jon: take a live look at capitol hill where the 117th congress officially got underway today. and the house just a short time ago reelecting nancy pelosi as speaker. it is her fourth term holding the gavel. welcome to a brand-new hour of america's news headquarters. i'm jon scott. with democrats holding an historically narrow majority and the pandemic keeping some lawmakers home, pelosi won the speakership by eight votes with two members voting for other democrats. here's what some on both sides of the aisle were saying earlier today. >> 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. >> she's going to have to work with people more, she's going to have to keep her word. last time she said she would be moderate, would work with the moderates. you saw that obviously she didn't. she said there absolutely would not be impeachment. you saw that there was. jon: let's bring in chief congressional correspondent, mike em jua emmanuel. it is another two years of nancy pelosi as madam speaker, mike. >> good afternoon. there's no doubt about it. she won. she holds onto the speaker's gavel. with the gavel comes a lot of headaches because you've got the energy on the progressive left, the members of the so-called squad, alexandria ocasio-cortez, ilhan omar, rashida ray shy ra. they feel the energy from the party with them. you saw today some democrats

from moderate districts voting present or voting against her, signaling they're not ready to go along with the entire progressive agenda. so it will be interesting to see how speaker nancy pelosi navigates that. she certainly knows how to count of votes in her caucus but some would suggest this is looking at two years of gridlock because it's going to be hard to pass things through this narrow majority that she has in the house of representatives. jon: looking back at 2018, there were 10 democrats who voted against her to be speaker of the house. she either did a better job of counting the votes this time or -- i don't know, she seemed to get more support as you said, only a handful voted against her this time. >> yeah, i think there's some arm-twisting and the reality was today there was not really another viable option if you're a democrat, you're going to vote for kevin mccarthy, no. basically it was like take speaker nancy pelosi or of embarrass the party by voting for kevin mccarthy or put in some other name but ultimately

she knows how to twist arms. she's been around this game for an awfully long time and she can go to people and say, you know, look, i need you today. i hear what you're saying. going down the road, i won't ask you to take some of these tough votes. bottom line, there will be plenty of headaches over the next couple years as there's a fight for the direction of the democratic party going forward over the next couple years. jon: here's where the numbers stand. 222 democrats, 211 republicans, two seats are vacant because of the untimely death of -- i'm sorry, the congressman from louisiana, luke -- letlow. there we go. as well as race in upstate new york that is not decided yet. there are republicans -- i'm sorry, democrats enjoy an 11 seat advantage but in electoral politics or in congressional politics, that's not much, mike. >> well, you're absolutely

right, jon. look, let's be honest. over the past four years what unified the democratic party was president trump being in the white house. with him leaving, basically you're going to see different factions step up and say go more moderate, go more liberal. you'll see a lot of battling back and forth and moderates saying if we go with the left agenda then i'm going to lose my seat next time and so i can't vote that way and so it will be interesting to see if there's a strategy to try to take a centrist path, but then you lose some of the energy on the progressive left and so those are all headaches that speaker nancy pelosi and her leadership team get to work out over the next couple years. jon: one of the first items of business for the new congress is certifying the electoral college results. that takes place on wednesday, the day after the georgia elections. as you well know, mike, ted cruz is leading a band of a dozen or so republican senators who want to call for a commission to

investigate the voting returns before they will vote to certify the electors. lindsey graham has some thoughts on that. he does not sound impressed. listen. >> listen, i wish the supreme court had taken this case. there were two opportunities to take this case. one out of pennsylvania, one out of texas. unfortunately, the court declined to take those cases, we don't have the court stepping in to resolve it. that's why i think congress has responsibility. we have an independent obligation to the rule of law. jon: that obviously is senator ted cruz of texas telling why he wants this commission created to audit the election results. lindsey graham said this, and i am supposed to read it on screen. i thought we had him speaking. he says proposing a commission at this late date which has zero chance of becoming reality is

not effectively fight forge president trump. it appears to be more of a political dodge than an effective remedy. pretty interesting, coming from lindsey graham, a guy who is quite close to president trump, mike. >> you're absolutely right. over the past couple minutes i've been talking about democratic divides. this is an issue that's dividing the republicans in the senate and majority leader mitch mcconnell does everything in his power to avoid exposing divides in his congress but this is definitely exposed one. you have the josh holly types from missouri, pushing forward, saying let's challenge the electoral college results when they meet later this week. mcconnell would like to put that aside, would like to keep republicans together. lindsey graham saying that this commission idea is not going to go anywhere, that it's just too late, basically for that. and so you've got republicans in different camps and so it's going to be fascinating to watch. there's going to be fireworks on capitol hill because you've got a lot of house republicans who say there were shenanigans in

