>> you know, don, he absolutely is. secretary austin is someone who because of that experience and because he came up through the ranks and served as an officer, the african american african american secretary of defense, he does have a unique understanding of the challenges that we face here. i think there is some very specific things that he needs to do, and i think he understands that. you know, i think he understands that he needs to be more intrusive. we need to be more intrusive into the lives of our service members. i think he understands that we need to make absolutely sure that we are using the muniform code of military. i think he gets we need to fully understand the nature of the problem. but, you know, it's really important, don, to also point out the vast majority of the people in the military are not interested in this kind of activity. they want to serve this country, and they want to do the right thing. secretary austin gets that. so he is striking the right

balance between focusing on this problem and making absolutely sure that we don't disparage all of our military service. >> we're out of time. shawn, thank you so much. i appreciate it. we'll see you soon. >> thanks, don. >> thanks for watching, everyone. our coverage continues. good evening. less than a week away from the president at the scene of his alleged crime of his democracy, members of his party are deciding right now who they are and where their loyalties actually lie. they're at it right now. the meeting, which has reportedly been tumultuous, is still under way. house republicans choosing whether they stand with the former president in the extremist freshman congresswoman he calls a rising star or with the staunchly conservative party leader and daughter of a former vice president who voted to impeach him. the fact that this is happening just hours after leaders of that party paid tribute to one of the victims of the crime, capitol police officer brian sicknick. really throws the moral stakes into sharper relief. just steps away from the rotunda where his remains lay in honor, house republicans are gathered to decide what to do about

freshman congresswoman marginally taylor greene. she is the qanon conspiracy fan who has called school shootings false flag operations and questioned whether the plane hit on 9/11 and what caused the california wildfires like social media posts calling for the execution of top democrats and supporting the ex-president's election fraud lies to the hilt. democrats want republicans to strip her of her committee assignments including a seat on the house education and labor committee. they're threatening to bring the matter to a house vote tomorrow if the republicans don't, and it's not just democrats who are upset about her. there are republicans, conservatives such as north dakota senator kevin kramer. >> she is very extreme to say the least. the anti-semitism, i've never seen anything quite like it. the anti-semitism, school shootings aren't real. she runs the gammitt. the idea that forest fires are started by jewish lasers. it's just so profound, so far out there, it does make me wonder how she got elected.

>> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has called her views, quote, cancer for the republican party, though he never named her in the criticism. over on the house side, the members and leaders being called on to do something about it appear not to be too concerned. the congresswoman spoke at the meeting we're told, telling colleagues her social media posts do not reflect who she is as a person, which to be clear she said behind closed door which raises the question if that's not who she was, what was she doing posting it and liking it? if that's not who she is, then exactly who is this person? >> the so-called plane that crashed into the pentagon, it's odd there is never any evidence shown for a plane in the pentagon. there is an islamic invasion into our government offices right now. kennedy getting killed in the plane crash, that's another one of those clinton murders, right? >> again, this is a first term lawmaker, someone who would ordinary be a back venture, not the champion of a substantial

wing of the republican party, or as mitch mcconnell warned, a cancer on it, which house republican leaders do not seem inclined to stop right now, something minority leader kevin mccarthy signaled just this afternoon in a statement that reads in part, quote, past comments from and endorsed by marjorie taylor greene on school shootings, public violence and conspiracy theories do not represent the values and believes of the house republican conference. she goes on to say, her past comments now have much greater meaning. marjorie recognized this in our conversation and i hold her to her word and actions going forward. how did congresswoman greene show her appreciation for the pass? she attacked him in an interview tonight with the "washington examiner." quieting now, and kevin mccarthy and the leadership and everyone is proving that they are all talk and not about action, and they're just all about doing business as usual in washington. so what's the difference between them and the democrats? there isn't a difference. that attitude to party leader for saving her skin would once

upon a time likely end the career of a young representative. today, though, the party seems disinclined to do anything. in fact, the main focus of tonight's criticism isn't the focus, it's reportedly the number three house republican liz cheney. she is one of ten republicans who dared vote to impeach the former president. you know, the one who incited a deadly insurrection on them and the vice president less than a month ago, that guy. it is just that guy whom so many republicans still continue to defend, the one whose name congressman matt gaetz invoked just the other week when he went to wyoming for a rally against liz cheney. >> so i had a chance to communicate with president trump yesterday. [ cheers ] >> he sends his love. he loves you-all so much and president trump is going to keep fighting for this country with every breath that he has. >> now, republicans have a choice. does the party still belong to him and the congresswoman he's such a fan of or not? brian noble is at the capitol for us. what's the latest? is this meeting still going on?

