special edition of america's news headquarters. it's been a pleasure. my colleague jon scott is up with the fox report live from new york next. i'm mike emmanuel. thanks for watching. you're looking at the old of senate chamber, swearing in day. >> the 117th congress is convening for first time as republicans in both chambers look to challenge president-elect joe biden's electoral college vi victory. good afternoon, i'm jon scott. this is a special edition of the fox report. ♪ >> on the agenda for today's rare sunday session of congress, newly elected and returning members take the oath of office and the house votes to elect a new speaker. nancy pelosi is looking to retain her hold on the gavel but she faces a narrow path. democrats' thin majority in the house could be thinner due to covid related absences and

potential defections. rich edson is standing by at the white house. first, let's go to chad pergram live from capitol hill. the house is voting on the speakership. give us a walk-through. >> reporter: the house, full house votes for speaker and the house as it was constituted this morning is 427 members. the winning candidate here, nancy pelosi, and kevin mccarthy, the house minority leader, has to have an outright majority of that entire house of representatives. if you have 427 people who of reported in today, the magic number is 214, as we look at the tally right now and this is just indicative as to where they are in the alphabet, kevin mccarthy has a little over 100 votes and nancy pelosi is at 84. now, keep in mind, the breakdown as it is right now in the house of representatives is 220 of democrats and 207 republicans so nancy pelosi will probably make up some distance there. the problem though is she can

only lose six votes. she lost 15 votes in the race for speaker two years ago. you have alyssa slotkin, who opposed pelosi two years ago she voted present and intends to do so again today. brett shrader, he voted two years ago for march sh -- marsha fudge. >> you say you have to have an outright majority of the members of the house who are flint the chamber. this isn't a situation if a handful of votes went for somebody besides nancy pelosi, that minority leader mccarthy could win the speakership? >> reporter: potentially. i mean, as we always say on capitol hill it's about the math, it's about the math, it's about the math. keep in mind, the house of representatives does start at a deficit, not the full complement of 435 members. luke letlow, the congressman-elect from georgia, passed away a couple of days

ago. you also have david valedayo and maria elvira salazar who contracted covid and they are not here. they're not members yet and probably won't be for a few days. you also have a seat in upstate new york, the 22nd district of new york, which has still not been called, the democrat and claudia tenney the republican. it will come down to the math. who is here today. you remember a couple weeks ago the denver broncos played a football game with a wide receiver practice squad player at quarterback. you go to the field today with the players that you have in the house of representatives, j of on. >> so the two republicans that you mentioned are not present in the chamber. there had been some fear that covid could keep some democrats away and prevent them from voting for nancy pelosi. but it appears that republicans have been hit harder by covid in this circumstance. >> >> reporter: we don't know the reasons why the members aren't here. you always have a couple people

absent on opening day. gwen moore tested positive. she's out of the woods right now. she is here right now. rick larsen from washington state is here as well. you also have, and they set it up in the gallery, it looks like a penalty box for hockey where you have plexiglass where some people who are in the post covid area are supposed to sit and not be on the house floor. >> the senate started today as well. the senate is not full strength either. >> reporter: that's right. one absence there, one vacancy is david perdue, republican of georgia. the reason is his term expired just before noon today. kelly loeffler, the other georgia senator, her term continues. she is fulfilling an unexpired term for johnnie isakson, the former republican georgia senator who she was appointed to take that seat. the senate will be sorted out. it's 51 in terms of republicans, 48 senators who caucus with the democrats. democrats are trying to win the

runoffs to get to 50/50. just because you get to 50/50, the senate doesn't necessary lick dictate who is in control as to whether or not the vice president actually casts the tie breaking vote. we've had power sharing agreements between democrats and republicans in the tied senate. >> chad, thanks. we'll check in later. the washington post reports it has new awe audio of president p ripping into georgia's secretary of state over election results. durintomorrow, the president trs to the peach state for a final rally on the eve of the high stakes runoff elections. rich edson is live with that. a group of the president's supporters in congress, including kelly loeffler, are planning to challenge joe biden's win when lawmakers meet. what are the biggest obstacles that face the senators that want to object.

