Return to Transcripts main page

Erin Burnett Outfront

House Fight For Speaker Intensifies As McCarthy Loses Third Vote; Damar Hamlin's Uncle To CNN: He Was Resuscitated Twice; Idaho Suspect Agrees To Be Extradited To Face Murder Charges. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 03, 2023 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[19:00:48]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: That's right, Wolf.

And a good evening to all of you. I'm Erin Burnett. Welcome to a special edition of OUTFRONT, and the vote for speaker, because right now, we are in the midst of an open revolt inside the Republican over who will become speaker of the House.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And I'm Wolf Blitzer here in Washington.

It has been a very, very historic and dramatic day here in Washington.

Congressman Kevin McCarthy so far unable to secure enough votes to become the next speaker of the House. McCarthy -- go ahead, Erin.

BURNETT: It's been -- yeah, no, Wolf, I mean, 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 another one, right? It's not the direction it should be going. It may just one vote, but still, 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 of course has spent a decade and a half climbing the ranks of the Republican Party. This has been the brass ring that he has been reaching for, this is his moment. And now, it's eluded him, at least for now.

The House is adjourned until noon tomorrow. At that time, the ballots will continue until someone gets to 218, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yeah, let's see how that unfolds tomorrow. Let's start right now, our coverage this hour with CNN's Manu Raju. He's joining us live from Capitol Hill.

So, Manu, set the scene for us. What's next?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Negotiations, Wolf, and uncertainty. We are reaching a period of uncharted waters, something that is not -- we have not seen in 100 years. The House speaker's race going into multiple ballots. That one 100 years ago went to nine ballots. We are done with three. How many more will they go? And will Kevin McCarthy ultimately get to

218 votes? All questions that have no answers at the moment because there are no candidates who have the votes to become speaker.

And, as a result, the House is paralyzed. It cannot move forward. The new Republican majority cannot move forward as a result because the first order of business has to be to elect a speaker.

And I'm told that Kevin McCarthy is still in negotiations, and negotiations I'm told are continuing. It's unclear if they're going to go anywhere near where some of the detractors want to go. Some of them want more power, want more committee assignments, want more power for themselves over the speakership.

McCarthy believes he has conceded far more than he should have and there's not more that he can essentially give them. So, it's unclear where those negotiations will bear out. And that means that what will happen tomorrow?

They are adjourning until noon tomorrow. They will come back at that time, have another vote. If no one gets to 218 votes, they will continue to vote, Wolf, unless something changes. Really the only major question is will Kevin McCarthy stay in as long as he is planning to? He says he is planning to grind it out, not drop out.

If he doesn't drop out and these conservatives don't move, that means that we'll be left in the stalemate. Those conservative members, 20 of them, some of them predict that the opposition will only grow overnight.

But who do they have to get to 218 votes? They are supporting Congressman Jim Jordan. Jordan indicated to me that he does not plan to be speaker. He said there is no chance that he will become speaker. He is backing Kevin McCarthy.

So, Erin, the big question now is will there be another candidate who emerges? Will a Steve Scalise ultimately become some sort of consensus candidate? But I'm talking to Republicans up and down, and it's unclear whether even Scalise could get there.

So the ball is now still in McCarthy's corner. Will he make a decision? Will he drop out, will he change the dynamic? At the moment, he's pushing ahead.

BURNETT: All right. Manu, thank you very much.

And, you know, here with my panel.

Alyssa, it was interesting speaking to Congressman David Valadao, big McCarthy, you know, friend as Congressman Dent points out, and supporter. You could hear the emotion in his voice.

I'm not. Why would I go -- consensus candidate, 85 percent of us are on the same team here, 85 percent, like, there's no movement happening, it seems, on either side. ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, there is this

growing frustration around I don't even want to say the moderates, the vast majority of the House Republican conference saying these 19, 20 members are holding us hostage. I would argue that's not entirely accurate framing.

Kevin McCarthy could step down from this, and that would give the opportunity to see if Elise Stefanik or Scalise could get more votes.

[19:05:00]

He's been rejected three times in a row now. And what I think he made a major pretty strategic miscalculation. Prior speakers have known, it's better to be feared than loved. John Boehner used retaliation at times to keep his right-most plank in line. Instead, Kevin McCarthy made so many concessions, he doesn't really have a card to play left as far as I can see. He's already lowered the threshold for the motion to vacate short of basically handing them control of the House, I don't know how he secures the votes.

BURNETT: And, Congressman Dent, yet you have David Valadao saying I'll go a thousand votes if that's what it takes. You know, it's the reflection of how he feels, it's also obviously the emotion that we're seeing here.

It's palpable. But what happens tomorrow if they don't know -- if it goes past 4:00 to 5:00? All of a sudden, you have such a weakened McCarthy.

