in a letter to merrick garland, demanding the launch of a hate crime investigation. federal law is clear, acts of violence against individuals based on religious affiliation are hate crimes. the shooter was a former student of covenant and chose to terrorize this school because of their christian faith. it is appalling you have not opened a hate crime investigation. the shooting occurred at this hour on monday, it is now thursday. we have seen the department of justice take action much quicker with previous shootings. the horrific shooting at pulse nightclub was investigated as a hate crime less than 72 hours. massacre at tree of god synagogue within 24 hours. and the same day. when attorney general merrick garland was asked whether he planned to investigating the national security christian school shooting as a hate crime, here is the answer. as of now a motive has not been identified and the police chief says they have not reached conclusion with respect to motive. we a
following too close. we have confirmed those reports are accurate, wolf. interesting. i know you re staying on top of this story. thank you very, very much. and erin, i know we re going to turn back to our top story right now. the bitter fight for speaker of the house. that s right, wolf. and a good evening to all of you. i m erin burnett. welcome to a special edition. because right now we are in the midst of an open revolt over who will become speaker of the house. and i m wolf blitzer here in washington. it has been a very, very historic and dramatic day here in washington.ngressman kevin m far unable to secure enough votes to become the next speaker of the house. it s been such an incredible day to watch. here we are making history. he lost the support of 19 members in the first two votes. as we re sitting here, wolf, in the third vote he loses nanothe one. this is not how this is supposed to go. it s not how it ever has gone. it s a bruising rebuke of mccarthy who
just a short time ago cnn s manu raju reported that there would be a republican conference meeting tomorrow morning. that, however, we understand has now changed. i want to go to cnn s melanie zanona at the capitol with the new reporting on that and mccarthy s frame of mind as well. melanie, what have you learned? reporter: well, things have not moved in kevin mckarth chriss direction since that third ballot where he failed to get the votes. it s been back to the drawing board for kevin mccarthy and his allies. we ve seen supporters going into his office. we re told he has been working the phones. he is still hoping to negotiate and not planning to drop out. but meanwhile, i just spoke to a gop lawmaker, this is some breaking news here, this is a lawmaker who texted me, this is someone who supported mccarthy. they said they had just gotten a phone call from one of the never kevin republicans who is trying to grow their opposition and is trying to get that member to flip. so
poppy and i in new york. kaitlan live on capitol hill for day two. maybe there s a day three. unprecedented speaker election it s happening. see how many days it goes down. the republican leadership drama will again be center stage. kevin mccarthy thus far has failed to win enough votes. how long will the gop power struggle last? that s the question many republicans have. are there any plans for a concession candidate? we re learning now damar hamlin had to be resuscitated twice after suffering a cardiac arrest during monday football. wolf blitzer spoke to buffalo bills teammate. he ll join us in a moment. also, an update on jeremy renner on the road to recovery after a traumatic snow plowing accident. first, we want to talk about the new republican majority in the house marked by party rebellion that has kept kevin mccarthy from achieving his dream of becoming the speaker of the house. no persons having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surn
hospital, so we ll take you live outside of the hospital where damar is being treated. we ll have an update on his condition, how the nfl is responding this morning, all that in just moments. and i m live on capitol hill this morning, where in just a few hours from now the 118th congress is set to convene. obviously republicans are supposed to take over the majority and after this hard fought elections across the country, a new batch of lawmakers are going to be sworn in across both parties. but right now we re also focusing on how leader mccarthy is facing a tough election of his own, the speakership. a critical meeting between republicans is set to happen moments from now. we have to get to a terrifying moment, during monday night football, buffalo bills safety damar hamlin collapsing after making a tackle. the bills say he suffered a cardiac arrest. and his heart beat was restored on the field. he is hospitalized in critical condition this morning. the scene on the fie