i like steve scalise. i like him so much i want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position. she goes on to write, in heroin post, on x, that that was the reason she is supporting jim jordan. largely because of steve scalise's lung cancer diagnosis. she believes that they need somebody who is in a position health wise and other to lead their conference. henderson, nevada. republican. kyle. hear from you. caller: yes, thank to you c-span for covering this. i'm just really frustrated because i do not see, i don't think anybody has been able to identify as of yet any substantial policy difference between jordan and scalise and mccarthy. and i think the whole removal of mccarthy, which all house democrats were there that day seemed to have happily supported was fruitless if the gaetz faction is not going to get any -- there is no substantial policy difference between the three. and the other thing that i'd like to say about all that is, i am worried about the prospect

and the names being floated around, jim jordan did not get more votes than steve scalise so he would have even more people he needed to bring into his camp than scalise has right now. so is that a realistic possibility? other folks are talking about some of the most affable in their caucus to see someone who is just friendly with many people but may not be ideologically aligned could just slip in there and win enough votes but those are all long shots and the folks who are putting up the biggest fight are not just going to take a speaker who just is a nice guy. they want a speaker who will deliver a house majority in the way they want it to be run. host: a question about two specific individuals, what is jim jordan doing when it comes to those folks who are saying they're only jim jordan, and what has speaker kevin mccarthy's role been in the past 24 hours? katherine: jim jordan has volunteered to give a nominating speech, excuse me, for steve scalise which was a big development to have him jump onboard and say steve scalise got the majority vote, i will support him on the floor, and

can steve scalise get there?'t get there in the conference meeting and what will some of those members who may want concessions will they fall in line? there seems to be some confusion, too, about the timing of all of this. some of the members believe that there could be a vote this afternoon to elect the next speaker of the house. we will see if that's officially announced today. perhaps the scalise team wants to push ahead, wants to force the vote and doesn't want to force this to linger because the longer that he lingers the more deals he may have to cut with some of those hardliners who essentially ended speaker mccarthy's -- kevin mccarthy's speakership. he wants to avoid them. scalise so far has indicated he has not cut those side deals, he said that to his conference last night but he might have to do that in order to get to 217 votes. perhaps by going to the floor and daring some of the members to vote against him, he may not have to do -- cut some of those side deals. we will see ultimately how this play

vote for steve scalise and is urging his colleagues to do so. a number of those holdouts who said they won't vote for scalise are ones that have said they want to vote for jim jordan on the floor. the house wants to get this wrapped up as quickly as possible with the international crisis in israel and the domestic issues with spending and the looming government shutdown dead line in mid november. they want to get this wrapped up as quickly as possible. >> what happens to the motion to vacate? where does that debate stand? guest: so the problem with the motion to vacate, there's obviously members within the republican conference who want that rule changed. the problem is that that's no longer a conference rule, that is a house rule. so it's a little bit higher of a threshold to get that rule changed. there's members, like i said, who don't want that to be the case anymore. they think the motion to vacate should be higher than the one person threshold to trigger that. we'll have to see what steve scalise says about it now that he's the speaker nom

allies of steve scalise put up a motion to table that particular rule. ey were successful in tabling it, meaning that scalise would be able to win the nomination with just a majority of the caucus, which he was able to do. but this now sets up another confrontation on the house floor where scalise is going to have to convince these 99 members that didn't vote for him today to cast a ballot for him on the house floor, just another extraordinary development here in the speaker drama and something that we need to emphasize is not something that usually happens here in congress. >> not at all. michael steele, this is wild. you've got still divisions but one is ahead and it is steve scalise. of course he's a former whip, so he knows how to count votes, but jim jordan has a lot of support, especially from his background as freedom caucus founder. where do you see this playing out? >> i see this going a number of rounds, when it's on the floor for a vote. i think what you'll see is scalise, as you noted as a former whip, doing a whip count, trying to get his vot

if they choose not to vote for steve scalise, if you assume no democrats will vote for steve scalise, we would have to try something different. my hope is my colleagues in the republican caucus would unite behind the person who won the vote in our secret ballot. if that doesn't happen we will have to get creative. the problem with that is that we waste time. we see the deteriorations of the trends. we need to rearm ourselves. we are running dangerously low on stockpiles that we need to maintain conventional and strategic returns. host: we will go back to the phones about that speaker race and also what is going on in israel with hamas. maryland, washington. go ahead. caller: i am calling in reference to the situation in israel. i support israel and what they are doing. i do believe that hamas is people as isis and as evil as the nazis were during the 30's and 40's in europe. they need to be eliminated. the way the nazis gave up is to be thoroughly defeated. there are remnants around. they need to be severely defeated. unfortunately, innocent humans living in the gaza area, the cost of

