mccarthy: you know what's amazing to me? here we are, one of the biggest things going on with spend, i can always count on you for the most inappropriate question. reporter: early next year, what gives you the confidence you'd be able to negotiate when a large faction of your party is challenging? mr. mccarthy: like anything you're going to have debate. what i know is the american public will have somebody in discussions. the american public will have somebody to say, the answer isn't to spend more money, the answer is to eliminate waste and woke. i. the priority is to prioritize what the american public wants. they also want to secure the border and stop the fentanyl from coming and killing our children. what's in this legislation that lowers the price of gasoline and makes america energy independent? what in here assures that american men and women have the resources they need when it come tots military? what in here makes sure that whatever we invest in is what america needs going forward? but more importantly what does t

support for mccarthy. and mccarthy is not in a position where he can't afford to lose any votes. he is not at a place right now where he's got enough support from his own party to secure the speakership. so why push back on someone who is already told him that they will support them. >> i just want to point out that nbc news has reached out to the national republican congressional committee, leader kevin mccarthy. with steve scalise, conference chair at least stefanik. for the reaction of the santos admitting embellishments. i call them lies. and calls for his recognition. we've not received any response. just want to put that out there. matthew, what does it say about the republican party that this is where it is right now. that there is a person who's running for speaker. who is so desperate to become speaker. that you've got a qanon supporting extremist who is saying that everybody must vote for him and meanwhile, he's saying silent on a guy who's been revealed to be have lied repeatedly about his own b

so kevin mccarthy is not in a great position here. would not be surprised if you saw that there would be multiple ballots, and someone else stepson who is not kevin mccarthy, but a steve scalise, waiting in the wings to knife him from behind. >> watch the throne, kevin, thank you both. >> all right. >> coming up, as donald trump's many legal woes increase, the justice department argues that his legal team should be held in contempt. i will tell you what happened in court with chuck rosenberg next. next try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. ♪ ...i'm over 45. ♪ ♪ i realize i'm no spring chicken. ♪ ♪ i know what's right for me. ♪ ♪ i've got a plan to which i'm sticking. ♪ ♪ my doc wrote

well, primarily because santos has been vocal about his support for mccarthy and mccarthy is not in a position where he can afford to lose any votes. he's not at a place right now where he has enough support from his own party to secure his speakership. >> i just want to point out nbc news has reached out to the national republican congressional committee, leader kevin mccarthy, whip steve scalise, conference chair for their reactions to santo admitting embellishments -- i call them lies -- and we've not receive any responses, so just want to put that out there. matthew, what does it say about the republican party that this is where it is right now? that there's a person who's running for speaker who is so desperate to become speaker that you've got a qanon supported extremist who is saying everyone must vote for him, and meanwhile he's staying silent on a guy who's been revealed to have lied repeatedly about his own background, staying silent on all of this all in the hopes of securing the magical 218. >> well, i think what we've seen and as everybody i know on this panel has watched

group >> here is some good news for kevin mccarthy. republicans, first time how speakers, net favorable rating just before they became speaker amongst our own party. what you see is kevin mccarthy's net favorable rating is plus 30. it's more republicans have a favorable than unfavorable view of him. by about 30. points, again that's really weak amongst a group. you look at someone like john bayne, nancy pelosi, you're talking about net favorables that are plus 60 points. even among republicans, kevin mccarthy struggling to get that coalition for two and 18 points on the. you see the same thing amongst the voters. or more republicans like him the knot. but again, the numbers historically speaking are quite weak. >> how about for the house minority leader? >> yeah, another way to try and get it. this is compare kevin mccarthy's net. favorable to hakeem jeffries rating. and joe biden's approval. rating it's not surprising that this particular point, politicians it's hard to get a high popularity rate. but if you compare them to someone li

but mccarthy is an establishment candidate for speaker. marjorie taylor greene has decided she will sell her political currency to back him. boebert may not. gaetz and others obviously not as well. mccarthy, in the ballots, with these two very specific numbers, boebert and green. >> after what kevin mccarthy is offering marjorie taylor greene behind the scenes, to secure her, remarkable support. basil, listen to the incoming new houston classic leader, hakeem jeffries, what he said about all of this. >> look at what is happening right now. look at what's happening right now. house republicans are attacking senate republicans. senate republicans are calling house republicans sully and immature. the leadership situation is in chaos. marjorie taylor greene is fighting with lauren boebert, and george santos appears to be starring in the sequel to catch me if you can't. and it's not even january 3rd. the circus has already come to town, chaos, crisis, confusion, and craziness. of course, the democrats wheeler for the american people. >> basil,

