>> kat: thank you to paul mauro, david angelo, erin perrine, tyrus. on behalf of of greg gutfeld, i love you, america. [cheering and applause] 8:00 on the west coast, 11:00 in washington and

this is america's late news, "fox news at night". breaking tonight, this just in, a second person reportedly set on fire and new york city tonight, officials say a 56-year-old man was found in penn station with burns on his body and has been taken to hospital with injuries to both legs and upper body. this on the same day a suspected arsonist was indicted for burning a woman alive on the subway as police and bystanders stood by idly. so what on earth is going on? our crime panel is live in moments. and democrats in disarray as we head into the new year. many of it's members say the party needs a complete makeover. >> we were held hostage by the radical left. >> we need to transform. in a way we need to reinvent the democratic party. >> mike: but so far there's been quite a mixed bag as to where that reinvention may take them. >> this is from the incoming chair of that house progressive caucus saying if the democratic party was a little more like chairwoman and a

little less like joe mansion i think we would have won this election. >> they've got to be nuts. >> mike: residents of one liberal enclave have a resolution of their own, vowing to stop tipping as minimum wage continues to take higher and higher in their city. jason rantz joins us live on that. we will get his take on the union that is forcing it's workers back into the office as it pushes for federal employees to keep working from home. plus the numbers are in, fox news now learning president biden spent nearly 40% of his presidency on vacation. our political panel weighs in on that in moments. but first, chanley painter is live with more on the democratic soul-searching after the presidential election did not go the way they wanted it to. good evening. >> reporter: good evening mike. here we are almost two months post election and the democratic party is still reeling as to how it can recover from sweeping losses.

new research is spotlighting just how bad it is. the progressive group conducted a trio of swing voter focus groups who cast the democrats as we can overly focused on diversity and elites, finding "when asked to compare the democratic party to an animal, one participant compared the party to an ostrich because they've got their heads in their sand and are absolutely committed to their own ideas even when they are failing. president biden leaves office in just 24 days and with no clear message or leadership, the party inviting ensues. >> the brand got so bad, it's been so maligned from the standpoint of it's just toxic. >> if the democratic party was a little more like the chairwoman and a little less like joe mansion i think we would have won the election. >> reporter: summer distancing themselves from the party left. there is a growing list of democratic state lawmakers from florida to california switching

their party affiliation altogether as they say the party has become unrecognizable. mike. >> mike: chanley painter reporting live, thank you. let's take a little deeper into what appears to be a democratic party in disarray with former trump white house assistant press secretary harrison fields and heritage foundation strategic mitigations vp mary vought. welcome to both of you. a former obama fund-raiser expressed to this concern about where the democrats are now. let's play it. >> i believe that there is a realignment. it used to be the democratic party, they were supporting the working class, a middle-class. it was the party of free-speech, no censorship and yet now the tables have turned. >> mike: mary, what to the democrats need to do? >> that's a great question. they need to figure out what time it is in the country and they need to do it quickly because the future of their party depends on it. we know why the trump won on november fifth, they seem to be

completely confused by it. if iran a democrat party i would call a caucus meeting for 24 hours, i would say we are going to analyse all of the exit polls, all of the data. why did donald trump win, what issues resonate with the voters and i would then work to initiate policies that are aligned with that. it doesn't seem that's what they are doing which is awed because their whole job is to represent their constituents so their failed policies of the hateful rhetoric and the weaponize inc. of the deep state is not working and they need to go back to the drawing board. >> mike: from liz smith and "the new york times", many of the democrats who succeeded this cycle our best over performers, people who ran against the democratic party brand. trump tore down the blue wall in the industrial midwest but expanded his vote the most in our bluest and most urban areas. harrison, what about that analysis? >> you look at chicago right now, you have the mayor refusing to do anything about the illegal

immigration crisis and black voters saying enough is enough, we want our city back and our country back. the same thing in california. avenue some doubling down on illegal immigration crisis. meanwhile his whole state went 2 million plus voters for donald trump's time around and if that isn't a referendum of we don't like the way california is going, i don't know what will. the democratic party has their head in the sand and there's nothing that is going to change that because they don't know how to win without one, weaponize and the government, like mary said, or two, completely ignoring the will of the voters. you are seeing that now. they want to deny president trump the election come certification time. this is exactly what they want to do. they cannot win at the polls so they will try every trick to try to deny donald trump the election. it's not going to work in the voters are going to see through it. >> mike: from "politico", new research shows the massive hole

