of sovereign in a way, that they can spark a new leadership election at any moment, that they will have all sorts of other powers, like he, said to fire individual members of the federal government. and so, yeah -- i think it was interesting to see the converse. even the kind of most left-wing members the democratic party believe enough in the institutions to want to -- >> 100% correct. >> there are a lot of democrats on the left to do not like hakeem jeffries. >> in fact, he has gone to war personally against many of them. >> right, but they are kind of willing to put aside their personal grievances in order to preserve democratic power. and i think republicans -- you have even seen some reporting of matt gaetz saying i don't care if hakeem jeffries ends up as speaker because that does nothing to hurt his brand. >> it's because there's something they want in some piece of legislation on the other side of that hill. that's the thing.

you'll swallow your pride if hakeem jeffries came at you because you'll work together. there's stuff you want. if there's nothing you want in a governing sense there's nothing you can be given in a deal. michelle and nick, thank you. that is "all in." alex wagner tonight" starts now. happy new year. >> we're talking about the unity on display, we have congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez at the top of the hour. she will have a lot to say. thank you for a great show as always. thanks to you at home for joining us. if you took a high school history class in the united states, you probably spent at least a day discussing this image. this is the iconic political cartoon of the caning of senator charles sumner in may of 1856. preston brooks entered the senate and he entered the

chamber carrying a metal tipped cane then he walked over to the anti-slavery senator and beat him unconscious and then he walked out without anyone stopping him. it is one of the most famous instances of political violence by one member of congress against another. it wasn't unique. in the lead up to the civil war there were at least 70 instances of political violence by elected representatives against elected representatives. and what you might not have learned in history class is that the very same year that pro-slavery congressman preston brooks beat anti-slavery senator sumner on the floor, the house of representatives was already in an unprecedented amount of disarray. the house was so divided over the issue of slavery that it could not elect a speaker. the normally ceremonial vote to pick a leader for the majority party in the house typically takes one vote and a matter of

minutes in 1856 that took 133 rounds of votes. 133 rounds of votes over the course of two months. and when a massachusetts congressman named any faneuil banks finally won he did not sugar coat his prospects or that of the legislature. in a speech on the house floor he said, it would afford me far greater pleasure in taking the chair of the house were i supported even by the self-assurance that i could bring to the discharge of its duties always arduous and delicate and now environmented with unusual difficultied any capacity commensurate with their responsibility and dignity. in other words, here, given how hard it was to get this congress to decide on who should lead it, the unusual difficulty of 133 separate votes to elect the speaker, given all that chaos, representative banks did not have much faith this congress would get much of anything done.

and now tonight 167 years later republicans in the house of representatives find themselves similarly unable to elect a speaker. the republican front-runner congressman kevin mccarthy has already had three failed votes just today. the latest featuring 20 republicans voting against him. as a reminder mccarthy can only afford to lose four members of his own party. all of this is highly unusual. it almost never happens. this is almost a pro forma exercise in typical years, failing to elect a speaker after one round has happened only 14 times and 13 of those were before the civil war. those leadership elections were in a period of american history so violent and divided members of congress literally fought each other. and needless to say very little actual productive legislating got done after those, shall we say, unusual difficulties.

anything is possible here but it seems incredibly unlikely that this leadership election is going to last anywhere near as long as the one in 1856. let's hope it does not but just the mere fact republicans can't decide on a leader is a massive omen for the kind of session we have in front of us. if republicans are in this kind of disarray on day one, imagine what happens when there's actual legislation to pass and they need to turn to the actual business of governing, when they need to come together as a majority party in the house and decide on actual things. even if kevin mccarthy is elected as speaker tomorrow, it will be in an incredibly weakened state. the far right maga wing of the gop has already proven that it's willing to sabotage its own party in a very public fashion to get its way. forget legislation or governing agendas, how do you pass a budget with a congress like this? the maga caucus has enough

