tallest cemetery in the world, the king of soccer will be laid to rest overlooking the stadium where he built his legacy. are he started making soccer into an art form and changing the sport for the rest of the world. >> yeah. the king indeed. julia, thank you. thank you for being there as we await the arrival of the president. "cnn this morning" continues now. america right now talking about one thing. concerned about one thing. the health and safety of this young man and we get to make that call. speculated call the game. nfl, call this game and let's move on. >> good morning, everyone. i'm don lemon with poppy harlow here. kaitlan live in washington, d.c. the start of the new congress,

we'll get to that, but the big story this morning. >> oh, yeah. >> what happened on the football field last night. buffalo bills safety damar hamlin suffering cardiac arrest and collapsing on the football field. just 24 years old now in the hospital in critical condition. >> get you updates on that, of course. also, house republican leader kevin mccarthy's bid to be speaker plagued with uncertainty still this morning. the concessions he has made may not be enough to win him the support he needs to become speaker. if you can believe it. kaitlan? >> yeah. once the new congress is sworn in, the republican majority in the house is promising a wave of investigations. partisan gridlock, could stall president biden's agenda. big questions about what that will look like as well. >> uh-huh. our big story this morning, we're going to start with buffalo bills player damar hamlin. hospitalized in critical condition after collapsing and suffering cardiac arrest on the field monday night. what we know at this hour -- it happened in the first quarter. after hamlin tackled bengals

wide receiver teig higgins. hamlin got up and moments later collapsed on his back. within seconds the bills' medical staff was treating him. less than five minutes later an ambulance was brought on to the field. bills say hamlin as you have beenered cardiac arrest and his heartbeat was restored on the field. players on both teams overcome with emotion. consoling each other and praying for hamlin. at 9:18, the game was temporarily suspended with the teams going back to their locker rooms to gather themselves. at 9:25, the ambulance left the stadium taking hamlin to the university of cincinnati medical center for further testing and treatment. at 10:01 p.m., just over an hour after hamlin's medical emergency, the nfl announced the game was postponed. so joining us now, cnn's chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. good morning, doctor. what's your reaction to this? and the possibility, we don't

know for sure it's this com commodeal cordous? >> i was at the hospital yesterday, everyone talking about this, and that was the suspicion at that time. somehow he suffered some sort of cardiac arrest on the field and that it was due to this sudden blow to the chest. commodial cordous as it's called, a really rare situation. something you hear about maybe a couple dozen time as year and not typically in football. you see on the screen. sports like baseball. a small projectile traveling at a high rate of speed hits the chest at the right spot, at the wrong time, essentially. it causes the heart to go into this abnormal heart rhythm here. show you on a model. think about the chest wall and the projectile or the blow coming to the heart at that exact time when the heart is beating in a very particular

way. and that causes the heart to go into this abnormal heart rhythm known at ventricular fibrillation nap wasn't known at t the time. i'm a brain guy but you suspect a brain or spinal cord injury. giving he was standing up, then staggered and fell back made this less likely and a cardiac arrest more likely. we learned overnight, it was in fact cardiac arrest and also critically important they were able to start, restart his heart on the field. we couldn't tell that last night. we know they had started cpr. the goal of cpr is essentially take over what the heart should be doing. the heart should be pumping oxygen and blood throughout the body. it's not doing that. essentially through your own hands you're forcing the heart to essentially pump thatblood, chambers, pump that oxygenated

blood throughout the body. the goal, restart the heart and sounds like they were able to do that on the field. most likely with a defibrillator. applying electricity to the heart to restart that and we learned from adrian earlier he continues to be in critical condition, we knew, but stabilized overnight, obviously important. hoping for updates. what i've just described is a rare situation again. i'd actually never seen it happen, certainly not, you know, filmed the way it was for the, frankly, the world to see. seems like the most likely scenario here. >> doctor, a quick follow. instead of a pump or beat the heart starts to flutter, right? >> yeah. >> sort of in an erratic way. am i correct with that? >> yeah. so the heart is typically got a very kwcoordinating beating pattern. eventually pushed out, blood, through the heart and goes to the rest of the body.