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, look, again, I keep saying that sooner or later some of Kevin's closest friends and maybe David Valadao who is among them are going to have to have a conversation with Kevin. And I don't think that this is a sustainable position. We'll keep voting and we'll hope that the other side caves.

BURNETT: Yeah.

DENT: I don't think that other side is going to cave unless their constituents somehow magically say they've had enough.

So I think the conversation's going to have to happen from those who are the strongest supporters of Kevin saying that we can't go on. Now, I don't think that's going to happen tomorrow. But it's going to have to happen sooner or later, I suspect.

BURNETT: And, David, over that time, this suddenly is going to get the attention of the American public in a way that it hasn't yet. Right now, you could care about Washington, you're really watching it. But you don't have very long until this does become a much bigger part of the awareness.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. Well, what's the old expression? You never have a chance to make the first -- you know what it is. You know what I'm saying.

(LAUGHTER) AXELROD: It's been a long day. You know, this is not a good first impression. This is not a good impression. This is the new team rolling in to take over, and this is a mess.

Now, I just want to say one thing just about McCarthy and Valadao and so on. McCarthy does have a lot of relationships in that caucus. And people -- there are people who like him and have affection for him. He does a lot of things.

One of the members I told Charlie, one of the members described it as, you know, Kevin's a great guy, but he's kind of a concierge, he's not a leader. Whatever you need, Kevin gets for you.

And he has relationships. I think people like him and I think they probably resent being told by these five, 10, 19 people, you know what, you can't have the guy you want, we're not going to let you pick the guy you want.

I understand all that. Nonetheless, they have the leverage. And when Kevin McCarthy failed to get the majority that he needed to insulate himself from this kind of extortion, he laid himself open to what we see today.

MONDAIRE JONES (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: And we don't know what Valadao is saying privately to Kevin, right? I would expect --

BURNETT: It could be very different than what he just said on television.

JONES: I would expect as a loyal foot soldier on just the day of this epic defeat, which may lead into tomorrow at noon, to say what he said, but eventually, you know, once Kevin realizes that it's not going to happen for him, I expect Valadao to say, you know, Kevin has decided to drop out of the race and he's given me permission to support somebody else, or something to that effect.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: If Kevin was witnessing what happened today, and he was because he was there, he must at some level know that this probably isn't going to happen for him. He's wanted it for many, many years. He did everything to try to make it happen.

And some people think he kind of sold his soul to make it happen. And, time and time again, he's come up short. And, so, he is probably having some soul searching within himself, within his family and among his friends. And something has to happen. Somebody has to blink. And at this point, it seems like it is most likely to be McCarthy and the moderates.

BURNETT: And to go, and within the Republican caucus. I mean, I did, of course, ask the question of Valadao, as we have been of people all day, David. What about working with Democrats? He dismissed that out of hand.

But there was this image we saw it today. I think we have the video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the house floor speaking with Paul Gosar. Paul Gosar was stripped of his committee assignments and censured by the House for destroying Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

And he apparently, according to her spokesperson, was saying, so will you help us out by lowering -- we are talking about what would happen? Gosar is adamantly against McCarthy. So --

JONES: I want to clarify that. So, the conversation they were having was, as I understand it from the source, him saying, is it true that Democrats are prepared to leave?

BURNETT: Which would help McCarthy, yes --

JONES: And she assured him that that was not going to happen.

BURNETT: I think what they said was that you're hearing directly from the source. That's not the plan, which left the door open to when the plan could change. But, still, you have a moment like that, that is pretty incredible to see.

[19:10:04]

AXELROD: Yes, yes. And, look, I think that there are a lot of Americans who probably really kind of relish the idea that McCarthy tells this nihilist group, forget you, I'm making a deal, we're going to govern in a more bipartisan way. That is completely antithetical to the gestalt of the current Republican Party and would basically be kind of a suicide mission for him.

So, he's really in a box, you know? And he's tried to -- and he's built this box himself in some ways, certainly going down to Mar-a- Lago and redeeming Trump after the insurrection is part of it. But he's done everything he can to empower this group. Now they're using the power they have and the leverage they have against him.

HENDERSON: But he also tried to chop their legs off, right? I mean, he also tried to make sure that more moderate people got elected, which is why these folks, the five, the ten don't trust him because he's trying to play both sides. He's, on the one hand saying if you can't beat him, you join him, but I'm also going to try to beat him. And it looks like they're beating him at this point.

BURNETT: All right. All stay with. Thank you.

And next, new details emerging about what's literally happening right now. You know, we mentioned that meeting of Kevin McCarthy's office, arm-twisting. Well, there is a meeting going on as he is struggling to find the support that he needs to actually pull this out and become the next speaker of the House. We are going to go live to Capitol Hill because these meetings are happening as we speak here.

