present. >> andy biggs voting present. and if everyone votes the same way this time the way they voted last time, with the exception of andy biggs, then kevin mccarthy will finally on the 15th ballot win the speakership. let's listen in. we still have some more votes. we have lauren boebert to listen to. >> mccarthy. bishop of georgia. jeffreys. bishop of north carolina, mccarthy. blumenauer? jeffreys. rochester, jeffreys. boebert. >> present. >> so lauren boebert votes present, which is what she did last time. again, if matt gaetz continues to vote present or if any other of the holdouts switch, that's it. it does look, i have to say -- although i -- i hesitate to make any predictions, but if i was kevin mccarthy right now, which is a tough thing to imagine, but if i were, i would think, okay, finally we got all of the dominos in place. >> and you know, it's funny, we were talking about the unprecedented things we saw play out on the floor. mccarthy has been careful with how he's conducted himself on the floor. >> until a

andy biggs says he will be nominated.rs can choose to vote by name or abstain or leave the chamber or vote present. they can vote present. these are the scenarios to win. if all members vote, if everybody is there you need a majority cast by name. that's important. majority of the votes cast for a candidate by name. excuse me. so it's a 218 threshold. 218 votes if everybody votes and everybody vote force somebody by name. that's unlikely to happen. that's how you get started. the threshold drops by one, that 218 number drops by one for every two members who do not vote or vote present that take themselves out of cassianing by name. kevin mccarthy's math which is what makes this so interesting. if six republican members just decided to go to the sidelines and protest threshold drops 2015. if ten members go to the sidelines in protest, the number would drop to 213. here's where it gets dicey. if 12 vote present then the threshold drops to 212. there are 212 democrats would could be in that room. if the critics wanted to pla

. >> andy biggs. >> biggs. cohen. >> i have eight times passed my vote for the greatest speaker of a generation, nancy pelosi. i proudly cast my vote for the next great speaker of the house of representatives, hakeem jeffries. >> jeffries. cole. >> kevin mccarthy. >> mccarthy. >> collins. >> mccarthy. >> mccarthy. komer. comer. >> mccarthy. >> mccarthy. >> connelly. >> hakeem jeffries of new york. >> jeffries. costa? >> the gentleman from new york, hakeem jeffries. >> jeffries. >> courtney. >> hakeem jeffries. >> jeffries. >> craig. >> hakeem jeffries. >> jeffries. >> crane. >> biggs. >> biggs. crawford? >> mccarthy. >> mccarthy. >> crenshaw. >> senator mccarthy. >> mccarthy. >> crockett. >> my first and very unified for hakeem jeffries. >> jeffries. crow. >> hakeem jeffries. >> jeffries. cuellar. >> jeffries. >> jeffries. curtis. >> kevin mccarthy. >> mccarthy. davids of kansas. >> hakeem jeffries. >> jeffries. davidson. >> kevin mccarthy. >> mccarthy. >> davis of illinois. >> with enthusiasm for hakeem jeffri

tell you that there's also congressmen here in arizona, like congressmen trent franks, congressman andy biggs, who have

are they rooting for andy biggs or just yet another moment of contention?o one in the world has election exhaustion yet. i'm sure they're all on board. >> yeah. we jump from 2022 to 2024 right away. and i think it's that way. i think people in arizona that know andy biggs know what they're getting with him. they may not know mccarthy as well. so, i think maybe this pool in arizona may not be the gauge because, you know, we always go with the people that we know more so. and maybe we're hoping for a hometown guy like andy biggs. >> well, we'll see. mike, nice talking to you. >> thank you. >>> we've also got news tonight on brittney griner. she's spending her first night now on american soil in nearly 300 days. think about that. we're learning also more about what exactly she went through in a russian penal colony. next, i'll talk to one of brittney's friends who also played in russia and says she won't be going back. is going t”. but seriously we need a reliable way to help keep everyone connected from wherever we go. well at at&t we'll help you find the rig

paul gosar, andy biggs, and mo brooks. >> it was to build momentum and pressure and then on the day,nd minds of congresspeople's who weren't yet decided or saw everyone outside and said, i can't be on the other side of that mob. >> reporter: arizona congressman paul gosar has been working with alexander since the election, firing up crowds with lies about the election results. >> live free or die. >> reporter: gosar replied to or mentioned ali in dozens of tweets, including, i'll be in d.c. with @ali and the rest of america, adding, we will fight back against the leftists who have engaged in sedition. another tweet on january 6th. we fight for trump. on the morning of the siege, he would send followers this image, stating, biden should concede. i want his concession on my desk tomorrow morning. don't make me come every there. he prompt ly went to congress, stood up and opposed the certification of the electoral college results. >> i rise up for myself and for 60 of my colleagues to object to the counting of the electoral ballots from arizona. >> reporter: the end of his speech interr

