legislation, holding hearings. >> reporter: also with no committees in place, the republican majority couldn't start the investigations they've been agitating for. >> the less amount of time we have to hold this administration accountable with hunter biden and his laptop, fauci with covid, mayorkas with the poor southern border. >> reporter: and without a house speaker, there has been no one to be second in line behind the vice president if something disastrous happened to president biden and vice president harris during this stalemate, the presidency would have gone democratic senator patty murray. and today the white house did try to downplay the effect the stalemate has had on national security. wolf? >> to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, the breaking news.

a pivotal vote for house speaker coming up. mccarthy's focused on two holdouts right now. can he change their minds? one congressman who did change his mind is "outfront." plus, who are the final holdouts? one of them just arrived in washington for the first time, has never held elected office and was a contestant on "shark tank," a successful one. and another top story we're following, chilling new details emerge tonight that tie the suspect in the idaho murders in a really sick way. "outfront" tonight, the breaking news. we are counting down right now until a crucial 14th vote for speaker. and this vote is extremely important. it is a vote that congressman kevin mccarthy and many of his supporters believes will finally give him the gavel after this excruciating week. as of right now the house will reconvene at 10:00 p.m. eastern time, which is when the next vote for speaker of the house is

likely to begin. they'll nominate, and we will be off to the races on that. you now know the drill. and mccarthy right now is quickly putting the pieces into place to ensure victory, he hopes. just today he was able to flip the 15 holdouts that i'm showing you on your screen right now. days go by, yet nothing moved on those 20 against him. now 15 flip. the flight is expected to arrive at 9:00, and he's going to be whisked there for his vote. the other absent mccarthy supporter is incoming freshman wesley hunt, believed to be returning to washington right now. with these two supporters back at the capitol, mccarthy needs to flip. he still needs to flip the holdouts. let's look at the six that we're looking at. he's got to flip a couple of these, three of these, depends on the math here. this is the complication right now. four out of this group are in the never-kevin camp. that leaves matt rose dale and eli crane as the two holdouts

that mccarthy is trying to flip. >> do you think you'll have the votes to be elected speaker tonight? >> yes. >> and you'll be able to flip rosendale and crane? >> i'll have the votes. >> well, that's an answer -- not an answer to manu's question but an answer to the bigger question, he has the votes but now? and now i will say congressman matt gaetz, a leader in the crusade against him, along with lauren boebert, tells cnn that mccarthy is likely to pull it off even though he is obviously not going to support him in any way. a lot of fast-moving developments tonight so let's begin with manu raju "outfront" live on capitol hill. here we are, it has been like this excruciating hours and hours and days, and now all of a sudden moving incredibly quickly. so much happening behind the scenes. house going to gavel back in. they're waiting on flights, going to whisk people in. what are you hearing about where we are right now? >> reporter: after 13 failed ballots of kevin mccarthy in the

longest speaker's race since the mid-1800s, kevin mccarthy believes he is finally there. he believes tonight will be the night that he clinches the deal and gets the votes to become speaker. but behind the scenes they are still moving to try to lock down their support. and among the six members who voted against him, they're looking at a strategy to try to get him the votes. one of the things they are looking at is trying to convince some of those members to vote present. that is important because that would reduce the threshold. right now it would require 218 votes, that would be the majority of the house, to be elected speaker. but if someone votes present, that lowers what would constitute the winning number. it could go down to 217 it. >> could go down to 216 depending on the number of members that are looking to vote present. so there are discussions. we're getting up to three members a vote present. that seems to be on the table. that is a serious discussion at the moment. but these discussions have been happening behind the scenes as they have tried to cut a deal about a number of concessions they've tried to give to the far right of the conference.

and it has so far denied him the speakership. giving some of those members more power, more sway over the legislative process, more leverage over the speakership. also some promises on key policy issues. this year there will be a big fight over raising the national debt ceiling to avoid the first-ever debt default. kevin mccarthy has agreed with those members to tie any debt ceiling increase with spending cuts. that is a red line for senate democrats who control that chamber as well as the white house setting up a major economic fight later this year. but all these deals had to be cut in order for mccarthy to get this critical support to flip those 15 members and ultimately to get to the brink of the speakership tonight. behind the scenes, the talks are still intensifying. but the confidence is very high right now in the mccarthy camp that they can get this done tonight after two more members fly back home for personal issues, the house will vote at 10:00 p.m. tonight where mccarthy hopes to finally clinch the deal. >> manu, thank you very much.

