over the republicans. he didn't think would help in his district. why was he focused on who they were nominated. good leader has to look at the world through the prison of swing district members and candidates. that's just not how these folks are gonna roll. >> michael all, or who want to see it is one of the most frontline members. he's saying let's stop this. but falling on deaf ears, david plouffe, thank you so much. >> that's all in on this thursday night. alex wagner starts right now. good evening, alex. good evening, alex. good evening, alex. good evening, alex. good evening, alex. good evening, alex. good evening, alex. good evening, alex. all in. alex wagner tonight starts right now. >> i apologize if you could hear

me snickering and chortling through the conversation you were just having. >> you know me, i like when i get a laugh. >> the idea that you just said, we are going to have a speaker and odds are that person probably will be a republican. that's where we are right now. >> i want to cover my bases because that's on tape. >> the fact that it's even a possibility that it might not be someone from kevin mccarthy's -- >> you never know. >> tells us where we are at. thank you. thank you to all of you at home for joining us. they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. and that appears to be exactly where we are right now. in the middle of insanity. just about an hour ago the house of representatives adjourned with the third day without selecting a speaker of the house. the lower chamber held five votes for speaker and

congressman kevin mccarthy failed to cinch the nomination on all five of those bringing the total number of times he has failed to win the speaker's gavel up to 11. that is the most failed elections for speaker in any congress in over 100 years. surpassing the nine attempts it took to elect a speaker all the way back in the near 1923. throughout those failed votes kevin mccarthy has not managed to pick up one single new supporter. now, his republican antagonists have failed to pick up new support though they have introduced two new names into the mix, oklahoma congressman kevin hern and donald trump, the twice impeached former president of the united states. today congressman matt gaetz officially nominated donald j. trump to be speaker of the house which he can technically do because he does not have to be a mel of congress. after being nominated trump who endorsed kevin mccarthy managed to only get one vote for matt

gaetz himself. that did not stop trump from posting this picture on his truth social account because, of course, he did. this chaotic week has already eaten up nearly 3% of the days that members of the house were supposed to be in session this year. amid all the chaos and confusion there might be the first signs of an actual deal. sort of. maybe. negotiation, between the pro-kevin and anti-kevin are looking at a deal. it surprises key concessions from kevin mccarthy including allowing any one member to call a vote to oust the speaker giving the freedom caucus key posts on the rules committee which would make them gatekeepers for all legislation headed to the house floor and select a new subcommittee to

investigate the weaponization of the federal government with budget the same size of the january 6th committee. in exchange for that kevin mccarthy has secured, well, it's unclear what it's been secured. if anything has been secured. multiple members even tell nbc news that the deal likely does not assure kevin mccarthy the speakership, instead it appears the pro-kevin faction set its sights on the smaller goal, peel off the anti-kevin hold-outs to show signs of momentum to where eventually someday having enough votes to make kevin mccarthy speaker of the house. in other words, my friends, we are not out of the woods yet. the united states of america still does not have a seated house of representatives. how much longer will this go on? joining us now is democratic congressman from michigan dan kildee who serves on hakeem

jeffries' leadership team. congressman, thanks for being with us this evening in this historic week of i don't know what the history books will write about it but right to it. we know that the house democrats were whipping votes on the motion to adjourn. it seems like democrats did not want an adjournment to happen. can you explain how your thinking about this process right now and what you would like to see happen beyond the election of the speaker? is the goal to keep republicans voting on this and effectively force them to make a choice, or what's the logic? >> well, we were sent here to do the work of the american people and this republican majority and, by the way, this is only an example of what we're likely to see over the next couple of years, this is when it is resolved but the first thing they have to do and can't seem to do that. our goal is to get to work and we don't think going somewhere

other than the floor of the house is the place to get that done and also i mean this is my own view, the only way we get to a place where republicans come to grips with reality and finally elect a speaker, they're in the majority, that's their prerogative. the only way when they prove to themselves the reality that either they can or can't get votes for kevin mccarthy and if they can't move on to somebody else. this should not all revolve entirety of the federal government coming to a screeching halt should not all revolve around the likes or dislikes of one individual, kevin mccarthy. that's not the way our government is designed to function but it is a -- it is an example of what happens when we put people like this in charge of the u.s. congress. they're the majority and can't even manage a peaceful transition to themselves. >> yeah. you think that the only place that this gets worked out is on