members to hold hostage any vote it wants and today was proof that these representatives are willing to actually do just that. so what does this republican breakdown mean for congress going forward? is it governable? are we governable? joining us now is democratic congresswoman from new york alexandria ocasio-cortez. congresswoman, thank you so much for being here on, well, a day that will go down in the history book. >> thank you for having me. >> let's just start with what it was like to bear witness to this republican fracture firsthand on the floor of congress. how did you leave the chamber today? >> you know, i was -- i was honestly surprised. i did not think that kevin mccarthy was going to have the votes on the first round but i didn't think that it was going to be as catastrophic for him as it actually was. i think one of the things we saw was, we saw there were reports

of up to 20 hold-outs except usually in the 24 to 48 hours before a vote, there are a lot of negotiations that happen and kevin mccarthy was engaging in some of those negotiations in order to bring that number down. now, i didn't think he was going to have the vote at all but we at least thought that that number would be less. but to get into the high teens, you know, nearly 18, 19 members refusing to support his speakership is an astonishing high number and i think it very much speaks to the lack of faith among elected republicans that they have in kevin mccarthy's speakership and for him to have several months since the november elections and still not be able to clinch it, i think, is very much a testament to a lack of leadership and it is very surprising to see that, but, you know, in the contrast on the democratic side, we didn't have a single defection and that unity is very much

going to help us in, you know, hopefully being able to secure some proceed surely wins and take advantage of certain moments. >> i want to return to that topic in terms of the unity and conversations that have been happening inside the caucus, but i did not -- it did not go unnoticed by, shall we sayen 0 the internet and elsewhere you were on the floor having some conversations with republicans including matt gaetz and paul gosar. can you enlighten us to what they were like and any hope that you guys work together to get hakeem jeffries elected as speaker of the house? >> you know, i think in chaos anything is possible. especially in this era, you know, it is unlikely but there's always a possibility. i do think that in terms of some of those conversations, i mean, listen, some of us in the house of representatives are independent in certain ways from

our party and i do believe that in some of those conversations, there are things that are happening on the floor, machinations are happening on the floor and sometimes the leadership of your party, in this case, the republican party will make claims in order to try to twist arms and get people in line. a lot of times information and truth is currency, so sometimes to be able to fact check some of the claims that mccarthy is making, whether democrats are going to defect or not, et cetera, is important in order to keep him honest and keep people honest in general and so, you know, i think what was important today was to send the message we were united behind hakeem jeffries as the now minority leader or as leader of the democrats and that there would be no defections, that democrats are here, we're not going anywhere and if they want to play ball, we're open to that. >> that's going to make a lot of

people, i think, on one side of the aisle very happy and a lot of people on the other side of the aisle very concerned. is it your sense that there is a plan that the freedom caucus has? there is a question who is running the operation. is it kevin mccarthy or is it, you know, andy biggs and paul gosar and matt gaetz? >> i think one of the central challenges here is that in this -- in kevin mccarthy speaker run within the republican caucus, there was no number two. the republican caucus did not really have a full-throated race for speaker. there was no challenger in the last two months that has emerged. that is a central republican problem. whether mccarthy pulls this through or not, the core concern here is who would ascend to that seat? i do not believe that kevin mccarthy has the votes. i believe that a lot of the

opposition to him is very personal. i believe his leadership style is incompatible with a lot of republican members and certainly the democratic caucus and so i think that is the central question, if not him then who? you have certain members of the freedom caucus who have, of course, nominated other people but the rest of the republican party will not rally, i believe, they will not coalesce under jim jordan. jim jordan doesn't want it. they won't coalesce around andy biggs so the question is there anyone in their caucus that can build that consensus? if there isn't, mccarthy's team may have to come to the democratic party and if that's the case, then what would that even look like? it's rather unprecedented? could it result in a potential coalition government. could we get democratic chairs of committees as a result? we don't know. but ultimately what we saw here

today is that in the last two months and now kevin mccarthy failed to unite his caucus and failed to even, you know, i think he failed to respect the power of the freedom caucus enough as well. they are members of his party in order to build that coalition together. he failed as a coalition builder, not once, not twice, but three times and we reconvene tomorrow morning and i'm not quite sure what he could or would do that would change the calculus between today and tomorrow. >> that's a huge question. we know approximately 7,000 boxes of pizza were delivered to mccarthy's office, which suggests it's going to be a long night of negotiating. you suggested that democrats are open to any overtures from mccarthy's office. have there been any? are you at liberty to say whether there are preemptive conversations going on? >> i think open is a generous term. i'm not saying necessarily that.