Plus, the horrific moment during last night's NFL game. Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin collapsed. It appeared to be normal tackle, right? And then there was that sudden collapse onto his back. What we are learning about his condition at this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:25]

BLITZER: Welcome back to a special edition of OUTFRONT and the vote for speaker of the House. Congressman Kevin McCarthy failing to win the speakership after three attempted ballots.

Let's go live to CNN's Melanie Zanona. She's up on Capitol Hill.

I know you're getting some new information, Melanie.

What are your sources telling you?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, really what we're seeing is that the harsh reality of the situation is setting in for McCarthy's supporters. And they acknowledged that it's not just going to be enough to keep voting for him and hope that the critics back down. What they're saying is that there's really only two paths forward for Kevin McCarthy. He either has to negotiate with those 20 critics or he has to team up with Democrats in some way.

What theoretically could happen is Democrats could either vote present or not show up. However, they said they're not going to bail out (ph) McCarthy. Also, they would be demanding something in return. They wouldn't do that just for nothing.

And McCarthy himself said he's not going to support Democrats in his quest for the speakership.

And when it comes to negotiating with critics, he has already given into so many of the right's demands. He doesn't have a whole lot left in his back pocket to give on. So it really just demonstrates the path -- the very narrow path that McCarthy has to the speakership.

But sources tell us that McCarthy world is still continuing talks tonight. We saw some supporters go into his office. They were wheeling in boxes of pizza, so perhaps settling in for a long night. But as of right now, no resolution to the stalemate, Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's see what happens tomorrow.

All right. Melanie, thank you very much.

I want to bring back our political experts for some more analysis right now.

And, John King, what's your reaction to that information we just heard?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, think about the last 10, 12, 15 years of American political life. So never say never to something bizarre happening.

However, what can Kevin McCarthy give the Democrats to have a Kevin McCarthy speakership? Is there some situation where Democrats can work with Republicans on an alternative? Maybe, I think that's way, way down the road and still a most unlikely possibility. But Democrats helping Kevin McCarthy? Democrats are celebrating today.

Kevin McCarthy was humiliated three times on the floor of the House of Representatives. The House Republicans cannot organize themselves to run the place.

What can Kevin McCarthy give the Democrats? How many -- what is he going to say, we won't investigate Hunter Biden? We'll give you equal representation on committees? He can't do that. He would lose his Republican support.

So, that's -- I just view that as an impossibility. But the fact that every scenario, scenarios like that are being talked about tonight, you're getting texts about, what about this person as a consensus candidate? What about this person as an alternative candidate?

That tells you that nobody knows where we are and nobody knows how this is going to end except for the fact that Kevin McCarthy lost three times today. He thought, give the protesters their moment, let them stand up and go publicly against me, they'll feel proud, they'll tweet it out, they'll go on their, you know, conservative programs and then they'll calm down.

There is no sign that's going to happen. We have no idea where we're going.

KASIE HUNT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I mean, Wolf, the idea that after Kevin McCarthy went down to Mar-a-Lago in the weeks immediately after January 6th and stood next to Donald Trump and resuscitated whatever political standing he had or helped resuscitate political standing that he had, the idea that Democrats who Nancy Pelosi might not be the leader of the House Democrats anymore. But she's been on the House floor all day today. Don't you think for a second that she is not involved in a strategy.

The idea that they are going to turn around and figure out how to make him that man who stood next to Donald Trump in that moment is simply ludicrous.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, there is a third scenario and that Melanie didn't mention, but it would be McCarthy getting out of the race and opening this thing up to someone else. And that would be the pivotal moment when you really start to have a sense of what else is out there. It seems to me, until he does that, the rest of the possibilities remain basically frozen, and we could be here for some time until he either clobbers together some votes with concessions that he may not even have, or he decides to step aside.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: To Abby's point, I've been getting texts in the last five minutes about exactly that. And is there a possible way to move forward. And the name, it will not surprise you, is Steve Scalise. For the record, let us say first, Steve Scalise is supporting Kevin McCarthy for now.

But what I'm hearing is if Kevin McCarthy is willing to step aside, there are GOP members who think that Steve Scalise would be able to sweep up the McCarthy supporters as well as the rebels, the 20 rebels including someone like Matt Gaetz who said he would vote for Steve Scalise.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: And Steve Scalise has made certain to not have any fingerprints right now on anything that could look like he is pushing Kevin McCarthy out of the way, because that could complicate his own path there. He wants to be standing there as an alternative that people come to if indeed McCarthy moves out of the way.

