this is cnn breaking news. >> we are following breaking news on capitol hill. we've already seen fireworks on the hill today, now we are watching the hard right rebellion, a handful of conservative house republicans just revolted against the spending deal that speaker johnson made with summit -- senate democrats. lauren, what's happening? >> reporter: this was a rule though, a procedural vote on an unrelated will to the spending package that mike johnson

agreed to with majority leader chuck schumer, this rebellion is coming from house conservatives, with more than a dozen of them voting to bring down this procedural step to show their dissatisfaction with the deal that was cut from speaker johnson. now this is a playbook they have used before. it's also a playbook they used against kevin mccarthy right after he cut the debt ceiling deal back at the end of may. this is a sign that they are frustrated. i just finished beaking with bob good, the leader of the house freedom caucus who told reporters that they have two demands, they want, as part of the spending bill to include border security and they also want it to include further spending cuts. the deal that was announced sunday by speaker johnson, in a dear colleagues letter included the fact that the spending deal was $1.59 trillion with $886 billion in defense, $704 billion in nondefense benefit than $69 billion in

reprogrammed funds that was going to the non-defense site. it's the $69 billion side deal that has frustrated and angered the house freedom caucus. the are arguing that that is something the speaker should have never agreed to. while good and his colleagues are deeply frustrated with the speaker, no one is calling to oust speaker johnson, and i think that's a really important thing to note. because this is different than the rebellions so far that we saw against kevin mccarthy. that doesn't mean that the anger and frustration doesn't build but good was asked specifically about whether or not johnson's job was in jeopardy and he said this, reporters needed to stop comparing johnson to mccarthy because they are different, they have different levels of leadership experience and i think that's really important to note in this moment as we are watching house conservatives show once again that they are willing to stand in the way if they don't get their way on these spending agreements. >> interesting they know the difference between mccarthy and

johnson, yet the deals they agreed to, largely the same. thank you so much. we alluded to fireworks there earlier today, hunter biden stunned lawmakers when he showed up at a house oversight committee hearing as republicans were set to begin the contempt of congress process against the president son. he's accused of not complying with a deposition to sit for a deposition. he showed up today, and that set off heated exchanges between republicans and democrats on the committee as hunter biden was watching, you had folks on this panel, bickering, for several minutes. but then just moments after it began, it was over. as republican marjorie taylor greene started to speak and without a word, left the room. his lawyers spoke to reporters

afterward. >> republican shares today men are commandeering an unprecedented resolution to hold someone in contempt who has offered to publicly answer all of their proper questions. the question there is, what are they afraid of? >> joining us now, cnn capitol hill reporter melanie zanona, it strikes me, mel, it's almost like a player who did something really bad in some kind of game and gets ejected from the game and they are walking out in shame. i mean, that's more of the vibe than a congressional hearing here. >> it was a pretty remarkable

moment here on capitol hill today. this hearing was always going to be contentious. remember house republicans committees are poised to recommend that the president son be held in contempt of congress for refusing to sit for a closed door deposition but hunter's appearance today, the surprise appearance was really stunning, even to democrats on the committee who have been in communication with hunter biden before. it was a really stunning moment and injected even more political theatrics into the situation, and it led to some tense exchanges and fireworks at the outset of the hearing, let's listen. >> you are the up enemy of white privilege, coming into the oversight committee, spitting in our face, ignoring a congressional subpoena to be deposed. what are you afraid of, you have no balls to come up here attachment >> mr. chairman, point of inquiry. >> mr. chairman -- >> if the gentle lady wants to hear from hunter biden, we could hear from him right now. let's take a vote. what are you afraid of? >> am i allowed to speak? are women allowed to speak? you keep interrupting me. >> now after the hearing, after hunter biden sat in the audience for around 20 minutes and also his lawyer, he and his

lawyer exited the room and he also gave a statement to reporters. his lawyer sai d that he is willing to appear for public hearings, testify under oath but is not willing to sit for a closed door deposition. that's the point that hunter biden was trying to make by showing up. he pulled a similar move in december, the day of his closed- door deposition, he did a press conference outside the capital. but republicans have pushed back and they said that's not how congressional subpoenas work and he doesn't get to dictate the terms of how he complies but ultimately, it's going to be up to the doj to determine whether or not to