the house floor so that to me says you have little to no confidence in the negotiations happening behind closed doors with the anti-kevin and pro-kevin caucuses as they were? >> those negotiations can take place while we are continuing to try to get this done, you know. simply leaving and sending everybody home which is what leader mccarthy's suggestion has been to send them home is not what we were sent here to do. my view is i'm elected to serve in congress to represent the people of my district, 212 of us on the democratic side are committed to be on that floor until we can get to the work that we were sent here to do, that doesn't happen until the republicans solve their problems. and, you know, if this is any indication of their ability to deal with the heavy problems that face the american people, bringing down their costs, you know, dealing with the cost of health care, dealing with

energy, dealing with the national security threats that we face, if they can't do something as simple as choose among themselves somebody to sit and hold the gavel how on earth do we expect them to take on far more complicated issues? i don't see it. >> as it pertains to the selection of the speaker you seem to suggest that going through the motions of these failed votes over and over again is going to teach the republicans that perhaps what they're doing is not working, maybe find another candidate. what is the mood like in the course of these votes? i mean, we see the c-span camera footage. you're there. is there a palpable amount of pain or anguish or exhaustion you're seeing from the republican caucus as they go through the motions again and again and again? >> there's a lot of exhaustion with it and there's -- we're anxious to get to work and know we'll be in a position of being in the minority for the next two year, of being in a position to try to help craft policy.

the mood is one of being anxious to get past this and get to work and this is especially true for new members who are coming in. their families are here they're here for that big moment to be sworn in and what they're seeing is a completely dysfunctional republican party, one that can't even sit down across the table with one another and work things out. just to be clear, you know, we know how this is. we are a diverse party ourselves. we have been through this with really slim, in fact, the same majority when speaker pelosi was elected the two times she was elected over the last two cycles, we had to go through the process but we did it in an adult fashion, prior to coming for the january 3rd swearing in ceremony we sat down as adults, looked at one another, worked out our differences and came up with a way to elect a speaker of the house of representatives. and that's the way it's been done for 100 years until this

crew came in and has become the majority and they can't seem to even figure out a way to get through this very opening -- this sort of almost ceremonial moment that ought to be the culmination of their narrow but still clear victory. they won. they don't even know how to deal with that. they don't know how to deal with winning this slim majority. it's a really disturbing image that's being portrayed. they're trying to say this is how democrat works. no. this is not how democracy works. >> is there any chance democrats offer a lifeline here if kevin mccarthy doesn't have the votes in the next round of voting? is there any chance we'll see some attempt at a unity candidate and who would that be? >> well, that's a good question and, you know, the way i have explained it they know where to find hakeem jeffries. if there is an interest on the republican side of coming over and trying to talk with us about how we move forward, our

interest is getting to the legislative process. we're willing to do what we need to do to get there. it's not up to democrats to do the thinking for republicans. but i will say this, we're a party that believes that government can work together. we can work in a bipartisan fashion and if that has to start right away with the selection of a speaker, they know where to find leader jeffries. he is a reasonable person and we're open to that conversation. >> i mean, the senate is starting to look real good. i'll just end by saying we know that senator stabenow from your state is retiring. any chance you'll run for her seat? >> no, i'm not. i'm committed to my work in the house of representatives. first of all, we got a lot of great potential candidates in michigan and i'm enthusiastic about the possibilities of nominating one of them. they're going to have awfully big shoes to fill. senator stabenow has been a friend of mine for as long as i can remember in a great, great ally, she and i worked closely

together, for example, to get relief for the people of my hometown of flint. her legacy is one of incredible public service, and she'll be followed by another great democrat, i'm sure. >> they actually seat people in the upper chamber, just saying. michigan congressman dan kildee. >> they've got that going for them. >> they do. thank you for your time, sir. good luck out there. >> thanks, alex. joining us is clair mccaskill from missouri and msnbc analyst. claire, is it tonight or yesterday or tomorrow? it feels like time is very elastic? >> it's all blending together. >> kevin mccarthy is still not speaker. kevin mccarthy is still not speaker, claire. >> yeah, do you think, alex, that they don't realize that people are watching this? i mean, it's almost like it's become so insular that they don't understand that the american people are watching and thinking, what?