oxygen going through the body. heart is quivering, instead of a nice imagine, starts to go like this. it's inefficient, moving but not accomplishing anything. not actually moving oxygenated blood through the body and that's what you're trying to respore supplying electricity to the body, for example, and get that heart back to normal. >> you gave good news in terms of the heart restarted on the field. a little stabilization overnight at the hospital. if you could c, walk us through exactly what we see in this video. people waking up to this can try to get their head around this. >> sure. so if you watch the video, it probably doesn't look immediately like that significant a tackle or a blow, but what i'm looking for specifically. you see the right shoulder there of the player go into the chest. is that right shoulder paled

essentially acting as a projectile? like i showed in that baseball graphic. is that the sort of moment of impact where basically you hit the heart and essentially cause that abnormal heart rhythm to begin? ventricular fibrillation. when i say it's rare, i'm saying maybe a couple dozen time as year that this happens, and it's because the exact, the right, the exact spot at the exact time. i mean, the heart's beating constantly. you hit it at the exact time you could cause this sort of abnormality of the heart rhythm. again, doesn't happen often but seems to be wrapped there. i'm looking for the fact he then stands up after that. stands up. which -- is really important. again, as a neurosurgeon, brain surgeon. i'm thinking a brain injury? spinal cord injury? does not appear to be a the that point but at this point as you're watching when he

collapses backwards, the heart rhythm is now abnormal and he's not pushing oxygenated blood through the body including the brain to cause, render someone unconscious, obviously and that's causes him to fall to the ground. >> so as we're watching at home, doctor, chb listen, it was -- you know, he had medical staff there on the field. right? not everybody has a medical staff. >> yeah. >> poppy and i were talking and a lot of folks, sure people at home wondering, you know, giving cpr you have to be trained in giving cpr. having a defibrillator on hand extremely helpful as we talked to a doctor in the previous hour. should folks have one at home? and should we have defibrillators at our fingertips? >> all large venues certainly should have defibrillators and even aside from the ambulance, clearly would have one, people at home, certainliful they're at risk for this sort of thing. i want to be careful.

this is not a common occurrence, what we've seen here. someone at risk of cardiac arrest a defibrillator is the way and most efficient way to restart the heart. to restore that normal rhythm. i will say, though, everyone it learn cpr. i mean, i think -- yoi don't kn the percentage. anybody could be a person who could administer cpr in this sort of situation. call 911 first. this is a football field. a different scenario, but if you witness a cardiac arrest call 911 first, learn cpa and administer that cpr. the defibrillator having them more up biquitous, more widely available is important. i assume he had this perform and the field. couldn't see it. assume they did. assuming electric shocks applied, that's really the key. every minute that goes by

without restoring the heart, a 10% increase in mortality. time is critical. >> before we go, how many times have we had you on about serious football injuries, paralysis, now this? you've said, we can make the game, they can make the game safer, but i think this morning the question is, can you make the game actually safe? that's got to be what every parent's waking up to this morning. >> right. that is "the" question and the answer is, no. i don't think you can make it safe. i mean, it's a brutal game. again, most of the discussion has been around cte. a lot of reporting on that, documentary films. all of that. but, you know, eve n with something like this, you get a sense how brutal, violent the game can be. a lot of things have been done to make the game safer over the last 10, 15, 20 years but, safe? i think the answer to that is

definitively, no. >> doctor, thank you. appreciate having you on. thank you so much for that. it is important not to lose sight of damar hamlin the man in this situation, a human being. here he is just a couple weeks ago posing for pictures with kids and signing autographs at his toy drive event in buffalo. he started a gofundme back in 2020 to help purchase toys for kids in need. watch this. >> something i've always been into. giving back. something i've been doing back home in pittsburgh for three years, doing a toy drive. being able to extend it to buffer buffalo is something important to me. >> and donations pouring in. so far raised more than $3.2 pll. n million, nearly 125,000 people donated. talk about this more from