prosecute hunter biden. that's because the house committees will send this to the full floor, the house presumably will vote on it as soon as next week. and then it's going to be referred to the doj but again, this remarkable showdown between congressional republicans and the president son, as republicans try and ramp up their efforts to impeach president joe biden. >> he certainly inserted a lot of drama but watching him get heckled by a member of congress as he left was just so strange. melanie zanona live on capitol hill. thank you. >> watching the members heckle each other it was just awkward, to say the least . what did you make of this surprise appearance by hunter biden? is this a good legal strategy? >> it is complicated. so, usually, i would say that it makes no sense for someone who's been indicted to show up and try to make any public statements of any kind. it's usually best to remain silent but in hunter biden's case, he's been charged with crimes that most people aren't charged with, and other words, typically, if you didn't fill out the right form or you made a false statement on a form about prior drug use, you are usually, that's not usually a

offense, similarly, failure to pay a rather small amount of taxes, it's usually something where you get a penalty letter, not a felony indictment. so i think, his legal team has calculated that they need to change the public narrative surrounding hunter biden, so since there was a subpoena for private testimony, they are making a big show about his willingness to speak publicly because he wants an opportunity to try and sway the jury pool, gain some city and perhaps convince prosecutors that it's not worth moving forward with these charges. >> is the doj considering that? they will want to look at, was this in good faith? did he try to negotiate an appearance, i wonder, if the behavior of members of this hearing, if that is going to be taken into account, as they

consider that, perhaps if they acted more maturely, it would have helped them make their case better. >> i think, certainly for contempt. i think that's a very good point. in other words, for a contempt prosecution, if you remember, mark meadows was referred to the doj for contempt. he ultimately was not prosecuted in part, because i think his lawyer convince the justice department that he had made some efforts to comply and i think, here you can bet your bottom dollar that hunter biden's lawyers are going to make the doj very aware that hunter biden was willing to testify but given the circus that you saw here it's understandable why he wanted to testify publicly. at least that's what i think the argument is that they will make. >> if you were advising him, would you advise him for that reason against a deposition in private, would you like him to

lean into doing it privately? >> i think so. i mean hunter biden is in an unusual circumstance. there's no debate about whether or not he paid or doesn't pay certain types of taxes, but you know, he needs to change public opinion because there's been a very concerted campaign, public campaign against him, and so, trying to move the needle on that is probably his best move. and so, that's why his lawyers have pursued this. i think it's a very savvy strategy by a gifted defense attorney who i respect very much. >> i appreciate the perspective. thanks very much. so in a few hours, republican presidential hopefuls desantis and haley will face off for a primetime battle in iowa, right here on cnn. this is the final republican primary debate before monday's critical iowa caucuses. >> of course donald trump has a significant lead in the state. he did qualify as per usual, to be on the stage tonight but he

is skipping the debate like all of the previous ones. let's preview tonight duel with a pair of cnn political commentators. jeff duncan, and karen finney. what a thing to follow, all of that drama that you've just watched. maybe there will be more drama tonight, what are you expecting? >> i hope a lot less theater than we've seen in previous debates. and certainly less than we've seen in the halls of congress. it's certainly not what either one would be in a position to win iowa but you can certainly see nikki haley, if she exceeds expectations and walks into a new hampshire situation, it could be a goo d tailwind for

her . >> you noted the expectation for both of them, second place at best, what does it tell you that donald trump hasn't shown up to any debates but it doesn't seem to be hurting him. >> this is important for donald trump, too. it's hard to think about this but in 2016, ted cruz beat donald trump and i will. if he wants to perform well, he wants to put his best foot forward but if he underperforms here and nikki haley over performs and goes into new hampshire, game on. this could be a reset that and that none of us expected to see. >> do you think so, karen? >> look, if you look at the advantages, the institutional advantages that donald trump has. if he wins big and i, which is all about your ground game, all about and organizing game, what you will hear from desantis and haley tonight is a balance between encouraging iowans to brave the cold next week and get out there, and the other thing about caucuses, its hours long, it's not like you just drop off your ballot and walk

