Happy holidays. We begin the Special Edition of the readout with a look back at what has been a monumental year for the democrats historic performance in the midterm elections, to the january six hearings, to the Supreme Court overturning roe v. Wade. The fbi rating the home of a former president , and everything in between. 2022 has been incredibly consequential for and politics. I hear thats left us rights as human beings, and whether you have more of those rights if, say, youre a former president. Or if you are if you have a uterus and live in a red state. Well, 2023 maybe the air we finally got some answers. To start, well learn who exactly will be running for president in 2024, and, who if any in the Republican Party, will stand up to donald trump. Though, maybe dont hold your breath on that one. Speaking of which, we could find out if the twice impeached disgraced former president will actually be held accountable and any of the laundry list of investigations that he is under. The new year will also present the Biden Administration with new challenges as the president , faced with a split congress. Cone senate, republicans controlling the house. What will the next three years look like for President Biden . How much will the republicans little investigations block legislation from getting done . What the president make another run for the white house, or will you pass the torch . Joining me now is a brilliant panel. Im excited about this panel. Michael steele, msnbc political analyst, former chair of the Republican National committee, and host of the Michael Steele podcast. Michael glassless, nbc news president ial historian president and ceo of voto latino an msnbc contributor. I feel in this company. Impossible. So im just gonna throw it out there. Lets start with the President Biden has got a lot accomplished. It was a historic midterm performance for a first year president. If you could just lay out for us how unusual it is that biden comes away with a split Congress Rather than an overwhelmingly republican one . As you well know, usually, in a midterm election, the president owns the white house, two years later, this is a lot of seats in congress. Oftentimes 60 house seats. Thats the kind of thing that happens. Or eight senate seats, which has happened in history, such as the 1994. Despite predictions of the socalled red wave, not only did it not happen, but joe biden, who was so underestimated by so many people, turns and the best midterm performance of any american president with the exception of george w. Bush after 9 11, jon kennedy after the all the way back to 1934. 88 years, you have to go, to find someone fdr who did this well. You mentioned, michael, the huge subordinate events that caused the midterms to go different really. Abortion was the event and the cycle. You can just overturn the rights of half the population and have that not impact your political party. And so, in a way, its Mitch Mcconnells fault and not Donald Trumps. First, yes, its absolutely abortion. Its also coming out of the pandemic. When you mentioned where crises. This is america in a moment of crisis. We had a president who understood how to govern, not just from the white house, but he brilliantly understood the machinations of congress in the senate. How to pull the levers. He came in, saying im gonna be a bipartisan president. People chuckled on all sides, and if you look at most of the major pieces of legislation he passed, it was bipartisan. Done by both parties. But on the roe v. Wade, the republicans dont want to talk about it. They didnt want to talk about this, so they knew theyre the exact same thing. Right now, what were gonna see from bidens, what else can you do, even in the split . As you can use his Executive Plan to do executive actions similar to what we saw trump do, recognizing that maybe not everything can pass, but at least he can use it as a way to communicate his values to the american people. Somebody who was actually stored in the waning midterm elections you know what thats like to be on the winnings. I want you to talk a little bit about, number one Speaker Pelosi turned over the reins to a brandnew leadership team. I love to hear your thoughts on her tenure. You are right up opposing her in 2010, but also, the republicans. Im not sure but theyve learned lessons that laura just laid out. It seems like they havent learned any. Their lesson seems to be, its trumps fault. Well, thats the easy go to, thats trumps fault. And i liken it to wearing a shirt that is horribly stained, and then putting on a night clean share, but for getting to take a bath. So you still smell. Perfect. [laughter] you might look different and feel different, but everyone around you [laughter] we smell something thats where the gop is now. With respect to the former speaker, i have mad respect for her. Ive known her before, and my life, as a Lieutenant Governor of maryland. Baltimore in. Shes a baltimore ian. Her familys while defined as a political family in the state. And look, the interesting thing about that period is that it was never personal. It was always policy. And so, yeah, the bus logan was fired pelosi, but it was really about how you would affect change. And wanting to draw people to a conversation about, okay, what kind of Health Care D1 . This is what were proposing. This is what we think. Weve seen since then a lot that went off the cliff with repeal and replace. We had nothing to replace what we intended to repeal. Therefore, we couldnt repeal it. But i always admired the way she operated. And joe a, you know, on this air, ive always said, if nancy pelosi wanted to be speaker again, and he will be speaker again. She knows and understands the politics as well as the people. You know, all