host of the hbo and hbo max, broadcast at the right time. thank you for being here. >> saw you shaking your head when poppy's question, can you make it safer or safe? you were saying, oh, no. like trying to make a safe cigarette. it's not how this work, how this game works. and part of why people watch the fact it's not safe. that's an element to the drama of this. the idea of the sacrifice and everything that has to be put in is part of what draws people into this. we feel guilty when we see things like this. always try to come around to find a way to make this safe. they can't. no. not what this game is or ever going to be. >> whats your reaction when you saw what happened last night? >> well, what happened for me was interesting, because i kind of missed it. once i saw they were talking in somber tones doing the slum replay,

solemn replay, like a spinal injury. you see that in football. after a couple commercial breaks, administering cpr, said, did we watch someone die? so clear the way they were treating it it wases that grave and that dire. i was like, they're there to play football. >> we did not know kept saying is he still alive? what's happening? >> i watched enough to recognize something was very different and joe buck couldn't figure out what to say. ten minutes later talking cpr. for me the moment itwas going o >> this is what you said last night. you tweeted, i hope players know they really don't have to play if they don't want to. in this moment nobody can make them play. you were concerned about what would happen. i thought just from watching that they wanted to play. i think the players really had a huge influence in this. i think they probably said, i don't want to go back out there

and play. >> exactly what happened. to be fair to the nfl. it's easy to point to the cruelty of the "show must go on" that show never stopped. we watched people paralyzed. get them off the field and go. my colleague talked about being in college. the guy paralyzed at practice. moved down to the next field and kept going. this game doesn't stop, because if you stop for something catastrophic you possibly wouldn't be able to play football. stopping all the time. i saw dudes warming up, announced five minutes, appalled by it brutut then realized that just what they do. we're going? five minutes back out there because they never stop for anything and glad when coaches got to midfield seemed clear looked at sidelines and said, there ain't about to be a game. whether we want a game or not these dudes can't play and fearful they would feel pressure to go out there. if they wanted to play, it wouldn't be for me to judge they

could. look around. you could tell. 24, 25-year-old dudes did not have it in them. they just saw the worst thing that could possibly happen. you ask them top go out and do the same thing that dude was doing when it happened? wasn't going to happen. >> you rarely see, especially athletes, big dudes crying on the field, embracing and hugging each other. you knew something was awful and different, agency they say. >> yeah. you don't see -- like, when does the "wall street journal" have this above the fold? right? like a financial paper. you see them in agony for their teammate not knowing the answers. coy wire, played for the bills, our colleague, said last in our, this, because the nfl cancelled game, signaled what he calls a paradigm shift in the league. what do you think? >> i don't know about that. the reason i say that is, if hamlin had been paralyzed, this game goes on. like, if he leaves the stadium

and everybody felt confident he was going to live or at the very least this wasn't dirp at that moment, the game probably would have gone on. what happened an outlier event we hadn't seen before. had not seen a situation that scared people so much in that moment right then and there. i would think a paradigm shift perhaps if it was something lesser. i think you could maybe say a paradigm shift is in the attitudes of the players. right? like we've seen that with concussions for example. you have guys far more likely to say, hey, i'm not going to play or teammates, hey, this guy's not going to play. >> what does that them you? that shift in play? >> we're raising a generation far more aware of the risk and consequences of playing football. right? and i think players and people around the game think about this a little bit more than they used to, because if you think about the sort of plays we watched 20 years ago, things that got people out of their seats, part of highlight packages, those changed. this isn't one of those plays. this isn't one of those, thought a dude got his head knocked off. one of those, didn't seem so bad