this in the aftermath of andy biggs, the conservative from arizona, who tried to defeat him behind closed the nomination to become speaker last month. but biggs lost that race but he was able to peel away 31 votes away from kevin mccarthy. in order for kevin mccarthy to become elected speaker on january 3rd he can only afford to lose four votes so if those protest votes, the ones who supported andy biggs continue to support biggs on the floor on january 3rd when they vote to elect the next house speaker that means mccarthy has a serious math problem. behind closed doors republicans engaged in a tense debris and allies called for unity and some detractors said there need to be some changes. >> it's nothing new in our history. this is normal. we're having a debate just like the democrats did last time. there was an enormous discussion heading into the speaker's race in the last congress. >> i think it's a done deal. i think this is all theatrics. imagine a players like this having theatrics before a major vote. it's a done deal. >> so it's not a done deal but could certainly be theatrics. t

congressman andy biggs is planning to challenge him. he's not a serious change er. he's essentially representing the anti-mccarthy vote. there could be a significant number of republicans in that camp. listen to what congressman bob good told us yesterday. >> the transformation of change has to start in congress. andy biggs would be an outstanding speaker. he would be one of my choices. he's a real candidate. that said, i don't think anyone has 218 votes. >> reporter: we should put out it's not unprecedented to have speakers who face opposition during the initial party votes. it is going to be an uphill battle for kevin mccarthy demanding on what the margins are and assuming that republicans win the majority. he's very motivated to become speaker. he tried to rally the troops yesterday. got a standing ovation. he's going to likely have to cut some very serious deals in order to win. it's going to be a long, hard few months for kevin mccarthy. jim? >> melanie, thanks so much. >>> right now republicans are inching closer to winning what will be a narrow majority in th

one person mentioned, congressman andy biggs, an arizona republican, an effort to show that mccarthy does not have the votes right now to become speaker, forcing him to make negotiations, make concessions to that hard right faction. on the senate side, mitch mcconnell does have the votes to become leader once again, but there are a number of conservatives who are saying hold on, let's hit the brake, not move forward on this leadership election because of their concerns the election didn't go the way they wanted. at the moment, senate republican leaders are plowing ahead, plan to have the vote on wednesday and will go behind closed doors to hear those concerns tomorrow afternoon. >> manu, how about the democrats? what about nancy pelosi's future? >> that is really the big question because house democrats have been waiting to see what pelosi decides to do. she had said several years ago when she won the votes to become speaker that the end of 2022 would be her last term atop the house democratic caucus. she hasn't fully shut the door on that issue yet. in talking to dem crass, it's cle

that last night she was not explicitly going to vote for mccarthy, and they were not going vote andy biggs, but somebody they aligned with ideologically, but jim jordan said he has no want to be a candidate, and if he did, he, too, would fall short of the 218 vote, and that is if mccarthy cannot get there to 218, who can? steve scalise would also fall short, and so the same group that mccarthy cut with the hard-line members would fall short of the member, and those who don't like those concessions said they would not support that with any other speaker candidate with all kinds of speaker problems here. >> and melissa, does the former president trump, does he have a role to play here? >> well, he is a major fact in that -- think of this, and some of the rations that donald trump weighed into, the ten house republicans that decided to vote for his impeachment, he made sure every one of them lost. i am wishing that jamie catco and peter meyer, and i would hope they were here in the rock rib moderates were here, instead, some of the more far right characters won this election cycle, and that i

that's why andy biggs wants her gone.tent smaller and smaller and smaller and it is all trump, trump, trump. liz cheney is a conservative on everything but donald trump, and yet andy biggs wants to get rid of her from the republican conference entirely. that tells you where the republican party is today. >> no doubt. and adam kinzinger responding it makes him want to double down in seeking the truth as well. thank you, chris, for laying it down. that does it for me. i appreciate you being with us. i will see you back tomorrow at 1:00 eastern. in the meantime join me on twitter @anacabrera. the news continues next with alisyn and victor. ♪ ♪ >>> welcome to "newsroom." we have viewers from around the world this hour. i'm victor blackwell. >> i'm alisyn camerota. we begin with the dangerous aftermath of hurricane ida. the death toll and destruction in the northeast u.s. are incredible. this is more than 1,000 miles from where ida first came ashore. at least 20 people have died between maryland, new jersey and new york, inclu

