black and brown. So you know for the latina kids, for the black kids, we were not seeing a lot of people of color. We saw you. You were our friend. I want to get your take first just on the fight that weve seen, we just had an asianamerican muppet, a beige american, we had muppets who were black, represented africanamericans. All of that has happened on Sesame Street. What do you make about this fight about this adorable new asian muppet . I just cant understand it. I cant fathom why its difficult. I wish it had come on sooner. I think when we had Roosevelt Franklin on the show, the franklin syndrome. It was difficult because he was the first black puppet and he fulfilled everybodys dreams of what a black puppet should be. Too street. Not street enough. Too hiphop. Not hiphop enough. Sadly what happened was they cut the puppet because everybody couldnt agree how a black puppet should be prevented. There was another black puppet on Sesame Street for 50 years. Thats the problem when people cant decide or they think a whole culture has to rest on the shoulders of one character. Yeah, mar len. I think thats the point. There is no character who can make everyone happy. But Sesame Street probably has tried than any other show to represent every child. There are red muppets, muppets can flight. I am a grover given. There is like every fantasy kind of creature and fairy tale friend. I just wonder, what will we learn about Sesame Street . Because thats submersive to have done in the 1960s. What do you want people to take away from this documentary . I want people to take away the fact that first of all, Sesame Street did what they have done throughout their whole history, which is reflect the world back to children as the world should be, without even calling attention to it. Without pointing a finger and say, look, there is a black puppet. Look, there is an asian puppet. There is what is. I want people to realize that creativity and art really can make a difference and change the world. And when you present something this creative and this inspiring to children, you really can inspire them to think of the world in a way that is loving. I cannot wait to watch this documentary. I am probably going to cry all way from beginning until the very end and i am going to be so excited. My kids will be so jealous i got to meet the real maria. They will be excited. But it happened. Thank you, happy holidays. Congratulations, marlin and sonia, thank you sisters. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you both. Happy holidays. Thank you so much. And im gonna keep on lovin you, cause its the only thing i wanna do. Turns out everyone does sound better in the shower. And it turns out the general is a Quality Insurance company thats been saving people money for nearly 60 years. cause its the only thing i wanna do shaq singing in background cant unhear that. For a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage make the right call and go with the general. Well, we made it through another smoking hot mess of a year. One of the things that has kept me going is this magical show and gorgeous staff and crew. Thank you to everyone involved in the making of the show. And thanks to you at home for watching. Happy holidays to you and your family. Roll em. Dont just put on a light be the light show. Make your nights anything but silent. And ride in a sleigh that really slays. Because in a cadillac, tradition is yours to define. So visit a cadillac showroom, and start celebrating today. I miss her smile and her laughter. I miss everything about her. Its more difficult to speak about it in public now. The news swept the nation when she vanished. Laci peterson, the beaming, young momtobe. Please, let her come home to us. Prosecutors speak out in an indepth television interview. You put so much of your life into it, it stays with you. Lacis husband. Finally hear the story he told. Grabbed some pizza from the fridge. Then jumped in the shower reporter his rarely seen