>> it is, anderson. for the better part of four hours these republicans are attempting to hash out issues within their conference. we're told essentially any member of the republican party in the house of representatives that wants to get up and say something about either of these two issues has been given the opportunity to do so. so far, there have been far more of these republican members that have come up to criticize liz cheney, who is the third ranking member of the house republican party for her vote to impeach president trump. this could end up in some sort of a vote tonight, which will determine cheney's fate. now we know that kevin mccarthy, the house minority leader and steve scalise, the number two ranking republican have both voiced their support for cheney to stay in that post as the number three republican, but she has taken a lot of incoming fire tonight from many of these republicans angry with that vote. so we're not going to know the outcome until the vote cast if there even is a vote. that is up to kevin mccarthy.

cheney has said she would like the vote to take place which would indicate she believes she has the support of the conference behind her, but we're still waiting to see what the outof that decision will be. >> i mean, this just incredible. the republican party now is looking about voting about liz cheney, not about marjorie taylor greene and her committee assignments. is that just completely off the table as far as republicans are concerned? i know democrats could take her off and seem to want to. the republicans, has mccarthy decide they're not going to remove marjorie taylor greene from committee assignments? >> essentially, that's what it looks like is going to happen. this meeting is all about liz cheney. they talked very little about marjorie taylor greene. >> wow. >> she got up and did speak herself for a few minutes and actually got somewhat of a standing ovation from a good portion of the conference that we're told. you know, there was one congressman, adam kinzinger of illinois who has been a big critic of president trump who got up and attacked kevin

mccarthy for focusing more on cheney and dealing with that and not doing anything to handle the situation with marjorie taylor greene. but kevin mccarthy attempted over the past 24 hours to find a way out of this. he asked hoyer, the democratic majority leader if there could be a compromise perhaps put taylor green on another committee. democrats are not interested in that. they don't want her serving on any committee. they have the votes to make that happen and they're pushing forward. so mccarthy essentially put his hands up in the air and said i'm not going to do anything about it. it's also important to point out, anderson, in the statement that you read from kevin mccarthy, you'll note that he never says that marjorie taylor greene apologized for the past statements that she's made about some of these wacky conspiracy theories. he says she recognized what she said and how it could be a problem, but she never apologized and we're told that is actually what happened, that she never volunteered to apologize for the comments that she had made, which had been a specific request of democrats who had any hope of whether or not she would stay on these committees.

so it's pretty clear, there may be some sort of a reckoning with liz cheney tonight, but as for marjorie taylor greene, republicans are not interested in doing anything to hold her accountable. >> it's just incredible. liz cheney is a conservative and, you know, outspoken in this case about the impeachment. marjorie taylor greene, you know, has embraced qanon hoax. she's been all in on it. she wasn't just a fringe player. she was all in on this. doesn't believe the plane hit the pentagon on 9/11. believes the rothschilds are behind lasers from space causing wildfires in california. this would be stunning. we are just getting word, ryan, i was told in my ear we do expect a vote tonight, not on marjorie taylor greene as you said, on liz cheney. no word on exactly when that will take place. ryan, appreciate the reporting. we'll continue to check in with with you throughout this hour as warranted. perspective from cnn political analyst maggie haberman and dana

bash. dana, i mean, this is the republican party deciding, at least in the house, deciding who they want to be. >> they sure are, anderson. the shock and surprise and disgust that you are -- i don't mean to put words or feelings into you or into your reaction, but it's what everybody is feeling because people who have -- shouldn't say everybody. everybody who is focused on the facts and focused on what is right or let me just put it this way, focused on the conservative principles that republicans have espoused for so long and that being their guide post. things like lower taxes, things like less government in their lives. that's not what is going on here at all. i mean, this is about somebody who voted her conscience because she thought that a president,

regardless of party, incited an insurrection on the building where she worked versus somebody who has repeatedly said things that are anti-semitic, completely conspiratorial, and she is effectively getting a pass. she did get a round of applause, some people did stand up when she, marjorie taylor greene spoke and liz cheney just like ryan just said, i'm hearing from sources, she's getting pounded. some people are coming to her defense but for the most part, she's getting pounded. this is likely going to be a vote on her leadership role. that is in large part because she wants one. she wants to show that she has support because she has been working the phones for a long time with members of her conference. >> maggie, do you have any sense how donald trump sees this without the white house or press core? he's i guess talked to marjorie taylor greene. he's got her as his proxy in congress. she is certainly all in on him.

