maximum of 431 voting members. in a majority with 431, it's not to 17, it's 2:16. and kevin mccarthy got to 16 on the last ballot. that's why, it may be a group thing here, where they all vote present. but from mccarthy standpoint, if they all votes and there's nothing to suspect that he won't. then gaetz and rosendale could vote for anybody in the world at this point, but 2:16 will be enough to make kevin mccarthy the speaker of the house. >> right now it appears that kevin mccarthy just needs them to hold. let's just reset where we are. we are now going through the 15th consecutive vote for the speaker of the house. earlier tonight, it was believed that kevin mccarthy had it at that final, final moments. matt gates was the hold out. and it continues to hold out. we thought they were going to adjourn. it did not happen. and here we are in the middle

of this vote. and it appears, though obviously it is not done yet. that kevin mccarthy may in fact have the votes. steve, can you give us a bit of the history lesson here? compare this to any other time in modern history? >> any other time in modern history there is none, because the last time the speaker's vote went past one ballots was 1823. but, we will come back to this board. but to put you in some's perspective what the history of this is. you're looking at here, this is every speakers race in history gone past one ballot. we'll put this past today when there were only 11 ballots. so this is the 15th ballots. right here in history is where the speakers race ranks. is the 15th longest and you can see, there for longer than this were all pre civil war. this is gonna finish well shy of a record of 133. but if it does indeed finish here. 15 ballots will be the fifth longest in american history. and we haven't seen this go

past the first ballot since back in 1923. >> there were moments of this week where 133 number looks like it might have been and reach. and in fact, when the 14th vote failed. and they talked about adjourning till monday. stephanie, you are saying what's gonna happen? what exactly is gonna happen? now something interesting has happened because it seemed like the deal making to the extent that there was something going on with matt gates, and we watch kevin mccarthy after walking up to matt gates where he was sitting, and confronting him. and we had him moving together, and holding him by the arms, and then they walked, and kevin mccarthy changed his vote, so it does seem like mccarthy continues to be the ringleader on this, one but to the points, matt gates seems to be the ringleader on this one. but his vote may not matter because the other vote changed a president. >> it may not matter now, but if you take away the whole entire thing, just moments, ago the democratic congressman tested me and said, i cannot

believe i'm saying, this but matt gates has played this brilliantly. >> the app, this is his 15 minutes of fame, his 15 votes of frame. let's hear about what matt gates does, does he vote present or does he not? >> gaetz? president. >> over and over again at this point. mccarthy voting present doesn't change anything now. in fact, now, mccarthy against voting present doesn't change anything. but now mccarthy has a cushion? >> yeah, basically, mccarthy would have to lose people who have been voting for him on the previous ballots. that's the only thing that could change it right now, the gaetz present vote. actually means that if anyone elsewhere to vote it would be 430 total votes, and again, a majority there would be to 16. and like we've been saying, mccarthy also has this ballots

with 216 votes. well that's what he has gone with the last one, that's what he shown that he can get. we have all of these present votes so far. and has lowered the threshold down to 2:16, is both good, and kind of a package deal here. we will see, if good and rosendale also voted present as well. then there would be 428, the threshold will be to 15, and mccarthy would clear it with 2:16. but as long as no one who is voting for mccarthy switches their vote, it doesn't matter what could or rosendale do right now. mccarthy on the 15th ballot has finally gotten what he needs to be elected house speaker. and here's going for good and virginia. present for good in virginia. we'll see what rosendale does, but that present vote from good, five present votes. that lowers the threshold from 2:15. and again, mccarthy showed on the last ballot and can get to

16. so now he has the cushion. no reason to think that kevin mccarthy is not about to become speaker of the house. >> jeffries. grainger. >> ali vitali? >>. >> kevin mccarthy getting what he needs, means that matt gaetz got what he wanted. what was left for him? head of the armed services committee? it's not even the times that he could be negotiating. >> we don't even know if he got that, we will see in the coming days. but you know what this means for kevin mccarthy? he probably got the votes, and he got what he wants, and now it might be a question of, be careful of what you wish for, because he gave away so much, and what these negotiations did is they took so much power away from the speaker that had been centralized by people like speaker pelosi, and others over the years. and taking it away from the speaker, stripping it out, and putting it back through the rank and file specifically is allowing the freedom caucus to