our party is signaling an openness just yet i don't want to say. if he chooses to approach the democratic caucus then that would be a negotiation in and of itself for a potential coalition government but, again, this is very much an unprecedented time. in your opening you discussed what happened in 1855. the last time this happened was in 1923 and so we really have not seen many times in american history and it is not a coincidence they are times of division, times of extraordinary strife, disenfranchisement and inequality and i think these are things the caucus is contending with. i also want to note that some of the requests made by republican hold-outs are also small "d" democratic in nature in terms of the rules of the house.

over a very long period of time the concentration of power in the house of representatives has concentrated to an extraordinary amount in party leadership of both parties. what we see from the house freedom caucus is their attempt, however guided, misguided, destructive, constructive, whatever your perspective is, they are making attempts to reform the rules of the house in a way that would dilute mccarthy or the speaker's power and elevate the power of every -- of individual members in the house and that, i think, is an essential crux that is part of the rub here in their inability to create an agreement. so, you know, if mccarthy really wants this, he really needs to look at how he can get to the 218 he needs and you got to find that math somewhere. if you can't get those votes from the house freedom caucus and has provided many, many,

many concessions and it's just not working out. >> i got to ask you, you know, getting concessions from leadership can be done in many ways and the house republican freedom caucus has chosen a pretty public and fractious way to gain them. what happened on the democratic side of the aisle in terms of this unbelievable unity in a very big tent party? what was the conversation like between parts of the democratic party that are much further left, much more progressive than some of the more centrist leadership and in particular hakeem jeffries, the new leader? can you talk a little about that? >> yeah, you know, i think there are a couple of things that are happening. one is that in order for us to take advantage of the fracturing on the republican side, we have to operate as a full entire bloc. this margin is extraordinarily slim. we're talking about a margin of

four votes. and so if they get to a point where they lose four or five votes and we stay 100% united there are possibilities where if it's not this vote it could be other votes. there are proceed surely moments in the house where you can prevent in their case catastrophic legislation from coming to the floor if we remain united. i think some of these conversations coming forward is an acknowledgement of the severity at this point in history talking about a very real danger in a republican controlled house and that could mean that a very narrow slim margin of four to five votes could have implications on whether we can raise the debt ceiling, it could have implications even on the 2024 election. january 6th was all about the refusal to certify every state's election results. and it is no secret that

republicans have indicated that there are several who are willing to do it again. they're willing to reject certification of a presidential election if they do not like the results and i believe that on the democratic side the acknowledgement of how fragile our democracy is in this moment is a critical part to that unity. we absolutely have differences, but i think a willingness to put that aside in order to figure out how we can navigate and exploit some of these major moments to advance really the issues of working people, raise wages, protect health care, and really defend a lot of the gains that we have made in the last two to three years is going to be very critical. >> it's so important to underscore the fact that the last time this happened beyond 1923 was the over of the civil war and does feel like an inflection point in terms of major issues raised. no one knows what's going to happen.

we are so deeply grateful for your time, congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez, of course, from the great state of new york. thank you for your time tonight. we appreciate it. >> of course. thank you very much. we will have much more on this history making first day of congress coming up including signs that this long day's journey is stretching into a very long night. that's the giant pizza delivery going to kevin mccarthy's office. plus, a look at what he has given up to get that gavel even as hard-liners in his conference want that much more. all that is ahead. stay with us.