were set to meet going into that meeting and coming out of that meeting, a distinct change with steve scalise announcing he was no longer going to be in the race to become the next house speaker. after that meeting, he went before cameras and gave a little bit of an explanation. steve: i just shared with my colleagues i'm withdrawing my name as speaker for speaker designee. weeks, if you look at r conference is, there is still work to be done. our conference has to come together and is not there. there are still people that have their own agendas. i was clear. we have to have everyone put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. this country is counting on us to come back together. this house of representatives needs a speaker and we need to open up the house again. clearly not everybody is there. there are still schisms that have to get resolved. i never came here for a title. i have had some great titles. i am the majority leader of the house and i have. i've had big challenges in my life. i have been tested in ways that put perspective on life. the 2017 shooting, whe

who's's also not ready to support steve scalise. doesn't mean they won't ultimately. but as they say on capitol hill they're not going to do it for free. >> what will scalise give up to ultimately get to 217? dana, jamie, jeff, a pleasure as always. thanks very much for the conversation. back to our other breaking news, israel at war and the conflicting intelligence on what and when iran knew about the surprise attack from hamas. stay with cnn. we're back in moments. >>> there are certainly a lot of questions and concerns about what role if any iran may have played in all of this. did iran know something in advance and when did they know it. that's a question high-level officials in the u.s. and israel and elsewhere have been scrambling to try to answer. whether or not iran played a role in planning or approving the sophisticated terror attacks that took place here starting saturday morning launched by hamas against israel. we are now hearing some conflicting assessments at this stage. and it is pretty early in this whole process. i want to bring in cnn's alex marquard

host: reporters are noting that mccarthy had more support than steve scalise. eight voted to get kevin mccarthy out. there are 10 or 12 public noes against steve scalise and probably more than those dozen or so. caller: if they want to get on a committee, put them on a committee. put him in temporary. let him finish what he started. this whole situation has spun out of control over hard feelings and bad blood. that's all i got to say. host: steve there in california. robert in massachusetts, democratic caller. we have cameras up on capitol hill in several locations today as we wait for republicans to make their way to a meeting in the basement of the capitol. there is the hallway heading into that meeting room where they are going to get behind closed doors. there is mike mccaul, chair of the foreign affairs committee in the house. he has made statements about the dangerous situation he believes we are in with what is happening in israel and gaza. and let's listen in what he is telling reporters now. mr. mccaul: our adversaries are watching and see weakness and

and steve scalise did just that. got an opportunity here to elect the most conservative speaker we have ever had in steve scalise. i'm supporting him, and i think he deserves to be the nominee. however, it's important to note that we have a deep bench. we've got a lot of people that could do a great job. but steve scalise ran for speaker, he got the most votes. the rules say the person who gets the most notes will be the nominee. we should move forward and elect him as the next speaker. >> so you think this should be put to a floor vote and he should grind it out the way kevin mccarthy did over 15 rounds in january? >> that's why we met today and continue to meet, to try to get this done before we go on the floor and have another 15 rounds. that's what we are trying to avoid. i take offense to the fact that we followed the rules, he got the majority of the votes. he should be the nominee. that would be like me running in a primary not getting the most votes but then i'm not going to be the nominee? all of us who are

talking to my sources up there, there is a suggestion that he is not really interested in helping steve scalise a whole lot. they have this rivalry that goes back to five, six years or so when he thought scalise was quietly plotting to try to challenge him for the leadership role. and he's never really for the for gotten about it. what is your sense of what is going on there? >> yeah, you put your finger on it. mccarthy is not sticking his neck out, not trying to help steve scalise. he believes that steve scalise's problem to solve. kevin mccarthy left much earlier in the day than steve scalise and some of the other members did because kevin was voted out. it is not his -- he didn't see it as his problem anymore. the role that he really can play, he does have a lot hold over the conference. some of his allies still pledge to vote for him on the floor even though mccarthy is not a nominee for speaker. mccarthy could be taking to them behind the scenes. it sounds like he is. could be trying to convince them to vote for scalise, but right now? members still support kevin mccarthy for speaker. >> w

