anticlimatic. i've never seen anyone win uglier than this ever. maybe bush after the florida recount. but this is pretty bad. >> it's not just the ugliness of the win, but on the backs of who. i mean, these characters are really the fringe of the fringe of the republican congress. and they're running the show tonight. and that's just a preview of what it's going to be like. matt gaetz, lauren boebert, who barely won her last race, you know, scott perry, who's deeply -- his text messages are being subpoenaed. you know, earlier we had paul go sar, who's spoken before white supremacist conferences. i mean, the people who are driving this train right now, these are not the folks that the republican party wants at the forefront. >> right now the debt ceiling is on track to be hit in august. usually that pushes a little bit into the fall.

we should be prepared to be back here doing this same thing when that happens. because especially considering some of the things that mccarthy clearly gave away. i mean in the past they've been able to do it with democratic help, and mccarthy in theory could do that. but it seems like they've tried to hold his feet to fire here and say, no, what kevin mccarthy can decide to do is not put it on the floor. >> without getting into the specifics of all the ugly fights that are going to come, i think the point that you just made and others have made is that this is at large a vision of what we're going to see, possibly, going forward for the next two years in a very chaotic congress. >> and it has huge consequences. >> huge consequences for nation, but as we just settle on this moment, we are watching the history being made, because i believe on this 15th ballot kevin mccarthy will finally secure enough votes, whether it's through people voting present or switching votes to him to actually become the speaker of the house of

representatives. on the 15th ballot there have been other votes that have gone to more ballots, but those were all before the civil war. all of them in the 1800s. it has not happened been this ugly since the 1800s. and it's interesting -- obviously i don't think we are now in a period like the civil war or the years leading up to the civil war, but we are in an ugly period of politics, and i think that is one of the things being reflected in this ugly vote. >> we're a divided, a deeply divided country. just two years ago we had an insurrection at the capitol. i mean, i think a lot of people would have thought that was probably as close as you would get to the kind of civil war-type scene. by the way, the capitol was not even breached during the civil war. and here we are. i mean, it's not a surprise to me that this is what's happening on the republican side. >> matt gaetz is coming up in a

few votes. let's listen in. >> mccarthy. frost? jefferies. frey? mccarthy. >> two more. >> full sheer? mccarthy. >> here it is. >> gaetz? present. >> present. so -- -- >> gallagher. mccarthy. >> the gaetz vote actually doesn't change anything in the sense it only took three as long as everybody else votes for a candidate by name, the margin is now 216, which is what kevin mccarthy got on the last vote. >> right. >> and it is interesting when we saw gaetz and mccarthy speaking, when mccarthy's frown turned upside down and then he ran and tried to stop the motion to adjourn, what exactly did gaetz say. did he say we can deliver another vote of present, we can deliver two more votes of

present, i don't know. but it was conveyed to kevin mccarthy, we can give you your margin of victory one way or another in this next vote. >> you saw that rare flash of anger from kevin mccarthy. then, of course, now he's back to his smiling self. that was a rare moment. that incredible moment on the floor. >> was it miscommunication? >> miscommunication is -- >> misled. >> well, we don't know. i think there's a real question. >> matt rosendale. >> eli crane even switching his vote and andy biggs now both switching their votes. it raises so many questions about those conversations. jake noted we cannot read lips. >> we should just say also -- bob good voted present, so that means -- >> all right, so -- >> -- he's getting a sweep of the present votes. >> waiting for rosendale. >> so, yeah.

we should note the republican leaders who thought that gaetz was going to switch to yay, which annie grayer and melanie zanona reported earlier, they were mistaken, but it's a point without a difference. it's a distinction without a difference really. what gaetz conveyed was whatever's going to happen in the next ballot, you're going to win. we're going to deliver the votes one way or another, even if it's present votes. >> and it's finally changed after -- >> mccarthy appears on track to win speaker. >> appears on track to win instead of appears headed for failure for a 15th time. >> it is remarkable, five present votes. he sure could have used those yesterday. >> but they all -- this is -- going into this, i think it was david urban from new york was saying, and you were saying, that on the first go around of this evening, the 14th vote, the thought was maybe that the holdouts would hold hands and all vote present together to lower the threshold. that didn't happen.

it's happening now. >> and it makes sense too. i mean, for all of them at this point to jump together. they are, in theory, going to have to work with the speaker of the house in kevin mccarthy, who, you know, he may have given a lot away here in this negotiation with them, but at the end of the day, he still is going to wield more power as speaker than he's ever wielded in the conference before. and how he's going to figure out how to use it is going to be a real test. >> i hope it's worth it. >> i also think it's interesting a number of these individuals, including matt gaetz, have spent the past months and week or two talking about how they can't trust kevin mccarthy and how he's not one whose word can be relied upon. now they are relying upon deals he's apparently made with a hand shake, given that most of the promises made, we're told, were made that way, and not in the rules package that's going to come up for a vote after he wins the speakership.

