encounters. not for five-day period, but for an entire fiscal year. under this administration with these policies, that 9,000 encounters is about a five-day period in the yuma sector today. you don't know what it's like unless you see that happening. we are on a suboptimal path. it has to change. and to make a change it can be difficult. it can be short-term uncomfortable. but when you move to the correct path, all of a sudden things ease up and you can start having success. the direction here in my opinion is to someone like a byron donalds. a man who is living the american

dream and is the example and the mentor for millions who need hope. here is a man that has worked his way, worked his way up. he is not a novice, he has the experience, he has the chops to be the speaker. he is a man, a lovely family, and they are politically engaged. they know what's going on. he has worked in florida politics, worked in the legislature, he has respect, he has the quiet confidence that a leader needs. i look around this body today and i know it's hard for you to believe, i know it's hard for me to believe sometimes when i'm here and i have the great honor and privilege of serving with you. but you represent the cross

section of america, the great american experiment. the experience that you bring, the knowledge that you bring is unique. the road to recovery is through this body. i believe if you want to make change you have to make change. maintaining status quo is not an option today. i believe we have reached a crisis in this country. i look across and i see the left has captured virtually every institution. it is time that we reassert ourselves and put america back on the road to recovery, and the person who i think is most capable and will do the most

credible job to lead us back that way is my friend from florida, the honorable byron donalds who i'm pleased and proud to nominate as the next speaker of the house of representatives. [applause] >> reading clerk will call the roll.

>> adams. jeffries. aterholt. mccarthy. d'aguilar, jeffries. alford, mccarthy. allen, allen -- >> sandra: so here we go, after kevin mccarthy failed to win the speakership in a seventh ballot, they have now moved on to an eighth on capitol hill, just past 2:00 eastern time and starting to take the votes now, john. >> john: she is, and see where it ends up. i don't expect the result any different than the last time around or the time before that, and on and on and on. ari fleischer is with us, reminded of the classic white snake song "here i go again" for

another round of voting, but we do this with a statement from matt gaetz said either mccarthy resigns or agrees to a straight jacket agreement that fully constrains him as speaker. so it sounds like things are moving but is it a good idea for a speaker of the house to be in a "straight jacket?" >> i don't think that's movement. i think this is deeper antagonist. i take that to resign from congress. look, i'm from the northeast and anybody from the northeast has ever seen a car stuck in snow, that's what we are watching right now. the car is stuck in snow, rear wheels are just spinning. kevin mccarthy gets in the driver's seat, pushes the gas pedal and spin some more. and andy biggs from arizona getting into the driver's seat,

he steps on the gas. he's from arizona, he can't get a car out of the snow. and the wheels spin some more. we are watching wheels spin on a car stuck in snow and not going anywhere. >> sandra: speaking of andy biggs, republican from arizona, nominated byron donalds for the eighth ballot and says it's not dysfunction, but an exchange of ideas. here he was. ok. i'll tell you what he said. he said you know what this is, it's dysfunction and it's not imperilling. it's an exchange of ideas, expression of support for people. you want to be your leader in the next congress, i think it's incredibly healthy to see what we are doing on the floor. to that point, you might have heard a bit of that. some people are enjoying watching the process, ari, we don't always get to see this, but it is a lot of drama unfolding, and a lot of tension that we have all seen play out very publicly there in

washington. >> this is not a crisis, the way the democracy can work. historically, a noisy democracy. the point here, i see no outcome, i see opposition with no purpose because it will not succeed. and i don't know how when you have 10% of the vote, you have the right to say to 90% you must yield to us. and is that going to be the case on all future legislation if you are 10% and 90% are for a tax cut, well, yeah, we are going to derail it, we are 10%. for conservative reforms, derail it, we are 10%. at the end of the day, the only thing that matters in a democracy is having the votes to succeed. and they are blocking, and that's the problem i have with this is 10% minority blocking the 90% majority when you are supposed to all be unified as republicans. >> john: ari, you said when you joined us last hour that you think what they should do, all

retire to a room as a caucus, and they should take a vote on names and the person who gets the most votes becomes the nominee and then becomes the speaker of the house through a consensus vote. didn't they do that once already? >> well, they did that in the fall, did it prior to the speaker's election and elected kevin mccarthy as the nominee for speaker in essence when they named him the speaker. he defeated the congressman from arizona. so, it's been done but now with the new dynamic, spinning wheels, i want to get the car out of the ditch, i want to get it going and that's my idea and the new environment, kevin mccarthy should announce he'll accept whoever the plurality winner is, and i think those in the freedom caucus and oppose kevin mccarthy will make the same pledge. support whoever the plurality supports than he's a new internal republican dynamic, election, they look each other in the eye and say if we don't do that, nothing will change. i don't think any of these concessions are going to change