we'll be checking in with manu throughout the hour. i want to go "outfront" now to one of the key republican holdouts who switched his vote to mccarthy today. congressman dan bishop. so he voted for mccarthy on the 12th and 13th ballot. but obviously up until that point had not done so. congressman, i really appreciate your time. and you know a lot about what's happening right now. so i do want to get to why you switched your vote in just a moment. but first the bottom line here, congressman. will mccarthy have the votes to become speaker tonight? >> i anticipate that he will, erin. i have been among 20 who have -- it was described on your air and other places as chaos and dysfunction. but in the course of four days, we've completed work that has gone on for six months or better to come to an agreement with kevin mccarthy that will -- it is historic. that will, as one person told me today, is transformational.

and so i believe that with our votes and the ones they're continuing to work on, kevin will become speaker. and will immediately proceed to begin a package by restoring the motion to vacate the care as thomas jefferson conceived it before nancy pelosi, we're starting right away. >> when you say on the ones they're still working on, what is the strategy right now? are there going to be three of the six remaining that vote present? are you trying to get anybody to vote for mccarthy? what is the actual math that gets you to a speaker kevin mccarthy tonight? >> well, you know, those are the tasks of kevin's people and the whip team and so forth. what we are doing, those of us who -- a few days ago, it was never conceived that 20 members by having the courage to step forward and insist that we attended some very important issues could lay the foundation

for what we are going to do. but what we are doing right now tonight as all that is happening that you describe about trying to get in the coral, we are holding down and making sure that the agreement we've reached is fully documented and begins to be implemented on time. there is a lot happening. but this isn't chaos and dysfunction, it is an historic exercise in american democracy that all americans should be proud of. >> so days went by. you changed your vote on the 12th ballot today. so on tuesday -- so it's friday night now obviously. on tuesday you said, and i quote you, congressman, kevin mccarthy is not the right candidate to be speaker. so in these negotiations, can you tell me explicitly what it was that got added, what he conceded that got you to change your mind? >> well, it would be misleading to say that it's a single thing. we've got important fiscal constraints so that we will get about the task of controlling

the ever-exploding federal budget and deficit. we have, to me, as someone who's on the judiciary committee and concerned about such things, we have a select committee, select subcommittee and judiciary to look into the weaponization of federal government against american citizens and their fundamental rights. there are a number of orient rules changes. we call it germaneness and single purpose among them, which will help us to avoid having these massive omnibus bills like we just saw ran through right before christmas with little opportunity to read, decided by a handful of people in a back room. and then we're going to have conservatives distributed on important committees throughout congress. so, it's a really remarkable accomplishment. and i'm appreciative to leader mccarthy, soon to be speaker mccarthy, for working with us in this process. >> and can i ask you, did you talk to him directly? were these sort of direct negotiations that you had, you

and him? >> so, understand they began with rules changes back in july or august. we couldn't get any conversations for a long time. but, yes, kevin and i have personally had many conversations. and he's had many, many conversations with others as well. i would particularly give credit to scott perry of pennsylvania, chairman of the house freedom caucus, and to chip roy of texas. i've never seen members work more effectively, more diligently, and with great discipline to achieve this for the american people. >> congressman, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. and "outfront" now, margaret, john, karen and scott. i know you, scott, were very eager for him to lay out the math. he didn't exactly do that. but he's sitting kind of with a knowledge of that 20 that few have, and he seems sure. >> yeah. a lot of optimism coming out of all wings of the party. i've had some conversations back and forth with some people who aren't really house freedom caucus types, but other sort of

middle-of-the-road types. they also seem to think it's going to happen tonight. so optimism from all parts of the gop. then we'll see what the rules package looks like tonight and what that portends for governing in the future. i think for the republicans who were nervous all week that this conference was not going to be able to pull itself together, this is a good day. mccarthy did what he had to do to get there. what did he have to give away to get it? we'll find out later. earlier today we all thought we were going to be talking about this next week. the fact that he got it done tonight, i think he and his team deserve credit for putting this deal together as quickly as they did, given where we were 24 hours ago. >> we don't know the details about what was given up, although you could hear there from congressman bishop certain keywords coming up, those committee assignments, those subcommittees, those things really matter. >> the devil is going to be in the details, as they say. and ironically it sounds like they're going to try to -- although one of those details we know may be a 72-hour waiting period before voting on bills. they're not going to do that

tonight before approving those rules. >> oh, no, be it's going to go straight through, 72 seconds. [ laughter ] >> i think we will all agree part of what likely helped out, i don't disagree, i will give your guy some credit here. however, let's not forget congress is always acting a lot more swiftly with the pressure of a deadline. members are tired, they want to go home, it's the weekend, it's friday, that helped, i think, put the pressure along with the reality of the math. >> the deadline was january 6th. when kevin mccarthy got the nomination, he knew he was going to need to get to 218. you just heard congressman bishop say they tried to have conversations over the summer on some of these issues but didn't get anywhere. this tortuous process is dysfunctional. mccarthy, to his credit, if he gets the ball down the field, and i think it may very well be.