>> reporter: the biggest obstacle is they don't have the votes necessarily to overturn it in the senate or the house. you would need the full house or full senate vote to do so. democrats control the house. it makes it almost entirely unlikely that that will happen. this is as the president is planning tomorrow to head to georgia, campaign for the two senate republican candidates there. but he is also ripping into local republicans. you mentioned it, the washington post has just reported on this audio that it said it obtained of the president speaking with the secretary of state, brad raffensperger. we don't have the independent audio on this, just what the washington post reported on. it appears that the president is pushing raffensperger to overturn the biden win there. >> the people of georgia are angry. the people of the country are angry and there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated. >> well mr. president, the challenge you have is the data

you have is wrong. >> reporter: the president says i want to do this, i just want to find 11,780 votes which is one more than we have because we won the state. that according to audio obtained by the washington post. the white house has no comment on all of this. senator chuck schumer, the top democrat in the senate, he's tweeted, quote, hey, senator ted cruz and his gang, you want to investigate election fraud, start with this. now, that's a reference to an effort from senator cruz, a number of other republicans, who say they are going to object next week when a joint session of congress officially counts the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. cruz says he also wants a commission to look into all of this, and audit the results of the election. >> we've got a vote on january 6th on certification and every member of congress faces a dilemma, two pretty lousy

choices. one, we can vote to certify, not consider any objections. if we do that, that will be heard by a lot of american as saying we don't think voter fraud is a real concern. >> there's a growing number of republican and democratic senators who are rejecting that effort. ten this morning just wrote, quote, further attempts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election are contrary to the clearly expressed will of the american people and only serve to undermine americans' confidence in the already determined election results. it will go down like this next week. democrats and republicans will watch the joint session of congress. if a member of the house and member of the senate objects to a particular state's vote total, they will vote on it. that can happen throughout the day. >> this is usually all so routine but nothing is routine in 2020 and 2021. thanks very much, rich edson on the north lawn.

both parties going all-in for their candidates ahead of tuesday's georgia senate runoff elections while president trump rallies for kelly loeffler and david perdue tomorrow, president-elect biden will be in atlanta to throw his support behind the democratic ticket. we have live fox team coverage. jacqui heinrich has more on the president-elect in delaware. we begin with steve harrigan in dalton georgia. steve. >> reporter: ordinarily in runoff races in georgia there's a huge dropoff in turnout. that is not the case this time around. more than 3 million people have voted early in these two senate runoff races which will determine which party controls the senate for the next two years. people are realizing how high the stakes are. it's interesting to note where the turnout is high across the state. some of the districts around atlanta, democratically controlled districts, that's where the turnout is at an 80% pace of the general election. the lowest places, dalton, below

70%, the turnout. so really the president is going to need a big turnout of rural republican voters, that's part of the reason he's coming here to dalton tomorrow night for an election eve rally to drive to drive republican election day rural voters to the polls. >> steve, thank you. more now on the big names traveling to georgia ahead of tuesday's high stakes runoff. president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris making appearances in the peach state to rally voters. jacqui heinrich is live in delaware with more on that. jacqui. >> reporter: good afternoon, jon. vice president-elect kamala harris is heading to georgia right now. the president-elect will go there tomorrow. the runoffs are going to determine biden's legislative reach in a lot of his signature campaign issues, importantly his promise to build on the affordable care act. this effort in the runoff supporting the democratic

candidates follows a considerable fund raising effort, propertiedly steered $18 million to john ossoff and raphael warnock's election bids. the team is using the campaign mailing list to solicit locations as well as robocalls, going out today across the state. not only would a democratic senate clear an easier path for biden's legislative initiatives. there's some thinking he's waiting on the runoff results to decide his pick for attorney general. biden denied that's the case. some key allies are lobbying for doug jones who lost the re-election bid. some are saying that jones could garner more bipartisan support than sally yates and democrats are concerned that if biden picks merrick garland, republicans could block him from filling garland's seat on the d.c. court of appeals if the gop continues to hold the senate. biden's team is brushing off news that republican senators will reject to certifying state electoral college votes, calling for an emergency audit of the