>> i guess there's one lingering -- >> there still seem to be some hard feelings. melanie zanona has some reporting that tom emmer was walking in the aisles telling people on the floor not to clap when matt gaetz or lauren boebert, when they announced their votes for prement. when biggs changed his vote, you heard a [ applause ] . good, crane. but they're not so happy. >> -- >> and by the way, he is on record saying to somebody that he would rather be water boarded by liz cheney than vote for kevin mccarthy for speaker. >> we've danced around this a little bit, because i don't -- obviously no one wants to get over their skeez for the reporting, in terms of how people feel about matt gaetz and the republican conference, but

now we have it on video and in still photos. which is mike rogers literally lunging at the man, having to be physically restrained. and he is not the only one who i think feels that way about matt gaetz inside the republican conference. i mean, the view of the emotion on display right there is just kind of a remarkable snapshot. and i think really also this is not a conference that is driven by policy differences or disagreements. this is personal. >> i mean, people have said it on our air that the perception of matt gaetz is that he spends more time on cable television talking and raising money than doing other things. i mean, that -- we don't have to -- it's -- people have said it publicly. and i think that the reality of all of this is that this has been a show for matt gaetz. he has wanted to prove a point. and yeah, he's proved a point but at what cost. >> to your point, abby, about

raising money, we see him all over the place, you know, being on tv. at 10:42:58 tonight he did a fundraising email off of not voting for kevin mccarthy. >> that's the fourth one today i think. i've gotten at least three, and i haven't looked. i bet -- the question is at what cost. because you mentioned the mistrust, distrust, it's actually a lot stronger than that, runs both ways. >> yeah. >> we watched that play out on the floor. matt gaetz just changed his vote to present, to allow mccarthy to be speaker. maybe he'll get a mumbled thank you or something like that off the floor, but any moment, the new rules, one member can move to vacate. and matt gaetz only needs the same group of people voting present, a handful of people minus one can take us back off this cliff. >> and this is aaron burnett, this is only what we can see playing out on the floor of the

house before the government takes control of the cspan cameras once again, which they sadly soon will do. the big question, of course, is the promises that kevin mccarthy made. who is he going to put on the rules committee -- and of course, as john pointed out, two years after the hideous attack on the capitol, we have the images now of donald trump calling qanonsupporter marjorie taylor greene and rallying various conspiracy theorists to flip their vote so kevin mccarthy can be elected speak. he's not doing this out of the goodness of his heart. he doesn't care about republican unity. he's doing this for other reasons we will learn later. >> just watching this happen, this was amazing. you have all of a sudden this rush by mccarthy and gaetz down. all of a sudden the votes

change, we're not going to adjourn, we're going to stay. we know something's going to happen. you see it, biggs flips and crane flips, and gaetz does not go to mccarthy but flips to present. so you get these -- and then you had it after elijah crane. >> some pictures we're looking at, right, the ap photos of, you know, rogers being physically restrained, the photo of marjorie taylor greene with donald trump on the phone and rosendale waving it off. >> the hand is up in the air, you know, like. >> if you wrote a script like this, people would not believe it, right? it's like reality television, i don't know. >> yeah, admittedly, this was one of the better nights of cspan that we've seen, but if this were a trailer for the new republican majority, i want to see the film, okay? this was unthinkable and

embarrassing and a failure of leadership and, you know, an example of treachery. and yes, the stars of it were the people who are most closely associated with the events of last january 6th. >> yeah. >> mm-hmm. >> and so there's nothing about this that should make people feel good. kevin mccarthy, obviously, feels good because he's realized his lifelong ambition. but at what cost? >> you will see the film, it's going to be called knives out. and we will be subjected to it for the next two years. look, kevin mccarthy, this is a moment of high drama. the fact that he ran up to stop the adjournment. that's an amazing thing. >> to be able to witness the high drama, and it's no small thing that the camera control is going to be lost. but we got to see this, as ugly as it is, we got to see it. >> we did. >> human emotion. >> politics is history in the present tense and perhaps never as much as tonight in terms of seeing the drama and the arm twisting. >> emphasis on tense. >> exactly.