out, no, no, sometimes it can come down to a coin toss, that's how intense this can get. that was 2016. it was crazy. but, from trump's perspective, you know, he's hoping to have a big win in iowa, storm through new hampshire and beat haley in south carolina. i certainly think for haley, she could come in second, do well in new hampshire and make an argument to donors in particular, that she's got some momentum and maybe we should have a number 2 waiting in the wings, just in case trump isn't actually able to be our nominee. so, it'll be interesting to see tonight, how much she is trying to both talk to iowa, talk to new hampshire and talk to the national audience as she tried to position herself as somebody that could take on donald trump. >> it's not a bad argument to argue that she could be waiting in the wings. let's hear some of the closing arguments of these candidates well, desantis and haley, that we will be hearing from tonight, let's hear what they are making in iowa. >> i like being underestimated, so, i could sit here and say this but you know what, i think

that being the underdog suits me better . >> buckle up, it'll be an interesting ride. >> we've been waiting for this. i've done 150+ town halls and it's come to this moment. don't complain about what happens in the general election if you don't play in this caucus. it matters. >> he says he likes being the underdog. but, it's not particularly an envious position that he is and compared to where he was with expectations at the beginning. i wonder what you think about, as you been observing his demeanor, if you think he's being forthcoming on that? >> not so much but actually his tone has shifted a little bit. he's been a little less cocky than he was at the beginning and a little bit more speaking to how much he needs people because you have to remember that the caucus, you really have to have people who are willing to stay there and wait it out and support you, so

that's critical that you've got people who are really dedicated to you. they can't sort of go in and be willing to change their minds. so, it sounds like he's really trying to rev his folks up. look, i think he needs a really strong showing because it becomes much harder, particularly looking at the cnn polling, to make the argument in new hampshire beyond iowa, if he doesn't have a good showing because it doesn't look like he's going to do well in new hampshire. >> i've been speaking to people in trump's orbit, and they obviously point two evangelical voters and i will but they say they are closely watching suburban women, that would give them an indicator as to how serious haley is as a potential threat. is that a fair assessment? >> certainly, the suburbs are up for the picking. we've seen that play out in

georgia, it's hard for me to think the suburbs will ever come back for donald trump. it just feels like he's so distant from them. and i feel like there's no chance he's going to pull it out. evangelicals, to me, have been one of the big anomalies. i think there will be a lot of disappointed people in 10 years from now. i think evangelicals will be the biggest part of that disappointment crowd, when they look back at what they did and the tailwind they gave him. it'll be interesting to watch this play out. 60% of republicans don't want donald trump to be the next president and i think haley and desantis, they are trying to get that attention. if someone has already decided donald trump, at this point in the game, you are not changing their mind. >> also, donald trump got a little bit of a blow back and i over his ad that he released

last weekend that presented him as god's choice. i mean, the criticism was pretty sharp. so it'll be interesting to see if that hurt him in iowa, not to say that necessarily that support then goes to haley or desantis but it could, give them a little bit of an opportunity to have a better showing than we might expect. >> these five days, here we are, we will see what's going to happen, thank you so much to both of you. we really appreciate it. hunter biden is not the only one that house republicans have in their crosshairs, they are also starting impeachment proceedings against secretary mayorkas , next we will talk with congressman d esposito, a republican on the committee pushing for impeachment. we're back in just a few minutes. stay with usus ..

