thanks for spending part of the day with us. "the beat" with ari melber starts now. hello. we have breaking news. jack smith's prosecution of donald trump has scored another procedural victory tonight. it goes to questions of accountability, and whether trump will be allowed to use and abuse the following and the power his has to undercut this important method of holding him accountable. the news ruling limits what trump can say in the case. for example, publicly attacking potential witnesses, court staff, and many of the other staff involved. he's tried these antics in other cases. this is the big case currently on schedule to begin in march, and could result in his conviction or imprisonment. one difference, though, is the court did revise the order. the ruling say that some aspects of trump's public statements pose a significant and imminent threat to the fair and orderly adjudication of the ongoing criminal proceedings against defendant trump. now, in the official argument and request for the order, which jack smith won, he cited the fact that trump had all made it legally likely this would stick. this wasn't a close call. if it were any other defendant, they might have their bail revoked or be held in prison. >> it was also the accusation that general milley, who served in the administration, should be killed or executed for, quote, treason. e judges wrote while there's a strong public interest because he's a former president now running again, he has first amendment rights to talk about many things, he's also an dicted criminal defendant a must stand trial in the courtroom under the same procedures that governs all criminal defendants. that's what the rule of law means. this is a late breaking end of the week news story here. i want to bring in one of our experts, former federal prosecutor renato mar ati. it's a big win for jack smith, with one carveout. we those trump's style of attack for jack smith as an official. do you see this as an important victory, not only for jack smith, which is the back and forth of it, but for what everyone is supposed to care about, which is a fair trial, without fear of favor by the participants of the jury? >> absolutely, ari. i think this is a court masterfully dealing with the defendant, who is so unique. here's a defendant who can actually send a message directly to a witness just by, you know truthing, i guess, not tweeting anymore. but if trump had made these statements directly to witnesses, of course he would run afoul of any gag order. any court would essentially revoke his bond. he's trying to find his ways around the rule, try to anticipate that a court will not be able to craft rules that fit the specific circumstances of who and what he is. i think the court today did a masterful job of creating limits. look, he can criticize jack smith, but when it comes to individual prosecutors in the kay, when it comes to witnesses who have specific testimony that is going to be, you know, introduced against him at trial, he doesn't have the right to athat is those witnesses and essentially sic a mob on those people. >> he is on trial for exactly what you just referred to. the fact he could say and do things to cause people to commit crimes. legally, though, we take great care to note he has not yet been convicted of anything from that day karimly. jack smith isn't pursue a direct incitement case. he's looking at some of the other very clear plots to overthrow the election. what you're reminding everyone, that's what he's already being adjudicated. the question is, will we get away of doing that to undermine this trial. the court found he can no longer and theoretically be jailed for this kind of previous comment he made about bill parr. >> bill parr was a stiff, he wasn't there at the time, but he didn't do his job. he was a frayed. he was afraid of being impeached. he was petrified to be impeached. how do you get impeached? not do anything. >> that's meant to incite anger against barr, rile up his followers against barr, and i think that's exactly the sort of comment this opinion prohibits while at the same time carving out, i think really important political speech that otherwise would potentially create issues in front of the supreme court. >> really interesting. so, getting the final ruling on that basis means, here we are, trump is gagged. if he wants to test it, he'll be testing the courts in washington. we thank you for your counsel tonight. we are moving fast. at the end of the week, we have a special installment of our summit series, global bestsetters, who changed how we think. professor and historic yuval harari, on obama's recommended reading list? he's here with us. first, house republicans have a huge problem. howard dean is here, and i'll show you how their problem stacks up against biden's report. we'll be right back. ks up again report we'll be right back. liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. with the money i saved, i started a dog walking business. oh. [dog barks] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ meet the jennifers. jen x. jen y. and jen z. each planning their future through the chase mobile app. jen x is planning a summer in portugal with some help from j.p. morgan wealth plan. let's go whiskers. jen y is working with a banker to budget for her birthday. you only turn 30 once. and jen z? her credit's golden. hello new apartment. three jens getting ahead with chase. solutions that grow with you. one bank for now. for later. for life. chase. make more of what's yours. we want to turn to the fed g's record as the year ends. if you keep track, the first session formally of this congress is ending. what has it achieved? one republican blurted out recently the problem in kind of a public capacity operation on the house floor, no less. >> one thing -- i want my republican colleagues to give me one thing, one that i can go campaign on and say we did. one! anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor and explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the republican majority has done. >> wow. that lays it out. that's republican congressman chip roy, not some gop critic. he's a