and hard right members who are trying to extract concessions. >> we want leadership, and i think andy biggsadership that we want. >> all coming as the gop closes in on the house majority, democrats expecting two years of gop sparring between the moderate and conservative wings. >> i think this version of the reap channel caucus will have a very hard time governing in any way, shape or form and i think that we'll see just how dysfunctional they are. >> house democrats preparing for their own leadership shake-up once nancy pelosi decides whether to stay atop the caucus she's dominated for the past two decade. congressman jim clyburn, current lit number three democrat, told cnn he planned to stay in leadership but won't run for the top position, potentially pitching the way for a keep jeffries to lead the caucus if pelosi steps aside. >> top leadership position you are running for? >> won't be that. >> as democrats defy the odds they, too, confronting their reality after moderate kurt schrader was defeated by a progressive who in turn lost to a republican in theal. >> we're supposed to be a bi

attorney john eastman, and congressman andy biggs. >> what did mr. biggs ask you to do? asked if i would sign on both to a letter that had been sent from my state, and/or that i would support the decertification of the electors, and i said i would not. >> in pennsylvania, a barrage of calls from trump's attorneys to state house speaker brian cutler. >> we are calling you together because we'd like to discuss, obviously, the election. >> this is jenna ellis, and i'm here with mayor giuliani. >> in michigan, a plan allegedly flooded by a comp trump campaign official for fake electors to hide overnight in the state capital. >> michigan republican electors were planning to meet in the capital and hide overnight so that they could fulfill the role of casting their vote. i told him and non-certain terms that that was insane and inappropriate. >> officials like ours, cutler, and cox refused to go along with team trumps plans. but across the country, some 100 others complied, signing bogus selector slates that are now the focus of the criminal probe. sarah murray, cnn, washingto

andy biggs there from arizona. learned he participated in meetings at the white house, had direct conversations with trump leading up to and during the capitol attack, and there was a december meeting involving andy biggs in which he and other members at the white house discussed a plan to have pence take action to try to refuse to certify state's electoral votes. mo brooks was at the rally before the capitol attack and had the now infamous quote about needing to start taking down names and kicking ass. he hold the crowd to carry the message to capitol hill, and jim jordan there, we've learned, even though he has tried to deny at one point that he and trump spoke at length on january 6th. turns out it was around ten minutes they had a phone conversation that day. a lot of questions about what was discussed in that phone call. please stay with me. i want to bring in our legal analyst jennifer rogers and jen, first your reaction to this action taken by the committee to subpoena fellow members of congress. >> well, it

and andy biggs is not a big policy guy in the house of representatives. turns to andy bigz gs an says what do you think about ukraine or taxing and spending. he's a rebel rouser. he thinks this helps him with his brand. do not think of him as the future speaker of the house. that happens. don't overstate it, but don't understate it. the question is how big will kevin mccarthy's majority be in january? the republicans are 215 right now. they may get to 218, 220 maybe. so he's not going to have any votes to lose. he's not going to have any -- two or three, maybe four votes to lose come january. it is a giant challenge. and that's the big test today is how weakened is he coming out of this vote and can he repair that damage in the time between now and january when they vote for speaker. >> look, that was then. we're talking about paul ryan. this is now. we're in a whole different political climate. no one knows unchartered waters as we said. this is a big difference when you have the freedom caucus, the sort of insurrectionists, maga wing, we don't really kn

you hear andy biggs talking about war and an eye for an eye, it's not just what message does that say. does the fact that it is coming from elected representatives in any way open the door even wider or allow and encourage violence even more? >> absolutely. and this was part of the playbook that stewart rhodes employed with working with local officials, grooming people to run for local office. because it gives a sense of legitimacy and authority to some of the more violent rhetoric and extremist views out there. and these words are more dangerous than bringing weapons to something, because they inspire, they go on. it's hard to counteract words calling for violent action. it's much harder to defend against that than it is to harden up a building like a federal courthouse. so -- and no one has really been held accountable. we've seen this type of rhetoric coming up to january 6th. we're just now beginning to see some sort of legal account being held. but, largely, politicians that have been using this rhetoric to get elected and increase their following and what not, they really haven'

speaker rusty bowers testified that he got calls from trump, attorney john eastman and congressman andy biggs what did mr. biggs ask you to do? >> he asked if i would sign on both to a letter that had been sent from my state and/or that i would support the decertification of the electors. and i said that i would not. >> reporter: in pennsylvania, a barrage of calls from trump's attorneys to statehouse speaker brian cutler. >> this is rudy giuliani and janet ellis. we'd like you to discuss obviously the election. >> hello, mr. speaker, this is jenna ellis and i'm here with mayor giuliani -- >> reporter: in michigan a plan allegedly floated by a trump campaign official for fake electors to hide overnight in the state capitol. >> michigan republican electors were planning to meet in the capitol and hide overnight so that they could fullfill the roe of casting their vote. i told them that it was insane and even appropriate. >> reporter: officials like bowers cutler and cox refused to go along with team trump's plans. but across the country some 100 others complied, signing bogus elector slates th