but let's just reality-check that for a moment. why is it always a desire for a long weekend that motivates congress to do fast what they should've done faster. and some of these things that we believe to be in the deal, term limits, border security, having more time to read bills, that's stuff that many independent voters will say -- >> a lot of people read that and say that's all held up for that? that's common sense. >> and what else is out there that's going to lead to real dysfunction going forward? >> thank you so much for letting me get a word in. [ laughter ] there were 20 holdouts. and there was a lot made of who are these 20 holdouts. and it turns out maybe there are six who are intransigent. and there are, like 14 who actually have substantive policy priorities that it looks like -- i mean, we have a good sense of what they are. it's about rules committee. it's about substantive bills being brought to the floor.

it's about chairmanship. it's about balanced budgetary concerns. what i would just suggest is that chip roy who, you know, you can think of him maybe as the ted cruz of the house. he was ted cruz's chief of staff. he is a principled fiscal conservative freedom caucus guy. but he was able to deliver 14 votes that actually caused this break. and it took this to get kevin mccarthy to pay attention to these substantive policy concerns. could they have had these conversations a month ago? but they didn't. >> one of the details that i'm looking for tonight because there is a lot of chatter about this is what agreements were made as it relates to defense spending? there was a massive increase in defense spending. there have been some rumors about whether there is going to be mandated cuts in defense spending or a freeze. i'm not sure what the truth of it is here. but there are a lot of defense hawks in this republican conference who like to see more defense -- >> again, common wisdom is that

the republican party was pro-defense. so you're going to say you're going to have this group. >> but there's also a group that doesn't like the money that's being spent on ukraine. and so that push and pull is one of the sort of substantive policy debates -- i'm looking for the details. >> can we also just emphasize though the math here? the math is not obvious. we're not clear what it's going to look like. are you going to -- if you need to get three people voting present of that six, i don't know where you get three. or do they have a democrat out? there are various ways. >> they're trying to finesse this at the final moment. >> we can't sit here and say this is how it's going to go. >> we are hearing just from a coms perspective, a lot of confidence. so clearly they think they've got it, and they think that by getting out there and getting on the air waves and saying we've got it, that may perhaps help keep it in place, we got to get to 10:00 p.m. >> and that makes it harder. >> planes have to land, cars

have to roll. >> lots of things have to happen. >> it's better than sounding doubtful at this juncture. but there are going to be conservatives on every committee. every republican in the conference and the house -- the newfound enthusiasm about reducing the deficit and the debt, where was that focus when donald trump increased by $7 trillion. it'd be nice if they met it when someone other than a democrat was present. >> some of this trump spending was covid related. >> but he was a beginning government king of debt guy. >> back to this looking at biggs, good, boebert, gaetz, rosendale and crane. the focus is on rosendale and crane, to get them to vote, whether they're present or not. but that alone doesn't do it. >> it sounds like you need one more. i don't know who that is.

rosendale's interesting because he's got political considerations back home. he's from montana. so is ryan zinke who's been supporting mccarthy. they're both circling each other for the possibility of running in a primary for u.s. senate. and rosendale has been thinking, i'm sure, i can hold out against mccarthy. so it's not all just house conference politics. there is forward-looking senate primary politics for at least one of those guys. >> can we also just briefly mention the optics of all of this happening on the anniversary of january 6th? history repeating. you had a group of extremists, again, holding the american government hostage for the last three days. >> it's not the same thing, obviously. but it is notable that a lot of these holdouts are people who were involved in election denialism voting to overturn the election, the stop the steal election. >> and couldn't be bothered this morning to show up to honor those who lost their lives. >> thank you all very much. we will be here all night. next, just in, we're

learning the name of the third holdout that mccarthy and his allies are trying to get to vote present. hey, stay around. [ laughter ] so we're going to show you the one who's we do know. once a successful contestant on "shark tank," that is one of them. >> most guys like drinking beer. most guys think that large caliber bullets are very cool. that's one of them. [ laughter ] plus, what's going on behind the scenes to make sure mccarthy has the votes for the next round? i'm going to talk to a congressman who's inside those crucial talks. and a major development tonight in that other story we have been following. buffalo bills' star damar hamlin, his breathing tube has been removed and he is actually talking with his teammates. the real honeyey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root throrough your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry.