democrats are in. even those who previously vote democrat cast the party as we can overly focused on diversity and elites. how big of a rebuild is that? >> a big rebuild. they need to stop listening to the ngos and the leftist lobbyists that are telling them to put forth this woke dei agenda and go back and listen to the american people. that's their job. they were elected to represent them and be their voice and they have so far to ignore them and so they should be a huge wake-up call for them. they need to have a message that resonates with the american people and honestly the democrats should work on building up the caucus. fiscally conservative house members, now there's only about ten of them, but work on building up the policy in a republican-controlled town where they can negotiate on spending and these issues and have some form of a seat the table in this trump world that we live in. >> mike: harrison? >> the reality is the -- reality is we have the john fetterman's

of the world that are coming and knowing what time it is and saying okay we lost, we need to do something about this, let's get a solution to make the next four years more conducive for the environment of bipartisanship. the rest don't want to. the democrats really are going to have to reflected to see what needs to change. the most effective ad that president trump rant was the democrats are for they and them and i'm for while you. the american people understood that, they felt that. -- i'm part you. went college campuses are being taken over by radical hamas groups in the democratic party doesn't do anything and the republican group says this isn't the america we want to live in, of course donald trump will win in a landslide. the electorate is over the democratic party. if they don't have a massive change they will continue to lose elections but for us that's good. >> mike: let's? 's in more. quick answers. rnc says biden has been on vacation for 40% of his presidency. 570 days.

there are people across the political spectrum hope you like that is a bad luck with him leaving office in less than a month. >> he's been on vacation since day one. he allowed kamala harris to run the country from the white house. the work he's talking about now is pardoning his son who is a criminal. i'm all for respite when you work hard but when that's your work, no, thank you. >> isn't it amazing, 40 years in washington, you can afford a mansion in st. croix and in delaware and meanwhile the american people are asking how they are going to make it in the country. that is why donald trump won and a landslide. biden has never been the president. he sat back and watch the country go to the trash can. the good news is in three weeks we will have a new president. >> mike: harrison fields, mary vought, thank you. >> thank you. joe biden on the other hand has shown us what sober study leadership looks like. he restore democratic norms in the country after the first four

trump years. he grew the economy and on the world stage he used just the right amount of western influence and u.s. leadership. >> as the first female vice president, history will look kindly on her term. made some really important strides on behalf of women in the country. i hope we take a moment to acknowledge her extraordinary history making contributions and not just, you know, leave her soul legacy is having lost the presidency. >> mike: parts of the mainstream media attempting to put a shine on the biden-harris legacy but there is more madness to talk about tonight with robby soave and politics cofounder brad polumbo. gentlemen, welcome. >> good to be here. >> mike: let's start with us from "the new york times". will the u.s. ever be ready for a female president? "the first woman elected to lead the afl-cio who supported ms. harris and believes she made no significant missteps, it does feel like that sucker punch of that glass ceiling is still

elusive. brad, what is your assessment of that? >> the delusion is off the charts with her if she thinks kamala harris made no missteps. she passed up the opportunity to go on joe rogan and reached the demographic she needed because her staff was afraid she would upset her staffers. obviously there will be challenges that face a female candidate than a male -- that a male candidate would not face but there are also plenty of advantages and it so rich to hear all of this talk about how kamala was held back by her gender when she only had the job as vice president because of her gender in the first place. that's what biden said. he said i will only select a woman for my vice president. so then for people to play the gender card to cover up for her big loss, to me it reeks of irony beyond belief because that's the only reason she was on the ticket in the first place, because of that vp ticket that she got in part because of her gender. you can't have it both ways. >> mike: dan abram says its time to give president-elect trump some credit. >> there has to be some ability