pretty hard-line republican. the facts and the numbers back up the story. this congress spent about 32 week days skippg work in washington, even as they also rkhen they're back inhe districts. the narrow majority spent more time fighting with itself over picking a speaker. you see there, about three weeks haggling in votes to pick the first and second speaker. to pick two different speakers in under a year. congress is ending a year that began with mccarthy's humiliating march to get 15 votes. those house republicans did not respond to the midterm fizzle with humility or reassessment. the recent a number of small hardliners could make that trouble is voters, americans, people like you, rejected many republicans and the usual historical trends, but the party largely ignored that judgment, to push harder to the right. that is what brought on this fall's unusual three-week quest to find their new speaker. when they settled on a more trump-friendly leader in mike johnson. a speaker has not been elected. >> this dramatic, david, is not turning out remotely the way kevin mccarthy had hoped. >> look at that, somebody just held somebody babb. >> kevin mccarthy celebrating a victory that almost didn't happen. >> kevin mccarthy going head to head with matt gaetz after the house speaker work with the democrats to avert a government shutdown. >> promising he will move this week to remove house speaker kevin mccarthy. >> kevin mccarthy was ousted from his role as speaker of the house by fellow republicans. and on and on went. the c did not help. in the periods between that infighting, congress did pass some of the kind of things that are really easy to pass, some ceremonial bills, commemorative coins, but as he made these adjustments whether they're going to regulate new technology, art terrible intelligence, a lot of things didn't get touched. only about 4 bills passed. half became law in the senate, ss than other congresses. republicans got a debt suspension bill, they got government funding done, some foreign funding for ukraine, those kind of big-ticket items. beyond the basics, we can say here this congress has noisy, chaotic, unproductive by any objective measures. republicans should draw attention to their thin margin, which i mentioned is a product of the disappointing mid terms, and their weak speaker, and then their hardliners and outcosts. for many americans, expelling george santos is probably the main headlines for this congress as the first session ends. that's the congressional record, as it were. republicans have used their majority to thwart the biden agenda. the house, that kind of fits what you heard or gathered, but is that the whole story in washington? no. president biden is finishing his third year in office. he has some problems that cannot be blamed solely on the uncooperative house. in fact, it's the house, of course, that is why, if you look at the numbers, president biden has only signed about 20 bills into law, but his efforts to use presidential power has hit walls. voters judge more by results than excuses. blaming the court doesn't get you that far. that may be a factor in the public turns on biden's economic records. just 32% approve on the economics. overall low 37%, which is first-term trump territory. if you check, it's also lower than other presidents at this point in their first term, including the ones who were in their first term and got reelected. that's a warning sign that could be minimized or blame when it comes to what the biden white house is up against. biden has a very inclusive cabinet, efforts to diversify the bench, and really trying to what would be a pretty liberal coalition, apart from the more moderate reputation he had decades ago. critics say he has not electrified a new post-trump coalition, or found ways to do more than parry the republican party's creed. in other words, some say biden is competent, but not exciting. he's far better than trump, they argue, but not building towards the future in a way they think confidently brings the party together, the young people together, and a coalition they they can win long term. that's some of what we heard. now, if that sounds vague or unfair criticism for these high stakes times, we hear about a possible dictatorship, that's exactly what the white house and biden allies say. they vow, based on the numbers and trends, they say when there's actual election, they're doing just fine and next week tt i have news on that tonight as well. inflation has been falling. u.s. jobs continue surging, nearly 200,000 new jobs in november. so the once high unemployment rate is under historic lows, under 4%. then you get to the question where politics and facts meet, or don't. we know we're in a time of relentless turbo-charged lies and propaganda. and it might be different than the big lie in the election, because it's hard to lie about things like jobs or the weather, because people can see and feel it. one political analyst once put it quite simply, contrasting oppressive hate with the reality people can see for themselves. he said -- better stay away from those that carry around a fire hose, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. if you remember that one, you know bob dylan was advising the fire hose, and trusting your own eyes, or even a little reference to the man who actually wrote "blowing in the wind." the point is biden allies think most people will know which way the economic winters are blowing. some of those facts are getting out. >> i think the numbers today is great. >> there's strength in the labor market. >> on a good path toward lower inflation, and a cooling market. >> overall, you have to look at this report as a big positive. more jobs created than expected. >> you might see there the numbers breaking through. if you go beyond today. those numbers are out today. overjaugt 15 million item, so, if this is where the wind is blowing, do people know? is it a contrast to a republican congress. a former governor and chair howard dean, and we'll get into the record, when we come back. the record, when we come back. sometimes, the lows of bipolar depression feel darkest before dawn. with