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House in Disorder, McCarthy's speaker bid in peril after 11 failed votes; Russia's war on Ukraine; U.S., Germany pledge armored fighting; Doctors: Buffalo Bills' Hamlin awake and communicating; Damar Hamlin's first question upon awakening 'Did we win?'; Medical staff praised for quick response to Hamlin; Court documents reveal new details about crime and suspect; House Freedom Caucus Backtracks McCarthy's Speakership Bid; President Biden Marks the Anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection; Prince Harry to Release Memoir; California Recovers from Bomb Cyclone. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired January 06, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers watching us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton. Ahead right here on CNN Newsroom, plenty of action on the house floor, but still no one has been elected speaker.
What concessions will Kevin McCarthy now have to make to win the 12th ballot?
Vladimir Putin is calling for a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine, ahead, why many are skeptical of his proposal.
And later more details about what's in Prince Harry's upcoming memoir 'Spare' including begging his father not to marry Camilla.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is 'CNN Newsroom' with Paula Newton.
NEWTON: The House of Representatives will convene today at noon for a 12th vote to elect a new speaker or at least try to and get on with the business of governing. Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is making major concessions to conservative holdouts, but so far he hasn't swayed a single member of the so-called 'Never Kevins.'
The streak of 11 failed votes over the past three days is now the longest in 164 years. Democrats say if the GOP has this much trouble electing a speaker, they have no chance of governing. Meantime, McCarthy claims talks within his party are making progress and he says he's confident he'll eventually win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MCCARTHY, MINORITY LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I'm not putting any timeline. I just think we've got some progress. I think we've got members and I think we've got a little movement. So, we'll see.
UNKNOWN: Have you had to walk back the threats you'll strip committee assignments from these members?
MCCARTHY: We're-- we're not-- we're not (inaudible). I didn't make those threat.
UNKNOWN: Was that a mistake to make that threat?
MCCARTHY: I didn't make that threat.
UNKNOWN: Mike rogers did.
MCCARTHY: Yeah, but you're saying I made the threats. So, let's be very clear. I did not make the threat and no, members are not going to lose their committee assignments.
UNKNOWN: How long do you think this is going to drag out for at this point?
MCCARTHY: I'd love to know, but we're working through and we made good progress today so we'll continue (inaudible).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Most of McCarthy's supporters are sticking by him, but some others say their patience is wearing thin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: I've hated it the entire time. I've been really honest about that, but I think it's necessary. All of these conversations that are happening, but I really want to see us to come together.
KEN BUCK, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: If there's a deal and 10 of the 20 move, I think that people stay with them. If there's no deal and we have another vote of 20, I think people are going to start looking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: More now from CNN's capitol hill correspondent, Melanie Zanona.
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN'S CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Kevin McCarthy's hunt for 218 votes needed to be speaker continues. Negotiations have showed signs of progressing. We are told at CNN that Kevin McCarthy did put pen to paper and made a concrete offer to the critics and to the holdouts that he hopes will give them enough concessions even more than he already has in order to get him the votes for speaker.
Now, critics were hauled into his office and invited to review the offer. However, leaving that meeting a number of the holdouts were very tight-lipped and have not said whether they changed their votes. So, it is likely we could see some movement today as people have time to process and digest what this offer actually is. But sources cautioning to CNN this could potentially only move around ten votes, 10 out of the 20 votes against Kevin McCarthy. That still leaves Kevin McCarthy short of 218 votes he needs to become speaker and perhaps more problematically for Kevin McCarthy is that there could be anywhere between four and six Republicans who will not vote for Kevin McCarthy under any circumstances. He can only afford to lose four votes.
So, it could still be a tough road ahead for him and meanwhile senior Republicans are worried that he is giving away concession after concession and he might not get anything in return. So, that's the state of play as we head into the next vote today. Congress will adjourn at noon. We'll see whether Kevin McCarthy can show some momentum. Melanie Zanona, CNN, Capitol Hill.
NEWTON: The chaos on the Hill is more than just a major embarrassment for Republicans. Lawmakers say it's a serious threat to national security. Members cannot be sworn in without a speaker and that means no national security briefings or access to classified material.
Members of congress are unable to authorize or stop a war and a number of key national security committees including intelligence and armed services are on hold. Here's U.S. State Department Spokesperson, Ned Bryce.