of the media to recognize successes that trump has. there is a level of trump derangement syndrome among some. they are completely incapable of giving him credit for anything. >> mike: robbie, what about the democratic excuses and does he make a smart point? >> this is the greatest political come back in american history, for donald trump to win i a greater martyred -- margin then he did the first time. now the popular vote as well. it's clear the american people are on his side about something. i suspect it's the economy being out of whack, the illegal immigration problem. there's a clear mandate to fix this. you are hearing many in the democratic party i think starting to concede that they have to give him a bit of credit. but the media will never do this because they are an entire industry that is built, their business model is built upon this dwindling core of people in america who oppose trump no

matter what he does because of who he is. they still need to ring traffic and cliques and subscribers out of that, the mainstream media. it's not going to be enough to be successful but they have to double down or they alienate the small number of people still watching for that reason. >> mike: then there's the associated press naming a boxer who failed to gender test to the top three female athletes in 2024. caitlin clark honored his ap female of the year. a group of 74 sports journalist from the associated press and its members voted on the award. clark received 35 votes. olympic gymnast simone biles of course was second with 25 and the boxer was third. i don't know if i pronounce the name right. four votes. what do you make of that? >> it's a travesty. you are nominating -- we have supposedly unbiased media outlets like the associated press he was actually very clear having a liberal bias nominating people for female athlete of the year who are not female.

they are not a transgender person but has a rare genetic condition that appears to make them biologically male. this is something that has been documented extensively at this point. so to go and then award them female athlete of the year, top three, is pretty offensive to all the female athletes that would have been left out as a result. i just think it's part of this ongoing push towards gender nihilism that we see that is so out of touch with where most people are at. i think it's bringing about a real backlash. people are getting sick of the insanity. >> mike: no surprise, a hot take on this one. >> what the associated press has done here, they nominated and awarded -- this is the message i received. they nominated and awarded them because he is a male periods achievements are comparable with the other athletes who were nominated and even ones who were denominated. the message i got was that he was nominated because he is a male and because they want to punish women for speaking out.

>> mike: robbie, what is the ap doing here? >> progressives are trying to erase the category of women sports. there are other individuals to celebrate. you could have made a nonpolitical choice. but what the journalists want to do is make people angry. even though this is such a losing issue. vast majority of people, even democrats, liberals think, you know, be nondiscriminatory towards transgender people but not have men in women's sports. this is an 80-20 issue across the country. just a small number of people including woke people who feel that way. i think they were thumbing their noses at the rest of us. >> mike: makes you wonder in the postmortem of the election if they look at issues like this and go maybe we are out of the mainstream. >> i think it showed. but as i said earlier, the media will never have this reckoning. maybe the democratic party well. possibly. you see people like john fetterman and others. great, but the liberal journalists will never see a

reason to get with where the american people are. >> mike: robby soave, brad polumbo, thank you very much. a growing number of seattle residents have come up with a collective new year's resolution. fed up with the city's escalating minimum-wage, they are promising to stop tipping workers, already making substantial wages. let's get insight into the issue from the author of what's killing america, seattle talk radio host jason rantz. jason, welcome. >> thank you so much. >> mike: let's start by showing our audience what minimum-wage in seattle is this year and what it's going to next year. so right now it's $19.97. in a matter of days it goes up to $20.76. jason, they want to be tipped on top of that? >> not only do they want to get tipped, we are not just talking about the folks he would normally expect to give a tip to. i went into a pet store today, i bought my dog some treats and i was prompted as to whether or not i wanted to give a 15% tip.

no, i don't want to give you a 15% tip because you didn't really do anything. i think a lot of people are feeling that especially in the context of at some point we started to give tips because we felt like the work that was being done was fine but they weren't making "enough. out certainly not in seattle. when you are now making $20.76 to start, then asking for a larger tip, because now we are paying a tip on more expensive food items, more expensive coffee, more expensive pet treats, all as a result of this, is just a little too much. more and more and more progressives are the ones who are saying enough is enough. they are asking for too much and they are not great to give anymore. the irony of course is these are the same people who forced the seattle city government to move forward with this kind of ridiculous minimum-wage to begin with. >> mike: meanwhile in washington there's a freak out going on because president-elect trump says it is time for remote workers to get back in the office. let's play him.