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what a day it has been for the almost 118th congress and a long day at that. day one has not gone as planned for the republican caucus because for the first time in 100 years as you know very well by now the current congress failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot or the second or the third. after several hours and three failed rounds of votes the de facto leader, kevin mccarthy, failed to get the 218 votes needed. after facing increasing

defections from hard-liners in his party. and while the narrowly republican controlled congress has adjourned for the day not everyone has gone home. nbc reporter hailey talbot captured this video of boxes and boxes and boxes of pizza being wheeled into representative mccarthy's office. as hailey notes pizzey at this hour is never a good sign for congress. it is going to be a late night. joining us now are michael steele and mark leibovitz author of "thank you for your servitude." chairman, what's happening here and what is going to happen? does kevin mccarthy still stand a chance? i mean how do you read the tea leaves on this? >> yeah, you always stand a chance until you don't. that's how it works in washington. if he thinks he's in the game he will work the angles which is

what that pizza represents. now, you know, is he having a conversation with senior leadership? yes. is he meeting with key allies, absolutely. is he talking with those 20 members who are against him? he's trying his best but the question boils down to this, what more can you offer that you haven't already offered that they're going to be willing to accept that will not lose you part of the 203 votes you already have because that's the other side of this equation. you have 203 votes so you will think you would have some negotiating leverage within the caucus itself using other caucus members to bring that pressure to bear on the 20, but it speaks to something that i learned very early in my tenure at the rnc with the emergence of the tea party. for them and for a lot of the remnant, what's left inside the freedom caucus, jim jordan was part of that original class, is

a two-pronged approach. one is respect, right? they don't ever feel they've been respected in the process by the process and, two, leverage. they've never really had leverage going into thesers as we've seen the two times before with boehner and ryan. now they've got both. they've gotten the attention of the establishment, right? they've built respect with the base, right? there are base voters out there screaming for them not to do what they're doing right now. no one is talking about that. you don't hear the base saying, can you guys just really give kevin the gavel? that's not happening. and the second thing is they've got the leverage to extract more pounds of flesh that i don't see kevin has on his on hide at the moment.

>> short of giving them his firstborn and i don't actually know if kevin mccarthy has children, but, mark leibovich, part of the reason they've been able to extract this much information is there is a vacuum. there are no republican heavies at the moment that can move people, that can really whip in the way that you need to. at least it seems. look no further than donald trump who endorsed kevin mccarthy and today is telling nbc news, i got to call -- i got everybody calling me wanting my support. let's see what happens. i got everybody calling wanting my support. that's all i can say but we'll see what happens. we'll see how it works out. he endorsed the dude who is the number one seed for this and is now walking it back because mccarthy's weakness is effectively trump's weakness. where is the center of gravity in the republican party right now? >> i think it's with that pizza. i mean you asked the question -- >> yes. >> what does kevin mccarthy have for people?

he has pizza. no, i mean what you're seeing here is a party with no center of gravity, it is a party of chaos agents and one of the things that struck me in watching the interview with representative ocasio-cortez was the mischief she's enjoying. mutually assured mischief. everyone knows that, you know, they're all kind of torturing kevin mccarthy in their own sort of way and, look, i mean, this is what happens when you have no leadership in what is a very slim majority party and i wouldn't be surprised if donald trump himself now is not whipping up chaos because he's enjoying it, because he loves a spectacle and because he feels it elevates him and in some ways he can look like he was supportive of kevin mccarthy but on the other hand i think that, you know, the vacuum in the house only helps him, he

probably thinks, and, you know, i think instead of -- while republicans might wheel pizza in, the democrats should wheel a big vat of popcorn to the floor because they seem to be enjoying this. >> it must be pretty incredible pizza. mark is right as a man who constantly has mischief on the horizon. >> yes, i do. >> yes, he does. >> it did seem like aoc was kind of entertaining this idea of a coalition government and giving, i think, some credence to the criticisms of the freedom caucus insofar as they feel like power is too concentrated at the top of the republican conference. if you're in a leadership position are you talking to democrats if you're kevin mccarthy? >> no. there's no upside for kevin mccarthy to have a conversation with democrats. what is hakeem going to say to him?

