-- like you.
>> Good evening.
After two days and six rounds of
votes, the house of
representatives has still not
elected a leader.
>> Two dozen Republicans have
blocked Kevin Mccarthy and there
is no end in sight.
More on the continued battle
between party leaders and
hardliners.
Reporter: Not quite chaos, but
for Republican leaders,
certainly a frenzy as Kevin
Mccarthy continues to insist he
will prevail as speaker of the
house despite being well short
on votes.
>> It does not matter.
I still have the most votes.
So we could go through every
name in the conference and be at
the end of the day, we'll be
able to go there.
>> Meanwhile, in the chamber, an
opening prayer for the times.
>> Holy god, in these days of
uncertainty and change, we turn
to you who are the same
yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Reporter: Groundhog day.
>> I rise to dominate --
nominate Kevin Mccarthy.
>> Kevin Mccarthy for speaker of
the house.
Reporter: On repeat today.
>> I nominate Kevin Mccarthy.
Reporter: Still, no one saw the
shadow of the speaker.
The same 20 Republicans kept
their oppositions, a group that
is strongly pro-trump and
antiestablishment.
This time, offering up a new
candidate.
Byron Donald.
Mccarthy lost the support.
After that, the house floor was
a sea of arbitration, some
naming to persuade and others
clear disputes.
Mccarthy got a big boost from
Donald Trump who told punch bowl
news he backs Mccarthy as
speaker and it is time to make a
deal to get to work.
Prominent trump supporter Lauren
boebert made a suggestion.
>> The president needs to tell
Kevin Mccarthy he does not have
the votes.
Reporter: Carthy insists he will
not.
Meantime, the house is
paralyzed.
There is no speaker.
There are no members.
No can take the oath of office
until a speaker is elected.
Committees are frozen and they
are stymied from basic work.
>> This is a crisis of the
congress.
>> How do you think it looks for
the rest of the world?
This is not a good look, not a
good thing.
This is the United States of
America.
Reporter: Fate is in their own
hands, but none seem to know
when this will end.
>> Lisa joins us now or capitol
hill -- from capitol hill.
Welcome, good to see.
Bring us up to speed, you have
been following every twist and
turn.
Reporter: We expect the house to
return from a German.
-- Adjournments.
Kevin Mccarthy and his allies
are trying to identify any of
those who voted in opposition to
him who could be persuadable.
I have spoken to trusted
Republican sources, some in and
close to leadership, allies of
Kevin Mccarthy who have told me
they think he will not be able
to make up the gap.
He has to persuade more than a
dozen of his members to change
and none are budging.
Sources tell me someone has got
to tell Mr. Mccarthy it's over
or nearly over.
Momentum is almost gone for him.
They say they have potential
plans, trying to switch the
threshold from a majority to a
plural already.
It is untested and also a risk,
Mccarthy than hakeem Jeffries.
>> You mentioned the people
opposed.
The numbers remain largely
unchanged.
What is it they want?
>> There are two things
happening.
This is a group that wants to
make it easier to propose ideas
on the house floor.
They fiscal conservatives.
They would like to propose
amendments that cut spending at
any time.
They would like to make sure
there are no massive spending
bills, only by individual,
refined topics.
They would like it so any member
can challenge the speaker.
That is something many believe
would disrupt the chamber too
much.
Overall, when you think about
it, in terms of what happening
right now, more of the demand
for this group is someone other
than Kevin Mccarthy.
They have gotten so many demands
already that it is coming down
to personality and a lack of
trust.
>> There are real-world
consequences to all of this.
When you step back from the vote
tallies, what is at stake for
the people?
>>.
Serious consequences.
That is a press pound --
profound fiscal cliff.
There are dangerous times ahead.
There are issues.
New members are having trouble
with things such as opening up
your office.
>> No one knows congress like
you do.
If you ever seen anything on
this level?
>> I can't stress enough how
unprecedented this is.
Among other things, the rules of
the house govern the spaces,
there are no house rules right
now.
This allowed me to shoot this
video.
This is what it looks like.
I know it might not look
amazing, but I have never been
able to show you that because we
have never had this long of a
period in between congresses
where I could have permission,
because there are no rules.
It is a bizarre and amazing
time.
>> Reported from capitol hill.
For the Republican perspective,
the former communications
director to Eric Cantor,
welcome.
Here we are.
Has failed -- Kevin Mccarthy has
failed to get the necessary
bows.
>> You suck candidate say,
someone needs to get out of the
race.
House moderates flexing muscles,
we have heard about them flexing
them before, but they did not
know where the gym is.
They're trying to see will blame
first.
At this point, he's going to
keep going.
They're going to try and draw
out opposition.
We hear mixed things.
Folks are saying maybe it's time
to move on.
It's going to be a long time.
The senate does not come back
until January 23.
>> You think this can go until
January 23?
>> Absolutely.
>> When you talk about the
real-world implications, there
are real things that impact
millions of Americans.
Is any of that resonating?
>> Not yet because you're still
seeing the sideshow.
Most voters don't realize the
policy and political
implications.
There are no committees.
There is no house intelligence
committee.
To your important stuff.
Politically, Joe Biden says he
was going to be a normalizer.
He was in Kentucky today with
Mitch Mcconnell as Republicans
were demonstrating two months
after the elections were voters
said we do not like the
direction of this Republican
party, say we do not --
>> Carthy bank on the idea by
embracing president trump that
he would secure the speakership.
Should he have seen this coming?
>> One of the things that has
been surprising is Donald
Trump's voice is not as
important as it was.
We saw Lauren boebert say,
actually Donald Trump needs to
do this.
There is a part of the party
that does not need trump.
That is why we are where we are.
>> If this gets sorted tomorrow
or a week from now, what about
the damage done?
What does it say about the
incoming house majority?
>> That's the real implication
of all of this.
There is some damage, but it
depends on what happens.
If this gang of 20 is
successful, it means whoever is
speaker will have some
handcuffs.
It starts with the fiscal cliff.
Every part of governing that a
house majority were excited to
have becomes very real questions
about whether they can operate.
>> When do you think the right
time is?
Who can step in?
>> If the next vote tonight or
whenever it may be, if it's 24
or 26, the writing is on the
wall.
After that, we don't know.
A lot of people are talking
about other members.
If the wild west.
No one knows.
>> You have seen a lot of fights
like this.
>> Not like this.
>> Where does this fit within
the pantheon?
>> No one has seen anything like
this before.
We have to go back to the
mid-1800s to see an example like
this.
There had not been a second vote
since 1923.
That means no one alive is
working on that one knows what
it's like.
This is uncharted territory.
>> Thank you so much for being
here.