happy holiday. my first time seeing you. i m fredricka whitfield. it s official. after a grueling 15 rounds of voting, the house speaker has a new speaker. the gentleman from the great state of california and the next speaker of the 118th congress, kevin mccarthy. [ cheers and applause ] newly elected speaker of the house kevin mccarthy grabbing the gavel after four days of voting. the longest speaker contest in 164 years. despite the sometimes c contentious days of negotiations, republicans in the end rallied around mccarthy and his vision for america. i make this promise. i ll never give up for you, the american people. and i will never give up on keeping our commitment to america. our nation is worth fighting for. our rights are worth fighting for. our dreams are worth fighting for. our future is worth fighting for. cnn s eve a mckenna is live on capitol hill. good to see you. happy holiday. what a way to begin the new year, right? i mean, how did you know, what
the gentleman from the great state of california and the next speaker of the 118th congress, kevin mccarthy. newly elected speaker of the house kevin mccarthy grabbing the gavel there after four days of voting, the longest speaker contest in 164 years. but despite the sometimes contentious days of negotiations, with the narrow faction of his conference, republicans in the end rallied around mccarthy and his vision for america. i make this promise i ll never give up for you, the american people. and i will never give up on keeping our commitment to america. our nation is worth fighting for. our rights are worth fighting. our dreams are worth fighting for. our future is worth fighting for. [ cheers and applause ] cnn s eva mckend is live for us on capitol hill. so, eva, you know, how did mccarthy eventually get those votes that he needed? reporter: fred, by convincing those holdouts, those never-kevin lawmakers ultimately to vote present. that isn t a ringing endors
the gentleman from the state of california and the next speaker of the 118th congress, kevin mccarthy. [ cheers and applause ] kevin mccarthy grabbing the gavel after 15 rounds of voting. it was the longest speaker contest in 164 years. despite sometimes contentions and negotiations with the narrow faction of his conference, republicans in the end rallied around mccarthy and his vision for america. i make this promise i ll never give up for you, the american people. and i will never give up on keeping our commitment to america. our nation is worth fighting for. our rights are worth fighting for. our dreams are worth fighting for. cnn s eva mckend is live on capitol hill. eva, what finally pushed mccarthy over the edge for these republican holdouts? reporter: well, he was able to convince those never-kevin lawmakers ultimately vote present and that is how he secured this victory on the 15th try, fred, but also by making some key concessions. so, for instance, those
jeanne moos, cnn, new york. hello again, everybody. thank you so much for joining me. happy new year. i m fredricka whitfield. news just in to cnn, an update on buffalo bills player damar hamlin. he continues to make a remarkable recovery after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field during monday s game. hamlin is now breathing on his own after having a breathing tube removed late thursday. the 24-year-old also surprised his teammates in buffalo yesterday, facetiming with them on a phone from his bed in the hospital in cincinnati. cnn has more live from the hospital in cincinnati and new information on his medical update. reporter: yes. from the physicianses here at the hospital where tamar is receiving treatment damar is receiving treatment. he is still in critical condition but continues to make progress. and here s perhaps the line in this tweet the bills just published that sticks out. as he continues to breathe on his own, his neurological function is excellent. a
speaker after four days and 15 rounds of voting. this was the moment that the longest speaker contest in 164 years came to a close. [ cheers ] but before the house selected its new speaker, the cameras captured a stunning political soap opera playing out on the house floor just before midnight. mccarthy and his allies thought they had the votes locked up in round 14, but florida congressman matt gaetz waited until the end of the ballot process to vote present even though mccarthy needed just one more yes vote to win. a stunned mccarthy walked up the house floor to confront gaetz. as he walked away looking dejected, enter arms services committee chairman mike rogers who lunged at gaetz and had to be restrained by fellow republican congressman hudson. many thought this was game over and the vote to adjourn until monday box office to pass be but then a breakthrough with gaetz was reached. mccarthy changed his vote on adjourning, and dozens followed. then the 15th time was the ch