what is he going to say to hakeem? lend me 18 votes? no, i get a lot of the noise that you heard today, folks talking about coalition governments and, you know, the democrats helping out the republicans -- democrats, get your popcorn, baby, like mark said, sit back, put your feet up on the desk and look across the aisle and smile. because that's all you need to do here. they'll work it out. eventually they'll work it out. but the reality for kevin, kevin has two choices at this point. push this thing to the point where he starts to piss off everybody, right? or, two, take his name out of the pot. and that's what the pizza is about tonight. that's what the pizza is about. and so the reality for him is very stark, it's very real. any other conversation is just washington, you know, midwinter

fun at kevin's expense because there's no political upside for democrats to extend an olive branch to create a coalition government with him and there's no political upside for kevin mccarthy to seek their help to give him this position and there is no political upside for any other person to become speaker who tries to craft a deal that sort of usurps the process the way it's playing out right now. in other words, those 218 votes will come from 222 republicans, not democrats. >> it does bear mentioning, though, mark, how far we have come from the cover of the young guns book which featured eric cantor, paul ryan and kevin mccarthy, yeah, there is. the new generation of conservative leaders and just how weakened that kind of conservative leadership has gotten. i need not remind you eric cantor was dismissed by dave brat in 2010, paul ryan retired

in 2018 and here's kevin mccarthy having a terrible no good horrible very bad day. i mean the implications for the gop writ large what is your expectation about what happens after they pick a speaker. can they govern? >> no, i don't think so. part of the issue is that the democrats in a way have an ideal scenario here. i mean obviously they would prefer to still have the majority, still have the speakership but, you know, they have the white house, they have the senate and they have a completely dysfunctional opposition, you know, at a time when it seems, i mean if you're hakeem jeffries, it seems almost fun to be in the minority because you have, you know, you're the foil to the other side but also there's a lot of the tension that was sort of built up around the pelosi leadership over many, many years is probably we leased to some degree and i think a lot of the old generational release has probably been at hand lately.

i think it is really -- in some ways this is all very predictable, right? the republican party just in giving itself to trump has basically, you know, reduced any sort of hint of a spine or any kind of governing underpinning at all and this is what happens when you just have no organizing principle at all, no ideological principle at all and who knows? i think maybe they'll figure it out but maybe not. this could go on for weeks. we'll see. >> that's a lot of pizza. you know you're in quite a place when all you've got to offer is pizza. michael steele and mark leibovich. thanks for joining me. >> take care. we have a lot more to come, the 118th congress is not yet in session, but house democrats have something to celebrate on their side of the aisle this evening. stick around to find out what it is. but first as house leader, republican kevin mccarthy plays let's make a deal to shore up more votes for speaker.

what has he already given up to appease the fringes of his caucus? we'll bring you those details coming up next.

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that's actually super adult of you to suggest. i can't wait to squad up. i love it when you talk nerdy to me. guy, guys, guys, we're still in session. and i don't know what the heck you're talking about. after three failed votes congress has adjourned until tomorrow and republican leader kevin mccarthy's bid for speaker of the house is in peril.

heading into today's vote or votes, as it turned out there had been a lot of speculation about whether mccarthy would give in to demands by house conservatives to adopt new rules for governing the house. since mccarthy hasn't actually won anything at this point this all remains tbd. what has already happened and gotten far less attention the new house rules mccarthy has already agreed to. rules that will go into effect if and when republicans actually settle on a speaker and those new rules include dismantling the january 6th committee and replacing it with a new committee to investigate the weaponization of the federal government. the new rules would gut the office of congressional ethics which is a key watchdog group that oversees members of congress. two years after an armed mob stormed the capitol the new rules would remove magnetometers used to scan for dangerous weapons when entering the house floor and end the right of congressional workers to unionize and would remove the word "labor" from the house

education and labor committee. and they would allow members to introduce amendments that cut funding for specific federal workers and federal programs down to just $1, a provision some people believe is meant to appease republicans who want to defund the fbi. so conservatives managed to get all that from kevin mccarthy and it was still not enough. joining us now is jake sherman, founder of punchbowl news and msnbc contributor. jake, you are our eyes and ears on the hill here. what do you know is happening behind closed doors right now, and what is the speculation about mccarthy's chances tomorrow when there's another set of votes? >> so, alex, these are tired eyes and ears at this moment, but they are -- kevin mccarthy has basically dispatched some emissaries to try to figure out if and what deal, if there is a deal possible and what that possible deal might look like to