look, kevin mccarthy also has proven you can win by losing. this may be the high moment. again, careful what you wish for. you're sneaker now, but this is an indication of how difficult it's going to be to govern. we haven't seen the list of all the concessions, but we know the one you can predict is the nation is on a collision course with the debt ceiling. a lot of basic things are going to be difficult to get done in anything resembling a bipartisan fashion. >> are people going to trust each other in the republican caucus, right. somebody said i gave you my word. that used to mean something. after tonight i question. rosendale, who could ever trust rosendale. he's planning on running for the senate in montana? if i was his opponent, i'd say the guy's a liar. we've watched him lie. >> you raised the issue of trust and camaraderie inside of a conference, it's dawned on me this week that, yes, all these people are republicans, but some

of these people essentially have declared themselves to be a third party. they don't really want to be part of the larger republican party. they want to operate as independent operators who can create chaos for the republicans or maybe the democrats whenever they see fit. now mccarthy's in a coalition with them right now, but to your point, john, the rules may allow them to blow up that coalition at any given time. >> mccarthy himself is about to vote here, so. >> jefferies. >> it's a weak party structure. >> yeah, let's -- >> mccarthy. >> can i just pause on your point about trust, though, because the american public and a lot of people watching don't have a lot of trust in a lot of politicians. they think a lot of the businesses kind of saying whatever you need to say to get what you want and not being honest. what you're pointing out is when you came to that room and made an agreement or i'm going to do something, have my vote for you, that's what these whips are for. what happened tonight is somebody lied. somebody lied directly to kevin

mccarthy or to -- >> tom emmer. >> if you believe politics is a team sport, you wouldn't lie. so that's why i say these people are functioning almost as a third party, because who would you lie to, the other team. >> wait, wait, wait. >> spoilers. >> donald trump was president of the united states, okay. he was the leader of the republican party. he still apparently is the leader of part of the republican party. his whole candidacy and his whole administration was predicated on tearing down institutions and sundering rules and ignoring these kind of varieties that you're talking about. so there are consequences to that. these are his disciples who are starring in this drama. this is his legacy. >> remember david urban, one of your many prediction, comments earlier -- >> did i get it right or was i wrong on that one? >> yes. you said kevin mccarthy would be

speaker. >> your point about donald trump, to david's point, the other david's appointment, we do need to give trump credit. urban made the point that many of the members of this chamber owe their seat to donald trump. that is very true. and we have said he didn't have much to do with what is happening. he had a lot to do, to david's point, david versus david. it had a lot to do not only with the people in the chamber but also in the idea of tearing down our institutions, the lack of reverence for our institutions, not to mention, i suspect, what we are going to see over the next days, weeks, months as we see this kind of inaction and inability to function continue. >> margaret, it's also, you know, the way that this evening

was anticipated to go, such that anyone anticipated anything, was that he was going to get the vote when you said he had the vote. and then he's going to get sworn in, and everyone's going to get sworn in, he's going to give a speech, and the rules are going to get voted on. and now there's not anticipation. i don't know, we'll see, that that would happen, because you've got the moderates looking there that saying, wait, wait. >> this is the tight rope walk he's going to have to walk. and he's going to have to do it every single day moving forward with the sword hanging over him, right. this is the ability to vacate, you know, with one person. this is a razor thin margin. he's going to have to navigate it every single day of his speakership. so you know, the fun just starts right now. >> i have an item here, because dave urban joked that after the rogers confrontation with gaetz, well, whatever's going to happen for gaetz, it's not going to be

on the house arm services committee. well, guess what, it appears he was given the chairmanship of the military personnel subcommittee. >> that'll be an awkward, you know, kind of chair. >> yeah, but it may not be true, although it seems like it's a pretty solid rumor. obviously he cut some kind of deal. >> and i don't know who makes those promises, because the caucuses might, you know, the caucus at large votes on the committees and who's on the committees and chairs, maybe that's a promise. we'll see. >> we'll find out about all of this stuff in the next few weeks. >> we sure will, and maybe they will have 72 hours to actually read the rules, which is part of the contents. >> well, it's 55 pages. i want to be clear, it's 55 pages, the rules document we got. it's huge. >> give people time to see what deals were cut, what rules are in place, but i got to say, look, i mean, mccarthy's been trying to triangulate this party. and part of the problem is in terms of you reap what you sow, buying in was a litmus test to

win the primary. this is what you get. i wish the moderates, the centrist republicans who are left had been speaking out as much as the radicals on the far right. because that -- this election in 2022 was not a mandate for the opposition party at all. independent voters voted for democrats. and if this party, this caucus, the congress is going to be representative of the election results, it would be more moderate, not less. i wish there had been a genuine move. >> you can't have it both ways. >> what do you mean? >> because part of the problem here is that you always are pointing out, and i think correctly, that the incentive structure in the house of representatives does not allow for moderates to be rewarded by the moderate majority of their electorate. hate to quote you back to yourself. how are these moderates going to speak up and get rewarded for it. >> the extremes just did, and