i've got news for you, andy biggs.the people that you claim to be supporting. that means that the people are gonna start calling in. that means that we may actually end up with an even larger shortage when it comes to the people that we need on the border. so, let me tell you what's not smart, it's shutting down the government. >> do you agree with the biden administration putting on the table changes to u.s. asylum policy. do you think that that would be something that happens? making it harder for people to claim asylum? >> i don't agree with that at this point in time. you know, because i don't even think that that really is the issue. if for two seconds, you can just put yourself in the shoes of some of these people, you are coming from a place in where you may be looking at losing your life, you may not be able to feed and take care of your family. they're not studying u.s. law before they get here. in fact, you hear the majority of the people talk about the border crisis, the fact that most people can't even read

and said, i can't be on the other side of that mob. >> these three congressman, paul gosar and andy biggsarizona and mo brooks from alabama are supporters of the president. congress my gosar has not commented on the claims. congressman biggs denied meeting alexander. congressman brooks denied responsibility for the riot. they're not the only lawmakers with riled up crowds making baseless claims about election fraud. >> we've seen in the last two months unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, and that's produced a deep, deep distrust of our democratic process across the country. i think we in congress have an obligation to do something about that. >> senator ted cruz from texas and freshman senator josh hawley from missouri have been two of the most outspoken republicans on the hill to challenge the election results. hawley was even seen raising his fist to demonstrators as he entered the capitol on january 6th before the attack began. they both condemn the attacks but some of their democratic colleagues have called on cruz and hawley to resign or be expelled from office. one senator sai

he lost 36 votes, 31 for andy biggs.he and he's only going to have about a four seat margin give or take. we have some races still to be called when things are settled so he can't -- he's got to win a lot of those over. he has compared it to paul ryan's private conference vote, speaker pelosi, they both have similar margins, but when they went to the floor they had much bigger majorities to work with. they still had a lot of defections. he has a lot more to win over. the freedom caucus has long been a skeptic of kevin mccarthy. they want house rules changes and they want to give the rank and file power to have influence over legislation and other things that go on the house. they say kevin mccarthy has not been in agreement to most of that yet and that's one of their major concerns. >> always fascinating when a new congress comes to town. lindsey mcpherson, good to see you. >>> quick hits across america now. >>> a driver plowed into a group of l.a. county sheriff's recruits that were out jogging. the driver 22-year-old n

the challenge from andy biggs is a real one but not a deep threat to mccarthy at this moment.-alarm fire from mccarthy at this point even with that doomsday scenario looming. >> so what is behind -- there are a couple of movements, right, but what is behind this movement from chip roy to those opposing mccarthy according to a letter sent to colleagues from the house freedom caucus? >> i think the politics make sense for them. there's a big part of the base who doesn't see mccarthy as efficiently conservative enough, not as a representation of that trump wing of the party. when you see those congressmen who are supporting someone like congressman biggs from arizona, that is where they are thinking about, that grassroots base from the republican side but i still don't think there's enough of those people, at least at this point, considering the slim majority that republicans have that the republicans will have in the house that is at this point threatening kevin mccarthy from potentially looking like the next leader of the speaker of the house. >> mccarthy can't afford to lose t

one came out was andy biggs, the congressman from arizona who did urge the speaker of the state house, rusty bowers, to overturn joe biden's victory in the state. bowers testified he resisted that request. >> a lot coming out there and we're not done. the next hearing scheduled for thursday. what's the focus tomorrow, ma simanu? >> justice department officials and the pressure campaign that trump era department officials faced from donald trump. his allies to use the power of the federal government, and that department to try to lean on states to overturn the electoral results. we're going to hear testimony from some key witnesses, including jeffrey rosen, who's the former acting attorney general at the time. we've seen some testimony from him come out already, pushing back on donald trump. richard donoghue and then steven engel from the office of legal counsel. he pushed what he knew was illegal and leaning on the government to overturn the election and then the real life consequences of threats faced to these individuals, so we'll hear from them in person and the committee promising

andy biggs, who is one of the members vowing to challenge mccarthy on january 3rd, got 31 votes when his party voted to nominate mccarthy for the speakership last month. that would mean that mccarthy has room to make up. in talking to republicans today, there are ample question about what would come next if they don't get 218 votes. a situation that has not occurred since 1923, when the speaker's race went to ballots and a lot of republicans are concerned that the conservative hard liners could make a mess of their new republican majority. >> what do you say to those members who have said he's not going to get 218 votes? >> they're supporting democrats. they're supporting democrats. these are the types of people to often call others out as rinos. >> do you have a candidate who could get democratic support? >> we're at the first base of that discussion. we don't want to be farther than that until we know we can't get 218 votes coming. >> how long would you be willing to keep the speaker's race going for if you don't get 218 votes? >> we'll see how it plays out. >> that last congressma