get people on board. here's the way mccarthy sees it. there are 200 people, 202 people who have voted for him for speaker. that is 90% of house republicans. he does not feel like he needs to cave in to the 10% of house republicans who are not supporting him. so unfortunately for mccarthy the game is not winning 90% of the house republican conference. he needs 218 votes. he doesn't need 203 votes. so he's going to try to spend the next day or so working to see if it's possible to turn some of those no votes to yes votes for him or to present votes so if you vote present on the house floor, you are able to lower basically the number of total votes cast in the contest so then thereby lowering the total you need to become

speaker. so a lot of horse trading going on, the house is going to come in at noon tomorrow to try to take another round at this. if they don't have any progress to show, i would imagine they try to adjourn once again. i don't think mccarthy can afford, quite frankly, another 20-person dissent on the house floor. >> you're saying mccarthy because he has the votes he does have, not insignificant, 90% of the caucus doesn't feel like he needs to cave, but then what's he offering if there's horse trading going on? like what is his trade if he doesn't feel like he needs to cave? he's already given up so much and feels like he's in a position of semi strength so what's the conversation? >> there are some things he has not given up and very inside baseball things, basically the right wants more seats on the steering committee, the steering committee helps select members of standing committees so the committees that populate the

house appropriations, armed services, thing of that nature, conservatives want more representation on those panels. that is something that they're trying to get. that is something that is being socialized across the house republican conference. that's demands for certain votes and certain procedures in the house so there are still things to be horse traded. now, keep in mind, alex, there is -- mccarthy has given up a lot. he's banking giving conservatives all these concessions so far which leads everybody in the house and close house watchers like myself reason to believe there's actually nothing that the conservatives want besides mccarthy not being speaker like they keep saying this isn't personal. this is personal. these people who are voting against mccarthy time and time again by and large don't like mccarthy. i'm not saying because i'm guessing but i've watched them and i know they have issues with mccarthy. so, again, this is personal. a lot of these people are not flipable.

matt gaetz, not going to vote for kevin mccarthy almost under any circumstance. so it's just a very complicated -- it's a very complicated dynamic and i don't know if he could turn it around. i think he could. i'm not sure that he will. i'm not sure he has that ability to turn it around. >> do you think -- i mean, there is no -- there is no house, the house has no members. >> right. >> the work of congress needs to get done at some point. i mean, the longer this goes on, the more weakened mccarthy is or the stronger he is? what's your assessment? >> he will be probably -- i mean, you know, i put a decent amount of thought that this. he will be one of the weaker speakers going into the speakership by this happening. multiple ballots for the speakership hasn't happened in 110 years so by dint of that, he is a relatively weak speaker should he get there. now, all of that said, maybe

there is a case to be made that he is strengthened and i think -- i'm not making that case but some people are. on top of that, the house is a vastly different institution than it was even 10, 15 years ago, i mean, it is a complete war zone. it has been a partisan war zone since the early 2010s, since the later part of the obama administration or the early part of the obama administration rather, so it's just -- it's tough to judge in a historical context how weak he will be but, listen, if he wins, there's going to be a mechanism to remove him. that's for sure. that's something conservatives have won, so, you know, will he last the entire congress if he get there is? i don't know. i think that's a point of debate and that's something that a lot of people in the house are talking about. >> and then we get to do this all over again. rinse, repeat. jake sherman, founder of punchbowl news. i know you'll be spending a lot of time on the hill over the next couple of days, thanks for

your time, my friend. >> thanks, alex. >> we'll be right back.