this election proved that -- >> but that's because they're rewarded. >> they're 18 republicans. i'd like to see those 18 be as vocal and demanding as those on the far right. >> as i just said, we're a few seconds away from rosendale. i understand this has already been decided, but i'm still very curious to see. our understanding was perhaps he was the traitor that messed this whole thing up. unclear, unclear what really happened, but he was anticipated to vote present and voted biggs. he's coming up in a few seconds. anybody want to bet? >> i wanted to ask you two if you've considered getting a room. i wasn't sure. not entirely sure. i'm picking up a vibe between you two while we wait. >> people have noticed. >> okay, let's listen to rosendale. >> rogers of kentucky. mccarthy. rose, mccarthy.

rosendale, rosendale. ross. >> that was anticlimatic. >> after all this if you're rosendale you don't happen to be in the bathroom. >> maybe he wants to do it at the end. they've got to recall the people who don't vote, right? >> perhaps rosendale was taking a page from gaetz's book and decides he wants to be the one at the end so he can say -- >> doesn't matter now. >> doesn't change the outcome now. >> he's running for senate. >> if indeed rosendale had made an agreement that he was going to vote present and voted biggs, if that is the case, is there anything you can do to -- >> apparently he's looking like he's going to run for the senate. that's what the word is. what does he care? he can burn all these bridges tonight. he can go to montana and say i treated all these people like crap. that's how they deserved to be treated. >> i lied to my colleagues.

that's not a great position. >> i mean, i agree with you, i think that'd be a terrible way to run a senate campaign. that would be the theory of the case is to say i thumbed my nose at the politicians in washington or whatever. >> this point about trust is important. remember, one of the many things that kevin mccarthy said to us earlier today is this is just part of them learning how to work together. >> mm-hmm. >> if this is what them learning how to work together looks like, we are really in for something of a rough ride, and it is hard to believe. i mean, we know that, frankly, from some of the reporting that throughout this process not only has there been a lack of trust, we know that people, they have been ground down, they are tired, they are bitter, they are -- and so how will they ever be able to come back together and work together, which i'm just going to throw you a small bone john avalon, which is to say that while there is this fracture, are they going to step up. will they find places to work

with democrats on some of the upcoming legislation. perhaps even on the rules package yet to be approved. >> in the earliest version of this movie, let's not forget, at the end of the day when there were government shutdowns and other things, the only way that things got done was republican leadership working with moderate democrats or all democrats to stop all deadlocks. it doesn't represent the electorate. >> it also required the speakers to be willing to help facilitate -- >> or have the power to do that. >> and we don't know whether kevin mccarthy will have the inclination or the ability to do that. >> that's right. >> and at the end of the day when the moderates stick their heads out, they get punished by the electorate. which is what i was saying. this is why mccarthy and leadership, whether it's mccarthy on his face or outside groups, no, no, no, this happens in the senate all the time, as you well know. somehow mysteriously katie got the nomination in alabama,

instead of the other two who probably would have lost the seat. you have to keep an eye on the nominees and what the shape of your conference is going to look like. >> margaret, to your point -- one of the things he gave up is his leadership is not going to -- >> that's exactly what you're talking about. >> part of what they gave up. >> you're suggesting that kevin mccarthy, the republican leader, would go out and campaign against members of his own -- >> scott, what i'm saying is you and i both know mccarthy can help shape the kind of candidates who win the primaries in those races, whether his name is on the door or not. you and i all know that. no, no, no maybe he couldn't. he's a bad example, but i just refer my friend on the other side of the aisle to the other house and the chamber and the senate does a very good job of this. as you well know. >> mcconnell and his affiliates never campaign against member os his own conference. >> oh really? it's just a mystery. >> they don't. this is the discipline of it.

they support their conference. >> they're not disciplined. >> they do. >> guys, guys, we all know that there are independent forces that help shape the candidacies in the primaries in the senate and in the house. >> but not against incumbents. not against sitting members of the congress. how could you have the leader of a party -- >> the leader's name is never on it, but they're -- don't you think some of these leaders and some of these have preferences. >> margaret, i think that one of the things that the house freedom caucus people believe is that mccarthy has in some ways moved against them. that was precisely why they put this in the rules. >> that's right. >> and i don't think he's going to dip his toe in that water again. >> because he took credit for chuck edwards. >> what do you think tonight with all this that happened that he didn't expect, right, that people turned against him, people gave their word, people lied, somebody almost punched somebody out on the floor of the