andy biggs on the other end of it, just feeding all of the lies out there. how many republicans in congress are privately agreeing with you and liz cheney and saying, you're right, i can't say it but you're right keep going. >> i think it is well over 50%. and i think that is just the ones that would feel comfortable to say it privately. there is a lot that are kind of waiting for an organic movement to kind of move on past trump but they don't want to -- and i don't question that. i understand it. it is a tough position to take. but people deserve an alternative competing vision if the only person you ever hear from is donald trump, you can't blame something for thinking that is the only vision in the republican party. but leadership, it is not about seeing where everybody is going an then just trying to jump in front. it also is about leading people and showing them where to go and a brighter future based on optimism and hope and less on darkness and division and fear. >> so president trump is going to speak at the cpac conference this weekend. a source te

andy biggs, the conservative republican congressman from arizona, and rusty bowers, the arizona house speaker and asked him to decertify the election. something bowers stood up against, the donald trump pressure campaign, saying he would try to overturn the will of the electorate that voted for joe biden in his state and reach andy biggs about this yesterday and he would not comment. ron johnson, wisconsin republican senator, a different situation involving him. his top aide on the morning of january 6th, 2021, urged, how johnson could deliver a package to pence that would have essentially electors from the states of michigan and wisconsin, two states that joe biden won, essentially overturn the electoral results when this scheme went into effect. when i caught up with johnson yesterday, downplayed this and said it was a non-story and saying he didn't know who actually pushed them and asked them to deliver this information to mike pence. listen. >> offer without even vetting it. >> we got handed, the vice president, so we called out to vice president. he didn't want it. we didn't deli

call will be called out jake alphabetically, which means before you even get to massie, you'll see andy biggs, lauren boebert, tim burchett, eric burleson, michael cloud, andrew clyde. we know crane is going to vote for johnson. andy harris, you will have a very good sense very early on. if mike johnson has problems worth noting, even though recent history says multiple rounds of speaker fights seems like it's the norm, it's actually not. manu alluded to this earlier before kevin mccarthy back in the last congress, there had not been a multiple round speaker fight since 1923, 100 years. we'll see if we continue with what's been recent precedent or if we go back to the norm, which is one round new speaker of the house. generapr. >> all right, phil mattingly, thanks so much. and if you're looking at these images on the floor of the house and you're wondering, boy, these seem new, we don't see images like this. that's right. you don't. normally the c-span cameras are kept under very strict lock and key and controlled by the speaker as to what images they can get. usually you just see images like

and arizona's andy biggs was pressuring biden from a complete withdrawal back in february. biggs' insistence, quote, afghan is need to be responsible for their own destiny going forward. doesn't seem to apply when joe biden backed it. the gop tried to ignore trump's backed withdrawal plan despite post 9/11 consensus. they dropped those principles for political gain. they can't pick them up to use as a political weapon. in case anyone is daemted to buy into the b.s., trump bragged about the withdrawal less than two months ago. >> i started the process. all the troops are coming back home. they couldn't stop the press. 21 years is enough, don't we think? 21 years. yeah, thank you. thank you. >> he added that the only way the afghan government lasts is if we're there. and that's your reality check. "new day" continues right now. >>> good morning to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm john berman with brianna keilar. it is tuesday, august 17th, and we do have breaking news this morning. health officials in the biden administration are poised to re

who came up with the idea of january 6, when i was talking with congressman gosar, congressman andy biggsreporter: you heard that right, alexander says these three members of congress helped plan the rally. >> it was to build momentum and pressure and then on the day, change hearts and minds of congress peoples who weren't yet decided or saw everyone outside and said i can't be on the other side of that mob. >> reporter: arizona congressman paul gosar has been working with alexander since the election, firing up crowds with lies about the election results. gosar replied to or mentioned ali in dozens of tweets including "i'll be in d.c. with @ali and the rest of america," adding, "we will fight back against the leftists who engaged in sedition. another tweet january 6. we fight for trump. on the morning of the siege he would send followers this image, stating "biden should concede, i want his concession on my desk tomorrow morning, don't make me come over there." he promptly went to congress, stood up, and opposed the certification of the electoral college results. >> i rise up for myself