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it immediately feels like somebody's poking directly on the nerve. i recommend sensodyne. sensodyne toothpaste goes inside the tooth and calms the nerve down. and my patents say: “you know doc, it really works." breaking news. fierce kevin mccarthy critic, considered a never-never kevin. lauren boebert is now considered in the mix to vote present in the next round of voting for speaker. and this is crucial because we said who is that possible other vote that was one more needed? if mccarthy gets three holdouts to vote present, he would appear to be the votes to become the next speaker of the house. okay, because by voting present, you lower the threshold. and if you get those three, you lower the threshold to 216 needed to win the speakership. boebert is one of the six remaining holdouts. this is a major development

coming just hours before the house reconvenes for its 14th round of voting. that is going to happen tonight. melanie zanona is "outfront" on capitol hill. so, melanie, everyone's been looking at these, looking at the math saying there needs to be one more. it couldn't be any of these four. they're all just so never-never kevins. what more do you know about the efforts to get boebert or any of the others to vote present? >> yeah. so this is a big development, erin. because as we've previously reported eli crane and matt rosendale were in the mix as part of the strategy to try to get them to vote present. but lauren boebert, we thought, was part of the never-ever-ever camp. she's been getting up there and nominating other people. she even pushed back on donald trump and said he needs to stop calling us and asking him to support kevin. in fact it should be the other way around, trump calling mccarthy and telling him to drop out. but we are now hearing that as this pressure campaign has been building and mccarthy has been working that she is potentially open to voting present. at least mccarthy and his allies are looking at her as that potential key third present

vote. just with the math here, as you were explaining, he has three paths. either he gets three people to vote present. he gets two people -- of the holdouts, two people to vote for him, or he gets one to vote present and one to vote for him. so, in this case, the thinking is if they can get three people, so crane, rosendale, and boebert, to vote present, they would theoretically still be committed to not voting for kevin mccarthy and not violate that pledge, but it would be a way to get kevin mccarthy to 218. he has already made a number of concessions. so it's unclear what his pitch is at this moment. could just be a pressure campaign. we know donald trump was trying to get involved today. it could be additional committee assignments. there's a number of things that kevin mccarthy could be saying. but it does seem the pressure is growing and things are moving in the right direction for kevin mccarthy, erin. >> melanie, thank you very much. melanie with that really crucial piece of information here as these minutes tick away to this next round of voting. so, what do we know about these

holdouts that team mccarthy is doing everything it can to win over. let's start with harry enten. lauren boebert was not a never-kevin. she was a never-ever-never-till-hell- freezes-over. the fact that she is now in the mix to vote present is significant. >> she is one of the most conservative members, an antiestablishment members on the republican side. it's always, oh, marjorie taylor greene and lauren boebert. but the other thing you should keep in mind is she's from a district in colorado that's been trending more democratic. she barely won re-election. maybe there is something going on there that we don't know about. but i think the fact of the matter is, is that in this week that has tested all of us in a week of the impossible, this might be the final impossible thing actually coming true. >> i mean, it's stunning. so we understand she's in the mix. now, the others that melanie was talking about that we've been

mentioning, obviously, crane and rosendale. so what do we know about them? >> so let's start with matt rosendale. we know he's from montana. he, like boebert, has one of the most conservative records, one of the most antiestablishment records. if you look at the roll call records, he's in the top 5% for both of those in the republican conference. it's something that was hinted on the last segment by scott jennings is that he has aspirations besides just being in the house. he wants to run for senate, we believe in, 2024 against ryan zinke who represents the other district in montana. he's made his point that he's antiestablishment. but at this point i think there is this question, hey, i need friends, i don't want to upset so many people, upset republicans so much. >> coming in here -- he's new. >> right. he doesn't want to upset them so much. so i think the idea is essentially, i've made my point, maybe i'll vote present this time around. >> and what about mr. crane? >> when i have to go back and i have to look, okay, how do you