anything. >> john: wouldn't the result be the same? >> it depends on -- if kevin mccarthy says i'll abide by whoever wins the plurality, and the freedom caucus and those who oppose kevin mccarthy say the same pledge, they settle it internally, and let republicans decide this. have a vote inside the caucus. but then at a certain point in time republicans have to unify. if you can't get to 218, what are you doing, you will never get anything done. >> sandra: i think that's what people are wondering now, left wondering, moved into the eighth ballot, saw how late in the evening they got together last evening, said they would be back at noon today. i don't know what conversations they can have in between another vote that's going to change much on the jean as far as the tallies are concerned. >> more detailed discussions about the concessions kevin

mccarthy has made, and whether or not those who oppose him will be molified by him. i think that's the dynamic behind closed doors now. my point is, i don't think that's concessions are going to be sufficient. i worry that they have weakened the role of the speaker without achieving any kind of outcome, so the car remains stuck in the snow. you have to think differently, approach it from the new context of a new internal caucus election recognizing they are all stuck. and if you want to get unstuck, you have to change the way you are doing things. >> john: so ari, one of the big sticking points here is the threshold to introduce a motion to vacate the chair, that would be to start the process to potentially change out the speaker. house freedom caucus wants that threshold one member to bring a motion to the floor, mccarthy had offered five. politico was reporting that may have moved to one but it used to be one. so, what's the problem with going back to the way that it was before nancy pelosi changed it? >> it's a great question, john. the difference is, back when it

was one, it was an different era in washington, compromise was not a dirty word and people did not think it was right because you did not agree with the speaker to take the speaker down. there was more respect for the institution and more respect for getting things done in washington. now we are in an era where compromise is a dirty word. so one, or the five republican majority, you can take the speaker down over almost anything if you don't think compromise is right. it's a different washington. it worked when there was only one, people would not use it. now people are going to use it all the time to derail anything they don't like and it's a formula for dysfunction and almost anarchy in the house. look, the constitution established the house of representatives and that's why as a conservative and a believer in the constitution and the check on the executive through the legislature, i want a house that can function and a one-vote to vacate the speak of the house means the house cannot function, and not just for the next two

years, this could be for the future and you have to have a governor whether it's controlled by democrats or republicans that can do the people's bidding, and we are in a dangerous spot with this continues much longer, we will not have a constitutionally elected house. >> sandra: "wall street journal" asks the question, who is crazy enough to be a republican speaker, you cannot lead a majority that would like to be in the minority. too many republicans don't want to hold and keep political power. they are more comfortable in opposition in the minority which is easier because no hard decisions or compromises are necessary. you can rage against the swamp without having to do anything to change it. and to your point about what the next two years look like, marc thiessen made this prediction earlier. listen. >> if this is the future of the next two years of the house where everything we try to do is held hostage by a small band of people, then this is going to be the most chaotic and failed

house majority in the history of the country. >> sandra: quite a warning there, ari. >> let's play this out. let's just pretend that donald trump, jr. becomes speaker of the house. absolute warrior, he agrees with the freedom caucus on many issues. that's the house. he has to then compromise with chuck schumer in the senate and joe biden in the white house just to pass appropriations bills, to get anything done. what happens then to donald trump, jr.? he's going to get accused of being a swamp creature. the same people who oppose kevin mccarthy and how can you compromise with chuck schumer, work with joe biden, that's the future of what happens if you allow a minority to derail a majority. that's what's happening inside the republican conference. anybody who assumes position of power is going to be accused of being a swamp creature. and it's divided government. whoever leads the house will eventually have to do something with the senate, whoever leads the senate will have to do something with the republican house, all deal with joe biden.

this is what our constitution has created. but opposition, has to be 100% my way, compromise is a dirty word, it can't work. our nation would have never been founded if compromise was a dirty word. sometimes when you have the five vote majority it's the only word. >> sandra: quite something here as we watch this play out. i believe we are -- ari, we are going to take a quick detour here and monitor movements on capitol hill, but i know we have some more breaking news coming out of idaho. thank you, ari. >> john: and also breaking for the very first time, a captivated nation's questions finally answered about the idaho murder mystery. if you thought the details already out there were chilling, brace yourself for the heart stopping horror story that is coming out now. >> sandra: details from the just released court documents, john, show how long the investigators say the suspected killer was

watching those four victims before moving in and killing them. plus, what they say he was doing near the crime scene the next day and it was happening in broad daylight just before the police arrived. and maybe most haunting of all, the story we are learning from one of the survivors. >> john: what she says she heard as her roommates were in the struggle and the disturbing word the killer told a victim in the final moments, all leads up to one moment that left the survivor frozen in terror, face-to-face with her worst fear, dressed head to toe in black with a face mask on. >> sandra: we are getting more and more details, they are coming in slowly but they are big. and these are details that we have learned in the three months since that night. a sleepy college town was forever jolted. now seems the floodgates have open, coverage of the unsealed documents and the suspect's court appearance that just happened a short time ago.