she was at one of these forums in november about rules changes that andy biggs, one of the mccarthy critics was holding when he was trying to get a number of these concessions and laying out what the freedom caucus wants so even though she's not a member of the freedom caucus, there are signs she had been thinking about the mccarthy vote very, very hard, jake. >> victoria spartz, congresswoman, republican, from indiana who also is the only ukrainian born member of the u.s. congress, kevin mccarthy put her out there front and center back when he was supporting or more supportive, more strongly supportive of the american efforts to help the ukrainian government. let's bring back congressman rodney davis. former republican congressman from the great state of illinois, congressman, what are you hearing from your friends on the floor? >> look, i'm watching this conversation happening in the center aisle right now. it's very intriguing to see who is all there. and that tells me this heated conversation is getting to the point that i've made and others have made over the last two days, there comes

you look at andy biggs and mo brooks and ronny jackson, three trump loyalists.ne would hope, want to know the answers. these people put their hands on a bible, swore an oath to the skus. they were part of ongoing conversations on election day. in the case of congressman brooks, well past the biden inauguration. >> that's right. and a lot of the information the committee has gotten whether it's through testimony of other people or text messages suggested a lot of folks were intimately involved, trying to install people, the doj, for instance. if you think about somebody like scott perry. so far these people have essentially said no, they're not going to cooperate with this committee. unlikely they would be subpoenaed. that's sort of something that congress folks don't like to do to other congress folks. that's unlikely. even if they were subpoenaed, you imagine this to be a long, drawn out fight between these members in the committee. but listen, this committee has made some great progress in terms of the folks who have come before them. high profile people like

it was this representative andy biggs who does not come out as a profile in courage.ying to pressure rusty bowers to go along with all this. >> no, it's incredible. it just didn't stop. they were just doing everything they could in every direction, throwing things up to see if they would stick. even though donald trump, they repeatedly told him, this is thought true. >> andy biggs is on january 6th, on the day of the certification, and he's calling up rusty bowers and saying hey, how about we decertify the biden electors init reminds me of the last hearing where john eastman after they had the riot, he says, well, look, since we have gone off the rails here a little bit, how about we just throw open the electors? >> that was the attitude. that was the attitude. >> the power of repetition is also something that is so meaningful here. i mean, one story that has been told over and over again by the president is the suitcase of votes under the desk in atlanta. that there was some corrupt element of this suitcase. and if there's one thing people know, i would say, about th

you saw andy biggs, a congressman and trump ally, calling him and asking him to decertify the votes. that's what stood out today, just how persistent the effort was by these trump allies. they're republicans and thought they would go along with it because they didn't want to see a democrat, joe biden in office, even though they voted for trump, they're saying we could not cross this line. it was illegal. you're asking them to break the law. >> clearly did not want to do that. laura, these election workers, the women we heard from today, and it was very emotional and powerful testimony. they clearly faced intense threats, threats to their own lives and family. i want to have our viewers listen to ruby freeman who was harassed along with her mother and daughter just for doing her own job. listen to this. >> there is nowhere i feel safe, nowhere. do you know how it feels to have the president of the united states to target you. the president of the united states is supposed to represent every american, not to target one, but he targeted me, lady ruby, a small business owner, a mother, a

and if andy biggs has his way, we will be the party where truthtellers and people that want to standke liz cheney and myself, get kicked out of the party because there's no room for truth. so, i would encourage the rest of my colleagues in the republican party to not just passively resist that move but to do it open and honestly, not because of me. i'm not worried about my future on that. but because the party desperately needs some people to stand up and tell the truth. >> congressman, do you think that voters should trust house republican leaders with the majority in the next election? >> yeah. i mean, look, i'm a republican. i would like to see actual republican values in the majority. all i can say right now is my party has to embrace truth. we have to have a full reckoning of what happened on january 6th, and we have to turn away from conspiracy. i think if we're going to be in charge and pushing conspiracy and pushing division and pushing lies, then the republican party should not have the majority. but if we're going to be the party that actually tells truth and fights for rea

and i think andy biggs embodies the kind of leadership we want. >> reporter: the in-fighting comes as closes in on the house majority. democrats expecting two years of internal gop sparring between their moderate and conservative wings. >> i think this version of the republican caucus is going to have a very hard time governing in any way, shape, or form. and i think that we'll see just how dysfunctional they are. >> reporter: but house democrats preparing for their own leadership shake-up once nancy pelosi decides whether to stay atop the caucus she has dominated for the past two decades. >> congressman jim clyburn, currently the number three democrat told cnn he plans to stay in leadership, but won't run for the top position, potentially paving the way for hakeem jeffriess to lead the caucus if pelosi steps aside. could bit the top leadership position you're considering running for? >> no, it won't be that in the senate, the democratics taking a victory lap. florida senator rick scott plans to run against him in wednesday's leadership elections. what's the problem of having mcconnel

