sans speaker. kevin mccarthy failing again on a fifth ballot to capture the necessary number of votes, the number of opponents among house republicans has actually gone up from 19 to 20, to 21. now republicans are looking for a way out, an exit strategy. is that tossing mccarthy to the curb? is that brokering a deal with democrats to lower the vote? they have to get these 23 rebels on board. me melanie zanona is with us. what s happening here? reporter: republicans are searching for an offramp as it s become clear that kevin mccarthy s efforts to win over his opposition not working. i m told republicans have approached democrats on the house floor and tried to feel them out to see, what would it take for you to vote present or not show up? we re told these are informal conver conversations. it s still early. democrats said they would not bail out mccarthy, but they would be willing to talk about a consensus candidate. we ll see. the fact that republicans are even thinking a
historical film this year about the civil rights martyr emmett till, and that s airing for the first time tonight, so i m excited to share it with you we begin with what we ve learned about the republican party it is reeling struggling with the maga republican problems it created after a midterm fizzle. the red wave if at most has become a red trickle. definitely not a republican wave, that s for darn sure. republicans score they were going to sweep, a red suetsunam, and we believed them, but they did not. even tucker carlson accepting the reality of election results. that has basketball the mood as the year ends. donald trump announce he have running again. there s a power struggle in the house. there s the rnc s autopsy. and then there s all of the blame on what even the republican party s leader in the senate called low quality candidates part of the problem i don t think there s any question in my mind that hurt republicans all over is donald trump. some w
want my sister. women are coming forward saying that you were sexually harassed in the army. enough is enough. we need to change this. the trends are going the wrong way, it s really tearing at this as an institution. a man who is out digging holes sees what he thinks is human hair. miracles can happen, i will say, please don t let it be hello and welcome to dateline. vanessa was living her dream while keeping close to airtight knit family and serving in the military. then she disappeared. as soldiers search for the missing soldier, their quest for answers would shine and spotlight them ugly truth. but would it lead them to vanessa? here s voices for vanessa . i couldn t believe this is happening to me. it was the scariest part of my life because i was alone. reporter: so many were quiet for so long. i was harassed, sexually assaulted, raped and physically threatened. this man that i physically trusted, i felt violated and stupid. reporter: but
reporter: all of these options are thorny. if they go to another round of balloting, it s not clear i would be surprised if mccarthy were able to peel off the number of people that he needs from this 20 no vote coalition on his side to actually become speaker on this next ballot. what we are hearing is that the mccarthy team could go for a motion to adjourn until tomorrow. you are right, that would buy them time. it would save them another round of embarrassment if he were to lose on this fourth ballot. as i was walking over here, i tried to find some key members of that 20 no vote coalition to ask if they would support that motion to adjourn. right now, democrats have said they will not represent republicans do that. they are whipping against that motion. republicans would have to go it alone. they would not be able to pass that motion to adjourn unless some of these 20 republicans were also on board and supportive of it. i talked, for example, with congressman andy bigg
not been the charm for kevin mccarthy. you see the tally on the screen. we are waiting any minute for this vote to officially be closed, and then the question is what happens next? do they try for time number six? where unless something has dramatically changed and we don t think it has, mccarthy will probably lose again. do they try to take a break? what are the concessions that are happening behind the scenes? we have the best team in the biz, here to answer the questions to the best of their abilities including capitol hill correspondent ali vitali and political director and moderator of meet the press, chuck todd, nbc news colleague, and steve kornacki is posted at the big board and former chief communications adviser to former speaker paul ryan and msnbc political analyst brendan buck is with us, too. if you re looking at this saying, okay, i ve been watching this coverage for six hours. what has changed? what is different? what is going to change the moment? here is w