There were reports earlier today that Scalise's staff is preparing for this eventuality. But he is really determined not to appear at all in any way to be nudging McCarthy. So, if indeed, Scalise is going to be an alternative, it's going to have to be a two-step operation. Kevin McCarthy is going to have to step down from this race first.

HUNT: Scalise is going to have to seem as though he was the candidate who was drafted into this. A little bit actually, not unlike what happened with Paul Ryan back in 2015 where he was kind of presented as the reluctant speaker in waiting once McCarthy's bid fell apart back then. But, I mean, Scalise is someone who is very respected across the conference, especially in the wake of the horrific congressional baseball shooting, which he recovered from with great grit and grace and won a lot of admirers kind of across the board in the course of doing this.

KING: Democrats would prefer Scalise to McCarthy in the sense that they view him as someone who keeps his word. A lot of Democrats have good relationships with Scalise. They don't agree with him much policy-wise, but they think when he shakes your hand, he means.

BLITZER: Kaitlan, what are you hearing?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: I think it's notable though that you hadn't really heard a lot of Republicans talking about Scalise in recent days. I think when you are someone who is the obvious successor and you're not being talked about, it's not really good for your political standing.

You know, we were talking earlier about why did Kevin McCarthy okay having them adjourn tonight after only doing three votes. I was just speaking with the House Republican who said they had this concern in McCarthy's world that the numbers were going to get worse for him, that there were more people who were prepared to add to that number to change their votes like we saw Byron Donalds do earlier today. So I think that's a big part of the concern.

I think the next 15 hours are maybe potentially some of the most defining for Kevin McCarthy's political career that we're going to see. I think the reason he's hesitant to back out is that other option is he's done it once before, you do it again. It might be your final time to do it. It might be his last chance to try to get this.

And as we were noting, you know, he is technically in the speaker's office right now. He may not stay there for very long.

BLITZER: It's interesting because Trump endorsed him for speaker. That really didn't help him much.

COLLINS: He endorsed him. He said, I think Kevin McCarthy deserves a shot. It was a pretty tepid endorsement that came in December.

And now, as you notice, Trump has been silent on this all day. He actually spoke with a reporter from NBC News. He did not reiterate his support for Kevin McCarthy.

He was on the phone with these hard-liners last time telling them they should vote for McCarthy, telling McCarthy he should take the deal when it comes to what the hardliners were offering him. It didn't have a lot of help here. I will be watching to see what Trump does in the next --

BLITZER: Trump doesn't like to be associated with losers.

PHILLIP: Exactly. That's a really important point, though, Wolf. I mean, he doesn't like that. And he's holding back, in part, because he doesn't know where this is going to go. But I will say about how Trump has weighed in so far privately, as Kaitlan has noted.

But Trump has a really big bully pulpit. He has a big megaphone. He could put any of these members on blast at any moment. Has not done it.

COLLINS: Yep.

PHILLIP: He hasn't done it. And he could, and I think that speaks volumes about his lack of desire to really put his capital on the line. They're already defying him to a certain degree because they feel like he knows where he really stands on this issue and I think that's very telling.

CHALIAN: It also speaks -- don't ever usually say this about Donald Trump, but about a moment of a lack of self-confidence about something that Donald Trump is known to lack, but he just came off an election season where he was associated with lots of losses. And, so, I don't think we're seeing as sure-footed a Donald Trump politically in this moment that we've seen.

BLITZER: Good point.

Everybody, stand by. We have a lot more to assess.

OUTFRONT next, breaking news. The uncle of Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin who suffered cardiac arrest and collapse during last night's game is speaking exclusively to CNN. And he has new details about Hamlin having to be resuscitated twice.

Plus, a court appearance today for the man accused of killing four college students in Idaho as we're learning the suspect was stopped twice by police during his trip to Pennsylvania from Washington state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:37] BURNETT: Breaking news: Damar Hamlin's uncle telling CNN that he had to be resuscitated twice. And this is the first time that we are hearing from a member of his family about his condition. And it comes along with what we're hearing from a source with the Bills who says that the team is in "wait and see" mode. Those are their exact words.

That same source also adds that the Bills' players and staff are still processing what they saw happen on the field, right, where they playing -- collapsing going into cardiac arrest before having his heartbeat restored. And at this hour, Hamlin remains in the intensive care unit in critical condition.

And I want to go now to Adrienne Broaddus because, Adrienne, you were the one who has had chance here to speak to his family, his uncle, and learning this crucial -- this crucial development about him having to be resuscitated twice.

What did he tell you?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He said the family is heartbroken. I spoke with him right here at the corner of the hospital. I approached him in full transparency when I walked by, I heard him speaking on the phone with someone, and he was describing how his heart dropped.

And initially, I thought this person might've been a player. I noticed he had on a visitor tag, and then I asked him if he was a player, and he said, no, my nephew is inside.