actually pronounce someone's first name, it's eli crane, that gives you an idea that this person is new on the radar. this is a guy who has no political record whatsoever. this is the first time that he ran for elected office, the first time that he won a general election back in november. and he is someone, i wouldn't be surprised maybe donald trump picks up the phone and decides to call him because the fact is he won a very competitive primary in 2022, in part, because donald trump endorsed him. but he's someone who certain served in the navy previously and as the trailer before had i segment hinted at, he was on "shark tank" before that. >> and his business became very successful after his investment that he got there. okay. so when we were talking about the different ways and melanie was laying out the three different ways that kevin mccarthy can get there, scott jennings has been talking about this. so lay it out because i think anybody watching this would be interested in that. >> essentially the idea is you

need a majority of the people who vote yes or no. you don't need a majority of all house members. so if a certain number vote present or don't decide to vote at all, it can essentially shrink the denominator. then you could get, say, 216 or 217. if you look through history, there are a number of examples of people who are elected speaker without actually getting 218 votes in the house. nancy pelosi didn't, john boehner didn't. frederick gillette back in 1923, the reason i like that example is because he was the last speaker elected who had to go through multiple ballots. if that happens with kevin mccarthy, he'll be like frederick gillett and say it took a long time but we made it. >> if he gets it, he gets it. thank you very much, harry, laying all of that out. now i want to go to republican congressman bruce westerman because he's been involved in the negotiations. and i appreciate your time, congressman. thanks so much. so, the information that our

melanie zanona is just breaking is that we're learning that lauren boebert is among the gop holdouts considered to be in the mix to vote present. very surprising to many who had considered her to be never-ever kevin mccarthy. is it your understanding as well that she is now in that mix to possibly vote present? >> good evening, erin. it's good to be with you. and i can't confirm that. but i know that there is confidence that we will get the vote tonight that kevin mccarthy will be elected speaker. and i'm excited that we're getting to this point. you know, at the end of the day, people aren't going to remember how quickly we did the job. they're going to remember how well we did the job. and i think that the process that we've gone through where we've had agreements on rules and on processes, it's only going to make congress work better, and it's actually better to go through that process right now than to do it when we start putting legislation on the floor. so, i know i'm in line to chair the natural resources committee. three of the last six holdouts are either on that committee or

want to be on the committee. i know that they have issues in their districts that they want on work on. and i think it's time to get the speaker organized, and get to work on policy. >> in my sort of reading between the lines of what you're saying that giving specific committee assignments is part of what this might entail. you're talking about the natural resources committee? >> i'm saying two of these members are already on the natural resources committee. and we have a steering committee that assigns committee positions. everybody has to go through the steering committee. but we want to see a diversity among our committees with representatives from all walks of congress with their viewpoints represented on those committees. so, i think we've got to get organized, go through the steering committee process, get our diocese filled and start working on policies. that's what's been in the back of our mind all week. we've been focused on how do we

just get the speaker elected. >> we've been talking about the math and obviously there are a few different ways even now. you've got all of your equation lined up. and there's still a few different ways to get over the finish line if you are able to do that. are you still pursuing multiple ways? are you still trying to get people to vote for with a combination of present? are you going for three people voting present? are you betting on a democrat not being there? are you still right now pursuing multiple paths? >> look, we've had 13 tries at this. one thing we know is that democrats are going to -- and they should vote for their choice, hakeem jeffries from new york. that's going to be 212 votes. we know we had 214 votes on the last vote. we've got two members coming back into town. that gets us to 216. however you get to the math, we just have to have a majority of the votes that are cast. my preference would be to see 222 republicans vote for kevin

mccarthy so that we can give a message to americans who i'm sure are gathered around their tvs tonight anxious to see what's going to happen, that congress is ready to go to work and that we can give a memg message to the world that kevin mccarthy is going to be the speaker and things are going to be different in washington d.c. so, however we get to the number, that's the main objective. my preference would be to see that unanimous vote come from the republicans. >> that would of course be a true miracle for your party if that were to happen with what we've seen. but, you know what, we shall see. congressman, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you, erin. have a good evening. and next we're going to take you live to the white house where president biden has been watching the fight over speaker of the house unfold. what his reaction from inside the oval office where they've been watching so closely. and shocking details emerging about that suspect in the idaho university killings. he was seen meticulously cleaning his car before his