this is how they're going to run government? i am flabbergasted that kevin mccarthy is this clueless, just flabbergasted. >> don't you think at this point it's not just kevin mccarthy, it's also -- you have to wonder what's happening at the upper echelons of republican leadership. there was reporting steve scalise was ready to take the reins if and when mccarthy's bid failed. we hear there's some amount of frustration but the fact that kevin mccarthy is still trying to make the case for his nomination seems to me to be a failure of leadership, don't you think? >> well, i do, and, you know, here's the thing. you've got about 40 members of the freedom caucus and they're split almost in half as to who is willing to go along with mccarthy and get goodies and who is unwilling. so he's trying to peel those off. on the other hand there's like 170 republicans that say, we

will never be for anybody but kevin. but all of that is irrelevant because there are at least five and probably six or seven that have said, we will never ever ever be for kevin mccarthy. we only want to defeat him. and what i don't understand is all these machinations, why isn't he one-on-one with those five to seven members? if he doesn't get them, this is just going to continue to -- he's now given them everything. you know what i think, alex, i think at this point he's probably going to show up at republican caucuses with a tray serving drinks because he's given away everything and at this point including his dignity, so i don't -- you know, how can he be a leader that is ever feared or respected after this circus? i just don't see how it happens. >> i mean he's literally given

away everything but the gavel and even that may be up for discussion. the reality, though, claire, is that kevin mccarthy is now drafted the outlines of a deal that whoever takes the speaker's job is going to have to abide by, right? that seems to be the most destructive part. even if kevin mccarthy isn't the guy, whoever they nominate, whoever ultimately wins here is going to have to abide by this ridiculously lopsided set of negotiations that kevin mccarthy has undertaken as probably the worst negotiator in house history, maybe? i guess i wonder when you think about the house as a former senator, how bad can it get given the contours of the deal that we've already seen? >> he is setting up a system and, listen, i understand that both in the house and in the senate it's gotten really very leadership centric. leaders are writing bills and leaders are doing way more of

the work than they used to do. individual members used to have a lot more committee work and a lot more say about what was going on and that's a valid concern. but what they're about to do is make it so nobody could herd cats in the house and that's what the job is, i mean, nancy pelosi made it look easy, it's very, very difficult and this party, this republican party has been highjacked by the extremes, by the most extreme elements in america and i don't know how they are ever going to be released by their kidnappers. i think the extreme element of the republican party has got their hooks into them and this is just a display of how strong those hooks are. i don't know how they're going to escape. >> i kind of wonder what you think the national implications are. you know, ron desantis has not been talking about this safely

ensconced in his anti-woke castle in florida. even trump has been posting pictures of himself on truth social. what else is new there. they seem to understand how absolutely radioactive this is for the party. do you think the stench of this entire thing sticks with the gop in the months to come? >> well, i actually think that desantis is more of a winner here than trump. you know, mccarthy is the big loser in this to this point, but trump is right behind him. i mean, he got one vote, i mean, that had to make him kind of, you know, sick, because he thinks he's the star of the show and he got one vote today and he couldn't convince any of these 20 people to vote for kevin mccarthy. but ron desantis has an advantage saying i'm not of washington. this is good for governors that want to run for president because they can distance themself from what's going on in

washington. but on the other hand i will tell you this, we ran in november against extremism and extremism by and large lost in november. democracy won in november. women's reproductive freedom won in november. people who care about gun safety by and large won. yes, they controlled the house, but we picked up a seat in the senate and so i think this idea that extremism is still leading the parade of the gop is not good news for them in 2024 especially if they nominate somebody that's as feckless as kevin mccarthy. >> we'll see, claire mccaskill. we will see how this saga ends. it is always good to talk with you. former u.s. senator from missouri, thanks for your time as always. >> thanks, alex. thanks. we have much more ahead this hour. one of the more unlikely things we've seen amid all of this mess

is republicans nominating someone from their caucus to be the first black speaker of the house. but how sincere is that effort really? democratic congresswoman ilhan omar will join me to discuss. matt gaetz and lauren boebert are the faces of this never kevin moment. what about the other 18 voting against him? how much do we know about them? that's next. stay with us.