[03:05:09]
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NED BRYCE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The first few days of any congressional term usually is spent on procedural elements like this but, of course, if this continues on, there-- there will be concerns. The Hill has an indispensable function, an oversight role, an appropriation role, an authorization role. We want to hear their voice in our foreign policy.
It is much more-- much difficult-- much more difficult to do that when there is not a seated House of Representatives, but this is the process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTOWN: Joining me now from California, KABC Talk Radio Host, John Phillips and Washington Democratic Strategist and CNN Political Commentator, Maria Cardona. I know the term has been coined, it's the popcorn caucus, but we three are it right now.
I was up for hours trying to follow what was going on here and yet nothing really happened. In fact, things arguably got worse for Kevin McCarthy.
John, the comments from the Republicans, you know, they were pretty serious. Many of them criticizing the dissenters quite vocally and accused them of essentially burning down the house. I mean what's your opinion there. Do you think that holds sway importantly with republican voters? JOHN PHILLIPS, KABC TALK RADIO HOST: No, I don't. I don't think republican voters are necessarily following the ins and outs of this internal caucus conflict. I think largely the 20 votes or 20 similar votes that are not with Kevin McCarthy at this point are largely on the same page with Kevin McCarthy when you look at the big picture, the grand scheme of things.
They may not like specific policy positions he's taken. They may not like the way he counts votes. They may not like the cut of his jib, but the reality is that the Democrats control the U.S. Senate. The Democrats control The White House. So, if you're a republican, the role of the House of Representatives is to block a lot of what the Democrats are going to try to push through the United States Senate that the White House would like to sign.
On that subject, which is what the House is going to be doing the next two years, those two sides are on the same page, McCarthy and the 20 votes that aren't with him. So, I would imagine as they sit in a room staring at one another, yelling at one another, having the food fight, at a certain point, they're going to have to iron these things out because they want to block that agenda and they can't do it unless they reach kumbaya.
NEWTON: And further-- further to make your point, John, you know, the voice of reason here was Georgia Representative, believe it or not, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said to CNN that's not serious what was going on in the house. I don't think that's leadership and yet, Maria, just to play devil's advocate, speaking of Marjorie Taylor Greene, she built the template on extremism.
Arguably, she's built a fortune in fundraising for her campaigns on it as well. So maybe the defectors are just looking at that and saying 'Hey, that works for us, too.'
MARIA CORDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely, you know, I think one of the things that people need to remember in all this is that McCarthy made his bed.
The fact that right after the insurrection and let's remember, we're coming upon the anniversary of it and sadly, what's going on in the House right now is a metaphoric insurrection that is keeping the House essentially under the thumb of those who caused it last time around.
And what that means is that the Republican Party is responsible for what's going on right now because they have given all of the power to the extremists, the MAGA wing and it is ironic that Marjorie Taylor Greene is on the side of Kevin McCarthy and wanting to move forward business.
But yes, she is absolutely part of the problem because she and others have demonstrated that you can actually make sure to not get anything done by trying to extract what you want from republican leadership and Kevin McCarthy has shown that he is willing to continue to be included in these corrupt faustian bargains.
Who knows what else he's giving away that is not going to give him the ability to govern if he ever gets to be Speaker, which I don't think there is a path for him to become Speaker if you know math and I don't understand what it is that their plan is. There's no plan B apparently and it makes us all look like a joke.
[03:09:54]
It looks like the GOP is a banana republic unto themselves who are focused specifically on their narcissistic demands and they have no interest in actually governing. And I think to Ted Bryce's point at the end of the day if this continues the way that it is, it is going to put the national security of the country in jeopardy.
NEWTON: Yeah, thankfully most people say, you know, 'We're not there yet.' But, John, what about the contrarian view here, you know? If-- If you talk to the Never Kevins, they say 'Look, we have spoken to voters who want a near revolution in Washington anyway' and do you think they speak for a significant obviously not a majority, but do they speak for a significant minority of Americans who may be cheering them on from the sidelines?
PHILLIPS: Well, they-- they ran on subjects. They ran on going against inflation. They ran on crime. They ran on fixing the border and their voters want them to fix those problems and if they see leadership as standing in the way of whatever changes it is that they ran on on those subjects, then yeah.
I mean I'm sure they certainly get an earful of that. Look, the reality is that Kevin McCarthy has very small margins in the House. He doesn't have control over his caucus the way that Nancy Pelosi did over hers, which she ruled with an iron fist in a Gucci glove.