permit key committees, that was the point, that was the whole point of these negotiations. people like roy who were the leaders of the freedom caucus is. scott perry, others, they all said that the whole point was to make sure that they had rank and file with power. and we've talked about this. when you have margins that are both opposed as this congress. just like they were last congress. for members. five members. it means that everybody sort of gets to make it parallel. everyone gets to be a joe manchin. everyone opinions matters that much more now in the house of representatives. and if you listen to chip roy and others talk about the way that they were able to negotiate a motion to vacate, to better fire the speaker, they call that accountability measures for kevin mccarthy, so i think the next question that we have to be asking are, okay, kevin mccarthy is the speaker, we are getting a sense at what cost? and i think the other question is, do we think that he is the speaker for the full next two years? because you look at people like

john boehner, like paul ryan, they lived under the threat of this motion to vacates the entire time that they were speaker. ultimately, it was part of the reason why they could not persist, leaders of this conference. the conference has shifted even further to the right since then, premade in trump's image and empowered by that. but certainly, he will get the deal that kevin mccarthy and his deputies have made. and continuously look back at that, and wonder, if they haven't given certain things away, you know, at various points in the future, would it have looked different? i think that this is such a seminal moment in the mccarthy speakership legacy if and when we officially get there. >> let's bring david into this conversation, david, you have been with us, basically every single minute of these last 15 votes. what is your take at this hour? here we are, january 7th. >> yeah, obviously a lot of things have been said, mccarthy is pulling this out.

i would say, intriguingly, he's gonna pull this out. with the minority of the house, that actually hasn't been discussed. but because of the members voting present, he will not achieve 218 votes. which is a majority of the house. but under the rules, he will receive a majority of those who are naming a candidates, but obviously the storyline will be what did he promise matt gaetz? i mean he really had his moment here where he rolled kevin mccarthy. but we also saw 21 other members in the last week, roll kevin mccarthy. i also think one thing that is not been talked about. stephanie. and this is really important, there is a group of members we have not talked about. it's the 200 that stopped working with mccarthy all week. and you could view that through the lens of loyalty. of members that stuck with their leader. but if we are going to lay some criticism on mccarthy for getting rolled, i would suggest that all 200 of those members that stuck with him got rolled as well. because they allowed themselves to do so.

we already know that the rules package now makes the freedom caucus chairman more powerful than the speaker in the upcoming two years session of congress. we also know that the guard rails of this congress have now been defined. and one of the most concerning things that he gave away, that i think that we are not yet talking about, is the appointment of what is called a church committee, that we saw in the 70s in the senate. allowing house republicans to go right at the deep state and try to tear down federal agencies, investigate them, and suggest to the american people that the federal government is out to get you. it's almost like formalizing an insurrection committee if you will. i realize that is in hyperbole. but consider what will happen. because we know this coalition within the party exists. that they want to take down the federal governments. mccarthy set up a special committee to allow house republicans to investigate the federal government. and what they will do is they will tell their base on fox

news that the government is coming for you. the government is spying on you, that the government wants to take your freedom, your guns, everything else. and it is the most powerful narrative right now in today's republican party. it may be the most powerful concession that the freedom caucus, and they got to get tonight to support him. >> which is an interesting point, because the church committee, i want to bring in michael steele to this conversation. it was formally called the senate select committee, with governments information with respect to government activities. but before kevin mccarthy had to give everything up, or whatever we are going to learn the next few hours that he gave up to get a bunch of these guys to vote president, his agenda, his entire legislative agenda was all investigations anyway. this is what the republicans, after not performing as well as they would have in the midterm elections decided that they were putting forth for the american people to see in terms of their ability to govern. >> well, yeah, you use the word govern there my friend. and that is not a part of

anything that we had witnessed over the last four days. and certainly not what animates this vote tonight. this idea that these republicans are prepared to govern. i think the way that they had just laid it out is exactly how it will play out. the freedom caucus, and i mention this earlier, in this process. has for some time, in its evolution through boehner, through ryan. tried to find a way to create two things. respect, and leverage. and in the course of that, they've achieved it. this evening. and the proof is in the polling, the proof is in the rules, the proof is in the chairmanship. the proof is in the agenda that the 118th congress is going to pursue. already, your beginning to hear, some can guessing among some democrats, about why for

example the biden administration did not push to get a debt deal done before this congress came into session, because now that looks even more difficult particular given that one of the things that kevin mccarthy gave up was essentially any protection to get that done. and so, it will be a free-for-all. on the debt ceiling, and, you know look, these republicans. have been saying, the government is banned, and biden is awful. but they are gonna own this debt conversation. because they've been on record now, exclusively stating what their intent was, and has been. and so, if it does come to, god forbid, a shutdown of the government, the american people have only one place to look. and that is right there on our screen right now. who gave away the house, so that he could take a seat. >> michael steele, why would they want to do that?