until he stands up three seconds and then falls down. this was so jarring and so outside of what we're accustomed to seeing in football it generated response unlike anything we've seen. >> then what are the considerations? before rescheduling? before i play that, let me -- before you do that, respond, this is player ron clark. >> this is great. >> a former player, considering players before rescheduling the game and then get your take on it. >> i know the nfl, nfl is a big business, and nfl has to continue doing business, and nfl has to continue entertaining, but if the nfl doesn't send somebody into these locker rooms, if the nfl isn't flying people to cincinnati or buffalo wherever they're going right now, they are missing the point. the point is, make sure these men are all right and then you can play football. because what i'm going to tell you is, you put them out there tomorrow you're going to get a trash game anyway. because you've said it 20 times

tonight. what's important is damar hamlin. >> ryan clark, i think i said ron. what do you think? >> i don't think this game will be played because i don't think logistically it's going to be possible for this to be played. you can't decide, we're going to play the game wednesday and the ask these dude to come out and play again on sunday because of the first wear and tear the game takes. there's no reason to play the game. be cold and cynical about it. watched what happened after they suspended the game. ran all the ads. everybody got their money. those ticket sold. right? this isn't a matter we need to recoup this for financial reasons and honestly consequences of the standings, they'll figure it out. they don't have to play the game and i don't think they will. tune in to watch the game and think about the fact we watched somebody die all game long? it's not a win for anybody and the league will have to recognize there's nothing left for them to do with this game. they need to ask themselves

whether or not these two teams it play the game scheduled on sunday. okay. maybe get out here and play tomorrow. i don't know about you. if my co-worker has something like that happen in front of me, dead, i'm not coming out to play. >> not dead at this point. >> well, yeah, not dead. >> but should be up to the player. >> that's the thing. it is up to the players. if they decide ain't going to be no game can't go on the street and throw people on buffalo bills suits and get them out here. they don't want to play it's not a game and i hope the union, everybody else, you have power to decide if this show goes on. >> so good to you have this morning. >> we can consider, this is a sort of as we say in television or television, there's a separate-screen day. two huge things going on. got what happened with the nfl last night and of course this chaotic change, changing of the guard in washington, d.c. that

kaitlan is covering this morning. >> i love hearing persecutive on this moment. what he said is what so many people i think, it was their reaction to what happened last night. yes, here in washington also this morning covering two major stories. it is just hours from now before republicans will take control of the house, but as this is going on, 7:00 a.m. this morning, mccarthy is still struggling the votes needed to become house speaker. voting in a few hours. we'll tell you what happens if we'll tell you what happens if he falls short, though. you go by lots of titles. veteran, dad, hair stylist. so adding a student title might feel dauntnting. national university is here to support all your titltles. nanational university. supporting the whole you. music (i swear) jaycee tried gain flings for the first time the other day...and forgot where she was.

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-of- i'm kaitlan collins live on capitol hill this morning where just hours from now republicans are set to assume control of the house of representatives, but the first tank ahead of them is voting for speaker of the house. kevin mccarthy this morning is still struggling to get the 218 votes that he needs in his bid for the speakership, and mccarthy doesn't get that

support it is going to be historic. joining us now to break all of this down is cnn's senior political analyst and anchor john avlon. john, you know washington as well as i do. this will be historic if mccarthy is not able to get the votes needed today. first time this happens in nearly a century. what is your interpretation of essentially what happens if he doesn't get the votes he need? >> first offer perspective. people say, why does speaker matter? what is this fight about? it's not only a man that rules house of representatives, it's third in line for the presidency. a high stakes position. 53 men, 1 woman, nancy pelosi. since 1789, first congress, president george washington here in new york, but you ask, what happens? ever happened before? floor fight? not in 100 years. right? this only happened one time since the civil war. go back to 1923, this cat, fred