kevin mccarthy kissing his ring at mar-a-lago. this must be what he wants. >> he still is the party leader, anderson, until there is another presidential nominee of this party or until the party starts to swing more in the direction of mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader -- senate minority leader now trying to carve a different path. from kevin mccarthy. look, marjorie taylor greene says she has spoken to president trump. we don't know that from his folks but it would certainly be in keeping he's been talking her up privately to a bunch of people. it would be in keeping with how he has remade this party in his image. and what i'm struck by over and over, anderson, watching this, if kevin mccarthy wanted to at this point, there is not a magic wand he can wave to marginalize marjorie taylor greene. she has support of other republicans in the caucus and this is a caucus that has been reshaped by trumpism, as to sort of conservatism as it's been traditionally practiced. that makes donald trump very happy. the longer he can keep his grip on the party, i think the liz

cheney vote will tell us a fair amount but the longer that donald trump can keep his grip on republicans, the longer he remains a factor and that's always what he wants. >> do we know to what degree, maggie, the former president is remaining a factor? has he been in touch with mccarthy today? does donnie junior call him up? do we know. >> there is a relationship they between kevin mccarthy and donald trump. they have spoken while things are fairly tense between kevin mccarthy and the former president. i don't know whether the two, kevin mccarthy and the former president had spoken today but they had been in touch after the former president was very angry with kevin mccarthy on the house floor where he said president trump did bear some blame for the insurrection on january 6th. look, there are clear lines of communication. there are a bunch of aides they share in common so i don't think their wishing are unknown to each other. >> dana, if the republican party

continues to choose to embrace the qanon wing essentially, which is, you know, also part of the trump wing, is that -- does that hurt -- i mean, they obviously think -- they don't think it hurts them, obviously they think that's where the energy is, that's where the votes are. hard to see a lot of folks in, you know, the suburbs and voters who are, you know, more -- or don't believe in these hoaxes following along with that. >> absolutely. and although, i understand maggie, what you're saying about the fact that kevin mccarthy can't wave a magic wand and make these conspiracy theorists go away, what he's not doing is at least trying to show leadership in the notion of saying you know what? we're not going the stand for this. because it could be that he could end up next to liz cheney.

it could be that would be the outcome of that but he's deciding not to do that and -- >> i would argue one thing. it late at this moment. >> oh, agree. >> many points, i think the ship has sailed at this point. that's all i'm saying. >> i agree. one thing that a source told me this evening who is familiar with some of the conversations people are having with mccarthy, kind of his kitchen cabinet is that what he could have done, to your point, maggie, maybe even a couple of days ago, never mind tonight, was to say to her, okay, let's go down the list of all the things that you've said. do you still espouse the idea of these laser beams? do you still believe that it's possible that a plane didn't really go into the pentagon on 9/11? and keep going down the list and put her on the spot, get her on the record, whether it's in front of the conference, which as we know now is still ongoing, and the majority of the focus is on liz cheney, not on her, or

get her to do it in public. and that didn't happen nor is it happening. and therefore, anderson, you talk about the suburbs. what the democrats are trying to do is to try to put all the republicans in a box. since they're not acting, they're going to have this vote so, every republican is going to be on record. do you want marjorie taylor greene to stay on these committees or not? the ones that say yes, we do, that will be used against them in ads. >> maggie, i want to read something carl rove told "the new york times", your newspaper saying -- he said quote, the beneficiaries are democrats so the more we have purity tests and everyone has to think and act alike when it comes to former president trump, it's only helping democrats end quote. as long as the former president is playing a role in politics, will those purity test that rove is speaking about ever go away? >> i don't think so, anderson. look, to your point, when you were mentioning kevin mccarthy at the top of this segment going down to mar-a-lago in your words kissing the ring, he was in palm

beach anyway but the fact he made this stop to see the former president appear for this picture that where president trump used that picture and put out a statement saying that, you know, my own endorsement is worth more than it's ever been et cetera, et cetera. what mccarthy needs is the infighting to stop. what he went there to tell former president trump essentially is mccarthy wants to be speaker, as we know, and he needs the former president's help in trying to actually target democrats, not former republicans. >> right. >> has president trump taken that message and adhered to it? i think how he behaves going forward depends on what we see next week in the senate trial. i think that is key in his mind right now. >> yeah, you know, i think it was matt gaetz went the next day after kevin mccarthy -- >> it was that day. >> that day. >> three hours later. >> right. >> three hours later gaetz was in wyoming, standing at an event to trash liz cheney where he put donald trump jr. on speakerphone on his iphone over the microphone.