that is what i want to understand, right? when you talk to the c-suite, 4 to 500 ceos, those who are republican leading. they like to close their ears, and look the other way, when we talk about the biden administration's and all the stuff the freedom caucus tries to do, and look the other way. but if we actually see something go down, if we see true problems around our debt ceiling, and it will be disastrous for our economy, why would republicans want to do that? >> well, i think with respect to, those republicans in those seats, we just don't think it will happen, the problem stephanie is you well know that there have been too many examples where it has happened. there's been too many examples where the republicans, we go back to ted cruz and the filibuster and all the other times where it has created a problem for the economy and for the economics, and i don't understand, it it makes no sense to me and it is not good governance, it is exactly what

you are talking about, a little bit earlier and that is that these republicans said they wanted to do. and from 2016, he construct the administrative state. and that means that everything that touches on government. they think it is all bad. even as they serve, and that south, same government. maybe they can start by just not coming to work. that may help. but as we have seen, that is not a solution either. so here we are. >> then michael, could the and my biden administration have held off on addressing the debt ceiling? because now the clock has moved forward, and whatever happens, it is the republicans problem. >> yeah, i think that definitely, to that point, there was some political calculation there. i think that the setup going into 2023, is perfectly aligned for the democrats right now. who will be laying out their

agenda. in the senate. and in the executive branch, the white house. and the house is going to have to take all of that in. and yeah, they will pick and choose. what they are going to fight over. but at the end of the day, on the big stuff like the debt ceiling, and any other major legislative piece that needs to get passed? it is going to fall on these republicans because of the processes that were made. so this one coming speaker will find himself in the unenviable position of having to backtrack on some of the very things that he said that he would do. and that is going to create a lot of problems in, are we talking about vacating the chair eight or ten months from now? we will see. >> have we got dug around? doug, you and i've been talking for a while, thank you for being with us tonight, you have seen this movie before, with the character. and this whole thing that michael is talking about. could 15 ballots to win the

speakership have wounded kevin mccarthy and the republican congress so much at this point that they are not going to get it undone? >> i think when you have a five seat majority in the fractures that you have within the party as well, you're not talking about a whole lot getting done, legislatively this year. there is a big win for republicans, so to speak. they can say they've ended the biden legislative agenda. that's their accomplishment. what they do get through legislatively, whenever passed the house, which is going to be very difficult to do -- is it gonna go anywhere in the senate. joe biden's not gonna sign. there's not gonna be a lot of legislative -- from the republicans. they're claiming victory in stopping biden. that's the first four months -- >> -- it's an investigative agenda. there aren't policy things on the agenda. again, you work with eric kanter -- there are sort of the policy wonks -- people who had a philosophy around things they wanted to be done. that is absent this group of

dissenters. >> that's actually not a new phenomenon. i remember majority leader -- had a series of bills on things like pediatric cancer and job training and so forth. we called it making life work. at 1.1 member says to another, and i swear this is true -- said, why are we doing all these things to help people? and, really that's what you're going -- supposed to be a public service for. this predates donald. trump it creates this congress. it certainly has gotten overdrive over the past four days. but certainly, the past four years before. that >> doug, would you agree that the next move out of republicans will be to pivot all investigations -- we could potentially be expecting subpoenas -- conservative media will be all about investigating the administration. is that the place we are headed after this? having nothing to do a policy? >> i think it's going to be a big part of it. republicans have been very clear this is going to be an investigative congress. check imbalances what they're

calling. it obviously, they're going into overdrive. look, this is one of the natural things that happens when you switch over parties. democrats wanted to investigate donald trump pretty harshly. not a big surprise. republicans certainly did the same thing with barack obama. a lot of that is natural. -- we'll have to see if republicans overstep on this or not. certainly it depends on who the lead investigators are going to be depending on who's leading -- not just which committee with subcommittee. >> i just got a note from kurt bardo that has me thinking. how is mitch mcconnell going to interact with this dynamic? >> i think something is often misunderstood by voters that surprised me -- is you assume the house and senate really do communicate well and work together. they really don't. mitch mcconnell will have republicans and the agenda in the minority to the best he can. and, honestly, the house bills will be more aggressive than most senate republicans will want to have to carry. to doug's point, you can look