>> here's good news for mccarthy. look at house republicans, their favorable rating before they became house speaker. more republicans have a favorable than unfavorable view of him by about 30 points. that's weak amongst the groups. you look at john boner, nancy pelosi, close to 60 points. even as we see kevin mccarthy struggling to get the coalition for 218 points on the hill, you see the same things amongst the voters where more republicans like him than not. the numbers, historically speaking, are weak. >> how about the house minority leader. >> another way to try and get at this is compare kevin mccarthy's net favorable rating to hakeem jeffries favorable rating and joe biden's approval rating. it's not surprising that politicians, it's hard to get a high popularity rating. if you compare to someone like joe biden, his net approval rating is minus 8 points. hakeem jeffries, minus 2 points. kevin mccarthy is considerably worse condition with the people in the electorate than either hakeem jeffries or joe biden. the

and all three said that they are supporting mccarthy, but if mccame are any ca-- mccarthy cat get toare expected to jump in to the race. and mccarthy's allies are starting to push back. a group wrote a letter to their colleagues last week saying if they have a messy floor fight, it will undermine them. and david joyce ohio republican says he refuses to let them handcuff themselves to a burning building. and meanwhile mccarthy's team is confident that at the end of the day when the lights go on january 3, that enough of mccarthy's opposition will hold and this they will be able to get there even if it takes multiple rounds voting. so really it is shaping up to be a game of chicken right now. >> stakes are enormous. >>> and let's bring the conversation back in the room and let's listen to kevin mc mccarthy, making the point that we'll have scenario majority in the house, we'll want to get things done, chaos won't help. >> we will secure lifting that vaccine mandate on our military. that is the first victory of having a republican majority. and we'd like to have more of those victories

reporter: if not mccarthy then who, that's the question on capitol hill because mccarthy's detract oralternate candidate in place. no official names have been recognized just yet, but the search is in full swing here on the hill, so former house freedom caucus chair andy biggs who by the way described his own failed challenge for speakership as "chaotic" he is the one whose leading that search. he says that there's a growing number of members who think it is time for fresh blood and last week, representative bob good actually told fox there are plenty of interested parties out there. >> have been a number of candidates who come to us privately to let us know they would like to be considered as speaker once this clears. reporter: so the keyword is they come to them privately, not publicly yet. now mccarthy as you mentioned needs 218 votes by january 3. five republicans have already come out against him and last week, more bad news. seven more members sent him a letter with a list of demands including allowing any member of the conference to offer a motion to vacate the chair and that b

the reality kevin mccarthy worked hard to deliver the majority that was his promise and he did it. the reality what we need to do with this majority is get through the fact that kevin mccarthy's would be the next speaker of the representatives and deliver good governance my people elected me to fight crime, inflation quality of education and the ever rising cost of energy if we deter from that message were giving me reminded of that on 2024 when we are on the ballot and lose the house the nonsense has to stop folks in our conference need to get together and say enough is enough the charade is over very kevin mccarthy earned his speakership and he will have the gavel come january 3. trey: congressman elect him to play a clip from kevin and get you to respond to the other side. >> we are to have the primary made the decision 85% of the conference. if people don't come along that's going to delay our ability to secure the border that's going to delay our ability to become energy independent. that's good and delay our ability to hold government accountable there is no subpoena that can

mccarthy facing a perilous task.e's fivethirtyeight's nate silver on his chance and on the surface kevin mccarthy would appear to have a lot of problems, but dig deeper and it's a bit less clear. let's start with one problem, 35 republicans voted against mccarthy in a secret ballot vote for speaker, with those going to arizona's andy biggs. of the house freedom caucus. republicans will likely have a four to five-seat majority next year. that may not be a deal breaker in 2015 paul ryan initially had 43 republicans prefer another candidate, four years later, nancy pelosi had 32 oppose her. but they both became speaker. some alternative to mccarthy, it's unclear who that might be. some members would like to see a different speaker but the gop won their narrow house majority through a mini red wave in new york. those new moderate members will be top targets for democrats in 2024 and they probably won't follow conservatives against mccarthy, he has a 75% chance of being speaker while louisiana steve scalise is at 10%. but