. >> facing opposition from far-right members, like arizona's andy biggs, trying to extract concessionsy biggs embodies the kind of leadership that we want. >> the infighting comes as the gop closes in on the house majority. democrats expecting two years of internal gop sparring between their moderate and conservative wings. >> i think this version other publican caucus is going to have a very hard time governing in any way, shape, or form. and i think we will see just how dysfunctional they are. >> but house democrats preparing for their own leadership shakeup. once nancy pelosi decides whether to stay atop the caucus she has dominated for the past two decades. congressman jim clyburn, currently the number three democrat, told cnn he plans to stay in leadership. but will not run for the top position. potentially paving the way for hakeem jeffries to lead the caucus if pelosi steps aside. >> could be the top leadership position you're considering running for? it >> could be that. >> in the senate, democrats take a victory lap after holding the senate. but some republicans taking out the

cnn has learned arizona congressman andy biggs is planning to send a letter to house minority leader kevin mccarthy this week. it would call on him to remove liz cheney and adam kinzinger from the republican conference. he's a big loyalist to the former president moo worked to overturn the election. congress mccarthy has level a veiled unmistakable threat against telecom and social media companies that cooperate with the committee. congresswoman serves on committee joins us now, and sits on the judiciary committee and chairs the house administration committee. thanks for being with us. so congressman andy biggs, the head of the house freedom caucus has sent a letter to kevin mccarthy asking him to remove liz cheney and adam kinzinger for their roles going as far to call them spies for the democrats. what do you say to that? >> well, it's absurd. you know, it's really astonishing that people are calling to sanction these two members of congress who are simply doing their duty and other members of congress who are republicans are calling for violence and not a word, not a peep of conde

representative andy biggs of arizona on the morning of january 6 th? >> i did. >> and what did mr. biggs ask you to do? >> he asked if i would sign on both to a letter that had been sent from my state, and/or that i would support the decertification of the electors and i said i would not. >> a staffer from wisconsin senator ron johnson texted a staffer for vice president pence, just minutes before the beginning of the joint session. this staffer stated that senator johnson wished to hand deliver to the vice president the fake electors votes from michigan and wisconsin. >> keep in mind, those moves from the former president, biggs, johnson, would have overturned the will of voters in those states. let's begin this morning with president biden's announcement expected this afternoon where he will ask congress and needs congress to suspend the federal gas tax. cnn's jeremy diamond is at the white house. christine romans also. jeremy, to you, first, the president knows there are enormous political pressures here, including on his approval rating, due to the rising gas prices. does the w

republican andy biggs, though, says they will not raise the debt ceiling. >>> and the failed republican candidate who police say tried to harm four democratic officials, even paying and working with others to carry out shooting attacks, makes his first court appearance as we learn he cased the homes of three officials. and sustain titissue health. ensure with twenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure c complete with thirty grams of protein. life... doesn't stop for diabetes. be ready for every moment, with glucerna. it's the number one doctor recommended brand th is scientifically designed to help manage your bloodugar. live every moment. glucna. wondering what actually goes into your multivitamin? at new chapter, its' innovation, organic ingredients, and fermentation. fermentation? yes. formulated to help you body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness, well done. how many rooms are in there? should we go check it out? yeah. we get to stay here all weekend! when you stay at a vrbo... i call doing the door code! ...the host doesn't stay with you. it looks ex

information is being pushed by people in positions of power. >> reporter: his arizona colleague andy biggs was near gozar january 6th and met with president trump and others protesting election results, even provided a taped message to be played at one of the arizona rallies. >> we're fighting for the freedoms that made this country great. >> reporter: biggs now strongly deny necessary involvement in the protest. his staff stating biggs can't even recall meeting with ali alexander. mo brooks is more direct. >> today is the day american patriots start taking down names and kicking ass! >> reporter: this is the alabama congressman the morning of january 6th in washington, d.c., a few days later he told an alabama news service, i make no apology for doing my absolute best to inspire patriotic americans to not give up on our country and to fight back against anti-christian socialists. former congressman charlie dent says the actions of his former colleagues show it's time for a serious recognikoning with the republican party. >> we have to rid ourselves of these radical elements. i would recom

some notably mccarthy holdouts, andy biggs even sympathized with members of the mob now facing trial or some members. t two years ago tonight members voted to overturn election results and nearly all of them are back on mccarthy's side. so with the next vote a couple hours away our correspondent have been working their sources. before we go to cnn's manu raju, the six remaining republicans who voted no in the last go around, andy biggs, matt gaetz, bob good, and matt rosen dale. what is the latest? >> reporter: right now mccarthy's team is confident tonight will finally be the night the 14th ballot, the longest speaker's election in more than 100 years that he'll be elected speaker of the house, but they've moved behind the scenes to work over those six members in the past couple of hours. looking at a combination of flipping him to vote for him or changing the voting threshold altogether. how do they do that? by convincing some of them to vote, quote, present prch this is the math. 214 members voted for kevin mccarthy in the last ballot. if all memberserize present and in attendance