-- they will pass messaging bills. they want to drop contract with democrats going into 24 on taxes, environment, labor, for upon see. they will engage in any policy they can engage in. from fauci, to hunter biden, to joe biden to dhs to afghanistan. the ready to launch. but then what they have to do, stephanie, those two things really into the budget. they have to keep the governmental open by passing a budget -- we have to keep the government open. and they have to either raise the debt limit or wave enforcement of the debt limit. and i promise you that will only happen by working with democrats. and particularly, by working with democrats in the senate. so what does that do for kevin pricey? certainly his caucus will not get his back on that. it will fracture. i actually think it will have the effect on kevin mccarthy of having him be more vocally -- perhaps the impeachment of joe

biden. to hold his own caucus together. kevin mccarthy -- because otherwise he will just look simply way too weak to survive as the speaker the next two years. >> will they get republican elected two years from now? >> probably not. there are a couple theories -- that we are. no turnout models versus persuasion. modeled negative partisanship is often stronger motivating voters. it's not as though -- -- that's what the investigators are about and that's with surviving the debt limit -- the optics around the debt limit will be about. >> let's listen that -- we're coming up to matt rosendale, republican of montana who voted for andy biggs last time. we're listening for rosendale, the republican to see if he votes present or for someone else. >> rosendale?

rosendale. ross. >> that was interesting, steve. no vote from rosendale. >> no vote. we've seen it before. it's possible he is in the chamber and will answer when they called a second time. remember, the overall answer when they -- become back to. it this vote, of all the 14 we had before this one, almost everyone answered the first time they've been called. i believe rosendale's only the second member not to answer the call in this vote. the first was -- gonzález, the democrat from texas. again, from the standpoint of mccarthy status here, whether rosendale votes tonight -- whether he votes present, it doesn't matter. everything is holding for mccarthy. the magic number here is -- he's going to be at or above

the magic number. >> rosendale can't hurt him, he already voted against in the last. time >> it's an interesting dynamic. ali was talking about the day -- opportunities -- so of a president. and it rosendale, perhaps -- he may just be there any maple present. i'm wondering about him in gonzales. did want to vote for them just decide to leave. if that's also a possibility at this late hour when the outcome seems pretty certain at this point. because, again, on previous votes we have seen a half a dozen or more that -- there have only been to -- were now within about 75 or so votes of the final vote being casted. we're getting near the bottom of this list. -- interestingly enough, mccarthy is gonna win the speaker -- with 216 votes.

that is the exact same number that nancy pelosi won the speakership with two years ago. she also owns 260 votes. her majority was 222 -- >> i'm walking. i'm a ten minute walk. >> let's bring in congresswoman sheila jackson lee. i think she's with us. congresswoman, are you with us? >> i am good to be with. you >> the whole country wants to know, what did you say to matt gaetz. that was not something i was expected to happen. you, in the midst of all that mayhem. including when someone had to be held back at the pier from grabbing adam, or striking him. you showed up. and i was thinking to myself, god, i wish i had audio. you are with us. can you tell us what this conversation was? >> first of all, anyway you can find the solution to uphold the constitution and create some respect for this institution, i will try to do.

matt gaetz and i have served on the judiciary committee. we do a lot were gauging and disagreeing or agreeing. basically, i secured at that time, the information that it was over. that what you will hear next is that kevin mccarthy has been elected speaker of the house. and so with that in mind -- and that does not mean there was exact language exchange. but there was an exchange that gave the understanding that the fight had been waged. the spearhead been placed in the sand. the fight had been made. the point had been made. and now it looks as if we are moving to a conclusion. which is what i said -- we should not have adjourned. we should've gone on -- >> we've been watching matt gates in everyone's body language on that. long in the interaction with

you -- you two were sort of smiling and laughing with each. other you talked about the fact that you too had done things together. right now there are lot of people, a lot of republicans and americans who are not happy with the way matt gates has conducted himself. you know him. he's going to be a lot more powerful in this congress than he was in the last one. what do we need to know about matt gaetz? >> i'm gonna treat him just like i did before. he's a member of congress, he has no more power than i have. he certainly does not have the standing that i will give to our leader, the team jeffries. having worked on the judiciary committee, we've supported similar bills. we've talked about bills in the future in the 118th congress. but i have no qualms with going over to matt gates and, saying what's going on? i can see the discourse and disagreement that's going on.