and so they're better off with kevin mccarthy. how he is essentially become the consensus candidate. >> but what's his end game? if you flex your muscle now and it atrophies in six days in congress because you have to work on a bipartisan basis. nice to see you on the speakers panel for a few days. >> he is only thinking in terms of getting 218 votes. >> no matter how long it lasts? >> that's the only thing he is looking at right now. thanks to one and all, congress is on the verge of banning tickt tiktok on all federal government workers' phones. the head of tiktok policy responds, next. all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work, helping them achieve financial freem. we're investingor our clients in the projects that power our economy. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive. i'm a laidback mediterranean hotel, looking for someone with simple needs. just a room, with a view... of rolling portuguese vineyards. a meal

mccarthy facing a perilous task.silver on his chance and on the surface kevin mccarthy would appear to have a lot of problems, dig deeper it's a bit less clear. one problem, 35 republicans voted against mccarthy in a secret ballot vote for speaker, with those going to arizona's andy biggs. that may not be a deal breaker in 2015 paul ryan initially had 43 republicans prefer another candidate, four years later, nancy pelosi had 22 oppose her. they both became speaker. some members would like to see a different speaker but the gop won their narrow house majority with a mini red wave in new york. those new moderate members will be top targets for democrats in 2024 and probably won't follow conservatives against mack krr they're, a 75% chance of become speaker while louisiana steve scalise is at 10%. he's not challenging for the top spot. a rocky road involving multiple but i buy that mccarthy will be speaker. >>> the roundtable is up next. we'll be right back. ®. my a1c is down with rybelsus®. in a clinical study, once-d

at least five gop members say they will not vote for kevin mccarthy to be speaker despite mccarthy winninghe nomination with 85% of the vote. because the margin is so narrow in the house, five defections could actually be enough to elect a democrat speaker. democrats wasted no time and extended no drama picking the leader of their own to replace nancy pelosi. hakeem jefferis from new york. who will be the next speaker of the house, who are the republican house members who will not support the nominee, what do they want? why didn't they brand them themselves, are they really willing to risk a democrat speaker. joining us now is a congressional correspondent for politico ms. olivia beaver's. thank you so much for joining us, to questions who are the republicans who will not support the conference nominee and who is their preferred candidate if they don't want kevin mccarthy, who do they want. >> there is about five that we know about and i'm told there might be some coming out in the coming days but will see what happens, will believe it. there is and he begs the one who challenged kevin mcc

kevin mccarthy is tiptoeing a lot these days.trump supporting conservatives in the house republican conference. at the same time, he has to be careful. there are a decent number of new centrist numbers in the house republican conference. if he goes too far to the right, he could lose some of them. this is a very careful balancing act for him. some might say an impossible balancing act. we will see in a few weeks. two different speeches from kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell. mcconnell heavy on the constitution. perhaps emphasizing it in the wake of the former president's remarks. then, of course, we have this wonderful ceremony, which we all celebrate. i know a lot of the capitol police officers. whatunderlies? a reminder who caused this national tragedy. it was donald trump who inspired it. >> garrett, a couple things. you are used to it by now. we got news in, kevin mccarthy hasn't had the votes. he had 188 to get house speakership. we are learning there is a challenge. what do you know? that's right. this is a sequel. andy bi

and kevin mccarthy, what is he doing with all of this? he shown willingness to entertain all of these requests. despite previously saying that no biden official deserve to be impeached, mccarthy is now calling for mayorkas to resign. and he defend his colleagues in the house who defied subpoenas for the january 6th committee. >> are you saying you will defend your colleagues for not going -- to know. >> we did nothing wrong. i'm not so sure about that. because this week we learned that 34 republican members of congress were texting white house chief of staff mark meadows with strategies and conspiracy theories all in an attempt to keep donald trump in office after he lost the 2020 election. and even a growing wing of the party, even as this happens, even as they are threatening to tank's ascension, kevin mccarthy is willing to make concessions just to hold a speakers gavel. all the while the party standard bearer donald trump, his ripping votes from mccarthy. the new york times reports that trump has been working the phones to vote mccart