house. it was absurd and embarrassing. what does this do to kevin mccarthy? does this change his psyche. >> i mean, psychologically -- >> no, shaking your head. >> i mean, but psychologically though, it's like a hit dog, every time somebody raises a newspaper, they're going to flinch. once people lie to you, takes a long time to rebuild if you ever do. >> that's the bigger part, not just kevin mccarthy, but what is the level of collegiality in the house at this point. is there anything left, right? >> i don't understand why we're so stunned that there's lying. that's like being stunned there's gambling in casa blanca. unfortunately, character is the thing that's supposed to count most. the word should be the bond, but this is a party in the downstream from donald trump where the litmus test was buying into an election lie. we shouldn't be so shocked about that. >> i guess in this case i just

hoped better. >> i hoped too. >> i hoped in a situation like this where the world is watching and you walk down and say to kevin mccarthy to emmers, you got my word, and then you don't do it. that's a whole level of despicable. it is really, i think, just a whole other level. >> not that they care necessarily too, but the real losers, when you're someone in a conference like this who loses the trust of your leaders and committee chairs, the losers are the constituents of the betrayers. >> that's why i was asking about rosendale. >> but do you lose influence, given the slim margins that we're talking about. and again, i think this is the calculation that so many of these, the four, the five, the six, the seven we've been talking about, that is the calculation that they have actually made. they won't lose because time and time again -- >> no, no, but there's a bigger issue here, which is they didn't

get the majority they should have had given the nature of the year because there are a lot of independent voters, a lot of americans who did not trust them, who did not think they could keep the extremists at bay. this will only accelerate that view. i think that republicans are really, really harming themselves here. >> that's the whole ball game, right? i mean a rational response would be a republican party trying to show it can be responsible and reach out and not simply be dominated by its most extreme wing. the exact opposite has played out all week. it is kryptonite to the centrist republicans. >> john, that assumes you have rational actors in those seats, right, the holdouts here, the 20, whatever the six, the eight, the seven, that they're rational. the chip roys of the world, they're negotiating. >> they have principles. >> right. and to your point, john, you're

right, the election should have said let's be more moderate, let's show we can govern. there's a group of people, like scott pointed out, the chaos caucus, they don't care, that's not their brain. >> they are entirely rational based on the districts they represent. they're safe to be the spoilers. that's the problem. it's the incentive structure that's the problem. >> they don't really care about the health, john, of the overall republican party. they don't wake up in the morning thinking we need a strong party. >> they should care more about -- >> jake, here we are. >> all right there, you go. >> congratulations. >> that is it, he has reached. >> the speaker. >> he has reached the margin, the 215 margin with five members voting present. the threshold goes down from 218 to 215. and we have there kevin

mccarthy, congressman kevin mccarthy. the republican first elected to the house of representatives in 2006. he has been serving as a leader since then. and he wins on the 15th bout, becoming the 55th person to serve as speaker of the u.s. house of representatives. 15 ballots. this is the longest process in 164 years and the only time it has lasted this long since the u.s. civil war. mccarthy won ugly. he won by making concession after concession. he won in a process that was, at times, chaotic and angry and once almost down right violent. but the keyword in this sentence is the won, kevin mccarthy won. he is now the speaker of the house. it is history, it is maybe history for the wrong reasons for some folks, but it is history. >> it is. and you know, one of his allies

was texting me as it was going back and forth and back and forth and we saw the drama, and this person just said keep your eye on the ball for him and the ball is winning. and the ball is this moment. and the ball is becoming speaker of the house. and the roller coaster, obviously, was quite tumultuous tonight. to think about the journey he took and put himself on, particularly through the trump years in order to get to this moment. >> indeed. and you know, i think the other thing i'm flashing back to is what kevin mccarthy has been saying to reporters, which is it's not how you start, it's how you finish. frankly, the night is finishing the way they expected, but it did not go the way they expected when they walked on. >> that's his family. >> can i just say once more, this is two years since january 6th. and what was going on in the

house that day, and how many of these members were election deniers or voted to stop the peaceful transfer of power. >> including the speaker of the house, the new speaker of the house. >> -- of the members elect who did not answer the first call of the roll. >> i think there is one democrat that was out. >> vincente gonzalez. jefferies. >> we're still waiting for rosendale. >> rosendale. >> present. >> present. >> there it is, present. so six present votes.