caplyta, there's a chance to let in the lyte™. caplyta is proven to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report fever, confusion, stiff or uncontrollable 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also been the first and most urgent order of business, but it's not enough. our economy won't be truly healthy until we reverse that much longer and profound erosion of middle-class jobs and middle-class incomes. we are joined by former presidential candidate, governor and chair of the democratic party, howard dean. >> thanks for having me. >> you know your way around this. your thoughts on the records of congress, poib poish, and as we took pains to show, some positive numbers, but some headwinds. >> the congress, basically the rule party in the house is the collection of the right-wing authoritarians and whiners and complainers, and people who don't have a backbone to stand up what really is authoritarianism. all the republican are going to the parties to celebrate the biden act, when they voted against it. so let's dismiss the congress. i think the senate is much more reasonable body. i certainly disagree with the far right in the senate, which has its practitioners, but they are getting things done. let's look at biden for a second. this is a president i know the least well going back a long, long time. if you just look at his record, biden has probably accomplished more than any democratic president since lyndon johnson. that's a shocking thing to say. he's appointed more women and people of color to positions that really matter. omb, for example, run by a black woman who's one of the most articulate people i ever saw in explaining the budget, which nobody can understand, including me, half the time. the supreme court, the bench, all of that is very important, but there are very serious people in charge, including a defense department that nobody has ever put people at that level before. that's a major issue. we're about to have our first woman head of the joint chiefs of staff. this is an incredible thing that biden gets no credit for. he needs to get that credit. we have done more on climate change than ever before, and biden is not even through his first term. more on turning the economy around, more for rural areas, putting in chip plants. it's an extraordinary record. here's my suggestion. he's 82 years old, young people want somebody younger. fine get your influencers out on tiktok, get them out on all the people that listen -- they adopt listen to twitter anymore, because it's owned by a right-winger, but get out to other places, and don't do it yourself. you have a whole lot of young people who look like the rest of america, get them to talk to the american public about what's happening. look for what biden has done for this generation with his single handedness, with the student loaned. even when the supreme court throw it out, he went back with another program. this is a president who's getting the job done. we need to talk to people under 35, who are totally grossed out by the right wing of the republican party. >> it's interesting to hear you say that. governor, i'm old enough to remember your openness to all the new digital and internet organizing that back at time, the belt was not keen on. so, hearing you talk about tiktok, which recently supplanted going the as the most-used app period is interesting. on the economy, i'm curious, who gets the better side of that political argument. i mentioned bob dylan. the weatherman argument is people will keep feel it. >> i do think that's true. i think the feelings about the economy always lag the actual numbers. if you look at the numbers of the economy, they're phenomenal. we haven't seen this kinds of turnaround when i think obama took over after the financial crisis. it does take a while for the public to field that, but it's exploited about the right wingers. this is not a united states problem. this has been going on. brazil elected a right-wing fascist. fortunately voters threw him out, and the voters threw trump out. le poles threw out their authoritarian government. there is hope here. we have to be smarter about it. you cannot appeal to a generation of people who are under 35 without talking their language. only they talk their language. people my age will look ridiculous if i go out on twitter. >> that's why i brought up dylan. i'm kidding. >> we have to get a bunch of 30-year-olds talking about this president and what they've had done for them, particularly themselves. personal stories make a big, big difference. that's what we've got to get out there for the under-35 crowd. >> all interesting. howard dean, thank you. we have the conspiracy theories getting replatformed. i also have a special guest, one of obama's favorite author. a lot is coming up. stay with us. e author a lot is coming up stay with us but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden 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between reagan and today's news right is how these crises have pushed the new right-wing figures into embracing readily what owned can be described as radical changed. it's a bit of a reversal or shift, something that this professor studies. >> what you've seen is this did i com my between conserve stiff and liberals, that i think for many generations agreed on the basics. the main disagreement was about the pace. both conservatives and liberal basically agree we need rules and we need the ability to change the rules. the conservative instinct is let's wait, it's dangerous. the liberal is let's try it out and see what happens, could be good. i think part -- you see this delicate dance, that when things are going too slow, people vote in, and a more liberal administration will speed things up, being more creative, bolder in its social experiments. when things go too fast, you say liberal, you had your chance, let's bring in conservatives to slow down eight, and have a breath. >> slow down, have a breath. so, to apply that from, what harari is arguing, liberals were associated with the social projects, and po tents a blowback, and now he sees the shifts with conservative movements, like unite the