, representative andy biggs from arizona knew, what representative paul gosar knew, what representativebrooks knew and whether they aided and abetted the individuals who participated in the insurrection. what this case demonstrates is that there is a modern application for if section 3 of the 14th amendment and might that -- might that be a precedent and a tool that judges and the justice department can use? >> there are two things that matter there. one is you have to define it as an insurrection, a judge has to define it legally as an insurrection. number two, you have to prove that that person participated or aided or abetted. >> i read the 49 pages of the court's judgment so you didn't have to and actually that judgment goes to great ends -- >> i'm sure it was a bedtime story. >> she found it very soothing after 12 pages. >> they fell asleep immediately. works every time. >> and that's what this court case actually did. it defined insurrection. it uses -- expert witness testimony, historians, legal scholars to define and then prove that this was an insurrection, this individual part

saying the indictment is not going to change my support for donald trump, and arizona congressman andy biggsow reached a war phase. eye for an eye. obviously, not going to call that an implicit threat of violence. lauren fox is live on capitol hill. what more are you hearing from lawmakers today? >> yeah. just a few moments ago, erin, i had an opportunity to talk with house speaker kevin mccarthy who vehemently defended former president donald trump making the clear that he had no concerns about this indictment. instead, he argued his biggest concern is the fact that he thinks justice is being treated unfairly against former president donald trump, arguing that he did nothing differently than what he has seen from others, including the current president joe biden. pushed on the fact that this unsealed indictment paints a very different picture, very different group of facts against the former president. mccarthy said over and over again, he thinks that donald trump did nothing wrong. here he was. >> the idea of equal justice is not playing out here, and so that's a real concern to all americ

matt gaetz, lauren boebert, andy biggs. you can take a look. if it comes to another vote, which kevin mccarthy does not want there to be tonight, you can tally off the names and see who, if anyone, has changed their mind. if not, we will keep track of it for you. joining us now, not one of the 20. pete sessions who has voted six times for kevin mccarthy. congressman, thanks for joining us. what's the latest you are hearing about what's going to happen? >> we are hearing this as you did, jake. that is that this negotiation, it took place with mr. mccarthy, was really a wide ranging viewpoint, not just on his duties as speaker here, but also his campaign activities as he would engage himself in the money that he collected across the country. also to the rules committee, as you recall, i spent 20 years on the rules committee, six years as its chairman last time we were in the majority. to substantively change those procedures at the rules committee would have wide ranging viewpoints up to a point of orders, votes that would be on the floor, things

. >> eli crane even switching his vote and andy biggs now both switching their votes. it raises so many questions about those conversations. jake noted we cannot read lips. >> we should just say also -- bob good voted present, so that means -- >> all right, so -- >> -- he's getting a sweep of the present votes. >> waiting for rosendale. >> so, yeah. we should note the republican leaders who thought that gaetz was going to switch to yay, which annie grayer and melanie zanona reported earlier, they were mistaken, but it's a point without a difference. it's a distinction without a difference really. what gaetz conveyed was whatever's going to happen in the next ballot, you're going to win. we're going to deliver the votes one way or another, even if it's present votes. >> and it's finally changed after -- >> mccarthy appears on track to win speaker. >> appears on track to win instead of appears headed for failure for a 15th time. >> it is remarkable, five present votes. he sure could have used those yesterday. >> but they all -- this is -- going into this, i think it was

not andy biggs and the freedom caucus.arthy probably has best shot, but a caucus seems to turn on self. even paul ryan knows that. >> should mccarthy be house speaker? >> members of the house would make that decision. >> if you were a member of the house what would you decide? >> great question. >> the plan would have to be, how are we going to make, what's the plan to grow that caucus come 2024? the results were underwomening to s to -- underwhelming. new york, able to be successful. lay that success at feet of the individuals able to have one of the most successful court cases to render what was one of the worst cases of gerrymandering we've seen by either party occurring in the state of new york remedied in the courts. there is more -- >> by the way, i agree with you. democrats got greedy and put forward a crazy map and republicans righteously -- republicans pushed back, but if that's your position, do you think republicans overreach in ohio in florida, in texas? i was here republicans championing the cause redistrictin