all six of the rebels, the final holouts voted present, which lowered the threshold necessary for mccarthy. he didn't have to win 218, 216 was just fine. >> from a tactical perspective this is a win for kevin mccarthy. i think now even at this hour it is important to look at the long term, the bigger picture here is that he is perhaps going to be the weakest speaker in modern history beholden to a very, very, very small portion of his conference. a group of people, who as we saw tonight, he can't even really trust. so it's a, i think, a bittersweet moment for him because i think there are going to be as everyone wakes up tomorrow morning, what is this speakership going to look like,

what is this majority going to look like, and what is the country going to be going through over the next few months as they have to govern. >> and what did he promise them. we still don't know what the concessions were. what was matt gaetz promised in the end and for his vote as well. we're going to be finding this out not just in weeks but down the road what he promised them. >> we were told at the beginning of the night that the vote on the rules package would proceed after the vote on the speakership. this was at a time that we thought it was only going to go to 14 ballots and was going to conclude an hour or so ago and without anybody almost punching matt gaetz in the face. but we are here now and i think we're being told that the rules package will be voted on monday and not today, is that right? >> we believe so. i don't think it's definitely

decided yet. before that happens, we haven't seen kevin mccarthy actually get the gavel. >> right. >> we haven't seen the members of congress actually sworn in. >> right. >> you know, we've been here and we've been watching this series of 15 votes, including by members elect, but they are still members elect even at this moment. they have not been sworn in to officially become members of the house of representatives. >> yeah, so there is still the official vote to be counted, to be called by the readers and by the clerk. and then, of course, the official swearing in of this congress, after which we anticipate, although good money's on not making any bets these days, we anticipate that there will be a motion to adjourn, john? >> we may first hear, though, from speaker mccarthy and the democratic leader, hakeem jefferies. >> yes, i anticipate that as well. we did see speaker mccarthy mouth the word finally just a few minutes ago. but america is about to hear a

lot more from this man who is now third in line to the presidency. marjorie taylor greene. >> oh my gosh. >> greene was one of those members that was -- >> kicked off committees, kicked off her committees not long ago because of violent rhetoric that she had used against members of congress, including nancy pelosi and all sorts of things she had said that were anti-semitic and racist and on and on. she is going to be a star in the mccarthy reign, having stood by his side during the entire time, even while her fellow maga maga caucus members caused lots of problems for him. >> she's a prime example of what we've seen happen this week. he has offered concessions, and people have given them their votes. he offered her a place on the oversight committee, she supported him through and through this. i was going to say, she was also one of the liaisons helping facilitate the calls between former president trump and

members as that chaos was breaking out on the floor about half an hour ago. >> and the relationship too between them is also, you know, the side effect, one of the side effects of that picture that mccarthy went down and took with donald trump at mar-a-lago. i mean, we're talking about in which order or who was helped the most by what unfolded that day. >> let's listen in. >> the total number of votes cast is 428 of which the honorable kevin mccarthy of the state of california has received 216.

the honorable hakeem jefferies of the state of new york has received 212. with six recorded as present, therefore the honorable kevin mccarthy of the state of california having received a majority of the votes cast is dually elected speaker of the house of representatives. [ applause ]

>> the clerk appoints the following committee to escort the speaker elect to the chair. the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise, the gentleman from new york, mr. jefferies, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. emmer, the gentlewoman from massachusetts, miss clark, the gentlewoman from new york, miss stephanie, the gentleman from california, mr. aguilar, the gentleman from louisiana,

mr. johnson, the gentleman from california, mr. liu, the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. mcclain, the gentlewoman from washington, miss delbene, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. hudson, the gentleman from south carolina, mr. clyburn, the gentleman from alabama, mr. palmer, the gentleman from colorado, mr. neguse, the gentlewoman from oklahoma, mrs. vice, the gentlewoman from texas, miss escobar, the gentlewoman from indiana, mrs. hushing, the gentlewoman from illinois, miss underwood, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. cole, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. phillips, the gentleman from

north carolina, mr. mchenry, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. perry, the gentlewoman from california, miss barbara lee, the gentleman from louisiana, mr. graves, the gentlewoman from florida, miss wasserman schultz, the gentleman from arkansas, mr. hill, the gentleman from rhode island, the gentleman from texas, mr. roy, the gentlewoman from virginia, miss spanberger, the gentleman from florida, mr. donalds, the gentlewoman from california, miss jacobs, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. bishop, the gentlewoman from texas, miss crockett. and the members of the california delegation, miss

pelosi, miss waters, mr. calvert, miss lofgren, mr. sherman, mr. thompson, mr. schiff, miss sanchez, mr. isa, mr. costa, miss matsui, mr. mcclintock, miss chew, mr. garmindy, mr. barra, miss bromley, mr. cardenas, mr. hoffman, mr. lamont, mr. pierce, mr. ruiz, mrs. swalwell, mr. takano,

mr. vargas, mr. sedanye, mrs. torrez, mr. valuedago, miss barrigan, mr. cashahol, mr. panetta, mr. goldman, mr. harder, mr. eleven, miss porter, mr. mike garcia, mrs. kim, mrs. steele, mr. doer, mr. robert garcia, mr. keely, mr. mullin. the mitt tee will retire from the chamber to escort the speaker elect to the chair.