>> john: mark is here with analysis, but jonathan hunt who has been looking through the probable cause affidavit that was unsealed just before the court appearance today, and he's got the details. jonathan. >> yeah, john, as we watched bryan kohberger make his first court appearance here in idaho today and face those four charges of murder, we were also going through the 19 pages of the probable cause affidavit that were released and they had some fascinating details. among the most chilling, the report that one of the roommates in the house where those four university of idaho students were murdered came face-to-face with the alleged killer, seeing a man dressed all in black and wearing a mask, she said she did not recognize that man, she said the only identifying thing that

she really noticed were his "bushy eyebrows." now, police say that that man was bryan kohberger. they say they also found a knife sheath at the scene of the crime and they matched a dna sample on that knife sheath to kohberger, 99% match, they say, and they did that by going through trash at his home. they said the idaho state lab located a single source of male dna left on the button snap of the knife sheath. then there is that car we have been talking about, the white hyundai elantra, registered to bryan kohberger, seen in the vicinity of the victims' residence several times before the murders and then disappeared for a short period and then according to the affidavit "suspect vehicle one is next seen departing the area of the king road residence at

approximately 4:20 a.m. at a high rate of speed." 4:20 a.m. would have been just of a the murders took place, according to the police. then a cell phone record, they say that kohberger's cell phone did not ping in the area of the murders on that particular night but according to the investigating officer, those who intend to commit crimes often leave their phones away from the location where they are carrying out those crimes, so they did a historical search, and said that his phone was "utilizing cellular resources that provide coverage to the area of 1122 king road, the site of the murders, on at least 12 occasions prior to november 13, 2022." all of those occasions, except for one, occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days and the investigating officer said he carried out that historical search, john, to see if there

was perhaps some evidence of stalking, evidence of planning, and in his view, clearly this was something that was planned weeks or even months before those brutal murders took place on november 13th. >> john: hence the four charges of first-degree murder, murder in the first-degree. >> sandra: mark is joining us now, details are horrifying, especially the account of the surviving roommate saying she heard crying, saw the killer face-to-face, the suspect's car was seen leaving that area, a high rate of speed, 4:20 a.m., the knife cover, the sheath is a big part of discovering the suspect's dna, he left that behind at the scene. we are told they were able to cross conference dna by going into his home and retrieving things from the garbage and this would reveal police and the

investigation knew a lot more than they were letting on much earlier in all of this than they were letting the public know. >> yeah, first of all congratulations to them for not pandering to the public's need to know and thus compromising the criminal investigation. they didn't do that and now we know why. the lead question today is hey, kohberger, how did your dna get on that tan leather knife sheath left on the victims' bed, period. there's the question. how do you answer that. before we get to anything else, somewhere there is an attorney or a group of attorneys trying to figure out an innocent explanation that they can give with a straight face. >> john: so on that -- to that question, jonna spilbor was with us last hour and she said, mark, that his attorneys could argue somebody took that knife that he

had had in his possession for some period of time, left dna on it. we don't know whether the dna was a blood sample or a skin sample, that could have a big bearing in this case. but he could say somebody took the knife, somebody used my car, took my cell phone as well. i wasn't anywhere near the place. is that a case that you think a defense attorney could effectively make? >> absolutely. and they will. i mean, the stakes are too high. we are talking about his life. not going to say ok, got me. there is going to be an argument, and this is a circumstantial case in that there was no eyewitnesses to say that's the guy with certainty i saw did it. they can be strong, compelling, like dna evidence. but prosecutors must eliminate every reasonable hypothesis of innocence in order to secure conviction. so you are right, the defense lawyers are going to say right, that is probably his dna, but somehow they got his belongings and will try to explain

everything away. prosecutors are going to argue, yeah, explain away one, maybe two things, but not one thing can you then say equals anything other than his guilt if you put everything together like pieces of a puzzle. >> sandra: mark, just heading through the timeline, i mean, it's really something to see how much the cell phone records were revealing to your point about the suspect turning the phone off and on again. is this someone that appears to have been careful or not so much in his crimes? >> i think he was pretty careful. i thought there would be a lot more dna, more screw-ups, just one piece of dna he left behind in a crime that typically the not careful perpetrator would have left a lot more clues. but, it's not uncommon for even a street offender, certainly someone who has studied criminal law and forensics, to turn their

phone off so that they don't place him right at the scene at the time. >> so mark, when we look at the break in the case, looks like it occurred on november 29th, i mean, we heard pleas and frustration from the family members of the victims saying why isn't there a suspect, why don't we know more. looks like the break in the case came on the 29th of november according to the affidavit, when daniel tienga, a police officer with washington state university at the request of police, did a canvas of the area to find out if there was a 2011-2013 white hyundai elantra, and lo and behold one there in a parking lot at washington state university, and there we see security camera footage of the car that was collected during a canvas of any video recording devices in the area of the home where the four students were killed. yet quietly and patiently built