i think the party, republican party should come together and back kevin mccarthy. he's done a lot of work to recruit a lot of the candidates that ran in the house, he did a lot of campaigning for the candidates, and in essence, if he's got jim jordan on his side, the conservative favorite for speaker of the house and he really wants to stay as chairman of the judiciary committee, and backing kevin mccarthy, with it, that being said, some of these conservative members are going to ask for chairman schiff, put pressure on him. but we have to get to a point where the republican party unites and kevin mccarthy is going to be held to task to say look, i'm going to have to be tough against joe biden and push back against the democrat's radical agenda. >> john: does this play into the democrat's hand, republican majority much smaller than anticipated, now all of this in-fighting as well, they got control of the congress but can not control their conference. >> i think it's partly kevin mccarthy. he did not get it the last time he sought the post, at that point it went to

if it becomes clear mccarthy cannot win, mccarthy tells cnn, quote, i'll never leave vowing to get theneeds to be speaker. this as a group of republicans lay out a list of demands they want mccarthy to meet. anyone to meet in order to get their votes. cnn's melody zanona keeping track of this. mel, the math problem persists. >> reporter: it persists and kevin mccarthy has a lot of work to do so in addition to those five house republicans that have vowed to publicly oppose him on the house floor, now we have this group of seven new republicans who are laying out their conditions in order to win their speaker vote even though they don't name kevin mccarthy by name it is clear this is directlied at him and some include promise to put more conservatives on committees, a promise of leadership not to play in primaries and a promise to restore this process that would allow any single member to force a vote on deposing the sitting speaker something that kevin mccarthy has been adamantly against but manu raju and i are hearing mccarthy might be willing to negotiate as he's struggling to get the

, now backing mccarthy for speaker.eitbart quote, hopefully he is going to be very strong. going to be very good. and he is going to be what everybody wants. so i am really curious if you have a sense based on your reporting laurin, of what it would mean for kevin mccarthy in the eyes of donald trump, to be very strong, to be very good and to what everybody wants. >> look, i am not going to presume to know what donald trump's definition of that is, but look, i think if this comment from trump really exposes weaknesses both of trump and also mccarthy, for mccarthy it shows that you know, he needed trump's endorsed meant where he felt he knew to trump's endorsement to sort of tie up support him on his own party, he didn't have enough votes or so far he doesn't have enough votes to confidently feel lake he can win this. for trump on the other hand, his comments really haven't seem to move the needle yet. and i think that is really telling, it shows that trump's grip on the republican party is and his influence on the repub

andy biggs is challenging mccarthy for house speaker, and mccarthy can only afford to lose four republicano oppose mccarthy on the floor. joining to us discuss is a national political reporter for "the new york times." good to see you. so why does it seem this math doesn't seem to worry mccarthy, and what happens if no one gets to 218? >> ihaen here, which is that even if it goes to those multiple ballots, which would be a first time that speaker vote has gotten there in a long time, he is still confident he'll be able to hold enough votes to wrap up that speakership. the challenge from andy biggs is a real one but not a deep threat to mccarthy at this moment. i think that's why you're not seeing a full-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 a

mccarthy isn't there yet.had a conference call where they discussed some of the compromises and concessions. one of them that mccarthy agreed to is a broad investigative panel to look into all of the biden administration probes that would centralize all the investigations that are going to go on. that's something conservatives had been clamoring for. perhaps most notably is mccarthy agreed to a lower threshold to trigger a vote on deposing the sitting speaker, known as the motion to vacate the speaker. that's something that has been a demand of critics. mccarthy had been reluctant to budge on that. he would be allowing his critics to fire him at any point during his speakership. but now, he is willing to go down to a threshold as low as five people. it would be around 112 republicans. that's a major concession for mccarthy. they wrapped the call saying they need more work to do over the weekend. they need to resolve some of the outstanding issues. there's no garruarantee that's going to happen. time is running

here's mccarthy -- and anti-semitic views.e's mccarthy. >> i don't think anybody should speak spending time --should be spending time with nick fuentes. yamiche: joining us to discuss more, nia-malika henderson from cnn and joining us around the table, michael bender, political correspondent for "the new york times," senior white house correspondent for cbs news, weijia jiang, you've seen her before, and asma khalid from mpr. what is this -- from npr. what is the significance of this new leadership team in the house democratic party and the fact that jim clyburn is staying on? nia-malika: jim clyburn is staying on but other than that, this is a seachange. 30 years difference between the old guard and this new guard. they have pretty much sailed to power unopposed. there were concerns early on about whether or not progressives would be on board with this, whether they would try to mount some challenges. so far, the progresses i have talked to seem pleased with this new team. some history makers in hakeem jeffries np tag alert.

