what is next for the republican party? the rnc chair offers to step aside. what did she do to get sideways with donald trump? secretary of state tony

blinken is in israel right now for hostage talks. where he says the deal with ho mass sthamas stands right now. what will you watch? the game? the ads? you don't have to wait to see them. which are making the biggest impact. kate and sara are out. i'm john berman with rahel sol solomon. this is cnn news central. this morning, the republican party chair seems on her way out. ronna mcdaniel offering to step down at ton the end of february. this week, he met donald trump at mar-a-lago. after that meeting, she offered to resign. the situation is fluid. there's questions this morning. who will replace her? how will this impact the party? how did she get sideways with

donald trump? cnn has all of the answers for us from washington this morning. what do we know? >> this is a stunning revelation. we look back at when donald trump first apointed ronna mcdonnell in 2017 to serve as his ally in the rnc. clearly, things have changed since then. donald trump and the increasing pressure he's putting on the rnc and ronna mcdaniel specifically was the driving force behind this decision. if you take a step back, trump and mcdaniel's relationship over the past several years has deter deteriorated. donald trump harbors resentment toward the rnc and mcdaniel for not doing enough to challenge the 2020 election results.

this hit a tipping point last week, when rnc reported in the fcc filing they had raised $8 million -- or 8 mi$8 million can hand. that's the worst fund-raising in over a decade. take a step back and next to replace her, there's a couple names that have been floated. i talked to trump's team. the north carolina party chairman, michael watley. and south carolina republican party chairman, drew mckissic. and joe grudens. watley is believed to be the front-runner for who donald trump would want. trump doesn't have the power to put someone in the rnc and didn't have the ability to oust mcdaniel on his own. it's pressure in his public

statements that are leading to the changes. the reason he likes watley is because he is someone thparrote donald trump's language saying the 2020 election being rife with fraud. that's not true but donald trump believes it true. and he wants a loyalist to serve in the rnc. you're seeing a lot of this. he continues to put a lot of attention on the national committee, he thinks will be important for him as he marches to the potential republican nomination. >> reveals what the priorities are for donald trump as he shapes the republican party. thank you for all that. john, an embarrassing defeat for nikki haley in nevada. even though she was the only major republican candidate on the ballot in the state's gop primary on tuesday, more republican voters selected the none of these options than her. donald trump skipped the

primary, making it symbolic. donald trump will compete in caucuses where 26 delegates will be awarded. let's get to kylie at wood. the nikki haley campaign is shrugging this off. >> this is an embarrassment for nikki haley's campaign. they are saying, of course, they had no plans to compete in nevada because, as you laid it out, former president trump is competing in the caucus that's going to award all of the delegates in the state. by losing the primary, nikki haley is not changing her campaign's expectations of what she will pick up in support of the state. former president trump was encouraging his allies in the state to go out on primary day and cast ballots in favor of that option that was listed none of the candidates. and nikki haley didn't just lose to that option, but lost in a pretty big way, more than double the people who voted for her, voted for that no none of these

candidates options. i want to read the campaign. if you pay penny slots the house wins. we didn't play a game rigged for trump. she's competitive with the former president after losing the early nominating contests. but she's focused on south carolina right now. >> thanks so much. with us now, senior political commentator and democratic strategist, and strategies founding partner, alex conan. alex, as we were saying before, losing is bad. losing to literally a line that says anyone else you can think of, is that good?

>> republican primary voters in the first two contests made it clear they prefer donald trump. i don't know if there's anything nikki haley can do to change that. she's going to continue to make a lot of money. don't think she's quitting anytime soon. if you look at the polls and the first three contest results, the voters want to renominate trump for the third time. that seems to be an immovable problem for the haley campaign. >> if south carolina goes to trump as it is expected, is from anything that haley can do or show in the results that show momentum? what if she has a better showing than new hampshire? does that show anything? >> i think they will point to anything that will show he is in an upward movement. even one percentage point if she does better than she did in new hampshire.