gillette. fun looking guy. night tail oor had to go throug nine rounds of ballots. a battle with progressive republicans at the time. nothing like this has happened since then. 100 years. >> what about the last time, republican speakers, i don't think people remember what happened in 1923. obviously john boehner, paul ryan, familiar names to our audience? >> right. reminder, this is a tough job and seems to be getting tougher, particularly for republicans. you mentioned john boehner, paul ryan. the last two speakers quit their positions. these are broadly respected guys. ryan, policymaker. boehner, dealmaker. constantly corralling cats in their caucus and one quote from john boehner hammers home the problem that kevin mccarthy seems to be facing. wrote in his memoir under new rules of crazy town i may have been speaker but i didn't hold

the power. the chaos caucus in the house built up their own power base thanks to fawning right-wing media and outraged driven fund-raising cash. a reminder. the fise that kevin mccarthy seems to be facing today has been brewing for a long time but it seems to be getting worse. >> yeah. in that quote, i may have been the speaker but didn't hold the power that could be kevin mccarthy giving the concessions he'd made to those still standing in the way of this. john avlon, thank you for breaking it down. we'll stay tuned. 82 members set to take the oath. the freshman class includes a number of women and more diversity. talking to congresswoman-elect from washington's third district, marie, a young mom. came from an auto body repair shop she owns and thinks congress needs to look more like that. more young moms, more people who struggle to get a mortgage.

tell us what this new congress will look like? >> reporter: the most diverse ever seen and we forget these are just people. a lot of drama playing outspeak. they have to find a place and live and a lot are single moms or leaving behind a job. talked to a couple to see what their experience has been like. for freshmen members of congress january 3rd feels a little like the first day of school. >> definitely nervous. yeah. it's a big wait. you know, i do not take it lightly. i don't take it lightly, right, that i'm going to congress. >> i think, wow. it's happening. this is real, and we're about to enter a new stage in life. >> reporter: this freshman group of lawmakers historically diverse with record-setting members of women, latino members and members who identify at lgbtq. according to "the washington post," the youngest group of

incoming house members in the last seven classes with average age of 46. >> a lot of -- i think i'm going to come brack and, this is -- >> reporter: at 35 years old democrat summer lee the first black woman to ever represent pennsylvania. >> i'm honored to serve as people who come from a working-class background, from a black community. a public school system with my accent. i want that to come through and i want to be able to be me so that people who are now thinking about whether they should ever run know that they don't have to change who they are to be in this place. >> reporter: a record-breaking 149 women will serve in the house or senate, and that includes 42 republicans, another first. monica de la kruse the first republican woman to helicopter texas. >> humbling thought for me, and i just feel like, i represent america's dream. >> reporter: since the moment they won both women say a flurry of logistics, hiring and

planning as they prepare for their new lives. there's a question where they'll live. lee found a roommate in fellow incoming congresswoman d'elia ramirez. >> kind of like, can you afford some of the loan? immediately, immediate connection on that one. >> reporter: de la cruz a single mom to two teenagers have yet to find a place in washington, d.c. >> sleeping in my office the first couple of months until i get oriented with the city. >> reporter: list of to -dos is long. find the right people with the right vision that i have, that hopefully from a district that -- >> reporter: learning how to get in the building. >> reality is we actually have too learn. there's so much we have to learn. >> reporter: also both women in public office, and the they know what they wear and how they present themselves will be scrutinized. >> it's a different level of consideration. not even just between men and

women but for black women. >> hmm. >> right? black women, we have different considerations for our hair. what is acceptable for our hair? how are we presenting ourselves? >> reporter: all of the excitement and even freshman nerves part of the experience as they begin their new jobs. >> a life we've known the last 20 years, and now getting into a new life, and it's not just myself as a congress wwoman. my children, too, also going into this new chapter of their lives. so i think it's -- it's exciting, but it can be overwhelming at moments, too. >> reporter: it can be overwhelming to start a new job, a new life, a new city. certainly what these freshmen lawmakers are going through. we were talking during the piece. a lot say they know where to go and bigger staffs than serving