And here's more of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORRIAN GLENN, DAMAR HAMLIN'S UNCLE: He's still sedated right now. They just want him to have a better chance of recovering better.

[19:30:02]

So they felt if he's sedated, his body can heal a lot faster than if he was woke and possibly cause other complications. So they got him sedated right now. I mean, it's just heartbreaking seeing him like that, right? I mean, you know, just -- we were in Pittsburgh watching it on TV, and his little brother was there with us.

And when he seen his brother drop like that, and when I tell you, I never seen him cry -- scream like that, we were trying to calm him down, like, it's okay, he's going to get back up, he'll be back in the game.

The next thing you know, ten minutes later, they're doing chest compressions. Half hour later, they're still not playing. I'm like, yo, what's going on? What's wrong with my nephew?

And when I say, like, now we were all in the room crying, we were all in tears. And I'm not a crier, but I never cried so hard in my life, man, just to know my nephew basically died on the field and they brought him back to life. I mean, that's just heartbreaking.

And to see all those grown men crying and all the emotion, man, it just -- it really was a gut punch, man. I would have been crying no matter who it was. But for it to be my nephew, it had that much more impact on me. And I'm just glad he's still alive and able to fight and trying to get better and recover.

BROADDUS: You told me off camera your nephew died twice. Can you explain?

GLENN: His heart went out. They had to resuscitate him twice. They resuscitated him on the field, and then they resuscitated him again when he got to the hospital. So, I just want to show my gratitude for the medical staff that were on hand because if not for them, my nephew probably wouldn't even be here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS: An abundance of gratitude for the medical staff here. He also described what he had seen inside of the hospital. He said his nephew is flipped over on his stomach. And he told me that is to help with the blood on his lungs. He also says the next step is for doctors to get his nephew to breathe on his own.

And he says he was only outside because he needed to get some fresh air. He told me he has been in this hospital all day, overnight with his family, including Damar's mother who rode in the ambulance with her 24-year-old son yesterday.

Back to you.

BURNETT: Adrienne, thank you very much, reporting there live from Cincinnati. Really crucial details here as we all try to understand what happened and what will happen.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is along with me along with Dr. Jonathan Reiner who is the director of the cardiac cath lab at GW Hospital.

So, these scenarios, Doctor, of course, something that you know from personal experience.

Sanjay, first, let me ask you about what Adrienne is just reporting from Damar Hamlin's uncle, that he was resuscitated twice, once on the field and once when he got to the hospital, that he obviously is still not breathing on his own, and that he's flipped on his stomach because of possibility of blood clotting in his lungs.

What, of all of that, stands out to you, and why?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sounds like, obviously, this is a very significant cardiac event here. We still don't know exactly what caused this cardiac event. But what we heard from the Bills' statement originally was that they were able to restart or obtain a normal rhythm of his heart when he was on the field. But then it sounds like he deteriorated again and needed to be resuscitated again when he was at the hospital.

Sometimes when the heart is not functioning well, you start to have fluid that starts to build up, and the fluid can build up in the lungs, it can build up in other parts of the body. That may be what Adrienne and, I guess, his uncle was describing there. And you do implement various techniques to try and make it easier to ventilate the person, make it easier to actually provide oxygen and eliminate carbon dioxide from the body. And sometimes flipping the patient over onto their stomach can help facilitate that.

It's speculative. I just want to be clear. We're going on very little information here, and these descriptions, so I want to be very careful, Erin --

BURNETT: Yeah.

GUPTA: -- in trying to, A, we're not even certain of the diagnosis at this point, what exactly caused all this, and, B, what exactly is happening.

But we do know for sure from that original statement is that he did have a cardiac arrest. This was a cardiac heart-related event of some sort.

BURNETT: Yeah.

GUPTA: But what exactly it was and how it now is being treated, I think we're starting to get more details of.

BURNETT: Dr. Reiner, do any of these details, whether it be the need for a second resuscitation or anything else stand out to you as a cardiac surgeon?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yeah. First of all, our notice that he needed to be resuscitated a second time when he got to the hospital suggests that Mr. Hamlin's heart was what we would call electrically very irritable.

[19:35:09]

Not only had he had the first cardiac arrest on the field, but he then essentially relapsed and had a second cardiac arrest, suggesting, again, that he was really not electrically stable.

The second piece of information, which we had certainly not heard before, is that Mr. Hamlin is in the prone position. That is used only when it is very difficult to oxygenate or move gases in and out through the lungs, potentially because he was in something called pulmonary edema. And this happens when the heart is simply not functioning.