>> if people don't come back to work, come back to the office, they will be dismissed. somebody in the biden administration gave a five-year waiver so that for five years people don't have to come back into the office. it involved 49,000 people. for five years they don't have to. they just signed this thing. it's ridiculous. it was like a gift to a union. we are going to obviously be in court to stop it. >> covid was a long time ago. is it time for people to get back in the office? >> it's been time for years. that we are even having this conversation is foolish. any time someone says that their love working from home, and they are just as efficient, say why do you like working from home? >> -- they say it's amazing, i get to work at my own pace, to my laundry, take my dog for walks. that means you aren't as efficient and you aren't responding to emails during the workday means me at my office during the workday is now delayed because i have to cater to your schedule at home.

it is absolutely ridiculous. there's a very small percentage of people who can actually make this work. the others are taking advantage. still using covid as absolute -- is absolutely absurd. >> mike: then there's the revolution -- revelation of pictures of president biden with chinese president and his son hunter biden. representatives of america first legal are blaming president obama and president biden, their people for delaying the national archives release of the images. what is your assessment? >> you've got hunter biden's business associates in the photos. we know exactly why they chose not to release them until now. i'm assuming someone is going to call them a deep fake. we will have that conversation for a minute and then we will move on and point out that he's a pathological liar. joe biden is a pathological liar and people who were lying on his behalf should not get a pass because they knew they were lying on his behalf. in any sane world in which we had a media that was respecting itself enough would call this

out. the media was the one that was pushing this lie on the left. where is the condemnation coming from "the new york times" or "the washington post"? why is it that we are not getting that level of coverage on something that was so clearly and transparently deceitful? >> mike: and yet we got this denial from president biden. let's play it. >> how many times have you ever spoken to your son about his overseas business dealings? >> i've never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings. >> mike: final thought jason? >> i love it. it sort of like hunter, who's hunter? what are you talking about? he's in business, what is this business you speak of? so clearly transparent. what it was he was doing, we knew he was lying at the time, and media covered up for it. they should be the ones also having to pay for that. >> mike: jason rantz, thank you so much. coming up, a woman burned alive on the new york city subway as bystanders stood by

and watched. how the daniel penny effect maybe coming to a blue city near you, next. and later in the nightcap... >> have any of your colleagues said they aren't voting for johnson? >> i've talked to a few, you know, who don't seem like they will vote for him. >> will you vote for somebody else? i will vote for somebody else. >> i'm losing confidence each day i think a lot of our colleagues are. >> mike: tensions rising in the house as speaker mike johnson's republican support dwindles and the vote to save his job nears. will he be replaced next week? are we in for drama in the house? let us know on x and instagram, @foxnewsnight. we will read your responses in the nightcap. ♪need ♪ dayquil vapocool? it's dayquil plus a rush of vicks vapors. ♪vapocooooool♪ woah. dayquil vapocool. the vaporizing daytime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, power through your day, medicine. ( ♪ )

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>> mike: breaking tonight, president-elect trump calling on the supreme court to extend the deadline that could shut down the widely popular social media platform tiktok until he takes office periods legal team filed a brief supporting either party today. a couple of weeks before the justices are scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case on january tenth. mr. trump argues that he should have the power to make the final decision on tiktok's fate due to the national security and first amendment issues raised by the case. the illegal immigrant accused of setting a woman on fire and burning her to death in a new york city subway was indicted on murder and arson charges friday. jeff paul has the latest on the gruesome case. >> reporter: we will start in new york where the guatemalan migrant who's accused of fatally setting a woman on fire on the subway was indicted. he was charged with first and second-degree murder as well as first-degree arson. he faces life in prison without parole and according to i.c.e.,

the new york department of corrections has indicated it won't honor an i.c.e. detainer prince current state policy. >> the city not cooperating with i.c.e. to deport people in the country illegally, wreaking havoc, committing crimes, is just outrageous. >> reporter: meanwhile in southern california, video of two girls arrested, accused of shoplifting, is now going viral after police chased them down, handcuffing them and putting them into the back of the cop car. they said this... >> felony? >> [bleep] >> felony and this is orange county. >> reporter: the owner and president of in and out burger said she decided to shut down the chains oakland restaurant back in march after the location became a magnet for crime. >> it was just absolutely dangerous. out of 365 days there were think