>> so we're -- the clerk just listed the names of the california delegation. kevin mccarthy is from the delegation. and we are now expecting some of the formal procedures to go on. i saw one of the members of the california delegation, congresswoman katie porter, sitting in the audience reading a book called the subtle art of not giving an f. >> another member of the california delegation by the name of nancy pelosi was walking by. that's going to be interesting. you know, traditionally, we have seen this moment, the leader of

the opposition party gives the gavel. >> when they called hakeem jefferies and other leaders as well to be part of this. >> right, that is going to be hakeem jefferies, obviously, because he is the leader now, and it won't be -- >> it won't be pelosi. >> it won't be pelosi, she's no longer the leader. some of those moments are kind of iconic. crying when he gave her the gavel and vice versa. >> and you know, that's actually such an interesting point, because you know historically, and we've talked so much about this, but this is a small club, right, of people who've gotten a hans to be the speaker of the house. and in the past, there has been some reverence. there have been, you know, relationships built between people who have served from different parties. george w. bush famously complimented nancy pelosi's grant as becoming the first woman speaker of the house when that unfolded. those moments are almost

entirely gone from washington now, which i think is going to be an interesting -- it's going to be interesting to watch how this actually unfolds and how the relationships seem to be, because you know, quite frankly, the events of january 6th in particular in the house of representatives really broke down the trust, we've talked a lot about trust inside the republican party, but there have been metal detects outside the house of representatives because they're concerned about death threats, et cetera. this is a very different -- and you talk about these symbolic moments where there's a motion and feeling and they're human moments, right? there's a lot less of that in washington these days. >> well, i mean, i think a lot of the democrats hold a lot of the people across the aisle responsible for the attack on the capitol, not least of whom is the new speaker of the house, kevin mccarthy, who participated in donald trump's lies and siphoned on to that crazy lawsuit trying to disenfranchise five or six states, and even after blood was shed, including

the blood of officer brian sicknick, voted to disenfranchise the voters of pennsylvania and arizona based on those lies. and what they have witnessed is kevin mccarthy not turning the page but continuing to capitulate. we still don't know what scott perry, who was one of the people who was part of the plot to undermine the democracy, what he got from this negotiation. >> they continue to just whitewash, try to have amnesia, pick your term for it, deny what happened that day. they do not want to acknowledge what happened that day. >> do you know how many republicans went to the stair of the capitol this morning? one, congressman brian fitzpatrick. we're told you have news? >> that's right, mccarthy giving reaction about all some of the chaos on the house floor to our colleagues. came off the floor and said, quote, i am glad it's over. now, he also denied he offer matt gaetz a chair manship of a subcommittee in exchange for that vote of present. said it would be up to the

steering committee, the committee he is involved with that essentially selects committee members to get those key committee assignments. he did not promise that to matt gaetz. he said, quote, no one is promised anything. he said whatever happens in steering. so he said he was happy it's over, and he denied making this offer to matt gaetz. we'll hopefully learn more about all the chaos on the floor. he is expected to talk to the press after this speech on the floor where he formally accepts the speaker's gavel but here making clear he did not offer any sort of quid pro quo on the subcommittee gavel itself with matt gaetz, but also indicating he's relieved this is all coming to an end. >> yeah, i would note -- and this is just from observation, not from any reportingdid look,h after gaetz and mccarthy had made whatever conversation

they'd made, whatever arrangement, whatever had happened where mccarthy ran to the front and tried to change his vote so there would not be a motion to adjourn so they could go on and have this 15th vote, it did look to me as though kevin mccarthy actually waited until matt gaetz actually cast his vote against adjournment before he cast his. and if i read that correctly, that would suggest he wanted to make sure matt gaetz went through with what he said he was going to do. >> it's also quite possible that kevin mccarthy did not promise matt gaetz anything because he has led for most of it, we saw the remarkable moments on the floor when he got involved tonight, but for most of the past few days his fingerprints are not on these deals because he's not trusted by the rebels as well, he has let his deputies do the winks and nods. >> victoria sparks, republican of indiana, having a late night

giggle with one of her colleagues. people have been working very hard and very late all week. >> remarkable they voted present and no one voted against kevin mccarthy in the final vote, after what we've seen play out for those rounds and how that has gone. >> given the fact it was so important to them to cast votes for andy bigg s even in the 14th ballot. >> and kevin hearne and not kevin mccarthy. there will be questions about trump's influence on this, given he was making those last-minute phone calls. of course, he didn't have a ton of influence throughout the week. that's why it stretched into here we are at 12:49 on saturday, january 7th, and i do think it's boosted how they all voted present in >> he's about to get sworn in and be an actual member of congress, george santos.