this election and we should fight until the very end and so it promises to be a long and spirited debate on the sixth when it's usually ceremonial, rubber stamping the election results. jon: the 116th congress was full of fireworks of, it appears that 117th will get off the same way. mike, thank you. >> buckle up. jon: so president trump is gearing up to visit the peach state tomorrow to campaign for republicans in the runoff election that will decide which party controls the senate and really the direction of things in washington. this as the washington post obtains audio of the president telling georgia's republican secretary of state to, quote, find the votes to give him the win in that state. meanwhile, mike pence's chief of staff says the president welcomes republican efforts to challenge electoral college results on wednesday. rich edson is following it all from the white house.

>> reporter: good evening, jon. as president trump is preparing to campaign for the senate republicans who are running in the special election in georgia, he is ripping local republicans in that state, all according to the washington post which has this audio phone call between president trump and the secretary of state there, brad raffensperger. that's in which the president is pushing raffensperger to flip the results of the georgia election. >> i just want to find 11,780 votes which is one more than we have. because we won the state. so tell me, brad, what are we going to do? we won the election and it's not fair to take it away from us like this. >> reporter: fox news has not independently obtained this audio. the white house has no comment. raffensperger has confirmed the call to fox news and now biden's senior advisor says, quote, we now have proof of a president

pressuring and threatening an official of his own party to get him to rescind a state's lawful certified vote count and fabricate another in its place. it captures the whole disgraceful about donald trump's assault on american democracy. this is all ahead of wednesday, when congress is going to officially count the votes of the 2020 presidential election and in that you now a number of senate republicans say they will object. >> dismissing these claims, i think does real violence to our of democratic system. we ought to have a serious, fair process and tribunal to consider these claims, consider they'll quickly, we can do it in 10 of days before the inauguration. >> reporter: other republicans oppose the effort. senator mitt romney says, quote, members of congress who would substitute their own party judgment for that of the courts do not enhance public trust. they impair a rieperil it.

mike pence will preside over the session where they count the votes on wednesday. he supports efforts to object if they want to. back to you. jon: rich, thank you. well, it's been more than two decades since a sitting president visited dalton, georgia. president trump is counting on his rally there tomorrow to help reelect republicans david perdue and kelly loeffler to the senate. perdue has been in quarantine after potential exposure to coronavirus. loeffler has been crisscrossing the state this weekend, trading barbs with her democratic opponent, raphael warnock. >> the future of the country is on the line. we are the firewall, stopping socialism. chuck schumer wants to raise taxes on every hard working georgian, usher in the green new deal. my opponent, raphael warnock, would of be a rubber stamp for these radical ideas. >> right now, kelly loeffler should be standing with the people of georgia. instead, she is with those that

would undermine the voices of the people of georgia. jon jon: steve harrigan is live for us in dalton right now. steve. >> reporter: those clips give you a flavor of the bitter battle between these four opponents to see who will control the senate for the next two years. the early voting has been tremendously high. ordinarily there's a dropoff when it comes to runoff elections in georgia. more than 3 mill peopl million d early. some of them are new voters, just turned 18 after the general election, before the runoff vote. when you look across the state, it's interesting where turnout is high. it's especially high in democratically controlled districts around atlanta. about 80% of the clip of the general election. it is extremely low here in northwest georgia. this is republican territory. dalton in the 14th district running about 69% of the general election vote.

it's uncertain what role the president has played so far in turnout. he has criticized repeatedly the voting process in georgia. he called the two senate runoff elections illegal and invalid and yet he is coming here to dalton tomorrow night for an election eve rally to try to drive republican turnout. jon, back to you. jon: steve, thank you. well, two days out from georgia's much-anticipated runoff elections, vice president kamala harris is in the state today campaigning on behalf of democrats john ossoff and reverend raphael warnock. president-elect joe biden will be campaigning in atlanta tomorrow. jacqui heinrich is live in delaware with the latest. jacqui. >> reporter: good evening, jon. vice president-elect kamala harris is in georgia right now. the president-elect will head there tomorrow in this last major push for democratic control of the senate, comes ahead of gop senators planning to object to congress'

certification of the electoral college results. but a bipartisan group of senators condemn that plan today, saying the senators risk eroding faith over unfounded allegations of fraud. the group wrote in part, the 2020 election is over, all challenges to recounts and appeals have been exhausted. at this point further attempts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election are contrary to the will of the american people and only serve to undermine americans' confidence in the already determined election results. the incoming white house press secretary down played the significance of the planned objection, calling it a formality, expressing no concern it would impact the inauguration. the president-elect has not spoken on the planned objection vote, saying over the holiday weekend, laying low and tweeting here's my promise to you, i will be a president to all americans, whether you voted for me or not. biden's team is keeping the focus on turning out the vote in georgia.