that tells you a lot about how the former president is going to keep one foot in each camp, and he is going to try to torment republicans until he thinks they're on his side. >> and how much at least matt gaetz and probably a lot of other folks in the house, how much or what they really think of kevin mccarthy and his power. maggie haberman and dana bash, thank you. coming up next, a democratic lawmaker who could soon be called to vote on congresswoman greene. and later, with covid deaths crossing the 450,000 mark tonight, the heartache and hope on the front lines at a texas hospital. introducing fidelity income planning. we look at how much you've saved, how much you'll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when you're not working. a plan that gives you the chance to grow your savings and create cash flow that lasts. along the way, we'll give you ways to be tax efficient. and you can start, stop or adjust your plan at any time without the unnecessary fees. talk to us today, so we can help you go from saving...to living.

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we have breaking news on the vote whether liz cheney will maintain her leadership position. cnn's ryan nobles at the capitol with the very latest. have they started to vote? >> they have, anderson. remember, we weren't even sure if a vote was going to take place tonight. we now know that they are voting, and that process is beginning right now. this could take time. there are 211 republican house members. each is casting a secret ballot. unlike the votes they take on the house floor where we're able to get a record of how they voted, this is all done in secret. so they have to physically cast their ballot and then those ballots are to be counted. we do know some republican leaders are already starting to leave the meeting right now so the process is wrapping up but it could take a little time before we know whether or not liz cheney will remain as the third ranking republican in the house of representatives. >> ryan nobles, thank you. appreciate it.

congresswoman greene, meantime, showing no remorse, speaking to the washington democrats, criticizing democrats. her and i'm quoting her. how stupid they are. they don't realize they're helping me. they don't realize how dumb they are. so congresswoman thanks for being with us. congresswoman greene says democrats are stupid and by trying this strip her of her committee assignments, you and your colleagues are actually helping her in her quest to i guess gain for power, get more republicans elected. do you think there some truth to that, not to the stupid part, but to the building up her name recognition, focusing on her gives her more power than she actually would have? >> i think what she is focusing on is she has been fundraising off this like crazy. she is bilking her base like crazy. the last report was $1.6 million off this. it the race to the bottom for the republican party here. >> it's so interesting. in her statement, she also said

about -- in that interview she did, she also says she was asked about, you know, being taken off committee assignments that doesn't look like it will happen from the republicans' doing, and she seemed to indicate she didn't really care because it allowed her more time to focus on what she wants to focus on which basically means fundraising and building her name and just throwing molotov -- rhetorical molotov cocktails, let's hope it's rhetorical ones, and that seems to be really what she wants out of serving in congress. >> well, i don't think she's really interested in serving in congress, clearly she's interested in being on twitter and spouting whatever pops into her head or into q's head or whatever. i mean, since the moment she hit town, she's done everything she can to, you know, excite people. it doesn't matter if it's true or not. when she first got to town, she was tweeting about not being able to go to the gym and put out a tweet about working out. she's all about the publicity and fundraising.

it's not about public service. >> she is like an instagram influencer, a wanna-be instagram influencer, except with anti-semitic and, you know, bizarre anti-semitic conspiracy theory beliefs. >> well, what's really concerning to members of congress is she's also about inciting violence. she totally bought into the ex president's big lie he hadn't actually lost the election and she was part of the crew that helped to incite the attack on the capitol and the attempt to disrupt a joint session of congress just a month ago today. >> do you -- >> we still had our capitol police officer brian sicknick was lying in state in the capitol today. >> do you think democrats could or should remove her from her committee assignments? that would be really an unprecedented step or at least highly unusual step. >> it's certainly highly

unusual. in the past we've been able to rely upon the parties to police their own and it wasn't that long ago that the republican party did police its own just the last term or term before, the republican party removed steve king from his assignments because he'd said despicable and false things. the things that the representative from georgia has done are much, much worse but apparently the republican party has changed. >> house minority leader mccarthy's statement tonight in which he says he takes marjorie taylor greene at her word, that she'll hold herself to a higher standard now is almost a parody of what one might expect from him sadly at this point. i think it was dana in the last segment pointed out it's not as if he sat her down and point by point said okay, do you really believe that the rothschilds are behind lasers from space causing wildfires? do you really believe that, you know, the leaders of the

democratic party eat babies and drink their blood for a chemical, which is part of q. it's like he's basically just giving her a pass and just sort of saying just don't talk about that kind of stuff now. >> well, i mean, we're taking her at her word and her word is that she's incited violence against members of congress and she's espoused crazy theories that are not going to help us do our job to help the american people. what does it say about the party they are talking about stripping liz cheney of power when she's trying to hold the ex-president accountable for inciting an insurrection, and they're elevating this new member who is inciting violence and just, you know, doubling down on fringe conspiracy theories. >> what's it like working in the capitol now? it's never been more important given the stakes of our country and at the same time, not in our lifetime has it ever been as surreal. >> it's extremely surreal.