in a local administration. just getting in the door can be an ordeal. >> i got lost coming in this morning. a struggle but speaks to what we were told earlier. congresswoman-elect, for normal people who don't have the a ton of money behind them to come and find housing, it's expensive to live in washington. a really good look what they go through. >> normal people going an extraordinary job. >> thanks for highlighting that. today when the new congress is sworn in and republicans have a majority, slim majority but taking control of the house today and questions about stalling president biden's agenda, what that looks like the next two years. white house officials careful not to comment at length on the gop speaker's vote and the drama seen there but are concerned about potential new rules by republican hard-liners who may try to make it difficult to strike bipartisan deals.

cnn's mj lee is live at the white house this morning. mj, what's at stake, lay it out, really, what's at stake for the white house as they're watching this drama today? >> reporter: kaitlan, you're right. not hearing white house officials commenting on ins and outs of the speaker's race, but of course watching everything that unfolds today with so much interest, because it is going to be hugely consequential and not just the question of whether the speaker is going to be kevin mccarthy or somebody else, but what kinds of concessions the ultimate house speaker will have made to some of these gop hard-liners in the house. we know that the white house and in the past made concessions between senate republicans and saying they can be reasonable and work across the aisle to democrats. whereas house republicans captive to these hard-liners and basically unfrinterested in working with democratsap world

where these members are more em bonded powerful chairmanship positions it gets more difficult and complicated for things to get done on capitol hill, but do they say advantage when what's expected to be pure chaos? republicans themselves tell you they don't know what's going to happen today, does the white house see advantage in that? >> reporter: in some ways it isn't the worst thing for democrats, for house republicans, basically paralyzed. right? they can't do basic functions, start their business until there is a speaker. one thing, for example, they can't do is launch these house investigations, which house republicans have said in one major way they are going to go on the offensive against the biden white house. i think the white house strategy, if there's been one, really just to sit back and watch all of this unfold quietly, all of this fighting and drama. think about the fact tomorrow we're going to see the president standing next to mitch mcconnell at an economic and

infrastrinfr infrastructure event and who knows what the other side of the split screen will be. showing, yeah, president biden is the adult in the room. >> and notable, not anything to the fuss on him appearing alongside mitch mcconnell. mj lee, thank you for that report. ahead, we're going to talk to incoming republican congressman-elect mike lawler and gop congressman brian fitzpatrick on drama surrounding kevin mccarthy's bid to be the next speaker. don and poppy, quite a moment playing out here on capitol hill. >> did you ever expect that -- we knew you'd anchor is from there today, great lawmakers lineded up, but ever think at the 11th hour and no one knows what happens to kevin mccarthy? >> the last few weeks talking to republicans, not a huge surprise. talking to some of them yesterday saying they genuinely do not know what's going to happen. kevin mccarthy working phones last night. meetings in his office, speaker's office, but he may not remain there if he can't get the

218 votes. >> keep moving boxes. >> look, sort of traditional that you do that, but we'll see. look, you saw the lawmaker earlier saying he think it's going to take more than one round, but kevin mccarthy will eventually become speaker of the house. interesting to see all the drama playing out around it. kaitlan's going to cover it. >> back to you soon. talk about severe thunderstorms this morning. south bracing for them. ahead, take you to louisiana where they have very severe weather that happened overnight. next, what we're learning about actor jeremy renner, his injuries and recovery happening for him this morning after a snow plow accident. whoo! we gotta go again. only pay for what you need. ♪libeberty liberty liberty♪ ♪liberty♪ what makes every stearns & foster mattress so incredibly comfortable? it's in the details.