the dust up around arasi, she only has four votes in congress. Right . Shes got to work with nancys house. So its understanding who she was in the context of history. But, also in the context of the nations governance. Enjoy that battle. She ultimately won. She got it passed. She got health care passed, despite using the house. She took it on the chin, off the house, lost her speakership. But still prevailed, because for her, it wasnt about the win politically. It was the win that she was trying to get from policy. And we still disagree on that, but youve got to give mad respect for her skills and capability to get it done. She is the best thing in politics, which is sometimes, youve got to be willing to take a punch, and you gotta be willing to throw a punch. And it looks like he threw a punch. Again, that, and just by the way, if at some point this kevin rafe, we dont have to worry about that. When you talk about that for a moment. In 2010, when you supervise that midterm when, it was fire pelosi. Not hang pelosi. Right. And i think that is a quantitative or qualitative difference between the Republican Party, even then. The tea party had already stated brewing, it was already getting ugly, particularly toward president obama. But now that faction is the Majority Faction of the party. Now, theres something even worse there. Lets talk about what this looks like, that faction essential controls congress, because, you know, what kathy, if you would cook with speaker, whos gonna preside over a very tiny majority, and he is essentially gonna be owned by those people. Totally. This is gonna be a horrifying, tragic freak show this next year, the republican side of the house. You know, Marjorie Taylor greene, sometime ago, gave the speech saying, she said she was joking, but she wasnt. The problem with january 6th was it didnt succeed, and the people wagging it or not armed. This is gonna be one of the most powerful people on the republican side of the house of representatives. Ten years ago, the might of been someone like that. But she probably wouldve been afraid to Say Something like that in public. Plus, she wouldnt have a push over speaker like Kevin Mccarthy, whos gonna be doing somersaults to please her, and there, for people like her well, in a way, be the shadow speakers. The thing is, Donald Trumps presence sort of receding from the Republican Party generally. Except in the house of representatives, where Kevin Mccarthy essentially has to be his path in order to have power. The Tea Party Movement didnt change american politics and a huge way, but this is worse than that. This is hang mike pence folks are gonna be running back. So, michael can appreciate this point more so than most of us because its what he does. But theres a historic arc for the Republican Party with respect to what we see going on now. You back to the John Birch Society in the late 50s, early 60s, trying to infiltrate the party, to bring that sort of White Nationalism segregationist view of politics and to the body politic. , then you look at nixon in 68, carving at the southern strategy, because that was the only way to win the south, to get back those white southern men who defected from when we saw what you pointed out the governor of maryland exactly. We know how that turned out. All right . But then, you take it further to the 80s, ronald reagan, and the bargain because the Party Officials at the time did not like this republican governor from california. But he was two west and too liberal, so the previous conservative bona fides, cut the deal with the moral majority. First time ever, we put a Pro Life Plank and our political platform. That then got us involved in a space where the fathers and mothers of the party always wanted to avoid. Because it went against my libertarian instincts that we now put politics in the bedroom. But the government in places it didnt need to be. So that continue erin, and trump was able to go find a way to not only pick up that scab, and distort the art, the bend of that arc, but to give people the power to engage openly, as michael said. You know, ten years ago, Marjorie Taylor greene said youre behind down and shut up. Right . We want to win that. John burn society. The Political Leadership said, no. You dont have that piece anymore. That is the most telling part. Where those tea party, moral majority, all those periods where you could see this grinding down the narrative, the soul of the gop, there were leaders who would stand up and go, no, no. But now its a freeforall. I think the thing that both michaels that i love you to dig on, because its the changing demographics of the country thats driving this. So you have this rising majority that is brown, that is black, that is asian american, and the party has just made the choice. Theyre not gonna try to attract it. Theyre gonna suppress it. They were conscious of it, right . After they did the the Republican Party in that autopsy should reach out to the black community, the latino community, because that no thats how you secure the white house. What they did instead was, no, and they put it in a drawer and put it away. Right . In the meantime, you have mccarthy, who didnt start as that tea party fire. He was very much a mainstream republican. And instead, when he realized is that, oh shoot, my bread is buttered with the extreme. So what were gonna see right now with mccarthy as he knows how to do politics very well, and he doesnt have the pelosi policy. As a result, he is going to be hijacked by this extreme right. They dont have policy either, but they know how to manipulate the media. They also want to do the internal machinations. Things that the public does not understand and how congress works. Those are the and our workings