And, as you said, and as Sanjay said, when fluid backs up in the lungs. But taking it as a whole, what this suggests is that he's just incredibly critically ill at this time. And he's fortunate to be in an institution that has the capacity to provide this level of coronary care. BURNETT: Sanjay, what are the possible implications of a situation

like this when you think about, as he gets better, and we all, of course, hope that he gets better? We don't know, he's in critical condition right now. He is in intensive care.

Can you fully recover from this? I know it's hard because we don't know exactly what this is. And from what you know and from the time that's passing and from the position he's in, can someone like that likely have a full recovery?

GUPTA: Well, I mean, he's a young person. You know, that certainly is going to work in his favor. I think what we're missing is a couple of really critical pieces of information.

We still don't know exactly what caused this. Was there an underlying problem that somehow was exacerbated by, you know, on his play on the field? We're not sure, you know, at this point. I think that makes a big difference.

But, as it turns out, Dr. Reiner and I were just communicating last night. And I know he has cared for patients that have undergone lengthy resuscitations and have had recovery. So, you can ask him.

But it is certainly possible. And I think people will be optimistic about that. But he's critically ill. And I think that we cannot minimize just how sick he is right now, how much time it's going to take for him to recover.

And even the days and hours -- hours and days ahead, there might be small incremental improvements, but it's still going to be a long road. And then we have to determine after that how are his other organs doing? How much time did his other organs including his brain go without adequate blood supply? We may not be able to answer those questions right now because he is sedated, but those are going to be things that are going to need to be addressed as well at some point.

BURNETT: So, Dr. Reiner, what is happening in the hospital right now when you look at a young person still in critical condition? You're now a day past this. What are they doing right now?

REINER: Well, what they would have done immediately upon arrival is assess the stability of his heart rhythm and his blood pressure and his oxygenation in his blood. And it sounds like they had some work to do to make him more stable.

Once they do that, they look for the etiology for the cause. They look to make sure that he's not having sort of a good old-fashioned heart attack caused by a blockage in a coronary artery. They almost certainly would've scanned his head after that hit to make sure that he also didn't have a neurologic injury and also to look at the integrity of his spine.

Once they got him into a stable way, they might've also have cooled him. There is some sort of controversial data that suggests that cooling a patient after cardiac arrest body temperature down can help to promote neurologic recovery. So they may have cooled him. And when they do that, they would sedate him. And that protocol is at least for 24 to 48 hours.

One thing we are sort of learning now from some of the new revelations about his status is that this is going to be a long haul. And when I go out and talk to families of patients who I've treated who have come in just like Mr. Hamlin, what I tell the family is that this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. And there are going to be good days and there are going to be bad days.

And I also tell them that often, things look bad the first day, we'll get through the first day, and this kind of patient, this young patient can completely recover. The best-case scenario is complete recovery, and that's what we shoot for from the very beginning.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much for your experience and expertise to share with us. Thank you.

And, next, we have new video coming in of the man accused of killing those four college students and that absolutely horrific murder in Idaho as we learn that he was pulled over twice by police while driving with his dad from Washington state back to Pennsylvania for the holidays.

[19:40:09]

Plus, more on our continuing coverage of the vote for speaker. Kevin McCarthy right now, as I speak, meeting with his supporters as one of his critics warns that he is willing to drag out the fight for speaker for months, six months.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to a special edition of OUTFRONT. I'm here with Erin Burnett. We're following the breaking news on Capitol Hill, the very, very bitter battle for the speaker of the House. We have much more on that in just a moment.

But first, another major story we've been following. New video now shows police pulling over the 28-year-old man suspected of killing four college students in Idaho. Bryan Kohberger was stopped twice in Indiana just about two weeks ago while driving to Pennsylvania with his father. He was let go with a verbal warning both times. The suspected killer now getting ready to be extradited back to Idaho any moment now.

Veronica Miracle is joining us now from Moscow, Idaho. She's got more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bryan Kohberger cuffed, shackled, wearing a prison jump suit, arriving at a Pennsylvania courthouse just days after being charged with murdering four University of Idaho students in mid-November.

[19:45:03]

Kohberger was escorted from a holding cell into the courtroom, confirming he's waiving extradition, has no mental health issues that would affect a transfer, and agreeing to be transported to Idaho.

Kohberger's family in the courtroom crying as he turned several times and made eye contact with them. He faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves.

COL. ROBERT EVANCHICK, COMMISSIONER, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: Arrangements currently are being made to deliver Kohberger back to Idaho where he can have continued due process and face these charges.

MIRACLE: And where he can access information about the evidence against him. Idaho does not release the documents supporting an arrest warrant until a defendant returns to the state.

MIKE MANCUSO, FIRST ASST. DISTRICT ATTORNEY, MONROE COUNTY, PA: I definitely believe that one of the main reasons the defendant chose to waive extradition and hurry his return back to Idaho was the need to know what was in those documents.

