we are in it now, the final full day of campaigning in the last hours of this election, as we come on the air, with our nbc news team, all across the country, covering it all this hour, live, we ve got reports from our campaign correspondents, with the candidates talking to voters, and breaking new reporting on the races that are going to decide the balance of power in washington. a balance of power that tens of millions of people are already weighing in on. you ve got some 40 million ballots already cast, right? sure, election day is tomorrow, but a lot of people are not waiting. this comes after lawsuits are already coming in over absentee and mail-in votes and a potential first for congress, the new faces who could be headed to washington, and why there s never been anybody like them in congress before, we ve got a look at that later on in the show. i m hallie jackson with you now from our election headquarters in new york city, we ve got our nbc news team set up across th
the football field last weekend. we ll be joined by a former basketball player who experienced the very same thing. we ll have his story and how he used that scary moment to help save lives. plus, the new study that says social media could be changing your kids dreams. that s all ahead on cnn this morning. it is saturday, january 7th. thank you so much for waking up with us, especially you, alex. good to be with you. great to be back with you. how late did you manage to stay up watching the drama unfold? about 8:00 p.m. that was the latest for me. how about you? 9:45. you got a little more in. it was quite dramatic as well as being historic and chaotic. kevin mccarthy finally won the race for speaker of the house after 15, 15 rounds of voting, which ended earlier this morningening. the next speaker of the united states for the house of representatives, kevin mccarthy. [ cheers ] [ applause ] mccarthy engaged in some intense negotiations and made some major
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
extra point is pushed wide right. got to stop the run. easy touchdown. extra point is missed again. and now brett maher misses again. he s knissed tonight. four in a row. and he has done it again. they might be looking for a kicker next week. he missed again yes. actually, he was extra point for i mean, some days you just you re off. right? yes. it s just the way it is. and the playoffs they say when, like, when you have a bad day like that, you should just go home. go home and go to bed. cowboys still get the w. talk about that. hello, everyone. also ahead, election denier, lost the race by a landslide accused of hiring a group of gunmen to shoot up lawmakers. one of the targets, going to join us, live. and are there more classified documents out there at biden residences. what cnn has learned about additional searches that could be on the way at locations tied to president biden. also this out-patients and i don t know but a
conflicting claims. the russian military said that as of friday, they controlled the town. ukrainians dispute that claim. and say they still have parts of it. now, what we know is what we saw. we were in in the area around soledar for several days. what we saw is ukraine forces are digging in, they re not trying to retake the town, just trying to hold the pogs they have. now this afternoon we got in touch with some of the troops and they say they are no longer in the area and that they have pulled back. now we don t know if that is part of an organized withdrawal or just a rotation of troops. but what is clear is that the situation is very difficult for ukrainian troops around soledar and the fear is that if and when soledar completely falls and that is confirmed two the russians, that the fighting will intensify further south. as the russians seem to be gaining control of soledar north of here in bakhmut, the fighting is intensifying. one local resident told us before mort