and emmy nominated journalist caroline modarressy tehrani. in washington, new house speaker kevin mccarthy is about to preside over his first order of business. the new republican led congress will sit in the next hour to vote on the rules package. now that might sound a bit in the weeds but it is the nearest thing to a formal contract, setting out everything the speaker gave away last week, as he fought to secure the support of those on the hard right. it includes a rule change that will meanjust one member can bring a motion to throw him out. there are also concerns among more moderate republicans that mccarthy has agreed to a budget deal that could result in a cut to defence spending. this has a proposed billions of dollars cut to defence, which i think is a horrible idea. when you have aggressive russia and ukraine, you ve got a growing threat of china in the pacific i m going to visit taiwan in a couple of weeks, how will i look our allies in the eyes and say, i nee
we should be prepared to be back here doing this same thing when that happens. because especially considering some of the things that mccarthy clearly gave away. i mean in the past they ve been able to do it with democratic help, and mccarthy in theory could do that. but it seems like they ve tried to hold his feet to fire here and say, no, what kevin mccarthy can decide to do is not put it on the floor. without getting into the specifics of all the ugly fights that are going to come, i think the point that you just made and others have made is that this is at large a vision of what we re going to see, possibly, going forward for the next two years in a very chaotic congress. and it has huge consequences. huge consequences for nation, but as we just settle on this moment, we are watching the history being made, because i believe on this 15th ballot kevin mccarthy will finally secure enough votes, whether it s through people voting present or switching votes to him to ac
no path to becoming speaker of the house because a bunch of conservative members of the republican conference have dug in against him. what has changed this morning? why should today be any different after the three failed votes yesterday? a couple things mccarthy is doing like send his allies fanning out across the conference, trying to get some members voting present instead of no. we ll talk about that in a second. keep in mind, the numbers here. mccarthy can only atord four defectors to become speaker. if everybody votes for a earn. he started with 19 tuesday. he finished off with 20. steve kornacki is going to join us to break down the math and tell us what to expect. another thing that s new today, former president trump getting off the fence to push fellow republicans to, i m quoting here, vote for kevin. close the deal. how much will that matter? we ll get into it because right now it is parls in the building behind me. nobody in charge. no end in sight. no work getti
Hurricane otis making landfall near acapulco after exploding from a Tropical Storm to a category 5 in just 24 hours. Forecasters calling it a Nightmare Scenario why it took so many by surprise new video, the pilot accused of trying to crash a plane, led away in cuffs. And were talking about shaft. Remembering iconic actor, Richard Roundtree. Announcer this is Nbc Nightly News with lester holt good evening, and welcome. Congress has a new House Speaker Tonight Ending three weeks of uncertainty and chaos that along the way crushed the hopes of a string of highprofile republicans, all seeking the job after Kevin Mccarthy was booted from the post instead, late today the republican Majority Mustering the 217 votes needed and then some to lift a relative unknown, louisianas mike johnson, to the speakers podium johnson, a hardright conservative, who in just hours was propelled from minor Party Leadership role to second in the constitutional line to the presidency the new speaker sworn in this
Here are tonights headlines. The peoples house is back in business. Norah the house has a new leader, so who is louisiana congressman mike johnson . The staunch conservative wants a federal ban on abortion rights and opposes samesex marriage. What it means for the future of the Republican Party. Hospitals in gaza overwhelmed as Fuel Supplies dwindle. The u. N. Wants to distribute home birthing kits to thousands of pregnant palestinian women. We are inside one hospital. The whole system are going to collapse soon. Getting closer to my mother. Norah and a family in meet a Palestinian American whose mother is trapped in gaza, along with hundreds of other u. S. Citizens. What is the fear that you carry . I have, you know, one hand on my heart and one hand on the phone. Norah plus, antisemitic incidents up nearly 400 in the u. S. , and antimuslim incidents on the rise since israelhamas war began. In this moment, the best way to respond is to stand together united. Norah why donald trump too