reportedly steering about $18 million towards john ossoff and raphael warnock's election bid. also using campaign mailing list to solicit donations and today robocalls featuring messages from biden and harris are also going out of acros across the s. >> they want to leave no vote unturned and no voter un-- make sure they're speaking to every voter and the campaign asked them to do it. i think it speaks to how much their message resonates and how we're taking no vote for of granted. >> reporter: the runoff will determine biden's legislative reach on some of the biggest campaign promises including the promise to build upon the affordable care act. jon. jon: jacqui heinrich, live in delaware. thank you. we are covering the georgia runoff elections from every angle, starting with a special hosted by bret baier and martha mccallum tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern. on the eve of the runof runoff s

tomorrow, president trump will hold a rally in dalton, georgia, making a final push for the two republicans and brett and martha will return for election night special coverage, tuesday, 6:00 p.m. eastern right here on fox news channel. now this fox news alert from capitol hill where nancy pelosi very narrowly won a fourth term as speaker of the house a short time ago. we expect to hear from both republicans and democrats on that coming up. age is just a nu. 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.

jon: a fox news alert. a brand-new congress to be led by a familiar face, nancy pelosi being introduced now as the speaker of the 117th congress. let's listen in for just a moment. >> it is my honor to welcome you to the first day of the 117th congress. we're here with the support of our families, and the faith of our neighbors to be their voice in washington. since congress first sat in this room, americans have always found a way to ensure that their needs were top of the mind. in fact, when abraham lincoln served here, members of congress

only had small desks on the house floor to store their work. one of those desks now sits in the cannon office building tunnel. as members travel back and forth to the nation's capitol, they are compelled to carry all of their work with them. there were no filing cabinets. no servers in the cloud or offices. their desk was their office. members rarely went anywhere without physical librarying their constituents' concerns with them. these small desks are a timeless reminder to every american that the house is made to represent you, the people. and that it is the responsibility i welcome and embrace every day. today, however, it's easier than ever to neglect or ignore this responsibility. from social media, to special interest groups, to the culture

police, there are endless temptations to distract from why we are here and who is truly important. sadly, the last congress suffered from this neglect. in this chamber two years ago, the speaker spoke of a new dawn for the middle class. for the next two years, the majority was consumed with everything else. during some of the most challenging times for our country, i felt congress was on the sidelines. when the need for more pandemic relief was obvious, did we deliver in a timely lifeline america needed. or did we say nothing was better than something until poll of ticks dictated our ac-- politics dictated our actions. when unrest spilled into the cities across the country, did we deliver safety that americans wanted? or did we let calls to defund the police intimidate us from

protecting life, liberty and property? [ indiscernible ] >> when americans relied on essential workers to keep our country moving, did we serve the people's house in a way americans deserved? or did we shrink and reward members who stayed home, skipped work and still got paid? the unfortunate answer to these questions underscore why the last congress was the least productive congress in 50 years. it has been said that a house divided cannot stand. well, there's any lessons that americans have learned in the last two years it is this. a house distracted cannot govern. i wish i could say that the majority in congress is committed to changing for the common good and focusing on what really matters. but i'm concerned about the early actions are pointing in

the wrong direction. tomorrow this majority of the new 117th congress plans to adopt new rules that would silence our constituents' voices in congress. those rules thrown away for more than 100 years of representation in our nation's capital, by effectively killing the key opportunity to amend legislation. worse, they would pe penalize ay members that share views that those in the media deem fake. they would make it an ethics violation that is usually reserved for bribery or corruption. under these rules, all members are equal but some are more equal than others. for our constituents it means freedom of speech is silence, good ideas are stifled and