today, the house homeland security is holding its first hearing to consider impeaching dhs secretary mayorkas, republicans have been targeting mayorkas over his leadership as migrant crossings have reached record highs in the border crisis becomes the defining campaign issue. in a statement, the committee spokesperson said it will ensure that the public is aware of the scope of secretary mayorkas's misconduct and refusal to enforce the law but also that this process is completed properly. democrats are calling this impeachment push meritless. joining us is a member of the homeland security committee anthony esposito. thank you for being with us. why impeach mayorkas? >> thanks for having me, and the homeland security

committee, the republicans have laid out over the last 13 months, a really comprehensive review and investigation into the dereliction of duty of secretary mayorkas, it's clear he has zero operational control at the southern border. we've set new records here in the united states, and they are not ones we should be proud of. we've seen almost 3.8 million individuals that have come across our borders since the president has taken office. we have nearly 1.8 million, that have come to this country, these are people that we know of that we have no idea who they are associating and what they're up to. that's in addition to the people who have come across the southern border and we have no idea, again, they are associating with. but we can't even account for them. this is a threat to our national security. quite frankly, he has betrayed this nation and there were

members of even the democrats today who said, an individual who betrays this nation deserves impeachment and i think everything we've laid out over this process and again, i'm someone who has spent a career in the nypd, most of it as an investigator and i did the homeland security committee led by chairman greene did an excellent job. it wasn't rushed, it was thorough, we laid out five phases of where mayorkas has failed the american people and failed his oath. >> those democrats are not arguing to impeach him, just to be clear. the got a ways are an estimate, you certainly expect that there are a lot of folks who are not apprehended. the latest data shows that during biden's presidency 4 million migrants have been expelled. also want to mention something that your republican colleagues, senator langford, said yesterday, here's what they said. >> the problem that mayorkas has that he's working for the president of the united states and these are the item policy so the problem is, president

biden's policies on the border, not mayorkas . >> you saying, clearly, you disagree, with the biden administration policy when it comes to admin -- immigration. he said it isn't about mayorkas, that this is about biden administration policies. what do you say to that? why focus on mayorkas then? >> clearly, mayorkas is following policies set forth by the biden administration, but the last time i checked, secretary mayorkas is the secretary of homeland security. he's the one that took an oath to protect the homeland, to protect us from enemies foreign and domestic and he is failing. you can look at it anyway, there have been polls that have been done, 75% of americans have said the southern border is a major issue, and those

just aren't republicans, those are republicans, democrats, i represent a district where democrats are more than republicans, and that's the biggest issue that's talked about on an everyday basis. we understand this is biden's policy but secretary mayorkas took an oath. when you take an oath, you have to overcome policies like that and make decisions based on the best interest of the american people and he is not doing that. >> many observers think that you're moving forward on impeachment just to impeach someone. and to that point, this is going to be going through the homeland security committee because there is resistance to doing this through the republican-led judiciary committee. as you mentioned, you come from a district that is not red, red, this is a biden district. does that not give you pause when i talk to you about the process of how this has to go through because there is resistance on the judiciary committee. >> well let's clear something up. it was a district that joe biden won in 2020.

it is clearly right now because we won it in 2022 and anticipate winning and again in 2024. in the last few elections, nassau county is entirely red from the city line out to the east end of suffolk county. long island is a bright shade of red. does it cause me pause? i said i looked at this investigation that the homeland security has done in the last months, it was confidence of, it was done in a manner in which we took our time, and it wasn't done on a partisan basis. you speak to individuals and look at my home state of new york. i mean you have the mayor of the city of new york whose a democrat who said that this issue is going to destroy the city of new york. the governor who's a democrat has said there's no room in new york. >> listen, we talked to chicago aldermen, a number of democrats who are frustrated with the biden administration. we've interviewed a number of them. but we look at what's happening

today, on the hill, the drama, you have the house gop, pursuing impeachment of president biden, pursuing impeachment of secretary mayorkas, floating doing that to defense secretary lloyd austin, floating doing that to ag merrick garland, shut down threatened, congressman chip roy, threatening to boot speaker johnson over the bipartisan spending deal, the suspension on the house floor over some of the more conservative or right members of your house conference there. what does all of this drama accomplish for the american people? what does it accomplish for your constituents? >> i don't see when we are setting records of people coming into this country illegally, i don't think that this is fanfare or theater. this is accomplishing that we are going to -- >> how does -- >> someone that --