results. mitch mcconnell acknowledged biden as president-elect as cautioned his colleagues as putting them on the record to defy president trump, 11 senators have pledged to object. >> this is merely a formality. it certainly should be treated as such by people who are covering it and regardless of whatever antics anyone is up to on january 6th, president-elect biden will be sworn in on the 20th. >> reporter: so far, no reaction from team biden on that washington post report, the hour-long phone call between president trump and georgia secretary of state with the president urging georgia's elected officials to recalculate their findings in his favor. jon. >> jacqui, thanks. what can we expect in georgia and on capitol hill this week? joining us now, bret baier, he is the anchor of special report and co-anchor of our special georgia runoff coverage tonight

and tuesday. i was thinking earlier, what an unusual year. i mean, normally you're getting ready for a presidential inauguration. it's a pro forma kind of thing. but not this year. you've got the votes going on today on capitol hill, the vote coming up on tuesday which will determine control of the senate and you've still got arguments about the whole electoral process. mitch mcconnell is saying that the vote to certify the election is going to be the most consequential he has ever taken in his 36 years in the senate. let's jump off there. >> well, you're right, jon. good afternoon. i think that this is a time where in the midst as you look at the house floor here, in the midst of all of the challenge from the pratt and his allies dash dash president and -- president and his allies, that big things are happening in georgia. tuesday, the control of the u.s. senate which will dramatically change one way or the other how

the biden administration deals with its agenda. then have you the vote that's happening today, right now on the house floor, where speaker pelosi is likely going to be speaker again but it's very tight. she can only lose six votes in this vote today. and she's going to be steering a house where she can only lose four members really to get a legislative agenda forward. so it's a different washington and a lot will be determined this week, tuesday, here in georgia. >> nancy pelosi has essentially said this will be her last time trying to seek the speaker's gavel and some observers said that is likely to win her votes or support from others who thought it might be time for a change on the democratic side of the aisle, that if it's her last rodeo they will vote for her. does she have a serious challenger? >> she doesn't. she's running unopposed. however, she has as chad

mentioned in the earlier report lost members' votes standing up for one reason or another against her and they have voted present or not voted for her. and she can only afford to lose six of those. she lost 15 in the past. you're right, she is a legislative survivor. she has managed to herd the cats as far as getting votes in the past. she is likely going to get that as well today. again, it's tighter than they wanted and democrats lost some key races in 2020 that they weren't expecting to. >> and until -- there is this question about goa and his -- joe biden and his pick to be attorney general, that he may be waiting until after the georgia results to announce his pick. what is the thinking there or what is the strategy there from the incoming biden administration? >> well, we don't know his timing yet or what's behind the timing. we do know that that's a big pick for attorney general,

especially given the fact that we have confirmed the federal investigation against his son, hunter biden. and that pick is going to in joe biden's words be an independent by the law pick in how that investigation is going. that's what he says. so we've heard the names merrick garland, the judge. we've heard the former alabama senator, doug jones being tossed around. there could be other names around there including andrew cuomo of new york. it's up in the air and we don't know the timing as of yet for ag. >> i want to play for you a little bit of what ted cruz said this morning on sunday morning futures on this network. listen. >> we went into this election with the country deeply divided, deeply polarized and we've seen in the last two months unprecedented allegations of voter fraud. and that's produced a deep, deep distrust of our democratic process across the country.