-- and he had more than a point to make. and he was going to continue to make. it did i sit disagree? of course. who do i want to be speaker? hakeem jeffries. a man of tenacious this, integrity, and leadership. but that does not stop me from crossing the aisle. we're gonna have to do a lot of crossing the aisle. i'm good at the delight of fighting. i have to fight for principles i believe in. -- i deliverable people of america and democracy -- it was important that we continue and not adjourn. and we need to go forward. >> why do you think kevin mccarthy did not have the votes the 14 time around? what changed? >> there are a lot of -- things with people giving you their vote. i think you heard the opposition speak a lot about trust. a lot about relationships. all i can say to you is that in this place it is an intimate bowl of relationships.

there were none there for some of these individuals, and there were no trust. there and he got highly emotional. and when this leadership ascends, how light be treated? i'm speaking about the person that we're in the opposition. i think there came a final reckoning by a number of the members there. some people said there was a call that came in. i don't have any firsthand knowledge of that but i think we can say the person, many of what i know -- they made their point. they made their point, and the conditions of which there voting are their conditions, that anyone. else >> you're about to see -- >> congresswoman, thank you so much. we know you have to get back in. there >> thank you so very much for having me. >> steve kornacki talked about the fact they were very close to the end now. remember, hakeem jeffries -- we have not missed one vote. we make it back. hakeem jeffries is going to get

212 votes. mccarthy should get 216 -- it should be 215 under this? >> 216 is what he should have. he's lost no. one we're down to the last dozen votes. you have five present votes. the other, one met rosendale here just did not answer when his name was called. there are two members of the house who did not answer when the name was called. you're getting down to the final members. the last name you're gonna hear is ryan slinky from montana. and then what they're gonna do is call out gonzalez, the democrat from texas. he did not answer the first time around. and then they're gonna call it, rosendale he did not call up the first time around. see if they both the second time around. that will be it with 216 votes -- is what we expect this mccarthy number to be when all is said and done he will be elected speaker. >> something that we thought was going to happen several days ago, 15 votes ago. this on the 15th vote might actually do it.

i want to know if simone sanders is still around. simone, you've been talking to. people what are you hearing? >> i'm hearing that members are expecting that once this vote closes -- >> these are the last vote. >> he will be elected speaker. i'm also being told by democratic members they've been informed that republicans actually do not have the votes to -- pass the rules package tonight and they are -- >> simone, excuse me for a second. let's listen in for what looks like we are done with the voting -- [applause]

[applause]

[applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> mccarthy. [laughter]

[laughter] >> the reading clark will now call the names of the members elect who did not answer the first call of the role. [muted] >> gonzalez. >> hakeem jeffries. >> jeffrey is. >> rosendale? >> present. >> present.

>> and matt rosendale, he had voted for andy biggs in the 14th vote. it didn't matter whether he did it again or not, but he voted present this time. he wasn't gonna do anything to hurt mccarthy at this point. because mccarthy has the votes to win. >> smiling ear to ear. he got the bottom line that he was looking for. the question now will be at what cost? let's bring kurt into this conversation. part, kevin mccarthy, it took 15 tries and now he has got it. what is your take? >> well, you're looking at stephanie, the weakest speaker. perhaps in united states history. the fact that someone could be held hostage by just a few amount of people within this caucus. does not bode well for getting things done in the future. and i think we are going to

look back on this night, months from now, when the full faith and credit, united states is on the line. when the debt ceiling is hanging on the balance. and we are dangerous, defaulting on our current obligations. >> i'm so sorry, i'm a jump in. we're gonna continue this in the second. the clerk is grabbing the gavel. let us listen in. >> those are all the tellers. they are trouble checking their work. because they don't want to get this one wrong? we are all watching it, and putting these numbers up ourselves. but the reason it says at the bottom, mccarthy appears to win the speakership. is because until they gavel it in it is not done. let's listen to what the clerk has to say. the clerk appears to be waiting on getting some final tallies from the tellers in front of her who have been collecting all these votes.