>> how does impeaching him do anything about that? why not do some sort of bipartisan legislation which you actually -- >> there is, actually -- >> where you actually have an avenue to do that. >> there is actual legislation that's been passed by the republicans in the house and was sent over to the senate, nearly 220 days ago. -- >> your legislation -- >> if you want to talk -- >> if you want to talk about it, it's your legislation that pushes asylum-seekers to only legal points of entry and then does not increase any funding for that. >> it's 220 days, it's been 220 days instruction has received the secure the border act from house republicans. 220 days and only -- >> will i'm talking about -- >> you said you wanted to talk about your legislation, i'm talking about it. this is legislation that doesn't really make sense, i mean, your policy proposals in

it, are not backed up by any sort of funding that would actually pay for what you are calling to do. you want to allow children to go from being detained from three days to allowing it to be 30 days in adult detention facilities. >> we want to begin to secure our border but it's clear that the biden administration -- >> but those are nonstarters. you have a white house that is actually -- >> we are seeing numbers across the southern border that we've never seen before. since joe biden has taken office, we have seen record numbers of people come across the southern border. we have seen customs and border patrol agents who are flat out saying we do not have operational control of the southern border that in fact, cartels have operational control. >> and you are not proposing to

give them any more resources -- >> absolutely -- >> congressman, you have a white house that is in a unusual situation of actually being ready to negotiate, to change -- >> may i finish my sentence -- >> it's been 220 days. >> 220 days. >> may i finish my sentence? they are in an unusual place and this is the objective, talking about changing asylum, that just doesn't really happen. and that is not what you were talking about pursuing. you are a legislator, and you can pursue legislation and take advantage of that opportunity, why not? >> i'm not saying that we shouldn't but i'm saying it's been 220 days and only until recently has the white house decided to have any negotiation. so we've been doing our job, we set a bill over to the senate that could begin those conversations, could begin the negotiations and only until

recently and i would have to argue, it's only because the white house is playing politics because they see that their poll numbers are in the dumpster, and they know the election is less than 10 months or 11 months away, and now they want to see movement at the southern border and that's why they're making moves. the republicans have been doing the job we said we would do. we said we would hold us accountable that are making our country less safe and that's exactly what we are doing. >> it sounds like a situation you could take advantage of. congressman, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you, have a good one.

i think he's having a midlife crisis i'm not. you got us t-mobile home internet lite. after a week of streaming they knocked us down... ...to dial up speeds. like from the 90s.

great times. all i can do say is that my life is pre-- i like watching the puddles gather rain. -hey, your mom and i procreated to that song. oh, ew! i think you've said enough. why don't we just switch to xfinity like everyone else? then you would know what year it was. i know what year it is. here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today.

this just in, the pentagon gave an update on defense secretary lloyd austin's condition following his recent secretive hospitalization after surgery for prostate cancer. the secretary remains hospitalized at walter reed medical center and he is said to be in good condition. the pentagon says he's working and has quote, full access to required secure capabilities and continues to monitor dod's day-to-day operations worldwide. a specific date for his release from the hospital has not been given. today the white house is saying that who the rebels are going to, quote, bear the consequences for attacks in the red sea. this comes after one day after

the secretary of state called the biggest attack yet on shipping in that region. these images, from the british ministry of defense, which uk officials said deployed a warship to assist the u.s., the pentagon says the u.s. navy shut down a barrage of weaponry launched by the houthis including one way attack drones and one anti-ballistic missile. natosha, the houthis said why they launched the offensive, what do they say? >> they said this was in retaliation for the us military sinking three who the boats, they opened fire on the houthis because they were attempting to seize control of a commercial vessel in the red sea. you see this process of escalation playing out, they say they are retaliating against actions against the u.s. and the u.s. is retaliating against drone attacks being cared -- carried out by the houthis.