i think we in congress have an obligation to do something about that, we have an obligation to protect the integrity of the democratic system. >> he wants to challenge the college, the electoral college votes coming up this week in the senate and he also wants an investigation but this is an issue that has even split the republican party, right, brett? >> well, it has. a number of senators speaking out about it including senator toomey from pennsylvania, senator romney from utah. moments ago, you had a group of gop house members including representative ken buck from colorado, saying that essentially congress has a very limited role when it comes to this and it's the state's job to certify the electors and congress can only accept them. it's not about deciding whether they're valid or not. ted cruz and other senators and senators-elect, now senators, want to have a commission to have an emergency audit of the disputed states. he says there's precedent for

this and points back to 1876 and the race against rutherford b hays and samuel tildon. back then there were three disputed states that were not certified and they didn't certify their electors. this time all of the states did certify their electors. back then congress did appoint a commission. they were dealing with states that didn't have certified electors. it's a different scenario. ken buck and others are pointing out the constitution has a strict road map about what to do. this has a lot to do with politics and possible 2024 runs for some of these people involved. >> fascinating week in washington and in georgia. brett, thank you. and remember, we are covering the georgia runoff elections from every angle beginning with special coverage, hosted by brett and martha mccallum, they also will anchor our election night coverage tuesday, beginning at 6:00 p.m. eastern

right here on fox news channel. in anticipation building on capitol hill, members of the house are now voting for the next speaker. nancy pelosi has a razor thin margin of error in her quest for a fourth term. so will she retain her gavel? plus, ted cruz and 11 other gop senators planning to object to the certification of the electoral college votes. is there any path to overturn joe biden's victory? age is just. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in café mocha flavor. for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage.

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jon: more now on two of our top stories. you're looking at live pictures from the floor of the house of representatives where the 117th congress is now an hour into voting for its next speaker. a process expected to take until 5:30 or so. nancy pelosi has a narrow path to a fourth term as speaker with the smallest democratic majority since world war ii. and some in her caucus hinting they want new leadership. she can only afford six defections. meanwhile, more drama on the senate side as 12 republicans plan to challenge the electoral college certification as a joint session of congress on wednesday. 11 of them led by texas senator

ted cruz demand an electoral commission conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election results. david hockings is the editor in chief at the fulcrum. david, thanks for being here on an interesting day in washington. let's start with nancy pelosi and the house vote. we said she can only lose four of her members. there are at least a couple who have expressed, i don't know, reservations i suppose you might say. listen to this from cory bush and jamal bowman. >> what i'm going to do is make sure that the voices of the people of st. louis are heard and we have what we need and so you'll find out then. >> you will find out when my vote is tallied. jon: so is nancy pelosi sweating this one, david? >> i think probably to be

honest, not. one thing nancy pelosi knows how to do is count votes. that's one of the reasons she has been speaker for as long as she's been. she's extremely adept knowing what her members are going to do and how they're going to do it. all the indications from her team is they know she's got the votes. they are confident that they are going to be victorious. as you reported in the past, two years ago the democrats had a much bigger majority and so, therefore, 15 of her fellow democrats voted against her. many of those were in swing districts and subsequently lost, just a handful now that are really keeping their powder dry as it were. a couple on the left like the two we heard from, a couple on the right, but i think she knows where the votes are and really the only mystery for her is have flights been he delayed getting into washington. i think we're having lousy weather today. are flights delayed, if somebody

becomes sick all of a sudden. those are the confusions. she knows the number that will vote against her. the number is small enough that she will survive for four more years. >> nancy pelosi will be the next speaker of the united states house of representatives. there is incredible enthusiasm for speaker pelosi because she's done the work and she's been a historic legendary legislative leader through incredibly turbulent times. jon: there are some people who crossed her and probably gone on to regret i she can be effective in taking revenge on those whose support is not 100%. >> that's true. she knows -- no leader -- most of these leaders, republicans and democrats, value candor and honesty. and the first rule of no surprises is tell me you're

going to do something, say these leaders, then you better do it. if you're going to vote against me, let me know in advance. yes, she knows you how to hold out the carrots and the sticks. one of the carrots that she's held out to critics that two years ago she said that if she was reelected two years ago she would serve for only two terms more. in other words, two years ago, and the coming two years. she has indicated that she will live up to that pledge and mr. jeffries works we just heard from, at this moment, two years from now is a lifetime in politics but mr. jeffries looks at the moment, probably like the favored candidate to be the next democratic leader of the house. jon: fascinating. david hockings of the fulcrum. david, thank you. >> thank you. jon: so it's out with the old, and in with the new. america's 117th congress is sworn in today. now many are looking ahead to wednesday when the certification of the electoral college vote,

usually a mere formality, will be a hold your breath moment for the dozen gop senators saying they plan to object to the joe biden victory. more on that, next. ♪ ♪ still warm. ♪ thanks, maggie. oh, alice says hi. for some of us, our daily journey is a short one. save 50% when you pay per mile with allstate. pay less when you drive less. you've never been in better hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today.