i think they are in it to -- i mean, clearly, she wants to win it. that's going to be an almost impossible task. you never know what can happen. i'd love to hear what alex thinks. i heard many republican strategists say, we don't know what's going to happen with donald trump and all of his issues with the courts. everything he's facing on the visual front. we've all seen the polls that say if he is convicted, his support drops dramatically within the republican party, even within his base. not all of it, clearly. at this point, she has nothing to lose. if she's going to continue to raise money, stay in it, girl. you don't know what's going to happen. she could be the last woman standing in a situation where, we all think that donald trump is going to be the nominee and will move forward to compete in the general election against president biden.

you never know with all of the things in the comforts. >> as long as she is running, only three states have voted. as long as she is in it, there's a choice. it seems likely that republicans are going to continue to choose trump. but if she drops out, there's no choice and trump will be the nominee right away. i agree. she will stay in it to keep that choice. >> you spent time at the rnc. you're a committee guy. what does this mean going forward? >> i was press secretary in 2008. that was when jmohn mccain was the nominee. once he won the nomination, he installed senior leadership that i ended up working with, to

control the committee. what's different now, is ronna mcdaniel is a trump person. trump installed her to begin with to run the committee after he took rinseince priebus and p him in the white house. that's concerns about the rnc. anyone that looked at the fund-raising report, realizes they are behind where they need to be. taking mcdaniel out and installing a trump loyalist, i'm not sure that's what boehners want to see. they don't want someone coming in and running the rnc. that gives donors a lot of trepidation. if they're changing leadership in order to shore up the party's fund-raising, i'm not sure that's going to work. it leads to larger concerns about the republican party's organizational and leadership structure going into this election year.

>> do you think that they are encouraged by the shakeup at the rnc and the issues we're seeing with dhs, with funding for israel, for the border being built. what it does for democrats focusing into the general election, this is a crew of quote/unquote leaders that are massively unfit. they have no desire or interest in governing. the only thing they prioritize are the feelings of donald trump that they listen to. he says jump, we say how high. we saw the debacle of the border security bill in congress.

the rnc, whatever he says goes. that's not a way to run the -- one of the two major parties in the country. we are much better as a country and i say this as a democrat, when you have two functioning political parties right now. you only have one functioning political party. that's the democratic party. in temples of the election, it makes the contrast, that republicans in the house and the senate, and in the white house, do not deserve the trust that the american people are -- have put into them at least for leadership and the congress. it is a case that could upend the presidential election. it has huge implications that has to do with will donald trump be allowed to state on state ballots? can states use the 14th

amendment's ban on insurrectionist off the ballot? you can listen live as the nation argues in the highest court. special coverage at 9:00, here on cnn. right now, secretary of state blinken is meeting with the palestinian authority president in the west bank. that's after meeting with top israeli officials. where the critical talks stand right now. also, republicans are struggling to bounce back after two humiliating failures on the house floor? what his plan may be for mike johnson. and super bowl weekend. are you looking forward to watching a game? or the commercials? maybe what's happening on the sidelines? we're going to have a preview of the blockbuster ads. >> leftover chicken, scallions, cheese. what do i make with this? >> helmets.

just in. the search for a missing helicopter is zeroing in on a remote snow-covered area in the mountains of southern california. five marines believe to be onboard. let's get to natasha bertrand with the latest. natasha, what are you learning? >> the u.s. marine corps has confirmed they are searching for five missing marines that were

onboard the ch-53 superstallion helicopter that took off on february 6th in nevada to marine corps air station miramar that is in san diego. according to the california department of forestry and fire prevention, that search is now focused on a remote snow-covered area of cleveland national forest, outside of san diego. the last time that a signal was received from that helicopter, was around 11:30 p.m. local time last night. at 2:30, the san diego county fire department received their first notification of the missing helicopter. they sent out three fire squadrons and an blambulance bu they had to pull back because of bad conditions. it is daylight. they have restarted the search efforts. it's worth noting that this is not the first time that a ch-53 has been involved in such an incident. back in 2018, another one of the helicopters, which is primarily

used for transporting very heavy equipment. it is a very large helicopter. crashed during a routine training mission in california and killed up a four marines onboard. they are conducting this search and rescue operation in that remote area of the forest. and the marine corps says they will provide updates when they have them. john? >> natasha bertrand at the pentagon. keep us posed on this. right now, secretary of state anthony blinken is in the west bank with mahmoud abbas. it's a string of talks with middle east leaders today. abbas puts together a proposal for cease-fire and military add aid for exchange of releasing hostages from gaza. blinking says the u.s. is reviewing the u.s. proposal. it's a detailed proposal. walk us through what they are asking for.

