CNN "Outfront" - TRANSCRIPT Now: 11th Vote Underway, McCarthy Appears To Suffer Defeat; McCarthy Huddling With Key Negotiators Amid Apparent 11th Loss; Now: McCarthy Appears To Suffer Defeat On 11th Speaker Ballot; House Voting On Motion To Adjourn After 11th Speaker Vote. Aired 7-8p ET

Interview

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ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: I mean, it is incredible. As Wolf is saying, it sounds like they don't have the votes to adjourn. Patrick McHenry is saying that. I want to bring in now Republican Congressman Troy Nehls. He stood to nominate Kevin McCarthy if you've been watching us today on the ninth ballot.

Congressman, here we are. I just mentioned Patrick McHenry, a key negotiator. He is trying to lock in support for McCarthy for speaker he just said the House is not going to adjourn any time soon. Are you prepared go all night?

REP. TROY NEHLS (R-TX): I'm a combat veteran and served in law enforcement for 30 years. I can be here until July.

BURNETT: And are you -- is that -- is that a metaphor for how you feel about this? Is your support for Kevin McCarthy -- there is nothing that can break or shake it at this point?

NEHLS: Listen, I don't know if you are aware of, young lady, but I'm also a member of the House Freedom Caucus. So, I am one of those America First patriots. I said to my friends, my colleagues in the Freedom Caucus that I don't believe that this is the battle we should be waging. I think the real battle starts when we start drafting legislation and policy in the 118th Congress under a Speaker McCarthy.

And you have to understand, the viewers have to understand, there is 35-40 of us in the house freedom caucus. If we have a simple small thin margin of 222 Republicans, it takes 218 of us to pass any legislation, right? The House Freedom Caucus is more relevant than ever. So I believe that is the battle. Those are the conversations that should take place.

Because Kevin McCarthy understands that in order for him to pass anything in this 118th Congress, he's going to need support and endorsement from the House Freedom Caucus. That's when I believe we should have these conversations.

BURNETT: So, I assume when you called me a young lady, that was a compliment.

NEHLS: Of course, it was. This is my first time in the Clinton news network, absolutely.

BURNETT: OK. That I was will say was a bit, in my opinion, rude. But I'm glad you're talking to me and I will treat you with the respect that you deserve.

NEHLS: Sure.

BURNETT: Do you believe that there is going to be any sort of a deal that will get those five holdouts? And let me ask you, how many holdouts do you count there are? Are there five? Are there seven? Are there eight?

NEHLS: Well, that's what's being reported. You know, you have five or so that have said they will never be McCarthy. But we have to understand, too, that Kevin McCarthy has a large majority of the conference. He has their support. There's 201 or so that support him. Now let's hypothetically say there's 160 that are saying nobody else but McCarthy. That's what I think the four or five have to look at. I mean, majority of the conference supports Kevin McCarthy. He came up with a great plan with the Commitment to America to help secure our southern border, fix the inflation, look at all the crisises we have going on in this country and I believe we have a road map to fix those.

The American people gave us the gavel on January 8th because they're begging for leadership. They're giving the Republicans a gavel. Let's lead.

BURNETT: Congressman, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

NEHLS: Thank you.

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