>> george santos who lied about literally everything on his résumé. >> whatever the truth is about how much trump's involvement mattered, the man he called my kevin will be speaker of the house. he swon the speakership two years to the day. we're january 7th by the clock in washington, d.c., but the proceedings on january 6th when they came back also carried into the early morning hours of january 7th. so the historical, i'm going to use the term irony. there's a better term for it. i don't know what it is but -- >> history runs. >> and in 2015 the last time there was a vote to be speaker of the house he lost the confidence of the republican conference by admitting -- seeming to admit that the reason congress had so many hearings on benghazi and that crisis and that tragedy was to bring down hillary clinton's approval

ratings, buzz to ruin her political reputation. now he has control of the u.s. house with donald trump running for president against the current president and kevin mccarthy and the oversight committee are going to be holding the biden administration to account. certainly that is absolutely appropriate. that's what congress is supposed to do. one wonders will there be excesses? >> the answer to that question we can look at the concessions that chip roy that was one of the 20 republicans from texas said publicly that kevin mccarthy gave, which is a separate budget for investigations, specifically of doj and the fbi. now, again, like you were saying oversight is the constitutional duty of the united states congress. but the fact that one of the

demands of this group was more money, more taxpayer dollars is rather telling. >> when several sitting members of the house republican conference are under investigation by the justice department, they now know want to investigate. >> yes, absolutely. and national i have heard from establishment republicans very, very concerned that whatever this committee will be it will be a vehicle if it's abused to obstruct justice but to stop them from carrying out their duty investigating anyone who in the house of representatives who have broken the law. >> waste, fraud, abuse, et cetera, and etraw. there's no question there's a

clear political objective to a lot of the things that this small contingent of let's say five or six want. one of them is this committee that my understanding is that the budget issue, they wanted it to be basically comiserate to what the january 6th committee had. and think about that. i think a lot of this concern in this group about the doj and the fbi is frankly based on conspiracy, and it's based on stuff that is floating around on the internet much of which has no basis in fact and coming at a time when many are under investigation, and the aim here is to put it on par with the january 6th committee investigation, which was an investigation into an attempted coup, an insurrection on the capitol, and then there's all the other stuff, the hunter biden stuff, the attempts to investigate president biden himself, which is not something that they can't do, but the

premise of some of these things is not on solid ground. but all of that is going to be, you know, available for them to do. kevin mccarthy has basically said go for it, and they'll do it. >> but one thing when i talked to biden officials about this because they've been staffing up for this for months because they thought it was a going to be a bigger majority, they did raise a question in are these going to be well coordinated investigations, are they going to come off as legitimate? i think the week we've seen play out does not lend a ton of credibility to that. we've been listening to him talk during this week. we'll see how they actually look when they play out. i think this is one thing that makes the white house feel a bit better about the preparation they've done for this but we'll see -- >> if i were in the white house i would feel less good about it because it's pretty clear -- >> gloves are off. >> well, it's not the gloves are off but the people who are

allowed to use -- the people who have the power are those who have absolutely no qualms about doing things that are not within the bounds of any law, any process or procedure. >> the inmates are running the asylum. >> thank you. >> i think it's important to remember big picture this is all going to be playing out against the backdrop of a presidential campaign, which is just going to crank up the emotion, the heat, the rhetoric, you know, and to your point, dana, that -- >> let's listen in. >> the speaker-elect kevin mccarthy from california. [ applause ]

>> madam clerk, whip clark, distinguished members of the house democratic caucus and the house republican conference, it's my high honor and distinct privilege to finally be able to welcome all of you to the 118th congress. [ applause ]

let me just begin by thanking my good friend pete aguilar for his very generous words of introduction and for placing my name into nomination a total of nine times. and i also want to thank my other colleagues from moo democratic caucus for your generous words of nomination as well jim clyburn, catherine clark, ted lou, dean philips, joe negoose, and veronica escobar. i also want to thank my friends in the house democratic caucus for your perseverance, for your strength, for your friendship, for your unanimity of purpose, and for your unanimous support.

and i simply want to say that showing of strength is not for any one particular individual. it will be a showing of strength throughout the 118th congress, unanimity of purpose on behalf of the american people. before i proceed any further, let me begin by acknowledging the distinguished gentlelady from the great state of california, the iconic, the heroic, the legendary speaker amerita nancy pelosi