so, to david's point, mccarthy really needs this.s him to be able to serve at least for the next two years. and that is, why even though number republicans from the state party here in new york and even in long island where the seat exists, have said, well, we are not going to support him two years to know, they are not as strident in saying that he should be removed from office or resign. right. now >> and, david, you've been active in the effort from stopping mccarthy to become speaker. if he does manage to pull this off, how much will he be

mccarthy may need to find a compromise.al solutions and it could be key to unlocking their votes for speaker. >> remarkable drama that continues, still short the votes. mel, appreciate that. >>> let's bring it back to the room. there's the never kevin group and the only kevin group walking around now with buttons, with okay buttons. there you see it right here. this is about something important. to lead the house republicans in their new majority and it's a constitutional office, third in line to the presidency and i'm sorry, this is like middle school. >> yeah, but, i mean, where do we even start? sometimes congress, middle school is -- >> middle school will soon win. >> but just to keep it going there is a group that is not represented there or maybe a party which is my kevin which is what donald trump calls kevin mccarthy. and that is what kevin mccarthy has been grappling with, how far to go to get to the trump side of things and then how far to be accommodating, more broadly, versus being tough and i think this melanie

mccarthy i believe on this show said, you know -- kevin mccarthy was on the show or whether we were talking about it is foggy, but i remember discussing it with you back in october, that's what this is all about. we have this historic moment, zelenskyy shows up, gives speech, and joe biden is sitting shoulder to shoulder with zelenskyy as he should be, looks down the other end of pennsylvania avenue, sees kevin mccarthy having his strings pulled on foreign policy by marjorie taylor greene. imagine what joe biden thinks about that. >> yeah. i mean, just degrading. we the way, leader mccarthy has not been on this show in quite a few years. we'll have to check our records. >> all good. >> very good. the thing is we have a 17-second delay so i'm just going to take it here, john. but thank you so much for being on. again, the stupidity -- i'm sorry, it's just stupidity of republican members in the house saying, oh, you know what, let's put this off till we're in power when they're going to have to pass a massive omnibus bill regardless. they're, like, saying oh, no, no, no, we don't want this on

who comes underneath kevin mccarthy and plotting?ative shows itself and would n't until the house floor or 24 hours before he has no path that's when an alternative rises. there's so much to play out that predicting this is a fool's errand. his words i will never leave is me at the bar in college at 2:00 a.m. and you have no choice. you get kicked out. >> there's not dynamic happening when the moderates say this is ridiculous. we might partner with the other side. >> 85% of the vote went for kevin mccarthy. i think it's our obligation to now coa les and be a team. i ev been public if a small group refuses to be part of the team we'll find an agreeable republican but i hope we don't get there. >> i love this idea. i think they should do it. >> how real do you think this is? >> it's like aaron sorkin west wing fantasy politics. i'm here for that strategy. you could probably get some moderate republicans. i think getting all the democrats to vote for a republican is the bigger hurdle here. that would be a tremendous moment for the count

race that i'm not sure kevin mccarthy is going to win. we need to hold ourself, i don't care what part, a certain standard of -- to represent people of the district that elected you. >> and it seems like the simplest standard would be to simply represent truthfully who you are and certainly you're right. it's those voters in new york state who are suffering the most here. congresswoman debbie dingell, thank you, as always. let us indeed hope for a better 2023. up next here on "way too early," the white house is looking to slow down the looming republican investigations in the new congress. >>> and coming up on "morning joe," new revelations from the january 6th committee before it's set to dissolve tomorrow. >>> plus, new york city mayor eric adams will join us to reflect on his first year in office. "morning joe" is just a few moments away. office "morning joe" is just a few moments away i'm feeling better. body pain? headache? nope. all in one and done. cuh-congestion? better. cough? fever? better. mucinex all in one relieves 9 symptoms

kevin mccarthy. and mitch mcconnell. they all understood exactly the danger that donald trump posed, but standing up to him was not as important as the position they held with the one they wanted. >> final question for you. news today that the committee, which is devoted to and, we would imagine, rescinded formally the subpoena it issued to the former president. why did you do that? >> because we have several outstanding subpoenas which we had to withdraw because there is no time to enforce them and the concern we had, frankly, going into the new congress, was number them wonder what number one they wouldn't be effected but at the new majority now struck over the litigation, they might make concessions that are not in the interest of the house of representatives but they believe were in donald trump's interests. we don't want to see them sacrifice another institutional interest of our democracy to curry favor with the former president. so we withdrew them. but this gets to another point you are making, and that is the re