i haven't been here that long but we've certainly had our fair share of unusual events the last three years. but it has been really different the day after the couple days after january 6th, when i would see colleagues from across the aisle, there was one of two reactions. one was they would kind of avoid your eyes and try to scuttle by quickly. the other was kind of sheepish and wow, that was really wild what happened and oh gosh, we're all in it together. but that's turned. now that they're into this oh, we need to move past, we need to move past six people dying. we need to move past an attempt toe overthrow the government. that's the most surreal thing of all. >> i mean, one of the quotes that came out of this meeting republicans are having now is one republican lawmaker who is a supporter of the georgia congresswoman saying that liz cheney's crime was that she aided and abetted the enemy.

the idea that that's how he or she -- i think it was a male views this as the other side is the enemy. >> but the other side is just anyone who opposes trump at this point. >> exactly. yeah. >> the republican party has no platform other than whatever their leader wants. >> yeah. literally they did not have a platform. not just rhetorical. >> right. >> congresswoman mary gay scanlon, i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. >> if the republican party is having a crisis over the identity in the future, our next two guests are not. rick wilson is a former republican strategist and most memorably, author of "most everything trump touches dies." rick you have the greatest title of any book in history. what does it say to you about it the republican party that marjorie taylor greene is

completely being spared from any accountability. >> sure. >> and liz cheney is at real risk of getting booted from her post? >> the real leader of the house is marjorie taylor greene. she's effectively the leader. she's forced in her alliance with trump and the crazies and qanon people and nut cases and conspiracy theories and laser lobby, that part of the republican party is now the dominant strain. it is now what has taken over from the old republican party that believed in however imperfectly in individual liberty, fiscal responsibility, the constitution, all those things. and now they believe that hillary clinton eats babies under a pizza restaurant. this woman barely could contain herself to try to behave for 15 minutes tonight and mccarthy essentially didn't even bother to slap her on the wrist. i mean, but i got to say, democrats should be delighted by this.

they should revel in this. this is the new face of the gop. this is who the republican party is now and she's crazy as an outhouse rat in a sugarcane field i like to say. she's truly going to be the face of the gop. the democrats should not kick her out. they should love the fact that she is there breaking off more and more americans from the republican party. >> mary kathryn, haven't seen you in awhile. great to see you. what do you make of what is going on? >> i mean, look, this is clear lay moment to define where the party is going, and the party is choosing a hell of a path here. it not going to deal with greene at all and turn around and possibly discipline liz cheney. i mean, that is quite a contest and many republicans will say well, the media is taking it a contrast and democrats are turning it into this fight. you're also making the contrast for everyone else. that's what we're -- it's just what is out there right now. are you going to deal with it? do you wish back suburban

voters, more moderate voters and many of whom, by the way, even in this past election voted for biden, but may have crossed over and voted for republicans for senate and the house. there were many of those voters. do you want to lose all of them? do you want to claw any of them back? there are many people in these battle ground states particularly the new battle ground states, georgia and arizona that would like a viable alternative for dealing with things, the covid fallout and for dealing with kids who are not in school, who are not being instructed in person. there are real problems that republicans could speak to but not if marjorie taylor greene is leading everyone around and like leadership matters. do i think mccarthy could have made a difference awhile ago? i think that could have happened but now that ship seems to have sailed. and i appreciate, by the way, cheney wanting a vote. it's a useful and instructive line on where this party is. >> rick, we have a bit of new reporting from that republican

meeting before the vote over liz cheney's fate, mccarthy delivered a unity speech, which is his kind of remarkable, too, as well. he was talking about unity, you know, and said everybody, you know, cut this stuff out. was it a week ago and then right away, matt gaetz shows up in wyoming attacking liz cheney. >> right. yeah. >> smack -- >> i think -- i will just say this, anderson. i would love to see liz cheney and matt gaetz go a couple of rounds. she would flatten him in a hot minute. nobody made matt gaetz go to wyoming to torment her other than the perverse incentives of the current version of the republican party. so he went out there to try to burn down a fellow member of the gop. we're so far in the past of the old reagan rule about never speak ill of your fellow republicans, it's not even funny. but kevin mccarthy is the most ineffective possible leader.