almost 300 days there was some type of event. violence, fights, theft, you name it. there was a lot. there was gunshots that went through the store. stabbing. >> reporter: that closure was the first permanent shutdown in the company's 76 year history. saying it had to be done for the safety of the people who work there. >> mike: understandable. jeff paul, thank you. let's get expert analysis on america's crime crisis from former washington homicide detective and fox news contributor ted williams along with former dhs deputy assistant secretary jonathan fahey. gentlemen, welcome. daniel penny's attorney worries there could be the penny effect, people not wanting to get involved in stopping crime after seeing the hill daniel penny went through. let's play that. >> people watching that and seeing the hill that my client went through, just in general,

is events like these occur through the city and beyond, it's very reasonable to expect that people see what happened to my client, what he had to go through before he was exonerated and not want to take the risk of intervening or helping. >> mike: what about that concern, ted? >> that is a sad commentary about what is going on in our states and cities around the country. there are good samaritans, they want to get involved, they want to help individuals who are victims of perhaps criminal activity. but yet they don't want to go through what daniel penny went through. daniel penny was on the subway, he saw an individual threatening individuals. he tried to bring the individual under some control by using the choke hold. he did not intend to kill the person. the person died. penny then had to go out and hire lawyers, spent a lot of

money. as a result he was exonerated. but the whole country saw that and people who want to be good samaritans, want to help individuals that come under those kinds of scenarios, they back off unfortunately. >> mike: then there's the subway attacker who lit a woman's clothing on fire while she was apparently sleeping on the subway. new york congressman weighed in on that one. >> will i think federal charges could be very well appropriate here. i think the bigger issue is that we have this ongoing policy in the city of new york in which we are not cooperating with immigration and customs enforcement to remove people who are here illegally and dangerous. >> mike: our federal charges appropriate? >> federal charges could be appropriate and they could be charged with arson and arson resulting in death with incidentally and ironically as a capital a fence. could be charged was something that is eligible for the death

penalty. i say ironically because of what joe biden did by commuting the death penalty sentences. but she's right, we have this problem and the criminal is mainly responsible but we have public policies that if they were different, this crime would've never happened. if the biden administration had a secure border, this criminal would not have gotten back in and when he was stopped by new york transit they would've known he was illegally reentered which is a felony. they could've charged and he could have been deported there. two things, public policy wise, led to this or were contributing factors. she's exactly right on this. but i don't know if federal charges will be brought because the state charges will probably yield the same punishment which would be life in prison. but they certainly are appropriate. >> as we look ahead to new administration there are questions about how much local officials will cooperate. for example, san diego. >> sheriffs are not responsible

for, nor should they be held accountable for participating in what is essentially a federal job which is deporting members of the community. >> mike: ted, what is your take? >> this is a very difficult situation. you've got what is definitively century states. california being one of them. you've got i.c.e. agents who are trying to do their job for the american people and you've got this conflict where they will not cooperate. i'm hoping at some stage that tom homan, who's coming in as the i.c.e. director, will be able to get the states and cities in local people in california to help out to establish some sort of rapport where they can carry out and get a legal individuals out of the country, specifically criminal individuals. we need to get them out of the country. >> mike: president biden commuted the sentences of 37

people on federal death row. jonathan, what is your experience with one of those killers? >> i prosecuted one of them by the name of george torres who killed two little girls in illinois, and eight and 9-year-old. stabbed them to death, killed a woman who was a sailor serving in the military while she was sleeping at fort myer, also attacked other women in arlington county and he was given the death penalty by a jury. after the department of justice approved seeking the death penalty. so this is really one of the most outrageous things joe biden did and is not just the substance of it, the way he went about it that a sneaky way right before christmas eve so that it would get less media attention. not contacting the families, not explaining it to the american public, not seeking to change the law with congress, it is truly disgraceful and it seems like his position at this point is he's against the death penalty unless it's a really high-profile case which is

certainly a morally untenable position to have. >> mike: ted williams, jonathan fahey, many thanks and have a beautiful weekend. >> thank you. >> mike: coming up, china unveiling the world's largest amphibious warship, strengthening what was already the world's largest navy. what this might mean for the rest of us, after the break. ♪ ♪ (vo) sail through the heart of historic cities and unforgettable scenery with viking. unpack once, and get closer to iconic landmarks, local life, and cultural treasures. because when you experience europe on a viking longship, you'll spend less time getting there and more time being there. viking. exploring the world in comfort. we're told in genesis chapter 1:26 that god is made man in his image and by his likeness has he made him.