they quadruple check this stuff every time something changes. they go back, and i think they have to make sure that everybody's numbers are in order. >> they need a kornacki. >> they need to steve kornacki, that is right. although steve, they have been doing remarkable work all week. they are running the show right? more molly, there is a speaker in charge and they have a rules park ridge that they have to charge. so they're going back to parliamentary role. >> and for the first time, since you and i are covering politics. c-span has their cameras wherever they want in the room. normally those cameras are actually being operated by government employees, and the rules are strict. but without a speaker, it is why we have actually had all of these moments that we are seeing. >> you're seeing these intimate roam moments right? >> where we all wish we had reading skills. >> obviously, the clerk is taking their time about this, this is a moment, a historical

moment, it is 15 ballots. they do not want to get anything wrong. [applause] and that houses waiting for this decision to be made, the decision in which the clerk will announce the number of votes that kevin mccarthy got. the number of votes that jeffries got. the number of people who voted present. and that mccarthy is voted speaker of the house. but she is not gonna say it's a second before she is ready. she's come along a lot of pressure this week, every time she's gone, it's a certain member of the party who wanted it gone another way. and she is a very patient, patient women. >> cheryl johnson under pressure, which he hasn't bling. blinked. >> is ali with us?

[muted] >> feels like any second here, they are going to gavel a decision. and you will see her. she is not, normally she has her hand close to the gavel, are holding it, and she's not ready to do that right now. so it is clear that somebody is waiting for something. >> here is what i know. -- >> they agree in the tallies that the total number of votes cast is 428. of which the honorable kevin mccarthy, of the state of kevin mccarthy, of the state of california has received 216. [applause] [applause]

>> the honorable hakeem jeffries of the state of new york, has received 212. [applause] when six recorded as president. therefore, the honorable kevin mccarthy of the state of california, have received a majority of the votes cast. is duly elected speaker of the house of representatives! [applause] [applause]

>> the clerk appoints the following committee to escort the speaker-elect to the chair. the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise, the gentleman from new york, mr. jeffries, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. emer. the general woman from massachusetts, miss clark, the gentlewoman from new york, miss -- , the gentleman from california, mr. aguilar. the gentleman from louisiana, mr. johnson.

the gentleman from california, mr. lieu. the gentlewoman from michigan, miss mccray. the gentlewoman from washington, miss healthy. the gentleman from north carolina, mr. hudson. the gentleman from south carolina, mr. clyburn. the gentleman from alabama, mr. palmer. the gentleman from colorado, mr. magoo's. the gentlewoman from oklahoma, mrs. bryce. the gentleman from texas, miss escobar. the gentlewoman from indiana, miss hulsey. the gentlewoman from illinois, miss underwood. the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. cole. the gentle men from minnesota, mr. phillips. the gentleman from north carolina, mister henry. the gentleman from michigan,

mr. kelly. the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. perry. the gentleman from california, miss barbara lee. the gentleman from louisiana, mr. graves. the gentlewoman from florida, miss wasserman schultz. the gentleman from arkansas, mister hill. the gentleman from rhode island, mr. soleimani. the gentleman from texas, mr. roy. the gentleman from virginia, miss brand burger. the gentleman from florida, mr. donalds. the gentleman from california, miss jacobs. the gentleman from north carolina, mr. bishop. the gentlewoman from texas, miss crockett. and the members of the california delegation. miss pelosi. miss waters.

mr. calvert. mr. as she. miss lofgren. mr. sherman. mr. napoleana. mr. thompson. mister schiff. miss sanchez. mr. issa. mr. costa. miss max louis. mr. mcclintock. miss shoe. mr. garamendi. mr. bera. miss brownley. mr. cardenas. mr. hoffman. mr. -- . mr. peters. mr. wylie. mr. swalwell. mr. to cano. mr. vargas. mr. dishonor. mrs. torres.

mr. valadao. miss barragan. mr. carbajal. mr. korea. mr. connolly. mr. panetta. mr. gomez. mr. harder. mr. levin. miss porter. mr. my garcia. mrs. kim. mr. open lte. mrs. feel. mr. doula. mister robert garcia. mr. calm like a dove. mr. keighley. mr. mullin. the committee will retire from the chamber to escort the speaker elect to the chair. [inaudible]

>> let's bring simone sanders back into this conversation. some of, what will happen next? >> so staff, what is going to happen next. as peter-elect, mccarthy, will come in. he will be part of the speaker -- he will likely speak for a time. previously we were told that people in our and are standing that congress would follow the rules package, and adopt the rules. because right now there are no rules governing congress. and frankly, there's no member of congress until they get sworn in. the republicans do not have the votes as they have the rules package. so they've sent a statement, around, noting that the plan to adjourn after the members of congress are sworn in. and do rules on monday. this is significant. for all the talk about how kevin mccarthy finally eats it, and the smile he has on his face. we know what he had to do to get to this moment.