He is going to have to bring back to his committee chairmen and subcommittee chairmen and make the House run like it used to when all of the power wasn't in the speaker's office, but it rested in the committees. That's the only way for him to make this work.
NEWTON: Yeah and Kevin McCarthy would take gloves from anywhere right now, anything that would do the magic trick. I mean-- Maria, we did have former president Donald Trump weigh this here. What do you make of the fact that he supported Kevin McCarthy, it seems like years ago, it was only the other day and yet, it didn't seem to move the needle. Why not?
CARDONA: Well, I think a couple reasons. You know, a lot of republicans who are very anxious to turn the page from Donald Trump controlling the party would tell you that it's-- it is his failing essentially support within the Republican Party that it's dwindling, but I actually don't think that it was a full-throated support.
I don't think he's done everything that he can to support Kevin McCarthy, I think for obviously reasons. And I think probably he's enjoying this. You know, Kevin McCarthy is somebody that at the-- right when the insurrection happened, he came out against Donald Trump, essentially put the blame on him and then we know that he did a complete 180 going down to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring. So, Kevin McCarthy has shown that he will twist in the wind and he will go with whatever direction the wind is blowing. Donald Trump knows that and so I think at the end of the day there are people who still, still have a lot of support for and still really like Donald Trump within Republican Party and all of this may not be about Donald Trump, but it's about Trumpism.
It's about what he put in place. It's about what he started and it is about what happened two years ago and the fact that so many of those people are still within the Republican caucus and they are the ones who are in control right now, they are wagging the dog and that is I think the ultimate problem that anyone, if Kevin McCarthy gets their Speaker and again, I don't see a path for him to get there, but whoever becomes Speaker is going to have a huge problem in actually doing the business of the people.
Like John said, what they were elected to do, I don't see them having the ability to do that if Kevin McCarthy gives into all the concessions and one person can call for his downfall. How is that going to work when, you know, all of these issues that they don't like come up like raising the debt ceiling?
NEWTON: John, to you as well, just to pick up on what Maria was saying, what do you think this will do in terms of the institution no matter if it was a Kevin McCarthy or someone else? By the way, do you see it being Kevin McCarthy?
PHILLIPS: Well, I think there's still a path for Kevin McCarthy to get there. This is how our democracy works. I mean, you go back to James Madison and James Madison talked about warring factions where you have these food fights and you end up with compromise where not everyone doesn't get what they want, all of what they want, but everyone gets some of what they want.
Democracy is messy. It's not always neat with a bow tied around the top, but at some point, they will work this out and move on with their agenda.
NEWTON: And yet that weakens or that would weaken the institutions you would think?
[03:14:56]
PHILLIPS: No, no. That's-- I mean this is-- the House of Representatives has always been drama central. This is-- this something that's not new to that institution. It's not new to our democracy. Certainly, the fight for speaker is something that we haven't seen in a long time, but fights over the --
CORDONA: In over 100 years.
PHILLIPS: Fights over legislation, fights over function, fights over (inaudible), you know, all of those things, you know, buckle up because when government is divided, you're going to see a lot of it.
NEWTON: On that note, we'll end it for now but I'll remind you we're only ending for a few hours here, at noon back on the floor, eastern time. Again, I will be watching, as will Kevin McCarthy and team, I'm sure. John Phillips and Maria Cardona, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.
CARDONA: Thanks, Paula.
NEWTON: Now Ukraine and its allies are not putting any stock in Russia's proposed ceasefire that would go into effect less than an hour from now, in fact. President Vladimir Putin is pushing for a 36- hour break in hostilities so people can mark orthodox Christmas, but Ukraine is dismissing the idea as cynical propaganda in an attempt to buy time.
Meantime, Turkey says its president is ready to play mediator in future peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Mr. Putin is making it clear he's not ready to give up much political ground as of yet.
For more on all of this, our Nic Robertson has been following the latest from London. And Nic, good to see you. Putin's ceasefire, we can call it right, is supposed to take effect as we said within the hour. Ukraine has been blunt, right? They see this as just another ploy and yet what do you expect to see in the next 36 hours? Could it be a period of quiet?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, some of the areas in the country are so hard fought there are pinch battles just to gain a couple hundred meters, even less, just a couple meters at times.