>> reporter: detailed. and we're getting indications that there's things on there that they don't approve of in the language as presented. what is it hamas is putting forward. three phases. each one lasting 45 days. hostages. women children and the sick. the first phase. what does hamas want? they want a massive upscale in humanitarian aid for gaza. they want to see 60,000 housing units brought in. 2,200 tents brought in. they want to see israeli forces to pull back, stop military operations, stop drone flights. and they want to see the beginning -- this is one of the trip points for the israeli government. hamas wants to see discussions about a permanent cease-fire. all that goes ahead. flip forward to phase two. phase two, that would see the release of all of the male

hostages that both civilians and military personnel. during this phase, this is when hamas wants to see the complete agreement, agreed, signed off on absolute end to the war in gaza. and in both of the phases, they want to see a release of a huge number of palestinian prisoners being held in israeli jails. again, this is a trip point for the israeli government. they say, look, there's no way we're going to release prisoners, hamas prisoners, who we captured october 7th. the last phase, if the government gets to that, that's the release of the bodies of all of the other remaining hostages, believed to be about 31, inside gaza and hugely important for many of the families as you still have their hostages held. >> they are reviewing the

proposal. nic robertson, live in tel aviv. thank you very much. we got word that house speaker mike johnson will be speaking to reporters on capitol hill. this, after what has been described as ten minutes of utter humiliation for him. the republican debacle, in the house overnight. what are his plans now? we could just be minutes away from learning. stay with us.

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welcome back. tuesday's u.p. results in nevada mark an embarrassing defeat for nikki haley, in a contest that did not have haley on the b ballot. she lost to none of the candidates, wasas you can see. this election season, state republicans opted to award their delegates fls through party-run caucuses. those will happen tomorrow. trump is expected to be victorious. those on the primary ballot, including haley, are not eligible to participate in the caucuses. and the fractured process is part of a 2021 state law that scrapped nevada caucuses in favor of government-run primaries. the republicans ignoring the primary outcome since no delegates are awarded from the vote. secretary, good to have you this morning.

thanks so much. the way nevada does this is a little sort of different. the winner of republican primary, none of these candidates. is that a first for your state? >> good morning. thank you. it's an honor. this is a great opportunity for nevadans to have a say in what the november election is going to look like, once we get past the primary. none of the above did receive the most amount of votes on the republican side. by nevada law, the person, actual candidate, receiving the most votes is the winner of the contest. however, there's an asterisk next to that numb number, saying none of the above will receive the most votes from republicans in the primary. >> secretary, do you wonder or worry that the current system with the primary and the caucus, confused u.p. voters? fi

>> my job as nevada secretary of state to make sure we're in the interest of all voters. doesn't matter if democrat or republican. and by 2021, the bipartisan leadership group of the legislate sure, decided that nevada should move forward with a state-run primary. that was the intent to drive voters to the polls, get them engaged. knowing nevada will have an impact from an early start. we saw engagement yesterday, that i think says nevadans want to participate in a primary process. i was not involved in the decision of the state republican party. they made that decision for reasons i don't know. the leadership made the decisions. our government said there was a way to engage nevada voters. >> if this was a decision from the gop, is it a sustainable system to have a fractured process? where some are participating in the primary and some are participating in the caucus?