we are unsure about what is going to happen and congress having the debt ceiling fight. but what we do know is that this whole, long week, republicans do not have the votes of their own caucus to pass a rules package. so people thought this week was crazy, if the folks that tonight was a rollercoaster. or you know what show. buckle up. because you're gonna have votes like this. once a month, for the next two years. so long as kevin mccarthy is the speaker of the caucus. where he has empowered the never kevins. aka, the extremists. who hold hostage and do of their jobs. >> holy cow. let's bring tim miller into this conversation. and tim, one of the things that we have heard over and over this week from those who were never kevins is that they didn't trust him. he went back on his word. could he go back on his word in the next 48 hours since he has now got the votes. but they haven't agreed on a rules package? >> i think, conceivably, what

happens with the rules package. you saw one republican rep already, gonzalez from texas, he's going to roll against the rules package. the problem is, the republicans in the middle might vote against the rules package. maybe get it done. mike and new york, and one of the new representatives. but there just aren't a lot of moderate republicans. so i think he probably will have the votes for the rules package. i think the bigger question then comes, the next time that there is any sort of controversial vote, the six guys did not vote for him, there's a lot of applause for him and he didn't even get to 2:18! he still only got 216 votes because of six votes for president. so he did the bare minimum, of getting his colleagues to not vote against him, the next time it goes to a controversial vote. it will start with the six that voted present, he's full of marjorie taylor greene. you still have been -- and go down the list of the far-right extreme members that

could scuttle anything. and so, i think that rules see of the rules package. i think it is still open to possibility. that something in the middle, voted against it. and i think that the bigger threats come when they actually need to do something proactive in the coming weeks and months. >> ali, these folks who voted president -- president, it's all very deliberate. it's the notice that they put kevin mccarthy on that they're on him. to simone's point, we could see vote that is this challenging on a monthly basis. >> yes. or even on a weekly basis, ali. matt gaetz, one of his quotes was either that kevin mccarthy is even a step aside or is gonna be a speaker in a straight jacket. he's very much gonna be athink y short lease. it's possible to have a little bit of runway here if the republicans don't have to pass anything.

the debt ceiling, that's a problem for the summer. the responsible adult did the business of funding ukraine in some of these other issues. some of that they have little runway on. kevin has maybe a few weeks and months to shore up his conference. that's the best positive spin you can put on it. but eventually whether it's ukraine's, that settlement, or something else, he's gonna have to actually pass something that there is controversy about in the conference. and there's no evidence that he can get there when he can't even get 218 vote for himself. >> i think he is absolutely right. sometimes when folks have -- and packages. it's very weedy. and things that just don't make sense the american people. the rules here are very important. this whole conversation about taking one person to saying we want to get rid of the speaker, that's the motion they take, that would be in the roles.

how many folks get to sit on these various committees, what are people bring to the four? the rules are very important matter very much. what did kevin mccarthy give up so that he could be the speaker of the house? why him? at this, point this is not about the american people at -- a number of republican members of congress have come to the floor instead over the last week -- it seems as though this has been about kevin mccarthy and his ambitions over all these years. we cannot underestimate or overstate the fact that this is all happening -- on the second anniversary of january 6th. the members in that chamber who sided with the insurrectionists, there are members in that chamber who were outside of the capitol that day as a part of not just a rarely, but the insurrectionists were at the capitol. this is who's governing the united states of america or not governing because you have to be able to pass things the government. >> and the point we're talking

about earlier is even before, we don't know and it may come up in the next few hours what kevin mccarthy had to give to get those six present vote, or at least former present votes. what we do know is before he had to give anything up he had an agenda for the next two years for this republican conference that had no legislative priorities other than investigations on it. >> yet what republicans land on leading into the midterms was inflation -- >> there's no inflation plan that kevin mccarthy. had >> crime. >> no plan for that either. >> we're not hearing about any of that. the autopsy from the mid term, was all about, the american people, said please time to reach across the aisle and get some work done. we're tired of noise about noise. how is that gnat being processed? it doesn't sound like anyone is listening to that autopsy what am i missing? >> well, we know with the track record is for autopsies. so i don't think that really mattered [laughter]

too much. that was not the take away that i think this -- these republicans took from this election. they were given power back and they did not lay out for the country and agenda that they could rally the country behind. this is a party without a platform, for heaven's sake. you're going to have a rules, fight maybe. but then, again okay. it doesn't really matter. because the rules are stacked against the operation of the house. i mean, he's not going to be able to govern. it's going to be hard for kevin to have any of his members reach across the aisle on critical pieces of legislation as we've already discussed. that he is going to have to do -- and it's gonna be hard for him to do that. i took note of the fact that, you know, just five or six short months ago marjorie taylor greene was arlette