congress, but kevin mccarthy needs him.xpect them to circle the wagons around santos at least through january 3rd or the following days to secure the speakership. >> you know what's kind of fascinating when you look at it, dana, the only reason democrats didn't hold the house outright, okay, because this -- because of the end of roe v. wade and candidate quality issues and trump, democrats are actually in a really good position this year, but those illegally gerrymandered seats in florida, and the stupidly gerrymandered seats that pit democrat incumbents against each other in new york, that is why kevin mccarthy has a majority at all. but he's got a majority that's filled with characters, to be nice. this guy santos made up an entire life. he might as well make baseball cards like trump did, when he was an astronaut. and even trying to take advantage of the pulse nightclub massacre. your thoughts on all of this mess. >> madison cawthorn may be on his way out, but we have new fabulous coming in to replace him. and just think

i have seen kevin mccarthy as recently as yesterday with prime minister zelensky. i will wait until after his election to sit down and talk. i've talked with hakeem jeffries and we have started talking about how to work together. let me say this. this is my hope and prediction, that not all the republicans are maga. the maga try to push the party further to the right. there's a large chunk of republicans, perhaps a majority in the house and the senate who are not maga in this election showed and i've heard them and i've talked to them that following maga is like "thelma and louise," going over cliffs and that's that's always on the election. i intend to reach out both in the senate and even in the house to some of the more mainstream republicans and say let's work together. they are a whole lot of issues we can work on together. i believe these next two years we have a huge two years to follow. i think it's going to be a lot more productive than people think and not just on appointments of judges and things. and the debt ceiling has to be done in a bipartisan way.

the democrats can pick who is speaker is. >> mccarthy deploying the cutting strategy of reminding everycan member of congress that they alone could end his political career. joining me now to take a truth bat and run headlines flailing into a scoop lake is democratic strategist who legally changed her address to the msnbc green room, lydia parker. >> good evening. >> chief bureau chief seated at his brother's wedding bride's mother work friends jonathan keen. >> hello. >> chief correspondent james smartwood jr. >> hey. >> "tooning out the news" contributor and chemical opposite of peter, weijia jiang. thank you for joining us. >> great to see you again. >> weijia, you were the reporter who asked that question of kevin mccarthy. has this dinner fiasco derailed mccarthy east ability to focus house republicans serious agenda of sprinting out screen shots of hunter biden's sex tapes? >> it's becoming apparent it's not going to be as easy as he hoped to get the votes and as many people thought. remember, just a few weeks ago we were all talking about the red wave that wasn't. and because rep

i anticipate kevin mccarthy is going to close the deal. to say oh we are going to give power to the democrats. that's just not going to happen. i don't see that happening at all. >> katie: so are you voting for kevin mccarthy or do you have another candidate? >> no, i'm going to vote for him but, at the same time, what i want to see is a speaker who lets the members actually work, run bills, work with the appropriating committees and the committee chairs to have a bottom-up process. that is the way congress should be functioning and should work. what i witnessed my first two years in congress was nancy pelosi pushed every biffle out of her office. it wound up on the floor. the members were called in to vote yes or no. that is not legislating. that is not the way the people's house is supposed to work. they can do whatever they want in the senate, but the house of representatives is the people's body. and it needs to operate accordingly. >> katie: well, we will see if those mccarthy holdouts will take that as a valid argument to vote for hi

does it complicate things for mccarthy?e has a math problem at the moment and kevin mccarthy needs to figure out a way to deal with that problem. this in the aftermath of andy biggs, the conservative from arizona, who tried to defeat him behind closed doors for 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

they all have their own reasons for opposing kevin mccarthy. but by and large, they go to what you just described. they want to hold his feet to the fire and kind of force him to be more conservative, more pro-trump than he might otherwise be and to the degree they're interested in compromise, and again, it varies among the five, a lot of this has to deal with rule changes they might be able to extract to make it possible to give him the gavel and have it hanging over his head the ability to take it back if he tags too far to the left or too far away from the positions they would like to see him follow. interesting of note, people who used to be foils of kevin mccarthy, jim jordan, marjorie taylor greene, very much in kevin mccarthy's camp, and lobbying their fellow conservatives to join them in supporting him as speaker. so they can get anything else done in the next congress. >> there was a motion to vacate that you're talking about, that sort of damaclees, and only a few weeks to do this, and if kevin mccarthy doesn't get there, who else cou