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jon: i'm jon scott and this is a special edition of the fox report. it's the bottom of the hour. if you're just joining us, here is a look at our top stories. the new 117th congress meeting for the first time today as we take a live look now, members being recorded as print as the house is in the mids midst of te process of determining whether nancy pelosi holds onto her gavel. the fbi says the man accused in the christmas day bombing in nashville mailed materials expressing views to several acquaintances across the country. federal authorities asking anyone who received them to contact the fbi.

and we're learning one person was killed and another hurt in a shooting at an east texas church this morning. a suspect is in custody after a high speed chase. the investigation is ongoing. for more on these and other stories, download the fox news app, scan the qr code on your screen or go to foxnews.com/apps. and this fox news alert. the latest on the republican effort to disrupt the electoral college's certification of joe biden's presidential victory. 11 senators and senators-elect led by ted cruz say they will object to the certification on wednesday unless there is an emergency audit of the results. missouri senator josh holly previously said he would object of to the certification, bringing the total number of senators planning to challenge biden's win to 12. mark meredith has more on that from washington. >> reporter: certifying the electoral college vote is traditionally a drama-free event. that will not be the case on

wednesday when at least a dozen republican senators say they'll join efforts to challenge the electoral college results. texas senator ted cruz is calling on congress to appoint an electoral college and allow for an 10-day audit of returns in some states. cruz spoke with maria bartiromo earlier today. >> we've seen in the last two months unprecedented allegations of voter fraud. that produced a deep, deep distrust of our democratic process across the country. i think we in congress have an obligation to do something about that. we have an obligation to protect the integrity of the democratic system. >> reporter: senate majority leader mitch mcconnell urged republicans not to join republicans in certification challenges. he acknowledged president-elect joe biden as the winner of the race. others are not on board with the challenge. senators toomey, sasse, murkowski, romney, challenging

to rethink the results. romney writing i urged my colleagues to reconsider the likely consequences of their actions where i fear they will do damage to our democracy that will not be easily repaired. senate democrats are promising to block what they call a long shot. chuck schumer writes to the president, quote, it won't happen. we won't let you steal joe biden's landslide win. while congress works of inside the capitol, police will likely see large crowdout side. thousands are expected to gather in d.c. on wednesday to protest. jon: mark meredith in washington. thank you. we are continuing our coverage of the new congress, convening today, with the house now in the midst of voting for a new speaker. as that coalition of republican senators move ofs forward with plans to -- moves forward with plans to object to the biden victory. judith miller, adjunct fellow at the manhattan university for

research, also a journalist and author. it is the last go-round for nancy pelosi, she has said she would not seek her speaker's gavel another time. do you see any possibility that she does not get reelected as speaker of the house? >> well, we'll know for sure, jon, in a couple of hours. i want to say that i've watched nancy pelosi for a long time. she's a pro. she's an expert vote counter. and even though this margin is extremely thin, as we've already discussed, six votes, if she loses six votes it's over, i think she's pretty confident that she's going to hang in there. but you know, while we're focusing on the democrats and her struggle, i really think we ought to be looking at poor mitch mcconnell who is facing discord and disarray within his own party. so i think this congress, 117th, is going to be very, very different from anything we've seen before.