at every single as a reason they want to be in the thats where a lot of decisions on the government happens. When we talk about the changing demographics, they recognize, just by 2024, that were expecting close to 12 million young people to turn 18 and time for the election. Two thirds of them are communities of color. Where is it gonna happen . Its gonna happen in nevada, arizona, georgia, and texas. Thats where the majority of the population is. The fact that we saw secretaries of states that were radical right defeated and the most battleground tested states speaks to not just the demographic changes, but moderate republicans and independents saying i do not like and i think thats thats gonna be a multi Cultural Group of americans that have to keep at it because were not there yet. And into that comes a president ial race. Just tell us how its gonna go. Take a look at it this way. Afternoon gingrich and the republicans won this enormous midterm victory, 1994, they wound up in 1996 helping bill clinton to get welfare reform, and other moderate things that he wanted, so that he could be more easily reelected. That is a big historical example that i think we will see none of this coming year. Instead, youre gonna see this freak show, the Republican Party going all over the place. The possibility that if the extreme right of the Republican Party in the house doesnt like one thing that Kevin Mccarthy, if hes the speaker, does, or whoever else the speaker, theres gonna be a trap door. We have never seen [laughter] any moment youve never Something Like that in american seen Something Like that in american history. History. Pure chaos. The end of the table tonight i name is marie. Michael steele, ayman m2. Thank you all for up next on the readout. You might think you know nelson mandela. The late south african icon. A new podcast revealed what he was like in his own words. The readout continues after this. This id like to thank our sponsor Liberty Mutual. They customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. Contestants ready . Go only pay for what you need. Jingle liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Just look around. Only pay for what you need. This digital age were living in, its pretty unbelievable. Problem is, not everyones fully living in it. Nobody should have to take a class or fill out a medical form on public wifi with a screen the size of your hand. Home internet shouldnt be a luxury. Everyone should have it and now a lot more people can. So lets go. The digital age is waiting. Millions have made the switch from the big three to the Best Kept Secret in wireless Xfinity Mobile that means millions are saving hundreds a year with the fastest mobile service. And now, introducing, the best price for two lines of unlimited. Just 30 per line there are millions of happy campers out there. And this is the perfect time to join them. Save hundreds a year over tmobile, verizon, and at t with Xfinity Mobile, and for a limited time get 400 off a new eligible 5g phone. This month marks nine years switch today. Since the passing of nelson mandela, the Freedom Fighter in historys greatest citizens. And it happened were facing growing threats for domestic extremists motivated by racial and violent ideologies, and all voices sorely missed. Not only did he unite south africa but the entire world agreed on the more repugnance of racism. Fortunately for us all, there is a chance for us to hear from the man himself in the never before released audiotape from rick. In 1993, he worked alongside mandela on the critically acclaimed memoir and bestseller long walk to freedom. And the tenpart podcast, middle of the loss tapes features and the beloved hes produced by the society. It is good points and bad points. You duties to work with human visas not because you think theyre angels. Once you know that this man has this virtue we are trying to help him overcome that weakness. Joining me now, rick thank you for being. Here is nice hearing some of these clips today. People dont understand that you dont actually go back and listen to the tapes. He went from her transcript. So, going back inactive in a chance to listen to him was there anything that you relearned about this man that you came to know so well . That last package was about this african idea that caused a phrase that we are human beings to other human beings. So its very important to him. Going back and listening to it was a wonderful and painful experience. I would hear it get high. The thing about him as a thought he was a bit lonely or isolated. Im much closer to his age now than i was then it talk about his youth, his upbringing. He was raised by the royal family. He was identified with those traditional roots. He was called himself a country boy. I heard that this time. A few years ago my husband and i would south africa, he got to go to see where he was incarcerated. These are the Indigenous People of south africa who had their country stolen from them and decided to live together with them. Mandela told you as far as he was concerned that he came out of incarceration with the same enthusiasm for political work. He was not the postcard person that people think of him. He was a militant man for people think of him. He wanted to be a simple for african history. Mandela work into court with a traditional one shoulder cloak won back african cans. Suits and ties with a white mans uniform and mandela wanted to be the proud somebody african history. It was to assert myself. I went as an african wearing my own outfit. Not the one that is decided by the court. It was an assertion of african nationalism. Its interesting because i think people try to associate with him with being a mom protests version. What do you think the magi