the guy basically got his job by being the chairman of the alpha beta rush committee. he is an affable guy. now there is a crisis he doesn't have the mental capacity to handle. it is really showing and the party is going to fall apart underneath this guy and, you know, they won some seats this year but with some dumb luck but right now, the people rising in prominence, power and volume in the house are going to be the very people as mary katherine says, they're going to push away the folks you want to claw back in the 2022 midterms. >> house minority leader steve scalise said he wants everybody to air grievances to move forward. does this -- where does it move forward to? is that how this works tonight? they air their grievances and it goes back to regular? >> look, like you could have moved forward because there was a close precedent in taking steve king rightly off of the -- off of his committee assignments.

he was later primaried and no longer an embarrassing problem, right? that's kind of how it goes. he could have said we have a chance to say hey, we're going to deal with this on our own side. what i don't understand strategically, tactically, what do republicans get here? because now democrats will likely do this any way. she'll be gone from the committees. she's right she'll become more popular and raise money and do all the things she wants to do, because things are extremely bad in the republican party, to be an influencer. they had a chance to put this person in a place where this could be manageable and now they're just all going to have to be on record about this anyway. it's the democrats doing it for them and do i think they may come to regret that and this will lead to a lot of it the or the at the that they don't want to experience in the future? probably so. mccarthy could have short circuited that today. >> mary katherine ham, wick

rilz, i aprilz wilson, i appreciate it. just bizarre, bizarre night. up next, more on the vote happening on the fate of liz cheney over wanting the former president impeached tied to the lies of the ex president. we'll talk to a former dhs cybersecurity expert that debunked those lies ahead. welcome, today's discussion will be around sliced meat. moms want healthy... and affordable. land o' frost premium!!! no added hormones either. it's the only protein i've really melted with. land o' frost premium. fresh look. same great taste.

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in our breaking news, the republican party voting not on the qanon fan marjorie taylor

greene, but on their number three member of leadership, liz cheney and whether to strip her title. their answer it seems to her vote to impeach after the capitol insurrection last month, deadly riot links to the lies his lawyers perpetuated yesterday in the formal impeachment response to congress. joining me now is chris krebs, the former trump administration official who was fired after debunking the ex-president's election lies. he was charge of election cyber security in the department of homeland security. christopher, great to see you. what do you make as this intense infighting in the republican party tonight? some of it follows president trump's election fraud claims and some seems to have seeped into the gop. what goes through your mind when you see this? >> well, thanks for having me on, anderson. it's great to be back. i see representatives like adam

kinzinger step forward and speak truth to power on the side of congress, and that's what i would expect out of the republican party right now, not embracing or tepid denouncements, if that, of conspiracy theories that ultimately have led to the loss of life. let's be clear qanon is much broader than election fictions, it also extends into things like covid, anti masking, anti vaxing, it's a broad base conspiracy that's taken root in all corners of our society right now. and the fact we don't have across-the-board resolution to denounce qanon and denounce those amongst the members, to me it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. and this is an inflection point i think for the republican party. >> mccarthy said in a statement the last year the congress denounced qanon but he didn't

seem that he didn't actually, you know, go down the list and ask this congresswoman well, do you still believe there was no plane that was flown at the pentagon as dana bash was saying earlier? do you still believe that, you know, babies are being eaten by democrats? he just kind of gave a pass. >> to me, it's interesting. i kind of am trying to get to root cause here. you know, who holds whom in thrall? is it the qanon followers in the republican base that are holding the republican members in thrall, or is it the other way around? to me, those who can step forward like kinzinger, like john katko, those that can step up, liz cheney, those are the ones like many of us have done, or at least a few of us that seem to be growing that are putting country over party, and

that's to me a sign that there is some flicker of life in what i used to know as the republican party. as i sit here, i'm trying to figure out if the party left me or i left the party. >> when you were fired for by president trump for simply stating the facts, for explaining reality, did you think it would get this bad? i mean, not just for your party but for the country? >> it -- you know, rearview mirror and all that, it certainly was on the path of escalation to violence like we saw on january 6th and, you know, there was going to have to be a reckoning. i talked about it before. you know, everybody is talking about a cancel culture we're in the midst of instead, should be, in the midst of an accountability culture. but these little lies that have snowballed into something much more significant, much graver, again, that led to january 6th and the armed storming of the