So, if the Russian guns go silent and Russian troops sit in their trenches, there's an opportunity here for the Ukrainian Forces to take advantage. So, it seems, you know, in those conditions have you have a unilateral ceasefire? Maybe, we'll see a diminution in the amount of shooting and shelling going along the frontlines briefly, maybe. Maybe, that's what's going to happen.
But I think President Zelenskyy is right to be skeptical. He said that he thinks that Russia will just use the time to reequip, rearm. Russia, President Putin, has form on this. So, you know, the Ukrainian side is going to be very skeptical about anything that they see happening along the frontline right now.
NEWTON: And who can blame them given everything that's happened in the last few months when they tried to call for a truce, let's say just to get troops out of harm's way.
The context here is important, though, Nic. Each side seems to be preparing for months of fighting, if not years, and yet we have the Turkish leader working the phones, right? Why?
ROBERTSON: Yeah, look, he has vested interest in this. He can be a broker between both sides. He has business interests with Russia. He has commercial interests with Ukraine. The Turkish economy can be affected if the war goes long and gets worse. So, that's a vested interest, right? And he would like to be the middle man. But there's nothing really in the middle ground that he can work with when he told Putin yesterday according to his readout of their phone call that he should call a unilateral ceasefire and accept some more real terms of what a lasting peace could look like. Putin came back with his version of that which is 'I'm going to keep the territory I've already annexed, those four regions, and that's not going to fly at all with Ukraine.
So, you know, Erdogan's trying to get in there to be a middle man, but there's nothing to hold on in the middle ground as nothing there at all. President Zelenskyy said very clearly I've got this ten-point peace plan and tried to reiterate this again yesterday said look, 'I put it out in November. Russia had lost 82,000 troops by that point.' He said, 'We put forward a Christmas ceasefire option in the middle of December. By then Russia had lost 95,000 troops and now he says Russia finally wants an orthodox Christmas ceasefire, they've lost 110,000 troops.'
Reality is that this ceasefire does-- it plays better for Putin at home than anywhere else because the war is unpopular. So, no middle ground, an unpopular war in Russia, Putin tries to gain something at home. Nothing changes in the battlefield.
NEWTON: Yeah, nothing at all. As you said that he's playing to the crowd at home and it seems this is what inspired this in the first place. We will continue to monitor it the next few hours. Nic Robertson for us in London, appreciate it.
The Ukraine's ground troops are getting more armor to protect them when they head into battle. The U.S. and Germany are promising to deliver new infantry fighting vehicles to the Ukrainian army. They include the U.S. Bradleys that you see there.
These armored vehicles are used to move troops around the battlefield, but they can also serve as anti-tank weapons. Germany, meantime, is pledging to deliver its martyr fighting vehicles along with U.S.-made patriot missiles. The new military equipment comes as Ukraine prepares for an expected uptick in fighting in spring.
[03:20:05]
The suspect in the idaho student killings makes his first court appearance as disturbing new details emerge in court filings including a roommate who saw a man in the house on the morning of the attack. Plus the news so many U.S. Football fans have been waiting for the young player who suffered a cardiac arrest on the field, he's woken up now. He's not out of the woods yet, but the news is good. We'll have that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: CNN has obtained audio from the moment Buffalo Bills player, Damar Hamlin, suffered a cardiac arrest during Monday night football. I want you to listen now to how medical personnel reacted after his collapse on the field. Listen.
[03:24:55]
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Go ahead and go over to the cot. I don't like how he went down.
UNKNOWN: We're going to need everybody all call, all call. We need everybody.
UNKNOWN: Come and bring everybody. We need everybody out, everybody. Bring the cot with medics, all of you and get wheeled out here.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NEWTON: Damar Hamlin is thankfully doing much better now, but remains on a ventilator at the University of Cincinnati Hospital and his road to recovery as you can imagine will be long. The doctors say he's communicating by nodding and shaking his head and by moving his hands and feet. He's also writing brief notes and get this, the first one asking if the Bills won the game. Medical personnel at the game are being applauded meantime for their quick response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WILLIAM KNIGHT, EMERGENCY MEDICINE DIRECTOR, UC HEALTH: The fact that he had highly trained professionals from the Buffalo Bills in addition to having paramedics, emergency physicians, respiratory therapists all right in his bedside in less than a minute from the collapse. That speaks to that ability that demonstrates that he had good profusion to his brain that led to no identifiable neurologic deficit.