descent is punished. why would an american political party use this as the first action in congress? perhaps feel the urgency to protect their political careers. given the message that the american people sent to washington, the grip is slim and the majority is slimmer. two months ago to this very day the american people said enough. enough with politicians who dictate what you can say, where you can eat, or whether you can go to church. enough politicians who ignore the stay-at-home lockdowns they impose on the rest of us. enough with arrogance and hip hypocrisy. americans are fed up with it and we republicans are too. as a party of lincoln, republicans understand what it means to carry our constituents' concerns with us at all times. we are growing, working class coalition of proud americans,

more energetic, united, and confident than ever before. we believe in the exceptionalness of this nation and are not afraid to say it. we listened to our constituents, we heard how things need to change and we made a commitment to america to restore a way of life, rebuild the economy, and renew the american dream. that's what we campaigned on. that's what we offered at every district and as the voices of the people matter, that's how we plan to govern. the response from the american people to our commitment was resounding. even though we were out-spent and district by district no republican incumbent was defeated. none. [ applause ] >> all across this country, voters endorsed common sense, not conflict.

it was a referendum against a radical agenda to defund the police and punish hard work. it was a wake-up call. the question i ask of this congress, were we listening? as we enter the new congress i ask every member to step out of your office, go to the cannon tunnel, look at that small desk and ask yourself what is in your desk? here is what is in mine. as a son of a fireman i know how our police officers and first responders put everything on the line to keep us safe. i will never, never, never vote to defund them. [ applause ] >> can we make that same commitment to america? as a former small business owner, i understand how tough things can be even in the best of times.

as we battle the coronavirus, our small businesses are battling lockdowns. they're destroying livelihoods and making it impossible to beat the odds so i will not hike their taxes. can we make that same commitment to america? [ applause ] >> as a fourth generation central valley member from california, i represent farmers and oilfield workers who rise at the dawn to go to work, who pray to god and raise the next generation of good, decent citizens. i will respect their individuality and their freedom and i will not forget them. can we keep that commitment to america? [ applause ] >> no more misplaced priorities. the american people deserve

better. america's worth fighting for. the rights and dreams are worth fighting for. their voices are worth fighting for and most of importantly their voices are worth being heard on this floor. during the darkest days of the civil war when this nation was literally burning with division, abraham lincoln advised us to strive to maintain the government and institution of our fathers, to enjoy them ourselves and to transmit them to our children and our children's children forever. he was right then. he is right now. and for the sake of the many generations to come, we need to succeed now. with that, i want to congratulate the speaker. i do not have the gavel. [laughter] >> madam speaker, as i hand you this gavel, i ask you keep in

mind all the voices in america that have a voice on this floor. [ applause ] [cheers and applause] >> thank you, my friends. members of congress, families, friends, welcome all. as speaker of the house, it is my great honor to preside over this sacred ritual of renewal,

as we gather under the dome of this temple of democracy to begin the 117th congress. [ applause ] >> thank you, leader mccarthy. congratulations on your election as leader. i look forward to working with you to meet the needs of the american people during this great moment of challenge. as the leader knows, usually on this day, the day of our swearing in, there is a bipartisan church service that we all attend where we pray together for america. until that is possible again, let us all pray personally. pray that let there be peace on earth and let it begin with us. that is our recurring theme. [ applause ]

>> and our prayers as we all know are very needed now. as we are sworn in today, we accept a responsibility as daunting as demanding as any previous generation of leadership has ever faced. we begin this new congress during a time of extraordinary difficulty. each of our of communities has been drastically, drastically affected by the pandemic and its economic crisis. 350,000 tragic deaths. we sadly carry them in our hearts. over 20 million infections. millions without jobs. a toll beyond comprehension. to our new members, and we will be welcoming them soon to swear them in, welcome and

congratulations on your election to the united states house of representatives. [ applause ] >> as our founders intended, our democracy will be reinvigorated by the vibrancy and di dynanism of the communits that you represent and to our returning members, congratulations to you and your families for your re-election. as we open the new congress, we grieve the passing of congressman-elect luke letlow. we send our deepest sympathy to his wife, julia, and their children and are praying for them at this sad time. we carry this symbol of louisiana in a bipartisan way in his honor. our congress also suffered another sad loss this week with the passing of jamie and sarah

raskin's son tommy, our hearts are broken for them and i hope it is a comfort to them that so many, many mourn their loss. each of us comes to this chamber of course strengthened by our constituents but with the love of our families. thank you to the families of our members for sharing your loved ones with the congress and with the country that is a sacrifice, we know. personally, i want to thank my husband, paul, our five children, nancy, corrine, christine, jacqueline, paul and alexandra, our nine grandchildren and my family from baltimore, maryland. with me in spirit are my mother and for an father and brother t. my parents taught us through their example that public service is a noble calling and we all have a responsibility to help others.

