If it's Monday, Kevin McCarthy's bid for Speaker on the brink, as House Republicans brace for an epic floor fight with a new Congress about to begin.

Plus, President Biden is set to make his return to the White House this hour as the president and his party get ready for gridlock and governing chaos on Capitol Hill.

And inside China's deadly COVID surge, with the country dealing with what's believed to be hundreds of millions of COVID infections amid global calls for more transparency. Welcome to meet the press now.

I'm Yamish al-Sendor in for Kristen Walker at the beginning of a potentially historic week here in Washington.

As the new Congress is set to convene for the first time tomorrow,

bringing with it a new era of divided government. Right now, the incoming House Republican

majority is in a state of disarray ahead of tomorrow's opening session, which could mean a level

of Capitol Hill drama this town hasn't seen in 100 years as a floor fight over who will be Speaker of the House.

At the center of the drama is House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

He needs nearly everyone in the GLP's razor-thin five-seat majority to vote for him in order to become speaker.

But he has a serious math problem on his hands, and he knows it. Over the weekend,

McCarthy held a call with rank and file Republicans in an attempt to sure up support, but it

doesn't appear to have worked. With just a handful of hours until the big vote, there still

appears to be roughly five Republicans, essentially saying they will never support McCarthy

for Speaker. One of them, Virginia

Republican Bob Good, had this to say this morning. I won't be vote for Kevin McCarthy tomorrow.

He's part of the problem. He's not part of the solution. There's nothing about Kevin McCarthy

that indicates that he will bring the change that's needed to Washington or that's needed to the

Congress or he'll bring the fight,

fight against the Biden-Schumer agenda and represent the interests of the voters who sent us to

Washington to bring real change.

In addition to the camp of Republican lawmakers who say they are hard nos, there are also an additional

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