so, again, mccarthy has more votes than biggs. mccarthy is in a storonger position.rassing to kevin mccarthy which is why right now he's saying he's trying to appease the hard-liners by standing up to biden and mcconnell. >> exactly. i think kevin mccarthy also knows if donald trump or donald trump jr., someone from the trump orbit comes in and says, let's rally behind this guy, which you've seen trump jr. do in the last couple of days he will probably get the votes so he's very much trying to appeal to that flank to get a big endorsement that will get everyone else in line. you can tell his behavior over the last couple of weeks was kind of outside the white house after meeting with biden and pelosi and schumer and mcconnell grandstanding about the border and fentanyl and issues that republicans are trying to raise in the new congress trying to secure those votes to make sure heing abouts speaker then deal with what comes next. this is why mcconnell doesn't want to have to negotiate with him. >> what everyone's end game is. kevin mccarthy is to get to tomorrow and t

i want to talk about kevin mccarthy's fight for the speakership in a second.ut president biden today touting the strong jobs reports. it has ignited fears of another interest rate hike. what would you like to see the fed do? >> alex, it's a good thing we are creating jobs in this country. it's a good thing that working people are having wage increases. the fed should not be too aggressive in raising rates. the reality is that inflation is caused by a supply chain crisis. it's because we are not making enough things in america. that's why we have inflation and because of corporate profits. raising rates higher is going to risk a recession, especially if they are -- >> i want to ask it about this l deal that passed. it moved forward without paid sick leave for rail workers. that was a major sticking point. you and president biden, you both made it clear that you think that every worker deserves that paid sick leave. but how do you get that done now? >> well, i was disappointed that the republicans in the senate didn't give us the votes to get that done. we got i

who's on the short list of potential not mccarthys that could get 218 votes? anybody? >> well, so that's the magic question. conservatives may be overplaying their hand here because they don't have a consensus candidate to put up. jim banks would have been obvious, but now he's looking at a senate run. jim jordan is not interested in it. so the most likely scenario if kevin mccarthy can't get to 218, and it'll go to multiple ballots. that's what happens, would be someone like a steve scalise coming into the void who i think could get the 218. i was working on capitol hill in 2015 when house conservatives blocked mccarthy from the speakership then. i think it's going to be a lot of behind the scenes to get extractions from him, and commitments leading up to that floor vote. i think it is probably 50/50 he ends up pulling off the speakership at this point. >> alice, what do you think? >> without putting someone forward, this is just noise, and that's what we're hearing from these people that are showing their opposition to mccarthy. without putting a name and a face up t

kevin mccarthy's probably -- he has a tiny, tiny majority, right?only lose four seats, actually. and so, there's not a huge legislative agenda that they expect they're going to pass on the road. they're not passing the reconciliation bill, new tax reform or anything like that. and the big things that do need to get done, the debt limit, running the government, those are ultimately going to be done in a bipartisan way. so, it's not as though you're relying on to other routine votes for a whole lot. the issue is, how much blowback does he get when he has to do those bipartisan deals? and how much tolerance can some of the members have and is the margins so small that they tried to remove him from working with democrats, that he ultimately has to two, for, say, avoid a default on the debt? >> yeah, we should say that they're about 15 frontline members who are elected and biden districts who put out a statement today saying they're only going to vote for kevin mccarthy, tried to sort of push back against the freedom caucus folks who say that they're nev

i'm told that the anti-mccarthy group has been meeting with republicans.ing informal talks, trying to engage whether they're interested in running in the race. so far, i've been told that no one is committed to to which will mccarthy, however it's unclear what happens on january 3rd if mccarthy decides to drop out or he can't get to 218 votes. cnn, capitol hill. >>> ukraine says moscow's trying a new strategy to deplete its air defenses. still ahead, russia is reportedly firing dummy missiles and why they could be a problem for ukraine. plus the latest on iran. and the family home of iranian rock climber who recently competed. stay with us. perfect for lunch or dinner. only at t ihop. download the app and eararn free food with everery purchase. in one secd, sara yes! will g a job offer somewhere sunnier. relocating in weeks. weeks? yeah, weeks. gotta sell the house. don't worry, sell to opendoor, and move on your schedule. yes! request a cash offer at opendoor.com hi. i'm wolfgang puck when i started my online store wolfgang puck home i knew there would be