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tonight, the white house returning soon -- the house, sorry. the house rushineturning soon, white house is watching. we anticipate this is going to happen in these next few hours. congressman kevin mccarthy and his allies are now very confident that mccarthy will be the next speaker and that that will happen tonight. one of those allies, congressman don bacon saying that by working through their dysfunction now, republicans will be better positioned to govern effectively. phil mattingly is "outfront" from the white house tonight. so, phil, look, mccarthy thinks

he has the votes to be speaker, one of the holdouts who had flipped today. congressman bishop moments ago projecting a lot of confidence here talking to me. he seems sure they've got it. what is the white house saying? >> reporter: you know, very little and intentionally. i want to be very clear here. white house officials have been watching this closely throughout the course of the week, both with a level of amusement and also with the very keen understanding that they're trying to figure out who one of the four critical players on capitol hill they'll be working with will actually be. as details started to trickle out, officials were trying to get their heads around that too knowing very well that the dynamics of what that deal represents could make things very difficult for them in the months ahead. but the silence, at least public silence, that we've gotten from the white house, which has been particularly clear over the course of this day, has been very intentional. in part, that's to make clear a contrast that has been apparent throughout the course of the week that despite the difficulty

house republicans have had getting out of the starting gates for their new majority, they are going on with business as usual, going to keep working on issues that the president has laid out are critical for him in his second two years in office. one thing to keep in mind here going forward is when you talk to white house officials, they are very cognisant of the importance of the position of what this means going forward going into this week, there is the expectation that when a speaker was finalized, when the votes were actually cast that got kevin mccarthy or anybody else over the finish line, the president would be making a call to the new speaker of the house. they've obviously spoken throughout the course of the last couple of weeks before this week. they have a relationship. whether that happens tonight is still to be determined. but certainly white house officials know this is extremely important and they've been paying very close attention. >> thank you so much, phil. "outfront" now, our political commentator, former senior adviser to the 2020 campaign. and former senior adviser to

president obama as well. we were just talking about -- and we'll see how this all shakes out. but lauren boebert being in the mix as a possible vote present, which could indicate that that -- as i said, you could have one kevin, one present. there are still several ways to get to three. but does that surprise you at all? >> we saw that video of her -- well, on another network kind of fighting with an anchor and her kind of in the well of the senate saying it's time for kevin mccarthy to go away and we're not going away, he needs to go away. so, yeah, it is -- and there's been a lot of discussion about her last race. she barely won. she squeaked it out by the hair on her chinny chin-chin. you wouldn't expect her to go down with kind of the matt gaetzes of the world who are in

very safe r plus 20 districts. i was surprised where she was in the first place. >> this is one that we weren't able to call for quite some time. >> she was down by 10,000 votes. >> one of the reasons that there is some fidelity, some loyalty to kevin mccarthy among many republicans is he's raised a lot of money for them. he spent a lot of money for them. she clearly is going to have a serious race next time. she is going to want support. she saw which way this thing is going. i don't think it's that shocking. and the fact that voting present is a way -- we saw members vote for nancy pelosi -- vote present in nancy pelosi, who had pledged not to vote for her so that they could keep their pledge but not be an obstacle to her being elected speaker. so this is a well-worn path. >> it's one of those paths that i feel like when you're just a regular person watching you're thinking, really, you're going to get credit for not voting for when you enabled it to happen?

but, yet, of course i understand it. but that's the -- >> either be for him or against him. either you're for the guy or you're against him. you can't be splitzerland. >> he's never been elected to anything. >> i'm looking through all of the cnn reporting on what kevin mccarthy has given away. one thing in the past hour that has come up multiple times talking to the congressman that we've had. the word committee keeps coming up. and i know you know that we know we've got it down to one person can vote to get rid of the speaker and various other promises that are being made, rules, et cetera. but committee assignments matter. >> look, i think 72 hours ago when they realized what trouble they were in, a bazaar was set up, and the trading began, and very serious discussions went on about what people's aspirations were for their own particular power. i mean, the rules are what they want to discuss, making the house more transparent and so on. but a lot of what was discussed

was more representation for this house freedom caucus group on key committees. and i think that was core to this argument. and what else was discussed with individuals? i think we'll find out in the coming weeks. >> you heard both the congressmen that have come on in the past hour and others during the day. they are trying to present that this is a great example of leadership and how one learns how to govern, and this has been great. >> we were talking before we came out here. i think that it is good to a certain extent to get the fighting over with and get it done. because as soon as they begin, i think they're going to forget about kevin mccarthy, today the biden administration better just take a deep breath because today's the last easy day for the next two years. it's going to be a lots of aggressive oversight. and so i think once that begins, the infighting amongst the family, amongst the republican family is going to be long forgotten. >> even though it only takes one

person on any given day to raise their hand. >> hope springs eternal. i'm an optimist. >> thanks to you both. and of course we'll all be here throughout the night tonight. "outfront" next, disturbing details emerging about the idaho student killings. authorities are now saying that the suspect appeared to return to the crime scene area and may have stalked the home numerous times. plus, a major milestone for buffalo bills' star damar hamlin. he's now breathing on his own. new details in his recovery, after this. cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get everery other mont. cabenuva helps keep me undetectablele. it's two injections, given by my healthcare prprovider, every other month. it's one less thing to think about while traveling. hiv pills aren't on my mind. a quick change in my plans is no big deal. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms,