i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price?

you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information.

plan a didn't work out? get plan b one-step. plan b helps prevent pregnancy before it starts, and it won't impact your ability to get pregnant in the future. find it yourself in the family planning aisle no prescription, no id. i've got this. ♪♪

the problem with washington politicians is they have no skin in the game. it's time for we the people to take our country back. i'm eli crane and i approve this message. >> that was now freshman arizona congressman-elect eli crane, 1 of the 20 far right members who

spent three days preventing republican leader kevin mccarthy from becoming speaker of the house and in turn from seating the 118th congress. you may be familiar with congressman-elect crane because of his appearance on the reality tv show "shark tank." mr. crane founded a business that sells things like hollowed out 50-caliber bullets made into bottle openers and let's go, brandon bottle openers and might know him from that. but you might not know him from that. he is a relatively new face. while well-known members of this group of 20 like matt gaetz and lauren boebert have been the faces of it, what about the rest of the folks in this posse. take freshman florida congressman anna luna. >> i'm anna paulina luna. i'm not going to lie to your

face and tell you what you want to hear. >> despite her claims of not saying things that are convenient, things that people want to hear, some of mrs. luna's biography appears fairly convenient. much about her is new including her last name and her residence in st. petersburg. it coincides with her decision to challenge charlie crist. anna paulina luna is a right wing media superstar. right wing is trying to brand her as the conservative aoc, conservatives are trying to make calling luna apl a thing. but as the tampa bay times points out a lot of apl's persona is new, not too long ago it was anna paulina meyerhover, self-described avid supporter of barack obama. in a 2017 interview about her then modeling career, luna described her job by saying, i'm able to take on different personalities depending on what

image i'm going for. i think getting into character of what you're selling is super important. while there isn't an ideology that unifies them there really does seem to be a common thread of branding, of self-promotion. we have yet to see an issue or a policy animate this group of people but we have seen that all of them are very into being the rebels here and very much enjoy being in the spotlight and would like to ensure that spotlight stays on them and their insurgency. good for their brand. it gets them on more far right tv shows and raises them more money and probably moves more grenade shaped let's go brandon bottle openers. what does that mean for how this ends. how do you negotiate with a group whose only priority seems to be themselves? joining us now is brendan buck who served as an adviser to two former republican speakers john boehner and paul ryan, a man who i'm delighted to say is making his debut appearance on this

television show and, boy, what a time, brendan. it's good to see you. thanks for being here. >> great to be with you, alex. >> honestly, brendan, as you do the research into this group of 20 effectively holding the house of representatives hostage, it makes the tea party insurgents of the john boehner era think like a think tank with well developed policy foundations. what is your opinion of this group of people in terms of what they actually want and how republican leadership can possibly negotiate with them? >> yeah, that was a great setup. look, this politics for these people has become entertainment and become sport. as you said, it is all about getting on tv and being famous. that's the problem for kevin mccarthy. he has now found himself in a game of -- a staring contest, a contest of wills with people who love being on stage right now. they love the fact that we are talking about them.

they exist for this. i mean, the house freedom caucus where the center is operating they like to talk about how they're organized around conservative principles or organized around how the rules of the house operate but they exist to make themselves relevant. they were a group of misfits who found ways to make leadership pay attention to them by being difficult. a natural outgrowth and started in 2010 with the tea party but they were much more focused on fiscal matters, wanting to actually at least solve some problems. you don't see that. matt gaetz is a complete -- a performative clown, online troll and when you have people like this who don't want to get a deal with you, they have no interest in finding a deal, it makes it very difficult for kevin mccarthy. so he's going to have to see if he can pick off maybe some of these people acting in good faith but so many of them just aren't. they want us to be talking about them. >> i think also if you look at it more holistically it's a new

strain of republican politics that seems very much in the image of trump. not just the sort of the showmanship but the branding, the self for sale aspect. you know, trump's old ties and stakes in vodka, eli craning is selling bullet shaped let's go brandon bottle openers. anna paulina luna is a person with many personalities and eager to show the country those various personalities. it seems to be about her, not necessarily what she believes in. the list goes on. kari lake was a former obama supporter and then, you know, was someone who loved the camera, was a television person. we know what ego maniacs television personalities are. that feels new in all of this. does it -- i know that anti-institutional strain of republicanism was very much in effect when you were working with boehner and ryan but the pure like heat-seeking missileness of this all.

