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
for votes. kevin pmccarthy huddling with those to become speaker of the house. one doubling down on his opposition just moments ago. plus new details of the idaho murder. how the spektrct was tracked do and putin suffer ing on the battlefield. losses growing inside russia. let s go outfront. good evening. i m erica hill in for erin burnett. house leader kevin mccarthy still on the hill at this hour, still meeting with members of his party with just hours to go for that critical vote of speaker of the house. dozens of republicans seen going in and out of mccarthy s office. among them congressman matt gaetz. significant, one of the republicans who s been a hard no on his gavel. moments ago leaving mccarthy s office, gaetz offered this update. give in to your demands? might vote for him tomorrow? i don t know. i m a no. i m a no. tomorrow the entire conference gathers to hear mccarthy make his final case for the speakership. shortly after that, if he doesn t get su
good evening. we begin with the very real possibility house republicans tomorrow will do something that has not been done for a hundred years. it s possible perhaps even likely that when the chamber s very first piece of business comes up choosing the next speaker, something necessary for anything else to proceed, they will fail to get the required number of votes to make former minority leader kevin mccarthy nancy pelosi s successor as speaker. and beyond the drama of the history that could be made tomorrow if the first vote fails and it goes to another and then as many as it takes there is the irony. mccarthy who wants to succeed floesa woman widely acknowledged to be one of the most successful legislative head counters and arm twisters of all time is still trying with just hours to go to count enough heads and twist enough arms. do you have the votes tomorrow? i think we have a good day tomorrow. that remains to be seen. just ask a fellow republican. i won t be vot
we ll get to that, but the big story this morning. oh, yeah. what happened on the football field last night. buffalo bills safety damar hamlin suffering cardiac arrest and collapsing on the football field. just 24 years old now in the hospital in critical condition. get you updates on that, of course. also, house republican leader kevin mccarthy s bid to be speaker plagued with uncertainty still this morning. the concessions he has made may not be enough to win him the support he needs to become speaker. if you can believe it. kaitlan? yeah. once the new congress is sworn in, the republican majority in the house is promising a wave of investigations. partisan gridlock, could stall president biden s agenda. big questions about what that will look like as well. uh-huh. our big story this morning, we re going to start with buffalo bills player damar hamlin. hospitalized in critical condition after collapsing and suffering cardiac arrest on the field monday night. wha
college murders ahead of his first court appearance. the father of one victim speaking out. how he feels about potentially coming face to face with the alleged killer. new images of the crowd fleeing after the new year s eve machete attack on nypd officers. the suspect now charged. was it a terrorist act? new troubles as holiday travelers make their way home. why thousands of flights are canceled or delayed again. actor jeremy renner airlifted to the hospital after he was critically injured in a snow plowing accident. what we re learning. and our tribute to a tv trailblazer. the legendary barbara walters. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening. it is good to be back with you and happy new year. this holiday season that has seemingly been bookended with severe weather is spawning some new and dangerous threats tonight. as we come on the air, tornado watches are in effect, stretching from east texas to arkansas and louisiana. already we