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>> reporter: >> mike: breaking tonight, renowned sportscaster who called nfl games for cbs and served as a networks studio host during the ncaa march madness basketball tournament has died. he was also the older brother of news and sportscaster. his family says he passed away peacefully after a courageous battle with cancer. he had a legendary career. he was 78 years old. a federal judge has ordered the outgoing biden administration to stop disposing of materials in it's final days

before president-elect trump takes office. texas attorney general requested the hearing following reports that segments of the border wall were being auctioned off for pennies on the dollar. the iranian regime is reportedly feeling the pressure of president-elect trump's impending maximum pressure campaign combined with a chronic domestic gas shortage. let's discuss what figures to be a real foreign policy flash point with the foundation for defense in democracies iran program senior director behnam ben taleblu and heritage foundation senior fellow retired navy captain brent sadler. gentlemen, welcome. from lisa daftari, the shortage inside iran is significant and exposes the regime's growing vulnerabilities across multiple fronts. from the defeats of hezbollah and hamas in their conduct with israel to the losses of the houthis in yemen and the collapse of the syrian regime under a sod, we see a consistent erosion of the regime's influence. is the regime in tehran in

trouble? >> absolutely. deep trouble. at home on the economic front, the iranian currency is at it's lowest point relative that to the u.s. dollar in it's recorded history. the head of the iranian central bank has talked about the energy crisis, the economic crisis and link did not to just domestic issues but the geopolitical issues, the fall of their only stay partner as well as develops -- developments vis-a-vis israel and of course with the impending return of donald trump in the white house and the resumption of that maximum economic pressure campaign. >> mike: what would you say should be present a luxe play when it comes to pressuring the regime? >> the president should be doing two things and they are both doable. one, maximum pressure against the regime which means enforcement of oil sanctions, enforcement of sanctions and penalties against the regional trade network under rent -- underwritten by a strong deterrent posture coupled with maximum support for the iranian people.

they have been protesting against this regime and its entirety. they are the longest suffering victims and they are our key partners on the ground in the region for fundamentally better middle east. >> mike: china, from former trump national security advisor robert o'brien. >> i take it un-american war fighter, they are getting better and closing the gap quickly and if we don't invest the way we need to in our armed forces, they are going to close the gap. >> mike: how concerned should we be about china's investment in it's military? >> significantly because what they are making up for inexperience, they are able to build out with numbers of shifts -- ships and aircraft and missiles. they've had a larger modern navy since 2015 and now well over 370 ships that are being counted by the most recent annual report on china to our about 296 battle force ships. >> mike: the folks across the

street at the capitol can't agree on the sky being blue so in terms of ships quickly, that's not a quick process for us. >> when it comes to building ships there's nothing that is more complex. even the space shuttle does not come close to how complex building nuclear submarines is in it takes 3-5 years to build one. to be able to bring on new suppliers, to build the parts in the palms, 2-3 years. we are already inside a window of maximum danger to turn things around and try to regain some semblance of conventional deterrence using our navy against china because they do count the missiles on our ships and they count the aircraft on our aircraft carriers that are in their neighborhood. >> mike: let's talk about another huge conflict which is ukraine. questions about the next steps in the ukraine war. here's the incoming special envoy. >> understands the importance of this, understands the importance of the relations he has with his allies and with blood a mere

potent as well. he's the man who can bring this to a conclusion and i really believe he will in a relatively near-term. >> mike: i know iran is your specialty but do you have thoughts on ukraine? >> absolutely. given the iran russia this. one reason the russians are still in the fight despite the sanctions and pressure is that the iranian's, the north koreans and others are really magnifying the russian defense industrial base. step number 1 for the trump administration if they do desire peace through strength is to help handicap that iran russia relationship. there's no country on the world that can lose against the ayatollahs and win against putin. it means tackling the newfound acts of evil one link at a time. >> mike: can president trump end the ukraine war quickly? >> he can if from a position of strength. putin right now, his most recent statement was that he's willing