the desire to just be famous for fame sake seems like a relatively new development within the radical fringe of the republican party. >> yeah, matt gaetz has said that he thought that he could sort of defeat paul ryan in terms of sway within the party because he went on fox news more and that's how he judged his role. i mean he doesn't see his role as solving problems, passing legislation, he sees his job as communicating and the fighting is the ends. it's not a means to an ends. the fighting is the ends and it's just a real breakdown in what you expect. we had this romantic idea of someone who comes to washington and what they're trying to achieve and a lot of them, whether you're super conservative, at least some of them believe that they are working towards something. but some of these folks aren't even pretending they're working towards anything. now, i do want to say, this is, you know, we talk about these ones who stand out, there are

still a lot of really well-meaning people in the house republican conference and part of that 200 who are supporting kevin mccarthy. the problem is there's so much bad faith that is percolating right now that it makes it hard to figure out who is acting in good faith. who's willing to come to a deal? are there more than four or five of these people? so it's tough to nail them down. that's what they've been trying to do. who is being honest. who can i deal with or who just really wants us to be talking about them on the news? >> is there any -- does mccarthy risk losing some of his own people, the 200 you talk about? i mean some of them are pretty far right but the ones that are more moderate watching him give away the store, everything but the gavel. does he risk alienating them or do you think they want it to be over so badly they'll agree to whatever? >> i think it making people uncomfortable to be honest. the things he is doing and i won't bore your audience with sort of operations of the house, but it makes it really difficult

to move an agenda. it makes it really difficult to imagine getting outcomes on any really important stuff that they want to do. and they move beyond rules to putting people on particular committees. if you were a person who was about to be a subcommittee chairman, for example, and kevin mccarthy's cutting a deal with one of these folks saying this person will be the subcommittee chair instead of you, that's going to cause a bit of a problem. so he's got to be really careful how close he gets over that line. i think at the end of the day i've never really seen the sort of mainstream moderate folks stand up and be the ones who vote something down so i imagine they'll come along and kevin mccarthy will bring them along because he'll just want to end this but i want to stress that kevin mccarthy is getting really far out there on the kinds of things that he's offering and it could make the speakership very, very difficult to operate whether it's him or somebody else.

>> i think the word could is very generous of you. brendan buck, oh, those old days, thank you for your time tonight. great to see you. >> weren't they fun? thank you. still ahead tonight, if you are wondering why after 11 failed attempts to secure the votes needed to become speaker kevin mccarthy is still ready to go at it again, join the club. ali vitali joins me on the latest deal he's working to get the votes. next, seemingly out of nowhere some republicans indicted they cared about nominating one of their own to be the first black speaker of the house. democratic congresswoman ilhan omar joins me next to discuss the reason why.

(woman) oh. oh! hi there. you're jonathan, right? the 995 plan! yes, from colonial penn. your 995 plan fits my budget just right. excuse me? aren't you jonathan from tv, that 995 plan? yes, from colonial penn. i love your lifetime rate lock. that's what sold me. she thinks you're jonathan, with the 995 plan. -are you? -yes, from colonial penn. we were concerned we couldn't get coverage,

but it was easy with the 995 plan. -thank you. -you're welcome. i'm jonathan for colonial penn life insurance company. this guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance plan is our #1 most popular plan. it's loaded with guarantees. if you're age 50 to 85, $9.95 a month buys whole life insurance with guaranteed acceptance. you cannot be turned down for any health reason. there are no health questions and no medical exam. and here's another guarantee you can count on: guaranteed lifetime coverage. your insurance can never be cancelled. just pay your premiums. guaranteed lifetime rate lock. your rate can never increase. pardon me, i'm curious. how can i learn more about this popular 995 plan? it's easy. just call the toll-free number for free information. (soft music) ♪