JASON LABAR, PUBLIC DEFENDER, MONROE COUNTY, PA: He said it, I mean, this is not him. He believes he's going to be exonerated. That's what he believes. Those were his words.

MIRACLE: University of Idaho assistant law professor Samuel Newton tells CNN there is still a long road to trial.

SAMUEL NEWTON, ASST. PROFESSOR OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO: The government has to put on evidence to support its charge to show that there's enough -- there was probable cause to arrest and charge him with those crimes.

MIRACLE: Kaylee's father says he plans to be in court at some point when Kohberger returns to Idaho.

STEVEN GONCALVES, FATHER OF VICTIM: We're going to definitely look this guy and look him in his eyes. He is going to have to deal with us, and he has been dealing with this for seven weeks. It's not about to end.

MIRACLE: It will be up to the local prosecutor to decide whether Kohberger will face the death penalty.

NEWTON: The victims were blameless, sleeping in a vulnerable position, the crime was particularly brutal, multiple victims. So I think there are many bases for a prosecutor to say I can charge this as aggravated murder.

MIRACLE: A death penalty case adds additional procedures to a murder prosecution. That could take decades. For many living in the communities at both the University of Idaho and Washington State University, there is some relief a suspect is now in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Imagine living in this, it's been like living in a murder mystery, right in the middle of it.

MIRACLE: A mystery that is far from over. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MIRACLE (on camera): And now that Kohberger is cleared for extradition, police say they have ten days to get him back here. Once he is in the state of Idaho, that's when that probable cause affidavit should be unsealed which should tell us exactly why Kohberger was arrested -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Veronica Miracle, thank you very, very much.

Erin, a lot still happening here in Washington up on Capitol Hill tonight as Kevin McCarthy is still fighting to become the next speaker of the House.

BURNETT: That's right. Still fighting and no signs of backing down in any way, wolf, as negotiations are underway at this hour. He failed obviously in three consecutive ballots to secure the speakership.

We understand, though, has been in a meeting already tonight. There could be more as the night goes on and, of course, tomorrow morning, the house is now adjourned until noon tomorrow. And there are 20 Republicans right now who have refused to support McCarthy in the votes. So right now, we're up to 20.

Joining us now is Republican Congressman Blake Moore of Utah.

And, Congressman, just to be clear, where you stand, you supported Kevin McCarthy on all three ballots today. Can I just ask you, I guess, on a basic level, did you have any idea that it was going to end up like this where here you are tonight adjourned, don't have the votes, no sign of getting them and you're making history with how many ballots it's taking?

REP. BLAKE MOORE (R-UT): Correct, yes. I supported Kevin McCarthy for all three of the ballots today, as the vast majority of our conference did. Did we know today was going to be a tough day, a lot of negotiation -- you could see when you walk in there was a lot of press today. It was obviously going to happen.

And you ask about the end in sight. Look, one thing that's being left out of the conversation I think with a lot of this is Republicans, for better or worse, or notoriously don't always just fall in line. And you saw that today.

And I'm hopeful that we can get there here in the near future because, like I've said in days leading up to this, like we have an agenda, and we want to implement that agenda, and we can either be a conference that comes together to do that, or we can let just a select few from keeping us from being able to do that. That's where I hope that we're going and we're going to work hard to get there.

BURNETT: Your colleague David Valadao from California, obviously, has also supported McCarthy. He told me if it took a thousand votes, he would still support McCarthy. Do you say the same thing? Because there are some on the other side saying six months we'll fight this out. Are you willing to say this could go on indefinitely? MOORE: Yeah, that's the majority of the conference right now is we're

sticking with McCarthy. Look, I think it was best put today, and Ii apologize for the sports analogy. My heart goes to Bills nation, as I saw some of your coverage before that, and that was excellent coverage of that.

[19:50:00]

But one person said it. We in the last two elections, House Republicans have won significant seats in 2020. We took the majority in 2022. And Leader McCarthy has been -- Speaker-elect McCarthy has been at the helm for that. You don't take out A pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter.

So, we're going in the right direction, and we need to continue to let him have a chance to lead here because here's the point that's really important. At the base of every conversation we had, across the conference, from every ideology from within the conference, it all comes back down to we have a major concern with runaway government spending.

And Kevin McCarthy has been in leadership when Republicans were in control and the majority of Congress. And we were able to reduce discretionary spending, and the rules package that he negotiated in good faith that we had ready to go if he is the speaker disappoint. We have the best opportunity to get mandatory spending under control, too.

And those are the things that we all want to have happened. So, we've got to be able to implement our agenda.