steve scalise has a - it will be? steve scalise has a stron: it will be?trong inside _ it will be? steve scalise has a strong inside track _ it will be? steve scalise has a strong inside track right - it will be? steve scalise has a strong inside track right now. | it will be? steve scalise has a i strong inside track right now. a it will be? steve scalise has a - strong inside track right now. a lot can happen between now and next week. some of these members who are running for speaker are reaching out to president trump as we speak to try and get his endorsement. i don't know what that role to play here, but everybody is making the phone calls, making the promises, the commitments and itjust becomes a matter of who can get to the magic number first. matter of who can get to the magic numberfirst. which is 219. it number first. which is 219. it doesn't seem that there was a plan in place to move to oust the old speaker, there was no unity candidate ready to go. if speaker, there was no unity candidate ready to go. if you look at janua candidate ready to g

reporter: the comments about steve scalise yesterday, will you yourself nominate steve scalise as speaker of the house? reporter: maybe. i want to hear from him. i'm not here to make a judgment of where he stands with his rehabilitation station and recovery. i would give him the deference to decide whether or not he'd like to put himself forward as a stand bit but would be the type of person i would see myself supporting. there are many people. i could see myself supporting tom emmer or mike johnson from louisiana or myself supporting jodey arrington of texas and see myself supporting kevin american of oklahoma. there are people outside of the united states congress like lee keldon who is respected outside of our conference like lee zeldon. reporter: how about moving forward with the appropriations process that you wanted? matt: thanks for that acknowledgement. i heard on the floor the mccarthy allies, it's kevin mccarthy who led us to this moment with single subject appropriation bills and the only thing we've done is -- reporter: you've gotten the speaker ousted what is next? matt: elec

steve scalise is getting support from the south and many other members. they are both powerhouses in the republican party. both of them bring different flavors of leadership. right now, there are some members who are talking to reporters last week that think this is far from settled. they do not think either one of them has enough support to win on the house floor right now. that is one reason why republicans are very intent on trying to settle this internally within the republican conference before heading to the house floor and potentially having another multi-ballot, public speakership election. they do not want a repeat of what happened in january. they want to figure that out behind closed doors. host: if you want to ask questions about the process as it plays out, (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. text us at (202) 748-8003. emily brooks, representative jordan was on the sunday shows yesterday. made the case for himself about the support he thinks he seems to be getting. we will get your respo

others told me steve scalise will never get the 217 votes to be elected speaker. we're see if that prediction bears out and see if the defections to push him out of the speakership, can scalise avoid all those in the days ahead? >> manu, notably, marjory taylor green, is she the first member you've heard voice concerns about his house and blood cancer as a reason to not elect him speaker? >> reporter: i've heard a lot of that privately. one member did say something publicly, congressman ralph norman. he said that was the reason why he was voting for jim jordan and today in that closed door session he was concerned about steve scalise's health. ultimately norman told reporters this afternoon that he would support scalise on the floor when that happened. this is a significant comment she's making given the fact that he has virtually no margin for hour if he wants to be elected speaker of the house and if she does not come off that position and others don't, he could have a math problem on the floor much like kevin mccarthy did. the question is when does he try to for

number 3 -- tom emmer, who might be best position normally you would think after mccarthy and steve scalise had competition. he has an operation in erratically would be well-positioned, but something he did on january 6 might not be popular with trump or trump supporters of the voting to certify the election for joe biden, so that is something to think about with emmer. there are other people running or thinking about renting, everybody from pete sessions, the former rules chairman, to the current budget chairman, both from texas. byron donalds of florida. some people put his name in to run against mccarthy in january, and there is even some people wondering could mccarthy himself get back in, although the eight people who come of the eight republicans who joined with the democrats to toss him from the speaker's chair have shown no signs that they are wavering in their opposition to him, so it looks unlikely he will make a comeback here. reporter: we learned this friday afternoon that nominations, the filing deadline for nominations is sunday at noon for the republican conference, so walk u

i candidates, eitherjim jordan or steve scalise?— or steve scalise?ed who i _ or steve scalise? i have not decided who i will _ or steve scalise? i have not decided who i will be - decided who i will be supporting. i'm looking forward to the discussion, i think there's a lot of questions that need to be answered for whoever the next speaker is, and in large part how we are going to effectively govern as a majority. what happened last week was disgusting, it was unnecessary and torpedoed our very majority and put a lot of it in jeopardy very majority and put a lot of it injeopardy going very majority and put a lot of it in jeopardy going forward, frankly, and so i think there needs to be a real reckoning within the conference, and a discussion, and so i have not made any decisions yet as to who i will or won't support, but i think the conversation is necessary to make that determination. has necessary to make that determination.- necessary to make that determination. as it stands ri . ht determination. as it stands right now — determination. as it stan