this case around kohberger, including following him and his father across the country. then apparently at the request of the fbi having him pulled over and then we see bodycam footage from one of the traffic stops by police in indiana to get a look at his hands. what do you make of all that? >> right. well, they are building a case little by little. keep in mind, before they start focusing on kohberger, they lock into a testimony, one of the eyewitnesss in the house, who could have described the person as hispanic or a black male, no, she said a white male, bushy eyebrows, 185 pounds, turns out that's what he was, but she said tall, slender build, approximately 5'11", maybe a little taller and turns out that's the exact build of kohberger who happens to own the same vehicle that was seen on the scene who also, and then fill in the blank, it all

becomes so coincidental that he was framed like the mona lisa. >> sandra: devastating learning all this and seeing him there in the courtroom a short time ago, denied bail. he will return to the courtroom january 12th, the judge said, so about a week from now. thank you very much, mark, on the breaking details. >> john: mark, thank you. probable cause affidavit, sandra, really is a tragic and fascinating read when you look at how the police and the fbi who many analysts had dismissed as the keystone cops in this case had it together to a degree that nobody knew realized, even jonna spilbor said last hour, that she had not given police the credit that was necessary given this probable cause affidavit and the investigation contained inside. >> sandra: if the alleged killer found out at any point they were

that much on his trail, he could have taken a detour to throw them off, so to mark's point about giving them hats off to what they have done to get to this point, it's really something. john. >> john: i think it's just fascinating to me that the fbi put in a request to indiana state police, pull this guy over, we want to get a look at him before, you know, in order to build our case to bring charges against him. hats off to them so far. >> sandra: absolutely. john, another fox news alert on this busy news day, nearly 72 hours after a primetime football game came to a silent standstill doctors are giving an update on damar hamlin. they have said he began to awake last night, he's still on a breathing tube, so he's not speaking but we all remember he collapsed on the field after what appeared to be a routine tackle and suffered cardiac arrest and just moments ago, the doctors gave an update, still in critical condition, he is still ill, but he is making some promising progress. listen here.

>> we would like to share there has been substantial improvement in his condition over the past 24 hours. as of this morning, he is beginning to awaken and appears his neurological condition and function is intact. continues to undergo intensive care in our surgical and trauma icu. >> sandra: dr. marc siegel is standing by, but garrett, what else did the doctors have to say? >> we are in a very different place than we were just 24 hours ago, sandra. as you heard there, the doctors said there has been substantial improvement over the past 24 hours. what does that mean? the doctors said damar hamlin is now moving his hands and feet. he's holding hands with his family, medical staff and team officials there at the hospital. they say all of this marks a really good turning point in damar's care. when he emerged last night and came to, he was able to follow commands, he is communicating by

writing and nodding his head to answer questions. doctors say they have talked with damar about what happened and that he was surprised he had been out for two days. the first question he asked the doctors, was who had won the game, to which the doctors said yes, you won, you have won the game of life. as you mentioned, damar is still untubated and on a ventilator, they would like to see him breathe more on his own and then eventually on his own, and the doctors were asked about the prayers that have been pouring out for them and damar, and they said they have felt the power of that's prayers and damar is just now being told and starting to get some type of an idea of the outpouring of support that there has been across the country for him and his family over these last several days, sandra. >> sandra: garrett, great to get

the update there, i'm sure we'll hear more about his progress as he continues to make it. thank you very much, john. >> john: bring in dr. marc siegel, you can imagine what is going through his mind right now, because you know, the last thing he remembers is that tackle and then for all intents and purposes the moments after that he dropped dead and now he's waking up from a coma, but the great news is the doctors say there is no neurological deficit. >> john, i find this extraordinary. dr. timothy prits, head of general surgery there, and surgeons are never overstating optimism, saying he appears in fact, moves his arms and legs, responding to questions with his hands and the idea he says who won the game, i mean -- not only is that uplifting, from a medical point of view, i have to tell you.

retrograde amnesia is automatic that he would not remember the last two days but that he remembers the game is a really, really good sign, and the question he asked is exactly what a safety, an all-star safety would ask, isn't it. so, it shows why they are saying he appears to be neurologically intact. they are still working up his heart to figure out why it happened. it could be there is not a structural problem with the heart, it just got hit at the wrong part of the cycle, that could be it. they talked about lung damage healing, i don't want to speculate but during a cardiac arrest, sometimes the lungs get injured but can be easily fixed with a chest tube. that's on my mind, or develop fluid that they got rid of. all said, he's requiring much less oxygen. the ventilator is there as a precaution, that's what they would do, they tend to be overly conservative in this situation.