mccarthy does not have that, whatsoever.we see that over and over again in the way that they are outwardly talking about voting against him. even when they voted in november about just having a leader, as not even gonna get all the votes, that he would have someone of his stature would command. a huge power differential between the two man. mccarthy is definitely someone who wants to be in charge of a large swath of republicans in the house, but he has a tough bound. >> let's talk about that battle, jennifer, and this week a house of republican moderates supporting -- these in support of mccarthy, okay for only kevin, not the best. dana moving from the washington post says the message headed unfortunate double meaning that highlighted doubts about always a bridesmaid always never a bride. mccarthy is just that. okay, but not great. not even above average, just okay, and i wonder, jennifer, what you make of that, and how you see his bid shaping up, and if the fact that he is saying come back and see me in january, if that bra

eugene, house minority leader kevin mccarthy is desperately seeking speaker kevin mccarthy who is ongot to remember we're gonna set a 222 members, so many five numbers can hold us up for achievement and i respect the law. we came together as one conference and we change the rules and made it more about them in the process so i'm not quite sure why people -- may be just personal the spaces boy is doing is harming as president trump just put the truth at last night that he is very concerned about what is happening. >> eugene, talk about the significance of a minority leader who is on the precipice of his party taking over control of the house, and take the majority. and yet, he is still trying to cobble together, to a tee, if he is out there saying any five members can hold us up and that means he will not be speaker. >> yeah, no, it does. and one of the things i think that have been made clear is that maybe he overestimated the amount of perspective he can get. this man has been running for speaker of the house in some way shape or form since around 20 6:15. at the very least. but we

mccarthy is west coast, jefferies is east coast.position with not much internal push back from democrats, didn't have any challenger, folks let him ascend to this role feeling he was the best for the job mccarthy is going through all of this and so that sort of juxtaposition matters when they're coming in but the reality is that kevin mccarthy if he wins this vote, if he becomes speaker is going to have to learn how to work with democrats. the senate is held by democrats. the presidency is held by a democrat and there are must pass bills every congress, government funding, defense spending, sometimes aid to respond to natural disasters, things of that nature. he has to figure out how to work across the aisle to bring those things through i don't expect that's going to be easy for him. he didn't show that as one of his strengths during nancy pelosi's tenure. they had a pretty note glee and well-understood fractured relationship even coming from the state having some of the same backgrounds i don't necessarily think this is going to g

if he were to advise or you were to advise mccarthy at this moment, what would you tell mccarthy to do? >> just really quick, this is all obviously a felony. we'll see. this guy couldn't pay rent and he's making capital introductions to billionaires, the whole thing is ridiculous. katko has the ability to be honest with mccarthy, give him honest advice since he's leaving. he also voted to impeach trump. he doesn't have the same incentive mccarthy has. this is the problem. it's very clear the smart decision for the medium term is for mccarthy to throw this guy overboard. this is obviously better to wash your hands of it. the problem is, he doesn't have the 218 votes to be speaker yet. so he's got to get every vote he can, and santos has said he's going to support him. i think the interesting question is what does mccarthy do if and when he gets the 218 votes, maybe the calculation changes. for now, i think politically speaking, he feels stuck. >> i think one of the biggest challenges is that you actually haven't had a member of congress since traficant being impeached out of office. >>

he had lunches for to mccarthy. now, democrats are calling on santa suit resigned before sworn in on to say, before it was revealed he lied on his resume. details about's education, work history, ethnic background, and faith. he has not responded to nbc's request for comment, but he has apologized and admitted to quote, embellishing his resume. joining me now is jasmine roth she, executive director of swing left, and lucy caldwell, back with, us political strategist and campaign shuttered for joe walsh's 2016 campaign, presidential campaign. lucy, the new york times here with new reporting that over the course of his campaign, santos spent $30,000 on hotels, $40,000 on air fare, $14,000 on car services, which they pointed out, it's not typical of a newly elected congressman. as someone who is running a campaign, what did you make of this? >> well, i think one of the hardest things to understand about the santos campaign is how he had so much of this money to spend on this. it is sort of unimaginable, especially in a