DR. TIMOTHY PRITTS, UC HEALTH SURGERY DEPARTMENT: He's moving his hands and feet and again, appears to be neurologically intact to both our exam and our neurology consultants' exams, so he appears to be doing well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Near miraculous there really. Now, meantime, the NFL announced it officially canceled the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals. It was suspended in the first quarter you'll remember after Hamlin went down. The NFL commissioner called the decision difficult but necessary.
A man accused of brutally killing four University of Idaho students did not enter a plea during his first appearance in court Thursday. Just released court documents are revealing new details about the suspect and the crimes he's accused of committing. CNN's Gary Tuchman has our story.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bryan Kohberger in a Moscow, Idaho courtroom, only a five-minute drive away from the crime scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNKNOWN: The maximum penalty for this offense if you were to plead guilty or be found guilty is death or imprisonment for life. Do you understand?
BRYAN KOHBERGER, IDAHO MURDER SUSPECT: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Charged with four counts of murder, the accused killer with zero visible emotion on his face. Just before his initial court appearance began, the unsealing of the probable cause affidavit with disturbing and potentially damning information.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: There was other people home at that time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: We've known two other roommates were in the house the morning of the murders, but it was a mystery if either of them heard or saw anything. Now we know a roommate with the initials D.M. told investigators, she was in her room and heard crying.
The affidavit prepared by a Moscow, Idaho police corporal has this disturbing detail. She opened the door the third time after she heard crying and a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person's mouth and nose walking towards her. D.M. described the figure as 5'10 or taller, male, not very muscular but athletically built with bushy eyebrows.
The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a frozen-shocked face. The male walked towards the back sliding glass door. D.M. locked herself in a room after seeing the male. D.M. Did not state that she recognized the male.
The affidavit said earlier when D.M. heard crying from one of the victims' rooms, she heard a male voice say something to the effect of 'It's okay. I'm going to help you.' It's not clear if the intruder ever saw D.M.
D.M.'s description helped provide valuable information when police found a Hyundai Elantra at an apartment building 15 minutes across the State line in Pullman, Washington, and learned the owner matched that description. The affidavit has this chilling set of details.
The police officer saying as he entered one of the bedrooms, I could see two females in a single bed in the room. Both Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were deceased with visible stab wounds.
I also later noticed what appeared to be a tan leather knife sheath laying on the bed next to Madison Mogen's right side. The sheath was processed and had K-bar, which is a company that makes military and tactical knives, USMC and the United States Marine Corps Eagle Globe and Anchor insignia stamped on the outside of it. The Idaho State lab later located a single source of male DNA left on the button snap of the knife sheath and according to the affidavit, last week Pennsylvania agents recovered the trash from the Kohberger family residence located in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. DNA from Kohberger's father was retrieved.
Police say the father's DNA proved what was found in the murder house is the son's DNA. Police have determined the murders were carried out between 4:00 And 4:25 a.m. A review of footage from multiple videos obtained from the King Road neighborhood showed multiple sightings of suspect vehicle one starting at 3:29 a.m. and ending at 4:20 a.m.
[03:29:57]
Upon review of the video, there are only a few cars that enter and exit this area during the time frame. While details on the affidavit are specific, it's still not clear police know of a motivation for the killings or if the accused murderer knew any of the victims.
But based on the affidavit, it appears that accused murderer targeted this house. Between June and the date of the murder in November, the police officer says Kohberger's cell phone signal was received 12 times near the house of the victims over a period of five months before the stabbings. All of these occasions, except for one, occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days.
UNKNOWN: We are adjourned.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): These details only add to the pain of the victims' family members. Some of whom were in court for this hearing.
SHANNON GRAY, GONCALVES FAMILY ATORNEY: It's obviously an emotional time for the family seeing the advantage for the first time. This is the beginning of the criminal justice system and the family will be here for the long haul.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Another disturbing detail in the affidavit, authorities say that a cell signal from the alleged murderer was detected about five hours after the murders were committed in the very same neighborhood. The inferences, the alleged killer went back to the scene afterwards.