i want the viewers to know, you know, they can say why is he on the ventilator, why is he still sedated, they want to do that, ultra cautious and not pull things back too soon. >> sandra: great information. he's 24 years old, and you hope as he goes through the healing process, he's so young, he can bounce back quickly here. we'll see what the progress is. to your point about his lungs continuing to heal -- you are jumping in. >> because you just said, i've been hearing from one of our top cardiologists at nyu the last few days and says i think he's going to get better and i say how do you know that with all this going on, we don't have any information. he said to your exact point, sandra, because of his age, he's 24, because he's strong, because he's, you know, in nfl shape, all of that works to his advantage. >> john: doc, as you pointed out the physicians there are looking after him still trying to determine why his heart stopped. one of the theorys the idea

where a blow to the heart, specifically the right time and then you see the narrow window there, the r ed line, that illustrates when the blow would have to come. we have seen it with baseballs, lacrosse balls, other things. was the shoulder to the chest in just the right place at the right time. but we are talking about milliseconds here in terms of the window of opportunity to happen, but could it have been something else, a valve problem, innate rhythm disturbance, we don't know at this point. >> john, all great questions. the commotio cordis is usually a lacrosse ball, happens in baseball, but very, very rare. and as far as hypertrophic

cardiomyopathy, a simple ekg could tell you that. and like pete, the basketball player had, valve problems, it has to be investigated closely. we want to know what the ecocardiogram showed. and four emergency room physicians on-site at the game, rushed to help the staff of the bills, extraordinary intervention that occurred here. amazing. makes physicians look good. >> sandra: breaking news via a.p. sources on the game itself, they are reporting the nfl will not resume the bills and bengals game suspended monday night after hamlin went into cardiac arrest, and that's all they are reporting now. the game will not be played. remarkable to learn that in the moment where we just got this update on damar's health, and the doctor said the first thing he was able to communicate when

he woke last evening and not verbally, because he cannot speak, but wrote on a piece of paper, who won the game, doctor. >> that's unbelievable. and it's so stirring and exactly what you would expect of a top level professional football player. and i like what the doctor said in response. you've won the game of life and that's how the nfl has to look at it, and the bills, and applaud the decision not to resume this game. this game cannot be resumed unless damar were on the field, and we have no idea where it's heading in terms of his life, whether he'll ever play football again but for sure looked like he will recover. >> john: great news, we don't know if he'll be on the playing field again but i have a feeling looking at his tenacity, his interest and love of the game, and his physical condition he might be back out there. doc, good to talk to you, thank you. >> absolutely. >> sandra: thank you, doctor.

>> john: amazing story. you can be dead on the field of an nfl game and then, and come back, and really is quite incredible. >> sandra: i think the entire country is going to appreciate those updates from the doctors as we are all wishing and praying for him to recover and do well in this process, and that was a pretty good update as the doctor just said, john. >> john: certainly the best news that you could expect in a case like this. let's go back to the house floor right now, looks like kevin mccarthy has lost yet another vote for speaker. bring in congressman don bacon, voted for kevin mccarthy and his speakership. how long is this going to go on before kevin mccarthy with draws or becomes speaker with a compromised deal with the house freedom caucus. >> first, i don't believe he will back down, we'll do it for days, weeks, months, we can't back down to 20 people who are holding the rest of the house captive or hostage. so there will be no backing down

from kevin, i believe. now, hopefully at some point with pressure from their constituents when they see that the house business is not being done, we hope to see a shift in these folks to come back with a majority and become part of the team. should be the primary focus right now, get more folks on the team, some progress made here and we'll see some results, i believe, today or tomorrow in that area. but people have to tell their congressmen, if they are one of the 20, that the house has shut down, we are not working on the issues that we campaigned on like lowering inflation, securing the border, supporting our law enforcement, standing up to china, none of this is happening. all our committees are now shut down, and it's on these 20 people. they are embarrassing the house, embarrassing the republicans, embarrassing our country. over time with focus we'll get some of these over. we also have to be willing to consider working with the democrats at some point to get some -- work on some concessions

to get some support there if these 20 refuse to budge. >> sandra: so congressman, thank you very much for joining us. we have this live look at the house floor as we have been watching now to your point for days and could be for many more days, possibly weeks as you just mentioned. are you giving -- have you been given any indication this is moving into a ninth vote today? >> i do not know. i believe there will be a ninth vote, i'm not sure, i don't want to tell you wrong. the supporters here plan on doing this for as long as it takes because you can't let a small number of folks hold us hostage and unreasonable demands. demanding committee chairmanships, quota systems on committees, instead of earning it. these are merit-based positions, they want it handed to them. we can't let that happen. >> john: let me, congressman-elect, come back to something you said just a second ago. you said you'll see if you can get it done with the 20, or if

remain -- get some support from democrats to see if you can get mccarthy over the line. what exactly would support from democrats look like? would they vote for mccarthy, would they potentially abstain from voting so the threshold is lowered to the point he could get across the finish line? what are you talking about here? >> those are options there and we have to have the dialogue. first primary focus should be to get enough of the 20 over to win outright in the party. if that does not work, there are discussions that we could have on committee ratios, rules changes, things like that and some of this could involve some democrats voting present, or not voting, but that is a dialogue we have to have at some point if the 20 people are refusing to be part of the team and do what the voters asked them to do. right now they think they are the only door to walk through.