italian american proud of our italian heritage, fiercely patriotic americans, devoutly catholic, and staunchly democratic, we saw that as connected. and in that spirit, i thank my constituents in san francisco, san francisco, california, who have entrusted me to represent them in the spirit of st. francis, the patron saint of our city. whose anthem, the song of st. francis, is our anthem of our city, lord, make me a channel of thy peace. i thank my democratic colleagues in the congress for the confidence you have placed in me, electing me speaker and will endeavor to meet the moment with courage, unity and grace and especially thank the distinguished chair of the caucus, mr. jeffries, chairman jeffries, for his very generous

nomination. thank you, mr. jeffries. [ applause ] >> it gives me great pride to serve as speaker of the most diverse house of representatives in the history of our country. with a record shattering 122 women, 12 122 women. [ applause ] >> you can applaud that. 122 women. [ applause ] >> 100 years after women won the right to vote. now let us take a moment to give thanks to our courageous service members in uniform, our veterans and families and caregivers, whose service makes us the land

of the free and the home of the brave. [ applause ] >> our promise to them is that congress will continue to work in a bipartisan way to build a future worthy of their sacrifice. as we look forward to the new congress, let us take a moment to remember three champions of democracy we lost during the 116th congress. each honored by lying in state ceremony in the united states capitol. in the fall last year we said good-bye to mr. chairman, elijah cummings. our north star who said when we're dancing with the angels, a question will be asked, what did

you do to be sure we kept our democracy intact? he is dancing with the angels now. this past spring we said good-bye to our beloved colleague, john lewis. the consistent shuns of the congress who would say when you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you must speak up. and it would remind us to make good trouble. good trouble. and in the fall we memorialized justice ruth bader ginsburg, one of the most brilliant legal minds in our history and a champion for equality would once said right here in the capitol, some of you were there perhaps in the hall, who said here in the capitol, about women, once the door is open, there is no stopping us. [ applause ] each of their memories is a

source of strength and inspiration to us as we approach the challenges ahead. scripture tells us that to everything there is a time, a season, a time for every purpose under the heavens, a time to build, a time to sow, a time to heal. now is certainly a time for our nation to heal. our most urgent priority -- [ applause ] >> our most urgent priority of will continue to be defeating the coronavirus and defeat it we will. [ applause ] >> and defeat it we will. [ applause ] >> two weeks ago we passed an

emergency relief package to crush the virus and put money in the pockets of workers and families which is now the law. but we must be more to recognize our heroes. let us thank our heroes, our healthcare workers, our first responders, our police and fire, whom we have denied support by denying help to state and local government. our transportation, sanitation, food and social workers, and our teachers, our teachers, our teachers, they make our lives possible at the state and local level and will pass. heatherfacilitate thedistributia fair and equitable manner. we owe them more. [ applause ] >> many of our essential workers are from communities of color and low wealth. they have been devastatingly and disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. they have been there for us. we must be there for them.

[ applause ] >> with president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris, who were elected two months ago from today -- [ applause ] >> the house will continue our work to save lives and livelihood, to build back better in a way that advances justice in america. indeed the pandemic has pulled back the curtain and shown even worsened disparities in our economy and our o society. we must pursue justice, economic justice, justice in health, racial justice, environmental and climate justice, the list goes on. every morning in this chamber we

take a pledge. one nation, under god, indies ii visible with liberty and justice for all. every day, the congress must live up to that pledge. to advance justice i'm establishing a bipartisan select committee on economic disparity and fairness and growth to combat the disparity of income and growth that undermine faith in america's promise for a better future for our children. working with the committees of jurisdictions, the select committee will recommend proposals that power fair economic growth to make our economy work for everyone. in all that we do, let us be for the people, recognizing the beautiful diversity of america so that no one is left out and

no one is left behind. we do so guided by the vision of our founders, the sacrifice of our military and their families, and the aspirations that we all have for the children. to do so, we need god's blessing. may god bless all of us, god bless all of you, god bless our men and women in uniform and their families, service members and their families, our veterans, and may god bless america. thank you all very much. it's my honor. thank you. [ applause ] jon: nancy pelosi who at the age of 80 is beginning her fourth term as speaker of the house elected by her caucus earlier today. she is about to be sworn in. let's listen.