jon: mcconnell has indicated that he thinks that this challenge of the electoral vote that senator ted cruz and others intend to mount, that it's foolishness and mcconnell says he's going to be voting to certify the results of the election. >> and that's extraordinary, because usually when mitch mcconnell says let's do this, the republicans in lockstep follow behind him because it's paid off wonderfully for them. the fact that he has rebellion by what's being called the dirty dozen or the we love donald trump more than democracy dozen suggests that mitch mcconnell is really losing control of his organization -- of his party, of his commanding lead and his leadership role. so i think the fact that mitch mcconnell recognized president-elect biden before vladimir putin, i mean, just after vladimir putin, and the fact that 12 republicans,

important republicans, still said no, no, no, we're going to suck up to the president while he's still there, suggests that he's going to have just as hard a time as nancy pelosi is going to have with the new congress. jon: right now, we know what mcconnell's leadership position looks like. he's got 50 o 5 republicans for- 506 of republicans for sure in the in-- 50 republicans in the incoming senate. he would like to have 52 if republicans can win the two senate seats in georgia. have you to imagine that he's a little disturbed at president trump for having figuratively rolled a grenade in the senate in his demand for the $2,000 stimulus checks. mcconnell thinks that that's too much money, that it's not targeted well and it's going to benefit a lot of rich people who don't need it but the president has been adamant about it and he's made it one of his rallying cries in the waning days of his time in office. >> it's really amazing, jon, to be the ---to me, the extent to

which president trump seems to be determined to undermine mitch mcconnell who has done so much for hi him in the u.s. senate. it wasn't only disagreeing with him on the stimulus. it's also the conversation today with the georgia election official, which really throws a grenade in the way of the 12 -- the effort by the 12 to upend this election. they are trying -- donald trump's call was really an a indication that he's trying to rig this election. the georgia official would not go along with that, even if they face death threats from outraged supporters of donald trump. i think mitch mcconnell has his hands full. i think he's been very, very constrained and he fought so hard for the president's program for so long and now he's not being paid back with any degree of loyalty but we shouldn't be surprised. this is the way donald trump has always conducted his presidency.

he's conducting it at the end just as he did at the beginning. jon: interesting. judith miller, i'm sure you'll be watching it with us. thank you, judy. >> i will be. thank you. jon: an army drill sergeant found dead in her car along a texas interstate. next, what we are learning about the investigation. alright, i brought in ensure max protein to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't. [grunting noise] i'll take that. woohoo! 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. ensure max protein. with nutrients to support immune health. - hey kaleb, what's up? how you doing? - hey, i'm good, guess what,

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here. grim records for new cases and fatalities are being reported in north carolina, arizona and in california where a hospital's efforts to spread some christmas cheer may have backfired big-time. 44 emergency room staffers at kaiser hospital in san jose have tested positive for the virus after an employee showed up on christmas day wearing an air pow 0:weared costume. -- air powered costume. investigators say the fan inside the costume may have spread infected air droplets all over the hospital. another hospital outbreak in washington state, 30 patients at the peace health medical center in vancouver got the virus after they were admitted for different health issues. here in los angeles, some hospitals are turning into morgues and a number of funeral homes say they are being inundated with so many bodies, they're having to turn families away, just heart-breaking to think about that. doctors and nurses say they are simply overwhelmed.

>> it's so difficult to hear the words that there's 13 icu patients waiting at er, there's nine icu patients waiting at er, and they need icu beds. >> reporter: among those who are being cared for in the hospital, talk show host larry king, the 87-year-old was admitted to cedars sinai hospital more than a week ago and he is in a high risk group, having survived heart attacks, lung cancer and diabetes. hospitals around the country are keeping an eye out for the highly contagious variant from the u.k. that's shown up in california, florida and colorado. mainly among people with no recent travel history, at least six cases confirmed so far. this as the nation's mass vaccination effort sputters along, just over 4 million americans vaccinated so far. that's about a third of the doses that have been

distributed. jon. jon: claudia cowen, from los angeles. the army and texas police are investigating the death of a drill sergeant, 3 30-year-old jessica mitchell found dead in her car early new year's day. local media reports the vehicle had been shot at multiple times. alex hogan is tracking the story for us. alex. >> reporter: hi, jon. well, that army sergeant was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, jessica mitchell was also a mother to a 10-year-old son. it was just after 2:00 a.m. on new year's day when investigators found the challenger. the car was in the left lane of the highway, creating a m a haz. inside the vehicle, police finding the body of sergeant jessica mitchell. loved ones say she had posted on social media just hours before. >> it was the same video of her