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. well, this morning actor jeremy renner is recovering from a second surgery for blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries after a snow plowing accident near his nevada home on sunday. a spokesman says he remains in

critical but stable condition, and people are clinging to hope for the stable part of that. joining us now, good morning. what are you learning? >> listen, it has been a very touch-and-go situation for jeremy renner for his family. he's been in the icu since sunday, after he was airlifted from his lake tahoe-area home near reno, nevada. he underwent one surgery. the second yesterday evening, right after the surgery, his team releasing a statement saying that it was more than just a leg injury. first reported by multiple outlets. that his injuries are extensive. so we don't know exactly what happened, but if you take a look at his instagram you know he's used to operating these snow plows, and this heavy machinery. but he's lucky to be alive. what he was operating, viewers are seeing. >> we don't know exactly, but something similar to -- that one right there. i don't know the official names for these, but we do know that

he's been posting these kinds of videos since 2018. 2019, and these entries are incredibly significant. i've been talking to different individuals trying to tell me what might have happened, because he is on these and there was really bad visibility in the area. a portion of the highway he was on was closed the evening before. unprecedented snowfall especially around the reno area. again, our thoughts go out to him. he has a long road to recovery. social media, number one trending topic yesterday. people are flooding, so much support for him and wanting more information. >> one of the biggest stars in hollywood. >> yeah. thinking about hill. thank you. okay. ahead this morning obviously following closely the latest on bills safety damar hamlin's condition after suffering what is believed to be cardiac arrest during last night's game. we take you to the hospital where he's being treated. kaitlan. back here on capitol hill, a

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big, big day in washington. a roll call vote to elect speaker will be the first major order of business for this 118th congress. the speaker serves as the house chambers political and parliamentary leader and second in line to the presidency. the thing is, congress can't really function unless there's a speaker. >> i now call the house to order on behalf of all of the america's children.

[ gavel ] that was former house speaker nancy pelosi. how is this going to go today? this is what happens. the clerk call as roll call vote and each member states name of the person they're voting for. here's how it ended last time. >> therefore, the honorable nancy pelosi of the state of california having received majority of the votes cast is duly elected speaker of the house. >> but if kevin mccarthy today fails to secure majority on that first vote there will be a second vote and maybe a third, fourth, fifth and on and on. it's unclear whether congress will go into recess. they have to keep voting until a speaker declared and the gavel handed over. >> to the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, i extend to you this gavel. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> and poppy, you know, for weeks mccarthy's allies on

capitol hill voiced confidence and that he eventually will get to that 218-vote threshold. >> well, listen a month is a long time in politics, but i am confident that kevin mccarthy will have 218 votes on january 3rd to become speaker. >> it has now been a month. joining us is that republican congressman-elect mike lawler of new york who will be sworn into congress in a few hours. thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> that was december 3rd, i think. here we are january 3rd. mccarthy does not have the votes right now. are you still confident he's going to get there? >> yes. absolutely. he has the overwhelming support of majority of the conference. when we had conference elections back in november he received 85% of the vote. he earned the right to be speaker of the house, and the conference is not going to let a few members hold the rest of us hostage here, and ultimately i

do believe he will have the requisite number of votes to become speaker, and, you know, this is not about any one of us individually. it's certainly not about the rules of the house. this is about the american people, and we got elected to do a job. and we have to govern. so ultimately, i do believe cooler heads will prevail and he will become speaker of the house. >> what is his plan? you were with him last night, talking to him. making calling, talking to hard-liners not voting for him. what's his plan today? >> he's not backing down. whether it takes 1 vote or 100 votes we will keep going until we elect a speaker, and i am fully committed to that. you cannot to dictate to everybody else. the overwhelming majority of people support kevin mccarthy. and so it is untenable to allow a handful of people to try and

overrun the conference and the will of the majority of the conference. >> is his plan to stay on the floor? >> absolutely. >> when you talk about that handful of people, scott perry is someone who just a few minutes ago was talking about the prospects of where these votes stand, where kevin mccarthy is. i want you to listen to what he said. >> kevin mccarthy has known for months now that he doesn't have 218, yet he's dragged us, the conference, the republican conference, congress and the country up until the brink of this moment. until last night, and even at this moment, i still can vote for kevin mccarthy if we can come to an agreement that changes the status quo. >> okay. >> what's key there he says co-still get to where he would vote for kevin mccarthy, but kevin mccarthy is making concession after concession to the hard-liners who said they will not vote for him. are you comfortable with the concessions he's making? >> he negotiated in good faith.