(tony hawk) skating for over 45 years has taken a toll on my body. i take qunol turmeric because it helps with healthy joints and inflammation support. why qunol? it has superior absorption compared to regular turmeric. qunol. the brand i trust.

on tuesday florida republican byron donalds got one vote. one for speaker of the house of representatives. on wednesday he was officially nominated for that job. >> here we are and for the first time in history there have been two black americans placed into the nomination for speaker of the house.

there is an important reason for nominating byron and that is this country needs a change. >> this country needs a change, he said. and rather than picking the only member of congress who kept all the members of his caucus in line and earned the most votes for speaker, 11 times now, hakeem jeffries, who also happens to be black, congressman chip roy decided, hey, our party can look diverse too. we do have four black members of our caucus after all and we can pick one of them. after that rousing speech donalds earned 20 republican votes during each round yesterday. today he held on to at least 13 votes for him and against kevin mccarthy, who despite spending more than a decade in party leadership has proven incapable of making the math work. donalds who 20 years ago pleaded guilty to a felony bribery charge completed his first term in congress and until they pick a speaker he won't be sworn this

for his second term. during the first term he never served in leadership and ran against new york congresswoman elise stefanik for republican conference chair and lost. his colleagues did not pick him. but they picked him to do this, to be the new nonwhite face of their opposition to would-be speaker mccarthy and that choice has not gone unnoticed. congressman cori bush said for what it's worth byron donalds is not a historic candidate for speaker. he is a prop. despite being black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy. his name being in the mix is not progress, it's pathetic. today republicans swore up and down that congresswoman bush was wrong. >> yesterday we could have elected the first black speaker of the united states house of representatives. last night, i sat within feet of mr. donalds as the tweet of

another member-elect appeared on the screen. that member-elect wrote and sent out to america that byron donalds is a prop. he ain't no prop. and if he were a prop, he wouldn't be sitting where he's sitting. this is the tired old grotesquely racist rhetoric that we've seen far too long. >> that's the line, the party that has never in modern history put forward a black person as a potential leader in congress that tends to vote against policies that would aid communities of color, members of that party are not make a mockery of the importance of diversifying congressional leadership. how could anyone possibly think that? joining is congresswoman ilhan omar, democrat from minnesota. congresswoman omar, thanks for joining me on a day which must already be so exhausting for you

as it has been for anyone watching the proceedings. what do you make of this new priority on diversity coming from the gop right now? >> i mean, i don't know what to make of it. in one of the speeches today they talked about the -- in one of the nominating speeches for mccarthy, there was talk of the doubling of the number of black representation which is now at four on their side and they were celebrating that and really, you know, very excited about that which we should all be excited for them for but we have 58 members on our side that represent that diversity of america and i really do think that this eagerness of them to show that they have developed interest in having diversity in representation isn't really playing that well with the

american public. >> do you think the virtue signaling is at all to distract from the mockery they're making of representative government? >> of course. of course. i mean, there is no other way to make sense of it. you know, i think donalds is a great guy, they had said some really amazing things about him and i think that it's admirable for them to be able to do that for their colleague but this is someone who just got re-elected to their second term, obviously someone who hasn't had the opportunity to fully figure out how congress works and we know that someone like that isn't really prepared to be speaker and even today some of them started to nominate other people and abandon their interest in having him as their speaker and so this sort of shenanigans

really is a continued distraction of the chaos that their conference is going through and the american public fully saying, you know, we made a mistake in sending these people to represent us in congress, they have this majority they don't even know how to handle. it's been three days, they haven't been able to organize the house, we don't have a speaker, none of us have been sworn in, all of us are member-elect. we don't even know if our staff and ourselves will be paid. we can't take cases of our constituents, we have to ask the senators to be able to take care of our constituents. i mean, this is chaos beyond chaos and mccarthy seems to enjoy the historic humiliation that is taking place, and, you know, as much as many people

like to rejoice, a lot of us are sad and disappointed because tomorrow is the second anniversary of january 6th. we remember the insurrection. we remember that the house was organized. we were ready, democrats were ready. we already elected a speaker. we were ready to defend the constitution. we were ready to defend our democracy. imagine if this was to happen under republican control. tomorrow when we walk in on the anniversary of january 6th, we will have no house organized. this is going to be the first time in over a hundred years where we clearly cannot defend our democracy and our constitution. we don't have the house in order and the republicans don't seem to be any closer in electing a speaker. we've taken 11 votes so far, all votes have failed.