steve scalise -- is not steve scalise or jim jordan, then who?a: i just can't stress enough what a strange day it was on the hill. there is news being mentioned. it seems what is happening with those opposing steve scalise, they want a different leadership, someone who has not been in leadership before. i want to play sound of folks we talked to today. if you listen to how people are reacting to this time, there are some worried about the stakes, there are some who do not want scalise. essentially, republicans are all over the place. >> there is a process. it is painful and laborious at times, but i would say the momentum is with jim jordan right now. i love steve scalise, but i can count votes and the votes are not there for steve. >> everything is at a gridlock. it is a waste of time, continuing to go in there behind closed doors. >> i think it is healthy. but at some point in time, we have to put our party and our country above our own self-interest at times. >> the world is on fire. our adversaries are watching what we do. quite frankly, they

in support of steve scalise, it doesn't mean that all the necessary republicans will vote for steve of course, interesting events are currently developing in the congress, katya, thanks for helping you sort it out. was in touch with us, our congress correspondent directly from capitol hill. and the last story for today is about a ukrainian fighter with the call sign hulk, who lost a leg in the war, but did not lose his will to defend his homeland. as soon as the fighter received the protest, he immediately wanted to return to service in the armed forces. why didn't the hulk file for disability, instead he decided. to continue fighting, anna kostyuchenko and pavel sohodolskyi questioned the military. the 47-year-old operator of attack drones with the call sign hulk fights on prostheses the lower part of his right leg was torn off during a combat mission in the lughan region in october 2022. i stepped on an anti-personnel mine, and so it happened that the leg was injured in one direction, i in the other direction. to the first question, there is a leg, the guys said, brother, unfortun

being a motivator to come together and vote for the person who did get the most votes, which is steve scalise, even though he's 104 short? >> i think it's a motivator, whether it will actually motivate enough people to get behind scalise is an open question. i was on the phone with a republican member of the house, let's call him a scalise skeptic who said that for the time being israel does have enough aid money that the biden administration can draw down on. the ndaa, the national defense authorization act is sitting in the senate, which authorizes more money for israel, so they think, you know, this is not as immediate. it's very immediate, obviously. but they say there are ways for congress to get aid to the israel people, the israeli military, without a speaker in place. i'm not sure i agree with that to be honest with you. i would say this, we are two weeks of not voting on anything in the house floor because republicans have been squabbling about their leadership. this is embarrassing at this point for them, and they need to get behind a speaker soon because the house is frozen. congre

>> steve scalise is a consensus builder. i know him well. he is a great supporter of me and my two races. and like kevin mccarthy, these guys were in constant touch with their membership. the next speaker, and i think steve scalise is well positioned do that, is in touch with the membership, they have the relationships from having been in relationship. he has relationship with donors. >> kevin mccarthy had all these ro relationships. >> and you heard matt gaetz say he was perfectly comfortable with steve scalise being speaker of the house. that is a big difference. a lot of times there is bias against blue state republicans. i feel it often. >> they look at you a little sideways. >> and if you are republican in the northeast, you must be talking to too many democrats out there, right? and kevin mccarthy always had those same suspicions from the republican base, from republican members despite the fact that he is a rockford conservative. but steve scalise still has the same relationships that kevin mccarthy did without the skepticism. >> scal

so is steve scalise, for that matter. i think everybody likes scalise. gone through. they shot him. winning his battle against cancer. he is certainly is conservative. his hr.1 bill is a masterpiece. i'm hoping you all can get this done. kevin, i don't want to put you on the spot but is is one pick tar issue hanging up group of people that has to be resolved? >> i think the big issue is our spending fight. we're seeing, you know or our federal deficits run over two trillion first time in american history. we're borrowing more money than it is taking to actually run our country. all of our discretionary spending, money it takes to run the government on a day-to-day basis we're borrowing 100 plus percent of it now is insane. folks holding out for this want to see a plan going forward. i can tell you that i have worked a lot on the budget since i've been here with the republican study committee. i worked on balancing the budgets. i worked on a lot of balancing around the spending idea. we get speaker-elect to become the speaker scalise, i'm going to be runn