y cayou can't beat someone witho one. kevin mccarthy has majority of the support of the conference. and i an many of my colleagues will support the concessions that the leader made under the condition that he be elected speaker. the speaker vote is first. to my colleagues, as i said in a letter last week, if you want us to accept the concessions that you have been advocating for that have been so critical behind your withholding support for kevin, you need to support kevin. otherwise those rules will not pass. >> even if it weakens him, it is still just important for him to become speaker is what you're saying? >> it is not going to be a question of weakening him. he will have the support of the conference, and we will move forward with our agenda, our commitment to america. it is what we ran on. it is what we got elected on and we will move forward with it. he's not going to be weakened by this. the motion to vacate at the end of the day, it is a procedure that has been in place for over 100 years. it is not something that i am

overly concerned about. and at the end of the day, the conference will dictate who the speaker is, not anyone individual member. >> it is notable to hear you say you're not that concerned about that. i heard from other republicans say kevin mccarthy should not accept that at all. you got an upcoming meeting at 9:30 with house republicans. what are you expecting to happen in that meeting? >> we'll see. i think -- i think obviously there is a lot of passionate opinions on this, on both sides of this. but i think ultimately the objective is to come together as a conference, and move forward and get about the business of the american people, the reality is we can't do anything until we elect a speaker. and the only person who wins here is joe biden, hakeem jeffries and chuck schumer. if my colleagues, like scott perry, like matt gaetz, want to get about the business of oversight, if they want to get about the business of reining in spending, we need to elect a speaker. and the american people are not interested in this petty fight

that is going on and they're frankly uninterested in the rules. they're more interested in the laws that are going to impact their lives. >> it could get chaotic. we'll see what happens today. i want to ask you before you go, you are from new york, george santos, we have confirmed this morning, cnn confirmed that before brazilian authorities are reopening an investigation they have on him. is he a distraction from the republican conference? >> listen, his conduct is embarrassing and unbecoming. and it is certainly a distraction. there are multiple investigations as you said. i said he should cooperate fully with those investigations. his election has been certified, so he will be seated in this congress, but ultimately obviously we will see what the investigations come back with. there are numerous investigations at federal, state and local as well as

international. and it is just -- it is very unfortunate and disappointing. >> congressman elect, soon to be congressman, thank you so much for sharing your time with us. i know you got your family here today. a lot going on. so thank you. of course, notable moment there to hear from that on george santos, we have been covering closely here, but the broader look at what today could look like. >> a lot of uncertainty there in d.c. this morning. kaitlan, we'll check back. thank you very much. a school outside of little rock, arkansas, ripped apart by possible tornado and there is a threat of more severe weather across the south today. we'll take you live to louisiana. >> our teacher said it is okay. and she actually wanted us to be safe. and i'm really proud of her because she is a good teacher.

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so many times in this game, in our job as well, we use the cliche, you know, i'm ready to die for this, i'm willing to give my life for this, it is time to go to war. and i think sometimes we use those things so much we forget that part of living this dream is putting your life at risk. >> what happened on the football field last night, quite shocking, quite shocking. we're covering it all. good morning, everyone. poppy and i are here in new york. kaitlan is in washington on capitol hill as the new congress begins. we have to begin with the big story that everyone is talking about. and that is damar hamlin, the buffalo bills safety suffering from cardiac arrest after a hit during the first quarter of last night's game against cincinnati. he collapsed just moments after the play. >> and right now he's in the hospital, so we'll