A couple of things not in the affidavit include motivation for the killings, and also if the alleged murderer knew any of the victims. This is Gary Tuchman, CNN in Moscow, Idaho.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Kevin McCarthy's bid for U.S. House Speaker is being held up by a small group of Republican hard-liners. We'll take a look at who they are and what they want.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:35:00]
NEWTON: U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is hoping that the 12th, yes, 12th time is the charm in his bid to become the next speaker. Now, a small group of conservative holdouts has managed to deny him the gavel over the course of 11 votes in the past three days. McCarthy has already made some major concessions and talks with members of his own party are ongoing. The House is scheduled, in fact, to reconvene at noon today for the next vote. But without a speaker, House members can't be sworn and government business is, you guessed it, at a standstill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): This was a new thought we are going to have to have. We have a five-seat majority. So, it's not one side that's going to get more or another. It's the entire conference is going to have to learn how to work together. So, it's better that we go through this process right now so we can achieve the things we want to achieve for the American public, what our commitment was. So, if this takes a little longer and it doesn't meet their deadline, that's okay, because it's not -- it's not how you start, it's how you finish. And if we finish well, we'll be very successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: So, okay, how did we get here? Well, the group holding up McCarthy's speakership bid, you know, it's called the Never Kevin's. It's only about 20 lawmakers or so and that would mean it's less than 10 percent of House Republicans. They are associated with the so- called Freedom Caucus which is comprised of the most conservative lawmakers in the House. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty takes a closer look at who they are.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. SCOTT PERRY (R-PA): I don't take orders from anyone in this town.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They have become some of the most obstructionist.
MARK MEADOWS, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It gives us the power of negation. It's the power of no.
SERFATY (voice-over): And antagonistic Republican members on Capitol Hill.
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Fed up with the ways of the swamp and fed up with leadership that fails us, telling us to vote along with a Democrat agenda that is completely failing America.
SERFATY (voice-over): The House Freedom Caucus, a small but feisty group of Republican rebels that has become a thorn stuck firmly in the side of Republican leadership for nearly a decade.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): What I do not support is blindly supporting legislation that is critically flawed at its core because of, oh, we're in the minority.
SERFATY (voice-over): Building a brand on challenging GOP leaders, earning them various nicknames from their own party like legislative terrorists and the Taliban-19.
REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): Being told by our own Republican leadership, well it is 90 percent good, it's 90 percent tasty, it's 90 percent pure, there's only 10 percent poison and toxins in it, but drink it anyway.
SERFATY (voice-over): The group has been at the center of some of the biggest fights on Capitol Hill.
MEADOWS: At this point, it looks like we could be in for a very long- term shutdown.
SERFATY (voice-over): Consistently making the task of governing more challenging.
PAUL RYAN, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I don't want us to become a factionalized majority. I want us to become a unified majority.
SERFATY (voice-over): To the frustration of past House Republican speakers.
RYAN: I share a frustration. About 90 percent of our conference is for this bill, to repeal and replace Obamacare. And about 10 percent are not.
SERFATY (voice-over): The Freedom Caucus was involved in former House Speaker John Boehner's ouster in 2015.
JOHN BOEHNER, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: In my case, on any given day there were two or three dozen that what I call knuckleheads who just wanted -- they wanted chaos. They wanted like all their way or no way.
SERFATY (voice-over): He stepped down amid difficulty managing the faction.
BOEHNER: Well, people on the fringes have a bigger platform to make their point, and frankly, create chaos.
SERFATY (voice-over): Later that year, they blocked Kevin McCarthy's first bid for speaker.
UNKNOWN: We are looking for a speaker who works with conservatives rather than against us.
SERFATY (voice-over): Having a hand in his withdrawal then from the race.
MCCARTHY: I think I shocked some of you, huh?
SERFATY (voice-over): The caucus was first founded in 2015.
Born out of the Tea Party Movement.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Do what we told the voters we were going to do.
[03:39:59]
SERFATY (voice-over): With founding members like Congressman Jim Jordan.
RON DESANTIS, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: We all swore an oath of office.
SERFATY (voice-over): Ron DeSantis and Mark Meadows among others, under the original founding principles of open, accountable, and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law. The group attempts to operate with a bit of mystique.
MEADOWS: We would have to kill you if we told you.
SERFATY (voice-over): They don't publish their member list, which is around 35 members. And as now, a small number of them are again threatening to derail the next speaker.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise.
SERFATY (voice-over): Their fight has become personal, emboldened in the culmination of this moment.
REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that, sir, you do not have the votes and it is time to withdraw.