>> surrounded by children, but of course covid has prevented that. but they are our purpose for the children. i ask the dean of the house of representatives, the honorable don young ofal as ca alaska to administer the oath of office. mr. dean. [cheers and applause] >> madam speaker, before i issue the oath, i would like to take the privilege as the dean, i've been in this house longer than anybody else. i've served with you longer than anybody else has served with you. >> that's right. >> i love this institution. i will be honest, i do not like what i see. it's time we hold hands and talk to one another. [ applause ]

>> and madam speaker, i say this with all sincereity. you will be the speaker of the house. not of a party. that may hurt some of you. the job of our of nation is for the house of representatives to govern this nation. it was never meant to be the executive branch. it was never meant to be the judicial branch. this house that raises the money and dedicates how it shall spend and we are representing the people as we're elected. [ applause ] >> and i say this with all sincerity, madam speaker, that when you do have a problem or

there's something so contentious, let's sit down and have a drink. [ applause ] >> hear, hear. >> and solve those problems for the good of this nation, for this institution, and as you said, for the future children of this great nation. we can do it as a body. i ask you that, as the dean to the new speaker. i ask you to try to attempt to do that with our leader. we can do it together. i'll yield back the balance of my time. now i'm going to swear you in. if the gentlemenwoman from california would raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and ahelpevehelp lee januaries to te -- allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation without

any reservation and you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office which you are about to enter, so help you god,. >> i do. >> madam speaker, congratulations. >> thank you. [cheers and applause] jon jon: an interesting moment there as republican congressman don young, the longest serving member of the house, begged nancy pelosi for a little reaching across the aisle, saying the republicans and democrats should work together and talk things out and maybe not have as much friction as has been seen in congress recently. nobody better to evaluate all of that than chad pil chad pergramn capitol hill with the latest. he's watched congress for a long time. >> reporter: this was a rather extraordinary exchange of the gavel here between kevin

mccarthy and nancy pelosi. you know, you usually have some conciliatory words from the minority leader, whether it be democrat or republican, to the majority. usually a dig or two or encouragement or something like that. there was very little of that from kevin mccarthy. i realize we're in the pandemic here so there were mess an tries exchange -- mess a pleasantries exchanged. no love lost between those two californians. keep in mind that kevin mccarthy realizes there is a real chance for republicans to get control of the house of representatives because of this narrow majority, the most narrow majority in the past 20 years and he and many other republicans are already looking toward 2022. it was interesting at different points during mccarthy's remarks there were cat calls from democrats, criticizing him and some republicans saying you go, kevin. that was a rather interesting exchange. as you say, don young, the dean of the house who suffered from coronavirus, was diagnosed in

december and back i saw him in the hall earlier today in a wheelchair, was able to stand when he introduced nancy pelosi but with some words there. but nancy pelosi this is probably her last term as speaker of the house, regardless of which party is in control come 2022. jon. jon: so the kind of committee that don young was asking for, asking for the two sides, the two parties to reach across the aisle and maybe get together for a drink once in a while as i said, you've watched congress for a long time, chad. what do you think are the chances. >> reporter: that used to be kind of the way it happened on capitol hill. bob michael, the republican leader from illinois and tip o'neil, speaker of the house, they would have gin in o'neil's office at the end of the day and that was i the problem for bob michael. a lot of republicans, newt gingrich and others, viewed that

michael and others were too conciliatory towards the democrats and that brought on the republican revolution, as republicans captured the majority in 199 1994. kevin mccarthy is looking toward the future here. and that's where he said that this is a slim majority and their grip on the majority is slim as well. it's going to be very interesting to see what they're able to accomplish and sometimes what happens when you have a narrow majority, you have both sides buckle down, especially if republicans think they can get the majority in two years. they're not going to be willing to work with the other side. you might think, well, they could work in coalitions and so on. that probably won't happen over the next two years. jon: chad pergram covering congress for us on capitol hill. chad, thank you. let's bring in our panel, susan is washington examiner chief congressional correspondent, alex bolton is senior reporter for the hill and james freeman,

wall street journal editorial page assistant editor. susan, this is your beat, this new 177th congress is now convened. what are you expecting? are we going to see kindness and friendship break out all over as don young just urged of the speaker? >> no, i think we're not going to see that happen. one reason is as chad mentioned that kevin mccarthy and republicans have the majority in their sights. if you listen to what mccarthy said during his speech a few minutes ago, he talked about some of the issues that may have helped republicans flip more than a dozen seats including the defund the police effort by some liberals. i think that republicans see this as an opportunity for them this next congress to highlight the differences and get some footing ahead of the next election. so that kevin mccarthy can be the one holding the gavel. those are fighting words we heard from mccarthy today.