right, and that i tiki torches of racism, as well as abroad, are doing something else. >> he calls that an important step, even as conservatives find the radical right is hurting their other than long-term political viability. >> in recent year, in many parts of the world, you see conservative kind of suicide, that conservatives are abandoning their traditional role to slow down and conserve institutions and traditions and so forth, and they still call themselves conservatives, but they have become this new radical party, which is more about ignores traditions and destroying institutions, and then it becomes the job of liberals to be the guardians of the institutions and they are not good at it. >> that's an historical argument. if liberal spent many years on social change, they're not as good or experienced at turning their energy toward guarding the institution. the professor told us about that in a new series of the summit series. obama himself touted this boo "sapien." when we talk about reaches the summit, this is a rare summit for a nonfiction book. it's sold 20 millions copies. if so, if we are actually more evolved than before, why so conspiracy theories seem to resill yep. may have thought about that as we face problems. his answer is the tendency for people to seek simple answers for everything. >> if you try to explain a war, a revolution, an economic crisis -- there's a single reason that explains everything. you know, it's more akin on conspiracy theory than to science. >> i don't know about physics, but at least in my field of history, history is always the result of a lot of cautions coming together. we have a metaphor of a chain of events. it's a terrible metaphor. theres no chain of events. that imagines that every event is a link connected to one previous event and one subsequent. so there is a war, there is one cause for the war and there will be one consequence. it's never like that. people are liking for simple explanations. this is why the attraction of conspiracy theories, which usually try to explain not just a war, they try to explain everything that is happening in the world with a single cause. there's one conspiracy, if you know about it, you understand everything from the covid pandemic, the war in ukraine, the crisis in the u.s., it's always wrong. >> so there's a tip there. we should be wary of the oversimplified explanation. it wasn't all gloom and doom. here are some fun highlights. >> we now have an entire menu to choose from how we might destroy ourselves. history is not the study of the past. history is the study of change. we live our lives trapped inside the dreams of dead people. if you really want to make a change, you cannot do it as an isolated individual. human beings we don't think in facts, we don't think in statistics, we think in stories. i come from israel. we play football. >> the best way to stay grounded in the modern world -- >> stay in touch with your body. >> failure mean -- >> an inevitable mart of life. >> the key lesson of sapience is. >> people are good at acquiring power, but not good at translating power into happess. you can see the whole thing on youtube. we have our playlist there, you see there search mine and his names. up next, we turned to new developments out of merrick garland's justice department. stay with us. ut of merrick garland's justice department stay with us w, i can disrupt eca with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. and, they felt dramatic and fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and 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make it arexvy. turning as to big news on president biden's son, hunter biden a federal grand jury in california has indicted the president's son on nine charges, including three felonies, that he failed to pay taxes and failed to evade -- he spend millions on an extravagant lifestyle. these are charges brought specifically by merrick garland's special counseled appointed to make this an independent case. they also add to the gun charges that biden had pleaded not guilty to. biden's attorneys says if he had a different name, the changes wouldn't have been brought. many argue the opposite, that he was get a sweetheart deal to look the other way. there was a collapse of a plea deal earlier this summer, that's why attorney general garland appointed this new special counsel that worked under the trump administration on that doj case. the special counsel, as you may recall from the mueller and -- don't deal with the -- a biden official says the white house did not get any advance notice. they learned about them in the public domain, which others might, which again could surprise people that the sitting president learns like any other citizen. however, that's the way it's supposed to be. the press secretary says he's not even considering a pardon for his son if convicted. ruling that out or claiming or vowing to do so is a choice, not a requirement. it's a big development, though, a story that has many twists and turns. as i mentioned in the trump case, hunter biden is legal lie presumed innocent. we'll see where the prosecution goes. when we come back professor grier and a special guest. wait until you see what we have cooked up. wait until you see what we have cooked up. how do you cashback? 