their leader has gotten less votes than the minority leader, and it is just a shameful sight to see, not just for americans but for people across the world that expect us to have, you know, have figured this out being one of the oldest democracies in the world. >> in addition to the chaos, it also reflects a certain sense of entitlement, do you think? i mean nancy pelosi gave voice to this and said you can imagine what it would be like if a woman were holding up the opening of congress, the swearing in and enabling of staff to be hired to do the people's work. can you just imagine for a person of color? i mean, you see these pictures of congresspeople and their families, their babies, waiting around for them to be sworn in. the national security meetings that can't be held. as you point out, the people who aren't getting paid. people who can't access their congressionally provided health care. do you think this reflects a

certain sort of mentality about what can be allowed if you are kevin mccarthy or someone like him? >> yeah, i mean, there is a level of arrogance, you know. i would assume that anyone else after maybe even the second or third failed attempt, that their conference or their caucus would pull them aside and say, you should withdraw. here's someone else who is ready. and i think that this is telling in two ways, right? one, that they're willing to allow this historic humiliation to continue and that he's willing to continue himself and, two, the fact that they don't have someone else as he has said to step into this role, i mean, you have a conference of 222 members, they don't have anyone else that they can coalesce around to be their leader?

i mean, what kind of leadership have they shown to the american people? and, you know, i think it's also really important to remember and i think you were just talking about this in the previous segment, there's a lot of concessions that have been made, many of the members that are the hold-outs have said, he's given us everything we've asked for. we're still not going to vote for him and so i'm wondering, right, does this man want us to be subjected to months, to a year of not being sworn in of the house not being organized. is he going to sit through 33 votes and go back to, you know, 1859, that was the last time that happened. >> oh, no. >> is he going to sit through 133 votes which is 1855 that has happened and, again, also, you know, what does it say about you

when the objection to your leadership is similar in history to the objection in leadership that people had pre-civil war, right. objections that people were making because they couldn't agree on slavery. this is what he has been subjected to and he still hasn't woken up to that. he still wants to walk around with a smile. we know that can't be real. >> yes. >> and it is that, right? it is sad because he wants to make it about himself and about earning this leadership that he so desperately wants, but at some point it has to become bigger than you. it has to become about the american people and the work that has to get done. it has to be about legislating and has to be about being effective on behalf of the people who put their trust in us and who send us to washington to represent them.

>> let it please not take 33 days or months, congresswoman ilhan omar, thank you so much for your time tonight. good luck for the rest of this week and beyond. >> send us prayers. >> coming up, after 11 failed rounds of voting for speaker, they have adjourned till nontomorrow. we'll talk to ali vitali live from the capital coming up next. has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

tonight we have new reporting from nbc about that potential deal reached between mccarthy allies and the group that is opposing his speakership but tomorrow several members are expected to leave washington at a time when every single vote counts. for more on that joining us thousand is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. what can you tell us about the brokering going on behind closed doors? >> reporter: we'll see what we see tomorrow. about 15 hours from now when they're back on the floor but sounds like they're closer to a deal than they've been. if you watch the body language and the mood of the people who are leaving this meeting chief among them kevin mccarthy, he does seem more relieved tonight than at any point over the course of the last week. that's because as these members were huddling behind closed doors for hours, our understanding from one member in the meet something that they feel like they've finally broken through with maybe 14 or 15 members. that could be enough to get mccarthy if not over the finish line but at least to show that

he's made some progress and, frankly, alex, at this point that's what they need to show. >> 14 or 15, ali, still leaves, am i doing my math wrong six or seven that could be noes. >> it still leaves five, four or five that could be noes but they can be noes, they can be present, that's an option if they have the 15 or 16 people they need to actually get him over the finish line. >> so at this point, any yes, he'll take and we'll see where the numbers land tomorrow. >> reporter: that's definitely true here, yes. >> ali vitali. burning the midnight oil, thanks as always. ali. >> reporter: thanks. >> we'll be right back.

that's it for us. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next.

first time in 100 years that there is no congress. because of