capitol, it doesn't just go away unless you get to root cause and you hold those that are accountable, those that are responsible accountable. and i do think just the juxtaposition of officer sicknick lying in state while we have this debate about a congresswoman and her affiliation or support of qanon, to me it's just remarkable that we're even where we are right now. >> it is, yeah. that juxtaposition is painful and really just very disturbing. you know, former president trump -- the former president's legal team included his debunked claims of election fraud in their formal impeachment response to congress, arguing there is insufficient evidence to make a judgment on his claims, even though they've been rejected in some 60 courts. as somebody that knows all about election security, it's stunning to me they would even raise that. >> i can't.

i can't even with that. it's a quadruple negative, i think. look, the things that jumped out at me in their filing were two points. one is the mootness of the impeachment and, you know, i think reasonable minds can disagree on that but i think there is precedent with the secretary of war back in 1876, to me, it's bad public policy if you can run out the clock and do a bunch of crimes or badness before your term ends and think you're going to get away scot-free. there has to be accountability. we see democracy under siege across the globe right now, it is important that we continue to be the beacon of hope and democracy. and then the sec piece that has jumped out in this filing is the freedom of speech as a private individual. and i just find that absurd on its face the president of the united states is long ago blurred the line between his private, you know, speech and whom he -- what he says is the president, you know, the hatch

act violations using the white house for his convention. you know, anything he says at that point is as the president and he has a significant amount of influence with his words. >> you know, just from a security, national security standpoint, i think a lot of people who were not supporters of the former president, you know, breathed a sigh of relief after the election results and, you know, after, you know, after the attack when order was restored. the thing is, a lot of those folks are still out there. i mean, i know some of them are being quiet because they're afraid of being arrested by the fbi now because they were posting stuff on social media, but there is an awful lot of folks who, you know, if they weren't in the halls of congress, they were right outside and wished they were in the halls of congress and they're still there. >> absolutely.

and you are seeing a more forward leaning and aggressive posture from the department of justice and fbi and i saw something earlier today that foreign partners are considering groups like the proud boys in white supremacist groups alongside the base, which is a russian-linked white supremacist movement. and so that is showing me that the chickens have finally come home to roost and domestic terrorism and homegrown violent extremism is at the top of the priority list for this administration. >> christopher krebs, appreciate your time as always. thank you. >> thanks, anderson. as the political turbulence continues in washington, the nation's coronavirus death toll surpasses 450,000 people. especially hard hit, south texas. we'll take you there, next. dad, i'm scared. ♪ it's only human to care for those we love.

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liz cheney survived the

vote. kevin mccarthy is talking now. let's listen. >> she and i were both down in the skiff and we heard what the fbi report was. no way would i ever leave him on intel or homeland. i'd question whether he should be a member of congress. then you're going to look at maxine waters as a chair of what she incited? i wonder if they put the same standard to someone else. never in the history of congress have people been deciding where other parties are putting people on committees. >> senator mcconnell said her views amount to a cancer for the republican party. >> i denounce all of those comments that were brought up. everybody. she came inside our conference and denounced them as well. she said she was wrong. she has reached out in other ways and forms. and nothing that she said has been based upon since she's been a member of congress. the voters decided she could come and serve. when she --

[ inaudible question ] >> inside our chambers. >> -- to apologize for her past comments. >> that is exactly what she did. >> publicly though. >> that is what she did inside our conference. >> do democrats deserve to hear that? >> i think everybody should hear that. she expressed she has put it out from news agencies and others. i think it would be helpful if you could hear what she told us denouncing qanon. i don't know if i say it right. i don't know what it is. any from the shootings. she said she knew nothing about lasers or all the different things brought up about her so from that perspective she is now a member. if we are going to start judging what other members have said before they are members of congress i think it will be a hard time for the democrats to place anybody on committee. [ inaudible question ] >> oh, i think people, now that you're a member of congress, now it is a responsibility of our conference to hold people accountable and you know the unique thing is, we have a long

history of doing that just as we were going to change something here. it's on the democratic side that it is very difficult that they don't ever do that. when omar made her comments, wouldn't have kept her on -- went and kept her on foreign affairs. we removed steve king.ts don't keep the same standard. >> he asks a lot of stuff. let me let the whip talk and let liz cheney our conference chair, who just got a resounding shot in the arm that we got a team and remember what this team is. this is the exact same team that didn't lose one seat in the last election. when i saw a lot of you write stories about whether this team would survive after we would lose 15 or 20 seats. no. we didn't lose one member. we gained. a little later this week we'll gain another seat as well. we'll be at 213, the slimmest majority in the history of modern history for congress. you know what that means? two years from now we'll win the