at some point we have to present another door and say you are not the only game in town and find a different way to get to 218. >> sandra: scott perry joined us a few moments ago, he has led the effort to block kevin mccarthy from the speakership based on where things stand right now. when you walk by him in the halls or cross him on the house floor, what do you say to him? >> there is a little bit of anger. i try to let other people talk to him. i feel he's hurt the team. i've been in combat, commanded five times, teams win. his duty and responsibility to be part of the team to be effective. he has hurt the republican party, hurt our country and i hope he reconsiders. one more thing, every concession that he asked for, kevin mccarthy has given him and he will not come on board. he cannot get to yes. you have to have people to get

to yes if you want to lead this great country. many of these folks are happy to be in the minority where they can vote no and raise hell. we are in the majority. we have to govern now, and they need to get on board to do that. >> john: congressman-elect, i'm sorry, you are making news here like left, right and center but the details here. you just said kevin mccarthy made every concession he was asked for. what were those concessions? >> about a month ago he was given a two-page list of demands and met every one. and two weeks ago -- >> john: wait a minute, he did not vacate the chair concession. >> he took it to five, it was 111, he took it to five and the people he was negotiating with at the time said five was good. and then they came back later and said no, we want one. so they -- and also with the 20, you have different demands out there. >> john: i thought maybe -- i thought maybe it was something new. i'm sorry. you made a lot of news with this

idea of potential support from democrats and what that would look like. you are talking about sharing committees here. lay this out for us. >> you can adjust ratios. part of the discussion. what i am advocating, and others are as well, not just me. if these 20 refuse to be part of the team and don't come on board, we have no other choice but to go across the aisle and start negotiating and there's a lot of things you can negotiate. committee ratios is a big one. ordinarily you get like a four-seat majority in a tight house like this, maybe it's a two-seat majority instead of four in the committees. there may be things we can negotiate on subpoenas, also on rules, like how to do motions to recommit. a lot of things that we could look at to see if we could come up with more bipartisan house, and by the way, we need to do that. if you think we can get past totally partisan bills out of the u.s. house and democrat

set-up will pass them with the filibuster and get it to the president and his signature, it's not going to work. to get things done, you have to have democrats on board anyway, and build a structure. >> sandra: how do you think the folks that put you in power and flip the house are going to feel about that? >> i think they should be made. and it's 5 to 7 hard core folks. i think we can get the rest on at some point. blame them. they are disabling the republican majority the voters put in. at some point i'm going to govern. >> sandra: how did we get to this point? kevin mccarthy has been working on this for quite some time, we know that, we have seen that. why did it have to get to this point? why couldn't negotiations have happened well before the votes were brought to the floor? >> we have been negotiating for -- since november 8th on this, and like i say, every

major demand of kevin mccarthy made the concessions. and so it's really not about the concessions. in the end, it's become personal. they say it's not personal, but it is personal, this comes down to them not wanting kevin mccarthy, who by the way, campaigned in every one of our districts, raised record amount of money for us and made all these concessions to try to build a team and inner circle, his kitchen cabinet, brought in every part of our caucus to the most right, to the more moderate, the most pragmatics. he has tried his very best to do the right things, to get us going the right direction. like i say, a few folks would rather disrupt, they don't want to govern, don't mind shutdowns, they call themselves an aislist, he says it publicly. there we go. >> john: congressman-elect, if you cut a deal with democrats and change ratios on committees, the house freedom caucus is

going to go nuts. the next two years are going to be a nightmare and then facing an angry electorate in 2024. sounds like recipe for unmitigated disaster. >> the only option they are giving us if they don't -- >> john: that's an option for mccarthy to become speaker. if you put forward a different candidate like a steve scalise, you might get the 218 on the first vote. >> i don't think so. many folks said they will not vote for steve scalise either, and they are demanding chairmanships, and quotas, and it's not going to happen. the rank and file republicans -- we don't believe in affirmative action and quotas for anyone in the republican house. you have to earn your spots, and they want to demand it from kevin mccarthy for votes, it's not right. >> sandra: this is obviously a wild first few days for

everybody there in washington. did you see this happening, did you expect this? i mean -- the american people are watching this happen right now, and there is still nothing happening. can you report any -- go ahead. >> i thought it was possible because there are 5 or 6 people who have a burn the house down mentality over there, and i was hoping cooler heads would prevail. kevin got 87%, then 91, and now 90%, a military guy and a guy that likes team sports, ok, time to jump on board, team may not be perfect. i don't agree with kevin mccarthy on some things but imperfect teams have to become a team to be successful, and i was hoping would happen. and i still hope it's not too late to do so. but i thought -- was hoping for better but thought this was possible. >> john: congressman-elect don bacon, good to spend time with