that means steve scalise we have to do a lot more to get the gavel. this could come down to what jim jordan has to say and what the rest of the leadership ticket could look like. steve scalise has been the majority leader and now it will be a question of who fills that seat. there are questions of what this could look like and the contours could define how many republicans will get on board to support steve scalise. matt: i'm not sure if you said, but when is the next step? when will we know when the next vote is? >> i'm looking for updates. we don't know yet at this time when the floor vote happen. there are number of republicans who say they will still vote for jim jordan on the floor who are speaking to bloomberg and other reporters right now. we will bring you the news of when the floor vote is scheduled when we get it. matt: thank you. covering the news on the hunt for speaker. the gop have chosen their man now. the question is, will enough of them vote for him to override the democrats who don't? u.s. producer prices rose by more than forecast i

gop, when decision made. >> first, i want to thank my house republican. >> house majority leader steve scaliseblican conference's nominee for speaker. his win was narrow. just 14 votes more than his challenger, house judiciary chairman jim jordan. scalise immediately took on the posture of speaker, telling reporters he would act quickly on aid to israel. >> we need to make sure we are sending a message to people throughout the world that the house is open and doing the people's business. >> but he is not speaker yet, and this could get complicated. >> well, leader scalise won and it is not over. i'm still throwing my support behind jim jordan for speaker . i'm not going to change my vote now or anytime soon on the house floor. >> ohio's max miller was among those leaving the vote and refusing to back or unsure about scalise. that opens the door to a repeat of what happened in january. vote after vote on the house floor where a candidate fell a few votes short of a majority. it is on member's minds. >> we cannot afford this dysfunction in the nation. >> and some jordan backers agreed immediatel

do you think steve scalise would have the - scalise. scalise would have the votes needed to be speaker? i don't know at this _ needed to be speaker? i don't know at this point _ needed to be speaker? i don't know at this point in - needed to be speaker? i don't know at this point in time, - know at this point in time, because the conversation really haven't occurred and we don't know who else is interested, but he is certainly one of the people that could get the votes to be speaker. we people that could get the votes to be speaker.— people that could get the votes to be speaker. we spoke to one of our to be speaker. we spoke to one of your colleagues, _ to be speaker. we spoke to one | of your colleagues, congressman don baker a little earlier. i want to play you a clip of what he said. it want to play you a clip of what he said. , ., , ., ., he said. it is really a vote for chaos. _ he said. it is really a vote for chaos. we _ he said. it is really a vote for chaos. we had - he said. it is really a vote for chaos. we had so - he said.

right now we have two candidates, jim jordan steve scalise.t's very clear that the members are supporting steve scalise for a variety of reasons. one being the southern border. 11 americans killed in israel. this is real. i spent 20 years in the military, five years in iraq and afghanistan. there's people all over the world that hate us because we're americans. there's been 300 people that have come over illegally through our certain border on the terrorist watch list. we have real issues to deal with here in america. steve scalise has proven time and time again asthma you'rety you'rety -- as majority whip and lead tore bring us back together and make us wholed again to get back to doing the people's work. >> congressman, you think the developments in israel have changed this whole thinking about the speakership, that it took one vote to vacate the chair and that that has to change and this proves we live in a world where this kind of thing can't be tolerated? so if it's going to be kevin mccarthy or steve scalise or jim jordan, but the dynami

now steve scalise question can he get 217 votes. congressman john james will help us when kudlow returns, we'll return to issue of iran, relaxing sanctions on iran, why is it they are selling so much oil, why has that administration not dealt with iran head on, we'll take a time on for domdommist politics, we need a republican speaker of the house. i'm kudlow, we'll be right back. like your workplace benefits... and retirement savings. with voya, considering all your financial choices together... can help you be better prepared for unexpected events. voya. well planned. well invested. well protected. your best defense against erosion and cavities is strong enamel- nothing beats it. new pronamel active shield actively shields the enamel to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a gamechanger for my patients- it really works. larry: kind of a get in touch with your feelings meeting of republican conference, from, this afternoon. like a 12-step meeting, the question is, does my trip steve scalise still have t

host: what about steve scalise's fundraising prowess versus jim jordan's? how much of a factor is that in party contests? guest: significant. if you are the top democrat in either chamber come right you will be able to fundraising significantly. mccarthy was a great fundraiser. scalise a good fundraiser, jordan so, but if he was speaker, that would be different. scalise also has blood cancer. we saw how he survived the shooting at the congressional baseball practice. but there are questions about whether he can do the demands of the job as well as the fundraising? the house and senate and white house are all up for grabs. money is important. guest: that is absolutely right. once you have the position, that itself brings a certain amount of fundraising prowess. but these are considerations folks are making. the number of undecided members at this point is telling and important. it does mean that if someone started to get substantial momentum, they could see a real flood in one direction. we will just have to see. they go behind closed doors again tonight. at