the united states is that they will bear the full consequences for this massive barrage of drone attacks, one of the largest that we've seen against red sea targets since the attacks began. and here's what the spokesperson said about it this afternoon. >> the goal isn't to contain the houthis, just to be clear. we don't want to see these attacks on commercial shipping and we will do it we have to do to defend against those attacks and as i said earlier, vivek ramaswamy, they've made certain decisions up to this time. they have to make certain decisions going forward and we will see what decisions they will make. >> a number of different parties telegraphing potential consequences against the houthis, including the secretary of state, anthony blinken, who is in bahrain

today meeting with the king and also in a readout, the secretary of state and the state department said they discussed the houthis's actions. we've also seen reaction from the uk defense secretary said to watch this space in terms of a potential retaliation against the houthis. it's something the u.s. has not been able to carry out, . they don't want to upend a very fragile peace deal that's been brokered by the u.s. in the last couple of years but still clearly, given this massive escalation, the u.s. is feeling pressure to respond in a meaningful way. >> thank you for the update. so he's no stranger to controversy but aaron rodgers recent comments about jimmy kimmel are getting him booted from an espn show where he's been a mainstay all year. the host, what he's now saying about the move.

aaron rodgers is done, no more, as a guest on pat mcafee show for the rest of the nfl season. the hose, making the announcement today after roger appeared on the show yesterday but did not apologize for his earlier conspiratorial rants. >> this decision might come as a relief to executives at disney, rodgers ignited controversy over the last week when he falsely suggested that jimmy kimmel, and late-night community on -- comedian on

abc might have been on documents connecting him to epstein. >> i'm sure that disney is relieved to try to put this chapter behind them. you know, rodgers, inspired a lot of controversy because he attacked kimmel, suggesting that he might appear in the epstein documents. but he also has been promoting a lot of conspiracy theories over the last few months, on pat mcafee's espn show. and people who tuned in got a taste of that. he was pushing medical misinformation about the vaccines, attacking dr. fauci, going after the media, even went after an espn executive, this is not what the network wants to be known for, so today, the host, coming out and saying, aaron rodgers is no longer going to be joining them

for the rest of the nfl season. now, i'm told that this is in direct response to rodgers and his behavior on the program. in past nfl seasons, rodgers has been a guest as the playoffs have been underway but that won't be the case this year, and frankly, pat mcafee who has a good relationship with roger, he pays them seven figures to come on the show, he also seemed relieved, take a look at what he said earlier today. >> there could be a lot of people that are happy with that, myself included. the way it ended, it got real loud. i'm happy that he's not going to be my mentions going forward, which is great news. i'm running my show. i keep my creative rights, 100%. >> he said this is not what he wants his show to be known for.

and so, i think espn, disney, they're looking to put this all behind them. >> very interesting to hear what he said there. oliver, thank you so much. stay with cnn news central, much more news, after the break.

breaking news into cnn , a tall ski resort combed for victims after an avalanche, a captain for cal fire said their teams have responded of multiple people trapped in the avalanche. this resort, palisades tahoe has closed both sides of the mountain for the rest of the day. chad myers is in the weather

center watching this for us. talk to us about this and what rescue teams are facing. >> heavy snow and wind gusting between 60 and 70 miles per hour today and some spots in the highest elevations warmer than that, higher than that, almost 90 miles per hour over the top of the ridges. it is still snowing right now and we have seen the snow for a while, the snow and the wind making a large drift on top of the mountain. the mountain top getting some snow, on top, that snow wants to fall down because of how steep the slope is, snow coming across the top and building up a snowdrift, all of a sudden the snowdrift does come down because of gravity. most they get the snowpack to fall down by itself but this one triggered something early this morning and the slope angle

at about 30 degrees. let me get rid of this to show you what we're talking about there is like tall, reno, san francisco, this is a high peak. k 22 is the left going all the way to the living valley. that court is what have been on top of this element. that snow drifting and waiting to fall. it did write down here towards olympic village. people saying this was a fairly big avalanche . this was not a small avalanche. search and rescue still going on. >> thank you so much for you look at that. we will stay on top of this news and bring you the very latest. we will take a quick break and we are back in moments. to duckduckgo on all your devie

duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today.

new details, when hunter biden made a surprise appearance at the hearing room this morning in the house oversight committee, many white house officials were caught by surprise. cnn has learned some officials only learned about his visit to the capitol in real time as they watched tv coverage of his unexpected move this is according to one senior white house official. we will keep a eye on the story and many others of the appearance by hunter biden which we will have in the next hour. thank you for joining us