partying, having a good time, being jessica, you know. ringing in the new year. and then shortly after it, you know, it was just tooken from her. we heard there was no witnesses but it's a highway, somebody had to see something. >> reporter: the 30-year-old was a dental specialist with the u.s. army medical center of excellence. she was stationed in houston, currently on holiday leave. the commander general responding our sincere condolences go out to family and friends. we are supporting the family and the soldiers during this extremely difficult time. three and-a-half years jessica mitchell's younger brother was also shot and killed. he was 18 years old. their father speaking out about losing two of his children. >> why do people want to take other people's life?

and when it happens, they react and they say oh, i messed up. oh. but when you mess up, you can't get back that person's life. it affects the whole family and friends. >> reporter: mitchell's father adding that he urged his children to do better than he had. he said he was proud of his daughter's military career which was only just beginning. jon. jon: what a tragedy, alex hogan in new york city. alex, thanks. iran is reportedly threatening revenge for the killing of top general qassem soleimani one year ago today. the latest on that from the middle east, next.

jon: tens of thousands of iraqis rallying in baghdad today, one year after a u.s. drone strike killed a top iranian general and an iraqi military leader at an airport in the iraqi capital. this as iranian state media reports tehran's defense minister is threatening revenge for those killings. trey yingst is following all of this live from our mideast bureau. trey. >> reporter: good afternoon. the middle east is on edge tonight, fearing an attack by iran. today does mark the one year anniversary of iranian general qassem soleimani being killed in

a u.s. drone strike in iraq. thousands gathered today in baghdad's martyr square to protest, many of these people members of iraqi shy it militias. they burned flags and held signs saying hey u.s. get out from iraq. they will get their wish when americans formally withdraw hundreds of troops who were in iraq to help with the fight against isis. this weekend in iran the death was remembered as mourners lined up to visit his grave site. his replacement spoke at a ceremony, saying american activities in the region won't deter iran from its plans. iran's judiciary chief spoke, threatening retaliation. there are ongoing calculations here in jerusalem and also washington and tehran about who actually benefits from possible military action. though with rising tensions in the region, any single event could spark a larger conflict. jon. jon: trey yingst from jerusalem. trey, thank you.

well, the 117th congress convenes today with the house now casting its vote for speaker. as nancy pelosi faces a very fair rove path to -- narrow path to keeping her leadership position. a look at the numbers game, next. for every trip you've been dreaming of, expedia has millions of flexible booking options. because the best trip is wherever we go together. it's velveeta versus the other guys. clearly, nothing melts like velveeta. ♪

jon: a fox news alert, and right now the 117th congress is casting votes for its next speaker of the house. california congresswoman nancy

pelosi will need support from 214 house democrats for re-election. there are 222 democrats in the house, but because of attendance issues, she needs 214 votes today. so far there have only been two defections on the democrat side, maine congressman jared golden voted for illinois senator tammy duckworth, and pennsylvania congressman conor lamb voted for house democratic caucus chairman hakeem jeffries, so she needs, as we said, 214 votes to retain her speaker's gavel. all indications are that she is not going to have trouble keeping her gavel this time. she said it would be her last race, her last time running for speaker of the house. so we will continue to watch the vote as it comes in. that's how fox reports at this hour. i'll be back at 5 p.m. eastern,

coming up live at 6 p.m. eastern i'll interview ohio senator rob portman and congresswoman jody hice. congressman jody hice. eric: well, it's a big day on capitol hill. the 117th congress is now officially getting underway. the house right now in the middle of what is expected to be a very narrow vote on whether or not nancy pelosi will be reelected as house speaker. hello, everyone, welcome to "america's news headquarters," i'm eric shawn. huh, molly. molly: hello, eric, and i am mollly lewin in for arthel nfl. -- molly line. the ability to vote remotely does not car ily over from the last congress, and that means everybody has to show up in person. and since democrats hold this historically narrow majority, absences could make