we had our meeting in closed door session today, no cell phones, and steve scalise are came out the largestch by conference rules we go to the floor now. and steve is no stranger to whipping votes and to talking to fellow members about what needs to be done to get to 217. we're actively working to help him get there as many other members are as well. we think it's necessary we get our speakership back into the place it needs to be, get the republican party back in business and get our country back where it needs to be in leading the rest of the world. larry: i see that some of of the insurrectionists -- that's my word, not yours -- but some of the insurrectionists who will remain nameless but we all know who they are who stomped out mccarthy, i see they're backing scalise. i took some hope in that. the trick is to get this done in the next 24 hours, is it not, kevin? >> it is. and, certainly, that's what congressman ca scalise, speaker-elect scalise is doing right now. his team is reaching out to, obviously, no one likes to be, you know, didn't get their winner to cross the finish line, or

is it going to be jim jordan or steve scalise?you know, katy, i actually am not confident it's going to be either of them to be frank with you because of that interview you had with mike lawler, the republican from new york. i'm reading tea leaves, i don't see him supporting scalise or jordan, personally. i think it's quite possible that the candidate we'll have for speaker, that will win the speakership is not somebody that we're thinking about now. who is that person? i don't know the answer to that, but i just see very difficult that anybody, that scalise or jordan will get the republican conference, and no chance for unity at this point. >> i was going to ask that. i started the show saying there's got to be a better way. it seems like a bad infomercial, they can't get the hard right in line, they can't pass legislation, and they can't pass legislation that the hard right wants either. so there's got to be a better way. >> i would say this. the speaker election is supposed to be next wednesday. i think it's safe to say that th

steve scalise was shot at a baseball practical in 2017.s also undergoing treatments for blood cancer. he said he's up for the job. this is a moment he's long been waiting for in the wings, for potentially when kevin mccarthy did step aside. it's not a coronation for steve scalise. he's going to have to face off against jim jordan. he's liked by conservatives. he was a mccarthy ally. and jordan made it official this morning and our manu raju caught up with him this morning. here's what he had to say. >> what promises are you making to the conference, policywise, agendawise? >> agenda is what i spoke about on the floor, manu. we need to pass the bills that need to be passed. we've done a lot of that, the biggest one, of course, h.r. 2, the immigration border security legislation. frankly, i wish chuck schumer would bring it up. >> reporter: now, both men made their case today before the texas republican delegation. a very large bloc of republicans and large bloc of republicans in the house. this is next week. tuesday is when the candidates w

day, jim jordan threw his support to steve scalise and the jordan people didn't follow. how strong a leader is he? that tells the level of control over the members, so does jim jordan have enough political juice to whether it be on the floor while the roll call vote is still open or afterwards or later tonight or tomorrow to bring those folks across the floor, that remains to be seen, john and sandra. >> john: all right. chad, i get the sense wherever you go to the horse races you put a couple of bucks on the long shot just for fun. >> you are right about that. >> john: now this. >> we feel we will die every minute, every second. we hope we are still alive. >> we have today unlike the holocaust, a state, army and people that can fight back. >> the president believes this is the right time to go to israel. >> i don't like he is coming here, doesn't need to come here, doing it for the election. he's stopping us now from revenge and we need revenge. >> sandra: our coverage continues of the war in the middle east. waiting an update this hour from the pentagon, after 2,000 am

as mentioned, steve scalise is the republican nominee, but we doesn't have the votes yet. y won't vote for him, at least for now. scalise team will try to persuade them. there are reports the number could be higher than that. what's your latest read on the situation? >> the numbers by the hour are increasingly deteriorating for steve scalise. i think we all started the day yesterday with some, you know, cautious optimism that this could be settled potentially by the end of the day. steve scalise seemed to be the clear favorite, but there was some resistance, but it was expected to dissipate once gop lawmakers got behind closed doors and talked it out before potentially going to a house floor vote. you saw all these different factions and various tensions, people who are still angry at this band of eight gop lawmakers who ousted mccarthy to begin with, who maintained they're going to continue to cast a vote for mccarthy, even though he told them he is going to be supporting the nominee, steve scalise. he did not want to be on the ballot and wasn't on the ballot. but, basical