you. fascinating to watch. thank you. >> sandra: byron york now, chief political correspondent, i know you were probably listening in there, your reaction. >> well you know, i was intrigued as you and john were about this talk about some sort of cooperative deal with democrats and to add a few details on that. and there's no reason some democrats could not vote for kevin mccarthy to be senator, excuse me, to be speaker, except it would never happen. but, a couple of democrats have spoken about what it would take for them to support another candidate, another republican, somebody like mike gallagher to be the speaker of the house. and the price would be very, very high. ro khanna, the democrat from california was on fox yesterday and he said he could support someone like gallagher, but there would have to be a price. there would have to be, he said,

republicans could not use the debt ceiling as a weapon, that is to bring down any other forms of federal spending, and he said there would have to be a deal on subpoena power. and by that he meant republicans would have to give equal subpoena power to democrats, which would cripple all the investigations that republicans have planned for this new congress. democrats would essentially have a veto power over these investigations. now, a lot of the republicans out there in the country who voted for these members are congress want to see these investigations take place. they want to see the border situation investigated, they want to see the end of the afghanistan engagement investigated and yeah, hunter biden investigated, too, and that all goes away. price would be very, very high but i think people have realized now as we are in day three of this that there's not gonna be an easy way out of it.

>> john: so just the idea being floated that kevin mccarthy could cut a deal with democrats to go around some members of the house freedom caucus, doesn't that kind of reinforce everything that they are saying about him? >> well, i'm not sure that any deal would actually involve kevin mccarthy being the speaker. >> john: i meant this deal that don bacon was just talking about, that in order for mccarthy to become speaker, cut a deal with democrats, change the ratios on committees, he becomes the speaker, i mean, this deal would be designed for mccarthy to become the speaker. if he cuts a deal with democrats to become speaker because he can't become speaker with members of his own party, doesn't that just reinforce everything that the house freedom caucus is saying about it? >> well, yeah, i mean -- he would be giving away at least half of the speaker's power and

half of the republican majority's power. that's the point here. republicans want a majority, yes, it's a narrow majority, but it's a majority. it's the same size majority that nancy pelosi has run the house with for the last couple of years. so it can be done. so the idea that there would be a deal in which republicans essentially give away half of the majority and they make committees equal or something like that seems to be completely untenable, and you kept saying this to representative bacon and he basically said well, you know, there could be just no easy solutions here. so people are thinking outside of the box because there seems to be no obvious fix right now. >> sandra: do they need to think outside the box or the point we made with the congressman, why not go another route? i mean, obviously -- there's been obvious discussions about steve scalise and others. >> i do think the figure of steve scalise is kind of hovering above all of this

story, which is we have had at least a couple of members of the never kevin caucus, the people who say they'll never ever ever vote for kevin mccarthy say they also would not vote for steve scalise. now, you have to look at the 20 people right now who are blocking this, and there are divisions amongst those. some are very serious and sincere in their desire to reform house procedures, and there are those who are attention seekers and bomb throwers, so the question is, would the sincere and serious ones go for a scalise speakership and would they vote. you have to get all except four to come back, so even if there are five who say that they would never vote for steve scalise, you still have a problem. on the other hand, if you actually did it, if you actually nominate steve scalise and they have to vote, and they block

him, too, there is -- it seems like there would be some public pressure against these people saying listen, you are just obstructing and messing everything up and stop it. >> john: let me pivot if i could for a moment, byron, to what you were originally brought on to talk about, and that was the contrast between what we see going on in the house now through, is it eight votes now in three days, we are getting close to where we were in 1923, and what happened in florida the other day with this incredible inauguration of governor ron desantis to begin his second term. i mean -- here looked like a guy who was on the cusp of becoming a nominee for president and then chaos in the house. >> this was an incredible split screen moment on tuesday and the split screen on one side was absolute republican dysfunction in washington, d.c., and on the

other side was a celebration of republican victory and focus and purpose with the inauguration of ron desantis for a second term as governor. remember, desantis was barely elected, just barely got by in 2018, then turned out to be a popular and effective governor, and then won re-election by 19 points. and he gives this inaugural address and he goes through all the promises that he kept in the first term, tax relief, regulatory relief, judicial restraint, all sorts of things. and then he goes through and he talks about how other states have been governed in the last four years, like governor and others that have gone woke and he's standing against the forces of wokeness, and then he goes through the national situation in which the federal government has essentially opened the

u.s.-mexico border in which vast spending bills have been passed without any way to pay for them. and he goes through that, and basically he makes a very good case for ron desantis 2024 candidacy. and a lot of people are saying such things, obviously they accuse president biden of opening the border. but he is saying it from the perspective of having been re-elected after a successful term as the governor of one of our biggest states. >> sandra: byron york joining us on that. byron, thank you very much. >> john: really was a sharp contrast. >> thanks, sandra. >> john: thanks, byron. >> mr. president, why did you decide now is finally the right time to visit the southern border? republicans have been calling on you to do this since the beginning -- >> republicans have not been serious about this at all, come on, they have not been serious about this at all. >> john: president biden announcing he's finally going to the border for the very first time after two years, and 4.2 million migrant crossings on his watch.