we didn't hear conciliatory remarks you might normally hear before the minority leader hands over the gavel. that's true. pelosi knows this is likely her last term as speaker. she made a pledge in the last congress that this would be it for her, whether or not they were in the majority. she said she would stick to that pledge. she just told us that a few weeks ago. so this is the final one, final turn for her with the gavel. but i don't think you're going of to see them getting together for drinks and working together because there's a very narrow difference between republicans and democrats right now and republicans are looking at that speaker's chair and they want to win it for themselves in the next he'll eggs. jon: alex, it was congress unlike any other, the 116th. it began with the longest shutdown, government shutdown in american history. you had the impeachment and then you had the global pac pandemic. it's going to be hard for the 117th to be any more dramatic

>> we'll see. but i think that's the expectation. i think the expectation is with joe biden in the white house there will be a return to normalcy but it's taking a longer than usual to get there, or of at least the path there, the orderly transition that senate majority leader mitch mcconnell promised earlier this year has not been as orderly as some republicans would like and that's because there is going to be a contentious joint session of congress on wednesday, january 6th, totally the electoral college votes and speaking of whether there's going to be friendship between nancy pelosi and kevin mccarthy, mccarthy has to be pinned down as to whether he would support objections on the house floor to the electoral votes of georgia, arizona, pennsylvania, michigan. and he's been pretty quiet as to what he's going to do as a has steve scalise, the number two in the house. it's been liz cheney, the house

republican conference chair, who has been the most outspoken, trying to knock down these objections. she just submitted or just circulated a memo to colleagues, kind of explaining why this new call by senator ted cruz and others to establish a new electoral commission to audit the results of the election would be a bad idea. she warned it could delay the inauguration for months. so just getting to the new congress and getting to the new president has been rockier than anyone expected because of these objection ofs that are being driven by president trump and that just came to the fore again on sunday when the washington report posted of a conversation between president trump and the secretary of state in georgia where the president urged the republican secretary of state to come up with almost 12,000 more votes to make him the winner in that state. jon: james, kevin mccarthy has been noted has hopes of becoming speaker in two years. generally the party that controls the white house loses

seats in a congress in a mid-term election and if joe biden is sitting there in the oval office, republicans have hopes they can recapture the congress. here's more of what kevin mccarthy had to say just moments ago. >> even though we're out-spent and district by district no republican incumbent was defeated. none. [ applause ] >> all across this country, voters endorsed common sense, not conflict. it was a referendum against a radical agenda to defund the police and punish hard work. it was a wake-up call. the question i ask of this congress, were we listening? jon: james, do you agree with the assessment that he might have handed over the gavel to

nancy pelosi but he didn't exactly reach out with an olive branch. >> i think there might be some explanation for that. as far as the analysis of what happened, clearly democrats ran in 2018 with a very moderate message, picked up 40 seats, took control of the house. we've had under speaker pelosi very partisan and i' ideological house and voters i think punished them for that giving republicans in 2020 about a dozen seats and you saw, especially certain places like south florida, like orange county, people not wanting to move to that extreme left. now, we should say -- i agree that the speaker's remarks were patriotic, not particularly partisan or ideological. but one thing that mr. mccarthy is reacting to is she has signaled that she's changing the rules of the house to reduce the power of the minority to amend bills and to make it easier to spend more money, particularly on climate issues.

so anyone hoping for more of a moderate bipartisan approach, i think already knows that's not going to happen. jon: james freeman, susan ferrechio, alex bolton, thank you. our coverage continues in just a moment. the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

jon: nancy pelosi has won a fourth term of speaker of the house as republicans in both chambers of congress look to delay certification of president-elect joe biden's victory. good evening i am jon scott and this is the "fox report". ♪. jon: with democrats holding a historically narrow majority in the pandemic keeping some lawmakers home, pelosi won the speakership by only eight votes, two members of her caucus voted for the democrats, the 117th congress is also officially underway now but there is still the matter of the senate runoff election in georgia that will determine w