steve scalise won in the house republican conference and that does not mean he can win on the floor. higher. he defeated jim jordan of ohio. jordan is now throwing his support to scalise. >> it's a critical time for the house of representatives to get back into the house and what's happen with hezbollah in the north and dear friend and ally israel and what's been happening in the south with hamas. we're supporting that and functioning as house of representatives and we need a speaker and steve is the guy for that. >> scalise needs outright voting majority by the name. number is 217: if all 437 members vote. margey taylor green will support jordan because scalise has cancer. the speaker of the house is the hardest job in cancer. one of the hardest jobs in the country and it's extremely demanding. it's very personal to me and i like steve scalise and i like him so much that i want to see him be able to put all of his time and energy into defeating cancer. reporter: scalise is hoping to have a vote soon and hopes the house will vote immediately on a resolution to defend israel. >> we see

that gets steve scalise down to 110. that sent jim jordan casting his vote to help steve scalise. do you get to the threshold? that's what we saw time after time again in january where kevin mccarthy would come in, he had more votes than hakeem jeffries but he couldn't gept across the threshold. they don't want to repeat that frankly. >> neil: you mentioned hakeem jeffries. any possibility in this latest gosh around that the democrats vote for the republican, whoever it is? >> probably unlikely. there was a question this morning to pete aguillar, the democratic caucus chair from california. he said earlier this morning he thought that steve scalise was more affable than jim jordan. he thought jim jordan wasn't bad for democracy, bad for government. they have more respect for steve scalise. it's not like they see this as someone that they can really support. they seem to trust -- the impression i've gotten from democrats -- trust steve scalise more than kevin mccarthy. i will say that. >> neil: we shall watch. thanks, chad pergram. back to what is happening right now in israel with

and then you have steve scalise. ptepid relationship between the two because scalise was seen as a rival. but kevin mccarthy doesn't want to get involved and he doesn't think that his voice would be helpful to uniting the bitterly divided congress. so he is happy to stay on the sidelines. but like i said, he still wants to ensure that the party is able to steer in the right direction, that they are able to come together and eventually settle on a new speaker. >> and bring us very quickly into his mind set of wanting to leave congress after the election. how the ouster played into that. >> well, look, i mean once you are deposed as speaker, i don't know what role that you could really play. at least in leadership for kevin mccarthy. there probably wouldn't be a role for him to play in leadership. so do you really want to serve as back bencher member of congress after you held you'll this power before. we did see nancy pelosi, i think she was former speaker and when she stepped down, she decided as to stay in congress.

over the last three hours steve scalise has been meeting individually with members, trying to win over holdouts. he won over congresswoman anna falina luna. she now feels comfortable backing scalise. wolf, there are plenty other members who still have concerns and say they will not back steve scalise on the floor at this point. let's take a listen. >> i'm not supporting steve scalise. i'll be voting for jim jordan. >> the leader i want to stand behind is jim jordan. >> i think the leader is a g good man. >> they compare themselves to david duke. >> reporter: so steve scalise is facing a very similar dilemma to what kevin mccarthy faces. he ultimately went to the floor and it took him 15 rounds to get the gavel. this time around republicans want to avoid the same public display of dysfunction so it is a huge function of if and when steve scalise is going to go to the floor, but in the meantime the house is paralyzed all while critical issues and aid to israel and government funding hang in the balance. >> on capitol hill. thank you. >>> let's get to all of the breaking news with republi

again, i'm supporting steve scalise. the other two are outstanding members of congress from my perspective. i'm pretty optimistic. it all depends on tuesday and when we get back together as a conference and we'll go from there. >> the house democratic leader hakeem jefferies released an op ed in the washington post and he writes this, i'm quoting now, we simply need republican partners willing to break with maga extremism. reform the highly partisan house rules that were adopted at the beginning of this congress and join us in finding common ground for the people. congressman, how do you respond to him? >> that's just not going to happen. that's not the way it works. the house majority picks the speaker and, you know, the democrats always when they're in the minority are calling for bipartisanship and as soon as they're in the majority they do just the opposite. you know, i understand where he's coming from and why he's saying those things, but it's just not going to happen. the house republicans are in the majority. we

steve scalise is far short of the votes he needs to be elected speaker. he was nominated by a majority of the conference. he got 113 votes, but to get elected to the house, you need 217 votes. and we are told that he is more than a dozen short -- votes short at the moment. right now, he's needing -- his office with members individually trying to sway people. but a number of those members are indicating they have concerns, ranging from his views to his positions on some key issues. the fact that he's been in the leadership. one member raised concerns about his health, because he's battling blood cancer, and though he's on the mend, there are concerns about that in the ranks, as well. >> i'm not supporting steve scalise. i'll be voting for jim jordan. >> why is that? >> well, jim jordan presented a strong plan for us, a detailed plan on how to move forward. we didn't hear that plan from steve scalise. it was more vague answers. but there's another situation that's very personal to me. i lost my father in 2021 to cancer. and unfortunately, steve is going thr