he says he will visit el paso to "assess border enforcement operations and see what the folks on the ground there need." let's take a look at what is happening on the ground. >> sandra: full on humanitarian crisis as it has been for quite some time, more than 160,000 migrant crossings in the el paso sector alone in the past three months. shelters there are overwhelmed, migrants sleeping on the streets, shielding their children from freezing cold temperatures on some days. meanwhile, people who live there say their life, way of life is under attack. ranches and homes vandalized, crime is on the rise. >> john: from both parties they have been urging the president to come down and see firsthand. how will border officials react to president biden's visit? we will ask that question of brandon judd in just moments. >> sandra: but first, white house correspondent peter doocy live on the north lawn for us. deep breath, this has been a

jam-packed news afternoon. the white house is rolling out new immigration measures today, what are we hearing? >> well, we are hearing something really interesting. as soon as the president's scripted remarks about the issue were finished today he was speaking off the cuff and some first of the kind insight he revealed he gets why people in border towns are so frustrated. >> the other side of this is, there's also the people in this country have basic rights that are here, basic fundamental rights to assure people are coming have been checked out, they are not criminals, they are not problem, you know, that their background checks are real. >> the heart of the president's announcement urging migrants from cuba, haiti, venezuela, not to show up at the border but apply for asylum at the border. aclu says president biden recognized that seeking asylum

is a legal right and spoke sympathetically about people fleeing persecution, but ties it to the poisonous anti-immigration policies of the trump era in stead of asylum protections. and a new deal where the u.s. can return up to 30,000 migrants a month back to mexico at the current pace of crossings, could relieve a few days of pressure. mayorkas is running point on this. he just spoke as well. >> at the outset, let me be clear. title 42 or not, the border is not open. we will continue to fully enforce our immigration laws in a safe, orderly and humane manner. >> and president biden is saying the reason he waited so long to visit the border, he wanted to see what would happen with title 42. that does not explain why he did not go for all his years as a senator or vice president or candidate but does give us new

clarity what's been going on here, sandra. >> sandra: peter doocy reporting live from the white house, thank you. >> john: brandon judd, national border patrol council president. what kind of reception do you think the president will get from your rank and file members when he visits el paso on the weekend. >> based on what secretary mayorkas said, it's not going to be a good reception. when you hear rhetoric the border is not open, the evidence shows it is wide open, you can't expect the border patrol agents to be happy about what the administration is currently doing and then on top of that, you look at what they are proposing. if they do not implement the proper policies, programs and operations it does not matter what they say. people are going to continue to cross our borders illegally, agents are going to continue to be pulled out of the field and cartels are going to rule the border. that's the problem and that's what we want to see changed. if we don't get the change and continue to have rhetoric like secretary mayorkas saying the

border is not open when it clearly is, we don't see how anything is going to be positively affected and positive change is going to happen. >> sandra: ok, it appears he's trying to send the message, important if individuals from the countries attempt to cross the border, mayorkas, without authorization or the mexico or panama borders after today they will not be eligible for the new legal pathway. is it fair to say, though, the message you want the white house sending to people in these countries to not come, i mean -- this is obviously the white house who is now starting to speak more publicly about the crisis. >> if they actually implement that, yes. it is -- it is going to be a game changer. when you look at the rule that they are proposing, where you have to claim asylum in the first safe third country you come to that is a game changer. something we have been pushing for forever, since this administration took office. so that would be a game changer.

use title 42 properly and all the people that cross illegally, a game changer. all comes down to the execution and whether they are going to implement it properly. that is where we are skeptical because we have seen this. he is already two years too late to the party and the only reason he's coming to the party now you have democrats currently saying we are tired of what's going on, we are tired of all the chaos, tired of you putting the burden on us, the burden has to fall back on you. that's the only reason he is coming to the border today. >> john: a few seconds left, this is a president who told us at one point he had more important things to do than visit the border. why do you think he has chosen this particular moment in time, ten seconds if you could. >> because you and sandra continue to talk about it. because now democrats are pushing back against it. if it wasn't for that, he wouldn't be coming to the border. this is not of his own accord. he is doing it because of the pressure being placed upon him. >> sandra: brandon judd, appreciate you joining us. we hear your urgency on this matter. we will be watching all of that.

john, jam-packed two hours here and got word they are -- they are now going into a ninth vote. >> john: this will tie 1923, except they got a speaker on the ninth vote in 2023. >> sandra: unbelievable. the house floor on capitol hill, drama continues. i'm sandra smith in new york. >> john: i'm john roberts. i have a sense something will move in the next couple of days. martha with "the >> martha: good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum. moments ago, house republican leader kevin mccarthy failed the eighth time to secure enough votes to become the speaker of the house. that small republican faction blocking him shows little signs of budging in their position at this hour. so both sides of the gop fight are here with us on "the story" today.