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tonight, he was stalking them. those are the words of steve goncalves, whose daughter kaylee was one of the students stabbed to death at the university of idaho. he was telling what it was like to be in the courtroom with the 28-year-old suspect, allegingly tieing him clearly to the killings. >> somebody shocked and scared almost like a sense of this is nothing like i thought it was going to be. >> he was stalking them. he was hunting them. >> the father of kaylee goncalves, one of the four university of idaho students killed, believes his daughter and her friends were hunted after authorities laid out the case against bryan kohberger. >> he was just a person looking

for an opportunity and just happened to be in that house. and it's hard to take. >> reporter: kohberger, charged with the murders, may have cased the scene of the crime four months before the murders, according to new court documents. an affidavit released thursday reveals police started looking for a white hyundai elantra like this one almost two weeks before asking the public for information about the car. >> on december 23rd, they get the cell phone records showing the owner of that car has been what appears to be from the records staked out in the area of that murder house a dozen sames since august. >> reporter: still, no details about why the 28-year-old suspect chose this house and whether he knew any of the four victims. the affidavit also revealing around 4:00 in the morning, one of the surviving roommates heard crying coming from x xana kernodle's room and a voice

saying it's okay, i will help you. raising the question why did no one call 9-1-1 until noon on sunday? >> i do know that she was petrified. and i think people respond a little bit different. i think she was just scared, very scared. it's not like hollywood where everyone behaves like people think they would. >> reporter: according to the affidavit, dna evidence also led police to the suspect. a knife sheath was left on one of the victims' beds that contained dna similar to kohberger's father's dna found in the family's garbage. a law enforcement source tells cnn, as authorities were surveilling the kohberger family home, they witnessed putting trash in the neighbor's bin and were able to extract it for dna comparison. >> the surveillance team who is watching from a pretty great distance sees him come out and clean the car from top to bottom inside and out using surgical

gloves. >> reporter: in court on thursday, kaylee goncalves' father was in the front row. he was pointedly staring at kohberger. and kohberger did not look at anybody in the courtroom except his public defender. now, regarding the fact that no one called 9-1-1 until hours later, the affidavit certainly raises a lot more questions. but right after these murders happened, i spoke with the county coroner and i asked her if somebody had called sooner, could lives have been saved? she said no. erin? >> veronica, thank you very much for that report. let's go to criminal defense attorney. you heard in veronica's reporting that fbi agents say the suspect was cleaning his car inside and out days before the arrest seen wearing surgical so this is obviously well after the horrific murder occurred, after he drove that car with his father across the country.

he's still cleaning it then inside and out. what do you make of that? >> i would tell you from a prosecutor's perspective it is complete consciousness of guilt. you know, you know you've done something wrong, get rid of the evidence. and that type of tampering with evidence is going to come into an eventual trial against him. it also begs the question as to why everyone wants to know. it looks as though quite connected to the crime, but now we have to go back and figure out what type of obsession was this. it seems he knows people in the house at least one of them. >> in term of the time line on the night of the killings people are coming back to why was there no 911 call until so late in the day? at 3:29 a.m. the suspect's vehicle is seen passing by the victims' house four times, they know that. 4:17 a.m. a nearby security camera picks up audio of voices

or a whimper followed by a loud thud. and around that same time one of the surviving roommates said she saw a man in black matching kohberger's description inside the room, all in black, bushy eyebrows, freezes in fear, goes wack to the room. the suspect's vehicle seen leaving the area at a high rate of speed. 9:12 a. 9:12 a.m. his cellphone pings near the victims' house. if it's 4:20 a.m. you're terrified, freezes in fear. she hears him, somebody crying and saying i'm going to help you. how do you explain not calling 911 for five, six hours? >> sometimes the almost easier answer might be the correct one. i'm wondering without blaming her was she intoxicated, whether