what i've said is if jim jordan does throw his weight behind steve scalise, i'm okay with steve scaliseneed to elect a speaker. we need to move forward. the fight is not within each other. it's often with the senate and often with the white house. we have real global issues that need to be addressed. we need to be working to get every single american citizen home from israel as soon as possible. i'm working with my colleagues to push the administration to do that. get commercial charter jets, get military jets on the ground to get our american citizens home and pass a resolution to support israel and follow it up with the things that need to be done in order to get the support that they need. i say while i'm with jim jordan, we need to move forward as a conference. if scalise doesn't have 217, we have to go back in the room and figure it out. >> martha: sounds like we're getting word that jim jordan will give a nominating speech for steve scalise. what is your reaction to that? >> it's good enough for me. i will join jim jordan in supporting steve scalise. i still don't know the 217 vot

you have jim jordan, kevin hern and steve scalise. three great leaders.thanks, congressman. good seeing you. >> thanks. god bless. >> neil: there's eight republicans that didn't feel the same way about some of the establishment players, particularly kevin mccarthy, including south carolina's nancy mace who has gotten a lot of criticism off of funding of that strategy to take out the speak ir. why she doesn't run away from that despite what ron desantis is saying. she's embracing that. ♪ hit it ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a thing go right ♪ ♪ it takes two to make it outta sight ♪ ♪ one, two, get loose now ♪ ♪ it takes two to make a... ♪ stay two nights and get 5k bonus points. book direct at bestwestern.com. we planned well for retirement, but i wish we had more cash. you think those two have any idea? that they can sell their life insurance policy for cash? so they're basically sitting on a goldmine? i don't think they have a clue. that's crazy! well, not everyone knows coventry's helped thousands of people sell their policies for cash. even term policies. i

>> guest: i think steve scalise would be an excellent no question about that. obviously has the experience. you know, all of us are concerned about his health, but steve scalise is obviously could step right into the role and we wouldn't miss a beat. i think would be a great speaker. jim jordan would be a good speaker, no question in my mind about that. that's whyea i say we've got soe outstanding talent in our conference. i'm very confident we are going to get a great leader and that we're going to move forward and we are going to move forward with the policies that i believe are the best policies for our country. >> host: to what degree than the neck speaker has to gain the support primarily of safe replicates and those who agreed with them to oust speaker mccarthy? >> guest: not so quick now because let's make one thing clear -- rick gates. there will have to be some real changes. i was in the gym this morning and i will say that that is something that a lot of people are concerned about, the rule changes are something that are going to have to happen. for e

was not going to be able to dlifclinch the 217 v to get there and steve scalise bowed out.the floor of the house of representatives, scalise voted for jim jordan, but you know, there has been talk that if jim jordan could not get support on the first ballot to win this race there becomes a question of how long are people going to be backing him and how hard are people who supported steve scalise or kevin mccarthy going to be fighting for jim jordan? he is meeting right now behind closed doors with members of the floor just right below where i'm standing right now and the question remains, you know, is he going to be able to pick up more support in a subsequent vote on the floor of the house? and i think that that remains to be seen right now. jim jordan is someone who you either love or you may not like very much in the house of representatives, and i think you saw that on the floor with a number of house appropriators actually voting against him. these are the people who time after time saw jim jordan vote against a series of spending bills over this last decade or so in c

he's cheering on the idea of a steve scalise speakership. let's take a listen. >> i'm excited for him. can't wait to go vote for speaker scalise. long live speaker scalise. >> so matt gaetz seems content to have just taken down kevin mccarthy. he's not seeming like he'll make any demands or have any concessions but that is not the case for others. ken buck, who did vote to take down kevin mccarthy wants to see several commitms from steve scalise what he will do an owe the funding and what he believed for the 2020 election and neither of them would answer. and the big picture is that house republican conference once again struggling to coalesce around a single candidate, unable to elect a speaker and the house is spatialized until they do, jake. >> thank you so much. >>> let's turn now to our big breaking news story. right now the united states government is in talks to establish a humanitarian corridor, away for the innocent u.s. citizens and palestinians who are in gaza to leave as israeli forces carry out hundreds of air strikes there. pomm