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great in my book. who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up. plus, now through december 31st, eligible xfinity rewards members can get 25% off a storm ready wifi device. what a week, but now it is friday on "the beat" so it's time to fall back. we got a good one, someone we have been listening to for a long time. danny brown makes hi"beat" debut. an acclaimed hip-hop star. spin magazine called him artist of the year. his album has broken the top 20 on the billboard charts. rolling stone says he's one of the most wild rappers of his generation. mtv called him unique. npr hails his song best life produced by q-tip. let's take a listen. ♪ mama just wanted the best ♪ ♪ because ain't no next life so i'm trying to live my best life living my best life ♪ ♪ because ain't no next life so i'm trying to live my best life ♪ >> his new album is out now, and he's doing a north american tour this spring. also here, one of our friends, msnbc star, political scientist, christina greer, professor at fordham, author of the book, black ethnics and host of the podcast, the blackest questions, quote/unquote. thanks to both of you for being here. how are you doing, danny? >> great. thanks for having me. >> absolutely. i'm excited to do this. we often start with the home court, so professor greer, what is on your fallback list tonight? >> well, the first thing on my fallback list, ari, has to be liz cheney. fall all the way back. i don't think this rehab tour she's on and the book selling tour is going to negate the 93% voting record that she had with donald trump for four years. so it's nice that she wants to save democracy now, but in doing so, she should support democrats and i haven't forgotten what she did for four years under trump and i definitely didn't forget what her dad did for eight years under george bush. >> she was in gop leadership. rachel talked about this in her msnbc interview. you feel like this is late and not a full counterweight to how she governed? >> no, the damage is done, ari, and it's way too late and several dollars too short. i just think that she had ample opportunities to stick up for the american people while she was working with and for donald trump as a republican member of congress, and she didn't. so now in 2023, the rehab tour is too little too late for me. i'm not buying it. >> we heard from her, viewers heard from her on probably more than one program if you keep msnbc on. we're always happy to feature a counterimportant, a different perspective. danny, what is on your fallback list as you look around this nation of ours? >> i guess for me, vegans right now, man. all these vegan soul food restaurants and trying to sell me wings thinking it's fried chicken. it's not. they need to fall back. soul food got soul in it. i'm down with eating vegetables and being vegan, but i'm not down with the plant based and cauliflower wings. let me eat my fried chicken and be happy. >> let me ask you this, we have to talk about some of this stuff. food is part of culture. culture is part of how we live. sometimes people put pressure on, they say you find out some product, for example, has terrible cruelty or something. okay, but you're saying this larger, almost kind of a political related push, to move everyone off meat and then to sub in. is it the anti-meat that bothers you or the bridge too far trying to tell us this is a wing? i knowio have been placing where they say this is a spaghetti meatball. i know pasta primavera when i see it. that's just vegetables and pasta. >> yeah, exactly. i mean, i love vegetables as well, but you know, if you're going to fry some -- give me fried chicken. don't give me fried cauliflower and tell me i have buffalo chicken. i'm cool with that, man. >> yeah. well, you know what hove said? you did bring up chicken. it's a poultry entendre. i feel it's fitting. jay-z said, the kid that used to pitch bricks can't be pigeon holed. i cooked up more chicken when the kitchen closed. >> exactly. exactly. >> professor, you want in on this in any which way? >> ari, you know i'm team biggy all day. i don't support the quoting of jay-z, but i will agree with danny. listen, soul food has a long robust history in the african american community. i know danny is from detroit. i'm team detroit all day long. we know there are larger questions about us and health and sort of cooking with fat back and lots of pork and ways that traditionally we have cooked, but i do think that there is a way that we can still cook with lots of meat and satisfy our traditions and also have vegetables. i love vegetables, but if i'm having fried chicken, i want fried chicken. if i'm having collard greens, i want some pork in there. and we can have fresh kale to the side. >> well, and professor, you want to bring biggie into it, in this carnivorious context, you could have gone with what's beef. beef is when you need to gats to go to sleep. you could have gone there. look, i have one -- >> i do roll less than 30 deep, ari, i do. >> there we go. danny, i got one too. it also is kitchen table. all week in the news we're talking serious stuff. this is not that important but i have to say it. i'm from seattle. we're about real coffee. the pod coffee craze has gotten out of control. people acting like this is coffee. it's basically instant coffee. because it's preground at an actual cuisine level, you have the stuff getting drier and drier month on end. this is what gets me, it's more expensive than the original thing. so they're pushing the pods for a weaker product that's more expensive because the gimmick. that's my fallback if either of you want to weigh in. >> terrible for the environment. >> crazy flavors. the crazy flavors they come up these days too. they got cheesecake and blueberry cobbler, like, just give me regular coffee. it's coming out of a pot, anyway. i get it sometimes people are, you know, running late to work and it's something quick they can do, but it will never compare to a real cup of coffee. >> right? and this is -- professor, this is, again, just personal choice, but i think they really got people brainwashed thinking the pod is a premium product. to me, it is very subpar. >> right, and we know packaging is millions of dollars, the psychology of packaging. i think for the environment and someone who cares deeply about the environment, the pods are terrible for the environment. it's filled with waste. and so we want to actually be environmentalists, we will move away from the pods and the cheap coffee in them and actually go back to either drip or french press or good old, you know, percolator, which you can never lose with a percolator. >> i prefer trip. some days i drip too hard. we're out of time. all i can promise is if we ever do this all together in detroit or new york, there will be real wings and real coffee, and danny and christina, come back. let me remind everyone, danny's new album is out now. that does it for us. "the reidout" with joy reid is up next.