SERFATY (voice-over): Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And important reminder here. Today marks the second anniversary of the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. U.S. Capitol police have now stepped-up security ahead of several planned protest at the Capitol and Supreme Court. President Joe Biden will mark the occasion at the White House by awarding Presidential Citizens medals to 12 individuals. And among them is the late Officer Brian Sicknick who died one day after he was attacked while trying to protect the capital.
On Thursday, Sicknick's estate filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against two individuals involved in the riot as well as against former President Donald Trump.
Diana and Camilla, drug use and a brawl with his brother. The Duke of Sussex is discussing all of it. We are live in London with the details. That's next.
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[03:45:00]
NEWTON: Shocking new details have been leaked to the media ahead of the official release of Prince Harry's new book "Spare." Some of them involving Princess Diana. Now, according to "The Guardian," Prince Harry tried to contact her through a woman who claimed to have, quote, "powers" as she reportedly offered him this message from his mother. "You're living a life she couldn't. You're living a life she wanted for you."
And the article says the woman told Harry his mother said she knew he had, quote, "so many questions and that answers would come in time." Harry reportedly wrote that he recognized there was a high percentage chance of humbuggery.
Now, in a recent interview meantime with British network ITV, the Duke of Sussex shed more light on his alleged brawl with his brother. Harry said William, quote, "wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to" adding that he saw a red mist in William that he had experienced himself. CNN's Bianca Nobilo is in London for us following all of this. And really, by any measure, Bianca, these are stunning revelations and yet, there are more details.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Stunning for so many reasons because of the content of the allegations. Because if anybody to tell the entire world about the intimate details of their life and their family's experience is quite staggering, but also because it's coming from Prince Harry who is a famous member of the British Royal Family whose motto is never complain, never explain.
So, for all of the reasons, it makes what we're learning even more dramatic. We're learning more details about how Prince Harry was told by King Charles then Prince Charles that his mother had died. The story that you just relayed about visiting a psychic who also told the story about how Princess Diana was supposedly present at Christmas time when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son Archie broke a Christmas ornament of Queen Elizabeth II.
We're hearing more about Harry's partying days and admissions of drug taking, cocaine, magic mushrooms. And about his time in the army which a former national security adviser to the U.K. said he would have advised against. He talks about having killed 25 people, about how he did that. Seeing those on the battlefield as chess pieces rather than human beings.
Some in the military community wondering if that can present a security threat to his family. And we're also learning three pre- recorded interviews that accompany the release of this (inaudible) about Prince Harry's own view of how he used to approach the press in the United Kingdom and how he learned through the treatment of his wife Meghan Markle more disappointing details, he believes, about the way that they approach what they do. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: What Meghan had to go through was similar in some part to what Kate and what Camilla went through. Very different circumstances, but then you add in the race element, which was what the press, British press jumped on straightaway, I'm in to this incredibly naive. I have no idea the British press was so bigoted. How I was probably bigoted for the relationship with my --
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: You think you were bigoted before (inaudible)?
PRINCE HARRY: I don't know. Put it this way. I did not see what I now see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: And Paula, these revelations about himself and his family members including what they have been discussing for the last 24 hours, this physical fight where Prince William reportedly punched Harry, hit him and then threw him to the ground injuring his back.
Now, this is all the stranger when you consider that Prince Harry has said that he wants a reproach. He is seeking to rebuild the relationships with his brother and his father and restore that trust and says after sharing these revelations with the world, that the ball is in their court, Paula.
[03:50:06]
NEWTON: Yeah, Bianca. And we're also, you know, not hearing anything officially from Buckingham Palace or King Charles. We'll wait to see if they feel compelled to respond in the coming days as more details emerge. Bianca, good to see you and thank you so much for that update.
Now, California is cleaning up from a series of severe winter storms. Just ahead, a look at the destruction the rain and wind caused in that state.
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[03:54:57]
NEWTON: California is getting a small break after a so-called bomb cyclone roared through the state in the north towards Canada. The powerful storm brought snow to the mountains, widespread flooding and hurricane-force wind gusts. Seven million people are still at this hour under flood watches in that state. One hard-hit area is the coastal town of Capitola where high surf caused flooding and destruction.
And after nearly one month pause in activity, we are in Hawaii, and there you have it, Kilauea volcano is spewing lava again. It began erupting Thursday inside its summit crater. Authorities say it's continuing though within the crater and that there is no danger to residential communities.
I want to thank you for your company. I am Paula Newton. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo. That will be from London, up next.
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