to enter into negotiations if president trump makes the first move. that's a trap. if we stand firm and say that putin must enter into negotiations honestly before inauguration, i think putin will see that as trump not being deterred and that trump is willing to actually act on a position of strength. which is similar to what he did with north korea and similar to how he treated the iranian's. i think his deeds of his first administration, putin is no fool, he knows what trump can do. >> mike: behnam taleblu, brent sadler, thank you very much. >> thank you. for speaker johnson or not? >> i think that mike has done an admirable job under tough conditions but i'm going to keep my options open. >> mike: what do you think, will speaker mike johnson be ousted next week, are we in another battle for the speakership, or will republicans

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♪ ♪ >> mike: we are back with the nightcap crew, jeff paul,

chanley painter, robby soave, mary vought, harrison fields and jason rantz. tonight's hot topic, republican rift. tensions continue to rise mike johnson support dwindles and the vote to save his job nears. will johnston be ousted, our people working the phones this weekend, are we in for drama in the house? let's get it started. chanley painter. >> all of the above. i think speaker johnson faces an uphill battle to retain his speaker's gavel especially after the drama last week on the government shutdown bill. i believe an endorsement from trump would go a long way because i hope we don't see what happened two years ago during the mccarthy vote. it took five days, 15 votes to reach the majority, the longest speaker vote in over 160 years. i'm hoping this is an instance where they don't want to break the record. >> mike: quite the soap opera. from new york to seattle, jason?

>> if i were a betting man, which i am, i just got back from vegas, i would say that he's not going to be the speaker. i think you've got folks like thomas massey who have way too much power now. you have a few people with a whole lot of power because the republican control of the house. when you have that kind of power and you are let's just say recalcitrant, you probably will use it to your advantage and i think that's what he's going to end up doing. >> mike: down the coast to jeff paul. >> i tell you what, this is not a job i would want. it seems very stressful. you are in for a time and then everyone tries to take your job or push you out. i think that's right though, i think president trump could really help him in this particular situation by saying that he supports him. speaker johnson has been nothing but supportive in standing right next to trump through these last couple of years so i do think trump sort of owes him a

lifeline. it is politics. he's going to have to work across the aisle. i know some republicans don't like that but that's politics. >> mike: here in washington, mary. >> it's a weird time in history when there's more drama associated around a speaker of the house, one of the most unpopular entities which is that of congress and less of taylor swift, so we will wait and see. the reality is, the speaker will be whoever donald trump wanted to be. will there be drama? let's hope so otherwise people aren't going to tune in to watch c-span. >> mike: harrison. >> i don't think that trifecta can go on without a speaker johnson. donald trump is going to need a strong speaker and he's going to put on the pressure not just for speaker johnson but also incoming leader thune and i think you will see a united republican party. i think that is the only way president trump will be successful and that's what needs to happen. >> mike: robbie. >> they change the role too many times, it's starting to feel like the "star wars" prequels,

the galactic senate. there's a week speaker and that's how you end up with palpitating. i don't know if they will switch him. thomas massey's criticism is why do we bother switching from mccarthy to johnson to have the same policies? i think descent is healthy in the chamber, republicans are having a lot of arguments in public, on social media in recent days that shows the health of the conservative movement, that there's ideological disagreement that's allowed if it's thoughtful on the democratic side. >> mike: a squeeze and viewers real fast. -- says i think johnson will be replaced. drama in the house, count on it. mark says i think so to both questions. i think the republicans want someone like trump as speaker, the democrats want someone more liberal. we are out of time, i want to thank you nightcap folks for staying up late. you did a great job. thank you for watching america's late news, "fox news @ night". i'm mike emanuel in washington, i'm mike emanuel in washington, it's been a pleasure filling ins have a beautiful weekend. ♪ ♪ d unking. unpack once and get closer to iconic landmarks,

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world." have a great weekend. "the five" is next. ♪ ♪

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