BURNETT: The thing about that is, though, Congressman, you would have to get some of these 20 Republicans to change their point of view. They have shown absolutely no indication of doing that. So you're right. You have the vast majority of Republicans supporting McCarthy. All of those things are true, but they're not enough. They're not enough.

Do you have any indication that there is anything else that can be done, or is there a point where you will say all right, I wish it were McCarthy, it should have been McCarthy, but I'll go for, say, Steve Scalise?

MOORE: Right. So, there is already more discussions going on today. Like I said, we just don't easily fall in line. Sometimes you were able to see Speaker Pelosi do that a lot more. I'm getting in my second term. We saw a lot of that in the first term.

Even though not all Democrats agreed with her, they ended up kind of falling in line. What we're trying to do here is continue to have these discussions so we can get there. The support is still very strong for Kevin McCarthy, and no one is now saying we want to find a consensus candidate.

This is day one. There's bare things going on in my district. BURNETT: So, no one is saying consensus candidate. And do you -- have

you had any conversations with any of the 20, or are you aware that any of them are in meetings, that there is some sort of progress being made tonight?

MOORE: I talk to those individuals all the time. I'm not sure where things are at with conversations tonight.

BURNETT: And how do you think this starts tomorrow? Obviously, you guys will be back in session at noon.

MOORE: At noon. Probably a little similar to today. And, you know, like you said, you hear people talking six months. I'm hopefully able to wrap up this up sooner.

We have a job to do. We were elected to get our agenda implemented, Commitment to America, and we've got to be able to do that.

BURNETT: And do you think there are any other concessions from what you understand that Kevin McCarthy could give these holdouts that would bring anybody over, even any one individual? Because everything -- when you talk about it, it seems like he has already capitulated. He already put everything on the table he could put on there. Is there anything else you're aware he could do?

MOORE: You know, Erin, you have been that right. There has been a very good faith negotiation from Speaker-elect McCarthy, and there is some goalposts that have been moved in last few day, and we're very frustrated at that.

This is -- this is something that we have to be able to get past again. If we just let a few select individuals control the entire agenda, we're not going to be able to govern appropriately this term, and that's what we were elected to do. So --

BURNETT: All right. We'll see. Of course, those few individuals, they think they can and we'll see what happens. Obviously, it's going to be a crucial next 24 hours.

Congressman Moore, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

MOORE: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, we have breaking news. The uncle of the Buffalo Bills star Damar Hamlin speaking to CNN as we take a look at Hamlin's incredible journey to actually get to the NFL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK,)

BURNETT: Tonight, an outpouring of support for Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Brynn Gingras is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Teammates, in fact, the entire country held their breath as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was taken off the field mid game after going into cardiac arrest. Now, the world finding out just how big this 24-year-old's heart is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in the NFL because he wants to be a role model.

DAMAR HAMLIN, NFL PLAYER: Something I've always been in to, just giving back.

GINGRAS: Before going pro, Hamlin created the Chasing M's Foundation. It organizes toy drives, back to school drives and kids camps.

I will never forget where I come from, and I am committed to using my platform to positively impact the community that raised me, he wrote.

Here is Hamlin at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, handing out toys to where he grew up in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

HAMLIN: I feel like it's important for me to do it, because I know the difference it can play in a kid's life, you know? Even if it only one time, it could have a big impact on their lives to keep them out of trouble along the line down the road.

GINGRAS: And it's not just strangers who admire him. So does his younger brother on the sidelines when Hamlin was in college.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mayor looks up to Damar like my big brother is the best thing in the world.

GINGRAS: Family a fixture in Hamlin's life, and on the sidelines at games.

HAMLIN: My mom, my dad, my little brother, that's pretty much my whole world. Outside of any other thing going on in my life revolves around them.

GINGRAS: Hamlin's mother says her son played different sports growing up, eventually gravitating toward football, his heart set on playing for his hometown university.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wrote in his bio, that he looks at Darrelle Revis and his future college would be Pitt. He had to be 12, maybe 13.

GINGRAS: And then in 2021, during the sixth round of the NFL draft, Hamlin's family extended to include the Bills Mafia. Recently, he spoke about fulfilling his dream of playing for the pros.

HAMLIN: You never know when like the last day could be that you get to experience something like this. I'm cherishing it every moment I can.

GINGRAS: All now keeping this rising star, this hometown hero in their prayers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRAS: And in the GoFundMe page Hamlin said up for his toy drive, before last night the initial goal was $2,500. Now since this all happened, it exceeded $5 million. Now the family has updated it to say that some of that money is going to go toward his care.

But really, what a remarkable man. What a remarkable player. And we're all praying for him.

BURNETT: All right. Brynn, thank you very much.

And thanks so much to all of you for joining us.

"AC360" begins right now.