>> look, i think nv inform is a working community. we're a working state. we have a 24/7-hour economy. if you want to engage a voter, we have to be accessible to them, to allow them to vote, a convenient way for them. look how we have run our elections. we have a universal mail ballot. early voting, the primary in june and the november general, two weeks of early voting. one week for the primary. we're working hard to engage the voters. we need to recognize the benefits of a primary. >> can you talk to us about turnout? yesterday, turnout seemed low. understandfully. there's a lot happening in las vegas the next few days. talk to us about turnout. >> we may try things differently. we're going to get to the goal

we want as nevadans. i go back to the accessibility. >> i have to jump in here. speaker johnson is speaking. >> the veto on the israel funding package. chuck schumer said he would put a blockade up in the senate. house democrats followed hakeem jeffries off that cliff. they took that lead and they blocked the funding. let's be clear about this. that bill was enough funding. it was $14.3 billion three months ago. we added to it in that region. there's no reason whatsoever, for them to object to the contents of that bill. that's bad for national security and terrible politics. the president of the united

states has a 37% approval rating. if they are going to follow that lead, they did it to their detriment. it's a shameful thing. our ally israel needs the help desperately. you are pushing for israel. you're skeptical for ukraine. >> we'll see what the senate does. we're allowing the process to play out. we'll handle it as it is sent over. i've made clear you have to address the issues on their own merits. and israel needs the assistance. everyone knows that. everyone knows the tensions have esc escalated. we need to support it. frustrat.

>> what happened with the vote of mayorkas in why bring it to the floor if you didn't have the votes. will you hold another vote to impeachment? >> that was a setback. but democracy is messy. we live in a time of divided government. we have a raizor thin margin here. when people show up and they're not expected to be in the building, it changes the equ equation. we have a duty to take care of this issue. we have to hold the department of homeland security accountable. ma mayorkas needs to be accountable. we'll pass the articles of impeachment. we will do it on the next round. >> mr. speaker, what would you say to the americans' concern that congress isn't able to do basic function? >> it's messy. we have a system with different philosophical viewpoints. and different constituencies have different ideas. what they anticipated is we can

get a room and arm wrestle over public policy and come to consensus to move the ball forward for most people. that's happening here. you're seeing the messy sau sausagemaking that democracy play out. it's not always clean or pretty. but the job will be done at the end of the day. >> some of your critics will say this shows your inexperience. congressman massey says getting rid of kevin mccarthy was a disaster for your party. >> it was a mess. we're cleaning it up. in is a reflection on the body itself. the chasm is wider than it's ever been. live in the 24-hour news cycle. there's previous congresses where a gaggle like this would not have been possible. we're in a different time.

we need to lead on principle. that's what we're doing. the process is messy ty sometim. but the job will be done. we have to govern this country. the entire world is counting upon us. we have steady hands at the wheel. we'll get through it. every take a deep breath. it's a long game. we'll get the job done. mike johnson, trying to explain the debacle. democracy is messy. he didn't have explanation for. sometimes things don't go their way. they tried to point the finger and blame others for the foreign policy, the aid to israel. it happened after. >> he said to that point, in terms of why the impeachment articles against mayorkas didn't go through, there were people in the building they didn't expect. perhaps a reference to

representative al green, who showed up. doesn't fully explain why it didn't pass. he said that they attempt to -- they will be planning to bring that back up. he didn't know where the vote stood. >> in a policy attempt, when going forward, asked what he would do if the senate today passes, which it might, aid to ukraine and israel and taiwan combined together, what the house would do. he didn't say no. he said we will look at what the senate passes. maybe opening the door a little to that. much more coming up, including reaction to what we just heard. stay with us.

moments ago, we heard from house speaker mike johnson, after a pair of stunning and embarrassing defeats for republican leadership on the house floor. johnson said it was a setback and a mess, after the house failed to impeach dhs secretary mayorkas and lost a vote on $17 million on aid to israel. with us now is congressman gregory meeks, a democrat from new york. thanks for being with us. you heard, i think you were actually just feet away from the house speaker when he said democracy is messy. how accurately does that describe what you saw on the floor last night? >> incompetency is not messy. incompetency is incompetency. and trying what we need to do has been tried in the senate and working together.

coming together for the national security, with the benefit of the american people. as opposed to utilize political stunts that the speaker was trying to utilize yesterday. that backfired. i hope the american people can see the stunts they are doing and the risk they put the country at because of the maga republicans. and johnson is allowing others, like the magas to control and run the house. what was incompetent in your mind? >> the fact that number one, couldn't count. that's clear. number two, he didn't say what he was going to do. i was at meetings where there was an agreement.