drugs or alcohol was involved? is there some other reason we don't yet know about as to why she waited six or seven or eight hours because it makes no sense. it makes mow sense any of this would happen with that many hours in between of even a phone call to 911, checking on a roommate, finding out who it was i'm here to help, anything like that it makes no sense, but we'll find that out i think. >> to check on them, walk anywhere near those rooms you can only imagine what you would see, what you would smell with so much blood. it's horrific. mark, thank you very much. i appreciate your time. >> thanks, erin. be well. >> you, too. we do have some breaking news here. we have new and significant reporting on kevin mccarthy and his thinking ahead of tonight's vote for speaker. manu raju is live on capitol hill, and what are you learning? >> reporter: that's right, kevin mccarthy and his team believe they have the votes to win the speakership tonight, and they're

already informing members about the next steps they'll be taking after his now expected victory tonight. that includes organizing the house. they are telling their members to expect a vote potentially late in the night to adopt a rules package that will govern how the house will operate. that's actually been part of the negotiations between mccarthy and a number of his holdouts over the past several days, a number of concessions to allow some of these members to have more leverage, essentially weaken the speakership in many ways that will be part of this rules package. that's expected to be adopted later tonight, but the signs are very clear. there's growing expectation that finally after 13 failed ballots and after this very intense days of negotiation, that they are finally on the brink of winning the speakership. now, it's still a bit unclear, erin, exactly who will be the final remaining holdouts. mccarthy got 214 votes on his

13th failed ballot. there are still a lot of discussions about who they're still looking to flip, who may may get to vote present to lower that threshold to 218 but they believe they'll get there in a matter of hours. next incredible news about the recovery of the buffalo bills star damar hamlin, today breathing on his own, face timed with his teammates. we'll tell you what he said. uhhhh... here, i'll take that. [w[woo hoo!] ensure max protein, with 30 grams of protein, one gram of sugar andd nutrients for immune health. it immediately feels like somebody's poking directly on the nerve. i commend sensodyne. sensodyne toothpte goes inside the tooth and calms the nerve down. and my paten say: “you know doc, it really wos."

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tonight a major milestone in damar hamlin's remarkable recovery. he is now breathing on his own. the buffalo bills say hamlin is off the ventilator that had been breathing for him and he was even able to face time his teammates today telling them, quote, i love you boys. he remains in a cincinnati hospital, though, following the cardiac arrest he suffered during monday night's game against the bengals. ryan young is out front. >> got our boy. the excitement was beautiful. it was amazing. >> reporter: a team overjoyed with good news. >> to see that boy's face, to see him smile, see him go like this in the camera, it was -- it was everything. and then to hear him talk to us,

it was literally everything, and that's what we needed. >> reporter: the buffalo bills announcing more progress after damar hamlin's breathing tube was removed overnight. >> he said i love you, boys. >> reporter: the 24-year-old now able to breathe on his own, briefly joining friday morning's team meeting with players and coaches via face time. >> to see the players' reaction they stood up right away and clapped for him and, you know, yelled some things to him. >> reporter: hamlin injecting his sense of humor into the call. >> the thing that makes me laugh is he did this to the guys, you know, right away. he made the heart symbol probably more than anything. >> reporter: the signs of progress welcome relief for players and staff. new audio of the intense moments on the field after hamlin's collapse as medics fought to save his life. a reminder of how far hamlin's

condition has improved. the bill's general manager praising hamlin's parents as well who were at his bed side the entire time. >> i was in awe just watching their strength through such difficult up and down moments. and man, it was a pleasure to be a part and see how they handled it. i don't believe i would have handled it in the same strength if that was my son. >> reporter: the news of hamlin's recovery comes as the bills prepare to face-off against the patriots on sunday. >> all the improvements of damar make life so much easier to focus on as you mention the task at hand and that being the new england patriots. >> reporter: buffalo teasing a special number 3 patch players will wear in a number of tributes this weekend including highlighting the number three on the field. the nfl encouraging teams to show league wide support for damar, the first responders, and medical caregivers. >> it'll be emotional.

it really will be. >> reporter: as the players now shift their focus from that traumatic moment to future games -- >> we're going to use all the positives to help us win. >> reporter: erin, it was great to hear from those doctors, from the hospital just yesterday. you can hear it's still busy behind us. but if you think about this and looking at the buffalo bill's twitter page they've been giving out a lot of information. going to share this picture of the assistant athletic trainer, and he's the man credited with going out there and helping do that cpr immediately when the situation took a turn. it's great to be able to share this picture because obviously there are so many people giving him credit to where we are right now. >> saving a life. thank you so much. and we're two hours away from the house reconvening to continue voting for speaker. it is going to be a crucial vote and i'll be back here at 10:00 with jake tapper for our special

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