kevin's backside about how he was not fit to be speaker. and she was one of the first in line to go run up and give him a hug. because she got everything she wanted and then some. so she is now a powerful member of that caucus, as are a host of others. matt gates pleaded expertly. so what we saw was not a chess game for the opportunity to put forth an agenda. it was a political chess game to capture a seat. this is literally what we saw was a modern-day version of the game of thrones. played out without the dragons. although some may argue there were some dragon there in the house. the reality is, this is what the party has set itself up for. and now what do you do? what do you do next week when the president of the united states calls and says, so what are we gonna do about the debt? what is your plan?

kevin's already made the promise that he is not going to help on this issue. these guys want to shut the government down because they need that -- they think that's a political advantage for them to run against democrats in 2024. we'll see. i'm all about the spirit of the moment. congratulations mister speaker. now, the fun part. governing. >> it's john allen with us? i think we just lost him. >> the point you've been making in that michael's been hinting at is that we've had showdowns about the debt before there's always been warning about a few to fall on to -- the state of the united states suffers and prices plummet, and interest rates go up. we now have an economy on edge this is a really dangerous time for this game to be played. >> ali, it's extraordinary. because just this morning when we got the jobs report, you saw economists across the board, saying wow.

the fed might actually be threatening this very difficult needle. because while there are still strong dropped out there, we're starting to see wage increases slow, which should help inflation. but if suddenly we get cute with the debt ceiling, we're in a very -- >> every of the time we've gotten to about the debt ceiling, interest rates have been close to zero. -- interest rates go up 2%, that's meaningful to people right now. >> yes, they never have the time we've gotten close to, what you have it gotten people like you do right now on the far right that aren't afraid of us blowing up the system. >> here is we didn't take five days and -- is a statement from the president biden congratulating mccarthy on speaker of the house. the president says the american people expect earlier to govern in a way the put their need above all else. and that's what we need to do now. i'm prepared to work with republicans when i can. voters make sure -- made clear they expect republicans to vote work with

me as well. now the leaders and speakers of the house of representatives have been -- it's time for the process to begin. it's a much longer letter -- from the president who called, this embarrassing. he said was going on with the republicans and their inability to elect the speaker is embarrassing. >> ali, you've got to take a minute. i could say, look, it was a democratic congressman who said to me within the last hour, matt gaetz played this brilliantly. i think was michael who said a moment ago, marjorie taylor greene -- these are people who regularly fan dangerous rhetoric. >> space laser lady. hold on a second -- >> conspiracy theories. hugely powerful people in the conference. >> let's listen. we're seeing the new speaker of the house select committee today. he's probably gonna go up to the podium. [applause] and deliver a speech. >> --

catherine clark behind. i'm steve scalise, hakeem jeffries. they're making it official. [applause] >> the next thing we're about to see, he'll be getting the gavel from hakeem jeffries, physically. it's 12:56 a.m., january 7th. i would say most notable right, now ali, the amount of kids who appear to be -- wide awake. >> i'm not sure if there is serving coca-cola's and ice cream, but those kids are wide awake. >> it's quite a night. we both expected. it you and i were talking before. we both started on tv -- thinking it was not going to be this long. the republicans were fully

confident that this would be done on the 14th ballot, and it did not. [applause] >> madam clerk. -- distinguished members of the house democratic caucus and the house republican conference. it's my high honor and distinct privilege to finally be able to welcome all of you to the 118 congress. [applause] [applause]

>> let me just begin by thanking my good friend, pete aguilar for his very generous words of introduction and placing my name into nomination a total of nine times. [applause] >> and i also want to thank my other colleagues from the democratic caucus for your generous words and nomination, as well, jim clyburn, catherine clark, ted lieu. dean phillips, -- and veronica escobar. i also want to think my colleagues, my friends in the house democratic caucus for your perseverance, for your strength. for your friendship, for your unanimity of purpose. and for your unanimous support, -- [applause]

i simply want to say that that showing up strain is not for any one particular individual it will be a showing of strength throughout the 118th congress unanimity of purpose on behalf of the american people. [applause] >> before i proceed any further, let me begin by acknowledging the distinguished gentlelady, from the great state of california. the iconic, the heroic, the legendary speaker emerita, nancy pelosi! [applause]