we would work together to get something done on the border that the senate was doing. we would make sure that it would be israel, ukraine, taiwan, the focus. we would do the packages together. and we were working to get that done. and then, he automatically, and i think in a way that is partisan and displaying political tricks, decided that was a nonstarter. it would not happen here on the floor of the house of representatives. knowing that there's some of his members on his side of the aisle, we saw for example. and then, a number of others on the supplemental, not with him. he knows that on the supplemental, he couldn't get it done. >> let me ask you. >> he didn't have the vote to pass it through. >> it is possible, that senate majority leader chuck schumer may get it on the senate floor

today. it is possible the senate votes and passes a stand-alone aid to ukraine, taiwan and israel bill. foreign aid, basically, without the bill. the bipartisan border bill goes down. he may be able to get through aid to israel, ukraine and taiwan. house speaker mike johnson did not rule out letting that come up for a vote in the house, just now. we will see what the senate does. they address it on their own merit. is he opening the door to a vote on ukraine aid? >> i would hope that he is. there are some in the conference that understands the cig cobbs of that. we try to work in a bipartisan way. if you listen to the chair and ranking member on the intel committee and chair and ranking member of armed services. and i, as the ranking member, we try to talk and work together in a bipartisan way on the three bills because of the international security interest. i think that would put the -- if

that bill passes the senate, that is the right thing to do to put the bill on the floor of the house. the drastic need that israel has and ukraine has and we need to protect taiwan. the national security interests that should be done. >> what appears to be the hamas counterproposal to a cease-fire in gaza. some of the conditions include a complete withdrawal of israeli troops, turning over prisoners they took on october 7th, which presumably would be some of the terrorists who carried out attacks on october 7th. and nowhere in this ko counterproposal i can see, any count for hamas to give up political leadership in gaza. would you advise israel to take this deal as grounds for a cease-fire? >> that's extreme.

that's why secretary blinken is over there to talk to individuals. i had conversations with the qataris and the foreign minister who heading and part of the negotiations. and know they are always negotiations. you start with extreme. they have to be put off the table. you have to talk about the security of israel. we heard time and time again, there was a cease-fire on october 6th. hamas broke. we know their position and the military leadership, that israel does not have the right to exist. they will do this time and time again. that is not something that i think that is reasonable. the dialogue and the conversation to get the hostages home, is important. and to have a pause in the

fighting so dialogue and conversation on a serious nature continues. we can get to a point where the palestinians have an opportunity to have a two-state solution. that's ultimately the goal. that will include everybody in the region, including our aallies or israel or the united states. >> gregory meeks, thank you so much for being with us. the super bowl just days away. who will win best commercial this sunday? we have a sneak peek at the competition coming up next.

welcome back. and the countdown to super bowl sunday is on. forget about who's playing on the field. for a lot of people the real draw are the commercials. >> you know what they say, in order to remember something you

got to forget something else. >> that's how i remember uber eats has coffee, forgetting something else. >> jen. >> okay. >> have we met? >> worked together for ten years? >> ten years. >> we were great. you still don't know, do you? >> no. >> like i forget ten years of my life. what are we going to see, besides friends? >> you know, i love that ross and rachel reunion but there are some other re reunions with thi year's ads. h helman's reunited kate mckinnon and pete davidson. i spoke to kate mckinnon about this commercial. take a look. >> what am i going to make with this? >> mayo. >> mayo.

helman's you can talk. >> and she said boom, helman's saves the leftovers. >> she can't spell. >> now our keynote speaker. >> mayo. >> is it serious? >> you lasted longer than most. >> mayo. >> now kate mckinnon did tell me she got pete davidson's permission to poke fun at his dating life. so all good there. >> and t mobile supposedly getting in on the reunion. what are they doing? >> they're known for their ads with scrubs alum. last year they had john travolta. how do you top john travolta? with aquaman, of course. ♪ can't stop streaming ♪

♪ i need home internet from t mobile to fulfill my life ♪ ♪ my life life life ♪ >> there you have jason ma mow with scrubs alums zach braf. there's another cameo at the end of the commercial stay tuned. >> what a tease. thank you so much. i'm hungry now. >> my same reaction, i need food. >> thank you for joining us. >> this has been cnn "news cen central". "inside politics" is next. kic