majority because this conference is more united. we got the right leadership team behind it. i look forward to watching to make sure we have the right focus for this country of putting it back on track. >> what was the vote count? >> all right. >> thanks, kevin. liz. tonight our conference rounded a really important corner. we spent hours where members on every side of this issue looked each other in the eye, aired grievances, and were very candid and honest with each other but addressed this as a family and a team and ultimately finally worked to have a vote where we kept the entire team together. we came out much stronger. because now while we've aired those grievances everybody tonight was united. and knowing that what is happening right now on the house floor, spending today over $2 trillion on a shell budget with no real accountability for what they're going to do with the money when there is over a trillion dollars still available to help people get businesses open. president biden alone in two

weeks has signed executive orders to destroy millions of american jobs and ship those overseas. in many cases where they'll emit more carbon making the same things we used to make here in america and his climate czar admits he flies around on his own private plane emitting 40 times more carbon than on a commercial liner. the hypocrisy is very clear. the damage they are doing to our economy is very clear. our resolve to unite and fight for the hard working families of this country to round the corner on covid, to get our economy back on track, to safely reopen schools, that resolve has never been stronger after looking each other in the eye, talking through the differences that we had, and finally coming back together as a stronger, united republican conference. with that our conference chair liz cheney. >> thank you very much, whip. thanks, leader. we really did have a terrific vote tonight, traffic time this evening laying out where we're going to do going forward as

well as making clear we're not going to be divided and we're not going to be in a situation where people can pick off any member of leadership. it was very resounding acknowledgment that we need to go forward together and in a way that helps us beat back the really dangerous and negative democrat policies. >> thank you guys. >> it's just an example this republican party is a very big tent. everyone is invited in. you look at the last election. we continue to grow and in two years will be the majority. thank you all very much. >> speaker kevin mccarthy there. the headline obviously that liz cheney has survived the vote that was taken on her leadership position. she is the third highest ranked republican in the house. let's go to ryan nobles on capitol hill. what else are you hearing about what happened? >> reporter: we should point out what the vote total was, 145 supporting cheney. 60 against her. one voting present. that isn't really close.

she truly had the support of the house republican conference here tonight and i think we need to point out how important it was that this was a secret ballot. this really allowed republican members to vote their conscience and not have to worry about the blowback of casting a ballot in support of liz cheney and that somehow being interpreted as a vote against president trump. so even though cheney did receive strong support here tonight we cannot ignore the fact that president trump in his -- the former president i should say still looms very large over this conference and it will be interesting to see the juxtaposition of the vote total for liz cheney here tonight and how many republicans vote to remove marjorie taylor greene from those committee positions on the house floor tomorrow. remember, that will be a public vote. we know who will vote for or against that. so those republicans will have to be accountable. it is quite likely here tonight that we'll see republicans that voted to keep liz cheney in her position but will also vote to

keep marjorie taylor greene on those committees tomorrow even though there will be more democratic votes and she will likely be pulled off of those committees. >> let's be clear. there is not going to be -- the republicans chose not to hold a republican vote on marjorie taylor-greene. they could have done that, could have had a secret vote and chosen to remove her or not from those committees. now they're just going to let the democrats do it and then attack the democrats. >> that's a hundred percent right, anderson. republicans could have taken this action on their own. kevin mccarthy could have taken this action on his own. he chose not to do that for whatever reason. he talked there in the press conference that we just had before you came to me about how he wanted to remove her from committees. he was looking for some sort of compromise and he blamed the democrats for being belligerent on that point. the fact remains he had the option to take some action. he chose not to. now the democrats are going to do it for him. there is still going to be an opportunity for republicans to

have a voice in the process. just because they chose not to do it in this forum they have to vote on this tomorrow and they will be held accountable for that vote either for or against it. i have to imagine there are a lot of these members of congress that represent districts president trump won by solid margins that will be very reluctant to cast a vote in opposition to marjorie taylor-greene because of her close connection to the former president. >> for mccarthy to say they are more united, trying to get the exact words but united bigger than i've ever seen here in the past, that seems hard to believe. >> i don't think you are the only one having a hard time believing the house minority leader's rhetoric as he comes out of that meeting. to his credit it is not uncommon for the republicans to have closed door meetings where they really hash it out and yell at each other about their differences but there is still a pretty big divide in this party.