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madam clerk, i rise today at the direction of the house democratic caucus to place into nomination for election to the position of speaker of the house of representatives the pride of brooklyn, hakeem jeffries of new york. [ cheers and applause ]

>> cardenas. >> hakeem jeffries. >> jeffries. >> that is how it went on the house floor. 212 votes for hakeem jeffries to become the next speaker of the house. every single democrat in the 118th congress picked jeffries as speaker. just a month after they elected jeffries to lead their caucus. the last time a democratic won the support of every single member of the caucus was in 2007 when nancy pelosi became the first woman speaker of the house. and today the entire caucus coalesced behind its first black leader earning him more votes than kevin mccarthy, the man for whom becoming the next speaker is still very much a long shot. but jeffries is the one that has come the closest to reaching the simple majority needed to win, the congressman has served five

terps representing sections of queens and brooklyn, his hometown. he sits on the house judiciary committee and the budget committee but he's perhaps best remembered for his work as one of the impeachment managers speaker pelosi hand picked to handle donald trump's first impeach many. pelosi's calculus was on the nose. jeffries and his peers succeeded in impeaching trump though the senate did not convict him. during that trial jeffries cemented his reputation as a sort of messaging guru in the caucus and he is the political leader the democrats are rallying around as the republican caucus splits at the seams. nancy pelosi, the woman who expertly led her increasingly diverse caucus for years, she was there today standing next to her successor. for a moment that will be enshrined in history for, well, a lot of reasons. joining us is colorado congressman jonah gao.

congressman, thank you for joining us. i think a lot of democrats feel like the job of communication was pretty easy given the actual implosion happening on the other side of the aisle but i got to ask given the -- just phenomenal amount of unity within the house democratic caucus, what is your expectation for how democrats can use that unity to make any kind of legislative difference in the neck congress when they're in the minority? >> well, good evening, alex. good to be with you. i think you articulated well the historic unity that was on full display in the house democratic caucus under the strong leadership, hakeem jeffries. i could think of no clearer juxtaposition than the chaos on full displace given the historic proceedings which you've described so well. i think it's important for your viewers to consider, again, the

unprecedented nature of today's proceedings and the reality because of the republican dysfunction for the first time in over 100 years, the house literally was not organized on the first day of the session of congress. i think that's a sad for the american public and sad day for the house of representatives as an institution. ultimately house democrats are ready to govern. we are prepared to govern but we need a partner to do so and, unfortunately, it's clear the republican party is disinclined and incapable of governing. any american would watched today's proceedings would reach the same conclusion so, look, find ways to forge consensus, of course, we'll see what happens tomorrow. i suspect it's going to be a few interesting days ahead. >> i mean, the unity is borne not just as a study in contrast, it's not just to show republicans what a functioning party looks like, it's also leverage. if you can keep the democratic caucus together with 212 votes there's a chance you peel away

moderate republicans and can get something done. is that a case that congressman leader jeffries has made to the caucus in terms of staying together through the coming days and weeks? >> i certainly think so. i certainly agree. look, i think that the unity is borne from the talent of the leadership team, of course, led by leader jeffries but also borne from the shared values we have as democrats which ultimately are shared by the american people, the priorities we have pursued for the better part of the last four years since i was first sworn in, better paying jobs, lower costs for working families, defending democracy. these are priorities that are shared by and large by the vast that majority of the american people and why we outperformed the historic norms in the last midterm election and why i believe the republican majority will be a temporary one and so, look, i think we're more unified than ever and we are prepared to do the work and to work on behalf of the american people. i'd like to think that the republicans would be able to get their affairs in order so that

we can get to doing the work the american public expects us to do. >> i think claire mccaskill called this day christmas for democrats. the show of force and chaos on the other side but there is the reality that republicans are going to take over the majority in the house presumably they will actually elect a speaker then we have to sit there and watch as they try and figure out how to govern. i imagine there's a certain amount of sadness in democratic hearts today as well, given the reality of what's ahead of us. i mean, how do you think of what you've accomplished as a democrat and. >> the american public you think about this institution and the

congress as an institution that sort of democracy writ at large and the notion that the republican dysfunction and chaos and crisis has engulfed this institution in the way that it has over the course of the last 24 hours, clearly is a worrying sign for our republic. we want to govern and are prepared to as we have done in the past and i am hopeful the republicans will ultimately learn to do the same, unfortunately, doesn't appear that will be in the cards. >> colorado congressman joe neguse, we'll be right back.

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that does it for us tonight. see you again tomorrow. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. right now the speaker of the house is appointed by pelosi. that doesn't do benefits f